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Article COVETOUSNESS; A VISION. ← Page 2 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Covetousness; A Vision.
time and patience at length brought the dawn to my relief . I got out of the dismal forest , where every thing terrified-me , only to enter another place where every thing astonished me . I perceived vast plains enriched with all the gifts of fruitful nature ; no prospect so charming had I ever beheld . I was tired , I was hungry ; the trees were loaded with the finest fruitsaud the
, vines rising under their branches encircled them with grapes , which hung in festoons . I sprang forward , overjoyed to allay my thirst , returning thanks from the bottom of my soul to God , the author of these blessings , when a man , very oddly drest , opposed my passage with an iron arm . "Simpleton , " said he , " I p lainly see thou art still a childand art a stranger to the customs of the world ;
, read on that stone portico ; its laws are engraved there ; thou must submit to them or die . " I read -with inexpressible astonishment , that all this vast fine country was either hired or sold ; that I was neither allowed to eat , drink , walk , nor even repose my head , without the express leave of the master : that he was the exclusive possessor of all those fruits my empty
stomach so much longed for : and that 1 had not a single spot of shelter on the whole globe , nor the property of an apple ; every thing was usurped before my arrival . I was likely to die of hunger , for want of certain little balls of
quicksilver , very apt to be lost on account of their subtilty , which this hard-hearted man demanded in exchange for the nourishing fruits the earth produced . I said to myself , " He has no better ri ght than I have to this ground ; he is certainl y a tyrant : but as I am the weaker I must submit . " I learned , that in order to get some of those gliding balls , a man was obliged to put a large iron chain round his bodyat the end of
, which there was stili to depend a leaden bullet , a hundred times heavier than all the little balls one could ever receive , and , indeed , I observed the man who had stopped me was according to order . He saw my distress , and told me in a tone charitably haughty , " If . thou wan test to eat , come hither ; I am good natured ; draw near ; put a ring of this great chain round thy neck , until thou art a little
used to it . "—As I was dying with hunger , I did not hesitate to comply . As he offered me something to eat , he accompanied his gift with a severe fillip on the nose . 1 murmured a good deal , and ate a good deal . I was still muttering between my teethwhen I was surprised to see another man
, , more heavily laden than the first , give him a box on the ear , which he received with great humility , kissing the hand that struck him ; however he received at the same time a great many of those little balls of quicksilver which he seemed to idolize .
Then forgetting my resentment , I could not avoid saying to him to whom I was fastened , " How can you bear such an affront ? Why had that man the insolence to insult you ? " He looked at me , and said with a sneer , " My friend , thou art still a novice ; but thou ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Covetousness; A Vision.
time and patience at length brought the dawn to my relief . I got out of the dismal forest , where every thing terrified-me , only to enter another place where every thing astonished me . I perceived vast plains enriched with all the gifts of fruitful nature ; no prospect so charming had I ever beheld . I was tired , I was hungry ; the trees were loaded with the finest fruitsaud the
, vines rising under their branches encircled them with grapes , which hung in festoons . I sprang forward , overjoyed to allay my thirst , returning thanks from the bottom of my soul to God , the author of these blessings , when a man , very oddly drest , opposed my passage with an iron arm . "Simpleton , " said he , " I p lainly see thou art still a childand art a stranger to the customs of the world ;
, read on that stone portico ; its laws are engraved there ; thou must submit to them or die . " I read -with inexpressible astonishment , that all this vast fine country was either hired or sold ; that I was neither allowed to eat , drink , walk , nor even repose my head , without the express leave of the master : that he was the exclusive possessor of all those fruits my empty
stomach so much longed for : and that 1 had not a single spot of shelter on the whole globe , nor the property of an apple ; every thing was usurped before my arrival . I was likely to die of hunger , for want of certain little balls of
quicksilver , very apt to be lost on account of their subtilty , which this hard-hearted man demanded in exchange for the nourishing fruits the earth produced . I said to myself , " He has no better ri ght than I have to this ground ; he is certainl y a tyrant : but as I am the weaker I must submit . " I learned , that in order to get some of those gliding balls , a man was obliged to put a large iron chain round his bodyat the end of
, which there was stili to depend a leaden bullet , a hundred times heavier than all the little balls one could ever receive , and , indeed , I observed the man who had stopped me was according to order . He saw my distress , and told me in a tone charitably haughty , " If . thou wan test to eat , come hither ; I am good natured ; draw near ; put a ring of this great chain round thy neck , until thou art a little
used to it . "—As I was dying with hunger , I did not hesitate to comply . As he offered me something to eat , he accompanied his gift with a severe fillip on the nose . 1 murmured a good deal , and ate a good deal . I was still muttering between my teethwhen I was surprised to see another man
, , more heavily laden than the first , give him a box on the ear , which he received with great humility , kissing the hand that struck him ; however he received at the same time a great many of those little balls of quicksilver which he seemed to idolize .
Then forgetting my resentment , I could not avoid saying to him to whom I was fastened , " How can you bear such an affront ? Why had that man the insolence to insult you ? " He looked at me , and said with a sneer , " My friend , thou art still a novice ; but thou ,