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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15164-8.txt b/15164-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10ba7be --- /dev/null +++ b/15164-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4924 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Folk Tales Every Child Should Know, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Folk Tales Every Child Should Know + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 24, 2005 [EBook #15164] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Patricia A. Benoy, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: An Indian Brave] + + +FOLK TALES +Every Child Should Know + +EDITED BY +Hamilton Wright Mabie + +[Illustration] + +THE WHAT-EVERY-CHILD-SHOULD-KNOW-LIBRARY + +_Published by_ + +DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & CO., INC., _for_ +THE PARENTS' INSTITUTE, INC. +_Publishers of "The Parents' Magazine"_ +9 EAST 40th STREET, NEW YORK + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + +The editor and publishers wish to express their appreciation to the +following firms for permission to use the material indicated: + +To Messrs. G.P. Putnam's Sons for "Why the Sea is Salt," "The Lad Who +Went to the North Wind," "The Lad and the Deil," and "Ananzi and the +Lion," by Sir George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L.; to the Macmillan Company, New +York, for "The Grateful Foxes" and "The Badger's Money," by A.B. +Mitford; to Messrs. Macmillan & Company, London, for "The Origin of +Rubies," by Rev. Lal Behari Day; to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons for +"The Dun Horse," by George Bird Grinnell; to Messrs. Little, Brown & +Company for "The Peasant Story of Napoleon," by Honoré de Balzac; to +Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Company for "Why Brother Bear Has No Tail," +by Joel Chandler Harris, and for the following selections from "Sixty +Folk Tales, from Exclusively Slavonic Sources," translated by A.H. +Wratislaw, M.A.:--"Long, Broad, and Sharpsight," "Intelligence and +Luck," "George and the Goat," "The Wonderful Hair," "The Dragon and the +Prince," and "The Good Children." + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +CHAPTER + +I. HANS IN LUCK + From Grimm's Fairy Tales. + +II. WHY THE SEA IS SALT + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +III. THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +IV. THE LAD AND THE DEIL + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +V. ANANZI AND THE LION + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +VI. THE GRATEFUL FOXES + From "Tales of Old Japan," by + A.B. Mitford. + +VII. THE BADGER'S MONEY + From "Tales of Old Japan," by + A.B. Mitford. + +VIII. WHY BROTHER BEAR HAS NO TAIL + From "Nights with Uncle Remus," + by Joel Chandler Harris. + +IX. THE ORIGIN OF RUBIES + From "Folk Tales of Bengal," + by Rev. Lal Behari Day. + +X. LONG, BROAD, AND SHARPSIGHT + Translated from the Bohemian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XI. INTELLIGENCE AND LUCK + Translated from the Bohemian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XII. GEORGE WITH THE GOAT + Translated from the Bohemian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XIII. THE WONDERFUL HAIR + Translated from the Serbian by + A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in "Sixty + Folk Tales, from Exclusively Slavonic + Sources." + +XIV. THE DRAGON AND THE PRINCE + Translated from the Serbian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XV. THE GOOD CHILDREN + A Little Russian story of Galicia. + Translated by A.H. + Wratislaw, M.A., in "Sixty + Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XVI. THE DUN HORSE + From "Pawnee Hero Stories + and Folk Tales," by George + Bird Grinnell. + +XVII. THE GREEDY YOUNGSTER + From the Norwegian tale of + Peter Christen Asbjörnsen. + +XVIII. HANS, WHO MADE THE PRINCESS LAUGH + From the Norwegian tale of + Peter Christen Asbjörnsen. + +XIX. THE STORY OF TOM TIT TOT + An old Suffolk Tale, given in the + dialect of East Anglia. From + "Tom Tit Tot. An Essay on + Savage Philosophy in Folk + Tale," by Edward Clodd. + +XX. THE PEASANT STORY OF NAPOLEON + From "The Country Doctor," + by Honoré de Balzac. Translated + by Katharine Prescott + Wormeley. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +When the traveller looks at Rome for the first time he does not realize +that there have been several cities on the same piece of ground, and +that the churches and palaces and other great buildings he sees to-day +rest on an earlier and invisible city buried in dust beneath the +foundations of the Rome of the Twentieth Century. In like manner, and +because all visible things on the surface of the earth have grown out of +older things which have ceased to be, the world of habits, the ideas, +customs, fancies, and arts, in which we live is a survival of a younger +world which long ago disappeared. When we speak of Friday as an unlucky +day, or touch wood after saying that we have had good luck for a long +time, or take the trouble to look at the new moon over the right +shoulder, or avoid crossing the street while a funeral is passing, we +are recalling old superstitions or beliefs, a vanished world in which +our remote forefathers lived. + +We do not realize how much of this vanished world still survives in our +language, our talk, our books, our sculpture and pictures. The plays of +Shakespeare are full of reference to the fancies and beliefs of the +English people in his time or in the times not long before him. If we +could understand all these references as we read, we should find +ourselves in a world as different from the England of to-day as England +is from Austria, and among a people whose ideas and language we should +find it hard to understand. + +In those early days there were no magazines or newspapers, and for the +people as contrasted with the scholars there were no books. The most +learned men were ignorant of things which intelligent children know +to-day; only a very few men and women could read or write; and all kinds +of beliefs about animals, birds, witches, fairies, giants, and the +magical qualities of herbs and stones flourished like weeds in a +neglected garden. There came into existence an immense mass of +misinformation about all manner of things; some of it very stupid, much +of it very poetic and interesting. Below the region of exact knowledge +accessible to men of education, lay a region of popular fancies, ideas, +proverbs, and superstitions in which the great mass of men and women +lived, and which was a kind of invisible playground for children. Much +of the popular belief about animals and the world was touched with +imagination and was full of suggestions, illustrations, and pictorial +figures which the poets were quick to use. When the king says to Cranmer +in "Henry VIII:" "Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons," he was +thinking of the old custom of giving children at christenings silver or +gilt spoons with handles shaped to represent the figures of the +Apostles. Rich people gave twelve of the "apostles' spoons;" people of +more moderate means gave three or four, or only one with the figure of +the saint after whom the child was named. On Lord Mayor's Day in London, +which came in November and is still celebrated, though shorn of much of +its ancient splendour, the Lord Mayor's fool, as part of the +festivities, jumped into a great bowl of custard, and this is what Ben +Jonson had in mind when he wrote: + + "He may, perchance, in tail of a sheriff's dinner, + Skip with a rime o' the table, from near nothing, + And take his almain leap into a custard, + Shall make my lady Maydress and her sisters, + Laugh all their hoods over their shoulders." + +It was once widely believed that a stone of magical, medicinal qualities +was set in the toad's head, and so Shakespeare wrote: + + "Sweet are the uses of adversity; + Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, + Wears yet a precious jewel in its head." + +"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is the most wonderful fairy story in the +world, but Shakespeare did not create it out of hand; he found the fairy +part of it in the traditions of the country people. One of his most +intelligent students says: "He founded his elfin world on the prettiest +of the people's traditions, and has clothed it in the ever-living flower +of his own exuberant fancy." + +This immense mass of belief, superstition, fancy, is called folk-lore +and is to be found in all parts of the world. These fancies or faiths or +superstitions were often distorted with stories, and side by side with +folk-lore grew up the folk-tales, of which there are so many that a man +might spend his whole life writing them down. They were not made as +modern stories are often made, by men who think out carefully what they +are to say, arrange the different parts so that they go together like +the parts of a house or of a machine, and write them with careful +selection of words so as to make the story vivid and interesting. + +The folk-tales were not written out; many of them grew out of single +incidents or little inventions of fancy, and became longer and larger as +they passed from one story-teller to another and were retold generation +after generation. + +Men love stories, and for very good reasons, as has been pointed out in +introductions to other volumes in this series; and the more quick and +original the imagination of a race, the more interesting and varied will +be its stories. From the earliest times, long before books were made, +the people of many countries were eagerly listening to the men and women +who could tell thrilling or humorous tales, as in these later days they +read the novels of the writers who know how to tell a story so as to +stir the imagination or hold the attention and make readers forget +themselves and their worries and troubles. In India and Japan, in Russia +and Roumania, among the Indians at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, +these stories are still told, not only to children by their mothers and +grandmothers, but to crowds of grown-up people by those who have the art +of making tales entertaining; and there are still so many of these +stories floating about the world from one person to another that if they +were written down they would fill a great library. "Until the generation +now lately passed away," says Mr. Gosse in his introduction to that very +interesting book, "Folk and Fairy Tales" by Asbjörnsen, "almost the only +mode in which the Norwegian peasant killed time in the leisure moments +between his daily labour and his religious observances, was in listening +to stories. It was the business of old men and women who had reached the +extreme limit of their working hours, to retain and repeat these ancient +legends in prose and verse, and to recite or sing them when called to do +so." And Miss Hapgood has told us that in Russia these stories have not +only been handed down wholly by word or mouth for a thousand years, but +are flourishing to-day and extending into fresh fields. + +The stories made by the people, and told before evening fires, or in +public places and at the gates of inns in the Orient, belong to the ages +when books were few and knowledge limited, or to people whose fancy was +not hampered by familiarity with or care for facts; they are the +creations, as they were the amusement, of men and women who were +children in knowledge, but were thinking deeply and often wisely of what +life meant to them, and were eager to know and hear more about +themselves, their fellows, and the world. In the earlier folk-stories +one finds a childlike simplicity and readiness to believe in the +marvellous; and these qualities are found also in the French peasant's +version of the career of Napoleon. + +HAMILTON W. MABIE + + + + +FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + + + + +I + +HANS IN LUCK + + +Hans had served his Master seven years, and at the end of that time he +said to him: "Master, since my time is up, I should like to go home to +my mother; so give me my wages, if you please." + +His Master replied, "You have served me truly and honestly, Hans, and +such as your service was, such shall be your reward;" and with these +words he gave him a lump of gold as big as his head. Hans thereupon took +his handkerchief out of his pocket, and, wrapping the gold up in it, +threw it over his shoulder and set out on the road toward his native +village. As he went along, carefully setting one foot to the ground +before the other, a horseman came in sight, trotting gaily and briskly +along upon a capital animal. "Ah," said Hans, aloud, "what a fine thing +that riding is! one is seated, as it were, upon a stool, kicks against +no stones, spares one's shoes, and gets along without any trouble!" + +The Rider, overhearing Hans making these reflections, stopped and said, +"Why, then, do you travel on foot, my fine fellow?" + +"Because I am forced," replied Hans, "for I have got a bit of a lump to +carry home; it certainly is gold, but then I can't carry my head +straight, and it hurts my shoulder." + +"If you like we will exchange," said the Rider. "I will give you my +horse, and you can give me your lump of gold." + +"With all my heart," cried Hans; "but I tell you fairly you undertake a +very heavy burden." + +The man dismounted, took the gold, and helped Hans on to the horse, and, +giving him the reins into his hands, said, "Now, when you want to go +faster, you must chuckle with your tongue and cry, 'Gee up! gee up!'" + +Hans was delighted indeed when he found himself on the top of a horse, +and riding along so freely and gaily. After a while he thought he should +like to go rather quicker, and so he cried, "Gee up! gee up!" as the man +had told him. The horse soon set off at a hard trot, and, before Hans +knew what he was about, he was thrown over head and heels into a ditch +which divided the fields from the road. The horse, having accomplished +this feat, would have bolted off if he had not been stopped by a Peasant +who was coming that way, driving a cow before him. Hans soon picked +himself up on his legs, but he was terribly put out, and said to the +countryman, "That is bad sport, that riding, especially when one mounts +such a beast as that, which stumbles and throws one off so as to nearly +break one's neck. I will never ride on that animal again. Commend me to +your cow: one may walk behind her without any discomfort, and besides +one has, every day for certain, milk, butter, and cheese. Ah! what would +I not give for such a cow!" + +"Well," said the Peasant, "such an advantage you may soon enjoy; I will +exchange my cow for your horse." + +To this Hans consented with a thousand thanks, and the Peasant, swinging +himself upon the horse, rode off in a hurry. + +Hans now drove his cow off steadily before him, thinking of his lucky +bargain in this wise: "I have a bit of bread, and I can, as often as I +please, eat with it butter and cheese, and when I am thirsty I can milk +my cow and have a draught: and what more can I desire?" + +As soon, then, as he came to an inn he halted, and ate with great +satisfaction all the bread he had brought with him for his noonday and +evening meals, and washed it down with a glass of beer, to buy which he +spent his two last farthings. This over, he drove his cow farther, but +still in the direction of his mother's village. The heat meantime became +more and more oppressive as noontime approached, and just then Hans came +to a common which was an hour's journey across. Here he got into such a +state of heat that his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, and he +thought to himself: "This won't do; I will just milk my cow, and refresh +myself." Hans, therefore tied her to a stump of a tree, and, having no +pail, placed his leathern cap below, and set to work, but not a drop of +milk could he squeeze out. He had placed himself, too, very awkwardly, +and at last the impatient cow gave him such a kick on the head that he +tumbled over on the ground, and for a long time knew not where he was. +Fortunately, not many hours after, a Butcher passed by, trundling a +young pig along upon a wheelbarrow. "What trick is this!" exclaimed he, +helping up poor Hans; and Hans told him that all that had passed. The +Butcher then handed him his flask and said, "There, take a drink; it +will revive you. Your cow might well give no milk: she is an old beast, +and worth nothing at the best but for the plough or the butcher!" + +"Eh! eh!" said Hans, pulling his hair over his eyes, "who would have +thought it? It is all very well when one can kill a beast like that at +home, and make a profit of the flesh; but for my part I have no relish +for cow's flesh; it is too tough for me! Ah! a young pig like yours is +the thing that tastes something like, let alone the sausages!" + +"Well now, for love of you," said the Butcher, "I will make an exchange, +and let you have my pig for your cow." + +"Heaven reward you for your kindness!" cried Hans; and, giving up the +cow, he untied the pig from the barrow and took into his hands the +string with which it was tied. + +Hans walked on again, considering how everything had happened just as he +wished, and how all his vexations had turned out for the best after all! +Presently a boy overtook him carrying a fine white goose under his arm, +and after they had said "Good-day" to each other, Hans began to talk +about his luck, and what profitable exchanges he had made. The Boy on +his part told him that he was carrying the goose to a christening-feast. +"Just lift it," said he to Hans, holding it up by its wings, "just feel +how heavy it is; why, it has been fattened up for the last eight weeks, +and whoever bites it when it is cooked will have to wipe the grease from +each side of his mouth!" + +"Yes," said Hans, weighing it with one hand, "it is weighty, but my pig +is no trifle either." + +While he was speaking the Boy kept looking about on all sides, and +shaking his head suspiciously, and at length he broke out, "I am afraid +it is not all right about your pig. In the village through which I have +just come, one has been stolen out of the sty of the mayor himself; and +I am afraid, very much afraid, you have it now in your hand! They have +sent out several people, and it would be a very bad job for you if they +found you with the pig; the best thing you can do is to hide it in some +dark corner!" + +Honest Hans was thunderstruck, and exclaimed, "Ah, Heaven help me in +this fresh trouble! you know the neighbourhood better than I do; do you +take my pig and let me have your goose," said he to the boy. + +"I shall have to hazard something at that game," replied the Boy, "but +still I do not wish to be the cause of your meeting with misfortune;" +and, so saying, he took the rope into his own hand, and drove the pig +off quickly by a side-path, while Hans, lightened of his cares, walked +on homeward with the goose under his arm. "If I judge rightly," thought +he to himself, "I have gained even by this exchange: first there is a +good roast; then the quantity of fat which will drip out will make goose +broth for a quarter of a year; and then there are fine white feathers, +which, when once I have put into my pillow I warrant I shall sleep +without rocking. What pleasure my mother will have!" + +As he came to the last village on his road there stood a Knife-grinder, +with his barrow by the hedge, whirling his wheel round and singing: + + "Scissors and razors and such-like I grind; + And gaily my rags are flying behind." + + +Hans stopped and looked at him, and at last he said, "You appear to have +a good business, if I may judge by your merry song?" + +"Yes," answered the Grinder, "this business has a golden bottom! A true +knife-grinder is a man who as often as he puts his hand into his pocket +feels money in it! But what a fine goose you have got; where did you buy +it?" + +"I did not buy it at all," said Hans, "but took it in exchange for my +pig." "And the pig?" "I exchanged for my cow." "And the cow?" "I +exchanged a horse for her." "And the horse?" "For him I gave a lump of +gold as big as my head." "And the gold?" "That was my wages for a seven +years' servitude." "And I see you have known how to benefit yourself +each time," said the Grinder; "but, could you now manage that you heard +the money rattling in your pocket as you walked, your fortune would be +made." + +"Well! how shall I manage that?" asked Hans. + +"You must become a grinder like me; to this trade nothing peculiar +belongs but a grindstone; the other necessaries find themselves. Here is +one which is a little worn, certainly, and so I will not ask anything +more for it than your goose; are you agreeable?" + +"How can you ask me?" said Hans; "why, I shall be the luckiest man in +the world; having money as often as I dip my hand into my pocket, what +have I to care about any longer?" + +So saying, he handed over the goose, and received the grindstone in +exchange. + +"Now," said the Grinder, picking up an ordinary big flint stone which +lay near, "now, there you have a capital stone upon which only beat them +long enough and you may straighten all your old nails! Take it, and use +it carefully!" + +Hans took the stone and walked on with a satisfied heart, his eyes +glistening with joy. "I must have been born," said he, "to a heap of +luck; everything happens just as I wish, as if I were a Sunday-child." + +Soon, however, having been on his legs since daybreak, he began to feel +very tired, and was plagued too with hunger, since he had eaten all his +provision at once in his joy about the cow bargain. At last he felt +quite unable to go farther, and was forced, too, to halt every minute +for the stones encumbered him very much. Just then the thought overcame +him, what a good thing it were if he had no need to carry them any +longer, and at the same moment he came up to a stream. Here he resolved +to rest and refresh himself with drink, and so that the stones might not +hurt him in kneeling he laid them carefully down by his side on the +bank. This done, he stooped down to scoop up some water in his hand, and +then it happened that he pushed one stone a little too far, so that both +presently went plump into the water. Hans, as soon as he saw them +sinking to the bottom, jumped up for joy, and then kneeled down and +returned thanks, with tears in his eyes, that so mercifully, and without +any act on his part, and in so nice a way, he had been delivered from +the heavy stones, which alone hindered him from getting on. + +"So lucky as I am," exclaimed Hans, "is no other man under the sun!" + +Then with a light heart, and free from every burden, he leaped gaily +along till he reached his mother's house. + + + + +II + +WHY THE SEA IS SALT + + +Once on a time, but it was a long, long time ago, there were two +brothers, one rich and one poor. Now, one Christmas eve, the poor one +hadn't so much as a crumb in the house, either of meat or bread, so he +went to his brother to ask him for something to keep Christmas with, in +God's name. It was not the first time his brother had been forced to +help him, and you may fancy he wasn't very glad to see his face, but he +said: + +"If you will do what I ask you to do, I'll give you a whole flitch of +bacon." + +So the poor brother said he would do anything and was full of thanks. + +"Well, here is the flitch," said the rich brother, "and now go straight +to Hell." + +"What I have given my word to do, I must stick to," said the other; so +he took the flitch and set off. He walked the whole day, and at dusk he +came to a place where he saw a very bright light. + +"Maybe this is the place," said the man to himself. So he turned aside, +and the first thing he saw was an old, old man, with a long white beard, +who stood in an outhouse, hewing wood for the Christmas fire. + +"Good even," said the man with the flitch. + +"The same to you; whither are you going so late?" said the man. + +"Oh! I'm going to Hell, if I only knew the right way," answered the poor +man. + +"Well, you're not far wrong, for this is Hell," said the old man; "when +you get inside they will be all for buying your flitch, for meat is +scarce in Hell; but, mind you don't sell it unless you get the +hand-quern which stands behind the door for it. When you come out, I'll +teach you how to handle the quern, for it's good to grind almost +anything." + +So the man with the flitch thanked the other for his good advice, and +gave a great knock at the Devil's door. + +When he got in, everything was just as the old man had said. All the +devils, great and small, came swarming up to him like ants round an +anthill, and each tried to outbid the other for the flitch. + +"Well!" said the man, "by rights, my old dame and I ought to have this +flitch for our Christmas dinner; but since you have all set your hearts +on it, I suppose I must give it up to you; but if I sell it at all, I'll +have for it the quern behind the door yonder." + +At first the Devil wouldn't hear of such a bargain, and chaffed and +haggled with the man; but he stuck to what he said, and at last the +Devil had to part with his quern. When the man got out into the yard, he +asked the old woodcutter how he was to handle the quern; and after he +had learned how to use it, he thanked the old man and went off home as +fast as he could, but still the clock had struck twelve on Christmas eve +before he reached his own door. + +"Wherever in the world have you been?" said his old dame; "here have I +sat hour after hour waiting and watching, without so much as two sticks +to lay together under the Christmas brose." + +"Oh!" said the man, "I couldn't get back before, for I had to go a long +way first for one thing, and then for another; but now you shall see +what you shall see." + +So he put the quern on the table, and bade it first of all grind lights, +then a table-cloth, then meat, then ale, and so on till they had got +everything that was nice for Christmas fare. He had only to speak the +word, and the quern ground out what he wanted. The old dame stood by +blessing her stars, and kept on asking where he had got this wonderful +quern, but he wouldn't tell her. + +"It's all one where I got it from; you see the quern is a good one, and +the mill-stream never freezes, that's enough." + +So he ground meat and drink and dainties enough to last out till Twelfth +Day, and on the third day he asked all his friends and kin to his house, +and gave a great feast. Now, when his rich brother saw all that was on +the table, and all that was behind in the larder, he grew quite spiteful +and wild, for he couldn't bear that his brother should have anything. + +"Twas only on Christmas eve," he said to the rest, "he was in such +straits that he came and asked for a morsel of food in God's name, and +now he gives a feast as if he were count or king;" and he turned to his +brother and said: + +"But whence, in Hell's name, have you got all this wealth?" + +"From behind the door," answered the owner of the quern, for he didn't +care to let the cat out of the bag. But later on in the evening, when he +had got a drop too much, he could keep his secret no longer, and brought +out the quern and said: + +"There, you see what has gotten me all this wealth;" and so he made the +quern grind all kind of things. When his brother saw it, he set his +heart on having the quern, and, after a deal of coaxing, he got it; but +he had to pay three hundred dollars for it, and his brother bargained to +keep it till hay-harvest, for he thought, if I keep it till then, I can +make it grind meat and drink that will last for years. So you may fancy +the quern didn't grow rusty for want of work, and when hay-harvest came, +the rich brother got it, but the other took care not to teach him how to +handle it. + +It was evening when the rich brother got the quern home, and the next +morning he told his wife to go out into the hay-field and toss, while +the mowers cut the grass, and he would stay at home and get the dinner +ready. So, when dinner-time drew near, he put the quern on the kitchen +table and said: + +"Grind herrings and broth, and grind them good and fast." + +So the quern began to grind herrings and broth; first of all, all the +dishes full, then all the tubs full, and so on till the kitchen floor +was quite covered. Then the man twisted and twirled at the quern to get +it to stop, but for all his twisting and fingering the quern went on +grinding, and in a little while the broth rose so high that the man was +like to drown. So he threw open the kitchen door and ran into the +parlour, but it wasn't long before the quern had ground the parlour full +too, and it was only at the risk of his life that the man could get hold +of the latch of the house door through the stream of broth. When he got +the door open, he ran out and set off down the road, with the stream of +herrings and broth at his heels, roaring like a waterfall over the whole +farm. + +Now, his old dame, who was in the field tossing hay, thought it a long +time to dinner, and at last she said: + +"Well! though the master doesn't call us home, we may as well go. Maybe +he finds it hard work to boil the broth, and will be glad of my help." + +The men were willing enough, so they sauntered homeward; but just as +they had got a little way up the hill, what should they meet but +herrings, and broth, and bread, all running and dashing, and splashing +together in a stream, and the master himself running before them for his +life, and as he passed them he bawled out: "Would to heaven each of you +had a hundred throats! but take care you're not drowned in the broth." + +Away he went, as though the Evil One were at his heels, to his brother's +house, and begged him for God's sake to take back the quern that +instant; for, said he: + +"If it grinds only one hour more, the whole parish will be swallowed up +by herrings and broth." + +But his brother wouldn't hear of taking it back till the other paid him +down three hundred dollars more. + +So the poor brother got both the money and the quern, and it wasn't long +before he set up a farmhouse far finer than the one in which his +brother lived, and with the quern he ground so much gold that he covered +it with plates of gold; and as the farm lay by the sea-side, the golden +house gleamed and glistened far away over the sea. All who sailed by, +put ashore to see the rich man in the golden house, and to see the +wonderful quern, the fame of which spread far and wide, till there was +nobody who hadn't heard tell of it. + +So one day there came a skipper who wanted to see the quern; and the +first thing he asked was if it could grind salt. + +"Grind salt!" said the owner; "I should just think it could. It can +grind anything." + +When the skipper heard that, he said he must have the quern, cost what +it would; for if he only had it, he thought he should be rid of his long +voyages across stormy seas for a lading of salt. Well, at first the man +wouldn't hear of parting with the quern; but the skipper begged and +prayed so hard that at last he let him have it, but he had to pay many, +many thousand dollars for it. Now, when the skipper had got the quern on +his back, he soon made off with it, for he was afraid lest the man +should change his mind; so he had no time to ask how to handle the +quern, but got on board his ship as fast as he could, and set sail. +When he had sailed a good way off, he brought the quern on deck and +said: + +"Grind salt, and grind both good and fast." + +Well, the quern began to grind salt so that it poured out like water; +and when the skipper had got the ship full, he wished to stop the quern, +but whichever way he turned it, and however much he tried, it was no +good; the quern kept grinding on, and the heap of salt grew higher and +higher, and at last down sunk the ship. + +There lies the quern at the bottom of the sea, and grinds away at this +very day, and that's why the sea is salt. + + + + +III + +THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND + + +Once on a time there was an old widow who had one son and, as she was +poorly and weak, her son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal for +cooking; but when he got outside the safe, and was just going down the +steps, there came the North Wind, puffing and blowing, caught up the +meal, and so away with it through the air. Then the lad went back into +the safe for more; but when he came out again on the steps, if the North +Wind didn't come again and carry off the meal with a puff; and more than +that, he did so the third time. At this the lad got very angry; and as +he thought it hard that the North Wind should behave so, he thought he'd +just look him up, and ask him to give up his meal. + +So off he went, but the way was long, and he walked and walked; but at +last he came to the North Wind's house. + +"Good day!" said the lad, and "thank you for coming to see us +yesterday." + +"GOOD DAY!" answered the North Wind, for his voice was loud and gruff, +"AND THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE ME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?" + +"Oh!" answered the lad, "I only wished to ask you to be so good as to +let me have back that meal you took from me on the safe steps, for we +haven't much to live on; and if you're to go on snapping up the morsel +we have there'll be nothing for it but to starve." + +"I haven't got your meal," said the North Wind; "but if you are in such +need, I'll give you a cloth which will get you everything you want, if +you only say, 'Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good +dishes!'" + +With this the lad was well content. But, as the way was so long he +couldn't get home in one day, he turned into an inn on the way; and when +they were going to sit down to supper, he laid the cloth on a table +which stood in the corner and said: + +"Cloth spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes." + +He had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid; and all who +stood by thought it a fine thing, but most of all the landlady. So, +when all were fast asleep, at dead of night, she took the lad's cloth, +and put another in its stead, just like the one he had got from the +North Wind, but which couldn't so much as serve up a bit of dry bread. + +So, when the lad woke, he took his cloth and went off with it, and that +day he got home to his mother. + +"Now," said he, "I've been to the North Wind's house, and a good fellow +he is, for he gave me this cloth, and when I only say to it, 'Cloth, +spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes,' I get any sort +of food I please." + +"All very true, I dare say," said his mother; "but seeing is believing, +and I shan't believe it till I see it." + +So the lad made haste, drew out a table, laid the cloth on it, and said: + +"Cloth, spread yourself, and serve all up kinds of good dishes." + +But never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up. + +"Well," said the lad, "there's no help for it but to go to the North +Wind again;" and away he went. + +So he came to where the North Wind lived late in the afternoon. + +"Good evening!" said the lad. + +"Good evening," said the North Wind. + +"I want my rights for that meal of ours which you took," said the lad; +"for as for that cloth I got, it isn't worth a penny." + +"I've got no meal," said the North Wind; "but yonder you have a ram +which coins nothing but golden ducats as soon as you say to it: + +"'Ram, ram! make money!'" + +So the lad thought this a fine thing but as it was too far to get home +that day, he turned in for the night to the same inn where he had slept +before. + +Before he called for anything, he tried the truth of what the North Wind +had said of the ram, and found it all right; but when the landlord saw +that, he thought it was a famous ram, and, when the lad had fallen +asleep, he took another which couldn't coin gold ducats, and changed the +two. + +Next morning off went the lad; and when he got home to his mother he +said: + +"After all, the North Wind is a jolly fellow; for now he has given me a +ram which can coin golden ducats if I only say, 'Ram, ram! make +money!'" + +"All very true, I dare say," said his mother; "but I shan't believe any +such stuff until I see the ducats made." + +"Ram, ram! make money!" said the lad; but if the ram made anything it +wasn't money. + +So the lad went back again to the North Wind and blew him up, and said +the ram was worth nothing, and he must have his rights for the meal. + +"Well," said the North Wind; "I've nothing else to give you but that old +stick in the corner yonder; but it's a stick of that kind that if you +say: + +"'Stick, stick! lay on!' it lays on till you say: + +"'Stick, stick! now stop!'" + +So, as the way was long, the lad turned in this night too to the +landlord; but as he could pretty well guess how things stood as to the +cloth and the ram, he lay down at once on the bench and began to snore, +as if he were asleep. + +Now the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must be worth something, +hunted up one which was like it, and when he heard the lad snore, was +going to change the two, but just as the landlord was about to take it +the lad bawled out: + +"Stick, stick! lay on!" + +So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped over chairs, and +tables, and benches, and yelled and roared: + +"Oh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will beat me to death, +and you shall have back both your cloth and your ram." + +When the lad thought the landlord had got enough, he said: + +"Stick, stick! now stop!" + +Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket, and went home with +his stick in his hand, leading the ram by a cord round its horns; and so +he got his rights for the meal he had lost. + + + + +IV + +THE LAD AND THE DEIL + + +Once on a time there was a lad who was walking along a road cracking +nuts, so he found one that was worm-eaten, and just at that very moment +he met the Deil. + +"Is it true, now," said the lad, "what they say, that the Deil can make +himself as small as he chooses, and thrust himself on through a +pinhole?" + +"Yes, it is," said the Deil. + +"Oh! it is, is it? then let me see you do it, and just creep into this +nut," said the lad. + +So the Deil did it. + +Now, when he had crept well into it through the worm's hole, the lad +stopped it up with a pin. + +"Now, I've got you safe," he said, and put the nut into his pocket. + +So when he had walked on a bit, he came to a smithy, and he turned in +and asked the smith if he'd be good enough to crack that nut for him. + +"Ay, that'll be an easy job," said the smith, and took his smallest +hammer, laid the nut on the anvil, and gave it a blow, but it wouldn't +break. + +So he took another hammer a little bigger, but that wasn't heavy enough +either. + +Then he took one bigger still, but it was still the same story; and so +the smith got wroth, and grasped his great sledge-hammer. + +"Now, I'll crack you to bits," he said, and let drive at the nut with +all his might and main. And so the nut flew to pieces with a bang that +blew off half the roof of the smithy, and the whole house creaked and +groaned as though it were ready to fall. + +"Why! if I don't think the Deil must have been in that nut," said the +smith. + +"So he was; you're quite right," said the lad, as he went away laughing. + + + + +V + +ANANZI AND THE LION + + +Once on a time Ananzi planned a scheme. He went to town and bought ever +so many firkins of fat, and ever so many sacks, and ever so many balls +of string, and a very big frying pan, then he went to the bay and blew a +shell, and called the Head-fish in the sea, "Green Eel," to him. Then he +said to the fish, "The King sends me to tell you that you must bring all +the fish on shore, for he wants to give them new life." + +So "Green Eel" said he would, and went to call them. Meanwhile Ananzi +lighted a fire, and took out some of the fat, and got his frying pan +ready, and as fast as the fish came out of the water he caught them and +put them into the frying pan, and so he did with all of them until he +got to the Head-fish, who was so slippery that he couldn't hold him, and +he got back again into the water. + +When Ananzi had fried all the fish, he put them into the sacks, and +took the sacks on his back, and set off to the mountains. He had not +gone very far when he met Lion, and Lion said to him: + +"Well, brother Ananzi, where have you been? I have not seen you a long +time." + +Ananzi said, "I have been travelling about." + +"Oh! But what have you got there?" said the Lion. + +"Oh! I have got my mother's bones--she has been dead these forty-eleven +years, and they say I must not keep her here, so I am taking her up into +the middle of the mountains to bury her." + +Then they parted. After he had gone a little way, the Lion said: "I know +that Ananzi is a great rogue; I dare say he has got something there that +he doesn't want me to see, and I will just follow him;" but he took care +not to let Ananzi see him. + +Now, when Ananzi got into the wood, he set his sacks down, and took one +fish out and began to eat; then a fly came, and Ananzi said, "I cannot +eat any more, for there is some one near;" so he tied the sack up, and +went on farther into the mountains, where he set his sacks down, and +took out two fish which he ate; and no fly came. He said, "There is no +one near;" so he took out more fish. But when he had eaten about half a +dozen the Lion came up and said: + +"Well, brother Ananzi, a pretty tale you have told me." + +"Oh! brother Lion, I am so glad you have come; never mind what tale I +have told you, but come and sit down--it was only my fun." + +So Lion sat down and began to eat; but before Ananzi had eaten two fish, +Lion had emptied one of the sacks. Then said Ananzi to himself: + +"Greedy fellow, eating up all my fish." + +"What do you say, sir?" + +"I only said you do not eat half fast enough," for he was afraid the +Lion would eat him up. + +Then they went on eating, but Ananzi wanted to revenge himself, and he +said to the Lion, "Which of us do you think is the stronger?" + +The Lion said, "Why, I am, of course." + +Then Ananzi said, "We will tie one another to the tree, and we shall see +which is the stronger." + +Now they agreed that the Lion should tie Ananzi first, and he tied him +with some very fine string, and did not tie him tight. Ananzi twisted +himself about two or three times, and the string broke. + +Then it was Ananzi's turn to tie the Lion, and he took some very strong +cord. The Lion said, "You must not tie me tight, for I did not tie you +tight." And Ananzi said, "Oh! no, to be sure, I will not." But he tied +him as tight as ever he could, and then told him to try and get loose. + +The Lion tried and tried in vain--he could not get loose. Then Ananzi +thought, now is my chance; so he got a big stick and beat him, and then +went away and left him, for he was afraid to loose him lest he should +kill him. + +Now there was a woman called Miss Nancy, who was going out one morning +to get some "callalou" (spinach) in the wood, and as she was going she +heard some one say, "Good morning, Miss Nancy!" She could not tell who +spoke to her, but she looked where the voice came from, and saw the Lion +tied to the tree. + +"Good morning, Mr. Lion, what are you doing there?" + +He said, "It is all that fellow Ananzi who has tied me to the tree, but +will you loose me?" + +But she said, "No, for I am afraid, if I do, you will kill me." But he +gave her his word he would not; still she could not trust him; but he +begged her again and again, and said: + +"Well, if I do try to eat you, I hope all the trees will cry out shame +upon me." + +So at last she consented; but she had no sooner loosed him, than he came +up to her to eat her, for he had been so many days without food that he +was quite ravenous, but the trees immediately cried out, "Shame," and so +he could not eat her. Then she went away as fast as she could, and the +Lion found his way home. + +When Lion got home he told his wife and children all that happened to +him, and how Miss Nancy had saved his life, so they said they would have +a great dinner, and ask Miss Nancy. Now when Ananzi heard of it, he +wanted to go to the dinner, so he went to Miss Nancy, and said she must +take him with her as her child, but she said, "No." Then he said, "I can +turn myself into quite a little child and then you can take me," and at +last she said, "Yes;" and he told her, when she was asked what pap her +baby ate, she must be sure to tell them it did not eat pap, but the same +food as every one else; and so they went, and had a very good dinner, +and set off home again--but somehow one of the Lion's sons fancied that +all was not right, and he told his father he was sure it was Ananzi, and +the Lion set out after him. + +Now as they were going along, before the Lion got up to them, Ananzi +begged Miss Nancy to put him down, that he might run, which he did, and +he got away and ran along the wood, and the Lion ran after him. When he +found the Lion was overtaking him, he turned himself into an old man +with a bundle of wood on his head--and when the Lion got up to him, he +said, "Good morning, Mr. Lion," and the Lion said, "Good morning, old +gentleman." + +Then the old man said, "What are you after now?" and the Lion asked if +he had seen Ananzi pass that way, but the old man said, "No, that fellow +Ananzi is always meddling with some one; what mischief has he been up to +now?" + +Then the Lion told him, but the old man said it was no use to follow him +any more, for he would never catch him, and so the Lion wished him +good-day, and turned and went home again. + + + + +VI + +THE GRATEFUL FOXES + + +One fine spring day two friends went out to a moor to gather fern, +attended by a boy with a bottle of wine and a box of provisions. As they +were straying about, they saw at the foot of a hill two foxes that had +brought out their cub to play; and whilst they looked on, struck by the +strangeness of the sight, three children came up from a neighbouring +village with baskets in their hands, on the same errand as themselves. +As soon as the children saw the foxes, they picked up a bamboo stick and +took the creatures stealthily in the rear; and when the old foxes took +to flight, they surrounded them and beat them with the stick, so that +they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them; but two of the +boys held down the cub, and, seizing it by the scruff of the neck, went +off in high glee. + +The two friends were looking on all the while, and one of them, raising +his voice, shouted out, "Hallo! you boys! what are you doing with that +fox?" + +The eldest of the boys replied, "We're going to take him home and sell +him to a young man in our village. He'll buy him, and then he'll boil +him in a pot and eat him." + +"Well," replied the other, after considering the matter attentively, "I +suppose it's all the same to you whom you sell him to. You'd better let +me have him." + +"Oh, but the young man from our village promised us a good sum if we +could find a fox, and got us to come out to the hills and catch one; and +so we can't sell him to you at any price." + +"Well, I suppose it cannot be helped, then; but how much would the young +man give you for the cub?" + +"Oh, he'll give us three hundred cash at least." + +"Then I'll give you half a bu;[1] and so you'll gain five hundred cash +by the transaction." + +"Oh, we'll sell him for that, sir. How shall we hand him over to you?" + +"Just tie him up here," said the other; and so he made fast the cub +round the neck with the string of the napkin in which the luncheon-box +was wrapped, and gave half a bu to the three boys, who ran away +delighted. + +The man's friend, upon this, said to him: "Well, certainly you have got +queer tastes. What on earth are you going to keep the fox for?" + +"How very unkind of you to speak of my tastes like that. If we had not +interfered just now, the fox's cub would have lost its life. If we had +not seen the affair, there would have been no help for it. How could I +stand by and see life taken? It was but a little I spent--only half a +bu--to save the cub, but had it cost a fortune I should not have grudged +it. I thought you were intimate enough with me to know my heart; but +to-day you have accused me of being eccentric, and I see how mistaken I +have been in you. However, our friendship shall cease from this day +forth." + +And when he had said this with a great deal of firmness, the other, +retiring backward and bowing with his hands on his knees, replied: + +"Indeed, indeed, I am filled with admiration at the goodness of your +heart. When I hear you speak thus, I feel more than ever how great is +the love I bear you. I thought that you might wish to use the cub as a +sort of decoy to lead the old ones to you, that you might pray them to +bring prosperity and virtue to your house. When I called you eccentric +just now, I was but trying your heart, because I had some suspicions of +you; and now I am truly ashamed of myself." + +And as he spoke, still bowing, the other replied: "Really! was that +indeed your thought? Then I pray you to forgive me for my violent +language." + +When the two friends had thus become reconciled, they examined the cub, +and saw that it had a slight wound in its foot, and could not walk; and +while they were thinking what they should do, they spied out the herb +called "Doctor's Nakasé," which was just sprouting; so they rolled up a +little of it in their fingers and applied it to the part. Then they +pulled out some boiled rice from their luncheon-box and offered it to +the cub, but it showed no sign of wanting to eat; so they stroked it +gently on the back and petted it; and as the pain of the wound seemed to +have subsided, they were admiring the properties of the herb, when, +opposite to them, they saw the old foxes sitting watching them by the +side of some stacks of rice straw. + +"Look there! the old foxes have come back, out of fear for their cub's +safety. Come, we will set it free!" And with these words they untied the +string round the cub's neck, and turned its head toward the spot where +the old foxes sat; and as the wounded foot was no longer painful, with +one bound it dashed to its parents' side and licked them all over for +joy, while they seemed to bow their thanks, looking toward the two +friends. So, with peace in their hearts, the latter went off to another +place, and, choosing a pretty spot, produced the wine bottle and ate +their noonday meal; and after a pleasant day, they returned to their +homes, and became firmer friends than ever. + +Now the man who had rescued the fox's cub was a tradesman in good +circumstances: he had three or four agents and two maid-servants, +besides men-servants; and altogether he lived in a liberal manner. He +was married, and this union had brought him one son, who had reached his +tenth year, but had been attacked by a strange disease which defied all +the physicians' skill and drugs. At last a famous physician prescribed +the liver taken from a live fox, which, as he said, would certainly +effect a cure. If that were not forthcoming, the most expensive medicine +in the world would not restore the boy to health. When the parents heard +this, they were at their wits' end. However, they told the state of the +case to a man who lived on the mountains. "Even though our child should +die for it," they said, "we will not ourselves deprive other creatures +of their lives; but you, who live among the hills, are sure to hear when +your neighbours go out fox-hunting. We don't care what price we might +have to pay for a fox's liver; pray, buy one for us at any expense." So +they pressed him to exert himself on their behalf; and he, having +promised faithfully to execute the commission, went his way. + +In the night of the following day there came a messenger, who announced +himself as coming from the person who had undertaken to procure the +fox's liver; so the master of the house went out to see him. + +"I have come from Mr. So-and-so. Last night the fox's liver that you +required fell into his hands; so he sent me to bring it to you." With +these words the messenger produced a small jar, adding, "In a few days +he will let you know the price." + +When he had delivered his message, the master of the house was greatly +pleased and said, "Indeed, I am deeply grateful for this kindness, which +will save my son's life." + +Then the good wife came out, and received the jar with every mark of +politeness. + +"We must make a present to the messenger." + +"Indeed, sir, I've already been paid for my trouble." + +"Well, at any rate, you must stop the night here." + +"Thank you, sir: I've a relation in the next village whom I have not +seen for a long while, and I will pass the night with him;" and so he +took his leave, and went away. + +The parents lost no time in sending to let the physician know that they +had procured the fox's liver. The next day the doctor came and +compounded a medicine for the patient, which at once produced a good +effect, and there was no little joy in the household. As luck would have +it, three days after this the man whom they had commissioned to buy the +fox's liver came to the house: so the goodwife hurried out to meet him +and welcome him. + +"How quickly you fulfilled our wishes, and how kind of you to send at +once! The doctor prepared the medicine, and now our boy can get up and +walk about the room; and it's all owing to your goodness." + +"Wait a bit!" cried the guest, who did not know what to make of the joy +of the two parents. "The commission with which you entrusted me about +the fox's liver turned out to be a matter of impossibility, so I came +to-day to make my excuses; and now I really can't understand what you +are so grateful to me for." + +"We are thanking you, sir," replied the master of the house, bowing with +his hands on the ground, "for the fox's liver which we asked you to +procure for us." + +"I really am perfectly unaware of having sent you a fox's liver: there +must be some mistake here. Pray inquire carefully into the matter." + +"Well, this is very strange. Four nights ago, a man of some five or six +and thirty years of age came with a verbal message from you, to the +effect that you had sent him with a fox's liver, which you had just +procured, and said that he would come and tell us the price another day. +When we asked him to spend the night here, he answered that he would +lodge with a relation in the next village, and went away." + +The visitor was more and more lost in amazement, and, leaning his head +on one side in deep thought, confessed that he could make nothing of it. +As for the husband and wife, they felt quite out of countenance at +having thanked a man so warmly for favours of which he denied all +knowledge; and so the visitor took his leave and went home. + +That night there appeared at the pillow of the master of the house a +woman of about one or two and thirty years of age, who said: "I am the +fox that lives at such-and-such a mountain. Last spring, when I was +taking out my cub to play, it was carried off by some boys, and only +saved by your goodness. The desire to requite this kindness pierced me +to the quick. At last, when calamity attacked your house, I thought I +might be of use to you. Your son's illness could not be cured without a +liver taken from a live fox, so to repay your kindness I killed my cub +and took out its liver; then its sire, disguising himself as a +messenger, brought it to your house." + +And as she spoke, the fox shed tears; and the master of the house, +wishing to thank her, moved in bed, upon which his wife awoke and asked +him what was the matter; but he too, to her great astonishment, was +biting the pillow and weeping bitterly. + +"Why are you weeping thus?" asked she. + +At last he sat up in bed and said: "Last spring, when I was out on a +pleasure excursion, I was the means of saving the life of a fox's cub, +as I told you at the time. The other day I told Mr. So-and-so that, +although my son were to die before my eyes, I would not be the means of +killing a fox on purpose, but asked him, in case he heard of any hunter +killing a fox, to buy it for me. How the foxes came to hear of this I +don't know; but the foxes to whom I had shown kindness killed their own +cub and took out the liver; and the old dog-fox, disguising himself as a +messenger from the person to whom we had confided the commission, came +here with it. His mate has just been at my pillow-side and told me all +about it. Hence it was that, in spite of myself, I was moved to tears." + +When she heard this, the goodwife likewise was blinded by her tears, and +for a while they lay lost in thought; but at last, coming to themselves, +they lighted the lamp on the shelf on which the family idol stood, and +spent the night in reciting prayers and praises, and the next day they +published the matter to the household and to their relations and +friends. Now, although there are instances of men killing their own +children to requite a favour, there is no other example of foxes having +done such a thing; so the story became the talk of the whole country. + +Now, the boy who had recovered through the efficacy of this medicine +selected the prettiest spot on the premises to erect a shrine to Inari +Sama,[2] the Fox God, and offered sacrifice to the two old foxes, for +whom he purchased the highest rank at the court of the Mikado. + + * * * * * + +The passage in the tale which speaks of rank being purchased for the +foxes at the court of the Mikado is, of course, a piece of nonsense. +"The saints who are worshipped in Japan," writes a native authority, +"are men who, in the remote ages, when the country was developing +itself, were sages, and by their great and virtuous deeds having earned +the gratitude of future generations, received divine honours after their +death. How can the Son of Heaven, who is the father and mother of his +people, turn dealer in ranks and honours? If rank were a matter of +barter, it would cease to be a reward to the virtuous." + +All matters connected with the shrines of the Shintô, or indigenous +religion, are confided to the superintendence of the families of Yoshida +and Fushimi, Kugés or nobles of the Mikado's court at Kiyôto. The +affairs of the Buddhist or imported religion are under the care of the +family of Kanjuji. As it is necessary that those who as priests perform +the honourable office of serving the gods should be persons of some +standing, a certain small rank is procured for them through the +intervention of the representatives of the above noble families, who, on +the issuing of the required patent, receive as their perquisite a fee, +which, although insignificant in itself, is yet of importance to the +poor Kugés, whose penniless condition forms a great contrast to the +wealth of their inferiors in rank, the Daimios. I believe that this is +the only case in which rank can be bought or sold in Japan. In China, on +the contrary, in spite of what has been written by Meadows and other +admirers of the examination system, a man can be what he pleases by +paying for it; and the coveted button, which is nominally the reward of +learning and ability, is more often the prize of wealthy ignorance. + +The saints who are alluded to above are the saints of the whole country, +as distinct from those who for special deeds are locally worshipped. + +Touching the remedy of the fox's liver, prescribed in the tale, I may +add that there would be nothing strange in this to a person acquainted +with the Chinese pharmacopoeia, which the Japanese long exclusively +followed, although they are now successfully studying the art of healing +as practised in the West. When I was at Peking, I saw a Chinese +physician prescribe a decoction of three scorpions for a child struck +down with fever; and on another occasion a groom of mine, suffering from +dysentery, was treated with acupuncture of the tongue. The art of +medicine would appear to be at the present time in China much in the +state in which it existed in Europe in the sixteenth century, when the +excretions and secretions of all manner of animals, saurians, and +venomous snakes and insects, and even live bugs, were administered to +patients. "Some physicians," says Matthiolus, "use the ashes of +scorpions, burnt alive, for retention caused by either renal or vesical +calculi. But I have myself thoroughly experienced the utility of an oil +I make myself, whereof scorpions form a very large portion of the +ingredients. If only the region of the heart and all the pulses of the +body be anointed with it, it will free the patients from the effects of +all kinds of poisons taken by the mouth, corrosive ones excepted." +Decoctions of Egyptian mummies were much commended, and often prescribed +with due academical solemnity; and the bones of the human skull, +pulverized and administered with oil, were used as a specific in cases +of renal calculus. (See Petri Andreæ Matthioli "Opera," 1574.) + +These remarks were made to me by a medical gentleman to whom I mentioned +the Chinese doctor's prescription of scorpion tea, and they seem to me +so curious that I insert them for comparison's sake. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: _Bu._ This coin is generally called by foreigners "ichibu," +which means "one bu." To talk of "_a hundred ichibus_" is as though a +Japanese were to say "_a hundred one shillings_." Four bus make a +_riyo_, or ounce; and any sum above three bus is spoken of as so many +riyos and bus--as 101 riyos and three bus equal 407 bus. The bu is worth +about 1_s._ 4_d._] + +[Footnote 2: Inari Sama is the title under which was deified a certain +mythical personage, called Uga, to whom tradition attributes the honour +of having first discovered and cultivated the rice-plant. He is +represented carrying a few ears of rice, and is symbolized by a snake +guarding a bale of rice grain. The foxes wait upon him, and do his +bidding. Inasmuch as rice is the most important and necessary product of +Japan, the honours which Inari Sama receives are extraordinary. Almost +every house in the country contains somewhere about the grounds a pretty +little shrine in his honour; and on a certain day of the second month of +the year his feast is celebrated with much beating of drums and other +noises, in which the children take a special delight. "On this day," +says the O-Satsuyô, a Japanese cyclopædia, "at Yeddo, where there are +myriads upon myriads of shrines to Inari Sama, there are all sorts of +ceremonies. Long banners with inscriptions are erected, lamps and +lanterns are hung up, and the houses are decked with various dolls and +figures; the sound of flutes and drums is heard, and people dance and +make holiday according to their fancy. In short, it is the most bustling +festival of the Yeddo year."] + + + + +VII + +THE BADGER'S MONEY + + +It is a common saying among men that to forget favours received is the +part of a bird or a beast: an ungrateful man will be ill spoken of by +all the world. And yet even birds and beasts will show gratitude; so +that a man who does not requite a favour is worse even than dumb brutes. +Is not this a disgrace? + +Once upon a time, in a hut at a place called Namékata, in Hitachi, there +lived an old priest famous neither for learning nor wisdom, but bent +only on passing his days in prayer and meditation. He had not even a +child to wait upon him, but prepared his food with his own hands. Night +and morning he recited the prayer "Namu Amida Butsu,"[3] intent upon +that alone. Although the fame of his virtue did not reach far, yet his +neighbours respected and revered him, and often brought him food and +raiment; and when his roof or his walls fell out of repair, they would +mend them for him; so for the things of this world he took no thought. + +One very cold night, when he little thought any one was outside, he +heard a voice calling, "Your reverence! your reverence!" So he rose and +went out to see who it was, and there he beheld an old badger standing. +Any ordinary man would have been greatly alarmed at the apparition; but +the priest, being such as he has been described above, showed no sign of +fear, but asked the creature its business. Upon this the badger +respectfully bent its knees and said: + +"Hitherto, sir, my lair has been in the mountains, and of snow or frost +I have taken no heed; but now I am growing old, and this severe cold is +more than I can bear. I pray you to let me enter and warm myself at the +fire of your cottage, that I may live through this bitter night." + +When the priest heard what a helpless state the beast was reduced to, he +was filled with pity and said: + +"That's a very slight matter: make haste and come in and warm yourself." + +The badger, delighted with so good a reception, went into the hut, and +squatting down by the fire began to warm itself; and the priest, with +renewed fervour, recited his prayers and struck his bell before the +image of Buddha, looking straight before him. + +After two hours the badger took its leave, with profuse expressions of +thanks, and went out; and from that time forth it came every night to +the hut. As the badger would collect and bring with it dried branches +and dead leaves from the hills for firewood, the priest at last became +very friendly with it, and got used to its company; so that if ever, as +the night wore on, the badger did not arrive, he used to miss it, and +wonder why it did not come. When the winter was over, and the springtime +came at the end of the second month, the badger gave up its visits, and +was no more seen; but, on the return of the winter, the beast resumed +its old habit of coming to the hut. When this practice had gone on for +ten years, one day the badger said to the priest, "Through your +reverence's kindness for all these years, I have been able to pass the +winter nights in comfort. Your favours are such that during all my life, +and even after my death, I must remember them. What can I do to requite +them? If there is anything that you wish for, pray tell me." + +The priest, smiling at this speech, answered: "Being such as I am, I +have no desire and no wishes. Glad as I am to hear your kind intentions, +there is nothing that I can ask you to do for me. You need feel no +anxiety on my account. As long as I live, when the winter comes, you +shall be welcome here." The badger, on hearing this, could not conceal +its admiration of the depth of the old man's benevolence; but having so +much to be grateful for, it felt hurt at not being able to requite it. +As this subject was often renewed between them, the priest at last, +touched by the goodness of the badger's heart, said: "Since I have +shaven my head, renounced the world, and forsaken the pleasures of this +life, I have no desire to gratify, yet I own I should like to possess +three riyos in gold. Food and raiment I receive by the favour of the +villagers, so I take no heed for those things. Were I to die to-morrow, +and attain my wish of being born again into the next world, the same +kind folk have promised to meet and bury my body. Thus, although I have +no other reason to wish for money, still if I had three riyos I would +offer them up at some holy shrine, that masses and prayers might be said +for me, whereby I might enter into salvation. Yet I would not get this +money by violent or unlawful means; I only think of what might be if I +had it. So you see, since you have expressed such kind feelings toward +me, I have told you what is on my mind." When the priest had done +speaking, the badger leant its head on one side with a puzzled and +anxious look, so much so that the old man was sorry he had expressed a +wish which seemed to give the beast trouble, and tried to retract what +he had said. "Posthumous honours, after all, are the wish of ordinary +men. I, who am a priest, ought not to entertain such thoughts, or to +want money; so pray pay no attention to what I have said;" and the +badger, feigning assent to what the priest had impressed upon it, +returned to the hills as usual. + +From that time forth the badger came no more to the hut. The priest +thought this very strange, but imagined either that the badger stayed +away because it did not like to come without the money, or that it had +been killed in an attempt to steal it; and he blamed himself for having +added to his sins for no purpose, repenting when it was too late: +persuaded, however, that the badger must have been killed, he passed his +time in putting up prayers upon prayers for it. + +After three years had gone by, one night the old man heard a voice near +his door calling out, "Your reverence! your reverence!" + +As the voice was like that of the badger, he jumped up as soon as he +heard it, and ran to open the door; and there, sure enough, was the +badger. The priest, in great delight, cried out: "And so you are safe +and sound, after all! Why have you been so long without coming here? I +have been expecting you anxiously this long while." + +So the badger came into the hut and said: "If the money which you +required had been for unlawful purposes, I could easily have procured as +much as ever you might have wanted; but when I heard that it was to be +offered to a temple for masses for your soul, I thought that, if I were +to steal the hidden treasure of some other man, you could not apply to a +sacred purpose money which had been obtained at the expense of his +sorrow. So I went to the island of Sado,[4] and gathering the sand and +earth which had been cast away as worthless by the miners, fused it +afresh in the fire; and at this work I spent months and days." As the +badger finished speaking, the priest looked at the money which it had +produced, and sure enough he saw that it was bright and new and clean; +so he took the money, and received it respectfully, raising it to his +head. + +"And so you have had all this toil and labour on account of a foolish +speech of mine? I have obtained my heart's desire, and am truly +thankful." + +As he was thanking the badger with great politeness and ceremony, the +beast said: "In doing this I have but fulfilled my own wish; still I +hope that you will tell this thing to no man." + +"Indeed," replied the priest, "I cannot choose but tell this story. For +if I keep this money in my poor hut, it will be stolen by thieves: I +must either give it to some one to keep for me, or else at once offer it +up at the temple. And when I do this, when people see a poor old priest +with a sum of money quite unsuited to his station, they will think it +very suspicious, and I shall have to tell the tale as it occurred; but I +shall say that the badger that gave me the money has ceased coming to my +hut, you need not fear being waylaid, but can come, as of old, and +shelter yourself from the cold." To this the badger nodded assent; and +as long as the old priest lived, it came and spent the winter nights +with him. + +From this story, it is plain that even beasts have a sense of gratitude: +in this quality dogs excel all other beasts. Is not the story of the dog +of Totoribé Yorodzu written in the Annals of Japan? I[5] have heard that +many anecdotes of this nature have been collected and printed in a book, +which I have not yet seen; but as the facts which I have recorded relate +to a badger, they appear to me to be passing strange. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 3: A Buddhist prayer, in which something approaching to the +sounds of the original Sanscrit has been preserved. The meaning of the +prayer is explained as, "Save us, eternal Buddha'" Many even of the +priests who repeat it know it only as a formula, without understanding +it.] + +[Footnote 4: An island on the west coast of Japan, famous for its gold +mines.] + +[Footnote 5: The author of the tale.] + + + + +VIII + +WHY BROTHER BEAR HAS NO TAIL + + +"I 'clar' ter gracious, honey," Uncle Remus exclaimed one night, as the +little boy ran in, "you sholy ain't chaw'd yo' vittles. Hit ain't bin no +time, skacely, sence de supper-bell rung, en ef you go on dis a-way, +you'll des nat'ally pe'sh yo'se'f out." + +"Oh, I wasn't hungry," said the little boy. "I had something before +supper, and I wasn't hungry anyway." + +The old man looked keenly at the child, and presently he said: + +"De ins en de outs er dat kinder talk all come ter de same p'int in my +min'. Youer bin a-cuttin' up at de table, en Mars John, he tuck'n sont +you 'way fum dar, en w'iles he think youer off some'er a-snifflin' en +a-feelin' bad, yer you is a-high-primin' 'roun' des lak you done had mo' +supper dan de King er Philanders." + +Before the little boy could inquire about the King of Philanders he +heard his father calling him. He started to go out, but Uncle Remus +motioned him back. + +"Des set right whar you is, honey--des set right still." + +Then Uncle Remus went to the door and answered for the child; and a very +queer answer it was--one that could be heard half over the plantation: + +"Mars John, I wish you en Miss Sally be so good ez ter let dat chile +'lone. He down yer cryin' he eyes out, en he ain't boddern' 'long er +nobody in de roun' worl'." + +Uncle Remus stood in the door a moment to see what the reply would be, +but he heard none. Thereupon he continued, in the same loud tone: + +"I ain't bin use ter no sich gwines on in Ole Miss time, en I ain't +gwine git use ter it now. Dat I ain't." + +Presently 'Tildy, the house-girl, brought the little boy his supper, and +the girl was no sooner out of hearing than the child swapped it with +Uncle Remus for a roasted yam, and the enjoyment of both seemed to be +complete. + +"Uncle Remus," said the little boy, after a while, "you know I wasn't +crying just now." + +"Dat's so, honey," the old man replied, "but 't wouldn't er bin long +'fo' you would er bin, kaze Mars John bawl out lak a man wa't got a +strop in he han', so wa't de diff'unce?" + +When they had finished eating, Uncle Remus busied himself in cutting and +trimming some sole-leather for future use. His knife was so keen, and +the leather fell away from it so smoothly and easily, that the little +boy wanted to trim some himself. But to this Uncle Remus would not +listen. + +"'Tain't on'y chilluns w'at got de consate er doin' eve'ything dey see +yuther folks do. Hit's grown folks w'at oughter know better," said the +old man. "Dat's des de way Brer B'ar git his tail broke off +smick-smack-smoove, en down ter dis day he be funnies'-lookin' creetur +w'at wobble on top er dry groun'." + +Instantly the little boy forgot all about Uncle Remus's sharp knife. + +"Hit seem lak dat in dem days Brer Rabbit en Brer Tarrypin done gone in +cohoots fer ter outdo de t'er creeturs. One time Brer Rabbit tuck'n make +a call on Brer Tarrypin, but w'en he git ter Brer Tarrypin house, he +year talk fum Miss Tarrypin dat her ole man done gone fer ter spen' de +day wid Mr. Mud-Turkle, w'ich dey wuz blood kin. Brer Rabbit he put out +atter Brer Tarrypin, en w'en he got ter Mr. Mud-Turkle house, dey all +sot up, dey did, en tole tales, en den w'en twelf er' clock come dey had +crawfish fer dinner, en dey 'joy deyse'f right erlong. Atter dinner dey +went down ter Mr. Mud-Turkle mill-pon,' en w'en dey git dar Mr. +Mud-Turkle en Brer Tarrypin dey 'muse deyse'f, dey did, wid slidin' fum +de top uv a big slantin' rock down inter de water. + +"I'speck you moughter seen rocks in de water 'fo' now, whar dey git +green en slipp'y," said Uncle Remus. + +The little boy had not only seen them, but had found them to be very +dangerous to walk upon, and the old man continued: + +"Well, den, dish yer rock wuz mighty slick en mighty slantin'. Mr. +Mud-Turkle, he'd crawl ter de top, en tu'n loose, en go a-sailin' down +inter de water--_kersplash!_ Ole Brer Tarrypin, he'd foller atter, en +slide down inter de water--_kersplash!_ Ole Brer Rabbit, he sot off, he +did, en praise um up. + +"W'iles dey wuz a-gwine on dis a-way, a-havin' der fun, en 'joyin' +deyse'f, yer come ole Brer B'ar. He year um laffin' en holl'in', en he +hail um. + +"'Heyo, folks! W'at all dis? Ef my eye ain't 'ceive me, dish yer's Brer +Rabbit, en Brer Tarrypin, en ole Unk' Tommy Mud-Turkle,' sez Brer B'ar, +sezee. + +"'De same,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, 'en yer we is 'joyin' de day dat +passes des lak dey wa'n't no hard times.' + +"'Well, well, well!' sez ole Brer B'ar, sezee, 'a-slippin' en a-slidin' +en makin' free! En w'at de matter wid Brer Rabbit dat he ain't j'inin' +in?' sezee. + +"Ole Brer Rabbit he wink at Brer Tarrypin, en Brer Tarrypin he hunch Mr. +Mud-Turkle, en den Brer Rabbit he up'n 'low, he did: + +"'My goodness, Brer B'ar! you can't 'speck a man fer ter slip en slide +de whole blessid day, kin you? I done had my fun, en now I'm a-settin' +out yer lettin' my cloze dry. Hit's tu'n en tu'n about wid me en deze +gents w'en dey's any fun gwine on,' sezee. + +"'Maybe Brer B'ar might jine in wid us,' sez Brer Tarrypin, sezee. + +"Brer Rabbit he des holler en laff. + +"'Shoo!' sezee, 'Brer B'ar foot too big en he tail too long fer ter +slide down dat rock,' sezee. + +"Dis kinder put Brer B'ar on he mettle, en he up'n 'spon', he did: + +"'Maybe dey is, en maybe dey ain't, yit I ain't a-feared ter try.' + +"Wid dat de yuthers tuck'n made way fer 'im, en ole Brer B'ar he git up +on de rock he did, en squot down on he hunkers, en quile he tail und' +'im, en start down. Fus' he go sorter slow, en he grin lak he feel good; +den he go sorter peart, en he grin lak he feel bad; den he go mo' +pearter, en he grin lak he skeerd; den he strack de slick part, en, +gentermens! he swaller de grin en fetch a howl dat moughter bin yeard a +mile, en he hit de water lak a chimbly a-fallin'. + +"You kin gimme denial," Uncle Remus continued after a little pause, "but +des ez sho' ez you er settin' dar, w'en Brer B'ar slick'd up en flew +down dat rock, he break off he tail right smick-smack-smoove, en mo'n +dat, w'en he make his disappear'nce up de big road, Brer Rabbit holler +out: + +"'Brer B'ar!--O Brer B'ar! I year tell dat flaxseed poultices is mighty +good fer so' places!' + +"Yit Brer B'ar ain't look back." + + + + +IX + +THE ORIGIN OF RUBIES + + +There was a certain king who died leaving four sons behind him with his +queen. The queen was passionately fond of the youngest of the princes. +She gave him the best robes, the best horses, the best food, and the +best furniture. The other three princes became exceedingly jealous of +their youngest brother, and, conspiring against him and their mother, +made them live in a separate house, and took possession of the estate. +Owing to overindulgence, the youngest prince had become very wilful. He +never listened to any one, not even to his mother, but had his own way +in everything. One day he went with his mother to bathe in the river. A +large boat was riding there at anchor. None of the boatmen were in it. +The prince went into the boat, and told his mother to come into it. His +mother besought him to get down from the boat, as it did not belong to +him. But the prince said, "No, mother I am not coming down; I mean to go +on a voyage, and if you wish to come with me, then delay not but come up +at once, or I shall be off in a trice." The queen besought the prince to +do no such thing, but to come down instantly. But the prince gave no +heed to what she said, and began to take up the anchor. The queen went +up into the boat in great haste; and the moment she was on board the +boat started, and falling into the current passed on swiftly like an +arrow. The boat went on and on till it reached the sea. After it had +gone many furlongs into the open sea, the boat came near a whirlpool +where the prince saw a great many rubies of monstrous size floating on +the waters. Such large rubies no one had ever seen, each being in value +equal to the wealth of seven kings. The prince caught hold of +half-a-dozen of those rubies, and put them on board. His mother said, +"Darling, don't take up those red balls; they must belong to somebody +who has been shipwrecked, and we may be taken up as thieves." At the +repeated entreaties of his mother, the prince threw them into the sea, +keeping only one tied up in his clothes. The boat then drifted toward +the coast, and the queen and the prince arrived at a certain port where +they landed. + +The port where they landed was not a small place; it was a large city, +the capital of a great king. Not far from the palace, the queen and her +son hired a hut where they lived. As the prince was yet a boy, he was +fond of playing at marbles. When the children of the king came out to +play on a lawn before the palace, our young prince joined them. He had +no marbles, but he played with the ruby which he had in his possession. +The ruby was so hard that it broke every taw against which it struck. +The daughter of the king, who used to watch the games from a balcony of +the palace, was astonished to see a brilliant red ball in the hand of +the strange lad, and wanted to take possession of it. She told her +father that a boy of the street had an uncommonly bright stone in his +possession which she must have or else she would starve herself to +death. The king ordered his servants to bring to him the lad with that +precious stone. When the boy was brought, the king wondered at the +largeness and brilliancy of the ruby. He had never seen anything like +it. He doubted whether any king of any country in the world possessed so +great a treasure. He asked the lad where he had got it. The lad replied +that he got it from the sea. The king offered a thousand rupees for the +ruby, and the lad, not knowing its value, readily parted with it for +that sum. He went with the money to his mother, who was not a little +frightened, thinking that her son had stolen the money from some rich +man's house. She became quiet, however, on being assured that the money +was given to him by the king in exchange for the red ball which he had +picked up in the sea. + +The king's daughter, on getting the ruby put it in her hair, and, +standing before her pet parrot, said to the bird, "Oh, my darling +parrot, don't I look very beautiful with this ruby in my hair?" The +parrot replied, "Beautiful! you look quite hideous with it! What +princess ever puts only one ruby in her hair? It would be somewhat +feasible if you had two at least." Stung with shame at the reproach cast +in her teeth by the parrot, the princess went into the grief-chamber of +the palace, and would neither eat nor drink. The king was not a little +concerned when he heard that his daughter had gone into the +grief-chamber. He went to her, and asked her the cause of her grief. The +princess told the king what her pet parrot had said, and added, "Father, +if you do not procure for me another ruby like this, I'll put an end to +my life by mine own hands." The king was overwhelmed with grief. Where +was he to get another ruby like it? He doubted whether another like it +could be found in the whole world. He ordered the lad who had sold the +ruby, to be brought into his presence. "Have you, young man," asked the +king, "another ruby like the one you sold me?" The lad replied: "No, I +have not got one. Why, do you want another? I can give you lots, if you +wish to have them. They are to be found in a whirlpool in the sea, far, +far away. I can go and fetch some for you." Amazed at the lad's reply, +the king offered rich rewards for procuring only another ruby of the +same sort. + +The lad went home and said to his mother that he must go to sea again to +fetch some rubies for the king. The woman was quite frightened at the +idea, and begged him not to go. But the lad was resolved on going, and +nothing could prevent him from carrying out his purpose. He accordingly +went alone on board that same vessel which had brought him and his +mother, and set sail. He reached the whirlpool, from near which he had +formerly picked up the rubies. This time, however, he determined to go +to the exact spot whence the rubies were coming out. He went to the +centre of the whirlpool, where he saw a gap reaching to the bottom of +the ocean. He dived into it, leaving his boat to wheel round the +whirlpool. When he reached the bottom of the ocean he saw there a +beautiful palace. He went inside. In the central room of the palace +there was the god Siva, with his eyes closed, and absorbed apparently in +intense meditation. A few feet above Siva's head was a platform, on +which lay a young lady of exquisite beauty. The prince went to the +platform and saw that the head of the lady was separated from her body. +Horrified at the sight, he did not know what to make of it. He saw a +stream of blood trickling from the severed head, falling upon the matted +head of Siva, and running into the ocean in the form of rubies. After a +little two small rods, one of silver and one of gold, which were lying +near the head of the lady, attracted his eyes. As he took up the rods in +his hands, the golden rod accidentally fell upon the head, on which the +head immediately joined itself to the body, and the lady got up. +Astonished at the sight of a human being, the lady asked the prince who +he was and how he had got there. After hearing the story of the prince's +adventures, the lady said, "Unhappy young man, depart instantly from +this place; for when Siva finishes his meditations he will turn you to +ashes by a single glance of his eyes." The young man, however, would not +go except in her company, as he was over head and ears in love with the +beautiful lady. At last they both contrived to run away from the palace, +and coming up to the surface of the ocean they climbed into the boat +near the centre of the whirlpool, and sailed away toward land, having +previously laden the vessel with a cargo of rubies. The wonder of the +prince's mother at seeing the beautiful damsel may be well imagined. +Early next morning the prince sent a basin full of big rubies, through a +servant. The king was astonished beyond measure. His daughter, on +getting the rubies, resolved on marrying the wonderful lad who had made +a present of them to her. Though the prince had a wife, whom he had +brought up from the depths of the ocean, he consented to have a second +wife. They were accordingly married, and lived happily for years, +begetting sons and daughters. + + Here my story endeth, + The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc. + + + + +X + +LONG, BROAD, AND SHARPSIGHT + + +There was a king, who was already old, and had but one son. Once upon a +time he called this son to him and said to him: "My dear son! you know +that old fruit falls to make room for other fruit. My head is already +ripening, and maybe the sun will soon no longer shine upon it; but +before you bury me, I should like to see your wife, my future daughter. +My son, marry!" The prince said: "I would gladly, father, do as you +wish; but I have no bride, and don't know any." The old king put his +hand into his pocket, took out a golden key and showed it to his son, +with the words, "go up into the tower, to the top story, look round +there, and then tell me which you fancy." The prince went without delay. +Nobody within the memory of man had been up there or had ever heard what +was up there. + +When he got up to the last story, he saw in the ceiling a little iron +door like a trap-door. It was closed. He opened it with the golden key, +lifted it, and went up above it. There was a large circular room. The +ceiling was blue like the sky on a clear night, and silver stars +glittered on it, the floor was a carpet of green silk, and around in the +wall were twelve high windows in golden frames, and in each window on +crystal glass was a damsel painted with the colours of the rainbow, with +a royal crown on her head, in each window a different one in a different +dress, each handsomer than the other, and it was a wonder that the +prince did not let his eyes dwell upon them. When he had gazed at them +with astonishment, the damsels began to move as if they were alive, +looked down upon him, smiled, and did everything but speak. + +Now the prince observed that one of the twelve windows was covered with +a white curtain; he drew the curtain to see what was behind it. There +there was a damsel in a white dress, girt with a silver girdle, with a +crown of pearls on her head; she was the most beautiful of all, but was +sad and pale, as if she had risen from the grave. The prince stood long +before the picture, as if he had made a discovery, and as he thus +gazed, his heart pained him, and he cried, "This one will I have, and no +other." As he said the words the damsel bowed her head, blushed like a +rose, and that instant all the pictures disappeared. + +When he went down and related to his father what he had seen and which +damsel he had selected, the old king became sad, bethought himself, and +said: "You have done ill, my son, in uncovering what was curtained over, +and have placed yourself in great danger on account of those words. That +damsel is in the power of a wicked wizard, and kept captive in an iron +castle; of all who have attempted to set her free, not one has hitherto +returned. But what's done cannot be undone; the plighted word is a law. +Go! try your luck, and return home safe and sound!" + +The prince took leave of his father, mounted his horse, and rode away in +search of his bride. It came to pass that he rode through a vast forest, +and through the forest he rode on and on till he lost the road. And as +he was wandering with his horse in thickets and amongst rocks and +morasses, not knowing which way to turn, he heard somebody shout behind +him, "Hi! stop!" The prince looked round, and saw a tall man hastening +after him. "Stop and take me with you, and take me into your service, +and you won't regret it!" "Who are you," said the prince, "and what can +you do?" "My name is Long, and I can extend myself. Do you see a bird's +nest in that pine yonder? I will bring you the nest down without having +to climb up." + +Long then began to extend himself; his body grew rapidly till it was as +tall as the pine; he then reached the nest, and in a moment contracted +himself again and gave it to the prince. "You know your business well, +but what's the use of birds' nests to me, if you can't conduct me out of +this forest?" + +"Ahem! that's an easy matter," said Long, and began to extend himself +till he was thrice as high as the highest fir in the forest, looked +round, and said: "Here on this side we have the nearest way out of the +forest." He then contracted himself, took the horse by the bridle, and +before the prince had any idea of it, they were beyond the forest. +Before them was a long and wide plain, and beyond the plain tall gray +rocks like the walls of a large town, and mountains overgrown with +forest trees. + +"Yonder, sir, goes my comrade!" said Long, and pointed suddenly to the +plain; "you should take him also into your service; I believe he would +serve you well." "Shout to him, and call him hither, that I may see what +he is good for." "It is a little too far, sir," said Long; "he would +hardly hear me, and it would take a long time before he came, because he +has a great deal to carry. I'll jump after him instead." Then Long again +extended himself to such a height that his head plunged into the clouds, +made two or three steps, took his comrade by the arm, and placed him +before the prince. He was a short, thick-set fellow, with a paunch like +a sixty-four-gallon cask. "Who are you?" demanded the prince, "and what +can you do?" "My name, sir, is Broad; I can widen myself." "Give me a +specimen." "Ride quick, sir, quick, back into the forest!" cried Broad, +as he began to blow himself out. + +The prince didn't understand why he was to ride away; but seeing that +Long made all haste to get into the forest, he spurred his horse and +rode full gallop after him. It was high time that he did ride away, or +else Broad would have squashed him, horse and all, as his paunch rapidly +grew in all directions; it filled everything everywhere, just as if a +mountain had rolled up. Broad then ceased to blow himself out, and took +himself in again, raising such a wind that the trees in the forest bowed +and bent, and became what he was at first. "You have played me a nice +trick," said the prince, "but I shan't find such a fellow every day; +come with me." + +They proceeded further. When they approached the rocks, they met a man +who had his eyes bandaged with a handkerchief. "Sir, this is our third +comrade," said Long, "you ought to take him also into your service. I'm +sure he won't eat his victuals for naught." + +"Who are you?" the prince asked him, "and why are your eyes bandaged? +You don't see your way!" "No, sir, quite the contrary! It is just +because I see too well that I am obliged to bandage my eyes; I see with +bandaged eyes just as well as others with unbandaged eyes; and if I +unbandage them I look everything through and through, and when I gaze +sharply at anything it catches fire and bursts into flame, and what +can't burn splits into pieces. For this reason my name is Sharpsight." +He then turned to a rock opposite, removed the bandage, and fixed his +flaming eyes upon it; the rock began to crackle, pieces flew on every +side, and in a very short time nothing of it remained but a heap of +sand, on which something glittered like fire. Sharpsight went to fetch +it, and brought it to the prince. It was pure gold. + +"Heigho! you're a fellow that money can't purchase!" said the prince. +"He is a fool who wouldn't make use of your services, and if you have +such good sight, look and tell me whether it is far to the iron castle, +and what is now going on there?" "If you rode by yourself, sir," +answered Sharpsight, "maybe you wouldn't get there within a year; but +with us you'll arrive to-day--they're just getting supper ready for us." +"And what is my bride doing?" + + "An iron lattice is before her, + In a tower that's high + She doth sit and sigh, + A wizard watch and ward keeps o'er her." + +The prince cried, "Whoever is well disposed, help me to set her free!" +They all promised to help him. They guided him among the gray rocks +through the breach that Sharpsight had made in them with his eyes, and +farther and farther on through rocks, through high mountains and deep +forests, and wherever there was any obstacle in the road, forthwith it +was removed by the three comrades. And when the sun was declining toward +the west, the mountains began to become lower, the forests less dense, +and the rocks concealed themselves amongst the heath; and when it was +almost on the point of setting, the prince saw not far before him an +iron castle; and when it was actually setting, he rode by an iron bridge +to the gate, and as soon as it had set, up rose the iron bridge of +itself, the gate closed with a single movement, and the prince and his +companions were captives in the iron castle. + +When they had looked round the court, the prince put his horse up in the +stable, where everything was ready for it, and then they went into the +castle. In the court, in the stable, in the castle hall, and in the +rooms, they saw in the twilight many richly-dressed people, gentlemen +and servants, but not one of them stirred--they were all turned to +stone. They went through several rooms, and came into the supper-room. +This was brilliantly lighted up, and in the midst was a table, and on it +plenty of good meats and drinks, and covers were laid for four persons. +They waited and waited, thinking that some one would come: but when +nobody came for a long time, they sat down and ate and drank what the +palate fancied. + +When they had done eating, they looked about to find where to sleep. +Thereupon the door flew open unexpectedly all at once, and into the room +came the wizard; a bent old man in a long black garb, with a bald head, +a gray beard down to his knees, and three iron hoops instead of a +girdle. By the hand he led a beautiful, very beautiful damsel, dressed +in white; she had a silver girdle round her waist, and a crown of pearls +on her head, but was pale and sad, as if she had risen from the grave. +The prince recognized her at once, sprang forward, and went to meet her; +but before he could utter a word the wizard addressed him: "I know for +what you have come; you want to take the princess away. Well, be it so! +Take her, if you can keep her in sight for three nights, so that she +doesn't vanish from you. If she vanishes, you will be turned into stone +as well as your three servants; like all who have come before you." He +then motioned the princess to a seat and departed. + +The prince could not take his eyes off the princess, so beautiful was +she. He began to talk to her, and asked her all manner of questions, but +she neither answered nor smiled, nor looked at any one more than if she +had been of marble. He sat down by her, and determined not to sleep all +night long lest she should vanish from him, and, to make surer, Long +extended himself like a strap, and wound himself round the whole room +along the wall; Broad posted himself in the doorway, swelled himself up, +and stopped it up so tight that not even a mouse could have slipped +through; while Sharpsight placed himself against a pillar in the midst +of the room on the look-out. But after a time they all began to nod, +fell asleep, and slept the whole night, just as if the wizard had thrown +them into the water. + +In the morning, when it began to dawn, the prince was the first to wake, +but--as if a knife had been thrust into his heart--the princess was +gone! He forthwith awoke his servants, and asked what was to be done. +"Never mind, sir," said Sharpsight, and looked sharply out through the +window, "I see her already. A hundred miles hence is a forest, in the +midst of the forest an old oak, and on the top of the oak an acorn, and +she is that acorn." Long immediately took him on his shoulders, extended +himself, and went ten miles at a step, while Sharpsight showed him the +way. + +No more time elapsed than would have been wanted to move once round a +cottage before they were back again, and Long delivered the acorn to the +prince. "Sir, let it fall on the ground." The prince let it fall and +that moment the princess stood beside him. And when the sun began to +show itself beyond the mountains, the folding doors flew open with a +crash, and the wizard entered the room and smiled spitefully; but when +he saw the princess he frowned, growled, and bang! one of the iron hoops +which he wore splintered and sprang off him. He then took the damsel by +the hand and led her away. + +The whole day after the prince had nothing to do but walk up and down +the castle, and round about the castle, and look at the wonderful +things that were there. It was everywhere as if life had been lost in a +single moment. In one hall he saw a prince, who held in both hands a +brandished sword, as if he intended to cleave somebody in twain; but the +blow never fell: he had been turned into stone. In one chamber was a +knight turned into stone, just as if he had been fleeing from some one +in terror, and, stumbling on the threshold, had taken a downward +direction, but not fallen. Under the chimney sat a servant, who held in +one hand a piece of roast meat, and with the other lifted a mouthful +toward his mouth, which never reached it; when it was just in front of +his mouth, he had also been turned to stone. Many others he saw there +turned to stone, each in the position in which he was when the wizard +said, "Be turned into stone." He likewise saw many fine horses turned to +stone, and in the castle and round the castle all was desolate and dead; +there were trees, but without leaves; there were meadows, but without +grass; there was a river but it did not flow; nowhere was there even a +singing bird, or a flower, the offspring of the ground, or a white fish +in the water. + +Morning, noon, and evening the prince and his companions found good and +abundant entertainment in the castle; the viands came of themselves, the +wine poured itself out. After supper the folding doors opened again, and +the wizard brought in the princess for the prince to guard. And although +they all determined to exert themselves with all their might not to fall +asleep, yet it was of no use, fall asleep again they did. And when the +prince awoke at dawn and saw the princess had vanished, he jumped up and +pulled Sharpsight by the arm, "Hey! get up, Sharpsight, do you know +where the princess is?" He rubbed his eyes, looked, and said: "I see +her. There's a mountain two hundred miles off, and in the mountain a +rock, and in the rock a precious stone, and she's that precious stone. +If Long carries me thither, we shall obtain her." + +Long took him at once on his shoulders, extended himself, and went +twenty miles at a step. Sharpsight fixed his flaming eyes on the +mountain, the mountain crumbled, and the rock in it split into a +thousand pieces, and amongst them glittered the precious stone. They +took it up and brought it to the prince, and when he let it fall on the +ground, the princess again stood there. When afterward the wizard came +and saw her there, his eyes flashed with spite, and bang! again an iron +hoop cracked upon him and flew off. He growled and led the princess out +of the room. + +That day all was again as it had been the day before. After supper the +wizard brought the princess in again, looked the prince keenly in the +face, and scornfully uttered the words, "It will be seen who's a match +for whom; whether you are victorious or I," and with that he departed. +This night they all exerted themselves still more to avoid going to +sleep. They wouldn't even sit down, they wanted to walk about all night +long, but all in vain; they were bewitched; one fell asleep after the +other as he walked and the princess vanished away from them. + +In the morning the prince again awoke earliest, and, when he didn't see +the princess, woke Sharpsight. "Hey! get up, Sharpsight! look where the +princess is!" Sharpsight looked out for a long time. "Oh, sir," says he, +"she is a long way off, a long way off! Three hundred miles off is a +black sea, and in the midst of the sea a shell on the bottom, and in +the shell is a gold ring, and she's the ring. But never mind! we shall +obtain her, but to-day Long must take Broad with him as well; we shall +want him." Long took Sharpsight on one shoulder, and Broad on the other, +and went thirty miles at a step. When they came to the black sea, +Sharpsight showed him where he must reach into the water for the shell. +Long extended his hand as far as he could, but could not reach the +bottom. + +"Wait, comrades! wait only a little and I'll help you," said Broad, and +swelled himself out as far as his paunch would stretch; he then lay down +on the shore and drank. In a very short time the water fell so low that +Long easily reached the bottom and took the shell out of the sea. Out of +it he extracted the ring, took his comrades on his shoulders and +hastened back. But on the way he found it a little difficult to run with +Broad, who had half a sea of water inside him, so he cast him from his +shoulder on to the ground in a wide valley. Thump he went like a sack +let fall from a tower, and in a moment the whole valley was under water +like a vast lake. Broad himself barely crawled out of it. + +Meanwhile the prince was in great trouble in the castle. The dawn began +to display itself over the mountains, and his servants had not returned; +the more brilliantly the rays ascended, the greater was his anxiety; a +deadly perspiration came out upon his forehead. Soon the sun showed +itself in the east like a thin slip of flame--and then with a loud crash +the door flew open, and on the threshold stood the wizard. He looked +round the room, and seeing the princess was not there, laughed a hateful +laugh and entered the room. But just at that moment, pop! the window +flew in pieces, the gold ring fell on the floor, and in an instant there +stood the princess again. Sharpsight, seeing what was going on in the +castle, and in what danger his master was, told Long. Long made a step, +and threw the ring through the window into the room. The wizard roared +with rage till the castle quaked, and then, bang! went the third iron +hoop that was round his waist, and sprang off him; the wizard turned +into a raven, and flew out and away through the shattered window. + +Then, and not till then, did the beautiful damsel speak and thank the +prince for setting her free, and blushed like a rose. In the castle and +round the castle everything became alive again at once. He who was +holding in the hall the outstretched sword, swung it into the air, which +whistled again, and then returned it to its sheath; he who was stumbling +on the threshold, fell on the ground, but immediately got up again and +felt his nose to see whether it was still entire; he who was sitting +under the chimney put the piece of meat into his mouth and went on +eating; and thus everybody completed what he had begun doing, and at the +point where he had left off. In the stables the horses merrily stamped +and snorted, the trees round the castle became green like periwinkles, +the meadows were full of variegated flowers, high in the air warbled the +skylark, and abundance of small fishes appeared in the clear river. +Everywhere was life, everywhere enjoyment. + +Meanwhile a number of gentlemen assembled in the room where the prince +was, and all thanked him for their liberation. But he said: "You have +nothing to thank me for; if it had not been for my trusty servants Long, +Broad, and Sharpsight, I too, should have been what you were." He then +immediately started on his way home to the old king, his father, with +his bride and servants. On the way they met Broad and took him with +them. + +The old king wept for joy at the success of his son; he had thought he +would return no more. Soon afterward there was a grand wedding, the +festivities of which lasted three weeks; all the gentlemen that the +prince had liberated were invited. After the wedding Long, Broad, and +Sharpsight announced to the young king that they were going again into +the world to look for work. The young king tried to persuade them to +stay with him. "I will give you everything you want, as long as you +live," said he; "you needn't work at all." But they didn't like such an +idle life, took leave of him, went away, and have been ever since +knocking about somewhere or other in the world. + + + + +XI + +INTELLIGENCE AND LUCK + + +Once upon a time Luck met Intelligence on a garden-seat. "Make room for +me!" said Luck. Intelligence was then as yet inexperienced, and didn't +know who ought to make room for whom. He said: "Why should I make room +for you? you're no better than I." "He's the better man," answered Luck, +"who performs most. See you there yon peasant's son who's ploughing in +the field? Enter into him, and if he gets on better through you than +through me, I'll always submissively make way for you, whensoever and +wheresoever we meet." Intelligence agreed, and entered at once into the +ploughboy's head. As soon as the ploughboy felt that he had intelligence +in his head, he began to think: "Why must I follow the plough to the day +of my death? I can go somewhere else and make my fortune more easily." +He left off ploughing, put up the plough, and drove home. "Daddy," says +he, "I don't like this peasant's life; I'd rather learn to be a +gardener." His father said: "What ails you, Vanek? have you lost your +wits?" However, he bethought himself and said: "Well, if you will, +learn, and God be with you! Your brother will be heir to the cottage +after me." Vanek lost the cottage, but he didn't care for that, but went +and put himself apprentice to the king's gardener. For every little that +the gardener showed him, Vanek comprehended ever so much more. Ere long +he didn't even obey the gardener's orders as to how he ought to do +anything, but did everything his own way. At first the gardener was +angry, but, seeing everything thus getting on better, he was content. "I +see that you've more intelligence than I," said he, and henceforth let +Vanek garden as he thought fit. In no long space of time Vanek made the +garden so beautiful that the king took great delight in it, and +frequently walked in it with the queen and with his only daughter. + +The princess was a very beautiful damsel, but ever since she was twelve +years old she had ceased speaking, and no one ever heard a single word +from her. The king was much grieved, and caused a proclamation to be +made that whoever should bring it to pass that she should speak again, +should be her husband. Many young kings, princes, and other great lords +announced themselves one after the other, but all went away as they had +come; no one succeeded in causing her to speak. "Why shouldn't I try my +luck?" thought Vanek; "who knows whether I mayn't succeed in bringing +her to answer when I ask her a question?" He at once caused himself to +be announced at the palace, and the king and his councillors conducted +him into the room where the princess was. The king's daughter had a +pretty little dog, and was very fond of him, because he was so clever, +understanding everything that she wanted. When Vanek went into the room +with the king and his councillors, he made as if he didn't even see the +princess, but turned to the dog and said: "I have heard, doggie, that +you are very clever, and I come to you for advice. We are three +companions in travel, a sculptor, a tailor, and myself. Once upon a time +we were going through a forest and were obliged to pass the night in it. +To be safe from wolves, we made a fire, and agreed to keep watch one +after the other. The sculptor kept watch first, and for amusement to +kill time took a log and carved a damsel out of it. When it was +finished, he woke the tailor to keep watch in his turn. The tailor, +seeing the wooden damsel, asked what it meant. 'As you see,' said the +sculptor, 'I was weary, and didn't know what to do with myself, so I +carved a damsel out of a log; if you find time hang heavy on your hands, +you can dress her.' The tailor at once took out his scissors, needle and +thread, cut out the clothes, stitched away, and, when they were ready, +dressed the damsel in them. He then called me to come and keep watch. I, +too, asked him what the meaning of all this was. 'As you see,' said the +tailor, 'the sculptor found time hang heavy on his hands and carved a +damsel out of a log, and I for the same reason clothed her; and if you +find time hanging on your hands, you can teach her to speak.' And by +morning dawn I had actually taught her to speak. But in the morning when +my companions woke up, each wanted to possess the damsel. The sculptor +said, 'I made her;' the tailor, 'I clothed her.' I, too, maintained my +right. Tell me, therefore, doggie, to which of us the damsel belongs." +The dog said nothing, but instead of the dog the princess replied: "To +whom can she belong but to yourself? What's the good of the sculptor's +damsel without life? What's the good of the tailor's dressing without +speech? You gave her the best gift, life and speech, and therefore she +by right belongs to you." "You have passed your own sentence," said +Vanek; "I have given you speech again and a new life, and you therefore +by right belong to me." Then said one of the king's councillors: "His +Royal Grace will give you a plenteous reward for succeeding in unloosing +his daughter's tongue; but you cannot have her to wife, as you are of +mean lineage." The king said: "You are of mean lineage; I will give you +a plenteous reward instead of our daughter." But Vanek wouldn't hear of +any other reward, and said: "The king promised without any exception, +that whoever caused his daughter to speak again should be her husband. A +king's word is law; and if the king wants others to observe his laws, he +must first keep them himself. Therefore the king _must_ give me his +daughter." "Seize and bind him!" shouted the councillor. "Whoever says +the king _must_ do anything, offers an insult to his Majesty, and is +worthy of death. May it please your Majesty to order this malefactor to +be executed with the sword?" The king said: "Let him be executed." Vanek +was immediately bound and led to execution. When they came to the place +of execution Luck was there waiting for him, and said secretly to +Intelligence: "See how this man has got on through you, till he has to +lose his head! Make way, and let me take your place!" As soon as Luck +entered Vanek, the executioners sword broke against the scaffold, just +as if some one had snapped it; and before they brought him another, up +rode a trumpeter on horseback from the city, galloping as swift as a +bird, trumpeted merrily, and waved a white flag, and after him came the +royal carriage for Vanek. This is what had happened: The princess had +told her father at home that Vanek had but spoken the truth, and the +king's word ought not to be broken. If Vanek were of mean lineage the +king could easily make him a prince. The king said: "You're right; let +him be a prince!" The royal carriage was immediately sent for Vanek, and +the councillor who had irritated the king against him was executed in +his stead. Afterward, when Vanek and the princess were going together in +a carriage from the wedding, Intelligence happened to be somewhere on +the road, and seeing that he couldn't help meeting Luck, bent his head +and slipped on one side, just as if cold water had been thrown upon him. +And from that time forth it is said that Intelligence has always given a +wide berth to Luck whenever he has had to meet him. + + + + +XII + +GEORGE WITH THE GOAT + + +There was a king who had a daughter who never could be induced to laugh; +she was always sad. So the king proclaimed that she should be given to +any one who could cause her to laugh. There was also a shepherd who had +a son named George. He said: "Daddy! I, too, will go to see whether I +can make her laugh. I want nothing from you but the goat." His father +said, "Well, go." The goat was of such a nature that, when her master +wished, she detained everybody, and that person was obliged to stay by +her. + +So he took the goat and went, and met a man who had a foot on his +shoulder. George said: "Why have you a foot on your shoulder?" He +replied: "If I take it off, I leap a hundred miles." "Whither are you +going?" "I am going in search of service, to see if any one will take +me." "Well, come with us." + +They went on, and again met a man who had a bandage on his eyes. "Why +have you a bandage on your eyes?" He answered, "If I remove the bandage, +I see a hundred miles." "Whither are you going?" "I am going in search +of service, if you will take me." "Yes, I'll take you. Come also with +me." + +They went on a bit farther, and met another fellow, who had a bottle +under his arm, and, instead of a stopper, held his thumb in it. "Why do +you hold your thumb there?" "If I pull it out, I squirt a hundred miles, +and besprinkle everything that I choose. If you like, take me also into +your service; it may be to your advantage and ours too." George replied: +"Well, come, too!" + +Afterward they came to the town where the king lived, and bought a +silken riband for the goat. They came to an inn, and orders had already +been given there beforehand, that when such people came, they were to +give them what they liked to eat and drink--the king would pay for all. +So they tied the goat with that very riband and placed it in the +innkeeper's room to be taken care of, and he put it in the side room +where his daughters slept. The innkeeper had three maiden daughters, who +were not yet asleep. So Manka said: "Oh! if I, too, could have such a +riband! I will go and unfasten it from that goat." The second, Dodla, +said: "Don't; he'll find it out in the morning." But she went +notwithstanding. And when Manka did not return for a long time, the +third, Kate, said: "Go, fetch her." So Dodla went, and gave Manka a pat +on the back. "Come, leave it alone!" And now she, too, was unable to +withdraw herself from her. So Kate said: "Come, don't unfasten it!" Kate +went and gave Dodla a pat on the petticoat; and now she, too, couldn't +get away, but was obliged to stay by her. + +In the morning George made haste and went for the goat, and led the +whole set away--Kate Dodla, and Manka. The innkeeper was still asleep. +They went through the village, and the judge looked out of a window and +said, "Fie, Kate! what's this? what's this?" He went and took her by the +hand, wishing to pull her away, but remained also by her. After this, a +cowherd drove some cows through a narrow street, and the bull came +rushing round; he stuck fast, and George led him, too, in the +procession. + +Thus they afterward came in front of the castle, and the servants came +out-of-doors; and when they saw such things they went and told the +king. "Oh, sire, we have such a spectacle here; we have already had all +manner of masquerades, but this has never been here yet." So they +immediately led the king's daughter to the square in front of the +castle, and she looked and laughed till the castle shook. + +Now they asked him what sort of person he was. He said that he was a +shepherd's son, and was named George. They said that it could not be +done; for he was of mean lineage, and they could not give him the +damsel; but he must accomplish something more for them. He said, "What?" +They replied that there was a spring yonder, a hundred miles off; if he +brought a goblet of water from it in a minute, then he should obtain the +damsel. So George said to the man who had the foot on his shoulder: "You +said that if you took the foot down, you could jump a hundred miles." He +replied: "I'll easily do that." He took the foot down, jumped, and was +there. But after this there was only a very little time to spare, and by +then he ought to have been back. So George said to the other: "You said +that if you removed the bandage from your eyes, you could see a hundred +miles. Peep and see what is going on." "Ah, sir! Goodness gracious! he's +fallen asleep!" "That will be a bad job," said George; "the time will be +up. You, third man, you said if you pulled your thumb out, you could +squirt a hundred miles; be quick and squirt thither, that he may get up. +And you, look whether he is moving, or what." "Oh, sir, he's getting up +now; he's knocking the dust off; he's drawing the water." He then gave a +jump, and was there exactly in time. + +After this they said that he must perform one task more; that yonder, in +a rock, was a wild beast, a unicorn, of such a nature that he destroyed +a great many of their people; if he cleared him out of the world he +should obtain the damsel. So he took his people and went into the +forest. They came to a firwood. There were three wild beasts, and three +lairs had been formed by wallowing as they lay. Two did nothing: but the +third destroyed the people. So they took some stones and some pine-cones +in their pockets, and climbed up into a tree; and when the beasts lay +down, they dropped a stone down upon that one which was the unicorn. He +said to the next: "Be quiet; don't butt me." It said: "I'm not doing +anything to you." Again they let a stone fall from above upon the +unicorn. "Be quiet! you've already done it to me twice." "Indeed, I'm +doing nothing to you." So they attacked each other and fought together. +The unicorn wanted to pierce the second beast through; but it jumped out +of the way, and he rushed so violently after it, that he struck his horn +into a tree, and couldn't pull it out quickly. So they sprang speedily +down from the fir, and the other two beasts ran away and escaped, but +they cut off the head of the third, the unicorn, took it up, and carried +it to the castle. + +Now those in the castle saw that George had again accomplished that +task. "What, prithee, shall we do? Perhaps we must after all give him +the damsel!" "No, sire," said one of the attendants, "that cannot be; he +is too lowborn to obtain a king's daughter! On the contrary, we must +clear him out of the world." So the king ordered them to note his words, +what he should say. There was a hired female servant there, and she said +to him: "George, it will be evil for you to-day; they're going to clear +you out of the world." He answered: "Oh, I'm not afraid. When I was only +just twelve years old, I killed twelve of them at one blow!" But this +was the fact: when his mother was baking a flat-cake, a dozen flies +settled upon her, and he killed them all at a single blow. + +When they heard this, they said: "Nothing else will do but we must shoot +him." So they drew up the soldiers, and said they would hold a review in +his honour, for they would celebrate the wedding in the square before +the castle. Then they conducted him thither, and the soldiers were +already going to let fly at him. But George said to the man who held his +thumb in the bottle in the place of a stopper: "You said, if you pulled +your thumb out, you could besprinkle everything. Pull it out--quick!" +"Oh, sir, I'll easily perform that." So he pulled out his thumb and gave +them all such a sprinkling that they were all blind, and not one could +see. + +So, when they perceived that nothing else was to be done, they told him +to go, for they would give him the damsel. Then they gave him a handsome +royal robe, and the wedding took place. I, too, was at the wedding; they +had music there, sang, ate, and drank; there was meat, there were +cheesecakes, and baskets full of everything, and buckets full of strong +waters. To-day I went, yesterday I came; I found an egg among the +tree-stumps; I knocked it against somebody's head, and gave him a bald +place, and he's got it still. + + + + +XIII + +THE WONDERFUL HAIR + + +There was a man who was very poor, but so well supplied with children +that he was utterly unable to maintain them, and one morning more than +once prepared to kill them, in order not to see their misery in dying of +hunger, but his wife prevented him. One night a child came to him in his +sleep, and said to him: "Man! I see that you are making up your mind to +destroy and to kill your poor little children, and I know that you are +distressed there at; but in the morning you will find under your pillow +a mirror, a red kerchief, and an embroidered pocket-handkerchief; take +all three secretly and tell nobody; then go to such a hill; by it you +will find a stream; go along it till you come to its fountain-head; +there you will find a damsel as bright as the sun, with her hair hanging +down over her back. Be on your guard, that the ferocious she-dragon do +not coil round you; do not converse with her if she speaks; for if you +converse with her, she will poison you, and turn you into a fish or +something else, and will then devour you but if she bids you examine her +head, examine it, and as you turn over her hair, look, and you will find +one hair as red as blood; pull it out and run back again; then, if she +suspects and begins to run after you, throw her first the embroidered +pocket-handkerchief, then the kerchief, and, lastly, the mirror; then +she will find occupation for herself. And sell that hair to some rich +man; but don't let them cheat you, for that hair is worth countless +wealth; and you will thus enrich yourself and maintain your children." + +When the poor man awoke, he found everything under his pillow, just as +the child had told him in his sleep; and then he went to the hill. When +there, he found the stream, went on and on alongside of it, till he came +to the fountain-head. Having looked about him to see where the damsel +was, he espied her above a piece of water, like sunbeams threaded on a +needle, and she was embroidering at a frame on stuff, the threads of +which were young men's hair. As soon as he saw her, he made a reverence +to her, and she stood on her feet and questioned him: "Whence are you, +unknown young man?" But he held his tongue. She questioned him again: +"Who are you? Why have you come?" and much else of all sorts; but he was +as mute as a stone, making signs with his hands, as if he were deaf and +wanted help. Then she told him to sit down on her skirt. He did not wait +for any more orders, but sat down, and she bent down her head to him, +that he might examine it. Turning over the hair of her head, as if to +examine it, he was not long in finding that red hair, and separated it +from the other hair, pulled it out, jumped off her skirt and ran away +back as he best could. She noticed it, and ran at his heels full speed +after him. He looked round, and seeing that she was about to overtake +him, threw, as he was told, the embroidered pocket-handkerchief on the +way, and when she saw the pocket-handkerchief she stooped and began to +overhaul it in every direction, admiring the embroidery, till he had got +a good way off. Then the damsel placed the pocket-handkerchief in her +bosom, and ran after him again. When he saw that she was about to +overtake him, he threw the red kerchief, and she again occupied +herself, admiring and gazing, till the poor man had again got a good way +off. Then the damsel became exasperated, and threw both the +pocket-handkerchief and the kerchief on the way, and ran after him in +pursuit. Again, when he saw that she was about to overtake him, he threw +the mirror. When the damsel came to the mirror, the like of which she +had never seen before, she lifted it up, and when she saw herself in it, +not knowing that it was herself, but thinking that it was somebody else, +she, as it were, fell in love with herself in the mirror, and the man +got so far off that she was no longer able to overtake him. When she saw +that she could not catch him, she turned back, and the man reached his +home safe and sound. After arriving at his home, he showed his wife the +hair, and told her all that had happened to him, but she began to jeer +and laugh at him. But he paid no attention to her, and went to a town to +sell the hair. A crowd of all sorts of people and merchants collected +round him; one offered a sequin, another two, and so on, higher and +higher, till they came to a hundred gold sequins. Just then the emperor +heard of the hair, summoned the man into his presence, and said to him +that he would give him a thousand sequins for it, and he sold it to him. +What was the hair? The emperor split it in two from top to bottom, and +found registered in it in writing many remarkable things, which happened +in the olden time since the beginning of the world. Thus the man became +rich and lived on with his wife and children. And that child, that came +to him in his sleep, was an angel sent by the Lord God, whose will it +was to aid the poor man, and to reveal secrets which had not been +revealed till then. + + + + +XIV + +THE DRAGON AND THE PRINCE + + +There was an emperor who had three sons. One day the eldest son went out +hunting, and, when he got outside the town, up sprang a hare out of a +bush, and he after it, and hither and thither, till the hare fled into a +water-mill, and the prince after it. But it was not a hare, but a +dragon, and it waited for the prince and devoured him. When several days +had elapsed and the prince did not return home, people began to wonder +why it was that he was not to be found. Then the middle son went +hunting, and as he issued from the town, a hare sprang out of a bush, +and the prince after it, and hither and thither, till the hare fled into +the water-mill and the prince after it; but it was not a hare, but a +dragon, which waited for and devoured him. When some days had elapsed +and the princes did not return, either of them, the whole court was in +sorrow. Then the third son went hunting, to see whether he could not +find his brothers. When he issued from the town, again up sprang a hare +out of a bush, and the prince after it, and hither and thither, till the +hare fled into the water-mill. But the prince did not choose to follow +it, but went to find other game, saying to himself: "When I return I +shall find you." After thus he went for a long time up and down the +hill, but found nothing, and then returned to the water-mill; but when +he got there, there was only an old woman in the mill. The prince +invoked God in addressing her: "God help you, old woman!" The old woman +replied: "God help you, my son!" Then the prince asked her: "Where, old +woman, is my hare?" She replied: "My son, that was not a hare, but a +dragon. It kills and throttles many people." Hearing this, the prince +was somewhat disturbed, and said to the old woman: "What shall we do +now? Doubtless my two brothers also have perished here." The old woman +answered: "They have indeed; but there's no help for it. Go home, my +son, lest you follow them." Then he said to her: "Dear old woman, do you +know what? I know that you will be glad to liberate yourself from that +pest." The old woman interrupted him: "How should I not? It captured me, +too, in this way, but now I have no means of escape." Then he proceeded: +"Listen well to what I am going to say to you. Ask it whither it goes +and where its strength is; then kiss all that place where it tells you +its strength is, as if from love, till you ascertain it, and afterward +tell me when I come." Then the prince went off to the palace, and the +old woman remained in the water-mill. When the dragon came in, the old +woman began to question it: "Where in God's name have you been? Whither +do you go so far? You will never tell me whither you go." The dragon +replied: "Well, my dear old woman, I do go far." Then the old woman +began to coax it: "And why do you go so far? Tell me where your strength +is. If I knew where your strength is, I don't know what I should do for +love; I would kiss all that place." Thereupon the dragon smiled and said +to her: "Yonder is my strength, in that fireplace." Then the old woman +began to fondle and kiss the fireplace, and the dragon on seeing it +burst into a laugh and said to her: "Silly old woman, my strength isn't +there; my strength is in that tree-fungus in front of the house." Then +the old woman began again to fondle and kiss the tree, and the dragon +again laughed, and said to her: "Away, old woman! my strength isn't +there." Then the old woman inquired: "Where is it?" The dragon began to +give an account in detail: "My strength is a long way off, and you +cannot go thither. Far in another empire under the emperor's city is a +lake, in that lake is a dragon, and in that dragon a boar, and in the +boar a pigeon, and in that is my strength." The next morning when the +dragon went away from the mill, the prince came to the old woman, and +the old woman told him all that she had heard from the dragon. Then he +left his home, and disguised himself; he put shepherd's boots to his +feet, took a shepherd's staff in his hand, and went into the world. As +he went on thus from village to village, and from town to town, at last +he came into another empire and into the imperial city, in a lake under +which the dragon was. On going into the town he began to inquire who +wanted a shepherd. The citizens told him that the emperor did. Then he +went straight to the emperor. After he announced himself, the emperor +admitted him into his presence, and asked him: "Do you wish to keep +sheep?" He replied: "I do, illustrious crown!" Then the emperor engaged +him, and began to inform and instruct him: "There is here a lake, and +alongside of the lake very beautiful pasture, and when you call the +sheep out, they go thither at once, and spread themselves round the +lake; but whatever shepherd goes off there, that shepherd returns back +no more. Therefore, my son, I tell you, don't let the sheep have their +own way and go where _they_ will, but keep them where _you_ will." The +prince thanked the emperor, got himself ready, and called out the sheep, +taking with him, more-over, two hounds that could catch a boar in the +open country, and a falcon that could capture any bird, and carrying +also a pair of bagpipes. When he called out the sheep he let them go at +once to the lake, and when the sheep arrived at the lake, they +immediately spread round it, and the prince placed the falcon on a +stump, and the hounds and bagpipes under the stump, then tucked up his +hose and sleeves, waded into the lake, and began to shout: "Dragon, +dragon! come out to single combat with me to-day that we may measure +ourselves together, unless you're a woman."[6] The dragon called out in +reply, "I will do so now, prince--now!" Erelong behold the dragon! it is +large, it is terrible, it is disgusting! When the dragon came out, it +seized him by the waist, and they wrestled a summer day till afternoon. +But when the heat of afternoon came on, the dragon said: "Let me go, +prince, that I may moisten my parched head in the lake, and toss you to +the sky." But the prince replied: "Come, dragon, don't talk nonsense; if +I had the emperor's daughter to kiss me on the forehead, I would toss +you still higher." Thereupon, the dragon suddenly let him go, and went +off into the lake. On the approach of evening, he washed and got himself +up nicely, placed the falcon on his arm, the hounds behind him, and the +bagpipes under his arm, then drove the sheep and went into the town +playing on the bagpipes. When he arrived at the town, the whole town +assembled as to see a wondrous sight because he had come, whereas +previously no shepherd had been able to come from the lake. The next day +the prince got ready again, and went with his sheep straight to the +lake. But the emperor sent two grooms after him to go stealthily and see +what he did, and they placed themselves on a high hill whence they could +have a good view. When the shepherd arrived, he put the hounds and +bagpipes under the stump and the falcon upon it, then tucked up his hose +and sleeves waded into the lake and shouted: "Dragon, dragon! come out +to single combat with me, that we may measure ourselves once more +together, unless you are a woman!" The dragon replied: "I will do so, +prince, now, now!" Erelong, behold the dragon! it was large, it was +terrible, it was disgusting! And it seized him by the waist and wrestled +with him a summer's day till afternoon. But when the afternoon heat came +on, the dragon said: "Let me go, prince, that I may moisten my parched +head in the lake, and may toss you to the sky." The prince replied: +"Come, dragon, don't talk nonsense; if I had the emperor's daughter to +kiss me on the forehead, I would toss you still higher." Thereupon the +dragon suddenly left hold of him, and went off into the lake. When night +approached the prince drove the sheep as before, and went home playing +the bagpipes When he arrived at the town, the whole town was astir and +began to wonder because the shepherd came home every evening, which no +one had been able to do before. Those two grooms had already arrived at +the palace before the prince, and related to the emperor in order +everything that they had heard and seen. Now when the emperor saw that +the shepherd returned home, he immediately summoned his daughter into +his presence and told her all, what it was and how it was. "But," said +he, "to-morrow you must go with the shepherd to the lake and kiss him on +the forehead." When she heard this she burst into tears and began to +entreat her father. "You have no one but me, and I am your only +daughter, and you don't care about me if I perish." Then the emperor +began to persuade and encourage her: "Don't fear, my daughter; you see +we have had so many changes of shepherds, and of all that went out to +the lake not one has returned; but _he_ had been contending with the +dragon for two whole days and it has done him no hurt. I assure you, in +God's name, that he is able to overcome the dragon, only go to-morrow +with him to see whether he will free us from this mischief which has +destroyed so many people." + +When, on the morrow, the day dawned and the sun came forth, up rose the +shepherd, up rose the maiden too, to begin to prepare for going to the +lake. The shepherd was cheerful, more cheerful than ever, but the +emperor's daughter was sad and shed tears. The shepherd comforted her: +"Lady sister, I pray you, do not weep, but do what I tell you. When it +is time, run up and kiss me, and fear not." As he went and drove the +sheep, the shepherd was thoroughly cheery, and played a merry tune on +his bagpipes; but the damsel did nothing but weep as she went beside +him, and he several times left off playing and turned toward her: "Weep +not, golden one; fear nought." When they arrived at the lake, the sheep +immediately spread round it, and the prince placed the falcon on the +stump, and the hounds and bagpipes under it, then tucked up his hose and +sleeves, waded into the water, and shouted: "Dragon! dragon! Come out to +single combat with me; let us measure ourselves once more, unless you're +a woman!" The dragon replied: "I will, prince; now, now!" Erelong, +there was the dragon! it was huge, it was terrible, it was disgusting! +When it came out, they seized each other by the middle, and wrestled a +summer's day till afternoon. But when the afternoon heat came on, the +dragon said: "Let me go, prince, that I may moisten my parched head in +the lake, and toss you to the skies." The prince replied: "Come, dragon, +don't talk nonsense; if I had the emperor's daughter to kiss me on the +forehead, I would toss you much higher." When he said this, the +emperor's daughter ran up and kissed him on the face, on the eye, and on +the forehead. Then he swung the dragon, and tossed it high into the air, +and when it fell to the ground it burst into pieces. But as it burst +into pieces, out of it sprang a wild boar, and started to run away. But +the prince shouted to his shepherd dogs: "Hold it! don't let it go!" and +the dogs sprang up and after it, caught it, and soon tore it to pieces. +But out of the boar flew a pigeon, and the prince loosed the falcon, and +the falcon caught the pigeon and brought it into the prince's hands. The +prince said to it: "Tell me now, where are my brothers?" The pigeon +replied: "I will; only do me no harm. Immediately behind your father's +town is a water-mill, and in the water-mill are three wands that have +sprouted up. Cut these three wands up from below, and strike with them +upon their root; an iron door will immediately open into a large vault. +In that vault are many people, old and young, rich and poor, small and +great, wives and maidens, so that you could settle a populous empire; +there, too, are your brothers." When the pigeon had told him all this, +the prince immediately wrung its neck. + +The emperor had gone out in person, and posted himself on the hill from +which the grooms had viewed the shepherd, and he, too, was a spectator +of all that had taken place. After the shepherd had thus obtained the +dragon's head, twilight began to approach. He washed himself nicely, +took the falcon on his shoulder, the hounds behind him, and the bagpipes +under his arm, played as he went, drove the sheep, and proceeded to the +emperor's palace, with the damsel at his side still in terror. When they +came to the town, all the town assembled as to see a wonder. The +emperor, who had seen all his heroism from the hill, called him into +his presence, and gave him his daughter, went immediately to church, had +them married, and held a wedding festival for a week. After this the +prince told him who and whence he was, and the emperor and the whole +town rejoiced still more. Then, as the prince was urgent to go to his +own home, the emperor gave him a large escort, and equipped him for the +journey. When they were in the neighbourhood of the water-mill, the +prince halted his attendants, went inside, cut up the three wands, and +struck the root with them, and the iron door opened at once. In the +vault was a vast multitude of people. The prince ordered them to come +out one by one, and go whither each would, and stood himself at the +door. They came out thus one after another, and lo! there were his +brothers also, whom he embraced and kissed. When the whole multitude had +come out, they thanked him for releasing and delivering them, and went +each to his own home. But he went to his father's house with his +brothers and bride, and there lived and reigned to the end of his days. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 6: This is intended as an insult. "Azhdaja," a dragon, is +feminine in Servian.] + + + + +XV + +THE GOOD CHILDREN + + +The Lord was angered at mankind, and for three years there was a great +famine over all the world; nowhere in the world was even a grain of corn +produced, and what people sowed failed to come up from a drought so +great that for three years there was not a drop of rain or dew. For one +year more people managed to live somehow or other, thrashing up what old +corn there was; the rich made money, for corn rose very high. Autumn +came. Where anybody had or purchased old seed, they sowed it; and +entreated the Lord, hoped in the love of God, if God would give +fertility, "if God would forgive our sins." But it was not so. They did +not obtain the love of God. When they cast the seed into the holy earth, +that was the last they saw of it; if it germinated somewhat, if it sent +up shoots, it withered away close to the ground. Woe! and abundance of +it! God's world went on, sorrowed and wept, for now it was manifest +that death by hunger was approaching. They somehow got miserably through +the winter. Spring came. Where anybody had still any grain, they sowed +it. What would come to pass? No blessing was poured forth, for the +thought began with wind. Moreover, there was but little snow in the +winter, and everything dried up so that the black earth remained as it +was. It now came to this--all the world began to perish! The people +died; the cattle perished; as misery carried them, so did the people +proceed. + +There was at that time a powerful emperor in a certain empire: as the +young ordinarily cleave to the young, so would he associate only with +young men. Whether in council or in office or in the army, there were +none but young men; no old men had access to anything anywhere. Well, as +young men, unripe in understanding, were the councillors, so was their +counsel also unripe. One year passed; a second passed; then, in the +third year, they saw that misery was already on every side, that it was +already coming to this, that all the world would perish. The young +emperor assembled his young council, and they began to advise after +their fashion; they advised, they advised, and ah! the resolutions they +came to were such that it is a sin even to give an account of their +resolutions! Well, the emperor made proclamation after their advice, +that all old people were to be drowned, in order that, said he, bread +might not be wasted in vain, but there might be a supply of bread for +the young; and that no one should venture, on pain of death, to maintain +or harbour any old man. Well, heralds went about throughout the whole +country, and promulgated the emperor's command everywhere--yea, brigands +seized old people where they chose, and drowned them without mercy. + +There were then in a certain place three own brothers, who had an aged +father. When they heard of this edict, they told their father; and their +father said: "My sons, such is the will of God and the will of the +emperor; take me, let me perish at once, only that you, my children, may +live on. I am already with one foot in the grave," "No, our own daddy! +we will die, but we will not give you up," cried the good sons with one +voice, and fell upon his neck; "we will keep you; we will take from our +own mouths, and will nourish you." + +The three brothers took their aged father, conducted him into their +cottage, dug under the raised portion of the floor, made up a bed with +sheets and frieze-coats, for straw was scarce, and placed the old man +there, brought him a loaf of bread as black as the holy earth, and +covered him over with the floor. There the old man abode for two or +three months, and his sons brought him clandestinely all they had. The +summer passed without harvest, without mowing. September passed too. +Autumn passed without joy. Winter passed too. Now came spring; the sun +became warm. It was now time to sow, but there was no seed. The world +was large, but there was no seed-corn. When one kind was used up, the +people sowed others, hoping that there would be a crop; but when they +cast it into the holy earth, it rotted there. It seemed as if the end of +the world were come. + +Then the three sons went to their father, and asked him: "Daddy, what +shall we do? It's time to sow. God is now sending showers of rain; the +earth is warmed and is crumbling like grits; but of seed there is not a +blessed grain," "Take, my sons, and strip the old roof off the house, +and thresh the bundles and sow the chaff." The lads stripped the house +and barn (anyhow, there was nothing in it), and threshed away till the +sweat ran from their brows, so that they crushed the bundles as small as +poppy-seeds. When they sowed, God gave a blessing; so in a week's time +it became green like rue; in a month's time, in two months' time, there +was corn, ever so much--ever so much, and all manner of seed was found +there: there was rye, there was wheat and barley; yea, maybe, there was +also a plant or two of buckwheat and millet. Wherever you went +throughout the world there was no corn to be seen; all the plain was +overgrown with grasses, steppe-grasses, and thistles, but with _them_ +was corn like a forest. How people wondered and were astounded! The fame +thereof went over the whole world, and the news reached the emperor +himself, that in such and such a place there were three own brothers, +and with them corn had sprung up for all the world, and so beautiful, +never was the like beheld! The emperor ordered the three brothers to +appear in the imperial presence. + +The brothers heard of it, and smacked the tops of their heads with their +hands. "Now it will be amen with us!" They went again to their father. +"Daddy! they tell us to appear before the emperor. Advise us, daddy, +what to do!" "Go, my sons--what will be, will be; and tell the pure +truth before the emperor." The brothers started off and went to the +emperor. The emperor inquired menacingly: "Why, villains, did ye hoard +up corn, when there was such a famine that so many people died of +hunger? Tell the truth; if not I shall order you to be tortured and +racked even unto death." The brothers related all as it had been, from +the beginning to the end. "Now, most gracious emperor, give us over to +any torture whatever, or let thy kindness have compassion on us!" The +emperor's brow became smooth, his eyes became serene. He then ordered +the old father to be brought before him at once, and made him sit beside +him close to his throne, and hearkened to his counsel till death, and +his sons he rewarded handsomely. He ordered the corn to be collected ear +by ear, and to be rubbed out in men's hands; and sent it about for +seed-corn in all empires, and from it was produced holy corn for all the +world. + + + + +XVI + +THE DUN HORSE[7] + + +I + +Many years ago there lived in the Pawnee tribe an old woman and her +grandson a boy about sixteen years old. These people had no relations +and were very poor. They were so poor that they were despised by the +rest of the tribe. They had nothing of their own; and always, after the +village started to move the camp from one place to another, these two +would stay behind the rest, to look over the old camp and pick up +anything that the other Indians had thrown away as worn out or useless. +In this way they would sometimes get pieces of robes, wornout moccasins +with holes in them, and bits of meat. + +Now, it happened one day, after the tribe had moved away from the camp, +that this old woman and her boy were following along the trail behind +the rest, when they came to a miserable old wornout dun horse, which +they supposed had been abandoned by some Indians. He was thin and +exhausted, was blind of one eye, had a bad sore back, and one of his +forelegs was very much swollen. In fact, he was so worthless that none +of the Pawnees had been willing to take the trouble to try to drive him +along with them. But when the old woman and her boy came along, the boy +said, "Come now, we will take this old horse, for we can make him carry +our pack." So the old woman put her pack on the horse, and drove him +along, but he limped and could only go very slowly. + + +II + +The tribe moved up on the North Platte, until they came to Court House +Rock. The two poor Indians followed them, and camped with the others. +One day while they were here, the young men who had been sent out to +look for buffalo, came hurrying into camp and told the chiefs that a +large herd of buffalo were near, and that among them was a spotted +calf. + +The Head Chief of the Pawnees had a very beautiful daughter, and when he +heard about the spotted calf, he ordered his old crier to go about +through the village and call out that the man who killed the spotted +calf should have his daughter for his wife. For a spotted robe is +_ti-war'-uks-ti_--big medicine. + +The buffalo were feeding about four miles from the village, and the +chiefs decided that the charge should be made from there. In this way, +the man who had the fastest horse would be the most likely to kill the +calf. Then all the warriors and the young men picked out their best and +fastest horses, and made ready to start. Among those who prepared for +the charge was the poor boy on the old dun horse. But when they saw him, +all the rich young braves on their fast horses pointed at him and said, +"Oh, see; there is the horse that is going to catch the spotted calf;" +and they laughed at him, so that the poor boy was ashamed, and rode off +to one side of the crowd, where he could not hear their jokes and +laughter. + +When he had ridden off some little way the horse stopped and turned his +head round, and spoke to the boy. He said, "Take me down the creek, and +plaster me all over with mud. Cover my head and neck and body and legs." +When the boy heard the horse speak, he was afraid; but he did as he was +told. Then the horse said, "Now mount, but do not ride back to the +warriors, who laugh at you because you have such a poor horse. Stay +right here until the word is given to charge." So the boy stayed there. + +And presently all the fine horses were drawn up in line and pranced +about, and were so eager to go that their riders could hardly hold them +in; and at last the old crier gave the word, "_Loo-ah!_"--Go! Then the +Pawnees all leaned forward on their horses and yelled, and away they +went. Suddenly, away off to the right, was seen the old dun horse. He +did not seem to run. He seemed to sail along like a bird. He passed all +the fastest horses, and in a moment he was among the buffalo. First he +picked out the spotted calf, and charging up alongside of it, +_U-ra-rish!_ straight flew the arrow. The calf fell. The boy drew +another arrow, and killed a fat cow that was running by. Then he +dismounted and began to skin the calf, before any of the other warriors +had come up. But when the rider got off the old dun horse, how changed +he was! He pranced about and would hardly stand still near the dead +buffalo. His back was all right again; his legs were well and fine; and +both his eyes were clear and bright. + +The boy skinned the calf and the cow that he had killed, and then he +packed all the meat on the horse, and put the spotted robe on top of the +load, and started back to the camp on foot, leading the dun horse. But +even with this heavy load the horse pranced all the time, and was scared +at everything he saw. On the way to camp, one of the rich young chiefs +of the tribe rode up by the boy and offered him twelve good horses for +the spotted robe, so that he could marry the Head Chief's beautiful +daughter; but the boy laughed at him and would not sell the robe. + +Now, while the boy walked to the camp leading the dun horse, most of the +warriors rode back, and one of those that came first to the village went +to the old woman and said to her, "Your grandson has killed the spotted +calf." And the old woman said, "Why do you come to tell me this? You +ought to be ashamed to make fun of my boy, because he is poor." The +warrior said, "What I have told you is true," and then he rode away. +After a little while another brave rode up to the old woman, and said to +her, "Your grandson has killed the spotted calf." Then the old woman +began to cry, she felt so badly because every one made fun of her boy, +because he was poor. + +Pretty soon the boy came along, leading the horse up to the lodge where +he and his grandmother lived. It was a little lodge, just big enough for +two, and was made of old pieces of skin that the old woman had picked +up, and was tied together with strings of rawhide and sinew. It was the +meanest and worst lodge in the village. When the old woman saw her boy +leading the dun horse with the load of meat and the robes on it, she was +very surprised. The boy said to her, "Here, I have brought you plenty of +meat to eat, and here is a robe, that you may have for yourself. Take +the meat off the horse." Then the old woman laughed, for her heart was +glad. But when she went to take the meat from the horse's back, he +snorted and jumped about, and acted like a wild horse. The old woman +looked at him in wonder, and could hardly believe that it was the same +horse. So the boy had to take off the meat, for the horse would not let +the old woman come near him. + + +III + +That night the horse spoke again to the boy and said, "_Wa-ti-hes +Chah'-ra-rat wa-ta_. Tomorrow the Sioux are coming--a large war party. +They will attack the village, and you will have a great battle. Now, +when the Sioux are all drawn up in line of battle, and are all ready to +fight, you jump on to me, and ride as hard as you can, right into the +middle of the Sioux, and up to their Head Chief, their greatest warrior, +and count _coup_ on him, and kill him, and then ride back. Do this four +times, and count _coup_ on four of the bravest Sioux, and kill them, but +don't go again. If you go the fifth time, maybe you will be killed, or +else you will lose me. _La-ku'-ta-chix_--remember." So the boy promised. + +The next day it happened as the horse had said, and the Sioux came down +and formed in line of battle. Then the boy took his bow and arrows, and +jumped on the dun horse, and charged into the midst of them. And when +the Sioux saw that he was going to strike their Head Chief, they all +shot their arrows at him, and the arrows flew so thickly across each +other that they darkened the sky, but none of them hit the boy. And he +counted _coup_ on the Chief, and killed him, and then rode back. After +that he charged again among the Sioux, where they were gathered +thickest, and counted _coup_ on their bravest warrior, and killed him. +And then twice more, until he had gone four times as the horse had told +him. + +But the Sioux and the Pawnees kept on fighting, and the boy stood around +and watched the battle. And at last he said to himself, "I have been +four times and have killed four Sioux, and I am all right, I am not hurt +anywhere; why may I not go again?" So he jumped on the dun horse, and +charged again. But when he got among the Sioux, one Sioux warrior drew +an arrow and shot. The arrow struck the dun horse behind the forelegs +and pierced him through. And the horse fell down dead. But the boy +jumped off, and fought his way through the Sioux, and ran away as fast +as he could to the Pawnees. Now, as soon as the horse was killed, the +Sioux said to each other: "This horse was like a man. He was brave. He +was not like a horse." And they took their knives and hatchets, and +hacked the dun horse and gashed his flesh, and cut him into small +pieces. + +The Pawnees and Sioux fought all day long, but toward night the Sioux +broke and fled. + + +IV + +The boy felt very badly that he had lost his horse; and, after the fight +was over, he went out from the village to where it had taken place, to +mourn for his horse. He went to the spot where the horse lay, and +gathered up all the pieces of flesh, which the Sioux had cut off, and +the legs and the hoofs, and put them all together in a pile. Then he +went off to the top of a hill near by, and sat down and drew his robe +over his head, and began to mourn for his horse. + +As he sat there, he heard a great wind-storm coming up, and it passed +over him with a loud rushing sound, and after the wind came a rain. The +boy looked down from where he sat to the pile of flesh and bones, which +was all that was left of his horse, and he could just see it through the +rain. And the rain passed by, and his heart was very heavy, and he kept +on mourning. + +And pretty soon came another rushing wind, and after it a rain; and as +he looked through the driving rain toward the spot where the pieces lay, +he thought that they seemed to come together and take shape, and that +the pile looked like a horse lying down, but he could not see well for +the thick rain. + +After this came a third storm like the others; and now when he looked +toward the horse he thought he saw its tail move from side to side two +or three times, and that it lifted its head from the ground. The boy was +afraid, and wanted to run away, but he stayed. + +And as he waited, there came another storm. And while the rain fell, +looking through the rain, the boy saw the horse raise himself up on his +forelegs and look about. Then the dun horse stood up. + + +V + +The boy left the place where he had been sitting on the hilltop, and +went down to him. When the boy had come near to him, the horse spoke +and said: "You have seen how it has been this day; and from this you may +know how it will be after this. But _Ti-ra'-wa_ has been good, and has +let me come back to you. After this, do what I tell you; not any more, +not any less." Then the horse said: "Now lead me off, far away from the +camp, behind that big hill, and leave me there to-night, and in the +morning come for me;" and the boy did as he was told. + +And when he went for the horse in the morning, he found with him a +beautiful white gelding, much more handsome than any horse in the tribe. +That night the dun horse told the boy to take him again to the place +behind the big hill, and to come for him the next morning; and when the +boy went for him again, he found with him a beautiful black gelding. And +so for ten nights, he left the horse among the hills, and each morning +he found a different coloured horse, a bay, a roan, a gray, a blue, a +spotted horse, and all of them finer than any horses that the Pawnees +had ever had in their tribe before. + +Now the boy was rich, and he married the beautiful daughter of the Head +Chief, and when he became older he was made Head Chief himself. He had +many children by his beautiful wife, and one day when his oldest boy +died, he wrapped him in the spotted calf robe and buried him in it. He +always took good care of his old grandmother, and kept her in his own +lodge until she died. The dun horse was never ridden except at feasts, +and when they were going to have a doctors' dance, but he was always led +about with the Chief wherever he went. The horse lived in the village +for many years, until he became very old. And at last he died. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 7: From "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales." Copyright, 1890, +by George Bird Grinnell; published by Charles Scribner's Sons.] + + + + +XVII + +THE GREEDY YOUNGSTER + + +Once upon a time there were five women who were in a field reaping corn. +None of them had any children, but they were all wishing for a child. +All at once they found a big goose egg, almost as big as a man's head. + +"I saw it first," said one. "I saw it just as soon as you did," shouted +another. "But I'll have it," screamed the third, "I saw it first of +all." + +Thus they kept on quarrelling and fighting about the egg, and they were +very near tearing each other's hair. But at last they agreed that it +should belong to them all, and that they should sit on it as the geese +do and hatch a gosling. The first woman sat on it for eight days, taking +it very comfortably and doing nothing at all, while the others had to +work hard both for their own and her living. One of the women began to +make some insinuations to her about this. + +"Well, I suppose you didn't come out of the egg either before you could +chirp," said the woman who was on the egg, "But I think there is +something in this egg, for I fancy I can hear some one inside grumbling +every other moment: 'Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!' You can come +and sit for eight days now, and then we will sit and work in turn, all +of us." + +So when the fifth in turn had sat for eight days, she heard plainly some +one inside the egg screeching for "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" +And so she made a hole in it; but instead of a gosling out came a baby, +but it was awfully ugly, and had a big head and a tiny little body. The +first thing it screamed out for, as soon as it put its head outside the +egg, was "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" And so they called it +"the greedy youngster." + +Ugly as he was, they were fond of him at first; but before long he +became so greedy that he ate up all the meat they had. When they boiled +a dish of soup or a pot of porridge which they thought would be +sufficient for all six, he finished it all by himself. So they would not +have him any longer. + +"I have not had a decent meal since this changeling crept out of the +eggshell," said one of them, and when the youngster heard that they were +all of the same opinion, he said he was quite willing to go his way; "if +they did not want him, he was sure he did not want them," and with that +he left the place. + +After a long time he came to a farm where the fields were full of +stones, and he went in and asked for a situation. They wanted a labourer +on the farm, and the farmer put him to pick up stones from the field. +Yes, the youngster went to work and picked up the stones, some of which +were so big that they would make many cartloads; but whether they were +big or small, he put them all into his pocket. It did not take him long +to finish that job, so he wanted to know what he should do next. + +"You will have to get all the stones out of the field," said the farmer. +"I suppose you can't be ready before you have commenced?" + +But the youngster emptied his pockets and threw all the stones in a +heap. Then the farmer saw that he had finished the work, and he thought +he ought to look well after one who was so strong. He must come in and +get something to eat, he said. The youngster thought so too, and he +alone ate what was prepared both for master and servants, and still he +was only half satisfied. + +"He is the right sort of man for a labourer, but he is a terrible eater, +to be sure," thought the farmer. "A man like him would eat a poor farmer +out of house and home before anybody knew a word about it," he said. He +had no more work for him; it was best for him to go to the king's +palace. + +The youngster set out for the palace, where he got a place at once. +There was plenty of food and plenty of work. He was to be errand boy, +and to help the girls to carry wood and water and do other odd jobs. So +he asked what he was to do first. + +"You had better chop some wood in the mean time," they said. Yes, he +commenced to chop and cut wood till the splinters flew about him. It was +not long before he had chopped up everything in the place, both firewood +and timber, both rafters and beams, and when he was ready with it, he +came in and asked what he was to do now. + +"You can finish chopping the wood," they said. + +"There is no more to chop," he answered. + +That could not be possible, thought the overlooker, and had a look into +the wood-shed. But yes, the youngster had chopped up everything; he had +even cut up the timber and planks in the place. This was vexatious, the +overlooker said; and then he told the youngster that he should not taste +food until he had gone into the forest and cut just as much timber as he +had chopped up for firewood. + +The youngster went to the smithy and got the smith to help him to make +an axe of five hundredweight of iron, and then he set out for the forest +and began to make a regular clearance, not only of the pine and the +lofty fir trees, but of everything else which was to be found in the +king's forests, and in the neighbours' as well. He did not stop to cut +the branches or the tops off, but he left them lying there as if a +hurricane had blown them down. He put a proper load on the sledge and +put all the horses to it, but they could not even move it; so he took +the horses by the heads to give the sledge a start, but he pulled so +hard that the horses' heads came off. He then turned the horses out of +the shafts and drew the load himself. + +When he came to the palace, the king and his overlooker were standing in +the hall to give him a scolding for having destroyed the forest--the +overlooker had been there and seen what he had been doing. But when the +king saw the youngster dragging half the forest after him, he got both +angry and afraid; but he thought he had better be a little careful with +him, since he was strong. + +"Well, you are a wonderful workman, to be sure," said the king; "but how +much do you eat at a time, because I suppose you are hungry now?" + +Oh, when he was to have a proper meal of porridge, it would take twelve +barrels of meal to make it, thought the youngster; but when he had put +that away, he could wait awhile, of course, for his next meal. + +It took some time to boil such a dish of porridge, and meantime he was +to bring in a little firewood for the cook. He put a lot of wood on a +sledge, but when he was coming through the door with it he was a little +rough and careless again. The house got almost out of shape, and all the +joists creaked; he was very near dragging down the whole palace. When +the porridge was nearly ready, they sent him out to call the people home +from the fields. He shouted so that the mountains and hills around rang +with echoes, but the people did not come quick enough for him. He came +to blows with them, and killed twelve of them. + +"You have killed twelve men," said the king; "and you eat for many times +twelve; but how many do you work for?" + +"For many times twelve as well," answered the youngster. + +When he had finished his porridge, he was to go into the barn to thrash. +He took one of the rafters from the roof and made a flail out of it, and +when the roof was about to fall in, he took a big pine tree with +branches and all and put it up instead of the rafter. So he went on +thrashing the grain and the straw and the hay all together. This was +doing more damage than good, for the corn and the chaff flew about +together, and a cloud of dust arose over the whole palace. + +When he had nearly finished thrashing, enemies came into the country, as +a war was coming on. So the king told the youngster that he should take +men with him to go and meet the enemy and fight them, for the king +thought they would surely kill him. + +No, he would not have any men with him to be cut to pieces; he would +fight by himself, answered the youngster. + +"So much the better," thought the king; "the sooner I shall get rid of +him; but he must have a proper club." + +They sent for the smith; he forged a club which weighed a hundredweight. +"A very nice thing to crack nuts with," said the youngster. So the smith +made one of three hundredweight. "It would be very well for hammering +nails into boots," was the answer. Well, the smith could not make a +bigger one with the men he had. So the youngster set out for the smithy +himself, and made a club that weighed five tons, and it took a hundred +men to turn it on the anvil. "That one might do for lack of a better," +thought the youngster. He wanted next a bag with some provisions; they +had to make one out of fifteen oxhides, and they filled it with food, +and away he went down the hill with the bag on his back and the club on +his shoulder. + +When he came so far that the enemy saw him, they sent a soldier to ask +him if he was going to fight them. + +"Yes; but wait a little till I have had something to eat," said the +youngster. He threw himself down on the grass and began to eat with the +big bag of food in front of him. + +But the enemy would not wait, and commenced to fire at him at once, till +it rained and hailed around him with bullets. + +"I don't mind these crowberries a bit," said the youngster, and went on +eating harder than ever. Neither lead nor iron took any effect upon him, +and his bag with food in front of him guarded him against the bullets as +if it were a rampart. + +So they commenced throwing bomb-shells and firing cannons at him. He +only grinned a little every time he felt them. + +"They don't hurt me a bit," he said. But just then he got a bomb-shell +right down his windpipe. + +"Fy!" he shouted, and spat it out again; but then a chain-shot made its +way into his butter-can, and another carried away the piece of food he +held between his fingers. + +That made him angry; he got up and took his big club and struck the +ground with it, asking them if they wanted to take the food out of his +mouth, and what they meant by blowing crowberries at him with those +pea-shooters of theirs. He then struck the ground again till the hills +and rocks rattled and shook, and sent the enemy flying in the air like +chaff. This finished the war. + +When he came home again, and asked for more work, the king was taken +quite aback, for he thought he should have got rid of him in the war. He +knew of nothing else but to send him on a message to the devil. + +"You had better go to the devil and ask him for my ground-rent," he +said. The youngster took his bag on his back, and started at once. He +was not long in getting there, but the devil was gone to court, and +there was no one at home but his mother, and she said that she had never +heard talk of any ground-rent. He had better call again another time. + +"Yes, call again to-morrow is always the cry," he said; but he was not +going to be made a fool of, he told her. He was there, and there he +would remain till he got the ground-rent. He had plenty of time to wait. +But when he had finished all the food in his bag, the time hung heavy on +his hands, and then he asked the old lady for the ground-rent again. +She had better pay it now, he said. + +"No, she was going to do nothing of the sort," she said. Her words were +as firm as the old fir tree just outside the gates, which was so big +that fifteen men could scarcely span it. + +But the youngster climbed right up in the top of it and twisted and +turned it as if it was a willow, and then he asked her if she was going +to pay the ground-rent now. + +Yes, she dared not do anything else, and scraped together as much money +as he thought he could carry in his bag. He then set out for home with +the ground-rent, but as soon as he was gone the devil came home. When he +heard that the youngster had gone off with his bag full of money, he +first of all gave his mother a hiding, and then he started after him, +thinking he would soon overtake him. + +He soon came up to him, for he had nothing to carry, and now and then he +used his wings; but the youngster had, of course, to keep to the ground +with his heavy bag. Just as the devil was at his heels, he began to jump +and run as fast as he could. He kept his club behind him to keep the +devil off, and thus they went along, the youngster holding the handle +and the devil trying to catch hold of the other end of it, till they +came to a deep valley. There the youngster made a jump across from the +top of one hill to the other, and the devil was in such a hurry to +follow him that he ran his head against the club and fell down into the +valley and broke his leg, and there he lay. + +"There is the ground-rent," said the youngster when he came to the +palace, and threw the bag with the money to the king with such a crash +that you could hear it all over the hall. + +The king thanked him, and appeared to be well pleased, and promised him +good pay and leave of absence if he wished it, but the youngster wanted +only more work. + +"What shall I do now?" he said. + +As soon as the king had had time to consider, he told him that he must +go to the hill-troll, who had taken his grandfather's sword. The troll +had a castle by the sea, where no one dared to go. + +The youngster put some cartloads of food into his bag and set out again. +He travelled both long and far, over woods and hills and wild moors, +till he came to the big mountains where the troll, who had taken the +sword of the king's grandfather, was living. + +But the troll seldom came out in the open air, and the mountain was well +closed, so the youngster was not man enough to get inside. + +So he joined a gang of quarrymen who were living at a farm on top of the +hill, and who were quarrying stones in the hills about there. They had +never had such help before, for he broke and hammered away at the rocks +till the mountain cracked, and big stones of the size of a house rolled +down the hill. But when he rested to get his dinner, for which he was +going to have one of the cartloads in his bag, he found it was all eaten +up. + +"I have generally a good appetite myself," said the youngster; "but the +one who has been here can do a trifle more than I, for he has eaten all +the bones as well." + +Thus the first day passed; and he fared no better the second. On the +third day he set out to break stones again, taking with him the third +load of food, but he lay down behind the bag and pretended to be asleep. +All of a sudden, a troll with seven heads came out of the mountain and +began to eat his food. + +"It's all ready for me here, and I will eat," said the troll. + +"We will see about that," said the youngster, and hit the troll with his +club, so the heads rolled down the hill. + +So he went into the mountain which the troll had come out of, and in +there stood a horse eating out of a barrel of glowing cinders, and +behind it stood a barrel of oats. + +"Why don't you eat out of the barrel of oats?" asked the youngster. + +"Because I cannot turn round," said the horse. + +"But I will soon turn you round," said the youngster. + +"Rather cut my head off," said the horse. + +So he cut its head off, and the horse turned into a fine handsome +fellow. He said he had been bewitched, and taken into the mountain and +turned into a horse by the troll. He then helped the youngster to find +the sword, which the troll had hidden at the bottom of the bed, and in +the bed lay the old mother of the troll, asleep and snoring hard. + +So they set out for home by water, but when they had got some distance +out to sea the old mother came after them. As she could not overtake +them, she lay down and began to drink the sea, and she drank till the +water fell; but she could not drink the sea dry, and so she burst. + +When they came to land, the youngster sent word that the king must come +and fetch the sword. He sent four horses, but no, they could not move +it; he sent eight, and he sent twelve; but the sword remained where it +was. They were not able to stir it from the spot. But the youngster took +it and carried it up to the palace alone. + +The king could not believe his eyes when he saw the youngster back +again. He appeared, however, to be pleased to see him, and promised him +land and riches. When the youngster wanted more work, the king said he +might set out for an enchanted castle he had, where no one dared to +live, and he would have to stop there till he had built a bridge over +the sound, so that people could get across to the castle. + +If he was able to do this he would reward him handsomely, yes, he would +even give him his daughter in marriage, said he. + +"Well, I think I can do it," said the youngster. + +No one had ever got away alive; those who had got as far as the castle, +lay there killed and torn to pieces as small as barley, and the king +thought he should never see him any more if he would go thither. + +But the youngster started on his expedition; he took with him the bag of +food, a crooked, twisted block of a fir tree, an axe, a wedge, and some +chips of the fir root, and the small pauper boy at the palace. + +When he came to the sound, he found the river full of ice, and the +current ran as strong as in a waterfall; but he stuck his legs to the +bottom of the river and waded until he got safe across. + +When he had warmed himself and had something to eat, he wanted to go to +sleep; but before long he heard such a terrible noise, as if they were +turning the castle upside down. The door burst wide open, and he saw +nothing but a gaping jaw extending from the threshold up to the lintel. + +"There is a mouthful for you," said the youngster and threw the pauper +boy into the swallow: "taste that! But let me see now who you are! +Perhaps you are an old acquaintance?" + +And so it was; it was the devil who was about again. + +They began to play cards, for the devil wanted to try and win back some +of the ground-rent which the youngster had got out of his mother by +threats, when he was sent by the king to collect it; but the youngster +was always the fortunate one, for he put a cross on the back of all the +good cards, and when he had won all the money which the devil had upon +him, the devil had to pay him out of the gold and silver which was in +the castle. + +Suddenly the fire went out, so they could not tell the one card from the +other. + +"We must chop some wood now," said the youngster, who drove the axe into +the fir block, and forced the wedge in; but the twisted, knotty block +would not split, although the youngster worked as hard as he could with +the axe. + +"They say you are strong," he said to the devil; "just spit on your +hands, stick your claws in, and tear away, and let me see what you are +made of." + +The devil did so, and put both his fists into the split and pulled as +hard as he could, when the youngster suddenly struck the wedge out, and +the devil stuck fast in the block and the youngster let him also have a +taste of the butt end of his axe on his back. The devil begged and +prayed so nicely to be let loose, but the youngster would not listen to +anything of the kind unless he promised that he would never come there +any more and create any disturbance. He also had to promise that he +would build a bridge over the sound, so that people could pass over it +at all times of the year, and it should be ready when the ice was gone. + +"They are very hard conditions," said the devil; but there was no other +way out of it--if the devil wanted to be set free, he would have to +promise it. He bargained, however, that he should have the first soul +that went across the bridge. That was to be the toll. + +Yes, he should have that, said the youngster. So the devil was let +loose, and he started home. But the youngster lay down to sleep, and +slept till far into the day. + +When the king came to see if he was cut and chopped into small pieces, +he had to wade through all the money before he came to his bedside. +There was money in heaps and in bags which reached far up the wall, and +the youngster lay in bed asleep and snoring hard. + +"Lord help me and my daughter," said the king when he saw that the +youngster was alive. Well, all was good and well done, that no one could +deny; but there was no hurry talking of the wedding before the bridge +was ready. + +One day the bridge stood ready, and the devil was there waiting for the +toll which he had bargained for. + +The youngster wanted the king to go with him and try the bridge, but the +king had no mind to do it. So he mounted a horse himself, and put the +fat dairy-maid in the palace on the pommel in front of him; she looked +almost like a big fir block, and so he rode over the bridge, which +thundered under the horse's feet. + +"Where is the toll? Where have you got the soul?" cried the devil. + +"Why, inside this fir block," said the youngster; "if you want it you +will have to spit in your hands and take it." + +"No, many thanks! If she does not come to me, I am sure I shan't take +her," said the devil. "You got me once into a pinch, and I'll take care +you don't get me into another," and with that he flew straight home to +his old mother, and since that time he has never been heard or seen +thereabouts. + +The youngster went home to the palace and asked for the reward the king +had promised him, and when the king wanted to get out of it, and would +not stick to what he had promised, the youngster said it was best he got +a good bag of food ready for him and he would take his reward himself. + +Yes, the king would see to that, and when the bag was ready the +youngster asked the king to come outside the door. The youngster then +gave the king such a kick, which sent him flying up in the air. The bag +he threw after him that he might not be without food; and if he has not +come down again by this he is floating about with his bag between heaven +and earth to this very day. + + + + +XVIII + +HANS, WHO MADE THE PRINCESS LAUGH + + +Once upon a time there was a king, who had a daughter, and she was so +lovely that the reports of her beauty went far and wide; but she was so +melancholy that she never laughed, and besides she was so grand and +proud that she said "No" to all who came to woo her--she would not have +any of them, were they ever so fine, whether they were princes or +noblemen. + +The king was tired of this whim of hers long ago, and thought she ought +to get married like other people; there was nothing she need wait +for--she was old enough and she would not be any richer either, for she +was to have half the kingdom, which she inherited after her mother. + +So he made known every Sunday after the service, from the steps outside +the church, that he that could make his daughter laugh should have both +her and half the kingdom. But if there were any one who tried and could +not make her laugh, he would have three red stripes cut out of his back +and salt rubbed into them--and, sad to relate, there were many sore +backs in that kingdom. Lovers from south and from north, from east and +from west, came to try their luck--they thought it was an easy thing to +make a princess laugh. They were a queer lot altogether, but for all +their cleverness and for all the tricks and pranks they played, the +princess was just as serious and immovable as ever. + +But close to the palace lived a man who had three sons, and they had +also heard that the king had made known that he who could make the +princess laugh should have her and half the kingdom. + +The eldest of the brothers wanted to try first, and away he went; and +when he came to the palace, he told the king he wouldn't mind trying to +make the princess laugh. + +"Yes, yes! that's all very well," said the king; "but I am afraid it's +of very little use, my man. There have been many here to try their luck, +but my daughter is just as sad, and I am afraid it is no good trying. I +do not like to see any more suffer on that account." + +But the lad thought he would try anyhow. It couldn't be such a difficult +thing to make a princess laugh at him, for had not everybody, both grand +and simple, laughed so many a time at him when he served as soldier and +went through his drill under Sergeant Nils. + +So he went out on the terrace outside the princess's windows and began +drilling just as if Sergeant Nils himself were there. But all in vain! +The princess sat just as serious and immovable as before, and so they +took him and cut three broad, red stripes out of his back and sent him +home. + +He had no sooner arrived home than his second brother wanted to set out +and try his luck. He was a schoolmaster, and a funny figure he was +altogether. He had one leg shorter than the other, and limped terribly +when he walked. One moment he was no bigger than a boy, but the next +moment when he raised himself up on his long leg he was as big and tall +as a giant--and besides he was great at preaching. + +When he came to the palace, and said that he wanted to make the princess +laugh, the king thought that it was not so unlikely that he might; "but +I pity you, if you don't succeed," said the king, "for we cut the +stripes broader and broader for every one that tries." + +So the schoolmaster went out on the terrace, and took his place outside +the princess's window, where he began preaching and chanting imitating +seven of the parsons, and reading and singing just like seven of the +clerks whom they had had in the parish. + +The king laughed at the schoolmaster till he was obliged to hold on to +the door-post, and the princess was just on the point of smiling, but +suddenly she was as sad and immovable as ever, and so it fared no better +with Paul the schoolmaster than with Peter the soldier--for Peter and +Paul were their names, you must know! + +So they took Paul and cut three red stripes out of his back, put salt +into them, and sent him home again. + +Well, the youngest brother thought he would have a try next. His name +was Hans. But the brothers laughed and made fun of him, and showed him +their sore backs. Besides, the father would not give him leave to go, +for he said it was no use his trying, who had so little sense; all he +could do was to sit in a corner on the hearth, like a cat, rooting about +in the ashes and cutting chips. But Hans would not give in--he begged +and prayed so long, till they got tired of his whimpering, and so he got +leave to go to the king's palace and try his luck. + +When he arrived at the palace he did not say he had come to try to make +the princess laugh, but asked if he could get a situation there. No, +they had no situation for him; but Hans was not so easily put off--they +might want one to carry wood and water for the kitchenmaid in such a big +place as that, he said. Yes, the king thought so too, and to get rid of +the lad he gave him leave to remain there and carry wood and water for +the kitchenmaid. + +One day, when he was going to fetch water from the brook, he saw a big +fish in the water just under an old root of a fir-tree, which the +current had carried all the soil away from. He put his bucket quietly +under the fish and caught it. As he was going home to the palace, he met +an old woman leading a golden goose. + +"Good day, grandmother!" said Hans. "That's a fine bird you have got +there; and such splendid feathers too! he shines a long way off. If one +had such feathers, one needn't be chopping firewood." + +The woman thought just as much of the fish which Hans had in the bucket, +and said if Hans would give her the fish he should have the golden +goose; and this goose was such that if any one touched it he would be +sticking fast to it if he only said: "If you'll come along, then hang +on." + +Yes, Hans would willingly exchange on those terms. "A bird is as good as +a fish any day," he said to himself. "If it is as you say, I might use +it instead of a fish-hook," he said to the woman, and felt greatly +pleased with the possession of the goose. + +He had not gone far before he met another old woman. When she saw the +splendid golden goose, she must go and stroke it. She made herself so +friendly and spoke so nicely to Hans, and asked him to let her stroke +that lovely golden goose of his. + +"Oh, yes!" said Hans, "but you mustn't pluck off any of its feathers!" + +Just as she stroked the bird, Hans said: "If you'll come along, then +hang on!" + +The woman pulled and tore, but she had to hang on, whether she would or +no, and Hans walked on, as if he only had the goose with him. + +When he had gone some distance, he met a man who had a spite against the +woman for a trick she had played upon him. When he saw that she fought +so hard to get free and seemed to hang on so fast, he thought he might +safely venture to pay her off for the grudge he owed her, and so he gave +her a kick. + +"If you'll come along, then hang on!" said Hans, and the man had to hang +on and limp along on one leg, whether he would or no; and when he tried +to tear himself loose, he made it still worse for himself, for he was +very nearly falling on his back whenever he struggled to get free. + +So on they went till they came in the neighborhood of the palace. There +they met the king's smith; he was on his way to the smithy, and had a +large pair of tongs in his hand. This smith was a merry fellow, and was +always full of mad pranks and tricks, and when he saw this procession +coming jumping and limping along, he began laughing till he was bent in +two, but suddenly he said: + +"This must be a new flock of geese for the princess: but who can tell +which is goose and which is gander? I suppose it must be the gander +toddling on in front. Goosey, goosey!" he called, and pretended to be +strewing corn out of his hands as when feeding geese. + +But they did not stop. The woman and the man only looked in great rage +at the smith for making game of them. So said the smith: "It would be +great fun to see if I could stop the whole flock, many as they are!"--He +was a strong man, and seized the old man with his tongs from behind in +his trousers, and the man shouted and struggled hard, but Hans said: + +"If you'll come along, then hang on!" + +And so the smith had to hang on too. He bent his back and stuck his +heels in the ground when they went up a hill and tried to get away, but +it was of no use; he stuck on to the other as if he had been screwed +fast in the great vise in the smithy, and whether he liked it or not, he +had to dance along with the others. + +When they came near the palace, the farm-dog ran against them and barked +at them, as if they were a gang of tramps, and when the princess came to +look out of her window to see what was the matter, and saw this +procession, she burst out laughing. But Hans was not satisfied with +that. "Just wait a bit, and she will laugh still louder very soon," he +said, and made a tour round the palace with his followers. + +When they came past the kitchen, the door was open and the cook was just +boiling porridge, but when she saw Hans and his train after him, she +rushed out of the door with the porridge-stick in one hand and a big +ladle full of boiling porridge in the other, and she laughed till her +sides shook; but when she saw the smith there as well, she thought she +would have burst with laughter. When she had had a regular good laugh, +she looked at the golden goose again and thought it was so lovely that +she must stroke it. + +"Hans, Hans!" she cried, and ran after him with the ladle in her hand; +"just let me stroke that lovely bird of yours." + +"Rather let her stroke me!" said the smith. + +"Very well," said Hans. + +But when the cook heard this, she got very angry. "What is it you say!" +she cried, and gave the smith a smack with the ladle. + +"If you'll come along, then hang on!" said Hans, and so she stuck fast +to the others too, and for all her scolding and all her tearing and +pulling, she had to limp along with them. + +And when they came past the princess's window again, she was still there +waiting for them, but when she saw that they had got hold of the cook +too, with the ladle and porridge-stick, she laughed till the king had to +hold her up. So Hans got the princess and half the kingdom, and they had +a wedding which was heard of far and wide. + + + + +XIX + +THE STORY OF TOM TIT TOT[8] + + +Well, once upon a time there were a woman, and she baked five pies. And +when they come out of the oven, they was that overbaked the crust were +too hard to eat. So she says to her darter: + +"Darter," says she, "put you them there pies on the shelf an' leave 'em +there a little, an' they'll come agin--" She meant, you know, the crust +'ud get soft. + +But the gal, she says to herself, "Well, if they'll come agin, I'll ate +'em now." And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last. + +Well, come supper time, the woman she said, "Goo you and git one o' them +there pies; I daresay they've come agin, now." + +The gal, she went an' she looked, and there warn't nothin' but the +dishes. So back she come and says she, "Noo, they ain't come agin." + +"Not none on 'em?" says the mother. + +"Not none on 'em," says she. + +"Well, come agin, or not come agin," says the woman, "I'll ha' one for +supper." + +"But you can't, if they ain't come," says the gal. + +"But I can," says she. "Goo you and bring the best of 'em." + +"Best or worst," says the gal, "I've ate 'em all, and you can't ha' one +till that's come agin." + +Well, the woman she were wholly bate, and she took her spinnin' to the +door to spin, and as she span she sang: + + "My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day-- + My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day." + +The king, he were a comin' down the street and he hard her sing, but +what she sang he couldn't hare, so he stopped and said: + +"What were that you was a singin of, woman?" + +The woman, she were ashamed to let him hare what her darter had been +a-doin', so she sang, 'stids o' that: + + "My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day-- + My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day." + +"S'ars o' mine!" said the king, "I never heerd tell of any one as could +do that." + +Then he said: "Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your darter. +But look you here," says he, "'leven months out o' the year she shall +have all the vittles she likes to eat, and all the gownds she likes to +git, and all the cumpny she likes to hev; but the last month o' the year +she'll ha' to spin five skeins iv'ry day, an' if she doon't, I shall +kill her." + +"All right," says the woman; for she thowt what a grand marriage that +was. And as for them five skeins, when te come tew, there'd be plenty o' +ways of gettin' out of it, and likeliest, he'd ha' forgot about it. + +Well, so they were married. An' for 'leven months the gal had all the +vittles she liked to ate, and all the gownds she liked to git, and all +the cumpny she liked to have. + +But when the time was gettin' oover, she began to think about them there +skeins an' to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say +about 'em, an' she whoolly thowt he'd forgot 'em. + +Howsivir, the last day o' the last month, he takes her to a room she'd +niver set eyes on afore. There worn't nothin' in it but a spinnin' wheel +and a stool. An' says he, "Now, me dear, hare you'll be shut in +to-morrow with some vittles and some flax, and if you hain't spun five +skeins by the night, yar hid'll goo off." + +An' awa' he went about his business. + +Well, she were that frightened. She'd allus been such a gatless gal, +that she didn't se much as know how to spin, an' what were she to dew +to-morrer, with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a +stool in the kitchen, and lork! how she did cry! + +Howsivir, all on a sudden she hard a sort of a knockin' low down on the +door. She upped and oped it, an' what should she see but a small little +black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right kewrious, an' +that said: + +"What are yew a-cryin' for?" + +"Wha's that to yew?" says she. + +"Niver yew mind," that said, "but tell me what you're a cryin' for." + +"That oon't dew me noo good if I dew," says she. + +"Yew doon't know that," that said, an' twirled that's tail round. + +"Well," says she, "that oon't dew no harm, if that doon't dew no good," +and she upped and told about the pies an' the skeins an' everything. + +"This is what I'll dew," says the little black thing: "I'll come to yar +winder iv'ry mornin' an' take the flax an' bring it spun at night" + +"What's your pay?" says she. + +That looked out o' the corners o' that's eyes an' that said: "I'll give +you three guesses every night to guess my name, an' if you hain't +guessed it afore the month's up, yew shall be mine." + +Well, she thowt she'd be sure to guess that's name afore the month was +up. "All right," says she, "I agree." + +"All right," that says, an' lork! how that twirled that's tail. + +Well, the next day, har husband, he took her inter the room, an' there +was the flax an' the day's vittles. + +"Now, there's the flax," says he, "an' if that ain't spun up this night, +off goo yar hid." An' then he went out an' locked the door. + +He'd hardly goon, when there was a knockin' agin the winder. + +She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little oo'd +thing a settin' on the ledge. + +"Where's the flax?" says he. + +"Here te be," says she. And she gonned it to him. + +Well, come the evenin', a knockin' come agin to the winder. She upped +an' she oped it, and there were the little oo'd thing, with five skeins +of flax on his arm. + +"Here te be," says he, an' he gonned it to her. + +"Now, what's my name?" says he. + +"What, is that Bill?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail. + +"Is that Ned?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail. + +"Well, is that Mark?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail harder, an' awa' he +flew. + +Well, when har husban' he come in, there was the five skeins riddy for +him. + +"I see I shorn't hev for to kill you to-night, me dare," says he. +"You'll hev yar vittles and yar flax in the mornin'," says he, an' away +he goes. + +Well, ivery day the flax an' the vittles, they was browt, an' ivery day +that there little black impet used for to come mornin's and evenin's. +An' all the day the darter, she set a tryin' fur to think of names to +say to it when te come at night. But she niver hot on the right one. An' +as that got to-warts the ind o' the month, the impet that began for to +look soo maliceful, an' that twirled that's tail faster an' faster each +time she gave a guess. + +At last te came to the last day but one. The impet that come at night +along o' the five skeins, an' that said: + +"What, hain't yew got my name yet?" + +"Is that Nicodemus?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"Is that Sammle?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"A-well, is that Methusalem?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't that norther," he says. + +Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a cool o' fire, an that +says, "Woman, there's only to-morrer night, an' then yar'll be mine!" +An' away te flew. + +Well, she felt that horrud. Howsomediver, she hard the king a-comin' +along the passage. In he came, an' when he see the five skeins, he says, +says he: + +"Well, me dare," says he, "I don't see but what yew'll ha' your skeins +ready to-morrer night as well, an' as I reckon I shorn't ha' to kill +you, I'll ha' supper in here to-night." So they brought supper an' +another stool for him, and down the tew they sot. + +Well, he hadn't eat but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to +laugh. + +"What is it?" says she. + +"A-why," says he, "I was out a-huntin' to-day, an' I got away to a place +in the wood I'd never seen afore. An' there was an old chalk pit. An' I +heerd a sort of a hummin', kind o'. So I got off my hobby, an' I went +right quiet to the pit, an' I looked down. Well, what should there be +but the funniest little black thing yew iver set eyes on. An' what was +that a dewin' on, but that had a little spinnin' wheel, an' that were +a-spinnin' wonnerful fast, an' a-twirlin' that's tail. An' as that span, +that sang: + + "Nimmy, nimmy not, + My name's Tom Tit Tot." + +Well, when the darter heerd this, she fared as if she could ha' jumped +outer her skin for joy, but she di'n't say a word. + +Next day, that there little thing looked soo maliceful when he come for +the flax. An' when night came, she heerd that a-knockin' agin the winder +panes. She oped the winder, an' that come right in on the ledge. That +were grinnin' from are to are, an' Oo! tha's tail were twirlin' round so +fast. + +"What's my name?" that says, as that gonned her the skeins. + +"Is that Solomon?" she says, pretendin' to be a-feard. + +"Noo, tain't," that says, an' that come fudder inter the room. + +"Well, is that Zebedee?" says she agin. + +"Noo, tain't," says the impet. An' then that laughed an' twirled that's +tail till yew cou'n't hardly see it. + +"Take time, woman," that says; "next guess, an' you're mine." An' that +stretched out that's black hands at her. + +Well, she backed a step or two, an' she looked at it, and then she +laughed out, an' says she, a pointin' of her finger at it: + + "Nimmy, nimmy not, + Yar name's Tom Tit Tot." + +Well, when that hard her, that shruck awful an' awa' that flew into the +dark, an' she niver saw it noo more. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 8: An old Suffolk tale, given in the dialect of East Anglia.] + + + + +XX + +THE PEASANT STORY OF NAPOLEON + + + [Goguelet, an old soldier who fought under Napoleon, tells the + story of his wonderful General and Emperor to a group of eager + listeners in the country doctor's barn.] + +You see, my friends, Napoleon was born in Corsica, a French island, +warmed by the sun of Italy, where it is like a furnace, and where the +people kill each other, from father to son, all about nothing: that's a +way they have. To begin with the marvel of the thing--his mother, who +was the handsomest woman of her time, and a knowing one, bethought +herself of dedicating him to God, so that he might escape the dangers of +his childhood and future life; for she had dreamed that the world was +set on fire the day he was born. And, indeed, it was a prophecy! So she +asked God to protect him, on condition that Napoleon should restore His +holy religion, which was then cast to the ground. Well, that was agreed +upon, and we shall see what came of it. + +"Follow me closely, and tell me if what you hear is in the nature or +man. + +"Sure and certain it is that none but a man who conceived the idea of +making a compact with God could have passed unhurt through the enemy's +lines, through cannon-balls, and discharges of grape-shot that swept the +rest of us off like flies, and always respected his head. I had proof of +that--I myself--at Eylau. I see him now, as he rode up a height, took +his field-glass, looked at the battle, and said, 'All goes well.' One of +those plumed busybodies, who plagued him considerably and followed him +everywhere, even to his meals, so they said, thought to play the wag, +and took the Emperor's place as he rode away. Ho! in a twinkling, head +and plume were off! You must understand that Napoleon had promised to +keep the secret of his compact all to himself. That's why all those who +followed him, even his nearest friends, fell like nuts--Duroc, +Bessières, Lannes--all strong as steel bars, though _he_ could bend them +as he pleased. Besides--to prove he was the child of God, and made to be +the father of soldiers--was he ever known to be lieutenant or captain? +No, no; commander-in-chief from the start. He didn't look to be more +than twenty-four years of age when he was an old general at the taking +of Toulon, where he first began to show the others that they knew +nothing about manoeuvring cannon. + +"After that, down came our slip of a general to command the grand army +of Italy, which hadn't bread, nor munitions, nor shoes, nor coats--a +poor army, as naked as a worm. 'My friends,' said he, 'here we are +together. Get it into your pates that fifteen days from now you will be +conquerors--new clothes, good gaiters, famous shoes, and every man with +a great-coat; but, my children, to get these things you must march to +Milan, where they are.' And we marched. France, crushed as flat as a +bed-bug, straightened up. We were thirty thousand bare-feet against +eighty thousand Austrian bullies, all fine men, well set-up. I see 'em +now! But Napoleon--he was then only Bonaparte--he knew how to put the +courage into us! We marched by night, and we marched by day; we slapped +their faces at Montenotte, we thrashed them at Rivoli, Lodi, Arcole, +Millesimo, and we never let 'em up. A soldier gets the taste of +conquest. So Napoleon whirled round those Austrian generals, who didn't +know where to poke themselves to get out of his way, and he pelted 'em +well--nipped off ten thousand men at a blow sometimes, by getting round +them with fifteen hundred Frenchmen, and then he gleaned as he pleased. +He took their cannon, their supplies, their money, their munitions, in +short, all they had that was good to take. He fought them and beat them +on the mountains, he drove them into the rivers and seas, he bit 'em in +the air, he devoured 'em on the ground, and he lashed 'em everywhere. +Hey! the grand army feathered itself well; for, d'ye see the Emperor, +who was a wit, called up the inhabitants and told them he was there to +deliver them. So after that the natives lodged and cherished us; the +women too, and very judicious they were. Now here's the end of it. In +Ventose, '96--in those times that was the month of March of to-day--we +lay cuddled in a corner of Savoie with the marmots; and yet, before that +campaign was over, we were masters of Italy, just as Napoleon had +predicted; and by the following March--in a single year and two +campaigns--he had brought us within sight of Vienna. 'Twas a clean +sweep. We devoured their armies, one after the other, and made an end of +four Austrian generals. One old fellow, with white hair, was roasted +like a rat in the straw at Mantua. Kings begged for mercy on their +knees! Peace was won. + +"Could a _man_ have done that? No; God helped him, to a certainty! + +"He divided himself up like the loaves in the Gospel, commanded the +battle by day, planned it by night; going and coming, for the sentinels +saw him--never eating, never sleeping. So, seeing these prodigies, the +soldiers adopted him for their father. Forward, march! Then those +others, the rulers in Paris, seeing this, said to themselves: 'Here's a +bold one that seems to get his orders from the skies; he's likely to put +his paw on France. We must let him loose on Asia; we will send him to +America, perhaps that will satisfy him.' But 't was _written above_ for +him, as it was for Jesus Christ. The command went forth that he should +go to Egypt. See, again, his resemblance to the Son of God. But that's +not all. He called together his best veterans, his fire-eaters, the ones +he had particularly put the devil into, and he said to them like this: +'My friends, they have given us Egypt to chew up, just to keep us busy, +but we'll swallow it whole in a couple of campaigns, as we did Italy. +The common soldiers shall be princes and have the land for their own. +Forward, march!' 'Forward, march!' cried the sergeants, and there we +were at Toulon, road to Egypt. At that time the English had all their +ships in the sea; but when we embarked, Napoleon said: 'They won't see +us. It is just as well that you should know from this time forth that +your general has got his star in the sky, which guides and protects us.' +What was said was done. Passing over the sea, we took Malta like an +orange, just to quench his thirst for victory; for he was a man who +couldn't live and do nothing. + +"So here we are in Egypt. Good. Once here, other orders. The Egyptians, +d'ye see, are men who, ever since the earth was, have had giants for +sovereigns, and armies as numerous as ants; for, you must understand, +that's the land of genii and crocodiles, where they've built pyramids as +big as our mountains, and buried their kings under them to keep them +fresh--an idea that pleased 'em mightily. So then, after we +disembarked, the Little Corporal said to us: 'My children, the country +you are going to conquer has a lot of gods that you must respect; +because Frenchmen ought to be friends with everybody, and fight the +nations without vexing the inhabitants. Get it into your skulls that you +are not to touch anything at first, for it is all going to be yours +soon. Forward, march!' So far, so good. But all those people of Africa, +to whom Napoleon was foretold under the name of Kébir-Bonaberdis--a word +of their lingo that means 'the sultan fires'--were afraid as the devil +of him. So the Grand Turk, and Asia, and Africa had recourse to magic. +They sent us a demon, named the Mahdi, supposed to have descended from +heaven on a white horse, which, like its master, was bullet-proof; and +both of them lived on air, without food to support them. There are some +that say they saw them; but I can't give you any reasons to make you +certain about that. The rulers of Arabia and the Mamelukes tried to make +their troopers believe that the Mahdi could keep them from perishing in +battle; and they pretended he was an angel sent from heaven to fight +Napoleon and get back Solomon's seal. Solomon's seal was part of their +paraphernalia which they vowed our general had stolen. You must +understand that we'd given 'em a good many wry faces, in spite of what +he had said to us. + +"Now, tell me how they knew that Napoleon had a pact with God? Was that +natural, d'ye think? + +"They held to it in their minds that Napoleon commanded the genii, and +could pass hither and thither in the twinkling of an eye, like a bird. +The fact is, he was everywhere. At last, it came to his carrying off a +queen beautiful as the dawn, for whom he had offered all his treasure, +and diamonds as big as pigeon's eggs--a bargain which the Mameluke to +whom she particularly belonged positively refused, although he had +several others. Such matters when they come to that pass, can't be +settled without a great many battles; and, indeed, there was no scarcity +of battles; there was fighting enough to please everybody. We were in +line at Alexandria, at Gizeh, and before the Pyramids; we marched in the +sun and through the sand, where some, who had the dazzles, saw water +that they couldn't drink, and shade where their flesh was roasted. But +we made short work of the Mamelukes; and everybody else yielded at the +voice of Napoleon, who took possession of Upper and Lower Egypt, Arabia, +and even the capitals of kingdoms that were no more, where there were +thousands of statues and all the plagues of Egypt, more particularly +lizards--a mammoth of a country where everybody could take his acres of +land for as little as he pleased. Well, while Napoleon was busy with his +affairs inland--where he had it in his head to do fine things--the +English burned his fleet at Aboukir; for they were always looking about +them to annoy us. But Napoleon, who had the respect of the East and of +the West, whom the Pope called his son, and the cousin of Mohammed +called 'his dear father,' resolved to punish England, and get hold of +India in exchange for his fleet. He was just about to take us across the +Red Sea into Asia, a country where there are diamonds and gold to pay +the soldiers and palaces for bivouacs, when the Mahdi made a treaty with +the plague, and sent it down to hinder our victories. Halt! The army to +a man defiled at that parade; and few they were who came back on their +feet. Dying soldiers couldn't take Saint-Jean d'Acre, though they rushed +at it three times with generous and martial obstinacy. The Plague was +the strongest. No saying to that enemy, 'My good friend.' Every soldier +lay ill. Napoleon alone was fresh as a rose, and the whole army saw him +drinking in pestilence without its doing him a bit of harm. + +"Ha! my friends! will you tell me that _that's_ in the nature of a mere +man? + +"The Mamelukes, knowing we were all in the ambulances, thought they +could stop the way; but that sort of joke wouldn't do with Napoleon. So +he said to his demons, his veterans, those that had the toughest hide, +'Go, clear me the way.' Junot, a sabre of the first cut, and his +particular friend, took a thousand men, no more, and ripped up the army +of the pacha who had had the presumption to put himself in the way. +After that, we came back to headquarters at Cairo. Now, here's another +side of the story. Napoleon absent, France was letting herself be ruined +by the rulers in Paris, who kept back the pay of the soldiers of the +other armies, and their clothing, and their rations; left them to die +of hunger, and expected them to lay down the law to the universe +without taking any trouble to help them. Idiots! who amused themselves +by chattering, instead of putting their own hands in the dough. Well, +that's how it happened that our armies were beaten, and the frontiers of +France were encroached upon: THE MAN was nor there. Now observe, I say +_man_ because that's what they called him; but 'twas nonsense, for he +had a star and all its belongings; it was we who were only men. He +taught history to France after his famous battle of Aboukir, where, +without losing more than three hundred men, and with a single division, +he vanquished the grand army of the Turk, seventy-five thousand strong, +and hustled more than half of it into the sea, r-r-rah! + +"That was his last thunder-clap in Egypt. He said to himself, seeing the +way things were going in Paris, 'I am the saviour of France; I know it, +and I must go.' But, understand me, the army didn't know he was going, +or they'd have kept him by force and made him Emperor of the East. So +now we were sad; for He was gone who was all our joy. He left the +command to Kléber, a big mastiff, who came off duty at Cairo, +assassinated by an Egyptian, whom they put to death by empaling him on a +bayonet; that's the way they guillotine people down there. But it makes +'em suffer so much that a soldier had pity on the criminal and gave him +his canteen; and then, as soon as the Egyptian had drunk his fill, he +gave up the ghost with all the pleasure in life. But that's a trifle we +couldn't laugh at then. Napoleon embarked in a cockleshell, a little +skiff that was nothing at all, though 'twas called 'Fortune;' and in a +twinkling, under the nose of England, who was blockading him with ships +of the line, frigates, and anything that could hoist a sail, he crossed +over, and there he was in France. For he always had the power, mind you, +of crossing the seas at one straddle. + +"Was that a human man? Bah! + +"So, one minute he is at Fréjus, the next in Paris. There, they all +adore him; but he summons the government. 'What have you done with my +children, the soldiers?' he says to the lawyers. 'You're a mob of +rascally scribblers; you are making France a mess of pottage, and +snapping your fingers at what people think of you. It won't do; and I +speak the opinion of everybody.' So, on that, they wanted to battle +with him and kill him--click! he had 'em locked up in barracks, or +flying out of windows, or drafted among his followers, where they were +as mute as fishes and as pliable as a quid of tobacco. After that +stroke--consul! And then, as it was not for him to doubt the Supreme +Being, he fulfilled his promise to the good God, who, you see, had kept +His word to him. He gave Him back His churches, and reestablished His +religion; the bells rang for God and for him: and lo! everybody was +pleased; _primo_, the priests, whom he saved from being harassed; +_secundo_, the bourgeois, who thought only of their trade, and no longer +had to fear the _rapiamus_ of the law, which had got to be unjust; +_tertio_, the nobles, for he forbade they should be killed, as, +unfortunately, the people had got the habit of doing. + +"But he still had the Enemy to wipe out; and he wasn't the man to go to +sleep at a mess-table, because, d'ye see, his eye looked over the whole +earth as if it were no bigger than a man's head. So then he appeared in +Italy, like as though he had stuck his head through the window. One +glance was enough. The Austrians were swallowed up at Marengo like so +many gudgeons by a whale! Ouf! The French eagles sang their pæans so +loud that all the world heard them--and it sufficed! 'We won't play that +game any more,' said the German. 'Enough, enough!' said all the rest. To +sum up: Europe backed down, England knocked under. General peace; and +the kings and the peoples made believe kiss each other. That's the time +when the Emperor invented the Legion of Honour--and a fine thing, too. +'In France'--this is what he said at Boulogne before the whole +army--'every man is brave. So the citizen who does a fine action shall +be sister to the soldier, and the soldier shall be his brother, and the +two shall be one under the flag of honour.' + +"We, who were down in Egypt, now came home. All was changed! He left us +general, and hey! in a twinkling we found him EMPEROR. France gave +herself to him, like a fine girl to a lancer. When it was done--to the +satisfaction of all, as you may say--a sacred ceremony took place, the +like of which was never seen under the canopy of the skies. The Pope and +the cardinals, in their red and gold vestments, crossed the Alps +expressly to crown him before the army and the people, who clapped +their hands. There is one thing that I should do very wrong not to tell +you. In Egypt, in the desert close to Syria, the RED MAN came to him on +the Mount of Moses, and said, 'All is well.' Then, at Marengo, the night +before the victory, the same Red Man appeared before him for the second +time, standing erect and saying: 'Thou shalt see the world at thy feet; +thou shalt be Emperor of France, King of Italy, master of Holland, +sovereign of Spain, Portugal, and the Illyrian provinces, protector of +Germany, saviour of Poland, first eagle of the Legion of Honour--all.' +This Red Man, you understand, was his genius, his spirit--a sort of +satellite who served him, as some say, to communicate with his star. I +never really believed that. But the Red Man himself is a true fact. +Napoleon spoke of him, and said he came to him in troubled moments, and +lived in the palace of the Tuileries under the roof. So, on the day of +the coronation, Napoleon saw him for the third time; and they were in +consultation over many things. + +"After that, Napoleon went to Milan to be crowned king of Italy, and +there the grand triumph of the soldier began. Every man who could write +was made an officer. Down came pensions; it rained duchies; treasures +poured in for the staff which didn't cost France a penny; and the Legion +of Honour provided incomes for the private soldiers--of which I receive +mine to this day. So here were the armies maintained as never before on +this earth. But besides that, the Emperor, knowing that he was to be the +emperor of the whole world, bethought him of the bourgeois, and to +please them he built fairy monuments, after their own ideas, in places +where you'd never think to find any. For instance, suppose you were +coming back from Spain and going to Berlin--well, you'd find triumphal +arches along the way, with common soldiers sculptured on the stone, +every bit the same as generals. In two or three years, and without +imposing taxes on any of you, Napoleon filled his vaults with gold, +built palaces, made bridges, roads, scholars, fêtes, laws, vessels, +harbours, and spent millions upon millions--such enormous sums that he +could, so they tell me, have paved France from end to end with +five-franc pieces, if he had had a mind to. + +"Now, when he sat at ease on his throne, and was master of all, so that +Europe waited his permission to do his bidding, he remembered his four +brothers and his three sisters, and he said to us, as it might be in +conversation, in an order of the day, 'My children, is it right that the +blood relations of your Emperor should be begging their bread? No. I +wish to see them in splendour like myself. It becomes, therefore, +absolutely necessary to conquer a kingdom for each of them--to the end +that Frenchmen may be masters over all lands, that the soldiers of the +Guard shall make the whole earth tremble, that France may spit where she +likes, and that all the nations shall say to her, as it is written on my +copper coins, '_God protects you!_' 'Agreed!' cried the army. 'We'll go +fish for thy kingdoms with our bayonets.' Ha! there was no backing down, +don't you see! If he had taken it into his head to conquer the moon, we +should have made ready, packed knapsacks, and clambered up; happily, he +didn't think of it. The kings of the countries, who liked their +comfortable thrones, were, naturally, loath to budge, and had to have +their ears pulled; so then--Forward, march! We did march; we got there; +and the earth once more trembled to its centre. Hey! the men and the +shoes he used up in those days! The enemy dealt us such blows that none +but the grand army could have borne the fatigue of it. But you are not +ignorant that a Frenchman is born a philosopher, and knows that a little +sooner, or a little later, he has got to die. So we were ready to die +without a word, for we liked to see the Emperor doing _that_ on the +geographies." + +Here the narrator nimbly described a circle with his foot on the floor +of the barn. + +"And Napoleon said, 'There, that's to be a kingdom.' And a kingdom it +was. Ha! the good times! The colonels were generals; the generals, +marshals; and the marshals, kings. There's one of 'em still on his +throne, to prove it to Europe; but he's a Gascon and a traitor to France +for keeping that crown; and he doesn't blush for shame as he ought to +do, because crowns, don't you see, are made of gold. I who am speaking +to you, I have seen, in Paris, eleven kings and a mob of princes +surrounding Napoleon like the rays of the sun. You understand, of +course, that every soldier had the chance to mount a throne, provided +always he had the merit; so a corporal of the Guard was a sight to be +looked at as he walked along, for each man had his share in the victory, +and 'twas plainly set forth in the bulletin. What victories they were! +Austerlitz, where the army manoeuvred as if on parade; Eylau, where we +drowned the Russians in a lake, as though Napoleon had blown them into +it with the breath of his mouth; Wagram, where the army fought for three +days without grumbling. We won as many battles as there are saints in +the calendar. It was proved then, beyond a doubt, that Napoleon had the +sword of God in his scabbard. The soldiers were his friends; he made +them his children; he looked after us, he saw that we had shoes, and +shirts, and great-coats, and bread, and cartridges; but he always kept +up his majesty; for, don't you see, 'twas his business to reign. No +matter for that, however; a sergeant, and even a common soldier, could +say to him, 'my Emperor,' just as you say to me sometimes, 'my good +friend.' He gave us an answer if we appealed to him; he slept in the +snow like the rest of us; and, indeed, he had almost the air of a human +man. I who speak to you, I have seen him with his feet among the +grape-shot, and no more uneasy than you are now--standing steady, +looking through his field-glass, and minding his business. 'Twas that +kept the rest of us quiet. I don't know how he did it, but when he spoke +he made our hearts burn within us; and to show him we were his children, +incapable of balking, didn't we rush at the mouths of the rascally +cannon, that belched and vomited shot and shell, without so much as +saying, 'Look out!' Why! the dying must needs raise their heads to +salute him and cry, 'LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!' + +"I ask you, was that natural? would they have done that for a human man? + +"Well, after he had settled the world, the Empress Josephine, his wife, +a good woman all the same, managed matters so that she did not bear him +any children, and he was obliged to give her up, though he loved her +considerably. But, you see, he had to have little ones for reasons of +state. Hearing of this, all the sovereigns of Europe quarrelled as to +which of them should give him a wife. And he married, so they told us, +an Austrian archduchess, daughter of Cæsar, an ancient man about whom +people talk a good deal, and not in France only--where any one will +tell you what he did--but in Europe. It is all true, for I myself who +address you at this moment, I have been on the Danube, and have seen the +remains of a bridge built by that man, who, it seems, was a relation of +Napoleon in Rome, and that's how the Emperor got the inheritance of that +city for his son. So after the marriage, which was a fête for the whole +world, and in honour of which he released the people of ten years' +taxes--which they had to pay all the same, however, because the +assessors didn't take account of what he said--his wife had a little +one, who was King of Rome. Now, there's a thing that had never been seen +on this earth; never before was a child born a king with his father +living. On that day a balloon went up in Paris to tell the news to Rome, +and that balloon made the journey in one day. + +"Now, is there any man among you who will stand up here and declare to +me that all that was human? No; it was _written above_; and may the +scurvy seize 'em who deny that he was sent by God himself for the +triumph of France! + +"Well, here's the Emperor of Russia, that used to be his friend, he +gets angry because Napoleon didn't marry a Russian; so he joins with the +English, our enemies--to whom our Emperor always wanted to say a couple +of words in their burrows, only he was prevented. Napoleon gets angry +too; an end had to be put to such doings; so he says to us: 'Soldiers! +you have been masters of every capital in Europe, except Moscow, which +is now the ally of England. To conquer England, and India which belongs +to the English, it becomes our peremptory duty to go to Moscow,' Then he +assembled the greatest army that ever trailed its gaiters over the +globe; and so marvellously in hand it was that he reviewed a million of +men in one day. 'Hourra!'[9] cried the Russians. Down came all Russia +and those animals of Cossacks in a flock. 'Twas nation against nation, a +general hurly-burly, and beware who could; 'Asia against Europe,' as the +Red Man had foretold to Napoleon. 'Enough,' cried the Emperor, 'I'll be +ready.' + +"So now, sure enough, came all the kings, as the Red Man had said, to +lick Napoleon's hand! Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Poland, Italy, +every one of them were with us, flattering us; ah, it was fine! The +eagles never cawed so loud as at those parades, perched high above the +banners of all Europe. The Poles were bursting with joy, because +Napoleon was going to release them; and that's why France and Poland are +brothers to this day. 'Russia is ours,' cried the army. We plunged into +it well-supplied; we marched and we marched--no Russians. At last we +found the brutes entrenched on the banks of the Moskva. That's where I +won my cross, and I've got the right to say it was a damnable battle. +This was how it came about. The Emperor was anxious. He had seen the Red +Man, who said to him 'My son, you are going too fast for your feet; you +will lack men; friends will betray you.' So the Emperor offered peace. +But before signing, 'Let us drub those Russians!' he said to us. 'Done!' +cried the army. 'Forward, march!' said the sergeants. My clothes were in +rags, my shoes worn out, from trudging along those roads, which are very +uncomfortable ones; but no matter! I said to myself, 'As it's the last +of our earthquakings, I'll go into it, tooth and nail!' We were drawn up +in line before the great ravine--front seats, as 'twere. Signal given; +and seven hundred pieces of artillery began a conversation that would +bring the blood from your ears. Then--must do justice to one's +enemies--the Russians let themselves be killed like Frenchmen; they +wouldn't give way; we couldn't advance. 'Forward!' some one cried, 'here +comes the Emperor!' True enough; he passed at a gallop, waving his hand +to let us know we must take the redoubt. He inspired us; on we ran; I +was the first in the ravine. Ha! my God! how the lieutenants fell, and +the colonels, and the soldiers! No matter! all the more shoes for those +that had none, and epaulets for the clever ones who knew how to read. +'Victory!' cried the whole line; 'Victory!'--and, would you believe it? +a thing never seen before, there lay twenty-five thousand Frenchmen on +the ground. 'Twas like mowing down a wheat-field; only in place of the +ears of wheat put the heads of men! We were sobered by this time--those +who were left alive. The MAN rode up; we made the circle round him. Ha! +he knew how to cajole his children; he could be amiable when he liked, +and feed 'em with words when their stomachs were ravenous with the +hunger of wolves. Flatterer! he distributed the crosses himself, he +uncovered to the dead, and then he cried to us, 'On! to Moscow!' 'To +Moscow!' answered the army. + +"We took Moscow. Would you believe it? the Russians burned their own +city! 'Twas a haystack six miles square, and it blazed for two days. The +buildings crashed like slates, and showers of melted iron and lead +rained down upon us, which was naturally horrible. I may say to you +plainly, it was like a flash of lightning on our disasters. The Emperor +said, 'We have done enough; my soldiers shall rest here.' So we rested +awhile, just to get the breath into our bodies and the flesh on our +bones, for we were really tired. We took possession of the golden cross +that was on the Kremlin; and every soldier brought away with him a small +fortune. But out there the winter sets in a month earlier--a thing those +fools of science didn't properly explain. So, coming back, the cold +nipped us. No longer an army--do you hear me?--no longer any generals, +no longer any sergeants even. 'Twas the reign of wretchedness and +hunger--a reign of equality at last. No one thought of anything but to +see France once more; no one stooped to pick up his gun or his money if +he dropped them; each man followed his nose, and went as he pleased +without caring for glory. The weather was so bad the Emperor couldn't +see his star; there was something between him and the skies. Poor man! +it made him ill to see his eagles flying away from victory. Ah! 'twas a +mortal blow, you may believe me. + +"Well, we got to the Beresina, My friends, I can affirm to you by all +that is most sacred, by my honour, that since mankind came into the +world, never, never was there seen such a fricassee of any army--guns, +carriages, artillery-waggons--in the midst of such snows, under such +relentless skies! The muzzles of the muskets burned our hands if we +touched them, the iron was so cold. It was there that the army was saved +by the pontoniers, who were firm at their post; and there that +Gondrin--sole survivor of the men who were bold enough to go into the +water and build the bridges by which the army crossed--that Gondrin, +here present, admirably conducted himself, and saved us from the +Russians, who, I must tell you, still respected the grand army, +remembering its victories. And," he added, pointing to Gondrin, who was +gazing at him with the peculiar attention of a deaf man, "Gondrin is a +finished soldier, a soldier who is honour itself, and he merits your +highest esteem. + +"I saw the Emperor," he resumed, "standing by the bridge, motionless, +not feeling the cold--was that human? He looked at the destruction of +his treasure, his friends, his old Egyptians. Bah! all that passed him, +women, army-waggons, artillery, all were shattered, destroyed, ruined. +The bravest carried the eagles; for the eagles, d'ye see, were France, +the nation, all of you! they were the civil and the military honour that +must be kept pure; could their heads be lowered because of the cold? It +was only near the Emperor that we warmed ourselves, because when he was +in danger we ran, frozen as we were--we, who wouldn't have stretched a +hand to save a friend. They told us he wept at night over his poor +family of soldiers. Ah! none but he and Frenchmen could have got +themselves out of that business. We did get out, but with losses, great +losses, as I tell you. The Allies captured our provisions. Men began to +betray him, as the Red Man predicted. Those chatterers in Paris, who had +held their tongues after the Imperial Guard was formed, now thought he +was dead; so they hoodwinked the prefect of police, and hatched a +conspiracy to overthrow the empire. He heard of it; it worried him. He +left us, saying: 'Adieu, my children; guard the outposts; I shall return +to you,' Bah! without him nothing went right; the generals lost their +heads, the marshals talked nonsense and committed follies; but that was +not surprising, for Napoleon, who was kind, had fed 'em on gold; they +had got as fat as lard, and wouldn't stir; some stayed in camp when they +ought to have been warming the backs of the enemy who was between us and +France. + +"But the Emperor came back, and he brought recruits, famous recruits; he +changed their backbone and made 'em dogs of war, fit to set their teeth +into anything; and he brought a guard of honour, a fine body +indeed!--all bourgeois, who melted away like butter on a gridiron. + +"Well, spite of our stern bearing, here's everything going against us; +and yet the army did prodigies of valour. Then came battles on the +mountains, nations against nations--Dresden, Lützen, Bautzen. Remember +these days, all of you, for 'twas then that Frenchmen were so +particularly heroic that a good grenadier only lasted six months. We +triumphed always; yet there were those English, in our rear, rousing +revolts against us with their lies! No matter, we cut our way home +through the whole pack of the nations. Wherever the Emperor showed +himself we followed him; for if, by sea or land, he gave us the word +'Go!' we went. At last, we were in France; and many a poor foot-soldier +felt the air of his own country restore his soul to satisfaction, spite +of the wintry weather. I can say for myself that it refreshed my life. +Well, next, our business was to defend France, our country, our +beautiful France, against, all Europe, which resented our having laid +down the law to the Russians, and pushed them back into their dens so +that they couldn't eat us up alive, as northern nations, who are dainty +and like southern flesh, have a habit of doing--at least, so I've heard +some generals say. Then the Emperor saw his own father-in-law, his +friends whom he had made kings, and the scoundrels to whom he had given +back their thrones, all against him. Even Frenchmen, and allies in our +own ranks, turned against us under secret orders, as at the battle of +Leipsic. Would common soldiers have been capable of such wickedness? +Three times a day men were false to their word--and they called +themselves princes! + +"So, then, France was invaded. Wherever the Emperor showed his lion +face, the enemy retreated; and he did more prodigies in defending France +than ever he had done in conquering Italy, the East, Spain, Europe, and +Russia. He meant to bury every invader under the sod, and teach 'em to +respect the soil of France. So he let them get to Paris, that he might +swallow them at a mouthful, and rise to the height of his genius in a +battle greater than all the rest--a mother-battle, as 'twere. But there, +there! the Parisians were afraid for their twopenny skins, and their +trumpery shops; they opened the gates. Then the Ragusades began, and +happiness ended. The Empress was fooled, and the white banner flaunted +from the windows. The generals whom he had made his nearest friends +abandoned him for the Bourbons--a set of people no one had heard tell +of. The Emperor bade us farewell at Fontainebleau: 'Soldiers!'--I can +hear him now; we wept like children; the flags and the eagles were +lowered as if for a funeral: it was, I may well say it to you, it was +the funeral of the Empire; her dapper armies were nothing now but +skeletons. So he said to us, standing there on the portico of his +palace: 'My soldiers! we are vanquished by treachery; but we shall meet +in heaven, the country of the brave. Defend my child, whom I commit to +you. Long live Napoleon II!' He meant to die, that no man should look +upon Napoleon vanquished; he took poison, enough to have killed a +regiment, because, like Jesus Christ before his Passion, he thought +himself abandoned of God and his talisman. But the poison did not hurt +him. + +"See again! he found he was immortal. + +"Sure of himself, knowing he must ever be THE EMPEROR, he went for a +while to an island to study out the nature of these others, who, you may +be sure, committed follies without end. Whilst he bided his time down +there, the Chinese, and the wild men on the coast of Africa, and the +Barbary States, and others who are not at all accommodating, know so +well he was more than man that they respected his tent, saying to touch +it would be to offend God. Thus, d'ye see, when these others turned him +from the doors of his own France, he still reigned over the whole world. +Before long he embarked in the same little cockleshell of a boat he had +had in Egypt, sailed round the beard of the English, set foot in France, +and France acclaimed him. The sacred cuckoo flew from spire to spire; +all France cried out with one voice, 'LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!' In this +region, here, the enthusiasm for that wonder of the ages was, I may say, +solid. Dauphine behaved well; and I am particularly pleased to know that +her people wept when they saw, once more, the gray top-coat. March first +it was, when Napoleon landed with two hundred men to conquer that +kingdom of France and of Navarre, which, on the twentieth of the same +month was again the French Empire. On that day our MAN was in Paris; he +had made a clean sweep, recovered his dear France, and gathered his +veterans together by saying no more than three words, 'I am here.' + +"'Twas the greatest miracle God had yet done! Before _him_, did ever man +recover an empire by showing his hat? And these others, who thought +they had subdued France! Not they! At sight of the eagles, a national +army sprang up, and we marched to Waterloo. There, the Guard died at one +blow. Napoleon, in despair, threw himself three times before the cannon +of the enemy without obtaining death. We saw that. The battle was lost. +That night the Emperor called his old soldiers to him; on the field +soaked with our blood he burned his banners and his eagles--his poor +eagles, ever victorious, who cried 'Forward' in the battles, and had +flown the length and breadth of Europe, _they_ were saved the infamy of +belonging to the enemy: all the treasures of England couldn't get her a +tail-feather of them. No more eagles--the rest is well known. The Red +Man went over to the Bourbons, like the scoundrel that he is. France is +crushed; the soldier is nothing; they deprive him of his dues; they +discharge him to make room for broken-down nobles--ah, 'tis pitiable! +They seized Napoleon by treachery; the English nailed him on a desert +island in mid-ocean on a rock raised ten thousand feet above the earth; +and there he is, and will be, till the Red Man gives him back his power +for the happiness of France. These others say he's dead. Ha, dead! 'Tis +easy to see they don't know Him. They tell that fib to catch the people, +and feel safe in their hovel of a government. Listen! the truth at the +bottom of it all is that his friends have left him alone on the desert +isle to fulfil a prophecy, for I forgot to say that his name, Napoleon, +means 'lion of the desert.' Now this that I tell you is true as the +Gospel. All other tales that you hear about the Emperor are follies +without common-sense; because, d'ye see, God never gave to child of +woman born the right to stamp his name in red as _he_ did, on the earth, +which forever shall remember him! Long live Napoleon, the father of his +people and of the soldier!" + + +THE END + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 9: Battle-cry of the Cossacks.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Folk Tales Every Child Should Know, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW *** + +***** This file should be named 15164-8.txt or 15164-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/6/15164/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Patricia A. Benoy, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Folk Tales Every Child Should Know + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 24, 2005 [EBook #15164] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Patricia A. Benoy, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class="figcenter" > +<a href="images/title.jpg"><img src="images/title_thumb.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="Title Page" /></a> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" > +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"><img src="images/frontis_thumb.jpg" width="320" height="434" alt="An Indian Brave" /></a> +<br /><b>An Indian Brave</b> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>FOLK TALES</h1> + +<h2>Every Child Should Know</h2> + + +<h5>EDITED BY</h5> +<h3>Hamilton Wright Mabie</h3> + +<h3>THE WHAT-EVERY-CHILD-<br /> +SHOULD-KNOW-LIBRARY</h3> + +<h4><i>Published by</i><br /> +DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & CO., INC., <i>for</i><br /> +THE PARENTS' INSTITUTE, INC.<br /> +<i>Publishers of "The Parents' Magazine"</i><br /> +9 EAST 40th STREET, NEW YORK</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ACKNOWLEDGMENTS" id="ACKNOWLEDGMENTS" />ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</h2> + + +<p>The editor and publishers wish to express their appreciation to the +following firms for permission to use the material indicated:</p> + +<p>To Messrs. G.P. Putnam's Sons for "Why the Sea is Salt," "The Lad Who +Went to the North Wind," "The Lad and the Deil," and "Ananzi and the +Lion," by Sir George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L.; to the Macmillan Company, New +York, for "The Grateful Foxes" and "The Badger's Money," by A.B. +Mitford; to Messrs. Macmillan & Company, London, for "The Origin of +Rubies," by Rev. Lal Behari Day; to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons for +"The Dun Horse," by George Bird Grinnell; to Messrs. Little, Brown & +Company for "The Peasant Story of Napoleon," by Honoré de Balzac; to +Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Company for "Why Brother Bear Has No Tail," +by Joel Chandler Harris, and for the following selections from "Sixty +Folk Tales, from Exclusively Slavonic Sources," translated by A.H. +Wratislaw, M.A.:—"Long, Broad, and Sharpsight," "Intelligence and +Luck," "George and the Goat," "The Wonderful Hair," "The Dragon and the +Prince," and "The Good Children."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS" />CONTENTS</h2> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" width="80%" summary="Table of Contents"> + +<tbody> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='left' colspan='2'><span class='smcap'>Introduction</span></td> + <td align='right'><a href="#INTRODUCTION"><b>xi</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='left' colspan='2'><small>CHAPTER</small></td> + <td> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>I.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>Hans in Luck</span> + <br/> From Grimm's Fairy Tales.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>II.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>Why the Sea is Salt</span> + <br/> From "Popular Tales from the + <br/> Norse," by Sir George Webbe + <br/> Dasent, D.C.L.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>III.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Lad Who Went to the North Wind</span> + <br/> From "Popular Tales from the + <br/> Norse," by Sir George Webbe + <br/> Dasent, D.C.L.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>IV.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Lad and the Diel</span> + <br/> From "Popular Tales from the + <br/> Norse," by Sir George Webbe + <br/> Dasent, D.C.L.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>V.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>Ananzi and the Lion</span> + <br/> From "Popular Tales from the + <br/> Norse," by Sir George Webbe + <br/> Dasent, D.C.L.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>VI.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Grateful Foxes</span> + <br/> From "Tales of Old Japan," by + <br/> A.B. Mitford.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>VII.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Badger's Money</span> + <br/> From "Tales of Old Japan," by + <br/> A.B. Mitford.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>VIII.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>Why Brother Bear Has no Tail</span> + <br/> From "Nights with Uncle Remus," + <br/> by Joel Chandler Harris.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>IX.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Origin of Rubies</span> + <br/> From "Folk Tales of Bengal," + <br/> by Rev. Lal Behari Day.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>X.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>Long, Broad, and Sharpsight</span> + <br/> Translated from the Bohemian + <br/> by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + <br/> "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + <br/> Slavonic Sources."</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XI.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>Intelligence and Luck</span> + <br/> Translated from the Bohemian + <br/> by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + <br/> "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + <br/> Slavonic Sources."</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XII.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>George with the Goat</span> + <br/> Translated from the Bohemian + <br/> by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + <br/> "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + <br/> Slavonic Sources."</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XIII.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Wonderful Hair</span> + <br/> Translated from the Serbian by + <br/> A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + <br/> "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + <br/> Slavonic Sources."</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XIV.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Dragon and the Prince</span> + <br/> Translated from the Serbian by + <br/> A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + <br/> "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + <br/> Slavonic Sources."</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XV.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Good Children</span> + <br/> A Little Russian story of Galicia. + <br/> Translated by A.H. + <br/> Wratislaw, M.A., in "Sixty + <br/> Folk Tales, from Exclusively + <br/> Slavonic Sources."</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XVI.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Dun Horse</span> + <br/> From "Pawnee Hero Stories + <br/> and Folk Tales," by George + <br/> Bird Grinnell.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XVII.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Greedy Youngster</span> + <br/> From the Norwegian tale of + <br/> Peter Christen Asbjörnsen.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XVIII.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>Hans, Who Made the Princess Laugh</span> + <br/> From the Norwegian tale of + <br/> Peter Christen Asbjörnsen.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XIX.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Story of Tom Tit Tot</span><ins class="correction" style="text-decoration: none" +title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'TIM' only in this location."> </ins> + <br/> An old Suffolk Tale, given in the + <br/> dialect of East Anglia. From + <br/> "Tom Tit Tot. An Essay on + <br/> Savage Philosophy in Folk + <br/> Tale," by Edward Clodd.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align='right' valign='top'>XX.</td> + <td align='left'><span class='smcap'>The Peasant Story of Napoleon</span> + <br/> From "The Country Doctor," + <br/> by Honoré de Balzac. Translated + <br/> by Katharine Prescott + <br/> Wormeley.</td> + <td align='right' valign='top'><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION" />INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>When the traveller looks at Rome for the first time he does not realize +that there have been several cities on the same piece of ground, and +that the churches and palaces and other great buildings he sees to-day +rest on an earlier and invisible city buried in dust beneath the +foundations of the Rome of the Twentieth Century. In like manner, and +because all visible things on the surface of the earth have grown out of +older things which have ceased to be, the world of habits, the ideas, +customs, fancies, and arts, in which we live is a survival of a younger +world which long ago disappeared. When we speak of Friday as an unlucky +day, or touch wood after saying that we have had good luck for a long +time, or take the trouble to look at the new moon over the right +shoulder, or avoid crossing the street while a funeral is passing, we +are recalling old superstitions or beliefs, a vanished world in which +our remote forefathers lived.</p> + +<p>We do not realize how much of this vanished world still survives in our +language, our talk, our books, our sculpture and pictures. The plays of +Shakespeare are full of reference to the fancies and beliefs of the +English people in his time or in the times not long before him. If we +could understand all these references as we read, we should find +ourselves in a world as different from the England of to-day as England +is from Austria, and among a people whose ideas and language we should +find it hard to understand.</p> + +<p>In those early days there were no magazines or newspapers, and for the +people as contrasted with the scholars there were no books. The most +learned men were ignorant of things which intelligent children know +to-day; only a very few men and women could read or write; and all kinds +of beliefs about animals, birds, witches, fairies, giants, and the +magical qualities of herbs and stones flourished like weeds in a +neglected garden. There came into existence an immense mass of +misinformation about all manner of things; some of it very stupid, much +of it very poetic and interesting. Below the region of exact knowledge +accessible to men of education, lay a region of popular fancies, ideas, +proverbs, and superstitions in which the great mass of men and women +lived, and which was a kind of invisible playground for children. Much +of the popular belief about animals and the world was touched with +imagination and was full of suggestions, illustrations, and pictorial +figures which the poets were quick to use. When the king says to Cranmer +in "Henry VIII:" "Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons," he was +thinking of the old custom of giving children at christenings silver or +gilt spoons with handles shaped to represent the figures of the +Apostles. Rich people gave twelve of the "apostles' spoons;" people of +more moderate means gave three or four, or only one with the figure of +the saint after whom the child was named. On Lord Mayor's Day in London, +which came in November and is still celebrated, though shorn of much of +its ancient splendour, the Lord Mayor's fool, as part of the +festivities, jumped into a great bowl of custard, and this is what Ben +Jonson had in mind when he wrote:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"He may, perchance, in tail of a sheriff's dinner,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Skip with a rime o' the table, from near nothing,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And take his almain leap into a custard,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Shall make my lady Maydress and her sisters,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Laugh all their hoods over their shoulders."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>It was once widely believed that a stone of magical, medicinal qualities +was set in the toad's head, and so Shakespeare wrote:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Sweet are the uses of adversity;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Wears yet a precious jewel in its head."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is the most wonderful fairy story in the +world, but Shakespeare did not create it out of hand; he found the fairy +part of it in the traditions of the country people. One of his most +intelligent students says: "He founded his elfin world on the prettiest +of the people's traditions, and has clothed it in the ever-living flower +of his own exuberant fancy."</p> + +<p>This immense mass of belief, superstition, fancy, is called folk-lore +and is to be found in all parts of the world. These fancies or faiths or +superstitions were often distorted with stories, and side by side with +folk-lore grew up the folk-tales, of which there are so many that a man +might spend his whole life writing them down. They were not made as +modern stories are often made, by men who think out carefully what they +are to say, arrange the different parts so that they go together like +the parts of a house or of a machine, and write them with careful +selection of words so as to make the story vivid and interesting.</p> + +<p>The folk-tales were not written out; many of them grew out of single +incidents or little inventions of fancy, and became longer and larger as +they passed from one story-teller to another and were retold generation +after generation.</p> + +<p>Men love stories, and for very good reasons, as has been pointed out in +introductions to other volumes in this series; and the more quick and +original the imagination of a race, the more interesting and varied will +be its stories. From the earliest times, long before books were made, +the people of many countries were eagerly listening to the men and women +who could tell thrilling or humorous tales, as in these later days they +read the novels of the writers who know how to tell a story so as to +stir the imagination or hold the attention and make readers forget +themselves and their worries and troubles. In India and Japan, in Russia +and Roumania, among the Indians at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, +these stories are still told, not only to children by their mothers and +grandmothers, but to crowds of grown-up people by those who have the art +of making tales entertaining; and there are still so many of these +stories floating about the world from one person to another that if they +were written down they would fill a great library. "Until the generation +now lately passed away," says Mr. Gosse in his introduction to that very +interesting book, "Folk and Fairy Tales" by Asbjörnsen, "almost the only +mode in which the Norwegian peasant killed time in the leisure moments +between his daily labour and his religious observances, was in listening +to stories. It was the business of old men and women who had reached the +extreme limit of their working hours, to retain and repeat these ancient +legends in prose and verse, and to recite or sing them when called to do +so." And Miss Hapgood has told us that in Russia these stories have not +only been handed down wholly by word or mouth for a thousand years, but +are flourishing to-day and extending into fresh fields.</p> + +<p>The stories made by the people, and told before evening fires, or in +public places and at the gates of inns in the Orient, belong to the ages +when books were few and knowledge limited, or to people whose fancy was +not hampered by familiarity with or care for facts; they are the +creations, as they were the amusement, of men and women who were +children in knowledge, but were thinking deeply and often wisely of what +life meant to them, and were eager to know and hear more about +themselves, their fellows, and the world. In the earlier folk-stories +one finds a childlike simplicity and readiness to believe in the +marvellous; and these qualities are found also in the French peasant's +version of the career of Napoleon.</p> + +<p>HAMILTON W. MABIE</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FOLK_TALES_EVERY_CHILD_SHOULD_KNOW" id="FOLK_TALES_EVERY_CHILD_SHOULD_KNOW" />FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</h2> +<p><a name="Page_0" id="Page_0" /><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1" /> +<a name="Page_2" id="Page_2" ></a><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="I" id="I" />I</h2> + +<h3>HANS IN LUCK</h3> + + +<p>Hans had served his Master seven years, and at the end of that time he +said to him: "Master, since my time is up, I should like to go home to +my mother; so give me my wages, if you please."</p> + +<p>His Master replied, "You have served me truly and honestly, Hans, and +such as your service was, such shall be your reward;" and with these +words he gave him a lump of gold as big as his head. Hans thereupon took +his handkerchief out of his pocket, and, wrapping the gold up in it, +threw it over his shoulder and set out on the road toward his native +village. As he went along, carefully setting one foot to the ground +before the other, a horseman came in sight, trotting gaily and briskly +along upon a capital animal. "Ah," said Hans, aloud, "what a fine thing +that riding is! one is seated, as it were, upon a stool, kicks against +no stones, spares one's shoes, and gets along without any trouble!"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4" />The Rider, overhearing Hans making these reflections, stopped and said, +"Why, then, do you travel on foot, my fine fellow?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am forced," replied Hans, "for I have got a bit of a lump to +carry home; it certainly is gold, but then I can't carry my head +straight, and it hurts my shoulder."</p> + +<p>"If you like we will exchange," said the Rider. "I will give you my +horse, and you can give me your lump of gold."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," cried Hans; "but I tell you fairly you undertake a +very heavy burden."</p> + +<p>The man dismounted, took the gold, and helped Hans on to the horse, and, +giving him the reins into his hands, said, "Now, when you want to go +faster, you must chuckle with your tongue and cry, 'Gee up! gee up!'"</p> + +<p>Hans was delighted indeed when he found himself on the top of a horse, +and riding along so freely and gaily. After a while he thought he should +like to go rather quicker, and so he cried, "Gee up! gee up!" as the man +had told him. The horse soon set off at a hard trot, and, before Hans +knew what he was about, he was thrown over head and heels into a ditch +which divided the fields from the road. The <a name="Page_5" id="Page_5" />horse, having accomplished +this feat, would have bolted off if he had not been stopped by a Peasant +who was coming that way, driving a cow before him. Hans soon picked +himself up on his legs, but he was terribly put out, and said to the +countryman, "That is bad sport, that riding, especially when one mounts +such a beast as that, which stumbles and throws one off so as to nearly +break one's neck. I will never ride on that animal again. Commend me to +your cow: one may walk behind her without any discomfort, and besides +one has, every day for certain, milk, butter, and cheese. Ah! what would +I not give for such a cow!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Peasant, "such an advantage you may soon enjoy; I will +exchange my cow for your horse."</p> + +<p>To this Hans consented with a thousand thanks, and the Peasant, swinging +himself upon the horse, rode off in a hurry.</p> + +<p>Hans now drove his cow off steadily before him, thinking of his lucky +bargain in this wise: "I have a bit of bread, and I can, as often as I +please, eat with it butter and cheese, and when I am thirsty I can milk +my cow and have a draught: and what more can I desire?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6" />As soon, then, as he came to an inn he halted, and ate with great +satisfaction all the bread he had brought with him for his noonday and +evening meals, and washed it down with a glass of beer, to buy which he +spent his two last farthings. This over, he drove his cow farther, but +still in the direction of his mother's village. The heat meantime became +more and more oppressive as noontime approached, and just then Hans came +to a common which was an hour's journey across. Here he got into such a +state of heat that his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, and he +thought to himself: "This won't do; I will just milk my cow, and refresh +myself." Hans, therefore tied her to a stump of a tree, and, having no +pail, placed his leathern cap below, and set to work, but not a drop of +milk could he squeeze out. He had placed himself, too, very awkwardly, +and at last the impatient cow gave him such a kick on the head that he +tumbled over on the ground, and for a long time knew not where he was. +Fortunately, not many hours after, a Butcher passed by, trundling a +young pig along upon a wheelbarrow. "What trick is this!" exclaimed he, +helping up poor Hans; and Hans told him that all that had <a name="Page_7" id="Page_7" />passed. The +Butcher then handed him his flask and said, "There, take a drink; it +will revive you. Your cow might well give no milk: she is an old beast, +and worth nothing at the best but for the plough or the butcher!"</p> + +<p>"Eh! eh!" said Hans, pulling his hair over his eyes, "who would have +thought it? It is all very well when one can kill a beast like that at +home, and make a profit of the flesh; but for my part I have no relish +for cow's flesh; it is too tough for me! Ah! a young pig like yours is +the thing that tastes something like, let alone the sausages!"</p> + +<p>"Well now, for love of you," said the Butcher, "I will make an exchange, +and let you have my pig for your cow."</p> + +<p>"Heaven reward you for your kindness!" cried Hans; and, giving up the +cow, he untied the pig from the barrow and took into his hands the +string with which it was tied.</p> + +<p>Hans walked on again, considering how everything had happened just as he +wished, and how all his vexations had turned out for the best after all! +Presently a boy overtook him carrying a fine white goose under his arm, +<a name="Page_8" id="Page_8" />and after they had said "Good-day" to each other, Hans began to talk +about his luck, and what profitable exchanges he had made. The Boy on +his part told him that he was carrying the goose to a christening-feast. +"Just lift it," said he to Hans, holding it up by its wings, "just feel +how heavy it is; why, it has been fattened up for the last eight weeks, +and whoever bites it when it is cooked will have to wipe the grease from +each side of his mouth!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Hans, weighing it with one hand, "it is weighty, but my pig +is no trifle either."</p> + +<p>While he was speaking the Boy kept looking about on all sides, and +shaking his head suspiciously, and at length he broke out, "I am afraid +it is not all right about your pig. In the village through which I have +just come, one has been stolen out of the sty of the mayor himself; and +I am afraid, very much afraid, you have it now in your hand! They have +sent out several people, and it would be a very bad job for you if they +found you with the pig; the best thing you can do is to hide it in some +dark corner!"</p> + +<p>Honest Hans was thunderstruck, and exclaimed,<a name="Page_9" id="Page_9" /> "Ah, Heaven help me in +this fresh trouble! you know the neighbourhood better than I do; do you +take my pig and let me have your goose," said he to the boy.</p> + +<p>"I shall have to hazard something at that game," replied the Boy, "but +still I do not wish to be the cause of your meeting with misfortune;" +and, so saying, he took the rope into his own hand, and drove the pig +off quickly by a side-path, while Hans, lightened of his cares, walked +on homeward with the goose under his arm. "If I judge rightly," thought +he to himself, "I have gained even by this exchange: first there is a +good roast; then the quantity of fat which will drip out will make goose +broth for a quarter of a year; and then there are fine white feathers, +which, when once I have put into my pillow I warrant I shall sleep +without rocking. What pleasure my mother will have!"</p> + +<p>As he came to the last village on his road there stood a Knife-grinder, +with his barrow by the hedge, whirling his wheel round and singing:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Scissors and razors and such-like I grind;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And gaily my rags are flying behind."<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10" /></p> + + +<p>Hans stopped and looked at him, and at last he said, "You appear to have +a good business, if I may judge by your merry song?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the Grinder, "this business has a golden bottom! A true +knife-grinder is a man who as often as he puts his hand into his pocket +feels money in it! But what a fine goose you have got; where did you buy +it?"</p> + +<p>"I did not buy it at all," said Hans, "but took it in exchange for my +pig." "And the pig?" "I exchanged for my cow." "And the cow?" "I +exchanged a horse for her." "And the horse?" "For him I gave a lump of +gold as big as my head." "And the gold?" "That was my wages for a seven +years' servitude." "And I see you have known how to benefit yourself +each time," said the Grinder; "but, could you now manage that you heard +the money rattling in your pocket as you walked, your fortune would be +made."</p> + +<p>"Well! how shall I manage that?" asked Hans.</p> + +<p>"You must become a grinder like me; to this trade nothing peculiar +belongs but a grindstone; the other necessaries find themselves. Here is +one which is a little worn, <a name="Page_11" id="Page_11" />certainly, and so I will not ask anything +more for it than your goose; are you agreeable?"</p> + +<p>"How can you ask me?" said Hans; "why, I shall be the luckiest man in +the world; having money as often as I dip my hand into my pocket, what +have I to care about any longer?"</p> + +<p>So saying, he handed over the goose, and received the grindstone in +exchange.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the Grinder, picking up an ordinary big flint stone which +lay near, "now, there you have a capital stone upon which only beat them +long enough and you may straighten all your old nails! Take it, and use +it carefully!"</p> + +<p>Hans took the stone and walked on with a satisfied heart, his eyes +glistening with joy. "I must have been born," said he, "to a heap of +luck; everything happens just as I wish, as if I were a Sunday-child."</p> + +<p>Soon, however, having been on his legs since daybreak, he began to feel +very tired, and was plagued too with hunger, since he had eaten all his +provision at once in his joy about the cow bargain. At last he felt +quite unable to go farther, and was forced, too, to halt every minute +for the stones encumbered him very much. Just then the thought overcame +him, <a name="Page_12" id="Page_12" />what a good thing it were if he had no need to carry them any +longer, and at the same moment he came up to a stream. Here he resolved +to rest and refresh himself with drink, and so that the stones might not +hurt him in kneeling he laid them carefully down by his side on the +bank. This done, he stooped down to scoop up some water in his hand, and +then it happened that he pushed one stone a little too far, so that both +presently went plump into the water. Hans, as soon as he saw them +sinking to the bottom, jumped up for joy, and then kneeled down and +returned thanks, with tears in his eyes, that so mercifully, and without +any act on his part, and in so nice a way, he had been delivered from +the heavy stones, which alone hindered him from getting on.</p> + +<p>"So lucky as I am," exclaimed Hans, "is no other man under the sun!"</p> + +<p>Then with a light heart, and free from every burden, he leaped gaily +along till he reached his mother's house.<a name="Page_13" id="Page_13" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="II" id="II" />II</h2> + +<h3>WHY THE SEA IS SALT</h3> + + +<p>Once on a time, but it was a long, long time ago, there were two +brothers, one rich and one poor. Now, one Christmas eve, the poor one +hadn't so much as a crumb in the house, either of meat or bread, so he +went to his brother to ask him for something to keep Christmas with, in +God's name. It was not the first time his brother had been forced to +help him, and you may fancy he wasn't very glad to see his face, but he +said:</p> + +<p>"If you will do what I ask you to do, I'll give you a whole flitch of +bacon."</p> + +<p>So the poor brother said he would do anything and was full of thanks.</p> + +<p>"Well, here is the flitch," said the rich brother, "and now go straight +to Hell."</p> + +<p>"What I have given my word to do, I must stick to," said the other; so +he took the flitch and set off. He walked the whole day, and <a name="Page_14" id="Page_14" />at dusk he +came to a place where he saw a very bright light.</p> + +<p>"Maybe this is the place," said the man to himself. So he turned aside, +and the first thing he saw was an old, old man, with a long white beard, +who stood in an outhouse, hewing wood for the Christmas fire.</p> + +<p>"Good even," said the man with the flitch.</p> + +<p>"The same to you; whither are you going so late?" said the man.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I'm going to Hell, if I only knew the right way," answered the poor +man.</p> + +<p>"Well, you're not far wrong, for this is Hell," said the old man; "when +you get inside they will be all for buying your flitch, for meat is +scarce in Hell; but, mind you don't sell it unless you get the +hand-quern which stands behind the door for it. When you come out, I'll +teach you how to handle the quern, for it's good to grind almost +anything."</p> + +<p>So the man with the flitch thanked the other for his good advice, and +gave a great knock at the Devil's door.</p> + +<p>When he got in, everything was just as the old man had said. All the +devils, great and small, came swarming up to him like ants <a name="Page_15" id="Page_15" />round an +anthill, and each tried to outbid the other for the flitch.</p> + +<p>"Well!" said the man, "by rights, my old dame and I ought to have this +flitch for our Christmas dinner; but since you have all set your hearts +on it, I suppose I must give it up to you; but if I sell it at all, I'll +have for it the quern behind the door yonder."</p> + +<p>At first the Devil wouldn't hear of such a bargain, and chaffed and +haggled with the man; but he stuck to what he said, and at last the +Devil had to part with his quern. When the man got out into the yard, he +asked the old woodcutter how he was to handle the quern; and after he +had learned how to use it, he thanked the old man and went off home as +fast as he could, but still the clock had struck twelve on Christmas eve +before he reached his own door.</p> + +<p>"Wherever in the world have you been?" said his old dame; "here have I +sat hour after hour waiting and watching, without so much as two sticks +to lay together under the Christmas brose."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said the man, "I couldn't get back before, for I had to go a long +way first for one <a name="Page_16" id="Page_16" />thing, and then for another; but now you shall see +what you shall see."</p> + +<p>So he put the quern on the table, and bade it first of all grind lights, +then a table-cloth, then meat, then ale, and so on till they had got +everything that was nice for Christmas fare. He had only to speak the +word, and the quern ground out what he wanted. The old dame stood by +blessing her stars, and kept on asking where he had got this wonderful +quern, but he wouldn't tell her.</p> + +<p>"It's all one where I got it from; you see the quern is a good one, and +the mill-stream never freezes, that's enough."</p> + +<p>So he ground meat and drink and dainties enough to last out till Twelfth +Day, and on the third day he asked all his friends and kin to his house, +and gave a great feast. Now, when his rich brother saw all that was on +the table, and all that was behind in the larder, he grew quite spiteful +and wild, for he couldn't bear that his brother should have anything.</p> + +<p>"Twas only on Christmas eve," he said to the rest, "he was in such +straits that he came and asked for a morsel of food in God's name, and +now he gives a feast as if he were <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17" />count or king;" and he turned to his +brother and said:</p> + +<p>"But whence, in Hell's name, have you got all this wealth?"</p> + +<p>"From behind the door," answered the owner of the quern, for he didn't +care to let the cat out of the bag. But later on in the evening, when he +had got a drop too much, he could keep his secret no longer, and brought +out the quern and said:</p> + +<p>"There, you see what has gotten me all this wealth;" and so he made the +quern grind all kind of things. When his brother saw it, he set his +heart on having the quern, and, after a deal of coaxing, he got it; but +he had to pay three hundred dollars for it, and his brother bargained to +keep it till hay-harvest, for he thought, if I keep it till then, I can +make it grind meat and drink that will last for years. So you may fancy +the quern didn't grow rusty for want of work, and when hay-harvest came, +the rich brother got it, but the other took care not to teach him how to +handle it.</p> + +<p>It was evening when the rich brother got the quern home, and the next +morning he told his wife to go out into the hay-field and toss, <a name="Page_18" id="Page_18" />while +the mowers cut the grass, and he would stay at home and get the dinner +ready. So, when dinner-time drew near, he put the quern on the kitchen +table and said:</p> + +<p>"Grind herrings and broth, and grind them good and fast."</p> + +<p>So the quern began to grind herrings and broth; first of all, all the +dishes full, then all the tubs full, and so on till the kitchen floor +was quite covered. Then the man twisted and twirled at the quern to get +it to stop, but for all his twisting and fingering the quern went on +grinding, and in a little while the broth rose so high that the man was +like to drown. So he threw open the kitchen door and ran into the +parlour, but it wasn't long before the quern had ground the parlour full +too, and it was only at the risk of his life that the man could get hold +of the latch of the house door through the stream of broth. When he got +the door open, he ran out and set off down the road, with the stream of +herrings and broth at his heels, roaring like a waterfall over the whole +farm.</p> + +<p>Now, his old dame, who was in the field tossing hay, thought it a long +time to dinner, and at last she said:<a name="Page_19" id="Page_19" /></p> + +<p>"Well! though the master doesn't call us home, we may as well go. Maybe +he finds it hard work to boil the broth, and will be glad of my help."</p> + +<p>The men were willing enough, so they sauntered homeward; but just as +they had got a little way up the hill, what should they meet but +herrings, and broth, and bread, all running and dashing, and splashing +together in a stream, and the master himself running before them for his +life, and as he passed them he bawled out: "Would to heaven each of you +had a hundred throats! but take care you're not drowned in the broth."</p> + +<p>Away he went, as though the Evil One were at his heels, to his brother's +house, and begged him for God's sake to take back the quern that +instant; for, said he:</p> + +<p>"If it grinds only one hour more, the whole parish will be swallowed up +by herrings and broth."</p> + +<p>But his brother wouldn't hear of taking it back till the other paid him +down three hundred dollars more.</p> + +<p>So the poor brother got both the money and the quern, and it wasn't long +before he set up a farmhouse far finer than the one in which <a name="Page_20" id="Page_20" />his +brother lived, and with the quern he ground so much gold that he covered +it with plates of gold; and as the farm lay by the sea-side, the golden +house gleamed and glistened far away over the sea. All who sailed by, +put ashore to see the rich man in the golden house, and to see the +wonderful quern, the fame of which spread far and wide, till there was +nobody who hadn't heard tell of it.</p> + +<p>So one day there came a skipper who wanted to see the quern; and the +first thing he asked was if it could grind salt.</p> + +<p>"Grind salt!" said the owner; "I should just think it could. It can +grind anything."</p> + +<p>When the skipper heard that, he said he must have the quern, cost what +it would; for if he only had it, he thought he should be rid of his long +voyages across stormy seas for a lading of salt. Well, at first the man +wouldn't hear of parting with the quern; but the skipper begged and +prayed so hard that at last he let him have it, but he had to pay many, +many thousand dollars for it. Now, when the skipper had got the quern on +his back, he soon made off with it, for he was afraid lest the man +should change his mind; so he had no time to ask how to handle the +quern, but <a name="Page_21" id="Page_21" />got on board his ship as fast as he could, and set sail. +When he had sailed a good way off, he brought the quern on deck and +said:</p> + +<p>"Grind salt, and grind both good and fast."</p> + +<p>Well, the quern began to grind salt so that it poured out like water; +and when the skipper had got the ship full, he wished to stop the quern, +but whichever way he turned it, and however much he tried, it was no +good; the quern kept grinding on, and the heap of salt grew higher and +higher, and at last down sunk the ship.</p> + +<p>There lies the quern at the bottom of the sea, and grinds away at this +very day, and that's why the sea is salt.<a name="Page_22" id="Page_22" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="III" id="III" />III</h2> + +<h3>THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND</h3> + + +<p>Once on a time there was an old widow who had one son and, as she was +poorly and weak, her son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal for +cooking; but when he got outside the safe, and was just going down the +steps, there came the North Wind, puffing and blowing, caught up the +meal, and so away with it through the air. Then the lad went back into +the safe for more; but when he came out again on the steps, if the North +Wind didn't come again and carry off the meal with a puff; and more than +that, he did so the third time. At this the lad got very angry; and as +he thought it hard that the North Wind should behave so, he thought he'd +just look him up, and ask him to give up his meal.</p> + +<p>So off he went, but the way was long, and he walked and walked; but at +last he came to the North Wind's house.<a name="Page_23" id="Page_23" /></p> + +<p>"Good day!" said the lad, and "thank you for coming to see us +yesterday."</p> + +<p>"GOOD DAY!" answered the North Wind, for his voice was loud and gruff, +"AND THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE ME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" answered the lad, "I only wished to ask you to be so good as to +let me have back that meal you took from me on the safe steps, for we +haven't much to live on; and if you're to go on snapping up the morsel +we have there'll be nothing for it but to starve."</p> + +<p>"I haven't got your meal," said the North Wind; "but if you are in such +need, I'll give you a cloth which will get you everything you want, if +you only say, 'Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good +dishes!'"</p> + +<p>With this the lad was well content. But, as the way was so long he +couldn't get home in one day, he turned into an inn on the way; and when +they were going to sit down to supper, he laid the cloth on a table +which stood in the corner and said:</p> + +<p>"Cloth spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes."</p> + +<p>He had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid; and all who +stood by thought <a name="Page_24" id="Page_24" />it a fine thing, but most of all the landlady. So, +when all were fast asleep, at dead of night, she took the lad's cloth, +and put another in its stead, just like the one he had got from the +North Wind, but which couldn't so much as serve up a bit of dry bread.</p> + +<p>So, when the lad woke, he took his cloth and went off with it, and that +day he got home to his mother.</p> + +<p>"Now," said he, "I've been to the North Wind's house, and a good fellow +he is, for he gave me this cloth, and when I only say to it, 'Cloth, +spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes,' I get any sort +of food I please."</p> + +<p>"All very true, I dare say," said his mother; "but seeing is believing, +and I shan't believe it till I see it."</p> + +<p>So the lad made haste, drew out a table, laid the cloth on it, and said:</p> + +<p>"Cloth, spread yourself, and serve all up kinds of good dishes."</p> + +<p>But never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the lad, "there's no help for it but to go to the North +Wind again;" and away he went.<a name="Page_25" id="Page_25" /></p> + +<p>So he came to where the North Wind lived late in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Good evening!" said the lad.</p> + +<p>"Good evening," said the North Wind.</p> + +<p>"I want my rights for that meal of ours which you took," said the lad; +"for as for that cloth I got, it isn't worth a penny."</p> + +<p>"I've got no meal," said the North Wind; "but yonder you have a ram +which coins nothing but golden ducats as soon as you say to it:</p> + +<p>"'Ram, ram! make money!'"</p> + +<p>So the lad thought this a fine thing but as it was too far to get home +that day, he turned in for the night to the same inn where he had slept +before.</p> + +<p>Before he called for anything, he tried the truth of what the North Wind +had said of the ram, and found it all right; but when the landlord saw +that, he thought it was a famous ram, and, when the lad had fallen +asleep, he took another which couldn't coin gold ducats, and changed the +two.</p> + +<p>Next morning off went the lad; and when he got home to his mother he +said:</p> + +<p>"After all, the North Wind is a jolly fellow; for now he has given me a +ram which can coin <a name="Page_26" id="Page_26" />golden ducats if I only say, 'Ram, ram! make +money!'"</p> + +<p>"All very true, I dare say," said his mother; "but I shan't believe any +such stuff until I see the ducats made."</p> + +<p>"Ram, ram! make money!" said the lad; but if the ram made anything it +wasn't money.</p> + +<p>So the lad went back again to the North Wind and blew him up, and said +the ram was worth nothing, and he must have his rights for the meal.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the North Wind; "I've nothing else to give you but that old +stick in the corner yonder; but it's a stick of that kind that if you +say:</p> + +<p>"'Stick, stick! lay on!' it lays on till you say:</p> + +<p>"'Stick, stick! now stop!'"</p> + +<p>So, as the way was long, the lad turned in this night too to the +landlord; but as he could pretty well guess how things stood as to the +cloth and the ram, he lay down at once on the bench and began to snore, +as if he were asleep.</p> + +<p>Now the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must be worth something, +hunted up one which was like it, and when he heard the lad snore, was +going to change the two, but <a name="Page_27" id="Page_27" />just as the landlord was about to take it +the lad bawled out:</p> + +<p>"Stick, stick! lay on!"</p> + +<p>So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped over chairs, and +tables, and benches, and yelled and roared:</p> + +<p>"Oh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will beat me to death, +and you shall have back both your cloth and your ram."</p> + +<p>When the lad thought the landlord had got enough, he said:</p> + +<p>"Stick, stick! now stop!"</p> + +<p>Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket, and went home with +his stick in his hand, leading the ram by a cord round its horns; and so +he got his rights for the meal he had lost.<a name="Page_28" id="Page_28" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV" />IV</h2> + +<h3>THE LAD AND THE DEIL</h3> + + +<p>Once on a time there was a lad who was walking along a road cracking +nuts, so he found one that was worm-eaten, and just at that very moment +he met the Deil.</p> + +<p>"Is it true, now," said the lad, "what they say, that the Deil can make +himself as small as he chooses, and thrust himself on through a +pinhole?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," said the Deil.</p> + +<p>"Oh! it is, is it? then let me see you do it, and just creep into this +nut," said the lad.</p> + +<p>So the Deil did it.</p> + +<p>Now, when he had crept well into it through the worm's hole, the lad +stopped it up with a pin.</p> + +<p>"Now, I've got you safe," he said, and put the nut into his pocket.</p> + +<p>So when he had walked on a bit, he came to a smithy, and he turned in +and asked the <a name="Page_29" id="Page_29" />smith if he'd be good enough to crack that nut for him.</p> + +<p>"Ay, that'll be an easy job," said the smith, and took his smallest +hammer, laid the nut on the anvil, and gave it a blow, but it wouldn't +break.</p> + +<p>So he took another hammer a little bigger, but that wasn't heavy enough +either.</p> + +<p>Then he took one bigger still, but it was still the same story; and so +the smith got wroth, and grasped his great sledge-hammer.</p> + +<p>"Now, I'll crack you to bits," he said, and let drive at the nut with +all his might and main. And so the nut flew to pieces with a bang that +blew off half the roof of the smithy, and the whole house creaked and +groaned as though it were ready to fall.</p> + +<p>"Why! if I don't think the Deil must have been in that nut," said the +smith.</p> + +<p>"So he was; you're quite right," said the lad, as he went away laughing.<a name="Page_30" id="Page_30" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="V" id="V" />V</h2> + +<h3>ANANZI AND THE LION</h3> + + +<p>Once on a time Ananzi planned a scheme. He went to town and bought ever +so many firkins of fat, and ever so many sacks, and ever so many balls +of string, and a very big frying pan, then he went to the bay and blew a +shell, and called the Head-fish in the sea, "Green Eel," to him. Then he +said to the fish, "The King sends me to tell you that you must bring all +the fish on shore, for he wants to give them new life."</p> + +<p>So "Green Eel" said he would, and went to call them. Meanwhile Ananzi +lighted a fire, and took out some of the fat, and got his frying pan +ready, and as fast as the fish came out of the water he caught them and +put them into the frying pan, and so he did with all of them until he +got to the Head-fish, who was so slippery that he couldn't hold him, and +he got back again into the water.</p> + +<p>When Ananzi had fried all the fish, he put <a name="Page_31" id="Page_31" />them into the sacks, and +took the sacks on his back, and set off to the mountains. He had not +gone very far when he met Lion, and Lion said to him:</p> + +<p>"Well, brother Ananzi, where have you been? I have not seen you a long +time."</p> + +<p>Ananzi said, "I have been travelling about."</p> + +<p>"Oh! But what have you got there?" said the Lion.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have got my mother's bones—she has been dead these forty-eleven +years, and they say I must not keep her here, so I am taking her up into +the middle of the mountains to bury her."</p> + +<p>Then they parted. After he had gone a little way, the Lion said: "I know +that Ananzi is a great rogue; I dare say he has got something there that +he doesn't want me to see, and I will just follow him;" but he took care +not to let Ananzi see him.</p> + +<p>Now, when Ananzi got into the wood, he set his sacks down, and took one +fish out and began to eat; then a fly came, and Ananzi said, "I cannot +eat any more, for there is some one near;" so he tied the sack up, and +went on farther into the mountains, where he set his sacks down, and +took out two fish <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32" />which he ate; and no fly came. He said, "There is no +one near;" so he took out more fish. But when he had eaten about half a +dozen the Lion came up and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, brother Ananzi, a pretty tale you have told me."</p> + +<p>"Oh! brother Lion, I am so glad you have come; never mind what tale I +have told you, but come and sit down—it was only my fun."</p> + +<p>So Lion sat down and began to eat; but before Ananzi had eaten two fish, +Lion had emptied one of the sacks. Then said Ananzi to himself:</p> + +<p>"Greedy fellow, eating up all my fish."</p> + +<p>"What do you say, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I only said you do not eat half fast enough," for he was afraid the +Lion would eat him up.</p> + +<p>Then they went on eating, but Ananzi wanted to revenge himself, and he +said to the Lion, "Which of us do you think is the stronger?"</p> + +<p>The Lion said, "Why, I am, of course."</p> + +<p>Then Ananzi said, "We will tie one another to the tree, and we shall see +which is the stronger."</p> + +<p>Now they agreed that the Lion should tie<a name="Page_33" id="Page_33" /> Ananzi first, and he tied him +with some very fine string, and did not tie him tight. Ananzi twisted +himself about two or three times, and the string broke.</p> + +<p>Then it was Ananzi's turn to tie the Lion, and he took some very strong +cord. The Lion said, "You must not tie me tight, for I did not tie you +tight." And Ananzi said, "Oh! no, to be sure, I will not." But he tied +him as tight as ever he could, and then told him to try and get loose.</p> + +<p>The Lion tried and tried in vain—he could not get loose. Then Ananzi +thought, now is my chance; so he got a big stick and beat him, and then +went away and left him, for he was afraid to loose him lest he should +kill him.</p> + +<p>Now there was a woman called Miss Nancy, who was going out one morning +to get some "callalou" (spinach) in the wood, and as she was going she +heard some one say, "Good morning, Miss Nancy!" She could not tell who +spoke to her, but she looked where the voice came from, and saw the Lion +tied to the tree.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Mr. Lion, what are you doing there?"<a name="Page_34" id="Page_34" /></p> + +<p>He said, "It is all that fellow Ananzi who has tied me to the tree, but +will you loose me?"</p> + +<p>But she said, "No, for I am afraid, if I do, you will kill me." But he +gave her his word he would not; still she could not trust him; but he +begged her again and again, and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, if I do try to eat you, I hope all the trees will cry out shame +upon me."</p> + +<p>So at last she consented; but she had no sooner loosed him, than he came +up to her to eat her, for he had been so many days without food that he +was quite ravenous, but the trees immediately cried out, "Shame," and so +he could not eat her. Then she went away as fast as she could, and the +Lion found his way home.</p> + +<p>When Lion got home he told his wife and children all that happened to +him, and how Miss Nancy had saved his life, so they said they would have +a great dinner, and ask Miss Nancy. Now when Ananzi heard of it, he +wanted to go to the dinner, so he went to Miss Nancy, and said she must +take him with her as her child, but she said, "No." Then he said, "I can +turn myself into quite a little child <a name="Page_35" id="Page_35" />and then you can take me," and at +last she said, "Yes;" and he told her, when she was asked what pap her +baby ate, she must be sure to tell them it did not eat pap, but the same +food as every one else; and so they went, and had a very good dinner, +and set off home again—but somehow one of the Lion's sons fancied that +all was not right, and he told his father he was sure it was Ananzi, and +the Lion set out after him.</p> + +<p>Now as they were going along, before the Lion got up to them, Ananzi +begged Miss Nancy to put him down, that he might run, which he did, and +he got away and ran along the wood, and the Lion ran after him. When he +found the Lion was overtaking him, he turned himself into an old man +with a bundle of wood on his head—and when the Lion got up to him, he +said, "Good morning, Mr. Lion," and the Lion said, "Good morning, old +gentleman."</p> + +<p>Then the old man said, "What are you after now?" and the Lion asked if +he had seen Ananzi pass that way, but the old man said, "No, that fellow +Ananzi is always meddling with some one; what mischief has he been up to +now?"<a name="Page_36" id="Page_36" /></p> + +<p>Then the Lion told him, but the old man said it was no use to follow him +any more, for he would never catch him, and so the Lion wished him +good-day, and turned and went home again.<a name="Page_37" id="Page_37" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI" />VI</h2> + +<h3>THE GRATEFUL FOXES</h3> + + +<p>One fine spring day two friends went out to a moor to gather fern, +attended by a boy with a bottle of wine and a box of provisions. As they +were straying about, they saw at the foot of a hill two foxes that had +brought out their cub to play; and whilst they looked on, struck by the +strangeness of the sight, three children came up from a neighbouring +village with baskets in their hands, on the same errand as themselves. +As soon as the children saw the foxes, they picked up a bamboo stick and +took the creatures stealthily in the rear; and when the old foxes took +to flight, they surrounded them and beat them with the stick, so that +they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them; but two of the +boys held down the cub, and, seizing it by the scruff of the neck, went +off in high glee.</p> + +<p>The two friends were looking on all the while, <a name="Page_38" id="Page_38" />and one of them, raising +his voice, shouted out, "Hallo! you boys! what are you doing with that +fox?"</p> + +<p>The eldest of the boys replied, "We're going to take him home and sell +him to a young man in our village. He'll buy him, and then he'll boil +him in a pot and eat him."</p> + +<p>"Well," replied the other, after considering the matter attentively, "I +suppose it's all the same to you whom you sell him to. You'd better let +me have him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but the young man from our village promised us a good sum if we +could find a fox, and got us to come out to the hills and catch one; and +so we can't sell him to you at any price."</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose it cannot be helped, then; but how much would the young +man give you for the cub?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he'll give us three hundred cash at least."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll give you half a bu;<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= "#footnote1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and <a name="Page_39" id="Page_39" />so you'll gain five hundred cash +by the transaction."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll sell him for that, sir. How shall we hand him over to you?"</p> + +<p>"Just tie him up here," said the other; and so he made fast the cub +round the neck with the string of the napkin in which the luncheon-box +was wrapped, and gave half a bu to the three boys, who ran away +delighted.</p> + +<p>The man's friend, upon this, said to him: "Well, certainly you have got +queer tastes. What on earth are you going to keep the fox for?"</p> + +<p>"How very unkind of you to speak of my tastes like that. If we had not +interfered just now, the fox's cub would have lost its life. If we had +not seen the affair, there would have been no help for it. How could I +stand by and see life taken? It was but a little I spent—only half a +bu—to save the cub, but had it cost a fortune I should not have grudged +it. I thought you were intimate enough with me to know my heart; but +to-day you have accused me of being eccentric, and I see how mistaken I +have been in you. However, our friendship shall cease from this day +forth."<a name="Page_40" id="Page_40" /></p> + +<p>And when he had said this with a great deal of firmness, the other, +retiring backward and bowing with his hands on his knees, replied:</p> + +<p>"Indeed, indeed, I am filled with admiration at the goodness of your +heart. When I hear you speak thus, I feel more than ever how great is +the love I bear you. I thought that you might wish to use the cub as a +sort of decoy to lead the old ones to you, that you might pray them to +bring prosperity and virtue to your house. When I called you eccentric +just now, I was but trying your heart, because I had some suspicions of +you; and now I am truly ashamed of myself."</p> + +<p>And as he spoke, still bowing, the other replied: "Really! was that +indeed your thought? Then I pray you to forgive me for my violent +language."</p> + +<p>When the two friends had thus become reconciled, they examined the cub, +and saw that it had a slight wound in its foot, and could not walk; and +while they were thinking what they should do, they spied out the herb +called "Doctor's Nakasé," which was just sprouting; so they rolled up a +little of it in <a name="Page_41" id="Page_41" />their fingers and applied it to the part. Then they +pulled out some boiled rice from their luncheon-box and offered it to +the cub, but it showed no sign of wanting to eat; so they stroked it +gently on the back and petted it; and as the pain of the wound seemed to +have subsided, they were admiring the properties of the herb, when, +opposite to them, they saw the old foxes sitting watching them by the +side of some stacks of rice straw.</p> + +<p>"Look there! the old foxes have come back, out of fear for their cub's +safety. Come, we will set it free!" And with these words they untied the +string round the cub's neck, and turned its head toward the spot where +the old foxes sat; and as the wounded foot was no longer painful, with +one bound it dashed to its parents' side and licked them all over for +joy, while they seemed to bow their thanks, looking toward the two +friends. So, with peace in their hearts, the latter went off to another +place, and, choosing a pretty spot, produced the wine bottle and ate +their noonday meal; and after a pleasant day, they returned to their +homes, and became firmer friends than ever.</p> + +<p>Now the man who had rescued the fox's <a name="Page_42" id="Page_42" />cub was a tradesman in good +circumstances: he had three or four agents and two maid-servants, +besides men-servants; and altogether he lived in a liberal manner. He +was married, and this union had brought him one son, who had reached his +tenth year, but had been attacked by a strange disease which defied all +the physicians' skill and drugs. At last a famous <ins class="correction" +style="text-decoration:none" +title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'physicain'.">physician</ins> prescribed +the liver taken from a live fox, which, as he said, would certainly +effect a cure. If that were not forthcoming, the most expensive medicine +in the world would not restore the boy to health. When the parents heard +this, they were at their wits' end. However, they told the state of the +case to a man who lived on the mountains. "Even though our child should +die for it," they said, "we will not ourselves deprive other creatures +of their lives; but you, who live among the hills, are sure to hear when +your neighbours go out fox-hunting. We don't care what price we might +have to pay for a fox's liver; pray, buy one for us at any expense." So +they pressed him to exert himself on their behalf; and he, having +promised faithfully to execute the commission, went his way.<a name="Page_43" id="Page_43" /></p> + +<p>In the night of the following day there came a messenger, who announced +himself as coming from the person who had undertaken to procure the +fox's liver; so the master of the house went out to see him.</p> + +<p>"I have come from Mr. So-and-so. Last night the fox's liver that you +required fell into his hands; so he sent me to bring it to you." With +these words the messenger produced a small jar, adding, "In a few days +he will let you know the price."</p> + +<p>When he had delivered his message, the master of the house was greatly +pleased and said, "Indeed, I am deeply grateful for this kindness, which +will save my son's life."</p> + +<p>Then the good wife came out, and received the jar with every mark of +politeness.</p> + +<p>"We must make a present to the messenger."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, sir, I've already been paid for my trouble."</p> + +<p>"Well, at any rate, you must stop the night here."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir: I've a relation in the next village whom I have not +seen for a long while, and I will pass the night with him;" and so he +took his leave, and went away.<a name="Page_44" id="Page_44" /></p> + +<p>The parents lost no time in sending to let the physician know that they +had procured the fox's liver. The next day the doctor came and +compounded a medicine for the patient, which at once produced a good +effect, and there was no little joy in the household. As luck would have +it, three days after this the man whom they had commissioned to buy the +fox's liver came to the house: so the goodwife hurried out to meet him +and welcome him.</p> + +<p>"How quickly you fulfilled our wishes, and how kind of you to send at +once! The doctor prepared the medicine, and now our boy can get up and +walk about the room; and it's all owing to your goodness."</p> + +<p>"Wait a bit!" cried the guest, who did not know what to make of the joy +of the two parents. "The commission with which you entrusted me about +the fox's liver turned out to be a matter of impossibility, so I came +to-day to make my excuses; and now I really can't understand what you +are so grateful to me for."</p> + +<p>"We are thanking you, sir," replied the master of the house, bowing with +his hands <a name="Page_45" id="Page_45" />on the ground, "for the fox's liver which we asked you to +procure for us."</p> + +<p>"I really am perfectly unaware of having sent you a fox's liver: there +must be some mistake here. Pray inquire carefully into the matter."</p> + +<p>"Well, this is very strange. Four nights ago, a man of some five or six +and thirty years of age came with a verbal message from you, to the +effect that you had sent him with a fox's liver, which you had just +procured, and said that he would come and tell us the price another day. +When we asked him to spend the night here, he answered that he would +lodge with a relation in the next village, and went away."</p> + +<p>The visitor was more and more lost in amazement, and, leaning his head +on one side in deep thought, confessed that he could make nothing of it. +As for the husband and wife, they felt quite out of countenance at +having thanked a man so warmly for favours of which he denied all +knowledge; and so the visitor took his leave and went home.</p> + +<p>That night there appeared at the pillow of the master of the house a +woman of about one or two and thirty years of age, who said:<a name="Page_46" id="Page_46" /> "I am the +fox that lives at such-and-such a mountain. Last spring, when I was +taking out my cub to play, it was carried off by some boys, and only +saved by your goodness. The desire to requite this kindness pierced me +to the quick. At last, when calamity attacked your house, I thought I +might be of use to you. Your son's illness could not be cured without a +liver taken from a live fox, so to repay your kindness I killed my cub +and took out its liver; then its sire, disguising himself as a +messenger, brought it to your house."</p> + +<p>And as she spoke, the fox shed tears; and the master of the house, +wishing to thank her, moved in bed, upon which his wife awoke and asked +him what was the matter; but he too, to her great astonishment, was +biting the pillow and weeping bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Why are you weeping thus?" asked she.</p> + +<p>At last he sat up in bed and said: "Last spring, when I was out on a +pleasure excursion, I was the means of saving the life of a fox's cub, +as I told you at the time. The other day I told Mr. So-and-so that, +although my son were to die before my eyes, I would not be the means of +killing a fox on purpose, but <a name="Page_47" id="Page_47" />asked him, in case he heard of any hunter +killing a fox, to buy it for me. How the foxes came to hear of this I +don't know; but the foxes to whom I had shown kindness killed their own +cub and took out the liver; and the old dog-fox, disguising himself as a +messenger from the person to whom we had confided the commission, came +here with it. His mate has just been at my pillow-side and told me all +about it. Hence it was that, in spite of myself, I was moved to tears."</p> + +<p>When she heard this, the goodwife likewise was blinded by her tears, and +for a while they lay lost in thought; but at last, coming to themselves, +they lighted the lamp on the shelf on which the family idol stood, and +spent the night in reciting prayers and praises, and the next day they +published the matter to the household and to their relations and +friends. Now, although there are instances of men killing their own +children to requite a favour, there is no other example of foxes having +done such a thing; so the story became the talk of the whole country.</p> + +<p>Now, the boy who had recovered through the efficacy of this medicine +selected the prettiest spot on the premises to erect a shrine <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48" />to Inari +Sama,<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href= "#footnote2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> the Fox God, and offered sacrifice to the two old foxes, for +whom he purchased the highest rank at the court of the Mikado.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The passage in the tale which speaks of rank being purchased for the +foxes at the court of the Mikado is, of course, a piece of nonsense. +"The saints who are worshipped in Japan," writes a native authority, +"are men who, in the remote ages, when the country was developing +itself, were sages, and by their great and virtuous deeds having earned +the gratitude of future generations, received divine honours after their +death. How can <a name="Page_49" id="Page_49" />the Son of Heaven, who is the father and mother of his +people, turn dealer in ranks and honours? If rank were a matter of +barter, it would cease to be a reward to the virtuous."</p> + +<p>All matters connected with the shrines of the Shintô, or indigenous +religion, are confided to the superintendence of the families of Yoshida +and Fushimi, Kugés or nobles of the Mikado's court at Kiyôto. The +affairs of the Buddhist or imported religion are under the care of the +family of Kanjuji. As it is necessary that those who as priests perform +the honourable office of serving the gods should be persons of some +standing, a certain small rank is procured for them through the +intervention of the representatives of the above noble families, who, on +the issuing of the required patent, receive as their perquisite a fee, +which, although insignificant in itself, is yet of importance to the +poor Kugés, whose penniless condition forms a great contrast to the +wealth of their inferiors in rank, the Daimios. I believe that this is +the only case in which rank can be bought or sold in Japan. In China, on +the contrary, in spite of what has been written by Meadows and other +admirers of the examination system, a man <a name="Page_50" id="Page_50" />can be what he pleases by +paying for it; and the coveted button, which is nominally the reward of +learning and ability, is more often the prize of wealthy ignorance.</p> + +<p>The saints who are alluded to above are the saints of the whole country, +as distinct from those who for special deeds are locally worshipped.</p> + +<p>Touching the remedy of the fox's liver, prescribed in the tale, I may +add that there would be nothing strange in this to a person acquainted +with the Chinese pharmacopoeia, which the Japanese long exclusively +followed, although they are now successfully studying the art of healing +as practised in the West. When I was at Peking, I saw a Chinese +physician prescribe a decoction of three scorpions for a child struck +down with fever; and on another occasion a groom of mine, suffering from +dysentery, was treated with acupuncture of the tongue. The art of +medicine would appear to be at the present time in China much in the +state in which it existed in Europe in the sixteenth century, when the +excretions and secretions of all manner of animals, saurians, and +venomous snakes and insects, and even live bugs, were administered to +patients.<a name="Page_51" id="Page_51" /> "Some physicians," says Matthiolus, "use the ashes of +scorpions, burnt alive, for retention caused by either renal or vesical +calculi. But I have myself thoroughly experienced the utility of an oil +I make myself, whereof scorpions form a very large portion of the +ingredients. If only the region of the heart and all the pulses of the +body be anointed with it, it will free the patients from the effects of +all kinds of poisons taken by the mouth, corrosive ones excepted." +Decoctions of Egyptian mummies were much commended, and often prescribed +with due academical solemnity; and the bones of the human skull, +pulverized and administered with oil, were used as a specific in cases +of renal calculus. (See Petri Andreæ Matthioli "Opera," 1574.)</p> + +<p>These remarks were made to me by a medical gentleman to whom I mentioned +the Chinese doctor's prescription of scorpion tea, and they seem to me +so curious that I insert them for comparison's sake.<a name="Page_52" id="Page_52" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII" />VII</h2> + +<h3>THE BADGER'S MONEY</h3> + + +<p>It is a common saying among men that to forget favours received is the +part of a bird or a beast: an ungrateful man will be ill spoken of by +all the world. And yet even birds and beasts will show gratitude; so +that a man who does not requite a favour is worse even than dumb brutes. +Is not this a disgrace?</p> + +<p>Once upon a time, in a hut at a place called Namékata, in Hitachi, there +lived an old priest famous neither for learning nor wisdom, but bent +only on passing his days in prayer and meditation. He had not even a +child to wait upon him, but prepared his food with his own hands. Night +and morning he recited the prayer "Namu Amida Butsu,"<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href= "#footnote3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> intent upon +that alone. Although the fame <a name="Page_53" id="Page_53" />of his virtue did not reach far, yet his +neighbours respected and revered him, and often brought him food and +raiment; and when his roof or his walls fell out of repair, they would +mend them for him; so for the things of this world he took no thought.</p> + +<p>One very cold night, when he little thought any one was outside, he +heard a voice calling, "Your reverence! your reverence!" So he rose and +went out to see who it was, and there he beheld an old badger standing. +Any ordinary man would have been greatly alarmed at the apparition; but +the priest, being such as he has been described above, showed no sign of +fear, but asked the creature its business. Upon this the badger +respectfully bent its knees and said:</p> + +<p>"Hitherto, sir, my lair has been in the mountains, and of snow or frost +I have taken no heed; but now I am growing old, and this severe cold is +more than I can bear. I pray you to let me enter and warm myself at the +fire of your cottage, that I may live through this bitter night."</p> + +<p>When the priest heard what a helpless state the beast was reduced to, he +was filled with pity and said:<a name="Page_54" id="Page_54" /></p> + +<p>"That's a very slight matter: make haste and come in and warm yourself."</p> + +<p>The badger, delighted with so good a reception, went into the hut, and +squatting down by the fire began to warm itself; and the priest, with +renewed fervour, recited his prayers and struck his bell before the +image of Buddha, looking straight before him.</p> + +<p>After two hours the badger took its leave, with profuse expressions of +thanks, and went out; and from that time forth it came every night to +the hut. As the badger would collect and bring with it dried branches +and dead leaves from the hills for firewood, the priest at last became +very friendly with it, and got used to its company; so that if ever, as +the night wore on, the badger did not arrive, he used to miss it, and +wonder why it did not come. When the winter was over, and the springtime +came at the end of the second month, the badger gave up its visits, and +was no more seen; but, on the return of the winter, the beast resumed +its old habit of coming to the hut. When this practice had gone on for +ten years, one day the badger said to the priest, "Through your +reverence's kindness for all these years, I have been able <a name="Page_55" id="Page_55" />to pass the +winter nights in comfort. Your favours are such that during all my life, +and even after my death, I must remember them. What can I do to requite +them? If there is anything that you wish for, pray tell me."</p> + +<p>The priest, smiling at this speech, answered: "Being such as I am, I +have no desire and no wishes. Glad as I am to hear your kind intentions, +there is nothing that I can ask you to do for me. You need feel no +anxiety on my account. As long as I live, when the winter comes, you +shall be welcome here." The badger, on hearing this, could not conceal +its admiration of the depth of the old man's benevolence; but having so +much to be grateful for, it felt hurt at not being able to requite it. +As this subject was often renewed between them, the priest at last, +touched by the goodness of the badger's heart, said: "Since I have +shaven my head, renounced the world, and forsaken the pleasures of this +life, I have no desire to gratify, yet I own I should like to possess +three riyos in gold. Food and raiment I receive by the favour of the +villagers, so I take no heed for those things. Were I to die to-morrow, +and attain my wish of being born again into the next world, the same +<a name="Page_56" id="Page_56" />kind folk have promised to meet and bury my body. Thus, although I have +no other reason to wish for money, still if I had three riyos I would +offer them up at some holy shrine, that masses and prayers might be said +for me, whereby I might enter into salvation. Yet I would not get this +money by violent or unlawful means; I only think of what might be if I +had it. So you see, since you have expressed such kind feelings toward +me, I have told you what is on my mind." When the priest had done +speaking, the badger leant its head on one side with a puzzled and +anxious look, so much so that the old man was sorry he had expressed a +wish which seemed to give the beast trouble, and tried to retract what +he had said. "Posthumous honours, after all, are the wish of ordinary +men. I, who am a priest, ought not to entertain such thoughts, or to +want money; so pray pay no attention to what I have said;" and the +badger, feigning assent to what the priest had impressed upon it, +returned to the hills as usual.</p> + +<p>From that time forth the badger came no more to the hut. The priest +thought this very strange, but imagined either that the badger stayed +away because it did not like <a name="Page_57" id="Page_57" />to come without the money, or that it had +been killed in an attempt to steal it; and he blamed himself for having +added to his sins for no purpose, repenting when it was too late: +persuaded, however, that the badger must have been killed, he passed his +time in putting up prayers upon prayers for it.</p> + +<p>After three years had gone by, one night the old man heard a voice near +his door calling out, "Your reverence! your reverence!"</p> + +<p>As the voice was like that of the badger, he jumped up as soon as he +heard it, and ran to open the door; and there, sure enough, was the +badger. The priest, in great delight, cried out: "And so you are safe +and sound, after all! Why have you been so long without coming here? I +have been expecting you anxiously this long while."</p> + +<p>So the badger came into the hut and said: "If the money which you +required had been for unlawful purposes, I could easily have procured as +much as ever you might have wanted; but when I heard that it was to be +offered to a temple for masses for your soul, I thought that, if I were +to steal the hidden treasure of some other man, you could not apply to a +sacred purpose money which had <a name="Page_58" id="Page_58" />been obtained at the expense of his +sorrow. So I went to the island of Sado,<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href= "#footnote4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and gathering the sand and +earth which had been cast away as worthless by the miners, fused it +afresh in the fire; and at this work I spent months and days." As the +badger finished speaking, the priest looked at the money which it had +produced, and sure enough he saw that it was bright and new and clean; +so he took the money, and received it respectfully, raising it to his +head.</p> + +<p>"And so you have had all this toil and labour on account of a foolish +speech of mine? I have obtained my heart's desire, and am truly +thankful."</p> + +<p>As he was thanking the badger with great politeness and ceremony, the +beast said: "In doing this I have but fulfilled my own wish; still I +hope that you will tell this thing to no man."</p> + +<p>"Indeed," replied the priest, "I cannot choose but tell this story. For +if I keep this money in my poor hut, it will be stolen by thieves: I +must either give it to some one to keep for me, or else at once offer it +up at <a name="Page_59" id="Page_59" />the temple. And when I do this, when people see a poor old priest +with a sum of money quite unsuited to his station, they will think it +very suspicious, and I shall have to tell the tale as it occurred; but I +shall say that the badger that gave me the money has ceased coming to my +hut, you need not fear being waylaid, but can come, as of old, and +shelter yourself from the cold." To this the badger nodded assent; and +as long as the old priest lived, it came and spent the winter nights +with him.</p> + +<p>From this story, it is plain that even beasts have a sense of gratitude: +in this quality dogs excel all other beasts. Is not the story of the dog +of Totoribé Yorodzu written in the Annals of Japan? +I<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href= "#footnote5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> have heard that +many anecdotes of this nature have been collected and printed in a book, +which I have not yet seen; but as the facts which I have recorded relate +to a badger, they appear to me to be passing strange.<a name="Page_60" id="Page_60" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII" />VIII</h2> + +<h3>WHY BROTHER BEAR HAS NO TAIL</h3> + + +<p>"I 'clar' ter gracious, honey," Uncle Remus exclaimed one night, as the +little boy ran in, "you sholy ain't chaw'd yo' vittles. Hit ain't bin no +time, skacely, sence de supper-bell rung, en ef you go on dis a-way, +you'll des nat'ally pe'sh yo'se'f out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wasn't hungry," said the little boy. "I had something before +supper, and I wasn't hungry anyway."</p> + +<p>The old man looked keenly at the child, and presently he said:</p> + +<p>"De ins en de outs er dat kinder talk all come ter de same p'int in my +min'. Youer bin a-cuttin' up at de table, en Mars John, he tuck'n sont +you 'way fum dar, en w'iles he think youer off some'er a-snifflin' en +a-feelin' bad, yer you is a-high-primin' 'roun' des lak you done had mo' +supper dan de King er Philanders."</p> + +<p>Before the little boy could inquire about <a name="Page_61" id="Page_61" />the King of Philanders he +heard his father calling him. He started to go out, but Uncle Remus +motioned him back.</p> + +<p>"Des set right whar you is, honey—des set right still."</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Remus went to the door and answered for the child; and a very +queer answer it was—one that could be heard half over the plantation:</p> + +<p>"Mars John, I wish you en Miss Sally be so good ez ter let dat chile +'lone. He down yer cryin' he eyes out, en he ain't boddern' 'long er +nobody in de roun' worl'."</p> + +<p>Uncle Remus stood in the door a moment to see what the reply would be, +but he heard none. Thereupon he continued, in the same loud tone:</p> + +<p>"I ain't bin use ter no sich gwines on in Ole Miss time, en I ain't +gwine git use ter it now. Dat I ain't."</p> + +<p>Presently 'Tildy, the house-girl, brought the little boy his supper, and +the girl was no sooner out of hearing than the child swapped it with +Uncle Remus for a roasted yam, and the enjoyment of both seemed to be +complete.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Remus," said the little boy, after a while, "you know I wasn't +crying just now."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_62" id="Page_62" />Dat's so, honey," the old man replied, "but 't wouldn't er bin long +'fo' you would er bin, kaze Mars John bawl out lak a man wa't got a +strop in he han', so wa't de diff'unce?"</p> + +<p>When they had finished eating, Uncle Remus busied himself in cutting and +trimming some sole-leather for future use. His knife was so keen, and +the leather fell away from it so smoothly and easily, that the little +boy wanted to trim some himself. But to this Uncle Remus would not +listen.</p> + +<p>"'Tain't on'y chilluns w'at got de consate er doin' eve'ything dey see +yuther folks do. Hit's grown folks w'at oughter know better," said the +old man. "Dat's des de way Brer B'ar git his tail broke off +smick-smack-smoove, en down ter dis day he be funnies'-lookin' creetur +w'at wobble on top er dry groun'."</p> + +<p>Instantly the little boy forgot all about Uncle Remus's sharp knife.</p> + +<p>"Hit seem lak dat in dem days Brer Rabbit en Brer Tarrypin done gone in +cohoots fer ter outdo de t'er creeturs. One time Brer Rabbit tuck'n make +a call on Brer Tarrypin, but w'en he git ter Brer Tarrypin house, he +year talk fum Miss Tarrypin dat her ole man done <a name="Page_63" id="Page_63" />gone fer ter spen' de +day wid Mr. Mud-Turkle, w'ich dey wuz blood kin. Brer Rabbit he put out +atter Brer Tarrypin, en w'en he got ter Mr. Mud-Turkle house, dey all +sot up, dey did, en tole tales, en den w'en twelf er' clock come dey had +crawfish fer dinner, en dey 'joy deyse'f right erlong. Atter dinner dey +went down ter Mr. Mud-Turkle mill-pon,' en w'en dey git dar Mr. +Mud-Turkle en Brer Tarrypin dey 'muse deyse'f, dey did, wid slidin' fum +de top uv a big slantin' rock down inter de water.</p> + +<p>"I'speck you moughter seen rocks in de water 'fo' now, whar dey git +green en slipp'y," said Uncle Remus.</p> + +<p>The little boy had not only seen them, but had found them to be very +dangerous to walk upon, and the old man continued:</p> + +<p>"Well, den, dish yer rock wuz mighty slick en mighty slantin'. Mr. +Mud-Turkle, he'd crawl ter de top, en tu'n loose, en go a-sailin' down +inter de water—<i>kersplash!</i> Ole Brer Tarrypin, he'd foller atter, en +slide down inter de water—<i>kersplash!</i> Ole Brer Rabbit, he sot off, he +did, en praise um up.</p> + +<p>"W'iles dey wuz a-gwine on dis a-way, a-havin' der fun, en 'joyin' +deyse'f, yer come <a name="Page_64" id="Page_64" />ole Brer B'ar. He year um laffin' en holl'in', en he +hail um.</p> + +<p>"'Heyo, folks! W'at all dis? Ef my eye ain't 'ceive me, dish yer's Brer +Rabbit, en Brer Tarrypin, en ole Unk' Tommy Mud-Turkle,' sez Brer B'ar, +sezee.</p> + +<p>"'De same,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, 'en yer we is 'joyin' de day dat +passes des lak dey wa'n't no hard times.'</p> + +<p>"'Well, well, well!' sez ole Brer B'ar, sezee, 'a-slippin' en a-slidin' +en makin' free! En w'at de matter wid Brer Rabbit dat he ain't j'inin' +in?' sezee.</p> + +<p>"Ole Brer Rabbit he wink at Brer Tarrypin, en Brer Tarrypin he hunch Mr. +Mud-Turkle, en den Brer Rabbit he up'n 'low, he did:</p> + +<p>"'My goodness, Brer B'ar! you can't 'speck a man fer ter slip en slide +de whole blessid day, kin you? I done had my fun, en now I'm a-settin' +out yer lettin' my cloze dry. Hit's tu'n en tu'n about wid me en deze +gents w'en dey's any fun gwine on,' sezee.</p> + +<p>"'Maybe Brer B'ar might jine in wid us,' sez Brer Tarrypin, sezee.</p> + +<p>"Brer Rabbit he des holler en laff.</p> + +<p>"'Shoo!' sezee, 'Brer B'ar foot too big en <a name="Page_65" id="Page_65" />he tail too long fer ter +slide down dat rock,' sezee.</p> + +<p>"Dis kinder put Brer B'ar on he mettle, en he up'n 'spon', he did:</p> + +<p>"'Maybe dey is, en maybe dey ain't, yit I ain't a-feared ter try.'</p> + +<p>"Wid dat de yuthers tuck'n made way fer 'im, en ole Brer B'ar he git up +on de rock he did, en squot down on he hunkers, en quile he tail und' +'im, en start down. Fus' he go sorter slow, en he grin lak he feel good; +den he go sorter peart, en he grin lak he feel bad; den he go mo' +pearter, en he grin lak he skeerd; den he strack de slick part, en, +gentermens! he swaller de grin en fetch a howl dat moughter bin yeard a +mile, en he hit de water lak a chimbly a-fallin'.</p> + +<p>"You kin gimme denial," Uncle Remus continued after a little pause, "but +des ez sho' ez you er settin' dar, w'en Brer B'ar slick'd up en flew +down dat rock, he break off he tail right smick-smack-smoove, en mo'n +dat, w'en he make his disappear'nce up de big road, Brer Rabbit holler +out:</p> + +<p>"'Brer B'ar!—O Brer B'ar! I year tell dat flaxseed poultices is mighty +good fer so' places!'</p> + +<p>"Yit Brer B'ar ain't look back."<a name="Page_66" id="Page_66" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX" />IX</h2> + +<h3>THE ORIGIN OF RUBIES</h3> + + +<p>There was a certain king who died leaving four sons behind him with his +queen. The queen was passionately fond of the youngest of the princes. +She gave him the best robes, the best horses, the best food, and the +best furniture. The other three princes became exceedingly jealous of +their youngest brother, and, conspiring against him and their mother, +made them live in a separate house, and took possession of the estate. +Owing to overindulgence, the youngest prince had become very wilful. He +never listened to any one, not even to his mother, but had his own way +in everything. One day he went with his mother to bathe in the river. A +large boat was riding there at anchor. None of the boatmen were in it. +The prince went into the boat, and told his mother to come into it. His +mother besought him to get down from the boat, as it did not <a name="Page_67" id="Page_67" />belong to +him. But the prince said, "No, mother I am not coming down; I mean to go +on a voyage, and if you wish to come with me, then delay not but come up +at once, or I shall be off in a trice." The queen besought the prince to +do no such thing, but to come down instantly. But the prince gave no +heed to what she said, and began to take up the anchor. The queen went +up into the boat in great haste; and the moment she was on board the +boat started, and falling into the current passed on swiftly like an +arrow. The boat went on and on till it reached the sea. After it had +gone many furlongs into the open sea, the boat came near a whirlpool +where the prince saw a great many rubies of monstrous size floating on +the waters. Such large rubies no one had ever seen, each being in value +equal to the wealth of seven kings. The prince caught hold of +half-a-dozen of those rubies, and put them on board. His mother said, +"Darling, don't take up those red balls; they must belong to somebody +who has been shipwrecked, and we may be taken up as thieves." At the +repeated entreaties of his mother, the prince threw them into the sea, +keeping only one tied up in his <a name="Page_68" id="Page_68" />clothes. The boat then drifted toward +the coast, and the queen and the prince arrived at a certain port where +they landed.</p> + +<p>The port where they landed was not a small place; it was a large city, +the capital of a great king. Not far from the palace, the queen and her +son hired a hut where they lived. As the prince was yet a boy, he was +fond of playing at marbles. When the children of the king came out to +play on a lawn before the palace, our young prince joined them. He had +no marbles, but he played with the ruby which he had in his possession. +The ruby was so hard that it broke every taw against which it struck. +The daughter of the king, who used to watch the games from a balcony of +the palace, was astonished to see a brilliant red ball in the hand of +the strange lad, and wanted to take possession of it. She told her +father that a boy of the street had an uncommonly bright stone in his +possession which she must have or else she would starve herself to +death. The king ordered his servants to bring to him the lad with that +precious stone. When the boy was brought, the king wondered at the +largeness and brilliancy of the ruby. He had never seen anything <a name="Page_69" id="Page_69" />like +it. He doubted whether any king of any country in the world possessed so +great a treasure. He asked the lad where he had got it. The lad replied +that he got it from the sea. The king offered a thousand rupees for the +ruby, and the lad, not knowing its value, readily parted with it for +that sum. He went with the money to his mother, who was not a little +frightened, thinking that her son had stolen the money from some rich +man's house. She became quiet, however, on being assured that the money +was given to him by the king in exchange for the red ball which he had +picked up in the sea.</p> + +<p>The king's daughter, on getting the ruby put it in her hair, and, +standing before her pet parrot, said to the bird, "Oh, my darling +parrot, don't I look very beautiful with this ruby in my hair?" The +parrot replied, "Beautiful! you look quite hideous with it! What +princess ever puts only one ruby in her hair? It would be somewhat +feasible if you had two at least." Stung with shame at the reproach cast +in her teeth by the parrot, the princess went into the grief-chamber of +the palace, and would neither eat nor drink. The king was not a little +concerned when he <a name="Page_70" id="Page_70" />heard that his daughter had gone into the +grief-chamber. He went to her, and asked her the cause of her grief. The +princess told the king what her pet parrot had said, and added, "Father, +if you do not procure for me another ruby like this, I'll put an end to +my life by mine own hands." The king was overwhelmed with grief. Where +was he to get another ruby like it? He doubted whether another like it +could be found in the whole world. He ordered the lad who had sold the +ruby, to be brought into his presence. "Have you, young man," asked the +king, "another ruby like the one you sold me?" The lad replied: "No, I +have not got one. Why, do you want another? I can give you lots, if you +wish to have them. They are to be found in a whirlpool in the sea, far, +far away. I can go and fetch some for you." Amazed at the lad's reply, +the king offered rich rewards for procuring only another ruby of the +same sort.</p> + +<p>The lad went home and said to his mother that he must go to sea again to +fetch some rubies for the king. The woman was quite frightened at the +idea, and begged him not to go. But the lad was resolved on going, and +<a name="Page_71" id="Page_71" />nothing could prevent him from carrying out his purpose. He accordingly +went alone on board that same vessel which had brought him and his +mother, and set sail. He reached the whirlpool, from near which he had +formerly picked up the rubies. This time, however, he determined to go +to the exact spot whence the rubies were coming out. He went to the +centre of the whirlpool, where he saw a gap reaching to the bottom of +the ocean. He dived into it, leaving his boat to wheel round the +whirlpool. When he reached the bottom of the ocean he saw there a +beautiful palace. He went inside. In the central room of the palace +there was the god Siva, with his eyes closed, and absorbed apparently in intense +<ins class= "correction" style= "text-decoration:none" +title= "Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'meditatiom'.">meditation</ins>. +A few feet above Siva's head was a platform, on +which lay a young lady of exquisite beauty. The prince went to the +platform and saw that the head of the lady was separated from her body. +Horrified at the sight, he did not know what to make of it. He saw a +stream of blood trickling from the severed head, falling upon the matted +head of Siva, and running into the ocean in the form of rubies. After a +little two small rods, one of silver and one of gold, which were <a name="Page_72" id="Page_72" />lying +near the head of the lady, attracted his eyes. As he took up the rods in +his hands, the golden rod accidentally fell upon the head, on which the +head immediately joined itself to the body, and the lady got up. +Astonished at the sight of a human being, the lady asked the prince who +he was and how he had got there. After hearing the story of the prince's +adventures, the lady said, "Unhappy young man, depart instantly from +this place; for when Siva finishes his meditations he will turn you to +ashes by a single glance of his eyes." The young man, however, would not +go except in her company, as he was over head and ears in love with the +beautiful lady. At last they both contrived to run away from the palace, +and coming up to the surface of the ocean they climbed into the boat +near the centre of the whirlpool, and sailed away toward land, having +previously laden the vessel with a cargo of rubies. The wonder of the +prince's mother at seeing the beautiful damsel may be well imagined. +Early next morning the prince sent a basin full of big rubies, through a +servant. The king was astonished beyond measure. His daughter, on +getting the rubies, resolved on marrying <a name="Page_73" id="Page_73" />the wonderful lad who had made +a present of them to her. Though the prince had a wife, whom he had +brought up from the depths of the ocean, he consented to have a second +wife. They were accordingly married, and lived happily for years, +begetting sons and daughters.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>Here my story endeth,<br /></span> +<span>The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74" /></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="X" id="X" />X</h2> + +<h3>LONG, BROAD, AND SHARPSIGHT</h3> + + +<p>There was a king, who was already old, and had but one son. Once upon a +time he called this son to him and said to him: "My dear son! you know +that old fruit falls to make room for other fruit. My head is already +ripening, and maybe the sun will soon no longer shine upon it; but +before you bury me, I should like to see your wife, my future daughter. +My son, marry!" The prince said: "I would gladly, father, do as you +wish; but I have no bride, and don't know any." The old king put his +hand into his pocket, took out a golden key and showed it to his son, +with the words, "go up into the tower, to the top story, look round +there, and then tell me which you fancy." The prince went without delay. +Nobody within the memory of man had been up there or had ever heard what +was up there.</p> + +<p>When he got up to the last story, he saw <a name="Page_75" id="Page_75" />in the ceiling a little iron +door like a trap-door. It was closed. He opened it with the golden key, +lifted it, and went up above it. There was a large circular room. The +ceiling was blue like the sky on a clear night, and silver stars +glittered on it, the floor was a carpet of green silk, and around in the +wall were twelve high windows in golden frames, and in each window on +crystal glass was a damsel painted with the colours of the rainbow, with +a royal crown on her head, in each window a different one in a different +dress, each handsomer than the other, and it was a wonder that the +prince did not let his eyes dwell upon them. When he had gazed at them +with astonishment, the damsels began to move as if they were alive, +looked down upon him, smiled, and did everything but speak.</p> + +<p>Now the prince observed that one of the twelve windows was covered with +a white curtain; he drew the curtain to see what was behind it. There +there was a damsel in a white dress, girt with a silver girdle, with a +crown of pearls on her head; she was the most beautiful of all, but was +sad and pale, as if she had risen from the grave. The prince stood long +before the picture, as if he had made <a name="Page_76" id="Page_76" />a discovery, and as he thus +gazed, his heart pained him, and he cried, "This one will I have, and no +other." As he said the words the damsel bowed her head, blushed like a +rose, and that instant all the pictures disappeared.</p> + +<p>When he went down and related to his father what he had seen and which +damsel he had selected, the old king became sad, bethought himself, and +said: "You have done ill, my son, in uncovering what was curtained over, +and have placed yourself in great danger on account of those words. That +damsel is in the power of a wicked wizard, and kept captive in an iron +castle; of all who have attempted to set her free, not one has hitherto +returned. But what's done cannot be undone; the plighted word is a law. +Go! try your luck, and return home safe and sound!"</p> + +<p>The prince took leave of his father, mounted his horse, and rode away in +search of his bride. It came to pass that he rode through a vast forest, +and through the forest he rode on and on till he lost the road. And as +he was wandering with his horse in thickets and amongst rocks and +morasses, not knowing which way <a name="Page_77" id="Page_77" />to turn, he heard somebody shout behind +him, "Hi! stop!" The prince looked round, and saw a tall man hastening +after him. "Stop and take me with you, and take me into your service, +and you won't regret it!" "Who are you," said the prince, "and what can +you do?" "My name is Long, and I can extend myself. Do you see a bird's +nest in that pine yonder? I will bring you the nest down without having +to climb up."</p> + +<p>Long then began to extend himself; his body grew rapidly till it was as +tall as the pine; he then reached the nest, and in a moment contracted +himself again and gave it to the prince. "You know your business well, +but what's the use of birds' nests to me, if you can't conduct me out of +this forest?"</p> + +<p>"Ahem! that's an easy matter," said Long, and began to extend himself +till he was thrice as high as the highest fir in the forest, looked +round, and said: "Here on this side we have the nearest way out of the +forest." He then contracted himself, took the horse by the bridle, and +before the prince had any idea of it, they were beyond the forest. +Before them was a long and wide plain, and beyond the plain tall gray +rocks like the walls of a <a name="Page_78" id="Page_78" />large town, and mountains overgrown with +forest trees.</p> + +<p>"Yonder, sir, goes my comrade!" said Long, and pointed suddenly to the +plain; "you should take him also into your service; I believe he would +serve you well." "Shout to him, and call him hither, that I may see what +he is good for." "It is a little too far, sir," said Long; "he would +hardly hear me, and it would take a long time before he came, because he +has a great deal to carry. I'll jump after him instead." Then Long again +extended himself to such a height that his head plunged into the clouds, +made two or three steps, took his comrade by the arm, and placed him +before the prince. He was a short, thick-set fellow, with a paunch like +a sixty-four-gallon cask. "Who are you?" demanded the prince, "and what +can you do?" "My name, sir, is Broad; I can widen myself." "Give me a +specimen." "Ride quick, sir, quick, back into the forest!" cried Broad, +as he began to blow himself out.</p> + +<p>The prince didn't understand why he was to ride away; but seeing that +Long made all haste to get into the forest, he spurred his horse and +rode full gallop after him. It was high <a name="Page_79" id="Page_79" />time that he did ride away, or +else Broad would have squashed him, horse and all, as his paunch rapidly +grew in all directions; it filled everything everywhere, just as if a +mountain had rolled up. Broad then ceased to blow himself out, and took +himself in again, raising such a wind that the trees in the forest bowed +and bent, and became what he was at first. "You have played me a nice +trick," said the prince, "but I shan't find such a fellow every day; +come with me."</p> + +<p>They proceeded further. When they approached the rocks, they met a man +who had his eyes bandaged with a handkerchief. "Sir, this is our third +comrade," said Long, "you ought to take him also into your service. I'm +sure he won't eat his victuals for naught."</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" the prince asked him, "and why are your eyes bandaged? +You don't see your way!" "No, sir, quite the contrary! It is just +because I see too well that I am obliged to bandage my eyes; I see with +bandaged eyes just as well as others with unbandaged eyes; and if I +unbandage them I look everything through and through, and when I gaze +sharply at anything it catches fire and bursts into flame, and what +can't burn splits <a name="Page_80" id="Page_80" />into pieces. For this reason my name is Sharpsight." +He then turned to a rock opposite, removed the bandage, and fixed his +flaming eyes upon it; the rock began to crackle, pieces flew on every +side, and in a very short time nothing of it remained but a heap of +sand, on which something glittered like fire. Sharpsight went to fetch +it, and brought it to the prince. It was pure gold.</p> + +<p>"Heigho! you're a fellow that money can't purchase!" said the prince. +"He is a fool who wouldn't make use of your services, and if you have +such good sight, look and tell me whether it is far to the iron castle, +and what is now going on there?" "If you rode by yourself, sir," +answered Sharpsight, "maybe you wouldn't get there within a year; but +with us you'll arrive to-day—they're just getting supper ready for us." +"And what is my bride doing?"</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"An iron lattice is before her,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">In a tower that's high<br /></span> +<span class="i3">She doth sit and sigh,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">A wizard watch and ward keeps o'er her."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The prince cried, "Whoever is well disposed, help me to set her free!" +They all promised <a name="Page_81" id="Page_81" />to help him. They guided him among the gray rocks +through the breach that Sharpsight had made in them with his eyes, and +farther and farther on through rocks, through high mountains and deep +forests, and wherever there was any obstacle in the road, forthwith it +was removed by the three comrades. And when the sun was declining toward +the west, the mountains began to become lower, the forests less dense, +and the rocks concealed themselves amongst the heath; and when it was +almost on the point of setting, the prince saw not far before him an +iron castle; and when it was actually setting, he rode by an iron bridge +to the gate, and as soon as it had set, up rose the iron bridge of +itself, the gate closed with a single movement, and the prince and his +companions were captives in the iron castle.</p> + +<p>When they had looked round the court, the prince put his horse up in the +stable, where everything was ready for it, and then they went into the +castle. In the court, in the stable, in the castle hall, and in the +rooms, they saw in the twilight many richly-dressed people, gentlemen +and servants, but not one of them stirred—they were all turned to +<a name="Page_82" id="Page_82" />stone. They went through several rooms, and came into the supper-room. +This was brilliantly lighted up, and in the midst was a table, and on it +plenty of good meats and drinks, and covers were laid for four persons. +They waited and waited, thinking that some one would come: but when +nobody came for a long time, they sat down and ate and drank what the +palate fancied.</p> + +<p>When they had done eating, they looked about to find where to sleep. +Thereupon the door flew open unexpectedly all at once, and into the room +came the wizard; a bent old man in a long black garb, with a bald head, +a gray beard down to his knees, and three iron hoops instead of a +girdle. By the hand he led a beautiful, very beautiful damsel, dressed +in white; she had a silver girdle round her waist, and a crown of pearls +on her head, but was pale and sad, as if she had risen from the grave. +The prince recognized her at once, sprang forward, and went to meet her; +but before he could utter a word the wizard addressed him: "I know for +what you have come; you want to take the princess away. Well, be it so! +Take her, if you can keep her in sight for three nights, so that she +<a name="Page_83" id="Page_83" />doesn't vanish from you. If she vanishes, you will be turned into stone +as well as your three servants; like all who have come before you." He +then motioned the princess to a seat and departed.</p> + +<p>The prince could not take his eyes off the princess, so beautiful was +she. He began to talk to her, and asked her all manner of questions, but +she neither answered nor smiled, nor looked at any one more than if she +had been of marble. He sat down by her, and determined not to sleep all +night long lest she should vanish from him, and, to make surer, Long +extended himself like a strap, and wound himself round the whole room +along the wall; Broad posted himself in the doorway, swelled himself up, +and stopped it up so tight that not even a mouse could have slipped +through; while Sharpsight placed himself against a pillar in the midst +of the room on the look-out. But after a time they all began to nod, +fell asleep, and slept the whole night, just as if the wizard had thrown +them into the water.</p> + +<p>In the morning, when it began to dawn, the prince was the first to wake, +but—as if a knife had been thrust into his heart—<a name="Page_84" id="Page_84" />the princess was +gone! He forthwith awoke his servants, and asked what was to be done. +"Never mind, sir," said Sharpsight, and looked sharply out through the +window, "I see her already. A hundred miles hence is a forest, in the +midst of the forest an old oak, and on the top of the oak an acorn, and +she is that acorn." Long immediately took him on his shoulders, extended +himself, and went ten miles at a step, while Sharpsight showed him the +way.</p> + +<p>No more time elapsed than would have been wanted to move once round a +cottage before they were back again, and Long delivered the acorn to the +prince. "Sir, let it fall on the ground." The prince let it fall and +that moment the princess stood beside him. And when the sun began to +show itself beyond the mountains, the folding doors flew open with a +crash, and the wizard entered the room and smiled spitefully; but when +he saw the princess he frowned, growled, and bang! one of the iron hoops +which he wore splintered and sprang off him. He then took the damsel by +the hand and led her away.</p> + +<p>The whole day after the prince had nothing to do but walk up and down +the castle, and <a name="Page_85" id="Page_85" />round about the castle, and look at the wonderful +things that were there. It was everywhere as if life had been lost in a +single moment. In one hall he saw a prince, who held in both hands a +brandished sword, as if he intended to cleave somebody in twain; but the +blow never fell: he had been turned into stone. In one chamber was a +knight turned into stone, just as if he had been fleeing from some one +in terror, and, stumbling on the threshold, had taken a downward +direction, but not fallen. Under the chimney sat a servant, who held in +one hand a piece of roast meat, and with the other lifted a mouthful +toward his mouth, which never reached it; when it was just in front of +his mouth, he had also been turned to stone. Many others he saw there +turned to stone, each in the position in which he was when the wizard +said, "Be turned into stone." He likewise saw many fine horses turned to +stone, and in the castle and round the castle all was desolate and dead; +there were trees, but without leaves; there were meadows, but without +grass; there was a river but it did not flow; nowhere was there even a +singing bird, or a flower, the offspring of the ground, or a white fish +in the water.<a name="Page_86" id="Page_86" /></p> + +<p>Morning, noon, and evening the prince and his companions found good and +abundant entertainment in the castle; the viands came of themselves, the +wine poured itself out. After supper the folding doors opened again, and +the wizard brought in the princess for the prince to guard. And although +they all determined to exert themselves with all their might not to fall +asleep, yet it was of no use, fall asleep again they did. And when the +prince awoke at dawn and saw the princess had vanished, he jumped up and +pulled Sharpsight by the arm, "Hey! get up, Sharpsight, do you know +where the princess is?" He rubbed his eyes, looked, and said: "I see +her. There's a mountain two hundred miles off, and in the mountain a +rock, and in the rock a precious stone, and she's that precious stone. +If Long carries me thither, we shall obtain her."</p> + +<p>Long took him at once on his shoulders, extended himself, and went +twenty miles at a step. Sharpsight fixed his flaming eyes on the +mountain, the mountain crumbled, and the rock in it split into a +thousand pieces, and amongst them glittered the precious stone. They +took it up and brought it to <a name="Page_87" id="Page_87" />the prince, and when he let it fall on the +ground, the princess again stood there. When afterward the wizard came +and saw her there, his eyes flashed with spite, and bang! again an iron +hoop cracked upon him and flew off. He growled and led the princess out +of the room.</p> + +<p>That day all was again as it had been the day before. After supper the +wizard brought the princess in again, looked the prince keenly in the +face, and scornfully uttered the words, "It will be seen who's a match +for whom; whether you are victorious or I," and with that he departed. +This night they all exerted themselves still more to avoid going to +sleep. They wouldn't even sit down, they wanted to walk about all night +long, but all in vain; they were bewitched; one fell asleep after the +other as he walked and the princess vanished away from them.</p> + +<p>In the morning the prince again awoke earliest, and, when he didn't see +the princess, woke Sharpsight. "Hey! get up, Sharpsight! look where the +princess is!" Sharpsight looked out for a long time. "Oh, sir," says he, +"she is a long way off, a long way off! Three hundred miles off is a +black sea, and <a name="Page_88" id="Page_88" />in the midst of the sea a shell on the bottom, and in +the shell is a gold ring, and she's the ring. But never mind! we shall +obtain her, but to-day Long must take Broad with him as well; we shall +want him." Long took Sharpsight on one shoulder, and Broad on the other, +and went thirty miles at a step. When they came to the black sea, +Sharpsight showed him where he must reach into the water for the shell. +Long extended his hand as far as he could, but could not reach the +bottom.</p> + +<p>"Wait, comrades! wait only a little and I'll help you," said Broad, and +swelled himself out as far as his paunch would stretch; he then lay down +on the shore and drank. In a very short time the water fell so low that +Long easily reached the bottom and took the shell out of the sea. Out of +it he extracted the ring, took his comrades on his shoulders and +hastened back. But on the way he found it a little difficult to run with +Broad, who had half a sea of water inside him, so he cast him from his +shoulder on to the ground in a wide valley. Thump he went like a sack +let fall from a tower, and in a moment the whole valley was under water +like a vast lake. Broad himself barely crawled out of it.<a name="Page_89" id="Page_89" /></p> + +<p>Meanwhile the prince was in great trouble in the castle. The dawn began +to display itself over the mountains, and his servants had not returned; +the more brilliantly the rays ascended, the greater was his anxiety; a +deadly perspiration came out upon his forehead. Soon the sun showed +itself in the east like a thin slip of flame—and then with a loud crash +the door flew open, and on the threshold stood the wizard. He looked +round the room, and seeing the princess was not there, laughed a hateful +laugh and entered the room. But just at that moment, pop! the window +flew in pieces, the gold ring fell on the floor, and in an instant there +stood the princess again. Sharpsight, seeing what was going on in the +castle, and in what danger his master was, told Long. Long made a step, +and threw the ring through the window into the room. The wizard roared +with rage till the castle quaked, and then, bang! went the third iron +hoop that was round his waist, and sprang off him; the wizard turned +into a raven, and flew out and away through the shattered window.</p> + +<p>Then, and not till then, did the beautiful damsel speak and thank the +prince for setting <a name="Page_90" id="Page_90" />her free, and blushed like a rose. In the castle and +round the castle everything became alive again at once. He who was +holding in the hall the outstretched sword, swung it into the air, which +whistled again, and then returned it to its sheath; he who was stumbling +on the threshold, fell on the ground, but immediately got up again and +felt his nose to see whether it was still entire; he who was sitting +under the chimney put the piece of meat into his mouth and went on +eating; and thus everybody completed what he had begun doing, and at the +point where he had left off. In the stables the horses merrily stamped +and snorted, the trees round the castle became green like periwinkles, +the meadows were full of variegated flowers, high in the air warbled the +skylark, and abundance of small fishes appeared in the clear river. +Everywhere was life, everywhere enjoyment.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile a number of gentlemen assembled in the room where the prince +was, and all thanked him for their liberation. But he said: "You have +nothing to thank me for; if it had not been for my trusty servants Long, +Broad, and Sharpsight, I too, should have been what you were." He then +immediately <a name="Page_91" id="Page_91" />started on his way home to the old king, his father, with +his bride and servants. On the way they met Broad and took him with +them.</p> + +<p>The old king wept for joy at the success of his son; he had thought he +would return no more. Soon afterward there was a grand wedding, the +festivities of which lasted three weeks; all the gentlemen that the +prince had liberated were invited. After the wedding Long, Broad, and +Sharpsight announced to the young king that they were going again into +the world to look for work. The young king tried to persuade them to +stay with him. "I will give you everything you want, as long as you +live," said he; "you needn't work at all." But they didn't like such an +idle life, took leave of him, went away, and have been ever since +knocking about somewhere or other in the world.<a name="Page_92" id="Page_92" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI" />XI</h2> + +<h3>INTELLIGENCE AND LUCK</h3> + + +<p>Once upon a time Luck met Intelligence on a garden-seat. "Make room for +me!" said Luck. Intelligence was then as yet inexperienced, and didn't +know who ought to make room for whom. He said: "Why should I make room +for you? you're no better than I." "He's the better man," answered Luck, +"who performs most. See you there yon peasant's son who's ploughing in +the field? Enter into him, and if he gets on better through you than +through me, I'll always submissively make way for you, whensoever and +wheresoever we meet." Intelligence agreed, and entered at once into the +ploughboy's head. As soon as the ploughboy felt that he had intelligence +in his head, he began to think: "Why must I follow the plough to the day +of my death? I can go somewhere else and make my fortune more easily." +He left off ploughing, put up the plough, and drove home.<a name="Page_93" id="Page_93" /> "Daddy," says +he, "I don't like this peasant's life; I'd rather learn to be a +gardener." His father said: "What ails you, Vanek? have you lost your +wits?" However, he bethought himself and said: "Well, if you will, +learn, and God be with you! Your brother will be heir to the cottage +after me." Vanek lost the cottage, but he didn't care for that, but went +and put himself apprentice to the king's gardener. For every little that +the gardener showed him, Vanek comprehended ever so much more. Ere long +he didn't even obey the gardener's orders as to how he ought to do +anything, but did everything his own way. At first the gardener was +angry, but, seeing everything thus getting on better, he was content. "I +see that you've more intelligence than I," said he, and henceforth let +Vanek garden as he thought fit. In no long space of time Vanek made the +garden so beautiful that the king took great delight in it, and +frequently walked in it with the queen and with his only daughter.</p> + +<p>The princess was a very beautiful damsel, but ever since she was twelve +years old she had ceased speaking, and no one ever heard a single word +from her. The king was much <a name="Page_94" id="Page_94" />grieved, and caused a proclamation to be +made that whoever should bring it to pass that she should speak again, +should be her husband. Many young kings, princes, and other great lords +announced themselves one after the other, but all went away as they had +come; no one succeeded in causing her to speak. "Why shouldn't I try my +luck?" thought Vanek; "who knows whether I mayn't succeed in bringing +her to answer when I ask her a question?" He at once caused himself to +be announced at the palace, and the king and his councillors conducted +him into the room where the princess was. The king's daughter had a +pretty little dog, and was very fond of him, because he was so clever, +understanding everything that she wanted. When Vanek went into the room +with the king and his councillors, he made as if he didn't even see the +princess, but turned to the dog and said: "I have heard, doggie, that +you are very clever, and I come to you for advice. We are three +companions in travel, a sculptor, a tailor, and myself. Once upon a time +we were going through a forest and were obliged to pass the night in it. +To be safe from wolves, we made a fire, and agreed to keep watch one +<a name="Page_95" id="Page_95" />after the other. The sculptor kept watch first, and for amusement to +kill time took a log and carved a damsel out of it. When it was +finished, he woke the tailor to keep watch in his turn. The tailor, +seeing the wooden damsel, asked what it meant. 'As you see,' said the +sculptor, 'I was weary, and didn't know what to do with myself, so I +carved a damsel out of a log; if you find time hang heavy on your hands, +you can dress her.' The tailor at once took out his scissors, needle and +thread, cut out the clothes, stitched away, and, when they were ready, +dressed the damsel in them. He then called me to come and keep watch. I, +too, asked him what the meaning of all this was. 'As you see,' said the +tailor, 'the sculptor found time hang heavy on his hands and carved a +damsel out of a log, and I for the same reason clothed her; and if you +find time hanging on your hands, you can teach her to speak.' And by +morning dawn I had actually taught her to speak. But in the morning when +my companions woke up, each wanted to possess the damsel. The sculptor +said, 'I made her;' the tailor, 'I clothed her.' I, too, maintained my +right. Tell me, therefore, doggie, to which of us the <a name="Page_96" id="Page_96" />damsel belongs." +The dog said nothing, but instead of the dog the princess replied: "To +whom can she belong but to yourself? What's the good of the sculptor's +damsel without life? What's the good of the tailor's dressing without +speech? You gave her the best gift, life and speech, and therefore she +by right belongs to you." "You have passed your own sentence," said +Vanek; "I have given you speech again and a new life, and you therefore +by right belong to me." Then said one of the king's councillors: "His +Royal Grace will give you a plenteous reward for succeeding in unloosing +his daughter's tongue; but you cannot have her to wife, as you are of +mean lineage." The king said: "You are of mean lineage; I will give you +a plenteous reward instead of our daughter." But Vanek wouldn't hear of +any other reward, and said: "The king promised without any exception, +that whoever caused his daughter to speak again should be her husband. A +king's word is law; and if the king wants others to observe his laws, he +must first keep them himself. Therefore the king <i>must</i> give me his +daughter." "Seize and bind him!" shouted the councillor. "Whoever says +the king <i>must</i> do anything, <a name="Page_97" id="Page_97" />offers an insult to his Majesty, and is +worthy of death. May it please your Majesty to order this malefactor to +be executed with the sword?" The king said: "Let him be executed." Vanek +was immediately bound and led to execution. When they came to the place +of execution Luck was there waiting for him, and said secretly to +Intelligence: "See how this man has got on through you, till he has to +lose his head! Make way, and let me take your place!" As soon as Luck +entered Vanek, the executioners sword broke against the scaffold, just +as if some one had snapped it; and before they brought him another, up +rode a trumpeter on horseback from the city, galloping as swift as a +bird, trumpeted merrily, and waved a white flag, and after him came the +royal carriage for Vanek. This is what had happened: The princess had +told her father at home that Vanek had but spoken the truth, and the +king's word ought not to be broken. If Vanek were of mean lineage the +king could easily make him a prince. The king said: "You're right; let +him be a prince!" The royal carriage was immediately sent for Vanek, and +the councillor who had irritated the king against him <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98" />was executed in +his stead. Afterward, when Vanek and the princess were going together in +a carriage from the wedding, Intelligence happened to be somewhere on +the road, and seeing that he couldn't help meeting Luck, bent his head +and slipped on one side, just as if cold water had been thrown upon him. +And from that time forth it is said that Intelligence has always given a +wide berth to Luck whenever he has had to meet him.<a name="Page_99" id="Page_99" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII" />XII</h2> + +<h3>GEORGE WITH THE GOAT</h3> + + +<p>There was a king who had a daughter who never could be induced to laugh; +she was always sad. So the king proclaimed that she should be given to +any one who could cause her to laugh. There was also a shepherd who had +a son named George. He said: "Daddy! I, too, will go to see whether I +can make her laugh. I want nothing from you but the goat." His father +said, "Well, go." The goat was of such a nature that, when her master +wished, she detained everybody, and that person was obliged to stay by +her.</p> + +<p>So he took the goat and went, and met a man who had a foot on his +shoulder. George said: "Why have you a foot on your shoulder?" He +replied: "If I take it off, I leap a hundred miles." "Whither are you +going?" "I am going in search of service, to see if any one will take +me." "Well, come with us."</p> + +<p>They went on, and again met a man who <a name="Page_100" id="Page_100" />had a bandage on his eyes. "Why +have you a bandage on your eyes?" He answered, "If I remove the bandage, +I see a hundred miles." "Whither are you going?" "I am going in search +of service, if you will take me." "Yes, I'll take you. Come also with +me."</p> + +<p>They went on a bit farther, and met another fellow, who had a bottle +under his arm, and, instead of a stopper, held his thumb in it. "Why do +you hold your thumb there?" "If I pull it out, I squirt a hundred miles, +and besprinkle everything that I choose. If you like, take me also into +your service; it may be to your advantage and ours too." George replied: +"Well, come, too!"</p> + +<p>Afterward they came to the town where the king lived, and bought a +silken riband for the goat. They came to an inn, and orders had already +been given there beforehand, that when such people came, they were to +give them what they liked to eat and drink—the king would pay for all. +So they tied the goat with that very riband and placed it in the +innkeeper's room to be taken care of, and he put it in the side room +where his daughters slept. The innkeeper had three maiden daughters, who +were not yet asleep. So<a name="Page_101" id="Page_101" /> Manka said: "Oh! if I, too, could have such a +riband! I will go and unfasten it from that goat." The second, Dodla, +said: "Don't; he'll find it out in the morning." But she went +notwithstanding. And when Manka did not return for a long time, the +third, Kate, said: "Go, fetch her." So Dodla went, and gave Manka a pat +on the back. "Come, leave it alone!" And now she, too, was unable to +withdraw herself from her. So Kate said: "Come, don't unfasten it!" Kate +went and gave Dodla a pat on the petticoat; and now she, too, couldn't +get away, but was obliged to stay by her.</p> + +<p>In the morning George made haste and went for the goat, and led the +whole set away—Kate Dodla, and Manka. The innkeeper was still asleep. +They went through the village, and the judge looked out of a window and +said, "Fie, Kate! what's this? what's this?" He went and took her by the +hand, wishing to pull her away, but remained also by her. After this, a +cowherd drove some cows through a narrow street, and the bull came +rushing round; he stuck fast, and George led him, too, in the +procession.</p> + +<p>Thus they afterward came in front of the castle, and the servants came +out-of-doors; <a name="Page_102" id="Page_102" />and when they saw such things they went and told the +king. "Oh, sire, we have such a spectacle here; we have already had all +manner of masquerades, but this has never been here yet." So they +immediately led the king's daughter to the square in front of the +castle, and she looked and laughed till the castle shook.</p> + +<p>Now they asked him what sort of person he was. He said that he was a +shepherd's son, and was named George. They said that it could not be +done; for he was of mean lineage, and they could not give him the +damsel; but he must accomplish something more for them. He said, "What?" +They replied that there was a spring yonder, a hundred miles off; if he +brought a goblet of water from it in a minute, then he should obtain the +damsel. So George said to the man who had the foot on his shoulder: "You +said that if you took the foot down, you could jump a hundred miles." He +replied: "I'll easily do that." He took the foot down, jumped, and was +there. But after this there was only a very little time to spare, and by +then he ought to have been back. So George said to the other: "You said +that if you removed <a name="Page_103" id="Page_103" />the bandage from your eyes, you could see a hundred +miles. Peep and see what is going on." "Ah, sir! Goodness gracious! he's +fallen asleep!" "That will be a bad job," said George; "the time will be +up. You, third man, you said if you pulled your thumb out, you could +squirt a hundred miles; be quick and squirt thither, that he may get up. +And you, look whether he is moving, or what." "Oh, sir, he's getting up +now; he's knocking the dust off; he's drawing the water." He then gave a +jump, and was there exactly in time.</p> + +<p>After this they said that he must perform one task more; that yonder, in +a rock, was a wild beast, a unicorn, of such a nature that he destroyed +a great many of their people; if he cleared him out of the world he +should obtain the damsel. So he took his people and went into the +forest. They came to a firwood. There were three wild beasts, and three +lairs had been formed by wallowing as they lay. Two did nothing: but the +third destroyed the people. So they took some stones and some pine-cones +in their pockets, and climbed up into a tree; and when the beasts lay +down, they dropped a stone down <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104" />upon that one which was the unicorn. He +said to the next: "Be quiet; don't butt me." It said: "I'm not doing +anything to you." Again they let a stone fall from above upon the +unicorn. "Be quiet! you've already done it to me twice." "Indeed, I'm +doing nothing to you." So they attacked each other and fought together. +The unicorn wanted to pierce the second beast through; but it jumped out +of the way, and he rushed so violently after it, that he struck his horn +into a tree, and couldn't pull it out quickly. So they sprang speedily +down from the fir, and the other two beasts ran away and escaped, but +they cut off the head of the third, the unicorn, took it up, and carried +it to the castle.</p> + +<p>Now those in the castle saw that George had again accomplished that +task. "What, prithee, shall we do? Perhaps we must after all give him +the damsel!" "No, sire," said one of the attendants, "that cannot be; he +is too lowborn to obtain a king's daughter! On the contrary, we must +clear him out of the world." So the king ordered them to note his words, +what he should say. There was a hired female servant there, and she said +to him: "George, it will be evil for you to-day; <a name="Page_105" id="Page_105" />they're going to clear +you out of the world." He answered: "Oh, I'm not afraid. When I was only +just twelve years old, I killed twelve of them at one blow!" But this +was the fact: when his mother was baking a flat-cake, a dozen flies +settled upon her, and he killed them all at a single blow.</p> + +<p>When they heard this, they said: "Nothing else will do but we must shoot +him." So they drew up the soldiers, and said they would hold a review in +his honour, for they would celebrate the wedding in the square before +the castle. Then they conducted him thither, and the soldiers were +already going to let fly at him. But George said to the man who held his +thumb in the bottle in the place of a stopper: "You said, if you pulled +your thumb out, you could besprinkle everything. Pull it out—quick!" +"Oh, sir, I'll easily perform that." So he pulled out his thumb and gave +them all such a sprinkling that they were all blind, and not one could +see.</p> + +<p>So, when they perceived that nothing else was to be done, they told him +to go, for they would give him the damsel. Then they gave him a handsome +royal robe, and the wedding took place. I, too, was at the wedding; they +<a name="Page_106" id="Page_106" />had music there, sang, ate, and drank; there was meat, there were +cheesecakes, and baskets full of everything, and buckets full of strong +waters. To-day I went, yesterday I came; I found an egg among the +tree-stumps; I knocked it against somebody's head, and gave him a bald +place, and he's got it still.<a name="Page_107" id="Page_107" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII" />XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE WONDERFUL HAIR</h3> + + +<p>There was a man who was very poor, but so well supplied with children +that he was utterly unable to maintain them, and one morning more than +once prepared to kill them, in order not to see their misery in dying of +hunger, but his wife prevented him. One night a child came to him in his +sleep, and said to him: "Man! I see that you are making up your mind to +destroy and to kill your poor little children, and I know that you are +distressed there at; but in the morning you will find under your pillow +a mirror, a red kerchief, and an embroidered pocket-handkerchief; take +all three secretly and tell nobody; then go to such a hill; by it you +will find a stream; go along it till you come to its fountain-head; +there you will find a damsel as bright as the sun, with her hair hanging +down over her back. Be on your guard, that the ferocious she-dragon do +not <a name="Page_108" id="Page_108" />coil round you; do not converse with her if she speaks; for if you +converse with her, she will poison you, and turn you into a fish or +something else, and will then devour you but if she bids you examine her +head, examine it, and as you turn over her hair, look, and you will find +one hair as red as blood; pull it out and run back again; then, if she +suspects and begins to run after you, throw her first the embroidered +pocket-handkerchief, then the kerchief, and, lastly, the mirror; then +she will find occupation for herself. And sell that hair to some rich +man; but don't let them cheat you, for that hair is worth countless +wealth; and you will thus enrich yourself and maintain your children."</p> + +<p>When the poor man awoke, he found everything under his pillow, just as +the child had told him in his sleep; and then he went to the hill. When +there, he found the stream, went on and on alongside of it, till he came +to the fountain-head. Having looked about him to see where the damsel +was, he espied her above a piece of water, like sunbeams threaded on a +needle, and she was embroidering at a frame on stuff, the threads of +which were young men's hair. As soon as he saw her, <a name="Page_109" id="Page_109" />he made a reverence +to her, and she stood on her feet and questioned him: "Whence are you, +unknown young man?" But he held his tongue. She questioned him again: +"Who are you? Why have you come?" and much else of all sorts; but he was +as mute as a stone, making signs with his hands, as if he were deaf and +wanted help. Then she told him to sit down on her skirt. He did not wait +for any more orders, but sat down, and she bent down her head to him, +that he might examine it. Turning over the hair of her head, as if to +examine it, he was not long in finding that red hair, and separated it +from the other hair, pulled it out, jumped off her skirt and ran away +back as he best could. She noticed it, and ran at his heels full speed +after him. He looked round, and seeing that she was about to overtake +him, threw, as he was told, the embroidered pocket-handkerchief on the +way, and when she saw the pocket-handkerchief she stooped and began to +overhaul it in every direction, admiring the embroidery, till he had got +a good way off. Then the damsel placed the pocket-handkerchief in her +bosom, and ran after him again. When he saw that she was about to +overtake him, he <a name="Page_110" id="Page_110" />threw the red kerchief, and she again occupied +herself, admiring and gazing, till the poor man had again got a good way +off. Then the damsel became exasperated, and threw both the +pocket-handkerchief and the kerchief on the way, and ran after him in +pursuit. Again, when he saw that she was about to overtake him, he threw +the mirror. When the damsel came to the mirror, the like of which she +had never seen before, she lifted it up, and when she saw herself in it, +not knowing that it was herself, but thinking that it was somebody else, +she, as it were, fell in love with herself in the mirror, and the man +got so far off that she was no longer able to overtake him. When she saw +that she could not catch him, she turned back, and the man reached his +home safe and sound. After arriving at his home, he showed his wife the +hair, and told her all that had happened to him, but she began to jeer +and laugh at him. But he paid no attention to her, and went to a town to +sell the hair. A crowd of all sorts of people and merchants collected +round him; one offered a sequin, another two, and so on, higher and +higher, till they came to a hundred gold sequins. Just then the emperor +heard of the hair, <a name="Page_111" id="Page_111" />summoned the man into his presence, and said to him +that he would give him a thousand sequins for it, and he sold it to him. +What was the hair? The emperor split it in two from top to bottom, and +found registered in it in writing many remarkable things, which happened +in the olden time since the beginning of the world. Thus the man became +rich and lived on with his wife and children. And that child, that came +to him in his sleep, was an angel sent by the Lord God, whose will it +was to aid the poor man, and to reveal secrets which had not been +revealed till then.<a name="Page_112" id="Page_112" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV" />XIV</h2> + +<h3>THE DRAGON AND THE PRINCE</h3> + + +<p>There was an emperor who had three sons. One day the eldest son went out +hunting, and, when he got outside the town, up sprang a hare out of a +bush, and he after it, and hither and thither, till the hare fled into a +water-mill, and the prince after it. But it was not a hare, but a +dragon, and it waited for the prince and devoured him. When several days +had elapsed and the prince did not return home, people began to wonder +why it was that he was not to be found. Then the middle son went +hunting, and as he issued from the town, a hare sprang out of a bush, +and the prince after it, and hither and thither, till the hare fled into +the water-mill and the prince after it; but it was not a hare, but a +dragon, which waited for and devoured him. When some days had elapsed +and the princes did not return, either of them, the whole court was in +sorrow. Then the third son <a name="Page_113" id="Page_113" />went hunting, to see whether he could not +find his brothers. When he issued from the town, again up sprang a hare +out of a bush, and the prince after it, and hither and thither, till the +hare fled into the water-mill. But the prince did not choose to follow +it, but went to find other game, saying to himself: "When I return I +shall find you." After thus he went for a long time up and down the +hill, but found nothing, and then returned to the water-mill; but when +he got there, there was only an old woman in the mill. The prince +invoked God in addressing her: "God help you, old woman!" The old woman +replied: "God help you, my son!" Then the prince asked her: "Where, old +woman, is my hare?" She replied: "My son, that was not a hare, but a +dragon. It kills and throttles many people." Hearing this, the prince +was somewhat disturbed, and said to the old woman: "What shall we do +now? Doubtless my two brothers also have perished here." The old woman +answered: "They have indeed; but there's no help for it. Go home, my +son, lest you follow them." Then he said to her: "Dear old woman, do you +know what? I know that you will be glad to liberate yourself <a name="Page_114" id="Page_114" />from that +pest." The old woman interrupted him: "How should I not? It captured me, +too, in this way, but now I have no means of escape." Then he proceeded: +"Listen well to what I am going to say to you. Ask it whither it goes +and where its strength is; then kiss all that place where it tells you +its strength is, as if from love, till you ascertain it, and afterward +tell me when I come." Then the prince went off to the palace, and the +old woman remained in the water-mill. When the dragon came in, the old +woman began to question it: "Where in God's name have you been? Whither +do you go so far? You will never tell me whither you go." The dragon +replied: "Well, my dear old woman, I do go far." Then the old woman +began to coax it: "And why do you go so far? Tell me where your strength +is. If I knew where your strength is, I don't know what I should do for +love; I would kiss all that place." Thereupon the dragon smiled and said +to her: "Yonder is my strength, in that fireplace." Then the old woman +began to fondle and kiss the fireplace, and the dragon on seeing it +burst into a laugh and said to her: "Silly old woman, my strength isn't +there; <a name="Page_115" id="Page_115" />my strength is in that tree-fungus in front of the house." Then +the old woman began again to fondle and kiss the tree, and the dragon +again laughed, and said to her: "Away, old woman! my strength isn't +there." Then the old woman inquired: "Where is it?" The dragon began to +give an account in detail: "My strength is a long way off, and you +cannot go thither. Far in another empire under the emperor's city is a +lake, in that lake is a dragon, and in that dragon a boar, and in the +boar a pigeon, and in that is my strength." The next morning when the +dragon went away from the mill, the prince came to the old woman, and +the old woman told him all that she had heard from the dragon. Then he +left his home, and disguised himself; he put shepherd's boots to his +feet, took a shepherd's staff in his hand, and went into the world. As +he went on thus from village to village, and from town to town, at last +he came into another empire and into the imperial city, in a lake under +which the dragon was. On going into the town he began to inquire who +wanted a shepherd. The citizens told him that the emperor did. Then he +went straight to the emperor. After he announced himself, the emperor +admitted <a name="Page_116" id="Page_116" />him into his presence, and asked him: "Do you wish to keep +sheep?" He replied: "I do, illustrious crown!" Then the emperor engaged +him, and began to inform and instruct him: "There is here a lake, and +alongside of the lake very beautiful pasture, and when you call the +sheep out, they go thither at once, and spread themselves round the +lake; but whatever shepherd goes off there, that shepherd returns back +no more. Therefore, my son, I tell you, don't let the sheep have their +own way and go where <i>they</i> will, but keep them where <i>you</i> will." The +prince thanked the emperor, got himself ready, and called out the sheep, +taking with him, more-over, two hounds that could catch a boar in the +open country, and a falcon that could capture any bird, and carrying +also a pair of bagpipes. When he called out the sheep he let them go at +once to the lake, and when the sheep arrived at the lake, they +immediately spread round it, and the prince placed the falcon on a +stump, and the hounds and bagpipes under the stump, then tucked up his +hose and sleeves, waded into the lake, and began to shout: "Dragon, +dragon! come out to single combat with me to-day that we may <a name="Page_117" id="Page_117" />measure +ourselves together, unless you're a woman."<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href= "#footnote6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The dragon called out in +reply, "I will do so now, prince—now!" Erelong behold the dragon! it is +large, it is terrible, it is disgusting! When the dragon came out, it +seized him by the waist, and they wrestled a summer day till afternoon. +But when the heat of afternoon came on, the dragon said: "Let me go, +prince, that I may moisten my parched head in the lake, and toss you to +the sky." But the prince replied: "Come, dragon, don't talk nonsense; if +I had the emperor's daughter to kiss me on the forehead, I would toss +you still higher." Thereupon, the dragon suddenly let him go, and went +off into the lake. On the approach of evening, he washed and got himself +up nicely, placed the falcon on his arm, the hounds behind him, and the +bagpipes under his arm, then drove the sheep and went into the town +playing on the bagpipes. When he arrived at the town, the whole town +assembled as to see a wondrous sight because he had come, whereas +previously no shepherd had been able to come from the lake. The next day +the prince got ready <a name="Page_118" id="Page_118" />again, and went with his sheep straight to the +lake. But the emperor sent two grooms after him to go stealthily and see +what he did, and they placed themselves on a high hill whence they could +have a good view. When the shepherd arrived, he put the hounds and +bagpipes under the stump and the falcon upon it, then tucked up his hose +and sleeves waded into the lake and shouted: "Dragon, dragon! come out +to single combat with me, that we may measure ourselves once more +together, unless you are a woman!" The dragon replied: "I will do so, +prince, now, now!" Erelong, behold the dragon! it was large, it was +terrible, it was disgusting! And it seized him by the waist and wrestled +with him a summer's day till afternoon. But when the afternoon heat came +on, the dragon said: "Let me go, prince, that I may moisten my parched +head in the lake, and may toss you to the sky." The prince replied: +"Come, dragon, don't talk nonsense; if I had the emperor's daughter to +kiss me on the forehead, I would toss you still higher." Thereupon the +dragon suddenly left hold of him, and went off into the lake. When night +approached the prince drove the sheep as <a name="Page_119" id="Page_119" />before, and went home playing +the bagpipes When he arrived at the town, the whole town was astir and +began to wonder because the shepherd came home every evening, which no +one had been able to do before. Those two grooms had already arrived at +the palace before the prince, and related to the emperor in order +everything that they had heard and seen. Now when the emperor saw that +the shepherd returned home, he immediately summoned his daughter into +his presence and told her all, what it was and how it was. "But," said +he, "to-morrow you must go with the shepherd to the lake and kiss him on +the forehead." When she heard this she burst into tears and began to +entreat her father. "You have no one but me, and I am your only +daughter, and you don't care about me if I perish." Then the emperor +began to persuade and encourage her: "Don't fear, my daughter; you see +we have had so many changes of shepherds, and of all that went out to +the lake not one has returned; but <i>he</i> had been contending with the +dragon for two whole days and it has done him no hurt. I assure you, in +God's name, that he is able to overcome the dragon, only go to-morrow +<a name="Page_120" id="Page_120" />with him to see whether he will free us from this mischief which has +destroyed so many people."</p> + +<p>When, on the morrow, the day dawned and the sun came forth, up rose the +shepherd, up rose the maiden too, to begin to prepare for going to the +lake. The shepherd was cheerful, more cheerful than ever, but the +emperor's daughter was sad and shed tears. The shepherd comforted her: +"Lady sister, I pray you, do not weep, but do what I tell you. When it +is time, run up and kiss me, and fear not." As he went and drove the +sheep, the shepherd was thoroughly cheery, and played a merry tune on +his bagpipes; but the damsel did nothing but weep as she went beside +him, and he several times left off playing and turned toward her: "Weep +not, golden one; fear nought." When they arrived at the lake, the sheep +immediately spread round it, and the prince placed the falcon on the +stump, and the hounds and bagpipes under it, then tucked up his hose and +sleeves, waded into the water, and shouted: "Dragon! dragon! Come out to +single combat with me; let us measure ourselves once more, unless you're +a woman!" The dragon <a name="Page_121" id="Page_121" />replied: "I will, prince; now, now!" Erelong, +there was the dragon! it was huge, it was terrible, it was disgusting! +When it came out, they seized each other by the middle, and wrestled a +summer's day till afternoon. But when the afternoon heat came on, the +dragon said: "Let me go, prince, that I may moisten my parched head in +the lake, and toss you to the skies." The prince replied: "Come, dragon, +don't talk nonsense; if I had the emperor's daughter to kiss me on the +forehead, I would toss you much higher." When he said this, the +emperor's daughter ran up and kissed him on the face, on the eye, and on +the forehead. Then he swung the dragon, and tossed it high into the air, +and when it fell to the ground it burst into pieces. But as it burst +into pieces, out of it sprang a wild boar, and started to run away. But +the prince shouted to his shepherd dogs: "Hold it! don't let it go!" and +the dogs sprang up and after it, caught it, and soon tore it to pieces. +But out of the boar flew a pigeon, and the prince loosed the falcon, and +the falcon caught the pigeon and brought it into the prince's hands. The +prince said to it: "Tell me now, where are my brothers?" The pigeon +replied:<a name="Page_122" id="Page_122" /> "I will; only do me no harm. Immediately behind your father's +town is a water-mill, and in the water-mill are three wands that have +sprouted up. Cut these three wands up from below, and strike with them +upon their root; an iron door will immediately open into a large vault. +In that vault are many people, old and young, rich and poor, small and +great, wives and maidens, so that you could settle a populous empire; +there, too, are your brothers." When the pigeon had told him all this, +the prince immediately wrung its neck.</p> + +<p>The emperor had gone out in person, and posted himself on the hill from +which the grooms had viewed the shepherd, and he, too, was a spectator +of all that had taken place. After the shepherd had thus obtained the +dragon's head, twilight began to approach. He washed himself nicely, +took the falcon on his shoulder, the hounds behind him, and the bagpipes +under his arm, played as he went, drove the sheep, and proceeded to the +emperor's palace, with the damsel at his side still in terror. When they +came to the town, all the town assembled as to see a wonder. The +emperor, who had seen all his heroism <a name="Page_123" id="Page_123" />from the hill, called him into +his presence, and gave him his daughter, went immediately to church, had +them married, and held a wedding festival for a week. After this the +prince told him who and whence he was, and the emperor and the whole +town rejoiced still more. Then, as the prince was urgent to go to his +own home, the emperor gave him a large escort, and equipped him for the +journey. When they were in the neighbourhood of the water-mill, the +prince halted his attendants, went inside, cut up the three wands, and +struck the root with them, and the iron door opened at once. In the +vault was a vast multitude of people. The prince ordered them to come +out one by one, and go whither each would, and stood himself at the +door. They came out thus one after another, and lo! there were his +brothers also, whom he embraced and kissed. When the whole multitude had +come out, they thanked him for releasing and delivering them, and went +each to his own home. But he went to his father's house with his +brothers and bride, and there lived and reigned to the end of his days.<a name="Page_124" id="Page_124" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XV" id="XV" />XV</h2> + +<h3>THE GOOD CHILDREN</h3> + + +<p>The Lord was angered at mankind, and for three years there was a great +famine over all the world; nowhere in the world was even a grain of corn +produced, and what people sowed failed to come up from a drought so +great that for three years there was not a drop of rain or dew. For one +year more people managed to live somehow or other, thrashing up what old +corn there was; the rich made money, for corn rose very high. Autumn +came. Where anybody had or purchased old seed, they sowed it; and +entreated the Lord, hoped in the love of God, if God would give +fertility, "if God would forgive our sins." But it was not so. They did +not obtain the love of God. When they cast the seed into the holy earth, +that was the last they saw of it; if it germinated somewhat, if it sent +up shoots, it withered away close to the ground. Woe! and abundance of +it!<a name="Page_125" id="Page_125" /> God's world went on, sorrowed and wept, for now it was manifest +that death by hunger was approaching. They somehow got miserably through +the winter. Spring came. Where anybody had still any grain, they sowed +it. What would come to pass? No blessing was poured forth, for the +thought began with wind. Moreover, there was but little snow in the +winter, and everything dried up so that the black earth remained as it +was. It now came to this—all the world began to perish! The people +died; the cattle perished; as misery carried them, so did the people +proceed.</p> + +<p>There was at that time a powerful emperor in a certain empire: as the +young ordinarily cleave to the young, so would he associate only with +young men. Whether in council or in office or in the army, there were +none but young men; no old men had access to anything anywhere. Well, as +young men, unripe in understanding, were the councillors, so was their +counsel also unripe. One year passed; a second passed; then, in the +third year, they saw that misery was already on every side, that it was +already coming to this, that all the world would perish. The young +emperor assembled his young council, and they began to advise <a name="Page_126" id="Page_126" />after +their fashion; they advised, they advised, and ah! the resolutions they +came to were such that it is a sin even to give an account of their +resolutions! Well, the emperor made proclamation after their advice, +that all old people were to be drowned, in order that, said he, bread +might not be wasted in vain, but there might be a supply of bread for +the young; and that no one should venture, on pain of death, to maintain +or harbour any old man. Well, heralds went about throughout the whole +country, and promulgated the emperor's command everywhere—yea, brigands +seized old people where they chose, and drowned them without mercy.</p> + +<p>There were then in a certain place three own brothers, who had an aged +father. When they heard of this edict, they told their father; and their +father said: "My sons, such is the will of God and the will of the +emperor; take me, let me perish at once, only that you, my children, may +live on. I am already with one foot in the grave," "No, our own daddy! +we will die, but we will not give you up," cried the good sons with one +voice, and fell upon his neck; "we will keep you; we will take from our +own mouths, and will nourish you."<a name="Page_127" id="Page_127" /></p> + +<p>The three brothers took their aged father, conducted him into their +cottage, dug under the raised portion of the floor, made up a bed with +sheets and frieze-coats, for straw was scarce, and placed the old man +there, brought him a loaf of bread as black as the holy earth, and +covered him over with the floor. There the old man abode for two or +three months, and his sons brought him clandestinely all they had. The +summer passed without harvest, without mowing. September passed too. +Autumn passed without joy. Winter passed too. Now came spring; the sun +became warm. It was now time to sow, but there was no seed. The world +was large, but there was no seed-corn. When one kind was used up, the +people sowed others, hoping that there would be a crop; but when they +cast it into the holy earth, it rotted there. It seemed as if the end of +the world were come.</p> + +<p>Then the three sons went to their father, and asked him: "Daddy, what +shall we do? It's time to sow. God is now sending showers of rain; the +earth is warmed and is crumbling like grits; but of seed there is not a +blessed grain," "Take, my sons, and strip the old roof off the house, +and thresh the bundles <a name="Page_128" id="Page_128" />and sow the chaff." The lads stripped the house +and barn (anyhow, there was nothing in it), and threshed away till the +sweat ran from their brows, so that they crushed the bundles as small as +poppy-seeds. When they sowed, God gave a blessing; so in a week's time +it became green like rue; in a month's time, in two months' time, there +was corn, ever so much—ever so much, and all manner of seed was found +there: there was rye, there was wheat and barley; yea, maybe, there was +also a plant or two of buckwheat and millet. Wherever you went +throughout the world there was no corn to be seen; all the plain was +overgrown with grasses, steppe-grasses, and thistles, but with <i>them</i> +was corn like a forest. How people wondered and were astounded! The fame +thereof went over the whole world, and the news reached the emperor +himself, that in such and such a place there were three own brothers, +and with them corn had sprung up for all the world, and so beautiful, +never was the like beheld! The emperor ordered the three brothers to +appear in the imperial presence.</p> + +<p>The brothers heard of it, and smacked the tops of their heads with their +hands. "Now <a name="Page_129" id="Page_129" />it will be amen with us!" They went again to their father. +"Daddy! they tell us to appear before the emperor. Advise us, daddy, +what to do!" "Go, my sons—what will be, will be; and tell the pure +truth before the emperor." The brothers started off and went to the +emperor. The emperor inquired menacingly: "Why, villains, did ye hoard +up corn, when there was such a famine that so many people died of +hunger? Tell the truth; if not I shall order you to be tortured and +racked even unto death." The brothers related all as it had been, from +the beginning to the end. "Now, most gracious emperor, give us over to +any torture whatever, or let thy kindness have compassion on us!" The +emperor's brow became smooth, his eyes became serene. He then ordered +the old father to be brought before him at once, and made him sit beside +him close to his throne, and hearkened to his counsel till death, and +his sons he rewarded handsomely. He ordered the corn to be collected ear +by ear, and to be rubbed out in men's hands; and sent it about for +seed-corn in all empires, and from it was produced holy corn for all the +world.<a name="Page_130" id="Page_130" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI" />XVI</h2> + +<h3>THE DUN HORSE<a id="footnotetag7" name="footnotetag7"></a><a href= "#footnote7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></h3> + + +<h4>I</h4> + +<p>Many years ago there lived in the Pawnee tribe an old woman and her +grandson a boy about sixteen years old. These people had no relations +and were very poor. They were so poor that they were despised by the +rest of the tribe. They had nothing of their own; and always, after the +village started to move the camp from one place to another, these two +would stay behind the rest, to look over the old camp and pick up +anything that the other Indians had thrown away as worn out or useless. +In this way they would sometimes get pieces of robes, wornout moccasins +with holes in them, and bits of meat.</p> + +<p>Now, it happened one day, after the tribe had moved away from the camp, +that this <a name="Page_131" id="Page_131" />old woman and her boy were following along the trail behind +the rest, when they came to a miserable old wornout dun horse, which +they supposed had been abandoned by some Indians. He was thin and +exhausted, was blind of one eye, had a bad sore back, and one of his +forelegs was very much swollen. In fact, he was so worthless that none +of the Pawnees had been willing to take the trouble to try to drive him +along with them. But when the old woman and her boy came along, the boy +said, "Come now, we will take this old horse, for we can make him carry +our pack." So the old woman put her pack on the horse, and drove him +along, but he limped and could only go very slowly.</p> + + +<h4>II</h4> + +<p>The tribe moved up on the North Platte, until they came to Court House +Rock. The two poor Indians followed them, and camped with the others. +One day while they were here, the young men who had been sent out to +look for buffalo, came hurrying into camp and told the chiefs that a +large herd of buffalo were near, and that among them was a spotted +calf.<a name="Page_132" id="Page_132" /></p> + +<p>The Head Chief of the Pawnees had a very beautiful daughter, and when he +heard about the spotted calf, he ordered his old crier to go about +through the village and call out that the man who killed the spotted +calf should have his daughter for his wife. For a spotted robe is +<i>ti-war'-uks-ti</i>—big medicine.</p> + +<p>The buffalo were feeding about four miles from the village, and the +chiefs decided that the charge should be made from there. In this way, +the man who had the fastest horse would be the most likely to kill the +calf. Then all the warriors and the young men picked out their best and +fastest horses, and made ready to start. Among those who prepared for +the charge was the poor boy on the old dun horse. But when they saw him, +all the rich young braves on their fast horses pointed at him and said, +"Oh, see; there is the horse that is going to catch the spotted calf;" +and they laughed at him, so that the poor boy was ashamed, and rode off +to one side of the crowd, where he could not hear their jokes and +laughter.</p> + +<p>When he had ridden off some little way the horse stopped and turned his +head round, and spoke to the boy. He said, "Take me <a name="Page_133" id="Page_133" />down the creek, and +plaster me all over with mud. Cover my head and neck and body and legs." +When the boy heard the horse speak, he was afraid; but he did as he was +told. Then the horse said, "Now mount, but do not ride back to the +warriors, who laugh at you because you have such a poor horse. Stay +right here until the word is given to charge." So the boy stayed there.</p> + +<p>And presently all the fine horses were drawn up in line and pranced +about, and were so eager to go that their riders could hardly hold them +in; and at last the old crier gave the word, "<i>Loo-ah!</i>"—Go! Then the +Pawnees all leaned forward on their horses and yelled, and away they +went. Suddenly, away off to the right, was seen the old dun horse. He +did not seem to run. He seemed to sail along like a bird. He passed all +the fastest horses, and in a moment he was among the buffalo. First he +picked out the spotted calf, and charging up alongside of it, +<i>U-ra-rish!</i> straight flew the arrow. The calf fell. The boy drew +another arrow, and killed a fat cow that was running by. Then he +dismounted and began to skin the calf, before any of the other warriors +had come up. But when the <a name="Page_134" id="Page_134" />rider got off the old dun horse, how changed +he was! He pranced about and would hardly stand still near the dead +buffalo. His back was all right again; his legs were well and fine; and +both his eyes were clear and bright.</p> + +<p>The boy skinned the calf and the cow that he had killed, and then he +packed all the meat on the horse, and put the spotted robe on top of the +load, and started back to the camp on foot, leading the dun horse. But +even with this heavy load the horse pranced all the time, and was scared +at everything he saw. On the way to camp, one of the rich young chiefs +of the tribe rode up by the boy and offered him twelve good horses for +the spotted robe, so that he could marry the Head Chief's beautiful +daughter; but the boy laughed at him and would not sell the robe.</p> + +<p>Now, while the boy walked to the camp leading the dun horse, most of the +warriors rode back, and one of those that came first to the village went +to the old woman and said to her, "Your grandson has killed the spotted +calf." And the old woman said, "Why do you come to tell me this? You +ought to be ashamed to make fun of my boy, because he is poor." The +warrior said, "What<a name="Page_135" id="Page_135" /> I have told you is true," and then he rode away. +After a little while another brave rode up to the old woman, and said to +her, "Your grandson has killed the spotted calf." Then the old woman +began to cry, she felt so badly because every one made fun of her boy, +because he was poor.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon the boy came along, leading the horse up to the lodge where +he and his grandmother lived. It was a little lodge, just big enough for +two, and was made of old pieces of skin that the old woman had picked +up, and was tied together with strings of rawhide and sinew. It was the +meanest and worst lodge in the village. When the old woman saw her boy +leading the dun horse with the load of meat and the robes on it, she was +very surprised. The boy said to her, "Here, I have brought you plenty of +meat to eat, and here is a robe, that you may have for yourself. Take +the meat off the horse." Then the old woman laughed, for her heart was +glad. But when she went to take the meat from the horse's back, he +snorted and jumped about, and acted like a wild horse. The old woman +looked at him in wonder, and could hardly believe that it was the same +horse. So the <a name="Page_136" id="Page_136" />boy had to take off the meat, for the horse would not let +the old woman come near him.</p> + + +<h4>III</h4> + +<p>That night the horse spoke again to the boy and said, "<i>Wa-ti-hes +Chah'-ra-rat wa-ta</i>. Tomorrow the Sioux are coming—a large war party. +They will attack the village, and you will have a great battle. Now, +when the Sioux are all drawn up in line of battle, and are all ready to +fight, you jump on to me, and ride as hard as you can, right into the +middle of the Sioux, and up to their Head Chief, their greatest warrior, +and count <i>coup</i> on him, and kill him, and then ride back. Do this four +times, and count <i>coup</i> on four of the bravest Sioux, and kill them, but +don't go again. If you go the fifth time, maybe you will be killed, or +else you will lose me. <i>La-ku'-ta-chix</i>—remember." So the boy promised.</p> + +<p>The next day it happened as the horse had said, and the Sioux came down +and formed in line of battle. Then the boy took his bow and arrows, and +jumped on the dun horse, and charged into the midst of them. And when +the Sioux saw that he was going to <a name="Page_137" id="Page_137" />strike their Head Chief, they all +shot their arrows at him, and the arrows flew so thickly across each +other that they darkened the sky, but none of them hit the boy. And he +counted <i>coup</i> on the Chief, and killed him, and then rode back. After +that he charged again among the Sioux, where they were gathered +thickest, and counted <i>coup</i> on their bravest warrior, and killed him. +And then twice more, until he had gone four times as the horse had told +him.</p> + +<p>But the Sioux and the Pawnees kept on fighting, and the boy stood around +and watched the battle. And at last he said to himself, "I have been +four times and have killed four Sioux, and I am all right, I am not hurt +anywhere; why may I not go again?" So he jumped on the dun horse, and +charged again. But when he got among the Sioux, one Sioux warrior drew +an arrow and shot. The arrow struck the dun horse behind the forelegs +and pierced him through. And the horse fell down dead. But the boy +jumped off, and fought his way through the Sioux, and ran away as fast +as he could to the Pawnees. Now, as soon as the horse was killed, the +Sioux said to each other: "This horse was like a man.<a name="Page_138" id="Page_138" /> He was brave. He +was not like a horse." And they took their knives and hatchets, and +hacked the dun horse and gashed his flesh, and cut him into small +pieces.</p> + +<p>The Pawnees and Sioux fought all day long, but toward night the Sioux +broke and fled.</p> + + +<h4>IV</h4> + +<p>The boy felt very badly that he had lost his horse; and, after the fight +was over, he went out from the village to where it had taken place, to +mourn for his horse. He went to the spot where the horse lay, and +gathered up all the pieces of flesh, which the Sioux had cut off, and +the legs and the hoofs, and put them all together in a pile. Then he +went off to the top of a hill near by, and sat down and drew his robe +over his head, and began to mourn for his horse.</p> + +<p>As he sat there, he heard a great wind-storm coming up, and it passed +over him with a loud rushing sound, and after the wind came a rain. The +boy looked down from where he sat to the pile of flesh and bones, which +was all that was left of his horse, and he could just see it through the +rain. And the rain <a name="Page_139" id="Page_139" />passed by, and his heart was very heavy, and he kept +on mourning.</p> + +<p>And pretty soon came another rushing wind, and after it a rain; and as +he looked through the driving rain toward the spot where the pieces lay, +he thought that they seemed to come together and take shape, and that +the pile looked like a horse lying down, but he could not see well for +the thick rain.</p> + +<p>After this came a third storm like the others; and now when he looked +toward the horse he thought he saw its tail move from side to side two +or three times, and that it lifted its head from the ground. The boy was +afraid, and wanted to run away, but he stayed.</p> + +<p>And as he waited, there came another storm. And while the rain fell, +looking through the rain, the boy saw the horse raise himself up on his +forelegs and look about. Then the dun horse stood up.</p> + + +<h4>V</h4> + +<p>The boy left the place where he had been sitting on the hilltop, and +went down to him. When the boy had come near to him, the horse <a name="Page_140" id="Page_140" />spoke +and said: "You have seen how it has been this day; and from this you may +know how it will be after this. But <i>Ti-ra'-wa</i> has been good, and has +let me come back to you. After this, do what I tell you; not any more, +not any less." Then the horse said: "Now lead me off, far away from the +camp, behind that big hill, and leave me there to-night, and in the +morning come for me;" and the boy did as he was told.</p> + +<p>And when he went for the horse in the morning, he found with him a +beautiful white gelding, much more handsome than any horse in the tribe. +That night the dun horse told the boy to take him again to the place +behind the big hill, and to come for him the next morning; and when the +boy went for him again, he found with him a beautiful black gelding. And +so for ten nights, he left the horse among the hills, and each morning +he found a different coloured horse, a bay, a roan, a gray, a blue, a +spotted horse, and all of them finer than any horses that the Pawnees +had ever had in their tribe before.</p> + +<p>Now the boy was rich, and he married the beautiful daughter of the Head +Chief, and when he became older he was made Head<a name="Page_141" id="Page_141" /> Chief himself. He had +many children by his beautiful wife, and one day when his oldest boy +died, he wrapped him in the spotted calf robe and buried him in it. He +always took good care of his old grandmother, and kept her in his own +lodge until she died. The dun horse was never ridden except at feasts, +and when they were going to have a doctors' dance, but he was always led +about with the Chief wherever he went. The horse lived in the village +for many years, until he became very old. And at last he died.<a name="Page_142" id="Page_142" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII" />XVII</h2> + +<h3>THE GREEDY YOUNGSTER</h3> + + +<p>Once upon a time there were five women who were in a field reaping corn. +None of them had any children, but they were all wishing for a child. +All at once they found a big goose egg, almost as big as a man's head.</p> + +<p>"I saw it first," said one. "I saw it just as soon as you did," shouted +another. "But I'll have it," screamed the third, "I saw it first of +all."</p> + +<p>Thus they kept on quarrelling and fighting about the egg, and they were +very near tearing each other's hair. But at last they agreed that it +should belong to them all, and that they should sit on it as the geese +do and hatch a gosling. The first woman sat on it for eight days, taking +it very comfortably and doing nothing at all, while the others had to +work hard both for their own and her living. One of the women began to +make some insinuations to her about this.<a name="Page_143" id="Page_143" /></p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose you didn't come out of the egg either before you could +chirp," said the woman who was on the egg, "But I think there is +something in this egg, for I fancy I can hear some one inside grumbling +every other moment: 'Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!' You can come +and sit for eight days now, and then we will sit and work in turn, all +of us."</p> + +<p>So when the fifth in turn had sat for eight days, she heard plainly some +one inside the egg screeching for "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" +And so she made a hole in it; but instead of a gosling out came a baby, +but it was awfully ugly, and had a big head and a tiny little body. The +first thing it screamed out for, as soon as it put its head outside the +egg, was "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" And so they called it +"the greedy youngster."</p> + +<p>Ugly as he was, they were fond of him at first; but before long he +became so greedy that he ate up all the meat they had. When they boiled +a dish of soup or a pot of porridge which they thought would be +sufficient for all six, he finished it all by himself. So they would not +have him any longer.<a name="Page_144" id="Page_144" /></p> + +<p>"I have not had a decent meal since this changeling crept out of the +eggshell," said one of them, and when the youngster heard that they were +all of the same opinion, he said he was quite willing to go his way; "if +they did not want him, he was sure he did not want them," and with that +he left the place.</p> + +<p>After a long time he came to a farm where the fields were full of +stones, and he went in and asked for a situation. They wanted a labourer +on the farm, and the farmer put him to pick up stones from the field. +Yes, the youngster went to work and picked up the stones, some of which +were so big that they would make many cart-loads; but whether they were +big or small, he put them all into his pocket. It did not take him long +to finish that job, so he wanted to know what he should do next.</p> + +<p>"You will have to get all the stones out of the field," said the farmer. +"I suppose you can't be ready before you have commenced?"</p> + +<p>But the youngster emptied his pockets and threw all the stones in a +heap. Then the farmer saw that he had finished the work, and he thought +he ought to look well after one who was so strong. He must come in and +<a name="Page_145" id="Page_145" />get something to eat, he said. The youngster thought so too, and he +alone ate what was prepared both for master and servants, and still he +was only half satisfied.</p> + +<p>"He is the right sort of man for a labourer, but he is a terrible eater, +to be sure," thought the farmer. "A man like him would eat a poor farmer +out of house and home before anybody knew a word about it," he said. He +had no more work for him; it was best for him to go to the king's +palace.</p> + +<p>The youngster set out for the palace, where he got a place at once. +There was plenty of food and plenty of work. He was to be errand boy, +and to help the girls to carry wood and water and do other odd jobs. So +he asked what he was to do first.</p> + +<p>"You had better chop some wood in the mean time," they said. Yes, he +commenced to chop and cut wood till the splinters flew about him. It was +not long before he had chopped up everything in the place, both firewood +and timber, both rafters and beams, and when he was ready with it, he +came in and asked what he was to do now.</p> + +<p>"You can finish chopping the wood," they said.<a name="Page_146" id="Page_146" /></p> + +<p>"There is no more to chop," he answered.</p> + +<p>That could not be possible, thought the overlooker, and had a look into +the wood-shed. But yes, the youngster had chopped up everything; he had +even cut up the timber and planks in the place. This was vexatious, the +overlooker said; and then he told the youngster that he should not taste +food until he had gone into the forest and cut just as much timber as he +had chopped up for firewood.</p> + +<p>The youngster went to the smithy and got the smith to help him to make +an axe of five hundredweight of iron, and then he set out for the forest +and began to make a regular clearance, not only of the pine and the +lofty fir trees, but of everything else which was to be found in the +king's forests, and in the neighbours' as well. He did not stop to cut +the branches or the tops off, but he left them lying there as if a +hurricane had blown them down. He put a proper load on the sledge and +put all the horses to it, but they could not even move it; so he took +the horses by the heads to give the sledge a start, but he pulled so +hard that the horses' heads came off. He then turned the horses out of +the shafts and drew the load himself.<a name="Page_147" id="Page_147" /></p> + +<p>When he came to the palace, the king and his overlooker were standing in +the hall to give him a scolding for having destroyed the forest—the +overlooker had been there and seen what he had been doing. But when the +king saw the youngster dragging half the forest after him, he got both +angry and afraid; but he thought he had better be a little careful with +him, since he was strong.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are a wonderful workman, to be sure," said the king; "but how +much do you eat at a time, because I suppose you are hungry now?"</p> + +<p>Oh, when he was to have a proper meal of porridge, it would take twelve +barrels of meal to make it, thought the youngster; but when he had put +that away, he could wait awhile, of course, for his next meal.</p> + +<p>It took some time to boil such a dish of porridge, and meantime he was +to bring in a little firewood for the cook. He put a lot of wood on a +sledge, but when he was coming through the door with it he was a little +rough and careless again. The house got almost out of shape, and all the +joists creaked; he was very near dragging down the whole palace.<a name="Page_148" id="Page_148" /> When +the porridge was nearly ready, they sent him out to call the people home +from the fields. He shouted so that the mountains and hills around rang +with echoes, but the people did not come quick enough for him. He came +to blows with them, and killed twelve of them.</p> + +<p>"You have killed twelve men," said the king; "and you eat for many times +twelve; but how many do you work for?"</p> + +<p>"For many times twelve as well," answered the youngster.</p> + +<p>When he had finished his porridge, he was to go into the barn to thrash. +He took one of the rafters from the roof and made a flail out of it, and +when the roof was about to fall in, he took a big pine tree with +branches and all and put it up instead of the rafter. So he went on +thrashing the grain and the straw and the hay all together. This was +doing more damage than good, for the corn and the chaff flew about +together, and a cloud of dust arose over the whole palace.</p> + +<p>When he had nearly finished thrashing, enemies came into the country, as +a war was coming on. So the king told the youngster that he should take +men with him to go and <a name="Page_149" id="Page_149" />meet the enemy and fight them, for the king +thought they would surely kill him.</p> + +<p>No, he would not have any men with him to be cut to pieces; he would +fight by himself, answered the youngster.</p> + +<p>"So much the better," thought the king; "the sooner I shall get rid of +him; but he must have a proper club."</p> + +<p>They sent for the smith; he forged a club which weighed a hundredweight. +"A very nice thing to crack nuts with," said the youngster. So the smith +made one of three hundredweight. "It would be very well for hammering +nails into boots," was the answer. Well, the smith could not make a +bigger one with the men he had. So the youngster set out for the smithy +himself, and made a club that weighed five tons, and it took a hundred +men to turn it on the anvil. "That one might do for lack of a better," +thought the youngster. He wanted next a bag with some provisions; they +had to make one out of fifteen oxhides, and they filled it with food, +and away he went down the hill with the bag on his back and the club on +his shoulder.</p> + +<p>When he came so far that the enemy saw <a name="Page_150" id="Page_150" />him, they sent a soldier to ask +him if he was going to fight them.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but wait a little till I have had something to eat," said the +youngster. He threw himself down on the grass and began to eat with the +big bag of food in front of him.</p> + +<p>But the enemy would not wait, and commenced to fire at him at once, till +it rained and hailed around him with bullets.</p> + +<p>"I don't mind these crowberries a bit," said the youngster, and went on +eating harder than ever. Neither lead nor iron took any effect upon him, +and his bag with food in front of him guarded him against the bullets as +if it were a rampart.</p> + +<p>So they commenced throwing bomb-shells and firing cannons at him. He +only grinned a little every time he felt them.</p> + +<p>"They don't hurt me a bit," he said. But just then he got a bomb-shell +right down his windpipe.</p> + +<p>"Fy!" he shouted, and spat it out again; but then a chain-shot made its +way into his butter-can, and another carried away the piece of food he +held between his fingers.</p> + +<p>That made him angry; he got up and took his big club and struck the +ground with it,<a name="Page_151" id="Page_151" /> asking them if they wanted to take the food out of his +mouth, and what they meant by blowing crowberries at him with those +pea-shooters of theirs. He then struck the ground again till the hills +and rocks rattled and shook, and sent the enemy flying in the air like +chaff. This finished the war.</p> + +<p>When he came home again, and asked for more work, the king was taken +quite aback, for he thought he should have got rid of him in the war. He +knew of nothing else but to send him on a message to the devil.</p> + +<p>"You had better go to the devil and ask him for my ground-rent," he +said. The youngster took his bag on his back, and started at once. He +was not long in getting there, but the devil was gone to court, and +there was no one at home but his mother, and she said that she had never +heard talk of any ground-rent. He had better call again another time.</p> + +<p>"Yes, call again to-morrow is always the cry," he said; but he was not +going to be made a fool of, he told her. He was there, and there he +would remain till he got the ground-rent. He had plenty of time to wait. +But when he had finished all the food in his bag, the time hung heavy on +his hands, and then he <a name="Page_152" id="Page_152" />asked the old lady for the ground-rent again. +She had better pay it now, he said.</p> + +<p>"No, she was going to do nothing of the sort," she said. Her words were +as firm as the old fir tree just outside the gates, which was so big +that fifteen men could scarcely span it.</p> + +<p>But the youngster climbed right up in the top of it and twisted and +turned it as if it was a willow, and then he asked her if she was going +to pay the ground-rent now.</p> + +<p>Yes, she dared not do anything else, and scraped together as much money +as he thought he could carry in his bag. He then set out for home with +the ground-rent, but as soon as he was gone the devil came home. When he +heard that the youngster had gone off with his bag full of money, he +first of all gave his mother a hiding, and then he started after him, +thinking he would soon overtake him.</p> + +<p>He soon came up to him, for he had nothing to carry, and now and then he +used his wings; but the youngster had, of course, to keep to the ground +with his heavy bag. Just as the devil was at his heels, he began to jump +and run as fast as he could. He kept his club behind him to keep the +devil off, and thus <a name="Page_153" id="Page_153" />they went along, the youngster holding the handle +and the devil trying to catch hold of the other end of it, till they +came to a deep valley. There the youngster made a jump across from the +top of one hill to the other, and the devil was in such a hurry to +follow him that he ran his head against the club and fell down into the +valley and broke his leg, and there he lay.</p> + +<p>"There is the ground-rent," said the youngster when he came to the +palace, and threw the bag with the money to the king with such a crash +that you could hear it all over the hall.</p> + +<p>The king thanked him, and appeared to be well pleased, and promised him +good pay and leave of absence if he wished it, but the youngster wanted +only more work.</p> + +<p>"What shall I do now?" he said.</p> + +<p>As soon as the king had had time to consider, he told him that he must +go to the hill-troll, who had taken his grandfather's sword. The troll +had a castle by the sea, where no one dared to go.</p> + +<p>The youngster put some cartloads of food into his bag and set out again. +He travelled both long and far, over woods and hills and <a name="Page_154" id="Page_154" />wild moors, +till he came to the big mountains where the troll, who had taken the +sword of the king's grandfather, was living.</p> + +<p>But the troll seldom came out in the open air, and the mountain was well +closed, so the youngster was not man enough to get inside.</p> + +<p>So he joined a gang of quarrymen who were living at a farm on top of the +hill, and who were quarrying stones in the hills about there. They had +never had such help before, for he broke and hammered away at the rocks +till the mountain cracked, and big stones of the size of a house rolled +down the hill. But when he rested to get his dinner, for which he was +going to have one of the cartloads in his bag, he found it was all eaten +up.</p> + +<p>"I have generally a good appetite myself," said the youngster; "but the +one who has been here can do a trifle more than I, for he has eaten all +the bones as well."</p> + +<p>Thus the first day passed; and he fared no better the second. On the +third day he set out to break stones again, taking with him the third +load of food, but he lay down behind the bag and pretended to be asleep. +All of a sudden, a troll with seven heads came out of the mountain and +began to eat his food.<a name="Page_155" id="Page_155" /></p> + +<p>"It's all ready for me here, and I will eat," said the troll.</p> + +<p>"We will see about that," said the youngster, and hit the troll with his +club, so the heads rolled down the hill.</p> + +<p>So he went into the mountain which the troll had come out of, and in +there stood a horse eating out of a barrel of glowing cinders, and +behind it stood a barrel of oats.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you eat out of the barrel of oats?" asked the youngster.</p> + +<p>"Because I cannot turn round," said the horse.</p> + +<p>"But I will soon turn you round," said the youngster.</p> + +<p>"Rather cut my head off," said the horse.</p> + +<p>So he cut its head off, and the horse turned into a fine handsome +fellow. He said he had been bewitched, and taken into the mountain and +turned into a horse by the troll. He then helped the youngster to find +the sword, which the troll had hidden at the bottom of the bed, and in +the bed lay the old mother of the troll, asleep and snoring hard.</p> + +<p>So they set out for home by water, but when they had got some distance +out to sea the old mother came after them. As she could not <a name="Page_156" id="Page_156" />overtake +them, she lay down and began to drink the sea, and she drank till the +water fell; but she could not drink the sea dry, and so she burst.</p> + +<p>When they came to land, the youngster sent word that the king must come +and fetch the sword. He sent four horses, but no, they could not move +it; he sent eight, and he sent twelve; but the sword remained where it +was. They were not able to stir it from the spot. But the youngster took +it and carried it up to the palace alone.</p> + +<p>The king could not believe his eyes when he saw the youngster back +again. He appeared, however, to be pleased to see him, and promised him +land and riches. When the youngster wanted more work, the king said he +might set out for an enchanted castle he had, where no one dared to +live, and he would have to stop there till he had built a bridge over +the sound, so that people could get across to the castle.</p> + +<p>If he was able to do this he would reward him handsomely, yes, he would +even give him his daughter in marriage, said he.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think I can do it," said the youngster.<a name="Page_157" id="Page_157" /></p> + +<p>No one had ever got away alive; those who had got as far as the castle, +lay there killed and torn to pieces as small as barley, and the king +thought he should never see him any more if he would go thither.</p> + +<p>But the youngster started on his expedition; he took with him the bag of +food, a crooked, twisted block of a fir tree, an axe, a wedge, and some +chips of the fir root, and the small pauper boy at the palace.</p> + +<p>When he came to the sound, he found the river full of ice, and the +current ran as strong as in a waterfall; but he stuck his legs to the +bottom of the river and waded until he got safe across.</p> + +<p>When he had warmed himself and had something to eat, he wanted to go to +sleep; but before long he heard such a terrible noise, as if they were +turning the castle upside down. The door burst wide open, and he saw +nothing but a gaping jaw extending from the threshold up to the lintel.</p> + +<p>"There is a mouthful for you," said the youngster and threw the pauper +boy into the swallow: "taste that! But let me see now who you are! +Perhaps you are an old acquaintance?"<a name="Page_158" id="Page_158" /></p> + +<p>And so it was; it was the devil who was about again.</p> + +<p>They began to play cards, for the devil wanted to try and win back some +of the ground-rent which the youngster had got out of his mother by +threats, when he was sent by the king to collect it; but the youngster +was always the fortunate one, for he put a cross on the back of all the +good cards, and when he had won all the money which the devil had upon +him, the devil had to pay him out of the gold and silver which was in +the castle.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the fire went out, so they could not tell the one card from the +other.</p> + +<p>"We must chop some wood now," said the youngster, who drove the axe into +the fir block, and forced the wedge in; but the twisted, knotty block +would not split, although the youngster worked as hard as he could with +the axe.</p> + +<p>"They say you are strong," he said to the devil; "just spit on your +hands, stick your claws in, and tear away, and let me see what you are +made of."</p> + +<p>The devil did so, and put both his fists into the split and pulled as +hard as he could, when the youngster suddenly struck the wedge out, <a name="Page_159" id="Page_159" />and +the devil stuck fast in the block and the youngster let him also have a +taste of the butt end of his axe on his back. The devil begged and +prayed so nicely to be let loose, but the youngster would not listen to +anything of the kind unless he promised that he would never come there +any more and create any disturbance. He also had to promise that he +would build a bridge over the sound, so that people could pass over it +at all times of the year, and it should be ready when the ice was gone.</p> + +<p>"They are very hard conditions," said the devil; but there was no other +way out of it—if the devil wanted to be set free, he would have to +promise it. He bargained, however, that he should have the first soul +that went across the bridge. That was to be the toll.</p> + +<p>Yes, he should have that, said the youngster. So the devil was let +loose, and he started home. But the youngster lay down to sleep, and +slept till far into the day.</p> + +<p>When the king came to see if he was cut and chopped into small pieces, +he had to wade through all the money before he came to his bedside. +There was money in heaps and in bags which reached far up the wall, and +the youngster lay in bed asleep and snoring hard.<a name="Page_160" id="Page_160" /></p> + +<p>"Lord help me and my daughter," said the king when he saw that the +youngster was alive. Well, all was good and well done, that no one could +deny; but there was no hurry talking of the wedding before the bridge +was ready.</p> + +<p>One day the bridge stood ready, and the devil was there waiting for the +toll which he had bargained for.</p> + +<p>The youngster wanted the king to go with him and try the bridge, but the +king had no mind to do it. So he mounted a horse himself, and put the +fat dairy-maid in the palace on the pommel in front of him; she looked +almost like a big fir block, and so he rode over the bridge, which +thundered under the horse's feet.</p> + +<p>"Where is the toll? Where have you got the soul?" cried the devil.</p> + +<p>"Why, inside this fir block," said the youngster; "if you want it you +will have to spit in your hands and take it."</p> + +<p>"No, many thanks! If she does not come to me, I am sure I shan't take +her," said the devil. "You got me once into a pinch, and I'll take care +you don't get me into another," and with that he flew straight home to +his old <a name="Page_161" id="Page_161" />mother, and since that time he has never been heard or seen +thereabouts.</p> + +<p>The youngster went home to the palace and asked for the reward the king +had promised him, and when the king wanted to get out of it, and would +not stick to what he had promised, the youngster said it was best he got +a good bag of food ready for him and he would take his reward himself.</p> + +<p>Yes, the king would see to that, and when the bag was ready the +youngster asked the king to come outside the door. The youngster then +gave the king such a kick, which sent him flying up in the air. The bag +he threw after him that he might not be without food; and if he has not +come down again by this he is floating about with his bag between heaven +and earth to this very day.<a name="Page_162" id="Page_162" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII" />XVIII</h2> + +<h3>HANS, WHO MADE THE PRINCESS LAUGH</h3> + + +<p>Once upon a time there was a king, who had a daughter, and she was so +lovely that the reports of her beauty went far and wide; but she was so +melancholy that she never laughed, and besides she was so grand and +proud that she said "No" to all who came to woo her—she would not have +any of them, were they ever so fine, whether they were princes or +noblemen.</p> + +<p>The king was tired of this whim of hers long ago, and thought she ought +to get married like other people; there was nothing she need wait +for—she was old enough and she would not be any richer either, for she +was to have half the kingdom, which she inherited after her mother.</p> + +<p>So he made known every Sunday after the service, from the steps outside +the church, that he that could make his daughter laugh <a name="Page_163" id="Page_163" />should have both +her and half the kingdom. But if there were any one who tried and could +not make her laugh, he would have three red stripes cut out of his back +and salt rubbed into them—and, sad to relate, there were many sore +backs in that kingdom. Lovers from south and from north, from east and +from west, came to try their luck—they thought it was an easy thing to +make a princess laugh. They were a queer lot altogether, but for all +their cleverness and for all the tricks and pranks they played, the +princess was just as serious and immovable as ever.</p> + +<p>But close to the palace lived a man who had three sons, and they had +also heard that the king had made known that he who could make the +princess laugh should have her and half the kingdom.</p> + +<p>The eldest of the brothers wanted to try first, and away he went; and +when he came to the palace, he told the king he wouldn't mind trying to +make the princess laugh.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes! that's all very well," said the king; "but I am afraid it's +of very little use, my man. There have been many here to try their luck, +but my daughter is just as sad, and I am afraid it is no good trying. I +do <a name="Page_164" id="Page_164" />not like to see any more suffer on that account."</p> + +<p>But the lad thought he would try anyhow. It couldn't be such a difficult +thing to make a princess laugh at him, for had not everybody, both grand +and simple, laughed so many a time at him when he served as soldier and +went through his drill under Sergeant Nils.</p> + +<p>So he went out on the terrace outside the princess's windows and began +drilling just as if Sergeant Nils himself were there. But all in vain! +The princess sat just as serious and immovable as before, and so they +took him and cut three broad, red stripes out of his back and sent him +home.</p> + +<p>He had no sooner arrived home than his second brother wanted to set out +and try his luck. He was a schoolmaster, and a funny figure he was +altogether. He had one leg shorter than the other, and limped terribly +when he walked. One moment he was no bigger than a boy, but the next +moment when he raised himself up on his long leg he was as big and tall +as a giant—and besides he was great at preaching.</p> + +<p>When he came to the palace, and said that he wanted to make the princess +laugh, the <a name="Page_165" id="Page_165" />king thought that it was not so unlikely that he might; "but +I pity you, if you don't succeed," said the king, "for we cut the +stripes broader and broader for every one that tries."</p> + +<p>So the schoolmaster went out on the terrace, and took his place outside +the princess's window, where he began preaching and chanting imitating +seven of the parsons, and reading and singing just like seven of the +clerks whom they had had in the parish.</p> + +<p>The king laughed at the schoolmaster till he was obliged to hold on to +the door-post, and the princess was just on the point of smiling, but +suddenly she was as sad and immovable as ever, and so it fared no better +with Paul the schoolmaster than with Peter the soldier—for Peter and +Paul were their names, you must know!</p> + +<p>So they took Paul and cut three red stripes out of his back, put salt +into them, and sent him home again.</p> + +<p>Well, the youngest brother thought he would have a try next. His name +was Hans. But the brothers laughed and made fun of him, and showed him +their sore backs. Besides, the father would not give him leave to go, +for he said it was no use his trying, who had so little <a name="Page_166" id="Page_166" />sense; all he +could do was to sit in a corner on the hearth, like a cat, rooting about +in the ashes and cutting chips. But Hans would not give in—he begged +and prayed so long, till they got tired of his whimpering, and so he got +leave to go to the king's palace and try his luck.</p> + +<p>When he arrived at the palace he did not say he had come to try to make +the princess laugh, but asked if he could get a situation there. No, +they had no situation for him; but Hans was not so easily put off—they +might want one to carry wood and water for the kitchenmaid in such a big +place as that, he said. Yes, the king thought so too, and to get rid of +the lad he gave him leave to remain there and carry wood and water for +the kitchenmaid.</p> + +<p>One day, when he was going to fetch water from the brook, he saw a big +fish in the water just under an old root of a fir-tree, which the +current had carried all the soil away from. He put his bucket quietly +under the fish and caught it. As he was going home to the palace, he met +an old woman leading a golden goose.</p> + +<p>"Good day, grandmother!" said Hans. "That's a fine bird you have got +there; and <a name="Page_167" id="Page_167" />such splendid feathers too! he shines a long way off. If one +had such feathers, one needn't be chopping firewood."</p> + +<p>The woman thought just as much of the fish which Hans had in the bucket, +and said if Hans would give her the fish he should have the golden +goose; and this goose was such that if any one touched it he would be +sticking fast to it if he only said: "If you'll come along, then hang +on."</p> + +<p>Yes, Hans would willingly exchange on those terms. "A bird is as good as +a fish any day," he said to himself. "If it is as you say, I might use +it instead of a fish-hook," he said to the woman, and felt greatly +pleased with the possession of the goose.</p> + +<p>He had not gone far before he met another old woman. When she saw the +splendid golden goose, she must go and stroke it. She made herself so +friendly and spoke so nicely to Hans, and asked him to let her stroke +that lovely golden goose of his.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" said Hans, "but you mustn't pluck off any of its feathers!"</p> + +<p>Just as she stroked the bird, Hans said: "If you'll come along, then +hang on!"</p> + +<p>The woman pulled and tore, but she had <a name="Page_168" id="Page_168" />to hang on, whether she would or +no, and Hans walked on, as if he only had the goose with him.</p> + +<p>When he had gone some distance, he met a man who had a spite against the +woman for a trick she had played upon him. When he saw that she fought +so hard to get free and seemed to hang on so fast, he thought he might +safely venture to pay her off for the grudge he owed her, and so he gave +her a kick.</p> + +<p>"If you'll come along, then hang on!" said Hans, and the man had to hang +on and limp along on one leg, whether he would or no; and when he tried +to tear himself loose, he made it still worse for himself, for he was +very nearly falling on his back whenever he struggled to get free.</p> + +<p>So on they went till they came in the neighborhood of the palace. There +they met the king's smith; he was on his way to the smithy, and had a +large pair of tongs in his hand. This smith was a merry fellow, and was +always full of mad pranks and tricks, and when he saw this procession +coming jumping and limping along, he began laughing till he was bent in +two, but suddenly he said:</p> + +<p>"This must be a new flock of geese for the princess: but who can tell +which is goose and <a name="Page_169" id="Page_169" />which is gander? I suppose it must be the gander +toddling on in front. Goosey, goosey!" he called, and pretended to be +strewing corn out of his hands as when feeding geese.</p> + +<p>But they did not stop. The woman and the man only looked in great rage +at the smith for making game of them. So said the smith: "It would be +great fun to see if I could stop the whole flock, many as they are!"—He +was a strong man, and seized the old man with his tongs from behind in +his trousers, and the man shouted and struggled hard, but Hans said:</p> + +<p>"If you'll come along, then hang on!"</p> + +<p>And so the smith had to hang on too. He bent his back and stuck his +heels in the ground when they went up a hill and tried to get away, but +it was of no use; he stuck on to the other as if he had been screwed +fast in the great vise in the smithy, and whether he liked it or not, he +had to dance along with the others.</p> + +<p>When they came near the palace, the farm-dog ran against them and barked +at them, as if they were a gang of tramps, and when the princess came to +look out of her window to see what was the matter, and saw this +procession, she burst out laughing. But Hans <a name="Page_170" id="Page_170" />was not satisfied with +that. "Just wait a bit, and she will laugh still louder very soon," he +said, and made a tour round the palace with his followers.</p> + +<p>When they came past the kitchen, the door was open and the cook was just +boiling porridge, but when she saw Hans and his train after him, she +rushed out of the door with the porridge-stick in one hand and a big +ladle full of boiling porridge in the other, and she laughed till her +sides shook; but when she saw the smith there as well, she thought she +would have burst with laughter. When she had had a regular good laugh, +she looked at the golden goose again and thought it was so lovely that +she must stroke it.</p> + +<p>"Hans, Hans!" she cried, and ran after him with the ladle in her hand; +"just let me stroke that lovely bird of yours."</p> + +<p>"Rather let her stroke me!" said the smith.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Hans.</p> + +<p>But when the cook heard this, she got very angry. "What is it you say!" +she cried, and gave the smith a smack with the ladle.</p> + +<p>"If you'll come along, then hang on!" said Hans, and so she stuck fast +to the others too, and for all her scolding and all her tearing <a name="Page_171" id="Page_171" />and +pulling, she had to limp along with them.</p> + +<p>And when they came past the princess's window again, she was still there +waiting for them, but when she saw that they had got hold of the cook +too, with the ladle and porridge-stick, she laughed till the king had to +hold her up. So Hans got the princess and half the kingdom, and they had +a wedding which was heard of far and wide.<a name="Page_172" id="Page_172" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX" />XIX</h2> + +<h3>THE STORY OF TOM TIT TOT<a id="footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href= "#footnote8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></h3> + + +<p>Well, once upon a time there were a woman, and she baked five pies. And +when they come out of the oven, they was that overbaked the crust were +too hard to eat. So she says to her darter:</p> + +<p>"Darter," says she, "put you them there pies on the shelf an' leave 'em +there a little, an' they'll come agin—" She meant, you know, the crust +'ud get soft.</p> + +<p>But the gal, she says to herself, "Well, if they'll come agin, I'll ate +'em now." And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last.</p> + +<p>Well, come supper time, the woman she said, "Goo you and git one o' them +there pies; I daresay they've come agin, now."</p> + +<p>The gal, she went an' she looked, and there warn't nothin' but the +dishes. So back she come and says she, "Noo, they ain't come agin."</p> + +<p>"Not none on 'em?" says the mother.<a name="Page_173" id="Page_173" /></p> + +<p>"Not none on 'em," says she.</p> + +<p>"Well, come agin, or not come agin," says the woman, "I'll ha' one for +supper."</p> + +<p>"But you can't, if they ain't come," says the gal.</p> + +<p>"But I can," says she. "Goo you and bring the best of 'em."</p> + +<p>"Best or worst," says the gal, "I've ate 'em all, and you can't ha' one +till that's come agin."</p> + +<p>Well, the woman she were wholly bate, and she took her spinnin' to the +door to spin, and as she span she sang:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The king, he were a comin' down the street and he hard her sing, but +what she sang he couldn't hare, so he stopped and said:</p> + +<p>"What were that you was a singin of, woman?"</p> + +<p>The woman, she were ashamed to let him hare what her darter had been +a-doin', so she sang, 'stids o' that:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day."<br /></span> +</div></div><p><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174" /></p> + +<p>"S'ars o' mine!" said the king, "I never heerd tell of any one as could +do that."</p> + +<p>Then he said: "Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your darter. +But look you here," says he, "'leven months out o' the year she shall +have all the vittles she likes to eat, and all the gownds she likes to +git, and all the cumpny she likes to hev; but the last month o' the year +she'll ha' to spin five skeins iv'ry day, an' if she doon't, I shall +kill her."</p> + +<p>"All right," says the woman; for she thowt what a grand marriage that +was. And as for them five skeins, when te come tew, there'd be plenty o' +ways of gettin' out of it, and likeliest, he'd ha' forgot about it.</p> + +<p>Well, so they were married. An' for 'leven months the gal had all the +vittles she liked to ate, and all the gownds she liked to git, and all +the cumpny she liked to have.</p> + +<p>But when the time was gettin' oover, she began to think about them there +skeins an' to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say +about 'em, an' she whoolly thowt he'd forgot 'em.</p> + +<p>Howsivir, the last day o' the last month, <a name="Page_175" id="Page_175" />he takes her to a room she'd +niver set eyes on afore. There worn't nothin' in it but a spinnin' wheel +and a stool. An' says he, "Now, me dear, hare you'll be shut in +to-morrow with some vittles and some flax, and if you hain't spun five +skeins by the night, yar hid'll goo off."</p> + +<p>An' awa' he went about his business.</p> + +<p>Well, she were that frightened. She'd allus been such a gatless gal, +that she didn't se much as know how to spin, an' what were she to dew +to-morrer, with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a +stool in the kitchen, and lork! how she did cry!</p> + +<p>Howsivir, all on a sudden she hard a sort of a knockin' low down on the +door. She upped and oped it, an' what should she see but a small little +black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right kewrious, an' +that said:</p> + +<p>"What are yew a-cryin' for?"</p> + +<p>"Wha's that to yew?" says she.</p> + +<p>"Niver yew mind," that said, "but tell me what you're a cryin' for."</p> + +<p>"That oon't dew me noo good if I dew," says she.<a name="Page_176" id="Page_176" /></p> + +<p>"Yew doon't know that," that said, an' twirled that's tail round.</p> + +<p>"Well," says she, "that oon't dew no harm, if that doon't dew no good," +and she upped and told about the pies an' the skeins an' everything.</p> + +<p>"This is what I'll dew," says the little black thing: "I'll come to yar +winder iv'ry mornin' an' take the flax an' bring it spun at night"</p> + +<p>"What's your pay?" says she.</p> + +<p>That looked out o' the corners o' that's eyes an' that said: "I'll give +you three guesses every night to guess my name, an' if you hain't +guessed it afore the month's up, yew shall be mine."</p> + +<p>Well, she thowt she'd be sure to guess that's name afore the month was +up. "All right," says she, "I agree."</p> + +<p>"All right," that says, an' lork! how that twirled that's tail.</p> + +<p>Well, the next day, har husband, he took her inter the room, an' there +was the flax an' the day's vittles.</p> + +<p>"Now, there's the flax," says he, "an' if that ain't spun up this night, +off goo yar hid." An' then he went out an' locked the door.<a name="Page_177" id="Page_177" /></p> + +<p>He'd hardly goon, when there was a knockin' agin the winder.</p> + +<p>She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little oo'd +thing a settin' on the ledge.</p> + +<p>"Where's the flax?" says he.</p> + +<p>"Here te be," says she. And she gonned it to him.</p> + +<p>Well, come the evenin', a knockin' come agin to the winder. She upped +an' she oped it, and there were the little oo'd thing, with five skeins +of flax on his arm.</p> + +<p>"Here te be," says he, an' he gonned it to her.</p> + +<p>"Now, what's my name?" says he.</p> + +<p>"What, is that Bill?" says she.</p> + +<p>"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail.</p> + +<p>"Is that Ned?" says she.</p> + +<p>"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail.</p> + +<p>"Well, is that Mark?" says she.</p> + +<p>"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail harder, an' awa' he +flew.</p> + +<p>Well, when har husban' he come in, there was the five skeins riddy for +him.</p> + +<p>"I see I shorn't hev for to kill you to-night, me dare," says he. +"You'll hev yar vittles <a name="Page_178" id="Page_178" />and yar flax in the mornin'," says he, an' away +he goes.</p> + +<p>Well, ivery day the flax an' the vittles, they was browt, an' ivery day +that there little black impet used for to come mornin's and evenin's. +An' all the day the darter, she set a tryin' fur to think of names to +say to it when te come at night. But she niver hot on the right one. An' +as that got to-warts the ind o' the month, the impet that began for to +look soo maliceful, an' that twirled that's tail faster an' faster each +time she gave a guess.</p> + +<p>At last te came to the last day but one. The impet that come at night +along o' the five skeins, an' that said:</p> + +<p>"What, hain't yew got my name yet?"</p> + +<p>"Is that Nicodemus?" says she.</p> + +<p>"Noo, t'ain't," that says.</p> + +<p>"Is that Sammle?" says she.</p> + +<p>"Noo, t'ain't," that says.</p> + +<p>"A-well, is that Methusalem?" says she.</p> + +<p>"Noo, t'ain't that norther," he says.</p> + +<p>Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a cool o' fire, an that +says, "Woman, there's only to-morrer night, an' then yar'll be mine!" +An' away te flew.</p> + +<p>Well, she felt that horrud. Howsomediver, <a name="Page_179" id="Page_179" />she hard the king a-comin' +along the passage. In he came, an' when he see the five skeins, he says, +says he:</p> + +<p>"Well, me dare," says he, "I don't see but what yew'll ha' your skeins +ready to-morrer night as well, an' as I reckon I shorn't ha' to kill +you, I'll ha' supper in here to-night." So they brought supper an' +another stool for him, and down the tew they sot.</p> + +<p>Well, he hadn't eat but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to +laugh.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" says she.</p> + +<p>"A-why," says he, "I was out a-huntin' to-day, an' I got away to a place +in the wood I'd never seen afore. An' there was an old chalk pit. An' I +heerd a sort of a hummin', kind o'. So I got off my hobby, an' I went +right quiet to the pit, an' I looked down. Well, what should there be +but the funniest little black thing yew iver set eyes on. An' what was +that a dewin' on, but that had a little spinnin' wheel, an' that were +a-spinnin' wonnerful fast, an' a-twirlin' that's tail. An' as that span, +that sang:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Nimmy, nimmy not,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">My name's Tom Tit Tot."<br /></span> +</div></div><p><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180" /></p> + +<p>Well, when the darter heerd this, she fared as if she could ha' jumped +outer her skin for joy, but she di'n't say a word.</p> + +<p>Next day, that there little thing looked soo maliceful when he come for +the flax. An' when night came, she heerd that a-knockin' agin the winder +panes. She oped the winder, an' that come right in on the ledge. That +were grinnin' from are to are, an' Oo! tha's tail were twirlin' round so +fast.</p> + +<p>"What's my name?" that says, as that gonned her the skeins.</p> + +<p>"Is that Solomon?" she says, pretendin' to be a-feard.</p> + +<p>"Noo, tain't," that says, an' that come fudder inter the room.</p> + +<p>"Well, is that Zebedee?" says she agin.</p> + +<p>"Noo, tain't," says the impet. An' then that laughed an' twirled that's +tail till yew cou'n't hardly see it.</p> + +<p>"Take time, woman," that says; "next guess, an' you're mine." An' that +stretched out that's black hands at her.</p> + +<p>Well, she backed a step or two, an' she looked at it, and then she +laughed <a name="Page_181" id="Page_181" />out, an' says she, a pointin' of her finger at it:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Nimmy, nimmy not,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Yar name's Tom Tit Tot."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Well, when that hard her, that shruck awful an' awa' that flew into the +dark, an' she niver saw it noo more.<a name="Page_182" id="Page_182" /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XX" id="XX" />XX</h2> + +<h3>THE PEASANT STORY OF NAPOLEON</h3> + + +<div class="blockquote"><p>[Goguelet, an old soldier who fought under Napoleon, tells the + story of his wonderful General and Emperor to a group of eager + listeners in the country doctor's barn.]</p></div> + +<p>You see, my friends, Napoleon was born in Corsica, a French island, +warmed by the sun of Italy, where it is like a furnace, and where the +people kill each other, from father to son, all about nothing: that's a +way they have. To begin with the marvel of the thing—his mother, who +was the handsomest woman of her time, and a knowing one, bethought +herself of dedicating him to God, so that he might escape the dangers of +his childhood and future life; for she had dreamed that the world was +set on fire the day he was born. And, indeed, it was a prophecy! So she +asked God to protect him, on condition that Napoleon should restore His +holy religion, which was then cast to the ground. Well, that was agreed +upon, and we shall see what came of it.<a name="Page_183" id="Page_183" /></p> + +<p>"Follow me closely, and tell me if what you hear is in the nature or +man.</p> + +<p>"Sure and certain it is that none but a man who conceived the idea of +making a compact with God could have passed unhurt through the enemy's +lines, through cannon-balls, and discharges of grape-shot that swept the +rest of us off like flies, and always respected his head. I had proof of +that—I myself—at Eylau. I see him now, as he rode up a height, took +his field-glass, looked at the battle, and said, 'All goes well.' One of +those plumed busybodies, who plagued him considerably and followed him +everywhere, even to his meals, so they said, thought to play the wag, +and took the Emperor's place as he rode away. Ho! in a twinkling, head +and plume were off! You must understand that Napoleon had promised to +keep the secret of his compact all to himself. That's why all those who +followed him, even his nearest friends, fell like nuts—Duroc, +Bessières, Lannes—all strong as steel bars, though <i>he</i> could bend them +as he pleased. Besides—to prove he was the child of God, and made to be +the father of soldiers—was he ever known to be lieutenant or captain? +No, no; commander-in-chief <a name="Page_184" id="Page_184" />from the start. He didn't look to be more +than twenty-four years of age when he was an old general at the taking +of Toulon, where he first began to show the others that they knew +nothing about manoeuvring cannon.</p> + +<p>"After that, down came our slip of a general to command the grand army +of Italy, which hadn't bread, nor munitions, nor shoes, nor coats—a +poor army, as naked as a worm. 'My friends,' said he, 'here we are +together. Get it into your pates that fifteen days from now you will be +conquerors—new clothes, good gaiters, famous shoes, and every man with +a great-coat; but, my children, to get these things you must march to +Milan, where they are.' And we marched. France, crushed as flat as a +bed-bug, straightened up. We were thirty thousand bare-feet against +eighty thousand Austrian bullies, all fine men, well set-up. I see 'em +now! But Napoleon—he was then only Bonaparte—he knew how to put the +courage into us! We marched by night, and we marched by day; we slapped +their faces at Montenotte, we thrashed them at Rivoli, Lodi, Arcole, +Millesimo, and we never let 'em up. A soldier gets the taste <a name="Page_185" id="Page_185" />of +conquest. So Napoleon whirled round those Austrian generals, who didn't +know where to poke themselves to get out of his way, and he pelted 'em +well—nipped off ten thousand men at a blow sometimes, by getting round +them with fifteen hundred Frenchmen, and then he gleaned as he pleased. +He took their cannon, their supplies, their money, their munitions, in +short, all they had that was good to take. He fought them and beat them +on the mountains, he drove them into the rivers and seas, he bit 'em in +the air, he devoured 'em on the ground, and he lashed 'em everywhere. +Hey! the grand army feathered itself well; for, d'ye see the Emperor, +who was a wit, called up the inhabitants and told them he was there to +deliver them. So after that the natives lodged and cherished us; the +women too, and very judicious they were. Now here's the end of it. In +Ventose, '96—in those times that was the month of March of to-day—we +lay cuddled in a corner of Savoie with the marmots; and yet, before that +campaign was over, we were masters of Italy, just as Napoleon had +predicted; and by the following March—in a single year and two +campaigns—he had brought us <a name="Page_186" id="Page_186" />within sight of Vienna. 'Twas a clean +sweep. We devoured their armies, one after the other, and made an end of +four Austrian generals. One old fellow, with white hair, was roasted +like a rat in the straw at Mantua. Kings begged for mercy on their +knees! Peace was won.</p> + +<p>"Could a <i>man</i> have done that? No; God helped him, to a certainty!</p> + +<p>"He divided himself up like the loaves in the Gospel, commanded the +battle by day, planned it by night; going and coming, for the sentinels +saw him—never eating, never sleeping. So, seeing these prodigies, the +soldiers adopted him for their father. Forward, march! Then those +others, the rulers in Paris, seeing this, said to themselves: 'Here's a +bold one that seems to get his orders from the skies; he's likely to put +his paw on France. We must let him loose on Asia; we will send him to +America, perhaps that will satisfy him.' But 't was <i>written above</i> for +him, as it was for Jesus Christ. The command went forth that he should +go to Egypt. See, again, his resemblance to the Son of God. But that's +not all. He called together his best veterans, his fire-eaters, the ones +he had particularly <a name="Page_187" id="Page_187" />put the devil into, and he said to them like this: +'My friends, they have given us Egypt to chew up, just to keep us busy, +but we'll swallow it whole in a couple of campaigns, as we did Italy. +The common soldiers shall be princes and have the land for their own. +Forward, march!' 'Forward, march!' cried the sergeants, and there we +were at Toulon, road to Egypt. At that time the English had all their +ships in the sea; but when we embarked, Napoleon said: 'They won't see +us. It is just as well that you should know from this time forth that +your general has got his star in the sky, which guides and protects us.' +What was said was done. Passing over the sea, we took Malta like an +orange, just to quench his thirst for victory; for he was a man who +couldn't live and do nothing.</p> + +<p>"So here we are in Egypt. Good. Once here, other orders. The Egyptians, +d'ye see, are men who, ever since the earth was, have had giants for +sovereigns, and armies as numerous as ants; for, you must understand, +that's the land of genii and crocodiles, where they've built pyramids as +big as our mountains, and buried their kings under them to keep them +fresh—an idea that pleased 'em <a name="Page_188" id="Page_188" />mightily. So then, after we +disembarked, the Little Corporal said to us: 'My children, the country +you are going to conquer has a lot of gods that you must respect; +because Frenchmen ought to be friends with everybody, and fight the +nations without vexing the inhabitants. Get it into your skulls that you +are not to touch anything at first, for it is all going to be yours +soon. Forward, march!' So far, so good. But all those people of Africa, +to whom Napoleon was foretold under the name of Kébir-Bonaberdis—a word +of their lingo that means 'the sultan fires'—were afraid as the devil +of him. So the Grand Turk, and Asia, and Africa had recourse to magic. +They sent us a demon, named the Mahdi, supposed to have descended from +heaven on a white horse, which, like its master, was bullet-proof; and +both of them lived on air, without food to support them. There are some +that say they saw them; but I can't give you any reasons to make you +certain about that. The rulers of Arabia and the Mamelukes tried to make +their troopers believe that the Mahdi could keep them from perishing in +battle; and they pretended he was an angel sent from heaven to fight +Napoleon <a name="Page_189" id="Page_189" />and get back Solomon's seal. Solomon's seal was part of their +paraphernalia which they vowed our general had stolen. You must +understand that we'd given 'em a good many wry faces, in spite of what +he had said to us.</p> + +<p>"Now, tell me how they knew that Napoleon had a pact with God? Was that +natural, d'ye think?</p> + +<p>"They held to it in their minds that Napoleon commanded the genii, and +could pass hither and thither in the twinkling of an eye, like a bird. +The fact is, he was everywhere. At last, it came to his carrying off a +queen beautiful as the dawn, for whom he had offered all his treasure, +and diamonds as big as pigeon's eggs—a bargain which the Mameluke to +whom she particularly belonged positively refused, although he had +several others. Such matters when they come to that pass, can't be +settled without a great many battles; and, indeed, there was no scarcity +of battles; there was fighting enough to please everybody. We were in +line at Alexandria, at Gizeh, and before the Pyramids; we marched in the +sun and through the sand, where some, who had the dazzles, saw water +that they couldn't <a name="Page_190" id="Page_190" />drink, and shade where their flesh was roasted. But +we made short work of the Mamelukes; and everybody else yielded at the +voice of Napoleon, who took possession of Upper and Lower Egypt, Arabia, +and even the capitals of kingdoms that were no more, where there were +thousands of statues and all the plagues of Egypt, more particularly +lizards—a mammoth of a country where everybody could take his acres of +land for as little as he pleased. Well, while Napoleon was busy with his +affairs inland—where he had it in his head to do fine things—the +English burned his fleet at Aboukir; for they were always looking about +them to annoy us. But Napoleon, who had the respect of the East and of +the West, whom the Pope called his son, and the cousin of Mohammed +called 'his dear father,' resolved to punish England, and get hold of +India in exchange for his fleet. He was just about to take us across the +Red Sea into Asia, a country where there are diamonds and gold to pay +the soldiers and palaces for bivouacs, when the Mahdi made a treaty with +the plague, and sent it down to hinder our victories. Halt! The army to +a man defiled at that parade; and few they were <a name="Page_191" id="Page_191" />who came back on their +feet. Dying soldiers couldn't take Saint-Jean d'Acre, though they rushed +at it three times with generous and martial obstinacy. The Plague was +the strongest. No saying to that enemy, 'My good friend.' Every soldier +lay ill. Napoleon alone was fresh as a rose, and the whole army saw him +drinking in pestilence without its doing him a bit of harm.</p> + +<p>"Ha! my friends! will you tell me that <i>that's</i> in the nature of a mere +man?</p> + +<p>"The Mamelukes, knowing we were all in the ambulances, thought they +could stop the way; but that sort of joke wouldn't do with Napoleon. So +he said to his demons, his veterans, those that had the toughest hide, +'Go, clear me the way.' Junot, a sabre of the first cut, and his +particular friend, took a thousand men, no more, and ripped up the army +of the pacha who had had the presumption to put himself in the way. +After that, we came back to headquarters at Cairo. Now, here's another +side of the story. Napoleon absent, France was letting herself be ruined +by the rulers in Paris, who kept back the pay of the soldiers of the +other armies, and their clothing, and their rations; left them to die +<a name="Page_192" id="Page_192" />of hunger, and expected them to lay down the law to the universe +without taking any trouble to help them. Idiots! who amused themselves +by chattering, instead of putting their own hands in the dough. Well, +that's how it happened that our armies were beaten, and the frontiers of +France were encroached upon: THE MAN was nor there. Now observe, I say +<i>man</i> because that's what they called him; but 'twas nonsense, for he +had a star and all its belongings; it was we who were only men. He +taught history to France after his famous battle of Aboukir, where, +without losing more than three hundred men, and with a single division, +he vanquished the grand army of the Turk, seventy-five thousand strong, +and hustled more than half of it into the sea, r-r-rah!</p> + +<p>"That was his last thunder-clap in Egypt. He said to himself, seeing the +way things were going in Paris, 'I am the saviour of France; I know it, +and I must go.' But, understand me, the army didn't know he was going, +or they'd have kept him by force and made him Emperor of the East. So +now we were sad; for He was gone who was all our joy. He left the +command to Kléber, a big mastiff, <a name="Page_193" id="Page_193" />who came off duty at Cairo, +assassinated by an Egyptian, whom they put to death by empaling him on a +bayonet; that's the way they guillotine people down there. But it makes +'em suffer so much that a soldier had pity on the criminal and gave him +his canteen; and then, as soon as the Egyptian had drunk his fill, he +gave up the ghost with all the pleasure in life. But that's a trifle we +couldn't laugh at then. Napoleon embarked in a cockleshell, a little +skiff that was nothing at all, though 'twas called 'Fortune;' and in a +twinkling, under the nose of England, who was blockading him with ships +of the line, frigates, and anything that could hoist a sail, he crossed +over, and there he was in France. For he always had the power, mind you, +of crossing the seas at one straddle.</p> + +<p>"Was that a human man? Bah!</p> + +<p>"So, one minute he is at Fréjus, the next in Paris. There, they all +adore him; but he summons the government. 'What have you done with my +children, the soldiers?' he says to the lawyers. 'You're a mob of +rascally scribblers; you are making France a mess of pottage, and +snapping your fingers at what people think of you. It won't do; and I +<a name="Page_194" id="Page_194" />speak the opinion of everybody.' So, on that, they wanted to battle +with him and kill him—click! he had 'em locked up in barracks, or +flying out of windows, or drafted among his followers, where they were +as mute as fishes and as pliable as a quid of tobacco. After that +stroke—consul! And then, as it was not for him to doubt the Supreme +Being, he fulfilled his promise to the good God, who, you see, had kept +His word to him. He gave Him back His churches, and reestablished His +religion; the bells rang for God and for him: and lo! everybody was +pleased; <i>primo</i>, the priests, whom he saved from being harassed; +<i>secundo</i>, the bourgeois, who thought only of their trade, and no longer +had to fear the <i>rapiamus</i> of the law, which had got to be unjust; +<i>tertio</i>, the nobles, for he forbade they should be killed, as, +unfortunately, the people had got the habit of doing.</p> + +<p>"But he still had the Enemy to wipe out; and he wasn't the man to go to +sleep at a mess-table, because, d'ye see, his eye looked over the whole +earth as if it were no bigger than a man's head. So then he appeared in +Italy, like as though he had stuck his head through the window. One +glance was enough. The<a name="Page_195" id="Page_195" /> Austrians were swallowed up at Marengo like so +many gudgeons by a whale! Ouf! The French eagles sang their pæans so +loud that all the world heard them—and it sufficed! 'We won't play that +game any more,' said the German. 'Enough, enough!' said all the rest. To +sum up: Europe backed down, England knocked under. General peace; and +the kings and the peoples made believe kiss each other. That's the time +when the Emperor invented the Legion of Honour—and a fine thing, too. +'In France'—this is what he said at Boulogne before the whole +army—'every man is brave. So the citizen who does a fine action shall +be sister to the soldier, and the soldier shall be his brother, and the +two shall be one under the flag of honour.'</p> + +<p>"We, who were down in Egypt, now came home. All was changed! He left us +general, and hey! in a twinkling we found him EMPEROR. France gave +herself to him, like a fine girl to a lancer. When it was done—to the +satisfaction of all, as you may say—a sacred ceremony took place, the +like of which was never seen under the canopy of the skies. The Pope and +the cardinals, in their red and gold vestments, crossed the Alps +expressly <a name="Page_196" id="Page_196" />to crown him before the army and the people, who clapped +their hands. There is one thing that I should do very wrong not to tell +you. In Egypt, in the desert close to Syria, the RED MAN came to him on +the Mount of Moses, and said, 'All is well.' Then, at Marengo, the night +before the victory, the same Red Man appeared before him for the second +time, standing erect and saying: 'Thou shalt see the world at thy feet; +thou shalt be Emperor of France, King of Italy, master of Holland, +sovereign of Spain, Portugal, and the Illyrian provinces, protector of +Germany, saviour of Poland, first eagle of the Legion of Honour—all.' +This Red Man, you understand, was his genius, his spirit—a sort of +satellite who served him, as some say, to communicate with his star. I +never really believed that. But the Red Man himself is a true fact. +Napoleon spoke of him, and said he came to him in troubled moments, and +lived in the palace of the Tuileries under the roof. So, on the day of +the coronation, Napoleon saw him for the third time; and they were in +consultation over many things.</p> + +<p>"After that, Napoleon went to Milan to be crowned king of Italy, and +there the grand <a name="Page_197" id="Page_197" />triumph of the soldier began. Every man who could write +was made an officer. Down came pensions; it rained duchies; treasures +poured in for the staff which didn't cost France a penny; and the Legion +of Honour provided incomes for the private soldiers—of which I receive +mine to this day. So here were the armies maintained as never before on +this earth. But besides that, the Emperor, knowing that he was to be the +emperor of the whole world, bethought him of the bourgeois, and to +please them he built fairy monuments, after their own ideas, in places +where you'd never think to find any. For instance, suppose you were +coming back from Spain and going to Berlin—well, you'd find triumphal +arches along the way, with common soldiers sculptured on the stone, +every bit the same as generals. In two or three years, and without +imposing taxes on any of you, Napoleon filled his vaults with gold, +built palaces, made bridges, roads, scholars, fêtes, laws, vessels, +harbours, and spent millions upon millions—such enormous sums that he +could, so they tell me, have paved France from end to end with +five-franc pieces, if he had had a mind to.</p> + +<p>"Now, when he sat at ease on his throne, <a name="Page_198" id="Page_198" />and was master of all, so that +Europe waited his permission to do his bidding, he remembered his four +brothers and his three sisters, and he said to us, as it might be in +conversation, in an order of the day, 'My children, is it right that the +blood relations of your Emperor should be begging their bread? No. I +wish to see them in splendour like myself. It becomes, therefore, +absolutely necessary to conquer a kingdom for each of them—to the end +that Frenchmen may be masters over all lands, that the soldiers of the +Guard shall make the whole earth tremble, that France may spit where she +likes, and that all the nations shall say to her, as it is written on my +copper coins, '<i>God protects you!</i>' 'Agreed!' cried the army. 'We'll go +fish for thy kingdoms with our bayonets.' Ha! there was no backing down, +don't you see! If he had taken it into his head to conquer the moon, we +should have made ready, packed knapsacks, and clambered up; happily, he +didn't think of it. The kings of the countries, who liked their +comfortable thrones, were, naturally, loath to budge, and had to have +their ears pulled; so then—Forward, march! We did march; we got there; +and the earth once <a name="Page_199" id="Page_199" />more trembled to its centre. Hey! the men and the +shoes he used up in those days! The enemy dealt us such blows that none +but the grand army could have borne the fatigue of it. But you are not +ignorant that a Frenchman is born a philosopher, and knows that a little +sooner, or a little later, he has got to die. So we were ready to die +without a word, for we liked to see the Emperor doing <i>that</i> on the +geographies."</p> + +<p>Here the narrator nimbly described a circle with his foot on the floor +of the barn.</p> + +<p>"And Napoleon said, 'There, that's to be a kingdom.' And a kingdom it +was. Ha! the good times! The colonels were generals; the generals, +marshals; and the marshals, kings. There's one of 'em still on his +throne, to prove it to Europe; but he's a Gascon and a traitor to France +for keeping that crown; and he doesn't blush for shame as he ought to +do, because crowns, don't you see, are made of gold. I who am speaking +to you, I have seen, in Paris, eleven kings and a mob of princes +surrounding Napoleon like the rays of the sun. You understand, of +course, that every soldier had the chance to mount a throne, provided +always he had the merit; so a corporal <a name="Page_200" id="Page_200" />of the Guard was a sight to be +looked at as he walked along, for each man had his share in the victory, +and 'twas plainly set forth in the bulletin. What victories they were! +Austerlitz, where the army manoeuvred as if on parade; Eylau, where we +drowned the Russians in a lake, as though Napoleon had blown them into +it with the breath of his mouth; Wagram, where the army fought for three +days without grumbling. We won as many battles as there are saints in +the calendar. It was proved then, beyond a doubt, that Napoleon had the +sword of God in his scabbard. The soldiers were his friends; he made +them his children; he looked after us, he saw that we had shoes, and +shirts, and great-coats, and bread, and cartridges; but he always kept +up his majesty; for, don't you see, 'twas his business to reign. No +matter for that, however; a sergeant, and even a common soldier, could +say to him, 'my Emperor,' just as you say to me sometimes, 'my good +friend.' He gave us an answer if we appealed to him; he slept in the +snow like the rest of us; and, indeed, he had almost the air of a human +man. I who speak to you, I have seen him with his feet among the +grape-shot, <a name="Page_201" id="Page_201" />and no more uneasy than you are now—standing steady, +looking through his field-glass, and minding his business. 'Twas that +kept the rest of us quiet. I don't know how he did it, but when he spoke +he made our hearts burn within us; and to show him we were his children, +incapable of balking, didn't we rush at the mouths of the rascally +cannon, that belched and vomited shot and shell, without so much as +saying, 'Look out!' Why! the dying must needs raise their heads to +salute him and cry, 'LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!'</p> + +<p>"I ask you, was that natural? would they have done that for a human man?</p> + +<p>"Well, after he had settled the world, the Empress Josephine, his wife, +a good woman all the same, managed matters so that she did not bear him +any children, and he was obliged to give her up, though he loved her +considerably. But, you see, he had to have little ones for reasons of +state. Hearing of this, all the sovereigns of Europe quarrelled as to +which of them should give him a wife. And he married, so they told us, +an Austrian archduchess, daughter of Cæsar, an ancient man about whom +people talk a good deal, and <a name="Page_202" id="Page_202" />not in France only—where any one will +tell you what he did—but in Europe. It is all true, for I myself who +address you at this moment, I have been on the Danube, and have seen the +remains of a bridge built by that man, who, it seems, was a relation of +Napoleon in Rome, and that's how the Emperor got the inheritance of that +city for his son. So after the marriage, which was a fête for the whole +world, and in honour of which he released the people of ten years' +taxes—which they had to pay all the same, however, because the +assessors didn't take account of what he said—his wife had a little +one, who was King of Rome. Now, there's a thing that had never been seen +on this earth; never before was a child born a king with his father +living. On that day a balloon went up in Paris to tell the news to Rome, +and that balloon made the journey in one day.</p> + +<p>"Now, is there any man among you who will stand up here and declare to +me that all that was human? No; it was <i>written above</i>; and may the +scurvy seize 'em who deny that he was sent by God himself for the +triumph of France!</p> + +<p>"Well, here's the Emperor of Russia, that <a name="Page_203" id="Page_203" />used to be his friend, he +gets angry because Napoleon didn't marry a Russian; so he joins with the +English, our enemies—to whom our Emperor always wanted to say a couple +of words in their burrows, only he was prevented. Napoleon gets angry +too; an end had to be put to such doings; so he says to us: 'Soldiers! +you have been masters of every capital in Europe, except Moscow, which +is now the ally of England. To conquer England, and India which belongs +to the English, it becomes our peremptory duty to go to Moscow,' Then he +assembled the greatest army that ever trailed its gaiters over the +globe; and so marvellously in hand it was that he reviewed a million of +men in one day. 'Hourra!'<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a href= "#footnote9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> cried the Russians. Down came all Russia +and those animals of Cossacks in a flock. 'Twas nation against nation, a +general hurly-burly, and beware who could; 'Asia against Europe,' as the +Red Man had foretold to Napoleon. 'Enough,' cried the Emperor, 'I'll be +ready.'</p> + +<p>"So now, sure <ins class= "correction" style="text-decoration:none" +title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'emough'.">enough</ins>, +came all the kings, as the Red Man had said, to +lick Napoleon's hand! Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Poland,<a name="Page_204" id="Page_204" /> Italy, +every one of them were with us, flattering us; ah, it was fine! The +eagles never cawed so loud as at those parades, perched high above the +banners of all Europe. The Poles were bursting with joy, because +Napoleon was going to release them; and that's why France and Poland are +brothers to this day. 'Russia is ours,' cried the army. We plunged into +it well-supplied; we marched and we marched—no Russians. At last we +found the brutes entrenched on the banks of the Moskva. That's where I +won my cross, and I've got the right to say it was a damnable battle. +This was how it came about. The Emperor was anxious. He had seen the Red +Man, who said to him 'My son, you are going too fast for your feet; you +will lack men; friends will betray you.' So the Emperor offered peace. +But before signing, 'Let us drub those Russians!' he said to us. 'Done!' +cried the army. 'Forward, march!' said the sergeants. My clothes were in +rags, my shoes worn out, from trudging along those roads, which are very +uncomfortable ones; but no matter! I said to myself, 'As it's the last +of our earthquakings, I'll go into it, tooth and nail!' We were drawn up +in line before <a name="Page_205" id="Page_205" />the great ravine—front seats, as 'twere. Signal given; +and seven hundred pieces of artillery began a conversation that would +bring the blood from your ears. Then—must do justice to one's +enemies—the Russians let themselves be killed like Frenchmen; they +wouldn't give way; we couldn't advance. 'Forward!' some one cried, 'here +comes the Emperor!' True enough; he passed at a gallop, waving his hand +to let us know we must take the redoubt. He inspired us; on we ran; I +was the first in the ravine. Ha! my God! how the lieutenants fell, and +the colonels, and the soldiers! No matter! all the more shoes for those +that had none, and epaulets for the clever ones who knew how to read. +'Victory!' cried the whole line; 'Victory!'—and, would you believe it? +a thing never seen before, there lay twenty-five thousand Frenchmen on +the ground. 'Twas like mowing down a wheat-field; only in place of the +ears of wheat put the heads of men! We were sobered by this time—those +who were left alive. The MAN rode up; we made the circle round him. Ha! +he knew how to cajole his children; he could be amiable when he liked, +and feed 'em with words <a name="Page_206" id="Page_206" />when their stomachs were ravenous with the +hunger of wolves. Flatterer! he distributed the crosses himself, he +uncovered to the dead, and then he cried to us, 'On! to Moscow!' 'To +Moscow!' answered the army.</p> + +<p>"We took Moscow. Would you believe it? the Russians burned their own +city! 'Twas a haystack six miles square, and it blazed for two days. The +buildings crashed like slates, and showers of melted iron and lead +rained down upon us, which was naturally horrible. I may say to you +plainly, it was like a flash of lightning on our disasters. The Emperor +said, 'We have done enough; my soldiers shall rest here.' So we rested +awhile, just to get the breath into our bodies and the flesh on our +bones, for we were really tired. We took possession of the golden cross +that was on the Kremlin; and every soldier brought away with him a small +fortune. But out there the winter sets in a month earlier—a thing those +fools of science didn't properly explain. So, coming back, the cold +nipped us. No longer an army—do you hear me?—no longer any generals, +no longer any sergeants even. 'Twas the reign of wretchedness and +hunger—a reign of equality at last. No <a name="Page_207" id="Page_207" />one thought of anything but to +see France once more; no one stooped to pick up his gun or his money if +he dropped them; each man followed his nose, and went as he pleased +without caring for glory. The weather was so bad the Emperor couldn't +see his star; there was something between him and the skies. Poor man! +it made him ill to see his eagles flying away from victory. Ah! 'twas a +mortal blow, you may believe me.</p> + +<p>"Well, we got to the Beresina, My friends, I can affirm to you by all +that is most sacred, by my honour, that since mankind came into the +world, never, never was there seen such a fricassee of any army—guns, +carriages, artillery-waggons—in the midst of such snows, under such +relentless skies! The muzzles of the muskets burned our hands if we +touched them, the iron was so cold. It was there that the army was saved +by the pontoniers, who were firm at their post; and there that +Gondrin—sole survivor of the men who were bold enough to go into the +water and build the bridges by which the army crossed—that Gondrin, +here present, admirably conducted himself, and saved us from the +Russians, who, I must tell you, still respected the grand army,<a name="Page_208" id="Page_208" /> +remembering its victories. And," he added, pointing to Gondrin, who was +gazing at him with the peculiar attention of a deaf man, "Gondrin is a +finished soldier, a soldier who is honour itself, and he merits your +highest esteem.</p> + +<p>"I saw the Emperor," he resumed, "standing by the bridge, motionless, +not feeling the cold—was that human? He looked at the destruction of +his treasure, his friends, his old Egyptians. Bah! all that passed him, +women, army-waggons, artillery, all were shattered, destroyed, ruined. +The bravest carried the eagles; for the eagles, d'ye see, were France, +the nation, all of you! they were the civil and the military honour that +must be kept pure; could their heads be lowered because of the cold? It +was only near the Emperor that we warmed ourselves, because when he was +in danger we ran, frozen as we were—we, who wouldn't have stretched a +hand to save a friend. They told us he wept at night over his poor +family of soldiers. Ah! none but he and Frenchmen could have got +themselves out of that business. We did get out, but with losses, great +losses, as I tell you. The Allies captured our provisions.<a name="Page_209" id="Page_209" /> Men began to +betray him, as the Red Man predicted. Those chatterers in Paris, who had +held their tongues after the Imperial Guard was formed, now thought he +was dead; so they hoodwinked the prefect of police, and hatched a +conspiracy to overthrow the empire. He heard of it; it worried him. He +left us, saying: 'Adieu, my children; guard the outposts; I shall return +to you,' Bah! without him nothing went right; the generals lost their +heads, the marshals talked nonsense and committed follies; but that was +not surprising, for Napoleon, who was kind, had fed 'em on gold; they +had got as fat as lard, and wouldn't stir; some stayed in camp when they +ought to have been warming the backs of the enemy who was between us and +France.</p> + +<p>"But the Emperor came back, and he brought recruits, famous recruits; he +changed their backbone and made 'em dogs of war, fit to set their teeth +into anything; and he brought a guard of honour, a fine body +indeed!—all bourgeois, who melted away like butter on a gridiron.</p> + +<p>"Well, spite of our stern bearing, here's everything going against us; +and yet the <a name="Page_210" id="Page_210" />army did prodigies of valour. Then came battles on the +mountains, nations against nations—Dresden, Lützen, Bautzen. Remember +these days, all of you, for 'twas then that Frenchmen were so +particularly heroic that a good grenadier only lasted six months. We +triumphed always; yet there were those English, in our rear, rousing +revolts against us with their lies! No matter, we cut our way home +through the whole pack of the nations. Wherever the Emperor showed +himself we followed him; for if, by sea or land, he gave us the word +'Go!' we went. At last, we were in France; and many a poor foot-soldier +felt the air of his own country restore his soul to satisfaction, spite +of the wintry weather. I can say for myself that it refreshed my life. +Well, next, our business was to defend France, our country, our +beautiful France, against, all Europe, which resented our having laid +down the law to the Russians, and pushed them back into their dens so +that they couldn't eat us up alive, as northern nations, who are dainty +and like southern flesh, have a habit of doing—at least, so I've heard +some generals say. Then the Emperor saw his own father-in-law, his +friends whom he had made <a name="Page_211" id="Page_211" />kings, and the scoundrels to whom he had given +back their thrones, all against him. Even Frenchmen, and allies in our +own ranks, turned against us under secret orders, as at the battle of +Leipsic. Would common soldiers have been capable of such wickedness? +Three times a day men were false to their word—and they called +themselves princes!</p> + +<p>"So, then, France was invaded. Wherever the Emperor showed his lion +face, the enemy retreated; and he did more prodigies in defending France +than ever he had done in conquering Italy, the East, Spain, Europe, and +Russia. He meant to bury every invader under the sod, and teach 'em to +respect the soil of France. So he let them get to Paris, that he might +swallow them at a mouthful, and rise to the height of his genius in a +battle greater than all the rest—a mother-battle, as 'twere. But there, +there! the Parisians were afraid for their twopenny skins, and their +trumpery shops; they opened the gates. Then the Ragusades began, and +happiness ended. The Empress was fooled, and the white banner flaunted +from the windows. The generals whom he had made his nearest friends +abandoned him for the Bourbons—a set of people <a name="Page_212" id="Page_212" />no one had heard tell +of. The Emperor bade us farewell at Fontainebleau: 'Soldiers!'—I can +hear him now; we wept like children; the flags and the eagles were +lowered as if for a funeral: it was, I may well say it to you, it was +the funeral of the Empire; her dapper armies were nothing now but +skeletons. So he said to us, standing there on the portico of his +palace: 'My soldiers! we are vanquished by treachery; but we shall meet +in heaven, the country of the brave. Defend my child, whom I commit to +you. Long live Napoleon II!' He meant to die, that no man should look +upon Napoleon vanquished; he took poison, enough to have killed a +regiment, because, like Jesus Christ before his Passion, he thought +himself abandoned of God and his talisman. But the poison did not hurt +him.</p> + +<p>"See again! he found he was immortal.</p> + +<p>"Sure of himself, knowing he must ever be THE EMPEROR, he went for a +while to an island to study out the nature of these others, who, you may +be sure, committed follies without end. Whilst he bided his time down +there, the Chinese, and the wild men on the coast of Africa, and the +Barbary States, and others who are not at all accommodating, <a name="Page_213" id="Page_213" />know so +well he was more than man that they respected his tent, saying to touch +it would be to offend God. Thus, d'ye see, when these others turned him +from the doors of his own France, he still reigned over the whole world. +Before long he embarked in the same little cockleshell of a boat he had +had in Egypt, sailed round the beard of the English, set foot in France, +and France acclaimed him. The sacred cuckoo flew from spire to spire; +all France cried out with one voice, 'LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!' In this +region, here, the enthusiasm for that wonder of the ages was, I may say, +solid. Dauphine behaved well; and I am particularly pleased to know that +her people wept when they saw, once more, the gray top-coat. March first +it was, when Napoleon landed with two hundred men to conquer that +kingdom of France and of Navarre, which, on the twentieth of the same +month was again the French Empire. On that day our MAN was in Paris; he +had made a clean sweep, recovered his dear France, and gathered his +veterans together by saying no more than three words, 'I am here.'</p> + +<p>"'Twas the greatest miracle God had yet done! Before <i>him</i>, did ever man +recover an <a name="Page_214" id="Page_214" />empire by showing his hat? And these others, who thought +they had subdued France! Not they! At sight of the eagles, a national +army sprang up, and we marched to Waterloo. There, the Guard died at one +blow. Napoleon, in despair, threw himself three times before the cannon +of the enemy without obtaining death. We saw that. The battle was lost. +That night the Emperor called his old soldiers to him; on the field +soaked with our blood he burned his banners and his eagles—his poor +eagles, ever victorious, who cried 'Forward' in the battles, and had +flown the length and breadth of Europe, <i>they</i> were saved the infamy of +belonging to the enemy: all the treasures of England couldn't get her a +tail-feather of them. No more eagles—the rest is well known. The Red +Man went over to the Bourbons, like the scoundrel that he is. France is +crushed; the soldier is nothing; they deprive him of his dues; they +discharge him to make room for broken-down nobles—ah, 'tis pitiable! +They seized Napoleon by treachery; the English nailed him on a desert +island in mid-ocean on a rock raised ten thousand feet above the earth; +and there he is, and will be, till the Red Man gives him back <a name="Page_215" id="Page_215" />his power +for the happiness of France. These others say he's dead. Ha, dead! 'Tis +easy to see they don't know Him. They tell that fib to catch the people, +and feel safe in their hovel of a government. Listen! the truth at the +bottom of it all is that his friends have left him alone on the desert +isle to fulfil a prophecy, for I forgot to say that his name, Napoleon, +means 'lion of the desert.' Now this that I tell you is true as the +Gospel. All other tales that you hear about the Emperor are follies +without common-sense; because, d'ye see, God never gave to child of +woman born the right to stamp his name in red as <i>he</i> did, on the earth, +which forever shall remember him! Long live Napoleon, the father of his +people and of the soldier!"</p> + + +<h3>THE END</h3> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a><a href= "#footnotetag1">[1]</a> <i>Bu.</i> This coin is generally called by foreigners "ichibu," +which means "one bu." To talk of "<i>a hundred ichibus</i>" is as though a +Japanese were to say "<i>a hundred one shillings</i>." Four bus make a +<i>riyo</i>, or ounce; and any sum above three bus is spoken of as so many +riyos and bus—as 101 riyos and three bus equal 407 bus. The bu is worth +about 1<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a><a href= "#footnotetag2">[2]</a> Inari Sama is the title under which was deified a certain +mythical personage, called Uga, to whom tradition attributes the honour +of having first discovered and cultivated the rice-plant. He is +represented carrying a few ears of rice, and is symbolized by a snake +guarding a bale of rice grain. The foxes wait upon him, and do his +bidding. Inasmuch as rice is the most important and necessary product of +Japan, the honours which Inari Sama receives are extraordinary. Almost +every house in the country contains somewhere about the grounds a pretty +little shrine in his honour; and on a certain day of the second month of +the year his feast is celebrated with much beating of drums and other +noises, in which the children take a special delight. "On this day," +says the O-Satsuyô, a Japanese cyclopædia, "at Yeddo, where there are +myriads upon myriads of shrines to Inari Sama, there are all sorts of +ceremonies. Long banners with inscriptions are erected, lamps and +lanterns are hung up, and the houses are decked with various dolls and +figures; the sound of flutes and drums is heard, and people dance and +make holiday according to their fancy. In short, it is the most bustling +festival of the Yeddo year."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a><a href= "#footnotetag3">[3]</a> +A Buddhist prayer, in which something approaching to the +sounds of the original Sanscrit has been preserved. The meaning of the +prayer is explained as, "Save us, eternal Buddha'" Many even of the +priests who repeat it know it only as a formula, without understanding +it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a><a href= "#footnotetag4">[4]</a> +An island on the west coast of Japan, famous for its gold +mines.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a><a href= "#footnotetag5">[5]</a> +The author of the tale.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a><a href= "#footnotetag6">[6]</a> +This is intended as an insult. "Azhdaja," a dragon, is +feminine in Servian.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a><a href= "#footnotetag7">[7]</a> +From "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales." Copyright, 1890, +by George Bird Grinnell; published by Charles Scribner's Sons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a><a href= "#footnotetag8">[8]</a> +An old Suffolk tale, given in the dialect of East Anglia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a><a href= "#footnotetag9">[9]</a> Battle-cry of the Cossacks.</p></div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Folk Tales Every Child Should Know, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW *** + +***** This file should be named 15164-h.htm or 15164-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/6/15164/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Patricia A. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Folk Tales Every Child Should Know + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 24, 2005 [EBook #15164] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Patricia A. Benoy, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: An Indian Brave] + + +FOLK TALES +Every Child Should Know + +EDITED BY +Hamilton Wright Mabie + +[Illustration] + +THE WHAT-EVERY-CHILD-SHOULD-KNOW-LIBRARY + +_Published by_ + +DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & CO., INC., _for_ +THE PARENTS' INSTITUTE, INC. +_Publishers of "The Parents' Magazine"_ +9 EAST 40th STREET, NEW YORK + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + +The editor and publishers wish to express their appreciation to the +following firms for permission to use the material indicated: + +To Messrs. G.P. Putnam's Sons for "Why the Sea is Salt," "The Lad Who +Went to the North Wind," "The Lad and the Deil," and "Ananzi and the +Lion," by Sir George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L.; to the Macmillan Company, New +York, for "The Grateful Foxes" and "The Badger's Money," by A.B. +Mitford; to Messrs. Macmillan & Company, London, for "The Origin of +Rubies," by Rev. Lal Behari Day; to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons for +"The Dun Horse," by George Bird Grinnell; to Messrs. Little, Brown & +Company for "The Peasant Story of Napoleon," by Honore de Balzac; to +Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Company for "Why Brother Bear Has No Tail," +by Joel Chandler Harris, and for the following selections from "Sixty +Folk Tales, from Exclusively Slavonic Sources," translated by A.H. +Wratislaw, M.A.:--"Long, Broad, and Sharpsight," "Intelligence and +Luck," "George and the Goat," "The Wonderful Hair," "The Dragon and the +Prince," and "The Good Children." + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +CHAPTER + +I. HANS IN LUCK + From Grimm's Fairy Tales. + +II. WHY THE SEA IS SALT + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +III. THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +IV. THE LAD AND THE DEIL + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +V. ANANZI AND THE LION + From "Popular Tales from the + Norse," by Sir George Webbe + Dasent, D.C.L. + +VI. THE GRATEFUL FOXES + From "Tales of Old Japan," by + A.B. Mitford. + +VII. THE BADGER'S MONEY + From "Tales of Old Japan," by + A.B. Mitford. + +VIII. WHY BROTHER BEAR HAS NO TAIL + From "Nights with Uncle Remus," + by Joel Chandler Harris. + +IX. THE ORIGIN OF RUBIES + From "Folk Tales of Bengal," + by Rev. Lal Behari Day. + +X. LONG, BROAD, AND SHARPSIGHT + Translated from the Bohemian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XI. INTELLIGENCE AND LUCK + Translated from the Bohemian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XII. GEORGE WITH THE GOAT + Translated from the Bohemian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XIII. THE WONDERFUL HAIR + Translated from the Serbian by + A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in "Sixty + Folk Tales, from Exclusively Slavonic + Sources." + +XIV. THE DRAGON AND THE PRINCE + Translated from the Serbian + by A.H. Wratislaw, M.A., in + "Sixty Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XV. THE GOOD CHILDREN + A Little Russian story of Galicia. + Translated by A.H. + Wratislaw, M.A., in "Sixty + Folk Tales, from Exclusively + Slavonic Sources." + +XVI. THE DUN HORSE + From "Pawnee Hero Stories + and Folk Tales," by George + Bird Grinnell. + +XVII. THE GREEDY YOUNGSTER + From the Norwegian tale of + Peter Christen Asbjoernsen. + +XVIII. HANS, WHO MADE THE PRINCESS LAUGH + From the Norwegian tale of + Peter Christen Asbjoernsen. + +XIX. THE STORY OF TOM TIT TOT + An old Suffolk Tale, given in the + dialect of East Anglia. From + "Tom Tit Tot. An Essay on + Savage Philosophy in Folk + Tale," by Edward Clodd. + +XX. THE PEASANT STORY OF NAPOLEON + From "The Country Doctor," + by Honore de Balzac. Translated + by Katharine Prescott + Wormeley. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +When the traveller looks at Rome for the first time he does not realize +that there have been several cities on the same piece of ground, and +that the churches and palaces and other great buildings he sees to-day +rest on an earlier and invisible city buried in dust beneath the +foundations of the Rome of the Twentieth Century. In like manner, and +because all visible things on the surface of the earth have grown out of +older things which have ceased to be, the world of habits, the ideas, +customs, fancies, and arts, in which we live is a survival of a younger +world which long ago disappeared. When we speak of Friday as an unlucky +day, or touch wood after saying that we have had good luck for a long +time, or take the trouble to look at the new moon over the right +shoulder, or avoid crossing the street while a funeral is passing, we +are recalling old superstitions or beliefs, a vanished world in which +our remote forefathers lived. + +We do not realize how much of this vanished world still survives in our +language, our talk, our books, our sculpture and pictures. The plays of +Shakespeare are full of reference to the fancies and beliefs of the +English people in his time or in the times not long before him. If we +could understand all these references as we read, we should find +ourselves in a world as different from the England of to-day as England +is from Austria, and among a people whose ideas and language we should +find it hard to understand. + +In those early days there were no magazines or newspapers, and for the +people as contrasted with the scholars there were no books. The most +learned men were ignorant of things which intelligent children know +to-day; only a very few men and women could read or write; and all kinds +of beliefs about animals, birds, witches, fairies, giants, and the +magical qualities of herbs and stones flourished like weeds in a +neglected garden. There came into existence an immense mass of +misinformation about all manner of things; some of it very stupid, much +of it very poetic and interesting. Below the region of exact knowledge +accessible to men of education, lay a region of popular fancies, ideas, +proverbs, and superstitions in which the great mass of men and women +lived, and which was a kind of invisible playground for children. Much +of the popular belief about animals and the world was touched with +imagination and was full of suggestions, illustrations, and pictorial +figures which the poets were quick to use. When the king says to Cranmer +in "Henry VIII:" "Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons," he was +thinking of the old custom of giving children at christenings silver or +gilt spoons with handles shaped to represent the figures of the +Apostles. Rich people gave twelve of the "apostles' spoons;" people of +more moderate means gave three or four, or only one with the figure of +the saint after whom the child was named. On Lord Mayor's Day in London, +which came in November and is still celebrated, though shorn of much of +its ancient splendour, the Lord Mayor's fool, as part of the +festivities, jumped into a great bowl of custard, and this is what Ben +Jonson had in mind when he wrote: + + "He may, perchance, in tail of a sheriff's dinner, + Skip with a rime o' the table, from near nothing, + And take his almain leap into a custard, + Shall make my lady Maydress and her sisters, + Laugh all their hoods over their shoulders." + +It was once widely believed that a stone of magical, medicinal qualities +was set in the toad's head, and so Shakespeare wrote: + + "Sweet are the uses of adversity; + Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, + Wears yet a precious jewel in its head." + +"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is the most wonderful fairy story in the +world, but Shakespeare did not create it out of hand; he found the fairy +part of it in the traditions of the country people. One of his most +intelligent students says: "He founded his elfin world on the prettiest +of the people's traditions, and has clothed it in the ever-living flower +of his own exuberant fancy." + +This immense mass of belief, superstition, fancy, is called folk-lore +and is to be found in all parts of the world. These fancies or faiths or +superstitions were often distorted with stories, and side by side with +folk-lore grew up the folk-tales, of which there are so many that a man +might spend his whole life writing them down. They were not made as +modern stories are often made, by men who think out carefully what they +are to say, arrange the different parts so that they go together like +the parts of a house or of a machine, and write them with careful +selection of words so as to make the story vivid and interesting. + +The folk-tales were not written out; many of them grew out of single +incidents or little inventions of fancy, and became longer and larger as +they passed from one story-teller to another and were retold generation +after generation. + +Men love stories, and for very good reasons, as has been pointed out in +introductions to other volumes in this series; and the more quick and +original the imagination of a race, the more interesting and varied will +be its stories. From the earliest times, long before books were made, +the people of many countries were eagerly listening to the men and women +who could tell thrilling or humorous tales, as in these later days they +read the novels of the writers who know how to tell a story so as to +stir the imagination or hold the attention and make readers forget +themselves and their worries and troubles. In India and Japan, in Russia +and Roumania, among the Indians at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, +these stories are still told, not only to children by their mothers and +grandmothers, but to crowds of grown-up people by those who have the art +of making tales entertaining; and there are still so many of these +stories floating about the world from one person to another that if they +were written down they would fill a great library. "Until the generation +now lately passed away," says Mr. Gosse in his introduction to that very +interesting book, "Folk and Fairy Tales" by Asbjoernsen, "almost the only +mode in which the Norwegian peasant killed time in the leisure moments +between his daily labour and his religious observances, was in listening +to stories. It was the business of old men and women who had reached the +extreme limit of their working hours, to retain and repeat these ancient +legends in prose and verse, and to recite or sing them when called to do +so." And Miss Hapgood has told us that in Russia these stories have not +only been handed down wholly by word or mouth for a thousand years, but +are flourishing to-day and extending into fresh fields. + +The stories made by the people, and told before evening fires, or in +public places and at the gates of inns in the Orient, belong to the ages +when books were few and knowledge limited, or to people whose fancy was +not hampered by familiarity with or care for facts; they are the +creations, as they were the amusement, of men and women who were +children in knowledge, but were thinking deeply and often wisely of what +life meant to them, and were eager to know and hear more about +themselves, their fellows, and the world. In the earlier folk-stories +one finds a childlike simplicity and readiness to believe in the +marvellous; and these qualities are found also in the French peasant's +version of the career of Napoleon. + +HAMILTON W. MABIE + + + + +FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + + + + +I + +HANS IN LUCK + + +Hans had served his Master seven years, and at the end of that time he +said to him: "Master, since my time is up, I should like to go home to +my mother; so give me my wages, if you please." + +His Master replied, "You have served me truly and honestly, Hans, and +such as your service was, such shall be your reward;" and with these +words he gave him a lump of gold as big as his head. Hans thereupon took +his handkerchief out of his pocket, and, wrapping the gold up in it, +threw it over his shoulder and set out on the road toward his native +village. As he went along, carefully setting one foot to the ground +before the other, a horseman came in sight, trotting gaily and briskly +along upon a capital animal. "Ah," said Hans, aloud, "what a fine thing +that riding is! one is seated, as it were, upon a stool, kicks against +no stones, spares one's shoes, and gets along without any trouble!" + +The Rider, overhearing Hans making these reflections, stopped and said, +"Why, then, do you travel on foot, my fine fellow?" + +"Because I am forced," replied Hans, "for I have got a bit of a lump to +carry home; it certainly is gold, but then I can't carry my head +straight, and it hurts my shoulder." + +"If you like we will exchange," said the Rider. "I will give you my +horse, and you can give me your lump of gold." + +"With all my heart," cried Hans; "but I tell you fairly you undertake a +very heavy burden." + +The man dismounted, took the gold, and helped Hans on to the horse, and, +giving him the reins into his hands, said, "Now, when you want to go +faster, you must chuckle with your tongue and cry, 'Gee up! gee up!'" + +Hans was delighted indeed when he found himself on the top of a horse, +and riding along so freely and gaily. After a while he thought he should +like to go rather quicker, and so he cried, "Gee up! gee up!" as the man +had told him. The horse soon set off at a hard trot, and, before Hans +knew what he was about, he was thrown over head and heels into a ditch +which divided the fields from the road. The horse, having accomplished +this feat, would have bolted off if he had not been stopped by a Peasant +who was coming that way, driving a cow before him. Hans soon picked +himself up on his legs, but he was terribly put out, and said to the +countryman, "That is bad sport, that riding, especially when one mounts +such a beast as that, which stumbles and throws one off so as to nearly +break one's neck. I will never ride on that animal again. Commend me to +your cow: one may walk behind her without any discomfort, and besides +one has, every day for certain, milk, butter, and cheese. Ah! what would +I not give for such a cow!" + +"Well," said the Peasant, "such an advantage you may soon enjoy; I will +exchange my cow for your horse." + +To this Hans consented with a thousand thanks, and the Peasant, swinging +himself upon the horse, rode off in a hurry. + +Hans now drove his cow off steadily before him, thinking of his lucky +bargain in this wise: "I have a bit of bread, and I can, as often as I +please, eat with it butter and cheese, and when I am thirsty I can milk +my cow and have a draught: and what more can I desire?" + +As soon, then, as he came to an inn he halted, and ate with great +satisfaction all the bread he had brought with him for his noonday and +evening meals, and washed it down with a glass of beer, to buy which he +spent his two last farthings. This over, he drove his cow farther, but +still in the direction of his mother's village. The heat meantime became +more and more oppressive as noontime approached, and just then Hans came +to a common which was an hour's journey across. Here he got into such a +state of heat that his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, and he +thought to himself: "This won't do; I will just milk my cow, and refresh +myself." Hans, therefore tied her to a stump of a tree, and, having no +pail, placed his leathern cap below, and set to work, but not a drop of +milk could he squeeze out. He had placed himself, too, very awkwardly, +and at last the impatient cow gave him such a kick on the head that he +tumbled over on the ground, and for a long time knew not where he was. +Fortunately, not many hours after, a Butcher passed by, trundling a +young pig along upon a wheelbarrow. "What trick is this!" exclaimed he, +helping up poor Hans; and Hans told him that all that had passed. The +Butcher then handed him his flask and said, "There, take a drink; it +will revive you. Your cow might well give no milk: she is an old beast, +and worth nothing at the best but for the plough or the butcher!" + +"Eh! eh!" said Hans, pulling his hair over his eyes, "who would have +thought it? It is all very well when one can kill a beast like that at +home, and make a profit of the flesh; but for my part I have no relish +for cow's flesh; it is too tough for me! Ah! a young pig like yours is +the thing that tastes something like, let alone the sausages!" + +"Well now, for love of you," said the Butcher, "I will make an exchange, +and let you have my pig for your cow." + +"Heaven reward you for your kindness!" cried Hans; and, giving up the +cow, he untied the pig from the barrow and took into his hands the +string with which it was tied. + +Hans walked on again, considering how everything had happened just as he +wished, and how all his vexations had turned out for the best after all! +Presently a boy overtook him carrying a fine white goose under his arm, +and after they had said "Good-day" to each other, Hans began to talk +about his luck, and what profitable exchanges he had made. The Boy on +his part told him that he was carrying the goose to a christening-feast. +"Just lift it," said he to Hans, holding it up by its wings, "just feel +how heavy it is; why, it has been fattened up for the last eight weeks, +and whoever bites it when it is cooked will have to wipe the grease from +each side of his mouth!" + +"Yes," said Hans, weighing it with one hand, "it is weighty, but my pig +is no trifle either." + +While he was speaking the Boy kept looking about on all sides, and +shaking his head suspiciously, and at length he broke out, "I am afraid +it is not all right about your pig. In the village through which I have +just come, one has been stolen out of the sty of the mayor himself; and +I am afraid, very much afraid, you have it now in your hand! They have +sent out several people, and it would be a very bad job for you if they +found you with the pig; the best thing you can do is to hide it in some +dark corner!" + +Honest Hans was thunderstruck, and exclaimed, "Ah, Heaven help me in +this fresh trouble! you know the neighbourhood better than I do; do you +take my pig and let me have your goose," said he to the boy. + +"I shall have to hazard something at that game," replied the Boy, "but +still I do not wish to be the cause of your meeting with misfortune;" +and, so saying, he took the rope into his own hand, and drove the pig +off quickly by a side-path, while Hans, lightened of his cares, walked +on homeward with the goose under his arm. "If I judge rightly," thought +he to himself, "I have gained even by this exchange: first there is a +good roast; then the quantity of fat which will drip out will make goose +broth for a quarter of a year; and then there are fine white feathers, +which, when once I have put into my pillow I warrant I shall sleep +without rocking. What pleasure my mother will have!" + +As he came to the last village on his road there stood a Knife-grinder, +with his barrow by the hedge, whirling his wheel round and singing: + + "Scissors and razors and such-like I grind; + And gaily my rags are flying behind." + + +Hans stopped and looked at him, and at last he said, "You appear to have +a good business, if I may judge by your merry song?" + +"Yes," answered the Grinder, "this business has a golden bottom! A true +knife-grinder is a man who as often as he puts his hand into his pocket +feels money in it! But what a fine goose you have got; where did you buy +it?" + +"I did not buy it at all," said Hans, "but took it in exchange for my +pig." "And the pig?" "I exchanged for my cow." "And the cow?" "I +exchanged a horse for her." "And the horse?" "For him I gave a lump of +gold as big as my head." "And the gold?" "That was my wages for a seven +years' servitude." "And I see you have known how to benefit yourself +each time," said the Grinder; "but, could you now manage that you heard +the money rattling in your pocket as you walked, your fortune would be +made." + +"Well! how shall I manage that?" asked Hans. + +"You must become a grinder like me; to this trade nothing peculiar +belongs but a grindstone; the other necessaries find themselves. Here is +one which is a little worn, certainly, and so I will not ask anything +more for it than your goose; are you agreeable?" + +"How can you ask me?" said Hans; "why, I shall be the luckiest man in +the world; having money as often as I dip my hand into my pocket, what +have I to care about any longer?" + +So saying, he handed over the goose, and received the grindstone in +exchange. + +"Now," said the Grinder, picking up an ordinary big flint stone which +lay near, "now, there you have a capital stone upon which only beat them +long enough and you may straighten all your old nails! Take it, and use +it carefully!" + +Hans took the stone and walked on with a satisfied heart, his eyes +glistening with joy. "I must have been born," said he, "to a heap of +luck; everything happens just as I wish, as if I were a Sunday-child." + +Soon, however, having been on his legs since daybreak, he began to feel +very tired, and was plagued too with hunger, since he had eaten all his +provision at once in his joy about the cow bargain. At last he felt +quite unable to go farther, and was forced, too, to halt every minute +for the stones encumbered him very much. Just then the thought overcame +him, what a good thing it were if he had no need to carry them any +longer, and at the same moment he came up to a stream. Here he resolved +to rest and refresh himself with drink, and so that the stones might not +hurt him in kneeling he laid them carefully down by his side on the +bank. This done, he stooped down to scoop up some water in his hand, and +then it happened that he pushed one stone a little too far, so that both +presently went plump into the water. Hans, as soon as he saw them +sinking to the bottom, jumped up for joy, and then kneeled down and +returned thanks, with tears in his eyes, that so mercifully, and without +any act on his part, and in so nice a way, he had been delivered from +the heavy stones, which alone hindered him from getting on. + +"So lucky as I am," exclaimed Hans, "is no other man under the sun!" + +Then with a light heart, and free from every burden, he leaped gaily +along till he reached his mother's house. + + + + +II + +WHY THE SEA IS SALT + + +Once on a time, but it was a long, long time ago, there were two +brothers, one rich and one poor. Now, one Christmas eve, the poor one +hadn't so much as a crumb in the house, either of meat or bread, so he +went to his brother to ask him for something to keep Christmas with, in +God's name. It was not the first time his brother had been forced to +help him, and you may fancy he wasn't very glad to see his face, but he +said: + +"If you will do what I ask you to do, I'll give you a whole flitch of +bacon." + +So the poor brother said he would do anything and was full of thanks. + +"Well, here is the flitch," said the rich brother, "and now go straight +to Hell." + +"What I have given my word to do, I must stick to," said the other; so +he took the flitch and set off. He walked the whole day, and at dusk he +came to a place where he saw a very bright light. + +"Maybe this is the place," said the man to himself. So he turned aside, +and the first thing he saw was an old, old man, with a long white beard, +who stood in an outhouse, hewing wood for the Christmas fire. + +"Good even," said the man with the flitch. + +"The same to you; whither are you going so late?" said the man. + +"Oh! I'm going to Hell, if I only knew the right way," answered the poor +man. + +"Well, you're not far wrong, for this is Hell," said the old man; "when +you get inside they will be all for buying your flitch, for meat is +scarce in Hell; but, mind you don't sell it unless you get the +hand-quern which stands behind the door for it. When you come out, I'll +teach you how to handle the quern, for it's good to grind almost +anything." + +So the man with the flitch thanked the other for his good advice, and +gave a great knock at the Devil's door. + +When he got in, everything was just as the old man had said. All the +devils, great and small, came swarming up to him like ants round an +anthill, and each tried to outbid the other for the flitch. + +"Well!" said the man, "by rights, my old dame and I ought to have this +flitch for our Christmas dinner; but since you have all set your hearts +on it, I suppose I must give it up to you; but if I sell it at all, I'll +have for it the quern behind the door yonder." + +At first the Devil wouldn't hear of such a bargain, and chaffed and +haggled with the man; but he stuck to what he said, and at last the +Devil had to part with his quern. When the man got out into the yard, he +asked the old woodcutter how he was to handle the quern; and after he +had learned how to use it, he thanked the old man and went off home as +fast as he could, but still the clock had struck twelve on Christmas eve +before he reached his own door. + +"Wherever in the world have you been?" said his old dame; "here have I +sat hour after hour waiting and watching, without so much as two sticks +to lay together under the Christmas brose." + +"Oh!" said the man, "I couldn't get back before, for I had to go a long +way first for one thing, and then for another; but now you shall see +what you shall see." + +So he put the quern on the table, and bade it first of all grind lights, +then a table-cloth, then meat, then ale, and so on till they had got +everything that was nice for Christmas fare. He had only to speak the +word, and the quern ground out what he wanted. The old dame stood by +blessing her stars, and kept on asking where he had got this wonderful +quern, but he wouldn't tell her. + +"It's all one where I got it from; you see the quern is a good one, and +the mill-stream never freezes, that's enough." + +So he ground meat and drink and dainties enough to last out till Twelfth +Day, and on the third day he asked all his friends and kin to his house, +and gave a great feast. Now, when his rich brother saw all that was on +the table, and all that was behind in the larder, he grew quite spiteful +and wild, for he couldn't bear that his brother should have anything. + +"Twas only on Christmas eve," he said to the rest, "he was in such +straits that he came and asked for a morsel of food in God's name, and +now he gives a feast as if he were count or king;" and he turned to his +brother and said: + +"But whence, in Hell's name, have you got all this wealth?" + +"From behind the door," answered the owner of the quern, for he didn't +care to let the cat out of the bag. But later on in the evening, when he +had got a drop too much, he could keep his secret no longer, and brought +out the quern and said: + +"There, you see what has gotten me all this wealth;" and so he made the +quern grind all kind of things. When his brother saw it, he set his +heart on having the quern, and, after a deal of coaxing, he got it; but +he had to pay three hundred dollars for it, and his brother bargained to +keep it till hay-harvest, for he thought, if I keep it till then, I can +make it grind meat and drink that will last for years. So you may fancy +the quern didn't grow rusty for want of work, and when hay-harvest came, +the rich brother got it, but the other took care not to teach him how to +handle it. + +It was evening when the rich brother got the quern home, and the next +morning he told his wife to go out into the hay-field and toss, while +the mowers cut the grass, and he would stay at home and get the dinner +ready. So, when dinner-time drew near, he put the quern on the kitchen +table and said: + +"Grind herrings and broth, and grind them good and fast." + +So the quern began to grind herrings and broth; first of all, all the +dishes full, then all the tubs full, and so on till the kitchen floor +was quite covered. Then the man twisted and twirled at the quern to get +it to stop, but for all his twisting and fingering the quern went on +grinding, and in a little while the broth rose so high that the man was +like to drown. So he threw open the kitchen door and ran into the +parlour, but it wasn't long before the quern had ground the parlour full +too, and it was only at the risk of his life that the man could get hold +of the latch of the house door through the stream of broth. When he got +the door open, he ran out and set off down the road, with the stream of +herrings and broth at his heels, roaring like a waterfall over the whole +farm. + +Now, his old dame, who was in the field tossing hay, thought it a long +time to dinner, and at last she said: + +"Well! though the master doesn't call us home, we may as well go. Maybe +he finds it hard work to boil the broth, and will be glad of my help." + +The men were willing enough, so they sauntered homeward; but just as +they had got a little way up the hill, what should they meet but +herrings, and broth, and bread, all running and dashing, and splashing +together in a stream, and the master himself running before them for his +life, and as he passed them he bawled out: "Would to heaven each of you +had a hundred throats! but take care you're not drowned in the broth." + +Away he went, as though the Evil One were at his heels, to his brother's +house, and begged him for God's sake to take back the quern that +instant; for, said he: + +"If it grinds only one hour more, the whole parish will be swallowed up +by herrings and broth." + +But his brother wouldn't hear of taking it back till the other paid him +down three hundred dollars more. + +So the poor brother got both the money and the quern, and it wasn't long +before he set up a farmhouse far finer than the one in which his +brother lived, and with the quern he ground so much gold that he covered +it with plates of gold; and as the farm lay by the sea-side, the golden +house gleamed and glistened far away over the sea. All who sailed by, +put ashore to see the rich man in the golden house, and to see the +wonderful quern, the fame of which spread far and wide, till there was +nobody who hadn't heard tell of it. + +So one day there came a skipper who wanted to see the quern; and the +first thing he asked was if it could grind salt. + +"Grind salt!" said the owner; "I should just think it could. It can +grind anything." + +When the skipper heard that, he said he must have the quern, cost what +it would; for if he only had it, he thought he should be rid of his long +voyages across stormy seas for a lading of salt. Well, at first the man +wouldn't hear of parting with the quern; but the skipper begged and +prayed so hard that at last he let him have it, but he had to pay many, +many thousand dollars for it. Now, when the skipper had got the quern on +his back, he soon made off with it, for he was afraid lest the man +should change his mind; so he had no time to ask how to handle the +quern, but got on board his ship as fast as he could, and set sail. +When he had sailed a good way off, he brought the quern on deck and +said: + +"Grind salt, and grind both good and fast." + +Well, the quern began to grind salt so that it poured out like water; +and when the skipper had got the ship full, he wished to stop the quern, +but whichever way he turned it, and however much he tried, it was no +good; the quern kept grinding on, and the heap of salt grew higher and +higher, and at last down sunk the ship. + +There lies the quern at the bottom of the sea, and grinds away at this +very day, and that's why the sea is salt. + + + + +III + +THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND + + +Once on a time there was an old widow who had one son and, as she was +poorly and weak, her son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal for +cooking; but when he got outside the safe, and was just going down the +steps, there came the North Wind, puffing and blowing, caught up the +meal, and so away with it through the air. Then the lad went back into +the safe for more; but when he came out again on the steps, if the North +Wind didn't come again and carry off the meal with a puff; and more than +that, he did so the third time. At this the lad got very angry; and as +he thought it hard that the North Wind should behave so, he thought he'd +just look him up, and ask him to give up his meal. + +So off he went, but the way was long, and he walked and walked; but at +last he came to the North Wind's house. + +"Good day!" said the lad, and "thank you for coming to see us +yesterday." + +"GOOD DAY!" answered the North Wind, for his voice was loud and gruff, +"AND THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE ME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?" + +"Oh!" answered the lad, "I only wished to ask you to be so good as to +let me have back that meal you took from me on the safe steps, for we +haven't much to live on; and if you're to go on snapping up the morsel +we have there'll be nothing for it but to starve." + +"I haven't got your meal," said the North Wind; "but if you are in such +need, I'll give you a cloth which will get you everything you want, if +you only say, 'Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good +dishes!'" + +With this the lad was well content. But, as the way was so long he +couldn't get home in one day, he turned into an inn on the way; and when +they were going to sit down to supper, he laid the cloth on a table +which stood in the corner and said: + +"Cloth spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes." + +He had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid; and all who +stood by thought it a fine thing, but most of all the landlady. So, +when all were fast asleep, at dead of night, she took the lad's cloth, +and put another in its stead, just like the one he had got from the +North Wind, but which couldn't so much as serve up a bit of dry bread. + +So, when the lad woke, he took his cloth and went off with it, and that +day he got home to his mother. + +"Now," said he, "I've been to the North Wind's house, and a good fellow +he is, for he gave me this cloth, and when I only say to it, 'Cloth, +spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes,' I get any sort +of food I please." + +"All very true, I dare say," said his mother; "but seeing is believing, +and I shan't believe it till I see it." + +So the lad made haste, drew out a table, laid the cloth on it, and said: + +"Cloth, spread yourself, and serve all up kinds of good dishes." + +But never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up. + +"Well," said the lad, "there's no help for it but to go to the North +Wind again;" and away he went. + +So he came to where the North Wind lived late in the afternoon. + +"Good evening!" said the lad. + +"Good evening," said the North Wind. + +"I want my rights for that meal of ours which you took," said the lad; +"for as for that cloth I got, it isn't worth a penny." + +"I've got no meal," said the North Wind; "but yonder you have a ram +which coins nothing but golden ducats as soon as you say to it: + +"'Ram, ram! make money!'" + +So the lad thought this a fine thing but as it was too far to get home +that day, he turned in for the night to the same inn where he had slept +before. + +Before he called for anything, he tried the truth of what the North Wind +had said of the ram, and found it all right; but when the landlord saw +that, he thought it was a famous ram, and, when the lad had fallen +asleep, he took another which couldn't coin gold ducats, and changed the +two. + +Next morning off went the lad; and when he got home to his mother he +said: + +"After all, the North Wind is a jolly fellow; for now he has given me a +ram which can coin golden ducats if I only say, 'Ram, ram! make +money!'" + +"All very true, I dare say," said his mother; "but I shan't believe any +such stuff until I see the ducats made." + +"Ram, ram! make money!" said the lad; but if the ram made anything it +wasn't money. + +So the lad went back again to the North Wind and blew him up, and said +the ram was worth nothing, and he must have his rights for the meal. + +"Well," said the North Wind; "I've nothing else to give you but that old +stick in the corner yonder; but it's a stick of that kind that if you +say: + +"'Stick, stick! lay on!' it lays on till you say: + +"'Stick, stick! now stop!'" + +So, as the way was long, the lad turned in this night too to the +landlord; but as he could pretty well guess how things stood as to the +cloth and the ram, he lay down at once on the bench and began to snore, +as if he were asleep. + +Now the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must be worth something, +hunted up one which was like it, and when he heard the lad snore, was +going to change the two, but just as the landlord was about to take it +the lad bawled out: + +"Stick, stick! lay on!" + +So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped over chairs, and +tables, and benches, and yelled and roared: + +"Oh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will beat me to death, +and you shall have back both your cloth and your ram." + +When the lad thought the landlord had got enough, he said: + +"Stick, stick! now stop!" + +Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket, and went home with +his stick in his hand, leading the ram by a cord round its horns; and so +he got his rights for the meal he had lost. + + + + +IV + +THE LAD AND THE DEIL + + +Once on a time there was a lad who was walking along a road cracking +nuts, so he found one that was worm-eaten, and just at that very moment +he met the Deil. + +"Is it true, now," said the lad, "what they say, that the Deil can make +himself as small as he chooses, and thrust himself on through a +pinhole?" + +"Yes, it is," said the Deil. + +"Oh! it is, is it? then let me see you do it, and just creep into this +nut," said the lad. + +So the Deil did it. + +Now, when he had crept well into it through the worm's hole, the lad +stopped it up with a pin. + +"Now, I've got you safe," he said, and put the nut into his pocket. + +So when he had walked on a bit, he came to a smithy, and he turned in +and asked the smith if he'd be good enough to crack that nut for him. + +"Ay, that'll be an easy job," said the smith, and took his smallest +hammer, laid the nut on the anvil, and gave it a blow, but it wouldn't +break. + +So he took another hammer a little bigger, but that wasn't heavy enough +either. + +Then he took one bigger still, but it was still the same story; and so +the smith got wroth, and grasped his great sledge-hammer. + +"Now, I'll crack you to bits," he said, and let drive at the nut with +all his might and main. And so the nut flew to pieces with a bang that +blew off half the roof of the smithy, and the whole house creaked and +groaned as though it were ready to fall. + +"Why! if I don't think the Deil must have been in that nut," said the +smith. + +"So he was; you're quite right," said the lad, as he went away laughing. + + + + +V + +ANANZI AND THE LION + + +Once on a time Ananzi planned a scheme. He went to town and bought ever +so many firkins of fat, and ever so many sacks, and ever so many balls +of string, and a very big frying pan, then he went to the bay and blew a +shell, and called the Head-fish in the sea, "Green Eel," to him. Then he +said to the fish, "The King sends me to tell you that you must bring all +the fish on shore, for he wants to give them new life." + +So "Green Eel" said he would, and went to call them. Meanwhile Ananzi +lighted a fire, and took out some of the fat, and got his frying pan +ready, and as fast as the fish came out of the water he caught them and +put them into the frying pan, and so he did with all of them until he +got to the Head-fish, who was so slippery that he couldn't hold him, and +he got back again into the water. + +When Ananzi had fried all the fish, he put them into the sacks, and +took the sacks on his back, and set off to the mountains. He had not +gone very far when he met Lion, and Lion said to him: + +"Well, brother Ananzi, where have you been? I have not seen you a long +time." + +Ananzi said, "I have been travelling about." + +"Oh! But what have you got there?" said the Lion. + +"Oh! I have got my mother's bones--she has been dead these forty-eleven +years, and they say I must not keep her here, so I am taking her up into +the middle of the mountains to bury her." + +Then they parted. After he had gone a little way, the Lion said: "I know +that Ananzi is a great rogue; I dare say he has got something there that +he doesn't want me to see, and I will just follow him;" but he took care +not to let Ananzi see him. + +Now, when Ananzi got into the wood, he set his sacks down, and took one +fish out and began to eat; then a fly came, and Ananzi said, "I cannot +eat any more, for there is some one near;" so he tied the sack up, and +went on farther into the mountains, where he set his sacks down, and +took out two fish which he ate; and no fly came. He said, "There is no +one near;" so he took out more fish. But when he had eaten about half a +dozen the Lion came up and said: + +"Well, brother Ananzi, a pretty tale you have told me." + +"Oh! brother Lion, I am so glad you have come; never mind what tale I +have told you, but come and sit down--it was only my fun." + +So Lion sat down and began to eat; but before Ananzi had eaten two fish, +Lion had emptied one of the sacks. Then said Ananzi to himself: + +"Greedy fellow, eating up all my fish." + +"What do you say, sir?" + +"I only said you do not eat half fast enough," for he was afraid the +Lion would eat him up. + +Then they went on eating, but Ananzi wanted to revenge himself, and he +said to the Lion, "Which of us do you think is the stronger?" + +The Lion said, "Why, I am, of course." + +Then Ananzi said, "We will tie one another to the tree, and we shall see +which is the stronger." + +Now they agreed that the Lion should tie Ananzi first, and he tied him +with some very fine string, and did not tie him tight. Ananzi twisted +himself about two or three times, and the string broke. + +Then it was Ananzi's turn to tie the Lion, and he took some very strong +cord. The Lion said, "You must not tie me tight, for I did not tie you +tight." And Ananzi said, "Oh! no, to be sure, I will not." But he tied +him as tight as ever he could, and then told him to try and get loose. + +The Lion tried and tried in vain--he could not get loose. Then Ananzi +thought, now is my chance; so he got a big stick and beat him, and then +went away and left him, for he was afraid to loose him lest he should +kill him. + +Now there was a woman called Miss Nancy, who was going out one morning +to get some "callalou" (spinach) in the wood, and as she was going she +heard some one say, "Good morning, Miss Nancy!" She could not tell who +spoke to her, but she looked where the voice came from, and saw the Lion +tied to the tree. + +"Good morning, Mr. Lion, what are you doing there?" + +He said, "It is all that fellow Ananzi who has tied me to the tree, but +will you loose me?" + +But she said, "No, for I am afraid, if I do, you will kill me." But he +gave her his word he would not; still she could not trust him; but he +begged her again and again, and said: + +"Well, if I do try to eat you, I hope all the trees will cry out shame +upon me." + +So at last she consented; but she had no sooner loosed him, than he came +up to her to eat her, for he had been so many days without food that he +was quite ravenous, but the trees immediately cried out, "Shame," and so +he could not eat her. Then she went away as fast as she could, and the +Lion found his way home. + +When Lion got home he told his wife and children all that happened to +him, and how Miss Nancy had saved his life, so they said they would have +a great dinner, and ask Miss Nancy. Now when Ananzi heard of it, he +wanted to go to the dinner, so he went to Miss Nancy, and said she must +take him with her as her child, but she said, "No." Then he said, "I can +turn myself into quite a little child and then you can take me," and at +last she said, "Yes;" and he told her, when she was asked what pap her +baby ate, she must be sure to tell them it did not eat pap, but the same +food as every one else; and so they went, and had a very good dinner, +and set off home again--but somehow one of the Lion's sons fancied that +all was not right, and he told his father he was sure it was Ananzi, and +the Lion set out after him. + +Now as they were going along, before the Lion got up to them, Ananzi +begged Miss Nancy to put him down, that he might run, which he did, and +he got away and ran along the wood, and the Lion ran after him. When he +found the Lion was overtaking him, he turned himself into an old man +with a bundle of wood on his head--and when the Lion got up to him, he +said, "Good morning, Mr. Lion," and the Lion said, "Good morning, old +gentleman." + +Then the old man said, "What are you after now?" and the Lion asked if +he had seen Ananzi pass that way, but the old man said, "No, that fellow +Ananzi is always meddling with some one; what mischief has he been up to +now?" + +Then the Lion told him, but the old man said it was no use to follow him +any more, for he would never catch him, and so the Lion wished him +good-day, and turned and went home again. + + + + +VI + +THE GRATEFUL FOXES + + +One fine spring day two friends went out to a moor to gather fern, +attended by a boy with a bottle of wine and a box of provisions. As they +were straying about, they saw at the foot of a hill two foxes that had +brought out their cub to play; and whilst they looked on, struck by the +strangeness of the sight, three children came up from a neighbouring +village with baskets in their hands, on the same errand as themselves. +As soon as the children saw the foxes, they picked up a bamboo stick and +took the creatures stealthily in the rear; and when the old foxes took +to flight, they surrounded them and beat them with the stick, so that +they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them; but two of the +boys held down the cub, and, seizing it by the scruff of the neck, went +off in high glee. + +The two friends were looking on all the while, and one of them, raising +his voice, shouted out, "Hallo! you boys! what are you doing with that +fox?" + +The eldest of the boys replied, "We're going to take him home and sell +him to a young man in our village. He'll buy him, and then he'll boil +him in a pot and eat him." + +"Well," replied the other, after considering the matter attentively, "I +suppose it's all the same to you whom you sell him to. You'd better let +me have him." + +"Oh, but the young man from our village promised us a good sum if we +could find a fox, and got us to come out to the hills and catch one; and +so we can't sell him to you at any price." + +"Well, I suppose it cannot be helped, then; but how much would the young +man give you for the cub?" + +"Oh, he'll give us three hundred cash at least." + +"Then I'll give you half a bu;[1] and so you'll gain five hundred cash +by the transaction." + +"Oh, we'll sell him for that, sir. How shall we hand him over to you?" + +"Just tie him up here," said the other; and so he made fast the cub +round the neck with the string of the napkin in which the luncheon-box +was wrapped, and gave half a bu to the three boys, who ran away +delighted. + +The man's friend, upon this, said to him: "Well, certainly you have got +queer tastes. What on earth are you going to keep the fox for?" + +"How very unkind of you to speak of my tastes like that. If we had not +interfered just now, the fox's cub would have lost its life. If we had +not seen the affair, there would have been no help for it. How could I +stand by and see life taken? It was but a little I spent--only half a +bu--to save the cub, but had it cost a fortune I should not have grudged +it. I thought you were intimate enough with me to know my heart; but +to-day you have accused me of being eccentric, and I see how mistaken I +have been in you. However, our friendship shall cease from this day +forth." + +And when he had said this with a great deal of firmness, the other, +retiring backward and bowing with his hands on his knees, replied: + +"Indeed, indeed, I am filled with admiration at the goodness of your +heart. When I hear you speak thus, I feel more than ever how great is +the love I bear you. I thought that you might wish to use the cub as a +sort of decoy to lead the old ones to you, that you might pray them to +bring prosperity and virtue to your house. When I called you eccentric +just now, I was but trying your heart, because I had some suspicions of +you; and now I am truly ashamed of myself." + +And as he spoke, still bowing, the other replied: "Really! was that +indeed your thought? Then I pray you to forgive me for my violent +language." + +When the two friends had thus become reconciled, they examined the cub, +and saw that it had a slight wound in its foot, and could not walk; and +while they were thinking what they should do, they spied out the herb +called "Doctor's Nakase," which was just sprouting; so they rolled up a +little of it in their fingers and applied it to the part. Then they +pulled out some boiled rice from their luncheon-box and offered it to +the cub, but it showed no sign of wanting to eat; so they stroked it +gently on the back and petted it; and as the pain of the wound seemed to +have subsided, they were admiring the properties of the herb, when, +opposite to them, they saw the old foxes sitting watching them by the +side of some stacks of rice straw. + +"Look there! the old foxes have come back, out of fear for their cub's +safety. Come, we will set it free!" And with these words they untied the +string round the cub's neck, and turned its head toward the spot where +the old foxes sat; and as the wounded foot was no longer painful, with +one bound it dashed to its parents' side and licked them all over for +joy, while they seemed to bow their thanks, looking toward the two +friends. So, with peace in their hearts, the latter went off to another +place, and, choosing a pretty spot, produced the wine bottle and ate +their noonday meal; and after a pleasant day, they returned to their +homes, and became firmer friends than ever. + +Now the man who had rescued the fox's cub was a tradesman in good +circumstances: he had three or four agents and two maid-servants, +besides men-servants; and altogether he lived in a liberal manner. He +was married, and this union had brought him one son, who had reached his +tenth year, but had been attacked by a strange disease which defied all +the physicians' skill and drugs. At last a famous physician prescribed +the liver taken from a live fox, which, as he said, would certainly +effect a cure. If that were not forthcoming, the most expensive medicine +in the world would not restore the boy to health. When the parents heard +this, they were at their wits' end. However, they told the state of the +case to a man who lived on the mountains. "Even though our child should +die for it," they said, "we will not ourselves deprive other creatures +of their lives; but you, who live among the hills, are sure to hear when +your neighbours go out fox-hunting. We don't care what price we might +have to pay for a fox's liver; pray, buy one for us at any expense." So +they pressed him to exert himself on their behalf; and he, having +promised faithfully to execute the commission, went his way. + +In the night of the following day there came a messenger, who announced +himself as coming from the person who had undertaken to procure the +fox's liver; so the master of the house went out to see him. + +"I have come from Mr. So-and-so. Last night the fox's liver that you +required fell into his hands; so he sent me to bring it to you." With +these words the messenger produced a small jar, adding, "In a few days +he will let you know the price." + +When he had delivered his message, the master of the house was greatly +pleased and said, "Indeed, I am deeply grateful for this kindness, which +will save my son's life." + +Then the good wife came out, and received the jar with every mark of +politeness. + +"We must make a present to the messenger." + +"Indeed, sir, I've already been paid for my trouble." + +"Well, at any rate, you must stop the night here." + +"Thank you, sir: I've a relation in the next village whom I have not +seen for a long while, and I will pass the night with him;" and so he +took his leave, and went away. + +The parents lost no time in sending to let the physician know that they +had procured the fox's liver. The next day the doctor came and +compounded a medicine for the patient, which at once produced a good +effect, and there was no little joy in the household. As luck would have +it, three days after this the man whom they had commissioned to buy the +fox's liver came to the house: so the goodwife hurried out to meet him +and welcome him. + +"How quickly you fulfilled our wishes, and how kind of you to send at +once! The doctor prepared the medicine, and now our boy can get up and +walk about the room; and it's all owing to your goodness." + +"Wait a bit!" cried the guest, who did not know what to make of the joy +of the two parents. "The commission with which you entrusted me about +the fox's liver turned out to be a matter of impossibility, so I came +to-day to make my excuses; and now I really can't understand what you +are so grateful to me for." + +"We are thanking you, sir," replied the master of the house, bowing with +his hands on the ground, "for the fox's liver which we asked you to +procure for us." + +"I really am perfectly unaware of having sent you a fox's liver: there +must be some mistake here. Pray inquire carefully into the matter." + +"Well, this is very strange. Four nights ago, a man of some five or six +and thirty years of age came with a verbal message from you, to the +effect that you had sent him with a fox's liver, which you had just +procured, and said that he would come and tell us the price another day. +When we asked him to spend the night here, he answered that he would +lodge with a relation in the next village, and went away." + +The visitor was more and more lost in amazement, and, leaning his head +on one side in deep thought, confessed that he could make nothing of it. +As for the husband and wife, they felt quite out of countenance at +having thanked a man so warmly for favours of which he denied all +knowledge; and so the visitor took his leave and went home. + +That night there appeared at the pillow of the master of the house a +woman of about one or two and thirty years of age, who said: "I am the +fox that lives at such-and-such a mountain. Last spring, when I was +taking out my cub to play, it was carried off by some boys, and only +saved by your goodness. The desire to requite this kindness pierced me +to the quick. At last, when calamity attacked your house, I thought I +might be of use to you. Your son's illness could not be cured without a +liver taken from a live fox, so to repay your kindness I killed my cub +and took out its liver; then its sire, disguising himself as a +messenger, brought it to your house." + +And as she spoke, the fox shed tears; and the master of the house, +wishing to thank her, moved in bed, upon which his wife awoke and asked +him what was the matter; but he too, to her great astonishment, was +biting the pillow and weeping bitterly. + +"Why are you weeping thus?" asked she. + +At last he sat up in bed and said: "Last spring, when I was out on a +pleasure excursion, I was the means of saving the life of a fox's cub, +as I told you at the time. The other day I told Mr. So-and-so that, +although my son were to die before my eyes, I would not be the means of +killing a fox on purpose, but asked him, in case he heard of any hunter +killing a fox, to buy it for me. How the foxes came to hear of this I +don't know; but the foxes to whom I had shown kindness killed their own +cub and took out the liver; and the old dog-fox, disguising himself as a +messenger from the person to whom we had confided the commission, came +here with it. His mate has just been at my pillow-side and told me all +about it. Hence it was that, in spite of myself, I was moved to tears." + +When she heard this, the goodwife likewise was blinded by her tears, and +for a while they lay lost in thought; but at last, coming to themselves, +they lighted the lamp on the shelf on which the family idol stood, and +spent the night in reciting prayers and praises, and the next day they +published the matter to the household and to their relations and +friends. Now, although there are instances of men killing their own +children to requite a favour, there is no other example of foxes having +done such a thing; so the story became the talk of the whole country. + +Now, the boy who had recovered through the efficacy of this medicine +selected the prettiest spot on the premises to erect a shrine to Inari +Sama,[2] the Fox God, and offered sacrifice to the two old foxes, for +whom he purchased the highest rank at the court of the Mikado. + + * * * * * + +The passage in the tale which speaks of rank being purchased for the +foxes at the court of the Mikado is, of course, a piece of nonsense. +"The saints who are worshipped in Japan," writes a native authority, +"are men who, in the remote ages, when the country was developing +itself, were sages, and by their great and virtuous deeds having earned +the gratitude of future generations, received divine honours after their +death. How can the Son of Heaven, who is the father and mother of his +people, turn dealer in ranks and honours? If rank were a matter of +barter, it would cease to be a reward to the virtuous." + +All matters connected with the shrines of the Shinto, or indigenous +religion, are confided to the superintendence of the families of Yoshida +and Fushimi, Kuges or nobles of the Mikado's court at Kiyoto. The +affairs of the Buddhist or imported religion are under the care of the +family of Kanjuji. As it is necessary that those who as priests perform +the honourable office of serving the gods should be persons of some +standing, a certain small rank is procured for them through the +intervention of the representatives of the above noble families, who, on +the issuing of the required patent, receive as their perquisite a fee, +which, although insignificant in itself, is yet of importance to the +poor Kuges, whose penniless condition forms a great contrast to the +wealth of their inferiors in rank, the Daimios. I believe that this is +the only case in which rank can be bought or sold in Japan. In China, on +the contrary, in spite of what has been written by Meadows and other +admirers of the examination system, a man can be what he pleases by +paying for it; and the coveted button, which is nominally the reward of +learning and ability, is more often the prize of wealthy ignorance. + +The saints who are alluded to above are the saints of the whole country, +as distinct from those who for special deeds are locally worshipped. + +Touching the remedy of the fox's liver, prescribed in the tale, I may +add that there would be nothing strange in this to a person acquainted +with the Chinese pharmacopoeia, which the Japanese long exclusively +followed, although they are now successfully studying the art of healing +as practised in the West. When I was at Peking, I saw a Chinese +physician prescribe a decoction of three scorpions for a child struck +down with fever; and on another occasion a groom of mine, suffering from +dysentery, was treated with acupuncture of the tongue. The art of +medicine would appear to be at the present time in China much in the +state in which it existed in Europe in the sixteenth century, when the +excretions and secretions of all manner of animals, saurians, and +venomous snakes and insects, and even live bugs, were administered to +patients. "Some physicians," says Matthiolus, "use the ashes of +scorpions, burnt alive, for retention caused by either renal or vesical +calculi. But I have myself thoroughly experienced the utility of an oil +I make myself, whereof scorpions form a very large portion of the +ingredients. If only the region of the heart and all the pulses of the +body be anointed with it, it will free the patients from the effects of +all kinds of poisons taken by the mouth, corrosive ones excepted." +Decoctions of Egyptian mummies were much commended, and often prescribed +with due academical solemnity; and the bones of the human skull, +pulverized and administered with oil, were used as a specific in cases +of renal calculus. (See Petri Andreae Matthioli "Opera," 1574.) + +These remarks were made to me by a medical gentleman to whom I mentioned +the Chinese doctor's prescription of scorpion tea, and they seem to me +so curious that I insert them for comparison's sake. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: _Bu._ This coin is generally called by foreigners "ichibu," +which means "one bu." To talk of "_a hundred ichibus_" is as though a +Japanese were to say "_a hundred one shillings_." Four bus make a +_riyo_, or ounce; and any sum above three bus is spoken of as so many +riyos and bus--as 101 riyos and three bus equal 407 bus. The bu is worth +about 1_s._ 4_d._] + +[Footnote 2: Inari Sama is the title under which was deified a certain +mythical personage, called Uga, to whom tradition attributes the honour +of having first discovered and cultivated the rice-plant. He is +represented carrying a few ears of rice, and is symbolized by a snake +guarding a bale of rice grain. The foxes wait upon him, and do his +bidding. Inasmuch as rice is the most important and necessary product of +Japan, the honours which Inari Sama receives are extraordinary. Almost +every house in the country contains somewhere about the grounds a pretty +little shrine in his honour; and on a certain day of the second month of +the year his feast is celebrated with much beating of drums and other +noises, in which the children take a special delight. "On this day," +says the O-Satsuyo, a Japanese cyclopaedia, "at Yeddo, where there are +myriads upon myriads of shrines to Inari Sama, there are all sorts of +ceremonies. Long banners with inscriptions are erected, lamps and +lanterns are hung up, and the houses are decked with various dolls and +figures; the sound of flutes and drums is heard, and people dance and +make holiday according to their fancy. In short, it is the most bustling +festival of the Yeddo year."] + + + + +VII + +THE BADGER'S MONEY + + +It is a common saying among men that to forget favours received is the +part of a bird or a beast: an ungrateful man will be ill spoken of by +all the world. And yet even birds and beasts will show gratitude; so +that a man who does not requite a favour is worse even than dumb brutes. +Is not this a disgrace? + +Once upon a time, in a hut at a place called Namekata, in Hitachi, there +lived an old priest famous neither for learning nor wisdom, but bent +only on passing his days in prayer and meditation. He had not even a +child to wait upon him, but prepared his food with his own hands. Night +and morning he recited the prayer "Namu Amida Butsu,"[3] intent upon +that alone. Although the fame of his virtue did not reach far, yet his +neighbours respected and revered him, and often brought him food and +raiment; and when his roof or his walls fell out of repair, they would +mend them for him; so for the things of this world he took no thought. + +One very cold night, when he little thought any one was outside, he +heard a voice calling, "Your reverence! your reverence!" So he rose and +went out to see who it was, and there he beheld an old badger standing. +Any ordinary man would have been greatly alarmed at the apparition; but +the priest, being such as he has been described above, showed no sign of +fear, but asked the creature its business. Upon this the badger +respectfully bent its knees and said: + +"Hitherto, sir, my lair has been in the mountains, and of snow or frost +I have taken no heed; but now I am growing old, and this severe cold is +more than I can bear. I pray you to let me enter and warm myself at the +fire of your cottage, that I may live through this bitter night." + +When the priest heard what a helpless state the beast was reduced to, he +was filled with pity and said: + +"That's a very slight matter: make haste and come in and warm yourself." + +The badger, delighted with so good a reception, went into the hut, and +squatting down by the fire began to warm itself; and the priest, with +renewed fervour, recited his prayers and struck his bell before the +image of Buddha, looking straight before him. + +After two hours the badger took its leave, with profuse expressions of +thanks, and went out; and from that time forth it came every night to +the hut. As the badger would collect and bring with it dried branches +and dead leaves from the hills for firewood, the priest at last became +very friendly with it, and got used to its company; so that if ever, as +the night wore on, the badger did not arrive, he used to miss it, and +wonder why it did not come. When the winter was over, and the springtime +came at the end of the second month, the badger gave up its visits, and +was no more seen; but, on the return of the winter, the beast resumed +its old habit of coming to the hut. When this practice had gone on for +ten years, one day the badger said to the priest, "Through your +reverence's kindness for all these years, I have been able to pass the +winter nights in comfort. Your favours are such that during all my life, +and even after my death, I must remember them. What can I do to requite +them? If there is anything that you wish for, pray tell me." + +The priest, smiling at this speech, answered: "Being such as I am, I +have no desire and no wishes. Glad as I am to hear your kind intentions, +there is nothing that I can ask you to do for me. You need feel no +anxiety on my account. As long as I live, when the winter comes, you +shall be welcome here." The badger, on hearing this, could not conceal +its admiration of the depth of the old man's benevolence; but having so +much to be grateful for, it felt hurt at not being able to requite it. +As this subject was often renewed between them, the priest at last, +touched by the goodness of the badger's heart, said: "Since I have +shaven my head, renounced the world, and forsaken the pleasures of this +life, I have no desire to gratify, yet I own I should like to possess +three riyos in gold. Food and raiment I receive by the favour of the +villagers, so I take no heed for those things. Were I to die to-morrow, +and attain my wish of being born again into the next world, the same +kind folk have promised to meet and bury my body. Thus, although I have +no other reason to wish for money, still if I had three riyos I would +offer them up at some holy shrine, that masses and prayers might be said +for me, whereby I might enter into salvation. Yet I would not get this +money by violent or unlawful means; I only think of what might be if I +had it. So you see, since you have expressed such kind feelings toward +me, I have told you what is on my mind." When the priest had done +speaking, the badger leant its head on one side with a puzzled and +anxious look, so much so that the old man was sorry he had expressed a +wish which seemed to give the beast trouble, and tried to retract what +he had said. "Posthumous honours, after all, are the wish of ordinary +men. I, who am a priest, ought not to entertain such thoughts, or to +want money; so pray pay no attention to what I have said;" and the +badger, feigning assent to what the priest had impressed upon it, +returned to the hills as usual. + +From that time forth the badger came no more to the hut. The priest +thought this very strange, but imagined either that the badger stayed +away because it did not like to come without the money, or that it had +been killed in an attempt to steal it; and he blamed himself for having +added to his sins for no purpose, repenting when it was too late: +persuaded, however, that the badger must have been killed, he passed his +time in putting up prayers upon prayers for it. + +After three years had gone by, one night the old man heard a voice near +his door calling out, "Your reverence! your reverence!" + +As the voice was like that of the badger, he jumped up as soon as he +heard it, and ran to open the door; and there, sure enough, was the +badger. The priest, in great delight, cried out: "And so you are safe +and sound, after all! Why have you been so long without coming here? I +have been expecting you anxiously this long while." + +So the badger came into the hut and said: "If the money which you +required had been for unlawful purposes, I could easily have procured as +much as ever you might have wanted; but when I heard that it was to be +offered to a temple for masses for your soul, I thought that, if I were +to steal the hidden treasure of some other man, you could not apply to a +sacred purpose money which had been obtained at the expense of his +sorrow. So I went to the island of Sado,[4] and gathering the sand and +earth which had been cast away as worthless by the miners, fused it +afresh in the fire; and at this work I spent months and days." As the +badger finished speaking, the priest looked at the money which it had +produced, and sure enough he saw that it was bright and new and clean; +so he took the money, and received it respectfully, raising it to his +head. + +"And so you have had all this toil and labour on account of a foolish +speech of mine? I have obtained my heart's desire, and am truly +thankful." + +As he was thanking the badger with great politeness and ceremony, the +beast said: "In doing this I have but fulfilled my own wish; still I +hope that you will tell this thing to no man." + +"Indeed," replied the priest, "I cannot choose but tell this story. For +if I keep this money in my poor hut, it will be stolen by thieves: I +must either give it to some one to keep for me, or else at once offer it +up at the temple. And when I do this, when people see a poor old priest +with a sum of money quite unsuited to his station, they will think it +very suspicious, and I shall have to tell the tale as it occurred; but I +shall say that the badger that gave me the money has ceased coming to my +hut, you need not fear being waylaid, but can come, as of old, and +shelter yourself from the cold." To this the badger nodded assent; and +as long as the old priest lived, it came and spent the winter nights +with him. + +From this story, it is plain that even beasts have a sense of gratitude: +in this quality dogs excel all other beasts. Is not the story of the dog +of Totoribe Yorodzu written in the Annals of Japan? I[5] have heard that +many anecdotes of this nature have been collected and printed in a book, +which I have not yet seen; but as the facts which I have recorded relate +to a badger, they appear to me to be passing strange. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 3: A Buddhist prayer, in which something approaching to the +sounds of the original Sanscrit has been preserved. The meaning of the +prayer is explained as, "Save us, eternal Buddha'" Many even of the +priests who repeat it know it only as a formula, without understanding +it.] + +[Footnote 4: An island on the west coast of Japan, famous for its gold +mines.] + +[Footnote 5: The author of the tale.] + + + + +VIII + +WHY BROTHER BEAR HAS NO TAIL + + +"I 'clar' ter gracious, honey," Uncle Remus exclaimed one night, as the +little boy ran in, "you sholy ain't chaw'd yo' vittles. Hit ain't bin no +time, skacely, sence de supper-bell rung, en ef you go on dis a-way, +you'll des nat'ally pe'sh yo'se'f out." + +"Oh, I wasn't hungry," said the little boy. "I had something before +supper, and I wasn't hungry anyway." + +The old man looked keenly at the child, and presently he said: + +"De ins en de outs er dat kinder talk all come ter de same p'int in my +min'. Youer bin a-cuttin' up at de table, en Mars John, he tuck'n sont +you 'way fum dar, en w'iles he think youer off some'er a-snifflin' en +a-feelin' bad, yer you is a-high-primin' 'roun' des lak you done had mo' +supper dan de King er Philanders." + +Before the little boy could inquire about the King of Philanders he +heard his father calling him. He started to go out, but Uncle Remus +motioned him back. + +"Des set right whar you is, honey--des set right still." + +Then Uncle Remus went to the door and answered for the child; and a very +queer answer it was--one that could be heard half over the plantation: + +"Mars John, I wish you en Miss Sally be so good ez ter let dat chile +'lone. He down yer cryin' he eyes out, en he ain't boddern' 'long er +nobody in de roun' worl'." + +Uncle Remus stood in the door a moment to see what the reply would be, +but he heard none. Thereupon he continued, in the same loud tone: + +"I ain't bin use ter no sich gwines on in Ole Miss time, en I ain't +gwine git use ter it now. Dat I ain't." + +Presently 'Tildy, the house-girl, brought the little boy his supper, and +the girl was no sooner out of hearing than the child swapped it with +Uncle Remus for a roasted yam, and the enjoyment of both seemed to be +complete. + +"Uncle Remus," said the little boy, after a while, "you know I wasn't +crying just now." + +"Dat's so, honey," the old man replied, "but 't wouldn't er bin long +'fo' you would er bin, kaze Mars John bawl out lak a man wa't got a +strop in he han', so wa't de diff'unce?" + +When they had finished eating, Uncle Remus busied himself in cutting and +trimming some sole-leather for future use. His knife was so keen, and +the leather fell away from it so smoothly and easily, that the little +boy wanted to trim some himself. But to this Uncle Remus would not +listen. + +"'Tain't on'y chilluns w'at got de consate er doin' eve'ything dey see +yuther folks do. Hit's grown folks w'at oughter know better," said the +old man. "Dat's des de way Brer B'ar git his tail broke off +smick-smack-smoove, en down ter dis day he be funnies'-lookin' creetur +w'at wobble on top er dry groun'." + +Instantly the little boy forgot all about Uncle Remus's sharp knife. + +"Hit seem lak dat in dem days Brer Rabbit en Brer Tarrypin done gone in +cohoots fer ter outdo de t'er creeturs. One time Brer Rabbit tuck'n make +a call on Brer Tarrypin, but w'en he git ter Brer Tarrypin house, he +year talk fum Miss Tarrypin dat her ole man done gone fer ter spen' de +day wid Mr. Mud-Turkle, w'ich dey wuz blood kin. Brer Rabbit he put out +atter Brer Tarrypin, en w'en he got ter Mr. Mud-Turkle house, dey all +sot up, dey did, en tole tales, en den w'en twelf er' clock come dey had +crawfish fer dinner, en dey 'joy deyse'f right erlong. Atter dinner dey +went down ter Mr. Mud-Turkle mill-pon,' en w'en dey git dar Mr. +Mud-Turkle en Brer Tarrypin dey 'muse deyse'f, dey did, wid slidin' fum +de top uv a big slantin' rock down inter de water. + +"I'speck you moughter seen rocks in de water 'fo' now, whar dey git +green en slipp'y," said Uncle Remus. + +The little boy had not only seen them, but had found them to be very +dangerous to walk upon, and the old man continued: + +"Well, den, dish yer rock wuz mighty slick en mighty slantin'. Mr. +Mud-Turkle, he'd crawl ter de top, en tu'n loose, en go a-sailin' down +inter de water--_kersplash!_ Ole Brer Tarrypin, he'd foller atter, en +slide down inter de water--_kersplash!_ Ole Brer Rabbit, he sot off, he +did, en praise um up. + +"W'iles dey wuz a-gwine on dis a-way, a-havin' der fun, en 'joyin' +deyse'f, yer come ole Brer B'ar. He year um laffin' en holl'in', en he +hail um. + +"'Heyo, folks! W'at all dis? Ef my eye ain't 'ceive me, dish yer's Brer +Rabbit, en Brer Tarrypin, en ole Unk' Tommy Mud-Turkle,' sez Brer B'ar, +sezee. + +"'De same,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, 'en yer we is 'joyin' de day dat +passes des lak dey wa'n't no hard times.' + +"'Well, well, well!' sez ole Brer B'ar, sezee, 'a-slippin' en a-slidin' +en makin' free! En w'at de matter wid Brer Rabbit dat he ain't j'inin' +in?' sezee. + +"Ole Brer Rabbit he wink at Brer Tarrypin, en Brer Tarrypin he hunch Mr. +Mud-Turkle, en den Brer Rabbit he up'n 'low, he did: + +"'My goodness, Brer B'ar! you can't 'speck a man fer ter slip en slide +de whole blessid day, kin you? I done had my fun, en now I'm a-settin' +out yer lettin' my cloze dry. Hit's tu'n en tu'n about wid me en deze +gents w'en dey's any fun gwine on,' sezee. + +"'Maybe Brer B'ar might jine in wid us,' sez Brer Tarrypin, sezee. + +"Brer Rabbit he des holler en laff. + +"'Shoo!' sezee, 'Brer B'ar foot too big en he tail too long fer ter +slide down dat rock,' sezee. + +"Dis kinder put Brer B'ar on he mettle, en he up'n 'spon', he did: + +"'Maybe dey is, en maybe dey ain't, yit I ain't a-feared ter try.' + +"Wid dat de yuthers tuck'n made way fer 'im, en ole Brer B'ar he git up +on de rock he did, en squot down on he hunkers, en quile he tail und' +'im, en start down. Fus' he go sorter slow, en he grin lak he feel good; +den he go sorter peart, en he grin lak he feel bad; den he go mo' +pearter, en he grin lak he skeerd; den he strack de slick part, en, +gentermens! he swaller de grin en fetch a howl dat moughter bin yeard a +mile, en he hit de water lak a chimbly a-fallin'. + +"You kin gimme denial," Uncle Remus continued after a little pause, "but +des ez sho' ez you er settin' dar, w'en Brer B'ar slick'd up en flew +down dat rock, he break off he tail right smick-smack-smoove, en mo'n +dat, w'en he make his disappear'nce up de big road, Brer Rabbit holler +out: + +"'Brer B'ar!--O Brer B'ar! I year tell dat flaxseed poultices is mighty +good fer so' places!' + +"Yit Brer B'ar ain't look back." + + + + +IX + +THE ORIGIN OF RUBIES + + +There was a certain king who died leaving four sons behind him with his +queen. The queen was passionately fond of the youngest of the princes. +She gave him the best robes, the best horses, the best food, and the +best furniture. The other three princes became exceedingly jealous of +their youngest brother, and, conspiring against him and their mother, +made them live in a separate house, and took possession of the estate. +Owing to overindulgence, the youngest prince had become very wilful. He +never listened to any one, not even to his mother, but had his own way +in everything. One day he went with his mother to bathe in the river. A +large boat was riding there at anchor. None of the boatmen were in it. +The prince went into the boat, and told his mother to come into it. His +mother besought him to get down from the boat, as it did not belong to +him. But the prince said, "No, mother I am not coming down; I mean to go +on a voyage, and if you wish to come with me, then delay not but come up +at once, or I shall be off in a trice." The queen besought the prince to +do no such thing, but to come down instantly. But the prince gave no +heed to what she said, and began to take up the anchor. The queen went +up into the boat in great haste; and the moment she was on board the +boat started, and falling into the current passed on swiftly like an +arrow. The boat went on and on till it reached the sea. After it had +gone many furlongs into the open sea, the boat came near a whirlpool +where the prince saw a great many rubies of monstrous size floating on +the waters. Such large rubies no one had ever seen, each being in value +equal to the wealth of seven kings. The prince caught hold of +half-a-dozen of those rubies, and put them on board. His mother said, +"Darling, don't take up those red balls; they must belong to somebody +who has been shipwrecked, and we may be taken up as thieves." At the +repeated entreaties of his mother, the prince threw them into the sea, +keeping only one tied up in his clothes. The boat then drifted toward +the coast, and the queen and the prince arrived at a certain port where +they landed. + +The port where they landed was not a small place; it was a large city, +the capital of a great king. Not far from the palace, the queen and her +son hired a hut where they lived. As the prince was yet a boy, he was +fond of playing at marbles. When the children of the king came out to +play on a lawn before the palace, our young prince joined them. He had +no marbles, but he played with the ruby which he had in his possession. +The ruby was so hard that it broke every taw against which it struck. +The daughter of the king, who used to watch the games from a balcony of +the palace, was astonished to see a brilliant red ball in the hand of +the strange lad, and wanted to take possession of it. She told her +father that a boy of the street had an uncommonly bright stone in his +possession which she must have or else she would starve herself to +death. The king ordered his servants to bring to him the lad with that +precious stone. When the boy was brought, the king wondered at the +largeness and brilliancy of the ruby. He had never seen anything like +it. He doubted whether any king of any country in the world possessed so +great a treasure. He asked the lad where he had got it. The lad replied +that he got it from the sea. The king offered a thousand rupees for the +ruby, and the lad, not knowing its value, readily parted with it for +that sum. He went with the money to his mother, who was not a little +frightened, thinking that her son had stolen the money from some rich +man's house. She became quiet, however, on being assured that the money +was given to him by the king in exchange for the red ball which he had +picked up in the sea. + +The king's daughter, on getting the ruby put it in her hair, and, +standing before her pet parrot, said to the bird, "Oh, my darling +parrot, don't I look very beautiful with this ruby in my hair?" The +parrot replied, "Beautiful! you look quite hideous with it! What +princess ever puts only one ruby in her hair? It would be somewhat +feasible if you had two at least." Stung with shame at the reproach cast +in her teeth by the parrot, the princess went into the grief-chamber of +the palace, and would neither eat nor drink. The king was not a little +concerned when he heard that his daughter had gone into the +grief-chamber. He went to her, and asked her the cause of her grief. The +princess told the king what her pet parrot had said, and added, "Father, +if you do not procure for me another ruby like this, I'll put an end to +my life by mine own hands." The king was overwhelmed with grief. Where +was he to get another ruby like it? He doubted whether another like it +could be found in the whole world. He ordered the lad who had sold the +ruby, to be brought into his presence. "Have you, young man," asked the +king, "another ruby like the one you sold me?" The lad replied: "No, I +have not got one. Why, do you want another? I can give you lots, if you +wish to have them. They are to be found in a whirlpool in the sea, far, +far away. I can go and fetch some for you." Amazed at the lad's reply, +the king offered rich rewards for procuring only another ruby of the +same sort. + +The lad went home and said to his mother that he must go to sea again to +fetch some rubies for the king. The woman was quite frightened at the +idea, and begged him not to go. But the lad was resolved on going, and +nothing could prevent him from carrying out his purpose. He accordingly +went alone on board that same vessel which had brought him and his +mother, and set sail. He reached the whirlpool, from near which he had +formerly picked up the rubies. This time, however, he determined to go +to the exact spot whence the rubies were coming out. He went to the +centre of the whirlpool, where he saw a gap reaching to the bottom of +the ocean. He dived into it, leaving his boat to wheel round the +whirlpool. When he reached the bottom of the ocean he saw there a +beautiful palace. He went inside. In the central room of the palace +there was the god Siva, with his eyes closed, and absorbed apparently in +intense meditation. A few feet above Siva's head was a platform, on +which lay a young lady of exquisite beauty. The prince went to the +platform and saw that the head of the lady was separated from her body. +Horrified at the sight, he did not know what to make of it. He saw a +stream of blood trickling from the severed head, falling upon the matted +head of Siva, and running into the ocean in the form of rubies. After a +little two small rods, one of silver and one of gold, which were lying +near the head of the lady, attracted his eyes. As he took up the rods in +his hands, the golden rod accidentally fell upon the head, on which the +head immediately joined itself to the body, and the lady got up. +Astonished at the sight of a human being, the lady asked the prince who +he was and how he had got there. After hearing the story of the prince's +adventures, the lady said, "Unhappy young man, depart instantly from +this place; for when Siva finishes his meditations he will turn you to +ashes by a single glance of his eyes." The young man, however, would not +go except in her company, as he was over head and ears in love with the +beautiful lady. At last they both contrived to run away from the palace, +and coming up to the surface of the ocean they climbed into the boat +near the centre of the whirlpool, and sailed away toward land, having +previously laden the vessel with a cargo of rubies. The wonder of the +prince's mother at seeing the beautiful damsel may be well imagined. +Early next morning the prince sent a basin full of big rubies, through a +servant. The king was astonished beyond measure. His daughter, on +getting the rubies, resolved on marrying the wonderful lad who had made +a present of them to her. Though the prince had a wife, whom he had +brought up from the depths of the ocean, he consented to have a second +wife. They were accordingly married, and lived happily for years, +begetting sons and daughters. + + Here my story endeth, + The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc. + + + + +X + +LONG, BROAD, AND SHARPSIGHT + + +There was a king, who was already old, and had but one son. Once upon a +time he called this son to him and said to him: "My dear son! you know +that old fruit falls to make room for other fruit. My head is already +ripening, and maybe the sun will soon no longer shine upon it; but +before you bury me, I should like to see your wife, my future daughter. +My son, marry!" The prince said: "I would gladly, father, do as you +wish; but I have no bride, and don't know any." The old king put his +hand into his pocket, took out a golden key and showed it to his son, +with the words, "go up into the tower, to the top story, look round +there, and then tell me which you fancy." The prince went without delay. +Nobody within the memory of man had been up there or had ever heard what +was up there. + +When he got up to the last story, he saw in the ceiling a little iron +door like a trap-door. It was closed. He opened it with the golden key, +lifted it, and went up above it. There was a large circular room. The +ceiling was blue like the sky on a clear night, and silver stars +glittered on it, the floor was a carpet of green silk, and around in the +wall were twelve high windows in golden frames, and in each window on +crystal glass was a damsel painted with the colours of the rainbow, with +a royal crown on her head, in each window a different one in a different +dress, each handsomer than the other, and it was a wonder that the +prince did not let his eyes dwell upon them. When he had gazed at them +with astonishment, the damsels began to move as if they were alive, +looked down upon him, smiled, and did everything but speak. + +Now the prince observed that one of the twelve windows was covered with +a white curtain; he drew the curtain to see what was behind it. There +there was a damsel in a white dress, girt with a silver girdle, with a +crown of pearls on her head; she was the most beautiful of all, but was +sad and pale, as if she had risen from the grave. The prince stood long +before the picture, as if he had made a discovery, and as he thus +gazed, his heart pained him, and he cried, "This one will I have, and no +other." As he said the words the damsel bowed her head, blushed like a +rose, and that instant all the pictures disappeared. + +When he went down and related to his father what he had seen and which +damsel he had selected, the old king became sad, bethought himself, and +said: "You have done ill, my son, in uncovering what was curtained over, +and have placed yourself in great danger on account of those words. That +damsel is in the power of a wicked wizard, and kept captive in an iron +castle; of all who have attempted to set her free, not one has hitherto +returned. But what's done cannot be undone; the plighted word is a law. +Go! try your luck, and return home safe and sound!" + +The prince took leave of his father, mounted his horse, and rode away in +search of his bride. It came to pass that he rode through a vast forest, +and through the forest he rode on and on till he lost the road. And as +he was wandering with his horse in thickets and amongst rocks and +morasses, not knowing which way to turn, he heard somebody shout behind +him, "Hi! stop!" The prince looked round, and saw a tall man hastening +after him. "Stop and take me with you, and take me into your service, +and you won't regret it!" "Who are you," said the prince, "and what can +you do?" "My name is Long, and I can extend myself. Do you see a bird's +nest in that pine yonder? I will bring you the nest down without having +to climb up." + +Long then began to extend himself; his body grew rapidly till it was as +tall as the pine; he then reached the nest, and in a moment contracted +himself again and gave it to the prince. "You know your business well, +but what's the use of birds' nests to me, if you can't conduct me out of +this forest?" + +"Ahem! that's an easy matter," said Long, and began to extend himself +till he was thrice as high as the highest fir in the forest, looked +round, and said: "Here on this side we have the nearest way out of the +forest." He then contracted himself, took the horse by the bridle, and +before the prince had any idea of it, they were beyond the forest. +Before them was a long and wide plain, and beyond the plain tall gray +rocks like the walls of a large town, and mountains overgrown with +forest trees. + +"Yonder, sir, goes my comrade!" said Long, and pointed suddenly to the +plain; "you should take him also into your service; I believe he would +serve you well." "Shout to him, and call him hither, that I may see what +he is good for." "It is a little too far, sir," said Long; "he would +hardly hear me, and it would take a long time before he came, because he +has a great deal to carry. I'll jump after him instead." Then Long again +extended himself to such a height that his head plunged into the clouds, +made two or three steps, took his comrade by the arm, and placed him +before the prince. He was a short, thick-set fellow, with a paunch like +a sixty-four-gallon cask. "Who are you?" demanded the prince, "and what +can you do?" "My name, sir, is Broad; I can widen myself." "Give me a +specimen." "Ride quick, sir, quick, back into the forest!" cried Broad, +as he began to blow himself out. + +The prince didn't understand why he was to ride away; but seeing that +Long made all haste to get into the forest, he spurred his horse and +rode full gallop after him. It was high time that he did ride away, or +else Broad would have squashed him, horse and all, as his paunch rapidly +grew in all directions; it filled everything everywhere, just as if a +mountain had rolled up. Broad then ceased to blow himself out, and took +himself in again, raising such a wind that the trees in the forest bowed +and bent, and became what he was at first. "You have played me a nice +trick," said the prince, "but I shan't find such a fellow every day; +come with me." + +They proceeded further. When they approached the rocks, they met a man +who had his eyes bandaged with a handkerchief. "Sir, this is our third +comrade," said Long, "you ought to take him also into your service. I'm +sure he won't eat his victuals for naught." + +"Who are you?" the prince asked him, "and why are your eyes bandaged? +You don't see your way!" "No, sir, quite the contrary! It is just +because I see too well that I am obliged to bandage my eyes; I see with +bandaged eyes just as well as others with unbandaged eyes; and if I +unbandage them I look everything through and through, and when I gaze +sharply at anything it catches fire and bursts into flame, and what +can't burn splits into pieces. For this reason my name is Sharpsight." +He then turned to a rock opposite, removed the bandage, and fixed his +flaming eyes upon it; the rock began to crackle, pieces flew on every +side, and in a very short time nothing of it remained but a heap of +sand, on which something glittered like fire. Sharpsight went to fetch +it, and brought it to the prince. It was pure gold. + +"Heigho! you're a fellow that money can't purchase!" said the prince. +"He is a fool who wouldn't make use of your services, and if you have +such good sight, look and tell me whether it is far to the iron castle, +and what is now going on there?" "If you rode by yourself, sir," +answered Sharpsight, "maybe you wouldn't get there within a year; but +with us you'll arrive to-day--they're just getting supper ready for us." +"And what is my bride doing?" + + "An iron lattice is before her, + In a tower that's high + She doth sit and sigh, + A wizard watch and ward keeps o'er her." + +The prince cried, "Whoever is well disposed, help me to set her free!" +They all promised to help him. They guided him among the gray rocks +through the breach that Sharpsight had made in them with his eyes, and +farther and farther on through rocks, through high mountains and deep +forests, and wherever there was any obstacle in the road, forthwith it +was removed by the three comrades. And when the sun was declining toward +the west, the mountains began to become lower, the forests less dense, +and the rocks concealed themselves amongst the heath; and when it was +almost on the point of setting, the prince saw not far before him an +iron castle; and when it was actually setting, he rode by an iron bridge +to the gate, and as soon as it had set, up rose the iron bridge of +itself, the gate closed with a single movement, and the prince and his +companions were captives in the iron castle. + +When they had looked round the court, the prince put his horse up in the +stable, where everything was ready for it, and then they went into the +castle. In the court, in the stable, in the castle hall, and in the +rooms, they saw in the twilight many richly-dressed people, gentlemen +and servants, but not one of them stirred--they were all turned to +stone. They went through several rooms, and came into the supper-room. +This was brilliantly lighted up, and in the midst was a table, and on it +plenty of good meats and drinks, and covers were laid for four persons. +They waited and waited, thinking that some one would come: but when +nobody came for a long time, they sat down and ate and drank what the +palate fancied. + +When they had done eating, they looked about to find where to sleep. +Thereupon the door flew open unexpectedly all at once, and into the room +came the wizard; a bent old man in a long black garb, with a bald head, +a gray beard down to his knees, and three iron hoops instead of a +girdle. By the hand he led a beautiful, very beautiful damsel, dressed +in white; she had a silver girdle round her waist, and a crown of pearls +on her head, but was pale and sad, as if she had risen from the grave. +The prince recognized her at once, sprang forward, and went to meet her; +but before he could utter a word the wizard addressed him: "I know for +what you have come; you want to take the princess away. Well, be it so! +Take her, if you can keep her in sight for three nights, so that she +doesn't vanish from you. If she vanishes, you will be turned into stone +as well as your three servants; like all who have come before you." He +then motioned the princess to a seat and departed. + +The prince could not take his eyes off the princess, so beautiful was +she. He began to talk to her, and asked her all manner of questions, but +she neither answered nor smiled, nor looked at any one more than if she +had been of marble. He sat down by her, and determined not to sleep all +night long lest she should vanish from him, and, to make surer, Long +extended himself like a strap, and wound himself round the whole room +along the wall; Broad posted himself in the doorway, swelled himself up, +and stopped it up so tight that not even a mouse could have slipped +through; while Sharpsight placed himself against a pillar in the midst +of the room on the look-out. But after a time they all began to nod, +fell asleep, and slept the whole night, just as if the wizard had thrown +them into the water. + +In the morning, when it began to dawn, the prince was the first to wake, +but--as if a knife had been thrust into his heart--the princess was +gone! He forthwith awoke his servants, and asked what was to be done. +"Never mind, sir," said Sharpsight, and looked sharply out through the +window, "I see her already. A hundred miles hence is a forest, in the +midst of the forest an old oak, and on the top of the oak an acorn, and +she is that acorn." Long immediately took him on his shoulders, extended +himself, and went ten miles at a step, while Sharpsight showed him the +way. + +No more time elapsed than would have been wanted to move once round a +cottage before they were back again, and Long delivered the acorn to the +prince. "Sir, let it fall on the ground." The prince let it fall and +that moment the princess stood beside him. And when the sun began to +show itself beyond the mountains, the folding doors flew open with a +crash, and the wizard entered the room and smiled spitefully; but when +he saw the princess he frowned, growled, and bang! one of the iron hoops +which he wore splintered and sprang off him. He then took the damsel by +the hand and led her away. + +The whole day after the prince had nothing to do but walk up and down +the castle, and round about the castle, and look at the wonderful +things that were there. It was everywhere as if life had been lost in a +single moment. In one hall he saw a prince, who held in both hands a +brandished sword, as if he intended to cleave somebody in twain; but the +blow never fell: he had been turned into stone. In one chamber was a +knight turned into stone, just as if he had been fleeing from some one +in terror, and, stumbling on the threshold, had taken a downward +direction, but not fallen. Under the chimney sat a servant, who held in +one hand a piece of roast meat, and with the other lifted a mouthful +toward his mouth, which never reached it; when it was just in front of +his mouth, he had also been turned to stone. Many others he saw there +turned to stone, each in the position in which he was when the wizard +said, "Be turned into stone." He likewise saw many fine horses turned to +stone, and in the castle and round the castle all was desolate and dead; +there were trees, but without leaves; there were meadows, but without +grass; there was a river but it did not flow; nowhere was there even a +singing bird, or a flower, the offspring of the ground, or a white fish +in the water. + +Morning, noon, and evening the prince and his companions found good and +abundant entertainment in the castle; the viands came of themselves, the +wine poured itself out. After supper the folding doors opened again, and +the wizard brought in the princess for the prince to guard. And although +they all determined to exert themselves with all their might not to fall +asleep, yet it was of no use, fall asleep again they did. And when the +prince awoke at dawn and saw the princess had vanished, he jumped up and +pulled Sharpsight by the arm, "Hey! get up, Sharpsight, do you know +where the princess is?" He rubbed his eyes, looked, and said: "I see +her. There's a mountain two hundred miles off, and in the mountain a +rock, and in the rock a precious stone, and she's that precious stone. +If Long carries me thither, we shall obtain her." + +Long took him at once on his shoulders, extended himself, and went +twenty miles at a step. Sharpsight fixed his flaming eyes on the +mountain, the mountain crumbled, and the rock in it split into a +thousand pieces, and amongst them glittered the precious stone. They +took it up and brought it to the prince, and when he let it fall on the +ground, the princess again stood there. When afterward the wizard came +and saw her there, his eyes flashed with spite, and bang! again an iron +hoop cracked upon him and flew off. He growled and led the princess out +of the room. + +That day all was again as it had been the day before. After supper the +wizard brought the princess in again, looked the prince keenly in the +face, and scornfully uttered the words, "It will be seen who's a match +for whom; whether you are victorious or I," and with that he departed. +This night they all exerted themselves still more to avoid going to +sleep. They wouldn't even sit down, they wanted to walk about all night +long, but all in vain; they were bewitched; one fell asleep after the +other as he walked and the princess vanished away from them. + +In the morning the prince again awoke earliest, and, when he didn't see +the princess, woke Sharpsight. "Hey! get up, Sharpsight! look where the +princess is!" Sharpsight looked out for a long time. "Oh, sir," says he, +"she is a long way off, a long way off! Three hundred miles off is a +black sea, and in the midst of the sea a shell on the bottom, and in +the shell is a gold ring, and she's the ring. But never mind! we shall +obtain her, but to-day Long must take Broad with him as well; we shall +want him." Long took Sharpsight on one shoulder, and Broad on the other, +and went thirty miles at a step. When they came to the black sea, +Sharpsight showed him where he must reach into the water for the shell. +Long extended his hand as far as he could, but could not reach the +bottom. + +"Wait, comrades! wait only a little and I'll help you," said Broad, and +swelled himself out as far as his paunch would stretch; he then lay down +on the shore and drank. In a very short time the water fell so low that +Long easily reached the bottom and took the shell out of the sea. Out of +it he extracted the ring, took his comrades on his shoulders and +hastened back. But on the way he found it a little difficult to run with +Broad, who had half a sea of water inside him, so he cast him from his +shoulder on to the ground in a wide valley. Thump he went like a sack +let fall from a tower, and in a moment the whole valley was under water +like a vast lake. Broad himself barely crawled out of it. + +Meanwhile the prince was in great trouble in the castle. The dawn began +to display itself over the mountains, and his servants had not returned; +the more brilliantly the rays ascended, the greater was his anxiety; a +deadly perspiration came out upon his forehead. Soon the sun showed +itself in the east like a thin slip of flame--and then with a loud crash +the door flew open, and on the threshold stood the wizard. He looked +round the room, and seeing the princess was not there, laughed a hateful +laugh and entered the room. But just at that moment, pop! the window +flew in pieces, the gold ring fell on the floor, and in an instant there +stood the princess again. Sharpsight, seeing what was going on in the +castle, and in what danger his master was, told Long. Long made a step, +and threw the ring through the window into the room. The wizard roared +with rage till the castle quaked, and then, bang! went the third iron +hoop that was round his waist, and sprang off him; the wizard turned +into a raven, and flew out and away through the shattered window. + +Then, and not till then, did the beautiful damsel speak and thank the +prince for setting her free, and blushed like a rose. In the castle and +round the castle everything became alive again at once. He who was +holding in the hall the outstretched sword, swung it into the air, which +whistled again, and then returned it to its sheath; he who was stumbling +on the threshold, fell on the ground, but immediately got up again and +felt his nose to see whether it was still entire; he who was sitting +under the chimney put the piece of meat into his mouth and went on +eating; and thus everybody completed what he had begun doing, and at the +point where he had left off. In the stables the horses merrily stamped +and snorted, the trees round the castle became green like periwinkles, +the meadows were full of variegated flowers, high in the air warbled the +skylark, and abundance of small fishes appeared in the clear river. +Everywhere was life, everywhere enjoyment. + +Meanwhile a number of gentlemen assembled in the room where the prince +was, and all thanked him for their liberation. But he said: "You have +nothing to thank me for; if it had not been for my trusty servants Long, +Broad, and Sharpsight, I too, should have been what you were." He then +immediately started on his way home to the old king, his father, with +his bride and servants. On the way they met Broad and took him with +them. + +The old king wept for joy at the success of his son; he had thought he +would return no more. Soon afterward there was a grand wedding, the +festivities of which lasted three weeks; all the gentlemen that the +prince had liberated were invited. After the wedding Long, Broad, and +Sharpsight announced to the young king that they were going again into +the world to look for work. The young king tried to persuade them to +stay with him. "I will give you everything you want, as long as you +live," said he; "you needn't work at all." But they didn't like such an +idle life, took leave of him, went away, and have been ever since +knocking about somewhere or other in the world. + + + + +XI + +INTELLIGENCE AND LUCK + + +Once upon a time Luck met Intelligence on a garden-seat. "Make room for +me!" said Luck. Intelligence was then as yet inexperienced, and didn't +know who ought to make room for whom. He said: "Why should I make room +for you? you're no better than I." "He's the better man," answered Luck, +"who performs most. See you there yon peasant's son who's ploughing in +the field? Enter into him, and if he gets on better through you than +through me, I'll always submissively make way for you, whensoever and +wheresoever we meet." Intelligence agreed, and entered at once into the +ploughboy's head. As soon as the ploughboy felt that he had intelligence +in his head, he began to think: "Why must I follow the plough to the day +of my death? I can go somewhere else and make my fortune more easily." +He left off ploughing, put up the plough, and drove home. "Daddy," says +he, "I don't like this peasant's life; I'd rather learn to be a +gardener." His father said: "What ails you, Vanek? have you lost your +wits?" However, he bethought himself and said: "Well, if you will, +learn, and God be with you! Your brother will be heir to the cottage +after me." Vanek lost the cottage, but he didn't care for that, but went +and put himself apprentice to the king's gardener. For every little that +the gardener showed him, Vanek comprehended ever so much more. Ere long +he didn't even obey the gardener's orders as to how he ought to do +anything, but did everything his own way. At first the gardener was +angry, but, seeing everything thus getting on better, he was content. "I +see that you've more intelligence than I," said he, and henceforth let +Vanek garden as he thought fit. In no long space of time Vanek made the +garden so beautiful that the king took great delight in it, and +frequently walked in it with the queen and with his only daughter. + +The princess was a very beautiful damsel, but ever since she was twelve +years old she had ceased speaking, and no one ever heard a single word +from her. The king was much grieved, and caused a proclamation to be +made that whoever should bring it to pass that she should speak again, +should be her husband. Many young kings, princes, and other great lords +announced themselves one after the other, but all went away as they had +come; no one succeeded in causing her to speak. "Why shouldn't I try my +luck?" thought Vanek; "who knows whether I mayn't succeed in bringing +her to answer when I ask her a question?" He at once caused himself to +be announced at the palace, and the king and his councillors conducted +him into the room where the princess was. The king's daughter had a +pretty little dog, and was very fond of him, because he was so clever, +understanding everything that she wanted. When Vanek went into the room +with the king and his councillors, he made as if he didn't even see the +princess, but turned to the dog and said: "I have heard, doggie, that +you are very clever, and I come to you for advice. We are three +companions in travel, a sculptor, a tailor, and myself. Once upon a time +we were going through a forest and were obliged to pass the night in it. +To be safe from wolves, we made a fire, and agreed to keep watch one +after the other. The sculptor kept watch first, and for amusement to +kill time took a log and carved a damsel out of it. When it was +finished, he woke the tailor to keep watch in his turn. The tailor, +seeing the wooden damsel, asked what it meant. 'As you see,' said the +sculptor, 'I was weary, and didn't know what to do with myself, so I +carved a damsel out of a log; if you find time hang heavy on your hands, +you can dress her.' The tailor at once took out his scissors, needle and +thread, cut out the clothes, stitched away, and, when they were ready, +dressed the damsel in them. He then called me to come and keep watch. I, +too, asked him what the meaning of all this was. 'As you see,' said the +tailor, 'the sculptor found time hang heavy on his hands and carved a +damsel out of a log, and I for the same reason clothed her; and if you +find time hanging on your hands, you can teach her to speak.' And by +morning dawn I had actually taught her to speak. But in the morning when +my companions woke up, each wanted to possess the damsel. The sculptor +said, 'I made her;' the tailor, 'I clothed her.' I, too, maintained my +right. Tell me, therefore, doggie, to which of us the damsel belongs." +The dog said nothing, but instead of the dog the princess replied: "To +whom can she belong but to yourself? What's the good of the sculptor's +damsel without life? What's the good of the tailor's dressing without +speech? You gave her the best gift, life and speech, and therefore she +by right belongs to you." "You have passed your own sentence," said +Vanek; "I have given you speech again and a new life, and you therefore +by right belong to me." Then said one of the king's councillors: "His +Royal Grace will give you a plenteous reward for succeeding in unloosing +his daughter's tongue; but you cannot have her to wife, as you are of +mean lineage." The king said: "You are of mean lineage; I will give you +a plenteous reward instead of our daughter." But Vanek wouldn't hear of +any other reward, and said: "The king promised without any exception, +that whoever caused his daughter to speak again should be her husband. A +king's word is law; and if the king wants others to observe his laws, he +must first keep them himself. Therefore the king _must_ give me his +daughter." "Seize and bind him!" shouted the councillor. "Whoever says +the king _must_ do anything, offers an insult to his Majesty, and is +worthy of death. May it please your Majesty to order this malefactor to +be executed with the sword?" The king said: "Let him be executed." Vanek +was immediately bound and led to execution. When they came to the place +of execution Luck was there waiting for him, and said secretly to +Intelligence: "See how this man has got on through you, till he has to +lose his head! Make way, and let me take your place!" As soon as Luck +entered Vanek, the executioners sword broke against the scaffold, just +as if some one had snapped it; and before they brought him another, up +rode a trumpeter on horseback from the city, galloping as swift as a +bird, trumpeted merrily, and waved a white flag, and after him came the +royal carriage for Vanek. This is what had happened: The princess had +told her father at home that Vanek had but spoken the truth, and the +king's word ought not to be broken. If Vanek were of mean lineage the +king could easily make him a prince. The king said: "You're right; let +him be a prince!" The royal carriage was immediately sent for Vanek, and +the councillor who had irritated the king against him was executed in +his stead. Afterward, when Vanek and the princess were going together in +a carriage from the wedding, Intelligence happened to be somewhere on +the road, and seeing that he couldn't help meeting Luck, bent his head +and slipped on one side, just as if cold water had been thrown upon him. +And from that time forth it is said that Intelligence has always given a +wide berth to Luck whenever he has had to meet him. + + + + +XII + +GEORGE WITH THE GOAT + + +There was a king who had a daughter who never could be induced to laugh; +she was always sad. So the king proclaimed that she should be given to +any one who could cause her to laugh. There was also a shepherd who had +a son named George. He said: "Daddy! I, too, will go to see whether I +can make her laugh. I want nothing from you but the goat." His father +said, "Well, go." The goat was of such a nature that, when her master +wished, she detained everybody, and that person was obliged to stay by +her. + +So he took the goat and went, and met a man who had a foot on his +shoulder. George said: "Why have you a foot on your shoulder?" He +replied: "If I take it off, I leap a hundred miles." "Whither are you +going?" "I am going in search of service, to see if any one will take +me." "Well, come with us." + +They went on, and again met a man who had a bandage on his eyes. "Why +have you a bandage on your eyes?" He answered, "If I remove the bandage, +I see a hundred miles." "Whither are you going?" "I am going in search +of service, if you will take me." "Yes, I'll take you. Come also with +me." + +They went on a bit farther, and met another fellow, who had a bottle +under his arm, and, instead of a stopper, held his thumb in it. "Why do +you hold your thumb there?" "If I pull it out, I squirt a hundred miles, +and besprinkle everything that I choose. If you like, take me also into +your service; it may be to your advantage and ours too." George replied: +"Well, come, too!" + +Afterward they came to the town where the king lived, and bought a +silken riband for the goat. They came to an inn, and orders had already +been given there beforehand, that when such people came, they were to +give them what they liked to eat and drink--the king would pay for all. +So they tied the goat with that very riband and placed it in the +innkeeper's room to be taken care of, and he put it in the side room +where his daughters slept. The innkeeper had three maiden daughters, who +were not yet asleep. So Manka said: "Oh! if I, too, could have such a +riband! I will go and unfasten it from that goat." The second, Dodla, +said: "Don't; he'll find it out in the morning." But she went +notwithstanding. And when Manka did not return for a long time, the +third, Kate, said: "Go, fetch her." So Dodla went, and gave Manka a pat +on the back. "Come, leave it alone!" And now she, too, was unable to +withdraw herself from her. So Kate said: "Come, don't unfasten it!" Kate +went and gave Dodla a pat on the petticoat; and now she, too, couldn't +get away, but was obliged to stay by her. + +In the morning George made haste and went for the goat, and led the +whole set away--Kate Dodla, and Manka. The innkeeper was still asleep. +They went through the village, and the judge looked out of a window and +said, "Fie, Kate! what's this? what's this?" He went and took her by the +hand, wishing to pull her away, but remained also by her. After this, a +cowherd drove some cows through a narrow street, and the bull came +rushing round; he stuck fast, and George led him, too, in the +procession. + +Thus they afterward came in front of the castle, and the servants came +out-of-doors; and when they saw such things they went and told the +king. "Oh, sire, we have such a spectacle here; we have already had all +manner of masquerades, but this has never been here yet." So they +immediately led the king's daughter to the square in front of the +castle, and she looked and laughed till the castle shook. + +Now they asked him what sort of person he was. He said that he was a +shepherd's son, and was named George. They said that it could not be +done; for he was of mean lineage, and they could not give him the +damsel; but he must accomplish something more for them. He said, "What?" +They replied that there was a spring yonder, a hundred miles off; if he +brought a goblet of water from it in a minute, then he should obtain the +damsel. So George said to the man who had the foot on his shoulder: "You +said that if you took the foot down, you could jump a hundred miles." He +replied: "I'll easily do that." He took the foot down, jumped, and was +there. But after this there was only a very little time to spare, and by +then he ought to have been back. So George said to the other: "You said +that if you removed the bandage from your eyes, you could see a hundred +miles. Peep and see what is going on." "Ah, sir! Goodness gracious! he's +fallen asleep!" "That will be a bad job," said George; "the time will be +up. You, third man, you said if you pulled your thumb out, you could +squirt a hundred miles; be quick and squirt thither, that he may get up. +And you, look whether he is moving, or what." "Oh, sir, he's getting up +now; he's knocking the dust off; he's drawing the water." He then gave a +jump, and was there exactly in time. + +After this they said that he must perform one task more; that yonder, in +a rock, was a wild beast, a unicorn, of such a nature that he destroyed +a great many of their people; if he cleared him out of the world he +should obtain the damsel. So he took his people and went into the +forest. They came to a firwood. There were three wild beasts, and three +lairs had been formed by wallowing as they lay. Two did nothing: but the +third destroyed the people. So they took some stones and some pine-cones +in their pockets, and climbed up into a tree; and when the beasts lay +down, they dropped a stone down upon that one which was the unicorn. He +said to the next: "Be quiet; don't butt me." It said: "I'm not doing +anything to you." Again they let a stone fall from above upon the +unicorn. "Be quiet! you've already done it to me twice." "Indeed, I'm +doing nothing to you." So they attacked each other and fought together. +The unicorn wanted to pierce the second beast through; but it jumped out +of the way, and he rushed so violently after it, that he struck his horn +into a tree, and couldn't pull it out quickly. So they sprang speedily +down from the fir, and the other two beasts ran away and escaped, but +they cut off the head of the third, the unicorn, took it up, and carried +it to the castle. + +Now those in the castle saw that George had again accomplished that +task. "What, prithee, shall we do? Perhaps we must after all give him +the damsel!" "No, sire," said one of the attendants, "that cannot be; he +is too lowborn to obtain a king's daughter! On the contrary, we must +clear him out of the world." So the king ordered them to note his words, +what he should say. There was a hired female servant there, and she said +to him: "George, it will be evil for you to-day; they're going to clear +you out of the world." He answered: "Oh, I'm not afraid. When I was only +just twelve years old, I killed twelve of them at one blow!" But this +was the fact: when his mother was baking a flat-cake, a dozen flies +settled upon her, and he killed them all at a single blow. + +When they heard this, they said: "Nothing else will do but we must shoot +him." So they drew up the soldiers, and said they would hold a review in +his honour, for they would celebrate the wedding in the square before +the castle. Then they conducted him thither, and the soldiers were +already going to let fly at him. But George said to the man who held his +thumb in the bottle in the place of a stopper: "You said, if you pulled +your thumb out, you could besprinkle everything. Pull it out--quick!" +"Oh, sir, I'll easily perform that." So he pulled out his thumb and gave +them all such a sprinkling that they were all blind, and not one could +see. + +So, when they perceived that nothing else was to be done, they told him +to go, for they would give him the damsel. Then they gave him a handsome +royal robe, and the wedding took place. I, too, was at the wedding; they +had music there, sang, ate, and drank; there was meat, there were +cheesecakes, and baskets full of everything, and buckets full of strong +waters. To-day I went, yesterday I came; I found an egg among the +tree-stumps; I knocked it against somebody's head, and gave him a bald +place, and he's got it still. + + + + +XIII + +THE WONDERFUL HAIR + + +There was a man who was very poor, but so well supplied with children +that he was utterly unable to maintain them, and one morning more than +once prepared to kill them, in order not to see their misery in dying of +hunger, but his wife prevented him. One night a child came to him in his +sleep, and said to him: "Man! I see that you are making up your mind to +destroy and to kill your poor little children, and I know that you are +distressed there at; but in the morning you will find under your pillow +a mirror, a red kerchief, and an embroidered pocket-handkerchief; take +all three secretly and tell nobody; then go to such a hill; by it you +will find a stream; go along it till you come to its fountain-head; +there you will find a damsel as bright as the sun, with her hair hanging +down over her back. Be on your guard, that the ferocious she-dragon do +not coil round you; do not converse with her if she speaks; for if you +converse with her, she will poison you, and turn you into a fish or +something else, and will then devour you but if she bids you examine her +head, examine it, and as you turn over her hair, look, and you will find +one hair as red as blood; pull it out and run back again; then, if she +suspects and begins to run after you, throw her first the embroidered +pocket-handkerchief, then the kerchief, and, lastly, the mirror; then +she will find occupation for herself. And sell that hair to some rich +man; but don't let them cheat you, for that hair is worth countless +wealth; and you will thus enrich yourself and maintain your children." + +When the poor man awoke, he found everything under his pillow, just as +the child had told him in his sleep; and then he went to the hill. When +there, he found the stream, went on and on alongside of it, till he came +to the fountain-head. Having looked about him to see where the damsel +was, he espied her above a piece of water, like sunbeams threaded on a +needle, and she was embroidering at a frame on stuff, the threads of +which were young men's hair. As soon as he saw her, he made a reverence +to her, and she stood on her feet and questioned him: "Whence are you, +unknown young man?" But he held his tongue. She questioned him again: +"Who are you? Why have you come?" and much else of all sorts; but he was +as mute as a stone, making signs with his hands, as if he were deaf and +wanted help. Then she told him to sit down on her skirt. He did not wait +for any more orders, but sat down, and she bent down her head to him, +that he might examine it. Turning over the hair of her head, as if to +examine it, he was not long in finding that red hair, and separated it +from the other hair, pulled it out, jumped off her skirt and ran away +back as he best could. She noticed it, and ran at his heels full speed +after him. He looked round, and seeing that she was about to overtake +him, threw, as he was told, the embroidered pocket-handkerchief on the +way, and when she saw the pocket-handkerchief she stooped and began to +overhaul it in every direction, admiring the embroidery, till he had got +a good way off. Then the damsel placed the pocket-handkerchief in her +bosom, and ran after him again. When he saw that she was about to +overtake him, he threw the red kerchief, and she again occupied +herself, admiring and gazing, till the poor man had again got a good way +off. Then the damsel became exasperated, and threw both the +pocket-handkerchief and the kerchief on the way, and ran after him in +pursuit. Again, when he saw that she was about to overtake him, he threw +the mirror. When the damsel came to the mirror, the like of which she +had never seen before, she lifted it up, and when she saw herself in it, +not knowing that it was herself, but thinking that it was somebody else, +she, as it were, fell in love with herself in the mirror, and the man +got so far off that she was no longer able to overtake him. When she saw +that she could not catch him, she turned back, and the man reached his +home safe and sound. After arriving at his home, he showed his wife the +hair, and told her all that had happened to him, but she began to jeer +and laugh at him. But he paid no attention to her, and went to a town to +sell the hair. A crowd of all sorts of people and merchants collected +round him; one offered a sequin, another two, and so on, higher and +higher, till they came to a hundred gold sequins. Just then the emperor +heard of the hair, summoned the man into his presence, and said to him +that he would give him a thousand sequins for it, and he sold it to him. +What was the hair? The emperor split it in two from top to bottom, and +found registered in it in writing many remarkable things, which happened +in the olden time since the beginning of the world. Thus the man became +rich and lived on with his wife and children. And that child, that came +to him in his sleep, was an angel sent by the Lord God, whose will it +was to aid the poor man, and to reveal secrets which had not been +revealed till then. + + + + +XIV + +THE DRAGON AND THE PRINCE + + +There was an emperor who had three sons. One day the eldest son went out +hunting, and, when he got outside the town, up sprang a hare out of a +bush, and he after it, and hither and thither, till the hare fled into a +water-mill, and the prince after it. But it was not a hare, but a +dragon, and it waited for the prince and devoured him. When several days +had elapsed and the prince did not return home, people began to wonder +why it was that he was not to be found. Then the middle son went +hunting, and as he issued from the town, a hare sprang out of a bush, +and the prince after it, and hither and thither, till the hare fled into +the water-mill and the prince after it; but it was not a hare, but a +dragon, which waited for and devoured him. When some days had elapsed +and the princes did not return, either of them, the whole court was in +sorrow. Then the third son went hunting, to see whether he could not +find his brothers. When he issued from the town, again up sprang a hare +out of a bush, and the prince after it, and hither and thither, till the +hare fled into the water-mill. But the prince did not choose to follow +it, but went to find other game, saying to himself: "When I return I +shall find you." After thus he went for a long time up and down the +hill, but found nothing, and then returned to the water-mill; but when +he got there, there was only an old woman in the mill. The prince +invoked God in addressing her: "God help you, old woman!" The old woman +replied: "God help you, my son!" Then the prince asked her: "Where, old +woman, is my hare?" She replied: "My son, that was not a hare, but a +dragon. It kills and throttles many people." Hearing this, the prince +was somewhat disturbed, and said to the old woman: "What shall we do +now? Doubtless my two brothers also have perished here." The old woman +answered: "They have indeed; but there's no help for it. Go home, my +son, lest you follow them." Then he said to her: "Dear old woman, do you +know what? I know that you will be glad to liberate yourself from that +pest." The old woman interrupted him: "How should I not? It captured me, +too, in this way, but now I have no means of escape." Then he proceeded: +"Listen well to what I am going to say to you. Ask it whither it goes +and where its strength is; then kiss all that place where it tells you +its strength is, as if from love, till you ascertain it, and afterward +tell me when I come." Then the prince went off to the palace, and the +old woman remained in the water-mill. When the dragon came in, the old +woman began to question it: "Where in God's name have you been? Whither +do you go so far? You will never tell me whither you go." The dragon +replied: "Well, my dear old woman, I do go far." Then the old woman +began to coax it: "And why do you go so far? Tell me where your strength +is. If I knew where your strength is, I don't know what I should do for +love; I would kiss all that place." Thereupon the dragon smiled and said +to her: "Yonder is my strength, in that fireplace." Then the old woman +began to fondle and kiss the fireplace, and the dragon on seeing it +burst into a laugh and said to her: "Silly old woman, my strength isn't +there; my strength is in that tree-fungus in front of the house." Then +the old woman began again to fondle and kiss the tree, and the dragon +again laughed, and said to her: "Away, old woman! my strength isn't +there." Then the old woman inquired: "Where is it?" The dragon began to +give an account in detail: "My strength is a long way off, and you +cannot go thither. Far in another empire under the emperor's city is a +lake, in that lake is a dragon, and in that dragon a boar, and in the +boar a pigeon, and in that is my strength." The next morning when the +dragon went away from the mill, the prince came to the old woman, and +the old woman told him all that she had heard from the dragon. Then he +left his home, and disguised himself; he put shepherd's boots to his +feet, took a shepherd's staff in his hand, and went into the world. As +he went on thus from village to village, and from town to town, at last +he came into another empire and into the imperial city, in a lake under +which the dragon was. On going into the town he began to inquire who +wanted a shepherd. The citizens told him that the emperor did. Then he +went straight to the emperor. After he announced himself, the emperor +admitted him into his presence, and asked him: "Do you wish to keep +sheep?" He replied: "I do, illustrious crown!" Then the emperor engaged +him, and began to inform and instruct him: "There is here a lake, and +alongside of the lake very beautiful pasture, and when you call the +sheep out, they go thither at once, and spread themselves round the +lake; but whatever shepherd goes off there, that shepherd returns back +no more. Therefore, my son, I tell you, don't let the sheep have their +own way and go where _they_ will, but keep them where _you_ will." The +prince thanked the emperor, got himself ready, and called out the sheep, +taking with him, more-over, two hounds that could catch a boar in the +open country, and a falcon that could capture any bird, and carrying +also a pair of bagpipes. When he called out the sheep he let them go at +once to the lake, and when the sheep arrived at the lake, they +immediately spread round it, and the prince placed the falcon on a +stump, and the hounds and bagpipes under the stump, then tucked up his +hose and sleeves, waded into the lake, and began to shout: "Dragon, +dragon! come out to single combat with me to-day that we may measure +ourselves together, unless you're a woman."[6] The dragon called out in +reply, "I will do so now, prince--now!" Erelong behold the dragon! it is +large, it is terrible, it is disgusting! When the dragon came out, it +seized him by the waist, and they wrestled a summer day till afternoon. +But when the heat of afternoon came on, the dragon said: "Let me go, +prince, that I may moisten my parched head in the lake, and toss you to +the sky." But the prince replied: "Come, dragon, don't talk nonsense; if +I had the emperor's daughter to kiss me on the forehead, I would toss +you still higher." Thereupon, the dragon suddenly let him go, and went +off into the lake. On the approach of evening, he washed and got himself +up nicely, placed the falcon on his arm, the hounds behind him, and the +bagpipes under his arm, then drove the sheep and went into the town +playing on the bagpipes. When he arrived at the town, the whole town +assembled as to see a wondrous sight because he had come, whereas +previously no shepherd had been able to come from the lake. The next day +the prince got ready again, and went with his sheep straight to the +lake. But the emperor sent two grooms after him to go stealthily and see +what he did, and they placed themselves on a high hill whence they could +have a good view. When the shepherd arrived, he put the hounds and +bagpipes under the stump and the falcon upon it, then tucked up his hose +and sleeves waded into the lake and shouted: "Dragon, dragon! come out +to single combat with me, that we may measure ourselves once more +together, unless you are a woman!" The dragon replied: "I will do so, +prince, now, now!" Erelong, behold the dragon! it was large, it was +terrible, it was disgusting! And it seized him by the waist and wrestled +with him a summer's day till afternoon. But when the afternoon heat came +on, the dragon said: "Let me go, prince, that I may moisten my parched +head in the lake, and may toss you to the sky." The prince replied: +"Come, dragon, don't talk nonsense; if I had the emperor's daughter to +kiss me on the forehead, I would toss you still higher." Thereupon the +dragon suddenly left hold of him, and went off into the lake. When night +approached the prince drove the sheep as before, and went home playing +the bagpipes When he arrived at the town, the whole town was astir and +began to wonder because the shepherd came home every evening, which no +one had been able to do before. Those two grooms had already arrived at +the palace before the prince, and related to the emperor in order +everything that they had heard and seen. Now when the emperor saw that +the shepherd returned home, he immediately summoned his daughter into +his presence and told her all, what it was and how it was. "But," said +he, "to-morrow you must go with the shepherd to the lake and kiss him on +the forehead." When she heard this she burst into tears and began to +entreat her father. "You have no one but me, and I am your only +daughter, and you don't care about me if I perish." Then the emperor +began to persuade and encourage her: "Don't fear, my daughter; you see +we have had so many changes of shepherds, and of all that went out to +the lake not one has returned; but _he_ had been contending with the +dragon for two whole days and it has done him no hurt. I assure you, in +God's name, that he is able to overcome the dragon, only go to-morrow +with him to see whether he will free us from this mischief which has +destroyed so many people." + +When, on the morrow, the day dawned and the sun came forth, up rose the +shepherd, up rose the maiden too, to begin to prepare for going to the +lake. The shepherd was cheerful, more cheerful than ever, but the +emperor's daughter was sad and shed tears. The shepherd comforted her: +"Lady sister, I pray you, do not weep, but do what I tell you. When it +is time, run up and kiss me, and fear not." As he went and drove the +sheep, the shepherd was thoroughly cheery, and played a merry tune on +his bagpipes; but the damsel did nothing but weep as she went beside +him, and he several times left off playing and turned toward her: "Weep +not, golden one; fear nought." When they arrived at the lake, the sheep +immediately spread round it, and the prince placed the falcon on the +stump, and the hounds and bagpipes under it, then tucked up his hose and +sleeves, waded into the water, and shouted: "Dragon! dragon! Come out to +single combat with me; let us measure ourselves once more, unless you're +a woman!" The dragon replied: "I will, prince; now, now!" Erelong, +there was the dragon! it was huge, it was terrible, it was disgusting! +When it came out, they seized each other by the middle, and wrestled a +summer's day till afternoon. But when the afternoon heat came on, the +dragon said: "Let me go, prince, that I may moisten my parched head in +the lake, and toss you to the skies." The prince replied: "Come, dragon, +don't talk nonsense; if I had the emperor's daughter to kiss me on the +forehead, I would toss you much higher." When he said this, the +emperor's daughter ran up and kissed him on the face, on the eye, and on +the forehead. Then he swung the dragon, and tossed it high into the air, +and when it fell to the ground it burst into pieces. But as it burst +into pieces, out of it sprang a wild boar, and started to run away. But +the prince shouted to his shepherd dogs: "Hold it! don't let it go!" and +the dogs sprang up and after it, caught it, and soon tore it to pieces. +But out of the boar flew a pigeon, and the prince loosed the falcon, and +the falcon caught the pigeon and brought it into the prince's hands. The +prince said to it: "Tell me now, where are my brothers?" The pigeon +replied: "I will; only do me no harm. Immediately behind your father's +town is a water-mill, and in the water-mill are three wands that have +sprouted up. Cut these three wands up from below, and strike with them +upon their root; an iron door will immediately open into a large vault. +In that vault are many people, old and young, rich and poor, small and +great, wives and maidens, so that you could settle a populous empire; +there, too, are your brothers." When the pigeon had told him all this, +the prince immediately wrung its neck. + +The emperor had gone out in person, and posted himself on the hill from +which the grooms had viewed the shepherd, and he, too, was a spectator +of all that had taken place. After the shepherd had thus obtained the +dragon's head, twilight began to approach. He washed himself nicely, +took the falcon on his shoulder, the hounds behind him, and the bagpipes +under his arm, played as he went, drove the sheep, and proceeded to the +emperor's palace, with the damsel at his side still in terror. When they +came to the town, all the town assembled as to see a wonder. The +emperor, who had seen all his heroism from the hill, called him into +his presence, and gave him his daughter, went immediately to church, had +them married, and held a wedding festival for a week. After this the +prince told him who and whence he was, and the emperor and the whole +town rejoiced still more. Then, as the prince was urgent to go to his +own home, the emperor gave him a large escort, and equipped him for the +journey. When they were in the neighbourhood of the water-mill, the +prince halted his attendants, went inside, cut up the three wands, and +struck the root with them, and the iron door opened at once. In the +vault was a vast multitude of people. The prince ordered them to come +out one by one, and go whither each would, and stood himself at the +door. They came out thus one after another, and lo! there were his +brothers also, whom he embraced and kissed. When the whole multitude had +come out, they thanked him for releasing and delivering them, and went +each to his own home. But he went to his father's house with his +brothers and bride, and there lived and reigned to the end of his days. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 6: This is intended as an insult. "Azhdaja," a dragon, is +feminine in Servian.] + + + + +XV + +THE GOOD CHILDREN + + +The Lord was angered at mankind, and for three years there was a great +famine over all the world; nowhere in the world was even a grain of corn +produced, and what people sowed failed to come up from a drought so +great that for three years there was not a drop of rain or dew. For one +year more people managed to live somehow or other, thrashing up what old +corn there was; the rich made money, for corn rose very high. Autumn +came. Where anybody had or purchased old seed, they sowed it; and +entreated the Lord, hoped in the love of God, if God would give +fertility, "if God would forgive our sins." But it was not so. They did +not obtain the love of God. When they cast the seed into the holy earth, +that was the last they saw of it; if it germinated somewhat, if it sent +up shoots, it withered away close to the ground. Woe! and abundance of +it! God's world went on, sorrowed and wept, for now it was manifest +that death by hunger was approaching. They somehow got miserably through +the winter. Spring came. Where anybody had still any grain, they sowed +it. What would come to pass? No blessing was poured forth, for the +thought began with wind. Moreover, there was but little snow in the +winter, and everything dried up so that the black earth remained as it +was. It now came to this--all the world began to perish! The people +died; the cattle perished; as misery carried them, so did the people +proceed. + +There was at that time a powerful emperor in a certain empire: as the +young ordinarily cleave to the young, so would he associate only with +young men. Whether in council or in office or in the army, there were +none but young men; no old men had access to anything anywhere. Well, as +young men, unripe in understanding, were the councillors, so was their +counsel also unripe. One year passed; a second passed; then, in the +third year, they saw that misery was already on every side, that it was +already coming to this, that all the world would perish. The young +emperor assembled his young council, and they began to advise after +their fashion; they advised, they advised, and ah! the resolutions they +came to were such that it is a sin even to give an account of their +resolutions! Well, the emperor made proclamation after their advice, +that all old people were to be drowned, in order that, said he, bread +might not be wasted in vain, but there might be a supply of bread for +the young; and that no one should venture, on pain of death, to maintain +or harbour any old man. Well, heralds went about throughout the whole +country, and promulgated the emperor's command everywhere--yea, brigands +seized old people where they chose, and drowned them without mercy. + +There were then in a certain place three own brothers, who had an aged +father. When they heard of this edict, they told their father; and their +father said: "My sons, such is the will of God and the will of the +emperor; take me, let me perish at once, only that you, my children, may +live on. I am already with one foot in the grave," "No, our own daddy! +we will die, but we will not give you up," cried the good sons with one +voice, and fell upon his neck; "we will keep you; we will take from our +own mouths, and will nourish you." + +The three brothers took their aged father, conducted him into their +cottage, dug under the raised portion of the floor, made up a bed with +sheets and frieze-coats, for straw was scarce, and placed the old man +there, brought him a loaf of bread as black as the holy earth, and +covered him over with the floor. There the old man abode for two or +three months, and his sons brought him clandestinely all they had. The +summer passed without harvest, without mowing. September passed too. +Autumn passed without joy. Winter passed too. Now came spring; the sun +became warm. It was now time to sow, but there was no seed. The world +was large, but there was no seed-corn. When one kind was used up, the +people sowed others, hoping that there would be a crop; but when they +cast it into the holy earth, it rotted there. It seemed as if the end of +the world were come. + +Then the three sons went to their father, and asked him: "Daddy, what +shall we do? It's time to sow. God is now sending showers of rain; the +earth is warmed and is crumbling like grits; but of seed there is not a +blessed grain," "Take, my sons, and strip the old roof off the house, +and thresh the bundles and sow the chaff." The lads stripped the house +and barn (anyhow, there was nothing in it), and threshed away till the +sweat ran from their brows, so that they crushed the bundles as small as +poppy-seeds. When they sowed, God gave a blessing; so in a week's time +it became green like rue; in a month's time, in two months' time, there +was corn, ever so much--ever so much, and all manner of seed was found +there: there was rye, there was wheat and barley; yea, maybe, there was +also a plant or two of buckwheat and millet. Wherever you went +throughout the world there was no corn to be seen; all the plain was +overgrown with grasses, steppe-grasses, and thistles, but with _them_ +was corn like a forest. How people wondered and were astounded! The fame +thereof went over the whole world, and the news reached the emperor +himself, that in such and such a place there were three own brothers, +and with them corn had sprung up for all the world, and so beautiful, +never was the like beheld! The emperor ordered the three brothers to +appear in the imperial presence. + +The brothers heard of it, and smacked the tops of their heads with their +hands. "Now it will be amen with us!" They went again to their father. +"Daddy! they tell us to appear before the emperor. Advise us, daddy, +what to do!" "Go, my sons--what will be, will be; and tell the pure +truth before the emperor." The brothers started off and went to the +emperor. The emperor inquired menacingly: "Why, villains, did ye hoard +up corn, when there was such a famine that so many people died of +hunger? Tell the truth; if not I shall order you to be tortured and +racked even unto death." The brothers related all as it had been, from +the beginning to the end. "Now, most gracious emperor, give us over to +any torture whatever, or let thy kindness have compassion on us!" The +emperor's brow became smooth, his eyes became serene. He then ordered +the old father to be brought before him at once, and made him sit beside +him close to his throne, and hearkened to his counsel till death, and +his sons he rewarded handsomely. He ordered the corn to be collected ear +by ear, and to be rubbed out in men's hands; and sent it about for +seed-corn in all empires, and from it was produced holy corn for all the +world. + + + + +XVI + +THE DUN HORSE[7] + + +I + +Many years ago there lived in the Pawnee tribe an old woman and her +grandson a boy about sixteen years old. These people had no relations +and were very poor. They were so poor that they were despised by the +rest of the tribe. They had nothing of their own; and always, after the +village started to move the camp from one place to another, these two +would stay behind the rest, to look over the old camp and pick up +anything that the other Indians had thrown away as worn out or useless. +In this way they would sometimes get pieces of robes, wornout moccasins +with holes in them, and bits of meat. + +Now, it happened one day, after the tribe had moved away from the camp, +that this old woman and her boy were following along the trail behind +the rest, when they came to a miserable old wornout dun horse, which +they supposed had been abandoned by some Indians. He was thin and +exhausted, was blind of one eye, had a bad sore back, and one of his +forelegs was very much swollen. In fact, he was so worthless that none +of the Pawnees had been willing to take the trouble to try to drive him +along with them. But when the old woman and her boy came along, the boy +said, "Come now, we will take this old horse, for we can make him carry +our pack." So the old woman put her pack on the horse, and drove him +along, but he limped and could only go very slowly. + + +II + +The tribe moved up on the North Platte, until they came to Court House +Rock. The two poor Indians followed them, and camped with the others. +One day while they were here, the young men who had been sent out to +look for buffalo, came hurrying into camp and told the chiefs that a +large herd of buffalo were near, and that among them was a spotted +calf. + +The Head Chief of the Pawnees had a very beautiful daughter, and when he +heard about the spotted calf, he ordered his old crier to go about +through the village and call out that the man who killed the spotted +calf should have his daughter for his wife. For a spotted robe is +_ti-war'-uks-ti_--big medicine. + +The buffalo were feeding about four miles from the village, and the +chiefs decided that the charge should be made from there. In this way, +the man who had the fastest horse would be the most likely to kill the +calf. Then all the warriors and the young men picked out their best and +fastest horses, and made ready to start. Among those who prepared for +the charge was the poor boy on the old dun horse. But when they saw him, +all the rich young braves on their fast horses pointed at him and said, +"Oh, see; there is the horse that is going to catch the spotted calf;" +and they laughed at him, so that the poor boy was ashamed, and rode off +to one side of the crowd, where he could not hear their jokes and +laughter. + +When he had ridden off some little way the horse stopped and turned his +head round, and spoke to the boy. He said, "Take me down the creek, and +plaster me all over with mud. Cover my head and neck and body and legs." +When the boy heard the horse speak, he was afraid; but he did as he was +told. Then the horse said, "Now mount, but do not ride back to the +warriors, who laugh at you because you have such a poor horse. Stay +right here until the word is given to charge." So the boy stayed there. + +And presently all the fine horses were drawn up in line and pranced +about, and were so eager to go that their riders could hardly hold them +in; and at last the old crier gave the word, "_Loo-ah!_"--Go! Then the +Pawnees all leaned forward on their horses and yelled, and away they +went. Suddenly, away off to the right, was seen the old dun horse. He +did not seem to run. He seemed to sail along like a bird. He passed all +the fastest horses, and in a moment he was among the buffalo. First he +picked out the spotted calf, and charging up alongside of it, +_U-ra-rish!_ straight flew the arrow. The calf fell. The boy drew +another arrow, and killed a fat cow that was running by. Then he +dismounted and began to skin the calf, before any of the other warriors +had come up. But when the rider got off the old dun horse, how changed +he was! He pranced about and would hardly stand still near the dead +buffalo. His back was all right again; his legs were well and fine; and +both his eyes were clear and bright. + +The boy skinned the calf and the cow that he had killed, and then he +packed all the meat on the horse, and put the spotted robe on top of the +load, and started back to the camp on foot, leading the dun horse. But +even with this heavy load the horse pranced all the time, and was scared +at everything he saw. On the way to camp, one of the rich young chiefs +of the tribe rode up by the boy and offered him twelve good horses for +the spotted robe, so that he could marry the Head Chief's beautiful +daughter; but the boy laughed at him and would not sell the robe. + +Now, while the boy walked to the camp leading the dun horse, most of the +warriors rode back, and one of those that came first to the village went +to the old woman and said to her, "Your grandson has killed the spotted +calf." And the old woman said, "Why do you come to tell me this? You +ought to be ashamed to make fun of my boy, because he is poor." The +warrior said, "What I have told you is true," and then he rode away. +After a little while another brave rode up to the old woman, and said to +her, "Your grandson has killed the spotted calf." Then the old woman +began to cry, she felt so badly because every one made fun of her boy, +because he was poor. + +Pretty soon the boy came along, leading the horse up to the lodge where +he and his grandmother lived. It was a little lodge, just big enough for +two, and was made of old pieces of skin that the old woman had picked +up, and was tied together with strings of rawhide and sinew. It was the +meanest and worst lodge in the village. When the old woman saw her boy +leading the dun horse with the load of meat and the robes on it, she was +very surprised. The boy said to her, "Here, I have brought you plenty of +meat to eat, and here is a robe, that you may have for yourself. Take +the meat off the horse." Then the old woman laughed, for her heart was +glad. But when she went to take the meat from the horse's back, he +snorted and jumped about, and acted like a wild horse. The old woman +looked at him in wonder, and could hardly believe that it was the same +horse. So the boy had to take off the meat, for the horse would not let +the old woman come near him. + + +III + +That night the horse spoke again to the boy and said, "_Wa-ti-hes +Chah'-ra-rat wa-ta_. Tomorrow the Sioux are coming--a large war party. +They will attack the village, and you will have a great battle. Now, +when the Sioux are all drawn up in line of battle, and are all ready to +fight, you jump on to me, and ride as hard as you can, right into the +middle of the Sioux, and up to their Head Chief, their greatest warrior, +and count _coup_ on him, and kill him, and then ride back. Do this four +times, and count _coup_ on four of the bravest Sioux, and kill them, but +don't go again. If you go the fifth time, maybe you will be killed, or +else you will lose me. _La-ku'-ta-chix_--remember." So the boy promised. + +The next day it happened as the horse had said, and the Sioux came down +and formed in line of battle. Then the boy took his bow and arrows, and +jumped on the dun horse, and charged into the midst of them. And when +the Sioux saw that he was going to strike their Head Chief, they all +shot their arrows at him, and the arrows flew so thickly across each +other that they darkened the sky, but none of them hit the boy. And he +counted _coup_ on the Chief, and killed him, and then rode back. After +that he charged again among the Sioux, where they were gathered +thickest, and counted _coup_ on their bravest warrior, and killed him. +And then twice more, until he had gone four times as the horse had told +him. + +But the Sioux and the Pawnees kept on fighting, and the boy stood around +and watched the battle. And at last he said to himself, "I have been +four times and have killed four Sioux, and I am all right, I am not hurt +anywhere; why may I not go again?" So he jumped on the dun horse, and +charged again. But when he got among the Sioux, one Sioux warrior drew +an arrow and shot. The arrow struck the dun horse behind the forelegs +and pierced him through. And the horse fell down dead. But the boy +jumped off, and fought his way through the Sioux, and ran away as fast +as he could to the Pawnees. Now, as soon as the horse was killed, the +Sioux said to each other: "This horse was like a man. He was brave. He +was not like a horse." And they took their knives and hatchets, and +hacked the dun horse and gashed his flesh, and cut him into small +pieces. + +The Pawnees and Sioux fought all day long, but toward night the Sioux +broke and fled. + + +IV + +The boy felt very badly that he had lost his horse; and, after the fight +was over, he went out from the village to where it had taken place, to +mourn for his horse. He went to the spot where the horse lay, and +gathered up all the pieces of flesh, which the Sioux had cut off, and +the legs and the hoofs, and put them all together in a pile. Then he +went off to the top of a hill near by, and sat down and drew his robe +over his head, and began to mourn for his horse. + +As he sat there, he heard a great wind-storm coming up, and it passed +over him with a loud rushing sound, and after the wind came a rain. The +boy looked down from where he sat to the pile of flesh and bones, which +was all that was left of his horse, and he could just see it through the +rain. And the rain passed by, and his heart was very heavy, and he kept +on mourning. + +And pretty soon came another rushing wind, and after it a rain; and as +he looked through the driving rain toward the spot where the pieces lay, +he thought that they seemed to come together and take shape, and that +the pile looked like a horse lying down, but he could not see well for +the thick rain. + +After this came a third storm like the others; and now when he looked +toward the horse he thought he saw its tail move from side to side two +or three times, and that it lifted its head from the ground. The boy was +afraid, and wanted to run away, but he stayed. + +And as he waited, there came another storm. And while the rain fell, +looking through the rain, the boy saw the horse raise himself up on his +forelegs and look about. Then the dun horse stood up. + + +V + +The boy left the place where he had been sitting on the hilltop, and +went down to him. When the boy had come near to him, the horse spoke +and said: "You have seen how it has been this day; and from this you may +know how it will be after this. But _Ti-ra'-wa_ has been good, and has +let me come back to you. After this, do what I tell you; not any more, +not any less." Then the horse said: "Now lead me off, far away from the +camp, behind that big hill, and leave me there to-night, and in the +morning come for me;" and the boy did as he was told. + +And when he went for the horse in the morning, he found with him a +beautiful white gelding, much more handsome than any horse in the tribe. +That night the dun horse told the boy to take him again to the place +behind the big hill, and to come for him the next morning; and when the +boy went for him again, he found with him a beautiful black gelding. And +so for ten nights, he left the horse among the hills, and each morning +he found a different coloured horse, a bay, a roan, a gray, a blue, a +spotted horse, and all of them finer than any horses that the Pawnees +had ever had in their tribe before. + +Now the boy was rich, and he married the beautiful daughter of the Head +Chief, and when he became older he was made Head Chief himself. He had +many children by his beautiful wife, and one day when his oldest boy +died, he wrapped him in the spotted calf robe and buried him in it. He +always took good care of his old grandmother, and kept her in his own +lodge until she died. The dun horse was never ridden except at feasts, +and when they were going to have a doctors' dance, but he was always led +about with the Chief wherever he went. The horse lived in the village +for many years, until he became very old. And at last he died. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 7: From "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales." Copyright, 1890, +by George Bird Grinnell; published by Charles Scribner's Sons.] + + + + +XVII + +THE GREEDY YOUNGSTER + + +Once upon a time there were five women who were in a field reaping corn. +None of them had any children, but they were all wishing for a child. +All at once they found a big goose egg, almost as big as a man's head. + +"I saw it first," said one. "I saw it just as soon as you did," shouted +another. "But I'll have it," screamed the third, "I saw it first of +all." + +Thus they kept on quarrelling and fighting about the egg, and they were +very near tearing each other's hair. But at last they agreed that it +should belong to them all, and that they should sit on it as the geese +do and hatch a gosling. The first woman sat on it for eight days, taking +it very comfortably and doing nothing at all, while the others had to +work hard both for their own and her living. One of the women began to +make some insinuations to her about this. + +"Well, I suppose you didn't come out of the egg either before you could +chirp," said the woman who was on the egg, "But I think there is +something in this egg, for I fancy I can hear some one inside grumbling +every other moment: 'Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!' You can come +and sit for eight days now, and then we will sit and work in turn, all +of us." + +So when the fifth in turn had sat for eight days, she heard plainly some +one inside the egg screeching for "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" +And so she made a hole in it; but instead of a gosling out came a baby, +but it was awfully ugly, and had a big head and a tiny little body. The +first thing it screamed out for, as soon as it put its head outside the +egg, was "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" And so they called it +"the greedy youngster." + +Ugly as he was, they were fond of him at first; but before long he +became so greedy that he ate up all the meat they had. When they boiled +a dish of soup or a pot of porridge which they thought would be +sufficient for all six, he finished it all by himself. So they would not +have him any longer. + +"I have not had a decent meal since this changeling crept out of the +eggshell," said one of them, and when the youngster heard that they were +all of the same opinion, he said he was quite willing to go his way; "if +they did not want him, he was sure he did not want them," and with that +he left the place. + +After a long time he came to a farm where the fields were full of +stones, and he went in and asked for a situation. They wanted a labourer +on the farm, and the farmer put him to pick up stones from the field. +Yes, the youngster went to work and picked up the stones, some of which +were so big that they would make many cartloads; but whether they were +big or small, he put them all into his pocket. It did not take him long +to finish that job, so he wanted to know what he should do next. + +"You will have to get all the stones out of the field," said the farmer. +"I suppose you can't be ready before you have commenced?" + +But the youngster emptied his pockets and threw all the stones in a +heap. Then the farmer saw that he had finished the work, and he thought +he ought to look well after one who was so strong. He must come in and +get something to eat, he said. The youngster thought so too, and he +alone ate what was prepared both for master and servants, and still he +was only half satisfied. + +"He is the right sort of man for a labourer, but he is a terrible eater, +to be sure," thought the farmer. "A man like him would eat a poor farmer +out of house and home before anybody knew a word about it," he said. He +had no more work for him; it was best for him to go to the king's +palace. + +The youngster set out for the palace, where he got a place at once. +There was plenty of food and plenty of work. He was to be errand boy, +and to help the girls to carry wood and water and do other odd jobs. So +he asked what he was to do first. + +"You had better chop some wood in the mean time," they said. Yes, he +commenced to chop and cut wood till the splinters flew about him. It was +not long before he had chopped up everything in the place, both firewood +and timber, both rafters and beams, and when he was ready with it, he +came in and asked what he was to do now. + +"You can finish chopping the wood," they said. + +"There is no more to chop," he answered. + +That could not be possible, thought the overlooker, and had a look into +the wood-shed. But yes, the youngster had chopped up everything; he had +even cut up the timber and planks in the place. This was vexatious, the +overlooker said; and then he told the youngster that he should not taste +food until he had gone into the forest and cut just as much timber as he +had chopped up for firewood. + +The youngster went to the smithy and got the smith to help him to make +an axe of five hundredweight of iron, and then he set out for the forest +and began to make a regular clearance, not only of the pine and the +lofty fir trees, but of everything else which was to be found in the +king's forests, and in the neighbours' as well. He did not stop to cut +the branches or the tops off, but he left them lying there as if a +hurricane had blown them down. He put a proper load on the sledge and +put all the horses to it, but they could not even move it; so he took +the horses by the heads to give the sledge a start, but he pulled so +hard that the horses' heads came off. He then turned the horses out of +the shafts and drew the load himself. + +When he came to the palace, the king and his overlooker were standing in +the hall to give him a scolding for having destroyed the forest--the +overlooker had been there and seen what he had been doing. But when the +king saw the youngster dragging half the forest after him, he got both +angry and afraid; but he thought he had better be a little careful with +him, since he was strong. + +"Well, you are a wonderful workman, to be sure," said the king; "but how +much do you eat at a time, because I suppose you are hungry now?" + +Oh, when he was to have a proper meal of porridge, it would take twelve +barrels of meal to make it, thought the youngster; but when he had put +that away, he could wait awhile, of course, for his next meal. + +It took some time to boil such a dish of porridge, and meantime he was +to bring in a little firewood for the cook. He put a lot of wood on a +sledge, but when he was coming through the door with it he was a little +rough and careless again. The house got almost out of shape, and all the +joists creaked; he was very near dragging down the whole palace. When +the porridge was nearly ready, they sent him out to call the people home +from the fields. He shouted so that the mountains and hills around rang +with echoes, but the people did not come quick enough for him. He came +to blows with them, and killed twelve of them. + +"You have killed twelve men," said the king; "and you eat for many times +twelve; but how many do you work for?" + +"For many times twelve as well," answered the youngster. + +When he had finished his porridge, he was to go into the barn to thrash. +He took one of the rafters from the roof and made a flail out of it, and +when the roof was about to fall in, he took a big pine tree with +branches and all and put it up instead of the rafter. So he went on +thrashing the grain and the straw and the hay all together. This was +doing more damage than good, for the corn and the chaff flew about +together, and a cloud of dust arose over the whole palace. + +When he had nearly finished thrashing, enemies came into the country, as +a war was coming on. So the king told the youngster that he should take +men with him to go and meet the enemy and fight them, for the king +thought they would surely kill him. + +No, he would not have any men with him to be cut to pieces; he would +fight by himself, answered the youngster. + +"So much the better," thought the king; "the sooner I shall get rid of +him; but he must have a proper club." + +They sent for the smith; he forged a club which weighed a hundredweight. +"A very nice thing to crack nuts with," said the youngster. So the smith +made one of three hundredweight. "It would be very well for hammering +nails into boots," was the answer. Well, the smith could not make a +bigger one with the men he had. So the youngster set out for the smithy +himself, and made a club that weighed five tons, and it took a hundred +men to turn it on the anvil. "That one might do for lack of a better," +thought the youngster. He wanted next a bag with some provisions; they +had to make one out of fifteen oxhides, and they filled it with food, +and away he went down the hill with the bag on his back and the club on +his shoulder. + +When he came so far that the enemy saw him, they sent a soldier to ask +him if he was going to fight them. + +"Yes; but wait a little till I have had something to eat," said the +youngster. He threw himself down on the grass and began to eat with the +big bag of food in front of him. + +But the enemy would not wait, and commenced to fire at him at once, till +it rained and hailed around him with bullets. + +"I don't mind these crowberries a bit," said the youngster, and went on +eating harder than ever. Neither lead nor iron took any effect upon him, +and his bag with food in front of him guarded him against the bullets as +if it were a rampart. + +So they commenced throwing bomb-shells and firing cannons at him. He +only grinned a little every time he felt them. + +"They don't hurt me a bit," he said. But just then he got a bomb-shell +right down his windpipe. + +"Fy!" he shouted, and spat it out again; but then a chain-shot made its +way into his butter-can, and another carried away the piece of food he +held between his fingers. + +That made him angry; he got up and took his big club and struck the +ground with it, asking them if they wanted to take the food out of his +mouth, and what they meant by blowing crowberries at him with those +pea-shooters of theirs. He then struck the ground again till the hills +and rocks rattled and shook, and sent the enemy flying in the air like +chaff. This finished the war. + +When he came home again, and asked for more work, the king was taken +quite aback, for he thought he should have got rid of him in the war. He +knew of nothing else but to send him on a message to the devil. + +"You had better go to the devil and ask him for my ground-rent," he +said. The youngster took his bag on his back, and started at once. He +was not long in getting there, but the devil was gone to court, and +there was no one at home but his mother, and she said that she had never +heard talk of any ground-rent. He had better call again another time. + +"Yes, call again to-morrow is always the cry," he said; but he was not +going to be made a fool of, he told her. He was there, and there he +would remain till he got the ground-rent. He had plenty of time to wait. +But when he had finished all the food in his bag, the time hung heavy on +his hands, and then he asked the old lady for the ground-rent again. +She had better pay it now, he said. + +"No, she was going to do nothing of the sort," she said. Her words were +as firm as the old fir tree just outside the gates, which was so big +that fifteen men could scarcely span it. + +But the youngster climbed right up in the top of it and twisted and +turned it as if it was a willow, and then he asked her if she was going +to pay the ground-rent now. + +Yes, she dared not do anything else, and scraped together as much money +as he thought he could carry in his bag. He then set out for home with +the ground-rent, but as soon as he was gone the devil came home. When he +heard that the youngster had gone off with his bag full of money, he +first of all gave his mother a hiding, and then he started after him, +thinking he would soon overtake him. + +He soon came up to him, for he had nothing to carry, and now and then he +used his wings; but the youngster had, of course, to keep to the ground +with his heavy bag. Just as the devil was at his heels, he began to jump +and run as fast as he could. He kept his club behind him to keep the +devil off, and thus they went along, the youngster holding the handle +and the devil trying to catch hold of the other end of it, till they +came to a deep valley. There the youngster made a jump across from the +top of one hill to the other, and the devil was in such a hurry to +follow him that he ran his head against the club and fell down into the +valley and broke his leg, and there he lay. + +"There is the ground-rent," said the youngster when he came to the +palace, and threw the bag with the money to the king with such a crash +that you could hear it all over the hall. + +The king thanked him, and appeared to be well pleased, and promised him +good pay and leave of absence if he wished it, but the youngster wanted +only more work. + +"What shall I do now?" he said. + +As soon as the king had had time to consider, he told him that he must +go to the hill-troll, who had taken his grandfather's sword. The troll +had a castle by the sea, where no one dared to go. + +The youngster put some cartloads of food into his bag and set out again. +He travelled both long and far, over woods and hills and wild moors, +till he came to the big mountains where the troll, who had taken the +sword of the king's grandfather, was living. + +But the troll seldom came out in the open air, and the mountain was well +closed, so the youngster was not man enough to get inside. + +So he joined a gang of quarrymen who were living at a farm on top of the +hill, and who were quarrying stones in the hills about there. They had +never had such help before, for he broke and hammered away at the rocks +till the mountain cracked, and big stones of the size of a house rolled +down the hill. But when he rested to get his dinner, for which he was +going to have one of the cartloads in his bag, he found it was all eaten +up. + +"I have generally a good appetite myself," said the youngster; "but the +one who has been here can do a trifle more than I, for he has eaten all +the bones as well." + +Thus the first day passed; and he fared no better the second. On the +third day he set out to break stones again, taking with him the third +load of food, but he lay down behind the bag and pretended to be asleep. +All of a sudden, a troll with seven heads came out of the mountain and +began to eat his food. + +"It's all ready for me here, and I will eat," said the troll. + +"We will see about that," said the youngster, and hit the troll with his +club, so the heads rolled down the hill. + +So he went into the mountain which the troll had come out of, and in +there stood a horse eating out of a barrel of glowing cinders, and +behind it stood a barrel of oats. + +"Why don't you eat out of the barrel of oats?" asked the youngster. + +"Because I cannot turn round," said the horse. + +"But I will soon turn you round," said the youngster. + +"Rather cut my head off," said the horse. + +So he cut its head off, and the horse turned into a fine handsome +fellow. He said he had been bewitched, and taken into the mountain and +turned into a horse by the troll. He then helped the youngster to find +the sword, which the troll had hidden at the bottom of the bed, and in +the bed lay the old mother of the troll, asleep and snoring hard. + +So they set out for home by water, but when they had got some distance +out to sea the old mother came after them. As she could not overtake +them, she lay down and began to drink the sea, and she drank till the +water fell; but she could not drink the sea dry, and so she burst. + +When they came to land, the youngster sent word that the king must come +and fetch the sword. He sent four horses, but no, they could not move +it; he sent eight, and he sent twelve; but the sword remained where it +was. They were not able to stir it from the spot. But the youngster took +it and carried it up to the palace alone. + +The king could not believe his eyes when he saw the youngster back +again. He appeared, however, to be pleased to see him, and promised him +land and riches. When the youngster wanted more work, the king said he +might set out for an enchanted castle he had, where no one dared to +live, and he would have to stop there till he had built a bridge over +the sound, so that people could get across to the castle. + +If he was able to do this he would reward him handsomely, yes, he would +even give him his daughter in marriage, said he. + +"Well, I think I can do it," said the youngster. + +No one had ever got away alive; those who had got as far as the castle, +lay there killed and torn to pieces as small as barley, and the king +thought he should never see him any more if he would go thither. + +But the youngster started on his expedition; he took with him the bag of +food, a crooked, twisted block of a fir tree, an axe, a wedge, and some +chips of the fir root, and the small pauper boy at the palace. + +When he came to the sound, he found the river full of ice, and the +current ran as strong as in a waterfall; but he stuck his legs to the +bottom of the river and waded until he got safe across. + +When he had warmed himself and had something to eat, he wanted to go to +sleep; but before long he heard such a terrible noise, as if they were +turning the castle upside down. The door burst wide open, and he saw +nothing but a gaping jaw extending from the threshold up to the lintel. + +"There is a mouthful for you," said the youngster and threw the pauper +boy into the swallow: "taste that! But let me see now who you are! +Perhaps you are an old acquaintance?" + +And so it was; it was the devil who was about again. + +They began to play cards, for the devil wanted to try and win back some +of the ground-rent which the youngster had got out of his mother by +threats, when he was sent by the king to collect it; but the youngster +was always the fortunate one, for he put a cross on the back of all the +good cards, and when he had won all the money which the devil had upon +him, the devil had to pay him out of the gold and silver which was in +the castle. + +Suddenly the fire went out, so they could not tell the one card from the +other. + +"We must chop some wood now," said the youngster, who drove the axe into +the fir block, and forced the wedge in; but the twisted, knotty block +would not split, although the youngster worked as hard as he could with +the axe. + +"They say you are strong," he said to the devil; "just spit on your +hands, stick your claws in, and tear away, and let me see what you are +made of." + +The devil did so, and put both his fists into the split and pulled as +hard as he could, when the youngster suddenly struck the wedge out, and +the devil stuck fast in the block and the youngster let him also have a +taste of the butt end of his axe on his back. The devil begged and +prayed so nicely to be let loose, but the youngster would not listen to +anything of the kind unless he promised that he would never come there +any more and create any disturbance. He also had to promise that he +would build a bridge over the sound, so that people could pass over it +at all times of the year, and it should be ready when the ice was gone. + +"They are very hard conditions," said the devil; but there was no other +way out of it--if the devil wanted to be set free, he would have to +promise it. He bargained, however, that he should have the first soul +that went across the bridge. That was to be the toll. + +Yes, he should have that, said the youngster. So the devil was let +loose, and he started home. But the youngster lay down to sleep, and +slept till far into the day. + +When the king came to see if he was cut and chopped into small pieces, +he had to wade through all the money before he came to his bedside. +There was money in heaps and in bags which reached far up the wall, and +the youngster lay in bed asleep and snoring hard. + +"Lord help me and my daughter," said the king when he saw that the +youngster was alive. Well, all was good and well done, that no one could +deny; but there was no hurry talking of the wedding before the bridge +was ready. + +One day the bridge stood ready, and the devil was there waiting for the +toll which he had bargained for. + +The youngster wanted the king to go with him and try the bridge, but the +king had no mind to do it. So he mounted a horse himself, and put the +fat dairy-maid in the palace on the pommel in front of him; she looked +almost like a big fir block, and so he rode over the bridge, which +thundered under the horse's feet. + +"Where is the toll? Where have you got the soul?" cried the devil. + +"Why, inside this fir block," said the youngster; "if you want it you +will have to spit in your hands and take it." + +"No, many thanks! If she does not come to me, I am sure I shan't take +her," said the devil. "You got me once into a pinch, and I'll take care +you don't get me into another," and with that he flew straight home to +his old mother, and since that time he has never been heard or seen +thereabouts. + +The youngster went home to the palace and asked for the reward the king +had promised him, and when the king wanted to get out of it, and would +not stick to what he had promised, the youngster said it was best he got +a good bag of food ready for him and he would take his reward himself. + +Yes, the king would see to that, and when the bag was ready the +youngster asked the king to come outside the door. The youngster then +gave the king such a kick, which sent him flying up in the air. The bag +he threw after him that he might not be without food; and if he has not +come down again by this he is floating about with his bag between heaven +and earth to this very day. + + + + +XVIII + +HANS, WHO MADE THE PRINCESS LAUGH + + +Once upon a time there was a king, who had a daughter, and she was so +lovely that the reports of her beauty went far and wide; but she was so +melancholy that she never laughed, and besides she was so grand and +proud that she said "No" to all who came to woo her--she would not have +any of them, were they ever so fine, whether they were princes or +noblemen. + +The king was tired of this whim of hers long ago, and thought she ought +to get married like other people; there was nothing she need wait +for--she was old enough and she would not be any richer either, for she +was to have half the kingdom, which she inherited after her mother. + +So he made known every Sunday after the service, from the steps outside +the church, that he that could make his daughter laugh should have both +her and half the kingdom. But if there were any one who tried and could +not make her laugh, he would have three red stripes cut out of his back +and salt rubbed into them--and, sad to relate, there were many sore +backs in that kingdom. Lovers from south and from north, from east and +from west, came to try their luck--they thought it was an easy thing to +make a princess laugh. They were a queer lot altogether, but for all +their cleverness and for all the tricks and pranks they played, the +princess was just as serious and immovable as ever. + +But close to the palace lived a man who had three sons, and they had +also heard that the king had made known that he who could make the +princess laugh should have her and half the kingdom. + +The eldest of the brothers wanted to try first, and away he went; and +when he came to the palace, he told the king he wouldn't mind trying to +make the princess laugh. + +"Yes, yes! that's all very well," said the king; "but I am afraid it's +of very little use, my man. There have been many here to try their luck, +but my daughter is just as sad, and I am afraid it is no good trying. I +do not like to see any more suffer on that account." + +But the lad thought he would try anyhow. It couldn't be such a difficult +thing to make a princess laugh at him, for had not everybody, both grand +and simple, laughed so many a time at him when he served as soldier and +went through his drill under Sergeant Nils. + +So he went out on the terrace outside the princess's windows and began +drilling just as if Sergeant Nils himself were there. But all in vain! +The princess sat just as serious and immovable as before, and so they +took him and cut three broad, red stripes out of his back and sent him +home. + +He had no sooner arrived home than his second brother wanted to set out +and try his luck. He was a schoolmaster, and a funny figure he was +altogether. He had one leg shorter than the other, and limped terribly +when he walked. One moment he was no bigger than a boy, but the next +moment when he raised himself up on his long leg he was as big and tall +as a giant--and besides he was great at preaching. + +When he came to the palace, and said that he wanted to make the princess +laugh, the king thought that it was not so unlikely that he might; "but +I pity you, if you don't succeed," said the king, "for we cut the +stripes broader and broader for every one that tries." + +So the schoolmaster went out on the terrace, and took his place outside +the princess's window, where he began preaching and chanting imitating +seven of the parsons, and reading and singing just like seven of the +clerks whom they had had in the parish. + +The king laughed at the schoolmaster till he was obliged to hold on to +the door-post, and the princess was just on the point of smiling, but +suddenly she was as sad and immovable as ever, and so it fared no better +with Paul the schoolmaster than with Peter the soldier--for Peter and +Paul were their names, you must know! + +So they took Paul and cut three red stripes out of his back, put salt +into them, and sent him home again. + +Well, the youngest brother thought he would have a try next. His name +was Hans. But the brothers laughed and made fun of him, and showed him +their sore backs. Besides, the father would not give him leave to go, +for he said it was no use his trying, who had so little sense; all he +could do was to sit in a corner on the hearth, like a cat, rooting about +in the ashes and cutting chips. But Hans would not give in--he begged +and prayed so long, till they got tired of his whimpering, and so he got +leave to go to the king's palace and try his luck. + +When he arrived at the palace he did not say he had come to try to make +the princess laugh, but asked if he could get a situation there. No, +they had no situation for him; but Hans was not so easily put off--they +might want one to carry wood and water for the kitchenmaid in such a big +place as that, he said. Yes, the king thought so too, and to get rid of +the lad he gave him leave to remain there and carry wood and water for +the kitchenmaid. + +One day, when he was going to fetch water from the brook, he saw a big +fish in the water just under an old root of a fir-tree, which the +current had carried all the soil away from. He put his bucket quietly +under the fish and caught it. As he was going home to the palace, he met +an old woman leading a golden goose. + +"Good day, grandmother!" said Hans. "That's a fine bird you have got +there; and such splendid feathers too! he shines a long way off. If one +had such feathers, one needn't be chopping firewood." + +The woman thought just as much of the fish which Hans had in the bucket, +and said if Hans would give her the fish he should have the golden +goose; and this goose was such that if any one touched it he would be +sticking fast to it if he only said: "If you'll come along, then hang +on." + +Yes, Hans would willingly exchange on those terms. "A bird is as good as +a fish any day," he said to himself. "If it is as you say, I might use +it instead of a fish-hook," he said to the woman, and felt greatly +pleased with the possession of the goose. + +He had not gone far before he met another old woman. When she saw the +splendid golden goose, she must go and stroke it. She made herself so +friendly and spoke so nicely to Hans, and asked him to let her stroke +that lovely golden goose of his. + +"Oh, yes!" said Hans, "but you mustn't pluck off any of its feathers!" + +Just as she stroked the bird, Hans said: "If you'll come along, then +hang on!" + +The woman pulled and tore, but she had to hang on, whether she would or +no, and Hans walked on, as if he only had the goose with him. + +When he had gone some distance, he met a man who had a spite against the +woman for a trick she had played upon him. When he saw that she fought +so hard to get free and seemed to hang on so fast, he thought he might +safely venture to pay her off for the grudge he owed her, and so he gave +her a kick. + +"If you'll come along, then hang on!" said Hans, and the man had to hang +on and limp along on one leg, whether he would or no; and when he tried +to tear himself loose, he made it still worse for himself, for he was +very nearly falling on his back whenever he struggled to get free. + +So on they went till they came in the neighborhood of the palace. There +they met the king's smith; he was on his way to the smithy, and had a +large pair of tongs in his hand. This smith was a merry fellow, and was +always full of mad pranks and tricks, and when he saw this procession +coming jumping and limping along, he began laughing till he was bent in +two, but suddenly he said: + +"This must be a new flock of geese for the princess: but who can tell +which is goose and which is gander? I suppose it must be the gander +toddling on in front. Goosey, goosey!" he called, and pretended to be +strewing corn out of his hands as when feeding geese. + +But they did not stop. The woman and the man only looked in great rage +at the smith for making game of them. So said the smith: "It would be +great fun to see if I could stop the whole flock, many as they are!"--He +was a strong man, and seized the old man with his tongs from behind in +his trousers, and the man shouted and struggled hard, but Hans said: + +"If you'll come along, then hang on!" + +And so the smith had to hang on too. He bent his back and stuck his +heels in the ground when they went up a hill and tried to get away, but +it was of no use; he stuck on to the other as if he had been screwed +fast in the great vise in the smithy, and whether he liked it or not, he +had to dance along with the others. + +When they came near the palace, the farm-dog ran against them and barked +at them, as if they were a gang of tramps, and when the princess came to +look out of her window to see what was the matter, and saw this +procession, she burst out laughing. But Hans was not satisfied with +that. "Just wait a bit, and she will laugh still louder very soon," he +said, and made a tour round the palace with his followers. + +When they came past the kitchen, the door was open and the cook was just +boiling porridge, but when she saw Hans and his train after him, she +rushed out of the door with the porridge-stick in one hand and a big +ladle full of boiling porridge in the other, and she laughed till her +sides shook; but when she saw the smith there as well, she thought she +would have burst with laughter. When she had had a regular good laugh, +she looked at the golden goose again and thought it was so lovely that +she must stroke it. + +"Hans, Hans!" she cried, and ran after him with the ladle in her hand; +"just let me stroke that lovely bird of yours." + +"Rather let her stroke me!" said the smith. + +"Very well," said Hans. + +But when the cook heard this, she got very angry. "What is it you say!" +she cried, and gave the smith a smack with the ladle. + +"If you'll come along, then hang on!" said Hans, and so she stuck fast +to the others too, and for all her scolding and all her tearing and +pulling, she had to limp along with them. + +And when they came past the princess's window again, she was still there +waiting for them, but when she saw that they had got hold of the cook +too, with the ladle and porridge-stick, she laughed till the king had to +hold her up. So Hans got the princess and half the kingdom, and they had +a wedding which was heard of far and wide. + + + + +XIX + +THE STORY OF TOM TIT TOT[8] + + +Well, once upon a time there were a woman, and she baked five pies. And +when they come out of the oven, they was that overbaked the crust were +too hard to eat. So she says to her darter: + +"Darter," says she, "put you them there pies on the shelf an' leave 'em +there a little, an' they'll come agin--" She meant, you know, the crust +'ud get soft. + +But the gal, she says to herself, "Well, if they'll come agin, I'll ate +'em now." And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last. + +Well, come supper time, the woman she said, "Goo you and git one o' them +there pies; I daresay they've come agin, now." + +The gal, she went an' she looked, and there warn't nothin' but the +dishes. So back she come and says she, "Noo, they ain't come agin." + +"Not none on 'em?" says the mother. + +"Not none on 'em," says she. + +"Well, come agin, or not come agin," says the woman, "I'll ha' one for +supper." + +"But you can't, if they ain't come," says the gal. + +"But I can," says she. "Goo you and bring the best of 'em." + +"Best or worst," says the gal, "I've ate 'em all, and you can't ha' one +till that's come agin." + +Well, the woman she were wholly bate, and she took her spinnin' to the +door to spin, and as she span she sang: + + "My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day-- + My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day." + +The king, he were a comin' down the street and he hard her sing, but +what she sang he couldn't hare, so he stopped and said: + +"What were that you was a singin of, woman?" + +The woman, she were ashamed to let him hare what her darter had been +a-doin', so she sang, 'stids o' that: + + "My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day-- + My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day." + +"S'ars o' mine!" said the king, "I never heerd tell of any one as could +do that." + +Then he said: "Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your darter. +But look you here," says he, "'leven months out o' the year she shall +have all the vittles she likes to eat, and all the gownds she likes to +git, and all the cumpny she likes to hev; but the last month o' the year +she'll ha' to spin five skeins iv'ry day, an' if she doon't, I shall +kill her." + +"All right," says the woman; for she thowt what a grand marriage that +was. And as for them five skeins, when te come tew, there'd be plenty o' +ways of gettin' out of it, and likeliest, he'd ha' forgot about it. + +Well, so they were married. An' for 'leven months the gal had all the +vittles she liked to ate, and all the gownds she liked to git, and all +the cumpny she liked to have. + +But when the time was gettin' oover, she began to think about them there +skeins an' to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say +about 'em, an' she whoolly thowt he'd forgot 'em. + +Howsivir, the last day o' the last month, he takes her to a room she'd +niver set eyes on afore. There worn't nothin' in it but a spinnin' wheel +and a stool. An' says he, "Now, me dear, hare you'll be shut in +to-morrow with some vittles and some flax, and if you hain't spun five +skeins by the night, yar hid'll goo off." + +An' awa' he went about his business. + +Well, she were that frightened. She'd allus been such a gatless gal, +that she didn't se much as know how to spin, an' what were she to dew +to-morrer, with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a +stool in the kitchen, and lork! how she did cry! + +Howsivir, all on a sudden she hard a sort of a knockin' low down on the +door. She upped and oped it, an' what should she see but a small little +black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right kewrious, an' +that said: + +"What are yew a-cryin' for?" + +"Wha's that to yew?" says she. + +"Niver yew mind," that said, "but tell me what you're a cryin' for." + +"That oon't dew me noo good if I dew," says she. + +"Yew doon't know that," that said, an' twirled that's tail round. + +"Well," says she, "that oon't dew no harm, if that doon't dew no good," +and she upped and told about the pies an' the skeins an' everything. + +"This is what I'll dew," says the little black thing: "I'll come to yar +winder iv'ry mornin' an' take the flax an' bring it spun at night" + +"What's your pay?" says she. + +That looked out o' the corners o' that's eyes an' that said: "I'll give +you three guesses every night to guess my name, an' if you hain't +guessed it afore the month's up, yew shall be mine." + +Well, she thowt she'd be sure to guess that's name afore the month was +up. "All right," says she, "I agree." + +"All right," that says, an' lork! how that twirled that's tail. + +Well, the next day, har husband, he took her inter the room, an' there +was the flax an' the day's vittles. + +"Now, there's the flax," says he, "an' if that ain't spun up this night, +off goo yar hid." An' then he went out an' locked the door. + +He'd hardly goon, when there was a knockin' agin the winder. + +She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little oo'd +thing a settin' on the ledge. + +"Where's the flax?" says he. + +"Here te be," says she. And she gonned it to him. + +Well, come the evenin', a knockin' come agin to the winder. She upped +an' she oped it, and there were the little oo'd thing, with five skeins +of flax on his arm. + +"Here te be," says he, an' he gonned it to her. + +"Now, what's my name?" says he. + +"What, is that Bill?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail. + +"Is that Ned?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail. + +"Well, is that Mark?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he. An' he twirled his tail harder, an' awa' he +flew. + +Well, when har husban' he come in, there was the five skeins riddy for +him. + +"I see I shorn't hev for to kill you to-night, me dare," says he. +"You'll hev yar vittles and yar flax in the mornin'," says he, an' away +he goes. + +Well, ivery day the flax an' the vittles, they was browt, an' ivery day +that there little black impet used for to come mornin's and evenin's. +An' all the day the darter, she set a tryin' fur to think of names to +say to it when te come at night. But she niver hot on the right one. An' +as that got to-warts the ind o' the month, the impet that began for to +look soo maliceful, an' that twirled that's tail faster an' faster each +time she gave a guess. + +At last te came to the last day but one. The impet that come at night +along o' the five skeins, an' that said: + +"What, hain't yew got my name yet?" + +"Is that Nicodemus?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"Is that Sammle?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"A-well, is that Methusalem?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't that norther," he says. + +Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a cool o' fire, an that +says, "Woman, there's only to-morrer night, an' then yar'll be mine!" +An' away te flew. + +Well, she felt that horrud. Howsomediver, she hard the king a-comin' +along the passage. In he came, an' when he see the five skeins, he says, +says he: + +"Well, me dare," says he, "I don't see but what yew'll ha' your skeins +ready to-morrer night as well, an' as I reckon I shorn't ha' to kill +you, I'll ha' supper in here to-night." So they brought supper an' +another stool for him, and down the tew they sot. + +Well, he hadn't eat but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to +laugh. + +"What is it?" says she. + +"A-why," says he, "I was out a-huntin' to-day, an' I got away to a place +in the wood I'd never seen afore. An' there was an old chalk pit. An' I +heerd a sort of a hummin', kind o'. So I got off my hobby, an' I went +right quiet to the pit, an' I looked down. Well, what should there be +but the funniest little black thing yew iver set eyes on. An' what was +that a dewin' on, but that had a little spinnin' wheel, an' that were +a-spinnin' wonnerful fast, an' a-twirlin' that's tail. An' as that span, +that sang: + + "Nimmy, nimmy not, + My name's Tom Tit Tot." + +Well, when the darter heerd this, she fared as if she could ha' jumped +outer her skin for joy, but she di'n't say a word. + +Next day, that there little thing looked soo maliceful when he come for +the flax. An' when night came, she heerd that a-knockin' agin the winder +panes. She oped the winder, an' that come right in on the ledge. That +were grinnin' from are to are, an' Oo! tha's tail were twirlin' round so +fast. + +"What's my name?" that says, as that gonned her the skeins. + +"Is that Solomon?" she says, pretendin' to be a-feard. + +"Noo, tain't," that says, an' that come fudder inter the room. + +"Well, is that Zebedee?" says she agin. + +"Noo, tain't," says the impet. An' then that laughed an' twirled that's +tail till yew cou'n't hardly see it. + +"Take time, woman," that says; "next guess, an' you're mine." An' that +stretched out that's black hands at her. + +Well, she backed a step or two, an' she looked at it, and then she +laughed out, an' says she, a pointin' of her finger at it: + + "Nimmy, nimmy not, + Yar name's Tom Tit Tot." + +Well, when that hard her, that shruck awful an' awa' that flew into the +dark, an' she niver saw it noo more. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 8: An old Suffolk tale, given in the dialect of East Anglia.] + + + + +XX + +THE PEASANT STORY OF NAPOLEON + + + [Goguelet, an old soldier who fought under Napoleon, tells the + story of his wonderful General and Emperor to a group of eager + listeners in the country doctor's barn.] + +You see, my friends, Napoleon was born in Corsica, a French island, +warmed by the sun of Italy, where it is like a furnace, and where the +people kill each other, from father to son, all about nothing: that's a +way they have. To begin with the marvel of the thing--his mother, who +was the handsomest woman of her time, and a knowing one, bethought +herself of dedicating him to God, so that he might escape the dangers of +his childhood and future life; for she had dreamed that the world was +set on fire the day he was born. And, indeed, it was a prophecy! So she +asked God to protect him, on condition that Napoleon should restore His +holy religion, which was then cast to the ground. Well, that was agreed +upon, and we shall see what came of it. + +"Follow me closely, and tell me if what you hear is in the nature or +man. + +"Sure and certain it is that none but a man who conceived the idea of +making a compact with God could have passed unhurt through the enemy's +lines, through cannon-balls, and discharges of grape-shot that swept the +rest of us off like flies, and always respected his head. I had proof of +that--I myself--at Eylau. I see him now, as he rode up a height, took +his field-glass, looked at the battle, and said, 'All goes well.' One of +those plumed busybodies, who plagued him considerably and followed him +everywhere, even to his meals, so they said, thought to play the wag, +and took the Emperor's place as he rode away. Ho! in a twinkling, head +and plume were off! You must understand that Napoleon had promised to +keep the secret of his compact all to himself. That's why all those who +followed him, even his nearest friends, fell like nuts--Duroc, +Bessieres, Lannes--all strong as steel bars, though _he_ could bend them +as he pleased. Besides--to prove he was the child of God, and made to be +the father of soldiers--was he ever known to be lieutenant or captain? +No, no; commander-in-chief from the start. He didn't look to be more +than twenty-four years of age when he was an old general at the taking +of Toulon, where he first began to show the others that they knew +nothing about manoeuvring cannon. + +"After that, down came our slip of a general to command the grand army +of Italy, which hadn't bread, nor munitions, nor shoes, nor coats--a +poor army, as naked as a worm. 'My friends,' said he, 'here we are +together. Get it into your pates that fifteen days from now you will be +conquerors--new clothes, good gaiters, famous shoes, and every man with +a great-coat; but, my children, to get these things you must march to +Milan, where they are.' And we marched. France, crushed as flat as a +bed-bug, straightened up. We were thirty thousand bare-feet against +eighty thousand Austrian bullies, all fine men, well set-up. I see 'em +now! But Napoleon--he was then only Bonaparte--he knew how to put the +courage into us! We marched by night, and we marched by day; we slapped +their faces at Montenotte, we thrashed them at Rivoli, Lodi, Arcole, +Millesimo, and we never let 'em up. A soldier gets the taste of +conquest. So Napoleon whirled round those Austrian generals, who didn't +know where to poke themselves to get out of his way, and he pelted 'em +well--nipped off ten thousand men at a blow sometimes, by getting round +them with fifteen hundred Frenchmen, and then he gleaned as he pleased. +He took their cannon, their supplies, their money, their munitions, in +short, all they had that was good to take. He fought them and beat them +on the mountains, he drove them into the rivers and seas, he bit 'em in +the air, he devoured 'em on the ground, and he lashed 'em everywhere. +Hey! the grand army feathered itself well; for, d'ye see the Emperor, +who was a wit, called up the inhabitants and told them he was there to +deliver them. So after that the natives lodged and cherished us; the +women too, and very judicious they were. Now here's the end of it. In +Ventose, '96--in those times that was the month of March of to-day--we +lay cuddled in a corner of Savoie with the marmots; and yet, before that +campaign was over, we were masters of Italy, just as Napoleon had +predicted; and by the following March--in a single year and two +campaigns--he had brought us within sight of Vienna. 'Twas a clean +sweep. We devoured their armies, one after the other, and made an end of +four Austrian generals. One old fellow, with white hair, was roasted +like a rat in the straw at Mantua. Kings begged for mercy on their +knees! Peace was won. + +"Could a _man_ have done that? No; God helped him, to a certainty! + +"He divided himself up like the loaves in the Gospel, commanded the +battle by day, planned it by night; going and coming, for the sentinels +saw him--never eating, never sleeping. So, seeing these prodigies, the +soldiers adopted him for their father. Forward, march! Then those +others, the rulers in Paris, seeing this, said to themselves: 'Here's a +bold one that seems to get his orders from the skies; he's likely to put +his paw on France. We must let him loose on Asia; we will send him to +America, perhaps that will satisfy him.' But 't was _written above_ for +him, as it was for Jesus Christ. The command went forth that he should +go to Egypt. See, again, his resemblance to the Son of God. But that's +not all. He called together his best veterans, his fire-eaters, the ones +he had particularly put the devil into, and he said to them like this: +'My friends, they have given us Egypt to chew up, just to keep us busy, +but we'll swallow it whole in a couple of campaigns, as we did Italy. +The common soldiers shall be princes and have the land for their own. +Forward, march!' 'Forward, march!' cried the sergeants, and there we +were at Toulon, road to Egypt. At that time the English had all their +ships in the sea; but when we embarked, Napoleon said: 'They won't see +us. It is just as well that you should know from this time forth that +your general has got his star in the sky, which guides and protects us.' +What was said was done. Passing over the sea, we took Malta like an +orange, just to quench his thirst for victory; for he was a man who +couldn't live and do nothing. + +"So here we are in Egypt. Good. Once here, other orders. The Egyptians, +d'ye see, are men who, ever since the earth was, have had giants for +sovereigns, and armies as numerous as ants; for, you must understand, +that's the land of genii and crocodiles, where they've built pyramids as +big as our mountains, and buried their kings under them to keep them +fresh--an idea that pleased 'em mightily. So then, after we +disembarked, the Little Corporal said to us: 'My children, the country +you are going to conquer has a lot of gods that you must respect; +because Frenchmen ought to be friends with everybody, and fight the +nations without vexing the inhabitants. Get it into your skulls that you +are not to touch anything at first, for it is all going to be yours +soon. Forward, march!' So far, so good. But all those people of Africa, +to whom Napoleon was foretold under the name of Kebir-Bonaberdis--a word +of their lingo that means 'the sultan fires'--were afraid as the devil +of him. So the Grand Turk, and Asia, and Africa had recourse to magic. +They sent us a demon, named the Mahdi, supposed to have descended from +heaven on a white horse, which, like its master, was bullet-proof; and +both of them lived on air, without food to support them. There are some +that say they saw them; but I can't give you any reasons to make you +certain about that. The rulers of Arabia and the Mamelukes tried to make +their troopers believe that the Mahdi could keep them from perishing in +battle; and they pretended he was an angel sent from heaven to fight +Napoleon and get back Solomon's seal. Solomon's seal was part of their +paraphernalia which they vowed our general had stolen. You must +understand that we'd given 'em a good many wry faces, in spite of what +he had said to us. + +"Now, tell me how they knew that Napoleon had a pact with God? Was that +natural, d'ye think? + +"They held to it in their minds that Napoleon commanded the genii, and +could pass hither and thither in the twinkling of an eye, like a bird. +The fact is, he was everywhere. At last, it came to his carrying off a +queen beautiful as the dawn, for whom he had offered all his treasure, +and diamonds as big as pigeon's eggs--a bargain which the Mameluke to +whom she particularly belonged positively refused, although he had +several others. Such matters when they come to that pass, can't be +settled without a great many battles; and, indeed, there was no scarcity +of battles; there was fighting enough to please everybody. We were in +line at Alexandria, at Gizeh, and before the Pyramids; we marched in the +sun and through the sand, where some, who had the dazzles, saw water +that they couldn't drink, and shade where their flesh was roasted. But +we made short work of the Mamelukes; and everybody else yielded at the +voice of Napoleon, who took possession of Upper and Lower Egypt, Arabia, +and even the capitals of kingdoms that were no more, where there were +thousands of statues and all the plagues of Egypt, more particularly +lizards--a mammoth of a country where everybody could take his acres of +land for as little as he pleased. Well, while Napoleon was busy with his +affairs inland--where he had it in his head to do fine things--the +English burned his fleet at Aboukir; for they were always looking about +them to annoy us. But Napoleon, who had the respect of the East and of +the West, whom the Pope called his son, and the cousin of Mohammed +called 'his dear father,' resolved to punish England, and get hold of +India in exchange for his fleet. He was just about to take us across the +Red Sea into Asia, a country where there are diamonds and gold to pay +the soldiers and palaces for bivouacs, when the Mahdi made a treaty with +the plague, and sent it down to hinder our victories. Halt! The army to +a man defiled at that parade; and few they were who came back on their +feet. Dying soldiers couldn't take Saint-Jean d'Acre, though they rushed +at it three times with generous and martial obstinacy. The Plague was +the strongest. No saying to that enemy, 'My good friend.' Every soldier +lay ill. Napoleon alone was fresh as a rose, and the whole army saw him +drinking in pestilence without its doing him a bit of harm. + +"Ha! my friends! will you tell me that _that's_ in the nature of a mere +man? + +"The Mamelukes, knowing we were all in the ambulances, thought they +could stop the way; but that sort of joke wouldn't do with Napoleon. So +he said to his demons, his veterans, those that had the toughest hide, +'Go, clear me the way.' Junot, a sabre of the first cut, and his +particular friend, took a thousand men, no more, and ripped up the army +of the pacha who had had the presumption to put himself in the way. +After that, we came back to headquarters at Cairo. Now, here's another +side of the story. Napoleon absent, France was letting herself be ruined +by the rulers in Paris, who kept back the pay of the soldiers of the +other armies, and their clothing, and their rations; left them to die +of hunger, and expected them to lay down the law to the universe +without taking any trouble to help them. Idiots! who amused themselves +by chattering, instead of putting their own hands in the dough. Well, +that's how it happened that our armies were beaten, and the frontiers of +France were encroached upon: THE MAN was nor there. Now observe, I say +_man_ because that's what they called him; but 'twas nonsense, for he +had a star and all its belongings; it was we who were only men. He +taught history to France after his famous battle of Aboukir, where, +without losing more than three hundred men, and with a single division, +he vanquished the grand army of the Turk, seventy-five thousand strong, +and hustled more than half of it into the sea, r-r-rah! + +"That was his last thunder-clap in Egypt. He said to himself, seeing the +way things were going in Paris, 'I am the saviour of France; I know it, +and I must go.' But, understand me, the army didn't know he was going, +or they'd have kept him by force and made him Emperor of the East. So +now we were sad; for He was gone who was all our joy. He left the +command to Kleber, a big mastiff, who came off duty at Cairo, +assassinated by an Egyptian, whom they put to death by empaling him on a +bayonet; that's the way they guillotine people down there. But it makes +'em suffer so much that a soldier had pity on the criminal and gave him +his canteen; and then, as soon as the Egyptian had drunk his fill, he +gave up the ghost with all the pleasure in life. But that's a trifle we +couldn't laugh at then. Napoleon embarked in a cockleshell, a little +skiff that was nothing at all, though 'twas called 'Fortune;' and in a +twinkling, under the nose of England, who was blockading him with ships +of the line, frigates, and anything that could hoist a sail, he crossed +over, and there he was in France. For he always had the power, mind you, +of crossing the seas at one straddle. + +"Was that a human man? Bah! + +"So, one minute he is at Frejus, the next in Paris. There, they all +adore him; but he summons the government. 'What have you done with my +children, the soldiers?' he says to the lawyers. 'You're a mob of +rascally scribblers; you are making France a mess of pottage, and +snapping your fingers at what people think of you. It won't do; and I +speak the opinion of everybody.' So, on that, they wanted to battle +with him and kill him--click! he had 'em locked up in barracks, or +flying out of windows, or drafted among his followers, where they were +as mute as fishes and as pliable as a quid of tobacco. After that +stroke--consul! And then, as it was not for him to doubt the Supreme +Being, he fulfilled his promise to the good God, who, you see, had kept +His word to him. He gave Him back His churches, and reestablished His +religion; the bells rang for God and for him: and lo! everybody was +pleased; _primo_, the priests, whom he saved from being harassed; +_secundo_, the bourgeois, who thought only of their trade, and no longer +had to fear the _rapiamus_ of the law, which had got to be unjust; +_tertio_, the nobles, for he forbade they should be killed, as, +unfortunately, the people had got the habit of doing. + +"But he still had the Enemy to wipe out; and he wasn't the man to go to +sleep at a mess-table, because, d'ye see, his eye looked over the whole +earth as if it were no bigger than a man's head. So then he appeared in +Italy, like as though he had stuck his head through the window. One +glance was enough. The Austrians were swallowed up at Marengo like so +many gudgeons by a whale! Ouf! The French eagles sang their paeans so +loud that all the world heard them--and it sufficed! 'We won't play that +game any more,' said the German. 'Enough, enough!' said all the rest. To +sum up: Europe backed down, England knocked under. General peace; and +the kings and the peoples made believe kiss each other. That's the time +when the Emperor invented the Legion of Honour--and a fine thing, too. +'In France'--this is what he said at Boulogne before the whole +army--'every man is brave. So the citizen who does a fine action shall +be sister to the soldier, and the soldier shall be his brother, and the +two shall be one under the flag of honour.' + +"We, who were down in Egypt, now came home. All was changed! He left us +general, and hey! in a twinkling we found him EMPEROR. France gave +herself to him, like a fine girl to a lancer. When it was done--to the +satisfaction of all, as you may say--a sacred ceremony took place, the +like of which was never seen under the canopy of the skies. The Pope and +the cardinals, in their red and gold vestments, crossed the Alps +expressly to crown him before the army and the people, who clapped +their hands. There is one thing that I should do very wrong not to tell +you. In Egypt, in the desert close to Syria, the RED MAN came to him on +the Mount of Moses, and said, 'All is well.' Then, at Marengo, the night +before the victory, the same Red Man appeared before him for the second +time, standing erect and saying: 'Thou shalt see the world at thy feet; +thou shalt be Emperor of France, King of Italy, master of Holland, +sovereign of Spain, Portugal, and the Illyrian provinces, protector of +Germany, saviour of Poland, first eagle of the Legion of Honour--all.' +This Red Man, you understand, was his genius, his spirit--a sort of +satellite who served him, as some say, to communicate with his star. I +never really believed that. But the Red Man himself is a true fact. +Napoleon spoke of him, and said he came to him in troubled moments, and +lived in the palace of the Tuileries under the roof. So, on the day of +the coronation, Napoleon saw him for the third time; and they were in +consultation over many things. + +"After that, Napoleon went to Milan to be crowned king of Italy, and +there the grand triumph of the soldier began. Every man who could write +was made an officer. Down came pensions; it rained duchies; treasures +poured in for the staff which didn't cost France a penny; and the Legion +of Honour provided incomes for the private soldiers--of which I receive +mine to this day. So here were the armies maintained as never before on +this earth. But besides that, the Emperor, knowing that he was to be the +emperor of the whole world, bethought him of the bourgeois, and to +please them he built fairy monuments, after their own ideas, in places +where you'd never think to find any. For instance, suppose you were +coming back from Spain and going to Berlin--well, you'd find triumphal +arches along the way, with common soldiers sculptured on the stone, +every bit the same as generals. In two or three years, and without +imposing taxes on any of you, Napoleon filled his vaults with gold, +built palaces, made bridges, roads, scholars, fetes, laws, vessels, +harbours, and spent millions upon millions--such enormous sums that he +could, so they tell me, have paved France from end to end with +five-franc pieces, if he had had a mind to. + +"Now, when he sat at ease on his throne, and was master of all, so that +Europe waited his permission to do his bidding, he remembered his four +brothers and his three sisters, and he said to us, as it might be in +conversation, in an order of the day, 'My children, is it right that the +blood relations of your Emperor should be begging their bread? No. I +wish to see them in splendour like myself. It becomes, therefore, +absolutely necessary to conquer a kingdom for each of them--to the end +that Frenchmen may be masters over all lands, that the soldiers of the +Guard shall make the whole earth tremble, that France may spit where she +likes, and that all the nations shall say to her, as it is written on my +copper coins, '_God protects you!_' 'Agreed!' cried the army. 'We'll go +fish for thy kingdoms with our bayonets.' Ha! there was no backing down, +don't you see! If he had taken it into his head to conquer the moon, we +should have made ready, packed knapsacks, and clambered up; happily, he +didn't think of it. The kings of the countries, who liked their +comfortable thrones, were, naturally, loath to budge, and had to have +their ears pulled; so then--Forward, march! We did march; we got there; +and the earth once more trembled to its centre. Hey! the men and the +shoes he used up in those days! The enemy dealt us such blows that none +but the grand army could have borne the fatigue of it. But you are not +ignorant that a Frenchman is born a philosopher, and knows that a little +sooner, or a little later, he has got to die. So we were ready to die +without a word, for we liked to see the Emperor doing _that_ on the +geographies." + +Here the narrator nimbly described a circle with his foot on the floor +of the barn. + +"And Napoleon said, 'There, that's to be a kingdom.' And a kingdom it +was. Ha! the good times! The colonels were generals; the generals, +marshals; and the marshals, kings. There's one of 'em still on his +throne, to prove it to Europe; but he's a Gascon and a traitor to France +for keeping that crown; and he doesn't blush for shame as he ought to +do, because crowns, don't you see, are made of gold. I who am speaking +to you, I have seen, in Paris, eleven kings and a mob of princes +surrounding Napoleon like the rays of the sun. You understand, of +course, that every soldier had the chance to mount a throne, provided +always he had the merit; so a corporal of the Guard was a sight to be +looked at as he walked along, for each man had his share in the victory, +and 'twas plainly set forth in the bulletin. What victories they were! +Austerlitz, where the army manoeuvred as if on parade; Eylau, where we +drowned the Russians in a lake, as though Napoleon had blown them into +it with the breath of his mouth; Wagram, where the army fought for three +days without grumbling. We won as many battles as there are saints in +the calendar. It was proved then, beyond a doubt, that Napoleon had the +sword of God in his scabbard. The soldiers were his friends; he made +them his children; he looked after us, he saw that we had shoes, and +shirts, and great-coats, and bread, and cartridges; but he always kept +up his majesty; for, don't you see, 'twas his business to reign. No +matter for that, however; a sergeant, and even a common soldier, could +say to him, 'my Emperor,' just as you say to me sometimes, 'my good +friend.' He gave us an answer if we appealed to him; he slept in the +snow like the rest of us; and, indeed, he had almost the air of a human +man. I who speak to you, I have seen him with his feet among the +grape-shot, and no more uneasy than you are now--standing steady, +looking through his field-glass, and minding his business. 'Twas that +kept the rest of us quiet. I don't know how he did it, but when he spoke +he made our hearts burn within us; and to show him we were his children, +incapable of balking, didn't we rush at the mouths of the rascally +cannon, that belched and vomited shot and shell, without so much as +saying, 'Look out!' Why! the dying must needs raise their heads to +salute him and cry, 'LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!' + +"I ask you, was that natural? would they have done that for a human man? + +"Well, after he had settled the world, the Empress Josephine, his wife, +a good woman all the same, managed matters so that she did not bear him +any children, and he was obliged to give her up, though he loved her +considerably. But, you see, he had to have little ones for reasons of +state. Hearing of this, all the sovereigns of Europe quarrelled as to +which of them should give him a wife. And he married, so they told us, +an Austrian archduchess, daughter of Caesar, an ancient man about whom +people talk a good deal, and not in France only--where any one will +tell you what he did--but in Europe. It is all true, for I myself who +address you at this moment, I have been on the Danube, and have seen the +remains of a bridge built by that man, who, it seems, was a relation of +Napoleon in Rome, and that's how the Emperor got the inheritance of that +city for his son. So after the marriage, which was a fete for the whole +world, and in honour of which he released the people of ten years' +taxes--which they had to pay all the same, however, because the +assessors didn't take account of what he said--his wife had a little +one, who was King of Rome. Now, there's a thing that had never been seen +on this earth; never before was a child born a king with his father +living. On that day a balloon went up in Paris to tell the news to Rome, +and that balloon made the journey in one day. + +"Now, is there any man among you who will stand up here and declare to +me that all that was human? No; it was _written above_; and may the +scurvy seize 'em who deny that he was sent by God himself for the +triumph of France! + +"Well, here's the Emperor of Russia, that used to be his friend, he +gets angry because Napoleon didn't marry a Russian; so he joins with the +English, our enemies--to whom our Emperor always wanted to say a couple +of words in their burrows, only he was prevented. Napoleon gets angry +too; an end had to be put to such doings; so he says to us: 'Soldiers! +you have been masters of every capital in Europe, except Moscow, which +is now the ally of England. To conquer England, and India which belongs +to the English, it becomes our peremptory duty to go to Moscow,' Then he +assembled the greatest army that ever trailed its gaiters over the +globe; and so marvellously in hand it was that he reviewed a million of +men in one day. 'Hourra!'[9] cried the Russians. Down came all Russia +and those animals of Cossacks in a flock. 'Twas nation against nation, a +general hurly-burly, and beware who could; 'Asia against Europe,' as the +Red Man had foretold to Napoleon. 'Enough,' cried the Emperor, 'I'll be +ready.' + +"So now, sure enough, came all the kings, as the Red Man had said, to +lick Napoleon's hand! Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Poland, Italy, +every one of them were with us, flattering us; ah, it was fine! The +eagles never cawed so loud as at those parades, perched high above the +banners of all Europe. The Poles were bursting with joy, because +Napoleon was going to release them; and that's why France and Poland are +brothers to this day. 'Russia is ours,' cried the army. We plunged into +it well-supplied; we marched and we marched--no Russians. At last we +found the brutes entrenched on the banks of the Moskva. That's where I +won my cross, and I've got the right to say it was a damnable battle. +This was how it came about. The Emperor was anxious. He had seen the Red +Man, who said to him 'My son, you are going too fast for your feet; you +will lack men; friends will betray you.' So the Emperor offered peace. +But before signing, 'Let us drub those Russians!' he said to us. 'Done!' +cried the army. 'Forward, march!' said the sergeants. My clothes were in +rags, my shoes worn out, from trudging along those roads, which are very +uncomfortable ones; but no matter! I said to myself, 'As it's the last +of our earthquakings, I'll go into it, tooth and nail!' We were drawn up +in line before the great ravine--front seats, as 'twere. Signal given; +and seven hundred pieces of artillery began a conversation that would +bring the blood from your ears. Then--must do justice to one's +enemies--the Russians let themselves be killed like Frenchmen; they +wouldn't give way; we couldn't advance. 'Forward!' some one cried, 'here +comes the Emperor!' True enough; he passed at a gallop, waving his hand +to let us know we must take the redoubt. He inspired us; on we ran; I +was the first in the ravine. Ha! my God! how the lieutenants fell, and +the colonels, and the soldiers! No matter! all the more shoes for those +that had none, and epaulets for the clever ones who knew how to read. +'Victory!' cried the whole line; 'Victory!'--and, would you believe it? +a thing never seen before, there lay twenty-five thousand Frenchmen on +the ground. 'Twas like mowing down a wheat-field; only in place of the +ears of wheat put the heads of men! We were sobered by this time--those +who were left alive. The MAN rode up; we made the circle round him. Ha! +he knew how to cajole his children; he could be amiable when he liked, +and feed 'em with words when their stomachs were ravenous with the +hunger of wolves. Flatterer! he distributed the crosses himself, he +uncovered to the dead, and then he cried to us, 'On! to Moscow!' 'To +Moscow!' answered the army. + +"We took Moscow. Would you believe it? the Russians burned their own +city! 'Twas a haystack six miles square, and it blazed for two days. The +buildings crashed like slates, and showers of melted iron and lead +rained down upon us, which was naturally horrible. I may say to you +plainly, it was like a flash of lightning on our disasters. The Emperor +said, 'We have done enough; my soldiers shall rest here.' So we rested +awhile, just to get the breath into our bodies and the flesh on our +bones, for we were really tired. We took possession of the golden cross +that was on the Kremlin; and every soldier brought away with him a small +fortune. But out there the winter sets in a month earlier--a thing those +fools of science didn't properly explain. So, coming back, the cold +nipped us. No longer an army--do you hear me?--no longer any generals, +no longer any sergeants even. 'Twas the reign of wretchedness and +hunger--a reign of equality at last. No one thought of anything but to +see France once more; no one stooped to pick up his gun or his money if +he dropped them; each man followed his nose, and went as he pleased +without caring for glory. The weather was so bad the Emperor couldn't +see his star; there was something between him and the skies. Poor man! +it made him ill to see his eagles flying away from victory. Ah! 'twas a +mortal blow, you may believe me. + +"Well, we got to the Beresina, My friends, I can affirm to you by all +that is most sacred, by my honour, that since mankind came into the +world, never, never was there seen such a fricassee of any army--guns, +carriages, artillery-waggons--in the midst of such snows, under such +relentless skies! The muzzles of the muskets burned our hands if we +touched them, the iron was so cold. It was there that the army was saved +by the pontoniers, who were firm at their post; and there that +Gondrin--sole survivor of the men who were bold enough to go into the +water and build the bridges by which the army crossed--that Gondrin, +here present, admirably conducted himself, and saved us from the +Russians, who, I must tell you, still respected the grand army, +remembering its victories. And," he added, pointing to Gondrin, who was +gazing at him with the peculiar attention of a deaf man, "Gondrin is a +finished soldier, a soldier who is honour itself, and he merits your +highest esteem. + +"I saw the Emperor," he resumed, "standing by the bridge, motionless, +not feeling the cold--was that human? He looked at the destruction of +his treasure, his friends, his old Egyptians. Bah! all that passed him, +women, army-waggons, artillery, all were shattered, destroyed, ruined. +The bravest carried the eagles; for the eagles, d'ye see, were France, +the nation, all of you! they were the civil and the military honour that +must be kept pure; could their heads be lowered because of the cold? It +was only near the Emperor that we warmed ourselves, because when he was +in danger we ran, frozen as we were--we, who wouldn't have stretched a +hand to save a friend. They told us he wept at night over his poor +family of soldiers. Ah! none but he and Frenchmen could have got +themselves out of that business. We did get out, but with losses, great +losses, as I tell you. The Allies captured our provisions. Men began to +betray him, as the Red Man predicted. Those chatterers in Paris, who had +held their tongues after the Imperial Guard was formed, now thought he +was dead; so they hoodwinked the prefect of police, and hatched a +conspiracy to overthrow the empire. He heard of it; it worried him. He +left us, saying: 'Adieu, my children; guard the outposts; I shall return +to you,' Bah! without him nothing went right; the generals lost their +heads, the marshals talked nonsense and committed follies; but that was +not surprising, for Napoleon, who was kind, had fed 'em on gold; they +had got as fat as lard, and wouldn't stir; some stayed in camp when they +ought to have been warming the backs of the enemy who was between us and +France. + +"But the Emperor came back, and he brought recruits, famous recruits; he +changed their backbone and made 'em dogs of war, fit to set their teeth +into anything; and he brought a guard of honour, a fine body +indeed!--all bourgeois, who melted away like butter on a gridiron. + +"Well, spite of our stern bearing, here's everything going against us; +and yet the army did prodigies of valour. Then came battles on the +mountains, nations against nations--Dresden, Luetzen, Bautzen. Remember +these days, all of you, for 'twas then that Frenchmen were so +particularly heroic that a good grenadier only lasted six months. We +triumphed always; yet there were those English, in our rear, rousing +revolts against us with their lies! No matter, we cut our way home +through the whole pack of the nations. Wherever the Emperor showed +himself we followed him; for if, by sea or land, he gave us the word +'Go!' we went. At last, we were in France; and many a poor foot-soldier +felt the air of his own country restore his soul to satisfaction, spite +of the wintry weather. I can say for myself that it refreshed my life. +Well, next, our business was to defend France, our country, our +beautiful France, against, all Europe, which resented our having laid +down the law to the Russians, and pushed them back into their dens so +that they couldn't eat us up alive, as northern nations, who are dainty +and like southern flesh, have a habit of doing--at least, so I've heard +some generals say. Then the Emperor saw his own father-in-law, his +friends whom he had made kings, and the scoundrels to whom he had given +back their thrones, all against him. Even Frenchmen, and allies in our +own ranks, turned against us under secret orders, as at the battle of +Leipsic. Would common soldiers have been capable of such wickedness? +Three times a day men were false to their word--and they called +themselves princes! + +"So, then, France was invaded. Wherever the Emperor showed his lion +face, the enemy retreated; and he did more prodigies in defending France +than ever he had done in conquering Italy, the East, Spain, Europe, and +Russia. He meant to bury every invader under the sod, and teach 'em to +respect the soil of France. So he let them get to Paris, that he might +swallow them at a mouthful, and rise to the height of his genius in a +battle greater than all the rest--a mother-battle, as 'twere. But there, +there! the Parisians were afraid for their twopenny skins, and their +trumpery shops; they opened the gates. Then the Ragusades began, and +happiness ended. The Empress was fooled, and the white banner flaunted +from the windows. The generals whom he had made his nearest friends +abandoned him for the Bourbons--a set of people no one had heard tell +of. The Emperor bade us farewell at Fontainebleau: 'Soldiers!'--I can +hear him now; we wept like children; the flags and the eagles were +lowered as if for a funeral: it was, I may well say it to you, it was +the funeral of the Empire; her dapper armies were nothing now but +skeletons. So he said to us, standing there on the portico of his +palace: 'My soldiers! we are vanquished by treachery; but we shall meet +in heaven, the country of the brave. Defend my child, whom I commit to +you. Long live Napoleon II!' He meant to die, that no man should look +upon Napoleon vanquished; he took poison, enough to have killed a +regiment, because, like Jesus Christ before his Passion, he thought +himself abandoned of God and his talisman. But the poison did not hurt +him. + +"See again! he found he was immortal. + +"Sure of himself, knowing he must ever be THE EMPEROR, he went for a +while to an island to study out the nature of these others, who, you may +be sure, committed follies without end. Whilst he bided his time down +there, the Chinese, and the wild men on the coast of Africa, and the +Barbary States, and others who are not at all accommodating, know so +well he was more than man that they respected his tent, saying to touch +it would be to offend God. Thus, d'ye see, when these others turned him +from the doors of his own France, he still reigned over the whole world. +Before long he embarked in the same little cockleshell of a boat he had +had in Egypt, sailed round the beard of the English, set foot in France, +and France acclaimed him. The sacred cuckoo flew from spire to spire; +all France cried out with one voice, 'LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!' In this +region, here, the enthusiasm for that wonder of the ages was, I may say, +solid. Dauphine behaved well; and I am particularly pleased to know that +her people wept when they saw, once more, the gray top-coat. March first +it was, when Napoleon landed with two hundred men to conquer that +kingdom of France and of Navarre, which, on the twentieth of the same +month was again the French Empire. On that day our MAN was in Paris; he +had made a clean sweep, recovered his dear France, and gathered his +veterans together by saying no more than three words, 'I am here.' + +"'Twas the greatest miracle God had yet done! Before _him_, did ever man +recover an empire by showing his hat? And these others, who thought +they had subdued France! Not they! At sight of the eagles, a national +army sprang up, and we marched to Waterloo. There, the Guard died at one +blow. Napoleon, in despair, threw himself three times before the cannon +of the enemy without obtaining death. We saw that. The battle was lost. +That night the Emperor called his old soldiers to him; on the field +soaked with our blood he burned his banners and his eagles--his poor +eagles, ever victorious, who cried 'Forward' in the battles, and had +flown the length and breadth of Europe, _they_ were saved the infamy of +belonging to the enemy: all the treasures of England couldn't get her a +tail-feather of them. No more eagles--the rest is well known. The Red +Man went over to the Bourbons, like the scoundrel that he is. France is +crushed; the soldier is nothing; they deprive him of his dues; they +discharge him to make room for broken-down nobles--ah, 'tis pitiable! +They seized Napoleon by treachery; the English nailed him on a desert +island in mid-ocean on a rock raised ten thousand feet above the earth; +and there he is, and will be, till the Red Man gives him back his power +for the happiness of France. These others say he's dead. Ha, dead! 'Tis +easy to see they don't know Him. They tell that fib to catch the people, +and feel safe in their hovel of a government. Listen! the truth at the +bottom of it all is that his friends have left him alone on the desert +isle to fulfil a prophecy, for I forgot to say that his name, Napoleon, +means 'lion of the desert.' Now this that I tell you is true as the +Gospel. All other tales that you hear about the Emperor are follies +without common-sense; because, d'ye see, God never gave to child of +woman born the right to stamp his name in red as _he_ did, on the earth, +which forever shall remember him! Long live Napoleon, the father of his +people and of the soldier!" + + +THE END + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 9: Battle-cry of the Cossacks.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Folk Tales Every Child Should Know, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW *** + +***** This file should be named 15164.txt or 15164.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/6/15164/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Patricia A. Benoy, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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