CHAPTER XII

The Sabbath and the Parable

The next morning we descended the ladder, and breakfasted on warm milk: we served the animals also with their meal and then we all sat down on the tender grass; the boys full of impatient curiosity; their mother absorbed in silent reflection; while I was penetrated with the most lively desire to impress upon the young minds of my children a subject I considered of the highest importance for their well-being, both in this world and in that which is to come.

All now standing up, I repeated aloud the church service, which I knew by heart, and we sang some verses from the hundred-and-nineteenth Psalm, which the boys had before learned; after which we sat down, and I began as follows:—

“My dear children, there was once a Great King, whose kingdom was called The Country of Light and Reality, because the purest and softest light of the sun reigned there continually, which caused the inhabitants to be in a perpetual state of activity. On the farthest borders of this kingdom, northward, there was another country which also belonged to the Great King, and the immense extent of which was unknown to all but himself. From time immemorial, a plan the most exact of this country had been preserved in the royal archives. The second kingdom was called The Kingdom of Obscurity, or of Night, because everything in it was gloomy and inactive.

“In the most fertile and agreeable part of his empire of Reality, this great King had a residence called the Heavenly City, in which he lived and kept his court, which was the most brilliant that the imagination can form an idea of. Millions of guards, and servants high in dignity, remained for ever round him, and a still larger number held themselves in readiness to receive his commands. All were happy to be admitted into his presence: their faces shone with the mildest joy: there was but one heart and one soul among them: the sentiment of paternal concord so united these beings, that no envy or jealousy ever rose among them. Among the rest of the inhabitants of the Heavenly City, there were some less close in their attendance upon the Great King, but they were all virtuous, all happy, all had been enriched by the beneficence of the monarch, and, what is of still higher price, had received constant marks of his paternal care; for his subjects were all equal in his eyes, and he loved them, and treated them as if they had been his children.

“The Great King had, besides the two kingdoms I have been describing, an uninhabited island of considerable extent: it was his wish to people and cultivate this island, for all within it was a kind of chaos: he destined it to be for some years the abode of such future citizens as he intended to receive finally into his residence, to which only such of his subjects were admitted as had rendered themselves worthy by their conduct. This island was called Earthly Abode: he who should have passed some time in it, and by his virtue, his application to labour, and the cultivation of the land, should have rendered himself worthy of reward, was afterwards to be received into the Heavenly City, and made one of its happy inhabitants.

“To effect this end, the Great King caused a fleet to be equipped, which was to transport the new colonists to this island. These he chose from the kingdom of Night, and for his first gift bestowed upon them the enjoyment of light, and the view of the lovely face of Nature, of which they had been deprived in their gloomy and unknown abode. It will easily be imagined that they arrived joyful and happy, at least they became so when they had been for a short time accustomed to the multitude of new objects which struck their feeble sight. The island was rich and fertile when cultivated. The beneficent King provided each individual who was disembarked upon it with all the things he could want in the time he had fixed for their stay in it, and all the means for obtaining the certainty of being admitted as citizens of his magnificent abode, when they should leave the Earthly Island. All that was required to entitle them to this benefit was that they should occupy themselves unceasingly in useful labour, and strictly obey the commands of the Great King, which he made known to them. He sent to them his only son, who addressed them from his father in the following terms:—

“‘My dear children, I have called you from the kingdom of Night and Insensibility, to render you happy by the gifts of life, of sentiment, and of activity. But your happiness for the most part will depend upon yourselves. You will be happy if you wish to be so. If such is your sincere desire, you must never forget that I am your good King, your tender father; and you must faithfully fulfil my will in the cultivation of the country I have confided to your care. Each of you shall receive, on his arriving at the island, the portion of land which is intended for him; and my further commands respecting your conduct will be soon communicated to you. I shall send you wise and learned men, who will explain to you my commands; and that you may of yourselves seek after the light necessary for your welfare, and remember my laws at every instant of your lives, it is my will that each father of a family shall keep an exact copy of them in his house, and read them daily to all the persons who belong to him. Further, each first day of the week I require to be devoted to my service. In each colony, all the people shall assemble together as brothers in one place, where shall be read and explained to them the laws contained in my archives. The rest of this day shall be employed in making serious reflections on the duties and destination of the colonists, and on the best means to fulfil the same.

“‘He who, in his Earthly Abode, shall most strictly have observed my will, who shall have best fulfilled the duties of a brother towards his fellow-inhabitants, who shall have preserved his land in the best order, and shall show the largest produce from it, shall be recompensed for his deeds, and shall become an inhabitant of my magnificent residence in the Heavenly City. But the neglectful and the idle man, and the wicked man, who shall have spent their time in interrupting the useful labours of others, shall be condemned to pass their lives in slavery, or, according to the degree of their wickedness, shall be condemned to live in subterraneous mines, in the bowels of the earth.’

“All the colonists were well satisfied with the discourse of the Great King, and made him the most sacred promises. After a short time allowed for repose from the fatigue of the voyage, a portion of land, and the proper instruments for labour, were distributed to each of the strangers. They received also seeds, and useful plants, and young trees, for producing them refreshing fruits. Each was then left at liberty to act as he pleased, and increase the value of what was confided to his care. But what happened? After some time, each followed the suggestions of his fancy: one planted his land with arbours, flowery banks, and sweet-smelling shrubs; all pleasing to the sight, but which brought forth nothing. Another planted wild apple-trees, instead of the good fruit, as the Great King had commanded; contenting himself with giving high-sounding names to the 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.