{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46960/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46960","id":"gutenberg_46960","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46960","summary":null,"tags":["Animals -- Folklore","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Flemings -- Folklore","Folklore -- Flanders","Tales -- Flanders"],"text":"_Uniform with this Volume_\n\n  CHRISTMAS TALES OF FLANDERS\n\n  With Plates in Colour and many Black and White Illustrations by\n  JEAN DE BOSSCH\u00c8RE\n\n  \"This handsome and well-illustrated book is one of the most\n  attractive we have seen this season. It gives us renderings of the\n  popular fables and legends current in Flanders and Brabant which\n  have a colour and quaintness of their own, yet combines adventures\n  with an unobtrusive and so more effective moral.\"--_Saturday Review._\n\n  \"There are delightful stories; even more attractive than the\n  letterpress are M. de Bossch\u00e8re's illustrations. Conceived with\n  inexhaustible fancy, full of quaint detail, and set down with\n  a fascinating na\u00efvet\u00e9 they embody the characters and scenes\n  of the tales with a fullness of particularism that should\n  provide endless entertainment to youthful readers. They are the\n  best and most complete series of designs yet produced by the\n  artist.\"--_Connoisseur._\n\n  \"The illustrations by Jean de Bossch\u00e8re are of a droll fancy. The\n  artist has a notable power of the grotesque, and both in colour and\n  black and white he uses it.\"--_Daily Telegraph._\n\n\n  LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN\n\n\n\n\n  FOLK TALES OF\n  BEASTS AND MEN\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: \"HE TORE A RIB FROM HIS SIDE AND CUT OFF MY EAR\"\n                                                  [_See page 21_]]\n\n\n\n\n  BEASTS & MEN\n\n  FOLK TALES COLLECTED\n  IN FLANDERS AND\n  ILLUSTRATED BY\n  JEAN DE BOSSCH\u00c8RE\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  LONDON \u00b7 WILLIAM HEINEMANN\n  NEW YORK \u00b7 DODD, MEAD & COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n_London: William Heinemann, 1918_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                           PAGE\n  UPS AND DOWNS                               1\n  THE THREE MONKEYS                           5\n  HOW THE GOLDFINCH GOT HIS COLOURS          10\n  THE COCK AND THE FOX                       14\n  THE MOST CUNNING ANIMAL                    19\n  SPONSKEN AND THE GIANT                     22\n  WHY CATS ALWAYS WASH AFTER EATING          40\n  THE CHORISTERS OF ST. GUDULE               41\n  THE TRIAL OF REYNARD THE FOX               50\n  THE MAGIC CAP                              83\n  SUGAR-CANDY HOUSE                          91\n  POOR PETER                                 95\n  THE PEASANT AND HIS ASS                   103\n  THE KING OF THE BIRDS                     109\n  A DRUM FULL OF BEES                       116\n  THE DRUNKEN ROOKS                         131\n  THE BATTLE OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS        133\n  THE END OF THE WORLD                      139\n  THE REWARD OF THE WORLD                   147\n  ONE BAD TURN BEGETS ANOTHER               153\n  THE PEASANT AND THE SATYRS                159\n  THE TWO FRIENDS AND THE BARREL OF GREASE  163\n  WHY THE BEAR HAS A STUMPY TAIL            168\n  THE WITCH'S CAT                           173\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nIN COLOUR\n\n                                                            _Facing\n                                                               page_\n  \"HE TORE A RIB FROM HIS SIDE AND CUT OFF MY EAR\" _Frontispiece_\n  \"I HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY YOUR DRINK. GOOD-BYE!\"                   2\n  ALL THE BIRDS WERE VERY PROUD OF THEIR APPEARANCE              12\n  \"WHAT ELSE CAN I DO!\" ASKED CHANTICLEER                        44\n  THE TRIAL OF REYNARD THE FOX                                   68\n  \"YOU HAVE MERITED DEATH A HUNDRED TIMES\"                       80\n  JAN AND JANNETTE                                               90\n  BIRDS GOING TO THE RACE                                       112\n  THE BATTLE OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS                            132\n  AN IMMENSE DRAGON LYING BY THE WATER-SIDE                     148\n  THE SATYRS' VILLAGE                                           160\n  \"ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO SIT ON THE ICE\"                     170\n\n\nIN BLACK AND WHITE\n\n                                                             PAGE\n  THERE HE MET MISTRESS GOAT                                    1\n  THE FARMER PUT HER IN THE FOLD                                3\n  UP AND DOWN                                                   4\n  THREE FRIENDS                                                 5\n  LITTLE JAMES GOT PUSHED OVER THE SIDE                         7\n  \"PULL, BROTHER, PULL, AND WE'LL SOON HAVE HIM OUT\"            8\n  HE HAPPENED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR                             9\n  BIRDS                                                        10\n  THE ANGEL WHOSE MISSION IT WAS TO COLOUR THE BIRDS           11\n  HE TOOK A PLACE AMONG THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THEM ALL         12\n  SONG OF GRATITUDE                                            13\n  THE FOX WAS NOT A LITTLE FRIGHTENED                          14\n  \"DON'T GO AWAY, MY DEAR FRIEND,\" SAID THE FOX                17\n  \"THAT IS TRUE,\" SAID THE COCK TO HIMSELF                     18\n  THE SOLDIER, THE FOX, AND THE BEAR                           19\n  THERE WAS A FLASH, A LOUD REPORT....                         21\n  THE TWO HEROES OF THE STORY                                  22\n  SPONSKEN, THE GIANT, AND THE PRINCESS                        25\n  HE TOSSED THE BIRD INTO THE AIR                              27\n  \"THE THREE ANIMALS ARE A BEAR, A UNICORN, AND A WILD BOAR\"   28\n  THE BEAR FOLLOWED HIM INTO THE HOLLOW TRUNK                  29\n  WITH A MIGHTY CRASH HE RAN FULL TILT INTO THE TREE           31\n  SPONSKEN, THE PRINCESS, THE GIANT                            33\n  ALL THE ATTENDANTS FLED AT ONCE                              37\n  MARRIED A GIRL                                               39\n  THE CAT AND THE SPARROW                                      40\n  \"I'VE JUST BEEN TURNED OUT OF HOUSE\"                         41\n  \"THEY LAUGH AT ME\"                                           43\n  \"HUSH!\" SAID CHANTICLEER                                     45\n  BREAKING THE GLASS TO SMITHEREENS                            47\n  THE ROBBERS LOST NO TIME IN DECAMPING                        49\n  THE KING                                                     50\n  AT THE HEAD OF THE PROCESSION MARCHED CHANTICLEER            53\n  THE FOX'S CH\u00c2TEAU                                            55\n  THE POOR BEAST ROARED WITH PAIN                              57\n  HE IMMEDIATELY CALLED A COUNCIL OF HIS MINISTERS             59\n  \"TAKE ME TO THIS HOUSE\"                                      61\n  \"TYBERT AND BRUIN ARE BADLY KNOCKED ABOUT\"                   63\n  \"AND CAUSED HIM TO JUMP AT LEAST TWENTY FEET INTO THE AIR\"   64\n  \"I WAS MISCHIEVOUS AND UNRULY\"                               67\n  \"AND PEARLS TOO?\" SHE WHISPERED                              69\n  \"I SAW HIM STOP AT THE FOOT OF A GREAT TREE\"                 71\n  THE CONSPIRACY GAINED ADHERENTS EVERY DAY                    73\n  THE SUIT OF GOLDEN ARMOUR EMRIK WORE                         75\n  THEY WALKED IN SILENCE                                       77\n  REYNARD SPRANG AT HIS THROAT                                 79\n  THE KING OF THAT LAND CAUGHT HIM                             82\n  CALF AND GOAT                                                83\n  \"YOU WERE BEING MADE A FOOL OF\"                              85\n  JAN AND THE THREE STUDENTS                                   87\n  TWIRLED THE CAP ROUND THREE TIMES ON HIS FINGER              89\n  AND DIPPED THEM INTO THE HORSE-TROUGH                        90\n  WERE CARRIED SAFELY OVER TO THE OTHER BANK                   91\n  \"GR-R-R, I'LL EAT THEM UP!\"                                  93\n  WOLF'S HEAD                                                  94\n  JACO PETER AND HIS FRIEND                                    95\n  \"SMEAR YOURSELF FROM HEAD TO FOOT\"                           97\n  REYNARD SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY TO WARN HIS FRIEND            99\n  AN EXCLAMATION OF ASTONISHMENT                              100\n  AWAY WENT THE COACHES                                       102\n  \"OH DEAR ME, THAT'S TWICE!\"                                 103\n  \"HALLO, MY MAN,\" CRIED THE LORD                             105\n  \"I CAN'T GET UP, BECAUSE I'M DEAD!\"                         107\n  SENT HIM SPRAWLING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS         108\n  THE EAGLE AND THE KINGLET                                   109\n  \"IS OUR KING THEN ONLY TO BE LOOKED AT?\"                    111\n  THERE WAS THE SOUND AS OF A RUSHING MIGHTY WIND             113\n  HE IS KNOWN AS THE KINGLET                                  115\n  DONATUS                                                     116\n  THERE WAS A KNOT-HOLE IN THE WOODEN FLOOR                   119\n  \"I DID NOT HEAR YOU KNOCK\"                                  121\n  THE SWARM OF BEES WITHIN BEGAN TO BUZZ ABOUT IN GREAT\n      COMMOTION                                               123\n  BEATING ANOTHER TATTOO UPON THE DRUM                        124\n  THE BEADLE, TOO, STUMBLED AND FELL                          125\n  HE HAD FAITHFULLY CARRIED OUT ALL HIS INSTRUCTIONS          127\n  IT WAS THE LABOURER DRESSED IN THE DRUMMER'S CLOTHES        128\n  RODE STRAIGHT INTO A MARSH                                  130\n  WHEN THE FIFTY ROOKS BEGAN TO FLY HE COULD NOT GET FREE     131\n  THE ROOKS                                                   132\n  FIGHTING                                                    133\n  THE KINGLET WARNED HIM TO BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO BUZZ       135\n  THE GREAT OFFENSIVE BEGAN                                   137\n  THE FOX                                                     138\n  THE CAT RUSHED OUT OF THE ROOM                              139\n  THE CAT, THE DOG, THE COCK, THE RABBIT, AND THE GOOSE       141\n  \"SEE IF YOU CAN ESPY A HOUSE\"                               142\n  \"JUMP ON TO MY BEAUTIFUL CURLY TAIL\"                        143\n  THE OTHER FOUR GOT ON TO THE DOG'S BACK                     145\n  SENT ME FLYING THROUGH THE AIR                              146\n  THE DRAGON                                                  147\n  \"MY SIGHT IS SO WEAK AND MY POWERS SO FEEBLE\"               149\n  \"DOES THE DRAGON MIND GETTING UNDER THE STONE AGAIN?\"       151\n  TWO FOXES                                                   152\n  NOTHING WAS LEFT OF THE FISHES                              153\n  THE BIGGEST AND FATTEST FISH                                155\n  STRETCHED HIMSELF OUT AT FULL LENGTH                        156\n  \"I WILLINGLY GIVE YOU YOURS!\"                               158\n  \"WHY ARE YOU BLOWING YOUR SOUP?\"                            159\n  \"THERE IS NO PLACE IN MY HOUSE FOR A MAN WHO CAN BLOW HOT\n      AND COLD\"                                               161\n  SATYR                                                       162\n  THE TWO FRIENDS                                             163\n  \"WHERE HAS ALL OUR GREASE GONE?\"                            165\n  BEGUN, HALF-DONE, ALL-DONE                                  167\n  MRS. BRUIN AND REYNARD                                      168\n  \"AFTER A TIME THE FISH WILL COME TO BITE AT IT\"             169\n  \"ONE, TWO, THREE...!\"                                       171\n  BORN WITH A LITTLE STUMPY TAIL                              172\n  MARGOT AND THE CAT                                          173\n  SHE MEANT TO KEEP HER THERE UNTIL SHE HAD GROWN BIGGER AND\n      FATTER                                                  175\n  PADDLING WITH HER BROOM                                     177\n  HE WAS REALLY A PRINCE                                      179\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THERE HE MET MISTRESS GOAT]\n\nUPS AND DOWNS\n\n\nThe summer had been very hot. Not a drop of rain had fallen for many\nweeks, and there was drought in the valley where the animals lived. The\nstreams had dried up and the springs had ceased to flow. Master Fox\ntook up his pipe and went out to take a walk under the lime-trees to\nthink things over. There he met Mistress Goat, all dressed up in her\nSunday clothes.\n\n\"Good morrow, cousin,\" said he. \"You are very fine to-day.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she answered, \"I put on my best dress because it helps me to\nthink. What we are to do for water I do not know. We have finished\nall that we had in the barrel, and unless we can find some more very\nquickly I and my children will die of thirst.\"\n\n\"To tell you the truth,\" said the Fox, \"I was thinking the same thing.\nI am so dry that my tongue is sticking to the roof of my mouth, and\nI cannot even smoke my pipe with pleasure. What do you say to going\ntogether in search of water? Four eyes are better than two, any day in\nthe week.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said the Goat; and away they started together. For a long\ntime they looked everywhere, but not a trace of water could they find.\nAll of a sudden the Goat gave a cry of joy, and running up to her the\nFox saw that she had discovered a well, on the brink of which she was\nstanding gazing at the cool water far below.\n\n\"Hurrah!\" cried the Fox. \"We are saved!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered the Goat, \"but see how far down the water is! How are\nwe to get at it!\"\n\n\"You just leave that to me,\" said the Fox. \"I know all about\nwells--I've seen them before. All one has to do is to get into the\nbucket which is hanging by the rope and descend as smoothly and as\nsafely as you please. I'll go first, just to show you the way.\"\n\nSo the Fox got into the bucket, and the weight of him caused it to\ndescend, while the empty bucket at the other end of the rope rose to\nthe top of the well. A minute afterwards he was at the bottom, leaning\nover the side of the pail and greedily lapping up the water. Nothing\nhad ever tasted so delicious. He drank and drank until he could hold no\nmore.\n\n\"Is it good?\" cried Mrs. Goat from above, dancing with impatience.\n\n\"It is like the purest nectar!\" answered the Fox. \"Get into the bucket\nquickly and come down and join me.\"\n\nSo the goat stepped into the bucket, which immediately began to descend\nwith her weight, while at the same time the bucket with Master Fox in\nit began to rise to the surface. The two met half-way.\n\n\"How is this?\" asked Mrs. Goat in surprise. \"I thought you were going\nto wait for me!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"I HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY YOUR DRINK. GOOD-BYE!\"]\n\n\"Ah, my dear friend,\" answered Reynard with a wicked grin, \"it is the\nway of the world. Some go up and some go down. I hope you will\nenjoy your drink. Good-bye!\"\n\n[Illustration: THE FARMER PUT HER IN THE FOLD]\n\nAnd as soon as he got to the top he jumped out of the bucket and ran\noff at top speed.\n\nSo poor Mrs. Goat had to stay there at the bottom of the well until the\nfarmer came and found her, half dead with cold. When at last she was\nrescued she found that she had only exchanged one prison for another,\nfor the farmer put her into the fold with his own sheep and goats, and\nso she lost her liberty for ever.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THREE FRIENDS]\n\nTHE THREE MONKEYS\n\n\nThere were once three monkeys who were going for a voyage in a balloon.\n(This was in Monkey-land, far, far away and ever so long ago.) The\nthree were so much alike that it was impossible to tell one from the\nother, and to make matters worse each of them answered to the name of\nJames. Such a thing would never do in the crew of a balloon, so the old\nmonkey who was in command decided that each of the three should have a\ndifferent name. The first was to be called James, the second Jemmy, and\nthe third Little James.\n\nSo far so good. The three monkeys climbed into the balloon, the ground\nropes were untied, and the voyage was begun. When they had reached a\nheight of some hundreds of feet, the captain wished to give an order,\nso he called to the first monkey: \"James!\"\n\n\"Aye aye, sir,\" said all the three, running up to him.\n\n\"I called James,\" said the captain, looking from one to the other.\n\n\"Well, I am James,\" answered the first monkey.\n\n\"No, no. James is my name,\" said the second.\n\n\"And mine too,\" said the third.\n\n\"How can you be James if I am he?\" cried the first angrily.\n\n\"I tell you James is my name!\" cried the second.\n\n\"No, mine!\"\n\nAnd so the three monkeys began to quarrel and dispute. Words led to\nblows, and soon they were tumbling about all over the car of the\nballoon, biting, scratching, and pummelling while the captain sat in\nhis chair and bawled to them to stop. Every minute it seemed as though\nthe car would overturn, and the end of it was that Little James got\npushed over the side. He turned a beautiful somersault, and fell down,\ndown, down through the air, landing in a soft bed of mud, into which\nhe sank so that only his face and the top of his yellow cranium were\nvisible.\n\n\"Help! help!\" bawled Little James at the top of his voice.\n\nUp ran a pair of monkeys belonging to the neighbourhood and stood\nlooking at him.\n\n\"He's in the mud, brother,\" said one.\n\n\"Up to his neck,\" said the other. \"How silly!\" And they both began to\ngrin.\n\n\"Help!\" cried Little James again, more faintly, for he was sinking\ndeeper, and the mud was nearly at the level of his mouth. \"Pull me out!\nPull me out!\"\n\n\"Ah, but how?\" asked the first monkey, looking at him gravely.\n\n\"Wait a minute,\" cried the second, \"I have an idea!\" and he pulled out\nof his pocket one of those leather suckers on a string which boys use\nto lift stones. Moistening the disc, he clapped it on to Little James's\nhead, and began to tug on the cord with all his might.\n\n\"Hey!\" cried the other monkey, running to help. \"Pull, brother, pull,\nand we'll soon have him out!\"\n\n[Illustration: LITTLE JAMES GOT PUSHED OVER THE SIDE]\n\n_Crack!_ The cord snapped suddenly, and the two monkeys tumbled head\nover heels. Never mind; they got another cord to repair the damage, and\nthis time they succeeded in pulling Little James clear of the mud.\n\nDid I say Little James? Alas! it was only half of him! His rescuers had\npulled so hard that he had broken off short in the middle, and his two\nlegs were left embedded in the mud.\n\n[Illustration: \"PULL, BROTHER, PULL, AND WE'LL SOON HAVE HIM OUT\"]\n\n\"Dear me!\" said the first monkey, scratching his head. \"This is very\nsad. The poor fellow has lost his legs. What shall we do?\"\n\n\"Let us make him some wooden ones!\" said the other.\n\nSo said, so done. They made him a beautiful pair of wooden legs, and\nLittle James hobbled painfully home. By the time he reached his house\nhe felt so ill that he went straight to bed. \"I believe I am going to\ndie,\" he said to himself. \"I must make my will and set down the cause\nof my death.\"\n\nSo he sent for pen and paper and began to write. Before very long,\nhowever, he stopped and began to scratch his head in perplexity. \"If\nI am going to die,\" he thought, \"I must be going to die of something!\nNow, what am I going to die of? This must be carefully considered, for\nabove all one must write the truth in one's last testament!\"\n\nSo he pondered and pondered, but he could not make up his mind as\nto the cause of his death. Was he going to die of the fall from the\nballoon, or of his broken legs, or what? Just then he happened to look\nin the mirror by the bedside, and saw that there was a lump on his\nforehead, which he had got while fighting with James and Jemmy in the\nballoon.\n\n\"Why, of course,\" cried he, \"I am going to die of that big bruise on my\nforehead!\" So he wrote it down in his will, and then, happy at having\nsolved the difficulty, turned over on his side and died.\n\nAnd, as I said before, this all took place in Monkey-land, ever so long\nago.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: BIRDS]\n\nHOW THE GOLDFINCH GOT HIS COLOURS\n\n\nWhen the Angel whose mission it was to colour the birds had finished\nhis work, he began to scrape his palette and to make ready for\ndeparture. He had done his task well, for the plumage of the feathered\ncreatures all around him glowed with a thousand glorious colours. There\nwas the lordly eagle, arrayed in a robe of golden brown. The peacock\nhad a tail of shimmering blue and green that looked as if it were\nstudded with precious stones. The crow's black coat shone in the sun\nwith a kind of steely radiance, very wonderful to behold. The canary\nwas as yellow as a buttercup; the jay had a spot of blue sky on either\nwing; even the humble sparrow wore a handsome black neck-tie; while\nChanticleer, the cock, was resplendent in yellow, black, and red. All\nthe birds were very proud of their appearance, and they strutted about\nhere and there, gazing at their reflections in the water and calling\nupon their neighbours to come and admire their beauties.\n\n[Illustration: THE ANGEL WHOSE MISSION IT WAS TO COLOUR THE BIRDS]\n\nAlone among the birds the little goldfinch took no part in the\nrejoicing. Somehow or other the Angel had overlooked him, so that he\nremained uncoloured, a drab little creature, in his sober grey dress,\namong the gaily clothed throng. More than once he had tried to draw\nthe Angel's attention to himself, and now, seeing him cleaning his\npalette in readiness to depart, he stepped forward and said: \"Have\npity on me, good Angel, and paint my plumage as you have painted that\nof the others, so that I may walk among them unashamed. I have nothing\nto commend me--no beautiful song like the nightingale or the throstle,\nno grace of form such as the swallows have. If I am to go unadorned,\nnothing remains for me but to hide myself among the leaves.\"\n\n[Illustration: HE TOOK A PLACE AMONG THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THEM ALL]\n\nThen the Angel took pity on the little creature, and would gladly have\npainted him with glowing colours, but alas, he had scraped his palette\nclean. Therefore he took up a brush, and going from bird to bird took\nfrom each a spot of colour, which he laid upon the goldfinch, blending\na score of brilliant hues with marvellous skill. When he had finished,\nthe tiny bird was transformed, and from being the saddest in that\nbrilliant company he took a place among the most beautiful of them all.\n\n[Illustration: ALL THE BIRDS WERE VERY PROUD OF THEIR APPEARANCE]\n\nIt is not possible, by means of words, to describe the beauty of the\ncolouring which the Angel gave to the goldfinch, but you may see him\nany day you like, sitting on a thistle, and chirping his song of\ngratitude and praise.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE FOX WAS NOT A LITTLE FRIGHTENED]\n\nTHE COCK AND THE FOX\n\n\nThis is the story that the old woman who was called Tante Sannie told\nto the little boy who would always be talking:\n\nA long time ago (she said) there lived in a farmyard a Cock who was\nvery proud of himself, and with reason, too, for he was, indeed,\na plump and handsome bird. Nothing could have been finer than his\nappearance when he strutted through the yard, lifting his feet high as\nhe walked, and nodding his head at each step. He had a magnificent comb\nof coral-red, and blue-black plumage streaked with gold, which shone so\nbrilliantly when the sun flashed on it that it was a joy to see him. No\nwonder that his twenty wives gazed at him admiringly and followed him\nwherever he went, and were quite content to let him hustle them about\nand gobble up all the fattest worms and the finest grains of corn.\n\nIf this Cock was proud of his appearance, there was one thing of which\nhe was even prouder, and that was his voice. He was a famous songster;\nhe could crow you high and he could crow you low; he could utter tones\nas deep as the pealing of the organ in church or as shrill as the blast\nof a trumpet. Every morning, when the first streak of dawn appeared in\nthe sky, he would get down off his perch, raise himself on his toes,\nstretch out his neck, close his eyes and crow so loudly that he roused\npeople who were sleeping in the next parish. And this he loved to do,\nbecause it was his nature.\n\nNow in the forest close to the farmyard there lived a Fox who had often\ngazed with longing eyes upon the plump and handsome bird. His mouth\nwatered every time he thought of him, and many were the artful tricks\nhe played to try and catch him for his dinner. One day he hid himself\namong the bushes in the garden by the farmyard and waited patiently\nuntil the Cock happened to stray his way. After a time the bird came\nalong, pecking here and pecking there, wandered through the gate into\nthe garden, and made straight for the bush under which Master Fox was\nhidden. He was just going to run into the bush after a butterfly which\nwas fluttering about, when he caught sight of Reynard's black snout and\ncunning, watchful eyes, and with a squeak of alarm he jumped aside,\njust in time, and hopped on to the wall.\n\nAt this the Fox rose to his feet. \"Don't go away, my dear friend,\" said\nhe in honeyed tones. \"I would not for the world do you any harm. I\nknow that it is my bad fortune to be disliked by your family--I can't\nfor the life of me think why, and it is a pity, because I have to hide\nmyself for the pleasure of hearing you sing. There is no cock in all\nthese parts has such a magnificent voice as yours, and I simply do not\nbelieve the stories they tell about you.\"\n\n\"Eh, what is that?\" said the Cock, stopping at a safe distance and\nlooking at the Fox with his head on one side. \"What do they say?\"\n\n\"Why,\" Reynard went on, edging a little nearer, \"they tell me that\nyou can only crow with your eyes open. They say that if you were to\nshut your eyes, that clarion call of yours would become only a feeble\npiping, like the clucking of a new-born chick. But of course I don't\nbelieve them. Any one can see they are merely jealous.\"\n\n\"I should think so,\" cried the Cock, bristling with anger. \"Crow\nwith my eyes shut, indeed! Why, I never crow in any other way. Just\nlook here--I'll prove it to you!\" And he raised himself on his toes,\nstretched out his neck, closed his eyes, and was just going to crow,\nwhen, _Snap!_ the Fox sprang upon him and caught him in his teeth!\n\nThen began a great to-do! The poor cock flapped his wings and struggled\nas the Fox ran off with him. The hens ran about the yard clucking and\nsquawking, and the noise they made alarmed the farmer's wife, who was\ncooking in the kitchen. Out she came running, with the rolling-pin in\nher hand, and, seeing the fox with the cock in his mouth, gave chase,\nshrieking as she ran. The farm-hands tumbled out of barn and byre armed\nwith pitch-forks, spades, and sticks. All the beasts began to raise a\nclatter, and what with the shouting of the men, the squealing of the\npigs, the neighing of the horses, and the lowing of the cows, to say\nnothing of the clucking of the hens and the old woman's screaming, one\nwould have thought the end of the world was at hand.\n\nThe Fox was not a little frightened by all this clatter, but he was not\nso frightened as the Cock, who saw that only cunning would save his\nlife.\n\n\"They will catch us in a minute,\" he said to the Fox, \"and, as likely\nas not, we shall both be killed by a single blow. Why don't you call\nout and tell them I came with you of my own accord?\"\n\n\"A good idea,\" thought the Fox, and he opened his mouth to call out to\nhis pursuers, thereby loosening his grip on the Cock's neck. Then, with\na squirm and a twist and a flutter of his wings, the wily bird wrenched\nhimself free and flew up to the branches of a tree near by.\n\n[Illustration: \"DON'T GO AWAY, MY DEAR FRIEND,\" SAID THE FOX]\n\nThe Fox cast a look at him and saw that he was out of reach; then he\nglanced over his shoulder at his pursuers, who were getting perilously\nnear. \"It seems to me,\" he said, grinning with rage, \"I should have\ndone better to hold my tongue.\"\n\n\"That is true,\" said the Cock to himself as he smoothed his ruffled\nfeathers. \"And I would have been better advised to keep my weather-eye\nopen.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE SOLDIER, THE FOX, AND THE BEAR]\n\nTHE MOST CUNNING ANIMAL\n\n\nOne day the Fox and the Bear began to argue as to which was the most\ncunning animal. The Bear said that he thought foxes and bears took\nfirst place.\n\n\"You are wrong, my friend,\" said Reynard. \"We are clever, you and I,\nbut there is one animal that is as far above us as we are above the\nrest of creation.\"\n\n\"Oh, indeed,\" sneered the Bear, \"and what is the name of this\nmarvellous creature?\"\n\n\"He is called the man-animal,\" answered Reynard, \"and he goes on two\nlegs instead of four, which is a wonderful thing in itself. Here are\nsome of the cunning things he can do; first, he can swim in the water\nwithout getting wet; when he is cold he makes yellow flowers grow out\nof sticks to warm himself; and he can strike at an enemy a hundred\nyards away!\"\n\n\"I do not believe you,\" answered the Bear. \"This is a fairy-tale you\nare telling me. If such a creature as the man-animal really exists, it\nis very strange that I have never seen him!\"\n\n\"Strange, indeed!\" grinned the Fox, \"but soon remedied. Would you like\nto see the man-animal?\"\n\n\"It would be a sight for sore eyes,\" said the Bear.\n\n\"Very well,\" said the Fox, \"come along with me.\" And he led the Bear\nthrough the forest until they came to a road leading to a village.\n\"Now, then,\" said he, \"let us lie down in the ditch and watch the road,\nand we shall see what we shall see.\"\n\nPresently a child from the village came along.\n\n\"Look! Look!\" whispered the Bear. \"An animal walking on two legs! Is\nthis the creature we seek?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the Fox, \"but one of these days it will become a\nman-animal.\"\n\nShortly afterwards there came along an old woman, all bent and wrinkled.\n\n\"Is that one?\" asked the Bear.\n\n\"No,\" said the Fox again, \"but once upon a time that was the mother of\none!\"\n\nAt last there came the sound of brisk footsteps on the road, and\npeeping out between the bushes the Bear saw a tall soldier in a red\ncoat marching towards them. He had a sword by his side and a musket\nover his shoulder.\n\n\"This must surely be the man-animal,\" said the Bear. \"Ugh! what an ugly\ncreature! I don't believe he is cunning in the least!\" But the Fox made\nno answer, for at the first sight of the soldier he had fled into the\nforest.\n\n\"Well, well,\" muttered the Bear, \"I don't see anything to be afraid\nof here. Let us have a talk with this wonder!\" And hoisting himself\nclumsily out of the ditch he lumbered along the road to meet the\nsoldier.\n\n\"Now then, my fine fellow,\" he growled, \"I have heard some wonderful\nstories about you. Tell me....\"\n\nBut before he could get another word out of his mouth the soldier drew\nhis sword and struck him such a shrewd blow that he cut off his ear.\n\n\"Wow!\" cried the Bear, \"what's that for? Tell me....\" But then, seeing\nthe gleaming steel flash once again, he turned tail and ran off as fast\nas he could go. Just as he reached the edge of the wood, he looked\nbackward and saw the soldier raise his gun to his shoulder. There was\na flash, a loud report, and the Bear felt a terrific blow against his\nside. Down he went like a ninepin, but fortunately for him the bullet\nhad merely glanced off his hide, and he was not seriously hurt. Picking\nhimself up, he lost no time in gaining the shelter of the trees, and\npresently came limping painfully to the place where the Fox was waiting\nfor him.\n\n\"Well, my friend,\" said Reynard, \"did you see the man-animal? And what\ndid you think of him?\"\n\n\"You were right,\" answered poor Bruin sadly. \"He is certainly the most\ncunning creature in the world. I went up to speak to him and he tore\na rib from his side and cut off my ear. Then I ran away, but before\nI could reach the trees he picked up a stick and pointed it at me.\nThen there came thunder and lightning, and a piece of the earth heaved\nitself up and knocked me spinning! Beyond all doubt the man-animal\ntakes the palm for cunning, but I never want to see him again, for I\nshall carry the marks of our first meeting to my dying day.\"\n\nAnd Reynard grinned, and said: \"I told you so!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSPONSKEN AND THE GIANT\n\n\nThere was once a lad whose face was so badly pitted by the smallpox\nthat everybody called him Sponsken, which means little sponge. From\nthe very day of his birth Sponsken had been a great cause of anxiety\nto his parents, and as he grew older he became more trouble still, for\nhe was so full of whims and mischief that one never knew where one had\nhim. He would not learn his lessons, nor work at any serious task for\nten minutes on end. All he seemed to think of was cutting capers and\nplaying practical jokes on people. At last, in despair, his parents\ntold their trouble to the village sexton, who was a great friend of the\nfamily, and often came to smoke his pipe with Sponsken's father in the\nchimney corner.\n\n\"Don't worry, my friends,\" said the sexton. \"I've seen young men like\nyour son before, and they are quite easy to manage if one only goes\nabout it the right way. Just leave him to me. What he wants is a good\nfright, and I'll make it my business to see that he gets it.\"\n\nSo far so good. Sponsken's parents were only too glad to fall in with\nany plan which seemed likely to reform their unruly son, so the sexton\nwent off to make his arrangements. That night he whitened his face with\nflour, covered himself in a white sheet, and hid behind a tree on a\nroad along which he knew Sponsken would have to pass.\n\nIt was the dark of the moon, and the place the sexton had chosen was\nvery lonely. For a long time he waited; then, hearing Sponsken coming\nalong whistling a merry tune, he sprang out suddenly from behind his\ntree and waved his arms in a terrifying manner.\n\n\"Hallo!\" said Sponsken. \"Who are you?\"\n\nThe sexton uttered a hollow groan.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" said the boy. \"Are you ill? If you can't speak,\nget out of my way, for I am in a hurry.\"\n\nThe sexton groaned again, louder than before, and waved his arms wildly.\n\n\"Come, come,\" cried Sponsken, \"I can't stay here all night. Tell me\nwhat you want at once and let me pass.\" Then, as the ghostly figure\nmade no answer, he struck it a blow with the stout ash-stick which he\ncarried, and the poor sexton fell, stunned, to the ground. Sponsken\nstayed long enough to take a glimpse of the ghost's face and to\nrecognize the features of the sexton beneath the flour; then he went on\nhis way homeward, whistling as merrily as before.\n\nWhen he reached home his parents gazed at him uneasily. They were very\nanxious about the success of their friend's plan, but Sponsken did not\nlook at all like a lad who had been frightened--quite the contrary in\nfact, for he drew his chair up to the table and set to work upon his\nsupper with an excellent appetite.\n\n\"A funny thing happened to me to-night,\" he said carelessly between\ntwo bites of an onion. \"As I was walking along the lonely road by the\ncemetery a white figure jumped out at me.\"\n\n\"A wh-white figure!\" stammered his father. \"How terrifying! And what\ndid you do, my son?\"\n\n\"Do?\" said Sponsken cheerfully. \"Why, I fetched him a crack on the\nskull with my staff. He went down like a ninepin, and I warrant he\nwon't try to frighten travellers again!\"\n\n\"Base, ungrateful boy!\" cried his father, rising to his feet. \"It was\nmy dear friend Jan the sexton you struck. All I hope is that you have\nnot killed him.\"\n\n\"Well, if I have, it is his own fault,\" answered Sponsken. \"He should\nnot play tricks on me.\" But his father continued to rage and grumble so\nlong that Sponsken got tired of hearing him at last, and flung off to\nbed in a sulk.\n\n\"I'll stand no more of this,\" he said to himself. \"Since my own people\ndo not appreciate me, I'll go out and seek my own fortune in the world,\nand they may go on as best they can.\"\n\nThe next morning, therefore, having packed a loaf of bread and a piece\nof cheese in a bag, Sponsken set off on his travels, telling nobody\nwhere he was going, and taking nothing else with him except a sparrow\nwhich he had tamed and kept since it was a fledgling. After walking for\na long time he came to a forest, and feeling rather tired he sat down\non the trunk of a fallen tree to rest.\n\nNow in this forest lived a giant who was the most hideous creature\none could possibly imagine. From his forehead jutted a pair of horns;\nhis features were more like those of a beast than a man, and his\nfinger-nails grew long and curved like the claws of a wild animal. The\ngiant considered himself lord of the whole wood, and was very jealous\nlest anybody should enter his domain. When, therefore, he saw Sponsken\nhe was very angry, and having pulled up a young tree by the roots to\nserve him as a club, he approached the young man, who was sitting with\nhis eyes closed, and struck him a heavy blow on the shoulder.\n\n[Illustration: SPONSKEN, THE GIANT, AND THE PRINCESS]\n\nIn spite of appearances, Sponsken was not asleep; he was far too wary\na person to be caught napping under such conditions. As a matter of\nfact, he had seen the giant before the giant saw him, and he knew that\nhis only chance of escape was to remain unperturbed and calm. When,\ntherefore, the giant struck him on the shoulder, he opened his eyes\nsleepily, rubbed the place, and said with a yawn: \"A pest on these\nflies! They bite so hard that a fellow can't sleep for them.\"\n\n\"You shall sleep soundly enough in a minute!\" muttered the giant, who\nwas enraged at Sponsken's nonchalance. \"See how you like this!\" And he\ngave the lad a blow on the other shoulder, harder than before.\n\n\"There they are again!\" cried Sponsken, rubbing the place. \"My word!\nThey bite even harder on this side than on the other. It is time I was\ngoing!\" And he rose from his seat, starting back with surprise as he\naffected to see the giant for the first time.\n\n\"So it's you, is it?\" he cried. \"What do you mean by tickling me when I\nam trying to sleep? If I were not so kind-hearted I'd break your neck\nfor you!\"\n\n\"Have a care what you say,\" cried the giant. \"Do you know that I have\nthe strength of twenty men and could crush you between my hands like a\nkitten?\"\n\n\"Pooh!\" said Sponsken. \"Words are windy things. I have no doubt you\ncould kill a whole regiment with your breath. But words won't go with\nme, my man; you must give me some proof of your prowess.\"\n\n\"Proof!\" roared the giant. \"See here! I can throw a stone so high into\nthe air that it will not come down for a quarter of an hour.\" And he\nwas as good as his word, for, picking up a large stone, he flung it\nwith all his strength, and it was more than a quarter of an hour before\nit fell again at their feet.\n\n\"Can you match that?\" asked the giant with a grin.\n\n\"Easily,\" said Sponsken. \"I will throw a stone so high that it will\nnot come down at all!\" Bending to the ground he picked up a pebble and\nshowed it to the giant, but very cleverly he managed at the last moment\nto exchange it for the sparrow which he carried in his pocket, and\nthis he was able to do because the giant was rather short-sighted, and,\nif truth be told, slow-witted as well.\n\n[Illustration: HE TOSSED THE BIRD INTO THE AIR]\n\n\"One, two, three!\" cried Sponsken, and he tossed the bird into the air,\nand of course it flew up and up and never came down at all.\n\n\"Well, well,\" said the giant, \"I never saw such a thing as that in my\nlife before. You are certainly a wonderful stone-thrower, little man.\nBut can you do this?\" And picking up another stone, he squeezed it so\nhard between his immense fists that he crushed it into a fine powder.\n\n\"Yes, that is hard to do,\" said Sponsken, \"but I think I can go one\nbetter. Any oaf, if he be strong enough, can crush a stone to powder,\nbut it requires skill as well as strength to wring the juice out of\none. Watch me!\" So saying, Sponsken adroitly slipped out his piece of\ncheese, and squeezed it until the whey dripped from between his fingers.\n\n[Illustration: \"THE THREE ANIMALS ARE A BEAR, A UNICORN, AND A WILD\nBOAR\"]\n\n\"Marvellous!\" said the giant. \"I confess myself beaten. Let us go into\npartnership, for there cannot be two others like us in the whole world.\"\n\n\"Willingly,\" answered Sponsken, \"but what are we to do?\"\n\n\"Why, as for that,\" said the giant, \"the King of this country has\npromised his daughter's hand in marriage, and a great treasure besides,\nto anybody who can destroy three ferocious beasts which are devastating\nhis realm. It seems to me that this is a task we can quite well do\ntogether. You, with your quickness and skill, can trap the beasts, and\nI can kill them with my club. That done, we will divide the spoils.\"\n\nSo it was agreed, and without wasting a moment the two took the wood\ntogether. Before very long they reached the King's palace, and sent up\na message by one of the lords in waiting that they would like to see\nHis Majesty.\n\n\"And do you mean to tell me,\" asked the King, when he had heard the\ngiant's tale, \"that you can overcome the three fierce animals by the\nhelp of this ugly little pock-marked fellow.\"\n\n\"Hush! Not so loud, for the love of heaven!\" whispered the giant. \"My\nfriend is very touchy about his appearance, and if he hears you making\nsuch slighting remarks it is very likely he will bring the whole of\nyour palace down about your head!\"\n\n[Illustration: THE BEAR FOLLOWED HIM INTO THE HOLLOW TRUNK]\n\n\"You don't say so!\" whispered the King in reply, glancing fearfully\nat the terrible little man. \"Well, you are at liberty to try your\nluck. The three animals are a bear, a unicorn, and a wild boar, and at\npresent they are hidden in the wood close by. There you will find them,\nbut take care of yourselves, for they have already killed scores of my\nmen.\"\n\n\"Don't be afraid,\" answered the giant, \"for us this is as easy as\nplaying a game.\"\n\nAfter having partaken of a good meal the two made their way towards the\nwood in which the animals were hidden.\n\n\"We must make a plan,\" said Sponsken. \"Listen to what I propose. You go\ninto the middle of the wood while I remain here on the outskirts; then\nwhen you drive the beasts out I will see that they do not escape.\"\n\nSo it was arranged. The giant went forward into the wood, while\nSponsken remained outside, waiting to see what would happen. He had\nnot to wait long, for presently there was a crashing and a tearing of\nundergrowth and a great bear came lumbering towards him. Sponsken did\nnot like the look of the creature at all, and decided to put as much\nspace between them as possible. Looking here and there for a refuge,\nhe spied a big oak-tree, and quickly climbed its trunk and ensconced\nhimself among the branches. Unfortunately the bear had already seen\nhim, and, raising himself on his hind legs with a dreadful roar, he\nrushed to the tree and began to climb. In another moment Sponsken would\nhave been lost, but by good chance the tree happened to be hollow, so\nwithout hesitation the lad let himself down into the trunk, and finding\nat the bottom a small hole which led to the open air, he was just able\nto wriggle through it and escape. The bear followed him into the hollow\ntrunk, but the hole at the bottom was too small for him to get out\nby, and as there was hardly room to move inside the trunk, the angry\ncreature had to stay where he was, waking all the echoes in the forest\nwith his growling.\n\nThe next minute the giant came running out of the forest. \"Have you\nseen the bear?\" he cried. \"I drove him towards you!\"\n\n\"Don't worry,\" answered Sponsken coolly; \"I've shut him up in the tree\nthere to keep him safe.\"\n\nThe giant rushed to the tree and dispatched the bear with one blow\nof his great club. Then, pulling out the carcass, he shouldered it,\nand the two went back to the palace, congratulating each other on the\nexcellent beginning of their enterprise.\n\nThere remained now the unicorn and the wild boar. Next day Sponsken and\nthe giant went to the forest again, and since their first plan had been\nso successful, it was arranged that they should follow exactly the same\ncourse. The giant went into the depths of the wood to find the unicorn\nand drive him out, while Sponsken remained on the borders to capture\nthe animal when he came.\n\nThis time the period of waiting was longer, and Sponsken, leaning\nagainst the oak-tree, had almost fallen asleep when a clattering of\nhoofs awakened him, and he sprang aside just in time to escape the\nunicorn, who, breathing fire from his nostrils, charged down upon\nhim. So great was the impetus of the beast's charge that he could not\nstop himself, and with a mighty crash he ran full tilt into the tree,\ndriving his horn so far into the trunk that, although he pulled and\nstruggled, he could not wrench himself free.\n\n[Illustration: WITH A MIGHTY CRASH HE RAN FULL TILT INTO THE TREE]\n\nWhen the giant came up, Sponsken showed him the animal, which was\nquickly killed with a single blow of the club.\n\n\"Didn't I manage that affair well?\" asked Sponsken as they went back to\nthe palace.\n\n\"You are a wonder!\" answered the giant, and he really believed what he\nsaid.\n\nNow only the wild boar remained, and on the following day the two\nwent to the forest to capture him also. Once again the same plan was\nfollowed, but this time Sponsken kept his eyes wide open, and when the\nferocious beast broke cover he ran as fast as he could in the direction\nof the royal chapel. The wild boar followed him, and a fearsome\ncreature he looked, I assure you, with his wicked little eyes and his\ngreat curved tusks and the hair on his back bristling like the quills\nof a porcupine.\n\nThrough the open door of the chapel Sponsken ran, and the boar,\nsnorting with fury, followed him. Then began a fine chase, round and\nround the aisles, over the pews, and in and out of the vestries. At\nlast Sponsken seized a chair, and dashing it against a window broke\nseveral panes, and so made good his escape. While the boar was still\nstanding stupidly staring at the hole through which he had gone out,\nSponsken ran round to the door, which he closed and locked. Then,\nhaving broken one or two more panes of glass, he sat down quietly by\nthe chapel wall and began to pare his nails.\n\nA short time afterwards the giant came rushing up.\n\n\"Where is the boar? Have you let him get away?\" he cried.\n\n\"Don't get so excited,\" answered Sponsken. \"The boar is safe enough.\nHe's in the chapel there. I had no other place to put him, so I flung\nhim through the window!\"\n\n\"What a wonderful little man you are!\" said the giant gleefully, and\nhe ran off to kill the boar with one blow of his club. This done,\nhe hoisted the carcass on to his shoulders and took the road to the\npalace. Half-way there the weight of the boar began to tell, for it\nwas a massive beast, and the giant was forced to stay and rest.\n\n\"It is all very well,\" said he, mopping his streaming brow, \"but I\nthink you ought to take a turn with me in carrying this carcass.\"\n\n\"Not I,\" answered Sponsken. \"We made an agreement that my work was done\nwhen I captured the beast, and I intend to keep to it.\"\n\n  [Illustration: SPONSKEN   THE PRINCESS   THE GIANT]\n\nSo the giant had to struggle on as best he could for the rest of the\nway, grumbling at every step, while Sponsken followed, laughing up his\nsleeve, and exceedingly thankful that he had escaped the task.\n\nWhen they reached the palace the two presented themselves before the\nKing and claimed the promised reward. But now a difficulty arose. It\nwas quite easy to divide the treasure, but which of them was to have\nthe Princess?\n\n\"I think it should be I,\" said the giant, \"for I killed the three\nanimals.\"\n\n\"Not at all,\" said Sponsken. \"The Princess should be given to me, for I\ncaptured the beasts.\"\n\n\"A lot of good your capturing them would have been if I had not killed\nthem!\" said the giant.\n\n\"How could you have killed them if I had not caught them first?\"\nanswered Sponsken. And so the two began to quarrel, and neither would\ngive way, and high words passed between them. Truth to tell, the King\nwas not at all sorry that the dispute had arisen, for he did not very\nmuch relish the idea of his daughter marrying either the bestial giant\nor the pock-marked, ugly little fellow who was his companion.\n\n\"There is only one way out of the difficulty,\" said the King at last.\n\"We must let fate decide. Listen to the plan I propose. You shall both\nof you sleep in the Princess's chamber to-night--the giant in a bed on\none side of her couch, and Sponsken on the other. I also will remain in\nher chamber and watch her carefully. If she spends most of the night\nwith her face turned towards Sponsken, it shall be a sign that she is\nto marry him; if, on the other hand, she favours the giant, he shall be\nher husband; but if she sleeps all night with her face towards neither\nof you, then you must both give her up, and be satisfied with the\ntreasure.\"\n\nSo it was agreed, and that night the trial took place. Sponsken,\nhowever, did not by any means intend that blind chance should settle so\nimportant a matter, and he spent the intervening time in making certain\npreparations. First of all he went to the palace gardens, from which\nhe gathered certain herbs having an aromatic and beautiful perfume;\nthese he placed in a bag and hid under his clothes. Then from the\nwoods he gathered all the herbs he could find which had a disagreeable\nsmell, such as garlic and stinkwort and poisonous fungus; these also\nhe placed in a bag, and seized an early opportunity, when they came to\nthe Princess's chamber, of hiding the bag under the pillow on which the\ngiant's head was to rest.\n\nThe Princess well knew the fateful issue which was to be decided in the\nnight, and as she had firmly made up her mind not to marry either the\none or the other of her suitors, she determined to remain awake all\nnight and to take care to keep her face turned towards the ceiling. For\na time she managed to do so, but before long drowsiness overcame her,\nand she slept. Presently she turned over on her left side and lay with\nher face turned towards the giant, who began to chuckle to himself.\n\n\"Wait a minute,\" thought Sponsken. \"I don't think the Princess will\nkeep that position long!\" And sure enough, the horrible stench of the\nherbs in the bag beneath the giant's pillow penetrated even to her\ndreams, and the Princess turned over hurriedly on the other side. What\na change was there! Instead of a disgusting smell which made her dream\nof gloomy caverns and noisome things, she found now a delicious perfume\nthat brought pictures of sunlit gardens all glowing with flowers and\nbright-winged butterflies flitting over them. The Princess gave a\nlittle sigh of content, and for the rest of the night she remained with\nher face turned towards Sponsken, so that the King had no choice but to\ndeclare the little man the winner.\n\nThe Princess, however, refused to abide by the judgment. \"I will _not_\nmarry that vulgar fellow,\" she cried. \"I will die first! Oh, father, if\nyou love me, think of a means of escape!\"\n\n\"Do not be afraid, my child,\" answered the King. \"I will arrange\nsomething.\" And the next day he took the giant aside and proposed to\nhim that he should rid him of Sponsken, promising a rich reward for the\nservice. The giant's greed was aroused, and being very jealous of his\ncompanion's success, he was the more ready to fall in with the King's\nsuggestion.\n\nFortunately for himself, Sponsken's quick wits made him suspicious. He\nguessed that some treachery was afoot, and in order to be prepared for\nemergencies he took a heavy hammer with him when he retired to bed at\nnight. His suspicions were justified, for towards midnight the door of\nhis room opened and the giant entered on tiptoe, carrying a heavy axe\nwith which he intended to dispatch our friend. No sooner was his foot\ninside the door, however, than Sponsken jumped out of bed and sprang\nat him, looking so fierce that the giant, who was a coward at heart,\nand had besides a healthy respect for his companion's powers, turned\nand fled in dismay. Then Sponsken lifted his heavy hammer and struck\nthree resounding blows upon the floor. The noise awoke everybody in\nthe palace, and servants, guards, and lords in waiting came flocking\nto the room to discover the cause. The King came last of all, a little\nanxious about the success of his fine plot, and when he found Sponsken\nsitting up in bed, quite unharmed, his face fell.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" he stammered.\n\n\"Matter?\" answered Sponsken. \"Nothing very much! Some person wandered\ninto my room, so I just gave three taps with my fingers on the wall. It\nis lucky for you all that I did not strike the blows with my fist, for\nhad I done so I am afraid there would have been nothing left of your\npalace but a heap of dust!\"\n\nAt these words everybody turned pale, and the King made haste to\nprotest his undying friendship for his terrible guest.\n\nAs for the giant, he was in such fear of encountering Sponsken's\nresentment that he fled, and nobody ever saw him again.\n\nNow the poor King did not know what to do, for his daughter still\npersisted in her refusal to marry Sponsken, and he was torn two ways by\nlove and fear. Just at that time, however, a neighbouring monarch, who\nwas an old enemy of the King's, declared war upon him, and this offered\nanother opportunity for delay. Calling Sponsken before him, the King\nproposed that he should prove his valour by challenging the enemy king\nto mortal combat. Sponsken agreed; but his fame had already been noised\nabroad, and the challenge was refused.\n\n\"Very well,\" said the King, who was at the end of his resources. \"As my\nprospective son-in-law you ought to lead my armies into battle. I will\nplace my own charger at your disposal, and I look to you to save my\ncountry from defeat.\"\n\nHere was a pretty kettle of fish! Sponsken had never ridden a horse in\nhis life, and he had not the slightest knowledge of warfare. To make\nmatters worse, the steed in question was a notoriously vicious brute\nwho would allow nobody but his own master to mount him. Already he had\naccounted for several grooms and stablemen, whom he had kicked to death.\n\n[Illustration: ALL THE ATTENDANTS FLED AT ONCE]\n\nSponsken commanded that the steed should be led to the borders of the\nforest and tied by the bridle to a tree. He had not the slightest\nintention of trying to mount the brute, and his plan was to wait until\nthe attendants had gone away and then to slip off unobserved. Fate,\nhowever, was too much for him, for hardly was the horse safely tied up\nthan couriers came spurring along the road to say that the enemy king\nwas advancing at the head of his army, and was at that very moment less\nthan half a mile away.\n\nAll the attendants fled at once, and Sponsken himself was so overcome\nby terror that, without thinking what he was doing, he jumped upon\nthe back of the steed, and, forgetting that it was tied to the tree,\ndug his sharp spurs into its side. The horse plunged and reared,\nchamping at the bit and doing its best to dislodge Sponsken from the\nsaddle, but the lad clung on for dear life. At last, finding all its\nefforts unavailing, the horse dragged the tree up by the roots and\ncharged forward in a straight line towards the advancing enemy. Almost\ndislodged from his seat by the sudden jerk, Sponsken stretched out his\nhand and grasped the branches of the tree, which swung in a terrifying\nmanner at his side, promising every moment to hurl him from the saddle,\nand the result was that to the enemy army it appeared as though he\nwere charging down upon them at full speed, bearing a tree as a club.\nFilled with dismay at the terrifying sight, the soldiers of the enemy\nking fled in all directions and hid themselves in the woods and in the\ncrevices of the rocks. Sponsken rode on for the simple reason that he\ncould do nothing else, right into the enemy's camp, where the steed\ncame to a standstill and our hero was able to jump down from its back.\nEntering the king's tent, he helped himself to all the documents and\narticles of value he could find; then, having cut the tree from the\nbridle, he remounted the horse, which was now quite tame and docile,\nand rode back to the palace.\n\nWhen the King heard that the enemy was routed he was overjoyed, and\nhe recognized that a man who could perform such a feat single-handed\nwas not to be treated lightly. His daughter, however, was still firm\nin her refusal to marry Sponsken, and so the King made him an offer of\nhalf his kingdom if he would release him from his promise and allow the\nPrincess to go free. Sponsken accepted his terms and married a girl\nwho, although she was not a princess, was nevertheless very pretty.\nTheir wedding was celebrated with great pomp and they lived together\nvery happily for the rest of their lives.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE CAT AND THE SPARROW]\n\nWHY CATS ALWAYS WASH AFTER EATING\n\n\nA long time ago a cat caught a sparrow, and licked his lips in\nanticipation of the delight he would feel in devouring it. After\nplaying with it for a time, as cats will, he was going to eat it, when\nthe sparrow spoke to him.\n\n\"The Emperor's cat,\" said the sparrow, \"and all his family, never begin\na meal without washing themselves first. Everybody knows that such is\nthe custom in polite society.\"\n\n\"Really,\" answered the cat, \"well, I will do as the Emperor's cat\ndoes!\" And he let go the sparrow and began to wash his face. Feeling\nitself free, the sparrow flew away, and alighted safely on the branch\nof a tree well out of reach.\n\n\"It serves me right,\" muttered the cat, \"for being so easily taken in.\"\n\nAnd ever since that time cats have always washed themselves after their\nmeals.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"I'VE JUST BEEN TURNED OUT OF HOUSE\"]\n\nTHE CHORISTERS OF ST. GUDULE\n\n\nThe miller of Sandhills had a donkey which had served him well in its\ntime, but was now too old to work. The miller was a careful man, who\ndid not believe in feeding useless mouths, so he decided that he would\nsell the donkey for the price of its skin. \"I do not suppose I shall\nget very much for the wretched beast,\" he said, regarding poor Greyskin\nas he stood with hanging head in his stall, \"but I shall save the cost\nof his corn anyhow, and that is always something.\"\n\nLeft alone, Greyskin reflected sadly upon the fate in store for him.\n\"Such is the way of the world,\" he thought. \"When I was young and\nhearty nothing was too good for me; now I'm old and useless I am to be\ncast out. But am I so useless after all? True, I can no longer pull a\ncart to market, but I have a magnificent voice still. There must be\na place somewhere for one who can sing as beautifully as I. I'll go\nto the Cathedral of St. Gudule, in Brussels, and offer myself as a\nchorister.\"\n\nGreyskin lost no time in acting upon his resolve, but left his\nstable immediately and set out on the road to Brussels. Passing the\nBurgomaster's house he saw an old hound sitting disconsolately on the\ndoorstep.\n\n\"Hallo, friend!\" said he. \"What is the matter with you? You seem very\nsad this morning.\"\n\n\"The matter is that I am tired of life,\" answered the dog. \"I'm getting\nold and stiff and I can no longer hunt hares for my master as I used to\ndo. The result is that I am reckoned good for nothing and they grudge\nme every morsel of food I put into my mouth.\"\n\n\"Come, come, cheer up, my friend,\" said Greyskin. \"Never say die! I\nam in a similar case to yourself and have just left my master for\nprecisely the same reason. My plan is to go to the Cathedral of St.\nGudule and offer my services to the master of the choir. If I may say\nso without conceit, I have a lovely voice--one must make the most of\none's gifts, you know--and I ought to be able to command good pay.\"\n\n\"Well, if it comes to that,\" said the dog, \"I can sing too. I sang a\nlovely song to the moon last night, and if you'll believe me, all the\npeople in our street opened their windows to listen. I sang for quite\nan hour, and I'd have gone on longer if some malicious person, who was\nno doubt jealous, had not thrown an old boot at my head.\"\n\n\"Excellent,\" said Greyskin. \"Come along with me. You shall sing tenor\nand I'll sing bass. We'll make a famous pair.\"\n\nSo the dog joined company with Greyskin, and they went on together\ntowards Brussels. A little farther down the road they saw a cat sitting\non the rubbish-heap outside a miserable hovel. The creature was half\nblind with age, and had a face as long as a fiddle.\n\n\"Why, what is the matter with you?\" asked Greyskin, who had a tender\nheart.\n\n\"Matter enough,\" said the cat. \"I've just been turned out of house and\nhome, and all because I took a little piece of bacon from the larder.\nUpon my honour, it was no bigger than a baby's fist, but they made\nas much fuss as though it had been a whole gammon. I was beaten, and\nkicked out to starve. If I could catch mice as I used to do, it would\nnot matter so much, but the mice are too quick for me nowadays. They\nlaugh at me. Nothing remains for me but to die, and I hope it may be\nsoon.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"THEY LAUGH AT ME\"]\n\n\"Nonsense,\" said Greyskin. \"You shall live to laugh at all your\ntroubles. Come along with us and sing in the choir at St. Gudule. Your\nvoice is a little too thin for my own taste, but you'll make a very\ngood soprano in a trio. What do you say?\"\n\n\"You give me new hopes,\" answered the cat. \"Of course I'll join you,\"\nand so the three went on together.\n\nTowards nightfall they arrived at a farmyard, on the gate of which a\ncock was crowing lustily.\n\n\"Hallo!\" said Greyskin. \"What's all this about?\"\n\n\"I am singing my last song on earth,\" said the cock. \"An hour ago\nI sang a song, although it is not my usual custom to crow in the\nafternoon, and as I ended I heard the farmer's wife say: 'Hearken to\nChanticleer. He's crowing for fine weather to-morrow. I wonder if he'd\ncrow so loudly if he knew that we had guests coming, and that he was\ngoing into the pot to make their soup!' She has a horrid laugh, that\nwoman. I have always hated her!\"\n\n\"And do you mean to tell me,\" said Greyskin, \"that you are going to\nstay here quite contentedly till they come to wring your neck?\"\n\n\"What else can I do?\" asked Chanticleer.\n\n\"Join us, and turn your talents to account. We are all beautiful\nsingers and we are going to Brussels to offer ourselves as choristers\nat St. Gudule. We were a trio before. With you we shall be a quartet,\nand that's one better!\"\n\nChanticleer was only too glad to find a means of escape, so he\nwillingly joined the party, and they once more took the road. A little\nwhile afterwards they came to a thick wood, which was the haunt of a\nnotorious band of robbers. There they decided to rest for the night,\nso Greyskin and the dog lay down beneath the shelter of a large\nbeech-tree, while the cat climbed on to one of the branches, and\nChanticleer perched himself at the very top. From this lofty post he\ncould see over the whole wood, and it was not long before he espied a\nlight twinkling among the trees not far away.\n\n[Illustration: \"WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?\" ASKED CHANTICLEER]\n\n[Illustration: \"HUSH!\" SAID CHANTICLEER]\n\n\"There must be a house of some sort over there,\" he said to his\ncompanions. \"Shall we go and see? We may find something to eat.\"\n\n\"Or some straw to lie upon, at any rate,\" said Greyskin. \"This damp\nground gives me rheumatics in my old bones.\"\n\n\"I was just thinking the same thing,\" said the dog. \"Let us go.\"\n\nSo the four choristers, led by the cock, walked in the direction from\nwhich the light came, and before long they found themselves in front of\na little house, the windows of which were brilliantly lighted. In order\nto reach to the windows the animals made a tower of their bodies, with\nGreyskin at the bottom and Chanticleer at the top.\n\nNow this house was the abode of a band of robbers, who, at that very\nmoment, were seated before a table laden with all kinds of food. There\nthey sat and feasted, and poor Chanticleer's mouth watered as he\nwatched them.\n\n\"Is there anybody inside?\" asked the dog, who was impatient.\n\n\"Hush!\" said Chanticleer. \"Men! They're eating their dinner!\"\n\n\"I wish I was,\" said the dog. \"What are they eating?\"\n\n\"All sorts of things--sausage, and fish....\"\n\n\"Sausage!\" said the dog.\n\n\"Fish!\" said the cat.\n\n\"And ever so many other delicacies,\" Chanticleer went on. \"Look here,\nfriends. Wouldn't it be a fine thing if we could get a share of their\nmeal? I confess that my stomach aches with hunger.\"\n\n\"And mine too,\" said the dog. \"I've never been so hungry in my life.\nBut how are we to get the food?\"\n\n\"Let us serenade them, and perhaps they'll throw us something as a\nreward,\" said Greyskin. \"Music, you know, has charms to soothe the\nsavage breast.\"\n\nThis seemed such a good idea that the choristers lost no time in\nputting it into execution. All four began to sing. The donkey\nhee-hawed, the dog howled, the cat miaued, and the cock crowed. From\nthe noise they made one would have thought that the heavens were\nfalling.\n\n[Illustration: BREAKING THE GLASS TO SMITHEREENS]\n\nThe effect of this marvellous quartet upon the robbers was\ninstantaneous. Leaping from their seats, they ran from place to place\nin mortal terror, tumbling over one another, oversetting chairs and\nadding to the racket by their shrieks and cries. At that moment the\ncock fell against the window, breaking the glass to smithereens; the\ndonkey gave the frame a push, and all the four precipitated themselves\ninto the room. This was the last straw; the robbers could stand no\nmore; half mad with fear they rushed to the door and fled into the\nforest.\n\nThen our four choristers drew up to the table and set to work upon the\nfood with which it was laden. Their long walk had given them a good\nappetite, so that there was little left by the time they had finished.\nFeeling drowsy after their meal, they then settled themselves to sleep.\nThe donkey made himself a bed on a heap of straw in the yard; the dog\nstretched himself out upon the mat by the house door; the cat lay\namong the warm cinders on the hearth; and the cock perched upon the\nroof-top. A few minutes more and they were all fast asleep.\n\nMeanwhile the robbers, who had retreated some distance into the forest,\nwaited anxiously for something dreadful to happen. An hour passed by\nand there was neither sight nor sound to alarm them, so they began to\nfeel a little ashamed of their cowardice. Creeping stealthily nearer to\nthe cottage, they saw that everything was still, and that no light was\nshowing from the windows.\n\nAt last the robber chief sent his lieutenant to spy out the land, and\nthis man, returning to the cottage without mishap, found his way into\nthe kitchen and proceeded to light a candle. He had no matches, but\nhe saw two sparks of fire among the cinders on the hearth, so he went\nforward to get a light from them.\n\nNow this light came from the cat's eyes, and as soon as puss felt the\nrobber touch her, she sprang up, snarling and spitting, and scratched\nhis face. With a scream of terror, he dropped his candle and rushed for\nthe door, and as he passed the dog bit him in the leg. By this time the\nnoise had awakened Greyskin, who got upon his feet just as the man ran\nby, and helped him forward with a mighty kick, which sent him flying\nout into the roadway. Seeing this, the cock on the housetop spread his\nwings and crowed in triumph, \"Cock-a-doodle-doo!\"\n\nI wish you could have seen the way that robber ran! He covered the\nground so quickly that he seemed like a flying shadow, and I am\nperfectly certain that not even a hare could have overtaken him. At\nlast, panting for breath, he rejoined his comrades in the forest, who\nwere eagerly awaiting his return.\n\n\"Well,\" cried the chief, \"is the way clear? Can we go back?\"\n\n\"Not on any account,\" cried the robber. \"There's a horrible witch in\nthe kitchen. Directly I entered she sprang at me and tore my face with\nher long claws, calling out at the same time to her creatures to come\nand devour me. As I ran through the door one of them buried his fangs\nin my leg, and a little farther on, in the yard, a great black monster\nstruck at me with an enormous club, giving me a blow that nearly broke\nmy back-bone. On the roof a little demon with wings and eyes that shone\nlike coals of fire cried, 'Stop him! Eat him! Stop him! Eat him!' You\nmay guess that I did not wait for more. It is a miracle that I have\nescaped with my life!\"\n\nWhen they heard this terrible story the robbers lost no time in\ndecamping, and such was their terror that they deserted the forest\naltogether and went away to another part of the country. The result\nwas that our four friends were left to dwell in the cottage, where\nthey lived happily for the rest of their lives, and as they had now\neverything they wanted, they quite gave up their idea of going to St.\nGudule.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE KING]\n\nTHE TRIAL OF REYNARD THE FOX\n\n\nI. HOW CHANTICLEER THE COCK MADE COMPLAINT AGAINST REYNARD\n\nThere was rejoicing among the animals, for it was said that Reynard the\nFox--sly, spiteful Reynard--had at last repented him of his misdeeds\nand resolved to lead a new life. Such a thing was, indeed, very hard to\nbelieve, but nevertheless everybody said that it was true. Certainly he\nwas seen no more in his usual haunts, or about the Court of King Lion.\nThe news went round that he had put on the robe of piety and had become\na hermit, endeavouring to atone, by fasting and prayer, for all the\nsins of which he had been guilty.\n\nAt the Court of King Nobel, Reynard's change of heart was the one\ntopic of conversation. A few of the animals frankly expressed their\ndoubts of the sincerity of such a tardy repentance, but the majority\nwere quite willing to accept it, for, as a rule, one believes what one\nwishes to believe.\n\nWhile the subject was still being eagerly discussed by the animals\naround the Lion's throne, the sound of wailing was heard, and a strange\nprocession was seen making its way towards the King's throne. At the\nhead of the procession marched Chanticleer the Cock, dressed in the\ndeepest mourning and sobbing miserably, with bowed head. Behind him,\nborne by two hens, was a bier on which was stretched the headless body\nof a beautiful fowl, one of his daughters, and all the other hens\nof his family followed the bier, raising their voices to heaven in\ngrievous lamentation. At this sad sight the whole Court stood in amaze,\nand many of the animals wept in sympathy with the bereaved father, who\nadvanced towards the King's throne, crying for justice.\n\n\"Whom do you accuse?\" asked the Lion.\n\n\"Whom should I accuse but that accursed Reynard, the source of untold\nmisery to me and mine? You know, O King, none better, how we have\nsuffered from his cruelty in the past. The tale I now have to tell is\na tale of wrong that would bring tears to the eyes of a stone image--a\ntale of treachery such as would abash the Evil One himself, a tale so\nbase that I can hardly bring myself to utter it!\"\n\n\"Say on,\" said the King, \"and rest content, for if what you say be\ntrue, the Fox shall receive his due reward--I swear it by my crown!\"\n\n\"Lord,\" continued Chanticleer, \"I had six sons and fourteen daughters.\nWe all dwelt together in the farmyard, a peaceable and happy family.\nThe rigours of the winter were spent; spring had come again with its\nflowers and perfumes. The sun shone brightly, and insects abounded\nin the farmyard. We dwelt in the midst of abundance; we were happy,\nand as we thought, safe, for the farmer's six faithful dogs guarded\nus from danger. Alas, for our beautiful hopes! A few days ago Reynard\nappeared--cruel, black-hearted Reynard--and at one fell blow changed\nour happiness into misery.\n\n\"This is how it all happened, Sire. Reynard came to the farmyard one\nfine morning and brought me a letter bearing your Majesty's own seal.\nI opened it, and read that your Majesty had commanded that all the\nanimals should hence-forward live together in peace. A noble ordinance,\nSire, such as would make the world a beautiful place--were it not for\nvillains. I gave the document back to Reynard, expressing my joy at the\nnews it contained, whereupon he said: 'My heart is full, Cock, when I\nthink of the cruelty with which I have treated you and your family in\nthe past, but you need have no further fear, I have seen the error of\nmy ways. Henceforth my life shall be given up to repentance and prayer.\nI have renounced all worldly pleasures. Even now I am on my way to a\nremote hermitage where, in fasting and solitude, I shall endeavour to\natone for my sins.'\n\n\"Then the hypocritical wretch stretched his paw over my head and gave\nme his blessing and departed, reading his Book of Hours.\n\n\"Thinking no evil, and full of joy at the news, I called my children\naround me and cried: 'Rejoice, my dear ones. No more will you live in\ndaily terror of your lives. Our noble King has given us his protection\nand has commanded the Fox to leave us alone. Reynard himself has just\nbrought me the news, so I know it is true, and he himself has gone away\nto become a holy hermit!'\n\n\"My children danced with glee when they heard my words, and I danced\nwith them, O King! We danced in the farmyard and in the garden, and in\nthe kitchen garden, for it was as though a black cloud had vanished\nfrom over us.\n\n[Illustration: AT THE HEAD OF THE PROCESSION MARCHED CHANTICLEER]\n\n\"This was the very moment Reynard had been waiting for. He had not\ngone far away--no farther in fact than the shelter of the wall by the\nkitchen garden, and as soon as we reached there, he rushed out, fell\nupon the finest of my daughters and slew her before my eyes. It all\nhappened in a flash! We ran hither and thither, trying to escape, but\nall in vain. Before we had gone a dozen steps the Fox was among us\nagain, and killed fifteen of my children. Last night he returned, and\nslew her whose body now lies upon the bier. I have brought her here to\nshow you, O King, that the sight of her corpse may strike pity into\nyour heart, for I claim justice upon her murderer!\"\n\nSo saying, the Cock bowed his head again and wept bitterly into his\nhandkerchief, and pitiful sobs echoed from among the beasts around.\nEven the King could hardly restrain his emotion.\n\n\"A terrible tale, indeed,\" said he. \"Our hearts are heavy for you,\nCock, and it will go hard with this Reynard when he falls into our\nhands!\" Then, addressing his courtiers, he asked for volunteers to go\nto the Fox's retreat and bring the murderer to justice. For a time\nthere was no response, for few of the animals relished the task, but at\nlast the Bear, who had an old grudge against Reynard, offered to go.\n\"Leave this to me,\" said he. \"If the Fox won't come quietly, I'll drag\nhim here by his tail. He shall not escape!\"\n\nSo the Bear set off to find Reynard, who had retreated to one of\nhis ch\u00e2teaux--a veritable fortress--situated many miles away in the\nmountains at the very end of the kingdom. To reach it the Bear had to\ntravel over lonely paths, and through dark woods, where he lost his way\na hundred times, but at length he arrived at Reynard's house, only to\nfind the massive door locked, and the walls so high that he could not\nclimb them.\n\n\nII. HOW BRUIN THE BEAR WAS SENT TO BRING REYNARD TO COURT\n\n\"Open, in the name of the King!\" cried Bruin, hammering at the door.\n\"Come out, Reynard! I have been sent to bring you up for trial. You\nhave come to the end of your rope at last! Open the door, I say, or\nI'll batter it down!\"\n\nFrom his safe retreat in the very heart of the fortress Reynard heard\nBruin's clamour. He stretched himself lazily and yawned. \"Now who is\nthis pestilent fellow making such a din?\" said he to his wife. \"Well,\nI suppose I'd better go and see.\" So he made his way through the\nlabyrinth of passages which led from his burrow to the open air, and\npeeped through the crack of the door. There was Bruin, hammering away\nat the massive oak, and roaring: \"Come out, Reynard. Come out and be\nhanged!\"\n\n[Illustration: THE FOX'S CH\u00c2TEAU]\n\n\"What! is that you, Uncle Bruin?\" said Reynard, opening the wicket.\n\"You are in a noisy mood this morning. What is the matter?\"\n\n\"The matter is that the King has sent me to bring you to Court,\"\ngrowled the Bear. \"And you had best come quietly, for I represent the\nlaw.\"\n\n\"By all means,\" answered Reynard, opening the door. \"My word, but I'm\nglad to see you, uncle! And an ambassador, too--such an honour! How are\nyou, and what sort of a journey have you had? Very trying, I'm afraid.\nReally it was a shame to impose upon your good nature and send you all\nthis way!\"\n\nSo saying the Fox led the way into his castle, keeping up a continual\npatter of talk, so that Bruin could not get a word in edgeways.\n\n\"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting at the gate,\" Reynard went on.\n\"The fact is, I was dozing and did not hear you at first. I rarely\nsleep in the afternoon, but to-day I had such a heavy dinner that I\nfelt extremely drowsy!\"\n\n\"What did you have?\" asked the Bear with interest.\n\n\"Oh, a simple meal enough. I am not rich, you know, and I have to eat\nwhat I can find. To-day it was a big comb of honey--not very much to my\ntaste, but I was hungry and I ate it!\"\n\nBruin pricked up his ears. \"Eh?\" said he. \"Did you say honey?\"\n\n\"Strange food for a fox, isn't it?\" said Reynard. \"I wish I hadn't\ntouched the stuff now, for, to tell you the truth, it's lying on my\nchest like a load of lead. I swear never to eat it again, although I\nknow a place, not far from here, where there are immense quantities of\nit!\"\n\nBy this time Bruin was all agog with excitement.\n\n\"Nephew,\" said he, laying his paw on Reynard's shoulder, \"show me the\nplace where that honey is. My mouth is watering at the very thought of\nit. I love honey better than anything else in the world, and I'd give\nall I possess for a taste of it!\"\n\n\"You are joking, no doubt,\" said Reynard laughingly. \"How can any one\nlike such stuff?\"\n\n\"Joking, am I?\" growled Bruin. \"Just lead me to the honey and I'll show\nyou whether I'm joking. I tell you I'd give my eyes and ears for a\ntaste!\"\n\n\"Well, if that's the case,\" said Reynard, \"you shall be satisfied.\nThere's a carpenter not far from here who keeps bees, and from time\nimmemorial his family have been noted for the excellence of their\nhoney. I'll take you there, and I'm very glad to be able to render you\nthis little service. In return, all I ask of you is that you will\nspeak up for me when I come before the King.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE POOR BEAST ROARED WITH PAIN]\n\n\"Of course I will,\" answered Bruin. \"Let us go at once. I can hardly\ncontain myself for impatience.\"\n\nReynard called upon Bruin to follow him and led the way to the\ncarpenter's yard. The afternoon was very hot, and the carpenter was\ntaking a nap after dinner. His yard was empty and in the middle of it\nwas the trunk of a great oak-tree which he had laid out ready to be cut\nup into planks. The trunk was split down the middle, and kept open by\ntwo wedges of wood.\n\n\"Here you are!\" said Reynard, going up to the tree-trunk. \"This is the\nplace where the carpenter keeps his honey. Put your muzzle in and root\nit out from the bottom. Don't eat too much!\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" answered Bruin. \"I'll be moderate.\" And he plunged his\nhead and his two front paws into the crack. The next moment Reynard\nknocked out the wedges which kept the two halves of the trunk apart.\nThey sprang together with the force of a steel spring, catching Bruin\nfirmly by the nose and paws.\n\nThe poor beast roared with pain, making a din that echoed back like\nthunder from the mountains. The carpenter woke up from his slumber, and\nseizing an axe, ran out into the yard. His wife came tumbling out of\nthe scullery with a broom in her hand, and people from the neighbouring\nvillage came running to see what all the noise was about. When they saw\nthat the Bear was a prisoner they fell upon him and began to belabour\nhim with mighty blows, while the unhappy creature gave himself up for\nlost. Maddened with pain, he redoubled his efforts to tear himself\nfree, and at last succeeded in getting away, although he left most of\nthe skin of his nose and paws behind. With the blood flowing from his\nmuzzle, and his eyes shining red with rage, he made such a terrible\npicture that the people fled hither and thither, leaving him a free\npassage, and he limped off into the shelter of the woods, moaning and\nbreathing out threats against his betrayer.\n\nFrom a safe distance Reynard watched him go, with a malicious grin.\n\"Farewell, Uncle Bear,\" said he. \"I hope you found the honey good!\"\n\n\nIII. TYBERT'S MISSION AND HOW HE FARED\n\nKing Lion was furious when he saw the miserable state in which his\nambassador returned. He immediately called a council of his ministers,\nto whom Bruin related all that had happened.\n\n[Illustration: HE IMMEDIATELY CALLED A COUNCIL OF HIS MINISTERS]\n\n\"This recreant must be punished,\" said the King when the tale was\nended. \"It is a disgrace to our kingdom that he remains at large.\nSomebody else must go to bring him here. Who shall it be?\"\n\nAfter a good deal of discussion it was decided that Tybert the Cat\nshould undertake the task, for he was reputed to be as cunning and\nartful as Reynard himself. \"Do not be deceived by his wiles,\" said\nthe King. \"No doubt he will try to flatter you, or to play upon your\nweaknesses, but pay no attention to his words. You must take this\nmission very seriously and not allow yourself to be led aside by\nanything. On your head be it!\"\n\nThe Cat promised to be very circumspect, and set off at once. He\ntravelled quickly, and soon arrived at the door of Reynard's castle,\nwhere he found the Fox playing with his cubs on the grass, tumbling\nthem over and over, and having fine fun. It was a touching spectacle of\ndomestic bliss. Reynard jumped to his feet when he saw Tybert.\n\n\"Why, cousin,\" said he, \"this is a pleasant surprise! What makes you\ndesert the gaieties of the Court for my poor home?\"\n\n\"I come in the King's name,\" answered the Cat sternly. \"He has sent\nme to bring you to Court, where you are to answer for your revolting\ncrimes. The Bear returned yesterday, and the tale he told has stiffened\nthe King's anger against you. I am to say that if you refuse to\naccompany me, your house shall be destroyed and your family wiped off\nthe face of the earth!\"\n\n\"Refuse,\" said Reynard, \"whoever thought of refusing? I am sure the\nKing has no more obedient subject than I. As for that Bruin, he is a\nbad subject, and I expect he has been telling a pack of lies about me.\nDo I look as if I could do anybody any harm? As a matter of fact I\nspend all my time here in meditation and prayer. But come in, come in!\nYou must have a meal, for you have had a long journey. To-morrow we\nwill set out together.\"\n\n\"It seems to me,\" said the Cat, \"that it would be better if we started\nat once.\"\n\n\"Nonsense, my dear fellow,\" said Reynard. \"It is bad to make a journey\non an empty stomach. What difference will an hour or two make? We shall\ntravel all the faster if we start in good condition.\"\n\n\"Well, there's something in that,\" said Tybert, who, to tell the\ntruth, was not sorry of an excuse to break a fast of many hours. \"What\nhave you got for dinner?\"\n\n\"What would you like?\" asked Reynard. \"Shall we say a comb of honey?\"\n\n\"Bah!\" cried the Cat. \"Honey indeed! I loathe the stuff. Now if you had\na nice fat mouse...!\"\n\n\"Happy thought,\" said Reynard. \"As it happens, I know a house close by\nwhere there are hundreds of mice, the fattest and sleekest creatures\nyou ever saw in your life, and so tame that one can literally scoop\nthem up by the score. I often catch a few myself when I am hungry and\nother game is scarce.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"TAKE ME TO THIS HOUSE\"]\n\n\"Take me to this house,\" said Tybert. \"Tame or not, I'll catch the mice\nif they are there. I love the creatures.\" And he licked his lips and\nstretched out his paws.\n\nNow Reynard had spoken the truth when he said that he knew a house\nwhere mice abounded, and it was true also that he often went there--not\nin search of mice, but of chickens. The last time he had paid a visit\nhe had found that the farmer had put a string noose over the hole by\nwhich he was used to enter, but fortunately for himself Reynard had\ndiscovered it in time.\n\nTowards this house he now led the unsuspecting Tybert, and having shown\nhim the hole, bade him enter and take his fill of the mice. Tybert\nobeyed, but no sooner had he got his head through the hole than the\ntrap was sprung, and there he was, caught. He gave a scream of pain and\nfear, and from behind Reynard answered mockingly: \"Sing away, cousin. I\nlove to hear your voice. But mind you don't frighten the mice!\" Then he\ntook to his heels and ran back to his castle.\n\nA minute or two later the farmer, having heard the Cat's miaulings,\narrived armed with a heavy stick. \"Ah, you thief,\" he cried, \"I've got\nyou at last, have I?\" And he began to lay the stick on the Cat's back\nwith all his might. Tybert kicked and struggled, and managed at last to\nget free, but he was more dead than alive when he went limping back to\nthe King's Court.\n\n\nIV. HOW BLAIREAU THE BADGER BROUGHT REYNARD TO TRIAL\n\n\"This is monstrous,\" said King Nobel when he had heard Tybert's piteous\ntale. \"It is no use paltering any longer. We must burn this caitiff's\ncastle about his ears.\"\n\n\"One moment, Sire,\" said Blaireau the Badger, who was a great friend of\nReynard's. \"Our ancient laws demand that any person accused of crime\nshall be called three times before extreme measures are taken against\nhim. Now Reynard has only been called twice. I propose, therefore, that\nhe be given one more chance to render himself peacefully before your\nMajesty, and to defend himself. There are two sides to every story, and\nso far we have only heard one.\"\n\n\"That is all very well,\" said the King, \"but who will be the messenger?\nIt seems to me that the experiences of the other two will be little\nencouragement for a third.\"\n\n\"If no one else will go,\" answered Blaireau, \"I will go myself. Reynard\nhas been a very good friend of mine in the past, and I may be able to\nappeal to his better self.\"\n\n\"I doubt it,\" said the King; \"but go by all means, and bring him back\nif you can. Should you fail, I will batter down his castle stone by\nstone.\"\n\nSo Blaireau went off on his mission, and arriving at the ch\u00e2teau, found\nReynard in the midst of his family.\n\n\"Look here, uncle,\" said he, \"there must be an end to all nonsense. The\nKing is at the end of his patience, and unless you obey his commands he\nis determined to stick at nothing with you. Tybert and Bruin are both\nbadly knocked about, and the sympathy of all the animals is with them.\nBut for my pleadings the King would have sent an army to burn your\ncastle about your ears. Be sensible now, and come back quietly with me.\nYou have wits enough to defend yourself against all accusations and\nneed not fear the issue. I tell you frankly, delay will be dangerous.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"TYBERT AND BRUIN ARE BADLY KNOCKED ABOUT\"]\n\n\"Ah,\" said Reynard, \"if those others had only spoken to me as you\nhave spoken, my dear nephew, things would have been very different.\nThey were insolent and they paid the price, but nobody shall say that\nReynard the Fox was impervious to good counsel. Of course I will go\nwith you--the sooner the better. I have no fear of being able to\nsilence my calumniators. The King can't live without me--he knows it\nvery well, and that fact alone will provide him with a good motive for\ngiving me a free pardon.\"\n\nThen Reynard took a tender farewell of Hermeline, his wife, and\nReynkin, his eldest son, and all the other children, and set off with\nBlaireau towards the King's Court.\n\nOn the way Reynard said: \"My dear Blaireau, this is a very solemn\nmoment of my life! I cannot help feeling that I have not, perhaps,\nalways lived as righteously as I might have done. It will relieve my\nmind somewhat if I might make confession of some of the most heinous of\nmy crimes. Will you hear me?\"\n\n[Illustration: \"AND CAUSED HIM TO JUMP AT LEAST TWENTY FEET INTO THE\nAIR\"]\n\n\"Certainly,\" answered Blaireau. \"I am glad to hear you have a contrite\nheart, uncle. Speak on by all means. Confession is the first step\ntowards repentance.\"\n\n\"I have been a sad sinner,\" Reynard went on. \"My heart fails me when I\nthink of all the misery I have caused! I weep for the poor Bear, whose\nnose and paws are skinless because of me, and for the Cat, who suffered\na terrible beating at the hands of the farmer. Then there was the\nWolf--did I ever tell you about the Wolf?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Blaireau, \"you did not.\"\n\n\"Well,\" continued Reynard, \"the Wolf and I were one day walking along\nthe road when we came to a monastery. It was the time of evensong, and\nthe sound of the bells made such a sweet music in the air that I felt\nmy soul grow full of enthusiasm. 'Ah,' said I, 'if I were only one of\nthe monks in that monastery, with what joy would I sound the bells!'\nIsengrim thought the idea a splendid one, and wished to carry it into\npractice, so, as he was not a monk, I took it upon myself to introduce\nhim into the monastery at dead of night. There I tied him to the\nbell-rope and bade him pull, for the good of his soul. He pulled--ah,\nnephew, how enthusiastically he pulled! The bells rang as they had\nnever rung before, and all the monks in the monastery came running to\nsee what was the matter. Isengrim would have run away if he could, but\nalas, I had tied him so firmly to the rope that he could not escape,\nand he got a sound beating for his pains.\n\n\"Another time, still under the influence of his monastic ideas,\nIsengrim proposed to me that I should shave his head. I agreed, and\nwhen I had him in the chair, to my eternal shame be it said, I planted\na burning firebrand on his pate, and caused him to jump at least twenty\nfeet into the air. Ah, I am a miserable sinner.\" And Reynard broke into\nsobs and lamentations.\n\n\"Never mind,\" said Blaireau consolingly, \"since you are truly\nrepentant, all will be forgiven you. See, there are the towers of the\nKing's palace. We shall soon be there. Get ready to make your speech of\ndefence, for you will need all your eloquence this day.\"\n\n\nV. HOW REYNARD TOLD THE KING OF A HIDDEN TREASURE\n\nWhen Reynard arrived at the court he found all the animals assembled to\nwitness his trial. King Nobel sat on his throne, with the Queen by his\nside, and very cold and stern was the glance which the monarch cast\nupon Master Fox as he stepped up and made his obeisance. \"Reynard,\"\nsaid the King, \"you have been accused of crimes so many and so grievous\nthat if only the half of all the accusations are true, you have merited\ndeath a hundred times. What have you to say?\"\n\nReynard put a paw up to his face and brushed away a tear; then, with\nhis voice broken with emotion, he answered: \"My lord the King, I have\nbeen a miserable sinner, and there is nothing left for me to do but to\ncast myself upon your royal mercy. Where King Nobel sits, there justice\nand mercy sit also. I am sure of the one; therefore I make bold to\nplead earnestly for the other. Perhaps, O King, I am not so bad as I\nhave been painted. The tongues of enemies have uttered slanders before\nto-day, and brought upright men to ruin. All I ask, O King, is that you\nwill let me state my case, and, when I shall have finished my tale,\njudge me according to my deserts. I will keep nothing back, for in this\nserious hour I wish to speak nothing but the naked truth. Listen to me,\nO King, and let these others listen also. Perchance the sad story of my\nwrongdoings, and of my gradual fall from righteousness, may be a lesson\nto many here, and by serving as an example help to keep them upon the\nstrait and narrow path.\"\n\n\"You have a glib tongue, Reynard,\" said the King. \"It has saved you\nbefore to-day, but this time the count is too serious to be hidden by\na mist of words. Yet speak on. The accused has a right to make his\nown defence, and that right I should be the last to deny, even to one\nforsworn and treacherous, as you have proved yourself to be.\"\n\nReynard sobbed aloud. \"Hard words, O King,\" said he, \"and harder still\nbecause of the truth that is in them. I do not complain. Meekly I bow\nthe head and make confession of my sins.\"\n\nAt this all the animals settled themselves comfortably to listen. The\nidea of Reynard the Fox confessing anything was so new that not one of\nthem would willingly have missed a word. Those of the animals who knew\nReynard well regarded him a little uneasily, but nobody broke silence.\nReynard remained for a time sobbing quietly with head bowed upon his\npaws, then, in a broken voice, he began to speak:\n\n[Illustration: \"I WAS MISCHIEVOUS AND UNRULY\"]\n\n\"From my very earliest years, O King,\" said he, \"I was mischievous\nand unruly. Had there been anybody to give me counsel and guidance\nI might perhaps have outgrown the errors of my youth and become a\nworthy subject. Unfortunately I fell into bad company, and, under the\ninfluence of evil companions went rapidly from bad to worse. Isengrim\nthe Wolf was my friend in those early days. He it was who taught me\nto steal and to prey upon the defenceless creatures of the woods and\nfields. My first victim, I well remember, was a young lamb which had\nstrayed from the fold. Isengrim led me to her and persuaded me to kill\nher, and afterwards, in the same way, a goat and two young deer fell\nvictims to my raging thirst for blood. Soon not a hen-house, not a\nfold was safe from my depredations. I killed for the sake of killing,\nand that part of the meat which I could not devour I gave to the Wolf,\nwho was only too willing to take it, or hid it in certain holes and\ncrannies in the wood.\"\n\nAll the time that Reynard had been speaking Isengrim had been making\nfrantic efforts to speak, but a glance from the King had kept him\nsilent. Now he could contain himself no longer. Trembling with fury, he\nrose to his feet and cried: \"Lies! All lies, O King! Will your Majesty\nbelieve anything it pleases this slanderous dog to say?\"\n\n\"Silence!\" cried the King. \"Your turn will come later. For the present\nlet the accused speak without interruption!\"\n\n\"Thanks, O King,\" said Reynard. \"I can well understand the Wolf's wrath\nwhen his connexion with so vile a creature as I is thus brought to\nlight. Yet I have sworn to tell the truth, and the truth I will tell\nwithout regard to persons. Sorry as I am to say it, the Wolf was not\nthe only one to lead me into bad ways. Among my companions of those\nearly days were also the Bear and the Cat. They made me hunt for them\nwhen I was young, and such was their voracity that there was little\nleft for myself, and I should have died of hunger were it not for the\nfact that I was fortunate enough to discover a hidden treasure!\"\n\n\"Eh, what's that?\" said the King. \"Did you say a treasure?\"\n\n\"Aye,\" answered Reynard, \"a treasure of gold, my lord; so great a\ntreasure that it would take your servants many days even to count it\nall. And not gold alone, but precious gems--diamonds of the purest\nwater, rubies red as blood, and emeralds green as the sea when the sun\nshines upon it!\"\n\nThe Queen leaned forward upon her throne and fixed Reynard with burning\neyes. \"And pearls too?\" she whispered.\n\n\"Pearls too, O Queen. Ropes of pearls that well would adorn your\nMajesty's fair neck. And jewelled crowns worthy of a royal brow!\nHidden deep in the earth they lie, all those riches, and now they will\nlie there for ever, for nobody knows of them but myself. Perhaps it\nis as well. The lust of gold is the motive of many crimes, and this\ntreasure has already been the cause of a serious attempt against\nthe throne and the life of the King! But all this has nothing to do\nwith my confession. With your Majesty's leave I will go on with what I\nwas about to say.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE TRIAL OF REYNARD THE FOX]\n\n\"One moment,\" said the Queen. \"Those crowns you spoke of--describe them\nmore fully. What stones had they, and how set?\"\n\n\"Time enough for that,\" cried the King. \"You shall try the crowns upon\nyour head before all is done. Let the Fox tell us where this treasure\nis hidden; that is the important thing!\"\n\n\"I had thought to carry the secret with me to the grave,\" said Reynard,\n\"but in this solemn hour I can hide nothing. If it is your Majesty's\nwill, I will tell all.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"AND PEARLS TOO?\" SHE WHISPERED]\n\n\"Beware, O King!\" cried the Bear. \"He will deceive you now as he has\ndeceived others. Believe not his lying words!\"\n\n\"Silence!\" cried the King. \"This matter concerns me, and me alone. Let\nReynard speak!\"\n\nReynard cast a look of triumph at Bruin and Isengrim, and, smiling\nfaintly, went on with his tale.\n\n\"The treasure was discovered first of all by my father. He came upon it\none day when he was hunting in the forest, among the ruins of a palace\nthat once belonged to an ancient king. There, in a deep hole, under a\nbig stone, he found the gold and gems, and for ever afterwards he was\na changed creature. No longer blithe and care-free, he slunk about as\nthough overburdened with responsibility. He knew himself rich beyond\ncompare--richer than any king in all the world, and gradually into his\nheart there crept the desire to win, by means of his riches, a place of\npower.\n\n\"At that time, O King, my father was bitter against your Majesty\nbecause of your disapproval of his manner of life, and I am sorry to\nsay that he determined to wrest you from the throne and to set up\nanother in your place. Full of this project, he took Tybert the Cat\ninto his confidence. The two met together secretly in the forest of the\nArdennes, and after much discussion they decided to offer the throne to\nBruin the Bear!\"\n\n\"Ah!\" ejaculated the King, turning his gaze upon Bruin, who was too\nfurious to speak. \"So now we know why you wished to still Reynard's\ntongue.\"\n\n\"The Bear was delighted with the prospect,\" Reynard went on, \"and\nstrutted about the forest as though he were already crowned. He was\nalways talking of the fine laws he would make and the splendid time\nhe would have, but he was too stupid to be of much use as a plotter.\nIndeed, it was for reason of his stupidity that my father and Tybert\nchose him as king, for they thought they could make of him a useful\ntool. They had, however, to lay their plans without him, and the better\nto carry them out, they called Isengrim the Wolf, and Grimbard the\nApe, into conference. The five met together at a certain place between\nHeyst and Gand, and it was there, O King, that your death was decided\nupon. Each of the conspirators took a solemn oath not to divulge the\nproceedings to a living soul, and having settled the very hour and day\nof your Majesty's assassination, they departed to their homes.\n\n[Illustration: \"I SAW HIM STOP AT THE FOOT OF A GREAT TREE\"]\n\n\"Now, like all apes, Grimbard was a chatterer, and no sooner was\nhe within his house than he told his wife all that had happened,\nexplaining to her that it was a great secret and she was not to tell\na soul. Of course she promised faithfully to keep a still tongue in\nher head, and as a matter of fact I believe she did manage to keep\nthe secret for a whole day. Then she happened to meet my wife in the\nwoods, and having sworn _her_ to secrecy, told her the whole thing. My\nwife, out of a feeling of love and regard to your Majesty, thought it\nher duty to inform me, which she did, immediately she returned home,\nwithout keeping back a single detail.\n\n\"I could not believe my ears at first. 'What! Bruin, king!' I cried.\n'That great fat lump of hairy stupidity, king of the animals! Is the\nworld going mad? Would they dethrone our loved and gracious lord in\nfavour of so base a beast?' There and then, O King, I raised my hand\nabove my head and swore to defend your Majesty's life to the last.\n'While Reynard lives,' I said, 'the King's throne shall be secure, cost\nwhat it may!'\n\n\"From that moment I thought of nothing else but how best to thwart my\nfather's base plans. It seemed to me that if I could only discover the\ntreasure I might stop the whole thing, for the conspirators relied\nupon the gold to pay the armies they intended to raise. For days,\ntherefore, I lurked about the woods, following my father wherever he\nwent, in the hope that, sooner or later, he would betray the treasure's\nwhereabouts. But he was far too wary to go near it, and had it not been\nfor the stupidity of the Ape I might have remained none the wiser. One\nday I noticed Grimbard wheeling a barrow through the forest with an\nair of great secrecy, and following him unseen, at a safe distance, I\nsaw him stop in the midst of the ruins of that ancient palace in the\nforest. There, at the foot of a great tree, he lifted a heavy stone,\ndiscovering a deep hole, from which he took several vases filled to the\nbrim with golden coins. These he placed upon his barrow, and having\ncarefully covered up the hole again, trundled off into the forest.\n\n\"No sooner had he disappeared amid the shade of the trees than I ran\nforward and lifted the stone. What a sight met my eyes! There lay\nthe treasure--chest upon chest of shining gold, and heaps of jewels\nflashing with rays of many-coloured light. My eyes were nearly blinded\nby the splendour.\n\n[Illustration: THE CONSPIRACY GAINED ADHERENTS EVERY DAY]\n\n\"Even as I stood gazing in a sort of dazed trance, I realized what I\nmust do. If I could get this treasure away from the place where it was\nhidden, and, unknown to the conspirators, transport it somewhere else,\ntheir plot would be strangled at its birth. Unfortunately the treasure\nwas heavy and I had no means of conveyance--not even a barrow, but I\ntook counsel of Hermeline, my wife, and she, noble soul as she is,\nstrengthened me in my resolve. 'Though we wear our paws to the bone,'\nsaid she, 'we must take the treasure away and save the life of our\nnoble and our beloved King.' That very night we began our task, and\nlittle by little we moved the treasure, hiding it in a safe place known\nonly to ourselves. For the best part of a month we laboured, working\nonly at night, and fearful every moment that we should be discovered.\nAt last everything was finished, and the whole of the treasure removed.\n\n\"In the meantime, the conspiracy gained adherents every day. My father\nwas the life and soul of the plot. He sent messengers far and near,\ninto every corner of the land, to win the animals over to his side.\n'Those who enrol under my banner,' said he, 'shall receive a large\nsum of money paid in advance. I do not ask them to trust my word, but\nto come to me and let me pour the money into their hands.' In such\ncircumstance what wonder that his supporters grew every hour. Before\nlong he had gathered together an immense army, which was increased by\ntroops raised by the Bear, the Wolf, and the Cat. Bruin, in particular,\nwas very proud of his success in raising soldiers. He already fancied\nhimself king, and walked about giving orders to everybody who crossed\nhis path.\n\n\"Now the time for payment had come, so my father, accompanied by\nGrimbard and the Cat, made his way to the hiding-place of the treasure\nto bring out the gold. I watched them from afar, and saw them uncover\nthe hole, and never to my dying day shall I forget the scream my father\nuttered when he saw that the treasure was no longer there. Frantically\nthe two of them dug up the soil around the place in the hope that they\nwere mistaken, but not a single gold piece could they find. At last\nGrimbard, chattering with fear, turned and slunk away, while my father\ncrept home and hanged himself with a cord to a nail just outside the\nback door. A terrible end, O King, but though he was my father, I\ncannot help feeling he deserved the misery he had brought upon himself.\nAs for Bruin, he found himself faced with the necessity of explaining\nto the soldiers that no money was forthcoming, and being a coward at\nheart, he shirked the task. He, too, fled secretly, and Tybert the Cat\nsoon followed. To-day, sire, these three stand among the foremost of my\naccusers. If I have sinned, have they not sinned too, and in greater\nmeasure?\"\n\n[Illustration: THE SUIT OF GOLDEN ARMOUR EMRIK WORE]\n\nThe King waved his paw impatiently. \"We will deal with them presently,\"\nsaid he. \"For the present, keep to your tale. Where is the treasure\nhidden? Speak, and lie not, on your life!\"\n\n\"Why should I lie, O King?\" asked Reynard in an aggrieved tone. \"Have\nI not sworn to tell the truth? In Western Flanders there is a little\nwood called Husterloo. In the midst of that wood lies a pool, which is\nknown by the name of Krekelput.[1] It is a dreary place, O King, and\nsolitary, for it lies among marshes where no man can pass. No sound\nis heard in that place save only the call of the carrion-crow by day,\nand the dismal hooting of the owl by night. There, close to that pool,\nI hid the treasure, in a hole in the earth which I covered with soil,\nmarking the place with three great stones. Remove those stones, and\ndig up the soil, and you will discover three enormous golden vases,\nbeautifully carved and modelled. In the first is the royal crown of the\nancient King Emrik, which Bruin thought to wear. In the second is the\ncrown of Emrik's queen--a thing of wonder, flashing with splendid gems;\nand in the third is the suit of golden armour Emrik wore. Beneath these\nthree vases lies the rest of the treasure--chest after chest of golden\ncoins, ropes of pearls, necklaces of diamonds and rubies, so many gems\nthat I cannot describe them all. If your Majesty will send trusty\nmessengers to Krekelput, they can easily prove the truth of what I say!\"\n\n      [1] Snail's well.\n\nDuring this recital the King had raised himself from his throne in\nhis excitement, and now he turned to the assembled animals and cried:\n\"Which of you knows Krekelput? Who will go and fetch the treasure?\"\n\nNobody answered, for, as a matter of fact, not a soul present had ever\nheard of Krekelput before Reynard mentioned the name.\n\n\"Come, come,\" cried the King. \"One of you must know the wood of\nHusterloo and the pool of which Reynard speaks!\"\n\n\"Be patient with them, Sire,\" said Reynard. \"They are afraid to speak.\nThe Hare knows the place very well. Do you not remember, friend,\" said\nhe, fixing the Hare with a menacing glance, \"you took refuge in the\nwood of Husterloo one day when the hounds were after you!\"\n\n[Illustration: THEY WALKED IN SILENCE]\n\n\"I cannot remember very well,\" stammered the Hare, who was nearly out\nof his senses with fright. \"Perhaps I did!\"\n\n\"Of course you did,\" said Reynard, \"and you could find the place again,\nno doubt?\"\n\n\"I am not sure,\" said the poor Hare, who indeed had never heard of\nHusterloo.\n\n\"A truce to all this!\" cried the King impatiently. \"If you cannot\nremember, Reynard shall go with you to refresh your memory, and Bellyn\nthe Ram shall accompany the two of you to see that you do not run away.\nBe off with you at once, and bring back the treasure as quickly as you\ncan, for my eyes are aching for a sight of Emrik's crown and the suit\nof golden armour Emrik wore.\"\n\n\"And forget not the ropes of pearls and the jewelled coronet!\" cried\nthe Queen. \"Bring those first!\"\n\n\"I will bring everything in good time,\" said Reynard; \"trust me for\nthat. But before I set out on this journey I must go to Rome to ask\nabsolution of the Pope for all the sins I have committed. Suffer me\nfirst of all to go on this pilgrimage, O King, and, if you will, send\nBellyn and the Hare with me to see that I do not escape. Nothing is\nfurther from my thoughts, but after what has happened I cannot expect\nyour Majesty to trust my word, and I am content to go in ward.\"\n\n\"Be it so!\" said the King. \"Set off at once and return as soon as may\nbe. And now there is another little affair to settle! Where is Bruin,\nour would-be king. Stand forth, Bruin, with your precious conspirators,\nthe Wolf, the Cat, and the Ape.\" But nobody answered, for seeing how\naffairs were going all the four had quietly slipped away, fearing to\nstay and face the vengeance of the King.\n\nReynard smiled maliciously as he put on a pilgrim's cloak and marched\naway with Bellyn and the Hare along the road that led from the Court.\n\nFor several miles they walked in silence. Then Reynard sighed and said:\n\"Ah, friends, how I long to see my dear wife and children just once\nmore before I go on this long journey that lies before us. Let us take\nthe road that leads past my castle of Malpertuis. It is not much out of\nour way, and we can enter there and refresh ourselves.\"\n\nThe Hare was too frightened to dispute the matter, and Bellyn on his\npart good-humouredly agreed, so the three of them took the road to\nMalpertuis, and before long came to the gate of Reynard's castle.\n\n[Illustration: REYNARD SPRANG AT HIS THROAT]\n\n\"Here we are at last, Cousin Bellyn,\" said Reynard. \"Did you ever see\nsuch fine pastures! You must be famished after our long tramp. Take a\nrest a while and eat some of this sweet grass, while I and the Hare\ngo into the house and console my wife for the long separation that is\nbefore her. We shall not stay more than a few minutes.\"\n\n\"Well, hurry up,\" said Bellyn, who had already begun to graze. \"I will\nwait for you, but don't stay talking all day!\"\n\nSo Reynard and the Hare went into the house, where they were met by\nHermeline, Reynard's devoted spouse.\n\n\"What, husband,\" said she, \"are you back already? How did things go at\nCourt?\"\n\n\"Just as I said they would,\" answered Reynard. \"When the King heard my\ntale he acquitted me of the charges that had been brought against me,\nand allowed me to return here in honour. The Wolf, the Bear, and the\nCat, who were my most powerful enemies, have fled the Court, so that,\nfor the time being, they have escaped my vengeance; but I have brought\nwith me this fellow whom you see at my side, for he was among the\nforemost of my accusers!\"\n\nWhen he heard these words the poor Hare trembled with fright, and\nturned to flee, but in a moment Reynard sprang at his throat. One\nloud cry he gave for help, but Bellyn, peacefully cropping the grass\noutside, did not hear, and the next moment the Hare was dead. Then\nReynard and Hermeline and all the little foxes had a splendid feast,\nand in less than half an hour nothing was left of the Hare's carcass\nbut the head.\n\nWhile they were still feasting there came a loud knocking at the door.\nIt was Bellyn, who, having eaten his fill, was now impatient with\nwaiting.\n\nSnatching up the head of the Hare Reynard put it into a bag, which he\ncarefully sealed. Then, running to the door, he threw it open.\n\n\"You have been a long time!\" grumbled Bellyn. \"Where is the Hare?\"\n\n\"Oh, he is just inside, playing with my little ones,\" said Reynard.\n\"He's a merry fellow, that one, and so fond of children that it is\nbeautiful to watch him. Leave him alone for a time. He'll be out\npresently. While you are waiting, you might run back to the King with\nthis bag, which he asked me to send him. It contains papers referring\nto the conspiracy--papers which involve a great many people at Court,\nin fact nearly all of the animals except yourself. Hurry off with it,\nand give it into the King's own hands, and, as you value your\nlife, do not open the bag upon the road, or the King will suspect that\nyou also are involved and have erased your name on the way.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"YOU HAVE MERITED DEATH A HUNDRED TIMES\"]\n\n\"Did the King say I was to take back the papers?\" asked Bellyn.\n\n\"Of course he did!\" answered Reynard. \"'Send them back by my trusty\nBellyn'--those were his very words, and he whispered in my ear that you\nwere the only one among the whole court that he could trust. I should\nnot be surprised if he gave you a handsome reward, and perhaps made you\na peer of the realm!\"\n\n\"Give me the bag!\" cried Bellyn. \"I'll take it to the King. I shall not\nbe long. Wait until I come back, and tell the Hare that he is on no\naccount to set out without me.\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" said Reynard. \"He'll not stir a step out of my\ncastle--I'll answer for that. Farewell, good Bellyn. I will be waiting\nhere when you return!\"\n\nFull of pride at his important mission, Bellyn trotted off down the\nroad, bearing the bag very carefully with him, and Reynard, with a\nspiteful smile, stood and watched him till he was out of sight.\n\nIn good time Bellyn returned to the Court and handed to the astonished\nKing the bag which Reynard had sent. The King broke the seal, and\ngazed inside, while the Queen pressed close to him, peering over his\nshoulder. The next moment he gave a cry of horror, as he drew forth the\nhead of the poor Hare. The Queen fell to the ground in a dead faint,\nand for a time the King remained holding the head in his hands, gazing\nat it vacantly. Then he cast it from him, and without a word turned his\nsteps towards his palace, where he immediately took to his bed, for the\nshock of the thing had made him ill. Not for several weeks afterwards,\nwhen he had somewhat recovered, was he able to turn his thoughts to\nvengeance. Then he gave orders for a large army to march to Reynard's\ncastle of Malpertuis to raze it to the ground, and bring back the Fox\nin chains.\n\nThe army set out, but when they arrived at Malpertuis they found the\nbirds had flown. Reynard and Hermeline and all the little foxes had\nleft the country, and were never seen again.\n\nSome people say that they took up their abode in a distant land, where\nReynard soon began once more to play his old tricks, until the King of\nthat land caught him one day red-handed, and hanged him on the nearest\ntree without giving him a chance to say a word. I do not know whether\nthis story is true, although I hope it is. All that I can say for\ncertain is that Reynard and his family were never seen in King Nobel's\ndominions from that day on.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: CALF AND GOAT]\n\nTHE MAGIC CAP\n\n\nThere was once a poor countryman, of whom his neighbours said that he\nhad no more wits than he was born with, and that was not many. He was,\nindeed a simple-minded fellow, and anybody could get the better of him.\nOne day the countryman's wife said to him: \"Jan, put on your best smock\nand your soundest clogs, and go to the market to try and sell our calf.\nShe is a good calf and you ought to get at least a hundred francs for\nher.\"\n\nAway went Jan, along the road to the market town, with the calf\nbehind him. He felt quite glad to be out on this fine spring day, and\nhe hummed a merry tune as he plodded along. Three students who were\nlounging at the door of an inn saw him pass, and, marking his air of\nsimplicity, thought it would be good fun to play a joke upon him, so\none of them went up to him and said:\n\n\"Good-morning, friend! How much are you asking for your goat?\"\n\n\"Goat?\" answered the peasant in surprise. \"This is not a goat, but a\ncalf!\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" said the student politely. \"And who told you that?\"\n\n\"It was my wife,\" answered the peasant. \"'Jan,' she said, 'go to the\nmarket and try to sell our calf.' I am sure she said calf. I could not\nmake a mistake about such a thing!\"\n\n\"Your wife was playing a joke on you,\" said the student. \"Anybody can\nsee that is a goat. If you don't believe me, ask the next person you\nmeet on the road.\" And he went off, laughing.\n\nJan continued his walk, a little troubled in his mind, and before very\nlong he saw the second of the students coming towards him. \"Stay a\nminute, sir,\" he cried. \"Do you mind looking at this animal of mine and\ntelling me what sort of a creature it is?\"\n\n\"Why, a goat, of course,\" answered the student.\n\n\"You're wrong,\" said the peasant. \"It's a calf. My wife says so, and\nshe could not be mistaken!\"\n\n\"Have it your own way!\" replied the student, \"but if you'll take my\nadvice you won't pretend that animal is a calf when you get to the\nmarket, unless you want to be hooted out of the town!\"\n\n\"Ah!\" said Jan, and he went on his way, muttering to himself, and\ncasting many a troubled glance at the innocent calf who ambled along\npeacefully behind him. \"If it is a goat it ought to have horns,\" he\nsaid to himself. \"And it hasn't got any horns. But if it is a calf it\nwill have horns when it grows to be a cow. Perhaps it is a goat-calf.\nI wonder whether goat-calves have horns!\" And he continued to puzzle\nhis poor brains about the matter until he was suddenly interrupted by a\nshout from the side of the road. The shout came from the third student,\nwho had been waiting for him.\n\n\"Hallo, you there!\" cried the student. \"How much do you want for your\ngoat?\"\n\n\"Goat? Goat?\" murmured the peasant in dismay. \"Here, take the thing. If\nit's a goat, I don't want it, for I was sent to market to sell a calf.\nYou may have it for nothing--I'll make you a present of it!\" And so\nsaying, he pushed the cord into the student's hand. Then turning his\nback without another word, he retraced his steps towards his home.\n\n[Illustration: \"YOU WERE BEING MADE A FOOL OF\"]\n\nWhen his wife heard what had happened she was furious. \"You stupid\nlout!\" she cried, \"could you not see that you were being made a fool\nof?\" And she called him all the names she could lay her tongue to,\nuntil the poor fellow blushed and hung his head for shame. Her anger\ndid not last long, however, for she was a good woman and she knew\nthat her husband's simplicity was not his fault, but his misfortune.\nFortunately, she had quite enough wits for them both, and instead of\nwasting more time in reproaches, she set to work to think how she might\npay back the practical jokers in their own coin. It did not take her\nlong to think of a plan, and as the first step towards carrying it\nout, she put on her bonnet and went off to the town, where she called\nat three inns, paying at each of them for a dinner for four persons,\nthe dinner to be eaten on the next market day. Returning home, she\nexplained the plan to her husband and gave him very exact instructions\nas to the part he was to play.\n\nWhen the next market day came round Jan set off for the town, and by\nthe door of the very first inn on the road he met the three students.\nThey exchanged a sly smile when they saw him, and one of them said:\n\"Good morning, good fellow. And how do you find yourself to-day? I\nnotice that you have no goat with you this time.\"\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha!\" laughed Jan, \"that was a good joke you played on me, but\nI bear you no ill-will for it. Come in and drink a glass of wine. I'm\nin funds this morning and I'll willingly stand treat.\"\n\nThe students accepted Jan's offer with enthusiasm, for they belonged\nto that class of men who are always thirsty. Accordingly the four went\ninto the tavern; and Jan called for wine. When the time came to pay for\nit, he called the serving-maid, and taking off his cap, spun it round\nthree times on his finger. \"Madam,\" said he, \"everything is paid for,\nisn't it?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, and thank you very much,\" answered the serving-maid.\n\nThe three students watched this procedure with a good deal of surprise,\nbut Jan carried off the whole affair as if it were the most natural\nthing in the world. \"Now, my friends,\" said he, \"the doctors say it is\nbad to drink on an empty stomach. What do you say to a good meal?\"\n\n\"Excellent,\" cried the students.\n\n\"Very well then, come along with me to the next inn, and you shall have\none.\"\n\nLaughing in their sleeves at the peasant's simplicity, the students\nfollowed. Arrived at the inn, Jan ordered dinner for four, and a heap\nof good things were put upon the table. After the repast, he called the\nserving-maid to him, took off his cap as before, and twirled it round\nthree times on his finger. \"Now then,\" said he, \"everything is paid\nfor, isn't that so?\"\n\n\"Certainly, sir,\" answered the serving-maid, \"and I am very much\nobliged to you.\"\n\n[Illustration: JAN AND THE THREE STUDENTS]\n\nAt this the three students opened their eyes even wider than before,\nbut Jan took not the slightest notice of their astonishment.\n\n\"What do you say, friends,\" he asked, \"shall we go on to the town\ntogether and wash the dinner down with a glass of ale apiece?\"\n\n\"As many as you please,\" answered the students joyfully, and so they\nfollowed Jan to the town, where he entered a third tavern and ordered\ndrinks all round. Then, taking off his cap once again, he twirled it\nround three times on his finger, and said to the innkeeper: \"Everything\nis paid for, isn't it, my good man?\"\n\n\"Certainly, sir,\" said the innkeeper, bowing.\n\nBut this was more than the curiosity of the students could stand.\n\n\"Look here, gossip,\" said one of them, \"how is it that you are able to\nget food and drink for nothing everywhere you go, simply by twirling\nyour cap in people's faces?\"\n\n\"Oh, that's easily explained,\" answered Jan, \"This cap of mine is a\nmagic cap, which was left to me by my great-great-grandmother, who\nwas a witch, so I have heard say. If I twirl it on my finger, and\nsay, 'Everything is paid for,'--well, everything _is_ paid for! You\nunderstand me?\"\n\n\"Perfectly,\" said the student. \"My faith, but that is a wonderful\ncap--the very thing to have when one goes a journey! Will you sell it\nto me?\"\n\n\"How much will you give me for it?\" asked Jan.\n\n\"Two hundred francs!\"\n\n\"Nonsense! Do you think I am going to brave my wife's anger for a\npaltry two hundred francs?\"\n\n\"Well then, three hundred.\"\n\n\"Not enough! My wife says it is worth a fortune.\"\n\n\"Four hundred.\"\n\nJan shook his head doubtfully, and, seeing his hesitation, the student\ncried:\n\n\"Come now, we'll give you five hundred, and not a penny more. You'd\nbetter accept, or you'll lose your chance.\"\n\n\"Well then, hand over the money. I don't know what my wife will say,\nbut....\"\n\n\"She'll give you a kiss for making such a splendid bargain,\" cried the\nstudent, pushing a bag of coins into Jan's hand and snatching the magic\ncap. \"Hurry off home as fast as you can to tell her the good news!\"\nThen the three went away, laughing, slapping each other on the back in\ntheir joy at having got the better of the simple peasant.\n\nThat afternoon the students, eager to take advantage of the qualities\nof the magic cap, invited about fifty of their friends to a splendid\nfeast at the largest inn in the town. Everybody who was invited came,\nas you may imagine, and the resources of the innkeeper were taxed to\nthe utmost to supply the hungry and thirsty crowd with all that they\nwanted. When the feast was ended, the student who had Jan's cap called\nthe host, and twirling it three times round his finger, said: \"Now,\nsir, everything is paid for, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Paid for?\" cried the innkeeper. \"What do you mean? I've not seen the\ncolour of your money yet.\"\n\n[Illustration: TWIRLED THE CAP ROUND THREE TIMES ON HIS FINGER]\n\nAt this reply the student's face fell, but one of his companions\nsnatched the cap from his hands. \"Idiot,\" said he, \"you twirled the cap\nthe wrong way! I was watching the peasant carefully, and he twisted it\nlike this.\" So saying, he gave the cap a twirl and said: \"Now then, my\ngood sir, I think you will agree that everything is paid for.\"\n\n\"I don't know whether you are trying to play a joke on me?\" answered\nthe innkeeper grimly, \"but your idea of humour is not mine. You had\nbetter pay up at once, before I call the police!\"\n\n\"Here, let me try,\" cried the third; and in his turn he twirled the\ncap, and, fixing the host with his eye, repeated that everything was\npaid for.\n\nAt this the innkeeper flew into a passion, and made such a fuss that\nthe room was in an uproar. It was only by promising to pay him at once\nthat the innkeeper could be quietened down, and prevented from putting\nhis threat of calling the police into execution. The banquet cost a\ngood round sum, and as the three students had no money left, their\ninvited guests were obliged to subscribe the money between them, which\nthey did with much grumbling. Afterwards they took their three hosts\noutside and dipped them into the horse-trough to punish them for their\nbad taste in playing practical jokes on their friends.\n\nAnd a few miles away, in their little cottage, Jan and his wife sat\ncounting the five hundred francs he had got for his greasy old cap,\nwhich indeed had not been left him by his great-great-grandmother, but\nwhich was as old and ragged as though it had!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: JAN AND JANNETTE]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: WERE CARRIED SAFELY OVER TO THE OTHER BANK]\n\nSUGAR-CANDY HOUSE\n\n\nJan and Jannette were brother and sister. They lived near a big wood,\nand every day they used to go to play there, fishing for sticklebacks\nin the streams, and making necklaces of red berries. One day they\nwandered farther from their home than usual, and all of a sudden they\ncame to a brook crossed by a pretty red bridge. On the other side of\nthe bridge, half hidden among the trees, they espied the roofs of a\nlittle pink cottage, which, when they came closer, they found to be\nbuilt entirely of sugar-candy! Here was a delightful find for a little\nboy and girl who loved sweetstuff! They lost no time in breaking off\npieces of the roof and popping them into their mouths.\n\nNow in that house there lived an old wolf whose name was Garon. He was\nparalysed in one leg, and could not run very fast, but in all other\nrespects he was as fierce and strong as he had been in his youth. When\nhe heard Jan and Jannette breaking off bits of his roof he growled out,\n\"Who is touching my Sugar-Candy House?\" Then he came limping out to see\nwho it was, but by that time the children were safely hidden in the\nwoods.\n\n\"Who dares to touch my Sugar-Candy House?\" roared the wolf again.\n\nThen Jan replied:\n\n    \"_It's the wind so mild,\n    It's the wind so mild,\n    That lovable child!_\"\n\nThis satisfied the old wolf, and back he went to his house, grumbling.\n\nThe next day Jan and Jannette once again crossed over the little red\nbridge, and broke some more candy from the wolf's house. Out came Garon\nagain, bristling all over.\n\n\"Who is touching my Sugar-Candy House?\" he roared.\n\nAnd Jan and Jannette replied:\n\n    \"_It's the wind so mild,\n    It's the wind so mild,\n    That lovable child!_\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the wolf, and he went back again, but this time there\nwas a gleam of suspicion in his eye.\n\nThe next day was stormy, and hardly had Jan and Jannette reached the\nSugar-Candy House than the wolf came out, and surprised them in the\nvery act of breaking a piece off his window-sill.\n\n\"Oho!\" said he. \"It was the wind so mild, was it? That lovable child,\neh? Precious lovable children, I must say! Gr-r-r, I'll eat them up!\"\nAnd he sprang at Jan and Jannette, who took to their heels and ran off\nas fast as their legs could carry them. Garon pursued them at a good\nspeed in spite of his stiff paw, and although he never gained upon\nthem, yet he kept them in sight, and refused to give up the chase. The\nchildren looked back once or twice, and saw that the wolf was still\nfollowing them, but they were not very much afraid, because they were\nconfident of their ability to outrun him.\n\n[Illustration:'GR-R-R, I'LL EAT THEM UP!']\n\nAll of a sudden they found their way barred by a river. There was no\nbridge across it, and the water was very deep. What were they to do?\nNearer and nearer came the wolf!\n\nIn the middle of the river some ducks were swimming, and Jan called out\nto them: \"Little ducks! Little ducks! Carry us over the river on your\nbacks, for if you do not the wolf will get us!\"\n\nSo the ducks came swimming up, and Jan and Jannette climbed each on to\nthe back of one, and were carried safely over to the other bank.\n\nPresently the wolf, in his turn, came to the river. He had seen how\nthe children had managed to cross, and he roared out at the ducks in a\nterrible voice, \"Come and carry me over, or I'll eat you all up!\"\n\n\"Very well,\" answered the ducks, and they swam to the bank, and Garon\nbalanced himself on four of them, one paw on the back of each. But they\nhad no intention of carrying the wicked old wolf to the other side, for\nthey did not love him or any of his tribe, and, moreover, they objected\nto his impolite way of asking a favour. So, at a given signal from the\nleader, all the ducks dived in midstream, and left old Garon struggling\nin the water. Three times he went down and three times he came up, but\nthe fourth time he sank never to rise any more.\n\nThat was the end of old Garon, and a good job, too, say I. I don't know\nwhat became of his Sugar-Candy House, but I dare say, if you could find\nthe wood, and the sun had not melted the candy, or the rain washed it\naway, you might break a bit of it off for yourselves.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: JACO PETER AND HIS FRIEND]\n\nPOOR PETER\n\n\nThere was once a man named Jaco Peter who was so poor that he had\nnot two sous to rub together. His clothes were rags, his boots were\nshocking, and as for his house, it was nothing but a miserable hovel\nhardly fit for a dog. The only friend poor Peter had in the world was\na big fox who was called Reynard the Red because of the colour of his\nhide.\n\nOne day as Poor Peter was walking along the road looking out for stray\nscraps of food which he could pick up for his dinner, whom should he\nmeet but Reynard, who was going off to spy round a farmhouse where, he\nhad been told, there were some fine fat chickens.\n\n\"How now, Peter,\" said Reynard, \"you look very miserable to-day! What\nis the matter?\"\n\n\"I have fallen on bad luck,\" answered Peter gloomily. \"I have found\nnothing to-day but two cabbage-stalks and a half-gnawed bone, and to\nmake matters worse, the bone has no marrow in it.\"\n\n\"Why do you eat such stuff?\" asked Reynard disgustedly. \"Look at me--I\nam just as poor as you, yet I live on the fat of the land! And how do I\ndo it, Peter? Why, by using my wits! Cheer up, my friend, you shall be\na man of fortune yet, for I'll take your case in hand myself!\"\n\nReynard was as good as his word. The same day he called at the King's\npalace and asked if he might borrow a bushel measure. Such an unusual\nrequest from a fox caused some amazement and the matter was brought to\nthe notice of the King himself, who sent for Reynard and asked him what\nhe wanted with such a thing.\n\n\"The fact is,\" answered Reynard, \"that a friend of mine, a certain Lord\nJaco Peter, has come by a good deal of money, and he wishes to measure\nit.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the King, \"you may take the measure, but I would like\nto have it back when you have done with it, if you do not mind.\"\n\nOff went Reynard with the bushel basket, and the same night, having\nstuck a couple of sous to the bottom of it with a bit of grease, he\nsent it back with a message to say that it was not large enough, and\nmight he have another? In reply, the King sent a two-bushel measure,\nand after a time Reynard sent this back also, with a request for a\nlarger one still. \"If I have to measure the money with a thing like\nthis,\" said he, \"I shall be a month over the task.\"\n\n\"That friend of yours must be an enormously wealthy man,\" said the\nKing. \"Let me see--what did you say his name was? Lord Jaco Peter? I do\nnot seem to remember a lord of that name in my dominions!\"\n\n\"He is a foreign noble,\" said Reynard glibly, \"who has only lately\narrived in this country. He will shortly be coming to pay his respects\nto your Majesty, for it is his intention to ask for the hand of the\nPrincess, your daughter, in marriage.\"\n\n\"That is a thing one must consider,\" replied the King, \"but in the\nmeantime I will gladly give your noble friend an audience.\"\n\nAway went Reynard in high feather and recounted to Poor Peter all that\nhad happened. \"The affair is as good as finished,\" said he, \"you shall\nmarry the Princess and sit at the King's right hand!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"SMEAR YOURSELF FROM HEAD TO FOOT\"]\n\nPeter looked down at his clothes, which indeed, were too well\nventilated to be quite seemly, and made a grimace. \"A fine lord I\nshall look!\" said he, \"with my toes sticking out of my boots and holes\nin my breeches.\"\n\n\"Never mind about that,\" Reynard answered. \"Just leave everything to\nme, and all be well.\"\n\nThe next day, when the time came for the pair to set out for the\npalace, Reynard said to his friend: \"Now pay great attention to what\nI have to say. Close by the King's palace there is a big muddy puddle\nin the middle of the road. When you come to that puddle I want you to\ntrip over yourself and fall plump into it. Don't let there be any half\nmeasures! Get right into the mud--wallow in it, and smear yourself from\nhead to foot!\"\n\n\"But why...?\" asked Peter.\n\n\"Never mind about why. Do as I tell you!\"\n\nPoor Peter carried out his directions to the letter. When they reached\nthe puddle he pretended to slip, and fell souse into it, covering\nhimself with a thick layer of mud. At sight of the disaster Reynard\nbegan to cry out in dismay, and the guards at the King's palace, who\nhad seen the accident, came running up to offer their aid.\n\n\"Did you fall down?\" asked one of them politely. Peter was wiping the\nmud out of his mouth and could not answer, but the fox cried: \"Of\ncourse he has fallen down, oaf! Do you think he sat in the puddle for\namusement. Don't stand gaping there, but run to the palace quickly, and\nborrow a change of clothes, for this is Lord Jaco Peter who is on his\nway to visit the King. And look you,\" he added, as the guards ran off,\n\"see that you bring some robes worthy of my lord's great estate, or it\nwill be the worse for you!\"\n\nAway went the guards, and told the King's Chamberlain about the\ncatastrophe. A few minutes later they returned bearing with them a\nmagnificent robe of cloth-of-gold, beautifully embroidered and sewn\nwith precious stones. Then they led Peter to a chamber, where he bathed\nhimself and donned his new finery. Unfortunately the Chamberlain had\nforgotten to send any shoes, so there was Peter with his toes sticking\nout of his boots under his magnificent gown.\n\n[Illustration: REYNARD SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY TO WARN HIS FRIEND]\n\n\"Never mind,\" said Reynard, \"you must keep your feet out of sight,\" and\nhe led him before the King, who was immensely taken with his appearance.\n\n\"Tell me,\" he said to Reynard, after greetings had been exchanged, \"why\ndoes your friend keep staring at his clothes. One would think he was\nnot used to them!\"\n\nReynard smiled. \"As a matter of fact, your Majesty,\" he answered, \"he\nis not. This dress of his came out of your Majesty's wardrobe, for he\nhad the ill-fortune to spoil his own on the way here, by falling into a\npuddle. The gown is good enough, as it goes, of course; but my friend\nis used to something far finer. I would wager a thousand crowns he is\nthinking this very moment that he has never been so poorly clad before\nin his life! Is it not so, my lord?\" he added, turning to Peter.\n\n[Illustration: AN EXCLAMATION OF ASTONISHMENT]\n\nPeter gave a grin and a nod of the head, and the affair passed without\nfurther comment, but on their way in to dinner Reynard seized the\nopportunity to warn his friend against further faults of deportment.\nBut, as the saying goes, it is no use trying to make a silk purse out\nof a sow's ear, and no sooner were they seated at table, and Peter saw\nthe magnificent golden dishes, the delicate cut glass, and the fine\ncandlesticks, than he opened his eyes wide, and gave an exclamation of\nastonishment.\n\n\"What is the matter now?\" asked the King, staring at him.\n\n\"I crave your Majesty's pardon,\" said Reynard. \"My friend is a little\noverwhelmed, for your customs are new to him. In his own palace, you\nsee, he is used to a certain degree of luxury--such a service of plate,\nfor instance, as this on the table, would there only be found in the\nservant's quarters. Come, come, my lord,\" he added, clapping Peter on\nthe shoulder, \"it will do you good to live the simple life. Spartan\nfare, my lord, Spartan fare!\"\n\nPeter rolled his eyes and grinned again, before falling to, with a\nfairly good appetite, upon the rich food spread before him.\n\n\"This lord must certainly be of enormous wealth,\" thought the King.\n\"True, he has certain curious tricks of manner, such as supping his\ngravy with a table-knife, but what does a little thing like that\nmatter! In other countries, other ways! That is a very good proverb.\"\n\nAfter dinner was over Reynard broached the matter of Peter's marriage\nwith the King's daughter, and the King gave his consent. He begged\nReynard and his friend to remain at the palace as his guests until\nthe ceremony should take place, and apportioned to them a magnificent\nsuite of rooms. A week later Peter and the Princess were married. The\npoor man could hardly believe his good luck as he stood before the\naltar dressed out in gorgeous robes. All he could do was to stare like\none who is dazed, and Reynard had to nudge him from behind to get him\nto make the responses. After the wedding a splendid feast was held,\nto which all the greatest and wealthiest lords in the kingdom were\ninvited, and then the King's carriages arrived to conduct the happy\npair to Peter's castle.\n\nNow what was to be done? Peter's castle was a broken-down hovel at\nthe edge of the forest. He shivered with fear when he thought of what\nthe Princess would say when she saw it, with its mud floor, and its\nfurniture consisting of one chair with no back, one battered table,\nand a heap of brushwood covered with a ragged pallet which served as a\nbed. Could Reynard overcome this difficulty as he had overcome all the\nothers?\n\nOf course he could, and he did! Away went the coaches, with Reynard\nsitting proudly on the box of the foremost, and presently the whole\ncort\u00e8ge halted before the gates of an enchanted castle, which Reynard\nhad borrowed from the fairies of the forest. There Lord Jaco Peter and\nhis bride lived for many happy years. They had six children, three boys\nand three girls, and Reynard was the friend of them all.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"OH DEAR ME, THAT'S TWICE!\"]\n\nTHE PEASANT AND HIS ASS\n\n\nThere once lived a poor peasant. I do not know his name, but he earned\na living by gathering dead wood in the forest, and he had a donkey who\nwas no bigger ass than himself. Perhaps by this you will be able to\nrecognize him.\n\nOne day the peasant hitched his donkey into the shafts of his little\ncart and went off as usual to the wood for his day's toil. Arrived\nthere, he tied the donkey to a tree and then, by way of the cart,\nclimbed the trunk in order to break off some dead branches which he had\nnoticed above. As he sat there, legs astraddle on the branch, busily\nbreaking away the dead wood, along through the forest came a lord\ndressed in fine clothes, with his manservant behind him.\n\n\"Hallo! my man,\" cried the lord, \"if you don't come down from that\ntree pretty soon you'll get a tumble. The branch you are sitting on is\ncracked.\"\n\n\"Cracked, is it?\" answered the peasant. \"Well, so much the worse for\nme.\" And he went on calmly with his work.\n\nThe lord went away shrugging his shoulders at the peasant's stupidity;\nand, sure enough, before he had gone very far, _crack! crack!_ the\nbranch broke, and down fell the peasant to the foot of the tree, giving\nhimself a fine blow on the nose, which immediately swelled almost to\nthe size of a turnip.\n\n\"My word,\" muttered the peasant, tenderly feeling the sore place, \"that\nman must have been a sorcerer! He can foretell the future! He said I'd\nfall and I certainly have fallen! I must run after him and ask him to\ntell me something else. This is a chance not to be missed!\"\n\nSo off he ran as fast as his bruised limbs would allow, in pursuit of\nthe lord, and presently came up with him. \"Hi, sir, wait a minute!\" he\ncried. \"You told me the truth about the tree. The branch broke right\nenough and I fell on my nose. Won't you tell me something else?\"\n\n\"Willingly,\" answered the lord, \"and I hope this time that you will pay\nheed to what I say. Take care not to load your ass too heavily, for if\nyou do so he will bray, and if he brays three times running I predict\nthat you will suddenly die.\"\n\n\"Oh dear me!\" sighed the peasant. \"I am the most unfortunate of\nmen. Each prediction about my future seems to be an unhappy one.\nNevertheless, I am very much obliged to you, sir. Good day.\" And he\ntook off his cap to the lord and bowed, and lurched off back to his\ntree.\n\nFor a long time he worked busily, and found so much wood that his\nlittle cart soon became full. Then he remembered what the lord had told\nhim about loading his ass too heavily, but he was so avaricious that\nhe could not make up his mind to stop. \"One more branch won't make any\ndifference,\" he kept on saying as he piled more and more wood into the\ncart. At last the poor donkey could stand no more and, lifting his\nhead, he uttered a loud \"Hee-haw!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"HALLO MY MAN,\" CRIED THE LORD]\n\nAt this the peasant turned pale with fright. \"Stop, stop, what are you\ndoing?\" he cried. \"Oh, my dear little ass, I beg you not to bray again.\nI will not put another branch into the cart. We will go home straight\naway and you shall have carrots for supper!\"\n\nSo saying, he climbed to his seat and shook the reins as a signal for\ndeparture. The donkey pulled and pulled, but not an inch would the cart\nbudge, although he strained his muscles to the utmost. Finding all his\nefforts vain, he turned his head and once again gave utterance to a\nloud bray of protest.\n\n\"Oh, dear me, that's twice!\" cried the peasant, jumping down from his\nperch. \"If he brays once more I'm a dead man. Do you hear that, little\nass? For goodness' sake, remain dumb until we reach home, and I'll help\nyou pull the cart!\" Freed of the peasant's weight, the load for a time\nwas easier to pull, but at the end of another ten minutes the weight\nbegan to tell again. The ass stopped and brayed loudly for the third\ntime.\n\n\"That's finished it!\" cried the peasant. \"I am dead!\" And he fell flat\nto the ground.\n\nLeft to himself, the ass wandered slowly on, dragging the load behind\nhim. Soon he came to the gates of the town, and the guard took him and\nput him into the pound. After a time, as nobody claimed him, he was\nsold.\n\nMeanwhile the peasant lay where he had fallen. Presently a carriage\ndrove up, and the coachman was forced to pull in his horses because of\nthe body that lay stretched across the road.\n\n\"Come,\" he cried, thinking that the peasant was drunk, \"rouse yourself,\nswill-tub! Get up, unless you want to be run over!\"\n\n\"I can't get up!\" moaned the peasant.\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"Because I'm dead!\"\n\n\"Dead, are you?\" cried the coachman, jumping from his seat in anger.\n\"Well I've something here that will bring you to life again!\" And he\ntook his whip and laid on to the peasant with such a will that in\nless than ten seconds the fellow was capering about all over the road.\nHaving thus effectively brought the dead man to life, he remounted his\nbox and drove off grumbling.\n\nIn the roadway the peasant continued to dance about until the pain of\nhis beating had somewhat subsided. Then he looked around, and for the\nfirst time missed his donkey.\n\n[Illustration: \"I CAN'T GET UP, BECAUSE I'M DEAD!\"]\n\n\"Dear, dear, dear!\" he cried, \"one trouble after another! When I was\ndead I wished I was alive; now I'm alive I wish I was dead again, for\nI'm sore all over, and I've lost my donkey. Whatever shall I do?\" And,\ngroaning and grumbling, he set off along the road in search of his\nbeast.\n\nAfter a time he came to the gates of the town, where a sentry was\nstanding with his pike on his shoulder. \"Good morning, good man,\" said\nthe peasant. \"Have you seen my little ass?\"\n\n\"Your ass!\" answered the sentry, smiling. \"The only ass that has passed\nthrough these gates to-day is already become burgomaster!\"\n\n\"What! Burgomaster!\" cried the peasant. \"My ass Burgomaster! Tell me\nquickly, where does he live? I must go to him at once!\"\n\nHardly able to control his amusement, the sentry pointed out the way\nto the Burgomaster's house, and thither went the peasant in all haste.\nArrived at the door, he sounded the great bell--_Darlindindin!_--and a\nmaidservant appeared.\n\n\"Is the Burgomaster at home?\" asked the peasant. Yes, he was at home,\nand the maidservant led the peasant to the room where he sat behind a\nbig table loaded with documents.\n\n\"Good morning, Ass!\" said the peasant, with a grin of delight that\ntwisted his swollen and discoloured features.\n\n\"Eh! what, what!\" stammered the Burgomaster, turning purple with anger.\n\n\"I beg your pardon,\" said the peasant, \"I should have said, 'Good\nmorning, Mr. Ass, Esquire,' for you have become a great man now, while\nI am still a poor woodcutter. I don't envy you your good fortune, I am\nsure, although your promotion has left me without a donkey. Since you\nhave become such a great lord, won't you give me back the ten florins\nyou cost me, so that I may buy another?\"\n\nAt this the Burgomaster's rage exploded. Leaping over the table with\none bound, he seized the hapless peasant by the collar of his coat,\nthrew open the door, and, with one mighty kick, sent him sprawling from\ntop to bottom of the stairs.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE EAGLE AND THE KINGLET]\n\nTHE KING OF THE BIRDS\n\n\nAt one time the birds, like the four-footed animals, were ruled over\nby the lion, who is the King of the Beasts, but they grew discontented\nwith his dominion and decided to have a king of their own. It was the\neagle's idea: he thought of it one day when he was standing on the\nlofty crag by his nest, gazing out upon the plain below, and he saw the\nlion, no bigger than a mouse in appearance, slinking beside a dried-up\nstream. \"Earth-bound creature!\" thought the eagle scornfully. \"Who are\nyou to reign over us, who cleave the air with wings and fly in the\nface of the sun! He who is lordliest among the birds should rule the\nfeathered creatures, and surely I am he!\"\n\nSo thinking, the eagle spread his wings and soared high into the\nair, and then swooped suddenly down upon the lion, casting sand into\nhis eyes with a harsh scream of defiance. Having thus relieved his\nfeelings, he sent messengers near and far to assemble all the birds\nthat he might unfold his plan to them.\n\nSuch a scurry of wings as there was when the birds came to answer the\nsummons! The sky was black with them, so that the animals on the earth\nbelow, fearing a dreadful storm, took shelter in their caves and holes.\nFrom north, south, east, and west they came; over mountain, valley, and\nplain; birds of all sorts and sizes, from the little humming-bird to\nthe condor and the vulture. The ostrich left the burning plains where\nhe loves to roam, and flapping his ridiculous wing, for he could not\nfly, raced to the meeting-place. All those birds that dwell in the\ntropical forests, and flash from tree to tree like living jewels in the\ngreen twilight; the penguins and skua-gulls from the icy north; the\ncormorants and shags, and all the hosts of the birds of the sea--if\nI were to go on naming them I should fill every page of this book\nand never even begin my story. And as they flew each uttered his own\ncry, so that what with the calling and the screaming, the whistling,\nwarbling, chirping, and chattering, the air was filled with a mighty\nsound that echoed to the very ends of the world.\n\nWhen all the birds were duly assembled the eagle addressed them thus:\n\"Listen, brothers,\" said he, \"I have called you together in order\nthat we may choose a king, for it is not fitting that the lion, that\nearth-bound creature, should continue to reign over the free company of\nthe birds. We are distinguished from the beasts by our power of flight,\nand it therefore seems to me that the crown of sovereignty should be\ngiven to the one amongst us who possesses that power in the fullest\ndegree. What do you say? Shall we test this matter, and let him who can\nfly nearest to the sun be king?\"\n\nA confused chorus of cries answered his question, one bird speaking\nagainst another.\n\n\"What is flight compared to song?\" asked the nightingale. \"Let the\nsweetest singer among us reign.\"\n\nThe canary and the throstle and the blackcap all agreed with the\nnightingale, but they were shouted down.\n\n\"Beauty, beauty!\" cried the peacock. \"That is the test! A king should\nbe resplendent in gay robes!\" And he spread his gorgeous tail.\n\n\"Aye, there speaks wisdom,\" gobbled the turkey, turning red in the\nface, and strutting up and down. \"What do you say, brother,\" he asked\nthe cock. \"Shall we arrange it so?\"\n\n[Illustration: \"IS OUR KING THEN ONLY TO BE LOOKED AT?\"]\n\n\"A fig for gay feathers!\" cackled the ostrich. \"Is our king then only\nto be looked at, or is he to do nothing all day but chirp and twitter\nfoolish songs? As for flying, I found my wings of so little use that\nI gave up using them long ago. My idea is that we should settle this\nmatter by a running race!\"\n\nAnd so the birds went on quarrelling and disputing until at last the\neagle called for silence, and, addressing the company again, insisted\nupon the adoption of his own plan. He spoke sternly and menacingly, and\nas all the birds went in fear of his curved beak and sharp talons, no\nfurther objections were raised.\n\nIt was agreed that the trial should take place at once, and the cock\nwas chosen to give the signal for the start. Very proud of the honour,\nhe stationed himself on a little grassy knoll, and having ascertained\nthat everybody was ready, gave a loud and clarion call. There was the\nsound as of a rushing mighty wind as all the birds sprang into the air.\nOnly the eagle remained in his place, looking after the others a little\ncontemptuously. So confident did he feel in his ability to outfly them\nall, that he allowed them at least five minutes start. Then, very\nleisurely, he spread his wings and soared. Up, up, up he went; he\novertook the stragglers on the fringe of the crowd, passed through the\nthickest press, outdistanced the foremost flyer of them all. Still up\nand up he soared, exalting in his strength and power, until the birds\nflying far below were hidden by the clouds. Then he hung for a moment,\nmotionless on extended wings, for he was a little wearied by his\nefforts.\n\nAll of a sudden he heard, above his head, a tiny _twit, twit, twit_,\nand looking up, saw, to his surprise, the golden-crested wren, one of\nthe smallest of the birds, flying merrily above him.\n\n\"I have outdistanced you. I am king! I am king!\" cried the wren in his\njoy.\n\n\"We will see,\" said the eagle grimly; and once again he beat his mighty\nwings and soared.\n\nAt the end of a further five minutes, he stopped again, only to hear,\nas before, the wren's cheerful twitter above him. Again and again the\nsame thing happened. Try as he might, the eagle could not outdistance\nthe tiny bird, and at last, worn out with his exertions, he was obliged\nto give up the contest, and to descend, crestfallen, to the earth again.\n\n[Illustration: BIRDS GOING TO THE RACE]\n\nAnd how did the little wren, which is certainly not famed for its\npowers of flight, come to be able to defeat the mighty eagle? By a very\nsimple trick! When the eagle started on its flight the wren was safely\nperched upon his back. There he clung until the eagle stopped flying,\nwhen it was an easy matter to rise from his place and fly a yard or\ntwo higher. When the eagle began to fly again, the wren again took its\nplace on his back, and this continued time after time until the great\nbird was exhausted.\n\n[Illustration: THERE WAS THE SOUND AS OF A RUSHING MIGHTY WIND]\n\nAlthough nobody suspected the trick which the wren had played, the\nother birds were very indignant when they heard the wren declare that\nhe had won the contest. \"You, king!\" they cried. \"An insignificant\nthing like you! It would be a disgrace to us if we were to suffer it.\nWe would rather be ruled by the lion! At any rate, he had majesty of\ndeportment and dignity. You have neither grace nor wisdom, strength nor\nbeauty. Away with you before we tear you to pieces!\"\n\nThe wren was as perky as you please, and for only answer he flew to the\nboughs of a tree, whence he looked down on them all with his head on\none side, chirping, \"I am king! I am king. Bow down and make obeisance!\"\n\nA great cry of anger arose. \"Kill him! Kill him!\" screamed the hawk.\n\"Tear him to pieces!\"\n\n\"You will have to catch him first!\" twittered the wren, and as the hawk\nmade a rush at him, he popped into a hole in the trunk of a tree--a\nhole so small that nobody could get at him. From the shelter of that\nsafe retreat he continued to gibe at the birds, issuing commands, and\nasserting that he was their king.\n\nWhat was to be done? Nobody could get at the wren, and yet all the\nbirds felt that he should be punished for his impudence. A consultation\nwas held, and it was finally decided to set the owl as a guard at the\nmouth of his hole. \"Sooner or later,\" said the eagle, \"he will have to\ncome out in order to get food, and then we will have him. If, however,\nhe elects to stay where he is, let him; either way our purpose will be\nserved.\"\n\nSo the owl mounted guard by the hole in the trunk of the tree, and\nhaving given him the most careful instructions not on any account to\nlet the wren escape, the other birds flew away. All that day the owl\nremained vigilant at his post, and though the wren put his head out of\nthe hole a hundred times, he always found his guard keeping careful\nwatch. Night fell, and a great silence fell upon the woods, but still\nthe owl kept awake for hour after hour, watching with unwinking eyes.\nAt last, towards morning, his vigilance relaxed a little. His head\nsank forward on his breast; and he fell fast asleep. Hardly had his\neyes closed than, _rip!_ the wren darted out of his hole, and the next\nmoment he had vanished among the trees.\n\nWhen the birds returned the next morning they were furious to find that\ntheir prisoner had escaped. \"Unfaithful servant,\" they cried, \"you have\nbetrayed your trust!\" And they fell upon the owl to put him to death.\nWith some difficulty he managed to escape, but ever since that time the\nbirds chase the owl wherever they see him, for they are still angry\nwith him. To keep out of their way he has to hide during the day and\nventure out only at night, when all the other birds are fast asleep.\n\nAs for the golden-crested wren, he is known as the Kinglet, or little\nking, to this day.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: DONATUS]\n\nA DRUM FULL OF BEES\n\n\nA certain regiment had for its drummer an old man named Donatus. He was\na good-for-nothing rascal, who spent most of his time in the tavern\ndrinking and playing cards, but he was an excellent drummer for all\nthat, and it was a fine sight to see him on parade days, marching\nalong with the band, and playing on his drum with a flourish that was\nthe envy of all the boys in the town. None of his companions in the\nregiment liked Donatus, because of his fondness for playing practical\njokes. There was hardly one of them whom at some time or another he\nhad not hoaxed, and as most of his jokes were spiteful ones, nobody\npretended to be sorry when one day the drummer was found cheating at\ncards, and being brought before the Captain, was dismissed from the\nregiment. It was in vain that he pleaded for mercy, with the tears\nrunning down his face. The Captain had forgiven him many times, and was\ndetermined not to do so again.\n\n\"Well,\" said Donatus at last, \"if I must go, I beg you, Captain, to let\nme keep my drum. I have played on it since I was a lad of fourteen, and\nI know no other trade. If you take it away from me, I don't know how I\nam going to live, but with it I may perhaps manage to turn an honest\npenny or two.\"\n\n\"Very well, you old scoundrel,\" answered the Captain. \"Keep your drum\nand take yourself off; only be quick about it, or you shall be soundly\nthrashed.\"\n\nSo away went Donatus with his drum on his back, and not having any\nparticular place to go to, he just took the first road that came, and\nmarched along it all day until he was forced to rest because his legs\nwere so tired. Setting his drum down in the middle of the road he sat\nupon it and began to wonder what he should do for food and a bed for\nthe night. First of all he turned out his pockets to see what he could\nfind, but there was nothing there except two sous and a pack of very\ngreasy playing cards. Donatus put them back again, with a sigh, and\nfell again to wondering how he was going to fare.\n\nNow the road along which he had been walking was bordered by a dense\nforest, and suddenly Donatus thought that if he were to get among\nthe trees he could at least find shelter. So he shouldered his drum\nagain and entered the wood. Hardly had he done so than he heard a loud\nhumming noise, and proceeding in the direction from which it came, he\nsaw a swarm of bees hanging to the branch of a big tree.\n\n\"Here's fine fruit!\" said he to himself, laughing. \"I'll pluck them.\nThey may come in useful one of these days!\" So he took off the top skin\nof his drum, and having skilfully caused the swarm to drop inside the\ninstrument, replaced the skin and went on his way.\n\nPresently he came to a little house in the wood, and knocked at the\ndoor to ask for shelter for the night. The door was opened by a peasant\nwoman of comely appearance, but with a very disagreeable expression of\nface. She looked the drummer up and down very sourly. \"Be off with\nyou!\" she said, \"we want no soldiers here. We have seen your kind\nbefore, my man, and do not like them.\" And so saying, she very rudely\nshut the door in his face.\n\n\"Now what am I to do?\" thought Donatus ruefully. \"Night has fallen, and\nI am too weary to wander any farther. A plague take that hard-hearted\nvixen, who will not take pity on my misfortunes!\"\n\nThus reflecting, he cast his eye about to look for a corner in which\nhe might rest, and suddenly spied a heap of faggots piled up against\nthe cottage wall. Climbing to the top of the heap, he found that it\nwas possible to reach the window of the attic, which fortunately stood\nopen, so he lost no time in crawling inside, where he stretched himself\nout upon the planks to sleep.\n\nNow the attic happened to be directly above the kitchen, and as there\nwas a knot-hole in the wooden floor, the drummer could see everything\nthat was going on in the room below. There was the peasant-woman busily\npreparing the supper, and the fragrant fumes which rose from the viands\ntickled the drummer's nose, and made the water run out of the corners\nof his mouth.\n\nAfter a time there was a loud knock at the house door, and the woman\nhurried to open it, admitting a man dressed in a long cloak. He was the\nvillage beadle, and a nephew of the woman's husband, but that good man\nhad such a hatred of beadles that he could not bear to look at one, and\nhis nephew never dared to come to the house while the husband was at\nhome. His visits therefore were few and far between, but when he did\ncome his aunt always feasted him right royally. This time she bade him\nwelcome with great tenderness, helped him off with his cloak and sat\nhim down at the table, upon which she placed a fine roast fowl, with a\ngammon of bacon and a bottle of wine.\n\n\"Ha, ha!\" cried the beadle, rubbing his hands. \"You are a famous\nhostess, aunt! My walk has given me an appetite, and I am just in a\ncondition to do justice to your good victuals. Here's health!\" And he\nfilled a glass with wine and drained it to the dregs.\n\n[Illustration: THERE WAS A KNOT-HOLE IN THE WOODEN FLOOR]\n\n\"Gr-r, you greedy fellow!\" muttered the drummer, who was lying full\nlength in the attic above with his eye to the knot-hole. \"I hope it may\nchoke you!\" And he watched eagerly while the beadle began to fall to\nupon the roast fowl.\n\nSuddenly the feast was interrupted by another loud knock at the door.\n\n\"My husband!\" cried the woman in great agitation. \"He has come back\nunexpectedly. If he finds you here, something terrible will happen, for\nhe cannot bear the sight of a beadle. Quick! jump into this chest and\npull down the lid, while I clear away all signs of the supper!\"\n\nThe beadle, who was just as frightened as his hostess, lost no time in\ndoing as she bade him. He hopped into the chest and pulled down the\nlid, while she hurried to clear the table. All this time the husband\nwas thundering at the door, very impatient at being kept waiting. When\nat last his wife let him in, he flew into a temper and began to scold\nher.\n\n\"I am very sorry, good man,\" she answered, \"but I did not hear you\nknock, I was hard at work in the scullery.\"\n\n\"Bring me something to eat!\" growled the man.\n\n\"Just as you like,\" answered his wife. \"But if I were you I would not\nsup so late--you know how it always gives you indigestion. Wouldn't it\nbe better to go straight to bed?\"\n\n\"Hold your peace, woman,\" said her spouse. \"I am not sleepy!\" And he\nsat himself down at the table.\n\nHardly had he done so than there came a loud knocking on the floor of\nthe attic above his head.\n\n\"What is that?\" he cried, jumping up. \"Is there somebody in the attic?\"\n\n\"Not that I know of,\" answered his wife. \"Nobody has been here all day\nexcept a soldier with a most villainous face, who came begging. I sent\nhim away with a flea in his ear, I assure you.\"\n\n\"Did you so?\" said her husband. \"Well, I believe he has managed to get\ninto the attic. I remember now that I forgot to fasten the window.\" Off\nhe went upstairs to see, and sure enough, there was the drummer, who\nwas not slow in explaining his presence.\n\n\"Well, come along downstairs and warm yourself,\" said the peasant. \"My\nwife is just about to get my supper, and I expect there will be enough\nfor two.\"\n\nNothing loath, the drummer accompanied his host to the kitchen, and\nsat down at the table, paying no heed to the venomous glances which\nthe woman of the house cast at him as she slammed down a loaf of black\nbread and a bowl of milk.\n\n\"Ho, ho,\" said the drummer to himself. \"There is fowl for the beadle\nand dry bread for the good man and his guest. Well, we shall see!\" And\nhe gave a kick with his foot to the drum which was under the table.\n\n[Illustration: \"I DID NOT HEAR YOU KNOCK\"]\n\n\"What have you there?\" asked the peasant, starting up at the sound.\n\n\"Oh, that is my oracle,\" answered the drummer coolly.\n\n\"Your oracle! Does he, then, speak to you?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" answered the drummer. \"He speaks to me three times a day.\"\n\n\"Faith,\" said the peasant, \"I should very much like to hear him.\"\n\nSo the drummer picked up his drumsticks and beat a lively tattoo upon\nthe drum, and, aroused by the noise and vibration, the swarm of bees\nwithin began to buzz about in great commotion.\n\n\"Wonderful! Wonderful!\" cried the peasant delightedly, as he listened\nto the humming. \"And do you really understand that language? What does\nthe oracle say?\"\n\n\"He says,\" answered the peasant, \"that there is no need for us to drink\nsour milk, because there is a bottle of wine standing by the wall, just\nbehind the big chest.\"\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha! that is a good joke!\" roared the peasant. \"Wine in my\nhouse, indeed! I only wish it were true!\"\n\n\"Tell your wife to look behind the chest, and I'll warrant you she will\nfind it.\"\n\nVery unwillingly the dame went to the place indicated, and came back\nwith the bottle of wine. She tried to look as surprised as her husband,\nbut only succeeded in pulling a very wry mouth.\n\n\"Bring glasses, wife!\" cried the peasant in great good humour. \"We must\ndrink the health of this famous oracle. Do you think you can make him\nspeak again, friend?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" said the drummer, beating another tattoo upon the drum.\nOnce again the bees began to hum loudly, and he leant down, pretending\nto listen to what they had to say.\n\n\"Well? Well?\" cried the peasant impatiently.\n\n\"He says that if your wife will look in the cupboard, she will find a\nroast fowl and a gammon of bacon, which we can eat instead of this dry\nbread.\"\n\n\"Upon my word, that is a wonderful oracle!\" cried the peasant. \"Make\nhaste, wife, and look in the cupboard.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE SWARM OF BEES WITHIN BEGAN TO BUZZ ABOUT IN GREAT\nCOMMOTION]\n\nThe dame could not refuse to obey, so she brought the good things and\nset them on the table, but if looks could have killed anybody the\ndrummer would have been a dead man that day. Little heed he paid to\nher evil glances, however, but applied himself to the food with a good\nappetite. Before very long, between the two of them, there was nothing\nleft of the chicken but the bones, and of the gammon but the scrag-end.\n\n[Illustration: BEATING ANOTHER TATTOO UPON THE DRUM]\n\n\"Faith,\" said the peasant, unbuttoning his waistcoat, \"that was a\nbetter meal than I expected to get this night. Has your oracle any more\nagreeable surprises for us, good sir. I pray you, make him speak again.\"\n\n\"With all the will in the world,\" answered the drummer, \"but this will\nbe the last occasion, for he only speaks three times a day.\" Taking up\nhis sticks, he played the war-march of Napoleon on the drum, and the\nbees accompanied him as before with their loud humming. The peasant\nleaned forward eagerly to listen, while his wife stood by trembling\nwith fear.\n\n\"Ah,\" said the drummer at last, looking at them both with a grave face.\n\"This time my oracle tells me of a very serious matter. He says that in\nthe big chest over there a big black demon is hidden!\"\n\n\"What! What!\" cried the peasant, jumping up from his chair as though\nhe had been stung. \"A demon, did you say?\"\n\n\"Precisely,\" answered the drummer. \"But don't be alarmed. I will get\nrid of him for you. Open the door and the windows and then place\nyourself here, by my side.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE BEADLE, TOO, STUMBLED AND FELL]\n\nThe peasant made haste to do what he was told, and marching boldly\nup to the chest, the drummer seized the heavy lid and threw it open.\nImmediately the beadle, who had heard everything and was not a little\nafraid of his own skin, jumped up, his figure entirely covered with\nthe folds of his black mantle, and ran for the door. So sudden was his\nappearance, and so hasty his flight, that he ran with full force into\nthe peasant, who had no time to get out of his way, and knocked that\nworthy man flying head over heels. The beadle, too, stumbled and fell,\nbut quickly recovering himself, made blindly for the door, fell over\nthe folds of his cloak, and tumbled head foremost into the ditch by the\nside of the road. There was a sudden splashing sound, a muffled murmur,\nand then silence.\n\n\"Poof!\" said the peasant, when he had picked himself up and rubbed his\nlimbs. \"That was a narrow escape! I saw the demon quite plainly--he was\nall black, with fiery eyes, and a forked tail! Thank heaven that your\noracle warned us, good sir, or he would have devoured us as we slept!\"\n\nThe next morning, as the drummer and the peasant sat at breakfast, the\nlatter said:\n\n\"Will you sell me that oracle of yours, drummer?\"\n\n\"That depends,\" answered his guest. \"You know it is worth a great deal\nof money.\"\n\n\"I will give you a hundred crowns,\" said the peasant, \"and that is all\nI have in the world.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the drummer. \"It is little enough for such a\nwonderful oracle as this is, but I have taken a fancy to you, and\nI cannot refuse. Give me the money.\" So the bargain was concluded.\nDonatus received the hundred crowns, and in return handed over the\ndrum. Then he bade farewell to his host and was just going out of the\ndoor when the latter called after him: \"Stay a moment--I have just\nthought of something. How am I to understand the language which the\noracle speaks?\"\n\n\"Oh, that is easy enough,\" answered Donatus. \"Listen while I tell you\nwhat to do. At ten o'clock, precisely, not a minute before or a minute\nafterwards, go and plant your wife in the ground up to her armpits,\nthen smear her face and shoulders with honey. That done, take the\noracle with you into the attic where you found me, and having first\nbandaged your eyes, remove the top skin of the drum. Wait for a quarter\nof an hour; then replace the skin, and take the drum with you to the\nplace where you left your wife. In that very moment the meaning of the\noracle's language will be revealed to you, and you will know as much as\nI know myself!\"\n\n\"Many thanks!\" cried the peasant delightedly. \"Good day to you,\nsoldier, and good luck!\"\n\n\"And to you!\" answered the drummer, and he went away laughing up his\nsleeve at the fellow's simplicity.\n\nAbout a mile farther along the road he saw a man working in the fields,\nand went up to him.\n\n\"If you like, gossip,\" said he, \"I'll do a bit of that digging for you.\"\n\n\"With all my heart,\" answered the labourer, giving up his spade.\n\n[Illustration: HE HAD FAITHFULLY CARRIED OUT ALL HIS INSTRUCTIONS]\n\n\"Very well, but let us change clothes, for I do not wish to soil my\nuniform. Here is a crown for you. Go to the inn and buy yourself a\nglass of wine. When you return you will be surprised to see how much I\nhave done.\"\n\nThe exchange was made and the labourer departed. Less than half an hour\nafterwards the sound of hoofs was heard on the road, and looking up,\nthe drummer saw his late host, mounted on horseback, spurring furiously\ntowards him. The man's face was purple with fury and he was muttering\nthreats as to what he would do to the drummer when he caught him. He\nhad faithfully carried out all his instructions, and had truly enough\nlearnt the meaning of the humming noise within the drum. So had his\nwife; for when he went to her in the garden, he found her with her face\nand shoulders black with bees!\n\nAbreast of the place where the drummer was working the peasant reined\nin his horse, and cried out, \"Hallo, you there. Have you seen a soldier\npass by this way?\"\n\n\"A man, master?\" mumbled the drummer.\n\n\"I said a soldier, you stupid oaf! A man in a red coat with a most\nvillainous face. Have you seen him, I say?\"\n\n\"Why, yes,\" the drummer answered. \"He went past here about a quarter of\nan hour ago and made his way into the wood yonder. You'll never find\nhim, master!\" he added, with a grin.\n\n[Illustration: IT WAS THE LABOURER DRESSED IN THE DRUMMER'S CLOTHES]\n\n\"And why won't I?\"\n\n\"Because he's gone by a secret way. I saw the road he took, and I know\nhow he means to go, but even if I were to show you the way, you would\nnever overtake him, for you would lose yourself in the wood.\"\n\n\"I'll give you a crown if you'll help me to find the rascal,\" cried the\npeasant.\n\n\"A crown! Come now, that's high pay. You must want him very badly!\"\n\n\"I do indeed, and I'll break every bone in his body when I catch him.\"\n\n\"Here, lend me your horse, master,\" said the drummer. \"I'll catch him\nfor you, and not for a crown neither, but for nothing. I'd like to see\nhim get a good thrashing, for he called me names as he passed by.\"\n\n\"But can you ride?\" asked the peasant.\n\n\"Can a duck swim?\" answered the drummer scornfully. \"Dismount quickly\nor the scoundrel will get away. Wait here for me,\" he added, as he\nrode off, \"I'll be back in less than half an hour.\" Off he went at a\ngallop, smiling to himself. \"First of all a hundred crowns, and now a\nfine steed,\" thought he. \"Come Donatus, your luck is standing you in\ngood stead. It's odds but you'll win through yet!\" He reached the wood,\nentered it, and the peasant waiting by the roadside, heard the sound of\nhis horse's hoofs grow fainter and fainter until at last they died away.\n\nA quarter of an hour passed, half an hour, an hour, but the labourer\ndid not return. The peasant, fuming with impatience, strode up and down\nthe road, slashing at the grass and bushes with his stick. Suddenly\nhe heard footsteps, and saw a man in a red coat approaching. It was\nthe labourer dressed in the drummer's clothes, who had drunk, not one,\nbut several glasses of wine, and was now returning very pleased with\nhimself and all the world. As he came he trilled out a merry song.\n\n\"You knave! You villain!\" cried the peasant, throwing himself upon him.\n\"Where are my hundred crowns? What! you would teach me the language of\nthe bees, would you?--and my poor wife is stung all over, and cannot\nsee out of her eyes. Rascal! Scoundrel! Oh, you scum! Take that, and\nthat, and that!\" And with each word, he lifted his heavy stick and\nbrought it down heavily upon the shoulders of the unfortunate labourer.\n\n\"Here, hold hard, master!\" cried the man, twisting and turning to get\naway. \"What's the meaning of this? I'll have the law on you if you\ndon't leave me alone! _Ouch_, give over I tell you! What do I know\nabout your hundred crowns or your wife?\"\n\n\"What!\" cried the peasant, laying on harder than before. \"Do you add\nlying to your other crimes? You will tell me next you have never seen a\ndrum!\" And with one last mighty cut he stretched the unfortunate fellow\nat his feet. Then, for the first time, he had a full view of his face,\nand saw that he was not the man he took him for.\n\n\"Was there ever such an unlucky man in all the world as I?\" he moaned,\nas he turned wearily homeward, pursued by the curses and threats of the\nman he had beaten. \"First I lose a hundred crowns, and then the love\nof my wife, who will never forgive me her injuries; and now, into the\nbargain, I have lost my horse! God forgive that drummer, and protect\nhim if ever he falls into my hands!\"\n\nI wish I could tell you that the unlucky peasant's desire was\nfulfilled, and that the drummer met with his deserts. Unhappily my\nstory ends here, and I do not know for certain what happened to him,\nbut people do say that he never came out of the wood, but rode straight\ninto a marsh and was drowned. If this is true, I am sure that nobody\nwill be sorry!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: WHEN THE FIFTY ROOKS BEGAN TO FLY HE COULD NOT GET FREE]\n\nTHE DRUNKEN ROOKS\n\n\nIt was the middle of winter and the ground was covered with snow. Along\nthe high road came Mynheer Van Ash, the well-known merchant of Alost,\ndriving to the town with two immense casks of the liquor known as\nHollands, in which he traded. All unknown to the merchant, one of the\ncasks had a hole in it, and as he drove along the liquor leaked out,\nand sank into the snow.\n\nIn a field close by the roadside were a flock of fifty rooks, who\nwere eagerly turning up the snow and pecking at the ground beneath in\nsearch of food. Attracted by the strong and heady smell of the spilt\nliquor, they flew across to investigate, and having tasted some of the\ngin-sodden snow, liked it so well that they followed in the train of\nthe cart, eating more and more of it, until at last they were so drunk\nthat they could hardly stand on their feet. Away they went to the\nfields again, and very soon afterwards the whole flock of them was fast\nasleep.\n\nPresently, Little Pol, a peasant who worked in the neighbourhood,\nhappened to cross the field on his way homeward, and saw the crows\nlying stiff and silent on the snow.\n\n\"Ah!\" said he to himself. \"Here is a funny sight! Fifty crows frozen\nto death with the cold. I'll take them home with me and pluck them.\nRook-pie is excellent eating, and such a find is welcome these hard\ntimes!\" So, taking a cord from his pocket, he set to work to gather\nup all the rooks, and tie them together by the legs. This done, he\nproceeded on his way, dragging the rooks behind him.\n\nThe roughness of the motion and the friction of the snow very soon\naroused the rooks from their slumber. They all woke up, and finding\ntheir legs tied, began to flap their wings together with admirable\nprecision. Unfortunately for Little Pol, he had taken the precaution\nof fastening the cord to the belt round his middle, so when the fifty\nrooks began to fly he could not get free, and found himself being\nlifted into the air.\n\nUp went the fifty rooks cawing and crying, and up too went Little Pol,\ncalling in vain for help. They reached the clouds; they penetrated the\nclouds; they disappeared from sight.\n\nAnd since that day not a sign has ever been seen either of the fifty\nrooks or of Little Pol.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FIGHTING]\n\nTHE BATTLE OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS\n\n\nOne day as Bruin the Bear and Isengrim the Wolf were taking a walk in\nthe woods they came to a big elm-tree with a hollow trunk. Peering\nwithin in the hope of finding something to eat they espied a little\nnest supported by two notches in the bark. It was the tiniest and\nneatest little house one could wish to see, made of fresh green moss,\nwith a small opening in the middle for a door, and was, in fact, the\nhome of a little bird called the Golden-crested Wren. Now among the\ncountry people the golden-crested wren is often known by the name of\nthe Kinglet, and being aware of this, Isengrim saw a chance of playing\na joke upon his companion. \"Look at this nest, Bruin,\" said he. \"What\nwould you say if I told you it was a King's palace?\"\n\n\"That a King's palace!\" laughed Bruin scornfully. \"A handful of moss\nin a hole! Why, with one tap of my paw I could smash it to fragments!\"\n\n\"I should not advise you to do any such thing,\" said Isengrim. \"The\nKing who lives in that palace is much more powerful than you think, and\nunless you are looking for trouble it would be best to leave his home\nalone.\"\n\n\"What!\" cried Bruin, in a rage. \"Am I to be defied by a miserable\nlittle fowl in my own forest? That for your King!\" And with one sweep\nof his paw, he reduced the nest to a shapeless heap of moss. \"Now\nlet him revenge himself if he can,\" he roared. \"I hereby declare war\nupon him and upon all his tribe. Fur against feather! The four-legged\nanimals against those that go on wings. We will put this matter to the\ntest!\"\n\nWhen the Kinglet came home and found his nest destroyed he danced and\nchattered with anger. Isengrim lost no time in letting him know who was\nresponsible for the mischief, and took a spiteful joy in telling him of\nthe Bear's challenge.\n\n\"Very well,\" said the little wren. \"Kinglet is my name, and King shall\nbe my nature. I will call all the winged creatures together and we will\nsettle the matter by the test of arms.\"\n\nDuring the next two or three weeks there was a great coming and going\nin the forest as the two armies assembled. The air was full of the\nwhirl and rustle of wings. From the nests under sunny banks came the\nwasps in thousands, each with his shining cuirass of black and yellow,\nand his deadly sting. The gadfly came too, and the tiny gnat, and the\nmosquito from the stagnant pools, with insects of every other sort\nand kind--more than one could count in a day. From his eyrie on the\nmountain crags the lordly eagle came swooping to take his place beside\nthe nightingale and the sparrow. In that hour of need all rivalries\nwere forgotten; the falcon and the hawk took their place in the ranks\nwith the thrush and the robin.\n\n[Illustration: THE KINGLET WARNED HIM TO BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO BUZZ]\n\nThe Bear, on his side, was not idle. Swift-footed messengers were\nsent to every part of the land to summon the four-legged animals to\narms. Slinking through the undergrowth came Isengrim's kin, the grey\nwolves, with lean flanks and fierce eyes shining. Reynard brought his\ntroop of foxes. Crashing through the trees came the mighty elephants,\nwaving their trunks and trumpeting defiance to the foe. Out of the mud\nof river-beds, from the grassy plains, and the densest thickets of\nthe forest, the animals came flocking--lions, tigers, camels, bulls,\nhorses--if I were to name them all I should fill this book with their\nnames. Never had so many animals been brought together since the days\nof Noah's Ark.\n\nWhen everything was ready, the Kinglet, who was a prudent leader, sent\nout a spy to try to gain information about the enemy's plans. For this\npurpose he chose the mosquito, who, as you may imagine, was neither\neasily seen nor easily caught, particularly as the Kinglet warned him\nto be very careful not to buzz. Under cover of the darkness he flew to\nthe Bear's camp, and succeeded in discovering the headquarters of the\ngeneral staff, where the leaders of the animal army were conferring.\nJust as the mosquito arrived, the Bear and the Fox were speaking\ntogether.\n\n\"So it is settled,\" the Bear was saying. \"Our great offensive will\nbegin to-morrow. Each of you knows what to do, I think? We have\ndiscussed everything, and nothing remains to do, but to press forward\nto a glorious victory.\"\n\n\"You are right, my lord,\" said Reynard, \"but there is just one thing\nyou have forgotten. How are we to know when the victory is won? We must\nhave a standard-bearer.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" answered the Bear, \"we must have a standard-bearer. I was\njust going to say so. Who shall it be?\"\n\n\"With all respect, my lord,\" answered Reynard, \"I propose that it\nshould be I. My beautiful bushy tail will serve as a battle-flag. I\nwill walk at the head of the army and hold my tail straight up in the\nair, as stiff as a poker. So long as I keep it like that, you will know\nthat all is well; but if anything disastrous should happen, I will let\nit droop to the ground, so that our troops may have ample warning to\ntake refuge in flight.\"\n\n\"Excellent,\" said Bruin. \"You have heard what Reynard proposes. Take\nnotice that I hereby appoint him standard-bearer to our armies.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE GREAT OFFENSIVE BEGAN]\n\nSo it was agreed, and having learnt all that he wished to know, the\nmosquito flew back to the Kinglet with his news. The Kinglet said\nnothing, but sent for the wasp, and gave him certain orders.\n\nAt dawn the next morning the great offensive began, and from the\nvery beginning things went rather badly for the armies of the winged\nanimals. At two points of the line the Bear and the Tiger led dashing\nattacks against divisions commanded by the eagle and the hawk, and\nafter long and fierce fighting, forced them to retire. High upon a\nknoll commanding the battlefield, in full view of the troops, stood the\nFox, with his bushy tail held proudly in the air. As he watched the\nstruggle his lips curled in a grin of triumph.\n\nSuddenly there was a piercing yell that rang out clear above the noise\nof battle. It came from the Fox, who drooped his tail to the ground,\nand ran, howling with pain, to the rear.\n\n\"We are lost! We are lost!\" cried the animals, seeing the standard\nlowered. \"Traitors are amongst us! Fly for your lives!\" From point to\npoint of the swaying battle-line the panic spread, throwing the army\ninto hopeless confusion. Before long the whole of the Bear's troops\nwere in retreat, and the victorious army of the winged-creatures swept\non and over them.\n\nLate that night Bruin the Bear and Isengrim the Wolf, both of them very\nbedraggled and wearied with much running, sat together gloomily in a\ndistant part of the wood. Presently they saw Reynard the Fox limping\ntowards them, and immediately they rose and began to heap reproaches\nupon him.\n\n\"Traitor!\" said Bruin. \"Why did you lower the standard? In another hour\nwe should have won.\"\n\nThe Fox looked at them sulkily. \"Why did I lower the standard?\" said\nhe. \"Because a wasp came and stung me right at the root of my tail!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE CAT RUSHED OUT OF THE ROOM]\n\nTHE END OF THE WORLD\n\n\nOnce upon a time an old woman sat spinning in a room at the top of a\nhigh tower. Beneath her chair Chaton, her cat, lay peacefully sleeping.\nAll of a sudden the spinning-wheel jarred and made a loud creaking\nsound. Startled out of his sleep, Chaton the Cat rushed out of the room\nand bolted down the stairs as though a thousand demons were at his\nheels.\n\nIn the yard he passed the house-dog who was sitting in front of his\nkennel. \"Hallo, Chaton!\" cried the dog. \"Where are you going to in such\na hurry?\"\n\n\"I am fleeing the country,\" answered Chaton. \"I have just heard the\nsounding of the last trump! The end of the world is at hand!\"\n\n\"If that is so,\" said the dog, \"I would like to run away too. May I\ncome with you?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" answered Chaton. \"Seat yourself on my beautiful curly\ntail.\" So the dog perched himself on the cat's tail, and off they went\ntogether.\n\nA little farther on they came to the farm-gate, and there, perched on\nthe topmost rail, was the cock.\n\n\"Whither away, Chaton?\" asked the cock. \"You seem to be in haste.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Chaton. \"I have heard the last trump, which proves that the\nworld is coming to an end, and I want to get safely away before that\nhappens.\"\n\n\"Take me with you, Chaton dear,\" said the cock.\n\n\"By all means,\" answered the cat. \"Jump on to my beautiful curly tail\nbeside the dog.\" So the cock perched himself on Chaton's tail, and now\nthere were two passengers.\n\nAway went the cat even faster than before, so as to make up for lost\ntime, and presently they passed a rabbit who was nibbling the grass in\na field.\n\n\"Chaton, Chaton,\" cried the rabbit, \"why are you running so quickly?\"\n\n\"Don't stop me!\" answered the cat. \"I've heard the last trump! The end\nof the world is coming!\"\n\n\"Oh, dear me!\" cried the rabbit. \"What an unfortunate thing! Don't\nleave me here, Chaton, for I am afraid to face the end of the world.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Chaton. \"Jump on to my beautiful curly tail with\nthe dog and the cock, and I'll take you with me.\" So the rabbit also\nperched himself on the cat's tail, and now there were three of them\nriding there.\n\nOff went the cat again, but not so quickly this time, because of the\nweight on his tail, and before very long he came to a pond by the side\nof which a goose was standing.\n\n\"Now then, now then, what's the hurry?\" asked the goose. \"If you run so\nfast you'll overheat your blood and die of a fever.\"\n\n\"It's all very well to scoff,\" answered the cat, \"but you must know\nthat the end of the world is coming. I have heard the last trump\nsound!\"\n\n[Illustration: THE CAT, THE DOG, THE COCK, THE RABBIT, AND THE GOOSE]\n\n\"My goodness!\" said the goose. \"This is dreadful! Take me with you,\nChaton, and I'll be grateful for ever.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the cat. \"Jump on to my beautiful curly tail with the\ndog and the fox and the rabbit.\" So the goose also perched herself on\nthe cat's tail, so now there were four passengers, and that made five\naltogether who were running away to escape the end of the world.\n\n[Illustration: \"SEE IF YOU CAN ESPY A HOUSE\"]\n\nAll that day the cat kept on running, and towards dusk they came to a\nforest.\n\n\"This seems a good place to rest,\" said Chaton. \"Now then, master cock,\nfly to the top of a tree and see if you can espy a house in which we\ncan take shelter.\"\n\nThe cock flew to the top of a high tree and from there he saw a number\nof lights twinkling in the distance. The five fugitives thereupon set\noff in the direction from which the lights shone, and before long they\ncame to a little village. All the people of the village had left their\nhouses and were gathered together in the square, round a man dressed\nall in red, with a big red feather in his cap, who was addressing them.\n\nChaton and his companions pressed close to the edge of the crowd and\nwere just in time to hear these words: \"Whoever finds the ring,\" said\nthe man with the red feather, \"and places it on the table in my palace\nto-morrow before dawn, shall have the five bags of gold which hang on\nmy saddle bow.\" Having said this, the man in red mounted his horse and\nrode away.\n\n[Illustration: \"JUMP ON TO MY BEAUTIFUL CURLY TAIL\"]\n\nChaton went up to a little peasant who was standing in the crowd. \"Tell\nme, gossip,\" said he, \"who is the man with the red feather, and what's\nall this about a ring and five bags of gold?\"\n\n\"Why,\" said the peasant, \"the man in red is the King of this country.\nHe had a valuable ring which was kept in a tiny wooden case on the\ntable by his bed. This afternoon a magpie flew in through the window,\nsnatched up the case, and bore it away to its nest in the topmost\nboughs of the walnut tree on the village green. The King wants his ring\nback again, and will give the five bags of gold to anybody who will\nrecover it for him.\"\n\n\"I see,\" said Chaton; \"and why don't _you_ climb the walnut-tree and\nget the ring?\"\n\n\"Because I have too much respect for my neck,\" answered the peasant,\n\"and so has everybody else here. The boughs at the top of the tree\nwhere the nest is are so thin and slender that they would not bear the\nweight of a child, let alone a grown man. Gold is good, but whole limbs\nare better, that's what I say!\"\n\n\"And I!\" \"And I!\" echoed other villagers who had been listening to this\nconversation.\n\n\"In my belief you are quite right,\" said Chaton seriously. \"Let the\nKing risk his own life if he is so anxious to recover his ring.\" But\nafterwards, when he had withdrawn with his companions to the shelter of\nthe wood, he sang a different tune.\n\n\"My friends,\" said he, \"our fortunes are made! As soon as all is quiet\nI will climb the tree and get the ring; then you shall sit on my tail\nagain and we'll all go off together to the King's palace and get the\nbags of gold!\" He danced for joy, and the dog and the cock and the\ngoose and the rabbit danced with him.\n\nAn hour afterwards the cat climbed the tree and came down safely with\nthe little wooden box. The rabbit gnawed it open with his teeth, and\nsure enough there was the ring inside it.\n\n\"Now,\" said Chaton, \"we will all go to the King's palace, but I am very\ntired with running all day. I propose that the dog takes a turn at\ncarrying us.\" This was agreed. The other four got on to the dog's back\nand clung there while he ambled off as fast as he could along the road\ntowards the palace.\n\n[Illustration: THE OTHER FOUR GOT ON TO THE DOG'S BACK]\n\nJust before dawn they came to a wide river. Now it was the turn of the\ngoose to work for the common good. She was quite used to the water,\nand one by one she took the other animals across on her back. Shortly\nafterwards they arrived at the King's palace, and the cock flew up\nthrough the open window of the King's room with the ring in his beak,\nand placed it on the table by the bed. Then he awoke the King with a\nloud crow and claimed the reward, which was willingly given.\n\nIn great glee at their good fortune the animals went on their way, each\nwith his bag of gold, and every one of them had by this time quite\nforgotten his fear about the coming of the end of the world. They went\non and on until they came to a place where five ways met. Then Chaton\nsaid: \"Here we are at the parting of the ways. Let us each choose a\nroad, and part good friends.\"\n\nAt this moment there came along a pig with a knife and fork stuck\nin his back. In his right ear was salt; in his left ear pepper, and\nmustard was on his tail, so that everybody who was hungry had only to\ncut themselves a slice of meat and sit down to feast.\n\nOur friends gladly availed themselves of this good chance, and I who\ntell you this story would willingly have done the same, but as soon\nas I went up to the pig, he ran at me with his head down and sent me\nflying through the air, and through the window of my house, where I\nfell into the chair in which I am now sitting, finishing this story of\nthe wonderful adventures of Chaton, the Dog, the Cock, the Rabbit, and\nthe Goose.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE DRAGON]\n\nTHE REWARD OF THE WORLD\n\n\nIn days of old, when there were dragons in the land, a youthful knight\nwas riding along the high road. It was a beautiful summer day, and the\nsun shone so warmly that the rider presently began to feel thirsty, so\ncoming to a clear stream of water, he swung himself from the saddle\nand went to drink. As he parted the bushes to get to the water he\nheard a strange rumbling and roaring sound, and looking quickly in the\ndirection from which it came he saw to his horror an immense dragon\nlying by the water-side pinned down by a huge mass of rock which had\nrolled down upon the creature as it came to drink.\n\nThe knight's first impulse was to flee, for it is better not to meddle\nwith dragons, even when accident has rendered them helpless, but before\nhe could regain his horse the creature saw him, and cried, \"Good\nknight, come and help me, I pray you, to escape from my miserable\nposition. This rock upon my back is slowly crushing me to death.\"\n\nThe knight hesitated, and was in two minds what to do between his fear\nof the dragon and his pity for its unfortunate plight. Seeing this, the\ncreature called out again, saying, \"If you will only set me free I will\nrepay you richly, for I will give you _The Reward of the World_.\"\n\n\"_The Reward of the World_,\" thought the knight, \"that will indeed be\nworth having!\" for he had often heard that dragons were the guardians\nof immense treasures. So, overcoming his fright, he went up to the\ncreature, and at the cost of great exertion managed to roll away the\nstone that was pressing on its back.\n\n\"Poof! That's better,\" said the dragon, blowing a cloud of smoke out of\nits nostrils. \"I had begun to think I was doomed to stay in that place\nfor ever!\" He rubbed his sore back reflectively with one scaly paw, and\nlooked at the knight, who stood waiting.\n\n\"Well?\" said he.\n\n\"You promised me _The Reward of the World_!\" said the knight.\n\n\"Did I so?\" asked the dragon, still tenderly stroking his back. \"Well,\nyou shall have it!\" And suddenly he launched himself upon the knight,\nwinding his horrible coils around his body, and almost crushing him to\ndeath. The unfortunate young man struggled feebly, but he was powerless\nin the grip of the monster.\n\n\"Your promise!\" he gasped. \"Is this my reward for having saved your\nlife?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" replied the dragon. \"This is _The Reward of the World_. I\nam keeping my word!\"\n\n\"I don't believe you,\" said the knight. \"It is a trick to excuse your\ntreachery. What a fool I was to trust a dragon's word!\"\n\n[Illustration: AN IMMENSE DRAGON LYING BY THE WATER-SIDE]\n\n\"It is just as I say,\" the dragon replied. \"But I confess I owe\nyou something, and I should hate to eat you feeling that you had a\ngrievance. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll submit this question\nto the first three people we meet along the road, and if they decide in\nmy favour you must accept the verdict. Is it agreed?\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said the knight, who was glad of any chance to escape from\nthe dragon's coils, so the creature released him, and the two set off\ntogether down the road.\n\nThey had not gone far before they met the dog.\n\n\"Stay a moment, master dog,\" said the knight. \"What do you understand\nby _The Reward of the World_?\"\n\nThe dog replied, \"When I was young I was a splendid watch-dog, and\nguarded my master's house against all comers. In those days everybody\nmade a fuss of me. I had plenty of good food to eat, and my own\nparticular place before the fire. Now, alas! I am old. My sight is so\nweak and my powers so feeble that I can no longer work for my living,\nand in consequence everybody kicks me out of their way. I eat what\nI can get, which is not much. Even the children throw stones at me,\nknowing that my teeth are not sharp enough to bite, and wherever I go\npeople say, 'There is that beastly hound again! Chase him away with a\nstick!' That is _The Reward of the World_.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"MY SIGHT IS SO WEAK AND MY POWERS SO FEEBLE\"]\n\nThere was little comfort for the knight in this, nevertheless he\ndid not give up hope, but accosted the next creature they met, which\nhappened to be a horse.\n\n\"What is _The Reward of the World_?\" the knight asked him.\n\n\"Listen,\" said the horse bitterly, \"and I will tell you. All my life I\nhave laboured diligently for one master. Day in and day out I dragged\nhis cart to market, working myself to skin and bone in his service.\nNow I am grown old and my strength begins to fail, so that I can no\nlonger earn my keep. To-day I heard him say that he was going to send\nme to the knackers' yard and sell my poor old carcass for a couple of\ncrowns. That is _The Reward of the World_, young master, and may heaven\npreserve you from it!\"\n\n\"You see!\" said the dragon, as the two went on, \"my words are already\njustified. Come, be sensible and let me eat you without further ado!\"\n\n\"No,\" said the knight, \"we have still one person to ask. Here comes a\nfox. Let us see what he has to say about the matter. Reynard, what do\nyou understand by _The Reward of the World_?\"\n\n\"How do you mean?\" asked the fox. \"What is the case in point?\"\n\n\"Well, you see,\" explained the knight, \"I found this dragon in a\nposition of uncommon peril, and he promised, if I would rescue him, to\ngive me _The Reward of the World_. The question now arises as to what\n_The Reward of the World_ is.\"\n\n\"I see,\" said Reynard thoughtfully. \"His life was in danger, you say?\nHow was that?\"\n\n\"A huge stone had fallen on to his back, pinning him down so that he\ncould not move. I rolled the stone away, and set him free.\"\n\nThe fox scratched his head and pondered. \"If you don't mind,\" said he,\n\"I'd rather like to have this matter made a little clearer. Where did\nall this happen?\"\n\n\"A little farther back along the road, by the side of the stream.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"DOES THE DRAGON MIND GETTING UNDER THE STONE AGAIN?\"]\n\n\"I'll come and look at the place!\"\n\nSo the knight led Reynard to the banks of the stream, where he stood\ngazing for a time at the big stone.\n\n\"I want to be quite sure I understand all the circumstances,\" said he\nat last. \"Does the dragon mind getting under the stone again for a\nmoment, so that I can see exactly how he lay?\"\n\n\"Not at all,\" said the dragon politely, and he lay down on the bank,\nwhile the knight and the fox together rolled the stone on top of him.\n\n\"Splendid!\" said Reynard, when the dragon was safely pinned down. \"Now\neverything is as it was before!\" Then turning to the knight, he added,\n\"If you, knowing what you know now, care to release him again, you are\nat liberty to do so, but....\" And he winked slyly. There was no need to\nsay more.\n\n\"I am really very much obliged to you,\" said the knight, as he walked\noff down the road with Reynard, leaving the dragon still under the\nstone. \"That was a capital idea of yours, and it certainly saved my\nlife. I would like to show my gratitude in some way, and I shall be\nhonoured if you will accept my hospitality for a few days.\"\n\nReynard needed no pressing, but went home with the young man there and\nthen, and thoroughly enjoyed the good fare with which he was provided.\nSince, however, a fox is always a fox, no matter what company he is\nin, Master Reynard could not forbear from stealing, and every night\nhe crept into the hen-house and killed one or two chickens. When the\nknight discovered this he was very angry, and picking up a big stick he\ngave the fox a good thrashing and drove him forth.\n\n\"That is _The Reward of the World_,\" he said to himself, as he watched\nReynard disappearing into the distance. But whether he was referring to\nthe way the fox had treated him, or to his own treatment of the fox, I\ncannot say.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: NOTHING WAS LEFT OF THE FISHES]\n\nONE BAD TURN BEGETS ANOTHER\n\n\nTybert the Cat and Courtoys the Dog were very great friends--that is\nto say they were as friendly as their natures would let them be. Both\nof them were exceedingly greedy and selfish. The Cat was spiteful and\nthe Dog was sullen. Master Tyb was always willing to give up to the dog\nwhat he did not need himself, and on his part, Courtoys never stole the\ncat's food while the cat was looking. Neither was loath to play a mean\ntrick upon the other if he could do so without injury to himself, but\nexcept for these little matters they were quite in accord, and very\nfriendly, as I said before, and on the whole they got on very well\ntogether.\n\nThere came a time when, in spite of Tybert's shyness and Courtoys'\nstrength, they could by no means find anything to eat. For two days\nnot a morsel of food had passed the lips of either; and this made them\nvery bad tempered.\n\n\"I wish I'd never seen you,\" said Courtoys to Tyb. \"A fine partner you\nare, upon my word, when you can't find food for us. Where are those\nwonderful wits of yours, of which you are always boasting.\"\n\n\"In my head,\" answered Tyb spitefully. \"And such as they are, they have\nto do duty for two. If you'd talk less, and think more, and use your\neyes, we would be better off. Here is a cart coming along the road;\nperhaps we shall find our dinner inside it!\"\n\nSure enough, a heavy wagon was rumbling along the road towards them,\ndriven by a peasant with a round and rather stupid face. As it came\nnearer, Tyb and Courtoys sniffed the air, and the water ran out of the\ncorners of their mouths.\n\n\"Fish,\" said Tybert ravenously.\n\n\"Fish!\" echoed Courtoys. \"Here's a chance to exercise those wits of\nyours. How can we get it?\"\n\n\"I have a plan,\" answered the Cat. \"Come quickly and hide yourself with\nme in the ditch until the wagon has passed, and I will tell you all\nabout it!\"\n\nSo it was done. The wagon rumbled by, the scent of the fish with which\nit was laden filling the air, and the driver went on calmly smoking his\npipe, little dreaming that four hungry eyes were gazing at him through\nthe bushes that bordered the side of the road.\n\n\"Now then,\" cried Tybert, \"our time has come. Follow the wagon and\ndon't let it out of your sight for a moment, but take care that the\ndriver does not see you. I shall go on in front and stretch myself out\non the road, pretending to be dead. It's odds but what the driver,\nseeing me lying there, will covet my skin, and will pick me up and\nthrow me into the cart. Once there, I'll throw the fish out to you, and\nyou will know what to do with it.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, I'll know what to do with it,\" said Courtoys to himself, with\na grin, and, keeping well out of sight of the driver, he followed the\nwagon.\n\n[Illustration: THE BIGGEST AND FATTEST FISH]\n\nTybert's plan worked to perfection. He ran on for about a quarter of\na mile, keeping to the fields bordering the road, and then stretched\nhimself out at full length, with his mouth open as though he were dead.\n\n\"Oho!\" said the peasant, as he drove up. \"What's this? A dead cat! I'll\ntake him with me, and sell his skin for a few sous. This time next\nweek some fine lady will be wearing him round her neck, thinking he's\nsable.\" And with that he dismounted, picked up the cat and slung him\ncarelessly into the wagon on top of the heap of fish.\n\n[Illustration: STRETCHED HIMSELF OUT AT FULL LENGTH]\n\nHardly was he back in his place, than Tybert arose and began to pick\nout the biggest and fattest fish and throw them into the road. He had\nto be very careful in doing this, because now and again the peasant\nturned his head. Once when a very big fish was tumbled out, the noise\nof its fall aroused the peasant, who swung round sharply, and Tybert\nwas only just in time to avert discovery by laying himself out and\npretending to be dead as before.\n\nWhen he had thrown out what he considered was a sufficient quantity,\nTybert rested awhile, so that the dog could collect the spoils, and\nthen jumped from the wagon to go and claim his share. When he came up\nto Courtoys, however, he found to his dismay that nothing was left of\nthe fish but a heap of bones.\n\n\"That was a splendid plan of yours, brother,\" said Courtoys, licking\nhis lips. \"The fish were delicious, and I hardly feel hungry at\nall now! Do make haste and take your share!\" And he waved his paw\ninvitingly towards the heap of bones. Tybert gave him one look, and\nthen grinned as though in enjoyment of an excellent joke. Not by word\nor action did he give any sign of the anger which was consuming him,\nbut he determined to have his revenge.\n\nA day or two later his chance came. Lurking in his usual stealthy way\nin a farmyard, he saw the farmer go into the house with a fine big ham,\nwhich he hung by a cord on a nail in the kitchen wall. Away he ran to\nCourtoys and told him what he had seen.\n\n\"Well,\" said Courtoys surlily, \"and what about it?\"\n\n\"Why,\" answered Tybert. \"There is no reason why we should not feast on\nthat ham, you and I. It will be the easiest thing in the world to steal\nit. The latch of the kitchen window is broken, and it cannot be locked.\nAll you have to do is to go there to-night, creep through the window,\npull down the ham, and throw it out to me.\"\n\n\"Why can't you get it yourself?\" asked Courtoys suspiciously.\n\n\"Ah,\" said the cat, \"I am not strong enough to pull it down.\"\n\n\"And what about the farmer's dogs? I seem to remember hearing they are\nsavage brutes!\"\n\n\"Well, of course, if you're _afraid_ ...\" answered the cat disdainfully.\n\n\"Afraid yourself!\" cried Courtoys. \"You leave this to me.\"\n\nSo that very night, when the moon had set, the two crept into the\nfarmyard, and the dog managed to get through the window into the\nkitchen unobserved. The next moment he had pulled down the ham and had\nthrown it out of the window to Tybert, who was waiting below. Tybert\nseized it in his mouth and ran off, but as soon as he reached the gate\nhe gave a series of such blood-curdling miaows, that he roused every\ndog on the farm. Out they came, hair bristling, and teeth flashing,\njust in time to catch our friend Courtoys as he jumped down from the\nwindow.\n\nThen occurred a ferocious fight. With his back to the wall Courtoys\nput up a sturdy resistance, but he was very badly mangled indeed\nbefore he managed to escape. With one ear torn off and one eye closed,\nbleeding from many wounds and panting with his exertions, he limped\npainfully up to where the cat awaited him.\n\n\"My poor friend,\" cried Tybert. \"Are you badly hurt? Never mind, the\nham was worth it--it simply melted in the mouth. I have already eaten\nmy share, and I willingly give you yours!\" So saying, he pointed to the\ngreasy string by which the ham had been suspended, and which was now\nall that remained. Courtoys gazed at it blankly.\n\n\"You see,\" explained Tybert calmly, as he prepared to take his\ndeparture, \"a cord is worth a good many fishbones!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"WHY ARE YOU BLOWING YOUR SOUP?\"]\n\nTHE PEASANT AND THE SATYRS\n\n\nOne cold winter's day a peasant set out on a journey which led him\nthrough the depths of a forest into which he had not hitherto been. The\nresult was that he lost his way, and after wandering about for many\nhours in the hope of finding it again, he found himself, just as dusk\nwas coming on, in a little clearing where he was overjoyed to see a\nsmall house with a cheerful light in the window. \"Here is a chance of\nsupper and a bed,\" thought the peasant, and he made haste to go up to\nthe cottage door.\n\nNow this house in the clearing was not inhabited by men, but by some\nstrange forest folk who were called satyrs. If you want to know what\nthey were like, you must look at the pictures. Certainly the peasant\nhad never seen anything like them before, although he had often heard\nof them, and when he nearly tumbled over the little satyr children\nwho were playing in the snow outside the house door, he was the most\nsurprised man in all those parts. It was too late to draw back however,\nso he went boldly up to the door and gave a loud knock.\n\n\"Come in!\" cried a gruff voice, and the peasant accordingly went in and\nfound himself facing the Father of all the Satyrs, who had a long beard\nand a pair of horns jutting from his forehead. The poor fellow's knees\ntrembled underneath him for fright, especially when he saw all the\nother satyrs, the mother and the uncles and the aunts, glowering at him.\n\n\"Please forgive me for my intrusion,\" said he, \"but I have lost my way\nin the woods, and I am half dead with hunger and cold. It would be an\nact of great kindness if you would give me some food and allow me to\ntake shelter for the night.\" So saying, to give point to his remarks,\nhe set to work to blow upon his chilled fingers, which indeed were blue\nwith the cold.\n\n\"Why are you blowing your fingers?\" asked the Father of all the Satyrs\ncuriously.\n\n\"Why, to warm them,\" answered the peasant, and he blew harder than\nbefore.\n\n\"Well, sit down,\" said the Satyr. \"As it happens we are just about to\nhave supper, and you are welcome to share it with us.\"\n\nSo the peasant sat down to supper, and all the Satyr family sat down\ntoo, and watched him with big unblinking eyes, so that he felt very\nuncomfortable. A big basin of soup was set before him, and finding it\nvery hot, he began to blow upon it.\n\nAt this all the Satyr family cried out in surprise, and the Father\nSatyr said, \"Why are you blowing your soup?\"\n\n\"To cool it,\" answered the peasant. \"It is too hot, and I am afraid it\nmay scald my mouth.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE SATYRS' VILLAGE]\n\n[Illustration: \"THERE IS NO PLACE IN MY HOUSE FOR A MAN WHO CAN BLOW\nHOT AND COLD\"]\n\nAnother and a louder cry of surprise came from all the Satyrs, but the\nFather cried out loudest of all, and seemed very indignant. \"Come,\" he\nsaid, advancing to the peasant and taking him by the collar. \"Out you\ngo! There is no place in my house for a man who can blow hot and cold\nwith the same breath. That smells too much of sorcery or magic. Out you\ngo, I say, and practise your spells in the forest.\"\n\nSo the poor peasant had to go supperless and spend the night in the\nwoods, with no shelter but the trees, and the snow for coverlet.\n\nAnd, if you wish to know when all this happened, all I can tell you is\nthat it was a very long time ago, in the days when fishes flew, and\ncats had wings.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE TWO FRIENDS]\n\nTHE TWO FRIENDS AND THE BARREL OF GREASE\n\n\nA dog and a wolf who were very great friends set up house together,\nand agreed to share equally any food they might obtain. One day they\nmanaged to steal a barrel of grease from the house of a countryman\nwho lived close by, and having no immediate need of it, they decided\nto put it away until the winter, when they might be glad of anything\nthey could get to appease their hunger. So the barrel of grease was\ncarefully hidden away in the cellar.\n\nAll went well for some time, and then the wolf began to think longingly\nof the hidden store. Every time he thought of the grease he imagined\nhimself licking it up, and at last he could withstand the temptation\nno longer, so he went to the dog and said: \"I shall be out all day\nto-morrow. A cousin of mine has just had a little son, and he has sent\nfor me to go and be godfather at the christening.\"\n\n\"Very well, my friend,\" answered the dog. \"Go by all means. They have\npaid you a great honour by asking you, and of course you cannot refuse.\"\n\nThe wolf departed, but he went no farther than the cellar, where he\nspent the whole of the day by the barrel of grease, eating and eating\nuntil he could hold no more. Late at night he returned, licking his\nchops, and the dog said: \"Well, my friend, did everything go off well?\"\n\n\"Splendidly, thank you!\" answered the wolf.\n\n\"Good! And what name did they give the child?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the wolf, thinking of the barrel of grease, \"they called him\n_Begun_.\"\n\n\"What a strange name!\" cried the dog, \"I never heard the like of it in\nmy life. However, every one to his taste!\"\n\nA day or two later the wolf once again began to think of the delicious\nfood in the cellar, so he told the dog that he had just received\nanother summons from a different cousin, who also had a baby to which\nshe wished him to stand godfather. \"I wish to goodness they would leave\nme alone!\" he said, pretending to be very much annoyed. \"Anybody would\nthink that I had nothing else to do but to stand godfather to other\npeople's brats!\"\n\n\"You shouldn't be so good-natured,\" laughed the dog. \"It is clear that\nyou make a very good godfather, or you would not be so much in demand.\"\n\nAway went the wolf and spent a second satisfying day with the barrel of\ngrease. When he returned the dog asked him the name of the child.\n\n\"_Half-Done_,\" said the wolf.\n\n\"Bah!\" cried the dog, \"that is an even sillier name than the other.\nI can't think what parents are coming to--in my time plain Jean or\nJacques was good enough for anybody.\"\n\nThe wolf made no reply, being in fact fast asleep, for he had dined\nvery well, and was drowsy. A day or two afterwards however, he played\nthe same trick again, and devoured the last of the fat in the barrel.\nThis time, when asked the name of the child to whom he had stood\ngodfather, he answered: \"_All-done_.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"WHERE HAS ALL OUR GREASE GONE?\"]\n\nThe dog had no suspicion of the way he had been deceived, and all went\nwell until the winter came and food became difficult to procure. Then\none day the dog said: \"It seems to me that the time has come to tap our\nbarrel of grease. What do you say, friend? Weren't we wise to put it\naway for a time like this!\"\n\n\"I believe you,\" answered the wolf.\n\n\"Come then, let us go to the cellar and enjoy the fruits of our\nprudence.\"\n\nSo off they went to the cellar, where they found the barrel in the very\nplace they had left it, but with nothing inside it. The dog looked\nat the wolf, and the wolf looked at the dog, and of the two the wolf\nseemed the more surprised.\n\n\"What's this?\" cried the dog. \"Where has our grease gone?\" Then,\nlooking at the wolf suspiciously: \"This is some of your work, my\nfriend!\"\n\n\"Oh, indeed!\" said the wolf, \"and since when has it been proved that\ndogs do not like grease?\"\n\n\"You mean to accuse me of stealing it?\" cried the dog angrily.\n\n\"One of the two of us must have taken it, for nobody else knew it was\nhere!\"\n\n\"It was certainly not I.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the wolf, \"it is no use squabbling over the matter.\nFortunately there is a way of discovering which of us is the culprit.\nObviously the one who has eaten all that grease must be absolutely full\nof fat. Let us both go to sleep in the sunshine. At the end of an hour\nor two the heat will melt the grease which will soak through and show\non the body of the one who is the thief.\"\n\nFeeling quite secure in his innocence, the dog willingly agreed to this\nplan, and the two went out and lay down in a sheltered place, where the\nheat of the sun was strong. After a time the dog began to yawn, and\nin less than half an hour he was sound asleep, but the wolf had a good\nreason for not following his example, and although he closed his eyes\nto deceive his friend, he remained wide awake.\n\nPresently, having made sure that the dog was slumbering peacefully, he\narose and tiptoed softly down to the cellar. There he collected with\nhis long tongue, every bit of the grease that still remained sticking\nto the sides and bottom of the barrel, and returning to the sleeper,\ncarefully smeared the grease over his jaws, back, and thighs. Several\ntimes he did this, until the dog was covered with a thin greasy film.\nThen he lay down again and once more pretended to sleep.\n\nA little while afterwards the dog woke up, and found the grease all\nover his body. He could not make out how it got there, and while he was\nstill regarding himself with a look of blank surprise, the wolf cried:\n\"Ah, now we know who was the thief! The grease has betrayed you, my\nfriend!\"\n\nThe poor dog looked very sheepish, and had not a word to say for\nhimself. He puzzled over the matter until his head ached, and at last\nhe came to the conclusion that he must have been sleep-walking and have\nstolen the grease without knowing it--a conclusion with which the wolf\nentirely agreed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: MRS. BRUIN AND REYNARD]\n\nWHY THE BEAR HAS A STUMPY TAIL\n\n\nOne very cold winter, when the ground was covered with snow and the\nponds and rivers were frozen hard, Reynard the Fox and all the other\nanimals went out to enjoy themselves by sliding and skating on the\nice. After a time Reynard began to feel hungry, so he wandered off by\nhimself in search of something to eat. He nosed about here, and he\nnosed about there; he lay in wait behind bushes in the hope of being\nable to catch a bird; he lurked by the walls of farmhouses ready to\nspring out upon any unsuspecting chicken that might show itself, but\nall in vain. The birds were wary, and the fowls were all safe in the\nhen-houses.\n\n[Illustration: \"AFTER A TIME THE FISH WILL COME TO BITE AT IT\"]\n\nDisappointed with his lack of success Reynard betook himself to the\nriver, now covered with a glistening sheet of ice, and there, under\nthe shelter of a bank, he found a hole in the ice which had not been\nfrozen over. He sat down to watch the hole, and presently a little\nfish popped up its head for a breath of air. Reynard's paw darted, and\nthe next moment the unfortunate creature lay gasping on the ice. Fish\nafter fish the fox caught in this way, and when he had quite satisfied\nhis hunger he strung the remainder on a stick and took his departure,\nnot forgetting first of all to offer up a prayer for the repose of his\nvictims.\n\nHe had not gone far before he met Mrs. Bruin, who had also come out in\nsearch of something to eat. When she saw Reynard with his fine catch of\nfish, she opened her eyes, I can tell you, and said: \"Wherever did you\nget all those fine fishes from, cousin? They make my mouth water! I am\nso hungry that I could bite the head off an iron nail!\"\n\n\"Ah,\" said Reynard slyly, \"wouldn't you just like to know!\"\n\n\"It is what I'm asking you,\" said Mrs. Bruin. \"You would surely not be\nso mean as to keep the good news to yourself!\"\n\n\"I don't know so much about that,\" answered Reynard, \"but I have a\ncertain fondness for you, cousin, so come along with me and I will show\nyou the place where I caught the fish.\"\n\nNothing loath, the bear followed, and presently they came to the hole\nin the ice.\n\n\"Do you see that hole, cousin?\" said Reynard. \"That is where the fish\ncome up to breathe. All you have to do is to sit on the ice and let\nyour tail hang down into the water. After a time the fish will come to\nbite at it, but don't you move. Sit quite still until the evening; then\nyou will find a score of fishes on your tail and you can pull them out\nall together.\"\n\nMrs. Bruin was delighted with the plan and immediately sat down and\ndipped her tail into the water.\n\n[Illustration: \"ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO SIT ON THE ICE\"]\n\n\"That's the way,\" said Reynard. \"Now I'll just be walking home to\nsee to my dinner, but I'll be back presently. Be careful to keep quite\nstill, or you'll spoil everything!\"\n\nSo for the next three hours Mrs. Bruin sat on the ice with her tail\nin the water, and very cold it was, but she consoled herself with the\nthought of the delicious meal she would have when the fish were landed.\n\nLate in the afternoon Reynard returned. \"Well, cousin,\" said he, \"how\ndo you feel?\"\n\n\"Very cold,\" said Mrs. Bruin, with her teeth chattering. \"My tail is so\nnumb that I hardly know I've got one!\"\n\n\"Does it feel heavy?\" asked Reynard anxiously.\n\n\"Very heavy,\" said Mrs. Bruin.\n\n\"There must be _hundreds_ of fish on it!\" said Reynard. He left the\nbank and walked round the bear, observing that the water in the hole\nhad frozen over, and that Mrs. Bruin's tail was held firmly in the ice.\n\n\"I think you may safely pull up now,\" he went on, \"but you must be\ncareful to land all the fish together. There is only one way to do\nthat: you must give a strong, sharp, sudden pull and take them by\nsurprise. Now then, are you ready? One, two, three...!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"ONE, TWO, THREE...!\"]\n\nAt the word three Mrs. Bruin rose on her hind legs and gave a mighty\njerk, but her tail was so firmly embedded in the ice that it would not\ncome out.\n\n\"My word,\" cried Reynard, \"you have caught the whole river-full.\nPersevere, cousin--now then, a long pull and a strong pull!\"\n\n\"Ouf!\" grunted Mrs. Bruin, \"ouf, ouf ... ah!\" And then she suddenly\ntumbled head over heels on the ice, as with one mighty jerk, she\nsnapped her beautiful bushy tail clean off close to the roots.\n\nWhen she had gathered her scattered wits together well enough to\nunderstand what had happened, she went to look for Reynard, but he had\nsuddenly remembered an important engagement elsewhere, and was not to\nbe found. And from that time down to this every bear has been born with\na little stumpy tail.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: MARGOT AND THE CAT]\n\nTHE WITCH'S CAT\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a wicked old witch who lived all alone in\nthe topmost chamber of a tall and gloomy tower. There she sat day after\nday with her ugly head resting on her hands, peering out through a slit\nin the wall upon the countryside. Her only companion was a big black\ntom-cat, who sat by her side in the darkened chamber, his eyes shining\nlike green fire in the gloom.\n\nOne day as the witch sat there, she saw a little girl gathering berries\nin the wood. The sight made her show her toothless gums in a malicious\ngrin and she muttered to herself: \"Wait there, wait there, my ducky, my\ndarling, till I come to you, for your flesh will be very sweet.\" Then\nshe put on a long cloak and took a walking-staff in her hand and went\ndown the stairs.\n\nNow the little girl, whose name was Margot, had strayed very far from\nhome in her eagerness to gather the ripe berries, and she was in a\npart of the country which was quite strange to her. Had she happened\nto meet anybody on her way they would have warned her not to go near\nthe witch's tower, but she had not met a soul all day, and so she had\nno idea of the dreadful danger that was threatening her. She went on\ngathering her berries, light-heartedly humming a tune, until her basket\nwas nearly full, and then she sat down at the foot of a tree to rest.\n\nPresently she saw an old woman coming towards her. It was the witch,\nwho had muffled herself up in her cloak, so that her face could not\neasily be seen.\n\n\"Good-day, my dear,\" said the witch. \"Will you give me a few of those\nripe berries?\"\n\n\"Of course I will,\" answered Margot. \"Take as many as you like, I can\neasily gather some more.\" So the witch took a handful of berries,\nand sat down by Margot's side to eat them. And all the time she was\neating she was gazing greedily at the little girl's white neck and rosy\ncheeks, but Margot could not see the hateful look in the witch's eyes\nbecause the cloak hid her face.\n\n\"Where do you live, little girl?\" asked the witch after a while.\n\nMargot told her, and the witch said: \"You must be very tired with\nwalking all that way. If you will come to my house I will give you a\nbowl of milk and a slice of currant cake, and you shall see all the\nwonderful things that I keep in my cupboards.\"\n\nSo Margot went with the witch into the gloomy tower, not so much\nbecause she wanted the milk or the cake, but to see the pretty things\nin the cupboards, and no sooner was she within than the witch fell upon\nher, and bound her fast with a cord, and carried her up to the topmost\nroom, where the cat was sitting blinking its green eyes. Then the\nold witch opened the door of a dark cupboard, and pushed poor Margot\ninside, for she meant to keep her there until she had grown bigger and\nfatter, so that she would make a more satisfying meal. To this end the\nwitch brought her plenty of rich food every day, and from time to time\nshe would feel Margot's arm to see whether she was plump enough to go\ninto the pot. Poor child, how frightened she was, and how miserable at\nbeing kept in that dark cupboard all alone. She cried nearly all day\nlong, but there was nobody to hear her except the witch's big black\ncat, and he was a silent animal who did not show his feelings. Margot\nwas almost as sorry for him as she was for herself, for the witch often\nbeat him unmercifully, and the girl tried to comfort him by giving him\npieces from her dinner, which she pushed out through the crack under\nthe door.\n\n[Illustration: SHE MEANT TO KEEP HER THERE UNTIL SHE HAD GROWN BIGGER\nAND FATTER]\n\nOne day when the old witch had gone out as usual, leaving Margot a\nprisoner, the girl was surprised to hear a voice speaking to her from\nthe room beyond. \"Margot, Margot,\" said the voice, \"don't cry any more,\nbut listen to me.\"\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked the little girl.\n\n\"I am the witch's cat,\" the voice went on. \"I am going to push the key\nof the cupboard underneath the door. Take it and let yourself out, but\nmake haste, for you have no time to waste!\"\n\n\"Thank you, thank you,\" said Margot, when she found herself free. \"But\nhow is it that you are able to talk? I did not know that cats could\nspeak.\"\n\n\"They can't, as a rule,\" said the witch's cat, \"but never mind that\nnow. The witch may return at any moment, and we must get you safely out\nof her reach.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" said Margot, \"I must go at once. I will run like the wind!\"\n\n\"That is no use,\" said the cat. \"Before you had got half-way home the\nwitch would overtake you.\"\n\n\"Then what must I do? Is there anywhere I can hide?\"\n\n\"When she returns and finds you gone she will ransack every corner of\nthe tower. Not even a mouse could escape her keen eyes.\"\n\n\"Oh dear! oh dear!\" said Margot, beginning to cry again. \"Do help me to\nescape, kind cat, and I will be grateful to you all my life.\"\n\n\"Of course I will help you,\" answered the cat, \"that is why I let you\nout of the cupboard. Take this piece of carpet, and when the witch has\nalmost overtaken you, throw it on to the ground and it will turn into a\nwide river. That will delay her for some time, because she cannot swim,\nbut if she manages to get across, and overtakes you again, throw down\nthis comb, which will immediately change into a dense forest. You may\nplunge into it without fear, for a way will open before you between\nthe trees, but the witch will have to cut a way through, foot by foot,\nwith her knife; and long before she has done that you will be safely\nhome.\"\n\n[Illustration: PADDLING WITH HER BROOM]\n\nMargot thanked the cat, and having taken the carpet and the comb, she\nfled swiftly down the stairs.\n\nA short time afterwards the witch came home, and when she discovered\nthat her prisoner had escaped she howled with rage. Mounting to the\nvery roof of the tower, she gazed out upon the countryside, and soon\ndescried the figure of the little girl, running as fast as she could\nin the direction of her home.\n\n\"I'll have you yet,\" muttered the witch, and away she went after her.\n\nMargot saw her coming, and redoubled her speed, but all to no avail,\nfor the witch gained upon her rapidly. Soon she heard her hissing\nbreath, and looking fearfully over her shoulder, saw the baleful look\nof triumph in her eyes.\n\nQuickly then, Margot took out the strip of carpet and laid it upon\nthe ground. Immediately it turned into a wide and swiftly flowing\nriver. The witch gave a cry of rage, and tried to wade after her,\nbut the flood mounted swiftly, first to her knees, and then to her\nwaist. Another moment and she would have been swept away, but taking a\nnutshell from her pocket she set it afloat upon the waters, muttering a\ncharm as she did so. Then the nutshell turned into a little boat, into\nwhich the old crone pulled herself, and, paddling with her broom, made\nshift to cross the river.\n\nThe delay had given Margot a good start, but the witch wore enchanted\nboots which enabled her to cover the ground at a wonderful rate. Ten\nminutes more and she was once again at Margot's heels.\n\nThen the little girl drew out the comb and flung it behind her.\nImmediately a dense forest sprang up, and Margot fled into it, through\nan alley that opened itself before her. Spluttering with anger, the\nwitch drew her knife to hack her way through the wood, but long before\nshe had cut a dozen yards Margot was safely home and in her mother's\narms.\n\nThe old witch made her way back to the tower, and the things she said\nwere so terrible that the very air was poisoned, and the grass by the\nroadside withered and turned black. No sooner had she set foot within\nher doorway, however, than she crumbled to dust, and a wind arose and\nblew the dust to all quarters of the heavens.\n\nSo that was the end of the old witch, for her power ceased as soon as\none of her victims managed to escape. As for the black cat, nobody ever\nsaw him again, but it was whispered that he was really a Prince whom\nthe wicked old crone had captured years before, and given the shape\nof a cat by enchantment. By helping Margot to escape he had released\nhimself from the spell that bound him, and was enabled to return to his\nfather's kingdom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nARTHUR RACKHAM'S ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  THE SPRINGTIDE OF LIFE: POEMS OF CHILDHOOD\n  By ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE                       10s. 6d. net\n\n  THE ALLIES' FAIRY BOOK                                   6s. net\n\n  A CHRISTMAS CAROL. By CHARLES DICKENS                    6s. net\n\n  MOTHER GOOSE, THE OLD NURSERY RHYMES                     6s. net\n\n  ARTHUR RACKHAM'S BOOK OF PICTURES                       15s. net\n\n  \u00c6SOP'S FABLES                                            6s. net\n\n  THE RING OF THE NIBLUNG\n  By RICHARD WAGNER. Translated by MARGARET ARMOUR\n     I. THE RHINEGOLD AND THE VALKYRIE\n    II. SIEGFRIED AND THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS       15s. net each\n\n  UNDINE\n  By DE LA MOTTE FOUQU\u00c9                                7s. 6d. net\n\n  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM\n  By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE                                  15s. net\n\n  ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND\n  By LEWIS CARROLL                                         6s. net\n\n  RIP VAN WINKLE (Complete Edition)\n  By WASHINGTON IRVING                                    15s. net\n\n  THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS OF MIRTH AND MARVEL.\n  By THOMAS INGOLDSBY, Esq.                               15s. net\n  Also a cheaper edition with 24 selected plates, 6s. net\n\n\nLONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN\n\n\n  PRINTED AT THE COMPLETE PRESS\n  WEST NORWOOD\n  LONDON\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note\n\n\nWords in italics were surrounded with _underscores_\nand small capitals replaced with all capitals.\n\nA few errors in punctuation were corrected. Otherwise the original\nwas preserved.\n\nAdditional: \"Krekelput\" on page 76 was translated in the footnote with\n\"Snail's Well\", a better translation would be \"Cricket's Well\". Also,\nthe chapter headers were left aligned in the original, this has not\nbeen changed.","title":"Beasts & Men: Folk Tales Collected in Flanders and Illustrated by Jean de Bossch\u00e8re","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":41734}