Story Hour Readings: Seventh Year Part 54

"Certainly," replied the Bishop.

Jean Valjean was released. He staggered back.

"Is it true that I am free?" he murmured weakly. 30

"Yes, of course. And my friend," the Bishop continued, "take the candlesticks with you this time."

Going to the mantelpiece, he took down the two candlesticks and brought them to Jean Valjean. The two women watched, speechless, but made no sign of dissent.

Jean Valjean was trembling; he took the candlesticks mechanically, as if in a dream. 5

"Depart in peace," said the Bishop, "and, by the way, when you come again, enter by the front door; it is only latched."

Turning to the gendarmes, he said, "Gentlemen, it is unnecessary for you to remain." 10

The gendarmes retired.

Jean Valjean seemed unable to recover his senses; he felt himself about to faint, when the Bishop approached and said to him, in a very low voice,

"Remember always, my friend, that I have your promise 15 to use this money to become an honest man."

Jean Valjean, unconscious of having made a promise of any kind, remained silent.

With great solemnity, the Bishop continued, in a low but firm voice: 20

"Jean Valjean, henceforth you belong only to good.

Your soul I have bought and herewith I banish from it all black thoughts and the spirit of Evil, and give it to Good."

--_Les Miserables._

1. Who are the two characters that come into contact here? Tell what each is like. What, in a way, does each represent?

2. Did Valjean have any intention of robbing anyone when he asked for lodging? Was Valjean accountable for the theft? Discuss fully.

3. Where is the point of highest dramatic interest?

If you were painting a scene from the selection, which would you select?

4. Explain why the Bishop did what he did in the final scene.

A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT

BY JONATHAN SWIFT

The adventures of Captain Lemuel Gulliver, as told by Swift in _Gulliver's Travels_, have been read with delight for two hundred years. Gulliver first lands in Lilliput and has thrilling adventures among the little people. Then he visits Brobdingnag, the land of giants. His third voyage takes him to Laputa, where he sees the philosophers; and on the fourth he visits the land of the Houyhnhnms. The last two voyages are not so entertaining as the first two, which are cla.s.sics.

We set sail from Bristol May 4th, 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 pa.s.sage from thence to the East 5 Indies we were driven by a violent storm to the northwest of Van Diemen's Land. By an observation we found ourselves in the lat.i.tude of thirty degrees, two minutes, south.

Twelve of our crew were dead by immoderate labor and ill food, and the rest were in a very weak condition. 10

On the fifth 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 15 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 those who escaped on the rock or were left in the vessel, I cannot 5 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 10 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 sh.o.r.e, which I reached, as I conjectured, at about eight o'clock in the evening. I then advanced forward near half a mile, but could not discover any sign of houses or 15 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 gra.s.s, which was 20 very short and soft, where I slept sounder than ever I remember to have done in my life, and, as I reckoned, above 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 25 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. 30 I heard a confused noise about me, but in the posture in which I lay, I 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 mine 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 5 hands, and a quiver at his back. In the meantime 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 10 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_"; and others repeated the 15 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 20 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 25 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 a hundred arrows discharged on my 30 left hand, which p.r.i.c.ked 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 was over, I fell a groaning with grief and pain; and then striving again to get loose, they discharged another volley 5 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 10 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 armies 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 15 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 20 and strings would permit me, I saw a stage erected about a foot and a 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 25 one syllable. But I should have mentioned that before the princ.i.p.al person began his oration he cried out three times, "_Langro dehlsan_" (these words and the former were afterwards repeated and explained to me), whereupon immediately about fifty of the inhabitants came and cut the 30 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 5 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 mine eyes to the sun, as 10 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) 15 by putting my finger frequently on my mouth, to signify that I wanted food. The _hurgo_ (for so they call a great lord, as I afterwards learned) understood me very well.

He descended from the stage, and commanded that 20 several ladders should be applied to my side on which above a hundred of the inhabitants mounted, and walked toward 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 25 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 wings of a lark. I ate them by two or three at a mouthful, and took three loaves at a time about 30 the bigness of musket bullets. They supplied me as fast as they could, showing a thousand marks of wonder and astonishment at my bulk and appet.i.te. I then made another sign that I wanted drink. They found by my eating that a small quant.i.ty would not suffice me, and, being a most ingenious people, they flung up with great dexterity one of their largest hogsheads; then rolled it toward my hand, 5 and beat out the top; I drank it off at a draft, 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 10 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 15 of the way, crying aloud, "_Borach mivola_"; 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 pa.s.sing backward and forward on my body, to seize forty or fifty of the first that came in my reach, and 20 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 25 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 30 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 demand 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 forward, up to my face, with about a dozen of his retinue, and 5 producing his credentials under the signet royal, which he applied close to mine eyes, spoke about ten minutes, without any signs of anger, but with a kind of determinate resolution, often pointing forward, which, as I afterward found, was toward the capital city, about half a mile distant, 10 whither it was agreed by His Majesty in council that I must be conveyed. I answered in a 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 15 and body, to signify that I desired my liberty. 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 20 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 25 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 repet.i.tion 30 of the words "_Peplom selan_," and I felt great numbers of the 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 circ.u.mstances, added to the refreshment I had 5 received by their victuals and drink, which were very nourishing, disposed me to sleep. I slept about eight hours as I was afterward a.s.sured; and it was no wonder, for the physicians, by the emperor's order, had mingled a sleeping potion in the hogsheads of wine. 10

It seems that upon the first moment I was discovered sleeping on the ground after my landing, the emperor 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 15 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 20 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 25 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 30 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 5 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 10 set out in four hours after my landing. It was brought parallel to me as I lay. But the princ.i.p.al 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 packthread were fastened by hooks 15 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 flung into the engine, 20 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 25 draw me toward 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 a while to adjust something that was out of order, two or 30 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 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 5 the cause of my awaking so suddenly. We made a long march the remaining part of that day, and rested that 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 10 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. 15

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 20 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 25 above six inches from the ground; into that on the left side the king's smiths 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 30 of the great highway, at twenty foot distance, there was a turret at least five foot high. Here the emperor ascended with at least twenty 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 5 than ten thousand, at several times, who mounted upon my body by the help of ladders. But a proclamation was soon issued to forbid it upon pain of death. When the workmen found that it was impossible for me to break loose, they cut all the strings that bound me; whereupon I rose up 10 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 15 a semicircle, but being fixed within four inches of the gate, allowed me to creep in, and lie at full length in the temple.

--_Gulliver's Travels._

1. Relate briefly what happened to Gulliver after he landed on Lilliput. What devices does Swift use to make this story appear real.

2. Do the little people act exactly like people of our own kind?

3. Swift was a master satirist; that is, he was constantly ridiculing people, things, or customs.

Do you find any trace of satire in this selection?

4. p.r.o.nounce, define, and use in sentences: prosperous league inhabitant pulley perceived violent forty soporiferous syllable morsel dexterity metropolis intrepidity diminutive parallel hospitality

5. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born and educated in Dublin, Ireland. Most of his manhood was spent in that country, where he figured prominently in political and religious affairs. In 1713 he was made dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.