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Do you want to be exactly as they are in their stories? If so that seems a bit dull. If we exclude Elsa and Moana, it's kinda obvious who'll win, since there are only two who actually know how to use a real weapon.So since there are already many different answers about who would win in their respective universes, allow me to ask the question: What if the princesses lived in the hunger games universe?Yep. There we go.So allow me to create, for you, essentially a fanfiction.Ah… The lows I sink to for my audiences enjoyment…Oh, and there will be no Moana or Elsa. Ocean friends and ice powers are just a bit… overpowered.There will be no sponsorships or influence from the Capital either.Here are your 12 princesses from your 12 Districts!District One-LuxuryAuroraWeapon: NeedlesSkills: Poisoning tips of needles; knowing where to puncture to killScore: 92. District Two-MasonryMulanWeapon: SwordSkills: Swordfighting; StrategyScore: 113. District Three-TechnologyRapunzelWeapons: Rope; frying panSkills: Knowing how to use rope to choke; healingScore: 54. District Four-FishingArielWeapon: TridentSkills: Swimming; finding thingsScore: 65. District Five-PowerAnnaWeapon: StaffSkills: Negotiating; resistance to temperatureScore: 56. District Six-TransportationJasmineWeapon: SickleSkills: Acrobatics; HikingScore: 77. District Seven-LumberPocahontasWeapon: SpearSkills: Navigating; sailingScore: 88. District Eight-TextilesCinderellaWeapon: Serrated KnivesSkills: Knife throwing; sneakingScore: 99. District Nine-GrainTianaWeapon: Anything she can findSkills: Food making; constructingScore: 310. District Ten-LivestockSnow WhiteWeapon: PoisonSkills: Foraging; PoisoningScore: 1011. District Eleven-AgricultureBelleWeapon: NullSkills: Knowledge; convincingScore: 212. District Twelve-MiningMeridaWeapon: Bow and ArrowSkills: Archery; Crossing terrainScore: 10The games start.Immediately, Belle, Tiana, and Rapunzel run from the starting area in separate directions: Belle to the mountains on the side, Tiana to the bog and Rapunzel to the forest. Each of them being their bags with them.Snow White is not as quick to run. She contemplates for only a moment, and then chooses to grab her bag and run to the forest.Everybody else runs to the Cornucopia.Merida tries to make a run to the bow and arrow, but after seeing that Cinderella already made it to the knives, decides to swipe a knife off the crate in front of her and run, with her bag, to the forest, unaware that there are already two contestants there.Cinderella made it to the knives and stood up to see that Jasmine was kneeling in front of her, reaching for the sickle. Right as Jasmine's hand comes to the hilt of the blade, Cinderella swipes her knife at her throat, killing her instantly.Aurora made it to the belt of needles, but suddenly felt a presence near her. She ducks right as a trident thrusts right where her torso was. Right as Ariel makes another move for her, she is stabbed by a sword through her back. Just as Mulan takes the sword out, she runs to the mountains.Anna grabbed her bag, after seeing the blood resulting from the battle at the cornucopia, and ran to the mountains.Pocahontas dashed for the nearest weapon (a throwing knife) and immediately grabbed her bag and ran to the bog, seeing the water around it.Aurora and Cinderella stand above two dead bodies.“Are you the one who killed her?” Cinderella asked.Aurora pauses.“Yes.”And they both sit together are the cornucopia that night, waiting for the smoke to rise to the sky so they can know where to find their next victim.In the forest, each contestant sits alone. One at the top of a tree, one at the base of the bush and the other at the top of the Boulder.In the mountains, each contestant sits alone. One at the base of it, one at the part where the forest recedes to the cold top and the other at the very top of the monolith.In the bog, each contestant sits alone. One deep in the black waters and the other near the river surrounding it.Two cannon shots fire.Deaths: Jasmine, ArielDay TwoBelle makes a fire at her base of the mountains, warming her hands upon it.Soon enough Aurora and Cinderella come by, watching the girl shiver in the night chill.“Any last words?” Cinderella remarks, making Belle jump from her seat.Belle starts to blubber words out incoherently, trying to convince the two girls to spare her.Just as Cinderella raises her blade, though, she says something clearly, tears running down her face. “I know where they are.”Cinderella put her blade down. “Know where who is?”“The other contestants. You weren't watching them as they ran. I was. I know where they all went to.”Aurora whispers to Cinderella for a moment. Then, after a while, says, “come on. You're going to show us where everybody is.”Belle does everything they say, and soon enough they are approaching Mulan, sheathed in the bushes.“That's the girl who got an 11 on her skill test,” Cinderella whispered. “We need to get her first if we have any chance of winning.”Belle swallows as Cinderella pushes a knife in her hand. “Kill her.”Belle watches Mulan’s sleeping form and remembers that this girl was district two. Privileged. Eating while her family starved.Belle tiptoes up and slashes Mulan's throat.A cannon shot fires, waking up all the other contestants as they see Mulan's face against the sky.Merida comes to a realization: If she wants to win, she needs a bow and arrow.And she also realizes that the people populating the cornucopia right now just killed Mulan.And this is her chance.She dashes to the cornucopia, silently due to her many years of hunting, and pauses at the treeline. It is true: There is nobody there.She looks around and makes a break for it, swiping up the bow and quiver.She makes a move to leave, but then has a realization: She's at the cornucopia.And that means that, at least right now, she has the high ground.She grabs both Cinderella’s and Aurora’s bags, which they both didn't bring with them on their expedition, and a whole bag of non-perishable food.Then she hides behind a crate and waits for their footsteps.Meanwhile Snow White starts to forage for poisons and food in the underbrush, putting them in flasks on her hip from her bag. She also, although never hunting for her food, puts nuts and edible berries in her bag, eating them as she goes.Then, after she's done, she heads off to her shelter, residing in it. Waiting.Pocahontas makes a boat and sails upon it, catching fish for food.Tiana forages for food, creating somewhat of a camp.Anna resides on the top of the mountaintop, unperturbed by the cold winds, and sets up her tent she got from her bag.Rapunzel sits alone on the top of a tree. Waiting.And, when the footsteps can be heard near the cornucopia, an arrow whistles as it arcs through the air and sinks into Aurora's chest.Cinderella tries to throw knives at the retreating redhead, but in her shock, she misses each time.A cannon shot fires while Aurora’s head plays across the sky.Deaths: Mulan, AuroraDay ThreeSnow White finally sets her plan into action. She stakes out her enemy by searching for a gold head in the tree. Once she finds her, she stays hidden behind a grove of trees and pours a very small amount of poison on each berry on the bush.She sneaks away, knowing that if the plan works, the canon will tell her so.On the other side of the arena, Anna sets down the mountain, realizing that she can't survive on her food supply forever, to hunt.Once she sets all her amateur traps, she walks back up the mountain, knowing that although nobody else can survive the cold, she can.Cinderella plans with Belle on the next course of action.“We need to take out Snow White. She's the only one left who had a higher score than me.”Belle swallows hard, looking at her unwashed, bloody hands. She grabs a stick and starts to draw a circle in the dirt.“We’re here,” she says, pointing at the middle of the circle, making a dot. “The mountains are here, the bog is here, and the forest is here. When she ran off, she went to the forest. But by this point, you see, she could have already gone to the mountains.”Cinderella looks hard at Belle’s wide, scared eyes and puts a knife to her throat. “Don't forget why you’re here, runt,” she snarls. “Start being of more help or your throat pays the price.”Belle whimpers. “The forest. I bet she stayed in the forest.”“Good. Let's go.”By the time dusk hits, they are in the middle of the forest.A cannon shot fires while Rapunzel’s face flashes across the sky.Snow White smirks. “I guess she liked those berries.”Meanwhile, in the bog, Pocahontas is out staking her prey.She finds her in the forest, around a well-defined camp, humming to herself. Many different foods are splayed out among her. Pocahontas calls out.Tiana jumps back, brandishing a large javelin from the wall and a knife in her other hand. For a while, they look at each other in clients, but then Pocahontas smiles. “Want to ally?”Cinderella caught sight of a white face among the bushes, looking away from them. She yanked Belle behind the tree with her and pointed to Snow. Belle nodded in understanding. Cinderella sneaked from behind the tree, and when she was about to deliver the killing blow, Snow looked at her.They fought in the dirt, mud splaying everywhere as Belle looked on in horror. Snow drew her hand back with a knife in it down to Cinderella’s face, but suddenly a knife went through her chest.Snow White looked at Belle’s emotionless face before she fell on Cinderella, a scarlet stain spreading on her torso.Cinderella sat up, smiling at Belle.Belle smiled back.A cannon shot fired.Deaths: Rapunzel, Snow WhiteDay FourTiana and Pocohontas head to the cornucopia. “Why are we doing this again?” Tiana sighs.“Because,” Pocahontas explains. “If we're going to beat those weapon masters over there,” she gestures to the forest. “We're going to need our own weapons.”“But I don't fight. What's the whole point of this for me?”“Well, you're going to have to learn how to fight really quickly.”They approach the cornucopia and Tiana pick up a butcher’s knife while Pocahontas brandishes two spears. “Alright. Let's go.”They head to the forest.Merida heads for the top of the Boulder, looking out upon the forest, and sees a bobbing blond head among the trees.She draws her bow, ready to shoot…And then puts it down.“The girl with her will surely know it is me. I'll have even more enemies,” she whispers to herself.She sits back down on the Boulder and waits.Anna sits back down on her mountaintop and waits.Belle and Cinderella head for the cornucopia.Pocahontas and Tiana head for Belle and Cinderella.They meet at the treeline, looking each other in the eye.Cinderella throws a knife first, barely missing Tiana and grazing her arm as she ducked.Pocahontas charges at Cinderella, and they find themselves head to head.Belle and Tiana, although more reluctant, fight.Eventually, Cinderella comes out on top, driving her knife into Pocahontas's head. Then, after she finished her off, comes by to support Belle. Tiana had no chance against two tributes and found herself stabbed by Belle in the heart.Cinderella laughs and claps Belle on the back. Belle smiles back and thrusts her knife into Cinderella’s heart.Three cannon shots fire.Deaths: Pocahontas, Tiana, CinderellaMerida heads for Anna, remembering when she saw her run to the mountains earlier.Belle heads for Anna too, wanting nothing more than to end this game.Anna sits alone, thinking she is safe.Belle gets to her first, aided by her closeness to the mountainside. She tried to imitate Cinderella and sneaks up behind her, trying to drive her newfound knife collection (regards of Cinderella) into her back.Anna bolts up, grabbing the staff by her side. She swings it around, smacking Belle dead in the face. She shakes her head, trying to ban all the spots from her eyes, and looks up just in time to be her knife up, stopping the rod dead in its tracks.She snaps the staff in half, spitting blood from her mouth, and stabs Anna, right in the heart.A cannon shot fires.Merida sees Belle, standing among the scarlet snow.Belle turns around to see her.She drops her knives.Merida raised her bow.A smile lights up on Belle’s face as the arrow sheathes itself in her heart.A cannon shot fires.Deaths: Anna, BelleWell, there you guys go!In the case that you were too lazy to read all that (and I don't blame you) The winner was Merida.Edit: Dang you guys are getting really triggered over this. This might be more hostility then I encounter in politics.Alright allow me to show you my reasoning for why I killed Mulan:Being able to fight does not equal winning the Hunger Games, and please point me to the part in the story of Mulan where Mulan can hear the slightest sound whilst asleep.Also, just because Mulan can ride a horse, use a sword and do all those other things doesn't mean she is not prone to being targeted by more people at once or being assassinated. Even if she wasn't killed by Belle, she would have been killed by Aurora, Cinderella and Belle working together. The outcome is the same.There is a lot more that goes into winning the Hunger Games then just fighting. There's a certain politics to it. For those here who actually didn't play the game right, and therefore she got killed.

That is what barnstorming was all about!Never seen in India though, in fact this art and entertainment was mostly confined to the US.But before we get to barnstormers, here is a picture from 1929:▲A Perilous Perch. This sky photo pictures a thrilling moment in the recent unsuccessful attempt of Martin Jensen and two comrades to break the world's refueling endurance record in monoplane “Three Musketeers” above Roosevelt Field, N. Y. It shows Jensen on the catwalk, in full blast of the propeller's backwash, repairing a gas leak.A Texan started it all. Of course.Before World War I some aerial troupes had traveled about the country, giving their little air shows. The brothers Wright sponsored a group, and Glenn Curtiss, and the flying Stinson family, and Art Smith.But it wasn’t until the boys came back from Over There, with their great flying bird cages, their Jennys and Standards principally, that the golden era of barnstorming began.▲The nose of an old Curtiss Jenny, originally designed as a primary trainer but later used for every purpose under the sun and the particular pet of the early barnstormers.When they got back, they found that a Texan who never went had already perfected the tricks that would become the barnstormer’s special trademark.No one living knows precisely why Ormer Locklear, a Fort Worth boy, began strolling about on the wings and tail of a Jenny.Two stories, both with heroic overtones, are prevalent.In the fall of 1917, according to one, Locklear was in San Antonio near the end of his training as a Signal Corps flying officer. The final test was to go aloft with another pilot and wireless a Morse code message back to base.This was a crucial skill in those days, because military tacticians were certain the airplane’s sole usefulness in war would be as an observation platform. Locklear and his pilot spiraled up over the field and threw out a trailing antenna for the radio.Bad news. It became snarled in the tail group wires. Locklear weighed the hazards of unsnarling it against the wrath of his operations officer and hesitated not a moment. He hopped out of the cockpit and squirreled along the Jenny’s turtleback, untangled the antenna and skittered back in time to copy an urgent message from base.“Locklear, U R grounded.”Since Locklear wasn’t grounded, a second story is more plausible.This time he was an instructor going across east Texas country with a student when they noticed the cap on the OX-5 radiator was loose.If it came off, water would spew back on the spark plugs and down they’d go.It was a common occurrence in those days. Only this time Locklear looked around and saw nothing but east Texas pine trees for miles on miles. He casually strolled up over the center section, therefore, tightened the cap and thus averted another disaster in the air.Perhaps both stories are true, for in a very short time Locklear became most nimble and adept at crawling hither and yon on a Jenny in flight.He became so nimble, the stories go, he used to climb out of the pit while on a trip with a student and crawl down on the spreader bar between the Jenny’s wheels to stretch his knees and enjoy the view—which must have been a real confidence-builder for his students.▲Locklear, unencumbered by parachute, balances upside down, defying wind and gravity, on the wing of a Jenny over Los Angeles in 1919.One day, when Locklear was thus perched, another Jenny chanced to be in the neighborhood and flew over real close to investigate.Locklear recognized the pilot of the second plane who just happened to be his good buddy, Lt. Milton “Sheet” Elliot.He did the natural thing for a Texan. He stepped down off the spreader bar onto the wing of Elliot’s ship and ambled over to visit a spell.In the official Barron Field, Texas Review of 1918 there are several pictures of Lt. Locklear, a squadron commander, wing-walking. And evidently he wasn’t the only one.In one fantastic shot, a man believed to be Locklear is shown leaping from the wing tip of one Jenny to another on which there is already someone seated back on the tail.Through 1918 Locklear and his pilots, Lt. Elliot and Lt. Shirley Short (who won a Harmon award in 1923 for his mail flying exploits), performed at fairs and barnstormed. He made his first public plane-to-plane change at Dallas in January of 1919 and shortly afterwards he went to Hollywood.In a few months Locklear, who looked remarkably like Clark Gable, rose from aerial daredevil to leading man. But he continued to take his own risks in the movies he made.From this period there are pictures of Locklear doing incredible things over the wings and rigging of the old Jennys.▲Lts. Shirley Short, Ormer Locklear and Milton Elliot helped start the whole legend in baggy pants, goggles, and Jennys.It’s said he refused to do stunts the easy way.He spurned the use of aids.No hidden cables holding him on, nor toeholds built into the structure.When he changed planes, he didn’t go out to the cabane struts where he could hook his feet in the wires, as others did.He walked out onto the center of an upper wing bay and stood free while the pickup pilot flew in and placed a wing skid in his hand.And like all the wing-walkers who followed him, Locklear never used a parachute.The end came just 19 months after that first public plane-to-plane change in Dallas.He didn’t fall off a wing, though. Hardly any of the wing-walkers ever did.Locklear and Elliot spun-in at DeMille Field, Los Angeles, on August 2, 1920, during a night filming for the movie The Flywayman.It is believed they were blinded by searchlights used to light up the action.And that’s how it all began.From its inception the story of barnstorming was part fiction, part fact, which is by definition a legend.Who were the barnstormers?For a quarter of a century after their passing they were remembered as those loony, irresponsible, shiftless birds who stunted the growth of our business.They were the root of all aviation evil.They flew out of any old cow pasture, so development of proper and profitable airports was impeded.They bought old surplus crates and kept them flying year after year literally with bailing wire and shirttail patches, so development of newer, more efficient designs was impossible for lack of a market.They made aviation a laughingstock by visiting every little county fair and hauling the hicks for 55 or 51 or a penny a pound, so that businessmen were slow in recognizing the real potential of airplanes.They splattered themselves across the countryside with their show-off wing-walking, parachuting and acrobatics so that the danger myth hung on long after the fact.You name it and it was their fault.But now, as the years 1920 through 1930 slip into the good old days, it’s possible to see vaguely through the descending veil of nostalgia just who and what the barnstormers were.They were never who they seemed to be.Fort Worth gave Locklear such a grand funeral you’d have thought he was a national hero.And even before Locklear’s passing, others had adopted his formula for fame and fortune and enlarged on it.Their first gimmick was the military title.In the early 20s they were lieutenants; by the end of the era they were majors and colonels.And a staggering number of them were aces just returned from shooting down the Boche in France.They weren’t liars.The titles, the riding breeches and boots, the silk scarves, the glowing stories about their brave deeds were all a part of the showmanship and ballyhoo they used to get out the crowds.Getting out the crowds was supposedly the main object.The purpose in barnstorming was to make money by hauling passengers.That’s part of the legend.Most often the end became the means.Barnstormers who were interested only in making money worked alone as a rule.They were the gypsy barnstormers. They would fly in over a little town, do a few aerobatics ("acrobatics" back then), land in a convenient pasture and begin taking up the townsfolk on five-minute, usually $5 rides.They paid for the use of the pasture by giving the owner a free turn around his farm and sometimes spent the night in his or some other nearby home.If no bed was offered, they unrolled a blanket and tarp and slept under a wing or in a hammock strung between the struts.In legend and nostalgic memory the gypsy is pictured as living the idyllic life, free of all care and responsibility.That’s doubtful.In the first place there were few who were pure gypsy barnstormers.Men who had other jobs and cares, including many of the early fixed base operators, would free-lance for a few days or weeks, then return to the grind.Those who tried to live the free-lance life full time led a precarious existence.Billy Brooks, a latter-day great in the barnstorming business, once free-lanced. That came to an end one bitter cold day in west Texas when he and his mechanic stuffed newspapers in their worn-through shoes and set out to find regular employment.Professional barnstormers were usually a part of an air circus, and their object was personal glory.Hopping passengers was a means to that end.It was an ideal arrangement, for the success of an air circus, like any other show, was dependent on the fame and reputation of the performers, either real or trumped up.Towards this end the circuses employed advance men, "special representatives" they were, who went into cities beforehand to begin the big build-up.These men were, in many ways, more colorful than the airmen themselves. They had to be, for their job was to so charm and dazzle the local editor he’d turn his newspaper over to them.Then they’d sit down at a typewriter and become editor, reporter and proofreader on all stories relative to the circus.They were tremendous.They weren’t polished writers, but they were real artists—masters at taking a few dabs of truth and molding them into stories that held the readers of that day in awe.▲ An actual sheet of copy written for a Texas paper in about 1924 by an advance man serving the famous Gates Flying Circus. It’s a buildup for "Diavalo," a name worn by some 32 Gates’ stuntmen."The present Diavalo exceeds Kiehl and has gradually developed into the world’s greatest aerial acrobat, changing planes in midair, walking wings, hanging by his hands or hand, knees or knee, toes or toe, to anything he even suspicions will hold his weight, as unconcernedly as his spectators who lay back on their heels to watch his antics far above their heads."Several times he has narrowly escaped following in the wake of the ill-fated trio preceding him."Beautiful. And how much of it was true?All of it.Well, not exactly true. In reading the story you’d conclude that it was practically an everyday occurrence for a wing-walker to lose his grip and fall to his death.That was the idea.People will always turn out to see a killing.▲Major “Upside-Down” Clyde E. Pangborn won his moniker from his skill at inverted shenanigans.The advance men planted the danger myth, the public turned out and saw it with their own eyes, and pretty soon the performers were stuck with the stories, like it or not.Many who were at the Teterboro Airshow on September 6, 1927, will tell you how Clyde E. Pangborn came within an ace of dying that day.Here’s the story to prove it: "Major Clyde E. Pangborn, one of the few aviators to perfect the art of flying an airplane upside down, caused a sensation at the Teterboro Airport this afternoon when the engine of his G.D. Standard plane went dead while he was flying head downwards at a height of 3,000 feet."Thousands at the air meet feared that the stunt flyer would be killed as his machine commenced to drop, but Pangborn shoved the nose of the plane down in order to give his plane increased speed, and then after a drop of about 1,000 feet he righted his ship and vol-planed to the ground, making a perfect three-point landing."It’s amazing who were taken in by those awesome stories. The above account wasn’t palmed off on some hick editor. It appeared in The New York Times.The Gates Circus was the biggest and best remembered of all the old barnstorming troupes.It began in Los Angeles when a group of wartime leftovers from the United States, Canada, England and France formed the International Air Aces.They did a few movie bits, then opened as an air circus at Santa Barbara, California, in September or October of 1921.The Gates Circus was the biggest and best remembered of all the old barnstorming troupes. It began in Los Angeles when a group of wartime leftovers from the United States, Canada, England and France formed the International Air Aces. They did a few movie bits, then opened as an air circus at Santa Barbara, California, in September or October of 1921.The next spring, at San Francisco, Ivan R. Gates became promoter and general manager of the organization.Gates is supposed to have been a prewar aviator of considerable repute on the West Coast.But if he was, he certainly kept his name out of the news.A more likely story is that he was a promoter first and an aviator only when it served to further his promoting.He needs no greater claim to fame than that.Gates gave the International Air Aces Circus his own name, whipped them into a professional performing outfit, secured a sponsorship from the Texaco Company for all gas and oil and commenced to sell aviation all across the land.The planes used were surplus Jennys and Standards, powered variously with water-cooled Curtiss OX-5s or Hissos of 150, 180 or 220 horsepower.In the earliest days Gates was always invited to a city, and the show was sponsored by the local newspaper.That took care of advance publicity.Sometimes an admission fee of 25 cents was collected; usually not, though, because the principal income was from inducing folks to go up for a ride.For this reason, the show started with a demonstration of dead-stick landings, to prove airplanes don’t fall out of the sky when the engine “stalls.”Early 20s prices were $15 for short rides and $25 for longer acrobatic hops.These normally consisted of a two-turn spin, a loop, several chandelles and fish tails to a landing.Everything was mass production. When the customers were plentiful, pilots would chandelle on takeoff—if you can truly say what an OX-5 was capable of on takeoff was a chandelle—bank steeply into a slip and land.Each landing was made in the tracks of the one before, and the plane rolled to a stop in the same spot each time.As riders were hustled out over the left side of the cockpit, a ticket salesman would be helping the next batch in over the right.Then throttle forward and take off straight ahead.Since two were carried in a Jenny, four in a Standard, the money piled up fast.Averages of $1,500 per day per ship weren’t unusual until about the middle of the decade when ride prices fell to $5.Passenger-hopping was interspersed with the performance.When ticket sales began to slacken, Gates would signal for all ships to come in while the headliners revitalized the enthusiasm.Major Clyde E. Pangborn’s specialty was upside-down flying; Major William C. “Whispering Bill” Brooks was billed as the Loop King.If they weren’t enough to thrill the folks, Gates would signal for one of his Diavalos.They crawled all over those old biplanes, literally. No chutes.Simple plane changes were jazzed up by having Diavalo strap a can of fuel to his back for an in-flight refueling demonstration.Or Diavalo would change from top wing to tip skid of the pickup plane, clamber up an interplane strut, walk across to the other tip, don a parachute and jump off.A favorite was the breakaway.It was done in various ways, but the most thrilling for the crowds went like this: The stuntman would plane change to a skid and begin to hang from it with his knees, and then with a hand and a knee, then one knee, then...he’d fall. In an arc. While acrobating, he would have snapped onto a rope strung from the landing gear out along the wing.Knots on the rope enabled him to climb up to the spreader bar and on into the cockpit.Aaron “Duke” Krantz has been called the greatest of the Diavalos.Did all this emphasis on danger frighten away potential riders?To the contrary.There is a poignant little story about a drinking jumper who jumped while drunk without properly packing his chute. He dug his own grave a few yards from the grandstands, and it so stimulated the crowd that the planes were kept busy well into dusk. We’ll leave it to the psychologists to answer why.From this distance in time it may appear those stunt men had the death wish, that they thought of the crowds as fans come to see their glorious moment. Some did.Others were revolted.Wiley Post, who began as a parachutist, said in an autobiography he was sick for two weeks after it finally sunk in that the mobs came out in hopes of seeing him die.Sooner or later all the stuntmen come to this realization.Then it became a game played on two levels.For some it was a personal duel; man against himself, and no cheating allowed. Like Locklear, they shunned aids.They measured their own strength and fearlessness and then put themselves to the test.For others it was a contest between themselves and the mob. The people came out to see if they were going to be fools enough to kill themselves, and the barnstormers devised ways of making the fools who came out think they might.Hooks strapped to the wrist so it lay out of sight in the palm were used for grabbing ladders and wing skids. Harnesses worn under shirts made hanging from a rope by the teeth a circus standby. And two slip knots in a length of rope enabled one to hang beneath a spreader bar for a fantastic length of time—by one hand.But even using these tricks, the wing-walkers were incredible performers.They were almost invariably light, around 120 pounds, and quick, with steel traps for hands.And they were sure.Of course, there were accidents.On February 5, 1920, Earl Burgees fell off a wing at Los Angeles. But his death should not be charged to barnstorming. He was wrestling with a dummy on a wing for movie cameras when, somehow, the dummy got the upper hand and threw Burgees overboard. The movie footage was spectacular.On October 4, 1921, Madeline Davis was killed at Long Branch, New Jersey, attempting a transfer from auto to plane. Miss Davis, however, was apparently an amateur. She had applied for a job with the Ruth Law Flying Circus. She told Miss Law that she had wing-walking experience, but “Now I want to do something different; something that nobody else does, at least that no other woman does. If I can learn to take a leap from an automobile to an airplane, I ought to be a big attraction for your company.”She didn’t learn. Law drove the car as Brenon Treat flew over trailing a rope ladder. Davis grabbed a rung, was lifted about 15 feet and slipped off.Just five days later, on October 9, 1921, Lloyd Reese slipped from a rope ladder while attempting a plane-to-plane change at Regina, Saskatchewan.Not all such incidents were tragedies. Those old daredevils, in a left-handed sort of way, demonstrated over and over that one has to work extra hard at becoming a victim of the airplane.Rosalie Gordon was working hard at it on February 17, 1924, at Houston, Texas, when she got herself all fouled up in a parachute hung on the bottom side of a Gates Flying Circus Standard. Freddy Lund hopped down on the spreader bar and hauled her in with hardly a ripple in the day’s events.Autobiographies by early birdmen are full of stories about daring rescues.One wonders how many were authentic, and how many were for the show.It’s for sure “Tex” McLaughlin wasn’t putting on a show on September 18, 1920, over Syracuse, New York.“Five hundred feet in the air in view of 80,000 visitors at the State Fair, ‘Tex’ McLaughlin was badly injured this afternoon when struck by the propeller of the higher airplane to which he had transferred himself in midair.“McLaughlin’s escape from death was miraculous. He clung to the rope ladder of the machine until it reached the ground, partially out of control. McLaughlin was still conscious when reached, though he had been dragged more than 100 feet on the ground before the machine was brought to a stop. He will recover.”Tex was a tough cookie.That seems to have been a characteristic of the barnstormers.The 13 Black Cats of Hollywood used their indestructibility for a calling card.Strictly speaking the 13 Black Cats weren’t barnstormers; their business was movie mania at a flat rate.Prices ranged from $50 for a simulated flaming spin-in to $1,200 for an actual flaming spin-in. For $500 they’d do a plane change—upside down. For $1,500 they’d blow a ship up in midair.As a sideline they also barnstormed, so no story such as this can possibly be complete without mention of them.Were they really indestructible?It would seem so.On November 8, 1929, Art Goebel, one of the founders, and winner of the famous San Francisco-to-Hawaii Dole Race in 1927, was putting on an acrobatic exhibition at Long Beach when a battery broke loose. It whopped him on the side of the head and careened out of the open cockpit. Goebel wobbled around a bit, landed, had the wound dressed and went back up to finish the show.The organization lost some pilots and stuntmen, but the original 13 made it through the era.Gates and the Black Cats were but two of hundreds. No one really knows how many Air Circuses and gypsy barnstormers there were.Prior to mid-1926 and creation of the Airways Division of the Department of Commerce, federal licenses weren’t required on pilots or planes and no records were kept.Some names have survived in literature on that age.The Doug Davis Flying Circus was almost as well known as the Gates.Erold Bohl’s group is remembered from the writings of Charles Lindbergh, who was a stuntman for him.Parachutist Bud Gurney was also mentioned by Lindbergh.Folks along the East Coast recall Lt. Belvin Maynard, the “Flying Parson.” Maynard became famous in 1919 by winning a transcontinental and return speed race. He kept up the fame by flying in circuses and occasionally performing a marriage ceremony—in flight, of course.In August, 1922, he officiated at the aerial wedding of Lt. Wilson Bertaud and Miss Helen Lent.Two weeks later Maynard went to that great Parsonage in the sky while flying a circus at Rutland, Virginia.In 1959 Russ Brinkley enshrined the name of Charles “Smiles” O’Timmons with a great little story in FLYING.Smiles was a one-legged, one-armed parachutist. One day Brinkley prevailed on him to fill in at an air show for a missing wing-walker.Smiles did fine out on the leading edge until the heel of his artificial leg broke a mess of nose ribs and got hung.Since the old OX-5 Jenny wouldn’t maintain altitude with a man on the wing, Smiles did the only thing possible.He broke the straps holding the leg on and hopped back into the cockpit.When the Jenny landed, the leg was still standing out on the wing. But what really caused a sensation was Smiles’ lack of attire. In getting loose from the leg, he had also lost his pants.But for every name remembered by the chroniclers, hundreds have been lost.And some of the most colorful seemed to have been overlooked.Ben Gregory’s most colorful days came after the golden years of barnstorming, but they’re a vital part of the story, for they marked the end of the end.Gregory’s golden era was from 1935 to the beginning of World War II. His gimmick was the “Ship From Mars.” He used great Tri-motored Fords fitted with 15,000 candlepower searchlights and 180 neon tubes. As he stunted the big beasts, smoke poured back off each of the three engines. Then, at appropriate moments, he would turn valves, kerosene would trickle into the exhaust tracks of the outboard engines and great, long plumes of flame would trail him across the skies.Gregory wrecked three Fords during those six years. But, he induced 600,000 people to go aloft.The Ship From Mars act was the last mixing of the flamboyance of the 20s with the inevitable.It has been said federal regulation killed barnstorming.Not entirely so.Of course, the Feds did their bit. And, as usual, they went about it hind end to.▲Miss Gladys Engle hanging by her heels from the top wing. By 1929, the US government had forbidden aerial stunts all over licensed airports within the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce.The first thing they did was make the chief attraction, wing-walking, next to impossible. Gates never lost a wing man. Regulations allowed parachute exhibitions to continue. Gates lost 11 chutists.By 1930 the big money spenders of the gay prohibition 20s were not only poorer, but they had grown blasé. The novelty was gone. Ride prices dropped to a dollar and there were few takers. For the couple of bucks a ride would cost, a guy and his girl could have more fun in a darkened moving picture house featuring Dawn Patrol or Hell’s Angels.The end was both pathetic and comical.To replace wing-walking, barnstormers tried everything from burlesque to monkeys. In ‘31, after the Flying Fleets broke up, Jack Echols and his Eaglerock biplane toured Texas with the “Aviation Beauties Review.”Sad. But at least it was first-class vaudeville.According to one Texas theater manager it was, “The classiest so far as beauty and talent are concerned, that has appeared in this city in a long time.”The show featured dancing girls, a cartoonist, a blackface burlesque act and “world-famous stunt flyer Jack Echols with timely views on aviation, and witty stories derived therefrom, who will give free tickets for airplane rides.”In 1935 the romantic old era of open cockpit biplanes barnstorming out of cow pastures was hit with the final blow.Ben Gregory started working through the Midwest and Southwest with his Fords.On the East Coast Clarence Chamberlain, of transatlantic and endurance flying fame, began a tour down to Florida and into Texas with big, twin-engined Curtiss Condors.With a dozen or more seats to fill, at a buck a ride they could give longer hops and still send money home to the wife and kids.Some cut the price to 50 cents.Pretty soon everybody who could be induced had been.Had they finally succeeded in terrorizing the entire populace with the danger myth, and “flip flop” rides and harebrained stunts?The law of diminishing returns had kicked in. Ben Gregory had hopped 600,000 people; the Gates Circus close to a million.Doug Davis and Chamberlain carried at least that many more.Multiply that by the hundreds of smaller circuses and freelancers and the total is staggering.There were only 100 million people in the US in those days, and it appears not unlikely that 20 percent or more of them had been aloft at one time or another.This is somewhat better than the airlines have been able to do in the mid-60s with inducements of glamorous stewardesses, champagne flights and Astrovision.The barnstormers, it would appear in the overall view, were not the kooks and villains they once seemed to be.They were aviation in short pants.Such was the unbelievable, but true story of the barnstormers……a world we did not know at all.

It was in the second century Hijrah when most of the Sahaba who had learned Islam from the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) directly were diminishing one after another. The last of Prophet's companions passed away in 110 A.H.Subsequently a possibility of misquoting the Prophet (peace be upon him) by some people with vested interest was quite apparent. So it was essential to collect and authenticate true Hadiths without sponsorship of any ruling authority, regional or national. It was a gigantic work to collect all the prevailing statements and to classify them into the relevant categories, as authentic, good, poor and false.This was a great task, which Imam Bukhari, a non-Arab from Khorasan, shouldered. He spent 16 years in searching, collecting and refining the material of Hadith. Not only this, he fixed the most rigid rules to evaluate and authenticate any circulating Hadith. Thus he is known as the Founder of Hadith science. The rest of his life was spent in teaching and propagating the Hadith literature. One of his students, Imam Muslim, rose to the second position in the world in Hadith compilation.Imam Bukhari was born in Bukhara in 196 A.H. (810 A.D.) now in Uzbekistan). His father died when he was still young. He had lost his sight in infancy but his mother's prayers and invoking blessed him a sharp sight and sharp memory that enabled him to read and write in the moonlight and if he had read or heard something, it would remain in his memory forever.He memorized the Holy Qur'an at the age of 9. Then began to learn Hadith from scholars of his region. At the age of 18 he traveled to Makkah and stayed there for 16 years collecting Hadiths. He visited Egypt and Syria twice, Basra four times, spent many years in Hijaz and went to Kufa and Baghdad many times. It is said that he learned about 600,000 Hadith from more than 1,000 scholars.While returning to Bukhara after 16 years he began to compile Jame Al Sahih. He judged 7,275 Hadith from his large collection and arranged them in 93 chapters. Though Imam Bukhari wrote many books, he shot to prominence because of Tarikh Al-Kabeer, Adab Al-Mufrad and Sahih Al-Bukhari. The first one he wrote in full moon nights at the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. Imam Bukhari had a very sharp memory. He memorized 70,000 Hadiths at an early age and later in his life, this figure reached 300,000. Among those 100,000 Hadiths were Sahih and 200,000 were Hasan, Da`îf, etc.In 250 A.H. he settled at Neshapur where he met Muslim ibn Al Hujjaj as his disciple who compiled Sahih Al-Muslim which is regarded only second to Bukhari in the Muslim world.Imam Bukhari's book on Hadith is regarded as the top of Sahah Sitta which are the most authentic six books of Hadith collected during 200-300 AH. These are:• Sahih Bukhari by Imam Bukhari (D. 256 A.H.),• Sahih Muslim by Muslim ibn Al Hujjaj (D. 261 A.H.),• Sunan Al-Sughra by Al-Nasa'i (D. 302 A.H.)• Sunan Abu Dawood by Abu Dawood (D. 274 A.H.)• Jami Al-Tirmidhi by Al-Tirmidhi (D. 278 A.H.)• Sunan ibn Majah by Ibn Majah (D. 273 A.H.)Hafiz Ahmad bin Adi has described that when Imam Bukhari reached Baghdad, the leading scholars tried to test him and mixed 100 Hadith between the narrators’ chain and the text and gave to 100 persons to ask the authenticity of such Hadiths. Imam Bukhari said he never heard any Hadith like this. Then he repeated the incorrect Hadith as quoted by each questioner and then recited the corrected Hadith for each person separately. The people were astonished on the depth of his knowledge and paid great respect to him.Imam Bukhari was a rich person but he lived life of a very simple man giving most of his income to the poor. Mohammed Hatim Warraq, one of his disciples said that when Imam was establishing a Sarai (inn) near the city of Bukhara, he was laying bricks with his own hands. When Warraq said to him, leave this job for me, he replied, “On the Day of Judgment this work will be of benefit to me.” Regarding his worship it is said that Imam recited the entire Qur'an daily in Ramadan and recited one third of it in the night prayers.In 250 A.H., Imam Bukhari moved to Neshapur where he was well received. Imam Muslim Neshapuri said he had never seen such a grand reception given to any scholar or ruler. Imam Bukhari began his lectures, which were attended by thousands. His popularity irritated the local ruler and Imam Bukhari decided to leave Neshapur for Bukhara where again he was received with great enthusiasm. He began his lectures and also established a school for regular teaching. But after some time due to differences with the local ruler he decided to leave his hometown for Samarqand.But when he was still a few miles away from the city he was prevented from entering it. When he found he had no place to go, he prayed to Almighty Allah saying, “O Allah, the Earth despite its grandeur is becoming narrow for me and is troubling me greatly. So take me back to You.” His prayers were answered and he died at Khartang, a place between Samarqand and Bukhara. It was on the night of Eid Al-Fitr, the first night of Shawwal 256 A.H. He is buried in Muhammad Al-Bukhari mausoleum at Khartang near Samarkand, in Uzbekistan“Abd Al-Wahid ibn Adam Awaysi states: ‘I saw the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in dream standing with a group of Sahaba and asked, 'For whom are you waiting?' He replied, 'For Bukhari.' After a few days I heard the news of Imam Bukhari's death. He had died at the very moment that I saw the Prophet (pbuh) in my dream.”Sahih Al Bukhari is regarded as the most authentic collection of Hadiths, which covers almost all aspects of human life in providing proper guidance from the Holy Prophet. As for piety, Imam Al-Bukhari never wrote any Hadith in this book without performing two rakah salat of guidance from Allah and when he was sure of its authenticity, only then he wrote it in the book.Imam Bukhari lived for 62 years only but during his span of life he did a marvelous work, which has been guiding the Ummah for the last 1,200 years. Tens of commentaries have been written on his treatise and hundreds of scholars are teaching Bukhari to thousand of students daily around the world. May Almighty Allah grant him the best reward.Imam Bukhari: The founder of Hadith scienceSahih al-BukhariImam Muhammad al-Bukhari7069 ahādīthvolume 11. Revelation كتاب بدء الوحىThe first volume has 7 ahadith.Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, Book of Revelation, Hadith 1حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأَنْصَارِيُّ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِيُّ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنَ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِيَّ، يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏"‏ إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى دُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ إِلَى امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى dithمَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ ‏"‏‏.‏Narrated Umar bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him)I heard Allah's Apostle ﷺ saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for."Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, Book of Revelation, Hadith 2حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ أُمِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ أَنَّ الْحَارِثَ بْنَ هِشَامٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ سَأَلَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَيْفَ يَأْتِيكَ الْوَحْىُ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ أَحْيَانًا يَأْتِينِي مِثْلَ صَلْصَلَةِ الْجَرَسِ ـ وَهُوَ أَشَدُّهُ عَلَىَّ ـ فَيُفْصَمُ عَنِّي وَقَدْ وَعَيْتُ عَنْهُ مَا قَالَ، وَأَحْيَانًا يَتَمَثَّلُ لِيَ الْمَلَكُ رَجُلاً فَيُكَلِّمُنِي فَأَعِي مَا يَقُولُ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ رضى الله عنها وَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُهُ يَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِ الْوَحْىُ فِي الْيَوْمِ الشَّدِيدِ الْبَرْدِ، فَيَفْصِمُ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّ جَبِينَهُ لَيَتَفَصَّدُ عَرَقًا‏.‏Narrated 'Aisha (the mother of the faithful believers, may Allah be pleased with her):Al-Harith bin Hisham asked Allah's Apostle "O Allah's Apostle! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" Allah's Apostle replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says."'Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the Sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over).Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, Book of Revelation, Hadith 3Related• Surah al-Alaq 96:1-3• Surah al-Muddassir 74:1-5حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ بُكَيْرٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ أُمِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ أَوَّلُ مَا بُدِئَ بِهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنَ الْوَحْىِ الرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ فِي النَّوْمِ، فَكَانَ لاَ يَرَى رُؤْيَا إِلاَّ جَاءَتْ مِثْلَ فَلَقِ الصُّبْحِ، ثُمَّ حُبِّبَ إِلَيْهِ الْخَلاَءُ، وَكَانَ يَخْلُو بِغَارِ حِرَاءٍ فَيَتَحَنَّثُ فِيهِ ـ وَهُوَ التَّعَبُّدُ ـ اللَّيَالِيَ ذَوَاتِ الْعَدَدِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَنْزِعَ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ، وَيَتَزَوَّدُ لِذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يَرْجِعُ إِلَى خَدِيجَةَ، فَيَتَزَوَّدُ لِمِثْلِهَا، حَتَّى جَاءَهُ الْحَقُّ وَهُوَ فِي غَارِ حِرَاءٍ، فَجَاءَهُ الْمَلَكُ فَقَالَ اقْرَأْ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ مَا أَنَا بِقَارِئٍ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ فَأَخَذَنِي فَغَطَّنِي حَتَّى بَلَغَ مِنِّي الْجَهْدَ، ثُمَّ أَرْسَلَنِي فَقَالَ اقْرَأْ‏.‏ قُلْتُ مَا أَنَا بِقَارِئٍ‏.‏ فَأَخَذَنِي فَغَطَّنِي الثَّانِيَةَ حَتَّى بَلَغَ مِنِّي الْجَهْدَ، ثُمَّ أَرْسَلَنِي فَقَالَ اقْرَأْ‏.‏ فَقُلْتُ مَا أَنَا بِقَارِئٍ‏.‏ فَأَخَذَنِي فَغَطَّنِي الثَّالِثَةَ، ثُمَّ أَرْسَلَنِي فَقَالَ ‏{‏اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ * خَلَقَ الإِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ * اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الأَكْرَمُ‏}‏ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَرَجَعَ بِهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَرْجُفُ فُؤَادُهُ، فَدَخَلَ عَلَى خَدِيجَةَ بِنْتِ خُوَيْلِدٍ رضى الله عنها فَقَالَ ‏"‏ زَمِّلُونِي زَمِّلُونِي ‏"‏‏.‏ فَزَمَّلُوهُ حَتَّى ذَهَبَ عَنْهُ الرَّوْعُ، فَقَالَ لِخَدِيجَةَ وَأَخْبَرَهَا الْخَبَرَ ‏"‏ لَقَدْ خَشِيتُ عَلَى نَفْسِي ‏"‏‏.‏ فَقَالَتْ خَدِيجَةُ كَلاَّ وَاللَّهِ مَا يُخْزِيكَ اللَّهُ أَبَدًا، إِنَّكَ لَتَصِلُ الرَّحِمَ، وَتَحْمِلُ الْكَلَّ، وَتَكْسِبُ الْمَعْدُومَ، وَتَقْرِي الضَّيْفَ، وَتُعِينُ عَلَى نَوَائِبِ الْحَقِّ‏.‏ فَانْطَلَقَتْ بِهِ خَدِيجَةُ حَتَّى أَتَتْ بِهِ وَرَقَةَ بْنَ نَوْفَلِ بْنِ أَسَدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْعُزَّى ابْنَ عَمِّ خَدِيجَةَ ـ وَكَانَ امْرَأً تَنَصَّرَ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ، وَكَانَ يَكْتُبُ الْكِتَابَ الْعِبْرَانِيَّ، فَيَكْتُبُ مِنَ الإِنْجِيلِ بِالْعِبْرَانِيَّةِ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ، وَكَانَ شَيْخًا كَبِيرًا قَدْ عَمِيَ ـ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ خَدِيجَةُ يَا ابْنَ عَمِّ اسْمَعْ مِنَ ابْنِ أَخِيكَ‏.‏ فَقَالَ لَهُ وَرَقَةُ يَا ابْنَ أَخِي مَاذَا تَرَى فَأَخْبَرَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم خَبَرَ مَا رَأَى‏.‏ فَقَالَ لَهُ وَرَقَةُ هَذَا النَّامُوسُ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ عَلَى مُوسَى صلى الله عليه وسلم يَا لَيْتَنِي فِيهَا جَذَعًا، لَيْتَنِي أَكُونُ حَيًّا إِذْ يُخْرِجُكَ قَوْمُكَ‏.‏ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ أَوَمُخْرِجِيَّ هُمْ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ نَعَمْ، لَمْ يَأْتِ رَجُلٌ قَطُّ بِمِثْلِ مَا جِئْتَ بِهِ إِلاَّ عُودِيَ، وَإِنْ يُدْرِكْنِي يَوْمُكَ أَنْصُرْكَ نَصْرًا مُؤَزَّرًا‏.‏ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنْشَبْ وَرَقَةُ أَنْ تُوُفِّيَ وَفَتَرَ الْوَحْىُNarrated 'Aisha (the mother of the faithful believers):The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read. The Prophet added,"The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3)Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint Khuwailid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me." Khadija replied, "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your Kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones." Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza, who, during the PreIslamic Period became a Christian and used to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to Waraqa, "Listen to the story of your nephew, O my cousin!" Waraqa asked, "O my nephew! What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle described whatever he had seen. Waraqa said, "This is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out." Allah's Apostle asked, "Will they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone (man) who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility;and if I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly." But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while. Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari while talking about the period of pause in revelation reporting the speech of the Prophet "While I was walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up and saw the same angel who had visited me at the cave of Hira' sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I got afraid of him and came back home and said, 'Wrap me (in blankets).' And then Allah revealed the following Holy Verses (of Quran): 'O you (i.e. Muhammad)! wrapped up in garments!' Arise and warn (the people against Allah's Punishment),... up to 'and desert the idols.' (74.1-5) After this the revelation started coming strongly, frequently and regularly.till next hadith no 4 vol 1 of sahih Al Bokhari