Books Should Be Free Loyal Books Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBook Downloads |
|
My Neighbors Stories of the Welsh People By: Caradoc Evans (1878-1945) |
---|
![]()
BY
CARADOC EVANS
NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE
1920
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC.
THE QUINN & BODEN COMPANY
RAHWAY, N.J.
TO
MY FRIEND
THOMAS BURKE
OF "LIMEHOUSE NIGHTS"
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE THE WELSH PEOPLE 3
I. LOVE AND HATE 11
II. ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN 31
III. THE TWO APOSTLES 59
IV. EARTHBRED 81
V. FOR BETTER 99
VI. TREASURE AND TROUBLE 117
VII. SAINT DAVID AND THE PROPHETS 131
VIII. JOSEPH'S HOUSE 155
IX. LIKE BROTHERS 173
X. A WIDOW WOMAN 187
XI. UNANSWERED PRAYERS 199
XII. LOST TREASURE 215
XIII. PROFIT AND GLORY 231
THE WELSH PEOPLE
Our God is a big man: a tall man much higher than the highest chapel in
Wales and broader than the broadest chapel. For the promised day that He
comes to deliver us a sermon we shall have made a hole in the roof and
taken down a wall. Our God has a long, white beard, and he is not unlike
the Father Christmas of picture books. Often he lies on his stomach on
Heaven's floor, an eye at one of his myriads of peepholes, watching that
we keep his laws. Our God wears a frock coat, a starched linen collar
and black necktie, and a silk hat, and on the Sabbath he preaches to the
congregation of Heaven. Heaven is a Welsh chapel; but its pulpit is of gold, and its walls,
pews, floor, roof, harmonium, and its clock which marks the days of the
month as well as the hours of the day are of glass. The inhabitants are
clothed in the white shirts in which they were buried and in which they
arose at the Call; and the language of God and his angels and of the
Company of Prophets is Welsh, that being the language spoken in the
Garden of Eden and by Jacob, Moses, Abraham, and Elijah. Wales is Heaven on earth, and every Welsh chapel is a little Heaven; and
God has favored us greatly by choosing to rule over us preachers who are
fashioned in his likeness and who are without spot or blemish. Every Welsh child knows that the preacher is next to God; "I am the Big
Man's photograph," the preacher shouts; and the child is brought up in
the fear of the preacher. Jealous of his trust, the preacher has made rules for the salvation of
our bodies and souls. Temptations such as art, drama, dancing, and the
study of folklore he has removed from our way. Those are vanities, which
make men puffed up and vainglorious; and they are unsavory in the
nostrils of the Big Man. And look you, the preacher asks, do they not
cost money? Are they not time wasters? The capel needs your money, boys
bach, that the light the grand, religious light shall shine in the
pulpit. That is the lamp which burns throughout Wales. It keeps our feet from
Church door and public house, and it guides us to the polling booth
where we record our votes as the preacher has instructed us. Be the
season never so hard and be men and women never so hungry, its flame
does not wane and the oil in its vessel is not low. White cabbages and new potatoes, eggs and measures of corn, milk and
butter and money we give to the preacher. We trim our few acres until
our shoulders are crutched and the soil is in the crevices of our flesh
that his estate shall be a glory unto God. We make for him a house which
is as a mansion set amid hovels and for the building thereof the widow
must set aside portions of her weekly old age pension. These things and
many more we do, for forgiveness of sin is obtained by sacrifice. Such
folk as hold back their offerings have their names proclaimed in the
pulpit. Said the preacher: "Heavy was the punishment of the Big Man on Twm Cwm,
persons, because Twm speeched against the capel... Continue reading book >>
|
Genres for this book |
---|
Fiction |
Literature |
eBook links |
---|
Wikipedia – Caradoc Evans |
Wikipedia – My Neighbors Stories of the Welsh People |
eBook Downloads | |
---|---|
ePUB eBook • iBooks for iPhone and iPad • Nook • Sony Reader |
Kindle eBook • Mobi file format for Kindle |
Read eBook • Load eBook in browser |
Text File eBook • Computers • Windows • Mac |
Review this book |
---|