As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third day after this
melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and without any marks of
violence upon it, in the dress in which he fell, and looking more like a
man asleep than dead.
During all this time my mother and I, who were at Misenum--but this has no
connection with your history, and you did not desire any particulars
besides those of my uncle's death, so I will end here, only adding that I
have faithfully related to you what I was either a witness of myself or
received the news of immediately after the accident happened, and before
there was time to vary the truth.
You will pick out of this narrative whatever is most important, for a
letter is one thing, a history another; it is one thing writing to a
friend, another writing to the public. Farewell.
Letter No. 2.
The letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to you
concerning the death of my uncle has raised, it seems, your curiosity to
know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued at Misenum,
for there, I think, my account broke off.
Though my shock'd soul recoils, my tongue shall tell.
My uncle having left us, I spent such time as was left on my studies (it
was on their account, indeed, that I had stopped behind) till it was time
for my bath. After which I went to supper, and then fell into a short and
uneasy sleep.
There had been noticed for many days before a trembling of the earth,
which did not alarm us much, as this is quite an ordinary occurrence in
Campania, but it was so particularly violent that night that it not only
shook but overturned, as it would seem, everything about us.
My mother rushed into my chamber, where she found me rising, in order to
awaken her. We sat down in the open court of the house, which occupied a
small space between the buildings and the sea. As I was at that time but
eighteen years of age, I know not whether I should call my behavior in
this dangerous juncture courage or folly; but I took up Livy, and amused
myself with turning over that author, and even making extracts from him,
as if I had been perfectly at my leisure.
Just then a friend of my uncle, who had lately come to him from Spain,
joined us, and, observing me sitting by my mother with a book in my hand,
reproved her for her calmness and me at the same time for my careless
security; nevertheless, I went on with my author.
Though it was now morning, the light was still exceedingly faint and
doubtful; the buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood upon
open ground, yet as the place was narrow and confined there was no
remaining without imminent danger; we therefore resolved to quit the town.
Effects of the Earthquakes.
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