{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36039/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36039","id":"gutenberg_36039","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36039","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Folklore -- India","Tipitaka. Suttapitaka. Khuddakanikaya. Jataka -- Paraphrases, English"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries and Google Print.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                             THE GIANT CRAB\n                     And Other Tales from Old India\n\n\n                               Retold by\n                             W. H. D. ROUSE\n\n                       Illustrated by W. Robinson\n\n\n                                 London\n                      David Nutt, 270-271, Strand\n                                  1897\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWARNING\n\nTo the Studious or Scientific Reader\n\n\nI hope no one will imagine this to be a scientific book. It is meant to\namuse children; and if it succeeds in this, its aim will be hit. Thus\nthe stories here given, although grounded upon the great Buddhist\ncollection named below, have been ruthlessly altered wherever this\nwould better suit them for the purpose in view; and probably some of\nthem Buddha himself would fail to recognise.\n\nMy thanks are due to the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press\nfor permitting the use of their translation of the Jataka Book; [1]\nfrom which comes the groundwork of the stories, and occasionally a\nphrase or a versicle is borrowed. To this work I refer all scholars,\nfolk-lorists and scientific persons generally: warning them that if\nthey plunge deeper into these pages, they will be horribly shocked.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                    Page\n\n    The Giant Crab                                     1\n    The Hypocritical Cat                               6\n    The Crocodile and the Monkey                       9\n    The Axe, the Drum, the Bowl, and the Diamond      14\n    The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot            26\n    The Dishonest Friend                              30\n    The Mouse and the Farmer                          34\n    The Talkative Tortoise                            38\n    The Monkeys and the Gardener                      41\n    The Goblin and the Sneeze                         45\n    The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Prince     49\n    The Goblin in the Pool                            56\n    The Foolish Farmer and the King                   59\n    The Pious Wolf                                    62\n    Birds of a Feather                                64\n    Spend a Pound to Win a Penny                      68\n    The Cunning Crane and the Crab                    70\n    Union is Strength                                 77\n    Silence is Golden                                 80\n    The Great Yellow King and his Porter              82\n    The Quail and the Falcon                          86\n    Pride Must Have a Fall                            88\n    The Bold Beggar                                   95\n    The Jackal Would A-Wooing Go                      97\n    The Lion and the Boar                            102\n    The Goblin City                                  106\n    Lacknose                                         111\n    The King's Lesson                                114\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIANT CRAB\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a lake in the mountains, and in that lake\nlived a huge Crab. I daresay you have often seen crabs boiled, and\nput on a dish for you to eat; and perhaps at the seaside you have\nwatched them sidling away at the bottom of a pool. Sometimes a boy\nor girl bathing in the sea gets a nip from a crab, and then there is\nsqueaking and squealing. But our Crab was much larger than these; he\nwas the largest Crab ever heard of; he was bigger than a dining-room\ntable, and his claws were as big as an armchair. Fancy what it must\nbe to have a nip from such claws as those!\n\nWell, this huge Crab lived all alone in the lake. Now the different\nanimals that lived in the wild mountains used to come to that lake\nto drink; deer and antelopes, foxes and wolves, lions and tigers and\nelephants. And whenever they came into the water to drink, the great\nCrab was on the watch; and one of them at least never went up out of\nthe water again. The Crab used to nip it with one of his huge claws\nand pull it under, and then the poor beast was drowned, and made a\nfine dinner for the big Crab.\n\nThis went on for a long time, and the Crab grew bigger and bigger\nevery day, fattening on the animals that came there to drink. So at\nlast all the animals were afraid to go near that lake. This was a\npity, because there was very little water in the mountains, and the\ncreatures did not know what to do when they were thirsty.\n\nAt last a great Elephant made up his mind to put an end to the Crab and\nhis doings. So he and his wife agreed that they would lead a herd of\nelephants there to drink, and while the other elephants were drinking,\nthey would look out for the Crab.\n\nThey did as they arranged. When the herd of elephants got to the\nlake, these two went in first, and kept farthest out in the water,\nwatching for the Crab; and the others drank, and trumpeted, and washed\nthemselves close inshore.\n\nSoon they had had enough, and began to go out of the water; and then,\nsure enough, the Elephant felt a tremendous nip on the leg. The Crab\nhad crawled up under the water and got him fast. He nodded to his wife,\nwho bravely stayed by his side; and then she began:\n\n\"Dear Mr. Crab!\" she said, \"please let my husband go!\"\n\nThe Crab poked his eyes out of the water. You know a crab's eyes\ngrow on a kind of little stalk; and this Crab was so big, that his\neyes looked like two thick tree-trunks, with a cannon-ball on the top\nof each. Now this Crab was a great flirt, or rather he used to be a\ngreat flirt, but lately he had nobody to flirt with, because he had\neaten up all the creatures that came near him. And Mrs. Elephant was\na beautiful elephant, with a shiny brown skin, and elegant flapping\nears, and a curly trunk, and two white tusks that twinkled when she\nsmiled. So when the big Crab saw this beautiful elephant, he thought\nhe would like to have a kiss; and he said in a wheedling tone:\n\n\"Dear little Elephant! Will you give me a kiss?\"\n\nThen Mrs. Elephant pretended to be very pleased, and put her head\non one side, and flapped her tail; and she looked so sweet and so\ntempting, that the Crab let go the other elephant, and began to crawl\nslowly towards her, waving his eyes about as he went.\n\nAll this while Mr. Elephant had been in great pain from the nip of\nthe Crab's claw, but he had said nothing, for he was a very brave\nElephant. But he did not mean to let his wife come to any harm;\nnot he! It was all part of their trick. And as soon as he felt his\nleg free, he trumpeted loud and long, and jumped right upon the\nCrab's back!\n\nCrack, crack! went the Crab's shell; for, big as he was, an elephant\nwas too heavy for him to carry. Crack, crack, crack! The Elephant\njumped up and down on his back, and in a very short time the Crab\nwas crushed to mincemeat.\n\nWhat rejoicing there was among the animals when they saw the Crab\ncrushed to death! From far and near they came, and passed a vote of\nthanks to the Elephant and his wife, and made them King and Queen of\nall the animals in the mountains.\n\nAs for the Crab, there was nothing left of him but his claws, which\nwere so hard that nothing could even crack them; so they were left in\nthe pool. And in the autumn there came a great flood, and carried the\nclaws down into the river; and the river carried them hundreds of miles\naway, to a great city; where the King's sons found them, and made out\nof them two immense drums, which they always beat when they go to war;\nand the very sound of these drums is enough to frighten the enemy away.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HYPOCRITICAL CAT\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a troop of Rats that used to live in holes\nby a river side. A certain Cat often saw them going to and fro, and\nlonged to have them to eat. But he was not strong enough to attack\nthem all together; besides, that would not have suited his purpose,\nbecause most of them would have run away.\n\nSo he used to stand early in the morning, not far from their holes,\nwith his face towards the sun, snuffing up the air, and standing on\none leg.\n\nThe Rats wondered why he did that, so one day they all trooped up to\nhim in a body, and asked the reason.\n\n\"What is your name, sir?\" they began.\n\n\"Holy is my name,\" said the Cat.\n\n\"Why do you stand on one leg?\"\n\n\"Because if I stood on all four, the earth could not bear my weight.\"\n\n\"And why do you keep your mouth open?\"\n\n\"Because I feed on the air, and never eat anything else.\"\n\n\"And why do you face the sun?\"\n\n\"Because I worship the sun.\"\n\n\"What a pious Cat!\" the Rats all thought. Ever after that, when they\nstarted out in the morning, they did not fail first to make their bow\nto the Cat one by one, and to show thus their respect for his piety.\n\nThis was just what our Cat wanted. Every day, as they filed past,\nhe waited till the tail of the string came up; then like lightning\npounced upon the hindmost, and gobbled him up in a trice; after which\nhe stood on one leg as before, licking his lips greedily.\n\nFor a while all went well for the Cat's plan; but at last the Chief\nof the Rats noticed that the troop seemed to grow smaller. Here and\nthere he missed some familiar face. He could not make it out; but at\nlast a thought came into his mind, that perhaps the pious Cat might\nknow more about it than he chose to tell.\n\nNext day accordingly, he posted himself at the tail of the troop,\nwhere he could see everything that went on; and as the Rats one by\none bowed before the Cat, he watched the Cat out of the end of his eye.\n\nAs he came up, the Cat prepared for his pounce. But our Rat was ready\nfor him, and dodged out of the way.\n\n\"Aha!\" says the Rat, \"so that is your piety! Feeds on the air, does\nhe! and worships the sun--eh? What a humbug!\" And with one spring he\nwas at the Cat's throat, and his sharp teeth fast. The other Rats\nheard the scuffle, and came trooping back; and it was crunch and\nmunch, till not a vestige remained of the hypocritical Cat. Those\nwho came first had cat to eat, and those who came last went sniffing\nabout at the mouths of their friends, and asking what was the taste\nof catsmeat. And ever after the Rats lived in peace and happiness.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CROCODILE AND THE MONKEY\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a deep and wide river, and in this\nriver lived a crocodile. I do not know whether you have ever\nseen a crocodile; but if you did see one, I am sure you would be\nfrightened. They are very long, twice as long as your bed; and they\nare covered with hard green or yellow scales; and they have a wide\nflat snout, and a huge jaw with hundreds of sharp teeth, so big that\nit could hold you all at once inside it. This crocodile used to lie\nall day in the mud, half under water, basking in the sun, and never\nmoving; but if any little animal came near, he would jump up, and open\nhis big jaws, and snap it up as a dog snaps up a fly. And if you had\ngone near him, he would have snapped you up too, just as easily.\n\nOn the bank of this river lived a monkey. He spent the day climbing\nabout the trees, and eating nuts or wild fruit; but he had been there\nso long, that there was hardly any fruit left upon the trees.\n\nNow it so happened that the crocodile's wife cast a longing eye on this\nMonkey. She was very dainty in her eating, was Mrs. Crocodile, and\nshe liked the tit-bits. So one morning she began to cry. Crocodile's\ntears are very big, and as her tears dropped into the water, splash,\nsplash, splash, Mr. Crocodile woke up from his snooze, and looked\nround to see what was the matter.\n\n\"Why, wife,\" said he, \"what are you crying about?\"\n\n\"I'm hungry!\" whimpered Mrs. Crocodile.\n\n\"All right,\" said he, \"wait a while. I'll soon catch you something.\"\n\n\"But I want that Monkey's heart!\" said Mrs. Crocodile. Splash, splash,\nsplash, went her tears again.\n\n\"Come, come, cheer up,\" said Mr. Crocodile. He was very fond of\nhis wife, and he would have wiped away her tears, only he had no\npocket-handkerchief. \"Cheer up!\" said he; \"I'll see what I can do.\"\n\nHis wife dried her tears, and Mr. Crocodile lay down again on the\nmud, thinking. He thought for a whole hour. You see, though he was\nvery big, he was very stupid. At last he heaved a sigh of relief,\nfor he thought he had hit upon a clever plan.\n\nHe wallowed along the bank to a place just underneath a big tree. Up\non the tree our Monkey was swinging by his tail, and chattering\nto himself.\n\n\"Monkey!\" he called out, in the softest voice he could manage. It\nwas not very soft, something like a policeman's rattle; but it was\nthe best he could do, with all those sharp teeth.\n\nThe Monkey stopped swinging, and looked down. The Crocodile had never\nspoken to him before, and he felt rather surprised.\n\n\"Monkey, dear!\" called the Crocodile, again.\n\n\"Well, what is it?\" asked the Monkey.\n\n\"I'm sure you must be hungry,\" said Mr. Crocodile. \"I see you have\neaten all the fruit on these trees; but why don't you try the trees\non the other side of the river? Just look, apples, pears, quinces,\nplums, anything you could wish for! And heaps of them!\"\n\n\"That is all very well,\" said the Monkey. \"But how can I get across\na wide river like this?\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said the cunning Crocodile, \"that is easily managed. I like\nyour looks, and I want to do you a good turn. Jump on my back, and\nI'll swim across; then you can enjoy yourself!\"\n\nNever had the Monkey had an offer so tempting. He swung round a branch\nthree times in his joy; his eyes glistened, and without thinking a\nmoment, down he jumped on the Crocodile's back.\n\nThe Crocodile began to swim slowly across. The Monkey fixed his eyes\non the opposite bank with its glorious fruit trees, and danced for\njoy. Suddenly he felt the water about his feet! It rose to his legs,\nit rose to his middle. The Crocodile was sinking!\n\n\"Mr. Crocodile! Mr. Crocodile! take care!\" said he. \"You'll drown me!\"\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha!\" laughed the Crocodile, snapping his great jaws. \"So\nyou thought I was taking you across out of pure good nature! You are\na green monkey, to be sure. The truth is, my wife has taken a fancy\nto you, and wants your heart to eat! If you had seen her crying this\nmorning, I am sure you would have pitied her.\"\n\n\"What a good thing you told me!\" said the Monkey. (He was a very clever\nMonkey, and had his wits about him.) \"Wait a bit, and I'll tell you\nwhy. My heart, I think you said? Why, I never carry my heart inside\nme; that would be too dangerous. If we Monkeys went jumping about the\ntrees with our hearts inside, we should knock them to bits in no time.\"\n\nThe Crocodile rose up to the surface again. He felt very glad he had\nnot drowned the Monkey, because, as I said, he was a stupid creature,\nand did not see that the Monkey was playing him a trick.\n\n\"Oh,\" said he, \"where is your heart, then?\"\n\n\"Do you see that cluster of round things up in the tree there, on the\nfurther bank? Those are our hearts, all in a bunch; and pretty safe\ntoo, at that height, I should hope!\" It was really a fig-tree, and\ncertainly the figs did look very much like a bunch of hearts. \"Just\nyou take me across,\" he went on, \"and I'll climb up and drop my heart\ndown; I can do very well without it.\"\n\n\"You excellent creature!\" said the Crocodile, \"so I will!\"\n\nAnd he swam across the river. The Monkey leapt lightly off the\nCrocodile's back, and swung himself up the fig-tree. Then he sat down\non a branch, and began to eat the figs with great enjoyment.\n\n\"Your heart, please!\" called out the Crocodile. \"Can't you see I'm\nwaiting?\"\n\n\"Well, wait as long as you like!\" said the Monkey. \"Are you such a\nfool as to think that any creature keeps its heart in a tree? Your\nbody is big, but your wit is little. No, no; here I am, and here I\nmean to stay. Many thanks for bringing me over!\"\n\nThe Crocodile snapped his jaws in disgust, and went back to his wife,\nfeeling very foolish, as he was; and the Monkey had such a feast in\nthe fig-tree as he never had in his life before.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE AXE, THE DRUM, THE BOWL, AND THE DIAMOND\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor young man who went out into the world\nto seek his fortune. He went aboard a ship sailing across the ocean;\nand after they had sailed for a year and a day, suddenly a great storm\narose. The rain descended, and the wind blew, and it blew so hard and\nso wild, that the ship went miles out of her course, and the skipper\ncould not tell where they were. And then, in the middle of the night,\na great crash came, and the ship was dashed upon a reef. The waves\nbeat and battered it, and turned it topsy-turvy, and the end of it\nwas that every soul was drowned except the poor young man.\n\nThe waves washed him ashore, more dead than alive, and on the shore\nhe lay till next morning, when the sun warmed him and woke him up\nfrom his faint. He got up and looked about him, and wandered over\nthe place, which he found was an island. It did not take him long to\nwalk round it; and then he saw that it was a small island, and far as\nthe eye could reach not another speck of land was to be seen. There\nwere plenty of trees growing in the island, with fruit and flowers,\nbananas and cocoanuts, and springs of water; but on the trees were\nno birds, and no animals ran about on the ground. So he lived on the\nfruits and roots, and did the best he could.\n\nOne day, to his great surprise, he saw a black thing in the sky; and,\nstill more surprising, the black thing had no wings. Yet it was flying,\nand flew nearer and nearer, until he saw that it was a large wild\npig. How could a pig fly through the air? He rubbed his eyes and looked\nagain; yes, a pig it was beyond all doubt; and it flew closer and\ncloser until it came to the island. He hid behind a bush, and saw the\npig sink slowly to the ground and lie down under a tree. Soon the pig\nwas fast asleep and snoring. He went up close, and, to his amazement,\nby the pig's side, was the most magnificent diamond he ever saw. It\nblazed and sparkled in the sun and looked like a ball of fire. He\nstepped gingerly up to the pig, and took hold of the diamond; the pig\nwas very sleepy and snored away heartily. As he turned the diamond\nabout in his hand and saw it flash, he suddenly thought to himself,\n\"What if the pig should wake? He looks fierce, he has great sharp\ntusks, and I have nothing to defend myself with. If I were only up\nin that tree, now----\" But what on earth had happened? As the thought\ncame into his mind, he found himself perched in the tree-top.\n\nFor a little while he was quite dazed and dizzy. Then he began to\nwonder if it could be the diamond which had done this miracle. So\njust to try, he wished himself down again; and there he was, without\nknowing how! He began to understand that this was a magic diamond,\nand something which he must take great care of. Then he wished himself\nup in the tree again.\n\nWhen he was in the tree once more, he picked off a nut that was\ngrowing on the tree, and dropped it upon the pig's nose. The pig\nwoke up, raised his head, and looked round for the diamond; he was\na very intelligent pig, indeed he was really not a pig at all, but a\ngreat magician, who used to fly about in the shape of a pig because\nhe was as wicked as could be, and preferred being a pig rather than\na man. There are really a great many people like that, only we see\nthem in the shape of men and do not know the difference.\n\nNow when this pig saw that his diamond was gone, he fell in a fury; for\nall his power lay in the diamond, and without it he was nothing more\nthan any other pig. So he glared and snorted, and looked all round,\nand down, and up--and then he saw the man who had dropped the nut\nupon his snout! Then his fury knew no bounds; he foamed at the mouth,\nand ran raging round and round the tree; but the man only laughed,\nand dropped more nuts on him. This made him mad indeed, for pigs\ncannot climb trees, and he saw that his diamond was lost, and with\nit all his magical power; so in his madness he charged straight at\nthe tree, and ran his tusks right into the trunk. There they stuck,\nand tug as he would, he could not get them out.\n\nThe man wished himself down from the tree, and looked about for a large\nstone, with which he battered the pig's skull till it was dead. Then he\nheld the diamond over the pig, so that the sun's rays shone down and\nwere reflected through it; and so fine and strong was the diamond,\nthat in a very short time a delicious smell of roast pork rose to\nhis nostrils, and the whole pig was done to a turn, with rich crisp\ncrackling. Then he took a sharp shell which he found lying on the\nbeach, and carved off slices of the pork, which he ate. It was very\nnice indeed, and he had the best meal he had enjoyed since the ship had\nbeen wrecked on the reef, and he had been cast ashore on that island.\n\nBy-and-by, when he had finished his dinner, it occurred to him that\nas the pig had flown there through the air, so he might fly away. So\nholding his diamond in his hand, he wished to fly through the air to\nthe nearest land. Then he felt himself rising, and he was carried\nswiftly through the air, and away, away over the sea; the island\ngrew smaller, it became a black patch, it dwindled to a speck in the\ndistance. The sun shone warm upon him, the waves sparkled underneath;\nporpoises gambolled about, playing leap-frog in the sea; flying-fish\ncame out of the water in a flash of light, and dropped into the water\nagain; still he went on, till, as the sun was setting, he came close\nto a sandy beach; and there before long he stood, wondering what he\nshould do next.\n\nHe looked round, and not far off, behind a clump of bushes, rose a\nthin column of smoke. He put the diamond in his pocket, and walked\ntowards the smoke. Soon he saw a queer little hut, and at the door,\nupon the ground, sat a man without any legs. Whether a shark had\nbitten off his legs, or whether he never had any, I cannot tell you,\nfor he never told me; but there he sat, like a chessman. He had a\nfur cap, and a fur coat; he did not need any trousers, for he had no\nlegs to put them on, as I have told you. In front of him was a fire,\nand over the fire was a spit, and on the spit was a young kid roasting.\n\n\"Good evening, sir,\" said the young man.\n\n\"Good evening,\" said the other.\n\n\"Can you give me a night's shelter?\" the young man asked.\n\n\"Whatever I have, you may share,\" said the old man with no legs.\n\nSo they sat down, and ate a good meal; but the young man was\nrather frightened to see that the other man ate skin, and bones,\nand everything. And he did not like the way the old man eyed him. In\nfact I must tell you, that this old man was another magician, and a\nfriend of the magician who looked like a pig; and when any travellers\ncame that way, he used to eat them. He did not eat this traveller,\nbecause the kid was ready roasted; but he meant to do it as soon as\nhe should be hungry again.\n\n\"How did you get here?\" asked the old man.\n\n\"I flew over the sea,\" said the young man.\n\n\"Indeed!\" said the old man. \"And how did you manage that?\"\n\nThen the traveller showed his diamond, and told the old man what a\nwonderful stone it was, and how it gave any one power to fly through\nthe air.\n\n\"If you will give me your diamond,\" said the old man, \"I will give you\nmy axe. You see I have no legs, so you may wonder how I live. This is\nthe way I live. If I slap this axe on the handle, and say, Wood and\nfire! away it flies, and cuts wood and kindles a fire. If I slap the\nsteel, and say, Heads! away it flies, and chops off the head of a goat\nor any animal I want; and then it brings me meat for my dinner. Now\nI have lived here for a thousand years by the help of my axe, and I\nam rather tired of being in one place. I should like to see the world\nbefore I die, and that is why I want your diamond.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the young man, \"it's a bargain.\" They exchanged the\naxe and the diamond; the old man turned it over in his hand, chuckling\ngreedily. As soon as the young man got grip of the axe, he smacked\nthe steel, and says he, \"Heads!\" In a jiffy the axe sliced through\nthe old man's neck like a turnip, and he had no more head than legs.\n\nThen the traveller picked up the diamond, and put it in his pocket. So\nnow he had two magic things instead of one. He blessed his luck,\nand fell asleep very happily inside the old magician's hut.\n\nNext morning, with the diamond in his pocket and the axe on his\nshoulder, the young man set out on his travels. All day long he walked\nthrough the forest, until at evening time he saw before him another\nhut, like the first, where lived the old man with no legs. Before\nthis hut, too, there was a fire burning, and beside the fire sat an\nold man without any arms. Whether a tiger had bitten off his arms or\nwhether he never had any, I cannot say, because he never told me;\nbut there he sat like a pair of compasses. He had the stump of a\ntree to sit on, and before him was another stump, and on this stump\nwas a large bowl of milk, out of which he was drinking. When he saw\nour friend, he tipped over this bowl with his chin; instantly a deep\nroaring river surrounded him and his hut, and he sat in the middle,\nlaughing at the young man's surprise. But he did not laugh long, for\nthe young man instantly wished himself over the river, and there he\nwas. Now it was his turn to laugh.\n\n\"How on earth did you do that?\" asked the old man. He was much too\nastonished to think of saying good-day.\n\n\"Oh, that's nothing,\" said the young man, and showed him his diamond.\n\nThe old man's eyes glistened. He thought how nice it would be to have\nthat diamond.\n\n\"What do you say to selling me that diamond?\" said he.\n\n\"What will you give me for it?\" asked the young man.\n\n\"I will give you this bowl. It is a wishing bowl. Whenever you are\nhungry all you have to do is to wish for something in it, and there\nit is; milk, or soup, or wine; anything that can go in a bowl. And\nif you turn it over, as you saw me do just now, a rushing, roaring\nriver pours out, and surrounds you, or, if you like, it will flood\na whole country and drown every living thing.\"\n\n\"Dear me!\" said the young man, \"that is a wonderful bowl. Well,\nI agree; I'll give you my diamond for it.\" So they exchanged the\nbowl and the diamond. The old man took the diamond in his hand and\nwatched it sparkle; but he did not watch long, for the young man\nslapped his hatchet and cried, \"Heads!\" In a jiffy the steel sliced\nthrough the old man's neck like a cucumber, and he had no more head\nthan arms. Then the young man picked up his diamond and put it away in\nhis pocket. So now he had three wonderful things instead of two. He\nblessed his good luck, wished for some delicious wine in his bowl,\ndrank it, and went to sleep happily, in the old man's hut.\n\nNext morning the young man was up betimes; and after taking a meal\nout of his wishing-bowl, he set out once more to walk through the\nforest. After he had walked for some hours, he heard, far in the\ndistance, a loud rub-a-dub-dub, rub-a-dub-dub, boom, boom, boom. He\nfelt as if he could hardly help running away; still, with a great\neffort, he began to walk towards the sound, which got louder and\nlouder every minute, till at last it made a tremendous din. Then,\nsuddenly, just as he came upon a little open glade in the forest, he\nheard a rustle, bustle, jostle, and out of the trees came a great herd\nof elephants, lions, tigers, wolves, and all sorts of wild animals,\ntheir hair bristling with fright, and every one of them tearing along\nat full speed. They were far too much terrified to notice him, and,\nscurrying across the glade, they vanished among the trees.\n\nBy this time the noise had ceased, but it was not long before he came\nupon another little glade, and at the end of the glade was a hut,\nand in front of that hut sat a big black giant with a drum.\n\n\"Good day to you!\" roared the giant, in a great voice.\n\n\"Good day!\" said the young man, rather frightened.\n\n\"Come and have something to eat!\" roared the giant.\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the young man.\n\nThey sat down, and the giant offered him some food. But the young\nman thought it was safer not to take any of the giant's food, so he\npulled out his bowl, and wished for some soup, and sipped it.\n\n\"What is that?\" asked the giant.\n\nThe young man told him it was a wishing bowl, that gave any food\nhe wanted. The giant was very much delighted with the wishing bowl,\nand thought that if he could get that bowl, he would be able to eat\nwithout the trouble of getting things.\n\n\"I'll buy that bowl!\" he roared.\n\n\"What will you give me for it?\" asked the young man.\n\n\"I will give you this drum,\" said the giant. \"If you beat on one side,\neverybody that hears it will run away.\"\n\n\"Ah, that was why the lions and tigers were running away just\nnow!\" said the young man.\n\n\"Yes,\" said the giant. \"And if you beat on the other side, a splendid\narmy of soldiers and horses will spring up out of the ground and\ndefend you.\"\n\n\"All right, here you are,\" said the young man, and gave him the bowl.\n\nThe giant took the bowl in great glee, and horrid to tell, wished\nout loud for a bowlful of blood! He began to drink it, but he did not\nfinish; for as he buried his nose in the bowl, the young man slapped\nhis axe, and said--\"Heads!\" Down came the axe with a crash on the\ngiant's head, and cut it clean in two!\n\nIf the young man was glad when he saw the giant's head cleft in two,\nhe was gladder when he went inside the giant's hut. For there, all\nround the wall, were the bodies of travellers who had passed that\nway; and they were tied to the uprights of the wall, and their bodies\nwere dry as dust, and shrivelled like a medlar. For this giant used\nto catch all travellers and tie them up in his house, and then he\nsucked their blood till they were dry. So when our traveller saw what\na narrow escape he had had, he determined no longer to remain in that\ndreadful place. Picking up the bowl and the drum, and feeling to see\nthat his axe and diamond were safe, he wished himself at the gate of\nthe nearest city.\n\nNow the king of this city was a very cruel king. He used to rob and\nmurder even his own subjects; and as for strangers, he had short\nshrift and no mercy for them. So when the king heard that there was a\nstranger outside the gates, he made up his mind to have some sport;\nand sent out a company of soldiers to fetch him in. The young man\nbeat his drum, and they all took to their heels! You may imagine\nhow angry the king was to hear this; he had all their heads chopped\noff on the spot, and sent a regiment. The same thing happened to the\nregiment. But this only made the king angrier than ever. He ordered\nall his army to be marshalled before the gates, and himself riding at\ntheir head, led them forward to capture this audacious stranger. Then\nthe young man tipped over his wishing bowl. Out poured a roaring\ntorrent of water that flooded the plain, and drowned every soldier\nin the army, all except the king, who had galloped back to the city,\nand got up on the wall. Then the young man slapped his axe, and cried,\n\"Heads! I want the king's head!\" Off flew the axe through the air\nlike a boomerang, and sliced off the king's head, and brought it\nback to its master. The people inside the city began to cheer with\njoy, when they saw the king with his head off. And when the axe came\nback, the young man beat upon the other side of his drum; and lo and\nbehold! the earth began to tremble, it seemed full of holes, and from\nevery hole sprouted a warrior fully armed. Surrounded by his army,\nhe marched into the city, where he became king, and lived happily\never after. And I hope that we may be half as happy as he was.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WISE PARROT AND THE FOOLISH PARROT\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man who had two pet parrots that\ncould talk very nicely; indeed they had more sense than most people\nhave, and when their master was alone he used to spend the evening\nchattering with them. They cracked jokes like any Christian, and told\nthe funniest tales.\n\nBut this man had a thievish maid-servant. He had to lock everything\nup, and even as it was, never turned his back but she was filching\nand pilfering.\n\nOne day the man had to go away on a journey. Before he went he took\nout the two parrots, and perched one on each fist, and says he to them,\n\"Now, Beaky and Tweaky, I want you to watch the maid while I am gone;\nand if she steals anything, you are to tell me when I come home again.\"\n\nThey blinked at him, their eyelids coming up over their eyes from\nunderneath, as you must have noticed in parrots; looking very solemn\nas they did so. Then Beaky said,\n\n\n        \"If she do it\n        She shall rue it!\"\n\n\nBut Tweaky said nothing at all; only winked again more solemnly\nthan ever.\n\n\"Good Beaky!\" said the man, \"naughty Tweaky!\"\n\nThen he went away.\n\nAs soon as he was out of sight, the maid began her games. She picked\nthe locks of his cupboards and ate the sugar, she ate the biscuits,\nshe drank the wine. Beaky hopped into the room, stood on one leg,\nand shrieked,\n\n\n        \"Naughty maid!\n        Aren't you afraid?\n        Master shall know,\n        And you shall go!\"\n\n\nThe maid jumped as if she had been shot, and looked round. She thought\nsomebody had caught her unawares; but when she saw it was Beaky she put\non a sweet smile, and held out a lump of sugar, saying in a coaxing\nvoice, \"Pretty Poll! pretty Beaky! I won't do it again! Come, then,\nand have a nice lump of sugar.\"\n\nThis temptation was too strong for poor Beaky. He wanted very much\nto do his duty, but he wanted the lump of sugar more. So he put his\nhead on one side and, looking very wise, sidled up to the maid. This\nwas very wrong of Beaky, because he knew the sugar was stolen; and in\nanother minute he was sorry; for as soon as he came within reach and\npecked at the sugar, the maid caught him by the neck with the other\nhand. Then her smile changed, and she sneered,\n\n\"So Beaky is going to tell, is he? Tell-tale tit! I'll teach Beaky\nto tell tales!\" As she said each word, she plucked out a feather from\npoor Beaky's head. Beaky shrieked and Beaky struggled, but all in vain;\nshe did not let him go till he was bald as a bullet.\n\nTweaky saw all this, but said nothing, only winked and blinked, and\nlooked more solemn than ever. The maid looked at him, but thought she,\n\"That bird is too stupid to tell, and he isn't worth the trouble of\nplucking.\" So she left him alone.\n\nBy-and-by the master came in. The maid went up to him in a great\nbustle, and said she had found Beaky stealing sugar, and she had\nplucked him as a punishment.\n\nWhen the evening came, the master sat in his room with Beaky and\nTweaky. Poor Beaky felt ashamed of himself, and had nothing to say;\nhe sat on his perch the picture of misery, with his tail drooping,\nand his ridiculous bald head. Tweaky said nothing at all.\n\nNow it happened that the master had a bald head too, and when he took\noff his skull-cap, which he generally wore to keep his head warm,\nTweaky noticed it.\n\nHe laughed loud and shrieked out, \"Oh-oh-oh! Where's your feathers,\nTell-tale tit? Where's your feathers, Tell-tale tit?\"\n\nTweaky was only a parrot, you see, and was not always quite correct\nin his grammar, as you are.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" asked the master.\n\nBut for a long time Tweaky would say nothing but the same words over\nand over again, \"Where's your feathers, Tell-tale tit?\" However,\nby-and-by they heard the maid going to bed, tramp, tramp, tramp. Then\nTweaky grew a little braver; and next time the master asked him what\nhe meant, he replied:\n\n\n        \"Every parrot has two eyes,\n        Both the foolish and the wise;\n        But the wise can shut them tight\n        When 'tis best to have no sight.\n        Wisdom has the best of it:\n        Where's your feathers, Tell-tale tit?\"\n\n\nThen the master understood what had happened, for he was a very clever\nman; and without any delay he ran upstairs two steps at a time,\nand woke the maid, and made her dress herself, and turned her out\nof the house then and there. I wonder why he did not do it before,\nbut that is no business of mine.\n\nAfter that, poor Beaky never had the heart to talk again; but Tweaky,\nwhenever he saw a bald-headed man, or a woman with a high forehead,\nshrieked out at the top of his voice--\n\n\"Ha! ha! ha! Where's your feathers, Tell-tale tit?\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DISHONEST FRIEND\n\n\nThere was once a man who went on a journey, and he asked a friend to\ntake charge of his plough till he should return. The friend promised\nto take great care of it. But no sooner was the man gone than he sold\nthe plough and put the price in his own pocket. Was not that a mean\ntrick to serve a friend?\n\nThe man came back, and asked his friend for the plough.\n\n\"Oh, I am so sorry,\" the friend replied; \"my house is infested with\nrats, and one night a very big rat came and ate it up.\"\n\n\"Ah well,\" said the man, \"what can't be cured must be endured! It\nmust have been a very big rat, though.\"\n\n\"It was,\" said the other, \"very big.\"\n\nYou must not suppose this man was quite such a fool as he seemed. You\nwill soon see why he did not make a fuss about his plough.\n\nNext day he took his friend's son out for a walk. When they had gone\nsome distance he took the boy to another friend's house, and told\nthis friend to keep the boy safe, but not to let him go out of the\nhouse till he returned.\n\nThen he ran back to the boy's father.\n\n\"Where is my boy?\" asked the father.\n\n\"Your boy? Oh, I remember--a hawk swooped down and carried him off.\"\n\n\"Oh, you liar! oh, you murderer!\" said the friend. \"Come before the\njudge, and then we shall see.\"\n\n\"As you please,\" said the man.\n\nSo they went to the court.\n\n\"What is your complaint?\" asked the judge.\n\n\"My lord, this man took my son out for a walk with him, and came back\nalone, and now he says a hawk carried him off. He must have murdered\nthe boy! Justice, my lord, justice!\"\n\n\"What is this?\" asked the judge sternly. \"Come, my man, tell the\ntruth.\"\n\n\"It is the truth, my lord,\" said the man; \"he came with me for a walk,\nand was carried away by a hawk.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" said the judge. \"Who ever heard of a hawk carrying off\na boy?\"\n\n\"And who ever heard, my lord, of a rat eating a plough?\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" asked the judge.\n\nThe man told his story. Then the judge saw that the man who complained\nhad cheated his friend, and understood what was the reason of this\nlittle trick. So he said to the man whose son was lost:\n\n\"If you find the plough that was entrusted to you, perhaps your son\nmay be found too.\"\n\nThe man was much annoyed at being found out, but, willy nilly, he\nhad to give the plough back. Then his son was brought back safe to\nhim again. And he began to see that honesty is the best policy.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOUSE AND THE FARMER\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Mouse, who made his hole in a place where\nthere were thousands and thousands of golden sovereigns buried in the\nground. Now there was a Farmer who owned the land where this treasure\nwas buried; but he did not know about it, or else of course he would\nhave dug it up. He often noticed the little Mouse sitting with his\nhead peeping out of the hole, but as he was a very kind Farmer, he\nnever hurt the Mouse; and now and then when he was having his own\ndinner, he would throw the Mouse a bit of cheese.\n\nThe Mouse was very grateful to the Farmer, and wondered what he could\ndo to show it. At last he thought of the treasure; for this Mouse was\nsensible enough to know that Farmers are very pleased to get a golden\nsovereign now and again. So one day, as the Farmer went by the hole,\nMousie ran out with a golden sovereign in his mouth, and dropped it at\nthe Farmer's feet. You can imagine how glad the Farmer was to see a\ngolden sovereign. Indeed, it was the first one he had seen since the\nCorn Laws were abolished. So he thanked the Mouse, and went down to\nthe village, and bought him a beautiful piece of meat. After this the\nMouse every day brought the Farmer a golden sovereign, and every day\nthe Farmer gave him a big chunk of meat. Thus in a few weeks Mousie\ngrew quite fat.\n\nBut the Farmer had a big black cat that used to prowl about watching\nfor mice. It used never to notice the Farmer's own favourite Mouse\nwhile the Mouse was thin; but when he grew sleek and fat and shiny,\nGrimalkin (which was the Cat's name) lay in wait for him one day and\npounced upon him. Poor little Mousie was terrified.\n\n\"Please don't kill me, Mr. Grimalkin!\" said Mousie.\n\n\"Why not? I'm hungry and you are fat!\"\n\n\"But, sir, if you eat me now, you'll be hungry to-morrow, won't you?\"\n\n\"Of course I shall!\" said Grimalkin.\n\n\"Well,\" said Mousie, who had suddenly thought of a plan; \"if you\nwill only let me go, I'll bring you a beautiful juicy piece of meat\nevery day!\"\n\nThis was a tempting offer for Grimalkin, who was a lazy Cat, and\nliked sitting by the fire, and licking himself all over, better than\nhunting for mice.\n\n\"All right,\" said he; \"only if you leave out one day, you're a dead\nmouse!\" Then, with a frightful spit, bristling up all his whiskers\nand eyebrows, Grimalkin ran away.\n\nSo next day, when the Farmer gave Mousie his dinner, Mousie carried it\noff to the black Cat, and the black Cat spat and swore and ate it up,\nand away ran Mousie trembling. But by degrees Mousie grew thinner\nand thinner, because Grimalkin always had his dinner; and soon he\nwas nothing but skin and bone. Then the Farmer noticed how thin his\nMouse had become, so one day he asked the Mouse whether he was ill.\n\n\"No,\" said Mousie, \"I'm not ill.\"\n\n\"What is the matter, then?\" asked the Farmer.\n\n\"I never get any dinner now,\" said Mousie, with tears running down\nover his nose, \"because Grimalkin eats it all!\" Then he told the\nFarmer about the bargain he had made with Grimalkin.\n\nNow the Farmer had a beautiful piece of glass, with a hole in the\nmiddle. I think it was an inkstand, but I am not sure. So he took\nthis piece of glass and put Mousie inside it, and turned it upside\ndown upon the ground in front of Mousie's hole. \"Now,\" said he,\n\"next time Grimalkin comes for your dinner, tell him you have none\nfor him, and see what will happen.\"\n\nSo next day up comes Grimalkin for his dinner, spitting and looking\nvery fierce.\n\n\"Meat! meat!\" says he to the Mouse.\n\n\"Get off, vile thief!\" says Mousie, \"I've no meat for the likes\nof you!\"\n\nAt this Grimalkin could hardly believe his ears. He was in a rage,\nI can tell you; and, without stopping to think, pounced upon Mousie,\nand swallowed him, inkstand and all. You see, as it was all glass,\nGrimalkin did not know that there was any inkstand there, because he\nsaw the Mouse through it.\n\nNow cats can digest a good deal, but they can't digest a glass\ninkstand. So Grimalkin, when he had swallowed the Mouse and the\ninkstand, felt a pain inside; and this got worse and worse, until at\nlast he died. And then Mousie crept out of the inkstand, and crawled\nup through Grimalkin's throat, and went back to his hole again. And\nthere he lived all his life in happiness, every day bringing a golden\nsovereign to the Farmer, who gave him every day a beautiful dinner\nof meat.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE TALKATIVE TORTOISE\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Tortoise that lived in a pond. He was a\nmost worthy Tortoise, but he had one fault, he would talk in season\nand out of season; all day long it was chatter, chatter, chatter in\nthat pond, until the fish said that they would rather live on dry\nland than put up with it any longer.\n\nBut the Tortoise had two friends, a pair of young Geese, who used to\nfly about near the pond in search of food. And when they heard that\nthings were getting hot for the Tortoise in that pond, because he\ntalked so much, they flew up to him and cried eagerly:\n\n\"Oh, Tortoise! do come along with us! We have such a beautiful home\naway in the mountains, where you may talk all day long, and nobody\nshall worry you there!\"\n\n\"All very well,\" grumbled the Tortoise, \"but how am I to get there? I\ncan't fly!\"\n\n\"Oh, we'll carry you, if you can only keep your mouth shut for a\nlittle while.\"\n\n\"Yes, I can do that,\" says he, \"when I like. Let us be off.\"\n\nSo the Geese picked up a stout stick, and one Goose took one end in\nher bill and the other Goose took the other end, and then they told\nthe Tortoise to get hold in the middle; \"only be careful,\" said they,\n\"not to talk.\"\n\nThe Tortoise set his teeth fast on the stick, and held on like grim\ndeath, while the Geese, flapping their strong wings, rose in the air\nand flew towards their home.\n\nAll went well for a time. But it so happened that some boys were\nlooking up in the air, and were highly amused by what they saw.\n\n\"Look there!\" cried one to the rest, \"two Geese carrying a Tortoise\non a stick!\"\n\nThe Tortoise on hearing this was so angry that he forgot all about his\ndanger, and opened his mouth to cry out: \"What's that to you? Mind\nyour own business!\" But he got no farther than the first word; for\nwhen his mouth opened he loosed the stick, down he dropped, and fell\nwith a crash on the stones.\n\nThe talkative Tortoise lay dead, with his shell cracked in two.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MONKEYS AND THE GARDENER\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a beautiful park, full of all manner of\ntrees and shrubs, with beds of flowers set here and there, and no end\nof fruit-trees. A gardener used to take care of this park; pruning\nthe trees when they made too much wood, and digging the ground,\nand watering the flowers in dry weather.\n\nIt happened that there was a fair to be held away in the city, and the\ngardener very much wanted to go. But who would take care of the park\nand garden? If his master came in and found all the flowers drooping\nor dead, what would he say then! It would never do.\n\nMeditating thus, and in doubt, he looked up into the branches of the\ntrees, and a bright thought struck him. I must tell you that in this\npark there were not only herds of deer, and plenty of rabbits and other\ncreatures that usually live in parks, but there were troops of monkeys\nin the trees, who climbed and chattered and cracked nuts all day long,\nwith no lessons to do. And when the gardener cast up his eyes to the\ntrees, he saw some monkeys that he knew very well indeed. Many a time\nhe had been kind to them; and now he thought they should do the like\nby him, as one good turn deserves another.\n\nSo the gardener called out, \"Monkeys, I want you!\"\n\nDown they all clambered, and in a very short time they were sitting\nbeside him on the grass.\n\n\"Monkeys,\" said he, \"I have been a good friend to you, letting you\neat my nuts and apples. And now I want to take a holiday. Will you\nwater my garden while I am away?\"\n\n\"Oh yes, yes, yes!\" cried the Monkeys. They thought it a great joke,\nand leaped for joy.\n\nSo the gardener handed over his watering-pots to the monkeys, and\nput on his Sunday clothes, and went away to the fair.\n\nMeanwhile,the Monkeys held a solemn council, sitting in a ring round\nthe Monkey chief.\n\n\"Brothers,\" said the Monkey chief, \"our good friend, the gardener\nhas given us charge of this garden and all there is in it. We must\ntake care not to hurt anything, and, above all, not to waste the\nwater. There is very little water, and I really don't think it will\ngo round.\"\n\nIt was in fact a well, very small at the top, but very deep, and at\nthe bottom the water was always running. You might have watered till\ndoomsday out of that well; but monkeys, though they are cunning,\nare not wise, and these monkeys thought that a little round hole\ncould not hold very much water.\n\n\"So you see,\" the Monkey chief went on, \"you must give each plant\njust enough water, and no more; and I think the best way will be,\nto see how long the roots are.\"\n\nSo each Monkey took a watering-pot, and they scattered all over\nthe garden. Every bush and every plant they carefully pulled up, and\nmeasured its roots; and then they gave a great deal of water to plants\nwith long roots, and only a little when the roots were short. After\nthat they put the plants and bushes back in the holes they came from.\n\nAfter a day or two, back came the gardener from his fair. But what\nwas his horror to see that nearly all the plants in the garden were\ndrooping, some of them dead and many dying, while the Monkeys were\nbusy in every direction pulling up the rest.\n\n\"Oh dear, oh dear, what in the world are you doing? My garden is\nruined, my garden is ruined!\" The poor gardener wept for sorrow.\n\nThe Chief Monkey was very much surprised. He thought he had been very\nclever to put water according to the size of the roots, and he said so.\n\n\"Clever!\" said the gardener. \"Clever indeed! Fools you are, there is\nno mistake about it.\"\n\n\"Fools they may be,\" said his master, who had come up behind him\nwithout being seen, \"but, after all, that is their nature. You ought\nto have known better than to put monkeys in charge of a garden,\nand you are a greater fool than they.\"\n\nThen he sent that gardener away and got another.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOBLIN AND THE SNEEZE\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a very powerful Goblin, who haunted a\nlittle house just outside the gates of a city. Nobody else lived in\nthis house. There was a big black beam that ran across from one side\nto the other, up in the roof; and there this Goblin perched. For\ntwelve years he had served the King of the Goblins faithfully, and\nas a reward he was now permitted to gobble up any man who sneezed\ninside that house; and, indeed, that is why these creatures are called\nGoblins. But if, when a man sneezed, some one else said, \"God bless\nyou!\" as people do say, or \"May you live a hundred years!\" then the\nman who said it was free; and if the other answered, \"The same to\nyou!\" he was free too. Everybody but these the Goblin might gobble\nup for a single sneeze.\n\nNow it fell out that one day a father and son were travelling along\nthe road, and they came to the city gates just as the sun went down. I\nmust tell you that in those days the people used to shut the city\ngates fast at sunset, and nothing would make them open again till the\nmorning--they were horribly afraid of robbers or wild soldiers, who\nmight come and damage them in the night. So when these two wayfarers\ncame up to the gates, and wanted to go in, the porter said no.\n\n\"Now, do we look like robbers?\" asked the father. Certainly they\ndid not, dusty and grimy with their trudge, and a bag of tools over\nthe shoulder.\n\n\"Robbers or no robbers, orders are orders,\" said the porter, \"and\nthis gate doesn't open for the King himself.\"\n\n\"Well, what are we to do?\" The poor fellow was in despair.\n\n\"Oh, there's an empty house outside; there it is among the trees. It\nis haunted, they say; but I daresay the Goblin won't hurt you.\"\n\n\"Goblin!--well, we must take our chance, I suppose.\" Indeed, there was\nnothing for it; so to the house they went. They rested, and cooked\na meal for themselves on a fire of sticks, and then prepared to go\nto sleep.\n\nThe Goblin, however, was not going to let them off so easily;\nhe wanted his dinner too. After waiting a long time, with never a\nsneeze from one or the other, he raised a cloud of fine dust; that\nwas rather mean of him, but still he was very hungry, and did not\nstick at trifles. Sure enough, the father nearly sneezed his head off.\n\nThe Goblin chuckled, and made ready to pounce from his perch and\ndevour the pair of them. But the son happened to see him, and, being\na sharp lad, he guessed the truth. \"God bless you, father!\" says he;\n\"may you live a hundred years!\"\n\nHow the Goblin gnashed his teeth! However, if his pudding was lost,\nhis meat was left; so he stretched out a great claw to clutch the\nfather and tear him to pieces.\n\nJust then the father cried, \"Thank you, my son, and the same to you!\"\n\nHe was only just in time; the claw was within an inch of his throat;\nbut the Goblin, baffled, flew up to his perch again, and sat mouthing\nand mumbling there.\n\nThen the son began to talk to this Goblin, and showed him the error of\nhis ways, and how cruel he was to eat men; and the end of it was, he\npersuaded the Goblin to become a vegetarian, and to follow him about,\nand be his errand-boy. You will think this was a very soft-hearted\nGoblin. Perhaps no one had ever spoken kindly to him before; anyhow,\nwhatever the reason was, he went out with the two travellers, as tame\nas a tabby cat; and for all I know, they may be travelling together\nto this very day.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GRATEFUL BEASTS AND THE UNGRATEFUL PRINCE\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a King, and he had a son. And this son was\nso cruel and disagreeable, that he took a delight in hurting people,\nand never spoke to anybody without an oath or a blow. He was a thorn\nin the flesh to everybody he came across; he was like grit in the\nporridge, like a fly in the eye, like a stone in the shoon. And they\ncalled him the Wicked Prince.\n\nOne day the Wicked Prince went down to the river to bathe, along with\na number of servants. By-and-by a great storm came on, and the clouds\nwere so thick that it became pitch-dark. However, this Prince was\nobstinate, and would not give up his bathe; and as he was too lazy\neven to bathe himself, he swore at his servants, and said:\n\n\"You lazy beasts! Bathe me, and look sharp about it, or I'll tickle\nyou with a cat-o'-nine-tails!\"\n\nNow the servants had had enough of this young bully; and thought they,\n\"What if we pitch him into the river, where the current is strong,\nand just leave him there! We can easily pretend he was carried away\nwhere we could not reach him; and if the King finds us out, and puts\nus to death--anyhow, death is better than his eternal bullying.\" So\nthey pitched him head over heels into the water, though he screamed\nand struggled, and then they went home and told the King that he\nhad gone in to bathe, and a flood carried him away. I daresay it was\nwicked of them to tell such a lie, but it was more the Prince's fault\nthan theirs.\n\nMeanwhile the Prince had got hold of a tree that had been torn up by\nthe roots, and climbing upon it, went floating down the river.\n\nNow on the banks of this river lived a Snake. This Snake had once been\na very rich man, and he had buried a vast treasure on the river bank;\nand he loved his riches more than he loved his own soul, so when he\ndied, he was born again as a Snake, and had to live for ever close to\nhis buried hoard. And a Rat that lived close by had also been a man\nonce, and buried his money as the Snake had done, instead of using it\nin doing good; so he was born as a Rat, and made a hole where his money\nlay. These two creatures were caught by the flood, and it so happened\nthat they saw the tree where the Wicked Prince was, and swimming to\nit, each got on one end, while the Prince was in the middle. And a\nyoung Parrot flying through the air, was beaten down by the rain;\nfor in that country the drops of rain are as big as pigeons' eggs,\nand no birds can fly through it. Then it so happened that this Parrot\ndropped down upon the same tree where the Snake was, and the Rat,\nand the Wicked Prince; and so there were four of them on the tree,\nfloating down the river.\n\nAs the tree came near to a bend in the river, it was washed close to\nthe bank. And on the bank a man was sitting. He did not mind the rain\na bit, because he was a Hermit, who thought the world so wicked that\nhe left it and went to live in the jungle all by himself. He built\nhimself a little hut by the riverside, and, wet or fine, he cared not\na jot. This man saw the tree, and managed to catch hold of it and pull\nit ashore. Then he got the four creatures off it, and took them into\nhis hut, and dried them and warmed them by the fire. But he began\nwith the Parrot, because she looked the most miserable of them all;\nand then he dried the Rat; and next the Snake; and only attended to\nthe man when he had comforted the other three. This made the Wicked\nPrince very angry. If he abused even those who made much of him,\nyou may imagine how he cursed and swore in his heart at this man who\nleft him to the last! But he said nothing, because he was afraid that\nif he did the man might turn him out in the storm again.\n\nIn a day or two the rain stopped, and the flood went down; and\nthe creatures were all right again as they took their leave of the\nHermit. The Snake thanked him for his kindness and said:\n\n\"You have saved my life, good Hermit! What can I do for you? You\nseem to be a poor man; I am rich, and if you ever want money\njust come to my hole and call 'Snake,' and you shall have all my\ntreasure. Good-bye!\" The Rat said the same.\n\nThe Parrot was very sorry to think that she had no money, so she said:\n\"Silver and gold have I none; but if you ever are hungry, and want\nsome rice, come to my tree and call 'Parrot,' and I'll get you as\nmuch rice as ever you like.\"\n\nBut the Wicked Prince hated this kind Hermit, because he had been\nleft to the last. However, he pretended to be grateful, and said\nto the Hermit: \"I hope you will pay me a visit soon. I am a Prince,\nand I shall be glad of a chance to repay you for all you have done\nfor me.\" Then he went away, chuckling to think how he would torment\nthe poor Hermit, if ever he got him into his power.\n\nThis Hermit had all his wits about him, and he knew that people often\npromise what they never mean to do; so after a while he thought he\nwould put them all to the test. So first he took his stick, and\njourneyed to the city where the Wicked Prince lived. The Prince,\nwho was King himself now, saw him coming, and thought to himself:\n\"Aha! here's that rascal that left me to the last. Wants me to pay\nhim for it, I suppose! Well, I'll pay him! I'll pay him out!\" So\nhe called to his men: \"Hi there, brutes! do you see that fellow? He\ntried to rob me the other day--just catch him and give him a flogging,\nand then stick a stake through his body, and leave him to die!\"\n\nThen the servants caught the Hermit, and flogged him well. But the\nHermit did not cry out or grumble, only kept on saying to himself\nquietly: \"The proverb's true, the proverb's true!\"\n\n\"What proverb do you mean?\" they asked him.\n\n\"It's unlucky to save a drowning man,\" said the Hermit.\n\nThen he told them the whole story, and very angry they were when\nthey heard it. They stopped beating the Hermit at once, and seizing\nthe Wicked King, they beat him instead, and stuck a stake through\nhis body, and left him to die.\n\nThen they made the Hermit King instead of the Wicked Prince. And the\nHermit took them a walk into the country, and when they came to the\nSnake's hole he called out \"Snake!\" Out came the Snake, and curled\nup against his feet, and showed him the hole where his treasure was;\nand the Hermit gave it all to his servants. And then they went to the\nRat's hole, and he called out \"Rat!\" And the Rat ran up, and rubbed\nhis nose against the King's hand, and gave him all his treasure, which\nthe King gave to his servants as well as the other. And last of all\nthey went to the Parrot's tree, and called \"Parrot!\" And the Parrot\nflew up and gave a call, and instantly all the air was black with\nParrots. And all the Parrots carried a grain of rice in their beaks,\nand dropped it on the ground; and there was such a heap of rice,\nthat it was enough to feed all the people for the rest of their lives.\n\nSo the grateful beasts kept their promise, and the ungrateful Prince\nwas killed, and the Hermit ruled over his people kindly, and they\nall lived happily until they died. And when they died they all went\nto heaven; and the Snake and the Rat and the Parrot went there too,\nbecause they had at last overcome their love of money, and given\nit away to show how grateful they were to the Hermit for being kind\nto them.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOBLIN IN THE POOL\n\n\nAnimals in the forest have no bottles and glasses to drink out of, so\nif they are thirsty they have to go down to a pool. Now in a certain\ngreat forest there was a pool, in which lived a horrible Goblin. He\nwas big and black, like an immense monkey, with an immense mouth,\nand four rows of sharp teeth; but he could not come out of the water,\nbecause he had no nose, but only gills like a fish. So if any animal\ncame down into the water to get a drink, he pounced upon him at once\nand gobbled him up; but he could not touch the animals while they\nremained on the bank.\n\nOne year there was a great drought, and the sun was so hot that it\ndried up all the water in that forest for many miles round, except\nthe pool where this Goblin was; but this pool was very deep and cool,\nunder the trees, and therefore it was not dried up. There was a herd\nof monkeys who had been wandering about for a long time in search of\nwater, but found none, until they came to this pool. But the King of\nthe Monkeys was very clever, and he noticed that there were a great\nmany footprints going down to the water, and none coming away. So he\nwarned his Monkeys not to go near that pool. However, one of them\nwas very thirsty, and ran down into the water; but as soon as he\ngot into the water, and was having a delicious drink--suddenly he\ndisappeared! There were some bubbles, and no more was seen of the\nMonkey. The other Monkeys watched for a long time, wondering what\nhad become of their friend; and then another, who was so thirsty\nthat he could not help it, stepped quietly into the water and began\nto drink. In an instant he gave a shriek and threw up his hands,\nand the others saw him dragged down below the water! A few bubbles\ncame up to the top and burst, but the poor Monkey was gone.\n\nWhat were they to do? They were dying of thirst, and yet they were\nafraid to drink; the banks were high, and they could not reach the\nwater from the top. So they all sat round the banks, looking at the\nwater, very unhappy.\n\nBy-and-by a man came down to the side of the pool. He wanted a drink\nof water, but he had no glass. So he looked round, and then he saw\nthe Monkeys sitting on the bank, very unhappy.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" said he.\n\n\"Don't go into that pool!\" said the King of the Monkeys. \"If you do,\nyou will be drowned, like our two poor friends!\"\n\nThen they told him how their friends had gone into the water to\ndrink, and how they had both been pulled underneath and drowned,\nnone of them could tell how.\n\nThe man understood at once that it was a Goblin. So he pulled up a long\nreed that was growing on the bank of the pool and cut off the ends,\nand then he put down one end of it into the water and sucked at the\nother end, and the water came up from the pool into his mouth. At\nthis the Monkeys were delighted, and they all pulled up reeds from\nthe bank (for you know a monkey always imitates what he sees men do),\nand sucked up the water through them, and so quenched their thirst\nwithout going into the pool. And the Goblin, finding that no more\nfood was to be got, died of starvation; and a good thing too.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOOLISH FARMER AND THE KING\n\n\nOnce there was a foolish Farmer, who had a son at court, serving the\nKing. This Farmer was a very poor man, and all he had to plough his\nfields with was one pair of oxen. Two oxen was all he had, and one\nof them died.\n\nThe poor Farmer was in despair. One ox was not enough to draw the\nplough over the heavy land; and he had no money to buy another. So\nhe sent a message to his son, that he was wanted at home.\n\nWhen the son came, his father told him that one of his oxen was dead,\nand he had no money to buy another. So he begged his son to ask the\nKing to give him an ox.\n\n\"No, no,\" said his son, \"I am always asking the King for something. If\nyou want an ox, you must ask him yourself.\"\n\n\"I can't do it!\" said the poor Farmer. \"You know what a muddle-head\nI am. If I go to ask the King for another ox, I shall end by giving\nhim this one!\"\n\n\"Well, what must be, must be,\" said his son. \"Anyhow, I cannot ask\nthe King: but I'll train you to do it.\"\n\nSo he led his father to a place which was dotted all over with clumps\nof grass. The young courtier tied up a number of bundles of this\ngrass, and arranged them in rows. \"Now, look here, father,\" said he,\n\"this is the King, that is the Prime Minister, that is the General,\nhere are the other grandees,\" pointing to each bundle as he said\nthe name. \"When you come into the King's presence, you must begin by\nsaying: 'Long live the King!' and then ask your boon.\" To help him\nto remember, the son made up a little verse for his father to say,\nand this is the verse:\n\n\n    \"I had two oxen to my plough, with which my work was done.\n    Now one is dead: O, mighty king, please give me another one!\"\n\n\n\"Well,\" said the Farmer, \"I think I can say that.\" And he repeated\nit over and over, bowing and scraping to the bunch of grass that he\ncalled the King.\n\nEvery day for a whole year the Farmer practised; and how the ploughing\ngot on meanwhile I do not know. Perhaps he lived on the seed-corn,\nand did not plough at all.\n\nAt the end of the year he said to his son:\n\n\"Now I know that little verse of yours! Now I can say it before any\nman! Take me to the King!\"\n\nSo together father and son trudged away to the King's palace. There\non a throne he sat, in gorgeous robes, with his courtiers all around\nhim, the Prime Minister, the General, and all, just as the young man\nhad told his father. But the poor Farmer! his head was beginning to\nswim already.\n\n\"Who is this?\" said the King to the Farmer's son, who, as you know,\nwas a courtier, so the King knew him.\n\n\"It is my father, Sire,\" he answered.\n\n\"What does he want?\" the King asked.\n\nAll eyes were turned on the Farmer, who by this time was as red\nas a turkey-cock, and hardly knew whether he stood on head or\nheels. However, he plucked up courage, and out came the verse, as\npat as a pancake:\n\n\n    \"I had two oxen to my plough, with which my work was done.\n    Now one is dead: O, mighty king, please take the other one!\"\n\n\nThe King couldn't help laughing; and he saw there must be a mistake\nsomewhere. \"Plenty of oxen at home, eh!\" said he, keeping up the joke.\n\n\"If so, Sire,\" said the Farmer's son with a bow, \"you must have\ngiven them.\"\n\nThe King thought that rather neat. \"If I have not given you any so\nfar,\" said he, smiling, \"I will do it now.\"\n\nAnd when the pair got home, the Farmer in despair at his blunder,\nlo and behold in his cowhouse were half a dozen of the finest oxen\nhe had ever seen! So the poor old Farmer got his oxen, though he did\nmake a muddle of the verse.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE PIOUS WOLF\n\n\nOnce there was a flood, and there was a large rock with a Wolf sleeping\non the top. The water came pouring around the rock, and when the\nWolf awoke he found himself imprisoned, with no way of getting off,\nand nothing to eat.\n\n\"H'm!\" said he to himself, \"here I am, caught fast sure enough, and\nhere I shall have to stay yet awhile. Nothing to eat, either! Well,\"\nhe thought, after a pause, \"it is Friday to-day, when people say you\nought to fast. Suppose I keep a holy fast to-day? A capital idea!\" So\nhe crossed his paws, and pretended to pray, and thought himself very\ngood and pious to be fasting.\n\nA fairy saw this, and heard what he said; and she thought she would\njust see how much was real and how much was sham. So she changed\nherself into the shape of a pretty little Kid, and jumped down out\nof the air on to the rock.\n\nThe Wolf opened an eye to see what the noise could be, and there was\na tender little Kid, standing on the rock. He forgot his prayers\nin a minute. \"Aha!\" said he. \"A Kid! I can keep my Friday fast\nto-morrow. Now for the Kid!\" He smacked his lips, and jumped at\nthe Kid.\n\nBut the Kid jumped away, and, try as he would, he could not come\nnear it. You know it was the fairy, and the fairy did not let herself\nbe caught.\n\nAfter trying to catch the Kid for some time the Wolf lay down\nagain. \"After all,\" said he, \"it is Friday; and perhaps I had best\nkeep my fast to-day.\"\n\n\"You humbug!\" said the fairy, who had gone back to her proper shape;\n\"you are a nice creature to pretend that you are keeping fast! You\nfast because you can't help it, not because you are really good. As\na punishment, you shall stay on this rock till next Friday, and fast\nfor a week!\"\n\nSo saying, she opened her wings and flew far away.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBIRDS OF A FEATHER\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a big horse called Chestnut. He was as\nfierce as a fury, and bit everybody who came near him; his groom\nalways had a broken bone, or a bruise at the least; and, as for the\nother horses, let Chestnut loose in the herd, and there was a fine\nto-do: a kick for one, a bite for another; it was hurry, skurry,\nworry, till they took themselves off and left him alone in the clover.\n\nNow the King wanted to buy some horses, and a dealer had driven down\na couple of hundred of them for the King to buy. But the King was a\nskinflint, and wanted to get them cheap; so he dropped a hint to his\ngroom, that it would not be a bad thing if Chestnut made acquaintance\nwith these horses; at the same time, he dropped a gold piece in\nthe groom's hand. So the groom led Chestnut by this new herd, and,\nall of a sudden, he quietly flicked Chestnut with his whip; Chestnut\nreared and plunged, the groom shouted, and, pretending to find the\nhorse too strong for him, let go the halter. Off galloped Chestnut,\nkicking up his heels in the air, roaring and whinnying; and fine\nfun he had among the new horses! By the time he had done with them,\nhardly one had a whole skin.\n\nThe poor dealer was in despair. He would be ruined! And next day, when\nthe King came to see the horses, he turned up his nose. \"Pooh! do you\nsuppose I want bruised old hacks like that? Look at that sore! And\nhere is a broken jaw! Why, half of them limp!\" In vain the dealer\nprotested that it was Chestnut's fault; the King only laughed,\nand asked if he expected him to believe that one horse could do all\nthat mischief. (And yet, as you know, it was one horse, and at the\nKing's own bidding too.) However, it was a pity that he should have\nto take them back again, the King said; so, if he liked, as a favour,\nhe would buy the horses, at half price.\n\nThe dealer was not taken in by this, but he pretended to be very\ngrateful, and went home again, wondering what he could do. He was\nafraid to offend the King, and, indeed, very few people were rich\nenough to buy his splendid horses. So he knew that he would be\nobliged to take some more down to the King another time. Then he\nsuddenly remembered he had just such another vicious brute at home,\nnamed Strongjaw, that nobody could do anything with. \"Aha!\" said he; \"I\nhave it! I'll take Strongjaw down with me next time, and if he does not\nprove a match for Chestnut I am very much mistaken.\" He chuckled with\nglee as he thought what a fine fight there would be between the two.\n\nNext time, as he had resolved, he brought Strongjaw with the drove,\nand as soon as the King's groom came by with Chestnut, and let\nhim go as he did before, the dealer's eyes twinkled, and he let out\nStrongjaw. Chestnut pricked up his ears, and Strongjaw pricked up his;\nthen, without taking any notice of the rest, they trotted up to each\nother and rubbed noses, and began to lick each other all over. They\ndid not fight at all, but in a moment they became bosom friends.\n\nThe dealer could not understand this, neither could the King. However,\nthis time the King had to pay a good price for the horses, and as\nhe saw his little trick was found out, he felt rather ashamed of\nhimself, and so he paid the man for the other horses as well. Still,\nthey kept wondering and wondering what the reason could be that these\ntwo horses, each so fierce and wild, were quiet as a pair of kittens\ntogether. The King asked the wisest man in all his kingdom to explain\nit; and the man, who was a minstrel, that is, he used to sing songs\nto the King about all that had happened or would happen in the world,\ntook up his harp and sang:\n\n\n        \"If the reason you would know,\n        Like to like will always go;\n        Here's a pair of vicious horses\n        Just the same in all their courses;\n        Both are wild, and bite their tether:\n        Birds of a feather flock together.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEND A POUND TO WIN A PENNY\n\n\nSome people were steaming peas under a tree, in order to make a meal\nfor their horses. Up in the branches sat a Monkey, who watched with\nhis restless eyes what they were doing.\n\n\"Aha!\" thought the Monkey. \"I spy my dinner!\"\n\nSo when they had finished steaming the peas, and turned away for\na moment to look after the horses, gently, gently, the Monkey let\nhimself down from the tree. He grabbed at the peas, and stuffed\nhis mouth with them, and both hands as full as they could hold,\nthen he clambered up to his perch as best he could. There he sat,\nhis wizened old face happy and cunning, eating the peas.\n\nSuddenly one pea fell.\n\n\"O dear, O dear! O my pea, my pea!\" cried the Monkey, gibbering in\ndistress. The other peas began to fall out of his mouth, but he did\nnot notice them. He wrung his hands in despair, and the peas began\nto fall out of his hands too, but he took no notice. All he thought\nof was this, that one pea was gone.\n\nSo he shinned down the trunk, and scrambled about on the ground,\nhunting for his lost pea, but he could not find it anywhere.\n\nBy this time the men had come back, after seeing to their horses. When\nthey saw a monkey meddling with their cooking-pots they all waved\ntheir arms, and called out, \"Shoo! shoo!\" Then they picked up stones,\nand began to pelt the Monkey with them. This terrified the Monkey so\nmuch that he gave one jump to the nearest branch, and swung himself\nup to the top of the tree.\n\n\"After all,\" said he to himself, \"it was only one pea.\" But he ought\nto have thought of that before, for now like a thunderclap, it came\nhome to him, that somehow or other all the other peas had gone too.\n\nThat day the Monkey had to content himself with the smell of boiled\npeas for dinner, and I hope the loss taught him not to be so greedy\nin future.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CUNNING CRANE AND THE CRAB\n\n\nOnce upon a time a number of fish lived in a little pool. It was\nall very well while there was rain; but when summer came, and it\nbegan to be very hot, the water dried up and got lower and lower,\nuntil there was hardly enough to hide the fish.\n\nNow not far away there was a beautiful lake, always fresh and cool;\nfor it lay under the shadow of great trees, and it was covered all\nover with water-lilies. And a Crane lived on the banks of this lake.\n\nThe Crane used to eat fish, when he could catch any; and one day,\ncoming to the little pool, he saw all the fish gasping in it, and\nthought of a neat trick to get hold of them without trouble.\n\n\"Dear Fish,\" said the Crane, \"I am so sorry to see you cooped up in\nthis hole. I know a beautiful lake close by, deep and fresh and cool,\nand if you like I will carry you there.\"\n\nThe Fish did not know what to make of this, because never since the\nworld began had a crane done a good turn to a fish. You see it is\njust as absurd to suppose that a crane would help fish, as to think\nthat a cat would be kind to a mouse.\n\nSo they said to the Crane, \"We don't believe you; what you want is\nto eat us.\"\n\nThis was just what the Crane did want, but he did not say so. \"No,\nno!\" said he; \"I'm not so cruel as all that. I have eaten a fish now\nand then\"--he saw it was of no use denying that, because they knew he\nhad--\"but I have plenty of other food, and it goes to my heart to see\nyou here. In this hot water you will all be boiled fish before long!\"\n\n\"That's true enough,\" said the Fish; \"the water is hot.\" Well, the\nend of it was, they persuaded an old Fish with one eye to go and see.\n\nThe Crane took the one-eyed Fish in his beak and put him in the lake;\nand when he had seen that what the Crane said was true so far, he\ncarried the Fish back again to tell the others.\n\nThe old Fish could not say enough to praise the lake. \"It's ever so\nbig,\" he said, \"and deep and cool, just as the Crane said; and there\nare trees overshadowing it, and water-lilies are growing in the mud;\nand the whole of it is covered with fine fat flies! Ah, what a feast\nI have had!\" And he rolled up his one eye at the thought of it.\n\nThen all the Fish were eager to go. And now it was who should be\nfirst; every Fish was anxious to remain no longer in the pool. They\ncame to the top of the water, all begging the Crane to take them to\nthis beautiful lake.\n\n\"One at a time!\" said the Crane. \"I have only one beak, you know!\" And\nhe smiled to himself, for that beak was made to eat fish, not to\ncarry them.\n\nHowever, it was decided that as the one-eyed Fish had been so brave\nas to trust himself in the Crane's beak, before he knew what the\ntruth was, he certainly deserved to go first.\n\nSo the Crane took the one-eyed Fish in his beak, and carried him over\nto the lake. But this time he did not drop the Fish in; he laid him\nin the cleft of a tree, and pecked his one eye out with his beak;\nthen he killed him, and ate him up, and dropped his bones at the foot\nof the tree.\n\nBy-and-by the Crane came back for another. \"Now then, who's\nnext?\" asked the Crane. \"Old One-eye is swimming about, as happy as\na king!\" He picked up another fish, and served him like the first,\ndropping his bones at the foot of the tree.\n\nAnd so it went on, until in a few days the pool was empty. The cunning\nCrane had eaten every single one of the fish! He stood on the bank,\npeering into every hole, to see whether there might not be a little\none left somewhere. There was one, surely! No, it was a Crab. Never\nmind, he thought; all's fish that comes to my net!\n\nSo he invited the Crab to come with him to the lake.\n\n\"Why, how are you going to carry me?\" asked the Crab.\n\n\"In my beak, to be sure!\" replied the Crane.\n\n\"You might drop me,\" said the Crab, \"and then I should split.\"\n\n\"Oh no, I promise I won't drop you!\" said the Crane. But the Crab\nhad more sense than all the fish put together, and he did not believe\nin the Crane's friendship at all. So he still pretended to hesitate,\nand at last he said:\n\n\"Well, I'll tell you what. I can hold on tighter with my claws than\nyou can with your beak. I'll come, but you must let me hold on to\nyour neck with my claws. Then I shall feel safe.\"\n\nThe Crane was so hungry that, without stopping to think, he agreed;\nand then the Crab got tight hold of his neck with his claws, and the\nCrane carried him towards the lake.\n\nBut after a while the Crab saw that he was being carried somewhere\nelse, indeed to that tree where the Crane used to sit and eat the fish.\n\n\"Crane dear,\" said he, \"aren't you going to put me in the lake?\"\n\n\"Crane dear, indeed!\" said the Crane, \"do you suppose I was born\nto carry crabs about? Not I! Just look at that heap of bones under\nyon tree! Those are the bones of the fish that used to live in your\npool. I ate them, and I'm going to eat you!\"\n\n\"Are you, though!\" said the Crab, and gave the Crane's neck a\nlittle nip.\n\nThen the Crane saw what a fool he had been to let a Crab put a claw\nround his neck. He knew that the Crab could kill him if he liked,\nand he was frightened to death at the thought. People who try to\ndeceive others often pay for it themselves; and that is what happened\nto the Crane.\n\n\"Dear Crab!\" said he, with tears streaming from his eyes, \"forgive\nme! I won't kill you, only let me go!\"\n\n\"Just put me in the lake, then,\" said the Crab.\n\nThe Crane stepped down to the lakeside, and laid the Crab upon the\nmud. And the Crab, as soon as he felt himself safe, nipped off the\nCrane's head as clean as if it had been cut with a knife.\n\nSo perished the treacherous Crane, caught by his own trick. And the\nCrab lived happily in the beautiful lake for the rest of his life.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUNION IS STRENGTH\n\n\nThere once was a clever Fowler who used to hunt quails. He could\nimitate the quail's note exactly; and when he had found a hiding-place,\nhe used to sit hidden in it, and call out the quail's note, until a\nnumber of quails had come together; then he threw a net over them,\nand bagged them all.\n\nBut amongst the quails was one very clever bird, and he hit on the\nfollowing device: He told the quails, when they felt the net drop over\nthem, that each one should pop his head through one of the meshes of\nthe net, and then at the word, away they should fly together.\n\nAll fell out as he arranged. Next day the Fowler sounded his imitation\nof the quail's note, and the birds flocked from far and near; then,\nwhen a good many had gathered in a clump within his reach, he cast the\nnet, which fell over them and made them all prisoners. They all did\nwhat the wise Quail had told them; each quail put his head through one\nof the meshes, then at a word they were all away together, bearing\nthe net with them. After some little time they saw a large bush,\nand dropped upon this bush; then the net was held up by the bush,\nwhile all the birds got away underneath.\n\nAgain and again this happened, until the Fowler began to despair;\nhe came home every night empty-handed, and besides that he had lost\never so many nets.\n\nWhy did he keep on trying to catch them, then? Because he thought\nthat sooner or later they would begin to quarrel, and then the game\nwould be his.\n\nAnd quarrel they soon did. One Quail happened to tread on another's\ntoe.\n\n\"What are you doing, clumsy?\" said the second Quail angrily.\n\n\"I'm very sorry,\" said the first; \"I really did not mean to tread on\nyour toe.\"\n\n\"You did!\"\n\n\"I tell you I didn't!\"\n\n\"What a lie!\"\n\n\"A lie, is it? Hoity, toity, how high-and-mighty we are, to be sure! I\nsuppose it is you lift up the net, all by yourself, when the man\nthrows it over us!\"\n\nAnd so they went on, getting angrier and angrier. And the result was,\nthat next day, when the fowler made his cast, said the first Quail\nto the second:\n\n\"Now then, Samson, lift away! They say that last time your feathers\nall fell off your head!\"\n\n\"Oh, indeed! They say that when you tried to lift, both your wings\nmoulted! Lift away, and let us see if it is true!\"\n\nBut while they were quarrelling, and each telling the other to lift\nthe net, the Fowler lifted it for them, and crammed them all together\ninto his basket, and took them home for supper.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSILENCE IS GOLDEN\n\n\nOnce upon a time a Lion had a she-jackal for his mate, and they had\na young one. This Cub was just like his sire to look at, in shape\nand colour, mane and claws; but in voice he took after his dam. So\nyou would fancy he was a lion, so long as he held his tongue.\n\nThis Cub used to play about with the young Lions, and merry times\nthey had to be sure, tumbling head over heels, and trying to knock\neach other down. One day, in the midst of their game, the mongrel\nCub thought he would frighten them; so he opened his mouth wide,\nintending to roar, and all that came out was a yelp like the yelp of\na jackal. The other young Lions were quite shocked; they could not\nimagine what strange creature this was. One of them went up to the\nold Lion, who was watching them, and said:\n\n\n        \"Lion's claws and lion's paws\n        Lion's feet to stand upon;\n        But the bellow of this fellow\n        Sounds not like a lion's son!\"\n\n\n\"You are right,\" said the old Lion; \"his dam was a Jackal.\" And then,\nturning to the poor Cub, who was looking very crestfallen, he said:\n\n\n        \"All will see what kind you be\n        If you yelp as once before;\n        So don't try it, but keep quiet,\n        Yours is not a lion's roar.\"\n\n\nThe poor Cub slunk away with his tail between his legs, while the other\nLions sniffed and turned up their noses at him. Ever after that he took\ngood care to hold his tongue when he was in the company of his betters.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GREAT YELLOW KING AND HIS PORTER\n\n\nOnce upon a time, in a great and rich city, reigned a mighty King,\nwho was called by the title of the Great Yellow King. This King was\nvery cruel to his people, and ground them like grist in the mill;\nhe robbed them of their goods, many he cast into prison, others he\nill-treated, cutting off an arm, or a leg, or blinding them, and some\nhe put to death without cause. He was just as bad at home; when he\nwas a boy he did nothing but tease his sisters, pulling their hair\nand putting spiders down their necks; and now that he was grown up he\nmade life a misery to wife and child. He was like a speck of dust that\ngets into your eye, or a thorn in the heel, or grit between your teeth.\n\nBut it is a long lane that has no turning; and at last the Great Yellow\nKing died. When a king or queen dies, people are generally very sorry,\nand wear mourning for them; but when the Great Yellow King died there\nwas such rejoicing and merriment as had not been known for many a\nlong day. All the shops were shut, and all the schools had a whole\nholiday; there were raree-shows and merry-go-rounds, and everybody\nhigh and low was half daft with joy.\n\nBut one man was not joyful. On the steps of the palace sat the Yellow\nKing's porter, sighing and sobbing, weeping and wailing. No one could\nunderstand it; everybody in the whole town was glad, and here was\nthis porter crying! At last some one asked him why he cried.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" said he. \"Was the Great Yellow King so kind to\nyou as all that? I never heard of his being kind to anybody!\"\n\n\"No, it isn't that!\" sobbed the man.\n\n\"Well, what is it then?\"\n\nThe man looked up and rubbed his eyes. \"Well,\" said he, \"I'll tell\nyou. When his majesty used to come out of his palace, down the steps,\nhe always gave me a cuff on the head, and another when he came\nback. What a fist his majesty had, to be sure! Now if he tries that\ngame on with the porter who sits by the gates of Death, I am very\nmuch afraid they won't have him there at any price, and then he will\ncome back to us!\"\n\nBut the other man laughed, and said, \"Don't be afraid of that,\nPorter! He's dead and done for, and however much they wish it, they\ncan never send him back to us again.\"\n\nSo the Porter was comforted, and wiped his eyes, and went to get a\nglass of beer.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE QUAIL AND THE FALCON\n\n\nThere once was a young Quail that lived on a farm. When the farmer\nploughed up the land, Quailie used to hop about over the clods and pick\nup seeds, or weeds, or worms, or anything that the plough turned up,\nand he ate these and lived on them.\n\nYou might think this was very nice for him; he had no trouble to find\nfood, because the ploughman turned it up; he had only to hop along\nafter the plough and peck. Not a bit of it; he must needs better\nhimself, as he said; so one fine day he flew away over the farm, away\nto the forest which fringed it; and, alighting on the ground just\nwhere the forest began, he looked about to see if there was anything\ngood to eat.\n\nUp in the air, just above the tree-tops, a Falcon was sailing, poised\non outstretched wings; as Quailie searched for worms, so the Falcon\nwas searching for quails; and lo and behold, he spied one! Down he\ncame with a swoop and a whirr, and in an instant the Quail was in\nhis crooked claws.\n\nWhat could poor Quailie do now? He twittered and fluttered, and at\nlast began to cry.\n\n\"Oh dear, oh dear!\" whimpered Quailie, the tears running down his\nbeak, \"what a fool I was to poach on other people's preserves! If\nI had only stayed at home this Falcon could never have caught me,\nnot even if he had come and tried!\"\n\n\"What's that, Quailie?\" asked the Falcon. \"Do you think I can't catch\nyou anywhere?\"\n\n\"Not on my own ground!\" cried the Quail.\n\n\"What do you mean by that?\"\n\n\"A ploughed field full of clods.\"\n\n\"Oh, nonsense, Quailie, clods won't help you. Just try; off you\ngo! I'll follow.\"\n\nThe Quail flew off, feeling as happy now as he was miserable a moment\ngone; and when he got back to his farm he picked out a big clod and\nperched on the top. \"Come on, Falcon!\" cried he; \"come on!\"\n\nDown came the Falcon with a swoop like a flash of lightning; but just\nas he came close the Quail dodged him nimbly and tumbled over the\nclod to the other side, leaving the Falcon to come full tilt against\nthe clod of earth; and so swift was he, that the shock killed him.\n\nSo the Quail found out how much better it is for most people to stick\nto what they are used to; and as for the Falcon, he might have thought,\nif he had been able to think at all, that a bird in the hand is worth\ntwo in the bush.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPRIDE MUST HAVE A FALL\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a beautiful wild Goose that lived in the\nmountains; he was King of the Geese, and he had a mate and two or\nthree fine young ones. But it had happened once that this Goose, in\nhis travels about the world, fell in with a young lady Crow, who was\nvery pretty; as black as jet, with two eyes like black beads, and she\nflirted and flouted so enchantingly that he had married her, like the\ngoose he was; so he had two wives, the little black Crow and the Goose.\n\nIn course of time this Crow laid a beautiful egg, all white with blue\nspots, and twice as big as an ordinary crow's egg. She was very proud\nof her egg, and sat on it for a longtime, until one day, pop! went\nthe egg, and out came a funny little chick. The Crow did not know\nwhat to make of this chick; he was not black, as she was, and he\nwas not white, like his father, but something betwixt and between,\na dingy grey with brown streaks. So she named him Streaky.\n\nBe sure that Streaky fancied himself mightily, being so very different\nfrom all the Crows he lived with; he was larger, to begin with,\nand then he had a very loud voice, with several different notes in\nit; not to mention his brown streaks, which made him a proud bird\nindeed. And I think the other Crows took him at his own price, as\nfoolish creatures are apt to do, and thought him very wonderful,\nthough he was really only a mongrel.\n\nNow the Goose, his father, used to pay a visit to the Crow colony now\nand again, flying down from the mountains to the dust-heap where they\nlived, outside the city gate. But he did not stay long, because the\nCrows used to feed on offal and dead bodies, in fact anything dirty\nthey could find; and King Goose could not get what he liked to eat.\n\nWell, once as he was talking to his sons, the young Geese, they asked\nhim why he was always going away for days at a time.\n\n\"Why,\" said he, \"I go to see a son of mine that lives somewhere else.\"\n\n\"Oh, how nice!\" said the Geese. \"Then he must be our brother. Do let\nus bring him here on a visit! Do, father!\"\n\nAt first the father Goose would not let them go, for fear of mischief;\nbut after a while he was persuaded, and gave them very careful\ndirections how to fly, and where to go, and how to find the place\nwhere Streaky lived, on the top of a tall palm-tree that grew out of\na dust-heap at the city gate.\n\nSo away they flew, and away they flew, till at last they saw the tall\npalm-tree; and on the very top of it, a big nest; and in the nest,\na little black Crow, and our funny friend Streaky.\n\nThey said \"How do you do?\" and told their errand; because they meant\nto go through with it now, although they did not much like the look\nof this ugly bird Streaky, with his airs and graces. Mrs. Crow was\nvery much pleased, but Streaky looked bored, and said:\n\n\"Aw, caw, I don't think I can fly all that way. It is really too\nmuch trouble. Why did not the Governor come to see me instead, as\nusual--aw?\" This rude bird called his father the Governor; you see,\nas he had been brought up among carrion crows, his manners were none\nof the best.\n\nThe young Geese began to like him less than ever. However, they put\na good face on it, and answered him:\n\n\"Well, Streaky, if you are as weak as all that, we will carry you on\na stick.\"\n\nThese Geese were very big, strong birds, and they thought nothing of\ncarrying Streaky. So they looked about until they found a strong stick,\nand then each of them took an end in his mouth, and Streaky perched\nin the middle. They could not say good-bye to Mrs. Crow, because\ntheir mouths were full of the stick, but they made her a nice bow,\nlike polite little Geese, and flew off.\n\nAs for Streaky, he was far too full of his own importance to say\ngood-bye to his mother, or even so much as \"Thank you\" to the two\nbirds who were so kindly carrying him. There he sat, on the middle\nof the stick, as proud as Punch, pluming his feathers, and feeling\nthat now all the world would see what a splendid bird he was.\n\nAs they flew over the city Streaky looked down, and saw the king of\nthe city, in a beautiful carriage drawn by four white thoroughbreds,\ndriving round the city in great state and grandeur. \"Aha!\" thought he,\n\"that's as it should be! But I'm every bit as good as he!\" and in\nhis joy he began to sing a little song which he made up on the spur\nof the moment, and here is his song:\n\n\n    \"As yonder king goes galloping with his milk-white four-in-hand,\n    Streaky has these, his pair of Geese, to carry him over the land!\"\n\n\nThe Geese were very angry when they heard Streaky sing this song. But\nthey were very well-bred Geese, as you must have seen already;\nso they said nothing at all to him then, but carried him safely to\ntheir home, and then they told their father what Streaky had said,\nso that he might do as he thought best.\n\nOld King Goose was more angry than they were, and was very sorry he\nhad left his son to be brought up by a Crow who knew no manners. So\nhe called Streaky, and this is what he said:\n\n\"Streaky, you have been very rude to your brothers, who are at least\nas good as you; and if you think they are like a pair of horses,\nto be driven about for your pleasure, you make a great mistake. So\nthe best thing you can do is to fly back to your mother; for your\nmanners suit the dust-heap better than the mountains.\"\n\nI don't know whether Streaky was ashamed of what he had said; creatures\nlike Streaky are very thick-skinned, and it takes a great deal to\nmake them ashamed; but anyhow he had to go back, and this time he\nmust fly by himself, for it was hardly likely that his brothers would\ncarry him when he had been so rude. He got back a few days later,\ntired and hungry, and spent the rest of his days on the dust-heap,\neating carrion. What his mother thought of it all I don't know;\nbut King Goose never went to see them any more.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOLD BEGGAR\n\n\nThere was once a King who was so fond of good eating and drinking that\nthey called him King Dainty. He often spent as much as a thousand\npounds on a single dish; which is great wastefulness, when you can\ndine heartily for a shilling. He thought that if people could not\neat things so nice as his, yet they must greatly enjoy seeing him\neat them. So he fitted up a beautiful tent outside his own door,\nand there he took his meals, sitting on a golden throne, under a\nwhite silk umbrella. Anybody who liked could see him eat his dinner\nwithout charge. This was very generous, wasn't it?\n\nA man who had often seen him eat thought he would like a taste of\nthe King's choice food. And this is what he did.\n\nHe came running towards the crowd who, as usual, were watching the\nKing eat his dinner, and shouted: \"News! news! news!\" Now at that time\nthere were no newspapers, and no posts, and no telegraphs; so any one\nwho brought news was sure of instant hearing. Accordingly the crowd\nmade way for him at once, and he ran up to the King, looking very\nmuch excited, and shouting \"News!\" Then he fell down before the King,\nas if he were faint with hunger, and gasped.\n\n\"Poor fellow!\" said the King. \"Give him something to eat.\" So they\npropped him up on a chair, and the King fed him out of his own dish,\nand gave him delicious wine to drink. The man made a hearty meal,\nI can tell you. They thought he never would finish; but he did finish\nat last, after an hour or two.\n\nThen the King said to him: \"Now, my good fellow, let us hear your\nnews.\"\n\n\"The news is, your Majesty,\" said the man, \"that an hour ago I was\nhungry, and now I am not!\"\n\nAll the people looked shocked at his impertinence. But the King only\nlaughed, and said: \"That news is true of most of us every day of\nour lives. Well, you are a bold fellow; this time you may go free,\nbut I advise you not to try it again.\"\n\nThe man bowed low, and went away happy in the success of his trick. I\ndon't know whether the King spent less money upon his dinner after\nthat, but I am quite sure that no one else got a meal at his table\nin the same way.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE JACKAL WOULD A-WOOING GO\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a family of Lions that lived in the\nHimalaya Mountains in a Golden Cave. They were three brothers and\none sister. Near by was a silver mountain with a Crystal Cave, and\nin this Crystal Cave lived a Jackal.\n\nThe young Lions used to be out all day, hunting, while their sister\nkept everything neat and tidy at home. When they caught anything\nthey used to keep a bit for her, because they were not greedy Lions,\nand they thought that if she did the work at home she deserved some\nof the game they got abroad.\n\nNow this Jackal fell violently in love with the young Lioness. She\nwas very beautiful, with soft brown fur, and large soft eyes, and\nfine whiskers; and he did not stop to think what a mongrel cur a\nJackal looks beside a Lion, how small, and sneaking, and snarling;\nso that it was the height of impertinence even to think of such a\nthing. He did think of it, and more, he actually proposed to the\nLioness! You shall hear how he did it.\n\nHe had the sense to wait until the three brothers had gone out hunting\nfor food; and then he came and tapped on the rock at the mouth of\nthe Golden Cave. The Lioness looked out, and very much surprised\nwas the Lioness to see the Jackal there. She knew him by sight,\nof course, as a neighbour; and, indeed, when he was in his Crystal\nCave you could always see him, perched up in the air as it might be;\nfor you can see through crystal like glass, and it looked just as\nif there were nothing there. But they were not on visiting terms,\nso the Lioness was surprised to see him come tapping at her door. She\ngave him a distant bow, and waited.\n\n\"Beautiful Lioness!\" said he, \"I love you! see how much we are\nalike! You have four feet, and so have I; clearly we are made for\none another. Will you marry me? We shall be so happy together!\"\n\nThis offer so astonished the Lioness that she could say nothing. She\nhated the vile creature, vilest of all creatures; that he should dare\nto address himself to a royal lioness! a scavenger to a queen! The very\nthought of the insult made her furious. She resolved that, after such\na thing as that had spoken to her, she might just as well die, either\nby holding her breath or by starving herself. As these thoughts passed\nthrough her mind the Jackal was waiting for his answer; but no answer\nhe got. This seemed a pretty broad hint that he was not wanted there;\nso he went home again, very woebegone, with his tail between his legs,\nand lay down in his Crystal Cave in much misery.\n\nBy-and-by the eldest brother of the Lioness came home again, with\na fine fat deer which he had killed. \"Here, sister,\" he called out,\n\"have a bit!\"\n\nShe put on a very gloomy air. \"No,\" she said, \"I think I shall have\nto die.\"\n\n\"Why, what on earth is the matter?\" asked he.\n\n\"A nasty, dirty Jackal came, and wanted to marry me!\"\n\n\"The brute!\" said her brother. \"Where is he?\"\n\n\"Can't you see him, lying up in the sky?\" You know the crystal was\ntransparent, and as she had never been there she could not tell he\nwas really in a cave.\n\nOff galloped the young Lion, furious with rage, and when he got near\nthe place where the Jackal was lying in his Crystal Cave, he leaped\nat him, when--crack! went his skull against the wall of crystal,\nand down fell the Lion--dead!\n\nJust as the Lioness was getting anxious about her eldest brother,\nthe second came in. She told him the same tale, though she was\nbeginning to be sorry that she was going to die. He had not hurt\nher, after all; and how nice the meat smelt! But the second Lion\ndid not give her much time to think; he growled, and off he went,\nleaped into the air, cracked his crown against the wall of crystal,\nand fell down dead beside his brother.\n\nNow when the third brother came in, the Lioness was quite sure she\ndidn't mean to die. However, she looked as gloomy as ever, and told\nher brother what had happened; he had better go out and see what\nwas become of the other two. Surely two Lions were a match for any\nJackal! Still, there he was, as before, up in the air.\n\n\"Up in the air?\" said the youngest brother, who was cleverer than all\nthe rest put together. \"Stuff and nonsense! Now let me think. There\nmust be something for him to lie upon; and yet you can see through\nit.\" He scratched his head with one paw and looked wise. \"I have\nit! Crystal, of course, or glass--that's what it is!\" So up he jumped,\nand when he got near the Crystal Cave, there were his two brothers,\ndead, with their skulls cracked right across like a teacup.\n\nHe sat down again, and scratched his head with the other paw. \"H'm! it\nlooks as though it may be difficult to get at this Jackal. However,\nI'll try kindness first. Jackie, Jackie dear!\" he called out.\n\nNow you must know that Lions have a very loud voice, and, if you\nhave heard them talking in the Zoo, you will know that even when\nthey want to coax and purr they are enough to frighten you. And so\nthe poor Jackal, who, after all, was not so bad as the proud Lioness\nmade out, when he heard the Lion coaxing him down, thought \"What an\nawful roar!\" His heart was beating very hard before, but this time it\ngave such a leap that something went snap! And the Jackal was dead too.\n\nThen the Lion looked up, and saw that the Jackal was dead. So he\nburied his brothers, and went and told his sister all about it. You\nmight expect her to be sorry that her two brave brothers were dead,\nall because she held her nose so high in the air; but not a bit of\nit; she was quite satisfied so long as one was left to catch food\nfor her. So she lived all the rest of her life in the Golden Cave,\nbut I never heard that any other animal asked her to marry him.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LION AND THE BOAR\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Lion who lived in the mountains, and\nhe used to drink water out of a beautiful lake. It so happened that,\nas he was drinking there one day, he saw a Boar feeding over on the\nopposite bank. Now he had just eaten a leg of elephant, and was not\nhungry; but he made a note of that Boar, thinking to himself what\na nice meal the Boar would make some other day. So, after drinking\nhis fill, he crawled quietly away through the bushes, hoping that\nthe Boar could not see him. But the Boar had sharp eyes, and did see\nhim. \"Hullo!\" said he to himself, \"yon Lion is afraid of me, that's\nclear! Ah well, he need not think to get off so easy. If he wants\nto go, he must fight me first!\" He puffed his chest out very big,\nand rubbed his tusks against a tree, then he called out:\n\n\n        \"Stay, stay, runaway!\n        Let us have a fight to-day!\n        You have four feet, so have I!\n        If you fail, you can but try!\"\n\n\nThe Lion could hardly believe his ears. What! a Boar challenge him\nto fight! He could break a Boar's back with a tap of his paw. Still,\nhe hid his astonishment at this impertinent Boar and only said:\n\n\"Please, Mr. Boar, let me off to-day, as I'm rather tired; I have\njust been wrestling with a fox. But, if you like, I will meet you\nhere this day week, and then we can fight it out between us.\"\n\nHe said this so humbly that the Boar became haughtier than ever. \"Oh,\nvery well,\" said he, \"it shall never be said I took a mean advantage\nof any one. This day week, then! Good-day to you.\"\n\nWhen he got home, his friends hardly knew him. Every bristle on his\nback was standing up straight; his little greedy eyes were gleaming;\nhe ran into the house, knocking over the pots and pans, snarling\nat his wife, and making himself very disagreeable indeed. At last\nthe other Boars protested, and said they would not stand it any\nlonger. \"Oho!\" says he, \"you defy a Boar that has killed a Lion! Come\non, then!\" and very fierce indeed he looked.\n\nKilled a Lion! They did open their eyes. \"Where is the Lion you have\nkilled?\" asked a pretty little sow, full of curiosity.\n\n\"Well, I haven't exactly killed him yet,\" said the Boar rather\nunwillingly. \"He is coming to be killed this day week.\"\n\n\"What on earth do you mean?\" his friends asked. He told them the story,\nbut he did not feel quite so bold now as he had felt before. And\nwhen he finished, he felt worse than ever; for one and all they set\nup such a weeping and wailing that the whole forest resounded with\nit! \"Oh dear, oh dear!\" they cried, \"you'll be the death of us! Kill a\nLion? Why, he will crunch you up in a trice, and then he'll come here,\nand we are all dead Boars!\"\n\nBy this time the poor Boar had lost all his conceit; you see he was\nan ignorant Boar, and did not know at all what the strength of a Lion\nis. So his heart was down in his toes, and all he wanted now was some\nway out of the mischief. Nobody could think of a way, until one very\nold and wise Boar advised him to roll in the mud till he was very\ndirty, because Lions are clean beasts and do not like dirt.\n\nSo every day he rolled and wallowed in the dirtiest places he could\nfind; and by the appointed time he was like a big cake of dirt. So\nwhen he came to the lake where he was to meet the Lion, the wind took\na whiff of him to the Lion, and the Lion gave a jump, and snuffed,\nand sneezed, and swished his tail, and cried out, \"Get to leeward,\nget to leeward! Here's a pretty trick! Well, you have saved your life;\nI would not touch you with a pair of tongs now!\" and, in great disgust\nhe went away, saying, as he went, this little rhyme:\n\n\n        \"Dirty Boar, I want no more,\n            You're saved from being eaten;\n        If you would fight, I yield me quite,\n            And own that I am beaten!\"\n\n\nYou may be sure that our friend the Boar did not wait any longer, but\nscampered off home. But when he got there, I am sorry to say he told\nall his friends he had beaten the Lion, and the Lion had run away! He\ncertainly had beaten the Lion in one way, but not in fair fight, so\nit was rather mean to pretend he had. However, nobody believed him,\nand the colony of Boars thought the best thing they could do was to get\naway from that place as fast as their four legs could carry them. \"If\nhe is beaten,\" said they with a wink, \"still, after all, he is a Lion.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOBLIN CITY\n\n\nLong, long ago, in the island of Ceylon, there was a large city full\nof nothing but Goblins. They were all She-goblins, too; and if they\nwanted husbands, they used to get hold of travellers and force them\nto marry; and afterwards, when they were tired of their husbands,\nthey gobbled them up.\n\nOne day a ship was wrecked upon the coast near the goblin city,\nand five hundred sailors were cast ashore. The She-goblins came down\nto the seashore, and brought food and dry clothes for the sailors,\nand invited them to come into the city. There was nobody else there\nat all; but for fear that the sailors should be frightened away,\nthe Goblins, by their magic power, made shapes of people appear all\naround, so that there seemed to be men ploughing in the fields, or\nshepherds tending their sheep, and huntsmen with hounds, and all the\nsights of the quiet country life. So, when the sailors looked round,\nand saw everything as usual, they felt quite secure; although, as\nyou know, it was all a sham.\n\nThe end of it was, that they persuaded the sailors to marry them,\ntelling them that their own husbands had gone to sea in a ship, and\nhad been gone these three years, so that they must be drowned and lost\nfor ever. But really, as you know, they had served others in just\nthe same way, and their last batch of husbands were then in prison,\nwaiting to be eaten.\n\nIn the middle of the night, when the men were all asleep, the\nShe-goblins rose up, put on their hats, and hurried down to the prison;\nthere they killed a few men, and gnawed their flesh, and ate them up;\nand after this orgie they went home again. It so happened that the\ncaptain of the sailors woke up before his wife came home, and not\nseeing her there, he watched. By-and-by in she came; he pretended\nto be asleep, and looked out of the tail of his eye. She was still\nmunching and crunching, and as she munched she muttered:\n\n\n        \"Man's meat, man's meat,\n        That's what Goblins like to eat!\"\n\n\nShe said it over and over again, then lay down; and soon she was\nsnoring loudly.\n\nThe captain was horribly frightened to find he had married a\nGoblin. What was he to do? They could not fight with Goblins, and\nthey were in the Goblins' power. If they had a ship they might have\nsailed away, because Goblins hate the water worse than a cat; but\ntheir ship was gone. He could think of nothing.\n\nHowever, next morning, he found a chance of telling his mates what\nhe had discovered. Some of them believed him, and some said he must\nhave been dreaming; they were sure their wives would not do such a\nthing. Those who believed him agreed that they would look out for a\nchance of escape.\n\nBut there was a kind fairy who hated those Goblins; and she determined\nto save the men. So she told her flying horse to go and carry them\naway. And accordingly, as the men were out for a walk next day,\nthe captain saw in the air a beautiful horse with large white and\ngold wings. The horse fluttered down, and hovered just above them,\ncrying out, in a human voice:\n\n\"Who wants to go home? who wants to go home? who wants to go home?\"\n\n\"I do, I do!\" called out the sailors.\n\n\"Climb up, then!\" said the horse, dropping within reach. So one\nclimbed up, and then another, and another; and, although the horse\nlooked no bigger than any other horse, there was room for everybody\non his back. I think that somehow, when they got up, the fairy made\nthem shrink small, till they were no bigger than so many ants, and thus\nthere was plenty of room for all. When all who wanted to go had got up\non his back, away flew the beautiful horse and took them safely home.\n\nAs for those who remained behind, that very night the Goblins set\nupon them and mangled them, and munched them to mincemeat.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLACKNOSE\n\n\nThere was once a Gardener who had no nose, and he had a very nice\ngarden full of beautiful flowers: roses, and pinks, and lilies,\nand violets, and all the prettiest flowers you can imagine.\n\nThree little boys thought they would like a bunch of flowers, but\nthey did not know how to get it. So one of them went into the garden\nand said:\n\n\"Good morning, Mr. Lacknose!\"\n\n\"Good morning, boy,\" said the Gardener.\n\nThe boy thought the best thing he could do was to flatter the old\nfellow, so he had made up a verse of poetry that he thought very\npretty, and so he said to the Gardener:\n\n\n        \"Cut, and cut, and cut again,\n        Hair and whiskers grow amain:\n        And your nose will grow like these:\n        Give me a little posy, please!\"\n\n\nThe Gardener knew very well that his nose would not grow again like\nhis whiskers, and he thought the little boy rather rude to mention it;\nso he became angry.\n\n\"Go away!\" said he, \"and get your posy somewhere else!\"\n\nThe boy went away disappointed; but the second boy thought he would\ntry his luck too. Perhaps the first boy had not spoken nicely; and\nhe had made a verse of poetry too, which he thought would just suit\nthe old Gardener. So in he came with \"Good morning, Mr. Lacknose!\"\n\n\"Good morning, boy,\" said the old man. \"And what do you want?\"\n\nThen the boy put on a coaxing smile, and said:\n\n\n        \"In the autumn seeds are sown,\n        And ere long they're fully grown;\n        May your nose sprout up like these!\n        Give me a little posy, please!\"\n\n\n\"There!\" he thought, \"the old fellow will like that, because he is a\nGardener.\" But not a bit of it! The Gardener saw through his trick,\nand was angrier than ever.\n\n\"Be off!\" said he, \"or I'll be after you with a stick! Plant a nose,\nindeed! You had better go somewhere and learn manners before you ask\nfor my flowers!\"\n\nSo the second boy went away faster than the first.\n\nBut the third boy was an honest little boy, and knew that there is\nnothing like the truth; so he determined to try what truth could\ndo. He walked modestly into the garden and said:\n\n\"Good morning, sir!\"\n\n\"What, another of 'em!\" growled the Gardener to himself. \"Another pack\nof lies, I suppose!\" He would hardly look at the boy. But the boy,\nnothing daunted, repeated his verse:\n\n\n        \"Babbling fools! to think that they\n        Can get a posy in this way!\n        Say they yes, or say they no,\n        Noses cut no more will grow.\n        See, I ask you honestly:\n        Give a posy, sir, to me!\"\n\n\nThe Gardener was so pleased to find a straightforward and honest\nlittle boy, that he took his scissors and cut a most beautiful bunch\nof flowers, which he gave the boy with a smile. The boy said, \"Thank\nyou, sir, very much!\" and went away delighted.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE KING'S LESSON\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a very good King, whose name was\nGodfrey. Of course, when a man is King, everybody is ready to call him\ngood; but this King really was good. He used to hold courts of justice\nfor people to come to when they had a quarrel; and he decided all the\ncases so wisely that nobody durst bring an unjust cause before him. So\nafter a while the result was, that the courts became empty; all the\nrustle and bustle was quiet, the wigs and gowns were hung up on pegs,\nand as dusty as dusty could be; and nobody had any quarrels at all.\n\n\"What a blessing!\" thought King Godfrey to himself. \"Now we have a\nlittle peace. And they say it's all my doing! I wonder if I am really\nas good as people make me out. Suppose I try to see?\" No sooner said\nthan done with this King. He asked one and he asked another; he begged\nand prayed them to tell him of his faults, so that he might mend them;\nbut no, they said they really could not tell him of his faults, when he\nhad none to tell of. He tried in the palace, he tried in the city; high\nand low, to and fro, it was just the same: all praise and no blame.\n\n\"Well, upon my word,\" thought the King, \"I had no idea I was such a\ngood fellow. Still, who knows what they say behind my back? Happy\nthought! I'll disguise myself, and that will soon show me the\ntruth.\" So he dressed himself like a traveller, and got a carriage\nand pair, and drove all over the country, asking everybody what they\nthought of the King. Wonder of wonders! they said the same behind\nhis back as they did to his face! That must have been a very nice\ncountry to live in, but I am sure I cannot tell where it is.\n\nNow in such a strange country as that, strange things will happen;\nand so it turned out that, as our King was driving along, he came to\na narrow lane sunk between two steep banks, with only just room for\nthe carriage; and right in the middle of this lane another carriage\nmet him. There they stood, both of them, and neither would budge. Our\nKing did not know who was in that carriage, but I will tell you who\nit was. This was the King of the next country, who was also a good\nking as kings go, though not so good as the first; and he had got\nthe same idea into his head, that he would wander about in disguise,\nand find out what people thought of him. Everybody had a good word\nfor him too, it seems; but if he found no one to pick faults in him\nbefore, here was one now, as you shall see.\n\n\"Get out of the way!\" said the driver of the other carriage.\n\n\"Get out of the way yourself!\" said King Godfrey's man. \"I have a King\ninside,\" said he; you see, he knew who the disguised traveller was,\nand he thought there was no need to hide it now, when it might save\nhim trouble.\n\n\"If you have one King, I have another!\" said the other man; and\nimagine how astonished King Godfrey's coachman was to hear that.\n\n\"Oh dear, oh dear,\" he said, \"what is to be done? Both Kings! How old\nis your King?\" he added suddenly, hoping, you see, that the younger\nmight be willing to give way.\n\n\"Fifty.\"\n\n\"Fifty! So is mine! And how rich is he? \"\n\nBut it turned out they were just the same in that point; and though\nhe cudgelled his brains to find out some difference, there seemed\nto be none; their kingdoms were exactly the same size, with exactly\nthe same number of people in them, and their ancestors had been just\nas brave and glorious in peace or war. In fact, they were as like as\ntwo peas in a pod.\n\nAll this time the horses were champing their bits and pawing the\nground, as if they would like to jump over each other's heads; and I\ndaresay the Kings were getting impatient too, though they were much\ntoo dignified to say anything. And there they might have stayed till\ndoomsday, but that King Godfrey's coachman hit on a fine idea. He\nsuggested that perhaps one of them was a better King than the other;\nwhat were his master's virtues, would the other coachman kindly\ntell him?\n\nThe other coachman had his answer all ready, in poetry too, and this\nit was:\n\n\n\"Rough to the rough, my mighty King the mild with mildness sways,\nMasters the good by goodness, and the bad with badness pays:\nGive place, give place, O driver! such are this monarch's ways!\"\n\n\n\"H'm,\" said King Godfrey's driver, \"tit for tat is all very well,\nbut I shouldn't call it virtue to pay out a bad man in his own coin.\"\n\n\"Oh, well,\" says the other in a huff, \"you can call it vice if you\nlike; and I should be very glad to hear all your King's virtues,\nif you laugh at mine!\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" said King Godfrey's coachman; and, not to be beaten,\nhe did his answer into poetry, like the other:\n\n\n\"He conquers wrath by mildness, the bad with goodness sways,\nBy gifts the miser vanquishes and lies with truth repays.\nGive place, give place, O driver! such are this monarch's ways!\"\n\n\nThen the other man felt he had met his match. \"I can't cap that,\"\nsaid he; \"your master is better than mine.\" And the new King, who\nhad not said a word all this time, thought it was time to be moving;\nperhaps he had been asleep; anyhow, he was not at all angry with his\ncoachman, but out he got, and they let the horses loose, and pulled\nthe carriage up on the slope to let King Godfrey pass by. But King\nGodfrey, before he went on, gave the other King a little good advice,\nwhich the King promised to take; for in that strange country people\nused to follow good advice sometimes. And then they said \"Good-bye,\"\nand both went back home again, and both of them ruled their countries\nwell until they died. The other King, we may be sure, was all the\nbetter for that lesson; and I hope Godfrey did not become conceited in\nthat strange country, as he would have been if he lived here with us.\n\n\n\n\n                                 FINIS\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTE\n\n\n[1] The Jataka; or Stories of the Buddha's former\nBirths. Translated from the Pali by various hands, under the\neditorship of Professor E. B. Cowell. Vol. I., translated by\nR. Chalmers, B.A. (1895). Vol. II., translated by W. H. D. Rouse,\nM.A. (1895). Vol. III., translated by H. T. Francis, M.A., and\nR. A. Neil, M.A. (1897). Vol. IV., in preparation. All the stories\nbut two come from the second volume of this work.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":22807}