Mr. Rabbit at Home, Joel Chandler Harris [ap literature book list TXT] 📗
- Author: Joel Chandler Harris
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“Well, in this country I was telling you about, there was a young man who had saved some money by working hard, but he didn’t save it fast enough to suit himself. He thought so much about it that he would stop in the middle of his work, and sit and study about it an hour at a time.
“He thought about it so much that he began to dream about it, and one night he dreamed that he got in a boat and went to an island on which there was a mountain of gold that shone and glistened in the sun. He was very unhappy when he woke in the morning and found it was nothing but a dream.
“He didn’t go to work that day, but wandered about doing nothing. That night he had the same dream. He had the same dream the next night; and the morning after, the first person he saw was an old man who had stopped to rest on the doorsteps. This old man would have been like other old men but for one thing. His beard was so long that he had to part it in the middle of his chin, pass it under each arm, cross the wisps on his back, and bring them around in front again, where the two ends were tied together with a bow of red ribbon.
“‘How are you, my young friend, and how goes it?’ said the old man, smiling pleasantly. ‘You look as if you had been having wonderful dreams.’
“‘So I have, gran’sir,’ replied the young man.
“‘Well, a dream isn’t worth a snap of your finger unless it comes true, and a dream never comes true until you have dreamed it three times.’
“‘I have dreamed mine three times, gran’sir, and yet it is impossible that it should come true.’
“‘Nonsense! Nothing is impossible. Tell me your dream.’
“So the young man told the old man his dream.
“‘The Island of the Mountain of Gold!’ exclaimed the old man. ‘Why, that is right in my line of travel. I can land you there without any trouble. It is a little out of my way, but not much.’
“‘How shall we get there?’ the young man asked.
“‘On the other side of the town, I have a boat,’ replied the old man. ‘You are welcome to go with me. It is so seldom that dreams come true that I shall be glad to help this one along as well as I can. Besides, I have long wanted an excuse to visit the Island of the Mountain of Gold. I have passed within sight of it hundreds of times, but have always been too busy to land there.’
“The young man looked at the old man with astonishment. If he had spoken his thoughts he would have declared the old man to be crazy, but he said nothing. He simply followed after him. The old man led the way across the town to a wharf, where his boat was tied. It was a light little skiff that could be sailed by one man. In this the two embarked.
“The old man managed the sail with one hand and the rudder with the other, and he had hardly made things ready and taken his seat before a light breeze sprang up and filled the sail. The skiff glided along the water so easily that the shore seemed to be receding while the boat stood still. But the breeze grew stronger and stronger, and the sail bore so heavily on the nose of the boat that the foam and spray flew high in the air.
“The sun was bright and the sky was blue, and the dark green water seemed to boil beneath them, so swiftly the light boat sped along. The young man clapped his hands as joyously as a boy, and the old man smiled. Presently he leaned over the side of the boat and pointed to something shining and sparkling in the distance. The young man saw it, too, and turned an inquiring eye upon his companion.
“‘That is your mountain of gold,’ said the old man.
“‘It seems to be very small,’ said the other. He ceased to smile, and a frown clouded his face.
“The old man noticed the frown, and shook his head and frowned a little himself, coughing in the muffler that was tied around his neck. But he said:—
“‘The mountain of gold is more than twenty miles away.’
“‘How far have we come?’
“‘Some hundred and odd miles.’
“The young man seemed to be very much surprised, but he said nothing. He leaned so far over the side of the boat to watch the mountain of gold that he was in danger of falling out. The old man kept an eye on him, but did not lift a finger to warn him.
“In due time they came to the island, if it could be called an island. It seemed to be a barren rock that had lifted itself out of the sea to show the mountain of gold. The mountain was only a hill, but it was a pretty high one, considering it was of solid gold.”
“Sure enough gold?” asked Sweetest Susan.
“Pure gold,” answered Mr. Thimblefinger. “The old man landed his skiff at a convenient place, and the two got out and went to the mountain, or hill, of gold that rose shining in the middle of the small island. The actions of the young man showed that he considered himself the proprietor of both island and mountain. He broke off a chunk of gold as big as your fist, weighed it in his hand, and would have given it to the old man, but the latter shook his head.
“‘You refuse it?’ cried the other. ‘If it is not enough I’ll give you as much more.’
“‘No,’ replied the old man. ‘Keep it for yourself. You owe me nothing. I could have carried away tons of the stuff long before I saw you, but I had no use for it. You are welcome to as much as you can take away with you.’
“‘As much as I can take away!’ exclaimed the other. ‘I shall take it all.’
“‘But how?’
“‘It is mine! I am rich. I will buy me a ship.’ He walked back and forth, rubbing his hands together.
“‘Then you have no further need of me?’ said the old man.
“‘Not now—not now,’ replied the other with a grand air. ‘You won’t accept pay for your services, and I can do no more than thank you.’
“The old man bowed politely, got in his skiff, and sailed away. The other continued to walk about the island and rub his hands together, and make his plans. He was now the richest man in the world. He could buy kings and princes and empires. He had enough gold to buy all the ships on the sea and to control all the trade on the land. He was great. He was powerful.
“All these thoughts passed through his mind and he was very happy. The sun looked at the young man a long time, and then went to bed in the sea. Two little gray lizards looked at him until the sun went down, and then they crawled back in their holes. A big black bird sailed round and round and watched him until nearly dark, and then sailed away.
HE WAS SO WEAK THAT HE COULDN’T GET UP
“When night came the young man found the air damp and chilly, but he knew he was rich, and so he laughed at the cold. He crept close under his mountain of gold, and, after a long time, went to sleep. In the morning he awoke and found that nobody had taken away his precious mountain of gold during the night. The sun rose to keep him company, the two gray lizards crept out of their holes and looked at him, and the big black bird sailed round and round overhead.
“The day passed, and then another and another. The young man was hungry and thirsty, but he was rich. The night winds chilled him, but he was rich. The midday sun scorched him, but he was the richest man in the world. Every night, no matter how hungry or weak he was, he crept upon the side of the mountain, and stretched himself out, and tried to hug it to his bosom. He knew that if he was hungry, it wasn’t because he was poor, and if he died, he knew he would die rich. So there he was.”
“What then?” asked Buster John, as Mr. Thimblefinger paused to look at his watch.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” continued Mr. Thimblefinger, holding the watch to his ear. “One fine morning this rich young man was so weak that he couldn’t get up. He tried to, but his foot slipped, and he rolled to the foot of the mountain of gold and lay there. He lay there so long and so quietly that the two gray lizards crept close to him to see what was the matter. He moved one of his fingers, and they darted back to their holes.
“The rich young man lay so still that the big black bird, sailing overhead, came nearer and nearer, and finally alighted at a respectful distance from the rich young man. The two gray lizards came out again, and crawled cautiously toward the rich young man. The big black bird craned his neck and looked, and then went a little closer. A sudden gust of wind caused the rich young man’s coat to flap. The gray lizards scrambled towards their holes, and the big black bird jumped up in the air and flew off a little way.
“But presently they all came back, bird and lizards, and this time they went still closer to the rich young man. The big black bird went so close that there is no telling what he would have done next, but just then the old man came running towards them. He had untied the two ends of his beard, and was waving them in the air as if they were flags. The big black bird flew away very angry, and the gray lizards ran over each other trying to get to their holes.
“The old man, tied up his beard again, took up the rich young man on his shoulder, and carried him to the boat. Once there he gave the rich young man some wine. This revived him, and in a little while he was able to eat. But he had no opportunity to talk. The wind whirled the boat through the water, and in a few hours it had arrived at the young man’s town.
“He went home, and soon recovered in more ways than one. He found his strength again, and lost his appetite for riches. But he worked hard, saved all he could, and was soon prosperous; but he never remembered without a shiver the time that he was the richest man in the world.”
AN OLD-FASHIONED FUSS.
“I don’t blame ’im fer shiverin’,” said Drusilla; “but, I let you know, here’s what wouldn’t shiver none ef she had dat ar big pile er gol’ what de man had. I’d ’a’ cotch me some fish; I’d ’a’ gobbled up dem lizards, yit!”
“Well,” remarked Mr. Rabbit, “I expect money is a pretty big thing. I’ve heard a heap of talk about it, and I’ve known some big fusses to grow out of it. And yet money doesn’t cause all the fusses—oh, no! not by a long jump. I once heard of a fuss that happened long before there was any money, and the curious part about it was that
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