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Transcriber's note:
At the time this book was written, rats were classified as
_Mus rattus_ and _Mus norvegicus_. The genus _Rattus_ did
not become standardized until the 20th century. Notes on
the animals in Chapter VII are at the end of the e-text,
along with the Errata.
THE RAMBLES OF A RAT.
[Illustration: POORER THAN RATS.
"The old blind rat had a bit of stick in its mouth, and the pretty
black rat took the other end in his teeth." --Page 25.]
THE RAMBLES OF A RAT.
by
A. L. O. E.
[Illustration: A NEW KIND OF WATCHDOG.
"Whiskerandos looked surprised at the unexpected defiance; but my
feelings of amazement can scarcely be conceived when I recognised
the dumpy form, blunt head, and piebald skin, of my lost brother
Oddity." --Page 150.]
T. Nelson and Sons, London, Edinburgh, and New York.
THE RAMBLES OF A RAT
by
A. L. O. E.,
Author of "The Giant-killer," "Pride and his Prisoners,"
&c. &c.
[Decoration]
London:
T. Nelson and Sons, Paternoster Row;
Edinburgh; and New York.
1864.
PREFACE
Let not my readers suppose that in writing THE RAMBLES OF A RAT I have
simply been blowing bubbles of fancy for their amusement, to divert them
during an idle hour. Like the hollow glass balls which children
delight in, my bubbles of fancy have something solid within them,--
facts are enclosed in my fiction. I have indeed made rats talk, feel,
and reflect, as those little creatures certainly never did; but the
courage, presence of mind, fidelity, and kindness, which I have
attributed to my heroes, have been shown by real rats. Such adventures
as I have described have actually happened to them, unless they be those
recorded in the 19th chapter, for which I have no authority. For my
anecdotes of this much-despised race I am principally indebted to an
interesting article on the subject which appeared in the "Quarterly
Review."
I would suggest to my readers how wide and delightful a field of
knowledge natural history must open to all, when there is so much to
interest and admire even in those animals which we usually regard with
contempt and disgust. The examination of the wondrous works of nature is
a study elevating as well as delightful; for the more deeply we search
into the wonders around us, the more clearly we discover the wisdom
which is displayed even in the lowest forms of creation!
A. L. O. E.
[Decoration]
CONTENTS
Chap. Page.
I. The Family of Rats 9
II. A Clap-trap Discovery 15
III. Poorer than Rats 19
IV. How I made a Friend 26
V. How Bob met with an Adventure 33
VI. How I visited the Zoological Gardens 38
VII. Finding Relations 43
VIII. How I heard of Old Neighbours 51
IX. How we found a Feast 59
X. The want of a Dentist 67
XI. A Removal 74
XII. A New Road to Fame 79
XIII. How I set out on my Voyage 86
XIV. A Terrible Word 94
XV. First View of St. Petersburg 103
XVI. A Russian Kitchen 109
XVII. A Ramble over St. Petersburg 118
XVIII. How we were Transported 125
XIX. A Storm and its Consequences 132
XX. Catch him--Dead or Alive! 137
XXI. A new kind of Watch-dog 146
XXII. The Farmer and his Bride 153
XXIII. A Peep through the Roses 163
[Decoration]
[Illustration: A L O E]
THE RAMBLES OF A RAT.
CHAPTER I.
THE FAMILY OF RATS.
My very earliest recollection is of running about in a shed adjoining a
large warehouse, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Poplar, and close to
the River Thames, which thereabouts is certainly no silver stream.
A merry life we led of it in that shed, my seven brothers and I! It was
a sort of palace of rubbish, a mansion of odds and ends, where rats
might frolic and gambol, and play at hide-and-seek, to their hearts'
content. We had nibbled a nice little way into the warehouse above
mentioned; and there, every night, we feasted at our ease, growing as
sleek and plump as any rats in the United Kingdom.
We were of an ancient race of British rats, my seven brothers and I. It
is said that our ancestors came over with the Conqueror, William; and we
are not a little proud of our Norman descent. Our smaller forms, sleek
black coats, long tails, and fine large ears, make us altogether
distinct from the Norwegian brown rat, on which we look with-- I was
going to say with contempt, but I rather think that it is quite another
feeling, and one to which neither rats nor men generally like to plead
guilty. I know that we do not usually choose to keep company with them;
but whether it be because their forms are coarser, their manners less
refined, and their pedigree not so long, or whether it be because they
sometimes have a fancy to nibble off the ears of their neighbours, or,
when their appetite is uncommonly sharp, make a meal of their Norman
cousins, we need not particularly inquire.
I said that I and my seven brothers were black rats; but I ought to make
one exception. The youngest of the family was piebald-- a curious
peculiarity, which I never noticed in any other of our race. Yes, he was
piebald; and not only had he this misfortune, but he was the clumsiest
and most ill-shaped rat that ever nibbled a candle-end! Now, this was no
fault of his, and certainly was no reason why he should have been
despised by his more fortunate brothers. Man, of course, as a superior
creature, would only look with kindness and pity upon a companion so
unhappy as to have personal defects. He would never ridicule a condition
which might have been his own, nor find a subject for merriment
in that which to another was a cause of annoyance; but we were only
inconsiderate young rats, and there was no end to our jokes on
our piebald comrade. "Oddity," "Guinea-pig," "Old Spotty," and
"Frightful"-- such were the names which we gave him. The first was that by
which he was best known, and the only one to which he chose to answer. But
he was a good-humoured fellow, poor Oddity, and bore our rudeness with
patience and temper. He pursued the plan which I would recommend to all
rats in his position: he joined the mirth which his own appearance raised;
and when we made merry at the awkward manner in which he waddled after his
more light-footed companions, he never took it amiss, nor retired into a
corner of the shed to sulk, amidst rope-ends and bits of rusty iron.
I have said that we had merry nights in the warehouse. Often has the
moon looked in through the dull, many-paned windows, lighting our
revels; though we cared little for light, our delicate feelers almost
supplying the place of eyes. But one night above all nights I remember!
There had been a great deal of moving about in the warehouse during the
day, running of trucks, and rolling of casks. Brisk, the liveliest of my
brothers, had sat watching in a hole from noon until dusk, and now
hurried through our little passage into the shed, where we were all
nestling behind some old canvass. He brought us news of a coming feast.
"A ship has arrived from India," said he, "and we'll have a glance at
the cargo. They've been busy stowing it away next door. There's rice--"
The brotherhood of rats whisked their tails for joy!
"Sugar--"
There was a universal squeak of approbation.
"Indigo--"
"That's nothing but a blue dye obtained from a plant," observed Furry,
an old, blind rat, who in his days had travelled far, and seen much of
the world, and had reflected upon what he had viewed far more than is
common with a rat. Indeed, he passed amongst us for a philosopher, and I
had learnt not a little from his experience; for he delighted in talking
over his travels, and but for a little testiness of temper, would have
been a very agreeable companion. He very frequently joined our party;
indeed, his infirmities obliged him to do so, as he could not have lived
without assistance. But I must now return to Brisk, and his catalogue of
the cargo.
"Opium--"
"The juice of the white poppy," said our aged friend, who had a taste
for general information. "I've seen it produce strange effects when
eaten in large quantities by men."
"What effects?" said I. I was a very inquisitive rat, and especially
curious about all that related to the large creatures upon two legs,
called Man, whom I believed to be as much wiser as they are stronger
than the race of Mus, to which I belong.
"Why, opium makes men first wild and bold, so that they will rush into
danger or run into folly, quarrel with their friends and fight their
foes, laugh and dance, and be merry they know not why. Then they grow
sleepy, and though their lives might depend on it, not a step would they
stir. Then, when they awake from their unnatural sleep, their bodies are
cold, their heads heavy; they feel sick, and faint, and sad! And if this
should happen day after day, at last the strong grows weak and the
healthy ill, the flesh goes from the bones and the life from the eyes,
and the whole man becomes like some old, empty hulk, whose timbers will
hardly hold together! And all this from eating opium!"
"Ugh!" exclaimed Brisk; "leave opium to man; it is a great deal too bad
for rats!"