how pantagruel with his darts kills a monster which cannon-balls could not hurt.—the power of the sign of the cross.
about sundown of the day when the fleet left ruach, as they were coming near wild island, pantagruel's keen eye spied, far off, a huge whale, which, raised above the waters higher than the maintop, came straight towards the fleet, blowing and spouting from its horrid nostrils so high a stream of water that it seemed to be a swollen river rushing down a mountain's side.
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pantagruel spies a monster.
pantagruel pointed out the whale to the pilot and to xenomanes. james brayer was the first one to give advice, and his advice was always worth listening to. what he advised was that the trumpets of the thalmege should be sounded so as to warn all the fleet to stand close, and look to themselves. at this alarm, every ship, galleon, frigate, and brigantine (according to naval discipline) placed itself in such order as to form the greek y,—the flag-ship being in the centre. this proved that james brayer, while being a good sailor, had been landsman enough sometimes to watch cranes fly in the air. for the letter y is just the figure that the cranes in their journeys—the leader always being in front—choose in winging their long or short ways across the sky.
of course the first one to get on the forecastle, where he could have a word with the grenadiers, was friar john! brave friar john! he was the right-hand where anything strong or good was to be done. as to panurge, he began to cry and howl at the top of his voice. "boo! boo! boo! this is a worse business than that of the other day," he blubbered, shrugging up his shoulders and shivering in his fright. "that frightful thing over there is the horrid leviathan job spoke of! i am sure he is coming to swallow us all up, ships, sails, men and all, like so many pills. ah! friends, let's escape the monster. the land is near; let us go on shore!"
"panurge," said pantagruel, turning round, "all thou hast to do is to trust to me. have no fear; i shall do its business presently."
"oh, your highness knows well enough that i am never afraid except when there is danger! boo! boo! boo!"
while panurge was whimpering, the monster had got fairly into the greek y made by the fleet. it was the whale which began the fight. the moment it found itself inside the angle, and saw the ships on each side of it, it wheeled around and began to spout water by whole tons upon them. then it was that the ships took up the war. they all set to work as though they were mad, to hurl against the whale on every side arrows, spears, darts, javelins, and harpoons. never had there been seen such a storm of deadly weapons whistling through the air at one time.
you may be sure that friar john did not spare himself.
panurge nearly died from fright.
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shooting at the whale.
the artillery belched out largest balls; but they didn't do the least harm. all they did was to strike the monster's tough, black hide and slant off. when he saw how so much good powder was being wasted, pantagruel thought it was high time for him to keep his promise to panurge. he had, when a boy, a great name for throwing darts, javelins, and such missiles. there was not a man around the royal palace of utopia who had not seen, more than once, his wonderful skill in dart-throwing; for, with his immense darts, which were so large that they looked very much like the huge beams that support the bridges of nantes and saumur and bergerac, he used, standing a mile off, to open an oyster without breaking its shell; snuff a candle without putting it out; shoot a magpie in the eye; and he had even been known to turn over leaf after leaf of friar john's breviary, and not tear one of them. pantagruel had already found out that there was a fine store of darts in the ship, and he ordered a good supply to be laid on the deck before him. with the first dart, hurled with a mighty force, he struck the whale so furiously in the head that he pierced both its jaws and its tongue, making one piece of the three.
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pantagruel tries his hand.
this was a great victory. the monster could not spurt any more.
with the second dart he put out its right eye.
with the third he put out its left.
then everybody began to crowd around to look in safety at the whale, which, if it had not been for the giant's darts, might have ended in drowning the whole fleet, but which was now rolling and staggering about on the waves, stunned and blinded. the creature was still alive, and might yet do some harm; and so pantagruel, who was watching every movement, threw out a fourth dart, which struck it under the tail. then the giant began to hurl his darts, one after another, on each side of the black hide, not wildly, but with the same care and skill with which he had once turned the leaves of friar john's breviary. fifty darts struck it on one side. fifty darts more struck it on the other side. this was too much for the monster. it turned on its greasy back, as all dead fishes do, and floated without motion, looking, with the beams and darts upside down in the water, like a gigantic centipede crawling on the sea, with the tips of its hundred feet just showing, every now and then, above the surface of the waves.
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the death of the monster.
just as soon as the whale was seen to be floating, james brayer shouted, "a boat's crew, to bring yonder carcass to the island!"
in a trice a boat manned by strong men, and filled with harpoons, was towing the whale towards wild island. the giant himself took no notice of all this; but, having seen from the deck a small deserted seaport towards the south, he fixed on a fine, pleasant grove near it, as a good place to pitch tent and have a gay time after their victory. once there, friar john, who was near his side, at a word from the giant, rang the bell for supper. pantagruel took to eating cheerfully with his men. of a sudden, fierce cries were heard from the forest, a half mile or so back from the little grove.
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landing the monster.
"what is that?" asked pantagruel of xenomanes.
"only the wild creatures, sir, who have given this wild island its name. some say they are demons. by raising your head you may see them over the hill in yonder thicket."
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on wild island.
pantagruel, without further word, rushed from the table to scour the thicket. the whole company rose and followed him. it was not long before he had, with great strides, reached the top of the ridge, whence he could see a dark line, unbroken, save here and there by black banners, of gigantic forms half lost in the shadows of the thicket. the moment the dark shapes saw pantagruel on the ridge, they began to utter loud cries, and more than one mighty form stepped out from the line to threaten. but when friar john, xenomanes, and the rest appeared on the ridge, a howl of defiance broke from the thicket. the dark masses seemed beside themselves with rage, and all at once the line was broken.
"by my faith," said pantagruel, "they are demons, xenomanes! look, they have wings, and their wings are as black as their banners!"
this was true. the dark masses had only broken so as to give themselves space to raise their wings in triumph at seeing so many wretched mortals ready for destruction. often and often had crews, thrown by shipwreck upon wild island, reached the shore and had never been heard of more.
"these are demons; bless us, friar john," whispered pantagruel. "what can sinful men do against them?"
and, even while saying this, and without knowing it, the prayerful giant was making the sign of the cross.
at the sacred sign there was, of a sudden, a lifting of black banners. then, with a flapping of heavy wings, a great stir of mighty bodies leaving the thickets and rising into the air; the dark masses came sweeping over the very ridge where pantagruel was, on their way to the sea, casting a blacker shadow than the coming night, shrieking and wailing as they passed.
from that blessed day, shipwrecked sailors have wandered in safety through the forest, and never met a demon.
for wild island is wild no more.