Japhet, In Search Of A Father Part 1 - Frederick Marryat (polar express read aloud .txt) 📗
- Author: Frederick Marryat
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Gipsies, And, At The Same Time, They Were The Most Liberal Of Their
Wealth. Melchior, It Appeared, Gained Money In Three Different
Characters; As A Quack Doctor, The Character In Which We First Saw Him;
Secondly, As A Juggler, In Which Art He Was Most Expert; And Thirdly, As
A Fortune-Teller, And _Wise Man_.
Nattee, As I Before Mentioned, Was Of Very High Rank, Or Caste, In Her
Tribe. At Her First Espousal Of Melchior She Lost Much Of Her Influence,
As It Was Considered A Degradation; But She Was Then Very Young, And
Must Have Been Most Beautiful. The Talents Of Melchior, And Her Own
Spirit, However, Soon Enabled Her To Regain, And Even Add Still More To,
Her Power And Consideration Among The Tribe, And It Was Incredible To
What Extent, With The Means Which She Possessed, This Power Was
Augmented.
Melchior Had No Children By His Marriage, And, As Far As I Could Judge
From The Few Words Which Would Escape From The Lips Of Nattee, She Did
Not Wish For Any, As The Race Would Not Be Considered Pure. The
Subdivision Of The Tribe Which Followed Nattee, Consisted Of About
Forty, Men, Women, And Children. These Were Ruled By Her During The
Absence Of Her Husband, Who Alternately Assumed Different Characters, As
Suited His Purpose; But In Whatever Town Melchior Might Happen To Be,
Nattee And Her Tribe Were Never Far Off, And Always Encamped Within
Communication.
I Ventured To Question Melchior About The Little Fleta; And He Stated
That She Was The Child Of A Soldier'S Wife, Who Had Been Brought To Bed,
And Died A Few Hours Afterwards; That, At The Time, She Was On Her Way
To Join Her Husband, And Had Been Taken Ill On The Road--Had Been
Assisted By Nattee And Her Companions, As Far As They Were Able--Had
Been Buried By Them, And That The Child Had Been Reared In The Camp.
In Time, The Little Girl Became Very Intimate, And Very Partial To Me. I
Questioned Her As To Her Birth, Telling Her What Melchior Had Stated;
For A Long While She Would Not Answer; The Poor Child Had Learned
Caution Even At That Early Age; But After We Were More Intimate, She
Said, That Which Melchior Had Stated Was _Not True_. She Could Recollect
Very Well Living In a Great House, With Everything Very Fine About Her;
But Still It Appeared As If It Were A Dream. She Recollected Two White
Ponies--And A Lady Who Was Her Mamma--And A Mulberry-Tree, Where She
Stained Her Frock; Sometimes Other Things Came To Her Memory, And Then
She Forgot Them Again. From This It Was Evident That She Had Been
Stolen, And Was Probably Of Good Parentage; Certainly, If Elegance And
Symmetry Of Person And Form, Could Prove Blood, It Never Was More Marked
Than In This Interesting Child. Her Abode With The Gipsies, And Their
Peculiar Mode Of Life And Manners, Had Rendered Her Astonishingly
Precocious In Intellect; But Of Education She Had None, Except What Was
Instilled Into Her By Melchior, Whom She Always Accompanied When He
Assumed His Character As A Juggler. She Then Danced On The Slack Wire,
At The Same Time Performing Several Feats In balancing, Throwing Of
Oranges, &C. When Melchior Was Under Other Disguises, She Remained In
The Camp With Nattee.
Part 1 Chapter 10 Pg 50
Of Num, Or Philotas, As Melchior Thought Proper To Call Him, I Have
Already Spoken. He Was A Half-Witted Idiot, Picked Up In One Of
Melchior'S Excursions, And As He Stated To Me, So Did It Prove To Be The
Fact, That When On The Stage, And Questioned As A Fool, His Natural
Folly, And Idiotical Vacancy Of Countenance, Were Applauded By The
Spectators As Admirably Assumed. Even At The Alehouses And Taverns Where
We Stopped, Every One Imagined That All His Folly Was Pretence, And
Looked Upon Him As A Very Clever Fellow. There Never Was, Perhaps, Such
A Lachrymose Countenance As This Poor Lad'S, And This Added Still More
To The Mirth Of Others, Being Also Considered As Put On For The
Occasion. Stephen Kemble Played Falstaff Without Stuffing--Num Played
The Fool Without Any Effort Or Preparation. Jumbo Was Also "Picked Up;"
This Was Not Done By Melchior, Who Stated, That Any Body Might Have Him
Who Claimed Him; He Tumbled With The Fool Upon The Stage, And He Also
Ate Pudding To Amuse The Spectators--The Only Part Of The Performance
Which Was Suited To Jumbo'S Taste, For He Was A Terrible Little Glutton,
And Never Lost Any Opportunity Of Eating, As Well As Of Sleeping.
And Now, Having Described All Our New Companions, I Must Narrate What
Passed Between Melchior And Me, The Day After Our Joining The Camp. He
First Ran Through His Various Professions, Pointing Out To Me That As
Juggler He Required A Confederate, In Which Capacity I Might Be Very
Useful, As He Would Soon Instruct Me In all His Tricks. As A Quack
Doctor He Wanted The Services Of Both Tim And Myself In Mixing Up,
Making Pills, &C., And Also In assisting Him In Persuading The Public Of
His Great Skill. As A Fortune-Teller, I Should Also Be Of Great Service,
As He Would Explain To Me Hereafter. In Short, He Wanted A Person Of
Good Personal Appearance And Education, In Whom He Might Confide In
Every Way. As To Tim, He Might Be Made Useful If He Chose, In Various
Ways; Amongst Others, He Wished Him To Learn Tumbling And Playing The
Fool, When, At Times, The Fool Was Required To Give A Shrewd Answer On
Any Point On Which He Would Wish The Public To Be Made Acquainted. I
Agreed To My Own Part Of The Performance, And Then Had Some Conversation
With Timothy, Who Immediately Consented To Do His Best In What Was
Allotted As His Share. Thus Was The Matter Quickly Arranged, Melchior
Observing, That He Had Said Nothing About Remuneration, As I Should Find
That Trusting To Him Was Far Preferable To Stipulated Wages.
Part 1 Chapter 11 Pg 51
Whatever May Be The Opinion Of The Reader, He Cannot Assert That We
Are _No Conjurers_--We Suit Our Wares To Our Customers, And Our
Profits Are Considerable.
We Had Been Three Days In The Camp When The Gathering Was Broken Up,
Each Gang Taking Their Own Way. What The Meeting Was About I Could Not
Part 1 Chapter 11 Pg 52Exactly Discover; One Occasion Of It Was To Make Arrangements Relative
To The Different Counties In Which The Subdivisions Were To Sojourn
During The Next Year, So That They Might Know Where To Communicate With
Each Other, And, At The Same Time, Not Interfere By Being Too Near; But
There Were Many Other Points Discussed, Of Which, As A Stranger, I Was
Kept In Ignorance. Melchior Answered All My Questions With Apparent
Candour, But His Habitual Deceit Was Such, That Whether He Told The
Truth Or Not Was Impossible To Be Ascertained By His Countenance.
When The Gathering Dispersed We Packed Up, And Located Ourselves About
Two Miles From The Common, On The Borders Of A Forest Of Oak And Ash.
Our Food Was Chiefly Game, For We Had Some Excellent Poachers Among Us;
And As For Fish, It Appeared To Be At Their Command; There Was Not A
Pond Nor A Pit But They Could Tell In a Moment If It Were Tenanted, And
If Tenanted, In Half An Hour Every Fish Would Be Floating On The Top Of
The Water, By The Throwing In Of Some Intoxicating Sort Of Berry; Other
Articles Of Food Occasionally Were Found In The Caldron; Indeed, It Was
Impossible To Fare Better Than We Did, Or At Less Expense.
Our Tents Were Generally Pitched Not Far From A Pool Of Water, And To
Avoid Any Unpleasant Search, Which Sometimes Would Take Place,
Everything Liable To Detection Was Sunk Under The Water Until It Was
Required For Cooking; Once In The Pot, It Was Considered As Safe. But
With The Foraging, Timothy And I Had Nothing To Do; We Participated In
The Eating, Without Asking Any Questions As To How It Was Procured.
My Time Was Chiefly Spent In company With Melchior, Who Initiated Me
Into All The Mysteries Of Cups And Balls--Juggling Of Every
Description--Feats With Cards, And Made Me Acquainted With All His
Apparatus For Prepared Tricks. For Hours And Hours Was I Employed By His
Directions In What Is Called "Making The Pass" With A Pack Of Cards, As
Almost All Tricks On Cards Depend Upon Your Dexterity In This Manoeuvre.
In About A Month I Was Considered As A Very Fair Adept; In The Meantime,
Timothy Had To Undergo His Career Of Gymnastics, And Was To Be Seen All
Day Tumbling And Retumbling, Until He Could Tumble On His Feet Again.
Light And Active, He Soon Became A Very Dexterous Performer, And Could
Throw A Somerset Either Backwards Or Forwards, Walk On His Hands, Eat
Fire, Pull Out Ribbons, And Do Fifty Other Tricks To Amuse A Gaping
Audience. Jumbo Also Was Worked Hard, To Bring Down His Fat, And Never
Was Allowed His Dinner Until He Had Given Satisfaction To Melchior. Even
Little Fleta Had To Practise Occasionally, As We Were Preparing For An
Expedition. Melchior, Who Appeared Determined To Create An Effect, Left
Us For Three Days, And Returned With Not Only Dresses For Timothy And
Me, But Also New Dresses For The Rest Of The Company; And Shortly
Afterwards, Bidding Farewell To Nattee And The Rest Of The Gipsies, We
All Set Out--That Is, Melchior, I, Timothy, Fleta, Num, And Jumbo. Late
In The Evening We Arrived At The Little Town Of ----, And Took Up Our
Quarters At A Public-House, With The Landlord Of Which Melchior Had
Already
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