The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 12: In MotleyBierce, Ambrose
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The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 12: In Motley
Bierce, Ambrose
American literature
One day I was a readin a wondful story about a cammel and a Arrab, and
my father he spoke up and said I mustnt blieve only but half of what I
read. Jest then the story ended by sayin that the half wasent told, and
my father he said: “Thats the half to blieve.”
A Arrab chief was a leadin his cammel by the halter and a thinkin real
hard, but the cam hadnt any thing in particklar for to ocupy its mind,
so after a wile it snook up and lifted the chiefs turban in its teeths
and et it. Bime bi the chief he begun for to feel the sun a bakin his
head like it was a potato in the uven, cause they shave their hair evry
little bit off, and he stopt and looked around at the cam. The cam
started like it was shot, and puld the holter out of the Arrabs hand,
and stared at him and walked away and stared again, much as to say: “I
never have seen you before in all my life, dont you come near me.”
But after a long time it let it self be cought, and when the Arrab had
turned his back for to resume the voyge the cam drawed the 2 ends of
its mouth up to its ears and wank its eye repeated.
Mister Gipple he says a other Arrab, which was a travisin the dessert,
lay down for to sleep, and in the middle of the night he woke, and set
up, and rubbed his eyes, and looked again, and final said: “Allah be
praised for grantin His servant this vizion of the Holy Mountain!”
Then he lay down in the sand with his face toward the Holy Mountain,
which he could see real plain on the horizen against the stars. He
knocked his fored against the ground and prayd all night, but in the
mornin he see it was only just his cammel a kneelin between him and the
ski. So he took a stick, the Arrab did, and beat the cam, and said it
wasnt fit for to carry a True Bliever.
But the Bible it says that cammels can go through the knee of a idol.
I ast Uncle Ned what makes the cam have a hunch on his back, and he
said, Uncle Ned did: “One day, in the Garden of Edin the animals was a
showin off what they culd do, and the kangaroon he said he could jump
high upper than any other thing which was made in the immage of its
Maker. The cammel curled his lip up, real scornfle and said: ‘Why, you
gum dasted creepin thing, I dont blieve you can leave the ground by 10
inches. Jest try for to jump over _me_ and you will find out what a
many rooted vegtable you are.’
“So the cam, which was made long like a dox hoond and had a straight
back, it stood still, and the kang he took a few hops and then soared
aloft to go over the cam. But the cam he wank his eye to the other
fellers, much as to say, ‘See me fix him!’ and then he huncht his back
up real sudden, and tript the kang, which turned a flip flop and lit on
his head an pretty near broke the spine of his back.
“When Adam was told about it he said to the cammel: ‘Let me see how you
done it.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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