Samuel Langhorne Clemens otherwise
Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. As a story teller, he has
greater variety and a steadier outlook on life; with greater force and
intensity at his best if less poignancy. His nom-de- plume came to him while as
a pilot he was working on the Mississippi, and he would often hear the cry of
warning “Mark Twain” or “In two Fathom.” Thus he
seized on the name and used it for his work.
One among the many great works of Mark Twain is “A Tramp
Aboard” {dealing with European places, especially Switzerland} Travel
experiences are drawn freely. ”The stolen white Elephant & Blue Jays” are
part of this great deal.
In Blue Jays Jim
Baker is a Birdwatcher & he observes that after long and careful
observation he had come to the conclusion that the Blue Jays were the best
talkers he had found among birds and beasts. And another thing, I’ve noticed a
good deal, and there’s no bird, or cow, or anything that uses as good grammar
as a blue jay………….. .Now I’ve never heard a jay use bad grammar but very
seldom; and when they do, they are as ashamed as a human; they shut right down
and leave.” When I first begun to understand jay language correctly, there was
a little incident happened here, .seven years ago the last man in this region
but me moved away. There stands his house been empty ever since: a log house
with a plank roof-just one big room and no more: no ceiling- nothing between
the rafters and the floor.
Suddenly a blue jay lit on that house, with an acorn in his
mouth, and says,” Hello, I reckon I’ve struck something, “When he spoke, the
acorn dropped out of his mouth and rolled down the roof, of course, but he
didn’t care; his mind was all on the thing he had struck. It was a knot hole in
the roof.
The story moves around the jay fetching many & more
acorns to fill the hole. His energy, his determination & his hurry brings
many of his companions to join this race. Many blue jays set around the hole;
expressing their opinions, and examined the hole clearly. Finally one old jay
happened to go and light on it and look in. of course, that knocked the mystery
galley-west in a second. There lay the acorns, scattered all over the floor. He
flopped his wings and raised a whoop. “come here, everybody; hanged if this
fool hasn’t been trying to fill up a house with acorns!”
Mark Twain was quite successful in writing about blue jays
and manages to set us chuckling about the human family. “ They all came a
swooping down like a blue cloud, and as each fellow lit on the door and took a
glance, the whole absurdity of the contract that the first jay had tackled hit
him home, and he fell over backward suffocating with laughter, and the next jay
took his place and done the same.
IN the story ‘THE STOLEN WHITE ELEPHANT” – A Indian civil
service personnel was given the responsibility of handing over the gift to her
majesty queen of Britain.“ A ship was fitted out for me and my servants and the
officers and attendants of the Elephant, and in due time I arrived in New York
harbour and placed my royal charge in admirable quarters in Jersey City. It was
necessary to remain awhile in order to recruit the animal’s health before
resuming the voyage. All went well during a fortnight then my calamities began.
The white Elephant was stolen!
Mark Twain’s description of Elephant is so natural &
extravagant. The conversion between the Elephant in charge & Inspector
Blunt to register a complaint against the stolen elephant is the colourful
language of a master story teller.
“Name of the Elephant ?
”Hassan Ben Ali Ben selim
Abdallah mohammed moise Alhammal jamset je jeebhoy Dhuleep sultan ebu Bhudpoor.”
“ very well’ given name?”
“jumbo”
“ very well. Place of birth?”
“ The capital city of siam.”
“parents living?”
No, - dead.’
Had they any other
issue besides this one?”
“None. He was an only child.”
“Very well.”
General quantity at a meal,- say about-“well, anywhere from
a quarter to half a ton.”
“And he drinks-“
“Everything that is
fluid. Milk, water, whiskey, molasses, castor oil, camphene, carbolic acid………..
“Very good. As to quantity ?”
“Put it down five to fifteen barrels, - his thirst varies;
his other appetites do not.”
“These things are un usual. They ought to furnish quite good
clues toward tracing him.”
Detailing Detectives, information forwarded by telegraph, portraying
of Blunt, Role of Newspapers, Glaring headlines, increasing the reward amount,
all these particulars enhance the savour of the readers, in turn they engage
more intensely.
The duo, Blue & White of Mark Twain are remarkable. His
works carry honesty and popularity. Reading about Blue jays and white Elephant
throws light on the animals that’s close to humans
