Martin Eden Ch 27 p257

Paul Stought

Jul 2

CHAPTER 27	CHAPTUR 27
The sun of Martin's good fortune rose. The day after Ruth's visit, he received a check for three dollars from a New York scandal weekly in payment for three of his triolets. Two days later a newspaper published in Chicago accepted his "Treasure Hunters," promising to pay ten dollars for it on publication. The price was small, but it was the first article he had written, his very first attempt to express his thought on the printed page. To cap everything, the adventure serial for boys, his second attempt, was accepted before the end of the week by a juvenile monthly calling itself Youth and Age. It was true the serial was twenty-one thousand words, and they offered to pay him sixteen dollars on publication, which was something like seventy-five cents a thousand words; but it was equally true that it was the second thing he had attempted to write and that he was himself thoroughly aware of its clumsy worthlessness.	Dhu sun uv Mortun'z gwd faurchun roez. Dhu dae aftur Rooth's vizut, hy risyvd u chek faur thry dolurz frum u Noo Yaurk skandul wykly in paemunt faur thry uv hiz triuluts. Too daez laetur u noozpaepur publishd in Shikogoe akseptud hiz "Trezhur Hunturz," promusing too pae ten dolurz faur it on publikaeshun. Dhu pries wuz smaul, but it wuz dhu furst ortikul hy had ritun, hiz very furst utempt too ekspres hiz thaut on dhu printud paej. Too kap evrything, dhy udvenchur siryul faur boiz, hiz sekund utempt, wuz akseptud bifaur dhy end uv dhu wyk bie u joovuniel munthly kauling itself Yooth and Aej. It wuz troo dhu siryul wuz twenty-wun thouzund wurdz, and dhae ofurd too pae him sikstyn dolurz on publikaeshun, which wuz sumthing liek sevunty-fiev sents u thouzund wurdz; but it wuz ykwuluy troo dhat it wuz dhu sekund thing hy had utemptud too riet and dhat hy wuz himself thuruly uwer uv its klumzy wurtlusnus.
But even his earliest efforts were not marked with the clumsiness of mediocrity. What characterized them was the clumsiness of too great strength—the clumsiness which the tyro betrays when he crushes butterflies with battering rams and hammers out vignettes with a war-club. So it was that Martin was glad to sell his early efforts for songs. He knew them for what they were, and it had not taken him long to acquire this knowledge. What he pinned his faith to was his later work. He had striven to be something more than a mere writer of magazine fiction. He had sought to equip himself with the tools of artistry. On the other hand, he had not sacrificed strength. His conscious aim had been to increase his strength by avoiding excess of strength. Nor had he departed from his love of reality. His work was realism, though he had endeavored to fuse with it the fancies and beauties of imagination. What he sought was an impassioned realism, shot through with human aspiration and faith. What he wanted was life as it was, with all its spirit-	But yvun hiz urlyust efurts wur not morkd with dhu klumzynus uv mydyokruty. Whot karikturiezd dhem wuz dhu klumzynus uv too graet strength—dhu klumzynus which dhu tieroe bitraez when hy krushuz buturfliez with baturing ramz and hamurz out vinyets with u waur-klub. Soe it wuz dhat Mortun wuz glad too sel hiz urly efurts faur songz. Hy noo dhem faur whot dhae wur, and it had not taekun him long too ukwier dhis nolij. Whot hy pind hiz faeth too wuz hiz laetur wurk. Hy had strivun too by sumthing maur dhan u mir rietur uv maguzyn fikshun. Hy had saut too ikwip himself with dhu toolz uv ortustry. On dhy udhur hand, hy had not sakrufiesd strength. Hiz konshus aem had bin too inkryz hiz strength bie uvoiding ekses uv strength. Naur had hy diportud frum hiz luv uv ryaluty. Hiz wurk wuz ryulizum, dhoe hy had endevurd too fuez with it dhu fansyz and buetyz uv imagunaeshun. Whot hy saut wuz an impashund ryulizum, shot throo with huemun aspuraeshun and faeth. Whot hy wuntud wuz lief az it wuz, with aul its spirut-
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Martin Eden Martin Eden Intro