Faun

“ They belong to the generation of the fauns; like fauns, they combine a certain savage wildness, a dithyrambic ecstasy of inspiration, a delight in rapid movement 153as they revel amid clouds or flowers, with the permanent and all-pervading sweetness of the master's style. ”

“ The cow, which their children lead to pasture in the glades, affords them milk, but that is all. And meanwhile the woodland teems with life. So poor, remote from all society, cognizant of the ways of bird and beast, shall they mark unmoved the traces of the hare, note with a disinterested eye the break a fawn has made in yonder brushwood, or that thick splash of mud on the ridgy pine-trunks, where the wild boar last night stopped to scratch his miry flanks, on his road to the nearest turnip-field? Meanwhile the man hungers, and the children need their daily bread. ”

“ We see people moving to and fro, unconscious of strange eyes watching them from above—men lounging, smoking, sleeping in shady corners—children playing—infants crawling on all fours—women cooking at clay ovens in the open air—cows and sheep feeding—poultry scratching and pecking—dogs basking in the sun. ”

“ The rude masses of bread needing to be carved and smeared over with animal fat before they could be made palatable, the still recognisable fragments of recently killed animals, hideously charred and hacked, the eggs torn ruthlessly from beneath some protesting hen,—such things as these, though they constituted the ordinary fare of Victorian times, would have awakened only horror and disgust in the refined minds of the people of these latter days. ”

“ It is about two years ago, when I had occasion to read some papers about slaughter houses and the transport of cattle, that the irresistible conviction came upon me that I must choose between giving up the eating of animal food or my peace of mind, so revolting were the disclosures made. Oh, the poor cattle, knocked about, frightened, starved and left without water while exposed to the burning rays of the sun or huddled together in the transport ships ! Can anything be more cruel? ”

“ Hardy cattle moved singly or in small groups and browsed on the withered bunch grass. Summer scorched them, winter humped their backs with cold and arched up their bellies with famine, but they were a breed schooled through generations for this fight against nature. ”

“ On our imagination the effect of hunger is somewhat singular. We no longer regard sheep, for instance, as the fleecy or the bleating flock. Their wool or their baaing is nothing to us—we think of necks, and jigots, and saddles of mutton; and even the lamb frisking on the sunny bank is eaten by us in the shape of steaks and fry. If it is in the morning, we see no part of the cow but her udder, distilling richest milkiness. Instead of ascending to heaven on the smoke of a cottage chimney, we put our arms round the column, and descend on the lid of the great pan preparing the family breakfast. ”

“ At last the cattle were able to run no more, and one by one the Famine took them by their throats and dragged them down, and at night he scratched in the ground, killing even the roots of things, and came and peered in at the doorways and started back and peered in at the door again a little further, but yet was not bold enough to enter altogether, for fear that men should have water to throw over his dry grey fur. ”

“ Now her guests fought with their food as animals with their prey; they scrambled together for the possession of tit-bits, and swallowed great junks of flesh with the ease and rapidity of the hounds at their feet; to the perpetual discord of dirk on platter there was a harsh, pervading accompaniment of men munching their food as animals munch their corn. Like animals, [Pg 177] too, she thought they looked, clad wholly in sheep and goat-skins—even their trews of hide; their yellow hair swart from neglect, their fine skins chafed and roughened by sun and air ”

“ But again the Famine returned, and there came a time when there was no more water in the wells to frighten the Famine with, and he nibbled the corn till all of it was gone and the cattle that he chased grew very lean. And the Famine drew nearer, even to the houses of men and trampled on their gardens at night and ever came creeping nearer to their doors. ”

“ So they all came to listen to the words of the lad. Then the lad said: "It happened once that there was a grievous famine in all the land so that the birds were not able to find sufficient food in the fields. Now my lord, O king, do thou pay great attention to my words and know that of the three ravens which thou seest, two are males and the one in the middle is a female, which is the wife of the raven sitting on her right. ”

“ Famine comes upon the land, and the hunter, forgetting his oath, slays four sea-gulls for food. The bird-wife ‘shrilled out in a woful cry,’ and taking the plumage of the dead birds, she makes wings for her children and for herself, and flies away with them. ”

“ The herds increased in size and number, and, voracious beyond calculation, almost occasioned a famine. Even the great wealth of the speculatist proved insufficient to supply them with the necessary food, and the very keepers were in danger of being eaten alive. ”

“ They shall invade the tillage of husbandmen, and devour all the grain of the harvests. Then shall follow a famine upon the people, and a grievous mortality upon the famine. But when this calamity shall be over, a detestable bird shall go to the valley of Galabes, and shall raise it to be a high mountain. Upon the top thereof it shall also plant an oak, and build its nest in its branches. Three eggs shall be produced in the nest, from whence shall come forth a fox, a wolf, and a bear. The fox shall devour her mother, and bear the head of an ass. ”

“ Behold their houses with shattered windows—their barns with leaky roofs—their gardens overrun with weeds—their fields with broken fences—their hogs without yokes—their sheep without wool—their cattle and horses without fat—and their children, filthy and half-clad, without manners, principles, and morals. This picture of agricultural wretchedness is seldom of long duration. ”

“ At last the famine was so great that men began to devour each other. The three brothers, from their great wealth, were able to hold out a long time; but when their stores of corn and rice were all consumed, and their cattle all slaughtered, they, like the rest, were driven to cannibalism. ”

“ Famine came again, and the cub with clearer consciousness knew once more the bite of hunger. The she-wolf ran herself thin in the quest for meat. She rarely slept any more in the cave, spending most of her time on the meat-trail, and spending it vainly. ”

“ The population of the country not being sufficient to consume this enormous quantity of food, the cattle are slaughtered, the hides removed and cured, after which they can be kept indefinitely, and the flesh is left behind as a useless encumbrance. ”

“ King,” replied the Mouse, “you must know that this year our crops have fallen short, and we are threatened with a famine unless we can borrow sufficient grain to carry us through the winter; so I, who am King of the Mice, have come here to ask you if you can help us in this matter. If you can lend us the grain we require, we will repay you faithfully with interest at the next harvest.” ”

“ Is he to have meat on holidays and a reasonably good dinner on Christmas, and live the rest of the year on crusts, crumbs, scraps, skimmed milk, potatoes, turnips, and a few greens that he can steal from the corners of fences? Is he to rely for meat, on poaching, and then is he to be transported to some far colony for the crime of catching a rabbit? ”

“ But every seventh year there may be famine. Here in the North it is the varying hare, the rabbit, that feeds the children of the trap-lines and the marten and fox they trap, and every seventh year there comes a mysterious disease. ”

“ There is nothing here but rags, poverty, and dirt; pigs under the bed, cows in the house, the rain coming through the thatch instead of seeping from the eaves, and the winds of night raving and roaring through wall and window. ”

“ Whether cattle are, in civilized countries, a blessing or a curse, we will not now argue. We have our private opinion that the whole tribe of domestic animals, in all places where the earth's surface will admit of general cultivation, are, with the single exception of a few of the working creatures, not only a nuisance to the human race, but a source of national poverty, and a cause of epidemics, diseases, and frequent pestilences. ”

“ Their beauty, their familiar cry, their domestic habits during the winter, when they become half civilized, feeding in the barn-yards, and often roosting under the cattle-sheds with the poultry, render them familiar to all men, women, boys and fools throughout the regions, which they inhabit. ”

“ Each day brings to the poor creatures here light and food—as it does to the cattle in the sheds—but it does not bring to them the slightest hope of intelligent care, nor, to most of them, even the narrow liberty of the iron-fenced yard. ”

“ When they are sick, they slaughter cattle to the shades, and say, ‘Father, look on me, that this disease may cease from me. Let me have health on the earth, and live a long time.’ They carry the meat into the house, and shut it up there, saying, ‘Let the paternal shades eat, so shall they know that the offering was made for them, and grant us great wealth, so that both we and our children may prosper.’ In the cattle-fold they talk a long time, praising the ghosts; they take the contents of the stomach, and strew it upon all the fold. ”

“ A large crowd collected on the bank—men, women, and children,—anxious for the fate of the little animal. Some threw themselves into boats, hoping to intercept the hound before he reached his prey. But the splashing of the oars, the voices of men and boys, and the barking of the dogs, must have filled the beating heart of the poor fawn with terror and anguish; as if every creature on the spot where it had once been caressed and fondled, had suddenly turned into a deadly foe.
8. It was soon seen that the fawn was directing its course across a bay, toward the nearest borders of the forest. ”

“ Often, without fault or effort, in places the most unexpected, mortals have been startled by their appearance, cries, or music.
FOOD.
Fairy food consists principally of things intended for human food, of which the Elves take the toradh, i.e. the substance, fruit, or benefit, leaving the semblance or appearance to men themselves. In this manner they22 take cows, sheep, goats, meal, sowens, the produce of the land, etc. Cattle falling over rocks are particularly liable to being taken by them, and milk spilt in coming from the dairy is theirs by right. ”

“ She wishes that the oxen may die in ploughing-time, the cows in milk-time, the horses at wooing-time, the sheep at wool-time; but may the corn-lofts of the neighbor’s son grow fuller in the direst famine-time. ”

“ We chaps from the city are objects of pity.
We envy you, stooking your hay.
Sore arms, tired back, and a splinter or two?
What matter? ’Tis thanksgiving day.
After famine’s long battle you’ve feed for your cattle—
You ought to be singing of hay. ”

“ At any rate, it was so—and it is still so in many country districts—and life is cleaner and fresher than you might expect, there behind those walls, where on one side of a stone partition two or three feet thick the cow and the calf, the sheep and the lambs, sleep nightly, while on the other the farmer’s wife tucks her many babies each in its own warm box of a bed. ”

“ No; as the wolves and lions and bears themselves slay all they feed on, so, in like manner, do you kill the cow or ox with a gripe of your jaws, or the pig with your teeth, or a hare or a lamb by falling upon and rending them there and then. ”

“ The lean and famished natives are driven to fish in the river for the tubers of water-lilies, to grub in the earth for roots, to boil the leaves of trees, and as a last resource to drink the blood drawn from the necks of their wretched cattle. The gaunt appearance of the people at this season fills the beholder with horror. The herds are decimated by famine, but even more beasts perish by dysentery and other diseases when the first rains cause the fresh grass to sprout.61
Dengdit, the Supreme Being of the Dinka. ”

“ Be that as it may, men feed and keep goats, sheep and cattle for greater convenience in procuring flesh food. This is an excellent device. I look forward to the time when we shall see the convenience of erecting mensheds, and keeping and breeding these useful animals for food.
I have already told you of their care for cattle, horses, sheep and goats. But they also keep and feed elephants, camels, asses, dogs, cats, and even birds. It may therefore be said with truth that men are the natural slaves and servants of all other living creatures. ”

“ The peasant, whose pigs, and cow, and poultry had been sold or had died, because the commons were gone where they had fed—the yeoman dispossessed of his farm—the farm servant out of employ, because where ten ploughs had turned the soil one shepherd now watched the grazing of the flocksthe artisan smarting under the famine prices which the change of culture had brought with it:all these were united in suffering ”

“ But wild and desolate as are these stretches of land, many of them are capable of sustaining large flocks of sheep, goats, and cattle; indeed, the number of fat beasts running on certain of these inhospitable-looking wastes is surprising. And the “poverty” of the scattered inhabitants is not nearly as bad as it appears, their wretched homes and the squalor of their surroundings being almost as inexcusable as their appalling filth. ”

“ Because the forty-seven Millions of acres in England and Wales would maintain in abundance as many human Inhabitants, if they lived wholly on grain, fruits, and vegetables; but they sustain only twelve millions scantily, while animal Food is made the Basis of human Subsistence.
XIII.
Because Animals do not present or contain the substance of food in mass, like Vegetables; every part of their Economy being subservient to their mere existence, and their entire frames being solely composed of Blood necessary for Life, of Bones for Strength, of Muscles for Motion, and of Nerves for Sensation. ”