The New Swiss Family Robinson Chapter 02 Chapter - Our Have, A Curious Animal, A Tropical Picnic

Episode Transcript

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Chapter two, our haven, acurious animal, a tropical picnic arrived on
land. At last we felt thatwe had been through a good deal.
Fritz remarked that he would not gothrough so much again for anything. I
told him that I disapproved of hishasty speech, and that he would certainly

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go through it again were he placedin a similar situation. We now began
to look about. Our position forthe present was safe but unsatisfactory. As
the sun, which is very hotin the tropics, poured down upon our
heads. I wish the old sunwould go out and not shine, so

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said Franz pettishly. My son,you have made a very wicked speech,
I replied, And if we findbread and water on the island, you
shall be fed upon it for severaldays. Franz hung his head and endeavored
to hide behind the skirts of hismother, but finding that she wore none

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that came sufficiently near the ground.He was but a little fellow. He
contented himself with getting in the rearof the party. The mention of bread
and water reminded all of us thatwe were hungry. Let us get in
the shade yonder, said my wife, and I will see what I can
do for dinner. We thanked herfor her kind promise, and proceeded over

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the grass to the other side ofthe huge rock I had christened Memorial.
Here we found a cool stream thatran down a bank out of a beautiful
forest. In the forest, wecould see many trees. As I was
observing them, a loud shriek fromJack made us all start. Do you

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see anything, I asked anxiously asI loaded the air pistol. I was
answered by furious barks from Tim,and following the sound, I saw the
cause of my son's fear was noless than a fine specimen of the female
peccadillo. I bade them have nofear. The peccadillo or Flagidium uPAR vulum

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I continued, lives in climates whereit is extremely hot or extremely cold.
We find it also where it isneither the one nor the other. It
is peculiarly adapted to endure life inthe open air, but can frequent houses,

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trees, and holes in the groundat will. It is a vertebrate
animal and belongs to the mammalia.It is most vulnerable in its head,
which if you cut in half witha sharp blow from an axe, death
will follow almost invariably. This weaknessof the head is admirably protected by the

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animal's tail, branching into five orsix strands of well articulated joints connected by
a membrane similar to that we findin the wing of the bat. In
severe weather of any kind, itspreads this tail over its head and fearlessly
proceeds on its way. The peccadillolays a large and handsome egg of a

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delicate pink color spotted with chocolate.When the egg has been laid, the
female peccadillo calls the male peccadillo,who sits heavily upon the egg, which
breaks immediately, and the young peccadilloruns out with shrill cries. This animal
is harmless except when it attacks you. Then it becomes very dangerous. Its

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flesh is, when cooked, tenderand savory, and will make a capital
dinner for us to day. AsI concluded, my wife took a large
axe out of her bag, andthe peccadillo was soon roasting over a good
fire. My son, Ernest,picking an oyster shell out of the sand,

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cut off a dainty slice for himself, and smiling complacently set it aside
to cool prudence, I observed quietly, is a quality that should be exercised
for others as well as for ourselves. You may give that slice of peccadillo
to me, Earnest, the boywinced as I slowly swallowed the morsel,

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So did I. When I hadfinished, I continued, Do not for
a moment suppose that I enjoyed thatpeccadillo. On the contrary, it gave
me great pain to eat it.Ernest, whose irritable temper had always been
a care and a grief to me, said that is probably because the flesh

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was not cooled sufficiently, as heplaced himself in such a position that the
fire and the running stream were betweenus. I contented myself with a reproachful
look that soon melted the boy.He lay down upon the grassy bank and
sobbed silently. All the rest inthe meanwhile, were busily getting dinner ready.

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What shall we do for a tablecloth? Father asked Fritz, whose neatness
was one of his most amiable characteristics. Your intelligent question, i replied,
has puzzled me not a little.A loud roar and a scream from my
wife brought us all on our feet. Help me she entreated, I have

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put my foot in it. Iapproached her cautiously and observed something rustling along
in the grass. The air pistolwas ready to hand. I fired at
the noise, and a second loudroar rent the air. Then all was
still. I bent over my victimand discovered a huge creature lying dead upon

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its back. I recognized a terriblebegino furiosis or cannibal spider, in whose
web my wife had been caught.We embraced each other thankfully. A moment
more and I should have been toolate. But now, Fritz, I

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said, smiling, here is atable cloth for you, and carefully lifting
the web of the furiosis from thelong grass, I displayed it to the
delight of all. It made indeeda sumptuous ornament, as the wild insect
displays great taste in fashioning its oddhome, and weaves ferns and oak leaves

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into the rich texture. How aboutforks and knives, inquired Jack. My
dear wife smiled mysteriously, and Idrew a complete set from the bag they
had belonged to the captain of thelost crew. We shall do very well,
said I, And we did verywell. Indeed, we moved the

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tablecloth up on the soft green bankand set the roasted peccadillo upon it.
What is this strange and aromatic odor, asked my wife. I immediately picked
a plant which grew plenteously on thebank, and observed it. A clear,
pungent liquid flowed from the broken stalk, and I recognized a bed of

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that delicious herb, the Julipa atwoodiana. It is meant tropical, meant,
I joyfully cried, and its sapis sweet and strong. Are you sure
that it is not poisonous, mybrave wife asked anxiously. It is perfectly

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safe, my dear though I laudyour prudence. Let us all take it
will refresh us. We felt verythankful at this discovery, and the flesh
of the peccadillo improved our spirits wonderfully. I am feeling very well, father,
said Fritz, breaking off another stalkof the Julipa at widiana. So

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am, I said, little Franz. It's perfectly right that you should,
my dear children, I said gaily, and they laughed merrily. Another thing
about the peca, the peccadillo,do you mean, father, Yes,
its feet are very thin skined soand damp weather, the long hair that

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grush on top of them closes roundunderneath the shoes, and thus they don't
get wet. Father, why arethere two sons in the sky, asked
Ernest, three, said Fritz,Correcting him, I explained that this was

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one of the commonest phenomena in thetropics, and that we often can see
many more. As we had nowfinished dinner, fortune did not seem to
frown so harshly upon us, anda joyful hilarity pervaded us all. As
we sat upon this desert isle.My dear wife, with a graceful movement,

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sprang from her seat and spread theparasol. As a balmy breeze was
blowing from the forest, It servedher as a parachute, and she floated
lightly up into a great banyan treethat stood at the edge of the forest.
I was anxious for her safety andbeckoned her to come down, but

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she smiled kindly at me and refused. In the meanwhile, little Franz got
the birdcage he had brought ashore,and, putting his head in through the
door, cried merrily, I've eatenthe canary. I was glad to see
my dear children enjoying themselves. SoI made a collar out of the Boston

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and Albany time table, and,putting it on, joined in the dance.
Fritz and Ernest, linked together bythe steel watch chain, opened the
Oliver Ditson edition of the Pirates ofPenzance, and sang duets with their sweet
young voices. While Jack, determinedthat he should not be beaten, grasped

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the dog Tim and, holding himlike an organ, turned his tail round
and round very ingeniously. This constitutedour simple orchestra, and we were very
happy. By and by the sunset, and we went to repose end of Chapter two