18 - The Magician

On the smooth face

of the perpendicular rock

I drew in chalk

the proposed entrance.

The boys battered

vigorously at the rock.

Piece by piece it fell and soon

there was an aperture.

We let fly

dozens of

these fiery serpents.

Some flew,

like radiant meteors

lighted up

the mighty circumference

and displayed,

as by a magician's wand,

a sparkling glittering roof

pg 128 - 129

Swiss Family Robinson

by Johann Wyss

Altered by Sasheena Kurfman 2010

I did not block out the words. This set of facing pages was simply awesome, the prose brought no less than six pictures to my mind, this being the third for this set of pages. I plan to paint at least one, if not two or three other paintings associated with this set of pages, or the pages to come in future copies of this book.

I recently bought another copy of this book, and 10 of the companion books from the series. I really plan to paint every single page in the entire book. Or at the very least a picture based on each page. I probably will not be so zealous with the 10 other titles... partly because none of the other titles were a part of my childhood and formed the person I am today. I read the Swiss Family Robinson dozens of times as a child. As a teen, I sold my book at a garage sale for a dollar. I regretted that sale ever since, and later found a copy of the book through eBay. That copy is hanging around my house somewhere, in one of my many book shelves, and I plan to preserve it as a book to read. But now I have 2 copies of the book, and another on the way.

The other poem from this page, that will go unpainted for now, is:

I was anxious
I feared
suffered
Utterly destroyed
dashed in pieces
irreparably damaged

Though the difficulties
appeared insurmountable
we began
our undertaking.

Hard work
incessant toil
made little impression
we did not despair
and were rewarded
softer and more yielding
our minds relieved
persevering diligently
a thin wall, then,
was all that intervened
between us
and a great cavern