{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37464/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37464","id":"gutenberg_37464","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37464","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's stories","Fairy tales"],"text":"BEDTIME WONDER TALES\n                 BY\n          CLIFTON JOHNSON\n\n  Hop-o'-My-Thumb\n  The Babes in the Wood\n  The Brave Tin Soldier\n  The Fox and the Little Red Hen\n  Golden Hair and the Three Bears\n\n  Cinderella\n  Puss in Boots\n  Jack and the Beanstalk\n  Little Red Riding-Hood\n  The Story of Chicken-Licken\n\n  Bluebeard\n  Tom Thumb\n  The Pied Piper\n  The Sleeping Beauty\n  St. George and the Dragon\n\n    Other books will be added to\n   the series from time to time.\n\n\n                   *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n[Illustration: _Bluebeard's Wife and the Forbidden Room (Page 16)_]\n\n\nBedtime Wonder Tales\n\nBLUEBEARD\n\nby\n\nCLIFTON JOHNSON\n\nIllustrated by Harry L. Smith\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew York\nThe Macaulay Company\nPublishers\n\nCopyright, 1920,\nBy the Macaulay Company\nAll Rights Reserved\n\nPrinted in the U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY NOTE\n\nThe books in this series of Bedtime Wonder Tales are made up of favorite\nstories from the folklore of all nations. Such stories are particularly\nenjoyed by children from four to twelve years of age. As here told they\nare free from the savagery, distressing details, and excessive pathos\nwhich mar many of the tales in the form that they have come down to us\nfrom a barbaric past. But there has been no sacrifice of the simplicity\nand humor and sweetness that give them perennial charm.\n\nThe sources of the stories in this volume are as follows: Page 11,\nFrance; 24, Grimm; 36, England; 49, Hindustan; 58, Italy; 78, Germany;\n90, Scotland; 103, Japan; 118, Ireland; 127, American Negro.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n    CHAPTER                              PAGE\n          I Bluebeard                      11\n         II The Blood-Stained Key          17\n        III A Goblin in a Bottle           24\n         IV A Scholar's Fortune            32\n          V Yallery Brown                  36\n         VI A Troublesome Helper           43\n        VII The Little Jackal              49\n       VIII The Blind Ogre                 58\n         IX Seven Doves                    64\n          X Time and His Mother            71\n         XI Blockhead Hans                 78\n        XII The Rival Suitors              85\n       XIII Cunning Tom                    90\n        XIV A Miser's Hired Man            96\n         XV The Boy in a Peach            103\n        XVI A Warrior's Helpers           108\n       XVII The Island of Demons          113\n      XVIII Andrew Coffey                 118\n        XIX Careless Mr. Buzzard          127\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n     Bluebeard's Wife and the Forbidden Room            Frontispiece\n     The Goblin Threatens the Scholar                             28\n     The Alligator Goes to the Jackal's House                     54\n     Appealing to the Mother of Time                              72\n     Blockhead Hans and the Dead Crow                             82\n     The Monkey and the Warrior                                  110\n\n\n\n\nBLUEBEARD--AND OTHER FOLKLORE STORIES\n\n\n\n\nI--BLUEBEARD\n\n\nOnce upon a time--but it was a long while ago; so long, indeed, that the\noldest oaks in our forests were not yet acorns on the bough--there was a\nman who lived in a splendid house and had dishes of gold and silver,\nchairs and sofas covered with flowered satin, and curtains of the\nrichest silk. But, alas! this man was so unlucky as to have a blue\nbeard, which made him look so frightfully ugly that the first impulse of\nevery woman and girl he met was to run away from him.\n\nIn the same vicinity lived a lady of quality who had two beautiful\ndaughters, and he wished to marry one of them. He was even willing to\nlet the lady decide which of the two it should be.\n\nNeither of the daughters, however, would have him, and the lady sighed\nto think of her children's obstinacy in refusing to become the mistress\nof such a magnificent mansion. But they were not able to make up their\nminds to marry a man with a blue beard. Their aversion was increased by\nthe fact that he already had had several wives, and no one knew surely\nwhat had become of them, though many were the excuses he made to account\nfor their disappearance.\n\nAt length Bluebeard, in order to cure the dislike of the lady's\ndaughters, invited them and their mother and some young friends to spend\na whole week at his house. They came, and nothing was thought of but\nfeasting, dancing, and music, and parties for hunting and fishing.\n\nThe guests were loaded with costly gifts and were so delightfully\nentertained that before many days had passed, Fatima, the younger of the\ntwo sisters, began to imagine that the beard, which she had thought was\ndreadfully ugly was not so _very_ blue after all. By the end of the week\nthe kindness of her host had made such an impression that she concluded\nit would be a pity to refuse to become his wife on account of the\ntrifling circumstance of his having a blue beard.\n\nSo they were married shortly afterward, and at first everything went\nwell. A month passed, and one morning Bluebeard told Fatima that he must\ngo on a journey which would take him away for at least six weeks. He\nkissed her affectionately, gave her the keys of the whole mansion, and\nbade her amuse herself in any manner that she pleased while he was gone.\n\n\"But, my dear,\" he added, in concluding, \"I would have you notice among\nthe keys the small one of polished steel. It unlocks the little room at\nthe end of the long corridor. Go where you will and do what you choose,\nexcept in the matter of that one room, which I forbid your entering.\"\n\nFatima promised faithfully to obey his orders, and she watched him get\ninto his carriage while she stood at the door of the mansion waving her\nhand to him as he drove away.\n\nLest she should be lonesome during her husband's absence, she invited\nnumerous guests to keep her company. Most of them had not dared to\nventure into the house while Bluebeard was there, but now they came\nwithout any urging or delay, eager to see its splendors.\n\nThey ran about upstairs and downstairs, peeping into the closets and\nwardrobes, admiring the rooms, and exclaiming over the beauties of the\ntapestries, sofas, cabinets, and tables, and of the mirrors in which\nthey could see themselves from head to foot. With one consent they\npraised what they saw, and envied the good fortune of their friend, the\nmistress of all this magnificence.\n\nShe went around unlocking the doors for their convenience until the only\ndoor that remained untouched was that of the obscure room at the end of\nthe long corridor. She wondered why she had been forbidden to enter that\nroom. What was there in it? Even if she did go in, her husband need\nnever know that she had done so.\n\nThe more she thought about it the more curious she became. Finally she\nleft her guests and hurried along the dark narrow passage that led to\nthe forbidden room. At the door she hesitated, recalling her husband's\ncommand, and fearful of his anger; but the temptation was too strong,\nand she tremblingly opened the door.\n\nThe window shutters were closed and the light was so dim that at first\nshe could see nothing. However, her eyes gradually became used to the\ndusk and she discovered that on the floor lay the bodies of all the\nwives Bluebeard had married.\n\nFatima uttered a cry of horror, her strength left her, and she thought\nshe would die from fear. The key of the room fell from her hand, but she\npicked it up, hastily retreated to the corridor, and locked the door.\n\nYet she could not forget what she had seen, and when she returned to her\nguests her mind was too disturbed for her to attend to their comfort, or\nto attempt to entertain them. One by one they bade their hostess good-by\nand went home, until no one was left with her but her sister Anne.\n\n\n\n\nII--THE BLOOD-STAINED KEY\n\n\nAfter all the guests had gone, Fatima noticed a spot of blood on the key\nof the fatal room. She tried to wipe it off, but the spot remained. Then\nshe washed the key with soap and scoured it with sand, but her efforts\nwere in vain, for it was a magic key, and only Bluebeard himself had the\npower to remove the stain. At last she decided not to put it with the\nother keys, but to hide it, hoping her husband would not miss it.\n\nBluebeard returned unexpectedly that very evening. He said a horseman\nhad met him on the road and told him that the business which had taken\nhim from home had been satisfactorily settled so there was no need of\nhis making the long journey.\n\nFatima tried to welcome her husband with every appearance of pleasure,\nbut all the time she was dreading the moment when he should ask for the\nkeys. This he did not do until the following morning. Then she gave them\nto him with such a blanched face and shaking hand that he easily guessed\nwhat had happened.\n\n\"Why have you not brought me the key of the little room?\" he asked\nsternly.\n\n\"I must have left it on my table upstairs,\" she faltered.\n\n\"Bring it to me at once,\" Bluebeard said, and she was forced to go and\nmake a pretence of searching for it.\n\nWhen she dared delay no longer, she went to her husband and surrendered\nthe key. He immediately demanded the cause of the stain on it, and she\nhesitated, at a loss what reply to make.\n\n\"But why need I ask?\" he shouted. \"I know the meaning of it right well.\nYou have disobeyed my commands and have been into the room I ordered you\nnot to enter. So you shall go in again, madam, but you will never\nreturn. You shall take your place among the ladies you saw there.\"\n\nFatima fell on her knees at his feet weeping and begging for mercy, but\nthe cruel man had a heart like a stone, and he told her to prepare for\ndeath.\n\n\"Since I must die,\" she said, \"at least grant me a little time to say my\nprayers.\"\n\n\"I will give you ten minutes, but not one moment more,\" Bluebeard\nresponded.\n\nPoor Fatima hastened to a little turret chamber whither her sister had\nfled in terror and grief. \"Sister Anne!\" she cried, \"go up to the top of\nthe tower and see if our two brothers are coming. They promised to visit\nme today. If they should be in sight beckon them to come quickly.\"\n\nSo the sister climbed the narrow staircase that led to the top of the\ntower. No sooner did she finish the ascent than Fatima called from\nbelow, \"Anne, Sister Anne, do you see any one coming?\"\n\nAnne replied sadly, \"I see nothing but the sun shining and the grass\ngrowing tall and green.\"\n\nSeveral times Fatima put the same question and each time she received\nthe same answer.\n\nMeanwhile Bluebeard was waiting with a scimitar in one hand and his\nwatch in the other. At length he shouted in a fierce voice: \"The ten\nminutes are almost gone! Make an end to your prayers!\"\n\n\"Anne, Sister Anne!\" Fatima called softly, \"look again. Is there no one\non the road?\"\n\n\"I see a cloud of dust rising in the distance,\" Anne answered.\n\n\"Perchance it is made by our brothers,\" Fatima said.\n\n\"Alas! no, my dear sister,\" Anne responded. \"The dust has been raised by\na flock of sheep.\"\n\n\"Fatima!\" Bluebeard roared, \"I command you to come down.\"\n\n\"One moment--just one moment more!\" the wretched wife sobbed.\n\nThen she called, \"Anne, Sister Anne, do you see any one coming?\"\n\n\"I see two horsemen riding in this direction,\" Anne replied, \"but they\nare a great way off.\"\n\n\"They must be our brothers,\" Fatima said. \"Heaven be praised! Oh, sign\nto them to hasten!\"\n\nBy this time the enraged Bluebeard was howling so loud for his wife to\ncome down that his voice shook the whole mansion. Fatima dared delay no\nlonger, and she descended to the great hall, threw herself at her wicked\nhusband's feet, and once more begged him to spare her life.\n\n\"Silence!\" Bluebeard cried. \"Your entreaties are wasted! You shall die!\"\n\nHe seized her by the hair and raised his scimitar to strike. At that\nmoment a loud knocking was heard at the gates, and Bluebeard paused with\na look of alarm.\n\nAnne had run down to let the brothers in, and they hurried to the hall,\nflung open the door, and appeared with swords ready drawn in their\nhands. They rushed at Bluebeard, and one rescued his sister from her\nhusband's grasp while the other gave the wretch a sword-thrust that put\nan end to his life.\n\nSo the wicked Bluebeard perished, and Fatima became mistress of all his\nriches. Part of her wealth she bestowed on her sister, Anne, and part on\nher two brothers. The rest she retained herself, and presently she\nmarried a man whose kind treatment helped her to forget her unfortunate\nexperience with Bluebeard.\n\n\n\n\nIII--A GOBLIN IN A BOTTLE\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor woodcutter who worked from daylight to\ndark, and as he spent little he saved some money. He had an only son,\nand one day he said to him: \"This money which I have earned by the sweat\nof my brow shall be spent on your education. Go to school and learn\nsomething useful that you may be able to support me in my old age when\nmy limbs become so stiff that I am obliged to sit at home.\"\n\nThe son went away to a great school and was very industrious and made\nexcellent progress. He had been at the school a long time, but had not\nlearned all that was to be learned when his father's store of money was\nexhausted, and he was obliged to come home.\n\n\"I can give you no more,\" his father said sadly, \"for in these dear\ntimes I am scarcely able to earn my daily bread.\"\n\n\"Make yourself easy as to that, my good father,\" the son responded. \"I\nwill suit myself to the times.\"\n\nWhen the father was about to go to the forest to chop, the son said, \"I\nwill go with you and help.\"\n\n\"Ah! but you have never been used to such hard work,\" the father\nobjected. \"You must not attempt it. Besides, I have only one ax and no\nmoney to buy another.\"\n\n\"Go and ask your neighbor to lend you an ax till I have earned enough to\nbuy one for myself,\" the son said.\n\nSo the father borrowed an ax, and he and the scholar went together to\nthe forest, where the young man helped with the work and was very lively\nand merry. About noon, when the sun stood right over their heads, the\nfather sat down to rest for a while and eat his dinner.\n\nThe scholar, however, took his share of bread and said: \"I am not tired.\nI will go a little deeper into the forest and look for birds' nests.\"\n\n\"Oh, you silly fellow!\" his father exclaimed, \"why do you want to run\nabout? You will get so weary you will not be able to raise your arm.\nKeep quiet a bit and sit down here with me.\"\n\nBut the young man would not do that. He went off among the trees eating\nhis bread and peeping about among the bushes for nests. To and fro he\nwandered until he came to an immense hollow oak tree. The tree was\ncertainly hundreds of years old, and five men taking hold of hands could\nnot have reached around it.\n\nThe scholar had stopped to look at this great tree thinking that many a\nbird's nest must be built within its hollow trunk when he fancied he\nheard a voice. He listened and there came to his ears a half-smothered\ncry of \"Let me out!\"\n\nHe looked around, but could see no one. Indeed, it seemed to him that\nthe voice came from the ground. So he called, \"Where are you?\"\n\nThe voice replied, \"Here I am among the roots of the oak tree. Let me\nout! Let me out!\"\n\nThe scholar therefore began to search at the foot of the tree where the\nroots spread. Finally in a little hollow, he found a glass bottle. He\npicked it up and held it so he could look through toward the light. Then\nhe perceived a thing inside shaped like a frog which kept jumping up and\ndown.\n\n\"Let me out! Let me out!\" the thing cried again; and the scholar, not\nsuspecting any evil, drew the stopper from the bottle.\n\nImmediately the little creature sprang forth, and it grew and grew until\nin a few moments it stood before the scholar a frightful goblin half as\ntall as the oak tree. \"Do you know what your reward is for letting me\nout of that glass bottle?\" the goblin cried with a voice of thunder.\n\n\"No,\" the scholar answered without fear, \"how should I?\"\n\n\"Then I will tell you that I must break your neck,\" the goblin\nannounced.\n\n\"You should have told me that before,\" the scholar said, \"and you would\nhave stayed where you were. But my head will remain on my shoulders in\nspite of you, for there are several people's opinions to be asked yet\nabout this matter.\"\n\n[Illustration: _The Goblin Threatens The Scholar_]\n\n\"Keep your people out of my way,\" the goblin snarled. \"I was shut up in\nthat bottle for a punishment, and I have been kept there for such a\nlength of time that I long ago vowed I would kill whoever let me out for\nnot coming to release me sooner. So I shall break your neck.\"\n\n\"Softly, softly!\" the scholar responded, \"that is quicker said than\ndone. I don't know whether to believe your word or not. You told me you\nwere in that bottle. But how could such a giant as you are get into so\nsmall a space? Prove that you spoke the truth by retiring into the\nbottle, and afterward do what you please with me.\"\n\nFull of pride, the goblin boasted, \"I can easily furnish you the proof\nyou ask\"; and he shrank and shrank until he was as small as before. Then\nhe crept back into the bottle.\n\nInstantly the scholar replaced the stopper, and put the bottle once more\nwhere it had been among the oak roots. He picked up his ax and was about\nto go back to his father when the goblin cried lamentably: \"Oh, let me\nout! Do let me out.\"\n\n\"No, not a second time,\" the scholar said. \"I shall not give you a\nchance to take my life again in a hurry, after I have got you safe.\"\n\n\"Free me,\" the goblin pleaded, \"and I will give you wealth that will\nlast you your life-time.\"\n\n\"No, no, you will only deceive me!\" the scholar declared.\n\n\"You are disregarding your own best interests,\" the goblin said.\n\"Instead of harming you I will reward you richly.\"\n\n\"Well, I will hazard letting him out,\" the scholar thought, \"for he may\nafter all keep his word.\"\n\nThen he addressed the goblin, saying: \"I will release you. See to it\nthat you do as you have promised.\"\n\nSo he removed the stopper and the goblin jumped out and soon became as\nbig as before. \"Now you shall have your reward,\" the monster said, and\nhe reached the scholar a little piece of rag. \"Apply that to a wound,\nand the wound will at once heal,\" he explained; \"or touch it to iron and\nthe iron will change to silver.\"\n\n\"I will try it,\" the scholar responded, and he went to the oak tree and\nslashed off a piece of bark with his ax. Then he touched the place with\nthe rag, and immediately the wound closed up as if the bark had never\nbeen gashed at all.\n\n\"That is quite satisfactory,\" the scholar said. \"Now we can separate.\"\n\n\"I thank you for releasing me,\" the goblin remarked as he turned away.\n\n\"And I thank you heartily for your present,\" the scholar said.\n\n\n\n\nIV--A SCHOLAR'S FORTUNE\n\n\nAfter parting from the goblin, the young man went back to his father,\nwho asked:\n\n\"Where have you been roaming so long? You have neglected your work. I\nwas quite certain you would do nothing of this kind well.\"\n\n\"Be contented,\" was the son's response, \"I will make up the lost time.\nWatch me while I cut down this tree at one blow.\"\n\nHe rubbed his ax with the magic rag, and gave the tree a powerful blow,\nbut because the ax-head had been changed into silver the edge turned\nover.\n\n\"Ah, Father!\" the son exclaimed, \"do you see how poor an ax you have\ngiven me?\"\n\n\"What have you done?\" the father cried. \"That ax was borrowed, and you\nhave ruined it. I must pay for it, but I know not how I shall do so.\"\n\n\"Don't be troubled,\" the son said. \"I will soon pay for the ax.\"\n\n\"Why, you simpleton! how will you do that?\" his father retorted. \"You\nhave nothing but what I give you. Some student nonsense is stuck in your\nhead. Of wood-cutting you know nothing.\"\n\n\"Well, Father,\" the son said, \"I can work no more today now that my ax\nis spoiled. Let us make a holiday of the few hours that remain before\nsunset.\"\n\n\"Eh, what?\" his father cried, \"do you think I can keep my hands in my\npockets as you do? You can go home, but I must keep on with the\nchopping.\"\n\n\"No,\" the son objected, \"you must come, too, for this is the first time\nI have been in the forest, and I do not know the way out.\"\n\nAt last he persuaded his father to accompany him. After they reached\nhome the son took the damaged ax to a goldsmith in a neighboring town.\n\"This ax-head is silver,\" the scholar told him. \"I want to sell it.\"\n\nThe goldsmith tested it to make sure of the quality of the metal,\nweighed it, and said, \"Your ax is worth one hundred dollars, but I have\nnot so much money in the shop.\"\n\n\"Give me what you have,\" the scholar requested, \"and I will trust you\nfor the rest.\"\n\nSo the goldsmith gave him eighty dollars, and the scholar tramped back\nhome. \"Father,\" he said, \"I have some money now. Do you know what we\nwill have to pay our neighbor to make good the loss of his ax?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" the father answered, \"the ax was nearly new, and it cost him a\ndollar.\"\n\n\"Then give him two dollars,\" the son said. \"He will have no regrets when\nhe gets double payment. Here are fifty dollars. Pay our neighbor and\nkeep the rest for yourself. You shall live at your ease in future and\nnever want again.\"\n\n\"My goodness!\" the man exclaimed, \"where did you get this money?\"\n\nThe son told everything that had happened. He now could easily procure\nall the money he pleased, and the first use he made of his wealth was to\nreturn to school and learn as much as he could. Afterward, because he\ncould heal all wounds with his rag, he became the most celebrated\nsurgeon in the world.\n\n\n\n\nV--YALLERY BROWN\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a lad about eighteen years old named Tom\nTiver who had hired out to work for a farmer. One beautiful Sunday night\nin July he was walking across a field. The weather was warm and still,\nand the air was full of little sounds as if the trees and grasses were\nsoftly chattering to themselves.\n\nBut all at once there came from on ahead the most pitiful wailings that\never he had heard--a sobbing as of a child spent with fear and nearly\nheartbroken. Soon the sound changed to a moan, and then rose again in a\nlong whimpering wailing that made Tom sick to hark to it. He began to\nlook everywhere for the poor creature.\n\n\"It must be Sally Barton's child,\" he thought. \"She was always a flighty\nthing and never looks after it properly. Like as not she's flaunting\nabout the lanes, and has clean forgot the baby.\"\n\nHe looked and looked, yet he could see nought. Meanwhile the whimpering\ngot louder and stronger and there seemed to be words of some sort\nmingled with the sobs. Tom harkened with all his ears, and heard the\nunhappy creature saying: \"Oh! the stone, the great big stone! Oh! the\nstone on top!\"\n\nHe wondered where the stone might be, and he looked until he found,\nclose to a hedge, a great flat stone almost buried in the earth and\nhidden in the matted grass and weeds. Down he fell on his knees and\nlistened again. Clearer than ever, but tired with crying came the little\nsobbing voice, \"Oh! oh! the stone, the stone on top!\"\n\nTom was scared, and he disliked to meddle with the thing, but he could\nnot withstand the whimpering baby, and he tore like mad at the earth\naround the stone till he got his fingers under it and felt it loosening.\nThen a puff of warm air came out of the damp earth and the tangle of\ngrass and growing things, and he tipped the stone back out of the way.\n\nUnderneath where it had been was a cavity, and there lay a tiny thing on\nits back blinking up at the moon and at him. It was no bigger than a\nyear old baby, but it had a great mass of hair and a heavy beard, and\nthe hair and the beard were so long and so twisted round and round the\ncreature's body that Tom could not see its clothes. The hair was yellow\nand silky like a child's, but the face of the thing was as old as if it\nhad not been young and smooth for hundreds of years. There were just\nwrinkles and two bright black eyes set in a lot of shining yellow hair;\nand the skin was the color of fresh-turned earth in the spring--brown as\nbrown could be--and its bare hands and feet were as brown as its face.\nThe crying had stopped, but the tears were standing on its cheeks, and\nthe tiny creature looked dazed in the moonshine and the night air.\n\nWhen its eyes got used to the moonlight it looked boldly up in Tom's\nface and said: \"Tom, you are a good lad.\"\n\nThe coolness with which it spoke was astonishing, and its voice was high\nand piping like the twittering of a little bird. Tom touched his hat,\nand tried to think what he ought to say.\n\n\"Hoots!\" the thing exclaimed, \"you needn't be afraid of me. You have\ndone me a good turn, and I'll do as much for you.\"\n\nTom couldn't speak yet, but he thought, \"Lord! for sure it's a bogle!\"\n\nThe creature seemed to know what passed in Tom's mind, for it instantly\nsaid: \"I'm no bogle, but you'd better not ask what I am. Anyhow, I am a\ngood friend of yours.\"\n\nTom's knees smote together with terror. Certainly an ordinary body\ncouldn't have known what he had been thinking, but the thing looked so\nkind and spoke so fair, that he made bold to say in a quavering voice,\n\"Might I be asking to know your honor's name?\"\n\n\"H'm!\" the creature said, pulling its beard, \"as for that, you may call\nme Yallery Brown. That's the way I look as you plainly see, and 'twill\ndo for a name as well as any other. I am your friend, Yallery Brown, my\nlad.\"\n\n\"Thank you, master,\" Tom responded meekly.\n\n\"And now,\" it said, \"I'm in a hurry to-night. So tell me without delay\nwhat I can do for you. Would you like a wife? I can give you the finest\nlass in the town. Would you like riches? I can give you as much gold as\nyou can carry. Or would you have me help you with your work? Only say\nthe word.\"\n\nTom scratched his head. \"I have no hankering for a wife,\" he said.\n\"Wives are bothersome bodies, and I have women folk at home who will\nmend my clothes. Gold is worth having, but if you could lighten my work\nthat would suit me best of all. I can't abide work, and I'll thank--\"\n\n\"Stop!\" Yallery Brown cried, as quick as lightning, \"I'll help you and\nwelcome, but if ever you thank me you'll never see me more. Remember\nthat! I'll have no thanks\"; and it stamped its tiny feet on the ground\nand looked as wicked as a raging bull. \"Harken! you great lump!\" it went\non, calming down a bit. \"If ever you need help, or get into trouble,\ncall on me. Just say, 'Yallery Brown, come from the earth, I want you!'\nand I'll be with you at once; and now, good night.\"\n\nSo saying, it picked a dandelion puff and blew the winged seeds all up\ninto Tom's eyes and ears. When Tom could see again Yallery Brown was\ngone, and he would have thought he had been dreaming, were it not for\nthe stone on end and the hole at his feet.\n\n\n\n\nVI--A TROUBLESOME HELPER\n\n\nTom went home and to bed, and by morning he had nearly forgotten all\nabout what had happened the previous evening. But when he went to start\nthe day's work, there was none to do. The horses had been fed, the\nstables cleaned, and everything put in its proper place, and he had\nnothing to do but stand around with his hands in his pockets.\n\nSo it was from morn till night, and so it was on the days that followed.\nAll Tom's work was done by Yallery Brown, and better done than Tom\nhimself could do it. No matter how much the master gave Tom to do, he\ncould sit down at his ease while the work did itself. The hoe, or broom,\nor whatever it was would get into motion with no visible hand put to it\nand would finish the task in no time.\n\nYallery Brown kept out of sight during the day, but in the gray\ntwilight, after the sun had gone down, Tom often saw the tiny creature\nhopping around like a Will-of-the-Wisp without a lantern.\n\nAt first Tom found it mighty fine to be relieved of his work. He had\nnaught to do and good pay for it; but by and by things began to go\nwrong. His work continued to be done, but the work of the other lads was\nall undone. If his buckets were filled theirs were upset; if his tools\nwere sharpened theirs were blunted and spoiled; if his horses were made\nas clean as daisies, theirs were splashed with muck, and so on.\n\nDay in and day out it was the same. Naturally the lads began to have\nhard feelings toward Tom, and they would not speak to him or go near\nhim, and they carried tales to the master. So things went from bad to\nworse.\n\nTom could not work even if he wished to; the spade would not stay in his\nhand, the scythe escaped from his grip, and the plow ran away from him.\nMore than once he tried his best to do his tasks so that Yallery Brown\nwould leave him and his fellow laborers alone. But he couldn't, and he\nwas compelled to sit by and look on and have the cold shoulder turned on\nhim while the uncanny thing was meddling with the others and working for\nhim.\n\nAt last matters got so bad that the master would keep Tom no longer, and\nif he had not discharged him the other lads would have left. They swore\nthey would not stay on the same farm with him. Tom felt badly, for it\nwas a good place; and he was very angry with Yallery Brown who had got\nhim into such trouble.\n\nSo he shook his fist in the air and shouted as loud as he could,\n\"Yallery Brown, come from the earth, you scamp, I want you!\"\n\nHardly had the words left his lips when he felt something tweaking his\nleg behind, and he was pinched so hard that he jumped with the smart of\nit. He looked down and there was Yallery Brown with his shining hair and\nwrinkled face, and wicked glinting black eyes.\n\nTom was in a fine rage, and he would have liked to kick the ugly\ncreature, but he restrained himself and said, \"Look here, master, I'll\nthank you to leave me alone after this. Do you hear? I want none of your\nhelp, and I'll have nothing more to do with you.\"\n\nThe horrid thing broke into a screeching laugh, and pointed its brown\nfinger at Tom. \"Ho, ho, Tom!\" it said, \"you have thanked me, my lad, and\nI told you not to do so.\"\n\n\"But I don't want your help,\" Tom yelled. \"I only want never to see you\nagain, and to have nothing more to do with you. Now go.\"\n\nThe thing only laughed and screeched and mocked as long as Tom went on\nberating it, but as soon as his breath gave out it said with a grin:\n\"Tom, my lad, I'll tell you something. Truly, I'll never help you again,\nand even if you call me you will not see me after today. But I never\nagreed to let you alone, and that I shall not do, my lad. I was where I\ncould do no harm under that stone, Tom, and you let me out. If you had\nbeen wise I would have been your friend and worked for you, but I am\nyour friend no longer, and in the future when everything goes crooked\nyou can know that it is Yallery Brown's doing. Mark my words, will you?\"\n\nThen it began to sing and curse and call down misfortunes on him, and it\ndanced round Tom with its yellow hair and beard all flying and a savage\nscowl on its wrinkled bit of a face. Tom could only stand there shaking\nall over and staring down at the gruesome thing until at last it rose in\nthe air and floated away on the wind over a wall out of sight with a\nparting shriek of cunning laughter.\n\nIn the days and weeks and years that followed Tom worked here and he\nworked there, and turned his hand to this and to that, but whatever he\ndid always went wrong. There was no end to Yallery Brown's spite even\nuntil Tom's life ended.\n\n\n\n\nVII--THE LITTLE JACKAL\n\n\nOnce upon a time a little jackal lived near the bank of a great river.\nEvery day he went down to the water to catch the crabs that were there.\n\nNot far away, in the same river, dwelt a cruel alligator. He saw the\nlittle jackal come down to the water every day, and he thought, \"What a\nnice tender morsel that little jackal would make if I could only catch\nhim!\"\n\nOne day the alligator hid in the mud, where the water was shallow near\nshore. Only the tip of his nose stuck out, and that looked very much\nlike the back of a crab.\n\nSoon the little jackal came running along the bank of the river seeking\nhis usual food. When he saw the end of the alligator's nose he thought\nhe had found a fine big crab, and he put in his paw to scoop it out of\nthe mud.\n\nThe moment he did that, snap! the teeth of the alligator came together,\nand the jackal was caught by the paw. He was terribly frightened, for he\nknew the alligator intended to pull him into the river and eat him.\n\nHowever, he began to laugh, though the alligator's teeth hurt him sadly.\n\"Oh, you stupid old alligator!\" he said. \"You thought you would catch my\npaw, and instead caught a bulrush root that I stuck down in the water to\ntickle your nose. Ha, ha! you silly, silly alligator.\"\n\n\"Well, well,\" the alligator thought, \"I am very much disappointed. I\ncertainly supposed I had caught that little jackal. But it seems I have\nnipped nothing except a bulrush root. There is no use of holding on to\nthat.\" So he opened his mouth.\n\nThen the little jackal snatched out his paw. \"O stupid one!\" he cried,\n\"you really had caught me, and now you have let me go. Ha, ha!\nring-a-ting, ring-a-ting! You'll never catch me again.\" So saying, off\nhe ran up the bank and into the jungle.\n\nThe alligator was furiously angry. \"I was tricked by the little rascal\nthat time,\" he said, \"but if I get hold of him again he will not escape\nso easily.\"\n\nOnce more the alligator hid in the mud and waited. But the little jackal\ncame no more to the river. He was afraid, and he stayed in the woods\nliving on figs that he gathered under a wild fig tree.\n\nDay after day passed and it became plain to the alligator that the\nlittle jackal was avoiding the river. So early one morning he crawled\nout of the water and dragged himself to the wild fig tree. There he\ngathered together a great heap of figs and hid under them.\n\nShortly afterward the jackal came running to the fig tree, licking his\nlips, for he was very hungry. At sight of the great heap of figs he was\ndelighted. \"Now I will not have the trouble of picking up the figs\nscattered about on the ground,\" he said. \"Somebody has piled them up all\nready for me. How nice!\"\n\nBut when he went nearer he became suspicious, and thought, \"It looks as\nthough something might be hidden under those figs.\"\n\nThen he cried out: \"What is the matter here? Usually, when I come to the\nfig tree, all the figs that are any good roll about in the wind. Those\nfigs in the pile lie so still that I doubt if they are fit to eat. I\nwill have to go to some other place to get good figs.\"\n\nThe jackal's words made the alligator fear that he had failed again, and\nhe thought: \"This little jackal is very particular. I will just shake\nmyself and make the figs roll about a trifle. Then he will come near\nenough for me to grab him.\"\n\nSo the alligator shook himself, and away rolled the figs in all\ndirections.\n\n\"Oh, you stupid old alligator!\" the jackal shouted; \"if you had stayed\nstill you might have caught me. Ring-a-ting, ring-a-ting! Thank you for\nshaking yourself and letting me know you were there!\" Then away he ran\nas fast as his legs would carry him.\n\nThe alligator gnashed his teeth with rage. \"Never mind! I will catch\nthis little jackal yet,\" he declared, and he hid in the tall grass\nbeside the path that led to the fig tree.\n\nHe waited there for several days, but he saw nothing of his intended\nvictim. The jackal was afraid to come to the fig tree any more. He\nstayed in the jungle and fed on such roots and berries as he could find\nthere, but found so little that he grew thin and miserable.\n\nOne morning the alligator made his way to the jackal's house while the\njackal was away. He squeezed in through the narrow doorway and hid under\nthe heap of dead leaves that was the jackal's bed.\n\nToward evening the little jackal came running home. He was very hungry,\nfor he had found scarcely anything to eat all day, and he was very tired\ntoo. Just as he was about to go in and lie down on his bed he noticed\nthat the sides of the doorway were scraped and broken as if some big\nanimal had forced its way through.\n\n[Illustration: _The Alligator Goes to the Jackal's House_]\n\nThe little jackal was terribly frightened. He thought, \"Is it possible\nthat the wicked alligator has come to hunt for me here in my own house\nand is waiting inside to catch me?\"\n\nThen he called loudly: \"What is the matter, house of mine? Every day\nwhen I come home you say, 'All is well, little jackal,' but today you\nsay nothing, and I am afraid to come in.\"\n\nOf course the house did not really speak to him, but he wanted to find\nout if the alligator was there, and the alligator believed his words.\nThe stupid creature thought, \"I shall have to speak just as the house\nwould speak or this tiresome little jackal will not come in.\"\n\nHe made his voice as small and soft as he could, and said, \"All is well,\nlittle jackal.\"\n\nThen the jackal knew that the alligator was in his house, and he was\nmore scared than ever. However, he contrived to respond in a cheerful\nvoice: \"All right, little house! I will come in as soon as I have been\nto the brook for a drink of water.\"\n\nWhen the alligator heard these words he was filled with joy. He lay\nquite still under the leaves thinking: \"Now I will have that little\njackal at last. This time he shall not escape me.\"\n\nBut while he waited, the jackal gathered together a great heap of dead\nwood and brush and piled it against the door of the house. When it was\nbig enough, the jackal set fire to the heap. It blazed up with a great\nnoise, and the wicked alligator was burned to death.\n\nThen the little jackal danced about singing:\n\n  \"The alligator's dead, and I am glad!\n  Oh, ring-a-ting-a-ting; oh, ring-a-ting-ting!\n  The alligator's dead, and I am glad!\"\n\nAfter that the little jackal went wherever he pleased in safety, and he\nate so many figs and so many crabs that he became as fat as fat could\nbe.\n\n\n\n\nVIII--THE BLIND OGRE\n\n\nIn Italy dwelt a woman named Janella who had eight children. Seven of\nthem were sons, but the youngest was a daughter.\n\nAfter the sons grew up they went off to see the world. They went on and\non until they came to a wood in which dwelt an ogre. This ogre had been\nblinded by a woman while he lay asleep, and ever since then he had been\nsuch an enemy to womankind that he devoured all whom he could catch.\n\nWhen the youths arrived at the ogre's house, tired out with walking, and\nfaint with hunger, they begged him, for pity's sake, to give them\nsomething to eat.\n\nThe ogre replied that if they would serve him he would supply them with\nfood. They would have nothing else to do but watch over his safety, each\nin turn, a day at a time.\n\nThis seemed a very satisfactory arrangement to them, and they consented\nto remain in the service of the ogre. So he let them have all the lower\npart of the house to live in.\n\nAfter the brothers had been gone from home a long time, and no tidings\nof them were received, Channa, their sister, dressed for a journey and\nwent to seek them. On and on she walked, asking at every place she came\nto whether any one had seen her seven brothers. Finally she got news at\nan inn of where they were, and away she went to the ogre's house in the\nwood.\n\nThere she made herself known to her brothers and was received with great\njoy. After the greetings were over the youths told her to stay quietly\nin their part of the house so the ogre would not be aware of her\npresence. They also cautioned her to give a portion of whatever she had\nto eat to a cat which lived there. Otherwise the cat would do her harm.\n\nChanna heeded their advice and got along very well. She shared her food\nwith the cat, always doing it fairly to the last morsel, and saying,\n\"This for me--this for thee.\"\n\nBut one day when the ogre sent the brothers out to do some hunting they\nleft Channa a little basket of peas to cook. While shelling the peas,\nshe found a hazel nut among them, and as ill-luck would have it she ate\nthe nut, forgetting to give half to the cat. The latter, out of spite,\nran to the hearth and put out the fire.\n\nThen Channa left the room and went upstairs to the blind ogre's part of\nthe house. She asked him for a few coals, and when he heard a woman's\nvoice he said: \"Welcome, madam! Just you wait a while.\" Afterward he\nbegan to sharpen his teeth with a whetstone.\n\nShe saw that she had made a mistake in not obeying her brother's orders,\nand she ran back to the room below. There she bolted the door and placed\nagainst it stools, tables, chests, and in fact everything she could\nmove.\n\nAs soon as the ogre had put an edge on his teeth he groped his way to\nthe door and found it fastened. So he proceeded to kick it to break it\nopen. The seven brothers came home while he was making all this\ndisturbance, and the ogre accused them of treachery.\n\nThings might have gone badly had it not been for the cleverness of\nGrazio, the eldest, who said to the ogre: \"She has fortified herself so\nsecurely inside that you cannot get at her. Come, I will take you to a\nplace where we can seize her without her being able to defend herself.\"\n\nThen they led the ogre by the hand to the edge of a deep pit, where they\ngave him a push that sent him headlong to the bottom. After that they\ngot shovels and covered him with earth.\n\nBy and by they returned to the house and Channa unfastened the door.\nThey told her to be more careful in future, and to beware of plucking\nany grass or other plant that might grow on the spot where the ogre was\nburied, or they would be changed into doves.\n\n\"Heaven keep me from bringing such a misfortune on you!\" Channa\nexclaimed.\n\nThey took possession of all the ogre's goods, made themselves masters of\nthe whole house, and lived very comfortably and merrily there until\nspring. Then it happened one morning when the brothers had gone off on\nsome errand, that a poor pilgrim came to the ogre's wood. He was looking\nup at an ape perched in a pine tree when the creature threw a heavy cone\nat him. This struck him on the head so hard that the poor fellow set up\na loud cry.\n\nChanna heard the noise and ran to where he was sitting on the ground\nhanging on to his bruised head. She took pity on him and plucked a tuft\nof rosemary which was growing on the ogre's grave near by. Then she\nhurried to the house and made a plaster of it with bread and salt. In a\nfew minutes she rejoined the pilgrim and bound the plaster on his head.\nAfter that she had him go with her to the house where she gave him some\nbreakfast. When he finished eating she sent him on his way.\n\n\n\n\nIX--SEVEN DOVES\n\n\nScarcely had the pilgrim gone when seven doves came flying into the\nroom, and said: \"Behold your brothers turned to birds and made\ncompanions of snipes, woodpeckers, jays, owls, rooks, starlings,\nblackbirds, tom-tits, larks, kingfishers, wrens, and sparrows. We shall\nbe persecuted by hawks, and hunters will try to shoot us. Ah! why did\nyou pluck that accursed rosemary and bring such a calamity on us? Doves\nwe must remain for the rest of our lives unless you find the Mother of\nTime. She can tell you how to get us out of our trouble.\"\n\nChanna was greatly distressed over what she had done, and said she would\nstart at once searching for the Mother of Time. She urged them to make\nthe ogre's house their home until she returned.\n\nAway she went and journeyed on and on until she came to the seashore,\nwhere the waves were banging against the rocks. A huge whale came to the\nsurface close at hand, looked at her, and asked, \"What are you seeking,\nmy pretty maiden?\"\n\nShe replied, \"I am seeking the Mother of Time.\"\n\n\"Hear then what you must do,\" the whale said. \"Go along the shore, and\nwhen you come to a river, follow it up to its source. There you will\nmeet some one who will show you the way. But do me one kindness. After\nyou have found the old woman, ask her how I can swim about safely\nwithout so often knocking on the rocks and being thrown up on the\nsands.\"\n\n\"I will gladly do that for you,\" Channa said.\n\nThen she thanked the whale and walked on along the shore. At length she\ncame to a river and followed it up to its source in a beautiful open\ncountry of meadows starred with flowers. There she met a mouse who said\nto her, \"Where are you going all alone, my pretty maiden?\"\n\n\"I am seeking the Mother of Time,\" Channa replied.\n\n\"You have a long way to go,\" the mouse commented. \"But do not lose\nheart. Go to yonder mountain, and you will obtain more news to help you\nin your search. And when you find the Mother of Time, will you do me one\nfavor? Ask her what we mice can do to get rid of the tyranny of the\ncats.\"\n\nChanna promised to do this for the mouse, and trudged off toward the\nmountain. When she got to it she sat down on a stone to rest. Some ants\nwere busy close by, and one of them addressed Channa, saying, \"Who are\nyou and whither are you going?\"\n\nShe answered, \"I am an unhappy girl who is seeking the Mother of Time.\"\n\n\"Then keep on over the mountain to a large plain, and there you will get\nmore news,\" the ant said. \"After you find the old woman please ask her\nhow the ants can live longer. We store up a great deal of food, and this\nseems to me a folly while our lives are so short.\"\n\n\"Be at ease,\" Channa responded. \"You can be sure that I will do your\nerrand.\"\n\nThen she toiled on over the mountain to the great plain, where a\nwide-spreading old oak tree called to her as she was passing. \"Whither\nare you going so sad, my little lady?\" it said. \"Come and rest in my\nshade.\"\n\nShe thanked the old oak, but begged to be excused from stopping because\nshe was going in haste to find the Mother of Time.\n\n\"You are not far from her dwelling,\" the oak announced. \"Before you have\nfinished another day's journey you will get to a high mountain on the\nsummit of which is the home of her whom you seek. If you have as much\nkindness as beauty you will oblige me by asking her why it is that my\nfruit which used to be relished by strong men is now only made the food\nof hogs.\"\n\n\"It will be a pleasure to do you such a service,\" Channa affirmed, and\ndeparted.\n\nThe next day she arrived at the foot of a mountain which had its summit\nfar up among the clouds. There she found an old man, wearied and\nwayworn, who had lain down on some hay. The moment he saw Channa he knew\nher, for he was the pilgrim to whom she had ministered. When she told\nhim what she was seeking he responded that at last he could make some\nreturn for her kindness.\n\n\"My pretty maiden,\" he said, \"I would have you know that on the top of\nthis mountain you will find a castle which was built so long ago that no\none knows when it was built. The walls are cracked, the foundations are\ncrumbling, the doors are worm-eaten, the furniture is worn out, and, in\nshort, everything is gone to wrack and ruin.\n\n\"When you are almost to the castle, hide until Time goes out. After he\nhas gone, enter, and you will find an old, old woman, whose face is\ncovered with deep wrinkles, and whose eyebrows are so shaggy she will\nnot be able to see you. She is seated on a clock which is fastened to\nthe wall.\n\n\"Go in quickly and take off the weights that keep the machinery of the\nclock in motion. Then ask the old woman to answer your questions. She\nwill instantly call her son to come and destroy you, but because you\nhave stopped the clock by taking the weights he cannot move. Therefore\nshe will be obliged to tell you what you want to know.\"\n\n\n\n\nX--TIME AND HIS MOTHER\n\n\nWhen the pilgrim finished speaking, Channa climbed the mountain and\narrived in the vicinity of the castle quite out of breath. There she\nwaited till Time came out. He was an old man with a long beard, he wore\na cloak and carried a scythe, and he had large wings that bore him\nswiftly out of sight.\n\nChanna now entered the castle, and though she gave a start of fright\nwhen she saw the strange old woman, she hastened to seize the weights of\nthe clock and tell what she wanted.\n\nThe old woman at once called loudly to her son, but Channa said, \"You\nwill not see your son while I hold these clock-weights.\"\n\nThereupon the old woman began to coax Channa, saying: \"Let go of them,\nmy dear. Do not stop my son's course. No one has ever done that before.\nLet go of the weights, and may Heaven reward you.\"\n\n\"You are wasting your breath,\" Channa responded. \"You must say something\nbetter than that if you would have me quit my hold.\"\n\n\"Well then,\" the old woman said, \"hide behind the door, and when Time\ncomes home I will make him tell me all you wish to know. As soon as he\ngoes out again you can depart.\"\n\nChanna let go the weights and hid behind the door. Presently Time came\nflying in, and his mother repeated to him the maiden's questions.\n\n[Illustration: _Appealing to the Mother of Time_]\n\nIn reply he said: \"The oak tree will be honored as it was of yore when\nmen find the treasure that is buried among its roots. The mice will\nnever be safe from the cat unless they tie a bell to her neck to warn\nthem when she is coming. The ants will live a hundred years if they will\ndispense with flying, for when an ant is going to die it puts on wings.\nThe whale should make friends with the sea-mouse, who will serve as a\nguide so that the monster will never go astray. The doves will resume\ntheir former shape when they fly and alight on the column of riches.\"\n\nSo saying, Time went forth to run his accustomed race. Then Channa bade\nthe old woman farewell and descended the mountain. She arrived at the\nfoot just as the seven doves arrived there. Her long absence had made\nthem anxious, and they had come to look for her. They alighted on the\nhorn of a dead ox, and at once they changed to the handsome youths they\nhad been formerly.\n\nWhile they were marveling at this transformation Channa greeted them and\ntold them what Time had said. Then they understood that the horn, as the\nsymbol of plenty, was what he called the column of wealth.\n\nNow they all started on the return journey, taking the same road by\nwhich Channa had come. When they arrived at the old oak and she informed\nthe tree of what Time had said, the oak begged them to take away the\ntreasure from its roots. So the seven brothers borrowed tools in a\nneighboring village and dug till they unearthed a great heap of gold\nmoney. This they divided into eight parts and shared it between\nthemselves and their sister.\n\nAfter according to the oak tree the honor it so much desired they again\ntramped along the homeward road, and when they became weary lay down to\nsleep under a hedge. Presently they were seen there by a band of robbers\nwho tied them hand and foot, and carried off their money.\n\nThey bewailed the loss of their wealth which had so soon slipped through\ntheir fingers, and they were anxious lest they should perish of\nstarvation or be devoured by wild beasts. As they were lamenting their\nunhappy lot the mouse whom Channa had met appeared. She told it what\nTime had said about getting rid of the tyranny of the cats, and the\ngrateful mouse nibbled the cords with which they were bound till it set\nthem free.\n\nSomewhat farther on they encountered the ant which listened eagerly\nwhile Channa repeated Time's advice. Then it asked her why she was so\npale and downcast.\n\nSo she related how the robbers had tricked them.\n\n\"Cheer up,\" the ant said. \"Now I can requite the kindness you have done\nme. I know where those robbers hide their plunder. Follow me.\"\n\nThe ant guided them to a group of tumble-down houses and showed them a\npit which the brothers entered. There they found the money which had\nbeen stolen from them, and off they went with it to the seashore. The\nwhale came to speak with them, and was rejoiced to learn what Time had\nsaid.\n\nWhile they were talking with the whale, they saw the robbers coming,\narmed to the teeth.\n\n\"Alas, alas!\" they cried, \"now we are lost.\"\n\n\"Fear not,\" the whale said. \"I can save you. Get on my back and I will\ncarry you to a place of safety.\"\n\nChanna and her brothers climbed on the whale who carried them to within\nsight of Naples. There it left them on the shore and they returned to\ntheir old home safe and sound and rich. Thereafter they enjoyed a happy\nlife, in accord with the old saying, \"Do all the good you can and make\nno fuss about it.\"\n\n\n\n\nXI--BLOCKHEAD HANS\n\n\nFar away in the country was an old mansion in which dwelt a squire well\nalong in years and his two sons. These sons thought themselves\nexceedingly clever. Indeed, they were convinced that had they known only\nhalf of what they did know, it would have been quite enough.\n\nBoth wanted to marry the king's daughter. She had proclaimed that she\nwould have for her husband the man who knew best how to choose his\nwords, and they were confident that one or the other of them was certain\nto win her.\n\nOnly a week was allowed to prepare for the wooing, but that was plenty\nlong enough for the two brothers. One knew the whole Latin dictionary by\nheart. He also knew three years' issue of the daily paper of the town so\nhe could repeat backward or forward as you pleased all that had appeared\nin it.\n\nThe other had studied the laws of corporation and thought he could speak\nwith wisdom and authority on matters of state. Besides, he was very\nexpert with his fingers and could embroider roses and other flowers or\nfigures in a manner that gave his friends great pleasure.\n\nThe old father gave each of the sons a fine horse. He presented a black\nhorse to the one who knew the dictionary and the daily paper by heart,\nand the other, who was so clever at corporation law, received a\nmilk-white steed. Just before they started, the young men oiled the\ncorners of their mouths that they might be able to speak more fluently.\n\nThe squire had a third son, but nobody thought him worth counting. He\nwas not learned as his brothers were and was generally called \"Blockhead\nHans.\" While the servants stood in the courtyard watching the two clever\nyouths mount their horses Hans chanced to appear.\n\n\"Well, well!\" he said, \"where are you off to? You are in your\nSunday-best clothes.\"\n\n\"We are going to the royal court to woo the princess,\" they replied.\n\"Haven't you heard what has been proclaimed throughout all the\ncountryside?\"\n\nThey told him about it, and Hans shouted, \"Hurrah! I'll go too.\" The\nbrothers laughed at him and rode off.\n\n\"Dear father,\" Blockhead Hans said, \"I must have a horse. Perhaps I can\nwin the princess. If she will have me, she will. If she won't have me,\nshe won't.\"\n\n\"Stop that nonsense!\" the old man ordered. \"I will not give you a horse.\nYou can't speak wisely. You don't know how to choose your words. But\nyour brothers--ah! they are very different lads.\"\n\n\"All right,\" Hans said, \"I have a goat. If you won't give me a horse,\nthe goat will have to serve instead. He can carry me.\"\n\nSo he put a bridle on his goat, got on its back, dug his heels into its\nsides and went clattering down the road like a hurricane. Hoppitty hop!\nWhat a ride!\n\n\"Here I come!\" Blockhead Hans shouted, and he sang so that the echoes\nwere roused near and far.\n\nOnce he stopped and picked up a dead crow. Presently he overtook his\nbrothers as they rode slowly along on their fine horses. They were not\nspeaking, but were turning over in their minds all the clever things\nthey intended to say, for everything had to be thought out.\n\n\"Hello!\" Blockhead Hans bawled, \"here I am. Just see what I found on the\nroad.\" And he proudly held up the dead crow for them to look at.\n\n\"You foolish lad,\" his brothers said, \"what are you going to do with\nit?\"\n\n\"I shall give it to the princess,\" he answered.\n\n\"Do so, certainly!\" they said, laughing loudly and riding on.\n\nBlockhead Hans thought he would continue the journey in their company,\nbut he saw an old wooden shoe by the roadside. Such a prize was not to\nbe neglected, and he got off his goat and picked it up. Then he cantered\nalong the highway till he came up behind his brothers.\n\n\"Slap, bang! here I am!\" he shouted. \"See what I have just found? Such\nthings are not to be picked up every day on the road!\"\n\n[Illustration: _Blockhead Hans and the Dead Crow_]\n\nThe brothers turned round to learn what in the world he could have\nfound.\n\n\"Simpleton!\" they said, \"that cracked old shoe is absolutely worthless.\nAre you going to take that to the princess?\"\n\n\"Of course I shall,\" Blockhead Hans replied, and the brothers laughed\nand rode along.\n\nBut the lad on the goat soon brought them to a standstill by hopping off\nhis goat and shouting: \"Hurrah! Here's the best treasure of all!\"\n\n\"What have you found now?\" the brothers asked.\n\n\"Oh! something more for the princess,\" he said. \"How pleased she will\nbe!\"\n\n\"Why, that is pure mud, straight from the ditch!\" the brothers\nexclaimed.\n\n\"Of course it is!\" Blockhead Hans responded. \"There never was any better\nmud. See how it runs through my fingers.\"\n\nSo saying, he filled his coat pocket with it. The brothers did not enjoy\nthese interruptions or his company, and they rode off with such speed\nthat they were hidden in a cloud of dust raised by their horses' hoofs.\nThey reached the gate of the royal city a good hour before Blockhead\nHans did.\n\n\n\n\nXII--THE RIVAL SUITORS\n\n\nEach suitor for the hand of the princess was numbered as he arrived and\nhad to wait his turn. They waited as patiently as they could, standing\nin line closely guarded to prevent the jealous rivals from getting into\na fight with one another.\n\nA crowd of people had gathered in the throne room at the palace to look\non while the princess received her suitors, and as each suitor came in\nall the fine phrases he had prepared passed out of his mind. Then the\nprincess would say: \"It doesn't matter. Away with him!\"\n\nAt last the brother who knew the dictionary by heart appeared, but he\ndid not know it any longer. The floor creaked, and the ceiling was made\nof glass mirrors so that he saw himself standing on his head. At one of\nthe windows were three reporters and an editor, and each of them was\nwriting down what was said to publish it in the paper that was sold at\nthe street corners for a penny. All this was fearful. You couldn't blame\nhim for feeling nervous.\n\n\"It is very hot in here, isn't it?\" was the only thing that the brother\nwho knew the dictionary could think of to say.\n\n\"Of course it is,\" the princess responded. \"We are roasting young\nchickens for dinner today.\"\n\nThe youth cleared his throat. \"Ahem!\" There he stood like an idiot. He\nwas not prepared for such remarks from the princess. How nice it would\nbe to make a witty response! But he could think of nothing appropriate,\nand all he did was to clear his throat again. \"Ahem!\"\n\n\"It doesn't matter,\" the princess said. \"Take him out.\" And out he had\nto go.\n\nNow the other brother entered. \"How hot it is here!\" he said.\n\nThe princess looked as if she thought him tiresome as she responded: \"Of\ncourse. We are roasting young chickens today.\"\n\n\"Where do you--um?\" the youth stammered, and the reporters wrote down,\n\"Where do you--um?\"\n\n\"It doesn't matter,\" the princess said. \"Take him out.\"\n\nAfter a while Blockhead Hans had his turn. He rode his goat right into\nthe room and exclaimed, \"Dear me, how awfully hot it is here!\"\n\nThe princess looked at him and his goat with more interest than she\nshowed in most of her suitors and said: \"Of course! We are roasting\nyoung chickens today.\"\n\n\"That's good,\" Blockhead Hans commented; \"and will you let me roast a\ncrow with them?\"\n\n\"Gladly,\" the princess responded; \"but have you anything to roast it in?\nI have neither pot nor saucepan to spare.\"\n\n\"That's all right,\" Blockhead Hans told her. \"Here is a dish that will\nserve my purpose.\" And he showed her the wooden shoe and laid the crow\nin it.\n\nThe princess laughed and said, \"If you are going to prepare a dinner you\nought at least to have some soup to go with your crow.\"\n\n\"Very true,\" he agreed, \"and I have it in my pocket.\" Then he showed her\nthe mud he was carrying.\n\n\"I like you,\" the princess declared. \"You can answer when you are spoken\nto. You have something to say. So I will marry you. But do you know that\nevery word we speak is being recorded and will be in the paper tomorrow.\nOver by the window not far from where we are you can see three reporters\nand an old editor. None of them understands much and the editor doesn't\nunderstand anything.\"\n\nAt these words the reporters giggled, and each dropped a blot of ink on\nthe floor.\n\n\"Ah! those are great people,\" Blockhead Hans remarked. \"I will give the\neditor something to write about.\"\n\nThen he took a handful of mud from his pocket and threw it smack in the\ngreat man's face.\n\n\"That was neatly done!\" the princess said--\"much better, in fact, than I\ncould have done it myself.\"\n\nShe and Blockhead Hans were married, and presently he became king and\nwore a crown and sat on the throne. At any rate so the newspaper said,\nbut of course you can't believe all you see in the papers.\n\n\n\n\nXIII--CUNNING TOM\n\n\nOnce there was a bad boy named Tom, and the older he grew, the wiser and\nslyer he thought himself. Many were the tricks he played until no one\nliked him or trusted him.\n\nOne day he asked his grandmother for some money. She had plenty, but she\nwould not give him any. So that evening Tom went to the pasture and\ncaught the old woman's black cow. He took the cow to a deserted house\nwhich stood at a distance from any other, and there he kept her two or\nthree days, giving her food and water at night when nobody would see him\ngoing and coming.\n\nTom made his grandmother believe that some one had stolen the cow. This\nwas a great grief to her. At last she told the lad to buy her another\ncow at a fair in a neighboring town, and she gave him three pounds with\nwhich to make the purchase.\n\nHe promised to get one as near like the other as possible and went off\nwith the money. Then he took a piece of chalk, ground it into powder,\nsteeped it in a little water and rubbed it in spots and patches over the\nhead and body of the cow he had hidden.\n\nEarly the next morning he took her to an inn near the fair and spent the\nday in pleasure. Toward evening he drove the cow home before him, and as\nsoon as he got to his grandmother's the cow began to bellow.\n\nThe old woman ran out rejoicing for she thought her own black cow had\nbeen found, but when she saw the spots and patches of white she sighed\nand exclaimed, \"Alas, you'll never be the kindly brute my Black Lady\nwas, though you bellow exactly like her.\"\n\n\"'Tis a mercy you know not what the cow says,\" Tom remarked to himself,\n\"or all would be wrong with me.\"\n\nThe old woman put her cow to pasture the following morning, but there\ncame on a heavy shower of rain, which washed away the chalk. So the old\nwoman's Black Lady came home at night and the new cow went away with the\nshower and was never heard of afterward.\n\nBut Tom's father had some suspicions, and he looked closely at the cow's\nface and found some of the chalk still remaining. Then he gave Tom a\nhearty beating and turned him out of the house.\n\nTom traveled about from place to place, and by hook or by crook\ncontrived to make a living till he reached the size and years of a man.\nHe was always planning ways to get hold of other people's money, for he\ndid not like to exert himself to earn what he needed.\n\nOnce he met a party of reapers seeking work. At once he hired the whole\ncompany of about thirty and agreed to give them a week's reaping at ten\npence a day, which was two pence higher than any had gotten that year.\nThis made the poor reapers think he was a very honest, generous, and\ngenteel master.\n\nTom took them to an inn and gave them a hearty breakfast. \"Now,\" he\nsaid, \"there are so many of you together, it's quite possible that while\nmost are honest men, some may be rogues. You will have to sleep nights\ntogether in a barn, and your best plan is to give what money you have to\nme to keep safe for you. I'll mark down each sum in a book opposite the\nname of the man whose it is, and you shall have it all when I pay you\nyour wages.\"\n\n\"Oh! very well, there's my money, and there's mine, and here's mine,\"\nthey said.\n\nSome gave him five, six, seven, and eight shillings, all they had earned\nthrough the harvest. Tom now went with them out of the village to a\nfield of standing grain, remote from any house, and set the men at work.\nThen he left, telling them he was going to order dinner for them, but in\nreality he set off at top speed to get as far away from them as\npossible, lest, when they found out his trick, they should follow and\novertake him.\n\nSoon the farmer to whom the grain belonged saw the reapers in his field\nand came to ask what they were about. \"Stop!\" he cried, \"I have given\nyou no orders to reap this grain, and besides it is not ripe.\"\n\nAt first they persisted in keeping on with the work, but finally the\nfarmer convinced them that they had been fooled, and the reapers went\naway sorely lamenting their misfortune.\n\n\n\n\nXIV--A MISER'S HIRED MAN\n\n\nTom escaped, but it was a rough life he led, and he was always in fear\nof punishment for his many misdeeds. At last he concluded he had had\nenough of depending on his wits for a livelihood and decided he would go\nto work.\n\nSo he hired himself to an old miser of a farmer with whom he continued\nseveral years. On the whole he made a good servant, and though he\nsometimes played tricks on those about him, it was his habit to make\ngood any damage he did.\n\nHis master was a miser, as I have said, and he and his help ate supper\nwith no other light than that of the fire, for he would not furnish\ncandles. Tom did not like this, and one night he thrust his spoon into\nthe middle of the soup dish where the soup was hottest and clapped a\nspoonful into his master's mouth.\n\n\"You rascal!\" his master cried, \"my mouth is all burned.\"\n\n\"Then why do you keep the house so dark?\" Tom asked. \"I can't half see,\nand what wonder is it if I missed the way to my own mouth and got the\nspoon in your mouth, instead?\"\n\nAfter that they always had a candle on the table at supper, for his\nmaster would feed no more in the dark while Tom was present.\n\nOne day a butcher came and bought a fine fat calf from Tom's master. He\ntied its legs, took it on the horse's back in front of him, and off he\nwent.\n\n\"Master,\" Tom said, \"what do you say to playing a joke on that fellow?\nWith your leave I'll get that calf away from him before he has gone two\nmiles, and he won't know what has become of it either.\"\n\n\"You can try,\" the master said, \"but I don't believe you can do it.\"\n\nSo Tom went into the house, got a pretty shoe with a silver buckle to it\nthat belonged to the servant maid and ran across a field till he got\nahead of the butcher. He threw the shoe into the middle of the highway\nand hid behind a hedge. The butcher came riding along with the calf\nbefore him.\n\n\"Hey!\" he said, \"there's a fine lady's shoe. If it wasn't that this calf\nmakes it a great trouble to get off and on I'd alight and pick the shoe\nup. But after all what is the use of one shoe without its neighbor?\"\n\nOn he rode and let it lie. Tom then slipped out from behind the hedge,\nsecured the shoe, and ran across the fields till he again got before the\nbutcher. He threw the shoe into the middle of the road and once more\ncrouched behind the hedge and waited.\n\nAlong came the butcher, and saw the shoe. \"Now,\" he said, \"I can have a\npair of good shoes for the lifting. I'll take them home and put my old\nwoman in a good humor for once.\"\n\nDown he got, lifted off the calf, tied his horse to the hedge, and ran\nback, thinking to get the other shoe. While he was gone Tom picked up\nthe calf and the shoe and tramped off home.\n\nThe butcher did not find the shoe he went back to get, and when he\nreturned to his horse the other shoe was gone and so was his calf. \"No\ndoubt the calf has broken the rope that was about its feet,\" he said,\n\"and has run into the fields.\"\n\nSo he spent a long time searching for it amongst the hedges and ditches.\nFinally he returned to Tom's master and told him a long story of how he\nhad lost the calf by means of a pair of shoes, which he believed the\ndevil himself must have dropped in the roadway and had picked up later\nand the calf too.\n\n\"I suppose I ought to be thankful,\" he said in concluding, \"that I have\nmy old horse left to carry me home so that I don't have to walk.\"\n\n\"Wouldn't you like to buy another calf?\" Tom asked.\n\n\"Why, yes,\" the butcher responded, \"if you have one to sell.\"\n\nTom then brought from the barn the very calf that the butcher had lost,\nbut as Tom had made a fine white face on it with chalk and water, the\nbutcher did not recognize it. So the sale was made, its legs were tied\nand it was hoisted onto the horse in front of the butcher. As soon as he\nwas gone, Tom told his master he believed he could get the calf again.\n\n\"Oh, no!\" the farmer said, \"you've fooled him once and he'll be on the\nlookout for mischief now. But you can try if you want to.\"\n\nAway ran Tom through the fields until he got ahead of the butcher near\nwhere he had taken the calf from him. There he hid behind the hedges and\nas the butcher was passing he put his hand on his mouth and cried, \"Baw,\nbaw!\" like a calf.\n\nWhen the butcher heard this he stopped his horse. \"There's the calf I\nlost,\" he said.\n\nDown he got, lifted the calf from his horse to the ground, and scrambled\nhastily through the hedge, thinking he would lay his hands on the lost\ncalf in a few moments. But as he went through one part of the hedge, Tom\nwent through another, got the calf on his back and hurried through the\nfields home.\n\nThe poor butcher spent his time in vain running hither and thither\nseeking his calf. At last he returned to his horse, and when he found\nhis other calf gone he concluded the place was bewitched.\n\n\"Oh, misfortunate day!\" he cried, \"what shall I do now? and what'll Joan\nsay when I get home, for my money's gone, and the two calves are gone,\nand I can't buy her the shawl I promised to get.\"\n\nBack he went to the farmer lamenting his loss. But the farmer thought\nthe joke had been carried far enough now. He told him what had happened\nand gave him his calf and the second payment of money. So the butcher\nwent off well satisfied, for he had had a good deal of fun for his\ntrouble, had he not?\n\n\n\n\nXV--THE BOY IN A PEACH\n\n\nIt was the beginning of summer. On the bank of a river in Japan an old\nwoman kneeled washing clothes. She took the clothes from a basket beside\nher and washed them in the water, which was so clear that you could\nplainly see the stones at the bottom and the dartings of the little\nminnows.\n\nPresently there came floating down the stream a big round\ndelicious-looking peach.\n\n\"Well,\" the woman said, \"I am sixty years old, and never before have I\nseen so large and handsome a peach. It must be fine to eat.\"\n\nShe looked about for a stick with which to reach the peach, but saw\nnone. For a moment she was perplexed. Then she clapped her hands, and\nnodded her head while she sang these words:\n\n  \"Far waters are bitter, near waters are sweet--\n  Leave the bitter, come to the sweet.\"\n\nShe sang the words three times, whereupon, strange to say, the peach\nrolled over and over in the water till it came to the shore in front of\nher.\n\n\"How delighted my old man will be!\" she thought as she picked it up.\n\nThen she packed the clothes she had been washing into the basket and\nhurried home. Soon she saw her husband returning from the mountain where\nhe had been cutting grass. She ran to meet him and showed him the peach.\n\n\"Dear me!\" the old man said, \"it is wonderful. Where did you buy it?\"\n\n\"Buy it? I did not buy it,\" she replied. Then she told him how she got\nit from the river.\n\n\"I feel hungry,\" the old man affirmed. \"Let us eat the peach at once.\"\n\nThey went to the house and got a knife. But just as the old man was\nabout to cut the peach he heard a child's clear voice say, \"Good sir,\nwait!\"\n\nInstantly the peach split in two halves, and out danced a little boy\nless than six inches high. This was so unexpected that the man and woman\nnearly fainted with astonishment and fright.\n\n\"Do not be afraid,\" the boy said. \"You have often lamented that you have\nno child, and I have been sent to be your son.\"\n\nThe old couple were very much pleased, and they did all they could to\nshow how welcome he was to their home. Peach-boy was the name they gave\nhim. The years passed, and he grew to be a man remarkable for his\nbeauty, his courage, and, above all, for his great strength.\n\nOne day he came to the old man and old woman and said: \"Father, your\nkindness has been higher than the mountain on which you cut grass; and\nMother, yours has been deeper than the river in which you wash clothes.\nHow can I thank you?\"\n\n\"Do not thank us,\" the old man replied. \"The time will come when we\ncannot work, and then we shall be dependent on you.\"\n\n\"But as things are,\" Peach-boy said, \"I am so greatly indebted to you\nthat I hesitate to make a request that is in my mind.\"\n\n\"What is it?\" they questioned.\n\n\"It is that you allow me to go away for a short time,\" he answered.\n\n\"Go away? Where to?\" they asked.\n\n\"I would have you know,\" he said, \"that north of the mainland of Japan\nis an island inhabited by demons, who kill our people and steal our\ntreasure. I want to destroy them and bring back all their stolen riches.\nFor this purpose I wish to leave you.\"\n\nThe old man was at first speechless with astonishment, but as he\nconsidered the matter he was convinced that Peach-boy was not mortal in\nhis origin and therefore was probably safe from injury.\n\nSo he said: \"You wish to go, and I will not stop you. Indeed, as those\ndemons are the enemies of Japan, the sooner you destroy them and save\nyour country from their depredations the better.\"\n\nPreparations for Peach-boy's journey began at once. The old woman made\nhim some dumplings and got his clothes ready. When the time came for him\nto start, the old couple saw him off with tears in their eyes.\n\n\"Take care of yourself. May you return victorious,\" they said.\n\n\n\n\nXVI--A WARRIOR'S HELPERS\n\n\nPeach-boy walked steadily and rapidly along the highway from early\nmorning until midday, when he sat down to eat his dinner. Just as he\ntook out one of the dumplings, a big savage dog appeared.\n\n\"Wow! wow!\" the dog barked. \"You have come into my territory without\nleave. If you do not at once give me your dinner I will devour you.\"\n\nPeach-boy smiled scornfully. \"I am on my way to fight the enemies of\nJapan,\" he said. \"Don't try to stop me or I will slay you.\"\n\n\"I did not know the purpose of your journey,\" the dog responded,\ncowering and putting his tail between his legs. \"I humbly beg your\npardon for my rude conduct. Please allow me to accompany and help you.\"\n\n\"You are welcome to go with me,\" Peach-boy said.\n\n\"But I am very hungry,\" the dog told him. \"Will you please give me\nsomething to eat?\"\n\n\"Here is a dumpling for you,\" was Peach-boy's response.\n\nWhen the dog had eaten the dumpling they hurried on. They crossed many\nmountains and valleys, and one day a monkey sprang down from a tree in\nfront of them and asked, \"Where are you going so fast?\"\n\n\"We are going to fight the enemies of Japan,\" Peach-boy answered.\n\n\"Then pray allow me to go with you,\" the monkey said.\n\nThe dog came angrily forward. \"Of what use would you be?\" he snarled. \"I\nalone accompany this great warrior.\"\n\nMonkeys and dogs never can be friends, and of course this speech made\nthe monkey very angry.\n\n\"You think a great deal of yourself!\" he screeched, and he approached\nthe dog ready to assail him with his teeth and nails.\n\nBut Peach-boy stepped between them, saying: \"Stop! Do not be so hasty,\nyou two. Stand back, dog. This monkey is not a bad fellow, and I intend\nto enrol him as one of my vassals.\"\n\nThen he gave the monkey half a dumpling to eat. Presently the three went\non along the highway. But it was no easy matter to keep the peace\nbetween the dog and the monkey. So at last Peach-boy had the monkey\nmarch ahead of him with his standard, and the dog follow behind him\ncarrying his sword.\n\n[Illustration: _The Monkey and the Warrior_]\n\nAt length they entered a wilderness, and a wonderful bird sprang up from\nthe ground as if to assail them. The bird's head plumage was of the\ndeepest crimson and his body was clothed with a feather robe in five\ncolors.\n\nThe dog dashed at the bird to seize and devour him, but Peach-boy sprang\nforward and prevented this. Then he said: \"Bird, do you wish to\ninterrupt my journey? If so, the dog shall bite off your head. But if\nyou submit to me you can be one of my company and help fight the enemies\nof Japan.\"\n\nThe bird instantly bowed in front of Peach-boy, saying, \"I am a humble\nbird called the pheasant. It would be an honor to accompany you on such\nan expedition.\"\n\n\"Does this low fellow go with us?\" the dog growled disdainfully.\n\n\"That is no business of yours,\" Peach-boy said; \"and I give you three\nanimals warning that if any quarreling starts among you I will send you\nall back that very moment. In war a good position is better than good\nluck, but union is better than either good luck or good position. There\ncan be no squabbling among ourselves if we are to win.\"\n\nThe three animals listened respectfully and promised implicit obedience.\nThen the pheasant ate a half dumpling that Peach-boy gave him, and the\nfour went on together.\n\n\n\n\nXVII--THE ISLAND OF DEMONS\n\n\nAt last Peach-boy and his companions came to the sea. They looked off\nacross the water in the direction which he told them the island lay\nwhose demon inhabitants he and they were to destroy, and saw nothing but\nwaves. The dog, the monkey, and the pheasant are all creatures that live\non dry land, and though the steepest cliff and deepest valley could not\nfrighten them, yet when they saw that endless stretch of rolling waves,\nthey stood speechless and fearful.\n\nPeach-boy observed this and said in a loud voice: \"My vassals, why do\nyou tremble? Does the ocean frighten you? It would have been better to\nhave come alone than to have picked up such companions. But now I will\ndismiss you. Return!\"\n\nThey were much pained at hearing these reproaches, and they clung to him\nbeseeching him not to send them away. Apparently they were plucking up\ncourage, and he consented to retain them.\n\nHe had them help prepare a boat, and they set sail with the first\nfavorable wind. The shore behind them was soon lost to sight, and for a\nwhile the animals were very unhappy. But they gradually became\naccustomed to the motion and presently stood on deck eagerly looking\nahead to see the island as soon as it came into view. When they wearied\nof that they began to show their accomplishments. The dog sat up and\nbegged, the monkey played tricks, and the pheasant sang a song.\n\nTheir performances greatly amused Peach-boy, and before he knew it the\nisland was close at hand. On it he could see numerous flags fluttering\nabove what seemed to be an impregnable fortress. This fortress had a\nheavy gate of iron, and inside were many closely-crowded houses, all of\nwhich had iron roofs.\n\nPeach-boy turned to the pheasant and said: \"You have wings. Fly to the\nfortress and find out what those island demons are doing.\"\n\nThe pheasant promptly obeyed his orders and found the demons, some of\nthem red, some black, some blue, assembled on the iron roofs of their\nhouses. \"Listen, you island demons!\" the pheasant cried. \"A mighty\nwarrior is coming with an army to destroy you. If you wish to save your\nlives, yield at once.\"\n\n\"You vain pheasant!\" the demons laughed, \"it is you who will be\ndestroyed--not us.\"\n\nSo saying, they shook their horns at him, girded up their garments of\ntiger-skin, and seized their weapons. But that did not scare the\npheasant. He swooped down and with one peck took off the head of a red\ndemon.\n\nThen began a fierce battle, and soon the gate burst open, and Peach-boy\nwith the dog and monkey rushed in raging like lions. The demons, who\nthought that they only had to do with one bird, were much alarmed, yet\nthey fought bravely, and even their children joined in the fray. The\nsound of their yells as it mingled with the sound of the waves beating\non the shore was truly terrible.\n\nIn the end they got the worst of it. Some fell from the roofs of their\nhouses, the walls of the fortress, and the wild cliffs, and some were\nkilled by the irresistible onslaughts of Peach-boy, and of the dog, the\nmonkey, and the pheasant.\n\nWhen, at last, only the head demon remained alive, he threw away his\nweapons, and knelt in submission before Peach-boy with the tears\nstreaming down his cheeks. \"Great warrior,\" he said, \"spare my life!\nFrom today I shall reform. Spare me!\"\n\nPeach-boy laughed scornfully. \"You villain!\" he cried, \"for many years\nyou have persecuted and killed innocent people; and now that your own\nlife is in danger you beg for mercy and promise to reform. You deserve\nno mercy, and shall receive none.\"\n\nSo the head demon shared the fate of the rest of his tribe, and\nPeach-boy and his comrades loaded their boat with the hoarded island\ntreasures. There were coral and tortoise and pearls, not to speak of\nmagic hats and coats that made their wearers invisible.\n\nAll these things they carried away, and great was the joy of the old man\nand old woman when they saw Peach-boy return victorious. After that he\nand they lived happily to the end of their days.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII--ANDREW COFFEY\n\n\nMy grandfather, Andrew Coffey, was known to every one in the region\nabout his home as a quiet decent man. He was fond of rambling and\nriding, and was familiar with every hill and dale, bog and pasture,\nfield and covert in that part of the country.\n\nThen fancy his surprise, while riding only a few miles from home, one\nevening, to find himself in a vicinity that he did not recognize at all.\nHis good horse was constantly stumbling against some tree or into some\nbog-hole that by rights ought not to be there. To make matters worse, a\ncold March wind was blowing, and rain began to pelt down.\n\nSoon he was gladdened by the sight of a light among the trees in the\ndistance, and when he drew near he found a cabin, though for the life of\nhim he couldn't think how it came there. However, after tying his horse,\nin he walked. A fire was blazing on the hearth, and near it was a\ncomfortable chair. But not a soul was there in the room.\n\nHe sat down and got a little warm and cheered after his drenching, but\nall the while he was wondering and wondering. He was still puzzling over\nhis experiences when he heard a voice.\n\n\"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!\" it said.\n\nGood heavens! who was calling him, and not a soul in sight? Look around\nas he might, he could find no one indoors or out. To add to his other\nworries, his horse was gone. Again he heard the voice.\n\n\"_Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!_ tell me a story,\" it said, and it spoke\nlouder than before.\n\nWhat a thing to ask for! It was bad enough not to be left in peace\nseated by the fire drying oneself, without being bothered for a story. A\nthird time the voice spoke, and louder than ever.\n\n\"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! tell me a story or it will be the worse\nfor you,\" it said.\n\nMy poor grandfather was so dumb-founded that he could only stand and\nstare. For a fourth time the voice spoke.\n\n\"ANDREW COFFEY! ANDREW COFFEY!\" it shouted, \"I told you it would be the\nworse for you.\"\n\nThen a man bounced out from a cupboard that Andrew Coffey had not\nnoticed before. He was in a towering rage, and he carried as fine a\nblackthorn club as was ever used to crack a man's head. When my\ngrandfather clapped eyes on him he knew him for Patrick Rooney who had\ngone overboard one day in a sudden storm while fishing on the sea long\nyears ago.\n\nAndrew Coffey did not stop to visit, but took to his heels and got out\nof the house as quickly as he could. He ran and he ran taking little\nthought of where he went till at last he ran against a tree. Then he sat\ndown to rest.\n\nBut he had been there only a few moments when he heard voices. One said,\n\"the vagabond is heavy.\"\n\nAnother said, \"Steady now, lads.\"\n\nA third said, \"I've lugged him as far as I care to.\"\n\nA fourth said, \"We'll stop when we get to the big tree yonder.\"\n\nThat happened to be the tree under which Andrew Coffey was sitting.\n\"Better see than be seen,\" he thought. Then he swung himself up by a\nbranch and was soon snugly hidden away in the tree.\n\nThe rain and wind had ceased and there was light enough for Andrew\nCoffey to see four men carrying a long box. They brought it under the\ntree, set it down, and opened it. Then, what should they take out but\nPatrick Rooney? Never a word did he say, and he was as pale as\nnew-fallen snow.\n\nThe men gathered brushwood and soon had a fire burning. Then they stuck\ntwo stakes into the ground on each side of the fire, laid a pole across\non the tops of them, and on to the pole they slung Patrick Rooney.\n\n\"He's all fixed now,\" one said, \"but who's to take care of the fire\nwhile we're away?\"\n\nWith that Patrick opened his lips. \"Andrew Coffey,\" he said.\n\nThen the four men, each speaking the name once, called out, \"Andrew\nCoffey! Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!\"\n\n\"Gentlemen, I'd be glad to oblige you,\" Andrew Coffey said, \"but I know\nnothing about this sort of roasting.\"\n\n\"You'd better come down, Andrew Coffey,\" Patrick said.\n\nIt was the second time he spoke, and Andrew Coffey decided he would come\ndown. The four men went off, and he was left alone with Patrick. He sat\ndown by the fire and kept it even, and all the while Patrick looked at\nhim.\n\nPoor Andrew Coffey couldn't understand the situation at all, and he\nstared at Patrick and at the fire, and thought of the cabin in the wood\ntill he felt quite dazed.\n\n\"Ah, you're burning me!\" Patrick said, very short and sharp.\n\n\"I beg your pardon,\" my grandfather said, and hastened to fix the fire.\n\nHe couldn't get the notion out of his head that something was wrong.\nHadn't everybody, near and far, said that Patrick had fallen overboard?\n\n\"_Andrew Coffey!_ _Andrew Coffey!_ you're burning me!\" Patrick\nexclaimed.\n\nMy grandfather was sorry enough, and he vowed he wouldn't do so again.\n\n\"You'd better not,\" Patrick grumbled, and he gave him a cock of his eye,\nand a grin of his teeth that sent a shiver down Andrew Coffey's back. It\ncertainly was odd that Andrew Coffey should be there in a thick wood\nthat he had never set eyes on before, roasting Patrick Rooney. You can't\nwonder that my grandfather thought and thought and forgot the fire.\n\n_\"Andrew Coffey!_ _Andrew Coffey!_ I'll punish you for the way you're\nneglecting me!\" Patrick Rooney cried.\n\nHe was unslinging himself from the pole now, and his eyes glared and his\nteeth glistened. My grandfather got up in haste and ran off into the\ngloomy wood. He stumbled over stones, the brambles tore his clothes, the\nbranches beat his face.\n\nPresently he saw a light and was glad. A minute later he was kneeling by\na hearth-side, dazed and bedraggled. The flames leaped and crackled, and\nhe was beginning to get warm and feel a little easy in his mind when he\nheard a voice shouting, \"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey!\"\n\nIt's hard for a man to jump after going through all my grandfather had,\nbut jump he did. When he looked around, where should he find himself but\nin the very cabin in which he had first met Patrick.\n\n\"Andrew Coffey! Andrew Coffey! tell me a story,\" the voice said.\n\n\"Is it a story you want?\" my grandfather said, as bold as could be, for\nhe was tired of being frightened. \"Well then, here's one.\"\n\nAnd he told the tale of what had befallen him from first to last that\nnight. The tale was long and he was weary. He must have fallen asleep,\nfor when he awoke he lay on a hillside under the open heavens, and his\nhorse grazed at his side.\n\n\n\n\nXIX--CARELESS MR. BUZZARD\n\n\nMr. Turkey Buzzard doesn't have any sense. You watch him and you will\nsee that what I have said is true.\n\nWhen the rain pours down he sits on the fence and hunches up his\nshoulders and draws in his neck and tries to hide his head. There he\nsits looking so pitiful that you are real sorry for him.\n\n\"Never mind,\" he says to himself, \"when this rain is over I'm going to\nbuild a house right off. I'm not going to let the rain pelt me this way\nagain.\"\n\nBut after the clouds were gone, and a fresh breeze blew, and the sun\nshone, what did Mr. Turkey Buzzard do? He sat on top of a dead pine tree\nwhere the sun could warm him, and he stretched out his wings, and he\nturned round and round so the wind could dry his feathers. Then he\nlaughed to himself and said: \"The rain is over. It isn't going to rain\nany more, there's no use of my building a house now.\"\n\nMr. Turkey Buzzard is certainly a very careless man. When it is raining\nhe can't build a house, and when it isn't raining he doesn't need one.\n\n                   *       *       *       *       *\n\nIf you have enjoyed these stories you will want to read the other books\nin the series.\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Bluebeard","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":16565}