The dealer in rabbit-skins was not alone in the world. He had a dog,
which was rubbish like its master. The animal was of no recognised
breed, although in a dim light it called itself a fox-terrier. She could
not have been an intelligent dog, or she would not have remained
constant to Brightly. Her name was Ju, which was an abbreviation of
Jerusalem. One Sunday evening Brightly had slipped inside a church, and
somewhat to his surprise had been allowed to remain, although a sidesman
was told off to keep an eye upon him and see that he did not break open
the empty poor-box. A hymn was sung about Jerusalem the golden, a piece
of pagan doggerel concerning the future state, where happy souls were
indulging in bacchanalian revels, and over-eating themselves in a sort of
glorified dairy filled with milk and honey. The hymn enraptured
Brightly, who was, of course, tired and famished; and when he had left
the warm church, although without any of the promised milk and honey, he
kept on murmuring the lines and trying to recall the music. He could
think of nothing but Jerusalem for some days. He went into the public
library at Tavistock and looked it up in a map of the world, discovered
it was in a country called Palestine, and wondered how many rabbit-skins
it would cost to take him there. Brightly reckoned in rabbit-skins, not
in shillings and pence, which were matters he was not very familiar
with. He noticed that whenever he mentioned the name of Jerusalem the
dog wagged her tail, as though she too was interested in the dairy
produce; so, as the animal lacked a title, Jerusalem was awarded her.
Brightly thought of the milk and honey whenever he called his poor
half-starved cur.
Presently he thought he had coughed long enough, so he picked up his
basket and went on climbing the road, his body bent as usual towards the
right. At a distance he looked like the half of a circle. He could not
stand straight. The weight of his basket and habit had crooked him like
an oak branch. He tramped on towards the barren village of St. Mary
Tavy. There was a certain amount of wild scenery to be admired. Away to
the right was Brentor and the church upon its crags. To the left were
piled the "deads" of the abandoned copper-mines. The name of Wheal
Friendship might have had a cheerful sound for Brightly had he known
what friendship meant. He didn't look at the scenery, because he was
half blind. He could see his way about, but that was all. He lived in
the twilight. He wore a big pair of unsightly spectacles with
tortoise-shell rims. His big eyes were always staring widely behind the
glasses, seeing all they could, which was the little bit of road in
front and no more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account