“Which name was that?” inquired Mr. Thimblefinger.
“Why, Mammy-Bammy Big Money,” replied Buster John, elevating his voice a little.
“Well, it’s very simple,” remarked Mr. Thimblefinger. “‘Mammy-Bammy’ was to catch the ear of the animals, and ‘Big Money’ was to attract the attention of the people.”
“Dat’s so,” said Drusilla. “Kaze time you say ‘money’ folks’ll stop der work an’ lissen at you; an’ ef you say ‘Big Money’ dey’ll ax you ter say it agin’.”
“It’s very curious about money,” continued Mr. Thimblefinger. “I don’t know whether you ever thought about it much—and I hope you haven’t—but it has pestered1 me a good deal, this thing you call money.”
“It’s mighty2 bothersome,” assented3 Mrs. Meadows, “when you are where people use it, and when you have none except what you can beg or borrow. Thank goodness! I’m free from all bother now.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Thimblefinger, “I don’t see that people have much the advantage of the animals when it comes to using money. I’ve seen grown people work night and day for a few pieces of metal.”
“Why, of course!” cried Buster John. “They can take the pieces of metal and buy bread and meat to eat and clothes to wear.”
“So much the more wonderful!” remarked Mr. Thimblefinger. “What do the people who have more bread and meat and clothes than they can use want with the pieces of metal?”
“So they may buy something else that they haven’t got,” said Buster John.
But Mr. Thimblefinger shook his head. He was not satisfied.
“It puts me in mind of a tale I heard once about a poor man who was the richest person in the world.”
“But that couldn’t be, you know,” protested Buster John.
“Anyhow, that’s the way it seemed to me in the story,” replied Mr. Thimblefinger. “But the story is so old-fashioned it would hardly pass muster4 now. Besides, they tell me that, as there’s not enough metal to go round, people have begun to make up their minds that pieces of paper with pictures on them are just as good as the metal, and perhaps better. It’s mighty funny to me.”
“What was the story?” asked Sweetest Susan. “Please tell us about it.”
“Why, yes,” remarked Mr. Rabbit, “tell us about it. If calamus root passes current with some of my acquaintances and catnip with others, I see no reason why people shouldn’t play make-believe among themselves, and say that pieces of metal and pieces of paper are worth something. In this business people have a great advantage over us. They can put figures on their pieces of metal and paper and make them worth anything, but with us a joint5 of calamus root is worth just so much. It has been worth that since the year one, and it will be worth that right on to the end of things. Just so with a twist of catnip. But tell us the story—tell us the story. I may drop off to sleep, but if I do, that will be no sign that the tale isn’t interesting.”
“Well,” said Mr. Thimblefinger, “once upon a time there was a country in which money became very scarce. The people had a great deal, but they hid it in their stockings and in the chinks of the chimneys and in their teapots. The reason of this was that other countries close at hand made their money out of the same kind of metal, and they’d bring their goods in and sell them and carry the money off home with them.
“Of course this helped to make money scarce, and the scarcer it was the more the people clung to it, and this made it still scarcer. Naturally everybody kept an eye out in the hope of finding a supply of this metal.”
“What sort of metal was it?” asked Buster John.
“Gold,” replied Mr. Thimblefinger.
“Oh!” exclaimed Buster John, in a disappointed tone.
“Yes,” continued Mr. Thimblefinger, “nothing in the world but gold. Those who had money held on to it as long as they could, because they didn’t know how much scarcer it would be, and those who didn’t have any were willing to sell whatever they had for any price in order to get some.
“It was lots worse than playing dolls—lots worse. When children play make-believe with dolls, they soon forget about it; but when grown people begin to play make-believe with money, they never get over it. The wisest men get their heads turned when they begin to think and talk about money. They have forgotten that it was all a make-believe in the beginning.”
Here Mr. Rabbit yawned and said: “You’ll have to excuse me if I nod a little here.”
“Yes,” remarked Mrs. Meadows, “I feel a little sleepy myself, but I’ll try to keep awake for the sake of appearances.”
“Don’t mind me,” said Mr. Thimblefinger, with mock politeness. “Go to sleep if you want to, you two. I won’t have to talk so loud.
“Well, in this country I was telling you about, there was a young man who had saved some money by working hard, but he didn’t save it fast enough to suit himself. He thought so much about it that he would stop in the middle of his work, and sit and study about it an hour at a time.
“He thought about it so much that he began to dream about it, and one night he dreamed that he got in a boat and went to an island on which there was a mountain of gold that shone and glistened7 in the sun. He was very unhappy when he woke in the morning and found it was nothing but a dream.
“He didn’t go to work that day, but wandered about doing nothing. That night he had the same dream. He had the same dream the next night; and the morning after, the first person he saw was an old man who had stopped to rest on the doorsteps. This old man would have been like other old men but for one thing. His beard was so long that he had to part it in the middle of his chin, pass it under each arm, cross the wisps on his back, and bring them around in front again, where the two ends were tied together with a bow of red ribbon.
“‘How are you, my young friend, and how goes it?’ said the old man, smiling pleasantly. ‘You look as if you had been having wonderful dreams.’
“‘So I have, gran’sir,’ replied the young man.
“‘Well, a dream isn’t worth a snap of your finger unless it comes true, and a dream never comes true until you have dreamed it three times.’
“‘I have dreamed mine three times, gran’sir, and yet it is impossible that it should come true.’
“‘Nonsense! Nothing is impossible. Tell me your dream.’
“So the young man told the old man his dream.
“‘The Island of the Mountain of Gold!’ exclaimed the old man. ‘Why, that is right in my line of travel. I can land you there without any trouble. It is a little out of my way, but not much.’
“‘How shall we get there?’ the young man asked.
“‘On the other side of the town, I have a boat,’ replied the old man. ‘You are welcome to go with me. It is so seldom that dreams come true that I shall be glad to help this one along as well as I can. Besides, I have long wanted an excuse to visit the Island of the Mountain of Gold. I have passed within sight of it hundreds of times, but have always been too busy to land there.’
“The young man looked at the old man with astonishment8. If he had spoken his thoughts he would have declared the old man to be crazy, but he said nothing. He simply followed after him. The old man led the way across the town to a wharf9, where his boat was tied. It was a light little skiff that could be sailed by one man. In this the two embarked10.
“The old man managed the sail with one hand and the rudder with the other, and he had hardly made things ready and taken his seat before a light breeze sprang up and filled the sail. The skiff glided11 along the water so easily that the shore seemed to be receding12 while the boat stood still. But the breeze grew stronger and stronger, and the sail bore so heavily on the nose of the boat that the foam13 and spray flew high in the air.
“The sun was bright and the sky was blue, and the dark green water seemed to boil beneath them, so swiftly the light boat sped along. The young man clapped his hands as joyously14 as a boy, and the old man smiled. Presently he leaned over the side of the boat and pointed6 to something shining and sparkling in the distance. The young man saw it, too, and turned an inquiring eye upon his companion.
“‘That is your mountain of gold,’ said the old man.
“‘It seems to be very small,’ said the other. He ceased to smile, and a frown clouded his face.
“The old man noticed the frown, and shook his head and frowned a little himself, coughing in the muffler that was tied around his neck. But he said:—
“‘The mountain of gold is more than twenty miles away.’
“‘How far have we come?’
“‘Some hundred and odd miles.’
“The young man seemed to be very much surprised, but he said nothing. He leaned so far over the side of the boat to watch the mountain of gold that he was in danger of falling out. The old man kept an eye on him, but did not lift a finger to warn him.
“In due time they came to the island, if it could be called an island. It seemed to be a barren rock that had lifted itself out of the sea to show the mountain of gold. The mountain was only a hill, but it was a pretty high one, considering it was of solid gold.”
“Sure enough gold?” asked Sweetest Susan.
“Pure gold,” answered Mr. Thimblefinger. “The old man landed his skiff at a convenient place, and the two got out and went to the mountain, or hill, of gold that rose shining in the middle of the small island. The actions of the young man showed that he considered himself the proprietor15 of both island and mountain. He broke off a chunk16 of gold as big as your fist, weighed it in his hand, and would have given it to the old man, but the latter shook his head.
“‘You refuse it?’ cried the other. ‘If it is not enough I’ll give you as much more.’
“‘No,’ replied the old man. ‘Keep it for yourself. You owe me nothing. I could have carried away tons of the stuff long before I saw you, but I had no use for it. You are welcome to as much as you can take away with you.’
“‘As much as I can take away!’ exclaimed the other. ‘I shall take it all.’
“‘But how?’
“‘It is mine! I am rich. I will buy me a ship.’ He walked back and forth17, rubbing his hands together.
“‘Then you have no further need of me?’ said the old man.
“‘Not now—not now,’ replied the other with a grand air. ‘You won’t accept pay for your services, and I can do no more than thank you.’
“The old man bowed politely, got in his skiff, and sailed away. The other continued to walk about the island and rub his hands together, and make his plans. He was now the richest man in the world. He could buy kings and princes and empires. He had enough gold to buy all the ships on the sea and to control all the trade on the land. He was great. He was powerful.
“All these thoughts passed through his mind and he was very happy. The sun looked at the young man a long time, and then went to bed in the sea. Two little gray lizards18 looked at him until the sun went down, and then they crawled back in their holes. A big black bird sailed round and round and watched him until nearly dark, and then sailed away.
“When night came the young man found the air damp and chilly19, but he knew he was rich, and so he laughed at the cold. He crept close under his mountain of gold, and, after a long time, went to sleep. In the morning he awoke and found that nobody had taken away his precious mountain of gold during the night. The sun rose to keep him company, the two gray lizards crept out of their holes and looked at him, and the big black bird sailed round and round overhead.
“The day passed, and then another and another. The young man was hungry and thirsty, but he was rich. The night winds chilled him, but he was rich. The midday sun scorched20 him, but he was the richest man in the world. Every night, no matter how hungry or weak he was, he crept upon the side of the mountain, and stretched himself out, and tried to hug it to his bosom21. He knew that if he was hungry, it wasn’t because he was poor, and if he died, he knew he would die rich. So there he was.”
“What then?” asked Buster John, as Mr. Thimblefinger paused to look at his watch.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” continued Mr. Thimblefinger, holding the watch to his ear. “One fine morning this rich young man was so weak that he couldn’t get up. He tried to, but his foot slipped, and he rolled to the foot of the mountain of gold and lay there. He lay there so long and so quietly that the two gray lizards crept close to him to see what was the matter. He moved one of his fingers, and they darted22 back to their holes.
“The rich young man lay so still that the big black bird, sailing overhead, came nearer and nearer, and finally alighted at a respectful distance from the rich young man. The two gray lizards came out again, and crawled cautiously toward the rich young man. The big black bird craned his neck and looked, and then went a little closer. A sudden gust23 of wind caused the rich young man’s coat to flap. The gray lizards scrambled24 towards their holes, and the big black bird jumped up in the air and flew off a little way.
“But presently they all came back, bird and lizards, and this time they went still closer to the rich young man. The big black bird went so close that there is no telling what he would have done next, but just then the old man came running towards them. He had untied25 the two ends of his beard, and was waving them in the air as if they were flags. The big black bird flew away very angry, and the gray lizards ran over each other trying to get to their holes.
“The old man, tied up his beard again, took up the rich young man on his shoulder, and carried him to the boat. Once there he gave the rich young man some wine. This revived him, and in a little while he was able to eat. But he had no opportunity to talk. The wind whirled the boat through the water, and in a few hours it had arrived at the young man’s town.
“He went home, and soon recovered in more ways than one. He found his strength again, and lost his appetite for riches. But he worked hard, saved all he could, and was soon prosperous; but he never remembered without a shiver the time that he was the richest man in the world.”
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1
pestered
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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5
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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7
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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10
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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11
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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12
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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13
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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14
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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15
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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16
chunk
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| n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量） | |
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17
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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18
lizards
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| n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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19
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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20
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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21
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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22
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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24
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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25
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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