Erewhon Revisited Twenty Years Later, Both by the Original Discoverer of the Country and by His SonButler, Samuel
Philosophy
Erewhon Revisited Twenty Years Later, Both by the Original Discoverer of the Country and by His Son
Butler, Samuel
Satire; Utopian fiction; Utopias -- Fiction
At last my watch pointed to noon, but there was no George. A quarter
past twelve, but no George. Half-past, still no George. One o’clock,
and all the quarters till three o’clock, but still no George. I tried to
eat some of the ship’s biscuits I had brought with me, but I could not.
My disappointment was now as great as my excitement had been all the
forenoon; at three o’clock I fairly cried, and for half an hour could
only fling myself on the ground and give way to all the unreasonable
spleen that extreme vexation could suggest. True, I kept telling myself
that for aught I knew George might be dead, or down with a fever; but
this would not do; for in this last case he should have sent one of his
brothers to meet me, and it was not likely that he was dead. I am afraid
I thought it most probable that he had been casual--of which unworthy
suspicion I have long since been heartily ashamed.
I put the brooches inside my knapsack, and hid it in a place where I was
sure no one would find it; then, with a heavy heart, I trudged down again
to my camp--broken in spirit, and hopeless for the morrow.
I camped again, but it was some hours before I got a wink of sleep; and
when sleep came it was accompanied by a strange dream. I dreamed that I
was by my father’s bedside, watching his last flicker of intelligence,
and vainly trying to catch the words that he was not less vainly trying
to utter. All of a sudden the bed seemed to be at my camping ground, and
the largest of the statues appeared, quite small, high up the mountain
side, but striding down like a giant in seven league boots till it stood
over me and my father, and shouted out “Leap, John, leap.” In the horror
of this vision I woke with a loud cry that woke my dog also, and made him
shew such evident signs of fear, that it seemed to me as though he too
must have shared my dream.
Shivering with cold I started up in a frenzy, but there was nothing, save
a night of such singular beauty that I did not even try to go to sleep
again. Naturally enough, on trying to keep awake I dropped asleep before
many minutes were over.
In the morning I again climbed up to the statues, without, to my
surprise, being depressed with the idea that George would again fail to
meet me. On the contrary, without rhyme or reason, I had a strong
presentiment that he would come. And sure enough, as soon as I caught
sight of the statues, which I did about a quarter to twelve, I saw a
youth coming towards me, with a quick step, and a beaming face that had
only to be seen to be fallen in love with.
“You are my brother,” said he to me. “Is my father with you?”
I pointed to the crape on my arm, and to the ground, but said nothing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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