TalesoftheTMNT
: I don't own any of the rights to TMNT:
Donatello 1st person narration
Charles Darwin's final book was entitled TheVegetableMouldthroughtheActionofWarms, A best-seller when it came out in 1881. It was one of the first books to show the physical influence a biological organism had on its environment, and proved how something so small and seemingly inconsequential could affect the world in a big way. Earth warms break up and mix plant debris with soil, enriching it and churning it upwards like blenders; billions of blenders. Darwin was obsessed with worms, and he spent the last years of his old age researching their activity in relation to the burial and preservation of archaeological ruins.
My name is Donatello; and, yeah, these are the sort of things that I like to think about. It's the way I am. It's the way I've always been. Let me tell you a story…
NOT FORGOTTEN
Although I was aware that it was the centennial of the publication of Darwin's book on worms, I didn't give it much thought at the time. I was twelve years old and obsessed with my own interest; the history of New York, for the island latter to be named Manhattan was wild and relatively untouched.
Wolves and cougars were the predominant species at the time while eagles, ospreys and various hawks ruled its skies. Native inhabitants densely populated its wilderness; hunting, fishing, walking its shores, harvesting shellfish, living alternately in peace and at war with their neighbors.
In April 1524, an European ship, The Dauphine, sailed into what is now New York Harbor seeking to find a passage to the Orient. The Dauphine was a French ship of discovery captained by an Italian explorer, Giovanni Da Verrazano, a once famous corsair who became the first European to both sight New York and meet its native inhabitants.
In Verrazano's own words, excerpted from a letter to Francis I, King of France:
"In their little boats made out of a single tree..."
"In their little boats on the sea…" Michelangelo sang out.
My three brothers laughed.
We had come upon an old copy of the cartoon animated film CatsDon'tDance while scavenging the sewers for supplies last week, and had instantly become one of Michelangelo's favorites. I wasn't sure if my baby turtle brother was imitating the song from the movie or making fun of me.
"Guys, can I go on?" I whined.
Master then cleared his throat. "Please continue my son," he prompted. "Your brothers have much they can learn from your self teachings and knowledge." A stern look from their master immediately brought silence back into the room, and Donatello started to read again from the heavy book he held in his lap.
"In their little boats made out of a single tree, they crossed to greet us joyfully. The people uttering loud cries of wonderment were dressed in bird's feathers of various color.
"Suddenly a violent wind blew from the sea and we were forced to return to the ship, but not before we tried to take a boy and a young woman with us. The woman was very beautiful and tall, but it was impossible to take her to the sea because of the loud cries she uttered. We decided to leave her behind and took only the boy. We then sailed away towards the East."
"Sounds like a real nice guy," Raphael cracked sarcastically.
"Yes, but women and other civilizations were veered much differently during those times then they are today," Leo reminded him.
"Except for Mikey," Raph started up again, "he'll always be veered differently."
"I can't help it if I'm the cutest turtle here," Mikey batted his long eye lashes back it his red clad brother.
"You mean the ugliest," Raph corrected.
"Raphael! Michelangelo! Enough!" Master Splinter spoke sharply.
All fell silent then. We know that we have been warned when our sensei speaks that harshly with us. I looked down at my book and started to read once more.
"Two years later in 1526, a second European ship discovered New York. This one flew the flag of King Charles of Spain and was sailed by Esteban Gomez, a Portuguese of African ancestry. Gomez didn't make landfall as it was winter and the harbor clogged with ice floes eighty-three years later.
"In 1609, came TheHalfMoon, a ship contracted by the DutchEastIndiaCompany looking for a faster all-water route to China and commanded by an Englishman, Henry Hudson. Hudson sailed his small ship up the river which today bears his name, but turned around once he had realized that it was a simple river, rather than an island passageway to the West.
"Hudson made contact with local Indians and was amazed at their abundance of foods, skins and furs, which the Indians were willing to trade for trinkets…"
"I'll trade my pretty dress for this awesome comic book!" Mike yelled acting out his jesters.
"Michelangelo!" The youngest turtle jumped at our sensei's voice that was full of much disappointment. "You will listen to your lesson," Master Splinter commanded.
"Hudson claimed the land for the Dutch, opening the way for the settlers who followed, but it was the prospect of a highly profitable fur trade that prompted the company's businessmen to return to this new land."
""…which they called New Netherland and to form their first settlement, New Amsterdam," Leo finished.
"Right," I praised him.
"…which is today's New York," he said.
It made me really happy that Leo was getting into this a little. I mean, I'm the smart turtle. A while back, Leo asked me for help in our daily lessons, and in return he spent extra time in our dojo training me. Now it seemed as if all our hard work had paid off, for Leo that is. My ninja skills were still the poorest of all four turtles.
"Well done Leonardo," Master Splinter praised.
"Cool," Mikey claimed as he flopped back on the couch.
"Boring," said Raphael with a yawn.
Master Splinter sighed deeply. "Indeed Michelangelo. Thank you Donatello for sharing that with us," said Master splinter.
"Thank you Sensei. I'm psyched! This is the best book I've ever read. I can't believe someone had thrown it away into the sewers." I said.
"…and it's wicked old too," Mikey chimed in again. He just wouldn't stop. "Wouldn't it be cool to be an explorer, Don?" my baby brother asked me. "Think about it. Discovering new places, being in a ship, or even in a space ship!" he exclaimed.
"That's an interesting thought," I said. I was glad that Mikey was getting at least something out of this. "TheHalfMoon is sort of the Apollo 11 of its time…"
"Explore this!" Raph yelled as he threw a sigh at the book, or me, I was never really sure which one he was aiming to hit.
"Hey!" I yelped as his sigh knocked the book away, and it clattered to the floor.
As it fell, we all noticed something come loose. It looked like a piece of paper that was worn by years of age.
"What's this?" Leo asked as he picked up the unidentified artifact.
AN: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please read and review.