_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."
[1] The captain informs that this inscription is in the language
of the ancient _Bramins_.
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. But, as such adventures generally terminate in the
most mortifying disappointment, the young plunderers were discovered by
the farmer before they had gathered half their booty. The three
tarpaulins being at the bottom of the tree made their escape without
much difficulty; but Jack, who, to support the dignity of his new
command, had ascended almost to the top, was unfortunately taken
prisoner. The consequence was, that his father (who had to deal with a
wretch who was as crusty by nature as he was by name) after being
obliged to pay ten times the value of the fruit, conducted his son to
Mr. _Sharp_, the gentleman who had the trouble of his education, from
whom he received a severe flogging in the presence of all his school
fellows, as a very suitable reward of his stupid ambition. From this
account of him you will naturally conclude that he was no great friend
to learning; and, indeed, so remarkable was his aversion to the useful
arts of reading and writing, that his greatest improvement amounted
only to an indifferent knowledge of the alphabet, and the poor
accomplishment of being just able to scrawl his own name in characters
which were scarcely legible. He was equally distinguished for his speed
and fidelity when his parents sent him on an errand; for he could
hardly make shift to saunter a mile in an hour, and when he arrived at
the place of his destination, he usually forgot three fourths of his
message, and endeavoured to supply the defect by some blundering tale
of his own invention. He was once dispatched by his father, in great
haste, to a gentleman who lived not a quarter of a mile off, to request
the favour of his company, in half an hour's time, to settle matters
with a grazer, of whom they had purchased several head of cattle; when
Jack arrived at the gentleman's house, which he actually did in the
short space of an hour and a half, he rubbed his eyes, and scratched
his head, and informed him that his father wanted him sadly, and that
he must come directly to speak with the _brazier_, who, he said, had
waited for him above two hours. It was very happy for his parents
(whether they thought so or not) that Jack's sudden exit out of the
world, in the thirteenth year of his age, effectually prevented him
from bringing any material disgrace upon his family; which he certainly
would have done, if he had lived to be his own master. The occasion of
his death was as follows:--One morning, instead of making the best of
his way to school, (which he was constantly ordered to do) happening
very luckily to be overtaken by _Tom Sharper_, and _Dick Lackwit_, they
prudently agreed to avoid the intolerable drudgery of the hornbook, by
playing truant and indulging themselves in the profitable diversions of
sitting all day on the bank of a lonesome brook to fish for minows;
they had pretty good sport, as they called it, for the first hour; but
then Mr. _Sharper's_ line happening to be entangled among some large
weeds, from which he could not disengage it as he stood upon the brink;
and as he was naturally too great an adept in the science of self
preservation, to expose himself to danger, when he could persuade
another to supply his place; he requested the favour of master _Idle_
to ascend a sloping tree which stood upon the bank, and from thence to
descend gradually upon a hanging branch, the small end of which almost
touched his line. Poor Jack was somewhat unwilling to venture upon the
experiment; but a little more persuasion, which was supported by a few
surly menaces, soon vanquished every objection. He accordingly ascended
the tree; but when he attempted to seat himself upon the hanging branch
the small twigs, upon which he stupidly fastened his hold for that
purpose, suddenly gave way, and down he plunged into the middle of the
brook, where, after many eager and ineffectual struggles to recover the
bank, he sunk to the bottom, and rose no more. The last words he spoke
were, _Oh! my dear father! my dear mother! I wish I had_--He meant I
suppose, that he wished he had followed their good advice; but the
water, which ran very fast into his mouth, suddenly stopped his speech,
and nothing more was heard but a faint bubbling in his throat, and two
or three desperate plunges at the bottom of the water, to preserve that
life which fell a melancholy sacrifice to his own folly and
disobedience!--One would think that such a shocking catastrophe would
be sufficient to subdue ten times the stubbornness and stupidity for
which master _Idle_ was so remarkable: But as we are too apt to forget
the eager promises, and laugh at the self condemning reflections, which
we have made in the hour of distress, I need not mention it as a
prodigy, that the soul by which this little beast is animated, is still
infected with the same vicious disposition, which disgraced and
punished it, when it occupied the body of _Jack Idle_."
To convince us of the truth of what he said, the good Bramin addressed
himself to the ass before us, and assured him that if he was sincerely
inclined to behave as he ought to do, and forsake the follies he had
been guilty of in his former state of existence, he should again have
the honour to ascend to the rank of human beings. But the stubborn
little animal (who perfectly understood what he said) first leered at
him with the most stupid resentment in the world, and then fell a
braying and kicking with greater violence than when we first entered
the room. "Soho! said Mr. Wiseman, is that your manners, my boy;"--and
then giving him two or three hearty strokes, "well, well, said he, if
this is all the return I am to have for my generous care of you, I will
certainly sell you to the first sandman I see, who will bestow upon you
plenty of drubbing, plenty of fasting, and (what you will relish the
worst of all) a never failing plenty of work."