23
A short piece from the book – Ramses and Jeep
- Ramses, Grikkl’s raven
- Adah, Grikkl’s wife, a gnome
- Jeep, our hero
Starting at Page 116, Chapter 11
"The bird and boy were soon chattering on like old buddies. Jeep loved being told little-known details about bird life. Like how to find the fattest worms or what a caterpillar tastes like. And how they know it’s time to leave the nest and mama bird.
Adah said, "Ramses has a distinguished heritage. Ravens are a well-known symbol of ancient wisdom and magic." Ramses stood proudly as Adah described the noble achievements of his distant ancestors.
"American Indians always treated the raven as sacred. They consider Raven heroic—fighting to right wrongs and punish evil doers. According to Indian lore, Raven existed even before creation and helped to make the world. That’s probably a stretch, but ravens deserve respect, don’t they, Ramses?"
While Adah described his ancestry, Ramses went from looking regal to downright annoyed.
Jeep asked, "What’s the matter, Ramses?
The bird was glad to have someone new to complain to. It launched into an oft-repeated grievance.
"You heard what Adah said. My ancestors were important-and powerful. Ravens were respected in Egypt and among the Indian tribes. They were treated as wise and brave—our feats the stuff of legends. And all of that, all that achievement was wrecked by one man."
As he warmed to his subject, Ramses’ voice became more irritated. "It’s not fair, I tell you. Not fair! Our greatness, all that my kind achieved, is forgotten just because of one stupid poem."
Jeep said, "I’m not following you." But it was clear that Adah had heard it all before, because she excused herself and hurried away.
"There was this guy named Poe who lived a long time ago, see. Anyway, he probably was an OK writer. But he wrote this poem, see? And this raven in the poem said just one word over and over all through the poem—‘nevermore.’
"And this poem got real famous. So for 150 years people have heard the raven with just one word to say. ‘Nevermore,’—just ‘nevermore,’ over and over again. Now I ask you, isn’t that a pretty dumb bird?"
He paced back and forth along the back of the chair, shaking his head in outrage at the injustice of it all. "‘Nevermore,’ Is that any way to talk? That man just made all of us ravens look dumb. We’re not, you know. But because of that poem we sure sound stupid."
"I don’t see what’s so bad about…"
"You don’t do you! What do you know, anyway? If you say ‘raven’ to just about anybody, what do they say back to you? I’ll tell you what. They’ll nod and say, like they’re being clever, ‘Nevermore.’ People don’t remember any of our good stuff—just that dumb bird from Poe."
Jeep said something sympathetic, but that wasn’t what Ramses wanted. The irate bird just wanted to complain about the unfairness of it all.
"And I don’t intend to let that poem be the last word, see? Here’s the real last word on it. Nevermore will I say ‘nevermore!’ It’s gone, kaput! Out of my vocabulary for good. You won’t ever hear me say ‘nevermore’ again."
By the time Ramses stopped talking, Jeep sincerely hoped that was true."
End of quoted section