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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Bluebeard, by Clifton Johnson, Illustrated by
+Harry L. Smith
+
+
+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: Bluebeard
+
+
+Author: Clifton Johnson
+
+
+
+Release Date: September 17, 2011  [eBook #37464]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUEBEARD***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 37464-h.htm or 37464-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37464/37464-h/37464-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37464/37464-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+Bedtime Wonder Tales
+
+BLUEBEARD
+
+by
+
+CLIFTON JOHNSON
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+        BEDTIME WONDER TALES
+                 BY
+          CLIFTON JOHNSON
+
+  Hop-o'-My-Thumb
+  The Babes in the Wood
+  The Brave Tin Soldier
+  The Fox and the Little Red Hen
+  Golden Hair and the Three Bears
+
+  Cinderella
+  Puss in Boots
+  Jack and the Beanstalk
+  Little Red Riding-Hood
+  The Story of Chicken-Licken
+
+  Bluebeard
+  Tom Thumb
+  The Pied Piper
+  The Sleeping Beauty
+  St. George and the Dragon
+
+    Other books will be added to
+   the series from time to time.
+
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+[Illustration: _Bluebeard's Wife and the Forbidden Room (Page 16)_]
+
+
+Bedtime Wonder Tales
+
+BLUEBEARD
+
+by
+
+CLIFTON JOHNSON
+
+Illustrated by Harry L. Smith
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+The Macaulay Company
+Publishers
+
+Copyright, 1920,
+By the Macaulay Company
+All Rights Reserved
+
+Printed in the U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY NOTE
+
+The books in this series of Bedtime Wonder Tales are made up of favorite
+stories from the folklore of all nations. Such stories are particularly
+enjoyed by children from four to twelve years of age. As here told they
+are free from the savagery, distressing details, and excessive pathos
+which mar many of the tales in the form that they have come down to us
+from a barbaric past. But there has been no sacrifice of the simplicity
+and humor and sweetness that give them perennial charm.
+
+The sources of the stories in this volume are as follows: Page 11,
+France; 24, Grimm; 36, England; 49, Hindustan; 58, Italy; 78, Germany;
+90, Scotland; 103, Japan; 118, Ireland; 127, American Negro.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+    CHAPTER                              PAGE
+          I Bluebeard                      11
+         II The Blood-Stained Key          17
+        III A Goblin in a Bottle           24
+         IV A Scholar's Fortune            32
+          V Yallery Brown                  36
+         VI A Troublesome Helper           43
+        VII The Little Jackal              49
+       VIII The Blind Ogre                 58
+         IX Seven Doves                    64
+          X Time and His Mother            71
+         XI Blockhead Hans                 78
+        XII The Rival Suitors              85
+       XIII Cunning Tom                    90
+        XIV A Miser's Hired Man            96
+         XV The Boy in a Peach            103
+        XVI A Warrior's Helpers           108
+       XVII The Island of Demons          113
+      XVIII Andrew Coffey                 118
+        XIX Careless Mr. Buzzard          127
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+     Bluebeard's Wife and the Forbidden Room            Frontispiece
+     The Goblin Threatens the Scholar                             28
+     The Alligator Goes to the Jackal's House                     54
+     Appealing to the Mother of Time                              72
+     Blockhead Hans and the Dead Crow                             82
+     The Monkey and the Warrior                                  110
+
+
+
+
+BLUEBEARD--AND OTHER FOLKLORE STORIES
+
+
+
+
+I--BLUEBEARD
+
+
+Once upon a time--but it was a long while ago; so long, indeed, that the
+oldest oaks in our forests were not yet acorns on the bough--there was a
+man who lived in a splendid house and had dishes of gold and silver,
+chairs and sofas covered with flowered satin, and curtains of the
+richest silk. But, alas! this man was so unlucky as to have a blue
+beard, which made him look so frightfully ugly that the first impulse of
+every woman and girl he met was to run away from him.
+
+In the same vicinity lived a lady of quality who had two beautiful
+daughters, and he wished to marry one of them. He was even willing to
+let the lady decide which of the two it should be.
+
+Neither of the daughters, however, would have him, and the lady sighed
+to think of her children's obstinacy in refusing to become the mistress
+of such a magnificent mansion. But they were not able to make up their
+minds to marry a man with a blue beard. Their aversion was increased by
+the fact that he already had had several wives, and no one knew surely
+what had become of them, though many were the excuses he made to account
+for their disappearance.
+
+At length Bluebeard, in order to cure the dislike of the lady's
+daughters, invited them and their mother and some young friends to spend
+a whole week at his house. They came, and nothing was thought of but
+feasting, dancing, and music, and parties for hunting and fishing.
+
+The guests were loaded with costly gifts and were so delightfully
+entertained that before many days had passed, Fatima, the younger of the
+two sisters, began to imagine that the beard, which she had thought was
+dreadfully ugly was not so _very_ blue after all. By the end of the week
+the kindness of her host had made such an impression that she concluded
+it would be a pity to refuse to become his wife on account of the
+trifling circumstance of his having a blue beard.
+
+So they were married shortly afterward, and at first everything went
+well. A month passed, and one morning Bluebeard told Fatima that he must
+go on a journey which would take him away for at least six weeks. He
+kissed her affectionately, gave her the keys of the whole mansion, and
+bade her amuse herself in any manner that she pleased while he was gone.
+
+"But, my dear," he added, in concluding, "I would have you notice among
+the keys the small one of polished steel. It unlocks the little room at
+the end of the long corridor. Go where you will and do what you choose,
+except in the matter of that one room, which I forbid your entering."
+
+Fatima promised faithfully to obey his orders, and she watched him get
+into his carriage while she stood at the door of the mansion waving her
+hand to him as he drove away.
+
+Lest she should be lonesome during her husband's absence, she invited
+numerous guests to keep her company. Most of them had not dared to
+venture into the house while Bluebeard was there, but now they came
+without any urging or delay, eager to see its splendors.
+
+They ran about upstairs and downstairs, peeping into the closets and
+wardrobes, admiring the rooms, and exclaiming over the beauties of the
+tapestries, sofas, cabinets, and tables, and of the mirrors in which
+they could see themselves from head to foot. With one consent they
+praised what they saw, and envied the good fortune of their friend, the
+mistress of all this magnificence.
+
+She went around unlocking the doors for their convenience until the only
+door that remained untouched was that of the obscure room at the end of
+the long corridor. She wondered why she had been forbidden to enter that
+room. What was there in it? Even if she did go in, her husband need
+never know that she had done so.
+
+The more she thought about it the more curious she became. Finally she
+left her guests and hurried along the dark narrow passage that led to
+the forbidden room. At the door she hesitated, recalling her husband's
+command, and fearful of his anger; but the temptation was too strong,
+and she tremblingly opened the door.
+
+The window shutters were closed and the light was so dim that at first
+she could see nothing. However, her eyes gradually became used to the
+dusk and she discovered that on the floor lay the bodies of all the
+wives Bluebeard had married.
+
+Fatima uttered a cry of horror, her strength left her, and she thought
+she would die from fear. The key of the room fell from her hand, but she
+picked it up, hastily retreated to the corridor, and locked the door.
+
+Yet she could not forget what she had seen, and when she returned to her
+guests her mind was too disturbed for her to attend to their comfort, or
+to attempt to entertain them. One by one they bade their hostess good-by
+and went home, until no one was left with her but her sister Anne.
+
+
+
+
+II--THE BLOOD-STAINED KEY
+
+
+After all the guests had gone, Fatima noticed a spot of blood on the key
+of the fatal room. She tried to wipe it off, but the spot remained. Then
+she washed the key with soap and scoured it with sand, but her efforts
+were in vain, for it was a magic key, and only Bluebeard himself had the
+power to remove the stain. At last she decided not to put it with the
+other keys, but to hide it, hoping her husband would not miss it.
+
+Bluebeard returned unexpectedly that very evening. He said a horseman
+had met him on the road and told him that the business which had taken
+him from home had been satisfactorily settled so there was no need of
+his making the long journey.
+
+Fatima tried to welcome her husband with every appearance of pleasure,
+but all the time she was dreading the moment when he should ask for the
+keys. This he did not do until the following morning. Then she gave them
+to him with such a blanched face and shaking hand that he easily guessed
+what had happened.
+
+"Why have you not brought me the key of the little room?" he asked
+sternly.
+
+"I must have left it on my table upstairs," she faltered.
+
+"Bring it to me at once," Bluebeard said, and she was forced to go and
+make a pretence of searching for it.
+
+When she dared delay no longer, she went to her husband and surrendered
+the key. He immediately demanded the cause of the stain on it, and she
+hesitated, at a loss what reply to make.
+
+"But why need I ask?" he shouted. "I know the meaning of it right well.
+You have disobeyed my commands and have been into the room I ordered you
+not to enter. So you shall go in again, madam, but you will never
+return. You shall take your place among the ladies you saw there."
+
+Fatima fell on her knees at his feet weeping and begging for mercy, but
+the cruel man had a heart like a stone, and he told her to prepare for
+death.
+
+"Since I must die," she said, "at least grant me a little time to say my
+prayers."
+
+"I will give you ten minutes, but not one moment more," Bluebeard
+responded.
+
+Poor Fatima hastened to a little turret chamber whither her sister had
+fled in terror and grief. "Sister Anne!" she cried, "go up to the top of
+the tower and see if our two brothers are coming. They promised to visit
+me today. If they should be in sight beckon them to come quickly."
+
+So the sister climbed the narrow staircase that led to the top of the
+tower. No sooner did she finish the ascent than Fatima called from
+below, "Anne, Sister Anne, do you see any one coming?"
+
+Anne replied sadly, "I see nothing but the sun shining and the grass
+growing tall and green."
+
+Several times Fatima put the same question and each time she received
+the same answer.
+
+Meanwhile Bluebeard was waiting with a scimitar in one hand and his
+watch in the other. At length he shouted in a fierce voice: "The ten
+minutes are almost gone! Make an end to your prayers!"
+
+"Anne, Sister Anne!" Fatima called softly, "look again. Is there no one
+on the road?"
+
+"I see a cloud of dust rising in the distance," Anne answered.
+
+"Perchance it is made by our brothers," Fatima said.
+
+"Alas! no, my dear sister," Anne responded. "The dust has been raised by
+a flock of sheep."
+
+"Fatima!" Bluebeard roared, "I command you to come down."
+
+"One moment--just one moment more!" the wretched wife sobbed.
+
+Then she called, "Anne, Sister Anne, do you see any one coming?"
+
+"I see two horsemen riding in this direction," Anne replied, "but they
+are a great way off."
+
+"They must be our brothers," Fatima said. "Heaven be praised! Oh, sign
+to them to hasten!"
+
+By this time the enraged Bluebeard was howling so loud for his wife to
+come down that his voice shook the whole mansion. Fatima dared delay no
+longer, and she descended to the great hall, threw herself at her wicked
+husband's feet, and once more begged him to spare her life.
+
+"Silence!" Bluebeard cried. "Your entreaties are wasted! You shall die!"
+
+He seized her by the hair and raised his scimitar to strike. At that
+moment a loud knocking was heard at the gates, and Bluebeard paused with
+a look of alarm.
+
+Anne had run down to let the brothers in, and they hurried to the hall,
+flung open the door, and appeared with swords ready drawn in their
+hands. They rushed at Bluebeard, and one rescued his sister from her
+husband's grasp while the other gave the wretch a sword-thrust that put
+an end to his life.
+
+So the wicked Bluebeard perished, and Fatima became mistress of all his
+riches. Part of her wealth she bestowed on her sister, Anne, and part on
+her two brothers. The rest she retained herself, and presently she
+married a man whose kind treatment helped her to forget her unfortunate
+experience with Bluebeard.
+
+
+
+
+III--A GOBLIN IN A BOTTLE
+
+
+Once upon a time there was a poor woodcutter who worked from daylight to
+dark, and as he spent little he saved some money. He had an only son,
+and one day he said to him: "This money which I have earned by the sweat
+of my brow shall be spent on your education. Go to school and learn
+something useful that you may be able to support me in my old age when
+my limbs become so stiff that I am obliged to sit at home."
+
+The son went away to a great school and was very industrious and made
+excellent progress. He had been at the school a long time, but had not
+learned all that was to be learned when his father's store of money was
+exhausted, and he was obliged to come home.
+
+"I can give you no more," his father said sadly, "for in these dear
+times I am scarcely able to earn my daily bread."
+
+"Make yourself easy as to that, my good father," the son responded. "I
+will suit myself to the times."
+
+When the father was about to go to the forest to chop, the son said, "I
+will go with you and help."
+
+"Ah! but you have never been used to such hard work," the father
+objected. "You must not attempt it. Besides, I have only one ax and no
+money to buy another."
+
+"Go and ask your neighbor to lend you an ax till I have earned enough to
+buy one for myself," the son said.
+
+So the father borrowed an ax, and he and the scholar went together to
+the forest, where the young man helped with the work and was very lively
+and merry. About noon, when the sun stood right over their heads, the
+father sat down to rest for a while and eat his dinner.
+
+The scholar, however, took his share of bread and said: "I am not tired.
+I will go a little deeper into the forest and look for birds' nests."
+
+"Oh, you silly fellow!" his father exclaimed, "why do you want to run
+about? You will get so weary you will not be able to raise your arm.
+Keep quiet a bit and sit down here with me."
+
+But the young man would not do that. He went off among the trees eating
+his bread and peeping about among the bushes for nests. To and fro he
+wandered until he came to an immense hollow oak tree. The tree was
+certainly hundreds of years old, and five men taking hold of hands could
+not have reached around it.
+
+The scholar had stopped to look at this great tree thinking that many a
+bird's nest must be built within its hollow trunk when he fancied he
+heard a voice. He listened and there came to his ears a half-smothered
+cry of "Let me out!"
+
+He looked around, but could see no one. Indeed, it seemed to him that
+the voice came from the ground. So he called, "Where are you?"
+
+The voice replied, "Here I am among the roots of the oak tree. Let me
+out! Let me out!"
+
+The scholar therefore began to search at the foot of the tree where the
+roots spread. Finally in a little hollow, he found a glass bottle. He
+picked it up and held it so he could look through toward the light. Then
+he perceived a thing inside shaped like a frog which kept jumping up and
+down.
+
+"Let me out! Let me out!" the thing cried again; and the scholar, not
+suspecting any evil, drew the stopper from the bottle.
+
+Immediately the little creature sprang forth, and it grew and grew until
+in a few moments it stood before the scholar a frightful goblin half as
+tall as the oak tree. "Do you know what your reward is for letting me
+out of that glass bottle?" the goblin cried with a voice of thunder.
+
+"No," the scholar answered without fear, "how should I?"
+
+"Then I will tell you that I must break your neck," the goblin
+announced.
+
+"You should have told me that before," the scholar said, "and you would
+have stayed where you were. But my head will remain on my shoulders in
+spite of you, for there are several people's opinions to be asked yet
+about this matter."
+
+[Illustration: _The Goblin Threatens The Scholar_]
+
+"Keep your people out of my way," the goblin snarled. "I was shut up in
+that bottle for a punishment, and I have been kept there for such a
+length of time that I long ago vowed I would kill whoever let me out for
+not coming to release me sooner. So I shall break your neck."
+
+"Softly, softly!" the scholar responded, "that is quicker said than
+done. I don't know whether to believe your word or not. You told me you
+were in that bottle. But how could such a giant as you are get into so
+small a space? Prove that you spoke the truth by retiring into the
+bottle, and afterward do what you please with me."
+
+Full of pride, the goblin boasted, "I can easily furnish you the proof
+you ask"; and he shrank and shrank until he was as small as before. Then
+he crept back into the bottle.
+
+Instantly the scholar replaced the stopper, and put the bottle once more
+where it had been among the oak roots. He picked up his ax and was about
+to go back to his father when the goblin cried lamentably: "Oh, let me
+out! Do let me out."
+
+"No, not a second time," the scholar said. "I shall not give you a
+chance to take my life again in a hurry, after I have got you safe."
+
+"Free me," the goblin pleaded, "and I will give you wealth that will
+last you your life-time."
+
+"No, no, you will only deceive me!" the scholar declared.
+
+"You are disregarding your own best interests," the goblin said.
+"Instead of harming you I will reward you richly."
+
+"Well, I will hazard letting him out," the scholar thought, "for he may
+after all keep his word."
+
+Then he addressed the goblin, saying: "I will release you. See to it
+that you do as you have promised."
+
+So he removed the stopper and the goblin jumped out and soon became as
+big as before. "Now you shall have your reward," the monster said, and
+he reached the scholar a little piece of rag. "Apply that to a wound,
+and the wound will at once heal," he explained; "or touch it to iron and
+the iron will change to silver."
+
+"I will try it," the scholar responded, and he went to the oak tree and
+slashed off a piece of bark with his ax. Then he touched the place with
+the rag, and immediately the wound closed up as if the bark had never
+been gashed at all.
+
+"That is quite satisfactory," the scholar said. "Now we can separate."
+
+"I thank you for releasing me," the goblin remarked as he turned away.
+
+"And I thank you heartily for your present," the scholar said.
+
+
+
+
+IV--A SCHOLAR'S FORTUNE
+
+
+After parting from the goblin, the young man went back to his father,
+who asked:
+
+"Where have you been roaming so long? You have neglected your work. I
+was quite certain you would do nothing of this kind well."
+
+"Be contented," was the son's response, "I will make up the lost time.
+Watch me while I cut down this tree at one blow."
+
+He rubbed his ax with the magic rag, and gave the tree a powerful blow,
+but because the ax-head had been changed into silver the edge turned
+over.
+
+"Ah, Father!" the son exclaimed, "do you see how poor an ax you have
+given me?"
+
+"What have you done?" the father cried. "That ax was borrowed, and you
+have ruined it. I must pay for it, but I know not how I shall do so."
+
+"Don't be troubled," the son said. "I will soon pay for the ax."
+
+"Why, you simpleton! how will you do that?" his father retorted. "You
+have nothing but what I give you. Some student nonsense is stuck in your
+head. Of wood-cutting you know nothing."
+
+"Well, Father," the son said, "I can work no more today now that my ax
+is spoiled. Let us make a holiday of the few hours that remain before
+sunset."
+
+"Eh, what?" his father cried, "do you think I can keep my hands in my
+pockets as you do? You can go home, but I must keep on with the
+chopping."
+
+"No," the son objected, "you must come, too, for this is the first time
+I have been in the forest, and I do not know the way out."
+
+At last he persuaded his father to accompany him. After they reached
+home the son took the damaged ax to a goldsmith in a neighboring town.
+"This ax-head is silver," the scholar told him. "I want to sell it."
+
+The goldsmith tested it to make sure of the quality of the metal,
+weighed it, and said, "Your ax is worth one hundred dollars, but I have
+not so much money in the shop."
+
+"Give me what you have," the scholar requested, "and I will trust you
+for the rest."
+
+So the goldsmith gave him eighty dollars, and the scholar tramped back
+home. "Father," he said, "I have some money now. Do you know what we
+will have to pay our neighbor to make good the loss of his ax?"
+
+"Yes," the father answered, "the ax was nearly new, and it cost him a
+dollar."
+
+"Then give him two dollars," the son said. "He will have no regrets when
+he gets double payment. Here are fifty dollars. Pay our neighbor and
+keep the rest for yourself. You shall live at your ease in future and
+never want again."
+
+"My goodness!" the man exclaimed, "where did you get this money?"
+
+The son told everything that had happened. He now could easily procure
+all the money he pleased, and the first use he made of his wealth was to
+return to school and learn as much as he could. Afterward, because he
+could heal all wounds with his rag, he became the most celebrated
+surgeon in the world.
+
+
+
+
+V--YALLERY BROWN
+
+
+Once upon a time there was a lad about eighteen years old named Tom
+Tiver who had hired out to work for a farmer. One beautiful Sunday night
+in July he was walking across a field. The weather was warm and still,
+and the air was full of little sounds as if the trees and grasses were
+softly chattering to themselves.
+
+But all at once there came from on ahead the most pitiful wailings that
+ever he had heard--a sobbing as of a child spent with fear and nearly
+heartbroken. Soon the sound changed to a moan, and then rose again in a
+long whimpering wailing that made Tom sick to hark to it. He began to
+look everywhere for the poor creature.
+
+"It must be Sally Barton's child," he thought. "She was always a flighty
+thing and never looks after it properly. Like as not she's flaunting
+about the lanes, and has clean forgot the baby."
+
+He looked and looked, yet he could see nought. Meanwhile the whimpering
+got louder and stronger and there seemed to be words of some sort
+mingled with the sobs. Tom harkened with all his ears, and heard the
+unhappy creature saying: "Oh! the stone, the great big stone! Oh! the
+stone on top!"
+
+He wondered where the stone might be, and he looked until he found,
+close to a hedge, a great flat stone almost buried in the earth and
+hidden in the matted grass and weeds. Down he fell on his knees and
+listened again. Clearer than ever, but tired with crying came the little
+sobbing voice, "Oh! oh! the stone, the stone on top!"
+
+Tom was scared, and he disliked to meddle with the thing, but he could
+not withstand the whimpering baby, and he tore like mad at the earth
+around the stone till he got his fingers under it and felt it loosening.
+Then a puff of warm air came out of the damp earth and the tangle of
+grass and growing things, and he tipped the stone back out of the way.
+
+Underneath where it had been was a cavity, and there lay a tiny thing on
+its back blinking up at the moon and at him. It was no bigger than a
+year old baby, but it had a great mass of hair and a heavy beard, and
+the hair and the beard were so long and so twisted round and round the
+creature's body that Tom could not see its clothes. The hair was yellow
+and silky like a child's, but the face of the thing was as old as if it
+had not been young and smooth for hundreds of years. There were just
+wrinkles and two bright black eyes set in a lot of shining yellow hair;
+and the skin was the color of fresh-turned earth in the spring--brown as
+brown could be--and its bare hands and feet were as brown as its face.
+The crying had stopped, but the tears were standing on its cheeks, and
+the tiny creature looked dazed in the moonshine and the night air.
+
+When its eyes got used to the moonlight it looked boldly up in Tom's
+face and said: "Tom, you are a good lad."
+
+The coolness with which it spoke was astonishing, and its voice was high
+and piping like the twittering of a little bird. Tom touched his hat,
+and tried to think what he ought to say.
+
+"Hoots!" the thing exclaimed, "you needn't be afraid of me. You have
+done me a good turn, and I'll do as much for you."
+
+Tom couldn't speak yet, but he thought, "Lord! for sure it's a bogle!"
+
+The creature seemed to know what passed in Tom's mind, for it instantly
+said: "I'm no bogle, but you'd better not ask what I am. Anyhow, I am a
+good friend of yours."
+
+Tom's knees smote together with terror. Certainly an ordinary body
+couldn't have known what he had been thinking, but the thing looked so
+kind and spoke so fair, that he made bold to say in a quavering voice,
+"Might I be asking to know your honor's name?"
+
+"H'm!" the creature said, pulling its beard, "as for that, you may call
+me Yallery Brown. That's the way I look as you plainly see, and 'twill
+do for a name as well as any other. I am your friend, Yallery Brown, my
+lad."
+
+"Thank you, master," Tom responded meekly.
+
+"And now," it said, "I'm in a hurry to-night. So tell me without delay
+what I can do for you. Would you like a wife? I can give you the finest
+lass in the town. Would you like riches? I can give you as much gold as
+you can carry. Or would you have me help you with your work? Only say
+the word."
+
+Tom scratched his head. "I have no hankering for a wife," he said.
+"Wives are bothersome bodies, and I have women folk at home who will
+mend my clothes. Gold is worth having, but if you could lighten my work
+that would suit me best of all. I can't abide work, and I'll thank--"
+
+"Stop!" Yallery Brown cried, as quick as lightning, "I'll help you and
+welcome, but if ever you thank me you'll never see me more. Remember
+that! I'll have no thanks"; and it stamped its tiny feet on the ground
+and looked as wicked as a raging bull. "Harken! you great lump!" it went
+on, calming down a bit. "If ever you need help, or get into trouble,
+call on me. Just say, 'Yallery Brown, come from the earth, I want you!'
+and I'll be with you at once; and now, good night."
+
+So saying, it picked a dandelion puff and blew the winged seeds all up
+into Tom's eyes and ears. When Tom could see again Yallery Brown was
+gone, and he would have thought he had been dreaming, were it not for
+the stone on end and the hole at his feet.
+
+
+
+
+VI--A TROUBLESOME HELPER
+
+
+Tom went home and to bed, and by morning he had nearly forgotten all
+about what had happened the previous evening. But when he went to start
+the day's work, there was none to do. The horses had been fed, the
+stables cleaned, and everything put in its proper place, and he had
+nothing to do but stand around with his hands in his pockets.
+
+So it was from morn till night, and so it was on the days that followed.
+All Tom's work was done by Yallery Brown, and better done than Tom
+himself could do it. No matter how much the master gave Tom to do, he
+could sit down at his ease while the work did itself. The hoe, or broom,
+or whatever it was would get into motion with no visible hand put to it
+and would finish the task in no time.
+
+Yallery Brown kept out of sight during the day, but in the gray
+twilight, after the sun had gone down, Tom often saw the tiny creature
+hopping around like a Will-of-the-Wisp without a lantern.
+
+At first Tom found it mighty fine to be relieved of his work. He had
+naught to do and good pay for it; but by and by things began to go
+wrong. His work continued to be done, but the work of the other lads was
+all undone. If his buckets were filled theirs were upset; if his tools
+were sharpened theirs were blunted and spoiled; if his horses were made
+as clean as daisies, theirs were splashed with muck, and so on.
+
+Day in and day out it was the same. Naturally the lads began to have
+hard feelings toward Tom, and they would not speak to him or go near
+him, and they carried tales to the master. So things went from bad to
+worse.
+
+Tom could not work even if he wished to; the spade would not stay in his
+hand, the scythe escaped from his grip, and the plow ran away from him.
+More than once he tried his best to do his tasks so that Yallery Brown
+would leave him and his fellow laborers alone. But he couldn't, and he
+was compelled to sit by and look on and have the cold shoulder turned on
+him while the uncanny thing was meddling with the others and working for
+him.
+
+At last matters got so bad that the master would keep Tom no longer, and
+if he had not discharged him the other lads would have left. They swore
+they would not stay on the same farm with him. Tom felt badly, for it
+was a good place; and he was very angry with Yallery Brown who had got
+him into such trouble.
+
+So he shook his fist in the air and shouted as loud as he could,
+"Yallery Brown, come from the earth, you scamp, I want you!"
+
+Hardly had the words left his lips when he felt something tweaking his
+leg behind, and he was pinched so hard that he jumped with the smart of
+it. He looked down and there was Yallery Brown with his shining hair and
+wrinkled face, and wicked glinting black eyes.
+
+Tom was in a fine rage, and he would have liked to kick the ugly
+creature, but he restrained himself and said, "Look here, master, I'll
+thank you to leave me alone after this. Do you hear? I want none of your
+help, and I'll have nothing more to do with you."
+
+The horrid thing broke into a screeching laugh, and pointed its brown
+finger at Tom. "Ho, ho, Tom!" it said, "you have thanked me, my lad, and
+I told you not to do so."
+
+"But I don't want your help," Tom yelled. "I only want never to see you
+again, and to have nothing more to do with you. Now go."
+
+The thing only laughed and screeched and mocked as long as Tom went on
+berating it, but as soon as his breath gave out it said with a grin:
+"Tom, my lad, I'll tell you something. Truly, I'll never help you again,
+and even if you call me you will not see me after today. But I never
+agreed to let you alone, and that I shall not do, my lad. I was where I
+could do no harm under that stone, Tom, and you let me out. If you had
+been wise I would have been your friend and worked for you, but I am
+your friend no longer, and in the future when everything goes crooked
+you can know that it is Yallery Brown's doing. Mark my words, will you?"
+
+Then it began to sing and curse and call down misfortunes on him, and it
+danced round Tom with its yellow hair and beard all flying and a savage
+scowl on its wrinkled bit of a face. Tom could only stand there shaking
+all over and staring down at the gruesome thing until at last it rose in
+the air and floated away on the wind over a wall out of sight with a
+parting shriek of cunning laughter.
+
+In the days and weeks and years that followed Tom worked here and he
+worked there, and turned his hand to this and to that, but whatever he
+did always went wrong. There was no end to Yallery Brown's spite even
+until Tom's life ended.
+
+
+
+
+VII--THE LITTLE JACKAL
+
+
+Once upon a time a little jackal lived near the bank of a great river.
+Every day he went down to the water to catch the crabs that were there.
+
+Not far away, in the same river, dwelt a cruel alligator. He saw the
+little jackal come down to the water every day, and he thought, "What a
+nice tender morsel that little jackal would make if I could only catch
+him!"
+
+One day the alligator hid in the mud, where the water was shallow near
+shore. Only the tip of his nose stuck out, and that looked very much
+like the back of a crab.
+
+Soon the little jackal came running along the bank of the river seeking
+his usual food. When he saw the end of the alligator's nose he thought
+he had found a fine big crab, and he put in his paw to scoop it out of
+the mud.
+
+The moment he did that, snap! the teeth of the alligator came together,
+and the jackal was caught by the paw. He was terribly frightened, for he
+knew the alligator intended to pull him into the river and eat him.
+
+However, he began to laugh, though the alligator's teeth hurt him sadly.
+"Oh, you stupid old alligator!" he said. "You thought you would catch my
+paw, and instead caught a bulrush root that I stuck down in the water to
+tickle your nose. Ha, ha! you silly, silly alligator."
+
+"Well, well," the alligator thought, "I am very much disappointed. I
+certainly supposed I had caught that little jackal. But it seems I have
+nipped nothing except a bulrush root. There is no use of holding on to
+that." So he opened his mouth.
+
+Then the little jackal snatched out his paw. "O stupid one!" he cried,
+"you really had caught me, and now you have let me go. Ha, ha!
+ring-a-ting, ring-a-ting! You'll never catch me again." So saying, off
+he ran up the bank and into the jungle.
+
+The alligator was furiously angry. "I was tricked by the little rascal
+that time," he said, "but if I get hold of him again he will not escape
+so easily."
+
+Once more the alligator hid in the mud and waited. But the little jackal
+came no more to the river. He was afraid, and he stayed in the woods
+living on figs that he gathered under a wild fig tree.
+
+Day after day passed and it became plain to the alligator that the
+little jackal was avoiding the river. So early one morning he crawled
+out of the water and dragged himself to the wild fig tree. There he
+gathered together a great heap of figs and hid under them.
+
+Shortly afterward the jackal came running to the fig tree, licking his
+lips, for he was very hungry. At sight of the great heap of figs he was
+delighted. "Now I will not have the trouble of picking up the figs
+scattered about on the ground," he said. "Somebody has piled them up all
+ready for me. How nice!"
+
+But when he went nearer he became suspicious, and thought, "It looks as
+though something might be hidden under those figs."
+
+Then he cried out: "What is the matter here? Usually, when I come to the
+fig tree, all the figs that are any good roll about in the wind. Those
+figs in the pile lie so still that I doubt if they are fit to eat. I
+will have to go to some other place to get good figs."
+
+The jackal's words made the alligator fear that he had failed again, and
+he thought: "This little jackal is very particular. I will just shake
+myself and make the figs roll about a trifle. Then he will come near
+enough for me to grab him."
+
+So the alligator shook himself, and away rolled the figs in all
+directions.
+
+"Oh, you stupid old alligator!" the jackal shouted; "if you had stayed
+still you might have caught me. Ring-a-ting, ring-a-ting! Thank you for
+shaking yourself and letting me know you were there!" Then away he ran
+as fast as his legs would carry him.
+
+The alligator gnashed his teeth with rage. "Never mind! I will catch
+this little jackal yet," he declared, and he hid in the tall grass
+beside the path that led to the fig tree.
+
+He waited there for several days, but he saw nothing of his intended
+victim. The jackal was afraid to come to the fig tree any more. He
+stayed in the jungle and fed on such roots and berries as he could find
+there, but found so little that he grew thin and miserable.
+
+One morning the alligator made his way to the jackal's house while the
+jackal was away. He squeezed in through the narrow doorway and hid under
+the heap of dead leaves that was the jackal's bed.
+
+Toward evening the little jackal came running home. He was very hungry,
+for he had found scarcely anything to eat all day, and he was very tired
+too. Just as he was about to go in and lie down on his bed he noticed
+that the sides of the doorway were scraped and broken as if some big
+animal had forced its way through.
+
+[Illustration: _The Alligator Goes to the Jackal's House_]
+
+The little jackal was terribly frightened. He thought, "Is it possible
+that the wicked alligator has come to hunt for me here in my own house
+and is waiting inside to catch me?"
+
+Then he called loudly: "What is the matter, house of mine? Every day
+when I come home you say, 'All is well, little jackal,' but today you
+say nothing, and I am afraid to come in."
+
+Of course the house did not really speak to him, but he wanted to find
+out if the alligator was there, and the alligator believed his words.
+The stupid creature thought, "I shall have to speak just as the house
+would speak or this tiresome little jackal will not come in."
+
+He made his voice as small and soft as he could, and said, "All is well,
+little jackal."
+
+Then the jackal knew that the alligator was in his house, and he was
+more scared than ever. However, he contrived to respond in a cheerful
+voice: "All right, little house! I will come in as soon as I have been
+to the brook for a drink of water."
+
+When the alligator heard these words he was filled with joy. He lay
+quite still under the leaves thinking: "Now I will have that little
+jackal at last. This time he shall not escape me."
+
+But while he waited, the jackal gathered together a great heap of dead
+wood and brush and piled it against the door of the house. When it was
+big enough, the jackal set fire to the heap. It blazed up with a great
+noise, and the wicked alligator was burned to death.
+
+Then the little jackal danced about singing:
+
+  "The alligator's dead, and I am glad!
+  Oh, ring-a-ting-a-ting; oh, ring-a-ting-ting!
+  The alligator's dead, and I am glad!"
+
+After that the little jackal went wherever he pleased in safety, and he
+ate so many figs and so many crabs that he became as fat as fat could
+be.
+
+
+
+
+VIII--THE BLIND OGRE
+
+
+In Italy dwelt a woman named Janella who had eight children. Seven of
+them were sons, but the youngest was a daughter.
+
+After the sons grew up they went off to see the world. They went on and
+on until they came to a wood in which dwelt an ogre. This ogre had been
+blinded by a woman while he lay asleep, and ever since then he had been
+such an enemy to womankind that he devoured all whom he could catch.
+
+When the youths arrived at the ogre's house, tired out with walking, and
+faint with hunger, they begged him, for pity's sake, to give them
+something to eat.
+
+The ogre replied that if they would serve him he would supply them with
+food. They would have nothing else to do but watch over his safety, each
+in turn, a day at a time.
+
+This seemed a very satisfactory arrangement to them, and they consented
+to remain in the service of the ogre. So he let them have all the lower
+part of the house to live in.
+
+After the brothers had been gone from home a long time, and no tidings
+of them were received, Channa, their sister, dressed for a journey and
+went to seek them. On and on she walked, asking at every place she came
+to whether any one had seen her seven brothers. Finally she got news at
+an inn of where they were, and away she went to the ogre's house in the
+wood.
+
+There she made herself known to her brothers and was received with great
+joy. After the greetings were over the youths told her to stay quietly
+in their part of the house so the ogre would not be aware of her
+presence. They also cautioned her to give a portion of whatever she had
+to eat to a cat which lived there. Otherwise the cat would do her harm.
+
+Channa heeded their advice and got along very well. She shared her food
+with the cat, always doing it fairly to the last morsel, and saying,
+"This for me--this for thee."
+
+But one day when the ogre sent the brothers out to do some hunting they
+left Channa a little basket of peas to cook. While shelling the peas,
+she found a hazel nut among them, and as ill-luck would have it she ate
+the nut, forgetting to give half to the cat. The latter, out of spite,
+ran to the hearth and put out the fire.
+
+Then Channa left the room and went upstairs to the blind ogre's part of
+the house. She asked him for a few coals, and when he heard a woman's
+voice he said: "Welcome, madam! Just you wait a while." Afterward he
+began to sharpen his teeth with a whetstone.
+
+She saw that she had made a mistake in not obeying her brother's orders,
+and she ran back to the room below. There she bolted the door and placed
+against it stools, tables, chests, and in fact everything she could
+move.
+
+As soon as the ogre had put an edge on his teeth he groped his way to
+the door and found it fastened. So he proceeded to kick it to break it
+open. The seven brothers came home while he was making all this
+disturbance, and the ogre accused them of treachery.
+
+Things might have gone badly had it not been for the cleverness of
+Grazio, the eldest, who said to the ogre: "She has fortified herself so
+securely inside that you cannot get at her. Come, I will take you to a
+place where we can seize her without her being able to defend herself."
+
+Then they led the ogre by the hand to the edge of a deep pit, where they
+gave him a push that sent him headlong to the bottom. After that they
+got shovels and covered him with earth.
+
+By and by they returned to the house and Channa unfastened the door.
+They told her to be more careful in future, and to beware of plucking
+any grass or other plant that might grow on the spot where the ogre was
+buried, or they would be changed into doves.
+
+"Heaven keep me from bringing such a misfortune on you!" Channa
+exclaimed.
+
+They took possession of all the ogre's goods, made themselves masters of
+the whole house, and lived very comfortably and merrily there until
+spring. Then it happened one morning when the brothers had gone off on
+some errand, that a poor pilgrim came to the ogre's wood. He was looking
+up at an ape perched in a pine tree when the creature threw a heavy cone
+at him. This struck him on the head so hard that the poor fellow set up
+a loud cry.
+
+Channa heard the noise and ran to where he was sitting on the ground
+hanging on to his bruised head. She took pity on him and plucked a tuft
+of rosemary which was growing on the ogre's grave near by. Then she
+hurried to the house and made a plaster of it with bread and salt. In a
+few minutes she rejoined the pilgrim and bound the plaster on his head.
+After that she had him go with her to the house where she gave him some
+breakfast. When he finished eating she sent him on his way.
+
+
+
+
+IX--SEVEN DOVES
+
+
+Scarcely had the pilgrim gone when seven doves came flying into the
+room, and said: "Behold your brothers turned to birds and made
+companions of snipes, woodpeckers, jays, owls, rooks, starlings,
+blackbirds, tom-tits, larks, kingfishers, wrens, and sparrows. We shall
+be persecuted by hawks, and hunters will try to shoot us. Ah! why did
+you pluck that accursed rosemary and bring such a calamity on us? Doves
+we must remain for the rest of our lives unless you find the Mother of
+Time. She can tell you how to get us out of our trouble."
+
+Channa was greatly distressed over what she had done, and said she would
+start at once searching for the Mother of Time. She urged them to make
+the ogre's house their home until she returned.
+
+Away she went and journeyed on and on until she came to the seashore,
+where the waves were banging against the rocks. A huge whale came to the
+surface close at hand, looked at her, and asked, "What are you seeking,
+my pretty maiden?"
+
+She replied, "I am seeking the Mother of Time."
+
+"Hear then what you must do," the whale said. "Go along the shore, and
+when you come to a river, follow it up to its source. There you will
+meet some one who will show you the way. But do me one kindness. After
+you have found the old woman, ask her how I can swim about safely
+without so often knocking on the rocks and being thrown up on the
+sands."
+
+"I will gladly do that for you," Channa said.
+
+Then she thanked the whale and walked on along the shore. At length she
+came to a river and followed it up to its source in a beautiful open
+country of meadows starred with flowers. There she met a mouse who said
+to her, "Where are you going all alone, my pretty maiden?"
+
+"I am seeking the Mother of Time," Channa replied.
+
+"You have a long way to go," the mouse commented. "But do not lose
+heart. Go to yonder mountain, and you will obtain more news to help you
+in your search. And when you find the Mother of Time, will you do me one
+favor? Ask her what we mice can do to get rid of the tyranny of the
+cats."
+
+Channa promised to do this for the mouse, and trudged off toward the
+mountain. When she got to it she sat down on a stone to rest. Some ants
+were busy close by, and one of them addressed Channa, saying, "Who are
+you and whither are you going?"
+
+She answered, "I am an unhappy girl who is seeking the Mother of Time."
+
+"Then keep on over the mountain to a large plain, and there you will get
+more news," the ant said. "After you find the old woman please ask her
+how the ants can live longer. We store up a great deal of food, and this
+seems to me a folly while our lives are so short."
+
+"Be at ease," Channa responded. "You can be sure that I will do your
+errand."
+
+Then she toiled on over the mountain to the great plain, where a
+wide-spreading old oak tree called to her as she was passing. "Whither
+are you going so sad, my little lady?" it said. "Come and rest in my
+shade."
+
+She thanked the old oak, but begged to be excused from stopping because
+she was going in haste to find the Mother of Time.
+
+"You are not far from her dwelling," the oak announced. "Before you have
+finished another day's journey you will get to a high mountain on the
+summit of which is the home of her whom you seek. If you have as much
+kindness as beauty you will oblige me by asking her why it is that my
+fruit which used to be relished by strong men is now only made the food
+of hogs."
+
+"It will be a pleasure to do you such a service," Channa affirmed, and
+departed.
+
+The next day she arrived at the foot of a mountain which had its summit
+far up among the clouds. There she found an old man, wearied and
+wayworn, who had lain down on some hay. The moment he saw Channa he knew
+her, for he was the pilgrim to whom she had ministered. When she told
+him what she was seeking he responded that at last he could make some
+return for her kindness.
+
+"My pretty maiden," he said, "I would have you know that on the top of
+this mountain you will find a castle which was built so long ago that no
+one knows when it was built. The walls are cracked, the foundations are
+crumbling, the doors are worm-eaten, the furniture is worn out, and, in
+short, everything is gone to wrack and ruin.
+
+"When you are almost to the castle, hide until Time goes out. After he
+has gone, enter, and you will find an old, old woman, whose face is
+covered with deep wrinkles, and whose eyebrows are so shaggy she will
+not be able to see you. She is seated on a clock which is fastened to
+the wall.
+
+"Go in quickly and take off the weights that keep the machinery of the
+clock in motion. Then ask the old woman to answer your questions. She
+will instantly call her son to come and destroy you, but because you
+have stopped the clock by taking the weights he cannot move. Therefore
+she will be obliged to tell you what you want to know."
+
+
+
+
+X--TIME AND HIS MOTHER
+
+
+When the pilgrim finished speaking, Channa climbed the mountain and
+arrived in the vicinity of the castle quite out of breath. There she
+waited till Time came out. He was an old man with a long beard, he wore
+a cloak and carried a scythe, and he had large wings that bore him
+swiftly out of sight.
+
+Channa now entered the castle, and though she gave a start of fright
+when she saw the strange old woman, she hastened to seize the weights of
+the clock and tell what she wanted.
+
+The old woman at once called loudly to her son, but Channa said, "You
+will not see your son while I hold these clock-weights."
+
+Thereupon the old woman began to coax Channa, saying: "Let go of them,
+my dear. Do not stop my son's course. No one has ever done that before.
+Let go of the weights, and may Heaven reward you."
+
+"You are wasting your breath," Channa responded. "You must say something
+better than that if you would have me quit my hold."
+
+"Well then," the old woman said, "hide behind the door, and when Time
+comes home I will make him tell me all you wish to know. As soon as he
+goes out again you can depart."
+
+Channa let go the weights and hid behind the door. Presently Time came
+flying in, and his mother repeated to him the maiden's questions.
+
+[Illustration: _Appealing to the Mother of Time_]
+
+In reply he said: "The oak tree will be honored as it was of yore when
+men find the treasure that is buried among its roots. The mice will
+never be safe from the cat unless they tie a bell to her neck to warn
+them when she is coming. The ants will live a hundred years if they will
+dispense with flying, for when an ant is going to die it puts on wings.
+The whale should make friends with the sea-mouse, who will serve as a
+guide so that the monster will never go astray. The doves will resume
+their former shape when they fly and alight on the column of riches."
+
+So saying, Time went forth to run his accustomed race. Then Channa bade
+the old woman farewell and descended the mountain. She arrived at the
+foot just as the seven doves arrived there. Her long absence had made
+them anxious, and they had come to look for her. They alighted on the
+horn of a dead ox, and at once they changed to the handsome youths they
+had been formerly.
+
+While they were marveling at this transformation Channa greeted them and
+told them what Time had said. Then they understood that the horn, as the
+symbol of plenty, was what he called the column of wealth.
+
+Now they all started on the return journey, taking the same road by
+which Channa had come. When they arrived at the old oak and she informed
+the tree of what Time had said, the oak begged them to take away the
+treasure from its roots. So the seven brothers borrowed tools in a
+neighboring village and dug till they unearthed a great heap of gold
+money. This they divided into eight parts and shared it between
+themselves and their sister.
+
+After according to the oak tree the honor it so much desired they again
+tramped along the homeward road, and when they became weary lay down to
+sleep under a hedge. Presently they were seen there by a band of robbers
+who tied them hand and foot, and carried off their money.
+
+They bewailed the loss of their wealth which had so soon slipped through
+their fingers, and they were anxious lest they should perish of
+starvation or be devoured by wild beasts. As they were lamenting their
+unhappy lot the mouse whom Channa had met appeared. She told it what
+Time had said about getting rid of the tyranny of the cats, and the
+grateful mouse nibbled the cords with which they were bound till it set
+them free.
+
+Somewhat farther on they encountered the ant which listened eagerly
+while Channa repeated Time's advice. Then it asked her why she was so
+pale and downcast.
+
+So she related how the robbers had tricked them.
+
+"Cheer up," the ant said. "Now I can requite the kindness you have done
+me. I know where those robbers hide their plunder. Follow me."
+
+The ant guided them to a group of tumble-down houses and showed them a
+pit which the brothers entered. There they found the money which had
+been stolen from them, and off they went with it to the seashore. The
+whale came to speak with them, and was rejoiced to learn what Time had
+said.
+
+While they were talking with the whale, they saw the robbers coming,
+armed to the teeth.
+
+"Alas, alas!" they cried, "now we are lost."
+
+"Fear not," the whale said. "I can save you. Get on my back and I will
+carry you to a place of safety."
+
+Channa and her brothers climbed on the whale who carried them to within
+sight of Naples. There it left them on the shore and they returned to
+their old home safe and sound and rich. Thereafter they enjoyed a happy
+life, in accord with the old saying, "Do all the good you can and make
+no fuss about it."
+
+
+
+
+XI--BLOCKHEAD HANS
+
+
+Far away in the country was an old mansion in which dwelt a squire well
+along in years and his two sons. These sons thought themselves
+exceedingly clever. Indeed, they were convinced that had they known only
+half of what they did know, it would have been quite enough.
+
+Both wanted to marry the king's daughter. She had proclaimed that she
+would have for her husband the man who knew best how to choose his
+words, and they were confident that one or the other of them was certain
+to win her.
+
+Only a week was allowed to prepare for the wooing, but that was plenty
+long enough for the two brothers. One knew the whole Latin dictionary by
+heart. He also knew three years' issue of the daily paper of the town so
+he could repeat backward or forward as you pleased all that had appeared
+in it.
+
+The other had studied the laws of corporation and thought he could speak
+with wisdom and authority on matters of state. Besides, he was very
+expert with his fingers and could embroider roses and other flowers or
+figures in a manner that gave his friends great pleasure.
+
+The old father gave each of the sons a fine horse. He presented a black
+horse to the one who knew the dictionary and the daily paper by heart,
+and the other, who was so clever at corporation law, received a
+milk-white steed. Just before they started, the young men oiled the
+corners of their mouths that they might be able to speak more fluently.
+
+The squire had a third son, but nobody thought him worth counting. He
+was not learned as his brothers were and was generally called "Blockhead
+Hans." While the servants stood in the courtyard watching the two clever
+youths mount their horses Hans chanced to appear.
+
+"Well, well!" he said, "where are you off to? You are in your
+Sunday-best clothes."
+
+"We are going to the royal court to woo the princess," they replied.
+"Haven't you heard what has been proclaimed throughout all the
+countryside?"
+
+They told him about it, and Hans shouted, "Hurrah! I'll go too." The
+brothers laughed at him and rode off.
+
+"Dear father," Blockhead Hans said, "I must have a horse. Perhaps I can
+win the princess. If she will have me, she will. If she won't have me,
+she won't."
+
+"Stop that nonsense!" the old man ordered. "I will not give you a horse.
+You can't speak wisely. You don't know how to choose your words. But
+your brothers--ah! they are very different lads."
+
+"All right," Hans said, "I have a goat. If you won't give me a horse,
+the goat will have to serve instead. He can carry me."
+
+So he put a bridle on his goat, got on its back, dug his heels into its
+sides and went clattering down the road like a hurricane. Hoppitty hop!
+What a ride!
+
+"Here I come!" Blockhead Hans shouted, and he sang so that the echoes
+were roused near and far.
+
+Once he stopped and picked up a dead crow. Presently he overtook his
+brothers as they rode slowly along on their fine horses. They were not
+speaking, but were turning over in their minds all the clever things
+they intended to say, for everything had to be thought out.
+
+"Hello!" Blockhead Hans bawled, "here I am. Just see what I found on the
+road." And he proudly held up the dead crow for them to look at.
+
+"You foolish lad," his brothers said, "what are you going to do with
+it?"
+
+"I shall give it to the princess," he answered.
+
+"Do so, certainly!" they said, laughing loudly and riding on.
+
+Blockhead Hans thought he would continue the journey in their company,
+but he saw an old wooden shoe by the roadside. Such a prize was not to
+be neglected, and he got off his goat and picked it up. Then he cantered
+along the highway till he came up behind his brothers.
+
+"Slap, bang! here I am!" he shouted. "See what I have just found? Such
+things are not to be picked up every day on the road!"
+
+[Illustration: _Blockhead Hans and the Dead Crow_]
+
+The brothers turned round to learn what in the world he could have
+found.
+
+"Simpleton!" they said, "that cracked old shoe is absolutely worthless.
+Are you going to take that to the princess?"
+
+"Of course I shall," Blockhead Hans replied, and the brothers laughed
+and rode along.
+
+But the lad on the goat soon brought them to a standstill by hopping off
+his goat and shouting: "Hurrah! Here's the best treasure of all!"
+
+"What have you found now?" the brothers asked.
+
+"Oh! something more for the princess," he said. "How pleased she will
+be!"
+
+"Why, that is pure mud, straight from the ditch!" the brothers
+exclaimed.
+
+"Of course it is!" Blockhead Hans responded. "There never was any better
+mud. See how it runs through my fingers."
+
+So saying, he filled his coat pocket with it. The brothers did not enjoy
+these interruptions or his company, and they rode off with such speed
+that they were hidden in a cloud of dust raised by their horses' hoofs.
+They reached the gate of the royal city a good hour before Blockhead
+Hans did.
+
+
+
+
+XII--THE RIVAL SUITORS
+
+
+Each suitor for the hand of the princess was numbered as he arrived and
+had to wait his turn. They waited as patiently as they could, standing
+in line closely guarded to prevent the jealous rivals from getting into
+a fight with one another.
+
+A crowd of people had gathered in the throne room at the palace to look
+on while the princess received her suitors, and as each suitor came in
+all the fine phrases he had prepared passed out of his mind. Then the
+princess would say: "It doesn't matter. Away with him!"
+
+At last the brother who knew the dictionary by heart appeared, but he
+did not know it any longer. The floor creaked, and the ceiling was made
+of glass mirrors so that he saw himself standing on his head. At one of
+the windows were three reporters and an editor, and each of them was
+writing down what was said to publish it in the paper that was sold at
+the street corners for a penny. All this was fearful. You couldn't blame
+him for feeling nervous.
+
+"It is very hot in here, isn't it?" was the only thing that the brother
+who knew the dictionary could think of to say.
+
+"Of course it is," the princess responded. "We are roasting young
+chickens for dinner today."
+
+The youth cleared his throat. "Ahem!" There he stood like an idiot. He
+was not prepared for such remarks from the princess. How nice it would
+be to make a witty response! But he could think of nothing appropriate,
+and all he did was to clear his throat again. "Ahem!"
+
+"It doesn't matter," the princess said. "Take him out." And out he had
+to go.
+
+Now the other brother entered. "How hot it is here!" he said.
+
+The princess looked as if she thought him tiresome as she responded: "Of
+course. We are roasting young chickens today."
+
+"Where do you--um?" the youth stammered, and the reporters wrote down,
+"Where do you--um?"
+
+"It doesn't matter," the princess said. "Take him out."
+
+After a while Blockhead Hans had his turn. He rode his goat right into
+the room and exclaimed, "Dear me, how awfully hot it is here!"
+
+The princess looked at him and his goat with more interest than she
+showed in most of her suitors and said: "Of course! We are roasting
+young chickens today."
+
+"That's good," Blockhead Hans commented; "and will you let me roast a
+crow with them?"
+
+"Gladly," the princess responded; "but have you anything to roast it in?
+I have neither pot nor saucepan to spare."
+
+"That's all right," Blockhead Hans told her. "Here is a dish that will
+serve my purpose." And he showed her the wooden shoe and laid the crow
+in it.
+
+The princess laughed and said, "If you are going to prepare a dinner you
+ought at least to have some soup to go with your crow."
+
+"Very true," he agreed, "and I have it in my pocket." Then he showed her
+the mud he was carrying.
+
+"I like you," the princess declared. "You can answer when you are spoken
+to. You have something to say. So I will marry you. But do you know that
+every word we speak is being recorded and will be in the paper tomorrow.
+Over by the window not far from where we are you can see three reporters
+and an old editor. None of them understands much and the editor doesn't
+understand anything."
+
+At these words the reporters giggled, and each dropped a blot of ink on
+the floor.
+
+"Ah! those are great people," Blockhead Hans remarked. "I will give the
+editor something to write about."
+
+Then he took a handful of mud from his pocket and threw it smack in the
+great man's face.
+
+"That was neatly done!" the princess said--"much better, in fact, than I
+could have done it myself."
+
+She and Blockhead Hans were married, and presently he became king and
+wore a crown and sat on the throne. At any rate so the newspaper said,
+but of course you can't believe all you see in the papers.
+
+
+
+
+XIII--CUNNING TOM
+
+
+Once there was a bad boy named Tom, and the older he grew, the wiser and
+slyer he thought himself. Many were the tricks he played until no one
+liked him or trusted him.
+
+One day he asked his grandmother for some money. She had plenty, but she
+would not give him any. So that evening Tom went to the pasture and
+caught the old woman's black cow. He took the cow to a deserted house
+which stood at a distance from any other, and there he kept her two or
+three days, giving her food and water at night when nobody would see him
+going and coming.
+
+Tom made his grandmother believe that some one had stolen the cow. This
+was a great grief to her. At last she told the lad to buy her another
+cow at a fair in a neighboring town, and she gave him three pounds with
+which to make the purchase.
+
+He promised to get one as near like the other as possible and went off
+with the money. Then he took a piece of chalk, ground it into powder,
+steeped it in a little water and rubbed it in spots and patches over the
+head and body of the cow he had hidden.
+
+Early the next morning he took her to an inn near the fair and spent the
+day in pleasure. Toward evening he drove the cow home before him, and as
+soon as he got to his grandmother's the cow began to bellow.
+
+The old woman ran out rejoicing for she thought her own black cow had
+been found, but when she saw the spots and patches of white she sighed
+and exclaimed, "Alas, you'll never be the kindly brute my Black Lady
+was, though you bellow exactly like her."
+
+"'Tis a mercy you know not what the cow says," Tom remarked to himself,
+"or all would be wrong with me."
+
+The old woman put her cow to pasture the following morning, but there
+came on a heavy shower of rain, which washed away the chalk. So the old
+woman's Black Lady came home at night and the new cow went away with the
+shower and was never heard of afterward.
+
+But Tom's father had some suspicions, and he looked closely at the cow's
+face and found some of the chalk still remaining. Then he gave Tom a
+hearty beating and turned him out of the house.
+
+Tom traveled about from place to place, and by hook or by crook
+contrived to make a living till he reached the size and years of a man.
+He was always planning ways to get hold of other people's money, for he
+did not like to exert himself to earn what he needed.
+
+Once he met a party of reapers seeking work. At once he hired the whole
+company of about thirty and agreed to give them a week's reaping at ten
+pence a day, which was two pence higher than any had gotten that year.
+This made the poor reapers think he was a very honest, generous, and
+genteel master.
+
+Tom took them to an inn and gave them a hearty breakfast. "Now," he
+said, "there are so many of you together, it's quite possible that while
+most are honest men, some may be rogues. You will have to sleep nights
+together in a barn, and your best plan is to give what money you have to
+me to keep safe for you. I'll mark down each sum in a book opposite the
+name of the man whose it is, and you shall have it all when I pay you
+your wages."
+
+"Oh! very well, there's my money, and there's mine, and here's mine,"
+they said.
+
+Some gave him five, six, seven, and eight shillings, all they had earned
+through the harvest. Tom now went with them out of the village to a
+field of standing grain, remote from any house, and set the men at work.
+Then he left, telling them he was going to order dinner for them, but in
+reality he set off at top speed to get as far away from them as
+possible, lest, when they found out his trick, they should follow and
+overtake him.
+
+Soon the farmer to whom the grain belonged saw the reapers in his field
+and came to ask what they were about. "Stop!" he cried, "I have given
+you no orders to reap this grain, and besides it is not ripe."
+
+At first they persisted in keeping on with the work, but finally the
+farmer convinced them that they had been fooled, and the reapers went
+away sorely lamenting their misfortune.
+
+
+
+
+XIV--A MISER'S HIRED MAN
+
+
+Tom escaped, but it was a rough life he led, and he was always in fear
+of punishment for his many misdeeds. At last he concluded he had had
+enough of depending on his wits for a livelihood and decided he would go
+to work.
+
+So he hired himself to an old miser of a farmer with whom he continued
+several years. On the whole he made a good servant, and though he
+sometimes played tricks on those about him, it was his habit to make
+good any damage he did.
+
+His master was a miser, as I have said, and he and his help ate supper
+with no other light than that of the fire, for he would not furnish
+candles. Tom did not like this, and one night he thrust his spoon into
+the middle of the soup dish where the soup was hottest and clapped a
+spoonful into his master's mouth.
+
+"You rascal!" his master cried, "my mouth is all burned."
+
+"Then why do you keep the house so dark?" Tom asked. "I can't half see,
+and what wonder is it if I missed the way to my own mouth and got the
+spoon in your mouth, instead?"
+
+After that they always had a candle on the table at supper, for his
+master would feed no more in the dark while Tom was present.
+
+One day a butcher came and bought a fine fat calf from Tom's master. He
+tied its legs, took it on the horse's back in front of him, and off he
+went.
+
+"Master," Tom said, "what do you say to playing a joke on that fellow?
+With your leave I'll get that calf away from him before he has gone two
+miles, and he won't know what has become of it either."
+
+"You can try," the master said, "but I don't believe you can do it."
+
+So Tom went into the house, got a pretty shoe with a silver buckle to it
+that belonged to the servant maid and ran across a field till he got
+ahead of the butcher. He threw the shoe into the middle of the highway
+and hid behind a hedge. The butcher came riding along with the calf
+before him.
+
+"Hey!" he said, "there's a fine lady's shoe. If it wasn't that this calf
+makes it a great trouble to get off and on I'd alight and pick the shoe
+up. But after all what is the use of one shoe without its neighbor?"
+
+On he rode and let it lie. Tom then slipped out from behind the hedge,
+secured the shoe, and ran across the fields till he again got before the
+butcher. He threw the shoe into the middle of the road and once more
+crouched behind the hedge and waited.
+
+Along came the butcher, and saw the shoe. "Now," he said, "I can have a
+pair of good shoes for the lifting. I'll take them home and put my old
+woman in a good humor for once."
+
+Down he got, lifted off the calf, tied his horse to the hedge, and ran
+back, thinking to get the other shoe. While he was gone Tom picked up
+the calf and the shoe and tramped off home.
+
+The butcher did not find the shoe he went back to get, and when he
+returned to his horse the other shoe was gone and so was his calf. "No
+doubt the calf has broken the rope that was about its feet," he said,
+"and has run into the fields."
+
+So he spent a long time searching for it amongst the hedges and ditches.
+Finally he returned to Tom's master and told him a long story of how he
+had lost the calf by means of a pair of shoes, which he believed the
+devil himself must have dropped in the roadway and had picked up later
+and the calf too.
+
+"I suppose I ought to be thankful," he said in concluding, "that I have
+my old horse left to carry me home so that I don't have to walk."
+
+"Wouldn't you like to buy another calf?" Tom asked.
+
+"Why, yes," the butcher responded, "if you have one to sell."
+
+Tom then brought from the barn the very calf that the butcher had lost,
+but as Tom had made a fine white face on it with chalk and water, the
+butcher did not recognize it. So the sale was made, its legs were tied
+and it was hoisted onto the horse in front of the butcher. As soon as he
+was gone, Tom told his master he believed he could get the calf again.
+
+"Oh, no!" the farmer said, "you've fooled him once and he'll be on the
+lookout for mischief now. But you can try if you want to."
+
+Away ran Tom through the fields until he got ahead of the butcher near
+where he had taken the calf from him. There he hid behind the hedges and
+as the butcher was passing he put his hand on his mouth and cried, "Baw,
+baw!" like a calf.
+
+When the butcher heard this he stopped his horse. "There's the calf I
+lost," he said.
+
+Down he got, lifted the calf from his horse to the ground, and scrambled
+hastily through the hedge, thinking he would lay his hands on the lost
+calf in a few moments. But as he went through one part of the hedge, Tom
+went through another, got the calf on his back and hurried through the
+fields home.
+
+The poor butcher spent his time in vain running hither and thither
+seeking his calf. At last he returned to his horse, and when he found
+his other calf gone he concluded the place was bewitched.
+
+"Oh, misfortunate day!" he cried, "what shall I do now? and what'll Joan
+say when I get home, for my money's gone, and the two calves are gone,
+and I can't buy her the shawl I promised to get."
+
+Back he went to the farmer lamenting his loss. But the farmer thought
+the joke had been carried far enough now. He told him what had happened
+and gave him his calf and the second payment of money. So the butcher
+went off well satisfied, for he had had a good deal of fun for his
+trouble, had he not?
+
+
+
+
+XV--THE BOY IN A PEACH
+
+
+It was the beginning of summer. On the bank of a river in Japan an old
+woman kneeled washing clothes. She took the clothes from a basket beside
+her and washed them in the water, which was so clear that you could
+plainly see the stones at the bottom and the dartings of the little
+minnows.
+
+Presently there came floating down the stream a big round
+delicious-looking peach.
+
+"Well," the woman said, "I am sixty years old, and never before have I
+seen so large and handsome a peach. It must be fine to eat."
+
+She looked about for a stick with which to reach the peach, but saw
+none. For a moment she was perplexed. Then she clapped her hands, and
+nodded her head while she sang these words:
+
+  "Far waters are bitter, near waters are sweet--
+  Leave the bitter, come to the sweet."
+
+She sang the words three times, whereupon, strange to say, the peach
+rolled over and over in the water till it came to the shore in front of
+her.
+
+"How delighted my old man will be!" she thought as she picked it up.
+
+Then she packed the clothes she had been washing into the basket and
+hurried home. Soon she saw her husband returning from the mountain where
+he had been cutting grass. She ran to meet him and showed him the peach.
+
+"Dear me!" the old man said, "it is wonderful. Where did you buy it?"
+
+"Buy it? I did not buy it," she replied. Then she told him how she got
+it from the river.
+
+"I feel hungry," the old man affirmed. "Let us eat the peach at once."
+
+They went to the house and got a knife. But just as the old man was
+about to cut the peach he heard a child's clear voice say, "Good sir,
+wait!"
+
+Instantly the peach split in two halves, and out danced a little boy
+less than six inches high. This was so unexpected that the man and woman
+nearly fainted with astonishment and fright.
+
+"Do not be afraid," the boy said. "You have often lamented that you have
+no child, and I have been sent to be your son."
+
+The old couple were very much pleased, and they did all they could to
+show how welcome he was to their home. Peach-boy was the name they gave
+him. The years passed, and he grew to be a man remarkable for his
+beauty, his courage, and, above all, for his great strength.
+
+One day he came to the old man and old woman and said: "Father, your
+kindness has been higher than the mountain on which you cut grass; and
+Mother, yours has been deeper than the river in which you wash clothes.
+How can I thank you?"
+
+"Do not thank us," the old man replied. "The time will come when we
+cannot work, and then we shall be dependent on you."
+
+"But as things are," Peach-boy said, "I am so greatly indebted to you
+that I hesitate to make a request that is in my mind."
+
+"What is it?" they questioned.
+
+"It is that you allow me to go away for a short time," he answered.
+
+"Go away? Where to?" they asked.
+
+"I would have you know," he said, "that north of the mainland of Japan
+is an island inhabited by demons, who kill our people and steal our
+treasure. I want to destroy them and bring back all their stolen riches.
+For this purpose I wish to leave you."
+
+The old man was at first speechless with astonishment, but as he
+considered the matter he was convinced that Peach-boy was not mortal in
+his origin and therefore was probably safe from injury.
+
+So he said: "You wish to go, and I will not stop you. Indeed, as those
+demons are the enemies of Japan, the sooner you destroy them and save
+your country from their depredations the better."
+
+Preparations for Peach-boy's journey began at once. The old woman made
+him some dumplings and got his clothes ready. When the time came for him
+to start, the old couple saw him off with tears in their eyes.
+
+"Take care of yourself. May you return victorious," they said.
+
+
+
+
+XVI--A WARRIOR'S HELPERS
+
+
+Peach-boy walked steadily and rapidly along the highway from early
+morning until midday, when he sat down to eat his dinner. Just as he
+took out one of the dumplings, a big savage dog appeared.
+
+"Wow! wow!" the dog barked. "You have come into my territory without
+leave. If you do not at once give me your dinner I will devour you."
+
+Peach-boy smiled scornfully. "I am on my way to fight the enemies of
+Japan," he said. "Don't try to stop me or I will slay you."
+
+"I did not know the purpose of your journey," the dog responded,
+cowering and putting his tail between his legs. "I humbly beg your
+pardon for my rude conduct. Please allow me to accompany and help you."
+
+"You are welcome to go with me," Peach-boy said.
+
+"But I am very hungry," the dog told him. "Will you please give me
+something to eat?"
+
+"Here is a dumpling for you," was Peach-boy's response.
+
+When the dog had eaten the dumpling they hurried on. They crossed many
+mountains and valleys, and one day a monkey sprang down from a tree in
+front of them and asked, "Where are you going so fast?"
+
+"We are going to fight the enemies of Japan," Peach-boy answered.
+
+"Then pray allow me to go with you," the monkey said.
+
+The dog came angrily forward. "Of what use would you be?" he snarled. "I
+alone accompany this great warrior."
+
+Monkeys and dogs never can be friends, and of course this speech made
+the monkey very angry.
+
+"You think a great deal of yourself!" he screeched, and he approached
+the dog ready to assail him with his teeth and nails.
+
+But Peach-boy stepped between them, saying: "Stop! Do not be so hasty,
+you two. Stand back, dog. This monkey is not a bad fellow, and I intend
+to enrol him as one of my vassals."
+
+Then he gave the monkey half a dumpling to eat. Presently the three went
+on along the highway. But it was no easy matter to keep the peace
+between the dog and the monkey. So at last Peach-boy had the monkey
+march ahead of him with his standard, and the dog follow behind him
+carrying his sword.
+
+[Illustration: _The Monkey and the Warrior_]
+
+At length they entered a wilderness, and a wonderful bird sprang up from
+the ground as if to assail them. The bird's head plumage was of the
+deepest crimson and his body was clothed with a feather robe in five
+colors.
+
+The dog dashed at the bird to seize and devour him, but Peach-boy sprang
+forward and prevented this. Then he said: "Bird, do you wish to
+interrupt my journey? If so, the dog shall bite off your head. But if
+you submit to me you can be one of my company and help fight the enemies
+of Japan."
+
+The bird instantly bowed in front of Peach-boy, saying, "I am a humble
+bird called the pheasant. It would be an honor to accompany you on such
+an expedition."
+
+"Does this low fellow go with us?" the dog growled disdainfully.
+
+"That is no business of yours," Peach-boy said; "and I give you three
+animals warning that if any quarreling starts among you I will send you
+all back that very moment. In war a good position is better than good
+luck, but union is better than either good luck or good position. There
+can be no squabbling among ourselves if we are to win."
+
+The three animals listened respectfully and promised implicit obedience.
+Then the pheasant ate a half dumpling that Peach-boy gave him, and the
+four went on together.
+
+
+
+
+XVII--THE ISLAND OF DEMONS
+
+
+At last Peach-boy and his companions came to the sea. They looked off
+across the water in the direction which he told them the island lay
+whose demon inhabitants he and they were to destroy, and saw nothing but
+waves. The dog, the monkey, and the pheasant are all creatures that live
+on dry land, and though the steepest cliff and deepest valley could not
+frighten them, yet when they saw that endless stretch of rolling waves,
+they stood speechless and fearful.
+
+Peach-boy observed this and said in a loud voice: "My vassals, why do
+you tremble? Does the ocean frighten you? It would have been better to
+have come alone than to have picked up such companions. But now I will
+dismiss you. Return!"
+
+They were much pained at hearing these reproaches, and they clung to him
+beseeching him not to send them away. Apparently they were plucking up
+courage, and he consented to retain them.
+
+He had them help prepare a boat, and they set sail with the first
+favorable wind. The shore behind them was soon lost to sight, and for a
+while the animals were very unhappy. But they gradually became
+accustomed to the motion and presently stood on deck eagerly looking
+ahead to see the island as soon as it came into view. When they wearied
+of that they began to show their accomplishments. The dog sat up and
+begged, the monkey played tricks, and the pheasant sang a song.
+
+Their performances greatly amused Peach-boy, and before he knew it the
+island was close at hand. On it he could see numerous flags fluttering
+above what seemed to be an impregnable fortress. This fortress had a
+heavy gate of iron, and inside were many closely-crowded houses, all of
+which had iron roofs.
+
+Peach-boy turned to the pheasant and said: "You have wings. Fly to the
+fortress and find out what those island demons are doing."
+
+The pheasant promptly obeyed his orders and found the demons, some of
+them red, some black, some blue, assembled on the iron roofs of their
+houses. "Listen, you island demons!" the pheasant cried. "A mighty
+warrior is coming with an army to destroy you. If you wish to save your
+lives, yield at once."
+
+"You vain pheasant!" the demons laughed, "it is you who will be
+destroyed--not us."
+
+So saying, they shook their horns at him, girded up their garments of
+tiger-skin, and seized their weapons. But that did not scare the
+pheasant. He swooped down and with one peck took off the head of a red
+demon.
+
+Then began a fierce battle, and soon the gate burst open, and Peach-boy
+with the dog and monkey rushed in raging like lions. The demons, who
+thought that they only had to do with one bird, were much alarmed, yet
+they fought bravely, and even their children joined in the fray. The
+sound of their yells as it mingled with the sound of the waves beating
+on the shore was truly terrible.
+
+In the end they got the worst of it. Some fell from the roofs of their
+houses, the walls of the fortress, and the wild cliffs, and some were
+killed by the irresistible onslaughts of Peach-boy, and of the dog, the
+monkey, and the pheasant.
+
+When, at last, only the head demon remained alive, he threw away his
+weapons, and knelt in submission before Peach-boy with the tears
+streaming down his cheeks. "Great warrior," he said, "spare my life!
+From today I shall reform. Spare me!"
+
+Peach-boy laughed scornfully. "You villain!" he cried, "for many years
+you have persecuted and killed innocent people; and now that your own
+life is in danger you beg for mercy and promise to reform. You deserve
+no mercy, and shall receive none."
+
+So the head demon shared the fate of the rest of his tribe, and
+Peach-boy and his comrades loaded their boat with the hoarded island
+treasures. There were coral and tortoise and pearls, not to speak of
+magic hats and coats that made their wearers invisible.
+
+All these things they carried away, and great was the joy of the old man
+and old woman when they saw Peach-boy return victorious. After that he
+and they lived happily to the end of their days.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII--ANDREW COFFEY
+
+
+My grandfather, Andrew Coffey, was known to every one in the region
+about his home as a quiet decent man. He was fond of rambling and
+riding, and was familiar with every hill and dale, bog and pasture,
+field and covert in that part of the country.
+
+Then fancy his surprise, while riding only a few miles from home, one
+evening, to find himself in a vicinity that he did not recognize at all.
+His good horse was constantly stumbling against some tree or into some
+bog-hole that by rights ought not to be there. To make matters worse, a
+cold March wind was blowing, and rain began to pelt down.
+
+Soon he was gladdened by the sight of a light among the trees in the
+distance, and when he drew near he found a cabin, though for the life of
+him he couldn't think how it came there. However, after tying his horse,
+in he walked. A fire was blazing on the hearth, and near it was a
+comfortable chair. But not a soul was there in the room.
+
+He sat down and got a little warm and cheered after his drenching, but
+all the while he was wondering and wondering. He was still puzzling over
+his experiences when he heard a voice.
+
+"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!" it said.
+
+Good heavens! who was calling him, and not a soul in sight? Look around
+as he might, he could find no one indoors or out. To add to his other
+worries, his horse was gone. Again he heard the voice.
+
+"_Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!_ tell me a story," it said, and it spoke
+louder than before.
+
+What a thing to ask for! It was bad enough not to be left in peace
+seated by the fire drying oneself, without being bothered for a story. A
+third time the voice spoke, and louder than ever.
+
+"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! tell me a story or it will be the worse
+for you," it said.
+
+My poor grandfather was so dumb-founded that he could only stand and
+stare. For a fourth time the voice spoke.
+
+"ANDREW COFFEY! ANDREW COFFEY!" it shouted, "I told you it would be the
+worse for you."
+
+Then a man bounced out from a cupboard that Andrew Coffey had not
+noticed before. He was in a towering rage, and he carried as fine a
+blackthorn club as was ever used to crack a man's head. When my
+grandfather clapped eyes on him he knew him for Patrick Rooney who had
+gone overboard one day in a sudden storm while fishing on the sea long
+years ago.
+
+Andrew Coffey did not stop to visit, but took to his heels and got out
+of the house as quickly as he could. He ran and he ran taking little
+thought of where he went till at last he ran against a tree. Then he sat
+down to rest.
+
+But he had been there only a few moments when he heard voices. One said,
+"the vagabond is heavy."
+
+Another said, "Steady now, lads."
+
+A third said, "I've lugged him as far as I care to."
+
+A fourth said, "We'll stop when we get to the big tree yonder."
+
+That happened to be the tree under which Andrew Coffey was sitting.
+"Better see than be seen," he thought. Then he swung himself up by a
+branch and was soon snugly hidden away in the tree.
+
+The rain and wind had ceased and there was light enough for Andrew
+Coffey to see four men carrying a long box. They brought it under the
+tree, set it down, and opened it. Then, what should they take out but
+Patrick Rooney? Never a word did he say, and he was as pale as
+new-fallen snow.
+
+The men gathered brushwood and soon had a fire burning. Then they stuck
+two stakes into the ground on each side of the fire, laid a pole across
+on the tops of them, and on to the pole they slung Patrick Rooney.
+
+"He's all fixed now," one said, "but who's to take care of the fire
+while we're away?"
+
+With that Patrick opened his lips. "Andrew Coffey," he said.
+
+Then the four men, each speaking the name once, called out, "Andrew
+Coffey! Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!"
+
+"Gentlemen, I'd be glad to oblige you," Andrew Coffey said, "but I know
+nothing about this sort of roasting."
+
+"You'd better come down, Andrew Coffey," Patrick said.
+
+It was the second time he spoke, and Andrew Coffey decided he would come
+down. The four men went off, and he was left alone with Patrick. He sat
+down by the fire and kept it even, and all the while Patrick looked at
+him.
+
+Poor Andrew Coffey couldn't understand the situation at all, and he
+stared at Patrick and at the fire, and thought of the cabin in the wood
+till he felt quite dazed.
+
+"Ah, you're burning me!" Patrick said, very short and sharp.
+
+"I beg your pardon," my grandfather said, and hastened to fix the fire.
+
+He couldn't get the notion out of his head that something was wrong.
+Hadn't everybody, near and far, said that Patrick had fallen overboard?
+
+"_Andrew Coffey!_ _Andrew Coffey!_ you're burning me!" Patrick
+exclaimed.
+
+My grandfather was sorry enough, and he vowed he wouldn't do so again.
+
+"You'd better not," Patrick grumbled, and he gave him a cock of his eye,
+and a grin of his teeth that sent a shiver down Andrew Coffey's back. It
+certainly was odd that Andrew Coffey should be there in a thick wood
+that he had never set eyes on before, roasting Patrick Rooney. You can't
+wonder that my grandfather thought and thought and forgot the fire.
+
+_"Andrew Coffey!_ _Andrew Coffey!_ I'll punish you for the way you're
+neglecting me!" Patrick Rooney cried.
+
+He was unslinging himself from the pole now, and his eyes glared and his
+teeth glistened. My grandfather got up in haste and ran off into the
+gloomy wood. He stumbled over stones, the brambles tore his clothes, the
+branches beat his face.
+
+Presently he saw a light and was glad. A minute later he was kneeling by
+a hearth-side, dazed and bedraggled. The flames leaped and crackled, and
+he was beginning to get warm and feel a little easy in his mind when he
+heard a voice shouting, "Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!"
+
+It's hard for a man to jump after going through all my grandfather had,
+but jump he did. When he looked around, where should he find himself but
+in the very cabin in which he had first met Patrick.
+
+"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! tell me a story," the voice said.
+
+"Is it a story you want?" my grandfather said, as bold as could be, for
+he was tired of being frightened. "Well then, here's one."
+
+And he told the tale of what had befallen him from first to last that
+night. The tale was long and he was weary. He must have fallen asleep,
+for when he awoke he lay on a hillside under the open heavens, and his
+horse grazed at his side.
+
+
+
+
+XIX--CARELESS MR. BUZZARD
+
+
+Mr. Turkey Buzzard doesn't have any sense. You watch him and you will
+see that what I have said is true.
+
+When the rain pours down he sits on the fence and hunches up his
+shoulders and draws in his neck and tries to hide his head. There he
+sits looking so pitiful that you are real sorry for him.
+
+"Never mind," he says to himself, "when this rain is over I'm going to
+build a house right off. I'm not going to let the rain pelt me this way
+again."
+
+But after the clouds were gone, and a fresh breeze blew, and the sun
+shone, what did Mr. Turkey Buzzard do? He sat on top of a dead pine tree
+where the sun could warm him, and he stretched out his wings, and he
+turned round and round so the wind could dry his feathers. Then he
+laughed to himself and said: "The rain is over. It isn't going to rain
+any more, there's no use of my building a house now."
+
+Mr. Turkey Buzzard is certainly a very careless man. When it is raining
+he can't build a house, and when it isn't raining he doesn't need one.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+If you have enjoyed these stories you will want to read the other books
+in the series.
+
+
+
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