Journeys Through Bookland Volume X Part 23

II. _Fact and Fancy._ The story begins with a vivid description of the little sweep and his master, and it is not till we have read several pages that we have reason to suspect that we are reading a fairy story.

In fact the "poor Irishwoman" might be a veritable Irishwoman till we have read page 247. From this point on, the work of the fairies is seen occasionally to the end.

The facts of the natural history are mingled with the fancies of the author's brain in the most natural manner. The description of the house-building of the caddis larvae (page 262) is accurate enough for a scientist, who might, however, be shocked by the whimsical notion of the rivalry told in the last sentence of the paragraph. The otters behave like otters, the salmon like salmon, the lobster like the lobster he is.

The dragon "splits" at the call of nature, the ephemerae dance in the sunlight, and game-keepers kill poachers in real life as in the story.

The great auk is extinct and the right whale is still hunted, but Peace-pool is as fancifully portrayed as is the creation of world-pap.

It appears that as Kingsley proceeded with his story he let his imagination play more freely and drew farther away from facts as his fancies came plentifully. So the story furnishes food for thought by old and young, and parts of it can be understood only by those who have had considerable study and experience.

III. _Fun and Humor._ A more entertaining story is hard to find. There are many amusing situations and funny doings, besides which, Kingsley's style of writing abounds in a rich humor that is not always evident to the hasty and careless reader. Not a little of the humor is ironical and sometimes we are inclined to think that the writer may be having a little quiet fun at the expense of his readers.

Children are inclined to read _Tom, the Water Baby_ as they do many another tale, for the story only. They want to know what happens to Tom, whether or no Grimes is punished, what becomes of Ellie, and how it "all comes out." But when attention is called to the fun in the tale children will read it more than once, for they like to laugh even better than their elders, and curiosity prompts them to watch to "see the joke."

The humorous twist to things begins in the second sentence of the story and it does not disappear permanently till the very last sentence of the _Moral_. See how it shows in these few extracts: "His master was so delighted at his new customer that he knocked Tom down out of hand"

(page 219).

After Tom's pathetic discovery of his own dirtiness (page 232), comes this: "With a noise as of ten thousand tin kettles tied to ten thousand mad dogs' tails." Humor and pathos are both strengthened by the violent contrast.

On page 232 begins the long humorous paragraph descriptive of the chase after Tom.

"The birches birched him as soundly as if he had been a n.o.bleman at Eton, and over the face too (which is not fair swishing, as all brave boys will agree)" (page 235).

What could you imagine more amusing in its way than the extremely absurd "argument" the author makes for the existence of water babies (page 254): "You never heard of a water baby? Perhaps not. That is the very reason why this story was written. There are a great many things in the world which you never heard of; and a great many more which n.o.body ever heard of; and a great many things, too, which n.o.body ever will hear of.

No water babies, indeed! Why, wise men of old said that everything on earth had its double in the water; and you may see that that is, if not quite true, still quite as true as most other theories which you are likely to hear for many a day. There are land babies, then why not water babies? _Are there not water rats, water flies, water crickets, water crabs, water tortoises, water scorpions, water tigers and so on without end?_ To be sure, there must be water babies. Am I in earnest? Oh dear no!"

Read the account of the policemen, beginning on page 306, for an example of a broader humor.

Page 347: "And the sun acted policeman, and worked round outside every day, peeping just over the top of the icewall, to see that all went right; and now and then he played conjuring tricks, or had an exhibition of fireworks, to amuse the sea fairies. For he would make himself into four or five suns at once, or paint the sky with rings and crosses and crescents of white fire and stick himself in the middle of them, and wink at the fairies; and I dare say they were very much amused, for anything's fun in the country."

Do not think of "skipping" the _Moral_. No more attractive "moral" was ever written for fable or fairy tale!

IV. _Pathos._ Tom, the Chimney Sweep is always pathetic. He enlists our sympathies wholly from the time we meet him where there was "plenty of money for Tom to earn and his master to spend," until he "pulled off all his clothes in such haste that he tore some of them, which was easy enough with such ragged old things," "put his poor, hot, sore feet into the water," "tumbled himself as quick as he could into the clear, cool stream" and in two minutes "fell fast asleep, into the quietest, sunniest, coziest sleep that he had ever had in his life and--dreamt of nothing at all." It is only as Tom the Water Baby that he does not make us sad.

Poor little, dirty, ignorant Tom! Little enough to climb up the sooty chimney flues; so dirty that he knew not what cleanliness meant; so ignorant that he "never had heard of G.o.d, or of Christ, except in words which you never have heard," and his idea of happiness was to "sit in a public house with a quart of beer and a long pipe," to play cards for silver money, to "keep a white bull dog with one gray ear, and carry her puppies in his pocket just like a man," to have apprentices and to bully them, to knock them about and make them carry soot sacks while he "rode before them on his donkey, with a pipe in his mouth and a flower in his b.u.t.ton hole, like a king at the head of his army!" "Yes, when his master let him have a pull at the leavings of his beer, Tom was the jolliest boy in the whole town."

To him who reads understandingly, there is pathos on nearly every page of the first two chapters. Sometimes it is seen in hints and shown by indirection but in other instances it is direct, positive, powerful.

Just read (page 231), how Tom learns that he is naught but a "little black ape," an "ugly, black, ragged figure with bleared eyes and grinning white teeth."

In his terrible race for life he "thought he heard church bells ringing a long way off" and thought "where there is a church there will be houses and people," and perhaps someone will give him a "bit and a sup."

So he follows the ringing in his ears till he comes to the top of the great crag and sees "a mile off and a thousand feet down" the old dame in her garden. We lose our own breath in following him down that awful descent, find ourselves panting, and at last, suddenly, "b-e-a-t, beat!"

After the old dame has given him the old rug and bidden him sleep off his weariness, comes the fever with the ringing of the church bells and the persistent, agonizing thought, "I must be clean, I must be clean."

It is this that drives him out to the "clear, clear limestone water, with every pebble at the bottom bright and clean" the cool, cool, cool water for his weary feet.

Then when it is too late, just to add to the pathos of the sad little tale, comes the Squire, conscious of the terrible mistake and ready to put Tom in the way of cleanliness, knowledge and happiness; Tom, of whom there remained only the husk and sh.e.l.l which made the Squire think the poor sweep was drowned.

To close the chapter and the sad part of the story, the dame sings the old, old song which the children could not understand but which they liked nevertheless, "for it was very sweet and very sad and that was enough for them." We know what it means.

"When all the world is old, lad, And all the trees are brown; And all the sport is stale, lad, And all the wheels run down; Creep home, and take your place there, The spent and maimed among; G.o.d grant you find one face there, You loved when all was young."

V. _Beauty. Tom, the Water Baby_ has in it much more of real beauty both in sentiment and expression than most prose and more than many a charming poem. There is little of ugliness in the story, and what there is, is so softened in the way in which it is presented that the impression is neither repulsive nor lasting. Kingsley's work is highly artistic and this story is real literature.

Some of his descriptions are like beautiful pictures in color. Here is one from page 220:

"But soon the road grew white, and the walls likewise; and at the wall's foot grew long gra.s.s and gay flowers, all drenched with dew; and instead of the groaning of the pit engines, they heard the skylark saying his matins high up in the air, and the pit bird warbling in the sedges as he had warbled all night long."

Beginning at the bottom of the same page (220): "For old Mrs. Earth was still fast asleep; and, like many pretty people she looked still prettier asleep than awake. The great elm trees in the gold-green meadows were fast asleep above, and the cows fast asleep beneath them; nay, the few clouds which were about were fast asleep likewise, and so tired that they had lain down on the earth to rest, in long white flakes and bars, among the stems of the elm trees, and along the tops of the alders by the stream, waiting for the sun to bid them rise and go about their day's business in the clear blue overhead." Was there ever more attractive description of the mist patches that lie across the earth waiting for the morning sun to dissipate them?

The poor Irishwoman followed Tom in this manner: "She went along quite smoothly and gracefully, while her feet twinkled past each other so fast that you could not see which was foremost."

The dragon-fly is described in this way: "It grew strong and firm; the most lovely colors began to show on its body--blue and yellow and black, spots and bars and rings; out of its back rose four great wings of bright brown gauze; and its eyes grew so large that they filled all its head and shone like ten thousand diamonds."

This is Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby: "She was a very tall woman, as tall as her sister; but instead of being gnarly, and h.o.r.n.y, and scaly, and p.r.i.c.kly, like her, she was the most nice, soft, fat, smooth, p.u.s.s.y, cuddly, delicious creature who ever nursed a baby--and all her delight was to play with babies--and therefore when the children saw her, they naturally caught hold of her, and pulled her till she sat down on a stone, and climbed into her lap, and clung round her neck, and caught hold of her hands, and then they all put their thumbs into their mouths and began cuddling and purring like so many kittens."

And this is a scene in Peace-pool: "There were moths with pink heads and wings and opal bodies, that flapped about slowly; moths with brown wings that flapped about quickly; yellow shrimps that hopped and skipped most quickly of all; and jellies of all the colors in the world that neither hopped nor skipped, but only dawdled and yawned."

Here are a few descriptive phrases taken at random: "Two great, grand blue eyes, as blue as the sea itself"; "his little whirl-about of a head"; "long curls floating behind her like a golden cloud, and long robes floating all round her like a silver one"; "came paddling and wriggling back to her like so many tadpoles"; "the shadows of the clouds ran races over the bright blue sky"; "the river widened to the shining sea"; "such enormous trees that the blue sky rested on their heads."

VI. _Good Lessons._ Through all the fun, the burlesque, the amusing exaggerations and the bombastic humor runs a scheme of advice and instruction. Sometimes it takes the form of a direct caution to the reader, again it may be shown by inference, and lastly the events speak for themselves and give their own lesson. The author meant to teach adults as well as children. The graphic history of the Doasyoulikes is rather a clear-cut study in degeneracy for older people, as well as a lively warning for youngsters. But what is the author's main theme? Is his real text in the advice the poor Irishwoman gives to Grimes and Tom?

"_Those that wish to be clean, clean they will be; and those that wish to be foul, foul they will be. Remember._" (page 225). Perhaps a second text or at least a corollary to this is expressed in the name of the cuddly lady, Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby. This may mean the same as the advice she gives on page 328: "_Those who go there must go first where they do not like, and do what they do not like, and help somebody they do not like._" Besides these leading ideas there are several others that run through the story. Meanness and wickedness are made unattractive and bring punishment. The punishment grows logically out of the offense and has a direct relation to the misdeed. Persons are not rewarded for their good deeds but they are happy in being good. It is not a credit to do right, but wrongdoing is discreditable. Little meannesses stand in the way of happiness though they may not bring any definite punishments.

Evil is ugliness, goodness is beauty. Friendship is made attractive and filial love is strongly inculcated. The strong appeal made to the sympathy of the reader by the very real and very human Tom, the chimney sweep, is a strong influence for good, and progress toward character in the clever little water baby is a continuous refining influence on the reader.

The bits of advice, the little asides, are slipped into the text so naturally that they are never repulsive or calculated to raise antagonism in the minds of those who naturally dislike advice. Taken from the text they seem more formal and less helpful, but here are a few of them as ill.u.s.trations:

"Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times."

"You must expect to be beat a few times in your life, little man, if you live such a life as a man ought to live."

"Ah, first thoughts are best, and a body's heart'll guide them right, if they will but hearken to it."

"It was not quite well bred, no doubt; but you know, Tom had not finished his education yet."

"For salmon, like other true gentlemen, always choose their lady and love her, and are true to her, and take care of her, and work for her, and fight for her, as every true gentleman ought."

"What has been once can never come over again."

"No more to be bought for money than a good conscience or the Victoria cross."

"You see, experience is of very little good unless a man, or a lobster, has wit enough to make use of it."

"It is not good for little boys to be told everything, and never to be forced to use their own wits."

"And so if you do not know that things are wrong, that is no reason why you should not be punished for them; though not as much, my little man (and the lady looked very kindly, after all), as if you did know."

"I am quite sure that she knows best. Perhaps she wishes people to learn to keep their fingers out of the fire by having them burned."

"I always forgive people the minute they tell me the truth of their own accord."

"But even they were no foolisher than some hundred scores of papas and mamas; who fetch the rod when they ought to fetch a new toy, and send to the dark cupboard instead of to a doctor."