"Only the wild creatures, sir, who have given this Wild Island its name. Some say they are demons. By raising your head you may see them over the hill in yonder thicket."
ON WILD ISLAND.
Pantagruel, without further word, rushed from the table to scour the thicket. The whole company rose and followed him. It was not long before he had, with great strides, reached the top of the ridge, whence he could see a dark line, unbroken, save here and there by black banners, of gigantic forms half lost in the shadows of the thicket. The moment the dark shapes saw Pantagruel on the ridge, they began to utter loud cries, and more than one mighty form stepped out from the line to threaten. But when Friar John, Xenoinanes, and the rest appeared on the ridge, a howl of defiance broke from the thicket. The dark masses seemed beside themselves with rage, and all at once the line was broken.
"By my faith," said Pantagruel, "they are demons, Xeno-phanes ! Look, they have wings, and their wings are as black as their banners!"
This was true. The dark masses had only broken so as to give themselves space to raise their wings in triumph at seeing so many wretched mortals ready for destruction. Often and often had crews, thrown by shipwreck upon Wild Island, reached the shore and had never been heard of more.
''These are demons ; bless us, Friar John," whispered Pantagruel. f What can sinful men do against them ? "
And, even while saying this, and without knowing it, the prayerful Giant was making the Sign of the Cross.
At the sacred sign there was, of a sudden, a lifting of black banners. Then, with a flapping of heavy wings, a great stir of mighty bodies leaving the thickets and rising into the air; the dark masses came sweeping over the very ridge where Pantagruel was, on their way to the sea, casting a blacker shadow than the coming night, shrieking and wailing as they passed.
From that blessed day, shipwrecked sailors have wandered in safety through the forest, and never met a demon.
For Wild Island is wild no more.
CHAPTER XLIII.
WHICH TELLS OF SEVERAL ISLANDS, AND THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THEM.
NEXT day, having been favored with a fair wind all night, they stopped at the Island of Sadness, where all the people had once been very rich, but were then very poor. Pantagruel found that nothing was to be seen on such an island except fear, want, and misery. So he did no more than step, for a few moments, into the church, near the harbor. On coming out, he ordered that eighteen thousand royal gold pieces should be given out for the relief of the poor people, and then he went on shipboard, not being willing to stay there any longer.
Leaving this desolate island, a strong breeze sprang up, that brought them, after one day, to the blessed Island of Papimany, where lived a people so hospitable that some of them went every day to the port to see if any strangers had come. As soon as anchor had been dropped, —in fact, even before the ship had been well-moored, — four chief men rowed out in a skiff to pay their respects to Pantagruel. On the strangers going ashore, men, women, and children marched to meet them in a procession that reached from one end of the island to the other, and gave a welcome of cheers that lasted above a quarter of an hour.
In the midst of all this joy, the school-master of the place, anxious that his boys should miss no chance of seeing what was for their good, came up with all his teachers, ushers, and school-boys, to show them, with their own eyes, a Giant so tall and renowned as Pantagruel. After which, in order to keep the lads from ever forgetting what they had seen, the chief school-master threw oft' his gown and went to work in a hurry to give each of them a sound thrashing. This displeased the Giant so greatly that he shouted, " If you do not leave oft' whipping those poor children, I shall go at once." In his fright at this great voice booming so high up in the air, the chief school-master dropped his rod with one hand, and, with his other, the poor little fellow whose turn had just come, while all the boys, big and little — those who had had their whipping, as well as those
THE HOSPITABLE FOLK OF PAPIMANY.
who hadn't had it — crowded around the good Giant's big feet to thank him.
At this moment the Mayor rode up on a mule with green trappings, and carried Pantagruel and his party off to dinner. Nothing could be finer than the feasting of this good people ; but Pantagruel, anxious to catch the good wind which was then springing up, only stayed for this grand dinner. Before leaving, he had his men to bring on shore nine pieces of cloth of gold, which he presented to
THE MAYOR RODE UP.
his entertainers; filled the poor-box of the church with gold; scattered sweetmeats among the children; and ordered much money to be given to the servants who had waited on them at table.
Out at sea once more, they sailed on for several days without incident. One day, however, when they were at table eating, drinking, and telling stories, Pantagruel went on deck to look at the sea. After looking out a while, he began to turn his great ears towards the sky, and it was then he called out, "Do you hear nothing, gentlemen?
It seems to me some people are talking above us, yet I can see no one. Listen ! " So the whole company got up from the table, ran on deck,
ENTERING THE FROZEN SEA.
and set to cocking up their eyes and clapping their hands to their ears; but all would not do ; they could neither see nor hear anything. Pantagruel, standing with his eyes still looking up, continued to hear the voices. At last some sharp-eared fellow cried, "I think I hear something." Then, all at once, every man on board began to cry out that he could plainly hear voices of men and neighing of horses; but, as nothing could be seen, everybody was mightily frightened, and Panurge worse than all. Nothing would do him but to beg Friar John to stay by him, saying that they were all undone, and that there was no fooling with the devil. ' We are undone," he whimpered. " Just listen to those guns. Let's flee ! There are our sails and oars ; why can't we use them ? I never was brave at sea; not that I am afraid ! Oh, no ! for I fear nothing but danger, that I don't! We are all dead men; get off! get off!"
Pantagruel, hearing all this noise, called out, without turning
A SHOWER OF FROZEN WORDS.
about, "Who talks of fleeing? Let us see, rather, who these people may be; they may be friends. I can discover nothing, though I can see, with my eyes, a hundred miles around." Just then, James Brayer
LANDING ON THE ROCKS.
came up, as if he had something important on his mind, and said, " Have no fear, my lord ; I can make all this clear. "We are on the confines of the Frozen Sea. At the beginning of last winter, a great and bloody battle was fought not far from here. Then the words and shouts of the men; the hacking and clashing of battle-axes ; the jostling of armor; the neighing of horses, and all the noise and din. of battle, froze in the air; and now, the winter being over, and the summer having come, all these sounds have melted, and we can hear them."
Pantagruel, who at first had thought it to be witchcraft, which he hated above all things, of a sudden cried out,
"Why, sure enough, here are some tumbling down that are not yet thawed ! "
He then threw on deck a handful of what seemed to be rough sugar-plums, but which were, in fact, frozen words. Everybody —