"Robbutleeh Layeth down his Arms" (1865)

BY RICHARD GRANT WHITE

AND it came to pass that after these things the captain of the Bhum Urs marched westward through the breadth of the land of Dicksee even unto the sea-shore. And the Phiretahs spoke very fierce words against him, and prophesied evil against him, and filled the land with their roarings after their fashion.

2. But the Shear-man heeded not the fierceness of their words or their prophesying or their roarings, and marched onward. And the Phiretahs called upon Robbutleeh to send help unto them, but Ulysses held him fast so that he could not. And the Phiretahs fled from before the Bhum Urs, and the Shear-man cut his way onward through the land.

3. Moreover, about this time, the Phiretah captain whom the Shear-man had driven out of Hadal-antah, gathered together a great army and marched against a mighty captain in the armies of Unculpsalm, who was named of his soldiers Saiphtee.

4. (Now this captain came out of Pharjinnee, and was one of the Ephephvees. Yet was he faithful to the land of Unculpsalm.)

5. And Saiphtee marched backward, and drew the Phiretahs after him and away from the army of the Bhum Urs. And when he had drawn them far westward into the land, he went into a little city there; and the Phiretahs sat down before it, and boasted that they would take him captive and put his army to the sword.

6. Then he gathered his army together, and marched out of the city, and fell upon the Phiretahs while their boastings and their cursings were in their mouths: And he discomfited them with great slaughter, and they fled from before him, and he pursued after them many days, and slew them as they fled; and their boasting was turned into wailing and gnashing of teeth, so that the city where Saiphtee fell upon them is called Gnashfill unto this day.

7. And after these things Ulysses saw that his time was come, and that the occasion wherefor he had waited and watched and toiled for many days had been given unto him.

8. And he marched upon Robbutleeh while his army was yet in the forts and the strong places that he had made. And Ulysses had the victory, and drove Robbutleeh out of his forts and his strong places.

9. And it was the Sabbath day. And Jeph the Repudiator sat in the synagogue which was in the chief city of the Phiretahs; and the chief men of the Phiretahs, Ephephvees, were about him, and as he sat, there came a messenger to him from Robbutleeh, saying,

10. Thy servant is discomfited, but not yet destroyed. Nevertheless he can no longer hold the city. Save thyself, thou and thy household and thy counsellors, and flee, for Ulysses is upon thee.

11. And Jeph went straightway out of the synagogue to his house, and began to gather his gold and his silver and his stuff. And the thing was noised abroad in the city, and there was great commotion. And the Phiretahs fled from that city and from the villages round about, leaving only their women and children. And Jeph fled southward before them, uttering boastings, and making proclamations.

12. And as Jeph was fleeing out of the city, a company of Niggahs, which had joined themselves unto the armies of Unculpsalm entered it from the other side; and as they entered they lifted up their voices with one accord and sang, saying,

13. Tell unto me, Niggahs, and declare unto me, oh ye of woolly locks and dark countenance, have you seen the lord, have you seen the master?

14. Whose beard is upon his face and above his mouth upon his face?

15. Have you seen him pass this way since the dawning, looking like one who goeth hastily into a far country?

VER. 13–23. This passage, as all oriental scholars will see, is much older in style than the rest of the book, and has traces of the period of the most ancient Hebrew and Chaldee writers. Although it is a song and is rhythmical, a comparison will show that it belongs rather to the period of the author of the song of Deborah, or even of Lamech, than to that of the more cultivated writers of the time of David and Solomon. It was probably an ancient song preserved by tradition among that strange and recordless people, the Niggahs. Yet there has been discovered a coincidence of thought between this song and the following stanza:—

"Say, darkies, have you seen de massa, Wid de muffstash on he face, Go ’long de road some time dis mornin’, Like he gwine for leabe de place? He see de smoke way up de ribber Whar de Lincum gun-boats lay; He took he hat and left berry sudden, And I ’spose he’s funned away. De massa run, ha! ha! De darky stay, ho! ho! It mus’ be now de kingdum comin’, An’ de yar of Jubilo."

It cannot be denied that the coincidence noticed does exist to a certain degree. This can only be accounted for upon the plausible and ingenious hypothesis of Dr. Trite, that either the former was written before the latter or the latter before the former.—RICHARD GRANT WHITE.

16. He saw the smoke, the smoke rose up before him on the river, and he said,

17. O my soul, these are the ships of Father Abraham.

18. Then he covered his head; he put on the covering of his head; he covered his head speedily; his head-covering he put on with haste. He departed, he went swiftly; he departed covering his head with haste.

19. It seemeth unto me that he hath fled, and my soul saith within herself, he hath skedaddled.

20. Behold the master fleeth, the lord passeth away.

21. But the servant remaineth, the Niggah abideth forever.

22. For he is the everlasting Niggah.

23. Lo, now the kingdom cometh, and the year of Jubilee is at hand; and the Niggah shall rule in the land, and the master shall be cast down under his feet.

24. And the news of the fall of the city was spread abroad over the land upon the lightnings of the heavens. And there were great rejoicings, and feastings, so that that night all the city of Gotham was drunken with wine. Likewise was it in many other cities of the Iangkies. And the Kopur-hedds were abased, and the Oueecneas vanished away, so that not one of them was found thereafter, and the sect of Smalphri among the Dimmichrats was swallowed up in the victory of the Eunyunmen.

25. And Robbutleeh essayed to flee westward with his army among the mountains. But Ulysses pursued after him and overtook him, and fell upon him with great slaughter.

26. And his army saw that their cause was lost, and many of them fell behind, and wandered into the wilderness, or went homeward, for there was no power to keep them. But many were faithful unto the end.

27. And it came to pass that Ulysses with his army got before Robbutleeh with his army, and cut him off and hemmed him in on every side. And he could have fallen upon Robbutleeh and the remnant of his army and put every man to the sword and cut them off from the face of the earth.

28. But he had compassion upon them and respect unto them; for Ulysses was not a man of blood. And he sent a messenger unto Robbutleeh, saying:

29. Behold now the end has come, and thou and thine army are in the hands of thy servant. Lay down thine arms now, and let there be peace between thee and me; and our Father Abraham shall pardon thee, and receive thee again as one of the children of Unculpsalm, and treat thee with honor, thee and thine officers, and all that are with thee.

30. But at first Robbutleeh would not; for he was stout-hearted and stiff-necked. But afterward he considered the matter, and for the sake of them that were with him he consented.

31. And he and his captains and his officers and his soldiers laid down their arms, and gave themselves up captive.

32. And there was an apple-tree where Robbutleeh gave himself up. That it might be fulfilled as it was written, We will hang Jeph the Repudiator upon a bitter apple-tree. And that tree grew and multiplied so that it filled the whole land of Unculpsalm.

33. But Ulysses sent them every man to his own home, saying, See only, that ye obey the laws of the land of Unculpsalm, and have respect unto the proclamations of our Father Abraham. And he gave them horses to ride upon; for the way was long and the road that they had travelled was hard. And he said keep the horses, that ye may till your fields and gather in your harvests.

34. Now, when the other Phiretah captains saw that Robbutleeh had laid down his arms, they laid down their arms, all save one upon the farthest border on the south-west as thou goest into the land of Mecsicho.

35. And it was in the spring time, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, that Robbutleeh laid down his arms; and before the sowing of the latter wheat was accomplished the other captains had done likewise. And about the time of the barley harvest, there was peace in the land of Unculpsalm; so that the men who fought gathered in the latter wheat harvest. For when the war was over each man returned unto his own home.

[Richard Grant White], (New York, 1866), Book IV, 267–274.