Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Chapter five, we built our house, the Zebra a sail. Our next
work was to create our aerial abodein the tree. We all joined very
heartily in this, for we hadbeen up trees before in Switzerland and were
(00:21):
anxious to get up a tropical treeand see if there was any difference.
This one, which had attracted thenotice of my wife by its unusual size
and beauty, was many hundred feethigh and so large around that to measure
its circumference made a pleasant morning stroll. I was therefore somewhat at a loss
(00:45):
how to begin work, for thetrees I had been up before had not
necessitated any knowledge of the art ofclimbing. So I stood before the colossal
trunk and thought. Observing my anxiousand careworn expression, my brave wife approached
me and said, I think Ican solve your problem. What problem do
(01:08):
you think I am trying to solve? I asked, how to climb my
tree, said she, smiling.I praised her for her keen penetration in
divining what I was thinking about.But how can you solve my problem?
I continued sadly. If you willset me upon a log and build a
(01:29):
bonfire under me. The hot airwill inflate my skirts, and I shall
rise into the branches. Your idea, I replied, as I fervently embraced
my dear partner, is admirable.In the meanwhile, Ernest and Jack collected
dry sticks and leaves, which theyplaced upon the back of our now affectionate
(01:53):
and docile iguana, and thus theywere carried to a large log that lay
conveniently beneath our proposed abode. Mydear wife placed herself upon the log.
When we were confronted with a newobstacle, alas all our matches were gone,
Fritz, whose ingenuity sometimes took formswhich I could not approve of,
(02:17):
immediately produced a bottle of the JulipaAtwoodiana from his leathern pouch, and after
having swallowed several mouthfuls, he blewupon the dry kindling, which instantly ignited
and burned with a brilliant and beautifulflame. The light gauze skirts of my
(02:38):
wife spread visibly up in a balloon. Boys shouted Fritz, whose hilarity after
taking the Julipa was always most painfulto me. Your impertinence, I replied
coldly, Maritza, never mind hisimpertinence. Father cried ernest rudely interrupted me.
(03:00):
I turned to reprove him, whenour iguana, who though tame and
well meaning, was notwithstanding at timesvery awkward, rushed hurriedly between my legs.
The result was that I tripped andfell heavily upon a plantation of prickly
pears, which covered the ground veryabundantly. At the foot of the tree,
(03:24):
my children joined hands and danced aboutme, while I, seated upon
the ground, menaced them angrily.I feel just like the fourth of July,
cried little Franz, jumping and clappinghis hands. I rose and was
about to chastise him for his disrespect, when we were all stopped by hearing
(03:47):
loud shrieks of triumph. We turnedaround. Our little bonfire had done its
work, and we beheld the dearmother rising majestically through the air with that
wise forethought which is one of hermost invaluable qualities. She had taken her
bag up with her, out ofwhich ran a long string that was fastened
(04:12):
tightly to a log that lay onthe ground. She soon reached the branches,
which she caught hold of. Let'splay, She's a kite and fly
her, cried Fritz making for thestring. I hastened after him to prevent
such conduct, But his dear motherwas quite equal to the occasion. Just
(04:33):
as he caught hold of the string, she gave it a sudden jerk which
brought the anchoring log up from theground and seated Fritz quickly upon it.
Thus she held him dangling in theair till he was thoroughly frightened and begged
to be forgiven and let down.As I always encouraged any spirit of repentance
(04:57):
that my children showed after miss behaving, I readily forgave him, and our
work went on. My wife produceda derrick from her bag, and also
a number of other useful things forbuilding, such as bricks, mortar,
and ladders. We all went heartilyabout our various duties, and a scaffolding
(05:18):
was soon completed. My wife laidthe foundations and built the house, assisted
by Fritz. Jack and Franz carriedmud, timber and stones up to them.
Ernest painted and decorated the interior,while I seated in a chair below
(05:38):
anxiously superintended operations. In less thana month, our new mansion was complete.
Nor did it need protection from thefierce tropical sun for the season had
advanced, and a beautiful leafy screensheltered us all. We began to think
of a name to call our house. Earnest, with his usual inimitable humor,
(06:02):
suggested the Family Tree, which wasunanimously adopted amid shouts of applause.
It was an ample house with acellar in the main trunk of the tree,
and three entrances in case we shouldbe in a hurry to get in
or out. We had six barebedrooms in case of visitors, gas and
(06:27):
hot water in every story, anelevator, chemical fire extinguishers furnished from the
boilstone cave, a library, diningand sitting rooms, and frieze and dadoes
in every apartment of collars suited toits special character. There was a telephone,
a phonograph, and an electric bellin every room. The last touch
(06:54):
was finished on a Saturday night,and the next day, being Sunday,
we all took a rest, whichwas very grateful, not having any church
to attend. I read my familyselections from my unpublished poems, which affected
them very much. As evening drewon, we all set about various occupations.
(07:17):
I had observed that Fritz had aspecial place where he kept his bottle
of Julipa Adwudiana, and, havingdetermined that it was not good for him
to pay too much attention to suchthings, I procured it for myself and
retired to the top of the tree, where I felt that my meditations would
(07:39):
be undisturbed by the noisy play ofmy children. Here beneath the starry firmament,
I took gastronomical observations. The calmstillness was presently broken by my son
Fritz, who seated upon a lowerlimb of a tree, played us sweet
(08:00):
household melodies on an upright piano thathe had found in a corner of my
wife's bag. Ernest, inspired bythe music, climbed up on another limb
a little higher, and composed poetry, parts of which he occasionally recited aloud.
(08:20):
My wife never forgetful of her householdduties. After having washed our clothes,
fed a young canary we had caughta few days before, Jack,
in order to test the strength ofour new staircase, conscientiously walked up and
down upon it, while my littleFranz had a nice gay game of hide
(08:41):
and go seek at the bottom ofthe tree with our pet iguana, who
had become most useful in keeping thechild in good spirits by means of many
merry pranks of a wholesome and harmlessnature. As I looked down and beheld
through glimpses in the rich tropical foliageof our family tree, my precious little
(09:05):
brood thus happily occupied. I frequentlygave shouts of joy in the midst of
my gastronomical observations, and as Ihad made quite a number by this time,
I concluded I would take a walkin the jungle. So I descended,
and, after having filled my sonFritz's bottle of Julippa adwidiana with some
(09:28):
cool fresh water from a neighboring spring, I replaced it in the spot where
I took it from and continued myway. I had not gone more than
a mile before I heard a strangecry, and on looking about me,
I perceived it came from a finespecimen of the wild jackass. I felt
(09:52):
I had made a great discovery,for this animal, if tamed and trained
for our service, would be muchmore useful in carrying burdens for us than
our iguana. However, well meaninghad hitherto been, since the latter had
a habit of rolling over on hisback, and this he had indulged in
(10:13):
several times when laden with ostrich eggswe had collected after a hard day's work.
How was I to secure the jackass? I hurriedly climbed a low tree
near by, and, aware ofthe great curiosity that wild animals will exhibit,
I struck my watch, a Genevarepeater. Several times. The brute
(10:37):
ceased grazing and pricked up his ears. I continued striking my watch, and
he began to move towards the placethe sound came from. Soon he was
beneath the tree in which I hadconcealed myself, when I suddenly let go
and landed upon his back. Extremesurprise rendered the animal perfectly docile, and
(11:01):
he walked off quietly, with meupon him. I had heard travelers tell
of the treachery of wild jackasses,and had often noticed that the infallible process
to tame them was to bite theirlong and tender ears. So I gently
leaned forward, and, encouraging theanimal with my voice, I seized his
(11:24):
right ear in my teeth and bidit until the blood ran. It was
but the work of a moment.Contrary to my expectations, he kicked violently
and ran away so rapidly that Iwas unable to follow him. After recovering
from the surprise his action had occasionedme, I concluded I would not speak
(11:48):
of this adventure to my family,for fear they should be tempted to try
the same experiment. As I wasrevolving how I should explain the appearance of
my right eye. All thoughts weredriven out of my head by the appearance
of a steamship on the horizon endof chapter five.
Chapter five, we built our house, the Zebra a sail. Our next
work was to create our aerial abodein the tree. We all joined very
heartily in this, for we hadbeen up trees before in Switzerland and were
(00:21):
anxious to get up a tropical treeand see if there was any difference.
This one, which had attracted thenotice of my wife by its unusual size
and beauty, was many hundred feethigh and so large around that to measure
its circumference made a pleasant morning stroll. I was therefore somewhat at a loss
(00:45):
how to begin work, for thetrees I had been up before had not
necessitated any knowledge of the art ofclimbing. So I stood before the colossal
trunk and thought. Observing my anxiousand careworn expression, my brave wife approached
me and said, I think Ican solve your problem. What problem do
(01:08):
you think I am trying to solve? I asked, how to climb my
tree, said she, smiling.I praised her for her keen penetration in
divining what I was thinking about.But how can you solve my problem?
I continued sadly. If you willset me upon a log and build a
(01:29):
bonfire under me. The hot airwill inflate my skirts, and I shall
rise into the branches. Your idea, I replied, as I fervently embraced
my dear partner, is admirable.In the meanwhile, Ernest and Jack collected
dry sticks and leaves, which theyplaced upon the back of our now affectionate
(01:53):
and docile iguana, and thus theywere carried to a large log that lay
conveniently beneath our proposed abode. Mydear wife placed herself upon the log.
When we were confronted with a newobstacle, alas all our matches were gone,
Fritz, whose ingenuity sometimes took formswhich I could not approve of,
(02:17):
immediately produced a bottle of the JulipaAtwoodiana from his leathern pouch, and after
having swallowed several mouthfuls, he blewupon the dry kindling, which instantly ignited
and burned with a brilliant and beautifulflame. The light gauze skirts of my
(02:38):
wife spread visibly up in a balloon. Boys shouted Fritz, whose hilarity after
taking the Julipa was always most painfulto me. Your impertinence, I replied
coldly, Maritza, never mind hisimpertinence. Father cried ernest rudely interrupted me.
(03:00):
I turned to reprove him, whenour iguana, who though tame and
well meaning, was notwithstanding at timesvery awkward, rushed hurriedly between my legs.
The result was that I tripped andfell heavily upon a plantation of prickly
pears, which covered the ground veryabundantly. At the foot of the tree,
(03:24):
my children joined hands and danced aboutme, while I, seated upon
the ground, menaced them angrily.I feel just like the fourth of July,
cried little Franz, jumping and clappinghis hands. I rose and was
about to chastise him for his disrespect, when we were all stopped by hearing
(03:47):
loud shrieks of triumph. We turnedaround. Our little bonfire had done its
work, and we beheld the dearmother rising majestically through the air with that
wise forethought which is one of hermost invaluable qualities. She had taken her
bag up with her, out ofwhich ran a long string that was fastened
(04:12):
tightly to a log that lay onthe ground. She soon reached the branches,
which she caught hold of. Let'splay, She's a kite and fly
her, cried Fritz making for thestring. I hastened after him to prevent
such conduct, But his dear motherwas quite equal to the occasion. Just
(04:33):
as he caught hold of the string, she gave it a sudden jerk which
brought the anchoring log up from theground and seated Fritz quickly upon it.
Thus she held him dangling in theair till he was thoroughly frightened and begged
to be forgiven and let down.As I always encouraged any spirit of repentance
(04:57):
that my children showed after miss behaving, I readily forgave him, and our
work went on. My wife produceda derrick from her bag, and also
a number of other useful things forbuilding, such as bricks, mortar,
and ladders. We all went heartilyabout our various duties, and a scaffolding
(05:18):
was soon completed. My wife laidthe foundations and built the house, assisted
by Fritz. Jack and Franz carriedmud, timber and stones up to them.
Ernest painted and decorated the interior,while I seated in a chair below
(05:38):
anxiously superintended operations. In less thana month, our new mansion was complete.
Nor did it need protection from thefierce tropical sun for the season had
advanced, and a beautiful leafy screensheltered us all. We began to think
of a name to call our house. Earnest, with his usual inimitable humor,
(06:02):
suggested the Family Tree, which wasunanimously adopted amid shouts of applause.
It was an ample house with acellar in the main trunk of the tree,
and three entrances in case we shouldbe in a hurry to get in
or out. We had six barebedrooms in case of visitors, gas and
(06:27):
hot water in every story, anelevator, chemical fire extinguishers furnished from the
boilstone cave, a library, diningand sitting rooms, and frieze and dadoes
in every apartment of collars suited toits special character. There was a telephone,
a phonograph, and an electric bellin every room. The last touch
(06:54):
was finished on a Saturday night,and the next day, being Sunday,
we all took a rest, whichwas very grateful, not having any church
to attend. I read my familyselections from my unpublished poems, which affected
them very much. As evening drewon, we all set about various occupations.
(07:17):
I had observed that Fritz had aspecial place where he kept his bottle
of Julipa Adwudiana, and, havingdetermined that it was not good for him
to pay too much attention to suchthings, I procured it for myself and
retired to the top of the tree, where I felt that my meditations would
(07:39):
be undisturbed by the noisy play ofmy children. Here beneath the starry firmament,
I took gastronomical observations. The calmstillness was presently broken by my son
Fritz, who seated upon a lowerlimb of a tree, played us sweet
(08:00):
household melodies on an upright piano thathe had found in a corner of my
wife's bag. Ernest, inspired bythe music, climbed up on another limb
a little higher, and composed poetry, parts of which he occasionally recited aloud.
(08:20):
My wife never forgetful of her householdduties. After having washed our clothes,
fed a young canary we had caughta few days before, Jack,
in order to test the strength ofour new staircase, conscientiously walked up and
down upon it, while my littleFranz had a nice gay game of hide
(08:41):
and go seek at the bottom ofthe tree with our pet iguana, who
had become most useful in keeping thechild in good spirits by means of many
merry pranks of a wholesome and harmlessnature. As I looked down and beheld
through glimpses in the rich tropical foliageof our family tree, my precious little
(09:05):
brood thus happily occupied. I frequentlygave shouts of joy in the midst of
my gastronomical observations, and as Ihad made quite a number by this time,
I concluded I would take a walkin the jungle. So I descended,
and, after having filled my sonFritz's bottle of Julippa adwidiana with some
(09:28):
cool fresh water from a neighboring spring, I replaced it in the spot where
I took it from and continued myway. I had not gone more than
a mile before I heard a strangecry, and on looking about me,
I perceived it came from a finespecimen of the wild jackass. I felt
(09:52):
I had made a great discovery,for this animal, if tamed and trained
for our service, would be muchmore useful in carrying burdens for us than
our iguana. However, well meaninghad hitherto been, since the latter had
a habit of rolling over on hisback, and this he had indulged in
(10:13):
several times when laden with ostrich eggswe had collected after a hard day's work.
How was I to secure the jackass? I hurriedly climbed a low tree
near by, and, aware ofthe great curiosity that wild animals will exhibit,
I struck my watch, a Genevarepeater. Several times. The brute
(10:37):
ceased grazing and pricked up his ears. I continued striking my watch, and
he began to move towards the placethe sound came from. Soon he was
beneath the tree in which I hadconcealed myself, when I suddenly let go
and landed upon his back. Extremesurprise rendered the animal perfectly docile, and
(11:01):
he walked off quietly, with meupon him. I had heard travelers tell
of the treachery of wild jackasses,and had often noticed that the infallible process
to tame them was to bite theirlong and tender ears. So I gently
leaned forward, and, encouraging theanimal with my voice, I seized his
(11:24):
right ear in my teeth and bidit until the blood ran. It was
but the work of a moment.Contrary to my expectations, he kicked violently
and ran away so rapidly that Iwas unable to follow him. After recovering
from the surprise his action had occasionedme, I concluded I would not speak
(11:48):
of this adventure to my family,for fear they should be tempted to try
the same experiment. As I wasrevolving how I should explain the appearance of
my right eye. All thoughts weredriven out of my head by the appearance
of a steamship on the horizon endof chapter five.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal: Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a brand new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-4 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.