The Swiss family Robinson
worthless fruit he had caused to be brought forth. A third had indeed
sown good grain; but not knowing how to distinguish the tares that
grew up along with it, he pulled up the good plants before they were
mature, and left only the tares in his ground. But the greater part
let their land lie fallow, and bestowed no labour upon it, having
spoiled their implements, or lost their seed, either from negligence
or idleness, or liking better to amuse themselves than to labour.
“From habit they continued to celebrate the first day of the week,
but by far the smallest part of it was consecrated to the honour of
the Great King. Great numbers of them dispensed with going to the
general assembly, either from idleness, or to employ themselves in
occupations which had been expressly forbidden. By far the greater
part of the people considered this day of repose as intended for
pleasure, and thought of nothing but adorning and amusing themselves
as soon as daylight appeared. The Great King, however, observed
unalterably the laws he had laid down. From time to time, some
frigates appeared on their coasts, each bearing the name of some
disastrous malady; and these were followed by a large ship of the
line, named the Grave, on board of which, the admiral, whose name
was Death, caused his flag of two colours, green and black, to be
constantly floating in the air. He showed the colonists, according to
the situation in which he found them, either the smiling colour of
Hope, or the gloomy colour of Despair.
“This fleet always arrived without being announced, and seldom gave
any pleasure to the inhabitants. The admiral sent the captains of his
frigates to seize the persons he was ordered to bring back with him.
Many who had not the smallest inclination were suddenly embarked,
while others who had prepared everything for the harvest, and whose
land was in the best condition, were also seized. But these last took
their departure cheerfully, and without alarm; well knowing that
nothing but happiness awaited them. It was those who were conscious
they had neglected to cultivate their land, who felt the most regret.
It was even necessary to employ force to bring them under subjection.
When the fleet was ready for departure, the admiral sailed for the
port of the Royal Residence; and the Great King, who was present on
their arrival, executed with strict justice both the rewards and
punishments which had been promised to them. All the excuses alleged
by those who had been idle, were of no avail. They were sent to the
mines and to the galleys, while those who had obeyed the Great King,
and well cultivated their land, were admitted into the Heavenly
City, clothed in robes of brilliant colours, one exceeding the other
according to the degree of merit.--Here, my dear children, ends my
parable. May you have thoroughly understood its meaning, and may
you reap the advantage it is capable of affording you! Make it the
subject of your reflections the whole of this day.”
I then put different questions to my little congregation, and
explained what they had not perfectly comprehended; and, after a
short review of the principal parts of my discourse, I concluded by a
moral application.
“Human creatures,” said I, “are the colonists of God; we are
required to perform the business of probation for a certain period,
and, sooner or later, are destined to be taken hence. Our final
destination is Heaven, and a perfect happiness with the spirits of
just men made perfect, and in the presence of the bountiful Father
of us all. The piece of land entrusted to each is the soul; and
according as he cultivates and ennobles it, or neglects or depraves
it, will be his future reward or punishment. For ourselves, one and
all, we will adopt the model of the good and zealous labourers; and
should our exertions be a little painful, we shall think of the
reward which awaits us, when we shall have adorned our souls with all
that is good, just and praiseworthy. Thus, when death, which cannot
fail to come at last, shall summon us, we may follow him with joy to
the throne of the Good and Great King, to hear him pronounce these
sweet and consoling words: ‘O good and faithful servant! thou hast
been tried and found faithful in many things; enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord,’”--With these words, and a short prayer of benediction,
I concluded the solemnity of our Sunday.
The next morning the boys assembled round me with a petition that I
would show them how to use arrows. We accordingly sat down on the
grass; I took out my knife, and, with the remains of a bamboo cane,
began to make a bow. I was well satisfied to observe them one and
all take a fancy to shooting with an arrow, having been desirous
to accustom them to this exercise, which constituted the principal
defence of the warriors of old, and might possibly become our only
means of protection and subsistence: our provision of powder must at
last be exhausted; we might even, from moment to moment, be deprived
of it by accident; it therefore was of the utmost importance to us to
acquire some other means of killing animals, or attacking our enemies.
While I was silently reflecting on the subject, employed in finishing
a bow, Ernest, who had been observing me for some time, slipped
suddenly away; and Fritz coming up at the same moment, with the
wetted skin of the tiger-cat in his hand, I paid no attention to the
circumstance. I began my instructions to my eldest boy respecting
the trade of a tanner. I told him the method of getting rid of the
fat of the skin, by rubbing it over with sand, and placing it in
running water till it had no longer any appearance of flesh, or any
smell; next to rub it with soft butter, to make it supple, and then
to stretch the skin in different directions; and also to make use
of some eggs in the operation, if his mother could spare them. “You
will not at first produce such excellent workmanship as I have seen
of this kind from England; but with a little patience, regretting
neither your time nor your labour, you will have completed some
decent-looking cases, which will give you the more pleasure, from
being the work of your own hands.”
At this moment we heard the firing of a gun, which proceeded from our
tent in the tree, and two birds at the same time fell dead at our
feet. We were at once surprised and alarmed, and all eyes were turned
upward to the place. There we saw Ernest standing outside the tent, a
gun in his hand, and heard him triumphantly exclaiming, “Catch them!
Catch them there! I have hit them; and you see I did not run away for
nothing.” He descended the ladder joyfully, and ran with Francis to
take up the two birds; while Fritz and Jack mounted to our castle,
hoping to meet with the same luck.
One of the dead birds proved to be a sort of thrush, and the other
was a very small kind of pigeon, very fat, and of a delicious taste.
We now observed for the first time that the wild figs began to ripen,
and that they attracted these birds. I foresaw, in consequence, that
we were about to have our table furnished with a dish which even a
nobleman might envy us. I gave the boys leave to kill as many of them
as they liked. I knew that, half-roasted, and put into barrels with
melted butter thrown over them, they would keep a long time, and
might prove an excellent resource. My wife set about stripping off
the feathers of the birds, to dress them for our dinner. I seated
myself by her side, and proceeded in my work of arrow-making.
Thus finished another day. Supper ended, and prayers said, we
ascended the ladder in procession; and each got into his hammock to
taste the sweets of a tranquil sleep.
CHAPTER XIII
Conversation, and a Walk
Jack had finished the trial of his arrows: they flew to admiration;
and he practised his new art incessantly. Little Francis waited with
impatience for the moment when he should try also, and followed with
his eyes every stroke I made. But when I had finished my bow, and
prepared some little arrows for him, I must next undertake to make
him a quiver. I took some bark from the branch of a tree, which came
off in a round form; and folding the edges over each other, I stuck
them together with some glue produced from our soup-cakes. I next
stuck on a round piece to serve for the bottom; and then tied to it
a loop of string which I hung round his neck. He put his arrows into
it: and, quite happy, took his bow in his hand, and ran to try his
skill by the side of his brother. Fritz had also cleaned and prepared
his materials for the cases, when his mother summoned us to dinner.
We cheerfully placed ourselves under the shade of our tree, round
the table I had manufactured. At the end of the repast, I made the
following proposition to the boys, which I was sure would give them
pleasure.
“What think you, my good friends,” said I, “of giving a name to the
place of our abode, and to the different parts of the country which
are known to us? I do not mean a general name to the whole islands,
but to the objects we are most concerned with.”
They all exclaimed, joyfully, that the idea was excellent.
_Father._--We shall naturally begin with the bay by which we entered
this country. What shall we call it? What say you, Fritz? You must
speak first, for you are eldest.
_Fritz._--Let us call it _Oyster Bay_: you remember what quantity of
oysters we found in it.
_Jack._--Oh, no; let it rather be called _Lobster Bay_: for you
cannot have forgotten what a large one it was that caught hold of my
leg, and which I carried home to you.
_My Wife._--My advice would be, that, out of gratitude to God, who
conducted us hither in safety, we ought to call it _Providence Bay_,
or the _Bay of Safety_.
_Father._--These words are both appropriate and sonorous, and please
me extremely. But what name shall we give to the spot where we first
set up our tent?
_Fritz._--Let us simply call it _Tent House_.
_Father._--That will do very well. And the little islet at the
entrance of _Providence Bay_, in which we found so many planks and
beams that enabled us to make our bridge, how shall it be named?
_Ernest._--It may be called _Sea-Gull Island_, or _Shark Island_; for
it was here we saw those animals.
_Father._--I am for the last of these names, _Shark Island_; for it
was the shark that was the cause of the sea-gulls being there; and
thus we shall also have a means of commemorating the courage and the
triumph of Fritz, who killed the monster.
_Jack._--For the same reason, we will call the marsh, in which you
cut the canes for our arrows, _Flamingo Marsh_.
_Father._--Quite right, I think. But now comes the great question:
What name shall we give to our present abode?
_Ernest._--It ought to be called simply _Tree Castle_.
_Fritz._--No, no, that will not do at all; that is the same as if,
when we wanted to name a town, we called it _The Town_. Let us invent
a more noble name.
_Jack._--Yes, so we will. I say _Fig Town_.
_Fritz._--Ha, ha, ha! a noble name, it must be confessed! Let us
call it the _Eagle’s Nest_, which I am sure has a much better sound.
Besides, our habitation in the tree is really much more like a nest
than a town, and the eagle cannot but ennoble it, since he is the
king of birds.
_Father._--Will you let me decide the question for you? I think our
abode should be called _The Falcon’s Nest_; for you are not arrived
at the dignity of eagles, but are, too truly, poor simple birds of
prey: and like the falcon, you also are, I trust, obedient, docile,
active and courageous. Ernest can have no objection to this; for, as
he knows, falcons make their nests in large trees.
All exclaimed, clapping their hands, “Yes, yes; we will have it _The