Chapter XIX

by Herman Melville

　　With a dull flambeau, we now descended some narrow stone steps, to view Oh-Oh's collection of ancient and curious manuscripts, preserved in a vault.

　　"This way, this way, my masters," cried Oh-Oh, aloft, swinging his dim torch. "Keep your hands before you; it's a dark road to travel."

　　"So it seems," said Babbalanja, wide-groping, as he descended lower and lower. "My lord this is like going down to posterity."

　　Upon gaining the vault, forth flew a score or two of bats, extinguishing the flambeau, and leaving us in darkness, like Belzoni deserted by his Arabs in the heart of a pyramid. The torch at last relumed, we entered a tomb-like excavation, at every step raising clouds of dust; and at last stood before long rows of musty, mummyish parcels, so dingy-red, and so rolled upon sticks, that they looked like stiff sausages of Bologna; but smelt like some fine old Stilton or Cheshire.

　　Most ancient of all, was a hieroglyphical Elegy on the Dumps, consisting of one thousand and one lines; the characters,—herons, weeping-willows, and ravens, supposed to have been traced by a quill from the sea-noddy.

　　Then there were plenty of rare old ballads:—

　　    "King Kroko, and the Fisher Girl."

　　    "The Fight at the Ford of Spears."

　　    "The Song of the Skulls."

　　And brave old chronicles, that made Mohi's mouth water:—

　　    "The Rise and Setting of the Dynasty of Foofoo."

　　    "The Heroic History of the Noble Prince Dragoni; showing

　　        how he killed ten Pinioned Prisoners with his Own Hand."

　　    "The whole Pedigree of the King of Kandidee, with that of his

　　        famous horse, Znorto."

　　And Tarantula books:—

　　    "Sour Milk for the Young, by a Dairyman."

　　    "The Devil adrift, by a Corsair."

　　    "Grunts and Groans, by a Mad Boar."

　　    "Stings, by a Scorpion."

　　And poetical productions:—

　　    "Suffusions of a Lily in a Shower."

　　    "Sonnet on the last Breath of an Ephemera."

　　    "The Gad-fly, and Other Poems."

　　And metaphysical treatises:—

　　    "Necessitarian not Predestinarian."

　　    "Philosophical Necessity and Predestination One Thing and The

　　        Same."

　　    "Whatever is not, is."

　　    "Whatever is, is not."

　　And scarce old memoirs:—

　　    "The One Hundred Books of the Biography of the Great and

　　        Good King Grandissimo."

　　    "The Life of old Philo, the Philanthropist, in one Chapter."

　　And popular literature:—

　　    "A most Sweet, Pleasant, and Unctuous Account of the Manner

　　        in which Five-and-Forty Robbers were torn asunder by

　　        Swiftly-Going Canoes."

　　And books by chiefs and nobles:—

　　    "The Art of Making a Noise in Mardi."

　　    "On the Proper Manner of Saluting a Bosom Friend."

　　    "Letters from a Father to a Son, inculcating the Virtue of Vice."

　　    "Pastorals by a Younger Son."

　　    "A Catalogue of Chieftains who have been Authors, by a Chieftain,

　　        who disdains to be deemed an Author."

　　    "A Canto on a Cough caught by my Consort."

　　    "The Philosophy of Honesty, by a late Lord, who died in disgrace."

　　And theological works:—

　　    "Pepper for the Perverse."

　　    "Pudding for the Pious."

　　    "Pleas for Pardon."

　　    "Pickles for the Persecuted."

　　And long and tedious romances with short and easy titles:—

　　    "The Buck."

　　    "The Belle."

　　    "The King and the Cook, or the Cook and the King."

　　And books of voyages:—

　　    "A Sojourn among the Anthropophagi, by One whose Hand was

　　        eaten off at Tiffin among the Savages."

　　    "Franko: its King, Court, and Tadpoles."

　　    "Three Hours in Vivenza, containing a Full and Impartial Account

　　        of that Whole Country: by a Subject of King Bello."

　　And works of nautical poets:—

　　    "Sky-Sail-Pole Lyrics."

　　And divers brief books, with panic-striking titles:—

　　    "Are you safe?"

　　    "A Voice from Below."

　　    "Hope for none."

　　    "Fire for all."

　　And pamphlets by retired warriors:—

　　    "On the Best Gravy for Wild Boar's Meat."

　　    "Three Receipts for Bottling New Arrack."

　　    "To Brown Bread Fruit without Burning."

　　    "Advice to the Dyspeptic."

　　    "On Starch for Tappa."