{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38992/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38992","id":"gutenberg_38992","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38992","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Folklore -- Africa","Tales -- Africa"],"text":"Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\nBLACK TALES FOR WHITE CHILDREN\n\n_These_ BLACK TALES _for_ WHITE CHILDREN, _being a collection of Swahili\nStories, have been translated and arranged by Capt._ C. H. STIGAND,\n_interpreter in Swahili and author of \"The Land of Zinj,\" and Mrs._ C.\nH. STIGAND, _and have been illustrated by_ JOHN HARGRAVE, _author of_\n\"LONECRAFT.\"\n\n[Illustration: Lion hunters]\n\nBOSTON & NEW YORK: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n\n_First published 1914_\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n\nMany hundreds of years ago Arab sailors began to explore the east coast\nof Africa, being driven southwards in their sailing vessels by the\nnortherly winds or monsoons of one part of the year and returning to\ntheir homes by the help of the southerly winds of the other half of the\nyear.\n\n[Illustration: Austriches]\n\nAs trade with the coast grew, Persians and Arabs founded settlements on\nthe coast, and the numerous islands and towns and kingdoms grew up.\nThese original settlers mixed with the black races of the interior, and\nit is from this mixture that the people now called Swahili have sprung.\nThe word Swahili, or Sawaheli, comes from the Arabic word Sawahil,\nmeaning coast, and hence the east coast of Africa.\n\nA language derived partly from Arabic and partly from several African\nBantu tongues came into being. This is called Kisawaheli, or the Swahili\nlanguage, and different dialects of it are spoken practically the whole\nlength of the East African coast and the islands close to it.\n\nThe stories which follow are drawn from a number heard at different\ntimes and in different places, and they have been written down as nearly\nas possible as told by the Swahili himself. Some were told by\nstory-tellers in the coast towns, others were overheard on the march in\nthe interior or round the camp-fire at night.\n\nThese stories have not been kept in any book or written document, but\nhave been repeated from mouth to mouth, perhaps for hundreds of years.\nEither they are narrated by a professional story-teller of a coast town,\nwho hands on his stock of them to his son after him, or they are told by\nmothers to their children almost from the time they can toddle. These\nchildren, when they grow up, tell them, in their turn, to their\nchildren, but the story is always told in the evening.\n\nDuring the day-time there is work to do and no good woman has time to\nwaste in idleness. She must go out into the fields with her baby\nstrapped on her back and hoe and weed the crops in the hot sun, she must\ngrind the maize or millet into flour between two stones, winnow the\ngrain, cook her husband's dinner, draw the water, collect firewood, and\nperform many other duties.\n\nWhen the day's work is done and the evening meal is finished they sit\nround the fire outside the hut, for they have no lamps or even electric\nlight. Perhaps they sit in a little courtyard, surrounded by a high\npalisade, for fear of the lions, or perhaps, no lions having been heard\nof late, they sit in the cleared space in the centre of the village,\neach family by its little fire. Then the mother tells her stories to the\nchildren, who soon get to know them all by heart, yet never tire of\nhearing them again and again. \"Tell us, mother, the story of Nunda, so\nthat we may join in the chorus--\n\n      \"Siye mwanangu siye, siye Nunda mlawatu.\"\n      (It is not he, my child, not Nunda the eater of folk.)\n\nOr it may be on a journey after a long and tiring day's march, the\nevening meal is cooked and eaten, and then the tired porters lie round\nthe camp-fire and call on one of their number to tell a story, \"So that\nwe may forget the toil of the day.\"\n\nAs the Swahili is himself a mixture of the Arab and the African, so his\nstories form a curious combination of the elements of both races. The\nfiner and more witty points are generally of Arab origin, whilst the\nmore homely and jungle scenes are drawn from Africa. The jin or fairy,\nboth good and bad, has been brought from Arabia with the Sultan and the\nidea of wealth and precious stones.\n\nThe folk-lore, certain kinds of demons, and the jungle folk are entirely\nAfrican.\n\nSuch stories as \"The Cat's Tail,\" \"The Fools,\" and \"Shani and Tabak\"\nwere told in the dialects of Shela, Pate and Lamu, in which places there\nis a greater proportion of Arab blood. \"Kajikarangi,\" \"The Hunters and\nthe Big Snake,\" and \"Segu\" are types of tales told by more African\nnatives in the dialect of Zanzibar and the Mgao and Mrima coasts.\n\nThe Sultan is the king or chief. As the African coast kingdoms were\noften very small he was, as often as not, the chief of only one town or\nisland, whilst in the next town another Sultan reigned.\n\nThe Wazir, or Vizier of Turkey, is his prime minister or head man.\n\nWhere one Sultan reigned over several towns or islands he used to put\ninto each a governor, called Wali or Liwali.\n\nThe elephant, from his size, is to the native a creature inspiring awe,\nwho eats and tramples down his crops and breaks his fences.\n\nThe hyaena is harmless, and so only a subject for derision.\n\nOver the whole of Central Africa the hare is considered as the most\ncunning of all the animals. African slaves have even brought tales of\nhis wiles to America, where, under the name of \"Brer Rabbit,\" he has\nretained his African reputation for guile.\n\n[Illustration: Person, jars, giraffes]\n\nI must acknowledge my indebtedness to my mother for arranging the rhymes\nwhich occur from time to time in the text.\n\n    C. H. STIGAND.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n                                                  PAGE\n\n\n      FOREWORD                                       v\n\n      I THE LION OF MANDA                            1\n\n      II PEMBA MUHORI                                7\n\n      III THE CAT'S TAIL                            22\n\n      IV THE YOUNG THIEF                            25\n\n      V THE TRAPPER, THE LION AND THE HARE          35\n\n      VI NUNDA THE SLAYER                           44\n\n      VII THE WOODCUTTER AND HIS DONKEY             51\n\n      VIII KITANGATANGA OF THE SEA                  58\n\n      IX THE LION'S TALISMAN                        65\n\n      X KIBARAKA                                    66\n\n      XI THE FOOLS                                  72\n\n      XII THE HYAENA AND THE MOONBEAM               82\n\n      XIII THE SNAKE-CHILD                          83\n\n      XIV THE POOR MAN AND HIS WIFE OF WOOD         93\n\n      XV BINTI ALI THE CLEVER                       97\n\n      XVI SEGU                                     109\n\n      XVII LILA AND FILA                           111\n\n      XVIII THE HUNTERS AND THE SNAKE              118\n\n      XIX ALI OF THE CROOKED ARM                   122\n\n      XX FEEDING THE HUNGRY                        137\n\n      XXI SHANI AND TABAK                          140\n\n      XXII A MAN AND HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW             150\n\n      XXIII THE JACKAL, THE HARE AND THE COCK      153\n\n      XXIV THE MAGIC DATE TREES                    161\n\n      XXV PAKA THE CAT                             172\n\n      XXVI THE OIL MERCHANT                        178\n\n      XXVII BATA THE DUCK                          190\n\n      XXVIII THE SULTAN'S DAUGHTER                 196\n\n      XXIX THE LION, THE HYAENA AND THE HARE       198\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nTHE LION OF MANDA\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a lion who lived on the island called Manda,\nwhich is opposite Shela town, and the people of Shela heard it roaring\nnightly. In Shela was a rich merchant, and one day he gave out in the\nbazaar: \"I will pay one hundred dollars to whosoever will go and sleep\nalone one night on the opposite shore, in Manda island.\" But for fear of\nthe lion no man would do this.\n\n[Illustration: Lions]\n\nNow in that same town was a youth and his wife who were very poor, for\nthey had nothing. When this youth heard the talk of the town, he came to\nhis wife and said, \"There is a man who will give a hundred dollars to\nany one who will sleep on the opposite side one night. I will go and\nsleep there.\"\n\nHis wife said to him, \"Do not go, my husband, the lion will eat you.\"\n\nHe said, \"Let me go, for if Allah loves me I will not die, and by this\nmeans we will get the wherewithal to buy some food.\"\n\nThen she said to him, \"Go. May Allah preserve you.\"\n\nSo that youth, when evening fell, took a canoe and paddled over to\nManda, and there lay down on the shore.\n\nNow, when the youth had gone, his wife there behind him was sad because\nshe had let him go, and her heart was very heavy with fear for her\nhusband. So she took some embers and some sticks of wood and went down\non to Shela beach, and there she kindled a little fire and tended it all\nnight, so that her young man on the opposite side might see it and not\nbe afraid.\n\nIn the morning he returned safely to Shela and went to claim his hundred\ndollars. But the merchant said, \"You have not earned them, for you saw\nthe fire that your wife made, and so you were not afraid.\"\n\nThe youth, when he heard those words, was very angry, and went to\naccuse the merchant before the Sultan.\n\n[Illustration: Young man]\n\nSo the Sultan called that merchant and asked him why he had not paid the\nyouth his hundred dollars.\n\nThe merchant said, \"Truly, I did not pay him the dollars because he did\nnot earn them, for he had a fire to comfort him the whole night long.\nNow, Sultan, see if my words are not true and judge between us.\"\n\nThe Sultan then asked the youth, \"Did you have a fire?\" The youth\nreplied that his wife had made a fire, so the Sultan, who wished to\nfavour the rich merchant, said, \"Then you did not earn the money.\"\n\nAs that youth went forth from the presence of the Sultan, he jostled\nagainst a sage, who asked him his news; so he told him how he had been\ndefrauded of his hundred dollars.\n\nThen said the sage, \"If I get your money for you, what will you give\nme?\" The youth said, \"I will give you a third.\" So they agreed together\nafter that manner.\n\nThe youth then went his way, and the sage came to the Sultan and said to\nhim, \"I invite you to food at noon to-morrow in my plantation.\" The\nSultan replied, \"Thank you, I will come.\"\n\nThen the sage returned to his house and made ready. He slaughtered an ox\nand prepared the meat in pots, but did not cook it. When the Sultan\narrived next day at noon, the sage had the pots of meat placed in one\nplace apart, and he had fires made in other places, far away from where\nhe had put the pots. Then, having told his servants what to do, he came\nand sat on the verandah with the Sultan, and they conversed with one\nanother.\n\nAfter a while he arose and shouted to his servants, \"Oh, Bakari and\nSadi, stoke well the fires and turn over the meat.\"\n\nWhen twelve o'clock had long passed the Sultan, feeling hungry, asked\nthe sage, \"Is not the food yet ready?\"\n\nThe sage answered, \"The meat is not yet done.\" So they continued to\nconverse, till the Sultan became very cross owing to his hunger, and\nsaid, \"Surely the food must be ready now.\" So the sage called out, \"Oh,\nBakari, and oh, Sadi, is not the food ready?\"\n\nThey answered him, \"Not yet, master.\" He then said, \"Stoke up the fires\nwell and turn the meat, that we may soon get our food;\" and they\nanswered him, \"We hear and obey, master.\"\n\nThe Sultan then said, \"Surely the meat must be cooked _now_, after all\nthis time.\" So he arose to look for himself, and behold! he saw the\nfires all on one side of the courtyard, with servants busily feeding\nthem, and the cooking pots all on the other side, also with servants\ntending them.\n\n[Illustration: THE FIRE-DRILL]\n\n[Illustration: TWIRLING-STICKS]\n\n[Illustration: THE FIRE.]\n\nHe turned to the sage and said, \"How is the meat to become cooked, and\nthe pots are in one place and the fires in another?\" The sage replied,\n\"They will cook like that, my master.\"\n\nThen was the Sultan very wroth and said, \"It is impossible to cook food\nlike that.\"\n\n\"Indeed no,\" gravely answered the sage; \"for is not the case the same\nbetween those cooking pots and their fires and the youth to whom you\nyesterday refused his hundred dollars and his fire, which was on the\nopposite shore?\"\n\nThe Sultan then said, \"Your words are true, oh sage! The youth did earn\nhis hundred dollars. Send and tell the merchant to pay him at once.\"\n\n[Illustration: Lion]\n\nSo the youth got his dollars for sleeping on the island of Manda, and\nthe sage did not accept from him the fee he had asked for. This is the\nstory of the lion of Manda.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nPEMBA MUHORI\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a man and his wife, and the wife gave birth\nto seven sons, and the seventh was called Hapendeki, and he was the\nlast.\n\nAnd these sons grew and grew till one day the youngest, Hapendeki, said\nto his father and mother, \"What goal is there in life for a man?\" and\nthey answered, \"The goal in life for a man is to find a nice woman and\nmarry her and rest in peace.\"\n\nSo he said, \"If that indeed be the aim of man you must look for a wife\nfor me.\"\n\nAnd they said to him, \"You are too young, you will not be able to manage\na wife.\"\n\nAnd he said, \"Never mind, look for a wife for me.\"\n\nAnd they said, \"No, you are not old enough yet.\"\n\nSo he answered them, \"All right, if you won't get me a wife I will look\nfor one for myself.\"\n\nSo he went and searched till he found a wife, and then there were shouts\nand trills as he brought her home and married her.\n\nSo they stayed indoors the appointed time of the honeymoon, and when it\nwas nearly accomplished his wife said to Hapendeki, \"Now that the\nhoneymoon is nearly over I want some nice clothes to show myself in when\nthe honeymoon is completed and I go out once more.\"\n\nSo the husband went out and sought all the Indians' and Banyans' shops,\nand bought all the best clothes he could in the town, and brought home\none man's load of different kinds of clothes. And he said to her, \"Here,\nmy wife, look at the clothes I have brought you.\"\n\nSo she opened the parcel and looked at the things and said, \"Do you call\nthese clothes, my husband? Do you think that I could go out in such\nthings, my husband?\"\n\nSo the husband took ship and went to Maskat, and there he bought all the\nmost beautiful clothes he could find, and dresses of silk and all kinds\nof garments, two bales full, and with these he returned home.\n\n[Illustration: Woman sorting clothes]\n\nSo he took ship with his two bales of clothes and arrived home again,\nand had them carried up to his house.\n\nWhen he came into the house his wife cooked food for him, and he sat\ndown and ate, and when he had finished he said to his wife, \"Now open\nthose two bales and see the clothes I have brought you.\" So she opened\nthe bales and looked at the clothes and said, \"Do you call these\nclothes? you must be a fool to have bought things like these. Are these\nthings fit for your wife to wear? Do you wish me to wear grass and bark\ncloth? Do you imagine that I could wear things like these?\"\n\nSo he said, \"My wife, these are the best that I could find, now say,\nwhat sort of clothes are those that you want?\"\n\nSo she said to him, \"My husband, the only clothes fit for me to wear are\nclothes made of the skin of Pemba Muhori, the great sea serpent.\"\n\nNext day he went to his father and mother and told them how he had\nbought every kind of expensive clothes for his wife, but that she\nrefused to wear anything but the skin of Pemba Muhori.\n\nHis father and mother said to him, \"Did not we tell you that you would\nnot be able to manage a wife?\" and his elder brothers said, \"You, the\nyoungest, must needs marry before us, your elder brothers, and this is\nwhat comes of it.\"\n\nSo Hapendeki said to his mother, \"I do not want words or advice, all I\nwant you to do is to make seven loaves for me, and to make up a parcel\nfor me containing these seven loaves and seven cigarettes and seven\nmatches.\"\n\nSo his mother baked seven loaves and made up the parcel, and next day he\ntook his sword and the parcel and set out. He travelled and travelled\nthrough plains and forests, plains and forests, for one month, till at\nthe end of the month he came to a big lake. He sat down on the shore and\nate one loaf and lit one cigarette and smoked it and thought, \"Pemba\nMuhori must be in this lake,\" so he sang--\n\n      \"Pemba Muhori, Pemba Muhori, are you in there?\n      My wife has sent for your skin to wear.\"\n\nAll was silent, so he picked up his load and journeyed on through desert\nand hills, desert and hills, till he came to a lake larger still, at the\nend of the second month, and he sat down and ate a loaf and smoked a\ncigarette and sang--\n\n      \"Pemba Muhori, Pemba Muhori, are you in there?\n      My wife has sent for your skin to wear.\"\n\nAll was silent, so he travelled on and on till he came to a third and\nbigger lake, and now he had spent three months in the way.\n\nSo he sat down on the shore and ate a loaf and smoked a cigarette and\nsang again, but all was silent, so he travelled on, and at the end of\neach month he came to a bigger lake, and he ate one loaf and smoked one\ncigarette.\n\nTill, at the end of the sixth month, he came to an enormous lake, bigger\nthan any before, and its breadth was the distance of Tabora from the\ncoast.\n\nAnd he said, \"Pemba Muhori can hardly miss being in here,\" so he ate a\nloaf and lit and smoked a cigarette and then he sang--\n\n      \"Pemba Muhori, Pemba Muhori, are you in there?\n      My wife has sent for your skin to wear.\"\n\nBut all was silent, so he picked up his load and went on and on, and now\nhe had only one loaf and one cigarette and one match left.\n\nAt the end of the seventh month he came to a lake as broad as from Ujiji\nto Zanzibar, and on its shores was white sand, white like bleached\ncalico.\n\nSo he sat down and thought, \"Now I have come to the last of my food.\nWhat am I to do if I miss Pemba Muhori here?\"\n\nSo he ate his last loaf and tried to light his last cigarette, but the\nmatch went out, so he threw it into the lake saying, \"What matter? Now I\nhave nothing.\"\n\nThen he sang--\n\n      \"Pemba Muhori, Pemba Muhori, are you in there?\n      My wife has sent for your skin to wear.\"\n\nThen there was a noise like thunder, and great waves went foaming away\nto the shores, and Pemba Muhori appeared with his seven heads and said,\n\"Who is making use of my name?\"\n\n[Illustration: Pemba Muhori with his seven heads]\n\nSo he answered, \"It is I, Hapendeki,\" and took his sword and smote off\none head, and picking it up he put it on one side. Then the snake came\nand said, \"Who are you that are not worth eating at a mouthful?\"\n\nHapendeki took his sword and cut off another head and the snake\ndisappeared in the water again, and he took the head and laid it on one\nside.\n\nAnd so the snake came at him again till he had cut off the third, fourth\nand fifth head and put them on one side.\n\nThen the snake said, \"What sort of witchcraft is this, that you who are\nso small think you can kill me?\" and he rushed at him again, and\nHapendeki cut off his sixth head and put it on one side. Then the snake\nrose up and came at him, and Hapendeki cut off his seventh head and ran\naway.\n\nThen the snake's body writhed and twisted, and he lashed so with his\ntail that the mountains fell into the lake and the waves tore up the\nhillsides.\n\nWhen all was still again, Hapendeki returned and picked up the heads,\nwhich were a heavy load, and as he picked up the sixth he staggered, but\nhe said to himself, \"I must take them all home to show my wife.\" So he\nmade an effort and picked up the seventh head, and when he had them all,\nhe suddenly looked round and behold, he found that his journey home was\nfinished and that he was already in his house.\n\nHis wife was astonished to see him and said, \"My husband, how did you\nreturn?\" and he answered, \"By the grace of God.\"\n\nThen she cooked food for him and said, \"Now eat.\" And he said to her,\n\"Last time I ate here you told me that I was a fool for not getting you\nthe clothes you wanted, now look first in the parcel I have brought and\nsee if they are indeed the clothes you want before I eat.\"\n\nSo his wife looked at the load and was astonished, and the neighbours\ncame and looked and were astonished, for there were the seven heads of\nPemba Muhori.\n\nThen that youth thought to himself, \"I must now teach my wife a lesson,\nas she has put me to a lot of trouble and worry;\" so he told her to\nprepare a large feast for the next day, and he invited all his friends\nto come.\n\nNext day his friends came and they all ate till they were full, and he\nthen said to his wife, \"My wife, bring me water that I may drink.\"\n\nHis wife brought him water, and he looked at it and said to her, \"Do you\ncall this water, do you think that this is fit for your husband to\ndrink?\"\n\nSo she went away and brought him milk, and he said to her, \"What is this\nyou have brought me? Am I a baby that you think that I can drink this?\"\n\nSo she went and brought him honey-wine, and he said to her, \"Am I a\ndrunkard that when I ask for water you bring me wine?\"\n\nSo she said to him, \"My husband, what kind of water do you want? tell\nme, that I may get it for you.\"\n\nSo he said, \"That water you brought me smelt of frogs. I want water from\na lake in which there are no frogs.\"\n\nSo she took a water jar, and putting it on her head went forth, and he,\ntaking his sword and putting it over his shoulder, went after her, and\nfollowed at a distance to see what she would do.\n\nAnd she travelled on and on till she came to a big lake and said to\nherself, \"Perhaps this water will do.\" So she sang--\n\n      \"My husband has sent me out to draw\n      Water no frog has touched with his claw.\"\n\nAnd the frogs answered, \"K--r--r--r, K--r--r--r.\"\n\nSo she took her water jar and travelled on and on till she came to\nanother big lake and sang again--\n\n      \"My husband has sent me out to draw\n      Water no frog has touched with his claw.\"\n\n\"K--r--r--r, K--r--r--r.\"\n\nSo she travelled on and on, and her husband followed, watching from\nbehind, and every lake she came to and sang the frogs only answered,\n\"K--r--r--r, K--r--r--r.\"\n\nAt last she came to a great lake, and there she sang--\n\n      \"My husband has sent me out to draw\n      Water no frog has touched with his claw.\"\n\nAll was silent, so she said, \"This must indeed be the water my husband\nwants.\" So she filled her water jar, and, turning round to go home, she\nsaw a huge demon coming forth saying, \"I smell man, I smell man.\"\n\nHer husband behind, who knew how to talk to demons, called out,\n\n      \"Demon bwe! bwe! bwe!\n      Demon bwe! bwe! bwe!\n      My wife run quickly past me,\n      Demon bwe! bwe! bwe!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"DEMON BWE! BWE! BWE!\"]\n\nSo his wife ran past him, and as the demon followed after her he cut off\nhis tail, and at that moment he found himself in his house again and his\nwife found herself on the threshold.\n\nShe tried to take the water jar from her head to pass in at the door,\nbut she found that it had stuck there, and she was not able to move it.\n\nThen a neighbour came forward and tried to pull it off, but he could\nnot, then came two men and then five and then twenty, but they could not\nget the water jar off. Then fifty tried, but failed, and at last five\nhundred men tried to pull it off, but it was of no avail.\n\nThen came out the husband and said, \"My wife, put down that water jar,\"\nand he slapped her in the face and at that moment the water jar fell\noff.\n\nHis wife said to him, \"What do you strike me for?\" and her husband said,\n\"My wife, do you not see that that was the medicine that broke the charm\nand released you from the water jar? Did you not see that five hundred\nmen were unable to get it off, and that I, by just slapping you, was\nable to get it off?\" But the woman would not be satisfied, so went off\nto the Sultan and accused her husband before the Sultan of beating her.\nSo the Sultan sent his soldiers to fetch Hapendeki, and when he was\nbrought said to him, \"How is this that you have beaten this woman your\nwife?\"\n\nSo Hapendeki told him the story from first to last, and the Sultan said\nto him, \"Have you the heads of Pemba Muhori?\"\n\nHe answered and said, \"They are there in my house.\"\n\nSo the Sultan said, \"Bring them here that I may know that your story is\ntrue.\"\n\nSo Hapendeki said, \"I will bring them here at eight o'clock to-night,\nbut I want you to turn out all the lights when I come and only turn them\non when I tell you.\"\n\nSo at eight o'clock Hapendeki brought the seven heads, and all the\nlights were turned out, and he arranged them in front of the Sultan's\npalace, which was seven storied, one head he put on the roof and one\nhead on every storey.\n\nWhen the lights were turned on everybody fell back in fear and\nastonishment, for there, shining and glittering in the light, were the\nseven heads of Pemba Muhori.\n\nSo the trumpets pealed and the cannons roared and there was great\nrejoicing, and the Sultan gave his daughter in marriage to Hapendeki.\n\n[Illustration: Rhino]\n\nAnd this is the end of the story, and whether it is good or whether it\nis bad I do not know, but if it is good, its goodness belongs to all,\nand if it is bad, its badness belongs to him who tells it alone.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE CAT'S TAIL\n\n\nAt a place called Lamu lived a woman and her husband. One day, whilst\nthey were at meal, a cat came in and looked at them. Now these two\npeople loved to disagree with each other.\n\nSo that woman said to the man, \"I say that the tail of a cat is stuck\nin.\"\n\nThe man said to his wife, \"No, it is not stuck in; it sprouts out.\"\n\nSo they wrangled together about this matter for many days. At last they\ndisputed so noisily that their neighbours threatened to drive them out\nof the village. Then, as neither the husband nor the wife would give in,\nthey decided to seek the wise man who lived at Shela, for sure he would\nknow and could settle this great question.\n\nSo they each took a dollar and tied it in the corner of their robes and\nset out for Shela, quarrelling so hard all the way that everybody turned\nround to stare at them.\n\nAt last they arrived at the town of Shela and found the wise man at his\nhouse. When he saw the big round dollars bulging out of their clothes he\nsmiled upon them and invited them in.\n\n[Illustration: THE WISE MAN WHO LIVED AT SHELA.]\n\nThen the woman asked him, \"Look up for us in your learned books whether\na cat's tail is stuck in or whether it sprouts out.\"\n\nThe man said, \"No. Look up whether it does not sprout out or whether it\nis stuck in.\"\n\nThe wise man saw that they were fools, so he replied--\n\n\"Give me my fee: one dollar for the answer to the question as to whether\nthe cat's tail is stuck in or whether it sprouts out, and one dollar for\nthe answer as to whether it sprouts out or is stuck in.\"\n\nSo they each gave him a dollar, and the wise man made great pretence at\nlooking through his books. Finally he said, \"You are both wrong; the\ncat's tail is neither stuck in nor does it sprout out, and it neither\nsprouts out nor is it stuck in, but it is just stuck on.\"\n\nThey then returned home in silence, and the wise man stuck to their\ndollars.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE YOUNG THIEF\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man and he wished to marry. So he went to\nthe Seers and asked them to foretell his future.\n\nThe Seers looked at their books and said to him, \"If you marry you will\ncertainly have a child, a very beautiful boy, but with one blemish; he\nwill be a thief, the biggest thief that ever was.\"\n\nSo that man said, \"Never mind, even if he be a thief; I should like to\nhave a son.\"\n\nSo he married, and in due time a child was born, a beautiful boy.\n\nThe child was carefully brought up till he was old enough to have a\nteacher. Then the father engaged a professor to come and teach him every\nday. He built a house a little distance from the town and put him in it,\nand that professor came every morning and taught him during the day, and\nin the evening returned home. Now the father ordered the professor never\nto let his son see any other soul but himself, and he thought by that\nmeans that his son would escape the fate that had been decreed by the\nSeers; for if he never saw any other person he could have no one to\nteach him to steal.\n\nOne day the professor came, and he told the lad about a horse of the\nSultan's, which used to go out to exercise by itself and return by\nitself, and was of great strength and speed.\n\nThen that youth asked where was the Sultan's palace, and his professor\ntook him up on to the flat roof and pointed out to him the palace and\nits neighbourhood.\n\nThat night, after the professor left, the youth slipped out and came to\nthe Sultan's stables, stole the horse, and returned home with it.\n\n[Illustration: The young thief]\n\nNext day the professor was a little late in coming, so the lad asked\nhim, \"Sheikh, why have you delayed to-day?\" The professor said, \"I\nstayed to hear the news. Behold, some one has stolen the Sultan's horse\nwhich I told you about yesterday.\"\n\nThen that lad asked, \"What does the Sultan propose to do?\"\n\nThe old man replied, \"He thought of sending out his soldiers, but then\nhe heard of a seer who is able to detect a thief by looking at his\nbooks, so he is going to ask him first.\"\n\nSo the youth asked, \"Where does that seer live?\"\n\nThe professor then pointed out the seer's house and its neighbourhood.\n\nThat night the youth slipped out and came to the seer's house and found\nthat the seer was out. He saw his wife and said to her--\n\n\"My mistress, the seer has sent me to fetch his box of books.\"\n\nSo the wife brought out the box containing all his books of magic and\ngave them to him, and he took them and returned with them to his house.\n\nNext day his professor was late, and when he came he said to him,\n\"Father, why have you delayed?\"\n\nThe old man said, \"I stopped to hear the news. Do you remember the seer\nof whom I told you yesterday, who was to find out the thief for the\nSultan? Well, he has now been robbed of his books of magic.\"\n\nThe youth asked, \"What does the Sultan intend to do?\"\n\nThe old man replied, \"He was about to send out his soldiers, and then he\nheard that there was a magician who is able to detect a thief by casting\ncharms, so he is going to consult him.\"\n\nThen the youth asked, \"Where does the magician live?\"\n\nSo the old man took him on the roof and pointed out the magician's house\nand its neighbourhood.\n\nThat night, after the professor had gone, the youth went out and came to\nthe house of the magician. He found him out, but saw his wife and said\nto her, \"Mother, I fear to ask you, for was not the seer robbed in like\nmanner yesterday? but the magician has sent me to fetch his bag of\ncharms.\"\n\nThat woman said, \"Have no fear; the thief's not you, my child;\" and she\ngave him the bag of charms, and he took them and went to his house.\n\nNext day, when the professor came, he asked for the news, and he said,\n\"Did I not tell you yesterday that the Sultan was going to get a\nmagician to tell him the thief by casting his charms? Well, last night\nthe magician had his bag of charms stolen.\"\n\nThen the youth asked, \"What is the Sultan going to do?\"\n\nThe old man answered, \"He was going to send out his soldiers to catch\nthe thief, but he heard that a certain woman said she knew who the thief\nwas, and so he is going to pay her to tell him.\"\n\nThe youth asked where the woman lived, and the old man pointed out her\nhouse to him.\n\nThat evening the youth went out, and came to the house of that woman and\nfound her outside, and he said to her, \"Mother, I am thirsty; give me a\ndrink of water.\"\n\nSo she went to the well to draw some water, and the youth came behind\nher and pushed her in. Then he went into the house and took her clothes\nand jewellery and brought them back to his house.\n\nNext day, when the professor came, he asked the news, and he said, \"My\nson, I told you yesterday that there was a woman who said that she could\ntell the Sultan the name of the thief. Well, last night the thief came\nand pushed her into the well and stole her things.\"\n\nThen that youth asked, \"What does the Sultan propose to do?\"\n\nThe old man replied, \"He is sending his soldiers out to look for the\nthief.\"\n\nThat night, after the professor had gone, the youth dressed up as a\nsoldier, and went out and met the soldiers of the Sultan looking for the\nthief.\n\nHe said to them, \"That is not the way to look for a thief. The way to\nlook for a thief is to sit down very quietly in a place, and then\nperhaps you will see or hear him.\"\n\nSo he brought them all to one place and made them sit down, and one by\none they all fell asleep. When they were all asleep he took their\nweapons and all their clothes he could carry and came with them to his\nhouse.\n\nNext day, when the professor came, he asked him the news, and he said,\n\"Last night the Sultan sent his soldiers out to look for the thief and\nbehold, the thief stole their arms and their clothes, so that they\nreturned naked.\"\n\nThen the youth asked, \"And now, what does the Sultan propose to do?\"\n\nThe old man said, \"To-night the Sultan goes himself to look for the\nthief.\"\n\nThe youth said, \"That is good, for the wisdom of Sultans is great.\"\n\nThat night the youth dressed up as a woman and scented himself and went\nout. He saw in the distance a lamp, and knew that it was the Sultan\nlooking for the thief, so he passed near. When the Sultan smelt those\ngoodly scents he turned round to see whence they came, and he saw a very\nbeautiful woman.\n\nHe asked, \"Who are you?\"\n\nThe lad replied, \"I was just returning home when I saw your light, so I\nstepped aside to let you pass.\"\n\nThe Sultan said, \"You must come and talk with me a little.\"\n\nThat lad said, \"No, I must go home.\"\n\nThey were just outside the prison, so at last the youth consented to go\nin and talk for a little while with the Sultan.\n\nWhen they got inside the courtyard, the youth took a pair of leg-irons\nand asked the Sultan, \"What are these?\"\n\nThe Sultan replied, \"Those are the leg-irons with which we fasten our\nprisoners.\"\n\nThen that youth said, \"Oh, fasten them on me, that I may see how they\nwork.\"\n\nThe Sultan said, \"No, you are a woman, but I will put them on to show\nyou,\" and he put them on.\n\nThe youth looked up and saw a gang-chain and asked, \"What is that?\"\n\nThe Sultan said, \"That is what we put round their necks, and the end is\nfastened to the wall.\"\n\nSo the youth said, \"Oh, put it on my neck, that I may see what it is\nlike.\"\n\nThe Sultan replied, \"No, you are a woman, but I will put it on my neck\nto show you;\" so he put it on.\n\nThen the youth took the key of the leg-irons and of the gang-chain, and\nlooked up and saw a whip and said, \"What is that?\"\n\n\"That,\" said the Sultan, \"is a whip with which we whip our prisoners if\nthey are bad.\"\n\nSo the youth picked up the whip and began beating the Sultan. After the\nfirst few strokes the Sultan said, \"Stop, that is enough fun-making.\"\n\nBut the youth went on and beat him soundly, and then went out, leaving\nthe Sultan in chains and chained to the wall, and he also locked the\ndoor of the prison and took the key and went home. Next day the Sultan\nwas found to be in the prison, and they could not get in to let him out\nor free him.\n\nSo a crier was sent round the town to cry, \"Any one who can deliver the\nSultan from prison will be given a free pardon for any offence he has\ncommitted.\"\n\nSo, when the cries came to that youth's house, he said, \"Oho, I want\nthat as a certificate in writing before I will say what I know.\"\n\nWhen these words were brought to the Wazir, he had a document drawn up,\ngiving a free pardon to any one who would deliver the Sultan. Then he\nbrought it round to the prison for the Sultan's signature, and as they\ncould not get it in they pushed it through the window on the end of a\nlong pole. Then the Sultan signed it, and it was given to that youth,\nwho handed over the key of the prison and of the chains and fetters.\nAfter the Sultan had been released he called that youth to his palace,\nand the youth took the horse, and the sage's books of magic, and the\nmagician's bag of charms, and the woman's clothes and jewellery, and the\nsoldiers' arms and clothes, and came to the palace.\n\nWhen the Sultan heard his story he said that he was indeed a very clever\nyouth, so he made him his Wazir.\n\nThis is the story of the man who would have a child, even though he\nshould be a thief.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nTHE TRAPPER, THE LION AND THE HARE\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man, and his work was to set traps. Every\nmorning he went out and set his traps for game, and in the evening he\nreturned to his house, for he was a poor man, and there was no money in\nthe house, and so this was, indeed, his manner of living.\n\nOne day he went forth, and when he came to his traps he met a lion.\n\nAnd the lion said to him, \"Have you not heard that this forest belongs\nto me, and that there is no leave to hunt here? for I am the only person\nwho hunts here, and now, you son of Adam, you have come to hunt in my\nforest. Do you not know that I have the strength of forty men?\"\n\nAnd the man answered him, \"Oh, master, I had not the news that this was\nyour forest, so now make what plan you like, for I can do nothing.\"\n\nThen the lion said to him, \"We will make this arrangement together. You\nmay hunt game here, but of every animal you catch you must give me the\nheart, the liver and the entrails, but the meat you may take yourself.\"\n\n[Illustration: The trapper, the lion, and the hare]\n\nSo they made this arrangement together, and every day the man set his\ntraps, and of the game he caught he gave the lion the heart, liver and\nentrails, but the meat he took home, and his wife was glad.\n\nTill one day his wife said to him, \"How is it that of all the game you\nbring here, you bring the meat only, but the entrails you leave there in\nthe bush? Now I am feeling sick, and the liver of game is what I long\nfor.\"\n\nThe man said, \"Do you not know that the entrails of all the game belong\nto the lion, who is, indeed, the master of the forest?\"\n\nAnd his wife said to him, \"I know very well that you give the heart\nand the liver to another woman every day, and if it indeed be the lion\nwho takes them, I will follow you to-morrow and see.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"See, that stone is falling, it will kill us both.\"]\n\nSo the man said, \"My wife, you must not come with me to the forest, for\nin the forest are fierce animals and thorns and difficulties and\ndangers.\"\n\nSo they slept, and in the morning the man went off to his work, and when\nhe had gone his wife followed him in the way and came to the first and\nthe second trap, but she entered into the third trap and was caught.\n\nWhen the man returned from the woods he did not find his wife, and he\nlooked for her till one of the neighbours said, \"I saw your wife follow\nyou in the way this morning.\"\n\nAnd the man thought to himself, \"My wife must surely have followed me to\nsee where the entrails of the game went to.\"\n\nSo he took the way and came to the first and the second trap, but at the\nthird he saw his wife caught, and beside her sat the lion.\n\nAnd the lion said, \"See what a nice animal you have caught to-day; be\nquick and cut it up that I may get my share.\"\n\nThe man said, \"I cannot cut her up, for she is my wife.\"\n\nThe lion said, \"Was not our agreement that I should have the entrails of\nevery animal you caught? Now give me my share or I will kill you.\"\n\nAt that moment there came forth a hare, and when he had heard the case\nhe said to the lion, \"This man speaks not truly when he says that this\nanimal is his wife, he only wishes to get all the meat for himself. Now\nmy plan is that you and the man follow me, and I will show you that this\nis not his wife.\"\n\nSo the man and the lion followed the hare, and the hare and the man\npassed the second trap, but the lion entered in, and was caught up by\nthe noose in the air.\n\nThen the hare said to the man, \"Now take your wife quickly and run away,\nfor if he gets out he will kill us both.\"\n\nSo the man took his wife and ran away quickly.\n\nNow the lion stayed in the trap, but after some time the rope rotted and\nhe got out, but he was weak and maimed and thin. After several days he\ncaught a pala, and then he caught a zebra, and then he grew strong\nagain.\n\nThen he said, \"Now I will go and kill that hare who took me in.\" So he\nwent to the house of the hare, which was under a big rock, and seized\nthe hare.\n\nNow over the rock was a great boulder poised, and the hare said to the\nlion, \"See, that stone is falling, it will kill us both.\" The lion\nlooked up and saw the boulder and leaped from under it, but when he\nfound that it did not fall he looked for the hare, but the hare had\ngone.\n\nThen he sought for the hare many days, and at last he found where he\nlived in a cave, so he went in and sat there to wait for him till he\nreturned.\n\nAnd as the hare returned he saw the footprints of the lion on the path\nleading to his house, so he went and stood near the house and said,\n\"Salaam, oh house.\" But the lion was not to be deceived, and he answered\nnot.\n\nThen the hare said again, \"Salaam, house,\" and again the lion was\nsilent.\n\nSo the hare said to himself, \"Every day when I pass here and say,\n'Salaam, oh house,' the house answers and says, 'And to you salaams,'\nbut to-day it is silent; perhaps there is some one inside.\"\n\nSo the lion answered from inside, \"And to you salaams.\" And the hare\nsaid, \"Oh, lion, I hear your voice you have come here to kill me.\"\n\nThen the hare ran off, and the lion came out and went his way. Some time\nafterwards the hare met the lion in the way, and seeing that he could\nnot escape he said, \"I am tired of running away from you, old lion, so\nnow I will come with you and be your servant.\"\n\nThe lion agreed, and the hare followed the lion.\n\nShortly afterwards the lion killed a zebra, and he said to the hare,\n\"Now, my servant, cook the fat, that I may eat.\"\n\nSo the hare collected firewood and made a fire, and putting a little fat\nin the fire, said, \"Open your mouth, old lion, and taste.\"\n\nAnd the lion tasted the fat and saw that it was sweet and good, and\nsaid, \"Hurry up and cook the rest, that I may eat.\"\n\nThe hare ran off and fetched a stone and put it in the fire till it was\nred hot and then, taking hold of it with two sticks, said, \"Open your\nmouth, old lion.\"\n\nThe lion opened his mouth and the hare popped the stone in; the lion\ngulped it down and it burnt his inside and killed him.\n\nThe hare then skinned the lion, and taking the skin he went his way till\nhe came to a cave where thirty hyaenas were holding a dance.\n\nThe hare took the lion's skin and propped it up against the entrance to\nthe cave, and tied it with string to one of the hyaena's tail.\n\nWhen the hyaenas smelt the smell of a lion they looked round and saw a\nlion crouching at the entrance.\n\nThey took counsel together and said, \"It were better that we remain\ninside here, for if we go out we will certainly be killed, and after a\nlittle time he will go away.\"\n\nThey waited the first and the second day, but when the third day came\nand the lion did not go away they took counsel together again, saying,\n\"We will all die of hunger here. It were better that we eat one of our\nnumber that the rest may live.\"\n\nSo they ate one of their number, and the next day they did likewise, and\nso on every day, till at last there was only one left alive, and this\nwas the one with the skin tied to his tail.\n\nAnd he thought to himself, \"If I stay here I shall die of hunger. It\nwould be better if I tried to rush past the lion and get away.\"\n\nSo he rushed out of the cave across the plain, and the skin followed\nhim, till at last the rope broke, and he looked round and saw the hare\ncoming to pick up the skin.\n\nThen was the hyaena very angry, and rushed after the hare and caught\nhim.\n\nThe hare said, \"I am but a small mouthful. If you leave me, I will show\nyou where a whole rhino has just died.\"\n\nSo the hyaena let go and said to him, \"I will follow you and see; but if\nyou have deceived me I will kill you.\"\n\nSo the hare led him down to the stream and said, \"He fell in here this\nmorning. If you put your nose in the water you will smell him.\"\n\nSo the hyaena put his nose in the water to smell if the rhino was there,\nand he was seized by the crocodiles and dragged into the river and\neaten.\n\nThis is the end of the story of the hunter and the lion and the hare,\nwhich ends here.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nNUNDA THE SLAYER AND THE ORIGIN OF THE ONE-EYED\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Sultan, and he had seven sons, and he gave\nthem ships, and they all went abroad to trade, and came back with much\nwealth, all except the youngest, who brought back only a dog and a cat,\nand he kept the dog and the cat till they grew and grew, and at last the\ndog died.\n\nThen he kept the cat, and it grew and grew, till at last one day it ate\na whole goat.\n\n[Illustration: \"HE KEPT THE CAT AND IT GREW AND GREW\"]\n\nAnd it still grew, till one day the son said to the Sultan, \"My father,\ngive me an ox for my cat to eat,\" and he gave him an ox, and the cat\ngrew and grew, till at last he finished all the camels and oxen of the\nSultan.\n\nSo the Sultan said to his son, \"You must turn that cat out of the town,\nas it has eaten all our wealth.\"\n\nSo that cat was turned out and went to live in the bush, and there it\ngrew and grew, and it was called Nunda.\n\nTill one day it came into the town and ate everybody in that town, all\nthe people and the Sultan himself and all his sons; but the Sultan's\nwife was upstairs, and she shut the door and was saved, but everybody\nelse in the town was eaten.\n\nAnd when the Nunda thought that he had finished everybody he went again\ninto the bush and there he lived.\n\nAnd the Sultan's wife stayed in the upper storey, and there she gave\nbirth to a son, and she called him Mohammed.\n\nAnd Mohammed grew up, till one day he said to his mother, \"How is it\nthat we two sit alone and there are no other people here?\"\n\nAnd his mother said to him, \"Go and open the window and look out.\" And\nhe opened the window and looked out.\n\nAnd she said to him, \"What do you see?\" And he said, \"I see many\nhouses.\"\n\nThen she said to him, \"All those houses were once full of people, but\nthe Nunda has killed and eaten them all, even your father and brothers\nhe has eaten.\"\n\nSo Mohammed said, \"Did my father have any weapons?\" And his mother said,\n\"He used to go to war, and guns and spears and bows and arrows and\nshields were the weapons he had.\"\n\nMohammed said to her, \"Bows and arrows are the weapons I want.\"\n\nSo he took a bow and three hundred arrows and set forth, and travelled\nthrough the bush, on and on, till one day he met a rhino.\n\nHe said to himself, \"This must be the Nunda,\" so he shot his arrows and\nshot and shot till he had used all his three hundred arrows and the\nrhino fell dead.\n\nThen he cut off a leg and set out for home, carrying it with him. When\nhe got near the house he sung, \"This is Nunda, this is Nunda who kills\npeople.\"\n\nAnd his mother, looking out from the upper storey, sang, \"My child, that\nis not Nunda who kills people.\"\n\nWhen he came into the house she said, \"My son, that is not Nunda; it is\na rhino.\"\n\nSo he said, \"I will sleep here to-night, and to-morrow I will set out\nagain.\"\n\nIn the morning he took seven bows and one thousand arrows and set out,\nand travelled and travelled, through forests and plains, till he came to\na garden, and there he sat down.\n\nPresently a great dust arose in the hills and came down into the plains.\n\nSo Mohammed climbed a tree and waited, saying, \"This indeed must be\nNunda.\"\n\nPresently a great animal came out of the dust and came down to the\ngarden to drink, and he drank from three o'clock in the afternoon to six\no'clock in the evening.\n\nAnd Mohammed, up in the tree, said to himself, \"If I am to die I am\nalready dead, and if I am to escape I have already escaped;\" so he\nstarted shooting his arrows, and when he had shot five hundred the\nanimal looked up from drinking, but he did not yet know that he was hit.\n\nSo Mohammed took his other five hundred arrows and shot and shot till he\nhad used them all, and then he threw away his bow.\n\nThen the animal arose and went to the tree where Mohammed sat, and\njumped and bounded in his pain, but he did not reach him, and in the\nmorning when Mohammed looked down he saw that the animal was dead. Then\nhe descended and cut off a leg, and taking it started for home.\n\nWhen he got near home he sang, \"This is Nunda, this is Nunda who kills\npeople.\"\n\nAnd his mother looked out from the upper storey and sang, \"My child,\nthat is he, Nunda who eats people.\"\n\nAnd she came down to meet him and said, \"Hang the leg up in the\nverandah, and I will go and get you water to wash with.\"\n\nSo he hung up the leg and went inside to wash himself.\n\nAnd the leg said, \"By Allah, I feel cold here.\" And his mother called\nout, \"Mohammed.\" \"Yes, mother.\" \"Why is the leg talking there in the\nverandah?\"\n\nSo Mohammed came out from the bathroom and took the leg and hung it up\nat the top of the house, and went back to wash.\n\nPresently the leg said, \"I hear some one washing there.\" And his mother\ncalled out, \"That leg is still talking upstairs.\"\n\nAnd Mohammed came out again and said, \"Give me my knife; I will cut it\nopen and see what is inside.\"\n\nSo he took his knife and cut open the leg, and there he found his father\nand brothers and all the people of that town inside the leg; but in\ncutting it open he stabbed one man in the face and put out his eye.\n\nAnd this man, when he came out from the leg, was very angry indeed and\nsaid, \"Why have you put out my eye? See, you have let all the other\npeople out quite whole; but me, you have put out my eye.\"\n\nAnd Mohammed said, \"I am very sorry. I did not know what was in the leg,\nand my knife slipped in cutting it open, so now be content that you have\nescaped and forgive me.\"\n\nBut the man said, \"I will not forgive you. You have put out my eye and\nnow you must let me put out your eye.\"\n\nMohammed said, \"I do not agree.\"\n\nThe man said, \"If you don't agree to my putting out your eye we must\nfight.\"\n\nMohammed said, \"I don't want many words, so now listen to what I have\ngot to say. Let one of us take a rifle and five cartridges and the\nother stones, and let us go down to the shore and fight. So now choose\nwhich you will take.\"\n\nSo One-eye chose to take the rifle and five rounds, and Mohammed took a\ncloth and filled it with stones, and they went down to the shore.\n\nAnd Mohammed said, \"Now, One-eye, you have the rifle, you begin.\"\n\nSo One-eye fired the first round and missed, and the second and missed,\nand so on all five rounds.\n\nThen Mohammed came near with his bag of stones, and hit him here and\nthere and all over, and came closer and stoned him, and hit him in the\nother eye, putting that out, till he went down on his knees and said, \"I\nrepent; I am satisfied.\"\n\nAnd this is the beginning of all one-eyed and blind men in the world,\nand this is how they began.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE WOODCUTTER AND HIS DONKEY\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor woodcutter, and his work was to go out\nevery day into the forest and cut wood. In the evening he used to load\nup his donkey with the wood he had cut and return to the town, where he\nsold it. The money he got each day was only sufficient for the food of\nhimself and his wife for that day.\n\n[Illustration: The woodcutter and his donkey]\n\nThey lived like that many months and many days, and they were very,\nvery poor; till one day the woodcutter went out to the forest as usual\nto cut wood. As he was at work he looked up and saw a number of birds\nsitting on the top of a tree, with their beaks wide open. And there was\na cloud of insects about the tree, and they fell into the birds' mouths.\n\nThen the woodcutter said to himself, \"Behold these birds, they sit on\nthe top of a tree with their mouths open, and God feeds them by bringing\ninsects to fall into their mouths. They do not have to work or even to\nmove from their perch; they just open their mouths and are fed. Why\nshould I have to work hard all day and then only get just enough to eat?\nWhy should not God feed me like that?\"\n\nSo he loaded up his donkey with the wood he had already cut and returned\nto the town. When he reached his house he went in and got into bed.\n\nHis wife went out and sold the wood, and then bought some food and\nreturned home. When she found her husband in bed she said, \"My husband,\nare you ill?\"\n\nHe replied, \"No, my wife, I am waiting for God to feed me as I saw Him\nfeed the birds to-day.\"\n\nSo she cooked the food and then called to him, \"The food is ready, my\nhusband.\"\n\nHe replied, \"No. To-day I saw that God fed the birds without them having\nto move. They just opened their mouths and the food dropped in, so now I\nam not going to move out of bed, but am just going to wait here in bed\nto be fed also.\"\n\nSo his wife brought his food in to him there in bed and he ate and\nslept. Next morning his wife said to him, \"Arise, my husband, for it is\ntime that you went to work.\"\n\nHe replied, \"No, I am not going to work; I am just going to stop here in\nbed and wait to be fed.\"\n\nHis wife said, \"But, my husband, we have no food and no money in the\nhouse. What are we to do if you do not go and work?\"\n\nHe answered, \"Never mind. God is able to feed the birds when they are\nhungry, and so He is able to feed me.\"\n\nSo he stopped there in bed. Now a neighbour of his had a vision that\nnight that in a certain cave was a great treasure stored. He wanted to\ngo and search for it, and when he heard that the woodcutter was not\ngoing to work that day he thought that he would borrow his donkey to\nbring back the wealth, if his vision came true.\n\nSo he came to borrow the donkey; but as he was a very mean man he did\nnot want to tell of his vision or for what purpose he wanted the donkey.\nHe knocked at the door, and the wife came and opened it, and he asked to\nsee the woodcutter.\n\nThe wife went to call her husband, but he said, \"Tell him to come in\nhere; I will not get up.\"\n\nSo the neighbour came in and asked the woodcutter to lend him his\ndonkey, and said, \"If I have a prosperous journey I will give you a few\ncoppers.\"\n\nThe woodcutter agreed, and he took the donkey and went to the place\nabout which he had dreamed. There he found the cave, and when he entered\nhe saw piles of money, gold, silver and copper.\n\nSo he gathered up first all the gold and then all the silver and filled\nthe donkey's saddle-bags, till at last they would hold no more.\n\nHe was loth to leave the copper, so he left the donkey outside the cave\nand went back and began to stuff his clothes with the copper coins.\nWhilst he was doing this the mouth of the cave fell in, and he was\nunable to get out.\n\nThe donkey waited and waited till at last, when evening was near, seeing\nno one coming, it set off and returned home, and came to the door of the\nhouse. The wife heard a noise at the door and said, \"My husband, there\nis some one at the door; get up and open it to see who it is.\"\n\nHe replied, \"No, my wife, I am going to stop just here in bed till God\nbrings me my food.\"\n\nSo the wife opened the door, and the donkey walked in to where the\nwoodcutter was lying in bed. When he looked at it he saw that the\nsaddle-bags were stuffed full of gold and silver.\n\nThe man and his wife waited for the return of the neighbour, but when he\ndid not come back they made plans together what they should do.\n\nThe husband said to his wife, \"Behold, my wife, the neighbours all know\nthat we are very poor and have no money in the house. Even if we were\nto take a little money and buy food to-morrow they will say that we have\nstolen it, so how are we to spend all this wealth? Even if we go away\nthey will know that we have not the money to expend on a journey, so\nwhat shall we do?\"\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN SPEARS]\n\nSo they planned together, and then they crept out, when everybody was\nasleep, and put a little money on the doorstep of each house near them.\nOn one they put ten reals, on another five, and so on.\n\nIn the morning when every one opened their doors, behold, some silver\ncoins on the doorstep. So the neighbours said to one another, \"I got\nfive reals; what did you get?\" and so on. Another said, \"Surely some Jin\nmust have put all this money here in the night.\"\n\nThen were the neighbours not surprised when they saw that the woodcutter\nand his wife had a little money wherewith to buy food. So the woodcutter\nsaid to his neighbours, \"I found twenty reals on my doorstep this\nmorning, and I and my wife are going to expend this money on travelling\nto a far country, where perhaps we will meet with better fortune than\nhere.\"\n\n[Illustration: HUNTING THE RHINO]\n\nSo they bought the necessaries for a long journey with a little of that\nmoney, and then the greater part they packed up on the donkey and\njourneyed off.\n\nThey travelled on and on, till at last they came to a country where they\nwere not known, and there they bought a house and settled down, and the\npeople said, \"Behold, these must be some rich folk who have come from a\nfar country.\"\n\nSo they lived there in great splendour, and spent their money and gave\npraise to God.\n\nThis is the story of the woodcutter who had trust in God, and it\nfinishes here.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nKITANGATANGA OF THE SEA\n\n\nThere was once a man, and he lived at Kilwa. And that man married a\nwife, and built a hut, in which they stayed. Everything that woman asked\nfor he gave her, only that hut he had built without a door.\n\n[Illustration: Hut without a door]\n\nHe himself, when he went abroad and returned, used to climb up a ladder\nand get in at the window, and when he went away he took away the ladder.\nSo that woman stayed in that hut and was not able to go out, not even\nfor a little, and so she was sick of heart.\n\nNow when her mother heard about this she came and dug a hole under the\nwall, so that she was able to come and see her daughter whenever the\nhusband had gone out. The mouth of that hole the woman covered over with\nmatting, so that that man, her husband, did not get to see it.\n\nNow that man was a merchant, and used to trade up and down the coast\neven as far as Maskat.\n\nOne day he came home to his wife and said to her, \"My wife, it is time\nthat I went up the coast trading, so in a week's time I will start and\nwill go to Zanzibar and Maskat, and then, after the space of one year, I\nwill return again.\"\n\nSo his wife said to him, \"It is well, my husband; may you go and return\nin safety.\"\n\nWhen her husband went away again she got out quickly by her tunnel and\ncame to her mother and said, \"My mother, my husband is going to travel\naway for a year and leave me in my hut. Now you must go quickly and get\na fast ship ready for me and tell no one.\"\n\nThen she returned and sat in the hut, and in the evening her husband\nreturned and climbed in by that window of his.\n\nAfter a week had passed the husband took leave of his wife and went down\nto the harbour, got on board his ship and set sail for Zanzibar.\n\n[Illustration: Sailing boat]\n\nAfter he had gone, the wife came out quickly and went down to the\nharbour and got on board the vessel her mother had prepared for her and\nset sail behind him.\n\nIn the middle of the ocean that boat of hers passed his. He looked at it\nand called out, \"Who is that in the ship that is passing me?\"\n\nShe answered, \"It is I, my name is Kitangatanga of the sea.\"\n\nShe arrived at Zanzibar, moored her vessel and went ashore, and found\nthat house where he stayed and entered it and sat down. Presently her\nhusband arrived, moored his boat and went up to that house.\n\nWhen he saw that woman he was surprised and said to her, \"How like you\nare to my wife whom I left in Kilwa!\"\n\nSo he talked to her for a while and then asked, \"Are you married?\"\n\nShe replied, \"No, I am a widow.\"\n\nThen he said, \"If you will marry me I will settle on you a hundred\nreals.\"\n\nSo that woman agreed, and they were married, and they stayed together.\nAfter two weeks he said to her, \"My wife, I must continue my journey to\nMaskat now; but in the space of six months I will return and stay with\nyou.\"\n\nShe said, \"It is well, my husband; go, and return in safety.\"\n\nSo he got in his boat and set sail for Maskat. After he had gone she got\nin her boat and set sail behind him. In the middle of the sea her vessel\npassed his, and he called out, \"Who is that who is passing me?\"\n\nShe replied, \"It is I, Kitangatanga of the sea.\" She arrived first in\nMaskat and found that house where he stopped and went and sat in it.\nPresently her husband arrived, moored his ship and went up to the house.\n\nWhen he saw that woman sitting there he was very surprised and said,\n\"How like you are to my wife whom I left in Kilwa, and also to that\nwoman I married in Zanzibar.\"\n\nThen he asked her, \"Are you married?\"\n\nShe replied, \"No, I am a widow.\" So he said, \"I will marry you for one\nhundred reals.\"\n\nShe agreed, and they were married, and he stayed with her six months\nthere in Maskat. At the end of that time he said, \"My wife, I must now\nreturn home. I will stay a year, and then I will return to you.\"\n\nShe said, \"Go, and return in peace, my husband.\"\n\nSo he set sail from Maskat, and that woman set sail after him. In the\nmidst of the ocean she passed him again, and when he asked who it was,\nshe replied, \"It is I, Kitangatanga of the sea.\"\n\nShe arrived at Zanzibar and went up to that house.\n\nPresently her husband arrived, and she said, \"Welcome, stranger; what is\nthe news?\"\n\nHe replied, \"The news is that I have made a prosperous journey to\nMaskat, and that there I met a woman just like the wife I left at Kilwa\nand also like you, and I married her.\"\n\nShe replied, \"It is well, my husband.\"\n\nAfter he had stopped several weeks he said to her, \"My wife, I must now\nreturn home. I will stop one year, and then I will return to you.\"\n\nSo she said, \"May your journey be prosperous, my husband, and may you\nreturn in safety.\"\n\nSo he set sail for Kilwa, and she set sail after him. In the midst of\nthe ocean she passed him again, and when he asked who it was, she\nreplied, \"It is I, Kitangatanga of the sea.\"\n\nWhen she arrived in Kilwa she moored her vessel and went up to her\nhouse. She entered by her underground doorway and sat down. After a\nwhile her husband arrived and climbed in by his window. She said,\n\"Welcome, my husband.\"\n\nThen she cooked food for him, and when he had eaten she asked him, \"What\nis the news of there where you have been?\"\n\nHe replied, \"I made a good voyage to Zanzibar, and there I met a woman\njust like you. I married her for one hundred reals, and stayed with her\nfor two weeks. Then I went on to Maskat, and there I met a woman exactly\nlike you and like that woman I married in Zanzibar. I married her, too,\nfor a hundred reals, and stopped with her six months.\n\n\"Then I returned to Zanzibar and stayed with my wife there a few weeks,\nthen set out for home, and here I am. Now what is the news here of this\nplace whilst I have been away?\"\n\nThat wife replied, \"The news is this, my husband. I was angered because\nyou put me in a hut without a door, so I made this underground door\nwhich you see there.\n\n\"Then, when you set sail, I set sail after you, and I passed you in the\nsea; and when you asked who I was, I replied, 'Kitangatanga of the sea!'\n\n\"I came first to Zanzibar, and it was I whom you married there for a\nhundred reals.\n\n\"When you left for Maskat, I set sail behind you, and arrived there\nfirst. It was I also whom you married in Maskat for one hundred reals.\nThat is my news, my husband.\"\n\nWhen her husband heard that, he said, \"Indeed, this is true. Now I will\nbuild you a very fine hut with a door in it, so that you may go out when\nyou please.\"\n\nSo he built her a splendid hut with a door and put her into it, and\nthere they lived happily.\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN \"PIANO\" WITH GOURD RESONATOR]\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN LIZARD-SKIN DRUM]\n\n[Illustration: PLAYING THE \"PIANO\"]\n\n[Illustration: BEATING THE TOM-TOM]\n\n[Illustration: SMALL BOY SINGING]\n\n[Illustration: \"BANJO\" N.E. CENTRAL AFRICA]\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nTHE LION'S TALISMAN\n\n\nThe talisman of the lion is like that of cattle; it is a hairy pellet,\nand he carries it about with him in his mouth.\n\nWhen he goes out to hunt he digs a hole in the ground and hides it\nthere. Then he goes to hunt, and when he has finished hunting and eating\nmeat till he is satisfied, he comes back to that place where he has hid\nhis charm and digs it up and swallows it.\n\nWhen he sees that he is about to die, he throws it far away, so that it\nmay not be found at his death.\n\n[Illustration: BLESBOK]\n\nShould a man get it, he becomes possessed of great good fortune. If he\nwishes he can put it away and keep it, or if he desires he can sell it\nfor much money, or he can make it into a charm and wear it himself. If a\nman wearing this charm meets with a lion, that lion is unable to do\nanything to him, by reason of that charm.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nTHE STORY OF KIBARAKA AND THE BIRD\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Sultan, and he had one son, a very handsome\nyouth, called Hasani.\n\nEvery day at noon the Sultan and his son used to go to the mosque to\npray. After they had gone the Sultan's wife used to sort out the seeds\nof every kind of grain in the Sultan's store. Those that needed drying\nshe gave to a slave, called Kibaraka, to put out in the sun to dry.\n\nOne day, after the Sultan and his son had gone to prayer, she called to\nthe slave, \"Kibaraka, take these seeds and put them out in the sun.\"\nKibaraka took the grain and spread it out to dry, each kind by itself.\n\nSuddenly a wondrously fine bird came and sat down by the grain and\ncalled out--\n\n\"Kibaraka! Kibaraka!\"\n\n[Illustration: The bird]\n\nHe answered, \"Here, lady, here.\"\n\nThen the bird sang--\n\n      _Bird._     \"Shall I eat of this wheat?\n                        Or shall I not eat?\n                        Or shall I eat millet?\"\n\n      _Kibaraka._ \"Eat, Lady, I will it.\"\n\n      _Bird._     \"Shall I eat rape instead?\n                        Or must I not be fed?\n                        Shall I eat maize to-day?\"\n\n      _Kibaraka._ \"Eat, Lady, eat, I pray.\"\n\n      _Bird._     \"Shall I eat all the grain?\n                        Or must I now refrain?\n                        Shall I eat rice to-day?\"\n\n      _Kibaraka._ \"Eat, Lady, eat, I pray.\"\n\n      _Bird._     \"Where has your master gone to-day?\"\n\n      _Kibaraka._ \"Gone to the mosque to read and pray.\"\n\n      _Bird._     \"My greetings to the Sultan give\n                        When he returns. Long may he live.\"\n\nAt that it flew away.\n\nOn the next day and the day after the bird came again and sung the same\nsong.\n\nTill one day Kibaraka told his young master Hasani, \"Master, every day\nat one o'clock, when you are at the mosque, a lovely bird comes here.\"\n\nHasani asked, \"What kind of bird is this?\"\n\nKibaraka said, \"All ordinary wonders are surpassed by this bird, for it\nsings a very beautiful song,\" and he told his master of the song.\n\nAt these words the Sultan's son perceived that this bird was of the\ndaughters of the Jins, and he fell in love with her.\n\nThen he said to Kibaraka, \"See here, I have given you your freedom, you\nare no longer a slave, and now you must catch this bird for me.\"\n\nAfter that Hasani was seized with a grievous illness because of his\nlonging for that bird till, on the third day at one o'clock, the Sultan\nwent out to look for all the wisest of the medicine men to attend to his\nson.\n\nWhilst he was gone that bird came and sat by the grain and called,\n\"Kibaraka! Kibaraka!\"\n\nKibaraka cut a thin pole and made a noose at the end and set it near the\nbullrush millet, the grain the bird loved best.\n\nWhen it had finished eating all the seeds it wished to fly away, but\none of its wings caught in the noose.\n\nThen it said to Kibaraka, \"Please let me go and do not touch me, for you\nwill injure me. Take this feather of mine and carry it to your master,\nand let it be my salaams to him.\"\n\nSo Kibaraka brought the feather to the Sultan's son. Hasani was very\npleased. Then he said to him, \"Kibaraka, my brother, why did not you\ncatch the owner of this feather?\"\n\nKibaraka said, \"I was not able to catch it. When I saw it I fell down\nseven times because of its light, and my wisdom forsook me.\"\n\nWhen the Sultan returned, his son said to him, \"My father, you must\nsound the pallaver-horn, that all the people may come before the\npalace.\" The Sultan loved his son exceedingly, so he gathered all his\npeople together. Then Hasani said, \"Tell the people that they must look\nfor this bird and bring it to me, and if they do not bring it I shall\ndie.\" So the Sultan gave out the order, \"There is no leave to weave or\nspin, to grind corn or pound grain, until this bird has been brought.\"\n\nAt once all the people of that country went out into the jungles and\ndeserts to look for that bird. Every one who found a fine bird would\nseize it and bring it to the Sultan's son, but to each he said, \"This is\nnot the one.\"\n\nTill one day, as people were sitting in the Sultan's court holding a\npallaver, just after one o'clock had struck, they looked up and saw a\ndustcloud coming like rain.\n\nBehold, it was that bird coming, and Kibaraka recognised its coming.\n\nWhen it came it sat down by the grain and ate all the seeds till, as it\ncame to the last, Kibaraka caught it and brought it to his master. When\nHasani looked on that bird, behold, it was a beautiful woman.\n\nHe said, \"Kibaraka, run quickly, go your way to the audience chamber and\ntell my father that he must fire the cannons, for the thing I desired\nhas come to pass, and the request I made of Allah has been granted.\"\n\nSo Kibaraka came and told the Sultan, and the cannons were fired, and\nwedding festivities and feastings were held for nine years.\n\nAfter that Hasani and the fair Jin had a child, a boy like pearls and\nprecious stones.\n\nAnd Hasani loved his wife exceedingly, and the people of that country\nsaw wonders come to pass, for the second son was like the stars and the\nmoon.\n\nThe house of that Sultan was greatly blessed, and the story ends here.\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN OKAPI]\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nTHE STORY OF THE FOOLS\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a man called Omari and his wife, and they\nhad a very fine fat black ox. So fat was this ox that all the young men\nin the village wanted to eat it, but Omari would not part with it.\n\nTill one day he went away on a journey; then they thought, \"Now we will\nbe able to get that ox and have a feast, for his wife is a great fool.\"\n\nSo twenty men set out and came to the house of that woman, Omari's wife,\nand they knocked on the door.\n\n\"Hodi!\"\n\nAnd she replied, \"Come near.\"\n\nSo they went in and told that woman, \"We have had a vision, and in that\nvision we saw that you were going to have a child, a beautiful boy, who\nwill be rich and clever, and will marry the daughter of the Wazir.\"\n\nNow when the woman heard this she was wondrously pleased, for she had no\nchild.\n\nThen these men said, \"There was, in our dream, the sacrifice of a black\nox, before this came to pass.\"\n\nSo she said, \"Take my ox and sacrifice him, that the vision may come\ntrue.\"\n\nThey replied, \"Shall we kill him, though, while your husband is away?\"\n\nShe said, \"Take him, yes, take him, for my husband will be only too\npleased when he knows for what purpose the ox has been slain; and he,\ntoo, desires a son.\"\n\nSo the youths took away the ox and killed it and feasted and made merry.\n\nAfter three days the husband returned, and when he did not see his ox in\nits stall he asked his wife, \"Where is the ox?\"\n\nShe said to him, \"It has been slaughtered.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\nShe replied, \"Men came who had dreamed a dream that we should have a\nbeautiful male child of great good fortune, and as the sacrifice of a\nblack ox was necessary to bring it true, I gave ours to them.\"\n\nOmari then said to his wife, \"You are a fool. Now I am going out to\nsearch for as great a fool as you are. If I cannot find any one who is\nyour equal in folly, I shall leave you; you will cease to be my wife.\"\n\nSo Omari took his donkey and rode away till he came to the house of a\ncertain rich man, and this house had a verandah beneath it. Omari got\noff his donkey, and as he stood there, a woman, one of the slaves of the\nhousehold, passed in, and said to him, \"Master, where do you come from?\"\n\n[Illustration: So Amari took his donkey and rode away.]\n\nOmari replied, \"I come from the next world.\"\n\nThen was that slave very astonished, and she went upstairs to her\nmistress and said to her, \"There, below in the verandah, is a man who\ncomes from the next world.\"\n\n\"Is that indeed so?\" asked the mistress.\n\n\"It is indeed true, and if you doubt me ask him yourself, for he is\nthere below,\" said the slave.\n\nSo the mistress sent her slave down to call Omari up into the house, and\nshe came to him and said, \"The mistress asks you to come upstairs.\"\n\nOmari replied, \"I cannot come upstairs; I am afraid, because it is a\nstranger's house.\"\n\nWhen the slave brought these words to her mistress, she herself came\ndown and called to Omari, \"Do not be afraid; come upstairs; there is no\ndanger.\"\n\nSo Omari went upstairs, and that woman asked him, \"Master, where do you\ncome from?\"\n\nOmari replied, \"I come from the next world.\"\n\n\"See,\" said the slave; \"were not my words true?\"\n\nThen was that mistress very amazed, and she asked him, \"Why have you\nleft the next world?\"\n\n\"I have come to see my father,\" answered Omari.\n\n\"My father, who is dead,\" said the woman; \"have you met him there in the\nnext world?\"\n\n\"What is he called, and what is he like?\" said Omari.\n\n\"He is called so-and-so, son of so-and-so,\" said the woman, and she\ndescribed to him his appearance.\n\nOmari replied, \"I have seen him.\"\n\n\"And how is he?\"\n\nAt that Omari put on an air of grief and shook his head and sighed.\n\n\"Oh, tell me, what is the matter with my father?\" asked the woman.\n\nOmari replied, \"He is in great trouble. He has no money or clothes or\nfood. Oh, his state is very bad!\"\n\nWhen that woman heard these words she wept. Then she asked Omari, \"When\ndo you return to the next world?\"\n\n\"I return to-morrow. First, I must see my father, who is still alive,\nand then I go back.\"\n\n\"Will you see my father when you return?\"\n\n\"Most certainly,\" said Omari. \"Do I not live next door to him?\"\n\n\"Then,\" said that woman, \"you must take him a present from me.\"\n\nSo she went into an inner room and took out a bag of a thousand dollars,\nand clothes, and a robe, and turbans, and came and gave them to Omari,\nand said, \"Take these and give them to my father, and say that they are\nfrom his daughter, Binti Fatima.\"\n\nThen she went in and brought out another bag and said, \"Take these\nhundred dollars; they are a present for you, as you are taking these\nthings for my father.\"\n\nSo Omari gathered up the bags of money and the clothes and left that\nwoman, and mounted his donkey and rode away.\n\nHe had only just left when the husband of that woman in the house\nreturned home. He noticed that his wife was very joyful, so he asked\nher, \"My wife, why are you so glad to-day?\"\n\nShe said to him, \"A man has just been here who has come from the next\nworld, and he has met my father there in great trouble. So I have given\nhim a thousand dollars and clothes to take to my father. That is why I\nam so happy; for now the spirit of my father will be very pleased with\nus, and it will bring us great good fortune.\"\n\nNow that man saw that his wife had been fooled, but he feared to say so,\nin case his wife should tell him no more, and he wished to follow that\nman and get the money back.\n\nSo he said to her, \"You are not a good wife, for when a man came from\nthe next world to tell you about your father you gave him an offering\nto take back to him, but you never asked him about my father, or gave\nhim anything to take to him.\"\n\nThen the wife said, \"Oh, forgive me, my husband, but as he has only just\nleft you may overtake him. He was riding a donkey, and he left by that\nroad.\"\n\nThen she described him. So the husband called for his horse, and the\nwife ran in and brought out another bag of a thousand dollars, and as he\nmounted she gave it to him, saying, \"Take this, my husband, and give it\nto him for your father, and if you gallop after him down that road you\nwill surely overtake him.\"\n\nNow Omari had ridden away on his donkey till he came to a plantation,\nthen he turned his head and saw, in the distance, the dust made by a\ngalloping horse. There was no one on that plantation except one male\nslave, and so Omari said to him, \"Do you see that dust? It is made by a\nman of great violence. I am going to hide from him, and I advise you to\nclimb up into a coco-nut tree, lest he do you some harm. If he speaks to\nyou do not answer him, for it will only make him more angry.\"\n\nSo that slave scrambled up a coco-nut palm as fast as he could, whilst\nOmari hid himself and his donkey in a thicket close by.\n\nPresently the husband of the woman galloped up, and saw the slave\nclambering up to the top of a tall coco-nut tree.\n\nHe stopped and called out, \"Have you seen a man riding a donkey pass\nhere?\"\n\nThe slave did not answer, but continued climbing higher and higher. He\nasked him again and again, and the slave did not reply, but only made\nmore haste to get well out of reach.\n\nThen was that man very angry, and he got down from his horse and\ndivested himself of all his robes, except only an under-garment, and\nplacing them and the money on the ground, started climbing up after the\nslave.\n\nOmari watched him from behind the thicket, and, when he had got well up\nthe tree, he came out and seized that man's money and clothes, as well\nas those he already had, and then mounted his horse and galloped off.\n\nWhen that man came down from the tree he found all his clothes and his\nmoney and his horse gone, and he was very ashamed. So he had to return\nhome wearing only a loin-cloth.\n\nWhen he came in his wife asked him, \"My husband, why do you return naked\nlike that?\"\n\nHe was ashamed to tell her that he also had been fooled by that man, so\nhe said, \"I met the man from the next world, who told me that my father\nwas in a very distressed condition, that he had no clothes, and was\ndressed in rags. So when I heard that, I took off all my clothes and\ngave them to that man to take to my father.\"\n\nNow Omari took all that money, and the clothes, and the horse, and came\nback to his wife and told her, \"I said that I would seek for a fool like\nunto yourself, and if I did not find one that you would cease to be my\nwife. Well, now I am content, for I have found two fools, each one more\nfoolish than you.\"\n\nSo they lived together, Omari and his wife, and they spent the money and\nwere happy together.\n\nHere ends the story of the fools, the fool-wife, and the husband and\nwife who were fooled.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nTHE HYAENA AND THE MOONBEAM\n\n\nA hyaena went forth to drink water one day, and he came to a well and\nstooped down to quench his thirst. Now where he stooped down there was a\nmoonbeam shining on the water.\n\n[Illustration: STRIPED HYAENA]\n\nThe hyaena saw that moonshine there in the water and he thought it was a\nbone. He tried to reach it, but he could not, so he said to himself,\n\"Now if I drink all this water I will get that bone which is at the\nbottom.\"\n\n[Illustration: SPOTTED HYAENAS]\n\nSo he drank and drank, and the water was not finished. So he drank and\ndrank again, till he was so full of water that he died.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nTHE SULTAN'S SNAKE-CHILD\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Sultan and his Wazir, and those two men\nwere very rich with much wealth, but neither had a son.\n\nThey took counsel together, \"How will it be when we die? Who shall we\nleave all this wealth to and we are without children?\"\n\nThe Sultan said to the Wazir, \"We must go to a far country and look for\nsome wise man who will tell us what to do.\"\n\n[Illustration: Snake]\n\nSo they went away, and wandered on and on for three years, till at last\nthey met an old woman, bent with the weight of many years.\n\n[Illustration: AT LAST THEY MET AN OLD WOMAN, BENT WITH THE WEIGHT OF\nMANY YEARS.]\n\nThat woman said to them, \"My grandsons, I know what you have come for.\"\n\nThen she sank down to the bottom of a big lake, and when she came up\nagain out of the water she brought in her hands two charms, which were\ntwo slimy roots; one for the Sultan and one for the Wazir. And she said,\n\"Take these, and when you return home you will find that your wish has\nalready been accomplished; but to these charms I give you there are\nconditions attached. When you arrive in your town, you must tell no man\nabout it, and take heed that in the way you neither chirrup nor look\nback.\"\n\nThen she shook her withered hand and said, \"It has taken you three years\nto come; you will return in one month. Farewell.\"\n\nThen the Sultan and the Wazir set off home.\n\nIn the way the Wazir said, \"Allah be praised that our wish has been\ngranted.\" The Sultan, forgetting the old woman's warning, chirruped, as\nmuch as to say, \"I will believe when I see.\"\n\nAfter one month they came to the gate of their town, and as they entered\nthe cannons sounded and the news spread forth, \"There is an heir in the\npalace of the Sultan, and there is an heir in the house of the Wazir.\"\n\nThe Wazir returned to his house swiftly, and there he found a most\nbeautiful boy.\n\nThe Sultan came to the palace, and there he found a snake.\n\nWhen he heard that the Wazir had a lovely child he was very pleased, and\nhe used to go every day to the Wazir's house to see that child, but he\ntold his people to throw that snake out of the palace.\n\nNow there was a slave girl in the palace called Mizi, and when she saw\nthem taking that snake to throw it in the river she said, \"Give me that\nsnake, that I may bring him up as my child.\"\n\nSo Mizi took that snake and wore him round her neck till he grew, and\nthen she came to the Sultan and said, \"Build me a grass hut, that I may\nlive there with my child, the snake.\"\n\nSo a hut was built for her, and she stayed there by herself with that\nsnake. She took her cooking pots there, and cooked food for herself and\nthe snake. Every day she fed that snake, and it grew and grew, till at\nlast it filled up the whole hut.\n\nThen that snake said to Mizi, \"Go and tell the Sultan that his little\nsnake wants a stone house of seven storeys in which to live. He must\nlook for craftsmen who are not afraid, to come and build the house, and\nwhat they ask must be given them.\"\n\nSo Mizi came and told those words to the Sultan, and craftsmen who had\nno fear were sought for. They came and built a house of seven storeys in\nthe space of seven days, and the wages they asked for were given them.\n\nWhen the house was finished, they said, \"Go and tell the little snake\nthat the house is ready.\"\n\nThen Mizi and the snake moved into that house and lived there. Till one\nday the snake said to Mizi, \"Go and look for a sage who will teach me\nlearning, but he must be master of his heart and unafraid. He must come\nof his own free will.\"\n\nSo she went and sought a man of learning, but every one she asked to\ncome replied, \"I am not going so as to be swallowed whole by that\nsnake.\"\n\nAt last she found a sage who said, \"I will go, for I see that Mizi lives\nwith this snake and is not devoured, so why should I be eaten?\"\n\nSo that professor came and taught the snake learning of every kind, and\nwhen he had finished he went to the Sultan and received the pay he asked\nfor.\n\nSo the snake and Mizi lived together, till one day that snake said to\nher, \"Now you must go and look for a wife for me; but she must come of\nher own free will, and what money she wants she must have.\"\n\nSo a wife for the snake was sought for in all the land, but none was\nfound; all said, \"Who wants to go and be swallowed whole by a big\nsnake?\"\n\nNow in that country was a very poor man who had seven daughters. When\nthe news came to them all refused, till the seventh and youngest was\nasked, and she replied, \"We are very poor; I will go and be eaten by\nthat snake. What matter?\"\n\nSo that girl was taken and decked out with pearls and precious stones\nand clothes of silk, and then Mizi was called and told, \"This is the\nwife of your master, the snake. Take her.\"\n\nSo Mizi took her and brought her to the snake, and he said, \"Arrange\neverything for her comfort.\"\n\nWhen night had come, Mizi slept with that girl till, when twelve o'clock\ncame, that snake came out from inside his skin. He put on wooden\nsandals and went to the bathroom and made his ablutions. When he had\nfinished washing he took his prayer mat and spread it out and prayed and\nread the Koran.\n\nAfter that he came and sat near that girl and looked at her and said,\n\"My wife is beautiful; she has beautiful eyes, lovely ears and long\nstraight hair. Hhum! Poor me, who am a snake. Sleep, my beautiful wife.\"\n\nThen he entered his skin again and slept.\n\nSeven days passed in this way, and on the eighth Mizi said to that girl,\n\"I will fasten a thread to your thumb; when I pull it open your eyes and\nlook at him.\"\n\nThat night, at twelve o'clock, the snake came out of his skin, and then\nMizi pulled the thread and that girl awoke and opened her eyes and saw a\nwondrously handsome Arab youth: in all that country there was no youth\nso handsome as that son of the Sultan.\n\nThe snake went to the bathroom and made his ablutions, and then returned\nand prayed and read the Koran.\n\nAt the time of the before dawn breezes he came and looked at his wife\nand then returned to his skin. When dawn came Mizi and that girl took\ncounsel together, and then Mizi went to the Sultan and said to him,\n\"Give me three tins of oil and ten maunds of firewood.\"\n\nWhen she had got them she had them brought to the house.\n\nThen she said to that girl, \"Now we must dig a pit here in the other\nroom.\"\n\nSo they dug a pit and put in it the firewood and then poured the oil\nover it.\n\nThat night they watched till after midnight. When the youth went to the\nbathroom they got up and seized on the skin and tried to drag it into\nthe pit, but it was too heavy for them. So they exerted all their\nstrength, till at last they managed to drag it into the pit. After that\nthey set fire to the wood and the oil.\n\nWhen its owner in the bathroom heard the skin crackling he ran in and\nsaid to Mizi, \"What have you done, taking away my clothes to put in the\nfire?\" Then he fell down, and did not regain consciousness till three\no'clock next day, for that youth did not know the world outside of his\nskin.\n\nWhen he recovered Mizi cooked porridge for him, and when he had eaten\nit he said to Mizi, \"Go to the Sultan and tell him to make offerings,\nnine shells full of alms; for the day after to-morrow I will go out.\"\n\nSo Mizi went with the news to the Sultan, but he replied, \"Go back and\nget eaten by that snake. We do not want any more of your folly; for you\nhave taken the poor man's daughter and brought her to the snake, and she\nhas already been swallowed up. Now you in your turn will be eaten, and\nto-day, I suppose, you have come to take leave of us.\"\n\nMizi returned and said to that youth, \"He will not give the offering.\"\n\nHe replied, \"Then leave him; he who has had no luck does not trust to\nluck. On Friday I will come forth by the power of Allah, alone.\"\n\nWhen Friday came he decked his horse with pearls and precious stones and\nrode off to the mosque to pray amongst all the people; but the Sultan\ndid not know that it was his son.\n\nThen Mizi came forth and trilled and shouted for joy, and told every one\nin the mosque: \"Look at me to-day, for it is to-day that my son, the\nsnake, has come to life.\"\n\nMany people thought that Mizi had gone mad. When the Sultan had finished\npraying he came forth, and Mizi said to him, \"To-day my child has come\nforth.\"\n\nThe Sultan said, \"Peace be upon you;\" and he followed that youth on his\nhorse and knew that it was his son, and rejoiced greatly.\n\nHe said to his slaves, \"Run to the palace, spread out diamonds and\ncushions, carpets and mats; do not leave anything of any value, but\nspread everything out.\"\n\nThen was the wedding of that girl, the poor man's daughter, and the\nsnake held with great festivity. So that snake and Mizi lived happily,\nand he loved her as if she had been his own mother. When he became\nSultan he gave the kingdom to her, he gave Mizi what spoke and what did\nnot speak; it became her country, because she had nurtured that snake\nfrom its infancy until it became a full-grown man of wisdom.\n\nNow this story comes from the Sultan and his Wazir.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nTHE POOR MAN AND HIS WIFE OF WOOD\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor man who used to beg. One day he sat\nthinking to himself, \"I am a poor man and have no wife. When I go out\nbegging there is no one to come back to in my house or to cook my food\nfor me whilst I am away.\"\n\nSo he went out to the forest and cut down a tree and carved out of it a\nwoman of wood, and when he had finished he decorated her with jewels and\nnecklaces of wood, and then brought her back to his house.\n\nThen that tree turned into a woman, and he called her Mwanamizi, the\nchild of a root, and he lived with her many days. Till one day, when\nthat poor man had gone forth to beg, a slave girl ran out from the\npalace of the Sultan in search of a brand with which to light the fire.\n\nShe came and knocked at the poor man's door, and when she got no answer\nshe entered and went into the kitchen, and there she saw a lovely woman\ndecked out with pearls and jewels. She went running back to the Sultan\nand said to him, \"I have just seen the most wondrously beautiful woman\nin the house of that beggar who lives near us.\"\n\nThe Sultan then ordered his soldiers, \"Go to fetch the wife of the\nbeggar, that I may see if the words of this slave are true or false.\"\n\nSo they went and took Mwanamizi and brought her to the palace. When the\nSultan saw her he thought her very beautiful.\n\nSo he said, \"This woman is too beautiful for a beggar. I will take her\nfor my wife.\"\n\nNow when that poor man returned from begging he could not find his wife;\nthen the neighbours told him, \"The woman has been taken by the Sultan to\nhis palace.\"\n\nSo he threw down his bag and went round to the palace, and rushed in\nbefore the Sultan and asked him, \"Where is my wife whom you have taken?\"\n\nThe Sultan replied, \"Get out of my sight, you foolish fellow, or I will\norder my soldiers to beat you.\"\n\nThen he said, \"If you will not give me back my wife, take off my\nornaments which she is wearing and return them to me, that I may go.\"\n\nAt that the Sultan called his soldiers and had him turned out of the\npalace.\n\nAfter that the poor man went under the Sultan's window and sang--\n\n      \"Oh listen, master, unto me:\n      My wife I carved from yonder tree;\n      I carved her well, with zeal untold,\n      And decked her out with fetters gold.\n      These ornaments and jewels fine,\n      Oh, give them back, for they are mine;\n      And, Mwanamizi, let me go.\"\n\nWhen the woman heard the poor man's song she was bathed in tears.\n\nThe Sultan then said to her, \"Take off those silly ornaments and throw\nthem to him, that he may go away. I will give you things tenfold more\nfine and rare.\"\n\nThe woman did not want to take off those things.\n\nThe poor man sang again--\n\n      \"Oh listen, master, unto me:\n      I carved my wife from yonder tree.\"\n\nThen the woman took off her ornaments and threw them down to him,\nsaying--\n\n      \"The ornaments are thine,\n      The golden fetters fine;\n      Take them, oh, take them,\n      Makami, and go.\"\n\nShe cried then very much, and took off all her things, till there was\nleft a single charm round her neck.\n\nThe Sultan said, \"Take off all his ornaments quickly and throw them to\nhim, that he may go.\" But Mwanamizi did not want to take off that charm,\nfor it was her soul. Then the poor man sang again, and Mwanamizi\nunfastened the charm from her neck and threw it to him, and at that\nmoment she turned into a tree there in the house of the Sultan.\n\n[Illustration: \"AT THAT MOMENT SHE TURNED INTO A TREE\"]\n\nThe poor man sighed and went back to his house, but the Sultan in his\npalace was seized with great fear.\n\nThe telling of the story ends here.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nBINTI ALI THE CLEVER\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Sultan and his Wazir, and that Sultan had\nseven children, all sons, and that Wazir had seven children, all\ndaughters.\n\n[Illustration: Seven sons]\n\nThose daughters of the Wazir had no mother; their mother had died, and\nthey were very poor.\n\nThe sons of the Sultan used to laugh at the daughters of the Wazir,\nsaying, \"You poor people, what do you eat? It is our father who pays\nyour father his wages, and how do they suffice for you seven people who\nare in one house? You poor creatures, you have not even a brother to\nhelp you.\"\n\nNow those girls used to plait baskets and sell them. They lived for many\ndays like that, their work being to cry every day, and when they came\nout of school they used to plait and sell their baskets. Till one day\nthe youngest daughter, who was called Binti Ali, was sitting with her\nfather, and she said to him, \"What advice have you to give us, father?\"\n\nHer father asked her, \"Why, my child?\"\n\nShe said to him, \"We are only seven girls; we have neither husbands nor\nbrothers. Should anything happen to you, who will be our headman?\nFather, you must arrange to have a ship built for me, and it must be\nready in the space of three years.\"\n\nHer father said, \"All this wealth, where shall I get it from, that I may\nbuild a ship?\"\n\nShe answered him, \"God, the merciful, will provide.\"\n\nIn the morning the Wazir arose and went to the Sultan and said to him,\n\"Give me help, for my youngest child wants a vessel built for her.\"\n\nThe Sultan brought out nine lakhs of rupees and gave them to his Wazir.\nThen the Wazir sought for workmen, and told them to build a ship and\nhave it ready in three years' time.\n\nNow that child, Binti Ali, was very beautiful, more beautiful than all\nher sisters. Many men had come to seek her in marriage, but she had\nrefused them, saying, \"I am poor; my father has not wealth to suffice\nfor my wedding.\"\n\nAt the end of three years the ship was ready, and her father called her,\n\"Eh, my child, Binti Ali.\" And she answered him, \"Lebeka, father,\" which\nmeans \"Here I am\" in the language of to-day; but long, long ago, Lebek\nwas the name of the god worshipped by the Phoenicians at the temple of\nBaal-lebek (Bal bek).\n\nHer father said to her, \"Your ship is finished and ready for you.\"\n\nSo she went to see it, and found that it was built in a wondrously fine\nway. When she returned she said to her father, \"Now you must find me a\ncaptain and sailors, and you must put on the vessel enough food to last\nthree years.\"\n\nSo he found a crew for her, and provisioned the ship and returned. Then\nshe said, \"Father, now you must buy for me fine raiment, a sultan's\nturban, a shirt and coat, and a sword and dagger. Also you must get for\nme sandals of gold braid and two men's gold rings.\"\n\nSo her father searched for one hour and half a second, and then returned\nand said, \"My child, the things you want are ready.\"\n\nThen he asked her, \"My child, where are you going to? Tell me.\"\n\nShe said, \"Father, have you no understanding? I am going to the country\nof the Sultan Makami.\"\n\nHer father said to her, \"My child, you are already lost. Do you not know\nthat a woman may not go to the country of Sultan Makami? Any other than\na male who enters the country is put to death.\"\n\nBinti Ali said to him, \"Father, have you no wits, you, a full-grown man,\nwho rule all this land? Do you not see that all these clothes which you\nhave bought for me are men's clothes? I want to go and see Makami's\ncountry.\"\n\nHer father said, \"I do not approve of this journey you are setting out\nupon.\"\n\nHis daughter replied, \"What becomes of me is in the hands of God.\"\n\nThen she entered the bathroom and washed herself, and when she came out\nshe was dressed as a man. Now that girl had wisdom more than all her\nsisters, and she was well read in the Koran.\n\nShe took her dog, whose name was Atakalo, and she entered the ship and\nset sail.\n\nShe travelled day and night for three years, and there in the midst of\nthe ocean she taught her dog till it attained great learning.\n\nAt the end of the third year she drew near to the country of Sultan\nMakami, and she ordered a salute to be fired, and the people on land\nreplied also with a salute.\n\nWhen her vessel drew near, the Sultan's son rowed out to meet her. He\nclimbed on board, and there he saw a handsome Arab youth sitting on the\ndeck.\n\nBinti Ali arose, and they greeted one another after the fashion of men:\n\"Peace be with you,\" \"And with you peace.\"\n\nShe went ashore with that son of the Sultan, and they came to the\npalace.\n\nWhen they came to the palace he said to his father, the Sultan, \"How\nshall we see that this is a man and not a woman? Let us give him very\nhot gruel, and if it is a woman she will not be able to drink it, and\nthen we will kill her.\"\n\nSo they ordered food to be brought, and slaves were told: \"Take matting\nand platters, and very big trays and cups of gold, and place them ready\nfor the feast.\"\n\nWhen the food was ready they brought gruel for that foreign youth to\ndrink, and it was very hot.\n\nBinti Ali took it and threw it away, saying, \"Am I a woman, that you\nbring me cold gruel like that?\"\n\nSo they prepared fresh gruel, steaming hot, and gave it to her, and she\nsaid, \"Ah, that is more fit for a Sultan's son to drink.\"\n\nSo she put it beside her, and her dog Atakalo blew on it, so that it\nquickly cooled, and she drank it.\n\nVery good food was then brought, and they fed, and she returned to her\nship.\n\nThe Sultan then said, \"To-morrow we must take this foreigner to my store\nof jewels and ornaments, and if it be a woman we will surely see, for\nshe will take delight in women's jewellery.\"\n\nAll night long Binti Ali taught Atakalo what he should do, and in the\nmorning the Sultan's son came to fetch her.\n\nHe said, \"My father says that I am to take you to his store and show you\nhis treasures.\"\n\nSo they went to the Sultan's treasure-house, where they showed her neck\nchains and nose pendants, anklets and bracelets, women's gold rings and\near ornaments.\n\nShe said, \"Have you in this country no men's ornaments, that you should\nshow me nothing but women's jewellery?\"\n\nSo they brought her to the next store, wherein were gold-hilted daggers\nand all manner of arms, swords and pistols, guns and muskets. These she\nadmired, and meanwhile Atakalo went and swallowed all the gold ornaments\nhe could find and took them to the ship, till he had brought much wealth\naboard.\n\nThen the Sultan's son said to his father, \"Now what shall we do, so\nthat we may kill her if she is a woman?\"\n\nSo the Sultan said, \"Make him take off his turban, and then we will\nsurely see by the manner in which he ties it whether it is a woman or\nnot.\"\n\nSo the Sultan's son said, \"Now will you not wash?\"\n\nBinti Ali said, \"Thank you, I have already bathed on board.\"\n\nSo he said, \"If it is only your face, I beseech you to wash.\"\n\nSo she said, \"Certainly; but first you and your father must wash.\"\n\nSo they took off their turbans and began to wash, when suddenly there\nwas a shout from outside: \"The Sultan's house is on fire.\"\n\nBehold, that dog Atakalo had brought a brand and set fire to the palace.\nThen the Sultan and his son and all the people in his house rushed out,\nwith their turbans in their hands, to see what was the matter and help\nput out the flames.\n\nBinti Ali went down swiftly to her ship and got on board, and meanwhile\nAtakalo had run round and bored a hole in the bottom of every boat and\nship in the Sultan's harbour. Then Atakalo came back to her vessel and\nsaid, \"Mistress, I have finished.\"\n\n[Illustration: Seven daughters]\n\nSo she weighed anchor and changed into her woman's clothes. The Sultan\nand his son and all the people, when they saw that she was sailing off,\nrushed down to the beach and tried to row out and stop her, but every\nboat they launched sunk; and so they were not able to get to her.\n\nThen they saw her come up on the deck.\n\nThen, changing her clothes as a woman, she sings--\n\n      \"Makami, behold my bracelets and rings.\n      See my anklets, Makami. Aha, behold!\n      See the chain for my neck of beautiful gold.\n      Behold now my ear-rings and nose-stud see.\n      Lola, Makami, lola, look well at me.\n      I'm Binti Ali, the Wazir's daughter;\n      I came, Makami, from over the water.\n      We are seven in all, the last born am I.\n      Farewell, Makami, for I bid you good-bye.\n      Lola, Makami, lola, farewell.\"\n\nThen she said to the captain, \"Set sail, and let us return home.\"\n\nWhen she arrived home there in her town her father and sisters were\nholding a great mourning for her, for they said, \"Our youngest one has\nnow been away many years; surely she must be dead.\"\n\nWhen they saw her their hearts were very glad, and a feast was made for\nher for the space of three days. And the riches she brought with her,\nwhich her dog Atakalo had taken from the Sultan's treasure house, were\nbrought to land; and when he saw them her father rejoiced greatly.\n\nAfter a space of ten days she said to her father, \"I know that Sultan\nMakami's son is making a plan to get me. If he comes here and asks for\nme in marriage, do not refuse him, but agree. My cleverness, which I\nhave in my heart, is that which will save me.\"\n\nOne day the Sultan of Makami's son arrived, and came to the Wazir and\nsaid, \"I want your daughter, Binti Ali, in marriage.\"\n\nSo the Wazir agreed.\n\nBinti Ali took a large pumpkin and filled it with honey and placed it on\nher bed, and she herself got under the bed.\n\nThat night the Sultan of Makami's son came into her room and said, \"Ee,\nwoman,\" and she replied, \"Lebeka, master.\"\n\nThen he said, \"You, woman, you think that you can come to our country\nand cheat us, pretending that you are a man. Behold, to-day is your\nlast, so make profession of faith quickly, so that you may be prepared\nfor death.\"\n\nBinti Ali said, \"I testify there is no God but one God, and Muhammad is\nthe prophet of God.\"\n\nSo he drew his sword and struck a blow which cut the pumpkin in two, and\nthen he went out quickly and got on his ship and sailed away. When he\ncame to look at his sword, to wipe the blood off, he found no blood, but\nonly honey stuck all over it.\n\n[Illustration: Resting camel]\n\nThis is the end of the story. The tale comes from the Wazir and his\ndaughter, the last born, who was called Binti Ali the Clever.\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nSEGU THE HONEY-GUIDE\n\n\nSegu is the honey-guide. His work is that he lives in the forest and\nflies about looking for bees' nests, and when he finds one he goes to\nlook for men. When he finds them he says, \"Che! che! che! che!\" until\nthose sons of men look up and say, \"Ah, there is Segu. Let us go with\nhim that he may show us honey.\"\n\nSo these people follow Segu, who flies in front from tree to tree\nsaying, \"Che! che! che! che!\"\n\nWhen he comes to that tree where the honey is he flies round, saying,\n\"Che! che! che! che!\" very fast, and then he goes and sits by himself.\n\nThen these men come to the tree and look up and see where the bees' nest\nis; so they climb up with their axe and cut a hole and get out the\nhoney.\n\nThey take that honey and are very pleased, but a little of it they leave\nfor Segu as his share.\n\nOn these people going away, Segu comes out and finds the honey which\nthey have left him; so he sits and eats and fills himself, and arises\nand flies away. This is, indeed, Segu's manner of living.\n\nAnother day Segu sees a lion asleep, and he looks for people, and when\nhe finds them he twitters and says, \"Che! che! che! che!\"\n\nThen these people follow him thinking, \"To-day Segu is going to show us\nmuch honey.\"\n\nThey follow him up there to where the lion is lying, and when they\nsuddenly see him they are unable to stand, if there is running away to\nbe done instead.\n\nThe lion frightens these people, so they run swiftly away, saying,\n\"To-day Segu has done evil; every day he shows us honey, and to-day he\ncomes to show us a lion.\"\n\nThat is all.\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nLILA AND FILA\n\n\nThere were once upon a time two poor children, one was called Lila and\none was called Fila, and they were great friends.\n\nFila said one day to Lila, \"Our mothers are poor; what can we do for a\nliving, my friend? We have no money with which to repay them for the\nkindness they have shown towards us. We have now become full-grown lads,\nand have not yet earned any money to give them. I propose that we set\nout on a journey and see what we can find.\"\n\n[Illustration: Lila and Fila]\n\nLila agreed to the words of his friend, and so each one went to his\nmother and said to her, \"Mother, make me seven ladu-cakes, for I am\ngoing on a journey to a very far country.\"\n\nAnd each mother replied, \"Where are you going, my beloved child?\"\n\nLila's mother said to him, \"Do not go with Fila.\"\n\nLila answered, \"I am not able to leave my friend Fila for half a\nsecond.\"\n\nHis mother said, \"It is he that will leave you, and it is you that will\nbe lost.\"\n\nHe replied, \"If a man is lost for the sake of his friend it is well.\"\n\nSo they had each one seven ladu-cakes made for him, and each one took a\ngourd of water, and on the next day they set out.\n\nAfter they had gone a day's journey Fila said to Lila, \"Bring out one of\nyour ladus, that we may break and eat it. We will eat yours first, and\nwhen they are finished then will we eat mine.\"\n\nSo they ate one of Lila's ladus. On the second day they did likewise,\nand on the next and the next day, until, on the seventh day, all Lila's\nladus were finished.\n\nOn the eighth day Lila said to Fila, \"Bring out one of your ladus, my\nfriend, that we may break and eat it, for all mine are now finished, and\nhunger is hurting me.\"\n\nFila replied, \"You must give me that Kanzu shirt of yours first, and\nthen I will give you a share of my ladu.\"\n\nSo Lila took off his Kanzu and gave it to Fila, and then Fila broke off\na bit from one of his ladus and gave it to him.\n\nOn the next day Lila said, \"My friend, I am hungry; bring out the second\nof your ladus, that we may eat it.\"\n\nFila replied, \"To-day if I am to give you some of my ladu you must give\nme your vest.\"\n\nSo Lila took off his vest and gave it to Fila, and received a piece of\nladu for it.\n\nOn the next and the next day it was the same, till, on the twelfth day,\nFila had taken away all Lila's clothes.\n\nOn the thirteenth day, when Lila asked for some ladu, Fila said, \"You\nmust let me put out one of your eyes if you are to have any ladu\nto-day.\"\n\nLila replied, \"I cannot refuse, for I am very hungry.\"\n\nSo Fila put out one of his friend's eyes, and Lila said nothing; he put\nall his misfortunes in the hand of God.\n\nOn the fourteenth day Lila said to Fila, \"My friend, have you not\ntreated me evilly? Have you not done wrong? I left my mother to follow\nyou, my friend, and you have deceived me. You have eaten my ladus till\nthey were finished, and now you have taken all my clothes and put out my\neye. Will you not to-day give me a piece of your ladu?\"\n\nFila said, \"Yes, I will give you a piece of ladu if you agree to me\nputting out your other eye.\"\n\nLila said to him, \"Go on, put out my other eye.\"\n\nSo Fila put out his other eye, and then he sat him down under a tree and\nput his gourd of water and a piece of ladu beside him and went his way,\nleaving his friend blind and naked in the road.\n\nLila sat there awhile, and then he ate his piece of ladu, drank his\nwater, gave praise to God and then slept.\n\nWhen it was midnight two birds came and perched on the tree, one on one\nside and one on the other.\n\nThe first said, \"Eh, my friend, I have a song which I will sing.\"\n\nThe other asked, \"What song will you sing?\"\n\nThen the first bird looked down and said, \"Look, there is a human asleep\nunderneath.\"\n\nThe other said, \"Oh, that son of Adam is lying just where those jars of\nmoney are buried; just opposite him is the tree whose roots are medicine\nfor mad people, and he is leaning against the eye medicine tree.\"\n\nThen they flew away; but Lila heard these words, and he groped and took\nsome of the bark of that tree and rubbed it on his eyes, and behold, he\ncould see; both his eyes were whole.\n\nThen he went to the other tree and dug up some of the roots, and after\nthat he dug down where he had been lying and found jars of money. He\ntook a little money, and the rest he covered up and left.\n\nNext day he took the road and journeyed on, and that day he arrived at a\ntown, and there he heard the news that the daughter of the Sultan had\nbeen seized with madness.\n\nHe was told, \"No one is allowed to come to this country unless he knows\nhow to make medicine for the Sultan's daughter. This is now the seventh\nyear since she became mad, and the Sultan has made a vow that he who\ncures her will marry her, and he who does not cure her will be killed.\"\n\nSo Lila entered that town, and he was at once taken before the Sultan,\nwho asked him, \"Can you cure my child?\"\n\nHe replied, \"Master, I do not know medicines, but I will try.\"\n\nSo he was taken in to the Sultan's daughter through seven doors, and he\nsaw her where she had been put. She was fastened with chains on hands\nand feet.\n\nHe gave her of that medicine, and immediately she became cured.\n\nThen the Sultan ordered a feast to be prepared, and he married Lila to\nhis daughter. He himself descended from the throne and put Lila in his\nplace. So Lila became the Sultan of that town.\n\nOne day, as he looked out of the palace window, he saw a man passing,\nand when he came near he recognised that it was his friend Fila.\n\nHe told his soldiers to fetch him and bring him before him.\n\nWhen Fila was brought he said to him, \"My friend, do you not recognise\nme?\"\n\nFila replied, \"I do not know you.\"\n\nThen Lila said, \"Is it not I whose eyes you put out?\"\n\nThen Fila was very afraid, and said, \"Then it is you who will now put\nout mine.\"\n\nLila ordered his soldiers, \"Take him out, put out his eyes and leave him\nin the way.\"\n\nSo they took him out and did as they were bid. After three days they\nwent to look for him and found that he had died.\n\nLila and Fila, it was not possible for them to mix together, and even\nto-day, if there are two people who cannot agree, or two things which\ncannot go together, it is said of them: \"They are like Lila and Fila.\"\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\nTHE STORY OF THE HUNTERS AND THE BIG SNAKE\n\n\nLong ago there lived some hunters who one day took their bows and arrows\nand went with their dogs to hunt in the forest.\n\nAnd those hunters walked very far, looking for game, and they caught\nsome animals, and then a very heavy rain fell upon them. So they looked\nfor a place in which they could sit and take shelter until the rain was\nover, and they found a very big tree with a large hollow in it. Then\nthose hunters and their dogs entered into that tree and sat down. Now\nthat hole in the tree belonged to a large snake, and that snake had gone\nout to look for game.\n\n[Illustration: Hunters]\n\nThe snake hunted and did not find any game, so it returned home hungry\nand annoyed. When it got near its hole it heard the voices of men\ntalking in its house.\n\nThat snake was very surprised, and said to itself, \"Who can it be\ntalking in my house?\" Then it said in a loud voice, \"Who speaks there in\nmy house?\"\n\nThose men inside were astonished, and asked one another, \"Who can that\nbe talking outside?\"\n\nBefore they could answer, or look outside, the snake itself arrived at\nthe entrance and blocked the way out. Then it said, \"What sort of people\nare you to come and sit in my house? This is my house in which I sit by\nmyself. Answer me quickly what you mean by going into it?\"\n\nThose men answered, \"Please, sir, we have come from our village looking\nfor game. We went very far and only caught some small animals, and then\nit rained very hard, so we came in here to escape the rain. We did not\nknow that it was your house. Now we have nothing to say; we only ask\nyour leave to go out. If you say 'go out' we will go our way at once.\"\n\nThe snake said, \"You have no leave to go out.\"\n\nThen those men asked, \"Then what do you wish us to do?\"\n\nThe snake said, \"What you must do is that you must at once give that\ngame you have caught to your dogs to eat, that they may get fat. Then\nyou must eat your dogs, so that you become very fat, and then I will eat\nyou.\"\n\nThose men said, \"We are not able to eat dogflesh, master. If this is\nindeed your house, perhaps you will eat us. No matter, it is the will of\nAllah.\"\n\nWhilst they were talking thus to that big snake an elephant-nosed shrew\ncame out of the bush and heard them talking, and came near to the door\nof the snake's house.\n\nThen he asked, \"What does this snake say?\"\n\nThose men said, \"This snake is standing in the doorway and preventing us\nfrom going out, and he tells us we must give our game to our dogs, and\nthen eat our dogs, that he may eat us. This is because we came to sit in\nhere to escape from the rain.\"\n\nThe elephant-nosed shrew said, \"Agree to what he says. When that snake\nhas eaten you and become very fat I will eat him.\"\n\nWhen that snake heard those words of the shrew it was very angry, and\nchased the shrew, and the shrew ran off into the bush, and the snake\nfollowed him very far, but did not catch him.\n\nThen those hunters were able to come forth from that hole and escape. So\nthey went out very quickly and ran back to their village.\n\n[Illustration: Hunters]\n\nWhen the snake came back to his house he found that those men had run\naway. It was indeed the elephant-nosed shrew who had saved them.\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\nALI OF THE CROOKED ARM\n\n\nLong ago in olden days there was a country, and the Sultan of that\ncountry had seven wives and the Wazir also had seven wives.\n\nAnd the seven wives of the Sultan had seven children, and the seven\nwives of the Wazir had seven children, all boys.\n\n[Illustration: Ali Of The Crooked Arm]\n\nThe seventh child of the Sultan had only one eye, but the seventh child\nof the Wazir was wondrously beautiful. They called him Ali; but oh,\nmisfortune, one arm was crooked.\n\nNow all these fourteen children were brought up together till, by the\npower of Allah, they grew up into youths.\n\nThat seventh child of the Sultan, his companion was always Ali, the\nseventh child of the Wazir.\n\nSo those children grew up, and they were sent to school until they\nfinished learning.\n\nThe Wazir's seventh child said to his father, \"Buy me a white horse;\"\nand the Sultan's seventh son said to his father, \"Buy me a white horse.\"\n\nSo each one had a white horse given him with fine trappings.\n\nThen one day the crier was sent forth to beat his horn and proclaim, \"On\nFriday there is a meeting at the Sultan's. Every one must bring his\nhorse. There will be racing between the Sultan's son and the Wazir's\nson.\"\n\nSo people came with their horses, and the Wazir's son said, \"I will go\nfirst,\" and the Sultan's son said, \"I will go first,\" till grown-up men\nsaid, \"Do not contend one against another like that.\"\n\nSo the Sultan's son went first, and the Wazir's son followed behind him.\nThen all who were present followed, every man on his horse, but the\nhorses of the Wazir's son and the Sultan's son leaped and soared like\nkites, higher and higher.\n\nAt half-past six o'clock they all returned safely.\n\nNext day Ali said to the Sultan's son, \"Let us first go to the\nplantation, and remain in the garden till four o'clock, and then let us\nboth go and play on horseback.\"\n\nSo they went into the garden at noon and gathered pomegranates and ate.\n\nThe Sultan's son said, \"Let each one of us pluck a pomegranate and put\nit in his pocket.\"\n\nSo they each picked a pomegranate, but behold, in that one which Ali\ntook was living the Jin of Jehan, who carries off children from year to\nyear.\n\nAfter this they returned to the palace and found their horses already\nsaddled.\n\nThey mounted, and the Wazir's son struck his horse with his whip, and it\nsoared over the clouds like a kite. And the Sultan's son followed his\ncompanion, his horse leaping. He saw his friend soaring and flying away\nin front till, as six o'clock struck, he saw him no more, so he returned\nweeping and in great distress.\n\nAli flew away on his horse till he found himself in the Jin's house, and\nhe lifted up his voice and cried, \"Alas, I am already lost.\"\n\nThat Jin sought a house, and told Ali, \"Put your horse in here and\nfasten it apart.\"\n\nOn the second day he said to him, \"Ali, do you see this big cooking-pot?\nYour work will be to keep up the fire under it.\"\n\nOn the third day the Jin gave into his hands all the keys of his house,\nseven in all, and he said to him, \"You may open this one room, but these\nother six you may not open.\"\n\nThe demon then set out to go and walk about, saying to Ali as he left,\n\"To-day I am going out to walk, and to-morrow I will return. You are to\nlook after this pot, but you must not lift the lid to see what is in\nit.\"\n\n[Illustration: The Jin.]\n\nWhen the demon had gone Ali lifted up the lid to see what was in the\npot, and he saw human flesh stewing.\n\nThen Ali said to himself, \"Ah! My father, the demon, eats human flesh.\"\nThen he thought, \"I, too, will be eaten. Whatever God wishes is best.\"\nAs he thought he played with a knife in his hand and cut his finger.\n\nIn the evening the old demon returned and called out, \"Hi, Ali!\" and he\nanswered him, \"Here, father.\"\n\nWhen he came to him the demon said, \"Oh dog, what have you done to your\nfinger?\"\n\nAli said, \"Father, why are you angry and speaking fiercely to me? I am\nafraid.\"\n\nSo the Jin said to him, \"Come now, undo your finger that I may see.\"\nThen he touched it and healed it up.\n\nThey slept that night, and in the morning the Jin said to him, \"Ali, I\nam going out to walk about for the space of fourteen days, and then I\nwill return.\"\n\nAli said to him, \"Very good, father.\"\n\nWhen the Jin had gone Ali sat and thought out different plans, and he\nsaid to himself, \"My father, the demon, said that I must not open all\nthe rooms, but to-day I will open them and see what is in them.\"\n\nSo he went and opened the first room, and saw an enormous horse, most\nwondrously beautiful.\n\nWhen the horse saw Ali he neighed, and said to him, \"What plan have you?\nFather said good-bye to you like that, saying that he would return on\nthe fourteenth day, to deceive you. He will come back to eat you on the\neighth day.\"\n\nThen he said, \"Go and open all the rooms, and then return here that I\nmay advise you.\"\n\nAli went and opened the second room, and saw seven maidens, sitting each\none in a box and reading a Koran. Their hair was long and very\nbeautiful.\n\nAli asked them, \"How now?\"\n\nThose maidens answered him, \"We have been put here so that we may be\neaten together with you. We have been lost to our parents many years.\"\n\nHe locked that room and went and opened the third. There he found swords\nwith jewelled hilts fighting in the air by themselves, and he was very\nastonished.\n\nAli locked up the third room again, and now there were three rooms he\nhad not yet opened.\n\nHe opened the fourth room, and found it filled from top to bottom with\nprecious stones. Then he opened the fifth room, and found it full of\ngrain; this was the horse's food.\n\nHe then went and unlocked the sixth room, and there he found the\nhorse's saddle and bridle, adorned with jewels, and he found seven\nbottles; the first was full of sun, the second of rain, the third of\nneedles, the fourth of hail, the fifth of thorns, the sixth of mud, and\nthe seventh of sea.\n\nThen he returned to the horse's room, and when he saw Ali he neighed and\nshook his head.\n\nThe horse said to Ali, \"We who are in this house are as if we were\nalready dead; we will all be eaten alike.\"\n\nThen he said, \"Open the wheat store quickly, that I may eat, for the\ntime is nearly spent when that evil-disposed Jin will return.\"\n\nAli went and brought a sack of grain and opened it, and the horse ate\nand said, \"Bring me a second sack, for I am not yet satisfied.\"\n\nHe brought a second, and the horse ate and finished it, and said, \"Bring\na third, for I am not yet full.\"\n\nSo he ate a third sack, and then he said, \"Bring a bucket of water, stir\nit up with sugar, for that is the kind of water that I drink, and mix me\nup another bucket with bhang.\"\n\nThen he said, \"Now I am satisfied. Bring my saddle and the seven\nbottles, and take bags and fill them with precious stones and fasten\nthem on quickly, that we may go.\"\n\nSo Ali put all the valuables in the house in bags, and he took those\nseven maidens and placed them in bags, and he saddled the horse and\nfastened those bags on to him.\n\nThen the horse said, \"Strap me up tight and with all your strength.\"\n\nSo Ali strapped him up as tight as he could, till the horse said, \"Stop\nnow; mount me for a little to try me.\"\n\nSo Ali mounted and smacked him, and he soared up over the clouds. Then\nhe returned and said, \"Now bring out another sack of grain, that I may\neat and be satisfied.\"\n\nSo he gave him another sack, and then he said, \"Now fasten another sack\nof grain on to me, lest I grow hungry in the way.\"\n\nSo Ali fastened on a sack of grain, and then the horse said, \"Take a\ncrow-bar and dig there in the floor of the house.\"\n\nSo Ali dug there and found more precious stones, and he put them in\nbags, and brought them and fastened them to the saddle.\n\nThen the horse said, \"Come on, Ali, mount me. We are going now, and\nthis advice I give you before we go. In the way we will meet with great\nstrife, so listen well, and do as I tell you.\"\n\nThen Ali mounted and smacked him, and the horse soared up over the\nclouds, higher and higher.\n\nWhen they had gone a little way they met the Jin and a host of his\nfellow demons, whom he had brought to feast on those eight people in his\nhouse. One was taking an axe to chop up the meat, others carried\nfirewood and pots and water with which to cook the flesh.\n\nWhen those demons saw them they called out, \"Look, there is the flesh\ngoing off.\"\n\nThe horse said to Ali, \"Take the bottle of sun and break it.\" So Ali\nbroke it, and the sun shone on the demons and scorched them.\n\nBut they pursued them, crying, \"Our meat is going away, our meat is\ngoing away.\"\n\nThey ran after them, and as they came near the horse said, \"Break the\nbottle of rain.\" So Ali broke the bottle and rain poured on them, but\nstill they pursued.\n\nAli looked round and said, \"They are coming.\" So the horse said, \"Break\nthe bottle of needles.\"\n\nAli broke the bottle, and many got needles in their feet and could not\nrun quickly, but many escaped and came on swiftly, crying, \"Hi there! Hi\nthere! our meat is escaping.\"\n\nThen the horse said, \"Break the bottle of hail.\" So Ali broke the\nbottle, and the hail poured down on them, and knocked many of them over,\nbut they got up again and ran on.\n\nThe horse said, \"Break the bottle of thorns.\" So Ali broke the bottle,\nand the thorns got in their feet and delayed many of them, but the rest\ncame on. Ali called out, \"There they come,\" and the horse said, \"Break\nthe bottle of mud.\"\n\nSo he broke the bottle, and the demons went slipping and falling about\nin the mud till they got across it, and still pursued them.\n\nThen the horse said, \"Break the bottle of sea.\" So Ali broke the bottle,\nand the demons rushed into the sea, where many were drowned, and the\nrest were unable to cross and turned back.\n\nThe horse flew across to the opposite side and alighted, and said to\nAli, \"Let us rest here now that we have crossed safely.\"\n\nThen he said, \"Take out the sack of grain, for hunger is paining me.\"\n\nSo Ali gave him the grain, and he ate till he could eat no more, and he\ndid not finish it, because he was so tired.\n\nThen he said, \"When we have nearly arrived, stand in the midst of the\nway, that I may give you advice.\"\n\nAli replied to him, \"Very good, father.\"\n\nAfter that they went on till they were nearly at their journey's end,\nand then Ali stood still in the middle of the way, and the horse stood\nstill and said to Ali, \"The first counsel I give you, that you must\ntake it to heart, is that when you arrive home you must speak to no one\nfor the space of seven days. If you want to do anything, first ask me,\nthat I may advise you whether to do it or not; and if you want to marry\na wife and place her in your house, you must first ask me.\n\n\"And if, when you arrive home, you want to walk abroad, you must first\nask me, for I know all things great and small. If you walk out without\ntelling me, that Jin of Jehan will take you; you will return home no\nmore.\"\n\nAli replied, \"It is well, father; I have heard.\"\n\nThen they journeyed on and went their way.\n\nAt three o'clock the people of that town saw a dust coming.\n\nThere in the Wazir's house the Wazir himself was on the roof looking\nout, and his middle son was there with him upstairs; he and his father\nwere looking out at that road by which Ali had been lost to them.\n\nThat Wazir, his hair covered his face, as he had not cut it, and he\ncould not see for weeping for his son.\n\nThen the people of that town saw a wondrously  big horse soaring and\nsoaring like a kite.\n\nAli entered the town, but he spoke to no one.\n\nThe door of his house had been left open since the day he had set out,\nand he passed in, he and the horse, but he spoke to no one, and there\nwere great rejoicings at his return.\n\nAli stayed for the space of seven days, neither speaking to any one, nor\ndrinking water, nor bathing, for fear of being bewitched by that Jin. If\nhe wanted food it was the horse who brought it to him, and if he wanted\nwater it was the horse who gave it to him.\n\nWhen the eighth day came there was a big festival at the Wazir's and at\nthe Sultan's, for the child who had been dead was alive, he who had been\nlost to sight was restored to view.\n\nIf Ali wanted to walk out it was necessary for him first to take counsel\nof the horse. On the tenth day Ali brought all his riches downstairs and\nfilled ninety-nine store-rooms full.\n\nSo Ali lived, he did not marry nor did he want a wife, and those seven\nsisters of his, whom he had brought away from amongst the Jins, they\ndid not marry, but they read their Korans night and day.\n\nHe built a house of seven storeys, and, in this house he put his seven\nsisters who had come with him from the Jins.\n\nThis is the end of the fable.\n\n[Illustration: THE MONKEY-PEOPLE OF THE FORESTS]\n\n[Illustration: WHITE BEARDED GNU. E. AFRICA.]\n\n\n\n\nXX\n\nFEEDING THE HUNGRY\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a man, and he took an axe and went into the\nforest to look for honey. He found a bees' nest in a tree, so he climbed\nup and began to cut a hole to get at the honey.\n\n[Illustration: Caracal.]\n\nWhilst he was in the tree a second man came up; he was a hunter, and he\nhad been looking for game, but had found none. When the hunter saw that\nman in the tree he asked him, \"What are you cutting?\"\n\n[Illustration: Feeding the Hungry]\n\nThe man replied, \"I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit down\nthere and wait for it.\"\n\nSo the hunter sat down, and presently a buffalo came up and, seeing the\nman in the tree, asked, \"What are you doing?\"\n\nHe replied, \"I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit down there\nbeside the hunter.\"\n\nSo the buffalo sat down, and presently a lion came up, and he, too,\nasked what the man was doing, and the man told him to sit down on one\nside and wait.\n\nPresently an eland came along and asked the man what he was doing in the\ntree. He answered, \"I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit down\nthere by the lion and wait for it.\"\n\nSo the eland sat down, and presently a leopard came along, and he also\nthe man told to sit on one side and wait for the honey.\n\nThen came up a bushbuck, and the man told him to sit down by the leopard\nand wait.\n\nThen a gennet came up and asked the man what he was doing. The man\nreplied, \"I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit over there by\nyourself and wait for it.\"\n\n[Illustration: The Gennet.]\n\nSo the gennet sat down and waited, and presently a guinea fowl came\nalong and asked the man what he was doing. The man said, \"I am looking\nfor honey. If you want any, sit down by the gennet and wait for it.\"\n\nAfter that the man went on cutting the tree, and at last made a hole and\nlooked in, and he found that there was no honey in the nest.\n\nAll those sitting round asked him, \"When are you going to give us our\nhoney?\"\n\nThe man said, \"There is no honey in this nest, but there is no need for\nyou to go hungry. If you are fools it is your own faults.\"\n\nThen that hunter turned and killed the buffalo, and the lion seized the\neland, and the leopard caught the bushbuck, and the gennet got the\nchicken.\n\nSo they were very glad, and said to that man, \"You have done very wisely\nto-day.\"\n\nThat is all.\n\n\n\n\nXXI\n\nSHANI AND TABAK\n\n\nThis is a story about a woman and man who were of like wisdom, and so\nwere suited to each other.\n\n[Illustration: The Wali and Shani walking together]\n\nNow the beginning of this history is what I will now write. A certain\nstranger said to his parents, \"I am going to journey forth to look for a\nwoman of like wit to myself. If I find her I will marry her, but if I do\nnot find her I will return.\"\n\nSo that man set out, and when he got outside the town he met another man\nwalking. Now this man was the Wali of the town to which he was going,\nbut he did not know that. The Wali called to him, \"Wait for me; as we\nare going the same way let us walk together.\" That stranger agreed, and\nboth walked together. After they had gone about twenty paces he said to\nthe Wali, \"Will you carry me, or shall I carry you?\" The Wali did not\nanswer him, for he thought, \"For what reason should he carry me or I\ncarry him, when each one has his own legs?\"\n\nThey walked on some way, till they arrived at some cultivation. Then the\nstranger asked, \"That millet there, has it been harvested yet or not?\"\n\nNow that millet was standing in the stalk with the ears there on them.\n\nThe Wali thought, \"Surely this man is a fool or blind. How can he ask if\nthis millet has been harvested, and there it is standing?\" So he did not\nreply.\n\nAs they came near the town to which they were going they met a funeral\ncoming forth, on its way to the cemetery.\n\nThe stranger asked, \"Is that man in the bier dead, or is he still\nalive?\"\n\nThe Wali thought, \"Surely his foolishness is increasing.\" So he did not\nreply.\n\nSo they entered the town, and the Wali went to his house, whilst the\nother went to the mosque, for he was a stranger, and knew no one in that\ntown with whom he might stay.\n\nThe Wali, after he had arrived at his house, rested awhile, and then\nsaid to his wife, \"I met a stranger coming here, and I walked with him\nas far as the town, but that man was a fool, he had no wit; his folly\nincreased at every stage of the journey.\" Then he told her the words of\nthat man.\n\nThe Wali's daughter, who was present, said to him, \"My father, you made\na mistake leaving that man, you should have brought him here, for he is\na man of great understanding.\"\n\nThe father said, \"For what reason, my daughter, when his words were as\nof a madman or a fool?\"\n\nHis daughter said, \"Listen to me and I will explain to you the meaning\nof his words from first to last.\n\n\"The first words which he said to you, were they not, 'Will you carry\nme, or must I carry you?'\n\n\"His meaning was as if he said to you, 'You, will you tell me a story,\nor shall I tell you one, that we may be beguiled in the way, and that we\nmay not perceive the length of the journey?' That was what he meant by\n'Shall I carry you, or will you carry me?'\n\n\"His next words were, 'Has this millet been harvested or not yet\nharvested?' His meaning was, 'Has the owner of that millet planted or\ncultivated his field without having to borrow money to do so? If he has\nhad to borrow the wherewithal with which to cultivate, surely he has\nalready harvested his field, for he has to pay away his profit.'\n\n\"Lastly, when he saw the bier and asked, 'Is that man dead or alive?' he\nmeant, 'Has that man any children? If he has left a child he is alive\nalthough he is dead, for his name is still there. If he has no child he\nhimself is dead, and his name also is dead.'\n\n\"Those were the meanings of his words, so, father, you did wrong to let\nhim go away by himself to the mosque.\"\n\nBut her father, the Wali, would not believe that, and said, \"No, he is\nonly a fool, and his words have no meaning.\"\n\nThen his daughter said to him, \"Wait, I will show you that my words are\ntrue, and that this is a man of great wisdom.\"\n\nThen she took a large round loaf, and she prepared a fowl, and put all\nover it chopped eggs, and poured out a jug brimful of sweetened milk.\nShe gave these to a slave girl and said to her, \"Take these, and bear\nthem to the stranger in the mosque, and say to him, 'My mistress greets\nyou, and sends you word that the moon is full, the tides are spring\ntides, and that there are many stars in the heavens.'\"\n\nSo the slave came to the mosque, and the stranger ate, and when he had\nfinished he gave back the plates and said to her, \"Give your mistress my\ngreetings, and tell her that the day is the thirteenth of the lunar\nmonth, and that the tides are neap tides, and that the stars are only\none by one in the heavens.\"\n\nThe slave returned and gave her mistress the stranger's message.\n\nThen the girl said to her father, \"This slave girl has thieved, she has\nbroken off a piece of the bread, taken some of the eggs, and drunk some\nof the milk.\"\n\nNext day she sent another slave girl with food, as before, and gave her\nthe same message. The stranger answered as at first.\n\nThen the girl said to her father, \"This slave has also stolen some of\nthe food like the first one did.\"\n\nOn the third day she sent some food, as before, and the same message\nwith another slave girl.\n\nThis time the stranger sent back the message, \"To-day the moon is full,\nthe tides are spring tides, and there are many stars in the heavens.\"\n\nSo she said to her father, \"This one has not stolen.\"\n\nHer father asked her, \"How do you know, my daughter?\"\n\nShe replied, \"The meaning of the moon being full was that the big round\nbread was whole. When the stranger replied that the day was the\nthirteenth I knew that a piece of the bread was gone, and that it was as\nthe moon is on the thirteenth day of the lunar month. The meaning of the\nmany stars in the heavens was that the dish was covered with pieces of\nchopped egg. When he told me that the stars were only one by one in the\nheavens, I knew that some of the food had been taken, but when he said\nthat there were many stars, I knew that the food was covered all over\nwith the egg, and so that the chicken underneath was safe.\n\n\"The meaning of the tides being spring tides was that the jug was\nbrimful of milk; but when he sent word that the tides were neap tides, I\nknew that some of the milk had been taken. So you see, my father, that\nthis stranger is a man of wisdom.\"\n\nThen the Wali was very sorry that he had not understood the stranger's\nwords, and that he had not asked him to his house. So he went\nstraightway to the mosque to look for him, and when he had found him he\nbrought him home again and gave him food, and asked his pardon, saying,\n\"I did not at first understand your words, now I know their meaning.\"\n\nThe stranger said to him, \"How is it that now you know?\"\n\nThe Wali replied, \"There in the road I was suffering from the length of\nthe journey and fatigue from the heat of the sun. After I had rested,\nand been fanned by the cool breeze in my house, I came to understand.\"\n\nThe stranger said, \"Tell me then.\"\n\nSo the Wali told him the meaning, and the stranger then said, \"Tell me\ntruly, who was it who told you the meaning of my words?\" and he pressed\nhim much, till at last the Wali said, \"It was my daughter who told me.\"\n\nThen the stranger said, \"That daughter of yours is my desire, she is the\none whom I would wish to put in my house. I have been looking for a\nperson like this your daughter, and now I have found her, ask of me\nanything, that I may give it you, that you may marry me to her; for I\nwill have no life if I do not get a wife like that.\"\n\nThe father said, \"I must go and consult with my child herself.\"\n\nThe stranger replied, \"That is well, go and consult her, but what she\nanswers tell me truly, do not hide it from me.\"\n\nSo the Wali went to his daughter and gave her all the news from first to\nlast. Then he said, \"Now, my daughter, the counsel and the choice are\nyours alone.\"\n\nShe answered him, \"And I, if I do not get a husband like that, I want no\nother, and will choose to remain unmarried until I die. For if I do not\nget a husband like that, to me there is no advantage; it will be like\ntwo women marrying one another.\"\n\nSo the Wali went and gave her answer to the stranger, and he rejoiced\ngreatly, for he had got his desire.\n\nSo her father married her to him, and this is the end of the story.\n\n[Illustration: Giraffe]\n\nNow Shani was the name of that stranger, and Tabak was the name of that\nwoman who became his wife. Even now there are those who talk of Shani\nand Tabak, meaning some one obtaining his heart's desire, as Shani got\nTabak, or who use these names for two people who are exactly suited to\none another, as Shani was to Tabak.\n\n\n\n\nXXII\n\nA MAN AND HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW.\n\n\nThere was once a man, and he went and married a girl and went to live\nwith her in her village.\n\nOne day that girl's mother came to him and said, \"My son-in-law, I want\nyou to do something for me. See, all my maize is being broken by the\nwind. You must go out and drive away the wind for me, so that it does\nnot break my maize.\"\n\nSo that son-in-law went out into the fields and tried all day to drive\naway the wind, but he was unable to; the wind got the better of him, and\nin the evening he returned discomforted.\n\n[Illustration: \"HE TRIED ALL DAY TO DRIVE AWAY THE WIND\"]\n\nThen he thought to himself, \"My mother-in-law is a very bad person. Who\nwould try to drive away the wind? It is not possible. Now I will find\nsomething that she is unable to do, and tell her to do it, so that she\nalso will be discomforted.\"\n\nSo he went out into the bush and killed an animal and brought it back to\nthe village. Then he called his wife and said to her, \"Take this meat\nand give it to your mother, and tell her to cook and eat all the meat,\nbut that she is to keep the gravy for me, and that she must spread out\nthe gravy on the matting, so as to be ready for me.\"\n\nSo that girl brought the meat to her mother and gave her the message.\nThe mother-in-law then cooked and ate the meat, but left the gravy. Then\nshe took it and tried to spread it out on the matting for her\nson-in-law, but it ran through.\n\nThen that girl came and told her husband, \"That gravy is not spreadable.\nMamma has tried to spread it out on the mat for you, but it has all run\nthrough.\"\n\nHer husband answered her, \"Your mother is a very bad person. One day she\ntold me to drive away the wind from the maize, and I tried all day, and\nit was not possible. So I, too, wished to tell your mother to do\nsomething that was not possible; so I told her to spread out the gravy\non the mat. I knew that she would be defeated, even as I was defeated.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXIII\n\nTHE JACKAL, THE HARE AND THE COCK\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a hare who was cunning with great guile. That\nhare went to the jackal and said, \"I want to make friends with you,\njackal. Our friendship will be that we walk about together and agree in\nevery matter. Everything that I do you must do also, and everything that\nyou do I must also do.\"\n\n[Illustration: The Jackal, the Hare and the Cock]\n\nWhen the jackal heard those words of the hare he was very pleased, and\nhe thought, \"This will be very good to have the hare for a brother, for\nhe is very clever.\"\n\nSo the jackal agreed to make friends with the hare, and they walked\nabout together. Till one day the hare said to the jackal, \"To-day, my\nbrother, we will each take a knife and a spear, and we will go and kill\nour mothers. I will go and kill mine, and you, jackal, must go and kill\nyours.\"\n\nSo they each took a spear and a knife and went their ways to kill their\nmothers. The hare went to his mother and took her and hid her in a cave.\nThen he went to a tree which is called Mtumbati and smeared his knife\nand spear with the sap of that tree, which is red. Then he returned to\nthe place at which he had agreed to meet the jackal.\n\nNow the jackal was very grieved when he was told that he must kill his\nmother, and being without guile he said to himself, \"I will stay away\nfor a little while, and then say to my brother, the hare, that I have\nkilled my mother.\"\n\nSo he went off, and returned again to the place of meeting, and there\nmet the hare. The hare asked him, \"Have you killed your mother, my\nbrother?\"\n\nThe jackal said, \"Yes, I have killed her.\"\n\nSo the hare said, \"Let me look at your spear and knife. See, here are\nmine, and you can see that I have killed my mother, truly.\"\n\nThen was the jackal ashamed, and the hare said to him, \"Oh, my brother,\nyou have deceived me. We agreed that each one must do as the other, and\nnow I have gone and killed my mother, and you have not done likewise. We\nmust both go and kill your mother, so that we may both be without our\nmothers.\"\n\nSo they went and killed the jackal's mother, and the jackal was very\nsorry.\n\nAfter that the hare said to the jackal, \"Now, my brother, we must eat\nnothing but insects.\" So they went about the forest trying to catch\ninsects to eat, but when the jackal slept the hare used to run into that\ncave where he had hidden his mother, and she fed him.\n\nThe jackal lived with the hare, trying to catch enough insects to eat,\nand he grew thinner and thinner, till at last he died.\n\nNow when all the animals heard how the hare had deceived the jackal, and\nmade him kill his mother, and how he had made him live on nothing but\ninsects till he died, they were very angry with the hare. Then they\nheld a meeting, and it was asked, \"Who is a match for the hare in\ncunning?\"\n\nThe cock said, \"I am; I am able to deceive the hare and kill him.\"\n\nAll those animals said to the cock, \"You, cock, are not the equal of the\nhare. What sort of cunning have you to match yourself against the hare?\"\n\nThe cock replied, \"I know very well that I can get the better of the\nhare. Now I am going off to see him, and you will all hear the news of\nwhat has passed between the hare and me very soon.\"\n\nSo the cock set forth and went to see the hare.\n\nThe hare asked him, \"How is it that you have never before walked out to\nour house here? To-day is the first time that I have seen you, oh cock.\"\n\nThe cock answered, \"Your words are true. I have never yet walked as far\nas your house. To-day I have come to ask your friendship, for I have no\nfriend. That is why I want your friendship. We will get on very well\ntogether, and now I am going to return home. I will prepare food for\nyou, and to-morrow you must come and see me and we will have a talk.\"\n\nThe hare replied, \"It is well. To-morrow, if Allah pleases, I will come\nto your house.\"\n\nThe cock then returned home and told his wives, \"To-morrow my friend the\nhare is coming, so get food ready for him. When the hare comes I will\nsit in the courtyard and hide my head under my wing. Serve up food to\nthe hare, and when he asks, 'Where is my friend the cock?' show him his\nfriend and say, 'There is his body lying in the courtyard, but he has\nsent his head away to have audience of the Sultan, and to speak his\ncases for him.' Tell the hare like that.\"\n\nSo next day, when the hare came and asked for his friend the cock, the\ncock's wives took him, and showed him the cock where he was lying with\nhis head under his wing, and they told him, as they had been taught,\nthat his head had gone away to speak his cases for him before the\nSultan. Then they took him on to the verandah and bade him sit down and\nawait his friend and eat the food that was ready for him.\n\nThat hare was very astonished, and said to himself, \"My friend the cock\nmust indeed be strong if he can send his head by itself all the way to\nthe Sultan's, to speak his cases alone without a body.\"\n\nThey set much food before the hare, and he ate there in the verandah.\nPresently the cock came round the corner and said to the hare, \"Oh, my\nfriend, I am indeed sorry that I was not here to greet you, but I had to\nsend my head away to speak of some very important matter to the Sultan.\"\n\nThe hare said, \"It is well, my friend. I saw your body lying out there\nin the courtyard, and now that your head has returned it is indeed\nwell.\"\n\nShortly after that the hare took leave of the cock, and said to him, \"I\nam now going home, and to-morrow you must come and eat with me.\"\n\nThe cock agreed, and the hare went off. When he arrived at his house he\nsaid to his wives, \"Prepare food, for to-morrow my friend the cock comes\nto see me.\" So they prepared food for the cock, and next day the hare\nsaid to them, \"My friend the cock is very strong, he can send his head\nall alone to the Sultan's. Now I want you, my wives, to cut off my head\nand put it on one side, and when the cock comes show him my body, and\ntell him that I have also important cases at the Sultan's, and have sent\nmy head off to see to them.\"\n\nHis wives said, \"You will certainly die, our husband.\"\n\nThe hare said, \"Why shall I die? My friend the cock cuts off his head,\nand he does not die, so why should I? You must cut off my head, and\nafter the cock has sat down and begun to eat you must put it on again,\nso that I may come and talk to him.\"\n\nHis wives refused, but he pressed them much, till at last they agreed\nand cut off his head. When the cock came and asked after the hare they\ntook him and showed him the hare's body, and told him as they had been\ntaught. When the cock looked at the hare's body he saw that his head\nhad really been cut off, so he said to those wives of the hare, \"I am\nnot able to wait for your food, for to-day in your house there is a\ngreat mourning, and it is I who have deceived the hare; so now I am\ngoing home. Your husband is not able to rise again, for he is dead.\nGood-bye.\"\n\nThe cock went forth, and went his way to give the news to all the\nanimals who had laughed at him, and said to him, \"You have no sort of\nguile with which to deceive the hare.\"\n\nWhen the animals heard the news of how the cock had deceived the hare,\nand when they heard that there was mourning in the house of the hare,\nthey said, \"Truly the words of the cock are true; he has great cunning,\neven more than the hare.\"\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN BLACK-BACKED JACKALS]\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN FLYING SQUIRREL]\n\n\n\n\nXXIV\n\nTHE MAGIC DATE TREES\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man, and he married a wife and had two\nsons.\n\nAfter many days his wife died, and the man stayed awhile, and then he\nmarried again.\n\nThose two sons grew up, till at last their father died.\n\nSo their stepmother turned them out of the house and they travelled\naway.\n\nNow they were very poor, and had no money, nor had they any food.\n\nSo they travelled on, and by day they journeyed and ate of the fruits of\nthe forest, and at night they climbed into a tree and slept there, for\nfear of the wild beasts of the jungle.\n\n[Illustration: Hippo]\n\nTill after many days they arrived at a town, and when they came there\nthe elder brother said to the younger, \"You, my brother, sit here\noutside the town while I go in and beg for food.\"\n\nNow it so perchanced that the chief of that town had just died and he\nleft no son. So the people of that place had gone to the astrologers and\nsoothsayers and had asked them, \"How shall we choose another chief?\"\n\nThe astrologers had answered them, \"Let there be a meeting of all the\npeople of the town, and let a lime be thrown into their midst. He on\nwhom this lime shall fall, take him and make him your chief.\"\n\nNow when the elder of the two brothers entered the town he found all the\npeople of that place assembled in the centre of that town.\n\nAs he drew near to this congregation a lime hit him on the head, and all\nthe people turned and, rushing at him, seized him and placed him in\ntheir midst.\n\nSo he was greatly afeared.\n\nThey took him, crying out, \"This is our chief!\" and they carried him to\nthe palace amidst general acclamation.\n\nSo he sat there as chief of that town and during that day and the next\nhe was afraid to say that he had a brother outside the town awaiting for\nhis return.\n\nOn the third day he sent soldiers to look for him, but they found him\nnot, for when he perceived that his brother did not return he was afraid\nand went away.\n\nSo the elder brother remained as chief of that place for many months,\nand he sat with sorrow for the thought of his brother.\n\nTill one day he looked out of the window and saw below in the street a\npoor man selling mats, and when he beheld him he recognised him as his\nbrother.\n\nSo he sent out soldiers to bring him into the palace.\n\nWhen the younger brother saw the soldiers, and was told that the chief\nof the town had sent for him, he feared exceedingly.\n\nHe was brought into the palace, and his brother was very joyful to see\nhim again, and he honoured him greatly, and made him as his Wazir.\n\nSo after that they lived together, and they ordered the affairs of that\ntown, and grew very prosperous.\n\nNow when the chief of that town had grown very rich he looked upon a\ncertain woman and beheld her very beautiful, and desired much to take\nher for his wife.\n\nOutside the town there was a creek, and over this creek ran a bridge,\nbut at low tide there was no water under the bridge.\n\nThe woman said to him, \"Not till you pile up wealth from the ground\nbelow the bridge up to its top, and give it all to me as my marriage\nportion, will I marry you.\"\n\nSo the chief collected all his wealth and piled it up from beneath the\nbridge, and, when he had exhausted all his property, it just reached\nlevel with the top of the bridge.\n\nSo that woman said to him, \"Give me a respite of four hours and then\nwill I marry you.\"\n\nSo she went away, and she prepared a dish of chicken and eggs and curry,\nand with it she mixed opium and Indian hemp, and she sent it to him as\nhe was awaiting her.\n\nHe ate of this dish, and he lost consciousness from the strength of the\nopium and Indian hemp.\n\nThen she came with her slaves, and some of them she ordered to take him\nout to sea in a boat and cast him away, while the remainder took all the\nwealth of the chief and put it in her house.\n\nSo those slaves took him and, putting him in a boat, rowed him far out\nto sea and cast him in.\n\nNow it so happened that he was washed on to a shoal, and when he\nrecovered his senses he found himself sitting on a sandspit.\n\nHe gazed all round him, and could see no land in any direction.\n\nThen he looked behind him and saw that the sandspit came from a small\nisland, and on this island were two date trees.\n\nHe came to the first tree, and he saw that there were growing dates on\nit, but they were as yet unripe.\n\nAs he felt the pangs of hunger he plucked a date from this tree and ate\nit; immediately there grew out of his mouth two large tusks of ivory.\nThese were so heavy in his mouth that he could hardly stand.\n\nOn the second tree he perceived that there were also dates and that\nthese were ripe.\n\nHe thought to himself, \"Here I am without food, and there is no land in\nsight. I will most certainly die of hunger and thirst, and now, in\naddition to all my troubles, I have two tusks growing from my mouth, and\nthey are of such a weight that I can scarcely move. Perhaps if I eat of\nthis second tree I will die, and then my troubles will be at an end.\"\n\nSo he plucked a date from the second tree and ate it. Immediately he had\neaten it his tusks dropped off on to the ground.\n\nAt that moment there appeared a shark who was swimming past in the sea,\nand the shark stopped and asked him what he was doing.\n\n[Illustration: At that moment there appeared a shark.]\n\nHe told him how he had found himself cast on this island, and asked the\nshark to take him to the shore. The shark refused, saying, \"You are my\nenemy, and it is you sons of men who kill and eat me.\"\n\nSo he said to the shark, \"I am the Sultan of such and such a town, and\nif you carry me away from this island I will give an order that the\nfishermen of the town kill no more sharks.\"\n\nSo they made an agreement after this manner, and the shark consented to\ntake him on his back.\n\nThen the man plaited two small baskets of date leaves, and the one he\nfilled with dates from the first tree, and the other he filled with\ndates from the second.\n\nThen he took his two baskets and climbed on to the shark's back, and the\nshark carried him till they arrived in sight of the shore.\n\nThen the shark said to him, \"I am afraid to go any nearer the shore, for\nif the sons of men see me they will kill me.\"\n\nSo he called a Tewa fish and asked him to take the chief the remaining\ndistance to the shore. But the Tewa fish said to him, \"You are one of\nthe sons of men, and you are our enemies, for it is you who kill and eat\nus.\"\n\nSo the man made a compact with the Tewa fish, that if he carried him\nsafely to the shore he would give out an order to the fishermen making\nit unlawful to kill Tewa fish.\n\nSo the Tewa agreed, and he climbed on to his back and was brought safely\nto the shore.\n\nWhen he arrived he got off the Tewa's back and, taking his two little\nbaskets, came to his brother's house.\n\nNow there was no more wealth left to him, for all his property he had\ngiven that woman.\n\nHe said to himself, \"Let me try now and see if these dates will do the\nsame to others as they did to me.\"\n\nSo he took the basket of unripe dates and gave one to every one in the\nhouse, and behold, they all grew tusks of great size.\n\nAll of them were then very angry with him, but he took the second\nbasket, and when each had eaten one of the dates their tusks dropped\noff.\n\nThen he called a slave of the household and gave him dates of the first\nbasket and told him, \"Go and hawk these dates in the town, but you must\nonly sell to such and such a person,\" and he told him the name of the\nwoman whom he had wished to marry, and who had all his property.\n\nThat woman was now exceedingly rich, and she had all his wealth and all\nthe properties and plantations of the town in her possession.\n\nNow as the slave passed her house she was looking out, with her head\noutside the window; and she called the slave and asked what he was\nselling.\n\nHe replied, \"I am selling these dates,\" and he offered her one, and\nhanded it up for her to taste.\n\nSo she took it and ate it there as she was leaning out of the window,\nand immediately there grew from her mouth two tusks of such size that\nshe was unable to withdraw her head from the window.\n\nSo she remained there all that night, and on the next day she sent a\ncrier round the town saying, \"Who will deliver me from here, where I am\nfixed, I shall give him a great reward.\"\n\nOn the next day she was still in the window, and she sent a crier round\nthe town to say, \"Who will deliver me, I shall marry him and give him\nhalf my property.\"\n\nOn the third day she was still stuck there, and on this day she sent a\ncrier round to say, \"Who will deliver me to-day I shall give him all my\nproperty and I shall become his slave.\"\n\nThe chief sent round a slave to say, \"I want a signed document to this\neffect.\"\n\nSo the woman wrote and signed the document as required, while she was\nstill fixed there in the window, and it was taken to the chief.\n\nThen he came there and gave her a date of the second basket, and\nimmediately the tusks dropped off and she was freed.\n\nSo the chief received back all his wealth and property, and he lived in\nhappiness and prosperity, he and his brother, while the woman became his\nslave.\n\n\n\n\nXXV\n\nPAKA THE CAT\n\n\nThis is the story of Paka the cat.\n\nIf there are three or four men walking along and only one woman, the cat\nwill turn aside from the men and follow the woman.\n\nNow the reason for this is the story I am telling you.\n\n[Illustration: Paka the cat]\n\nIn the beginning Paka sat in the bush, till one day she felt the pain of\nhunger.\n\nSo she came down to the shore, and there she met a serval, who was\nhunting the crabs of the shore. So Paka went up to the serval and said,\n\"Good morning.\"\n\nAnd the serval said, \"Who are you?\"\n\n\"It is I--Paka.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I want to follow you about and so get food.\"\n\nSo the serval said, \"Very good then. Here, eat these crabs.\"\n\nSo Paka ate of the crabs, and she followed the serval many days.\n\nTill one day there came a leopard and fought with the serval and killed\nhim.\n\nSo Paka thought in her heart, \"Now, this one was not a manly one: he who\nis the man is the leopard.\" So Paka went up to the leopard and saluted\nhim, \"Good morning.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE LEOPARD]\n\nSo the leopard said, \"And who are you?\"\n\n\"It is I--Paka.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I want to follow you about and get food.\"\n\nSo the leopard said, \"Very good. Here, eat of this serval.\"\n\nSo Paka followed the leopard many days and many weeks.\n\nTill one day came a lion, and he fell on the leopard and killed him.\n\nSo Paka thought in her heart, \"Now, this one also was not a manly one:\nhe who is the man is the lion.\"\n\nSo she went to the lion and said, \"Good morning.\"\n\nAnd the lion said, \"Who are you?\"\n\n\"It is I--Paka.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\nSo Paka said, \"I want to follow you about that you may give me food.\"\n\nSo the lion said, \"Then eat of this leopard.\"\n\nSo Paka ate of the leopard, and she followed the lion for many weeks and\nmany months, till one day there came an elephant.\n\nAnd the elephant came and struck the lion with his trunk, and the lion\ndied.\n\nSo Paka said in her heart, \"Now, this one, too, was not a manly one: he\nwho is the man is the elephant.\"\n\nSo Paka went and greeted the elephant, \"Good morning.\"\n\nThe elephant said, \"And who are you?\"\n\n\"It is I--Paka.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I want to follow you about, that you may give me food.\"\n\nSo the elephant said, \"Then eat of this lion.\"\n\nSo Paka ate of the lion, and she followed the elephant for many months\nand many days.\n\nTill one day came a man; and that son of Adam came and he took his\nmatchlock and fired.\n\nAnd he hit the elephant, and the elephant ran away.\n\nAfter running a long way he fell down, and that son of Adam came and he\nfired again and again, until the elephant was finished and he died.\n\nNow Paka said, \"Behold, he also was not a manly one: he who is the man\nis the son of Adam.\"\n\nSo Paka went up and saluted him, saying, \"Good morning.\"\n\nAnd the man said, \"Who are you?\"\n\n\"It is I--Paka.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I want to follow you about, that you may give me food.\"\n\nSo the man said, \"Then eat of the elephant.\"\n\nSo Paka stayed with the man and ate of the elephant, while he was\ncutting out the tusks.\n\nWhen the man had finished cutting out the tusks he wended his way home,\nand came to his village.\n\nNow that man had two wives, and the one he loved and the other he loved\nnot.\n\nSo he came first to the house of her whom he loved not, that he might\nstay a short time, and go to the house of her whom he loved.\n\nSo he came there and greeted the wife whom he loved not, and straightway\nwent on to the house of her whom he loved.\n\nWhen he had come there he said to her, \"Oh, my wife whom I love, I have\ndone this on purpose.\n\n\"I came first to the house of the other one, that I might come\nstraightway to you whom I love, and remain with you a long time.\"\n\nNow the woman was angry, in that he had gone first to the house of the\nother, and she said to him, \"What you say is false!\"\n\nSo she came up to him and struck him--pah!\n\nThat man did not do anything; he turned round and left the hut.\n\nThen thought Paka, \"Now, even this one is not the manly one. Why does he\ngo away? He who is the man is the woman.\"\n\nSo she went up to the woman and said to her, \"Good morning.\"\n\nThe woman said, \"And who are you?\"\n\n\"It is I--Paka.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I want to follow you about, that you may give me food.\"\n\nSo the woman said to her, \"Very good. Sit here in my house.\"\n\nNow this is the story of Paka the cat, which comes from long ago, and\nthis is the reason why a cat will leave a man and follow a woman.\n\n\n\n\nXXVI\n\nTHE TALE OF THE MERCHANT AND HIS BAG OF GOLD\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a merchant, and he resolved to go on a\njourney to a far country to trade, that he might return with profit.\n\nNow this merchant took money needful for his journey, and of what he had\nleft he was afraid that in his absence it might be stolen.\n\nSo he thought to himself, \"If I leave this bag of gold in my house it\nmay be stolen, and if I give it to a friend to keep for me he may use it\nfor his own purposes.\"\n\nSo he bethought himself of a stratagem.\n\n[Illustration: Standing camel]\n\nHe poured all his gold into the bottom of a large leather skin. When he\nhad done this he took oil of coco-nuts and filled the skin with it and\nfastened it securely at the mouth.\n\nThen he took the skin of oil to a neighbour, who was a friend of his,\nand said to him, \"Oh, my friend, I have resolved to go on a journey,\nand wish to leave this skin of coco-nut oil with you. Will you keep it\nsafely for me, that I may find it on my return?\"\n\nSo the friend agreed, and he set out on his journey, and he journeyed to\na very far country.\n\nSo the friend kept the skin of coco-nut oil for the first year and for\nthe second year.\n\nIn the third year, however, he said to himself, \"Surely my friend has\nmet with some evil happening on his journey and will come back no more.\nIt were better, then, that I open this skin and use the oil therein.\"\n\nSo he opened the skin and used the oil for many months, till one day,\nwhen he had nearly emptied the skin, he perceived that there was some\nmatter other than oil in the skin.\n\nHe emptied out the remainder of the oil and behold, the bottom was full\nof golden dinars.\n\nSo he rejoiced exceedingly, and took the money and put it in a secret\nplace, and the skin he left there in his house.\n\nNow shortly after this the merchant, who had been delayed by\nunfavourable winds, returned from his journey.\n\nHe had been to many far countries and made traffic in merchandise, and\nafter many hardships and troubles he was enabled to return.\n\nNow when his friend heard of his return he was exceedingly troubled in\nhis heart.\n\nFor he thought to himself, \"What shall I do that I may keep all these\nmonies?\" and he said to himself, \"Now my friend did not say that he was\nentrusting me with a skin of dinars, he said only that he had left a\nskin of oil.\"\n\nSo he went to the bazaar and sought for coco-nut oil and brought it to\nhis house, and he filled up the skin with the oil he had brought, and he\nfastened it securely, after the same manner in which it had been done up\nformerly.\n\nNow when the merchant had rested awhile he set off straightway to the\nhouse of his friend, and he saluted him. His friend bade him draw nigh,\nand he asked him for the news of his journey.\n\nSo they conversed awhile, and then the merchant said, \"The night is\nclosing in; I must with your permission now return to my house.\"\n\nAs he took leave of him he feigned to have suddenly remembered the skin\nwhich he had left in his house, and he said to him, \"My friend, have\nyou that skin of oil I left with you?\"\n\nSo his friend said, \"I had forgotten about it, but perhaps it will be in\nmy store, where it has lain since you left. I will go and look for it.\"\n\nSo he entered into the house, and presently came forth with the skin and\nsaid, \"Here it is, my friend; I have found it safe and sound.\"\n\nSo the merchant took his skin and went his way.\n\nWhen he reached his house he opened it with haste to look for his\ndinars.\n\n[Illustration: The Merchant and his oil-skin.]\n\nHe poured out the oil, but behold, the gold was not there. Then was he\nseized with great wrath; so he poured back the oil and ran back to his\nfriend's house and asked him, \"Where are the golden dinars I left with\nyou?\"\n\nHis friend asked him, \"What golden dinars did you leave with me? You\nleft only that skin of oil, which I have now returned to you. I have\nkept it all these days for you, and now you accuse me of having taken\nsome golden dinars.\"\n\nSo the merchant said, \"The golden dinars were in the bottom of that\nskin of oil, but now they are not there.\"\n\nHis friend said to him, \"You are a very cunning man. You told me\nyourself that it was only a skin of oil you left me. Now you say that it\nwas full of dinars, that I may be beaten and imprisoned without cause.\"\n\nThen was the merchant exceedingly angry, and went straightway to accuse\nhis friend before the Sultan. So the Sultan had his friend called and\nasked him, \"Did the merchant leave with you a skin full of dinars?\"\n\nThe friend replied, \"No, by Allah, he left with me only a skin of oil,\nand that I have returned.\"\n\nThe merchant said, \"By Allah, three years ago, when I left on a journey,\nI entrusted him with a skin full of dinars, but my heart was afraid, and\nso I told him that it was a skin of coco-nut oil. On my return, when I\nsearched in the skin, I found but oil, and that the dinars had been\nextracted.\"\n\nThe friend said, \"By Allah, it was a skin of oil he left with me, and I\ngave it him back unopened as I had received it.\"\n\nWhen the Sultan had heard the words of both men he was unable to decide\nwhich of the two was in the wrong, and so he dismissed the case. Now the\nmerchant left the audience hall, and his heart was very sore at the loss\nof his wealth. As he went forth he met an oil merchant of that town, and\nhe asked of him the news, and he told him the whole story from the\nbeginning to the end.\n\nWhen the oil merchant had heard his story he said to him, \"Now if I am\nable to make the Sultan decide the case in your favour what payment will\nyou make me?\"\n\nSo they agreed together, and he said, \"I will give you the half of\nwhatever money is restored to me.\"\n\nSo the oil merchant went quickly to his shop and poured out two bottles\nof oil, and in the one bottle he left the oil as it was, while to the\nsecond he added a little dye, which made its colour darker than the\nfirst.\n\nThen he sought out a friend and told him the whole matter, promising him\nhalf the reward if he would help him in the case.\n\nSo the two went to the Sultan, and the oil merchant asked audience of\nthe Sultan.\n\nWhen he came before the Sultan he said to him, \"Oh Sultan, I have a\ncomplaint to make against this man. He is in my employ and comes daily\nto work in my shop.\n\n\"Now my trade is the crushing of coco-nuts and the retailing of oil,\nwhich I sell at my shop, and in my store I have many vats of oil.\n\n\"Now yesterday, after this man had left my shop, I noticed that the oil\nwas decreased in one of the vats, and I went to the house of this one\nand I found him in the possession of a skin of oil.\"\n\nSo the Sultan turned to the accused and said to him, \"Are these words\ntrue?\"\n\nSo the accused said, \"No, they are false, for the oil which was found in\nmy house was oil which I had bought elsewhere and paid for with my own\nmoney.\"\n\nSo the Sultan turned to the oil merchant and said to him, \"Do you hear\nhis words? Have you any proof that the oil you found in his house came\nfrom your vat?\"\n\nSo the oil merchant said, \"Yes, oh Sultan, I have proof, for the oil in\nthat vat was very old oil, three years in age, and therefore of a\ndifferent colour to the oil of this year. Now no other merchant in this\ntown has any oil of this age.\"\n\nThen he brought forth the two bottles of oil, and, taking the one he had\ndyed, said, \"Now this is oil from that same vat, and the oil found in\nthis man's house was of the same colour.\"\n\nTaking the second bottle he said, \"This is oil of this year, and, as you\nwill perceive, it is of a lighter colour.\"\n\nThen the Sultan turned to the accused and said to him, \"You have heard\nhis words; what words have you to answer him with?\"\n\nThen the man fell on his face before the Sultan and said, \"Oh, I repent,\nmy master; I did take the oil, for I am a poor man and have no money, so\nforgive me, for I repent.\"\n\nNow when the Sultan heard that the oil of three years ago was of a\ndifferent colour, he bethought himself of the case of the merchant and\nhis friend, in which the merchant had entrusted his friend with the skin\nof oil three years previously. So, telling the oil merchant to stand\naside, he sent quickly to recall the case.\n\nWhen they came before him he said to the merchant's friend, \"When did\nyou say that it was that you were given that skin of oil by the\nmerchant?\"\n\nHe answered him, \"It is now three years since.\"\n\nSo the Sultan asked him, \"Have you since then opened the skin or taken\nany of the oil out?\"\n\nHe answered, \"No, by Allah, I returned it just as he gave it to me.\"\n\nSo the Sultan commanded the skin to be brought, and then he called for\nthe oil merchant to bring forth his two bottles of oil.\n\nWhen he compared the oil in the skin with that in the bottles he found\nthat it was like that of the lighter colour.\n\nSo the Sultan said to the man, \"How is this now, that if you received\nthis three years ago and have not opened it since, that the oil in the\nskin is oil of this year?\"\n\nThen was the man exceedingly afraid, and he trembled, for he knew that\nhe had put fresh oil in the skin.\n\nSo the Sultan sent soldiers to his house, who found there the dinars he\nhad secreted away, and they were restored to their owner.\n\nThen the Sultan turned to the oil merchant and asked him, \"Now is this\nman truly as he says a poor man?\"\n\nSo the oil merchant replied, \"Yes, truly, my master, he is a very poor\nman, and I wish to do him no harm.\"\n\nSo the Sultan said, \"Then shall I pardon him of his offence.\"\n\nSo the Sultan pardoned the accused, and gave to the oil merchant a\nreward, in that he had shown him a way to prove the guilt of the\nmerchant's friend.\n\nSo the oil merchant took that reward of the Sultan, and also half of the\ndinars which had been restored to the merchant, as his fee for winning\nthe case for him.\n\nSo he took these monies and shared them with the friend who helped him,\nand they went their way rejoicing.\n\n\n\n\nXXVII\n\nBATA THE DUCK\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a duck called Bata, and she lived with her\nhusband, and they were very happy, for they had never seen the face of\nman. Till one day there came a man to their home, and he fired his gun\nand killed Bata's husband.\n\nWhen she saw that her husband was dead Bata was very unhappy, and flew\nfar, far away to a country where man had never come.\n\nThere she met a peahen, and that peahen made friends with her and asked\nher name. She said, \"I am called Bata.\"\n\nThen she asked her, \"Why are you trembling so?\"\n\nBata answered, \"Do you know man?\"\n\nThe peahen said, \"No, I have never seen one.\"\n\nThen said Bata, \"I tremble to think of man and how he has made me a\nwidow, for he killed my husband.\"\n\nThen the peahen said, \"I have a husband too, and he is very beautiful.\"\n\nSo she took Bata to her husband the peacock, and when Bata saw him she\nbegan to weep. That peacock said, \"Why do you weep?\"\n\nBata answered, \"I weep to see how beautiful you are, and to think that\nif man sees you he will surely kill you.\"\n\n\"What is this creature called man?\" asked the peacock.\n\n\"He is a creature of great guile,\" replied Bata.\n\nAfter that she travelled on till she came to a big river, and she swam\nup and up the river till she came to a cave. She looked into the cave\nand there she saw a lion. The lion asked, \"Who are you?\"\n\nShe replied, \"I am Bata the Duck.\"\n\nThen the lion asked her, \"Why are you trembling?\"\n\nShe answered, \"I am trembling to think of man.\"\n\nThe lion asked, \"What is this man?\"\n\nBata said, \"He is a creature of great cunning, who is even able to kill\nyou.\"\n\nThe lion said, \"Then this man must be very big and strong.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Bata, \"he is neither big nor strong, but his guile is great.\"\n\nJust then a dikdik came running past. When it saw the lion it stopped\nand greeted him. The lion asked, \"What are you running from?\"\n\nThe dikdik said, \"I am running away from man.\"\n\n\"What is this man like?\" said the lion.\n\n\"Oh, he is very cunning,\" answered the dikdik, and scampered off.\n\nPresently a bushbuck came running up. When it saw the lion it stopped\nand greeted him. Then the lion asked, \"What are you running from?\"\n\nThe bushbuck said, \"I am running from man.\"\n\n\"What is he like?\" said the lion.\n\n\"Oh, he is very cunning,\" answered the bushbuck, and ran off.\n\nNext an eland came galloping up, and when he saw the lion he stopped and\ngreeted him. The lion asked, \"And whom are you running away from? Is it\nalso this creature called man?\"\n\nThe eland answered, \"Yes, I am running from man.\"\n\nThe lion said, \"This man must be a very big animal, that one of your\nsize should be afraid of him.\"\n\n\"No, he is not big,\" said the eland, \"but his guile is very great.\"\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN ELAND]\n\nThe eland galloped off, and presently a buffalo came tearing past. When\nhe saw the lion he drew up and greeted him. The lion asked, \"And are you\nalso running away from this creature called man?\"\n\nThe buffalo said, \"Yes, it is indeed he from whom I am running.\"\n\nThen said the lion, \"This man must be a great and powerful creature,\nthat one of such a terrifying appearance as you are runs from him.\"\n\nThe buffalo said, \"No, he is small, but his guile is exceedingly great.\"\n\nThen the buffalo rushed off, and presently there came forth a man. Now\nthat man was a carpenter, and he carried planks under his arm and his\nbag of tools over his shoulder. Suddenly he looked up and saw the lion,\nand he said to himself, \"Now I am indeed lost, for there is a lion, and\nI have no weapons.\"\n\nThat lion, when he saw the man, asked him, \"Who are you who are walking\nso slowly and carefully? All the animals who have passed here were\nrunning away from the creature called man. How is it that you are not\nafraid of him, that you do not make haste to escape?\"\n\nThen that man saw that the lion did not recognise him for a man, so he\ntook heart, and said, \"No, it is not man, but the elephant I am afraid\nof, for I am the servant of the elephant, and he has called me to make a\nhouse for him. For the elephant fears this man whom you speak of, so I\nnow go to make him a house, so that when he goes inside it man cannot\nget him.\"\n\nThe lion said, \"First you must make such a house for me.\"\n\nThat man said, \"No, I cannot, for I have promised to make it for the\nelephant.\"\n\nBut that lion insisted on the man making him a house first, so that\ncarpenter put down his load and began making a box like a coffin.\n\nWhen he had finished it he made a door at one end, and then he said to\nthe lion, \"Enter in, my master, and see if the house suits you.\"\n\nSo the lion walked in, and the man shut the door and cried, \"Now do you\nknow me? I am that creature called man.\"\n\nThen he took his axe and rained blows on the lion until he had killed\nhim.\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN ORYX]\n\nWhen Bata saw this she flew away, and this was the beginning of her\nsitting always on the water, even to sleeping on the water in the middle\nof a pool, for fear of man who killed her husband.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII\n\nTHE SULTAN'S DAUGHTER\n\n\nLong ago in olden times there was a Sultan, and he had a daughter\nbeautiful as the moon at its fulness.\n\n[Illustration: The Sultan's Daughter]\n\nThis Sultan said that he would only marry his daughter to a man of\nwisdom. So to all who came to seek his daughter's hand he asked three\nquestions.\n\nThe first was, \"When famine comes to a place and leaves it again, where\ndoes it go?\"\n\nThe second was, \"When sickness comes to a place and leaves it again,\nwhere does it go?\"\n\nAnd the third was, \"When war comes to a place and leaves it again, where\ndoes it go?\"\n\nNo one was able to answer these questions for many months and many\nyears, till at last there came a man who said, \"I will answer your\nquestions, oh Sultan.\"\n\nThe Sultan replied, \"Speak on, stranger.\"\n\nSo that man said, \"When famine comes to a country and leaves it again it\ngoes to the idle, for they make no profit and sit always with hunger for\na cup-fellow.\n\n\"When sickness comes to a country and leaves it again it goes to the\naged, for they sit always with sickness and death for a companion.\n\n\"When war comes to a country and leaves it again it goes to those men\nwho have more than one wife, for in their houses quarrels never cease.\"\n\nWhen the Sultan heard these words he was very pleased, and gave his\ndaughter to the stranger.\n\n\n\n\nXXIX\n\nTHE LION, THE HYAENA AND THE HARE\n\n\nOnce it happened that a lion, a hyaena and a hare set out on a journey\ntogether.\n\nThe way was long, and they suffered much from hunger. Till one day, when\nthey were as yet far distant from the end of the journey, they were so\nsorely pressed by hunger that they gave up all hope of getting any\nfurther. Then they took counsel together and said, \"Now we shall all\ndie, and not one of us will escape. It were better that we eat one of\nour number, so that the other two may get the strength to proceed.\"\n\n[Illustration: The lion, the hyaena and the hare]\n\nSo they all agreed that this must be done, but they could not agree as\nto who should be eaten and who should be saved. At last it was decided\nthat the youngest amongst them should be eaten by the other two.\n\nThen said the lion to the hare, \"Now tell us your age, that we may\nknow.\"\n\nThe hare replied, \"Am I not the smallest and weakest here? It would not\nbe fitting for me to speak before the great ones. You, my masters, tell\nyour ages first, and then I will speak.\"\n\nSo the lion turned to the hyaena and said, \"You must then speak first.\"\n\nThe hyaena thought awhile and then said, \"My age is five hundred years\nold.\"\n\nThe lion then said to the hare, \"You have heard the hyaena, now you must\nspeak.\"\n\nBut the hare said, \"How can I speak before you, my lord, have spoken?\"\n\nThe lion thought and then said, \"I am two thousand years old.\"\n\n[Illustration: Spotted hyaena]\n\nWhen the hare heard these words he wept. The other two asked him why he\nwept, and he said, \"Oh, my friends, I weep to think of my eldest son,\nmy first born, for it was on a day just two thousand years ago that he\ndied.\"\n\n[Illustration: Lion]\n\nSo the lion killed the hyaena, and when he and the hare had eaten him\nthey were able to get strength to go on, and they finished their journey\nin safety.\n\n\n\n\nRICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E.\nAND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK\n\n\n\n\n[Transcriber's note: The story \"Kajikarangi\" is mentioned in the\nForeword but not included here. In the Table of Contents, original\nshort entries, e.g. \"KIBARAKA\" were expanded to the full story title,\ne.g. \"THE STORY OF KIBARAKA AND THE BIRD.\" Original spelling\nvariations have not been standardized. Underscores have been used to\nindicate _italic_ fonts.]","title":"Black Tales for White Children","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":34810}