But that any one man made a plot or a play, Or was such singled out as a ruse for my pay, I deny in _fac toto_ in spirit this day.
Should any man"s play be found in my work, Which was not by me writ, "tis a publisher"s quirk; Which one day I"ll acclaim; for I mean to read all As signed with my name_."
Young Graham was beyond words at this outpouring of verse. The mode of language was not something he could identify with in his everyday world, and it was quite beyond his level of comprehension. But he sensed this was no ordinary man in his presence. "Are you really William Shakespeare?" he ventured forth timidly. "And if you truly are, how could you still be alive hundreds of years after you were born?"
"Well, young one," smiled the Bard kindly, "that is a long story...Suffice to say I am here with you having this conversation. And look around you--many of the other pa.s.sengers are people from your history books. We are en route to our home beyond the outer fringes of Oz. We are graduates of the University of Higher Consciousness, and we are on our way to Historicalfigureland. So much hatred exists in the world you come from, and where there is not exactly hatred per se, there is often indifference or even total apathy for the plight of others. And as if your world were not bad enough with the constant warring between nations, many individuals in so-called civilized lands feel the need to declare war on their neighbors. I am speaking of your young people killing each other for no other reason than that it has become the thing to do. What is so sad is that they totally lack remorse for their victims" pain and suffering and give not the slightest thought to the victims" families left behind in utter and complete desolation and sadness at their terrible loss. Our goal is to find a way to encourage people to reach out to one another--to care for one another. That is why we wrote our books and plays, to teach people what life be truly about."
_Okay. That"s it_, thought Graham. _There"s no doubt about the truth of what the old guy is saying regarding earth conditions. But the queer old boy is definitely off his rocker. First, there"s definitely no other pa.s.sengers on the plane, and_ ... "Good grief!" he exclaimed as the outlines of human forms began to appear in the other pa.s.senger seats.
Gradually these forms became more solid until he realized that indeed the plane was filled with pa.s.sengers, many of which were historical figures in the modes of dress of their particular times in history.
First he saw Napoleon in the aisle to his immediate left. Then, next to him, Marie Antoinette. Then Mary, Queen-of-Scots, Henry the Eighth, and Alexander the Great. In the next aisle: Caesar Augustus, Mark Anthony, Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Aristotle, and Plato. It seemed that every historical figure of note was present aboard the plane, not to mention a sprinkling of people from various walks of life, such as Marcus Aurelius, Jane Merrick, Kenneth Gage Baum, Fred Stone, Judy Garland, and Ray Powell. Of course, Graham did not know who everyone was by name, but many faces looked familiar to him.
"I"m terribly sorry," apologized Shakespeare. "I didn"t realize that your eyes had not yet become sensitized to the higher vibrations of my friends. What must you have thought of me?" "Oh, nothing at all," cried Graham. "I mean, I hadn"t really noticed all these people. I was so engrossed in what you were saying."
"Really?" replied the Bard with a twinkle in his eye. "I quite understand. People are always totally captivated by my words. Anyway, as I was saying, or rather, as I was about to say..."
At that moment, a head bent over the Bard"s shoulder to say h.e.l.lo to Graham. It was none other than Mark Twain, whom Graham instantly recognized. And with him was a gentleman who introduced himself as Charles d.i.c.kens. He gave Graham a wink and shook his hand. "You"re a fine young fellow. I predict that you will go far in life." Of course, Graham was speechless. It suddenly hit him that he was in the company of some of the world"s greatest human beings. If he ever got back home and tried to tell people, they would be sure to lock him up and throw away the key. Mark Twain asked how things were going and a.s.sured him that, while the plane would not be able to transport him home, he felt certain that, when the time came, a way would be found which would enable him to return. "If not," Mark Twain said, "not to worry. There"d never be a dull moment in Oz!"
_Oh, that"s just great!_ thought Graham. Now there was a chance that he would not get back. But did not Shakespeare say that he wanted him to inform the world that he had written his own stuff? He would not have said that if he did not think that the boy would get home to tell the tale. _What am I saying?_ thought Graham. _None of this is really happening. I"m just having the most gigantic, craziest dream anyone has ever had_.
"By the way," said Mark Twain, interrupting Graham"s thoughts. "Here are a couple of letters I forgot to mail to my poet friend, Bayard Taylor.
They should probably be in some collection somewhere so, if you"d take them back with you, I"d appreciate it. I said in one letter that I"d probably forget to stamp it, and I did." Twain handed Graham the letters and indicated that he did not mind the boy"s reading them if he wanted to.
_There I go again_, thought Graham, _believing in my own dream._ In any event, he settled back in the seat and began to read the letters.
However, before he could really get started, Charles d.i.c.kens interrupted him.
"As usual, this Twain fellow takes over and hogs the conversation. In the very near future, young Graham, you and I will get together, and I"ll tell you some very interesting stories of my childhood. In the meantime," he said, scribbling on a piece of paper that had some kind of drawing on it, "I have autographed a sketch of Boz to take back with you. Boz was the name I used when I first embarked on my literary adventures. In case you are wondering if there is a cryptic connection between Boz and Baum and Oz, you"ll have to keep wondering about that. I was born at Portsea, Portsmouth, a few minutes before midnight on the seventh of February, 1812, forty-four years before Mr. Baum was born. I came to Oz in 1870, when Mr. Baum was only fourteen years old. He was not destined to write about Oz until some thirty years later. Now, when you come back, I"ll tell you some more about my early days, and I"ll make sure that our friend Twain doesn"t bask in his self-perceived limelight while we"re having our important discussions."
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"Now, you listen up, Mr. d.i.c.kens, sir," said Mark Twain with mock anger, for they were actually the best of friends. "I resent that, and I won"t have you filling the boy"s head with a lot of imaginary adventures and strange connections between words. Next you"ll be telling him there"s a link between the Land of Ev and Robert Evans--or even more ludicrous--that Frank Oz and Michael Ovitz of Hollywood have a mystical link to Oz because they have Oz in their names, or even more ludicrous, that you and Chris Dulabone have a connection because you both have the initials C.D. I mean, how far can you go with this stuff? I"m telling the boy about real things and about real life..."
d.i.c.kens just shook his head slowly and turned to Graham. "I really don"t pay much attention to his rambling. Go ahead and read his boring letters before he has a kitten. I won"t forget my promise to you, and we"ll have a delightfully interesting time together, you"ll see. And I promise you, my stories will not be imaginary. Oh, by the way, here"s some of my correspondence you might wish to take back with you. One is a letter and note I sent to my American friend, Mr. Fields of Boston, and also some beverage recipes I sent to Mrs. Fields. Also an announcement of two plays I produced, one of which I acted in and--"
"You"re not the only actor around here, Mr. d.i.c.kens, sir!" interrupted Twain. "I"ve acted in plays, too. For example, I was in _Loan of a Lover_ in 1876. Your Mrs. Fields, by the way, said I was wonderful in it. And as long as you"re producing letters you wrote to Mr. Fields, I"ll give young Graham a copy of a letter that I wrote to Mr. Fields. So what do you think about that?"
Graham was astounded to hear these two world-famous personages fighting like children and competing for his attention. What would his history teacher and his fellow cla.s.smates think? He accepted the additional material, then settled down to begin reading as the two men continued to argue all the way back to their seats. He started with Mark Twain"s letters. There were actually four letters, one of them completely in German, which Twain probably had not meant to hand him. But the boy read it anyway, no matter that he did not understand a word. It did not dawn on him that, if this was a dream, where did the German words come from if they were not in his consciousness to begin with? Below is a copy of the letters for the record, although it is suggested that the reader skim over them for now, as they are not relevant except as historical interest:
_Schloss-Hotel Heidelberg May 7, 1878 H. Albert
Lieber Herr Taylor:
Wir werden hier blieben viellicht fur drie Monate, zum Schloss Hotel.
--Dies hotel steht about funf und siebenzig Fuss Hohler als das Schloss, und commandirt ein Aussicht welcher ohne Ahnlichkeit in der Welt hat.
(Sie mussen excuse auskratchens, interlineations.)
Ich habe heute gecalled on der Herr Professor Ihne, qui est die Professor von Englishen Zunge im University, to get him to recommend ein Deutchen Lehrer Fur mich, welcher he did. Er sprach um mehrerer Americanischer authors, und meist gungstiger & vernugungsvoll von Ihrer; da.s.s er knew you and Ihrer so wohl durch Ihrer geschereibungen; und wann Ich habe gesagt Ich sollen Ihr schreiben heute Nacht gewesen if nothing happened, er bitte mich Opfer sein compliments, und hoffe Ihnen will ihm besuchen wenn du Kommst an Heidelberg. Er war ein vortrefflicher and liebwurdiger & every way delightful alte gentleman. Man sagt Ich muss ein Pa.s.s (in der English, Pa.s.sport,) haben to decken accidents. Dafur gefelligt Ihnen furnish me one. Meine Beschreibung ist vollenden: Geborn 1835; 5 Fuss 8 ein wenig unter, sometimes ein wenig oben; dunkel braun Haar und rhotes Moustache, full Gesicht, mit sehr hohe Oren and leicht grau practvolles strahlenden Augen und ein Verdammtes gut moral character. Handlungkeit, Author von Bucher. Ich habe das Deutche sprache gelernt und bin ein glucklicher Kind, you bet. With warmest regards & kindness remembrances from all our party to you & your wife and daughter.
Yrs sincerely, S. L. Clemens
The Konigstuhl, June 10 [1878] Lieber Herrn Taylor:
(Don"t know whether it ought to be Herr or Herrn). Am much obliged for the letter--it was from friend whom I have been trying to ferret out.
Yes, we still live at the Schloss-Hotel, & shall doubtless continue to do so until the neighborhood of August--but I only eat and sleep there; my work-den is the second story of a little Wirthschaft which stands at the base of the tower on the summit of the Konigsstuhl. I walk up there every morning at 10, write until 3, talk the most hopeless and unimprovable German with the family "til 5, then tramp down to the Hotel for the night. It is a schones Aussicht up there as you may remember.
The exercise of climbing up there is invigorating but devilish. I have just written regrets to the Paris Literary Convention. I did hate to have to miss that entertainment, but I knew that if I went there & spent a fortnight it would take me another fortnight to get settled down into the harness again--couldn"t afford that.
The Emperor is a splendid old hero! That he could survive such wounds never entered my head--yet by the news I judge he is actually recovering. It is worth something to be a Lincoln or a Kaiser Wilhelm--& it gives a man a better opinion of the world to show appreciation for such men--& what is better, love of them.--I have not seen anything of this outburst of affectionate indignation since Mr. Lincoln"s a.s.sa.s.sination gave the common globe a sense of personal injury. Ich habe der Consul Smith gesehen ein Paar Wochen ago, & told him about that Pa.s.s, und er hat mir gesagt das er wurde be absent from this gegen--(something) zwei oder drei Wochen, aber wann er sollte hier wieder nachkommen, wollte er der pa.s.s geschlagen worden & snake it off to Berlin. Vielleicht hat er noch nicht zu Mannheim zuruck-kehrt.
Now as to the grammar of this language; I haven"t conquered the Accusative Case yet (I began with that) & there are three more. It begins to seem to me that I have got to try to get along with the Accusative alone & leave the rest of this grammar to be tackled in the future life.
With our kindest remembrances to you & yours
Yrs sincerely, S. L. Clemens
Hotel de l"Ecu de Geneve Sept. 8/78
My dear Mr. Taylor:
I have learned the German language & forgotten it again; so I resume English once more. I have just returned from a walking trip to Mont Blanc--which I was intending to ascend, but was obliged to give up the idea, as I had gone too early & there was still snow on it. I find your letter here; if you will be so kind as to forward Slote"s letter to the above address I think it will be in time to catch me--& in any case I will make arrangements to have it follow me. (I am going to try to enclose the necessary stamps in this, but if I forget it--however, I won"t)
We have been poking around slowly through Switzerland for a month; a week hence we go to Venice--to Rome & other places later; & we are booked for Munich Nov. 10 (for the winter.) One of these days I am going to whet up my German again & take a run to Berlin, & have a talk with you in that fine old tongue.
Yrs Ever
S. L. Clemens
No. 1a Karlstra.s.se,
(2e stock) Munich, Dec. 14 [1878]
My Dear Mr. Taylor:
When we were poking around Italy 3 or 4 weeks ago, I was told that you were ill, but straightway saw it contradicted in a newspaper. Now comes this paragraph in Galignani which not only shows that the contradiction was erroneous, but shows how ignorant one may be in this country about what is happening only a few hundred miles away; especially when one is buried in work & neither talks with people or often looks in the paper.
We three folks are heartily glad to hear that you are coming happily out of it; & we are venturing to hope that by this time you are wholly restored.
We are located for the winter,--I suppose. But the children are having such a run of coughs & diptheria [sic], that I can"t tell at what moment Mrs. Clemens may take fright & flee to some kindlier climate. However, I stick hard at work & make what literary hay I can while we tarry. Our little children talk German as glibly as they do English, now, but the rest of us are mighty poor German scholars, I can tell you. Rev.
Twitch.e.l.l (who was over here with me a while,) conceived a pretty correct average of my German. When I was talking, (in my native tongue,) about some rather private matters in the hearing of some Germans one day, Twitchel said, "Speak in German, Mark,--some of these people may understand English."
Many a time when teachers & dictionaries fail to unravel knotty paragraphs, we wish we could fly to you for succor; we even go so far as to believe you can read a German newspaper & understand it; & in moments of deep irritation I have been provoked into expressing the opinion that you are the only foreigner except G.o.d who can do that thing. I would not rob you of your food or clothes or your umbrella, but if I caught your German out I would take it. But I don"t study any more,--I have given it up.
I & mine join in the kindest remembrances & best wishes to you & your family.
Sincerely Yours
Saml. L. Clemens