The Acorn-Planter

By Jack London

Jack London was an American author who wrote some of the most famous novels of the early 20th century.  London wrote on a variety of topics and is still one of the most read authors today.  This edition of The Acorn-Planter includes a table of contents.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles River Editors
• Release date: Mar 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781518300967

Jack London

Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist and journalist. Born in San Francisco to Florence Wellman, a spiritualist, and William Chaney, an astrologer, London was raised by his mother and her husband, John London, in Oakland. An intelligent boy, Jack went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley before leaving school to join the Klondike Gold Rush. His experiences in the Klondike—hard labor, life in a hostile environment, and bouts of scurvy—both shaped his sociopolitical outlook and served as powerful material for such works as “To Build a Fire” (1902), The Call of the Wild (1903), and White Fang (1906). When he returned to Oakland, London embarked on a career as a professional writer, finding success with novels and short fiction. In 1904, London worked as a war correspondent covering the Russo-Japanese War and was arrested several times by Japanese authorities. Upon returning to California, he joined the famous Bohemian Club, befriending such members as Ambrose Bierce and John Muir. London married Charmian Kittredge in 1905, the same year he purchased the thousand-acre Beauty Ranch in Sonoma County, California. London, who suffered from numerous illnesses throughout his life, died on his ranch at the age of 40. A lifelong advocate for socialism and animal rights, London is recognized as a pioneer of science fiction and an important figure in twentieth century American literature.

Book preview

THE ACORN-PLANTER

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Jack London

KYPROS PRESS

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This book is a work of fiction; its contents are wholly imagined.

All rights reserved. Aside from brief quotations for media coverage and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without the author’s permission. Thank you for supporting authors and a diverse, creative culture by purchasing this book and complying with copyright laws.

Copyright © 2015 by Jack London

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Acorn-Planter

ARGUMENT

PROLOGUE

ACT I.

ACT II

EPILOGUE

THE ACORN-PLANTER

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ARGUMENT

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In the morning of the world, while his tribe

makes its camp for the night in a grove, Red

Cloud, the first man of men, and the first man

of the Nishinam, save in war, sings of the duty

of life, which duty is to make life more abundant.

The Shaman, or medicine man, sings of

foreboding and prophecy. The War Chief, who

commands in war, sings that war is the only

way to life. This Red Cloud denies, affirming

that the way of life is the way of the acorn-

planter, and that whoso slays one man slays

the planter of many acorns. Red Cloud wins

the Shaman and the people to his contention.

After the passage of thousands of years, again

in the grove appear the Nishinam. In Red

Cloud, the War Chief, the Shaman, and the

Dew-Woman are repeated the eternal figures

of the philosopher, the soldier, the priest, and

the woman—types ever realizing themselves

afresh in the social adventures of man. Red

Cloud recognizes the wrecked explorers as

planters and life-makers, and is for treating

them with kindness. But the War Chief and

the idea of war are dominant The Shaman

joins with the war party, and is privy to the

massacre of the explorers.

A hundred years pass, when, on their seasonal

migration, the Nishinam camp for the night in

the grove. They still live, and the war formula

for life seems vindicated, despite the imminence

of the superior life-makers, the whites, who are

flooding into California from north, south, east,

and west—the English, the Americans, the

Spaniards, and the Russians. The massacre by

the white men follows, and Red Cloud, dying,

recognizes the white men as brother acorn-planters,

the possessors of the superior life-formula

of which he had always been a protagonist.

In the Epilogue, or Apotheosis, occur the

celebration of the death of war and the triumph

of the acorn-planters.

PROLOGUE

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Time. In the morning of the world.

Scene. A forest hillside where great trees stand with wide

spaces between. A stream flows from a spring that bursts

out