Again he felt and fumbled at the pig. It did not burn him so much now; still he licked his fingers from a sort of habit. The truth at length broke into his slow understanding, that it was the pig that smelled so, and the pig that tasted so delicious. Surrendering himself up to the new-born pleasure, he fell to tearing up whole handfuls of the scorched skin with the flesh next it, and was cramming it down his throat when his sire entered amid the smoking rafters, armed with a cudgel, and finding how affairs stood, began to rain blows upon the young rogue's shoulders, as thick as hailstones, which Bo-bo heeded no more than if they had been flies. The tickling pleasure which he experienced in his lower regions made him quite indifferent to any inconvenience he might feel on his shoulders. His father might lay on, but he could not beat him from the pig, till he had fairly made an end of it, when, becoming a little more sensible to his situation, something like the following dialogue ensued:

"You graceless boy, what have you got there devouring? Is it not enough that you have burned me down three houses with your tricks, but you must be eating fire, and I know not what; what have you got there, I say?"

"O father, the pig, the pig! Do come and taste how nice the burnt pig eats."

The ears of Ho-ti tingled with horror. He cursed his son, and he cursed himself that ever he should have a son that should eat burnt pig.

Bo-bo, whose scent was wonderfully sharpened since morning, soon raked out another pig, and fairly rending it asunder, thrust the smaller half into the fists of Ho-ti, still shouting, "Eat, eat, eat the burnt pig, father, only taste" with suchlike barbarous ejaculations, cramming all the while as if he would choke.

Ho-ti trembled in every joint while he grasped the abominable thing, wavering whether he should not put his son to death for an unnatural young monster, when the crackling scorching his fingers, as it had done his son's, and applying the same remedy to them, he in his turn tasted some of its flavor, which, make what sour mouths he would for a pretense, proved not altogether displeasing to him. In conclusion (for the manuscript here

is a little tedious) both father and son fairly sat down to the mess, and never left off till they had eaten all that remained of the litter.

Bo-bo was strictly ordered not to let the secret escape, for the neighbors would certainly have stoned them for a couple of abominable wretches, who could think of improving upon the good meat which God had sent them. Nevertheless, strange stories got about. It was observed that Ho-ti's cottage was burned down now more frequently than ever. Nothing but fires from this time forward. Some would break out in broad day, others in the night-time; and Ho-ti himself, which was the more remarkable, instead of chastising his son, seemed to grow more indulgent to him than ever.

At length they were watched, the terrible mystery discovered, and father and son summoned to take their trial at Pekin. Evidence was given, the obnoxious food itself produced in court, and verdict about to be pronounced, when the foreman of the jury begged that some of the burnt pig, of which the culprits stood accused, might be handed into the box.

He handled it, and they all handled it; and burning their fingers, as Bo-bo and his father had done before them, and nature prompting to each of them the same remedy, against the face of all the facts, and the clearest charge which judge had ever given

to the surprise of the whole court, townsfolk, strangers, reporters, and all present — without leaving the box, or any manner of consultation whatever, they brought in a unanimous verdict of Not Guilty.

The judge, who was a shrewd fellow, winked at the manifest iniquity of the decision, and, when the court was dismissed, went privately and bought up all the pigs that could be had for love or money. In a few days His Lordship's town house was observed to be on fire. The thing took wing, and now there was nothing to be seen but fires in every direction. Fuel and pigs grew enormously dear all over the districts. The insurance offices one and all shut up shop. People built slighter and slighter every day, until it was feared that the very science of architecture would in no long time be lost to the world.

Thus this custom of firing houses continued, till in process of time, says my manuscript, a sage arose who discovered that the

flesh of swine, or indeed of any other animal, might be cooked (burnt, as they called it) without the necessity of consuming a whole house to dress it. Then first began the rude form of a gridiron. Roasting by the string, or spit, came in a century or two later, I forget in whose dynasty. By such slow degrees, concludes the manuscript, do the most useful, and seemingly the most obvious, arts make their way among mankind.

Without placing too great faith in the account above given, it must be agreed that if a worthy pretext for so dangerous an experiment as setting houses on fire could be given in favor of any culinary object, that pretext and excuse might be found in Roast Pig. Of all the delicacies in the whole edible world, I will maintain it to be the most delicate.

CLASS ACTIVITIES

1. Is this a true story? Give reasons for your answer.

2. Why was Ho-ti horrified at Bo-bo's eating burnt pig? Explain the charges on which he and his son were tried.

3. Explain why Lamb selected China as the scene for the story. Would the United States have served as well? Why?

4. Find details in the last three paragraphs which impress you as absurd. Why did Lamb include them?

5. If this is not a true story, tell how it suggests truly one of the ways in which our ancestors slowly learned how to use the forces and materials of nature.

6. What is your favorite food? Tell how you came to like it.

7. Compare the humor of this selection with that in Lamb's "The Housekeeper," Book One, p. 72, and with Jerome K. Jerome's "Hanging a Picture," Book One, p. 52.

8. Word study: manuscript, consternation, untimely, nether, booby, crackling, ejaculation, abominable, obnoxious, indulgent, sage, obvious, pr text, culinary.

9. Volunteer compositions: Members of the class try to write imaginative themes on the following topics:

a. Apple dumplings.

b. Fried spring chicken.

c. Jelly rolls.

d. Chocolate cake.

e. Cherry cobblers.

f. Pie à la mode.

10. Volunteer reading: Several pupils volunteer to read the following essays

by Charles Lamb and then tell the class about them:

a. A Chapter on Ears.

c. Complaint on the Decay of Beggars.

b. The Praise of Chimney Sweepers.

d. Dream Children.

3. THE OPEN FIRE

HENRY VAN DYKE

Man is the animal that has made friends with the fire.

All the other creatures, in their natural state, are afraid of it. They look upon it with wonder and dismay. A flame fascinates them sometimes, with its glittering eyes, in the night. The squirrels and the hares come pattering softly toward it through the underbrush around the new camp. The deer stands staring into the blaze while the hunter's canoe creeps through the lilypads.

But the charm that masters them is one of dread, not of love. It is the witchcraft of the serpent's look. When they know what it means, when the heat of the fire touches them, or even when its smell comes clearly to their most delicate sense, they recognize it as their enemy, the Wild Huntsman whose red hounds can follow, follow for days without wearying, growing stronger and more furious with every turn of the chase. Let but a trail of smoke drift down the wind across the forest, and all the game for miles and miles will catch the signal for fear and flight.

Many of the animals have learned how to make houses for themselves. The cabane of the beaver is a wonder of neatness. and comfort, much preferable to the wigwam of his Indian hunter. The muskrat knows how thick and high to build the dome of his waterside cottage, in order to protect himself against the frost of the coming winter and the floods of the following spring. The woodchuck's house has two or three doors; and the squirrel's dwelling is provided with a good bed and a convenient storehouse for nuts and acorns. The sportive otters have a toboggan-slide in front of their residence; and the moose in winter make a "yard," where they can take exercise comfortably and find shelter for sleep. But one thing is lacking in all these various dwellings a fireplace.

Man is the only creature that dares to light a fire and to live with it. The reason? Because he alone has learned how to put it out.

It is true that two of man's humbler friends have been con

verted to fire-worship. The dog and the cat, being half-humanized, have begun to love the fire. I suppose that a cat seldom comes so near to feeling a true sense of affection as when she has finished her saucer of bread and milk, and stretched herself luxuriously underneath the kitchen stove, while her faithful mistress washes up the dishes.

As for a dog, I am sure that his admiring love for his master is never greater than when they come in together from the hunt, wet and tired, and the man gathers a pile of wood in front of the tent, touches it with a tiny magic wand, and suddenly the clear, consoling flame springs up, saying cheerfully: "Here we are, at home in the forest; come into the warmth; rest, and eat, and sleep." When the weary, shivering dog sees this miracle, he knows that his master is a great man and a lord of things.

After all, that is the only real open fire. Wood is the fuel for it. Out-of-doors is the place for it. A furnace is an underground prison for a toiling slave. A stove is a cage for a tame bird. Even a broad hearthstone and a pair of glittering andirons — the best ornament of a room must be accepted as an imitation of the real thing. The veritable open fire is built in the open, with the whole earth for a fireplace and the sky for a chimney.

CLASS ACTIVITIES

1. Why is man the only animal that does not fear the fire? Name some other natural force regarded by man as a friend. Is the force you have named feared by the lower animals? Explain.

2. How is fire a "Wild Huntsman whose red hounds can follow, follow for days without wearying"?

3. What does the author think is the main difference between the home of man and the homes of the lower animals? How is this difference illustrated in "Home," Book One, p. 4?

4. According to the author, when is the admiration of a dog for his master at its height? Why should this be so?

5. Describe the author's idea of an ideal fire. Explain his notion of a furnace; a stove; a fireplace.

6. Volunteer readings: Read and report on the following selections in The Van Dyke Book:

a. "How to Start a Fire in the Open" (pp. 32-33).

b. "The Camp-Fire" (pp. 33-35).

c. "The Little Friendship Fire" (pp. 35-37).