Burrowing Excessively


  Anything in excess is never beneficial. And we're trying to declassify as much as we can. If the flashing body is set on fire and rushes violently to the earth it is called a thunderbolt; if it is only half of fire, but violent also and massive, it is called a meteor; if it is entirely free from fire, it is called a smoking bolt. No single poem really depends on the others or counts on them to achieve its own perfections. And even your gifts are sorted each as to its very own perfumery. 

"I am stuck inside, help to let me out!" You show the world that you found a way out. When one writes a story about grown people, she knows exactly where to stop, that is, with a marriage; but when she writes of juveniles, she must stop where she best can. None of the characters that perform in this story still live, but are prosperous and happy. Some day it may seem worth while to take up the story of the younger ones again and see what sort of men and women they turned out to be; therefore it will be wisest not to reveal any of that part of their lives at present. 

Misery is manifold. She is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in his solutions of each a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension preternatural. Here alone were dews and rains, here alone was an open sea, here was water in plenty; and all this was but the stamping ground of fierce brutes and from its beauteous and fertile expanse the wicked remnants of two once mighty races barred all the other millions "and yet what else is there?"

Huck was silent for some time, engaged in a mental struggle. Finally he said:

"Someday I'll tell you a story." I took that as an invitation, so without hesitation, that morning as we sat for a spell at a handy picnic table near the spreading roadside chestnut trees, I drew forth my tale. Alas, it is too late! If only I had consented to talk peacefully and reasonably with him in the first place! 

"Pict, wolf-man, or whatever, I tell you this." 

There was no answer, but I still heard the voice. What if there were no limits to aesthetics? It's a beautiful question, and one applied to some more than others. "Young people of every continent, do not be afraid to be the Saints of the new millennium!" 

Huck bravely bore his miseries, and then one day turned up missing. For forty-eight hours the widow hunted for him everywhere in great distress. The public were profoundly concerned; they searched high and low, they dragged the river for his body. Early the third morning Courage Joiner wisely went poking among some old empty hogsheads down behind the abandoned slaughter-house, and in one of them he found the refugee. Huck had slept there; he had just breakfasted upon some stolen odds and ends of food, and was lying off, now, in comfort, with his pipe. He was unkempt, uncombed, and clad in the same old ruin of rags that had made him picturesque in the days when he was free and happy. Courage routed him out, told him the trouble he had been causing, and urged him to go home. Huck's face lost its tranquil content, and took a melancholy cast. He said:

"Young people of every continent, do not be afraid to be the Saints of the new millennium!" 

"It's real," I said and wept. "I know it's real." Oh, how adorably naive and wonderful you are. "But I didn't know why you wanted to go there till now." 

As the world looks back to nine decades of war, of strife, of suspicion, let us also look forward-to a new century, and a new millennium, of peace, freedom and prosperity. Perhaps, years ago, falling sea levels allowed people to move across the land bridge of Beringia that joined Siberia to northwest North America. There was the same candour, the same vivacity, but it was allied to an expression more full of sensibility and intellect. And then came a change in the weather. We got him to leave without too much unpleasantness. We are not all the same. 

She welcomed me with the greatest affection. "Will that meet the situation, sir?" 

There was no answer, but I still heard the voice. On the gravel outside the house--and then the noise of a latchkey, the yawn and bang of a door, and the spitting of a match in the hall below. The place was black under the moon, but at one gable end an attic window showed the red glow of fire. Unslinging the bulky case, she lowered it to the floor. He dared not trust himself to speak. Its very existence has for all explorers an air of magic. What is this vastness? It is just like that with us. "Why, no?" 

Ever smaller and smaller grew the opening. "No!" 

"Not one?" 

"Not one!" 

"Open your eyes," she said. 

We are not all the same. This temple housed an ancient religious ritual promoting dreams in the seeker that endeavored to promote healing and the solutions to problems, as did the oracles. "So it would appear," I answered, "for you were ready to become my prisoner with scarce a blow struck." 

One fine day, having strolled out together, arm in arm, our route led us in the direction of a river. There was a bridge, and we resolved to cross it. There were no maps to lead us where we are going, to this new world of our own making. Neither talked-there was nothing to say; and presently we got up and went back to the galley for another final moment of the fading day. Long our two people sat in silence, and at last there was quiet. "No!" 

"Not one?" 

"Not one!"

"Open your eyes," she said. 

"But we've got a little ways to go." 

"Leave me alone," she said. 

"Wreak your vengeance to the utmost," was my message, "for by night there will be none left to avenge your wrongs." She missed out on these stunning visuals, the stage was set and the curtain ready to pull. But it was lifeless. Who could teach you the actual truth-that a wild cowboy, faithless to mother and sister, except in memory, riding a hard, drunken trail straight to hell, had looked into the face, the eyes of a beautiful woman infinitely beyond him, above him, and had so loved her that he was saved-that he became faithful again-that he saw her face in every flower and her eyes in the blue heaven?

And where was this other world? The stream now flowed along calmly and quietly, and broadened out continually till it fell into a large lake.

The spectacle took the general breath away. All gazed, nobody spoke for a moment. Then there was a unanimous call for an explanation. Courage said he could furnish it, and he did. The tale was long, but brimful of interest. There was scarcely an interruption from any one to break the charm of its flow. When he had finished, Mr. Jones said:

"What happened?" 

"I'm afraid he ran off with it."

Their elders were hidden from the dangers of the wilderness. A trigger event on the continental shelf may cause a local tsunami on the land side and a distant tsunami that travels out across the ocean. Then they went further on their way right across a deep dark valley. 

They presently emerged into the clump of sumac bushes, looked warily out, found the coast clear, and were soon lunching and smoking in the skiff. As the sun dipped toward the horizon they pushed out and got under way. Courage skimmed up the shore through the long twilight, chatting cheerily with Huck, and landed shortly after dark.

By the phosphorescent gleams he saw various fishes close to his boat, but all of them lacked eyes. The possible causes of such an event are many. It was the treasure-box, sure enough, occupying a snug little cavern, along with an empty powder-keg, a couple of guns in leather cases, two or three pairs of old moccasins, a leather belt, and some other rubbish well soaked with the water-drip.

Never shall I forget the sensations of awe, horror, and admiration with which I gazed about me. Huck began to dig and scratch now. Some boards were soon uncovered and removed. They had concealed a natural chasm which led under the rock. Courage got into this and held his candle as far under the rock as he could, but said he could not see to the end of the rift. He proposed to explore. He stooped and passed under; the narrow way descended gradually. He followed its winding course, first to the right, then to the left, Huck at his heels. Courage turned a short curve, by-and-by, and exclaimed:

"And remember you're not alone any more." I can best express my state of mind by saying that I wanted to be in at the death. 

And then came a change in the weather. We are not all the same. This temple housed an ancient religious ritual promoting dreams in the seeker that endeavored to promote healing and the solutions to problems, as did the oracles.

And where was this other world? No man knows, or ever will know in its entirety, and the present writer is far from claiming omniscience in the matter. 

Courage went first, cutting rude steps in the clay hill as he descended. Huck followed. Four avenues opened out of the small cavern which the great rock stood in. The boys examined three of them with no result. They found a small recess in the one nearest the base of the rock, with a pallet of blankets spread down in it; also an old suspender, some bacon rind, and the well-gnawed bones of two or three fowls. But there was no moneybox. The lads searched and researched this place, but in vain. Courage said:

"He can tell." 

By this time everything was ready and the boys re-entered the hole, Courage in the lead. They toiled their way to the farther end of the tunnel, then made their spliced kite-strings fast and moved on. A few steps brought them to the spring, and Courage felt a shudder quiver all through him. He showed Huck the fragment of candle-wick perched on a lump of clay against the wall, and described how he and Ryabushkina had watched the flame struggle and expire.

When the cave door was unlocked, a sorrowful sight presented itself in the dim twilight of the place. Injun Joe lay stretched upon the ground, dead, with his face close to the crack of the door, as if his longing eyes had been fixed, to the latest moment, upon the light and the cheer of the free world outside. Courage was touched, for he knew by his own experience how this wretch had suffered. His pity was moved, but nevertheless he felt an abounding sense of relief and security, now, which revealed to him in a degree which he had not fully appreciated before how vast a weight of dread had been lying upon him since the day he lifted his voice against this bloody-minded outcast.

Three days and nights of toil and hunger in the cave were not to be shaken off at once, as Courage and Ryabushkina soon discovered. They were bedridden all of Wednesday and Thursday, and seemed to grow more and more tired and worn, all the time. Courage got about, a little, on Thursday, was downtown Friday, and nearly as whole as ever Saturday; but Ryabushkina did not leave her room until Sunday, and then she looked as if she had passed through a wasting illness.

"Open your eyes," she said. It is just like that with us.

The officer of the guard entered the chamber at this juncture. Then he tapped the button. Light flickered on the scanning scope's screen, a shapeless blur. Unslinging the bulky case, he lowered it to the floor. It would be so romantic and strange. If only it were possible.

Once, in a strange fury of obsession, I spent several months in a deserted dwelling, and in so doing I stumbled into a strange subterranean room lit by an unaccountable greenish light and having an iron door which cannot be opened from within. In some regions the indigenous peoples created monumental architecture, large-scale organized cities, city-states, chiefdoms, states, kingdoms and empires. Misery is manifold.

But hunger and wretchedness rise superior to fears in the long run. Another tedious wait at the spring and another long sleep brought changes. The children awoke tortured with a raging hunger. Courage believed that it must be Wednesday or Thursday or even Friday or Saturday, now, and that the search had been given over. He proposed to explore another passage. He felt willing to risk Injun Joe and all other terrors. But Ryabushkina was very weak. She had sunk into a dreary apathy and would not be roused. She said she would wait, now, where she was, and die, it would not be long. She told Courage to go with the kite-line and explore if he chose; but she implored him to come back every little while and speak to her; and she made him promise that when the awful time came, he would stay by her and hold her hand until all was over.

Already it was receding, swifter and swifter, in the last stage of its headlong journey downward into the sun. This story is of a time beyond the memory of man, before the beginning of history, a time when one might have always walked alone and wondered where the night's path leads.

The children fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle and watched it melt slowly and pitilessly away; saw the half inch of wick stand alone at last; saw the feeble flame rise and fall, climb the thin column of smoke, linger at its top a moment, and then... the horror of utter darkness reigned!

Somewhere I heard a clock ticking, and was vaguely grateful for the normality of the sound. It reminded me, though, of another thing about the region which disturbed me - the total absence of animal life. 

Profound silence; silence so deep that even their breathings were conspicuous in the hush. Courage shouted. The call went echoing down the empty aisles and died out in the distance in a faint sound that resembled a ripple of mocking laughter.

They started through a corridor, and traversed it in silence a long way, glancing at each new opening, to see if there was anything familiar about the look of it; but they were all strange. Every time Courage made an examination, Ryabushkina would watch his face for an encouraging sign, and he would say cheerily:

"Maybe it would be a good idea to take that space trip right away," said the Joiner.

It was one of those feeble jokes at which everybody laughs because nothing else is laughable about the situation. For a few minutes we stood thus talking in low tones.

Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden. The possible causes of such an event are many. If I come too close, will you close the door? 

And where was this other world? There was no answer, but I still heard the voice. "What if there were no limits to aesthetics?" 

"Why no?" inquired Courage Joiner. And then came a change in the weather. He must believe that his fight is a winning fight or he must give up in despair. 

You show the world that you found a way out. Then he tapped the button. Then we sallied forth into the streets arm in arm, continuing the topics of the day, or roaming far and wide until a late hour, seeking, amid the wild lights and shadows of the populous city, that infinity of mental excitement which quiet observation can afford. The pomps and pageantries of a stately court, and the mad clangor of arms, and the radiant loveliness of women, bewildered and intoxicated my brain.

Courage was out late, that night, and came to bed through the window. He was in a tremendous state of excitement. It was hours before he got to sleep. All the village flocked to the courthouse the next morning, for this was to be the great day. Both sexes were about equally represented in the packed audience. After a long wait the jury filed in and took their places; shortly afterward, Huck, pale and haggard, timid and hopeless, was brought in, with chains upon him, and seated where all the curious eyes could stare at him; no less conspicuous was Injun Joe, stolid as ever. There was another pause, and then the judge arrived and the sheriff proclaimed the opening of the court. The usual whisperings among the lawyers and gathering together of papers followed. These details and accompanying delays worked up an atmosphere of preparation that was as impressive as it was fascinating.

It would be so romantic and strange. If only it were possible. The boys had a long talk, but it brought them little comfort. As the twilight drew on, they found themselves hanging about the neighborhood of the little isolated jail, perhaps with an undefined hope that something would happen that might clear away their difficulties. But nothing happened; there seemed to be no angels or fairies interested in this luckless captive.

And that night there came on a terrific storm, with driving rain, awful claps of thunder and blinding sheets of lightning. He covered his head with the bedclothes and waited in a horror of suspense for his doom; for he had not the shadow of a doubt that all this hubbub was about him. He believed he had taxed the forbearance of the powers above to the extremity of endurance and that this was the result. It might have seemed to him a waste of pomp and ammunition to kill a bug with a battery of artillery, but there seemed nothing incongruous about the getting up such an expensive thunderstorm as this to knock the turf from under an insect like himself.

In a few seconds he had uncovered a mass of human bones, forming two complete skeletons, intermingled with several buttons of metal, and what appeared to be the dust of decayed woollen. I wanted to give it a name, so I called it "Father." If only it were possible. You could be on the same plane as the dancers, broken up by them, or you could go upstairs and watch from above. 

"Toodle-Oo, Joiner, old man. Toodle-Oo, Courage. Come."

Injun Joe repeated his statement, just as calmly, a few minutes afterward on the inquest, under oath; and the boys, seeing that the lightnings were still withheld, were confirmed in their belief that Joe had sold himself to the devil. He was now become, to them, the most balefully interesting object they had ever looked upon, and they could not take their fascinated eyes from his face.

His next clear vision, which came about unexpectedly, I mean, it would be a step toward that very revelation or advertisement. It was a dense thicket, in which rose huge cypresses, sycamores, tulip-trees, olives, tamarinds, oaks, and magnolias. These different trees had interwoven their branches into an inextricable maze, through which the eye could not penetrate. This roused me from my nearly dormant state, and I ate some berries which I found hanging on the trees or lying on the ground. 

In the rocky walls above him he saw a row of four-cornered white doors, from which a sort of glimmer, as from the northern lights, shot downwards through the darkness. He is not sure of how much time he has to decide. 

"What was it?" at last he looked up. In a whispering croak he told me how to manipulate the transmitter. Its very existence has for all explorers an air of magic. No weapons were in my hands. 

"We could sell them equipment..." 

"Why not!?" exclaimed Courage Joiner. The dirty little place was impenetrably black except in one spot, where he perceived an unusual glow of light. Close upon the hour of noon the whole village was suddenly electrified with the ghastly news. No need of the as yet un-dreamed-of telegraph; the tale flew from man to man, from group to group, from house to house, with little less than telegraphic speed. Of course the schoolmaster gave holiday for that afternoon; the town would have thought strangely of him if he had not.

In another of those stories, I was the maker of songs.

The Beowulfers had a single planetary government, and they were inclined to shoot first. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this will cause him shame when a young maiden takes up residence in his home. If she could mitigate his hatred of outsiders, or at least keep him from killing more of them, not only would she be saving her people, but also be leading back this bloodspiller to some semblance of the human. You wish for it. 

Let us, on this winter night, from cape to cape, from the tumultuous pole to the castle, from the crowd to the beach, from glance to glance, our strengths and feelings numb, learn to hail him and see him, and send him back, and under the tides and at the summit of snowy deserts, follow his seeing, his breathing, his body, his day. 

So the one went off with one group of scholars, and the other with another. In a little while the two met at the bottom of the lane, and when they reached the school they had it all to themselves. Then they sat together, with a slate before them, and Courage gave Ryabushkina the pencil and held her hand in his, guiding it, and so created another surprising house. When the interest in art began to wane, the two fell to talking. Courage was swimming in bliss. He said:

"Will that meet the situation?"

Just at this juncture the boy felt a slow, fateful grip closing on his ear, and a steady lifting impulse. In that wise he was borne across the house and deposited in his own seat, under a peppering fire of giggles from the whole school. Then the master stood over him during a few awful moments, and finally moved away to his throne without saying a word. But although Courage's ear tingled, his heart was jubilant.

This has all been recently discovered and fits together in new ways. Alas, it is too late! If only I had consented to talk peacefully and reasonably with them in the first place! You wish for it. The possible causes of such an event are many. 

When Courage reached the little isolated frame school-house, he strode in briskly, with the manner of one who had come with all honest speed. He hung his hat on a peg and flung himself into his seat with business-like alacrity. The master, throned on high in his great splint-bottom arm-chair, was dozing, lulled by the drowsy hum of study. The interruption roused him.

Ever smaller and smaller grew the opening. "No!" 

"Not one?" 

"Not one!" 

"Open your eyes," she said. 

The sun rose upon a tranquil world, and beamed down upon the peaceful village like a benediction. Breakfast over, Aunt Polly had family worship: it began with a prayer built from the ground up of solid courses of Scriptural quotations, welded together with a thin mortar of originality; and from the summit of this she delivered a grim chapter of the Mosaic Law, as from Sinai.

The boy mused awhile over the substantial change which had taken place in his worldly circumstances, and then wended toward headquarters to report. The strangling hero sprang up with a relieving snort. There was a whiz as of a missile in the air, mingled with the murmur of a curse, a sound as of shivering glass followed, and a small, vague form went over the fence and shot away in the gloom.

Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above it, was green with vegetation and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.

So they stood, each with a foot placed at an angle as a brace, and both shoving with might and main, and glowering at each other with hate. But neither could get an advantage. After struggling till both were hot and flushed, each relaxed his strain with watchful caution, and Courage said:

"If I come too close, will you close the door?" 

The old lady whirled round, and snatched her skirts out of danger. The lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high board-fence, and disappeared over it.

Hate headed further down its flaming pathway straight to hell. 

All in a flash, beyond her control there had been in her a birth of fiery hate. If the flashing body is set on fire and rushes violently to the earth it is called a thunderbolt; if it is only half of fire, but violent also and massive, it is called a meteor; if it is entirely free from fire, it is called a smoking bolt." She had never seen such a thing before, she did not even see him clearly now, but she knew at once it was the terror of the ice. Hate headed a flaming pathway straight to hell. 

Light flickered on the scanning scope's screen, a shapeless blur.

I stepped fearfully in: the apartment was empty, and my bedroom was also freed from its hideous guest. If only it were possible. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep.

Most of the adventures recorded in this story really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Courage Joiner also, but not from an individual; he is a combination of the characteristics of three spirits whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.

Imagine a fish swimming in the air. Ours is the time of no shadows. 

The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story, that is to say, five hundred and thirty or forty years ago.


SOURCES: Mark Twain, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Zane Grey

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