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Title: The Children's Hour, v 5. Stories From Seven Old Favorites
Author: Tappan, Eva March, 1854-1930
Language: English
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THE CHILDREN'S HOUR
IN TEN VOLUMES
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME V
[Illustration: _Ferdinand and Ariel_]
The
Children's
Hour
STORIES
FROM SEVEN
OLD FAVORITES
Selected & Arranged by
Eva March Tappan
Houghton
Mifflin
Company
Between the dark and the daylight,
when the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the days occupations,
that is known as the Children's Hour.
CONTENTS
TO THE CHILDREN
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
CHRISTIAN PASSES THROUGH THE WICKET GATE _John Bunyan_
A VISIT TO THE HOUSE OF THE INTERPRETER _John Bunyan_
AT THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL _John Bunyan_
CHRISTIAN'S FIGHT WITH APOLLYON _John Bunyan_
THE CASTLE OF GIANT DESPAIR _John Bunyan_
THE DELECTABLE MOUNTAINS _John Bunyan_
THE PILGRIMS WANDER FROM THE WAY _John Bunyan_
THE CELESTIAL CITY _John Bunyan_
ROBINSON CRUSOE
ROBINSON CRUSOE IS SHIPWRECKED _Daniel Defoe_
UNLOADING A WRECK _Daniel Defoe_
ROBINSON CRUSOE'S FIRST HOME ON THE ISLAND _Daniel Defoe_
ROBINSON CRUSOE BUILDS A BOAT _Daniel Defoe_
THE MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINT _Daniel Defoe_
THE COMING OF FRIDAY _Daniel Defoe_
HOMEWARD BOUND _Daniel Defoe_
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
GULLIVER IS SHIPWRECKED ON THE COAST OF LILLIPUT _Jonathan Swift_
GULLIVER SEIZES THE ENEMY'S FLEET _Jonathan Swift_
A LILLIPUTIAN ODE TO THE MAN-MOUNTAIN _Jonathan Swift_
AMONG THE BROBDINGNAGIAN GIANTS _Jonathan Swift_
ADVENTURES IN BROBDINGNAG _Jonathan Swift_
GULLIVER'S ESCAPE _Jonathan Swift_
DON QUIXOTE
DON QUIXOTE DETERMINES TO BECOME A KNIGHT
_Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE FIGHT WITH THE WINDMILLS _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE INNKEEPER'S BILL _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE BATTLE OF THE SHEEP _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE CONQUEST OF MAMBRINO'S HELMET _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
DON QUIXOTE'S BATTLE WITH THE GIANTS _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
DON QUIXOTE MEETS THE LIONS _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE RIDE ON THE WOODEN HORSE _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE THREE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND ODD LASHES
_Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE RETURN AND DEATH OF DON QUIXOTE _Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
THE STORY OF ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES
SINDBAD THE SAILOR
THE TRAVELS OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
THE BARON'S FIRST WANDERINGS _Rodolph Eric Raspe_
THE BARON'S JOURNEY TO ST. PETERSBURG _Rodolph Eric Raspe_
THE BARON'S WONDERFUL HORSE _Rodolph Eric Raspe_
THE BARON'S COLD DAY _Rodolph Eric Raspe_
TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS _Charles and Mary Lamb_
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE _Charles and Mary Lamb_
THE TEMPEST _Charles and Mary Lamb_
ILLUSTRATIONS
FERDINAND AND ARIEL _Sir John Everett Millais_
CHRISTIAN IS HARNESSED FOR THE PILGRIMAGE _David Scott, R.S.A._
CAUGHT CHRISTIAN AND HOPEFUL ASLEEP _David Scott, R.S.A._
THE SECOND RAFT _J. Finnemore_
THE PRINT OF A MAN'S NAKED FOOT ON THE SHORE _J. Finnemore_
PRODUCING HIS CREDENTIALS _T. Morten_
THE HUGE CREATURE TROD SHORT _T. Morten_
HURLED AWAY BOTH KNIGHT AND HORSE _Gustave Doré_
A HIDEOUS GENIE OF GIGANTIC SIZE APPEARED _Robert Smirke, R.A._
THE GREAT HEAPS OF GOLD DAZZLED HER EYES _Robert Smirke, R.A._
PURSUED BY THE ROCS _J.D. Batten_
THE LION JUMPED FORWARD INTO THE CROCODILE'S MOUTH _Gustave Doré_
THE VESSEL WILL BE DASHED TO PIECES _G. Romney_
TO THE CHILDREN
This volume is made up of stories from seven famous books. These books
are as different as they can possibly be; and yet there are not many
boys and girls who do not like every one of them. The chief reason for
this is because they seem so true, so much more "real" than most other
stories. When you read about Tom Thumb, for instance, you do not
really believe that there ever was a little boy no bigger than his
mother's thumb; at least, you do not believe it in the same way that
you believe the sun shines or the wind blows; but when you read
"Robinson Crusoe," you feel as if every word of it must be true.
The first of these books is "The Pilgrim's Progress." In one way it is
a little like a fable; that is, when you read it the first time, it is
simply a good story. Afterwards--sometimes a long while
afterwards--you read it again or sit thinking about it, and suddenly
you see that it has another meaning, that it is more than the story of
a man who makes a wonderful journey. This book was written in jail by
a man named John Bunyan. The English laws of that time would not allow
any one to preach except clergymen of the Church of England. Bunyan,
however, felt that it would be wicked for him to obey these laws, so
he kept on preaching. He was thrown into prison, and the prisons of
those days were horrible places. "If you will promise not to preach
again, you shall be free," said the officers. "If you let me out
to-day I will preach again to-morrow," declared Bunyan; and meanwhile
he preached to the other prisoners. He thought of his wife and
children and of how little he could do to support them while he was in
jail; he thought of his little blind daughter Mary; but still he said
to himself, "I must, I must do it." For twelve long years he stayed in
prison. He made tags for shoe laces to sell to help his family; and he
wrote the book that has been read by more people than any other volume
except the Bible.
The second book, "Robinson Crusoe," was written by Daniel Defoe; and
he, too, knew what it was to be in jail. He was not imprisoned for
preaching, but for his political writings. Once when he had written a
pamphlet that did not please the authorities, he was condemned to
stand in the pillory. The people took his part, and, instead of
throwing stones at him, they dropped roses about him and bought
thousands of copies of a poem that he had written while in jail.
He wrote many books, but his best, "Robinson Crusoe," was produced
after he had become a middle-aged man and had some money and a big,
homely house with plenty of ground for his favorite gardening. The way
the book came to be written was this. A sailor named Alexander Selkirk
spent more than four years alone on the island of Juan Fernandez. When
he was rescued and brought to England, many people went to gaze at him
in his goatskin clothes and to hear him talk about his life on the
island. Defoe went with the others, and he never forgot the stories
told by the sailor in goatskins. Seven years later he worked in his
garden and thought about the desert island. Then he went into his
house and wrote the book that everybody likes, "Robinson Crusoe."
"Gulliver's Travels" was written by an Irish clergyman named Jonathan
Swift. He was a strange man. Some people said he was a genius, and
some said he had always been a little insane. When he wrote, he often
seemed to care for nothing but to say the most cutting, scornful
things that he could. There was one class of persons, however, who
loved him from the bottom of their hearts, and they were the poor
people about his home in Ireland. It is true that he sometimes scolded
them, but they saw straight through his grumbling and understood that
he really cared for them and wanted to help them, and they loved him
and trusted him. He lived more than two hundred years ago, but the
Irish have never forgotten him; and even to this day, if you should
wander about in Ireland, you would see in many a little cottage people
gathered around the fire, telling over and over the stories that their
grandmothers had told them of his kind heart and his peculiar ways.
"The Pilgrim's Progress," "Robinson Crusoe," and "Gulliver's Travels"
were all written by men of the British Isles, but our fourth book,
"Don Quixote," was written by a Spaniard named Cervantes. He was a
soldier part of his life and as valiant a fighter as his own hero. For
five years he was a prisoner of war; he was poor and sick and in one
trouble after another; but he was always brave and cheerful and
good-humored. In his day, the Spaniards read few books except queer
old romances of chivalry, the sort of tale in which a great champion
goes out with his squire to wander over the world in search of
adventures. He makes thieves give back what they have stolen, he sets
prisoners free, he rescues beautiful maidens who have been dragged
away from their homes; in short, he roams about making people do
whatever he thinks proper. Sometimes he takes a castle all by himself,
sometimes he gets the better of a whole group of champions or a host
of giants or even a dragon or two. Cervantes's book makes fun of such
tales as these. His hero attacks a terrible company of giants standing
on a plain all ready to destroy him; but the giants prove to be
windmills, and their sails give him many a heavy blow before his fight
with them is over. Another time, he finds the giants in his very
bedroom; and the courageous knight cuts off their heads as fast as he
can swing his sword. Blood flows like water; only when a light is
brought, it does not prove to be blood but--well, it is not fair to
tell the rest of the story. We must let Cervantes do that for himself
in "Don Quixote's Battle with the Giants."
The fifth book, the "Arabian Nights," is a mystery. We do not know who
composed the stories or who brought them together in one collection.
We cannot even tell where they came from. The most we can say
positively is that two hundred years ago a Frenchman traveling through
the East came across them in some Arabian manuscripts and translated
them into French. Whether they came in the first place from Arabia or
Persia or India, whether they were composed five or six hundred years
ago or at least one thousand, no one can say. Many learned scholars
have tried in vain to answer these questions; but if we had to choose
between having the stories and knowing who wrote them, I do not
believe that any boy or girl who had read even one of them would find
it difficult to make a choice.
The sixth book, "The Travels of Baron Munchausen," is said to have
been written by a German named Raspé; but it is just as well not to
believe this statement too positively, for it is quite possible that
Raspé had nothing to do with the book. Learned scholars have held
profound discussions on the source of the stories. One in particular,
that of the frozen tunes which began to play of themselves as soon as
they thawed, has been found in some form in several countries. The
best match for the Baron's version is the old tale of the merchants
who set out one day to buy furs. When they came to a river, they saw
the fur dealers standing on the opposite shore. The dealers held up
their furs and seemed to be shouting their prices, but it was so cold
that the words froze in the air. Then the merchants went out on the
ice and built a great fire. It warmed the air overhead, and the words
thawed and came down. But long before this, the dealers had gone home.
The merchants thought the prices too high, so they, too, went home;
and that was the end of the tale. The "Travels" is full of stories as
absurd as this, but told in such a way that while you are reading
them, and sometimes for as much as five minutes afterwards, you feel
as if they were really true.
The seventh and last of the books is the plays of Shakespeare. A play
always contains a story, and it is the stories of some of
Shakespeare's dramas that are given here. In the real plays there is
much more than stories, however, because Shakespeare was not only a
story-teller but also a poet. A poet must express what he sees and
thinks in a way to give pleasure and he must see more than other
people. Now when Shakespeare puts a thought into words, we find that
no one else has expressed it so well. Moreover, he sees more clearly
than any other writer how a person would feel and behave in various
circumstances. As we read the plays, we say to ourselves of one
character after another, "That is just the way I should feel if I were
that person." We think of them as real people. We talk of what they
would have done if circumstances had been different. It is only a
great genius who can make out of words characters that seem almost as
real as the people around us, but this is what William Shakespeare has
done.
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
CHRISTIAN PASSES THROUGH THE WICKET GATE
_By John Bunyan_
In process of time _Christian_ got up to the Gate. Now over the Gate
there was written, _Knock and it shall be opened unto you_. He knocked
therefore more then once or twice, saying,--
"May I now enter here? Will he within
Open to sorry me, though I have bin
An undeserving Rebel? Then shall I
Not fail to sing his lasting praise on high."
At last there came a grave Person to the Gate named _Good-Will_, who
asked Who was there? and whence he came? and what he would have?
_Chr._ Here is a poor burdened sinner. I come from the City of
_Destruction_, but am going to Mount _Zion_, that I may be delivered
from the wrath to come. I would therefore, Sir, since I am informed
that by this Gate is the way thither, know if you are willing to let
me in.
_Good-Will._ I am willing with all my heart, said he; and with that he
opened the Gate.
So when _Christian_ was stepping in, the other gave him a pull. Then
said _Christian_, What means that? The other told him, A little
distance from this Gate, there is erected a strong Castle, of which
_Beelzebub_ is the Captain; from thence both he and they that are with
him shoot arrows at those that come up to this Gate, if haply they may
dye before they can enter in. Then said _Christian_, I rejoyce and
tremble. So when he was got in, the Man of the Gate asked him, Who
directed him thither?
_Chr._ _Evangelist_ bid me come hither and knock (as I did); and he
said that you, Sir, would tell me what I must do.
_Good-Will._ An open door is set before thee, and no man can shut it.
_Chr._ Now I begin to reap the benefits of my hazards.
_Good-Will._ But how is it that you came alone?
_Chr._ Because none of my Neighbours saw their danger, as I saw mine.
_Good-Will._ Did any of them know of your coming?
_Chr._ Yes, my Wife and Children saw me at the first, and called after
me to turn again; also some of my Neighbours stood crying and calling
after me to return; but I put my fingers in my ears, and so came on my
way.
_Good-Will._ But did none of them follow you, to persuade you to go
back?
_Chr._ Yes, both _Obstinate_ and _Pliable_; but when they saw that
they could not prevail, _Obstinate_ went railing back, but _Pliable_
came with me a little way.
_Good-Will._ But why did he not come through?
_Chr._ We indeed came both together, until we came at the Slow of
_Dispond_, into the which we also suddenly fell. And then was my
Neighbour _Pliable_ discouraged, and would not adventure further.
Wherefore getting out again on that side next to his own house, he
told me I should possess the brave countrey alone for him; so he went
_his_ way, and I came _mine_: he after _Obstinate_, and I to this
Gate.
_Good-Will._ Then said _Good-Will_, Alas, poor man, is the
Coelestial Glory of so small esteem with him, that he counteth it
not worth running the hazards of a few difficulties to obtain it?
_Chr._ Truly, said _Christian_, I have said the truth of _Pliable_,
and if I should also say all the truth of myself, it will appear there
is no betterment 'twixt him and myself. 'T is true, he went back to
his own house, but I also turned aside to go in the way of death,
being persuaded thereto by the carnal arguments of one Mr. _Worldly
Wiseman_.
_Good-Will._ O, did he light upon you? What! he would have had you a
sought for ease at the hands of Mr. _Legality_. They are both of them
a very cheat. But did you take his counsel?
_Chr._ Yes, as far as I durst: I went to find out Mr. _Legality_,
until I thought that the Mountain that stands by his house would have
fallen upon my head; wherefore there I was forced to stop.
_Good-Will._ That Mountain has been the death of many, and will be the
death of many more; 't is well you escaped being by it dashed in
pieces.
_Chr._ Why truly I do not know what had become of me there, had not
_Evangelist_ happily met me again, as I was musing in the midst of my
dumps; but 't was God's mercy that he came to me again, for else I had
never come hither. But now I am come, such a one as I am, more fit
indeed for death by that Mountain than thus to stand talking with my
Lord; but O, what a favor is this to me, that yet I am admitted
entrance here!
_Good-Will._ We make no objections against any; notwithstanding all
that they have done before they come hither, they in no wise are cast
out; and therefore, good _Christian_, come a little way with me, and I
will teach thee about the way thou must go. Look before thee; dost
thou see this narrow way? THAT is the way thou must go; it was cast up
by the Patriarchs, Prophets, Christ, his Apostles; and it is as
straight as a rule can make it: This is the way thou must go.
_Chr._ But said _Christian_, Is there no turnings nor windings, by
which a Stranger may lose the way?
_Good-Will._ Yes, there are many ways butt down upon this, and they
are crooked and wide: But thus thou mayest distinguish the right from
the wrong, _that_ only being straight and narrow.
Then I saw in my Dream, that _Christian_ asked him further If he could
not help him off with his Burden that was upon his back; for as yet he
had not got rid thereof, nor could he by any means get it off without
help.
He told him, As to the Burden, be content to bear it, until thou
comest to the place of _Deliverance_; for there it will fall from thy
back itself.
Then _Christian_ began to gird up his loins, and to address himself to
his Journey. So the other told him, that by that he was gone some
distance from the Gate, he would come at the House of the
_Interpreter_, at whose door he should knock, and he would show him
excellent things. Then _Christian_ took his leave of his Friend, and
he again bid him God speed.
A VISIT TO THE HOUSE OF THE INTERPRETER
_By John Bunyan_
Then _Christian_ went on till he came at the House of the
_Interpreter_, where he knocked over and over; at last one came to the
door, and asked Who was there?
_Chr._ Sir, here is a Travailler, who was bid by an acquaintance of
the Good-man of this house to call here for my profit; I would
therefore speak with the Master of the House. So he called for the
Master of the house, who after a little time came to _Christian_, and
asked him what he would have?
_Chr._ Sir, said _Christian_, I am a man that am come from the City of
_Destruction_, and am going to the Mount _Zion_; and I was told by the
Man that stands at the Gate, at the head of this way, that if I called
here, you would shew me excellent things, such as would be an help to
me in my Journey.
_Inter._ Then said the _Interpreter_, Come in, I will shew thee that
which will be profitable to thee. So he commanded his man to light the
Candle, and bid _Christian_ follow him: so he had him into a private
room, and bid his man open a door; the which when he had done,
_Christian_ saw the Picture of a very grave Person hang up against the
wall; and this was the fashion of it. It had eyes lift up to Heaven,
the best of Books in its hand, the Law of Truth was written upon its
lips, the World was behind his back. It stood as if it pleaded with
men, and a Crown of Gold did hang over his head.
_Chr._ Then said _Christian_, What means this?
_Inter._ The Man whose Picture this is, is one of a thousand; he can
beget Children, travel in birth with Children, and nurse them himself
when they are born. And whereas thou seest him with eyes lift up to
Heaven, the best of Books in his hand, and the Law of Truth writ on
his lips, it is to shew thee that his work is to know and unfold dark
things to sinners; even as also thou seest him stand as if he pleaded
with Men; and whereas thou seest the World as cast behind him, and
that a Crown hangs over his head, that is to shew thee that slighting
and despising the things that are present, for the love that he hath
to his Master's service, he is sure in the world that comes next to
have Glory for his reward. Now, said the _Interpreter_, I have shewed
thee this Picture first, because the Man whose Picture this is, is the
only man whom the Lord of the place whither thou art going hath
authorized to be thy Guide in all difficult places thou mayest meet
with in the way; wherefore take good heed to what I have shewed thee,
and bear well in thy mind what thou hast seen, lest in thy Journey
thou meet with some that pretend to lead thee right, but their way
goes down to death.
Then he took him by the hand, and led him into a very large _Parlour_
that was full of dust, because never swept; the which after he had
reviewed a little while, the _Interpreter_ called for a man to sweep.
Now when he began to sweep, the dust began so abundantly to fly about,
that _Christian_ had almost therewith been choaked. Then said the
_Interpreter_ to a _Damsel_ that stood by, Bring hither the Water, and
sprinkle the Room; the which when she had done, it was swept and
cleansed with pleasure.
_Chr._ Then said _Christian_, What means this?
_Inter._ The _Interpreter_ answered, This _Parlour_ is the heart of a
man that was never sanctified by the sweet Grace of the Gospel: the
_dust_ is his Original Sin and inward Corruptions, that have defiled
the whole Man. He that began to sweep at first, is the Law; but She
that brought water, and did sprinkle it, is the Gospel. Now, whereas
thou sawest that so soon as the first began to sweep, the dust did so
fly about that the Room by him could not be cleansed, but that thou
wast almost choaked therewith; this is to shew thee, that the Law,
instead of cleansing the heart (by its working) from sin, doth revive,
put strength into, and increase it in the soul, as it doth discover
and forbid it, but doth not give power to subdue.
Again, as thou sawest the _Damsel_ sprinkle the room with Water, upon
which it was cleansed with pleasure; this is to shew thee, that when
the Gospel comes in the sweet and precious influences thereof to the
heart, then I say, even as thou sawest the Damsel lay the dust by
sprinkling the floor with Water, so is sin vanquished and subdued, and
the soul made clean, through the Faith of it, and consequently fit for
the King of Glory to inhabit.
I saw moreover in my Dream, that the _Interpreter_ took him by the
hand, and had him into a little room, where sat two little Children,
each one in his chair. The name of the eldest was _Passion_, and the
name of the other _Patience_. _Passion_ seemed to be much discontent;
but _Patience_ was very quiet. Then _Christian_ asked, What is the
reason of the discontent of _Passion_? The _Interpreter_ answered, The
Governour of them would have him stay for his best things till the
beginning of the next year; but he will have all now; but _Patience_
is willing to wait.
Then I saw that one came to _Passion_, and brought him a bag of
Treasure, and poured it down at his feet, the which he took up and
rejoyced therein; and withall, laughed _Patience_ to scorn. But I
beheld but a while, and he had lavished all away, and had nothing left
him but Rags.
_Chr._ Then said _Christian_ to the _Interpreter_, Expound this matter
more fully to me.
_Inter._ So he said, These two Lads are Figures: _Passion_, of the Men
of this World; and _Patience_ of the Men of that which is to come; for
as here thou seest, _Passion_ will have all now this year, that is to
say, in this world; so are the men of this world: they must have all
their good things now, they cannot stay till next year, that is, until
the next world, for their portion of good. That proverb, _A Bird in
the Hand is worth two in the Bush_, is of more authority with them
then are all the Divine testimonies of the good of the World to come.
But as thou sawest that he had quickly lavished all away, and had
presently left him nothing but Raggs; so will it be with all such Men
at the end of this World.
_Chr._ Then said _Christian_, Now I see that _Patience_ has the best
wisdom, and that upon many accounts. 1. Because he stays for the best
things. 2. And also because he will have the Glory of his, when the
other has nothing but Raggs.
_Inter._ Nay, you may add another, to wit, the glory of the _next_
world will never wear out; but _these_ are suddenly gone. Therefore
_Passion_ had not so much reason to laugh at _Patience_, because he
had his good things first, as _Patience_ will have to laugh at
_Passion_, because he had his best things last; for _first_ must give
place to _last_, because _last_ must have his time to come: but _last_
gives place to nothing; for there is not another to succeed. He
therefore that hath his portion _first_, must needs have a time to
spend it; but he that hath his portion _last_, must have it lastingly;
therefore it is said of _Dives, In thy Lifetime thou hadest or
receivedst thy good things, and likewise_ Lazarus _evil things; but
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented_.
_Chr._ Then I perceive 'tis not best to covet things that are now, but
to wait for things to come.
_Inter._ You say the Truth: _For the things which are seen are_
Temporal; _but the things that are not seen are_ Eternal. But though
this be so, yet since things present and our fleshly appetite are such
near neighbours one to another; and, again, because things to come and
carnal sense are such strangers one to another; therefore it is that
the first of these so suddenly fall into _amity_, and that _distance_
is so continued between the second.
Then I saw in my Dream that the _Interpreter_ took _Christian_ by the
hand, and led him into a place where was a Fire burning against a
Wall, and one standing by it, always casting Water upon it, to quench
it; yet did the Fire burn higher and hotter.
Then said _Christian_, What means this?
The _Interpreter_ answered, This Fire is the work of Grace that is
wrought in the heart; he that casts Water upon it, to extinguish and
put it out, is the _Devil_; but in that thou seest the Fire
notwithstanding burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see the reason
of that. So he had him about to the backside of the wall, where he saw
a man with a Vessel of Oyl in his hand, of the which he did also
continually cast (but secretly) into the Fire.
Then said _Christian_, What means this?
The _Interpreter_ answered, This is _Christ_, who continually, with
the Oyl of his Grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart:
by the means of which, notwithstanding what the Devil can do, the
souls of his people prove gracious still. And in that thou sawest that
the man stood behind the Wall to maintain the Fire, this is to teach
thee that it is hard for the tempted to see how this word of Grace is
maintained in the soul.
I saw also that the _Interpreter_ took him again by the hand, and led
him into a pleasant place, where was builded a stately Palace,
beautiful to behold; at the sight of which _Christian_ was greatly
delighted: he saw also upon the top thereof, certain Persons walking,
who were cloathed all in gold.
Then said _Christian_ May we go in thither?
Then the _Interpreter_ took him, and led him up toward the door of the
Palace; and behold, at the door stood a great company of men, as
desirous to go in, but durst not. There also sat a Man at a little
distance from the door, at a table-side, with a Book and his Inkhorn
before him, to take the name of him that should enter therein. He saw
also, that in the door-way stood many men in armour to keep it, being
resolved to do the men that would enter what hurt and mischief they
could. Now was _Christian_ somewhat in a muse. At last, when every man
started back for fear of the armed men, _Christian_ saw a man of a
very stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write,
saying, _Set down my name, Sir_: the which when he had done, he saw
the man draw his Sword, and put an Helmet upon his head, and rush
toward the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadly
force; but the man, not at all discouraged, fell to cutting and
hacking most fiercely. So after he had received and given many wounds
to those that attempted to keep him out, he cut his way through them
all, and pressed forward into the Palace, at which there was a
pleasant voice heard from those that were within, even of the Three
that walked upon the top of the Palace, saying,--
Come in, Come in;
Eternal Glory thou shall win.
So he went in, and was cloathed with such Garments as they. Then
_Christian_ smiled, and said, I think verily I know the meaning of
this.
Now, said _Christian_, let me go hence. Nay stay, said the
_Interpreter_, till I have shewed thee a little more, and after that
thou shalt go on thy way. So he took him by the hand again, and led
him into a very dark room, where there sat a Man in an Iron Cage.
Now the Man, to look on, seemed very sad; he sat with his eyes looking
down to the ground, his hands folded together; and he sighed as if he
would break his heart. Then said _Christian_, What means this? At
which the _Interpreter_ bid him talk with the Man.
Then said _Christian_ to the Man, What art thou? The man answered, I
am what I was not once.
_Chr._ What wast thou once?
_Man._ The Man said, I was once a fair and flourishing Professor, both
in mine own eyes, and also in the eyes of others; I once was, as I
thought, fair for the Coelestial City, and had then even joy at the
thoughts that I should get thither.
_Chr._ Well, but what art thou now?
_Man._ I am now a man of _Despair_, and am shut up in it, as in this
Iron Cage. I cannot get out; O _now_ I cannot.
_Chr._ But how comest thou in this condition?
_Man._ I left off to watch and be sober; I laid the reins upon the
neck of my lusts; I sinned against the light of the Word and the
goodness of God; I have grieved the Spirit, and he is gone; I tempted
the Devil, and he is come to me; I have provoked God to anger, and he
has left me; I have so hardened my heart, that I _cannot_ repent.
Then said _Christian_ to the _Interpreter_, But are there no hopes for
such a man as this? Ask him, said the _Interpreter_. Nay, said
Christian, pray Sir, do you.
_Inter._ Then said the _Interpreter_, Is there no hope, but you must
be kept in this Iron Cage of Despair?
_Man._ No, none at all.
_Inter._ Why? the Son of the Blessed is very pitiful.
_Man._ I have crucified him to myself afresh, I have despised his
Person, I have despised his Righteousness, I have counted his Blood an
unholy thing; I have done despite to the Spirit of Grace. Therefore I
have shut myself out of all the Promises, and there now remains to me
nothing but threatnings, dreadful threatnings, _fearful_ threatnings
of certain Judgement which shall devour me as an Adversary.
_Chr._ For what did you bring yourself into this condition?
_Man._ For the Lusts, Pleasures, and Profits of this World; in the
injoyment of which I did then promise myself much delight; but now
even every one of those things also bite me, and gnaw me like a
burning worm.
_Chr._ But canst thou not now repent and turn?
_Man._ God hath denied me repentance: his Word gives me no
encouragement to believe; yea, himself hath shut me up in this Iron
Cage; nor can all the men in the world let me out. O Eternity!
Eternity! how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet with in
Eternity!
_Inter._ Then said the _Interpreter_ to _Christian_, Let this man's
misery be remembred by thee, and be an everlasting caution to thee.
_Chr._ Well, said _Christian_, this is fearful; God help me to watch
and be sober, and to pray that I may shun the cause of this man's
misery. Sir, is it not time for me to go on my way now?
_Inter._ Tarry till I shall shew thee one thing more, and then thou
shalt go on thy way.
So he took _Christian_ by the hand again, and led him into a Chamber,
where there was one rising out of bed; and as he put on his Rayment,
he shook and trembled. Then said _Christian_, Why doth this man thus
tremble? The _Interpreter_ then bid him tell to _Christian_ the reason
of his so doing. So he began and said, This night, as I was in my
sleep, I dreamed, and behold the Heavens grew exceeding black; also it
thundered and lightned in most fearful wise, that it put me into an
Agony; so I looked up in my Dream, and saw the Clouds rack at an
unusual rate, upon which I heard a great sound of a Trumpet, and saw
also a Man sit upon a Cloud, attended with the thousands of Heaven;
they were all in flaming fire, also the Heavens was on a burning
flame. I heard then a voice saying, _Arise ye Dead, and come to
Judgement_; and with that the Rocks rent, the Graves opened, and the
Dead that were therein came forth. Some of them were exceeding glad,
and looked upward; and some sought to hide themselves under the
Mountains. Then I saw the Man that sat upon the Cloud open the Book,
and bid the World draw near. Yet there was, by reason of a fierce
Flame which issued out and came from before him, a convenient distance
betwixt him and them, as betwixt the Judge and the Prisoners at the
bar. I heard it also proclaimed to them that attended on the Man that
sat on the Cloud, _Gather together the Tares, the Chaff, and Stubble,
and cast them into the burning Lake._ And with that, the bottomless
pit opened, just whereabout I stood; out of the mouth of which there
came in an abundant manner, Smoak and Coals of fire, with hideous
noises. It was also said to the same persons, _Gather my Wheat into my
Garner_. And with that I saw many catch't up and carried away into the
Clouds, but I was left behind. I also sought to hide myself, but I
could not, for the Man that sat upon the Cloud still kept his eye upon
me: my sins also came into my mind; and my Conscience did accuse me on
every side. Upon this I awaked from my sleep.
_Chr._ But what was it that made you so afraid of this sight?
_Man._ Why, I thought that the day of Judgement was come, and that I
was not ready for it: but this frighted me most, that the Angels
gathered up several, and left me behind; also the pit of Hell opened
her mouth just where I stood: my Conscience too within afflicted me;
and as I thought, the Judge had always his eye upon me, shewing
indignation in his countenance.
Then said the _Interpreter_ to _Christian_, Hast thou considered all
these things?
_Chr._ Yes, and they put me in hope and fear.
_Inter._ Well, keep all things so in thy mind that they may be as a
Goad in thy sides, to prick thee forward in the way thou must go. Then
Christian began to gird up his loins, and to address himself to his
Journey. Then said the _Interpreter_, The Comforter be always with
thee, good _Christian_, to guide thee in the way that leads to the
City. So _Christian_ went on his way, saying--
Here I have seen things rare and profitable;
Things pleasant, dreadful, things to make me stable
In what I have began to take in hand;
Then let me think on them, and understand
Wherefore they shew'd me was, and let me be
Thankful, O good Interpreter, to thee.
AT THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
_By John Bunyan_
Behold there was a very stately Palace before him, the name of which
was _Beautiful_; and it stood just by the High-way side.
So I saw in my Dream that he made haste and went forward, that if
possible he might get Lodging there. Now before he had gone far, he
entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a furlong off of
the Porter's lodge; and looking very narrowly before him as he went,
he espied two Lions in the way. Now, thought he, I see the dangers
that _Mistrust_ and _Timorus_ were driven back by. (The Lions were
chained, but he saw not the chains.) Then he was afraid, and thought
also himself to go back after them, for he thought nothing but death
was before him: But the Porter at the lodge, whose name is _Watchful_,
perceiving that _Christian_ made a halt as if he would go back, cried
unto him, saying, Is thy strength so small? Fear not the Lions, for
they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is,
and for discovery of those that have none. Keep in the midst of the
Path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.
Then I saw that he went on, trembling for fear of the Lions, but
taking good heed to the directions of the Porter; he heard them roar,
but they did him no harm. Then he clapt his hands, and went on till he
came and stood before the Gate where the Porter was. Then said
_Christian_ to the Porter, Sir, what House is this? and may I lodge
here to-night? The Porter answered, This House was built by the Lord
of the Hill, and he built it for the relief and security of Pilgrims.
The Porter also asked whence he was, and whither he was going?
_Chr._ I am come from the City of _Destruction_, and am going to Mount
_Zion_; but because the Sun is now set, I desire, if I may, to lodge
here to-night.
_Por._ What is your name?
_Chr._ My name is now _Christian_, but my name at the first was
_Graceless;_ I came of the race of _Japhet_, whom God will perswade to
dwell in the Tents of _Shem_.
_Por._ But how doth it happen that you come so late? The Sun is set.
_Chr._ I had been here sooner, but that, wretched man that I am! I
slept in the _Arbour_ that stands on the Hillside; nay, I had
notwithstanding that been here much sooner, but that in my sleep I
lost my Evidence, and came without it to the brow of the Hill; and
then feeling for it, and finding it not, I was forced with sorrow of
heart to go back to the place where I slept my sleep, where I found
it, and now I am come.
_Por._ Well, I will call out one of the Virgins of this place, who
will, if she likes your talk, bring you in to the rest of the Family,
according to the rules of the house. So _Watchful_ the Porter rang a
bell, at the sound of which came out at the door of the house, a grave
and beautiful Damsel named _Discretion_, and asked why she was called.
The Porter answered, This man is in a Journey from the City of
_Destruction_ to Mount _Zion_, but being weary and benighted, he asked
me if he might lodge here to-night; so I told him I would call for
thee, who, after discourse had with him, mayest do as seemeth thee
good, even according to the Law of the House.
Then she asked him whence he was, and whither he was going; and he
told her. She asked him also, how he got into the way; and he told
her. Then she asked him what he had seen and met with in the way; and
he told her. And last she asked his name; so he said, It is
_Christian_; and I have so much the more a desire to lodge here
to-night, because, by what I perceive, this place was built by the
Lord of the Hill, for the relief and security of Pilgrims. So she
smiled, but the water stood in her eyes; and after a little pause, she
said, I will call forth two or three more of the Family. So she ran to
the door, and called out _Prudence_, _Piety_, and _Charity_, who after
a little more discourse with him, had him in to the Family; and many
of them, meeting him at the threshold of the house, said, Come in,
thou blessed of the Lord; this house was built by the Lord of the
Hill, on purpose to entertain such Pilgrims in. Then he bowed his
head, and followed them into the house. So when he was come in and set
down, they gave him something to drink, and consented together, that
until supper was ready, some of them should have some particular
discourse with _Christian_, for the best improvement of time; and they
appointed _Piety_, and _Prudence_, and _Charity_ to discourse with
him; and thus they began:--
_Piety._ Come, good _Christian_, since we have been so loving to you,
to receive you into our house this night, let us, if perhaps we may
better ourselves thereby, talk with you of all things that have
happened to you in your Pilgrimage.
_Chr._ With a very good will, and I am glad that you are so well
disposed.
_Piety._ What moved you at first to betake yourself to a Pilgrim's
life?
_Chr._ I was driven out of my Native Country, by a dreadful sound that
was in mine ears, to wit, That unavoidable destruction did attend me,
if I abode in that place where I was.
_Piety._ But how did it happen that you came out of your Country this
way?
_Chr._ It was as God would have it; for when I was under the fears of
destruction, I did not know whither to go; but by chance there came a
man, even to me, as I was trembling and weeping, whose name is
_Evangelist_, and he directed me to the Wicket-gate, which else I
should never have found, and so set me into the way that hath led me
directly to this house.
_Piety._ But did you not come by the House of the _Interpreter_?
_Chr._ Yes, and did see such things there, the remembrance of which
will stick by me as long as I live; specially three things: to wit,
How Christ, in despite of Satan, maintains his work of Grace in the
heart; how the Man had sinned himself quite out of hopes of God's
mercy; and also the Dream of him that thought in his sleep the day of
Judgement was come.
_Piety._ Why, did you hear him tell his Dream?
_Chr._ Yes, and a dreadful one it was. I thought it made my heart ake
as he was telling of it; but yet I am glad I heard it.
_Piety._ Was that all that you saw at the House of the _Interpreter_?
_Chr._ No, he took me and had me where he shewed me a stately Palace,
and how the people were clad in Gold that were in it; and how there
came a venturous man and cut his way through the armed men that stood
in the door to keep him out, and how he was bid to come in, and win
eternal Glory. Methought those things did ravish my heart; I could
have stayed at that good man's house a twelve-month, but that I knew I
had further to go.
_Piety._ And what saw you else in the way?
_Chr._ Saw! Why, I went but a little further, and I saw one, as I
thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon the Tree; and the very sight of
him made my Burden fall off my back (for I groaned under a weary
Burden), but then it fell down from off me. 'Twas a strange thing to
me, for I never saw such a thing before; yea, and while I stood
looking up (for then I could not forbear looking) three Shining Ones
came to me. One of them testified that my sins were forgiven me;
another stript me of my Rags, and gave me this broidred Coat which you
see; and the third set the Mark which you see, in my forehead, and
gave me this sealed Roll (and with that he plucked it out of his
bosom).
_Piety._ But you saw more then this, did you not?
_Chr._ The things that I have told you were the best; yet some other
matters I saw, as namely I saw three men, _Simple_, _Sloth_, and
_Presumption_, lye asleep a little out of the way as I came, with
Irons upon their heels; but do you think I could awake them? I also
saw _Formalist_ and _Hypocrisie_ come tumbling over the wall, to go,
as they pretended, to _Sion_; but they were quickly lost; even as I
myself did tell them, but they would not believe. But, above all I
found it hard work to get up this Hill, and as hard to come by the
Lion's mouths; and truly if it had not been for the good man, the
Porter that stands at the Gate, I do not know but that after all I
might have gone back again; but now I thank God I am here, and I thank
you for receiving of me.
Then _Prudence_ thought good to ask him a few questions, and desired
his answer to them.
_Prud._ Do you not think sometimes of the Country from whence you
came?
_Chr._ Yes, but with much shame and detestation: Truly, if I had been
mindful of that Country from whence I came out, I might have had
opportunity to have returned; but now I desire a better Country, that
is, an Heavenly.
_Prud._ Do you not yet bear away with you some of the things that then
you were conversant withal?
_Chr._ Yes, but greatly against my will; especially my inward and
carnal cogitations, with which all my countrymen, as well as myself,
were delighted; but now all those things are my grief; and might I but
chuse mine own things, I would chuse never to think of those things
more; but when I would be doing of that which is best, that which is
worst is with me.
_Prud._ Do you not find sometimes, as if those things were vanquished,
which at other times are your perplexity?
_Chr._ Yes, but that is seldom; but they are to me golden hours in
which such things happen to me.
_Prud._ Can you remember by what means you find your annoyances at
times, as if they were vanquished?
_Chr._ Yes, when I think what I saw at the Cross, that will do it; and
when I look upon my broidered Coat, that will do it; also when I look
into the Roll that I carry in my bosom, that will do it; and when my
thoughts wax warm about whither I am going, that will do it.
_Prud._ And what is it that makes you so desirous to go to Mount
_Zion_?
_Chr._ Why, there I hope to see him alive that did hang dead on the
Cross; and there I hope to be rid of all those things that to this day
are in me an annoyance to me; there, they say, there is no death; and
there I shall dwell with such Company as I like best. For to tell you
truth, I love him, because I was by him eased of my Burden, and I am
weary of my inward sickness; I would fain be where I shall die no
more, and with the Company that shall continually cry, _Holy, Holy,
Holy_.
Then said _Charity_ to _Christian_, Have you a family? Are you a
married man?
_Chr._ I have a Wife and four small Children.
_Char._ And why did you not bring them along with you?
_Chr._ Then _Christian_ wept, and said, Oh, how willingly would I have
done it, but they were all of them utterly averse to my going on
Pilgrimage.
_Char._ But you should have talked to them, and have endeavoured to
have shewen them the danger of being behind.
_Chr._ So I did, and told them also what God had shewed to me of the
destruction of our City; but I seemed to them as one that mocked, and
they believed me not.
_Char._ And did you pray to God that he would bless your counsel to
them?
_Chr._ Yes, and that with much affection; for you must think that my
Wife and poor Children were very dear unto me.
_Char._ But did you tell them of your own sorrow, and fear of
destruction? For I suppose that destruction was visible enough to you.
_Chr._ Yes, over, and over, and over. They might also see my fears in
my countenance, in my tears, and also in my trembling under the
apprehension of the Judgment that did hang over our heads; but all was
not sufficient to prevail with them to come with me.
_Char._ But what could they say for themselves, why they came not?
_Chr._ Why, my Wife was afraid of losing this World, and my Children
were given to the foolish Delights of youth: so what by one thing, and
what by another, they left me to wander in this manner alone.
_Char._ But did you not with your vain life, damp all that you by
words used by way of persuasion to bring them away with you?
_Chr._ Indeed I cannot commend my life; for I am conscious to myself
of many failings therein: I know also, that a man by his conversation
may soon overthrow, what by argument or persuasion he doth labour to
fasten upon others for their good. Yet this I can say, I was very wary
of giving them occasion, by any unseemly action, to make them averse
to going on Pilgrimage. Yea, for this very thing they would tell me I
was too precise, and that I denied myself of things (for their sakes)
in which they saw no evil. Nay, I think I may say, that if what they
saw in me did hinder them, it was my great tenderness in sinning
against God, or of doing any wrong to my Neighbour.
_Char._ Indeed _Cain_ hated his Brother, because his own works were
evil, and his Brother's righteous; and if thy Wife and Children have
been offended with thee for this, they thereby shew themselves to be
implacable to good, and thou hast delivered thy soul from their blood.
Now I saw in my Dream, that thus they sat talking together until
supper was ready. So when they had made ready, they sat down to meat.
Now the Table was furnished with fat things, and with Wine that was
well refined: and all their talk at the Table was about the LORD of
the Hill; as namely, about what HE had done, and wherefore HE did what
HE did, and why HE had builded that House: and by what they said, I
perceived that he had been a _great Warriour_, and had fought with and
slain him that had the power of Death, but not without great danger to
himself, which made me love him the more.
For, as they said, and as I believe (said _Christian_), he did it with
the loss of much blood; but that which put Glory of Grace into all he
did, was, that he did it out of pure love to his Country. And besides,
there were some of them of the Household that said they had seen and
spoke with him since he did dye on the Cross; and they have attested
that they had it from his own lips, that he is such a lover of poor
Pilgrims, that the like is not to be found from the East to the West,
They moreover gave an instance of what they affirmed, and that was, He
had stript himself of his glory, that he might do this for the Poor;
and that they heard him say and affirm, That he would not dwell in the
Mountain of _Zion_ alone. They said moreover, that he had made many
Pilgrims Princes, though by nature they were Beggars born, and their
original had been the Dunghill.
Thus they discoursed together till late at night; and after they had
committed themselves to their Lord for protection, they betook
themselves to rest. The Pilgrim they laid in a large upper chamber,
whose window opened towards the Sun-rising; the name of the chamber
was _Peace_, where he slept till break of day; and then he awoke and
sang,--
"Where am I now? Is this the love and care
Of Jesus for the men that Pilgrims are
Thus to provide! That I should be forgiven!
And dwell already the next door to Heaven!"
So in the morning they all got up, and after some more discourse, they
told him that he should not depart till they had shewed him the
_Rarities_ of that place. And first they had him into the Study, where
they shewed him Records of the greatest Antiquity; in which, as I
remember my Dream, they shewed him first the _Pedigree_ of the Lord of
the Hill, that he was the Son of the Ancient of Days, and came by an
Eternal Generation. Here also was more fully recorded the Acts that he
had done, and the names of many hundreds that he had taken into his
service; and how he had placed them in such Habitations that could
neither by length of Days, nor decaies of Nature, be dissolved.
Then they read to him some of the worthy Acts that some of his
Servants had done: as, how they had subdued Kingdoms, wrought
Righteousness, obtained Promises, stopped the mouths of Lions,
quenched the violence of Fire, escaped the edge of the Sword; out of
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to
flight the Armies of the _Aliens_.
Then they read again in another part of the Records of the house,
where it was shewed how willing their Lord was to receive into his
favour any, even any, though they in time past had offered great
affronts to his Person and proceedings. Here also were several other
Histories of many other famous things, of all which _Christian_ had a
view; as of things both Ancient and Modern; together with Prophecies
and Predictions of things that have their certain accomplishment, both
to the dread and amazement of Enemies, and the comfort and solace of
Pilgrims.
The next day they took him and had him into the Armory, where they
shewed him all manner of Furniture, which their Lord had provided for
Pilgrims, as Sword, Shield, Helmet, Brestplate, _All-prayer_, and
Shooes that would not wear out. And there was here enough of this to
harness out as many men for the service of their Lord as there be
Stars in the Heaven for multitude.
They also shewed him some of the Engines with which some of his
Servants had done wonderful things. They shewed him _Moses'_ Rod; the
Hammer and Nail with which _Jael_ slew _Sisera_; the Pitchers,
Trumpets, and Lamps too, with which _Gideon_ put to flight the Armies
of _Midian_. Then they shewed him the Oxes goad wherewith _Shamger_
slew six hundred men. They shewed him also the Jaw-bone with which
_Samson_ did such mighty feats. They shewed him moreover the Sling and
Stone with which _David_ slew _Goliath_ of _Gath_; and the Sword also
with which their Lord will kill the Man of Sin, in the day that he
shall rise up to the prey. They shewed him besides many excellent
things, with which _Christian_ was much delighted. This done, they
went to their rest again.
Then I saw in my Dream, that on the morrow he got up to go forwards,
but they desired him to stay till the next day also; and then, said
they, we will (if the day be clear) shew you the Delectable Mountains,
which, they said, would yet further add to his comfort, because they
were nearer the desired Haven then the place where at present he was.
So he consented and staid. When the morning was up, they had him to
the top of the House, and bid him look South; so he did: and behold at
a great distance he saw a most pleasant Mountainous Country,
beautified with Woods, Vinyards, Fruits of all sorts, Flowers also;
Springs and Fountains, very delectable to behold. Then he asked the
name of the Country. They said it was _Immanuel's Land_; and it is as
common, said they, as this _Hill_ is, to and for all the Pilgrims. And
when thou comest there, from thence, said they, thou maist see to the
gate of the Coelestial City, as the Shepheards that live there will
make appear.
Now he bethought himself of setting forward, and they were willing he
should: but first, said they, let us go again into the Armory. So they
did; and when they came there they harnessed him from head to foot
with what was of proof, lest perhaps he should meet with assaults in
the way. He being therefore thus acoutred, walketh out with his
friends to the Gate, and there he asked the Porter if he saw any
Pilgrims pass by. Then the Porter answered, Yes.
[Illustration: NOW HE BETHOUGHT HIMSELF OF SETTING FORWARD, AND THEY
WERE WILLING HE SHOULD: BUT FIRST, SAID THEY, LET US GO AGAIN INTO THE
ARMORY. SO THEY DID; AND WHEN THEY CAME THERE THEY HARNESSED HIM FROM
HEAD TO FOOT WITH WHAT WAS OF PROOF, LEST PERHAPS HE SHOULD MEET WITH
ASSAULTS IN THE WAY. HE BEING THEREFORE THUS ACOUTRED, WALKETH OUT
WITH HIS FRIENDS TO THE GATE, AND THERE HE ASKED THE PORTER IF HE SAW
ANY PILGRIMS PASS BY]
_Chr._ Pray, did you know him?
_Por._ I asked his name, and he told me it was _Faithful_.
_Chr._ O, said _Christian_, I know him; he is my Townsman, my near
Neighbour, he comes from the place where I was born. How far do you
think he may be before?
_Por._ He has got by this time below the Hill.
_Chr._ Well, said _Christian_, good Porter, the Lord be with thee, and
add to all thy blessings much increase, for the kindness that thou
hast shewed to me.
Then he began to go forward; but _Discretion_, _Piety_, _Charity_, and
_Prudence_ would accompany him down to the foot of the Hill. So they
went on together, reiterating their former discourses, till they came
to go down the Hill. Then said Christian, As it was difficult coming
up, so (so far as I can see) it is dangerous going down. Yes, said
_Prudence_, so it is, for it is an hard matter for a man to go down
into the Valley of _Humiliation_, as thou art now, and to catch no
slip by the way; therefore, said they, are we come out to accompany
thee down the Hill. So he began to go down, but very warily; yet he
caught a slip or two.
Then I saw in my Dream that these good Companions, when _Christian_
was gone down to the bottom of the Hill, gave him a loaf of Bread, a
bottle of Wine, and a cluster of Raisins; and then he went on his way.
CHRISTIAN'S FIGHT WITH APOLLYON
_By John Bunyan_
In this Valley of _Humiliation_, poor _Christian_ was hard put up to
it; for he had gone but a little way, before he espied a foul _Fiend_
coming over the field to meet him; his name is _Apollyon_. Then did
_Christian_ begin to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whither to go
back or to stand his ground. But he considered again that he had no
Armour for his back, and therefore thought that to turn the back to
him might give him greater advantage with ease to pierce him with his
Darts. Therefore he resolved to venture and stand his ground. For,
thought he, had I no more in mine eye then the saving of my life, 't
would be the best way to stand.
So he went on, and _Apollyon_ met him. Now the Monster was hidious to
behold; he was cloathed with scales like a Fish (and they are his
pride); he had wings like a Dragon, and out of his belly came Fire and
Smoak; and his mouth was as the mouth of a Lion. When he was come up
to _Christian_, he beheld him with a disdainful countenance, and thus
began to question with him.
_Apol._ Whence come you? and whither are you bound?
_Chr._ I come from the City of _Destruction_, which is the place of
all evil, and am going to the City of _Zion_.
_Apol._ By this I perceive thou art one of my Subjects, for all that
Country is mine, and I am the Prince and God of it. How is it then
that thou hast run away from thy king? Were it not that I hope thou
maiest do me more service, I would strike thee now at one blow to the
ground.
_Chr._ I was born indeed in your dominions, but your service was hard,
and your wages such as a man could not live on, _for the Wages of Sin
is death_; therefore when I was come to years, I did as other
considerate persons do, look out, if perhaps I might mend myself.
_Apol_ There is no Prince that will thus lightly lose his Subjects,
neither will I as yet lose thee: but since thou complainest of thy
service and wages, be content to go back; what our Country will
afford, I do here promise to give thee.
_Chr._ But I have let myself to another, even to the King of Princes,
and how can I with fairness go back with thee?
_Apol._ Thou hast done in this, according to the Proverb, changed a
bad for a worse; but it is ordinary for those that have professed
themselves his Servants, after a while to give him the slip, and
return again to me: do thou so too, and all shall be well.
_Chr._ I have given him my faith, and sworn my Allegiance to him; how
then can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a Traitor?
_Apol._ Thou diddest the same to me, and yet I am willing to pass by
all, if now thou will turn again and go back.
_Chr._ What I promised thee was in my nonage; and besides, I count
that the Prince under whose Banner now I stand is able to absolve me;
yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee; and
besides, O thou destroying _Apollyon_, to speak truth, I like his
Service, his Wages, his Servants, his Government, his Company and
Country, better than thine; and therefore leave off to perswade me
further; I am his Servant, and I will follow him.
_Apol._ Consider again when thou art in cool blood, what thou art like
to meet with in the way that thou goest. Thou knowest that for the
most part, his Servants come to an ill end, because they are
transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them have been put
to shameful deaths; and besides, thou countest his service better than
mine, whereas he never came yet from the place where he is to deliver
any that served him out of our hands; but as for me, how many times,
as all the World very well knows, have I delivered, either by power or
fraud, those that have faithfully served me, from him and his, though
taken by them; and so I will deliver thee.
_Chr._ His forbearing at present to deliver them is on purpose to try
their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end; and as for the
ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their
account; for, for present deliverance, they do not much expect it, for
they stay for their Glory, and then they shall have it, when their
Prince comes in his and the Glory of the Angels.
_Apol._ Thou hast already been unfaithful in thy service to him, and
how dost thou think to receive wages of him?
_Chr._ Wherein, O _Apollyon_, have I been unfaithful to him?
_Apol._ Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost
choked in the Gulf of _Dispond_; thou diddest attempt wrong ways to be
rid of thy Burden, whereas thou shouldest have stayed till thy Prince
had taken it off; thou didst sinfully sleep and lose thy choice thing;
thou wast also almost perswaded to go back, at the sight of the Lions;
and when thou talkest of thy Journey, and of what thou hast heard and
seen, thou art inwardly desirous of vainglory in all that thou sayest
or doest.
_Chr._ All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but
the Prince whom I serve and honour is merciful, and ready to forgive;
but besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy Country, for there
I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them,
and have obtained pardon of my Prince.
_Apol._ Then _Apollyon_ broke out into a grievous rage, saying, I am
an enemy to this Prince; I hate his Person, his Laws, and People; I am
come out on purpose to withstand thee.
_Chr._ _Apollyon_, beware what you do, for I am in the King's
High-way, the way of Holiness, therefore take heed to yourself.
_Apol._ Then _Apollyon_ strodled quite over the whole breadth of the
way, and said, I am void of fear in this matter, prepare thyself to
dye; for I swear thou shalt go no further; here will I spill thy soul.
And with that he threw a flaming Dart at his brest, but _Christian_
had a Shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented
the danger of that.
Then did _Christian_ draw, for he saw 'twas time to bestir him: and
_Apollyon_ as fast made at him, throwing Darts as thick as Hail; by
the which, notwithstanding all that _Christian_ could do to avoid it,
_Apollyon_ wounded him in his _head_, his _hand_, and _foot_. This
made _Christian_ give a little back; _Apollyon_ therefore followed his
work amain, and _Christian_ again took courage, and resisted as
manfully as he could. This sore Combat lasted for above half a day,
even till _Christian_ was almost quite spent. For you must know that
_Christian_, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and
weaker.
Then _Apollyon_ espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to
_Christian_, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; and
with that _Christian's_ Sword flew out of his hand. Then said
_Apollyon_, _I am sure of thee now_: and with that he had almost prest
him to death, so that _Christian_ began to despair of life. But as God
would have it, while _Apollyon_ was fetching of his last blow, thereby
to make a full end of this good Man, _Christian_ nimbly reached out
his hand for his Sword, and caught it, saying, _Rejoyce not against
me, O mine Enemy! when I fall I shall arise_; and with that gave him a
deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his
mortal wound: _Christian_ perceiving that, made at him again, saying,
_Nay, in all these things we are more then Conquerours_. And with that
_Apollyon_ spread forth his Dragon's wings, and sped him away, that
_Christian_ for a season saw him no more.
In this Combat no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard as I
did, what yelling and hideous roaring _Apollyon_ made all the time of
the fight; he spake like a Dragon: and on the other side, what sighs
and groans brast from _Christian's_ heart. I never saw him all the
while give so much as one pleasant look, till he perceived he had
wounded _Apollyon_ with his two-edged Sword; then indeed he did smile,
and look upward; but 'twas the dreadfullest sight that ever I saw.
So when the Battel was over, _Christian_ said, I will here give thanks
to him that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the Lion, to him
that did help me against _Apollyon_. And so he did, saying,--
"Great _Beelzebub_, the Captain of this Fiend,
Design'd my ruin; therefore to this end
He sent him harnest out: and he with rage
That hellish was, did fiercely me ingage:
But blessed _Michael_ helped me, and I
By dint of Sword did quickly make him fly.
Therefore to him let me give lasting praise,
And thank and bless his holy name always."
Then there came to him an hand, with some of the leaves of the Tree of
Life, the which _Christian_ took, and applyed to the wounds that he
had received in the Battel, and was healed immediately. He also sat
down in that place to eat Bread, and to drink of the Bottle that was
given him a little before; so being refreshed, he addressed himself to
his Journey, with his Sword drawn in his hand; for he said, I know not
but some other Enemy may be at hand. But he met with no other affront
from _Apollyon_ quite through this Valley.
THE CASTLE OF GIANT DESPAIR
_By John Bunyan_
I saw then that they went on their way to a pleasant River, which
_David_ the King called the _River of God_, but _John_, the _River of
the Water of Life_. Now their way lay just upon the bank of the River;
here therefore _Christian_ and his Companion walked with great
delight; they drank also of the water of the River, which was pleasant
and enlivening to their weary spirits: besides, on the banks of this
River on either side were green Trees, that bore all manner of Fruit;
and the Leaves of the Trees were good for Medicine; with the Fruit of
these Trees they were also much delighted; and the Leaves they eat to
prevent Surfeits, and other Diseases that are incident to those that
heat their blood by Travels. On either side of the River was also a
Meadow, curiously beautified with Lilies; and it was green all the
year long. In this Meadow they lay down and slept, for here they might
lie down safely. When they awoke, they gathered again of the Fruit of
the Trees, and drank again of the water of the River, and then lay
down again to sleep. Thus they did several days and nights. Then they
sang,--
"Behold ye how these Christal streams do glide,
(To comfort Pilgrims) by the High-way side;
The Meadows green, besides their fragrant smell,
Yield dainties for them: and he that can tell
What pleasant Fruit, yea Leaves, these Trees do yield,
Will soon sell all, that he may buy this Field."
So when they were disposed to go on (for they were not as yet at their
Journey's end), they eat and drank, and departed.
Now I beheld in my Dream, that they had not journied far, but the
River and the way for a time parted; at which they were not a little
sorry, yet they durst not go out of the way. Now the way from the
River was rough, and their feet tender by reason of their Travels; _so
the soul of the Pilgrims was much discouraged because of the way_.
Wherefore still as they went on, they wished for better way. Now a
little before them, there was on the left hand of the road a Meadow,
and a Stile to go over into it, and that Meadow is called
_Bypath-Meadow._ Then said _Christian_ to his fellow, If this Meadow
lieth along by our way-side, let's go over into it. Then he went to
the Stile to see, and behold a Path lay along by the way on the other
side of the fence. 'Tis according to my wish, said _Christian_, here
is the easiest going; come, good _Hopeful_, and let us go over.
_Hope._ But how if this Path should lead us out of the way?
_Chr._ That's not like, said the other; look, doth it not go along by
the way-side? So _Hopeful_, being perswaded by his fellow, went after
him over the Stile. When they were gone over, and were got into the
Path, they found it very easie for their feet: and withal, they
looking before them, espied a man walking as they did (and his name
was _Vain-confidence_), so they called after him, and asked him
whither that way led? He said, To the Coelestial Gate. Look, said
_Christian_, did I not tell you so? By this you may see we are right.
So they followed, and he went before them. But behold the night came
on, and it grew very dark, so that they that were behind lost the
sight of him that went before.
He therefore that went before (_Vain-confidence_ by name), not seeing
the way before him, fell into a deep Pit, which was on purpose there
made by the Prince of those grounds, to catch vain-glorious fools
withall, and was dashed in pieces with his fall.
Now _Christian_ and his fellow heard him fall. So they called to know
the matter, but there was none to answer, only they heard a groaning.
Then said _Hopeful_, Where are we now? Then was his fellow silent as
mistrusting that he had led him out of the way; and now it began to
rain, and thunder, and lighten in a very dreadful manner, and the
water rose amain.
Then _Hopeful_ groaned in himself, saying, Oh that I had kept on my
way!
_Chr._ Who could have thought that this Path should have led us out of
the way?
_Hope._ I was afraid on't at very first, and therefore gave you that
gentle caution. I would have spoke plainer, but that you are older
then I.
_Chr._ Good Brother, be not offended; I am sorry I have brought thee
out of the way, and that I have put thee into such eminent danger;
pray, my Brother, forgive me, I did not do it of an evil intent.
_Hope._ Be comforted, my Brother, for I forgive thee; and believe too
that this shall be for our good.
_Chr._ I am glad I have with me a merciful Brother; but we must not
stand thus, let's try to go back again.
_Hope._ But, good Brother, let me go before.
_Chr._ No, if you please, let me go first, that if there be any
danger, I may be first therein, because by my means we are both gone
out of the way.
_Hope._ No, said _Hopeful_, you shall not go first; for your mind
being troubled may lead you out of the way again. Then for their
encouragement, they heard the voice of one saying _Let thine heart be
towards the Highway, even the way that thou wentest, turn again_. But
by this time the waters were greatly risen, by reason of which the way
of going back was very dangerous. (Then I thought that it is easier
going out of the way when we are in, than going in when we are out.)
Yet they adventured to go back; but it was so dark, and the flood was
so high, that in their going back they had liked to have been drowned
nine or ten times.
Neither could they, with all the skill they had, get again to the
Stile that night. Wherefore at last, lighting under a little shelter,
they sat down there till the day brake; but being weary, they fell
asleep. Now there was not far from the place where they lay, a Castle
called _Doubting_ Castle, the owner whereof was Giant _Despair_, and
it was in his grounds they now were sleeping: wherefore he, getting up
in the morning early, and walking up and down in his Fields, caught
_Christian_ and _Hopeful_ asleep in his grounds. Then with a grim and
surly voice he bid them awake, and asked them whence they were? and
what they did in his grounds? They told him they were Pilgrims, and
that they had lost their way. Then said the Giant, You have this night
trespassed on me, by trampling in and lying on my grounds, and
therefore you must go along with me. So they were forced to go,
because he was stronger then they. They also had but little to say,
for they knew themselves in a fault. The Giant therefore drove them
before him, and put them into his Castle, into a very dark Dungeon,
nasty and stinking to the spirits of these two men. Here then they lay
from _Wednesday_ morning till _Saturday_ night, without one bit of
bread, or drop of drink, or light, or any to ask how they did; they
were therefore here in evil case, and were far from friends and
acquaintance. Now in this place _Christian_ had double sorrow, because
'twas through his unadvised haste that they were brought into this
distress.
[Illustration: NOW THERE WAS NOT FAR FROM THE PLACE WHERE THEY LAY, A
CASTLE CALLED DOUBTING CASTLE, THE OWNER WHEREOF WAS GIANT DESPAIR....
HE GETTING UP IN THE MORNING EARLY, AND WALKING UP AND DOWN IN HIS
FIELDS, CAUGHT CHRISTIAN AND HOPEFUL ASLEEP IN HIS GROUNDS. THEN WITH
A GRIM AND SURLY VOICE HE BID THEM AWAKE, AND ASKED THEM WHENCE THEY
WERE AND WHAT THEY DID IN HIS GROUNDS. THEY TOLD HIM THAT THEY WERE
PILGRIMS, AND THAT THEY HAD LOST THEIR WAY. THEN SAID THE GIANT, YOU
HAVE THIS NIGHT TRESPASSED ON ME]
Now Giant _Despair_ had a Wife and her name was _Diffidence_. So when
he was gone to bed, he told his Wife what he had done, to wit, that he
had taken a couple of Prisoners and cast them into his Dungeon, for
trespassing on his grounds. Then he asked her also what he had best do
further to them. So she asked him what they were, whence they came,
and whither they were bound; and he told her. Then she counselled him
that when he arose in the morning he should beat them without any
mercy. So when he arose, he getteth him a grievous Crab-tree Cudgel,
and goes down into the Dungeon to them, and there first falls to
rating of them as if they were dogs, although they gave him never a
word of distaste. Then he falls upon them, and beats them fearfully,
in such sort, that they were not able to help themselves, or to turn
them upon the floor. This done, he withdraws and leaves them, there to
condole their misery, and to mourn under their distress: so all that
day they spent the time in nothing but sighs and bitter lamentations.
The next night she talking with her Husband about them further, and
understanding that they were yet alive, did advise him to counsel them
to make away themselves. So when morning was come, he goes to them in
a surly manner as before, and perceiving them to be very sore with the
stripes that he had given them the day before, he told them, that
since they were never like to come out of that place, their only way
would be forthwith to make an end of themselves, either with Knife,
Halter, or Poison. For why, said he, should you chuse life, seeing it
is attended with so much bitterness? But they desired him to let them
go. With that he looked ugly upon them, and rushing to them had
doubtless made an end of them himself, but that he fell into one of
his Fits (for he sometimes in Sunshine weather fell into Fits) and
lost for a time the use of his hand; wherefore he withdrew, and left
them as before, to consider what to do. Then did the Prisoners consult
between themselves, whether 'twas best to take his counsel or no; and
thus they began to discourse:--
_Chr._ Brother, said _Christian_, what shall we do? The life that we
now live is miserable: for my part I know not whether is best, to live
thus, or to die out of hand. _My soul chuseth strangling rather than
life_, and the Grave is more easy for me than this Dungeon. Shall we
be ruled by the Giant?
_Hope._ Indeed our present condition is dreadful, and death would be
far more welcome to me than thus for ever to abide; but yet let us
consider, the Lord of the Country to which we are going hath said,
Thou shalt do no murder, no not to another man's person; much more
then are we forbidden to take his counsel to kill ourselves. Besides,
he that kills another can but commit murder upon his body; but for one
to kill himself is to kill body and soul at once. And moreover, my
Brother, thou talkest of ease in the Grave; but hast thou forgotten
the Hell, whither for certain the murderers go? For no murderer hath
eternal life, _&c._ And let us consider again, that all the Law is not
in the hand of Giant _Despair_. Others, so far as I can understand,
have been taken by him as well as we, and yet have escaped out of his
hand. Who knows but that God that made the world may cause that Giant
_Despair_ may die? Or that at some time or other he may forget to lock
us in? Or but he may in short time have another of his Fits before us,
and may lose the use of his limbs? And if ever that should come to
pass again, for my part I am resolved to pluck up the heart of a man,
and to try my utmost to get from under his hand. I was a fool that I
did not try to do it before; but however, my Brother, let's be
patient, and endure a while; the time may come that may give us a
happy release; but let us not be our own murderers. With these words
_Hopeful_ at present did moderate the mind of his Brother. So they
continued together (in the dark) that day, in their sad and doleful
condition.
Well, towards evening the Giant goes down into the Dungeon again, to
see if his Prisoners had taken his counsel; but when he came there he
found them alive, and truly, alive was all; for now, what for want of
Bread and Water, and by reason of the Wounds they received when he
beat them, they could do little but breathe. But, I say, he found them
alive; at which he fell into a grievous rage, and told them that
seeing they had disobeyed his counsel, it should be worse with them
than if they had never been born.
At this they trembled greatly, and I think that _Christian_ fell into
a Swound; but coming a little to himself again, they renewed their
discourse about the Giant's counsel, and whether yet they had best to
take it or no. Now _Christian_ again seemed to be for doing it, but
_Hopeful_ made his second reply as followeth:
_Hope._ My Brother, said he, rememberest thou not how valiant thou
hast been heretofore? _Apollyon_ could not crush thee, nor could all
that thou didst hear, or see, or feel in the Valley of the _Shadow of
Death_. What hardship, terror, and amazement hast thou already gone
through, and art thou now nothing but fear? Thou seest that I am in
the Dungeon with thee, a far weaker man by nature than thou art; also
this Giant has wounded me as well as thee, and hath also cut off the
Bread and Water from my mouth; and with thee I mourn without the
light. But let's exercise a little more patience; remember how thou
played'st the man at _Vanity Fair_, and wast neither afraid of the
Chain, nor Cage, nor yet of bloody Death: wherefore let us (at least
to avoid the shame, that becomes not a Christian to be found in) bear
up with patience as well as we can.
Now night being come again, and the Giant and his Wife being in bed,
she asked him concerning the Prisoners, and if they had taken his
counsel. To which he replied, They are sturdy Rogues, they chuse
rather to bear all hardship, than to make away themselves. Then said
she, Take them into the Castle-yard to-morrow, and shew them the Bones
and Skulls of those that thou hast already dispatch'd, and make them
believe, e're a week comes to an end, thou also wilt tear them in
pieces, as thou hast done their fellows before them.
So when the morning was come, the Giant goes to them again, and takes
them into the Castle-yard and shews them as his Wife had bidden him.
These, said he, were Pilgrims as you are, once, and they trespassed in
my grounds, as you have done; and when I thought fit I tore them in
pieces, and so within ten days I will do you. Go get you down to your
Den again; and with that he beat them all the way thither. They lay
therefore all day on _Saturday_ in a lamentable case, as before. Now
when night was come, and when Mrs. _Diffidence_ and her Husband the
Giant were got to bed, they began to renew their discourse of their
Prisoners; and withal the old Giant wondered, that he could neither by
his blows nor counsel bring them to an end. And with that his Wife
replied, I fear, said she, that they live in hope that some will come
to relieve them, or that they have pick-locks about them, by the means
of which they hope to escape. And sayest thou so, my dear? said the
Giant, I will therefore search them in the morning.
Well on _Saturday_ about midnight they began to pray, and continued in
Prayer till almost break of day.
Now a little before it was day, good _Christian_, as one half amazed,
brake out in this passionate speech: What a fool, quoth he, am I, thus
to lie in a stinking Dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I
have a Key in my bosom called _Promise_, that will, I am persuaded,
open any Lock in _Doubting_ Castle. Then said _Hopeful_, That's good
news; good Brother, pluck it out of thy bosom and try.
Then _Christian_ pulled it out of his bosom, and began to try at the
Dungeon door, whose bolt (as he turned the Key) gave back, and the
door flew open with ease, and _Christian_ and _Hopeful_ both came out.
Then he went to the outward door that leads into the Castle-yard, and
with his Key opened that door also. After, he went to the iron Gate,
for that must be opened too, but that Lock went damnable hard, yet the
Key did open it. Then they thrust open the Gate to make their escape
with speed, but that Gate as it opened made such a creaking, that it
waked Giant _Despair_, who hastily rising to pursue his Prisoners,
felt his limbs to fail, so that he could by no means go after them.
Then they went on, and came to the King's High-way again, and so were
safe, because they were out of his Jurisdiction.
Now when they were gone over the Stile, they began to contrive with
themselves what they should do at that Stile, to prevent those that
should come after from falling into the hands of Giant _Despair_. So
they consented to erect there a Pillar, and to engrave upon the side
thereof this sentence, _Over this Stile is the way to_ Doubting
_Castle, which is kept by Giant_ Despair, _who despiseth the King of
the Coelestial Country, and seeks to destroy his holy Pilgrims_.
Many therefore that followed after read what was written, and escaped
the danger. This done, they sang as follows:--
"Out of the way we went, and then we found
What 'twas to tread upon forbidden ground;
And let them that come after have a care,
Lest heedlessness makes them, as we, to fare;
Lest they for trespassing his prisoners are,
Whose Castle's _Doubting_, and whose name's _Despair_."
THE DELECTABLE MOUNTAINS
_By John Bunyan_
They went then till they came to the _Delectable Mountains_, which
Mountains belong to the Lord of that Hill of which we have spoken
before; so they went up to the Mountains, to behold the Gardens and
Orchards, the Vineyards and Fountains of water; where also they drank,
and washed themselves, and did freely eat of the Vineyards. Now there
was on the tops of these Mountains _Shepherds_ feeding their flocks,
and they stood by the High-way side. The Pilgrims therefore went to
them, and leaning upon their staves (as is common with weary Pilgrims,
when they stand to talk with any by the way) they asked, _Whose
Delectable Mountains are these? And whose be the sheep that feed upon
them_?
_Shep._ These mountains are _Immanuel's Land_, and they are within
sight of his City; and the sheep also are his, and he laid down his
life for them.
_Chr._ Is this the way to the Coelestial City?
_Shep._ You are just in your way.
_Chr._ How far is it thither?
_Shep._ Too far for any but those that shall get thither
indeed.
_Chr._ Is the way safe or dangerous?
_Shep._ Safe for those for whom it is to be safe, _but transgressors
shall fall therein_.
_Chr._ Is there in this place any relief for Pilgrims that are weary
and faint in the way?
_Shep._ The Lord of these Mountains hath given us a charge _not to be
forgetful to entertain strangers_; therefore the good of the place is
before you.
I saw also in my Dream, that when the Shepherds perceived that they
were way-fairing men, they also put questions to them, (to which they
made answer as in other places) as, Whence came you? and, How got you
into the way? and, By what means have you so persevered therein? For
but few of them that begin to come hither do shew their face on these
Mountains. But when the Shepherds heard their answers, being pleased
therewith, they looked very lovingly upon them, and said, Welcome to
the Delectable Mountains.
The Shepherds, I say, whose names were _Knowledge_, _Experience_,
_Watchful_, and _Sincere_, took them by the hand, and had them to
their Tents, and made them partake of that which was ready at present.
They said moreover, We would that ye should stay here a while, to
acquaint with us; and yet more to solace yourselves with the good of
these Delectable Mountains. They told them that they were content to
stay; and so they went to their rest that night, because it was very
late.
Then I saw in my Dream, that in the morning the Shepherds called up
_Christian_ and _Hopeful_ to walk with them upon the Mountains; so
they went forth with them, and walked a while, having a pleasant
prospect on every side. Then said the Shepherds one to another, Shall
we shew these Pilgrims some wonders? So when they had concluded to do
it, they had them first to the top of an Hill called _Errour_, which
was very steep on the furthest side, and bid them look down to the
bottom. So _Christian_ and _Hopeful_ lookt down, and saw at the bottom
several men dashed all to pieces by a fall that they had from the top.
Then said _Christian_, What meaneth this? The Shepherds answered, Have
you not heard of them that were made to err, by hearkening to
_Hymeneus_ and _Philetus_, as concerning the Faith of the Resurrection
of the Body? They answered, Yes. Then said the Shepherds, Those that
you see lie dashed in pieces at the bottom of this Mountain are they;
and they have continued to this day unburied (as you see) for an
example to others to take heed how they clamber too high, or how they
come too near the brink of this Mountain.
Then I saw that they had them to the top of another Mountain, and the
name of that is _Caution_, and bid them look afar off; which when they
did, they perceived, as they thought, several men walking up and down
among the Tombs that were there; and they perceived that the men were
blind, because they stumbled sometimes upon the Tombs, and because
they could not get out from among them. Then said _Christian_, _What
means this_?
The Shepherds then answered, Did you not see a little below these
Mountains a Stile, that led into a Meadow, on the left hand of this
way? They answered, Yes. Then said the Shepherds, From that Stile
there goes a path that leads directly to _Doubting_ Castle, which is
kept by Giant _Despair_; and these men (pointing to them among the
Tombs) came once on Pilgrimage, as you do now, even till they came to
that same Stile; and because the right way was rough in that place,
they chose to go out of it into that Meadow, and there were taken by
Giant _Despair_, and cast into _Doubting_ Castle; where after they had
been awhile kept in the Dungeon, he at last did put out their eyes,
and led them among those Tombs, where he has left them to wander to
this very day, that the saying of the Wise Man might be fulfilled, _He
that wandereth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the
Congregation of the dead_. Then _Christian_ and _Hopeful_ looked upon
one another, with tears gushing out, but yet said nothing to the
Shepherds.
Then I saw in my Dream, that the Shepherds had them to another place,
in a bottom, where was a door in the side of a Hill; and they opened
the door, and bid them look in. They looked in therefore, and saw that
within it was very dark and smoaky; they also thought that they heard
there a lumbring noise as of Fire, and a cry of some tormented, and
that they smelt the scent of Brimstone. Then said _Christian_, _What
means this?_ The Shepherds told them, This is a by-way to Hell, a way
that Hypocrites go in at; namely, such as sell their Birthright, with
_Esau_; such as sell their Master, as _Judas_; such as blaspheme the
Gospel, with _Alexander_; and that lie and dissemble, with _Ananias_
and _Sapphira_ his Wife.
_Hope._ Then said _Hopeful_ to the Shepherds, I perceive that these
had on them, even every one, a shew of Pilgrimage, as we have now; had
they not?
_Shep._ Yes, and held it a long time too.
_Hope._ How far might they go on Pilgrimage in their day, since they
notwithstanding were thus miserably cast away?
_Shep._ Some further, and some not so far as these Mountains.
Then said the Pilgrims one to another, We had need to cry to the
Strong for strength.
_Shep._ Ay, and you will have need to use it when you have it too.
By this time the Pilgrims had a desire to go forwards, and the
Shepherds a desire they should; so they walked together towards the
end of the Mountains. Then said the Shepherds one to another, Let us
here shew to the Pilgrims the Gates of the Coelestial City, if they
have still to look through our Perspective-Glass. The Pilgrims then
lovingly accepted the motion; so they had them to the top of an high
Hill, called _Clear_, and gave them their Glass to look.
Then they assayed to look, but the remembrance of that last thing that
the Shepherds had shewed them, made their hands shake, by means of
which impediment they could not look steddily through the Glass; yet
they thought they saw something like the Gate, and also some of the
Glory of the place. Then they went away.
THE PILGRIMS WANDER FROM THE WAY
_By John Bunyan_
Christian and Hopeful went then till they came at a place where they
saw a way put itself into their way, and seemed withal to lie as
straight as the way which they should go: and here they knew not which
of the two to take, for both seemed straight before them; therefore
here they stood still to consider. And as they were thinking about the
way, behold a man black of flesh, but covered with a very light Robe,
came to them, and asked them why they stood there? They answered they
were going to the Coelestial City, but knew not which of these ways
to take. Follow me, said the man, it is thither that I am going. So
they followed him in the way that but now came into the road, which by
degrees turned, and turned them so from the City that they desired to
go to, that in little time their faces were turned away from it: yet
they followed him. But by-and-by, before they were aware, he led them
both within the compass of a Net, in which they were both so
intangled, that they knew not what to do; and with that the white Robe
fell off the black man's back: then they saw where they were.
Wherefore there they lay crying some time, for they could not get
themselves out.
_Chr._ Then said _Christian_ to his fellow, Now do I see myself in an
errour. Did not the Shepherds bid us beware of the Flatterers? As is
the saying of the Wise man, so we have found it this day, _A man that
flattereth his Neighbour, spreadeth a Net for his feet_.
_Hope._ They also gave us a Note of directions about the way, for our
more sure finding thereof; but therein we have also forgotten to read,
and have not kept ourselves from the Paths of the Destroyer. Here
_David_ was wiser than wee; for saith he, _Concerning the works of
men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the Paths of the
Destroyer_. Thus they lay bewailing themselves in the Net. At last
they espied a Shining One coming towards them with a Whip of small
cord in his hand. When he was come to the place where they were, he
asked them whence they came? and what they did there? They told him
that they were poor Pilgrims going to _Sion_, but were led out of
their way by a black man, cloathed in white, who bid us, said they,
follow him, for he was going thither too. Then said he with the Whip,
It is _Flatterer_, a false Apostle, that hath transformed himself into
an Angel of Light. So he rent the Net, and let the men out. Then said
he to them, Follow me, that I may set you in your way again: so he led
them back to the way which they had left to follow the _Flatterer_.
Then he asked them, saying, Where did you lie the last night? They
said, With the Shepherds upon the Delectable Mountains. He asked them
then, If they had not of them Shepherds a Note of direction for the
way? They answered, Yes. But did you, said he, when you was at a
stand, pluck out and read your Note? They answered, No. He asked them,
Why? They said they forgot. He asked moreover, If the Shepherds did
not bid them beware of the _Flatterer?_ They answered, Yes; but we did
not imagine, said they, that this fine-spoken man had been he.
Then I saw in my Dream, that he commanded them to lie down; which when
they did, he chastised them sore, to teach them the good way wherein
they should walk; and as he chastised them he said, _As many as I
love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent_. This
done, he bids them go on their way, and take good heed to the other
directions of the Shepherds. So they thanked him for all his kindness,
and went softly along the right way.
"Come hither, you that walk along the way,
See how the Pilgrims fare that go astray;
They catched are in an intangling Net,
'Cause they good Counsel lightly did forget;
'Tis true they rescu'd were, but yet you see
They're scourg'd to boot: Let this your caution be."
Now after a while, they perceived afar off one coming softly and alone
all along the High-way to meet them. Then said _Christian_ to his
fellow, Yonder is a man with his back toward _Sion_, and he is coming
to meet us.
_Hope._ I see him, let us take heed to ourselves now, lest he should
prove a _Flatterer_ also. So he drew nearer and nearer, and at last
came up unto them. His name was _Atheist_, and he asked them whither
they were going?
_Chr._ We are going to Mount _Zion_.
Then _Atheist_ fell into a very great Laughter.
_Chr._ What is the meaning of your Laughter?
_Atheist._ I laugh to see what ignorant persons you are, to take upon
you so tedious a Journey, and yet are like to have nothing but your
travel for your paines.
_Chr._ Why, man? Do you think we shall not be received?
_Atheist._ Received! There is no such place as you dream of in all
this World.
_Chr._ But there is in the World to come.
_Atheist._ When I was at home in mine own Country, I heard as you now
affirm, and from that hearing went out to see, and have been seeking
this City this twenty years; but find no more of it than I did the
first day I set out.
_Chr._ We have both heard and believe that there is such a place to be
found.
_Atheist._ Had not I when at home believed, I had not come thus far to
seek; but finding none, (and yet I should, had there been such a place
to be found, for I have gone to seek it further than you) I am going
back again, and will seek to refresh myself with the things that I
then cast away, for hopes of that which I now see is not.
_Chr._ Then said _Christian_ to _Hopeful_ his fellow, Is it true which
this man hath said?
_Hope._ Take heed, he is one of the _Flatterers_; remember what it
hath cost us once already for our harkening to such kind of Fellows.
What! no Mount _Sion_? Did we not see from the Delectable Mountains
the Gate of the City? Also, are we not now to walk by Faith? Let us go
on, said _Hopeful_, lest the man with the Whip overtakes us again. You
should have taught me that lesson, which I will round you in the ears
withall: _Cease, my Son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err
from the words of knowledge_. I say, my Brother, cease to hear him,
and let us believe to the saving of the Soul.
_Chr._ My Brother, I did not put the question to thee for that I
doubted of the Truth of our belief myself, but to prove thee, and to
fetch from thee a fruit of the honesty of thy heart. As for this man,
I know that he is blinded by the god of this World. Let thee and I go
on, knowing that we have belief of the Truth, and no lie is of the
Truth.
_Hope._ Now do I rejoyce in hope of the glory of God. So they turned
away from the man; and he laughing at them went his way.
THE CELESTIAL CITY
_By John Bunyan_
Now I saw in my Dream, that by this time the Pilgrims were entering
into the Country of _Beulah_, whose air was very sweet and pleasant,
the way lying directly through it, they solaced themselves there for a
season. Yea, here they heard continually the singing of Birds, and saw
every day the Flowers appear in the earth, and heard the voice of the
Turtle in the Land. In this Country the Sun shineth night and day;
wherefore this was beyond the Valley of the _Shadow of Death_, and
also out of the reach of Giant _Despair_, neither could they from this
place so much as see _Doubting_ Castle. Here they were within sight of
the City they were going to, also here met them some of the
inhabitants thereof; for in this land the Shining Ones commonly
walked, because it was upon the borders of Heaven. In this land also
the contract between the Bride and the Bridegroom was renewed; yea,
here, _as the Bridegroom rejoyceth over the Bride, so did their God
rejoice over them_. Here they had no want of Corn and Wine; for in
this place they met with abundance of what they had sought for in all
their Pilgrimage. Here they heard voices from out of the City, loud
voices, saying, _Say ye to the daughter of_ Zion, _Behold thy
salvation cometh, behold his reward is with him_. Here all the
inhabitants of the Country called them, _The holy People, The redeemed
of the Lord, Sought out_, &c.
Now as they walked in this land, they had more rejoicing then in parts
more remote from the Kingdom to which they were bound; and drawing
near to the City, they had yet a more perfect view thereof. It was
builded of Pearls and Precious Stones, also the Street thereof was
paved with Gold; so that by reason of the natural glory of the City,
and the reflection of the Sun-beams upon it, _Christian_ with desire
fell sick; _Hopeful_ also had a fit or two of the same disease.
Wherefore here they lay by it a while, crying out because of their
pangs, _If you see my Beloved, tell him that I am sick of love_.
But being a little strengthened, and better able to bear their
sickness, they walked on their way, and came yet nearer and nearer,
where were Orchards, Vineyards, and Gardens, and their gates opened
into the High-way. Now as they came up to these places, behold the
Gardiner stood in the way, to whom the Pilgrims said, Whose goodly
Vineyards and Gardens are these? He answered, They are the King's, and
are planted here for his own delights, and also for the solace of
Pilgrims. So the Gardiner had them into the Vineyards, and bid them
refresh themselves with Dainties. He also shewed them there the King's
walks, and the Arbors where he delighted to be; and here they tarried
and slept.
Now I beheld in my Dream, that they talked more in their sleep at this
time then ever they did in all their Journey, and being in a muse
thereabout, the Gardiner said even to me, Wherefore musest thou at the
matter? It is the nature of the fruit of the grapes of these Vineyards
to go down so sweetly as to cause the lips of them that are asleep to
speak.
So I saw that when they awoke, they addressed themselves to go unto
the City. But, as I said, the reflections of the Sun upon the City
(for the City was pure Gold) was so extreamly glorious, that they
could not as yet with open face behold it, but through an _Instrument_
made for that purpose. So I saw that as they went on, there met them
two men, in Raiment that shone like Gold, also their faces shone as
the light.
These men asked the Pilgrims whence they came, and they told them.
They also asked them where they had lodged, what difficulties and
dangers, what comforts and pleasures they had met in the way, and they
told them. Then said the men that met them, You have but two
difficulties more to meet with, and then you are in the City.
_Christian_ then and his Companion asked the men to go along with
them, so they told them they would. But said they, you must obtain it
by your own Faith. So I saw in my Dream that they went on together
till they came in sight of the Gate.
Now I further saw that betwixt them and the Gate was a River, but
there was no Bridge to go over; the River was very deep: at the sight
therefore of this River the Pilgrims were much stounded; but the men
that went with them said, You must go through, or you cannot come at
the Gate.
The Pilgrims then began to enquire if there was no other way to the
Gate; to which they answered, Yes, but there hath not any, save two,
to wit, _Enoch_ and _Elijah_, been permitted to tread that path, since
the foundation of the World, nor shall, untill the last Trumpet shall
sound. The Pilgrims then, especially _Christian_, began to dispond in
his mind, and looked this way and that, but no way could be found by
them by which they might escape the River. Then they asked the men if
the Waters were all of a depth? They said, No; yet they could not help
them in that case, for said they, _you shall find it deeper or
shallower, as you believe in the King of the place_.
They then addressed themselves to the Water; and entring, _Christian_
began to sink, and crying out to his good friend _Hopeful_, he said, I
sink in deep Waters; the Billows go over my head, all his Waves go
over me, _Selah_.
Then said the other, Be of good chear, my Brother, I feel the bottom,
and it is good. Then said _Christian_, Ah my friend, the sorrows of
death have compassed me about, I shall not see the land that flows
with milk and honey. And with that a great darkness and horror fell
upon _Christian_, so that he could not see before him. Also here he in
great measure lost his senses, so that he could neither remember, nor
orderly talk of any of those sweet refreshments that he had met with
in the way of his Pilgrimage. But all the words that he spake, still
tended to discover that he had horror of mind, and heart-fears that he
should die in that River, and never obtain entrance in at the Gate.
Here also, as they that stood by perceived, he was much in the
troublesome thoughts of the sins that he had committed, both since and
before he began to be a Pilgrim. 'Twas also observed that he was
troubled with apparitions of Hobgoblins and evil Spirits, for ever and
anon he would intimate so much by words. _Hopeful_ therefore here had
much adoe to keep his Brother's head above water; yea sometimes he
would be quite gone down, and then ere a while he would rise up again
half dead. _Hopeful_ also would endeavour to comfort him, saying,
Brother, I see the Gate, and men standing by to receive us. But
_Christian_ would answer, 'Tis you, 'tis you they wait for, you have
been _hopeful_ ever since I knew you. And so have you, said he to
_Christian_. Ah Brother, said he, surely if I was right, he would now
arise to help me; but for my sins he hath brought me into the snare,
and hath left me. Then said _Hopeful_, My Brother, you have quite
forgot the Text, where it is said of the wicked, _There is no band in
their death, but their strength is firm, they are not troubled as
other men, neither are they plagued like other men_. These troubles
and distresses that you go through in these Waters are no sign that
God hath forsaken you, but are sent to try you, whether you will call
to mind that which heretofore you have received of his goodness, and
live upon him in your distresses.
Then I saw in my Dream, that _Christian_ was as in a muse a while. To
whom also _Hopeful_ added this word, _Be of good cheer, Jesus Christ
maketh thee whole_; and with that _Christian_ brake out with a loud
voice, Oh I see him again, and he tells me, _When thou passest through
the Waters, I will be with thee; and through the Rivers, they shall
not overflow thee_. Then they both took courage, and the Enemy was
after that as still as a stone untill they were gone over. _Christian_
therefore presently found ground to stand upon, and so it followed
that the rest of the River was but shallow. Thus they got over. Now
upon the bank of the River on the other side, they saw the two shining
men again, who there waited for them; wherefore being come out of the
River, they saluted them saying, _We are ministring Spirits, sent
forth to minister for those that shall be heirs of salvation._ Thus
they went along towards the Gate. Now you must note that the City
stood upon a mighty Hill, but the Pilgrims went up that Hill with ease
because they had these two men to lead them up by the arms; also they
had left their Mortal Garments behind them in the River, for though
they went in with them, they came out without them. They therefore
went up here with much agility and speed, though the foundation upon
which the City was framed was higher than the Clouds. They therefore
went up through the Regions of the Air, sweetly talking as they went,
being comforted, because they safely got over the River, and had such
glorious Companions to attend them.
The talk they had with the Shining Ones was about the glory of the
place, who told them that the beauty and glory of it was
inexpressible. There, said they, is the Mount _Sion_, the heavenly
_Jerusalem_, the innumerable company of Angels, and the Spirits of
Just Men made perfect. You are going now, said they, to the Paradice
of God, wherein you shall see the Tree of Life, and eat of the
never-fading fruits thereof; and when you come there, you shall have
white Robes given you, and your walk and talk shall be every day with
the King, even all the days of Eternity. There you shall not see again
such things as you saw when you were in the lower Region upon the
earth, to wit, sorrow, sickness, affliction, and death, _for the
former things are passed away_. You are now going to _Abraham_, to
_Isaac_, and _Jacob_, and to the Prophets, men that God hath taken
away from the evil to come, and that are now resting upon their Beds,
each one walking in his righteousness. The men then asked, What must
we do in the holy place? To whom it was answered, You must there
receive the comfort of all your toil, and have joy for all your
sorrow; you must reap what you have sown, even the fruit of all your
Prayers and Tears, and sufferings for the King by the way. In that
place you must wear Crowns of Gold, and enjoy the perpetual sight and
vision of the Holy One, _for there you shall see him as he is_. There
also you shall serve him continually with praise, with shouting, and
thanksgiving, whom you desired to serve in the World, though with much
difficulty, because of the infirmity of your flesh. There your eyes
shall be delighted with seeing, and your ears with hearing the
pleasant voice of the Mighty One. There you shall enjoy your friends
again, that are gone thither before you; and there you shall with joy
receive even every one that follows into the holy place after you.
There also shall you be cloathed with Glory and Majesty, and put into
an equipage fit to ride out with the King of Glory. When he shall come
with sound of Trumpet in the Clouds, as upon the wings of the Wind,
you shall come with him; and when he shall sit upon the Throne of
Judgement, you shall sit by him; yea, and when he shall pass sentence
upon all the workers of Iniquity, let them be Angels or Men, you also
have a voice in that Judgement, because they were his and your
Enemies. Also when he shall again return to the City, you shall go
too, with sound of Trumpet, and be ever with him.
Now while they were thus drawing towards the Gate, behold a company of
the Heavenly Host came out to meet them; to whom it was said by the
other two Shining Ones, These are the men that have loved our Lord
when they were in the World, and that have left all for his holy Name,
and he hath sent us to fetch them, and we have brought them thus far
on their desired Journey, that they may go in and look their Redeemer
in the face with joy. Then the Heavenly Host gave a great shout,
saying, _Blessed are they that are called to the Marriage Supper of
the Lamb_. There came out also at this time to meet them several of
the King's Trumpeters, cloathed in white and shining Raiment, who with
melodious noises and loud, made even the Heavens to echo with their
sound. These Trumpeters saluted _Christian_ and his fellow with ten
thousand welcomes from the World, and this they did with shouting and
sound of Trumpet.
This done, they compassed them round on every side; some went before,
some behind, and some on the right hand, some on the left, (as 't were
to guard them through the upper Regions) continually sounding as they
went with melodious noise, in notes on high: so that the very sight
was to them that could behold it, as if Heaven itself was come down to
meet them. Thus therefore they walked on together; and as they walked,
ever and anon these Trumpeters, even with joyful sound, would, by
mixing their musick with looks and gestures, still signify to
_Christian_ and his Brother, how welcome they were into their company,
and with what gladness they came to meet them; and now were these two
men as 't were in Heaven before they came at it, being swallowed up
with the sight of Angels, and with hearing of their melodious notes.
Here also they had the City itself in view, and they thought they
heard all the Bells therein ring to welcome them thereto. But above
all, the warm and joyful thoughts that they had about their own
dwelling there, with such company, and that for ever and ever. Oh, by
what tongue or pen can their glorious joy be expressed! And thus they
came up to the Gate.
Now when they were come up to the Gate, there was written over it in
Letters of Gold, _Blessed are they that do his Commandments, that they
may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the Gates
into the City_.
Then I saw in my Dream, that the Shining Men bid them call at the
Gate; the which when they did, some from above looked over the Gate,
to wit, _Enoch_, _Moses_, and _Elijah_, _&c._ to whom it was said,
These Pilgrims are come from the City of _Destruction_ for the love
that they bear to the King of this place; and then the Pilgrims gave
in unto them each man his Certificate, which they had received in the
beginning; those therefore were carried in to the King, who when he
had read them, said, Where are the men? To whom it was answered, They
are standing without the Gate. The King then commanded to open the
Gate, _That the righteous nation_, said he, _that keepeth Truth may
enter in_.
Now I saw in my Dream that these two men went in at the Gate: and loe,
as they entered, they were transfigured, and they had Raiment put on
that shone like Gold. There was also that met them with Harps and
Crowns, and gave them to them, the Harps to praise withall, and the
Crowns in token of honor. Then I heard in my Dream that all the Bells
in the City rang again for joy, and that it was said unto them, _Enter
ye into the joy of your Lord_. I also heard the men themselves, that
they sang with a loud voice, saying, _Blessing, Honour, Glory, and
Power be to him that sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb for ever
and ever_.
Now just as the Gates were opened to let in the men, I looked in after
them, and behold, the City shone like the Sun; the Streets also were
paved with Gold, and in them walked many men, with Crowns on their
heads, Palms in their hands, and golden Harps to sing praises withall.
There were also of them that had wings, and they answered one another
without intermission, saying, _Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord_. And
after that they shut up the Gates. Which when I had seen, I wished
myself among them.
Now while I was gazing upon all these things, I turned my head to look
back, and saw _Ignorance_ come up to the River-side; but he soon got
over, and that without half that difficulty which the other two men
met with. For it happened that there was then in that place one
_Vainhope_ a Ferry-man, that with his Boat helped him over; so he, as
the other I saw, did ascend the Hill to come up to the Gate, only he
came alone; neither did any man meet him with the least incouragement.
When he was come up to the Gate, he looked up to the writing that was
above, and then began to knock, supposing that entrance should have
been quickly administered to him; but he was asked by the men that
lookt over the top of the Gate, Whence came you? and what would you
have? He answered, I have eat and drank in the presence of the King,
and he has taught in our Streets. Then they asked him for his
Certificate, that they might go in and shew it to the King. So he
fumbled in his bosom for one, and found none. Then said they, Have you
none? But the man answered never a word. So they told the King, but he
would not come down to see him, but commanded the two Shining Ones
that conducted _Christian_ and _Hopeful_ to the City, to go out and
take _Ignorance_, and bind him hand and foot, and have him away. Then
they took him up, and carried him through the air to the door that I
saw in the side of the Hill, and put him in there. Then I saw that
there was a way to Hell even from the Gates of Heaven, as well as from
the City of _Destruction_. So I awoke, and behold it was a Dream.
ROBINSON CRUSOE
ROBINSON CRUSOE IS SHIPWRECKED
_By Daniel Defoe_
Our ship was about a hundred and twenty tons' burthen, carried six
guns and fourteen men, besides the master, his boy, and myself. We had
on board no large cargo of goods, except of such toys as were fit for
our trade with the negroes,--such as beads, bits of glass, shells, and
odd trifles, especially little looking-glasses, knives, scissors,
hatchets, and the like.
The same day I went on board we set sail, standing away to the
northward upon our own coast, with design to stretch over for the
African coast, when they came about ten or twelve degrees of northern
latitude, which, it seems, was the manner of their course in those
days. We had very good weather, only excessive hot, all the way upon
our own coast, till we came the height of Cape St. Augustino, from
whence, keeping farther off at sea, we lost sight of land, and steered
as if we were bound for the Isle Fernando de Noronha, holding our
course N.E. by N., and leaving those isles on the east. In this course
we passed the line in about twelve days' time, and were, by our last
observation, in 7° 22' northern latitude, when a violent tornado, or
hurricane, took us quite out of our knowledge. It began from the
southeast, came about to the northwest, and then settled into the
northeast, from whence it blew in such a terrible manner that for
twelve days together we could do nothing but drive, and, scudding away
before it, let it carry us where-ever fate and the fury of the winds
directed; and during these twelve days, I need not say that I expected
every day to be swallowed up, nor, indeed, did any in the ship expect
to save their lives.
In this distress we had, besides the terror of the storm, one of our
men die of the calenture, and one man and the boy washed overboard.
About the twelfth day, the weather abating a little, the master made
an observation as well as he could, and found that he was in about
eleven degrees north latitude, but that he was twenty-two degrees of
longitude difference west from Cape St. Augustino; so that he found he
was gotten upon the coast of Guiana, or the north part of Brazil,
beyond the river Amazon, toward that of the river Orinoco, commonly
called the Great River, and began to consult with me what course he
should take, for the ship was leaky and very much disabled, and he was
going directly back to the coast of Brazil.
I was positively against that; and looking over the charts of the
sea-coast of America with him, we concluded there was no inhabited
country for us to have recourse to till we came within the circle of
the Caribbee Islands and therefore resolved to stand away for
Barbadoes, which by keeping off at sea, to avoid the indraft of the
Bay or Gulf of Mexico, we might easily perform, as we hoped, in about
fifteen days' sail; whereas we could not possibly make our voyage to
the coast of Africa without some assistance, both to our ship and to
ourselves.
With this design we changed our course, and steered away N.W. by W. in
order to reach some of our English islands, where I hoped for relief;
but our voyage was otherwise determined; for being in the latitude of
12° 18', a second storm came upon us, which carried us away with the
same impetuosity westward, and drove us so out of the very way of all
human commerce that had all our lives been saved as to the sea, we
were rather in danger of being devoured by savages than ever returning
to our own country.
In this distress, the wind still blowing very hard, one of our men
early in the morning cried out, "Land!" and we had no sooner ran out
of the cabin to look out, in hopes of seeing whereabouts in the world
we were, but the ship struck upon a sand, and in a moment, her motion
being so stopped, the sea broke over her in such a manner that we
expected we should all have perished immediately; and we were
immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the
very foam and spray of the sea.
It is not easy for any one who has not been in the like condition to
describe or conceive the consternation of men in such circumstances.
We knew nothing where we were, or upon what land it was we were
driven, whether an island or the main, whether inhabited or not
inhabited; and as the rage of the wind was still great, though rather
less than at first, we could not so much as hope to have the ship hold
many minutes without breaking in pieces, unless the winds, by a kind
of miracle, should turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking
one upon another, and expecting death every moment, and every man
acting accordingly, as preparing for another world; for there was
little or nothing more for us to do in this. That which was our
present comfort, and all the comfort we had, was that, contrary to our
expectation, the ship did not break yet, and that the master said the
wind began to abate.
Now, though we thought that the wind did a little abate, yet the ship
having thus struck upon the sand, and sticking too fast for us to
expect her getting off, we were in a dreadful condition indeed, and
had nothing to do but to think of saving our lives as well as we
could. We had a boat at our stern just before the storm, but she was
first staved by dashing against the ship's rudder, and in the next
place she broke away, and either sunk or was driven off to sea, so
there was no hope from her; we had another boat on board, but how to
get her off into the sea was a doubtful thing. However, there was no
room to debate, for we fancied the ship would break in pieces every
minute, and some told us she was actually broken already.
In this distress, the mate of our vessel lays hold of the boat, and
with the help of the rest of the men they got her slung over the
ship's side; and getting all into her, let go, and committed
ourselves, being eleven in number, to God's mercy and the wild sea;
for though the storm was abated considerably, yet the sea went
dreadful high upon the shore, and might well be called _den wild Zee_,
as the Dutch call the sea in a storm.
And now our case was very dismal indeed, for we all saw plainly that
the sea went so high that the boat could not live, and that we should
be inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had none; nor if we had,
could we have done anything with it; so we worked at the oar towards
the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution, for
we all knew that when the boat came nearer the shore, she would be
dashed in a thousand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we
committed our souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind
driving us towards the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own
hands, pulling as well as we could towards land.
What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether steep or shoal, we
knew not; the only hope that could rationally give us the least shadow
of expectation was, if we might happen into some bay or gulf, or the
mouth of some river, where by great chance we might have run our boat
in, or got under the lee of the land, and perhaps made smooth water.
But there was nothing of this appeared; but as we made nearer and
nearer the shore, the land looked more frightful than the sea.
After we had rowed, or rather driven, about a league and a half, as we
reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us,
and plainly bade us expect the _coup de grâce_. In a word, it took us
with such a fury that it overset the boat at once; and separating us,
as well from the boat as from one another, gave us not time hardly to
say, "O God!" for we were all swallowed up in a moment.
Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt when I sunk
into the water; for though I swam very well, yet I could not deliver
myself from the waves so as to draw breath, till that wave having
driven me, or rather carried me, a vast way on towards the shore, and
having spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land almost dry,
but half dead with the water I took in. I had so much presence of
mind, as well as breath left, that seeing myself nearer the mainland
than I expected, I got upon my feet, and endeavored to make on towards
the land as fast as I could, before another wave should return and
take me up again. But I soon found it was impossible to avoid it; for
I saw the sea come after me as high as a great hill, and as furious as
an enemy, which I had no means or strength to contend with. My
business was to hold my breath, and raise myself upon the water, if I
could; and so, by swimming, to preserve my breathing, and pilot myself
towards the shore, if possible; my greatest concern now being that the
sea, as it would carry me a great way towards the shore when it came
on, might not carry me back again with it when it gave back towards
the sea.
The wave that came upon me again buried me at once twenty or thirty
feet deep in its own body, and I could feel myself carried with a
mighty force and swiftness towards the shore a very great way; but I
held my breath, and assisted myself to swim still forward with all my
might. I was ready to burst with holding my breath when, as I felt
myself rising up, so, to my immediate relief, I found my head and
hands shoot out above the surface of the water; and though it was not
two seconds of time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved me
greatly, gave me breath and new courage. I was covered again with
water a good while, but not so long but I held it out; and finding the
water had spent itself, and began to return, I struck forward against
the return of the waves, and felt ground again with my feet. I stood
still a few moments to recover breath, and till the water went from
me, and then took to my heels and ran with what strength I had farther
towards the shore. But neither would this deliver me from the fury of
the sea, which came pouring in after me again, and twice more I was
lifted up by the waves and carried forwards as before, the shore being
very flat.
The last time of these two had well near been fatal to me; for the
sea, having hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed
me, against a piece of a rock, and that with such force as it left me
senseless, and indeed helpless as to my own deliverance; for the blow
taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were quite out of my
body; and had it returned again immediately, I must have been
strangled in the water. But I recovered a little before the return of
the waves, and seeing I should be covered again with the water, I
resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my
breath, if possible, till the wave went back. Now as the waves were
not so high as at first, being near land, I held my hold till the wave
abated, and then fetched another run, which brought me so near the
shore that the next wave, though it went over me, yet did not so
swallow me up as to carry me away, and the next run I took I got to
the mainland, where, to my great comfort, I clambered up the cliffs of
the shore, and sat me down upon the grass, free from danger, and quite
out of the reach of the water.
I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to look up and thank
God that my life was saved in a case wherein there was some minutes
before scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express
to the life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are when it
is so saved, as I may say, out of the very grave; and I do not wonder
now at that custom, viz., that when a malefactor who has the halter
about his neck, is tied up, and just going to be turned off, and has a
reprieve brought to him--I say, I do not wonder that they bring a
surgeon with it, to let him blood that very moment they tell him of
it, that the surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart,
and overwhelm him:--
"For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first."
I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands, and my whole being,
as I may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance, making
a thousand gestures and motions which I cannot describe, reflecting
upon all my comrades that were drowned, and that there should not be
one soul saved but myself; for, as for them, I never saw them
afterwards, or any sign of them, except three of their hats, one cap,
and two shoes that were not fellows.
I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel, when the breach and froth of
the sea being so big I could hardly see it, it lay so far off, and
considered, Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore?
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition,
I began to look round me to see what kind of place I was in, and what
was next to be done, and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, in
a word, I had a dreadful deliverance; for I was wet, had no clothes to
shift me, nor anything either to eat or drink to comfort me, neither
did I see any prospect before me but that of perishing with hunger, or
being devoured by wild beasts; and that which was particularly
afflicting to me was, that I had no weapon either to hunt and kill any
creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any other
creatures that might desire to kill me for theirs. In a word, I had
nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, and a little tobacco in
a box. This was all my provision; and this threw me into terrible
agonies of mind, that for a while I ran about like a madman. Night
coming upon me, I began, with a heavy heart, to consider what would be
my lot if there were any ravenous beasts in that country, seeing at
night they always come abroad for their prey.
All the remedy that offered to my thoughts at that time was, to get up
into a thick bushy tree like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me,
and where I resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what
death I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked
about a furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any fresh water
to drink, which I did, to my great joy; and having drank, and put a
little tobacco in my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and
getting up into it, endeavored to place myself so, as that if I should
sleep I might not fall; and having cut me a short stick, like a
truncheon for my defense, I took up my lodging, and having been
excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as,
I believe, few could have done in my condition, and found myself the
most refreshed with it that I think I ever was on such an occasion.
UNLOADING A WRECK
_By Daniel Defoe_
My next work was to view the country and seek a proper place for my
habitation, and where to stow my goods to secure them from whatever
might happen. Where I was, I yet knew not; whether on the continent or
on an island; whether inhabited or not inhabited; whether in danger of
wild beasts or not. There was a hill, not above a mile from me, which
rose up very steep and high, and which seemed to overtop some other
hills, which lay as in a ridge from it, northward. I took out one of
the fowling-pieces and one of the pistols, and a horn of powder; and
thus armed, I traveled for discovery up to the top of that hill,
where, after I had with great labor and difficulty got to the top, I
saw my fate to my great affliction, viz., that I was in an island
environed every way with the sea, no land to be seen, except some
rocks which lay a great way off, and two small islands less than this,
which lay about three leagues to the west.
I found, also, that the island I was in was barren, and, as I saw good
reason to believe, uninhabited, except by wild beasts, of whom,
however, I saw none; yet I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not their
kinds; neither, when I killed them, could I tell what was fit for
food, and what not. At my coming back, I shot at a great bird which I
saw sitting upon a tree on the side of a great wood. I believe it was
the first gun that had been fired there since the creation of the
world. I had no sooner fired, but from all the parts of the wood there
arose an innumerable number of fowls of many sorts, making a confused
screaming, and crying every one according to his usual note; but not
one of them of any kind that I knew. As for the creature I killed, I
took it to be a kind of a hawk, its color and beak resembling it, but
it had no talons or claws more than common; its flesh was carrion, and
fit for nothing.
Contented with this discovery, I came back to my raft, and fell to
work to bring my cargo on shore, which took me up the rest of that
day; and what to do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed where
to rest; for I was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but
some wild beast might devour me, though, as I afterwards found, there
was really no need for those fears. However, as well as I could, I
barricaded myself round with the chests and boards that I had brought
on shore, and made a kind of a hut for that night's lodging; as for
food, I yet saw not which way to supply myself, except that I had seen
two or three creatures like hares run out of the wood where I shot the
fowl.
I now began to consider, that I might yet get a great many things out
of the ship which would be useful to me, and particularly some of the
rigging and sails, and such other things as might come to land; and I
resolved to make another voyage on board the vessel, if possible. And
as I knew that the first storm that blew must necessarily break her
all in pieces, I resolved to set all other things apart till I got
everything out of the ship that I could get. Then I called a council,
that is to say, in my thoughts, whether I should take back the raft,
but this appeared impracticable; so I resolved to go as before, when
the tide was down; and I did so, only that I stripped before I went
from my hut, having nothing on but a chequered shirt and a pair of
linen drawers, and a pair of pumps on my feet.
I got on board the ship as before, and prepared a second raft, and
having had experience of the first, I neither made this so unwieldy,
nor loaded it so hard; but yet I brought away several things very
useful to me; as, first, in the carpenter's stores I found two or
three bags full of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or
two of hatchets, and, above all, that most useful thing called a
grindstone. All these I secured, together with several things
belonging to the gunner, particularly two or three iron crows, and two
barrels of musket bullets, seven muskets, and another fowling-piece,
with some small quantity of powder more; a large bag full of
smallshot, and a great roll of sheet lead; but this last was so heavy
I could not hoist it up to get it over the ship's side. Besides these
things, I took all the men's clothes that I could find, and a spare
foretop sail, a hammock, and some bedding; and with this I loaded my
second raft, and brought them all safe on shore, to my very great
comfort.
[Illustration: I GOT ON BOARD THE SHIP AS BEFORE AND PREPARED A SECOND
RAFT. I TOOK ALL THE MEN'S CLOTHES THAT I COULD FIND, AND A SPARE
FORETOP SAIL, A HAMMOCK, AND SOME BEDDING: AND WITH HIS I LOADED MY
SECOND RAFT, AND BROUGHT THEM ALL SAFE ON SHORE, TO MY VERY GREAT
COMFORT]
I was under some apprehensions during my absence from the land that at
least my provisions might be devoured on shore; but when I came back,
I found no sign of any visitor, only there sat a creature like a
wildcat upon one of the chests, which, when I came towards it, ran
away a little distance, and then stood still. She sat very composed
and unconcerned, and looked full in my face, as if she had a mind to
be acquainted with me. I presented my gun at her; but as she did not
understand it, she was perfectly unconcerned at it, nor did she offer
to stir away; upon which I tossed her a bit of biscuit, though, by the
way, I was not very free of it, for my store was not great. However, I
spared her a bit, I say, and she went to it, smelled of it, and ate
it, and looked (as pleased) for more; but I thanked her, and could
spare no more, so she marched off.
Having got my second cargo on shore, though I was fain to open the
barrels of powder and bring them by parcels, for they were too heavy,
being large casks, I went to work to make me a little tent with the
sail and some poles which I cut for that purpose; and into this tent I
brought everything that I knew would spoil either with rain or sun;
and I piled all the empty chests and casks up in a circle round the
tent, to fortify it from any sudden attempt, either from man or beast.
When I had done this I blocked up the door of the tent with some
boards within, and an empty chest set up on end without; and spreading
one of the beds upon the ground, laying my two pistols just at my
head, and my gun at length by me, I went to bed for the first time,
and slept very quietly all night, for I was very weary and heavy; for
the night before I had slept little, and had labored very hard all
day, as well to fetch all those things from the ship, as to get them
on shore.
I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now that ever was laid up, I
believe, for one man; but I was not satisfied still, for while the
ship sat upright in that posture, I thought I ought to get everything
out of her that I could. So every day at low water I went on board,
and brought away something or other; but, particularly, the third time
I went I brought away as much of the rigging as I could, as also all
the small ropes and rope-twine I could get, with a piece of spare
canvas, which was to mend the sails upon occasion, and the barrel of
wet gunpowder; in a word, I brought away all the sails first and last,
only that I was fain to cut them in pieces, and bring as much at a
time as I could; for they were no more useful to be sails, but as mere
canvas only.
But that which comforted me more still was that, at last of all, after
I had made five or six such voyages as these, and thought I had
nothing more to expect from the ship that was worth my meddling
with,--I say, after all this, I found a great hogshead of bread, and
three large runlets of rum or spirits, and a box of sugar, and a
barrel of fine flour; this was surprising to me, because I had given
over expecting any more provisions, except what was spoilt by the
water. I soon emptied the hogshead of that bread, and wrapped it up
parcel by parcel in pieces of the sails, which I cut out; and, in a
word, I got all this safe on shore also.
The next day I made another voyage. And now, having plundered the ship
of what was portable and fit to hand out, I began with the cables; and
cutting the great cable into pieces, such as I could move, I got two
cables and a hawser on shore, with all the iron-work I could get; and
having cut down the sprit-sail yard, and the mizzen yard, and
everything I could to make a large raft, I loaded it with all those
heavy goods, and came away. But my good luck began now to leave me;
for this raft was so unwieldy, and so overladen, that after I was
entered the little cove where I had landed the rest of my goods, not
being able to guide it so handily as I did the other, it overset, and
threw me and all my cargo into the water. As for myself, it was no
great harm, for I was near the shore; but as to my cargo, it was great
part of it lost, especially the iron, which I expected would have been
of great use to me. However, when the tide was out I got most of the
pieces of cable ashore, and some of the iron, though with infinite
labor; for I was fain to dip for it into the water, a work which
fatigued me very much. After this I went every day on board, and
brought away what I could get.
I had been now thirteen days on shore, and had been eleven times on
board the ship; in which time I had brought away all that one pair of
hands could well be supposed capable to bring, though I believe
verily, had the calm weather held, I should have brought away the
whole ship piece by piece. But preparing the twelfth time to go on
board, I found the wind begin to rise. However, at low water I went on
board, and though I thought I had rummaged the cabin so effectually as
that nothing more could be found, yet I discovered a locker with
drawers in it, in one of which I found two or three razors, and one
pair of large scissors, with some ten or a dozen of good knives and
forks; in another, I found about thirty-six pounds value in money,
some European coin, some Brazil, some pieces of eight, some gold, some
silver.
I smiled to myself at the sight of this money. "O drug!" said I aloud,
"what art thou good for? Thou art not worth to me, no, not the taking
off of the ground; one of those knives is worth all this heap. I have
no manner of use for thee; even remain where thou art, and go to the
bottom as a creature whose life is not worth saving." However, upon
second thoughts I took it away; and wrapping all this in a piece of
canvas, I began to think of making another raft; but while I was
preparing this, I found the sky overcast, and the wind began to rise,
and in a quarter of an hour it blew a fresh gale from the shore. It
presently occurred to me that it was in vain to pretend to make a raft
with the wind off shore, and that it was my business to be gone before
the tide of flood began, otherwise I might not be able to reach the
shore at all. Accordingly I let myself down into the water, and swam
across the channel, which lay between the ship and the sands, and even
that with difficulty enough, partly with the weight of the things I
had about me, and partly the roughness of the water; for the wind rose
very hastily, and before it was quite high water it blew a storm.
But I was gotten home to my little tent, where I lay with all my
wealth about me very secure. It blew very hard all that night, and in
the morning when I looked out, behold, no more ship was to be seen. I
was a little surprised, but recovered myself with this satisfactory
reflection, viz., that I had lost no time, nor abated no diligence, to
get everything out of her that could be useful to me, and that indeed
there was little left in her that I was able to bring away if I had
had more time.
ROBINSON CRUSOE'S FIRST HOME ON THE ISLAND
_By Daniel Defoe_
I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or of anything out of
her, except what might drive on shore from her wreck, as indeed divers
pieces of her afterwards did; but those things were of small use to
me.
My thoughts were now wholly employed about securing myself against
either savages, if any should appear, or wild beasts, if any were in
the island; and I had many thoughts of the method how to do this, and
what kind of dwelling to make, whether I should make me a cave in the
earth, or a tent upon the earth; and, in short, I resolved upon both,
the manner and description of which it may not be improper to give an
account of.
I soon found the place I was in was not for my settlement,
particularly because it was upon a low moorish ground near the sea,
and I believed would not be wholesome; and more particularly because
there was no fresh water near it. So I resolved to find a more healthy
and more convenient spot of ground.
I consulted several things in my situation, which I found would be
proper for me. First, health and fresh water, I just now mentioned.
Secondly, shelter from the heat of the sun. Thirdly, security from
ravenous creatures, whether men or beasts. Fourthly, a view to the
sea, that if God sent any ship in sight I might not lose any advantage
for my deliverance, of which I was not to banish all my expectation
yet.
In search of a place proper for this, I found a little plain on the
side of a rising hill, whose front towards this little plain was steep
as a house-side, so that nothing could come down upon me from the top.
On the side of this rock there was a hollow place, worn a little way
in, like the entrance or door of a cave; but there was not really any
cave, or way into the rock at all.
On the flat of the green, just before this hollow place, I resolved to
pitch my tent. This plain was not above an hundred yards broad, and
about twice as long, and lay like a green before my door, and at the
end of it descended irregularly every way down into the low grounds by
the seaside. It was on the N.N.W. side of the hill, so that I was
sheltered from the heat every day, till it came to a W. and by S. sun,
or thereabouts, which in those countries is near the setting.
Before I set up my tent, I drew a half-circle before the hollow place,
which took in about ten yards in its semi-diameter from the rock, and
twenty yards in its diameter from its beginning and ending. In this
half-circle I pitched two rows of strong stakes, driving them into the
ground till they stood very firm like piles, the biggest end being out
of the ground about five feet and a half, and sharpened on the top.
The two rows did not stand above six inches from one another.
Then I took the pieces of cable which I had cut in the ship, and laid
them in rows one upon another, within the circle, between these two
rows of stakes, up to the top, placing other stakes in the inside
leaning against them, about two feet and a half high, like a spur to a
post; and this fence was so strong that neither man nor beast could
get into it, or over it. This cost me a great deal of time and labor,
especially to cut the piles in the woods, bring them to the place, and
drive them into the earth.
The entrance into this place I made to be not by a door, but by a
short ladder to go over the top; which ladder, when I was in, I lifted
over after me, and so I was completely fenced in, and fortified, as I
thought, from all the world, and consequently slept secure in the
night, which otherwise I could not have done; though, as it appeared
afterward, there was no need of all this caution from the enemies that
I apprehended danger from.
Into this fence or fortress, with infinite labor, I carried all my
riches, all my provisions, ammunition, and stores, of which you have
the account above; and I made me a large tent, which, to preserve me
from the rains that in one part of the year are very violent there, I
made double, viz., one smaller tent within, and one larger tent above
it, and covered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin, which I had
saved among the sails. And now I lay no more for a while in the bed
which I had brought on shore, but in a hammock, which was indeed a
very good one, and belonged to the mate of the ship.
Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and everything that would
spoil by the wet; and having thus enclosed all my goods, I made up the
entrance, which, till now, I had left open, and so passed and
repassed, as I said, by a short ladder.
When I had done this, I began to work my way into the rock; and
bringing all the earth and stones that I dug down out through my tent,
I laid them up within my fence in the nature of a terrace, so that it
raised the ground within about a foot and a half; and thus I made me a
cave just behind my tent which served me like a cellar to my house.
It cost me much labor and many days before all these things were
brought to perfection, and therefore I must go back to some other
things which took up some of my thoughts. At the same time it
happened, after I had laid my scheme for the setting up my tent and
making the cave, that a storm of rain falling from a thick dark cloud,
a sudden flash of lightning happened, and after that a great clap of
thunder, as is naturally the effect of it. I was not so much surprised
with the lightning as I was with a thought which darted into my mind
as swift as the lightning itself. Oh, my powder! My very heart sunk
within me when I thought, that at one blast all my powder might be
destroyed, on which, not my defense only, but the providing me food,
as I thought, entirely depended. I was nothing near so anxious about
my own danger; though had the powder taken fire, I had never known who
had hurt me.
Such impression did this make upon me that after the storm was over I
laid aside all my works, my building and fortifying, and applied
myself to make bags and boxes to separate the powder, and keep it a
little and a little in a parcel, in hope that whatever might come it
might not all take fire at once, and to keep it so apart that it
should not be possible to make one part fire another. I finished this
work in about a fortnight; and I think my powder, which in all was
about 240 pounds' weight, was divided in not less than a hundred
parcels. As to the barrel that had been wet, I did not apprehend any
danger from that, so I placed it in my new cave, which in my fancy I
called my kitchen, and the rest I hid up and down in holes among the
rocks, so that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully where I
laid it.
In the interval of time while this was doing, I went out once, at
least, every day with my gun, as well to divert myself as to see if I
could kill anything fit for food, and as near as I could to acquaint
myself with what the island produced. The first time I went out, I
presently discovered that there were goats in the island, which was a
great satisfaction to me; but then it was attended with this
misfortune to me, viz., that they were so shy, so subtle, and so swift
of foot that it was the difficultest thing in the world to come at
them. But I was not discouraged at this, not doubting but I might now
and then shoot one, as it soon happened; for after I had found their
haunts a little, I laid wait in this manner for them. I observed if
they saw me in the valleys, though they were upon the rocks, they
would run away as in a terrible fright; but if they were feeding in
the valleys, and I was upon the rocks, they took no notice of me, from
whence I concluded that, by the position of their optics, their sight
was so directed downward that they did not readily see objects that
were above them. So afterward I took this method: I always climbed the
rocks first to get above them, and then had frequently a fair mark.
The first shot I made among these creatures I killed a she-goat, which
had a little kid by her, which she gave suck to, which grieved me
heartily; but when the old one fell, the kid stood stock still by her
till I came and took her up; and not only so, but when I carried the
old one with me upon my shoulders, the kid followed me quite to my
enclosure; upon which I laid down the dam, and took the kid in my
arms, and carried it over my pale, in hopes to have bred it up tame;
but it would not eat, so I was forced to kill it, and eat it myself.
These two supplied me with flesh a great while, for I eat sparingly,
and saved my provisions, my bread especially, as much as possibly I
could.
Having now fixed my habitation, I found it absolutely necessary to
provide a place to make a fire in, and fuel to burn; and what I did
for that, as also how I enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I
made, I shall give a full account of in its place. But I must first
give some little account of myself, and of my thoughts about living,
which it may well be supposed were not a few.
I had a dismal prospect of my condition; for as I was not cast away
upon that island without being driven, as is said, by a violent storm,
quite out of the course of our intended voyage, and a great way, viz.,
some hundreds of leagues, out of the ordinary course of the trade of
mankind, I had great reason to consider it as a determination of
Heaven that in this desolate place, and in this desolate manner, I
should end my life. The tears would run plentifully down my face when
I made these reflections, and sometimes I would expostulate with
myself, why Providence should thus completely ruin its creatures, and
render them so absolutely miserable, so without help abandoned, so
entirely depressed, that it could hardly be rational to be thankful
for such a life.
But something always returned swift upon me to check these thoughts,
and to reprove me; and particularly one day, walking with my gun in my
hand by the seaside, I was very pensive upon the subject of my present
condition, when Reason, as it were, expostulated with me t' other way,
thus: "Well, you are in a desolate condition, it is true, but pray
remember, where are the rest of you? Did not you come eleven of you
into the boat? Where are the ten? Why were not they saved, and you
lost? Why were you singled out? Is it better to be here, or there?"
And then I pointed to the sea. All evils are to be considered with the
good that is in them, and with what worse attends them.
Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my
subsistence, and what would have been my case if it had not happened,
which was an hundred thousand to one, that the ship floated from the
place where she first struck and was driven so near to the shore that
I had time to get all these things out of her; what would have been my
case, if I had been to have lived in the condition in which I at first
came on shore, without necessaries of life, or necessaries to supply
and procure them? "Particularly," said I aloud (though to myself),
"what should I have done without a gun, without ammunition, without
any tools to make anything, or to work with, without clothes, bedding,
a tent, or any manner of covering?" and that now I had all these to a
sufficient quantity, and was in a fair way to provide myself in such a
manner, as to live without my gun when my ammunition was spent; so
that I had a tolerable view of subsisting without any want as long as
I lived. For I considered from the beginning how I would provide for
the accidents that might happen, and for the time that was to come,
even not only after my ammunition should be spent, but even after my
health or strength should decay.
I confess I had not entertained any notion of my ammunition being
destroyed at one blast--I mean, my powder being blown up by lightning;
and this made the thoughts of it so surprising to me when it lightened
and thundered, as I observed just now.
ROBINSON CRUSOE BUILDS A BOAT
_By Daniel Defoe_
You may be sure my thoughts ran many times upon the prospect of land
which I had seen from the other side of the island, and I was not
without secret wishes that I were on shore there, fancying that seeing
the mainland, and in an inhabited country, I might find some way or
other to convey myself farther, and perhaps at last find some means of
escape.
But all this while I made no allowance for the dangers of such a
condition, and how I might fall into the hands of savages, and perhaps
such as I might have reason to think far worse than the lions and
tigers of Africa; that if I once came into their power, I should run a
hazard more than a thousand to one of being killed, and perhaps of
being eaten; for I had heard that the people of the Caribbean coasts
were cannibals, or man-eaters, and I knew by the latitude that I could
not be far off from that shore. That suppose they were not cannibals,
yet that they might kill me, as many Europeans who had fallen into
their hands had been served, even when they had been ten or twenty
together, much more I, that was but one, and could make little or no
defense,--all these things, I say, which I ought to have considered
well of, and did cast up in my thoughts afterwards, yet took up none
of my apprehensions at first, but my head ran mightily upon the
thought of getting over to the shore.
Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long-boat with the
shoulder-of-mutton sail, with which I sailed above a thousand miles on
the coast of Africa; but this was in vain. Then I thought I would go
and look at our ship's boat, which, as I have said, was blown up upon
the shore a great way, in the storm, when we were first cast away. She
lay almost where she did at first, but not quite; and was turned, by
the force of the waves and the winds, almost bottom upwards, against a
high ridge of beachy rough sand, but no water about her, as before.
If I had had hands to have refitted her, and to have launched her into
the water, the boat would have done well enough, and I might have gone
back into the Brazils with her easily enough; but I might have
foreseen that I could no more turn her, and set her upright upon her
bottom, than I could remove the island. However, I went to the woods,
and cut levers and rollers, and brought them to the boat, resolved to
try what I could do; suggesting to myself that if I could but turn her
down, I might easily repair the damage she had received, and she would
be a very good boat, and I might go to sea in her very easily.
I spared no pains, indeed, in this piece of fruitless toil, and spent,
I think, three or four weeks about it. At last, finding it impossible
to heave it up with my little strength, I fell to digging away the
sand, to undermine it, and so to make it fall down, setting pieces of
wood to thrust and guide it right in the fall. But when I had done
this, I was unable to stir it up again, or to get under it, much less
to move it forward towards the water; so I was forced to give it over.
And yet, though I gave over the hopes of the boat, my desire to
venture over for the main increased, rather than decreased, as the
means for it seemed impossible.
This at length put me upon thinking whether it was not possible to
make myself a canoe, or _periagua_, such as the natives of those
climates make, even without tools, or, as I might say, without hands,
viz., of the trunk of a great tree. This I not only thought possible,
but easy, and pleased myself extremely with the thoughts of making it,
and with my having much more convenience for it than any of the
negroes or Indians; but not at all considering the particular
inconveniences which I lay under more than the Indians did, viz., want
of hands to move it, when it was made, into the water, a difficulty
much harder for me to surmount than all the consequences of want of
tools could be to them. For what was it to me, that when I had chosen
a vast tree in the woods, I might with much trouble cut it down, if,
after I might be able with my tools to hew and dub the outside into
the proper shape of a boat, and burn or cut out the inside to make it
hollow, so to make a boat of it; if, after all this, I must leave it
just there where I found it, and was not able to launch it into the
water?
One would have thought I could not have had the least reflection upon
my mind of my circumstance while I was making this boat, but I should
have immediately thought how I should get it into the sea; but my
thoughts were so intent upon my voyage over the sea in it that I never
once considered how I should get it off of the land; and it was
really, in its own nature, more easy for me to guide it over
forty-five miles of sea than about forty-five fathoms of land, where
it lay, to set it afloat in the water.
I went to work upon this boat the most like a fool that ever man did
who had any of his senses awake. I pleased myself with the design,
without determining whether I was ever able to undertake it. Not but
that the difficulty of launching my boat came often into my head; but
I put a stop to my own inquiries into it by this foolish answer which
I gave myself: "Let's first make it; I'll warrant I'll find some way
or other to get it along when 't is done."
This was a most preposterous method; but the eagerness of my fancy
prevailed, and to work I went. I felled a cedar-tree: I question much
whether Solomon ever had such a one for the building of the Temple at
Jerusalem. It was five feet ten inches diameter at the lower part next
the stump, and four feet eleven inches diameter at the end of
twenty-two feet, after which it lessened for a while, and then parted
into branches. It was not without infinite labor that I felled this
tree. I was twenty days hacking and hewing at it at the bottom; I was
fourteen more getting the branches and limbs, and the vast spreading
head of it cut off, which I hacked and hewed through with axe and
hatchet, and inexpressible labor. After this, it cost me a month to
shape it and dub it to a proportion, and to something like the bottom
of a boat, that it might swim upright as it ought to do. It cost me
near three months more to clear the inside, and work it so as to make
an exact boat of it. This I did, indeed, without fire, by mere mallet
and chisel, and by the dint of hard labor, till I had brought it to be
a very handsome _periagua_, and big enough to have carried six and
twenty men, and consequently big enough to have carried me and all my
cargo.
When I had gone through this work, I was extremely delighted with it.
The boat was really much bigger than I ever saw a canoe or _periagua_
that was made of one tree, in my life. Many a weary stroke it had
cost, you may be sure; and there remained nothing but to get it into
the water; and had I gotten it into the water, I make no question but
I should have begun the maddest voyage, and the most unlikely to be
performed, that ever was undertaken.
But all my devices to get it into the water failed me, though they
cost me infinite labor too. It lay about one hundred yards from the
water, and not more; but the first inconvenience was, it was uphill
towards the creek. Well, to take away this discouragement, I resolved
to dig into the surface of the earth, and so make a declivity. This I
began, and it cost me a prodigious deal of pains; but who grudges
pains that have their deliverance in view? But when this was worked
through, and this difficulty managed, it was still much at one, for I
could no more stir the canoe than I could the other boat.
Then I measured the distance of ground, and resolved to cut a dock or
canal, to bring the water up to the canoe, seeing I could not bring
the canoe down to the water. Well, I began this work; and when I began
to enter into it, and calculate how deep it was to be dug, how broad,
how the stuff to be thrown out, I found that by the number of hands I
had, being none but my own, it must have been ten or twelve years
before I should have gone through with it; for the shore lay high, so
that at the upper end it must have been at least twenty feet deep; so
at length, though with great reluctancy, I gave this attempt over
also.
This grieved me heartily; and now I saw, though too late, the folly of
beginning a work before we count the cost and before we judge rightly
of our own strength to go through with it.
THE MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINT
_By Daniel Defoe_
I was something impatient to have the use of my boat, though very
loath to run any more hazards; and therefore sometimes I sat
contriving ways to get her about the island, and at other times I sat
myself down contented enough without her. But I had a strange
uneasiness in my mind to go down to the point of the island where, as
I have said, in my last ramble, I went up the hill to see how the
shore lay, and how the current set, that I might see what I had to do.
This inclination increased upon me every day, and at length I resolved
to travel thither by land, following the edge of the shore. I did so;
but had anyone in England been to meet such a man as I was, it must
either have frighted him, or raised a great deal of laughter; and as I
frequently stood still to look at myself, I could not but smile at the
notion of my traveling through Yorkshire, with such an equipage, and
in such a dress. Be pleased to take a sketch of my figure, as
follows:--
I had a great high shapeless cap, made of a goat-skin, with a flap
hanging down behind, as well to keep the sun from me, as to shoot the
rain off from running into my neck; nothing being so hurtful in these
climates as the rain upon the flesh, under the clothes.
I had a short jacket of goat-skin, the skirts coming down to about the
middle of my thighs; and a pair of open-kneed breeches of the same.
The breeches were made of the skin of an old he-goat, whose hair hung
down such a length on either side, that, like pantaloons, it reached
to the middle of my legs. Stockings and shoes I had none, but had made
me a pair of somethings, I scarce know what to call them, like
buskins, to flap over my legs, and lace on either side like
spatterdashes; but of a most barbarous shape, as indeed were all the
rest of my clothes.
I had on a broad belt of goat-skin dried, which I drew together with
two thongs of the same, instead of buckles; and in a kind of frog on
either side of this, instead of a sword and a dagger, hung a little
saw and a hatchet, one on one side, one on the other. I had another
belt, not so broad, and fastened in the same manner, which hung over
my shoulder; and at the end of it, under my left arm, hung two
pouches, both made of goat-skin too; in one of which hung my powder,
in the other my shot. At my back I carried my basket, on my shoulder
my gun, and over my head a great clumsy, ugly goat-skin umbrella, but
which, after all, was the most necessary thing I had about me, next to
my gun. As for my face, the color of it was really not so mulatto-like
as one might expect from a man not at all careful of it, and living
within nineteen degrees of the equinox. My beard I had once suffered
to grow till it was about a quarter of a yard long; but as I had both
scissors and razors sufficient, I had cut it pretty short, except what
grew on my upper lip, which I had trimmed into a large pair of
Mahometan whiskers such as I had seen worn by some Turks whom I saw at
Sallee; for the Moors did not wear such, though the Turks did. Of
these mustachios or whiskers, I will not say they were long enough to
hang my hat upon them, but they were of a length and shape monstrous
enough, and such as, in England, would have passed for frightful.
But all this is by the bye; for as to my figure I had so few to
observe me that it was of no manner of consequence; so I say no more
to that part. In this kind of figure I went my new journey, and was
out five or six days. I traveled first along the seashore, directly to
the place where I first brought my boat to an anchor, to get up upon
the rocks. And having no boat now to take care of, I went over the
land, a nearer way, to the same height that I was upon before; when,
looking forward to the point of the rocks which lay out, and which I
was obliged to double with my boat, as is said above, I was surprised
to see the sea all smooth and quiet, no rippling, no motion, no
current, any more there than in other places.
I was at a strange loss to understand this, and resolved to spend some
time in the observing it, to see if nothing from the sets of the tide
had occasioned it. But I was presently convinced how it was, viz.,
that the tide of ebb setting from the west, and joining with the
current of waters from some great river on the shore, must be the
occasion of this current; and that according as the wind blew more
forcibly from the west, or from the north, this current came near, or
went farther from the shore; for waiting thereabouts till evening, I
went up to the rock again, and then the tide of ebb being made, I
plainly saw the current again as before, only that it run farther off,
being near half a league from the shore; whereas in my case it set
close upon the shore, and hurried me and my canoe along with it,
which, at another time, it would not have done.
This observation convinced me that I had nothing to do but to observe
the ebbing and the flowing of the tide, and I might very easily bring
my boat about the island again. But when I began to think of putting
it in practice, I had such a terror upon my spirits at the remembrance
of the danger I had been in that I could not think of it again with
any patience; but, on the contrary, I took up another resolution,
which was more safe, though more laborious; and this was, that I would
build, or rather make me another _periagua_, or canoe, and so have one
for one side of the island, and one for the other.
You are to understand that now I had, as I may call it, two
plantations in the island; one, my little fortification or tent, with
the wall about it, under the rock, with the cave behind me, which, by
this time, I had enlarged into several apartments or caves, one within
another. One of these, which was the driest and largest, and had a
door out beyond my wall or fortification, that is to say, beyond where
my wall joined to the rock, was all filled up with the large earthen
pots, of which I have given an account, and with fourteen or fifteen
great baskets, which would hold five or six bushels each, where I laid
up my stores of provision, especially my corn, some in the ear, cut
off short from the straw, and the other rubbed out with my hand.
As for my wall, made, as before, with long stakes or piles, those
piles grew all like trees, and were by this time grown so big, and
spread so very much, that there was not the least appearance, to any
one's view, of any habitation behind them.
Near this dwelling of mine, but a little farther within the land, and
upon lower ground, lay my two pieces of corn ground, which I kept duly
cultivated and sowed, and which duly yielded me their harvest in its
season; and whenever I had occasion for more corn, I had more land
adjoining as fit as that.
Besides this, I had my country seat, and I had now a tolerable
plantation there also; for, first, I had my little bower, as I called
it, which I kept in repair; that is to say, I kept the hedge which
circled it in constantly fitted up to its usual height, the ladder
standing always in the inside. I kept the trees, which at first were
no more than my stakes, but were now grown very firm and tall,--I kept
them always so cut that they might spread and grow thick and wild, and
make the more agreeable shade, which they did effectually to my mind.
In the middle of this, I had my tent always standing, being a piece of
a sail spread over poles, set up for that purpose, and which never
wanted any repair or renewing; and under this I had made me a squab or
couch, with the skins of the creatures I had killed, and with other
soft things, and a blanket laid on them, such as belonged to our
sea-bedding, which I had saved, and a great watch-coat to cover me;
and here, whenever I had occasion to be absent from my chief seat, I
took up my country habitation.
Adjoining to this I had my enclosures for my cattle, that is to say,
my goats. And as I had taken an inconceivable deal of pains to fence
and enclose this ground, so I was so uneasy to see it kept entire,
lest the goats should break through, that I never left off till, with
infinite labor, I had stuck the outside of the hedge so full of small
stakes, and so near to one another, that it was rather a pale than a
hedge, and there was scarce room to put a hand through between them;
which afterwards, when those stakes grew, as they all did in the next
rainy season, made the enclosure strong like a wall,--indeed, stronger
than any wall.
This will testify for me that I was not idle, and that I spared no
pains to bring to pass whatever appeared necessary for my comfortable
support; for I considered the keeping up a breed of tame creatures
thus at my hand would be a living magazine of flesh, milk, butter, and
cheese for me as long as I lived in the place, if it were to be forty
years; and that keeping them in my reach depended entirely upon my
perfecting my enclosures to such a degree that I might be sure of
keeping them together; which, by this method, indeed, I so effectually
secured that when these little stakes began to grow, I had planted
them so very thick I was forced to pull some of them up again.
In this place also I had my grapes growing, which I principally
depended on for my winter store of raisins, and which I never failed
to preserve very carefully, as the best and most agreeable dainty of
my whole diet. And indeed they were not agreeable only, but physical,
wholesome, nourishing, and refreshing to the last degree.
As this was also about halfway between my other habitation and the
place where I had laid up my boat, I generally stayed and lay here in
my way thither; for I used frequently to visit my boat, and I kept all
things about or belonging to her in very good order. Sometimes I went
out in her to divert myself, but no more hazardous voyages would I go,
nor scarce ever above a stone's cast or two from the shore, I was so
apprehensive of being hurried out of my knowledge again by the
currents or winds, or any other accident. But now I come to a new
scene of my life.
It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was
exceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the
shore, which was very plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like one
thunderstruck, or as if I had seen an apparition. I listened, I looked
round me, I could hear nothing, nor see anything. I went up to a
rising ground, to look farther. I went up the shore, and down the
shore, but it was all one; I could see no other impression but that
one. I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe
if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for that, for there
was exactly the very print of a foot--toes, heel, and every part of a
foot. How it came thither I knew not, nor could in the least imagine.
But after innumerable fluttering thoughts, like a man perfectly
confused and out of myself, I came home to my fortification, not
feeling, as we say, the ground I went on, but terrified to the last
degree, looking behind me at every two or three steps, mistaking every
bush and tree, and fancying every stump at a distance to be a man; nor
is it possible to describe how many various shapes affrighted
imagination represented things to me in, how many wild ideas were
found every moment in my fancy, and what strange, unaccountable
whimsies came into my thoughts by the way.
[Illustration: ONE DAY ABOUT NOON, GOING TOWARDS MY BOAT, I WAS
SURPRISED WITH THE PRINT OF A MAN'S NAKED FOOT ON THE SHORE, WHICH WAS
VERY PLAIN TO BE SEEN IN THE SAND. I STOOD LIKE ONE THUNDERSTRUCK, OR
AS IF I HAD SEEN AN APPARITION. I LISTENED, I LOOKED ROUND ME, I COULD
HEAR NOTHING, NOR SEE ANYTHING. I WENT UP TO A RISING GROUND TO LOOK
FARTHER.]
When I came to my castle, for so I think I called it ever after this,
I fled into it like one pursued. Whether I went over by the ladder, as
first contrived, or went in at the hole in the rock, which I called a
door, I cannot remember; no, nor could I remember the next morning,
for never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox to earth, with more
terror of mind than I to this retreat.
I slept none that night. The farther I was from the occasion of my
fright, the greater my apprehensions were; which is something contrary
to the nature of such things, and especially to the usual practice of
all creatures in fear. But I was so embarrassed with my own frightful
ideas of the thing, that I formed nothing but dismal imaginations to
myself, even though I was now a great way off it. Sometimes I fancied
it must be the devil, and reason joined in with me upon this
supposition; for how should any other thing in human shape come into
the place? Where was the vessel that brought them? What marks were
there of any other footsteps? And how was it possible a man should
come there? But then to think that Satan should take human shape upon
him in such a place, where there could be no manner of occasion for
it, but to leave the print of his foot behind him, and that even for
no purpose too, for he could not be sure I should see it; this was an
amusement the other way. I considered that the devil might have found
out abundance of other ways to have terrified me than this of the
single print of a foot; that as I lived quite on the other side of the
island, he would never have been so simple to leave a mark in a place
where it was ten thousand to one whether I should ever see it or not,
and in the sand too, which the first surge of the sea, upon a high
wind, would have defaced entirely. All this seemed inconsistent with
the thing itself, and with all the notions we usually entertain of the
subtilty of the devil.
Abundance of such things as these assisted to argue me out of all
apprehensions of its being the devil; and I presently concluded, then,
that it must be some more dangerous creature, viz., that it must be
some of the savages of the mainland over against me, who had wandered
out to sea in their canoes, and, either driven by the currents or by
contrary winds, had made the island, and had been on shore, but were
gone away again to sea, being as loath, perhaps, to stay in this
desolate island as I should have been to have them.
While these reflections were rolling upon my mind, I was very thankful
in my thoughts that I was so happy as not to be thereabouts at that
time, or that they did not see my boat, by which they would have
concluded that some inhabitants had been in the place, and perhaps
have searched farther for me. Then terrible thoughts racked my
imagination about their having found my boat, and that there were
people here; and that if so, I should certainly have them come again
in greater numbers, and devour me; that if it should happen so that
they should not find me, yet they would find my enclosure, destroy all
my corn, carry away all my flock of tame goats, and I should perish at
last for mere want.
Thus my fear banished all my religious hope. All that former
confidence in God, which was founded upon such wonderful experience as
I had had of His goodness, now vanished, as if He that had fed me by
miracle hitherto could not preserve, by His power, the provision which
He had made for me by His goodness. I reproached myself with my
easiness, that would not sow any more corn one year than would just
serve me till the next season, as if no accident could intervene to
prevent my enjoying the crop that was upon the ground. And this I
thought so just a reproof that I resolved for the future to have two
or three years' corn beforehand, so that, whatever might come, I might
not perish for want of bread.
How strange a chequer work of Providence is the life of man! and by
what secret differing springs are the affections hurried about as
differing circumstances present! To-day we love what to-morrow we
hate; to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day we desire what
to-morrow we fear; nay, even tremble at the apprehensions of. This was
exemplified in me, at this time, in the most lively manner imaginable;
for I, whose only affliction was that I seemed banished from human
society, that I was alone, circumscribed by the boundless ocean, cut
off from mankind, and condemned to what I called silent life; that I
was as one whom Heaven thought not worthy to be numbered among the
living, or to appear among the rest of His creatures; that to have
seen one of my own species would have seemed to me a raising me from
death to life, and the greatest blessing that Heaven itself, next to
the supreme blessing of salvation, could bestow; I say, that I should
now tremble at the very apprehensions of seeing a man, and was ready
to sink into the ground at but the shadow or silent appearance of a
man's having set his foot in the island!
Such is the uneven state of human life; and it afforded me a great
many curious speculations afterwards, when I had a little recovered my
first surprise. I considered that this was the station of life the
infinitely wise and good providence of God had determined for me;
that, as I could not foresee what the ends of Divine wisdom might be
in all this, so I was not to dispute His sovereignty, who, as I was
His creature, had an undoubted right, by creation, to govern and
dispose of me absolutely as He thought fit, and who, as I was a
creature who had offended Him, had likewise a judicial right to
condemn me to what punishment He thought fit; and that it was my part
to submit to bear His indignation, because I had sinned against Him.
I then reflected that God, who was not only righteous, but omnipotent,
as He had thought fit thus to punish and afflict me, so He was able to
deliver me; that if He did not think fit to do it, 't was my
unquestioned duty to resign myself absolutely and entirely to His
will; and, on the other hand, it was my duty also to hope in Him, pray
to Him, and quietly to attend the dictates and directions of His daily
providence.
These thoughts took me up many hours, days, nay, I may say, weeks and
months; and one particular effect of my cogitations on this occasion I
cannot omit, viz., one morning early, lying in my bed, and filled with
thought about my danger from the appearance of savages, I found it
discomposed me very much; upon which those words of the Scripture came
into my thoughts, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."
Upon this, rising cheerfully out of my bed, my heart was not only
comforted, but I was guided and encouraged to pray earnestly to God
for deliverance. When I had done praying, I took up my Bible, and
opening it to read, the first words that presented to me were, "Wait
on the Lord, and be of good cheer, and He shall strengthen thy heart;
wait, I say, on the Lord." It is impossible to express the comfort
this gave me. In answer, I thankfully laid down the book, and was no
more sad, at least, not on that occasion.
In the middle of these cogitations, apprehensions, and reflections, it
came into my thought one day that all this might be a mere chimera of
my own; and that this foot might be the print of my own foot, when I
came on shore from my boat. This cheered me up a little too, and I
began to persuade myself it was all a delusion, that it was nothing
else but my own foot; and why might not I come that way from the boat,
as well as I was going that way to the boat? Again, I considered also
that I could by no means tell, for certain, where I had trod, and
where I had not; and that if, at last, this was only the print of my
own foot, I had played the part of those fools who strive to make
stories of spectres and apparitions, and then are frighted at them
more than anybody.
Now I began to take courage, and to peep abroad again, for I had not
stirred out of my castle for three days and nights, so that I began to
starve for provision; for I had little or nothing within doors but
some barley-cakes and water. Then I knew that my goats wanted to be
milked too, which usually was my evening diversion; and the poor
creatures were in great pain and inconvenience for want of it; and,
indeed, it almost spoiled some of them, and almost dried up their
milk.
Heartening myself, therefore, with the belief that this was nothing
but the print of one of my own feet, and so I might be truly said to
start at my own shadow, I began to go abroad again, and went to my
country house to milk my flock. But to see with what fear I went
forward, how often I looked behind me, how I was ready, every now and
then, to lay down my basket, and run for my life, it would have made
any one have thought I was haunted with an evil conscience, or that I
had been lately most terribly frighted; and so, indeed, I had.
However, as I went down thus two or three days, and having seen
nothing, I began to be a little bolder, and to think there was really
nothing in it but my own imagination. But I could not persuade myself
fully of this till I should go down to the shore again, and see this
print of a foot, and measure it by my own, and see if there was any
similitude or fitness, that I might be assured it was my own foot. But
when I came to the place, first, it appeared evidently to me that when
I laid up my boat, I could not possibly be on shore anywhere
thereabout; secondly, when I came to measure the mark with my own
foot, I found my foot not so large by a great deal. Both these things
filled my head with new imaginations, and gave me the vapors again to
the highest degree; so that I shook with cold, like one in an ague;
and I went home again, filled with the belief that some man or men had
been on shore there; or, in short, that the island was inhabited, and
I might be surprised before I was aware. And what course to take for
my security, I knew not.
Oh, what ridiculous resolution men take when possessed with fear! It
deprives them of the use of those means which reason offers for their
relief. The first thing I proposed to myself was to throw down my
enclosures, and turn all my tame cattle wild into the woods, that the
enemy might not find them, and then frequent the island in prospect of
the same or the like booty; then to the simple thing of digging up my
two corn-fields, that they might not find such a grain there, and
still be prompted to frequent the island; then to demolish my bower
and tent, that they might not see any vestiges of habitation, and be
prompted to look farther, in order to find out the persons inhabiting.
These were the subject of the first night's cogitation, after I was
come home again, while the apprehensions which had so overrun my mind
were fresh upon me, and my head was full of vapors, as above. Thus
fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger
itself when apparent to the eyes; and we find the burden of anxiety
greater, by much, than the evil which we are anxious about; and, which
was worse than all this, I had not that relief in this trouble from
the resignation I used to practice that I hoped to have. I looked, I
thought, like Saul, who complained not only that the Philistines were
upon him, but that God had forsaken him; for I did not now take due
ways to compose my mind, by crying to God in my distress, and resting
upon His providence, as I had done before, for my defense and
deliverance; which, if I had done, I had at least been more cheerfully
supported under this new surprise, and perhaps carried through it with
more resolution.
This confusion of my thoughts kept me waking all night, but in the
morning I fell asleep; and having, by the amusement of my mind, been,
as it were, tired, and my spirits exhausted, I slept very soundly, and
waked much better composed than I had ever been before. And now I
began to think sedately; and upon the utmost debate with myself, I
concluded that this island, which was so exceeding pleasant, fruitful,
and no farther from the mainland than as I had seen, was not so
entirely abandoned as I might imagine; that although there were no
stated inhabitants who lived on the spot, yet that there might
sometimes come boats off from the shore, who, either with design, or
perhaps never but when they were driven by cross winds, might come to
this place; that I had lived here fifteen years now, and had not met
with the least shadow or figure of any people yet; and that if at any
time they should be driven here, it was probable they went away again
as soon as ever they could, seeing they had never thought fit to fix
there upon any occasion to this time; that the most I could suggest
any danger from, was from any such casual accidental landing of
straggling people from the main, who, as it was likely, if they were
driven hither, were here against their wills; so they made no stay
here, but went off again with all possible speed, seldom staying one
night on shore, lest they should not have the help of the tides and
daylight back again; and that, therefore, I had nothing to do but to
consider of some safe retreat, in case I should see any savages land
upon the spot.
THE COMING OF FRIDAY
_By Daniel Defoe_
I was surprised, one morning early, with seeing no less than five
canoes all on shore together on my side the island, and the people who
belonged to them all landed, and out of my sight. The number of them
broke all my measures; for seeing so many, and knowing that they
always came four, or six, or sometimes more, in a boat, I could not
tell what to think of it, or how to take my measures to attack twenty
or thirty men single-handed; so I lay still in my castle, perplexed
and discomforted. However, I put myself into all the same postures for
an attack that I had formerly provided, and was just ready for action
if anything had presented. Having waited a good while, listening to
hear if they made any noise, at length, being very impatient, I set my
guns at the foot of my ladder, and clambered up to the top of the
hill, by my two stages, as usual; standing so, however, that my head
did not appear above the hill, so that they could not perceive me by
any means. Here I observed, by the help of my perspective glass, that
they were no less than thirty in number, that they had a fire kindled,
that they had had meat dressed. How they had cooked it, that I knew
not, or what it was; but they were all dancing, in I know not how many
barbarous gestures and figures, their own way, round the fire.
While I was thus looking on them, I perceived by my perspective two
miserable wretches dragged from the boats, where, it seems, they were
laid by, and were now brought out for the slaughter. I perceived one
of them immediately fell, being knocked down, I suppose, with a club
or wooden sword, for that was their way, and two or three others were
at work immediately, cutting him open for their cookery, while the
other victim was left standing by himself, till they should be ready
for him. In that very moment, this poor wretch seeing himself a little
at liberty, Nature inspired him with hopes of life, and he started
away from them, and ran with incredible swiftness along the sands
directly towards me,--I mean towards that part of the coast where my
habitation was.
I was dreadfully frighted (that I must acknowledge) when I perceived
him to run my way, and especially when, as I thought, I saw him
pursued by the whole body; and now I expected that part of my dream
was coming to pass, and that he would certainly take shelter in my
grove; but I could not depend, by any means, upon my dream for the
rest of it, viz., that the other savages would not pursue him thither,
and find him there. However, I kept my station, and my spirits began
to recover when I found that there were not above three men that
followed him; and still more was I encouraged when I found that he
outstripped them exceedingly in running, and gained ground of them; so
that if he could but hold it for half an hour, I saw easily he would
fairly get away from them all.
There was between them and my castle the creek, which I mentioned
often at the first part of my story, when I landed my cargoes out of
the ship; and this I saw plainly he must necessarily swim over, or the
poor wretch would be taken there. But when the savage escaping came
thither he made nothing of it, though the tide was then up; but
plunging in, swam through in about thirty strokes or thereabouts,
landed, and ran on with exceeding strength and swiftness. When the
three persons came to the creek, I found that two of them could swim,
but the third could not, and that, standing on the other side, he
looked at the other, but went no further, and soon after went softly
back, which, as it happened, was very well for him in the main.
I observed that the two who swam were yet more than twice as long
swimming over the creek as the fellow was that fled from them. It came
now very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now
was my time to get me a servant, and perhaps a companion or assistant,
and that I was called plainly by Providence to save this poor
creature's life. I immediately run down the ladders with all possible
expedition, fetched my two guns, for they were both but at the foot of
the ladders, as I observed above, and getting up again, with the same
haste, to the top of the hill, I crossed toward the sea, and having a
very short cut, and all down hill, clapped myself in the way between
the pursuers and the pursued, hallooing aloud to him that fled, who,
looking back, was at first perhaps as much frighted at me as at them;
but I beckoned with my hand to him to come back; and, in the meantime,
I slowly advanced towards the two that followed; then rushing at once
upon the foremost, I knocked him down with the stock of my piece. I
was loath to fire, because I would not have the rest hear; though, at
that distance, it would not have been easily heard, and being out of
sight of the smoke, too, they would not have easily known what to make
of it. Having knocked this fellow down, the other who pursued with him
stopped, as if he had been frighted, and I advanced apace towards him;
but as I came nearer, I perceived presently he had a bow and arrow,
and was fitting it to shoot at me; so I was then necessitated to shoot
at him first, which I did, and killed him at the first shot.
The poor savage who fled, but had stopped, though he saw both his
enemies fallen and killed, as he thought, yet was so frighted with the
fire and noise of my piece that he stood stock still, and neither came
forward or went backward, though he seemed rather inclined to fly
still than to come on. I hallooed again to him, and made signs to come
forward, which he easily understood, and came a little way, then
stopped again, and then a little further, and stopped again; and I
could then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he had been taken
prisoner, and had just been to be killed, as his two enemies were. I
beckoned him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of
encouragement that I could think of; and he came nearer and nearer,
kneeling down every ten or twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment
for my saving his life. I smiled at him, and looked pleasantly, and
beckoned to him to come still nearer. At length he came close to me,
and then he kneeled down again, kissed the ground, and laid his head
upon the ground, and taking me by the foot, set my foot upon his head.
This, it seems, was in token of swearing to be my slave forever. I
took him up, and made much of him, and encouraged him all I could. But
there was more work to do yet; for I perceived the savage whom I
knocked down was not killed, but stunned with the blow, and began to
come to himself; so I pointed to him, and showing him the savage, that
he was not dead, upon this he spoke some words to me; and though I
could not understand them, yet I thought they were pleasant to hear;
for they were the first sound of a man's voice that I had heard, my
own excepted, for above twenty-five years. But there was no time for
such reflections now. The savage who was knocked down recovered
himself so far as to sit up upon the ground, and I perceived that my
savage began to be afraid; but when I saw that, I presented my other
piece at the man, as if I would shoot him. Upon this my savage, for so
I call him now, made a motion to me to lend him my sword, which hung
naked in a belt by my side; so I did. He no sooner had it but he runs
to his enemy, and, at one blow, cut off his head as cleverly, no
executioner in Germany could have done it sooner or better; which I
thought very strange for one who, I had reason to believe, never saw a
sword in his life before, except their own wooden swords. However, it
seems, as I learned afterwards, they make their wooden swords so
sharp, so heavy, and the wood is so hard, that they will cut off heads
even with them, ay, and arms, and that at one blow too. When he had
done this, he comes laughing to me in sign of triumph, and brought me
the sword again, and with abundance of gestures, which I did not
understand, laid it down, with the head of the savage that he had
killed, just before me.
But that which astonished him most was to know how I had killed the
other Indian so far off; so pointing to him, he made signs to me to
let him go to him; so I bade him go, as well as I could. When he came
to him, he stood like one amazed, looking at him, turned him first on
one side, then on t'other, looked at the wound the bullet had made,
which, it seems, was just in his breast, where it had made a hole, and
no great quantity of blood had followed; but he had bled inwardly, for
he was quite dead. He took up his bow and arrows, and came back; so I
turned to go away, and beckoned to him to follow me, making signs to
him that more might come after them.
Upon this he signed to me that he should bury them with sand, that
they might not be seen by the rest if they followed; and so I made
signs again to him to do so. He fell to work, and in an instant he had
scraped a hole in the sand with his hands big enough to bury the first
in, and then dragged him into it, and covered him, and did so also by
the other. I believe he had buried them both in a quarter of an hour.
Then calling him away, I carried him, not to my castle, but quite away
to my cave, on the farther part of the island; so I did not let my
dream come to pass in that part, viz., that he came into my grove for
shelter.
Here I gave him bread and a bunch of raisins to eat, and a draught of
water, which I found he was indeed in great distress for, by his
running; and having refreshed him, I made signs for him to go lie down
and sleep, pointing to a place where I had laid a great parcel of
rice-straw, and a blanket upon it, which I used to sleep upon myself
sometimes; so the poor creature laid down, and went to sleep.
He was a comely, handsome fellow, perfectly well made, with straight
strong limbs, not too large, tall and well-shaped, and, as I reckon,
about twenty-six years of age. He had a very good countenance, not a
fierce and surly aspect, but seemed to have something very manly in
his face; and yet he had all the sweetness and softness of an European
in his countenance too, especially when he smiled. His hair was long
and black, not curled like wool; his forehead very high and large; and
a great vivacity and sparkling sharpness in his eyes. The color of his
skin was not quite black, but very tawny; and yet not of an ugly,
yellow, nauseous tawny, as the Brazilians and Virginians, and other
natives of America are, but of a bright kind of a dun olive color,
that had in it something very agreeable, though not very easy to
describe. His face was round and plump; his nose small, not flat like
the negroes; a very good mouth, thin lips, and his fine teeth well
set, and white as ivory.
After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half an hour, he
waked again, and comes out of the cave to me, for I had been milking
my goats, which I had in the enclosure just by. When he espied me, he
came running to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with
all the possible signs of an humble, thankful disposition, making a
many antic gestures to show it. At last he lays his head flat upon the
ground, close to my foot, and sets my other foot upon his head, as he
had done before, and after this made all the signs to me of
subjection, servitude, and submission imaginable, to let me know how
he would serve me as long as he lived. I understood him in many
things, and let him know I was very well pleased with him. In a little
time I began to speak to him, and teach him to speak to me; and first
I made him know his name should be Friday, which was the day I saved
his life. I called him so for the memory of the time. I likewise
taught him to say master, and then let him know that was to be my
name. I likewise taught him to say yes and no, and to know the meaning
of them. I gave him some milk in an earthen pot, and let him see me
drink it before him, and sop my bread in it; and I gave him a cake of
bread to do the like, which he quickly complied with, and made signs
that it was very good for him.
I kept there with him all that night; but as soon as it was day, I
beckoned to him to come with me, and let him know I would give him
some clothes; at which he seemed very glad, for he was stark naked. As
we went by the place where he had buried the two men, he pointed
exactly to the place, and showed me the marks that he had made to find
them again, making signs to me that we should dig them up again, and
eat them. At this I appeared very angry, expressed my abhorrence of
it, made as if I would vomit at the thoughts of it, and beckoned with
my hand to him to come away; which he did immediately, with great
submission. I then led him up to the top of the hill, to see if his
enemies were gone; and pulling out my glass, I looked, and saw plainly
the place where they had been, but no appearance of them or of their
canoes; so that it was plain that they were gone, and had left their
two comrades behind them, without any search after them.
But I was not content with this discovery; but having now more
courage, and consequently more curiosity, I took my man Friday with
me, giving him the sword in his hand, with the bow and arrows at his
back, which I found he could use very dexterously, making him carry
one gun for me, and I two for myself, and away we marched to the place
where these creatures had been; for I had a mind now to get some
fuller intelligence of them. When I came to the place, my very blood
ran chill in my veins, and my heart sunk within me, at the horror of
the spectacle. Indeed, it was a dreadful sight, at least it was so to
me, though Friday made nothing of it. The place was covered with human
bones, the ground dyed with their blood, great pieces of flesh left
here and there, half-eaten, mangled, and scorched; and, in short, all
the tokens of the triumphant feast they had been making there, after a
victory over their enemies. I saw three skulls, five hands, and the
bones of three or four legs and feet, and abundance of other parts of
the bodies; and Friday, by his signs, made me understand that they
brought over four prisoners to feast upon; that three of them were
eaten up, and that he, pointing to himself, was the fourth; that there
had been a great battle between them and their next king, whose
subjects it seems he had been one of, and that they had taken a great
number of prisoners; all which were carried to several places by those
that had taken them in the fight, in order to feast upon them, as was
done here by these wretches upon those they brought hither.
I caused Friday to gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, and whatever
remained, and lay them together on a heap, and make a great fire upon
it, and burn them all to ashes. I found Friday had still a hankering
stomach after some of the flesh, and was still a cannibal in his
nature; but I discovered so much abhorrence at the very thoughts of
it, and at the least appearance of it, that he durst not discover it;
for I had, by some means, let him know that I would kill him if he
offered it.
When we had done this we came back to our castle, and there I fell to
work for my man Friday; and, first of all, I gave him a pair of linen
drawers, which I had out of the poor gunner's chest I mentioned, and
which I found in the wreck; and which, with a little alteration,
fitted him very well. Then I made him a jerkin of goat-skin, as well
as my skill would allow, and I was now grown a tolerable good tailor;
and I gave him a cap, which I had made of a hare-skin, very convenient
and fashionable enough; and thus he was clothed for the present
tolerably well, and was mighty well pleased to see himself almost as
well clothed as his master. It is true he went awkwardly in these
things at first; wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the
sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoulders, and the inside of his
arms; but a little easing them where he complained they hurt him, and
using himself to them, at length he took to them very well.
The next day after I came home to my hutch with him, I began to
consider where I should lodge him. And that I might do well for him,
and yet be perfectly easy myself, I made a little tent for him in the
vacant place between my two fortifications, in the inside of the last
and in the outside of the first; and as there was a door or entrance
there into my cave, I made a formal framed door-case, and a door to it
of boards, and set it up in the passage, a little within the entrance;
and causing the door to open on the inside, I barred it up in the
night, taking in my ladders too; so that Friday could no way come at
me in the inside of my innermost wall without making so much noise in
getting over that it must needs waken me; for my first wall had now a
complete roof over it of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning
up to the side of the hill, which was again laid cross with smaller
sticks instead of laths, and then thatched over a great thickness with
the rice-straw, which was strong, like reeds; and at the hole or place
which was left to go in or out by the ladder, I had placed a kind of
trap-door, which, if it had been attempted on the outside, would not
have opened at all, but would have fallen down, and made a great
noise; and as to weapons, I took them all into my side every night.
But I needed none of all this precaution; for never man had a more
faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me; without
passions, sullenness, or designs, perfectly obliged and engaged; his
very affections were tied to me, like those of a child to a father;
and I dare say he would have sacrificed his life for the saving mine,
upon any occasion whatsoever. The many testimonies he gave me of this
put it out of doubt, and soon convinced me that I needed to use no
precautions as to my safety on his account.
HOMEWARD BOUND
_By Daniel Defoe_
[After Crusoe has spent some years on the island, an English vessel
appears and a number of men come ashore. They prove to be mutineers
who have brought their captain and two other men to be left on the
island. By the aid of Crusoe and Friday, the captain regains
possession of his vessel.]
I laid me down; and it having been a day of great fatigue to me, I
slept very sound, till I was something surprised with the noise of a
gun; and presently starting up, I heard a man call me by the name of
"Governor," "Governor," and presently I knew the captain's voice; when
climbing up to the top of the hill, there he stood, and pointing to
the ship, he embraced me in his arms. "My dear friend and deliverer,"
says he, "there's your ship, for she is all yours, and so are we, and
all that belong to her." I cast my eyes to the ship, and there she
rode within little more than half a mile of the shore; for they had
weighed her anchor as soon as they were masters of her, and, the
weather being fair, had brought her to anchor just against the mouth
of the little creek, and the tide being up, the captain had brought
the pinnace in near the place where I at first landed my rafts and so
landed just at my door.
I was at first ready to sink down with the surprise; for I saw my
deliverance, indeed, visibly put into my hands, all things easy, and a
large ship just ready to carry me away whither I pleased to go. At
first, for some time, I was not able to answer him one word; but as he
had taken me in his arms, I held fast by him, or I should have fallen
to the ground.
He perceived the surprise, and immediately pulls a bottle out of his
pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial, which he had brought on purpose
for me. After I had drank it, I sat down upon the ground; and though
it brought me to myself, yet it was a good while before I could speak
a word to him.
All this while the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only not
under any surprise, as I was; and he said a thousand kind, tender
things to me, to compose me and bring me to myself. But such was the
flood of joy in my breast that it put all my spirits into confusion.
At last it broke out into tears, and in a little while after I
recovered my speech.
Then I took my turn, and embraced him as my deliverer, and we rejoiced
together. I told him I looked upon him as a man sent from heaven to
deliver me, and that the whole transaction seemed to be a chain of
wonders; that such things as these were the testimonies we had of a
secret hand of Providence governing the world, and an evidence that
the eyes of an infinite Power could search into the remotest corner of
the world, and send help to the miserable whenever He pleased.
I forgot not to lift up my heart in thankfulness to heaven; and what
heart could forbear to bless Him, who had not only in a miraculous
manner provided for one in such a wilderness, and in such a desolate
condition, but from whom every deliverance must always be acknowledged
to proceed?
When we had talked a while, the captain told me he had brought me some
little refreshment, such as the ship afforded, and such as the
wretches that had been so long his masters had not plundered him of.
Upon this he called aloud to the boat, and bid his men bring the
things ashore that were for the governor; and, indeed, it was a
present as if I had been one, not that was to be carried away along
with them, but as if I had been to dwell upon the island still, and
they were to go without me.
First, he had brought me a case of bottles full of excellent cordial
waters, six large bottles of Madeira wine (the bottles held two quarts
apiece), two pounds of excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of
the ship's beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas, and about
a hundred-weight of biscuit.
He had brought me also a box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full of
lemons, and two bottles of lime juice, and abundance of other things;
but besides these, and what was a thousand times more useful to me, he
brought me six clean new shirts, six very good neck-cloths, two pair
of gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings, and a
very good suit of clothes of his own, which had been worn but very
little; in a word, he clothed me from head to foot.
It was a very kind and agreeable present, as any one may imagine, to
one in my circumstances; but never was anything in the world of that
kind so unpleasant, awkward, and uneasy as it was to me to wear such
clothes at their first putting on.
After these ceremonies passed, and after all his good things were
brought into my little apartment, we began to consult what was to be
done with the prisoners we had; for it was worth considering whether
we might venture to take them away with us or no, especially two of
them, whom we knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the last
degree; and the captain said he knew they were such rogues that there
was no obliging them; and if he did carry them away, it must be in
irons, as malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at the first
English colony he could come at; and I found that the captain himself
was very anxious about it.
Upon this I told him that, if he desired it, I durst undertake to
bring the two men he spoke of to make it their own request that he
should leave them upon the island. "I should be very glad of that,"
says the captain, "with all my heart."
"Well," says I, "I will send for them up, and talk with them for you."
So I caused Friday and the two hostages, for they were now discharged,
their comrades having performed their promise,--I say, I caused them
to go to the cave and bring up the five men, pinioned as they were, to
the bower, and keep them there till I came.
After some time I came thither, dressed in my new habit; and now I was
called governor again. Being all met, and the captain with me, I
caused the men to be brought before me, and I told them I had had a
full account of their villainous behavior to the captain, and how they
had run away with the ship, and were preparing to commit further
robberies, but that Providence had ensnared them in their own ways,
and that they were fallen into the pit which they had digged for
others.
I let them know that by my direction the ship had been seized, that
she lay now in the road, and they might see, by and by, that their new
captain had received the reward of his villainy, for that they might
see him hanging at the yard-arm; that as to them, I wanted to know
what they had to say why I should not execute them as pirates, taken
in the fact, as by my commission they could not doubt I had authority
to do.
One of them answered in the name of the rest that they had nothing to
say but this, that when they were taken the captain promised them
their lives, and they humbly implored my mercy. But I told them I knew
not what mercy to show them; for as for myself, I had resolved to quit
the island with all my men, and had taken passage with the captain to
go for England. And as for the captain, he could not carry them to
England other than as prisoners in irons, to be tried for mutiny, and
running away with the ship; the consequence of which, they must needs
know, would be the gallows; so that I could not tell which was best
for them, unless they had a mind to take their fate in the island. If
they desired that, I did not care, as I had liberty to leave it. I had
some inclination to give them their lives, if they thought they could
shift on shore.
They seemed very thankful for it, said they would much rather venture
to stay there than to be carried to England to be hanged; so I left it
on that issue.
However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as if he
durst not leave them there. Upon this I seemed a little angry with the
captain, and told him that they were my prisoners, not his; and that
seeing I had offered them so much favor, I would be as good as my
word; and that if he did not think fit to consent to it, I would set
them at liberty, as I found them; and if he did not like it, he might
take them again if he could catch them.
Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at
liberty, and bade them retire into the woods to the place whence they
came, and I would leave them some firearms, some ammunition, and some
directions how they should live very well, if they thought fit.
Upon this I prepared to go on board the ship, but told the captain
that I would stay that night to prepare my things, and desired him to
go on board in the meantime, and keep all right in the ship, and send
the boat on shore the next day for me; ordering him, in the meantime,
to cause the new captain, who was killed, to be hanged at the
yard-arm, that these men might see him.
When the captain was gone, I sent for the men up to me to my
apartment, and entered seriously into discourse with them of their
circumstances. I told them I thought they had made a right choice;
that if the captain carried them away, they would certainly be hanged.
I showed them the new captain hanging at the yard-arm of the ship, and
told them they had nothing less to expect.
When they had all declared their willingness to stay, I then told them
I would let them into the story of my living there, and put them into
the way of making it easy to them. Accordingly I gave them the whole
history of the place, and of my coming to it, showed them my
fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my corn, cured my
grapes; and in a word, all that was necessary to make them easy. I
told them the story also of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be
expected, for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat
them in common with themselves.
I left them my firearms, viz., five muskets, three fowling-pieces, and
three swords. I had above a barrel and a half of powder left; for
after the first year or two I used but little, and wasted none. I gave
them a description of the way I managed the goats, and directions to
milk and fatten them, and to make both butter and cheese.
In a word, I gave them every part of my own story, and I told them I
would prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder
more, and some garden seeds, which I told them I would have been very
glad of. Also I gave them the bag of peas which the captain had
brought me to eat, and bade them be sure to sow and increase them.
Having done all this, I left them the next day, and went on board the
ship. We prepared immediately to sail, but did not weigh that night.
The next morning early two of the five men came swimming to the ship's
side, and, making a most lamentable complaint of the other three,
begged to be taken into the ship for God's sake, for they should be
murdered, and begged the captain to take them on board, though he
hanged them immediately.
Upon this the captain pretended to have no power without me; but after
some difficulty, and after their solemn promises of amendment, they
were taken on board, and were some time after soundly whipped and
pickled, after which they proved very honest and quiet fellows.
Some time after this the boat was ordered on shore, the tide being up,
with the things promised to the men, to which the captain, at my
intercession, caused their chests and clothes to be added, which they
took, and were very thankful for. I also encouraged them by telling
them that if it lay in my way to send any vessel to take them in, I
would not forget them.
When I took leave of this island, I carried on board, for relics, the
great goat-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and my parrot; also I
forgot not to take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by
me so long useless that it was grown rusty or tarnished, and could
hardly pass for silver till it had been a little rubbed and handled;
as also the money I found in the wreck of the Spanish ship.
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
GULLIVER IS SHIPWRECKED ON THE COAST OF LILLIPUT
_By Jonathan Swift_
My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire; I was the third of
five sons. He sent me to Emanuel College in Cambridge, at fourteen
years old, where I resided three years, and applied myself close to my
studies; but the charge of maintaining me (although I had a very
scanty allowance) being too great for a narrow fortune, I was bound
apprentice to Mr. James Bates, an eminent surgeon in London, with whom
I continued four years; and my father now and then sending me small
sums of money, I laid them out in learning navigation, and other parts
of the mathematics, useful to those who intend to travel, as I always
believed it would be some time or other my fortune to do. When I left
Mr. Bates, I went down to my father; where, by the assistance of him
and my uncle John, and some other relations, I got forty pounds, and a
promise of thirty pounds a year to maintain me at Leyden; there I
studied physic two years and seven months, knowing it would be useful
in long voyages. Soon after my return from Leyden, I was recommended
by my good master, Mr. Bates, to be surgeon to the Swallow, Captain
Abraham Pannell, commander, with whom I continued three years and a
half, making a voyage or two into the Levant, and some other parts.
When I came back I resolved to settle in London; to which Mr. Bates,
my master, encouraged me, and by him I was recommended to several
patients. I took part of a small house in the Old Jewry; and being
advised to alter my condition, I married Mrs. Mary Burton, second
daughter to Mr. Edmund Burton, hosier, in Newgate Street, with whom I
received four hundred pounds for a portion.
But my good master Bates dying in two years after, and I having few
friends, my business began to fail; for my conscience would not suffer
me to imitate the bad practice of too many among my brethren. Having
therefore consulted with my wife and some of my acquaintance, I
determined to go again to sea. I was surgeon successively in two
ships, and made several voyages, for six years, to the East and West
Indies, by which I got some addition to my fortune. My hours of
leisure I spent in reading the best authors, ancient and modern, being
always provided with a good number of books; and when I was ashore, in
observing the manners and dispositions of the people, as well as
learning their language, wherein I had a great facility, by the
strength of my memory.
The last of these voyages not proving very fortunate, I grew weary of
the sea, and intended to stay at home with my wife and family. I
removed from the Old Jewry to Fetter Lane, and from thence to Wapping,
hoping to get business among the sailors, but it would not turn to
account. After three years' expectation that things would mend, I
accepted an advantageous offer from Captain William Prichard, master
of the Antelope, who was making a voyage to the South Sea. We set sail
from Bristol, May 4, 1699, and our voyage at first was very
prosperous.
It would not be proper, for some reasons, to trouble the reader with
the particulars of our adventures in those seas; let it suffice to
inform him that in our passage from thence to the East Indies, we were
driven by a violent storm to the northwest of Van Diemen's Land. By an
observation, we found ourselves in the latitude of 30 degrees 2
minutes south. Twelve of our crew were dead by immoderate labor and
ill food; the rest were in a very weak condition. On the 5th of
November, which was the beginning of summer in those parts, the
weather being very hazy, the seamen spied a rock within half a cable's
length of the ship; but the wind was so strong that we were driven
directly upon it, and immediately split. Six of the crew, of whom I
was one, having let down the boat into the sea, made a shift to get
clear of the ship and the rock. We rowed, by my computation, about
three leagues, till we were able to work no longer, being already
spent with labor while we were in the ship. We therefore trusted
ourselves to the mercy of the waves, and in about half an hour the
boat was overset by a sudden flurry from the north. What became of my
companions in the boat, as well as of those who escaped on the rock,
or were left in the vessel, I cannot tell; but conclude they were all
lost. For my own part, I swam as fortune directed me, and was pushed
forward by wind and tide. I often let my legs drop, and could feel no
bottom; but when I was almost gone, and able to struggle no longer, I
found myself within my depth; and by this time the storm was much
abated. The declivity was so small, that I walked near a mile before I
got to the shore, which I conjectured was about eight o'clock in the
evening. I then advanced forward near half a mile, but could not
discover any sign of houses or inhabitants; at least I was in so weak
a condition that I did not observe them. I was extremely tired, and
with that, and the heat of the weather, and about half a pint of
brandy that I drank as I left the ship, I found myself much inclined
to sleep. I lay down on the grass, which was very short and soft,
where I slept sounder than ever I remembered to have done in my life,
and, as I reckoned, about nine hours; for when I awaked, it was just
daylight. I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir; for, as I
happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly
fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and
thick, tied down in the same manner. I likewise felt several slender
ligatures across my body, from my armpits to my thighs. I could only
look upwards; the sun began to grow hot, and the light offended my
eyes. I heard a confused noise about me, but, in the posture I lay,
could see nothing except the sky. In a little time I felt something
alive moving on my left leg, which, advancing gently forward over my
breast, came almost up to my chin; when, bending my eyes downward as
much as I could, I perceived it to be a human creature not six inches
high, with a bow and arrow in his hands, and a quiver at his back. In
the mean time, I felt at least forty more of the same kind (as I
conjectured) following the first. I was in the utmost astonishment,
and roared so loud that they all ran back in a fright; and some of
them, as I was afterwards told, were hurt with the falls they got by
leaping from my sides upon the ground. However, they soon returned,
and one of them, who ventured so far as to get a full sight of my
face, lifting up his hands and eyes by way of admiration, cried out in
a shrill but distinct voice, "Hekinah degul." The others repeated the
same words several times, but I then knew not what they meant.
I lay all this while, as the reader may believe, in great uneasiness;
at length, struggling to get loose. I had the fortune to break the
strings, and wrench out the pegs that fastened my left arm to the
ground; for, by lifting it up to my face, I discovered the methods
they had taken to bind me, and at the same time with a violent pull,
which gave me excessive pain, I a little loosened the strings that
tied down my hair on the left side, so that I was just able to turn my
head about two inches. But the creatures ran off a second time, before
I could seize them; whereupon there was a great shout in a very shrill
accent, and after it ceased I heard one of them cry aloud, "Tolgo
phonac;" when in an instant I felt above an hundred arrows discharged
on my left hand, which pricked me like so many needles; and besides,
they shot another flight into the air, as we do bombs in Europe,
whereof many, I suppose, fell on my body (though I felt them not), and
some on my face, which I immediately covered with my left hand. When
this shower of arrows was over, I fell a-groaning with grief and pain,
and then striving again to get loose, they discharged another volley
larger than the first, and some of them attempted with spears to stick
me in the sides; but by good luck I had on me a buff jerkin, which
they could not pierce. I thought it the most prudent method to lie
still, and my design was to continue so till night, when, my left hand
being already loose, I could easily free myself: and as for the
inhabitants, I had reason to believe I might be a match for the
greatest army they could bring against me, if they were all of the
same size with him that I saw. But fortune disposed otherwise of me.
When the people observed I was quiet, they discharged no more arrows;
but, by the noise I heard, I knew their numbers increased; and about
four yards from me, over against my right ear, I heard a knocking for
above an hour, like that of people at work; when turning my head that
way, as well as the pegs and strings would permit me, I saw a stage
erected about a foot and half from the ground, capable of holding four
of the inhabitants, with two or three ladders to mount it: from whence
one of them, who seemed to be a person of quality, made me a long
speech, whereof I understood not one syllable. But I should have
mentioned, that before the principal person began his oration, he
cried out three times, "Langro dehul san" (these words and the former
were afterwards repeated and explained to me). Whereupon, immediately
about fifty of the inhabitants came and cut the strings that fastened
the left side of my head, which gave me the liberty of turning it to
the right, and of observing the person and gesture of him that was to
speak. He appeared to be of a middle age, and taller than any of the
other three who attended him, whereof one was a page that held up his
train, and seemed to be somewhat longer than my middle finger; the
other two stood one on each side to support him. He acted every part
of an orator, and I could observe many periods of threatenings, and
others of promises, pity, and kindness. I answered in a few words, but
in the most submissive manner, lifting up my left hand and both my
eyes to the sun, as calling him for a witness; and being almost
famished with hunger, having not eaten a morsel for some hours before
I left the ship, I found the demands of nature so strong upon me that
I could not forbear showing my impatience (perhaps against the strict
rules of decency) by putting my finger frequently to my mouth, to
signify that I wanted food. The _hurgo_ (for so they call a great
lord, as I afterwards learnt) understood me very well. He descended
from the stage, and commanded that several ladders should be applied
to my sides, on which above an hundred of the inhabitants mounted, and
walked towards my mouth, laden with baskets full of meat, which had
been provided and sent thither by the king's orders, upon the first
intelligence he received of me. I observed there was the flesh of
several animals, but could not distinguish them by the taste. There
were shoulders, legs, and loins shaped like those of mutton, and very
well dressed, but smaller than the wing of a lark. I eat them by two
or three at a mouthful, and took three loaves at a time, about the
bigness of musket bullets. They supplied me as they could, showing a
thousand marks of wonder and astonishment at my bulk and appetite.
I then made another sign that I wanted drink. They found by my eating
that a small quantity would not suffice me; and being a most ingenious
people, they slung up, with great dexterity, one of their largest
hogsheads, then rolled it towards my hand, and beat out the top; I
drank it off at a draught, which I might well do, for it did not hold
half a pint, and tasted like a small wine of Burgundy, but much more
delicious. They brought me a second hogshead, which I drank in the
same manner, and made signs for more; but they had none to give me.
When I had performed these wonders they shouted for joy, and danced
upon my breast, repeating several times as they did at first, "Hekinah
degul." They made me a sign that I should throw down the two
hogsheads, but first warning the people below to stand out of the way,
crying aloud, "Borach mevola;" and when they saw the vessels in the
air there was an universal shout of "Hekinah degul." I confess I was
often tempted, while they were passing backwards and forwards on my
body, to seize forty or fifty of the first that came in my reach, and
dash them against the ground. But the remembrance of what I had felt,
which probably might not be the worst they could do, and the promise
of honor I made them--for so I interpreted my submissive
behavior--soon drove out these imaginations. Besides, I now considered
myself as bound by the laws of hospitality to a people who had treated
me with so much expense and magnificence. However, in my thoughts I
could not sufficiently wonder at the intrepidity of these diminutive
mortals, who durst venture to mount and walk upon my body while one of
my hands was at liberty, without trembling at the very sight of so
prodigious a creature as I must appear to them. After some time, when
they observed that I made no more demands for meat, there appeared
before me a person of high rank from his imperial majesty. His
excellency, having mounted on the small of my right leg, advanced
forwards up to my face, with about a dozen of his retinue, and
producing his credentials under the signet royal, which he applied
close to my eyes, spoke about ten minutes without any signs of anger,
but with a kind of determinate resolution; often pointing forwards,
which, as I afterwards found, was towards the capital city, about half
a mile distant, whither it was agreed by his majesty in council that I
must be conveyed. I answered in few words, but to no purpose, and made
a sign with my hand that was loose, putting it to the other (but over
his excellency's head for fear of hurting him or his train) and then
to my own head and body, to signify that I desired my liberty.
[Illustration: PRODUCING HIS CREDENTIALS UNDER THE SIGNET ROYAL]
It appeared that he understood me well enough, for he shook his head
by way of disapprobation, and held his hand in a posture to show that
I must be carried as a prisoner. However, he made other signs, to let
me understand that I should have meat and drink enough, and very good
treatment. Whereupon I once more thought of attempting to break my
bonds; but again, when I felt the smart of their arrows upon my face
and hands, which were all in blisters, and many of the darts still
sticking in them, and observing likewise that the number of my enemies
increased, I gave tokens to let them know that they might do with me
what they pleased. Upon this the _hurgo_ and his train withdrew, with
much civility and cheerful countenances. Soon after I heard a general
shout, with frequent repetitions of the words, "Peplom selan;" and I
felt great numbers of people on my left side relaxing the cords to
such a degree that I was able to turn upon my right. But, before this,
they had daubed my face and both my hands with a sort of ointment,
very pleasant to the smell, which in a few minutes removed all the
smart of their arrows. These circumstances, added to the refreshment I
had received by their victuals and drink, which were very nourishing,
disposed me to sleep. I slept about eight hours, as I was afterwards
assured; and it was no wonder, for the physicians, by the emperor's
order, had mingled a sleepy potion in the hogsheads of wine.
It seems that upon the first moment I was discovered sleeping on the
ground, after my landing, the emperors had early notice of it by an
express, and determined in council that I should be tied in the manner
I have related (which was done in the night, while I slept), that
plenty of meat and drink should be sent to me, and a machine prepared
to carry me to the capital city. This resolution perhaps may appear
very bold and dangerous, and I am confident would not be imitated by
any prince in Europe on the like occasion. However, in my opinion, it
was extremely prudent, as well as generous: for, supposing these
people had endeavored to kill me with their spears and arrows, while I
was asleep, I should certainly have awaked with the first sense of
smart, which might so far have roused my rage and strength as to have
enabled me to break the strings wherewith I was tied; after which, as
they were not able to make resistance, so they could expect no mercy.
These people are most excellent mathematicians, and arrived to a great
perfection in mechanics by the countenance and encouragement of the
emperor, who is a renowned patron of learning. This prince hath
several machines fixed on wheels, for the carriage of trees and other
great weights. He often builds his largest men-of-war, whereof some
are nine feet long, in the woods where the timber grows, and has them
carried on these engines three or four hundred yards to the sea. Five
hundred carpenters and engineers were immediately set at work to
prepare the greatest engine they had. It was a frame of wood raised
three inches from the ground, about seven feet long and four wide,
moving upon twenty-two wheels. The shout I heard was upon the arrival
of this engine, which, it seems, set out in four hours after my
landing. It was brought parallel to me, as I lay. But the principal
difficulty was to raise and place me in this vehicle. Eighty poles,
each of one foot high, were erected for this purpose, and very strong
cords, of the bigness of pack-thread, were fastened by hooks to many
bandages, which the workmen had girt round my neck, my hands, my body,
and my legs. Nine hundred of the strongest men were employed to draw
up these cords, by many pulleys fastened on the poles; and thus, in
less than three hours, I was raised and slung into the engine, and
there tied fast. All this I was told; for, while the whole operation
was performing, I lay in a profound sleep, by the force of that
soporiferous medicine infused into my liquor. Fifteen hundred of the
emperor's largest horses, each about four inches and a half high, were
employed to draw me towards the metropolis, which, as I said, was half
a mile distant.
About four hours after we began our journey, I awaked by a very
ridiculous accident; for the carriage being stopped awhile, to adjust
something that was out of order, two or three of the young natives had
the curiosity to see how I looked when I was asleep; they climbed up
into the engine, and advancing very softly to my face, one of them, an
officer in the guards, put the sharp end of his half-pike a good way
up into my left nostril, which tickled my nose like a straw, and made
me sneeze violently; whereupon they stole off unperceived, and it was
three weeks before I knew the cause of my waking so suddenly. We made
a long march the remaining part of that day, and rested at night with
five hundred guards on each side of me, half with torches, and half
with bows and arrows, ready to shoot me if I should offer to stir. The
next morning at sunrise we continued our march, and arrived within two
hundred yards of the city gates about noon. The emperor and all his
court, came out to meet us, but his great officers would by no means
suffer his majesty to endanger his person by mounting on my body.
At the place where the carriage stopped there stood an ancient temple,
esteemed to be the largest in the whole kingdom; which, having been
polluted some years before by an unnatural murder, was, according to
the zeal of those people, looked on as profane, and therefore had been
applied to common use, and all the ornaments and furniture carried
away. In this edifice it was determined I should lodge. The great
gate, fronting to the north, was about four feet high and almost two
feet wide, through which I could easily creep. On each side of the
gate was a small window, not above six inches from the ground; into
that on the left side the king's smith conveyed fourscore and eleven
chains, like those that hang to a lady's watch in Europe, and almost
as large, which were locked to my left leg with six-and-thirty
padlocks. Over against this temple, on the other side of the great
highway, at twenty feet distance, there was a turret at least five
feet high. Here the emperor ascended, with many principal lords of his
court, to have an opportunity of viewing me, as I was told, for I
could not see them. It was reckoned that above an hundred thousand
inhabitants came out of the town upon the same errand; and in spite of
my guards, I believe there could not be fewer than ten thousand, at
several times, who mounted my body by the help of ladders. But a
proclamation was soon issued, to forbid it upon pain of death. When
the workmen found it was impossible for me to break loose they cut all
the strings that bound me; whereupon I rose up, with as melancholy a
disposition as ever I had in my life. But the noise and astonishment
of the people, at seeing me rise and walk, are not to be expressed.
The chains that held my left leg were about two yards long, and gave
me not only the liberty of walking backwards and forwards in a
semicircle, but, being fixed within four inches of the gate, allowed
me to creep in, and lie at my full length in the temple.
GULLIVER SEIZES THE ENEMY'S FLEET
_By Jonathan Swift_
One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained my liberty,
Reldresal, principal secretary (as they style him) of private affairs,
came to my house attended only by one servant. He ordered his coach to
wait at a distance, and desired I would give him an hour's audience;
which I readily consented to, on account of his quality and personal
merits, as well as the many good offices he had done me during my
solicitations at court. I offered to lie down, that he might the more
conveniently reach my ear; but he chose rather to let me hold him in
my hand during our conversation. He began with compliments on my
liberty; said he might pretend to some merit in it; but, however,
added, that if it had not been for the present situation of things at
court, perhaps I might not have obtained it so soon. "For," said he,
"as flourishing a condition as we may appear to be in to foreigners,
we labor under two mighty evils: a violent faction at home, and the
danger of an invasion, by a most potent enemy, from abroad. As to the
first, you are to understand that for above seventy moons past there
have been two struggling parties in this empire, under the names of
_Tramecksan_ and _Slamecksan_, from the high and low heels of their
shoes, by which they distinguish themselves. It is alleged, indeed,
that the high heels are most agreeable to our ancient constitution;
but, however this may be, his majesty hath determined to make use of
only low heels in the administration of the government and all offices
in the gift of the crown, as you cannot but observe: and particularly
that his majesty's imperial heels are lower at least by a _drurr_ than
any of his court [_drurr_ is a measure about the fourteenth part of an
inch]. The animosities between these two parties run so high, that
they will neither eat nor drink nor talk with each other. We compute
the _Tramecksan_, or high heels, to exceed us in number; but the power
is wholly on our side. We apprehend his imperial highness, the heir to
the crown, to have some tendency towards the high heels; at least, we
can plainly discover that one of his heels is higher than the other,
which gives him a hobble in his gait. Now, in the midst of these
intestine disquiets, we are threatened with an invasion from the
island of Blefuscu, which is the other great empire of the universe,
almost as large and powerful as this of his majesty. For as to what we
heard you affirm, that there are other kingdoms and states in the
world inhabited by human creatures as large as yourself, our
philosophers are in much doubt, and would rather conjecture that you
dropped from the moon, or one of the stars; because it is certain that
an hundred mortals of your bulk would in a short time destroy all the
fruits and cattle of his majesty's dominions; besides, our histories
of six thousand moons make no mention of any other regions than the
two great empires of Lilliput and Blefuscu. Which two mighty powers
have, as I was going to tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate war
for six-and-thirty moons past. It began upon the following occasion:
it is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs,
before we eat them, was upon the larger end; but his present majesty's
grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it
according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers;
whereupon the emperor, his father, published an edict, commanding all
his subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their
eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell
us there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one
emperor lost his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions
were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they
were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It is
computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered
death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end. Many
hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy: but
the books of the Big-Endians have been long forbidden, and the whole
party rendered incapable by law of holding employments. During the
course of these troubles, the emperors of Blefuscu did frequently
expostulate by their ambassadors, accusing us of making a schism in
religion by offending against a fundamental doctrine of our great
prophet Lustrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral, which
is their Alcoran. This, however, is thought to be a mere strain upon
the text; for the words are these: that all true believers break their
eggs at the convenient end; and which is the convenient end seems, in
my humble opinion, to be left to every man's conscience, or at least
in the power of the chief magistrate to determine.
"Now, the Big-Endian exiles have found so much credit in the emperor
of Blefuscu's court, and so much private assistance and encouragement
from their party here at home, that a bloody war hath been carried on
between the two empires for thirty-six moons, with various success;
during which time we have lost forty capital ships, and a much greater
number of smaller vessels, together with thirty thousand of our best
seamen and soldiers; and the damage received by the enemy is reckoned
to be somewhat greater than ours. However, they have now equipped a
numerous fleet, and are just preparing to make a descent upon us; and
his imperial majesty, placing great confidence in your valor and
strength, hath commanded me to lay this account of his affairs before
you."
I desired the secretary to present my humble duty to the emperor; and
to let him know that I thought it would not become me, who was a
foreigner, to interfere with parties; but I was ready, with the hazard
of my life, to defend his person and state against all invaders.
The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated to the northeast side of
Lilliput, from whence it is parted only by a channel of eight hundred
yards wide. I had not yet seen it, and upon this notice of an intended
invasion I avoided appearing on that side of the coast, for fear of
being discovered by some of the enemy's ships, who had received no
intelligence of me; all intercourse between the two empires having
been strictly forbidden during the war, upon pain of death, and an
embargo laid by our emperor upon all vessels whatsoever. I
communicated to his majesty a project I had formed of seizing the
enemy's whole fleet; which, as our scouts assured us, lay at anchor in
the harbor, ready to sail with the first fair wind. I consulted the
most experienced seamen upon the depth of the channel, which they had
often plumbed; who told me that in the middle, at high water, it was
seventy _glumgluffs_ deep, which is about six feet of European
measure; and the rest of it fifty _glumgluffs_ at most. I walked
towards the northeast coast, over against Blefuscu; where, lying down
behind a hillock, I took out my small perspective glass, and viewed
the enemy's fleet at anchor, consisting of about fifty men-of-war and
a great number of transports. I then came back to my house, and gave
order (for which I had a warrant) for a great quantity of the
strongest cable and bars of iron. The cable was about as thick as
pack-thread, and the bars of the length and size of a knitting-needle.
I trebled the cable to make it stronger, and for the same reason I
twisted three of the iron bars together, binding the extremities into
a hook. Having thus fixed fifty hooks to as many cables, I went back
to the northeast coast, and, putting off my coat, shoes, and
stockings, walked into the sea in my leathern jerkin, about an hour
before high water. I waded with what haste I could, and swam in the
middle about thirty yards, till I felt ground. I arrived to the fleet
in less than half an hour. The enemy was so frightened when they saw
me, that they leaped out of their ships and swam to shore, where there
could not be fewer than thirty thousand souls. I then took my
tackling, and fastening a hook to the hole at the prow of each, I tied
all the cords together at the end. While I was thus employed, the
enemy discharged several thousand arrows, many of which stuck in my
hands and face; and, besides the excessive smart, gave me much
disturbance in my work. My greatest apprehension was for mine eyes,
which I should have infallibly lost, if I had not suddenly thought of
an expedient. I kept, among other little necessaries, a pair of
spectacles in a private pocket, which, as I observed before, had
escaped the emperor's searches. These I took out and fastened as
strongly as I could upon my nose, and thus armed, went on boldly with
my work, in spite of the enemy's arrows, many of which struck against
the glasses of my spectacles, but without any other effect, farther
than a little to discompose them. I had now fastened all the hooks,
and taking the knot in my hand, began to pull; but not a ship would
stir, for they were all too fast held by their anchors, so that the
boldest part of my enterprise remained. I therefore let go the cord,
and leaving the hooks fixed to the ships, I resolutely cut with my
knife the cables that fastened the anchors, receiving above two
hundred shots in my face and hands; then I took up the knotted end of
the cables, to which my hooks were tied, and with great ease drew
fifty of the enemy's largest men-of-war after me.
The Blefuscudians, who had not the least imagination of what I
intended, were at first confounded with astonishment. They had seen me
cut the cables, and thought my design was only to let the ships run
adrift, or fall foul on each other; but when they perceived the whole
fleet moving in order, and saw me pulling at the end, they set up such
a scream of grief and despair that it is almost impossible to describe
or conceive it. When I had got out of danger, I stopped awhile to pick
out the arrows that stuck in my hands and face; and rubbed on some of
the same ointment that was given me at my first arrival, as I have
formerly mentioned. I then took off my spectacles, and waiting about
an hour, till the tide was a little fallen, I waded through the middle
with my cargo, and arrived safe at the royal port of Lilliput.
The emperor and his whole court stood on the shore, expecting the
issue of this great adventure. They saw the ships move forward in a
large half-moon, but could not discern me, who was up to my breast in
water. When I advanced to the middle of the channel, they were yet in
more pain, because I was under water to my neck. The emperor concluded
me to be drowned, and that the enemy's fleet was approaching in a
hostile manner; but he was soon eased of his fears, for, the channel
growing shallower every step I made, I came in a short time within
hearing, and holding up the end of the cable, by which the fleet was
fastened, I cried in a loud voice, "Long live the most puissant
emperor of Lilliput!" This great prince received me at my landing with
all possible encomiums, and created me a _nardac_ upon the spot, which
is the highest title of honor among them.
His majesty desired I would take some opportunity of bringing all the
rest of his enemy's ships into his ports. And so unmeasurable is the
ambition of princes, that he seemed to think of nothing less than
reducing the whole empire of Blefuscu into a province, and governing
it by a viceroy; of destroying the Big-Endian exiles, and compelling
that people to break the smaller end of their eggs, by which he would
remain the sole monarch of the whole world. But I endeavored to divert
him from his design, by many arguments drawn from the topics of policy
as well as justice; and I plainly protested that I "would never be an
instrument of bringing a free and brave people into slavery;" and when
the matter was debated in council, the wisest part of the ministry
were of my opinion.
A LILLIPUTIAN ODE TO THE MAN-MOUNTAIN
_By Jonathan Swift_
In amaze,
Lost, I gaze!
Can our eyes
Reach thy size?
May my lays
Swell with praise!
Worthy thee!
Worthy me!
Muse, inspire
All thy fire.
Bards of old
Of him told,
When they said
Atlas' head
Propt the skies:
See, and believe your eyes.
See him stride
Valleys wide:
Over woods,
Over floods,
When he treads,
Mountains' heads
Groan and shake;
Armies quake,
Lest his spurn
Overturn
Man and steed:
Troops take heed!
Left and right,
Speed your flight!
Lest an host
Beneath his foot be lost.
Turn'd aside
From his hide,
Safe from wound
Darts rebound;
From his nose
Clouds he blows;
When he speaks,
Thunder breaks!
When he eats,
Famine threats;
When he drinks,
Neptune shrinks!
Nigh thy ear,
In mid air,
On thy hand
Let me stand;
So shall I,
Lofty poet, touch the sky.
AMONG THE BROBDINGNAGIAN GIANTS
_By Jonathan Swift_
Having been condemned by nature and fortune to an active and restless
life, in two months after my return I again left my native country,
and took shipping in the Downs, on the 20th day of June, 1702, in the
Adventure, Captain John Nicholas, a Cornishman, commander, bound for
Surat. We had a very prosperous gale till we arrived at the Cape of
Good Hope, where we landed for fresh water; but discovering a leak, we
unshipped our goods, and wintered there; for the captain falling sick
of an ague, we could not leave the Cape till the end of March. We then
set sail, and had a good voyage till we passed the Straits of
Madagascar; but having got northward of that island, and to about five
degrees south latitude, the winds, which in those seas were observed
to blow a constant equal gale between the north and west, from the
beginning of December to the beginning of May, on the 9th of April
began to blow with much greater violence, and more westerly than
usual, continuing so for twenty days together: during which time we
were driven a little to the east of the Molucca Islands, and about
three degrees northward of the line, as our captain found by an
observation he took the 2d of May, at which time the wind ceased, and
it was a perfect calm; whereat I was not a little rejoiced. But he,
being a man experienced in the navigation of those seas, bid us all
prepare against a storm, which accordingly happened the day following;
for a southern wind, called the southern monsoon, began to set in.
Finding it was like to overblow, we took in our sprit-sail, and stood
by to hand the foresail; but, making foul weather, we looked the guns
were all fast, and handed the mizzen. The ship lay very broad off, so
we thought it better spooning before the sea than trying or hulling.
We reefed the foresail and set him, and hauled aft the fore sheet; the
helm was hard-a-weather. The ship wore bravely. We belayed the fore
downhaul; but the sail was split, and we hauled down the yard, and got
the sail into the ship, and unbound all the things clear of it. It was
a very fierce storm; the sea broke strange and dangerous. We hauled
off upon the lanyard of the whip-staff, and helped the man at the
helm. We would not get down our topmast, but let all stand, because
she scudded before the sea very well, and we knew that the topmast
being aloft, the ship was the wholesomer, and made better way through
the sea, seeing we had sea-room. When the storm was over, we set
foresail and mainsail, and brought the ship to. Then we set the
mizzen, main topsail, and the fore-topsail. Our course was
east-northeast, the wind was at southwest. We got the starboard tacks
aboard, we cast off our weather braces and lifts; we set in the lee
braces, and hauled forward by the weather bowlings, and hauled them
right, and belayed them, and hauled over the mizzen tack to windward,
and kept her full and by as near as she would lie. During this storm,
which was followed by a strong wind west-southwest, we were carried,
by my computation, about five hundred leagues to the east, so that the
oldest sailor aboard could not tell in what part of the world we were.
Our provisions held out well, our ship was stanch, and our crew all in
good health; but we lay in the utmost distress for water. We thought
it best to hold on the same course, rather than turn more northerly,
which might have brought us to the northwest parts of Great Tartary,
and into the Frozen Sea.
On the 16th day of June, 1703, a boy on the topmast discovered land.
On the 17th, we came in full view of a great island, or continent (for
we knew not whether); on the south side whereof was a small neck of
land jutting out into the sea, and a creek too shallow to hold a ship
of above one hundred tons. We cast anchor within a league of this
creek, and our captain sent a dozen of his men well armed in the long
boat, with vessels for water, if any could be found. I desired his
leave to go with them, that I might see the country, and make what
discoveries I could. When we came to land, we saw no river, or spring,
nor any sign of inhabitants. Our men therefore wandered on the shore
to find out some fresh water near the sea, and I walked alone about a
mile on the other side, where I observed the country all barren and
rocky. I now began to be weary, and seeing nothing to entertain my
curiosity, I returned gently down towards the creek; and the sea being
full in my view, I saw our men already got into the boat and rowing
for life to the ship. I was going to holla after them, although it had
been to little purpose, when I observed a huge creature walking after
them in the sea, as fast as he could: he waded not much deeper than
his knees, and took prodigious strides: but our men had the start of
him half a league, and the sea thereabouts being full of sharp-pointed
rocks, the monster was not able to overtake the boat. This I was
afterwards told, for I durst not stay to see the issue of the
adventure, but ran as fast as I could the way I first went, and then
climbed up a steep hill, which gave me some prospect of the country. I
found it fully cultivated; but that which first surprised me was the
length of the grass, which, in those grounds that seemed to be kept
for hay, was about twenty feet high.
I fell into a highroad, for so I took it to be, though it served to
the inhabitants only as a footpath through a field of barley. Here I
walked on for some time, but could see little on either side, it being
now at least harvest, and the corn rising near forty feet. I was an
hour walking to the end of this field, which was fenced in with a
hedge of at least one hundred and twenty feet high, and the trees so
lofty that I could make no computation of their altitude. There was a
stile to pass from this field into the next. It had four steps, and a
stone to cross over when you came to the uppermost. It was impossible
for me to climb this stile, because every step was six feet high, and
the upper stone above twenty. I was endeavoring to find some gap in
the hedge, when I discovered one of the inhabitants in the next field,
advancing towards the stile, of the same size with him I saw in the
sea pursuing our boat. He appeared as tall as an ordinary spire
steeple, and took about ten yards at every stride, as near as I could
guess. I was struck with the utmost fear and astonishment, and ran to
hide myself in the corn, whence I saw him at the top of the stile
looking back into the next field on the right hand, and heard him call
in a voice many degrees louder than a speaking-trumpet; but the noise
was so high in the air, that at first I certainly thought it was
thunder. Whereupon seven monsters, like himself, came towards him,
with reaping hooks in their hands, each hook about the largeness of
six scythes. These people were not so well clad as the first, whose
servants or laborers they seemed to be; for, upon some words he spoke,
they went to reap the corn in the field where I lay. I kept from them
at as great a distance as I could, but was forced to move with extreme
difficulty, for the stalks of the corn were sometimes not above a foot
distant, so that I could hardly squeeze my body betwixt them. However,
I made shift to go forward till I came to a part of the field where
the corn had been laid by the rain and wind. Here it was impossible
for me to advance a step; for the stalks were so interwoven that I
could not creep through, and the beards of the fallen ears so strong
and pointed that they pierced though my clothes into my flesh. At the
same time I heard the reapers not above ah hundred yards behind me.
Being quite dispirited with toil, and wholly overcome by grief and
despair, I lay down between two ridges, and heartily wished I might
there end my days. I bemoaned my desolate widow and fatherless
children. I lamented my own folly and willfulness, in attempting a
second voyage against the advice of all my friends and relations. In
this terrible agitation of mind, I could not forbear thinking of
Lilliput, whose inhabitants looked upon me as the greatest prodigy
that ever appeared in the world; where I was able to draw an imperial
fleet in my hand, and perform those other actions which will be
recorded forever in the chronicles of that empire, while posterity
shall hardly believe them, although attested by millions. I reflected
what a mortification it must prove to me to appear as inconsiderable
in this nation as one single Lilliputian would be among us. But this,
I conceived, was to be the least of my misfortunes; for, as human
creatures are observed to be more savage and cruel in proportion to
their bulk, what could I expect but to be a morsel in the mouth of the
first among these enormous barbarians that should happen to seize me?
Undoubtedly philosophers are in the right when they tell us that
nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison. It might have
pleased fortune to let the Lilliputians find some nation where the
people were as diminutive with respect to them as they were to me. And
who knows but that even this prodigious race of mortals might be
equally overmatched in some distant part of the world, whereof we have
yet no discovery?
Scared and confounded as I was, I could not forbear going on with
these reflections, when one of the reapers, approaching within ten
yards of the ridge where I lay, made me apprehend that with the next
step I should be squashed to death under his foot, or cut in two with
his reaping hook. And, therefore, when he was again about to move, I
screamed as loud as fear could make me; whereupon the huge creature
trod short, and looking round about under him for some time, at last
espied me as I lay on the ground. He considered awhile, with the
caution of one who endeavors to lay hold on a small dangerous animal
in such a manner that it may not be able either to scratch or to bite
him, as I myself have sometimes done with a weasel in England. At
length he ventured to take me up behind, by the middle, between his
forefinger and thumb, and brought me within three yards of his eyes,
that he might behold my shape more perfectly. I guessed his meaning,
and my good fortune gave me so much presence of mind that I resolved
not to struggle in the least as he held me in the air about sixty feet
from the ground, although he grievously pinched my sides, for fear I
should slip through his fingers. All I ventured was to raise mine eyes
toward the sun, and place my hands together in a supplicating posture,
and to speak some words in an humble, melancholy tone, suitable to the
condition I then was in; for I apprehended every moment that he would
dash me against the ground, as we usually do any little hateful animal
which we have in mind to destroy. But my good star would have it that
he appeared pleased with my voice and gestures, and began to look upon
me as a curiosity, much wondering to hear me pronounce articulate
words, although he could not understand them. In the meantime I was
not able to forbear groaning and shedding tears, and turning my head
towards my sides; letting him know, as well as I could, how cruelly I
was hurt by the pressure of his thumb and finger. He seemed to
apprehend my meaning; for, lifting up the lappet of his coat, he put
me gently into it, and immediately ran along with me to his master,
who was a substantial farmer, and the same person I had first seen in
the field.
[Illustration: THE HUGE CREATURE TROD SHORT]
The farmer having (as I suppose by their talk) received such an
account of me as his servant could give him, took a piece of a small
straw, about the size of a walking staff, and therewith lifted up the
lappets of my coat; which it seems he thought to be some kind of
covering that nature had given me. He blew my hairs aside to take a
better view of my face. He called his hinds about him, and asked them
(as I afterwards learned) whether they had ever seen in the fields any
little creature that resembled me. He then placed me softly on the
ground upon all fours, but I got immediately up, and walked slowly
backwards and forwards, to let those people see I had no intent to run
away. They all sat down in a circle about me, the better to observe my
motions. I pulled off my hat, and made a low bow towards the farmer. I
fell on my knees, and lifted up my hands and eyes, and spoke several
words as loud as I could; I took a purse of gold out of my pocket, and
humbly presented it to him. He received it on the palm of his hand,
and then applied it close to his eye to see what it was, and
afterwards turned it several times with the point of a pin (which he
took out of his sleeve), but could make nothing of it. Whereupon I
made a sign that he should place his hand on the ground. I then took
the purse, and opening it, poured all the gold into his palm. There
were six Spanish pieces of four pistoles each, besides twenty or
thirty smaller coins. I saw him wet the tip of his little finger upon
his tongue, and take up one of my largest pieces, and then another;
but he seemed to be wholly ignorant what they were. He made me a sign
to put them again into my purse, and the purse again into my pocket,
which, after offering it to him several times, I thought it best to
do.
The farmer by this time was convinced I must be a rational creature.
He spoke often to me; but the sound of his voice pierced my ears like
that of a water mill, yet his words were articulate enough. I answered
as loud as I could in several languages, and he often laid his ear
within two yards of me: but all in vain, for we were wholly
unintelligible to each other. He then sent his servants to their work,
and taking his handkerchief out of his pocket, he doubled and spread
it on his left hand, which he placed flat on the ground with the palm
upward, making me a sign to step into it, as I could easily do, for it
was not above a foot in thickness. I thought it my part to obey, and,
for fear of falling, laid myself at length upon the handkerchief, with
the remainder of which he lapped me up to the head for further
security, and in this manner carried me home to his house. There he
called his wife, and showed me to her; but she screamed and ran back,
as women in England do at the sight of a toad or a spider. However,
when she had awhile seen my behavior, and how well I observed the
signs her husband made, she was soon reconciled, and by degrees grew
extremely tender of me.
It was about twelve at noon, and a servant brought in dinner. It was
only one substantial dish of meat (fit for the plain condition of an
husbandman), in a dish of about four-and-twenty feet diameter. The
company were the farmer and his wife, three children, and an old
grandmother. When they were set down, the farmer placed me at some
distance from him on the table, which was thirty feet high from the
floor. I was in a terrible fright, and kept as far as I could from the
edge, for fear of falling. The wife minced a bit of meat, then
crumbled some bread on a trencher, and placed it before me. I made her
a low bow, took out my knife and fork, and fell to eat, which gave
them exceeding delight. The mistress sent her maid for a small dram
cup, which held about two gallons, and filled it with drink; I took up
the vessel with much difficulty in both hands, and in a most
respectful manner drank to her ladyship's health, expressing the words
as loud as I could in English, which made the company laugh so
heartily that I was almost deafened with the noise. This liquor tasted
like a small cider, and was not unpleasant. Then the master made me a
sign to come to his trencher-side; but as I walked on the table, being
in great surprise all the time, as the indulgent reader will easily
conceive and excuse, I happened to stumble against a crust, and fell
flat on my face, but received no hurt. I got up immediately, and
observing the good people to be in much concern, I took my hat (which
I held under my arm out of good manners), and waving it over my head,
made three huzzas, to show I had got no mischief by my fall. But
advancing forward towards my master (as I shall henceforth call him),
his youngest son, who sat next him, an arch boy of about ten years
old, took me up by the legs, and held me so high in the air that I
trembled every limb; but his father snatched me from him, and at the
same time gave him such a box on the left ear as would have felled an
European troop of horse to the earth, ordering him to be taken from
the table. But being afraid the boy might owe me a spite, and well
remembering how mischievous all children among us naturally are to
sparrows, rabbits, young kittens, and puppy dogs, I fell on my knees,
and pointing to the boy, made my master to understand as well as I
could that I desired his son might be pardoned. The father complied,
and the lad took his seat again, whereupon I went to him, and kissed
his hand, which my master took, and made him stroke me gently with it.
In the midst of dinner, my mistress's favorite cat leaped into her
lap. I heard a noise behind me like that of a dozen stocking-weavers
at work; and turning my head, I found it proceeded from the purring of
that animal, who seemed to be three times larger than an ox, as I
computed by the view of her head and one of her paws, while her
mistress was feeding and stroking her. The fierceness of this
creature's countenance altogether discomposed me, though I stood at
the farther end of the table, above fifty feet off, and although my
mistress held her fast, for fear she might give a spring, and seize me
in her talons. But it happened there was no danger, for the cat took
not the least notice of me when my master placed me within three yards
of her. And as I have been always told, and found true by experience
in my travels, that flying or discovering fear before a fierce animal
is a certain way to make it pursue or attack you, so I resolved in
this dangerous juncture to show no manner of concern. I walked with
intrepidity five or six times before the very head of the cat, and
came within half a yard of her; whereupon she drew herself back, as if
she were more afraid of me. I had less apprehension concerning the
dogs, whereof three or four came into the room, as is usual in
farmers' houses; one of which was a mastiff, equal in bulk to four
elephants, and a greyhound somewhat taller than the mastiff, but not
so large.
When dinner was almost done, the nurse came in with a child of a year
old in her arms, who immediately spied me, and began a squall that you
might have heard from London Bridge to Chelsea, after the usual
oratory of infants, to get me for a plaything. The mother, out of pure
indulgence, took me up, and put me towards the child, who presently
seized me by the middle, and got my head into his mouth, where I
roared so loud that the urchin was frighted, and let me drop, and I
should infallibly have broken my neck if the mother had not held her
apron under me. The nurse, to quiet her babe, made use of a rattle,
which was a kind of hollow vessel filled with great stones, and
fastened by a cable to the child's waist.
I remember, when I was at Lilliput, the complexions of those
diminutive people appeared to me the fairest in the world; and talking
upon the subject with a person of learning there, who was an intimate
friend of mine, he said that my face appeared much fairer and smoother
when he looked on me from the ground than it did upon a nearer view,
when I took him up in my hand and brought him close, which he
confessed was at first a very shocking sight. He said he could
discover great holes in my skin; that the stumps of my beard were ten
times stronger than the bristles of a boar, and my complexion made up
of several colors, altogether disagreeable; although I must beg leave
to say for myself that I am as fair as most of my sex and country, and
very little sunburnt by travels. On the other side, discoursing of the
ladies in that emperor's court, he used to tell me, one had freckles,
another too wide a mouth, a third too large a nose; nothing of which I
was able to distinguish. I confess this reflection was obvious enough;
which, however, I could not forbear, lest the reader might think those
vast creatures were actually deformed: for I must do them justice to
say, they are a comely race of people; and particularly the features
of my master's countenance, although he were but a farmer, when I
beheld him from the height of sixty feet, appeared very well
proportioned.
When dinner was done, my master went out to his laborers, and, as I
could discover by his voice and gesture, gave his wife a strict charge
to take care of me. I was very much tired and disposed to sleep, which
my mistress perceiving, she put me on her own bed, and covered me with
a clean white handkerchief, but larger and coarser than the mainsail
of a man-of-war.
I slept about two hours, and dreamed I was at home with my wife and
children, which aggravated my sorrows when I awaked, and found myself
alone, in a vast room, between two and three hundred feet wide, and
above two hundred high, lying in a bed twenty yards wide. My mistress
was gone about her household affairs, and had locked me in. The bed
was eight yards from the floor. I durst not presume to call; and if I
had, it would have been in vain, with such a voice as mine, at so
great a distance as from the room where I lay to the kitchen where the
family kept. While I was under these circumstances, two rats crept up
the curtains, and ran smelling backwards and forwards on the bed. One
of them came up almost to my face, whereupon I rose in a fright, and
drew out my hanger to defend myself. These horrible animals had the
boldness to attack me on both sides, and one of them held his forefeet
at my collar; but I had the good fortune to rip up his belly before he
could do me any mischief. He fell down at my feet; and the other,
seeing the fate of his comrade, made his escape, but not without one
good wound on the back, which I gave him as he fled, and made the
blood run trickling from him. After this exploit, I walked gently to
and fro on the bed, to recover my breath and loss of spirits. These
creatures were of the size of a large mastiff, but infinitely more
nimble and fierce; so that if I had taken off my belt before I went to
sleep, I must have infallibly been torn to pieces and devoured. I
measured the tail of the dead rat, and found it to be two yards long
wanting an inch; but it went against my stomach to draw the carcass
off the bed, where it lay still bleeding. I observed it had yet some
life, but with a strong slash across the neck, I thoroughly dispatched
it.
Soon after, my mistress came into the room, who, seeing me all bloody,
ran and took me up in her hand. I pointed to the dead rat, smiling,
and making other signs to show I was not hurt; whereat she was
extremely rejoiced, calling the maid to take up the dead rat with a
pair of tongs, and throw it out of the window. Then she set me on a
table, where I showed her my hanger all bloody, and wiping it on the
lappet of my coat, returned it to the scabbard.
I hope the gentle reader will excuse me for dwelling on these and the
like particulars, which, however insignificant they may appear to
groveling vulgar minds, yet will certainly help a philosopher to
enlarge his thoughts and imagination, and to apply them to a benefit
of public as private life, which was my sole design in presenting this
and other accounts of my travels to the world; wherein I have been
chiefly studious of truth, without affecting any ornaments of learning
or of style. But the whole scene of this voyage made so strong an
impression on my mind, and is so deeply fixed in my memory, that in
committing it to paper I did not omit one material circumstance:
however, upon a strict review, I blotted out several passages of less
moment, which were in my first copy, for fear of being censured as
tedious and trifling, whereof travelers are often, perhaps not without
justice, accused.
ADVENTURES IN BROBDINGNAG
_By Jonathan Swift_
I should have lived happy enough in that country if my littleness had
not exposed me to several ridiculous and troublesome accidents; some
of which I shall venture to relate. Glumdalclitch often carried me
into the gardens of the court in my smaller box, and would sometimes
take me out of it, and hold me in her hand, or set me down to walk. I
remember, before the dwarf left the queen, he followed us one day into
those gardens, and my nurse having set me down, he and I being close
together, near some dwarf apple-trees, I must needs show my wit, by a
silly allusion between him and the trees, which happens to hold in
their language as it doth in ours. Whereupon the malicious rogue,
watching his opportunity when I was walking under one of them, shook
it directly over my head, by which a dozen apples, each of them near
as large as a Bristol barrel, came tumbling about my ears; one of them
hit me on the back as I chanced to stoop, and knocked me down flat on
my face; but I received no other hurt, and the dwarf was pardoned at
my desire, because I had given the provocation.
Another day, Glumdalclitch left me on a smooth grass-plot to divert
myself, while she walked at some distance with her governess. In the
meantime there suddenly fell such a violent shower of hail that I was
immediately, by the force of it, struck to the ground: and when I was
down, the hailstones gave me such cruel bangs all over the body, as if
I had been pelted with tennis balls: however, I made a shift to creep
on all four, and shelter myself, by lying flat on my face, on the lee
side of a border of lemon-thyme; but so bruised from head to foot that
I could not go abroad in ten days. Neither is this at all to be
wondered at, because nature, in that country, observing the same
proportion through all her operations, a hailstone is near eighteen
hundred times as large as one in Europe; which I can assert upon
experience, having been so curious as to weigh and measure them.
But a more dangerous accident happened to me in the same garden, when
my little nurse, believing she had put me in a secure place (which I
often entreated her to do, that I might enjoy my own thoughts), and
having left my box at home, to avoid the trouble of carrying it, went
to another part of the garden with her governess and some ladies of
her acquaintance. While she was absent, and out of hearing, a small
white spaniel belonging to one of the chief gardeners, having got by
accident into the garden, happened to range near the place where I
lay; the dog, following the scent, came directly up, and taking me in
his mouth, ran straight to his master, wagging his tail, and set me
gently on the ground. By good fortune he had been so well taught that
I was carried between his teeth without the least hurt, or even
tearing my clothes. But the poor gardener, who knew me well, and had a
great kindness for me, was in a terrible fright; he gently took me up
in both his hands, and asked me how I did, but I was so amazed and out
of breath that I could not speak a word. In few minutes I came to
myself, and he carried me safe to my little nurse, who by this time
had returned to the place where she left me, and was in cruel agonies
when I did not appear, nor answer when she called. She severely
reprimanded the gardener on account of his dog. But the thing was
hushed up, and never known at court, for the girl was afraid of the
queen's anger; and truly, as to myself, I thought it would not be for
my reputation that such a story should go about.
This accident absolutely determined Glumdalclitch never to trust me
abroad for the future out of her sight. I had been long afraid of this
resolution, and therefore concealed from her some little unlucky
adventures that happened in those times when I was left by myself.
Once a kite, hovering over the garden, made a stoop at me, and if I
had not resolutely drawn my hanger, and run under a thick espalier, he
would have certainly carried me away in his talons. Another time,
walking to the top of a fresh molehill, I fell to my neck in the hole
through which that animal had cast up the earth, and coined some lie,
not worth remembering, to excuse myself for spoiling my clothes. I
likewise broke my right shin against the shell of a snail, which I
happened to stumble over as I was walking alone and thinking on poor
England.
I cannot tell whether I were more pleased or mortified to observe, in
those solitary walks, that the smaller birds did not appear to be at
all afraid of me, but would hop about within a yard's distance,
looking for worms and other food, with as much indifference and
security as if no creature at all were near them. I remember a thrush
had the confidence to snatch out of my hand, with his bill, a piece of
cake that Glumdalclitch had just given me for my breakfast. When I
attempted to catch any of these birds, they would boldly turn against
me, endeavoring to pick my fingers, which I durst not venture within
their reach; and then they would hop back unconcerned, to hunt for
worms or snails, as they did before. But one day I took a thick
cudgel, and threw it with all my strength so luckily at a linnet that
I knocked him down, and seizing him by the neck with both my hands,
ran with him in triumph to my nurse. However, the bird, who had only
been stunned, recovering himself, gave me so many boxes with his
wings, on both sides of my head and body, though I held him at arm's
length, and was out of the reach of his claws, that I was twenty times
thinking to let him go. But I was soon relieved by one of our
servants, who wrung off the bird's neck, and I had him next day for
dinner, by the queen's command. This linnet, as near as I can
remember, seemed to be somewhat larger than an England swan.
One day, a young gentleman, who was nephew to my nurse's governess,
came and pressed them both to see an execution. It was of a man who
had murdered one of that gentleman's intimate acquaintance.
Glumdalclitch was prevailed on to be of the company, very much against
her inclination, for she was naturally tender-hearted; and as for
myself, although I abhorred such kind of spectacles, yet my curiosity
tempted me to see something that I thought must be extraordinary. The
malefactor was fixed in a chair upon a scaffold erected for that
purpose, and his head cut off at one blow with a sword of about forty
feet long. The veins and arteries spouted up such a prodigious
quantity of blood, and so high in the air, that the great _jet d'eau_
at Versailles was not equal for the time it lasted; and the head, when
it fell on the scaffold floor, gave such a bounce as made me start,
although I were at least half an English mile distant.
The queen, who often used to hear me talk of my sea voyage, and took
all occasions to divert me when I was melancholy, asked me whether I
understood how to handle a sail or an oar, and whether a little
exercise of rowing might not be convenient for my health. I answered
that I understood both very well: for although my proper employment
had been to be surgeon or doctor to the ship, yet often, upon a pinch,
I was forced to work like a common mariner. But I could not see how
this could be done in their country, where the smallest wherry was
equal to a first-rate man-of-war among us; and such a boat as I could
manage would never live in any of their rivers. Her majesty said, if I
would contrive a boat, her own joiner should make it, and she would
provide a place for me to sail in. The fellow was an ingenious
workman, and by my instructions, in ten days finished a pleasure boat,
with all its tackling, able conveniently to hold eight Europeans. When
it was finished the queen was so delighted that she ran with it in her
lap to the king, who ordered it to be put in a cistern full of water,
with me in it, by way of trial; where I could not manage my two
sculls, or little oars, for want of room. But the queen had before
contrived another project. She ordered the joiner to make a wooden
trough of three hundred feet long, fifty broad, and eight deep; which
being well pitched to prevent leaking, was placed on the floor along
the wall, in an outer room of the palace. It had a cock near the
bottom to let out the water when it began to grow stale; and two
servants could easily fill it in half an hour. Here I often used to
row for my own diversion, as well as that of the queen and her ladies,
who thought themselves well entertained with my skill and agility.
Sometimes I would put up my sail, and then my business was only to
steer, while the ladies gave me a gale with their fans; and when they
were weary, some of the pages would blow my sail forward with their
breath, while I showed my art by steering starboard or larboard as I
pleased. When I had done, Glumdalclitch always carried back my boat
into her closet, and hung it on a nail to dry.
In this exercise I once met an accident which had like to have cost me
my life; for, one of the pages having put my boat into the trough, the
governess who attended Glumdalclitch very officiously lifted me up, to
place me in the boat; but I happened to slip through her fingers, and
should infallibly have fallen down forty feet, upon the floor, if, by
the luckiest chance in the world, I had not been stopped by a
corking-pin that stuck in the good gentlewoman's stomacher; the head
of the pin passed between my shirt and the waistband of my breeches,
and thus I was held by the middle in the air, till Glumdalclitch ran
to my relief.
Another time, one of the servants, whose office it was to fill my
trough every third day with fresh water, was so careless as to let a
huge frog (not perceiving it) slip out of his pail. The frog lay
concealed till I was put into my boat, but then, seeing a
resting-place, climbed up and made it lean so much on one side that I
was forced to balance it with all my weight on the other to prevent
overturning. When the frog was got in, it hopped at once half the
length of the boat, and then over my head, backwards and forwards,
daubing my face and clothes with its odious slime. The largeness of
its features made it appear the most deformed animal that can be
conceived. However, I desired Glumdalclitch to let me deal with it
alone. I banged it a good while with one of my sculls, and at last
forced it to leap out of the boat.
But the greatest danger I ever underwent in that kingdom was from a
monkey, that belonged to one of the clerks of the kitchen.
Glumdalclitch had locked me up in her closet, while she went somewhere
upon business or a visit. The weather being very warm, the closet
window was left open, as well as the windows and the door of my bigger
box, in which I usually lived, because of its largeness and
conveniency. As I sat quietly meditating at my table, I heard
something bounce in at the closet window, and skip about from one side
to the other; whereat although I were much alarmed, yet I ventured to
look out, but not stirring from my seat; and then I saw this
frolicsome animal frisking and leaping up and down, till at last he
came to my box, which he seemed to view with great pleasure and
curiosity, peeping in at the door and every window. I retreated to the
farther corner of my room, or box; but the monkey, looking in at every
side, put me into such a fright that I wanted presence of mind to
conceal myself under the bed, as I might have easily done. After some
time spent in peeping, grinning, and chattering, he at last espied me;
and reaching one of his paws in at the door, as a cat does when she
plays with a mouse, although I often shifted place to avoid him, he at
length seized the lappet of my coat (which being made of that country
silk, was very thick and strong), and dragged me out. He took me up in
his right forefoot, and held me as a nurse does a child, just as I
have seen the same sort of creature do with a kitten in Europe; and
when I offered to struggle, he squeezed me so hard that I thought it
more prudent to submit. I have good reason to believe that he took me
for a young one of his own species, by his often stroking my face very
gently with his other paw. In these diversions he was interrupted by a
noise at the closet door, as if somebody were opening it; whereupon he
suddenly leaped up to the window, at which he had come in, and thence
upon the leads and gutters, walking upon three legs, and holding me in
the fourth, till he clambered up to a roof that was next to ours. I
heard Glumdalclitch give a shriek at the moment he was carrying me
out. The poor girl was almost distracted; that quarter of the palace
was all in an uproar; the servants ran for ladders; the monkey was
seen by hundreds in the court, sitting upon the ridge of a building,
holding me like a baby in one of his forepaws, and feeding me with the
other, by cramming into my mouth some victuals he had squeezed out of
the bag on one side of his chaps, and patting me when I would not eat;
whereat many of the rabble below could not forbear laughing; neither
do I think they justly ought to be blamed, for, without question, the
sight was ridiculous enough to everybody but myself. Some of the
people threw up stones, hoping to drive the monkey down; but this was
strictly forbidden, or else, very probably, my brains had been dashed
out.
The ladders were now applied, and mounted by several men; which the
monkey observing, and finding himself almost encompassed, not being
able to make speed enough with his three legs, let me drop on a ridge
tile and made his escape. Here I sat for some time, five hundred yards
from the ground, expecting every moment to be blown down by the wind,
or to fall by my own giddiness, and come tumbling over and over from
the ridge to the eaves; but an honest lad, one of my nurse's footmen,
climbed up, and putting me into his breeches' pocket, brought me down
safe.
I was so weak and bruised in the sides with the squeezes given me by
this odious animal that I was forced to keep my bed a fortnight. The
king, queen, and all the court sent every day to inquire after my
health; and her majesty made me several visits during my sickness. The
monkey was killed, and an order made that no such animal should be
kept about the palace.
When I attended the king after my recovery, to return him thanks for
his favors, he was pleased to rally me a good deal upon this
adventure. He asked me what my thoughts and speculations were while I
lay in the monkey's paw; how I liked the victuals he gave me; his
manner of feeding; and whether the fresh air on the roof had sharpened
my stomach. He desired to know what I would have done upon such an
occasion in my own country. I told his majesty that in Europe we had
no monkeys except such as were brought for curiosities from other
places, and so small that I could deal with a dozen of them together,
if they presumed to attack me. And as for that monstrous animal with
which I was so lately engaged (it was indeed as large as an elephant),
if my fears had suffered me to think so far as to make use of my
hanger (looking fiercely, and clapping my hand upon the hilt, as I
spoke) when he poked his paw into my chamber, perhaps I should have
given him such a wound as would have made him glad to withdraw it,
with more haste than he put it in. This I delivered in a firm tone,
like a person who was jealous lest his courage should be called in
question. However, my speech produced nothing else besides a loud
laughter, which all the respect due to his majesty from those about
him could not make them contain. This made me reflect, how vain an
attempt it is for a man to endeavor doing himself honor among those
who are out of all degree of equality or comparison with him. And yet
I have seen the moral of my own behavior very frequent in England
since my return; where a little contemptible varlet, without the least
title to birth, person, wit, or common sense, shall presume to look
with importance, and put himself upon a foot with the greatest persons
of the kingdom.
I was every day furnishing the court with some ridiculous story; and
Glumdalclitch, although she loved me to excess, yet was arch enough to
inform the queen whenever I committed any folly that she thought would
be diverting to her majesty.
GULLIVER'S ESCAPE
_By Jonathan Swift_
I had always a strong impulse that I should sometime recover my
liberty, though it was impossible to conjecture by what means, or to
form any project with the least hope of succeeding. The ship in which
I sailed was the first ever known to be driven within sight of that
coast, and the king had given strict orders that if at any time
another appeared, it should be taken ashore, and with all its crew and
passengers brought in a tumbril to Lorbrulgrud. I was indeed treated
with much kindness; I was the favorite of a great king and queen, and
the delight of the whole court; but it was upon such a foot as ill
became the dignity of humankind. I could never forget those domestic
pledges I had left behind me. I wanted to be among people with whom I
could converse upon even terms, and walk about the streets and fields
without being afraid of being trod to death like a frog or a young
puppy. But my deliverance came sooner than I expected, and in a manner
not very common; the whole story and circumstances of which I shall
faithfully relate.
I had now been two years in this country, and about the beginning of
the third, Glumdalclitch and I attended the king and queen in a
progress to the south coast of the kingdom. I was carried as usual in
my traveling box, which, as I have already described, was a very
convenient closet of twelve feet wide. And I had ordered a hammock to
be fixed by silken ropes from the four corners at the top, to break
the jolts when a servant carried me before him on horseback, as I
sometimes desired; and would often sleep in my hammock, while we were
upon the road. On the roof of my closet, not directly over the middle
of the hammock, I ordered the joiner to cut out a hole of a foot
square, to give me air in hot weather as I slept; which hole I shut at
pleasure, with a board that drew backwards and forwards through a
groove.
When we came to our journey's end, the king thought proper to pass a
few days at a palace he hath near Flanflasnic, a city within eighteen
English miles of the seaside. Glumdalclitch and I were much
fatigued,--I had gotten a small cold, but the poor girl was so ill as
to be confined to her chamber. I longed to see the ocean, which must
be the only scene of my escape, if ever it should happen. I pretended
to be worse than I really was, and desired leave to take the fresh air
of the sea, with a page I was very fond of, and who had sometimes been
trusted with me. I shall never forget with what unwillingness
Glumdalclitch consented, nor the strict charge she gave the page to be
careful of me, bursting at the same time into a flood of tears, as if
she had some foreboding of what was to happen. The boy took me out in
my box, about half an hour's walk from the palace towards the rocks on
the seashore. I ordered him to set me down, and, lifting up one of my
sashes, cast many a wistful, melancholy look towards the sea. I found
myself not very well, and told the page that I had a mind to take a
nap in my hammock, which I hoped would do me good. I got in, and the
boy shut the window close down to keep out the cold. I soon fell
asleep, and all I can conjecture is, that while I slept, the page,
thinking no danger could happen, went among the rocks to look for
birds' eggs, having before observed him from my window searching
about, and picking up one or two in the clefts. Be that as it will, I
found myself suddenly awakened with a violent pull upon the ring which
was fastened at the top of my box for the conveniency of carriage. I
felt my box raised very high in the air, and then borne forward with
prodigious speed. The first jolt had like to have shaken me out of my
hammock, but afterwards the motion was easy enough. I called out
several times as loud as I could raise my voice, but all to no
purpose. I looked towards my windows, and could see nothing but the
clouds and sky. I heard a noise over my head, like the clapping of
wings, and then began to perceive the woeful condition I was in: that
some eagle had got the ring of my box in his beak, with an intent to
let it fall on a rock, like a tortoise in a shell, and then pick out
my body, and devour it; for the sagacity and smell of this bird enable
him to discover his quarry at a great distance, though better
concealed than I could be within a two-inch board. In a little time, I
observed the noise and flutter of wings to increase very fast, and my
box was tossed up and down like a signpost in a windy day. I heard
several bangs or buffets, as I thought, given to the eagle (for such I
am certain it must have been that held the ring of my box in his
beak), and then all on a sudden felt myself falling perpendicularly
down, for above a minute, but with such incredible swiftness that I
almost lost my breath. My fall was stopped by a terrible squash, that
sounded louder to my ears than the cataract of Niagara; after which I
was quite in the dark for another minute; and then my box began to
rise so high that I could see light from the tops of the windows. I
now perceived that I was fallen into the sea. My box, by the weight of
my body, the goods that were in, and the broad plates of iron fixed
for strength at the four corners of the top and bottom, floated above
five feet deep in water. I did then and do now suppose, that the eagle
which flew away with my box was pursued by two or three others, and
forced to let me drop, while he was defending himself against the
rest, who hoped to share in the prey. The plates of iron fastened at
the bottom of the box (for those were the strongest) preserved the
balance while it fell, and hindered it from being broken on the
surface of the water. Every joint of it was well grooved; and the door
did not move on hinges, but up and down like a sash, which kept my
closet so tight that very little water came in. I got with much
difficulty out of my hammock, having first ventured to draw back the
slipboard on the roof already mentioned, contrived on purpose to let
in air, for want of which I found myself almost stifled.
How often did I then wish myself with my dear Glumdalclitch, from whom
one single hour had so far divided me! And I may say with truth that
in the midst of my own misfortunes I could not forbear lamenting my
poor nurse, the grief she would suffer for my loss, the displeasure of
the queen, and the ruin of her fortune. Perhaps not many travelers
have been under greater difficulties and distress than I was at this
juncture, expecting every moment to see my box dashed in pieces, or at
least overset by the first violent blast, or a rising wave. A breach
in one single pane of glass would have been immediate death: nor could
anything have preserved the windows but the strong lattice wires
placed on the outside, against accidents in traveling. I saw the water
ooze in at several crannies, although the leaks were not considerable,
and I endeavored to stop them as well as I could. I was not able to
lift up the roof of my closet, which otherwise I certainly should have
done, and sat on the top of it; where I might at least preserve myself
some hours longer than by being shut up (as I may call it) in the
hold. Or if I escaped these dangers for a day or two, what could I
expect but a miserable death of cold and hunger? I was four hours
under these circumstances, expecting, and indeed wishing, every moment
to be my last.
I have already told the reader that there were two strong staples
fixed upon that side of my box which had no window; and into which the
servant who used to carry me on horseback would put a leathern belt,
and buckle it about his waist. Being in this disconsolate state, I
heard, or at least thought I heard, some kind of grating noise on that
side of my box where the staples were fixed; and soon after I began to
fancy that the box was pulled or towed along in the sea; for I now and
then felt a sort of tugging, which made the waves rise near the tops
of my windows, leaving me almost in the dark. This gave me some faint
hopes of relief, although I was not able to imagine how it could be
brought about. I ventured to unscrew one of my chairs, which were
always fastened to the floor; and having made a hard shift to screw it
down again, directly under the slipping board that I had lately
opened, I mounted on the chair, and putting my mouth as near as I
could to the hole, I called for help in a loud voice, and in all the
languages I understood. I then fastened my handkerchief to a stick I
usually carried, and, thrusting it up the hole, waved it several times
in the air, that if any boat or ship were near, the seamen might
conjecture some unhappy mortal to be shut up in the box.
I found no effect from all I could do, but plainly perceived my closet
to be moved along; and in the space of an hour, or better, that side
of the box where the staples were, and had no windows, struck against
something that was hard. I apprehended it to be a rock, and found
myself tossed more than ever. I plainly heard a noise upon the cover
of my closet, like that of a cable, and the grating of it as it passed
through the ring. I then found myself hoisted up, by degrees, at least
three feet higher than I was before. Whereupon I again thrust up my
stick and handkerchief, calling for help till I was almost hoarse. In
return to which, I heard a great shout repeated three times, giving me
such transports of joy as are not to be conceived but by those who
feel them. I now heard a trampling over my head, and somebody calling
through the hole with a loud voice, in the English tongue, If there be
anybody below, let them speak. I answered, I was an Englishman, drawn
by ill fortune into the greatest calamity that ever any creature
underwent, and begged, by all that was moving, to be delivered out of
the dungeon I was in. The voice replied, I was safe, for my box was
fastened to their ship; and the carpenter should immediately come and
saw a hole in the cover, large enough to pull me out. I answered that
was needless, and would take up too much time; for there was no more
to be done but let one of the crew put his finger into the ring, and
take the box out of the sea into the ship, and so into the captain's
cabin. Some of them, upon hearing me talk so wildly, thought I was
mad; others laughed; for indeed it never came into my head that I was
now got among people of my own stature and strength. The carpenter
came, and in a few minutes sawed a passage about four feet square,
then let down a small ladder, upon which I mounted, and from thence
was taken into the ship in a very weak condition.
The sailors were all in amazement, and asked me a thousand questions,
which I had no inclination to answer. I was equally confounded at the
sight of so many pygmies, for such I took them to be, after having so
long accustomed mine eyes to the monstrous objects I had left. But the
captain, Mr. Thomas Wilcocks, an honest, worthy Shropshire man,
observing I was ready to faint, took me into his cabin, gave me a
cordial to comfort me, and made me turn in upon his own bed, advising
me to take a little rest, of which I had great need. Before I went to
sleep, I gave him to understand that I had valuable furniture in my
box, too good to be lost: a fine hammock, an handsome field bed, two
chairs, a table, and a cabinet; that my closet was hung on all sides,
or rather quilted, with silk and cotton; that if he would let one of
the crew bring my closet into his cabin, I would open it there before
him, and show him my goods. The captain, hearing me utter these
absurdities, concluded I was raving; however (I suppose to pacify me),
he promised to give order as I desired, and going upon deck sent some
of his men down into my closet, from whence (as I afterwards found),
they drew up all my goods, and stripped off the quilting; but the
chairs, cabinet, and bedstead, being screwed to the floor, were much
damaged by the ignorance of the seamen, who tore them up by force.
Then they knocked off some of the boards for the use of the ship, and
when they had got all they had a mind for, let the hulk drop into the
sea, which, by reason of many breaches made in the bottom and sides,
sunk to rights. And indeed I was glad not to have been a spectator of
the havoc they made; because I am confident it would have sensibly
touched me, by bringing former passages into my mind which I had
rather forget.
I slept some hours, but perpetually disturbed with dreams of the place
I had left and the dangers I had escaped. However, upon waking, I
found myself much recovered. It was now about eight o'clock at night,
and the captain ordered supper immediately, thinking I had already
fasted too long. He entertained me with great kindness, observing me
not to look wildly, or talk inconsistently; and, when we were left
alone, desired I would give him a relation of my travels, and by what
accident I came to be set adrift in that monstrous wooden chest. He
said that about twelve o'clock at noon, as he was looking through his
glass, he espied it at a distance, and thought it was a sail, which he
had a mind to make, being not much out of his course, in hopes of
buying some biscuit, his own beginning to fall short. That upon coming
nearer, and finding his error, he sent out his longboat, to discover
what I was; that his men came back in a fright, swearing they had seen
a swimming house. That he laughed at their folly, and went himself in
the boat, ordering his men to take a strong cable along with them.
That the weather being calm, he rowed round me several times, observed
my windows and the wire lattices that defended them. That he
discovered two staples upon one side, which was all of boards, without
any passage for light. He then commanded his men to row up to that
side, and, fastening a cable to one of the staples, ordered them to
tow my chest (as they called it) toward the ship. When it was there,
he gave directions to fasten another cable to the ring fixed in the
cover, and to raise up my chest with pulleys, which all the sailors
were not able to do above two or three feet. He said they saw my stick
and handkerchief thrust out of the hole, and concluded that some
unhappy man must be shut up in the cavity. I asked whether he or the
crew had seen any prodigious bird in the air, about the time he first
discovered me? To which he answered that, discoursing this matter with
the sailors while I was asleep, one of them said he had observed three
eagles flying towards the north, but remarked nothing of their being
larger than the usual size; which I suppose must be imputed to the
great height they were at; and he could not guess the reason of my
question. I then asked the captain how far he reckoned we might be
from land. He said, by the best computation he could make, we were at
least an hundred leagues. I assured him that he must be mistaken by
almost half, for I had not left the country from whence I came above
two hours before I dropped into the sea. Whereupon he began again to
think that my brain was disturbed, of which he gave me a hint, and
advised me to go to bed in a cabin he had provided. I assured him I
was well refreshed with his good entertainment and company, and as
much in my senses as ever I was in my life. He then grew serious, and
desired to ask me freely, whether I were not troubled in my mind by
the consciousness of some enormous crime, for which I was punished, at
the command of some prince, by exposing me in that chest; as great
criminals, in other countries, have been forced to sea in a leaky
vessel, without provisions; for although he should be sorry to have
taken so ill a man into his ship, yet he would engage his word to set
me safe ashore, in the first port where we arrived. He added that his
suspicions were much increased by some very absurd speeches I had
delivered at first to the sailors, and afterwards to himself, in
relation to my closet or chest, as well as by my odd looks and
behavior while I was at supper.
I begged his patience to hear me tell my story, which I faithfully
did, from the last time I left England to the moment he first
discovered me. And as truth always forceth its way into rational
minds, so this honest, worthy gentleman, who had some tincture of
learning, and very good sense, was immediately convinced of my candor
and veracity. But, further to confirm all I had said, I entreated him
to give order that my cabinet should be brought, of which I had the
key in my pocket (for he had already informed me how the seamen
disposed of my closet). I opened it in his own presence, and showed
him the small collection of rarities I made in the country from whence
I had been so strangely delivered. There was the comb I had contrived
out of the stumps of the king's beard, and another of the same
materials, but fixed into a paring of her majesty's thumb-nail, which
served for the back. There was a collection of needles and pins, from
a foot to half a yard long; four wasp stings, like joiners' tacks;
some combings of the queen's hair; a gold ring which one day she made
me a present of, in a most obliging manner, taking it from her little
finger and throwing it over my head like a collar. I desired the
captain would please to accept this ring in return of his civilities;
which he absolutely refused. I showed him a corn that I had cut off,
with my own hand, from a maid of honor's toe; it was about the bigness
of a Kentish pippin, and grown so hard that when I returned to England
I got it hollowed into a cup, and set in silver. Lastly, I desired him
to see the breeches I had then on, which were made of a mouse's skin.
I could force nothing on him but a footman's tooth, which I observed
him to examine with great curiosity, and found he had a fancy for it.
He received it with abundance of thanks, more than such a trifle could
deserve. It was drawn by an unskillful surgeon, in a mistake, from one
of Glumdalclitch's men, who was afflicted with the toothache, but it
was as sound as any in his head. I got it cleaned, and put it into my
cabinet. It was about a foot long, and four inches in diameter.
The captain was very well satisfied with this plain relation I had
given him, and said he hoped, when we returned to England, I would
oblige the world by putting it in paper, and making it public. My
answer was that I thought we were already overstocked with books of
travels; that nothing could now pass which was not extraordinary;
wherein I doubted some authors less consulted truth than their own
vanity, or interest, or the diversion of ignorant readers; that my
story could contain little besides common events, without those
ornamental descriptions of strange plants, trees, birds, and other
animals, or of the barbarous customs and idolatry of savage people,
with which most writers abound. However, I thanked him for his good
opinion, and promised to take the matter into my thoughts.
He said he wondered at one thing very much, which was to hear me speak
so loud; asking me whether the king or queen of that country were
thick of hearing. I told him it was what I had been used to for above
two years past, and that I admired as much at the voices of him and
his men, who seemed to me only to whisper, and yet I could hear them
well enough. But, when I spoke in that country, it was like a man
talking in the street to another looking out from the top of a
steeple, unless when I was placed on a table, or held in any person's
hand. I told him I had likewise observed another thing, that when I
first got into the ship, and the sailors stood all about me, I thought
they were the most little, contemptible creatures I had ever beheld.
For, indeed, while I was in that prince's country, I could never
endure to look in a glass after mine eyes had been accustomed to such
prodigious objects, because the comparison gave me so despicable a
conceit of myself. The captain said that while we were at supper he
observed me to look at everything with a sort of wonder, and that I
often seemed hardly able to contain my laughter, which he knew not
well how to take, but imputed it to some disorder in my brain. I
answered it was very true; and I wondered how I could forbear, when I
saw his dishes of the size of a silver three-pence, a leg of pork
hardly a mouthful, a cup not so big as a nutshell; and so I went on,
describing the rest of his household stuff and provisions after the
same manner. For, although the queen had ordered a little equipage of
all things necessary while I was in her service, yet my ideas were
wholly taken up with what I saw on every side of me, and I winked at
my own littleness as people do at their own faults. The captain
understood my raillery very well, and merrily replied with the old
English proverb, that he doubted mine eyes were bigger than my belly,
for he did not observe my stomach so good, although I had fasted all
day; and, continuing in his mirth, protested he would have gladly
given an hundred pounds to have seen my closet in the eagle's bill,
and afterwards in its fall from so great a height into the sea; which
would certainly have been a most astonishing object, worthy to have
the description of it transmitted to future ages; and the comparison
of Phaëthon was so obvious, that he could not forbear applying it,
although I did not much admire the conceit.
The captain, having been at Tonquin, was, in his return to England,
driven northeastward to the latitude of 44 degrees, and of longitude
143. But meeting a trade wind two days after I came on board him, we
sailed southward a long time, and coasting New Holland kept our course
west-southwest, and then south-southwest, till we doubled the Cape of
Good Hope. Our voyage was very prosperous, but I shall not trouble the
reader with a journal of it. The captain called in at one or two
ports, and sent in his longboat for provisions and fresh water; but I
never went out of the ship till we came into the Downs, which was on
the third day of June, 1706, about nine months after my escape. I
offered to leave my goods in security for payment of my freight, but
the captain protested he would not receive one farthing. We took a
kind leave of each other, and I made him promise he would come to see
me at my house in Redriff. I hired a horse and guide for five
shillings, which I borrowed of the captain.
As I was on the road, observing the littleness of the houses, the
trees, the cattle, and the people, I began to think myself in
Lilliput. I was afraid of trampling on every traveler I met, and often
called aloud to have them stand out of the way, so that I had like to
have gotten one or two broken heads for my impertinence.
When I came to my own house, for which I was forced to inquire, one of
the servants opening the door, I bent down to go in (like a goose
under a gate), for fear of striking my head. My wife ran out to
embrace me, but I stooped lower than her knees, thinking she could
otherwise never be able to reach my mouth. My daughter kneeled to ask
my blessing, but I could not see her till she arose, having been so
long used to stand with my head and eyes erect to above sixty feet;
and then I went to take her up with one hand by the waist. I looked
down upon the servants, and one or two friends who were in the house,
as if they had been pygmies, and I a giant. I told my wife she had
been too thrifty, for I found she had starved herself and her daughter
to nothing. In short, I behaved myself so unaccountably that they were
all of the captain's opinion when he first saw me, and concluded I had
lost my wits. This I mention as an instance of the great power of
habit and prejudice.
In a little time, I and my family and friends came to a right
understanding; but my wife protested I should never go to sea any
more; although my evil destiny so ordered that she had not power to
hinder me, as the reader may know hereafter. In the meantime, I here
conclude the Second Part of my unfortunate Voyages.
DON QUIXOTE
DON QUIXOTE DETERMINES TO BECOME A KNIGHT
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
At a certain village in La Mancha, of which I cannot remember the
name, there lived not long ago one of those old-fashioned gentlemen
who are never without a lance upon a rack, an old target, a lean
horse, and a greyhound. His diet consisted more of beef than mutton;
and with minced meat on most nights, lentils on Fridays, griefs and
groans on Saturdays, and a pigeon extraordinary on Sundays, he
consumed three quarters of his revenue; the rest was laid out in a
plush coat, velvet breeches, with slippers of the same, for holidays;
and a suit of the very best homespun cloth, which he bestowed on
himself for working days. His whole family was a housekeeper something
turned of forty, a niece not twenty, and a man that served him in the
house and in the field, and could saddle a horse, and handle the
pruning hook. The master himself was nigh fifty years of age, of a
hale and strong complexion, lean-bodied and thin-faced, an early
riser, and a lover of hunting. Some say his surname was Quixada, or
Quesada (for authors differ in this particular); however, we may
reasonably conjecture he was called Quixana; though this concerns us
but little, provided we keep strictly to the truth in every point of
this history.
You must know, then, that when our gentleman had nothing to do (which
was almost all the year round), he passed his time in reading books of
knight-errantry, which he did with that application and delight, that
at last he in a manner wholly left off his country sports, and even
the care of his estate; nay, he grew so strangely besotted with these
amusements that he sold many acres of arable land to purchase books of
that kind, by which means he collected as many of them as were to be
had; but, among them all, none pleased him like the works of the
famous Feliciano de Sylva; for the clearness of his prose and those
intricate expressions with which it is interlaced, seemed to him so
many pearls of eloquence, especially when he came to read the
challenges, and the amorous addresses, many of them in this
extraordinary style: "The reason of your unreasonable usage of my
reason does so enfeeble my reason that I have reason to expostulate
with your beauty." And this: "The sublime heavens, which with your
divinity divinely fortify you with the stars, and fix you the deserver
of the desert that is deserved by your grandeur." These, and such like
expressions, strangely puzzled the poor gentleman's understanding,
while he was breaking his brain to unravel their meaning, which
Aristotle himself could never have found, though he should have been
raised from the dead for that very purpose.
He did not so well like those dreadful wounds which Don Belianis gave
and received; for he considered that all the art of surgery could
never secure his face and body from being strangely disfigured with
scars. However, he highly commended the author for concluding his book
with a promise to finish that unfinishable adventure; and many times
he had a desire to put pen to paper, and faithfully and literally
finish it himself; which he had certainly done, and doubtless with
good success, had not his thoughts been wholly engrossed in much more
important designs.
He would often dispute with the curate of the parish, a man of
learning, that had taken his degrees at Giguenza, who was the better
knight, Palmerin of England or Amadis de Gaul; but Master Nicholas,
the barber of the same town, would say, that none of them could
compare with the Knight of the Sun; and that if any one came near him,
it was certainly Don Galaor, the brother of Amadis de Gaul; for he was
a man of a most commodious temper, neither was he so finical nor such
a puling, whining lover as his brother; and as for courage, he was not
a jot behind him.
In fine, he gave himself up so wholly to the reading of romances, that
at nights he would pore on until it was day, and by day he would read
on until it was night; and thus by sleeping little and reading much,
the moisture of his brain was exhausted to that degree that at last he
lost the use of his reason. A world of disorderly notions, picked out
of his books, crowded into his imagination; and now his head was full
of nothing but enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds,
complaints, amours, torments, and abundance of stuff and
impossibilities; insomuch that all the fables and fantastical tales
which he read, seemed to him now as true as the most authentic
histories. He would say, that the Cid Ruy Diaz was a very brave
knight, but not worthy to stand in competition with the Knight of the
Burning-sword, who, with a single backstroke, had cut in sunder two
fierce and mighty giants. He liked yet better Bernardo del Carpio,
who, at Roncesvalles, deprived of life the enchanted Orlando, having
lifted him from the ground, and choked him in the air, as Hercules did
Antæus, the son of the Earth.
As for the giant Morgante, he always spoke very civil things of him;
for though he was one of that monstrous brood who ever were
intolerably proud and brutish, he still behaved himself like a civil
and well-bred person.
But of all men in the world he admired Rinaldo of Montalban, and
particularly his sallying out of his castle to rob all he met; and
then again when abroad he carried away the idol of Mahomet, which was
all massy gold, as the history says; but he so hated that traitor
Galalon, that for the pleasure of kicking him handsomely, he would
have given up his housekeeper; nay, and his niece into the bargain.
Having thus lost his understanding, he unluckily stumbled upon the
oddest fancy that ever entered into a madman's brain; for now he
thought it convenient and necessary, as well for the increase of his
own honor as the service of the public, to turn knight-errant, and
roam through the whole world, armed cap-a-pie, and mounted on his
steed, in quest of adventures; that thus imitating those
knights-errant of whom he had read, and following their course of
life, redressing all manner of grievances, and exposing himself to
danger on all occasions, at last, after a happy conclusion of his
enterprises, he might purchase everlasting honor and renown.
Transported with these agreeable delusions, the poor gentleman already
grasped in imagination the imperial sceptre of Trebizond, and, hurried
away by his mighty expectations, he prepares with all expedition to
take the field.
The first thing he did was to scour a suit of armor that had belonged
to his great-grandfather, and had lain time out of mind carelessly
rusting in a corner; but when he had cleaned and repaired it as well
as he could, he perceived there was a material piece wanting; for,
instead of a complete helmet, there was only a single headpiece.
However, his industry supplied that defect; for with some pasteboard
he made a kind of half-beaver, or vizor, which, being fitted to the
headpiece, made it look like an entire helmet. Then, to know whether
it were cutlass-proof, he drew his sword, and tried its edge upon the
pasteboard vizor; but with the very first stroke he unluckily undid in
a moment what he had been a whole week a-doing. He did not like its
being broken with so much ease, and therefore, to secure it from the
like accident, he made it anew, and fenced it with thin plates of
iron, which he fixed on the inside of it so artificially that at last
he had reason to be satisfied with the solidity of the work; and so,
without any further experiment, he resolved it should pass to all
intents and purposes for a full and sufficient helmet.
It was time to look to his horse, who had more false quarter than
real, being a worse jade than Gonela's, _qui tantum pellis et ossa
fuit_; however, his master thought that neither Alexander's Bucephalus
nor the Cid's Babieca could be compared with him. He was four days
considering what name to give him; for, as he argued with himself,
there was no reason that a horse bestrid by so famous a knight, and
withal so excellent in himself, should not be distinguished by a
particular name; and therefore he studied to give him such a one as
should demonstrate as well what kind of horse he had been before his
master was a knight-errant, as what he was now; thinking it but just,
since the owner changed his profession, that the horse should also
change his title, and be dignified with another; a good big word, such
a one as should fill the mouth, and seem consonant with the quality
and profession of his master. And thus, after many names which he
devised, rejected, changed, liked, disliked, and pitched upon again,
he concluded to call him Rozinante; a name, in his opinion, lofty,
sounding, and significant of what he had been before, and also of what
he was now; in a word, a horse before, or above, all the vulgar breed
of horses in the world.
When he had thus given his horse a name so much to his satisfaction,
he thought of choosing one for himself; and having seriously pondered
on the matter eight whole days more, at last he determined to call
himself Don Quixote. Whence the author of this most authentic history
draws this inference, that his right name was Quixada, and not
Quesada, as others would maintain. And observing that the valiant
Amadis, not satisfied with the bare appellation of Amadis, added to it
the name of his country, that it might grow more famous by his
exploits, and so styled himself Amadis de Gaul; so he, like a true
lover of his native soil, resolved to call himself Don Quixote de la
Mancha; which addition, to his thinking, denoted very plainly his
parentage and country, and consequently would fix a lasting honor on
that part of the world.
And now, his armor being scoured, his headpiece improved to a helmet,
his horse and himself new named, he perceived he wanted nothing but a
lady, on whom he might bestow the empire of his heart; for he was
sensible that a knight-errant without a mistress was a tree without
either fruit or leaves, and a body without a soul. Should I, said he
to himself, by good or ill fortune, chance to encounter some giant, as
is common in knight-errantry, and happen to lay him prostrate on the
ground, transfixed with my lance, or cleft in two, or, in short,
overcome him and have him at my mercy, would it not be proper to have
some lady to whom I may send him as a trophy of my valor? Then when he
comes into her presence, throwing himself at her feet, he may thus
make his humble submission: "Lady, I am the giant Caraculiambro, lord
of the island of Malindrania, vanquished in single combat by that
never-deservedly-enough-extolled knight-errant Don Quixote de la
Mancha, who has commanded me to cast myself most humbly at your feet,
that it may please your honor to dispose of me according to your
will." Oh! how elevated was the knight with the conceit of this
imaginary submission of the giant; especially having withal bethought
himself of a person on whom he might confer the title of his mistress!
which, it is believed happened thus: Near the place where he lived
dwelt a good likely country lass, for whom he had formerly had a sort
of an inclination, though, it is believed, she never heard of it, nor
regarded it in the least. Her name was Aldonza Lorenzo, and this was
she whom he thought he might entitle to the sovereingty of his heart;
upon which he studied to find her out a new name, that might have some
affinity with her old one, and yet at the same time sound somewhat
like that of a princess or lady of quality; so at last he resolved to
call her Dulcinea, with the addition of del Toboso, from the place
where she was born; a name, in his opinion, sweet, harmonious,
extraordinary, and no less significative than the others which he had
devised.
THE FIGHT WITH THE WINDMILLS
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
Don Quixote earnestly solicited one of his neighbors, a country
laborer, and a good honest fellow, if we may call a poor man honest,
for he was poor indeed, poor in purse and poor in brains; and, in
short, the knight talked so long to him, plied him with so many
arguments, and made him so many fair promises, that at last the poor
clown consented to go along with him and become his squire. Among
other inducements to entice him to do it willingly, Don Quixote forgot
not to tell him that it was likely such an adventure would present
itself as might secure him the conquest of some island in the time
that he might be picking up a straw or two, and then the squire might
promise himself to be made governor of the place. Allured with these
large promises and many others, Sancho Panza (for that was the name of
the fellow) forsook his wife and children to be his neighbor's squire.
This done, Don Quixote made it his business to furnish himself with
money; to which purpose, selling one house, mortgaging another, and
losing by all, he at last got a pretty good sum together. He also
borrowed a target of a friend, and having patched up his headpiece and
beaver as well as he could, he gave his squire notice of the day and
hour when he intended to set out, that he might also furnish himself
with what he thought necessary; but above all he charged him to
provide himself with a wallet; which Sancho promised to do, telling
him he would also take his ass along with him, which being a very good
one, might be a great ease to him, for he was not used to travel much
afoot. The mentioning of the ass made the noble knight pause awhile;
he mused and pondered whether he had ever read of any knight-errant
whose squire used to ride upon an ass; but he could not remember any
precedent for it: however, he gave him leave at last to bring his ass,
hoping to mount him more honorably with the first opportunity, by
unhorsing the next discourteous knight he should meet. He also
furnished himself with shirts and as many other necessaries as he
could conveniently carry, according to the innkeeper's injunctions.
Which being done, Sancho Panza, without bidding either his wife or
children good-by, and Don Quixote, without taking any more notice of
his housekeeper or of his niece, stole out of the village one night,
not so much as suspected by anybody, and made such haste that by break
of day they thought themselves out of reach, should they happen to be
pursued. As for Sancho Panza, he rode like a patriarch, with his
canvas knapsack, or wallet, and his leathern bottle, having a huge
desire to see himself governor of the island, which his master had
promised him.
Don Quixote happened to strike into the same road which he took the
time before, that is, the plains of Montiel, over which he traveled
with less inconveniency than when he went alone, by reason it was yet
early in the morning; at which time the rays of the sun, striking
obliquely upon them, did not prove so offensive.
As they jogged on, "I beseech your worship, Sir Knight-errant," quoth
Sancho to his master, "be sure you don't forget what you promised me
about the island; for I dare say I shall make shift to govern it, let
it be never so big."--"You must know, friend Sancho," replied Don
Quixote, "that it has been the constant practice of knights-errant in
former ages to make their squires governors of the islands or kingdoms
they conquered. Now I am not only resolved to keep up that laudable
custom, but even to improve it, and outdo my predecessors in
generosity; for whereas sometimes, or rather most commonly, other
knights delayed rewarding their squires till they were grown old, and
worn out with services, bad days, worse nights, and all manner of hard
duty, and then put them off with some title, either of count, or at
least marquis of some valley or province, of great or small extent;
now, if thou and I do but live, it may happen that before we have
passed six days together I may conquer some kingdom, having many other
kingdoms annexed to its imperial crown; and this would fall out most
luckily for thee; for then would I presently crown thee king of one of
them. Nor do thou imagine this to be a mighty matter; for so strange
accidents and revolutions, so sudden and so unforeseen, attend the
profession of chivalry, that I might easily give thee a great deal
more than I have promised."--"Why, should this come to pass," quoth
Sancho Panza, "and I be made a king by some such miracle, as your
worship says, then Joan Gutierez (my mis'ess) would be at least a
queen, and my children infantas."--"Who doubts of that?" cried Don
Quixote. "I doubt of it," replied Sancho Panza; "for I cannot help
believing, that though it should rain kingdoms down upon the face of
the earth, not one of them would sit well upon Mary Gutierez's head;
for I must needs tell you, she's not worth two brass jacks to make a
queen of: no, countess would be better for her, an't please you; and
that too, God help her, will be as much as she can handsomely
manage."--"Recommend the matter to Providence," returned Don Quixote,
"'twill be sure to give what is most expedient for thee; but yet
disdain to entertain inferior thoughts, and be not tempted to accept
less than the dignity of a viceroy."--"No more I won't, sir," quoth
Sancho, "especially since I have so rare a master as your worship, who
will take care to give me whatever may be fit for me, and what I may
be able to deal with."
As they were thus discoursing, they discovered some thirty or forty
windmills that are in that plain; and as soon as the knight had spied
them, "Fortune," cried he, "directs our affairs better than we
ourselves could have wished: look yonder, friend Sancho, there are at
least thirty outrageous giants, whom I intend to encounter; and having
deprived them of life, we will begin to enrich ourselves with their
spoils; for they are lawful prize; and the extirpation of that cursed
brood will be an acceptable service to Heaven."--"What giants?" quoth
Sancho Panza. "Those whom thou seest yonder," answered Don Quixote,
"with their long extended arms; some of that detested race have arms
of so immense a size, that sometimes they reach two leagues in
length."--"Pray look better, sir," quoth Sancho; "those things yonder
are no giants, but windmills, and the arms you fancy, are their sails,
which being whirled about by the wind, make the mill go." "'Tis a
sign," cried Don Quixote, "thou art but little acquainted with
adventures! I tell thee, they are giants; and therefore if thou art
afraid, go aside and say thy prayers, for I am resolved to engage in a
dreadful unequal combat against them all." This said, he clapt spurs
to his horse Rozinante, without giving ear to his squire Sancho, who
bawled out to him, and assured him that they were windmills, and no
giants. But he was so fully possessed with a strong conceit of the
contrary, that he did not so much as hear his squire's outcry, nor was
he sensible of what they were, although he was already very near them;
far from that: "Stand, cowards," cried he as loud as he could; "stand
your ground, ignoble creatures, and fly not basely from a single
knight, who dares encounter you all!" At the same time, the wind
rising, the mill-sails began to move, which when Don Quixote spied,
"Base miscreants," cried he, "though you move more arms than the giant
Briareus, you shall pay for your arrogance." He most devoutly
recommended himself to his Lady Dulcinea, imploring her assistance in
this perilous adventure; and so covering himself with his shield, and
couching his lance, he rushed with Rozinante's utmost speed upon the
first windmill he could come at, and running his lance into the sail,
the wind whirled it about with such swiftness, that the rapidity of
the motion presently broke the lance into shivers, and hurled away
both knight and horse along with it, till down he fell, rolling a good
way off in the field. Sancho Panza ran as fast as his ass could drive
to help his master, whom he found lying, and not able to stir, such a
blow had he and Rozinante received. "Mercy o' me!" cried Sancho, "did
not I give your worship fair warning? Did not I tell you they were
windmills, and that nobody could think otherwise, unless he had also
windmills in his head?"--"Peace, friend Sancho," replied Don Quixote:
"there is nothing so subject to the inconstancy of fortune as war. I
am verily persuaded that cursed necromancer Freston, who carried away
my study and my books, has transformed these giants into windmills to
deprive me of the honor of the victory; such is his inveterate malice
against me; but in the end, all his pernicious wiles and stratagems
shall prove ineffectual against the prevailing edge of my
sword."--"Amen, say I," replied Sancho. And so heaving him up again
upon his legs, once more the knight mounted poor Rozinante, that was
half shoulder-slipped with his fall.
[Illustration: Covering himself with his shield, and couching his
lance, he rushed with Rozinante's utmost speed upon the first windmill
he could come at and running his lance into the sail, the wind whirled
it about with such swiftness, that the rapidity of the motion
presently broke the lance into shivers, and hurled away both knight
and horse along with it, till down he fell, rolling a good way off in
the field. Sancho Panza ran as fast as his ass could drive to help his
master, whom he found lying and not able to stir, such a blow had he
and Rozinante received]
This adventure was the subject of their discourse, as they made the
best of their way towards the pass of Lapice, for Don Quixote took
that road, believing he could not miss of adventure in one so mightily
frequented. However, the loss of his lance was no small affliction to
him; and as he was making his complaint about it to his squire, "I
have read," said he, "friend Sancho, that a certain Spanish knight,
whose name was Diego Perez de Vargas, having broke his sword in the
heat of an engagement, pulled up by the roots a huge oak tree, or at
least tore down a massy branch, and did such wonderful execution,
crushing and grinding so many Moors with it that day, that he won
himself and his posterity the surname of The Pounder, or Bruiser. I
tell thee this, because I intend to tear up the next oak or holm tree
we meet; with the trunk whereof I hope to perform such wondrous deeds
that thou wilt esteem thyself particularly happy in having had the
honor to behold them, and been the ocular witness of achievements
which posterity will scarce be able to believe."--"Heaven grant you
may," cried Sancho; "I believe it all, because your worship says it.
But, an't please you, sit a little more upright in your saddle; you
ride sideling methinks; but that, I suppose, proceeds from your being
bruised by the fall."--"It does so," replied Don Quixote; "and if I do
not complain of the pain, it is because a knight-errant must never
complain of his wounds, though his bowels were dropping out through
them."--"Then I have no more to say," quoth Sancho; "and yet Heaven
knows my heart, I should be glad to hear your worship hone a little
now and then when something ails you: for my part, I shall not fail to
bemoan myself when I suffer the smallest pain, unless indeed it can be
proved, that the rule of not complaining extends to the squires as
well as knights."
Don Quixote could not forbear smiling at the simplicity of his squire;
and told him he gave him leave to complain not only when he pleased,
but as much as he pleased, whether he had any cause or no; for he had
never yet read anything to the contrary in any books of chivalry.
THE INNKEEPER'S BILL
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
But Don Quixote, as we have said, found himself in an excellent
temper; and his active soul loathing an inglorious repose, he
presently was impatient to depart to perform the duties of his
adventurous profession; for he thought those moments that were trifled
away in amusements or other concerns only a blank in life; and all
delays a depriving distressed persons and the world in general of his
needed assistance. The confidence which he reposed in his balsam,
heightened, if possible, his resolution; and thus carried away by his
eager thoughts, he saddled Rozinante himself, and then put the pannel
upon the ass, and his squire upon the pannel, after he had helped him
to huddle on his clothes; that done, he mounted his steed; and having
spied a javelin that stood in a corner, he seized and appropriated it
to himself, to supply the want of his lance. Above twenty people that
were in the inn stood spectators of all these transactions; and among
the rest the innkeeper's daughter, from whom Don Quixote had not power
to withdraw his eyes, breathing out at every glance a deep sigh from
the very bottom of his heart; which those who had seen him so
mortified the night before took to proceed from the pain of his
bruises.
And now being ready to set forward, he called for the master of the
house, and with a grave delivery, "My lord governor," cried he, "the
favors I have received in your castle are so great and extraordinary
that they bind my grateful soul to an eternal acknowledgment;
therefore that I may be so happy as to discharge part of the
obligation, think if there be ever a proud mortal breathing on whom
you desire to be revenged for some affront or other injury, and
acquaint me with it now; and by my order of knighthood, which binds me
to protect the weak, relieve the oppressed, and punish the bad, I
promise you I'll take effectual care, that you shall have ample
satisfaction to the utmost of your wishes."--"Sir Knight," answered
the innkeeper, with an austere gravity, "I shall not need your
assistance to revenge any wrong that may be offered to my person; for
I would have you to understand that I am able to do myself justice
whenever any man presumes to do me wrong; therefore all the
satisfaction I desire is, that you will pay your reckoning for
horse-meat and man's meat, and all your expenses in my inn."--"How!"
cried Don Quixote, "is this an inn?"--"Yes," answered the host, "and
one of the most noted, and of the best repute upon the road."--"How
strangely have I been mistaken, then!" cried Don Quixote; "upon my
honor I took it for a castle, and a considerable one too; but if it be
an inn, and not a castle, all I have to say is, that you must excuse
me from paying anything; for I would by no means break the laws which
we knights-errant are bound to observe; nor was it ever known, that
they ever paid in any inn whatsoever; for this is the least recompense
that can be allowed them for the intolerable labors they endure day
and night, winter and summer, on foot and on horseback, pinched with
hunger, choked with thirst, and exposed to all the injuries of the air
and all the inconveniences in the world."--"I have nothing to do with
all this," cried the innkeeper; "pay your reckoning, and don't trouble
me with your foolish stories of a cock and a bull; I can't afford to
keep house at that rate."--"Thou art both a fool and a knave of an
innkeeper," replied Don Quixote, and with that clapping spurs to
Rozinante, and brandishing his javelin at his host, he rode out of the
inn without any opposition, and got a good way from it, without so
much as once looking behind him to see whether his squire came after
him.
The knight being marched off, there remained only the squire, who was
stopped for the reckoning. However, he swore he would not pay a cross;
for the selfsame law that acquitted the knight acquitted the squire.
This put the innkeeper into a great passion, and made him threaten
Sancho very hard, telling him if he would not pay him by fair means,
he would have him laid by the heels that moment. Sancho swore by his
master's knighthood he would sooner part with his life than his money
on such an account; nor should the squires in after ages ever have
occasion to upbraid him with giving so ill a precedent, or breaking
their rights.
As ill luck would have it, there happened to be in the inn four
Segovia clothiers, three Cordova pointmakers, and two Seville
hucksters, all brisk, gamesome, roguish fellows; who agreeing all in
the same design, encompassed Sancho, and pulled him off his ass, while
one of them went and got a blanket. Then they put the unfortunate
squire into it, and observing the roof of the place they were in to be
somewhat too low for their purpose, they carried him into the back
yard, which had no limits but the sky, and there they tossed him for
several times together in the blanket, as they do dogs on Shrove
Tuesday. Poor Sancho made so grievous an outcry all the while that his
master heard him, and imagined those lamentations were of some person
in distress, and consequently the occasion of some adventure; but
having at last distinguished the voice, he made to the inn with a
broken gallop; and finding the gates shut, he rode about to see
whether he might not find some other way to get in. But he no sooner
came to the back-yard wall, which was none of the highest, when he was
an eyewitness of the scurvy trick that was put upon his squire. There
he saw him ascend and descend, and frolic and caper in the air with so
much nimbleness and agility, that it is thought the knight himself
could not have forborne laughing, had he been anything less angry. He
did his best to get over the wall, but alas, he was so bruised, that
he could not so much as alight from his horse. This made him fume and
chafe, and vent his passion in a thousand threats and curses, so
strange and various that it is impossible to repeat them. But the more
he stormed, the more they tossed and laughed; Sancho on his side
begging, and howling, and threatening, and cursing, to as little
purpose as his master, for it was weariness alone could make the
tossers give over. Then they charitably put an end to his high
dancing, and set him upon his ass again, carefully wrapped in his
mantle.
But Maritornes, pitying a creature in such tribulation and thinking he
had danced and tumbled enough to be dry, was so generous as to help
him to a draught of water, which she purposely drew from the well that
moment, that it might be the cooler. Sancho clapped the pot to his
mouth, but his master made him desist. "Hold, hold," cried he, "son
Sancho, drink no water, child, it will kill thee; behold I have here
the most holy balsam, two drops of which will cure thee
effectually."--"Ha," replied Sancho, shaking his head, and looking
sourly on the knight with a side face, "have you again forgot that I
am no knight? Keep your brewings for yourself, in the devil's name,
and let me alone." With that he lifted up the jug to his nose, but
finding it to be mere element, he spirted out again the little he had
tasted, and desired the wench to help him to some better liquor; so
she went and fetched him wine to make him amends, and paid for it too
out of her own pocket. As soon as Sancho had tipped off his wine, he
visited his ass's ribs twice or thrice with his heels, and, free
egress being granted him, he trooped off, well content with the
thoughts of having had his ends, and got off scot free, though at the
expense of his shoulders, his usual sureties. It is true, the
innkeeper kept his wallet for the reckoning; but the poor squire was
so dismayed, and in such haste to be gone, that he never missed it.
The host was for shutting the inn doors after him, for fear of the
worst; but the tossers would not let him, being a sort of fellows that
would not have cared for Don Quixote a straw, though he had really
been one of the Knights of the Round Table.
THE BATTLE OF THE SHEEP
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
They went on discoursing, when Don Quixote, perceiving a thick cloud
of dust arise right before them in the road, "The day is come," said
he, turning to his squire, "the day is come, Sancho, that shall usher
in the happiness which fortune has reserved for me; this day shall the
strength of my arm be signalized by such exploits as shall be
transmitted even to the latest posterity. Seest thou that cloud of
dust, Sancho? It is raised by a prodigious army marching this way, and
composed of an infinite number of nations."--"Why then, at this rate,"
quoth Sancho, "there should be two armies; for yonder is as great a
dust on the other side." With that Don Quixote looked, and was
transported with joy at the sight, firmly believing that two vast
armies were ready to engage each other in that plain; for his
imagination was so crowded with those battles, enchantments,
surprising adventures, amorous thoughts, and other whimsies which he
had read of in romances, that his strong fancy changed everything he
saw into what he desired to see; and thus he could not conceive that
the dust was only raised by two large flocks of sheep that were going
the same road from different parts, and could not be discerned till
they were very near; he was so positive that they were two armies,
that Sancho firmly believed him at last. "Well, sir," quoth the
squire, "what are we to do, I beseech you?"--"What shall we do,"
replied Don Quixote, "but assist the weaker and injured side? for
know, Sancho, that the army which now moves towards us is commanded by
the great Alifanfaron, emperor of the vast island of Taprobana; the
other that advances behind us is his enemy, the king of the
Garamantians, Pentapolin with the naked arm, so called because he
always enters into the battle with his right arm bare."--"Pray, sir,"
quoth Sancho, "why are these two great men going together by the
ears?"--"The occasion of their quarrel is this," answered Don Quixote:
"Alifanfaron, a strong Pagan, is in love with Pentapolin's daughter, a
very beautiful lady and a Christian; now her father refuses to give
her in marriage to the heathen prince, unless he abjure his false
belief and embrace the Christian religion."--"Burn my beard," said
Sancho, "if Pentapolin be not in the right on it; I will stand by him,
and help him all I may."--"I commend thy resolution," replied Don
Quixote, "it is not only lawful, but requisite; for there is no need
of being a knight to fight in such battles."--"I guessed as much,"
quoth Sancho; "but where shall we leave my ass in the meantime, that I
may be sure to find him again after the battle; for I fancy you never
heard of any man that ever charged upon such a beast."--"It is true,"
answered Don Quixote, "and therefore I would have thee turn him loose,
though thou wert sure never to find him again; for we shall have so
many horses after we have got the day that even Rozinante himself will
be in danger of being changed for another."
Then mounting to the top of a hillock, whence they might have seen
both the flocks, had not the dust obstructed their sight, "Look
yonder, Sancho!" cried Don Quixote; "that knight whom thou seest in
the gilded arms, bearing in his shield a crowned lion couchant at the
feet of a lady, is the valiant Laurcalco, lord of the silver bridge.
He in the armor powdered with flowers of gold, bearing three crows
argent in a field azure, is the formidable Micocolembo, the great duke
of Quiracia. That other, of a gigantic size, that marches on his
right, is the undaunted Brandabarbaran of Boliche, sovereign of the
three Arabias; he is arrayed in a serpent's skin, and carries instead
of a shield a huge gate, which they say belonged to the temple which
Samson pulled down at his death, when he revenged himself upon his
enemies. But cast thy eyes on this side, Sancho, and at the head of
the other army see the victorious Timonel of Carcaiona, prince of New
Biscay, whose armor is quartered azure, vert, or, and argent, and who
bears in his shield a cat or, in a field gules, with these four
letters, MIAU, for a motto, being the beginning of his mistress's
name, the beautiful Miaulina, daughter to Alfeñiquen, duke of Algarva.
That other monstrous load upon the back of yonder wild horse, with
arms as white as snow, and a shield without any device, is a
Frenchman, now created knight, called Pierre Papin, baron of Utrique;
he whom you see pricking that pied courser's flanks with his armed
heels is the mighty duke of Nervia, Espartafilardo of the Wood,
bearing for device on his shield an asparagus plant with this motto in
Castilian, _Rastrea mi suerte_ (Divine my fate)." And thus he went on,
naming a great number of others in both armies, to every one of whom
his fertile imagination assigned arms, colors, impresses, and mottoes,
as readily as if they had really been that moment in being before his
eyes. And then proceeding without the least hesitation, "That vast
body," said he, "that is just opposite to us is composed of several
nations. There you see those who drink the pleasant stream of the
famous Xanthus; there the mountaineers that till the Massilian fields;
those that sift the pure gold of Arabia Felix: those that inhabit the
renowned and delightful banks of Thermodon. Yonder, those who so many
ways sluice and drain the golden Pactolus for its precious sand; the
Numidians, unsteady and careless of their promises; the Persians,
excellent archers; the Medes and Parthians, who fight flying; the
Arabs, who have no fixed habitations; the Scythians, cruel and savage,
though fair-complexioned; the sooty Ethiopians, that bore their lips;
and a thousand other nations whose countenances I know, though I have
forgotten their names. On the other side come those whose country is
watered with the crystal streams of Betis, shaded with olive trees;
those who bathe their limbs in the rich flood of the golden Tagus;
those whose mansions are laved by the profitable stream of the divine
Genil; those who range the verdant Tartesian meadows; those who
indulge their luxurious temper in the delicious pastures of Xerez; the
wealthy inhabitants of La Mancha, crowned with golden ears of corn;
the ancient offspring of the Goths, cased in iron; those who wanton in
the lazy current of Pisuerga; those who feed their numerous flocks in
the ample plains where the Guadiana, so celebrated for its hidden
course, pursues its wandering race; those who shiver with extremity of
cold on the woody Pyrenean hills or on the hoary tops of the snowy
Apennines,--in a word, all that Europe includes within its spacious
bounds, half a world in an army." It is scarce to be imagined how many
countries he had run over, how many nations he enumerated,
distinguishing every one by what is peculiar to them, with an
incredible vivacity of mind, and that still in the puffy style of his
fabulous books.
Sancho listened to all this romantic muster-roll as mute as a fish,
with amazement; all that he could do was now and then to turn his head
on this side and the other side, to see if he could discern the
knights and giants whom his master named. But at length, not being
able to discover any, "Why," cried he, "you had as good tell me it
snows; the devil of any knight, giant, or man can I see, of all those
you talk of now; who knows but all this may be witchcraft and spirits,
like yesternight?"--"How," replied Don Quixote; "dost thou not hear
their horses neigh, their trumpets sound, and their drums beat?"--"Not
I," quoth Sancho, "I prick up my ears like a sow in the beans, and yet
I can hear nothing but the bleating of sheep." Sancho might justly say
so indeed, for by this time the two flocks were got very near them.
"Thy fears disturb thy senses," said Don Quixote, "and hinder thee
from hearing and seeing right; but it is no matter; withdraw to some
place of safety, since thou art so terrified; for I alone am
sufficient to give the victory to that side which I shall favor with
my assistance." With that he couched his lance, clapped spurs to
Rozinante, and rushed like a thunderbolt from the hillock into the
plain. Sancho bawled after him as loud as he could. "Hold, sir!" cried
Sancho; "for heaven's sake come back! What do you mean? as sure as I
am a sinner those you are going to maul are nothing but poor harmless
sheep. Come back, I say. Woe to him that begot me! Are you mad, sir?
there are no giants, no knights, no cats, no asparagus gardens, no
golden quarters nor what-d'-ye-call-thems. Does the devil possess you?
you are leaping over the hedge before you come at the stile. You are
taking the wrong sow by the ear. Oh, that I was ever born to see this
day!" But Don Quixote still riding on, deaf and lost to good advice,
out-roared his expostulating squire. "Courage, brave knights!" cried
he; "march up, fall on, all you who fight under the standard of the
valiant Pentapolin with the naked arm; follow me, and you shall see
how easily I will revenge him on that infidel Alifanfaron of
Taprobana."
So saying, he charged into the midst of the squadron of sheep and
commenced to spear them with his lance with as much gallantry and
resolution as if he were verily engaging with his mortal enemies.
The shepherds and drovers, seeing their sheep go to wreck, called out
to him; till finding fair means ineffectual, they unloosed their
slings, and began to ply him with stones as big as their fists. But
the champion, disdaining such a distant war, spite of their showers of
stones rushed among the routed sheep, trampling both the living and
the slain in a most terrible manner, impatient to meet the general of
the enemy, and end the war at once. "Where, where art thou?" cried he,
"proud, Alifanfaron? Appear! See here a single knight who seeks thee
everywhere, to try now, hand to hand, the boasted force of thy
strenuous arm, and deprive thee of life, as a due punishment for the
unjust war which thou hast audaciously waged with the valiant
Pentapolin." Just as he had said this, while the stones flew about his
ears, one unluckily hit upon his small ribs, and had like to have
buried two of the shortest deep in the middle of his body.
The knight thought himself slain, or at least desperately wounded; and
therefore calling to mind his precious balsam, and pulling out his
earthen jug, he clapped it to his mouth; but before he had swallowed a
sufficient dose, souse comes another of those bitter almonds, that
spoiled his draught, and hit him so pat upon the jug, hand, and teeth,
that it broke the first, maimed the second, and struck out three or
four of the last. These two blows were so violent that the boisterous
knight, falling from his horse, lay upon the ground as quiet as the
slain; so that the shepherds, fearing he was killed, got their flock
together with all speed, and carrying away their dead, which were no
less than seven sheep, they made what haste they could out of harm's
way, without looking any further into the matter.
All this while Sancho stood upon the hill, where he was mortified upon
the sight of this mad adventure. There he stamped and swore, and
banned his master to the bottomless pit; he tore his beard for
madness, and cursed the moment he first knew him; but seeing him at
last knocked down and settled, the shepherds being scampered, he
thought he might venture to come down, and found him in a very ill
plight, though not altogether senseless. "Ah! master," quoth he, "this
comes of not taking my counsel. Did I not tell you it was a flock of
sheep, and no army?"--"Friend Sancho," replied Don Quixote, "know, it
is an easy matter for necromancers to change the shapes of things as
they please: thus that malicious enchanter, who is my inveterate
enemy, to deprive me of the glory which he saw me ready to acquire,
while I was reaping a full harvest of laurels, transformed in a moment
the routed squadrons into sheep. If thou wilt not believe me, Sancho,
yet do one thing for my sake; do but take thy ass, and follow those
supposed sheep at a distance, and I dare engage thou shalt soon see
them resume their former shapes, and appear such as I described them."
THE CONQUEST OF MAMBRINO'S HELMET
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
At the same time it began to rain, and Sancho would fain have taken
shelter in the fulling mills; but Don Quixote had conceived such an
antipathy against them for the shame they had put upon him that he
would by no means be prevailed with to go in; and turning to the right
hand he struck into a highway, where they had not gone far before he
discovered a horseman, who wore upon his head something that glittered
like gold. The knight had no sooner spied him, but, turning to his
squire, "Sancho," cried he, "I believe there is no proverb but what is
true; they are all so many sentences and maxims drawn from experience,
the universal mother of sciences; for instance, that saying that where
one door shuts, another opens: thus fortune, that last night deceived
us with the false prospect of an adventure, this morning offers us a
real one to make us amends; and such an adventure, Sancho, that if I
do not gloriously succeed in it, I shall have now no pretense to an
excuse, no darkness, no unknown sounds, to impute my disappointment
to: in short, in all probability yonder comes the man who wears on his
head Mambrino's helmet, and thou knowest the vow I have made."--"Good
sir," quoth Sancho, "mind what you say, and take heed what you do; for
I would willingly keep my carcass and the case of my understanding
from being pounded, mashed, and crushed with fulling hammers."--"The
block-head!" cried Don Quixote; "is there no difference between a
helmet and a fulling mill?"--"I don't know," saith Sancho, "but I am
sure, were I suffered to speak my mind now as I was wont, mayhap, I
would give you such main reasons, that yourself should see you are
wide of the matter."--"How can I be mistaken, thou eternal
misbeliever!" cried Don Quixote; "dost thou not see that knight that
comes riding up directly towards us upon a dapple-gray steed, with a
helmet of gold on his head."--"I see what I see," replied Sancho, "and
the devil of anything I can spy but a fellow on such another gray ass
as mine is, with something that glitters o' top of his head."--"I tell
thee, that is Mambrino's helmet," replied Don Quixote; "do thou stand
at a distance, and leave me to deal with him; thou shalt see, that
without trifling away so much as a moment in needless talk, I will
finish this adventure, and possess myself of the desired helmet."--"I
shall stand at a distance, you may be sure," quoth Sancho; "but God
grant that it be not the fulling mills again."--"I have warned you
already, fellow," said Don Quixote, "not so much as to name the
fulling mills; dare but once more to do it, nay, but to think on it,
and I vow to--I say no more, but I'll full your very soul." These
threats were more than sufficient to padlock Sancho's lips, for he had
no mind to have his master's vow fulfilled at the expense of his
bones.
Now the truth of the story was this: there were in that part of the
country two villages, one of which was so little that it had not so
much as a shop in it, nor any barber; so that the barber of the
greater village served also the smaller. And thus a person happening
to have occasion to be let blood, and another to be shaved, the barber
was going thither with his brass basin, which he had clapped upon his
head to keep his hat, that chanced to be a new one, from being spoiled
by the rain; and as the basin was new scoured, it made a glittering
show a great way off. As Sancho had well observed, he rode upon a gray
ass, which Don Quixote as easily took for a dapple-gray steed, as he
took the barber for a knight, and his brass basin for a golden helmet;
his distracted brain easily applying every object to his romantic
ideas. Therefore, when he saw the poor imaginary knight draw near, he
fixed his lance, or javelin, to his thigh, and without staying to hold
a parley with his adversary, flew at him as fiercely as Rozinante
would gallop, resolved to pierce him through and through; crying out
in the midst of his career, "Caitiff, wretch, defend thyself, or
immediately surrender that which is so justly my due."
The barber, who, as he peaceably went along, saw that terrible
apparition come thundering upon him at unawares, had no other way to
avoid being run through with his lance, but to throw himself off from
his ass to the ground; and then as hastily getting up, he took to his
heels, and ran over the fields swifter than the wind, leaving his ass
and his basin behind him. Don Quixote finding himself thus master of
the field and of the basin, "The miscreant," cried he, "who has left
this helmet, has shown himself as prudent as the beaver, who, finding
himself hotly pursued by the hunters, to save his life, tears and cuts
off with his teeth that for which his natural instinct tells him he is
followed."--Then he ordered Sancho to take up the helmet.--"On my
word," quoth Sancho, having taken it up, "it is a special basin, and
as well worth a piece of eight as a thief is worth a halter."
With that he gave it to his master, who presently clapped it on his
head, turning it every way to find out the beaver or vizor; and at
last seeing it had none, "Doubtless," said he, "the pagan for whom
this famous helmet was first made, had a head of a prodigious size;
but the worst is, that there is at least one-half of it wanting."
Sancho could not forbear smiling to hear his master call the barber's
basin a helmet, and, had not his fear dashed his mirth, he had
certainly laughed outright. "What does the fool grin at now?" cried
Don Quixote.--"I laugh," said he, "to think what a hugeous jolt-head
he must needs have had who was the owner of this same helmet, that
looks for all the world like a barber's basin."--"I fancy," said Don
Quixote, "this enchanted helmet has fallen by some strange accident
into the hands of some person who, not knowing the value of it, for
the lucre of a little money, finding it to be of pure gold, melted one
half, and of the other made this headpiece, which, as thou sayest, has
some resemblance to a barber's basin: but to me, who know the worth of
it, the metamorphosis signifies little; for as soon as ever I come to
some town where there is an armorer, I will have it altered so much
for the better, that then even the helmet which the god of smiths made
for the god of war shall not deserve to be compared with it. In the
meantime I'll wear it as it is; it is better than nothing, and will
serve at least to save part of my head from the violent encounter of a
stone."--"Ay, that it will," quoth Sancho, "so it is not hurled out of
a sling, as were those at the battle between the two armies, when they
hit you that confounded dowse o' the chops, that saluted your
worship's cheek-teeth, and broke the pot about your ears in which you
kept that blessed drench."--"True," cried Don Quixote, "there I lost
my precious balsam indeed; but I do not much repine at it, for thou
knowest I have the receipt in my memory."--"So have I, too," quoth
Sancho, "and shall have while I have breath to draw; but if ever I
make any of that stuff, or taste it again, may I give up the ghost
with it! Besides, I don't intend ever to do anything that may give
occasion for the use of it, for my fixed resolution is, with all my
five senses, to preserve myself from hurting and from being hurt by
anybody. As to being tossed in a blanket again, I have nothing to say
to that, for there is no remedy for accidents but patience, it seems;
so if it ever be my lot to be served so again, I'll even shrink up my
shoulders, hold my breath, and shut my eyes, and then happy be lucky,
let the blanket and fortune even toss on to the end of the chapter."
"Truly," said Don Quixote, "I am afraid thou art no good Christian,
Sancho, thou never forgettest injuries. Let me tell thee, it is the
part of noble and generous spirits to pass by trifles. Where art thou
lame? which of thy ribs is broken, or what part of thy skull is
bruised, that thou canst never think on that jest without malice? for,
after all, it was nothing but a jest, a harmless piece of pastime; had
I looked upon it otherwise, I had returned to that place before this
time, and had made more noble mischief in revenge of the abuse than
ever the incensed Grecians did at Troy, for the detention of their
Helen, that famed beauty of the ancient world; who, however, had she
lived in our age, or had my Dulcinea adorned hers, would have found
her charms outrivaled by my mistress's perfections;" and saying this,
he heaved up a deep sigh. "Well, then," quoth Sancho, "I will not rip
up old sores; let it go for a jest, since there is no revenging it in
earnest."
DON QUIXOTE'S BATTLE WITH THE GIANTS
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
Sancho Panza came running out of Don Quixote's chamber in a terrible
fright, crying out, "Help, help, good people, help my master! He is
just now at it, tooth and nail, with that same giant, the Princess
Micomicona's foe; I never saw a more dreadful battle in my born days.
He has lent him such a sliver, that whip off went the giant's head, as
round as a turnip."--"You are mad, Sancho," said the curate,
interrupted in his reading; "is thy master such a devil of a hero, as
to fight a giant at two thousand leagues' distance?" Upon this, they
presently heard a noise and bustle in the chamber, and Don Quixote
bawling out, "Stay, villain, robber, stay; since I have thee here, thy
scimitar shall but little avail thee;" and with this, they heard him
strike with his sword, with all his force, against the walls.--"Good
folks," said Sancho, "my master does not want your hearkening; why do
not you run in and help him? though I believe there's no need now, for
sure the giant is by this time dead, and giving an account of his ill
life: for I saw his blood run all about the house, and his head
sailing in the middle on it; but such a head! it is bigger than any
wine skin in Spain."--"Death and hell!" cries the innkeeper, "I will
be cut like a cucumber, if this Don Quixote, or Don Devil, has not
been hacking my wine skins that stood filled at his bed's head, and
this coxcomb has taken the spilt liquor for blood." Then running with
the whole company into the room, they found the poor knight in the
most comical posture imaginable.
He was standing in his shirt, and he wore on his head a little red
greasy cast nightcap of the innkeeper's; he had wrapped one of the bed
blankets about his left arm for a shield; and wielded his drawn sword
in the right, laying about him pellmell; with now and then a start of
some military expression, as if he had been really engaged with some
giant. But the best jest of all, he was all this time fast asleep; for
the thoughts of the adventure he had undertaken had so wrought on his
imagination that his depraved fancy had in his sleep represented to
him the kingdom Micomicon, and the giant; and dreaming that he was
then fighting him, he assaulted the wine skins so desperately that he
set the whole chamber afloat with good wine. The innkeeper, enraged to
see the havoc, flew at Don Quixote with his fists; and had not
Cardenio and the curate taken him off, he had proved a giant indeed
against the knight. All this could not wake the poor knight, till the
barber, throwing a bucket of cold water on him, wakened him from his
sleep, though not from his dream.
Sancho ran up and down the room searching for the giant's head, till,
finding his labor fruitless, "Well, well," said he, "now I see plainly
that this house is haunted, for when I was here before, in this very
room was I beaten like any stockfish, but knew no more than the man in
the moon who struck me; and now the giant's head that I saw cut off
with these eyes, is vanished; and I am sure I saw the body spout blood
like a pump."--"What a prating and a nonsense about blood and a pump,
and I know not what," said the innkeeper; "I tell you, rascal, it is
my wine skins that are slashed, and my wine that runs about the floor
here, and I hope to see the soul of him that spilt it swimming in hell
for his pains."--"Well, well," said Sancho, "do not trouble me; I only
tell you, that I cannot find the giant's head, and my earldom is gone
after it, and so I am undone, like salt in water." And truly Sancho's
waking dream was worse than his master's when asleep. The innkeeper
was almost mad to see the foolish squire harp so on the same string
with his frantic master, and swore they should not come off now as
before; that their chivalry should be no satisfaction for his wine,
but that they should pay him sauce for the damage, and for the very
leathern patches which the wounded wine skins would want.
Don Quixote, in the meanwhile, believing he had finished his
adventure, and mistaking the curate, that held him by the arms, for
the Princess Micomicona, fell on his knees before him, and with a
respect due to a royal presence, "Now may your highness," said he,
"great and illustrious princess, live secure, free from any further
apprehensions from your conquered enemy; and now I am acquitted of my
engagement, since, by the assistance of Heaven and the influence of
her favor by whom I live and conquer, your adventure is so happily
achieved."--"Did not I tell you so, gentlefolks?" said Sancho; "who is
drunk or mad now? See if my master has not already put the giant in
pickle? Here are the bulls, and I am an earl." The whole company,
except the innkeeper, were like to split at the extravagances of
master and man. At last, the barber, Cardenio, and the curate having
with much ado got Don Quixote to bed, he presently fell asleep, being
heartily tired; and then they left him to comfort Sancho Panza for the
loss of the giant's head; but it was no easy matter to appease the
innkeeper, who was at his wit's end for the unexpected and sudden fate
of his wine skins.
DON QUIXOTE MEETS THE LIONS
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
The history relates, that Sancho was chaffering with the shepherds for
some curds, when Don Quixote called to him to bring his helmet; and
finding that his master was in haste, he did not know what to do with
them, nor what to bring them in; yet loth to lose his purchase (for he
had already paid for them), he bethought himself at last of clapping
them into the helmet, where having them safe, he went to know his
master's pleasure. As soon as he came up to him, "Give me that helmet,
friend," said the knight, "for if I understand anything of adventures,
I descry one yonder that obliges me to arm."
The gentleman in green, hearing this, looked about to see what was the
matter, but could perceive nothing but a wagon, which made towards
them; and by the little flags about it, he judged it to be one of his
majesty's treasure vans, and so he told Don Quixote. But his head was
too much possessed with notions of adventures to give any credit to
what the gentleman said. "Sir," answered he, "forewarned, forearmed; a
man loses nothing by standing on his guard. I know by experience that
I have enemies visible and invisible, and I cannot tell when nor where
nor in what shape they may attack me." At the same time he snatched
the helmet out of Sancho's hands, before he could discharge it of the
curds, and clapped it on his head, without examining the contents. The
curds being thus squeezed, the whey began to run all about his face
and beard; which so frighted him that, calling to Sancho, "What's
this," cried he, "Sancho? What's the matter with me? Sure my skull is
growing soft, or my brains are melting, or else I sweat from head to
foot! But if I do, I am sure it is not for fear. This certainly must
be a dreadful adventure that is approaching. Give me something to wipe
me, if thou canst, for I am almost blinded with the torrent of sweat."
Sancho did not say a word, but giving him a cloth, thanked Heaven that
his master had not found him out. Don Quixote dried himself, and
taking off the helmet to see what it should be that felt so cold on
his head, perceiving some white morsels, and putting it to his nose,
soon found what it was. "Now, by the life of my lady Dulcinea del
Toboso," cried he, "thou hast put curds in my helmet, vile traitor and
unmannerly squire!"--replied Sancho cunningly, and keeping his
countenance, "if they be curds, good your worship, give them me
hither, and I will eat them. But hold, now I think on it, the devil
eat them for me; for he himself must have put them there. What! I dare
offer to defile your helmet! you must know who dared to do it! As sure
as I am alive, sir, I have got my enchanters too, that owe me a
grudge, and plague me as a limb of your worship; and I warrant have
put that nasty stuff there on purpose to set you against me, and make
you fall foul on my bones. But I hope they have missed their aim this
time, i' troth! My master is a wise man, and must needs know that I
had neither curds nor milk, nor anything of that kind; and if I had
met with curds, I should sooner have put them in my belly than in the
helmet."--"Well," said Don Quixote, "there may be something in that."
The gentleman had observed these passages, and stood amazed, but
especially when Don Quixote, having put on the helmet again, fixed
himself well in the stirrups, tried whether his sword were loose
enough in his scabbard, and rested his lance. "Now," cried he, "come
what will come; here am I, who dare encounter the devil himself in
person." By this time the wagon with the flags was come up with them,
attended only by the carter, mounted on one of the mules, and another
man that sat on the forepart. Don Quixote making up to them, "Whither
go ye, friends?" said he. "What wagon is this? What do you convey in
it? And what is the meaning of these flags?"--"The wagon is mine,"
answered the wagoner; "I have there fast two brave lions, which the
general of Oran is sending to his majesty, and these colors of our
lord the king are to let the people understand that what goes here
belongs to him."--"And are the lions large?" inquired Don
Quixote.--"Very large," answered the man at the door of the wagon;
"there never came bigger from Afric into Spain. I am their keeper,"
added he, "and have had charge of several others, but I never saw the
like of these before. In the foremost cage is a he-lion and in the
other, behind, a lioness. By this time they are hungry, for they have
not eaten to-day; therefore, pray, good sir, ride out of the way, for
we must make haste to get to the place where we intend to feed
them."--"What!" said Don Quixote, with a smile, "lion whelps against
me! Against me those puny beasts! And at this time of day? Well, I
will make those gentlemen that sent their lions this way know whether
I am a man to be scared with lions. Get off, honest fellow; and since
you are the keeper, open their cages, and let them both out; for,
maugre and in despite of those enchanters that have sent them to try
me, I will make the creatures know, in the midst of this very field,
who Don Quixote de la Mancha is."--"So," thought the gentleman to
himself, "now has our poor knight discovered who he is; the curds, I
find, have softened his skull, and mellowed his brains."
On this, Sancho came up to him. "O good dear sir!" cried he, "for
pity's sake, hinder my master from falling upon those lions by all
means, or we shall all be torn a-pieces."--"Why," said the gentleman,
"is your master so arrant a madman, then, that you should fear he
would set upon such furious beasts?"--"Ah, sir!" said Sancho, "he is
not mad, but venturesome."--"Well," replied the gentleman, "I will
take care of that;" and with that advancing up to Don Quixote, who was
urging the lion-keeper to open the cage, "Sir," said he,
"knights-errant ought to engage in adventures from which there may be
some hopes of coming off with safety, but not in such as are
altogether desperate; for that courage which borders on temerity is
more like madness than fortitude. Besides, these lions come not
against you, nor dream of it, but are sent as a present to the king,
and therefore, it is well not to detain them, or stop the
wagon."--"Pray, sweet sir," replied Don Quixote, "go and amuse
yourself with your tame partridge and your bold ferret, and leave
every one to his own business. This is mine, and I know best whether
these lion gentry are sent against me or no." Then turning about to
the keeper, "Sirrah! you rascal you," said he, "either open your cages
on the spot, or I vow to God, I will pin thee to the wagon with this
lance."--"Good sir," cried the wagoner, seeing this strange apparition
in armor so resolute, "for mercy's sake, do but let me take out our
mules first, and get out of harm's way with them as fast as I can,
before the lions get out; for if they should kill them, I should be
undone forever, for that cart and they are all I have in the world to
get a living with."--"Thou man of little faith," said Don Quixote,
"take them out quickly, then, and go with them where thou wilt; though
thou shalt presently see that thy precaution was needless, and thou
mightest have spared thy pains."
The wagoner on this made haste to take out his mules, while the keeper
cried out loud, "Bear witness, all ye that are here present, that it
is against my will I am forced to open the cages and let loose the
lions; and that I protest to this gentleman here, that he shall be
answerable for all the mischief and damage they may do; together with
the loss of my salary and fees. And now, sirs, shift for yourselves,
for, as for myself, I know the lions will do me no harm." Once more
the gentleman tried to dissuade Don Quixote from doing so mad a thing,
telling him that he tempted Heaven in exposing himself to so great a
danger. To this Don Quixote made no other answer, but that he knew
what he had to do. "Consider, however, what you do," replied the
gentleman, "for it is most certain that you are very much
mistaken."--"Well, sir," said Don Quixote, "if you care not to be
spectator of an action which you think is like to be tragical, e'en
put spurs to your mare, and provide for your safety." Sancho, hearing
this, came up to his master with tears in his eyes and begged him not
to go about this undertaking, to which the adventure of the windmills,
and the fulling mills, and all the brunts he had ever borne in his
life, were but cakes and gingerbread. "Good your worship," cried he,
"here is no enchantment in the case, nor anything like it. I peeped
even now through the grates of the cage, and I am sure I saw the claw
of a true lion, and such a claw as makes me think the lion that owns
it must be bigger than a mountain."--"At any rate," said Don Quixote,
"thy fear will make him bigger than half the world. Retire, Sancho,
and leave me, and if I chance to fall here thou knowest our old
agreement; repair to Dulcinea--I say no more." To this he added some
expressions which cut off all hopes of his giving over his mad design.
The gentleman in green would have opposed him; but, considering the
other much better armed, and that it was not prudence to encounter a
madman, as Don Quixote seemed to be, he even took the opportunity,
while he was hastening the keeper and repeating his threats, to march
off with his mare, as Sancho did with Dapple, and the carter with his
mules, every one making the best of their way to get as far as they
could from the wagon before the lions were let loose. Sancho at the
same time made lamentations for his master's death; for he gave him up
for lost, not questioning but the lions had already got him into their
clutches. He cursed his ill fortune, and the hour he came again to his
service; but for all his wailing and lamenting, he punched on poor
Dapple, to get as far as he could from the lions. The keeper,
perceiving the persons who fled to be at a good distance, fell to
arguing and entreating Don Quixote as he had done before. But he told
him again that all his reasons and entreaties were but in vain, and
bid him say no more, but immediately dispatch.
Now while the keeper took time to open the foremost cage, Don Quixote
stood debating with himself, whether he had best make his attack on
foot or on horseback; and upon mature deliberation, he resolved to do
it on foot, lest Rozinante, at sight of the lions, should be put into
disorder. Accordingly he quitted his horse, threw aside his lance,
grasped his shield, and drew his sword; then advancing step by step,
with wondrous courage and an undaunted heart, he posted himself just
before the door of the cage, commending himself to Heaven, and
afterwards to his lady Dulcinea.
At this point it must be known, the author of this faithful history
makes the following exclamation. "O thou most brave and unutterably
bold Don Quixote de la Mancha! Thou mirror and grand exemplar of
valor! Thou second and new Don Emanuel de Leon, the late glory and
honor of all Spanish cavaliers! What words shall I use to express this
astonishing deed of thine! What language shall I employ to convince
posterity of its truth! What praises can be coined, and eulogies
invented, that will not be outvied by thy superior merit, though
hyperboles were piled on hyperboles! Thou alone, on foot, intrepid and
magnanimous, with nothing but a sword, and that none of the sharpest,
with thy single shield, and that none of the brightest, stoodst ready
to receive and encounter the two fiercest lions that ever roared
within the Libyan deserts. Then let thine own deeds speak thy praise,
brave champion of La Mancha, while I am obliged to leave off, for want
of words to maintain the flight." Here ended the author's exclamation,
and the history goes on.
The keeper, observing the posture Don Quixote had put himself in, and
that it was not possible for him to prevent letting out the lions,
without incurring the resentment of the desperate knight, set the door
of the foremost cage wide open; where, as I have said, was the male
lion, who appeared of a monstrous bigness and of a hideous, frightful
aspect. The first thing he did was to turn himself round in his cage,
stretch out one of his paws, and rouse himself. After that he gaped
and yawned for a good while, and then thrust out almost two spans of
tongue, and with it licked the dust out of his eyes and face. Having
done this, he thrust his head out of the cage, and stared about with
his eyes that looked like two live coals; a sight and motion enough to
have struck terror into temerity itself. But Don Quixote only regarded
it with attention, wishing he would leap out of the wagon, and come
within his reach, that he might cut the monster piecemeal. To this
height had his incredible folly transported him; but the generous
lion, more gentle than arrogant, taking no notice of his vaporing and
bravados, after he had looked about him awhile, turned his tail, and
having showed Don Quixote his hinder parts, very contentedly lay down
again in his apartment.
Don Quixote, seeing this, commanded the keeper to rouse him with
blows, and force him out. "Not I, indeed, sir," answered the keeper;
"I dare not do it for my life; for if I provoke him, I am sure to be
the first he will tear to pieces. Let me advise you, sir, to be
satisfied with your day's work. 'Tis as much as the bravest can
pretend to do. Then pray go no further, I beseech you: the door stands
open, the lion is at his choice, whether he will come out or no, and
since he did not come out at the first, I dare engage he will not stir
out this day. You have shown enough the greatness of your courage. No
brave combatant is obliged to do more than challenge his enemy, and
wait for him in the field. If he comes not, that is his fault, and the
scandal is his, and the crown of victory is the challenger's."
"'Tis true," replied Don Quixote. "Come, shut the door, honest friend,
and give me a certificate under thy hand, in the amplest form thou
canst, of what thou hast seen me perform; how thou didst open the cage
for the lion; how I expected his coming, and he did not come out; how
I stayed his own time, and instead of meeting me, he turned tail and
lay down, I am obliged to do no more. So, enchantments avaunt! and
Heaven prosper truth, justice, and true knight-errantry! Shut the
door, as I bid thee, while I make signs to those that ran away from
us, and get them to come back, that they may have an account of this
exploit from my own mouth." The keeper obeyed, and Don Quixote,
clapping on the point of his lance the handkerchief with which he had
wiped off the deluge of curds from his face, began to call to the
fugitives, who fled nevertheless, looking behind them all the way, and
trooped on in a body with the gentleman at the head of them.
At last, Sancho observed the signal of the white flag, and calling out
to the rest, "Hold," cried he, "my master calls to us; I will he
hanged if he has not got the better of the lions." At this they all
faced about, and perceived Don Quixote flourishing his ensign;
whereupon recovering a little from their fright, they little by little
came back, till they could plainly distinguish Don Quixote's voice;
and then they came up to the wagon. As soon as they were got near it,
"Come on, friend," said he to the carter; "put to thy mules again, and
pursue thy journey; and, Sancho, do you give him two gold crowns for
the lion-keeper and himself, to make them amends for the time I have
detained them."--"Ay, that I will with all my heart," quoth Sancho;
"but what is become of the lions? Are they dead or alive?" Then the
keeper very formally related the whole action, not failing to
exaggerate, to the best of his skill, Don Quixote's courage; how at
his sight alone the lion was so terrified, that he neither would nor
durst quit his stronghold, though for that end his cage door was kept
open for a considerable time; and how upon his remonstrating to the
knight, who would have had the lion forced out, that it was presuming
too much upon Heaven, he had permitted, though with great reluctancy,
that the lion should be shut up again. "Well, Sancho," said Don
Quixote to his squire, "what dost thou think of this? Can enchantment
prevail over true fortitude? No, these magicians may perhaps rob me of
success, but of fortitude and courage it would be impossible."
Sancho gave the wagoner and the keeper the two pieces. The first
harnessed his mules, and the last thanked Don Quixote for his bounty,
and promised to acquaint the king himself with his heroic action when
he came to court. "Well," said Don Quixote, "if his majesty should
chance to inquire who did this thing, tell him it was the Knight of
the Lions; a name I intend henceforth to take up, in lieu of that
which I hitherto assumed, of the Knight of the Doleful Countenance; in
which proceeding I do but conform to the ancient custom of
knights-errant, who changed their names as often as they pleased, or
as it suited with their advantage."
THE RIDE ON THE WOODEN HORSE
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
[An enchanter has revenged himself upon some ladies by putting heavy
beards upon their faces. Don Quixote has been persuaded that the
beards will vanish if he will take a journey of three thousand leagues
on a wooden horse.]
"Blind thy eyes, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "and get up. Sure he that
sends so far for us can have no design to deceive us! since it would
never be to his credit to delude those that rely on his word; and,
though the success should be contrary to our desires, still, it is not
in the power of malice to eclipse the glory of so brave an
attempt."--"To horse, then, sir," cried Sancho. "The beards and tears
of these poor gentlewomen are sticking in my heart. And I shall not
eat a bit to do me good till I see them as smooth as before. Mount,
then, I say, and blindfold yourself first; for, if I must ride behind,
it is a plain case you must get up before me."--"That is right," said
Don Quixote; and, with that, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket,
he gave it to the Disconsolate Lady to hoodwink him. She did so; but
presently after, uncovering himself, "If I remember right," said he,
"we read in Virgil of the Trojan Palladium, that wooden horse which
the Greeks offered the goddess Pallas, full of armed knights who
afterwards proved the total ruin of Troy. It were prudent, therefore,
before we get up, to see what Clavileño has within him."--"You need
not," said the Disconsolate Lady; "I dare engage that Malambruno would
not countenance any base or treacherous practice. Mount, Don Quixote,
without fear; whatever accident befalls you, I dare answer for." Upon
this, Don Quixote mounted, without any reply, imagining that anything
said concerning his security would be a reflection on his valor. He
then began to try the pin, which was easily turned; and as he sat,
with his long legs stretched at length without stirrups, he looked
like one of those antique figures in a Roman triumph, painted or woven
in Flemish arras.
Sancho, very leisurely and unwillingly, was made to climb up; and,
fixing himself as well as he could on the crupper, felt it somewhat
hard and uneasy. With that, looking on the duke, "Good my lord," quoth
he, "will you lend me something to clap under me; some pillow from the
page's bed, or the duchess's cushion of state, or anything; for this
horse's crupper seems rather marble than wood."--"It is needless,"
said Trifaldi; "for Clavileño will bear no kind of furniture upon him;
so that, for your greater ease, you had best sit sideways, like a
woman." Sancho did so; and after he had taken his leave they bound a
cloth over his eyes; but presently after, uncovering them, with a
pitiful look on the spectators, he prayed them with tears in his eyes
to help him in this peril with two Paternosters and two Ave Marias, as
they would expect the like charity themselves in such a
condition!--"What! you rascal," said Don Quixote, "do you think
yourself at the gallows, and at the point of death, that you hold
forth in such a piteous strain? Dastardly wretch without a soul, dost
thou not know that the fair Magalona once sat in thy place, and
alighted from thence, not into the grave, but into the throne of
France, if there is truth in history? And do not I sit by thee, that I
may vie with the valorous Peter, and press the seat that was once
pressed by him? Come, blindfold thyself, poor spiritless animal, and
let me not hear thee betray the least symptom of fear, at least not in
my presence."--"Well," quoth Sancho, "let them bind me; but, if you
will not let one say his prayers nor be prayed for, it is no marvel
one should fear that we may have a legion of imps about us to deal
with us, as at Peralvillo."
Now, both being hoodwinked, and Don Quixote perceiving everything
ready, be began to turn the pin; and no sooner had he set his hand to
it than the waitingwomen and all the company set up their throats,
calling out, "Speed you well, valorous knight; Heaven be your guide,
undaunted squire! Now, now, you fly aloft, cutting the air more
swiftly than an arrow, while the gazing world wonders at your course!
Sit fast, courageous Sancho! you do not sit steady; have a care of
falling; for your fall would be greater than the aspiring youth's that
sought to guide the chariot of the sun-god, his father." All this
Sancho heard, and, girting his arms fast about his master, "Sir,"
quoth he, "why do they say we are so high, since we can hear their
voices? Truly I hear them so plainly that one would think they were
talking close by us."--"Never mind that," answered Don Quixote; "for
in these extraordinary kinds of flight you can hear and see what you
wish a thousand leagues off. But do not hold me so hard, for you will
make me tumble off. I know not what makes thee tremble so, for I dare
swear I never rode easier in all my life; our horse goes as if he did
not move at all. Take courage, then; for the affair is in a good way,
and we have the wind astern."--"I think so, too," quoth Sancho; "for I
feel the wind puff as briskly here as if a thousand pairs of bellows
were blowing on me at my back." Sancho was not in the wrong; for two
or three pairs of bellows were indeed giving air; so well had the plot
of this adventure been laid by the duke, the duchess, and their
steward, that nothing was wanting to perfect it.
Don Quixote at last feeling the wind, "Sure," said he, "we must be
risen to the second region of the air, where are engendered the hail
and snow; thunder, lightning, and thunderbolts are produced in the
third region; so that, if we mount at this rate, we shall be in the
region of fire presently; and I do not know how to manage this pin, so
as to avoid being scorched." At the same time some flax, easy to light
and to quench at a distance, was clapped to the end of a long stick,
and made their faces hot; and the heat affecting Sancho, he cried,
"May I be hanged, if we be not come to this fire region or very near
it; for the half of my beard is singed already. I have a mind to peep
out and see whereabouts we are."--"By no means," answered Don Quixote,
"but remember the true story of Doctor Torralva, whom the devil
carried to Rome hoodwinked, and, bestriding a reed, in twelve hours'
time setting him down in the tower of Nona, in one of the streets of
that city. There he saw the dreadful tumult, assault, and death of
Bourdon; and, the next morning, he found himself back in Madrid, where
he related the story. Who said, as he went through the air, the devil
bade him open his eyes, which he did, and then found himself as it
seemed so near the moon that he could touch him with his finger; but
durst not look towards the earth, lest his brains should turn. So,
Sancho, we need not unveil our eyes, but trust to him that has charge
of us, and fear nothing, for perhaps we only mount high, to come
straight down upon the kingdom of Candaya, as a hawk or falcon falls
upon a heron, to seize it more strongly from a height; for, though it
appears to us not half an hour since we left the garden, we have,
nevertheless, traveled over a vast tract."--"I know nothing of the
matter," replied Sancho; "but of this I am very certain, that, if the
Lady Magallanes, or Magalona, could sit this wooden crupper, she
cannot have had very tender flesh."
This dialogue of the valiant pair was very pleasant all this while to
the duke and duchess, and the rest of the company; and now, at last,
resolving to put an end to this extraordinary and well-contrived
adventure, they set fire with some tow to Clavileño's tail; and, the
horse being stuffed full of fireworks, burst presently into pieces,
with a mighty noise, throwing Don Quixote and Sancho to the ground
half scorched. By this time the Disconsolate Lady and bearded regiment
vanished out of the garden, and all the rest, as if in a trance, lay
flat upon the ground. Don Quixote and Sancho, sorely bruised, got up,
amazed to find themselves in the same garden whence they took horse,
and to see such a number of people lie on the ground. But their wonder
was increased by the appearance of a large lance stuck in the ground,
and a scroll of white parchment fastened to it by two green silken
strings, with the following inscription upon it, in golden
characters:--
_"The renowned knight Don Quixote de la Mancha achieved the adventure
of the Countess Trifaldi, otherwise called the Disconsolate Lady, and
her companions, by solely attempting it. Malambruno is fully contented
and satisfied. The waiting gentlewomen have lost their beards. King
Clavijo and Queen Antonomasia have resumed their pristine shapes; and,
when the squire's scourging shall be finished, the white dove shall
escape the pernicious hawks that pursue her, and be lulled in the arms
of her beloved. This is ordained by the Sage Merlin, proto-enchanter
of enchanters."_
Don Quixote, having read this document, clearly understood it to refer
to Dulcinea's disenchantment, and rendered thanks to Heaven that he
had achieved so great a feat with so little danger, and brought back
to their former bloom the faces of the venerable waiting-women, who
had now disappeared; and approaching the duke and duchess, who had not
yet come to themselves, he took the duke by the hand: "Courage,
courage, noble sir," cried he, "there is no danger; the adventure is
finished without damage, as you may read it registered in that
record."
The duke, as if he had been waked out of a sound sleep, recovered
himself by degrees, as did the duchess and the rest of the company,
who were lying prostrate in the garden, all of them acting the
surprise and fear so naturally that the jest might have been believed
earnest. The duke with half-closed eyes read the scroll; then,
embracing Don Quixote, extolled him as the bravest knight the earth
had ever possessed. As for Sancho, he was looking up and down for the
Disconsolate Lady, to see what sort of a face she had got, without her
beard. But he was informed that as Clavileño came down flaming in the
air, the whole squadron of women with Trifaldi vanished immediately,
but all of them shaved and without a hair upon their faces.
The duchess asked Sancho how he had fared in his long voyage? "Why,
truly, madam," answered he, "when, as my master told me, we were
flying through the region of fire, I wished to uncover my eyes a
little, but my master would not suffer me to do so; yet, as I have a
spice of curiosity still hankering after what is forbidden me, I
shoved my handkerchief a little above my nose and looked down, and, as
it seemed, spied the earth no bigger than a mustard seed; and the men
walking to and fro upon it not much larger than hazelnuts; by which
you may see how high we had got!"--"Have a care what you say, my
friend," said the duchess; "for if the men were bigger than hazelnuts,
and the earth no bigger than a mustard seed, one man must cover the
whole earth."--"Like enough," answered Sancho; "but for all that, do
you see, I saw it with a kind of a side look upon one part of
it."--"Look you, Sancho," replied the duchess, "nothing can be wholly
seen by a partial view of it."--"Well, well, madam," quoth Sancho, "I
do not understand your views; I only know that as we flew by
enchantment, so, by enchantment, I might see the whole earth, and all
the men, which way soever I looked. If you do not believe this, you
will not believe me either when I tell you that when I looked between
my brows, I saw myself so near heaven, that between me and it there
was not a span and a half. And, forsooth, it is a huge place! and we
happened to travel that road where the seven she-goats are; and, faith
and troth, I had such a mind to play with them (having been once a
goatherd myself) that I should have burst, had I not done it. What do
I do then but slip down very soberly from Clavileño without telling a
soul, and played and leaped about for three-quarters of an hour, with
the pretty nanny-goats, who are like so many marigolds or
gilly-flowers; and Clavileño stirred not one step all the
while."--"And while Sancho employed himself with the goats," asked the
duke, "how was Don Quixote employed?"--"Truly," answered the knight,
"I am sensible all things were altered from their natural course;
therefore, what Sancho says seems no marvel to me. But, for my own
part, I saw nothing either above or below, neither heaven nor earth,
sea nor shore. I perceived, indeed, we passed through the region of
the air, and even touched that of fire, but that we went beyond it is
incredible; for, the fiery region lying between the sphere of the moon
and the upper region of the air, it was impossible for us to reach
that heaven where are the seven goats, as Sancho says, without being
consumed; and, therefore, since we were not singed, Sancho either lies
or dreams."--"I neither lie nor dream," replied Sancho; "do but ask me
the marks of these goats, and by them you will see whether I speak
truth or no."--"Prithee tell them, Sancho," said the duchess. "There
were two of them green," answered Sancho, "two carnation, two blue,
and one party-colored."--"That is a new kind of goats," said the duke.
"We have none of those colors in our region of the earth."--"Sure,
sir," replied Sancho, "you will make some sort of difference between
heavenly she-goats and the goats of this world?"--"But, Sancho," said
the duke, "among these she-goats did you ever see a he-goat." "Not
one, sir," answered Sancho; "and I have been told that none has ever
passed beyond the horns of the moon."
They did not think fit to ask Sancho more about his voyage; for they
judged he would ramble all over the heavens, and tell them news of
whatever was doing there, though he had not stirred out of the garden.
Thus ended, in short, the adventure of the Disconsolate Lady, which
afforded sport to the duke and duchess, not only for the present, but
for the rest of their lives; and to Sancho matter of talk for ages,
should he live so long.
"Sancho," said Don Quixote, whispering him in the ear, "if thou
wouldst have us believe what thou hast seen in heaven, I desire thee
to believe what I saw in Montesinos's cave. I say no more."
THE THREE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND ODD LASHES
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
[Don Quixote believes that his Dulcinea may be freed from enchantment
by Sancho Panza's inflicting upon himself of his own will "three
thousand three hundred and odd lashes." Sancho has stopped at the
fifth, and now the knight bribes him to continue.]
"For my part," said Don Quixote, "hadst thou demanded a fee for
disenchanting Dulcinea, I can tell thee that I would have given it
thee already. But I know not if a gratuity would accord with the cure;
and I would not have the reward hinder the medicine. For all that, it
seems to me that nothing will be lost by putting it to a trial. Look
you, Sancho, to what you want, and scourge yourself at once, then pay
yourself ready money with your own hand, since you keep my money."
Sancho, opening his eyes and ears a span wide at this offer, gave
consent in his heart to scourge himself with a good will. "Ay, sir,
now you say well," quoth he to his master. "I am willing to dispose of
myself to do you a pleasure in what may consist with my advantage, for
my love for my children and wife makes me seem selfish. Tell me how
much you will give me for each lash I give myself?"--"Were your
payment, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "to be answerable to the greatness
and quality of this cure, the wealth of Venice and the mines of Potosi
would be small payment for thee. But see what you have of mine, and
set the price on each stripe."--"The lashes," quoth Sancho, "are three
thousand three hundred and odd, of which I have given myself five; the
rest are to come. Let these five go for the odd ones, and let us come
to the three thousand three hundred, which at a quartillo apiece--and
I will not take less if all the world bid me--they make three thousand
three hundred quartillos, of which three thousand make fifteen hundred
half-reals, which amounts to seven hundred and fifty reals; and the
three hundred remaining make an hundred and fifty half-reals, and
three-score and fifteen reals; put that with the seven hundred and
fifty, and it comes altogether to eight hundred and twenty-five reals.
This I will deduct from what I hold of yours, and will return home
rich and well pleased, though well whipped. But one must not think to
catch trout--I say no more."--"O blessed Sancho! O amiable Sancho!"
cried Don Quixote. "How shall Dulcinea and I be bound to serve thee
all the days that Heaven shall give us of life! If she recover from
her lost state (and it is not possible that she fail to do so), her
misfortune will turn to her felicity, and my defeat to the happiest
triumph. And hark ye, Sancho! when wilt thou enter upon thy
discipline? For if thou hastenest it, I will add further a hundred
reals more."--"When?" answered Sancho; "this very night without fail.
Do you but order it that we lie in the fields under the open sky, and
I will open my flesh."
Night arrived, awaited by Don Quixote with the greatest anxiety; and
he fancied Phoebus had broken his chariot wheels, which made the day
of so unusual a length,--as is always the case with lovers, who never
make allowance for the reckoning of their desires. At last they
entered amongst some pleasant trees that stood a little out of the
road, where, leaving empty the saddle and pannel of Rozinante and
Dapple, they stretched themselves upon the green grass, and supped
from Sancho's wallet.
He, having made himself a heavy and flexible whip of Dapple's
headstall and reins, retired about twenty paces from his master,
amidst some beeches. Don Quixote, observing him go with readiness and
resolution, said, "Have a care, friend; do not hack thyself to pieces.
Give one stripe time to await another. Thou shouldst not so hurry in
the race that thy breath fails in the midst; go more gently to work,
soft and fair goes furthest; I mean, do not give it thyself so sharply
that strength fails thee before the desired number is reached. And
that you lose not for a card more or less, I will stand at a distance
and keep count on my beads of the strokes thou givest thyself. Heaven
favor thee as thy good intention deserves."--"Pledges do not hurt a
good payer," said Sancho, "I mean to give it to myself in such a way
that it hurts without killing me, for in this must lie the essence of
this miracle." With that he stripped himself from the waist upwards,
and seizing the lash began to lay on; while Don Quixote began to tell
the strokes. But by the time Sancho had applied seven or eight lashes,
he felt that the jest was a heavy one, and its price very cheap.
Whereupon, after a short pause, he told his master that he had been
deceived; for such lashes as these were each worth being paid for with
a half-real, not a quartillo. "Go on, friend Sancho," said Don Quixote,
"take courage, I will double the pay."--"God save us, let it rain
stripes in that case," quoth Sancho. But the cunning knave left off
laying on his back, and fell upon the trees, with groans every now and
then, that one would have thought at each one of them he had been
giving up the ghost. Don Quixote, who was tender-hearted, fearing he
might make an end of his life, and that, by Sancho's imprudence, his
wishes should not be attained, said, "On thy life, my friend, let this
business rest at this point. This seems to be a very sharp sort of
physic, and it will be well to take it at intervals. Rome was not
built in a day. If I have not told wrong, thou hast given thyself
above a thousand stripes; that is enough for the present; for, to use
a homely phrase, 'the ass will carry his load, but not more than his
load.'"--"No, no," quoth Sancho, "it shall never be said of me, 'When
money's paid the arms are stayed.' Stand off a little, and let me lay
on another thousand lashes or so, and then with another bout like this
we shall have done with this job, and have something over."--"Since
thou art so well in the humor," said Don Quixote, "I will withdraw,
and Heaven strengthen and reward thee." Sancho fell to work so freshly
that he soon fetched the bark off a number of trees; such was the
severity with which he thrashed them! At length, raising his voice,
and giving an outrageous blow to one of the beeches: "There!" cried
he, "die thou shalt, Samson, and all that are about thee!" At the
sound of this dismal cry, and the blow of the dreadful stroke, Don
Quixote presently ran up, and laying hold on the twisted halter which
served Sancho for a thong, "Fate forbid," cried he, "friend Sancho,
that thou shouldst for my pleasure lose thy life, which has to serve
for the maintenance of thy wife and children! Let Dulcinea stay for a
better opportunity. I will contain myself within the limits of the
hope that is nigh, and will wait till thou recoverest new strength,
that the business may be accomplished to everybody's
satisfaction."--"Well, sir," replied Sancho, "if it be your pleasure
it should be so, so let it be, and welcome; and do so much as throw
your cloak over my shoulders; for I am all in a sweat, and I have no
mind to catch cold, for that is the danger that new disciplinants
run." This Don Quixote did, and leaving himself unclad, covered up
Sancho, who fell fast asleep till the sun waked him. Then they
continued on their journey, which they brought to an end for that day
at a village three leagues off. They alighted at an inn, for it was
allowed by Don Quixote to be such, and not a castle, with deep ditch,
towers, portcullises, and drawbridge; for since his defeat he spoke
with more sense on all matters. He was lodged in a ground room, in
which some old painted serge hangings, such as are often seen in
villages, served for stamped leathers. On one of these was painted in
a most vile style the rape of Helen, when the audacious guest stole
her away from her husband, Menelaus; and on another was the story of
Dido and Æneas,--the lady upon a lofty turret, as if making signs with
half a sheet to her fugitive guest, who was flying from her across the
sea in a frigate or brigantine. It was indicated in the two stories
that Helen went with no very ill will, for she was smiling artfully
and roguishly, but the fair Dido seemed to be shedding tears as large
as walnuts from her eyes. Seeing which Don Quixote said, "These two
ladies were unfortunate in not having been born in this age; and,
above all, unfortunate am I for not having been born in theirs! For
had I met those gentlemen, Troy would not have been burned, nor
Carthage destroyed; for, by the death of Paris alone, all these
miseries had been prevented."--"I will lay you a wager," quoth Sancho,
"that before long there will not be a tavern, a victualing house, an
inn, or a barber's shop but will have the story of our deeds painted
along it. But I could wish that it may be done by the hands of a
better painter than he that drew these."--"Thou art in the right,
Sancho," said Don Quixote; "for this artist is like Orbaneja, a
painter who was in Ubeda, who, being asked what he was painting, made
answer, 'Whatever it shall turn out;' and if he chanced to draw a
cock, he under-wrote, 'This is a cock,' lest any should take it for a
fox. Of the same sort, it seems to me, Sancho, must be the painter or
the writer (for it is all one) who produced the story of this new Don
Quixote that has lately come out, for he painted or wrote 'whatever
should turn out.' Or he must be like a poet called Mauleon, who went
about Madrid some years ago, and would give answers extempore to any
questions, and when somebody asked what was the meaning of 'Deum de
Deo,' answered, 'Done as one can do.'
"But setting this aside, tell me, Sancho, if you think of taking
another turn to-night? and would you rather do it under a roof or in
the open air?"--"Why, truly, sir," quoth Sancho, "as to what I think
of giving myself, it may be done as well at home as in the fields, but
withal I could like it to be among trees; for methinks they keep me
company, and help me marvelously to bear my sufferings."
THE RETURN AND DEATH OF DON QUIXOTE
_By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra_
Finally, surrounded by boys, and attended by the curate and the
bachelor, they entered the village, and got to Don Quixote's house,
where they found at the door his housekeeper and his niece, that had
already got the news of their arrival. Neither more nor less had been
told to Teresa Panza, Sancho's wife, who, with her hair about her
ears, and half dressed, dragging by the hand her daughter Sanchica,
came running to see her husband. But when she found that he was not so
well dressed as she thought a governor ought to be, she said to him,
"What is the meaning of this, husband? You look as though you had come
on foot, and tired off your legs! Why, you come more like a groveler
than a governor!"--"Peace, Teresa," answered Sancho; "many a time when
there are hooks, there are no flitches. Let us go home, and then I
will tell thee wonders. I have taken care of the main chance. Money I
have, which is the chief thing, earned by my own industry without
wronging anybody."--"Hast thou got money, my good husband?" said
Teresa. "Be it gained here or there, or however you like to gain it,
you will have made no new sort of profit in the world." Sanchica,
hugging her father, asked him if he had brought her anything, for she
had been longing for him as for rain in May. Thus holding him by the
girdle on one side, and his wife taking him by the hand, and his
daughter leading Dapple, away they went to his house, leaving Don
Quixote in his, under the care of his niece and housekeeper, in
company with the curate and bachelor.
That very moment Don Quixote, regardless of times and seasons, took
the bachelor and the curate aside, and in few words gave them an
account of his defeat and the obligation he lay under of not leaving
his village for a year, which, like a knight-errant bound by the
strictness and discipline of knight-errantry, he was resolved to
observe to the letter without infringing it one jot. And that he
intended to make himself a shepherd for that year, and entertain
himself in the solitude of the fields, where he might give play to his
amorous thoughts with a loose rein, and employ himself in that
pastoral and virtuous exercise; and he begged them, if they had not
much to do, and if business of greater importance were not an
obstruction, that they would please to be his companions; for he would
provide sheep and cattle enough to give them the name of shepherds;
and that he would have them know that the chief part of the
undertaking was done, for he had provided them all with names that
would fit them exactly. The curate asked him to tell them. Don Quixote
told him he would himself be called the shepherd Quixotiz, and the
bachelor the shepherd Carrascon, and the curate the shepherd
Curiambro, and Sancho Panza the shepherd Pancino.
They were all struck with amazement at this new folly; but, in order
that they might not have him leaving the village again on his
chivalry, and hoping that within the year he might be cured, they came
into his new design, and approved of his folly as if it were wise,
offering their company in his employment. "And the more," said Samson
Carrasco, "as everybody knows I am a most celebrated poet, and at
every step I will compose verses pastoral, or courtly, or any that
shall come more seasonably, so as to divert us in those groves where
we shall range. But one thing, gentlemen, is most necessary, that each
of us choose a name for the shepherdess he means to celebrate in his
lays; and that we leave no tree, be it ever so hard, on which her name
is not inscribed and cut, as is the use and custom of enamored
shepherds."--"You are quite right," replied Don Quixote; "provided
that I am free from seeking an imaginary shepherdess, since there is
the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, the glory of these banks, the
ornament of these meads, the support of beauty, the cream of elegance,
and, in short, the subject on which all praise may light, however
hyperbolical it may be."--"That is true," said the curate; "but we
shall seek out some shepherdesses of ordinary kind who, if they do not
suit us squarely, will do so cornerwise." To which added Samson
Carrasco, "And if they be wanting, we will give those very names we
find in books, of which the world is full, such as Phyllises,
Amaryllises, Dianas, Floridas, Galateas, Belisardas, which are to be
disposed of in the markets, and can be purchased and kept as our own.
If my mistress, or my shepherdess I should rather say, chance to be
called Anne, I will celebrate her under the name of Anarda; if
Francisca, I will call her Francenia; and if Lucy, Lucinda, and so
forth. And Sancho Panza, if he has to enter into this fraternity, may
celebrate his wife Teresa Panza by the name of Teresayna." Don Quixote
laughed at the turn given to the name. And the curate greatly
applauded his virtuous and honorable resolution, and repeated his
offer of bearing him company all the time that his compulsory
employments would allow him. With this they took their leave of him,
and begged and counseled him to take thought about his health by
enjoying whatever was good for him.
Fate willed that the niece and the housekeeper, according to custom,
had been listening to the discourse of the three, and so, as they went
away, both came in to Don Quixote; and the niece said, "What is here
to do, uncle! Now when we thought you were come to stay at home, and
live like a sober, honest gentleman in your house, are you hankering
after new crotchets, and turning into a
'Gentle shepherd, coming hither,
Gentle shepherd, going hence?'
For by my troth, sir, the corn is now too old to make pipes of." To
which the housekeeper added, "And will your worship be able to endure
the summer noondays, and the winter's night frosts, and the howlings
of the wolves? No, for certain, for this is the business and duty of
strong men, cut out and bred for such work almost from their swaddling
bands and long clothes. Ill for ill, it is even better to be a
knight-errant than a shepherd. Look ye, sir, take my advice, which is
not given on a full meal of bread and wine, but fasting, and with
fifty years over my head. Stay at home, look after your property, go
often to confession, do good to the poor; and on my soul be it if ill
comes of it."--"Peace, daughters," answered Don Quixote to them; "I
know well what it behooves me to do. Help me to bed, for it seems to
me I am not very well; and be assured that whether I now be a
knight-errant or an errant-shepherd, I shall never fail to provide
whatever you shall need, as you shall see indeed." And the good women
took him to bed, brought him something to eat, and tended him with all
possible care.
As human things are not eternal, always tending downwards from their
beginnings till they reach their final end, especially the lives of
men, and as Don Quixote held no privilege from heaven to stay the
course of his, so his end and finish arrived when he least expected
it. For whether it was from the melancholy that his defeat caused, or
whether it was by the disposition of heaven that so ordered it, a
fever took possession of him that confined him to his bed for six
days.
All that time his friends the curate, the bachelor, and the barber,
came often to see him, and his good squire Sancho Panza never stirred
from his bedside.
They, conjecturing that the regret of his defeat, and his being
disappointed of his desire for Dulcinea's liberty and disenchantment,
kept him in this case, essayed to divert him in all possible ways. The
bachelor begged him to pluck up a good heart, and rise, that he might
begin his pastoral life, for which he had already written an eclogue,
which would confound all those that Sannazaro had ever written, and
that he had already bought, with his own money, two famous dogs to
watch their flock, the one called Barcino, and the other Butron, that
a herdsman of Quintanar had sold him. But this had no effect on Don
Quixote's sadness. His friends called in the doctor, who, upon feeling
his pulse, did not very well like it; and said that in any case he
should provide for the safety of his soul, for that of his body was in
danger. Don Quixote heard this with a calm mind, but not so his
housekeeper, his niece, and his squire, who fell a-weeping bitterly,
as if they already saw him dead before them. The physician was of
opinion that melancholy and vexation were bringing him to his end. Don
Quixote desired them to leave him alone, for he would sleep a little;
they did so, and he slept for more than six hours straight off, as
they say, so that the housekeeper and the niece thought that he would
never wake.
At the end of that time he awaked, and, with a loud voice said,
"Blessed be Almighty God, who hath done me so much good. His mercies
are without end, nor are they shortened or hindered by the sins of
men." The niece, hearkening very attentively to these words of her
uncle, and finding more sense in them than there was wont to be in his
talk, at least since he had fallen ill, asked him, "What is that you
say, sir; has anything fresh happened? What mercies are these or what
sins of men?"--"The mercies, niece," answered Don Quixote, "are those
that heaven has this moment vouchsafed to me, which, as I said, my
sins do not prevent. My judgment is now free and clear, and the murky
clouds of ignorance removed, which my painful and continual reading of
those detestable books of knight-errantry cast over me. Now I perceive
their nonsense and deceit, and am only sorry the discovery happens so
late, when I want time to make some amends by reading others that
would enlighten my soul. I find, niece, that I am at the point of
death; and I would meet it in such a manner as to show that my life
has not been so evil as to leave me the character of a madman. Send,
my dear, for my good friends the curate, the bachelor Samson Carrasco,
and Master Nicholas the barber, for I wish to confess and make my
will." But this trouble the niece was saved by the entrance of the
three. Don Quixote had scarcely seen them when he said, "Largess, good
gentlemen, for I am no longer Don Quixote de la Mancha, but Alonso
Quixano, the same whom my behavior gave the surname of Good. I am now
an enemy to Amadis de Gaul and all the endless crowd of his
descendants; all the profane stories of knight-errantry are now
hateful to me. I have a sense of my folly and the danger I have run by
having read them; and now, through heaven's mercy and my own
experience, I abhor them." When the three heard this, they concluded
without doubt some new frenzy had possessed him, and Samson said to
him, "Now, Signor Don Quixote, when we have just had news that the
Lady Dulcinea is disenchanted, do you come out with this? and now we
are upon the point of turning shepherds, to spend our lives singing
like princes, do you wish to make yourself a hermit? Peace, on your
life; come to yourself and leave idle tales."
"Those which hitherto have been true, to my prejudice," replied Don
Quixote, "my death, with the assistance of heaven, shall turn to my
advantage. I perceive, sirs, that I am dying with all speed. Put aside
jests, and fetch me a confessor to confess me, and a scrivener to draw
up my will, for in such straits as this a man must not play with his
soul; and I beg that whilst Master Curate confesses me a scrivener may
be fetched."
They stared at one another, wondering at Don Quixote's words, and
though in doubt they were inclined to believe him. And one of the
signs by which they conjectured that he would die was his having
changed so quickly from a madman to a sane person; for to the words
already said he added many others so well spoken, so Christian, and so
connected that they came, withal, to lose their doubts and to believe
that he was sane. The curate made all the people leave the room, and
stayed alone with him and confessed him. The bachelor went for the
scrivener, and presently returned with him and with Sancho Panza, who,
being informed by the bachelor in what state his master was, and
finding the housekeeper and the niece in tears, began to make wry
faces and fall a-crying. The confession was ended and the curate came
out saying, "Certainly about to die and certainly in his senses is
Alonso Quixano the Good; we had best go in, that he may make his
will." These tidings were a terrible blow to the swollen eyes of the
housekeeper, the niece, and Sancho Panza, his good squire, so that it
made the tears burst out of their eyes, and a thousand profound sighs
from their hearts; for indeed, as on some occasion has been observed,
whilst Don Quixote was plain Alonso Quixano the Good, and whilst he
was Don Quixote de la Mancha, he was ever of pleasant humor and
agreeable behavior, and therefore he was beloved not only by his
family, but by every one that knew him.
The scrivener, with the rest, went in, and after he had made the
preamble of the will, and Don Quixote had disposed of his soul with
all those Christian circumstances that are requisite, he came to the
legacies, and said:--
"Item, it is my will that of certain moneys that Sancho Panza (whom in
my madness I made my squire) holds, inasmuch as there have been
between him and me certain accounts, both payments and receipts, there
shall be no charge made, nor account demanded of him; but that if any
shall remain over after he has paid himself what I owe him, the
residue shall be his; it can be but small, and may it do him much
good. And if, when I was mad, I was a party to making him governor of
the island, I would now, in my right senses, give him the government
of a kingdom, were it in my power, for the simplicity of his
disposition and the fidelity of his character deserve it." And turning
to Sancho he said, "Pardon me, my friend, that I have given thee
occasion to appear mad like myself, making thee fall into the error in
which I fell that there have been and are knights-errant in the
world."--"Woe's me!" replied Sancho, all in tears, "do not die, dear
master, but take my counsel, and live on a many years; the maddest
thing a man can do in this life is to let himself die without any more
ado, without being killed by anybody or finished by any other hands
but those of melancholy. See you do not be slothful, but get up from
this bed, and let us be off to the fields in our shepherd's clothing,
as we had agreed. Who knows but behind some bush we may find the Lady
Donna Dulcinea disenchanted, as fine a sight as there is to be seen?
If it is that you will die of vexation at being conquered, lay the
blame upon me, and say that through my not girting Rozinante well,
they overthrew him. Especially as you will have seen in your books of
chivalry that it is a common thing for one knight to overthrow
another, and for him who is conquered to-day to be conqueror
to-morrow."--"It is so," said Samson, "and honest Sancho is very much
to the point in these matters."--"Soft and fair, gentlemen," said Don
Quixote; "never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last:
I was mad, and now I am in my senses; I was Don Quixote de la Mancha,
and I am now (as I said before) Alonso Quixano the Good; may my
repentance and my truth restore me to the same esteem you had for me
before; and so let master scrivener go on.
"Item, I bequeath all my estate without reserve to Antonia Quixana, my
niece here present, having first deducted from such of it as is best
in condition what shall be necessary to discharge the bequests that I
have made; and the first payment that she makes I desire to be that of
the salary due to my housekeeper, for the time that she has served me,
with twenty ducats more for a dress. I appoint Master Curate and
Master Bachelor Samson Carrasco, here present, to be my executors.
"Item, it is my will that if my niece Antonia Quixana be inclined to
marry, she marry a man of whom she shall first have evidence that he
does not know what books of chivalry are; and in case it shall appear
that he does know, and nevertheless my niece shall wish to marry him
and does so marry, she is to forfeit all that I have bequeathed to
her, which my executors are empowered to dispose of in pious works, as
they shall think proper.
"Item, I entreat the said gentlemen, my executors, that if by good
fortune they come to know the author who is said to have composed a
story which goes by the title of "The Second Part of the Achievements
of Don Quixote de la Mancha," they most heartily beg his pardon from
me, for being undesignedly the occasion of his writing so many and
such great follies as he has written in it; for I quit this life with
regret for having given him a motive for writing them."
Herewith finished the will, and, falling into a swoon, he lay at full
length in the bed. They were all alarmed, and ran to his assistance;
and for the space of three days that he lived after he had made his
will he fainted continually.
The whole family was in confusion; and yet, for all that, the niece
ate, the housekeeper drank, and Sancho Panza cheered himself; for this
matter of inheriting somewhat effaces or alleviates in the inheritor
the thought of sorrow that it is natural for a dead man to leave
behind.
In short, Don Quixote's last day came, after he had received all the
sacraments, and, by many and weighty arguments, showed his abhorrence
of the books of knight-errantry. The scrivener, who was by, said he
had never read in any book of chivalry of any knight-errant who had
ever died in his bed so quietly and like a good Christian as Don
Quixote, who, amidst the compassion and tears of those who were by,
gave up the ghost, or, to speak plainly, died; which, when the curate
perceived, he desired the scrivener to give him a certificate, how
Alonso Quixano the Good, commonly called Don Quixote de la Mancha, had
departed out of this present life, and died a natural death. This
testimony he desired, to remove opportunity from any other author but
Cid Hamet Benengeli to falsely resuscitate him, and write endless
histories of his adventures.
This was the end of the INGENIOUS GENTLEMAN OF LA MANCHA, whose native
place Cid Hamet has not thought fit precisely to mention, with design
that all the towns and villages in La Mancha should contend amongst
themselves for the honor of adopting and keeping him as their own, as
the seven cities of Greece did for Homer. We omit here the
lamentations of Sancho, of Don Quixote's niece and the housekeeper,
and the new epitaphs upon his tomb; but Samson Carrasco set this upon
it:--
"A valiant gentleman lies here,
So brave that, to his latest breath,
Immortal glory was his care,
And made him triumph over death.
Of small account he held the world,
Whose fears its ridicule belied;
And if he like a madman lived,
At least he like a wise one died."
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
THE STORY OF ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP
I
In one of the large and rich cities of China there once lived a tailor
named Mustapha. He was so poor that by the hardest daily labor he
could barely support himself and his family, which consisted only of
his wife and a son.
This son, Aladdin, was a very careless, idle, and disobedient fellow.
He would leave home early in the morning and play all day in the
streets and public places. When he was old enough, his father tried to
teach him the tailor's trade, but Mustapha no sooner turned his back
than the boy was gone for the day. He was frequently punished, but in
vain; and at last the father gave him up as a hopeless idler, and in a
few months died of the grief Aladdin caused him.
The boy, now free from restraint, became worse than ever. Until he was
fifteen, he spent all his time with idle companions, never thinking
how useless a man this would make of him. Playing thus with his evil
mates one day, a stranger passing by stood to observe him.
The stranger was a person known as the African magician. Only two days
before, he had arrived from Africa, his native country; and, seeing in
Aladdin's face something that showed the boy to be well fitted for his
purposes, he had taken pains to learn all that he could find out about
him.
"Child," he said to Aladdin, calling him aside, "was not your father
called Mustapha the tailor?"
"Yes, sir," answered the boy; "but he has been dead a long time."
Then the African magician embraced Aladdin and kissed him, saying with
tears in his eyes, "I am your uncle. I knew you at first sight; you
are so like my dear brother." Then he gave the boy a handful of money,
and said, "Give my love to your mother, and tell her that I will visit
her to-morrow, that I may see where my good brother lived and died."
"You have no uncle," said Aladdin's mother when she had heard his
story. "Neither your father nor I ever had a brother."
Again the next day the magician found Aladdin playing in the streets,
and embraced him as before, and put two pieces of gold into his hand,
saying, "Carry this to your mother. Tell her I shall come to sup with
you to-night; but show me first where you live."
This done, Aladdin ran home with the money, and all day his mother
made ready to receive their guest. Just as they began to fear that he
might not find the house, the African magician knocked at the door,
and came in, bringing wine and fruits of every sort. After words of
greeting to them both, he asked only to be placed where he might face
the sofa on which Mustapha used to sit.
"My poor brother!" he exclaimed. "How unhappy am I, not to have come
soon enough to give you one last embrace!"
Then he told Aladdin's mother how he had left their native land of
China forty years ago, had traveled in many lands, and finally settled
in Africa. The desire had seized him to see his brother and his home
once more, and therefore he had come, alas! too late.
When the widow wept at the thought of her husband, the African
magician turned to Aladdin and asked, "What business do you follow?
Are you of any trade?"
The boy hung his head, and his mother added to his shame by saying,
"Aladdin is an idle fellow. He would not learn his father's trade, and
now will not heed me, but spends his time where you found him, in the
streets. Unless you can persuade him to mend his ways, some day I must
turn him out to shift for himself."
Again the widow wept, and the magician said,--
"This is not well, nephew. But there are many trades beside your
father's. What say you to having a shop, which I will furnish for you
with fine stuffs and linens? Tell me freely."
This seemed an easy life, and Aladdin, who hated work, jumped at the
plan. "Well, then," said the magician, "come with me to-morrow, and,
after clothing you handsomely, we will open the shop."
Soon after supper the stranger took his leave. On the next day he
bought the boy his promised clothes, and entertained him with a
company of merchants at his inn. When he brought Aladdin home to his
mother at night, she called down many blessings on his head for all
his kindness.
Early the next morning the magician came for Aladdin, saying they
would spend that day in the country, and on the next would buy the
shop. So away they walked through the gardens and palaces outside one
of the gates of the city. Each palace seemed more beautiful than the
last, and they had gone far before Aladdin thought the morning half
gone. By the brink of a fountain they rested, and ate the cakes and
fruit which the magician took from his girdle. At the same time he
gave the boy good advice about the company he should keep. On they
went again after their repast, still farther into the country, till
they nearly reached the place, between two mountains, where the
magician intended to do the work that had brought him from Africa to
China.
"We will go no farther now," said he to Aladdin. "I will show you here
some strange things. While I strike a light, gather me all the loose,
dry sticks you can see, to kindle a fire with."
There was soon a great heap of them, and when they were in a blaze the
magician threw in some incense, and spoke magical words which Aladdin
did not understand.
This was scarcely done when the earth opened just before the magician,
and they both saw a stone with a brass ring fixed in it. Aladdin was
so frightened that he would have run away, but the magician seized him
and gave him a box on the ear that knocked him down.
"What have I done, to be treated so?" cried Aladdin, trembling.
"I am your uncle," was the answer; "I stand in your father's place;
make no replies. But, child," he added, softening, "do not be afraid.
I shall ask nothing but that you obey me promptly, if you would have
the good things I intend for you. Know, then, that under this stone
there is a treasure that will make you richer than the greatest
monarch on earth. No one but yourself may lift this stone or enter the
cave; so you must do instantly whatever I command, for this is a
matter of great importance to both of us."
"Well, uncle, what is to be done?" said Aladdin, losing his fear.
"Take hold of the ring and lift up that stone."
"Indeed, uncle, I am not strong enough; you must help me."
"No," said the magician; "if I help you we can do nothing. Lift it
yourself, and it will come easily." Aladdin obeyed, raised the stone
with ease, and laid it on one side.
When the stone was pulled up, there appeared a staircase about three
or four feet deep, leading to a door. "Descend, my son," said the
magician, "and open that door. It will lead you into a palace divided
into three great halls. Before you enter the first, tuck up your robe
with care. Pass through the three halls, but never touch the walls,
even with your clothes. If you do you will die instantly. At the end
of the third hall you will find a door opening into a garden planted
with trees loaded with fine fruit. Walk directly across the garden to
a terrace, where you will see a niche before you, and in the niche a
lighted lamp. Take it down and put it out. Throw away the wick and
pour out the liquor, which is not oil and will not hurt your clothes;
then put the lamp into your waistband and bring it to me." The
magician then took a ring from his finger and put it on Aladdin's,
saying, "This is a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me.
Go, therefore, boldly, and we shall both be rich all our lives."
Aladdin descended, found all to be as the magician had said, and
carefully obeyed his orders. When he had put the lamp into his
waistband, he wondered at the beauty of the fruit in the garden,
white, red, green, blue, purple, yellow, and of all other colors, and
gathered some of every sort. The fruits were really precious jewels;
but Aladdin, ignorant of their immense value, would have preferred
figs, grapes, or pomegranates. Nevertheless, he filled two purses his
uncle had given him, besides the skirts of his vest, and crammed his
bosom as full as it would hold.
Then he returned with extreme care, and found the magician anxiously
waiting.
"Pray, uncle," he said, "lend me your hand to help me out."
"Give me the lamp first," replied the magician. "It will be
troublesome to you."
"Indeed, uncle, I cannot now, but I will as soon as I am up."
The magician was bent on taking it at once from his hand, but the boy
was so laden with his fruit that he flatly refused to give it over
before getting out of the cave. This drove the magician into such a
passion that he threw more incense into the fire, spoke two magical
words, and instantly the stone moved back into its place, with the
earth above it, as it had been when they first reached the spot.
Aladdin now saw that he had been deceived by one who was not his
uncle, but a cruel enemy. In truth, this man had learned from his
magic books about the secret and value of the wonderful lamp, which
would make him richer than any earthly ruler if he could but receive
it freely given into his hands by another person. He had chosen
Aladdin for this purpose, and when it failed he set out immediately on
his return to Africa, but avoided the town, that none might ask him
what had become of the boy.
II
Aladdin was indeed in a sorry plight. He called for his uncle, but in
vain. The earth was closed above him, and the palace door at the foot
of the steps. His cries and tears brought him no help. At last he
said, "There is no strength or power but in the great and high God;"
and in joining his hands to pray he rubbed the ring which the magician
had put on his finger. Instantly a genie of frightful aspect appeared
and said, "What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee. I serve
him who possesses the ring on thy finger,--I and the other slaves of
that ring."
At another time Aladdin would have been frightened at the sight of
such a figure; but his danger gave him courage to say, "Whoever thou
art, deliver me from this place."
He had no sooner spoken these words than he found himself outside the
cave, of which no sign was to be seen on the surface of the earth. He
lost no time in making his way home, where he fainted from weakness,
and afterwards told his mother of his strange adventure. They were
both very bitter against the cruel magician, but this did not prevent
Aladdin from sleeping soundly until late the next morning. As there
was nothing for breakfast, he bethought him of selling the lamp in
order to buy food. "Here it is," said his mother, "but it is very
dirty. If I rub it clean I believe it will bring more."
No sooner had she begun to rub it than a hideous genie of gigantic
size appeared before her, and said in a voice of thunder, "What
wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave
of all those who have the lamp in their hands,--I and the other slaves
of the lamp."
In terror at the sight, Aladdin's mother fainted; but the boy, who had
already seen a genie, said boldly, "I am hungry; bring me something to
eat."
[Illustration: NO SOONER HAD SHE BEGUN TO RUB IT THAN A HIDEOUS GENIE
OF GIGANTIC SIZE APPEARED BEFORE HER AND SAID IN A VOICE OF THUNDER:
"WHAT WOULD'ST THOU HAVE? I AM READY TO OBEY THEE AS THY SLAVE, AND THE
SLAVE OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE THE LAMP IN THEIR HANDS,--I AND THE OTHER
SLAVES OF THE LAMP." IN TERROR AT THE SIGHT ALADDIN'S MOTHER FAINTED,
BUT THE BOY, WHO HAD ALREADY SEEN A GENIE, SAID BOLDLY, "I AM HUNGRY;
BRING ME SOMETHING TO EAT"]
The genie disappeared, and returned in an instant with a large silver
tray, holding twelve covered silver dishes filled with tempting
viands, six large white bread cakes on two plates, two flagons of
wine, and two silver cups. All these he placed upon a carpet, and
disappeared before Aladdin's mother had come out of her swoon.
When she was herself again, they satisfied their hunger, and still
there was enough food for the rest of that day and two meals on the
next. This they put aside, and Aladdin's mother made him tell of all
that had passed between him and the genie during her swoon. The simple
woman thought it all a dangerous and wicked business, and begged
Aladdin to sell both the lamp and the ring; but he persuaded her to
let him keep them both, on the condition that she should have nothing
to do with genies again.
When they had eaten all the food left from the feast the genie
brought, Aladdin sold the silver plates one by one to a Jew, who
cheated him by paying but a small part of their value, and yet made
the boy think himself rich. The tray he sold last, and when the money
it brought was spent he rubbed the lamp again, and again the genie
appeared, and provided the mother and son with another feast and other
silver dishes. These kept them in funds for some time longer,
especially as Aladdin had the good fortune to meet with an honest
goldsmith, who paid him the full value of the metal. Aladdin, all the
while, by visiting the shops of merchants, was gaining knowledge of
the world and a desire to improve himself. From the jewelers he came
to know that the fruits he had gathered when he got the lamp were not
merely colored glass, but stones of untold value, the rarest in the
city. This, however, he had the prudence not to tell to any one, even
his mother.
III
One day, as Aladdin was walking about the town, he heard an order
proclaimed that the people should close their shops and houses and
keep within doors while the Princess Buddir al Buddoor, the Sultan's
daughter, should go to the bath and return. Aladdin was filled with an
eager desire to see the face of the princess, and contrived to place
himself behind the door of the bath. When she was a few paces away
from it she removed her veil, and Aladdin saw for a moment one of the
most beautiful faces in the world. When she passed by him he quitted
his hiding-place, and went home thoughtful and grave.
"Are you ill?" asked his mother.
"No," he answered, "but I love the princess more than I can express,
and am resolved that I will ask her in marriage of the Sultan."
His mother thought him mad, but Aladdin said, "I have the slaves of
the lamp and the ring to help me," and then told her for the first
time what riches he possessed in the jewels brought from the
underground palace. "These," he said, "will secure the favor of the
Sultan. You have a large porcelain dish fit to hold them; fetch it,
and let us see how they will look when we have arranged them according
to their different colors."
Their eyes were dazzled by the splendor of the jewels when they were
arranged in the dish, and Aladdin's mother consented at once to take
them to the Sultan, and ask his daughter's hand for her son.
Early the next morning she wrapped the dish in two fine napkins and
set out for the palace. Though the crowd was great, she made her way
into the divan, or audience hall, and placed herself just before the
Sultan, the Grand Vizier, and other lords who sat beside him. But
there were many cases for him to hear and judge, and her turn did not
come that day. She told Aladdin that she was sure the Sultan saw her,
and that she would try again.
For six days more she carried the jewels to the divan, and stood in
the same place. On the sixth the Sultan, as he was leaving the hall,
said to the Grand Vizier, "For some time I have observed a certain
woman standing near me every day with something wrapped in a napkin.
If she comes again, do not fail to call her, that I may hear what she
has to say."
On the next day, therefore, she was called forward. She bowed her head
till it touched the carpet on the platform of the throne. Then the
Sultan bade her rise and said,--
"Good woman, I have observed you many days. What business brings you
here?"
"Monarch of monarchs," she replied, "I beg you to pardon the boldness
of my petition."
"Well," said the Sultan, "I will forgive you, be it what it may, and
no hurt shall come to you. Speak boldly."
This gave her heart to tell the errand on which her son had sent her.
The Sultan listened without anger till she was done, and then asked
what she had brought tied up in the napkin. She took the china dish,
which she had set down at the foot of the throne, untied it, and
presented it to the Sultan.
His wonder knew no bounds when he looked upon the jewels. Not until he
received the gift from the woman's hands could he find words to say,
"How rich! how beautiful!"
Then he turned to the Grand Vizier and said, "Behold, admire, wonder!
and confess that your eyes never beheld jewels so rich and beautiful
before. What sayest thou to such a present? Is it not worthy of the
princess, my daughter? Ought I not to bestow her on one who values her
at so great a price?"
"I cannot but own," replied the Grand Vizier, "that the present is
worthy of the princess. But wait for three months. Before that time I
hope my son, whom you regard with favor, will be able to make a nobler
present than this Aladdin, of whom your majesty knows nothing."
The Sultan granted this request, and said to Aladdin's mother,--
"Good woman, go home, and tell your son that I agree to what you have
proposed, but I cannot marry the princess, my daughter, for three
months. At the end of that time come again."
The news which Aladdin's mother brought home filled him and her with
joy. From that time forth he counted every week, day, and hour as they
passed. When two of the three months were gone, Aladdin's mother went
out one evening to buy some oil, and found the streets full of joyful
people, and officers busy with preparations for some festival.
"What does it mean?" she asked the oil merchant.
"Whence came you, good woman," said he, "that you do not know that the
Grand Vizier's son is to marry the Princess Buddir al Buddoor, the
Sultan's daughter, to-night?"
Home she ran to Aladdin and cried, "Child, you are undone! the
Sultan's fine promises will come to nought. This night the Grand
Vizier's son is to marry the Princess Buddir al Buddoor."
Aladdin was thunderstruck, but wasted no time in idle words against
the Sultan. He went at once to his chamber, took the lamp, rubbed it
in the same place as before, when instantly the genie appeared, and
said to him,--
"What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave,--I and
the other slaves of the lamp."
"Hear me," said Aladdin; "thou hast hitherto obeyed me, but now I am
about to impose on thee a harder task. The Sultan's daughter, who was
promised me as my bride, will this night be wed to the son of the
Grand Vizier. Bring them both hither to me when they are married."
"Master," replied the genie, "I obey you."
Aladdin did not have to wait long after supping with his mother and
going to his chamber to be shown again that the genie was indeed his
faithful slave. On this night and the next the princess and the Grand
Vizier's son were borne away from the Sultan's palace in a manner
which none could understand, not even they themselves. The strange
event was told to few, but the Sultan was one of them. He consulted
with the Grand Vizier, and, as both of these parents feared to expose
the young couple to further dangers from unseen foes, the marriage was
canceled, and all the merrymaking in honor of it was stopped. None but
Aladdin knew the cause of all the trouble, and he kept his secret to
himself. Least of all did the Sultan and Grand Vizier, who had quite
forgotten Aladdin, suspect that he had a hand in the matter.
IV
Of course Aladdin had not forgotten the Sultan's promise, and on the
very day which ended the three months, his mother came again to the
divan, and stood in her old place. When the Sultan saw her she was
called forward, and, having bowed to the floor, she said,--
"Sire, I come at the end of three months to ask you to fulfill the
promise you made to my son."
The Sultan could hardly believe the request had been made in earnest,
and, after a few words with the Grand Vizier, decided to propose terms
which one of Aladdin's humble position could not possibly fulfill.
"Good woman," he said, "it is true that sultans ought to abide by
their word, and I am ready to keep mine. But as I cannot marry my
daughter without further proof that your son will be able to support
her in royal state, you may tell him that I will fulfill my promise so
soon as he shall send me forty trays of massy gold, full of the same
sort of jewels you have already given me, and carried by forty black
slaves, who shall be led by as many young and handsome white slaves,
all dressed magnificently. When this is done, I will bestow my
daughter, the princess, upon him. Go, good woman, and tell him so, and
I will wait till you bring me his answer."
As Aladdin's mother hurried home she laughed to think how far the
Sultan's demand would be beyond her son's power. "He awaits your
answer," she said to Aladdin when she had told him all, and added,
laughing, "I believe he may wait long."
"Not so long as you think," replied Aladdin. "This demand is a mere
trifle. I will prepare to answer it at once."
In his own chamber he summoned the genie of the lamp, who appeared
without delay, and promised to carry out Aladdin's commands. Within a
very short time, a train of forty black slaves, led by as many white
slaves, appeared opposite the house in which Aladdin lived. Each black
slave carried on his head a basin of massy gold, full of pearls,
diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Aladdin then said to his mother,--
"Madam, pray lose no time. Go to the Sultan before he leaves the
divan, and make this gift to him, that he may see how ardently I
desire his daughter's hand."
With Aladdin's mother at its head, the procession began to move
through the streets, which were soon filled with people praising the
beauty and bearing of the slaves, splendidly dressed, and walking at
an equal distance from one another. At the palace nothing so brilliant
had ever been seen before. The richest robes of the court looked poor
beside the dresses of these slaves. When they had all entered they
formed a half-circle around the Sultan's throne; the black slaves laid
the golden trays on the carpet, touched it with their foreheads, and
at the same time the white slaves did likewise. When they rose the
black slaves uncovered the trays, and then all stood with their arms
crossed over their breasts.
This done, Aladdin's mother advanced to the throne, bowed to the
floor, and said,--
"Sire, my son knows that this present is much below the notice of the
Princess Buddir al Buddoor, but hopes that your majesty will accept of
it, and make it pleasing to the princess. His hope is the greater
because he has tried to carry out your own wish."
With delight the Sultan replied,--
"Go and tell your son that I wait with open arms to embrace him; and
the more haste he makes to come and receive the princess, my daughter,
from my hands, the greater pleasure he will give me."
While he showed the slaves and the jewels to the princess, Aladdin's
mother carried the good news to her son. "My son," she said, "you may
rejoice, for the Sultan has declared that you shall marry the Princess
Buddir al Buddoor. He waits for you with impatience."
Aladdin was overjoyed, but, saying little, retired to his chamber.
Here he rubbed the lamp, and when its slave appeared said,--
"Genie, convey me at once to a bath, and give me the richest robe ever
worn by a monarch."
This was soon done, and he found himself again in his own chamber,
where the genie asked if he had any other commands.
"Yes," answered Aladdin; "bring me a charger better than the best in
the Sultan's stables. Fit him with trappings worthy of his value.
Furnish twenty slaves, clothed as richly as those who carried the
presents to the Sultan, to walk by my side and follow me, and twenty
more to go before me in two ranks. Besides these, bring my mother six
women slaves, as richly dressed as any of the Princess Buddir al
Buddoor's, each carrying a complete dress fit for a Sultan's wife. I
want also ten thousand pieces of gold in ten purses: go, and make
haste."
The commands were instantly fulfilled, and Aladdin gave the six women
slaves to his mother, with the six dresses they had brought, wrapped
in silver tissue. Of the ten purses he gave four to his mother, and
the other six he left in the hands of the slaves who brought them,
saying that they must march before him and throw the money by handfuls
into the crowd as the procession moved to the Sultan's palace. Mounted
on his horse, Aladdin, though he had never ridden before, appeared
with a grace which the most practiced horseman might have envied. It
was no wonder that the people made the air echo with their shouts,
especially when the slaves threw out the handfuls of gold.
The Sultan met him at the palace with joy and surprise that the son of
so humble a mother as the woman he had seen should have such dignity
and good looks, and should be dressed more richly than he himself had
ever been. He embraced Aladdin, held him by the hand, and made him sit
near the throne. Then there was a great feast, and after it the
contract of marriage between the princess and Aladdin was drawn up.
When the Sultan asked him if he would stay in the palace and complete
the marriage that day, Aladdin answered,--
"Sire, though my impatience is great to enter on the honor your
majesty has granted, yet I beg first to be allowed to build a palace
worthy of the princess, your daughter. I pray you to give me ground
enough near your own, and I will have it finished with the utmost
speed."
The request was granted, and Aladdin took his leave with as much
politeness as if he had always lived at court. Again, as he passed
through the streets, the people shouted and wished him joy. In his own
chamber once more, he took the lamp, rubbed it, and there was the
genie.
"Genie," said Aladdin, "build me a palace fit to receive the Princess
Buddir al Buddoor. Let its materials be of the rarest. Let its walls
be of massive gold and silver bricks. Let each front contain six
windows, and let the lattices of these (except one, which must be left
unfinished) be enriched with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, beyond
anything of the kind ever seen in the world. Let there be courts and a
spacious garden, kitchens, storehouses, stables,--well
equipped,--offices, servants, and slaves. Above all, provide a safe
treasure-house, and fill it with gold and silver. Go, and fulfill my
wishes."
Early the next morning the genie returned, and bore Aladdin to the
place where the palace had been built. Everything was done as Aladdin
had commanded. The officers, slaves, and grooms were at their work in
hall and stable. The hall, with the twenty-four windows, was beyond
his fondest hopes.
"Genie," he said, "there is but one thing wanting,--a fine carpet for
the princess to walk upon from the Sultan's palace to mine. Lay one
down at once."
In an instant the desire was fulfilled. Then the genie carried Aladdin
to his own home.
When the Sultan looked out of his windows in the morning, he was
amazed to see a shining building where there had been but an empty
garden. "It must be Aladdin's palace," he said, "which I gave him
leave to build for my daughter. He has wished to surprise us, and let
us see what wonders can be done in a single night."
He was only a little less surprised when Aladdin's mother, dressed
more richly than ever his own daughter had been, appeared at the
palace. So good a son, he thought, must make a good husband. And soon
the son himself appeared; and when in royal pomp he left his humble
house for the last time, he did not fail to take with him the
wonderful lamp which had brought him all his good fortune, or to wear
the ring he had received as a talisman.
V
His marriage to the princess was performed with the utmost splendor.
There was feasting and music and dancing, and when the princess was
brought to her new palace she was so dazzled by its richness that she
said to Aladdin, "I thought, prince, there was nothing so beautiful in
the world as my father's palace, but now I know that I was deceived."
The next day Aladdin with a troop of slaves went himself to the Sultan
and asked him to come with the Grand Vizier and lords of the court to
a repast in the palace of the princess. The Sultan gladly consented,
and the nearer he came to the building the more he marveled at its
grandeur. When he entered the hall of the twenty-four windows he
exclaimed,--
"This palace is one of the wonders of the world. Where else shall we
find walls built of gold and silver, and windows of diamonds, rubies,
and emeralds? But tell me this. Why, in a hall of such beauty, was one
window left incomplete?"
"Sire," said Aladdin, "I left it so, that you should have the glory of
finishing this hall."
"I take your wish kindly," said the Sultan, "and will give orders
about it at once."
When the jewelers and goldsmiths were called they undertook to finish
the window, but needed all the jewels the Sultan could give and the
Grand Vizier lend for the work. Even the jewels of Aladdin's gift were
used, and after working for a month the window was not half finished.
Aladdin therefore dismissed them all one day, bade them undo what they
had done, and take the jewels back to the Sultan and Vizier. Then he
rubbed his lamp, and there was the genie.
"Genie," he said, "I ordered thee to leave one of the four and twenty
windows imperfect, and thou hast obeyed me. Now I would have thee make
it like the rest." And in a moment the work was done.
The Sultan was greatly surprised when the chief jeweler brought back
the stones and said that their work had been stopped, he could not
tell why. A horse was brought, and the Sultan rode at once to
Aladdin's palace to ask what it all meant. One of the first things he
saw there was the finished window. He could hardly believe it to be
true, and looked very closely at all the four and twenty to see if he
was deceived. When he was convinced he embraced Aladdin and kissed him
between the eyes and said,--
"My son, what a man you are to do such things in the twinkling of an
eye! there is not your fellow in the world; the more I know of you the
more I admire you."
Aladdin won not only the love of the Sultan, but also of the people.
As he went to one mosque or another to prayers, or paid visits to the
Grand Vizier and lords of the court, he caused two slaves who walked
by the side of his horse to throw handfuls of money to the people in
the streets. Thus he lived for several years, making himself dear to
all.
VI
About this time the African magician, who had supposed Aladdin to be
dead in the cave where he had left him, learned by magic art that he
had made his escape, and by the help of the genie of the wonderful
lamp was living in royal splendor.
On the very next day the magician set out for the capital of China,
where on his arrival he took up his lodging in an inn. There he
quickly learned about Aladdin's wealth and goodness and popularity. As
soon as he saw the palace he knew that none but genies, the slaves of
the lamp, could have built it, and he returned to his inn all the more
angry at Aladdin for having got what he wanted himself. When he
learned by his magic that Aladdin did not carry the lamp about with
him, but left it in the palace, he rubbed his hands with glee, and
said, "Well, I shall have it now, and I shall make Aladdin return to
his low estate."
The next morning he learned that Aladdin had gone with a hunting
party, to be absent eight days, three of which had passed. He needed
to know no more, and quickly formed his plans. He went to a shop and
asked for a dozen copper lamps. The master of the shop had not so many
then, but promised them the next day, and said he would have them, as
the magician wished, handsome and well polished.
When the magician came back and paid for them, he put them in a basket
and started directly for Aladdin's palace. As he drew near he began
crying, "Who will change old lamps for new ones?" The children and
people who crowded around hooted and scoffed at him as a madman or a
fool, but he heeded them not, and went on crying, "Who will change old
lamps for new ones?"
The princess was in the hall with the four and twenty windows, and,
seeing a crowd outside, sent one of her women slaves to find out what
the man was crying. The slave returned laughing, and told of the
foolish offer. Another slave, hearing it, said, "Now you speak of
lamps, I know not whether the princess may have observed it, but there
is an old one upon a shelf of the Prince Aladdin's robing room.
Whoever owns it will not be sorry to find a new one in its stead. If
the princess chooses, she may have the pleasure of seeing whether this
old man is silly enough to make the exchange."
The princess, who knew not the value of this lamp, thought it would be
a good joke to do as her slave suggested, and in a few moments it was
done. The magician did not stop to cry, "New lamps for old ones!"
again, but hurried to his inn and out of the town, setting down his
basket of new lamps where nobody saw him.
When he reached a lonely spot he pulled the old lamp out of his
breast, and, to make sure that it was the one he wanted, rubbed it.
Instantly the genie appeared and said, "What wouldst thou have? I am
ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all those who have
that lamp in their hands,--both I and the other slaves of the lamp."
"I command thee," replied the magician, "to bear me and the palace
which thou and the other slaves of the lamp have built in this city,
with all the people in it, at once to Africa."
The genie made no reply, but in a moment he and the other slaves of
the lamp had borne the magician and the palace entire to the spot
where he wished it to stand.
Early the next morning, when the Sultan went as usual to gaze upon
Aladdin's palace, it was nowhere to be seen. How so large a building
that had been standing for some years could disappear so completely,
and leave no trace behind, he could not understand. The Grand Vizier
was summoned to explain it. In secret be bore no good will to Aladdin,
and was glad to suggest that the very building of the palace had been
by magic, and that the hunting party had been merely an excuse for the
removal of the palace by the same means. The Sultan was persuaded,
therefore, to send a body of his guards to seize Aladdin as a prisoner
of state. When he appeared the Sultan would hear no word from him, but
ordered him put to death. This displeased the people so much that the
Sultan, fearing a riot, granted him his life and let him speak.
"Sire," said Aladdin, "I pray you to let me know the crime by which I
have lost thy favor?"
"Your crime!" answered the Sultan; "wretched man! do you not know it?
Follow me, and I will show you."
Then he led Aladdin to a window and said, "You ought to know where
your palace stood; look, and tell me what has become of it."
Aladdin was as much amazed as the Sultan had been. "True, it is
vanished," he said after a speechless pause, "but I have had no
concern in its removal. I beg you to give me forty days, and if in
that time I cannot restore it, I will offer my head to be disposed of
at your pleasure."
"I give you the time you ask," answered the Sultan, "but at the end of
forty days forget not to present yourself before me."
The lords, who had courted Aladdin in his better days, paid him no
heed as he left the palace in extreme shame. For three days he
wandered about the city, exciting the pity of all he met by asking if
they had seen his palace, or could tell where it was. On the third day
he wandered into the country. As he approached a river he slipped and
fell down a bank. Clutching at a rock to save himself, he rubbed his
ring, and instantly the genie whom he had seen in the cave appeared
before him. "What wouldst thou have?" said the genie. "I am ready to
obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all those that have that ring
on their finger,--both I and the other slaves of the ring."
Aladdin had never thought of help from this quarter, and said with
delight,--
"Genie, show me where the palace I caused to be built now stands, or
bring it back where it first stood."
"Your command," answered the genie, "is not wholly in my power; I am
only the slave of the ring, and not of the lamp."
"I command thee, then," replied Aladdin, "by the power of the ring, to
bear me to the spot where my palace stands, wherever it may be."
These words were no sooner out of his mouth than he found himself in
the midst of a large plain, where his palace stood, not far from a
city, and directly above him was the window of his wife's chamber.
Just then one of her household happened to look out and see him, and
told the good news to the Princess Buddir al Buddoor. She could not
believe it to be true, and hastening to the window opened it herself
with a noise which made Aladdin look up. Seeing the princess, he
saluted her with an air that expressed his joy, and in a moment he had
entered by a private door and was in her arms.
After shedding tears of joy, they sat down, and Aladdin said, "I beg
of you, princess, to tell me what is become of an old lamp which stood
upon a shelf in my robing chamber."
"Alas!" answered the princess, "I was afraid our misfortune might be
owing to that lamp; and what grieves me most is that I have been the
cause of it. I was foolish enough to change the old lamp for a new
one, and the next morning I found myself in this unknown country,
which I am told is Africa."
"Princess," said Aladdin, stopping her, "you have told me all by
telling me we are in Africa. Now, only tell me where the old lamp is."
"The African magician," answered the princess, "carries it carefully
wrapped up in his bosom. This I know, because one day he pulled it out
before me, and showed it to me in triumph."
Aladdin quickly formed and carried out a plan to leave the palace,
disguise himself, buy of a druggist a certain powder which he named,
and return to the princess. He told her what she must do to help his
purposes. When the magician should come to the palace, she must assume
a friendly manner and ask him to sup with her. "Before he leaves,"
said Aladdin, "ask him to exchange cups with you. This he will gladly
do, and you must give him the cup containing this powder. On drinking
it he will instantly fall asleep, and we shall obtain the lamp, whose
slaves will do our bidding, and bear us and the palace back to the
capital of China."
It was not long before the magician came to the palace, and the
princess did exactly as Aladdin had bidden her. When, at the end of
the evening, she offered her guest the drugged cup, he drank it, out
of honor to her, to the last drop, and fell back lifeless on the sofa.
Aladdin was quickly called and said, "Princess, retire, and let me be
left alone while I try to take you back to China as speedily as you
were brought thence." On the dead body of the magician he found the
lamp, carefully wrapped and hidden in his garments. Aladdin rubbed it,
and the genie stood before him.
"Genie," said Aladdin, "I command thee to bear this palace instantly
back to the place whence it was brought hither." The genie bowed his
head and departed. In a moment the palace was again in China, and its
removal was felt only by two little shocks, the one when it was lifted
up, the other when it was set down, and both in a very short space of
time.
Early the next day the Sultan was looking from his window and mourning
his daughter's fate. He could not believe his eyes when first he saw
her palace standing in its old place. But as he looked more closely he
was convinced, and joy came to his heart instead of the grief that had
filled it. At once he ordered a horse and was on his way, when
Aladdin, looking from the hall of twenty-four windows, saw him coming,
and hastened to help him dismount. He was brought at once to the
princess, and both wept tears of joy. When the strange events had been
partly explained, he said to Aladdin,--
"My son, be not displeased at the harshness I showed towards you. It
rose from a father's love, and therefore you will forgive it."
"Sire," said Aladdin, "I have not the least reason to complain of your
conduct, since you did nothing but what your duty required. This
wicked magician, the basest of men, was the sole cause of all."
VII
Only once again were Aladdin and his palace in danger from magic arts.
A younger brother of the African magician learned of what had
happened, and, in the guise of a holy woman, Fatima, whom he killed
that he might pretend to take her place, came to live in the palace.
The princess, thinking him really the holy woman, heeded all that he
said. One day, admiring the beauty of the hall, he told her that
nothing could surpass it if only a roc's egg were hung from the middle
of the dome. "A roc," he said, "is a bird of enormous size which lives
at the summit of Mount Caucasus. The architect who built your palace
can get you an egg."
When the princess told Aladdin of her desire, he summoned the genie of
the lamp and said to him,--
"Genie, I command thee in the name of this lamp, bring a roc's egg to
be hung in the middle of the dome of the hall of the palace."
No sooner were these words spoken than the hall shook as if ready to
fall, and the genie told Aladdin that he had asked him to bring his
own master and hang him up in the midst of the hall; it was enough to
reduce Aladdin and the princess and the palace all to ashes; but he
should be spared, because the request had really come from another.
Then he told Aladdin who was the true author of it, and warned him
against the pretended Fatima, whom till then he had not known as the
brother of the African magician. Aladdin saw his danger, and on that
very day he killed his wicked enemy with the dagger which was meant to
be his own death.
Thus was Aladdin delivered from the two brothers who were magicians.
Within a few years the Sultan died at a good old age, and, as he left
no male children, the Princess Buddir al Buddoor came to the throne,
and she and Aladdin reigned together many years.
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES
I
There once lived in a town of Persia two brothers, one named Cassim
and the other Ali Baba. Their father divided his small property
equally between them. Cassim married a very rich wife, and became a
wealthy merchant. Ali Baba married a woman as poor as himself, and
lived by cutting wood and bringing it upon three asses into the town
to sell.
One day, when Ali Baba had cut just enough wood in the forest to load
his asses, he noticed far off a great cloud of dust. As it drew
nearer, he saw that it was made by a body of horsemen, whom he
suspected to be robbers. Leaving the asses, he climbed a large tree
which grew on a high rock, and had branches thick enough to hide him
completely while he saw what passed beneath. The troop, forty in
number, all well mounted and armed, came to the foot of the rock on
which the tree stood, and there dismounted. Each man unbridled his
horse, tied him to a shrub, and hung about his neck a bag of corn.
Then each of them took off his saddle-bag, which from its weight
seemed to Ali Baba full of gold and silver. One, whom he took to be
their captain, came under the tree in which Ali Baba was concealed;
and, making his way through some shrubs, spoke the words, "Open,
Sesame." As soon as the captain of the robbers said this, a door
opened in the rock, and after he had made all his troop enter before
him, he followed them, when the door shut again of itself.
The robbers stayed some time within, and Ali Baba, fearful of being
caught, remained in the tree. At last the door opened again, and the
captain came out first, and stood to see all the troop pass by him.
Then Ali Baba heard him make the door close by saying, "Shut, Sesame."
Every man at once bridled his horse, fastened his wallet, and mounted
again. When the captain saw them all ready, he put himself at their
head, and they returned the way they had come.
Ali Baba watched them out of sight, and then waited some time before
coming down. Wishing to see whether the captain's words would have the
same effect if he should speak them, he found the door hidden in the
shrubs, stood before it, and said, "Open, Sesame." Instantly the door
flew wide open.
Instead of a dark, dismal cavern, Ali Baba was surprised to see a
large chamber, well lighted from the top, and in it all sorts of
provisions, rich bales of silk, stuff, brocade, and carpeting, gold
and silver ingots in great heaps, and money in bags.
Ali Baba went boldly into the cave, and collected as much of the gold
coin, which was in bags, as he thought his asses could carry. When he
had loaded them with the bags, he laid wood over them so that they
could not be seen, and, passing out of the door for the last time,
stood before it and said, "Shut, Sesame." The door closed of itself,
and he made the best of his way to town.
When he reached home, he carefully closed the gate of his little yard,
threw off the wood, and carried the bags into the house. They were
emptied before his wife, and the great heap of gold dazzled her eyes.
Then he told her the whole adventure, and warned her, above all
things, to keep it secret.
Ali Baba would not let her take the time to count it out as she
wished, but said, "I will dig a hole and bury it."
[Illustration: HE CAREFULLY CLOSED THE GATE OF HIS LITTLE YARD, THREW
OFF THE WOOD, AND CARRIED THE BAGS INTO THE HOUSE. THEY WERE EMPTIED
BEFORE HIS WIFE, AND THE GREAT HEAP OF GOLD DAZZLED HER EYES. THEN HE
TOLD HER THE WHOLE ADVENTURE, AND WARNED HER, ABOVE ALL THINGS, TO
KEEP IT SECRET. ALI BABA WOULD NOT LET HER TAKE TIME TO COUNT IT OUT
AS SHE WISHED, BUT SAID: "I WILL DIG A HOLE AND BURY IT"]
"But let us know as nearly as may be," she said, "how much we have. I
will borrow a small measure, and measure it, while you dig a hole."
Away she ran to the wife of Cassim, who lived near by, and asked for a
measure. The sister-in-law, knowing Ali Baba's poverty, was curious to
learn what sort of grain his wife wished to measure out, and artfully
managed to put some suet in the bottom of the measure before she
handed it over. Ali Baba's wife wanted to show how careful she was in
small matters, and, after she had measured the gold, hurried back,
even while her husband was burying it, with the borrowed measure,
never noticing that a coin had stuck to its bottom.
"What," said Cassim's wife, as soon as her sister-in-law had left her,
"has Ali Baba gold in such plenty that he measures it? Whence has he
all this wealth?" And envy possessed her breast.
When Cassim came home she said to him, "Cassim, you think yourself
rich, but Ali Baba is much richer. He does not count his money; he
measures it." Then she explained to him how she had found it out, and
they looked together at the piece of money, which was so old that they
could not tell in what prince's reign it was coined.
Cassim, since marrying the rich widow, had never treated Ali Baba as a
brother, but neglected him. Now, instead of being pleased, he was
filled with a base envy. Early in the morning, after a sleepless
night, he went to him and said, "Ali Baba, you pretend to be
wretchedly poor, and yet you measure gold. My wife found this at the
bottom of the measure you borrowed yesterday."
Ali Baba saw that there was no use of trying to conceal his good
fortune, and told the whole story, offering his brother part of the
treasure to keep the secret.
"I expect as much," replied Cassim haughtily; "but I must know just
where this treasure is and how to visit myself when I choose.
Otherwise I will inform against you, and you will lose even what you
have now."
Ali Baba told him all he wished to know, even to the words he must
speak at the door of the cave.
Cassim rose before the sun the next morning, and set out for the
forest with ten mules bearing great chests which he meant to fill.
With little trouble he found the rock and the door, and, standing
before it, spoke the words, "Open, Sesame." The door opened at once,
and when he was within closed upon him. Here indeed were the riches of
which his brother had told. He quickly brought as many bags of gold as
he could carry to the door of the cavern; but his thoughts were so
full of his new wealth that he could not think of the word that should
let him out. Instead of "Sesame," he said, "Open, Barley," and was
much amazed to find that the door remained fast shut. He named several
sorts of grain, but still the door would not open.
Cassim had never expected such a disaster, and was so frightened that
the more he tried to recall the word "Sesame," the more confused his
mind became. It was as if he had never heard the word at all. He threw
down the bags in his hands, and walked wildly up and down, without a
thought of the riches lying round about him.
At noon the robbers visited their cave. From afar they saw Cassim's
mules straggling about the rock, and galloped full speed to the cave.
Driving the mules out of sight, they went at once, with their naked
sabres in their hands, to the door, which opened as soon as the
captain had spoken the proper words before it.
Cassim had heard the noise of the horses' feet, and guessed that the
robbers had come. He resolved to make one effort for his life. As soon
as the door opened, he rushed out and threw the leader down, but could
not pass the other robbers, who with their scimitars soon put him to
death.
The first care of the robbers was to examine the cave. They found all
the bags Cassim had brought to the door, but did not miss what Ali
Baba had taken. As for Cassim himself, they guessed rightly that, once
within, he could not get out again; but how he had managed to learn
their secret words that let him in, they could not tell. One thing was
certain--there he was; and to warn all others who might know their
secret and follow in Cassim's footsteps, they agreed to cut his body
into four quarters--to hang two on one side and two on the other,
within the door of the cave. This they did at once, and leaving the
place of their hoards well closed, mounted their horses and set out to
attack the caravans they might meet.
II
When night came, and Cassim did not return, his wife became very
uneasy. She ran to Ali Baba for comfort, and he told her that Cassim
would certainly think it unwise to enter the town till night was well
advanced. By midnight Cassim's wife was still more alarmed, and wept
till morning, cursing her desire to pry into the affairs of her
brother and sister in law. In the early day she went again, in tears,
to Ali Baba.
He did not wait for her to ask him to go and see what had happened to
Cassim, but set out at once for the forest with his three asses.
Finding some blood at the door of the cave, he took it for an ill
omen; but when he had spoken the words, and the door had opened, he
was struck with horror at the dismal sight of his brother's body. He
could not leave it there, and hastened within to find something to
wrap around it. Laying the body on one of his asses, he covered it
with wood. The other two asses he loaded with bags of gold, covering
them also with wood as before. Then bidding the door shut, he came
away, but stopped some time at the edge of the forest, that he might
not go into the town before night. When he reached home he left the
two asses, laden with gold, in his little yard for his wife to unload,
and led the other to his sister-in-law's house.
Ali Baba knocked at the door, which was opened by Morgiana, a clever
slave, full of devices to conquer difficulties. When he came into the
court and unloaded the ass, he took Morgiana aside, and said to her,--
"You must observe a strict secrecy. Your master's body is contained in
these two panniers. We must bury him as if he had died a natural
death. Go now and tell your mistress. I leave the matter to your wit
and skillful devices."
They placed the body in Cassim's house, and, charging Morgiana to act
well her part, Ali Baba returned home with his ass.
Early the next morning, Morgiana went to a druggist, and asked for a
sort of lozenge used in the most dangerous illness. When he asked her
for whom she wanted it, she answered with a sigh, "My good master
Cassim. He can neither eat nor speak." In the evening she went to the
same druggist, and with tears in her eyes asked for an essence given
to sick persons for whose life there is little hope. "Alas!" said she,
"I am afraid even this will not save my good master."
All that day Ali Baba and his wife were seen going sadly between their
house and Cassim's, and in the evening nobody was surprised to hear
the shrieks and cries of Cassim's wife and Morgiana, who told
everybody that her master was dead.
The next morning at daybreak she went to an old cobbler, who was
always early at work, and, putting a piece of gold in his hand,
said,--
"Baba Mustapha, you must bring your sewing tackle and come with me;
but I must tell you, I shall blindfold you when we reach a certain
place."
"Oh! oh!" replied he, "you would have me do something against my
conscience or my honor."
"God forbid!" said Morgiana, putting another piece of gold in his
hand; "only come along with me, and fear nothing."
Baba Mustapha went with Morgiana, and at a certain place she bound his
eyes with a handkerchief, which she never unloosed till they had
entered the room of her master's house, where she had put the corpse
together.
"Baba Mustapha," said she, "you must make haste, and sew the parts of
this body together, and when you have done, I will give you another
piece of gold."
After Baba Mustapha had finished his task, she blindfolded him again,
gave him the third piece of gold she had promised, and, charging him
with secrecy, took him back to the place where she had first bound his
eyes. Taking off the bandage, she watched him till he was out of
sight, lest he should return and dog her; then she went home.
At Cassim's house she made all things ready for the funeral, which was
duly performed by the imaun and other ministers of the mosque.
Morgiana, as a slave of the dead man, walked in the procession,
weeping, beating her breast, and tearing her hair. Cassim's wife
stayed at home, uttering doleful cries with the women of the
neighborhood, who, according to custom, came to mourn with her. The
whole quarter was filled with sounds of sorrow.
Thus the manner of Cassim's death was hushed up, and, besides his
widow, Ali Baba, and Morgiana, the slave, nobody in the city suspected
the cause of it. Three or four days after the funeral, Ali Baba
removed his few goods openly to his sister-in-law's house, in which he
was to live in the future; but the money he had taken from the robbers
was carried thither by night. As for Cassim's warehouse, Ali Baba put
it entirely under the charge of his eldest son.
III
While all this was going on, the forty robbers again visited their
cave in the forest. Great was their surprise to find Cassim's body
taken away, with some of their bags of gold.
"We are certainly found out," said the captain; "the body and the
money have been taken by some one else who knows our secret. For our
own lives' sake, we must try and find him. What say you, my lads?"
The robbers all agreed that this must be done.
"Well," said the captain, "one of you, the boldest and most skillful,
must go to the town, disguised as a stranger, and try if he can hear
any talk of the man we killed, and find out where he lived. This
matter is so important that the man who undertakes it and fails should
suffer death. What say you?"
One of the robbers, without waiting to know what the rest might think,
started up, and said, "I submit to this condition, and think it an
honor to expose my life to serve the troop."
This won great praise from the robber's comrades, and he disguised
himself at once so that nobody could take him for what he was. Just at
daybreak he entered the town, and walked up and down till he came by
chance to Baba Mustapha's stall, which was always open before any of
the shops.
The old cobbler was just going to work when the robber bade him
good-morrow, and said,--
"Honest man, you begin to work very early; how can one of your age see
so well? Even if it were lighter, I question whether you could see to
stitch."
"You do not know me," replied Baba Mustapha; "for old as I am I have
excellent eyes. You will not doubt me when I tell you that I sewed the
body of a dead man together in a place where I had not so much light
as I have now."
"A dead body!" exclaimed the robber amazed.
"Yes, yes," answered Baba Mustapha; "I see you want to know more, but
you shall not."
The robber felt sure that he was on the right track. He put a piece of
gold into Baba Mustapha's hand, and said to him,--
"I do not want to learn your secret, though you could safely trust me
with it. The only thing I ask of you is to show me the house where you
stitched up the dead body."
"I could not do that," replied Baba Mustapha, "if I would. I was taken
to a certain place, whence I was led blindfold to the house, and
afterwards brought back again in the same manner."
"Well," replied the robber, "you may remember a little of the way that
you were led blindfold. Come, let me blind your eyes at the same
place. We will walk together, and perhaps you may recall the way. Here
is another piece of gold for you."
This was enough to bring Baba Mustapha to his feet. They soon reached
the place where Morgiana had bandaged his eyes, and here he was
blindfolded again. Baba Mustapha and the robber walked on till they
came to Cassim's house, where Ali Baba now lived. Here the old man
stopped, and when the thief pulled off the band, and found that his
guide could not tell him whose house it was, he let him go. But before
he started back for the forest himself, well pleased with what he had
learned, he marked the door with a piece of chalk which he had ready
in his hand.
Soon after this Morgiana came out upon some errand, and when she
returned she saw the mark the robber had made, and stopped to look at
it.
"What can this mean?" she said to herself. "Somebody intends my master
harm, and in any case it is best to guard against the worst." Then she
fetched a piece of chalk, and marked two or three doors on each side
in the same manner, saying nothing to her master or mistress.
When the robber rejoined his troop in the forest, and told of his good
fortune in meeting the one man that could have helped him, they were
all delighted.
"Comrades," said the captain, "we have no time to lose. Let us set off
at once, well armed and disguised, enter the town by twos, and join at
the great square. Meanwhile our comrade who has brought us the good
news and I will go and find out the house, and decide what had best be
done."
Two by two they entered the town. Last of all went the captain and the
spy. When they came to the first of the houses which Morgiana had
marked, the spy pointed it out. But the captain noticed that the next
door was chalked in the same manner, and asked his guide which house
it was, that or the first. The guide knew not what answer to make, and
was still more puzzled when he and the captain saw five or six houses
marked after this same fashion. He assured the captain, with an oath,
that he had marked but one, and could not tell who had chalked the
rest, nor could he say at which house the cobbler had stopped.
There was nothing to do but to join the other robbers, and tell them
to go back to the cave. Here they were told why they had all returned,
and the guide was declared by all to be worthy of death. Indeed, he
condemned himself, owning that he ought to have been more careful, and
prepared to receive the stroke which was to cut off his head.
The safety of the troop still demanded that the second comer to the
cave should be found, and another of the gang offered to try it, with
the same penalty if he should fail. Like the other robber, he found
out Baba Mustapha, and, through him, the house, which he marked, in a
place remote from sight, with red chalk.
But nothing could escape Morgiana's eyes, and when she went out, not
long after, and saw the red chalk, she argued with herself as before,
and marked the other houses near by in the same place and manner.
The robber, when he told his comrades what he had done, prided himself
on his carefulness, and the captain and all the troop thought they
must succeed this time. Again they entered the town by twos; but when
the robber and his captain came to the street, they found the same
trouble. The captain was enraged, and the robber as much confused as
the former guide had been. Thus the captain and his troop went back
again to the cave, and the robber who had failed willingly gave
himself up to death.
IV
The captain could not afford to lose any more of his brave fellows,
and decided to take upon himself the task in which two had failed.
Like the others, he went to Baba Mustapha, and was shown the house.
Unlike them he put no mark on it, but studied it carefully and passed
it so often that he could not possibly mistake it.
When he returned to the troop, who were waiting for him in the cave,
he said,--
"Now, comrades, nothing can prevent our full revenge, as I am certain
of the house. As I returned I thought of a way to do our work, but if
any one thinks of a better, let him speak."
He told them his plan, and, as they thought it good, he ordered them
to go into the villages about, and buy nineteen mules, with
thirty-eight large leather jars, one full of oil and the others empty.
Within two or three days they returned with the mules and the jars,
and as the mouths of the jars were rather too narrow for the captain's
purpose, he caused them to be widened. Having put one of his men into
each jar, with the weapons which he thought fit, and having a seam
wide enough open for each man to breathe, he rubbed the jars on the
outside with oil from the full vessel.
Thus prepared they set out for the town, the nineteen mules loaded
with the thirty-seven robbers in jars, and the jar of oil, with the
captain as their driver. When he reached Ali Baba's door, he found Ali
Baba sitting there taking a little fresh air after his supper. The
captain stopped his mules, and said,--
"I have brought some oil a great way to sell at to-morrow's market;
and it is now so late that I do not know where to lodge. Will you do
me the favor to let me pass the night with you?"
Though Ali Baba had seen the captain in the forest, and had heard him
speak, he could not know him in the disguise of an oil merchant, and
bade him welcome. He opened his gates for the mules to go into the
yard, and ordered a slave to put them in a stable and feed them when
they were unloaded, and then called Morgiana to get a good supper for
his guest. After supper he charged her afresh to take good care of the
stranger, and said to her,--
"To-morrow morning I intend to go to the bath before day; take care to
have my bathing linen ready; give it to Abdalla" (which was his
slave's name), "and make me some good broth against my return." After
this he went to bed.
In the meantime the captain of the robbers went into the yard, and
took off the lid of each jar, and told his people what they must do.
To each, in turn, he said,--
"As soon as I throw some stones out of the chamber window where I lie,
do not fail to come out, and I will join you at once."
Then he went into the house, and Morgiana showed him his chamber,
where he soon put out the light, and laid himself down in his clothes.
To carry out Ali Baba's orders, Morgiana got his bathing linen ready,
and bade Abdalla to set on the pot for the broth; but soon the lamp
went out, and there was no more oil in the house, nor any candles. She
knew not what to do, till the slave reminded her of the oil jars in
the yard. She thanked him for the thought, took the oil pot, and went
out. When she came nigh the first jar, the robber within said softly,
"Is it time?"
Of course she was surprised to find a man in the jar instead of the
oil, but she saw at once that she must keep silence, as Ali Baba, his
family, and she herself were in great danger. Therefore she answered,
without showing any fear, "Not yet, but presently." In this manner she
went to all the jars and gave the same answers, till she came to the
jar of oil.
By this means Morgiana found that her master had admitted to his house
thirty-eight robbers, of whom the pretended oil merchant, their
captain, was one. She made what haste she could to fill her oil pot,
and returned to her kitchen, lighted her lamp, and taking a great
kettle went back to the oil jar and filled it. Then she set the kettle
on a large wood fire, and as soon as it boiled went and poured enough
into every jar to stifle and destroy the robber within.
When this deed, worthy of the courage of Morgiana, was done without
any noise, as she had planned, she returned to the kitchen with the
empty kettle, put out the lamp, and left just enough of the fire to
make the broth. Then she sat silent, resolving not to go to rest till
she had seen through the window that opened on the yard whatever might
happen there.
It was not long before the captain of the robbers got up, and, seeing
that all was dark and quiet, gave the appointed signal by throwing
little stones, some of which hit the jars, as he doubted not by the
sound they gave. As there was no response, he threw stones a second
and a third time, and could not imagine why there was no answer to his
signal.
Much alarmed, he went softly down into the yard, and, going to the
first jar to ask the robber if he was ready, smelt the hot boiled oil,
which sent forth a steam out of the jar. From this he suspected that
his plot was found out, and, looking into the jars one by one, he
found that all his gang were dead. Enraged to despair, he forced the
lock of a door that led from the yard to the garden, and made his
escape. When Morgiana saw him go, she went to bed, well pleased that
she had saved her master and his family.
Ali Baba rose before day, and went to the baths without knowing what
had happened in the night. When he returned he was very much surprised
to see the oil jars in the yard and the mules in the stable.
"God preserve you and all your family," said Morgiana when she was
asked what it meant; "you will know better when you have seen what I
have to show you."
So saying she led him to the first jar, and asked him to see if there
was any oil. When he saw a man instead, he started back in alarm.
"Do not be afraid," said Morgiana; "he can do neither you nor anybody
else the least harm. He is dead. Now look into all the other jars."
Ali Baba was more and more amazed as he went on, and saw all the dead
men and the sunken oil jar at the end. He stood looking from the jars
to Morgiana, till he found words to ask, "And what is become of the
merchant?"
"Merchant!" answered she; "he is as much one as I am."
Then she led him into the house, and told of all that she had done,
from the first noticing of the chalkmark to the death of the robbers
and the flight of their captain. On hearing of these brave deeds from
Morgiana's own lips, Ali Baba said to her,--
"God, by your means, has delivered me from death. For the first token
of what I owe you, I give you your liberty from this moment till I can
fully reward you as I intend."
Near the trees at the end of Ali Baba's long garden, he and Abdalla
dug a trench large enough to hold the bodies of the robbers. When they
were buried there, Ali Baba hid the jars and weapons; and as the mules
were of no use to him, he sent them at different times to be sold in
the market by his slave.
V
The captain of the forty robbers had returned to his cave in the
forest, but found himself so lonely there that the place became
frightful to him. He resolved at the same time to avenge the fate of
his comrades and to bring about the death of Ali Baba. For this
purpose he returned to the town, disguised as a merchant of silks. By
degrees he brought from his cavern many sorts of fine stuffs, and to
dispose of these he took a warehouse that happened to be opposite
Cassim's, which Ali Baba's son had occupied since the death of his
uncle.
He took the name of Cogia Houssain, and as a newcomer was very civil
to the merchants near him. Ali Baba's son was one of the first to
converse with him, and the new merchant was most friendly. Within two
or three days Ali Baba came to see his son, and the captain of the
robbers knew him at once, and soon learned from his son who he was.
From that time forth he was still more polite to Ali Baba's son, who
soon felt bound to repay the many kindnesses of his new friend.
As his own house was small, he arranged with his father that on a
certain afternoon, when he and the merchant were passing by Ali Baba's
house they should stop, and he should ask them both to sup with him.
This plan was carried out, though at first the merchant, with whose
own plans it agreed perfectly, made as if to excuse himself. He even
gave it as a reason for not remaining that he could eat no salt in his
victuals.
"If that is all," said Ali Baba, "it need not deprive me of the honor
of your company;" and he went to the kitchen and told Morgiana to put
no salt into anything she was cooking that evening.
Thus Cogia Houssain was persuaded to stay, but to Morgiana it seemed
very strange that any one should refuse to eat salt. She wished to see
what manner of man it might be, and to this end, when she had finished
what she had to do in the kitchen, she helped Abdalla carry up the
dishes. Looking at Cogia Houssain, she knew him at first sight, in
spite of his disguise, to be the captain of the robbers, and, scanning
him very closely, saw that he had a dagger under his garment.
"I see now why this greatest enemy of my master would eat no salt with
him. He intends to kill him; but I will prevent him."
While they were at supper Morgiana made up her mind to do one of the
boldest deeds ever conceived. She dressed herself like a dancer,
girded her waist with a silver-gilt girdle, from which hung a poniard,
and put a handsome mask on her face. Then, when the supper was ended,
she said to Abdalla,--
"Take your tabor, and let us go and divert our master and his son's
friend, as we sometimes do when he is alone."
They presented themselves at the door with a low bow, and Morgiana was
bidden to enter and show Cogia Houssain how well she danced. This, he
knew, would interrupt him in carrying out his wicked purpose, but he
had to make the best of it, and to seem pleased with Morgiana's
dancing. She was indeed a good dancer, and on this occasion outdid
herself in graceful and surprising motions. At the last, she took the
tabor from Abdalla's hand, and held it out like those who dance for
money.
Ali Baba put a piece of gold into it, and so did his son. When Cogia
Houssain saw that she was coming to him he pulled out his purse from
his bosom to make her a present; but while he was putting his hand
into it, Morgiana, with courage worthy of herself, plunged the poniard
into his heart.
"Unhappy woman!" exclaimed Ali Baba, "what have you done to ruin me
and my family?"
"It was to preserve, not to ruin you," answered Morgiana. Then she
showed the dagger in Cogia Houssain's garment, and said, "Look well at
him, and you will see that he is both the pretended oil merchant and
the captain of the band of forty robbers. As soon as you told me that
he would eat no salt with you, I suspected who it was, and when I saw
him I knew."
Ali Baba embraced her, and said, "Morgiana, I gave you your liberty
before, and promised you more in time; now I would make you my
daughter-in-law. Consider," he said, turning to his son, "that by
marrying Morgiana, you marry the preserver of my family and yours."
The son was all the more ready to carry out his father's wishes,
because they were the same as his own, and within a few days he and
Morgiana were married, but before this, the captain of the robbers was
buried with his comrades, and so secretly was it done, that their
bones were not found till many years had passed, when no one had any
concern in making this strange story known.
For a whole year Ali Baba did not visit the robbers' cave. At the end
of that time, as nobody had tried to disturb him, he made another
journey to the forest, and, standing before the entrance to the cave,
said, "Open, Sesame." The door opened at once, and from the appearance
of everything within the cavern, he judged that nobody had been there
since the captain had fetched the goods for his shop. From this time
forth, he took as much of the treasure as his needs demanded. Some
years later he carried his son to the cave, and taught him the secret,
which he handed down in his family, who used their good fortune
wisely, and lived in great honor and splendor.
THE STORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
In the reign of the same Caliph, Haroun Al-Raschid, of whom we have
already heard, there lived at Bagdad a poor porter called Hindbad. One
day, when the weather was very hot, he was employed to carry a heavy
burden from one end of the town to the other. Being much fatigued, he
took off his load, and sat upon it, near a large mansion.
He was much pleased that he stopped at this place, for the air was
completely filled with the pleasant scent of wood of aloes and
rose-water, wafted from the house. Besides, he heard from within a
concert of sweet music, mixed with the notes of nightingales and other
birds. There was also the smell of several sorts of savory dishes, and
Hindbad was sure there must be a great feast within. He knew not to
whom the mansion belonged, and asked one of the servants standing by
the gate in rich apparel.
"How," replied the servant, "do you live in Bagdad, and know not that
this is the house of Sindbad the Sailor, the famous voyager who has
sailed around the world?"
The porter lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, loud enough to be
heard,--
"Almighty Creator of all things, consider the difference between
Sindbad and me! Every day I suffer fatigue and distress, and can
scarce get coarse barley bread for myself and my family, whilst happy
Sindbad freely spends vast riches, and leads a life of unbroken
pleasure. What has he done to obtain from thee a lot so agreeable? And
what have I done to deserve one so wretched?"
While the porter was speaking thus, a servant came out of the house,
and, taking him by the arm, made him enter, for Sindbad, his master,
wanted to speak to him. He was led into a great hall, where many
people sat round a table covered with all sorts of savory dishes. At
the upper end sat a comely, venerable gentleman, with a long white
beard, and behind him stood a number of officers and servants, all
ready to attend his pleasure. This person was Sindbad. Hindbad was
much abashed, and saluted the company trembling. But Sindbad seated
him at his right hand and served him himself with excellent wine.
Now Sindbad had heard the porter's complaint through the window, and
this it was that led him to send for Hindbad. When the feast was over,
Sindbad addressed him, asking his name and employment, and said, "I
wish to hear from your own mouth what you said just now in the
street."
Hindbad hung his head in shame, and answered,--
"My lord, I confess that my fatigue put me out of humor, and, for the
rash words I uttered, I beg your pardon."
"Do not think me so unjust," said Sindbad, "as to resent them. But I
must set you right about myself. You think, no doubt, that I gained
without labor or trouble the ease I now enjoy. Do not mistake; before
attaining this estate I suffered for several years more trouble of
body and mind than can well be imagined. Yes, gentlemen," he added,
turning to the whole company, "what I have endured would cure the
greatest miser of his love of riches; and with your leave I will
relate to you the dangers I have met."
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
My father was a rich merchant of good fame. He left me a large estate,
which I wasted in riotous living. I quickly saw my error, especially
in misspending my time, which is of all things the most valuable. I
remembered the saying of the great Solomon, which I had often heard
from my father, "A good name is better than precious ointment;" and
again, "Wisdom is good with an inheritance." I resolved to walk in my
father's ways, and embarked with some merchants on board a ship we had
fitted out together.
We steered our course towards the Indies. At first I was troubled with
seasickness, but speedily regained my health. In our voyage we touched
at several islands, where we sold or exchanged our goods. One day,
whilst under sail, we were becalmed near a small island rising but
little above the level of the water and resembling a green meadow. The
captain permitted such persons as were so inclined to land; of this
number I was one. But whilst we were eating and drinking, and resting
from the fatigue of the sea, the island of a sudden trembled and shook
us terribly.
The trembling of the island was soon noticed on board the ship, and we
were called to reëmbark quickly, or we should all be lost; for what we
took to be an island proved to be the back of a sea monster. The
nimblest got into the sloop; others betook themselves to swimming; as
for me, I was still upon the island when it sank into the sea, and I
had only time to catch hold of a piece of wood that we brought from
the ship to make a fire. Meanwhile the captain, having taken the
others on board, resolved to make the most of the favoring gale that
had just risen, and sailed away.
Thus was I left to the mercy of the waves for the rest of the day and
the night that followed. By this time I found my strength gone, and
was despairing of my life, when happily a wave threw me against an
island. The bank was high and rugged, but some roots of trees helped
me to get up. When the sun arose, I was very feeble, but managed to
find some herbs that were fit to eat, and a spring of good water. Thus
refreshed, I advanced farther into the island, and reached a fine
plain, where I saw some horses feeding. As I went towards them, I
heard the voice of a man who appeared and asked me who I was. When I
had told him my adventure, he led me by the hand into a cave, where
there were several other people, no less amazed to see me than I was
to see them.
I partook of some food which they gave me, and then learned that they
were grooms belonging to the sovereign of the island, where they
brought the king's horses every year for pasturage. They were to
return home on the morrow, and had I been one day later I must have
perished, because the inhabited part of the island was far off, and I
could never have reached it without a guide.
The next morning they took me to the capital of the island, and
presented me to the sovereign. When at his request I told him of my
misfortune, he was much concerned, and gave orders that I should want
for nothing; and his commands were carefully fulfilled.
As a merchant I met with many men of my own profession, and sought
news from Bagdad, and the opportunity to return; for the capital of
the island has a fine harbor, where ships arrive daily from many
quarters of the world. I took delight also in hearing the talk of
learned Indians, and withal paid my court to the sovereign, and met
with the governors and petty kings that were subject to him, telling
and learning much.
There belongs to this king an island named Cassel, where the mariners
said that every night the noise of drums might be heard. This
wonderful place I visited, and on the way thither saw fishes of one
hundred and two hundred cubits in length, that occasion more fear than
hurt; for they are so timid that they will fly upon the rattling of
two sticks or boards. I saw likewise other fishes, about a cubit in
length, that had heads like owls.
One day, as I was at the port after this visit, the ship arrived in
which I had embarked at Bussorah. I knew the captain at once, and went
and asked him for my bales. "I am Sindbad," said I, "and those bales
marked with his name are mine."
"Heavens!" he exclaimed, "whom can we trust in these times? I saw
Sindbad perish with my own eyes, and now you tell this tale to possess
yourself of what does not belong to you."
But at length he was persuaded that I was no cheat, for there came
people from his ship who knew me, and expressed much joy at seeing me
alive. "Heaven be praised," said he at last, "for your happy escape!
There are your goods; take and do with them as you please." What was
of greatest worth in them I presented to the sovereign, who was much
pleased to hear of my good fortune, and gave me in return a gift of
still greater value. Then I took leave of him, and went aboard the
same ship after I had exchanged my goods for products of that country.
I carried with me wood of aloes, sandals, camphire, nutmegs, cloves,
pepper, and ginger. We passed by several islands, and at last arrived
at Bussorah, whence I came to this city with great wealth.
Here Sindbad stopped, and gave Hindbad a purse of money, bidding him
return the next day, and hear the story of the next voyage. This was
repeated each day, till all the voyages were described.
THE SECOND VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
After my first voyage, I meant to spend the rest of my days at Bagdad,
but I soon grew weary of an idle life, and put to sea a second time,
with merchants of known honesty. We embarked on board a good ship, and
after committing ourselves to God set sail. We traded from island to
island with great profit. One day we landed on an island where we
could see neither man nor animal. There were many fruits and flowers,
and whilst some were gathering them, I took my wine and food, and sat
down near a stream betwixt two high trees, which formed a thick shade.
I made a good meal, and afterwards fell asleep. I cannot tell how long
I slept, but when I awoke the ship was gone.
In this sad plight, I was ready to die with grief. I cried out in
agony, beat my head and breast, and threw myself upon the ground,
where I lay some time in despair. Why was I not content with the
produce of my first voyage, which would have kept me in comfort all my
life? But it was too late to repent. At last I resigned myself to the
will of God. Not knowing what to do, I climbed to the top of a lofty
tree, where I could look about on all sides for signs of hope. Towards
the sea there was nothing but sky and water. Looking over the land, I
saw something white, and, coming down, took some of the food I had
left, and went towards it, not knowing at the great distance what it
was.
As I drew near, I thought it to be a white dome of enormous size; and
when I touched it I found it to be very smooth. There was no opening
on any side, and there was no climbing to the top over the smooth
surface. It was at least fifty paces round.
By this time the sun was about to set, and all of a sudden the sky
became as dark as if it had been covered with a thick cloud. I was
amazed at this sudden darkness, but much more when I found it was
caused by a bird of monstrous size that came flying towards me. I
remembered that I had often heard mariners speak of a marvelous bird
called the roc, and felt sure that the great dome by which I stood
must be its egg. In short, the bird alighted and sat over the egg. As
I saw her coming, I crept close to the egg, so that I had before me
one of the legs of the bird, which was as big as the trunk of a tree.
I tied myself strongly to it with my turban, in hopes that the roc
next morning would carry me with her out of this desert island. After
having passed the night in this condition, the bird flew away as soon
as it was daylight, and carried me so high that I could not see the
earth. Then she descended with so much speed that I lost my senses.
But when I found myself on the ground, I quickly untied the knot, and
had scarcely done so when the roc, having taken up a serpent of
monstrous length in her bill, flew away.
The spot where I was left was surrounded on all sides by mountains,
that seemed to reach above the clouds, and so steep that I could not
possibly get out of the valley. It seemed to me that the place was no
better than the desert island from which the roc had brought me.
As I walked through the valley, I found it strewed with diamonds of a
surprising bigness. But the pleasure of looking at them was soon
destroyed by another sight, which filled me with terror, namely, a
great number of serpents, so monstrous that the least of them could
swallow an elephant. In the daytime they hid in their dens from their
enemy, the roc, and came out only in the night.
I spent the day in walking about in the valley. When night came I went
into a cave where I thought I might rest in safety. I closed the low
and narrow entrance with a great stone, to preserve me from the
serpents, but did not shut out all the light. Soon the serpents began
hissing around me and put me in such extreme fear that I could not
sleep. When day appeared the serpents retired, and I came out of the
cave trembling. I can justly say that I walked upon diamonds without
feeling any desire to touch them. At last I sat down, and ate some of
my food, and, in spite of my fears, fell asleep, for I had not closed
my eyes during the night. Scarcely were they shut when something that
fell by me with a great noise awoke me. This was a large piece of raw
meat; and at the same time, I saw several others fall down from the
rocks in different places.
I had never believed what I had heard sailors and others tell of the
valley of diamonds, and of the means employed by merchants to obtain
jewels from it. But now I found that I had heard the truth. For the
fact is, that merchants come to this valley when the eagles have young
ones, and throw great joints of meat into it; the diamonds, upon whose
points they fall, stick to them; the eagles, which are stronger in
this country than anywhere else, pounce with great force upon these
pieces of meat, and carry them to their nests on the edge of the rocks
to feed their young; then the merchants run to their nests, drive off
the eagles by their shouts, and take away the diamonds that stick to
the meat.
In this device I saw the means of my escape.
I gathered the largest diamonds I could find, and put them into a
leather bag fastened at my waist. Then I took the largest of the
pieces of meat, tied it close around me with the cloth of my turban,
and laid myself upon the ground, with my face downwards. I had
scarcely placed myself thus when one of the eagles bore me, with the
piece of meat to which I was fastened, to his nest on the top of the
mountain. The merchants at once began their shouting to frighten the
eagles, and when they had driven the birds away, one of them came to
the nest where I was. He was much alarmed when he first saw me, but
soon began to quarrel, and asked me why I stole his goods.
"Do not be uneasy," said I; "here are diamonds enough for you and me,
more than all the others have together. They have to take what chance
brings them, but I chose for myself, in the valley, those which you
see in this bag."
The other merchants now crowded around in amazement, and led me to
their camp. When I showed them the diamonds in my bag, they confessed
that they had never seen any of such size and beauty. I prayed the
merchant who owned the nest to which I was carried (for every merchant
had his own) to take for his share as many as he pleased. He contented
himself with one, and that the least of them, and, when I urged him to
take more, said,--
"No, this will save me the trouble of making any more voyages, and
will raise as great a fortune as I desire."
When each of the merchants was satisfied with the diamonds which the
eagles brought them, we left the place, and traveled near high
mountains, where there were serpents of prodigious length, and from
these we had the good fortune to escape. We took ship at the first
port we reached, and touched at the Isle of Roha, where the trees grow
that yield camphor. Here also is found the rhinoceros. This animal
fights with the elephant, runs his horn into his belly, and carries
him off upon his head; but when the blood and fat of the elephant run
into his eyes and make him blind, he falls to the ground; then,
strange to relate, the roc comes and carries them both away in her
claws, for food for her young ones.
In this island I exchanged my diamonds for merchandise. After trading
at various towns, we landed at Bussorah, whence I proceeded to Bagdad.
There I gave large presents to the poor, and lived in honor upon the
vast riches I had gained with so much fatigue.
THE THIRD VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
I grew weary soon again of living an idle life, and, hardening myself
against the thought of any danger, embarked with some merchants on
another long voyage. After trading at several ports, we were overtaken
one day by a dreadful tempest, which drove us from our course. Before
it ceased we were brought to the port of an island, which the captain
was very unwilling to enter; but we were obliged to cast anchor. The
captain then told us that in this and some islands near it dwelt hairy
savages who would soon attack us; and, though they were but dwarfs, we
must not resist them, for they were more in number than the locusts,
and, if we happened to kill one, they would all fall upon us and
destroy us.
We soon found the captain's words but too true. A great multitude of
frightful savages, about two feet high, covered all over with red
hair, came swimming towards us, and surrounded the ship. They
chattered as they came near, but we understood not their language.
They climbed up the sides of the ship with surprising quickness. They
took down our sails, cut the cable, and, hauling the vessel to the
shore, made us all get out, and then carried the ship into another
island, from which they had come. We saw at a distance a vast pile of
building, and made towards it. We found it to be a palace, elegantly
built, and very lofty, with a gate of ebony of two leaves, which we
opened. Before us was a large room, with a porch, having on one side a
heap of human bones, and on the other a vast number of roasting spits.
We trembled at this sight, and were seized with deadly fear, when
suddenly the gate of the room opened with a loud crash, and there came
out the horrible figure of a black man, as tall as a lofty palm-tree.
He had but one eye, and that in the middle of his forehead, where it
blazed bright as a burning coal. His fore-teeth were very long and
sharp, and stood out of his mouth, which was as deep as that of a
horse. His upper lip hung down upon his breast. His ears were like an
elephant's, and covered his shoulders; and his nails were as long and
crooked as the talons of the greatest birds. At the sight of so
frightful a genie, we lost our senses, and lay like dead men.
At last we came to ourselves, and saw him sitting in the porch,
looking closely at us. Then he advanced, and, laying his hand upon me,
took me up by the nape of my neck, and turned me round, as a butcher
would turn a sheep's head. When he saw that I had nothing but skin and
bone, he let me go. He took up all the rest one by one, and viewed
them in the same manner. As the captain was the fattest, he held him
with one hand, as I would a sparrow, and thrust a spit through him; he
then kindled a great fire, roasted, and ate him for his supper. Then
he fell asleep, snoring louder than thunder. He slept thus till
morning. As to ourselves, it was not possible for us to enjoy any
rest, and we passed the night in the most painful fear. When day
appeared the giant awoke, went out, and left us in the palace.
The next night we revenged ourselves on the brutish giant in the
following manner. After he had finished his inhuman supper on another
of our seamen, he lay down on his back and fell asleep. As soon as we
heard him snore, nine of the boldest among us, and I, took each of us
a spit, and, putting the points of them into the fire till they were
burning hot, we thrust them into his eye all at once, and blinded him.
The pain made him break out in a frightful yell; he started up, and
stretched out his hand to seize and kill us; but we ran to such places
as he could not reach. After having sought for us in vain, he groped
for the gate, and went out, howling in agony.
We left the palace at once, and came to the shore, where we made some
rafts, each large enough to carry three men. We waited till day before
getting on them, for we hoped that by morning the howling, which we
still heard, would cease, and that the giant would be dead; and if
that happened we meant to stay in the island, and not to risk our
lives upon the rafts. But day had scarcely appeared when we saw our
cruel enemy, with two giants, almost of the same size, leading him;
and a great number were coming before him at a quick pace.
We waited no longer to take to our rafts, and put to sea with all the
speed we could. The giants, seeing this, took up great stones, and,
running to the shore, entered the water up to the middle, and threw so
exactly that they sank all the rafts but that I was upon; and all my
comrades, except the two with me, were drowned. We rowed with all our
might, and got out of the reach of the giants. The next morning, after
a night of fear, we were thrown upon an island, where we landed with
much joy, and found good fruit, which refreshed us greatly.
At night we went to sleep on the seashore, but were awakened by the
noise of a serpent of surprising length and thickness, whose scales
made a rustling noise as it moved itself along. It swallowed up one of
my comrades, in spite of his loud cries and his efforts to save
himself. Dashing him several times against the ground, it crushed him,
and we could hear it gnaw and tear the poor fellow's bones, though we
had fled far off. The next day, to our great terror, we saw the
serpent again. "O Heaven, to what dangers are we exposed!" I cried.
"We escape from a giant and the waves, only to meet with this!"
The next night, having satisfied our hunger with fruit, we mounted a
tall tree, hoping to pass the night in safety. But soon the serpent
came hissing to its foot, raised itself up against the trunk, and,
reaching my comrade, who sat lower than I, swallowed him at once and
went off.
In the morning when I came down, I was ready to throw myself into the
sea in my despair. But I resisted this impulse, and collected a great
quantity of small wood, brambles, and dry thorns, and, making them up
into fagots, made a wide circle with them round the tree, and also
tied some of them to the branches over my head. Within this circle I
shut myself up when night came, with such satisfaction as I could get
from having neglected nothing that could save me. The serpent failed
not to come at the usual hour, but was prevented from reaching me by
the rampart I had made. He lay below me till day, like a cat watching
in vain for a mouse that has reached a place of safety. When day
appeared he retired, but I dared not to leave my fort until the sun
arose.
God took pity on my hopeless state, for, just as I was about to cast
myself into the sea, I saw a ship in the distance. I cried aloud and
waved the linen of my turban. Then I was seen, and the captain sent
his boat for me. When I came on board, the merchants and seamen
flocked about me to hear how I came into that deserted island, in a
region where cannibal giants and serpents were known by the oldest
sailors to abound. When I stood before the captain in rags, he gave me
one of his own suits. Looking steadfastly upon him, I knew him to be
the person who, in my second voyage, had left me in the island where I
fell asleep, and sailed without me or sending to seek for me.
"Captain," said I, "look at me, and you may know that I am Sindbad,
whom you left in that desert island."
"God be praised!" he cried, after he had scanned me closely. "I
rejoice that fortune has set right my fault. There are your goods,
which I always took care to preserve." I took them from him, and
thanked him for his care of them.
We remained at sea for some time, touched at several islands, and
landed at last at the island of Salabat, where sandalwood is obtained.
In another island I furnished myself with cloves, cinnamon, and other
spices. After a long voyage, in the course of which I saw such strange
creatures as a tortoise twenty cubits in length and breadth, I arrived
at Bussorah, and thence returned to Bagdad, with so much wealth that I
knew not its extent. I gave a great deal to the poor, and bought
another large estate besides what I had already.
THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
After I had rested from the dangers of my third voyage my passion for
trade and novelty soon drove me from home again. When I had settled my
affairs and taken a stock of goods for traffic, I took the route of
Persia, traveled over several provinces, and arrived at a port where I
embarked. It was not long before our ship was wrecked. Several of the
merchants and seamen were drowned, and the cargo was lost.
I had the good fortune, with a few others, to get upon some planks,
and we were carried by the current to an island which lay before us.
There we found fruit and spring water, which saved our lives. Early
the next morning, we explored the island, and saw some houses, which
we approached. As soon as we drew near, we were surrounded by a great
number of negroes, who seized us, shared us among them, and carried us
to their respective abodes.
I and five of my comrades were carried to one place; here they made us
sit down, and gave us a certain herb, which they made signs to us to
eat. My comrades did not notice that the blacks took none of it
themselves, and ate greedily. But I, suspecting some trick, would not
so much as taste it, which happened well for me, for in a little time
I saw that my comrades had lost their senses, and that when they spoke
to me they knew not what they said.
The negroes fed us afterwards with rice to make us fat, for they were
cannibals and meant to eat us. My comrades, who had lost their senses,
ate heartily of it, but I very sparingly. They were devoured one by
one, and I, with my senses entire, as you may readily guess, grew
leaner every day. The fear of death turned all my food into poison. I
fell into a sickness which proved my safety, for the negroes, having
killed and eaten my comrades, and seeing me to be withered, lean, and
sick, put off my death.
Meanwhile I had much liberty, and scarcely any notice was taken of
what I did. Therefore one day, when no one but an old man was left
about the houses, I made my escape. For seven days I traveled,
avoiding places which seemed to be inhabited, and living on cocoanuts,
which served me both for meat and drink. On the eighth day, I came
near the sea, and saw some white people, like myself, gathering
pepper, of which there was a great plenty in that place. To them I
went without fear.
They came to meet me when they saw me, and asked me, in Arabic, who I
was and whence I came. I was overjoyed to hear them speak in my own
language, and told them of my shipwreck, and how I fell into the hands
of the negroes.
"Those negroes," replied they, "eat men. By what miracle did you
escape?"
Then I told them what I have just told you, and they were greatly
surprised. When they had finished gathering pepper, they took me with
them to the island whence they had come, and presented me to their
king, who was a good prince. He listened with surprise to the story of
my adventures, and gave me clothes, and commanded that care be taken
of me.
The island was well peopled, and the capital a place of great trade.
The prince treated me with much kindness, and I, delighted with such a
retreat after my misfortunes, was soon looked upon rather as a native
than as a stranger. I observed one thing which seemed to me very
strange. All the people, even the king, rode horses without bridle or
stirrups. One day I found workmen who made, under my directions, a
saddle with stirrups and a bit. These I presented to the king, who was
so pleased with them that he made me large presents. I made several
others for the ministers and chief officers of his household, which
gained me great repute and regard.
One day the king, to whom I constantly paid court, said,--
"Sindbad, I love thee; I have one thing to demand of thee, which thou
must grant. I have a mind thou shouldst marry, that so thou mayst stay
with us, and think no more of thy own country."
I durst not resist the prince's will, and soon I was married to one of
the ladies of his court, noble, beautiful, and rich. We lived together
in perfect harmony, but I could not forget Bagdad, and planned to make
my escape as soon as might be.
At this time the wife of one of my neighbors, with whom I had made a
very strict friendship, fell sick and died. I went to comfort him in
his sorrow, and said as soon as I saw him, "God preserve you and grant
you a long life."
"Alas!" replied he, "how may that be? I have not above an hour to
live, for I must be buried this day with my wife. That is a law in
this island. The living husband is buried with the dead wife, and the
living wife with the dead husband."
While he was telling me of this barbarous custom, the very account of
which chilled my blood, his kindred, friends, and neighbors came to
assist at the funeral. They dressed the corpse of the woman in her
richest robes and all her jewels, as if it had been her wedding-day;
then they placed her on an open bier, and began their march to the
place of burial. The husband walked first, next to the dead body. When
they reached a high mountain, they took up a large stone, which formed
the mouth of a deep pit, and let down the body with all its apparel
and jewels. Then the husband, embracing his kindred and friends, let
himself be placed on another bier, with a pot of water, and seven
small loaves, and was led down in the same manner. The mouth of the
pit was again covered with the stone, and the company returned.
I describe all this the more carefully, because I in a few weeks' time
was to be the chief actor on a similar occasion. Alas! my own wife
fell sick and died. I made every plea I could to the king not to
expose me, a foreigner, to this inhuman law. I appealed in vain. The
king and all his court, with the chief persons of the city, sought to
soften my sorrow by honoring the funeral with their presence; and when
the ceremony was finished I was lowered into the pit with a vessel
full of water and seven loaves. As I neared the bottom, I saw, by the
aid of a little light that came from above, what sort of place it was.
It seemed an endless cavern, and might be about fifty fathoms deep.
I lived for some time upon my bread and water, when one day, just as I
was nearly exhausted, I heard something tread, and breathing or
panting as it moved. I followed the sound. The animal seemed to stop
sometimes, but always fled and breathed hard as I approached. I
pursued it till at last I saw a light, like a star. I went on,
sometimes lost sight of it, but always found it again, and at last
discovered that it came through a hole in the rock, which I got
through, and found myself, to my great joy, upon the seashore. I fell
upon the shore to thank God for his mercy, and shortly afterwards saw
a ship making for the place where I was. I made a sign with the linen
of my turban, and called to the crew as loud as I could. They heard
me, and sent a boat to bring me on board. It was fortunate for me that
they did not inspect the place where they found me, but bore me away
at once.
We passed by several islands,--the Isle of Bells, Serendib, and Kela,
where lead mines are found, also Indian canes and excellent camphor.
The people of these places are so barbarous that they still eat human
flesh. We touched at several other ports, and finished our traffic,
and at last I arrived happily at Bagdad. Out of gratitude to God for
his mercies, I gave large sums towards the support of several mosques
and to the poor, and enjoyed myself with my friends.
THE FIFTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
All that I had undergone could not cure me of my desire to make new
voyages. Therefore I bought goods, departed with them for the best
seaport, and, that I might have a ship at my own command, waited till
one was built for me. As I had not goods enough of my own to load her,
I took with me several merchants, of different nations, with their
wares.
We sailed with the first fair wind, and the first place we touched at,
after some time, was a desert island, where we found an egg of a roc,
equal in size to the one I have mentioned already. There was a young
roc in it, just ready to be hatched, and its beak had begun to break
the egg.
The merchants who landed with me broke the egg with hatchets, and made
a hole in it, pulled out the young roc piecemeal, and roasted it. I
had begged them in vain not to meddle with the egg.
Scarcely had they finished their repast, when there appeared in the
air far off two great clouds. The captain of my ship, knowing by
experience what they meant, said they were the male and female parents
of the roc, and urged us to reëmbark with all speed.
The two rocs approached with a frightful noise, which they redoubled
when they saw the egg broken and their young one gone. They flew back
in the direction they had come, and were gone for some time, while we
made all the sail we could, to try to prevent that which unhappily
befell us.
They soon returned, and we saw that each of them carried in its talons
a huge rock. When they came directly over my ship, they hovered, and
one of them let go his rock; but by the quickness of the steersman it
missed us, and fell into the sea. The other so exactly hit the middle
of the ship as to split it into pieces. The seamen and merchants were
all crushed to death or fell into the sea. I myself was of the number
of the latter; but, as I came up again, I fortunately caught hold of a
piece of the wreck, and swimming, sometimes with one hand and
sometimes with the other, but always holding fast to the plank, the
wind and the tide favoring me, I came to an island, and got safely
ashore.
[Illustration: THE TWO ROCS APPROACHED WITH A FRIGHTFUL NOISE, WHICH
THEY REDOUBLED WHEN THEY SAW THE EGG BROKEN. WE SAW THAT EACH OF THEM
CARRIED IN ITS TALONS A HUGE ROCK. WHEN THEY CAME DIRECTLY OVER MY
SHIP, THEY HOVERED, AND ONE OF THEM LET GO HIS ROCK; BUT BY THE
QUICKNESS OF THE STEERSMAN IT MISSED US, AND FELL INTO THE SEA. THE
OTHER SO EXACTLY HIT THE MIDDLE OF THE SHIP]
I sat down upon the grass to rest, and then went into the island to
explore it. It seemed to be a delicious garden. Everywhere I found
fruit and streams of fresh, pure water. Of these I ate and drank.
When I had gone a little way into the island, I saw an old man who
appeared very weak and infirm. He was sitting on the bank of a stream,
and at first I took him to be one who had been shipwrecked like
myself. I went towards him and saluted him, but he only slightly bowed
his head. I asked him why he sat so still, but, instead of answering
me, he made a sign for me to take him upon my back, and carry him over
the brook.
I believed him really to stand in need of my help, took him upon my
back, and, having carried him over, bade him get down. To that end, I
stooped, that he might get off with ease; but instead of doing so--and
I laugh every time I think of it--the old man, who to me appeared
quite feeble, threw his legs nimbly about my neck. He sat astride upon
my shoulders, and held my throat so tight that I thought he would have
strangled me, and I fainted away.
In spite of my fainting, the ill-natured old fellow still kept his
seat upon my neck. When I got my breath again, he thrust one of his
feet against my side, and struck me so rudely with the other, that he
forced me to rise up against my will. Then he made me carry him under
the trees, and obliged me now and then to stop, that he might gather
and eat fruit. He never left his seat all day; and when I lay down to
rest at night, he laid himself down with me, holding still fast about
my neck. Every morning he pinched me to make me awake, and afterwards
forced me to get up and walk, and spurred me with his feet.
One day I found several dry gourds that had fallen from a tree. I took
a large one, and, after cleaning it, pressed into it some juice of
grapes, which abounded in the island. Having filled the gourd, I put
it by, and, going for it some days after, tasted and found the wine so
good that it gave me new vigor, and so raised my spirits that I began
to sing and dance as I carried my burden.
The old man, noticing the effect of the wine upon me, made me a sign
to give him some of it. I handed him the gourd, and, the liquor
pleasing his palate, he drank it off. As there was some quantity of
it, he soon began to sing, and to move from side to side in his seat
upon my shoulders, and by degrees to loosen his legs from about me.
Finding that he did not press me as before, I threw him upon the
ground, where he lay without motion; then I took up a great stone and
slew him.
I was extremely glad to be thus freed forever from this troublesome
fellow. I now walked towards the beach, where I met the crew of a ship
that had cast anchor, to take in water. When I told them of my
adventure, they said, "You fell into the hands of the Old Man of the
Sea, and are the first who ever escaped strangling. He never quitted
those he had once embraced till he had destroyed them, and many are
the men he has slain."
Their captain received me with great kindness, and after some days'
sail we arrived at the harbor of a great city, the houses of which
overhung the sea.
With some of the people of this town I went to gather cocoanuts after
their own method. When we reached a thick forest of cocoanut trees, we
saw a great number of apes of several sizes, which fled as soon as
they saw us, and climbed to the tops of the trees with amazing
swiftness.
The merchants with whom I was gathered stones, and threw them at the
apes on the trees. I did the same; and the apes, out of revenge, threw
cocoanuts at us so fast and with such gestures as to show their anger
clearly. We gathered up the cocoanuts, and from time to time threw
stones to provoke the apes. In this way we filled our bags with
cocoanuts, and by degrees I got enough to produce me no small sum of
money.
We set sail, and traded in various islands, at one of which I hired
divers and with other merchants went a-pearl-fishing. Some of the
pearls they brought me up were very large and pure. Then I returned to
Bagdad, and gave a tenth of my gains in alms, and rested from my
fatigues.
THE SIXTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
I know, my friends, that you will wish to hear how, after having been
shipwrecked and having escaped so many dangers, I could resolve again
to tempt fortune, and expose myself to new hardships. When I reflect
upon it now it seems that I must have been led by destiny, from which
none can escape. Be this as it may, after a year's rest, I prepared
for a sixth voyage, though my kindred and friends did all in their
power to dissuade me.
Once more I traveled through several provinces of Persia and the
Indies, and arrived at a seaport, where I embarked on a ship bound on
a long voyage, in which the captain and the pilot lost their course.
Suddenly we saw the captain quit his rudder, lamenting loudly, pulling
his beard and beating his head like a madman. In reply to our
questions, he answered,--
"A rapid current carries the ship along with it, and we shall all
perish in less than a quarter of an hour. Pray God to deliver us from
this peril. We cannot escape, if He does not take pity on us."
At these words he ordered the sails to be lowered, but all the ropes
broke, and the current carried the ship to the foot of a mountain,
where she struck and went to pieces, but in such a way that we saved
our lives, our provisions, and the best of our goods.
The foot of the mountain was covered with wrecks, with a vast number
of human bones, and goods and riches of all kinds beyond belief. In
all other places it is usual for rivers to run into the sea; but here
a river of fresh water runs from the sea into a dark cavern, with a
very high and spacious entrance. What is most strange in this place is
that the stones of the mountain are of crystal, rubies, and other
precious stones. Here also are ambergris and wood of aloes.
It is not possible for ships to get off from this place when once they
approach within a certain distance. If the wind is from the sea, this
and the current drive them on. If it is a land wind, it is stopped by
the height of the mountain, which causes a calm, so that the force of
the current carries them ashore. What is worse, it is no more possible
to ascend the mountain than to escape by sea. Here we remained in a
state of despair, expecting death every day.
When we landed, we divided the food equally, and thus each one lived a
longer or shorter time, according to the use he made of his share. I
outlived my comrades, and, when I buried the last of them, had so
little food left that I dug a grave for myself. But God once more took
pity on me, and put it in my mind to go to the bank of the river which
ran into the cavern. I said to myself,--
"This underground river must somewhere have an outlet. If I make a
raft, and leave myself to the current, it will convey me to some
inhabited country, or I shall perish. If I be drowned, I only change
one kind of death for another."
Out of pieces of timber and cables from the wrecks, I soon made myself
a solid raft. Then I loaded it carefully with some chests of rubies,
emeralds, ambergris, rock crystal, and bales of rich stuffs, and went
on board with two oars that I had made, leaving the raft to the course
of the river, and resigning myself to the will of God.
As soon as I entered the cavern, I lost all light, and the stream
carried me I knew not whither. Thus I floated on, eating only enough
to keep myself alive. But the food was soon spent, and I lost my
senses. When I revived, I found myself on the brink of a river, where
my raft was tied, amidst a great number of negroes. When I saluted
them, they spoke to me, but I did not understand their tongue. In my
joy I recited aloud the following words in Arabic,--
"Call upon the Almighty. He will help thee; shut thine eyes, and while
thou art asleep, God will change thy bad fortune into good."
One of the negroes, who understood Arabic, came forward and told me
that they had seen my raft, and fastened it until I should awake.
Through him I told the others, at their request, of all that had
befallen me. The story was so strange that they said I must tell it to
their king myself. Then they mounted me on a horse, and some led the
way, and some followed with my raft and cargo.
The king received me kindly, and bade me sit by his side while I told
him what I have told you. When my bales were opened in his presence,
he marveled at what they contained, above all at the rubies and
emeralds, which surpassed any in his treasury.
When I saw with what pleasure he viewed them, I fell at his feet and
said,--
"Sire, not only is my person at your majesty's service, but the cargo
of the raft, and I beg of you to dispose of it as your own."
But he would take none of my goods, and promised that I should leave
his realm richer than I came. His officers were charged to serve me at
his expense, and every day I paid the king my court, and saw what was
most worthy of notice in the city. By way of devotion I made a
pilgrimage to the place where Adam was confined after his banishment
from Paradise.
Then I prayed the king to allow me to return to my own country, and
his permission was most kindly given. He would force a rich present
upon me; and at the same time charged me with a letter for the
Commander of the Faithful, our sovereign, saying to me, "I pray you
give this present for me, and this letter, to the Caliph Haroun
Al-Raschid, and assure him of my friendship."
The letter from the king of Serendib was written on the skin of a
certain animal of great value, very scarce, and of a yellowish color.
The characters of the letter were of azure, and the contents as
follows:--
"The king of the Indies, before whom march one hundred elephants, who
lives in a palace that shines with one hundred thousand rubies, and
who has in his treasury twenty thousand crowns enriched with diamonds,
to Caliph Haroun Al-Raschid.
"Though the present we send you be slight, receive it as a brother and
friend, in token of the hearty friendship we bear for you, and of
which we are willing to give you proof. We desire the same part in
your friendship, since we believe it to be our merit, for we are both
kings. We send you this letter as from one brother to another.
Farewell."
The present consisted of one ruby made into a cup, about half a foot
high, an inch thick, and filled with round pearls of half a drachm
each; and the skin of a serpent, whose scales were as bright as a
piece of gold, and preserved from sickness those who lay upon it;
besides a vast quantity of the best quality of wood of aloes and
camphor, and a female slave of great beauty, whose robe was covered
over with jewels.
As soon as I reached Bagdad I presented myself before the Caliph with
the letter and gift. When he had read the letter he asked if the king
of Serendib were indeed so rich and potent, and, bowing to his feet, I
assured him that it was all true, and told him in what state the
prince appeared in public, with a throne on the back of an elephant,
surrounded by officers and a guard of a thousand men.
"The officer who is before on his elephant," I said, "cries from time
to time with a loud voice, 'Behold the great monarch, the mighty
Sultan of the Indies, greater than Solomon.' Then the officer behind
the throne cries in his turn, 'This monarch, so great and powerful,
must die, must die, must die.' And the officer before him replies,
'Praise alone be to Him who liveth for ever and ever.'"
The Caliph was much pleased with my account, and sent me home with a
rich present.
THE SEVENTH AND LAST VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
After my sixth voyage I had given up all thoughts of going to sea
again, for my age required rest, and I wished to expose myself to no
more risks, but to pass the rest of my days in peace. One day,
however, an officer from the palace came and said the Caliph must
speak to me.
"Sindbad," said he, when I had bowed to the floor before the throne,
"I stand in need of your service; you must carry my answer and present
to the king of Serendib."
This command was to me like a clap of thunder. Though I had made a vow
never to leave Bagdad, I saw that I must obey. The Caliph was well
pleased, and ordered me a sum of money ample for my needs.
In a few days I departed with the letter and present, and, after a
safe voyage, reached the isle of Serendib.
"Sindbad," said the king, when I was brought before him with great
pomp, and had bowed to the earth, "you are welcome; I have many times
thought of you. I bless the day on which I see you once more."
I thanked him for his kindness, and delivered the gifts from my august
master. The Caliph's letter was as follows:--
"Greeting, in the name of the Sovereign Guide of the Right Way, from
the Servant of God, Haroun Al-Raschid, whom God hath set in the place
of viceregent to his Prophet, after his ancestors of happy memory, to
the potent and esteemed king of Serendib.
"We received your letter with joy, and send you this from our imperial
residence, the garden of superior wits. We hope when you look upon it
you will perceive our good will, and be pleased with it. Farewell."
The Caliph's present was a complete suit of cloth of gold, fifty robes
of rich stuff, a hundred of white cloth, the finest of Cairo, Suez,
and Alexandria; a vessel of agate, half a foot wide, on the bottom of
which was carved a man with one knee on the ground, who held a bow and
an arrow, ready to discharge at a lion. He sent also a rich tablet,
which, according to tradition, belonged to the great Solomon.
The king of Serendib was highly pleased. Soon I obtained leave to
depart, though not easily. Dismissed with a large present, I sailed at
once for Bagdad, but had not the good fortune to arrive there so soon
as I had hoped. God ordered it otherwise.
Three or four days after sailing, we were attacked by pirates. Some of
the crew were killed, and I, with others who did not resist, was taken
to a remote island and sold.
I fell into the hands of a rich merchant, who treated me well, and
dressed me handsomely as a slave. In a few days he asked me if I knew
any trade. I told him I was a merchant, robbed of all I possessed.
"Tell me," said he, "can you shoot with a bow?" I said it had been one
of the exercises of my youth. Then he gave me a bow and arrow, took me
behind him on an elephant, and carried me to a thick forest. Stopping
before a great tree, he said, "Climb up that, and shoot at the
elephants, of which there are many in this forest, as you see them
pass by, and if any of them fall, come and give me notice." Then he
left me, and returned to the town, and I remained upon the tree all
night.
In the morning I shot one of the many elephants that passed under the
tree, and when the others had left it dead, I went into the town and
told my patron of my success, which pleased him greatly. Then we
returned, and dug a hole for the elephant, in which my patron meant to
leave it until it was rotten, when he would take its teeth and trade
with them.
For two months I did this service. One morning I was amazed to see
that the elephants, instead of passing by, stopped and came towards my
tree with a horrible noise, in such numbers that the plain was
covered, and shook under them. They surrounded the tree, with their
trunks uplifted, and all fixed their eyes upon me. This frightened me
so that my bow and arrows fell out of my hand.
My fears were not without cause, for soon one of the largest of the
elephants put his trunk round the foot of the tree, plucked it up, and
threw it on the ground. I fell with the tree, and the elephant, taking
me up with his trunk, laid me on his back, where I sat more like one
dead than alive. He put himself at the head of the rest, who followed
him in line, carried me some distance, then laid me down on the
ground, and retired with all the others. When they were gone, I got
up, and found that I was upon a long and broad hill, almost covered
with the bones and teeth of elephants. I doubted not but that this was
their burial place, and that they carried me thither on purpose to
tell me that I should no longer kill them, now that I knew where to
get their teeth without doing them harm. I did not stay on the hill,
but turned towards the city, and, traveling a day and a night, came to
my patron.
He had believed me dead, for he had found the tree pulled up in the
forest, and my bow and arrows on the ground. When he had heard of my
escape, we set out for the hill, and brought back as many teeth as an
elephant could bear. Then my master told me how many slaves had been
killed by the elephants, and blessed me for making him and his whole
city rich. "I can treat you no more as a slave," he said, "but as a
brother. I give you your liberty henceforth. I will also give you
riches."
To this I answered that the only reward I wished was leave to return
to my own country. "Very well," said he, "the monsoon will soon bring
ships for ivory. Then I will send you home."
While waiting for the monsoon we made many journeys to the hill, and,
when my ship sailed, my master loaded half of it with ivory on my
account. With this I traded at various ports, gaining vast sums of
money. Besides the ivory, my master gave me precious gifts. The last
portion of my journey I made by land, and when it was done I was happy
in thinking I had nothing more to fear from the seas, from pirates,
from serpents, or from the other perils to which I had been exposed.
Safe at Bagdad, I waited upon the Caliph at once, and told him how I
had fulfilled his mission. He loaded me with honors and rich presents,
and I have ever since devoted myself to my family, kindred, and
friends.
Sindbad here finished the story of his seventh and last voyage. "Well,
friend," he said, turning to Hindbad, "did you ever hear of any person
that suffered so much as I have done? Is it not just that after all
this I should enjoy a quiet and pleasant life?"
Hindbad in answer kissed his hand and said, "Sir, my pains are not to
be compared with yours. You not only deserve a quiet life, but are
worthy of all the riches you possess, since you make so good a use of
them. May you live happily for a long time."
Sindbad ordered another purse of money to be given him, and told him
to give up carrying burdens as a porter, and to eat henceforth at his
table; for he wished Hindbad to remember all his life that he had a
friend in Sindbad the Sailor.
THE TRAVELS OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
THE BARON'S FIRST WANDERINGS
_By Rodolph Eric Raspe_
Some years before my beard announced approaching manhood, or, in other
words, when I was neither man nor boy, but between both, I expressed
in repeated conversations a strong desire of seeing the world, from
which I was discouraged by my parents, though my father had been no
inconsiderable traveler himself, as will appear before I have reached
the end of my singular and, I may add, interesting adventures. A
cousin, by my mother's side, took a liking to me, often said I was a
fine forward youth, and was much inclined to gratify my curiosity. His
eloquence had more effect than mine, for my father consented to my
accompanying him in a voyage to the island of Ceylon, where his uncle
had resided as governor many years.
We sailed from Amsterdam with dispatches from their High Mightinesses
the States of Holland. The only circumstance which happened on our
voyage worth relating was the wonderful effects of a storm, which had
torn up by the roots a great number of trees of enormous bulk and
height, in an island where we lay at anchor to take in wood and water.
Some of these trees weighed many tons, yet they were carried by the
wind so amazingly high that they appeared like the feathers of small
birds floating in the air, for they were at least five miles above the
earth. However, as soon as the storm subsided they all fell
perpendicularly into their respective places, and took root again,
except the largest, which happened, when it was blown into the air, to
have a man and his wife, a very honest old couple, upon its branches,
gathering cucumbers (in this part of the globe that useful vegetable
grows upon trees). The weight of this couple, as the tree descended,
over-balanced the trunk, and brought it down in a horizontal position:
it fell upon the chief man of the island, and killed him on the spot.
He had quitted his house in the storm, under an apprehension of its
falling upon him, and was returning through his own garden when this
fortunate accident happened. The word fortunate, here, requires some
explanation. This chief was a man of a very avaricious and oppressive
disposition, and though he had no family, the natives of the island
were half starved by his oppressive and infamous impositions.
The very goods which he had thus taken from them were spoiling in his
stores, while the poor wretches from whom they were plundered were
pining in poverty. Though the destruction of this tyrant was
accidental, the people chose the cucumber-gatherers for their
governors, as a mark of their gratitude for destroying, though
accidentally, their late tyrant.
After we had repaired the damages we sustained in this remarkable
storm, and taken leave of the new governor and his lady, we sailed
with a fair wind for the object of our voyage.
In about six weeks we arrived at Ceylon, where we were received with
great marks of friendship and true politeness. The following singular
adventures may not prove unentertaining.
After we had resided at Ceylon about a fortnight I accompanied one of
the governor's brothers upon a shooting party. He was a strong,
athletic man, and being used to that climate (for he had resided there
some years), he bore the violent heat of the sun much better than I
could; in our excursion he had made a considerable progress through a
thick wood when I was only at the entrance.
Near the banks of a large piece of water, which had engaged my
attention, I thought I heard a rustling noise behind; on turning about
I was almost petrified (as who would not be?) at the sight of a lion,
which was evidently approaching with the intention of satisfying his
appetite with my poor carcass, and that without asking my consent.
What was to be done in this horrible dilemma? I had not even a moment
for reflection; my piece was only charged with swan shot, and I had no
other about me; however, though I could have no idea of killing such
an animal with that weak kind of ammunition, yet I had some hopes of
frightening him by the report, and perhaps of wounding him also. I
immediately let fly, without waiting till he was within reach, and the
report did but enrage him, for he now quickened his pace, and seemed
to approach me full speed. I attempted to escape, but that only added
(if an addition could be made) to my distress; for the moment I turned
about I found a large crocodile, with his mouth extended almost ready
to receive me. On my right hand was the piece of water before
mentioned, and on my left a deep precipice, said to have, as I have
since learned, a receptacle at the bottom for venomous creatures; in
short, I gave myself up as lost, for the lion was now upon his hind
legs, just in the act of seizing me; I fell involuntarily to the
ground with fear, and, as it afterwards appeared, he sprang over me. I
lay some time in a situation which no language can describe, expecting
to feel his teeth or talons in some part of me every moment; after
waiting in this prostrate situation a few seconds I heard a violent
but unusual noise, different from any sound that had ever before
assailed my ears; nor is it at all to be wondered at, when I inform
you from whence it proceeded: after listening for some time, I
ventured to raise my head and look round, when, to my unspeakable joy,
I perceived the lion had, by the eagerness with which he sprung at me,
jumped forward, as I fell, into the crocodile's mouth! which, as
before observed, was wide open; the head of the one stuck in the
throat of the other! and they were struggling to extricate themselves!
I fortunately recollected my _couteau de chasse_, which was by my
side; with this instrument I severed the lion's head at one blow, and
the body fell at my feet! I then, with the butt end of my
fowling-piece, rammed the head farther into the throat of the
crocodile, and destroyed him by suffocation, for he could neither
gorge nor eject it.
[Illustration: I VENTURED TO RAISE MY HEAD AND LOOK ROUND, WHEN, TO MY
UNSPEAKABLE JOY, I PERCEIVED THE LION HAD, BY THE EAGERNESS WITH WHICH
HE SPRUNG AT ME, JUMPED FORWARD, AS I FELL, INTO THE CROCODILE'S
MOUTH, WHICH WAS WIDE OPEN. THE HEAD OF THE ONE STUCK IN THE THROAT OF
THE OTHER, AND THEY WERE STRUGGLING TO EXTRICATE THEMSELVES.]
Soon after I had thus gained a complete victory over my two powerful
adversaries my companion arrived in search of me; for finding I did
not follow him into the wood, he returned, apprehending I had lost my
way or met with some accident.
After mutual congratulations, we measured the crocodile, which was
just forty feet in length.
As soon as we had related this extraordinary adventure to the
governor, he sent a wagon and servants, who brought home the two
carcasses. The lion's skin was properly preserved, with its hair on,
after which it was made into tobacco pouches, and presented by me,
upon our return to Holland, to the burgomasters, who, in return,
requested my acceptance of a thousand ducats.
The skin of the crocodile was stuffed in the usual manner, and makes a
capital article in their public museum at Amsterdam, where the
exhibitor relates the whole story to each spectator, with such
additions as he thinks proper. Some of his variations are rather
extravagant; one of them is that the crocodile turned about, snatched
the _couteau de chasse_ out of Monsieur's hand, and swallowed it with
such eagerness that it pierced his heart and killed him immediately!
The little regard which this impudent knave has to veracity makes me
sometimes apprehensive that my _real facts_ may fall under suspicion,
by being found in company with his inventions.
THE BARON'S JOURNEY TO ST. PETERSBURG
_By Rodolph Eric Raspe_
I set off from Rome on a journey to Russia, in the midst of winter,
from a just notion that frost and snow must of course mend the roads,
which every traveler had described as uncommonly bad through the
northern parts of Germany, Poland, Courland, and Livonia. I went on
horseback, as the most convenient manner of traveling; I was but
lightly clothed, and of this I felt the inconvenience the more I
advanced northeast. What must not a poor old man have suffered in that
severe weather and climate, whom I saw on a bleak common in Poland,
lying on the road, helpless, shivering, and hardly having wherewithal
to cover his nakedness? I pitied the poor soul; though I felt the
severity of the air myself, I threw my mantle over him, and
immediately I heard a voice from the heavens, blessing me for that
piece of charity, saying,--
"You will be rewarded, my son, for this in time."
I went on: night and darkness overtook me. No village was to be seen.
The country was covered with snow, and I was unacquainted with the
road.
Tired, I alighted, and fastened my horse to something like a pointed
stump of a tree, which appeared above the snow; for the sake of safety
I placed my pistols under my arm, and lay down on the snow, where I
slept so soundly that I did not open my eyes till full daylight. It is
not easy to conceive my astonishment to find myself in the midst of a
village, lying in a churchyard; nor was my horse to be seen, but I
heard him soon after neigh somewhere above me. On looking upwards I
beheld him hanging by his bridle to the weathercock of the steeple.
Matters were now very plain to me: the village had been covered with
snow over night; a sudden change of weather had taken place; I had
sunk down to the churchyard whilst asleep, gently, and in the same
proportion as the snow had melted away; and what in the dark I had
taken to be a stump of a little tree appearing above the snow, to
which I had tied my horse, proved to be the cross or weathercock of
the steeple!
Without long consideration I took one of my pistols, shot the bridle
in two, brought down the horse, and proceeded on my journey. [Here the
baron seems to have forgotten his feelings; he should certainly have
ordered his horse a feed of corn, after fasting so long.]
He carried me well--advancing into the interior parts of Russia. I
found traveling on horseback rather unfashionable in winter, therefore
I submitted, as I always do, to the custom of the country, took a
single horse sledge, and drove briskly towards St. Petersburg. I do
not exactly recollect whether it was in Eastland or Jugemanland, but I
remember that in the midst of a dreary forest I spied a terrible wolf
making after me, with all the speed of ravenous winter hunger. He soon
overtook me. There was no possibility of escape. Mechanically I laid
myself down flat in the sledge, and let my horse run for our safety.
What I wished, but hardly hoped or expected, happened immediately
after. The wolf did not mind me in the least, but took a leap over me,
and falling furiously on the horse, began instantly to tear and devour
the hind part of the poor animal, which ran the faster for his pain
and terror. Thus unnoticed and safe myself, I lifted my head slyly up,
and with horror I beheld that the wolf had eaten his way into the
horse's body; it was not long before he had fairly forced himself into
it, when I took my advantage, and fell upon him with the butt end of
my whip. This unexpected attack in his rear frightened him so much,
that he leaped forward with all his might: the horse's carcass dropped
on the ground, but in his place the wolf was in the harness, and I on
my part whipping him continually; we both arrived in full career safe
at St. Petersburg, contrary to our respective expectations, and very
much to the astonishment of the spectators.
I shall not tire you, gentlemen, with the politics, arts, sciences,
and history of this magnificent metropolis of Russia, nor trouble you
with the various intrigues and pleasant adventures I had in the
politer circles of that country, where the lady of the house always
receives the visitor with a dram and a salute. I shall confine myself
rather to the greater and nobler objects of your attention,--horses
and dogs, my favorites in the brute creation; also to foxes, wolves,
and bears, with which, and game in general, Russia abounds more than
any other part of the world; and to such sports, manly exercises, and
feats of gallantry and activity as show the gentleman better than
musty Greek or Latin, or all the perfume, finery, and capers of French
wits or _petit-maîtres._
THE BARON'S WONDERFUL HORSE
_By Rodolph Eric Raspe_
I remember with pleasure and tenderness a superb Lithuanian horse,
which no money could have bought. He became mine by an accident, which
gave me an opportunity of showing my horsemanship to a great
advantage. I was at Count Przobossky's noble country seat in
Lithuania, and remained with the ladies at tea in the drawing-room,
while the gentlemen were down in the yard to see a young horse of
blood which had just arrived from the stud. We suddenly heard a noise
of distress; I hastened downstairs, and found the horse so unruly that
nobody durst approach or mount him. The most resolute horsemen stood
dismayed and aghast; despondency was expressed in every countenance,
when, in one leap, I was on his back, took him by surprise, and worked
him quite into gentleness and obedience, with the best display of
horsemanship I was master of. Fully to show this to the ladies, and
save them unnecessary trouble, I forced him to leap in at one of the
open windows of the tea room, walk round several times, pace, trot,
and gallop, and at last made him mount the tea table, there to repeat
his lessons in a pretty style of miniature which was exceedingly
pleasing to the ladies, for he performed them amazingly well, and did
not break either cup or saucer. It placed me so high in their opinion,
and so well in that of the noble lord, that, with his usual
politeness, he begged I would accept of this young horse, and ride him
full career to conquest and honor in the campaign against the Turks,
which was soon to be opened, under the command of Count Munich.
I could not indeed have received a more agreeable present, nor a more
ominous one at the opening of that campaign, in which I made my
apprenticeship as a soldier. A horse so gentle, so spirited, and so
fierce--at once a lamb and a Bucephalus--put me always in mind of the
soldier's and the gentleman's duty, of young Alexander, and of the
astonishing things he performed in the field.
We took the field, among several other reasons, it seems, with an
intention to retrieve the character of the Russian arms, which had
been blemished a little by Czar Peter's last campaign on the Pruth;
and this we fully accomplished by several very fatiguing and glorious
campaigns under the command of that great general I mentioned before.
Modesty forbids individuals to arrogate to themselves great successes
or victories, the glory of which is generally engrossed by the
commander--nay, which is rather awkward, by kings and queens who never
smelled gunpowder but at the field days and reviews of their troops;
never saw a field of battle, or an enemy in battle array.
Nor do I claim any particular share of glory in the great engagements
with the enemy. We all did our duty, which, in the patriot's,
soldier's, and gentleman's language, is a very comprehensive word, of
great honor, meaning, and import, and of which the generality of idle
quidnuncs and coffee-house politicians can hardly form any but a very
mean and contemptible idea. However having had the command of a body
of hussars, I went upon several expeditions, with discretionary
powers; and the success I then met with is, I think, fairly and only
to be placed to my account, and to that of the brave fellows whom I
led on to conquest and to victory. We had very hot work once in the
van of the army, when we drove the Turks into Oczakow. My spirited
Lithuanian had almost brought me into a scrape: I had an advanced
forepost, and saw the enemy coming against me in a cloud of dust,
which left me rather uncertain about their actual numbers and real
intentions: to wrap myself up in a similar cloud was common prudence,
but would not have much advanced my knowledge or answered the end for
which I had been sent out; therefore I let my flankers on both wings
spread to the right and left, and make what dust they could, and I
myself led on straight upon the enemy, to have a nearer sight of them;
in this I was gratified, for they stood and fought, till, for fear of
my flankers, they began to move off rather disorderly. This was the
moment to fall upon them with spirit; we broke them entirely--made a
terrible havoc amongst them, and drove them not only back to a walled
town in their rear, but even through it, contrary to our most sanguine
expectation.
The swiftness of my Lithuanian enabled me to be foremost in the
pursuit; and seeing the enemy fairly flying through the opposite gate,
I thought it would be prudent to stop in the market-place, to order
the men to rendezvous. I stopped, gentlemen; but judge of my
astonishment when in this market-place I saw not one of my hussars
about me! Are they scouring the other streets? or what is become of
them? They could not be far off, and must, at all events, soon join
me. In that expectation I walked my panting Lithuanian to a spring in
this market-place and let him drink. He drank uncommonly, with an
eagerness not to be satisfied, but natural enough; for when I looked
round for my men, what should I see, gentlemen! the hind part of the
poor creature--croup and legs were missing, as if he had been cut in
two, and the water ran out as it came in, without refreshing or doing
him any good! How it could have happened was quite a mystery to me,
till I returned with him to the town gate. There I saw that when I
rushed in pell-mell with the flying enemy, they had dropped the
portcullis (a heavy falling door, with sharp spikes at the bottom, let
down suddenly to prevent the entrance of an enemy into a fortified
town) unperceived by me, which had totally cut off his hind part, that
still lay quivering on the outside of the gate. It would have been an
irreparable loss, had not our farrier contrived to bring both parts
together while hot. He sewed them up with sprigs and young shoots of
laurels that were at hand; the wound healed, and, what could not have
happened but to so glorious a horse, the sprigs took root in his body,
grew up, and formed a bower over me; so that afterwards I could go
upon many other expeditions in the shade of my own and my horse's
laurels.
THE BARON'S COLD DAY
_By Rodolph Eric Raspe_
Success was not always with me. I had the misfortune to be overpowered
by numbers, to be made prisoner of war; and, what is worse, but always
usual among the Turks, to be sold for a slave. In that state of
humiliation my daily task was not very hard and laborious, but rather
singular and irksome. It was to drive the Sultan's bees every morning
to their pasture grounds, to attend them all the day long, and against
night to drive them back to their hives. One evening I missed a bee,
and soon observed that two bears had fallen upon her to tear her to
pieces for the honey she carried. I had nothing like an offensive
weapon in my hands but the silver hatchet which is the badge of the
Sultan's gardeners and farmers. I threw it at the robbers, with an
intention to frighten them away, and set the poor bee at liberty; but
by an unlucky turn of my arm, it flew upwards, and continued rising
till it reached the moon. How should I recover it? how fetch it down
again? I recollected that Turkey beans grow very quick, and run up to
an astonishing height. I planted one immediately; it grew, and
actually fastened itself to one of the moon's horns. I had no more to
do now but to climb up by it into the moon, where I safely arrived,
and had a troublesome piece of business before I could find my silver
hatchet, in a place where everything has the brightness of silver; at
last, however, I found it in a heap of chaff and chopped straw. I was
now for returning: but, alas! the heat of the sun had dried up my
bean; it was totally useless for my descent; so I fell to work, and
twisted me a rope of that chopped straw, as long and as well as I
could make it. This I fastened to one of the moon's horns, and slid
down to the end of it. Here I held myself fast with the left hand, and
with the hatchet in my right, I cut the long, now useless, end of the
upper part, which, when tied to the lower end, brought me a good deal
lower: this repeated splicing and tying of the rope did not improve
its quality, or bring me down to the Sultan's farm. I was four or five
miles from the earth at least when it broke; I fell to the ground with
such amazing violence that I found myself stunned, and in a hole nine
fathoms deep at least, made by the weight of my body falling from so
great a height: I recovered, but knew not how to get out again;
however, I dug slopes or steps with my finger nails (the baron's nails
were then of forty years' growth), and easily accomplished it.
Peace was soon after concluded with the Turks, and gaining my liberty,
I left St. Petersburg at the time of that singular revolution when the
emperor in his cradle, his mother, the duke of Brunswick, her father,
Field-marshal Munich, and many others were sent to Siberia. The winter
was then so uncommonly severe all over Europe that ever since the sun
seems to be frost-bitten. At my return to this place, I felt on the
road greater inconveniences than those I had experienced on my setting
out.
I traveled post, and finding myself in a narrow lane, bid the
postilion give a signal with his horn, that other travelers might not
meet us in the narrow passage. He blew with all his might; but his
endeavors were in vain, he could not make the horn sound, which was
unaccountable and rather unfortunate, for soon after we found
ourselves in the presence of another coach coming the other way. There
was no proceeding; however, I got out of my carriage, and being pretty
strong, placed it, wheels and all, upon my head; I then jumped over a
hedge about nine feet high (which, considering the weight of the
coach, was rather difficult) into a field, and came out again by
another jump into the road beyond the other carriage; I then went back
for the horses, and placing one upon my head and the other under my
left arm, by the same means brought them to my coach, put to, and
proceeded to an inn at the end of our stage. I should have told you
that the horse under my arm was very spirited, and not above four
years old; in making my second spring over the hedge he expressed
great dislike to that violent kind of motion by kicking and snorting;
however, I confined his hind legs by putting them into my coat pocket.
After we arrived at the inn my postilion and I refreshed ourselves: he
hung his horn on a peg near the kitchen fire; I sat on the other side.
Suddenly we heard a _tereng, tereng, teng, teng_. We looked round, and
now found the reason why the postilion had not been able to sound his
horn; his tunes were frozen up in the horn, and came out now by
thawing, plain enough, and much to the credit of the driver; so that
the honest fellow entertained us for some time with a variety of
tunes, without putting his mouth to the horn,--"The King of Prussia's
March," "Over the Hill and over the Dale," with many other favorite
tunes; at length the thawing entertainment concluded, as I shall this
short account of my Russian travels.
TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
_By Charles and Mary Lamb_
The states of Syracuse and Ephesus being at variance, there was a
cruel law made at Ephesus, ordaining that if any merchant of Syracuse
was seen in the city of Ephesus, he was to be put to death, unless he
could pay a thousand marks for the ransom of his life.
Ægeon, an old merchant of Syracuse, was discovered in the streets of
Ephesus and brought before the duke, either to pay this heavy fine or
to receive sentence of death.
Ægeon had no money to pay the fine, and the duke, before he pronounced
the sentence of death upon him, desired him to relate the history of
his life, and to tell for what cause he had ventured to come to the
city of Ephesus, which it was death for any Syracusan merchant to
enter.
Ægeon said that he did not fear to die, for sorrow had made him weary
of his life, but that a heavier task could not have been imposed upon
him than to relate the event of his unfortunate life. He then began
his own history, in the following words:--
"I was born at Syracuse, and brought up to the profession of a
merchant. I married a lady with whom I lived very happily, but being
obliged to go to Epidamnum, I was detained there by my business six
months, and then, finding I should be obliged to stay some time
longer, I sent for my wife, who, as soon as she arrived, was brought
to bed of two sons, and what was very strange, they were both so
exactly alike that it was impossible to distinguish the one from the
other. At the same time that my wife was brought to bed of these twin
boys, a poor woman in the inn where my wife lodged was brought to bed
of two sons, and these twins were as much like each other as my two
sons were. The parents of these children being exceeding poor, I
bought the two boys, and brought them up to attend upon my sons.
"My sons were very fine children, and my wife was not a little proud
of two such boys; and she daily wishing to return home, I unwillingly
agreed, and in an evil hour we got on shipboard; for we had not sailed
above a league from Epidamnum before a dreadful storm arose, which
continued with such violence that the sailors, seeing no chance of
saving the ship, crowded into the boat to save their own lives,
leaving us alone in the ship, which we every moment expected would be
destroyed by the fury of the storm.
"The incessant weeping of my wife, and the piteous complaints of the
pretty babes, who not knowing what to fear, wept for fashion, because
they saw their mother weep, filled me with terror for them, though I
did not for myself fear death; and all my thoughts were bent to
contrive means for their safety. I tied my younger son to the end of a
small spare mast, such as seafaring men provide against storms; at the
other end I bound the younger of the twin slaves, and at the same time
I directed my wife how to fasten the other children in like manner to
another mast. She thus having the care of the two elder children, and
I of the two younger, we bound ourselves separately to these masts
with the children; and but for this contrivance we had all been lost,
for the ship split on a mighty rock, and was dashed in pieces; and we,
clinging to these slender masts, were supported above the water, where
I, having the care of two children, was unable to assist my wife, who
with the other children was soon separated from me; but while they
were yet in my sight, they were taken up by a boat of fishermen, from
Corinth (as I supposed), and seeing them in safety, I had no care but
to struggle with the wild sea waves, to preserve my dear son and the
younger slave. At length we in our turn were taken up by a ship, and
the sailors, knowing me, gave us kind welcome and assistance, and
landed us in safety at Syracuse; but from that sad hour I have never
known what became of my wife and elder child.
"My younger son, and now my only care, when he was eighteen years of
age, began to be inquisitive after his mother and his brother, and
often importuned me that he might take his attendant, the young slave,
who had also lost his brother, and go in search of them; at length I
unwillingly gave consent, for though I anxiously desired to hear
tidings of my wife and elder son, yet in sending my younger one to
find them, I hazarded the loss of him also. It is now seven years
since my son left me; five years have I passed in traveling through
the world in search of him: I have been in farthest Greece, and
through the bounds of Asia, and coasting homewards, I landed here in
Ephesus, being unwilling to leave any place unsought that harbors men;
but this day must end the story of my life, and happy should I think
myself in my death, if I were assured my wife and sons were living."
Here the hapless Ægeon ended the account of his misfortunes; and the
duke, pitying this unfortunate father who had brought upon himself
this great peril by his love for his lost son, said, if it were not
against the laws, which his oath and dignity did not permit him to
alter, he would freely pardon him; yet, instead of dooming him to
instant death, as the strict letter of the law required, he would give
him that day to try if he could beg or borrow the money to pay the
fine.
This day of grace did seem no great favor to Ægeon, for not knowing
any man in Ephesus, there seemed to him but little chance that any
stranger would lend or give him a thousand marks to pay the fine; and
helpless and hopeless of any relief, he retired from the presence of
the duke in the custody of a jailer.
Ægeon supposed he knew no person in Ephesus; but at the very time he
was in danger of losing his life through the careful search he was
making after his youngest son, that son and his eldest son also were
both in the city of Ephesus.
Ægeon's sons, besides being exactly alike in face and person, were
both named alike, being both called Antipholus, and the two twin
slaves were also both named Dromio. Ægeon's youngest son, Antipholus
of Syracuse, he whom the old man had come to Ephesus to seek, happened
to arrive at Ephesus with his slave Dromio that very same day that
Ægeon did; and he being also a merchant of Syracuse, he would have
been in the same danger that his father was, but by good fortune he
met a friend who told him the peril an old merchant of Syracuse was
in, and advised him to pass for a merchant of Epidamnum; this
Antipholus agreed to do, and he was sorry to hear one of his own
countrymen was in this danger, but he little thought this old merchant
was his own father.
The oldest son of Ægeon (who must be called Antipholus of Ephesus, to
distinguish him from his brother Antipholus of Syracuse) had lived at
Ephesus twenty years, and, being a rich man, was well able to have
paid the money for the ransom of his father's life; but Antipholus
knew nothing of his father, being so young when he was taken out of
the sea with his mother by the fishermen that he only remembered he
had been so preserved, but he had no recollection of either his father
or his mother; the fishermen who took up this Antipholus and his
mother and the young slave Dromio having carried the two children away
from her (to the great grief of that unhappy lady), intending to sell
them.
Antipholus and Dromio were sold by them to duke Menaphon, a famous
warrior, who was uncle to the duke of Ephesus, and he carried the boys
to Ephesus, when he went to visit the duke his nephew.
The duke of Ephesus taking a liking to young Antipholus, when he grew
up, made him an officer in his army, in which he distinguished himself
by his great bravery in the wars, where he saved the life of his
patron the duke, who rewarded his merit by marrying him to Adriana, a
rich lady of Ephesus, with whom he was living (his slave Dromio still
attending him) at the time his father came there.
Antipholus of Syracuse, when he parted with his friend, who advised
him to say he came from Epidamnum, gave his slave Dromio some money to
carry to the inn where he intended to dine, and in the meantime he
said he would walk about and view the city, and observe the manners of
the people.
Dromio was a pleasant fellow, and when Antipholus was dull and
melancholy he used to divert himself with the odd humors and merry
jests of his slave, so that the freedoms of speech he allowed in
Dromio were greater than is usual between masters and their servants.
When Antipholus of Syracuse had sent Dromio away he stood awhile
thinking over his solitary wanderings in search of his mother and his
brother, of whom in no place where he landed could he hear the least
tidings, and he said sorrowfully to himself, "I am like a drop of
water in the ocean, which seeking to find its fellow drop, loses
itself in the wide sea. So I, unhappily, to find a mother and a
brother, do lose myself."
While he was thus meditating on his weary travels, which had hitherto
been so useless, Dromio (as he thought) returned. Antipholus,
wondering that he came back so soon, asked him where he had left the
money. Now it was not his own Dromio, but the twin brother that lived
with Antipholus of Ephesus, that he spoke to. The two Dromios and the
two Antipholuses were still as much alike as Ægeon had said they were
in their infancy; therefore no wonder Antipholus thought it was his
own slave returned, and asked him why he came back so soon. Dromio
replied, "My mistress sent me to bid you come to dinner. The capon
burns, and the pig falls from the spit, and the meat will be all cold
if you do not come home." "These jests are out of season," said
Antipholus, "where did you leave the money?" Dromio still answering
that his mistress had sent him to fetch Antipholus to dinner, "What
mistress?" said Antipholus. "Why, your worship's wife, sir," replied
Dromio. Antipholus having no wife, he was very angry with Dromio, and
said, "Because I familiarly sometimes chat with you, you presume to
jest with me in this free manner. I am not in a sportive humor now.
Where is the money? we being strangers here, how dare you trust so
great a charge from your own custody?" Dromio hearing his master, as
he thought him, talk of their being strangers, supposed Antipholus was
jesting, and replied merrily, "I pray you, sir, jest as you sit at
dinner: I had no charge but to fetch you home, to dine with my
mistress and her sister." Now Antipholus lost all patience, and beat
Dromio, who ran home, and told his mistress that his master had
refused to come to dinner, and said that he had no wife.
Adriana, the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, was very angry, when she
heard that her husband said he had no wife; for she was of a jealous
temper, and she said her husband meant that he loved another lady
better than herself; and she began to fret and say unkind words of
jealousy and reproach of her husband; and her sister Luciana, who
lived with her, tried in vain to persuade her out of her groundless
suspicions.
Antipholus of Syracuse went to the inn and found Dromio with the money
in safety there, and seeing his own Dromio, he was going again to
chide him for his free jests, when Adriana came up to him, and not
doubting but it was her husband she saw, she began to reproach him for
looking strange upon her (as well he might, never having seen this
angry lady before); and then she told him how well he loved her before
they were married, and that now he loved some other lady instead of
her. "How comes it now, my husband," said she, "oh, how comes it that
I have lost your love?" "Plead you to me, fair dame?" said the
astonished Antipholus. It was in vain he told her he was not her
husband, and that he had been in Ephesus but two hours; she insisted
on his going home with her, and Antipholus at last being unable to get
away, went with her to his brother's house, and dined with Adriana and
her sister,--the one calling him husband and the other brother; he,
all amazed, thinking he must have been married to her in his sleep, or
that he was sleeping now. And Dromio, who followed them, was no less
surprised, for the cookmaid, who was his brother's wife, also claimed
him for her husband.
While Antipholus of Syracuse was dining with his brother's wife, his
brother, the real husband, returned home to dinner with his slave
Dromio; but the servants would not open the door, because their
mistress had ordered them not to admit any company; and when they
repeatedly knocked, and said they were Antipholus and Dromio, the
maids laughed at them, and said that Antipholus was at dinner with
their mistress, and Dromio was in the kitchen; and though they almost
knocked the door down, they could not gain admittance, and at last
Antipholus went away very angry, and strangely surprised at hearing a
gentleman was dining with his wife.
When Antipholus of Syracuse had finished his dinner, he was so
perplexed at the lady's still persisting in calling him husband, and
at hearing that Dromio had also been claimed by the cookmaid, that he
left the house, as soon as he could find any pretense to get away; for
though he was very much pleased with Luciana, the sister, yet the
jealous-tempered Adriana he disliked very much, nor was Dromio at all
better satisfied with his fair wife in the kitchen: therefore both
master and man were glad to get away from their new wives as fast as
they could.
The moment Antipholus of Syracuse had left the house, he was met by a
goldsmith, who mistaking him, as Adriana had done, for Antipholus of
Ephesus, gave him a gold chain, calling him by his name; and when
Antipholus would have refused the chain, saying it did not belong to
him, the goldsmith replied he made it by his own orders; and went
away, leaving the chain in the hands of Antipholus, who ordered his
man Dromio to get his things on board a ship, not choosing to stay in
a place any longer, where he met with such strange adventures that he
surely thought himself bewitched.
The goldsmith who had given the chain to the wrong Antipholus, was
arrested immediately after for a sum of money he owed; and Antipholus,
the married brother, to whom the goldsmith thought he had given the
chain, happened to come to the place where the officer was arresting
the goldsmith, who, when he saw Antipholus, asked him to pay for the
gold chain he had just delivered to him, the price amounting to nearly
the same sum as that for which he had been arrested. Antipholus
denying having received the chain, and the goldsmith persisting to
declare that he had but a few minutes before given it to him, they
disputed this matter a long time, both thinking they were right: for
Antipholus knew the goldsmith never gave him the chain, and, so like
were the two brothers, the goldsmith was as certain he had delivered
the chain into his hands, till at last the officer took the goldsmith
away to prison for the debt he owed, and at the same time the
goldsmith made the officer arrest Antipholus for the price of the
chain; so that at the conclusion of their dispute, Antipholus and the
merchant were both taken away to prison together.
As Antipholus was going to prison, he met Dromio of Syracuse, his
brother's slave, and mistaking him for his own, he ordered him to go
to Adriana his wife, and tell her to send the money for which he was
arrested. Dromio, wondering that his master should send him back to
the strange house where he dined, and from which he had just before
been in such haste to depart, did not dare to reply, though he came to
tell his master the ship was ready to sail; for he saw Antipholus was
in no humor to be jested with. Therefore he went away, grumbling
within himself, that he must return to Adriana's house, "Where," said
he, "Dowsabel claims me for a husband: but I must go, for servants
must obey their masters' commands."
Adriana gave him the money, and as Dromio was returning, he met
Antipholus of Syracuse, who was still in amaze at the surprising
adventures he met with; for his brother being well known in Ephesus,
there was hardly a man he met in the streets but saluted him as an old
acquaintance: some offered him money which they said was owing to him,
some invited him to come and see them, and others gave him thanks for
kindnesses they said he had done them, all mistaking him for his
brother. A tailor showed him some silks he had bought for him, and
insisted upon taking measure of him for some clothes.
Antipholus began to think he was among a nation of sorcerers and
witches, and Dromio did not at all relieve his master from his
bewildered thoughts, by asking him how he got free from the officer
who was carrying him to prison, and giving him the purse of gold which
Adriana had sent to pay the debt with. This talk of Dromio's of the
arrest and of a prison, and of the money he had brought from Adriana,
perfectly confounded Antipholus, and he said, "This fellow Dromio is
certainly distracted, and we wander here in illusions;" and quite
terrified at his own confused thoughts, he cried out, "Some blessed
power deliver us from this strange place!"
And now another stranger came up to him, and she was a lady, and she
too called him Antipholus, and told him he had dined with her that
day, and asked him for a gold chain which she said he had promised to
give her. Antipholus now lost all patience, and calling her a
sorceress, he denied that he had ever promised her a chain, or dined
with her, or had even seen her face before that moment. The lady
persisted in affirming he had dined with her, and had promised her a
chain, which Antipholus still denying, she further said that she had
given him a valuable ring, and if he would not give her the gold
chain, she insisted upon having her own ring again. On this Antipholus
became quite frantic, and again calling her sorceress and witch, and
denying all knowledge of her or her ring, ran away from her, leaving
her astonished at his words and his wild looks, for nothing to her
appeared more certain than that he had dined with her, and that she
had given him a ring, in consequence of his promising to make her a
present of a gold chain. But this lady had fallen into the same
mistake the others had done, for she had taken him for his brother:
the married Antipholus had done all the things she taxed this
Antipholus with.
When the married Antipholus was denied entrance into his own house
(those within supposing him to be already there), he had gone away
very angry, believing it to be one of his wife's jealous freaks, to
which she was very subject, and remembering that she had often falsely
accused him of visiting other ladies, he, to be revenged on her for
shutting him out of his own house, determined to go and dine with this
lady, and she receiving him with great civility, and his wife having
so highly offended him, Antipholus promised to give her a gold chain,
which he had intended as a present for his wife; it was the same chain
which the goldsmith by mistake had given to his brother. The lady
liked so well the thoughts of having a fine gold chain, that she gave
the married Antipholus a ring; which when, as she supposed (taking his
brother for him), he denied, and said he did not know her, and left
her in such a wild passion, she began to think he was certainly out of
his senses; and presently she resolved to go and tell Adriana that her
husband was mad. And while she was telling it to Adriana, he came,
attended by the jailer (who allowed him to come home to get the money
to pay the debt), for the purse of money, which Adriana had sent by
Dromio, and he had delivered to the other Antipholus.
Adriana believed the story the lady told her of her husband's madness
must be true when he reproached her for shutting him out of his own
house; and remembering how he had protested all dinner time that he
was not her husband, and had never been in Ephesus till that day, she
had no doubt that he was mad; she therefore paid the jailer the money,
and having discharged him, she ordered her servants to bind her
husband with ropes, and had him conveyed into a dark room, and sent
for a doctor to come and cure him of his madness: Antipholus all the
while hotly exclaiming against this false accusation, which the exact
likeness he bore to his brother had brought upon him. But his rage
only the more confirmed them in the belief that he was mad; and Dromio
persisting in the same story, they bound him also, and took him away
along with his master.
Soon after Adriana had put her husband into confinement, a servant
came to tell her that Antipholus and Dromio must have broken loose
from their keepers, for that they were both walking at liberty in the
next street. On hearing this, Adriana ran out to fetch him home,
taking some people with her to secure her husband again; and her
sister went along with her. When they came to the gates of a convent
in their neighborhood, there they saw Antipholus and Dromio, as they
thought, being again deceived by the likeness of the twin brothers.
Antipholus of Syracuse was still beset with the perplexities this
likeness had brought upon him. The chain which the goldsmith had given
him was about his neck, and the goldsmith was reproaching him for
denying that he had it, and refusing to pay for it, and Antipholus Was
protesting that the goldsmith freely gave him the chain in the
morning, and that from that hour he had never seen the goldsmith
again.
And now Adriana came up to him and claimed him as her lunatic husband,
who had escaped from his keepers; and the men she brought with her
were going to lay violent hands on Antipholus and Dromio; but they ran
into the convent, and Antipholus begged the abbess to give him shelter
in her house.
And now came out the lady abbess herself to inquire into the cause of
this disturbance. She was a grave and venerable lady, and wise to
judge of what she saw, and she would not too hastily give up the man
who had sought protection in her house; so she strictly questioned the
wife about the story she told of her husband's madness, and she said,
"What is the cause of this sudden distemper of your husband's? Has he
lost his wealth at sea? Or is it the death of some dear friend that
has disturbed his mind?" Adriana replied that no such things as these
had been the cause. "Perhaps," said the abbess, "he has fixed his
affections on some other lady than you his wife; and that has driven
him to this state." Adriana said she had long thought the love of some
other lady was the cause of his frequent absences from home. Now it
was not his love for another, but the teasing jealousy of his wife's
temper, that often obliged Antipholus to leave his home; and (the
abbess suspecting this from the vehemence of Adriana's manner) to
learn the truth, she said, "You should have reprehended him for this."
"Why, so I did," replied Adriana. "Aye," said the abbess, "but perhaps
not enough." Adriana, willing to convince the abbess that she had said
enough to Antipholus on this subject, replied, "It was the constant
subject of our conversation: in bed I would not let him sleep for
speaking of it. At table I would not let him eat for speaking of it.
When I was alone with him, I talked of nothing else; and in company I
gave him frequent hints of it. Still all my talk was how vile and bad
it was in him to love any lady better than me."
The lady abbess, having drawn this full confession from the jealous
Adriana, now said, "And therefore comes it that your husband is mad.
The venomous clamor of a jealous woman is a more deadly poison than a
mad dog's tooth. It seems his sleep was hindered by your railing; no
wonder that his head is light: and his meat was sauced with your
upbraidings; unquiet meals make ill digestions, and that has thrown
him into this fever. You say his sports were disturbed by your brawls;
being debarred from the enjoyment of society and recreation, what
could ensue but dull melancholy and comfortless despair? The
consequence is then, that your jealous fits have made your husband
mad."
Luciana would have excused her sister, saying, she always reprehended
her husband mildly; and she said to her sister, "Why do you hear these
rebukes without answering them?" But the abbess had made her so
plainly perceive her fault, that she could only answer, "She has
betrayed me to my own reproof."
Adriana, though ashamed of her own conduct, still insisted on having
her husband delivered up to her; but the abbess would suffer no person
to enter her house, nor would she deliver up this unhappy man to the
care of the jealous wife, determining herself to use gentle means for
his recovery, and she retired into her house again, and ordered her
gates to be shut against them.
During the course of this eventful day, in which so many errors had
happened from the likeness the twin brothers bore to each other, old
Ægeon's day of grace was passing away, it being now near sunset; and
at sunset he was doomed to die, if he could not pay the money.
The place of his execution was near this convent, and here he arrived
just as the abbess retired into the convent; the duke attending in
person, that if any offered to pay the money, he might be present to
pardon him.
Adriana stopped this melancholy procession and cried out to the duke
for justice, telling him that the abbess had refused to deliver up her
lunatic husband to her care. While she was speaking, her real husband
and his servant Dromio, who had got loose, came before the duke to
demand justice, complaining that his wife had confined him on a false
charge of lunacy, and telling in what manner he had broken his bands,
and eluded the vigilance of his keepers. Adriana was strangely
surprised to see her husband, when she thought he had been within the
convent.
Ægeon, seeing his son, concluded this was the son who had left him to
go in search of his mother and his brother; and he felt secure that
this dear son would readily pay the money demanded for his ransom. He
therefore spoke to Antipholus in words of fatherly affection, with
joyful hope that he should now be released. But to the utter
astonishment of Ægeon, his son denied all knowledge of him, as well he
might, for this Antipholus had never seen his father since they were
separated in the storm in his infancy; but while the poor old Ægeon
was in vain endeavoring to make his son acknowledge him, thinking
surely that either his griefs and the anxieties he had suffered had so
strangely altered him that his son did not know him, or else that he
was ashamed to acknowledge his father in his misery, in the midst of
this perplexity, the lady abbess and the other Antipholus and Dromio
came out, and the wondering Adriana saw two husbands and two Dromios
standing before her.
And now these riddling errors, which had so perplexed them all, were
clearly made out. When the duke saw the two Antipholuses and the two
Dromios both so exactly alike, he at once conjectured aright of these
seeming mysteries, for he remembered the story Ægeon had told him in
the morning; and he said, these men must be the two sons of Ægeon and
their twin slaves.
But now an unlooked-for joy, indeed, completed the history of Ægeon;
and the tale he had in the morning told in sorrow, and under sentence
of death, before the setting sun went down was brought to a happy
conclusion, for the venerable lady abbess made herself known to be the
long-lost wife of Ægeon, and the fond mother of the two Antipholuses.
When the fisherman took the eldest Antipholus and Dromio away from
her, she entered a nunnery, and by her wise and virtuous conduct she
was at length made lady abbess of this convent, and in discharging the
rites of hospitality to an unhappy stranger she had unknowingly
protected her own son.
Joyful congratulations and affectionate greetings between these long
separated parents and their children made them for a while forget that
Ægeon was yet under sentence of death; but when they were become a
little calm, Antipholus of Ephesus offered the duke the ransom money
for his father's life; but the duke freely pardoned Ægeon, and would
not take the money. And the duke went with the abbess and her newly
found husband and children into the convent, to hear this happy family
discourse at leisure of the blessed ending of their adverse fortunes.
And the two Dromios' humble joy must not be forgotten; they had their
congratulations and greetings too, and each Dromio pleasantly
complimented his brother on his good looks, being well pleased to see
his own person (as in a glass) show so handsome in his brother.
Adriana had so well profited by the good counsel of her mother-in-law
that she never after cherished unjust suspicions, or was jealous of
her husband.
Antipholus of Syracuse married the fair Luciana, the sister of his
brother's wife; and the good old Ægeon, with his wife and sons, lived
at Ephesus many years. Nor did the unraveling of these perplexities so
entirely remove every ground of mistake for the future, but that
sometimes, to remind them of adventures past, comical blunders would
happen, and the one Antipholus and the one Dromio be mistaken for the
other, making altogether a pleasant and diverting Comedy of Errors.
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
_By Charles and Mary Lamb_
Shylock, the Jew, lived at Venice: he was an usurer, who had amassed
an immense fortune by lending money at great interest to Christian
merchants. Shylock, being a hard-hearted man, exacted the payment of
the money he lent with such severity that he was much disliked by all
good men, and particularly by Antonio, a young merchant of Venice; and
Shylock as much hated Antonio, because he used to lend money to people
in distress, and would never take any interest for the money he lent;
therefore there was great enmity between this covetous Jew and the
generous merchant, Antonio. Whenever Antonio met Shylock on the Rialto
(or Exchange) he used to reproach him with his usuries and hard
dealings, which the Jew would bear with seeming patience, while he
secretly meditated revenge.
Antonio was the kindest man that lived, the best-conditioned, and had
the most unwearied spirit in doing courtesies; indeed he was one in
whom the ancient Roman honor more appeared than in any that drew
breath in Italy. He was greatly beloved by all his fellow-citizens;
but the friend who was nearest and dearest to his heart was Bassanio,
a noble Venetian, who, having but a small patrimony, had nearly
exhausted his little fortune by living in too expensive a manner for
his slender means, as young men of high rank with small fortunes are
too apt to do. Whenever Bassanio wanted money, Antonio assisted him;
and it seemed as if they had but one heart and one purse between them.
One day Bassanio came to Antonio, and told him that he wished to
repair his fortune by a wealthy marriage with a lady whom he dearly
loved, whose father, that was lately dead, had left her sole heiress
to a large estate; and that in her father's lifetime he used to visit
at her house, when he thought he had observed this lady had sometimes
from her eyes sent speechless messages that seemed to say he would be
no unwelcome suitor; but not having money to furnish himself with an
appearance befitting the lover of so rich an heiress, he besought
Antonio to add to the many favors he had shown him, by lending him
three thousand ducats.
Antonio had no money by him at that time to lend his friend; but
expecting soon to have some ships come home laden with merchandise, he
said he would go to Shylock, the rich money-lender, and borrow the
money upon the credit of those ships.
Antonio and Bassanio went together to Shylock, and Antonio asked the
Jew to lend him three thousand ducats upon any interest he should
require, to be paid out of the merchandise contained in his ships at
sea. On this, Shylock thought within himself, "If I can once catch him
on the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him: he hates
our Jewish nation; he lends out money gratis; and among the merchants
he rails at me and my well-earned bargains which he calls interest.
Cursed be my tribe if I forgive him!" Antonio, finding he was musing
within himself and did not answer, and being impatient for the money,
said, "Shylock, do you hear? will you lend the money?" To this
question the Jew replied, "Signior Antonio, on the Rialto many a time
and often you have railed at me about my moneys and my usuries, and I
have borne it with a patient shrug, for sufferance is the badge of all
our tribe; and then you have called me unbeliever, cutthroat dog, and
spit upon my Jewish garments, and spurned at me with your foot as if I
was a cur. Well then, it now appears you need my help; and you come to
me, and say, _Shylock, lend me moneys_. Has a dog money? Is it
possible a cur should lend three thousand ducats? Shall I bend low and
say, Fair sir, you spit upon me on Wednesday last, another time you
called me dog, and for these courtesies I am to lend you moneys?"
Antonio replied, "I am as like to call you so again, to spit on you
again, and spurn you too. If you will lend me this money, lend it not
to me as to a friend, but rather lend it to me as to an enemy, that,
if I break, you may with better face exact the penalty."--"Why look
you," said Shylock, "how you storm! I would be friends with you, and
have your love. I will forget the shames you have put upon me. I will
supply your wants, and take no interest for my money." This seemingly
kind offer greatly surprised Antonio; and then Shylock, still
pretending kindness, and that all he did was to gain Antonio's love,
again said he would lend him the three thousand ducats, and take no
interest for his money; only Antonio should go with him to a lawyer,
and there sign in merry sport a bond, that if he did not repay the
money by a certain day, he would forfeit a pound of flesh, to be cut
off from any part of his body that Shylock pleased.
"Content," said Antonio; "I will sign to this bond and say there is
much kindness in the Jew."
Bassanio said Antonio should not sign to such a bond for him; but
still Antonio insisted that he would sign it, for that before the day
of payment came, his ships would return laden with many times the
value of the money.
Shylock, hearing this debate, exclaimed, "O father Abraham, what
suspicious people these Christians are. Their own hard dealings teach
them to suspect the thoughts of others. I pray you tell me this,
Bassanio: if he should break this day, what should I gain by the
exaction of this forfeiture? A pound of man's flesh taken from a man
is not so estimable, nor profitable neither, as the flesh of mutton or
of beef. I say, to buy his favor, I offer this friendship: if he will
take it, so; if not, adieu."
At last, against the advice of Bassanio, who, notwithstanding all the
Jew had said of his kind intention, did not like his friend should run
the hazard of this shocking penalty for his sake, Antonio signed the
bond, thinking it really was (as the Jew said) merely in sport.
The rich heiress that Bassanio wished to marry lived near Venice, at a
place called Belmont; her name was Portia, and in the graces of her
person and her mind she was nothing inferior to that Portia, of whom
we read, who was Cato's daughter and the wife of Brutus.
Bassanio--being so kindly supplied with money by his friend Antonio,
at the hazard of his life--set out for Belmont with a splendid train,
and attended by a gentleman of the name of Gratiano.
Bassanio proving successful in his suit, Portia in a short time
consented to accept of him for a husband.
Bassanio confessed to Portia that he had no fortune, and that his high
birth and noble ancestry was all that he could boast of; she, who
loved him for his worthy qualities, and had riches enough not to
regard wealth in a husband, answered with a graceful modesty that she
would wish herself a thousand times more fair, and ten thousand times
more rich, to be more worthy of him; and then the accomplished Portia
prettily dispraised herself, and said she was an unlessoned girl,
unschooled, unpracticed, yet not so old but that she could learn, and
that she would commit her gentle spirit to be directed and governed by
him in all things; and she said, "Myself and what is mine, to you and
yours is now converted. But yesterday, Bassanio, I was the lady of
this fair mansion, queen of myself, and mistress over these servants;
and now this house, these servants, and myself, are yours, my lord; I
give them with this ring," presenting a ring to Bassanio.
Bassanio was so overpowered with gratitude and wonder at the gracious
manner in which the rich and noble Portia accepted of a man of his
humble fortunes, that he could not express his joy and reverence to
the dear lady who so honored him, by anything but broken words of love
and thankfulness; and taking the ring, he vowed never to part with it.
Gratiano and Nerissa, Portia's waiting-maid, were in attendance upon
their lord and lady, when Portia so gracefully promised to become the
obedient wife of Bassanio; and Gratiano, wishing Bassanio and the
generous lady joy, desired permission to be married at the same time.
"With all my heart, Gratiano," said Bassanio, "if you can get a wife."
Gratiano then said that he loved the lady Portia's fair waiting
gentlewoman Nerissa, and that she had promised to be his wife, if her
lady married Bassanio. Portia asked Nerissa if this was true. Nerissa
replied, "Madam, it is so, if you approve of it." Portia willingly
consenting, Bassanio pleasantly said, "Then our wedding feast shall be
much honored by your marriage, Gratiano."
The happiness of these lovers was sadly crossed at this moment by the
entrance of a messenger, who brought a letter from Antonio containing
fearful tidings. When Bassanio read Antonio's letter, Portia feared it
was to tell him of the death of some dear friend, he looked so pale;
and inquiring what was the news which had so distressed him, he said,
"O sweet Portia, here are a few of the unpleasantest words that ever
blotted paper: gentle lady, when I first imparted my love to you, I
freely told you all the wealth I had ran in my veins; but I should
have told you that I had less than nothing, being in debt." Bassanio
then told Portia what has been here related, of his borrowing the
money of Antonio, and of Antonio's procuring it of Shylock the Jew,
and of the bond by which Antonio had engaged to forfeit a pound of
flesh, if it was not repaid by a certain day: and then Bassanio read
Antonio's letter, the words of which were, "Sweet Bassanio, my ships
are all lost, my bond to the Jew is forfeited, and since in paying it
is impossible I should live, I could wish to see you at my death;
notwithstanding, use your pleasure; if your love for me do not
persuade you to come, let not my letter."
"O my dear love," said Portia, "dispatch all business, and be gone;
you shall have gold to pay the money twenty times over, before this
kind-hearted friend shall lose a hair by my Bassanio's fault; and as
you are so dearly bought, I will dearly love you." Portia then said
she would be married to Bassanio before he set out, to give him a
legal right to her money; and that same day they were married, and
Gratiano was also married to Nerissa; and Bassanio and Gratiano, the
instant they were married, set out in great haste for Venice, where
Bassanio found Antonio in prison.
The day of payment being past, the cruel Jew would not accept of the
money which Bassanio offered him, but insisted upon having a pound of
Antonio's flesh. A day was appointed to try this shocking cause before
the duke of Venice, and Bassanio awaited in dreadful suspense the
event of the trial.
When Portia parted with her husband, she spoke cheeringly to him, and
bade him bring his dear friend along with him when he returned; yet
she feared it would go hard with Antonio, and when she was left alone,
she began to think and consider within herself, if she could by any
means be instrumental in saving the life of her dear Bassanio's
friend; and notwithstanding, when she wished to honor her Bassanio,
she had said to him with such a meek and wifelike grace that she would
submit in all things to be governed by his superior wisdom, yet being
now called forth into action by the peril of her honored husband's
friend, she did nothing doubt her own powers, and by the sole guidance
of her own true and perfect judgment, at once resolved to go herself
to Venice, and speak in Antonio's defense.
Portia had a relation who was a counselor in the law. To this
gentleman, whose name was Bellario, she wrote; and stating the case to
him, desired his opinion, and that with his advice he would also send
her the dress worn by a counselor. When the messenger returned he
brought letters from Bellario of advice how to proceed, and also
everything necessary for her equipment.
Portia dressed herself and her maid Nerissa in men's apparel, and
putting on the robes of a counselor, she took Nerissa along with her
as her clerk; and setting out immediately, they arrived at Venice on
the very day of the trial. The cause was just going to be heard before
the duke and senators of Venice in the senate house, when Portia
entered this high court of justice, and presented a letter from
Bellario, in which that learned counselor wrote to the duke, saying,
he would have come himself to plead for Antonio, but that he was
prevented by sickness, and he requested that the learned young doctor
Balthasar (so he called Portia) might be permitted to plead in his
stead. This the duke granted, much wondering at the youthful
appearance of the stranger, who was prettily disguised by her
counselor's robes and her large wig.
And now began this important trial. Portia looked around her, and she
saw the merciless Jew; and she saw Bassanio, but he knew her not in
her disguise. He was standing beside Antonio, in an agony of distress
and fear for his friend.
The importance of the arduous task Portia had engaged in gave this
tender lady courage, and she boldly proceeded in the duty she had
undertaken to perform: and first of all she addressed herself to
Shylock; and allowing that he had a right by the Venetian law to have
the forfeit expressed in the bond, she spoke so sweetly of the noble
quality of _mercy_ as would have softened any heart but the unfeeling
Shylock's; saying, that it dropped as the gentle rain from heaven upon
the place beneath; and how mercy was a double blessing, it blessed him
that gave, and him that received it: and how it became monarchs better
than their crowns, being an attribute of God himself; and that earthly
power came nearest to God's in proportion as mercy tempered justice;
and she bid Shylock remember that as we all pray for mercy, that same
prayer should teach us to show mercy. Shylock only answered her by
desiring to have the penalty forfeited in the bond. "Is he not able to
pay the money?" asked Portia. Bassanio then offered the Jew the
payment of the three thousand ducats as many times over as he should
desire; which Shylock refusing, and still insisting upon having a
pound of Antonio's flesh, Bassanio begged the learned young counselor
would endeavor to wrest the law a little, to save Antonio's life. But
Portia gravely answered, that laws once established must never be
altered. Shylock hearing Portia say that the law might not be altered,
it seemed to him that she was pleading in his favor, and he said, "A
Daniel is come to judgment! O wise young judge, how I do honor you!
How much elder are you than your looks?"
Portia now desired Shylock to let her look at the bond: and when she
had read it, she said, "This bond is forfeited, and by this the Jew
may lawfully claim a pound of flesh, to be by him cut off nearest
Antonio's heart." Then said she to Shylock, "Be merciful: take the
money, and bid me tear the bond." But no mercy would the cruel Shylock
show; and he said, "By my soul I swear, there is no power in the
tongue of man to alter me." "Why, then, Antonio," said Portia, "you
must prepare your bosom for the knife;" and while Shylock was
sharpening a long knife with great eagerness to cut off the pound of
flesh, Portia said to Antonio, "Have you anything to say?" Antonio,
with a calm resignation, replied that he had but little to say, for
that he had prepared his mind for death. Then he said to Bassanio,
"Give me your hand, Bassanio! Fare you well! Grieve not that I am
fallen into this misfortune for you. Commend me to your honorable
wife, and tell her how I have loved you!" Bassanio in the deepest
affliction replied, "Antonio, I am married to a wife who is as dear to
me as life itself; but life itself, my wife, and all the world are not
esteemed with me above your life: I would lose all, I would sacrifice
all to this devil here, to deliver you."
Portia, hearing this, though the kind-hearted lady was not at all
offended with her husband for expressing the love he owed to so true a
friend as Antonio in these strong terms, yet could not help answering,
"Your wife would give you little thanks, if she were present, to hear
you make this offer." And then Gratiano, who loved to copy what his
lord did, thought he must make a speech like Bassanio's, and he said,
in Nerissa's hearing, who was writing in her clerk's dress by the side
of Portia, "I have a wife, whom I protest I love; I wish she were in
heaven, if she could but entreat some power there to change the cruel
temper of this currish Jew." "It is well you wish this behind her
back, else you would have but an unquiet house," said Nerissa.
Shylock now cried out impatiently, "We trifle time; I pray pronounce
the sentence." And now all was awful expectation in the court, and
every heart was full of grief for Antonio.
Portia asked if the scales were ready to weigh the flesh; and she said
to the Jew, "Shylock, you must have some surgeon by, lest he bleed to
death." Shylock, whose whole intent was that Antonio should bleed to
death, said, "It is not so named in the bond." Portia replied, "It is
not so named in the bond, but what of that? It were good you did so
much for charity." To this all the answer Shylock would make was, "I
cannot find it; it is not in the bond." "Then," said Portia, "a pound
of Antonio's flesh is thine. The law allows it, and the court awards
it. And you may cut this flesh from off his breast. The law allows it,
and the court awards it." Again Shylock exclaimed, "O wise and upright
judge! A Daniel is come to judgment!" And then he sharpened his long
knife again, and looking eagerly on Antonio, he said, "Come, prepare!"
"Tarry a little, Jew," said Portia; "there is something else. This
bond here gives you no drop of blood; the words expressly are, 'a
pound of flesh,' If in the cutting off the pound of flesh you shed one
drop of Christian blood, your land and goods are by the law to be
confiscated to the state of Venice." Now as it was utterly impossible
for Shylock to cut off the pound of flesh without shedding some of
Antonio's blood, this wise discovery of Portia's, that it was flesh
and not blood that was named in the bond, saved the life of Antonio;
and all admiring the wonderful sagacity of the young counselor, who
had so happily thought of this expedient, plaudits resounded from
every part of the senate-house; and Gratiano exclaimed, in words which
Shylock had used, "O wise and upright judge! mark, Jew, a Daniel is
come to judgment!"
Shylock, finding himself defeated in his cruel intent said, with a
disappointed look, that he would take the money; and Bassanio,
rejoiced beyond measure at Antonio's unexpected deliverance, cried
out, "Here is the money!" But Portia stopped him, saying, "Softly;
there is no haste; the Jew shall have nothing but the penalty:
therefore prepare, Shylock, to cut off the flesh; but mind you shed no
blood; nor do not cut off more nor less than just a pound; be it more
or less by one poor scruple, nay, if the scale turn but by the weight
of a single hair, you are condemned by the laws of Venice to die, and
all your wealth is forfeit to the senate."
"Give me my money, and let me go," said Shylock. "I have it ready,"
said Bassanio; "here it is."
Shylock was going to take the money, when Portia again stopped him,
saying, "Tarry, Jew; I have yet another hold upon you. By the laws of
Venice, your wealth is forfeit to the state, for having conspired
against the life of one of its citizens, and your life lies at the
mercy of the duke; therefore down on your knees, and ask him to pardon
you."
The duke then said to Shylock, "That you may see the difference of our
Christian spirit, I pardon you your life before you ask it; half your
wealth belongs to Antonio, the other half comes to the state."
The generous Antonio then said that he would give up his share of
Shylock's wealth, if Shylock would sign a deed to make it over at his
death to his daughter and her husband; for Antonio knew that the Jew
had an only daughter, who had lately married against his consent to a
young Christian, named Lorenzo, a friend of Antonio's, which had so
offended Shylock that he had disinherited her.
The Jew agreed to this; and being thus disappointed in his revenge and
despoiled of his riches, he said, "I am ill. Let me go home; send the
deed after me, and I will sign over half my riches to my
daughter."--"Get thee gone, then," said the duke, "and sign it; and if
you repent your cruelty and turn Christian, the state will forgive you
the fine of the other half of your riches."
The duke now released Antonio, and dismissed the court. He then highly
praised the wisdom and ingenuity of the young counselor, and invited
him home to dinner. Portia, who meant to return to Belmont before her
husband, replied, "I humbly thank your grace, but I must away
directly." The duke said he was sorry he had not leisure to stay and
dine with him; and turning to Antonio, he added, "Reward this
gentleman; for in my mind you are much indebted to him."
The duke and his senators left the court; and then Bassanio said to
Portia, "Most worthy gentleman, I and my friend Antonio have by your
wisdom been this day acquitted of grievous penalties, and I beg you
will accept of the three thousand ducats due unto the Jew." "And we
shall stand indebted to you over and above," said Antonio, "in love
and service evermore."
Portia could not be prevailed upon to accept the money; but upon
Bassanio still pressing her to accept some reward, she said, "Give me
your gloves; I will wear them for your sake;" and then, Bassanio
taking off his gloves, she espied the ring which she had given him
upon his finger: now it was the ring the wily lady wanted to get from
him to make a merry jest when she saw her Bassanio again, that made
her ask him for his gloves; and she said, when she saw the ring, "And
for your love I will take this ring from you." Bassanio was sadly
distressed, that the counselor should ask him for the only thing he
could not part with, and he replied in great confusion that he could
not give him that ring, because it was his wife's gift, and he had
vowed never to part with it; but that he would give him the most
valuable ring in Venice, and find it out by proclamation. On this
Portia affected to be affronted, and left the court, saying, "You
teach me, sir, how a beggar should be answered."
"Dear Bassanio," said Antonio, "let him have the ring; let my love and
the great service he has done for me be valued against your wife's
displeasure." Bassanio, ashamed to appear too ungrateful, yielded, and
sent Gratiano after Portia with the ring; and then the _clerk_
Nerissa, who had also given Gratiano a ring, she begged his ring, and
Gratiano (not choosing to be out-done in generosity by his lord) gave
it to her. And there was laughing among these ladies, to think when
they got home how they would tax their husbands with giving away their
rings, and swear that they had given them as a present to some woman.
Portia, when she returned, was in that happy temper of mind which
never fails to attend the consciousness of having performed a good
action; her cheerful spirits enjoyed everything she saw: the moon
never seemed to shine so bright before; and when that pleasant moon
was hid behind a cloud, then a light which she saw from her house at
Belmont as well pleased her charmed fancy, and she said to Nerissa,
"That light we see is burning in my hall; how far that little candle
throws its beams, so shines a good deed in a naughty world;" and
hearing the sound of music from her house, she said, "Methinks that
music sounds much sweeter than by day."
And now Portia and Nerissa entered the house, and dressing themselves
in their own apparel, they awaited the arrival of their husbands, who
soon followed them with Antonio; and Bassanio presenting his dear
friend to the lady Portia, the congratulations and welcomings of that
lady were hardly over, when they perceived Nerissa and her husband
quarreling in a corner of the room. "A quarrel already?" said Portia.
"What is the matter?" Gratiano replied, "Lady, it is about a paltry
gilt ring that Nerissa gave me, with words upon it like the poetry on
a cutler's knife, _Love me, and leave me not_."
"What does the poetry or the value of the ring signify?" said Nerissa.
"You swore to me when I gave it to you, that you would keep it till
the hour of death; and now you say you gave it to the lawyer's clerk.
I know you gave it to a woman."--"By this hand," replied Gratiano, "I
gave it to a youth, a kind of boy, a little scrubbed boy, no higher
than yourself; he was clerk to the young counselor that by his wise
pleading saved Antonio's life: this prating boy begged it for a fee,
and I could not for my life deny him." Portia said, "You were to
blame, Gratiano, to part with your wife's first gift. I gave my lord
Bassanio a ring, and I am sure he would not part with it for all the
world." Gratiano, in excuse for his fault, now said, "My lord Bassanio
gave his ring away to the counselor, and then the boy, his clerk, that
took some pains in writing, he begged my ring."
Portia, hearing this, seemed very angry, and reproached Bassanio for
giving away her ring; and she said Nerissa had taught her what to
believe, and that she knew some woman had the ring. Bassanio was very
unhappy to have so offended his dear lady, and he said with great
earnestness, "No, by my honor, no woman had it, but a civil doctor,
who refused three thousand ducats of me, and begged the ring, which,
when I denied him, he went displeased away. What could I do, sweet
Portia? I was so beset with shame for my seeming ingratitude, that I
was forced to send the ring after him. Pardon me, good lady; had you
been there, I think you would have begged the ring of me to give the
worthy doctor."
"Ah!" said Antonio, "I am the unhappy cause of these quarrels!"
Portia bid Antonio not to grieve at that, for that he was welcome
notwithstanding; and then Antonio said, "I once did lend my body for
Bassanio's sake; and but for him to whom your husband gave the ring, I
should have now been dead. I dare be bound again, my soul upon the
forfeit, your lord will nevermore break his faith with you."--"Then
you shall be his surety," said Portia; "give him this ring, and bid
him keep it better than the other."
When Bassanio looked at this ring, he was strangely surprised to find
it the same he gave away; and then Portia told him how she was the
young counselor, and Nerissa was her clerk; and Bassanio found, to his
unspeakable wonder and delight, that it was by the noble courage and
wisdom of his wife that Antonio's life was saved.
And Portia again welcomed Antonio, and gave him letters which by some
chance had fallen into her hands, which contained an account of
Antonio's ships, that were supposed lost, being safely arrived in the
harbor. So these tragical beginnings of this rich merchant's story
were all forgotten in the unexpected good fortune which ensued; and
there was leisure to laugh at the comical adventure of the rings, and
the husbands that did not know their own wives: Gratiano merrily
swearing, in a sort of rhyming speech, that--
"while he lived, he'd fear no other thing
So sore, as keeping safe Nerissa's ring."
THE TEMPEST
_By Charles and Mary Lamb_
There was a certain island in the sea, the only inhabitants of which
were an old man, whose name was Prospero, and his daughter Miranda, a
very beautiful young lady. She came to this island so young that she
had no memory of having seen any other human face than her father's.
They lived in a cave or cell, made out of a rock; it was divided into
several apartments, one of which Prospero called his study; there he
kept his books, which chiefly treated of magic, a study at that time
much affected by all learned men: and the knowledge of this art he
found very useful to him; for, being thrown by a strange chance upon
this island, which had been enchanted by a witch called Sycorax, who
died there a short time before his arrival, Prospero, by virtue of his
art, released many good spirits that Sycorax had imprisoned in the
bodies of large trees, because they had refused to execute her wicked
commands. These gentle spirits were ever after obedient to the will of
Prospero. Of these Ariel was the chief.
The lively little sprite Ariel had nothing mischievous in his nature,
except that he took rather too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly
monster called Caliban, for he owed him a grudge because he was the
son of his old enemy Scyorax. This Caliban Prospero found in the
woods, a strange, misshapen thing, far less human in form than an ape:
he took him home to his cell, and taught him to speak; and Prospero
would have been very kind to him, but the bad nature which Caliban
inherited from his mother Scyorax would not let him learn anything
good or useful: therefore he was employed like a slave, to fetch wood,
and do the most laborious offices; and Ariel had the charge of
compelling him to these services.
When Caliban was lazy and neglected his work, Ariel (who was invisible
to all eyes but Prospero's) would come slyly and pinch him, and
sometimes tumble him down in the mire; and then Ariel, in the likeness
of an ape, would make mouths at him. Then swiftly changing his shape,
in the likeness of a hedgehog he would lie tumbling in Caliban's way,
who feared the hedgehog's sharp quills would prick his bare feet. With
a variety of such like vexatious tricks Ariel would often torment him,
whenever Caliban neglected the work which Prospero commanded him to
do.
Having these powerful spirits obedient to his will, Prospero could by
their means command the winds, and the waves of the sea. By his orders
they raised a violent storm, in the midst of which, and struggling
with the wild sea waves that every moment threatened to swallow it up,
he showed his daughter a fine large ship, which he told her was full
of living beings like themselves. "O my dear father," said she, "if by
your art you have raised this dreadful storm, have pity on their sad
distress. See! the vessel will be dashed to pieces. Poor souls! they
will all perish. If I had power, I would sink the sea beneath the
earth, rather than the good ship should be destroyed, with all the
precious souls within her."
[Illustration: THE VESSEL WILL BE DASHED TO PIECES]
"Be not so amazed, daughter Miranda," said Prospero; "there is no harm
done. I have so ordered it, that no person in the ship shall receive
any hurt. What I have done has been in care of you, my dear child. You
are ignorant who you are, or where you came from, and you know no more
of me but that I am your father and live in this poor cave. Can you
remember a time before you came to this cell? I think you cannot, for
you were not then three years of age."
"Certainly I can, sir," replied Miranda.
"By what?" asked Prospero; "by any other house or person? Tell me what
you can remember, my child."
Miranda said, "It seems to me like the recollection of a dream. But
had I not once four or five women who attended upon me?"
Prospero answered, "You had, and more. How is it that this still lives
in your mind? Do you remember how you came here?"
"No, sir," said Miranda, "I remember nothing more."
"Twelve years ago, Miranda," continued Prospero, "I was duke of Milan,
and you were a princess, and my only heir. I had a younger brother,
whose name was Antonio, to whom I trusted everything; and as I was
fond of retirement and deep study, I commonly left the management of
my state affairs to your uncle, my false brother (for so indeed he
proved). I, neglecting all worldly ends, buried among my books, did
dedicate my whole time to the bettering of my mind. My brother Antonio
being thus in possession of my power, began to think himself the duke
indeed. The opportunity I gave him of making himself popular among my
subjects awakened in his bad nature a proud ambition to deprive me of
my dukedom: this he soon effected with the aid of the king of Naples,
a powerful prince, who was my enemy."
"Wherefore," said Miranda, "did they not that hour destroy us?"
"My child," answered her father, "they durst not, so dear was the love
that my people bore me. Antonio carried us on board a ship, and when
we were some leagues out at sea, he forced us into a small boat
without either tackle, sail, or mast; there he left us, as he thought,
to perish. But a kind lord of my court, one Gonzalo, who loved me, had
privately placed in the boat water, provisions, apparel, and some
books which I prize above my dukedom."
"O my father," said Miranda, "what a trouble must I have been to you
then!"
"No, my love," said Prospero, "you were a little cherub that did
preserve me. Your innocent smiles made me to bear up against my
misfortunes. Our food lasted till we landed on this desert island,
since when my chief delight has been in teaching you, Miranda, and
well have you profited by my instructions."
"Heaven thank you, my dear father," said Miranda. "Now pray tell me,
sir, your reason for raising this sea storm?"
"Know, then," said her father, "that by means of this storm my
enemies, the king of Naples and my cruel brother, are cast ashore upon
this island."
Having so said, Prospero gently touched his daughter with his magic
wand, and she fell fast asleep; for the spirit Ariel just then
presented himself before his master, to give an account of the
tempest, and how he had disposed of the ship's company; and, though
the spirits were always invisible to Miranda, Prospero did not choose
she should hear him holding converse (as would seem to her) with the
empty air.
"Well, my brave spirit," said Prospero to Ariel, "how have you
performed your task?"
Ariel gave a lively description of the storm, and the terrors of the
mariners; and how the king's son, Ferdinand, was the first who leaped
into the sea; and his father thought he saw his dear son swallowed up
by the waves and lost. "But he is safe," said Ariel, "in a corner of
the isle, sitting with his arms folded, sadly lamenting the loss of
the king his father, whom he concludes drowned. Not a hair of his head
is injured, and his princely garments, though drenched in the sea
waves, look fresher than before."
"That's my delicate Ariel," said Prospero. "Bring him hither; my
daughter must see this young prince. Where is the king, and my
brother?"
"I left them," answered Ariel, "searching for Ferdinand, whom they
have little hopes of finding, thinking they saw him perish. Of the
ship's crew not one is missing; though each one thinks himself the
only one saved; and the ship, though invisible to them, is safe in the
harbor."
"Ariel," said Prospero, "thy charge is faithfully performed; but there
is more work yet."
"Is there more work?" said Ariel. "Let me remind you, master, you have
promised me my liberty. I pray, remember, I have done you worthy
service, told you no lies, made no mistakes, served you without grudge
or grumbling."
"How now!" said Prospero. "You do not recollect what a torment I freed
you from. Have you forgot the wicked witch Sycorax, who with age and
envy was almost bent double? Where was she born? Speak; tell me."
"Sir, in Algiers," said Ariel.
"Oh, was she so?" said Prospero. "I must recount what you have been,
which I find you do not remember. This bad witch, Sycorax, for her
witchcrafts, too terrible to enter human hearing, was banished from
Algiers, and here left by the sailors; and because you were a spirit
too delicate to execute her wicked commands, she shut you up in a
tree, where I found you howling. This torment, remember, I did free
you from."
"Pardon me, dear master," said Ariel, ashamed to seem ungrateful; "I
will obey your commands."
"Do so," said Prospero, "and I will set you free." He then gave orders
what further he would have him do; and away went Ariel, first to where
he had left Ferdinand, and found him still sitting on the grass in the
same melancholy posture.
"O my young gentleman," said Ariel, when he saw him, "I will soon move
you. You must be brought, I find, for the lady Miranda to have a sight
of your pretty person. Come, sir, follow me." He then began singing,
"Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Hark, now I hear them--Ding-dong-bell."
This strange news of his lost father soon roused the prince from the
stupid fit into which he had fallen. He followed in amazement the
sound of Ariel's voice till it led him to Prospero and Miranda, who
were sitting under the shade of a large tree. Now, Miranda had never
seen a man before, except her own father.
"Miranda," said Prospero, "tell me what you are looking at yonder."
"O father," said Miranda in a strange surprise, "surely that is a
spirit. Lord! how it looks about! Believe me, sir, it is a beautiful
creature. Is it not a spirit?"
"No, girl," answered her father; "it eats, and sleeps, and has senses
such as we have. This young man you see was in the ship. He is
somewhat altered by grief, or you might call him a handsome person. He
has lost his companions, and is wandering about to find them."
Miranda, who thought all men had grave faces and gray beards like her
father, was delighted with the appearance of this beautiful young
prince; and Ferdinand, seeing such a lovely lady in this desert place,
and, from the strange sounds he had heard, expecting nothing but
wonders, thought he was upon an enchanted island, and that Miranda was
the goddess of the place, and as such he began to address her.
She timidly answered, she was no goddess, but a simple maid, and was
going to give him an account of herself, when Prospero interrupted
her. He was well pleased to find they admired each other, for he
plainly perceived they had (as we say) fallen in love at first sight,
but to try Ferdinand's constancy, he resolved to throw some
difficulties in their way; therefore, advancing forward, he addressed
the prince with a stern air, telling him he came to the island as a
spy, to take it from him who was the lord of it. "Follow me," said he;
"I will tie you neck and feet together. You shall drink sea-water;
shellfish, withered roots, and husks of acorns shall be your food."
"No," said Ferdinand, "I will resist such entertainment, till I see a
more powerful enemy," and drew his sword; but Prospero, waving his
magic wand, fixed him to the spot where he stood, so that he had no
power to move.
Miranda hung upon her father, saying, "Why are you so ungentle? Have
pity, sir; I will be his surety. This is the second man I ever saw,
and to me he seems a true one."
"Silence," said the father; "one word more will make me chide you,
girl! What! an advocate for an impostor! You think there are no more
such fine men, having seen only him and Caliban. I tell you, foolish
girl, most men as far excel this, as he does Caliban." This he said to
prove his daughter's constancy; and she replied, "My affections are
most humble. I have no wish to see a goodlier man."
"Come on, young man," said Prospero to the prince; "you have no power
to disobey me."
"I have not, indeed," answered Ferdinand; and not knowing that it was
by magic he was deprived of all power of resistance, he was astonished
to find himself so strangely compelled to follow Prospero: looking
back on Miranda as long as he could see her, he said, as he went after
Prospero into the cave, "My spirits are all bound up, as if I were in
a dream; but this man's threats, and the weakness which I feel, would
seem light to me if from my prison I might once a day behold this fair
maid."
Prospero kept Ferdinand not long confined within the cell: he soon
brought out his prisoner, and set him a severe task to perform, taking
care to let his daughter know the hard labor he had imposed on him,
and then pretending to go into his study, he secretly watched them
both.
Prospero had commanded Ferdinand to pile up some heavy logs of wood.
Kings' sons not being much used to laborious work, Miranda soon after
found her lover almost dying with fatigue. "Alas!" said she, "do not
work so hard; my father is at his studies,--he is safe for these three
hours; pray rest yourself."
"O my dear lady," said Ferdinand, "I dare not. I must finish my task
before I take my rest."
"If you will sit down," said Miranda, "I will carry your logs the
while." But this Ferdinand would by no means agree to. Instead of a
help Miranda became a hindrance, for they began a long conversation,
so that the business of log-carrying went on very slowly.
Prospero, who had enjoined Ferdinand this task merely as a trial of
his love, was not at his books, as his daughter supposed, but was
standing by them invisible to overhear what they said.
Ferdinand inquired her name, which she told, saying it was against her
father's express command she did so.
Prospero only smiled at this first instance of his daughter's
disobedience, for having by his magic art caused his daughter to fall
in love so suddenly, he was not angry that she showed her love by
forgetting to obey his commands. And he listened well pleased to a
long speech of Ferdinand's, in which he professed to love her above
all the ladies he ever saw.
In answer to his praises of her beauty, which he said exceeded all the
women in the world, she replied, "I do not remember the face of any
woman, nor have I seen any more men than you, my good friend, and my
dear father. How features are abroad, I know not; but, believe me,
sir, I would not wish any companion in the world but you, nor can my
imagination form any shape but yours that I could like. But, sir, I
fear I talk to you too freely, and my father's precepts I forget."
At this Prospero smiled, and nodded his head, as much as to say, "This
goes on exactly as I could wish: my girl will be queen of Naples."
And then Ferdinand, in another fine long speech (for young princes
speak in courtly phrases), told the innocent Miranda he was heir to
the crown of Naples, and that she should be his queen.
"Ah! sir," said she, "I am a fool to weep at what I am glad of. I will
answer you in plain and holy innocence. I am your wife, if you will
marry me."
Prospero prevented Ferdinand's thanks by appearing visible before
them.
"Fear nothing, my child," said he; "I have overheard, and approve of
all you have said. And, Ferdinand, if I have too severely used you, I
will make you rich amends by giving you my daughter. All your
vexations were but trials of your love, and you have nobly stood the
test. Then as my gift, which your true love has worthily purchased,
take my daughter, and do not smile that I boast she is above all
praise." He then, telling them that he had business which required his
presence, desired they would sit down and talk together till he
returned; and this command Miranda seemed not at all disposed to
disobey.
When Prospero left them, he called his spirit Ariel, who quickly
appeared before him, eager to relate what he had done with Prospero's
brother and the king of Naples. Ariel said he had left them almost out
of their senses with fear at the strange things he had caused them to
see and hear. When fatigued with wandering about, and famished for
want of food, he had suddenly set before them a delicious banquet, and
then, just as they were going to eat, he appeared visible before them
in the shape of a harpy, a voracious monster with wings, and the feast
vanished away. Then, to their utter amazement, this seeming harpy
spoke to them, reminding them of their cruelty in driving Prospero
from his dukedom, and leaving him and his infant daughter to perish in
the sea; saying that for this cause these terrors were suffered to
afflict them.
The king of Naples and Antonio, the false brother, repented the
injustice they had done to Prospero; and Ariel told his master he was
certain their penitence was sincere, and that he, though a spirit,
could not but pity them.
"Then bring them hither, Ariel," said Prospero; "if you, who are but a
spirit, feel for their distress, shall not I, who am a human being
like themselves, have compassion on them? Bring them quickly, my
dainty Ariel."
Ariel soon returned with the king, Antonio, and old Gonzalo in their
train, who had followed him, wondering at the wild music he played in
the air to draw them on to his master's presence. This Gonzalo was the
same who had so kindly provided Prospero formerly with books and
provisions, when his wicked brother left him, as he thought, to perish
in an open boat in the sea.
Grief and terror had so stupefied their senses that they did not know
Prospero. He first discovered himself to the good old Gonzalo, calling
him the preserver of his life; and then his brother and the king knew
that he was the injured Prospero.
Antonio, with tears and sad words of sorrow and true repentance,
implored his brother's forgiveness; and the king expressed his sincere
remorse for having assisted Antonio to depose his brother; and
Prospero forgave them, and upon their engaging to restore his dukedom,
he said to the king of Naples, "I have a gift in store for you, too;"
and, opening a door, showed him his son Ferdinand playing at chess
with Miranda.
Nothing could exceed the joy of the father and the son at this
unexpected meeting, for they each thought the other drowned in the
storm.
"O wonder!" said Miranda, "what noble creatures these are! It must
surely be a brave world that has such people in it."
The king of Naples was almost as much astonished at the beauty and the
excellent graces of the young Miranda as his son had been. "Who is
this maid?" said he; "she seems the goddess that has parted us and
brought us thus together." "No, sir," answered Ferdinand, smiling to
find his father had fallen into the same mistake that he had made when
he first saw Miranda, "she is a mortal, but by immortal Providence she
is mine; I chose her when I could not ask you, my father, for your
consent, not thinking you were alive. She is the daughter to this
Prospero, who is the famous duke of Milan, of whose renown I have
heard so much, but never saw him till now; of him I have received a
new life,--he has made himself to me a second father, giving me this
dear lady."
"Then I must be her father," said the king; "but oh, how oddly will it
sound, that I must ask my child forgiveness!"
"No more of that," said Prospero; "let us not remember our troubles
past, since they so happily have ended." And then Prospero embraced
his brother, and again assured him of his forgiveness; and said that a
wise overruling Providence had permitted that he should be driven from
his poor dukedom of Milan, that his daughter might inherit the crown
of Naples, for that by their meeting in this desert island, it had
happened that the king's son had loved Miranda.
These kind words which Prospero spoke, meaning to comfort his brother,
so filled Antonio with shame and remorse that he wept and was unable
to speak; and the kind old Gonzalo wept to see this joyful
reconciliation, and prayed for blessings on the young couple.
Prospero now told them that their ship was safe in the harbor, and the
sailors all on board her, and that he and his daughter would accompany
them home the next morning. "In the meantime," says he, "partake of
such refreshments as my poor cave affords; and for your evening's
entertainment I will relate the history of my life from my first
landing in this desert island." He then called for Caliban to prepare
some food, and set the cave in order; and the company were astonished
at the uncouth form and savage appearance of this ugly monster, who
(Prospero said) was the only attendant he had to wait upon him.
Before Prospero left the island, he dismissed Ariel from his service,
to the great joy of that lively little spirit, who, though he had been
a faithful servant to his master, was always longing to enjoy his free
liberty, to wander uncontrolled in the air, like a wild bird, under
green trees, among pleasant fruits and sweet-smelling flowers. "My
quaint Ariel," said Prospero to the little sprite when he made him
free, "I shall miss you; yet you shall have your freedom." "Thank you,
my dear master," said Ariel; "but give me leave to attend your ship
home with prosperous gales, before you bid farewell to the assistance
of your faithful spirit; and then, master, when I am free, how merrily
I shall live!" Here Ariel sang this pretty song:--
"Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough."
Prospero then buried deep in the earth his magical books and wand, for
he was resolved never more to make use of the magic art. And having
thus overcome his enemies, and being reconciled to his brother and the
king of Naples, nothing now remained to complete his happiness but to
revisit his native land, to take possession of his dukedom, and to
witness the happy nuptials of his daughter Miranda and Prince
Ferdinand, which the king said should be instantly celebrated with
great splendor on their return to Naples. At which place, under the
safe convoy of the spirit Ariel, they after a pleasant voyage soon
arrived.
END OF VOLUME V
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Children's Hour, v 5. Stories From Seven Old Favorites" ***
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