Chapter 15 Doctor Dolittle in the Moon by Hugh Lofting
MAKING NEW CLOTHES
"I don't understand it at all," John Dolittle muttered. "What reason at least can the moth who brought us here have for keeping out of our way?"
"His reasons may not be his own," murmured Polynesia.
"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor.
"Well," said she, "others may be keeping him—and the rest, away from us."
"You mean the Moon Man?" said John Dolittle.
But to this Polynesia made no reply and the subject was dropped.
"That isn't the thing that's bothering me so much," said Chee-Chee.
There was a pause. And before he went on I know that all of us were quite sure what was in his mind.
"It's our getting back home," he said at last. "Getting here was done for us by these moon folks—for whatever reason they had. But we'd stand a mighty poor chance of ever reaching the Earth again if they're going to stand off and leave us to ourselves to get back."
Another short spell of silence—during which we all did a little serious and gloomy thinking.
"Oh, well," said the Doctor, "come, come! Don't let's bother about the stiles till we reach them. After all we don't know for certain that these—er—whoever it is—are definitely unfriendly to us. They may have reasons of their own for working slowly. You must remember that we are just as strange and outlandish to them as they and their whole world are to us. We mustn't let any idea of that kind become a nightmare. We have only been here, let's see, not much over two weeks. It is a pleasant land and there is lots to be learned. The Vegetable Kingdom is clearly well disposed towards us. And if we give them time I'm sure that the—er—others will be too, in the end."
Another matter which came up about this time was the effect of moon food on ourselves. Polynesia was the first to remark upon it.
"Tommy," said she one day, "you seem to be getting enormously tall—and fat, aren't you?"
"Er—am I?" said I. "Well, I had noticed my belt seemed a bit tight. But I thought it was just ordinary growing."
"And the Doctor too," the parrot went on. "I'll swear he's bigger—unless my eyesight is getting queer."
"Well, we can soon prove that," said John Dolittle. "I know my height exactly—five feet two and a half. I have a two-foot rule in the baggage. I'll measure myself against a tree right away."
When the Doctor had accomplished this he was astonished to find that his height had increased some three inches since he had been on the Moon. Of what my own had been before I landed, I was not so sure; but measurement made it too a good deal more than I had thought it. And as to my waist line, there was no doubt that it had grown enormously. Even Chee-Chee, when we came to look at him, seemed larger and heavier. Polynesia was of course so small that it would need an enormous increase in her figure to make difference enough to see.
But there was no question at all that the rest of us had grown considerably since we had been here.
"Well," said the Doctor, "I suppose it is reasonable enough. All the vegetable and insect world here is tremendously much larger than corresponding species in our own world. Whatever helped them to grow—climate, food, atmosphere, air-pressure, etc.—should make us do the same. There is a great deal in this for the investigation of biologists and physiologists. I suppose the long seasons—or almost no seasons at all, you might say—and the other things which contribute to the long life of the animal and vegetable species would lengthen our lives to hundreds of years, if we lived here continually. You know when I was talking to the Vampire Lilies the other day they told me that even cut flowers—which with them would mean of course only blossoms that were broken off by the wind or accident—live perfectly fresh for weeks and even months—provided they get a little moisture. That accounts for the moon bells which the moth brought down with him lasting so well in Puddleby. No, we've got to regard this climate as something entirely different from the Earth's. There is no end to the surprises it may spring on us yet. Oh, well, I suppose we will shrink back to our ordinary size when we return home. Still I hope we don't grow too gigantic. My waistcoat feels most uncomfortably tight already. It's funny we didn't notice it earlier. But, goodness knows, we have had enough to keep our attention occupied."
It had been indeed this absorbing interest in all the new things that the Moon presented to our eyes that had prevented us from noticing our own changed condition. The following few days, however, our growth went forward at such an amazing pace that I began seriously to worry about it. My clothes were literally splitting and the Doctor's also. Finally, taking counsel on the matter, we proceeded to look into what means this world offered of making new ones.
Luckily the Doctor, while he knew nothing about tailoring, did know something about the natural history of those plants and materials that supply clothes and textile fabrics for Man.
"Let me see," said he one afternoon when we had decided that almost everything we wore had become too small to be kept any longer: "Cotton is out of the question. The spinning would take too long, even if we had any, to say nothing of the weaving. Linen? No, likewise.—I haven't seen anything that looked like a flax plant. About all that remains is root fibre, though heaven help us if we have to wear that kind of material next our skins! Well, we must investigate and see what we can find."
With the aid of Chee-Chee we searched the woods. It took us several days to discover anything suitable, but finally we did. It was an odd-looking swamp tree whose leaves were wide and soft. We found that when these were dried in the proper way they kept a certain pliability without becoming stiff or brittle. And yet they were tough enough to be sewn without tearing. Chee-Chee and Polynesia supplied us with the thread we needed. This they obtained from certain vine tendrils—very fine—which they shredded and twisted into yarn. Then one evening we set to work and cut out our new suits.
"Better make them large enough," said the Doctor, waving a pair of scissors over our rock work-table, "Goodness only knows how soon we'll outgrow them."
We had a lot of fun at one another's expense when at length the suits were completed and we tried them on.
"We look like a family of Robinson Crusoes," said John Dolittle. "No matter: they will serve our purpose. Any port in a storm."
For underwear we cut up all we had and made one garment out of two or three. We were afraid as yet to try our new tailoring next the skin. Luckily we only had to provide for a very mild climate.
"Now what about footwear?" said I when I had my coat and trousers on. "My shoes are all split across the top."
"That part is easy," said Chee-Chee. "I know a tree in the jungle which I found when hunting for fruits. The bark strips off easily and you can cut it into sandals that will last quite a while. The only hard part will be plaiting thongs strong enough to keep them in place on your feet."
He guided us to the tree he had spoken of and we soon had outfitted ourselves with footgear which would last us at least a week.
"Good!" said the Doctor. "Now we need not worry about clothes for a while anyway, and can give our attention to more serious matters."