Nankeen

“ At this moment an old Indian woman, the mother of the boy whom Nanking had desired to amuse, threw herself between the upraised spears and the laughing widow's son. She shouted something very earnestly, and then stretched herself at Nanking's feet. All the other Indians also flung themselves down in fear or revulsion of feeling, and some crawled in another minute to where the burning coals were strewn over the sward, and with their fingers or with tree-boughs returned these coals to the fire, while others quenched the fire itself with water from the torrent. Nanking had never lost his temper. ”

“ Before Nanking could climb the ladder again, it was sailing through the air, magnificent as a ship, toward its winter pastures on the bay of Chisopecke.
"He! Zoo!" exclaimed the soldiers.
"Foei! weg!" cried the fishermen.
Only three persons said "Ach! helas!"—the Widow Cloos, pretty Elsje, and Nanking.
"Thy stork is a savage bird!" cried Peter Alrichs. "The English on the Chisopecke name it a swan!"
Nanking burst into tears. His uncle struck the ground with his schout's staff, swore dreadfully, and shouted to the Widow Cloos:
"Sister, thy boy is nothing but a big idiot. ”

“ In the open space before the jail and stadt huys were a pair of stocks and a whipping-post. Nanking's uncle released a rough but light-built man, who had been sitting in the stocks, and taking off the man's jacket and shirt, fastened him to the post by his wrists.
"Give this culprit fifty lashes, well laid on!" ordered the schout.
Nanking turned pale. "Must I whip him? What has he been doing that he is wicked?"
"Smuggling!" exclaimed Schout Van Swearingen. "He has taken advantage of the free port of New Amstel to smuggle to the Swedes of Altona and New Gottenburg, and the English of Maryland. ”

“ Nanking covered them with dry driftwood and boughs of trees, and sailed again to New Amstel, where he arrived before breakfast.
At breakfast Nanking found upon his bench a beautiful new gun.
"It is thine, good child," said Ffob Oothout, "for sparing me those lashes. Thy churlish uncle felt so reproved by thy innocent words that he set me free. Widow, here is a spiegel for thee, a looking-glass to see, unseen, whoever passes up or down the street. That is a woman's high privilege everywhere. Thou shalt be, erelong, the best-dressed wife in all New Amstel. ”

“ They both put long questions to Nanking, and he showed them his burnt heel, still scarred by the fagots of the Susquehannocks.
"Ik houd dat voor waar! I believe it is true," they said to each other. "They were burning him at the stake and he did not know it. Yes, his feeble mind saved him!"
"Not at all," protested Nanking. "It was because I thought no evil of anybody."
"Hearken, Nanking!" said Peter Alrichs, very soberly. "And you, Mother Cloos, come hither too. This boy can make our fortunes if we can make him fully comprehend us." ”

“ But if one must die let it be him that hath offended.'
“Ah! he was a cunning man, was Nanakin, the father of Nanakin my father.
“The men and the women and children ran up again from the end of the pool; for, although they were greatly afraid, they durst not leave their chief by himself to beat out his head upon the stones. So they clustered round him and wailed also with him. And Nanakin raised his voice again and again and called out to the devils of the pool to spare him one white man; and the people called out with him. ”

“ Then, stripped of his fine clothes and restored to his rags, Nanking was returned with contempt to his mother's house.
"Mother!" he cried, throwing himself upon the [184] floor, "am I an idiot because I cannot hurt others? No, I will be a fool, but not whip-master!"
The shrewd Peter Alrichs came to the widow's abode and asked to see Nanking. He brought with him the worshipful Beeckman, lord of all South River, except New Amstel's little territory, which reached from Christine Hill to Bombay Hook. ”

“ Nanka was not an unusual character—not at all. Such girls and women can be found in every village. With pretty faces and good figures they think of nothing but cows and chickens, butter and eggs; they talk of nothing but their housekeeping, cook gallon pots of soup—in short, live entirely in the physical.
The one event in Nanka’s life had been Hukac’s visit to her father, whom she honored and loved, and whose actions and thoughts she regarded as infallible. ”

“ All the children love him, and he is company for them."
It was an odd sight to see Nanking down with the boys, as big as the father of any of them, playing as gently as the littlest. He rode them pig-a-back on his broad shoulders; they liked to see him light his pipe and smoke without getting sick. He worked for his mother, carrying water and catching fish, and was the only person in New Amstel (or Newcastle) who could go out into the woods fearlessly among the Minquas Indians ”

“ He put the young Indian down and kissed him, and shook hands with one after another, who only rose as he approached them with a kind countenance. They unbound his hands and overwhelmed him with attentions and professions, and placed their fingers on their foreheads significantly, still looking at him.
"Well," exclaimed Nanking, "I hope they also don't take me for a big idiot! No, they do not. It is only a part of the queer game."
It was now growing late in the day, and Nanking wanted some food. The Susquehannocks produced nuts, venison, fish, hominy, and succotash. ”

“ Nanking now began to show his leg also, as modestly as possible.
"Ah! Nanking," cried the sailor, "I have a piece of good Holland stuff for you to make you shirts and underclothes. 'Tis a pity so good a boy has not a rich father; ha! widow?" ”

“ ARRAM There goes the bugle! [They all rush out, except NANKO, who looks out into the night after them, then closes the outer door, takes a crystallized plum from the table, crosses the room and stares at the floor, near the door on the right.]
NANKO
[Calls aloud.]
Rada, these plums are excellent. Don't you see
Life is a battle! Survival of the fittest!
Something red again. Trickling under the door?
Blood, I suppose. Well, I don't think it's right
To spoil a person's pleasure on Christmas Eve. ”

“ Surely then being so fair and loving him so well, you can teach him to forget his folly and to escape with you. In four days’ time we must start for the king’s kraal, and if you win over Nahoon, it will be easy for us to turn our faces southwards and across the river that lies between the land of the Amazulu and Natal. For the sake of all of us, but most of all for your own sake, try to do this, Nanea, whom I have loved and whom I now would save. ”

“ He sailed his father and mother to the island since called the Pea Patch, and Ffob Oothout recognized his property.
"Wonderful Nanking!" he cried, "thy faith was all the wisdom we had. God protects the simple! Thou art our treasure."
The great Hinoyossa condignly fled to Maryland. Uncle Van Swearingen was exported to Holland, and in the dwelling of Peter Alrichs the family of Ffob Oothout made their abode.
"Nanking," asked the houseless Alrichs, "is not Elsje pretty yet?"
"Not as pretty," answered Nanking, "as my little baby sister. I will carry nobody's doll but hers." ”

“ Fus! You're lied to, Nanking! There is no good Christmas in this land."
Nanking said they were very wicked to doubt true and good things. He believed every thing, and particularly every thing pleasant. ”

“ The jealous one is an Indian girl, named Nacena, the daughter of a sub-chief, who, like Naraguana himself, was an aged man held in high regard; and, as the deceased cacique, now also sleeping his last sleep in one of their scaffold tombs.
Despite her bronzed skin, Nacena is a beautiful creature; for the brown is not so deep as to hinder the crimson blush showing its tint upon her cheeks; and many a South American maiden, boasting the blue blood of Andalusia, has a complexion less fair than she. ”

“ Ffob Oothout stole a couple of kisses from the widow, like a bold sailor-man, and she promised that he should lodge in the river end of the Amsterdam warehouse.
For the rest of that afternoon Nanking carried Elsje's beautiful doll, and his feelings were very much comforted.
"Big sweetheart," she said, "what a smart man you would be if you could only make me a bigger doll than this, which would open and shut its eyes and cry 'fus; hush!'"
Nanking left New Amstel at moonlight, at the head of a little procession, carrying gay cloths and plenty of rum for the Susquehannocks. ”

“ Nanak, he who meeteth not the true Guru and obtaineth not divine knowledge, shall find no rest in this world or the next.
The soul shall be filed seventy times like an arrow ;
It shall be melted like gold in a mould ; O soul, thou shalt suffer for what thou hast done.
The soul shall have to bear a prodigious saddle and be driven like a steed.
Nanak, it shall be bound by Death, and have to suffer transmigration again and again.
How many enemies shall it have on sea and land ! the forests and glades shall cause it to suffer. ”

“ His fierce friends left him here with many professions of apology and esteem, and soon after they departed Swedes and Minquas appeared, who had observed the hostile canoes from their lookout stations on the neighboring hills. These also welcomed Nanking, being already well acquainted with him, and taking up his venison proceeded through the woods toward New Amstel. He carried the live stork himself—a rough bird, which would not yield to blandishments or good treatment. After a very fatiguing journey and four days' absence from home, Nanking entered New Amstel in the dead of night. ”

“ Raising the hag in his arms he bears her off, with no more care for her comfort than if she were a trapped wolf. Nacena is borne more tenderly in Ludwig’s arms, into which she has been transferred, by a sort of tacit understanding between him and his cousin—the latter walking alongside. No threat hears the girl, nor needs it to enforce silence. ”

“ You must put in your oar! POOH. But how about your big right arm? PITTI. Yes, and your snickersnee! KO. Well, well, never mind that now. There's only one thing to be done. Nanki-Poo hasn't started yet—he must come to life again at once. (Enter Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum prepared for journey.) Here he comes. Here, Nanki-Poo, I've good news for you—you're reprieved. NANK. Oh, but it's too late. I'm a dead man, and I'm off for my honeymoon. KO. Nonsense! A terrible thing has just happened. It seems you're the son of the Mikado. NANK. Yes, but that happened some time ago. ”

“ After a while they began to sit around in a large circle and sing a doleful sort of tune. Then two Indians produced a long piece of grapevine and tied one end of it to a tree and the other end around Nanking's wrists, which were fastened together behind his back. A fire had already been lighted at the foot of the tree, and the coals were now strewn over the ground.
"Hond mold! Keep courage!" thought Nanking. "It is only some kind of play or game. How can I get a stork from them unless I play with them?"
But the Indians still sung their doleful tune and did not laugh a bit. ”

“ He says that there is to be war between us and you white men, and he will not break the command of the king and desert from his army.”
“Then he cannot love you much, Nanea, and at least you have to think of yourself. Whisper into the ear of your father and fly together, for be sure that Nahoon will soon follow you. Ay! and I myself with fly with you, for I too believe that there must be war, and then a white man in this country will be as a lamb among the eagles.”
“If Nahoon will come, I will go, Inkoos, but I cannot fly without Nahoon; it is better I should stay here and kill myself.” ”

“ Mark his back well!"
The sailor, as he seemed to be, looked at Nanking without fear. "Come, earn your money," he said.
"Uncle," cried Nanking, throwing down the whip, "how can I whip this man who never injured me? Do not all the people smuggle in New Amstel? Was it not to stop that which brought the mighty Director Stuyvesant hither with the great schout of New Amsterdam, worshipful Peter Tonneman? Yes, uncle, I have heard the people say so, and that you have smuggled yourself ever since your superior, the glorious Captain Hinoyossa, sailed to Europe." ”

“ But, Nanea, you will never marry him, for the king will take you; and, if he does not give you to some other man, either you will become one of his ‘sisters,’ or to be free of him, as you say, you will die. Now hear me, for it is because I love you and wish your welfare that I speak thus. Why do you not escape into Natal, taking Nahoon with you, for there as you know you may live in peace out of reach of the arm of Cetywayo? ”

“ For the King of the fairies had forbidden Naggeneen to trouble them any more. Naggeneen asked what for at all he had come over all the sea, if he was not to trouble the Sullivans. The King was always ready enough to have Naggeneen's help, when he thought that his cleverness would be of use; but there were times when he would be obeyed, and this was one of them, so Naggeneen had to do as he was told.
The King tried all the things that Naggeneen had told him to do, to make his people learn all the wonderful magic that the human people knew so well. ”

“ POOH. To ask you what you mean to do we punctually appear. KO. Congratulate me, gentlemen, I've found a Volunteer! ALL. The Japanese equivalent for Hear, Hear, Hear! KO. (presenting him) . 'Tis Nanki-Poo! ALL. Hail, Nanki-Poo! KO. I think he'll do? ALL. Yes, yes, he'll do! KO. He yields his life if I'll Yum-Yum surrender. Now I adore that girl with passion tender, And could not yield her with a ready will, Or her allot, If I did not Adore myself with passion tenderer still! Enter Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo, and Pitti-Sing. ALL. Ah, yes! He loves himself with passion tenderer still! KO. (to Nanki-Poo) . ”