Calymma

“ Cailsham—one of those small antiquated towns which, in its day, has had its name writ in history—sits at the feet of the hills, like an old man, weary of toil, and gazes out with sleepy eyes over the garden of Kent. In the spring, the country is patched with white around—white, with the blossoms in the fruit plantations. ”

“ It lay in the midst of rich wheat fields and fruitful vineyards; but beyond the vineyards there was a deep dense forest where many wild beasts lived. The king of Calydon was named OEneus, and he dwelt in a white palace with his wife Althea and his boys and girls. His kingdom was so small that it was not much trouble to govern it, and so he spent the most of his time in hunting or in plowing or in looking after his grape vines. He was said to be a very brave man, and he was the friend of all the great heroes of that heroic time. ”

“ But Calidore was like a lion in a herd of deer. With his sharp sword he thrust and smote, until the robbers who did not lie dead around him fled in terror, and hid themselves in their caves.
Then Calidore went back to where he had left Pastorella, and cheered and comforted her. Together they went through the robbers’ caves, and took the richest of their treasures of gold and precious jewels. All the sheep they gave to Corydon, who gladly drove them away.
Then Calidore took Pastorella to the castle of one of his friends, a noble knight, whose gentle wife was called Claribel. ”

“ In reality, it belongs to a closely allied genus. But in this blossom the bracts do not constitute the brilliant part of the inflorescence, and the calyx, instead of being the showy, sheathing envelop it is in the paint-brush, is quite small and inconspicuous.
Mrs. Blochman has quaintly and aptly alluded to the corolla of this flower as a long and slender mitten, just fit for some high-born fairy's hand.
Among the children of our mountain districts this flower is known as "Indian warrior." ”

“ PROSPERO Unless my will miscarry, Thou shalt be such a morning messenger And wake the world with beauty. Now my plans Wait on a vast result, for Caliban Himself hath gone to deal with Setebos His gray priest, Death.
MIRANDA What, Caliban! O glad Hope for us all! Your art begins to triumph, And Ariel’s Spirits to conquer.
PROSPERO That still waits: Meanwhile mine art drinks from this renaissance Deep draughts against a dark to-morrow.—Hither, You Fauns! ”

“ Women dancers with golden bowls, slaves shackled and driven with whips, rabble groups scrambling for bread loaves flung them by heralds, armed soldiery, and gorgeous patrician lords: these swarm in a sordid saturnalia, from the midst of which the masked form of Caligula rises dominant in splendor. At his gesture, slaves tear the Muses from their shrine, and give them over to the revellers.
High above all, clutching the staff, his huge limbs rioting grotesque from his silken garments, Caliban dances on the throne of Prospero. ”

“ In this lovely country, so rich in natural advantages, the women are in the habit of going naked all their lives; young and old, without distinction, have no other dress than a single strip of calico, seven or eight feet long, and five inches wide, which they wind round their waist, and pass between the thighs. These poor creatures perform all the work of the house; they cook, and labour in the fields and at the salt-pits.
The Bagos buy salt, and sell it with a profit to the Europeans who trade with Kakondy, receiving in exchange piece-goods, tobacco, rum, glass-ware, and other trifles. ”

“ The males are in little clusters, which are borne at intervals along a hanging stalk, two or three inches in length. They are green, and therefore inconspicuous; but examined separately, they will be found to have a definite calyx, whose margin is cut into an uncertain number (4-7) of lobes. There are no petals, but attached to the sides of the calyx there are ten stamens. The female flowers are fewer, and will be found on short erect stalks above the male catkins. Each female flower consists of a calyx, invested by a number of overlapping scales, and enclosing an ovary with three styles. ”

“ The haven is excellent, the country is well stored with provisions, and the condition of the people resembles in all things what has been formerly said of the inhabitants of Calicut. The inhabitants are idolatrous Malabars, having among them many rich Moorish merchants, more especially since the war broke out between us and the zamorin, as many of these merchants had left Calicut to reside at Coulan. They trade with Coromandel, Ceylon, the Maldive islands, Bengal, Pegu, Camatia, and Malava. ”

“ The Calymniote divers, notwithstanding the coldness of the weather, contrived to descend several fathoms, fasten ropes to the caique, and drag it into shallow water. The inhabitants of Calymnos, like those of Syme, Chalce, and other small islands near Rhodes, are celebrated as divers, and spend the whole summer in fishing up sponges on the coasts of Asia Minor and Syria. In the month of May a little fleet of caiques sets sail from Calymnos, manned by the greater part of the able-bodied male population. The profits of the sponge-fishery are very considerable. ”

“ Light of things done and noise of labouring men.
But thou, being armed and perfect for the deed,
Abide; for like rain-flakes in a wind they grow,
The men thy fellows, and the choice of the world,
Bound to root out the tusked plague, and leave
Thanks and safe days and peace in Calydon.
MELEAGER. For the whole city and all the low-lying land
Flames, and the soft air sounds with them that come;
The gods give all these fruit of all their works.
ALTHAEA. Set thine eye thither and fix thy spirit and say
Whom there thou knowest ”

“ A list of the Mammalia of Ceylon is subjoined. In framing it, as well as the lists appended to other chapters on the Fauna of the island, the principal object in view has been to exhibit the extent to which its natural history had been investigated, and collections made up to the period of my leaving the colony in 1850. It has been considered expedient to exclude a few individuals which have not had the advantage of a direct comparison with authentic specimens, either at Calcutta or in England. ”

“ CALIBAN Ca—Caliban; cometh here To smell what ’tis. [He sniffs nearer; then howls strangely.] Spring in the air: Oho!
MIRANDA Alas, poor creature! Who hath hurt thee? [Pg 18]
CALIBAN Hurt? Who hurteth God? Am seed of Setebos: Am Caliban: the world is all mine isle: Kill what I please, and play with what I please; So, yonder, play with him: pull out his wings And put ’em back to grow.—Where be thy wings, Spring-i’-the-air?
MIRANDA O Ariel, is this sight A true thing, and speaks truly? ”

“ There are many rivers in Ceylon, rising in the high land, and flowing into the sea; but none of them are as long as the Mississippi. The climate of the island is simply magnificent; the average heat in Colombo on the high lands never exceeds 70°. I shall permit you to describe the flowers after you have seen them; but the vegetation generally of the island is exceedingly luxuriant. In regard to animals, the tiger does not reside in Ceylon. The elephant, generally without any tusks, is the chief ruler in the forests here. The bear and the leopard are found. There is no end of monkeys. ”

“ Kalinga is a kingdom constantly mentioned in the Buddhist and historical legends of Ceylon; and we find commemoration of the kingdom of Kalinga and of the capital city of Kalinganagara (e.g. in Ind. Antiq. iii. 152, x. 243) . It was from a daughter of a King of Kalinga that sprang, according to the Mahawanso, the famous Wijayo, the civilizer of Ceylon and the founder of its ancient royal race.
Kalingapatam, a port of the Ganjam district, still preserves the ancient name of Kalinga, though its identity with the Kalinganagara of the inscriptions is not to be assumed. ”

“ Caltura is, however, remarkable for the growth and luxuriance of its vegetation.
The chewing of these nuts with lime and the leaf of the betel-pepper supplies to the people of Ceylon the same enjoyment which tobacco affords to the inhabitants of other countries; but its use is, if possible, more offensive, as the three articles, when combined, colour the saliva of so deep a red that the lips and teeth appear as if covered with blood. Yet, in spite of this disgusting accompaniment, men and women, old and young, from morning till night indulge in the repulsive luxury. ”

“ ARIEL So, Master! [Ariel leads Lust away to the cell beneath.] [Pg 73]
MIRANDA [Rising, goes to Prospero’s arms.] Father! [From the outer dimness, Caliban—who, since the appearance of the burning Cross, has lain flat on the throne steps— now grovels forward [trailing his silken garment by one sleeve] and flings the staff of Prospero into the light space.]
CALIBAN No more! Will never touch it more!
PROSPERO [Staring at the staff.] A thousand years To build, and build for beauty, yet in one flare Of riot lust, a lubber idiot Confounds time and my toil.—Ah, daughter, daughter! ”

“ Ho, Spring-i’-the-air! shalt leap, shalt roll in the sun, Shalt dance with lily-warm limbs, shalt race wi’ the gulls! Shalt laugh, and call—Come, Come!
Come, come, Caliban! Catcheth who catcheth can! Mateth mew, mateth man: Catch, come, Caliban!
ARIEL O Setebos, let me go free! [Pg 21]
MIRANDA [To Caliban.] Peace! Dance no more. Go hence, and leave me.
CALIBAN [Staring.] Hence? Aye, both—us twain.
MIRANDA [With simple command.] Nay, thou alone.
CALIBAN [With narrowing eyes, draws nearer.] Saith what?
MIRANDA [Unafraid.] Go from me. ”

“ PROSPERO Insolence infinite! Ariel, my staff!
MIRANDA Stay!—What to do?
PROSPERO [About to raise the staff.] To teach This unwhipt hound—to howl.
CALIBAN [Starting back.] Great Master!
MIRANDA Grace, Dear Father! Patience needs no quick compulsion. Thine art is wondrous patient, and this poor Slow climber needs thine art.
PROSPERO Why, once again Thou art my wiser self. [To Caliban.] Go, lick her hand, And feed from it. [Pg 115]
CALIBAN [Laying his cheek on Miranda’s hand weeps, with great sobs.] Spring—Spring-i’-the-air, thy dew Dabbleth my face. ”

“ The mode of living at Ceylon is more English, in all respects, than at Calcutta; the table more simple—the servants fewer—and the whole character of domestic economy less Oriental than we are accustomed to on the Indian Continent; but the scenery of the island itself is far from partaking of this un-Oriental appearance; it realises, in everything, all we fancy and read of in descriptions of tropical islands. ”

“ The walls of Calydon are almost certainly to be recognized in the Kastro of Kurtagá. These comprise a circuit of over 2 m., with one large gate and five smaller ones, and are situated on a hill on the right or west bank of the Euenus. Remains of large terrace walls outside the town probably indicate the position of the temple of Artemis Laphria, whose gold and ivory statue was transferred to Patras, together probably with her ritual. This included a sacrifice in which all kinds of beasts, wild and tame, were driven into a wooden pyre and consumed. ”

“ But this thing I know, and this what we call an-cailleach-uisge” (the siren or water-witch) ; “the cailliach, mind you, not the maighdeann-mhàra” (the mermaid) , “who means no harm. May she hear my saying it! The cailliach is old and clad in weeds, but her voice is young, and she always sits so that the light is in the eyes of the beholder. She seems to him young also, and fair. She has two familiars in the form of seals, one black as the grave, and the other white as the shroud that is in the grave; and these sometimes upset a boat, if the sailor laughs at the uisge-cailliach’s song. ”

“ In their household affairs they are particularly neat and clean, and they are always dressed in very white cloth. They manufacture fine calico from the cotton which the women spin; they seldom sell it, but use it for their own garments. Each habitation is surrounded by a fence of straw or a thorn hedge. Within this enclosure are the huts, and on the outside of it is a small garden, in which the women and children cultivate maize and some tobacco. The streets are broad and clean, and the town is shaded by numerous date-trees, papaws, bombaces, and baobabs. ”

“ CALIBAN [Going within the cave, as Sycorax disappears.] Free, saith? Will dance by yellow sands?—Now, Spirit, dance!
[As Caliban goes within, the powers of Setebos come forth. At the altar beneath Ariel, the three Priests lead them in ceremonial rites of primeval pageantry and dance—the sacrificial worship of Setebos. Above them Ariel suffers, with closed eyes. In their rites, Lust pours his libation, and lights the altar fire, which—when War has made there his living sacrifice—Death extinguishes in darkness. Through the dark, which gradually changes to a glowing dusky Ariel speaks aloud.] ”

“ The King of Ceylan is always in a place called Columbo, which is a river with a very good port, at which every year many ships touch from various parts to take on board cinnamon and elephants. And they bring gold and silver, cotton and silk stuffs from Cambay, and many other goods which are saffron, coral, quicksilver, vermilion which here is worth a great deal; and there is much profit on the gold and silver, because it is worth more than in other parts. ”

“ When we got fairly clear of the harbour of Trincomalee, and caught the monsoon, we dashed along-shore briskly enough; and having rounded the south point of Ceylon, well named Dondra Head, or thunder cape, we paid a visit to Point de Galle, celebrated for its bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts. We then passed on to Columbo, the capital of the island. Ceylon, I may take occasion to mention, is not considered by our countrymen of the East to be in India. ”