THE PYGMIES . A great while ago , when the world was full of wonders , there lived an earth-born Giant , named Antaeus , and a million or more of curious little earth-born people , who were called Pygmies . This Giant and these Pygmies being children of the same mother -LRB- that is to say , our good old Grandmother Earth -RRB- , were all brethren , and dwelt together in a very friendly and affectionate manner , far , far off , in the middle of hot Africa . The Pygmies were so small , and there were so many sandy deserts and such high mountains between them and the rest of mankind , that nobody could get a peep at them oftener than once in a hundred years . As for the Giant , being of a very lofty stature , it was easy enough to see him , but safest to keep out of his sight . Among the Pygmies , I suppose , if one of them grew to the height of six or eight inches , he was reckoned a prodigiously tall man . It must have been very pretty to behold their little cities , with streets two or three feet wide , paved with the smallest pebbles , and bordered by habitations about as big as a squirrel 's cage . The king 's palace attained to the stupendous magnitude of Periwinkle 's baby house , and stood in the center of a spacious square , which could hardly have been covered by our hearth-rug . Their principal temple , or cathedral , was as lofty as yonder bureau , and was looked upon as a wonderfully sublime and magnificent edifice . All these structures were built neither of stone nor wood . They were neatly plastered together by the Pygmy workmen , pretty much like birds ' nests , out of straw , feathers , egg shells , and other small bits of stuff , with stiff clay instead of mortar ; and when the hot sun had dried them , they were just as snug and comfortable as a Pygmy could desire . The country round about was conveniently laid out in fields , the largest of which was nearly of the same extent as one of Sweet Fern 's flower beds . Here the Pygmies used to plant wheat and other kinds of grain , which , when it grew up and ripened , overshadowed these tiny people as the pines , and the oaks , and the walnut and chestnut trees overshadow you and me , when we walk in our own tracts of woodland . At harvest time , they were forced to go with their little axes and cut down the grain , exactly as a woodcutter makes a clearing in the forest ; and when a stalk of wheat , with its overburdened top , chanced to come crashing down upon an unfortunate Pygmy , it was apt to be a very sad affair . If it did not smash him all to pieces , at least , I am sure , it must have made the poor little fellow 's head ache . And O , my stars ! if the fathers and mothers were so small , what must the children and babies have been ? A whole family of them might have been put to bed in a shoe , or have crept into an old glove , and played at hide-and-seek in its thumb and fingers . You might have hidden a year-old baby under a thimble . Now these funny Pygmies , as I told you before , had a Giant for their neighbor and brother , who was bigger , if possible , than they were little .
He was so very tall XXXXX he carried a pine tree , which was eight feet through the butt , for a walking stick .
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