Tam

“ Here her voice dropped to a whisper, “or some day ye’ll be catched wi’ warlocks in the mire, Tam O’Shanter.” He stopped his noise and straightened up in his chair.
“Aye, and ghosties and witches will come yelpin’ after ye as ye pass the auld haunted kirk at Alloway,” added Souter sepulchrally, leaning over Tam with fixed eyes and hand outstretched, clutching spasmodically at imaginary objects floating before Tam’s suspicious, angry eyes. ”

“ Tam took his punishment, and was the better for it; but he still failed to come up to his royal mistress's ideal of a servant. Like his fellow-servitors, he had plenty of time for rest and recreation: hours of labour were by no means long. [180] So much time had he, indeed, for himself, that the Highland gentleman put suitable books before him, and counselled him to improve his mind by reading and study. ”

“ Tam, with the shrewdness of a crafty mind, made use of this folly and superstitious fear for his own aggrandisement; and few, after a time, dared refuse him an alms, from his “uncanny” notoriety. Of the many strange and unaccountable stories still related of him. I will narrate the following:—
“One day when the water of Lugton, which separates the parishes of Beith and Dunlop, was rolling “from bank to brae,” and the holms were in a flooded state, Tam was observed on the opposite bank by some people. ”

“ You see, my dear, you are a very rich young woman, a very well-educated young woman, you have a social position and a large number of friends. Tam is a self-educated man, with no money and very few prospects and no social position, and, as you say, he is straight and honest—"
"He is the straightest and most honest man in the world," said Vera warmly. ”

“ Who, but some impenetrable dunce or narrow-minded puritan in works of art, ever read without delight the picture which he has drawn of the convivial exaltation of the rustic adventurer Tam o' Shanter? The poet fears not to tell the reader in the outset that his hero was a desperate and sottish drunkard, whose excesses were as frequent as his opportunities. ”

“ A gray-headed, cross-grained old fellow was Tam, affecting to disapprove highly of the annual summer incursion of boys and girls into the Moir fruit-gardens, trampling among his strawberries that were destined for Mistress Jean's preserves, and rifling his bushes for 'honeyblobs.' But he had a soft spot in his heart for my mother, Anna T——, who reminded him, he fancied, of his little daughter Kirsty, dead thirty years before ”

“ Every available piece of anti-aircraft artillery was turned upon the fleecy mass.
As Tam circled he saw white specks rising swiftly from the direction of the aerodrome and knew that the fighting squadron, full of fury, was on its way up. It had come to be a tradition in the wing that—had the right of initiating all attack, and it was a right of which he was especially jealous. Now, with the great cloud disgorging its shadowy guests, he gave a glance at his Lewis gun and drove straight for his enemies. A bullet struck the fuselage and ricocheted past his ear ”

“ This arose, no doubt, from the narrow dimensions of his home, where there was hardly room for everything to have its particular place. It was, however, neither a very grievous nor a deeply rooted fault; and a little sharp drilling, not unfrequently at the hands of the Highland gentleman—a sort of major of the household, who possessed "the diligent eye" par excellence—soon corrected Tam's delinquency in this regard.
But the other fault was more deeply rooted and cost the young donkey-boy many a bad quarter of an hour. Indeed, on one occasion it nearly cost him his place. ”

“ Taman is Two in One and rides the sky,
Curved like a stallion’s croup, from dusk to dawn,
And drums upon it with his heels, whereby
Is bred the neighing thunder in the hills.
This is Taman, the God of all Er-Heb,
Who was before all Gods, and made all Gods,
And presently will break the Gods he made,
And step upon the Earth to govern men
Who give him milk-dry ewes and cheat his Priests,
Or leave his shrine unlighted—as Er-Heb
Left it unlighted and forgot Taman,
When all the Valley followed after Kysh
And Yabosh, little Gods but very wise,
And from the sky Taman beheld their sin. ”

“ A good many roots and plants can generally be found in such places, and by digging them up, Tam was soon able to make himself a number of bright and lively beds. Such self-help in natural history always lay very much in Edward's way. ”

“ Tamfrey, who knew something of the world and of human nature. “When a young gurl that’s been used to work marries a man that can keep her without it, ten to one that she gets into mischief. I don’t say, if she gits a{7} family about her, which it’s a’most certain she will,” continued Mrs. Tam, speaking, as was only natural, in the interests of her profession, “that Mrs. John Beacham won’t settle down; but she’s but a giddy thing at present, always laughing—I declare it’s the prettiest thing to hear her, and makes one laugh, too, for company ”

“ Tam, braving the thing out, said he "didna mind"; but the old folks, greatly caring, put on their Sunday best, and set out to walk to Braemar to see and intercede with the Queen on the boy's behalf. They found her not at home, and so had their long trudge for nothing. However, one of the domestics drew from them what their business was; and the next day a little lady, very plainly dressed, riding on a wee, shaggy pony, stopped at the door, and, being helped to dismount by a man who was with her, entered the hut and asked for Tam's grandparents. ”

“ Tamar went forth, and in the darkness [1] stole the Light, and in uncleanness stole the Holy One, and by uncovering her nakedness she went in and stole Thee, O glorious One, that bringest the pure out of the impure. ”

“ You came; you found the face which smiled on you; you kept the letter of your oath to the false woman, but you broke its spirit. You loved her, our lady Tama, and she loved you; you said, both of you: ‘We renounce because we love so much. We are good lest in time to come our sin should separate us. To gain much you gave a little, you whose eyes are opened, you who see something of the truth, who know that this life is no more than the oasis of Tama compared to the great stars above, those stars which you will one day travel.’
“Listen to me, Zahed, I speak for your instruction. ”

“ When he succeeds in harmonising mind and body only, he is in the state of Raja, which is unstable and dangerous. When the body preponderates, he is in the state of Tamas, "that bindeth by heedlessness, indolence and sloth." ”

“ In speaking to you to-day about the crimes that have been done in Tama, I told you my own story for an example. Then the teacher yonder showed me how weak and evil I really was, and put a question to me as to whether, should she appear and ask it, I would take back the wife of that story, she that had wrought me evil in the past. Now this wife stands before me, and demands the decision which I said I would give when the time came. It has come—that evil day has dawned upon me who never thought to see it, forgetting that things have changed in the matter of my fortunes across the sea. ”

“ When Tom, who knew the high soul, the resolute nature, and the grand audacity of his old friend, found him stammering and faltering, pouring out thanks and blessings, and stopping in the midst of broken words to reproach himself bitterly for the blind and credulous folly which had precipitated them all into danger, he was too much moved to answer. ”

“ Sâ@mkhya and the Yoga, like the Buddhists, hold that all experience is sorrowful. Tamas, we know, represents the pain substance. As tamas must be present in some degree in all combinations, all intellectual operations are fraught with some degree of painful feeling. Moreover even in states of temporary pleasure, we had sorrow at the previous moment when we had solicited it, and we have sorrow even when we enjoy it, for we have the fear that we may lose it. The sum total of sorrows is thus much greater than the pleasures, and the pleasures only strengthen the keenness of the sorrow. ”

“ PRE-MANVANTARIC CREATION. The descent of Spirit into Matter is indicated by the overshadowing Tamas creation, The individuals reach the spiritual plane at the time of Pralaya and lose all sense of I-ness. Their memory becomes perfectly dead to all previous connections and experiences and even as to self as a distinct unit. The child starts with a body of his own, and faculties limited to that body. The Jiva children that came into existence at the beginning of the Universe had however nothing peculiar to themselves, and they had even to acquire the sense of I-ness. ”

“ Tamer is a Piscopal, or, that is, what religion she’s got is of that persuasion. I know Piscopals that are perfectly devoted Christians and samplers for any one to foller, but with Tamer I guess it don’t strike in very deep, though she duz go through the motions in meetin’ wonderful for one of her age, and with all the diseases she’s got on her, gittin’ up and kneelin’ down with the best on ’em. ”

“ They gie ye a glint o' their een, an' syne whaur are ye?"
"Ah, they can be managed," said Tammas, complacently. "There's naebody nat'rally safter wi' a pretty stocky o' a bit wumany than mysel; but for a' that, if I had been Mary's man I would hae stood nane o' her tantrums. 'Na, Mary, my lass,' I would hae said, 'this winna do; na, na, ye're a bonny body, but ye maun mind 'at man's the superior; ay, man's the lord o' creation, an' so ye maun juist sing sma'.' That's hoo I would hae managed Mary, the speerity crittur 'at she was."
"Ye would hae haen yer wark cut oot for ye, Tammas." ”

“ Tamms’s doings have been exaggerated?”
(“Shut up, confound you,” whispered Van Kull; but the other answered him with an ugly leer.)
[443] “Mr. Tamms? ah, yes—clever fellow, Tamms. I like to help a young fellow along; he was in a tight place and I pulled him out. If you’d like a few hundred thousand I could let you have it—but they say Townley & Son have failed, you know. And Charlie told me something about my trusts—but that can’t be, can it? I never lost a dollar on my trusts. All gone—everything gone! Where’s Livingstone, my old friend Livingstone? His seat empty—why, he isn’t ill? ”

“ So old Tamar, who knew it was no use disputing a fancy of her young mistress, although on Sunday night she would have preferred other talk, recounted her old tale of wonder.
'Yes, it is true—a true allegory, I mean, Tamar. Death will close the eyes and ears against the sights and sounds of earth ”

“ The end of it alludes to the later belief that the goddess went down every year for her beloved Tammuz who had died, and the wailing alluded to is that spoken of by Ezekiel in Ezek. 8:14, where the prophet says he saw women wailing for Tammuz. The kind of sentiment uttered in this wailing the next extract will illustrate.
5. A Lamentation for Tammuz. [603]
The lord of destiny (?) lives no more, the lord of destiny (?) lives no more.
[Tammuz the ...... ] lives no more, ...... lives no more. ”

“ He confirms an observation of mine, which indeed I find is hundreds of years old, that a stammering man is never a worthless one. Physiology can tell you why. It is an excess of delicacy, excess of sensibility to the presence of his fellow-creature, that makes him stammer. ”

“ I am one of those Spirit-souls who dwell in the Light-god, who were created by Tem himself, and who exist in the blossoms of his Eye. He hath made to exist, he hath made glorious, and he hath magnified their faces during their existence with him. Behold, he is Alone in Nu. They acclaim him when he cometh forth from the horizon, and the gods and the Spirit-souls who have come into being with him ascribe fear unto him. ”

“ Professor, our Tom appropriates and conveys—sugar, sir, or pennies convertible to sugar—he bones, sir, and he filches, sir, whatever he can lay his blessed little hands upon, the darling; every thing is fish that comes to Tom’s net.”
“Just so—Tom has not yet got beyond the first principle of human nature, which impels us to help ourselves to whatever we want—the application must be made to Tom, sharply, just where his conscience ought to be. Bump up a conscience for Tommy.” ”

“ Yet shall poor Tom find pleasant weather, When He, who all commands, Shall give, to call life's crew together, The word to pipe all hands. Thus Death, who kings and tars despatches, In vain Tom's life has doffed, For, though his body's under hatches His soul has gone aloft. ”

“ During the day, Little Tom recovered from the adventures of the morning and looked forward to the evening, when he was to hear something new. After their supper, the Godmother spoke about the wickedness in the world and told him that, in the next world, would come justice and rewards; that those who had lived rightly and stood the trials of this world patiently, would live in Paradise, where there is eternal life and pleasure, where beautiful flowers grow, sweet fruits ripen and angels fly about the blue heaven and sing ”

“ She did not speak, she did not stir; but as the silence prolonged itself a sigh, soft as the breath of a sleeping child, escaped her lips.
'Vivien!' he said tremulously, 'is that you?'
'Yes, it is I; I am near you. You will come with me, Tom?' she murmured; and, in low caressing tones, 'Dearest Tom!'
'Why do you say that?' he said, hoarsely.
'Listen to him, poor child!' she cried. 'Why? Can't you tell? Can't you imagine?'
'You are false!' he groaned; 'you have said it of yourself!'
'False to others, Tom; never to you!'
'False to one is false to all.'
'Listen to him!' she cried again. ”

“ These words of an ancient volume, got up principally by "ignorant and unlearned men," have, through all time, kept up, somehow, a strange sort of power over the minds of poor, simple fellows, like Tom. They stir up the soul from its depths, and rouse, as with trumpet call, courage, energy, and enthusiasm, where before was only the blackness of despair. ”