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diff --git a/37464.txt b/37464.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6b4d1a --- /dev/null +++ b/37464.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2471 @@ +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. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUEBEARD*** + + +******* This file should be named 37464.txt or 37464.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/4/6/37464 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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