Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1853-09-10
miscellaneous.
From the Tang scei ro Ors IN the pres T,.nor Road
ficlls. d rostOii
AETAEUs AND THE pYGMrEs -
nr xArn,Nirl nAmrnorNr.

wonders, there lived an earth born giant, named
An,seUs, and million or more Of cniOus little
ogrth-bcrn people, who wcre called Pyginies.--
TFis eiant and these Pygmies being children Of
tie Nine mother, (thats TO say, our good old
,}ranlmothor Eaith.) were all brethren, and
lqelt tofetaer in alyery friendly end ailcedonate
iaqhner, iai, Er oif in Die mildle 'Of hot Afica.
The l'yeuies were 90 small, and there were Sc
many andy deserts and such high mountains be-
tw6cn them and tlie rest of mankind, that nobod
Seould geta peep at them oftencr than once in 9
trni,lred yours. As for the giant, being Of I
very lofty stature, it was essy enough 10 see him
hut safer 10 keep cut of his sight.
& Among the Pygmies, l suppose, if oneof then
grew TO the height OF six or eight inches, he wa
reconod a prodigiousy tail man. 1t must hav,
been very pretty TO behold their little cities, witt
sgicetsiwo or three feet wide, paved with III
Hhialiest pelbles, and lordered by habitation
about Us big as a squirrels cage. The king
lal,ee. attained to the stupendous magnitude o
si'eriwinkles baby houae, and stood in The centr,
ii u spscious square which could hardly hav,
becn covered by our hcarth.rue. Their prncipa
temple. or cathedral, was as lofty as ycndcr bu
reau, and was locked upon as wonderfully sub
lime and nagniiicenco cdiice. A II these struc
lures were built neither of stone nor wood
They were neatly plastcred together by tht
Pygny wolkmep, pretty much like birds nests
ont ct straw, feathers; cgg.shells and ether small
bits Of stuff, with stiff clay instead Of mortar
anl when the hot sun had dried them, they were
Just rs snug and Comfortable as pygmy could
desire.
The country round about was conveniently
lsa out in fields, the largest Of which was near
ly of the same eNtont as enc of Sweet Fern s
iower-bels. Here the Pygnics used to plant
wheat and other kinds of grain, which, when it
grew up and rpened, over-shadowed these tiny
r1oople, as the pines and the oaks, and the wal
nut and chosnut ees over-shn9ow you and me,
wien we walk, in our own tract of woodland
Atharycst-time they were forced to 90 with their
l:ttle axes and cut down the grain, exactly as a
wocd-cuttcr makes a clearing in the forest; and
when a stalk of wheat with It's over-burdened
top, chanced TO come crashing down upon an un
fortunate Pygmy, it was apt to be a very sad af
fair. If it did not smash him all 10 pieces, at
least am sure, it must have made the poor lit
tie fellows head ache.
And o, my stars if the fathers and mothers
were so small, what must The children and babies
have been? A whole family of them might
have been lut TO bed in Il shoe, or have crept in
&c 81 old glove and played at bide-and-seek in
ita thumb end fingers. You hi sht have hidden
a year-olI baby under thimblc.
row these funny Pygmies, as | told you be-
fore, had giant for their neighbor and brother
vino was bigger if sihle, than they were little
lie was so very tall that he carried pinetree,
which was eight feet through the butt, for a
walking stick 1t took farsighted Pygmy,
can assure you, to discern his summit without
the help OF a telescope; and sometimes in misty
weather, they could not see his upper half, but
fonly his long LEGS, which seemed to be striding
about by themselves. But at noonday, in clear
atmosphere, when the sun shone brightly over
him. the giant Anteus presented very grand
spectacle. There he used to stand, perfect
mountain OF a man. with his great countcnance
smiling down upon his little brothers, and his one
vest eye (Which was as big as a cart-wheel, ant
placed right in the centre of his forehead giving
fritn'ly wink to the whole nation at once.
Che Pygmies loved to talk with Antaus; aut
Fly times g day, one or another Of them woul,
tam up his head, and shout through the hollow
If lis hsls, ''ilailoo, brother Anteus How
arc you my good fellow" And when th,
small, distant squeak of their voices reached hi
car, the giant would make answer, 'Pretty well
brother pygmy, l thank YOU" in thunderou
roar, that would have shaken down the walls O
their strongest temple, only that it came from So
FIR aloft
it was a happy circumstance that Artmu.
was the Pygmy peoples friend; for there was
more strength in his little finger than in ter
millions Of such bodies as theirs. II he hat
ieen as ill-naturcd to them as he was to ever,
body else, he might have beaten down their big
Gcst city at one kick, and hardly have know
hat he did it. With the tornado of his breath
he could have stripped the roofs from hundred
dwellings, and sent thousands of the inhabitant.
whriing through the air. He might have Sc
his Immense footupon a multitude, and when ht
took itup again there would have been pitfu
sight, to be sure But being the son of Mother
Earth, as they Likewise were the giant gave
thcn his brotherly Kindness, and loved then
with as big love as it was possible to feel fo
creatures so very small AnJ on their parts
the Pysn,ies loved An,eus with as much aifcc
tion as their tiny hearts could hold. lie wa
always ready to do them any good offices tha
lay in his power: as for example, when the,
wanted breeze 10 turn their windmills, th
giant would set all the sails a-going, with tn
mere natural respiration Of his lungs Whel
the sun was too b It, he often sat himself down
and let his shadow fail oyer the kingdom, from
one frontier to the other; and as for matters il
general, he was wise enough to let them alone
and leave the Pygmies to manage their own af
fairs-which, after all IS abont the best thing
that great people can do for little ones
In short, as ] said before, Antnus loved the
Pygniiea, and the Pygmies loved Anteus The
giants life being as long as his body was large
wniic the lifetime Of a Pygmy was bus a span
iiils iiaendly intercourse had been going on fol
mnumerabie generations and ages. Itwas writ
ten abeni IN the Pygny histories, and talked
;.apolt IN their ancient traditions. Tho most ven
cradle ana .Hhite-bearded Pygny had never
heard OF time, even in his greatest Of grand
fathers days, when the giant was not their e
nor49us friend; Once, to be sure, las was re
corded en- an obeiisk three feet high, erected on
the place of the catastrophe.) An,cns AT dow
uponaboas Eve Thousand Pygmies who we're as
senbied at a military review, but this was on,
OF those unlucky accidents for which nobody wa
-1tofelalne; SO that the small folks never took
70 heart, and only requested the giant to b
careful ever afterwards to examine the acre {
ground where he intended to squat himself.
1t is a yerYipleasinoi r1icture 10 i'm nine A nta