Trapped 2

If you didn't read "Trapped 1" already, please read it before you read the rest of this. P.S. It is next after this blog.



Introduction

When we last left off, Davy Stark was stuck in a bad situation. He was tied up to a chair, blindfolded, and gaged. He also heard his bodyguard, Brad, talking about him. Now, he was thinking about why this was going on.

Trapped 2

Brad didn't like Davy, because he didn't get a high pay, he wasn't treated well, he didn't get any respect, and lots of other things. He agreed with some other people that didn't like Davy Stark, to kidnap Davy and hold him for ransom. He told Tom Handly and Justin Linbrook to wait for him and tie Davy up and take him to the back of Ethan Fin's van. Matt and him would get in the van and drive to the haunted house 37 miles away on a old dirt road. The rest would follow in there own cars.

Davy was sitting in his dress room, when the 2 men from picked him up and put him somewhere. Then all of a sudden, what ever he was sitting on started to move and stop, move and stop, move and stop... After a while, Davy started to feel bumps, hear people talking, and hear police sirens for a while. Then the thing he was sitting in suddenly stopped. A door opened and someone carried him out. Now where am I going, thought Davy.

To be Continued

Trapped 1

Here he was, Davy Stark the big rock star. It was the end of an exciting 5 hour concert. The fans cheered and screamed. Davey's head poured with sweet like a fountain, his face was red from singing, and his heart pumped and thumped like a drum. He felt like he was in power and control. He decided to do a couple more songs: his most favorite ones. When he started, the crowd went wild. At the end, he went back into his dressing room and found 2 men waiting for him. They locked the door behind him and Davey shouted for his bodyguard Brad, but no one came. The men tied Davey to a chair, blindfolded him, and gaged Davy. Davy heard his bodyguard next door taking to someone else and saying that Davy deserved it. Why Davy thought to himself, What is going on?.

To Be Continued...

Global Warming

Global warming is a big problem today. Some people know that, others don't. Do you know why global warming is a big problem? Well, I going to tell you why.



First of all, it is a big problem because if global warming keeps on going the ocean would rise rapidly and flood lots of land. In this land there are some major cities, so that would cause a lot of trouble.

Secondly, it would shorten food because global warming harms and kills algae, and algae is a main source of food in the ocean. That would cause a shortage of food in the ocean. So that takes sea food off of the list.

Third of all, it would also cause many droughts and floods that would lead to many troubles. The cause of this is evaporation and raining

Pool Day

Today my family went to the pool. I called my friends, Calvin and Justin. My mom and dad went to the jacuzzi. At the pool, Calvin, Justin, my brother and I played this game at the pool that Justin made up. It is called Water Nations. In Water Nations you try to invade another person's nation. Then Justins changes it to when you want to invade another nation you have to get this thing out of his hand for 20 seconds to win, but if he holds you for 30 seconds you lose your nation. We also played Marco Polo. After that my dad told me that it was time to go.

How to write your own language

1. First you have to think of a name like Houkalau make sure you write it down or you might forget.
2. Second, you have to figure out if you want a alphabet or a word for each word.
3. Third, you think out how to say the words.
4. Then , write down how to write them, for an example write the English alphabet in a way hard to read.
5. Then you have fun with your language.

Desert Survival

The desert is a strange and beautiful place, but for the unwary visitor who makes too many mistakes, it can be a very unforgiving place as well. One small error can turn a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive or a camping trip into a tragedy.

With a bit of knowledge, however, and a lot of common sense, tragedies can be avoided completely. After all, surviving in the desert is nothing more than plain old common sense.

Safety rules for desert survival:

1. Always tell someone where you are going and when you plan to be back. Let them know your route and the type of vehicle you are using. And don’t change your plans. Don’t depend on a cellular phone in these situations as they don’t always work when away from civilization. Your best bet is to also leave your route and information about your vehicle and with whom you’re traveling in writing. This is also a good place to leave information about any potential health issues anyone who is with you might have and what type of emergency supplies you already have with you.

2. Be prepared for every emergency. Make sure your car is in good condition with good hoses, a spare tire, spare fan belts, necessary tools, extra gas, water, and oil. Many problems in the desert start with a car that breaks down due to ill repair.

3. Have extra water for each person traveling with you. A good judge is one gallon per person per day. Have adequate first aid supplies. Think “emergency” before you go and bring those extra things you might need. With water, the rule is more is better. You can always drink it when you get home if it isn’t used.

4. If you have water, make sure you drink it as needed. Rationing water can become very dangerous. Often when a person is dehydrated, the thinking processes malfunction. Drink what you need.

5. Stay with your vehicle if you have a problem. It will be the first things found by searchers because it’s much easier to see from the air. Also, your car has many things to help with your survival such as mirrors, hub caps, a horn, a battery, lights, a lighter, gas, oil, and floor mats. Raise the hood and trunk of your vehicle to show distress.

6. Make sure you have a flashlight and check the batteries often. A flashlight without batteries has no value.

7. If water is limited, keep your mouth SHUT. Do not talk, eat, smoke, drink alcohol, or eat salt.

8. If you are absolutely positive about the route to help, and feel you must leave your vehicle, make sure you leave a note for rescuers telling them who you are, when you left, and the route you are taking.

9. Do not sit or lie directly on the ground. Make a sun shade and elevate your body. The ground can be 30 degrees hotter than the free air temperature. Use a car seat or something to raise yourself at least a foot and a half off the surface. There is also a greater possibility of having a problem with a poisonous insect or snakes if you are directly on the ground.

10. Protect your eyes with sunglasses. Even though the glare doesn’t seem to make a difference, it will impair your distant vision and hamper your adaptation to night vision. It can also cause headaches. If you have so sunglasses, improvise with a sun shield made from cardboard or cloth. Applying charcoal, soot, or oil around your eyes may help.

11. If you have chapstick, use it. Do not lick your lips as it will hasten chapping and splitting.

12. Change your socks regularly. Change them even if you’re changing to used socks. Sunning and aeration of socks and undergarments have a marked freshening value.

13. Do not remove clothing in an attempt to stay cool. This hastens dehydration and can be deadly. Wearing clothes helps you avoid sunburn as well.

14. If you see a dust storm coming, lie down with your back to the wind, covering your head with a clost to keep dust out of your eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

15. If the weather is cool, get a fire started.

16. A roadway is a sign of civilization. If you find a traveled road, stay on it. You might find other people on a road.

17. Keep an eye on the sky. Flash floods may occur any time thunderheads are in sight, even thought it may not rain where you are. Do not remain in dry washes which can flood and be quite dangerous, if not deadly.

18. Try to stay under control. There is nothing more dangerous than blind panic.

In any survival situation, everything you do must be proceeded by only one thought: Am I safe in doing this

How to Survive on a Desert Island

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A desert island may sound inhospitable, but with the proper knowledge, anyone can survive on one.

Steps

Solar Stills

1. A solar still is a device that uses the suns energy to capture water. You will need...
   
   • plastic wrap sheet, or something to that effect
     
   • hole, bowl, or some sort of ditch
     
   • weight (rock, sand, keys, etc.)
     
   
   
2. Place the plastic wrap over the hole, completely covering it. In the center, place the weight, creating a slight grade to the center. If left for a period of time, water will collect in the center.
   

Tree Stills

1. A tree still uses the water given off by trees to hydrate you. You will need
   
   • plastic bag
     
   • a tree
     
   
   
2. Place the bag over a section of the tree and tie it shut as tight as you can. Wait overnight, and you should have some water in your bag.
   

If There Is A Water Source

1. If a direct water source is available, try and make a fire (this will be covered later). By boiling the water (if you have a container ie: a pot or coconut shell, that is) you will rid the water of bacteria, and if needed, create heat for you if you are in a cold environment. If you choose to drink directly from a stream, try and find a spot where the water is running.
   

Getting Water From other Things

1. Water can be found in in any plant, some more than others. On a desert island, you may try eating any (non-poisonous) fruit available if you are in the tropics, and if there are cacti around, then you can cut it open and chew the pulp for both water and a food source. If coconuts are available, they can be used for a water supply, food, a bowl for a solar still for for boiling water, and the outer rusk can be used as tinder when scraped off. If you are not sure if a fruit or plant is poisonous, break open the membrane and rub the inside of the object on a designated spot on your arm. Wait 10-20 minutes and observe if anything happens (rash, swelling, pain, etc.). If nothing happens, its probably safe to eat. Never eat a fungus or mushroom unless you are absolutely positive that it is safe. Unless necessary, don't eat it then either.
   

Fire

1. There are many ways to create fire. One of the best known methods is the bow method. for this, you will need...
   
   • bendable stick (living)
     
   • tinder (coconut rusk, wood shavings, etc.)
     
   • vine, or live grass (for the bow's string)
     
   • rock or piece of wood with hole in it.
     
   • another piece of wood with hole in it.
     
   
   
2. Take your bendy stick and curve it into a bow. While it's in this position, tie you vine or grass around both ends, making a sufficient bow. Find a sturdy stick, preferably dead, and wrap the bow's string around it in a loop fashion. Hold your rock or wood with a notch in it in your hand, and put the top of the stick into the notch. With the other end, put it in the notch in the other piece of wood. Pull the bow back and forth, making the stick spin in the notch to create enough friction to create an ember from the bottom wood. Take that ember, and put it into your gathered tinder and blow on it, making a flame. With that flame, you can catch larger sticks alight, and create a nice fire.
   
3. Another method is less complicated. You will need...
   
   • A 9-volt battery (the one with both terminals on one end)
     
   • Steel wool
     
   • Tinder (coconut rusk, wood shavings, etc.)
     
   
   
4. Touch both terminals on the battery to the steel wool. The electrical overload in it will cause the steel to melt at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. With this ember, you catch the tinder on fire, and create a fire that way.
   
5. You can also make a fire from...
   
   • Glasses
     
   • Concave mirror
     
   • Glasses: During the day, focus the suns rays onto some tinder using your glasses. The heat from the condensed light will catch it.
     
   • Concave mirror: Face the mirror towards the sun, and focus the reflection onto the tinder. The condensed light will catch it.
     
   • Flint and Steel: strike steel or a hard rock against flint, effectively creating a spark, which can be used to light the tinder.
     
   
   

Getting Rescued
Your main priority while on this island is to be rescued. This can be done in a few different fashions.

1. Signal fire: The international sign of distress is 3 fires in the shape of a triangle. After you've made the fires, throw living plants onto the fire, making heavy smoke. This will help you get noticed. At night, a fire works well as a beacon to ships or air-craft.
   
2. Anomalies: Anything out of the ordinary will help you get noticed. Moving rocks into an odd shape helps (Remember, a triangle means distress), and bright colors that aren't normally found in the landscape help also. Bright orange clothing or other materials are most noticeable, and anything reflective can be used to catch someones eye with a glint.
   

Tips

• Boil your water (if you can) before drinking from a direct source
  
• Test any unknown food for poisons before ingesting
  
• A triangle is the universal sign of distress
  
• Don't eat fungus unless you have intimate knowledge
  
• Stay in one spot if you can, and wait to be rescued
  
• Head for high ground to have a better chance of being noticed.
  
• Throw copper (copper can be found in pennies) in the fire to turn it green.
  

Warnings

• Do not attempt stranding yourself purposefully with knowledge from this guide. Only attempt surviving after correct training and consulting professionals in various helpful fields. It is dangerous, and may result in severe injury or death.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Survive on a Desert Island. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Today

Today I went to school and today I have music and science. First in music we talked about all the teachers that were there the string teacher, the vocal teacher, and the wind teacher but we don't do wind until next year. I know I forgot to mention what grade I am in so I'm in 4 grade.Okay now that were done with that than the teachers talked about how to rent a instrument.Then after the talk I went to science with the class and then science teacher talked about rules.

Then we went to recess and I basically chatted with my friends, Blake and Alex. After that we had reading, math and a few another subjects.Then it was Lunch time and I chatted with my two friends then the bell rang. And I went to line up. So, then after we went inside the teacher read a story. Then we had a few subjects like Social Studies. Then we went home.

The Dragon Rock

Once Upon A Time, and imagine if you can, a steep sided valley cluttered with giant, spiky green pine trees and thick, green grass that reaches to the top of your socks so that when you run, you have to bring your knees up high, like running through water. Wildflowers spread their sweet heady perfume along the gentle breezes and bees hum musically to themselves as they cheerily collect flower pollen. People are very happy here and they work hard, keeping their houses spick and span and their children's faces clean. This particular summer had been very hot and dry, making the lean farm dogs sleepy and still. Farmers whistled lazily to themselves and would stand and stare into the distance, trying to remember what it was that they were supposed to be doing. By two o'clock in the afternoon, the town would be in a haze of slumber, with grandmas nodding off over their knitting and farmers snoozing in the haystacks. It was very, very hot. No matter how hot the day, however, the children would always play in the gentle, rolling meadows. With wide brimmed hats and skin slippery with sun block, they chittered and chattered like sparrows, as they frolicked in their favourite spot. Now, their favourite spot is very important to this story because in this particular spot is a large, long, scaly rock that looks amazingly similar to a sleeping dragon. The children knew it was a dragon. The grown ups knew it was a dragon. The dogs and cats and birds knew it was a dragon. But nobody was scared because it never, ever moved. The boys and girls would clamber all over it, poking sticks at it and hanging wet gumboots on its ears but it didn't mind in the least. The men folk would sometimes chop firewood on its zigzagged tail because it was just the right height and the Ladies Weaving Group often spun sheep fleece on its spikes. Often on a cool night, when the stars were twinkling brightly in a velvet sky and the children peacefully asleep, the grown ups would settle for the evening with a mug of steaming cocoa in a soft cushioned armchair. Then the stories about How The Dragon Got There began. Nobody knew for sure, there were many different versions depending on which family told the tale, but one thing that everybody agreed on, was this:
< 2 >In Times of Trouble The Dragon will Wake And Free the Village By making a Lake This little poem was etched into everybody's minds and sometimes appeared on tea towels and grandma's embroidery. The days went by slowly, quietly and most importantly, without any rain. There had been no rain in the valley for as long as the children could remember. The wells were starting to bring up muddy brown water and clothes had to be washed in yesterday's dishwater. The lawns had faded to a crisp biscuit colour and the flowers drooped their beautiful heads. Even the trees seemed to hang their branches like weary arms. The valley turned browner and drier and thirstier, every hot, baking day. The townsfolk grew worried and would murmur to each other when passing with much shaking of heads and tut tuts. They would look upwards searching for rain clouds in the blue, clear sky, but none ever came. "The tale of the Dragon cannot be true," said old Mrs Greywhistle, the shopkeeper. "It hasn't moved an inch, I swear," replied her customer, tapping an angry foot. It was now too hot for the children to play out in the direct sun and they would gather under the shade of the trees, digging holes in the dust and snapping brittle twigs. "The Dragon will help us soon," said one child. "He must do Something," agreed another. "I'm sure he will." They all nodded in agreement. A week went by with no change, the people struggling along as best they could. Some were getting cross at the Dragon and would cast angry, sideways looks at it when passing. The villagers were becoming skinny eyed and sullen. Meanwhile, the children had a plan. Quickly and quietly, they moved invisibly around town, picking and plucking at the fading flowers. With outstretched arms and bouquets up to their chins, they rustled over to where the giant rock lay, as still as ever. The boys and girls placed bunches of flowers around the Dragon in a big circle. They scattered petals around its head and over its nose, then danced around and around it, skipping and chanting the rhyme that they all knew so well. In Times of Trouble The Dragon Will Wake And Save the Village By making a Lake. The searing heat made them dizzy and fuzzy and finally they all fell in a sprawling heap at the bottom of the mound. They looked up at the rock.
< 3 >Nothing happened. A dry wind lazily picked up some flower heads and swirled them around. The air was thick with pollen and perfume. A stony grey nostril twitched. "I saw something," cried the youngest boy. They stared intently. An ear swiveled like a periscope. The ground began to rumble. "Look out! Run!Run!" The children scampered in all directions, shrieking and squealing, arms pumping with excitement. The rumbling grew and grew. The Dragon raised its sleepy head. It got onto its front feet and sat like a dog. It stood up and stretched, arching its long scaly back like a sleek tabby cat. It blinked and looked around with big kind, long lashed eyes. And then its nostrils twitched and quivered again. The older folk were alerted by the screams and shrieks. The ladies held up their long skirts to run and the men rolled their sleeves up and soon the whole town stood together in a tight huddle at the foot of the hill, staring up at the large beast with mouths held open. "AHHHHH AAHHHHHHHHH!!" The noise erupted from the Dragon. "AHHHHH AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The families gripped each other tighter and shut their eyes. "AHHHHH CHOOOOOOOOO!!" The sneeze blasted from the Dragon like a rocket, throwing it back fifty paces, causing a whirlwind of dust and dirt. "AHHHHH CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" The second blast split open the dry earth, sending explosions of soil and tree roots high into the sky like missiles, and something else too ... The people heard the sound but couldn't recognize it at first for it had been such a long time since their ears had heard such tinkling melody. As their eyes widened in wonder, their smiles turned into grins and then yahoos and hoorahs. Water, cold, clear spring water, oozed, then trickled, then roared out of the hole, down the hillside and along the valley floor. The torrent knocked over a farmer's haystack, but he didn't care. The river carried away the schoolteacher's bike shed but she cared not a jot. It even demolished the Ladies Bowling Club changing rooms but they howled with laughter and slapped their thighs. When the flood sent pools of water out towards the golf course, filling up sixteen of the nineteen holes, the men just hooted and whistled and threw their caps up in the air.
< 4 >What used to be a dirty, brown dust bowl, now gleamed and glistened in the sunlight, sending playful waves and ripples across the lake and inviting all to share. "HMMMMM," sighed the Dragon sleepily, and showing his perfect movie star teeth. "Seeing as I'm awake ..." And he lumbered forward with surprising grace and style and disappeared into the cool dark water with a small wave of a claw and flick of his tail. They never saw him again. After the families had restored and rebuilt the village, and set up sailing clubs for the children, and scuba diving for the grandparents, they erected a bandstand and monument in the spot where the Dragon used to lay. Every year to mark the occasion, they would bring garlands of flowers and herbs and arrange them in a big circle. The children would have the day off school, for it was known as 'Water Dragon Day' and wearing the dragon masks that they had been working on all week, would skip and clap and sing. The Dragon helped Us As We said He would Do Hooray for The Dragon Achoo, Achoo, ACHOOOO! And that is the end of the story.

The dragon in Cleveland

Mrs. Rathborn was an odd teacher. She had a crooked smile and a bit of paint on the tip of her nose.
She loved to recite the ABCs frontwards and backwards and even on her head. Mrs. Rathborn felt sad it was summer, because there was no one for her to teach.
Mrs. Rathborn looked at the one letter that arrived in the mail. It came from a girl whom she taught.
The letter said;
Dear Mrs. Rathborn
Since you are a teacher and very smart. I thought you could help me. I saw a dragon, but Mom and Dad don't believe me. It is the size of Mr. Cooper's dog. It has white wings and green skin, a purple head and black eyes.
Love,Courtney
Dear Courtney
I've never seen a dragon, and I don't really believe in them. Where did you see the dragon? What is his name?
Love
Mrs. Rathborn
Dear Mrs. Rathborn, I saw the dragon in Cleveland. Dad was too busy looking at maps and Mom was too busy driving.
"I said, "Mom and Dad! There's a dragon flying over our car!"
But Mom said "Cleveland is where no dragon would be. The dragon is in your head."
Mrs. Rathborn, how is a dragon going to fit in my head?
Love
Courtney
P.S. I don't know what his name is, I didn't ask him yet.
Dear Courtney
Your head is the perfect place for a dragon to be.
Love
Mrs. Rathborn
Dear Mrs. Rathborn,
The dragon isn't in my head, he is sleeping on my doll bed.
Love, Courtney P.S. His name is Wally, and he loves eating carrots, peanuts and marshmallows, he toasts the marshmallows himself. He is a fire breathing dragon.
Dear Courtney
I bet it's fun having a dragon around. Imagine Show and Tell when school starts! You will have the best Show and Tell in the world, (that is if he is real!).
Love
Mrs. Rathborn
Dear Mrs. Rathborn,
Wally is real.
I saw Wally at the movies, but it was too dark, and every time he'd try to say "Hi!", Mom and dad would just "Shush," him.
Wally was very sad about that. I tried to make him feel better by giving him a piece of gum, but it just got stuck in his wings, and I had to help pull it all out. He was very sad.
Love
Courtney
Dear Courtney
Give him a hug for me.
Love
Mrs. Rathborn
Dear Mrs. Rathborn
Wally will be over himself to give you hug tomorrow, just wait.
Love
Courtney
Mrs. Rathborn waited, and even made up the dragon's favorite snacks. There was a knock at the door. Mrs. Rathborn opened the door.
There was Courtney with a paper dragon's mask on.
Her mother was holding her hand.
"Tell her the truth," Courtney's mother said.
"I'm the dragon," Molly sighed.
She took off her mask and bowed down her head.
Mrs. Rathborn only smiled. "I have something for you, Courtney."
"What is it?" Mother asked.
Mrs. Rathborn pulled a painting off of a chair.
Guess who was in the painting?

"It's Wally!" Courtney said, with a happy laugh, as she took the painting from Mrs. Rathborn.

Suddenly, the dragon leapt from the painting, and winked at them.
But of course, only Courtney and Mrs. Rathborn saw him.
The End

The First day of school

The first day of school was very interesting because I had never went to that school. My class had 33 students but it was okay. My teacher's name was Mr. Manchester I can't wait until the next day of school and learn new stuff. The temperature was way to high I mean it must have been 100 degrees outside. There was a class library and we could check out books.Class temerature was just great.I liked my new class very much.

Science facts

Did you know that there are 206 bones in the adult human body and there are 300 in children (as they grow some of the bones fuse together).

Flea's can jump 130 times higher than their own height. In human terms this is equal to a 6ft. person jumping 780 ft. into the air.

The most dangerous animal in the world is the common housefly. Because of their habits of visiting animal waste, they transmit more diseases than any other animal.

Snakes are true carnivorous because they eat nothing but other animals. They do not eat any type of plant material.

The world's largest amphibian is the giant salamander. It can grow up to 5 ft. in length.

100 years ago: The first virus was found in both plants and animals.

90 years ago: The Grand Canyon became a national monument & Cellophane is invented.

80 years ago: The food mixer and the domestic refrigerator were invented.

70 years ago: The teletype and PVC (polyvinyl-chloride) were invented.

60 years ago: Otto Hahn discovered nuclear fission by splitting uranium, Teflon was invented.

50 years ago: Velcro was invented.

40 years ago: An all-female population of lizards was discovered in Armenia.

30 years ago: The computer mouse was invented.

20 years ago: First test-tube baby born in England, Pluto’s moon, Charon, discovered.

10 years ago: First patent for a genetically-engineered mouse was issued to Harvard Medical School.
5 years ago: The first successful cloning of human embryo

The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes or stirrup bone located in the middle ear. It is approximately .11 inches (.28 cm) long.

The longest cells in the human body are the motor neurons. They can be up to 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) long and run from the lower spinal cord to the big toe.

There are no poisonous snakes in Maine.

The blue whale can produce sounds up to 188 decibels. This is the loudest sound produced by a living animal and has been detected as far away as 530 miles.

The largest man-made lake in the U.S. is Lake Mead, created by Hoover Dam.

The poison arrow frogs of South and Central America are the most poisonous animals in the world.

A new born blue whale measures 20-26 feet (6.0 - 7.9 meters) long and weighs up to 6,614 pounds (3003 kg).

The first coast-to-coast telephone line was established in 1914.

The Virginia opossum has a gestation period of only 12-13 days.

The Stegosaurus dinosaur measured up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) long but had a brain the size of a walnut.

The largest meteorite crater in the world is in Winslow, Arizona. It is 4,150 feet across and 150 feet deep.

The human eye blinks an average of 4,200,000 times a year.

Skylab, the first American space station, fell to the earth in thousands of pieces in 1979. Thankfully most over the ocean.

It takes approximately 12 hours for food to entirely digest.

Human jaw muscles can generate a force of 200 pounds (90.8 kilograms) on the molars.

The Skylab astronauts grew 1.5 - 2.25 inches (3.8 - 5.7 centimeters) due to spinal lengthening and straightening as a result of zero gravity.

An inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain water is equivalent to 15 inches (38.1 centimeters) of dry, powdery snow.

Tremendous erosion at the base of Niagara Falls (USA) undermines the shale cliffs and as a result the falls have receded approximately 7 miles over the last 10,000 years.

40 to 50 percent of body heat can be lost through the head (no hat) as a result of its extensive circulatory network.

A large swarm of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) can consume 20,000 tons (18,160,000 kilograms) of vegetation a day.

The largest telescope in the world is currently being constructed in northern Chile. The telescope will utilize four - 26 ft. 8 in. (8.13 meters) mirrors which will gather as much light as a single 52 ft. 6 in. (16 meters) mirror.

The Hubble Space Telescope weighs 12 tons (10,896 kilograms), is 43 feet (13.1 meters) long, and cost $2.1 billion to originally build.

The longest living cells in the body are brain cells which can live an entire lifetime.

The largest flying animal was the pterosaur which lived 70 million years ago. This reptile had a wing span of 36-39 feet (11-11.9 meters) and weighed 190-250 pounds (86-113.5 kilograms).

The Atlantic Giant Squid's eye can be as large as 15.75 inches (40 centimeters) wide.

Armadillos, opossums, and sloth's spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.

The starfish species, Porcellanaster ivanovi, has been found to live in water as deep as 24,881 feet (7,584 meters).

The tentacles of the giant Arctic jellyfish can reach 120 feet (36.6 meters) in length.

The greatest tide change on earth occurs in the Bay of Fundy. The difference between low tide and high tide can be as great as 54 ft. 6 in. (16.6 meters).

The highest temperature produced in a laboratory was 920,000,000 F (511,000,000 C) at the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor in Princeton, NJ, USA.

The most powerful laser in the world, the Nova laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA, USA, generates a pulse of energy equal to 100,000,000,000,000 watts of power for .000000001 second to a target the size of a grain of sand.

The fastest computer in the world is the CRAY Y-MP C90 supercomputer. It has two gigabytes of central memory and 16 parallel central processor units.

The heaviest human brain ever recorded weighed 5 lb. 1.1 oz. (2.3 kg.).

The deepest part of the ocean is 35,813 feet (10,916 meters) deep and occurs in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. At that depth the pressure is 18,000 pounds (9172 kilograms) per square inch.

The largest cave in the world (the Sarawak Chamber in Malaysia) is 2,300 feet (701 meters) long, 980 feet (299 meters) wide, and more than 230 feet (70 meters) high.

The hottest planet in the solar system is Venus, with an estimated surface temperature of 864 F (462 C).

The ears of a cricket are located on the front legs, just below the knee.

The first electronic digital computer (called ENIAC - the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was developed in 1946 and contained over 18,000 vacuum tubes.

The leg muscles of a locust are about 1000 times more powerful than an equal weight of human muscle.

The cosmos contains approximately 50,000,000,000 galaxies.

There are between 100,000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000,000 stars in a normal galaxy.

Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.

Scientists have discovered that copper pollution of the atmosphere occurred about 2500 years ago. This was discovered by analyzing ice cores from Greenland. The pollution was attributed to the Romans who used copper for military purposes and to produce coins.

Hydrofluoric acid will dissolve glass.

In a full grown rye plant, the total length of roots may reach 380 miles (613 km).

In a full grown rye plant, the total length of fine root hairs may reach 6600 miles (10,645 km).

A large sunspot can last for about a week.

If you could throw a snowball fast enough, it would totally vaporize when it hit a brick wall.

Boron nitride (BN) is the second hardest substance known to man.

The female Tarantula Hawk wasp paralyzes a large spider with her sting. She then lays her eggs on the motionless body so that her developing young have a fresh supply of spider meat to feed on.

The seeds of an Indian Lotus tree remain viable for 300 to 400 years.

The only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table is the letter “J”.

Velcro was invented by a Swiss guy who was inspired by the way burrs attached to clothing.

Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.

October 10 is National Metric Day.

If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

Super Glue was invented by accident. The researcher was trying to make optical coating materials, and would test their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them. When he tried the cyano-acrylate, he couldn't get the prisms apart.

No matter its size or thickness, no piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.

A car traveling at 80 km/h uses half its fuel to overcome wind resistance.

Knowledge is growing so fast that ninety per cent of what we will know in fifty years time, will be discovered in those fifty years.

According to an old English system of time units, a moment is one and a half minutes.

The typewriter was invented in 1829, and the automatic dishwasher in 1889.

The wristwatch was invented in 1904 by Louis Cartier.

When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds of up to 3,000 miles per hour.

By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand.

Ten minutes of one hurricane contains enough energy to match the nuclear stockpiles of the world.

Most gemstones contain several elements. The exception? The diamond. It's all carbon.

Diamonds are the hardest substance known to man.

Which of the 50 states has never had an earthquake? North Dakota.

When hydrogen burns in the air, water is formed.

Sterling silver contains 7.5% copper.

Cars were first made with ignition keys in 1949.

J.B Dunlop was first to put air into tires.

Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, also set a world water-speed record of over seventy miles an hour at the age of seventy two.

It is energy-efficient to turn off a fluorescent light only if it will not be used again within an hour or more. This is because of the high voltage needed to turn it on, and the shortened life this high voltage causes.

The Earth's equatorial circumference (40,075 km) is greater than its polar circumference (40,008 km).

Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

Due to gravitational effects, you weigh slightly less when the moon is directly overhead.

The Earth's average velocity orbiting the sun is 107,220 km per hour.

There is a high and low tide because of our moon and the Sun.

The United States consumes 25% of all the world’s energy.

Flying from London to New York by Concord, due to the time zones crossed, you can arrive 2 hours before you leave.

There is enough fuel in a full tank of a Jumbo Jet to drive an average car four times around the world.

The surface speed record on the moon is 10.56 miles per hour. It was set with the lunar rover.

If you could drive to the sun -- at 55 miles per hour -- it would take about 193 years

The moon is one million times drier than the Gobi Desert.

Just twenty seconds worth of fuel remained when Apollo 11's lunar module landed on the moon.

A Boeing 707 uses four thousand gallons of fuel in its take-off climb.

The planet Saturn has a density lower than water. So, if placed in water it would float.

Since 1959, more than 6,000 pieces of 'space junk' (abandoned rocket and satellite parts) have fallen out of orbit - many of these have hit the earth's surface.

It takes 70% less energy to produce a ton of paper from recycled paper than from trees.

Every year in the US, 625 people are struck by lightning.

Hawaii is moving toward Japan 4 inches every year.

The rocket engine has to supply its own oxygen so it can burn its fuel in outer space.

The North Atlantic gets 1 inch wider every year.

Oxygen is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, waters, and atmosphere (about 49.5%)

A stroke of lightning discharges from 10 to 100 million volts & 30,000 amperes of electricity.

A bolt of lightning is about 54,000°F (30,000°C); six times hotter than the Sun.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe (75%).

The average distance between the Earth & the Moon is 238,857 miles (384,392 km).

The moon is 27% the size of the Earth.

The Earth weighs 6.6 sextillion tons, or 5.97 x 1024 kg.

The center of the Sun is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million °C).

Sunlight takes about 8 minutes & 20 seconds to reach the Earth at 186,282 miles/sec (299,792 Km/sec).

The highest temperature on Earth was 136°F (58°C) in Libya in 1922.

The lowest temperature on Earth was -128.6°F (-89.6°C) in Antarctica in 1983.

Sunlight can penetrate clean ocean water to a depth of 240 feet.

The average ocean floor is 12,000 feet.

The temperature can be determined by counting the number of cricket chirps in fourteen seconds and adding 40.

House flies have a lifespan of two weeks.

Chimps are the only animals that can recognize themselves in a mirror.

Starfish don't have brains.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

Shrimp's hearts are in their heads.

Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds

Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

Porcupines float in water.

An ostrich's eye is bigger that its brain.

An iguana can stay under water for twenty-eight minutes.

The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

The pupil of an octopus' eye is rectangular.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The leg bones of a bat are so thin that no bat can walk.

Ants cannot chew their food, they move their jaws sideways, like scissors, to extract the juices from the food.

Hummingbirds are the only animals able to fly backwards.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

A cat's jaws cannot move sideways.

Armadillos get an average of 18.5 hours of sleep per day.

Armadillos can walk underwater.

There are more beetles than any other kind of creature in the world.

Certain frogs that can survive the experience of being frozen.

Only humans sleep on their backs.

The human brain is 80% water.

Everyone's tongue print is different.

As an adult, you have more than 20 square feet of skin on your body--about the same square footage as a blanket for a queen-sized bed.

In your lifetime, you'll shed over 40 pounds of skin.

15 million blood cells are produced and destroyed in the human body every second.

Every minute, 30-40,000 dead skin cells fall from your body.

The brain uses more than 25% of the oxygen used by the human body.

If your mouth was completely dry, you would not be able to distinguish the taste of anything.

There are more living organisms on the skin of a single human being than there are human beings on the surface of the earth.

Muscles are made up of bundles from about 5 in the eyelid to about 200 in the buttock muscle.

Muscles in the human body (640 in total) make up about half of the body weight.

The human body has enough fat to produce 7 bars of soap.

The human head is a quarter of our total length at birth, but only an eighth of our total length by the time we reach adulthood.

Most people blink about 17,000 times a day.

Moths have no stomach.

Hummingbirds can't walk.

Sea otters have 2 coats of fur.

A starfish can turn its stomach inside out.

A zebra is white with black stripes.

The animal with the largest brain in relation to its body is the ant.

The largest eggs in the world are laid by a shark.

A crocodile’s tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth.

Crocodiles swallow stones to help them dive deeper.

Giraffes are unable to cough.

Sharks are immune to cancer.

Despite the hump, a camel’s spine is straight.

Cheetah's can accelerate from 0 to 70 km/h in 3 seconds.

A giraffe's neck contains the same number of vertebrae as a human.

The heart of giraffe is two feet long, and can weigh as much as twenty four pounds.

On average, Elephants sleep for about 2 hours per day.

Lobsters have blue blood.

Shark's teeth are literally as hard as steel.

A mosquito has 47 teeth.

Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen make up 90% of the human body.

Seventy percent of the dust in your home consists of shed human skin

Fish are the only vertebrates that outnumber birds.

A cockroach can live for several weeks without its head.

The average human produces a quart of saliva a day -- about 10,000 gallons in a lifetime

Elephants have been known to remain standing after they die.

The embryos of tiger sharks fight each other while in their mother's womb, the survivor being the baby shark that is born.

Ants do not sleep.

Nearly a third of all bottled drinking water purchased in the US is contaminated with bacteria.

Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over 1 million descendents.

An Astronaut can be up to 2 inches taller returning from space. The cartilage disks in the spine expand in the absence of gravity.

The oldest known fossil is of a single-celled organism, blue-green algae, found in 3.2 billion year-old stones in South Africa.

The oldest multicellular fossils date from ~700 million years ago.

The earliest cockroach fossils are about 280 million years old.

Healthy nails grow about 2 cm each year. Fingernails grow four times as fast as toenails.

20/20 vision means the eye can see normally at 20 feet. 20/15 is better; the eye can see at 20 feet what another eye sees at 15 feet.

The average person has 100,000 hairs on his/her head. Each hair grows about 5 inches (12.7 cm) every year.

There are 60,000 miles (97,000 km) in blood vessels in every human

First Day of School

The first day of school was very interesting because I had never went to that school. My class had 33 students but it was okay. My teacher's name was Mr. Manchester I can't wait until the next day of school and learn new stuff. The temperature was way to high I mean it must have been 100 degrees outside. There was a class library and we could check out books.Class temerature was just great.I liked my new class very much.

The Great Wall of China

Building of the Wall began over 9,000 years ago and was initially hundreds of miles of separated fortifications built by various rulers of China's independent states. But around 220 B.C., Shi Huang Di became the first emperor of a united China and decided that the various walls needed to be fortified and joined together. He ordered thousands of watchtowers to be built 12 metres tall and 12 square metres at their base with 6-metre walls of granite joining them. This was obviously a massive undertaking and required thousands of workers. Over 300,000 workmen, criminals and political prisoners were dragged off to build the wall. Many died from malnutrition, fighting, or just plain exhaustion before even getting to the construction sites. . There wasn't always rock available, so they used earth and rubble that they pounded until it was hard. In other places the hills were so steep that oxen couldn't pull the carts of rock up to the building site, so the men themselves carried the rocks on their backs. In the desert, the wall was built using sand, pebbles and grass.
But why go to all the trouble? The obvious answer is protection: keeping enemies of the empire out, although, at the time construction first began, China didn't have any powerful enemies. Besides, the wall would require far too many people to man it. It seems the wall may have been much more effective at keeping the Chinese people in than at keeping enemies out. But Some say the wall was really built to satisfy the emperor's paranoia and his love of grandiose schemes and that his officials supported the excessive structure as it was also a great way to keep criminals busy.
Whatever the emperor's reason, he didn't live long enough to play it out. He died in 210 B.C. and thanks to a lot of squabbling and deceit, his dynasty, called the Qin dynasty, collapsed only four years later. The Han dynasty that followed used the Wall effectively to ward off enemies, but after that dynasty's collapse, enemy tribes gained power in the north, and held it for some 400 years. It was refortified, and in the 13th century A.D., the Mongol invader Genghis Khan took two years to break through it.In the 14th century, the Ming dynasty did some extensive renovations to the badly eroded wall, extended it to its 6,400 kms. and added cannons, and decorations. Today, The Wall is considered one of the great wonders of the world. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) put it on the world heritage list in 1987 to ensure its preservation and its place in history.
When the Manchus took control of China in 1644, the wall ceased to have military significance. The empire now extended well north of the wall, and China's new enemies were to come from a different direction - across the sea. Today, although the wall no longer plays any role in China's defence system it has become a symbol of the nation and the ingenuity and will of the people.

Why Dogs Chase Cats

Once long ago, Dog was married to Cat. They were happy together, but every night when Dog came home from work, Cat said she was too sick to make him dinner. Dog was patient with this talk for a while, but he soon got mighty tired of fixing dinner for them both after a hard day's work. After all, Cat just stayed home all day long.
One day, Dog told Cat he was going to work, but instead he hid in the cupboard and watched Cat to see if she really was sick. As soon as Cat thought Dog had left, she started playing games with Kitten. They laughed and ran about. Cat wasn't the least bit sick.
Dog jumped out of the cupboard. When Cat saw him, she stuck a marble in her cheek and told Dog she had a toothache. Dog got so mad at her he started chasing her around and around the house.
Dogs have been chasing Cats ever since.

The Greenhorn and the mule Egg

Well now, there was a chap that got real sick of working in the big city. One day, he quit his job, packed up his wife and kiddies, and hi-tailed it out to Kansas to become a farmer. Bought a big parcel of land with a grand old barn and some fields just ready to plow and plant.
Now, being a bit of a greenhorn, the poor fellow didn't know where to start with that there farm. His wife suggested that they get a mule to pull the plow for them, and the greenhorn thought this was as splendid idea. He set off down the road to visit their neighbor and ask him where he could buy a mule.
Well, that neighbor was a bit of a wag. He'd sized up his new neighbor as a greenhorn in about five seconds and decided to have a bit of fun with him.
"Well, you could advertise for a mule in the local paper," the neighbor said. "But if you want to do it the Kansas way, well then you should get yourself a mule egg and hatch your own. That way you can train the mule up from birth to do exactly as you want."
The greenhorn's eyes got real wide. "I didn't know mules hatched from eggs," he said excitedly. "Where do I get one?"
"It just so happens I have one mule egg left from the last batch I raised," the neighbor said. He went into the shed and came out with a round, hairy coconut. The greenhorn's eyes lit up.
"How much do I owe you?" he asked his neighbor.
"That'll be a dollar. And mind you, you've got to sit on the mule egg night and day for a week before it will hatch," the neighbor said, accepting the greenhorn's money and handing over the coconut.
Well, the greenhorn ran all the way home and showed the mule egg to his wife and kiddies. Everyone was thrilled with his purchase, and they all took turns sitting on the coconut, waiting for it to hatch. They waited one week. Then they waited two. By the third week, everyone's bottoms were sore from sitting on the hard coconut, and still there was no sign of a mule.
"It must be a bad egg," the wife said at last. "Better throw it out and see if our neighbor will give us our money back."
As the disappointed family watched, the greenhorn took the coconut outside and pitched it into the bushes. All at once, a giant jackrabbit burst out of the tall grass next to the bushes and hopped away lickety-split.
"It's the baby mule!" shouted one of the kiddies. "Catch it, Pa! Catch it."
Well, the greenhorn ran after that long-eared critter as fast as he could go, shouting: "I'm your momma, baby mule! Please come back!" But he was no match for that jackrabbit. It darted here and there; it slithered hither and yon; and finally it slid down a hole in the ground and disappeared.
The greenhorn fell to the ground and lay panting in exhaustion. A few moments later, his wife and kids caught up with him and pulled him to his feet.
"Where's our mule?" asked his wife.
"The dad-blame thing got away," said the greenhorn. "And I'm not sorry it did. That's the speediest mule I ever laid eyes on, and I don't aim to plow that fast!"

The Fisheman and the Bear

One fine day an old Maine man was fishing and fishing on his favorite lake and catching nary a thing. Finally, he gave up and walked back along the shore to his fishing shack. When he got close to the front door, he saw it was open. Being of a suspicious nature, he walked to the door quietly and looked inside. There was a big black bear. It was just pulling the cork out of his molasses jug with its teeth. The molasses spilled all over the floor and the bear rubbed his paw in it, smearing it all over.
Well, the old man was not the timid sort. He went to the back of the shack, put his head in the window and gave a loud yell. The bear jumped and ran out the door. It was running strangely. The old man saw that the bear was holding up the foot covered with molasses so it wouldn't get dirty.
The bear ran to the lake shore. Standing on its hind legs, it held up the paw full of molasses. Soon all the flies and bugs and mosquitoes were swarming all over the sticky sweet paw. Then the bear waded into the water with his sticky paw full of bugs. It held the paw out over the water. Suddenly, a big trout came jumping out of the water trying to get to the flies. The bear gave it a swat and it flew to the shore and flopped there. Then another fish jumped into the air after the flies, followed swiftly by another. Every time a fish jumped after his paw, the bear cuffed it ashore. Soon it had a large pile.
Finally, the bear decided he had enough fish and waded to shore. The bear had caught a mess of fish any fisherman would envy. The old man had caught nothing. He watched that bear eat half a dozen trout, his stomach rumbling. All he had for dinner was some bread and what was left of the molasses. Finally the bear paused in his eating, and looked over to the bushes where the old man was hidden. The bear stood up and laid the remaining fish in a row. Then it walked away up the shore. It kept looking back at the bushes where the old man stood.
The old man crept out of the bushes and down to the shore. Sure enough, the bear had left six large trout for him. He looked over at the bear. It was standing at the edge of the wood watching. "Thanks a lot," the old man called to the bear. The bear waved the now-clean paw at the old man and disappeared into the thicket. "Well," said the old man, "That's the first time a bear has ever paid me for my molasses."
The old man never hunted bears again.

Halloween jokes

1. What did one zombie say to another? -"Get a life"
2. What did the Invisible Man 's mother say to him?-"I never see anymore!"
3. Why did the ghost go on a safari?-He liked big-game haunting.
4. What's a ghost's favorite Mother Goose story?-little Boo Peep.
5. Where do werewolves go shopping?-The maul.
6. Is the vampire a close friend of yours?-Well,I wouldn't stick out my neck for him.
7. Why did the monster get sick after visiting the Empire State Building?-He bit of more than he chew?

A amazing facts
13. Approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesdays.
12. Aardvarks are allergic to radishes, but only during summer months.
11. A cat's purr has the same romance-enhancing frequency as the voice of singer Barry White.
10. Smearing a small amount of dog feces on an insect bite will relieve the itching and swelling.
9. The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra.
8. The only golf course on the island of Tonga has 15 holes, and there's no penalty if a monkey steals your golf ball.
7. Every Labrador retriever dreams about bananas.
6. Urine from male cape water buffaloes is so flammable that some tribes use it for lantern fuel.
5. Due to the natural "momentum" of the ocean, saltwater fish cannot swim backwards.
4. Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting.
3. Although difficult, it's possible to start a fire by rapidly rubbing together two Cool Ranch Doritos.
2. Human saliva has a boiling point three times that of regular water.

Magic#1Nobody can create a FOLDER anywhere on the computer which can be named as "CON".This is something pretty cool...and unbelievable. ..At Microsoft the whole Team, couldn't answer why this happened!TRY IT NOW, IT WILL NOT CREATE "CON" FOLDER MAGIC #2This is something pretty cool and neat...and unbelievable. ..At Microsoft the whole Team, including Bill Gates, couldn't answer why this happened!Try it out yourself...Open Microsoft Word and type=rand (200, 99)And then press ENTER MAGIC #3For those of you using Windows, do the following:1. Open an empty notepad file2. Type "Bush hid the facts" (without the quotes)3. Save it as whatever you want.4. Close it, and re-open it.Is it just a really weird bug?You can try the same thing above with another sentence "this app can break" Explanation for Magic #1:In windows the folder name and the special system variables share the same interface, so when you create a folder with a system variable name it will consider that folder already exist!!These special system variables are available irrespective of pathYou cannot create a folder with these names also:CON, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3,COM1 to COM9 and LPT1 to LPT9....CON means console, COM1 means serial port 1, LPT1 means parallel port 1

Me

I am a 8 year old boy that likes video games.At my house we have a PlayStation 2 and a Nintendo DS Lite.My favorite color is red. The most favorite video game I have on the DS is Diamond [ it is a pokemon game].I have 1 bother that is 6 years old. I go to Elementry School near my home.My favorite sport is Soccer.My email is jasunjesse@gmail.com so just any question you want.

fox

The fox is a cunning small canine the has adapted to thrive everywhere from forests to human neighborhoods.Foxes are omnivores that eat everything from fresh fruit and small animals to discarded human food.The fox hunts alone at night, targeting mice, rabbits, birds, and voles with its keen senses of smell hearing

A joke from my grandma

An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100% . The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, 'Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.' The gentleman replied, 'Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!'
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Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says: 'Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?' Slim says, 'I feel just like a newborn baby.' 'Really!? Like a newborn baby!?' 'Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants.'
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An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen. The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, 'Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly.' The other man said, 'What is the name of the restaurant?' The first man thought and thought and finally said, 'What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know... The one that's red and has thorns.' 'Do you mean a rose?' 'Yes, that's the one, ' replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, 'Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?'
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Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he d idn't need my help to leave the hospital. After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator. On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him. 'I don't know,' he said. 'She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.' A couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember. Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. 'Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?' he asks. 'Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?' 'Sure.' 'Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?' she asks. 'No, I can remember it.' 'Well, I'd like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so's not to forget it?' He says, 'I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.' 'I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget that, write it down?' she asks. Irritated, he says, 'I don't need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream - I got it, for goodness sake!' Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, the old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment. 'Where's my toast?'
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A senior citizen said to his eighty-year old buddy: 'So I hear you're getting married?' 'Yep!' 'Do I know her?' 'Nope!' 'This woman, is she good looking?' 'Not really.' 'Is she a good cook?' 'Naw, she can't cook too well.' 'Does she have lots of money?' 'Nope! Poor as a church mouse.' 'Well, then, is she good in bed?' 'I don't know ..' 'Why in the world do you want to marry her then?' 'Because she can still drive!'
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Three old guys are out walking. First one says, 'Windy, isn't it?' Second one says, 'No, it's Thursday!' Third one says, 'So am I. Let's go get a beer.' A man was telling his neighbor, 'I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the art. It's perfect.' 'Really,' answered the neighbor. 'What kind is it?' 'Twelve thirty.' Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm. A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said,=2 0'You're really doing great, aren't you?' Morris replied, 'Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot momma and be cheerful.'' The doctor said, 'I didn't say that. I said, 'You've got a heart murmur; be careful.'
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One more. . .! A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.. After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split. The waitress asked kindly, 'Crushed nuts?' 'No,' he replied, 'Arthritis

Crazy Facts

111,111,111 x 111,111,111=12,345,678,987,654,321
It's impossible to lick your elbow
A snail can sleep for three years
Their is 293 ways to make change for a dollar
1 in 4 humans have appeared on televisions
A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright Brother's first flight

Wolf

The wolf constantly searches for prey and can travel for miles on its long legs with out tiring.Its nose and smell glands along its jaws guide the wolf, allowingvit to pick up the scent of a bison, musk oxen, moose, elk, and reindeer more than a mile away. The hunts large prey in packs, but a lone wolf can easily take down small animals, such as rabbits.

eagle

Of all the predators that hunt in daylight, the golden eagle may have the best sight.It soars above mountainous areas throughout the Northern Hemisphere, flying in circles that widen with each pass.In an instant, it can notice movement thousands of feet below and make a nosedive at the target.If its a bird are small animal, the eagle slams its powerful rear talon into the victim and then grasps the prey with its hooked claws.The eagle may eat its catch on the spot or tote it back to its nest.

Catch a Rabbit

The LAPD, The FBI, and the CIA are all trying to prove that they are the best at apprehending criminals. The President decides to give them a test. He releases a rabbit into a forest and each of them has to catch it.
The CIA goes in.
They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigations they conclude that rabbits do not exist.
The FBI goes in.
After two weeks with no leads they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit, and they make no apologies. The rabbit had it coming.
The LAPD goes in.
They come out two hours later with a badly beaten bear. The bear is yelling: "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"

A Kidnapped Santa Claus

Santa Claus lives in the Laughing Valley, where stands the big, rambling castle in which his toys are manufactured. His workmen, selected from the ryls, knooks, pixies and fairies, live with him, and every one is as busy as can be from one year's end to another. It is called the Laughing Valley because everything there is happy and gay. The brook chuckles to itself as it leaps rollicking between its green banks; the wind whistles merrily in the trees; the sunbeams dance lightly over the soft grass, and the violets and wild flowers look smilingly up from their green nests. To laugh one needs to be happy; to be happy one needs to be content. And throughout the Laughing Valley of Santa Claus contentment reigns supreme. On one side is the mighty Forest of Burzee. At the other side stands the huge mountain that contains the Caves of the Daemons. And between them the Valley lies smiling and peaceful. One would think that our good old Santa Claus, who devotes his days to making children happy, would have no enemies on all the earth; and, as a matter of fact, for a long period of time he encountered nothing but love wherever he might go. But the Daemons who live in the mountain caves grew to hate Santa Claus very much, and all for the simple reason that he made children happy. The Caves of the Daemons are five in number. A broad pathway leads up to the first cave, which is a finely arched cavern at the foot of the mountain, the entrance being beautifully carved and decorated. In it resides the Daemon of Selfishness. Back of this is another cavern inhabited by the Daemon of Envy. The cave of the Daemon of Hatred is next in order, and through this one passes to the home of the Daemon of Malice -- situated in a dark and fearful cave in the very heart of the mountain. I do not know what lies beyond this. Some say there are terrible pitfalls leading to death and destruction, and this may very well be true. However, from each one of the four caves mentioned there is a small, narrow tunnel leading to the fifth cave -- a cozy little room occupied by the Daemon of Repentance. And as the rocky floors of these passages are well worn by the track of passing feet, I judge that many wanderers in the Caves of the Daemons have escaped through the tunnels to the abode of the Daemon of Repentance, who is said to be a pleasant sort of fellow who gladly opens for one a little door admitting you into fresh air and sunshine again.
< 2 > Well, these Daemons of the Caves, thinking they had great cause to dislike old Santa Claus, held a meeting one day to discuss the matter. "I'm really getting lonesome," said the Daemon of Selfishness. "For Santa Claus distributes so many pretty Christmas gifts to all the children that they become happy and generous, through his example, and keep away from my cave." "I'm having the same trouble," rejoined the Daemon of Envy. "The little ones seem quite content with Santa Claus, and there are few, indeed, that I can coax to become envious." "And that makes it bad for me!" declared the Daemon of Hatred. "For if no children pass through the Caves of Selfishness and Envy, none can get to MY cavern." "Or to mine," added the Daemon of Malice. "For my part," said the Daemon of Repentance, "it is easily seen that if children do not visit your caves they have no need to visit mine; so that I am quite as neglected as you are." "And all because of this person they call Santa Claus!" exclaimed the Daemon of Envy. "He is simply ruining our business, and something must be done at once." To this they readily agreed; but what to do was another and more difficult matter to settle. They knew that Santa Claus worked all through the year at his castle in the Laughing Valley, preparing the gifts he was to distribute on Christmas Eve; and at first they resolved to try to tempt him into their caves, that they might lead him on to the terrible pitfalls that ended in destruction. So the very next day, while Santa Claus was busily at work, surrounded by his little band of assistants, the Daemon of Selfishness came to him and said: "These toys are wonderfully bright and pretty. Why do you not keep them for yourself? It's a pity to give them to those noisy boys and fretful girls, who break and destroy them so quickly." "Nonsense!" cried the old graybeard, his bright eyes twinkling merrily as he turned toward the tempting Daemon. "The boys and girls are never so noisy and fretful after receiving my presents, and if I can make them happy for one day in the year I am quite content." So the Daemon went back to the others, who awaited him in their caves, and said:
< 3 > "I have failed, for Santa Claus is not at all selfish." The following day the Daemon of Envy visited Santa Claus. Said he: "The toy shops are full of playthings quite as pretty as those you are making. What a shame it is that they should interfere with your business! They make toys by machinery much quicker than you can make them by hand; and they sell them for money, while you get nothing at all for your work." But Santa Claus refused to be envious of the toy shops. "I can supply the little ones but once a year -- on Christmas Eve," he answered; "for the children are many, and I am but one. And as my work is one of love and kindness I would be ashamed to receive money for my little gifts. But throughout all the year the children must be amused in some way, and so the toy shops are able to bring much happiness to my little friends. I like the toy shops, and am glad to see them prosper." In spite of the second rebuff, the Daemon of Hatred thought he would try to influence Santa Claus. So the next day he entered the busy workshop and said: "Good morning, Santa! I have bad news for you." "Then run away, like a good fellow," answered Santa Claus. "Bad news is something that should be kept secret and never told." "You cannot escape this, however," declared the Daemon; "for in the world are a good many who do not believe in Santa Claus, and these you are bound to hate bitterly, since they have so wronged you." "Stuff and rubbish!" cried Santa. "And there are others who resent your making children happy and who sneer at you and call you a foolish old rattlepate! You are quite right to hate such base slanderers, and you ought to be revenged upon them for their evil words." "But I don't hate 'em!" exclaimed Santa Claus positively. "Such people do me no real harm, but merely render themselves and their children unhappy. Poor things! I'd much rather help them any day than injure them." Indeed, the Daemons could not tempt old Santa Claus in any way. On the contrary, he was shrewd enough to see that their object in visiting him was to make mischief and trouble, and his cheery laughter disconcerted the evil ones and showed to them the folly of such an undertaking. So they abandoned honeyed words and determined to use force.
< 4 > It was well known that no harm can come to Santa Claus while he is in the Laughing Valley, for the fairies, and ryls, and knooks all protect him. But on Christmas Eve he drives his reindeer out into the big world, carrying a sleighload of toys and pretty gifts to the children; and this was the time and the occasion when his enemies had the best chance to injure him. So the Daemons laid their plans and awaited the arrival of Christmas Eve. The moon shone big and white in the sky, and the snow lay crisp and sparkling on the ground as Santa Claus cracked his whip and sped away out of the Valley into the great world beyond. The roomy sleigh was packed full with huge sacks of toys, and as the reindeer dashed onward our jolly old Santa laughed and whistled and sang for very joy. For in all his merry life this was the one day in the year when he was happiest -- the day he lovingly bestowed the treasures of his workshop upon the little children. It would be a busy night for him, he well knew. As he whistled and shouted and cracked his whip again, he reviewed in mind all the towns and cities and farmhouses where he was expected, and figured that he had just enough presents to go around and make every child happy. The reindeer knew exactly what was expected of them, and dashed along so swiftly that their feet scarcely seemed to touch the snow-covered ground. Suddenly a strange thing happened: a rope shot through the moonlight and a big noose that was in the end of it settled over the arms and body of Santa Claus and drew tight. Before he could resist or even cry out he was jerked from the seat of the sleigh and tumbled head foremost into a snowbank, while the reindeer rushed onward with the load of toys and carried it quickly out of sight and sound. Such a surprising experience confused old Santa for a moment, and when he had collected his senses he found that the wicked Daemons had pulled him from the snowdrift and bound him tightly with many coils of the stout rope. And then they carried the kidnapped Santa Claus away to their mountain, where they thrust the prisoner into a secret cave and chained him to the rocky wall so that he could not escape.
< 5 > "Ha, ha!" laughed the Daemons, rubbing their hands together with cruel glee. "What will the children do now? How they will cry and scold and storm when they find there are no toys in their stockings and no gifts on their Christmas trees! And what a lot of punishment they will receive from their parents, and how they will flock to our Caves of Selfishness, and Envy, and Hatred, and Malice! We have done a mighty clever thing, we Daemons of the Caves!" Now it so chanced that on this Christmas Eve the good Santa Claus had taken with him in his sleigh Nuter the Ryl, Peter the Knook, Kilter the Pixie, and a small fairy named Wisk -- his four favorite assistants. These little people he had often found very useful in helping him to distribute his gifts to the children, and when their master was so suddenly dragged from the sleigh they were all snugly tucked underneath the seat, where the sharp wind could not reach them. The tiny immortals knew nothing of the capture of Santa Claus until some time after he had disappeared. But finally they missed his cheery voice, and as their master always sang or whistled on his journeys, the silence warned them that something was wrong. Little Wisk stuck out his head from underneath the seat and found Santa Claus gone and no one to direct the flight of the reindeer. "Whoa!" he called out, and the deer obediently slackened speed and came to a halt. Peter and Nuter and Kilter all jumped upon the seat and looked back over the track made by the sleigh. But Santa Claus had been left miles and miles behind. "What shall we do?" asked Wisk anxiously, all the mirth and mischief banished from his wee face by this great calamity. "We must go back at once and find our master," said Nuter the Ryl, who thought and spoke with much deliberation. "No, no!" exclaimed Peter the Knook, who, cross and crabbed though he was, might always be depended upon in an emergency. "If we delay, or go back, there will not be time to get the toys to the children before morning; and that would grieve Santa Claus more than anything else." "It is certain that some wicked creatures have captured him," added Kilter thoughtfully, "and their object must be to make the children unhappy. So our first duty is to get the toys distributed as carefully as if Santa Claus were himself present. Afterward we can search for our master and easily secure his freedom."
< 6 > This seemed such good and sensible advice that the others at once resolved to adopt it. So Peter the Knook called to the reindeer, and the faithful animals again sprang forward and dashed over hill and valley, through forest and plain, until they came to the houses wherein children lay sleeping and dreaming of the pretty gifts they would find on Christmas morning. The little immortals had set themselves a difficult task; for although they had assisted Santa Claus on many of his journeys, their master had always directed and guided them and told them exactly what he wished them to do. But now they had to distribute the toys according to their own judgment, and they did not understand children as well as did old Santa. So it is no wonder they made some laughable errors. Mamie Brown, who wanted a doll, got a drum instead; and a drum is of no use to a girl who loves dolls. And Charlie Smith, who delights to romp and play out of doors, and who wanted some new rubber boots to keep his feet dry, received a sewing box filled with colored worsteds and threads and needles, which made him so provoked that he thoughtlessly called our dear Santa Claus a fraud. Had there been many such mistakes the Daemons would have accomplished their evil purpose and made the children unhappy. But the little friends of the absent Santa Claus labored faithfully and intelligently to carry out their master's ideas, and they made fewer errors than might be expected under such unusual circumstances. And, although they worked as swiftly as possible, day had begun to break before the toys and other presents were all distributed; so for the first time in many years the reindeer trotted into the Laughing Valley, on their return, in broad daylight, with the brilliant sun peeping over the edge of the forest to prove they were far behind their accustomed hours. Having put the deer in the stable, the little folk began to wonder how they might rescue their master; and they realized they must discover, first of all, what had happened to him and where he was. So Wisk the Fairy transported himself to the bower of the Fairy Queen, which was located deep in the heart of the Forest of Burzee; and once there, it did not take him long to find out all about the naughty Daemons and how they had kidnapped the good Santa Claus to prevent his making children happy. The Fairy Queen also promised her assistance, and then, fortified by this powerful support, Wisk flew back to where Nuter and Peter and Kilter awaited him, and the four counseled together and laid plans to rescue their master from his enemies.
< 7 > It is possible that Santa Claus was not as merry as usual during the night that succeeded his capture. For although he had faith in the judgment of his little friends he could not avoid a certain amount of worry, and an anxious look would creep at times into his kind old eyes as he thought of the disappointment that might await his dear little children. And the Daemons, who guarded him by turns, one after another, did not neglect to taunt him with contemptuous words in his helpless condition. When Christmas Day dawned the Daemon of Malice was guarding the prisoner, and his tongue was sharper than that of any of the others. "The children are waking up, Santa!" he cried. "They are waking up to find their stockings empty! Ho, ho! How they will quarrel, and wail, and stamp their feet in anger! Our caves will be full today, old Santa! Our caves are sure to be full!" But to this, as to other like taunts, Santa Claus answered nothing. He was much grieved by his capture, it is true; but his courage did not forsake him. And, finding that the prisoner would not reply to his jeers, the Daemon of Malice presently went away, and sent the Daemon of Repentance to take his place. This last personage was not so disagreeable as the others. He had gentle and refined features, and his voice was soft and pleasant in tone. "My brother Daemons do not trust me overmuch," said he, as he entered the cavern; "but it is morning, now, and the mischief is done. You cannot visit the children again for another year." "That is true," answered Santa Claus, almost cheerfully; "Christmas Eve is past, and for the first time in centuries I have not visited my children." "The little ones will be greatly disappointed," murmured the Daemon of Repentance, almost regretfully; "but that cannot be helped now. Their grief is likely to make the children selfish and envious and hateful, and if they come to the Caves of the Daemons today I shall get a chance to lead some of them to my Cave of Repentance." "Do you never repent, yourself?" asked Santa Claus, curiously. "Oh, yes, indeed," answered the Daemon. "I am even now repenting that I assisted in your capture. Of course it is too late to remedy the evil that has been done; but repentance, you know, can come only after an evil thought or deed, for in the beginning there is nothing to repent of."
< 8 > "So I understand," said Santa Claus. "Those who avoid evil need never visit your cave." "As a rule, that is true," replied the Daemon; "yet you, who have done no evil, are about to visit my cave at once; for to prove that I sincerely regret my share in your capture I am going to permit you to escape." This speech greatly surprised the prisoner, until he reflected that it was just what might be expected of the Daemon of Repentance. The fellow at once busied himself untying the knots that bound Santa Claus and unlocking the chains that fastened him to the wall. Then he led the way through a long tunnel until they both emerged in the Cave of Repentance. "I hope you will forgive me," said the Daemon pleadingly. "I am not really a bad person, you know; and I believe I accomplish a great deal of good in the world." With this he opened a back door that let in a flood of sunshine, and Santa Claus sniffed the fresh air gratefully. "I bear no malice," said he to the Daemon, in a gentle voice; "and I am sure the world would be a dreary place without you. So, good morning, and a Merry Christmas to you!" With these words he stepped out to greet the bright morning, and a moment later he was trudging along, whistling softly to himself, on his way to his home in the Laughing Valley. Marching over the snow toward the mountain was a vast army, made up of the most curious creatures imaginable. There were numberless knooks from the forest, as rough and crooked in appearance as the gnarled branches of the trees they ministered to. And there were dainty ryls from the fields, each one bearing the emblem of the flower or plant it guarded. Behind these were many ranks of pixies, gnomes and nymphs, and in the rear a thousand beautiful fairies floated along in gorgeous array. This wonderful army was led by Wisk, Peter, Nuter, and Kilter, who had assembled it to rescue Santa Claus from captivity and to punish the Daemons who had dared to take him away from his beloved children. And, although they looked so bright and peaceful, the little immortals were armed with powers that would be very terrible to those who had incurred their anger. Woe to the Daemons of the Caves if this mighty army of vengeance ever met them!
< 9 > But lo! coming to meet his loyal friends appeared the imposing form of Santa Claus, his white beard floating in the breeze and his bright eyes sparkling with pleasure at this proof of the love and veneration he had inspired in the hearts of the most powerful creatures in existence. And while they clustered around him and danced with glee at his safe return, he gave them earnest thanks for their support. But Wisk, and Nuter, and Peter, and Kilter, he embraced affectionately. "It is useless to pursue the Daemons," said Santa Claus to the army. "They have their place in the world, and can never be destroyed. But that is a great pity, nevertheless," he continued musingly. So the fairies, and knooks, and pixies, and ryls all escorted the good man to his castle, and there left him to talk over the events of the night with his little assistants. Wisk had already rendered himself invisible and flown through the big world to see how the children were getting along on this bright Christmas morning; and by the time he returned, Peter had finished telling Santa Claus of how they had distributed the toys. "We really did very well," cried the fairy, in a pleased voice; "for I found little unhappiness among the children this morning. Still, you must not get captured again, my dear master; for we might not be so fortunate another time in carrying out your ideas." He then related the mistakes that had been made, and which he had not discovered until his tour of inspection. And Santa Claus at once sent him with rubber boots for Charlie Smith, and a doll for Mamie Brown; so that even those two disappointed ones became happy. As for the wicked Daemons of the Caves, they were filled with anger and chagrin when they found that their clever capture of Santa Claus had come to naught. Indeed, no one on that Christmas Day appeared to be at all selfish, or envious, or hateful. And, realizing that while the children's saint had so many powerful friends it was folly to oppose him, the Daemons never again attempted to interfere with his journeys on Christmas Eve.

The truth about poop

the poop produced while peaple are fasting has little to no smell
sharks produse spiral poop
when they are upset, chimps who have been taught sign language indicate their frustration by making the sign for poop.
food can remainin your body for up to two days before you poop it out
during Operation Desert Storm in 1990 the U.S. military used toilet paper to camouflage their tanks

The Fisherman and his Soul

Evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and threw his nets into the water. When the wind blew from the land he caught nothing, or but little at best, for it was a bitter and black-winged wind, and rough waves rose up to meet it. But when the wind blew to the shore, the fish came in from the deep, and swam into the meshes of his nets, and he took them to the market-place and sold them. Every evening he went out upon the sea, and one evening the net was so heavy that hardly could he draw it into the boat. And he laughed, and said to himself 'Surely I have caught all the fish that swim, or snared some dull monster that will be a marvel to men, or some thing of horror that the great Queen will desire,' and putting forth all his strength, he tugged at the coarse ropes till, like lines of blue enamel round a vase of bronze, the long veins rose up on his arms. He tugged at the thin ropes, and nearer and nearer came the circle of flat corks, and the net rose at last to the top of the water. But no fish at all was in it, nor any monster or thing of horror, but only a little Mermaid lying fast asleep. Her hair was as a wet fleece of gold, and each separate hair as a thread of line gold in a cup of glass. Her body was as white ivory, and her tail was of silver and pearl. Silver and pearl was her tail, and the green weeds of the sea coiled round it; and like sea-shells were her ears, and her lips were like sea-coral. The cold waves dashed over her cold breasts, and the salt glistened upon her eyelids. So beautiful was she that when the young Fisherman saw her he was filled with wonder, and he put out his hand and drew the net close to him, and leaning over the side he clasped her in his arms. And when he touched her, she gave a cry like a startled sea-gull and woke, and looked at him in terror with her mauve-amethyst eyes, and struggled that she might escape. But he held her tightly to him, and would not suffer her to depart.
< 2 > And when she saw that she could in no way escape from him, she began to weep, and said, 'I pray thee let me go, for I am the only daughter of a King, and my father is aged and alone.' But the young Fisherman answered, 'I will not let thee go save thou makest me a promise that whenever I call thee, thou wilt come and sing to me, for the fish delight to listen to the song of the Sea-folk, and so shall my nets be full.' 'Wilt thou in very truth let me go, if I promise thee this?' cried the Mermaid. 'In very truth I will let thee go,' said the young Fisherman. So she made him the promise he desired, and sware it by the oath of the Sea-folk. And he loosened his arms from about her, and she sank down into the water, trembling with a strange fear. Every evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and called to the Mermaid, and she rose out of the water and sang to him. Round and round her swam the dolphins, and the wild gulls wheeled above her head. And she sang a marvellous song. For she sang of the Sea-folk who drive their flocks from cave to cave, and carry the little calves on their shoulders; of the Tritons who have long green beards, and hairy breasts, and blow through twisted conchs when the King passes by; of the palace of the King which is all of amber, with a roof of clear emerald, and a pavement of bright pearl; and of the gardens of the sea where the great filigrane fans of coral wave all day long, and the fish dart about like silver birds, and the anemones cling to the rocks, and the pinks bourgeon in the ribbed yellow sand. She sang of the big whales that come down from the north seas and have sharp icicles hanging to their fins; of the Sirens who tell of such wonderful things that the merchants have to stop their ears with wax lest they should hear them, and leap into the water and be drowned; of the sunken galleys with their tall masts, and the frozen sailors clinging to the rigging, and the mackerel swimming in and out of the open portholes; of the little barnacles who are great travellers, and cling to the keels of the ships and go round and round the world; and of the cuttlefish who live in the sides of the cliffs and stretch out their long black arms, and can make night come when they will it. She sang of the nautilus who has a boat of her own that is carved out of an opal and steered with a silken sail; of the happy Mermen who play upon harps and can charm the great Kraken to sleep; of the little children who catch hold of the slippery porpoises and ride laughing upon their backs; of the Mermaids who lie in the white foam and hold out their arms to the mariners; and of the sea-lions with their curved tusks, and the sea-horses with their floating manes.
< 3 > And as she sang, all the funny-fish came in from the deep to listen to her, and the young Fisherman threw his nets round them and caught them, and others he took with a spear. And when his boat was well-laden, the Mermaid would sink down into the sea, smiling at him. Yet would she never come near him that he might touch her. Often times he called to her and prayed of her, but she would not; and when he sought to seize her she dived into the water as a seal might dive, nor did he see her again that day. And each day the sound of her voice became sweeter to his ears. So sweet was her voice that he forgot his nets and his cunning, and had no care of his craft. Vermilion-finned and with eyes of bossy gold, the tunnies went by in shoals, but he heeded them not. His spear lay by his side unused, and his baskets of plaited osier were empty. With lips parted, and eyes dim with wonder, he sat idle in his boat and listened, listening till the sea-mists crept round him, and the wandering moon stained his brown limbs with silver. And one evening he called to her, and said: 'Little Mermaid, little Mermaid, I love thee. Take me for thy bridegroom, for I love thee.' But the Mermaid shook her head. 'Thou hast a human soul,' she answered. 'If only thou would'st send away thy soul, then could I love thee.' And the young Fisherman said to himself 'Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it. Surely I will send it away from me, and much gladness shall be mine.' And a cry of joy broke from his lips, and standing up in the painted boat, he held out his arms to the Mermaid. 'I will send my soul away,' he cried, 'and you shall be my bride, and I will be the bridegroom, and in the depth of the sea we will dwell together, and all that thou hast sung of thou shalt show me, and all that thou desirest I will do, nor shall our lives be divided.' And the little Mermaid laughed for pleasure, and hid her face in her hands.
< 4 > 'But how shall I send my soul from me?' cried the young Fisherman. 'Tell me how I may do it, and lo! it shall be done.' 'Alas! I know not,' said the little Mermaid: 'the Sea-folk have no souls.' And she sank down into the deep, looking wistfully at him. Now early on the next morning, before the sun was the span of a man's hand above the hill, the young Fisherman went to the house of the Priest and knocked three times at the door. The novice looked out through the wicket, and where he saw who it was, he drew back the latch and said to him, 'Enter.' And the young Fisherman passed in, and knelt down on the sweet-smelling rushes of the floor, and cried to the Priest who was reading out of the Holy Book and said to him, 'Father, I am in love with one of the Sea-folk, and my soul hindereth me from having my desire. Tell me how I can send my soul away from me, for in truth I have no need of it. Of what value is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it.' And the Priest beat his breast, and answered, 'Alack, Alack, thou art mad, or hast eaten of poisonous herb, for the soul is the noblest part of man, and was given to us by God that we should nobly use it. There is no thing more precious than a human soul, nor any earthly thing that can be weighed with it. It is worth all the gold that is in the world, and is more precious than the rubies of the kings. Therefore, my son, think not any more of this matter, for it is a sin that may not be forgiven. And as for the Sea-folk, they are lost, and they who would traffic with them are lost also. They are as the beasts of the field that know not good from evil, and for them the Lord has not died.' The young Fisherman's eyes filled with tears when he heard the bitter words of the Priest, and he rose up from his knees and said to him, 'Father, the Fauns live in the forest and are glad, and on the rocks sit the Mermen with their harps of red gold. Let me be as they are, I beseech thee, for their days are as the days of flowers. And as for my soul, what doth my soul profit me, if it stand between me and the thing that I love?'
< 5 > 'The love of the body is vile,' cried the Priest, knitting his brows, 'and vile and evil are the pagan things God suffers to wander through His world. Accursed be the Fauns of the woodland, and accursed be the singers of the sea! I have heard them at night-time, and they have sought to lure me from my beads. They tap at the window, and laugh. They whisper into my ears the tale of their perilous joys. They tempt me with temptations, and when I would pray they make mouths at me. They are lost, I tell thee, they are lost. For them there is no heaven nor hell, and in neither shall they praise God's name.' 'Father,' cried the young Fisherman, 'thou knowest not what thou sayest. Once in my net I snared the daughter of a King. She is fairer than the morning star, and whiter than the moon. For her body I would give my soul, and for her love I would surrender heaven. Tell me what I ask of thee, and let me go in peace.' 'Away! Away!' cried the Priest: 'thy leman is lost, and thou shalt be lost with her.' And he gave him no blessing, but drove him from his door. And the young Fisherman went down into the market-place, and he walked slowly, and with bowed head, as one who is in sorrow. And when the merchants saw him coming, they began to whisper to each other, and one of them came forth to meet him, and called him by name, and said to him, 'What hast thou to sell?' 'I will sell thee my soul,' he answered: 'I pray thee buy it off me, for I am weary of it. Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it.' But the merchants mocked at him, and said, 'Of what use is a man's soul to us? It is not worth a clipped piece of silver. Sell us thy body for a slave, and we will clothe thee in sea-purple, and put a ring upon thy finger, and make thee the minion of the great Queen. But talk not of the soul, for to us it is nought, nor has it any value for our service.'
< 6 > And the young Fisherman said to himself: 'How strange a thing this is! The Priest telleth me that the soul is worth all the gold in the world, and the merchants say that it is not worth a clipped piece of silver.' And he passed out of the market-place, and went down to the shore of the sea, and began to ponder on what he should do. And at noon he remembered how one of his companions, who was a gatherer of samphire, had told him of a certain young Witch who dwelt in a cave at the head of the bay and was very cunning in her witcheries. And he set to and ran, so eager was he to get rid of his soul, and a cloud of dust followed him as he sped round the sand of the shore. By the itching of her palm the young Witch knew his coming, and she laughed and let down her red hair. With her red hair falling around her, she stood at the opening of the cave, and in her hand she had a spray of wild hemlock that was blossoming. 'What d'ye lack? What d'ye lack?' she cried, as he came panting up the steep, and bent down before her. 'Fish for thy net, when the wind is foul? I have a little reed-pipe, and when I blow on it the mullet come sailing into the bay. But it has a price, pretty boy, it has a price. What d'ye lack? What d'ye lack? A storm to wreck the ships, and wash the chests of rich treasure ashore? I have more storms than the wind has, for I serve one who is stronger than the wind, and with a sieve and a pail of water I can send the great galleys to the bottom of the sea. But I have a price, pretty boy, I have a price. What d'ye lack? What d'ye lack? I know a flower that grows in the valley, none knows it but I. It has purple leaves, and a star in its heart, and its juice is as white as milk. Should'st thou touch with this flower the hard lips of the Queen, she would follow thee all over the world. Out of the bed of the King she would rise, and over the whole world she would follow thee. And it has a price, pretty boy, it has a price. What d'ye lack? What d'ye lack? I can pound a toad in a mortar, and make broth of it, and stir the broth with a dead man's hand. Sprinkle it on thine enemy while he sleeps, and he will turn into a black viper, and hid own mother will slay him. With a wheel I can draw the Moon from heaven, and in a crystal I can show thee Death. What d'ye lack? What d'ye lack? Tell me thy desire, and I will give it thee, and thou shalt pay me a price, pretty boy, thou shalt pay me a price.'
< 7 > 'My desire is but for a little thing,' said the young Fisherman, 'yet hath the Priest been wroth with me, and driven me forth. It is but for a little thing, and the merchants have mocked at me, and denied me. Therefore am I come to thee, though men call thee evil, and whatever be thy price I shall pay it.' 'What would'st thou?' asked the Witch, coming near to him. 'I would send my soul away from me,' answered the young Fisherman. The Witch grew pale, and shuddered, and hid her face in her blue mantle. 'Pretty boy, pretty boy,' she muttered, 'that is a terrible thing to do.' He tossed his brown curls and laughed. 'My soul is nought to me,' he answered. 'I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it.' 'What wilt thou give me if I tell thee?' asked the Witch looking down at him with her beautiful eyes. 'Five pieces of gold,' he said, 'and my nets, and the wattled house where I live, and the painted boat in which I sail. Only tell me how to get rid of my soul, and I will give thee all that I possess.' She laughed mockingly at him, and struck him with the spray of hemlock. 'I can turn the autumn leaves into gold,' she answered, 'and I can weave the pale moonbeams into silver if I will it. He whom I serve is richer than all the kings of this world and has their dominions.' 'What then shall I give thee,' he cried, 'if thy price be neither gold nor silver?' The Witch stroked his hair with her thin white hand. 'Thou must dance with me, pretty boy,' she murmured, and she smiled at him as she spoke. 'Nought but that?' cried the young Fisherman in wonder, and he rose to his feet. 'Nought but that,' she answered, and she smiled at him again. 'Then at sunset in some secret place we shall dance together,' he said, 'and after that we have danced thou shalt tell me the thing which I desire to know.' She shook her head. 'When the moon is full, when the moon is full,' she muttered. Then she peered all round, and listened. A blue bird rose screaming from its nest and circled over the dunes, and three spotted birds rustled through the coarse grey grass and whistled to each other. There was no other sound save the sound of a wave fretting the smooth pebbles below. So she reached out her hand, and drew him near to her and put her dry lips close to his ear.
< 8 > 'To-night thou must come to the top of the mountain,' she whispered. 'It is a Sabbath, and He will be there.' The young Fisherman started and looked at her, and she showed her white teeth and laughed. 'Who is He of whom thou speakest?' he asked. 'It matters not,' she answered. 'Go thou to-night, and stand under the branches of the hornbeam, and wait for my coming. If a black dog run towards thee, strike it with a rod of willow, and it will go away. If an owl speak to thee, make it no answer. When the moon is full I shall be with thee, and we will dance together on the grass.' 'But wilt thou swear to me to tell me how I may send my soul from me?' he made question. She moved out into the sunlight, and through her red hair rippled the wind. 'By the hoofs of the goat I swear it,' she made answer. 'Thou art the best of the witches,' cried the young Fisherman, 'and I will surely dance with thee to-night on the top of the mountain. I would indeed that thou hadst asked of me either gold or silver. But such as thy price is thou shalt have it, for it is but a little thing.' And he doffed his cap to her, and bent his head low, and ran back to the town filled with a great joy. And the Witch watched him as he went, and when he had passed from her sight she entered her cave, and having taken a mirror from a box of carved cedarwood, she set it up on a frame, and burned vervain on lighted charcoal before it, and peered through the coils of the smoke. And after a time she clenched her hands in anger. 'He should have been mine,' she muttered, 'I am as fair as she is.' And that evening, when the moon had risen, the young Fisherman climbed up to the top of the mountain, and stood under the branches of the hornbeam. Like a targe of polished metal the round sea lay at his feet, and the shadows of the fishing boats moved in the little bay. A great owl, with yellow sulphurous eyes, called to him by his name, but he made it no answer. A black dog ran towards him and snarled. He struck it with a rod of willow, and it went away whining.
< 9 > At midnight the witches came flying through the air like bats. 'Phew!' they cried, as they lit upon the ground, 'there is someone here we know not!' and they sniffed about, and chattered to each other, and made signs. Last of all came the young Witch, with her red hair streaming in the wind. She wore a dress of gold tissue embroidered with peacocks' eyes, and a little cap of green velvet was on her head. 'Where is he, where is he?' shrieked the witches when they saw her, but she only laughed, and ran to the hornbeam, and taking the Fisherman by the hand she led him out into the moonlight and began to dance. Round and round they whirled, and the young Witch jumped so high that he could see the scarlet heels of her shoes. Then right across the dancers came the sound of the galloping of a horse, but no horse was to be seen, and he felt afraid. 'Faster,' cried the Witch, and she threw her arms about his neck, and her breath was hot upon his face. 'Faster, faster!' she cried, and the earth seemed to spin beneath his feet, and his brain grew troubled, and a great terror fell on him, as of some evil thing that was watching him, and at last he became aware that under the shadow of a rock there was a figure that had not been there before. It was a man dressed in a suit of black velvet, cut in the Spanish fashion. His face was strangely pale, but his lips were like a proud red flower. He seemed weary, and was leaning back toying in a listless manner with the pommel of his dagger. On the grass beside him' lay a plumed hat, and a pair of riding gloves gauntleted with gilt lace, and sewn with seed-pearls wrought into a curious device. A short cloak lined with sables hung from his shoulder, and his delicate white hands were gemmed with rings. Heavy eyelids drooped over his eyes. The young Fisherman watched him, as one snared in a spell. At last their eyes met, and wherever he danced it seemed to him that the eyes of the man were upon him. He heard the Witch laugh, and caught her by the waist, and whirled her madly round and round.
< 10 > Suddenly a dog bayed in the wood, and the dancers stopped, and going up two by two, knelt down, and kissed the man's hands. As they did so, a little smile touched his proud lips, as a bird's wing touches the water and makes it laugh. But there was disdain in it. He kept looking at the young Fisherman. 'Come! let us worship,' whispered the Witch, and she led him up, and a great desire to do as she besought him seized on him, and he followed her. But when he came close, and without knowing why he did it, he made on his breast the sign of the Cross, and called upon the holy name. No sooner had he done so than the witches screamed like hawks and flew away, and the pallid face that had been watching him twitched with a spasm of pain. The man went over to a little wood, and whistled. A jennet with silver trappings came running to meet him. As he leapt upon the saddle he turned round, and looked at the young Fisherman sadly. And the Witch with the red hair tried to fly away also, but the Fisherman caught her by her wrists, and held her fast. 'Loose me,' she cried, 'and let me go. For thou hast named what should not be named, and shown the sign that may not be looked at.' 'Nay,' he answered, 'but I will not let thee go till thou hast told me the secret.' 'What secret?' said the Witch, wrestling with him like a wild cat, and biting her foam-flecked lips. 'Thou knowest,' he made answer. Her grass-green eyes grew dim with tears, and she said to the Fisherman, 'Ask me anything but that!' He laughed, and held her all the more tightly. And when she saw that she could not free herself she whispered to him, 'Surely I am as fair as the daughters of the sea, and as comely as those that dwell in the blue waters,' and she fawned on him and put her face close to his. But he thrust her back frowning, and said to her, 'If thou keepest not the promise that thou madest to me I will slay thee for a false witch.' She grew grey as a blossom of the Judas tree, and shuddered. 'Be it so,' she muttered. 'It is thy soul and not mine. Do with it as thou wilt.' And she took from her girdle a little knife that had a handle of green viper's skin, and gave it to him.
< 11 > 'What shall this serve me?' he asked of her wondering. She was silent for a few moments, and a look of terror came over her face. Then she brushed her hair back from her forehead, and smiling strangely she said to him, 'What men call the shadow of the body is not the shadow of the body, but is the body of the soul. Stand on the sea-shore with thy back to the moon, and cut away from around thy feet thy shadow, which is thy soul's body, and bid thy soul leave thee, and it will do so.' The young Fisherman trembled. 'Is this true?' he murmured. 'It is true, and I would that I had not told thee of it,' she cried, and she clung to his knees weeping. He put her from him and left her in the rank grass, and going to the edge of the mountain he placed the knife in his belt, and began to climb down. And his Soul that was within him called out to him and said, 'Lo! I have dwelt with thee for all these years, and have been thy servant. Send me not away from thee now, for what evil have I done thee?' And the young Fisherman laughed. 'Thou has done me no evil, but I have no need of thee,' he answered. 'The world is wide, and there is Heaven also, and Hell, and that dim twilight house that lies between. Go wherever thou wilt, but trouble me not, for my love is calling to me.' And his Soul besought him piteously, but he heeded it not, but leapt from crag to crag, being sure-footed as a wild goat, and at last he reached the level ground and the yellow shore of the sea. Bronze-limbed and well-knit, like a statue wrought by a Grecian, he stood on the sand with his back to the moon, and out of the foam came white arms that beckoned to him, and out of the waves rose dim forms that did him homage. Before him lay his shadow, which was the body of his soul, and behind him hung the moon in the honey-coloured air. And his Soul said to him, 'If indeed thou must drive me from thee, send me not forth without a heart. The world is cruel, give me thy heart to take with me.'
< 12 > He tossed his head and smiled. 'With what should I love my love if I gave thee my heart?' he cried. 'Nay, but be merciful,' said his Soul: 'give me thy heart, for the world is very cruel, and I am afraid.' 'My heart is my love's,' he answered, 'therefore tarry not, but get thee gone.' 'Should I not love also?' asked his Soul. 'Get thee gone, for I have no need of thee,' cried the young Fisherman, and he took the little knife with its handle of green viper's skin, and cut away his shadow from around his feet, and it rose up and stood before him, and looked at him, and it was even as himself. He crept back, and thrust the knife into his belt, and a feeling of awe came over him. 'Get thee gone,' he murmured, 'and let me see thy face no more.' 'Nay, but we must meet again,' said the Soul. Its voice was low and flute-like, and its lips hardly moved while it spake. 'How shall we meet?' cried the young Fisherman. 'Thou wilt not follow me into the depths of the sea?' 'Once every year I will come to this place, and call to thee,' said the Soul. 'It may be that thou wilt have need of me.' 'What need should I have of thee?' cried the young Fisherman, 'but be it as thou wilt,' and he plunged into the water, and the Tritons blew their horns, and the little Mermaid rose up to meet him, and put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. And the Soul stood on the lonely beach and watched them. And when they had sunk down into the sea, it went weeping away over the marshes. And after a year was over the Soul came down to the shore of the sea and called to the young Fisherman, and he rose out of the deep, and said, 'Why dost thou call to me?' And the Soul answered, 'Come nearer, that I may speak with thee, for I have seen marvellous things.' So he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his head upon his hand and listened. And the Soul said to him, 'When I left thee I turned my face to the East and journeyed. From the East cometh everything that is wise. Six days I journeyed, and on the morning of the seventh day I came to a hill that is in the country of the Tartars. I sat down under the shade of a tamarisk tree to shelter myself from the sun. The land was dry, and burnt up with the heat. The people went to and fro over the plain like flies crawling upon a disk of polished copper.
< 13 > 'When it was noon a cloud of red dust rose up from the flat rim of the land. When the Tartars saw it, they strung their painted bows, and having leapt upon their little horses they galloped to meet it. The women fled screaming to the waggons, and hid themselves behind the felt curtains. 'At twilight the Tartars returned, but five of them were missing, and of those that came back not a few had been wounded. They harnessed their horses to the waggons and drove hastily away. Three jackals came out of a cave and peered after them. Then they sniffed up the air with their nostrils, and trotted off in the opposite direction. 'When the moon rose I saw a camp-fire burning on the plain, and went towards it. A company of merchants were seated round it on carpets. Their camels were picketed behind them, and the negroes who were their servants were pitching tents of tanned skin upon the sand, and making a high wall of the prickly pear. 'As I came near them, the chief of the merchants rose up and drew his sword, and asked me my business. 'I answered that I was a Prince in my own land, and that I had escaped from the Tartars, who had sought to make me their slave. The chief smiled, and showed me five heads fixed upon long reeds of bamboo. 'Then he asked me who was the prophet of God, and I answered him Mohammed. 'When he heard the name of the false prophet, he bowed and took me by the hand, and placed me by his side. A negro brought me some mare's milk in a wooden-dish, and a piece of lamb's flesh roasted. 'At daybreak we started on our journey. I rode on a red-haired camel by the side of the chief, and a runner ran before us carrying a spear. The men of war were on either hand, and the mules followed with the merchandise. There were forty camels in the caravan, and the mules were twice forty in number. 'We went from the country of the Tartars into the country of those who curse the Moon. We saw the Gryphons guarding their gold on the white rocks, and the scaled Dragons sleeping in their caves. As we passed over the mountains we held our breath lest the snows might fall on us, and each man tied a veil of gauze before his eyes. As we passed through the valleys the Pygmies shot arrows at us from the hollows of the trees, and at night time we heard the wild men beating on their drums. When we came to the Tower of Apes we set fruits before them, and they did not harm us. When we came to the Tower of Serpents we gave them warm milk in bowls of brass, and they let us go by. Three times in our journey we came to the banks of the Oxus. We crossed it on rafts of wood with great bladders of blown hide. The river-horses raged against us and sought to slay us. When the camels saw them they trembled.
< 14 > 'The kings of each city levied tolls on us, but would not suffer us to enter their gates. They threw us bread over the walls, little maize-cakes baked in honey and cakes of fine flour filled with dates. For every hundred baskets we gave them a bead of amber. 'When the dwellers in the villages saw us coming, they poisoned the wells and fled to the hill-summits. We fought with the Magadae who are born old, and grow younger and younger every year, and die when they are little children; and with the Laktroi who say that they are the sons of tigers, and paint themselves yellow and black; and with the Aurantes who bury their dead on the tops of trees, and themselves live in dark caverns lest the Sun, who is their god, should slay them; and with the Krimnians who worship a crocodile, and give it earrings of green glass, and feed it with butter and fresh fowls; and with the Agazonbae, who are dog-faced; and with the Sibans, who have horses' feet, and run more swiftly than horses. A third of our company died in battle, and a third died of want. The rest murmured against me, and said that I had brought them an evil fortune. I took a horned adder from beneath a stone and let it sting me. When they saw that I did not sicken they grew afraid. 'In the fourth month we reached the city of Illel. It was night time when we came to the grove that is outside the walls, and the air was sultry, for the Moon was travelling in Scorpion. We took the ripe pomegranates from the trees, and brake them and drank their sweet juices. Then we lay down on our carpets and waited for the dawn. 'And at dawn we rose and knocked at the gate of the city. It was wrought out of red bronze, and carved with sea-dragons and dragons that have wings. The guards looked down from the battlements and asked us our business. The interpreter of the caravan answered that we had come from the island of Syria with much merchandise. They took hostages, and told us that they would open the gate to us at noon, and bade us tarry till then. 'When it was noon they opened the gate, and as we entered in the people came crowding out of the houses to look at us, and a crier went round the city crying through a shell. We stood in the market-place, and the negroes uncorded the bales of figured cloths and opened the carved chests of sycamore. And when they had ended their task, the merchants set forth their strange wares, the waxed linen from Egypt and the painted linen from the country of the Ethiops, the purple sponges from Tyre and the blue hangings from Sidon, the cups of cold amber and the fine vessels of glass and the curious vessels of burnt clay. From the roof of a house a company of women watched us. One of them wore a mask of gilded leather.
< 15 > 'And on the first day the priests came and bartered with us, and on the second day came the nobles, and on the third day came the craftsmen and the slaves. And this is their custom with all merchants as long as they tarry in the city. 'And we tarried for a moon, and when the moon was waning, I wearied and wandered away through the streets of the city and came to the garden of its god. The priests in their yellow robes moved silently through the green trees, and on a pavement of black marble stood the rose-red house in which the god had his dwelling. Its doors were of powdered lacquer, and bulls and peacocks were wrought on them in raised and polished gold. The tiled roof was of sea-green porcelain, and the jutting eaves were festooned with little bells. When the white doves flew past, they struck the bells with their wings and made them tinkle. 'In front of the temple was a pool of clear water paved with veined onyx. I lay down beside it, and with my pale fingers I touched the broad leaves. One of the priests came towards me and stood behind me. He had sandals on his feet, one of soft serpent-skin and the other of birds' plumage. On his head was a mitre of black felt decorated with silver crescents. Seven yellows were woven into his robe, and his frizzed hair was stained with antimony. 'After a little while he spake to me, and asked me my desire. 'I told him that my desire was to see the god. '"The god is hunting," said the priest, looking strangely at me with his small slanting eyes. '"Tell me in what forest, and I will ride with him," I answered. 'He combed out the soft fringes of his tunic with his long pointed nails. "The god is asleep," he murmured. '"Tell me on what couch, and I will watch by him," I answered. '"The god is at the feast," he cried. '"If the wine be sweet I will drink it with him, and if it be bitter I will drink it with him also," was my answer. 'He bowed his head in wonder, and, taking me by the hand, he raised me up, and led me into the temple.
< 16 > 'And in the first chamber I saw an idol seated on a throne of jasper bordered with great orient pearls. It was carved out of ebony, and in stature was of the stature of a man. On its forehead was a ruby, and thick oil dripped from its hair on to its thighs. Its feet were red with the blood of a newly-slain kid, and its loins girt with a copper belt that was studded with seven beryls. 'And I said to the priest, "Is this the god?" And he answered me, "This is the god." '"Show me the god," I cried, "or I will surely slay thee." And I touched his hand, and it became withered. 'And the priest besought me, saying, "Let my lord heal his servant, and I will show him the god." 'So I breathed with my breath upon his hand, and it became whole again, and he trembled and led me into the second chamber, and I saw an idol standing on a lotus of jade hung with great emeralds. It was carved out of ivory, and in stature was twice the stature of a man. On its forehead was a chrysolite, and its breasts were smeared with myrrh and cinnamon. In one hand it held a crooked sceptre of jade, and in the other a round crystal. It ware buskins of brass, and its thick neck was circled with a circle of selenites. 'And I said to the priest, "Is this the god?" And he answered me. "This is the god." '"Show me the god," I cried, "or I will surely slay thee." And I touched his eyes, and they became blind. 'And the priest besought me, saying, "Let my lord heal his servant, and I will show him the god." 'So I breathed with my breath upon his eyes, and the sight came back to them, and he trembled again, and led me into the third chamber, and lo! there was no idol in it, nor image of any kind, but only a mirror of round metal set on an altar of stone. 'And I said to the priest, "Where is the god?" 'And he answered me: "There is no god but this mirror that thou seest, for this is the Mirror of Wisdom. And it reflecteth all things that are in heaven and on earth, save only the face of him who looketh into it. This it reflecteth not, so that he who looketh into it may be wise. Many other mirrors are there, but they are mirrors of Opinion. This only is the Mirror of Wisdom. And they who possess this mirror know everything, nor is there anything hidden from them. And they who possess it not have not Wisdom. Therefore is it the god, and we worship it." And I looked into the mirror, and it was even as I he had said to me.
< 17 > 'And I did a strange thing, but what I did matters not, for in a valley that is but a day's journey from this place have I hidden the Mirror of Wisdom. Do but suffer me to enter into thee again and be thy servant, and thou shalt be wiser than all the wise men, and Wisdom shall be thine. Suffer me to enter into thee, and none will be as wise as thou.' But the young Fisherman laughed. 'Love is better than Wisdom,' he cried, 'and the little Mermaid loves me.' 'Nay, but there is nothing better than Wisdom,' said the Soul. 'Love is better,' answered the young Fisherman, and he plunged into the deep, and the Soul went weeping away over the marshes. And after the second year was over the Soul came down to the shore of the sea, and called to the young Fisherman, and he rose out of the deep and said, 'Why dost thou call to me?' And the Soul answered, 'Come nearer that I may speak with thee, for I have seen marvellous things.' So he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his head upon his hand and listened. And the Soul said to him, 'When I left thee, I turned my face to the South and journeyed. From the South cometh every thing that is precious. Six days I journeyed along the highways that lead to the city of Ashter, along the dusty red-dyed highways by which the pilgrims are wont to go did I journey, and on the morning of the seventh day I lifted up my eyes, and lo! the city lay at my feet, for it is in a valley. 'There are nine gates to this city, and in front of each gate stands a bronze horse that neighs when the Bedouins come down from the mountains. The walls are cased with copper, and the watch-towers on the walls are roofed with brass. In every tower stands an archer with a bow in his hand. At sunrise he strikes with an arrow on a gong, and at sunset he blows through a horn of horn. 'When I sought to enter, the guards stopped me and asked of me who I was. I made answer that I was a Dervish and on my way to the city of Mecca, where there was a green veil on which the Koran was embroidered in silver letters by the hands of the angels. They were filled with wonder, and entreated me to pass in.
< 18 > 'Inside it is even as a bazaar. Surely thou should'st have been with me. Across the narrow streets the gay lanterns of paper flutter like large butterflies. When the wind blows over the roofs they rise and fall as painted bubbles do. In front of their booths sit the merchants on silken carpets. They have straight black beards, and their turbans are covered with golden sequins, and long strings of amber and carved peach-stones glide through their cool fingers. Some of them sell galbanum and nard, and curious perfumes from the islands of the Indian Sea, and the thick oil of red roses and myrrh and little nail-shaped cloves. When one stops to speak to them, they throw pinches of frankincense upon a charcoal brazier and make the air sweet. I saw a Syrian who held in his hands a thin rod like a reed. Grey threads of smoke came from it, and its odour as it burned was as the odour of the pink almond in spring. Others sell silver bracelets embossed all over with creamy blue turquoise stones, and anklets of brass wire fringed with little pearls, and tigers' claws set in gold, and the claws of that gilt cat, the leopard, set in gold also, and earrings of pierced emerald, and finger-rings of hollowed jade. From the tea-houses comes the sound of the guitar, and the opium-smokers with their white smiling faces look out at the passers-by. 'Of a truth thou should'st have been with me. The wine-sellers elbow their way through the crowd with great black skins on their shoulders. Most of them sell the wine of Schiraz, which is as sweet as honey. They serve it in little metal cups and strew rose leaves upon it. In the market-place stand the fruitsellers, who sell all kinds of fruit: ripe figs, with their bruised purple flesh, melons, smelling of musk and yellow as topazes, citrons and rose-apples and clusters of white grapes, round red-gold oranges, and oval lemons of green gold. Once I saw an elephant go by. Its trunk was painted with vermilion and turmeric, and over its ears it had a net of crimson silk cord. It stopped opposite one of the booths and began eating the oranges, and the man only laughed. Thou canst not think how strange a people they are. When they are glad they go to the bird-sellers and buy of them a caged bird, and set it free that their joy may be greater, and when they are sad they scourge themselves with thorns that their sorrow may not grow less.
< 19 > 'One evening I met some negroes carrying a heavy palanquin through the bazaar. It was made of gilded bamboo, and the poles were of vermilion lacquer studded with brass peacocks. Across the windows hung thin curtains of muslim embroidered with beetles' wings and with tiny seed-pearls, and as it passed by a pale-faced Circassian looked out and smiled at me. I followed behind, and the negroes hurried their steps and scowled. But I did not care. I felt a great curiosity come over me. 'At last they stopped at a square white house. There were no windows to it, only a little door like the door of a tomb. They set down the palanquin and knocked three times with a copper hammer. An Armenian in a caftan of green leather peered through the wicket, and when he saw them he opened, and spread a carpet on the ground, and the woman stepped out. As she went in, she turned round and smiled at me again. I had never seen anyone so pale. 'When the moon rose I returned to the same place and sought for the house, but it was no longer there. When I saw that, I knew who the woman was, and wherefore she had smiled at me. 'Certainly thou should'st have been with me. On the feast of the New Moon the young Emperor came forth from his palace and went into the mosque to pray. His hair and beard were dyed with rose-leaves, and his cheeks were powdered with a fine gold dust. The palms of his feet and hands were yellow with saffron. 'At sunrise he went forth from his palace in a robe of silver, and at sunset he returned to it again in a robe of gold. The people flung themselves on the ground and hid their faces, but I would not do so. I stood by the stall of a seller of dates and waited. When the Emperor saw me, he raised his painted eyebrows and stopped. I stood quite still, and made him no obeisance. The people marvelled at my boldness, and counsel-led me to flee from the city. I paid no heed to them, but went and sat with the sellers of strange gods, who by reason of their craft are abominated. When I told them what I had done, each of them gave me a god and prayed me to leave them.
< 20 > 'That night, as I lay on a cushion in the tea-house that is in the Street of Pomegranates, the guards of the Emperor entered and led me to the palace. As I went in they closed each door behind me, and put a chain across it. Inside was a great court with an arcade running all round. The walls were of white alabaster, set here and there with blue and green tiles. The pillars were of green marble, and the pavement of a kind of peach-blossom marble. I had never seen anything like it before. 'As I passed across the court two veiled women looked down from a balcony and cursed me. The guards hastened on, and the butts of the lances rang upon the polished floor. They opened a gate of wrought ivory, and I found myself in a watered garden of seven terraces. It was planted with tulip-cups and moonflowers, and silver-studded aloes. Like a slim reed of crystal a fountain hung in the dusky air. The cypress-trees were like burnt-out torches. From one of them a nightingale was singing. 'At the end of the garden stood a little pavilion. As we approached it two eunuchs came out to meet us. Their fat bodies swayed as they walked, and they glanced curiously at me with their yellow-lidded eyes. One of them drew aside the captain of the guard, and in a low voice whispered to him. The other kept munching scented pastilles, which he took with an affected gesture out of an oval box of lilac enamel. 'After a few moments the captain of the guard dismissed the soldiers. They went back to the palace, the eunuchs following slowly behind and plucking the sweet mulberries from the trees as they passed. Once the elder of the two turned round, and smiled at me with an evil smile. 'Then the captain of the guard motioned me towards the entrance of the pavilion. I walked on without trembling, and drawing the heavy curtain aside I entered in. 'The young Emperor was stretched on a couch of dyed lion skins, and a ger-falcon perched upon his wrist. Behind him stood a brass-turbaned Nubian, naked down to the waist, and with heavy earrings in his split ears. On a table by the side of the couch lay a mighty scimitar of steel.
< 21 > 'When the Emperor saw me he frowned, and said to me, "What is thy name? Knowest thou not that I am Emperor of this city?" But I made him no answer. 'He pointed with his finger at the scimitar, and the Nubian seized it, and rushing forward struck at me with great violence. The blade whizzed through me, and did me no hurt. The man fell sprawling on the floor, and, when he rose up, his teeth chattered with terror and he hid himself behind the couch. 'The Emperor leapt to his feet, and taking a lance from a stand of arms, he threw it at me. I caught it in its flight, and brake the shaft into two pieces. He shot at me with an arrow, but I held up my hands and it stopped in mid-air. Then he drew a dagger from a belt of white leather, and stabbed the Nubian in the throat lest the slave should tell of his dishonour. The man writhed like a trampled snake, and a red foam bubbled from his lips. 'As soon as he was dead the Emperor turned to me, and when he had wiped away the bright sweat from his brow with a little napkin of purfled and purple silk, he said to me, "Art thou a prophet, that I may not harm thee, or the son of a prophet that I can do thee no hurt? I pray thee leave my city to night, for while thou art in it I am no longer its lord." 'And I answered him, "I will go for half of thy treasure. Give me half of thy treasure, and I will go away." 'He took me by the hand, and led me out into the garden. When the captain of the guard saw me, he wondered. When the eunuchs saw me, their knees shook and they fell upon the ground in fear. 'There is a chamber in the palace that has eight walls of red porphyry, and a brass-scaled ceiling hung with lamps. The Emperor touched one of the walls and it opened, and we passed down a corridor that was lit with many torches. In niches upon each side stood great wine-jars filled to the brim with silver pieces. When we reached the centre of the corridor the Emperor spake the word that may not be spoken, and a granite door swung back on a secret spring, and he put his hands before his face lest his eyes should be dazzled.
< 22 > 'Thou could'st not believe how marvellous a place it was. There were huge tortoise-shells full of pearls, and hollowed moonstones of great size piled up with red rubies. The gold was stored in coffers of elephant-hide, and the gold-dust in leather bottles. There were opals and sapphires, the former in cups of crystal, and the latter in cups of jade. Round green emeralds were ranged in order upon thin plates of ivory, and in one corner were silk bags filled, some with turquoise-stones and others with beryls. The ivory horns were heaped with purple amethysts, and the horns of brass with chalcedonies and sards. The pillars, which were of cedar, were hung with strings of yellow lynx-stones. In the flat oval shields there were carbuncles, both wine-coloured and coloured like grass. And yet I have told thee but a tithe of what was there. 'And when the Emperor had taken away his hands from before his face he said to me: "This is my house of treasure, and half that is in it is thine, even as I promised to thee. And I will give thee camels and camel drivers, and they shall do thy bidding and take thy share of the treasure to whatever part of the world thou desirest to go. And the thing shall be done to night, for I would not that the Sun, who is my father, should see that there is in my city a man whom I cannot slay." 'But I answered him, "The gold that is here is thine, and the silver also is thine, and thine are the precious jewels and the things of price. As for me, I have no need of these. Nor shall I take aught from thee but that little ring that thou wearest on the finger of thy hand." 'And the Emperor frowned. "It is but a ring of lead," he cried, "nor has it any value. Therefore take thy half of the treasure and go from my city." '"Nay," I answered, "but I will take nought but that leaden ring, for I know what is written within it, and for what purpose." 'And the Emperor trembled, and besought me and said, "Take all the treasure and go from my city. The half that is mine shall be thine also." 'And I did a strange thing, but what I did matters not, for in a cave that is but a day's journey from this place have I hidden the Ring of Riches. It is but a day's journey from this place, and it waits for thy coming. He who has this Ring is richer than all the kings of the world. Come therefore and take it, and the world's riches shall be thine.'
< 23 > But the young Fisherman laughed. 'Love is better than Riches,' he cried, 'and the little Mermaid loves me. 'Nay, but there is nothing better than Riches,' said the Soul. 'Love is better,' answered the young Fisherman, and he plunged into the deep, and the Soul went weeping away over the marshes. And after the third year was over, the Soul came down to the shore of the sea, and called to the young Fisherman, and he rose out of the deep and said, 'Why dost thou call to me?' And the Soul answered, 'Come nearer, that I may speak with thee, for I have seen marvellous things.' So he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his head upon his hand and listened. And the Soul said to him, 'In a city that I know of there is an inn that standeth by a river. I sat there with sailors who drank of two different coloured wines, and ate bread made of barley, and little salt fish served in bay leaves with vinegar. And as we sat and made merry, there entered to us an old man bearing a leathern carpet and a lute that had two horns of amber. And when he had laid out the carpet on the floor, he struck with a quill on the wire strings of his lute, and a girl whose face was veiled ran in and began to dance before us. Her face was veiled with a veil of gauze, but her feet were naked. Naked were her feet, and they moved over the carpet like little white pigeons. Never have I seen anything so marvellous, and the city in which she dances is but a day's journey from this place.' Now when the young Fisherman heard the words of his soul, he remembered that the little Mermaid had no feet and could not dance. And a great desire came over him, and he said to himself, 'It is but a day's journey, and I can return to my love,' and he laughed, and stood up in the shallow water, and strode towards the shore. And when he had reached the dry shore he laughed again, and held out his arms to his Soul. And his Soul gave a great cry of joy and ran to meet him, and entered into him, and the young Fisherman saw stretched before him upon the sand that shadow of the body that is the body of the Soul.
< 24 > And his Soul said to him, 'Let us not tarry, but get hence at once, for the Sea-gods are jealous, and have monsters that do their bidding.' So they made haste, and all that night they journeyed beneath the moon, and all the next day they journeyed beneath the sun, and on the evening of the day they came to a city. And the young Fisherman said to his Soul, 'Is this the city in which she dances of whom thou did'st speak to me?' And his Soul answered him, 'It is not this city, but another. Nevertheless let us enter in.' So they entered in and passed through the streets, and as they passed through the Street of the Jewellers the young fisherman saw a fair silver cup set forth in a booth. And his Soul said to him, 'Take that silver cup and hide it.' So he took the cup and hid it in the fold of his tunic, and they went hurriedly out of the city. And after that they had gone a league from the city, the young Fisherman frowned, and flung the cup away, and said to his Soul, 'Why did'st thou tell me to take this cup and hide it, for it was an evil thing to do?' But his Soul answered him, 'Be at peace, be at peace.' And on the evening of the second day they came to a city, and the young Fisherman said to his Soul, 'Is this the city in which she dances of whom thou did'st speak to me?' And his Soul answered him, 'It is not this city, but another. Nevertheless let us enter in.' So they entered in and passed through the streets, and as they passed through the Street of the Sellers of Sandals, the young Fisherman saw a child standing by a jar of water. And his Soul said to him, 'Smite that child.' So he smote the child till it wept, and when he had done this they went hurriedly out of the city. And after that they had gone a league from the city the young Fisherman grew wroth, and said to his Soul, 'Why did'st thou tell me to smite the child, for it was an evil thing to do?' But his Soul answered him, 'Be at peace, be at peace.'
< 25 > And on the evening of the third day they came to a city, and the young Fisherman said to his Soul, 'Is this the city in which she dances of whom thou did'st speak to me?' And his Soul answered him, 'It may be that it is this city, therefore let us enter in.' So they entered in and passed through the streets, but nowhere could the young Fisherman find the river or the inn that stood by its side. And the people of the city looked curiously at him, and he grew afraid and said to his Soul, 'Let us go hence, for she who dances with white feet is not here.' But his Soul answered, 'Nay, but let us tarry, for the night is dark and there will be robbers on the way.' So he sat him down in the market-place and rested, and after a time there went by a hooded merchant who had a cloak of cloth of Tartary, and bare a lantern of pierced horn at the end of a jointed reed. And the merchant said to him, 'Why dost thou sit in the market-place, seeing that the booths are closed and the bales corded?' And the young Fisherman answered him, 'I can find no inn in this city, nor have I any kinsman who might give me shelter.' 'Are we not all kinsmen?' said the merchant. 'And did not one God make us? Therefore come with me, for I have a guest-chamber.' So the young Fisherman rose up and followed the merchant to his house. And when he had passed through a garden of pomegranates and entered into the house, the merchant brought him rose-water in a copper dish that he might wash his hands, and ripe melons that he might quench his thirst, and set a bowl of rice and a piece of roasted kid before him. And after that he had finished, the merchant led him to the guest-chamber, bade him sleep and be at rest. And the young Fisherman gave him thanks, and kissed the ring that was on his hand, and flung himself down on the carpets of dyed goat's-hair. And when he had covered himself with a covering of black lambs-wool he fell asleep. And three hours before dawn, and while it was still night, his Soul waked him, and said to him, 'Rise up and go to the room of the merchant, even to the room in which he sleepeth, and slay him, and take from him his gold, for we have need of it.'
< 26 > And the young Fisherman rose up and crept towards the room of the merchant, and over the feet of the merchant there was lying a curved sword, and the tray by the side of the merchant held nine purses of gold. And he reached out his hand and touched the sword, and when he touched it the merchant started and awoke, and leaping up seized himself the sword and cried to the young Fisherman, 'Dost thou return evil for good, and pay with the shedding of blood for the kindness that I have shown thee?' And his Soul said to the young Fisherman, 'Strike him,' and he struck him so that he swooned, and he seized then the nine purses of gold, and fled hastily through the garden of pomegranates, and set his face to the star that is the star of morning. And when they had gone a league from the city, the young Fisherman beat his breast, and said to his Soul, 'Why didst thou bid me slay the merchant and take his gold? Surely thou art evil.' But his Soul answered him, 'Be at peace, be at peace.' 'Nay,' cried the young Fisherman, 'I may not be at peace, for all that thou hast made me to do I hate. Thee also I hate, and I bid thee tell me wherefore thou hast wrought with me in this wise.' And his Soul answered him, 'When thou didst send me forth into the world thou gavest me no heart, so I learned to do all these things and love them.' 'What sayest thou?' murmured the young Fisherman. 'Thou knowest,' answered his Soul, 'thou knowest it well. Hast thou forgotten that thou gavest me no heart? I trow not. And so trouble not thyself nor me, but be at peace, for there is no pain that thou shalt not give away, nor any pleasure that thou shalt not receive.' And when the young Fisherman heard these words he trembled and said to his Soul, 'Nay, but thou art evil, and hast made me forget my love, and hast tempted me with temptations, and hast set my feet in the ways of sin.' And his Soul answered him, 'Thou hast not forgotten that when thou didst send me forth into the world thou gavest me no heart. Come, let us go to another city, and make merry, for we have nine purses of gold.'
< 27 > But the young Fisherman took the nine purses of gold, and flung them down, and trampled on them. 'Nay,' he cried, 'but I will have nought to do with thee, nor will I journey with thee anywhere, but even as I sent thee away before, so will I send thee away now, for thou hast wrought me no good.' And he turned his back to the moon, and with the little knife that had the handle of green viper's skin he strove to cut from his feet that shadow of the body which is the body of the Soul. Yet his Soul stirred not from him, nor paid heed to his command, but said to him, 'The spell that the Witch told thee avails thee no more, for I may not leave thee, nor mayest thou drive me forth. Once in his life may a man send his Soul away, but he who receiveth back his Soul must keep it with him for ever, and this is his punishment and his reward.' And the young Fisherman grew pale and clenched his hands and cried, 'She was a false Witch in that she told me not that.' 'Nay,' answered his Soul, 'but she was true to Him she worships, and whose servant she will be ever.' And when the young Fisherman knew that he could no longer get rid of his Soul, and that it was an evil Soul and would abide with him always, he fell upon the ground weeping bitterly. And when it was day the young Fisherman rose up and said to his Soul, 'I will bind my hands that I may not do thy bidding, and close my lips that I may not speak thy words, and I will return to the place where she whom I love has her dwelling. Even to the sea will I return, and to the little bay where she is wont to sing, and I will call to her and tell her the evil I have done and the evil thou hast wrought on me.' And his Soul tempted him and said, 'Who is thy love that thou should'st return to her? The world has many fairer than she is. There are the dancing-girls of Samaris who dance in the manner of all kinds of birds and beasts. Their feet are painted with henna, and in their hands they have little copper bells. They laugh while they dance, and their laughter is as clear as the laughter of water. Come with me and I will show them to thee. For what is this trouble of thine about the things of sin? Is that which is pleasant to eat not made for the eater? Is there poison in that which is sweet to drink? Trouble not thyself, but come with me to another city. There is a little city hard by in which there is a garden of tulip-trees. And there dwell in this comely garden white peacocks and peacocks that have blue breasts. Their tails when they spread them to the sun are like disks of ivory and like gilt disks. And she who feeds them dances for their pleasure, and sometimes she dances on her hands and at other times she dances with her feet. Her eyes are coloured with stibium, and her nostrils are shaped like the wings of a swallow. From a hook in one of her nostrils hangs a flower that is carved out of a pearl. She laughs while she dances, and the silver rings that are about her ankles tinkle like bells of silver. And so trouble not thyself any more, but come with me to this city.'
< 28 > But the young Fisherman answered not his Soul, but closed his lips with the seal of silence and with a tight cord bound his hands, and journeyed back to the place from which he had come, even to the little bay where his love had been wont to sing. And ever did his Soul tempt him by the way, but he made it no answer, nor would he do any of the wickedness that it sought to make him to do, so great was the power of the love that was within him. And when he had reached the shore of the sea, he loosed the cord from his hands, and took the seal of silence from his lips, and called to the little Mermaid. But she came not to his call, though he called to her all day long and besought her. And his Soul mocked him and said, 'Surely thou hast but little joy out of thy love. Thou art as one who in time of dearth pours water into a broken vessel. Thou givest away what thou hast, and nought is given to thee in return. It were better for thee to come with me, for I know where the Valley of Pleasure lies, and what things are wrought there.' But the young Fisherman answered not his Soul, but in a cleft of the rock he built himself a house of wattles, and abode there for the space of a year. And every morning he called to the Mermaid, and every noon he called to her again and at night-time he spake her name. Yet never did she rise out of the sea to meet him, nor in any place of the sea could he find her, though he sought for her in the caves and in the green water, in the pools of the tide and in the wells that are at the bottom of the deep. And ever did his Soul tempt him with evil, and whisper of terrible things. Yet did it not prevail against him, so great was the power of his love. And after the year was over, the Soul thought within himself, 'I have tempted my master with evil, and his love is stronger than I am. I will tempt him now with good, and it may be that he will come with me.'
< 29 > So he spake to the young Fisherman and said, 'I have told thee of the joy of the world, and thou hast turned a deaf ear to me. Suffer me now to tell thee of the world's pain, and it may be that thou wilt hearken. For of a truth, pain is the Lord of this world, nor is there anyone who escapes from its net. There be some who lack raiment, and others who lack bread. There be widows who sit in purple, and widows who sit in rags. To and fro over the fens go the lepers, and they are cruel to each other. The beggars go up and down on the highways, and their wallets are empty. Through the streets of the cities walks Famine, and the Plague sits at their gates. Come, let us go forth and mend these things, and make them not to be. Wherefore should'st thou tarry here calling to thy love, seeing she comes not to thy call? And what is love, that thou should'st set this high store upon it?' But the young Fisherman answered it nought, so great was the power of his love. And every morning he called to the Mermaid, and every noon he called to her again, and at night-time he spake her name. Yet never did she rise out of the sea to meet him, nor in any place of the sea could he find her, though he sought for her in the rivers of the sea, and in the valleys that are under the waves, in the sea that the night makes purple, and in the sea that the dawn leaves grey. And after the second year was over, the Soul said to the young Fisherman at night-time, and as he sat in the wattled house alone, 'Lo! now I have tempted thee with evil, and I have tempted thee with good, and thy love is stronger than I am. Wherefore will I tempt thee no longer, but I pray thee to suffer me to enter thy heart, that I may be one with thee even as before.' 'Surely thou mayest enter,' said the young Fisherman, 'for in the days when with no heart thou didst go through the world thou must have much suffered.' 'Alas!' cried his Soul, 'I can find no place of entrance, so compassed about with love is this heart of thine.'
< 30 > 'Yet I would that I could help thee,' said the young Fisherman. And as he spake there came a great cry of mourning from the sea, even the cry that men hear when one of the Sea-folk is dead. And the young Fisherman leapt up, and left his wattled house, and ran down to the shore. And the black waves came hurrying to the shore, bearing with them a burden that was whiter than silver. White as the surf it was, and like a flower it tossed on the waves. And the surf took it from the waves, and the foam took it from the surf, and the shore received it, and lying at his feet the young Fisherman saw the body of the little Mermaid. Dead at his feet it was lying. Weeping as one smitten with pain he flung himself down beside it, and he kissed the cold red of the mouth, and toyed with the wet amber of the hair. He flung himself down beside it on the sand, weeping as one trembling with joy, and in his brown arms he held it to his breast. Cold were the lips, yet he kissed them. Salt was the honey of the hair, yet he tasted it with a bitter joy. He kissed the closed eyelids, and the wild spray that lay upon their cups was less salt than his tears. And to the dead thing he made confession. Into the shells of its ears he poured the harsh wine of his tale. He put the little hands round his neck, and with his fingers he touched the thin reed of the throat. Bitter, bitter was his joy, and full of strange gladness was his pain. The black sea came nearer, and the white foam moaned like a leper. With white claws of foam the sea grabbled at the shore. From the palace of the Sea-King came the cry of mourning again, and far out upon the sea the great Tritons blew hoarsely upon their horns. 'Flee away, said his Soul, 'for ever doth the sea come nigher, and if thou tarriest it will slay thee. Flee away, for I am afraid, seeing that thy heart is closed against me by reason of the greatness of thy love. Flee away to a place of safety. Surely thou wilt not send me without a heart into another world?'
< 31 > But the young Fisherman listened not to his Soul, but called on the little Mermaid and said, 'Love is better than wisdom, and more precious than riches, and fairer than the feet of the daughters of men. The fires cannot destroy it, nor can the waters quench it. I called on thee at dawn, and thou didst not come to my call. The moon heard thy name, yet hadst thou no heed of me. For evilly had I left thee, and to my own hurt had I wandered away. Yet ever did thy love abide with me, and ever was it strong, nor did aught prevail against it, though I have looked upon evil and looked upon good. And now that thou art dead, surely I will die with thee also.' And his Soul besought him to depart, but he would not, so great was his love. And the sea came nearer, and sought to cover him with its waves, and when he knew that the end was at hand he kissed with mad lips the cold lips of the Mermaid and the heart that was within him brake. And as through the fulness of his love his heart did break, the Soul found an entrance and entered in, and was one with him even as before. And the sea covered the young Fisherman with its waves. And in the morning the Priest went forth to bless the sea, for it had been troubled. And with him went the monks and the musicians, and the candle-bearers, and the swingers of censers, and a great company. And when the Priest reached the shore he saw the young Fisherman lying drowned in the surf, and clasped in his arms was the body of the little Mermaid. And he drew back frowning, and having made the sign of the cross, he cried aloud and said, 'I will not bless the sea nor anything that is in it. Accursed be the Sea-folk, and accursed be all they who traffic with them. And as for him who for love's sake forsook God, and so lieth here with his leman slain by God's judgment, take up his body and the body of his leman, and bury them in the corner of the Field of the Fullers, and set no mark above them, nor sign of any kind, that none may know the place of their resting. For accursed were they in their lives, and accursed shall they be in their deaths also.'
< 32 > And the people did as he commanded them, and in the corner of the Field of the Fullers, where no sweet herbs grew, they dug a deep pit, and laid the dead things within it. And when the third year was over, and on a day that was a holy day, the Priest went up to the chapel, that he might show to the people the wounds of the Lord, and speak to them about the wrath of God. And when he had robed himself with his robes, and entered in and bowed himself before the altar, he saw that the altar was covered with strange flowers that never had he seen before. Strange were they to look at, and of curious beauty, and their beauty troubled him, and their odour was sweet in his nostrils. And he felt glad, and understood not why he was glad. And after that he had opened the tabernacle, and incensed the monstrance that was in it, and shown the fair wafer to the people, and hid it again behind the veil of veils, he began to speak to the people, desiring to speak to them of the wrath of God. But the beauty of the white flowers troubled him, and their odour was sweet in his nostrils, and there came another word into his lips, and he spake not of the wrath of God, but of the God whose name is Love. And why he so spake, he knew not. And when he had finished his word the people wept, and the Priest went back to the sacristy, and his eyes were full of tears. And the deacons came in and began to unrobe him, and took from him the alb and the girdle, the maniple and the stole. And he stood as one in a dream. And after that they had unrobed him, he looked at them and said, 'What are the flowers that stand on the altar, and whence do they come?' And they answered him, 'What flowers they are we cannot tell, but they come from the corner of the Fullers' Field.' And the Priest trembled, and returned to his own house and prayed. And in the morning, while it was still dawn, he went forth with the monks and the musicians, and the candle-bearers and the swingers of censers, and a great company, and came to the shore of the sea, and blessed the sea, and all the wild things that are in it. The Fauns also he blessed, and the little things that dance in the woodland, and the bright-eyed things that peer through the leaves. All the things in God's world he blessed, and the people were filled with joy and wonder. Yet never again in the corner of the Fullers' Field grew flowers of any kind, but the field remained barren even as before. Nor came the Sea-folk into the bay as they had been wont to do, for they went to another part of the sea.