Little Tom Part 2

Tom would often speak of these things he remembered, but, at the end, he would always become sad, when he thought how all his kingdom had been destroyed and everything had disappeared, and that he would never again see his loved ones.

The G.o.dmother listened to his stories with great pleasure, but she realized that Tom must have some occupation that would keep him busy and not only prevent him from thinking too much of the past, but also prepare him for the life he was to lead in the future.

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CHAPTER THREE.

LITTLE TOM'S TRIP AROUND THE WORLD.

LITTLE TOM'S HOUSEHOLD.

LITTLE TOM WRITES A DIARY.

HE LEARNS TO READ THE BOOKS OF MEN.

HOW LITTLE TOM READ WITH HIS FEET AND HOW HE TURNED THE LEAVES.

LITTLE TOM LEARNS GEOGRAPHY AND WANTS TO MAKE A TRIP ROUND THE WORLD.

WHAT HE WROTE IN HIS DIARY ABOUT THIS TRIP.

Little Tom had his day well planned. He rose early and, as his G.o.dmother placed every night on his castle grounds an earthern-ware plate full of fresh water he would jump into it the first thing and swim all around in it. When he had finished his bath he would take his breakfast in the garden.

Under the tree was his store of provisions: A hazel nut with an end cut off so that he could take out little bits from time to time, lasting him a whole month; a beechnut; sunflower seeds; a piece of sugar; and a wonderful apple, into which he cut a narrow pa.s.sage so that it would not dry up from the outside.

When he had breakfasted he would sweep the carpet in his room, clean his clothes and shoes, exercise with his weapons so that he would not forget the arts of defence he had learned at his home, and then go into the garden to plant and weed. Sometimes, he hunted for the ugly worms that dug great ditches in the vegetable beds.

When the G.o.dmother rose she would come to say good morning to Tom, look at his work, praise and advise him. When she saw it was necessary to water the tree, she would tell Tom to take away his tools and would then pour water over the tree from a fine sprinkler. Tom loved to run about in this rain and was happy to think that he could so bravely bear the heavy shower.

After she had gone away, he would write in his diary, describing everything he had been doing, as well as all those things he could remember from his former kingdom, so that nothing should be forgotten.

For this purpose, he had a beautiful, smooth parchment, tanned from the skins of white tree bugs, sharp pens, made from the bills of gnats, and fine writing sand from the powder of b.u.t.terflies' wings. He only lacked ink, but he found a way to get that. On the tree, he discovered the smoky wicks from the candles; mixing the soot with water he made himself some excellent ink; but in doing this, he became so black that when his G.o.dmother saw him she feared that he had turned into a negro.

He took his dinner alone, but always looked forward to the evening meal when he could sit down and talk with his G.o.dmother.

Thus the days pa.s.sed happily. He worked about his castle and in the garden and was kept busy with his housekeeping. Every day he was becoming more manly and strong and, as he grew up, he thought more and more of his past, of his birth and what he would have accomplished had he become a king and ruled over his underground realm.

One evening, when they were sitting together and Little Tom was speaking of all the things in the world he would like to do, his G.o.dmother said, Dear Little Tom, before you can do great things in the world, it is necessary that you should learn how to read and write as large people do, so that you can know what they are doing.

But Tom answered, I know how to read and write very well, G.o.dmother. I will show you what I have written. And when, at his request, she placed him on the press, he ran into the castle and brought out a whole armful of parchments; but it seemed to her that they were only a lot of tiny petals from cherry blossoms.

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When he had thrown the parchments into her lap she put on her spectacles and took one of the little sheets in her palm; but she could make nothing out of it at all.

Tom offered to read some of it to her and taking up the sheet, read it with much expression. In spite of this, the G.o.dmother shook her head.

You read very nicely what you yourself have written, she said, but you must learn human letters as well, so that you can read and study our books.

Therefore, she brought her book to the table, and reached for Little Tom to place him upon it, but he was nowhere to be seen. She looked all about and finally spied him clinging desperately to the table cloth. The wind caused by turning the leaves had blown him over to the very edge of the table and he had barely saved himself. He was calling for help when his G.o.dmother rescued him from his perilous position. So it nearly happened that, at the very outset, a misfortune might have prevented the reading altogether; but, as soon as he had recovered from his fright, Tom offered at once to begin.

He crawled quickly up the golden edge of the book and surveyed the broad white plain covered in every direction, with curving black lines.

He ran at once to the upper left hand corner, stepping gingerly on the first large letter. After he had walked all over it, he stopped and declared confidently that it was a capital O. In like manner he went on to N and C and E and a little further, until he had no longer to run completely over a letter but could place himself in the middle and looking all about him could tell at once what it was. One after the other he spelled and his G.o.dmother was surprised to see how quickly the reading progressed.

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It was only when he came to the end of the page that he found difficulty, for then he had to crawl down while she turned the page over; but he thought of a way to get around this. When he had reached the end of the next page he procured one of his long spears and crawling a little way down the sloping edge of the opened book, thrust his spear between the leaves and raised the sheet high enough to crawl under it.

Then, on his hands and knees, he worked his way to the middle of the book and exerting all his strength, he was able to turn the page over.

In a short time, he learned to read so rapidly that he could run swiftly along the lines and in this way could cover five or six pages in a day.

He liked especially to linger by the pictures, looking at the little knights gazing from the battlements of the castle, or the beautiful ladies spinning or embroidering in great rooms; for it seemed to him that these were pictures of his former life and reminded him of his lost realm. But, after a moment, he would diligently continue his reading.

He was very curious to discover what real people know, so that he also might learn; but it seemed to him that he would never be able to read fast enough, and so he began to ask his G.o.dmother to teach him from her own knowledge. She soon perceived that in some things, like mathematics and physics, he was much better educated than herself; but of other subjects, such as history and geography, he knew nothing at all.

So she told him how the earth was shaped and about the sun, moon and stars. She explained how the sun rose in the East and then there was day; and after it had crossed the sky and set in the West, then night came. She told him that in the Far North there is perpetual snow on great, white plains, so broad that you can not see across them; and in the South great deserts of sand, without water, where lions and tigers roam and it is so hot that the people become black like the king in the altar. Between all the countries stretch seas of salt water, which are filled with strange monsters and across which travel large s.h.i.+ps.

Little Tom listened breathlessly, and then was eager to learn how people came to know all these things. His G.o.dmother told him that there were famous travelers who went all over the earth, experiencing many dangers, and then came home to describe what they had seen.

That night, Little Tom in his excitement could not sleep for a long, long while and, finally, when he began to doze, he dreamed that he was walking through the snow, climbing the mountains that reached to the sky and crossing the primeval forests. Then he wandered in deserts and swam the sea in the midst of fierce sharks.

Next day, he was all the time thinking of the great wonders of the world, and his work was not so pleasing to him. He could hardly wait for the evening to come so that he might learn more from his G.o.dmother. When she had told him other things that she knew, he asked her where was the end of the earth. She explained that the world was round and that, if any one walked on and on, he would come to the place whence he had started.

Little Tom became quite confused, for with his growing mind he could not understand how the world could be so great, or how it could be round!

Neither did he know what it meant to travel. There was only one thing that he remembered and that was, if he started in one direction and kept on going, in the end he would come back home. His heart was very brave and he was not afraid of danger. He wanted very much to gain experience and do heroic deeds, even if he did not know where he was going.

So he decided that he would become a great traveler and go round the world. He made careful preparations for the trip. In secret, he filled a bundle with nouris.h.i.+ng food, which he put on his back and hung a bottle of water from his neck. On his feet he put heavy shoes, made from strong caterpillar leather, belted his sword around his waist and, as soon as his G.o.dmother had left in the morning, started on his journey round the world.

He looked forward to his G.o.dmother's surprise on his return, when he would tell her all that had happened to him and thereby gain great fame.

He walked down from the box that held his castle and crossed the press straight to his G.o.dmother's bed. He judged that the window through which the light was streaming, was in the East and that, therefore, he was going directly to the North.

When the G.o.dmother returned to her room in the evening she was greatly surprised that Little Tom was not there to welcome her. She called and looked for him everywhere, but could not find him. She feared that he had crawled to some place where he had fallen down and died miserably.

She swept the floor most carefully, but in vain. Sadly, she went to the hearth to get some wood to replenish the fire, for it was a cold Spring day. As she took out some pieces, there she found Tom asleep with a tiny bundle upon his back. He was sleeping so soundly, that he did not stir when she called to him, so she took him up carefully and placed him under the tree on her handkerchief. She feared that something had happened to him. Many times during the night she got up to look at him, but Little Tom slept quietly until the morning.

When he finally awoke, he did not at first know where he was. When he remembered, he avoided telling his G.o.dmother where he had been the day before; but he begged her forgiveness and promised that he would never again crawl down from the linen press. She did not insist on an explanation, for she thought that he had been curious and had run around the room and thus become lost. When she went away, he started diligently to write in his diary. This was what he wrote:

_Castle Easter Egg, The 114th day of my life._

When I was one hundred and twelve days old, believing it to be the duty of a man to accomplish great deeds, I decided that I would be a traveler and go round the earth--G.o.dmother having told me that it is round--so that I could see for myself the wonders she has described. I made my preparations in secret. In the morning, when G.o.dmother had gone away, I started for the hills on the northern horizon, stretching across the plain on which my castle stands.

I expected that beyond those northern hills would lie the snowy plains about which she told me; and that, if I kept straight on, I should reach the deserts of the hot, tropical country and, beyond them, by crossing the forests, I should come to the great ocean. I had planned, if I could find a boat by the ocean, to cross to the other side and, by traveling over the countries there, finally return home.

G.o.dmother had said that the sun, during the day and the night, goes from the East to the West and clear around the earth until it comes back again to the East. I judged that if I should hurry my journey, it would not take any longer than the sun, so I made up my mind to go from the North to the South.

The hills stretch clear across the plain which is sloping and smooth. At first, I could not find a suitable place to climb; but, finally, coming to the end of the plain before a steep precipice, I saw a little fissure by which I might ascend to the very top. With great difficulty I managed to make my way by this fissure until I came to the summit, where I could look over and, as I had expected, I saw before me a vast, white plain stretching out to infinity.

With great care I crawled upon it at the place where it touches the hills and, stepping on it, I found that it was elastic and yielding, like the snow G.o.dmother described. One can really walk on it with ease and I was surprised to find, moreover, that one can so easily overcome the difficulties of those desolate countries. Also I did not feel any cold.