It contains a diverting account of several naughty boys and girls, who, after their death (which was generally owing to their own folly) were degraded into such animals as they most resembled when alive. I cannot pretend to say who was the author; for his modesty was so great, that he has not inserted his name in the title page.
The captain tells me, it is the opinion of some of the Indian criticks, that he was an academy-keeper, who wrote for the instruction of his scholars; and of others, that he was a fond father who wrote for the entertainment of his children; but as it is very possible that both of them may be mistaken, I shall not presume to decide which of them have been so fortunate as to discover the truth in a matter of such evident importance.
I have only to observe, that as long proper names (such as those of the Indians) would have been too crabbed for most of my little readers, I have put myself to the amazing trouble of substituting English names in their room, which are expressive of the characters of the persons to whom they are applied. After humbly begging the author's pardon, for taking this liberty with his ingenious performance, I must desire all the masters and misses who read my translation of it, to be extremely careful to avoid all the crimes and follies which it was intended to correct; otherwise, if my friend the captain (who will probably hear of their ill behaviour) should happen to speak of it, when he makes another voyage to India, and it should by any means reach the ear of my author, we may perhaps have a second volume, containing a mortifying account of the surprising and lamentable transmigrations of some of the naughty boys and girls in England.
CHAP. I.
Of the wonderful Transmigration of Jack Idle into the body of an ass.
One morning after breakfast I took a walk into the fields with my seven dear children; which I did, not only for the benefit of their health, but as a reward for their good behaviour. They always obey me and their affectionate mother with the utmost cheerfulness; and I, in return, am always ready to indulge them as far as my duty and their interest will permit. When we had travelled about three miles from the city, where Divine Providence has fixed our abode, we came to a range of little tenements, or I should rather have called them sheds, over the midst of which (and it was likewise the largest) was fixed a board, on which was written in lofty capitals WAL*KINBEHOL*DANDLE*ARN,[1] which signifies, Walk in, behold, and learn. While I was musing upon this strange inscription, and wondering what curiosities there could be in such contemptible little huts, the door of the middlemost was suddenly opened by a Bramin, who with the greatest politeness and affability, desired us to walk in, assuring me, that notwithstanding the mean appearance of his little tenements, there were several things to be seen in them, which might contribute to the entertainment and instruction of my pretty fellow travellers. "I am, said he, as you may perceive by my habit, a Bramin, and my name is Wiseman. All the time I can spare from the worship of my Maker, and the contemplation of that astonishing wisdom and beneficence which he has displayed in his works of creation and providence, I cheerfully devote to the service of my fellow mortals, and particularly of the younger and unexperienced part of them. The most valuable service I can render them is to conduct them into the paths of virtue and discretion. For this purpose, having been gifted with the faculty of distinguishing those animals which are now animated by the souls of such human beings as formerly degraded themselves to a level with the unthinking brutes, I have taken the pains to provide a collection of beasts, birds, &c. most of which are inhabited by the souls of some naughty masters or misses, who died in the neighbourhood, and it is possible were not unknown to your little companions. It was a proverb among the ancient Bramins, that Example is more powerful than precept, and it is the common language of mankind to this day, I understand what I hear, but I believe what I see. It would not be amiss therefore, if you were to accompany the young gentlemen and ladies into my little appartments, that they may be eye witnesses to the mortifying consequences of an ill spent and vicious life, even to those who have not arrived at the age of manhood."
We accepted the offer with the utmost gratitude, and eagerly inquired what we had to pay for admittance. But the good Bramin assured us, that he never made a traffick of the little wisdom he had to communicate, and that the most acceptable recompense we could make him, was, to bestow what we could prudently spare upon such real objects of charity as might afterwards fall in our way:—"For mercy and benevolence, said he, are the darling attributes of heaven, and those who are most distinguished for the practice of them, bear the nearest resemblance to their Maker, and will therefore receive the largest portion of his favour both in this world, and in that which is to come."
The first room we were conducted into was the habitation of a little ass, who, as soon as we entered the place, began to bray, and kick up his heels, at a most violent rate; but, upon the appearance of Mr. Wiseman (which I have before observed was the Bramin's name) he thought proper to compose himself, and stood as quiet as a lamb.—"This stubborn little beast said our kind conductor, is now animated by the soul of the late master Idle. In his life-time he possessed all the bad properties of the animal you see before you; so that, to speak the truth, he now appears in his proper shape. His rough coat of hair is a very suitable emblem of the ruggedness of his disposition; and his long and clumsy ears not only denotes his stupidity, but, as they afford a very secure and convenient hold to any one who has occasion to catch him when he runs loose in the fields, they sufficiently intimate that he was always open to the ill advice of his play-fellows. If the meanest and most dirty boy in the neighbourhood was in want of a companion, or rather a tool, to assist him in his mischievous pranks, he had nothing to do but to make his application to Jack Idle; for foolish Jack (as they truly called him) was at the beck of every mischievous rogue; and when the mischief was done, he was always left, like a stupid ass as he was, to bear the burden of it. His father had money; and Jack's great pride was to be complimented by his raggamuffin companions as the cook of the game. Once (I remember it perfectly well) three bargemen's boys having a violent inclination to plunder a pippin tree, which was the property of farmer Crusty, they gave master Jacky such a tempting account of the wish'd for prize, and held forth so liberally in praise of his courage and ingenuity, that they prevailed upon him to be not only a party, but the commander in chief in this hopeful enterprize.
