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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Two-Legs, by Carl Ewald, Translated by
+Alexander Teixeira De Mattos, Illustrated by Johan Briede and Helen Jacobs
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+
+
+
+Title: Two-Legs
+
+
+Author: Carl Ewald
+
+
+
+Release Date: April 8, 2021  [eBook #65029]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO-LEGS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by D A Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by
+Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which
+      includes the lovely original illustrations, some in full color.
+      See 65029-h.htm or 65029-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/65029/65029-h/65029-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/65029/65029-h.zip)
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive. See
+      https://archive.org/details/twolegs00ewal3
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS
+
+
+[Illustration: A HUGE NUMBER OF VISITORS]
+
+
+                                 TWO-LEGS
+
+                              BY CARL EWALD
+
+                             TRANSLATED FROM
+                              THE DANISH BY
+                       ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS
+                                   AND
+                              ILLUSTRATED BY
+                               JOHAN BRIEDE
+                                   AND
+                               HELEN JACOBS
+
+                       FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
+                        PUBLISHERS        NEW YORK
+
+                 Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+For LILY TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS.
+
+
+DEAR,
+
+Of all Carl Ewald’s stories _Two-Legs_ has always been your favourite.
+Now that I am reissuing it, amplified by four chapters which did not
+appear in the original edition, it is only fit that I should dedicate this
+translation, with my love, to you.
+
+                                                               A. T. DE M.
+
+CHELSEA, _2 September, 1921_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+    _Prologue_                                         _Page_
+
+          THE STORY OF THE FAIRY-TALE
+
+    _Chapter_
+
+       I. THE OLD ANIMALS                                 15
+
+      II. MRS. TWO-LEGS HAS A SON                         27
+
+     III. TWO-LEGS KILLS                                  33
+
+      IV. TIME PASSES                                     45
+
+       V. TWO-LEGS ENLARGES HIS POSSESSIONS               55
+
+      VI. TWO-LEGS WANDERS                                61
+
+     VII. TWO-LEGS SOWS                                   69
+
+    VIII. TWO-LEGS ENJOYS LIFE                            77
+
+      IX. THE OLD ANIMALS TAKE COUNSEL                    85
+
+       X. THE LION                                        93
+
+      XI. MANY YEARS AFTER                                99
+
+     XII. TWO-LEGS CONQUERS THE WIND                     105
+
+    XIII. TWO-LEGS CONQUERS STEAM                        117
+
+     XIV. TWO-LEGS CONQUERS ELECTRICITY                  133
+
+      XV. TWO-LEGS’ FUTURE                               157
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+    A huge number of visitors (_Colour_)       _Frontispiece_
+
+    There came two through the forest       _Facing page_ 16
+
+    One day the rain came                       ”    ”    34
+
+    She pulled out his feathers                 ”    ”    48
+
+    Two-Legs had made a good choice (_Colour_)  ”    ”    74
+
+    ‘He shot an arrow into my left wing’        ”    ”    78
+
+    He stood at the edge of the wood            ”    ”    82
+
+    There was no time to lose (_Colour_)        ”    ”    98
+
+    ‘Very well, you are neither bad nor good’   ”    ”   108
+
+    ‘Catch me! Use me!’ (_Colour_)              ”    ”   122
+
+    Two-Legs stood up (_Colour_)                ”    ”   154
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+THE STORY OF THE FAIRY-TALE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Once upon a time, ever so many years ago, Truth suddenly vanished from out
+of the world.
+
+When people perceived this, they were greatly alarmed and at once sent
+five wise men in search of it. They set out, one in this direction and
+one in that, all plentifully equipped with travelling-expenses and good
+intentions. They sought for ten long years. Then they returned, each
+separately. While still at a distance, they waved their hats and shouted
+that they had found Truth.
+
+The first stepped forward and declared that Truth was Science. He was
+not able to finish his report, however, for, before he had done, another
+thrust him aside and shouted that that was a lie, that Truth was Theology
+and that he had found it. Now, while these two were at loggerheads—for the
+Science man replied vigorously to the attack—there came a third and said,
+in beautiful words, that Truth was Love, without a doubt. Then came the
+fourth and stated, quite curtly, that he had Truth in his pocket, that it
+was Gold and that all the rest was childish nonsense. At last came the
+fifth. He could not stand on his legs, gave a hiccoughing laugh and said
+that Truth was Wine. He had found Truth in Wine, after looking for it
+everywhere.
+
+Then the five wise men began to fight and they pummelled one another so
+lustily that it was horrible to see. Science had its head broken and Love
+was so ill-treated that it had to change its clothes before it could show
+itself again in respectable society. Gold was so thoroughly stripped of
+every covering that people felt awkward about knowing it; and the bottle
+broke and Wine flowed away into the mud. But Theology came off worst of
+all; everybody had a blow at it; and it received such a basting that it
+became the laughing-stock of all beholders.
+
+And people took sides, some with this one and some with that, and they
+shouted so loud that they could neither see nor hear for the din. But far
+away, at the extreme end of the earth, sat a few and mourned because they
+thought that Truth had gone to pieces and would never be made whole again.
+
+Now, as they sat there, a little girl came running up and said that she
+had found Truth. If they would just come with her ... it was not very
+far.... Truth was sitting in the midst of the world, in a green meadow.
+
+Then there came a pause in the fighting, for the little girl looked so
+very sweet. First one went with her; then another; and ever more and
+more.... At last they were all in the meadow and there discovered a figure
+the like of which they had never seen before. There was no distinguishing
+whether it was a man or a woman, an adult or a child. Its forehead was
+pure as that of one who knows no sin; its eyes deep and serious as those
+of one who has read into the heart of the whole world. Its mouth opened
+with the brightest smile and then quivered with a sadness greater than any
+could describe. Its hand was soft as a mother’s and strong as the hand of
+a king; its foot trod the earth firmly, yet crushed not a flower. And then
+the figure had large, soft wings, like the birds that fly at night.
+
+Now, as they stood there and stared, the figure drew itself erect and
+cried, in a voice that sounded like ringing bells:
+
+“I am Truth!”
+
+“It’s a Fairy-tale!” said Science.
+
+“It’s a Fairy-tale!” cried Theology and Love and Gold and Wine.
+
+Then the five wise men and their followers departed and they went on
+fighting till the earth was shaken to its centre.
+
+But a few old and tired men and a few young men with ardent and eager
+souls and many women and thousands of children with great wide eyes: these
+remained in the meadow where the Fairy-tale was....
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE OLD ANIMALS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+It was once upon a time, many, many, many years ago.
+
+And it was in the warm lands where the sun shines stronger than here and
+the rain falls closer and all animals and plants thrive better, because
+the winter does not stunt their growth.
+
+The forest was full of life and noise.
+
+The flies buzzed, the sparrow ate the flies and the hawk ate the sparrow.
+The bees crept into the flowers in search of honey, the lion roared and
+the birds sang, the brook rippled and the grass grew. The trees stood and
+rustled, while their roots sucked sap from the earth. The flowers were
+radiant and fragrant.
+
+All at once, it became strangely still.
+
+It was as though everything held its breath and listened and stared. The
+rustling of the trees ceased. The violet woke from her dreams and looked
+up in wonder. The lion raised his head and stood with one paw uplifted.
+The stag stopped grazing, the eagle rested high in the air on his wings,
+the little mouse ran out of his hole and pricked up his ears.
+
+There came two through the forest who were different from the others and
+whom no one had ever seen before.
+
+They walked erect. Their foreheads were high, their eyes firm and steady.
+They went hand in hand and looked around them as though they did not know
+where they were.
+
+“Who, in the name of wonder, are these?” asked the lion.
+
+“They’re animals,” said the stag. “They can walk. But how oddly they do
+it! Why don’t they leap on all fours, seeing that they have four legs?
+Then they would get along much faster.”
+
+“Oh,” said the snake, “I have no legs at all and it seems to me I get
+along pretty fast!’
+
+“I don’t believe they are animals,” said the nightingale. “They have no
+feathers and no hair, except that bit on their heads.”
+
+“Scales would do quite as well,” said the pike, popping his head out of
+the river.
+
+“Some of us have to manage with our bare skin,” said the earth-worm,
+quietly.
+
+“They have no tails,” said the mouse. “Never in their lives have they been
+animals!”
+
+“I have no tail,” said the toad. “And nobody can deny that I am an animal.”
+
+“Look!” said the lion. “Just look! One of them is taking up a stone in his
+fore-paws: I couldn’t do that.”
+
+“But I could,” said the orang-outang. “There’s nothing in that. For the
+rest, I can satisfy your curiosity. Those two, in point of fact, are
+animals. They are husband and wife, their name is Two-Legs and they are
+distant relations of my own.”
+
+“Oh, really?” said the lion. “Then how is it they have no fur?”
+
+“I daresay they’ve lost it,” said the orang-outang.
+
+“Why don’t you go and talk to them?” asked the lion.
+
+[Illustration: THERE CAME TWO THROUGH THE FOREST]
+
+“I don’t know them,” replied the orang-outang. “And I’m not at all
+anxious to have anything to do with them. I have only heard of them. You
+must know, they are a sort of very inferior, second-rate ape. I shall be
+pleased to give them an apple or an orange now and again, but I won’t
+undertake the smallest responsibility for them.”
+
+“They look very nice,” said the lion. “I shouldn’t mind trying what they
+taste like.”
+
+“Pray do, for all that I care,” said the orang-outang. “They will never be
+a credit to the family and, sooner or later, they will come to a bad end.”
+
+The lion went towards them, as they came, but, when he stood before them,
+he suddenly lost courage. He could not understand this himself, for there
+was not another thing in the forest that he feared. But the two new
+animals had such strange eyes and walked the earth so fearlessly that he
+thought they must possess some mysterious power which he could not see.
+There was nothing particular about their teeth; and their claws were not
+worth speaking of. But something about them there must be.
+
+So he hung his head and moved out of their way.
+
+“Why didn’t you eat them?” asked the lioness.
+
+“I wasn’t feeling hungry,” he answered.
+
+He lay down to rest in the high grass and did as though he were no longer
+thinking of them. The other animals did the same, for he was their chief.
+But none of them meant it. They were all taken up with the new animals.
+
+
+2
+
+Meanwhile, Two-Legs and his wife walked on; and, the farther they walked,
+the more they wondered at the splendour of the world. They had no
+suspicion of the attention which they attracted and they did not see that
+all the animals were stealthily following in their tracks. Wherever they
+came, the trees put their tops together and whispered, the birds flew in
+the air above their heads and astonished eyes started at them from every
+bush.
+
+“We will live here,” said Two-Legs and pointed to a wonderful little
+meadow, where the river flowed between flowers and grass.
+
+“No, here!” cried his wife and ran into the adjoining wood, where the
+trees dispensed a deep shade and the moss was thick and soft.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“How strange their voices sound!” said the nightingale. “They have more
+notes than I.”
+
+“If they were not so big, I should advise them to build a nest beside me
+in the rushes,” said the reed-warbler.
+
+The two new animals walked on and constantly found a place which was
+prettier than the last which they had seen; and they could not make up
+their minds to stay anywhere. Then they met the dog, who was limping
+badly, having cut his foot on a sharp stone. He tried to run away from
+them, but could not. Mrs. Two-Legs took hold of him and looked at the
+injured foot:
+
+“I’ll help you, you poor fellow,” she said. “Wait a minute. I hurt my own
+foot the other day and healed it with leaves.”
+
+The dog saw that she meant well by him. He waited patiently while she ran
+into the copsewood for leaves. Two-Legs patted him on the back and talked
+kindly to him. Then she came back with the leaves, put them on his foot
+and bound a tendril round them:
+
+“Run away now,” she said. “To-morrow you’ll be quite well again.”
+
+They went on, but the dog stood looking after them and wagging his tail.
+The other animals came out of the bushes and copses:
+
+“You’ve been talking to the strangers. What did they say? What are they
+like?” they all asked in chorus.
+
+“They are better than the other animals in the forest,” replied the dog.
+“They have healed my foot and stroked my skin. I shall never forget it.”
+
+“They have healed the dog’s foot.... They have stroked the dog’s skin....”
+
+It ran from mouth to mouth through the forest. The trees whispered it to
+one another, the flowers sighed and nodded, the lizards rushed round with
+the story and the nightingale set it to music. The new animals went on and
+thought no more of the dog.
+
+
+3
+
+At last, however, they were so tired that they sat down. They stooped over
+the spring and drank and laughed at their own image in the water. They
+plucked juicy fruits from the trees and ate them. When the sun went down,
+they lay down to rest in the grass and went to sleep with their arms about
+each other’s necks. A little way off, the dog, who had followed in their
+footsteps, lay with his head on his paws, watching them. The round full
+moon shone straight down upon them. She also shone in the big face of the
+ox, who stood looking at them.
+
+“Boo!” said the ox.
+
+“Bo!” said the moon. “What are you staring at?”
+
+“I’m looking at those two who are lying there asleep,” said the ox. “Do
+you know them?”
+
+“I believe something of the kind used to crawl over my face years and
+years ago,” replied the moon. “But I’m not sure. My memory has become very
+bad in the last hundred thousand years. It’s almost more than I can do to
+concentrate my thoughts upon my celestial course.”
+
+“Yes, thinking is not my strong point either,” said the ox. “But I am
+frightened.”
+
+“Of those two there?” asked the moon.
+
+“I don’t know why,” said the ox, “but I can’t bear them.”
+
+“Then trample them to death!” cried the moon.
+
+“I dare not,” said the ox. “Not by myself. But perhaps I can persuade some
+one to help me.”
+
+“That’s your look-out,” said the moon. “It’s all one to me.”
+
+And she sailed on. But the ox stood and chewed the cud and thought and got
+no further.
+
+“Are you asleep?” asked the sheep, sticking out her long face beside the
+ox.
+
+And suddenly the whole meadow came to life.
+
+All the animals were there who had followed the two on their walk. There
+were both those who sleep by day and hunt at night and those who do their
+work while the sun shines. None of them was now thinking of working or
+resting. None thought of hurting the others. The lion and the stag, the
+wolf and the sheep, the cat and the mouse and the horse and the ox and
+many others stood side by side on the grass. The eagle sat in a tree-top,
+surrounded by all the little birds of the forest. The orang-outang sat
+on one of the lower branches eating an orange. The hen stood on a mound
+beside the fox; the duck and the goose lay in the brook and stuck out
+their necks.
+
+“Now that we are all here together, let us discuss the matter,” said the
+lion.
+
+“Have you had enough to eat?” asked the ox.
+
+“Quite,” answered the lion. “To-night we shall keep the peace and be
+friends.”
+
+“Then I move that we kill those two strange animals forthwith and without
+more ado,” said the ox.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“What in the wide world is the matter with you?” asked the lion.
+“Generally you’re such a peaceful fellow, grazing, attending to your
+business and not hurting a living thing. What makes you so bloodthirsty
+all of a sudden?”
+
+“I can’t account for it,” said the ox. “But I have a decided conviction
+that we ought to kill them as soon as possible. They bring misfortune.
+They are evil. If you don’t follow my advice, rely upon it, one day you
+will all regret it.”
+
+“I agree with the ox,” cried the horse. “Bite them to death! Kick them to
+pieces! And the sooner the better!”
+
+“Kill them, kill them!” cried the sheep, the goat and the stag, with one
+voice.
+
+“Yes, do, do!” screamed the duck, the goose and the hen.
+
+“I have never heard anything like this in my life,” said the lion, looking
+round in surprise at the crowd. “It’s just the most peaceable and timid
+animals in the forest that want to take the strangers’ lives. What have
+they done to you? What are you afraid of?”
+
+“I can’t tell you any more than the ox can,” said the horse. “But I feel
+that they are dangerous. I have such pains in my loins and legs.”
+
+“When I think of those two, I feel as if I were being skinned,” said the
+ox. “I feel teeth biting into my flesh.”
+
+“There’s a tugging at my udders,” said the cow.
+
+“I’m shivering all over, as though all my wool had been shorn off,” said
+the sheep.
+
+“I have a feeling as if I were being roasted before the fire and eaten,”
+said the goose.
+
+“So have I! So have I!” screamed the duck and the hen.
+
+“This is most remarkable,” said the lion. “I have never heard anything
+like it and I can’t understand your fears. What can those strangers do to
+you? They go about naked among us, eat an apple or an orange and don’t do
+the least harm. They go on two poor legs, whereas you have four, so that
+you can run away from them anyhow. You have horns and claws and teeth:
+what are you afraid of?”
+
+“You’ll be sorry one day,” said the ox. “The new animals will be the ruin
+of us all. The danger threatens you as well as the rest of us.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“I see no danger and I know no fear,” said the lion, proudly. “But is
+there really not one of you to take the strangers’ part?”
+
+“If they did not belong to my family, I would do so gladly,” said the
+orang-outang. “But it looks bad to recommend one’s own relations. Let them
+go their way and starve. They are quite harmless.”
+
+“Then I at least will say a good word for them,” said the dog. “My foot is
+almost well again and I believe that they are cleverer than all the rest
+of you put together. I shall never forget what they did for me.”
+
+“That’s right, cousin,” said the lion. “You’re a fine fellow and one can
+see that you come of a good stock. I don’t believe that these Two-Legs are
+dangerous and I have no intention of doing them any harm. To be sure, if
+I meet them one day when I’m hungry, I shall eat them. That’s a different
+thing. Hunger knows no law. But to-night I have had enough to eat and I am
+going home to bed. Good night, all of you!”
+
+Then none of the animals said another word. They went away as noiselessly
+as they had come. The night came to an end and the day broke in the east.
+
+
+4
+
+Then suddenly the ox and the horse and the sheep and the goat came
+galloping over the meadow. Behind them, as fast as they could, came the
+goose and the duck and the hen. The ox was at their head and rushed with
+lowered horns to the place where the strangers lay sleeping.
+
+But then the dog sprang up and barked like mad. The two new animals woke
+and leapt to their feet. And, when they stood there, tall and slender,
+with their white limbs and their steady eyes, and the sun shone down upon
+them, the old animals were seized with terror and ran back the way they
+came.
+
+“Thank you, friend,” said Two-Legs and patted the dog.
+
+Mrs. Two-Legs looked to his bad foot and spoke to him in her pretty voice.
+He licked their hands with delight.
+
+Then the new animals bathed in the river. And then Two-Legs climbed up an
+apple-tree to get some breakfast for himself and his wife.
+
+In the tree sat the orang-outang eating an apple.
+
+“Get out of that!” said Two-Legs, in a threatening tone. “This is my tree
+and don’t you forget it. Don’t you dare touch a single apple!”
+
+“Goodness gracious me!” said the orang-outang. “What a tone to take up!
+And I who defended you last night when all the other animals wanted to
+kill you!”
+
+“Get out, you disgusting ape!” said Two-Legs.
+
+He broke a branch off the tree and caught the orang-outang a couple of
+such lusty cracks that he ran off crying into the forest.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+MRS TWO-LEGS HAS A SON
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+The days passed.
+
+Things were busy in the forest, both above and below. All the wives had
+eggs or young and all the husbands had their work cut out to provide food
+for their families. Every one attended to his business and took no heed of
+his neighbour, except when he wanted to eat him.
+
+The new animals had taken up their abode on an island in the river.
+
+This was because the lion had met them one day on the borders of the
+copsewood. He had got out of their way, as on the first occasion; but he
+had given them such a look that Mrs. Two-Legs trembled with fright:
+
+“He’ll eat us one day,” she said. “I dare not sleep in the meadow again.”
+
+Then Two-Legs discovered the little island and built a hut on it of
+branches and grass. Every day they waded through the river and went
+to gather fruit in the forest. At night they slept in their hut. The
+other animals had gradually all got used to them and spoke of them but
+seldom. Only the dog never forgot to run down to the river every morning
+to look across at the island and bark “Good morning!” to them. And the
+orang-outang slandered them wherever he went.
+
+“Who minds what he says?” asked the stag. “They’re relations; and we all
+know what that means.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+2
+
+One night, a child was born to the new animals.
+
+“The Two-Legs have had a youngster,” said the sparrow, who went everywhere
+and always had some news to tell.
+
+“Really! I must run and have a look at the baby,” said Mrs. Nightingale.
+“My eggs will keep warm for four or five minutes.”
+
+“Mrs. Fox has gone there herself, so I can leave my goslings alone for a
+moment,” said the goose.
+
+Down by the river was a huge number of visitors and enquirers.
+
+All the wives had hurried from hearth and home to have a look at the
+Two-Legs. Mrs. Two-Legs was sitting on the grass in front of the hut with
+her child at her breast. Two-Legs sat beside her, eating an orange.
+
+“He’s just the same as other husbands,” observed Mrs. Stag.
+
+“There are some who are worse,” said Mrs. Mole. “My husband eats the
+children, if I don’t look after them.”
+
+“Husbands are mere rubbish,” said Mrs. Spider. “I ate mine as soon as I
+had laid my eggs.”
+
+“Do spare us those gruesome stories,” said Mrs. Nightingale. “But he might
+sing to her a little. That’s what my husband does.”
+
+“Oh, but look at the baby! Isn’t he sweet?” exclaimed Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
+
+“Poor little thing!” said Mrs. Stag. “He can’t even stand on his legs and
+the sparrow was saying that he was born at eleven o’clock last night. When
+my fawn was an hour old, he was jumping merrily over the meadow.”
+
+“There’s no sense in carrying a poor little mite like that in one’s arms,”
+said Mrs. Kangaroo. “If he were mine, he should stay snugly in my pouch
+until he knew how to behave himself. But probably the poor woman hasn’t
+even got a pouch.”
+
+“At least he can see!” said Mrs. Fox. “My children are blind for quite
+nine days.”
+
+“Don’t forget that they are poor people,” said the orang-outang.
+
+“Stuff!” said Mrs. Nightingale. “It’s a dear little baby, as any mother
+can see. Hi! Mrs. Two-Legs! Be sure you feed him on maggots. Then he’ll
+grow up nice and fat.”
+
+“And, for goodness’ sake, sit on him at night!” cried Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
+“Else he’ll catch cold.”
+
+“Don’t mind what any of them say!” cried Mrs. Stag. “You stick to the
+milk! That’s good enough. And put him down on the grass and let him run
+about. You had much better make him used to it from the start.”
+
+Mrs. Two-Legs looked at her baby and did not listen to what they said. He
+had now finished drinking and began to crow and kick about his little legs
+and arms. Two-Legs took him and lifted him high in the air and laughed at
+him.
+
+“Isn’t he sweet?” said Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
+
+“He’s all that,” said Mrs. Stag. “But his parents are very
+self-sufficient. They won’t look at any one else.” And she called across
+to the island, “It’s all right, Mrs. Two-Legs. You go on with the milk.
+And, if you run short, come to me. My only fawn died the other day, so I
+have plenty!”
+
+Then they all hurried home again, lest their husbands should come and find
+out that they had been gossiping.
+
+“I’m going to fetch a couple of oranges, or something of the sort,” said
+Two-Legs. “It may be some time before I’m back, for we’ve eaten everything
+on the trees round about here.”
+
+“Be as quick as you can,” replied his wife. “You know I don’t care to be
+alone at this time.”
+
+He waded through the river and went into the forest. After a long while,
+he came back, having found only a couple of poor little fruits. He was
+annoyed at this and so was his wife, for she was hungry. Then they sat and
+discussed whether they could not find something else that was fit to eat
+in the neighbourhood. For, once the evening had come, they did not dare
+leave the island.
+
+“Last evening,” said Two-Legs, “I saw the otter catch a big fish in the
+river here and eat him. Perhaps we could do the same.”
+
+“Do try,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. “One thing is certain, I must have some
+food.”
+
+He went out into the river and with his hands caught a great pike, who
+was swimming just past him, not dreaming of danger. He had so often seen
+Two-Legs wading through the river and Two-Legs had never looked at him.
+But now Two-Legs flung him on the island and there lay the pike gaping and
+gasping for breath and yelling with might and main:
+
+“Hi!... Ho!... Murder!... Help!”
+
+But he was soon dead. Two-Legs and his wife ate him and found him
+excellent.
+
+“Get me another fish like that to-morrow, will you?” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
+“Frankly speaking, I was getting rather tired of those apples.”
+
+Next day, Two-Legs went into the river again. He was not long before he
+saw another fine fish, but, just as he wanted to catch it, the otter
+snapped it away in front of his nose.
+
+“Get out of my river, you thief!” shouted Two-Legs and struck at him.
+
+“Whom are you calling thief?” said the otter, snarling and showing his
+white teeth. “I rather thought the river was mine. I was living here long
+before you came.”
+
+Two-Legs leapt on shore and picked up some big stones and flung them at
+the otter. One of them caught him on the snout and made it bleed. Then he
+hid in his hole and Two-Legs caught another fish and took it home to his
+wife. But, when the otter came out again at night, the orang-outang was
+sitting there and nodding to him:
+
+“I have seen all,” said the orang-outang. “I was sitting in the tree over
+there and saw him throw the stone at you. The water turned quite red with
+your blood. He ill-treated me once too. He said the apples were his and
+drove me out of the tree with a stick. And to think that we are relations!”
+
+“If I could only get at him!” said the otter. “But I am too small.”
+
+“All in good time,” answered the orang-outang. “We shall be even with him
+yet.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS KILLS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+The sun was scorching and the ground was shockingly dry.
+
+The trees and bushes hung their leaves and the grass was parched and
+yellow, so that the ox could hardly find a green tuft to eat. The water in
+the river was so low that the fish swam along the bottom; and the brook
+had stopped running altogether. The animals lay in the shade and gasped
+for breath. In many places, both flowers and animals had died. Two-Legs
+and his wife and child were not much better off.
+
+The only one who was really happy was the snake. He stretched himself in
+the sun and thought it delightful:
+
+“Shine away, you dear sun,” he said. “The hotter the better. I am only
+just beginning to feel alive.”
+
+
+2
+
+But one day the rain came.
+
+It was not the sort of rain against which you can just put up an umbrella
+or take shelter in a doorway and wait until it stops. It poured down
+from the clouds till you could not see your hand before your face and it
+rained day after day as if it would never end. It rattled and pattered and
+clattered on the dry leaves so that you could not hear a sound. The river
+flowed again and the brook woke from its trance and sang as it had never
+sung before. The whole earth was like a thirsty mouth that drank and drank
+and could never quench its thirst.
+
+And a great gladness reigned on every hand.
+
+The trees stretched themselves and spread out and sent forth new shoots;
+and the grass sprang fresh and green from the ground. The flowers
+blossomed anew; the frogs croaked till they were heard all over the
+forest; and the fish flapped their tails merrily. Two-Legs and his family
+sat in front of their leafy hut and rejoiced with the rest.
+
+But it went on raining.
+
+The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should
+go under in the waves. The water soaked through the roof of the hut until
+there was not a dry spot inside.
+
+“Baby’s cold,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
+
+They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great
+difficulty, for it was now very deep. They waded through the damp meadow
+and carried the child by turns. Then they found a tree which was so
+contrived that they could live in it. They twisted the branches together
+and built a roof and stopped up the holes as best they could with grass
+and moss; and this was their new house.
+
+“The water can’t reach us here,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“But it’s raining through the roof,” said his wife. “Baby’s cold and so am
+I.”
+
+[Illustration: ONE DAY THE RAIN CAME]
+
+“It’s just as I always said,” observed the orang-outang. “They have no
+hide or fur or anything and they’ll come to a horrible end.”
+
+“You ought to have fed your little one on maggots, Mrs. Two-Legs,” said
+Mrs. Nightingale. “Then he would have thrived better. My young ones are
+already almost as big as myself.”
+
+“You ought to have put him in the meadow and let him jump about, as I
+advised you,” said Mrs. Stag. “Then he would have been able to shift for
+himself by now.”
+
+“You should sit on him,” said Mrs. Reed-Warbler. “That’s how I keep my
+young ones warm.”
+
+Mrs. Two-Legs said nothing, but looked at her boy, who was shivering with
+cold.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“It’s really a terribly spoilt child,” said Mrs. Hedgehog. “Of course,
+what must be must be; and, once you’ve brought children into the world,
+you have to give them a decent bringing-up. But a great big thumping lout
+like that, of six months old, still at his mother’s breast: fie, for
+shame! What he wants is a good beating and then turn him loose into the
+world!”
+
+“There’s nothing to be done with people like that,” said Mrs. Stag. “They
+won’t use their common sense; and, as they have made their bed, so they
+must lie on it.”
+
+Then they went away.
+
+
+3
+
+Mrs. Two-Legs sat in the tree and the rain poured and the baby cried with
+cold.
+
+“Look at that silly sheep in the meadow,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. “She’s warm
+and comfortable in her thick fleece, while my poor dear little boy lies
+shivering.”
+
+Two-Legs heard what she said, but made no reply. He sat silent for a while
+and thought over things. Then he climbed down from the tree and sat on the
+ground a little and thought again. The rain splashed and clattered. Up in
+the tree, the little baby cried with cold. Down in the meadow, the sheep
+moved about and grazed.
+
+Then Two-Legs rose and went up to the sheep. On his way, he took a sharp
+stone and hid it in his hand. He went very slowly and looked to one side,
+so as not to frighten the sheep. Then suddenly, with a bound, he caught
+hold of her.
+
+“Baa! Baa! Murder! Help! I’m dying!” cried the sheep.
+
+Two-Legs struck her on the forehead with the stone and she fell to the
+ground. Then he strangled her with his hands, caught her by the fleece and
+dragged her to the tree where he had made his home.
+
+He cut a hole in her hide with the sharp stone and began to pull it off
+with his finger-nails. His wife came down and helped him. They used their
+teeth also, to finish the work more quickly, and, presently, they stopped
+and looked at each other with beaming eyes:
+
+“How delicious!” he said.
+
+“Wonderful!” said she. “Let us hurry now and give the boy the fleece. Then
+we will go on eating.”
+
+Two-Legs drank the blood of the sheep and bit into the meat:
+
+“I feel stronger than I ever did before,” he said. “Let the lion come now,
+then he’ll have me to deal with.”
+
+They wrapped the fleece round the child, who at once went comfortably to
+sleep. Then they dragged the rest of the sheep up into the tree and sat
+down to eat. Every bite they took made them feel braver and stronger. They
+gave no more thought to cold or rain, but sat and talked of the future as
+they had never talked before:
+
+“I should like to have a sheepskin like that for myself,” said she.
+
+“So you shall,” said he, gnawing a bone, “unless we find another animal
+that has a still softer and warmer skin. I want a fur too.... I say, we
+might cover the roof with sheepskins: that would keep out the rain. I will
+go out to-morrow and find some more sheep and kill them and bring them
+home.”
+
+“Then we’ll eat them,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
+
+“Rather!” said he. “We’ll eat meat every day. What a good thing that I
+thought of it, for the fish in the river were already growing afraid of
+me!”
+
+“Mind you don’t meet with an accident,” said she.
+
+“That’s all right,” he said. “I’ll go down to the river the first thing in
+the morning and pick out some sharp stones, in case I should lose the one
+I have. And, look here, I’ll tell you what: I’ll fasten one of those sharp
+stones to the end of a stick, with a shoot or tendril of some kind; a long
+stick, do you see? Then I need not go up to the sheep to hit them. I can
+throw the stone. For, of course, they’ll be afraid of me when they hear
+that I have killed one of them....”
+
+
+4
+
+While they were talking like this, all the animals of the forest had
+gathered in the meadow, just as on the first night when the new animals
+arrived:
+
+“Two-Legs has killed the sheep!” cried the sparrow and hurried on with
+her news, drenched and rumpled though she was with the rain.
+
+“Two-Legs has murdered the sheep and the ox and the goat!” screamed the
+crow and flapped her wet wings.
+
+“Softly!” said the ox. “I’m alive still, thank goodness, though I’m quite
+prepared for the worst.”
+
+“Two-Legs has killed all the animals in the forest ... he’s sitting in the
+meadow eating the lion,” whispered the reeds to one another.
+
+Then all the animals rushed down to the meadow to hear the exact state of
+affairs. The lion stood in their midst, with his head proudly raised:
+
+“What’s all this noise about?” he asked.
+
+“May I speak?” said the orang-outang, holding up one finger. “I was
+sitting in the palm-tree over there and saw the whole thing. It was
+terrible.”
+
+“What a mean fellow you are!” said the lion. “You’re giving evidence
+against your own relations.”
+
+“Very distant,” replied the orang-outang. “Exceedingly remote. I will
+remind you that I expressly refused to take any responsibility for these
+Two-Legs, who only bring disgrace upon the family. Well, I was sitting
+in the tree and saw him come running up, fling himself on the sheep and
+strangle her. Then he dragged the poor beast to the tree in which he is
+living. I crept up behind him and saw him skin her. The woman helped him
+and then they climbed up the tree and feasted.”
+
+“Is that all?” asked the lion. “I’ve eaten plenty of sheep in my time,
+though I prefer deer on the whole. Why shouldn’t Two-Legs help himself to
+a bit of meat if he likes?”
+
+“If I may speak, I should like to remind you of what I said when we last
+met,” said the ox. “It’s easy for you to talk like that, for Two-Legs
+can’t do you any harm. It’s we others that he eats. Still, you had better
+look out. He may become a dangerous competitor. Suppose he gets a large
+family of children and they all take to eating mutton?”
+
+“Then there’s always beef left!” said the lion, laughing and showing his
+terrible teeth.
+
+“Just so,” said the ox and cautiously took a step backwards. “The oxen
+will get their turn, now that he has tasted blood. He looks awfully
+greedy. And I feel as if he had eaten me before.”
+
+“Humph!” said the lion. “There may be something in that. I don’t like
+beating about the bush as a rule. Let us go and have a word with the
+fellow.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+5
+
+He moved on; and the orang-outang skipped along eagerly in front of him:
+
+“This way, this way,” he said.
+
+The lion stopped under the tree where Two-Legs had made his home. All
+the other animals of the forest had followed him and stood listening and
+staring.
+
+“Two-Legs!” roared the lion, with his mighty voice.
+
+It sounded like thunder and they all started with fear. The lion lashed
+his tail and looked up at the tree. Not a sound came from it. He called
+out again, but there was no answer.
+
+“The impudent beggars!” said the orang-outang.
+
+“Perhaps they are dead,” said the nightingale. “Perhaps they have
+overeaten themselves with the sheep.”
+
+“You don’t die of eating too much, but of eating too little,” said the
+pig, who kept rooting in the ground with his snout, in search of something
+for himself to eat.
+
+Then the lion roared for the third time; and the noise was so loud that a
+little siskin tumbled off her twig right into the jaws of the snake, who
+swallowed her before any one could utter a sound, so that nobody ever got
+wind of the story.
+
+And now Two-Legs appeared at the top of the tree.
+
+He had been fast asleep after the hearty meal which he had enjoyed; and he
+was furious at being roused. His hair hung about his face in disorder and
+his eyes were bloodshot and his mouth covered with foam:
+
+“Who dares disturb my sleep?” he shouted.
+
+“I do: the lion.”
+
+“The lion, the king of beasts,” they all cried, respectfully, with one
+voice.
+
+“I am king in my own house,” said Two-Legs. “Be off, I want to sleep.”
+
+“He is defying the lion.... He is mad.... I won’t give a penny for his
+life!” cried the animals.
+
+But Two-Legs took the thigh-bone of the sheep, aimed it and flung it with
+all his might at the lion. It hit the king of beasts in the middle of the
+forehead. He uttered a frightful roar. All the animals rushed terrified
+across the meadow. The lion ran in their midst, roaring constantly, till
+it echoed all over the forest.
+
+But Two-Legs lay down quietly to sleep and slept until broad daylight.
+
+When he awoke and had climbed down the tree, the dog lay gnawing the bone
+which Two-Legs had flung at the lion. He wagged his tail; Two-Legs patted
+him and gave him another bone:
+
+“Will you be my servant and my friend?” asked Two-Legs.
+
+“Gladly,” said the dog. “You have been kinder to me than the others and
+you are stronger and cleverer than they.”
+
+“Very well,” said Two-Legs. “Then you shall keep watch over me and mine
+and help me when I go hunting and bear me company.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TIME PASSES
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+The rainy season went by, the sun recovered his strength and rain and
+sunshine came and went by turns. Time passed, as it must and will pass.
+
+The Two-Legs family were now living in a new house which was better than
+either the leafy hut on the island or the dwelling up in the apple-tree.
+
+It was a cave in the rocks, which Two-Legs had discovered on one of his
+rambles. It was cool in the warm weather and in the cold it was sheltered
+against the rain and it could be closed with a big stone at night or when
+danger threatened. Two-Legs had hung the walls with skins and carpeted the
+floor with moss and now felt comfortably at home with his family and the
+dog.
+
+He had plenty to do, for the family had increased. He now had three
+children, who were doing excellently and eating like wolves. He had had to
+be careful since the night when he flung the bone at the lion’s head, for
+not only had he made an enemy of the king of beasts, but most of the other
+animals of the forest looked upon him with suspicion.
+
+And they were well-advised, for Two-Legs had become a mighty hunter, in no
+way inferior to the lion himself.
+
+In the back room of his cave, he kept two big spears and one little one,
+which his eldest son was already able to use very cleverly. They lay in
+wait craftily for their prey, just as the lion and the other hunters of
+the forest did. The dog drove the game towards them and they threw their
+spears and killed it.
+
+“He’s a better hunter than I,” said the lion, one evening, to his wife.
+“With his spear to-day he got a young deer that I had selected for myself.”
+
+“Why didn’t you take her yourself?” asked the lioness.
+
+“I was crawling up to her in the grass,” he replied. “But, before I could
+make my spring, Two-Legs had killed her. He sent his spear through her
+neck and she fell dead on the spot.”
+
+“Then why didn’t you take her from him after he had killed her?” asked the
+lioness again.
+
+“He had another spear in his hand,” said the lion. “And his youngster had
+one also. The spear is a thing I don’t understand. They who are struck by
+it fall down and die.”
+
+“You’re afraid of Two-Legs,” sneered the lioness. “He’s the king of the
+forest, not you. If your son proves as big a coward as yourself, we’re
+done for.”
+
+The lion said nothing, but lay staring before him with his yellow eyes.
+
+
+2
+
+But, a little before daybreak, he stole up to Two-Legs’ cave, hid in the
+bushes and waited patiently until the stone was rolled away. This happened
+immediately after sunrise. The lion made ready to leap. He saw blood
+before his eyes and sprang, almost without thinking, upon the first form
+that appeared, struck it down with his powerful claws and carried it back
+with a bound into the bushes.
+
+A terrible scream brought Two-Legs to the entrance of the cave. He stood
+holding a spear in either hand. The lion saw that he had not killed his
+enemy, but only one of his children. He let go the corpse and prepared to
+make a fresh spring. Two-Legs now saw him among the leaves. He flung one
+spear and missed him. Then he threw the other, but the lion was gone, with
+great bounds.
+
+With tears and lamentations, Two-Legs and his wife bore the dead child
+into the cave. The lion, hurried by fear, fled through the forest.
+Wherever he came, the terrified animals fell aside.
+
+“The lion is flying from Two-Legs,” announced the sparrow.
+
+And the rumour spread through the whole forest and grew.
+
+“Two-Legs has wounded the lion with his spear,” screamed the crow.
+
+“Two-Legs has killed the lion and is hunting the lioness,” squeaked the
+mouse.
+
+And the lion fled on.
+
+He rushed past his lair, as though he dare not look his wife in the face.
+He did not come home until late at night.
+
+“Are you still alive?” asked the lioness, scoffing. “The whole forest
+believes you dead. And what about Two-Legs?”
+
+“I have killed one of his young,” answered the lion, angrily.
+
+“What’s the good of that?” asked she.
+
+Then he caught her a box on the ear the like of which she had never had
+before, lay down and stared before him with his yellow eyes.
+
+But the animals in the forest wondered and whispered to one another:
+
+“The lion is afraid.... The lion runs away from Two-Legs.”
+
+“Didn’t I tell you so?” said the ox. “We ought to have killed him then and
+there.”
+
+“Ah, yes!” said the horse. “If the lion had only taken our advice!”
+
+“Ah, yes!” sighed the duck and the goose and the hen.
+
+But the orang-outang went to one side in the forest and reflected:
+
+“My cousin is not such a fool as I thought,” said he to himself. “I really
+don’t know why I shouldn’t go and do the same. I am like him, but have
+many advantages which he has not; and I ought to do at least as well as
+he.”
+
+He took a stick and tried if he could walk like Two-Legs. He succeeded
+quite nicely and then he made for the other animals. He lifted his stick,
+yelled and made terrible eyes. But the animals crowded round and laughed
+at him. The fox snatched the stick from his hand, the stag butted him in
+the back, the sparrow behaved uncivilly on his head and they all made such
+fun of him that he ran away and hid in the copsewood where it was thickest.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: SHE PULLED OUT HIS FEATHERS]
+
+
+3
+
+But the next morning the animals had fresh food for thought.
+
+They saw Two-Legs carry the corpse into the forest and build a great heap
+of stones over it. His wife picked the reddest flowers and laid them on
+the stones.
+
+“Well, I never!” said the nightingale. “When another dies, he’s left, if
+you please, to lie where he falls. But as much fuss is made about this
+child as if his memory were to last for all eternity! I don’t even know
+what has become of my live children of last year, not to speak of the poor
+little chap who fell out of the nest and broke his neck.”
+
+“You just wait. There’s worse to come,” said the ox.
+
+And it came. For, a week later, something happened that enraged the
+animals of the forest more than all that had gone before. Mrs. Two-Legs
+saw a splendid bird of paradise sitting in a tree:
+
+“What wonderful feathers!” she said. “If I could only have a tuft like
+that to wear in my hair!”
+
+Two-Legs, who wanted to do everything to console her for the death of the
+child, at once went out with his spear and soon came back with the dead
+bird of paradise. She pulled out his feathers and tucked them in her hair
+and thought she looked charming; and Two-Legs thought so too.
+
+“Now this is really too bad,” said the nightingale. “To kill a bird in
+order to adorn his wife with the feathers! Did you ever in your born days!
+It’s well for me that I’m so grey and ugly!”
+
+The widow of the bird of paradise, followed by a great host, went off to
+the lion:
+
+“The new animals have killed my husband,” she said. “Here am I left a
+widow, with four cold eggs. Now that my breadwinner is killed, I can’t
+stay at home and sit on the eggs, unless I want to die of hunger. So I
+left them, to look for some food. When I returned, they were cold and
+dead. I have come to demand vengeance upon the murderer.”
+
+“What can I say?” said the lion. “There are so many widows in the forest.
+I myself don’t ask if the animals which I kill, when I am hungry, have
+wives and children at home.”
+
+“He didn’t do it because he was hungry,” said the widow of the bird of
+paradise. “He did it only to present his wife with a tuft of feathers for
+her hair.”
+
+“What’s he to do when his wife asks for it?” said the lion. “It’s no joke
+falling out with your wife.”
+
+Some of the animals laughed. But most of them shook their heads and
+thought it a stupid jest, unworthy of the king of beasts.
+
+
+4
+
+The next day, the animals of the forest spoke of nothing but Two-Legs.
+They one and all had something to complain of:
+
+“He took my whole nest, the other day, with seventeen new-laid eggs in
+it,” said the hen.
+
+“There are no fish left in the river,” said the otter. “And one gets
+bludgeoned into the bargain.”
+
+“One can no longer graze in peace in the meadows,” said the stag.
+
+But, if sorrow and terror reigned among the larger, important animals,
+some of the smaller, insignificant animals did not mind so much and, in
+fact, were rather amused at the misfortunes of their betters:
+
+“Why should we care?” asked the fly. “Let the big ones eat one another up
+as they please: it doesn’t concern us in any case. And I, for my part,
+would rather have Two-Legs than the nightingale.”
+
+“No one is safe,” said the bee. “He took my honey yesterday.”
+
+“Yes,” said the earth-worm. “And, the day before that, he took my own
+brother, stuck him on a hook and caught a perch with him.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS ENLARGES HIS POSSESSIONS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+Two-Legs sat thinking outside his cave. The dog lay at his feet asleep.
+Indoors, Mrs. Two-Legs was busy preparing breakfast.
+
+Two-Legs was in a bad temper, for he had had bad hunting.
+
+The day before, he had scoured the forest without coming upon any game
+whatever and he had done no better that morning.
+
+The animals had become afraid of him. His spear had reduced their numbers
+so greatly that they fled the moment they saw him come in the distance.
+They knew the hours he went hunting and they hid from him. They posted
+sentries who warned them with loud cries when he or the dog came in
+sight. There was not a stag nor an ox nor a sheep nor a goat in the
+country that lay nearest to the cave. Scarcely ever did an animal graze in
+the meadow down below in front of it. They had all retired to where the
+forest grew thickest and where he could only penetrate with difficulty.
+Nor did it give him any pleasure to hunt up there, where the lion might so
+easily be lying in ambush.
+
+“Things are looking bad, Trust,” he said to the dog. “We must invent
+something new.”
+
+He sat and sharpened his knives and axes, which he had made out of flint,
+and then Mrs. Two-Legs came out with the breakfast, which consisted
+only of apples and nuts. There was not even a fish to be had. The fish
+disappeared as soon as they saw Two-Legs’ reflection in the water.
+
+“I say,” said Two-Legs, suddenly. “It would be much easier if I caught a
+couple of sheep and we kept them here in the cave. Then they would get
+lambs, which we could kill, and I need not continually and perpetually go
+hunting.”
+
+Mrs. Two-Legs thought this a good idea and, as they sat and talked about
+it, he recovered his temper. He wove a long rope of tendrils and then went
+off with his spear, the dog and two of his sons.
+
+He stole along the borders of the forest until at last he caught sight of
+a sheep who was grazing in a distant meadow with two lambs. He crept up to
+her on all fours, while Trust received orders to be quite still. When he
+was near enough, he flung the sling and was lucky enough to drop it just
+over the neck of the sheep. She bleated pitifully, but the noose held fast
+and tightened. Two-Legs, rejoicing, led the animal home and the two little
+lambs came after, for they did not know what else to do.
+
+When he came home, he fastened the sheep to a tree in front of the cave.
+They ate one of the lambs and let the other live. The children ran down
+to the meadow and fetched armfuls of grass and the sheep ate and gave her
+lamb to drink.
+
+“Do you mean to eat me too?” she asked Two-Legs, that evening, as he sat
+outside the cave with his family, rejoicing over his work.
+
+“No,” he said, “I do not. I shall keep you with me and you shall be my
+servant, like the dog. To-morrow I shall go out and catch your husband.
+Then you shall bear me plenty of lambs; and I shall eat some and put some
+by, just as I happen to want them.”
+
+“You killed my sister and pulled off her skin,” said the sheep.
+
+“I know better now,” said Two-Legs. “You shall see for yourself.”
+
+Mrs. Two-Legs came with a knife and cut off the old sheep’s wool. The
+sheep struggled and yelled grievously, but Two-Legs was determined and she
+was bound so tight that resistance was of no avail.
+
+“Now I shall be cold myself when it rains,” cried the sheep.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Nonsense!” said Two-Legs. “When it turns cold, I’ll take you into my
+cave. I want your wool to make clothes of. It’s no use your raising
+difficulties. If you’re good and obedient, you shall have a better time
+with me than you ever had in your life.”
+
+
+2
+
+At night, while Two-Legs slept, the sheep stood outside and thought over
+things. The ox stuck his head over the bushes and, a little afterwards,
+the stag stood there too and the horse and the goat and many of the other
+animals.
+
+“What has he hit upon now?” asked the ox. “The sparrow says that he has
+tied you up and cut off your wool.”
+
+“It’s only too true,” replied the sheep. “See for yourself how naked I
+am. He has eaten one of my lambs and he is going to catch my husband
+to-morrow. But I must say that he has plucked grass for me, so that I have
+eaten my fill.”
+
+“It’s awful,” said the ox. “But it’s only what we expected. Can’t you get
+loose?”
+
+“I’ve tried,” said the sheep. “But it’s no use. The more I pull, the
+tighter the noose gets round my neck. I am a prisoner and a prisoner I
+remain.”
+
+“Rather die than live a slave!” said the wolf. “I will do your lamb the
+service to eat her.”
+
+So saying, he caught hold of the lamb and bit her in the throat. The sheep
+screamed at the top of her voice; Two-Legs woke up and ran out; and all
+the animals rushed away.
+
+“You’ve been asleep, Trust,” said Two-Legs. “We must see to-morrow how we
+can prevent these accidents. A nice thing, if I am to catch sheep for the
+wolf and to fatten them for him to eat!”
+
+
+3
+
+And the next morning he thought of a remedy.
+
+He and his sons went into the forest and felled some trees with their
+axes. Then they cut them into sharp stakes and, after they had prepared a
+quantity of these, they planted them in a circle, outside the cave. Then
+they wove twigs between the stakes and, by sunset, they had a safe and
+strong pen over which no wolf could jump. Two-Legs put the sheep into it.
+
+A few days later, he caught the ram with his sling. He went on hunting
+and soon the cow was there and the bull and their calves. The pen was too
+small and he had to build a bigger one. The whole family went out to fetch
+grass, but could never bring enough. The animals in the pen bleated and
+lowed.
+
+At night, they talked together:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Candidly speaking,” said the sheep, “this existence has its advantages.
+Down there, in the meadow, one never felt sure of one’s life; first the
+lion was after one, then the wolf and the snake and the eagle, to say
+nothing of Two-Legs himself.”
+
+“There’s something in that,” said the cow. “But I can’t stand the way Mrs.
+Two-Legs pulls at my udders. And then I’m not so sure that they don’t mean
+to kill me one fine day. There will be too many of us here before long.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS WANDERS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+Two-Legs began to find it difficult to provide grass for the many animals
+which he had in the pen.
+
+He and his family had long plucked all that grew nearest the cave. Now
+they had to go a long way to find any and it was hard work getting it home.
+
+“We shall have to move,” he said to his wife. “We can’t go on dragging
+the grass up for all the animals. And, as the grass won’t come to us, we
+must go to the grass. We must go down to the meadow again. You will have
+to weave us a woollen tent. Then we will get all the skins we can and dig
+stakes into the ground and hang the skins over them. That’s the best way.
+And then the animals can go and graze round about the tent.”
+
+“But, when they have eaten the grass in the meadow, what then?” asked Mrs.
+Two-Legs.
+
+“Then we will pass on to the next one,” Two-Legs answered. “We will pack
+up the tent, load it on the back of the cow and move on.”
+
+“If only the animals don’t run away!” said she.
+
+“Trust must help me to look after them,” replied he. “And the boys. Then
+all will be well. They know us now and they let us stroke them. You shall
+see, they will soon be quite tame.”
+
+The next morning, they began to break up the pen.
+
+“Is he going to set us free?” asked the cow.
+
+“I don’t want to go down to the meadow again,” said the sheep and began to
+cry. “My legs are stiffer than they were, and I can’t walk as well as I
+used to. And my eyesight is worse and I have hardly any scent left: it’s
+so long since I used my senses. I want to stay with Two-Legs and feed out
+of his hand.”
+
+“You’ve become a slave already,” said the cow. “And you don’t deserve to
+be free. If I see my chance, I shall be off. He killed my calf yesterday:
+I shall never forgive him for that.”
+
+“Oh, well,” said the sheep, “suppose we do lose a youngling or two and
+even risk losing our own lives, what other fate could we expect in any
+case?”
+
+“You have the soul of a serf!” said the cow contemptuously.
+
+Two-Legs had finished breaking down the pen. Meanwhile, his wife had
+packed up all their things. They loaded the cow with as much as she could
+carry, took up the rest themselves and started on their way to the meadow.
+
+“My fears are now being realized,” said the cow, groaning under the
+unwonted burden. “I am dead-tired in my loins and legs.”
+
+And, hardly had they come down to where the meadow began, when she threw
+off her load and rushed away, followed by the bull. Trust flew after them,
+but they turned round and showed him their horns, which made him run back
+with his tail between his legs.
+
+Two-Legs threw his spear at them, but missed them.
+
+“Time will bring counsel,” he said. “I shall go out and catch them again
+to-morrow. Let us put up our tent now and arrange our things.”
+
+
+2
+
+They set up the tent on a little hill from which they could look over
+the meadow. At the foot bubbled a spring. Trust drove the sheep into the
+meadow and home again. Two-Legs caught the hen, the goose and the duck and
+clipped their wings, so that they could not fly away. Gradually, he got a
+number of sheep and goats and a quantity of poultry.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When the animals had eaten all the grass in that place, he struck his tent
+and moved to another meadow; and so it went on. It was as if he had quite
+forgotten the cow. But, one day, his wife reminded him of her:
+
+“You must get the cow back for me,” she said. “I need her milk so badly.
+And both I and the children want new calfskin sandals.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Two-Legs took his spear, hung his sling round his neck and went off to
+look for the cow. When he had gone some way, he saw her in the distance;
+but she saw him too and trotted away at once. The horse, who was standing
+a little way off, looked at Two-Legs mockingly:
+
+“You would like to have my four quick legs,” he said.
+
+“I should, indeed!”
+
+“It’s a good thing that there’s something you can’t manage,” said the
+horse. “It’s dangerous otherwise, the way you play at being master of the
+forest.”
+
+Two-Legs made no reply, but very quietly unwound his lasso. Then, when
+he had got it right, he suddenly threw it over the horse’s head. It fell
+round the animal’s neck and he reared on his hind-legs and darted away
+wildly. But, at every leap he took, the noose drew tighter; and Two-Legs
+did not let go the rope. At one moment, he was dragged along the ground
+and, at the next, recovered his feet again. He twisted the rope round his
+hand and it cut into his flesh till the blood came, but he did not let go.
+
+At last the horse got tired. He stood still quivering in all his limbs.
+The foam flew from his mouth.
+
+“What do you want with me?” he said. “My flesh is not nice to eat and my
+milk isn’t sweet and I have no wool for you to cut off.”
+
+“I want to borrow your four legs,” said Two-Legs. “You were boasting of
+them yourself. Come up! Stand still now! If you’re good, I won’t hurt you.”
+
+He wound the rope round his arm and came closer and closer. He patted the
+sweating horse, then suddenly caught hold of his mane and swung himself
+upon his back. The horse reared and plunged and kicked his hind-legs high
+in the air and tried, in every way, to get rid of his rider. But Two-Legs
+held on to the mane and the rope with his hands and gripped tight with
+his legs and kept his seat for all the effort it cost him. Gradually, the
+horse became quieter again and then Two-Legs patted him on the neck:
+
+“Now go after the cow!” he cried.
+
+He pressed his heels into the horse’s flanks and gave him a smack. Then
+they flew in a rousing gallop over the meadow. The cow did not even
+attempt to run away, but stood staring in amazement at that wonderful
+sight. Before she had collected herself, the lasso was round her neck and
+Two-Legs proudly rode home with his capture.
+
+When they reached the tent, he sprang from the horse, patted him and
+thanked him, but he made no pretence of taking the noose from the horse’s
+neck.
+
+“Won’t you let me go?” asked the horse.
+
+“No,” said Two-Legs. “But I’ll do better for you. You shall now drink from
+the spring and then you shall have the juiciest grass to eat that you ever
+tasted. After that, you shall lie down and reflect that you are now in
+my service and that you can spend the remainder of your days free of all
+cares, without the very least anxiety, if only you will be faithful and
+willing and do the little bit of work that I shall require of you.”
+
+He fed the horse and fastened him to the door of the tent. The cow stood
+tethered close by.
+
+“Shall we see if we can get loose?” whispered the horse, when night came
+and Two-Legs was asleep.
+
+“No,” said the cow, shaking her head. “I sha’n’t run away again. I accept
+my lot. It was a terrible sight to see him on your back. He is the master
+of us all. No one can resist him.”
+
+But the sparrow flew round the forest on her swift wings.
+
+“Two-Legs has caught the horse.... He rides on his back.... He has
+fastened him to his tent.... The horse has become Two-Legs’ servant.”
+
+“Have you heard the latest?” the lioness asked her husband. “Do you mean
+to let him ride on your back too, when he goes hunting?”
+
+The lion gave a threatening roar:
+
+“He had better just try!” he said.
+
+“He knows what he’s about,” answered the lioness, with a sneer. “And you
+just keep out of his way, coward and degenerate that you are!”
+
+The lion laid his head on his paw and said nothing, but brooded dark
+thoughts.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS SOWS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+Two-Legs moved with his herd from one meadow to the other.
+
+The herd increased year by year, as did his family. Mrs. Two-Legs had now
+borne her husband seven sons and seven daughters, who were all doing well
+and helping in the house and with the cattle.
+
+And the animals were more and more pleased to be in his service.
+
+The horse carried him when he went hunting and walked beside him when he
+struck the tent and moved to a new pasturage. He came at Two-Legs’ call
+and neither he nor any other animals thought seriously of running away, so
+that Trust had an easy job in watching over them. Now and then they felt
+an inclination for freedom, especially when they were talking to the wild
+animals. But it went no further than the inclination.
+
+For instance, one night in the rainy season, the stag came to the tent
+which Two-Legs had put up to protect his animals:
+
+“Well, you’re nice and dry here,” said the stag and looked enviously into
+the tent.
+
+“You’re right,” replied the sheep. “It is really much better than in the
+old days, when we used to take shelter under a tree and get drenched all
+the same.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Just so,” said the cow. “And in the dry season too it was pleasant
+every day to get our food, which Two-Legs had stored up for us, instead
+of having to go all over the country as before, in search of a blade of
+grass.”
+
+“But I thought you had to drudge for it,” said the stag. “I have often
+seen you drudging and toiling for your master.”
+
+“One good turn deserves another,” said the horse. “For the rest, I can’t
+deny that my presentiments have been fulfilled. All my limbs hurt me
+terribly after the day’s work.”
+
+“And so do ours,” said the ox and the cow.
+
+The duck, the goose and the hen agreed. But the sheep shook her fat head,
+while she went on chewing the cud:
+
+“I can’t remember what sort of presentiment I had,” she said. “I am well
+off as I am.”
+
+“Are you grumbling over there?” asked Trust, who was keeping watch and
+never slept with more than one eye shut. “Shall I call the master?”
+
+The stag took fright and ran away. But the horse said:
+
+“No, please do nothing of the sort. He has worked hard himself to-day and
+is no doubt as tired as we are. It would be a sin to wake him.”
+
+Then it grew still in the tent.
+
+But Two-Legs in his own tent was not asleep.
+
+On the contrary, he was wide awake, thinking over things, and his wife
+could not sleep either, for she was thinking too.
+
+“I am sick of wandering about the country,” he said at last. “We are no
+longer young, we have a very big family and sometimes the work makes me
+tired.”
+
+“Me too,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. “But that has nothing to do with it. We are
+obliged to move about to get the grass we want.”
+
+Two-Legs said nothing for the moment.
+
+He rose and went out into the rain, had a look at his animals and then
+came back again and sat down in his old place. The lion was roaring
+outside in the meadow.
+
+“Did you hear him?” asked Mrs. Two-Legs.
+
+Two-Legs nodded.
+
+“Tell me,” he said, after a while, “where does the grass come from?”
+
+“You know as well as I do,” she said. “We have often talked of how it
+scatters its seed and how the seed shoots up between the old withered
+blades when the rain comes.”
+
+“Quite right,” said Two-Legs. “And why shouldn’t we collect the seed and
+sow it ourselves? Now, if we pull up all the old grass and take the seed
+of the kind which our animals like best, we ought to be able to make it
+grow much thicker. And then we could reap the seed again and sow it again
+and go on living in the same place year after year.”
+
+“Oh, if we could only do that!” cried Mrs. Two-Legs and clapped her hands.
+
+“Why not?” said Two-Legs. “And, if we succeed in this, then we can build a
+proper, solid house for ourselves and our animals. I am sure that we can
+fell the biggest trees with our flint axes, if only we have the patience
+and persevere. As soon as the rain stops, I shall go out and look for a
+place where we can settle down for the rest of our days.”
+
+
+2
+
+A week later, the sky was clear again. Two-Legs mounted his horse, took
+leave of his family and said that he would not come home before he had
+found what he sought. He did not return till the evening of the third day
+and ordered them to pack up early next morning and go with him.
+
+When they came to the place, they had to admit that he had made a good
+choice.
+
+It was easy to see that the ground was good and fertile, everything around
+grew so fresh and luxuriant. There was a large, open field and on one side
+of it was the forest, on the other a meadow, which, in its turn, ran down
+to a great lake, where fish leapt and played. Beyond the lake were the
+distant blue mountains, which were beautiful to look at and to dream of.
+Just at the edge of the forest lay a hill, at whose foot a brook flowed.
+The brook ran into the river, which wound through the meadow, and the
+river ran into the lake.
+
+And the field and the meadow were full of all kinds of grass and flowers.
+There were poppies larger and redder than Two-Legs had ever seen. And
+there were bluebells and carrots, convolvuluses and corn-flowers. They
+grew and spread themselves as they pleased, for they themselves were the
+lords of the land.
+
+“This is where we shall settle,” said Two-Legs. “We shall build a big,
+strong house on the hill, with stables for our animals and a palisade
+outside to keep off those who wish us harm. Let us start without delay.
+You’ll see something, once the house is there!”
+
+He and his sons set to work at once felling trees.
+
+They laboured patiently day after day; but they had to chop hard with
+their stone axes before the big trees gave way. A cry of dismay went from
+tree to tree, far into the forest:
+
+“What is happening?... What does he want with us?... Why must we die?”
+whispered the trees to one another.
+
+
+3
+
+But Two-Legs and his sons heard nothing and saw nothing. They worked and
+worked till they had what they wanted. And then they built a strong wooden
+house on the hill, built two houses, then three: one for themselves, a
+stable for the animals and a big long house for which Two-Legs had a
+purpose of which he did not speak for the present.
+
+They closed up all the chinks with moss. And round the whole farm they
+built a palisade of tall stakes and woven twigs, which made a good wall to
+protect them against their enemies.
+
+“That’s that,” said Two-Legs. “Now to work!”
+
+He told his wife to sew a leather bag for himself and one for each of the
+family. Then they went to the field and the meadow and filled their bags
+with seed of every sort of grass that they wanted to sow.
+
+“Won’t you have a few of my seeds?” asked the poppy, shedding her scarlet
+petals. “I have thousands of them in my head and I am the prettiest in the
+land.”
+
+“You may be pretty,” said Two-Legs, “but I have no use for you.”
+
+“You’ve passed me by,” said the violet, modestly.
+
+“You’re forgetting me,” cried the thistle. “I am the proudest and
+strongest in the whole meadow.”
+
+“But I am the toughest,” cried the dock.
+
+“Mind you take none of their seed,” said Two-Legs to his family. “Our
+animals don’t eat them.”
+
+So they went home with full bags and out and home again, until they had
+heaped up a mighty store.
+
+“Now we will prepare the ground,” said Two-Legs. “Come, my dear horse, and
+lend me your strength, as you have done before.”
+
+He made a plough, harnessed the horse to it and drove it across the field,
+step by step and furrow after furrow. He rejoiced when he saw the earth
+turn under the stone blades of the plough.
+
+“What’s the meaning of this?” said the poppy and was forthwith ploughed
+over.
+
+“It’s no use,” cried the thistle. “Our seed will come up and tease you.”
+
+“We’ll see about that,” said Two-Legs.
+
+Then he told his family to pull up all the thistles and throw them away.
+And, when he had ploughed as much as he wanted, he took the grass-seed
+which they had gathered and sowed it in the good, fresh earth.
+
+“Now we must wait for the rain,” he said, “and see how things go.”
+
+
+4
+
+And the rainy season came and things went as Two-Legs had hoped.
+
+[Illustration: TWO-LEGS HAD MADE A GOOD CHOICE]
+
+Little green shoots sprouted all over the ploughed field, all alike, all
+grass of the kind which the animals loved. Here and there, it is true, a
+thistle appeared and a poppy; but most of it was good grass.
+
+“Look!” said Two-Legs, gladly. “Now we only want the sunshine and then it
+will grow.”
+
+The sun came and the whole field was a lovely green carpet which grew so
+that one could see it grow from day to day.
+
+One morning, the stag came to the edge of the forest and beheld all this
+with amazement. Then he shouted into the forest to his family:
+
+“Come along! Here’s the finest field of grass you ever saw in your lives!
+Hurry up and come. I’ve started grazing already.”
+
+“You’ve started grazing, have you?” cried Two-Legs and came rushing up
+with his spear. “Out of this, you thief! Do you imagine that I have sown
+corn in the sweat of my brow for you to eat? Get out of it! This field
+belongs to me!”
+
+The stag fled as fast as he could into the forest. But the sparrow flew
+round and told the news on every hand:
+
+“Two-Legs has taken a great piece of land which no one is allowed to
+touch. He called the stag a thief when he tried to graze on it.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS ENJOYS LIFE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+When the time came, Two-Legs filled the house which he had built for a
+barn with the produce of his field. And the harvest was hardly gathered
+before he began to think of next year.
+
+He ploughed a new field and another and sowed them. The year after, he
+cleared a part of the forest and tilled that.
+
+And so he went on year by year, until he had cultivated the land as far as
+he could see from his house on the hill.
+
+Round the house he had planted a garden with the fruit-trees and herbs
+which he had a use for. The fields lay in long, even strips, each with its
+own sort of grass or corn. The whole was fenced in; and Two-Legs was hard
+upon any who destroyed his work or stole his property.
+
+
+2
+
+It looked as though he were the lord of the earth. No one dared set
+himself up against him. His herd increased from day to day and the wild
+animals fled far away as soon as they saw a sign of him or his. In the
+depths of the forest, however, and under the cover of the darkness and
+whenever they felt safe from him, they talked of the old days when they
+themselves were the masters, of the shame that it was that he should
+subjugate them so and of their hopes of better times:
+
+“He throws stones at a poor bird that picks a grain of corn in his field,”
+said the sparrow.
+
+“Yesterday, he drove me out of the hazel-hedge round his garden,” said the
+squirrel.
+
+“He shot an arrow into my left wing because I took a lamb,” said the eagle.
+
+“He has driven me right out of the forest,” said the wolf. “He told me
+that all the game belonged to him and that, if I dared touch it, he would
+persecute me and my cubs to the end of the world, if need be.”
+
+“Perhaps he’ll take it into his head to-morrow to say that all the meadows
+are his,” cried the stag. “And where are we to graze then?”
+
+The thistle, the poppy and the bluebell pressed close against the hedge.
+The violet hid herself in the ditch and the stinging-nettle stood gloomily
+and angrily outside Two-Legs’ garden fence.
+
+“Are we any better off?” asked the thistle. “We’ve been driven from home
+and have to stand against the hedge and look on while the silly grass
+spreads all over the field. We are at his mercy; he can take our lives any
+day he pleases.”
+
+“He has planted some of my sisters in his garden,” said the violet.
+
+“And some of mine,” said the poppy. “But that’s not liberty.”
+
+[Illustration: ‘HE SHOT AN ARROW INTO MY LEFT WING’]
+
+“Prick him, thistle!” said the tall oak.
+
+“I did and he struck me with his stick,” replied the thistle.
+
+“Sting him, nettle!” said the oak.
+
+“I did,” said the nettle, “and I came off no better than the thistle.”
+
+In the corn, however, a glad whisper ran from one end of the field to the
+other.
+
+“It is we ... it is we ... it is we ... it is we that reign in the land
+now.... We are good.... We are useful.... You are nothing but weeds.”
+
+“Hear them, the cowardly dogs!” said the thistle.
+
+“We can do nothing,” said the bluebell. “Why don’t you big trees fall down
+on him and crush him and his brood?”
+
+“That’s a ticklish matter, falling down,” said the oak. “But have we not a
+king of the forest to protect us? Where is the lion?”
+
+“Yes the lion ... Where is the lion?” they all cried.
+
+But the lion was not there and did not come.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+3
+
+Two-Legs sat at home in his garden, under a big apple-tree, surrounded by
+all his family.
+
+He cast his eyes over his fields, on which the corn waved, and up into the
+apple-tree, which hung full of delicious, yellow fruit. One of his sons
+had just come back from the lake with a couple of big fish. Another was
+hunting in the forest; now they heard his call and he stood at the edge of
+the wood with a fat roebuck over his shoulders.
+
+A third was busy making a plough: he wanted to improve upon the old one.
+And all the rest were working at one thing or another. The girls were busy
+in the kitchen or turning the mill-wheel.
+
+“We have had luck on our side,” said Two-Legs to his wife. “Everything
+thrives and grows under our hands. And our children will do better than we
+and their children better still. I hardly dare picture the power and glory
+which our race may yet achieve.”
+
+“Yes,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. “Things are going well with us. Remind me to
+strew a little corn for the sparrows, when the bad times come.”
+
+“I sha’n’t forget,” said he. “We have such plenty now that we can afford
+to give those little thieves a helping hand. And I like to hear them
+twittering when I get up in the morning.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: HE STOOD AT THE EDGE OF THE WOOD]
+
+
+
+
+THE OLD ANIMALS TAKE COUNSEL
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+The complaints of the wild animals increased daily.
+
+“One no longer knows what one dare do and what not,” said the mole.
+“Yesterday, my cousin was throwing up earth, as our family have done ever
+since they existed. At that moment, he was caught and killed by one of
+Two-Legs’ sons, because the mole-hill appeared in the middle of one of his
+flower-beds.”
+
+“His daughter killed my wife, because she thought her ugly,” said a young
+spider. “Not that my wife was nice to me. She wanted to eat me immediately
+after the wedding and I had a narrow escape. But, apart from that, she was
+the most inoffensive person under the sun and really never hurt a soul.
+Except the flies, of course.”
+
+“He took away my wife and planted her in his garden,” said the hop-vine.
+
+“And he throws me out if I show the least tiny green shoot,” said the
+gout-weed.
+
+“He shuts us up in hives,” said the bee.
+
+“He hunts us by clapping his hands and hitting us with cloths,” said the
+moth.
+
+“He locks us up and fattens us and eats us,” grunted the pig.
+
+“He sets traps for us if we try to get a morsel of food,” said the mouse.
+
+“He is the master of us all,” said the stag. “We have no one to complain
+to. We have no king. The lion is no longer the ruler of the forest. He
+kills us with his claws when he is hungry, but he makes no attempt to
+defend us.”
+
+
+2
+
+While they were talking, the lioness came slowly up and stood in their
+midst. They sprang up in alarm, but she lay down quietly and said:
+
+“Do not be afraid of me. I sha’n’t hurt you. I have hardly eaten a
+mouthful this week for grief. The same cares oppress me as yourselves. And
+it is worse for me, because my husband ought to have protected us against
+these strangers and doesn’t. The disgrace, for that matter, concerns me
+personally.”
+
+“The lion must help us! The lion must set us free!” they all cried
+together.
+
+“The lion does nothing,” said the lioness, sadly. “He lies at home in our
+lair, staring and staring before him. But, now, listen to what I have to
+say.”
+
+They all gathered round and listened.
+
+“We are all concerned,” she said, “each one of us, without exception. I
+have taken in all that I have heard and seen of Two-Legs and I know his
+character and his plans as though he had confided them to me. He wants to
+subdue the whole earth. He and his children intend to reign over us all,
+whether we submit or not.”
+
+“That is true!” cried the animals.
+
+“Yes, that is true,” continued the lioness. “Let none feel safe! The most
+powerful animal and the tallest tree: if he has not laid them low to-day,
+their turn will come to-morrow. The lowest vermin and the sorriest weed,
+they know not on what day he may need them nor when they are in his way;
+and then their last hour has struck.”
+
+“Yes, yes!” they cried.
+
+The mighty oak waved his gnarled boughs in assent, the stag sorrowfully
+drooped his antlers, the worm whispered his “Yes!” in the earth and the
+bees buzzed with fear.
+
+“Yes,” said the lioness. “To him we are either useful or injurious. If
+he thinks a flower pretty, he fences it in; if its scent offends his
+nostrils, he tramples her underfoot. If a tree stands where he can sleep
+in its shade, he lets it grow. If it is in his way or if he has a use for
+its wood, he chops it down. If he is able to use an animal, he catches it
+and makes it his slave. He dresses himself in its skin, eats its flesh,
+lets it do his work. He does not stop when he has had his fill, as we do.
+Greedy as he is, he catches animals and gathers fruit for many days, so
+that he may never suffer want.”
+
+“That’s so, that’s so!” cried the animals, in chorus.
+
+“Wait a bit!” continued the lioness. “There is more to come. He does not
+hunt fair, like ourselves. He does not go after his prey on his own legs.
+He rides at it on the back of the horse, whom he has compelled to carry
+him. He does not catch it with his claws, does not kill it with his teeth:
+he has a curious weapon, which flies through the air and brings death to
+whomsoever it strikes.”
+
+“We all know it!” cried the stag.
+
+“It has whistled past my ear!” said the wolf.
+
+“It hit my wing!” said the eagle.
+
+“He does not drink the blood as we do, does not eat the meat as we do,”
+continued the lioness. “He roasts it at the fire: he always has a fire
+in his hut. He has done violence to nature: we knew fire only when the
+lightning struck an old tree and set it alight; he strikes two stones
+against each other till the sparks come, or rubs two pieces of rotten wood
+till they catch flame.”
+
+“True, true!” cried the animals. “He has subdued fire.”
+
+“He does not wait to pluck the fruit in the forest when it is ripe,” said
+the lioness. “He cultivates the plants for which he has a use and roots
+out the others. Give him a free hand and he will transform the whole
+earth. No herbs will he let grow but those which he can employ. No animals
+will he let live but those which serve his use or pleasure. If we want to
+remain alive, we must become his servants.”
+
+“Hear, hear!” cried the animals.
+
+The lioness paused; all was still. They heard Trust bark a long way off.
+
+“Listen to the dog,” said the lioness. “His first servant. Now he helps
+him watch over others.”
+
+“The dog has betrayed us! Let us kill the dog!” they cried.
+
+The lioness raised her paw and silence prevailed again. Then she continued:
+
+“Do you remember the night when we met here in this same meadow, when the
+new animals had just arrived? There were some who warned us: they were
+the horse and the ox and the sheep; the goose and the duck agreed with
+them: now they are all his subjects; their presentiments did not deceive
+them. But do you not remember how the two animals looked when they lay
+here asleep? A couple of poor, naked wretches: we could have killed them
+without trouble, had we wished.”
+
+“We could, we could!” cried the animals.
+
+“But we didn’t!” said the lioness. “And now they are the lords of the
+forest. Do you know whence their power comes? It comes from the animals
+whom they have subdued. If we could take those animals from them, then
+they would be just as poor and helpless as before. Two-Legs’ power
+consists in this, that he can make others work for him. If, therefore, you
+take my advice, you will try to get his servants away from him. I propose
+that we send some one who will endeavour to talk them into their senses.
+Surely, we have only to appeal to their sense of honour and to remind
+them of the days when they wandered at liberty in the forest! Who will
+undertake the mission?”
+
+“Do you go yourself!” they all cried.
+
+“No,” said the lioness, “I had better not. It would not be wise. There is
+blood between their race and mine. They might remember this; and then my
+words would be in vain. It should be one from whom they have never had
+anything to fear.”
+
+They discussed the matter for some time; and then it was resolved that
+the fox should be the emissary. He was at odds, it was true, from the old
+days, with the goose and the duck and the hen; but there was no one better
+at hand.
+
+And so he sneaked off: none knew so well the shortest and most secret
+paths in the forest. He promised to bring back an answer as quickly
+as possible. The animals lay down to rest in the meadow and whispered
+together. In the midst of the circle lay the lioness, staring silently
+before her, with shame and wrath in her eyes.
+
+
+3
+
+When the fox reached Two-Legs’ house, he met Trust, who was going his
+night rounds to see if there were any foes about.
+
+“Good evening, cousin,” said the fox, slyly. “Out so late?”
+
+“I might say the same to you,” replied Trust. “I am keeping watch for my
+master. You’re hardly out on so lawful an errand.”
+
+“I have no master, certainly,” said the fox. “And it’s not long ago since
+you were a free dog in the forest. You ought to become so again. Come
+down with me to the meadow. The other animals are gathered there. They
+will forgive you for entering Two-Legs’ service and look upon you as the
+good dog that you were, if you will open the door so that the captive
+animals may escape.”
+
+“There are no captive animals here,” said the dog. “We are all well off
+and we wish for no change. If I am Two-Legs’ servant, I am also his
+friend. So run away back as fast as you can to those who sent you.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+With that, the dog turned his back on the fox and went in through the
+little hole that was left in the fence for his use. But the fox stood
+waiting awhile, to see if none of the others appeared. And it was not long
+before a fine gosling stuck her head through the hole.
+
+“Good-evening, little missie!” said the fox. “Please come a little closer.”
+
+“I dare not,” said the gosling. “I am not allowed out at night. And I
+should so awfully like to get away. I am so frightened of Two-Legs. He
+roasted my mother the other day and ate her.”
+
+“Shocking!” exclaimed the fox. “You mustn’t stay a moment longer in this
+murderer’s den. Come out to me and I will take you to a place where you
+will have nothing to fear.”
+
+“If I only dared trust you!” said the gosling. “But I have ten sisters. I
+can’t leave them in the lurch.”
+
+“I don’t think you had better wake them to-night,” said the fox. “Young
+ladies are so talkative and, if the dog or Two-Legs discovered your
+flight, it would be all up with us. You would be roasted forthwith and I
+should come in for a certain unpleasantness too: that goes without saying.”
+
+“That is true,” said the gosling. “But will you promise me to fetch my
+sisters another time?”
+
+“I give you my word that, from to-day, I will come every night and fetch
+one of the young ladies, until they are all rescued,” said the fox. “As
+far as lies in my power. There may be obstacles.”
+
+“How kind you are!” whispered the gosling. “And I who thought that the
+wild animals were such terrible monsters! That’s what I’ve always been
+told. They said I must be particularly careful not to go into the forest,
+lest the worst of evils should befall me.”
+
+“Sheer calumny!” said the fox. “All the animals in the forest are angels.
+I never heard of any one being roasted there. But come now, before we are
+perceived.”
+
+“I’m coming,” said the gosling.
+
+She waddled through the hole and, that very instant, felt the fox’s teeth
+in her throat. She was just able to give a scream and then she was done
+for. But, the next moment, Trust was there. The fox let go the gosling and
+struck out with his teeth as best he could. But he was the weaker and the
+dog gave no quarter. Not until the fox lay dead on the ground did Trust go
+back through his hole again.
+
+
+4
+
+Meanwhile, the animals were lying in the meadow and waiting.
+
+“The fox has tricked us,” said the stag.
+
+“Of course, he has been caught and is entering Two-Legs’ service like the
+rest,” said the nightingale.
+
+But, at daybreak, the sparrow came flying up, breathlessly:
+
+“The fox is dead!” she said. “He is lying on the hill outside Two-Legs’
+house. I saw him myself. There’s a dead goose lying beside him.”
+
+Then the lioness rose and all the other animals with her:
+
+“The fox went on his own business,” she said. “He fell in his own hunting.
+We can trust nobody now.”
+
+Then, with bent head, she went sadly home.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE LION
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+It was one night, some days after the animals had held their meeting in
+the meadow.
+
+The lion lay in his lair, as was his custom, and stared with his yellow
+eyes. His spouse was sleeping or pretending to sleep. At every moment she
+heaved a deep sigh. All was still in the forest.
+
+The lion well knew what his consort’s sighing meant. He knew what the
+animals had talked of that day and all the other days in the forest. Not
+one of their complaints was unfamiliar to him; not one of the taunts
+uttered against him had escaped his ears. Not for a moment had he doubted
+the feeling in the forest towards the king of beasts.
+
+Nor had he forgotten which of the animals had spoken of him most
+slightingly. He had imprinted the names of more than one in his memory
+and he would know how to be even with them when the time came and order
+was restored in the forest. Every day he had to bear his consort’s gibes,
+but he no longer heeded them. She would have to beg his pardon and yield
+him her love and admiration once again. His children would honour him as
+they had honoured him of old and even more. He would be remembered in
+the history of the forest as the monarch in whose reign the kingdom had
+incurred a great danger and misfortune, which he had finally overcome.
+
+
+2
+
+The lion rose and went slowly through the forest.
+
+“The king of beasts is out hunting,” said the hedgehog, creeping under the
+bushes.
+
+“See how thin he is,” said the bat. “His skin is hanging loose on his
+bones.”
+
+“It is many nights since he went hunting,” said the owl. “His eyes are
+glaring with hunger.”
+
+But the king of the forest was not thinking of hunting. He went, as though
+in a dream, in the direction of Two-Legs’ house. A deer darted across his
+path and he did not see her. Slowly he went until he came to the open
+space on the hill where Two-Legs’ house stood.
+
+He went straight up to it, leapt nimbly over the hedge and crouched in
+some bushes that grew at the door. He there lay concealed. No one could
+see him, only his yellow eyes gleamed through the leaves. And one bound
+would bring him to the door.
+
+
+3
+
+Two-Legs slept restlessly that night.
+
+He tossed about on his bed of skins and, when at last he fell asleep,
+Trust began to bark so loudly that Two-Legs had to get up and see what was
+happening. He had closed up the hole through which Trust used to get out,
+because the goose had lately escaped that way and fallen a prey to the fox.
+
+“What is it, Trust?” he asked.
+
+The dog kept on barking and leaping up against him. Two-Legs opened a
+little shutter and looked out and listened. But there was nothing to see.
+Then he told the dog to lie down and went back to bed. But now he heard
+the horse kicking in the stable and the ox began to low and the poultry
+to cackle. There was no hearing a word for the noise. He had to go out
+again and found all the animals shaking, as though greatly frightened.
+The horse stood in a violent sweat and the hens and the ducks and geese
+fluttered anxiously round and round their roost.
+
+“What can it be?” he said.
+
+He opened the door and stepped out into the night, unarmed and naked, as
+he had risen from his bed. At that moment, there was a rustling in the
+bushes. The lion leapt forward, but Two-Legs just had time to spring back
+into the house and bolt the door behind him.
+
+He stood for a moment in great alarm and did not know what to do.
+
+Through a little hole in the door, he saw the lion lying outside in the
+bushes, with his eyes fixed on the door, ready to leap again. The yellow
+eyes glittered with rage. Two-Legs understood that the fight was now to
+come that had been so long delayed.
+
+He thought first of waking his sons, slipping out through the other door
+and attacking the lion in the rear. But they slept in different parts of
+the house; and the day was already breaking in the east; and, while he was
+gone to fetch them, one of the family might easily go out and fall a prey
+to the king of the forest.
+
+While he stood and reflected, his fear left him.
+
+He considered he was man enough to kill his foe unaided. He silently took
+the best two of his spears, carefully felt the edges, drew a deep breath
+and then opened the door.
+
+The lion was not there.
+
+Two-Legs looked from one side to the other and could not discover him. But
+he was an old, experienced hunter and did not doubt but that the lion was
+lurking in ambush. So he stood quietly in the doorway, with every muscle
+taut, ready for the fight that must come.
+
+Then he heard a soft rustling in the bushes and, at that moment, he saw
+the animal’s eyes there among the leaves. He knew there was no time to
+lose: if the lion sprang first, it was too late.
+
+He flung one of his spears and struck the lion in the eye. The lion
+uttered a roar of rage; and then the other spear pierced his heart.
+
+All the inmates of the house were now out of bed and came running up.
+
+There lay the dead lion, a great and splendid sight. Trust barked at him
+and wanted to bite him, but Two-Legs drove him away:
+
+“After all,” he said, “he was king of the forest. But now let it be
+declared all over the earth that the lion is dead and that the realm is
+mine.”
+
+Then they stripped the lion’s hide and hung it on a tall pole, which they
+set up in the middle of the field, so that it could be seen from far and
+wide.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“The lion is slain!” cried the sparrow, from door to door. “Two-Legs has
+murdered the king of the forest. His skin is hanging on a pole outside the
+house: I saw it myself.”
+
+Then all crowded up and saw it. From the edge of the forest, full of fear
+they peeped at Two-Legs’ house and the birds stared down from the sky.
+
+“And now all is over,” said the stag.
+
+And so it was.
+
+
+4
+
+But, in the course of that day, the orang-outang came to Two-Legs, who was
+sitting outside the house:
+
+“Good-day, cousin,” said the orang-outang.
+
+Two-Legs looked at him without answering.
+
+“Ah, you may have heard,” said the orang-outang, “that I have spoken ill
+of you. I will not deny that I have been a little careless in my talk.
+But you yourself know, when one meets with poor relations, one is afraid
+of hangers-on. One has children of one’s own and it is not easy to make
+both ends meet in these hard times. Besides, you once caught me a blow
+with your stick; so we can cry quits.”
+
+“What do you want?” asked Two-Legs. “I have neither time nor inclination
+to listen to your drivel.”
+
+“Now don’t be hasty, cousin,” said the orang-outang and sat down beside
+him. “I acknowledge your success. You have been lucky. It does not enter
+my head to deny your ability. You have managed things splendidly. That
+little business with the horse was really smartly done. And, now that you
+have outwitted the lion....”
+
+“What do you want, you bothersome brute?” said Two-Legs.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“I want to join forces with you, cousin,” said the orang-outang. “We two
+as partners ought to conquer the world.”
+
+“Are you mad?” said Two-Legs. “What should I do with such a ridiculous,
+stupid beast as you? You’re no more use to me than a pigeon. Away with
+you! Look sharp or I’ll give you a thrashing which you won’t forget in a
+hurry.”
+
+The orang-outang retreated a few paces, but did not give up the game:
+
+“You should think it over all the same, cousin,” he said. “However clever
+you may be, I can be of use to you still. I should be a good intermediary
+between you and the animals. I can do things you can’t; and what I can’t
+do I can easily learn. Up in the apple-tree where I sat, I have watched
+you and studied the way you went about your field; and I have already
+picked up many of your tricks. You must know that....”
+
+Two-Legs stood up and caught the orang-outang by the arm:
+
+“Come outside!” he shouted into the house. “I want to show you something!”
+
+They all came and stared at the ape.
+
+“This fellow wants to go into partnership with me,” said Two-Legs. “He’s
+not fair. He says he has already learnt my tricks. Let’s put him in a
+cage; then we can amuse ourselves with his tricks when it’s raining.”
+
+The orang-outang protested, but to no purpose. Two-Legs held him tight and
+soon they had built a cage and put him into it.
+
+“There’s none like one’s own people for meanness!” said the orang-outang,
+as he sat on the floor of his cage, catching his fleas.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: THERE WAS NO TIME TO LOSE]
+
+
+
+
+MANY YEARS AFTER
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+It was many, many years after.
+
+And it was not in the forest in the warm lands where the sun shines
+stronger than here and the rain falls closer and all animals and plants
+thrive better, because the winter does not stunt their growth.
+
+It was in a large village in Jutland.
+
+It was fair-time and the village was full of people and cattle. On every
+side stood booths with wooden shoes and tin goods, cakes and toys and all
+sorts of wares. There were refreshment-tents and a dancing-hall. There was
+a peep-show, there were two merry-go-rounds, there was a place where the
+fattest lady in the world was exhibited. In another place, for twopence,
+you could see a tiny dwarf. Then there were white mice and performing
+fleas, numbers of barrel-organs, all playing at one time, so that you
+could hardly hear for the din, and drunken peasants and boys playing
+practical jokes.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+But the most remarkable thing of all was hidden in a large tent in the
+middle of the market-place. This, too, could be seen for twopence; and, if
+you wished to know what it was, you had but to listen to the man who stood
+outside and shouted in a hoarse voice:
+
+“Walk up, ladies and gentlemen, walk up! Only twopence for grown-ups,
+children half-price! Here’s something that’s never been exhibited in
+this village before, but that’s appeared before all the kings and royal
+families in the world. It’s a king himself that I have the honour of
+introducing to you: the king of the beasts, ladies and gentlemen, the
+terrible lion! He lives in darkest Africa and is so powerful that he can
+kill an ox with one blow of his paw. He has two lambs for his breakfast
+every morning. If he were to escape from his cage, he would do away with
+you all in no time. But you need have no fears, ladies and gentlemen! The
+lion is in his cage behind thick iron bars. There he stands and glares in
+his bloodthirsty way, at twopence for grown-ups, children half-price. Walk
+up, ladies and gentlemen! Hurry up, before it’s too late! Never again, in
+all your lives, will you see so fine a sight at so cheap a price!”
+
+He shouted like this all the time. A crowd of people stood outside the
+tent staring. Many went in. When they came out, they told the bystanders
+about the lion inside. Then more went in and so it continued all day long.
+
+
+2
+
+The lion’s cage stood at the back of the tent.
+
+It was a low and dirty cage. On the floor lay some filthy straw and a few
+bones. The side which was turned to the spectators consisted of thick,
+rusty iron bars. In the far corner lay the lion, with his head resting on
+his paws. His yellow eyes stared at the onlookers with a dull expression.
+There was straw in his tangled mane; and he was terribly thin. Now and
+again, he gave a nasty hollow cough.
+
+The man stood with a long stick in his hand, talking and explaining. The
+visitors to the fair stared round-eyed at the great beast that lay there
+so quietly. Sick and feeble as he was, they could see, nevertheless, that
+he was the lion, the king of beasts; and they felt cold in their backs at
+the thought that he might break loose. But, when he did not make a single
+movement, one of the spectators said, at last:
+
+“I believe he’s dead!”
+
+Then the showman pushed his long stick through the bars and poked the
+lion with it. The lion slowly turned his head and looked at him, but gave
+no further sign of life. Then the man poked him again and again; and, at
+last, the lion sprang up and gave such a roar that the tent shook with it
+and the people fell back in affright.
+
+“He ate his former owner,” said the man. “I bought him of the widow. He is
+terrible and intractable. He’s dreaming of his native land, you see, where
+he used to hunt in the wild forest and all the animals honoured and feared
+him. But now you must go please, so that others may come and see the most
+extraordinary sight ever exhibited in this village. Walk up, ladies and
+gentlemen! Only twopence each! The king of the forest, the terrible lion!”
+
+And so it went on until late that evening. Not until the market-place was
+empty and there were no more visitors left to listen to him did the man
+shut up his tent, after counting the day’s takings:
+
+“This has been a bad day,” he said, with an angry look at the lion. “You
+haven’t really earned your supper!”
+
+He flung a small piece of half-rotten meat into the cage. Then he shut
+the door and locked it and went to the inn, where he sat and drank and
+caroused till early morning.
+
+
+3
+
+The lion did not touch the putrid meat. With his head on his paws, he lay
+staring at the little paraffin-lamp that hung in the tent and flickered
+feebly. Suddenly, he heard a sound and raised his head and looked about
+him:
+
+“Can’t I have peace even at night?” he said.
+
+“It’s only I,” replied a squeaky little voice. “I have been locked in by
+accident. I want to get out! I want to get out! My mistress will die of
+fright for me.”
+
+It was a tiny little dog, with a collar and bells round his neck and an
+embroidered rug on his back. He tripped to and fro, whined and cried
+and scratched at the door, but no one heard him. All was silent in the
+market-place outside.
+
+“Well, I never!” said the lion. “You’re the dog: I can see that. Gracious
+me, what a sight they’ve made of you!”
+
+“I want to get out! I want to get out!” whined the dog.
+
+The lion laid his head on his paws again and looked at the dog:
+
+“What’s the use of whimpering like that?” he asked. “No one’s hurting you.
+I couldn’t eat you if I wanted to.... The iron bars are strong, believe
+me. I used to shake them at first. I have to travel in my cage from place
+to place and let people look at me for money, submit to their scorn and
+teasing and roar when I am told to, so that they may shudder and yet feel
+quite safe from my teeth.”
+
+“Let me out!” cried the dog.
+
+“I can’t,” replied the lion. “But I am not so contemptible as you. I am
+here against my will, caught in a trap. You voluntarily entered Two-Legs’
+service, betrayed your fellows and helped him against them.”
+
+“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” said the dog. “I know no one
+called Two-Legs. I am in service with human beings. My mistress is a great
+baroness and she will die of fright if I don’t come home to her soon.”
+
+“Just so,” said the lion. “Human beings, that’s what Two-Legs’ confounded
+descendants call themselves. They have subdued the whole earth. There is
+hardly a place left where an honest lion can go hunting in royal style.
+I know the whole story: it has been handed down in my house, from father
+to son. I heard it all, the night before I was captured, in the desert
+to which the men had driven us: how Two-Legs and his wife came naked and
+unarmed to the forest; how my ancestor protected them; how they gradually
+outwitted all the animals: you alone entered their service of your own
+free will. The others they caught and tamed and dulled their senses until
+they no longer knew how to lead the lives of free animals and resigned
+themselves to slavery. Finally, Two-Legs killed my ancestor with his
+spear: yes, yes, I know the whole shameful story.”
+
+“I don’t,” said the dog. “And I don’t mind if I never know it. I only know
+that I have a cosy little basket at home with my mistress and that she
+pets and kisses me and gives me the loveliest food. I want to get out! I
+want to go home!”
+
+The lion made no reply, but thought to himself:
+
+“When I lie here in my cage, where I shall soon die of sorrow and
+coughing, it is a comfort to me to see how wretched Two-Legs’ descendants
+have grown. For he was lithe and slender and fair to look upon: he was
+an animal! But these people here! One can hardly see a morsel of their
+bodies, they are so wrapped up. Two-Legs could bound through the forest
+and climb trees: these people here can hardly stir hand or foot. He was
+a fighter; and it’s really amusing to watch the terror in these fellows’
+eyes as I get up and move to the bars when I roar. They shake like aspen
+leaves, though they know that I am only a wretched prisoner.”
+
+“I want to get out! I want to go home!” whined the dog.
+
+The lion rose and went to the bars of his cage. He lashed his lean flanks
+with his tail and opened his jaws till his terrible teeth gleamed and
+glistened. The little dog trembled with fear before his yellow eyes.
+
+“And you!” said the lion. “Ha, ha, ha! It’s better to be a captive lion in
+a cage than a miserable little lap-dog, with bells and a rug.”
+
+He gave such a roar that all the people in the village started up in their
+beds. Then he lay down at the far end of the cage, turned on one side and
+slept.
+
+The little dog shivered and whined until some one came and let him out.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS CONQUERS THE WIND
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+Now you who have read this story will remember how Two-Legs, many years
+ago, mastered all the animals on earth.
+
+Those which he could use and which obeyed him as they should he tamed
+and took into his service. Those which he could not employ he let alone,
+provided only that they left him and his in peace. If they did not, then
+he waged war upon them, nor ceased until he had prevailed against them.
+He always ended by prevailing, for he was the cleverest, you see, and
+therefore the strongest.
+
+And, little by little, the tame animals grew so much accustomed to being
+with him and so completely lost the qualities with which they had been
+wont to shift for themselves that they could no longer do without their
+bondage. When, once in a way, they escaped and tried to live like the
+other, free, wild animals, they could not manage at all, but perished
+miserably.
+
+But the wild animals which Two-Legs had no use for lurked round about in
+their hiding-places and cavilled and muttered and made no progress and did
+themselves no good.
+
+
+2
+
+At the time when this particular story begins, Two-Legs had put up a new
+summer tent in a green meadow, not far from the beach.
+
+He was sitting outside it one evening, while the twilight was closing
+in. All the family had gone to bed and were sleeping soundly after the
+exertions of the day. All the cattle lay in the grass, munching and
+chewing the cud. The dog, his faithful servant, lay on the ground before
+him, pricking up his ears at every sound, sleeping with one eye and
+watching with the other.
+
+Two-Legs did not sleep himself.
+
+He was old now and no longer needed so much rest. And he was not
+tired either as in former days, for he now had so many children and
+grandchildren that they were able to do most of the work. Himself, he
+loved best to sit quietly, to think of what had happened to him in his
+life and to meditate on the things that were yet to come.
+
+When he sat like that, he often seemed to hear voices on either side of
+him. They came from the spring that rippled past him, from the tree whose
+leaves whispered over his head, from the evening breeze that cooled his
+brow:
+
+“Two-Legs ... the lord of the earth ... the cleverest ... the strongest,”
+rippled the spring.
+
+“Two-Legs ... the vanquisher of the lion ... the terror of the wild
+animals ... the protector of the tame,” whispered the tree.
+
+“Two-Legs ... whom no one can understand ... to whom all things belong,”
+sang the evening breeze.
+
+Two-Legs sat and listened. He liked to hear that sort of thing, the more
+the better.
+
+But, as the evening wore on, the wind grew stronger and shook the tent.
+The gentle whispering in the leaves sounded less home-like than before.
+The billows in the brook did not babble softly, but made a mighty uproar
+and sent their foam splashing right over his feet.
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked Two-Legs, who was beginning to feel cold, and
+wrapped his cloak round him.
+
+“Yes, who knows what’s the matter?” whispered the leaves.
+
+“Who can tell what’s at the bottom of it?” rippled the spring.
+
+“There is more between heaven and earth than Two-Legs knows of,” said the
+wind.
+
+Two-Legs leant back against the tent and looked about him proudly:
+
+“Then let it come,” he said. “I have vanquished the lion and subdued the
+horse and the wild ox; so I daresay I can conquer what remains.”
+
+Just as he said this, there came a terrible gust of wind.
+
+It knocked Two-Legs over, till he rolled along the ground and fell into
+the brook. It tore three great deer-skins from the tent and woke all those
+who were lying asleep inside. They started up and screamed and did not
+know what was happening. The dog howled at the top of his voice, with his
+tail between his legs. Two-Legs crawled out of the brook, dripping wet.
+
+The moment he tried to rise to his feet, another gust came ... and another
+... and another.
+
+Two-Legs crept along the ground on all fours. The whole tent was blown
+down and the people inside ran and fell over one another and shouted and
+wailed so that it was horrible to hear.
+
+But no one heard it, for each had enough to do to think of saving his own
+life. The cows and the goats and the sheep lowed and bleated with fright
+and ran up against one another and trampled on one another. Many of them
+fell down the slope and broke their legs. The horses galloped off over the
+meadow and ran till they dropped from exhaustion far away inland. The big
+tree above Two-Legs’ tent snapped in two like a stalk of grass.
+
+
+3
+
+When day broke, Two-Legs sat and wept at all the destruction which he saw
+around him. He let the family drive the cattle together and set up the
+tent again. He himself sat huddled in his cloak and brooded and stared
+before him. Then he said:
+
+“You bad Wind!”
+
+And he raised his clenched fist in the direction from which it was still
+blowing violently.
+
+“You destroyed my property last night,” he cried, “and might easily have
+killed me and mine. Now, we are setting up the tent and collecting the
+cattle; but you may come back, to-night or to-morrow night, and ruin
+everything once more.”
+
+“So I may,” said the wind.
+
+“You bad Wind!”
+
+“I am not bad,” said the wind.
+
+“Would you have me call you good, after the way you’ve treated me?” asked
+Two-Legs.
+
+“I am not good,” said the wind.
+
+“Very well, you are neither bad nor good,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“Just so,” said the wind. “You’ve hit it.”
+
+“I don’t know,” said Two-Legs. “But can you tell me what use it is for
+me to vanquish the lion and tame the ox and the horse, the camel and the
+elephant, when a puff of wind can destroy all that I have done? Can you
+tell me how I can get you into my service and what I am to use you for?”
+
+“I can tell you nothing,” said the wind. “Catch me, conquer me, use me!”
+
+He darted across the fields and took with him a great piece of skin that
+belonged to the old tent, blew it out, lifted it high in the air and
+carried it far away over the water. Two-Legs sat and watched it until it
+was out of sight.
+
+[Illustration: ‘VERY WELL, YOU ARE NEITHER BAD NOR GOOD’]
+
+
+4
+
+Then the eldest son came:
+
+“We can’t stay here any longer,” he said. “The storm has destroyed both
+the corn and the grass; and our cattle have nothing to eat. It was the
+same wherever I rode this morning, for miles around. I don’t know what we
+shall do.”
+
+Two-Legs sat and looked out over the water, where the wind had carried the
+skin away. Far in the distance lay a great land that was ever so green.
+
+“There’s good grass over there,” he said.
+
+“What use is that to us?” replied the son. “There’s deep water and a rapid
+current in between. We could never get across.”
+
+“Which way is the wind blowing?” asked Two-Legs.
+
+“Towards the island,” said his son. “Is it your intention that he should
+blow us across?”
+
+“Just so,” said Two-Legs, throwing off his cloak and standing up. “I have
+decided to take the wind into my service.”
+
+The son stared at him without understanding a word of what his father
+said. But Two-Legs called all his family together and bade them put aside
+any work that they were doing. He set them to saw planks, to drag the
+planks down to the sea and to bind them firmly together into a big raft.
+Next he told the men to put up a tall mast made of a young oak-tree,
+while the women sat and sewed hides together into a great sail. Then they
+hoisted the sail to the top of the mast and fastened the ends below to the
+raft. The wind filled the sail, but the raft was tied to the shore with
+strong ropes, so that it could not get loose.
+
+Two-Legs made all his family and all his cattle go on the raft. When the
+last had come on board, he let go. The wind stretched the big sail and
+bore them swiftly over the water. Towards evening, they landed, rejoicing,
+on the good green land.
+
+
+5
+
+Henceforward, one of Two-Legs’ sons devoted himself entirely to the raft.
+He rebuilt it and improved it, hit upon new methods of setting sail and
+invented a rudder to steer with. He made the raft taper in front, so that
+it cut more easily through the water. He put ballast at the bottom of it,
+so that it could not be readily upset by a sudden squall. He learnt to
+make use of the wind, even if it did not blow exactly the way it should.
+By degrees, he ventured to sail far out to sea and caught fish and came
+home again safe and sound.
+
+But Two-Legs sat outside his tent again and thought:
+
+“So I got you into my service after all,” he said to the wind, who was
+fanning his cheek. “But the end is not yet. You just wait. You will have
+to toil for me like the ox and the horse.”
+
+“I have no objection,” said the wind. “I am what I am and what I do I
+must. Catch me, conquer me, use me!”
+
+Two-Legs sat and watched them bruise corn in the mill, so that it could be
+used for baking.
+
+Once, many years ago, he had hollowed out a stone and taught the women to
+bruise the corn in it with another stone. Since then, he had thought of
+letting two stones grind one against the other. He had fixed a pole and
+harnessed an ox to it, who went round, turning the mill. At that time, he
+was awfully proud of his invention.
+
+The ox was now going round and round patiently. But, as it happened, one
+of Two-Legs’ sons came and asked if the grinding could not wait, for he
+had a use for all the cattle out in the fields. The women said that this
+would not do, for they were short of flour for the baking. Two-Legs let
+them fight it out among themselves and sat and looked at the mill until
+evening.
+
+“What are you thinking about?” asked the wind, who came and blew over his
+forehead as usual.
+
+“That’s it!” said Two-Legs, springing up. “I have it! I put you to the
+raft and you carried me and all my belongings across to this green land.
+Why should I not also put you to the mill?”
+
+“Catch me if you can!” said the wind.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+6
+
+Next morning early, Two-Legs set to work. He built a big scaffold, which
+rose high in the air. At the top, he fixed four broad sails, which were
+covered with hides and fastened to an axle, so that they could whirl round
+and round easily. That was the cap of the mill. The mill-stones were put
+down at the bottom and were connected with the sails, by means of poles
+and ropes, in such a way that, when the sails whirled round and round, the
+stones turned. Two-Legs’ children stood wondering and looking at it.
+
+“We are not ready yet,” said Two-Legs.
+
+He arranged the cap so that it could turn and the sails catch the wind,
+whichever side it came from:
+
+“Now we’ll grind,” said Two-Legs.
+
+And the wind came and turned the sails; and the mill ground that it was a
+joy to see. They poured the grain into the top of the mill and the fine,
+white flour dropped into sacks which they fastened underneath.
+
+“I caught you again, friend Wind,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“I shall blow the other way to-morrow,” said the wind.
+
+“Indeed, I thought of that,” said Two-Legs. “I don’t mind if you do.”
+
+When evening came, he turned the cap round. The next morning the wind came
+from the other side and had to grind just as briskly as the day before.
+
+“I shall go down to-morrow,” said the wind.
+
+“It’s only right that you should take a rest now and then,” said Two-Legs,
+pleasantly. “The horse and the ox do as much and so do the other beasts of
+burden in my service. I daresay you will get up again when you must.”
+
+“Who says I must?” said the wind.
+
+“I don’t know,” said Two-Legs. “Not yet. But I am meditating upon it and
+I shall find out sooner or later. You see, one hits upon everything by
+degrees, when one sits and looks at things. I know this much already, that
+it’s the sun that gives you your orders.”
+
+“How do you know that?” asked the wind.
+
+“I’ve noticed it,” said Two-Legs. “Whenever it changes from cold to warm
+or from warm to cold, you blow from a fresh quarter.”
+
+“What a clever man you are!” said the wind.
+
+“It helps,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“But there is still a hard nut for you to crack,” said the wind. “For,
+even if you can’t put me to your ship and your mill, I can come rushing
+up, for all that, as I did once before, and knock down the mill and smash
+up the ship and scatter your cattle all over the country.”
+
+“You can,” said Two-Legs. “And I can’t be angry with you for it either,
+for you are neither bad nor good, as you said.”
+
+“Well, well, now I’m going down,” said, the wind. “And I don’t think I
+shall get up again for ever so many days. Then your mill will stand still.”
+
+“So it will,” said Two-Legs. “But I have thought of that, too. Come over
+here and see.”
+
+He went down to the brook and showed, the wind another mill which he had
+built. It had no sails, but a big wheel with wide floats, which went
+down into the water. The wheel was connected with the mill-stones in the
+same way as the sails and, as the water ran, the wheel turned and the
+mill-stones ground.
+
+“That’s my water-mill,” said Two-Legs, proudly.
+
+Then he went into his tent and lay down to sleep, for it was late and all
+the others had gone to bed.
+
+The wind lay down too, as he had said, and so they all lay and slept.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS CONQUERS STEAM
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+Two-Legs was now a very old man.
+
+His race was constantly increasing. It lived dispersed over a large and
+glorious plain, where the rich corn waved in the fields and the cattle
+waded through the tall and luscious grass. Some of the men followed the
+sea, others tilled the soil and tended the cattle, others felled timber in
+the forests. The women kept house and weaved and span.
+
+Wherever the plain rose into a little hill, a wind-mill strutted. Every
+brook that ran turned the wheel of a water-mill.
+
+Two-Legs himself constantly sat and observed what went on around him in
+nature and pondered upon it. All looked up to him with respect, as the
+eldest of the race and the cleverest man in the world. All came to him for
+advice and help and seldom went away unaided.
+
+In the middle of the plain rose a tall, cone-shaped mountain. From its
+top, off and on, came a column of smoke. Two-Legs often looked at this
+mountain. Once he rode up to the top and stood and stared into the hole
+whence the smoke ascended, but the heat that came out of it was so great
+that he could not endure it or remain there.
+
+Then he rode back to his house again and sat and gazed at the mountain and
+thought and wondered what there could be in its depths. He knew mountains
+that contained gold and iron and other metals; and he taught his children
+to extract the ore and smelt it and shape the metal into tools and
+ornaments. But a mountain like this, which smoked at the top, he had never
+seen before.
+
+
+2
+
+Now, one day, as he was sitting plunged in thought, he heard voices round
+about him, as he was wont to do. They whispered in the stately palm-tree
+that raised its crown high above his head:
+
+“Two-Legs is mighty ... greater than any other in the world ... he rules
+the earth and all that is upon it.”
+
+They sang in the river that ran down to the sea:
+
+“Two-Legs rules the waters ... they carry his ships wherever he will ...
+they breed fish for his table.”
+
+The warm wind blew over his face:
+
+“Two-Legs is greater than any other ... he rules me ... I have to toil
+in his service, like the ox and the horse.... Blow east, blow west, he
+catches me and uses me.”
+
+Two-Legs passed his hand down his long, white beard and nodded with pride
+and contentment.
+
+At that moment, a peculiar thundering noise was heard. It was as though it
+came from the interior of the earth; and, indeed, one could not imagine
+where else it should come from. For the sky was cloudless and clear and
+the sun shone bright and warm, just at noonday.
+
+“What was that?” said Two-Legs.
+
+“Who knows?” said the palm-tree, trembling right down to its roots. “Who
+can fathom the forces that prevail in nature?”
+
+“Who can say?” said the river, tossing its waves in terror, like a rearing
+horse. “What do any of us know, after all?”
+
+“Who has so much as an idea?” said the wind, dropping suddenly, like a
+tiger preparing to spring. “The earth is full of mighty forces, which not
+one of us knows anything about.”
+
+There came another booming sound. Two-Legs rose. He looked at the mountain
+in the middle of the plain and saw that the column of smoke had turned
+into a great black cloud, which grew and spread faster than his eyes could
+follow it.
+
+Now, it masked the sun; now, the waves in the river foamed and met the
+waves of the sea, which came dashing over the land; now, the wind rose, in
+a moment, into a furious gale.
+
+And, before Two-Legs could look round, it was suddenly black as midnight.
+
+He saw, just as the light disappeared, that something dropped from the
+sky, but could not see what it was. He groped his way to the stable, where
+his horse stood tethered, jumped on its back and darted away from the
+region where danger lay. The beast was mortally frightened, like himself,
+and ran for its life.
+
+He could not see his hand before his eyes, but thought he heard a wailing
+and crying through the storm, all over the plain, wherever he came. He was
+able to tell a voice here and there, but he merely rushed on and on, until
+his horse dropped under him.
+
+Then he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, stumbled and fell and got
+up again and ran and ran, while the cries rang out around him, when they
+were not drowned in the roar of the storm and the thundering noise from
+the mountain.
+
+He was struck by a stone on the back of the head and felt the blood
+trickle down his neck. His foot trod in something that was like boiling
+water. He drew it back with a cry and ran the other way. At last, he lost
+consciousness and had not himself the least idea how he had managed to
+escape. When he recovered, he was lying on a knoll, right at the end
+of the plain. Round about him lay half a score of people of his family,
+bewildered and exhausted like himself. They did not speak, but gazed at
+one another in dismay and wept, with trembling hands.
+
+
+3
+
+Two-Legs shaded his brows with his hand and looked out over the plain.
+
+It had become light again, suddenly, even as it had become dark. The black
+clouds had drifted away and the sun was setting in crimson and gold as on
+the most perfect summer’s evening.
+
+Here and there, on the neighbouring hillocks, were some of his family, who
+had saved themselves as he had. They also had a few of the tame animals
+with them; and Two-Legs suddenly noticed that his faithful dog was licking
+his hand.
+
+But the whole country, except the few hillocks, was buried under an ocean
+of boiling and bubbling mud that soon stiffened to a hard crust. All the
+houses and mills were destroyed and drowned in the sea of mud. All the
+people and animals lay dead and buried under it. All the rich and glorious
+plain looked like a desert in which nothing had ever lived; and in its
+midst stood the mountain, tall and calm, with the column of smoke on its
+top.
+
+Two-Legs’ kinsmen set to work to collect what had been saved.
+
+With wailing and lamentation, they withdrew from the ruined country where
+they had made their home, together with the poor remnants of their wealth.
+The women carried in their arms the babes which they had saved and cried
+over those which were dead. The herdsmen counted the few head of cattle
+that had been spared. The sailors scanned the sea in vain for a single
+ship that had escaped unhurt.
+
+“Come, Father Two-Legs,” they said. “Let us leave this accursed land.
+There must be some place in the world where we can find peace and begin
+afresh to build up all that these terrible hours have destroyed.”
+
+But Two-Legs shook his head:
+
+“Do you go,” he said. “I will follow you.”
+
+
+4
+
+They went; and he did not so much as look after them, but only sat and
+gazed at the strange mountain from which the disaster had come. He sat far
+into the night, which was clear and mild, and had none with him but the
+dog, who would not leave him. The smoke from the mountain was carried past
+him, now and then, by the wind; but now it was only like a light, thin
+stream.
+
+“Who caused that? Who caused it?” said Two-Legs and gazed before him.
+
+“I did,” said Steam.
+
+“You?” said Two-Legs. “Who are you? You are flowing past me like a mist.
+How did you have the strength to do it? Who are you?... Where do you come
+from?”
+
+“I am Steam,” he said. “I come from the mountain up there. I was shut in
+until I grew mad and furious and had to get air. Then I broke out and
+destroyed the whole country. Now that’s over and I have found peace and am
+as you see me.”
+
+“You bad Steam,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“I am not bad,” said Steam.
+
+“Would you have me call you good?” asked Two-Legs. “You have destroyed my
+rich land and killed nearly all my children and grandchildren and most of
+my cattle. All that I invented so cleverly and successfully to make life
+easy and pleasant for me and mine you have spoilt in a few hours, though I
+have done nothing to offend you. Are you good?”
+
+“I am not good,” said Steam.
+
+“Very well, you are neither bad nor good,” said Two-Legs. “I seem to have
+heard that nonsense once before. Wait a bit: it was the wind who made the
+same remark, when he too had been the cause of my misfortune.”
+
+“Exactly,” said Steam. “I am neither bad nor good. It is just as the wind
+said. Didn’t you see, at the time, that the wind was right?”
+
+“Yes,” said Two-Legs, quietly.
+
+“Didn’t you take the wind into your service?” asked Steam. “You caught him
+and put him to your boat and your mill. You watched him and learnt to know
+his ways, so that you could use him as he came. Am I not right?”
+
+“Aye,” said Two-Legs. “I became the wind’s master. But I do not understand
+how I am to conquer you, who are mightier than the wind, or how to employ
+your formidable power in my service.”
+
+“Catch me, use me!” said Steam. “I serve the strongest.”
+
+
+5
+
+Two-Legs sat and gazed and thought. He looked at the ruined land, at the
+sun, which shone as mildly as though nothing had happened, at Steam, who
+floated quietly over the wilderness. There was not a house left standing,
+not a tree; and not a bird was singing.
+
+Once, he turned round and looked after his kinsmen. He saw them far away
+on the horizon, but still it did not occur to him to follow them. Then he
+said to Steam:
+
+“Who are you? Tell me something about yourself.”
+
+“I am like this at present,” said Steam. “You see me now and you saw me a
+little while ago. Look out across the sea and you shall see me there, too.”
+
+“I don’t see you there,” said Two-Legs.
+
+[Illustration: ‘CATCH ME! USE ME!’]
+
+“That’s because you don’t know,” said Steam. “As a matter of fact I am
+water, to start with.”
+
+“Tell me about it,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“It’s easily told,” said Steam. “You see, I am the sea water, which soaks
+through the ground into the mountain yonder. I ooze in through a thousand
+underground passages. But inside the mountain there is a tremendous fire,
+which smoulders everlastingly and never goes out. Now, when the water
+rises above the fire, it turns to steam; and the steam is collected in
+great cavities down the mountain, so long as there is room for it. At
+last, there is so much of it that it can’t exist there. Then the mountain
+bursts. Rocks and stones ... the whole mountain-lake up there, which is
+boiling because of the fire in the ground ... mud and sludge, boiling
+water and scalding steam come rushing out over the land, as you have just
+seen. I burst everything, when I am tortured beyond endurance. There is
+not a wall that can imprison me, not a door which I cannot open ... do you
+understand?”
+
+Two-Legs nodded.
+
+“You have seen the column of smoke that rises from the mountain every
+day,” said Steam. “There is always a little opening, you know, an
+air-hole through which some of me can escape. But at last it is no longer
+big enough and then I burst the whole concern. Now learn from what has
+happened to you to-day that you must never build your abode where you see
+a smoking mountain, for you can never be safe there.”
+
+“It’s not enough for me to be safe,” said Two-Legs. “I don’t want to avoid
+you. I want to rule you. You are the strongest force I know in the world.
+You must be my servant, like the horse and the ox and the wind.”
+
+“Catch me and use me, if you can!” said Steam.
+
+“Well,” said Two-Legs, “I will try. But first tell me what becomes of you
+when you float through the air, as you are doing now.”
+
+“Then I turn cold,” said Steam. “And, when I have turned cold, I become
+water ... rain ... mist ... whatever you please.”
+
+“And then you fall into the sea,” said Two-Legs. “And then you soak into
+the mountain, where the fire is, and become steam again; and so on and so
+on, for ever and ever.”
+
+“That’s it,” said Steam.
+
+Then he floated on across the wilderness and disappeared out at sea.
+Two-Legs gazed after him and then stared at the mountain again, which was
+smoking peacefully, as it had done before.
+
+He sat the whole night and pondered. Then he rose, called the dog and went
+after the others.
+
+
+6
+
+Two-Legs and his family had discovered a new country.
+
+They built their houses again and tilled the soil and reaped corn and
+raised cattle. They cut timber in the forests and the seamen built new
+ships. Many years passed before the disaster was overcome, but at last the
+whole tribe was recovered to such an extent that they forgot about it, all
+excepting Two-Legs.
+
+He was always sitting and pondering and thinking about it. That is to
+say, it was not the disaster itself he thought about: he had forgotten
+that, like the others. He had forgotten the dead, for he now had so many
+descendants that he no longer knew their number or their names. It was
+Steam he thought about.
+
+When he saw how the wind turned the sails of the mill or carried the ships
+across the sea, he gave a scornful smile. It went so terribly slowly, he
+considered. And then a storm might come, when they could neither sail nor
+grind, or a head-wind so strong that they had to divert their course for
+it, or a calm, when everything had to stand still.
+
+“You’re only a second-rate servant, friend Wind,” he said. “Ah, Steam! Now
+there’s a fellow for you!”
+
+He remembered how the captive steam broke out and, in a moment, obscured
+the sun and turned day into night, how it scattered far and wide over
+the land great stones and mud and ashes and all that the fiery mountain
+or volcano contained. In a few hours, the plain was transformed into a
+wilderness. It was all done so quickly and with such force that no one
+could possibly imagine it who had not seen it. Surely, Steam must be the
+strongest power on earth.
+
+He thought of what the steam had said, how it came into existence when the
+water got above the fire.
+
+“That’s right,” he said.
+
+He sat and looked at the pot, which was boiling. As soon as the water grew
+hot enough, the white steam floated above it.
+
+He took a piece of glass and held it over the steam. The steam settled on
+the glass in clear drops.
+
+“That’s right, too,” he said. “The steam turns to water again.”
+
+He saw them put a lid on the pot to keep in the heat. They made up the
+fire and more steam came, so that the lid began to jump.
+
+“Now it’s getting too close in there,” he said. “Just as Steam told me
+about the volcano.”
+
+They put a stone on the lid to hold it down. Two-Legs added more and more
+fuel and more and more steam came. At last it flung off the lid with the
+stone and darted out into the room.
+
+“The mountain is splitting,” said Two-Legs, rubbing his hands.
+
+
+7
+
+He built himself a big boiler and a great furnace. Here he kept up a
+constant fire and tried the strength of the steam and pondered how to make
+use of it. He had only one person with him, one of his grandsons, who was
+cleverer than the others, and with whom he often talked of the thought
+that dwelt in him.
+
+Many a time they two would sit long into the night and work and talk,
+always of the same thing. It was the question of making the steam work
+the way it should and no other and as strongly as it should and no more.
+No one ventured to disturb them. All the rest of the tribe looked upon
+Two-Legs’ house with awe and reverence, for they knew how clever he was
+and that he was working alone for the good of the whole race. Some of
+them, also, believed that he would at last succeed in mastering Steam, but
+many thought that it would never come to pass and that it would end in
+terror, as though he were fighting the most secret and powerful forces in
+nature.
+
+But, whether they held this view or that, they all preferred to keep away
+from Two-Legs’ house, because they understood how great the danger was to
+which he exposed himself. All those who had survived the calamity of the
+volcano were long since dead; but the legend of that terrible day still
+lingered in the tribe and Two-Legs’ kinsmen could not help thinking what
+terrible things might happen if Steam should suddenly, one day, turn bad
+again.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Two-Legs took no heed of what they thought or said.
+
+Now and again, the elders came to him to report on what was happening,
+good or bad, in the family: the number of children born, the losses
+suffered or the gain in prosperity. He looked up hastily from his work,
+nodded to them and then bade them go and leave him alone.
+
+Sometimes, a young man would come running up, radiantly happy at some
+discovery he had made, to gather praise from the old, wise man whom
+they all honoured above any other. Two-Legs scarcely looked up from his
+work and did not hear him to the end. He knew that the ideas with which
+he himself was busied were far greater and more important and longed
+impatiently for the day when they should be realized.
+
+He built new boilers of strange shapes and bigger, so that they could hold
+more steam, and stronger, so that the steam could not burst them. He made
+his people dig coal from the mountains and used it for fuel, because he
+had discovered that it gave greater heat and therefore more quickly turned
+the water into steam. As each year passed, he thought he was nearing the
+goal, but as yet he had not reached it and sometimes he was despairing.
+
+One day, the boiler burst. He himself was struck on the forehead by a
+fragment of iron and received a deep wound; but his grandson and assistant
+was killed before his eyes.
+
+They all came running up with wailing and lamentations. But Two-Legs wiped
+the blood from his face and stood long and gazed at the burst boiler. Then
+he turned and looked at the dead man:
+
+“Poor fellow!” he said. “He would so much have liked to live and see the
+great work finished. Now he had to die; and indeed he had a fine death,
+for he died for the greater prosperity of his brethren. Bury him and set a
+monument over his grave.”
+
+They took him and were about to carry him away, but Two-Legs stopped them
+and said:
+
+“Wait a minute ... I must have one in the place of him who died: is there
+any of you that will help me? He knows the lot that awaits him: death,
+perhaps, and disappointment for many years, before we succeed, and scorn
+from the blockheads who do not understand.”
+
+Seven at once applied. For, though they were certainly afraid, they felt
+attracted by the mystery and the danger; and there was no greater honour
+in the tribe than to stand by Two-Legs.
+
+So he chose one of them, took him into his house and initiated him into
+his secrets, while the others carried the dead man away and buried him.
+
+
+8
+
+The years passed. One day, the people saw Two-Legs stand outside his house
+and wave his arms and shout aloud. They ran from every side to hear what
+he wanted.
+
+“I have found it, I have found it,” he shouted.
+
+He took the elders indoors and showed them a great iron cylinder which
+he had constructed. At the top of the cylinder was a hole which joined
+another cylinder. In the first cylinder was a piston, also of iron, which
+fitted so accurately that it could just slide up and down; and it was
+smeared with oil so that it might slide as easily as possible. At the
+bottom of the cylinder was the boiler with the water and under the boiler
+the furnace.
+
+Two-Legs lit a fire in the furnace, the water turned to steam and the
+steam went up to the top cylinder and lifted the piston right up to the
+top end of the cylinder. There it escaped through the hole into the
+cylinder beside it, where it was cooled and became water again and ran
+down into the boiler and was once more heated by the fire and turned into
+steam.
+
+But, when the steam had escaped through the hole, the piston slid down
+again to the bottom of the cylinder, was lifted up by fresh steam and rose
+and fell again; and this went on as long as the fire burnt in the furnace.
+
+“Look, look!” said Two-Legs; and his eyes beamed with pride and delight.
+“See, I have caught Steam and imprisoned him in this cylinder. When I make
+a fire in the furnace, he rises out of the water and lifts the piston to
+the top of the cylinder. Then he has done my bidding and turns to water in
+the other cylinder until I once more bid him turn to steam and lift the
+piston. See ... see ... I have caught Steam and made him my servant, like
+the ox and the horse and the wind!”
+
+“We see it right enough, Father Two-Legs,” said one of the tribe. “But we
+don’t understand what you mean to use your servant for. Tell us, was it
+worth while, on this account, for you to live shut up in your house for so
+many years, while we have had to dispense with your wise counsel?”
+
+“You do not understand,” said Two-Legs. “Go away and come back again this
+day twelvemonth: then you shall see what I use my new servant for. When I
+have shown you, you can continue the work yourselves. I tell you, so great
+is the new servant’s strength and cleverness that, if you learn to use him
+properly, the whole face of the earth will be changed.”
+
+Thereupon he went into the house and shut his door.
+
+He sat contentedly and looked at his new engine:
+
+“Ho, ho, dear Steam!” he said. “I have you now. I can call you forth and
+turn you off. I can make you strong and I can make you weak. The more
+fire, the more water, the more steam. And you must always remain inside
+the cylinder and do my bidding. I can make the cylinder long and I can
+make it short; I can make the piston heavy and I can make it light: you
+must needs draw it up and down, my good Steam.”
+
+“You call me good,” said the steam. “On the day when I burst the mountain
+and destroyed all your land, you called me bad. Now I told you that I was
+neither good nor bad. I am what I am. You have caught me and, if you can
+use me, then use me!”
+
+Two-Legs laughed merrily and rubbed his hands. He lit the furnace and
+poured water into the boiler and sat and watched how the piston slid up
+and down:
+
+“Yes, what shall we use you for now?” he said. “Shall we put you to the
+carriage instead of the horse? I think you might get along the road at a
+very different pace. Shall I use you to draw the ship? Then you can run
+close to the wind and need not care a pin for him. Shall I let you turn
+the stones in the mill?... Oh, there are a thousand things that you must
+do for me!”
+
+Two-Legs put out the fire. Then he fastened a rod to the piston and to the
+rod he joined another, which was fastened to the axle of a wheel. He lit
+the fire under the boiler and, behold, the piston went up and down, the
+rod moved and the wheel whirred!
+
+He made a carriage, put the whole steam-engine on the carriage and
+connected the rod with the wheel. He himself stood at the back of the
+carriage, where the furnace was, lit the fire and heaped on coal. The
+wheels turned and the carriage ran along the road.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The people of the tribe came hurrying from everywhere and stared in
+amazement at the strange turn-out. Most of them ran to one side and
+screamed in terror of the dangerous monster and said that it must end
+badly. Only the cleverest understood the value of it and looked at the new
+carriage and talked about it.
+
+“Father Two-Legs,” said one of the elders, “you must not drive that
+carriage. We fear that it will go badly and the steam burst the engine and
+kill you, as it once killed your assistant.”
+
+“It was just his death that taught me to be careful,” said Two-Legs. “Come
+and see.”
+
+Then he explained to them how he had calculated the strength of the steam
+and the quantity of the steam which he should use to drive his carriage.
+
+The more steam there was, the faster the piston slid up and down, the
+faster the wheels turned, the faster the carriage moved. The stronger the
+boiler was and the cylinder, the more steam it could hold without bursting.
+
+But in one part of the boiler there was a hole, which was covered with a
+valve, fastened by a hinge. The valve was just so heavy that the steam
+could not lift it when there was as much as there should be and as the
+engine could bear. But, as soon as more steam came, then the valve became
+too light and rose and the superfluous steam rushed out of the hole.
+
+“Father Two-Legs is the cleverest of us all,” they said.
+
+But Two-Legs stepped down from the carriage:
+
+“I give it to you,” he said. “Now you can settle for yourselves how you
+mean to use it. Some of you can go on searching, as I did, and invent
+new things. The smiths can bring their tools and their ingenuity. The
+steam-engine is yours and you can do with it what you please.”
+
+Then he went into his house and sat down anew to look out over the world
+and think.
+
+But the cleverest of the tribe set to work on the steam-engine. As the
+years passed, they invented first one improvement and then another, so
+that it worked ever more safely and smoothly.
+
+They laid rails over the ground, so that the steam-carriage ran at a pace
+of which none had ever seen the like and drew a number of heavily loaded
+coaches after it. A man could now make a journey in a few days or weeks
+which formerly had taken him months and years. The produce that grew at
+one end of the earth was now sent quickly and cheaply to the other.
+
+They put the steam-engine in ships, where it turned paddle-wheels, so that
+the ships ran against wind and current. They used it to thrash the corn
+in the barn, to grind it in the mill: there was no end to the objects for
+which they were able to use it.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The steam-engine had changed the face of the earth, as Two-Legs had
+foretold.
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS CONQUERS ELECTRICITY
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+Two-Legs had grown so old that no one now knew his age.
+
+His family was constantly increasing and dispersed over the whole earth.
+When people thought that they were becoming too many in one place, then
+some of them broke up and moved to others, where the land was new. They
+reclaimed it, extracted metals from the mountains and sailed on the rivers
+and the sea. Railways and steamboats ran from one end of the earth to the
+other.
+
+People went so far apart that they spoke different languages and no longer
+knew one another. In every country there were clever men who made new and
+marvellous discoveries that lightened the work of their brethren and made
+them richer and happier.
+
+Each time that a man made one of these discoveries, he went off to
+Two-Legs, wherever he might happen to be, to show it to him and receive
+his praise, for he was honoured by them all as the father of the whole
+race and the wisest of all who lived on earth.
+
+Two-Legs himself no longer had any idea of the number of his descendants;
+and it seemed as if he simply did not care. He lived now with one tribe
+of his people and now with the other, always alone in a house to himself,
+where he could quietly indulge in thought. Often, young men came to him to
+learn from him. Then he gave them of his wisdom and sent them out into the
+world again; but what he thought of in his inmost self he talked about to
+no one.
+
+When he sat outside his house and gazed and pondered, the voices spoke to
+him as before:
+
+“Two-Legs ... the lord of the earth ... the vanquisher of the animals....”
+
+“Two-Legs ... who conquered the wind and made it his servant, as he did
+with the ox and the horse....”
+
+“Two-Legs ... who tamed the wild steam and imprisoned it in the engine,
+which now has to obey his commands and do his errands....”
+
+Two-Legs listened to the voices.
+
+He patted the dog, who lay at his feet:
+
+“You were once a wild and fierce animal and now you are gentle and serve
+me faithfully,” he said.
+
+He listened to the wind, who was whispering in the trees:
+
+“You can cool my forehead on a hot day and you can rush over the earth
+like a wild monster,” he said. “I know you and I use you.”
+
+He looked across the meadow, where the mist was rising and the fine white
+steam floated to and fro:
+
+“You, too,” he said and nodded. “You are as light as a veil and dainty and
+white and innocent. The poets sing of you and you make little children
+cough. But you are the same that burst the mountain and destroyed my land.
+I watched you and discovered you and caught you and put you in my engine;
+and now you must toil for my descendants the wide world over.”
+
+The thunder rolled in the distance. There came long and deep peals. Now
+and again, a flash of lightning gleamed and lit up the darkness. And the
+voices spoke again:
+
+“It is thunder, Two-Legs ... it is lightning.... You do not know what that
+is. No one knows what it is.”
+
+“The world is full of mighty, secret forces ... mightier than the wind ...
+harder to understand than steam.”
+
+“The ox and the horse tremble before the thunder and the lightning.
+Two-Legs and all his descendants tremble wherever the thunder-storm
+reaches. There is more between heaven and earth than Two-Legs knows of.”
+
+The storm came nearer. The thunder pealed and the lightning-flashes
+crackled. Those who lived close came running to Two-Legs’ house in great
+alarm:
+
+“Father Two-Legs, what shall we do?” they cried. “God’s wrath is upon
+us.... Look, look, His fire has struck the house yonder. Now it’s burning;
+it is all in flames!”
+
+Two-Legs did not look at the blazing house, but up at the clouds, where
+the thunder pealed and the lightning-flashes darted:
+
+“That is not God’s wrath,” he said. “It is a strange force up there in the
+clouds ... stronger than the wind ... stronger than Steam. Oh, if I could
+catch it and compel it to serve me, as I compel the ox and the horse and
+the others!”
+
+They heard what he said and looked at one another in affright.
+
+Much as they honoured and loved him, they thought that this was madman’s
+talk. For how could any one dream of taking the terrible lightning into
+his service?
+
+“Two-Legs has grown old,” said one to the other. “He is in his dotage and
+does not know what he is saying.”
+
+Two-Legs did not listen to them, but continued to gaze at the storm
+overhead:
+
+“Look! See how the lightning darts!” he said. “In a second, it darts from
+one horizon to the other!... Oh, if I could put it into my carriage!”
+
+They recoiled from him, so frightened were they at his words.
+
+“Look! See how the lightning shines!” he said. “In a second, it is as
+light as bright noonday!... Oh, if I could catch the lightning’s light and
+hold it fast and compel it to shine peacefully for human beings!”
+
+One of the elders went up to him and laid his hand on his shoulder:
+
+“Two-Legs,” he said, “the success you have had has driven you mad. Your
+talk is foolish. You are tempting God.”
+
+“God kindled the lightning and God kindled my understanding,” said
+Two-Legs. “He gave me the one that I might explore the other. Go away and
+mind your own business and leave me alone.”
+
+They went away. Two-Legs stood and gazed till the last lightning had
+vanished from the sky.
+
+
+2
+
+One day, Two-Legs sat on his bench, looking at a boy who was running about
+and playing with a piece of amber.
+
+The boy rubbed it against his breeches to make it bright. Then he held it
+up in the air and rejoiced to see it shine so prettily.
+
+Just then, a fluff of seamews down came flying and fastened on the amber.
+Another came ... and another ... and more still. As soon as they came near
+the amber, they hurried and settled on it.
+
+“Look, look!” said the boy and laughed with amusement. “There’s a spirit
+in the amber! When I rub it on my breeches, the spirit comes out and
+catches the little fluffs.”
+
+Two-Legs took the amber from the boy and looked at it. He rubbed it and
+caught the fluffs. He held it close to husks and little bits of paper.
+
+“Look, the spirit catches them too!” said the boy and clapped his hands.
+
+More came and looked on. They told it to others, who left their work and
+came and stood and stared at Two-Legs and the amber.
+
+“Is it a spirit, Father Two-Legs?” asked one of the elders.
+
+“A mighty spirit,” said Two-Legs. “A new and rare spirit. I do not know
+him. Go to your work and leave me alone, so that I can explore him.”
+
+“Give the spirit a name, Father Two-Legs,” said the man who had spoken
+before.
+
+Two-Legs reflected that the people in the part of the world where he was
+then living called amber electron.
+
+Then he told them that they might call the spirit of the amber Electricity.
+
+
+3
+
+From that day, Two-Legs collected as much amber on the beach as he could
+find.
+
+He rubbed it and saw that then the spirit constantly came forth and seized
+upon the little things near by. He put his ear to it and listened, but
+could hear nothing. He tasted it and smelt it; he broke it to pieces and
+gazed at it with his old eyes, but could discover nothing:
+
+“The spirit is hiding from me,” he said. “But I shall find him, I shall
+find him!”
+
+It occurred to him one day that the strange spirit might dwell elsewhere
+than in the amber.
+
+He began to rub a glass tube and shouted aloud for joy when the spirit
+at once appeared and seized upon the down and husks and shreds of paper.
+He took a piece of sulphur and rubbed it and exulted when just the same
+thing happened. But, in a little while, the spirit disappeared from the
+amber, the glass tube and the sulphur alike and did not come back until
+he rubbed them again.
+
+He made himself a big sulphur ball, with an iron bar through the middle.
+The iron bar was fixed between two stakes, so that he could turn the ball
+with a handle which was at one end of the bar.
+
+Now, when he turned the handle and laid his hand on the ball, he saw that
+the little fluffs which flew in the air at that moment stuck to the ball
+and, immediately after, flew out into the air, as though the spirit had
+pushed them away. He turned the handle briskly and the fluffs danced about
+the ball. One of them flew on his nose and stayed there for a little while
+and then flew back to the ball again.
+
+“The spirit dwells in me too,” said Two-Legs, gladly. “I believe he is
+everywhere and in everything, if only one could manage to call him forth
+from his hiding-place. Now I will summon the whole tribe and show them
+something which they have never seen.”
+
+He sent word round and they came and stood in crowds about his house. Then
+he asked for the little boy who had played with the amber on the beach and
+been the first of all to call forth the mysterious spirit:
+
+“You deserve the honour of sharing in this day,” he said. “You all
+remember the spirit to whom I gave the name of Electricity?”
+
+“We remember him,” said the oldest of those present. “If you have anything
+good to tell us about him, we shall be pleased to hear it. If it is
+anything bad, then keep it to yourself and we will flee to a new country
+where the spirit does not dwell.”
+
+“The spirit is neither bad nor good,” said Two-Legs. “He is a force ... a
+strange, mysterious force, which I have not yet succeeded in discovering.
+I do not know if he is worth conquering and giving into your service even
+as I gave you the ox and the horse, the wind and Steam. I do not know how
+I am to conquer him. But I do know that it is not possible for one of us
+to flee from the electric spirit. For he dwells not only in the amber as
+you saw. He can take up his abode everywhere and in everything ... even in
+me ... even in every one of you.”
+
+They pressed close together and gazed at him in alarm.
+
+“Watch me now,” said Two-Legs. “Dismiss all your fears and look in wonder
+at what I shall show you.”
+
+Two-Legs hung the little boy up between two ropes, so that he swung in the
+air at some height above the ground. Before him, from another cord, hung
+a glass tube. On the ground under him stood a bowl with little pieces of
+paper.
+
+“I shall now rub the glass until the spirit comes forth,” said Two-Legs.
+“When that is done, the boy will touch the glass with one hand. The other
+he will hold at a distance above the bowl with the shreds of paper.”
+
+He rubbed the glass tube and the boy did as he said.
+
+“Look ... look!” said Two-Legs.
+
+They stared and shouted with surprise. All the bits of paper leapt up and
+hung in the hand which the boy held over the dish.
+
+“Do you see that?” asked Two-Legs. “He is electric. The spirit has taken
+up his abode in him.... Can you all see it?”
+
+The oldest and cleverest bent over the boy and stared and talked of the
+remarkable thing that had happened. They did not understand it and shook
+their heads. But the others were seized with frenzy and clamoured against
+Two-Legs:
+
+“It is magic!” they shouted. “Father Two-Legs is a magician! He is
+tempting God and killing the poor boy with his tricks!”
+
+“You are fools,” said Two-Legs. “You talk of what you do not understand.
+Go away and leave me alone, while I enquire into the mighty spirit of
+Electricity. You can come again in a twelvemonth. Then I shall show you
+much stranger things than you have seen to-day.”
+
+They went on clamouring and crowded round Two-Legs, threatened him with
+their clenched fists and abusing him:
+
+“Father Two-Legs must die!” they cried. “He will bring misfortune upon us
+all, with his magic! He calls forth spirits whom he cannot lay! Let us
+kill him before he has brought down God’s wrath upon us!”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The elders placed themselves between Two-Legs and the infuriated people.
+They reminded them of his venerable age and of all the good which he
+had done to his kinsfolk. They talked until, at length, they persuaded
+the others to go, though they still muttered and cast angry glances at
+Two-Legs. The mother of the boy whom he had made electric ran and seized
+him by his long white beard:
+
+“If ever again you use my boy for your odious tricks, I’ll kill you!” she
+screamed.
+
+“You are only a silly woman,” said Two-Legs and pushed her away. “If I
+taught your boy the secret of what you call my magic, he would make a name
+for himself that would be spoken with respect so long as the world lasts.
+However, go away and take him with you too. No harm has happened to him;
+and to-morrow he will have forgotten all about it.”
+
+She went, hand in hand with the boy, who did not cry, but kept his eyes
+on Two-Legs. When they were gone, the elders told him he had better move
+into another country if he wanted to continue searching for the electric
+spirit, otherwise it would end in this, that the people would kill him one
+day, when the elders were not there to defend him.
+
+Two-Legs stood and rubbed the glass tube with a piece of leather and paid
+no heed to them. They had to say it once more before he heard. Then he
+merely nodded and said:
+
+“I will go away this very night and seek another country where the people
+are cleverer.”
+
+
+4
+
+By midnight he was ready to start. He had nothing with him but his sulphur
+ball and some other things which he needed for his labours. He hid these
+under his cloak, put out the light of his house and prepared to leave.
+
+Suddenly he heard a noise in the alley where the others lived. He sat down
+and waited, not because he was afraid of them, but because he did not
+choose to talk with fools any more. And, while he sat and waited, he took
+his sulphur ball from under his cloak and began to rub it with his hand,
+as he had done thousands of times before. He gazed at it, though he could
+see nothing, for the night was pitch-dark.
+
+All at once, he started up with a cry.
+
+He dropped the ball, found it again, with difficulty, on the floor and
+began to rub and rub like mad.
+
+Now he saw it quite plainly: light came against his hand when he rubbed.
+Time after time, he rubbed and, each time, he saw the light.
+
+He was so greatly excited that he could hardly breathe. He closed his eyes
+and opened them again. No, it was not imagination: the light came as soon
+as he rubbed the sulphur ball.
+
+He held the ball up to his ear, while he rubbed and rubbed like mad....
+Now he plainly heard a faint crackling....
+
+Then he jumped up and sang and cried and laughed and danced round the room
+like a young man crazy with delight:
+
+“It’s the lightning!... It’s the thunder!” he shouted, exultantly. “I have
+called them and they come at my bidding.”
+
+The door opened and the little boy whom he had made electric stood on the
+threshold:
+
+“Father Two-Legs, will you take me with you where you are going?” he asked.
+
+“Do you want to come?” asked Two-Legs.
+
+“Yes,” said the little boy. “I want to stay with you and go where you go.
+I am not afraid of you. You shall teach me your magic and, one day, I
+shall become a wise and great man, like yourself.”
+
+“You do not know what you are doing,” said Two-Legs. “I am no magician,
+but I have seen what no other man has seen. You do not know what has
+happened to me this night.... I have rubbed my sulphur ball and have
+produced lightning from it and thunder. They lie in my hand. I can call
+them forth when I please. They are only quite tiny as yet and weak, but
+I know that, one day, they will grow strong, like those up there in the
+clouds. Do you dare?”
+
+“I dare,” said the boy.
+
+“Then come,” said Two-Legs.
+
+He took him by the hand and went out with him into the dark night, to find
+a country where there were fewer fools.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+5
+
+Two-Legs found a new country, where he and the boy settled. The people
+honoured him for his age and wisdom and knew nothing about his magic
+arts. But he occupied himself with them as before, sought and listened
+and thought ... whether he could sooner or later lay hold of the strange
+spirit who was so weak in the amber and the glass tube and the sulphur and
+so powerful in the thunder-storm.
+
+Every evening, when the day’s work was done, he sat and talked with the
+boy, who grew in age and understanding. They were happiest when the
+thunder pealed. Then they felt that the mighty spirit was nearer to
+them: not only up there, where lightning crackled, but in the air and in
+everything round about.
+
+“There is much electricity up there and only a little here below with
+us,” he said. “That is why the flashes strike down upon the ground....
+Look, there is one darting from a cloud that has too much to one that has
+too little.... Oh, I understand, I understand! It is like the water that
+lies at a different level in two ponds: if I dig a canal between them, it
+will flow from that which has more into that which has less and, a moment
+after, it will be at the same height in both. Boy, boy, one day I will
+collect so much electricity that I can use it for the greatest things!”
+
+“That you will, since you say so, Father Two-Legs,” said the boy. “But
+will you tell me how it is that the mighty spirit dwells in a fragile
+glass tube like this and not in that thick iron bar? If I were the spirit,
+I would rather dwell in the strong bar. But he is not there. I have rubbed
+the iron till my arms ached, but the spirit did not come.”
+
+“You may depend upon it that he is there,” said Two-Legs. “If only we
+could find the right means to call him forth, I believe that there is more
+of him in iron and in copper and other metals than in anything else. Just
+look how weak he is in the glass tube and the amber: he comes when I rub,
+catches the little fluffs and is gone again at once. No, if we can charm
+him from the iron, then we shall see him in his might.”
+
+
+6
+
+One day, the boy went into the mountains and found a lodestone, which he
+thought looked odd. He took it home to Two-Legs, who examined it long
+and closely, as he examined everything. Without thinking of it further,
+he began to rub the thick iron bar with the lodestone and saw, to his
+surprise, that the stone clung to the iron:
+
+“Boy, what have you found?” he cried.
+
+Henceforth, he thought of nothing but iron and copper and other metals.
+
+He forged himself bars of iron, large and small, rubbed them with the
+lodestone and saw that they became electric. The spirit was in them and
+the spirit came out of them, but differently and not as in the glass tube
+and the amber and the sulphur ball.
+
+It was no use for him to come with fluffs of down and little shreds of
+paper. The spirit did not catch at them. But, when he came with iron, the
+spirit caught hold of it and held it ever so tight.
+
+“That is the proper, powerful spirit,” said the boy joyfully.
+
+Two-Legs saw also that the spirit was only at the two ends of the bar
+which he rubbed with the lodestone. The spirit ran into the ends and
+stayed there and caught hold of the pieces of iron which he held out to
+him. In the middle of the bar there was no spirit.
+
+One day, as he was working with a very thick bar which he had rubbed, it
+seemed to him that it moved without his touching it. Then he took a vessel
+of water, put a cork in the water and the iron bar on top of the cork.
+
+“Look, look, it’s turning!” cried the boy.
+
+And so it was. It turned one end to the north and the other to the south.
+Two-Legs shifted it, but it turned back to the same position as soon as
+he let go. He experimented with the other bars, but they did exactly the
+same. One day, he laid two side by side, each on its own cork, and saw
+that the north end of the one and the south end of the other attracted
+each other. When he brought the two north ends or the two south ends
+together, they at once pushed each other away.
+
+“Look, look!” cried the boy.
+
+Two-Legs sat, plunged in thought, and looked. Then he made a little bar,
+rubbed it with the lodestone and put it on a pivot, so that it could turn
+easily as it pleased:
+
+“Go and give this thing to the skipper,” he said. “When he goes far out to
+sea and cannot sight land anywhere, he will always be able to see by it
+which is north and which is south and direct his course accordingly.”
+
+Thus Two-Legs invented the compass.
+
+But he forgot it as soon as the boy had gone with it. He thought how much
+stronger the spirit was in the iron than in the other things from which he
+had produced it and pondered how he should make the spirit obey him with
+all his power.
+
+“I found the stone that did it,” said the boy, when he returned. “Give it
+a name, Father Two-Legs.”
+
+As the country where he was then living was called Magnesia, Two-Legs
+called the stone the magnet. And he showed the boy how he could make any
+piece of iron into a magnet by rubbing it with another iron in which the
+spirit was:
+
+“Oh, if I could only draw the spirit from up there, in the thunder-clouds,
+down hither with a magnet!” said Two-Legs.
+
+He made a kite, such as boys play with, and gave it a huge long string. At
+the top of it he put an iron tip. Then he and the boy went and waited for
+the thunder to come one day; and, at last, it came.
+
+When the thunder-storm was exactly over head, he flew the kite in the
+air. They stood and watched it till it disappeared right up in the
+thunder-clouds.
+
+“Now hold the string, boy, if you dare,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“I dare,” said the boy.
+
+The lightning crackled and the thunder crashed. In the midst of it,
+Two-Legs, with his fingers, touched the string of the kite; and a great
+spark leapt upon his finger. He touched it again and again; and, each
+time, a new spark leapt out.
+
+“Look, look!” he said. “I have drawn down the lightning from up there!”
+
+“Oh, Father Two-Legs!” said the boy, shaking with fear. “Suppose the
+lightning had killed you!”
+
+“It could have done,” said Two-Legs. “To play with the mighty forces of
+nature is dangerous. That is why I so often asked you if you were not
+afraid. I once had a helper who was killed by the spirit of Steam before
+I had learnt to conquer him. It may happen that you will fare as he did.
+I know myself that I am never safe from death. But I would rather die
+fighting to conquer the spirits than at home, in my bed, of disease.”
+
+“So would I,” said the boy and drew himself up. “Only, I meant ... only,
+I don’t understand.... The lightning once struck and burnt my mother’s
+house. It killed my brother and my little sister; and all that we
+possessed was burnt: that was a calamity. Is there always a calamity when
+the lightning strikes? If so, why do you want to bring it down? Do you
+think you can imprison it and use it as you used Steam?”
+
+“No,” said Two-Legs. “I don’t think that. I don’t know how it is to
+be done, but I dream, day and night, that, sooner or later, I shall
+succeed in preparing lightning as strong as that up there, but different
+nevertheless.... I want to rule over it and imprison it and compel it to
+labour in my service. It is only a dream as yet. It was not the lightning
+either that I drew down with my kite: only a little spark of the spirit
+that flames up there.”
+
+“Yes, Father Two-Legs,” said the boy. “But, if you can catch a little
+spark, you can also catch a bigger one ... and a bigger one still ... and,
+at last, the whole lightning.”
+
+Two-Legs gazed at the boy. Then he took him in his arms and kissed him:
+
+“You’re a glorious boy,” he said. “You found the magnet and knew nothing
+about it. Now, in your ignorance, you have spoken a great word: come and
+see what you can make of it.”
+
+
+7
+
+He forthwith set up a tall pole, close to his house. At the top of it was
+a metal spike, from which a long iron wire ran far down in the ground.
+People came and looked at his work and wondered what it meant.
+
+“See,” he said to them. “The pole will catch the lightning when it comes.”
+
+“Do you want to lure the lightning down to the earth ... the bad
+lightning?” asked one of them. “And close to your house besides?”
+
+“The lightning is not bad,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“Would you have me call it good?” said the man. “It set my barn on fire
+and burnt it. And there’s a man standing yonder whose wife was killed and
+all his cattle.”
+
+Two-Legs gave a scornful smile. He quite forgot that he himself had once
+thought just like that of the wind and of Steam:
+
+“The lightning is neither good nor bad,” he said. “It is a mighty force
+that comes and darts as it must. I don’t want to lure it down to the earth
+either. But, if it comes here, over my house, and thinks of striking ...
+then it will be caught by the spike at the top of the pole and fly down
+the wire into the earth; and my house will escape.”
+
+“Two-Legs is mad,” said the man. “He is calling the lightning down upon
+himself.”
+
+The others said the same and then they went away. The boy remained
+with him and looked at the lightning-conductor. And, when the next
+thunder-storm came, the lightning struck two farm-houses in the valley and
+burnt them to the ground. It also struck the pole near Two-Legs’ house and
+rushed down into the earth, as he had said. This was easy to see by the
+way in which it had rooted up and flung stones and gravel around.
+
+They came running from every side and saw it and wondered. They bowed low
+before Two-Legs and honoured his wisdom; and one and all of them set a
+lightning-conductor beside their houses.
+
+But Two-Legs thought no more of it:
+
+“That’s nothing,” he said. “It is just as when I killed the wild animals.
+It was a bigger thing when I tamed them and took them into my service. I
+want to tame the lightning also and make it my servant.”
+
+“Two-Legs wants to tame the lightning,” said one to the other and laughed
+and thought that he had certainly lost his reason.
+
+“I want to make lightning,” said Two-Legs.
+
+“Two-Legs wants to make lightning,” they said and nudged one another.
+“Take care it doesn’t strike you!”
+
+They laughed and went away. Two-Legs sat and meditated and thought and did
+not mind their scorn. The boy sat at his feet.
+
+
+8
+
+The years passed and the boy grew to be a man. He was always with
+Two-Legs, listening to his talk, helping him in his work and rejoicing
+with him each time that he came a step nearer to the goal.
+
+They moved more than once from one country to another. Either it was
+the folk of the country who drove them away with their foolish fears,
+when they heard reports or saw sparks come from Two-Legs’ workshop, or
+else it occurred to him that his labours would meet with better success
+under another climate. But, whether he was in one place or another, he
+constantly thought of the same thing: how he was to catch the electric
+spirit and make him strong, so that he might be useful in man’s service.
+
+He thought no more of the thunder and the lightning up in the sky. He knew
+well that it was the electric spirit that struck sparks up there and he
+wanted him to do the same in his workshop. Since he had begun the work
+with the magnetic iron, he no longer troubled about the glass tube and the
+amber and the sulphur ball. He did not even care to rub them any more, so
+small was the spirit when he came from them and so soon did he disappear
+again.
+
+“The lightning also lasts only for a moment,” said his disciple. “It is
+mighty, Father Two-Legs, a thousand times mightier than any spark that you
+can rub out of the sulphur ball; but it only flames for a moment and then
+it is all over.”
+
+“That’s just why I can’t use it,” said Two-Legs. “I want the lightning
+to last as long as I please ... for ever if I please. I must be able to
+kindle it and extinguish it and kindle it again, as easily as I can snap
+my fingers. Oh, if I only knew where the spirit really dwelt!”
+
+“We know that,” said the disciple. “He lives in the amber and in the glass
+tube and in the sulphur ball, in iron and in the thunder-cloud and in me
+and in you and in everything in the world, you said.”
+
+Two-Legs sat long and pondered with his head in his hands. His disciple
+waited in silence; and, at last, Two-Legs looked up:
+
+“You know ... you know ...” he said and then was silent again for a while.
+
+Then he said:
+
+“You know ... sometimes I don’t believe at all that the spirit lives in
+any of the places that you say.”
+
+“Where does he live then, Father Two-Legs?” asked his disciple.
+
+“I believe he lives in the air,” said Two-Legs. “Not in the clouds,
+which are mere water and vapour, but in the pure air ... in the ether:
+the ether, do you understand? He lives there and goes now into one and
+now into the other and rather into the one than into the other. Do you
+remember how long we had to rub the glass before the spirit came? He
+was there reluctantly. Do you remember that, when the glass was wet, he
+did not come at all? He would sooner be in the water. He likes to dwell
+in iron and copper and zinc and silver and all the other metals. In the
+string that held the kite which we sent up into the thunder-cloud, he ran
+down as fast as the lightning and sent a spark into my finger. You know
+how he runs down the wire of the lightning-conductor into the ground. He
+remains there because the ground is moist. That is why you and I see no
+more of him, because we walk on the ground: he runs right through us into
+the ground and disappears. Yes, that’s how it is, that’s how it is!”
+
+His eyes beamed. He could not explain it, but he saw, as in a vision, that
+this was how it must be. He went on talking about it; and his disciple
+knew that it was true, even though he could not understand it.
+
+But then Two-Legs grew sad again:
+
+“What is the use of it all, when I cannot even produce the spirit,” he
+said, “nor build him a house in which he would rather dwell than anywhere
+else in the world, so that I may always have plenty of him to come and go
+at my pleasure?”
+
+He began to gaze at his magnetic needle: how two north ends or two south
+ends always repelled each other, while a north end and a south end
+immediately flew together.
+
+“Now, if there were two spirits,” he said, “if the spark came and then
+the two rushed towards each other, if the powerful force were just the
+attraction of one for the other ...”
+
+“Is that it?” asked the disciple.
+
+“I don’t know,” said Two-Legs. “I could see and feel the wind; and the
+same with Steam. I discovered, at length, where he came from and where he
+was going. But I don’t know what the mighty spirit of electricity is, for
+all the years that I have been watching him. Perhaps I shall never come to
+know. But we will explore his ways nevertheless, diligently, by day and by
+night.”
+
+He hammered wires of iron and zinc, of copper and silver, twisted them
+together, bent them against one another, rubbing them with the magnet and
+with the leather and with anything else that he could hit on. Gradually,
+he had no room for all of this in his house; and then he threw it outside
+the door.
+
+
+9
+
+One evening, he and his disciple were sitting on the bench before the
+wall, tired with their fruitless labours. They gazed at the sun until it
+went down. Then twilight fell upon the land.
+
+Two-Legs looked at a fat old toad who came crawling from under the
+threshold.
+
+He moved his legs heavily and looked with his frightened eyes at Two-Legs
+and wondered if he meant him any harm. Then he crawled on ... under some
+wire that lay there. And, as the toad touched the wire, he jumped as if he
+had been struck a blow.
+
+Two-Legs saw it, for he saw everything. He saw how the toad again
+touched the wires and again jumped. He stooped down and saw that it was
+copper-wire and zinc-wire. He saw that the toad jumped highest when he
+touched both wires. He caught the toad and held him in his hand and put
+both the wires to him. The toad gave a start. And, every time he touched
+him with the wire, he started afresh.
+
+Then he let the toad go and remained sitting for a long time with the
+copper-wire and the zinc-wire in his hand and gazed before him, plunged in
+thought. Then he said:
+
+“Come, let us go in.”
+
+“Yes, it’s time for bed,” said the disciple. “It’s quite dark.”
+
+“It’s time for work,” said Two-Legs. “To-night a light has been kindled
+for me, brighter than any before.”
+
+He told the disciple what he had noticed and explained his thought to him:
+
+“It was the electric spirit,” he said. “I think it was the toad’s moist
+skin that made him show himself. Now we will experiment with copper and
+zinc.”
+
+He took a glass and filled if half with water and put into it a small
+piece of zinc and a small piece of copper. Then he fastened a slender wire
+to the zinc, let the wire stand up in a wide curve and fastened the other
+end to the copper:
+
+“What shall we put into the water?” he said. “There is sulphur and there
+is lime and there are a thousand things, in the toad’s skin.... The
+question is how to hit upon just the right one.”
+
+He experimented patiently. When he put a piece of sulphur into the water,
+it began to bubble round the zinc.
+
+“Look, look, now the water is jumping just as the toad did!” he said.
+
+He grasped the wire and felt that it was getting hot. Breathlessly, he
+dropped it and stared at the whole apparatus:
+
+“That’s it, that’s it,” he said and talked quite low, in his excitement.
+“Wait a bit, now, and see.”
+
+He filed the wire quite thin in one place:
+
+“Feel it,” he said. “It’s glowing.”
+
+The disciple did so and quickly drew back his fingers, for he had burnt
+himself. Two-Legs stood and stared. Then he cut the wire; and the bubbling
+in the water stopped at once and the thin piece became cold again. He held
+the two cut ends together; and, the moment they touched each other, the
+water bubbled and the wire grew hot. He tried it time after time; and,
+each time, the same thing happened.
+
+“At last, at last, I have found it,” he said.
+
+He sat for a long time silent, with his face buried in his hands, overcome
+with emotion. The disciple did not quite understand it, but dared not ask.
+And, in a little while, Two-Legs himself explained it to him:
+
+“Look here, look here!” he said; and his eyes beamed as they had never
+beamed before. “Don’t you see that I am making electricity in this little
+glass? I am making it and it’s here. The wonderful force, the force of
+the lightning, flows along the wire. I cut the wire and the current is
+interrupted. I connect it again and the force flows once more. Praise
+be to the loathsome toad who set my thoughts travelling in the right
+direction!”
+
+“I don’t see the lightning,” said the disciple.
+
+“You shall see it,” said Two-Legs.
+
+He put a little piece of charcoal at each end of the wire where he had cut
+it. Then he put out the light in the room and brought the two charcoal
+tips together. Then they both saw that the charcoal glowed and gave a
+faint light.
+
+“Do you see that? Do you see that?” cried Two-Legs, exultantly. “I have
+my thunder-cloud in this little glass: there’s the lightning for you. It
+only shines faintly as yet, but it is easily made stronger. I can put a
+thousand thunder-clouds together and you shall see how bright the light
+becomes. I can put two thousand together and you shall see how strong the
+electric power is: stronger than the wind, stronger than the steam; there
+is not a weight it cannot raise, not a wheel it cannot turn. Look, look,
+I have caught the lightning and imprisoned it in this little glass! I am
+lord of the mighty electric spirit: he will have to serve me like the ox
+and the horse, like the wind and Steam!”
+
+He ran and flung open the door. The night was past and it was morning. He
+shouted till his voice rang over the valley. The people heard and woke and
+sprang from their beds:
+
+“Father Two-Legs is calling,” they said to one another. “Let us go to his
+house and hear what he has to tell us.”
+
+They hurried from every side; and Two-Legs stood up, with his great white
+beard, and told them the marvellous thing that had happened:
+
+“I have caught the electric spirit ... the mysterious, mighty spirit,” he
+said. “I can produce as strong a current of his immense force as I please
+and I can carry it whither I please, even to the end of the earth, along
+a thin wire. I can kindle the lightning, so that it shines calmly and
+gently, and put it out and kindle it again as easily as I snap my fingers.”
+
+They listened open-mouthed and stared, while he showed them and explained
+it to them:
+
+[Illustration: TWO-LEGS STOOD UP]
+
+“The electric spirit is my captive,” he said. “I have imprisoned him in
+this little glass and compelled him to obey me. I give him to you; and in
+him you have a servant whose like you have never known. He will alter the
+face of the whole earth. If those who died a hundred years ago were to
+rise again ten years hence, they would not know the world in which they
+had lived.”
+
+The fools laughed and mocked at him, as was their wont. But the clever
+ones asked Two-Legs to explain it again and again and never tired of
+listening to him. At last, they all went home and began to enquire further
+into the matter, while Two-Legs went into his house and shut his door and
+wondered what would come next.
+
+
+10
+
+Out in the world it happened as he had said.
+
+The electric spirit served mankind as none other had ever done. Electric
+light glowed in every house. Electric cars ran in every direction at
+lightning speed. The electric telegraph carried men’s messages from one
+end of the world to the other.
+
+Soon there was nothing left that Electricity could not do more easily and
+better.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO-LEGS’ FUTURE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+1
+
+Two-Legs still lives.
+
+He will not die as long as the world exists.
+
+He lives now in one country and now in another. No one knows for certain
+where he is; and there are not many who think of him in the ordinary
+course of things. Only very few have seen him, but those who have will
+never forget him either, so old is he and venerable, so clever and radiant
+his eyes.
+
+He is the same that he always was.
+
+In the beginning, he supplied himself with food and clothes, shelter
+against the weather and defence against his foes. He built himself huts
+and houses, killed some of the wild animals and tamed others. He taught
+his children to sow and reap. Misfortune overtook him and he conquered it.
+His descendants multiplied and filled the earth.
+
+Since then he conquered the wind and Steam and Electricity. He bound them
+and gave them to man for his servants. And man trained them, even as he
+had trained the horse and the ox and the dog.
+
+The steam-engine gives bread to many times more people than all the beasts
+of the field. The electric spirit does a thousand times more tricks in
+man’s service than the horse or the dog.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+In the evening, when Two-Legs sits outside his house, the voices speak to
+him as before:
+
+“Two-Legs ... the vanquisher of the animals ... the lord of the ox and the
+horse and the dog ... the strongest of all creatures.”
+
+“Two-Legs ... who conquered the wind and took him into his service.... He
+made him turn the mill ... made him carry the ship over the sea.”
+
+“Two-Legs ... the lord of Steam.... He forced him into his engine and
+told him to do the tasks which men put him to.”
+
+“Two-Legs, the wisest, the strongest.... He explored the lightning and
+bound it.... He compelled it to draw the greatest weights and to shine
+calmly and gently in men’s small rooms and to carry their messages from
+one end of the world to the other.”
+
+Two-Legs listened to the voices, but only for a moment. He was examining a
+piece of metal which he held in his hand and into which he had been long
+and secretly enquiring:
+
+“Look,” he said to the young man who was now his pupil. “I wish I knew
+what the queer rays are that come out of this substance. It shall be
+called Radium; that means the thing that beams. I will search until I know
+its nature. Who knows what secret forces it conceals and what benefits it
+can perform for mankind?”
+
+
+2
+
+Two-Legs explored the new force.
+
+The world round about him went its course. Each year brought new
+incidents, new discoveries, new wealth and new happiness. Two-Legs paid
+no heed. He sat with his radium and would not let it go until he knew it
+through and through.
+
+There were clever people who knew he must succeed some time and who waited
+eagerly and gladly for him to make mankind the master of a new power,
+mightier, perhaps, than any of those which he had yet conquered.
+
+There were fools who said that it was all very well with Steam and
+Electricity and the rest. They could understand that. But this new thing
+here was quite senseless and absurd. Besides, one must not tempt God.
+There were mysteries in nature which mankind should never seek to explore.
+There was a limit to what was allowed to men; and the man who overstepped
+that limit was either a fool or a presumptuous person who ought to be
+locked up or punished.
+
+Two-Legs listened just as little to them now as he had done in the old
+days.
+
+Their folly was the same now as then. What they saw before their eyes and
+felt with their hands they believed in. The new thing which was in its
+first stages, they mocked at and condemned.
+
+But, sometimes, a man would come to Two-Legs with his little son, so that
+the boy might see the wisest man in the world. Then, if he had the luck to
+find words that could divert Two-Legs’ attention from his work, Two-Legs
+would look up and fix his steady glance on the boy, lay his hand on the
+boy’s head and say:
+
+“Do not grow up to be a fool, my lad. The fool is he who judges what he
+does not understand.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+_Bristol: Burleigh Ltd., at the Burleigh Press._
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO-LEGS***
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+<body>
+<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Two-Legs, by Carl Ewald, Translated by
+Alexander Teixeira De Mattos, Illustrated by Johan Briede and Helen Jacobs</h1>
+<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
+and most other parts of the world 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 <a
+href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not
+located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this ebook.</p>
+<p>Title: Two-Legs</p>
+<p>Author: Carl Ewald</p>
+<p>Release Date: April 8, 2021  [eBook #65029]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO-LEGS***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by D A Alexander<br />
+    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (https://www.pgdp.net)<br />
+    from page images generously made available by<br />
+    Internet Archive<br />
+    (https://archive.org)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff; max-width: 80%; margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">
+      Note:
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive. See
+      https://archive.org/details/twolegs00ewal3
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="pgx" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p>
+
+<h1>TWO-LEGS</h1>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus1">
+<img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">A HUGE NUMBER OF VISITORS</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+
+<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+
+<p class="titlepage larger">TWO-LEGS</p>
+
+<p class="center larger">BY CARL EWALD</p>
+
+<p class="titlepage">TRANSLATED FROM<br />
+THE DANISH BY<br />
+ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS<br />
+AND<br />
+ILLUSTRATED BY<br />
+JOHAN BRIEDE<br />
+AND<br />
+HELEN JACOBS</p>
+
+<p class="titlepage">FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY<br />
+PUBLISHERS&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;NEW YORK</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span></p>
+
+<p class="titlepage"><i>Printed in the United States of America</i></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span></p>
+
+<p class="center larger">For <span class="smcap">Lily Teixeira de Mattos</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap">Dear</span>,</p>
+
+<p>Of all Carl Ewald’s stories <i>Two-Legs</i> has always
+been your favourite. Now that I am reissuing
+it, amplified by four chapters which did not appear
+in the original edition, it is only fit that I should
+dedicate this translation, with my love, to you.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="smcap">A. T. de M.</span></p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap">Chelsea</span>, <i>2 September, 1921</i>.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-contents.jpg" width="500" height="250" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<table summary="Contents">
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr"><i>Prologue</i></td>
+    <td></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><i>Page</i></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr"></td>
+    <td><a href="#PROLOGUE">THE STORY OF THE FAIRY-TALE</a></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr"><i>Chapter</i></td>
+    <td></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">I.</td>
+    <td>THE OLD ANIMALS</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_OLD_ANIMALS">15</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">II.</td>
+    <td>MRS. TWO-LEGS HAS A SON</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#MRS_TWO-LEGS_HAS_A_SON">27</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">III.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS KILLS</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_KILLS">33</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">IV.</td>
+    <td>TIME PASSES</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TIME_PASSES">45</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">V.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS ENLARGES HIS POSSESSIONS</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_ENLARGES_HIS_POSSESSIONS">55</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">VI.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS WANDERS</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_WANDERS">61</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">VII.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS SOWS</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_SOWS">69</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">VIII.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS ENJOYS LIFE</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_ENJOYS_LIFE">77</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">IX.</td>
+    <td>THE OLD ANIMALS TAKE COUNSEL</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_OLD_ANIMALS_TAKE_COUNSEL">85</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">X.</td>
+    <td>THE LION</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#THE_LION">93</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">XI.</td>
+    <td>MANY YEARS AFTER</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#MANY_YEARS_AFTER">99</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">XII.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS CONQUERS THE WIND</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_CONQUERS_THE_WIND">105</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">XIII.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS CONQUERS STEAM</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_CONQUERS_STEAM">117</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">XIV.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS CONQUERS ELECTRICITY</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_CONQUERS_ELECTRICITY">133</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdr">XV.</td>
+    <td>TWO-LEGS’ FUTURE</td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#TWO-LEGS_FUTURE">157</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-loi.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<table summary="List of illustrations">
+  <tr>
+    <td>A huge number of visitors (<i>Colour</i>)</td>
+    <td colspan="2" class="tdpg"><a href="#illus1"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>There came two through the forest</td>
+    <td><i>Facing&nbsp;page</i></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2">16</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>One day the rain came</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3">34</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>She pulled out his feathers</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4">48</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>Two-Legs had made a good choice (<i>Colour</i>)</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus5">74</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>‘He shot an arrow into my left wing’</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus6">78</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>He stood at the edge of the wood</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus7">82</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>There was no time to lose (<i>Colour</i>)</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus8">98</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>‘Very well, you are neither bad nor good’</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus9">108</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>‘Catch me! Use me!’ (<i>Colour</i>)</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus10">122</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>Two-Legs stood up (<i>Colour</i>)</td>
+    <td><span class="ditto">”</span> <span class="ditto">”</span></td>
+    <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus11">154</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-0.jpg" width="500" height="450" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="PROLOGUE">PROLOGUE<br />
+<span class="smaller">THE STORY OF THE FAIRY-TALE</span></h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>Once upon a time, ever so many years ago, Truth suddenly
+vanished from out of the world.</p>
+
+<p>When people perceived this, they were greatly alarmed and at
+once sent five wise men in search of it. They set out, one in this
+direction and one in that, all plentifully equipped with travelling-expenses
+and good intentions. They sought for ten long years.
+Then they returned, each separately. While still at a distance,
+they waved their hats and shouted that they had found Truth.</p>
+
+<p>The first stepped forward and declared that Truth was Science.
+He was not able to finish his report, however, for, before he had
+done, another thrust him aside and shouted that that was a lie,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span>
+that Truth was Theology and that he had found it. Now, while
+these two were at loggerheads—for the Science man replied
+vigorously to the attack—there came a third and said, in beautiful
+words, that Truth was Love, without a doubt. Then came the
+fourth and stated, quite curtly, that he had Truth in his pocket,
+that it was Gold and that all the rest was childish nonsense. At
+last came the fifth. He could not stand on his legs, gave a
+hiccoughing laugh and said that Truth was Wine. He had found
+Truth in Wine, after looking for it everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Then the five wise men began to fight and they pummelled
+one another so lustily that it was horrible to see. Science had its
+head broken and Love was so ill-treated that it had to change its
+clothes before it could show itself again in respectable society.
+Gold was so thoroughly stripped of every covering that people felt
+awkward about knowing it; and the bottle broke and Wine
+flowed away into the mud. But Theology came off worst of all;
+everybody had a blow at it; and it received such a basting that
+it became the laughing-stock of all beholders.</p>
+
+<p>And people took sides, some with this one and some with that,
+and they shouted so loud that they could neither see nor hear for
+the din. But far away, at the extreme end of the earth, sat a
+few and mourned because they thought that Truth had gone to
+pieces and would never be made whole again.</p>
+
+<p>Now, as they sat there, a little girl came running up and said
+that she had found Truth. If they would just come with her
+... it was not very far.... Truth was sitting in the
+midst of the world, in a green meadow.</p>
+
+<p>Then there came a pause in the fighting, for the little girl
+looked so very sweet. First one went with her; then another;
+and ever more and more.... At last they were all in the
+meadow and there discovered a figure the like of which they had
+never seen before. There was no distinguishing whether it was a
+man or a woman, an adult or a child. Its forehead was pure as
+that of one who knows no sin; its eyes deep and serious as those<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span>
+of one who has read into the heart of the whole world. Its mouth
+opened with the brightest smile and then quivered with a sadness
+greater than any could describe. Its hand was soft as a mother’s
+and strong as the hand of a king; its foot trod the earth firmly,
+yet crushed not a flower. And then the figure had large, soft
+wings, like the birds that fly at night.</p>
+
+<p>Now, as they stood there and stared, the figure drew itself
+erect and cried, in a voice that sounded like ringing bells:</p>
+
+<p>“I am Truth!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a Fairy-tale!” said Science.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a Fairy-tale!” cried Theology and Love and Gold and
+Wine.</p>
+
+<p>Then the five wise men and their followers departed and they
+went on fighting till the earth was shaken to its centre.</p>
+
+<p>But a few old and tired men and a few young men with ardent
+and eager souls and many women and thousands of children with
+great wide eyes: these remained in the meadow where the
+Fairy-tale was....</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/i-p013.jpg" width="300" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-1.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_ANIMALS">THE OLD ANIMALS</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>It was once upon a time, many, many, many years ago.</p>
+
+<p>And it was in the warm lands where the sun shines stronger
+than here and the rain falls closer and all animals and plants
+thrive better, because the winter does not stunt their growth.</p>
+
+<p>The forest was full of life and noise.</p>
+
+<p>The flies buzzed, the sparrow ate the flies and the hawk ate
+the sparrow. The bees crept into the flowers in search of honey,
+the lion roared and the birds sang, the brook rippled and the grass
+grew. The trees stood and rustled, while their roots sucked sap
+from the earth. The flowers were radiant and fragrant.</p>
+
+<p>All at once, it became strangely still.</p>
+
+<p>It was as though everything held its breath and listened and
+stared. The rustling of the trees ceased. The violet woke from
+her dreams and looked up in wonder. The lion raised his head
+and stood with one paw uplifted. The stag stopped grazing, the
+eagle rested high in the air on his wings, the little mouse ran out
+of his hole and pricked up his ears.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span></p>
+
+<p>There came two through the forest who were different from
+the others and whom no one had ever seen before.</p>
+
+<p>They walked erect. Their foreheads were high, their eyes
+firm and steady. They went hand in hand and looked around
+them as though they did not know where they were.</p>
+
+<p>“Who, in the name of wonder, are these?” asked the lion.</p>
+
+<p>“They’re animals,” said the stag. “They can walk. But
+how oddly they do it! Why don’t they leap on all fours, seeing
+that they have four legs? Then they would get along much
+faster.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh,” said the snake, “I have no legs at all and it seems to
+me I get along pretty fast!’</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe they are animals,” said the nightingale.
+“They have no feathers and no hair, except that bit on their
+heads.”</p>
+
+<p>“Scales would do quite as well,” said the pike, popping his
+head out of the river.</p>
+
+<p>“Some of us have to manage with our bare skin,” said the
+earth-worm, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>“They have no tails,” said the mouse. “Never in their lives
+have they been animals!”</p>
+
+<p>“I have no tail,” said the toad. “And nobody can deny that
+I am an animal.”</p>
+
+<p>“Look!” said the lion. “Just look! One of them is taking
+up a stone in his fore-paws: I couldn’t do that.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I could,” said the orang-outang. “There’s nothing
+in that. For the rest, I can satisfy your curiosity. Those two,
+in point of fact, are animals. They are husband and wife, their
+name is Two-Legs and they are distant relations of my own.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, really?” said the lion. “Then how is it they have no
+fur?”</p>
+
+<p>“I daresay they’ve lost it,” said the orang-outang.</p>
+
+<p>“Why don’t you go and talk to them?” asked the lion.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus2">
+<img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">THERE CAME TWO THROUGH THE FOREST</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know them,” replied the orang-outang. “And I’m<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span>
+not at all anxious to have anything to do with them. I have only
+heard of them. You must know, they are a sort of very inferior,
+second-rate ape. I shall be pleased to give them an apple or an
+orange now and again, but I won’t undertake the smallest
+responsibility for them.”</p>
+
+<p>“They look very nice,” said the lion. “I shouldn’t mind
+trying what they taste like.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pray do, for all that I care,” said the orang-outang. “They
+will never be a credit to the family and, sooner or later, they will
+come to a bad end.”</p>
+
+<p>The lion went towards them, as they came, but, when he stood
+before them, he suddenly lost courage. He could not understand
+this himself, for there was not another thing in the forest that
+he feared. But the two new animals had such strange eyes and
+walked the earth so fearlessly that he thought they must possess
+some mysterious power which he could not see. There was nothing
+particular about their teeth; and their claws were not worth
+speaking of. But something about them there must be.</p>
+
+<p>So he hung his head and moved out of their way.</p>
+
+<p>“Why didn’t you eat them?” asked the lioness.</p>
+
+<p>“I wasn’t feeling hungry,” he answered.</p>
+
+<p>He lay down to rest in the high grass and did as though he
+were no longer thinking of them. The other animals did the
+same, for he was their chief. But none of them meant it. They
+were all taken up with the new animals.</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, Two-Legs and his wife walked on; and, the farther
+they walked, the more they wondered at the splendour of
+the world. They had no suspicion of the attention which they attracted
+and they did not see that all the animals were stealthily
+following in their tracks. Wherever they came, the trees put<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span>
+their tops together and whispered, the birds flew in the air above
+their heads and astonished eyes started at them from every bush.</p>
+
+<p>“We will live here,” said Two-Legs and pointed to a wonderful
+little meadow, where the river flowed between flowers and
+grass.</p>
+
+<p>“No, here!” cried his wife and ran into the adjoining wood,
+where the trees dispensed a deep shade and the moss was thick
+and soft.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p020.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“How strange their voices sound!” said the nightingale.
+“They have more notes than I.”</p>
+
+<p>“If they were not so big, I should advise them to build a nest
+beside me in the rushes,” said the reed-warbler.</p>
+
+<p>The two new animals walked on and constantly found a place
+which was prettier than the last which they had seen; and they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span>
+could not make up their minds to stay anywhere. Then they
+met the dog, who was limping badly, having cut his foot on a sharp
+stone. He tried to run away from them, but could not. Mrs.
+Two-Legs took hold of him and looked at the injured foot:</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll help you, you poor fellow,” she said. “Wait a minute.
+I hurt my own foot the other day and healed it with leaves.”</p>
+
+<p>The dog saw that she meant well by him. He waited patiently
+while she ran into the copsewood for leaves. Two-Legs patted
+him on the back and talked kindly to him. Then she came back
+with the leaves, put them on his foot and bound a tendril round
+them:</p>
+
+<p>“Run away now,” she said. “To-morrow you’ll be quite
+well again.”</p>
+
+<p>They went on, but the dog stood looking after them and
+wagging his tail. The other animals came out of the bushes and
+copses:</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve been talking to the strangers. What did they say?
+What are they like?” they all asked in chorus.</p>
+
+<p>“They are better than the other animals in the forest,” replied
+the dog. “They have healed my foot and stroked my skin. I
+shall never forget it.”</p>
+
+<p>“They have healed the dog’s foot.... They have stroked
+the dog’s skin....”</p>
+
+<p>It ran from mouth to mouth through the forest. The trees
+whispered it to one another, the flowers sighed and nodded, the
+lizards rushed round with the story and the nightingale set it to
+music. The new animals went on and thought no more of the
+dog.</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>At last, however, they were so tired that they sat down. They
+stooped over the spring and drank and laughed at their own image
+in the water. They plucked juicy fruits from the trees and ate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span>
+them. When the sun went down, they lay down to rest in the
+grass and went to sleep with their arms about each other’s necks.
+A little way off, the dog, who had followed in their footsteps, lay
+with his head on his paws, watching them. The round full moon
+shone straight down upon them. She also shone in the big face
+of the ox, who stood looking at them.</p>
+
+<p>“Boo!” said the ox.</p>
+
+<p>“Bo!” said the moon. “What are you staring at?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m looking at those two who are lying there asleep,” said
+the ox. “Do you know them?”</p>
+
+<p>“I believe something of the kind used to crawl over my face
+years and years ago,” replied the moon. “But I’m not sure.
+My memory has become very bad in the last hundred thousand
+years. It’s almost more than I can do to concentrate my thoughts
+upon my celestial course.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, thinking is not my strong point either,” said the ox.
+“But I am frightened.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of those two there?” asked the moon.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know why,” said the ox, “but I can’t bear them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then trample them to death!” cried the moon.</p>
+
+<p>“I dare not,” said the ox. “Not by myself. But perhaps I
+can persuade some one to help me.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s your look-out,” said the moon. “It’s all one to me.”</p>
+
+<p>And she sailed on. But the ox stood and chewed the cud and
+thought and got no further.</p>
+
+<p>“Are you asleep?” asked the sheep, sticking out her long
+face beside the ox.</p>
+
+<p>And suddenly the whole meadow came to life.</p>
+
+<p>All the animals were there who had followed the two on their
+walk. There were both those who sleep by day and hunt at night
+and those who do their work while the sun shines. None of them
+was now thinking of working or resting. None thought of hurting
+the others. The lion and the stag, the wolf and the sheep, the
+cat and the mouse and the horse and the ox and many others<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span>
+stood side by side on the grass. The eagle sat in a tree-top,
+surrounded by all the little birds of the forest. The orang-outang
+sat on one of the lower branches eating an orange. The hen stood
+on a mound beside the fox; the duck and the goose lay in the
+brook and stuck out their necks.</p>
+
+<p>“Now that we are all here together, let us discuss the matter,”
+said the lion.</p>
+
+<p>“Have you had enough to
+eat?” asked the ox.</p>
+
+<p>“Quite,” answered the lion.
+“To-night we shall keep the
+peace and be friends.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I move that we kill
+those two strange animals forthwith
+and without more ado,”
+said the ox.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p023.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“What in the wide world is the matter with you?” asked
+the lion. “Generally you’re such a peaceful fellow, grazing,
+attending to your business and not hurting a living thing. What
+makes you so bloodthirsty all of a sudden?”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t account for it,” said the ox. “But I have a decided
+conviction that we ought to kill them as soon as possible. They
+bring misfortune. They are evil. If you don’t follow my advice,
+rely upon it, one day you will all regret it.”</p>
+
+<p>“I agree with the ox,” cried the horse. “Bite them to death!
+Kick them to pieces! And the sooner the better!”</p>
+
+<p>“Kill them, kill them!” cried the sheep, the goat and the
+stag, with one voice.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Yes, do, do!” screamed the duck, the goose and the hen.</p>
+
+<p>“I have never heard anything like this in my life,” said the
+lion, looking round in surprise at the crowd. “It’s just the most
+peaceable and timid animals in the forest that want to take
+the strangers’ lives. What have they done to you? What are
+you afraid of?”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t tell you any more than the ox can,” said the horse.
+“But I feel that they are dangerous. I have such pains in my
+loins and legs.”</p>
+
+<p>“When I think of those two, I feel as if I were being skinned,”
+said the ox. “I feel teeth biting into my flesh.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a tugging at my udders,” said the cow.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m shivering all over, as though all my wool had been shorn
+off,” said the sheep.</p>
+
+<p>“I have a feeling as if I were being roasted before the fire and
+eaten,” said the goose.</p>
+
+<p>“So have I! So have I!”
+screamed the duck and the hen.</p>
+
+<p>“This is most remarkable,”
+said the lion. “I have never
+heard anything like it and I
+can’t understand your fears.
+What can those strangers do to
+you? They go about naked
+among us, eat an apple or an
+orange and don’t do the least
+harm. They go on two poor
+legs, whereas you have four, so
+that you can run away from
+them anyhow. You have horns
+and claws and teeth: what are you afraid of?”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll be sorry one day,” said the ox. “The new
+animals will be the ruin of us all. The danger threatens
+you as well as the rest of us.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 225px;">
+<img src="images/i-p024.jpg" width="225" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I see no danger and I know no fear,” said the lion, proudly.
+“But is there really not one of you to take the strangers’ part?”</p>
+
+<p>“If they did not belong to my family, I would do so gladly,”
+said the orang-outang. “But it looks bad to recommend one’s
+own relations. Let them go their way and starve. They are
+quite harmless.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I at least will say a good word for them,” said the dog.
+“My foot is almost well again and I believe that they are cleverer
+than all the rest of you put together. I shall never forget what
+they did for me.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right, cousin,” said the lion. “You’re a fine fellow
+and one can see that you come of a good stock. I don’t believe
+that these Two-Legs are dangerous and I have no intention of
+doing them any harm. To be sure, if I meet them one day when
+I’m hungry, I shall eat them. That’s a different thing. Hunger
+knows no law. But to-night I have had enough to eat and I am
+going home to bed. Good night, all of you!”</p>
+
+<p>Then none of the animals said another word. They went
+away as noiselessly as they had come. The night came to an end
+and the day broke in the east.</p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>Then suddenly the ox and the horse and the sheep and the
+goat came galloping over the meadow. Behind them, as fast as
+they could, came the goose and the duck and the hen. The ox
+was at their head and rushed with lowered horns to the place where
+the strangers lay sleeping.</p>
+
+<p>But then the dog sprang up and barked like mad. The two
+new animals woke and leapt to their feet. And, when they stood
+there, tall and slender, with their white limbs and their steady
+eyes, and the sun shone down upon them, the old animals were
+seized with terror and ran back the way they came.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, friend,” said Two-Legs and patted the dog.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Two-Legs looked to his bad foot and spoke to him in her
+pretty voice. He licked their hands with delight.</p>
+
+<p>Then the new animals bathed in the river. And then Two-Legs
+climbed up an apple-tree to get some breakfast for himself
+and his wife.</p>
+
+<p>In the tree sat the orang-outang eating an apple.</p>
+
+<p>“Get out of that!” said Two-Legs, in a threatening tone.
+“This is my tree and don’t you forget it. Don’t you dare touch
+a single apple!”</p>
+
+<p>“Goodness gracious me!” said the orang-outang. “What a
+tone to take up! And I who defended you last night when all
+the other animals wanted to kill you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Get out, you disgusting ape!” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>He broke a branch off the tree and caught the orang-outang
+a couple of such lusty cracks that he ran off crying into the forest.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p026.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-2.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="MRS_TWO-LEGS_HAS_A_SON">MRS TWO-LEGS HAS A SON</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>The days passed.</p>
+
+<p>Things were busy in the forest, both above and below. All
+the wives had eggs or young and all the husbands had their work
+cut out to provide food for their families. Every one attended
+to his business and took no heed of his neighbour, except when he
+wanted to eat him.</p>
+
+<p>The new animals had taken up their abode on an island in the
+river.</p>
+
+<p>This was because the lion had met them one day on the borders
+of the copsewood. He had got out of their way, as on the first
+occasion; but he had given them such a look that Mrs. Two-Legs
+trembled with fright:</p>
+
+<p>“He’ll eat us one day,” she said. “I dare not sleep in the
+meadow again.”</p>
+
+<p>Then Two-Legs discovered the little island and built a hut
+on it of branches and grass. Every day they waded through the
+river and went to gather fruit in the forest. At night they slept<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span>
+in their hut. The other animals had gradually all got used to
+them and spoke of them but seldom. Only the dog never forgot
+to run down to the river every morning to look across at the island
+and bark “Good morning!” to them. And the orang-outang
+slandered them wherever he went.</p>
+
+<p>“Who minds what he says?” asked the stag. “They’re
+relations; and we all know what that means.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i-p028.jpg" width="400" height="225" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>One night,
+a child was
+born to the
+new animals.</p>
+
+<p>“The Two-Legs
+have had
+a youngster,”
+said the sparrow,
+who went everywhere and always had
+some news to tell.</p>
+
+<p>“Really! I must run and have a look at the baby,” said Mrs.
+Nightingale. “My eggs will keep warm for four or five minutes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mrs. Fox has gone there herself, so I can leave my goslings
+alone for a moment,” said the goose.</p>
+
+<p>Down by the river was a huge number of visitors and enquirers.</p>
+
+<p>All the wives had hurried from hearth and home to have a
+look at the Two-Legs. Mrs. Two-Legs was sitting on the grass
+in front of the hut with her child at her breast. Two-Legs sat
+beside her, eating an orange.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s just the same as other husbands,” observed Mrs. Stag.</p>
+
+<p>“There are some who are worse,” said Mrs. Mole. “My
+husband eats the children, if I don’t look after them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Husbands are mere rubbish,” said Mrs. Spider. “I ate
+mine as soon as I had laid my eggs.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Do spare us those gruesome stories,” said Mrs. Nightingale.
+“But he might sing to her a little. That’s what my husband
+does.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, but look at the baby! Isn’t he sweet?” exclaimed Mrs.
+Reed-Warbler.</p>
+
+<p>“Poor little thing!” said Mrs. Stag. “He can’t even stand
+on his legs and the sparrow was saying that he was born at eleven
+o’clock last night. When my fawn was an hour old, he was
+jumping merrily over the meadow.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s no sense in carrying a poor little mite like that in
+one’s arms,” said Mrs. Kangaroo. “If he were mine, he should
+stay snugly in my pouch until he knew how to behave himself.
+But probably the poor woman hasn’t even got a pouch.”</p>
+
+<p>“At least he can see!” said Mrs. Fox. “My children are
+blind for quite nine days.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t forget that they are poor people,” said the orang-outang.</p>
+
+<p>“Stuff!” said Mrs. Nightingale. “It’s a dear little baby,
+as any mother can see. Hi! Mrs. Two-Legs! Be sure you feed
+him on maggots. Then he’ll grow up nice and fat.”</p>
+
+<p>“And, for goodness’ sake, sit on him at night!” cried Mrs.
+Reed-Warbler. “Else he’ll catch cold.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t mind what any of them say!” cried Mrs. Stag. “You
+stick to the milk! That’s good enough. And put him down on
+the grass and let him run about. You had much better make
+him used to it from the start.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Two-Legs looked at her baby and did not listen to what
+they said. He had now finished drinking and began to crow and
+kick about his little legs and arms. Two-Legs took him and lifted
+him high in the air and laughed at him.</p>
+
+<p>“Isn’t he sweet?” said Mrs. Reed-Warbler.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s all that,” said Mrs. Stag. “But his parents are very
+self-sufficient. They won’t look at any one else.” And she
+called across to the island, “It’s all right, Mrs. Two-Legs. You<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span>
+go on with the milk. And, if you run short, come to me. My
+only fawn died the other day, so I have plenty!”</p>
+
+<p>Then they all hurried home again, lest their husbands should
+come and find out that they had been gossiping.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m going to fetch a couple of oranges, or something of the
+sort,” said Two-Legs. “It may be some time before I’m back,
+for we’ve eaten everything on the trees round about here.”</p>
+
+<p>“Be as quick as you can,” replied his wife. “You know I
+don’t care to be alone at this time.”</p>
+
+<p>He waded through the river and went into the forest. After
+a long while, he came back, having found only a couple of poor
+little fruits. He was annoyed at this and so was his wife, for she
+was hungry. Then they sat and discussed whether they could not
+find something else that was fit to eat in the neighbourhood. For,
+once the evening had come, they did not dare leave the island.</p>
+
+<p>“Last evening,” said Two-Legs, “I saw the otter catch a big
+fish in the river here and eat him. Perhaps we could do the same.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do try,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. “One thing is certain, I must
+have some food.”</p>
+
+<p>He went out into the river and with his hands caught a great
+pike, who was swimming just past him, not dreaming of danger.
+He had so often seen Two-Legs wading through the river and
+Two-Legs had never looked at him. But now Two-Legs flung
+him on the island and there lay the pike gaping and gasping for
+breath and yelling with might and main:</p>
+
+<p>“Hi!... Ho!... Murder!... Help!”</p>
+
+<p>But he was soon dead. Two-Legs and his wife ate him and
+found him excellent.</p>
+
+<p>“Get me another fish like that to-morrow, will you?” said Mrs.
+Two-Legs. “Frankly speaking, I was getting rather tired of
+those apples.”</p>
+
+<p>Next day, Two-Legs went into the river again. He was not
+long before he saw another fine fish, but, just as he wanted to
+catch it, the otter snapped it away in front of his nose.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Get out of my river, you thief!” shouted Two-Legs and
+struck at him.</p>
+
+<p>“Whom are you calling thief?” said the otter, snarling and
+showing his white teeth. “I rather thought the river was mine.
+I was living here long before you came.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs leapt on shore and picked up some big stones and
+flung them at the otter. One of them caught him on the snout
+and made it bleed. Then he hid in his hole and Two-Legs caught
+another fish and took it home to his wife. But, when the otter
+came out again at night, the orang-outang was sitting there and
+nodding to him:</p>
+
+<p>“I have seen all,” said the orang-outang. “I was sitting in
+the tree over there and saw him throw the stone at you. The
+water turned quite red with your blood. He ill-treated me once
+too. He said the apples were his and drove me out of the tree
+with a stick. And to think that we are relations!”</p>
+
+<p>“If I could only get at him!” said the otter. “But I am too
+small.”</p>
+
+<p>“All in good time,” answered the orang-outang. “We shall
+be even with him yet.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p031.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-3.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_KILLS">TWO-LEGS KILLS</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>The sun was scorching and the ground was shockingly dry.</p>
+
+<p>The trees and bushes hung their leaves and the grass was
+parched and yellow, so that the ox could hardly find a green tuft
+to eat. The water in the river was so low that the fish swam along
+the bottom; and the brook had stopped running altogether.
+The animals lay in the shade and gasped for breath. In many
+places, both flowers and animals had died. Two-Legs and his
+wife and child were not much better off.</p>
+
+<p>The only one who was really happy was the snake. He
+stretched himself in the sun and thought it delightful:</p>
+
+<p>“Shine away, you dear sun,” he said. “The hotter the better.
+I am only just beginning to feel alive.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span></p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>But one day the rain came.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the sort of rain against which you can just put up
+an umbrella or take shelter in a doorway and wait until it stops.
+It poured down from the clouds till you could not see your hand
+before your face and it rained day after day as if it would never
+end. It rattled and pattered and clattered on the dry leaves so
+that you could not hear a sound. The river flowed again and the
+brook woke from its trance and sang as it had never sung before.
+The whole earth was like a thirsty mouth that drank and drank
+and could never quench its thirst.</p>
+
+<p>And a great gladness reigned on every hand.</p>
+
+<p>The trees stretched themselves and spread out and sent forth
+new shoots; and the grass sprang fresh and green from the ground.
+The flowers blossomed anew; the frogs croaked till they were
+heard all over the forest; and the fish flapped their tails merrily.
+Two-Legs and his family sat in front of their leafy hut and rejoiced
+with the rest.</p>
+
+<p>But it went on raining.</p>
+
+<p>The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his
+island should go under in the waves. The water soaked through
+the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.</p>
+
+<p>“Baby’s cold,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with
+great difficulty, for it was now very deep. They waded through
+the damp meadow and carried the child by turns. Then they
+found a tree which was so contrived that they could live in it.
+They twisted the branches together and built a roof and stopped
+up the holes as best they could with grass and moss; and this
+was their new house.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The water can’t reach us here,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“But it’s raining through the roof,” said his wife. “Baby’s
+cold and so am I.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus3">
+<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">ONE DAY THE RAIN CAME</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It’s just as I always said,” observed the orang-outang.
+“They have no hide or fur or anything and they’ll come to a
+horrible end.”</p>
+
+<p>“You ought to have fed your little one on maggots, Mrs.
+Two-Legs,” said Mrs. Nightingale. “Then he would have thrived
+better. My young ones are already almost as big as myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“You ought to have put him
+in the meadow and let him jump
+about, as I advised you,” said
+Mrs. Stag. “Then
+he would have
+been able to shift
+for himself by
+now.”</p>
+
+<p>“You should sit
+on him,” said Mrs.
+Reed-Warbler.
+“That’s how I keep
+my young ones
+warm.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Two-Legs
+said nothing, but
+looked at her boy, who was shivering
+with cold.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i-p037.jpg" width="400" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“It’s really a terribly spoilt child,” said Mrs. Hedgehog. “Of
+course, what must be must be; and, once you’ve brought children
+into the world, you have to give them a decent bringing-up. But
+a great big thumping lout like that, of six months old, still at his
+mother’s breast: fie, for shame! What he wants is a good beating
+and then turn him loose into the world!”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s nothing to be done with people like that,” said Mrs.
+Stag. “They won’t use their common sense; and, as they have
+made their bed, so they must lie on it.”</p>
+
+<p>Then they went away.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>Mrs. Two-Legs sat in the tree and the rain poured and the baby
+cried with cold.</p>
+
+<p>“Look at that silly sheep in the meadow,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
+“She’s warm and comfortable in her thick fleece, while
+my poor dear little boy lies shivering.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs heard what she said, but made no reply. He sat
+silent for a while and thought over things. Then he climbed down
+from the tree and sat on the ground a little and thought again.
+The rain splashed and clattered. Up in the tree, the little baby
+cried with cold. Down in the meadow, the sheep moved about
+and grazed.</p>
+
+<p>Then Two-Legs rose and went up to the sheep. On his way,
+he took a sharp stone and hid it in his hand. He went very slowly
+and looked to one side, so as not to frighten the sheep. Then
+suddenly, with a bound, he caught hold of her.</p>
+
+<p>“Baa! Baa! Murder! Help! I’m dying!” cried the sheep.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs struck her on the forehead with the stone and she
+fell to the ground. Then he strangled her with his hands, caught
+her by the fleece and dragged her to the tree where he had made
+his home.</p>
+
+<p>He cut a hole in her hide with the sharp stone and began to
+pull it off with his finger-nails. His wife came down and helped
+him. They used their teeth also, to finish the work more quickly,
+and, presently, they stopped and looked at each other with beaming
+eyes:</p>
+
+<p>“How delicious!” he said.</p>
+
+<p>“Wonderful!” said she. “Let us hurry now and give the boy
+the fleece. Then we will go on eating.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs drank the blood of the sheep and bit into the
+meat:</p>
+
+<p>“I feel stronger than I ever did before,” he said. “Let the
+lion come now, then he’ll have me to deal with.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span></p>
+
+<p>They wrapped the fleece round the child, who at once went
+comfortably to sleep. Then they dragged the rest of the sheep up
+into the tree and sat down to eat. Every bite they took made
+them feel braver and stronger. They gave no more thought to
+cold or rain, but sat and talked of the future as they had never
+talked before:</p>
+
+<p>“I should like to have a sheepskin like that for myself,” said
+she.</p>
+
+<p>“So you shall,” said he, gnawing a bone, “unless we find
+another animal that has a still softer and warmer skin. I want
+a fur too.... I say, we might cover the roof with sheepskins:
+that would keep out the rain. I will go out to-morrow
+and find some more sheep and kill them and bring them home.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we’ll eat them,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Rather!” said he. “We’ll eat meat every day. What a
+good thing that I thought of it, for the fish in the river were
+already growing afraid of me!”</p>
+
+<p>“Mind you don’t meet with an accident,” said she.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s all right,” he said. “I’ll go down to the river the
+first thing in the morning and pick out some sharp stones, in case
+I should lose the one I have. And, look here, I’ll tell you what:
+I’ll fasten one of those sharp stones to the end of a stick, with a
+shoot or tendril of some kind; a long stick, do you see? Then
+I need not go up to the sheep to hit them. I can throw the stone.
+For, of course, they’ll be afraid of me when they hear that I have
+killed one of them....”</p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>While they were talking like this, all the animals of the forest
+had gathered in the meadow, just as on the first night when the
+new animals arrived:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has killed the sheep!” cried the sparrow and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span>
+hurried on with her news, drenched and rumpled though she was
+with the rain.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has murdered the sheep and the ox and the goat!”
+screamed the crow and flapped her wet wings.</p>
+
+<p>“Softly!” said the ox. “I’m alive still, thank goodness,
+though I’m quite prepared for the worst.”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has killed all the animals in the forest ... he’s
+sitting in the meadow eating the lion,” whispered the reeds
+to one another.</p>
+
+<p>Then all the animals rushed down to the meadow to hear the
+exact state of affairs. The lion stood in their midst, with his head
+proudly raised:</p>
+
+<p>“What’s all this noise about?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>“May I speak?” said the orang-outang, holding up one
+finger. “I was sitting in the palm-tree over there and saw the
+whole thing. It was terrible.”</p>
+
+<p>“What a mean fellow you are!” said the lion. “You’re
+giving evidence against your own relations.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very distant,” replied the orang-outang. “Exceedingly
+remote. I will remind you that I expressly refused to take
+any responsibility for these Two-Legs, who only bring disgrace
+upon the family. Well, I was sitting in the tree and saw
+him come running up, fling himself on the sheep and strangle
+her. Then he dragged the poor beast to the tree in which he
+is living. I crept up behind him and saw him skin her. The
+woman helped him and then they climbed up the tree and
+feasted.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that all?” asked the lion. “I’ve eaten plenty of sheep
+in my time, though I prefer deer on the whole. Why shouldn’t
+Two-Legs help himself to a bit of meat if he likes?”</p>
+
+<p>“If I may speak, I should like to remind you of what I said
+when we last met,” said the ox. “It’s easy for you to talk like
+that, for Two-Legs can’t do you any harm. It’s we others that
+he eats. Still, you had better look out. He may become a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span>
+dangerous competitor. Suppose he gets a large family of children
+and they all take to eating mutton?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then there’s always beef left!” said the lion, laughing and
+showing his terrible teeth.</p>
+
+<p>“Just so,” said the ox and cautiously took a step backwards.
+“The oxen will get their turn, now that he has tasted blood. He
+looks awfully greedy. And I feel as if he had eaten me before.”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph!” said the lion. “There may be something in
+that. I don’t like beating about the bush as a rule. Let us go
+and have a word with the fellow.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p041.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>5</h3>
+
+<p>He moved on; and the orang-outang skipped along eagerly
+in front of him:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span></p>
+
+<p>“This way, this way,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>The lion stopped under the tree where Two-Legs had made
+his home. All the other animals of the forest had followed him
+and stood listening and staring.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs!” roared the lion, with his mighty voice.</p>
+
+<p>It sounded like thunder and they all started with fear. The
+lion lashed his tail and looked up at the tree. Not a sound came
+from it. He called out again, but there was no answer.</p>
+
+<p>“The impudent beggars!” said the orang-outang.</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps they are dead,” said the nightingale. “Perhaps
+they have overeaten themselves with the sheep.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t die of eating too much, but of eating too little,”
+said the pig, who kept rooting in the ground with his snout, in
+search of something for himself to eat.</p>
+
+<p>Then the lion roared for the third time; and the noise was
+so loud that a little siskin tumbled off her twig right into the jaws
+of the snake, who swallowed her before any one could utter a
+sound, so that nobody ever got wind of the story.</p>
+
+<p>And now Two-Legs appeared at the top of the tree.</p>
+
+<p>He had been fast asleep after the hearty meal which he had
+enjoyed; and he was furious at being roused. His hair hung
+about his face in disorder and his eyes were bloodshot and his
+mouth covered with foam:</p>
+
+<p>“Who dares disturb my sleep?” he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>“I do: the lion.”</p>
+
+<p>“The lion, the king of beasts,” they all cried, respectfully,
+with one voice.</p>
+
+<p>“I am king in my own house,” said Two-Legs. “Be off, I
+want to sleep.”</p>
+
+<p>“He is defying the lion.... He is mad.... I won’t
+give a penny for his life!” cried the animals.</p>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs took the thigh-bone of the sheep, aimed it and
+flung it with all his might at the lion. It hit the king of beasts
+in the middle of the forehead. He uttered a frightful roar. All<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span>
+the animals rushed terrified across the meadow. The lion ran
+in their midst, roaring constantly, till it echoed all over the forest.</p>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs lay down quietly to sleep and slept until broad
+daylight.</p>
+
+<p>When he awoke and had climbed down the tree, the dog lay
+gnawing the bone which Two-Legs had flung at the lion. He
+wagged his tail; Two-Legs patted him and gave him another
+bone:</p>
+
+<p>“Will you be my servant and my friend?” asked Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Gladly,” said the dog. “You have been kinder to me than
+the others and you are stronger and cleverer than they.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well,” said Two-Legs. “Then you shall keep watch
+over me and mine and help me when I go hunting and bear me
+company.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p043.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-4.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TIME_PASSES">TIME PASSES</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>The rainy season went by, the sun recovered his strength and
+rain and sunshine came and went by turns. Time passed, as it
+must and will pass.</p>
+
+<p>The Two-Legs family were now living in a new house which
+was better than either the leafy hut on the island or the dwelling
+up in the apple-tree.</p>
+
+<p>It was a cave in the rocks, which Two-Legs had discovered on
+one of his rambles. It was cool in the warm weather and in the
+cold it was sheltered against the rain and it could be closed with
+a big stone at night or when danger threatened. Two-Legs had
+hung the walls with skins and carpeted the floor with moss and
+now felt comfortably at home with his family and the dog.</p>
+
+<p>He had plenty to do, for the family had increased. He now
+had three children, who were doing excellently and eating like
+wolves. He had had to be careful since the night when he flung<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span>
+the bone at the lion’s head, for not only had he made an enemy
+of the king of beasts, but most of the other animals of the forest
+looked upon him with suspicion.</p>
+
+<p>And they were well-advised, for Two-Legs had become a mighty
+hunter, in no way inferior to the lion himself.</p>
+
+<p>In the back room of his cave, he kept two big spears and one
+little one, which his eldest son was already able to use very
+cleverly. They lay in wait craftily for their prey, just as the lion
+and the other hunters of the forest did. The dog drove the game
+towards them and they threw their spears and killed it.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s a better hunter than I,” said the lion, one evening, to
+his wife. “With his spear to-day he got a young deer that I
+had selected for myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why didn’t you take her yourself?” asked the lioness.</p>
+
+<p>“I was crawling up to her in the grass,” he replied. “But,
+before I could make my spring, Two-Legs had killed her. He
+sent his spear through her neck and she fell dead on the spot.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then why didn’t you take her from him after he had killed
+her?” asked the lioness again.</p>
+
+<p>“He had another spear in his hand,” said the lion. “And
+his youngster had one also. The spear is a thing I don’t understand.
+They who are struck by it fall down and die.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re afraid of Two-Legs,” sneered the lioness. “He’s
+the king of the forest, not you. If your son proves as big a coward
+as yourself, we’re done for.”</p>
+
+<p>The lion said nothing, but lay staring before him with his
+yellow eyes.</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>But, a little before daybreak, he stole up to Two-Legs’ cave,
+hid in the bushes and waited patiently until the stone was rolled
+away. This happened immediately after sunrise. The lion made
+ready to leap. He saw blood before his eyes and sprang, almost<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span>
+without thinking, upon the first form that appeared, struck
+it down with his powerful claws and carried it back with a bound
+into the bushes.</p>
+
+<p>A terrible scream brought Two-Legs to the entrance of the
+cave. He stood holding a spear in either hand. The lion saw
+that he had not killed his enemy, but only one of his children.
+He let go the corpse and prepared to make a fresh spring. Two-Legs
+now saw him among the leaves. He flung one spear and
+missed him. Then he threw the other, but the lion was gone,
+with great bounds.</p>
+
+<p>With tears and lamentations, Two-Legs and his wife bore the
+dead child into the cave. The lion, hurried by fear, fled through
+the forest. Wherever he came, the terrified animals fell aside.</p>
+
+<p>“The lion is flying from Two-Legs,” announced the sparrow.</p>
+
+<p>And the rumour spread through the whole forest and grew.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has wounded the lion with his spear,” screamed
+the crow.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has killed the lion and is hunting the lioness,”
+squeaked the mouse.</p>
+
+<p>And the lion fled on.</p>
+
+<p>He rushed past his lair, as though he dare not look his wife in
+the face. He did not come home until late at night.</p>
+
+<p>“Are you still alive?” asked the lioness, scoffing. “The
+whole forest believes you dead. And what about Two-Legs?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have killed one of his young,” answered the lion, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the good of that?” asked she.</p>
+
+<p>Then he caught her a box on the ear the like of which she had
+never had before, lay down and stared before him with his yellow
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>But the animals in the forest wondered and whispered to one
+another:</p>
+
+<p>“The lion is afraid.... The lion runs away from Two-Legs.”</p>
+
+<p>“Didn’t I tell you so?” said the ox. “We ought to have
+killed him then and there.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Ah, yes!” said the horse. “If the lion had only taken our
+advice!”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, yes!” sighed the duck and the goose and the hen.</p>
+
+<p>But the orang-outang went to one side in the forest and reflected:</p>
+
+<p>“My cousin is not such a fool as I thought,” said he to himself.
+“I really don’t know why I shouldn’t go and do the same.
+I am like him, but have many advantages which he has not; and
+I ought to do at least as well as he.”</p>
+
+<p>He took a stick and tried if he could walk like Two-Legs. He
+succeeded quite nicely and then he made for
+the other animals. He lifted his stick, yelled
+and made terrible eyes. But the animals crowded
+round and laughed at him. The fox snatched
+the stick from his hand, the stag butted him
+in the back, the sparrow behaved uncivilly on
+his head and they all
+made such fun of him that
+he ran away and hid in the
+copsewood where it
+was thickest.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p048.jpg" width="500" height="450" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus4">
+<img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">SHE PULLED OUT HIS FEATHERS</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>But the next morning the animals had fresh food for thought.</p>
+
+<p>They saw Two-Legs carry the corpse into the forest and build
+a great heap of stones over it. His wife picked the reddest flowers
+and laid them on the stones.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I never!” said the nightingale. “When another
+dies, he’s left, if you please, to lie where he falls. But as much
+fuss is made about this child as if his memory were to last for all
+eternity! I don’t even know what has become of my live
+children of last year, not to speak of the poor little chap who fell
+out of the nest and broke his neck.”</p>
+
+<p>“You just wait. There’s worse to come,” said the ox.</p>
+
+<p>And it came. For, a week later, something happened that
+enraged the animals of the forest more than all that had gone before.
+Mrs. Two-Legs saw a splendid bird of paradise sitting in a
+tree:</p>
+
+<p>“What wonderful feathers!” she said. “If I could only
+have a tuft like that to wear in my hair!”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs, who wanted to do everything to console her for the
+death of the child, at once went out with his spear and soon came
+back with the dead bird of paradise. She pulled out his feathers
+and tucked them in her hair and thought she looked charming;
+and Two-Legs thought so too.</p>
+
+<p>“Now this is really too bad,” said the nightingale. “To
+kill a bird in order to adorn his wife with the feathers! Did
+you ever in your born days! It’s well for me that I’m so grey
+and ugly!”</p>
+
+<p>The widow of the bird of paradise, followed by a great host,
+went off to the lion:</p>
+
+<p>“The new animals have killed my husband,” she said. “Here
+am I left a widow, with four cold eggs. Now that my breadwinner
+is killed, I can’t stay at home and sit on the eggs, unless<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span>
+I want to die of hunger. So I left them, to look for some food.
+When I returned, they were cold and dead. I have come to
+demand vengeance upon the murderer.”</p>
+
+<p>“What can I say?” said the lion. “There are so
+many widows in the forest. I myself don’t ask if the animals
+which I kill, when I am hungry, have wives and children at
+home.”</p>
+
+<p>“He didn’t do it because he was hungry,” said the widow of
+the bird of paradise. “He did it only to present his wife with a
+tuft of feathers for her hair.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s he to do when his wife asks for it?” said the lion.
+“It’s no joke falling out with your wife.”</p>
+
+<p>Some of the animals laughed. But most of them shook their
+heads and thought it a stupid jest, unworthy of the king of
+beasts.</p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>The next day, the animals of the forest spoke of nothing
+but Two-Legs. They one and all had something to complain
+of:</p>
+
+<p>“He took my whole nest, the other day, with seventeen new-laid
+eggs in it,” said the hen.</p>
+
+<p>“There are no fish left in the river,” said the otter. “And
+one gets bludgeoned into the bargain.”</p>
+
+<p>“One can no longer graze in peace in the meadows,” said the
+stag.</p>
+
+<p>But, if sorrow and terror reigned among the larger, important
+animals, some of the smaller, insignificant animals did not mind
+so much and, in fact, were rather amused at the misfortunes of
+their betters:</p>
+
+<p>“Why should we care?” asked the fly. “Let the big ones
+eat one another up as they please: it doesn’t concern us in any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span>
+case. And I, for my part, would rather have Two-Legs than the
+nightingale.”</p>
+
+<p>“No one is safe,” said the bee. “He took my honey yesterday.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said the earth-worm. “And, the day before that,
+he took my own brother, stuck him on a hook and caught a perch
+with him.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p053.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-5.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_ENLARGES_HIS_POSSESSIONS">TWO-LEGS ENLARGES HIS POSSESSIONS</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat thinking outside his cave. The dog lay at his
+feet asleep. Indoors, Mrs. Two-Legs was busy preparing breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs was in a bad temper, for he had had bad hunting.</p>
+
+<p>The day before, he had scoured the forest without coming
+upon any game whatever and he had done no better that
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>The animals had become afraid of him. His spear had reduced
+their numbers so greatly that they fled the moment they saw him
+come in the distance. They knew the hours he went hunting and
+they hid from him. They posted sentries who warned them with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span>
+loud cries when he or the dog came in sight. There was not a
+stag nor an ox nor a sheep nor a goat in the country that lay
+nearest to the cave. Scarcely ever did an animal graze in the
+meadow down below in front of it. They had all retired to where
+the forest grew thickest and where he could only penetrate with
+difficulty. Nor did it give him any pleasure to hunt up there,
+where the lion might so easily be lying in ambush.</p>
+
+<p>“Things are looking bad, Trust,” he said to the dog. “We
+must invent something new.”</p>
+
+<p>He sat and sharpened his knives and axes, which he had made
+out of flint, and then Mrs. Two-Legs came out with the breakfast,
+which consisted only of apples and nuts. There was not even a
+fish to be had. The fish disappeared as soon as they saw Two-Legs’
+reflection in the water.</p>
+
+<p>“I say,” said Two-Legs, suddenly. “It would be much easier
+if I caught a couple of sheep and we kept them here in the cave.
+Then they would get lambs, which we could kill, and I need not
+continually and perpetually go hunting.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Two-Legs thought this a good idea and, as they sat and
+talked about it, he recovered his temper. He wove a long rope
+of tendrils and then went off with his spear, the dog and two of
+his sons.</p>
+
+<p>He stole along the borders of the forest until at last he caught
+sight of a sheep who was grazing in a distant meadow with two
+lambs. He crept up to her on all fours, while Trust received
+orders to be quite still. When he was near enough, he flung the
+sling and was lucky enough to drop it just over the neck of the
+sheep. She bleated pitifully, but the noose held fast and tightened.
+Two-Legs, rejoicing, led the animal home and the two little lambs
+came after, for they did not know what else to do.</p>
+
+<p>When he came home, he fastened the sheep to a tree in front
+of the cave. They ate one of the lambs and let the other live.
+The children ran down to the meadow and fetched armfuls of
+grass and the sheep ate and gave her lamb to drink.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Do you mean to eat me too?” she asked Two-Legs, that
+evening, as he sat outside the cave with his family, rejoicing over
+his work.</p>
+
+<p>“No,” he said, “I do not. I shall keep you with me and you
+shall be my servant, like the dog. To-morrow
+I shall go out and catch your husband. Then
+you shall bear me plenty of lambs; and I
+shall eat some and put some by, just as I
+happen to want them.”</p>
+
+<p>“You killed my sister
+and pulled off her skin,”
+said the sheep.</p>
+
+<p>“I know better now,”
+said Two-Legs. “You
+shall see for yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Two-Legs came
+with a knife and cut off
+the old sheep’s wool.
+The sheep struggled and
+yelled grievously,
+but Two-Legs was
+determined and
+she was bound so
+tight that resistance
+was of no
+avail.</p>
+
+<p>“Now I shall
+be cold myself when it rains,” cried the sheep.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i-p057.jpg" width="400" height="500" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“Nonsense!” said Two-Legs. “When it
+turns cold, I’ll take you into my cave. I want
+your wool to make clothes of. It’s no use your raising difficulties.
+If you’re good and obedient, you shall have a better time with me
+than you ever had in your life.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span></p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>At night, while Two-Legs slept, the sheep stood outside and
+thought over things. The ox stuck his head over the bushes and,
+a little afterwards, the stag stood there too and the horse and the
+goat and many of the other animals.</p>
+
+<p>“What has he hit upon now?” asked the ox. “The sparrow
+says that he has tied you up and cut off your wool.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s only too true,” replied the sheep. “See for yourself
+how naked I am. He has eaten one of my lambs and he is
+going to catch my husband to-morrow. But I must say that he
+has plucked grass for me, so that I have eaten my fill.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s awful,” said the ox. “But it’s only what we expected.
+Can’t you get loose?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve tried,” said the sheep. “But it’s no use. The more I
+pull, the tighter the noose gets round my neck. I am a prisoner
+and a prisoner I remain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Rather die than live a slave!” said the wolf. “I will do
+your lamb the service to eat her.”</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he caught hold of the lamb and bit her in the throat.
+The sheep screamed at the top of her voice; Two-Legs woke up
+and ran out; and all the animals rushed away.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve been asleep, Trust,” said Two-Legs. “We must see
+to-morrow how we can prevent these accidents. A nice thing, if
+I am to catch sheep for the wolf and to fatten them for him to
+eat!”</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>And the next morning he thought of a remedy.</p>
+
+<p>He and his sons went into the forest and felled some trees with
+their axes. Then they cut them into sharp stakes and, after they
+had prepared a quantity of these, they planted them in a circle,
+outside the cave. Then they wove twigs between the stakes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span>
+and, by sunset, they had a safe and strong pen over which no
+wolf could jump. Two-Legs put the sheep into it.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later, he caught the ram with his
+sling. He went on hunting and
+soon the cow was there and the
+bull and their calves. The pen
+was too small and he had to build
+a bigger one. The whole family
+went out to fetch grass, but
+could never bring enough. The
+animals in the pen bleated
+and lowed.</p>
+
+<p>At night, they talked
+together:</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p059.jpg" width="500" height="600" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“Candidly
+speaking,”
+said
+the sheep,
+“this existence
+has
+its advantages. Down there, in the meadow,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span>
+one never felt sure of one’s life; first the lion was after one, then
+the wolf and the snake and the eagle, to say nothing of Two-Legs
+himself.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s something in that,” said the cow. “But I can’t
+stand the way Mrs. Two-Legs pulls at my udders. And then I’m
+not so sure that they don’t mean to kill me one fine day. There
+will be too many of us here before long.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i-p060.jpg" width="400" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-6.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_WANDERS">TWO-LEGS WANDERS</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs began to find it difficult to provide grass for the
+many animals which he had in the pen.</p>
+
+<p>He and his family had long plucked all that grew nearest the
+cave. Now they had to go a long way to find any and it was hard
+work getting it home.</p>
+
+<p>“We shall have to move,” he said to his wife. “We can’t
+go on dragging the grass up for all the animals. And, as the grass
+won’t come to us, we must go to the grass. We must go down to
+the meadow again. You will have to weave us a woollen tent.
+Then we will get all the skins we can and dig stakes into the
+ground and hang the skins over them. That’s the best way.
+And then the animals can go and graze round about the tent.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, when they have eaten the grass in the meadow, what
+then?” asked Mrs. Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Then we will pass on to the next one,” Two-Legs answered.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span>
+“We will pack up the tent, load it on the back of the cow and
+move on.”</p>
+
+<p>“If only the animals don’t run away!” said she.</p>
+
+<p>“Trust must help me to look after them,” replied he. “And
+the boys. Then all will be well. They know us now and they
+let us stroke them. You shall see, they will soon be quite
+tame.”</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, they began to break up the pen.</p>
+
+<p>“Is he going to set us free?” asked the cow.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want to go down to the meadow again,” said the
+sheep and began to cry. “My legs are stiffer than they were,
+and I can’t walk as well as I used to. And my eyesight is worse
+and I have hardly any scent left: it’s so long since I used
+my senses. I want to stay with Two-Legs and feed out of his
+hand.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve become a slave already,” said the cow. “And you
+don’t deserve to be free. If I see my chance, I shall be off.
+He killed my calf yesterday: I shall never forgive him for
+that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, well,” said the sheep, “suppose we do lose a youngling
+or two and even risk losing our own lives, what other fate could
+we expect in any case?”</p>
+
+<p>“You have the soul of a serf!” said the cow contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs had finished breaking down the pen. Meanwhile,
+his wife had packed up all their things. They loaded the cow
+with as much as she could carry, took up the rest themselves and
+started on their way to the meadow.</p>
+
+<p>“My fears are now being realized,” said the cow, groaning
+under the unwonted burden. “I am dead-tired in my loins and
+legs.”</p>
+
+<p>And, hardly had they come down to where the meadow began,
+when she threw off her load and rushed away, followed by the
+bull. Trust flew after them, but they turned round and showed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span>
+him their horns, which made him run back with his tail between
+his legs.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs threw his spear at them, but missed them.</p>
+
+<p>“Time will bring counsel,” he said. “I shall go out and
+catch them again to-morrow. Let us put up our tent now and
+arrange our things.”</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>They set up the tent on a little hill from which they could look
+over the meadow. At the foot bubbled a spring. Trust drove
+the sheep into the meadow and home again. Two-Legs caught
+the hen, the goose and the duck and clipped
+their wings, so that they could not fly away.
+Gradually, he got a number of sheep and goats
+and a quantity of poultry.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p063.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>When the animals
+had eaten all the grass in
+that place, he struck
+his tent and moved
+to another meadow;
+and so it
+went on. It was
+as if he had quite
+forgotten the cow.
+But, one day, his
+wife reminded him
+of her:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You must get the cow back for me,” she said. “I need
+her milk so badly. And both I and the children want new calfskin
+sandals.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p064.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Two-Legs took his spear, hung his sling round his neck and
+went off to look for the cow. When he had gone some way, he
+saw her in the distance; but she saw him too and trotted away<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span>
+at once. The horse, who was standing a little way off, looked
+at Two-Legs mockingly:</p>
+
+<p>“You would like to have my four quick legs,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>“I should, indeed!”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a good thing that there’s something you can’t manage,”
+said the horse. “It’s dangerous otherwise, the way you play
+at being master of the forest.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs made no reply, but very quietly unwound his lasso.
+Then, when he had got it right, he suddenly threw it over the
+horse’s head. It fell round the animal’s neck and he reared on
+his hind-legs and darted away wildly. But, at every leap he took,
+the noose drew tighter; and Two-Legs did not let go the rope.
+At one moment, he was dragged along the ground and, at the
+next, recovered his feet again. He twisted the rope round his
+hand and it cut into his flesh till the blood came, but he did not
+let go.</p>
+
+<p>At last the horse got tired. He stood still quivering in all
+his limbs. The foam flew from his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>“What do you want with me?” he said. “My flesh is not
+nice to eat and my milk isn’t sweet and I have no wool for you
+to cut off.”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to borrow your four legs,” said Two-Legs. “You
+were boasting of them yourself. Come up! Stand still now!
+If you’re good, I won’t hurt you.”</p>
+
+<p>He wound the rope round his arm and came closer and closer.
+He patted the sweating horse, then suddenly caught hold of his
+mane and swung himself upon his back. The horse reared and
+plunged and kicked his hind-legs high in the air and tried, in
+every way, to get rid of his rider. But Two-Legs held on to the
+mane and the rope with his hands and gripped tight with his
+legs and kept his seat for all the effort it cost him. Gradually,
+the horse became quieter again and then Two-Legs patted him
+on the neck:</p>
+
+<p>“Now go after the cow!” he cried.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span></p>
+
+<p>He pressed his heels into the horse’s flanks and gave him a
+smack. Then they flew in a rousing gallop over the meadow.
+The cow did not even attempt to run away, but stood staring in
+amazement at that wonderful sight. Before she had collected
+herself, the lasso was round her neck and Two-Legs proudly rode
+home with his capture.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the tent, he sprang from the horse, patted
+him and thanked him, but he made no pretence of taking the
+noose from the horse’s neck.</p>
+
+<p>“Won’t you let me go?” asked the horse.</p>
+
+<p>“No,” said Two-Legs. “But I’ll do better for you. You
+shall now drink from the spring and then you shall have the
+juiciest grass to eat that you ever tasted. After that, you
+shall lie down and reflect that you are now in my service and
+that you can spend the remainder of your days free of all cares,
+without the very least anxiety, if only you will be faithful and
+willing and do the little bit of work that I shall require of you.”</p>
+
+<p>He fed the horse and fastened him to the door of the tent.
+The cow stood tethered close by.</p>
+
+<p>“Shall we see if we can get loose?” whispered the horse,
+when night came and Two-Legs was asleep.</p>
+
+<p>“No,” said the cow, shaking her head. “I sha’n’t run away
+again. I accept my lot. It was a terrible sight to see him on
+your back. He is the master of us all. No one can resist
+him.”</p>
+
+<p>But the sparrow flew round the forest on her swift wings.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has caught the horse.... He rides on his back....
+He has fastened him to his tent.... The horse has
+become Two-Legs’ servant.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you heard the latest?” the lioness asked her husband.
+“Do you mean to let him ride on your back too, when he goes
+hunting?”</p>
+
+<p>The lion gave a threatening roar:</p>
+
+<p>“He had better just try!” he said.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span></p>
+
+<p>“He knows what he’s about,” answered the lioness, with a
+sneer. “And you just keep out of his way, coward and degenerate
+that you are!”</p>
+
+<p>The lion laid his head on his paw and said nothing, but brooded
+dark thoughts.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p067.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-7.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_SOWS">TWO-LEGS SOWS</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs moved with his herd
+from one meadow to the other.</p>
+
+<p>The herd increased year by year, as did his family. Mrs. Two-Legs
+had now borne her husband seven sons and seven daughters,
+who were all doing well and helping in the house and with the
+cattle.</p>
+
+<p>And the animals were more and more pleased to be in his
+service.</p>
+
+<p>The horse carried him when he went hunting and walked
+beside him when he struck the tent and moved to a new pasturage.
+He came at Two-Legs’ call and neither he nor any other animals
+thought seriously of running away, so that Trust had an easy job
+in watching over them. Now and then they felt an inclination<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span>
+for freedom, especially when they were talking to the wild animals.
+But it went no further than the inclination.</p>
+
+<p>For instance, one night in the rainy season, the stag came to
+the tent which Two-Legs had put up to protect his animals:</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you’re nice and dry here,” said the stag and looked
+enviously into the tent.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re right,” replied the sheep. “It is really much better
+than in the old days, when we used to take shelter under a tree
+and get drenched all the same.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p070.jpg" width="500" height="275" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“Just so,” said the cow. “And in the dry season too it was
+pleasant every day to get our food, which Two-Legs had stored
+up for us, instead of having to go all over the country as before,
+in search of a blade of grass.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I thought you had to drudge for it,” said the stag. “I
+have often seen you drudging and toiling for your master.”</p>
+
+<p>“One good turn deserves another,” said the horse. “For<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span>
+the rest, I can’t deny that my presentiments have been fulfilled.
+All my limbs hurt me terribly after the day’s work.”</p>
+
+<p>“And so do ours,” said the ox and the cow.</p>
+
+<p>The duck, the goose and the hen agreed. But the sheep shook
+her fat head, while she went on chewing the cud:</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t remember what sort of presentiment I had,” she said.
+“I am well off as I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you grumbling over there?” asked Trust, who was
+keeping watch and never slept with more than one eye shut.
+“Shall I call the master?”</p>
+
+<p>The stag took fright and ran away. But the horse said:</p>
+
+<p>“No, please do nothing of the sort. He has worked hard
+himself to-day and is no doubt as tired as we are. It would be a
+sin to wake him.”</p>
+
+<p>Then it grew still in the tent.</p>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs in his own tent was not asleep.</p>
+
+<p>On the contrary, he was wide awake, thinking over things,
+and his wife could not sleep either, for she was thinking too.</p>
+
+<p>“I am sick of wandering about the country,” he said at last.
+“We are no longer young, we have a very big family and sometimes
+the work makes me tired.”</p>
+
+<p>“Me too,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. “But that has nothing to do
+with it. We are obliged to move about to get the grass we want.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs said nothing for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>He rose and went out into the rain, had a look at his animals
+and then came back again and sat down in his old place. The
+lion was roaring outside in the meadow.</p>
+
+<p>“Did you hear him?” asked Mrs. Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs nodded.</p>
+
+<p>“Tell me,” he said, after a while, “where does the grass
+come from?”</p>
+
+<p>“You know as well as I do,” she said. “We have often talked
+of how it scatters its seed and how the seed shoots up between
+the old withered blades when the rain comes.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Quite right,” said Two-Legs. “And why shouldn’t we
+collect the seed and sow it ourselves? Now, if we pull up all the
+old grass and take the seed of the kind which our animals like
+best, we ought to be able to make it grow much thicker. And
+then we could reap the seed again and sow it again and go on living
+in the same place year after year.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, if we could only do that!” cried Mrs. Two-Legs and
+clapped her hands.</p>
+
+<p>“Why not?” said Two-Legs. “And, if we succeed in this,
+then we can build a proper, solid house for ourselves and our
+animals. I am sure that we can fell the biggest trees with our
+flint axes, if only we have the patience and persevere. As soon
+as the rain stops, I shall go out and look for a place where we can
+settle down for the rest of our days.”</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>A week later, the sky was clear again. Two-Legs mounted
+his horse, took leave of his family and said that he would not
+come home before he had found what he sought. He did not
+return till the evening of the third day and ordered them to pack
+up early next morning and go with him.</p>
+
+<p>When they came to the place, they had to admit that he had
+made a good choice.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy to see that the ground was good and fertile, everything
+around grew so fresh and luxuriant. There was a large,
+open field and on one side of it was the forest, on the other a
+meadow, which, in its turn, ran down to a great lake, where fish
+leapt and played. Beyond the lake were the distant blue mountains,
+which were beautiful to look at and to dream of. Just at
+the edge of the forest lay a hill, at whose foot a brook flowed. The
+brook ran into the river, which wound through the meadow, and
+the river ran into the lake.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span></p>
+
+<p>And the field and the meadow were full of all kinds of grass
+and flowers. There were poppies larger and redder than Two-Legs
+had ever seen. And there were bluebells and carrots, convolvuluses
+and corn-flowers. They grew and spread themselves
+as they pleased, for they themselves were the lords of the land.</p>
+
+<p>“This is where we shall settle,” said Two-Legs. “We shall
+build a big, strong house on the hill, with stables for our animals
+and a palisade outside to keep off those who wish us harm. Let
+us start without delay. You’ll see something, once the house
+is there!”</p>
+
+<p>He and his sons set to work at once felling trees.</p>
+
+<p>They laboured patiently day after day; but they had to chop
+hard with their stone axes before the big trees gave way. A cry
+of dismay went from tree to tree, far into the forest:</p>
+
+<p>“What is happening?... What does he want with us?...
+Why must we die?” whispered the trees to one another.</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs and his sons heard nothing and saw nothing.
+They worked and worked till they had what they wanted. And
+then they built a strong wooden house on the hill, built two houses,
+then three: one for themselves, a stable for the animals and a
+big long house for which Two-Legs had a purpose of which he
+did not speak for the present.</p>
+
+<p>They closed up all the chinks with moss. And round the
+whole farm they built a palisade of tall stakes and woven twigs,
+which made a good wall to protect them against their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s that,” said Two-Legs. “Now to work!”</p>
+
+<p>He told his wife to sew a leather bag for himself and one for
+each of the family. Then they went to the field and the meadow
+and filled their bags with seed of every sort of grass that they
+wanted to sow.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Won’t you have a few of my seeds?” asked the poppy,
+shedding her scarlet petals. “I have thousands of them in my
+head and I am the prettiest in the land.”</p>
+
+<p>“You may be pretty,” said Two-Legs, “but I have no use for
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve passed me by,” said the violet, modestly.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re forgetting me,” cried the thistle. “I am the proudest
+and strongest in the whole meadow.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I am the toughest,” cried the dock.</p>
+
+<p>“Mind you take none of their seed,” said Two-Legs to his
+family. “Our animals don’t eat them.”</p>
+
+<p>So they went home with full bags and out and home again,
+until they had heaped up a mighty store.</p>
+
+<p>“Now we will prepare the ground,” said Two-Legs. “Come, my
+dear horse, and lend me your strength, as you have done before.”</p>
+
+<p>He made a plough, harnessed the horse to it and drove it across
+the field, step by step and furrow after furrow. He rejoiced when
+he saw the earth turn under the stone blades of the plough.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the meaning of this?” said the poppy and was
+forthwith ploughed over.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s no use,” cried the thistle. “Our seed will come up and
+tease you.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll see about that,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>Then he told his family to pull up all the thistles and throw
+them away. And, when he had ploughed as much as he wanted,
+he took the grass-seed which they had gathered and sowed it in
+the good, fresh earth.</p>
+
+<p>“Now we must wait for the rain,” he said, “and see how things
+go.”</p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>And the rainy season came and things went as Two-Legs had
+hoped.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus5">
+<img src="images/illus5.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">TWO-LEGS HAD MADE A GOOD CHOICE</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span></p>
+
+<p>Little green shoots sprouted all over the ploughed field, all
+alike, all grass of the kind which the animals loved. Here and
+there, it is true, a thistle appeared and a poppy; but most of it
+was good grass.</p>
+
+<p>“Look!” said Two-Legs, gladly. “Now we only want the
+sunshine and then it will grow.”</p>
+
+<p>The sun came and the whole field was a lovely green carpet
+which grew so that one could see it grow from day to day.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, the stag came to the edge of the forest and beheld
+all this with amazement. Then he shouted into the forest to his
+family:</p>
+
+<p>“Come along! Here’s the finest field of grass you ever saw in
+your lives! Hurry up and come. I’ve started grazing already.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve started grazing, have you?” cried Two-Legs and
+came rushing up with his spear. “Out of this, you thief! Do
+you imagine that I have sown corn in the sweat of my brow for
+you to eat? Get out of it! This field belongs to me!”</p>
+
+<p>The stag fled as fast as he could into the forest. But the
+sparrow flew round and told the news on every hand:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has taken a great piece of land which no one is
+allowed to touch. He called the stag a thief when he tried to graze
+on it.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p075.jpg" width="500" height="250" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-8.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_ENJOYS_LIFE">TWO-LEGS ENJOYS LIFE</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>When the time came, Two-Legs filled the house which he had
+built for a barn with the produce of his field. And the harvest
+was hardly gathered before he began to think of next year.</p>
+
+<p>He ploughed a new field and another and sowed them. The
+year after, he cleared a part of the forest and tilled that.</p>
+
+<p>And so he went on year by year, until he had cultivated the
+land as far as he could see from his house on the hill.</p>
+
+<p>Round the house he had planted a garden with the fruit-trees
+and herbs which he had a use for. The fields lay in long, even
+strips, each with its own sort of grass or corn. The whole was
+fenced in; and Two-Legs was hard upon any who destroyed his
+work or stole his property.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span></p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>It looked as though he were the lord of the earth. No one
+dared set himself up against him. His herd increased from day
+to day and the wild animals fled far away as soon as they saw a
+sign of him or his. In the depths of the forest, however, and under
+the cover of the darkness and whenever they felt safe from him,
+they talked of the old days when they themselves were the
+masters, of the shame that it was that he should subjugate them
+so and of their hopes of better times:</p>
+
+<p>“He throws stones at a poor bird that picks a grain of corn
+in his field,” said the sparrow.</p>
+
+<p>“Yesterday, he drove me out of the hazel-hedge round his
+garden,” said the squirrel.</p>
+
+<p>“He shot an arrow into my left wing because I took a lamb,”
+said the eagle.</p>
+
+<p>“He has driven me right out of the forest,” said the wolf.
+“He told me that all the game belonged to him and that, if I dared
+touch it, he would persecute me and my cubs to the end of the
+world, if need be.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps he’ll take it into his head to-morrow to say that
+all the meadows are his,” cried the stag. “And where are we to
+graze then?”</p>
+
+<p>The thistle, the poppy and the bluebell pressed close against
+the hedge. The violet hid herself in the ditch and the stinging-nettle
+stood gloomily and angrily outside Two-Legs’ garden fence.</p>
+
+<p>“Are we any better off?” asked the thistle. “We’ve been
+driven from home and have to stand against the hedge and look
+on while the silly grass spreads all over the field. We are at his
+mercy; he can take our lives any day he pleases.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span></p>
+
+<p>“He has planted some of my sisters in his garden,” said the
+violet.</p>
+
+<p>“And some of mine,” said the poppy. “But that’s not
+liberty.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus6">
+<img src="images/illus6.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">‘HE SHOT AN ARROW INTO MY LEFT WING’</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Prick him, thistle!” said the tall oak.</p>
+
+<p>“I did and he struck me with his stick,” replied the thistle.</p>
+
+<p>“Sting him, nettle!” said the oak.</p>
+
+<p>“I did,” said the nettle, “and I came off no better than the
+thistle.”</p>
+
+<p>In the corn, however, a glad whisper ran from one end of the
+field to the other.</p>
+
+<p>“It is we ... it is we ... it is we ... it is
+we that reign in the land now.... We are good.... We
+are useful.... You are nothing but weeds.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hear them, the cowardly dogs!” said the thistle.</p>
+
+<p>“We can do nothing,” said the bluebell. “Why don’t you
+big trees fall down on him and crush him and his brood?”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s a ticklish matter, falling down,” said the oak. “But
+have we not a king of the forest to
+protect us? Where is the lion?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes the lion ... Where is
+the lion?” they all cried.</p>
+
+<p>But the lion was not there and did
+not come.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i-p081.jpg" width="350" height="400" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat at home in
+his garden, under a big apple-tree,
+surrounded by all his
+family.</p>
+
+<p>He cast his eyes
+over his fields, on
+which the corn
+waved, and up into
+the apple-tree, which
+hung full of delicious,
+yellow fruit. One of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span>
+his sons had just come back from the lake with a couple of big
+fish. Another was hunting in the forest; now they heard his call
+and he stood at the edge of the wood with a fat roebuck over
+his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>A third was busy making a plough: he wanted to improve upon
+the old one. And all the rest were working at one thing or
+another. The girls were busy in the kitchen or turning the mill-wheel.</p>
+
+<p>“We have had luck on our side,” said Two-Legs to his wife.
+“Everything thrives and grows under our hands. And our
+children will do better than we and their children better still.
+I hardly dare picture the power and glory which our race may yet
+achieve.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. “Things are going well with us.
+Remind me to strew a little corn for the sparrows, when the bad
+times come.”</p>
+
+<p>“I sha’n’t forget,” said he. “We have such plenty now that
+we can afford to give those little thieves a helping hand. And I
+like to hear them twittering when I get up in the morning.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p082.jpg" width="500" height="275" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus7">
+<img src="images/illus7.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">HE STOOD AT THE EDGE OF THE WOOD</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-9.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_ANIMALS_TAKE_COUNSEL">THE OLD ANIMALS TAKE COUNSEL</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>The complaints of the wild animals increased daily.</p>
+
+<p>“One no longer knows what one dare do and what not,” said
+the mole. “Yesterday, my cousin was throwing up earth, as
+our family have done ever since they existed. At that moment,
+he was caught and killed by one of Two-Legs’ sons, because the
+mole-hill appeared in the middle of one of his flower-beds.”</p>
+
+<p>“His daughter killed my wife, because she thought her ugly,”
+said a young spider. “Not that my wife was nice to me. She
+wanted to eat me immediately after the wedding and I had a
+narrow escape. But, apart from that, she was the most inoffensive
+person under the sun and really never hurt a soul. Except the
+flies, of course.”</p>
+
+<p>“He took away my wife and planted her in his garden,” said
+the hop-vine.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span></p>
+
+<p>“And he throws me out if I show the least tiny green shoot,”
+said the gout-weed.</p>
+
+<p>“He shuts us up in hives,” said the bee.</p>
+
+<p>“He hunts us by clapping his hands and hitting us with cloths,”
+said the moth.</p>
+
+<p>“He locks us up and fattens us and eats us,” grunted the pig.</p>
+
+<p>“He sets traps for us if we try to get a morsel of food,” said the
+mouse.</p>
+
+<p>“He is the master of us all,” said the stag. “We have no
+one to complain to. We have no king. The lion is no longer
+the ruler of the forest. He kills us with his claws when he is
+hungry, but he makes no attempt to defend us.”</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>While they were talking, the lioness came slowly up and stood
+in their midst. They sprang up in alarm, but she lay down quietly
+and said:</p>
+
+<p>“Do not be afraid of me. I sha’n’t hurt you. I have hardly
+eaten a mouthful this week for grief. The same cares oppress me
+as yourselves. And it is worse for me, because my husband ought
+to have protected us against these strangers and doesn’t. The
+disgrace, for that matter, concerns me personally.”</p>
+
+<p>“The lion must help us! The lion must set us free!” they
+all cried together.</p>
+
+<p>“The lion does nothing,” said the lioness, sadly. “He lies
+at home in our lair, staring and staring before him. But, now,
+listen to what I have to say.”</p>
+
+<p>They all gathered round and listened.</p>
+
+<p>“We are all concerned,” she said, “each one of us, without
+exception. I have taken in all that I have heard and seen of
+Two-Legs and I know his character and his plans as though he
+had confided them to me. He wants to subdue the whole earth.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span>
+He and his children intend to reign over us all, whether we submit
+or not.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is true!” cried the animals.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, that is true,” continued the lioness. “Let none feel
+safe! The most powerful animal and the tallest tree: if he has
+not laid them low to-day, their turn will come to-morrow. The
+lowest vermin and the sorriest weed, they know not on what day
+he may need them nor when they are in his way; and then their
+last hour has struck.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, yes!” they cried.</p>
+
+<p>The mighty oak waved his gnarled boughs in assent, the stag
+sorrowfully drooped his antlers, the worm whispered his “Yes!”
+in the earth and the bees buzzed with fear.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said the lioness. “To him we are either useful or
+injurious. If he thinks a flower pretty, he fences it in; if its
+scent offends his nostrils, he tramples her underfoot. If a tree
+stands where he can sleep in its shade, he lets it grow. If it
+is in his way or if he has a use for its wood, he chops it down.
+If he is able to use an animal, he catches it and makes it his slave.
+He dresses himself in its skin, eats its flesh, lets it do his work.
+He does not stop when he has had his fill, as we do. Greedy as he
+is, he catches animals and gathers fruit for many days, so that
+he may never suffer want.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so, that’s so!” cried the animals, in chorus.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait a bit!” continued the lioness. “There is more to
+come. He does not hunt fair, like ourselves. He does not go
+after his prey on his own legs. He rides at it on the back of the
+horse, whom he has compelled to carry him. He does not catch
+it with his claws, does not kill it with his teeth: he has a curious
+weapon, which flies through the air and brings death to whomsoever
+it strikes.”</p>
+
+<p>“We all know it!” cried the stag.</p>
+
+<p>“It has whistled past my ear!” said the wolf.</p>
+
+<p>“It hit my wing!” said the eagle.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span></p>
+
+<p>“He does not drink the blood as we do, does not eat the meat
+as we do,” continued the lioness. “He roasts it at the fire: he
+always has a fire in his hut. He has done violence to nature:
+we knew fire only when the lightning struck an old tree and set
+it alight; he strikes two stones against each other till the sparks
+come, or rubs two pieces of rotten wood till they catch flame.”</p>
+
+<p>“True, true!” cried the animals. “He has subdued fire.”</p>
+
+<p>“He does not wait to pluck the fruit in the forest when it is
+ripe,” said the lioness. “He cultivates the plants for which he has
+a use and roots out the others. Give him a free hand and he will
+transform the whole earth. No herbs will he let grow but those
+which he can employ. No animals will he let live but those which
+serve his use or pleasure. If we want to remain alive, we must
+become his servants.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hear, hear!” cried the animals.</p>
+
+<p>The lioness paused; all was still. They heard Trust bark a
+long way off.</p>
+
+<p>“Listen to the dog,” said the lioness. “His first servant.
+Now he helps him watch over others.”</p>
+
+<p>“The dog has betrayed us! Let us kill the dog!” they cried.</p>
+
+<p>The lioness raised her paw and silence prevailed again. Then
+she continued:</p>
+
+<p>“Do you remember the night when we met here in this same
+meadow, when the new animals had just arrived? There were
+some who warned us: they were the horse and the ox and the
+sheep; the goose and the duck agreed with them: now they
+are all his subjects; their presentiments did not deceive them.
+But do you not remember how the two animals looked when they
+lay here asleep? A couple of poor, naked wretches: we could
+have killed them without trouble, had we wished.”</p>
+
+<p>“We could, we could!” cried the animals.</p>
+
+<p>“But we didn’t!” said the lioness. “And now they are the
+lords of the forest. Do you know whence their power comes?
+It comes from the animals whom they have subdued. If we<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span>
+could take those animals from them, then they would be just as
+poor and helpless as before. Two-Legs’ power consists in this,
+that he can make others work for him. If, therefore, you take
+my advice, you will try to get his servants away from him. I
+propose that we send some one who will endeavour to talk them
+into their senses. Surely, we have only to appeal to their sense
+of honour and to remind them of the days when they wandered
+at liberty in the forest! Who will undertake the mission?”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you go yourself!” they all cried.</p>
+
+<p>“No,” said the lioness, “I had better not. It would not be
+wise. There is blood between their race and mine. They might
+remember this; and then my words would be in vain. It should
+be one from whom they have never had anything to fear.”</p>
+
+<p>They discussed the matter for some time; and then it was
+resolved that the fox should be the emissary. He was at odds,
+it was true, from the old days, with the goose and the duck and
+the hen; but there was no one better at hand.</p>
+
+<p>And so he sneaked off: none knew so well the shortest and
+most secret paths in the forest. He promised to bring back an
+answer as quickly as possible. The animals lay down to rest in
+the meadow and whispered together. In the midst of the circle
+lay the lioness, staring silently before her, with shame and wrath
+in her eyes.</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>When the fox reached Two-Legs’ house, he met Trust, who was
+going his night rounds to see if there were any foes about.</p>
+
+<p>“Good evening, cousin,” said the fox, slyly. “Out so late?”</p>
+
+<p>“I might say the same to you,” replied Trust. “I am keeping
+watch for my master. You’re hardly out on so lawful an errand.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have no master, certainly,” said the fox. “And it’s not
+long ago since you were a free dog in the forest. You ought to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span>
+become so again. Come down with me to the meadow. The other
+animals are gathered there. They will forgive you for entering
+Two-Legs’ service and look upon you as the good dog that you
+were, if you will open the door so that the captive animals may
+escape.”</p>
+
+<p>“There are no captive animals here,” said the dog. “We
+are all well off and we wish for no change. If I am Two-Legs’
+servant, I am also his friend. So run away back as fast as you
+can to those who sent you.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p090.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>With that, the dog turned his back on the fox and went in
+through the little hole that was left in the fence for his use. But
+the fox stood waiting awhile, to see if none of the others appeared.
+And it was not long before a fine gosling stuck her head through
+the hole.</p>
+
+<p>“Good-evening, little missie!” said the fox. “Please come a
+little closer.”</p>
+
+<p>“I dare not,” said the gosling. “I am not allowed out at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span>
+night. And I should so awfully like to get away. I am so
+frightened of Two-Legs. He roasted my mother the other day
+and ate her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Shocking!” exclaimed the fox. “You mustn’t stay a
+moment longer in this murderer’s den. Come out to me and I
+will take you to a place where you will have nothing to fear.”</p>
+
+<p>“If I only dared trust you!” said the gosling. “But I have
+ten sisters. I can’t leave them in the lurch.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t think you had better wake them to-night,” said the
+fox. “Young ladies are so talkative and, if the dog or Two-Legs
+discovered your flight, it would be all up with us. You would
+be roasted forthwith and I should come in for a certain unpleasantness
+too: that goes without saying.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is true,” said the gosling. “But will you promise me
+to fetch my sisters another time?”</p>
+
+<p>“I give you my word that, from to-day, I will come every
+night and fetch one of the young ladies, until they are all rescued,”
+said the fox. “As far as lies in my power. There may be
+obstacles.”</p>
+
+<p>“How kind you are!” whispered the gosling. “And I who
+thought that the wild animals were such terrible monsters! That’s
+what I’ve always been told. They said I must be particularly careful
+not to go into the forest, lest the worst of evils should befall me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sheer calumny!” said the fox. “All the animals in the
+forest are angels. I never heard of any one being roasted there.
+But come now, before we are perceived.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m coming,” said the gosling.</p>
+
+<p>She waddled through the hole and, that very instant, felt
+the fox’s teeth in her throat. She was just able to give a scream
+and then she was done for. But, the next moment, Trust was
+there. The fox let go the gosling and struck out with his teeth
+as best he could. But he was the weaker and the dog gave no
+quarter. Not until the fox lay dead on the ground did Trust
+go back through his hole again.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span></p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the animals were lying in the meadow and waiting.</p>
+
+<p>“The fox has tricked us,” said the stag.</p>
+
+<p>“Of course, he has been caught and is entering Two-Legs’
+service like the rest,” said the nightingale.</p>
+
+<p>But, at daybreak, the sparrow came flying up, breathlessly:</p>
+
+<p>“The fox is dead!” she said. “He is lying on the hill outside
+Two-Legs’ house. I saw him myself. There’s a dead goose lying
+beside him.”</p>
+
+<p>Then the lioness rose and all the other animals with her:</p>
+
+<p>“The fox went on his own business,” she said. “He fell in
+his own hunting. We can trust nobody now.”</p>
+
+<p>Then, with bent head, she went sadly home.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p092.jpg" width="500" height="250" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-10.jpg" width="500" height="275" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_LION">THE LION</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>It was one night, some days after the animals
+had held their meeting in the meadow.</p>
+
+<p>The lion lay in his lair, as was his custom, and stared with his
+yellow eyes. His spouse was sleeping or pretending to sleep.
+At every moment she heaved a deep sigh. All was still in the
+forest.</p>
+
+<p>The lion well knew what his consort’s sighing meant. He
+knew what the animals had talked of that day and all the other
+days in the forest. Not one of their complaints was unfamiliar
+to him; not one of the taunts uttered against him had escaped
+his ears. Not for a moment had he doubted the feeling in the
+forest towards the king of beasts.</p>
+
+<p>Nor had he forgotten which of the animals had spoken of him
+most slightingly. He had imprinted the names of more than
+one in his memory and he would know how to be even with them
+when the time came and order was restored in the forest. Every
+day he had to bear his consort’s gibes, but he no longer heeded
+them. She would have to beg his pardon and yield him her love
+and admiration once again. His children would honour him as they
+had honoured him of old and even more. He would be remembered
+in the history of the forest as the monarch in whose reign
+the kingdom had incurred a great danger and misfortune, which
+he had finally overcome.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span></p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>The lion rose and went slowly through the forest.</p>
+
+<p>“The king of beasts is out hunting,” said the hedgehog, creeping
+under the bushes.</p>
+
+<p>“See how thin he is,” said the bat. “His skin is hanging
+loose on his bones.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is many nights since he went hunting,” said the owl. “His
+eyes are glaring with hunger.”</p>
+
+<p>But the king of the forest was not thinking of hunting. He
+went, as though in a dream, in the direction of Two-Legs’ house.
+A deer darted across his path and he did not see her. Slowly he
+went until he came to the open space on the hill where Two-Legs’
+house stood.</p>
+
+<p>He went straight up to it, leapt nimbly over the hedge and
+crouched in some bushes that grew at the door. He there lay
+concealed. No one could see him, only his yellow eyes gleamed
+through the leaves. And one bound would bring him to the door.</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs slept restlessly that night.</p>
+
+<p>He tossed about on his bed of skins and, when at last he fell
+asleep, Trust began to bark so loudly that Two-Legs had to get
+up and see what was happening. He had closed up the hole through
+which Trust used to get out, because the goose had lately escaped
+that way and fallen a prey to the fox.</p>
+
+<p>“What is it, Trust?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The dog kept on barking and leaping up against him. Two-Legs
+opened a little shutter and looked out and listened. But
+there was nothing to see. Then he told the dog to lie down and
+went back to bed. But now he heard the horse kicking in the
+stable and the ox began to low and the poultry to cackle. There
+was no hearing a word for the noise. He had to go out again and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span>
+found all the animals shaking, as though greatly frightened. The
+horse stood in a violent sweat and the hens and the ducks and geese
+fluttered anxiously round and round their roost.</p>
+
+<p>“What can it be?” he said.</p>
+
+<p>He opened the door and stepped out into the night, unarmed
+and naked, as he had risen from his bed. At that moment, there
+was a rustling in the bushes. The lion leapt forward, but Two-Legs
+just had time to spring back into the house and bolt the door
+behind him.</p>
+
+<p>He stood for a moment in great alarm and did not know what
+to do.</p>
+
+<p>Through a little hole in the door, he saw the lion lying outside
+in the bushes, with his eyes fixed on the door, ready to leap again.
+The yellow eyes glittered with rage. Two-Legs understood that
+the fight was now to come that had been so long delayed.</p>
+
+<p>He thought first of waking his sons, slipping out through the
+other door and attacking the lion in the rear. But they slept
+in different parts of the house; and the day was already breaking
+in the east; and, while he was gone to fetch them, one of the
+family might easily go out and fall a prey to the king of the forest.</p>
+
+<p>While he stood and reflected, his fear left him.</p>
+
+<p>He considered he was man enough to kill his foe unaided. He
+silently took the best two of his spears, carefully felt the edges,
+drew a deep breath and then opened the door.</p>
+
+<p>The lion was not there.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs looked from one side to the other and could not
+discover him. But he was an old, experienced hunter and did not
+doubt but that the lion was lurking in ambush. So he stood
+quietly in the doorway, with every muscle taut, ready for the
+fight that must come.</p>
+
+<p>Then he heard a soft rustling in the bushes and, at that
+moment, he saw the animal’s eyes there among the leaves. He
+knew there was no time to lose: if the lion sprang first, it was too
+late.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p>
+
+<p>He flung one of his spears and struck the lion in the eye. The lion
+uttered a roar of rage; and then the other spear pierced his heart.</p>
+
+<p>All the inmates of the house were now out of bed and came
+running up.</p>
+
+<p>There lay the dead lion, a great and splendid sight. Trust
+barked at him and wanted to bite him, but Two-Legs drove him
+away:</p>
+
+<p>“After all,” he said, “he was king
+of the forest. But now let it be declared
+all over the earth that the lion is dead
+and that the realm is mine.”</p>
+
+<p>Then they stripped the lion’s hide
+and hung it on a tall pole, which they
+set up in the middle of the field, so that
+it could be seen from far and wide.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/i-p096.jpg" width="200" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“The lion is slain!” cried the sparrow,
+from door to door. “Two-Legs has
+murdered the king of the forest. His
+skin is hanging on a pole outside the
+house: I saw it myself.”</p>
+
+<p>Then all crowded up and saw it. From
+the edge of the forest, full of fear they
+peeped at Two-Legs’ house and the birds
+stared down from the sky.</p>
+
+<p>“And now all is over,” said the stag.</p>
+
+<p>And so it was.</p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>But, in the course of that day, the orang-outang came to Two-Legs,
+who was sitting outside the house:</p>
+
+<p>“Good-day, cousin,” said the orang-outang.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs looked at him without answering.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, you may have heard,” said the orang-outang, “that
+I have spoken ill of you. I will not deny that I have been a little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span>
+careless in my talk. But you yourself know, when one meets
+with poor relations, one is afraid of hangers-on. One has children
+of one’s own and it is not easy to make both ends meet in these
+hard times. Besides, you once caught me a blow with your stick;
+so we can cry quits.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you want?” asked Two-Legs. “I have neither
+time nor inclination to listen to your drivel.”</p>
+
+<p>“Now don’t be hasty, cousin,” said the orang-outang
+and sat down beside him. “I acknowledge your
+success. You have been lucky. It
+does not enter my head to deny your
+ability. You have managed things
+splendidly. That little business
+with the
+horse was really
+smartly done.
+And, now that
+you have outwitted
+the lion....”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you
+want, you bothersome
+brute?” said
+Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i-p097.jpg" width="400" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>“I want to join forces with you, cousin,”
+said the orang-outang. “We two as partners
+ought to conquer the world.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you mad?” said Two-Legs. “What should I do with
+such a ridiculous, stupid beast as you? You’re no more use to
+me than a pigeon. Away with you! Look sharp or I’ll give you
+a thrashing which you won’t forget in a hurry.”</p>
+
+<p>The orang-outang retreated a few paces, but did not give up
+the game:</p>
+
+<p>“You should think it over all the same, cousin,” he said.
+“However clever you may be, I can be of use to you still. I should<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span>
+be a good intermediary between you and the animals. I can
+do things you can’t; and what I can’t do I can easily learn. Up
+in the apple-tree where I sat, I have watched you and studied
+the way you went about your field; and I have already picked
+up many of your tricks. You must know that....”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs stood up and caught the orang-outang by the arm:</p>
+
+<p>“Come outside!” he shouted into the house. “I want to show
+you something!”</p>
+
+<p>They all came and stared at the ape.</p>
+
+<p>“This fellow wants to go into partnership with me,” said Two-Legs.
+“He’s not fair. He says he has already learnt my tricks.
+Let’s put him in a cage; then we can amuse ourselves with his
+tricks when it’s raining.”</p>
+
+<p>The orang-outang protested, but to no purpose. Two-Legs
+held him tight and soon they had built a cage and put him into it.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s none like one’s own people for meanness!” said the
+orang-outang, as he sat on the floor of his cage, catching his fleas.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p098.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus8">
+<img src="images/illus8.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">THERE WAS NO TIME TO LOSE</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-11.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="MANY_YEARS_AFTER">MANY YEARS AFTER</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>It was many, many years after.</p>
+
+<p>And it was not in the forest in the warm lands where the sun
+shines stronger than here and the rain falls closer and all animals
+and plants thrive better, because the winter does not stunt their
+growth.</p>
+
+<p>It was in a large village in Jutland.</p>
+
+<p>It was fair-time and the village was full of people and cattle.
+On every side stood booths with wooden shoes and tin goods,
+cakes and toys and all sorts of wares. There were refreshment-tents
+and a dancing-hall. There was a peep-show, there were
+two merry-go-rounds, there was a place where the fattest lady
+in the world was exhibited. In another place, for twopence, you
+could see a tiny dwarf. Then there were white mice and performing
+fleas, numbers of barrel-organs, all playing at one time,
+so that you could hardly hear for the din, and drunken peasants
+and boys playing practical jokes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i-p100.jpg" width="400" height="500" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>But the most remarkable thing of all was hidden in a large
+tent in the middle of the market-place. This, too, could be seen
+for twopence; and, if you wished to know what it was, you had
+but to listen to the man who stood outside and shouted in a hoarse
+voice:</p>
+
+<p>“Walk up, ladies
+and gentlemen, walk
+up! Only twopence
+for grown-ups, children
+half-price!
+Here’s something
+that’s never been exhibited
+in this village
+before, but that’s appeared
+before all the
+kings and royal families
+in the world. It’s
+a king himself that
+I have the honour of
+introducing to you:
+the king of the beasts,
+ladies and gentlemen,
+the terrible lion! He
+lives in darkest Africa
+and is so powerful
+that he can kill an
+ox with one blow of
+his paw. He has two lambs for his breakfast every morning.
+If he were to escape from his cage, he would do away with you
+all in no time. But you need have no fears, ladies and gentlemen!
+The lion is in his cage behind thick iron bars. There he
+stands and glares in his bloodthirsty way, at twopence for grown-ups,
+children half-price. Walk up, ladies and gentlemen! Hurry
+up, before it’s too late! Never again, in all your lives, will you
+see so fine a sight at so cheap a price!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span></p>
+
+<p>He shouted like this all the time. A crowd of people stood
+outside the tent staring. Many went in. When they came out,
+they told the bystanders about the lion inside. Then more went
+in and so it continued all day long.</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>The lion’s cage stood at the back of the tent.</p>
+
+<p>It was a low and dirty cage. On the floor lay some filthy
+straw and a few bones. The side which was turned to the spectators
+consisted of thick, rusty iron bars. In the far corner lay
+the lion, with his head resting on his paws. His yellow eyes
+stared at the onlookers with a dull expression. There was straw
+in his tangled mane; and he was terribly thin. Now and again,
+he gave a nasty hollow cough.</p>
+
+<p>The man stood with a long stick in his hand, talking and explaining.
+The visitors to the fair stared round-eyed at the great
+beast that lay there so quietly. Sick and feeble as he was, they
+could see, nevertheless, that he was the lion, the king of beasts;
+and they felt cold in their backs at the thought that he might
+break loose. But, when he did not make a single movement, one
+of the spectators said, at last:</p>
+
+<p>“I believe he’s dead!”</p>
+
+<p>Then the showman pushed his long stick through the bars and
+poked the lion with it. The lion slowly turned his head and looked at
+him, but gave no further sign of life. Then the man poked him again
+and again; and, at last, the lion sprang up and gave such a roar
+that the tent shook with it and the people fell back in affright.</p>
+
+<p>“He ate his former owner,” said the man. “I bought him
+of the widow. He is terrible and intractable. He’s dreaming of
+his native land, you see, where he used to hunt in the wild forest
+and all the animals honoured and feared him. But now you must
+go please, so that others may come and see the most extraordinary
+sight ever exhibited in this village. Walk up, ladies and gentlemen!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span>
+Only twopence each! The king of the forest, the terrible
+lion!”</p>
+
+<p>And so it went on until late that evening. Not until the
+market-place was empty and there were no more visitors left to
+listen to him did the man shut up his tent, after counting the day’s
+takings:</p>
+
+<p>“This has been a bad day,” he said, with an angry look at the
+lion. “You haven’t really earned your supper!”</p>
+
+<p>He flung a small piece of half-rotten meat into the cage. Then
+he shut the door and locked it and went to the inn, where he sat
+and drank and caroused till early morning.</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>The lion did not touch the putrid meat. With his head on his
+paws, he lay staring at the little paraffin-lamp that hung in the
+tent and flickered feebly. Suddenly, he heard a sound and raised
+his head and looked about him:</p>
+
+<p>“Can’t I have peace even at night?” he said.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s only I,” replied a squeaky little voice. “I have been
+locked in by accident. I want to get out! I want to get out!
+My mistress will die of fright for me.”</p>
+
+<p>It was a tiny little dog, with a collar and bells round his neck
+and an embroidered rug on his back. He tripped to and fro,
+whined and cried and scratched at the door, but no one heard him.
+All was silent in the market-place outside.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I never!” said the lion. “You’re the dog: I can
+see that. Gracious me, what a sight they’ve made of you!”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to get out! I want to get out!” whined the dog.</p>
+
+<p>The lion laid his head on his paws again and looked at the dog:</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the use of whimpering like that?” he asked. “No
+one’s hurting you. I couldn’t eat you if I wanted to.... The
+iron bars are strong, believe me. I used to shake them at first.
+I have to travel in my cage from place to place and let people look<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span>
+at me for money, submit to their scorn and teasing and roar when
+I am told to, so that they may shudder and yet feel quite safe from
+my teeth.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let me out!” cried the dog.</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t,” replied the lion. “But I am not so contemptible
+as you. I am here against my will, caught in a trap. You
+voluntarily entered Two-Legs’ service, betrayed your fellows and
+helped him against them.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” said the dog. “I
+know no one called Two-Legs. I am in service with human
+beings. My mistress is a great baroness and she will die of fright
+if I don’t come home to her soon.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just so,” said the lion. “Human beings, that’s what Two-Legs’
+confounded descendants call themselves. They have subdued
+the whole earth. There is hardly a place left where an
+honest lion can go hunting in royal style. I know the whole
+story: it has been handed down in my house, from father to son.
+I heard it all, the night before I was captured, in the desert to
+which the men had driven us: how Two-Legs and his wife came
+naked and unarmed to the forest; how my ancestor protected
+them; how they gradually outwitted all the animals: you alone
+entered their service of your own free will. The others they
+caught and tamed and dulled their senses until they no longer
+knew how to lead the lives of free animals and resigned themselves
+to slavery. Finally, Two-Legs killed my ancestor with his spear:
+yes, yes, I know the whole shameful story.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t,” said the dog. “And I don’t mind if I never know
+it. I only know that I have a cosy little basket at home with my
+mistress and that she pets and kisses me and gives me the loveliest
+food. I want to get out! I want to go home!”</p>
+
+<p>The lion made no reply, but thought to himself:</p>
+
+<p>“When I lie here in my cage, where I shall soon die of sorrow
+and coughing, it is a comfort to me to see how wretched Two-Legs’
+descendants have grown. For he was lithe and slender<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span>
+and fair to look upon: he was an animal! But these people here!
+One can hardly see a morsel of their bodies, they are so wrapped up.
+Two-Legs could bound through the forest and climb trees: these
+people here can hardly stir hand or foot. He was a fighter; and it’s
+really amusing to watch the terror in these fellows’ eyes as I get
+up and move to the bars when I roar. They shake like aspen leaves,
+though they know that I am only a wretched prisoner.”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to get out! I want to go home!” whined the dog.</p>
+
+<p>The lion rose and went to the bars of his cage. He lashed his
+lean flanks with his tail and opened his jaws till his terrible teeth
+gleamed and glistened. The little dog trembled with fear before
+his yellow eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“And you!” said the lion. “Ha, ha, ha! It’s better to be
+a captive lion in a cage than a miserable little lap-dog, with bells
+and a rug.”</p>
+
+<p>He gave such a roar that all the people in the village started
+up in their beds. Then he lay down at the far end of the cage,
+turned on one side and slept.</p>
+
+<p>The little dog shivered and whined until some one came and let
+him out.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p104.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-12.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_CONQUERS_THE_WIND">TWO-LEGS CONQUERS THE WIND</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>Now you who have read this story will remember how Two-Legs,
+many years ago, mastered all the animals on earth.</p>
+
+<p>Those which he could use and which obeyed him as they should
+he tamed and took into his service. Those which he could not
+employ he let alone, provided only that they left him and his in
+peace. If they did not, then he waged war upon them, nor ceased
+until he had prevailed against them. He always ended by prevailing,
+for he was the cleverest, you see, and therefore the strongest.</p>
+
+<p>And, little by little, the tame animals grew so much accustomed
+to being with him and so completely lost the qualities with
+which they had been wont to shift for themselves that they could
+no longer do without their bondage. When, once in a way, they
+escaped and tried to live like the other, free, wild animals, they
+could not manage at all, but perished miserably.</p>
+
+<p>But the wild animals which Two-Legs had no use for lurked
+round about in their hiding-places and cavilled and muttered and
+made no progress and did themselves no good.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>At the time when this particular story begins, Two-Legs had
+put up a new summer tent in a green meadow, not far from the
+beach.</p>
+
+<p>He was sitting outside it one evening, while the twilight was
+closing in. All the family had gone to bed and were sleeping
+soundly after the exertions of the day. All the cattle lay in the
+grass, munching and chewing the cud. The dog, his faithful
+servant, lay on the ground before him, pricking up his ears at
+every sound, sleeping with one eye and watching with the other.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs did not sleep himself.</p>
+
+<p>He was old now and no longer needed so much rest. And he
+was not tired either as in former days, for he now had so many
+children and grandchildren that they were able to do most of the
+work. Himself, he loved best to sit quietly, to think of what had
+happened to him in his life and to meditate on the things that
+were yet to come.</p>
+
+<p>When he sat like that, he often seemed to hear voices on either
+side of him. They came from the spring that rippled past him,
+from the tree whose leaves whispered over his head, from the
+evening breeze that cooled his brow:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... the lord of the earth ... the cleverest
+... the strongest,” rippled the spring.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... the vanquisher of the lion ... the
+terror of the wild animals ... the protector of the tame,”
+whispered the tree.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... whom no one can understand ... to
+whom all things belong,” sang the evening breeze.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat and listened. He liked to hear that sort of
+thing, the more the better.</p>
+
+<p>But, as the evening wore on, the wind grew stronger and shook
+the tent. The gentle whispering in the leaves sounded less home-like
+than before. The billows in the brook did not babble softly,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span>
+but made a mighty uproar and sent their foam splashing right
+over his feet.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter?” asked Two-Legs, who was beginning
+to feel cold, and wrapped his cloak round him.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, who knows what’s the matter?” whispered the leaves.</p>
+
+<p>“Who can tell what’s at the bottom of it?” rippled the spring.</p>
+
+<p>“There is more between heaven and earth than Two-Legs
+knows of,” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs leant back against the tent and looked about him
+proudly:</p>
+
+<p>“Then let it come,” he said. “I have vanquished the lion
+and subdued the horse and the wild ox; so I daresay I can conquer
+what remains.”</p>
+
+<p>Just as he said this, there came a terrible gust of wind.</p>
+
+<p>It knocked Two-Legs over, till he rolled along the ground and
+fell into the brook. It tore three great deer-skins from the tent
+and woke all those who were lying asleep inside. They started
+up and screamed and did not know what was happening. The
+dog howled at the top of his voice, with his tail between his legs.
+Two-Legs crawled out of the brook, dripping wet.</p>
+
+<p>The moment he tried to rise to his feet, another gust came
+... and another ... and another.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs crept along the ground on all fours. The whole
+tent was blown down and the people inside ran and fell over one
+another and shouted and wailed so that it was horrible to
+hear.</p>
+
+<p>But no one heard it, for each had enough to do to think of
+saving his own life. The cows and the goats and the sheep lowed
+and bleated with fright and ran up against one another and
+trampled on one another. Many of them fell down the slope and
+broke their legs. The horses galloped off over the meadow and
+ran till they dropped from exhaustion far away inland. The big
+tree above Two-Legs’ tent snapped in two like a stalk of
+grass.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span></p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>When day broke, Two-Legs sat and wept at all the destruction
+which he saw around him. He let the family drive the cattle
+together and set up the tent again. He himself sat huddled
+in his cloak and brooded and stared before him. Then he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>“You bad Wind!”</p>
+
+<p>And he raised his clenched fist in the direction from which it
+was still blowing violently.</p>
+
+<p>“You destroyed my property last night,” he cried, “and
+might easily have killed me and mine. Now, we are setting up
+the tent and collecting the cattle; but you may come back, to-night
+or to-morrow night, and ruin everything once more.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I may,” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“You bad Wind!”</p>
+
+<p>“I am not bad,” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“Would you have me call you good, after the way you’ve
+treated me?” asked Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“I am not good,” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, you are neither bad nor good,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Just so,” said the wind. “You’ve hit it.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know,” said Two-Legs. “But can you tell me what
+use it is for me to vanquish the lion and tame the ox and the horse,
+the camel and the elephant, when a puff of wind can destroy all
+that I have done? Can you tell me how I can get you into my
+service and what I am to use you for?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span></p>
+
+<p>“I can tell you nothing,” said the wind. “Catch me, conquer
+me, use me!”</p>
+
+<p>He darted across the fields and took with him a great piece
+of skin that belonged to the old tent, blew it out, lifted it high
+in the air and carried it far away over the water. Two-Legs sat
+and watched it until it was out of sight.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus9">
+<img src="images/illus9.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">‘VERY WELL, YOU ARE NEITHER BAD NOR GOOD’</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span></p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>Then the eldest son came:</p>
+
+<p>“We can’t stay here any longer,” he said. “The storm has
+destroyed both the corn and the grass; and our cattle have nothing
+to eat. It was the same wherever I rode this morning, for miles
+around. I don’t know what we shall do.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat and looked out over the water, where the wind
+had carried the skin away. Far in the distance lay a great land
+that was ever so green.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s good grass over there,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>“What use is that to us?” replied the son. “There’s deep
+water and a rapid current in between. We could never get
+across.”</p>
+
+<p>“Which way is the wind blowing?” asked Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Towards the island,” said his son. “Is it your intention
+that he should blow us across?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just so,” said Two-Legs, throwing off his cloak and standing
+up. “I have decided to take the wind into my service.”</p>
+
+<p>The son stared at him without understanding a word of what
+his father said. But Two-Legs called all his family together and
+bade them put aside any work that they were doing. He set them
+to saw planks, to drag the planks down to the sea and to bind
+them firmly together into a big raft. Next he told the men to
+put up a tall mast made of a young oak-tree, while the women
+sat and sewed hides together into a great sail. Then they hoisted
+the sail to the top of the mast and fastened the ends below to the
+raft. The wind filled the sail, but the raft was tied to the shore
+with strong ropes, so that it could not get loose.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs made all his family and all his cattle go on the raft.
+When the last had come on board, he let go. The wind stretched
+the big sail and bore them swiftly over the water. Towards
+evening, they landed, rejoicing, on the good green land.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span></p>
+
+<h3>5</h3>
+
+<p>Henceforward, one of Two-Legs’ sons devoted himself entirely
+to the raft. He rebuilt it and improved it, hit upon new methods
+of setting sail and invented a rudder to steer with. He made the
+raft taper in front, so that it cut more easily through the water.
+He put ballast at the bottom of it, so that it could not be readily
+upset by a sudden squall. He learnt to make use of the wind,
+even if it did not blow exactly the way it should. By degrees,
+he ventured to sail far out to sea and caught fish and came home
+again safe and sound.</p>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs sat outside his tent again and thought:</p>
+
+<p>“So I got you into my service after all,” he said to the wind,
+who was fanning his cheek. “But the end is not yet. You just
+wait. You will have to toil for me like the ox and the horse.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have no objection,” said the wind. “I am what I am and
+what I do I must. Catch me, conquer me, use me!”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat and watched them bruise corn in the mill, so
+that it could be used for baking.</p>
+
+<p>Once, many years ago, he had hollowed out a stone and taught
+the women to bruise the corn in it with another stone. Since
+then, he had thought of letting two stones grind one against the
+other. He had fixed a pole and harnessed an ox to it, who went
+round, turning the mill. At that time, he was awfully proud of
+his invention.</p>
+
+<p>The ox was now going round and round patiently. But, as it
+happened, one of Two-Legs’ sons came and asked if the grinding
+could not wait, for he had a use for all the cattle out in the fields.
+The women said that this would not do, for they were short of
+flour for the baking. Two-Legs let them fight it out among themselves
+and sat and looked at the mill until evening.</p>
+
+<p>“What are you thinking about?” asked the wind, who came
+and blew over his forehead as usual.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s it!” said Two-Legs, springing up. “I have it!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span>
+I put you to the raft and you carried me and all my belongings
+across to this green land. Why should I not also put you to the
+mill?”</p>
+
+<p>“Catch me if you can!” said the wind.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p113.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>6</h3>
+
+<p>Next morning early, Two-Legs set to work. He built a big
+scaffold, which rose high in the air. At the top, he fixed four broad
+sails, which were covered with hides and fastened to an axle, so
+that they could whirl round and round easily. That was the cap
+of the mill. The mill-stones were put down at the bottom and
+were connected with the sails, by means of poles and ropes, in such
+a way that, when the sails whirled round and round, the stones
+turned. Two-Legs’ children stood wondering and looking at it.</p>
+
+<p>“We are not ready yet,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span></p>
+
+<p>He arranged the cap so that it could turn and the sails catch
+the wind, whichever side it came from:</p>
+
+<p>“Now we’ll grind,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>And the wind came and turned the sails; and the mill ground
+that it was a joy to see. They poured the grain into the top of
+the mill and the fine, white flour dropped into sacks which they
+fastened underneath.</p>
+
+<p>“I caught you again, friend Wind,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“I shall blow the other way to-morrow,” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed, I thought of that,” said Two-Legs. “I don’t mind
+if you do.”</p>
+
+<p>When evening came, he turned the cap round. The next
+morning the wind came from the other side and had to grind just
+as briskly as the day before.</p>
+
+<p>“I shall go down to-morrow,” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s only right that you should take a rest now and then,”
+said Two-Legs, pleasantly. “The horse and the ox do as much
+and so do the other beasts of burden in my service. I daresay
+you will get up again when you must.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who says I must?” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know,” said Two-Legs. “Not yet. But I am
+meditating upon it and I shall find out sooner or later. You
+see, one hits upon everything by degrees, when one sits and looks
+at things. I know this much already, that it’s the sun that
+gives you your orders.”</p>
+
+<p>“How do you know that?” asked the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve noticed it,” said Two-Legs. “Whenever it changes
+from cold to warm or from warm to cold, you blow from a
+fresh quarter.”</p>
+
+<p>“What a clever man you are!” said the wind.</p>
+
+<p>“It helps,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“But there is still a hard nut for you to crack,” said the
+wind. “For, even if you can’t put me to your ship and your
+mill, I can come rushing up, for all that, as I did once before,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span>
+and knock down the mill and smash up the ship and scatter
+your cattle all over the country.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can,” said Two-Legs. “And I can’t be angry with
+you for it either, for you are neither bad nor good, as you said.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well, now I’m going down,” said, the wind. “And
+I don’t think I shall get up again for ever so many days. Then
+your mill will stand still.”</p>
+
+<p>“So it will,” said Two-Legs. “But I have thought of that,
+too. Come over here and see.”</p>
+
+<p>He went down to the brook and showed, the wind another mill
+which he had built. It had no sails, but a big wheel with wide
+floats, which went down into the water. The wheel was connected
+with the mill-stones in the same way as the sails and, as
+the water ran, the wheel turned and the mill-stones ground.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s my water-mill,” said Two-Legs, proudly.</p>
+
+<p>Then he went into his tent and lay down to sleep, for it was
+late and all the others had gone to bed.</p>
+
+<p>The wind lay down too, as he had said, and so they all lay and
+slept.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p115.jpg" width="500" height="275" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-13.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_CONQUERS_STEAM">TWO-LEGS CONQUERS STEAM</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs was now a very old man.</p>
+
+<p>His race was constantly increasing. It lived dispersed over
+a large and glorious plain, where the rich corn waved in
+the fields and the cattle waded through the tall and luscious
+grass. Some of the men followed the sea, others tilled the soil
+and tended the cattle, others felled timber in the forests. The
+women kept house and weaved and span.</p>
+
+<p>Wherever the plain rose into a little hill, a wind-mill
+strutted. Every brook that ran turned the wheel of a water-mill.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs himself constantly sat and observed what went on
+around him in nature and pondered upon it. All looked up to
+him with respect, as the eldest of the race and the cleverest man
+in the world. All came to him for advice and help and seldom
+went away unaided.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the plain rose a tall, cone-shaped mountain.
+From its top, off and on, came a column of smoke. Two-Legs
+often looked at this mountain. Once he rode up to the top and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span>
+stood and stared into the hole whence the smoke ascended, but
+the heat that came out of it was so great that he could not endure
+it or remain there.</p>
+
+<p>Then he rode back to his house again and sat and gazed at
+the mountain and thought and wondered what there could be
+in its depths. He knew mountains that contained gold and iron
+and other metals; and he taught his children to extract the ore
+and smelt it and shape the metal into tools and ornaments. But
+a mountain like this, which smoked at the top, he had never seen
+before.</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>Now, one day, as he was sitting plunged in thought, he heard
+voices round about him, as he was wont to do. They whispered
+in the stately palm-tree that raised its crown high above his head:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs is mighty ... greater than any other in
+the world ... he rules the earth and all that is upon it.”</p>
+
+<p>They sang in the river that ran down to the sea:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs rules the waters ... they carry his ships
+wherever he will ... they breed fish for his table.”</p>
+
+<p>The warm wind blew over his face:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs is greater than any other ... he rules me
+... I have to toil in his service, like the ox and the horse....
+Blow east, blow west, he catches me and uses me.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs passed his hand down his long, white beard and
+nodded with pride and contentment.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment, a peculiar thundering noise was heard. It
+was as though it came from the interior of the earth; and, indeed,
+one could not imagine where else it should come from. For the
+sky was cloudless and clear and the sun shone bright and warm,
+just at noonday.</p>
+
+<p>“What was that?” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Who knows?” said the palm-tree, trembling right down<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span>
+to its roots. “Who can fathom the forces that prevail in
+nature?”</p>
+
+<p>“Who can say?” said the river, tossing its waves in terror,
+like a rearing horse. “What do any of us know, after all?”</p>
+
+<p>“Who has so much as an idea?” said the wind, dropping
+suddenly, like a tiger preparing to spring. “The earth is full of
+mighty forces, which not one of us knows anything about.”</p>
+
+<p>There came another booming sound. Two-Legs rose. He
+looked at the mountain in the middle of the plain and saw that
+the column of smoke had turned into a great black cloud, which
+grew and spread faster than his eyes could follow it.</p>
+
+<p>Now, it masked the sun; now, the waves in the river foamed
+and met the waves of the sea, which came dashing over the land;
+now, the wind rose, in a moment, into a furious gale.</p>
+
+<p>And, before Two-Legs could look round, it was suddenly black
+as midnight.</p>
+
+<p>He saw, just as the light disappeared, that something dropped
+from the sky, but could not see what it was. He groped his way
+to the stable, where his horse stood tethered, jumped on its back
+and darted away from the region where danger lay. The beast
+was mortally frightened, like himself, and ran for its life.</p>
+
+<p>He could not see his hand before his eyes, but thought he
+heard a wailing and crying through the storm, all over the plain,
+wherever he came. He was able to tell a voice here and there, but
+he merely rushed on and on, until his horse dropped under him.</p>
+
+<p>Then he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, stumbled and
+fell and got up again and ran and ran, while the cries rang out
+around him, when they were not drowned in the roar of the storm
+and the thundering noise from the mountain.</p>
+
+<p>He was struck by a stone on the back of the head and felt the
+blood trickle down his neck. His foot trod in something that was
+like boiling water. He drew it back with a cry and ran the other
+way. At last, he lost consciousness and had not himself the least
+idea how he had managed to escape. When he recovered, he was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span>
+lying on a knoll, right at the end of the plain. Round about him
+lay half a score of people of his family, bewildered and exhausted
+like himself. They did not speak, but gazed at one another in
+dismay and wept, with trembling hands.</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs shaded his brows with his hand and looked out over
+the plain.</p>
+
+<p>It had become light again, suddenly, even as it had become
+dark. The black clouds had drifted away and the sun was setting
+in crimson and gold as on the most perfect summer’s evening.</p>
+
+<p>Here and there, on the neighbouring hillocks, were some of
+his family, who had saved themselves as he had. They also had a
+few of the tame animals with them; and Two-Legs suddenly
+noticed that his faithful dog was licking his hand.</p>
+
+<p>But the whole country, except the few hillocks, was buried
+under an ocean of boiling and bubbling mud that soon stiffened to
+a hard crust. All the houses and mills were destroyed and drowned
+in the sea of mud. All the people and animals lay dead and buried
+under it. All the rich and glorious plain looked like a desert in
+which nothing had ever lived; and in its midst stood the mountain,
+tall and calm, with the column of smoke on its top.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs’ kinsmen set to work to collect what had been saved.</p>
+
+<p>With wailing and lamentation, they withdrew from the ruined
+country where they had made their home, together with the poor
+remnants of their wealth. The women carried in their arms the
+babes which they had saved and cried over those which were
+dead. The herdsmen counted the few head of cattle that had
+been spared. The sailors scanned the sea in vain for a single
+ship that had escaped unhurt.</p>
+
+<p>“Come, Father Two-Legs,” they said. “Let us leave this
+accursed land. There must be some place in the world where<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span>
+we can find peace and begin afresh to build up all that these
+terrible hours have destroyed.”</p>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs shook his head:</p>
+
+<p>“Do you go,” he said. “I will follow you.”</p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>They went; and he did not so much as look after them, but
+only sat and gazed at the strange mountain from which the disaster
+had come. He sat far into the night, which was clear and
+mild, and had none with him but the dog, who would not leave
+him. The smoke from the mountain was carried past him, now
+and then, by the wind; but now it was only like a light, thin
+stream.</p>
+
+<p>“Who caused that? Who caused it?” said Two-Legs and
+gazed before him.</p>
+
+<p>“I did,” said Steam.</p>
+
+<p>“You?” said Two-Legs. “Who are you? You are flowing
+past me like a mist. How did you have the strength to do it?
+Who are you?... Where do you come from?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am Steam,” he said. “I come from the mountain up
+there. I was shut in until I grew mad and furious and had to get
+air. Then I broke out and destroyed the whole country. Now
+that’s over and I have found peace and am as you see me.”</p>
+
+<p>“You bad Steam,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“I am not bad,” said Steam.</p>
+
+<p>“Would you have me call you good?” asked Two-Legs.
+“You have destroyed my rich land and killed nearly all my
+children and grandchildren and most of my cattle. All that I
+invented so cleverly and successfully to make life easy and pleasant
+for me and mine you have spoilt in a few hours, though I have
+done nothing to offend you. Are you good?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am not good,” said Steam.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Very well, you are neither bad nor good,” said Two-Legs.
+“I seem to have heard that nonsense once before. Wait a bit:
+it was the wind who made the same remark, when he too had been
+the cause of my misfortune.”</p>
+
+<p>“Exactly,” said Steam. “I am neither bad nor good. It
+is just as the wind said. Didn’t you see, at the time, that the
+wind was right?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Two-Legs, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>“Didn’t you take the wind into your service?” asked Steam.
+“You caught him and put him to your boat and your mill. You
+watched him and learnt to know his ways, so that you could use
+him as he came. Am I not right?”</p>
+
+<p>“Aye,” said Two-Legs. “I became the wind’s master. But
+I do not understand how I am to conquer you, who are mightier
+than the wind, or how to employ your formidable power in my
+service.”</p>
+
+<p>“Catch me, use me!” said Steam. “I serve the strongest.”</p>
+
+<h3>5</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat and gazed and thought. He looked at the ruined
+land, at the sun, which shone as mildly as though nothing had
+happened, at Steam, who floated quietly over the wilderness.
+There was not a house left standing, not a tree; and not a bird
+was singing.</p>
+
+<p>Once, he turned round and looked after his kinsmen. He
+saw them far away on the horizon, but still it did not occur to him
+to follow them. Then he said to Steam:</p>
+
+<p>“Who are you? Tell me something about yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am like this at present,” said Steam. “You see me now
+and you saw me a little while ago. Look out across the sea and
+you shall see me there, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t see you there,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus10">
+<img src="images/illus10.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">‘CATCH ME! USE ME!’</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p>
+
+<p>“That’s because you don’t know,” said Steam. “As a
+matter of fact I am water, to start with.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell me about it,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s easily told,” said Steam. “You see, I am the sea
+water, which soaks through the ground into the mountain yonder.
+I ooze in through a thousand underground passages. But
+inside the mountain there is a tremendous fire, which smoulders
+everlastingly and never goes out. Now, when the water rises
+above the fire, it turns to steam; and the steam is collected in
+great cavities down the mountain, so long as there is room for
+it. At last, there is so much of it that it can’t exist there.
+Then the mountain bursts. Rocks and stones ... the whole
+mountain-lake up there, which is boiling because of the fire in
+the ground ... mud and sludge, boiling water and scalding
+steam come rushing out over the land, as you have just seen.
+I burst everything, when I am tortured beyond endurance. There
+is not a wall that can imprison me, not a door which I cannot
+open ... do you understand?”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs nodded.</p>
+
+<p>“You have seen the column of smoke that rises from the
+mountain every day,” said Steam. “There is always a little
+opening, you know, an air-hole through which some of me can
+escape. But at last it is no longer big enough and then I
+burst the whole concern. Now learn from what has happened
+to you to-day that you must never build your abode where you
+see a smoking mountain, for you can never be safe there.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s not enough for me to be safe,” said Two-Legs. “I
+don’t want to avoid you. I want to rule you. You are the
+strongest force I know in the world. You must be my servant,
+like the horse and the ox and the wind.”</p>
+
+<p>“Catch me and use me, if you can!” said Steam.</p>
+
+<p>“Well,” said Two-Legs, “I will try. But first tell me what
+becomes of you when you float through the air, as you are doing
+now.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Then I turn cold,” said Steam. “And, when I have turned
+cold, I become water ... rain ... mist ... whatever you
+please.”</p>
+
+<p>“And then you fall into the sea,” said Two-Legs. “And
+then you soak into the mountain, where the fire is, and become
+steam again; and so on and so on, for ever and ever.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s it,” said Steam.</p>
+
+<p>Then he floated on across the wilderness and disappeared out
+at sea. Two-Legs gazed after him and then stared at the mountain
+again, which was smoking peacefully, as it had done before.</p>
+
+<p>He sat the whole night and pondered. Then he rose, called
+the dog and went after the others.</p>
+
+<h3>6</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs and his family had discovered a new country.</p>
+
+<p>They built their houses again and tilled the soil and reaped
+corn and raised cattle. They cut timber in the forests and the
+seamen built new ships. Many years passed before the disaster
+was overcome, but at last the whole tribe was recovered to such
+an extent that they forgot about it, all excepting Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>He was always sitting and pondering and thinking about it.
+That is to say, it was not the disaster itself he thought about:
+he had forgotten that, like the others. He had forgotten the
+dead, for he now had so many descendants that he no longer knew
+their number or their names. It was Steam he thought about.</p>
+
+<p>When he saw how the wind turned the sails of the mill or carried
+the ships across the sea, he gave a scornful smile. It went
+so terribly slowly, he considered. And then a storm might come,
+when they could neither sail nor grind, or a head-wind so strong
+that they had to divert their course for it, or a calm, when everything
+had to stand still.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re only a second-rate servant, friend Wind,” he said.
+“Ah, Steam! Now there’s a fellow for you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span></p>
+
+<p>He remembered how the captive steam broke out and, in a
+moment, obscured the sun and turned day into night, how it
+scattered far and wide over the land great stones and mud and
+ashes and all that the fiery mountain or volcano contained. In
+a few hours, the plain was transformed into a wilderness. It was
+all done so quickly and with such force that no one could possibly
+imagine it who had not seen it. Surely, Steam must be the
+strongest power on earth.</p>
+
+<p>He thought of what the steam had said, how it came into existence
+when the water got above the fire.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>He sat and looked at the pot, which was boiling. As soon
+as the water grew hot enough, the white steam floated above it.</p>
+
+<p>He took a piece of glass and held it over the steam. The steam
+settled on the glass in clear drops.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s right, too,” he said. “The steam turns to water again.”</p>
+
+<p>He saw them put a lid on the pot to keep in the heat. They made
+up the fire and more steam came, so that the lid began to jump.</p>
+
+<p>“Now it’s getting too close in there,” he said. “Just as
+Steam told me about the volcano.”</p>
+
+<p>They put a stone on the lid to hold it down. Two-Legs added
+more and more fuel and more and more steam came. At last it
+flung off the lid with the stone and darted out into the room.</p>
+
+<p>“The mountain is splitting,” said Two-Legs, rubbing his hands.</p>
+
+<h3>7</h3>
+
+<p>He built himself a big boiler and a great furnace. Here
+he kept up a constant fire and tried the strength of the steam
+and pondered how to make use of it. He had only one person
+with him, one of his grandsons, who was cleverer than the others,
+and with whom he often talked of the thought that dwelt in him.</p>
+
+<p>Many a time they two would sit long into the night and work
+and talk, always of the same thing. It was the question of making<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span>
+the steam work the way it should and no other and as strongly
+as it should and no more. No one ventured to disturb them. All
+the rest of the tribe looked upon Two-Legs’ house with awe and
+reverence, for they knew how clever he was and that he was working
+alone for the good of the whole race. Some of them, also,
+believed that he would at last succeed in mastering Steam, but
+many thought that it would never come to pass and that it would
+end in terror, as though
+he were fighting the
+most secret and powerful
+forces in nature.</p>
+
+<p>But, whether they
+held this view or that,
+they all preferred to keep
+away from Two-Legs’
+house, because they understood
+how great
+the danger was to
+which he exposed
+himself. All those
+who had survived
+the calamity of the
+volcano were long
+since dead; but the
+legend of that terrible day still lingered in the tribe and Two-Legs’
+kinsmen could not help thinking what terrible things might happen
+if Steam should suddenly, one day, turn bad again.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i-p126.jpg" width="400" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Two-Legs took no heed of what they thought or said.</p>
+
+<p>Now and again, the elders came to him to report on what was
+happening, good or bad, in the family: the number of children
+born, the losses suffered or the gain in prosperity. He looked
+up hastily from his work, nodded to them and then bade them
+go and leave him alone.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes, a young man would come running up, radiantly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span>
+happy at some discovery he had made, to gather praise from the
+old, wise man whom they all honoured above any other. Two-Legs
+scarcely looked up from his work and did not hear him to the
+end. He knew that the ideas with which he himself was busied
+were far greater and more important and longed impatiently for
+the day when they should be realized.</p>
+
+<p>He built new boilers of strange shapes and bigger, so that they
+could hold more steam, and stronger, so that the steam could not
+burst them. He made his people dig coal from the mountains
+and used it for fuel, because he had discovered that it gave greater
+heat and therefore more quickly turned the water into steam.
+As each year passed, he thought he was nearing the goal, but as
+yet he had not reached it and sometimes he was despairing.</p>
+
+<p>One day, the boiler burst. He himself was struck on the forehead
+by a fragment of iron and received a deep wound; but his
+grandson and assistant was killed before his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>They all came running up with wailing and lamentations. But
+Two-Legs wiped the blood from his face and stood long and gazed
+at the burst boiler. Then he turned and looked at the dead man:</p>
+
+<p>“Poor fellow!” he said. “He would so much have liked to
+live and see the great work finished. Now he had to die; and
+indeed he had a fine death, for he died for the greater prosperity
+of his brethren. Bury him and set a monument over his grave.”</p>
+
+<p>They took him and were about to carry him away, but Two-Legs
+stopped them and said:</p>
+
+<p>“Wait a minute ... I must have one in the place of him
+who died: is there any of you that will help me? He knows
+the lot that awaits him: death, perhaps, and disappointment for
+many years, before we succeed, and scorn from the blockheads
+who do not understand.”</p>
+
+<p>Seven at once applied. For, though they were certainly afraid,
+they felt attracted by the mystery and the danger; and there
+was no greater honour in the tribe than to stand by Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>So he chose one of them, took him into his house and initiated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span>
+him into his secrets, while the others carried the dead man away
+and buried him.</p>
+
+<h3>8</h3>
+
+<p>The years passed. One day, the people saw Two-Legs stand
+outside his house and wave his arms and shout aloud. They
+ran from every side to hear what he wanted.</p>
+
+<p>“I have found it, I have found it,” he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>He took the elders indoors and showed them a great iron
+cylinder which he had constructed. At the top of the cylinder
+was a hole which joined another cylinder. In the first cylinder
+was a piston, also of iron, which fitted so accurately that it could
+just slide up and down; and it was smeared with oil so that it
+might slide as easily as possible. At the bottom of the cylinder
+was the boiler with the water and under the boiler the furnace.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs lit a fire in the furnace, the water turned to steam
+and the steam went up to the top cylinder and lifted the piston
+right up to the top end of the cylinder. There it escaped through
+the hole into the cylinder beside it, where it was cooled and became
+water again and ran down into the boiler and was once more
+heated by the fire and turned into steam.</p>
+
+<p>But, when the steam had escaped through the hole, the piston
+slid down again to the bottom of the cylinder, was lifted up by
+fresh steam and rose and fell again; and this went on as long as
+the fire burnt in the furnace.</p>
+
+<p>“Look, look!” said Two-Legs; and his eyes beamed with
+pride and delight. “See, I have caught Steam and imprisoned
+him in this cylinder. When I make a fire in the furnace, he rises
+out of the water and lifts the piston to the top of the cylinder.
+Then he has done my bidding and turns to water in the other
+cylinder until I once more bid him turn to steam and lift the piston.
+See ... see ... I have caught Steam and made him my
+servant, like the ox and the horse and the wind!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span></p>
+
+<p>“We see it right enough, Father Two-Legs,” said one of the
+tribe. “But we don’t understand what you mean to use your
+servant for. Tell us, was it worth while, on this account, for you
+to live shut up in your house for so many years, while we have
+had to dispense with your wise counsel?”</p>
+
+<p>“You do not understand,” said Two-Legs. “Go away and
+come back again this day twelvemonth: then you shall see what
+I use my new servant for. When I have shown you, you can
+continue the work yourselves. I tell you, so great is the new servant’s
+strength and cleverness that, if you learn to use him
+properly, the whole face of the earth will be changed.”</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon he went into the house and shut his door.</p>
+
+<p>He sat contentedly and looked at his new engine:</p>
+
+<p>“Ho, ho, dear Steam!” he said. “I have you now. I can
+call you forth and turn you off. I can make you strong and I
+can make you weak. The more fire, the more water, the more
+steam. And you must always remain inside the cylinder and do
+my bidding. I can make the cylinder long and I can make it
+short; I can make the piston heavy and I can make it light:
+you must needs draw it up and down, my good Steam.”</p>
+
+<p>“You call me good,” said the steam. “On the day when I
+burst the mountain and destroyed all your land, you called me bad.
+Now I told you that I was neither good nor bad. I am what I am.
+You have caught me and, if you can use me, then use me!”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs laughed merrily and rubbed his hands. He lit the
+furnace and poured water into the boiler and sat and watched
+how the piston slid up and down:</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, what shall we use you for now?” he said. “Shall
+we put you to the carriage instead of the horse? I think you
+might get along the road at a very different pace. Shall I use
+you to draw the ship? Then you can run close to the wind and
+need not care a pin for him. Shall I let you turn the stones in
+the mill?... Oh, there are a thousand things that you must
+do for me!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span></p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs put out the fire. Then he fastened a rod to the
+piston and to the rod he joined another, which was fastened to
+the axle of a wheel. He lit the fire under the boiler and, behold,
+the piston went up and down, the rod moved and the wheel
+whirred!</p>
+
+<p>He made a carriage, put the whole steam-engine on the carriage
+and connected the rod with the wheel. He himself stood at the
+back of the carriage, where the furnace was, lit the fire and heaped
+on coal. The wheels turned and the carriage ran along the road.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p130.jpg" width="500" height="325" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The people of the tribe came hurrying from everywhere and
+stared in amazement at the strange turn-out. Most of them ran
+to one side and screamed in terror of the dangerous monster and
+said that it must end badly. Only the cleverest understood the
+value of it and looked at the new carriage and talked about it.</p>
+
+<p>“Father Two-Legs,” said one of the elders, “you must not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span>
+drive that carriage. We fear that it will go badly and the
+steam burst the engine and kill you, as it once killed your
+assistant.”</p>
+
+<p>“It was just his death that taught me to be careful,” said
+Two-Legs. “Come and see.”</p>
+
+<p>Then he explained to them how he had calculated the strength
+of the steam and the quantity of the steam which he should use
+to drive his carriage.</p>
+
+<p>The more steam there was, the faster the piston slid up and
+down, the faster the wheels turned, the faster the carriage moved.
+The stronger the boiler was and the cylinder, the more steam it
+could hold without bursting.</p>
+
+<p>But in one part of the boiler there was a hole, which was
+covered with a valve, fastened by a hinge. The valve was just
+so heavy that the steam could not lift it when there was as much
+as there should be and as the engine could bear. But, as soon
+as more steam came, then the valve became too light and rose
+and the superfluous steam rushed out of the hole.</p>
+
+<p>“Father Two-Legs is the cleverest of us all,” they said.</p>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs stepped down from the carriage:</p>
+
+<p>“I give it to you,” he said. “Now you can settle for yourselves
+how you mean to use it. Some of you can go on searching,
+as I did, and invent new things. The smiths can bring their tools
+and their ingenuity. The steam-engine is yours and you can do
+with it what you please.”</p>
+
+<p>Then he went into his house and sat down anew to look out
+over the world and think.</p>
+
+<p>But the cleverest of the tribe set to work on the steam-engine.
+As the years passed, they invented first one improvement and
+then another, so that it worked ever more safely and smoothly.</p>
+
+<p>They laid rails over the ground, so that the steam-carriage
+ran at a pace of which none had ever seen the like and drew a number
+of heavily loaded coaches after it. A man could now make a
+journey in a few days or weeks which formerly had taken him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span>
+months and years. The produce that grew at one end of the
+earth was now sent quickly and cheaply to the other.</p>
+
+<p>They put the steam-engine in ships, where it turned paddle-wheels,
+so that the ships ran against wind and current. They
+used it to thrash the corn in the barn, to grind it in the mill:
+there was no end to the objects for which they were able to use it.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/i-p132.jpg" width="300" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The steam-engine had changed the face of the earth, as Two-Legs
+had foretold.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-14.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_CONQUERS_ELECTRICITY">TWO-LEGS CONQUERS ELECTRICITY</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs had grown so old that no one now knew his age.</p>
+
+<p>His family was constantly increasing and dispersed over the
+whole earth. When people thought that they were becoming too
+many in one place, then some of them broke up and moved to
+others, where the land was new. They reclaimed it, extracted
+metals from the mountains and sailed on the rivers and the sea.
+Railways and steamboats ran from one end of the earth to the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>People went so far apart that they spoke different languages
+and no longer knew one another. In every country there were
+clever men who made new and marvellous discoveries that
+lightened the work of their brethren and made them richer and
+happier.</p>
+
+<p>Each time that a man made one of these discoveries, he went
+off to Two-Legs, wherever he might happen to be, to show it to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span>
+him and receive his praise, for he was honoured by them all as
+the father of the whole race and the wisest of all who lived on
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs himself no longer had any idea of the number of his
+descendants; and it seemed as if he simply did not care. He
+lived now with one tribe of his people and now with the other,
+always alone in a house to himself, where he could quietly indulge
+in thought. Often, young men came to him to learn from him.
+Then he gave them of his wisdom and sent them out into the world
+again; but what he thought of in his inmost self he talked about
+to no one.</p>
+
+<p>When he sat outside his house and gazed and pondered, the
+voices spoke to him as before:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... the lord of the earth ... the vanquisher
+of the animals....”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... who conquered the wind and made it
+his servant, as he did with the ox and the horse....”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... who tamed the wild steam and imprisoned
+it in the engine, which now has to obey his commands
+and do his errands....”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs listened to the voices.</p>
+
+<p>He patted the dog, who lay at his feet:</p>
+
+<p>“You were once a wild and fierce animal and now you are
+gentle and serve me faithfully,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>He listened to the wind, who was whispering in the trees:</p>
+
+<p>“You can cool my forehead on a hot day and you can rush
+over the earth like a wild monster,” he said. “I know you and I
+use you.”</p>
+
+<p>He looked across the meadow, where the mist was rising and
+the fine white steam floated to and fro:</p>
+
+<p>“You, too,” he said and nodded. “You are as light as a veil
+and dainty and white and innocent. The poets sing of you and you
+make little children cough. But you are the same that burst
+the mountain and destroyed my land. I watched you and discovered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span>
+you and caught you and put you in my engine; and
+now you must toil for my descendants the wide world over.”</p>
+
+<p>The thunder rolled in the distance. There came long and
+deep peals. Now and again, a flash of lightning gleamed and lit
+up the darkness. And the voices spoke again:</p>
+
+<p>“It is thunder, Two-Legs ... it is lightning....
+You do not know what that is. No one knows what it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“The world is full of mighty, secret forces ... mightier
+than the wind ... harder to understand than steam.”</p>
+
+<p>“The ox and the horse tremble before the thunder and the
+lightning. Two-Legs and all his descendants tremble wherever
+the thunder-storm reaches. There is more between heaven and
+earth than Two-Legs knows of.”</p>
+
+<p>The storm came nearer. The thunder pealed and the lightning-flashes
+crackled. Those who lived close came running to Two-Legs’
+house in great alarm:</p>
+
+<p>“Father Two-Legs, what shall we do?” they cried. “God’s
+wrath is upon us.... Look, look, His fire has struck the
+house yonder. Now it’s burning; it is all in flames!”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs did not look at the blazing house, but up at the
+clouds, where the thunder pealed and the lightning-flashes darted:</p>
+
+<p>“That is not God’s wrath,” he said. “It is a strange force
+up there in the clouds ... stronger than the wind ...
+stronger than Steam. Oh, if I could catch it and compel it to
+serve me, as I compel the ox and the horse and the others!”</p>
+
+<p>They heard what he said and looked at one another in affright.</p>
+
+<p>Much as they honoured and loved him, they thought that this
+was madman’s talk. For how could any one dream of taking
+the terrible lightning into his service?</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs has grown old,” said one to the other. “He is
+in his dotage and does not know what he is saying.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs did not listen to them, but continued to gaze at
+the storm overhead:</p>
+
+<p>“Look! See how the lightning darts!” he said. “In a second,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span>
+it darts from one horizon to the other!... Oh, if I could
+put it into my carriage!”</p>
+
+<p>They recoiled from him, so frightened were they at his words.</p>
+
+<p>“Look! See how the lightning shines!” he said. “In a
+second, it is as light as bright noonday!... Oh, if I could
+catch the lightning’s light and hold it fast and compel it to shine
+peacefully for human beings!”</p>
+
+<p>One of the elders went up to him and laid his hand on his
+shoulder:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs,” he said, “the success you have had has driven
+you mad. Your talk is foolish. You are tempting God.”</p>
+
+<p>“God kindled the lightning and God kindled my understanding,”
+said Two-Legs. “He gave me the one that I might
+explore the other. Go away and mind your own business and
+leave me alone.”</p>
+
+<p>They went away. Two-Legs stood and gazed till the last
+lightning had vanished from the sky.</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>One day, Two-Legs sat on his bench, looking at a boy who
+was running about and playing with a piece of amber.</p>
+
+<p>The boy rubbed it against his breeches to make it bright. Then
+he held it up in the air and rejoiced to see it shine so prettily.</p>
+
+<p>Just then, a fluff of seamews down came flying and fastened
+on the amber. Another came ... and another ... and
+more still. As soon as they came near the amber, they hurried
+and settled on it.</p>
+
+<p>“Look, look!” said the boy and laughed with amusement.
+“There’s a spirit in the amber! When I rub it on my breeches,
+the spirit comes out and catches the little fluffs.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs took the amber from the boy and looked at it. He
+rubbed it and caught the fluffs. He held it close to husks and
+little bits of paper.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Look, the spirit catches them too!” said the boy and clapped
+his hands.</p>
+
+<p>More came and looked on. They told it to others, who left
+their work and came and stood and stared at Two-Legs and the
+amber.</p>
+
+<p>“Is it a spirit, Father Two-Legs?” asked one of the elders.</p>
+
+<p>“A mighty spirit,” said Two-Legs. “A new and rare spirit.
+I do not know him. Go to your work and leave me alone, so that
+I can explore him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Give the spirit a name, Father Two-Legs,” said the man
+who had spoken before.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs reflected that the people in the part of the world
+where he was then living called amber electron.</p>
+
+<p>Then he told them that they might call the spirit of the amber
+Electricity.</p>
+
+<h3>3</h3>
+
+<p>From that day, Two-Legs collected as much amber on the
+beach as he could find.</p>
+
+<p>He rubbed it and saw that then the spirit constantly came
+forth and seized upon the little things near by. He put his ear
+to it and listened, but could hear nothing. He tasted it and smelt
+it; he broke it to pieces and gazed at it with his old eyes, but
+could discover nothing:</p>
+
+<p>“The spirit is hiding from me,” he said. “But I shall find
+him, I shall find him!”</p>
+
+<p>It occurred to him one day that the strange spirit might
+dwell elsewhere than in the amber.</p>
+
+<p>He began to rub a glass tube and shouted aloud for joy when
+the spirit at once appeared and seized upon the down and husks
+and shreds of paper. He took a piece of sulphur and rubbed it
+and exulted when just the same thing happened. But, in a little
+while, the spirit disappeared from the amber, the glass tube and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span>
+the sulphur alike and did not come back until he rubbed them
+again.</p>
+
+<p>He made himself a big sulphur ball, with an iron bar through
+the middle. The iron bar was fixed between two stakes, so that
+he could turn the ball with a handle which was at one end of the
+bar.</p>
+
+<p>Now, when he turned the handle and laid his hand on the
+ball, he saw that the little fluffs which flew in the air at that moment
+stuck to the ball and, immediately after, flew out into the air,
+as though the spirit had pushed them away. He turned the handle
+briskly and the fluffs danced about the ball. One of them flew
+on his nose and stayed there for a little while and then flew back
+to the ball again.</p>
+
+<p>“The spirit dwells in me too,” said Two-Legs, gladly. “I
+believe he is everywhere and in everything, if only one could
+manage to call him forth from his hiding-place. Now I will
+summon the whole tribe and show them something which they
+have never seen.”</p>
+
+<p>He sent word round and they came and stood in crowds about
+his house. Then he asked for the little boy who had played with
+the amber on the beach and been the first of all to call forth the
+mysterious spirit:</p>
+
+<p>“You deserve the honour of sharing in this day,” he said.
+“You all remember the spirit to whom I gave the name of Electricity?”</p>
+
+<p>“We remember him,” said the oldest of those present. “If you
+have anything good to tell us about him, we shall be pleased to
+hear it. If it is anything bad, then keep it to yourself and we will
+flee to a new country where the spirit does not dwell.”</p>
+
+<p>“The spirit is neither bad nor good,” said Two-Legs. “He
+is a force ... a strange, mysterious force, which I have not
+yet succeeded in discovering. I do not know if he is worth conquering
+and giving into your service even as I gave you the ox
+and the horse, the wind and Steam. I do not know how I am<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span>
+to conquer him. But I do know that it is not possible for one
+of us to flee from the electric spirit. For he dwells not only in
+the amber as you saw. He can take up his abode everywhere
+and in everything ... even in me ... even in every one
+of you.”</p>
+
+<p>They pressed close together and gazed at him in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>“Watch me now,” said Two-Legs. “Dismiss all your fears
+and look in wonder at what I shall show you.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs hung the little boy up between two ropes, so that
+he swung in the air at some height above the ground. Before
+him, from another cord, hung a glass tube. On the ground under
+him stood a bowl with little pieces of paper.</p>
+
+<p>“I shall now rub the glass until the spirit comes forth,” said
+Two-Legs. “When that is done, the boy will touch the glass
+with one hand. The other he will hold at a distance above the
+bowl with the shreds of paper.”</p>
+
+<p>He rubbed the glass tube and the boy did as he said.</p>
+
+<p>“Look ... look!” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>They stared and shouted with surprise. All the bits of paper
+leapt up and hung in the hand which the boy held over the dish.</p>
+
+<p>“Do you see that?” asked Two-Legs. “He is electric. The
+spirit has taken up his abode in him.... Can you all see it?”</p>
+
+<p>The oldest and cleverest bent over the boy and stared and
+talked of the remarkable thing that had happened. They did
+not understand it and shook their heads. But the others were
+seized with frenzy and clamoured against Two-Legs:</p>
+
+<p>“It is magic!” they shouted. “Father Two-Legs is a
+magician! He is tempting God and killing the poor boy with
+his tricks!”</p>
+
+<p>“You are fools,” said Two-Legs. “You talk of what you
+do not understand. Go away and leave me alone, while I enquire
+into the mighty spirit of Electricity. You can come again in a
+twelvemonth. Then I shall show you much stranger things than
+you have seen to-day.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span></p>
+
+<p>They went on clamouring and crowded round Two-Legs,
+threatened him with their clenched fists and abusing him:</p>
+
+<p>“Father Two-Legs must die!” they cried. “He will bring
+misfortune upon us all, with his magic! He calls forth spirits
+whom he cannot lay! Let us kill him before he has brought down
+God’s wrath upon us!”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p140.jpg" width="500" height="450" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The elders placed themselves
+between Two-Legs and
+the infuriated people.
+They reminded them of
+his venerable age and of
+all the good
+which he had
+done to his
+kinsfolk. They talked
+until, at length, they
+persuaded the others to go, though they still muttered and cast angry
+glances at Two-Legs. The mother of the boy whom he had
+made electric ran and seized him by his long white beard:</p>
+
+<p>“If ever again you use my boy for your odious tricks, I’ll kill
+you!” she screamed.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You are only a silly woman,” said Two-Legs and pushed
+her away. “If I taught your boy the secret of what you call
+my magic, he would make a name for himself that would be spoken
+with respect so long as the world lasts. However, go away and
+take him with you too. No harm has happened to him; and
+to-morrow he will have forgotten all about it.”</p>
+
+<p>She went, hand in hand with the boy, who did not cry, but
+kept his eyes on Two-Legs. When they were gone, the elders
+told him he had better move into another country if he wanted
+to continue searching for the electric spirit, otherwise it would
+end in this, that the people would kill him one day, when the
+elders were not there to defend him.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs stood and rubbed the glass tube with a piece of
+leather and paid no heed to them. They had to say it once more
+before he heard. Then he merely nodded and said:</p>
+
+<p>“I will go away this very night and seek another country
+where the people are cleverer.”</p>
+
+<h3>4</h3>
+
+<p>By midnight he was ready to start. He had nothing with
+him but his sulphur ball and some other things which he needed
+for his labours. He hid these under his cloak, put out the light
+of his house and prepared to leave.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he heard a noise in the alley where the others lived.
+He sat down and waited, not because he was afraid of them, but
+because he did not choose to talk with fools any more. And,
+while he sat and waited, he took his sulphur ball from under his
+cloak and began to rub it with his hand, as he had done thousands
+of times before. He gazed at it, though he could see nothing, for
+the night was pitch-dark.</p>
+
+<p>All at once, he started up with a cry.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span></p>
+
+<p>He dropped the ball, found it again, with difficulty, on the
+floor and began to rub and rub like mad.</p>
+
+<p>Now he saw it quite plainly: light came against his hand
+when he rubbed. Time after time, he rubbed and, each time, he
+saw the light.</p>
+
+<p>He was so greatly excited that he could hardly breathe. He
+closed his eyes and opened them again. No, it was not imagination:
+the light came as soon as he rubbed the sulphur ball.</p>
+
+<p>He held the ball up to his ear, while he rubbed and rubbed like
+mad.... Now he plainly heard a faint crackling....</p>
+
+<p>Then he jumped up and sang and cried and laughed and
+danced round the room like a young man crazy with delight:</p>
+
+<p>“It’s the lightning!... It’s the thunder!” he shouted,
+exultantly. “I have called them and they come at my bidding.”</p>
+
+<p>The door opened and the little boy whom he had made electric
+stood on the threshold:</p>
+
+<p>“Father Two-Legs, will you take me with you where you are
+going?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>“Do you want to come?” asked Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said the little boy. “I want to stay with you and go
+where you go. I am not afraid of you. You shall teach me your
+magic and, one day, I shall become a wise and great man, like
+yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“You do not know what you are doing,” said Two-Legs. “I
+am no magician, but I have seen what no other man has seen.
+You do not know what has happened to me this night.... I
+have rubbed my sulphur ball and have produced lightning from
+it and thunder. They lie in my hand. I can call them forth
+when I please. They are only quite tiny as yet and weak, but I
+know that, one day, they will grow strong, like those up there
+in the clouds. Do you dare?”</p>
+
+<p>“I dare,” said the boy.</p>
+
+<p>“Then come,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span></p>
+
+<p>He took him by the hand and went out with him into
+the dark night, to find a
+country where there were
+fewer fools.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p143.jpg" width="500" height="425" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>5</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs found a new country, where he and the boy settled.
+The people honoured him for his age and wisdom and knew
+nothing about his magic arts. But he occupied himself with them
+as before, sought and listened and thought ... whether he
+could sooner or later lay hold of the strange spirit who was so weak
+in the amber and the glass tube and the sulphur and so powerful
+in the thunder-storm.</p>
+
+<p>Every evening, when the day’s work was done, he sat and talked
+with the boy, who grew in age and understanding. They were
+happiest when the thunder pealed. Then they felt that the mighty<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span>
+spirit was nearer to them: not only up there, where lightning
+crackled, but in the air and in everything round about.</p>
+
+<p>“There is much electricity up there and only a little here
+below with us,” he said. “That is why the flashes strike down
+upon the ground.... Look, there is one darting from a cloud
+that has too much to one that has too little.... Oh, I
+understand, I understand! It is like the water that lies at a
+different level in two ponds: if I dig a canal between them, it
+will flow from that which has more into that which has less and,
+a moment after, it will be at the same height in both. Boy, boy,
+one day I will collect so much electricity that I can use it for the
+greatest things!”</p>
+
+<p>“That you will, since you say so, Father Two-Legs,” said
+the boy. “But will you tell me how it is that the mighty spirit
+dwells in a fragile glass tube like this and not in that thick iron
+bar? If I were the spirit, I would rather dwell in the strong bar.
+But he is not there. I have rubbed the iron till my arms ached,
+but the spirit did not come.”</p>
+
+<p>“You may depend upon it that he is there,” said Two-Legs.
+“If only we could find the right means to call him forth,
+I believe that there is more of him in iron and in copper and other
+metals than in anything else. Just look how weak he is in the glass
+tube and the amber: he comes when I rub, catches the little
+fluffs and is gone again at once. No, if we can charm him from
+the iron, then we shall see him in his might.”</p>
+
+<h3>6</h3>
+
+<p>One day, the boy went into the mountains and found a lodestone,
+which he thought looked odd. He took it home to Two-Legs,
+who examined it long and closely, as he examined everything.
+Without thinking of it further, he began to rub the thick
+iron bar with the lodestone and saw, to his surprise, that the
+stone clung to the iron:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Boy, what have you found?” he cried.</p>
+
+<p>Henceforth, he thought of nothing but iron and copper and
+other metals.</p>
+
+<p>He forged himself bars of iron, large and small, rubbed them
+with the lodestone and saw that they became electric. The
+spirit was in them and the spirit came out of them, but differently
+and not as in the glass tube and the amber and the sulphur ball.</p>
+
+<p>It was no use for him to come with fluffs of down and little
+shreds of paper. The spirit did not catch at them. But, when he
+came with iron, the spirit caught hold of it and held it ever so
+tight.</p>
+
+<p>“That is the proper, powerful spirit,” said the boy joyfully.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs saw also that the spirit was only at the two ends
+of the bar which he rubbed with the lodestone. The spirit ran
+into the ends and stayed there and caught hold of the pieces of
+iron which he held out to him. In the middle of the bar there
+was no spirit.</p>
+
+<p>One day, as he was working with a very thick bar which he
+had rubbed, it seemed to him that it moved without his touching
+it. Then he took a vessel of water, put a cork in the water and
+the iron bar on top of the cork.</p>
+
+<p>“Look, look, it’s turning!” cried the boy.</p>
+
+<p>And so it was. It turned one end to the north and the other to
+the south. Two-Legs shifted it, but it turned back to the same
+position as soon as he let go. He experimented with the other
+bars, but they did exactly the same. One day, he laid two side
+by side, each on its own cork, and saw that the north end of the
+one and the south end of the other attracted each other. When
+he brought the two north ends or the two south ends together,
+they at once pushed each other away.</p>
+
+<p>“Look, look!” cried the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat, plunged in thought, and looked. Then he made
+a little bar, rubbed it with the lodestone and put it on a pivot,
+so that it could turn easily as it pleased:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span></p>
+
+<p>“Go and give this thing to the skipper,” he said. “When
+he goes far out to sea and cannot sight land anywhere, he will
+always be able to see by it which is north and which is south and
+direct his course accordingly.”</p>
+
+<p>Thus Two-Legs invented the compass.</p>
+
+<p>But he forgot it as soon as the boy had gone with it. He
+thought how much stronger the spirit was in the iron than in the
+other things from which he had produced it and pondered how
+he should make the spirit obey him with all his power.</p>
+
+<p>“I found the stone that did it,” said the boy, when he returned.
+“Give it a name, Father Two-Legs.”</p>
+
+<p>As the country where he was then living was called Magnesia,
+Two-Legs called the stone the magnet. And he showed the boy how
+he could make any piece of iron into a magnet by rubbing it with
+another iron in which the spirit was:</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, if I could only draw the spirit from up there, in the
+thunder-clouds, down hither with a magnet!” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>He made a kite, such as boys play with, and gave it a huge
+long string. At the top of it he put an iron tip. Then he and
+the boy went and waited for the thunder to come one day; and,
+at last, it came.</p>
+
+<p>When the thunder-storm was exactly over head, he flew the
+kite in the air. They stood and watched it till it disappeared
+right up in the thunder-clouds.</p>
+
+<p>“Now hold the string, boy, if you dare,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“I dare,” said the boy.</p>
+
+<p>The lightning crackled and the thunder crashed. In the midst
+of it, Two-Legs, with his fingers, touched the string of the kite;
+and a great spark leapt upon his finger. He touched it again and
+again; and, each time, a new spark leapt out.</p>
+
+<p>“Look, look!” he said. “I have drawn down the lightning
+from up there!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Father Two-Legs!” said the boy, shaking with fear.
+“Suppose the lightning had killed you!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span></p>
+
+<p>“It could have done,” said Two-Legs. “To play with the
+mighty forces of nature is dangerous. That is why I so often
+asked you if you were not afraid. I once had a helper who was
+killed by the spirit of Steam before I had learnt to conquer him.
+It may happen that you will fare as he did. I know myself that
+I am never safe from death. But I would rather die fighting to
+conquer the spirits than at home, in my bed, of disease.”</p>
+
+<p>“So would I,” said the boy and drew himself up. “Only, I
+meant ... only, I don’t understand.... The lightning
+once struck and burnt my mother’s house. It killed my brother
+and my little sister; and all that we possessed was burnt: that
+was a calamity. Is there always a calamity when the lightning
+strikes? If so, why do you want to bring it down? Do you think
+you can imprison it and use it as you used Steam?”</p>
+
+<p>“No,” said Two-Legs. “I don’t think that. I don’t know
+how it is to be done, but I dream, day and night, that, sooner or
+later, I shall succeed in preparing lightning as strong as that up
+there, but different nevertheless.... I want to rule over it
+and imprison it and compel it to labour in my service. It is only
+a dream as yet. It was not the lightning either that I drew down
+with my kite: only a little spark of the spirit that flames up there.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Father Two-Legs,” said the boy. “But, if you can
+catch a little spark, you can also catch a bigger one ... and
+a bigger one still ... and, at last, the whole lightning.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs gazed at the boy. Then he took him in his arms
+and kissed him:</p>
+
+<p>“You’re a glorious boy,” he said. “You found the magnet
+and knew nothing about it. Now, in your ignorance, you have
+spoken a great word: come and see what you can make of it.”</p>
+
+<h3>7</h3>
+
+<p>He forthwith set up a tall pole, close to his house. At the
+top of it was a metal spike, from which a long iron wire ran far<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span>
+down in the ground. People came and looked at his work and
+wondered what it meant.</p>
+
+<p>“See,” he said to them. “The pole will catch the lightning
+when it comes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you want to lure the lightning down to the earth ...
+the bad lightning?” asked one of them. “And close to your
+house besides?”</p>
+
+<p>“The lightning is not bad,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Would you have me call it good?” said the man. “It set
+my barn on fire and burnt it. And there’s a man standing yonder
+whose wife was killed and all his cattle.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs gave a scornful smile. He quite forgot that he himself
+had once thought just like that of the wind and of Steam:</p>
+
+<p>“The lightning is neither good nor bad,” he said. “It is
+a mighty force that comes and darts as it must. I don’t want
+to lure it down to the earth either. But, if it comes here, over
+my house, and thinks of striking ... then it will be caught
+by the spike at the top of the pole and fly down the wire into
+the earth; and my house will escape.”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs is mad,” said the man. “He is calling the lightning
+down upon himself.”</p>
+
+<p>The others said the same and then they went away. The
+boy remained with him and looked at the lightning-conductor.
+And, when the next thunder-storm came, the lightning struck two
+farm-houses in the valley and burnt them to the ground. It also
+struck the pole near Two-Legs’ house and rushed down into the
+earth, as he had said. This was easy to see by the way in which
+it had rooted up and flung stones and gravel around.</p>
+
+<p>They came running from every side and saw it and wondered.
+They bowed low before Two-Legs and honoured his wisdom;
+and one and all of them set a lightning-conductor beside their
+houses.</p>
+
+<p>But Two-Legs thought no more of it:</p>
+
+<p>“That’s nothing,” he said. “It is just as when I killed the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span>
+wild animals. It was a bigger thing when I tamed them and took
+them into my service. I want to tame the lightning also and make
+it my servant.”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs wants to tame the lightning,” said one to the
+other and laughed and thought that he had certainly lost his
+reason.</p>
+
+<p>“I want to make lightning,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs wants to make lightning,” they said and nudged
+one another. “Take care it doesn’t strike you!”</p>
+
+<p>They laughed and went away. Two-Legs sat and meditated
+and thought and did not mind their scorn. The boy sat at his
+feet.</p>
+
+<h3>8</h3>
+
+<p>The years passed and the boy grew to be a man. He was
+always with Two-Legs, listening to his talk, helping him in his
+work and rejoicing with him each time that he came a step nearer
+to the goal.</p>
+
+<p>They moved more than once from one country to another.
+Either it was the folk of the country who drove them away with
+their foolish fears, when they heard reports or saw sparks come
+from Two-Legs’ workshop, or else it occurred to him that his
+labours would meet with better success under another climate.
+But, whether he was in one place or another, he constantly thought
+of the same thing: how he was to catch the electric spirit and
+make him strong, so that he might be useful in man’s service.</p>
+
+<p>He thought no more of the thunder and the lightning up in
+the sky. He knew well that it was the electric spirit that struck
+sparks up there and he wanted him to do the same in his workshop.
+Since he had begun the work with the magnetic iron, he
+no longer troubled about the glass tube and the amber and the
+sulphur ball. He did not even care to rub them any more, so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span>
+small was the spirit when he came from them and so soon did he
+disappear again.</p>
+
+<p>“The lightning also lasts only for a moment,” said his disciple.
+“It is mighty, Father Two-Legs, a thousand times mightier than
+any spark that you can rub out of the sulphur ball; but it only
+flames for a moment and then it is all over.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s just why I can’t use it,” said Two-Legs. “I
+want the lightning to last as long as I please ... for ever if
+I please. I must be able to kindle it and extinguish it and kindle
+it again, as easily as I can snap my fingers. Oh, if I only knew
+where the spirit really dwelt!”</p>
+
+<p>“We know that,” said the disciple. “He lives in the amber
+and in the glass tube and in the sulphur ball, in iron and in the
+thunder-cloud and in me and in you and in everything in the
+world, you said.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs sat long and pondered with his head in his hands.
+His disciple waited in silence; and, at last, Two-Legs looked up:</p>
+
+<p>“You know ... you know ...” he said and then
+was silent again for a while.</p>
+
+<p>Then he said:</p>
+
+<p>“You know ... sometimes I don’t believe at all that
+the spirit lives in any of the places that you say.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where does he live then, Father Two-Legs?” asked his
+disciple.</p>
+
+<p>“I believe he lives in the air,” said Two-Legs. “Not in the
+clouds, which are mere water and vapour, but in the pure air ...
+in the ether: the ether, do you understand? He lives there and
+goes now into one and now into the other and rather into the
+one than into the other. Do you remember how long we had to
+rub the glass before the spirit came? He was there reluctantly.
+Do you remember that, when the glass was wet, he did not come
+at all? He would sooner be in the water. He likes to dwell in
+iron and copper and zinc and silver and all the other metals. In
+the string that held the kite which we sent up into the thunder-cloud,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span>
+he ran down as fast as the lightning and sent a spark into
+my finger. You know how he runs down the wire of the lightning-conductor
+into the ground. He remains there because the ground
+is moist. That is why you and I see no more of him, because
+we walk on the ground: he runs right through us into the ground
+and disappears. Yes, that’s how it is, that’s how it is!”</p>
+
+<p>His eyes beamed. He could not explain it, but he saw, as in
+a vision, that this was how it must be. He went on talking
+about it; and his disciple knew that it was true, even though he
+could not understand it.</p>
+
+<p>But then Two-Legs grew sad again:</p>
+
+<p>“What is the use of it all, when I cannot even produce the
+spirit,” he said, “nor build him a house in which he would rather
+dwell than anywhere else in the world, so that I may always have
+plenty of him to come and go at my pleasure?”</p>
+
+<p>He began to gaze at his magnetic needle: how two north ends
+or two south ends always repelled each other, while a north end
+and a south end immediately flew together.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, if there were two spirits,” he said, “if the spark came
+and then the two rushed towards each other, if the powerful force
+were just the attraction of one for the other ...”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that it?” asked the disciple.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know,” said Two-Legs. “I could see and feel the
+wind; and the same with Steam. I discovered, at length,
+where he came from and where he was going. But I don’t know
+what the mighty spirit of electricity is, for all the years that I
+have been watching him. Perhaps I shall never come to know.
+But we will explore his ways nevertheless, diligently, by day and
+by night.”</p>
+
+<p>He hammered wires of iron and zinc, of copper and silver,
+twisted them together, bent them against one another, rubbing
+them with the magnet and with the leather and with anything
+else that he could hit on. Gradually, he had no room for all of
+this in his house; and then he threw it outside the door.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span></p>
+
+<h3>9</h3>
+
+<p>One evening, he and his disciple were sitting on the bench
+before the wall, tired with their fruitless labours. They gazed
+at the sun until it went down. Then twilight fell upon the land.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs looked at a fat old toad who came crawling from
+under the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>He moved his legs heavily and looked with his frightened
+eyes at Two-Legs and wondered if he meant him any harm. Then
+he crawled on ... under some wire that lay there. And, as the
+toad touched the wire, he jumped as if he had been struck a blow.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs saw it, for he saw everything. He saw how the
+toad again touched the wires and again jumped. He stooped
+down and saw that it was copper-wire and zinc-wire. He saw
+that the toad jumped highest when he touched both wires. He
+caught the toad and held him in his hand and put both the wires
+to him. The toad gave a start. And, every time he touched
+him with the wire, he started afresh.</p>
+
+<p>Then he let the toad go and remained sitting for a long time
+with the copper-wire and the zinc-wire in his hand and gazed
+before him, plunged in thought. Then he said:</p>
+
+<p>“Come, let us go in.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, it’s time for bed,” said the disciple. “It’s quite dark.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s time for work,” said Two-Legs. “To-night a light
+has been kindled for me, brighter than any before.”</p>
+
+<p>He told the disciple what he had noticed and explained his
+thought to him:</p>
+
+<p>“It was the electric spirit,” he said. “I think it was the
+toad’s moist skin that made him show himself. Now we will
+experiment with copper and zinc.”</p>
+
+<p>He took a glass and filled if half with water and put into it a
+small piece of zinc and a small piece of copper. Then he fastened
+a slender wire to the zinc, let the wire stand up in a wide curve
+and fastened the other end to the copper:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span></p>
+
+<p>“What shall we put into the water?” he said. “There is
+sulphur and there is lime and there are a thousand things, in the
+toad’s skin.... The question is how to hit upon just the
+right one.”</p>
+
+<p>He experimented patiently. When he put a piece of sulphur
+into the water, it began to bubble round the zinc.</p>
+
+<p>“Look, look, now the water is jumping just as the toad did!”
+he said.</p>
+
+<p>He grasped the wire and felt that it was getting hot. Breathlessly,
+he dropped it and stared at the whole apparatus:</p>
+
+<p>“That’s it, that’s it,” he said and talked quite low, in his excitement.
+“Wait a bit, now, and see.”</p>
+
+<p>He filed the wire quite thin in one place:</p>
+
+<p>“Feel it,” he said. “It’s glowing.”</p>
+
+<p>The disciple did so and quickly drew back his fingers, for he
+had burnt himself. Two-Legs stood and stared. Then he cut
+the wire; and the bubbling in the water stopped at once and the
+thin piece became cold again. He held the two cut ends together;
+and, the moment they touched each other, the water bubbled and
+the wire grew hot. He tried it time after time; and, each time,
+the same thing happened.</p>
+
+<p>“At last, at last, I have found it,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>He sat for a long time silent, with his face buried in his hands,
+overcome with emotion. The disciple did not quite understand
+it, but dared not ask. And, in a little while, Two-Legs himself
+explained it to him:</p>
+
+<p>“Look here, look here!” he said; and his eyes beamed as they
+had never beamed before. “Don’t you see that I am making electricity
+in this little glass? I am making it and it’s here. The
+wonderful force, the force of the lightning, flows along the wire.
+I cut the wire and the current is interrupted. I connect it again
+and the force flows once more. Praise be to the loathsome toad
+who set my thoughts travelling in the right direction!”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t see the lightning,” said the disciple.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span></p>
+
+<p>“You shall see it,” said Two-Legs.</p>
+
+<p>He put a little piece of charcoal at each end of the wire where
+he had cut it. Then he put out the light in the room and brought
+the two charcoal tips together. Then they both saw that the
+charcoal glowed and gave a faint light.</p>
+
+<p>“Do you see that? Do you see that?” cried Two-Legs,
+exultantly. “I have my thunder-cloud in this little glass: there’s
+the lightning for you. It only shines faintly as yet, but it is
+easily made stronger. I can put a thousand thunder-clouds
+together and you shall see how bright the light becomes. I can
+put two thousand together and you shall see how strong the
+electric power is: stronger than the wind, stronger than the
+steam; there is not a weight it cannot raise, not a wheel it
+cannot turn. Look, look, I have caught the lightning and imprisoned
+it in this little glass! I am lord of the mighty electric
+spirit: he will have to serve me like the ox and the horse, like
+the wind and Steam!”</p>
+
+<p>He ran and flung open the door. The night was past and it
+was morning. He shouted till his voice rang over the valley.
+The people heard and woke and sprang from their beds:</p>
+
+<p>“Father Two-Legs is calling,” they said to one another.
+“Let us go to his house and hear what he has to tell us.”</p>
+
+<p>They hurried from every side; and Two-Legs stood up, with
+his great white beard, and told them the marvellous thing that
+had happened:</p>
+
+<p>“I have caught the electric spirit ... the mysterious,
+mighty spirit,” he said. “I can produce as strong a current of
+his immense force as I please and I can carry it whither I please,
+even to the end of the earth, along a thin wire. I can kindle
+the lightning, so that it shines calmly and gently, and put it out
+and kindle it again as easily as I snap my fingers.”</p>
+
+<p>They listened open-mouthed and stared, while he showed
+them and explained it to them:</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;" id="illus11">
+<img src="images/illus11.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="" />
+<p class="caption">TWO-LEGS STOOD UP</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span></p>
+
+<p>“The electric spirit is my captive,” he said. “I have imprisoned
+him in this little glass and compelled him to obey me.
+I give him to you; and in him you have a servant whose like you
+have never known. He will alter the face of the whole earth. If
+those who died a hundred years ago were to rise again ten years
+hence, they would not know the world in which they had lived.”</p>
+
+<p>The fools laughed and mocked at him, as was their wont. But
+the clever ones asked Two-Legs to explain it again and again
+and never tired of listening to him. At last, they all went home
+and began to enquire further into the matter, while Two-Legs
+went into his house and shut his door and wondered what would
+come next.</p>
+
+<h3>10</h3>
+
+<p>Out in the world it happened as he had said.</p>
+
+<p>The electric spirit served mankind as none other had ever
+done. Electric light glowed in every house. Electric cars ran
+in every direction at lightning speed. The electric telegraph
+carried men’s messages from one end of the world to the other.</p>
+
+<p>Soon there was nothing left that Electricity could not do more
+easily and better.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/i-p155.jpg" width="300" height="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ch-15.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO-LEGS_FUTURE">TWO-LEGS’ FUTURE</h2>
+
+</div>
+
+<h3>1</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs still lives.</p>
+
+<p>He will not die as long as the world exists.</p>
+
+<p>He lives now in one country and now in another. No one
+knows for certain where he is; and there are not many who think
+of him in the ordinary course of things. Only very few have
+seen him, but those who have will never forget him either, so old
+is he and venerable, so clever and radiant his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>He is the same that he always was.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning, he supplied himself with food and clothes,
+shelter against the weather and defence against his foes. He
+built himself huts and houses, killed some of the wild animals
+and tamed others. He taught his children to sow and reap.
+Misfortune overtook him and he conquered it. His descendants
+multiplied and filled the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Since then he conquered the wind and Steam and Electricity.
+He bound them and gave them to man for his servants. And<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span>
+man trained them, even as he had trained the horse and the ox
+and the dog.</p>
+
+<p>The steam-engine gives bread to many times more people
+than all the beasts of the field. The electric spirit does a thousand
+times more tricks in man’s service than the horse or the dog.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p158.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>In the evening, when Two-Legs sits outside his house, the
+voices speak to him as before:</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... the vanquisher of the animals ... the
+lord of the ox and the horse and the dog ... the strongest
+of all creatures.”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... who conquered the wind and took him
+into his service.... He made him turn the mill ...
+made him carry the ship over the sea.”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs ... the lord of Steam.... He forced<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span>
+him into his engine and told him to do the tasks which men put
+him to.”</p>
+
+<p>“Two-Legs, the wisest, the strongest.... He explored
+the lightning and bound it.... He compelled it to draw the
+greatest weights and to shine calmly and gently in men’s small
+rooms and to carry their messages from one end of the world to
+the other.”</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs listened to the voices, but only for a moment. He
+was examining a piece of metal which he held in his hand and
+into which he had been long and secretly enquiring:</p>
+
+<p>“Look,” he said to the young man who was now his pupil.
+“I wish I knew what the queer rays are that come out of this
+substance. It shall be called Radium; that means the thing that
+beams. I will search until I know its nature. Who knows what
+secret forces it conceals and what benefits it can perform for
+mankind?”</p>
+
+<h3>2</h3>
+
+<p>Two-Legs explored the new force.</p>
+
+<p>The world round about him went its course. Each year
+brought new incidents, new discoveries, new wealth and new
+happiness. Two-Legs paid no heed. He sat with his radium
+and would not let it go until he knew it through and through.</p>
+
+<p>There were clever people who knew he must succeed some
+time and who waited eagerly and gladly for him to make mankind
+the master of a new power, mightier, perhaps, than any of
+those which he had yet conquered.</p>
+
+<p>There were fools who said that it was all very well with Steam
+and Electricity and the rest. They could understand that. But
+this new thing here was quite senseless and absurd. Besides,
+one must not tempt God. There were mysteries in nature which
+mankind should never seek to explore. There was a limit to
+what was allowed to men; and the man who overstepped that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span>
+limit was either a fool or a presumptuous person who ought to be
+locked up or punished.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Legs listened just as little to them now as he had done
+in the old days.</p>
+
+<p>Their folly was the same now as then. What they saw before
+their eyes and felt with their hands they believed in. The new
+thing which was in its first stages, they mocked at and condemned.</p>
+
+<p>But, sometimes, a man would come to Two-Legs with his
+little son, so that the boy might see the wisest man in the world.
+Then, if he had the luck to find words that could divert Two-Legs’
+attention from his work, Two-Legs would look up and fix his steady
+glance on the boy, lay his hand on the boy’s head and say:</p>
+
+<p>“Do not grow up to be
+a fool, my lad. The fool
+is he who judges what he
+does not understand.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i-p160.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center smaller"><i>Bristol: Burleigh Ltd., at the Burleigh Press.</i></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;">
+<img src="images/endpaper.jpg" width="700" height="425" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="pgx" />
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-01-23 03:59:45 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-01-23 03:59:45 -0800
commit	56babc08697c3dab6f071e670e5ca7391f991fb7 (patch)
tree	9d51ca5a42baea856630736de90002dcf9d4a200