The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen
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CHAPTER VI
_The Baron is made a prisoner of war, and sold for a slave--Keeps theSultan's bees, which are attacked by two bears--Loses one of his bees;a silver hatchet, which he throws at the bears, rebounds and flies up tothe moon; brings it back by an ingenious invention; falls to the earthon his return, and helps himself out of a pit--Extricates himself froma carriage which meets his in a narrow road, in a manner never beforeattempted nor practised since--The wonderful effects of the frost uponhis servant's French horn._
I was not always successful. I had the misfortune to be overpoweredby numbers, to be made prisoner of war; and, what is worse, but alwaysusual among the Turks, to be sold for a slave. [The Baron was afterwardsin great favour with the Grand Seignior, as will appear hereafter.] Inthat state of humiliation my daily task was not very hard and laborious,but rather singular and irksome. It was to drive the Sultan's bees everymorning to their pasture-grounds, to attend them all the day long, andagainst night to drive them back to their hives. One evening I missed abee, and soon observed that two bears had fallen upon her to tear her topieces for the honey she carried. I had nothing like an offensive weaponin my hands but the silver hatchet, which is the badge of the Sultan'sgardeners and farmers. I threw it at the robbers, with an intention tofrighten them away, and set the poor bee at liberty; but, by an unluckyturn of my arm, it flew upwards, and continued rising till itreached the moon. How should I recover it? how fetch it down again?I recollected that Turkey-beans grow very quick, and run up to anastonishing height. I planted one immediately; it grew, and actuallyfastened itself to one of the moon's horns. I had no more to do nowbut to climb up by it into the moon, where I safely arrived, and had atroublesome piece of business before I could find my silver hatchet, ina place where everything has the brightness of silver; at last,however, I found it in a heap of chaff and chopped straw. I was now forreturning: but, alas! the heat of the sun had dried up my bean; it wastotally useless for my descent: so I fell to work, and twisted me a ropeof that chopped straw, as long and as well as I could make it. This Ifastened to one of the moon's horns, and slid down to the end of it.Here I held myself fast with the left hand, and with the hatchet in myright, I cut the long, now useless end of the upper part, which, whentied to the lower end, brought me a good deal lower: this repeatedsplicing and tying of the rope did not improve its quality, or bring medown to the Sultan's farm. I was four or five miles from the earth atleast when it broke; I fell to the ground with such amazing violence,that I found myself stunned, and in a hole nine fathoms deep atleast, made by the weight of my body falling from so great a height: Irecovered, but knew not how to get out again; however, I dug slopes orsteps with my finger-nails [the Baron's nails were then of forty years'growth], and easily accomplished it.
Peace was soon after concluded with the Turks, and gaining my liberty,I left St. Petersburg at the time of that singular revolution, when theemperor in his cradle, his mother, the Duke of Brunswick, her father,Field-Marshal Munich, and many others were sent to Siberia. The winterwas then so uncommonly severe all over Europe, that ever since the sunseems to be frost-bitten. At my return to this place, I felt on the roadgreater inconveniences than those I had experienced on my setting out.
I travelled post, and finding myself in a narrow lane, bid thepostillion give a signal with his horn, that other travellers mightnot meet us in the narrow passage. He blew with all his might; but hisendeavours were in vain, he could not make the horn sound, which wasunaccountable, and rather unfortunate, for soon after we found ourselvesin the presence of another coach coming the other way: there was noproceeding; however, I got out of my carriage, and being pretty strong,placed it, wheels and all, upon my head: I then jumped over a hedgeabout nine feet high (which, considering the weight of the coach, wasrather difficult) into a field, and came out again by another jump intothe road beyond the other carriage: I then went back for the horses, andplacing one upon my head, and the other under my left arm, by the samemeans brought them to my coach, put to, and proceeded to an inn at theend of our stage. I should have told you that the horse under my arm wasvery spirited, and not above four years old; in making my second springover the hedge, he expressed great dislike to that violent kind ofmotion by kicking and snorting; however, I confined his hind legsby putting them into my coat-pocket. After we arrived at the inn mypostillion and I refreshed ourselves: he hung his horn on a peg near thekitchen fire; I sat on the other side.
Suddenly we heard a _tereng! tereng! teng! teng!_ We looked round, andnow found the reason why the postillion had not been able to sound hishorn; his tunes were frozen up in the horn, and came out now by thawing,plain enough, and much to the credit of the driver; so that the honestfellow entertained us for some time with a variety of tunes, withoutputting his mouth to the horn--"The King of Prussia's March," "Over theHill and over the Dale," with many other favourite tunes; at length thethawing entertainment concluded, as I shall this short account of myRussian travels.
_Some travellers are apt to advance more than is perhaps strictly true;if any of the company entertain a doubt of my veracity, I shall onlysay to such, I pity their want of faith, and must request they willtake leave before I begin the second part of my adventures, which are asstrictly founded in fact as those I have already related._