Fairhaven High School - Huttlestonian Yearbook (Fairhaven, MA)

Page 9 text:

THE HUTTLESTONI AN 7 Black Revenge Lazarus Alexion I J IM was watching the dancers grotesquely jump and writhe about the fire. He felt rather light-headed and gay, and he raised the bottle to his lips again. Ah — !” The more he drank the better it tasted, and the better he felt. Upon a sudden impulse, he joined the savages in their contortions. They, under the influence of their emotions, were yelling and leaping almost into the fire; Jim, under the influence of his whiskey, followed suit. The wooden god, Uh-La, woodenly watched them through his wooden eyes as he sat upon his wooden throne. He was the almighty devil-god, who punished all who dared to question his godliness and all who disrespected him. He was god of gods, highest, most majestic, and most terrible. This festival was in Uh-la’s honor, and he would be feted for seven days and nights, after which time all the dancers would drop, well nigh dead from exhaustion. Jim, twisting and cavorting with the bottle in his hand, thought that somehow those wooden eyes were .mocking him. Up to that time, he had borne no malice toward Uh-la, but now some wild impulse made him dash up to the god and hit his highness such a blow on the nose with the whiskey bottle, that that most worthy organ was cracked. Immediately all activity stopped. Everyone looked as if struck by something undefinable. Jim laughed and expected them to laugh, but they did not. Only the eldest of them, Nah-ta, spoke. You have insulted Uh-la the Terrible, Uh-la the Avenger, God of Gods. We cannot touch you, for you are accursed and you shall be dealt with as He decrees.

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6 THE HUTTLESTONIAN The Royal Banquet Priscilla Place The fire is kindled, Aroma of food, Bustling, Beautiful linen. The banquet. With an abundancy of per¬ sonal coloring and modernism of style surely not to be found in Virgil’s dactylic hexameter. Miss Place presents her trans¬ lation from ’’The Aeneid” pic¬ turing the banquet given by Dido, queen of Carthage, in honor of her guest, Aeneas, the mythical founder of the Roman race. Queenly Dido in the center. Royal purple drapings. Gold, Gems, Feast on the tables. Noise and hilarity. Servants, Food, Blood-red wine. Dido kindles with love for Aeneas, Forgets the past. Longing, Desire. lopas plays on his lyre. Sings, sings, sings. Fire smoulders. Lamps gleam. Purple, Jewels, Aeneas tells of his troubles. Passion of Dido, Destined for tragedy. Sad, Unlucky, The fire goes out.

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8 THE HUTTLESTONIAN Jim laughed loud at this and then, quite suddenly, dropped at the feet of Uh-la. The liquor had done its work. Sf- ». ' • !■ Jim awoke and looked about him. He was lying at the foot of the wooden image of Uh-la. He faintly remembered hitting the nose of the god with the bottle, and this recollection brought a chuckle. II The mosquitoes, Jim thought, must have been having a merry time with him las t night, for his body itched in a way that almost brought tears to his eyes. But no, this was not a mosquito bite. He looked at his leg. It was swollen in many places an inch high, and one swelling had, in a certain way, cracked the skin, and he could see a black fleshy substance through the crack. He must be dreaming. The black seemed to come farther out. He looked with incredulity and fear. Lord, he was stark mad. There was Nah-ta’s head. There were his eyes, his mouth, his neck, his body. — God what is this? — Then the miniature Nah-ta-spoke — You have insulted Uh-la the Terrible, Uh-la the Avenger, the God of Gods. We did not touch you for you were accursed and now you have been dealt with as he decreed.” Jim was raving; he tried to grasp the little body, but it eluded his fingers. With screeching horror, he saw another tiny Nah-ta arise from his broken flesh. As the third little black man came in view, he screamed and clutched at the tiny fiend. And then a shudder ran through his body, and he was cast into oblivion.