. DISSERTATION ON ROAST PIG. [INTRODUCTION.-The subjoined piece is one of the Essays of Elia, under which pseudonym Lamb contributed to the London Magazine this charming series of papers. Says Sir T. N. Talfourd: “They are carefully elaborated; yet never were works written in a higher defiance to the conventional pomp of style. A sly hit, a happy pun, a humorous combination, lets the light into the intricacies of the subject, and supplies the place of ponderous sentences."] 1. Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to me, for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw, clawing or biting it from the living animal, just as they do in Abyssinia to this day. This ⚫ period is not obscurely hinted at by their great Confucius in the 5 second chapter of his Mundane Mutations, where he designates a kind of golden age by the term Cho-fang, literally the cooks' holiday. The manuscript goes on to say that the art of roasting, or rather broiling (which I take to be the elder brother), was accidentally discovered in the manner following. 10 2. The swine-herd Ho-ti, having gone out into the woods one morning, as his manner was, to collect mast* for his hogs, left his cottage in the care of his eldest son, Bo-bo, a great lubberly boy. who, being fond of playing with fire, as younkers of his age commonly are, let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw, 15 which kindling quickly, spread the conflagration over every part of their poor mansion, till it was reduced to ashes. Together with the cottage (a sorry antediluvian makeshift of a building, you may think it), what was of much more importance, a fine litter of new-farrowed pigs, no less than nine in number, perished. a LITERARY ANALYSIS.-To what class of compositions does this piece belong? Ans. To the Essay.-What are the chief characteristics of the piece? Ans. They are raciness and humor. 1-10. Mankind... following. By what means does Lamb give an appearance of truthfulness to the narrative? 2, 3. seventy thousand ages. The claims of the Chinese to a vast antiquity give point to this remarkable number. 9. the elder brother. What is the figure of speech? (See Def. 20.) 11-17. The swine-herd... ashes. What kind of sentence, grammatically and rhetorically? 14. younkers. Etymology? 17-20. Together... perished. What kind of sentence rhetorically? 2C China pigs have been esteemed a luxury all over the East from the remotest periods that we read of. Bo-bo was in the utmost consternation, as you may think, not so much for the sake of the tenement, which his father and he could easily build up again with a few dry branches and the labor of an hour or two, at any 25 time, as for the loss of the pigs. * 3. While he was thinking what he should say to his father, and wringing his hands over the smoking remnants of one of those untimely sufferers, an odor assailed his nostrils unlike any scent which he had before experienced. What could it proceed from? 30 Not from the burned cottage-he had smelled that smell before; indeed, this was by no means the first accident of the kind which had occurred through the negligence of this unlucky young* firebrand. Much less did it resemble that of any known herb, weed, or flower. A premonitory moistening at the same time 35 overflowed his nether lip. He knew not what to think. He next stooped down to feel the pig, if there were any signs of life in it. He burned his fingers, and to cool them he applied them, in his booby fashion, to his mouth. Some of the crumbs of the scorched skin had come away with his fingers, and for the first time 40 in his life (in the world's life indeed, for before him no man had known it) he tasted-crackling! 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 45 smelled so, and the pig that tasted so delicious; and, surrendering himself up to the new-born pleasure, he fell to tearing up whole handfuls of the scorched skin with the flesh next it, LITERARY ANALYSIS. words. 29, 30. an odor... experienced. Express in other 36. He knew not what to think. What kind of sentence grammatically? 36, 37. He next... it. Is this mode of statement better than "He next stooped down to feel if there were any signs of life in the pig?"-if. Is this the proper conjunction? 39. booby. Etymology? 41. in the world's life. What effect does Lamb gain by making the dis covery of crackling an epoch in the "world's life?" 42. he tasted—crackling! What is gained by the use of the dash here? 46. delicious. Grammatical construction? and was cramming it down his throat in his beastly fashion, when his sire entered amid the smoking rafters, armed with re- 50 tributory cudgel, and, finding how affairs stood, began to rain blows upon the young rogue's shoulders as thick as hailstones, which Bo-bo heeded not any more than if they had been flies. The tickling pleasure which he experienced in his lower regions had rendered him quite callous to any inconveniences he might 55 feel in those remote quarters. His father might lay on, but he could not beat him from his pig till he had fairly made an end of it, when, becoming a little more sensible of his situation, something like the following dialogue ensued: "You graceless whelp, what have you got there devouring? 60 Is it not enough that you have burned me down three houses with your dog's tricks, and be hanged to you! 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 6 the burnt pig eats!" 4. The ears of Ho-ti tingled with horror. He cursed his son, and he cursed himself that ever he should beget a son that should eat burnt pig. Bo-bo, whose scent was wonderfully sharpened since morning, soon raked out another pig, and, fair- 70 ly rending it asunder, thrust the lesser half by main force into the fists of Ho-ti, still shouting out, "Eat, eat, eat the burnt pig, father! only taste!-O Lord!"-with such-like barbarous ejaculations, cramming all the while as if he would choke. 5. Ho-ti trembled in every joint while he grasped the abomina- 75 ble* 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 rem LITERARY ANALYSIS. -53. which Bo-bo... flies. Transfer this clause to the next sentence, making necessary verbal alterations: the unity of each sentence will thus be better preserved. 60. devouring. Grammatical construction? 61. me an example of the ethical dative. 66. eats. Remark on the form of expression. 75, 76. abominable thing. Why this expression?-Give the derivation of "abominable." 77. for. What is the force of the preposition here? edy to them, he in his turn tasted some of its flavor, which, make what sour mouths he would for a pretence, proved not altogeth- 80 er 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 despatched all that remained of the litter. 6. Bo-bo was strictly enjoined not to let the secret escape, for 85 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 yo from this time forward. Some would break out in broad day, others in the night-time. As often as the sow farrowed, so sure was the house of Ho-ti to be in a blaze; 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 95 they were watched, the terrible mystery discovered, and father and son summoned to take their trial at Pekin, then an inconsiderable assize town. 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 burned 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 105 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 simultaneous verdict of Not Guilty. 100 7. The judge, who was a shrewd fellow, winked✶ at the mani- 110 fest iniquity of the decision; and when the court was dismissed LITERARY ANALYSIS.-85-109. Bo-bo... Guilty. Point out the humorous touches in paragraph 6. 90, 91. Nothing... forward. What is the effect of the omission of the verb ? IIO. who... fellow. What kind of clause is this, and what word does it modify?-winked. What is the figure of speech? went privily 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 fire in every direction; fuel and pigs 115 grew enormously dear all over the district. 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 120 my manuscript, a sage arose, like our Locke, who made a discovery 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 125 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. 8. Without placing too implicit faith in the account above 130 given, it must be agreed that if a worthy pretext for so dangerous an experiment as setting houses on fire (especially in these days) could be assigned in favor of any culinary object, that pretext and excuse might be found in ROAST PIG. 9. Of all the delicacies in the whole mundus edibilis, I will 135 maintain it to be the most delicate-princeps obsoniorum. I speak not of your grown porkers-things between pig and pork, NOTES. Line 135. mundus edib'ilis, 136. princeps obsoniorum, prince of literally the edible world, the viands. (Obsoniorum, genitive whole range of things eatable. plural of obsonium.) LITERARY ANALYSIS.—114. took wing. Explain the expression. 116. The insurance, etc. Point out the element of humor. 117. shut up shop. 126. By such, etc. Remark on the expression. Observe how the drollery of the history is heightened by the solemnity of this remark. 132, 133. Why "especially in these days?" 135-143. Of all... grunt. In this paragraph by what device does the author add a ludicrous dignity to his subject? |