Swiss Family Robinson(fiscle part-3 of 2) - Johann David Wyss (desktop ebook reader .TXT) 📗

Dangerous Swamps; Yet It Was

Dreadful To Live In a State Of Blockade,  Cut Off From All The

Important Duties In which We Were Engaged,  And Shut Up With Our

Animals In the Unnatural Light Of The Cave,  Enduring constant Anxiety

And Perturbation.

 

Out Of This Painful State We Were At Last Delivered by None Other Than

Our Good Old Simple-Hearted donkey; Not,  However,  By The Exercise Of A

Praiseworthy Quality,  But By Sheer Stupidity.

 

Our Situation Was Rendered the More Critical From Having no Great

Stock Of Provisions,  Or Fodder For The Animals; And The Hay Failing us

On The Evening of The Third Day,  I Determined to Set Them At Liberty By

Sending them,  Under The Guidance Of Fritz,  Across The River At The

Ford.

 

He Was To Ride Lightfoot,  And They Were To Be Fastened together Until

Safely Over.

 

Next Morning we Began To Prepare For This By Tying them In a Line,  And

While So Engaged my Wife Opened the Door,  When Old Grizzle,  Who Was

Fresh And Frolicsome After The Long Rest And Regular Feeding,  Suddenly

Broke Away From The Halter,  Cut Some Awkward Capers,  Then Bolting out,

Careered at Full Gallop Straight For The Marsh.

 

In Vain We Called him By Name. Fritz Would Even Have Rushed after Him,

Had Not I Held Him Back. In another Moment The Ass Was Close To The

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Thicket,  And With A Cold Shudder Of Horror,  We Beheld The Snake Rear

Itself From Its Lair,  The Fiery Eyes Glanced around,  The Dark Deadly

Jaws Opened widely,  The Forked tongue Darted greedily Forth--Poor

Grizzle'S Fate Was Sealed.

 

Becoming aware On A Sudden Of His Danger,  He Stopped short,  Spread Out

All Four Legs,  And Set Up The Most Piteous And Discordant Bray That

Ever Wrung Echo From Rocks.

 

Swift And Straight As A Fencer'S Thrust,  The Destroyer Was Upon Him,

Wound Round Him,  Entangled,  Enfolded,  Compressed him,  All The While

Cunningly Avoiding the Convulsive Kicks Of The Agonized animal.

 

A Cry Of Horror Arose From The Spectators Of This Miserable Tragedy.

`Shoot Him,  Father! Oh,  Shoot Him--Do Save Poor Grizzle!'

 

`My Children,  It Is Impossible!' Cried i. `Our Old Friend Is Lost To Us

For Ever! I Have Hopes,  However,  That When Gorged with His Prey,  We May

Be Able To Attack The Snake With Some Chance Of Success.'

 

`But The Horrible Wretch Is Never Going to Swallow Him All At Once,

Father?' Cried jack. `That Will Be Too Shocking!'

 

`Snakes Have No Grinders,  But Only Fangs,  Therefore They Cannot Chew

Their Food,  And Must Swallow It Whole. But Although The Idea Is

Startling,  It Is Not Really More Shocking than The Rending,  Tearing and

Shedding of Blood Which Occurs When Lions And Tigers Seize Their Prey.'

 

`But,' Said Franz,  `How Can The Snake Separate The Flesh From The

Bones Without Teeth? And Is This Kind Of Snake Poisonous?'

 

`No,  Dear Child,' Said I,  `Only Fearfully Strong And Ferocious. And It

Has No Need to Tear The Flesh From The Bones. It Swallows Them,  Skin,

Hair And All,  And Digests Everything in its Stomach.'

 

`It Seems Utterly Impossible That The Broad Ribs,  The Strong Legs,

Hoofs And All,  Should Go Down That Throat,' Exclaimed fritz.

 

`Only See,' I Replied,  `How The Monster Deals With His Victim; Closer

And More Tightly He Curls His Crushing folds,  The Bones Give Way,  He Is

Kneading him Into A Shapeless Mass: He Will Soon Begin To Gorge His

Prey,  And Slowly But Surely It Will Disappear Down That Distended maw!'

 

My Wife,  With Little Franz,  Found The Scene All Too Horrible,  And

Hastened into The Cave,  Trembling and Distressed. To The Rest Of Us

There Seemed a Fearful Fascination In the Dreadful Sight,  And We Could

Not Move From The Spot. I Expected that The Boa,  Before Swallowing his

Prey,  Would Cover It With Saliva,  To Aid In the Operation,  Although It

Struck Me That Its Very Slender Forked tongue Was About The Worst

Possible Implement For Such A Purpose.

 

It Was Evident To Us,  However,  That This Popular Idea Was Erroneous.

The Act Of Lubricating the Mass Must Have Taken Place During the

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Process Of Swallowing; Certainly Nothing was Applied beforehand. This

Wonderful Performance Lasted from Seven In the Morning until Noon. When

The Awkward Morsel Was Entirely Swallowed,  The Serpent Lay Stiff,

Distorted,  And Apparently Insensible Along The Edge Of The Marsh.

 

I Felt That Now Or Never Was The Moment For Attack!

 

Calling on My Sons To Maintain Their Courage And Presence Of Mind,  I

Left Our Retreat With A Feeling of Joyous Emotion Quite New To Me,  And

Approached with Rapid Steps And Levelled gun,  The Outstretched form Of

The Serpent. Fritz Followed me Closely.

 

Jack,  Somewhat Timidly,  Came Several Paces Behind; While Ernest,  After

A Little Hesitation,  Remained where He Was.

 

The Monster'S Body Was Stiff And Motionless,  Which Made Its Rolling and

Fiery Eyes,  And The Slow Spasmodic Undulations Of Its Tail More Fearful

By Contrast.

 

We Fired together,  And Both Balls Entered the Skull: The Light Of The

Eye Was Extinguished,  And The Only Movement Was In the Further

Extremity Of The Body,  Which Rolled,  Writhed,  Coiled and Lashed from

Side To Side.

 

Advancing closer,  We Fired our Pistols Directly Into Its Head,  A

Convulsive Quiver Ran Through The Mighty Frame,  And The Boa

Constrictor Lay Dead.

 

As We Raised a Cry Of Victory,  Jack,  Desirous Of A Share In the Glory

Of Conquest,  Ran Close To The Creature,  Firing his Pistol Into Its

Side,  When He Was Sent Sprawling over And Over By A Movement Of Its

Tail,  Excited to A Last Galvanic Effort By The Shot.

 

Being in no Way Hurt,  He Speedily Recovered his Feet,  And Declared he

Had Given It Its Quietus.

 

`I Hope The Terrific Noise You Made Just Now Was The Signal Of

Victory,' Said My Wife,  Drawing near,  With The Utmost Circumspection,

And Holding franz Tightly By The Hand. `I Was Half-Afraid To Come,  I

Assure You.'

 

`See This Dreadful Creature Dead At Our Feet; And Let Us Thank God That

We Have Been Able To Destroy Such An Enemy.'

 

`What'S To Be Done With Him Now?' Asked jack.

 

`Let Us Get Him Stuffed,' Said Fritz,  `And Set Him Up In the Museum

Amongst Our Shells And Corals.'

 

`Did Anybody Ever Think Of Eating serpents?' Inquired franz.

 

`Of Course Not!' Said His Mother. `Why,  Child,  Serpents Are

Poisonous--It Would Be Very Dangerous.'

 

Part 3 Chapter 3 Pg 54

`Excuse Me,  My Dear Wife,' Said I. `First Of All,  The Boa Is Not

Poisonous; And Then,  Besides That,  The Flesh Even Of Poisonous Snakes

Can Be Eaten Without Danger; As,  For Instance,  The Rattlesnake,  From

Which Can Be Made A Strong And Nourishing soup,  Tasting very Like Good

Chicken Broth--Of Course,  The Cook Must Be Told To Throw Away The Head,

Containing the Deadly Fangs.

 

`It Is Remarkable That Pigs Do Not Fear Poisonous Snakes,  But Can Kill

And Eat Them Without Injury. An Instance Of This Occurs To My Memory. A

Vessel On Lake Superior,  In north America,  Was Wrecked on A Small

Island Abounding in rattlesnakes,  And For That Reason Uninhabited.

 

`The Vessel Had A Cargo Of Live Pigs. The Crew Escaped to The Mainland

In A Boat,  But The Pigs Had To Be Left For Some Time,  Till The Owner

Could Return To Fetch Them,  But With The Small Hope Of Finding many

Left Alive.

 

`To His Surprise,  The Animals Were Not Only Alive,  But Remarkably Fat

And Flourishing,  While Not A Single Rattlesnake Remained on The Island.

The Pigs Had Clearly Eaten The Serpents.'

 

`But Might Not Some Other Cause Have Been Assigned for Their

Disappearance?' Asked ernest. `Suppose,  For Example,  That A Great

Flight Of Secretary Birds Had Arrived,  They Might Have Cleared the

Island Of Rattlesnakes.'

 

`Oh,  What Is A Secretary Bird?' Interrupted franz. `I Thought A

Secretary Meant A Man Who Wrote Letters?'

 

`So It Does,  Franz,  And The Bird Ernest Spoke Of Has Curious Long

Feathers Projecting from Either Side Of Its Head,  Something like Pens

Stuck Behind A Man'S Ear; Hence Its Name.

 

`It Is Perfectly True That It Lives On Snakes,  Lizards,  Toads,  And

Frogs,  But,  Ernest,  I Cannot Give Up My Pigs; For,  In the First Place,

The Secretary Bird Is An Inhabitant Of Southern Africa,  And Is Never

Seen In north America,  Neither Does It Ever Fly In a Flock; Still,  So

Ravenous Is Its Appetite,  That,  No Doubt,  Even One Or Two,  Had They By

Some Miracle Found Themselves On Lake Superior,  Would Have Been Able To

Give A Very Good Account Of The Deadly Reptiles,  And At Least Shared in

The Glory Of Their Extermination.'

 

My Wife Having gone To Prepare Dinner,  We Continued talking as We

Rested in the Shade Of Some Rocks,  Near The Serpent,  For A

Considerable Time. The Open Air Was Welcome To Us After Our Long

Imprisonment; And We Were,  Besides,  Desirous To Drive Off Any Birds Of

Prey Who Might Be Attracted to The Carcase,  Which We Wished to Preserve

Entire.

 

My Boys Questioned me Closely On The Subject Of Serpents In general;

And I Described to Them The Action Of The Poison Fangs; How They Folded

Back On The Sides Of The Upper Jaw,  And How The Poison-Secreting

Part 3 Chapter 3 Pg 55

Glands,  And Reservoir Are Found At The Back And Sides Of The Head,

Giving to The Venomous Serpents That Peculiar Width Of Head Which Is So

Unfailing a Characteristic.

 

`The Fangs Are Hollow,' Said I,  `And When The Creature Bites,  The

Pressure Forces Down A Tiny Drop Of The Liquid Venom,  Which Enters The

Wound And,  Through The Veins,  Quickly Spreads Over The Entire System.

Sometimes,  If Taken In time,  Cures Are Effected,  But In most Cases The

Bite Of A Serpent Is Followed by Speedy Death.'

 

The Children Were