{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37472/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37472","id":"gutenberg_37472","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37472","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Swahili-speaking peoples -- Folklore","Tales -- Africa, East","Tales -- Tanzania","Travel"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project\nGutenberg (This file was produced from images generously\nmade available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                             ZANZIBAR TALES\n              Told by Natives of the East Coast of Africa\n\n\n                  Translated from the Original Swahili\n                                   By\n                           GEORGE W. BATEMAN\n\n\n                     Illustrated by WALTER BOBBETT\n\n\n\n                                Chicago\n                          A. C. McClurg & Co.\n                                 1901.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTO MY READERS.\n\n\nThirty years ago Central Africa was what people who are fond of airing\ntheir learning would call a terra incognita. To-day its general\ncharacteristics are pretty well known. Then, as now, the little\nisland of Zanzibar, situated just south of the equator, on the east\ncoast, was the starting place of all expeditions into the interior,\nand Unguja (pronounced Oon-goo'jah), the big town of that island, the\nplace where the preparations for plunging into the unknown were made.\n\nAt that period these expeditions consisted, almost without exception,\nof caravans loaded with beads and cotton cloth, which were exchanged\namong the inland tribes for elephants' tusks and slaves--for Unguja\nboasted the only, and the last, open slave-market in the world then.\n\nThe few exceptions were a would-be discoverer now and then, or a\nparty of rich white men going to hunt \"big game;\" that is, travelling\nhundreds--aye, thousands--of miles, and enduring many hardships,\nfor the momentary pleasure of holding a gun in such a position that\nwhen they pulled the trigger the bullet hit such a prominent mark as\nan elephant or a lion, which was living in its natural surroundings\nand interfering with no one.\n\nBetween you and me, I don't mind remarking that many of their\nexpeditions ended, on their return to Unguja, in the purchase of a\nfew elephants' tusks and wild animal skins in the bazaars of that\nthriving city, after the method pursued by unsuccessful anglers in\ncivilized countries.\n\nBut even the most successful of these hunters, by reason of having\nfollowed the few beaten paths known to their guides, never came\nwithin miles of such wonderful animals as those described by the\ntribesmen from the very center of the dark continent. If you have\nread any accounts of adventure in Africa, you will know that travelers\nnever mention animals of any kind that are gifted with the faculty of\nspeech, or gazelles that are overseers for native princes, or hares\nthat eat flesh. No, indeed; only the native-born know of these; and,\njudging by the immense and rapid strides civilization is making in\nthose parts, it will not be long before such wonderful specimens of\nzoology will be as extinct as the ichthyosaurus, dinornis, and other\npoor creatures who never dreamed of the awful names that would be\napplied to them when they were too long dead to show their resentment.\n\nAs to the truth of these tales, I can only say that they were told\nto me, in Zanzibar, by negroes whose ancestors told them to them,\nwho had received them from their ancestors, and so back; so that the\npraise for their accuracy, or the blame for their falsity, lies with\nthe first ancestor who set them going.\n\nYou may think uncivilized negroes are pretty ignorant people, but the\nwhite man who is supposed to have first told the story of \"The House\nthat Jack Built\" was a mighty poor genius compared with the unknown\noriginator of \"Goso, the Teacher,\" who found even inanimate things\nthat were endowed with speech, which the pupils readily understood and\nwere not astonished to hear; while \"Puss in Boots\" was not one-half\nso clever as the gazelle that ran things for Haamdaanee. It would be a\nsevere task to rattle off \"Goso\" as you do \"The House that Jack Built.\"\n\nDon't stumble over the names in these tales; they are very easy. Every\none is pronounced exactly as it is spelled, and the accent is always on\nthe last syllable but one; as, Poon'dah, the donkey; Haam-daa'nee, etc.\n\nFinally, if the perusal of these tales interests you as much as\ntheir narration and translation interested me, everything will be\nsatisfactory.\n\n\n    GEORGE W. BATEMAN.\n\n    Chicago, August 1, 1901.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n          To my Readers                                        5\n    I.    The Monkey, the Shark, and the Washerman's Donkey   17\n    II.   The Hare and the Lion                               31\n    III.  The Lion, the Hyena, and the Rabbit                 47\n    IV.   The Kites and the Crows                             57\n    V.    Goso, the Teacher                                   67\n    VI.   The Ape, the Snake, and the Lion                    81\n    VII.  Haamdaanee                                          99\n    VIII. Mkaaah Jeechonee, the Boy Hunter                   155\n    IX.   The Magician and the Sultan's Son                  183\n    X.    The Physician's Son and the King of the Snakes     197\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n    \"Throw me some food, my friend\"                           18\n    \"Miss Poonda, I am sent to ask your hand in marriage\"     23\n    Bookoo and the hare started off immediately               33\n    Soongoora crept out and ran away while the lion was\n        looking up                                            35\n    The lion continued rubbing on a piece of rock             39\n    The lion, the hyena, and the rabbit go in for a little\n        farming                                               49\n    Said the hyena, \"I'm thinking\"                            51\n    \"I should say not\"                                        59\n    They found him lying down                                 63\n    When they found the gazelle they beat it                  75\n    \"Mother, we are always hungry\"                            83\n    \"Where are you going, son of Adam?\"                       89\n    Neeoka filled the bag with chains of gold and silver      93\n    Dropping the diamond wrapped in leaves into the\n        sultan's lap                                         115\n    The gazelle wept with the old woman                      147\n    They crept cautiously through the bushes                 167\n    They camped for the night                                173\n    The magician gave the youth all the keys                 185\n    Right into the big pot!                                  191\n    \"I scared him away\"                                      215\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nZANZIBAR TALES.\n\n\nI.\n\nTHE MONKEY, THE SHARK, AND THE WASHERMAN'S DONKEY.\n\n\nOnce upon a time Kee'ma, the monkey, and Pa'pa, the shark, became\ngreat friends.\n\nThe monkey lived in an immense mkooyoo tree which grew by the margin\nof the sea--half of its branches being over the water and half over\nthe land.\n\nEvery morning, when the monkey was breakfasting on the kooyoo nuts,\nthe shark would put in an appearance under the tree and call out,\n\"Throw me some food, my friend;\" with which request the monkey complied\nmost willingly.\n\nThis continued for many months, until one day Papa said, \"Keema,\nyou have done me many kindnesses: I would like you to go with me to\nmy home, that I may repay you.\"\n\n\"How can I go?\" said the monkey; \"we land beasts can not go about in\nthe water.\"\n\n\"Don't trouble yourself about that,\" replied the shark; \"I will carry\nyou. Not a drop of water shall get to you.\"\n\n\"Oh, all right, then,\" said Mr. Keema; \"let's go.\"\n\nWhen they had gone about half-way the shark stopped, and said:\n\"You are my friend. I will tell you the truth.\"\n\n\"Why, what is there to tell?\" asked the monkey, with surprise.\n\n\"Well, you see, the fact is that our sultan is very sick, and we\nhave been told that the only medicine that will do him any good is\na monkey's heart.\"\n\n\"Well,\" exclaimed Keema, \"you were very foolish not to tell me that\nbefore we started!\"\n\n\"How so?\" asked Papa.\n\nBut the monkey was busy thinking up some means of saving himself,\nand made no reply.\n\n\"Well?\" said the shark, anxiously; \"why don't you speak?\"\n\n\"Oh, I've nothing to say now. It's too late. But if you had told me\nthis before we started, I might have brought my heart with me.\"\n\n\"What? haven't you your heart here?\"\n\n\"Huh!\" ejaculated Keema; \"don't you know about us? When we go out we\nleave our hearts in the trees, and go about with only our bodies. But\nI see you don't believe me. You think I'm scared. Come on; let's go\nto your home, where you can kill me and search for my heart in vain.\"\n\nThe shark did believe him, though, and exclaimed, \"Oh, no; let's go\nback and get your heart.\"\n\n\"Indeed, no,\" protested Keema; \"let us go on to your home.\"\n\nBut the shark insisted that they should go back, get the heart,\nand start afresh.\n\nAt last, with great apparent reluctance, the monkey consented,\ngrumbling sulkily at the unnecessary trouble he was being put to.\n\nWhen they got back to the tree, he climbed up in a great hurry,\ncalling out, \"Wait there, Papa, my friend, while I get my heart,\nand we'll start off properly next time.\"\n\nWhen he had got well up among the branches, he sat down and kept\nquite still.\n\nAfter waiting what he considered a reasonable length of time, the\nshark called, \"Come along, Keema!\" But Keema just kept still and\nsaid nothing.\n\nIn a little while he called again: \"Oh, Keema! let's be going.\"\n\nAt this the monkey poked his head out from among the upper branches\nand asked, in great surprise, \"Going? Where?\"\n\n\"To my home, of course.\"\n\n\"Are you mad?\" queried Keema.\n\n\"Mad? Why, what do you mean?\" cried Papa.\n\n\"What's the matter with you?\" said the monkey. \"Do you take me for\na washerman's donkey?\"\n\n\"What peculiarity is there about a washerman's donkey?\"\n\n\"It is a creature that has neither heart nor ears.\"\n\nThe shark, his curiosity overcoming his haste, thereupon begged to\nbe told the story of the washerman's donkey, which the monkey related\nas follows:\n\n\"A washerman owned a donkey, of which he was very fond. One day,\nhowever, it ran away, and took up its abode in the forest, where it\nled a lazy life, and consequently grew very fat.\n\n\"At length Soongoo'ra, the hare, by chance passed that way, and saw\nPoon'da, the donkey.\n\n\"Now, the hare is the most cunning of all beasts--if you look at\nhis mouth you will see that he is always talking to himself about\neverything.\n\n\"So when Soongoora saw Poonda he said to himself, 'My, this donkey\nis fat!' Then he went and told Sim'ba, the lion.\n\n\"As Simba was just recovering from a severe illness, he was still so\nweak that he could not go hunting. He was consequently pretty hungry.\n\n\"Said Mr. Soongoora, 'I'll bring enough meat to-morrow for both of\nus to have a great feast, but you'll have to do the killing.'\n\n\"'All right, good friend,' exclaimed Simba, joyfully; 'you're very\nkind.'\n\n\"So the hare scampered off to the forest, found the donkey, and said\nto her, in his most courtly manner, 'Miss Poonda, I am sent to ask\nyour hand in marriage.'\n\n\"'By whom?' simpered the donkey.\n\n\"'By Simba, the lion.'\n\n\"The donkey was greatly elated at this, and exclaimed: 'Let's go at\nonce. This is a first-class offer.'\n\n\"They soon arrived at the lion's home, were cordially invited in,\nand sat down. Soongoora gave Simba a signal with his eyebrow, to\nthe effect that this was the promised feast, and that he would wait\noutside. Then he said to Poonda: 'I must leave you for a while to\nattend to some private business. You stay here and converse with your\nhusband that is to be.'\n\n\"As soon as Soongoora got outside, the lion sprang at Poonda, and\nthey had a great fight. Simba was kicked very hard, and he struck\nwith his claws as well as his weak health would permit him. At last\nthe donkey threw the lion down, and ran away to her home in the forest.\n\n\"Shortly after, the hare came back, and called, 'Haya! Simba! have\nyou got it?'\n\n\"'I have not got it,' growled the lion; 'she kicked me and ran away;\nbut I warrant you I made her feel pretty sore, though I'm not strong.'\n\n\"'Oh, well,' remarked Soongoora; 'don't put yourself out of the way\nabout it.'\n\n\"Then Soongoora waited many days, until the lion and the donkey\nwere both well and strong, when he said: 'What do you think now,\nSimba? Shall I bring you your meat?'\n\n\"'Ay,' growled the lion, fiercely; 'bring it to me. I'll tear it in\ntwo pieces!'\n\n\"So the hare went off to the forest, where the donkey welcomed him\nand asked the news.\n\n\"'You are invited to call again and see your lover,' said Soongoora.\n\n\"'Oh, dear!' cried Poonda; 'that day you took me to him he scratched\nme awfully. I'm afraid to go near him now.'\n\n\"'Ah, pshaw!' said Soongoora; 'that's nothing. That's only Simba's\nway of caressing.'\n\n\"'Oh, well,' said the donkey, 'let's go.'\n\n\"So off they started again; but as soon as the lion caught sight of\nPoonda he sprang upon her and tore her in two pieces.\n\n\"When the hare came up, Simba said to him: 'Take this meat and roast\nit. As for myself, all I want is the heart and ears.'\n\n\"'Thanks,' said Soongoora. Then he went away and roasted the meat in\na place where the lion could not see him, and he took the heart and\nears and hid them. Then he ate all the meat he needed, and put the\nrest away.\n\n\"Presently the lion came to him and said, 'Bring me the heart and\nears.'\n\n\"'Where are they?' said the hare.\n\n\"'What does this mean?' growled Simba.\n\n\"'Why, didn't you know this was a washerman's donkey?'\n\n\"'Well, what's that to do with there being no heart or ears?'\n\n\"'For goodness' sake, Simba, aren't you old enough to know that if\nthis beast had possessed a heart and ears it wouldn't have come back\nthe second time?'\n\n\"Of course the lion had to admit that what Soongoora, the hare,\nsaid was true.\n\n\"And now,\" said Keema to the shark, \"you want to make a washerman's\ndonkey of me. Get out of there, and go home by yourself. You are not\ngoing to get me again, and our friendship is ended. Good-bye, Papa.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nTHE HARE AND THE LION.\n\n\nOne day Soongoo'ra, the hare, roaming through the forest in search\nof food, glanced up through the boughs of a very large calabash tree,\nand saw that a great hole in the upper part of the trunk was inhabited\nby bees; thereupon he returned to town in search of some one to go\nwith him and help to get the honey.\n\nAs he was passing the house of Boo'koo, the big rat, that worthy\ngentleman invited him in. So he went in, sat down, and remarked:\n\"My father has died, and has left me a hive of honey. I would like\nyou to come and help me to eat it.\"\n\nOf course Bookoo jumped at the offer, and he and the hare started\noff immediately.\n\nWhen they arrived at the great calabash tree, Soongoora pointed out\nthe bees' nest and said, \"Go on; climb up.\" So, taking some straw with\nthem, they climbed up to the nest, lit the straw, smoked out the bees,\nput out the fire, and set to work eating the honey.\n\nIn the midst of the feast, who should appear at the foot of the tree\nbut Sim'ba, the lion? Looking up, and seeing them eating, he asked,\n\"Who are you?\"\n\nThen Soongoora whispered to Bookoo, \"Hold your tongue; that old\nfellow is crazy.\" But in a very little while Simba roared out angrily:\n\"Who are you, I say? Speak, I tell you!\" This made Bookoo so scared\nthat he blurted out, \"It's only us!\"\n\nUpon this the hare said to him: \"You just wrap me up in this straw,\ncall to the lion to keep out of the way, and then throw me down. Then\nyou'll see what will happen.\"\n\nSo Bookoo, the big rat, wrapped Soongoora, the hare, in the straw,\nand then called to Simba, the lion, \"Stand back; I'm going to throw\nthis straw down, and then I'll come down myself.\" When Simba stepped\nback out of the way, Bookoo threw down the straw, and as it lay on the\nground Soongoora crept out and ran away while the lion was looking up.\n\nAfter waiting a minute or two, Simba roared out, \"Well, come down,\nI say!\" and, there being no help for it, the big rat came down.\n\nAs soon as he was within reach, the lion caught hold of him, and asked,\n\"Who was up there with you?\"\n\n\"Why,\" said Bookoo, \"Soongoora, the hare. Didn't you see him when I\nthrew him down?\"\n\n\"Of course I didn't see him,\" replied the lion, in an incredulous\ntone, and, without wasting further time, he ate the big rat, and then\nsearched around for the hare, but could not find him.\n\nThree days later, Soongoora called on his acquaintance, Ko'bay,\nthe tortoise, and said to him, \"Let us go and eat some honey.\"\n\n\"Whose honey?\" inquired Kobay, cautiously.\n\n\"My father's,\" Soongoora replied.\n\n\"Oh, all right; I'm with you,\" said the tortoise, eagerly; and away\nthey went.\n\nWhen they arrived at the great calabash tree they climbed up with\ntheir straw, smoked out the bees, sat down, and began to eat.\n\nJust then Mr. Simba, who owned the honey, came out again, and,\nlooking up, inquired, \"Who are you, up there?\"\n\nSoongoora whispered to Kobay, \"Keep quiet;\" but when the lion repeated\nhis question angrily, Kobay became suspicious, and said: \"I will\nspeak. You told me this honey was yours; am I right in suspecting\nthat it belongs to Simba?\"\n\nSo, when the lion asked again, \"Who are you?\" he answered, \"It's only\nus.\" The lion said, \"Come down, then;\" and the tortoise answered,\n\"We're coming.\"\n\nNow, Simba had been keeping an eye open for Soongoora since the day\nhe caught Bookoo, the big rat, and, suspecting that he was up there\nwith Kobay, he said to himself, \"I've got him this time, sure.\"\n\nSeeing that they were caught again, Soongoora said to the tortoise:\n\"Wrap me up in the straw, tell Simba to stand out of the way, and then\nthrow me down. I'll wait for you below. He can't hurt you, you know.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said Kobay; but while he was wrapping the hare up he\nsaid to himself: \"This fellow wants to run away, and leave me to\nbear the lion's anger. He shall get caught first.\" Therefore, when he\nhad bundled him up, he called out, \"Soongoora is coming!\" and threw\nhim down.\n\nSo Simba caught the hare, and, holding him with his paw, said, \"Now,\nwhat shall I do with you?\" The hare replied, \"It's of no use for you\nto try to eat me; I'm awfully tough.\" \"What would be the best thing\nto do with you, then?\" asked Simba.\n\n\"I think,\" said Soongoora, \"you should take me by the tail, whirl\nme around, and knock me against the ground. Then you may be able to\neat me.\"\n\nSo the lion, being deceived, took him by the tail and whirled him\naround, but just as he was going to knock him on the ground he slipped\nout of his grasp and ran away, and Simba had the mortification of\nlosing him again.\n\nAngry and disappointed, he turned to the tree and called to Kobay,\n\"You come down, too.\"\n\nWhen the tortoise reached the ground, the lion said, \"You're pretty\nhard; what can I do to make you eatable?\"\n\n\"Oh, that's easy,\" laughed Kobay; \"just put me in the mud and rub my\nback with your paw until my shell comes off.\"\n\nImmediately on hearing this, Simba carried Kobay to the water, placed\nhim in the mud, and began, as he supposed, to rub his back; but the\ntortoise had slipped away, and the lion continued rubbing on a piece\nof rock until his paws were raw. When he glanced down at them he saw\nthey were bleeding, and, realizing that he had again been outwitted,\nhe said, \"Well, the hare has done me to-day, but I'll go hunting now\nuntil I find him.\"\n\nSo Simba, the lion, set out immediately in search of Soongoora,\nthe hare, and as he went along he inquired of every one he met,\n\"Where is the house of Soongoora?\" But each person he asked answered,\n\"I do not know.\" For the hare had said to his wife, \"Let us remove\nfrom this house.\" Therefore the folks in that neighborhood had no\nknowledge of his whereabouts. Simba, however, went along, continuing\nhis inquiries, until presently one answered, \"That is his house on\nthe top of the mountain.\"\n\nWithout loss of time the lion climbed the mountain, and soon arrived at\nthe place indicated, only to find that there was no one at home. This,\nhowever, did not trouble him; on the contrary, saying to himself, \"I'll\nhide myself inside, and when Soongoora and his wife come home I'll eat\nthem both,\" he entered the house and lay down, awaiting their arrival.\n\nPretty soon along came the hare with his wife, not thinking of any\ndanger; but he very soon discovered the marks of the lion's paws\non the steep path. Stopping at once, he said to Mrs. Soongoora:\n\"You go back, my dear. Simba, the lion, has passed this way, and I\nthink he must be looking for me.\"\n\nBut she replied, \"I will not go back; I will follow you, my husband.\"\n\nAlthough greatly pleased at this proof of his wife's affection,\nSoongoora said firmly: \"No, no; you have friends to go to. Go back.\"\n\nSo he persuaded her, and she went back; but he kept on, following the\nfootmarks, and saw--as he had suspected--that they went into his house.\n\n\"Ah!\" said he to himself, \"Mr. Lion is inside, is he?\" Then,\ncautiously going back a little way, he called out: \"How d'ye do,\nhouse? How d'ye do?\" Waiting a moment, he remarked loudly: \"Well,\nthis is very strange! Every day, as I pass this place, I say, 'How\nd'ye do, house?' and the house always answers, 'How d'ye do?' There\nmust be some one inside to-day.\"\n\nWhen the lion heard this he called out, \"How d'ye do?\"\n\nThen Soongoora burst out laughing, and shouted: \"Oho, Mr. Simba! You're\ninside, and I'll bet you want to eat me; but first tell me where you\never heard of a house talking!\"\n\nUpon this the lion, seeing how he had been fooled, replied angrily,\n\"You wait until I get hold of you; that's all.\"\n\n\"Oh, I think you'll have to do the waiting,\" cried the hare; and then\nhe ran away, the lion following.\n\nBut it was of no use. Soongoora completely tired out old Simba, who,\nsaying, \"That rascal has beaten me; I don't want to have anything more\nto do with him,\" returned to his home under the great calabash tree.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nTHE LION, THE HYENA, AND THE RABBIT.\n\n\nOnce upon a time Sim'ba, the lion, Fee'see, the hyena, and Keetee'tee,\nthe rabbit, made up their minds to go in for a little farming. So\nthey went into the country, made a garden, planted all kinds of seeds,\nand then came home and rested quite a while.\n\nThen, when the time came when their crops should be about ripe and\nready for harvesting, they began to say to each other, \"Let's go over\nto the farm, and see how our crops are coming along.\"\n\nSo one morning, early, they started, and, as the garden was a long way\noff, Keeteetee, the rabbit, made this proposition: \"While we are going\nto the farm, let us not stop on the road; and if any one does stop,\nlet him be eaten.\" His companions, not being so cunning as he, and\nknowing they could outwalk him, readily consented to this arrangement.\n\nWell, off they went; but they had not gone very far when the rabbit\nstopped.\n\n\"Hullo!\" said Feesee, the hyena; \"Keeteetee has stopped. He must\nbe eaten.\"\n\n\"That's the bargain,\" agreed Simba, the lion.\n\n\"Well,\" said the rabbit, \"I happened to be thinking.\"\n\n\"What about?\" cried his partners, with great curiosity.\n\n\"I'm thinking,\" said he, with a grave, philosophical air, \"about those\ntwo stones, one big and one little; the little one does not go up,\nnor does the big one go down.\"\n\nThe lion and the hyena, having stopped to look at the stones, could\nonly say, \"Why, really, it's singular; but it's just as you say;\"\nand they all resumed their journey, the rabbit being by this time\nwell rested.\n\nWhen they had gone some distance the rabbit stopped again.\n\n\"Aha!\" said Feesee; \"Keeteetee has stopped again. Now he must be\neaten.\"\n\n\"I rather think so,\" assented Simba.\n\n\"Well,\" said the rabbit, \"I was thinking again.\"\n\nTheir curiosity once more aroused, his comrades begged him to tell\nthem his think.\n\n\"Why,\" said he, \"I was thinking this: When people like us put on new\ncoats, where do the old ones go to?\"\n\nBoth Simba and Feesee, having stopped a moment to consider the matter,\nexclaimed together, \"Well, I wonder!\" and the three went on, the\nrabbit having again had a good rest.\n\nAfter a little while the hyena, thinking it about time to show off\na little of his philosophy, suddenly stopped.\n\n\"Here,\" growled Simba, \"this won't do; I guess we'll have to eat\nyou, Feesee.\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" said the hyena; \"I'm thinking.\"\n\n\"What are you thinking about?\" they inquired.\n\n\"I'm thinking about nothing at all,\" said he, imagining himself very\nsmart and witty.\n\n\"Ah, pshaw!\" cried Keeteetee; \"we won't be fooled that way.\"\n\nSo he and Simba ate the hyena.\n\nWhen they had finished eating their friend, the lion and the rabbit\nproceeded on their way, and presently came to a place where there\nwas a cave, and here the rabbit stopped.\n\n\"H'm!\" ejaculated Simba; \"I'm not so hungry as I was this morning,\nbut I guess I'll have to find room for you, little Keeteetee.\"\n\n\"Oh, I believe not,\" replied Keeteetee; \"I'm thinking again.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the lion, \"what is it this time?\"\n\nSaid the rabbit: \"I'm thinking about that cave. In olden times our\nancestors used to go in here, and go out there, and I think I'll try\nand follow in their footsteps.\"\n\nSo he went in at one end and out at the other end several times.\n\nThen he said to the lion, \"Simba, old fellow, let's see you try to\ndo that;\" and the lion went into the cave, but he stuck fast, and\ncould neither go forward nor back out.\n\nIn a moment Keeteetee was on Simba's back, and began eating him.\n\nAfter a little time the lion cried, \"Oh, brother, be impartial;\ncome and eat some of the front part of me.\"\n\nBut the rabbit replied, \"Indeed, I can't come around in front; I'm\nashamed to look you in the face.\"\n\nSo, having eaten all he was able to, he left the lion there, and went\nand became sole owner of the farm and its crops.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nTHE KITES AND THE CROWS.\n\n\nOne day Koongoo'roo, sultan of the crows, sent a letter to Mway'way,\nsultan of the kites, containing these few words: \"I want you folks\nto be my soldiers.\"\n\nTo this brief message Mwayway at once wrote this short reply:\n\"I should say not.\"\n\nThereupon, thinking to scare Mwayway, the sultan of the crows sent\nhim word, \"If you refuse to obey me I'll make war upon you.\"\n\nTo which the sultan of the kites replied, \"That suits me; let us fight,\nand if you beat us we will obey you, but if we are victors you shall\nbe our servants.\"\n\nSo they gathered their forces and engaged in a great battle, and in a\nlittle while it became evident that the crows were being badly beaten.\n\nAs it appeared certain that, if something were not done pretty\nquickly, they would all be killed, one old crow, named Jeeoo'see,\nsuddenly proposed that they should fly away.\n\nDirectly the suggestion was made it was acted upon, and the crows left\ntheir homes and flew far away, where they set up another town. So,\nwhen the kites entered the place, they found no one there, and they\ntook up their residence in Crowtown.\n\nOne day, when the crows had gathered in council, Koongooroo stood up\nand said: \"My people, do as I command you, and all will be well. Pluck\nout some of my feathers and throw me into the town of the kites;\nthen come back and stay here until you hear from me.\"\n\nWithout argument or questioning the crows obeyed their sultan's\ncommand.\n\nKoongooroo had lain in the street but a short time, when some passing\nkites saw him and inquired threateningly, \"What are you doing here\nin our town?\"\n\nWith many a moan he replied, \"My companions have beaten me and turned\nme out of their town because I advised them to obey Mwayway, sultan\nof the kites.\"\n\nWhen they heard this they picked him up and took him before the sultan,\nto whom they said, \"We found this fellow lying in the street, and\nhe attributes his involuntary presence in our town to so singular a\ncircumstance that we thought you should hear his story.\"\n\nKoongooroo was then bidden to repeat his statement, which he did,\nadding the remark that, much as he had suffered, he still held to\nhis opinion that Mwayway was his rightful sultan.\n\nThis, of course, made a very favorable impression, and the sultan said,\n\"You have more sense than all the rest of your tribe put together;\nI guess you can stay here and live with us.\"\n\nSo Koongooroo, expressing much gratitude, settled down, apparently,\nto spend the remainder of his life with the kites.\n\nOne day his neighbors took him to church with them, and when they\nreturned home they asked him, \"Who have the best kind of religion,\nthe kites or the crows?\"\n\nTo which crafty old Koongooroo replied, with great enthusiasm, \"Oh,\nthe kites, by long odds!\"\n\nThis answer tickled the kites like anything, and Koongooroo was looked\nupon as a bird of remarkable discernment.\n\nWhen almost another week had passed, the sultan of the crows slipped\naway in the night, went to his own town, and called his people\ntogether.\n\n\"To-morrow,\" said he, \"is the great annual religious festival of\nthe kites, and they will all go to church in the morning. Go, now,\nand get some wood and some fire, and wait near their town until I\ncall you; then come quickly and set fire to the church.\"\n\nThen he hurried back to Mwayway's town.\n\nThe crows were very busy indeed all that night, and by dawn they had\nan abundance of wood and fire at hand, and were lying in wait near\nthe town of their victorious enemies.\n\nSo in the morning every kite went to church. There was not one person\nleft at home except old Koongooroo.\n\nWhen his neighbors called for him they found him lying\ndown. \"Why!\" they exclaimed with surprise, \"are you not going to\nchurch to-day?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said he, \"I wish I could; but my stomach aches so badly I can't\nmove!\" And he groaned dreadfully.\n\n\"Ah, poor fellow!\" said they; \"you will be better in bed;\" and they\nleft him to himself.\n\nAs soon as everybody was out of sight he flew swiftly to his soldiers\nand cried, \"Come on; they're all in the church.\"\n\nThen they all crept quickly but quietly to the church, and while some\npiled wood about the door, others applied fire.\n\nThe wood caught readily, and the fire was burning fiercely before the\nkites were aware of their danger; but when the church began to fill\nwith smoke, and tongues of flame shot through the cracks, they tried\nto escape through the windows. The greater part of them, however,\nwere suffocated, or, having their wings singed, could not fly away,\nand so were burned to death, among them their sultan, Mwayway; and\nKoongooroo and his crows got their old town back again.\n\nFrom that day to this the kites fly away from the crows.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\nGOSO, THE TEACHER.\n\n\nOnce there was a man named Go'so, who taught children to read,\nnot in a schoolhouse, but under a calabash tree. One evening, while\nGoso was sitting under the tree deep in the study of the next day's\nlessons, Paa, the gazelle, climbed up the tree very quietly to steal\nsome fruit, and in so doing shook off a calabash, which, in falling,\nstruck the teacher on the head and killed him.\n\nWhen his scholars came in the morning and found their teacher lying\ndead, they were filled with grief; so, after giving him a decent\nburial, they agreed among themselves to find the one who had killed\nGoso, and put him to death.\n\nAfter talking the matter over they came to the conclusion that the\nsouth wind was the offender.\n\nSo they caught the south wind and beat it.\n\nBut the south wind cried: \"Here! I am Koo'see, the south wind. Why\nare you beating me? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Koosee; it was you who threw\ndown the calabash that struck our teacher Goso. You should not have\ndone it.\"\n\nBut Koosee said, \"If I were so powerful would I be stopped by a\nmud wall?\"\n\nSo they went to the mud wall and beat it.\n\nBut the mud wall cried: \"Here! I am Keeyambaa'za, the mud wall. Why\nare you beating me? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Keeyambaaza; it was you who\nstopped Koosee, the south wind; and Koosee, the south wind, threw\ndown the calabash that struck our teacher Goso. You should not have\ndone it.\"\n\nBut Keeyambaaza said, \"If I were so powerful would I be bored through\nby the rat?\"\n\nSo they went and caught the rat and beat it.\n\nBut the rat cried: \"Here! I am Paan'ya, the rat. Why are you beating\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Paanya; it was you who bored\nthrough Keeyambaaza, the mud wall; which stopped Koosee, the south\nwind; and Koosee, the south wind, threw down the calabash that struck\nour teacher Goso. You should not have done it.\"\n\nBut Paanya said, \"If I were so powerful would I be eaten by a cat?\"\n\nSo they hunted for the cat, caught it, and beat it.\n\nBut the cat cried: \"Here! I am Paa'ka, the cat. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Paaka; it is you that eats Paanya,\nthe rat; who bores through Keeyambaaza, the mud wall; which stopped\nKoosee, the south wind; and Koosee, the south wind, threw down the\ncalabash that struck our teacher Goso. You should not have done it.\"\n\nBut Paaka said, \"If I were so powerful would I be tied by a rope?\"\n\nSo they took the rope and beat it.\n\nBut the rope cried: \"Here! I am Kaam'ba, the rope. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Kaamba; it is you that ties Paaka,\nthe cat; who eats Paanya, the rat; who bores through Keeyambaaza,\nthe mud wall; which stopped Koosee, the south wind; and Koosee, the\nsouth wind, threw down the calabash that struck our teacher Goso. You\nshould not have done it.\"\n\nBut Kaamba said, \"If I were so powerful would I be cut by a knife?\"\n\nSo they took the knife and beat it.\n\nBut the knife cried: \"Here! I am Kee'soo, the knife. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Keesoo; you cut Kaamba, the rope;\nthat ties Paaka, the cat; who eats Paanya, the rat; who bores through\nKeeyambaaza, the mud wall; which stopped Koosee, the south wind;\nand Koosee, the south wind, threw down the calabash that struck our\nteacher Goso. You should not have done it.\"\n\nBut Keesoo said, \"If I were so powerful would I be burned by the fire?\"\n\nAnd they went and beat the fire.\n\nBut the fire cried: \"Here! I am Mo'to, the fire. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Moto; you burn Keesoo, the knife;\nthat cuts Kaamba, the rope; that ties Paaka, the cat; who eats Paanya,\nthe rat; who bores through Keeyambaaza, the mud wall; which stopped\nKoosee, the south wind; and Koosee, the south wind, threw down the\ncalabash that struck our teacher Goso. You should not have done it.\"\n\nBut Moto said, \"If I were so powerful would I be put out by water?\"\n\nAnd they went to the water and beat it.\n\nBut the water cried: \"Here! I am Maa'jee, the water. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Maajee; you put out Moto, the\nfire; that burns Keesoo, the knife; that cuts Kaamba, the rope; that\nties Paaka, the cat; who eats Paanya, the rat; who bores through\nKeeyambaaza, the mud wall; which stopped Koosee, the south wind;\nand Koosee, the south wind, threw down the calabash that struck our\nteacher Goso. You should not have done it.\"\n\nBut Maajee said, \"If I were so powerful would I be drunk by the ox?\"\n\nAnd they went to the ox and beat it.\n\nBut the ox cried: \"Here! I am Ng'om'bay, the ox. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Ng'ombay; you drink Maajee, the\nwater; that puts out Moto, the fire; that burns Keesoo, the knife;\nthat cuts Kaamba, the rope; that ties Paaka, the cat; who eats Paanya,\nthe rat; who bores through Keeyambaaza, the mud wall; which stopped\nKoosee, the south wind; and Koosee, the south wind, threw down the\ncalabash that struck our teacher Goso. You should not have done it.\"\n\nBut Ng'ombay said, \"If I were so powerful would I be tormented by\nthe fly?\"\n\nAnd they caught a fly and beat it.\n\nBut the fly cried: \"Here! I am Een'zee, the fly. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Eenzee; you torment Ng'ombay, the\nox; who drinks Maajee, the water; that puts out Moto, the fire; that\nburns Keesoo, the knife; that cuts Kaamba, the rope; that ties Paaka,\nthe cat; who eats Paanya, the rat; who bores through Keeyambaaza,\nthe mud wall; which stopped Koosee, the south wind; and Koosee, the\nsouth wind, threw down the calabash that struck our teacher Goso. You\nshould not have done it.\"\n\nBut Eenzee said, \"If I were so powerful would I be eaten by the\ngazelle?\"\n\nAnd they searched for the gazelle, and when they found it they beat it.\n\nBut the gazelle said: \"Here! I am Paa, the gazelle. Why do you beat\nme? What have I done?\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Yes, we know you are Paa; you eat Eenzee, the fly;\nthat torments Ng'ombay, the ox; who drinks Maajee, the water; that\nputs out Moto, the fire; that burns Keesoo, the knife; that cuts\nKaamba, the rope; that ties Paaka, the cat; who eats Paanya, the rat;\nwho bores through Keeyambaaza, the mud wall; which stopped Koosee,\nthe south wind; and Koosee, the south wind, threw down the calabash\nthat struck our teacher Goso. You should not have done it.\"\n\nThe gazelle, through surprise at being found out and fear of the\nconsequences of his accidental killing of the teacher, while engaged\nin stealing, was struck dumb.\n\nThen the scholars said: \"Ah! he hasn't a word to say for himself. This\nis the fellow who threw down the calabash that struck our teacher\nGoso. We will kill him.\"\n\nSo they killed Paa, the gazelle, and avenged the death of their\nteacher.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\nTHE APE, THE SNAKE, AND THE LION.\n\n\nLong, long ago there lived, in a village called Keejee'jee, a woman\nwhose husband died, leaving her with a little baby boy. She worked\nhard all day to get food for herself and child, but they lived very\npoorly and were most of the time half-starved.\n\nWhen the boy, whose name was 'Mvoo' Laa'na, began to get big, he said\nto his mother, one day: \"Mother, we are always hungry. What work did\nmy father do to support us?\"\n\nHis mother replied: \"Your father was a hunter. He set traps, and we\nate what he caught in them.\"\n\n\"Oho!\" said 'Mvoo Laana; \"that's not work; that's fun. I, too, will\nset traps, and see if we can't get enough to eat.\"\n\nThe next day he went into the forest and cut branches from the trees,\nand returned home in the evening.\n\nThe second day he spent making the branches into traps.\n\nThe third day he twisted cocoanut fiber into ropes.\n\nThe fourth day he set up as many traps as time would permit.\n\nThe fifth day he set up the remainder of the traps.\n\nThe sixth day he went to examine the traps, and they had caught so\nmuch game, beside what they needed for themselves, that he took a\ngreat quantity to the big town of Oongoo'ja, where he sold it and\nbought corn and other things, and the house was full of food; and, as\nthis good fortune continued, he and his mother lived very comfortably.\n\nBut after a while, when he went to his traps he found nothing in them\nday after day.\n\nOne morning, however, he found that an ape had been caught in one of\nthe traps, and he was about to kill it, when it said: \"Son of Adam,\nI am Neea'nee, the ape; do not kill me. Take me out of this trap and\nlet me go. Save me from the rain, that I may come and save you from\nthe sun some day.\"\n\nSo 'Mvoo Laana took him out of the trap and let him go.\n\nWhen Neeanee had climbed up in a tree, he sat on a branch and said\nto the youth: \"For your kindness I will give you a piece of advice:\nBelieve me, men are all bad. Never do a good turn for a man; if you\ndo, he will do you harm at the first opportunity.\"\n\nThe second day, 'Mvoo Laana found a snake in the same trap. He\nstarted to the village to give the alarm, but the snake shouted:\n\"Come back, son of Adam; don't call the people from the village to\ncome and kill me. I am Neeo'ka, the snake. Let me out of this trap,\nI pray you. Save me from the rain to-day, that I may be able to save\nyou from the sun to-morrow, if you should be in need of help.\"\n\nSo the youth let him go; and as he went he said, \"I will return your\nkindness if I can, but do not trust any man; if you do him a kindness\nhe will do you an injury in return at the first opportunity.\"\n\nThe third day, 'Mvoo Laana found a lion in the same trap that had\ncaught the ape and the snake, and he was afraid to go near it. But\nthe lion said: \"Don't run away; I am Sim'ba Kong'way, the very old\nlion. Let me out of this trap, and I will not hurt you. Save me from\nthe rain, that I may save you from the sun if you should need help.\"\n\nSo 'Mvoo Laana believed him and let him out of the trap, and Simba\nKongway, before going his way, said: \"Son of Adam, you have been kind\nto me, and I will repay you with kindness if I can; but never do a\nkindness to a man, or he will pay you back with unkindness.\"\n\nThe next day a man was caught in the same trap, and when the youth\nreleased him, he repeatedly assured him that he would never forget the\nservice he had done him in restoring his liberty and saving his life.\n\nWell, it seemed that he had caught all the game that could be taken\nin traps, and 'Mvoo Laana and his mother were hungry every day, with\nnothing to satisfy them, as they had been before. At last he said to\nhis mother, one day: \"Mother, make me seven cakes of the little meal\nwe have left, and I will go hunting with my bow and arrows.\" So she\nbaked him the cakes, and he took them and his bow and arrows and went\ninto the forest.\n\nThe youth walked and walked, but could see no game, and finally he\nfound that he had lost his way, and had eaten all his cakes but one.\n\nAnd he went on and on, not knowing whether he was going away from\nhis home or toward it, until he came to the wildest and most desolate\nlooking wood he had ever seen. He was so wretched and tired that he\nfelt he must lie down and die, when suddenly he heard some one calling\nhim, and looking up he saw Neeanee, the ape, who said, \"Son of Adam,\nwhere are you going?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" replied 'Mvoo Laana, sadly; \"I'm lost.\"\n\n\"Well, well,\" said the ape; \"don't worry. Just sit down here and\nrest yourself until I come back, and I will repay with kindness the\nkindness you once showed me.\"\n\nThen Neeanee went away off to some gardens and stole a whole lot of\nripe paw-paws and bananas, and brought them to 'Mvoo Laana, and said:\n\"Here's plenty of food for you. Is there anything else you want? Would\nyou like a drink?\" And before the youth could answer he ran off with a\ncalabash and brought it back full of water. So the youth ate heartily,\nand drank all the water he needed, and then each said to the other,\n\"Good-bye, till we meet again,\" and went their separate ways.\n\nWhen 'Mvoo Laana had walked a great deal farther without finding\nwhich way he should go, he met Simba Kongway, who asked, \"Where are\nyou going, son of Adam?\"\n\nAnd the youth answered, as dolefully as before, \"I don't know;\nI'm lost.\"\n\n\"Come, cheer up,\" said the very old lion, \"and rest yourself here a\nlittle. I want to repay with kindness to-day the kindness you showed\nme on a former day.\"\n\nSo 'Mvoo Laana sat down. Simba Kongway went away, but soon returned\nwith some game he had caught, and then he brought some fire, and the\nyoung man cooked the game and ate it. When he had finished he felt a\ngreat deal better, and they bade each other good-bye for the present,\nand each went his way.\n\nAfter he had traveled another very long distance the youth came to\na farm, and was met by a very, very old woman, who said to him:\n\"Stranger, my husband has been taken very sick, and I am looking\nfor some one to make him some medicine. Won't you make it?\" But he\nanswered: \"My good woman, I am not a doctor, I am a hunter, and never\nused medicine in my life. I can not help you.\"\n\nWhen he came to the road leading to the principal city he saw a well,\nwith a bucket standing near it, and he said to himself: \"That's just\nwhat I want. I'll take a drink of nice well-water. Let me see if the\nwater can be reached.\"\n\nAs he peeped over the edge of the well, to see if the water was high\nenough, what should he behold but a great big snake, which, directly\nit saw him, said, \"Son of Adam, wait a moment.\" Then it came out of\nthe well and said: \"How? Don't you know me?\"\n\n\"I certainly do not,\" said the youth, stepping back a little.\n\n\"Well, well!\" said the snake; \"I could never forget you. I am Neeoka,\nwhom you released from the trap. You know I said, 'Save me from the\nrain, and I will save you from the sun.' Now, you are a stranger in\nthe town to which you are going; therefore hand me your little bag,\nand I will place in it the things that will be of use to you when\nyou arrive there.\"\n\nSo 'Mvoo Laana gave Neeoka the little bag, and he filled it with\nchains of gold and silver, and told him to use them freely for his\nown benefit. Then they parted very cordially.\n\nWhen the youth reached the city, the first man he met was he whom\nhe had released from the trap, who invited him to go home with him,\nwhich he did, and the man's wife made him supper.\n\nAs soon as he could get away unobserved, the man went to the sultan\nand said: \"There is a stranger come to my house with a bag full of\nchains of silver and gold, which he says he got from a snake that\nlives in a well. But although he pretends to be a man, I know that\nhe is a snake who has power to look like a man.\"\n\nWhen the sultan heard this he sent some soldiers who brought 'Mvoo\nLaana and his little bag before him. When they opened the little bag,\nthe man who was released from the trap persuaded the people that some\nevil would come out of it, and affect the children of the sultan and\nthe children of the vizir.\n\nThen the people became excited, and tied the hands of 'Mvoo Laana\nbehind him.\n\nBut the great snake had come out of the well and arrived at the town\njust about this time, and he went and lay at the feet of the man who\nhad said all those bad things about 'Mvoo Laana, and when the people\nsaw this they said to that man: \"How is this? There is the great snake\nthat lives in the well, and he stays by you. Tell him to go away.\"\n\nBut Neeoka would not stir. So they untied the young man's hands,\nand tried in every way to make amends for having suspected him of\nbeing a wizard.\n\nThen the sultan asked him, \"Why should this man invite you to his\nhome and then speak ill of you?\"\n\nAnd 'Mvoo Laana related all that had happened to him, and how the ape,\nthe snake, and the lion had cautioned him about the results of doing\nany kindness for a man.\n\nAnd the sultan said: \"Although men are often ungrateful, they are\nnot always so; only the bad ones. As for this fellow, he deserves\nto be put in a sack and drowned in the sea. He was treated kindly,\nand returned evil for good.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\nHAAMDAANEE.\n\n\nOnce there was a very poor man, named Haamdaa'nee, who begged from\ndoor to door for his living, sometimes taking things before they\nwere offered him. After a while people became suspicious of him, and\nstopped giving him anything, in order to keep him away from their\nhouses. So at last he was reduced to the necessity of going every\nmorning to the village dust heap, and picking up and eating the few\ngrains of the tiny little millet seed that he might find there.\n\nOne day, as he was scratching and turning over the heap, he found a\ndime, which he tied up in a corner of his ragged dress, and continued\nto hunt for millet grains, but could not find one.\n\n\"Oh, well,\" said he, \"I've got a dime now; I'm pretty well fixed. I'll\ngo home and take a nap instead of a meal.\"\n\nSo he went to his hut, took a drink of water, put some tobacco in\nhis mouth, and went to sleep.\n\nThe next morning, as he scratched in the dust heap, he saw a countryman\ngoing along, carrying a basket made of twigs, and he called to him:\n\"Hi, there, countryman! What have you in that cage?\"\n\nThe countryman, whose name was Moohaad'eem, replied, \"Gazelles.\"\n\nAnd Haamdaanee called: \"Bring them here. Let me see them.\"\n\nNow there were three well-to-do men standing near; and when they\nsaw the countryman coming to Haamdaanee they smiled, and said,\n\"You're taking lots of trouble for nothing, Moohaadeem.\"\n\n\"How's that, gentlemen?\" he inquired.\n\n\"Why,\" said they, \"that poor fellow has nothing at all. Not a cent.\"\n\n\"Oh, I don't know that,\" said the countryman; \"he may have plenty,\nfor all I know.\"\n\n\"Not he,\" said they.\n\n\"Don't you see for yourself,\" continued one of them, \"that he is on\nthe dust heap? Every day he scratches there like a hen, trying to get\nenough grains of millet to keep himself alive. If he had any money,\nwouldn't he buy a square meal, for once in his life? Do you think he\nwould want to buy a gazelle? What would he do with it? He can't find\nenough food for himself, without looking for any for a gazelle.\"\n\nBut Moohaadeem said: \"Gentlemen, I have brought some goods here to\nsell. I answer all who call me, and if any one says 'Come,' I go to\nhim. I don't favor one and slight another; therefore, as this man\ncalled me, I'm going to him.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the first man; \"you don't believe us. Well, we\nknow where he lives, and all about him, and we know that he can't\nbuy anything.\"\n\n\"That's so,\" said the second man. \"Perhaps, however, you will see\nthat we were right, after you have a talk with him.\"\n\nTo which the third man added, \"Clouds are a sign of rain, but we have\nseen no signs of his being about to spend any money.\"\n\n\"All right, gentlemen,\" said Moohaadeem; \"many better-looking people\nthan he call me, and when I show them my gazelles they say, 'Oh, yes,\nthey're very beautiful, but awfully dear; take them away.' So I shall\nnot be disappointed if this man says the same thing. I shall go to\nhim, anyhow.\"\n\nThen one of the three men said, \"Let us go with this man, and see\nwhat the beggar will buy.\"\n\n\"Pshaw!\" said another; \"buy! You talk foolishly. He has not had a\ngood meal in three years, to my knowledge; and a man in his condition\ndoesn't have money to buy gazelles. However, let's go; and if he\nmakes this poor countryman carry his load over there just for the\nfun of looking at the gazelles, let each of us give him a good hard\nwhack with our walking-sticks, to teach him how to behave toward\nhonest merchants.\"\n\nSo, when they came near him, one of those three men said: \"Well,\nhere are the gazelles; now buy one. Here they are, you old hypocrite;\nyou'll feast your eyes on them, but you can't buy them.\"\n\nBut Haamdaanee, paying no attention to the men, said to Moohaadeem,\n\"How much for one of your gazelles?\"\n\nThen another of those men broke in: \"You're very innocent, aren't\nyou? You know, as well as I do, that gazelles are sold every day at\ntwo for a quarter.\"\n\nStill taking no notice of these outsiders, Haamdaanee continued,\n\"I'd like to buy one for a dime.\"\n\n\"One for a dime!\" laughed the men; \"of course you'd like to buy one\nfor a dime. Perhaps you'd also like to have the dime to buy with.\"\n\nThen one of them gave him a push on the cheek.\n\nAt this Haamdaanee turned and said: \"Why do you push me on the cheek,\nwhen I've done nothing to you? I do not know you. I call this man,\nto transact some business with him, and you, who are strangers,\nstep in to spoil our trade.\"\n\nHe then untied the knot in the corner of his ragged coat, produced\nthe dime, and, handing it to Moohaadeem, said, \"Please, good man,\nlet me have a gazelle for that.\"\n\nAt this, the countryman took a small gazelle out of the cage and\nhanded it to him, saying, \"Here, master, take this one. I call it\nKeejee'paa.\" Then turning to those three men, he laughed, and said:\n\"Ehe! How's this? You, with your white robes, and turbans, and swords,\nand daggers, and sandals on your feet--you gentlemen of property,\nand no mistake--you told me this man was too poor to buy anything;\nyet he has bought a gazelle for a dime, while you fine fellows,\nI think, haven't enough money among you to buy half a gazelle, if\nthey were five cents each.\"\n\nThen Moohaadeem and the three men went their several ways.\n\nAs for Haamdaanee, he stayed at the dust heap until he found a few\ngrains of millet for himself and a few for Keejeepaa, the gazelle,\nand then went to his hut, spread his sleeping mat, and he and the\ngazelle slept together.\n\nThis going to the dust heap for a few grains of millet and then going\nhome to bed continued for about a week.\n\nThen one night Haamdaanee was awakened by some one calling,\n\"Master!\" Sitting up, he answered: \"Here I am. Who calls?\" The gazelle\nanswered, \"I do!\"\n\nUpon this, the beggar man became so scared that he did not know\nwhether he should faint or get up and run away.\n\nSeeing him so overcome, Keejeepaa asked, \"Why, master, what's the\nmatter?\"\n\n\"Oh, gracious!\" he gasped; \"what a wonder I see!\"\n\n\"A wonder?\" said the gazelle, looking all around; \"why, what is this\nwonder, that makes you act as if you were all broken up?\"\n\n\"Why, it's so wonderful, I can hardly believe I'm awake!\" said his\nmaster. \"Who in the world ever before knew of a gazelle that could\nspeak?\"\n\n\"Oho!\" laughed Keejeepaa; \"is that all? There are many more wonderful\nthings than that. But now, listen, while I tell you why I called you.\"\n\n\"Certainly; I'll listen to every word,\" said the man. \"I can't help\nlistening!\"\n\n\"Well, you see, it's just this way,\" said Keejeepaa; \"I've allowed you\nto become my master, and I can not run away from you; so I want you to\nmake an agreement with me, and I will make you a promise, and keep it.\"\n\n\"Say on,\" said his master.\n\n\"Now,\" continued the gazelle, \"one doesn't have to be acquainted\nwith you long, in order to discover that you are very poor. This\nscratching a few grains of millet from the dust heap every day,\nand managing to subsist upon them, is all very well for you--you're\nused to it, because it's a matter of necessity with you; but if I\nkeep it up much longer, you won't have any gazelle--Keejeepaa will\ndie of starvation. Therefore, I want to go away every day and feed\non my own kind of food; and I promise you I will return every evening.\"\n\n\"Well, I guess I'll have to give my consent,\" said the man, in no\nvery cheerful tone.\n\nAs it was now dawn, Keejeepaa jumped up and ran out of the door,\nHaamdaanee following him. The gazelle ran very fast, and his master\nstood watching him until he disappeared. Then tears started in the\nman's eyes, and, raising his hands, he cried, \"Oh, my mother!\" Then\nhe cried, \"Oh, my father!\" Then he cried, \"Oh, my gazelle! It has\nrun away!\"\n\nSome of his neighbors, who heard him carrying on in this manner,\ntook the opportunity to inform him that he was a fool, an idiot,\nand a dissipated fellow.\n\nSaid one of them: \"You hung around that dust heap, goodness knows\nhow long, scratching like a hen, till fortune gave you a dime. You\nhadn't sense enough to go and buy some decent food; you had to buy\na gazelle. Now you've let the creature run away. What are you crying\nabout? You brought all your trouble on yourself.\"\n\nAll this, of course, was very comforting to Haamdaanee, who slunk\noff to the dust heap, got a few grains of millet, and came back to\nhis hut, which now seemed meaner and more desolate than ever.\n\nAt sunset, however, Keejeepaa came trotting in; and the beggar was\nhappy again, and said, \"Ah, my friend, you have returned to me.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" said the gazelle; \"didn't I promise you? You see, I feel\nthat when you bought me you gave all the money you had in the world,\neven though it was only a dime. Why, then, should I grieve you? I\ncouldn't do it. If I go and get myself some food, I'll always come\nback evenings.\"\n\nWhen the neighbors saw the gazelle come home every evening and run\noff every morning, they were greatly surprised, and began to suspect\nthat Haamdaanee was a wizard.\n\nWell, this coming and going continued for five days, the gazelle\ntelling its master each night what fine places it had been to, and\nwhat lots of food it had eaten.\n\nOn the sixth day it was feeding among some thorn bushes in a thick\nwood, when, scratching away some bitter grass at the foot of a big\ntree, it saw an immense diamond of intense brightness.\n\n\"Oho!\" said Keejeepaa, in great astonishment; \"here's property, and no\nmistake! This is worth a kingdom! If I take it to my master he will\nbe killed; for, being a poor man, if they say to him, 'Where did you\nget it?' and he answers, 'I picked it up,' they will not believe him;\nif he says, 'It was given to me,' they will not believe him either. It\nwill not do for me to get my master into difficulties. I know what\nI'll do. I'll seek some powerful person; he will use it properly.\"\n\nSo Keejeepaa started off through the forest, holding the diamond in\nhis mouth, and ran, and ran, but saw no town that day; so he slept\nin the forest, and arose at dawn and pursued his way. And the second\nday passed like the first.\n\nOn the third day the gazelle had traveled from dawn until between\neight and nine o'clock, when he began to see scattered houses, getting\nlarger in size, and knew he was approaching a town. In due time he\nfound himself in the main street of a large city, leading direct\nto the sultan's palace, and began to run as fast as he could. People\npassing along stopped to look at the strange sight of a gazelle running\nswiftly along the main street with something wrapped in green leaves\nbetween its teeth.\n\nThe sultan was sitting at the door of his palace, when Keejeepaa,\nstopping a little way off, dropped the diamond from its mouth,\nand, lying down beside it, panting, called out: \"Ho, there! Ho,\nthere!\" which is a cry every one makes in that part of the world when\nwishing to enter a house, remaining outside until the cry is answered.\n\nAfter the cry had been repeated several times, the sultan said to\nhis attendants, \"Who is doing all that calling?\"\n\nAnd one answered, \"Master, it's a gazelle that's calling, 'Ho, there!'\"\n\n\"Ho-ho!\" said the sultan; \"Ho-ho! Invite the gazelle to come near.\"\n\nThen three attendants ran to Keejeepaa and said: \"Come, get up. The\nsultan commands you to come near.\"\n\nSo the gazelle arose, picked up the diamond, and, approaching\nthe sultan, laid the jewel at his feet, saying, \"Master, good\nafternoon!\" To which the sultan replied: \"May God make it good! Come\nnear.\"\n\nThe sultan ordered his attendants to bring a carpet and a large\ncushion, and desired the gazelle to rest upon them. When it protested\nthat it was comfortable as it was, he insisted, and Keejeepaa had\nto allow himself to be made a very honored guest. Then they brought\nmilk and rice, and the sultan would hear nothing until the gazelle\nhad fed and rested.\n\nAt last, when everything had been disposed of, the sultan said,\n\"Well, now, my friend, tell me what news you bring.\"\n\nAnd Keejeepaa said: \"Master, I don't exactly know how you will like\nthe news I bring. The fact is, I'm sent here to insult you! I've come\nto try and pick a quarrel with you! In fact, I'm here to propose a\nfamily alliance with you!\"\n\nAt this the sultan exclaimed: \"Oh, come! for a gazelle, you certainly\nknow how to talk! Now, the fact of it is, I'm looking for some one\nto insult me. I'm just aching to have some one pick a quarrel with\nme. I'm impatient for a family alliance. Go on with your message.\"\n\nThen Keejeepaa said, \"You don't bear any ill will against me, who am\nonly a messenger?\"\n\nAnd the sultan said, \"None at all.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Keejeepaa, \"look at this pledge I bring;\" dropping the\ndiamond wrapped in leaves into the sultan's lap.\n\nWhen the sultan opened the leaves and saw the great, sparkling jewel,\nhe was overcome with astonishment. At last he said, \"Well?\"\n\n\"I have brought this pledge,\" said the gazelle, \"from my master,\nSultan Daaraa'ee. He has heard that you have a daughter, so he sent\nyou this jewel, hoping you will forgive him for not sending something\nmore worthy of your acceptance than this trifle.\"\n\n\"Goodness!\" said the sultan to himself; \"he calls this a trifle!\" Then\nto the gazelle: \"Oh, that's all right; that's all right. I'm\nsatisfied. The Sultan Daaraaee has my consent to marry my daughter,\nand I don't want a single thing from him. Let him come empty-handed. If\nhe has more of these trifles, let him leave them at home. This is my\nmessage, and I hope you will make it perfectly clear to your master.\"\n\nThe gazelle assured him that he would explain everything\nsatisfactorily, adding: \"And now, master, I take my leave. I go\nstraight to our own town, and hope that in about eleven days we shall\nreturn to be your guests.\" So, with mutual compliments, they parted.\n\nIn the meantime, Haamdaanee was having an exceedingly tough\ntime. Keejeepaa having disappeared, he wandered about the town moaning,\n\"Oh, my poor gazelle! my poor gazelle!\" while the neighbors laughed\nand jeered at him, until, between them and his loss, he was nearly\nout of his mind.\n\nBut one evening, when he had gone to bed, Keejeepaa walked in. Up\nhe jumped, and began to embrace the gazelle, and weep over it, and\ncarry on at a great rate.\n\nWhen he thought there had been about enough of this kind of thing,\nthe gazelle said: \"Come, come; keep quiet, my master. I've brought\nyou good news.\" But the beggar man continued to cry and fondle,\nand declare that he had thought his gazelle was dead.\n\nAt last Keejeepaa said: \"Oh, well, master, you see I'm all right. You\nmust brace up, and prepare to hear my news, and do as I advise you.\"\n\n\"Go on; go on,\" replied his master; \"explain what you will, I'll\ndo whatever you require me to do. If you were to say, 'Lie down on\nyour back, that I may roll you over the side of the hill,' I would\nlie down.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the gazelle, \"there is not much to explain just now,\nbut I'll tell you this: I've seen many kinds of food, food that is\ndesirable and food that is objectionable, but this food I'm about to\noffer you is very sweet indeed.\"\n\n\"What?\" said Haamdaanee. \"Is it possible that in this world there\nis anything that is positively good? There must be good and bad in\neverything. Food that is both sweet and bitter is good food, but if\nfood were nothing but sweetness would it not be injurious?\"\n\n\"H'm!\" yawned the gazelle; \"I'm too tired to talk philosophy. Let's\ngo to sleep now, and when I call you in the morning, all you have to\ndo is to get up and follow me.\"\n\nSo at dawn they set forth, the gazelle leading the way, and for five\ndays they journeyed through the forest.\n\nOn the fifth day they came to a stream, and Keejeepaa said to his\nmaster, \"Lie down here.\" When he had done so, the gazelle set to and\nbeat him so soundly that he cried out: \"Oh, let up, I beg of you!\"\n\n\"Now,\" said the gazelle, \"I'm going away, and when I return I\nexpect to find you right here; so don't you leave this spot on any\naccount.\" Then he ran away, and about ten o'clock that morning he\narrived at the house of the sultan.\n\nNow, ever since the day Keejeepaa left the town, soldiers had been\nplaced along the road to watch for and announce the approach of Sultan\nDaaraaee; so one of them, when he saw the gazelle in the distance,\nrushed up and cried to the sultan, \"Sultan Daaraaee is coming! I've\nseen the gazelle running as fast as it can in this direction.\"\n\nThe sultan and his attendants immediately set out to meet his guests;\nbut when they had gone a little way beyond the town they met the\ngazelle coming along alone, who, on reaching the sultan, said,\n\"Good day, my master.\" The sultan replied in kind, and asked the\nnews, but Keejeepaa said: \"Ah, do not ask me. I can scarcely walk,\nand my news is bad!\"\n\n\"Why, how is that?\" asked the sultan.\n\n\"Oh, dear!\" sighed the gazelle; \"such misfortune and misery! You see,\nSultan Daaraaee and I started alone to come here, and we got along\nall right until we came to the thick part of the forest yonder, when\nwe were met by robbers, who seized my master, bound him, beat him,\nand took everything he had, even stripping off every stitch of his\nclothing. Oh, dear! oh, dear!\"\n\n\"Dear me!\" said the sultan; \"we must attend to this at once.\" So,\nhurrying back with his attendants to his house, he called a groom,\nto whom he said, \"Saddle the best horse in my stable, and put on him\nmy finest harness.\" Then he directed a woman servant to open the\nbig inlaid chest and bring him a bag of clothes. When she brought\nit he picked out a loin-cloth, and a long white robe, and a black\noverjacket, and a shawl for the waist, and a turban cloth, all of\nthe very finest. Then he sent for a curved sword with a gold hilt,\nand a curved dagger with gold filigree, and a pair of elegant sandals,\nand a fine walking-cane.\n\nThen the sultan said to Keejeepaa, \"Take some of my soldiers, and\nlet them convey these things to Sultan Daaraaee, that he may dress\nhimself and come to me.\"\n\nBut the gazelle answered: \"Ah, my master, can I take these soldiers\nwith me and put Sultan Daaraaee to shame? There he lies, beaten and\nrobbed, and I would not have any one see him. I can take everything\nby myself.\"\n\n\"Why,\" exclaimed the sultan, \"here is a horse, and there are clothes\nand arms. I don't see how a little gazelle can manage all those\nthings.\"\n\nBut the gazelle had them fasten everything on the horse's back, and\ntie the end of the bridle around his own neck, and then he set off\nalone, amidst the wonder and admiration of the people of that city,\nhigh and low.\n\nWhen he arrived at the place where he had left the beggar-man, he\nfound him lying waiting for him, and overjoyed at his return.\n\n\"Now,\" said he, \"I have brought you the sweet food I promised. Come,\nget up and bathe yourself.\"\n\nWith the hesitation of a person long unaccustomed to such a thing,\nthe man stepped into the stream and began to wet himself a little.\n\n\"Oh,\" said the gazelle, impatiently, \"a little water like that won't\ndo you much good; get out into the deep pool.\"\n\n\"Dear me!\" said the man, timidly; \"there is so much water there;\nand where there is much water there are sure to be horrible animals.\"\n\n\"Animals! What kind of animals?\"\n\n\"Well, crocodiles, water lizards, snakes, and, at any rate, frogs;\nand they bite people, and I'm terribly afraid of all of them.\"\n\n\"Oh, well,\" said Keejeepaa, \"do the best you can in the stream; but\nrub yourself well with earth, and, for goodness' sake, scrub your\nteeth well with sand; they are awfully dirty.\"\n\nSo the man obeyed, and soon made quite a change in his appearance.\n\nThen the gazelle said: \"Here, hurry up and put on these things. The\nsun has gone down, and we ought to have started before this.\"\n\nSo the man dressed himself in the fine clothes the sultan had sent,\nand then he mounted the horse, and they started; the gazelle trotting\non ahead.\n\nWhen they had gone some distance, the gazelle stopped, and said,\n\"See here: nobody who sees you now would suspect that you are the man\nwho scratched in the dust heap yesterday. Even if we were to go back to\nour town the neighbors would not recognize you, if it were only for the\nfact that your face is clean and your teeth are white. Your appearance\nis all right, but I have a caution to give you. Over there, where we\nare going, I have procured for you the sultan's daughter for a wife,\nwith all the usual wedding gifts. Now, you must keep quiet. Say nothing\nexcept, 'How d'ye do?' and 'What's the news?' Let me do the talking.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the man; \"that suits me exactly.\"\n\n\"Do you know what your name is?\"\n\n\"Of course I do.\"\n\n\"Indeed? Well, what is it?\"\n\n\"Why, my name is Haamdaanee.\"\n\n\"Not much,\" laughed Keejeepaa; \"your name is Sultan Daaraaee.\"\n\n\"Oh, is it?\" said his master. \"That's good.\"\n\nSo they started forward again, and in a little while they saw soldiers\nrunning in every direction, and fourteen of these joined them to\nescort them. Then they saw ahead of them the sultan, and the vizirs,\nand the emirs, and the judges, and the great men of the city, coming\nto meet them.\n\n\"Now, then,\" said Keejeepaa, \"get off your horse and salute your\nfather-in-law. That's him in the middle, wearing the sky-blue jacket.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the man, jumping off his horse, which was then led\nby a soldier.\n\nSo the two met, and the sultans shook hands, and kissed each other,\nand walked up to the palace together.\n\nThen they had a great feast, and made merry and talked until night,\nat which time Sultan Daaraaee and the gazelle were put into an inner\nroom, with three soldiers at the door to guard and attend upon them.\n\nWhen the morning came, Keejeepaa went to the sultan and said: \"Master,\nwe wish to attend to the business which brought us here. We want\nto marry your daughter, and the sooner the ceremony takes place,\nthe better it will please the Sultan Daaraaee.\"\n\n\"Why, that's all right,\" said the sultan; \"the bride is ready. Let\nsome one call the teacher, Mwaalee'moo, and tell him to come at once.\"\n\nWhen Mwaaleemoo arrived, the sultan said, \"See here, we want you to\nmarry this gentleman to my daughter right away.\"\n\n\"All right; I'm ready,\" said the teacher. So they were married.\n\nEarly the next morning the gazelle said to his master: \"Now I'm off on\na journey. I shall be gone about a week; but however long I am gone,\ndon't you leave the house till I return. Good-bye.\"\n\nThen he went to the real sultan and said: \"Good master, Sultan Daaraaee\nhas ordered me to return to our town and put his house in order; he\ncommands me to be here again in a week; if I do not return by that\ntime, he will stay here until I come.\"\n\nThe sultan asked him if he would not like to have some soldiers go\nwith him; but the gazelle replied that he was quite competent to\ntake care of himself, as his previous journeys had proved, and he\npreferred to go alone; so with mutual good wishes they parted.\n\nBut Keejeepaa did not go in the direction of the old village. He\nstruck off by another road through the forest, and after a time came\nto a very fine town, of large, handsome houses. As he went through\nthe principal street, right to the far end, he was greatly astonished\nto observe that the town seemed to have no inhabitants, for he saw\nneither man, woman, nor child in all the place.\n\nAt the end of the main street he came upon the largest and most\nbeautiful house he had ever seen, built of sapphire, and turquoise,\nand costly marbles.\n\n\"Oh, my!\" said the gazelle; \"this house would just suit my master. I'll\nhave to pluck up my courage and see whether this is deserted like\nthe other houses in this mysterious town.\"\n\nSo Keejeepaa knocked at the door, and called, \"Hullo, there!\" several\ntimes; but no one answered. And he said to himself: \"This is\nstrange! If there were no one inside, the door would be fastened\non the outside. Perhaps they are in another part of the house, or\nasleep. I'll call again, louder.\"\n\nSo he called again, very loud and long, \"Hul-lo, th-e-re! Hul-lo!\" And\ndirectly an old woman inside answered, \"Who is that calling so loudly?\"\n\n\"It is I, your grandchild, good mistress,\" said Keejeepaa.\n\n\"If you are my grandchild,\" replied the old woman, \"go back to your\nhome at once; don't come and die here, and bring me to my death also.\"\n\n\"Oh, come,\" said he, \"open the door, mistress; I have just a few\nwords I wish to say to you.\"\n\n\"My dear grandson,\" she replied, \"the only reason why I do not open\nthe door is because I fear to endanger both your life and my own.\"\n\n\"Oh, don't worry about that; I guess your life and mine are safe enough\nfor a while. Open the door, anyhow, and hear the little I have to say.\"\n\nSo the old woman opened the door.\n\nThen they exchanged salutations and compliments, after which she\nasked the gazelle, \"What's the news from your place, grandson?\"\n\n\"Oh, everything is going along pretty well,\" said he; \"what's the\nnews around here?\"\n\n\"Ah!\" sighed the old creature; \"the news here is very bad. If you're\nlooking for a place to die in, you've struck it here. I've not the\nslightest doubt you'll see all you want of death this very day.\"\n\n\"Huh!\" replied Keejeepaa, lightly; \"for a fly to die in honey is not\nbad for the fly, and doesn't injure the honey.\"\n\n\"It may be all very well for you to be easy about it,\" persisted the\nold person; \"but if people with swords and shields did not escape,\nhow can a little thing like you avoid danger? I must again beg of\nyou to go back to the place you came from. Your safety seems of more\ninterest to me than it is to you.\"\n\n\"Well, you see, I can't go back just now; and besides, I want to find\nout more about this place. Who owns it?\"\n\n\"Ah, grandson, in this house are enormous wealth, numbers of people,\nhundreds of horses, and the owner is Neeo'ka Mkoo', the wonderfully\nbig snake. He owns this whole town, also.\"\n\n\"Oho! Is that so?\" said Keejeepaa. \"Look here, old lady; can't you\nput me on to some plan of getting near this big snake, that I may\nkill him?\"\n\n\"Mercy!\" cried the old woman, in affright; \"don't talk like\nthat. You've put my life in danger already, for I'm sure Neeoka Mkoo\ncan hear what is said in this house, wherever he is. You see I'm a\npoor old woman, and I have been placed here, with those pots and pans,\nto cook for him. Well, when the big snake is coming, the wind begins\nto blow and the dust flies as it would do in a great storm. Then,\nwhen he arrives in the courtyard, he eats until he is full, and\nafter that, goes inside there to drink water. When he has finished,\nhe goes away again. This occurs every other day, just when the sun\nis overhead. I may add that Neeoka Mkoo has seven heads. Now, then,\ndo you think yourself a match for him?\"\n\n\"Look here, mother,\" said the gazelle, \"don't you worry about me. Has\nthis big snake a sword?\"\n\n\"He has. This is it,\" said she, taking from its peg a very keen\nand beautiful blade, and handing it to him; \"but what's the use in\nbothering about it? We are dead already.\"\n\n\"We shall see about that,\" said Keejeepaa.\n\nJust at that moment the wind began to blow, and the dust to fly,\nas if a great storm were approaching.\n\n\"Do you hear the great one coming?\" cried the old woman.\n\n\"Pshaw!\" said the gazelle; \"I'm a great one also--and I have the\nadvantage of being on the inside. Two bulls can't live in one\ncattle-pen. Either he will live in this house, or I will.\"\n\nNotwithstanding the terror the old lady was in, she had to smile at\nthe assurance of this little undersized gazelle, and repeated over\nagain her account of the people with swords and shields who had been\nkilled by the big snake.\n\n\"Ah, stop your gabbling!\" said the gazelle; \"you can't always judge\na banana by its color or size. Wait and see, grandma.\"\n\nIn a very little while the big snake, Neeoka Mkoo, came into the\ncourtyard, and went around to all the pots and ate their contents. Then\nhe came to the door.\n\n\"Hullo, old lady,\" said he; \"how is it I smell a new kind of odor\ninside there?\"\n\n\"Oh, that's nothing, good master,\" replied the old woman; \"I've been\nso busy around here lately I haven't had time to look after myself;\nbut this morning I used some perfume, and that's what you smell.\"\n\nNow, Keejeepaa had drawn the sword, and was standing just inside\nthe doorway; so, when the big snake put his head in, it was cut off\nso quickly that its owner did not know it was gone. When he put in\nhis second head it was cut off with the same quickness; and, feeling\na little irritation, he exclaimed, \"Who's inside there, scratching\nme?\" He then thrust in his third head, and that was cut off also.\n\nThis continued until six heads had been disposed of, when Neeoka Mkoo\nunfolded his rings and lashed around so that the gazelle and the old\nwoman could not see one another through the dust.\n\nThen the snake thrust in his seventh head, and the gazelle, crying:\n\"Now your time has come; you've climbed many trees, but this you can\nnot climb,\" severed it, and immediately fell down in a fainting fit.\n\nWell, that old woman, although she was seventy-five years of age,\njumped, and shouted, and laughed, like a girl of nine. Then she ran\nand got water, and sprinkled the gazelle, and turned him this way\nand that way, until at last he sneezed; which greatly pleased the\nold person, who fanned him and tended him until he was quite recovered.\n\n\"Oh, my!\" said she; \"who would have thought you could be a match for\nhim, my grandson?\"\n\n\"Well, well,\" said Keejeepaa; \"that's all over. Now show me everything\naround this place.\"\n\nSo she showed him everything, from top to bottom: store-rooms\nfull of goods, chambers full of expensive foods, rooms containing\nhandsome people who had been kept prisoners for a long time, slaves,\nand everything.\n\nNext he asked her if there was any person who was likely to lay\nclaim to the place or make any trouble; and she answered: \"No one;\neverything here belongs to you.\"\n\n\"Very well, then,\" said he, \"you stay here and take care of these\nthings until I bring my master. This place belongs to him now.\"\n\nKeejeepaa stayed three days examining the house, and said to himself:\n\"Well, when my master comes here he will be much pleased with what I\nhave done for him, and he'll appreciate it after the life he's been\naccustomed to. As to his father-in-law, there is not a house in his\ntown that can compare with this.\"\n\nOn the fourth day he departed, and in due time arrived at the\ntown where the sultan and his master lived. Then there were great\nrejoicings; the sultan being particularly pleased at his return,\nwhile his master felt as if he had received a new lease of life.\n\nAfter everything had settled down a little, Keejeepaa told his master\nhe must be ready to go, with his wife, to his new home after four\ndays. Then he went and told the sultan that Sultan Daaraaee desired\nto take his wife to his own town in four days; to which the sultan\nstrongly objected; but the gazelle said it was his master's wish,\nand at last everything was arranged.\n\nOn the day of the departure a great company assembled to escort Sultan\nDaaraaee and his bride. There were the bride's ladies-in-waiting,\nand slaves, and horsemen, and Keejeepaa leading them all.\n\nSo they traveled three days, resting when the sun was overhead, and\nstopping each evening about five o'clock to eat and sleep; arising\nnext morning at day-break, eating, and going forward again. And all\nthis time the gazelle took very little rest, going all through the\ncompany, from the ladies to the slaves, and seeing that every one was\nwell supplied with food and quite comfortable; therefore the entire\ncompany loved him and valued him like the apples of their eyes.\n\nOn the fourth day, during the afternoon, many houses came into\nview, and some of the folks called Keejeepaa's attention to\nthem. \"Certainly,\" said he; \"that is our town, and that house you\nsee yonder is the palace of Sultan Daaraaee.\"\n\nSo they went on, and all the company filed into the courtyard, while\nthe gazelle and his master went into the house.\n\nWhen the old woman saw Keejeepaa, she began to dance, and shout, and\ncarry on, just as she did when he killed Neeoka Mkoo, and taking up\nhis foot she kissed it; but Keejeepaa said: \"Old lady, let me alone;\nthe one to be made much of is this my master, Sultan Daaraaee. Kiss\nhis feet; he has the first honors whenever he is present.\"\n\nThe old woman excused herself for not knowing the master, and\nthen Sultan Daaraaee and the gazelle went around on a tour of\ninspection. The sultan ordered all the prisoners to be released,\nthe horses to be sent out to pasture, all the rooms to be swept,\nthe furniture to be dusted, and, in the meantime, servants were busy\npreparing food. Then every one had apartments assigned to him, and\nall were satisfied.\n\nAfter they had remained there some time, the ladies who had accompanied\nthe bride expressed a desire to return to their own homes. Keejeepaa\nbegged them not to hurry away, but after a while they departed, each\nloaded with gifts by the gazelle, for whom they had a thousand times\nmore affection than for his master. Then things settled down to their\nregular routine.\n\nOne day the gazelle said to the old woman: \"I think the conduct of\nmy master is very singular. I have done nothing but good for him\nall the time I have been with him. I came to this town and braved\nmany dangers for him, and when all was over I gave everything to\nhim. Yet he has never asked: 'How did you get this house? How did\nyou get this town? Who is the owner of this house? Have you rented\nall these things, or have they been given you? What has become of\nthe inhabitants of the place?' I don't understand him. And further:\nalthough I have done nothing but good for him, he has never done one\ngood thing for me. Nothing here is really his. He never saw such a\nhouse or town as this since the day he was born, and he doesn't own\nanything of it. I believe the old folks were right when they said,\n'If you want to do any person good, don't do too much; do him a little\nharm occasionally, and he'll think more of you.' However, I've done\nall I can now, and I'd like to see him make some little return.\"\n\nNext morning the old woman was awakened early by the gazelle calling,\n\"Mother! Mother!\" When she went to him she found he was sick in his\nstomach, feverish, and all his legs ached.\n\n\"Go,\" said he, \"and tell my master I am very ill.\"\n\nSo she went upstairs and found the master and mistress sitting on a\nmarble couch, covered with a striped silk scarf from India.\n\n\"Well,\" said the master, \"what do you want, old woman?\"\n\n\"Oh, my master,\" cried she, \"Keejeepaa is sick!\"\n\nThe mistress started and said: \"Dear me! What is the matter with him?\"\n\n\"All his body pains him. He is sick all over.\"\n\n\"Oh, well,\" said the master, \"what can I do? Go and get some of that\nred millet, that is too common for our use, and make him some gruel.\"\n\n\"Gracious!\" exclaimed his wife, staring at him in amazement; \"do you\nwish her to feed our friend with stuff that a horse would not eat if\nhe were ever so hungry? This is not right of you.\"\n\n\"Ah, get out!\" said he, \"you're crazy. We eat rice; isn't red millet\ngood enough for a gazelle that cost only a dime?\"\n\n\"Oh, but he is no ordinary gazelle. He should be as dear to you as\nthe apple of your eye. If sand got in your eye it would trouble you.\"\n\n\"You talk too much,\" returned her husband; then, turning to the old\nwoman, he said, \"Go and do as I told you.\"\n\nSo the old woman went downstairs, and when she saw the gazelle,\nshe began to cry, and say, \"Oh, dear! oh, dear!\"\n\nIt was a long while before the gazelle could persuade her to tell\nhim what had passed upstairs, but at last she told him all. When\nhe had heard it, he said: \"Did he really tell you to make me red\nmillet gruel?\"\n\n\"Ah,\" cried she, \"do you think I would say such a thing if it were\nnot so?\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Keejeepaa, \"I believe what the old folks said was\nright. However, we'll give him another chance. Go up to him again,\nand tell him I am very sick, and that I can't eat that gruel.\"\n\nSo she went upstairs, and found the master and mistress sitting by\nthe window, drinking coffee.\n\nThe master, looking around and seeing her, said: \"What's the matter\nnow, old woman?\"\n\nAnd she said: \"Master, I am sent by Keejeepaa. He is very sick indeed,\nand has not taken the gruel you told me to make for him.\"\n\n\"Oh, bother!\" he exclaimed. \"Hold your tongue, and keep your feet\nstill, and shut your eyes, and stop your ears with wax; then, if that\ngazelle tells you to come up here, say that your legs are stiff; and\nif he tells you to listen, say your ears are deaf; and if he tells you\nto look, say your sight has failed you; and if he wants you to talk,\ntell him your tongue is paralyzed.\"\n\nWhen the old woman heard these words, she stood and stared, and was\nunable to move. As for his wife, her face became sad, and the tears\nbegan to start from her eyes; observing which, her husband said,\nsharply, \"What's the matter with you, sultan's daughter?\"\n\nThe lady replied, \"A man's madness is his undoing.\"\n\n\"Why do you say that, mistress?\" he inquired.\n\n\"Ah,\" said she, \"I am grieved, my husband, at your treatment of\nKeejeepaa. Whenever I say a good word for the gazelle you dislike to\nhear it. I pity you that your understanding is gone.\"\n\n\"What do you mean by talking in that manner to me?\" he blustered.\n\n\"Why, advice is a blessing, if properly taken. A husband should\nadvise with his wife, and a wife with her husband; then they are\nboth blessed.\"\n\n\"Oh, stop,\" said her husband, impatiently; \"it's evident you've\nlost your senses. You should be chained up.\" Then he said to the old\nwoman: \"Never mind her talk; and as to this gazelle, tell him to stop\nbothering me and putting on style, as if he were the sultan. I can't\neat, I can't drink, I can't sleep, because of that gazelle worrying\nme with his messages. First, the gazelle is sick; then, the gazelle\ndoesn't like what he gets to eat. Confound it! If he likes to eat,\nlet him eat; if he doesn't like to eat, let him die and be out of the\nway. My mother is dead, and my father is dead, and I still live and\neat; shall I be put out of my way by a gazelle, that I bought for a\ndime, telling me he wants this thing or that thing? Go and tell him\nto learn how to behave himself toward his superiors.\"\n\nWhen the old woman went downstairs, she found the gazelle was bleeding\nat the mouth, and in a very bad way. All she could say was, \"My son,\nthe good you did is all lost; but be patient.\"\n\nAnd the gazelle wept with the old woman when she told him all that\nhad passed, and he said, \"Mother, I am dying, not only from sickness,\nbut from shame and anger at this man's ingratitude.\"\n\nAfter a while Keejeepaa told the old woman to go and tell the\nmaster that he believed he was dying. When she went upstairs she\nfound Daaraaee chewing sugar-cane, and she said to him, \"Master,\nthe gazelle is worse; we think him nearer to dying than getting well.\"\n\nTo which he answered: \"Haven't I told you often enough not to\nbother me?\"\n\nThen his wife said: \"Oh, husband, won't you go down and see the poor\ngazelle? If you don't like to go, let me go and see him. He never\ngets a single good thing from you.\"\n\nBut he turned to the old woman and said, \"Go and tell that nuisance\nof a gazelle to die eleven times if he chooses to.\"\n\n\"Now, husband,\" persisted the lady, \"what has Keejeepaa done to\nyou? Has he done you any wrong? Such words as yours people use to\ntheir enemies only. Surely the gazelle is not your enemy. All the\npeople who know him, great and lowly, love him dearly, and they will\nthink it very wrong of you if you neglect him. Now, do be kind to him,\nSultan Daaraaee.\"\n\nBut he only repeated his assertion that she had lost her wits, and\nwould have nothing further of argument.\n\nSo the old woman went down and found the gazelle worse than ever.\n\nIn the meantime Sultan Daaraaee's wife managed to give some rice to\na servant to cook for the gazelle, and also sent him a soft shawl to\ncover him and a pillow to lie upon. She also sent him a message that\nif he wished, she would have her father's best physicians attend him.\n\nAll this was too late, however, for just as these good things arrived,\nKeejeepaa died.\n\nWhen the people heard he was dead, they went running around crying\nand having an awful time; and when Sultan Daaraaee found out what\nall the commotion was about he was very indignant, remarking, \"Why,\nyou are making as much fuss as if I were dead, and all over a gazelle\nthat I bought for a dime!\"\n\nBut his wife said: \"Husband, it was this gazelle that came to ask\nme of my father, it was he who brought me from my father's, and it\nwas to him I was given by my father. He gave you everything good,\nand you do not possess a thing that he did not procure for you. He\ndid everything he could to help you, and you not only returned him\nunkindness, but now he is dead you have ordered people to throw him\ninto the well. Let us alone, that we may weep.\"\n\nBut the gazelle was taken and thrown into the well.\n\nThen the lady wrote a letter telling her father to come to her\ndirectly, and despatched it by trusty messengers; upon the receipt\nof which the sultan and his attendants started hurriedly to visit\nhis daughter.\n\nWhen they arrived, and heard that the gazelle was dead and had been\nthrown into the well, they wept very much; and the sultan, and the\nvizir, and the judges, and the rich chief men, all went down into the\nwell and brought up the body of Keejeepaa, and took it away with them\nand buried it.\n\nNow, that night the lady dreamt that she was at home at her father's\nhouse; and when dawn came she awoke and found she was in her own bed\nin her own town again.\n\nAnd her husband dreamed that he was on the dust heap, scratching;\nand when he awoke there he was, with both hands full of dust, looking\nfor grains of millet. Staring wildly he looked around to the right\nand left, saying: \"Oh, who has played this trick on me? How did I\nget back here, I wonder?\"\n\nJust then the children going along, and seeing him, laughed and hooted\nat him, calling out: \"Hullo, Haamdaanee, where have you been? Where\ndo you come from? We thought you were dead long ago.\"\n\nSo the sultan's daughter lived in happiness with her people until the\nend, and that beggar-man continued to scratch for grains of millet\nin the dust heap until he died.\n\nIf this story is good, the goodness belongs to all; if it is bad,\nthe badness belongs only to him who told it.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\nMKAAAH JEECHONEE, THE BOY HUNTER.\n\n\nSultan Maaj'noon had seven sons and a big cat, of all of whom he was\nvery proud.\n\nEverything went well until one day the cat went and caught a calf. When\nthey told the sultan he said, \"Well, the cat is mine, and the calf is\nmine.\" So they said, \"Oh, all right, master,\" and let the matter drop.\n\nA few days later the cat caught a goat; and when they told the sultan\nhe said, \"The cat is mine, and the goat is mine;\" and so that settled\nit again.\n\nTwo days more passed, and the cat caught a cow. They told the sultan,\nand he shut them up with \"My cat, and my cow.\"\n\nAfter another two days the cat caught a donkey; same result.\n\nNext it caught a horse; same result.\n\nThe next victim was a camel; and when they told the sultan he said:\n\"What's the matter with you folks? It was my cat, and my camel. I\nbelieve you don't like my cat, and want it killed, bringing me tales\nabout it every day. Let it eat whatever it wants to.\"\n\nIn a very short time it caught a child, and then a full-grown man;\nbut each time the sultan remarked that both the cat and its victim\nwere his, and thought no more of it.\n\nMeantime the cat grew bolder, and hung around a low, open place\nnear the town, pouncing on people going for water, or animals out at\npasture, and eating them.\n\nAt last some of the people plucked up courage; and, going to the\nsultan, said: \"How is this, master? As you are our sultan you are\nour protector,--or ought to be,--yet you have allowed this cat to do\nas it pleases, and now it lives just out of town there, and kills\neverything living that goes that way, while at night it comes into\ntown and does the same thing. Now, what on earth are we to do?\"\n\nBut Maajnoon only replied: \"I really believe you hate my cat. I suppose\nyou want me to kill it; but I shall do no such thing. Everything it\neats is mine.\"\n\nOf course the folks were astonished at this result of the interview,\nand, as no one dared to kill the cat, they all had to remove from\nthe vicinity where it lived. But this did not mend matters, because,\nwhen it found no one came that way, it shifted its quarters likewise.\n\nSo complaints continued to pour in, until at last Sultan Maajnoon\ngave orders that if any one came to make accusations against the cat,\nhe was to be informed that the master could not be seen.\n\nWhen things got so that people neither let their animals out nor went\nout themselves, the cat went farther into the country, killing and\neating cattle, and fowls, and everything that came its way.\n\nOne day the sultan said to six of his sons, \"I'm going to look at\nthe country to-day; come along with me.\"\n\nThe seventh son was considered too young to go around anywhere,\nand was always left at home with the women folk, being called by his\nbrothers Mkaa'ah Jeecho'nee, which means Mr. Sit-in-the-kitchen.\n\nWell, they went, and presently came to a thicket. The father was in\nfront and the six sons following him, when the cat jumped out and\nkilled three of the latter.\n\nThe attendants shouted, \"The cat! the cat!\" and the soldiers asked\npermission to search for and kill it, which the sultan readily granted,\nsaying: \"This is not a cat, it is a noon'dah. It has taken from me\nmy own sons.\"\n\nNow, nobody had ever seen a noondah, but they all knew it was a\nterrible beast that could kill and eat all other living things.\n\nWhen the sultan began to bemoan the loss of his sons, some of those who\nheard him said: \"Ah, master, this noondah does not select his prey. He\ndoesn't say: 'This is my master's son, I'll leave him alone,' or,\n'This is my master's wife, I won't eat her.' When we told you what\nthe cat had done, you always said it was your cat, and what it ate\nwas yours, and now it has killed your sons, and we don't believe it\nwould hesitate to eat even you.\"\n\nAnd he said, \"I fear you are right.\"\n\nAs for the soldiers who tried to get the cat, some were killed and\nthe remainder ran away, and the sultan and his living sons took the\ndead bodies home and buried them.\n\nNow when Mkaaah Jeechonee, the seventh son, heard that his brothers\nhad been killed by the noondah, he said to his mother, \"I, too, will\ngo, that it may kill me as well as my brothers, or I will kill it.\"\n\nBut his mother said: \"My son, I do not like to have you go. Those\nthree are already dead; and if you are killed also, will not that be\none wound upon another to my heart?\"\n\n\"Nevertheless,\" said he, \"I can not help going; but do not tell\nmy father.\"\n\nSo his mother made him some cakes, and sent some attendants with\nhim; and he took a great spear, as sharp as a razor, and a sword,\nbade her farewell, and departed.\n\nAs he had always been left at home, he had no very clear idea what\nhe was going to hunt for; so he had not gone far beyond the suburbs,\nwhen, seeing a very large dog, he concluded that this was the animal\nhe was after; so he killed it, tied a rope to it, and dragged it\nhome, singing,\n\n\n        \"Oh, mother, I have killed\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nWhen his mother, who was upstairs, heard him, she looked out of the\nwindow, and, seeing what he had brought, said, \"My son, this is not\nthe noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\nSo he left the carcass outside and went in to talk about it, and his\nmother said, \"My dear boy, the noondah is a much larger animal than\nthat; but if I were you, I'd give the business up and stay at home.\"\n\n\"No, indeed,\" he exclaimed; \"no staying at home for me until I have\nmet and fought the noondah.\"\n\nSo he set out again, and went a great deal farther than he had gone\non the former day. Presently he saw a civet cat, and, believing it\nto be the animal he was in search of, he killed it, bound it, and\ndragged it home, singing,\n\n\n        \"Oh, mother, I have killed\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nWhen his mother saw the civet cat, she said, \"My son, this is not\nthe noondah, eater of the people.\" And he threw it away.\n\nAgain his mother entreated him to stay at home, but he would not\nlisten to her, and started off again.\n\nThis time he went away off into the forest, and seeing a bigger\ncat than the last one, he killed it, bound it, and dragged it home,\nsinging,\n\n\n        \"Oh, mother, I have killed\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nBut directly his mother saw it, she had to tell him, as before,\n\"My son, this is not the noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\nHe was, of course, very much troubled at this; and his mother said,\n\"Now, where do you expect to find this noondah? You don't know where\nit is, and you don't know what it looks like. You'll get sick over\nthis; you're not looking so well now as you did. Come, stay at home.\"\n\nBut he said: \"There are three things, one of which I shall do: I\nshall die; I shall find the noondah and kill it; or I shall return\nhome unsuccessful. In any case, I'm off again.\"\n\nThis time he went farther than before, saw a zebra, killed it, bound\nit, and dragged it home, singing,\n\n\n        \"Oh, mother, I have killed\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nOf course his mother had to tell him, once again, \"My son, this is\nnot the noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\nAfter a good deal of argument, in which his mother's persuasion,\nas usual, was of no avail, he went off again, going farther than\never, when he caught a giraffe; and when he had killed it he said:\n\"Well, this time I've been successful. This must be the noondah.\" So\nhe dragged it home, singing,\n\n\n        \"Oh, mother, I have killed\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nAgain his mother had to assure him, \"My son, this is not the noondah,\neater of the people.\" She then pointed out to him that his brothers\nwere not running about hunting for the noondah, but staying at home\nattending to their own business. But, remarking that all brothers were\nnot alike, he expressed his determination to stick to his task until\nit came to a successful termination, and went off again, a still\ngreater distance than before.\n\nWhile going through the wilderness he espied a rhinoceros asleep\nunder a tree, and turning to his attendants he exclaimed, \"At last\nI see the noondah.\"\n\n\"Where, master?\" they all cried, eagerly.\n\n\"There, under the tree.\"\n\n\"Oh-h! What shall we do?\" they asked.\n\nAnd he answered: \"First of all, let us eat our fill, then we will\nattack it. We have found it in a good place, though if it kills us,\nwe can't help it.\"\n\nSo they all took out their arrowroot cakes and ate till they were\nsatisfied.\n\nThen Mkaaah Jeechonee said, \"Each of you take two guns; lay one beside\nyou and take the other in your hands, and at the proper time let us\nall fire at once.\"\n\nAnd they said, \"All right, master.\"\n\nSo they crept cautiously through the bushes and got around to the\nother side of the tree, at the back of the rhinoceros; then they\nclosed up till they were quite near it, and all fired together. The\nbeast jumped up, ran a little way, and then fell down dead.\n\nThey bound it, and dragged it for two whole days, until they reached\nthe town, when Mkaaah Jeechonee began singing,\n\n\n        \"Oh, mother, I have killed\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nBut he received the same answer from his mother: \"My son, this is\nnot the noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\nAnd many persons came and looked at the rhinoceros, and felt very\nsorry for the young man. As for his father and mother, they both\nbegged of him to give up, his father offering to give him anything\nhe possessed if he would only stay at home. But he said, \"I don't\nhear what you are saying; good-bye,\" and was off again.\n\nThis time he still further increased the distance from his home, and\nat last he saw an elephant asleep at noon in the forest. Thereupon\nhe said to his attendants, \"Now we have found the noondah.\"\n\n\"Ah, where is he?\" said they.\n\n\"Yonder, in the shade. Do you see it?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, master; shall we march up to it?\"\n\n\"If we march up to it, and it is looking this way, it will come at us,\nand if it does that, some of us will be killed. I think we had best\nlet one man steal up close and see which way its face is turned.\"\n\nAs every one thought this was a good idea, a slave named Keerobo'to\ncrept on his hands and knees, and had a good look at it. When he\nreturned in the same manner, his master asked: \"Well, what's the\nnews? Is it the noondah?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" replied Keeroboto; \"but I think there is very little\ndoubt that it is. It is broad, with a very big head, and, goodness,\nI never saw such large ears!\"\n\n\"All right,\" said Mkaaah Jeechonee; \"let us eat, and then go for it.\"\n\nSo they took their arrowroot cakes, and their molasses cakes, and\nate until they were quite full.\n\nThen the youth said to them: \"My people, to-day is perhaps the last we\nshall ever see; so we will take leave of each other. Those who are to\nescape will escape, and those who are to die will die; but if I die,\nlet those who escape tell my mother and father not to grieve for me.\"\n\nBut his attendants said, \"Oh, come along, master; none of us will die,\nplease God.\"\n\nSo they went on their hands and knees till they were close up, and\nthen they said to Mkaaah Jeechonee, \"Give us your plan, master;\"\nbut he said, \"There is no plan, only let all fire at once.\"\n\nWell, they fired all at once, and immediately the elephant jumped\nup and charged at them. Then such a helter-skelter flight as there\nwas! They threw away their guns and everything they carried, and made\nfor the trees, which they climbed with surprising alacrity.\n\nAs to the elephant, he kept straight ahead until he fell down some\ndistance away.\n\nThey all remained in the trees from three until six o'clock in the\nmorning, without food and without clothing.\n\nThe young man sat in his tree and wept bitterly, saying, \"I don't\nexactly know what death is, but it seems to me this must be very\nlike it.\" As no one could see any one else, he did not know where\nhis attendants were, and though he wished to come down from the tree,\nhe thought, \"Maybe the noondah is down below there, and will eat me.\"\n\nEach attendant was in exactly the same fix, wishing to come down,\nbut afraid the noondah was waiting to eat him.\n\nKeeroboto had seen the elephant fall, but was afraid to get down\nby himself, saying, \"Perhaps, though it has fallen down, it is not\ndead.\" But presently he saw a dog go up to it and smell it, and then\nhe was sure it was dead. Then he got down from the tree as fast as\nhe could and gave a signal cry, which was answered; but not being\nsure from whence the answer came, he repeated the cry, listening\nintently. When it was answered he went straight to the place from which\nthe sound proceeded, and found two of his companions in one tree. To\nthem he said, \"Come on; get down; the noondah is dead.\" So they got\ndown quickly and hunted around until they found their master. When\nthey told him the news, he came down also; and after a little the\nattendants had all gathered together and had picked up their guns\nand their clothes, and were all right again. But they were all weak\nand hungry, so they rested and ate some food, after which they went\nto examine their prize.\n\nAs soon as Mkaaah Jeechonee saw it he said, \"Ah, this is the\nnoondah! This is it! This is it!\" And they all agreed that it was it.\n\nSo they dragged the elephant three days to their town, and then the\nyouth began singing,\n\n\n        \"Oh, mother, this is he,\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nHe was, naturally, quite upset when his mother replied, \"My son,\nthis is not the noondah, eater of the people.\" She further said:\n\"Poor boy! what trouble you have been through. All the people are\nastonished that one so young should have such a great understanding!\"\n\nThen his father and mother began their entreaties again, and finally\nit was agreed that this next trip should be his last, whatever the\nresult might be.\n\nWell, they started off again, and went on and on, past the forest,\nuntil they came to a very high mountain, at the foot of which they\ncamped for the night.\n\nIn the morning they cooked their rice and ate it, and then Mkaaah\nJeechonee said: \"Let us now climb the mountain, and look all over the\ncountry from its peak.\" And they went and they went, until after a\nlong, weary while, they reached the top, where they sat down to rest\nand form their plans.\n\nNow, one of the attendants, named Shindaa'no, while walking about,\ncast his eyes down the side of the mountain, and suddenly saw a great\nbeast about half way down; but he could not make out its appearance\ndistinctly, on account of the distance and the trees. Calling his\nmaster, he pointed it out to him, and something in Mkaaah Jeechonee's\nheart told him that it was the noondah. To make sure, however, he\ntook his gun and his spear and went partly down the mountain to get\na better view.\n\n\"Ah,\" said he, \"this must be the noondah. My mother told me its ears\nwere small, and those are small; she told me the noondah is broad and\nshort, and so is this; she said it has two blotches, like a civet cat,\nand there are the blotches; she told me the tail is thick, and there\nis a thick tail. It must be the noondah.\"\n\nThen he went back to his attendants and bade them eat heartily, which\nthey did. Next he told them to leave every unnecessary thing behind,\nbecause if they had to run they would be better without encumbrance,\nand if they were victorious they could return for their goods.\n\nWhen they had made all their arrangements they started down the\nmountain, but when they had got about half way down Keeroboto and\nShindaano were afraid. Then the youth said to them: \"Oh, let's go on;\ndon't be afraid. We all have to live and die. What are you frightened\nabout?\" So, thus encouraged, they went on.\n\nWhen they came near the place, Mkaaah Jeechonee ordered them to take\noff all their clothing except one piece, and to place that tightly\non their bodies, so that if they had to run they would not be caught\nby thorns or branches.\n\nSo when they came close to the beast, they saw that it was asleep,\nand all agreed that it was the noondah.\n\nThen the young man said, \"Now the sun is setting, shall we fire at it,\nor let be till morning?\"\n\nAnd they all wished to fire at once, and see what the result would\nbe without further tax on their nerves; therefore they arranged that\nthey should all fire together.\n\nThey all crept up close, and when the master gave the word, they\ndischarged their guns together. The noondah did not move; that one\ndose had been sufficient. Nevertheless, they all turned and scampered\nup to the top of the mountain. There they ate and rested for the night.\n\nIn the morning they ate their rice, and then went down to see how\nmatters were, when they found the beast lying dead.\n\nAfter resting and eating, they started homeward, dragging the dead\nbeast with them. On the fourth day it began to give indications of\ndecay, and the attendants wished to abandon it; but Mkaaah Jeechonee\nsaid they would continue to drag it if there was only one bone left.\n\nWhen they came near the town he began to sing,\n\n\n        \"Mother, mother, I have come\n        From the evil spirits, home.\n        Mother, listen while I sing;\n        While I tell you what I bring.\n        Oh, mother, I have killed\n        The noondah, eater of the people.\"\n\n\nAnd when his mother looked out, she cried, \"My son, this is the\nnoondah, eater of the people.\"\n\nThen all the people came out to welcome him, and his father was\novercome with joy, and loaded him with honors, and procured him a rich\nand beautiful wife; and when he died Mkaaah Jeechonee became sultan,\nand lived long and happily, beloved by all the people.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\nTHE MAGICIAN AND THE SULTAN'S SON.\n\n\nThere was once a sultan who had three little sons, and no one seemed\nto be able to teach them anything; which greatly grieved both the\nsultan and his wife.\n\nOne day a magician came to the sultan and said, \"If I take your three\nboys and teach them to read and write, and make great scholars of them,\nwhat will you give me?\"\n\nAnd the sultan said, \"I will give you half of my property.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the magician; \"that won't do.\"\n\n\"I'll give you half of the towns I own.\"\n\n\"No; that will not satisfy me.\"\n\n\"What do you want, then?\"\n\n\"When I have made them scholars and bring them back to you, choose\ntwo of them for yourself and give me the third; for I want to have\na companion of my own.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said the sultan.\n\nSo the magician took them away, and in a remarkably short time\ntaught them to read, and to make letters, and made them quite good\nscholars. Then he took them back to the sultan and said: \"Here are\nthe children. They are all equally good scholars. Choose.\"\n\nSo the sultan took the two he preferred, and the magician went away\nwith the third, whose name was Keejaa'naa, to his own house, which\nwas a very large one.\n\nWhen they arrived, Mchaa'wee, the magician, gave the youth all the\nkeys, saying, \"Open whatever you wish to.\" Then he told him that he\nwas his father, and that he was going away for a month.\n\nWhen he was gone, Keejaanaa took the keys and went to examine the\nhouse. He opened one door, and saw a room full of liquid gold. He\nput his finger in, and the gold stuck to it, and, wipe and rub as\nhe would, the gold would not come off; so he wrapped a piece of rag\naround it, and when his supposed father came home and saw the rag,\nand asked him what he had been doing to his finger, he was afraid to\ntell him the truth, so he said that he had cut it.\n\nNot very long after, Mchaawee went away again, and the youth took\nthe keys and continued his investigations.\n\nThe first room he opened was filled with the bones of goats, the\nnext with sheep's bones, the next with the bones of oxen, the fourth\nwith the bones of donkeys, the fifth with those of horses, the sixth\ncontained men's skulls, and in the seventh was a live horse.\n\n\"Hullo!\" said the horse; \"where do you come from, you son of Adam?\"\n\n\"This is my father's house,\" said Keejaanaa.\n\n\"Oh, indeed!\" was the reply. \"Well, you've got a pretty nice parent! Do\nyou know that he occupies himself with eating people, and donkeys,\nand horses, and oxen and goats and everything he can lay his hands\non? You and I are the only living things left.\"\n\nThis scared the youth pretty badly, and he faltered, \"What are we\nto do?\"\n\n\"What's your name?\" said the horse.\n\n\"Keejaanaa.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm Faaraa'see. Now, Keejaanaa, first of all, come and\nunfasten me.\"\n\nThe youth did so at once.\n\n\"Now, then, open the door of the room with the gold in it, and I\nwill swallow it all; then I'll go and wait for you under the big\ntree down the road a little way. When the magician comes home,\nhe will say to you, 'Let us go for firewood;' then you answer,\n'I don't understand that work;' and he will go by himself. When he\ncomes back, he will put a great big pot on the hook and will tell you\nto make a fire under it. Tell him you don't know how to make a fire,\nand he will make it himself.\n\n\"Then he will bring a large quantity of butter, and while it is\ngetting hot he will put up a swing and say to you, 'Get up there,\nand I'll swing you.' But you tell him you never played at that game,\nand ask him to swing first, that you may see how it is done. Then\nhe will get up to show you; and you must push him into the big pot,\nand then come to me as quickly as you can.\"\n\nThen the horse went away.\n\nNow, Mchaawee had invited some of his friends to a feast at his\nhouse that evening; so, returning home early, he said to Keejaanaa,\n\"Let us go for firewood;\" but the youth answered, \"I don't understand\nthat work.\" So he went by himself and brought the wood.\n\nThen he hung up the big pot and said, \"Light the fire;\" but the\nyouth said, \"I don't know how to do it.\" So the magician laid the\nwood under the pot and lighted it himself.\n\nThen he said, \"Put all that butter in the pot;\" but the youth answered,\n\"I can't lift it; I'm not strong enough.\" So he put in the butter\nhimself.\n\nNext Mchaawee said, \"Have you seen our country game?\" And Keejaanaa\nanswered, \"I think not.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the magician, \"let's play at it while the butter is\ngetting hot.\"\n\nSo he tied up the swing and said to Keejaanaa, \"Get up here, and learn\nthe game.\" But the youth said: \"You get up first and show me. I'll\nlearn quicker that way.\"\n\nThe magician got into the swing, and just as he got started Keejaanaa\ngave him a push right into the big pot; and as the butter was by this\ntime boiling, it not only killed him, but cooked him also.\n\nAs soon as the youth had pushed the magician into the big pot, he\nran as fast as he could to the big tree, where the horse was waiting\nfor him.\n\n\"Come on,\" said Faaraasee; \"jump on my back and let's be going.\"\n\nSo he mounted and they started off.\n\nWhen the magician's guests arrived they looked everywhere for him,\nbut, of course, could not find him. Then, after waiting a while, they\nbegan to be very hungry; so, looking around for something to eat, they\nsaw that the stew in the big pot was done, and, saying to each other,\n\"Let's begin, anyway,\" they started in and ate the entire contents of\nthe pot. After they had finished, they searched for Mchaawee again,\nand finding lots of provisions in the house, they thought they would\nstay there until he came; but after they had waited a couple of days\nand eaten all the food in the place, they gave him up and returned\nto their homes.\n\nMeanwhile Keejaanaa and the horse continued on their way until they\nhad gone a great distance, and at last they stopped near a large town.\n\n\"Let us stay here,\" said the youth, \"and build a house.\"\n\nAs Faaraasee was agreeable, they did so. The horse coughed up all the\ngold he had swallowed, with which they purchased slaves, and cattle,\nand everything they needed.\n\nWhen the people of the town saw the beautiful new house and all the\nslaves, and cattle, and riches it contained, they went and told their\nsultan, who at once made up his mind that the owner of such a place\nmust be of sufficient importance to be visited and taken notice of,\nas an acquisition to the neighborhood.\n\nSo he called on Keejaanaa, and inquired who he was.\n\n\"Oh, I'm just an ordinary being, like other people.\"\n\n\"Are you a traveler?\"\n\n\"Well, I have been; but I like this place, and think I'll settle\ndown here.\"\n\n\"Why don't you come and walk in our town?\"\n\n\"I should like to very much, but I need some one to show me around.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'll show you around,\" said the sultan, eagerly, for he was\nquite taken with the young man.\n\nAfter this Keejaanaa and the sultan became great friends; and in the\ncourse of time the young man married the sultan's daughter, and they\nhad one son.\n\nThey lived very happily together, and Keejaanaa loved Faaraasee as\nhis own soul.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nX.\n\nTHE PHYSICIAN'S SON AND THE KING OF THE SNAKES.\n\n\nOnce there was a very learned physician, who died leaving his wife\nwith a little baby boy, whom, when he was old enough, she named,\naccording to his father's wish, Hassee'boo Kareem' Ed Deen'.\n\nWhen the boy had been to school, and had learned to read, his mother\nsent him to a tailor, to learn his trade, but he could not learn\nit. Then he was sent to a silversmith, but he could not learn his\ntrade either. After that he tried many trades, but could learn none\nof them. At last his mother said, \"Well, stay at home for a while;\"\nand that seemed to suit him.\n\nOne day he asked his mother what his father's business had been,\nand she told him he was a very great physician.\n\n\"Where are his books?\" he asked.\n\n\"Well, it's a long time since I saw them,\" replied his mother,\n\"but I think they are behind there. Look and see.\"\n\nSo he hunted around a little and at last found them, but they were\nalmost ruined by insects, and he gained little from them.\n\nAt last, four of the neighbors came to his mother and said, \"Let\nyour boy go along with us and cut wood in the forest.\" It was their\nbusiness to cut wood, load it on donkeys, and sell it in the town\nfor making fires.\n\n\"All right,\" said she; \"to-morrow I'll buy him a donkey, and he can\nstart fair with you.\"\n\nSo the next day Hasseeboo, with his donkey, went off with those\nfour persons, and they worked very hard and made a lot of money that\nday. This continued for six days, but on the seventh day it rained\nheavily, and they had to get under the rocks to keep dry.\n\nNow, Hasseeboo sat in a place by himself, and, having nothing else to\ndo, he picked up a stone and began knocking on the ground with it. To\nhis surprise the ground gave forth a hollow sound, and he called to\nhis companions, saying, \"There seems to be a hole under here.\"\n\nUpon hearing him knock again, they decided to dig and see what was\nthe cause of the hollow sound; and they had not gone very deep before\nthey broke into a large pit, like a well, which was filled to the\ntop with honey.\n\nThey didn't do any firewood chopping after that, but devoted their\nentire attention to the collection and sale of the honey.\n\nWith a view to getting it all out as quickly as possible, they told\nHasseeboo to go down into the pit and dip out the honey, while they\nput it in vessels and took it to town for sale. They worked for three\ndays, making a great deal of money.\n\nAt last there was only a little honey left at the very bottom of the\npit, and they told the boy to scrape that together while they went\nto get a rope to haul him out.\n\nBut instead of getting the rope, they decided to let him remain in the\npit, and divide the money among themselves. So, when he had gathered\nthe remainder of the honey together, and called for the rope, he\nreceived no answer; and after he had been alone in the pit for three\ndays he became convinced that his companions had deserted him.\n\nThen those four persons went to his mother and told her that they had\nbecome separated in the forest, that they had heard a lion roaring,\nand that they could find no trace of either her son or his donkey.\n\nHis mother, of course, cried very much, and the four neighbors pocketed\nher son's share of the money.\n\nTo return to Hasseeboo.\n\nHe passed the time walking about the pit, wondering what the end\nwould be, eating scraps of honey, sleeping a little, and sitting down\nto think.\n\nWhile engaged in the last occupation, on the fourth day, he saw a\nscorpion fall to the ground--a large one, too--and he killed it.\n\nThen suddenly he thought to himself, \"Where did that scorpion come\nfrom? There must be a hole somewhere. I'll search, anyhow.\"\n\nSo he searched around until he saw light through a tiny crack; and\nhe took his knife and scooped and scooped, until he had made a hole\nbig enough to pass through; then he went out, and came upon a place\nhe had never seen before.\n\nSeeing a path, he followed it until he came to a very large house,\nthe door of which was not fastened. So he went inside, and saw golden\ndoors, with golden locks, and keys of pearl, and beautiful chairs\ninlaid with jewels and precious stones, and in a reception room he\nsaw a couch covered with a splendid spread, upon which he lay down.\n\nPresently he found himself being lifted off the couch and put in a\nchair, and heard some one saying: \"Do not hurt him; wake him gently,\"\nand on opening his eyes he found himself surrounded by numbers of\nsnakes, one of them wearing beautiful royal colors.\n\n\"Hullo!\" he cried; \"who are you?\"\n\n\"I am Sulta'nee Waa' Neeo'ka, king of the snakes, and this is my\nhouse. Who are you?\"\n\n\"I am Hasseeboo Kareem Ed Deen.\"\n\n\"Where do you come from?\"\n\n\"I don't know where I come from, or where I'm going.\"\n\n\"Well, don't bother yourself just now. Let's eat; I guess you are\nhungry, and I know I am.\"\n\nThen the king gave orders, and some of the other snakes brought the\nfinest fruits, and they ate and drank and conversed.\n\nWhen the repast was ended, the king desired to hear Hasseeboo's story;\nso he told him all that had happened, and then asked to hear the\nstory of his host.\n\n\"Well,\" said the king of the snakes, \"mine is rather a long story,\nbut you shall hear it. A long time ago I left this place, to go\nand live in the mountains of Al Kaaf', for the change of air. One\nday I saw a stranger coming along, and I said to him, 'Where are you\nfrom?' and he said, 'I am wandering in the wilderness.' 'Whose son are\nyou?' I asked. 'My name is Bolookee'a. My father was a sultan; and\nwhen he died I opened a small chest, inside of which I found a bag,\nwhich contained a small brass box; when I had opened this I found\nsome writing tied up in a woolen cloth, and it was all in praise of\na prophet. He was described as such a good and wonderful man, that\nI longed to see him; but when I made inquiries concerning him I was\ntold he was not yet born. Then I vowed I would wander until I should\nsee him. So I left our town, and all my property, and I am wandering,\nbut I have not yet seen that prophet.'\n\n\"Then I said to him, 'Where do you expect to find him, if he's not\nyet born? Perhaps if you had some serpent's water you might keep on\nliving until you find him. But it's of no use talking about that;\nthe serpent's water is too far away.'\n\n\"'Well,' he said, 'good-bye. I must wander on.' So I bade him farewell,\nand he went his way.\n\n\"Now, when that man had wandered until he reached Egypt, he met\nanother man, who asked him, 'Who are you?'\n\n\"'I am Bolookeea. Who are you?'\n\n\"'My name is Al Faan'. Where are you going?'\n\n\"'I have left my home, and my property, and I am seeking the prophet.\n\n\"'H'm!' said Al Faan; 'I can tell you of a better occupation than\nlooking for a man that is not born yet. Let us go and find the king\nof the snakes and get him to give us a charm medicine; then we will\ngo to King Solomon and get his rings, and we shall be able to make\nslaves of the genii and order them to do whatever we wish.'\n\n\"And Bolookeea said, 'I have seen the king of the snakes in the\nmountain of Al Kaaf.'\n\n\"'All right,' said Al Faan; 'let's go.'\n\n\"Now, Al Faan wanted the ring of Solomon that he might be a great\nmagician and control the genii and the birds, while all Bolookeea\nwanted was to see the great prophet.\n\n\"As they went along, Al Faan said to Bolookeea, 'Let us make a cage\nand entice the king of the snakes into it; then we will shut the door\nand carry him off.'\n\n\"'All right,' said Bolookeea.\n\n\"So they made a cage, and put therein a cup of milk and a cup of wine,\nand brought it to Al Kaaf; and I, like a fool, went in, drank up all\nthe wine and became drunk. Then they fastened the door and took me\naway with them.\n\n\"When I came to my senses I found myself in the cage, and Bolookeea\ncarrying me, and I said, 'The sons of Adam are no good. What do you\nwant from me?' And they answered, 'We want some medicine to put on\nour feet, so that we may walk upon the water whenever it is necessary\nin the course of our journey.' 'Well,' said I, 'go along.'\n\n\"We went on until we came to a place where there were a great number\nand variety of trees; and when those trees saw me, they said, 'I am\nmedicine for this;' 'I am medicine for that;' 'I am medicine for the\nhead;' 'I am medicine for the feet;' and presently one tree said,\n'If any one puts my medicine upon his feet he can walk on water.'\n\n\"When I told that to those men they said, 'That is what we want;'\nand they took a great deal of it.\n\n\"Then they took me back to the mountain and set me free; and we said\ngood-bye and parted.\n\n\"When they left me, they went on their way until they reached the sea,\nwhen they put the medicine on their feet and walked over. Thus they\nwent many days, until they came near to the place of King Solomon,\nwhere they waited while Al Faan prepared his medicines.\n\n\"When they arrived at King Solomon's place, he was sleeping, and was\nbeing watched by genii, and his hand lay on his chest, with the ring\non his finger.\n\n\"As Bolookeea drew near, one of the genii said to him 'Where are you\ngoing?' And he answered, 'I'm here with Al Faan; he's going to take\nthat ring.' 'Go back,' said the genie; 'keep out of the way. That\nman is going to die.'\n\n\"When Al Faan had finished his preparations, he said to Bolookeea,\n'Wait here for me.' Then he went forward to take the ring, when a\ngreat cry arose, and he was thrown by some unseen force a considerable\ndistance.\n\n\"Picking himself up, and still believing in the power of his medicines,\nhe approached the ring again, when a strong breath blew upon him and\nhe was burnt to ashes in a moment.\n\n\"While Bolookeea was looking at all this, a voice said, 'Go your\nway; this wretched being is dead.' So he returned; and when he got\nto the sea again he put the medicine upon his feet and passed over,\nand continued to wander for many years.\n\n\"One morning he saw a man sitting down, and said 'Good-morning,' to\nwhich the man replied. Then Bolookeea asked him, 'Who are you?' and\nhe answered: 'My name is Jan Shah. Who are you?' So Bolookeea told\nhim who he was, and asked him to tell him his history. The man, who\nwas weeping and smiling by turns, insisted upon hearing Bolookeea's\nstory first. After he had heard it he said:\n\n\"'Well, sit down, and I'll tell you my story from beginning to end. My\nname is Jan Shah, and my father is Tooeegha'mus, a great sultan. He\nused to go every day into the forest to shoot game; so one day I said\nto him, \"Father, let me go with you into the forest to-day;\" but he\nsaid, \"Stay at home. You are better there.\" Then I cried bitterly,\nand as I was his only child, whom he loved dearly, he couldn't stand\nmy tears, so he said: \"Very well; you shall go. Don't cry.\"\n\n\"'Thus we went to the forest, and took many attendants with us; and\nwhen we reached the place we ate and drank, and then every one set\nout to hunt.\n\n\"'I and my seven slaves went on until we saw a beautiful gazelle,\nwhich we chased as far as the sea without capturing it. When the\ngazelle took to the water I and four of my slaves took a boat, the\nother three returning to my father, and we chased that gazelle until\nwe lost sight of the shore, but we caught it and killed it. Just then\na great wind began to blow, and we lost our way.\n\n\"'When the other three slaves came to my father, he asked them,\n\"Where is your master?\" and they told him about the gazelle and the\nboat. Then he cried, \"My son is lost! My son is lost!\" and returned\nto the town and mourned for me as one dead.\n\n\"'After a time we came to an island, where there were a great many\nbirds. We found fruit and water, we ate and drank, and at night we\nclimbed into a tree and slept till morning.\n\n\"'Then we rowed to a second island, and, seeing no one around, we\ngathered fruit, ate and drank, and climbed a tree as before. During\nthe night we heard many savage beasts howling and roaring near us.\n\n\"'In the morning we got away as soon as possible, and came to a third\nisland. Looking around for food, we saw a tree full of fruit like\nred-streaked apples; but, as we were about to pick some, we heard a\nvoice say, \"Don't touch this tree; it belongs to the king.\" Toward\nnight a number of monkeys came, who seemed much pleased to see us,\nand they brought us all the fruit we could eat.\n\n\"'Presently I heard one of them say, \"Let us make this man our\nsultan.\" Then another one said: \"What's the use? They'll all run\naway in the morning.\" But a third one said, \"Not if we smash their\nboat.\" Sure enough, when we started to leave in the morning, our boat\nwas broken in pieces. So there was nothing for it but to stay there\nand be entertained by the monkeys, who seemed to like us very much.\n\n\"'One day, while strolling about, I came upon a great stone house,\nhaving an inscription on the door, which said, \"When any man comes to\nthis island, he will find it difficult to leave, because the monkeys\ndesire to have a man for their king. If he looks for a way to escape,\nhe will think there is none; but there is one outlet, which lies to\nthe north. If you go in that direction you will come to a great plain,\nwhich is infested with lions, leopards, and snakes. You must fight all\nof them; and if you overcome them you can go forward. You will then\ncome to another great plain, inhabited by ants as big as dogs; their\nteeth are like those of dogs, and they are very fierce. You must fight\nthese also, and if you overcome them, the rest of the way is clear.\"\n\n\"'I consulted with my attendants over this information, and we came\nto the conclusion that, as we could only die, anyhow, we might as\nwell risk death to gain our freedom.\n\n\"'As we all had weapons, we set forth; and when we came to the first\nplain we fought, and two of my slaves were killed. Then we went on\nto the second plain, fought again; my other two slaves were killed,\nand I alone escaped.\n\n\"'After that I wandered on for many days, living on whatever I could\nfind, until at last I came to a town, where I stayed for some time,\nlooking for employment but finding none.\n\n\"'One day a man came up to me and said, \"Are you looking for work?\" \"I\nam,\" said I. \"Come with me, then,\" said he; and we went to his house.\n\n\"'When we got there he produced a camel's skin, and said, \"I shall\nput you in this skin, and a great bird will carry you to the top of\nyonder mountain. When he gets you there, he will tear this skin off\nyou. You must then drive him away and push down the precious stones\nyou will find there. When they are all down, I will get you down.\"\n\n\"'So he put me in the skin; the bird carried me to the top of the\nmountain and was about to eat me, when I jumped up, scared him away,\nand then pushed down many precious stones. Then I called out to the\nman to take me down, but he never answered me, and went away.\n\n\"'I gave myself up for a dead man, but went wandering about, until at\nlast, after passing many days in a great forest, I came to a house,\nall by itself; the old man who lived in it gave me food and drink,\nand I was revived.\n\n\"'I remained there a long time, and that old man loved me as if I\nwere his own son.\n\n\"'One day he went away, and giving me the keys, told me I could open\nthe door of every room except one which he pointed out to me.\n\n\"'Of course, when he was gone, this was the first door I opened. I\nsaw a large garden, through which a stream flowed. Just then three\nbirds came and alighted by the side of the stream. Immediately they\nchanged to three most beautiful women. When they had finished bathing,\nthey put on their clothes, and, as I stood watching them, they changed\ninto birds again and flew away.\n\n\"'I locked the door, and went away; but my appetite was gone, and I\nwandered about aimlessly. When the old man came back, he saw there\nwas something wrong with me, and asked me what was the matter. Then\nI told him I had seen those beautiful maidens, that I loved one of\nthem very much, and that if I could not marry her I should die.\n\n\"'The old man told me I could not possibly have my wish. He said the\nthree lovely beings were the daughters of the sultan of the genii, and\nthat their home was a journey of three years from where we then were.\n\n\"'I told him I couldn't help that. He must get her for my wife, or I\nshould die. At last he said, \"Well, wait till they come again, then\nhide yourself and steal the clothes of the one you love so dearly.\"\n\n\"'So I waited, and when they came again I stole the clothes of the\nyoungest, whose name was Sayadaa'tee Shems.\n\n\"'When they came out of the water, this one could not find her\nclothes. Then I stepped forward and said, \"I have them.\" \"Ah,\" she\nbegged, \"give them to me, their owner; I want to go away.\" But I said\nto her, \"I love you very much. I want to marry you.\" \"I want to go\nto my father,\" she replied. \"You cannot go,\" said I.\n\n\"'Then her sisters flew away, and I took her into the house, where the\nold man married us. He told me not to give her those clothes I had\ntaken, but to hide them; because if she ever got them she would fly\naway to her old home. So I dug a hole in the ground and buried them.\n\n\"'But one day, when I was away from home, she dug them up and put\nthem on; then, saying to the slave I had given her for an attendant,\n\"When your master returns tell him I have gone home; if he really\nloves me he will follow me,\" she flew away.\n\n\"'When I came home they told me this, and I wandered, searching for\nher, many years. At last I came to a town where one asked me, \"Who\nare you?\" and I answered, \"I am Jan Shah.\" \"What was your father's\nname?\" \"Taaeeghamus.\" \"Are you the man who married our mistress?\" \"Who\nis your mistress?\" \"Sayadaatee Shems.\" \"I am he!\" I cried with delight.\n\n\"'They took me to their mistress, and she brought me to her father\nand told him I was her husband; and everybody was happy.\n\n\"'Then we thought we should like to visit our old home, and her\nfather's genii carried us there in three days. We stayed there a\nyear and then returned, but in a short time my wife died. Her father\ntried to comfort me, and wanted me to marry another of his daughters,\nbut I refused to be comforted, and have mourned to this day. That is\nmy story.'\n\n\"Then Bolookeea went on his way, and wandered till he died.\"\n\nNext Sultaanee Waa Neeoka said to Hasseeboo, \"Now, when you go home\nyou will do me injury.\"\n\nHasseeboo was very indignant at the idea, and said, \"I could not be\ninduced to do you an injury. Pray, send me home.\"\n\n\"I will send you home,\" said the king; \"but I am sure that you will\ncome back and kill me.\"\n\n\"Why, I dare not be so ungrateful,\" exclaimed Hasseeboo. \"I swear I\ncould not hurt you.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the king of the snakes, \"bear this in mind: when you go\nhome, do not go to bathe where there are many people.\"\n\nAnd he said, \"I will remember.\" So the king sent him home, and he\nwent to his mother's house, and she was overjoyed to find that he\nwas not dead.\n\nNow, the sultan of the town was very sick; and it was decided that\nthe only thing that could cure him would be to kill the king of the\nsnakes, boil him, and give the soup to the sultan.\n\nFor a reason known only to himself, the vizir had placed men at the\npublic baths with this instruction: \"If any one who comes to bathe\nhere has a mark on his stomach, seize him and bring him to me.\"\n\nWhen Hasseeboo had been home three days he forgot the warning of\nSultaanee Waa Neeoka, and went to bathe with the other people. All of\na sudden he was seized by some soldiers, and brought before the vizir,\nwho said, \"Take us to the home of the king of the snakes.\"\n\n\"I don't know where it is,\" said Hasseeboo.\n\n\"Tie him up,\" commanded the vizir.\n\nSo they tied him up and beat him until his back was all raw, and being\nunable to stand the pain he cried, \"Let up! I will show you the place.\"\n\nSo he led them to the house of the king of the snakes, who, when he\nsaw him, said, \"Didn't I tell you you would come back to kill me?\"\n\n\"How could I help it?\" cried Hasseeboo. \"Look at my back!\"\n\n\"Who has beaten you so dreadfully?\" asked the king.\n\n\"The vizir.\"\n\n\"Then there's no hope for me. But you must carry me yourself.\"\n\nAs they went along, the king said to Hasseeboo, \"When we get to your\ntown I shall be killed and cooked. The first skimming the vizir will\noffer to you, but don't you drink it; put it in a bottle and keep\nit. The second skimming you must drink, and you will become a great\nphysician. The third skimming is the medicine that will cure your\nsultan. When the vizir asks you if you drank that first skimming say,\n'I did.' Then produce the bottle containing the first, and say, 'This\nis the second, and it is for you.' The vizir will take it, and as soon\nas he drinks it he will die, and both of us will have our revenge.\"\n\nEverything happened as the king had said. The vizir died, the sultan\nrecovered, and Hasseeboo was loved by all as a great physician.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Zanzibar Tales: Told by Natives of the East Coast of Africa","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":25015}