The family Robinson Crusoe

by Johann David Wyss

Here, here! I then called out to the boys: call the dogs quickly; here is fine game for us, if we are so lucky as to catch it. Halloo, here, Turk, Ponto! The dogs arrived full gallop. Ernest was our leader, and conducted us to the place where the boar had approached him; but he was gone, and we saw nothing but a plot of potatoes which had the appearance of having been ransacked by the animal. The ardour for the chase had been somewhat checked in Jack and Ernest, when they considered for a moment that they had so formidable a creature as a boar to encounter; they stopped short, and began to dig potatoes, and left it to Fritz and me to follow the traces of the dogs. We soon heard the cry of the latter; for they had overtaken the runaway, and soon after the most hideous growling assailed our ears from the same quarter.

We advanced with caution to the spot, holding our guns before us in readiness to fire together, the instant the animal should show itself within the proper distance. Presently the spectacle of the two brave creatures attacking him on the right and left presented itself; each held one of his ears between their teeth. But the beast was not a boar, as the account of Ernest had made me suppose, but a pig of the true common breed, which on our approach, appeared rather to ask for our assistance, than to have any inclination to attack us. Contrary to our expectation, Fritz and myself also suddenly lost the relish for sporting against this animal; for we immediately recognised in the supposed boar, our own sow which had run away and had so long been lost. After the first surprise we could not resist a hearty laugh; and then we hastened to disincumber our old friend of the teeth of her two adversaries. Her frightful squalling resounded through the wood and drew the attention of our companions, who now ran to the place, when a warfare of banter and accusation went round among the parties:—Fritz knew certain persons whose passion for the chase ended in digging potatoes! Jack and Ernest returned the sally by complimenting Fritz on the fine martial appearance of the wild boar they had been so fortunate as to make captive!—Why, Fritz, we knew in a moment, by the grunting, that it was only our old sow.—You however believed it to be a wild boar, Mr. Ernest, returned Fritz, and even after you had seen it.

I know not what Ernest would have answered; for the attention of all was attracted to a kind of small potatoe which we observed lying thick on the grass around us, and which had fallen from some trees which appeared loaded with the same production: our sow devoured them greedily, thus consoling herself for the fright she had been put into, and the pain the dogs had occasioned her.

The fruit was of different colours, and extremely pleasing to the eye. Fritz expressed his apprehension that it was the pernicious kind of apple called the Mancenilla, against which I had so strenuously cautioned them; but the sow ate them with so much eagerness, and the tree which bore them being neither so high, and having neither the form nor foliage ascribed by naturalists to the Mancenilla, made me doubt of the truth of his idea. I forbore from immediately pronouncing its condemnation; but I desired my sons to put some of the fruit in their pockets, to make an experiment with them upon the monkey. I was shortly after nearly satisfied of their harmless quality, from seeing that the two dogs also fell upon them with eagerness; but I persisted in forbidding the boys to taste them till I had further examined into their nature and properties; and they all of course obeyed me. We now again, from extreme thirst, began to recollect our want of water, and determined to seek for some in every direction. Jack sprang off and sought among the rocks, hoping, and with reason, that he should discover some little stream: but scarcely had he left the wood, than he bawled to us that he had found a crocodile.....

A crocodile! cried I with a hearty laugh, you have a fine imagination, my boy! who ever saw a crocodile on such scorching rocks as these, and with not a drop of water near? Now, Jack, you are surely dreaming.....

Not so much of a dream as you may think, father, answered Jack, trying to speak in a low voice;—fortunately he is asleep;—he lies here on a stone at his full length;—he is exactly like our mother.

Father.—This is excellent, upon my word! So then your mother is like a crocodile?—This is really an indiscreet sort of a joke.

Jack.—I meant, father, that the crocodile is about as long as the height of our mother; I had not, I assure you, the least idea of a joke; for it is certainly a crocodile, though perhaps only a young one..... Do, father, step here and look at it, it does not stir in the least.

I knew not what to think: we stole softly to the place where the animal lay; but instead of a crocodile I saw before me an individual of a large sort of lizard, named by naturalists Leguana or Yguana^[3], and the flesh of which is considered in the West Indies as the greatest delicacy. I explained this to my sons, and tranquillised them as to the danger of approaching this animal, formed by nature of a mild character, and excellent as food. All were then immediately seized with the hope of seizing the lizard and presenting so rare a prize to their mother. Fritz in a moment had his gun ready, and was taking his aim, but that I was in time to lay hold of his arm and prevent him: You are always too quick, said I, in your determinations; your piece might have missed, or you might have wounded him only slightly; for this sort of animal is protected by a coat of scales as you see, and it is extremely difficult to destroy him. I think too that he is known to be extremely dangerous if approached when he is angry. Let us try another sort of experiment; as he is asleep, we need not be in a hurry: only a little contrivance is necessary to have him safe in our power alive, and the process will afford us all an amusing spectacle.

I cut a stout stick from a bush, to the extremity of which I tied a string with a running knot. I guarded my other hand simply with a little switch, and thus with cautious steps approached the sleeping animal. When I was very near to him, I began to whistle a lively air, taking care to make the sounds low at first, and to increase in loudness till the lizard was awaked^[4]. The creature appeared entranced with pleasure as the sounds fell upon his ear; he raised his head to receive them still more distinctly, and looked round on all sides to discover from whence they came. I now advanced by a step at a time, without a moment’s interval in the music, which fixed him like a statue to the place. At length I was near enough to reach him with my switch, with which I tickled him gently, still continuing to whistle, one after the other, the different airs I could recollect. The lizard was bewildered by the charms of the music; the attitudes he threw himself into were expressive of a delirious voluptuousness; he stretched himself at full length, made undulating motions with his long tail, threw his head about, raised it up, and by this sort of action, disclosed the formidable range of his sharp-pointed teeth, which were capable of tearing us to pieces if we had excited his hostility. I dexterously seized the moment of his raising his head, to throw my noose over him. When this was accomplished, the boys drew near also, and wanted instantly to draw it tight and strangle him at once; but this I positively forbad, being unwilling to cause the poor animal so unmerited a suffering. I had used the noose only to make sure of him in case it should happen that a milder mode of killing him, which I intended to try, failed of success, in which case I should have looked to the noose for protection; but this was rendered unnecessary. Continuing to whistle my most affecting melodies, I seized a favourable moment to plunge my switch into one of his nostrils; the blood flowed in abundance, and soon deprived him of life, without his exhibiting the least appearance of being in pain; on the contrary, to the last moment he seemed to be still listening to the music.