Swiss Family Robinson(fiscle part-3 of 2), Johann David Wyss [acx book reading .TXT] 📗

First To

Reach The Tree Was To Bring me,  In proof Of His Success,  A Penknife I

Had Accidentally Left On The Table In my Sleeping-Room.

 

At A Given Signal,  Away Went The Racers In fine Style. Fritz And Jack,

Putting forth All Their Powers,  Took The Lead At Once,  Running in

Advance Of Ernest,  Who Started at A Good Steady Pace,  Which I Predicted

He Would Be Better Able To Maintain Than Such A Furious Rate As His

Brothers.

 

But Long Before We Expected to See Them Back,  A Tremendous Noise Of

Galloping caused us To Look With Surprise Towards The Bridge,  And Jack

Made His Appearance,  Thundering along On His Buffalo,  With The Onager

And The Donkey Tearing after Him Riderless,  And The Whole Party In the

Wildest Spirits.

 

`Hollo!' Cried i. `What Sort Of Foot-Race Do You Call This,  Master

Jack?'

 

He Shouted merrily As He Dashed up To Us; Then Flinging himself Off,

And Saluting us In a Playful Way:

 

`I Very Soon Saw,' Said He,  `That I Hadn'T A Chance; So Renouncing all

Idea Of The Prize,  I Caught Storm,  And Made Him Gallop Home With Me,  To

Be In time To See The Others Come Puffing in. Lightfoot And Old Grizzle

Chose To Join Me--I Never Invited them!'

 

By And By The Other Boys Arrived,  Ernest Holding up The Knife In token

Of Being the Winner; And After Hearing all Particulars About The

Running,  And That He Had Reached falconhurst Two Minutes Before Fritz,

Part 3 Chapter 1 Pg 21

We Proceeded to Test The Climbing powers Of The Youthful Athletes.

 

In This Exercise Jack Performed wonders. He Ascended with Remarkable

Agility The Highest Palms Whose Stems He Could Clasp.

 

And When He Put On The Shark-Skin Buskins,  Which Enabled him To Take

Firm Hold Of Larger Trees,  He Played antics Like A Squirrel Or A

Monkey: Peeping and Grinning at Us,  At First On One Side Of The Stem,

And Then On The Other,  In a Most Diverting way.

 

Fritz And Ernest Climbed well,  But Could Not Come Near The Grace And

Skill Of Their Active And Lively Young Brother.

 

Riding followed,  And Marvellous Feats Were Performed,  Fritz And Jack

Proving themselves Very Equal In their Management Of Their Different

Steeds. I Thought The Riding was Over,  When Little Franz Appeared from

The Stable In the Cave,  Leading young Grumble The Bull-Calf,  With A

Neat Saddle Of Kangaroo Hide,  And A Bridle Passed through His Nose

Ring.

 

The Child Saluted us With A Pretty Little Air Of Confidence,

Exclaiming:

 

`Now,  Most Learned judges,  Prepare To See Something quite New And

Wonderful! The Great Bull-Tamer,  Milo Of Crotona,  Desires The Honour Of

Exhibiting before You.'

 

Then Taking a Whip,  And Holding the End Of A Long Cord He Made The

Animal,  At The Word Of Command,  Walk,  Trot And Gallop In a Circle Round

Him. He Afterwards Mounted,  And Showed off Grumble'S Somewhat Awkward

Paces.

 

The Sports Were Concluded by Swimming-Matches,  And The Competitors

Found A Plunge In salt Water Very Refreshing after Their Varied

Exertions.

 

Fritz Showed himself A Master In the Art. At Home In the Element,  No

Movement Betokened either Exertion Or Weariness. Ernest Exhibited too

Much Anxiety And Effort,  While Jack Was Far Too Violent And Hasty,  And

Soon Became Exhausted. Franz Gave Token Of Future Skill.

 

By This Time,  As It Was Getting late,  We Returned to Our Dwelling,  My

Wife Having preceded us In order To Make Arrangements For The Ceremony

Of Prize-Giving.

 

We Found Her Seated in great State,  With The Prizes Set Out By Her

Side.

 

The Boys Marched in,  Pretending to Play Various Instruments In

Imitation Of A Band,  And Then All Four,  Bowing respectfully,  Stood

Before Her,  Like The Victors In a Tournament Of Old,  Awaiting the

Reward Of Valour From The Queen Of Beauty,  Which She Bestowed with A

Few Words Of Praise And Encouragement.

Part 3 Chapter 1 Pg 22

 

Fritz,  To His Immense Delight,  Received as The Prize For Shooting and

Swimming,  A Splendid Double-Barrelled rifle,  And A Beautiful

Hunting-Knife.

 

To Ernest,  As Winner Of The Running-Match,  Was Given A Handsome Gold

Watch.

 

For Climbing and Riding,  Jack Had A Pair Of Silver-Plated spurs,  And A

Riding whip,  Both Of Which Gave Him Extraordinary Pleasure.

 

Franz Received a Pair Of Stirrups,  And A Driving whip Made Of

Rhinoceros Hide,  Which We Thought Would Be Of Use To Him In the

Character Of Bull-Trainer.

 

When The Ceremony Was Supposed to Be Over,  I Advanced,  And Solemnly

Presented to My Wife A Lovely Work-Box,  Filled with Every Imaginable

Requirement For A Lady'S Work-Table,  Which She Accepted with Equal

Surprise And Delight.

 

The Whole Entertainment Afforded the Boys Such Intense Pleasure,  And

Their Spirits Rose To Such A Pitch,  That Nothing would Serve Them But

Another Salvo Of Artillery In order To Close With Befitting dignity And

Honour So Great A Day. They Gave Me No Peace Till They Had Leave To

Squander Some Gunpowder,  And Then At Last Their Excited feelings

Seeming relieved,  We Were Able To Sit Down To Supper; Shortly

Afterwards We Joined in family Worship And Retired to Rest.

 

Soon After The Great Festival Of Our Grand Thanksgiving day I

Recollected that It Was Now The Time When,  The Figs At Falconhurst

Being ripe,  Immense Flocks Of Ortolans And Wild Pigeons Were Attracted

Thither,  And As We Had Found Those Preserved last Year Of The Greatest

Use Among Our Stores Of Winter Provisions,  I Would Not Miss The

Opportunity Of Renewing our Stock; And Therefore,  Laying aside The

Building work,  We Removed with All Speed to Our Home In the Tree,  Where

Sure Enough We Found The First Detachment Of The Birds Already Busy

With The Fruit.

 

In Order To Spare Ammunition,  I Resolved to Concoct A Strong Sort Of

Bird-Lime,  Of Which I Had Read In some Account Of The Palm Islanders,

Who Make It Of Fresh Caoutchouc Mixed with Oil,  And Of So Good A

Quality That It Has Been Known To Catch Even Peacocks And Turkeys.

 

Fritz And Jack Were Therefore Dispatched to Collect Some Fresh

Caoutchouc From The Trees,  And As This Involved a Good Gallop On Storm

And Lightfoot,  They Nothing loth Set Off.

 

They Took A Supply Of Calabashes,  In which To Bring the Gum,  And We

Found It High Time To Manufacture A Fresh Stock Of These Useful

Vessels. I Was Beginning to Propose An Expedition To The Gourd-Tree

Wood,  Regretting the Time It Would Take To Go Such A Distance,  When My

Wife Reminded me Of Her Plantation Near The Potato-Field.

 

There To Our Joy We Found That All The Plants Were Flourishing,  And

Part 3 Chapter 1 Pg 23

Crops Of Gourds And Pumpkins,  In all Stages Of Ripeness,  Covered the

Ground.

 

Selecting a Great Number Suited to Our Purpose,  We Hastened home,  And

Began The Manufacture Of Basins,  Dishes,  Plates,  Flasks And Spoons Of

All Sorts And Sizes,  With Even Greater Success Than Before.

 

When The Riders Returned with The Caoutchouc,  They Brought Several

Novelties Besides.

 

A Crane,  For Example,  Shot By Fritz,  And An Animal Which They Called a

Marmot,  But Which To Me Seemed much More Like A Badger.

 

Aniseed,  Turpentine And Wax Berries For Candles,  They Had Also

Collected,  And A Curious Root Which They Introduced by The Name Of The

Monkey Plant.

 

`And Pray Wherefore "Monkey Plant",  May I Ask?'

 

`Well,  For This Reason,  Father,' Answered fritz. `We Came Upon An Open

Space In the Forest Near Woodlands,  And Perceived a Troop Of Monkeys,

Apparently Engaged as Jack Said,  In cultivating the Soil! Being curious

To Make Out What They Were At,  We Tied up The Dogs,  As Well As Storm

And Lightfoot,  And Crept Near Enough To See That The Apes Were Most

Industriously Grubbing up And Eating roots. This They Did In a Way That

Nearly Choked us With Laughter,  For When The Root Was Rather Hard To

Pull Up,  And The Leaves Were Torn Off,  They Seized it Firmly In their

Teeth,  And Flung Themselves Fairly Heels-Over-Head In the Most

Ludicrous Fashion You Ever Saw,  And Up Came The Root Unable To Resist

The Leverage!

 

`Of Course We Wanted to See What This Dainty Morsel Was Like,  So We

Loosed the Dogs,  And The Apes Cleared out Double Quick,  Leaving plenty

Of The Roots About. We Tasted them,  And Thought Them Very Nice. Will

You Try One?'

 

The Plant Was Quite New To Me,  But I Imagined it Might Be What Is

Called in china 'Ginseng',  And There Prized and Valued beyond

Everything. The Children Being curious To Hear More About This

Ginseng,  I Continued:

 

`In China It Is Considered so Strengthening and Wholesome,  That It Is

Used as A Sort Of Universal Medicine,  Being supposed to Prolong Human

Life.

 

`The Emperor Alone Has The Right To Permit It To Be Gathered,  And

Guards Are Placed round Land Where It Grows.

 

`Ginseng Is To Be Found In tartary,  And Has Lately Been Discovered in

Canada; It Is Cultivated in pennsylvania,  Because The Americans

Introduce It Secretly Into China As Smuggled merchandise.'

 

Fritz Then Continued:

 

Part 3 Chapter 1 Pg 24

`After This We Went On To Woodlands; But Mercy On Us! What A Confusion

The Place Was In! Everything smashed or Torn,  And Covered with Mud And

Dirt; The Fowls Terrified,  The Sheep And Goats Scattered,  The Contents

Of The Rooms Dashed about As If A Whirlwind Had Swept Through The

House.'

 

`What!' I Exclaimed,  While My Wife Looked horrified at The News,

Conjuring up In her Imagination Hordes Of Savages Who Would Soon Come

And Lay Waste Falconhurst And Tentholm As Well As Woodlands.

 

`How Can That Have Happened? Did You Discover The Authors Of All This

Mischief?'

 

`Oh,' Said Jack,  `It Was Easy To See That Those Dreadful Monkeys Had

Done It All. First They Must Have Got Into The Yards And Sheds,  And

Hunted the Fowls And Creatures About; And Then I Daresay The Cunning

Rascals