The Rivet in Grandfathers Neck

The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck

Project Gutenberg's The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck, by James Branch
Cabell This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck A Comedy of Limitations
Author: James Branch Cabell
Release Date: November 11, 2003 [EBook #10041]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RIVET
IN GRANDFATHER'S NECK ***

Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed
Proofreaders

THE RIVET IN GRANDFATHER'S NECK
A Comedy of Limitations
BY

JAMES BRANCH CABELL
"_To this new South, who values her high past in chief, as fit
foundation of that edifice whereon she labors day by day, and with
augmenting strokes_."
1915

TO
PRISCILLA BRADLEY CABELL
"Nightly I mark and praise, or great or small, Such stars as proudly
struggle one by one To heaven's highest place, as Procyon, Antarês,
Naös, Tejat and Nibal Attain supremacy, and proudly fall, Still glorious,
and glitter, and are gone So very soon;--whilst steadfast and alone
Polaris gleams, and is not changed at all.
"Daily I find some gallant dream that ranges The heights of heaven;
and as others do, I serve my dream until my dream estranges Its errant
bondage, and I note anew That nothing dims, nor shakes, nor mars, nor
changes, Fond faith in you and in my love of you."

CONTENTS
PART ONE - PROPINQUITY
PART TWO - RENASCENCE
PART THREE - TERTIUS
PART FOUR - APPRECIATION
PART FIVE - SOUVENIR
PART SIX - BYWAYS

PART SEVEN - YOKED
PART EIGHT - HARVEST
PART NINE - RELICS
PART TEN - IMPRIMIS

In the middle of the cupboard door was the carved figure of a man....
He had goat's legs, little horns on his head, and a long beard; the
children in the room called him, "Major-General-field-sergeant
-commander-Billy-goat's-legs" ... He was always looking at the table
under the looking-glass where stood a very pretty little shepherdess
made of china.... Close by her side stood a little chimney-sweep, as
black as coal and also made of china.... Near to them stood another
figure.... He was an old Chinaman who could nod his head, and used to
pretend he was the grandfather of the shepherdess, although he could
not prove it. He, however, assumed authority over her, and therefore
when "Major-general-field-sergeant-commander-Billy-goat's -legs"
asked for the little shepherdess to be his wife, he nodded his head to
show that he consented.
Then the little shepherdess cried, and looked at her sweetheart, the
chimney-sweep. "I must entreat you," said she, "to go out with me into
the wide world, for we cannot stay here." ... When the chimney-sweep
saw that she was quite firm, he said, "My way is through the stove up
the chimney." ... So at last they reached the top of the chimney.... The
sky with all its stars was over their heads.... They could see for a very
long distance out into the wide world, and the poor little shepherdess
leaned her head on her chimney-sweep's shoulder and wept. "This is
too much," she said, "the world is too large." ... And so with a great
deal of trouble they climbed down the chimney and peeped out.... There
lay the old Chinaman on the floor ... broken into three pieces.... "This is
terrible," said the shepherdess. "He can be riveted," said the
chimney-sweep.... The family had the Chinaman's back mended and a
strong rivet put through his neck; he looked as good as new, but when

"Major-General-field-sergeant-commander-Billy-goat's-legs" again
asked for the shepherdess to be his wife, the old Chinaman could no
longer nod his head.
And so the little china people remained together and were thankful for
the rivet in grandfather's neck, and continued to love each other until
they were broken to pieces.

PART ONE - PROPINQUITY
_"A singer, eh?... Well, well! but when he sings Take jealous heed lest
idiosyncrasies Entinge and taint too deep his melodies; See that his lute
has no discordant strings To harrow us; and let his vaporings Be all of
virtue and its victories, And of man's best and noblest qualities, And
scenery, and flowers, and similar things_.
"Thus bid our paymasters whose mutterings Some few deride, and
blithely link their rhymes At random; and, as ever, on frail wings Of
wine-stained paper scribbled with such rhymes Men mount to heaven,
and loud laughter springs From hell's midpit, whose fuel is such
rhymes."
PAUL VERVILLE. Nascitur.

I
At a very remote period, when editorials were mostly devoted to
discussion as to whether the Democratic Convention (shortly to be held
in