Japhet, In Search Of A Father Part 1 - Frederick Marryat (polar express read aloud .txt) 📗

But Not A

Race Of Men With Eternal Souls. But It Was Peopled,  As We See It Now Is,

To Enable The Legions Of Angels Who Fell To Return To Their Former Happy

State--As A Pilgrimage By Which They Might Obtain Their Pardons,  And

Resume Their Seats In Heaven. Not A Child Is Born,  But The Soul Of Some

Fallen Cherub Enters Into The Body To Work Out Its Salvation. Many Do,

Many Do Not,  And Then They Have Their Task To Recommence Anew; For The

Spirit Once Created Is Immortal,  And Cannot Be Destroyed; And The

Almighty Is All Goodness,  And Would Ever Pardon."

 

"Then You Suppose There Is No Such Thing As Eternal Punishment?"

 

"Eternal!--No. Punishment There Is,  But Not Eternal. When The Legions Of

Angels Fell,  Some Were Not So Perverse As Others: They Soon Re-Obtained

Their Seats,  Even When,  As Children,  Having Passed Through The Slight

Ordeal,  They Have Been Summoned Back To Heaven; But Others Who,  From

Their Infancy,  Show How Bad Were Their Natures,  Have Many Pilgrimages To

Perform Before They Can Be Purified. This Is,  In Itself,  A Punishment.

What Other Punishment They Incur Between Their Pilgrimages We Know Not;

But This Is Certain,  That No One Was Created To Be Punished Eternally."

 

"But All This Is But Assertion," Replied I; "Where Are Your Proofs?"

 

"In The Bible; Some Day Or Other I Will Show Them To You; But Now We Are

At The Camp,  And I Am Anxious To Embrace Nattee."

 

I Thought For Some Time Upon This Singular Creed; One,  In Itself,  Not

Militating Against Religion,  But At The Same Time I Could Not Call To

Mind Any Passages By Which It Could Be Supported. Still The Idea Was

Beautiful,  And I Dwelt Upon It With Pleasure. I Have Before Observed,

And Indeed The Reader Must Have Gathered From My Narative,  That Melchior

Was No Common Personage. Every Day Did I Become More Partial To Him,  And

More Pleased With Our Erratic Life. What Scruples I Had At First,

Gradually Wore Away; The Time Passed Quickly,  And Although I Would

Occasionally Call To Mind The Original Object Of My Setting Forth,  I

Would Satisfy Myself By The Reflection,  That There Was Yet Sufficient

Time. Little Fleta Was Now My Constant Companion When In The Camp,  And I

Amused Myself With Teaching Her To Write And Read.

 

"Japhet," Said Timothy To Me One Day As We Were Cutting Hazel Broach

Part 1 Chapter 14 Pg 70

Wood In The Forest,  "I Don'T See That You Get On Very Fast In Your

Search After Your Father."

 

"No,  Tim,  I Do Not; But I Am Gaining A Knowledge Of The World Which Will

Be Very Useful To Me When I Recommence The Search; And What Is More,  I

Am Saving A Great Deal Of Money To Enable Me To Prosecute It."

 

"What Did Melchior Give You After We Left?"

 

"Twenty Guineas,  Which,  With What I Had Before,  Make More Than Fifty."

 

"And He Gave Me Ten,  Which Makes Twenty,  With What I Had Before. Seventy

Pounds Is A Large Sum."

 

"Yes,  But Soon Spent,  Tim. We Must Work A Little Longer. Besides,  I

Cannot Leave That Little Girl--She Was Never Intended For A

Rope-Dancer."

 

"I Am Glad To Hear You Say That,  Japhet,  For I Feel As You Do--She Shall

Share Our Fortunes."

 

"A Glorious Prospect Truly," Replied I,  Laughing; "But Never Mind,  It

Would Be Better Than Her Remaining Here. But How Are We To Manage That?"

 

"Aye! That'S The Rub; But There Is Time Enough To Think About It When We

Intend To Quit Our Present Occupation."

 

"Well,  I Understand From Melchior That We Are To Start In a Few Days."

 

"What Is It To Be,  Japhet?"

 

"Oh! We Shall Be At Home--We Are To Cure All Diseases Under The Sun.

To-Morrow We Commence Making Pills,  So We May Think Ourselves With Mr

Cophagus Again."

 

"Well,  I Do Think We Shall Have Some Fun; But I Hope Melchior Won'T Make

Me Take My Own Pills To Prove Their Good Qualities--That Will Be No

Joke."

 

"O No,  Num Is Kept On Purpose For That. What Else Is The Fool Good For?"

 

The Next Week Was Employed As We Anticipated. Boxes Of Pills Of Every

Size,  Neatly Labelled,  Bottles Of Various Mixtures,  Chiefly Stimulants,

Were Corked And Packed Up. Powders Of _Anything_ Were Put In Papers;

But,  At All Events,  There Was Nothing Hurtful In Them. All Was Ready,

And Accompanied By Num (Jumbo And Fleta Being Left At Home) We Set Off,

Melchior Assuming The Dress In Which We Had First Met Him In The Wagon,

And Altering His Appearance So Completely,  That He Would Have Been Taken

For At Least Sixty Years Old. We Now Travelled On Foot With Our Dresses

In Bundles,  Each Carrying His Own,  Except Num,  Who Was Loaded Like A

Pack-Horse,  And Made Sore Lamentations:

 

"Can'T You Carry Some Of This?"

 

Part 1 Chapter 14 Pg 71

"No," Replied I,  "It Is Your Own Luggage; Every One Must Carry His Own."

 

"Well,  I Never Felt My Spangled Dress So Heavy Before. Where Are We

Going?"

 

"Only A Little Way," Replied Timothy,  "And Then You Will Have Nothing

More To Do."

 

"I Don'T Know That. When Master Puts On That Dress,  I Have To Swallow

Little Things Till I'M Sick."

 

"It'S All Good For Your Health,  Num."

 

"I'M Very Well,  I Thank'E," Replied The Poor Fellow; "But I'M Very Hot

And Very Tired."

 

 

Part 1 Chapter 15 Pg 72

     In Which Timothy Makes A Grand Speech,  Quite As True As Those

     Delivered From The Hustings--Melchior,  Like The Candidate,  States

     His Pretentions For Public Favour,  And The Public,  As Usual,

     Swallow The Bait.

 

 

 

 

Fortunately For Poor Num,  We Were Not Far From The Market Town At Which

We Intended To Open Our Campaign,  Which We Did The Next Morning By Num

And Timothy Sallying Forth,  The Former With A Large Trumpet In His Hand,

And The Latter Riding On A Donkey. On Their Arrival At The Market-Place,

Num Commenced Blowing It With All His Might,  While Timothy,  In His

Spangled Dress,  As Soon As They Had Collected A Crowd,  Stood Upon His

Saddle,  And Harangued The People As Follows:--

 

"Gentlemen And Ladies--I Have The Honour To Announce To You The Arrival

In This Town Of The Celebrated Doctor Appallacheosmocommetico,  Who Has

Travelled Farther Than The Sun And Faster Than A Comet. He Hath Visited

Every Part Of The Globe. He Has Smoked The Calumet With The Indians Of

North America--He Has Hunted With The Araucas In The South--Galloped On

Wild Horses Over The Plains Of Mexico,  And Rubbed Noses With The

Esquimaux. He Hath Used The Chopsticks With The Chinese,  Swung The

Cherok Pooga With The Hindoos,  And Put A New Nose On The Great Cham Of

Tartary. He Hath Visited And Been Received In every Court Of Europe:

Danced On The Ice Of The Neva With The Russians--Led The Mazurka With

The Poles--Waltzed With The Germans--Tarantulaed With The

Italians--Fandangoed With The Spanish--And Quadrilled With The French.

He Hath Explored Every Mine In The Universe,  Walked Through Every Town

On The Continent,  Examined Every Mountain In The World,  Ascended Mont

Blanc,  Walked Down The Andes,  And Run Up The Pyrenees. He Has Been Into

Every Volcano In The Globe,  And Descending By Vesuvius Has Been Thrown

Up By Stromboli. He Has Lived More Than A Thousand Years,  And Is Still

In The Flower Of His Youth. He Has Had One Hundred And Forty Sets Of

Teeth One After Another,  And Expects A New Set Next Christmas. His Whole

Part 1 Chapter 15 Pg 73

Life Has Been Spent In The Service Of Mankind,  And In doing Good To His

Fellow-Creatures; And Having The Experience Of More Than A Thousand

Years,  He Cures More Than A Thousand Diseases. Gentlemen,  The Wonderful

Doctor Will Present Himself Before You This Evening,  And Will Then Tell

You What His Remedies Are Good For,  So That You May Pick And Choose

According To Your Several Complaints. Ladies,  The Wonderful Doctor Can

Greatly Assist You: He Has Secrets By Which You May Have A Family If You

Should So Wish--Philters To Make Husbands Constant,  And Salve To Make

Them Blind--Cosmetics To Remove Pimples And Restore To Youth And Beauty,

And Powders To Keep Children From Squalling. Sound The Trumpet,

Philotas; Sound,  And Let Every Body Know That The Wonderful Doctor

Appallacheosmocommetico Has Vouchsafed To Stop Here And Confer His

Blessings Upon The Inhabitants Of This Town." Hereupon Num Again Blew

The Trumpet Till He Was Black In The Face; And Timothy,  Dropping On His

Donkey,  Rode Away To Other Parts Of The Town,  Where He Repeated His

Grandiloquent Announcement,  Followed,  As May Be Supposed,  By A Numerous

Cortege Of Little Ragged Boys.

 

About Four O'Clock In The Afternoon,  Melchior Made His Appearance In The

Market-Place,  Attended By Me,  Dressed As A German Student,  Timothy And

Num In Their Costumes. A Stage Had Been Already Prepared,  And The

Populace Had Crowded Round It More With The Intention Of Laughing Than

Of Making Purchases. The Various Packets Were Opened And Arranged In

Front Of The Platform,  I Standing On One Side Of Melchior,  Timothy On

The Other,  And Num With His Trumpet,  Holding On By One Of The Scaffold

Poles At The Corner.

 

"Sound The Trumpet,  Philotas," Said Melchior,  Taking Off His

Three-Cornered Hat,  And Making A Low Bow To The Audience,  At Every

Blast. "Pray,  Mr Fool,  Do You Know Why You Sound The Trumpet?"

 

"I'M Sure I Don'T Know," Replied Num,  Opening His Goggle Eyes.

 

"Do You Know,  Mr Dionysius?"

 

"Yes,  Sir,  I Can Guess."

 

"Explain,  Then,  To The Gentlemen And Ladies Who Have Honoured Us With

Their Presence."

 

"Because,  Sir,  Trumpets Are Always Sounded Before Great Conquerors."

 

"Very True,  Sir-,  But How Am I A Great