CHRONICLES OF LILLIPUT.
Chapter hi. And behold in those days it so happened that the scribe of the chronicles of the city foretold of gold being found in the hills and in the valleys of Keraraea and of Mouterc, which were nigh unto the city, and great excitement prevailed in the streets and in the dwellings of the people, and the merchant princes were glad thereat exceedingly. And then did they say unto each other, /'Now shall we be greater thau in the days of our forefathers, and our name shall be known unto the other nations for our riches and our splendour and our palaces, and our hays aud our harbors shall be filled with the ships of the traders of the earth, and great shall be the people of Lilliput." Aud it so happened about this time that there was in the city one Milesius, a j builder of drains and of sewers and of channels and of divers cunning works, who was a Shechamite, and not beloved of the tribe of Ideuticus, and who was pleasant of feature and a son of Anak, who employed the workers in stone and in brick miml in mortar, and builded a drain the like of which had uot beeu seen in the city ; and the people were amazed, aud shouted, saying, "Great are the works of Milesius, and cunning is the work of his hands !" And when the work of Milesius, the cunning man iv bricks and in mortar and iv stone, had been finished, then did the people make merry ; and on the twentj'- fourth 'lay of the fifth moon, in the first year of the reign of Cuvtisius the Tetrarch, did the mighty hosts aud guardians of the city gather together from
the north. and the south and the cast and the west, and from the schools and the colleges aud far-oil places in the streets thereof; and the)' were apparelled iv blue aud in white and in red aud in silver and in many-colored raiment, ami a goodly multitude were they all, such as had not been seen within the city since the days of Greyius the Governor, and they were strong, and (hey wore powerful, and they were noble, and they were active like unto the roes upon the mountain tops, and they were "warlike, eveu like unto the warriors of old. And they paraded the streets of the city to the sound of the life and the drum and the vyrnbals and the tabor, and of divers kinds o! music, and the women of the cit.y who were kind and good and pure and beautiful, and whose countenances were fair like unto the lily aud the rose, and whose raiment was of silk, and of damask, and of costly stuifs, did shine in the sunshine of Lilliput, and they made a mighty multitude, goodly to behold, aud they mingled together in the highways of the city aud lifted up their voices shouting "Long live the hosts of the city, long live our soldiers, aud our guardians, and our mighty men of war," and they made merry, and joy was in their faces aud pleasure in their bosoms, aud great was the happiness of the wives aud of the daughters and of all the women which were in Lilliput. Now Petrus the son of Tavishius, who was a money changer and a Shechamite, and whose riches in gold aud in silver and in divers other metals were plentiful as the saud on the seashore, who was a friend of the miner and of the poor and of the artizan, and of all the dwellers iv Lilliput, aud who was a descendant of them that dwelt iv Scotia, and who was tall and stroug aud powerful, and a captain in the hosts of the Tetrarch, came forth in the fnll glory of his strength and his power, in gorgeous array came he forth, and he said unto himself' "Verily there is none like unto me; none is there like unto Petrus the son of Tavishius, no gold is like unto my gold, no trappings like unto my trappings, and no dwelling like unto my dwelling.'-' .And then with the pride of the great and the brave marched he at the head of the hosts of Lilliput. Then did Pittius, the scribe of the law, chosen of the people and a captain of the host, smile upon the people even with a warlike smile and was glad exceedingly. And Wigzelius, a man at arms, radiaut of visage and noble of bearing, but humble of mind and generous of heart, which was beloved of the sons of the people which were in the army, and was also a captain of the hosts of Lilliput, joined he with Pittius the scribe of the law, and with Petrus the son of Tavishius, and with Movsius, the centurion of the hosts, calm as the conqueror of a thousand fights, and theu marched they their troops to the Square of Victory, which is outside the city, eveu on the south-west side thereof, thither marched they them, and there did they meet the barbarians from the parts which are beyond the great river, even the river Waimea, and also them which dwelt iv the valleys which are over against the sea, in the district which is called in the native tongue Hokipoki, exceeding mighty and valiant were they in battle. Then did they fire their guns and their cannons, until the earth quaked again, and great was the noise in Lilliput. And the merchant princes of the city came forth iv chariots and on horses and on asses and on mules, aud were glad with the hosts of the Tetrarch, yea, even so did Johnstonius, the judge aud lawgiver of the people, and the writer of a book of the laws which were in the country, for which the people did pay unto him four thousand pieces of gold, notwithstanding the eighty faults found in the book of laws which Johnstouius the judge and lawgiver of the people did write, yea, mingled even he with the multitude, and they all made merry, aud many went uuto the house of Evevettius the publican, and there drank they of the gin and of the beer and of the braudy, until they were heated and cared for no one in Lilliput. And in the evening did the men of arms and the women and the wives and the daughters, and the good and the virtuous that knew no blemish but were pure like unto the snow which standeth on the hill taps, meet in the great hall of the judges which is in the city, and there to the sound of the harp and the lute and the clarion and divers other instruments did they dance and make merry, eveu uuto daylight, , and sweet were the pleasures of Lilliput.
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Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 121, 27 May 1867, Page 2
Word Count
1,152CHRONICLES OF LILLIPUT. Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 121, 27 May 1867, Page 2
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