The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1873-08-28
THE COMET.

And the comet came, with luminous
head, and threatening his fiery tail. 1t
was gazed at from palace to cot, by the
crowd upon the street and the lonely
wanderer over the painless heath; and
each Of all the gazers had his own
thoughts about it. "Come and see the
sign in the sky 7" were words on the lips
of all, and all hastened td see.
But in the house little boy was sit
ting quietly with his mother; the tai
low candle was burning, and the moth
er thought she perceived a "shaying"
in the light The tallow had raised in
a point, and formed curl, which, as
Ehe thought, signiGed that her little
boy would die, for the shaving turned
towards him. It was an old supersti-
ton, and she believed it. But the lit
tie boy was to live many days upon the
earth +; live to see the comet when, after
more than sixty years, it should reap
pear. -
The little boy did not see the omen
in the Light, nor did he see the comet
which now, for the first time in his
life, was shining from heaven. He
was sitting with mended bowl con-
tanning soap-suds, into which he was
dipping clay pipe, then putting the
stem TO his mouth and blowing off bub-
bles, little and big, they waved and
scared in -mest-beautifuI colors, chang
ing from yellow to red, lilac and blue,
and then --T,aao,,f,srr. r,raan IiIrn. .hl,,n
forest leaf, transparent in the sunlight.
" God grant you years upon earth as
numerous. as the soap-bubbles you,
blow !" said his mother. L So
$50 many so many !" said the lit
tie boy. "The suds can never be
blown up r. and the little one blew bub-
bic after bubble. C''There goes. a year /
See how they fly, " said he as each bub--
BILE foated away A couple of them
went directly into his eyes, giving him
pain and bringing tears In each bub-
bic he had vision of the future, shi-
ming, gittering, 1--.r -gT1E.Er
''We can SEQ the cometp' called the
neighbors. go come out; don't sit
in there I"
And the mother took the little boy by
the hand he had to lay away the pipe,
the soap-bubble toy the comet was
there, and the little one saw the shining
ball with the fiery tail. Some said it
seemed to be three yards long others
that it was millions OF yards. !, people
see differently.
Tbs11-,s, ,,1 II. Il
may be dead before it comes again,
said the people, and the most of those
who said it were dead and gone when it
came again, but the little boy, for
whom the shaving stood in the candle,
and concerning, whom the. mother
thought che will soon diel" lived yet,
was old and white-haired. The old
adage. says that white hair is the
blossom of old age r and with him the
blossom was profuse he was now un
old school-master. His pupils spoke
of him as wise, knowing so much of his
tory, geography, and astronomy
''All things return, he said "only
set your mark upon characters and
transactions, and you will always find
the same again, in some other dress,
some other country. - ~ @ 49,
And the sohool-master told them of
William Tell, who was compelled to
shoot an apple from the head of his
son but before shooting had concealed
upon his breast another arrow, with
which to pierce the breast of the
wicked Gesler In Switzerland this
occurred, but many years before the
same transpired in Denmark with Pail
-matoke. He, too, was compelled to
shoot an apple from the head of his
son, and, like Tell. concealed an arrow
with which to take revenge; and
further back, more than thousand
years, the same event is recorded as
having trFuspired in Egypt; the same
events feappesr as do the comets they
disappear, remain . while away, and
then come back again. ...... p. ID.
And he told of the comet, now ex-
peoted, the comet which he had seen
when he was a little boy, The school
master knew much about the heavenly
bodies, meditated upon them, and yet
did not forget history and geography.
He had laid out his garden in the
shape of the map of Denmark. Here
herbs and flowers were arranged ac-
cording to the adaptation of soil in diff
ferent parts Of the country. q Bring
me peas - and these were brought
from the bed that represented Holland
Bring me buclSwheat" and this was
brought from Langeland. The beauti-
ful blue gentian and s,yeet-willow were
20 be found up at Skagen; the ulossy
christhorn over at Slkeborg. The
towns were signihed as enlblems. Here
was ST. Canute with the dragon, signi-
flying Odense Absalon, With a bishop
stat, signifying Soro; and little YES
sci with oars CAarer) signifed Aarhus.
From the sohool-master's garden one
could learn quite well the geography
of Denmark, but of course he must be
instructed by the selool-master, who
was SO Agreeable, E
The comet was expected. and con
cerning it he told what people Of old
days, when it was last here, had said.
The comet is a good wine year" he
said . water may be mixed with it
without being perceptible. Wine dea-
lers like comet years. ~ -
During fourteen days and nights the
sky was clouded, and the comet OBJ
scure5; but it was there. The old
schooi-master was sitting in his cham
Der close by the sohool-rOona, The
Bornholm clock, which had belonged
10 his ohildhood's home, stood IN the
corner, the ieaden weights neither ri
sing nor iRlling, the pendulnm ppbon,
less the little cuckoo, which had form
erly come forward cuekooing each
hour, remained back in its place silent ;
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