{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_75000/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_75000","id":"gutenberg_75000","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75000","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Tales -- China -- Tibet Autonomous Region"],"text":"FOLK TALES FROM TIBET\n\n WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY A TIBETAN ARTIST\n AND SOME VERSES FROM TIBETAN LOVE-SONGS\n\n\n COLLECTED AND TRANSLATED\n BY\n CAPT. W. F. O\u2019CONNOR, C.I.E.\n Secretary and Interpreter of the Mission to Lhasa (1904)\n\n\n\n LONDON\n HURST AND BLACKETT, LTD.\n 182, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.\n\n 1906\n\n All rights reserved\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn presenting these little stories to the public, it may perhaps be of\ninterest if I describe how I came by them.\n\nDuring two years spent in Tibet, at Gyantse, Lhasa, and elsewhere, I\nhave made many friends amongst all classes of Tibetans\u2014high and low,\nrich and poor\u2014and have conversed with all sorts of persons upon all\nsorts of topics. In the course of my wanderings I learned that there\nexists amongst this fascinating and little-known people a wealth of\nfolk-lore, hitherto inaccessible to the outside world, and I made\nefforts to collect as many of their stories as I could.\n\nFor certain special reasons this quest proved more difficult than I had\nanticipated. In the first place, I found that many of the best known\nstories had been imported bodily from India [1] or China, and possess\nbut little of that local colouring which is one of the chief charms of\nfolk-lore. Secondly, some of the very best and most characteristic\nstories are unfit for publication in such a book as this. [2] And,\nthirdly, human nature being much the same all the world over, it was\nnot always possible to find a suitable raconteur in a suitable mood for\nstory-telling. A story told by a nervous or reluctant narrator loses\nhalf its charm. A good story must be natural, and necessitates sympathy\non the part both of teller and of hearer. Armed diplomatic missions and\nan official position, apart from all questions of difference of\nlanguage and nationality, do not tend to elicit the ideal sentiments\nnecessary for the establishment of complete mutual confidence.\n\nBut patience, and the growth of kindly feelings on both sides, helped\nme to some extent to overcome the shyness and reluctance of the simple\nfolk who have supplied me with my material; and, as time went on, I was\nable to coax a story from many unlikely sources. Village headmen,\nmonks, servants, local government officials, peasants, traders\u2014these\nand many others have contributed to my store. Shyly and haltingly at\nstarting, with many bashful apologies and disclaimers, the story-teller\nwill begin his tale. But a Tibetan audience is one of the best\nimaginable, and their open sympathy and appreciation soon melt the\nfrosts of reserve, and the words flow freely. Presently all sense of\nconstraint is lost, and I have known a story interrupted for ten\nminutes at a time by the uncontrollable merriment aroused by some comic\nincident.\n\nSome of the stories, then, I have been obliged, reluctantly enough, to\ndiscard altogether for the present; others require further revision or\nelucidation. But the rest of my little store I give here, and with this\none apology: that I have made no attempt to ornament or improve upon\nthem. I have written them down just as I heard them, and have\ntranslated them, as accurately as I could, from the Tibetan idiom into\nours. As to their origin or scientific bearing I say nothing, and put\nforward no theories. I leave the Tales to speak for themselves; but\nwould invite, and shall cordially welcome, the criticisms and surmises\nof all students of folk-lore who are in a position to give an expert\nopinion upon such points, and to shed a light upon obscure corners into\nwhich I have been unable to penetrate.\n\nI have added to the stories a few verses taken at random from popular\nTibetan love-songs, as a sample of the wealth of imagery and genuine\npoetic sentiment which is to be found amongst the inhabitants of this\nstrange country. Owing to the extremely idiomatic form and severe\ncompression of Tibetan metrical compositions, the translation of these\nsongs into anything even distantly resembling poetry, without\naltogether destroying the characteristics of the original, presents\npeculiar difficulties; and I must crave indulgence for their crudeness\nand lack of artistic finish.\n\nThe pictures are the maiden effort at book illustration of a Tibetan\nartist, resident at Gyantse, and are, I fear, somewhat weak in details,\nas owing to my absence from Gyantse during the time they were in\nprogress I was unable personally to superintend their execution. For\nthe excellent photograph which appears as the frontispiece I am\nindebted to my friend and companion at Gyantse, Capt. R. Steen, of the\nIndian Medical Service.\n\nIn conclusion, I must express my grateful acknowledgments to Mr.\nPerceval Landon, to whose suggestion the collection and publication of\nthese Tales, as well as their illustration by a native artist, is in a\ngreat measure due; and I must thank him, moreover, for many valuable\nhints and much kindly sympathy and assistance.\n\n\n W. F. O\u2019Connor, Capt.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE\n I.\u2014How the Hare got his Lip Split 1\n II.\u2014The Story of the Tiger and the Man 6\n III.\u2014The Story of Good Faith 12\n IV.\u2014The Story of the Two Neighbours 20\n V.\u2014The Story of the Cat and the Mice 26\n VI.\u2014The Story of the Foolish Young Mussulman 30\n VII.\u2014The Kyang, the Fox, the Wolf and the Hare 43\n VIII.\u2014The Frog and the Crow 48\n IX.\u2014The Hare and the Lions 51\n X.\u2014The Sheep, the Lamb, the Wolf and the Hare 56\n XI.\u2014The Story of how the Hare made a Fool of the Wolf 60\n XII.\u2014The Mouse\u2019s Three Children 68\n XIII.\u2014The Jackals and the Tiger 76\n XIV.\u2014The Story of the Three Thieves 80\n XV.\u2014The Story of the Boy with the Deformed Head 92\n XVI.\u2014The Prince and the Ogre\u2019s Castle 103\n XVII.\u2014The Story of the Stone Lion 116\n XVIII.\u2014The Story of the Lama\u2019s Servant 124\n XIX.\u2014The Country of the Mice 133\n XX.\u2014The Story of the Tortoise and the Monkey 141\n XXI.\u2014The Story of Room Bacha and Baki 147\n XXII.\u2014The Story of the Home-bred Boy 158\n The Story of the Home-bred Boy (continued) 166\n The Story of the Home-bred Boy (continued) 172\n Some Verses from Tibetan Love-songs 175\n\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n One of the Story-tellers, with his Family and Servants Frontispiece\n The Hare and the Tiger Facing p. 2\n The Wicked Neighbour removing Young Sparrow from Nest 22\n \u201cWorthy Father, I am turned into this\u201d 25\n The Young Mussulman pursued by his own Shadow 35\n The Crow and the Frog in the Gutter 48\n The Hare conversing with the Wolf 58\n The Tiger and the Monkey approaching the Jackal\u2019s Den 79\n The Dragon attacking the Griffon\u2019s Nest 98\n The Stone Lion vomiting Gold 121\n The Mice Crossing the Stream 137\n The Monkey calling into the Tortoise\u2019s Cave 145\n The Glass Pillars dancing for the Ogre 147\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOLK TALES FROM TIBET.\n\n\nSTORY No. I.\n\nHOW THE HARE GOT HIS SPLIT LIP.\n\n\nA hare was going along a road one day, when suddenly, on turning a\ncorner, he came upon a large Tiger. The Tiger at once seized the Hare,\nand said that he was going to eat him.\n\n\u201cPlease, please, Uncle Tiger,\u201d said the Hare, holding up his thumbs in\nsupplication, \u201cplease don\u2019t eat me, I am only a very small beast, and\nwill make a very insufficient meal for a great big animal like you. And\nif you will spare my life I will take you to where you can find a much\nbigger, fatter creature than me for your supper.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Tiger, \u201cI agree to that. But if you don\u2019t show me\na much bigger animal than you are, I shall certainly be obliged to eat\nyou.\u201d\n\nSo he released the Hare, and the two walked off along the road\ntogether.\n\nAs they went along night began to fall, and when it was quite dark the\nHare began smacking his chops and making sounds as if he was eating\nsomething very nice.\n\n\u201cWhat are you eating, Brother Hare?\u201d asked the Tiger.\n\n\u201cI am eating my eye, Uncle Tiger,\u201d replied the Hare. \u201cI have taken it\nout and eaten it; it is very nice, and it soon grows again.\u201d\n\nThe Tiger was rather surprised at hearing this, but being very hungry\nhe proceeded to scrape out his own eye and eat it up. After going a\nlittle further the Hare again began smacking his lips, as if he was\neating something.\n\n\u201cWhat are you eating now, Brother Hare?\u201d asked the Tiger.\n\n\u201cI am eating my other eye, Uncle Tiger,\u201d replied the Hare; \u201cit is even\nbetter than the first.\u201d\n\nThe foolish Tiger on hearing this proceeded to scrape out his other eye\nand eat that.\n\nThe Tiger was now quite blind, and the Hare led him along to the brink\nof a deep gulf, where he advised the Tiger to sit down and rest for a\nwhile. And after the Tiger was seated, the Hare said:\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you find it cold, Uncle Tiger? shall I light you a fire?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, please, Brother Hare,\u201d said the Tiger, \u201cI think a fire would be\nvery pleasant.\u201d\n\nSo the Hare lighted a fire just in front of the Tiger, and when it was\nblazing up he kept putting the sticks nearer and nearer the Tiger, so\nthat the Tiger was obliged to keep edging further and further away,\nwhen all of a sudden he toppled over backwards into the gulf behind.\nNow it happened that half-way down the gulf a tree was growing from a\ncleft in the precipice, and as he passed this the Tiger seized one of\nthe boughs with his teeth, and so arrested his fall. The Hare, peeping\nover the edge, saw what had happened, and he called out:\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Tiger, Uncle Tiger, are you safe?\u201d\n\nThe Tiger was afraid to open his mouth to reply, and all he could do\nwas to growl, \u201cM\u2014m\u2014m\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Tiger,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cis that all you can say? I am afraid\nyou must be very badly hurt. Do just say \u2018Ah!\u2019 and I shall know that\nyou are all right.\u201d\n\nThe Tiger, anxious to please the Hare, opened his mouth to say \u201cAh!\u201d\nand was instantly precipitated to the bottom of the gulf, where he fell\nupon some rocks and was killed.\n\nNext morning the Hare went hopping down the road when he met a Man\ndriving along a lot of Horses.\n\n\u201cGood morning, Father Man,\u201d said he to the driver. \u201cWould you like to\nknow where you can find a good Tiger\u2019s skin?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, please, Brother Hare,\u201d said the Man, thinking he would sell the\nskin and make a lot of money.\n\nSo the Hare pointed out to him where the dead Tiger lay in the ravine,\nand the Man hastened off to skin it, after first asking the Hare to\ntake care of his Horses while he was away.\n\nAs soon as he was out of sight the Hare saw two Ravens sitting in a\ntree overhead. He called out to them:\n\n\u201cBrothers Raven, look here! Here are a lot of Horses with no one in\ncharge. Why don\u2019t you come down and feed on the sores on their backs?\u201d\n\nThe Ravens thought this was a good idea, and flying down, they perched\non the Horses\u2019 backs, and began to dig their beaks into the sore\nplaces. The poor Horses, in fear and pain, soon stampeded, and galloped\nabout all over the country.\n\nThe Hare then hopped on a little further down the road and came upon a\nBoy tending Sheep.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Boy,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cwould you like to know\nwhere there is a fine Raven\u2019s nest, full of eggs?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, please, Brother Hare,\u201d said the Boy, thinking he would climb the\ntree and take the Raven\u2019s eggs. So the Hare pointed out to him the tree\nwhere the Raven\u2019s nest was, and the Boy ran off to get the eggs, after\nfirst asking the Hare to take charge of the Sheep for him while he was\naway.\n\nThe Hare soon espied a Wolf on the hill-side not far off, so he went up\nto him and said:\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Wolf, do you know that there is a fine flock of\nSheep quite unguarded down there, and I should advise you to take\nadvantage of this opportunity of killing some of them.\u201d\n\nThe Wolf at once rushed down the hill into the middle of the flock of\nSheep, scattering them all in every direction, and killing as many as\nhe thought he required for his own use.\n\nMeanwhile the Hare proceeded to the top of a high hill whence he could\nsurvey the whole country. From there he was able to discern the dead\nTiger lying in the ravine, with the Man stripping off its skin; the\nHorses careering all over the country, with the Ravens pecking at the\nsores on their backs; the Boy robbing the Raven\u2019s nest; and the Sheep,\npursued by the Wolf, scattered to the four quarters of the compass.\n\nThe sight so amused the Hare that he leaned back on a handy stone, and\nlaughed to such an extent that he actually split his upper lip. And it\nhas remained split to this very day.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. II.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE TIGER AND THE MAN.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were two Tigers who lived in a certain forest\nand had a family of three children. The Father Tiger grew old and began\nto fail, and just before his death he sent for his three children and\naddressed them as follows:\n\n\u201cRemember, my children,\u201d said he, \u201cthat the Tiger is Lord of the\njungle; he roams about at his will and makes a prey of the other\nanimals as he wishes, and none can gainsay him. But there is one animal\nagainst whom you must be on your guard. He alone is more powerful and\ncunning than the Tiger. That animal is Man, and I warn you solemnly\nbefore I die to beware of Man, and on no account to try to hunt or to\nkill him.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the old Tiger turned on his side and died.\n\nThe three young Tigers listened respectfully to the words of their\ndying parent and promised to obey; and the elder brothers, who were\nobedient sons, were careful to follow his advice. They confined their\nattentions to the slaughter of deer, pigs, and other denizens of the\nforest, and were careful, whenever they came within sight or scent of\nany human being, to clear off as fast as they could from so dangerous a\nneighbourhood. But the youngest Tiger was of an independent and\ninquisitive disposition. As he grew older and stronger he began to\nchafe against the restriction that had been imposed upon him.\n\n\u201cWhat, after all,\u201d thought he to himself, \u201ccan be this creature Man\nthat I should not slay him if I wish. I am told that he is but a\ndefenceless creature, that his strength cannot be compared to mine, and\nthat his claws and teeth are quite contemptible. I can pull down the\nlargest stag or tackle the fiercest boar with impunity. Why, then,\nshould not I be able to kill and eat Man also?\u201d\n\nSo after a while, in his conceit and folly, he determined to quit his\nown part of the forest and to venture forth towards the open country in\nsearch of a Man as his prey. His two brothers and his mother tried to\nreason with him and to persuade him to remember the words of his dying\nfather, but with no avail; and finally, one fine morning, in spite of\ntheir prayers and entreaties, he set off alone on his search.\n\nHe had not proceeded very far when he met an old, worn-out\npack-Bullock, thin and emaciated, and with the marks of many ancient\nscars on his back. The young Tiger had never seen a Bullock before, and\nhe regarded the creature with some curiosity. Walking up to it he said:\n\n\u201cWhat sort of animal are you, pray? Are you a Man by any chance?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d replied the creature; \u201cI am only a poor Bullock.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Tiger. \u201cWell, perhaps you can tell me what sort of an\nanimal Man is, for I am just going out to find and kill one.\u201d\n\n\u201cBeware of Man, young Tiger,\u201d replied the Bullock; \u201che is a dangerous\nand a faithless creature. Just look at me for example. From the time\nwhen I was very young I was Man\u2019s servant. I carried loads for him on\nmy back, as you may see by these scars, and for many years I slaved for\nhim faithfully and well. While I was young and strong he cared for me\nand valued me highly; but as soon as I became old and weak, and was no\nlonger able to do his work, he turned me out into this wild jungle to\nseek my food as best I might, and gave no thought for me in my old age.\nI warn you solemnly to leave him alone and not to try and kill him. He\nis very cunning and dangerous.\u201d\n\nBut the young Tiger only laughed at the warning and went on his way.\nSoon afterwards he came across an ancient Elephant wandering by itself\non the outskirts of the forest, and feeding with its trunk on the\ngrasses and foliage which it loves. The old animal had a wrinkled skin\nand a small and bleary eye, and behind its huge ears were many cuts and\nancient scars, showing where the goad had been so frequently applied.\n\nThe young Tiger eyed this strange animal with some surprise, and going\nup to it he said:\n\n\u201cWhat sort of an animal are you, please? You are not a Man, I suppose?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d replied the Elephant; \u201cI am only a poor old worn-out\nElephant.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that so?\u201d answered the Tiger. \u201cPerhaps you can tell me, however,\nwhat sort of a creature Man is, as I am now hunting for one in order to\nkill and eat him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBeware how you hunt Man, young Tiger,\u201d replied the old Elephant; \u201che\nis a faithless and dangerous animal. Look at my case. Although I am the\nLord of the jungle, Man tamed me, and trained me, and made me his\nservant for many years. He put a saddle on my back and made stirrups of\nmy ears, and he used to strike me over my head with an iron goad. While\nI was young and strong he valued me highly. Food was brought to me, as\nmuch as I could eat every day, and I had a special attendant who used\nto wash and groom me, and to see to all my wants. But when I became old\nand too infirm for further work, he turned me out into the jungle to\nfend for myself as best I could. If you will take my advice you will\nleave Man alone, or it will be the worse for you in the end.\u201d\n\nBut the young Tiger laughed contemptuously and went on his way. After\nproceeding for some little distance he heard the sound of some one\nchopping wood, and creeping near he saw that it was a Woodcutter\nengaged in felling a tree. After watching him for some time the Tiger\nemerged from the jungle, and going up to the Man, he asked what sort of\nan animal he was. The Woodcutter replied:\n\n\u201cWhy, what an ignorant Tiger you are; can\u2019t you see that I am a Man?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, are you,\u201d replied the Tiger, \u201cwhat a piece of luck for me. I was\njust looking for a Man in order to kill and eat him, and you will do\nnicely.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Woodcutter began to laugh. \u201cKill and eat me,\u201d he\nreplied; \u201cwhy, don\u2019t you know that Man is much too clever to be killed\nand eaten by a Tiger? Just come with me a little way and I will show\nyou some things which only a Man knows, but which will be very useful\nfor you to learn.\u201d\n\nThe Tiger thought that this was a good idea, so he followed the Man\nthrough the jungle until they came to the Man\u2019s house, which was\nstrongly built of timber and heavy logs.\n\n\u201cWhat is that place?\u201d said the Tiger when he saw it.\n\n\u201cThat is called a house,\u201d replied the Man. \u201cI will show you how we use\nit.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying he went inside and shut the door.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, speaking from the inside to the Tiger, \u201cyou see what a\nfoolish creature a Tiger is compared to a Man. You poor animals live in\na hole in the forest, exposed to wind, rain, cold and heat; and all\nyour strength is of no value to make a house like this. Whereas I,\nalthough I am so much weaker than you, can build myself a fine house,\nwhere I live at my ease, indifferent to the weather and secure from the\nattacks of wild animals.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the young Tiger flew into a violent passion.\n\n\u201cWhat right,\u201d said he, \u201chas an ugly, defenceless creature like you to\npossess such a lovely house? Look at me, with my beautiful stripes, and\nmy great teeth and claws, and my long tail. I am far more worthy than\nyou of a house. Come out at once, and give your house over to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, very well,\u201d said the Man, and he came out of the house leaving the\ndoor open, and the Tiger stalked in.\n\n\u201cNow, look at me,\u201d called out the conceited young Tiger from inside,\n\u201cdon\u2019t I look nice in my fine house?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery nice indeed,\u201d replied the Man, and bolting the door outside he\nwalked off with his axe, leaving the Tiger to starve to death.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. III.\n\nTHE STORY OF GOOD FAITH.\n\n\nThe Tiger soon got tired of sitting in the house and tried to force his\nway out; but the house was too strongly built for him to be able to\nmake any impression upon the walls, so he gave it up in despair and\nsoon began to suffer severely from hunger and thirst. Two or three days\npassed away and the Tiger was in a sorry state, when, as he was peering\nthrough a chink in the logs he saw a little Musk Deer, which had come\ndown to drink at the stream which was close by. When the Tiger saw the\nDeer he called out to her:\n\n\u201cOh, Sister Deer, will you please come and open the door of this house.\nI am shut up inside, and as I have nothing to eat and drink I am afraid\nof starving to death.\u201d\n\nThe Deer was a good deal frightened when she heard the Tiger\u2019s voice,\nbut when she understood how matters were she was reassured, and\nreplied:\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Tiger, I am very sorry to hear of your misfortune. But I am\nafraid if I open the door and let you out you will kill and eat me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, I won\u2019t,\u201d replied the Tiger, \u201cyou can rely upon me. I promise\nyou faithfully that if you will release me I will let you go free.\u201d\n\nAccordingly, the Deer came up to the house and unbolted the door from\nthe outside, and the Tiger sprang out joyfully. As soon as he got\noutside he seized upon the Deer and said:\n\n\u201cI am very sorry for you, Sister Deer, but the fact is I am so famished\nthat really I have no alternative but to eat you immediately.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is really too bad,\u201d replied the Deer; \u201cafter promising faithfully\nthat you would not eat me, and after the benefit which I have conferred\nupon you, you should certainly keep faith with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cFaith!\u201d said the Tiger. \u201cWhat is faith? I don\u2019t believe there is any\nsuch thing as good faith.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there not?\u201d answered the Deer. \u201cWell now, let us make a bargain. We\nwill ask the first three living things we meet whether or no there is\nsuch a thing as good faith. If they say there is not, then you are\nwelcome to kill and eat me; but if they say there is such a thing, then\nyou shall let me go free.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d said the Tiger, \u201cI agree to that; that is a bargain.\u201d\n\nSo the two set off together side by side, and after proceeding a short\ndistance down the road they came upon a large Tree growing by the\nroadside.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Tree,\u201d said the Musk Deer, \u201cwe want to refer a\nquestion to you for your decision.\u201d\n\nThe Tree waved its branches in the air and replied in a gentle voice:\n\n\u201cWhat is your question, Sister Deer? I am ready to do my best to help\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe case is this,\u201d replied the Musk Deer, \u201ca short while ago I found\nthis Tiger shut up in a Woodcutter\u2019s hut in the forest, unable to get\nout. He called out to me asking me to open the door of the hut,\npromising me, if I did so, that he would let me go free. So I opened\nthe door and let him out. No sooner was he released than he seized upon\nme and threatened to kill and eat me; and when I reproached him of\nbreaking his faith, he said he did not believe that there was such a\nthing as good faith in the world. So we made a bargain that we would\nask the first three living things we met whether or no there is such a\nthing as good faith in this world. If they say there is not, then the\nTiger is to kill and eat me; but if they say that there is such a\nthing, then I am to go free. Will you please give us an opinion as to\nwhether such a thing as good faith exists or not.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this story the great Tree moved its branches slowly in the\nbreeze and replied as follows:\n\n\u201cI am much interested in your story, Sister Deer, and would gladly help\nyou if I could; but I am bound to answer you honestly in accordance\nwith my own experience of life. Now consider my own case. I grow here\nby the roadside and spread my branches over the dusty highway ready to\ngive shelter to man and beast in their shade. Travellers passing\nconstantly up and down the road avail themselves of this cool retreat,\nand they come themselves and they bring their poor beasts of burden to\nrest in my shadow. And then what happens? Are they grateful to me for\nthe comfort which I afford them? Does my example inspire them with any\nconsideration for others? Far from it. When they have rested and\nrefreshed themselves enough, they proceed on their way, and not only do\nthey not thank me for my hospitality, but they break off my tender\nbranches and use them as whips, further to goad and distress their\nweary animals. Can such conduct as that be called good faith? No, I am\nbound to say that my experience of life leads me to believe that there\nis no such thing as good faith in this world.\u201d\n\nThe poor Musk Deer was much cast down on hearing these words, and she\nand the Tiger moved on together till, a little farther along the road,\nthey caught sight of a Cow Buffalo and her Calf grazing quietly in a\nfield of succulent grass. They noticed that the old Cow contented\nherself with the driest and smallest patches of grass, whilst showing\nher Calf where to find the richest and most luxuriant pasture, and that\nshe willingly deprived herself of any comfort in order to afford\npleasure to the youngster. The Tiger and the Deer approached the old\nCow, and the Deer, addressing her, said:\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Aunt Buffalo! This Tiger and I have a small matter which\nwe wish to refer to you for an opinion.\u201d\n\nThe Buffalo gazed at them with her big eyes, and after ruminating for a\nwhile she replied slowly:\n\n\u201cSay on, Sister Deer, I am ready to give you my opinion for what it is\nworth.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Deer, \u201cthis Tiger was shut up in a hut in the forest,\nand being unable to open the door, he was in danger of starving to\ndeath. I happened to pass by, and he called to me, asking me to let him\nout, promising that if I did so he would spare my life. So I opened the\ndoor and released him. But no sooner was he free than he seized upon me\nand said that he would kill and eat me; and when I reproached him with\nhis bad faith, he replied that he did not believe that such a thing as\ngood faith existed. So we made a bargain that we would ask the first\nthree living things we met whether or no they believed that there is\nsuch a thing as good faith. If they say there is not, then the Tiger is\nto eat me; but if they say that there is such a thing, I am to go free.\nNow, will you please give us your opinion on the matter.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this statement the old Buffalo continued to chew the cud for\nsome minutes, and then replied gravely:\n\n\u201cI would gladly help you in the matter, Sister Deer, if I could; but I\nmust regard it from the point of view of my own experience in life. I\nam considering the case of myself and my Calf. While the Calf is young\nand tender, I do all in my power to nourish and care for it. I first\ngive it my milk, and later on, as you see, I encourage it to browse\nupon the best of the herbage, whilst I gladly stint myself in order\nthat it may have plenty of the best of everything. But what happens\nlater on, when the Calf grows strong and lusty? Does it remember its\nold mother with gratitude, and fend for her in her old age? Far from\nit. As soon as it is big enough it will push me away from the places\nwhere I am grazing and take the best for itself, and will drive me away\naltogether from the pastures if it can. Can that be called keeping\nfaith with its mother? No; my experience makes me believe that there is\nno such thing as good faith in this world.\u201d\n\nWhen the Musk Deer heard this she was much downhearted, and fully\nexpected to be killed and eaten without further delay; but she begged\nthe Tiger to give her one more chance, saying that she was fully\nprepared to abide by the opinion of the third person whom they met.\n\nThe Tiger consented to this, and after going on a little farther\ntogether they met a Hare, hopping quietly down the road towards them.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Hare,\u201d called out the Musk Deer; \u201ccould you\nspare us a few moments to give us an opinion upon a point of difference\nwhich has arisen between this Tiger and myself?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d replied the Hare, stopping short in the roadway. \u201cI shall\nbe delighted to do the best I can for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d replied the Musk Deer, \u201cthe facts are as follows: I was\ndrinking just now at a stream in the forest when I noticed this Tiger\nshut up in a Woodcutter\u2019s hut. The door was bolted outside, and he was\nunable to come out, and was in danger of starving to death, so he\ncalled out to me, asking me to release him, promising me, if I did so,\nthat he would spare my life. I accordingly opened the door; but no\nsooner did the Tiger come out, than he seized upon me, saying that he\nwas so hungry that he had really no alternative but to devour me on the\nspot. And when I reproached him for his bad faith, he replied that he\ndid not know what good faith was, and, in fact, did not believe that\nsuch a thing existed. So we made a bargain that we would ask the first\nthree living creatures we met whether or no there is such a thing as\ngood faith in this world. If they say there is, then I am to go free;\nbut if they say there is not, then the Tiger is at liberty to kill and\neat me. We have already consulted two persons in the matter, and they\nare both of opinion that there is no such thing as good faith. You are\nthe third and last, and on your decision depends my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cDear me,\u201d replied the Hare, \u201cthis is a very strange story, and before\ngiving an opinion on so momentous a matter it is necessary that I\nshould understand exactly how it all happened. Let me see. You say that\nyou were shut up in the Woodcutter\u2019s hut.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d broke in the Tiger; \u201cit was I who was shut up in the\nWoodcutter\u2019s hut.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I see,\u201d said the Hare; \u201cthen the Musk Deer must have shut you in?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! no,\u201d interrupted the Musk Deer. \u201cYou don\u2019t seem to understand at\nall; that was not how it happened.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cit is such a complicated story that it is\ndifficult to follow it exactly. So before giving a decision I propose\nthat we all adjourn to the scene of action, and there you can explain\nto me precisely what occurred.\u201d\n\nThe Tiger and the Musk Deer agreed to this, and the three set off\ntogether until they arrived at the Woodcutter\u2019s hut in the forest.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cwill you please explain to me exactly what\nhappened. Where, for instance, were you, Sister Deer, at the time the\nTiger spoke to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was down here drinking at the stream, so,\u201d replied the Deer, going\noff to the place in question.\n\n\u201cAnd where were you, Uncle Tiger?\u201d said the Hare.\n\n\u201cWell, I was inside the hut, thus,\u201d replied the Tiger, going inside the\nhouse.\n\n\u201cAnd the door, I presume, must have been shut, so?\u201d said the Hare. And\nso saying he shut the door and bolted it; and he and the Deer went on\ntheir way safely, leaving the Tiger shut up inside, where he shortly\nafter starved to death.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. IV.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE TWO NEIGHBOURS.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were two Neighbours living in two houses, side\nby side, in the same village. One of these was rich, and the other one\npoor. The rich man, whose name was Tse-ring, was proud, arrogant, and\nstingy; whilst the poor man, whose name was Cham-ba, was a kind-hearted\nman, who was generous to all as far as his means allowed.\n\nNow it happened that a pair of Sparrows came and built their nest in\nthe eaves over the doorway of the poor man\u2019s house, where, in the\ncourse of time, the young birds were hatched out. One day, before the\nyoung birds had learnt to fly, the two old Sparrows were away hunting\nfor food, and one of the young ones fell out of its nest on to the poor\nman\u2019s door-step, and broke its leg. Shortly after the poor man coming\ninto his house saw the young Sparrow lying helpless on his door-step,\nso he picked it up to see what was wrong, and found that its leg was\nbroken. So he carried it into the house, and very carefully bound up\nits leg with a piece of thread; and then took it up to the roof, and\nput it back in the nest.\n\nNow this Sparrow, although the poor man did not know it, was really a\nfairy in disguise, and later on, when it had grown up, it flew out one\nday and returned with its beak full of grain. The poor man was sitting\nin his house when the little Sparrow flew in and perched on the table\nin front of him. It dropped the grain on the table, and after giving\none or two chirps it said to the man:\n\n\u201cThis grain is in return for your kindness to me. Plant it in your\ngarden and see what comes up,\u201d and so saying it flew away.\n\nThe poor man was very much surprised at hearing the Sparrow speak, and\nhe thought to himself:\n\n\u201cWell, this is not a very valuable present, but still it shows how\ngrateful even a little bird can be for a kindness done to him; and any\nway I will plant the grain in my garden as it directed.\u201d\n\nSo he planted the grain just in front of his house, and soon forgot all\nabout the incident.\n\nA month or two later the grain grew, and soon attained its full height;\nand one day the poor man, going to look at it, was astonished to find\nthat, instead of grain, each ear of corn contained a valuable jewel. He\nwas very much delighted at this discovery, and having collected all the\njewels, he carried them away to a neighbouring town, where he was able\nto sell them for a large sum of money, and thus found himself in a\ncondition of great comfort and prosperity.\n\nSoon after this the rich Neighbour, having observed the change which\nhad taken place in the poor man\u2019s circumstances, came over one day in\norder to try and find out how Cham-ba had become so rich and\nprosperous. He carried over with him a jug of beer, and, on the\npretence of conviviality, he offered his Neighbour a drink, and during\nthe course of the conversation which followed he asked Cham-ba to tell\nhim the secret of his new wealth. Cham-ba, who was of a very\nunsuspicious nature, related to him the whole story of the Sparrow, the\ngrain, and the jewels, and having learnt the secret the rich man\nreturned to his own house, pondering deeply how he could turn this\nstory to his own advantage.\n\nNow it happened that a Sparrow had hatched out her young in a nest just\nover his house door also. So next day he went up on to the roof, and\nleaning out over the parapet he picked out a young Sparrow from the\nnest with a pair of chop-sticks, and dropped it on to the ground below,\nwhere the poor little bird broke its leg. He then went down, picked up\nthe young Sparrow, bound up its leg with a piece of thread, and put it\nback into its nest, saying as he did so that he hoped it would remember\nhis kindness.\n\nSure enough, when the Sparrow grew up it flew into his house one day,\nand perched on the table before him. It dropped some grain from its\nbeak, and after a few preliminary chirps it said:\n\n\u201cThis grain is a present in return for your kindness to me. Plant it in\nyour garden and see what grows up.\u201d\n\nThe rich man was greatly delighted on hearing this, and thought to\nhimself that he would soon be the possessor of beautiful jewels like\nhis Neighbour. He prepared a bed very carefully in his garden, and\nplanted the grain in the richest part of the soil. Every day he used to\ngo and watch the spot, carefully examining the young shoots to see how\nthey were getting on.\n\nThe seeds sprouted and grew very fast, and one morning, when he went\nout as usual to see how his crop was doing, to his astonishment he\nfound that instead of a few stalks of barley, as he had expected, a\ngreat fierce-looking man, with a bundle of papers under his arm, was\nstanding in the middle of the bed. The rich man was very frightened at\nseeing this truculent-looking stranger, and asked who he was.\n\n\u201cI was a creditor of yours in one of your former existences,\u201d replied\nthe Apparition. \u201cYou were then heavily in my debt, and I have come back\nhere with all the necessary documents to claim what you owed me.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the Stranger seized upon the rich man\u2019s house, his cattle,\nhis sheep, his lands, and all his possessions, and reduced the rich man\nto the position of a slave in his household.\n\nSome months after, Cham-ba, now rich and prosperous, started off on a\njourney, and before going he asked Tse-ring to take charge of a bag of\ngold-dust for him, and to keep it until he returned. Tse-ring undertook\nthe charge of the gold, but in his new state of poverty and dependence\nhe was unable to resist the temptation of spending some of it, and at\nlast he found that the whole of the gold left in his charge was\nexhausted. Not knowing what to do he filled the bag with sand, and\nawaited his Neighbour\u2019s return with some trepidation.\n\nA few days after Cham-ba came back from his journey, and called upon\nhis Neighbour, and asked for his bag of gold. Tse-ring produced the bag\nand handed it over to Cham-ba without saying anything, and when Cham-ba\nopened it to see whether the gold was all right he found that it\ncontained sand instead of gold.\n\n\u201cHow is this?\u201d said he. \u201cI entrusted to you a bag of gold-dust, and you\nhave given me back only sand.\u201d\n\nThe dishonest Neighbour had no reply to make. He pretended to look very\nsurprised, and all he could say was:\n\n\u201cMy friend, it has turned into this! My friend, it has turned into\nthis!\u201d\n\nCham-ba said nothing more, but carried off the bag to his own house.\n\nSoon afterwards Cham-ba announced his intention of starting a school\nfor little boys, where they would be taught free, and Tse-ring,\nthinking that a free education for his Son was not to be neglected,\nsent over his young Son to attend the school. A few days later he found\nit necessary to make a short journey to a neighbouring town, and before\nstarting he entrusted his little Son to his neighbour, Cham-ba, and\nasked him to look after the boy until his return.\n\nAs soon as he was gone Cham-ba procured a tame Monkey and taught it to\nsay the following words.\n\n\u201cWorthy father, I am turned into this! Worthy father, I am turned into\nthis!\u201d\n\nWhen Tse-ring returned from his journey he walked over to the\nschool-house one day to see how his Son was getting on, and he found\nCham-ba seated there teaching the boys their lessons. Tse-ring looked\nround to see his Son, but could not detect him anywhere, but to his\nsurprise he noticed a Monkey seated on one of the benches.\n\n\u201cWhere is my son?\u201d asked Tse-ring, \u201cand how is he getting on?\u201d\n\nCham-ba said nothing, but picked up the Monkey and carried it to him.\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean by this?\u201d said Tse-ring. \u201cThis is not my Son. Where\nis the boy whom I entrusted to your care?\u201d\n\nWhereupon the Monkey spoke up and said:\n\n\u201cWorthy father, I am turned into this! Worthy father, I am turned into\nthis!\u201d\n\nThe father flew into a violent rage and stormed at his neighbour,\nCham-ba, for some time, but without producing any impression. Finally,\non thinking the matter over, he decided it was better to pay up the\ngold he had stolen, on condition of having his proper Son restored to\nhim.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. V.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE CAT AND THE MICE.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Cat who lived in a large farm-house in\nwhich there was a great number of Mice. For many years the Cat found no\ndifficulty in catching as many Mice as she wanted to eat, and she lived\na very peaceful and pleasant life. But as time passed on she found that\nshe was growing old and infirm, and that it was becoming more and more\ndifficult for her to catch the same number of Mice as before; so after\nthinking very carefully what was the best thing to do, she one day\ncalled all the Mice together, and after promising not to touch them,\nshe addressed them as follows:\n\n\u201cOh! Mice,\u201d said she, \u201cI have called you together in order to say\nsomething to you. The fact is that I have led a very wicked life, and\nnow, in my old age, I repent of having caused you all so much\ninconvenience and annoyance. So I am going for the future to turn over\na new leaf. It is my intention now to give myself up entirely to\nreligious contemplation and no longer to molest you, so henceforth you\nare at liberty to run about as freely as you will without fear of me.\nAll I ask of you is that twice every day you should all file past me in\nprocession and each one make an obeisance as you pass me by, as a token\nof your gratitude to me for my kindness.\u201d\n\nWhen the Mice heard this they were greatly pleased, for they thought\nthat now, at last, they would be free from all danger from their former\nenemy, the Cat. So they very thankfully promised to fulfil the Cat\u2019s\nconditions, and agreed that they would file past her and make a salaam\ntwice every day.\n\nSo when evening came the Cat took her seat on a cushion at one end of\nthe room, and the Mice all went by in single file, each one making a\nprofound salaam as it passed.\n\nNow the cunning old Cat had arranged this little plan very carefully\nwith an object of her own; for, as soon as the procession had all\npassed by with the exception of one little Mouse, she suddenly seized\nthe last Mouse in her claws without anybody else noticing what had\nhappened, and devoured it at her leisure. And so twice every day, she\nseized the last Mouse of the series, and for a long time lived very\ncomfortably without any trouble at all in catching her Mice, and\nwithout any of the Mice realising what was happening.\n\nNow it happened that amongst these Mice there were two friends, whose\nnames were Ramb\u00e9 and Amb\u00e9, who were very much attached to one another.\nNow these two were much cleverer and more cunning than most of the\nothers, and after a few days they noticed that the number of Mice in\nthe house seemed to be decreasing very much, in spite of the fact that\nthe Cat had promised not to kill any more. So they laid their heads\ntogether and arranged a little plan for future processions. They agreed\nthat Ramb\u00e9 was always to walk at the very front of the procession of\nthe Mice, and that Amb\u00e9 was to bring up the rear, and that all the time\nthe procession was passing, Ramb\u00e9 was to call to Amb\u00e9, and Amb\u00e9 to\nanswer Ramb\u00e9 at frequent intervals. So next evening, when the\nprocession started as usual, Ramb\u00e9 marched along in front, and Amb\u00e9\ntook up his position last of all. As soon as Ramb\u00e9 had passed the\ncushion where the Cat was seated and had made his salaam, he called out\nin a shrill voice.\n\n\u201cWhere are you, Brother Amb\u00e9?\u201d\n\n\u201cHere I am, Brother Ramb\u00e9,\u201d squeaked the other from the rear of the\nprocession. And so they went on calling and answering one another until\nthey had all filed past the Cat, who had not dared to touch Amb\u00e9 as\nlong as his brother kept calling to him.\n\nThe Cat was naturally very much annoyed at having to go hungry that\nevening, and felt very cross all night. But she thought it was only an\naccident which had brought the two friends, one in front and one in\nrear of the procession, and she hoped to make up for her enforced\nabstinence by finding a particularly fat Mouse at the end of the\nprocession next morning. What, then, was her amazement and disgust when\nshe found that on the following morning the very same arrangement had\nbeen made, and that Ramb\u00e9 called to Amb\u00e9, and Amb\u00e9 answered Ramb\u00e9 until\nall the Mice had passed her by, and so, for the second time, she was\nfoiled of her meal. However, she disguised her feelings of anger and\ndecided to give the Mice one more trial; so in the evening she took her\nseat as usual on the cushion and waited for the Mice to appear.\n\nMeanwhile, Ramb\u00e9 and Amb\u00e9 had warned the other Mice to be on the\nlookout, and to be ready to take flight the moment the Cat showed any\nappearance of anger. At the appointed time the procession started as\nusual, and as soon as Ramb\u00e9 had passed the Cat he squeaked out:\n\n\u201cWhere are you, Brother Amb\u00e9?\u201d\n\n\u201cHere I am, Brother Ramb\u00e9,\u201d came the shrill voice from the rear.\n\nThis was more than the Cat could stand. She made a fierce leap right\ninto the middle of the Mice, who, however, were thoroughly prepared for\nher, and in an instant they scuttled off in every direction to their\nholes. And before the Cat had time to catch a single one the room was\nempty and not a sign of a Mouse was to be seen anywhere.\n\nAfter this the Mice were very careful not to put any further trust in\nthe treacherous Cat, who soon after died of starvation owing to her\nbeing unable to procure any of her customary food; whilst Ramb\u00e9 and\nAmb\u00e9 lived for many years, and were held in high honour and esteem by\nall the other Mice in the community.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. VI.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE FOOLISH YOUNG MUSSULMAN.\n\n\nThere was once a young Mussulman, who lived with his poor mother in a\nsmall cottage on the outskirts of a large town. As the Boy grew up, it\nwas found that he was rather weak-minded, and that he was continually\ngetting himself into scrapes, owing to his own folly and carelessness;\nand the naughty boys of the neighbourhood used to take advantage of the\npoor young fellow, and were constantly teasing him and telling him all\nsorts of absurd stories.\n\nIt chanced one day that he went for a walk in a large meadow, where\nthere were a number of yellow flowers, and presently sitting down to\nrest, he began to gather a nosegay, when a young man passing by called\nout to him:\n\n\u201cHullo! what are you doing there? Do you know that the soles of your\nfeet are all yellow, and that is a sure sign that you are going to die\nat once?\u201d\n\nThe poor young fellow was greatly frightened at hearing this, and he\nthought to himself:\n\n\u201cWell, if I am going to die, I had better have a grave ready.\u201d\n\nSo he set to work, and soon scraped out for himself a shallow grave in\nthe soft soil. As soon as it was ready, he lay down in it and resigned\nhimself to death.\n\nA few minutes later one of the King\u2019s Servants, who happened to be\npassing by carrying an earthen jar full of oil for the King\u2019s palace,\nnoticed the Boy lying on his back in the shallow grave, so he stopped\nand asked him what he was doing. The Boy replied:\n\n\u201cThe soles of my feet are turning yellow, and that, as you know, is a\nsure sign that I am going to die; so I have prepared myself a grave,\nand am just waiting here till death comes.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, nonsense!\u201d replied the Servant; \u201cyou could not talk like that if\nyou were really dying. Come, get up, and help me to carry this jar of\noil for the King, and I will give you a hen for yourself.\u201d\n\nSo the foolish Boy got up out of his grave, and taking the jar of oil\non his back, he walked along the road with the King\u2019s Servant towards\nthe palace. As they went along, he kept thinking to himself what he\nshould do with his hen when he got it.\n\n\u201cAs soon as I have got some eggs,\u201d thought he to himself, \u201cI shall set\nthe hen to hatch them. And then I shall have a nice lot of chickens.\nAnd when the chickens grow up into cocks and hens I shall sell them in\nthe market. And with the money I get I shall buy a cow. And presently\nthe cow will have a calf. And when the calf grows big I shall sell both\nthe cow and the calf. And with the money I get I shall buy a nice\nlittle house. And when I have settled down in my house I shall marry a\nwife. And after a time we shall have a child. And as the child grows\nbig I shall have to take its education in hand. And I shall be very\nfirm and judicious with it. And if it is a good child and does what I\ntell it, I shall be very kind to it. And if it is naughty and does not\ndo what it is told, I shall be very stern and stamp my foot, so!\u201d\n\nAnd thus thinking he stamped his foot so violently that the jar of oil\nslipped off his back and was smashed to pieces on the ground. When he\nsaw this, the King\u2019s Servant became very angry, and asked him what on\nearth he meant by stamping his foot like that, and breaking a valuable\njar of oil, which was intended for the King. The Boy tried to explain\nhow it occurred, but the Servant would not listen, and dragged him off\nby force into the King\u2019s presence.\n\nWhen the King saw them coming in together, he asked his Servant what he\nwanted, and why he was bringing in a strange Boy with him. The Servant\nreplied that he had entrusted the Boy with a jar of oil intended for\nthe King, and as they were walking along the road quite quietly\ntogether, the Boy all of a sudden began to stamp his feet like a\nmaniac, and the jar of oil slipped off his back and got broken. The\nKing asked the Boy what he meant by his conduct, and the Boy replied:\n\n\u201cWell, Your Majesty, your Servant said that if I would carry this jar\nof oil, he would give me a hen, and it seemed to me quite natural to\nconsider within myself what I should do with my hen when I got it. So I\nsoon saw that by selling the chickens I could buy a cow, and that later\non by selling the cow and her calf, I could get a wife and set up a\nhouse of my own, and that presently we should have a child; and I was\nthinking to myself how I should keep my child in order, and if it was\nnaughty I should be obliged to stamp my foot very firmly, in order to\nshow it that I was not to be trifled with.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this ridiculous story the King was much amused, and laughed\nvery heartily; and he gave the foolish Boy a piece of gold, and told\nhim to go home to his Mother.\n\nSo the Boy went off towards his own home, and as he got near to the\nhouse he saw a strange dog sneaking out of the door, carrying in his\nmouth a purse full of money, which he had just picked up inside. On\nseeing this the Boy became very much excited, and began calling aloud\nto his Mother that a dog was making off with her purse. The Mother,\nwhen she found what was up, was afraid that he would attract the\nattention of the neighbours to the loss of the purse, and that in the\nexcitement some one else would chase the dog and get the money; so\nhastily running up on to the flat roof of the house she sprinkled some\nsugar over the roof, and then called to the Boy to come up as quickly\nas he could.\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d she said, as soon as he arrived; \u201cwhat a curious thing! It has\nbeen raining sugar all over the roof of the house.\u201d\n\nHer son, who was very fond of sugar, at once set to work to pick up all\nthat he saw; and while he was so engaged, the good woman slipped away\nand soon found the dog and recovered her purse.\n\nSome time afterwards the Boy\u2019s Mother arranged with a rich family, who\nlived some miles away, and who were not acquainted with her son\u2019s\nfailings, that the Boy should marry the daughter of the house; and\nthat, in accordance with Tibetan custom, he should become a member of\nthe Bride\u2019s family. When all the preliminaries had been satisfactorily\narranged, a party of horsemen arrived from the Bride\u2019s house to greet\nthe Bridegroom and to bring him home. The Boy dressed himself up in his\nbest clothes, and, after feasting the wedding party in the usual\nmanner, he begged them all to go on ahead of him, saying that he would\nfollow as soon as he had said good-bye to his Mother.\n\nTowards evening he set out by himself on horseback. It was a moonlight\nnight, and as he rode down the road he could see his own shadow\ntravelling along beside him. He could not make out what the shadow was,\nbut thought it must be some ghost or demon, which wanted to do him an\ninjury, so he urged his horse into a gallop, in order to try and get\naway from it. But the faster he galloped the faster went the shadow,\nand he soon saw that it was no good trying to escape. So in order to\nfrighten the strange object he took off his puggaree and flung it at\nit. As this produced no effect, he followed up the puggaree with his\ncloak, and, finally, with all the clothes he had on, but without in any\nway frightening the shadow, which still continued to follow him\nclosely. So thinking to give it the slip, he jumped off his horse and\nran along the road on foot, until he got into the shade of a big\npoplar-tree growing near the road-side.\n\nHere he stopped to take breath, and he noticed to his great joy that\nthe shadow had disappeared; but on peeping out from the shadow of the\ntree he was annoyed to find that on whichever side he looked the shadow\nimmediately showed itself also. So thinking that the shade of the tree\nwas the safest place to stay in, he climbed into the upper branches and\nvery soon fell fast asleep.\n\nA short while after a party of travellers happened to be passing by\nthis road from the same direction, and as they came along they were\nsurprised to find a number of garments scattered about the roadway. So\nthey picked them up as they came along, and presently they found a\nhorse grazing beside the road. Him, too, they brought along with them,\nand when they arrived in the shade of the poplar-tree, they all stopped\nand sat down on the ground to divide the spoil amongst them.\n\nJust then the Boy woke up, and looking down he saw what was going on\nbelow, so he called out in a loud voice:\n\n\u201cI say, I want my share too, you know.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this voice emerging from the upper branches of the tree, the\ntravellers were greatly alarmed. They thought it must certainly be a\ndemon, who lived in the tree, and who wanted his share of the spoils,\nso they took to their heels and made off as fast as they could, leaving\nthe horse and all the clothes behind them. The Boy then climbed down\nfrom the tree, put on his own clothes, and, mounting his horse, rode\noff to his Bride\u2019s house.\n\nWhen he arrived at the house the parents of his Bride hurried out to\ngreet him, and after asking him why he was so late, they led him to the\nroom where the wedding feast was laid out. All the friends and\nneighbours from round about were gathered there ready to share in the\nfeast, and to offer their congratulations to the Bride and Bridegroom.\n\nDuring the progress of the feast the young Mussulman, who was of a very\nkindly disposition, and very fond of his Mother, kept thinking to\nhimself how he could save something nice for her to eat from amongst so\nmuch plenty. So he picked from the table a narrow-mouthed copper vessel\nand concealed it in his lap, and whilst eating his food he every now\nand then dropped into it some particularly succulent dainty, which he\nthought his Mother would enjoy. Presently, however, he inadvertently\nthrust his hand right into the vessel, and to his horror he found that\nhe was unable to withdraw it again. In this awkward predicament he was\nunable to eat anything, and the Bride\u2019s parents noticing that he no\nlonger partook of any food, kept pressing him to have a little more.\nThe young Man was still hungry, but was obliged to refuse all their\noffers, saying that he had already eaten enough.\n\nTowards evening, when the feast was completed, the guests withdrew, and\nthe Boy was left alone with his Bride; and she began asking him what\nthe matter was, and why he had been behaving so strangely during the\nbanquet.\n\nHe was at first too shy to tell her what had happened, but after much\ncoaxing she elicited from him the fact that his right hand was confined\nin the neck of the copper vessel.\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d said she; \u201cthere is a large white stone lying at the foot\nof the staircase. You had better slip down stairs in the dark, and by\nbeating the vessel against the stone you will soon succeed in freeing\nyourself.\u201d\n\nThe young fellow thought this was a good idea, and he went off quietly\ndown the staircase, until he detected what he thought was a white stone\nlying near the foot of the steps. So, creeping up to it, he raised his\narm and brought down the copper vessel with great force upon the white\nobject, shattering the vessel and leaving his hand free. But to his\nhorror the stone, instead of being hard, gave way, and a muffled groan\nissued from it; and on examining the spot, he found that instead of\nstriking a stone, he had delivered a violent blow upon the grey head of\nhis Bride\u2019s father, who, overcome by his potations during the wedding\nfeast, had fallen asleep at the foot of the stairs.\n\nThe young Man was terrified at what he had done, and feeling sure that\nhe must have killed the old man, he decided to flee from the house; so\nhe opened the door and ran off into the night. After running for some\ndistance he reached a neighbouring farm, where, as it happened, a large\nhoneycomb had been left lying in the corner of the courtyard. The Boy,\nnot knowing what it was, lay down upon this and fell fast asleep, and\nsoon smeared himself all over with honey. Later in the night he woke up\nfeeling very cold, and creeping into a shed close by, which was used as\na storage for wool, he lay down upon the wool and slept until morning.\n\nHe woke with the first gleam of dawn, and in the early morning light he\nsaw that he was all white and woolly, and in his simplicity he believed\nthat, as a punishment for his wickedness in killing his father-in-law,\nhe had been turned into a sheep. So under this impression, he ran out\nof the courtyard and joined a flock of sheep, which were grazing on a\nneighbouring hillside. He wandered about with the sheep all day,\nfeeling very miserable, and trying to accommodate himself to the\nmanners and customs of his new companions, and when evening came he\naccompanied them into the fold where they always spent the night.\n\nAbout midnight some robbers came to the fold, and getting in amongst\nthe sheep felt about for a good fat heavy one; and finally finding that\nthe Boy was the heaviest of them all, they proceeded to carry him off.\nOne of them hoisted him up on to his back, and they carried him along\nfor some distance until they reached the banks of a small stream. Here\nthey halted, and, laying him down upon the ground, they began to make\npreparations for cutting his throat. This trial proved rather too much\nfor the nerves of the young Man, and forgetting his r\u00f4le of sheep, he\ncalled out in a shrill voice:\n\n\u201cPlease don\u2019t kill me, kind robbers.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the robbers were very much frightened, and ran off as\nfast as they could; and the Boy, thankful to have escaped from this\ndanger, and being thoroughly worn out by the exertions and exposure of\nthe last twenty-four hours, returned to his Bride\u2019s house. There he\nfound that the old man, though sorely hurt, was not dead, and having\nexplained all the circumstances of the case, he was freely forgiven,\nand taken back into the household.\n\nAfter living for some years very happily with his Bride, he thought\nthat he would like to make a little money for himself by trading, so\nhaving procured a good stock of merchandise he set off for India, in\nthe hope of making a good profit on his goods. On the way he halted one\nevening at a large house. The Landlord received him very hospitably,\nand made him quite comfortable, and during the conversation which\nfollowed their evening meal the Master of the house began telling some\nvery tall stories. Some of these stories being rather too wonderful for\nbelief, the young Man bluntly said that he could not believe them.\nThereupon the Landlord replied:\n\n\u201cI can prove to you that I am telling the truth by showing you a\nstranger thing than anything which I have hitherto related. I will bet\nyou that when night falls a lantern will be carried into this room by a\ncat instead of by a servant.\u201d\n\nThe young Man was amused at his Host\u2019s boasting, and he said:\n\n\u201cVery well, I am prepared to bet you anything you like that this will\nnot happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d said the Landlord. \u201cIf this does not happen, I will hand\nyou over my house, my merchandise, and everything I possess; but if it\ndoes, you will forfeit all your baggage, animals and merchandise to\nme.\u201d And so the bet was arranged.\n\nNow this was a regular trick of the Landlord\u2019s, who had a tame cat\nwhich had been taught to carry in a lantern in her mouth every evening\njust at dusk, and he was accustomed to practise this deceit upon unwary\ntravellers, and by this means to secure their goods and whatever\nproperty they possessed.\n\nSure enough, just at dusk a large white cat entered the sitting-room,\nholding a lighted lantern in its mouth, and the unfortunate young Man\nwas obliged to hand over to his Host everything he possessed in the\nworld; and finding himself without money or goods he decided to stay on\nin the house as a servant.\n\nAfter the lapse of one or two months his Wife grew anxious about him,\nand knowing that from the infirmity of his mind he was likely to get\nhimself into some scrape or another, she decided to set out herself to\nsee what had become of him. So she disguised herself as a man, and\ntaking with her a few ponies laden with wool, she started off to follow\nin the tracks of her Husband.\n\nAfter several days she arrived at the house where her Husband was now\nemployed as a servant, and, meeting him in the courtyard, she learnt\nfrom him all that had happened. So she bade him hold his tongue, and\nshe herself entered the inn, and asked for a night\u2019s lodging. During\nthe evening the Host got talking, and in the course of the conversation\nhe made her the same wager as he had done to her Husband some time\nbefore.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said she, \u201cthat sounds a very strange story. I can scarcely\nbelieve it possible you can have a cat so well trained as to be able to\ncarry in a lantern. But I will think over what you say to-night, and we\nwill see about making the bet to-morrow morning.\u201d\n\nNext morning at breakfast she said to her Host:\n\n\u201cI have thought over what you said to me yesterday, and I am now\nprepared to make a bet with you that the cat will not carry a lantern\ninto this room at dusk this evening.\u201d\n\nSo the bet was concluded upon the same terms as before, and the Lady\nprivately told her Husband what he was to do. So in accordance with the\ninstructions she had given him, he caught three mice, and concealed\nthem in a little box, which he placed in the bosom of his robe. When\nevening approached, the Landlord and the Lady seated themselves in the\nsupper room, waiting to see whether or no the cat would appear as\nexpected, whilst the Husband hid himself in a corner of the courtyard,\njust outside the door near where the cat was accustomed to pass.\n\nJust at dusk the cat, carrying the lantern in its mouth, began to cross\nthe courtyard towards the door of the room where it was expected to\nbring the light, and when about half way across the yard the Husband\nreleased one of the mice from the box which he had hidden in his robe.\nThe mouse scampered off across the courtyard, and the cat gave a\nviolent start, and was on the point of pursuing it, when its training\novercame its natural instincts, and it allowed the mouse to escape.\n\nIt reluctantly continued its way towards the house, and scarcely had it\nstarted to go on, when the Husband released a second mouse, which also\nscampered off right in front of the cat. This time it was all the cat\ncould do to refrain from following so tempting an opportunity. It\npaused with great indecision, but again, its training standing it in\ngood stead, it pursued its way towards the house.\n\nJust as it was reaching the door of the house the third mouse was\nreleased. This was more than the cat could stand. It dropped the\nlantern upon the threshold, bounded across the courtyard, and seized\nthe mouse just as it was entering its hole.\n\nMeanwhile the Landlord and the Lady having waited until long after\ndark, the Landlord was reluctantly obliged to own that he had lost his\nbet. So he handed over to the disguised merchant, not only his own\nproperty, but also the merchandise, which he had previously won from\nher Husband; and the two, carrying their possessions with them,\nreturned to their own home, where they lived happily ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. VII.\n\nTHE KYANG, THE FOX, THE WOLF AND THE HARE.\n\n\nOne day a hungry Wolf was roaming about in search of something to eat\nin the upper part of a Tibetan valley far beyond the level of\ncultivation, [3] when he came across a young Kyang [4] about a year\nold. The Wolf at once proceeded to stalk the Kyang, thinking that he\nwould make an excellent meal off him, and just as he was about to seize\nupon him the Kyang, noticing his approach, addressed him as follows:\n\n\u201cOh! Uncle Wolf,\u201d said he, \u201cit is no good your eating me now; this is\nthe spring time and after the hard winter I am still very thin. If you\nwill wait for a few months until next autumn you will find that I shall\nbe twice as fat as I am now and will make you a much better feast.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Wolf, \u201cI will wait until then, on condition that\nyou meet me on this very spot in six months\u2019 time.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying he galloped off in search of some other prey.\n\nWhen autumn came the Wolf started off one morning to meet the Kyang at\nthe appointed place, and as he was going across the hills he came\nacross a Fox.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Wolf,\u201d said the Fox. \u201cWhere are you going to?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d replied the Wolf, \u201cI am going into the valley to meet a young\nKyang by appointment, as I have arranged to catch him and eat him this\nvery day.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is very pleasant for you, Brother Wolf,\u201d answered the Fox; \u201cbut\nas a Kyang is such a large animal you will scarcely be able to eat him\nall by yourself. I hope you will allow me to come too and share in the\nspoil.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly, Brother Fox,\u201d replied the Wolf. \u201cI shall be very glad of\nyour company.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying the two went on together. After proceeding a short\ndistance they came across a Hare.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Wolf and Brother Fox,\u201d said the Hare; \u201cwhere are\nyou two going this fine morning?\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Hare,\u201d replied the Wolf; \u201cI am just going off to\nyonder valley to keep an appointment with a fat Kyang, whom I have\narranged to kill and eat this very day, and Brother Fox is coming with\nme to share in the spoil.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! really, Brother Wolf,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cI wish you would allow me\nto come too. A Kyang is such a large animal that you can scarcely eat\nhim all yourselves, and I am sure you will allow a small creature like\nme to have a little bit of the spoil.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly, Brother Hare,\u201d replied the Wolf. \u201cWe shall be glad if you\nwill accompany us.\u201d\n\nAnd so the three animals went along together towards the appointed\nspot. When they got near the place they saw the young Kyang waiting for\nthem. During the summer months he had eaten a quantity of grass and had\nnow become very fat and sleek, and was about twice as big as he had\nbeen in the spring. When the Wolf caught sight of him he was much\npleased and began to lick his chops in anticipation.\n\n\u201cWell, Brother Kyang,\u201d said he, \u201chere I am according to agreement,\nready to kill and eat you, and I am glad to see you look so plump and\nwell. And here are Brother Fox and Brother Hare who have come along\nwith me to have a bit too.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying the Wolf crouched down ready to spring upon the Kyang and\nkill him.\n\n\u201cOh, Brother Wolf,\u201d called out the Hare at this moment, \u201cjust wait one\nmoment, for I have a suggestion to make to you. Don\u2019t you think it\nwould be a pity to kill this fine young Kyang in the ordinary way by\nseizing his throat, for if you do so a great deal of his blood will be\nwasted? I would suggest to you, instead, that it would be a very much\nbetter plan if you would strangle him, as in that case no blood would\nbe lost, and we should derive the full benefit from his carcase.\u201d\n\nThe Wolf thought this was a good idea and he said to the Hare:\n\n\u201cVery well, Brother Hare, I think that is an excellent idea of yours,\nbut how is it to be done?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! easily enough,\u201d answered the Hare. \u201cThere is a shepherd\u2019s\nencampment over there where we can borrow a rope, and then all we have\nto do is to make a slip-knot in the rope, put it over the Kyang\u2019s neck,\nand pull as hard as we can.\u201d\n\nSo they agreed that this should be done, and the Fox went off to the\nencampment near by and borrowed a rope from the shepherd, which he\ncarried back to where the three other animals were standing.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cleave it all to me; I will show you exactly how\nit is to be done.\u201d\n\nSo he took the rope and made a large slip-knot at one end and two\nsmaller slip-knots at the other end.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cthis is the way we must proceed: we will put this\nlarge slip-knot over the Kyang\u2019s neck, and as he is such a large heavy\nanimal the only way to strangle him will be for us three to pull\ntogether at the other end of the rope. So you, Brother Wolf, and you,\nBrother Fox, can put your heads through these smaller loops, and I will\nseize the loose end of the rope with my teeth, and when I give the\nsignal we will all pull together.\u201d\n\nThe other two thought this was a very good plan, and so they threw the\nslip-knot over the Kyang\u2019s neck, and the Wolf and the Fox put their\nheads through the smaller loops. When they were all ready the Hare took\nup his position at the end of the rope and caught hold of it with his\nteeth.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201care you all ready?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, quite ready,\u201d replied the Wolf and the Fox.\n\n\u201cWell, then, pull,\u201d said the Hare.\n\nSo they began to pull as hard as they could.\n\nWhen the Kyang felt the pull on the rope he walked forward a few paces,\nmuch to the surprise of the Wolf and the Fox, who found themselves\nbeing dragged along the ground.\n\n\u201cPull, can\u2019t you!\u201d shrieked the Wolf, as the rope began to tighten\nround his neck.\n\n\u201cPull yourself!\u201d shrieked the Fox, who was now beginning to feel very\nuncomfortable.\n\n\u201cPull, all of you,\u201d called out the Hare, and so saying he let go of the\nend of the rope and the Kyang galloped off dragging the Wolf and the\nFox after him. In a few minutes they were both strangled, and the\nKyang, shaking off the rope from his neck, proceeded to graze quietly\non his usual pastures, and the Hare scampered off home, feeling that he\nhad done a good day\u2019s work.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. VIII.\n\nTHE FROG AND THE CROW.\n\n\nA Crow once caught a fine fat Frog, and taking him in her bill she flew\nwith him to the roof of a neighbouring house in order to devour him at\nher leisure. As she alighted on the roof of the house the Frog gave an\naudible chuckle.\n\n\u201cWhat are you laughing at, Brother Frog?\u201d said the Crow.\n\n\u201cOh, nothing, Sister Crow,\u201d said the Frog; \u201cnever mind me. I was just\nthinking to myself that, as it fortunately happens, my Father lives\nclose by here, on this very roof, and as he is an exceedingly fierce,\nstrong man, he will certainly avenge my death if anyone injures me.\u201d\n\nThe Crow did not quite like this, and thinking it as well to be on the\nsafe side she hopped off to another corner of the roof near to where a\ngutter led away the rain water by means of a small hole in the parapet\nand a wooden spout. She paused here for a moment and was just about to\nbegin to swallow the Frog when the Frog gave another chuckle.\n\n\u201cWhat are you laughing at this time, Brother Frog?\u201d asked the Crow.\n\n\u201cOh, it\u2019s only a small matter, Sister Crow, hardly worth mentioning,\u201d\nreplied the Frog, \u201cbut it just occurred to me that my Uncle, who is\neven a stronger and fiercer man than my Father, lives in this very\ngutter, and that if anybody was to do me an injury here they would have\na very small chance of escaping from his clutches.\u201d\n\nThe Crow was somewhat alarmed at hearing this, and she thought that, on\nthe whole, it would be safer to leave the roof altogether; so again\npicking up the Frog in her bill she flew off to the ground below, and\nalighted near the edge of a well. Here she placed the Frog upon the\nground and was just about to eat him when the Frog said:\n\n\u201cOh, Sister Crow, I notice your bill seems rather blunt. Before you\nbegin to eat me don\u2019t you think it would be a good thing to sharpen it\na little. You can strop it very nicely on that flat stone over there.\u201d\n\nThe Crow, thinking this was a good idea, took two or three hops towards\nthe stone, and began sharpening her bill. As soon as she had turned her\nback the Frog gave one desperate jump, and dived into the well.\n\nAs soon as the Crow had made her bill nice and sharp she returned from\nthe stone, and looked about for the Frog. Not finding him where she had\nleft him she hopped to the edge of the well and peeped over, craning\nher head from side to side. Presently she spied the Frog in the water,\nand called out to him:\n\n\u201cOh, Brother Frog, I was afraid you were lost. My bill is quite nice\nand sharp now, so come along up and be eaten.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am so sorry, Sister Crow,\u201d replied the Frog, \u201cbut the fact is, I\ncannot get up the sides of this well. The best thing would be for you\nto come down here to eat me.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying he dived to the bottom of the well.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. IX.\n\nTHE HARE AND THE LIONS.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a Lion and a Lioness who inhabited a den\namongst some rocks on the slopes of a mountain. They were both very\nfine, well-grown animals, and they used to prey upon all the smaller\nbeasts in that part of the country; until at last they became so\npowerful that no other animal was safe from their clutches, and the\nwild beasts of the neighbourhood lived in a continual state of terror.\n\nIt chanced one day that while the Lion was hunting for something to\neat, he came across a Hare sleeping behind a boulder; and seizing the\nHare in his great paws he was just about to devour him, when the Hare\nspoke as follows:\n\n\u201cOh! Uncle Lion,\u201d said he, \u201cbefore eating me I just want to tell you\nabout another animal who lives in that pond down there in the valley.\nHe is very big and fierce, and I think he must be even stronger than\nyou are. But if you will allow me to do so I will show you where he\nlives, and if you can succeed in killing him he will make a very much\nbetter meal for you than a poor little beast like me.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Lion was very indignant.\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d said he, \u201cdo you mean to tell me that there is any animal in\nthis country stronger and more powerful than I am? Don\u2019t you know that\nI am the Lord of this district, and that I should never allow anyone\nelse to dispute the mastery with me. Show me at once where this\ncreature lives, and I will show you how I shall deal with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Uncle Lion,\u201d said the Hare, \u201clet me beg you to be careful. You\nhave no idea what a big, strong creature this is; you must on no\naccount allow yourself to be injured by fighting with him. Think what a\ngrief it would be to us all if you were to come to any harm.\u201d\n\nThis remark of the Hare\u2019s made the Lion more angry than before, and he\ninsisted that the Hare should at once lead him down and show him where\nthe other animal lived. So the Hare, after again begging him to be\ncareful of himself, preceded him down the hill until they arrived at\nthe edge of a square-built stone tank, which was nearly full of water.\n\n\u201cNow, Uncle Lion,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cif you will go to the edge of that\ntank and look down into the water you will see the animal I speak of.\u201d\n\nSo saying he moved on one side, and the Lion, stalking to the edge,\npeered down into the tank. The water was very smooth, and on the clear\nsurface he saw his own head reflected.\n\n\u201cThere he is,\u201d called out the Hare from the background; \u201cthere he is,\nUncle Lion, I can see him quite plainly in the water. You see how\nfierce he is looking; please be careful not to start fighting with\nhim.\u201d\n\nThese remarks made the Lion more angry than ever, and he moved up and\ndown on the brink of the tank, glaring fiercely at his own reflection\nin the water, and growling and showing his teeth at it.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right, Uncle Lion,\u201d called out the Hare; \u201cI am so glad you are\ntaking good care of yourself. Don\u2019t on any account come to grips with\nthat beast in the water or he might do you an injury. You are certainly\nmuch safer on the bank, and no doubt you will frighten him if you\ncontinue to growl and show your teeth.\u201d\n\nThese last observations of the Hare goaded the Lion to desperation, and\nwith a fierce roar he sprang straight at the image in the water. Once\nin the tank he was unable to get out, for its sides were built of\nmasonry, and it was impossible for him to climb them. So he swam about\nfor some time in the tank, whilst the Hare, sitting on the bank, threw\nstones at him and made nasty remarks; and finally, when quite wearied\nout, he sank to the bottom and was drowned.\n\nThe Hare was very pleased at having accomplished the destruction of the\nLion, and he now turned his attention to the Lioness. It happened that\nnear by there was a thick wall standing, which was part of the remains\nof a ruined castle; and in one portion of the wall there was a hole,\nvery large at one end and tapering down to quite a small opening at the\nother. The Hare, having studied his ground, went off next morning to\nfind the Lioness. He soon came across her stalking up and down near her\nden, very much perturbed at the disappearance of her lord and master.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Aunt Lioness,\u201d said the Hare, going up cautiously\ntowards her; \u201cwhat is the matter with you this morning? How is it I\nfind you pacing here in front of your den instead of hunting your prey\nas usual on the hillside?\u201d\n\nThe Lioness took no notice of the Hare, except to growl at him in an\nangry manner, and to lash her sides with her tail.\n\n\u201cI suppose,\u201d went on the Hare, \u201cyou are anxious about Mr. Lion, but I\nam sorry to tell you that you are not likely to see him again for some\ntime. The fact is, he and I had a little argument yesterday, in which\nwe both lost our tempers. It ended in our having a free fight, and I\nregret to say that I was obliged to injure Mr. Lion rather severely\nbefore I could make him see reason, and he is now lying in a dying\nstate in the valley below.\u201d\n\nThis impudence so enraged the Lioness that she sprang towards the Hare\nand endeavoured to seize him; but he eluded her and galloped off down\nthe hill hotly pursued by the angry beast. The Hare made straight for\nthe ruined wall, and entering the breach in the wall at the large end\nhe emerged safely at the other side by the smaller recess, which was\njust large enough for him to pass through. The Lioness, following\nclosely at his heels, was so blind with rage that she did not see that\nshe was being led into a trap; so she rushed head-foremost into the\nopening in the wall, and before she had time to stop herself was wedged\ntightly in the tapering hole. She struggled violently, trying to\nextricate herself, but all in vain.\n\nMeanwhile the Hare, having cantered round to the other side, took up\nits position in rear of the Lioness, and began pelting her with stones\nand calling her all the bad names he could think of. When he was tired\nof this he went off home very pleased with himself, and the Lioness,\nbeing unable to free herself from the trap she was in, shortly\nafterwards starved to death.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. X.\n\nTHE SHEEP, THE LAMB, THE WOLF AND THE HARE.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived an old Sheep in a low-lying valley of\nTibet, and every year she, with her Lamb, [5] were in the habit of\nleaving the valley during the early months of summer, and going up on\nto the great northern plateau, where grass is plentiful, and where many\nSheep and Goats graze throughout the summer.\n\nOne spring the Sheep, in accordance with her annual custom, set out for\nthe north, and one day, as she was strolling sedately along the path,\nwhile her little Lamb skipped about beside her, she suddenly came face\nto face with a large, fierce-looking Wolf.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Aunty Sheep,\u201d said the Wolf; \u201cwhere are you going to?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Uncle Wolf,\u201d replied the trembling Sheep, \u201cwe are doing no harm; I\nam just taking my Lamb to graze on the rich grass of the great northern\nplateau.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Wolf, \u201cI am really very sorry for you; but the fact\nis, I am hungry, and it will be necessary for me to eat you both on the\nspot.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, please, Uncle Wolf, don\u2019t do that,\u201d replied the Sheep. \u201cPlease\ndon\u2019t eat us now; but if you will wait till the autumn, when we shall\nboth be very much fatter than we are now, you can eat us with much more\nbenefit to yourself on our return journey.\u201d\n\nThe Wolf thought this was a good idea.\n\n\u201cVery well, Aunty Sheep,\u201d said he, \u201cthat is a bargain. I will spare\nyour lives now, but only on condition that you meet me at this very\nspot on your return journey from the north in the autumn.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he galloped off, and the Sheep and the Lamb continued on\ntheir way towards the north, and soon forgot all about their encounter\nwith the Wolf.\n\nAll the summer they grazed about on the succulent grass of the great\nplateau, and when autumn was approaching both were as fat as fat could\nbe, and the little Lamb had grown into a fine young Sheep.\n\nWhen the time came for returning to the south, the Sheep remembered her\nbargain with the Wolf, and every day as they drew farther and farther\nsouth she grew more and more downhearted.\n\nOne day, as they were approaching the place where they had met the\nWolf, it chanced that a Hare came hopping along the road towards them.\nThe Hare stopped to say good-morning to the Sheep, and noticing that\nshe was looking very sad, he said:\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Sister Sheep, how is it that you, who are so fat and\nhave so fine a Lamb, are looking so sad this morning?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Brother Hare,\u201d replied the Sheep, \u201cmine is a very sad story. The\nfact is that last spring, as I and my Lamb were coming up this very\nroad, we met an ugly-looking Wolf, who said he was going to eat us; but\nI begged him to spare our lives, explaining to him that we should both\nbe much larger and fatter in the autumn, and that he would get much\nbetter value from us if he waited till then. The Wolf agreed to this,\nand said that we must meet him at the same spot in the autumn. We are\nnow very near the appointed place, and I very much fear that in another\nday or two we shall both be killed by the Wolf.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the poor Sheep broke down altogether and burst into tears.\n\n\u201cDear me! dear me!\u201d replied the Hare; \u201cthis is indeed a sad story; but\ncheer up, Sister Sheep, you may leave it to me, and I think I can\nanswer for it that I know how to manage the Wolf.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the Hare made the following arrangements. He dressed himself\nup in his very best clothes, in a new robe of woollen cloth, with a\nlong ear-ring in his left ear, and a fashionable hat on his head, and\nstrapped a small saddle on to the back of the Sheep. He then prepared\ntwo small bundles, which he slung across the Lamb, and tied them on\nwith a rope. When these preparations were complete, he took a large\nsheet of paper in his hand, and, with a pen thrust behind his ear, he\nmounted upon the back of the Sheep, and the little procession started\noff down the path.\n\nSoon after, they arrived at the place where they were to meet the Wolf,\nand sure enough there was the Wolf waiting for them at the appointed\nspot.\n\nAs soon as they came within earshot of where the Wolf was standing the\nHare called out in a sharp tone of authority:\n\n\u201cWho are you, and what are you doing there?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am the Wolf,\u201d was the reply; \u201cand I have come here to eat this Sheep\nand its Lamb, in accordance with a regular arrangement. Who may you be,\npray?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Lomden, the Hare,\u201d that animal replied, \u201cand I have been deputed\nto India on a special mission by the Emperor of China. And, by the way,\nI have a commission to bring ten Wolf skins as a present to the King of\nIndia. What a fortunate thing it is that I should have met you here!\nYour skin will do for one, anyway.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the Hare produced his sheet of paper, and, taking his pen in\nhis hand, he wrote down the figure \u201c1\u201d very large.\n\nThe Wolf was so frightened on hearing this that he turned tail and fled\naway ignominiously; while the Sheep and the Lamb, after thanking the\nHare heartily for his kind offices, continued their journey safely to\ntheir own home.\n\n\n\n[This story is a satire on the assumption and arrogance of Tibetan and\nChinese officials, and the timidity and submissiveness of the Tibetan\npeasants. It illustrates how the meanest Government clerk, more\nespecially when armed with pen and paper, can strike terror into the\nheart of the boldest and strongest countryman.]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XI.\n\nTHE STORY OF HOW THE HARE MADE A FOOL OF THE WOLF.\n\n\n[This story is really the continuation of Number X., which is sometimes\ntold of \u201cthe Sheep and the Goat,\u201d instead of \u201cthe Sheep and the Lamb.\u201d\nThe first part of the story is exactly the same as Number X. They\nexperience the same adventures with the Wolf and are extricated in\nexactly the same manner by the aid of the Hare. But the end of the\nstory is different.]\n\n\n\nWhen the Wolf ran away, Da-gye the Sheep and Pen-dzong the Goat were so\nelated that they could not refrain from vaingloriously galloping after\nhim until they saw him dive hastily into his earth some distance away;\nthey then sat themselves down at the mouth of the hole and remained\nthere for some time chaffing the Wolf and telling him to hurry up and\ncome out to be skinned, whilst the foolish Wolf lay cowering and\ntrembling within.\n\nPresently the Sheep grew rather hungry and thirsty, so she went off to\neat and drink, leaving the Goat to watch the earth. After sitting for a\nshort while the Goat began rubbing his horns on a stone, and the Wolf\nhearing the grating sound squeaked out very humbly:\n\n\u201cOh! Brother Goat, what are you doing now?\u201d\n\n\u201cSharpening a knife to kill you with,\u201d replied the Goat.\n\nAnd the Wolf cowered into the furthest recesses of his den trembling\nwith fear.\n\nA few minutes later some rain began to fall, and the Wolf hearing the\nsound of the pattering raindrops called out:\n\n\u201cWhat is happening now, pray, Brother Goat?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am collecting the water to cook you in,\u201d answered the Goat gruffly.\n\nPresently the Goat began to scrape the earth with one hoof and the Wolf\nasked:\n\n\u201cWhat is that scraping noise, Brother Goat?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am preparing a fireplace to boil the water at,\u201d answered the Goat.\n\u201cIt will soon be time to finish you off.\u201d\n\nJust then the Sheep came back from grazing and said to the Goat:\n\n\u201cNow, Brother Goat, it is time for you to go and refresh yourself. I\nwill stay here and look after the Wolf while you are away.\u201d\n\nThe Goat thanked the Sheep for her offer and told her how he had been\nacting during her absence, and after advising her to behave in the same\nmanner and on no account to show any signs of fear, he went off to get\nsomething to eat and drink.\n\nWhen the Sheep found herself left alone at the mouth of the Wolf\u2019s den,\nher natural timidity asserted itself, and she began to feel very\nnervous, but in order to keep up appearances she started to rub her\nhorns against a stone, just as the Goat had advised her to do. As soon\nas he heard this noise the Wolf called out as before, asking what was\nhappening.\n\n\u201cI am sharpening a knife to kill you with,\u201d replied the Sheep, but she\nwas so nervous that the Wolf at once noticed the terrified sound of her\nvoice and began to suspect that he had been made a fool of.\n\n\u201cIs that you, Sister Sheep?\u201d said the Wolf; \u201cI thought it was Brother\nGoat.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Brother Wolf, it is me,\u201d replied the Sheep. \u201cBrother Goat has gone\naway to get himself something to eat and drink.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd are you all alone, Sister Sheep?\u201d asked the Wolf.\n\n\u201cYes, Brother Wolf,\u201d replied the Sheep.\n\nOn hearing this the Wolf dashed out of his den, and seizing hold of the\npoor Sheep he quickly slew her.\n\nThe Wolf now realised that he had been made game of by the Sheep and\nthe Goat and became very angry. So he started off to hunt for the Goat,\nvowing vengeance against him. As soon as the Goat caught sight of the\nWolf coming along in the distance he guessed what had happened, and\nfled as fast as he could across the hills with the Wolf after him. They\nsoon came to some rough, rocky ground, and here the Goat missed his\nfooting and fell into a deep, narrow cleft between two rocks, breaking\nhis leg; and the Wolf, who had not seen what had happened, jumped over\nthe crevice and pursued his way, still hunting for the Goat.\n\nFor some time the poor Goat lay helpless at the bottom of the crevice,\nwhen by chance a Fox, who happened to be passing that way, heard him\nmoaning and came to see what was wrong.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Goat,\u201d said the Fox, peering down into the\ncleft. \u201cWhat has happened to you, and why do you lie there moaning?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Brother Fox,\u201d replied the Goat, \u201cI have had a terrible misfortune.\nI am Pen-dzong the Goat, and I and my friend Da-gye the Sheep hunted a\nWolf into his lair this morning and tried to frighten him by telling\nhim that we were going to skin him; and while I was away getting myself\nsomething to drink and eat the Wolf came out of his den and killed my\npoor friend Da-gye the Sheep, and then proceeded to chase me. But I, as\nyou see, fell down into this cleft and have broken my leg. I am unable\nto move, and the Wolf jumped over the crevice as I lay here and has\ngone right away. I have one dying request to make to you, however. I\nbeg you when I am dead to strip off my skin and to hand it over to my\nyoung ones as a mat for them to lie on, and in return for this service\nyou can have my flesh for yourself.\u201d\n\nThe Fox was much affected on hearing the Goat\u2019s tale, and promised to\ndo as he asked. So when the Goat died shortly after the Fox stripped\noff his skin, and set off with it to hand it over to the Goat\u2019s young\nones. As he was going along, carrying the skin on his back, he chanced\nto come across a Hare.\n\n\u201cGood-day, Brother Fox,\u201d said the Hare. \u201cWhere are you going to, and\nwhat is that you have on your back?\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-day, Brother Hare,\u201d replied the Fox. \u201cThis is the skin of\nPen-dzong the Goat, whom I found lying in a cleft between two rocks\nwith a broken leg. He and his friend Da-gye the Sheep have both been\nkilled by a Wolf, and he begged me after his death to strip off his\nskin and to take it as a last present from him to his young ones.\u201d\n\n\u201cDear me,\u201d replied the Hare, \u201cthat no doubt must be the same Goat and\nthe same Sheep whom I rescued so recently from that very Wolf. What\nfoolish creatures they are to have got themselves into so much trouble\nafter I had freed them from all their difficulties. But, nevertheless,\nI am not going to let the Wolf get the best of me like this, and kill\nmy friends with impunity. Come along with me and we will see what we\ncan do to avenge Da-gye and Pen-dzong.\u201d\n\nThe Fox agreed to this, and he and the Hare set off together to hunt\nfor the Wolf. They travelled a long way without coming across him, but\nat length, as they were crossing a high pass they found him feeding\nupon the carcase of a dead Horse.\n\n\u201cGood-day, Uncle Wolf,\u201d called out the Hare genially. \u201cI am so glad to\nhave met you. The fact is, there is a wedding feast going on at that\nbig house over yonder, where Brother Fox and I expect to find plenty to\neat and drink. If you care to come along with us too we shall be very\nglad, and I think we can promise you some better refreshment than that\nold Horse you are devouring here. So come along and see what we can\nfind.\u201d\n\nThe Wolf was very pleased at this invitation, so he joined the Hare and\nthe Fox, and all three went off together to the big house where the\nwedding feast was being held. They studied the premises carefully\nbefore approaching too near, and they soon ascertained that the whole\nof the wedding party were busy feasting in the central room, and that\nthe larder, full of good things to eat and drink, was quite unguarded.\nSo they jumped in through a narrow window and began to enjoy themselves\nthoroughly, eating and drinking anything which took their fancy. When\nthey were as full as could be the Hare said:\n\n\u201cWhat I advise now is as follows: let us each take some provisions, as\nmuch as we can carry, and bring them with us to our own homes, so that\nwe may have something to go on with when we next feel hungry. I myself\nshall take some cheese; Brother Fox no doubt would like some cold fowl;\nand I should advise you, Brother Wolf, to carry off that jar of wine.\u201d\n\nThe Fox and the Wolf both agreed with the Hare\u2019s proposals, and they\nbegan to load themselves with the provisions they proposed to take with\nthem. The Fox and the Hare had no difficulty in making up a bundle of\ncheese and cold fowl, but the Wolf found that it would be very\ndifficult for him to carry off the jar of wine. So the Hare explained\nto him that the best plan would be for him to slip his head through the\nhandle of the jar, in which case it would be quite easy for him to drag\nthe jar along with him. So the Wolf put his head through the handle of\nthe jar, and all three made ready to start.\n\n\u201cWell now, Brother Fox and Brother Wolf,\u201d said the Hare in a genial\ntone of voice, \u201cit is nearly time for us to be off. How are you both\nfeeling? Have you had a good dinner? Are your bellies full?\u201d\n\n\u201cCouldn\u2019t be fuller,\u201d replied the Wolf, rubbing his stomach with one\npaw. \u201cI have done very well.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cas we have feasted well and feel happy\nand contented, let\u2019s have a song before starting.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly, Brother Hare,\u201d replied the Wolf. \u201cWill you begin?\u201d\n\n\u201cI would with pleasure,\u201d answered the Hare, \u201cbut really, the fact is, I\ncan\u2019t recollect a single song at this moment. Perhaps Brother Fox will\noblige us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am very sorry, Brother Hare,\u201d answered the Fox, \u201cbut I am afraid I\ndon\u2019t know any songs. I am sure Brother Wolf sings beautifully.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d joined in the Hare. \u201cPray, Brother Wolf, let us hear you sing?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, please,\u201d said the Wolf modestly, scratching his ear with one\npaw. \u201cI am a very poor singer, you really must excuse me.\u201d\n\nBut the Fox and the Hare pressed him, and presently he began to sing.\nAt the first sound of his voice the men in the next room stopped their\nfeasting, and saying to one another, \u201cThere is a Wolf in the house,\u201d\nthey rushed towards the larder.\n\nAs soon as they heard the disturbance the Hare and the Fox, carrying\ntheir provisions with them, hopped quietly out of the window and made\noff quickly for their homes. The Wolf, too, made a leap towards the\nwindow, but the great jar round his neck was too broad to go through\nthe narrow opening, and he fell back into the room below. Again he\njumped and again he fell back; and he was still jumping and falling\nwhen the people of the house rushed in and soon despatched him with\nsticks and stones.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XII.\n\nTHE MOUSE\u2019S THREE CHILDREN.\n\n\nMany years ago, in the kingdom of Nepal, there was a little Mouse, who\nlived with her husband in a snug nest not far from the King\u2019s palace.\n\nFinding that she was about to be delivered of a child, the Mouse prayed\nto the gods that her offspring might be very strong; and when the child\nwas born it appeared in the form of a young Tiger. The Tiger soon grew\nup, and one day he said to the Mouse:\n\n\u201cMother, I must now go off into the jungle and live there with my\nbrother Tigers. But if at any time you want my help, all you need do is\nto go into yonder thicket, and throw a handful of my hair into the air,\nand call my name three times.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he gave the Mouse a handful of his hair, and went off into\nthe forest.\n\nShortly afterwards the Mouse was again with child, and this time she\nprayed that her offspring might be very beautiful. When the child was\nborn, instead of a young Mouse, she found that she had given birth to a\nPeacock. The Peacock soon grew into a large and beautiful bird, and\nwhen he had reached his full growth he one day said to his mother:\n\n\u201cMother, it is now time for me to go and seek my own livelihood with my\nbrothers in the forest. But if at any time you should require my\nassistance, all you have to do is to go to the top of that hill over\nthere, and to throw a handful of my feathers into the air, and call my\nname three times.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he gave the little Mouse a handful of his feathers, and flew\naway into the jungle.\n\nPresently the Mouse found herself a third time with child, and this\ntime she prayed to the gods that her child might become wise, wealthy\nand powerful; and when the child appeared she saw that it was a young\nman child. As the Boy grew up the mother was afraid that he, too, like\nhis brothers, would want to leave his nest and go out into the world to\nlive with his fellow-men. So she told him the story of his two elder\nbrothers, and explained to him that he was a man child, and could not\nwander away into the jungle like they did, but must stay in the nest.\nThe Boy promised to do so, and every day he used to sit and play about\nat the mouth of the nest.\n\nNow it happened that in that country there lived a Mussulman, who made\nhis living as a barber and by paring people\u2019s nails. This man, who was\nvery clever at his work, was often employed in the King\u2019s palace, and\none day, as he was going to his work in the palace, he passed near to\nthe Mouse\u2019s nest. There he saw the Boy seated on the ground, and, going\nup to him, he asked him whether he would like his hair cut and his\nnails pared.\n\nThe Boy said, \u201cYes,\u201d and the Barber proceeded to cut his hair. To the\nBarber\u2019s astonishment, each hair, as it fell to the ground, immediately\nturned into diamonds, pearls, and other jewels; and when he proceeded\nto pare the Boy\u2019s nails, each paring, as it touched the ground, became\na beautiful turquoise.\n\nThe Barber then went on to the palace, and as he was cutting the King\u2019s\nhair, he told him about the miraculous child, whose hair and nails\nturned into jewels. The King, who was a greedy and unscrupulous man,\ndetermined to gain possession of so valuable a Boy, so he sent out some\nof his servants to bring the Boy up to the palace. When the Boy\narrived, he was brought before the King, and the King told him that as\nhe had been found trespassing in the royal forests, he intended to kill\nthe mother, and to keep the Boy as a slave, unless the Boy could\nfurnish him at once with four full-grown Tigers to guard the four gates\nof the palace, in which case he would marry the Boy to his daughter and\nwould give him half his kingdom.\n\nThe poor Boy went in great grief to Mother Mouse, and related to her\nthe whole of his interview with the King. The Mouse told him not to vex\nhimself, and she gave him a handful of Tiger\u2019s hair and sent him out\ninto the jungle with full directions as to what he should do.\n\nThe Boy went off into the heart of a dense thicket in the jungle, and\nthrowing the Tiger\u2019s hair into the air, he called out at the same time:\n\n\u201cBrother Tiger! Brother Tiger! Brother Tiger!\u201d\n\nScarcely had the words left his lips when he heard a low, deep growl\njust beside him, and a great Tiger stalked out of the thicket, licking\nhis chops.\n\n\u201cHere I am, Brother,\u201d said the Tiger. \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Brother Tiger,\u201d said the Boy, \u201cthe King has said that if I do not\nimmediately provide him with four full-grown Tigers to guard the four\ngates of his palace he will kill our mother and make me a slave.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Tiger laughed aloud.\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d said he. \u201cThat is easily arranged. I can get you a\nhundred Tigers.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he opened his mouth, and gave forth a series of fearful\nroars; and in a few minutes the whole jungle seemed to be full of\nTigers, hastening up from all directions. When they were all ready, the\nfirst Tiger told his brother to mount upon his back, and so, with the\nBoy leading the way, and the other Tigers following in procession, they\nall went off in a body to the King\u2019s palace.\n\nAs they approached the palace great consternation arose; servants ran\nhither and thither, and the guards were called to arms. And when the\nKing was told what was happening he was greatly alarmed himself, but he\nseated himself on his throne, and gave orders for the Boy and the\nTigers to be admitted.\n\nThe Boy rode in on the Tiger\u2019s back to the royal presence, followed by\nall the other Tigers; and halting a few steps from the throne he said:\n\n\u201cHere, oh King! are a number of the best Tigers I could find in the\nforest. You can take your pick of any four you like.\u201d\n\nThe King was very much astonished at this, and having selected four of\nthe finest Tigers, he allowed the others to go away. But he still\nhankered after the jewels, and in a few days\u2019 time he again summoned\nthe Boy before him, and told him that unless he at once furnished four\nPeacocks to sit one on each of the four golden pinnacles of his palace\nroof, he should kill his mother and keep the Boy as a slave.\n\nThe poor Boy was very down-hearted on hearing this, and went sadly back\nto his mother with the news; but the little Mouse told him that it was\nall right, and giving him a handful of Peacock\u2019s feathers, she\ninstructed him how to proceed. So the Boy went off to the top of a high\nhill, and, throwing the feathers into the air, he called aloud:\n\n\u201cBrother Peacock! Brother Peacock! Brother Peacock!\u201d\n\nImmediately a fluttering sound was heard, and a magnificent Peacock\ndropped to the ground in front of him from the branch of a neighbouring\ntree.\n\n\u201cHere I am, Brother,\u201d said the Peacock. \u201cWhat do you want with me?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Brother Peacock,\u201d said the Boy, \u201cthe King says that if I cannot at\nonce provide him with four Peacocks to sit on the four golden pinnacles\nof his palace, he will kill our mother and make me a slave.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d said the Peacock, \u201cwe can easily arrange that.\u201d\n\nSo he fluttered back to the top of a high tree, and called the loud,\nshrill call of the Peacocks.\n\nIn a few moments the air was bright with numbers of fine Peacocks\nflying in from all directions.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the first Peacock, \u201ccome along to the palace.\u201d\n\nSo saying, four of the strongest Peacocks seized the Boy in their\nclaws, and they all flew together over the tops of the trees to the\nKing\u2019s palace.\n\nWhen the courtiers saw the Peacocks coming, they ran to tell the King,\nand the King seated himself upon his throne in the courtyard all ready\nto receive them.\n\nThe Peacocks placed the Boy upon the ground in front of the King\u2019s\nthrone, and arranged themselves in rows behind him, with their tails\nspread.\n\n\u201cHere, oh King!\u201d said the Boy, \u201care all the finest Peacocks I could\nfind in the forest. You can have your pick of any four of them.\u201d\n\nThe King was greatly astonished at what had happened, but he selected\nthe four best Peacocks, and sent away the rest.\n\nBut the King still hankered in his heart after the jewels. So, a few\ndays later, he sent for the Boy again, and he told him that unless his\nMother Mouse could fight single-handed with the King\u2019s state Elephant\nand destroy it, he would kill the mother and make the Boy a slave.\n\nThe Boy was greatly distressed on hearing this, for he did not think it\npossible that the little Mouse could compete successfully with the\nKing\u2019s great Elephant; so he went home very sadly and told his mother\nthe whole story. But the Mouse told him he was not to be alarmed, and\nshe directed him to smear her body all over with poison, and to tie a\nlong string to her tail. As soon as she was ready the Boy placed her in\nthe sleeve of his coat, and carried her along to the palace.\n\nIn the courtyard of the palace everything had been made ready for the\nfight. Seats had been prepared behind a barrier for the King and his\nnobles, whilst the roofs and the windows were crowded with hundreds of\npeople who had come to see the show. At one end of the enclosure the\nKing\u2019s great tusker stood ready, still chained by the leg; and the Boy,\nwith the Mouse in his sleeve, took up his stand at the other end of the\narena, face to face with the angry Elephant.\n\nAt a given signal the Elephant\u2019s chain was loosed, and with a bellow of\nrage he rushed towards where the Boy was standing. As he came on,\nholding his trunk high in the air, the little Mouse jumped to the\nground and ran to meet him. The Elephant caught sight of this small\nobject, and stopped for a moment to see what it was, and the Mouse\nhopped on to his foot. The Elephant at once put down his trunk to feel\nwhat was there, and in a twinkling the Mouse jumped into the open end\nof the trunk, and scuttled up it as fast as she could till she reached\nthe head. She soon found herself inside the Elephant\u2019s brain, and there\nshe ran round and round, smearing poison all over the brain of the\ngreat beast.\n\nThe Elephant, not knowing what had happened, rushed round the arena,\nbellowing with rage and pain, and smashing everything within reach of\nhis trunk. But presently, the poison taking effect, he fell to the\nground stone dead, and the Boy, pulling the string which was attached\nto the Mouse\u2019s tail, guided her out of the Elephant\u2019s trunk till she\nreached the open air.\n\nThe King could no longer hesitate to fulfil his promise to the Boy, so\nhe gave him his daughter in marriage, and presented him with half his\nkingdom. And on the King\u2019s death the Boy succeeded to the kingdom, and\nhe and his mother lived happily ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XIII.\n\nTHE JACKALS AND THE TIGER.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a family of Jackals, consisting of a Father,\nMother, and five young ones. After living for some time very\ncomfortably near a large village, they found that the dogs of the\nvillage were becoming so numerous and so troublesome that they\nconsidered it necessary to change their place of abode. So one fine\nevening they started off and travelled away across the country, keeping\na sharp look-out for some desirable spot in which they might settle\ndown.\n\nAfter a while they came to the edge of a forest, and having travelled\nfor some little distance into the thickest part of the wood, they\narrived all of a sudden at a Tiger\u2019s den. The young Jackals were a good\ndeal frightened at the smell of the Tiger\u2019s den, but Father Jackal\nreassured them, and said that he thoroughly understood Tigers, and knew\nhow to deal with them. So he went forward alone, and, peeping in, he\nfound that the Tiger was out, but that he had left a large quantity of\ndeer\u2019s flesh lying in one corner, which apparently he had not had time\nto consume. So he called Mrs. Jackal and the children, and told them to\ngo inside and to have a good feed, and to make themselves quite\ncomfortable. After making a good meal himself off the deer\u2019s flesh, he\nsaid to Mrs. Jackal:\n\n\u201cYou and the children can now go to sleep; I shall go on to the roof of\nthe den and keep a look-out for the Tiger. When I see him coming I\nshall rap on the roof, and you must at once wake up the children and\nmake them begin to cry, and when I ask you what they are crying about,\nyou must say that they are getting impatient for their supper.\u201d\n\nAccordingly Mr. Jackal went up on the roof, while his family settled\ndown to sleep in the snuggest corner of the Tiger\u2019s den. Shortly after\nFather Jackal heard a slight crackling amongst the dry leaves of the\nforest; and in the dim morning light he discerned the form of a great\nTiger approaching his den through the tree-stems.\n\nAccording to the arrangement he had made, he rapped with a loose stone\nupon the roof of the den, and Mrs. Jackal immediately woke up the young\nJackals and made them cry.\n\n\u201cWhat are those children crying about?\u201d called out Father Jackal.\n\n\u201cThey are very hungry, and getting impatient for their supper,\u201d was the\nreply.\n\n\u201cTell them they won\u2019t have long to wait now,\u201d said Father Jackal; \u201cthe\nTiger will probably be home very soon, and we shall all be eating hot\nTiger\u2019s meat before long.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Tiger was very much alarmed, and thought to\nhimself:\n\n\u201cWhat kind of strange animal can this be which has entered my den, and\nis waiting to cook and eat me on my return; it must certainly be a very\nfierce and terrible creature.\u201d\n\nSo without waiting to investigate the matter any further, he turned\ntail and ran off as fast as he could through the forest. After running\nsome way, he came across an old Baboon, with a great fringe of white\nhair all round his face.\n\n\u201cWhere are you running to, Uncle Tiger?\u201d asked the Baboon.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Tiger, \u201cthe fact is, that a family of strange animals,\nwho call themselves Jackals, are at this moment in occupation of my\nden. As I was approaching my den, after a long night\u2019s hunting, one of\nthe creatures was actually sitting on the roof, looking out for me, and\nas I got close up I heard him tell his young ones that they were to\nhave hot Tiger\u2019s meat for supper. Fortunately for me, he hadn\u2019t seen\nme, so I thought the best thing I could do was to make off as fast as I\ncould, in order to avoid being eaten.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Baboon was very much amused, and set to work to\nlaugh very heartily.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat a foolish Tiger you are! Have you never heard of\na Jackal before? Don\u2019t you know that it is you should eat the Jackals,\nand not the Jackals you? You come along with me, and I will soon show\nyou how to deal with people like that.\u201d\n\nThe Tiger was somewhat reassured on hearing what the Baboon had to say,\nbut, even so, he was at first very reluctant to return again and to\nincur the danger of being eaten; but the Monkey encouraged him, and\nfinally they set off together, the Monkey twisting his tail round the\nTiger\u2019s, in order to give him a feeling of support and confidence.\n\nAs they came nearer to the den, the Tiger grew more and more timorous,\nand would only advance very slowly, ready to take flight at any moment.\nHowever, they went on together, tail-in-tail, until presently Father\nJackal on the roof of the den caught sight of the pair, and called out:\n\n\u201cThat is right, Brother Monkey, bring him along quickly; we are all\nhalf starved. But what do you mean by only bringing one of them? I had\nexpected you would bring us at least two or three.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this, the Tiger at once suspected that the Baboon was in the\nJackal\u2019s employ, and that he was being led into a trap. Without a\nmoment\u2019s hesitation he turned about and fled precipitately into the\ndepths of the forest. The unfortunate Baboon, whose tail was tightly\ntwisted round the Tiger\u2019s, was unable to free himself, and was dragged\nand bumped hither and thither in the Tiger\u2019s rush through the thickest\nand thorniest parts of the jungle. When at length the Tiger paused,\nmany miles away, to take breath, he looked back at his flanks, and all\nhe saw of the Monkey was a bit of its tail which had broken off and was\nstill twisted round his own.\n\nHe never again returned to his den, which was occupied henceforth by\nthe Jackals, who lived there for many years in peace and comfort.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XIV.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE THREE THIEVES.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived within the dominions of the Emperor of\nChina three very clever Thieves. These men, owing to their skill and\ncunning, were quite at the head of their profession, and by sleight of\nhand and dexterity were able to accomplish feats of trickery which the\nordinary thieves could not emulate. The first was so clever that he was\nable to withdraw eggs from under a sitting hen without in any way\ndisturbing her, and without her being aware that the theft had been\naccomplished. The second was able to cut the soles off a man\u2019s boots as\nhe walked along the road without the victim knowing that he had been\nrobbed. And the third was able to eat his fill off a man\u2019s plate during\ndinner without the man who was robbed, or his friend opposite, being\nable to detect where the victuals had gone to.\n\nNow it happened one day that these three Thieves met together in a\ncountry inn, and entering into conversation with one another, began to\nexchange confidences.\n\n\u201cMay I ask what you do for a living?\u201d asked the first Thief of the\nsecond.\n\n\u201cOh, I am a Thief,\u201d answered the man who was addressed.\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d replied the other men, \u201cwe also are Thieves. Can you tell\nus, please, if there is any particular line in which you excel?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the second Thief; \u201cI am able to cut the soles off a man\u2019s\nboots as he walks across the road without his being aware of what has\nhappened. What can you two do, pray?\u201d\n\n\u201cI,\u201d replied the first Thief, \u201ccan withdraw the eggs from under a\nsitting hen without disturbing her.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I,\u201d said the third, \u201ccan steal another man\u2019s dinner from off his\nplate, and eat my fill as he sits at table, without the victim, or the\nman sitting opposite, being able to detect me.\u201d\n\nSo the three Thieves, having struck up a friendship on the ground of\ntheir unusual skill, set off together to the court of the Emperor of\nChina, in order to see whether they could not succeed in making their\nfortunes there.\n\nOn arriving at the court they consulted together and came to the\nconclusion that in order to make any headway in China it was necessary\nto attract the attention of the Emperor. So they agreed to separate for\ntwenty-four hours, and to meet next day in the courtyard of the palace,\neach bringing some gift to the Emperor which would please him, and\nprove to him that they were men of no usual calibre. Accordingly, they\nparted in different directions, and the following day at noon, they met\ntogether in the courtyard of the palace, and each one proceeded to\nrelate his adventures during the preceding twenty-four hours.\n\n\u201cAs soon as I left you yesterday,\u201d began the first Thief, \u201cI went into\nthe royal farm adjoining the palace, and there I found one of the\nEmperor\u2019s pea-hens sitting upon her nest, and hatching a clutch of\neggs, which was calculated to produce a breed of the very finest\npeacocks. By the Emperor\u2019s orders this nest was watched by an attendant\nnight and day, in order that no one should interfere with the eggs, and\nthe pea-hen herself was so cross that she would not allow anyone to\napproach her except the man who fed her. But such obstacles as these\nwere nothing to me, and I had no difficulty in evading the watchers and\nabstracting the eggs from under the hen, without even disturbing her,\nor her being aware of the loss. Now here they are in my wallet, and\nwhen the loss is discovered presently, as it is sure to be, and a\nreward offered for their discovery, I propose to present them to the\nEmperor.\u201d\n\nThe other two Thieves applauded their comrade for his skill and\ningenuity, and the second Thief then proceeded to relate his story as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cWhen we separated yesterday, I at once entered the Emperor\u2019s\nantechamber, and mingled with the nobles and officials who were\nawaiting an audience with His Majesty, and amongst the others I soon\nnoticed the Prime Minister. He was a very stout man, dressed in his\nfinest robes, and with a new pair of boots on his feet. As he passed to\nand fro in the crowd, I succeeded in cutting the soles off his new\nboots without his having any idea of what had happened. Shortly\nafterwards he was summoned to the Emperor\u2019s presence, and when he knelt\ndown to kow-tow before His Majesty, it was observed that he had no\nsoles to his boots. The Emperor, thinking that the Minister had\ncommitted this serious breach of etiquette on purpose, fell into a\nviolent passion, and ordered him to be imprisoned at once. It was no\nuse for the wretched man to protest his innocence or to plead for\nmercy. The Emperor\u2019s orders are that, unless a satisfactory explanation\nis given to him before six o\u2019clock this evening and the missing soles\nproduced, the Minister is to be beheaded. Here are the soles of the\nPrime Minister\u2019s boots in my wallet, and I propose to present them to\nHis Majesty this afternoon during his public audience. I shall thus\nearn the gratitude of the Prime Minister and appease the wrath of the\nEmperor.\u201d\n\nThe other two Thieves, on hearing this story, congratulated their\ncomrade on his successful man\u0153uvre, and the third Thief proceeded to\nrelate his adventures as follows:\n\n\u201cWhen we parted yesterday,\u201d said he, \u201cI entered the palace, and after\nwandering about for some time I found myself in the chamber where the\nEmperor\u2019s dinner was being prepared, and where all the chief officials\nof the palace were assembled to superintend the arrangements for the\nroyal meal. There were the Head Chamberlain and the Under Chamberlains,\nthe Head Usher and the Under Ushers, the Head Waiter and the Under\nWaiters, and many other officials of minor degree. I mingled with the\nservants, who were standing about, without attracting any attention,\nand remained in the room until the Emperor himself entered and seated\nhimself with great ceremony to partake of his mid-day meal. The Chief\nCook and the Chief Chamberlain placed themselves in front of the\nEmperor, in order to see that the service of his food was properly\nconducted, whilst the other high officials took their stand on either\nside of his chair and assisted in bringing in the dishes. In spite of\nall these precautions, however, I was able by my skill to take the food\nfrom each dish as it was placed upon the table, before the Emperor had\ntime to partake of more than a very few mouthfuls. As the meal\nproceeded the Emperor grew more and more annoyed, and complained of the\ninsufficiency of the food which had been prepared for him. Such a thing\nas this had never occurred before in the palace. The Head Cook and all\nthe Under Cooks, the Head Chamberlain and all the Under Chamberlains,\nthe Head Usher and all the Under Ushers, and all the officials of lower\ndegree, were thrown into a dreadful state of confusion and alarm at the\nevent. They rushed hither and thither, between the kitchens and\ndining-halls, upbraiding the scullions and other domestics for their\ncarelessness, and preparing the most elaborate and copious dishes for\nthe Emperor\u2019s table. But after some time the Emperor, wearied by the\nconfusion, and unable, in spite of everything, to make a satisfactory\nmeal, gave orders that the whole of the Cooks and other attendants\nresponsible for his table-service should be imprisoned, and that unless\na satisfactory explanation of their negligence could be given before\nthis evening they should be beheaded. I have here, in my wallet, the\nwhole of the viands which yesterday were placed before the Emperor for\nhis consumption, and I propose at the audience to present them to him,\nand inform him what really happened. He will undoubtedly pardon me when\nhe hears the story, and I shall earn the undying gratitude of all the\ndisgraced officials by procuring their release.\u201d\n\nThe other two Thieves, on hearing this story, congratulated their\ncomrade warmly upon his daring and success, and the three entered the\nEmperor\u2019s antechamber together, and awaited the time for public\naudience.\n\nA few minutes later the great doors leading to the audience chamber\nwere thrown open, and a herald appearing upon the threshold proclaimed\n\u201cSilence.\u201d He then gave notice that, on the previous day, the eggs had\nall been stolen from under the Emperor\u2019s favourite pea-hen, and that\nany person who could find the eggs or give any information concerning\ntheir loss should receive a reward; secondly, that for a breach of\netiquette the Prime Minister had been imprisoned, and that unless he\ncould explain his offence before six o\u2019clock that evening he was to be\nbeheaded, and that any person who could offer assistance in the matter\nwould be well paid and otherwise rewarded by the Emperor; thirdly, that\nowing to bad attendance during the Emperor\u2019s repast the previous day,\nall the domestic officials of the palace had been imprisoned, and would\nbe beheaded at six o\u2019clock that evening unless they could give a\nsatisfactory explanation; and that any person who could assist in the\nmatter would be well rewarded for his pains.\n\nSo saying the Herald retired, and the public audience began. When the\nthree Thieves were admitted to the Emperor\u2019s presence, they went in\ntogether and made a simultaneous obeisance before the Emperor\u2019s throne.\n\n\u201cWho are you three men?\u201d asked the Emperor, \u201cand what do you want from\nme?\u201d\n\n\u201cMay it please Your Majesty,\u201d replied the first Thief, \u201cI have ventured\nto bring a small gift for you.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying he took from his wallet the pea-hen\u2019s eggs, and laid them\non the throne.\n\nWhen the Emperor heard that these were his pea-hen\u2019s eggs he was very\nmuch pleased, and gave orders that they should at once be taken back to\nthe nest, and the hatching continued; and telling the first Thief to\nstand back, he enquired of the second what he wished to say.\n\n\u201cMay it please Your Majesty,\u201d replied the second Thief, \u201cI also have a\nsmall gift to make to you.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying he took the soles of the Prime Minister\u2019s boots out of\nhis wallet and laid them on the steps of the throne.\n\nWhen the Emperor found that these were the soles of his Prime\nMinister\u2019s boots, and how they had been removed, he was very much\namused, and laughed heartily. He at once sent orders for his Prime\nMinister to be released, and handed over to him the soles of his boots,\nand told him to watch them more carefully for the future. The Prime\nMinister was delighted at being reinstated in the royal favour, and\nexpressed his gratitude to the Thief for his services in the matter.\n\nWhen the third Thief was asked what he had to say he replied:\n\n\u201cI, too, have a small gift for Your Majesty.\u201d\n\nAnd so saying he produced a plate from his wallet, and laid upon it the\nvarious viands which had been cooked for the Emperor\u2019s dinner the\nprevious day.\n\nWhen the Emperor understood that this was the dinner which had been\nprepared for him, and which he ought to have eaten, he was greatly\nastonished; but seeing that it was no fault of his Cooks, Chamberlains,\nor other servants, he ordered them all to be released, and to resume\ntheir former functions.\n\nHaving issued these various commands, the Emperor again summoned the\nthree Thieves before him, and addressed them as follows:\n\n\u201cAlthough,\u201d said he, \u201cI am very pleased at finding such a satisfactory\nexplanation for the disappearance of the eggs, the misdemeanour of my\nPrime Minister, and the insufficiency of my dinner, I cannot overlook\nthe fact that you three men have behaved in a very unusual manner. So\nbefore rewarding you in accordance with my promise, I desire to put\nyour skill to a further test. If you succeed in this trial to my\nsatisfaction you shall all three be well rewarded, and receive rank and\nlands in my country; but if you fail, you must take the consequences of\nyour rashness, and you shall all three be put to death.\u201d\n\nWhen the three Thieves heard these words they were greatly frightened,\nand bowing down before the Emperor they awaited his commands.\n\n\u201cThe test which I have in store for you,\u201d continued the Emperor, \u201cis as\nfollows: you must know that in my Treasury I have a great number of\njewels and precious objects of all kinds; and the Treasury is enclosed\nwithin a treble wall ten fathoms in height, closed by iron gates, and\nis guarded night and day by companies of my most faithful soldiers. If\nyou can produce, before six o\u2019clock to-morrow evening, three of the\npearls from my Treasury, you shall be pardoned and rewarded; but if you\nfail to do so, you shall all three be put to death.\u201d\n\nOn hearing these words the three thieves consulted together for a few\nmoments, and replied as follows:\n\n\u201cWe will do our best to carry out Your Majesty\u2019s commands and to\nsucceed in this test which you have given us, but we would call your\nroyal attention to one matter; it is this: supposing we produce before\nto-morrow evening three pearls as you command, how shall we be able to\nsatisfy you that they come from the Royal Treasury? All pearls look\nvery much alike, and it would be impossible for us to prove to you\nwhence they came. We would, therefore, venture to suggest that, before\nputting us to this test, you should have a complete enumeration made of\nall the jewels in your Treasury; then, when we produce the three pearls\nin question, it will be easy to ascertain whether there are in the\nTreasury three pearls less than there were when the enumeration was\nmade.\u201d\n\nThe Emperor, seeing that this was a reasonable request, agreed to act\nas the Thieves had suggested. So summoning his Treasurer before him, he\ngave orders that a complete enumeration of all the jewels and other\nprecious objects in his Treasury should be made before nightfall that\nevening; and having issued his commands he dismissed the audience.\n\nThe Chief Treasurer was much perturbed on receiving these orders, for\nowing to the enormous quantity of jewels and other objects in the\nTreasury, he foresaw that it would be a difficult matter to have the\nenumeration complete before evening. The only way in which it could be\ndone was to call in the assistance of all the officials of the palace,\nand having allotted a section of the Treasure Chamber to each, to order\nthem to make a complete inventory each of his own part. Accordingly, he\ncalled together all the officials of the palace to the number of many\nhundreds, and they proceeded in a body to the Royal Treasury. The three\nThieves, who had anticipated this action on the part of the Treasurer,\nmeanwhile dressed themselves up in the complete robes which are proper\nfor a palace official, and mingling unnoticed in the crowd, they\nfollowed the Treasurer to the gates of the Royal Treasury. By the\nTreasurer\u2019s orders, the gates were at once thrown open, and the\nofficials, entering the treasury, began the enumeration. The three\nthieves, in common with the rest, were allotted each a section of the\nTreasury Chamber, of which they were to make a complete inventory, and\nwhilst so employed they had no difficulty in each one secreting a large\npearl after first placing it upon their list. By nightfall the\nenumeration was complete, the lists were all handed over to the Chief\nTreasurer, and the Treasury was left locked and guarded as before.\n\nNext day, at six o\u2019clock, the Emperor seated himself in his Hall of\nAudience, and summoned the three Thieves before him.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201chave you been able to fulfil the conditions which I\nset you? If you can now produce three pearls from my Treasury, you\nshall be rewarded in accordance with my promise; but if you are unable\nto do so, you shall all three be put to death.\u201d\n\nThe Thieves bowed themselves humbly before the Emperor, and without\nmaking any reply each one produced a pearl and laid it on the steps of\nthe throne. When the Emperor saw these pearls he was much astonished;\nbut in order to make certain that they came from his own Treasury, he\nsummoned his Chief Treasurer before him, and ordered him to compare the\njewels in the Treasury with the inventory which had been made on the\nprevious evening. The Treasurer hurried off to do so, and after a short\nwhile he reappeared, and informed the Emperor that, having carefully\ncounted all the jewels, and having compared the numbers in the Treasury\nwith the numbers on the inventory, he found that three pearls were\nindeed missing.\n\nOn hearing this the Emperor no longer hesitated in fulfilling his\npromise to the three Thieves. He raised them at once to high rank, and\npresented them with lands and money sufficient to uphold their new\nstatus, and they lived happily ever afterwards, enjoying the confidence\nof the Emperor and the friendship of the numerous officials whom they\nhad saved from imprisonment and death.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XV.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE BOY WITH THE DEFORMED HEAD.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a poor man and his wife who had only one\nchild, and this Boy, as it happened, was born with a deformed head,\nwhich projected in front and behind, and gave him a very ugly\nappearance. The parents, although much grieved at their son\u2019s\ndeformity, were, nevertheless, very fond of him and brought him up very\ncarefully. Every day, when he grew big enough, he used to drive the\ncows out to pasture, and all day long he sat about on the hillsides\nwatching the cattle graze. And so he passed his life very happily\nuntil, when he reached the age of fifteen, he began to think he should\nlike to marry a wife as other young men did, but he feared that owing\nto his deformity no girl would ever look at him.\n\nOne day it chanced that he drove his cows to graze on the rich pasture\non the edge of a small lake, and as he was sitting near the shore of\nthe lake all of a sudden he saw a large white Drake descend from the\nsky, and light upon the surface of the water. As soon as it was seated\nupon the water it swam round the lake three times to the right and then\nthree times to the left, and having done so it flew away again and\ndisappeared into the sky.\n\nThe Boy watched the behaviour of this Drake with some interest. He had\nnever before seen so large and beautiful a bird, nor one that behaved\nso strangely. So next day he again sat down in the same place, and kept\na sharp look-out for the bird. At the same hour as on the previous day\nthe Drake again appeared in the sky, and descending upon the lake,\nacted in precisely the same manner as before. And it continued to do so\nfor several days, the Boy always watching its behaviour with increased\ninterest.\n\nAt last he determined that he would try to catch this Drake for\nhimself, so he wove himself a long rope of yaks\u2019 hair, big enough to\ncompletely encircle the lake, and he laid this upon the shore in a loop\nextending right round the lake; and at short intervals along the rope\nhe fastened loops made of the finest horse hair, the loose ends of\nwhich he left floating in the water.\n\nNext day the Drake came as usual and began to swim round the lake to\nthe right. It had not gone very far when it put its foot into one of\nthe loops and was caught. The Boy at once ran down to the shore of the\nlake, and taking the Drake in his hands, he tied its wings and legs\ntogether, and set it down on the grass beside him.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d thought he to himself, \u201cwhat shall I do with this fine white\nDrake? I will take him home and kill him, and he will make a nice\ndinner for father and mother and me.\u201d\n\nJust as he was thinking this, to his intense surprise, the Drake spoke\nto him as follows:\n\n\u201cI beg of you not to kill me, my good boy,\u201d said he, \u201cfor you must know\nI am not in reality a Drake as I appear to be, but I am a fairy King\njust come from the region of the gods. It is my habit every day to\ndescend to this lake in the form of a white Drake, and to amuse myself\nby swimming round and round. If you will now consent to let me go I\nwill reward you liberally. You shall have gold and silver and jewels\nand coral, as much as you wish, and sumptuous food every day for the\nrest of your life.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Boy laughed, and replied:\n\n\u201cYou should not tell me such stories as these. How am I to know that\nyou are really a fairy? It seems to me that all you are in a position\nto give me is your feathers.\u201d\n\n\u201cI hope you will not disbelieve my word,\u201d replied the Drake very\nearnestly; \u201cI assure you I can do all this, and even more, if you will\nrelease me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Boy, \u201cif that is really so I will make a bargain with\nyou. I do not care at all for your gold or your jewels, but what I\nreally want is a wife. If you can promise to supply me with a wife I\nwill let you go.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Drake, \u201cthat, too, can be arranged. I have three\ndaughters living in my kingdom in the skies, and I will give you as\nwife any one of them whom you desire. Would you prefer the eldest, or\nthe youngest, or the middle one?\u201d\n\nThe Boy was greatly pleased on hearing this offer of the Drake\u2019s, and\nhe thought to himself:\n\n\u201cI will not take the eldest girl, for fear she should be too old, nor\nthe youngest, for fear she should be too young. I will select the\nmiddle one.\u201d\n\nSo he told the Drake that he would like his middle daughter.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Drake, \u201cI will arrange the matter accordingly,\nand I will meet you here to-morrow with my middle daughter. But there\nis one condition which always attaches to the marriage of a mortal with\na fairy, and that is that she can only live with you for nine years. At\nthe conclusion of that time she is bound to return to her home in the\nheavens.\u201d\n\nThe Boy agreed to this condition, and when all the details had been\nsatisfactorily arranged he cut the cords which bound the Drake and let\nhim go. The bird spread his wings and flew up into the sky; and after\ncircling for a few minutes he flew straight upwards and disappeared\nfrom sight, whilst the Boy went home to his father and mother.\n\nThe Drake flew far up into the blue sky until he arrived at the country\nof the gods, where he changed at once into the form and raiment of the\nKing of the Fairies. Seating himself upon his throne, he summoned his\nthree daughters before him and informed them of what had occurred; and\nhe gave orders to his middle daughter to prepare herself forthwith to\ngo and marry a mortal. The girl wept bitterly on hearing this, but\nnevertheless she prepared to carry out her father\u2019s orders, and got\nready a large stock of beautiful clothes and much gold and silver and\njewels to take with her.\n\nNext day, at the appointed hour, the Boy went down to the lake as\nusual, and seated himself in his usual place; and not long afterwards\nhe saw the white Drake and a white Duck flying towards him from the\nsky. They descended swiftly until they touched the ground, where they\nwere at once transformed into the Fairy King and his beautiful\ndaughter. The boy was overcome with joy when he saw the lovely wife\nthat had been brought to him; but the girl was horrified at his ugly\nappearance, and begged her father to take her back to her abode in the\nskies. The Fairy King, however, insisted upon her carrying out her\nshare of the bargain, so leaving his daughter with the Boy, he again\nturned himself into a Drake and, flying up into the sky, he disappeared\nfrom view.\n\nThe Boy now led his bride home to his father and mother, and next day\nthe marriage was duly completed. The Fairy wife, by means of her magic,\nwas able to erect a magnificent palace, and to furnish it in the most\nluxurious manner with everything necessary for comfort; and she\nsupplied, moreover, horses and servants, and everything else that a\nmarried couple could desire. So the two took up their abode in this\nfine house and, together with the old father and mother, they lived\nthere happily for several years; and as time passed away the fairy wife\nbecame accustomed to her husband\u2019s forbidding appearance, and year by\nyear became more and more attached to him.\n\nSo the time slipped by and at last the nine years of the Fairy wife\u2019s\nabode upon earth came to an end. The young Man, however, had become so\naccustomed to her presence that he could hardly believe that the Fairy\nKing\u2019s words would come true and that he should really be deprived of\nhis wife when the appointed time arrived. So on the last night of the\nninth year he went to bed as usual in his magnificent chamber, clothed\nin rich silks, and surrounded by all the evidences of wealth and\nluxury.\n\nHe slept soundly all night, and when he awoke in the morning and sat up\nand looked about him, what was his astonishment and horror to discover\nthat, instead of lying upon his fine couch in his magnificent palace,\nwith troops of servants ready to wait upon him, he was reposing upon\nthe bare ground under the open sky, on a bleak hillside near to the\nspot where he had first conversed with the Fairy King. His palace, his\nservants, his horses, his furniture, and, worst of all, his beautiful\nwife, had all disappeared utterly and completely, and nothing remained\nof them but a memory. Half distracted with grief and chagrin, the young\nMan ran frantically across the country, thinking to find some trace of\nhis lost happiness.\n\nFor some days he wandered on and on, scarcely conscious of what he was\ndoing, and at length, having passed beyond the part of the country\nwhich he knew, he arrived one day about noon on the shores of a vast\nexpanse of water which stretched before him as far as he could see. By\nthe side of this lake there arose a jagged cliff, and about half-way up\nthe cliff on a broad ledge he noticed an immense nest, in which\nappeared some young birds of unusual size. At first he was unable to\ndetect what sort of birds these were, but after examining them\nattentively for some time he saw that they were three young Gryphons,\nwhose parents apparently had gone off in search of food.\n\nAs he stood upon the beach watching the young birds they suddenly began\nto manifest every sign of terror and confusion, chattering and\nsquealing wildly to one another, and flapping their puny wings; and on\nturning towards the lake in order to ascertain what was the cause of\ntheir alarm, he perceived an immense Dragon\u2014whose head, at the end of\nits long neck, towered high above the water\u2014making its way rapidly\nacross the lake, with the evident intention of devouring the young\nGryphons. The young Man, who was of a courageous and kindly\ndisposition, determined to save the young Gryphons from the maw of this\nmonster; so, drawing his sword, he waited till the Dragon had set foot\nupon dry land, and then, attacking him fiercely, he engaged\nsingle-handed in a desperate conflict. For some time the issue was\ndoubtful, but the young man at length succeeded with one well-delivered\nblow in severing the Dragon\u2019s head from its neck, and the monster fell\ndead upon the beach.\n\nScarcely had the Dragon breathed its last when the air was darkened by\nthe wings of some great creature passing overhead, and, looking up, he\nobserved, flying just above him, the forms of the two parent Gryphons\nnow returning to their nest. As soon as they had arrived the young\nGryphons proceeded to relate to them at full length the terrible danger\nthey had just escaped, and the gallant conduct of the young Man in\nslaying their would-be destroyer. The parent Gryphons were very pleased\nwhen they heard this story, and, looking towards the young Man with\nsome curiosity, they began to remark upon his appearance.\n\n\u201cHave you ever, Mother Gryphon,\u201d asked the male bird, \u201cseen any\ncreature of that description before?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Father Gryphon, I never have,\u201d she replied; \u201cbut it seems to be\nboth brave and well-intentioned. I observe, moreover, that it has\nneither beak nor claws, so I propose that we invite it into the nest,\nand receive it hospitably in return for a good service which it has\nrendered to our children.\u201d\n\nFather Gryphon agreed to this proposal, and he at once flew down to the\nbeach, and addressing the young Man he invited him to enter the nest.\nThe youth accepted the invitation, and having explained that he was\nunable to fly, he mounted upon the Gryphon\u2019s back and was speedily\ncarried up the cliff, and deposited with the young Gryphons in the\nnest. After making a good dinner off the food which the parent Gryphons\nhad just provided for their young ones, the young Man related to the\nfamily all his various adventures since the time when he had first made\nthe acquaintance of the Fairy King.\n\n\u201cYours,\u201d said Father Gryphon, \u201cis a very sad story, and in my opinion\nyou have not been treated at all well; but if you desire it, I may\nperhaps be of some assistance to you. What I propose is that you should\nmount upon my back, and I will then carry you through the air to the\nkingdom of the gods, where you can represent your case to the King of\nthe Fairies in person, and where you will, at any rate, have the\nopportunity of persuading your wife to accompany you back to earth.\u201d\n\nThe young Man gladly assented to this proposition, and mounted on the\nGryphon\u2019s back; and the great bird, spreading his wings, soared upwards\nstraight into the blue sky, carrying the youth with him. Up and up they\nflew, whilst the earth seemed to recede into the distance and to grow\nsmaller and smaller, until at length it disappeared from view\naltogether. Still they flew on until, towards nightfall, they arrived\nat the country of the gods. The Gryphon, with the young Man upon his\nback, flew straight in through the great golden gates, and deposited\nthe youth in the centre of a vast courtyard round which were sitting\nnumbers of gods, fairies and other denizens of the sky.\n\nWhen the gods saw that a human being had been deposited in their midst\nthey rose in great wrath, and began bitterly to reproach the Gryphon\nfor what he had done.\n\n\u201cHow is it,\u201d said they, \u201cthat you have dared, unordered, to bring into\nour presence an inhabitant of the human world? Do you not know that\nhuman beings are of a coarser essence than ourselves and are repugnant\nand abhorrent to us? How dare you so defile the sacred country of the\ngods?\u201d\n\nBut the Gryphon was not at all frightened at their anger, and he\nanswered them boldly and firmly:\n\n\u201cThis young man,\u201d said he, \u201cis a valiant and kind-hearted youth. He\nsaved my young ones from destruction by attacking, single-handed, and\nkilling a Dragon who was on the point of devouring them. He then\nrelated to me his story of how, after nine years of happiness, he was\ndeprived by the King of the Fairies of his wife, his house, his wealth,\nand everything which he had possessed. I consider, therefore, that he\nhas been treated in a shameful and unjustifiable manner, and so I have\nbrought him here to plead his cause in person and to claim redress.\u201d\n\nWhile this conversation was in progress the young man\u2019s Fairy wife had\nbeen hiding in a corner, too nervous to show herself before her husband\nand all the assembly of the gods. But she could now contain herself no\nlonger, and, rushing forward, she threw herself into her husband\u2019s\narms, crying out that she loved him and would return with him to earth.\n\nWhen her father heard this he did not know how to act, but it was\ndecided that a conclave should be held, and the matter debated at\nlength. So the celestial powers met together in a great council, and,\nhaving discussed the matter in all its bearings, they decided that, as\nthe Fairy Princess desired to return to earth of her own free will,\nthey would not stand in her way; but that if she did so, she must take\nthe consequence of her own action, and that as the result of mating\nwith an unclean creature like a human being she must herself become\nmortal and lose her Fairy nature.\n\nOn hearing this decision the girl joyfully agreed. So she and her\nhusband mounted together upon the broad back of the Gryphon, and the\ngreat beast, spreading his wings, sailed through the golden gates of\nthe palace and swept downwards through the blue heavens to the earth\nbelow. He soon deposited the youth and his wife on the ground near\ntheir old home, where he bade them farewell and returned to his own\nnest. And henceforward, although the Fairy had lost her magic powers,\nthe two lived happily together, and grew to a good old age in\nprosperous and comfortable circumstances.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XVI.\n\nTHE PRINCE AND THE OGRE\u2019S CASTLE.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived an old King and Queen, who, although they\nhad been married for many years, had no children to brighten their old\nage or to inherit their kingdom; and in the King\u2019s possession, as it\nhappened, were a favourite mare and dog, who also had no offspring. Now\nboth the King and the Queen were very anxious to have children of their\nown, and also to perpetuate the fine breed represented by the mare and\nthe dog; so the King posted a notice all over his kingdom, offering a\nvery large reward to any Lama or other holy personage who could secure\nto him and to his horse and dog the birth of children.\n\nIn response to this notice many Lamas and recluses presented themselves\nat the palace, and by means of prayers and religious ceremonies they\nendeavoured to obtain from the gods what the King and Queen desired;\nbut all their efforts were in vain, and the years passed by without any\noffspring being born.\n\nNow it chanced that in a neighbouring country there lived a terrible\nOgre, who was an expert in magic and all the black arts; and it came to\nhis ears that this King had offered a large reward if anyone could\nsecure to him the birth of children for himself, his horse and his dog.\nSo he disguised himself as a holy Lama, and coming up to the palace one\nday on foot, he asked for an interview with the King. The King, who had\nalmost lost faith in Lamas of any kind, received him courteously, and\nasked him what he could do to help in the matter.\n\n\u201cOh, King!\u201d replied the supposed Lama, \u201cI, you must know, am a great\nrecluse, and as the result of many years of solitary meditation, I have\nbecome proficient in all the magic arts. I will undertake to secure for\nyou and your horse and dog the birth of offspring as you desire. But I\ncan only do so on one condition, which is as follows: three children\nwill be born to you, three to the horse and three to the dog. They will\nall be of a miraculous nature, and will grow to their full powers in\nthe course of three years. At the end of three years I will return\nhere, and will claim from you one of each to follow me and serve me and\nto obey my orders in all matters.\u201d\n\nThe King gladly agreed to this condition, and asked the Lama how he\nshould proceed in order to secure the desired result. The Lama replied:\n\n\u201cHere, oh King, are nine pills; three of these must be administered to\nthe Queen, three to the horse and three to the dog. In three months\u2019\ntime a child will be born to each, to be followed by two others at\nintervals of one month.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he handed the pills to the King and forthwith took his\ndeparture. The King accordingly administered the pills as directed, and\nafter three months the Queen gave birth to a boy, the mare to a foal,\nand the dog to a pup, and these were followed by two others at\nintervals of one month as the Lama had predicted.\n\nAll the young ones grew apace, and at the end of the three years they\nhad all attained to their full growth and powers, and punctually at the\nconclusion of the third year the Ogre, still disguised as a Lama,\nreturned to the palace to demand his due.\n\nThe King and Queen, though reluctant to part with any of their\nchildren, resolved to abide by their bargain, and they consulted\ntogether as to which of the young Princes should be handed over to the\nLama. After some consideration they decided that it would not be\nadvisable to part with the eldest son, as he was heir to the throne,\nnor with the second, who would have to succeed to the kingdom should\nany accident or mischance befall his elder brother; so they resolved to\nsend the youngest son, and with him the youngest horse and the youngest\ndog. These three accordingly were handed over to the Lama, who ordered\nthe Prince to follow him, and started off at once to his own country.\n\nAfter travelling for some considerable distance they arrived at the top\nof a high pass, whence the Ogre, pointing down to a great castle\nstanding in the valley below, said to the young Prince:\n\n\u201cThat is my house below there; I shall leave you here and you must go\non down to the house. When you arrive there you will find a goat tied\nup near the door of the courtyard, and a bundle of straw lying near by.\nYou must pick up the bundle of straw and place it within reach of the\ngoat. Then you must go into the farmyard, where you will find many\nfowls, and in one corner you will see an earthenware jar full of soaked\ngrain, and you must sprinkle this grain for the fowls to eat. These two\ntasks I give you to-day, and you are on no account to enter my castle\nuntil I rejoin you in the evening.\u201d\n\nSo saying the Ogre went off in another direction, whilst the young\nPrince, riding on his horse and followed by his dog, went down to the\nOgre\u2019s castle. When he reached the gateway he found, as the Ogre had\npredicted, a goat tied up and a bundle of straw lying in a corner of\nthe courtyard. So he dismounted from his horse, and, picking up the\nbundle, he carried it near the goat and placed it on the ground.\nScarcely had the bundle touched the ground when it became transformed\ninto three great wolves, who, leaping upon the goat, devoured it in an\ninstant, and then fled away to the hills.\n\nThe young Prince was very much astonished at seeing this, but being of\na courageous spirit he did not allow the incident to frighten him, and\nproceeded to finish the remainder of his task. So he entered the yard\nwhere the poultry were kept, and proceeding to the corner where stood\nthe jar of soaked barley, he took out a handful and scattered it\namongst the fowls. As the grain touched the ground it was transformed\ninstantly into three wild cats, who leapt fiercely upon the cocks and\nhens, and in a few moments, having destroyed them all, fled away into\nthe hills.\n\nThe Prince\u2019s curiosity was now thoroughly aroused, and he determined,\nin spite of the Ogre\u2019s warning, to enter the house itself, and to\ndiscover what sort of place he had come to, so he pushed open the door\nof the castle and began wandering about all over the house. For some\ntime he found nothing to interest him. The rooms were all well\nfurnished and in good order, but he could find no trace and hear no\nsound of any living creature.\n\nAt last, after having explored the greater part of the building, he\nsuddenly turned a corner in a passage, and saw in front of him a room\nwhose walls were composed entirely of glass. Entering this room he saw\nin one corner a beautiful lady lying asleep on a couch with a flower\nbehind her ear. The Prince was pleased at finding a human being in this\ndesolate and mysterious castle, and, approaching the lady, he\nendeavoured to arouse her from her slumber. But all his efforts were in\nvain; she appeared to be in a sort of trance, and all he could do did\nnot succeed in waking her.\n\nAt last in despair he took away the flower which was placed behind her\near, and as he did so she woke and sat up upon her couch, rubbing her\neyes. As soon as she perceived the young Prince she was much\nastonished, and asked him what he was doing in the Ogre\u2019s castle. The\nPrince told her the whole story of his miraculous birth through the\nmagic of the holy Lama, and how he was condemned to serve the Lama as\nhis servant through the agreement which the King his father had made,\nand how he had carried out the two tasks which the Lama had given him\nthat day.\n\nOn hearing this story the lady was very indignant, and spoke to him as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cYou must know, oh Prince,\u201d said she, \u201cthat the person whom you suppose\nto be a Lama is in reality a fearful and wicked Ogre. The only food of\nwhich he partakes is men\u2019s hearts, and this house is full of the\nlifeless bodies of his numerous victims. He, however, is unable to\nobtain any power over the body of a human being unless that being\ndirectly disobeys his orders. Thus it is his practice upon obtaining a\nfresh servant to set him strange tasks which terrify and repel him.\nThese tasks grow daily more difficult and more odious, until at last\none day the servant disobeys his orders, and forthwith his body is at\nthe mercy of the Ogre, who devours the heart and places the lifeless\nbody in a large chamber at the back of this house. The process has\nevidently begun with you to-day. You have fulfilled all of his tasks\nwithout allowing yourself to be terrified by the strange portents which\nyou have observed, but on his return he will no doubt set you further\nand more disagreeable duties to perform. I, you should know, am a\nPrincess in my own country, and I was handed over to the Ogre by my\nparents about a year ago in circumstances very similar to your own. But\nwhen he had brought me to his castle, instead of destroying me as he\ndoes his other victims, he fell in love with me, and I have remained\nhere as his wife ever since. But he is of a very jealous disposition,\nand never allows me to leave his castle; and for fear I should make my\nescape during his absence, he invariably, before going out, places an\nenchanted flower behind my ear which makes me fall into a trance, and I\ncannot awake until the flower is removed.\u201d\n\nThe young Prince was very much interested on hearing this story, and he\nbegged the Princess to give him some further information about the\nOgre\u2019s habits, in order that he might not unawares fall into his power,\nand might eventually be able to bring about the destruction of the\nmonster.\n\n\u201cIt is very difficult,\u201d replied the Princess, \u201cfor any human being to\nkill the Ogre, for he is of a supernatural nature, and even if you were\nto cut off his head he would come to life again at once, unless you\ncould also destroy his \u2018mascot\u2019 [6]\u2014that is to say, the object upon the\npreservation of which his life in this world depends. Now the Ogre\u2019s\nmascot is very carefully concealed, and its existence and whereabouts\nare known to no person except myself. I, however, have discovered where\nit is, and I will reveal the secret to you later, but first I will tell\nyou the method by which you may destroy the Ogre\u2019s body. You must know,\nthen, that it is only possible for a human being to strike a mortal\nblow at the Ogre when his face is turned away. He knows this very well,\nand will never in any circumstances turn his back upon a man.\nSimilarly, if he can make you turn your back to him he may be able to\ndo you a mischief. When he comes in this evening and finds that you\nhave fulfilled both the tasks he has set you, the first thing he will\norder you to do will be to walk three times round a great stove which\nstands in the centre of the kitchen; and if you obey his orders he will\nfollow you from behind and will possibly do you some harm while your\nback is turned towards him. When he gives you these orders, then, you\nmust not disobey, but you must tell the Ogre that it is so dark in the\nkitchen that you cannot see your way clearly, and you must ask him to\nprecede you. This he is bound to do, and while he is going round the\nstove you may perhaps find an opportunity for stabbing him. If,\nhowever, you cannot succeed in doing so, and you both pass through this\nordeal successfully, he will set you no further task to-night, and I\nwill ascertain from him during the evening what trial he has in store\nfor you to-morrow.\u201d\n\nThe Prince thanked the young lady for all her good advice, which he\npromised to follow faithfully in every respect, and she then said to\nhim:\n\n\u201cIt is now near the time for the Ogre\u2019s return. I will lie down on the\ncouch, and you must place the flower behind my ear just as it was\nbefore; and when I fall into a trance you must at once go out into the\ncourtyard and wait the return of the Ogre, and mind you are careful not\nto let him know that you have been inside the castle.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the Princess lay down upon her couch, and the young man\nhaving placed the flower behind her ear she instantly fell into a deep\ntrance. The Prince then went out into the courtyard and shortly after\nthe Ogre arrived. He had now discarded his lama costume and appeared in\nhis proper form, and riding up to the Prince he asked him in an angry\ntone whether he had carried out the orders he had received, and on the\nPrince replying in the affirmative, the Ogre ordered him to come into\nthe kitchen. On entering the kitchen the Ogre pointed to a great stove\nstanding in the centre, and said to the Prince:\n\n\u201cYou must now walk three times round that stove.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is so dark in here,\u201d replied the Prince, \u201cthat I cannot see my way\nat all clearly. Will you please precede me and show me the way?\u201d\n\nThe Ogre was very angry at hearing this, but he was unable to refuse,\nso he started off and ran round the stove three times, the Prince\nfollowing closely at his heels. But he went so fast that the Prince,\nalthough he had his knife ready in his hand, was unable to catch him;\nand the Ogre, seeing that the Prince was not to be outwitted by this\nstratagem, went upstairs to his wife, leaving the young man locked up\nin the kitchen, where he spent the night alone.\n\nNext morning the Ogre started off soon after daylight on his own\nbusiness, and as soon as he was gone the Prince ran upstairs to the\nglass room, where he found the lady lying in a trance as before. He\ntook the flower from behind her ear, and she immediately woke up and\nlooked about her.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Prince,\u201d said she. \u201cHow did you succeed last night? I\nhope you followed the instructions which I gave you.\u201d\n\nThe Prince described to her what had occurred, and she said:\n\n\u201cI have ascertained what the Ogre proposes to do when he returns this\nevening. He will seat himself in his chair of state in his great hall\nof audience and will order you to kow-tow to him three times, and if\nyou do so he will seize an opportunity whilst you are lying on your\nface before him to do you some injury. It will not do, however,\nabsolutely to disobey his orders; but you must explain to him that,\nbeing a Prince, you have never had to kow-tow to anybody and do not\nexactly know how to do it, and you must ask him to show you the proper\nway to proceed. He cannot refuse your request, and you must take the\nopportunity of stabbing him or cutting off his head whilst he is lying\non his face before you. If you succeed in this come at once to me, and\nI will show you what else is necessary in order to bring about his\ncomplete destruction.\u201d\n\nThe Prince promised to obey the lady\u2019s orders, and after again sending\nher into a trance by placing the magic flower behind her ear, he\nreturned to the courtyard and awaited the Ogre\u2019s return. Just before\ndusk the Ogre came back and as the Princess had predicted he proceeded\nat once to the great audience hall, and seated himself on his chair of\nstate.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he to the Prince, \u201cyou must kow-tow to me three times.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am very sorry,\u201d answered the Prince, \u201cthat I do not know how to do\nso. Being a Prince myself, I have never had to kow-tow to anybody; but\nif you will show me the proper manner in which to proceed I will do my\nbest.\u201d\n\nThis reply made the Ogre very angry, but he was unable to refuse to do\nas the Prince had asked him. So the Prince took his seat on the Ogre\u2019s\nchair and the Ogre kneeling on the ground before him proceeded to\nkow-tow three times in the orthodox manner. As the Ogre\u2019s face touched\nthe ground the first time the Prince drew his sword; as it touched the\nground the second time he raised the sword above his head; and as it\ntouched the ground the third and last time the Prince delivered a\nviolent blow, completely severing the Ogre\u2019s head from his body.\nLeaving the body where it lay, the Prince ran up to the glass room as\nfast as he could, and having awakened the lady from her sleep, he told\nher what had happened.\n\n\u201cWell done!\u201d said she. \u201cThe first part of your task is now\naccomplished; but as I told you before, it is still necessary to\ndestroy the Ogre\u2019s mascot, or he will come to life again in a short\ntime. What you must do now, therefore, is as follows: you must descend\ninto the vaults below the castle, and having traversed nine dark\nsubterranean chambers, you will come to a blank stone wall. You must\nrap three times on this wall with the hilt of your sword, exclaiming\nwith each rap, \u2018Open, blank wall\u2019; and as you pronounce these words for\nthe third time the wall will fly asunder, and you will find yourself\nentering another subterranean chamber. In the centre of this chamber\nyou will see a beautiful boy seated with a goblet of crystal liquid in\nhis hand. This boy is the Ogre\u2019s mascot, and upon his existence depends\nthe Ogre\u2019s life in this world. You must at once slay the boy, and\ntaking the goblet very carefully in your hand, carry it upstairs to me.\nBut be careful not to spill any of the liquid, as each drop means a\nman\u2019s life.\u201d\n\nOn receiving these instructions the Prince went down into the vaults at\nthe basement of the castle, and having traversed nine great\nsubterranean chambers, he found his progress stopped by a blank wall.\nRaising his sword he rapped three times with the hilt on the wall,\nexclaiming each time as he did so, \u201cOpen, blank wall.\u201d As he pronounced\nthese words for the third time a grating sound was heard, and with a\nhollow clang the wall gave way for him.\n\nAdvancing a few paces the Prince found himself in a small dungeon,\nlighted only by the glimmer which issued from a goblet of crystal\nliquid held in the hand of a beautiful young boy, who was seated in the\ncentre of the chamber. Without a moment\u2019s hesitation the Prince thrust\nhis sword through the heart of the boy, and taking the goblet in his\nhand, he carried it upstairs to the Princess, being very careful on the\nway not to allow a single drop to be spilt.\n\nWhen the Princess saw him entering her room with the goblet in his hand\nshe was very much delighted.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said she, \u201cthe Ogre is effectually destroyed, and can never more\ncome to life in this world. All that now remains to be done is to\nrestore to life his previous victims.\u201d\n\nSo saying she ordered the Prince, still carrying the goblet, to follow\nher, and she proceeded by many winding passages and staircases to a\nremote part of the great castle. Presently, opening a huge door, she\nentered a long, low, gloomy chamber, lighted only by a narrow window\nwhich looked out over the back part of the castle. When the Prince\nentered this chamber he was horrified to see that down both sides of it\nwere stretched the bodies of many scores of men, women and children,\nwho lay there fully dressed, but to all appearance quite lifeless.\n\n\u201cThese,\u201d said the lady, \u201care the bodies of the Ogre\u2019s victims; he has\neaten their hearts, but the bodies, as you see, remain unharmed, while\nthe spirit of each one is compressed into a drop of crystal liquor with\nwhich that goblet is filled. You must now sprinkle the bodies with the\nliquid, giving one drop to each.\u201d\n\nAccordingly the Prince passed down the rows of lifeless bodies,\ndropping as he went one drop of the magic liquid on each body; and as\nthe liquor touched the body the life returned, and each person, as if\nawakened from a long sleep, moved and yawned, and finally sat up and\nbegan to talk and walk. In a few moments the transformation was\ncomplete, and the Ogre\u2019s victims, after thanking the Prince and\nPrincess heartily for their good offices, returned to their own homes.\nThe Prince himself bade farewell to the lady, and leaving her in\npossession of the Ogre\u2019s castle and all its belongings, he himself\nmounted upon his horse, and with his dog following at his heels, set\nout in search of further adventures.\n\n\n\n[This is only the first instalment of the Prince\u2019s adventures, which\ncontinue to an interminable length. I have given this section as a\nsample of the whole.]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XVII.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE STONE LION.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers whose father was dead, and who\nlived alone with their mother in a big house in a well-cultivated\nvalley.\n\nNow the elder of these brothers was a smart, clever man, but was of a\nvery selfish, cold-hearted disposition; and the younger brother was\nsimple and kind, but rather dull. The consequence was that after the\ndeath of their father the elder brother conducted most of the business\nof the family himself, and entirely supported his brother and his\nmother; whilst the younger brother, although quite willing to do his\nbest, was not clever enough to be of any assistance in the household.\n\nAfter a time the elder brother decided in his mind that he could no\nlonger endure this state of affairs, so he one day called his young\nbrother aside, and told him plainly that he would no longer continue to\nsupport such a lout, and that it would be better for him to go out into\nthe world and seek his own fortune alone. The poor boy was much grieved\non hearing this decision from his brother; but he was quite unable to\nprotest or dispute, so, having packed up his few belongings, he went to\nsay good-bye to his mother, and told her what had occurred. The good\nwoman was very angry when she heard the news, and she said to her son:\n\n\u201cVery well, if your hard-hearted brother insists on turning you out of\nthe house, I will accompany you. I cannot consent to remain any longer\nwith such an unnatural and cruel son.\u201d\n\nSo next day the mother and her younger son left the house and set off\ntogether to seek some means of livelihood on their own account. After\ntravelling for some little distance they reached an empty hut situated\nat the foot of a large hill, not far from a populous town; and finding\nthat the place was apparently deserted and that the owner, whoever he\nwas, had left nothing to show that he proposed to return, they took\npossession of the hut, and slept there during the night.\n\nNext morning early the boy, taking an axe with him, went out on to the\nhillside and began chopping wood. By evening he had chopped a fine big\nbundle of wood, and taking it down into the town he sold it in the\nmarket for a good sum of money. Greatly elated at the success of his\nlabours he returned to his mother in the hut, and showing her the money\nhe had earned, he told her that she need no longer have any anxiety\nregarding the future, for he would now be able to support her without\nany difficulty. Next morning, shouldering his axe, he started off\nagain, and as before, began to chop wood. He had done a good morning\u2019s\nwork, and was walking a little further up the hill in order to search\nfor some better timber, when, in a sheltered part of the hillside he\nsuddenly found himself face to face with a large life-sized Lion carved\nout of the stone.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d thought he to himself, on seeing the Lion, \u201cthis, no doubt, is\nthe guardian deity of this mountain, and to him must be due my good\nfortune in so easily obtaining a means of livelihood. I will certainly\nmake him some offering to-morrow.\u201d\n\nSo that evening, after selling his wood, he purchased two candles in\nthe town, and on the following day he went straight to where the stone\nLion stood, and lighting the candles, he placed one upon each side of\nthe image, and prostrating himself humbly upon the ground before it, he\nprayed for renewed good fortune. Suddenly, to his surprise and alarm,\nthe Lion opened its mouth, and asked him what he was doing there.\n\nThe young man replied that having been driven from his home by his\nproud and hard-hearted brother, he was now engaged in earning his\nlivelihood by chopping wood upon that hill; and that, thinking that the\nLion must be the guardian deity of the mountain, he had considered it\nright to make him some sort of an offering, and to request his\ncontinued patronage and assistance.\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d replied the Lion in a guttural tone of voice, \u201ccome again\nat this time to-morrow, and bring with you a large bucket, and I will\nfurnish you at once with what wealth you require.\u201d\n\nThe boy thanked the Lion for his kindness, and carrying his load of\nfirewood down to the village he sold it for a good price, and with the\nproceeds he purchased himself a large wooden bucket.\n\nNext morning he went up onto the hill again, carrying his bucket, and\narriving near the stone Lion, he again prostrated himself upon the\nground and announced his presence.\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d replied the Lion, \u201cyou must now act as follows: hold the\nbucket under my mouth, and I will vomit gold into it. But as soon as\nthe bucket is nearly full you must tell me, as on no account must a\nsingle morsel of gold fall to the ground.\u201d\n\nThe young man proceeded to do as the Lion had instructed him. He held\nthe bucket below the Lion\u2019s mouth, and the Lion forthwith began to\nvomit into it a stream of gold pieces. When the bucket was nearly full\nthe young man informed the Lion of the fact, and forthwith the stream\nof gold came to an end; and the youth, having thanked the Lion most\nheartily for his munificent gift, carried off his bucket of gold in\ntriumph to his mother. The poor woman was at first quite frightened at\nseeing so much wealth, but her son, having explained to her how he had\ncome by it, she became greatly excited, and pleased.\n\nNext day the widow and her son set about placing themselves in more\ncomfortable circumstances. They purchased a large farm-house in the\nneighbourhood, and a large stock of cattle and sheep, and settled down\nin their new abode, and henceforward they began to live in a very\ncomfortable and prosperous manner.\n\nThe news of the changed condition of life of his mother and younger\nbrother soon reached the ears of the eldest son, and overcome with\ncuriosity as to how this result had been brought about, he decided to\ncall upon them, and to ascertain the cause of their prosperity. So,\naccompanied by his wife, and carrying with him a very small piece of\ncloth as a present, he set out to pay them a visit. When he reached the\nhouse his younger brother was away engaged upon his farm business, but\nthe mother received her elder son and his wife very kindly and made\nthem as comfortable as she could. In the evening, when the younger\nbrother returned, he greeted his brother heartily, and being of a most\nkind-hearted and forgiving disposition, he related to him fully the\nmanner in which he had come by his wealth, and strongly recommended his\nbrother to act in a similar way.\n\nThe elder brother and his wife, as they returned home together that\nevening, talked the matter over between them, and decided that so good\nan opportunity of making money so easily was not to be lost. So next\nday the husband proceeded to the town, and after a prolonged search\npurchased the largest bucket which was to be had in the whole place.\nCarrying this with him, and bringing also a couple of candles, he\nproceeded to the hillside, and following the directions he had received\nfrom his brother, he soon found himself face to face with the stone\nLion. He at once lighted his candles and placed them one on each side\nof the Lion, while he prostrated himself upon the ground, and prayed to\nthe Lion for good fortune.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d said the Lion in a gruff voice; \u201cand what do you want?\u201d\n\n\u201cI,\u201d replied the elder brother, \u201cam the brother of the young man who\nwas here the other day, and to whom you gave so much gold; and,\nfollowing his advice, I have now come to ask you for a similar benefit\nfor myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Lion, \u201cplace your bucket under my mouth and I\nwill vomit gold into it; but as soon as the bucket is nearly full you\nmust inform me of the fact, as on no account must a single piece of\ngold fall to the ground. If this should happen, you will meet with\nmisfortune.\u201d\n\nSo the elder brother, trembling with eagerness, held his bucket as\ndirected, and forthwith a stream of gold pieces began to pour from the\nLion\u2019s mouth into the bucket. The covetous fellow shook the bucket\nslightly from time to time in order to make the gold lie well together\nand so to obtain a larger quantity; and, overcome by greed, he could\nnot bring himself to inform the Lion that the bucket was nearly full\nuntil it brimmed over and a piece of gold, slipping off the heap, fell\nto the ground. As it touched the ground the stream of gold suddenly\nceased, and the Lion, in a hoarse voice, said:\n\n\u201cThe largest piece of gold of all has stuck in my throat. Put your hand\ninto my mouth and pull it out.\u201d\n\nThe elder brother, on hearing this, immediately thrust his hand into\nthe Lion\u2019s mouth, hoping to secure a large lump of gold; and no sooner\nhad he done so than the Lion, closing his jaws, held him fast. It was\nin vain that he struggled and wrenched his arm to and fro, endeavouring\nto release it; the stone jaws of the Lion gripped him so tight that he\nwas totally unable to effect his escape, and the Lion, deaf to all\nprayers and entreaties, had relapsed apparently into an insensible\nfigure of stone. And worst of all, when he glanced at his bucket of\ngold he saw, to his horror, that instead of gold it held nothing but\nstones and earth.\n\nTowards evening the elder brother\u2019s wife grew anxious concerning her\nhusband\u2019s absence, and knowing the direction in which he had gone, she\nset forth to the hillside to seek him. After hunting for some time she\nsuddenly came across him, and asked him what he was doing and why he\ndid not come home.\n\n\u201cOh, wife,\u201d said he, \u201ca terrible thing has happened to me. I put my\nhand into the Lion\u2019s mouth in order to extract a lump of gold which was\nstuck in his throat, when all of a sudden he closed his jaws, and\ngripped my arm, and now I am unable to effect my escape.\u201d\n\nThe poor woman, on hearing this, wept and wailed, but all her\nentreaties to the Lion proved of no avail, and she went off to her\nhome, and soon returned carrying her husband some food. Every day, for\nmany days after, she returned to her husband, bringing him such\nprovisions as he required to keep him alive; but as she had now no one\nto work for her, and was obliged to support her husband and her child\nentirely by her own exertions, she became gradually poorer and poorer,\nand was soon obliged to sell her household goods to procure the\nnecessary food.\n\nSome months passed away and the poor woman, falling ill, was at length\nreduced to such complete destitution that she had not even a morsel of\nbread to bring to her husband, and one morning she came weeping up the\nhill, and addressed him as follows:\n\n\u201cI have sold everything in the house, and have now no money to buy any\nfood. There is not a scrap left to eat anywhere, and now nothing\nremains but for us to starve to death.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Lion was so tickled that he could not refrain from\nlaughing.\n\n\u201cHa, ha!\u201d said he, and opened his great jaws.\n\nAs quickly as he could, and before the Lion had time to close his mouth\nagain, the man withdrew his arm, and, finding himself free, he at once\nhastened down the hill with his wife. Then, taking their child with\nthem, they proceeded straight to the house of the younger brother, and\nhaving related to him the whole of their story, begged some relief from\ntheir misery. The young man reproached his brother for his greedy\nconduct in trying to obtain an extra supply of gold from the Lion in\nspite of his warning; but being of a very forgiving nature, he\nconsented at last to supply his brother with a sum of money sufficient\nfor him to take a small farm in the neighbourhood. Here the proud\nbrother and his wife settled down in very humble circumstances, whilst\nthe younger son lived for many years very happily with his mother and\nprospered exceedingly in all he undertook.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XVIII.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE LAMA\u2019S SERVANT.\n\n\nThere was once an old Lama who lived in a small house at the very top\nof a hill in a lonely part of Tibet. He was a very holy man and spent\nhis time entirely in religious contemplation, and the only person whom\nhe allowed about his house was a certain young man of low birth, who\nacted as his Servant and used to cook his meals and perform other\nhousehold duties. This man was a great character in his way. He was an\namusing fellow and very fond of his joke, but was quite unreliable and\nincapable of performing any regular work.\n\nNow the old Lama\u2019s diet, in accordance with the tenets of his religion,\nwas a very small one, and he refrained entirely from taking the life of\nany living creature. So his food consisted chiefly of barley-flour,\nbutter, and so on, and he abstained from meat of any kind. This mode of\nlife, however, was not at all pleasing to the Servant, Rin-dzin, who\nhad a healthy appetite and greatly missed his daily dish of meat, and\nhe was constantly trying to persuade the Lama to allow him to kill a\nsheep or a goat in order that he might have a satisfactory meal. This,\nhowever, the Lama always sternly refused to do, and forbade his Servant\non any account to destroy the life of a living being.\n\nOne day the Servant noticed a fine fat sheep, which, having become\nseparated from the rest of the flock, was wandering about near the\nLama\u2019s house. So he pursued it and caught it, and carrying it into the\nground floor of the house, he went up into the room above, and letting\ndown a rope through a hole in the floor he hitched a slip-knot at the\nother end of the rope round the sheep\u2019s neck. Having made these\narrangements he went into the next room, where the Lama, as usual, was\nsitting alone wrapt in religious contemplation, deaf to all mundane\naffairs.\n\n\u201cOh! Lama,\u201d said the Servant, addressing the old man, \u201cI have come to\ntell you that I have just found a sheep belonging to our neighbours,\nwho live in the valley below, wandering about near the house; so, for\nfear he should be eaten by wolves, I have caught him and tied him up in\na room below. But he is a very violent sheep and is struggling\ndesperately to escape. Will you be so kind as to hold the rope for a\nshort time while I go and inform the owner where his sheep is?\u201d\n\nThe old Lama, who never refused a reasonable request, at once proceeded\nto do as he was asked, and, rising from his seat, he followed the\nServant into the next room.\n\n\u201cPray hold this rope,\u201d said the Servant, handing the Lama the loose end\nof the rope to which the sheep was secured, \u201cand if the sheep begins to\nstruggle, pull it as hard as you can to prevent him from escaping.\u201d\n\nThe Lama accordingly took hold of the rope, and the Servant went down\ninto the lower storey as if he intended to leave the house. Instead of\ndoing so, however, he went into the room where the sheep was tied and\nbegan to poke the animal with a sharp stick, and the sheep began to\nstruggle violently, trying to escape from its tormentor. The more the\nsheep struggled below the more the Lama pulled above, and at last, when\nthe tug-of-war had lasted for some minutes, the sheep was strangled by\nthe slip-knot round its neck.\n\nAfter the lapse of an hour or two the Servant returned to the Lama in\nthe upper room and informed him that the sheep had died a natural death\nwhile he had been away seeking for its owner, and, in the\ncircumstances, he supposed that they might as well cut it up and cook\nit for food. The unsuspecting old Lama agreed to this, and for several\ndays the Servant was able to eat his fill of excellent mutton.\n\nIt chanced, however, that the shepherd boy who was in charge of the\nsheep had come to the Lama\u2019s house looking for the one which was lost,\nand peeping in through the window had seen all that had happened. He\ntold the story to his parents, who were very angry, and came to\ncomplain to the Lama of the conduct of his Servant. The old Lama was\nvery much incensed at the treachery and wickedness of his attendant,\nand dismissed him on the spot, telling him to go away and never come\nback again. So Master Rin-dzin, with his few belongings on his back,\nmarched off into the world to try and make his fortune.\n\nHe was a good deal cast down at first, but being naturally a volatile,\nlight-hearted fellow he soon recovered his spirits and marched along\nthe road singing blithely, and keeping a sharp look-out for anything\nthat might turn up. He had not proceeded very far when he fell in with\nanother young man going in the same direction as himself, and the two,\njoining company, fell into conversation. Rin-dzin soon related to his\nyoung friend all his recent adventures, and informed him that he was\nanxious to make a little money.\n\n\u201cVery good, brother,\u201d replied the Stranger, \u201cI am the very man to help\nyou, for you must know I am a thief by profession, and I am always on\nthe look-out for what fortune may bring me. So we will join company,\nand it will indeed be bad luck if we cannot succeed in hitting upon\nsomething profitable before many days have passed.\u201d\n\nSo they went along together and towards evening they came upon a large\nhouse standing in a fertile valley. The Thief went forward alone to\nmake enquiries, and he soon returned to Rin-dzin with the information\nhe had gathered. The servants of the house had told him that the owner\nhad died the day before, and was now awaiting burial in his own room.\nHis only relation was his daughter, who was heiress to the whole of the\nproperty, and she was now mourning for her father all alone in the big\nhouse. Further, the Thief had learned that the old man had once had a\nson, who had run away from home many years before and had never been\nheard of again.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he to Rin-dzin, \u201cI have a plan to propose to you. Do you\nclimb in through the window into the room where the old man\u2019s body lies\nawaiting burial, and conceal yourself somewhere. As soon as you are\nready I will go to the young lady of the house and inform her that I am\nher brother, who has returned home after many years\u2019 wandering. She\nwill probably disbelieve my story, and I will propose that we should\nconsult the corpse of her father on the matter. When we come into the\nroom where the corpse lies I will address it, and ask whether I am not\nthe long-lost son, whereupon you must reply that I am. On this evidence\nI shall secure at least one-half of the property, which, of course, I\nshall share with you. But be careful on no account to leave the room\nbefore morning, otherwise you are sure to be detected by the dogs which\nroam about the house by night.\u201d\n\nRin-dzin agreed to this proposition, and climbed in by the window into\nthe dead man\u2019s room, and, concealing himself near the corpse, he\nawaited the arrival of his friend. Meanwhile the Thief went boldly up\nto the front door and gave a loud knock; and being admitted by the\nservants, he went straight to the chamber of the young lady of the\nhouse.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d said she; \u201cand what do you want?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! sister,\u201d he replied, \u201cI am your long-lost brother; do you not\nrecognise me?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said she, \u201cit would be impossible for me to recognise you, as I\nwas only a little child when you ran away. No one but my father could\nknow you and he, alas! died yesterday.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is very sad,\u201d replied the Thief, \u201cfor indeed it will be difficult\nfor me to prove the truth of my story. Let us, however, go into the\nroom where my father\u2019s corpse is lying, and ask it whether or no I am\nhis long-lost son.\u201d\n\nThe girl agreed to this, and the two went together into the chamber\nwhere the old man\u2019s corpse was sitting trussed-up for burial, in\naccordance with the Tibetan custom.\n\n\u201cAre you there, father,\u201d said the Thief, as he entered the darkened\nroom; and Rin-dzin, in a sepulchral voice replied, \u201cAh.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have come to ask you,\u201d went on the Thief, \u201cwhether or no I am your\nlong-lost son.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are,\u201d replied Rin-dzin.\n\nAnd on hearing this the Thief at once retired, followed by the young\ngirl, who was now completely convinced of his identity.\n\n\u201cNow, sister,\u201d said the Thief, addressing her when they were alone\ntogether, \u201cyou see that my story is true, but, unfortunately, I am\nunable to stay here as I am called away this very night on urgent\nbusiness. I will therefore make over to you the house and the whole of\nthe landed property, and all I ask from you as my share of the estate\nis a bag of gold, as big as I can carry with me.\u201d\n\nThe girl accepted these conditions, and handed over to the Thief a\nheavy bag of gold. He then bade her farewell and started off with his\nbooty as fast as he could, leaving Rin-dzin behind him in the same room\nas the corpse.\n\nEarly next morning Rin-dzin climbed down from the window, and coming\nround to the front of the house he asked the lady where her brother\nwas.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said she, \u201cI gave him a big bag of gold last night, and he at\nonce started off with it as fast as he could.\u201d\n\nWhen Rin-dzin heard this he was very angry indeed at the Thief\u2019s\ntreachery, and was determined to follow and punish him. So, borrowing a\nhorse from the lady of the house, he galloped off down the road as fast\nas he could. About mid-day, as he was galloping along, he saw the Thief\nsome distance ahead, sitting under the shade of a tree resting; for not\nknowing that Rin-dzin had a horse, he did not consider it necessary to\ngo very fast.\n\nWhen Rin-dzin caught sight of the Thief, he first thought that he would\nat once go up to him and demand his share of the gold, but on second\nthoughts he remembered that while he himself was unarmed, the thief\npossessed both a sword and a musket, so that if it came to a quarrel\nbetween them he would probably get the worst of it. So, leaning down\nover his horse\u2019s neck, he pretended not to see the Thief, and galloped\npast him down the road, as if in mad pursuit. As soon as he was out of\nsight of the place where the Thief was sitting he pulled his horse up\nto a wall, and taking a new boot out of the bundle on his back, he\ndropped it in the middle of the road, and then pursued his way for some\nlittle distance further, when he took the fellow boot out of his bundle\nand dropped it also in the middle of the road. Having done this he\nturned aside from the roadway and concealed himself and his horse in a\nthicket near by.\n\nAs soon as Rin-dzin had galloped out of sight, the Thief congratulated\nhimself at not having been seen, took up his bag of gold and continued\nhis journey. After walking some little way, he came upon a new boot\nlying in the centre of the road.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d thought he, \u201cthat foolish fellow has dropped one of his boots in\nhis haste. But one boot isn\u2019t worth picking up; it is of no use at all.\nWhat a pity it is he did not drop them both.\u201d\n\nSo leaving the boot where it lay, he resumed his journey. The sun was\nnow very hot, and the Thief, carrying his heavy bag of gold, was\ngetting pretty tired, and by the time he reached the place where the\nother boot was lying he was nearly worn out.\n\n\u201cHallo,\u201d said he to himself, when he caught sight of the second boot,\n\u201chere is the other boot. This is really too good a chance to be lost; I\nmust certainly go back at once and pick up the first boot, and then I\nshall have a pair of new boots for nothing. But I can\u2019t carry this\nheavy bag of gold all the way back with me.\u201d\n\nSo thinking, he concealed the bag of gold under a tuft of grass by the\nroadside, and started off to retrace his steps to pick up the first\nboot. No sooner was he out of sight than Rin-dzin emerged from his\nhiding-place, and picking up the bag of gold, strapped it to his saddle\nand rode on his way.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XIX.\n\nTHE COUNTRY OF THE MICE.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a King who ruled over a large tract of\ncountry in which there lived a great number of Mice. Generally the Mice\nwere very prosperous and had plenty to eat, but it happened one year\nthat the crops of the country were very poor, and the Mice, who\nsubsisted chiefly on the spare grains left after the harvest, found\nthat their stores were running short before the end of the winter. So\nthe King of the Mice decided that he would make a petition to the King\nof the country, to lend the Mice what grain they required on condition\nthat they repaid the whole amount the following year.\n\nSo he dressed himself up in his best clothes and set off one morning to\nthe King\u2019s palace. When he got to the door of the palace the\ndoor-keeper asked him where he was going.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d replied the Mouse, \u201cI wish to see the King of the country, as I\nhave a petition to make to him.\u201d\n\nWhen the King heard that a Mouse wanted to see him he was very much\namused, and he ordered that the little animal should be admitted.\n\nWhen the Mouse entered the King\u2019s presence he walked slowly up the Hall\nof Audience, carrying in his hand a little silk thread, which he\npresented to the King, instead of the usual ceremonial scarf. [7]\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Brother Mouse,\u201d said the King, \u201cwhat can I do for you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! King,\u201d replied the Mouse, \u201cyou must know that this year our crops\nhave fallen short, and we are threatened with a famine unless we can\nborrow sufficient grain to carry us through the winter; so I, who am\nKing of the Mice, have come here to ask you if you can help us in this\nmatter. If you can lend us the grain we require, we will repay you\nfaithfully with interest at the next harvest.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the King, \u201chow much grain do you want?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think that we shall require,\u201d said the Mouse, \u201cone of your big barns\nfull.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said the King, \u201cif I were to give you a barn full of grain how\nwould you carry it away?\u201d\n\n\u201cLeave it to me,\u201d said the Mouse; \u201cif you will give us the grain we\nwill undertake to carry it off.\u201d\n\nSo the King agreed to present the Mice with one of his great granaries\nfull of barley, and he ordered his officers to throw open the doors,\nand to let the Mice carry away as much as they wanted.\n\nThat night the King of the Mice summoned all his subjects together, and\nto the number of many hundreds of thousands they invaded the barn, and\neach one picked up as much grain as he could carry in his mouth, on his\nback, and curled up in his tail, and when they had all finished the\nbarn was empty, and not a single grain of barley was left.\n\nNext morning, when the King went out to look at his barn, he was very\nmuch astonished to find that the Mice had been able to empty it so\neffectually, and he conceived a very high opinion of their powers; and\nwhen, in the following spring, the King of the Mice redeemed his\npromise by repaying with interest the loan he had taken from the King\nof the country, the latter saw that they were trustworthy as well as\nclever.\n\nNow it happened shortly after this that the King of the country went to\nwar with a neighbouring kingdom, which lay on the opposite side of the\nriver forming the frontier between the two countries. This other\ncountry was far more wealthy and powerful than the country where the\nMice lived, and its King soon assembled a huge army on the opposite\nbank of the river and began making preparations for invasion.\n\nWhen the Mice heard what was happening, they were much distressed, for\nthey feared that if the enemy entered their country and destroyed their\nfriend the King, they themselves would suffer considerable hardships\nunder a strange ruler; so the King of the Mice set out again to visit\nthe King of the country, and when he reached the palace he demanded an\ninterview with His Majesty. This was at once accorded to him, and\nfinding the King looking very depressed, he addressed him as follows:\n\n\u201cI have come to you a second time, Oh King, in order to see whether I\ncan be of any use to you. The last time I was here you did me and my\npeople a great favour, for which we shall ever be grateful, and if it\nis now in our power to assist you in any way, we shall be very glad to\ndo our best.\u201d\n\nThe King, in spite of his grief, was much amused on hearing these words\nfrom the Mouse.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat could the Mice do to help me in my present\npredicament? We are threatened with invasion by a foreign army,\noutnumbering mine by many thousands, and all the men I can muster will\nnot be sufficient to enable me to repel the enemy. I don\u2019t see how the\nMice can help me.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you remember, Oh King!\u201d replied the Mouse, \u201cthat on the last\noccasion I was here you doubted our ability to carry away the grain you\nhad given us, or to repay you the loan? And yet we proved ourselves\nable to do both. All we ask you now is to trust us again, and if you\nwill undertake to do one or two things which we ask of you, we on our\npart will undertake to rid you of the invading army.\u201d\n\nThe King was a good deal struck by this remark of the Mouse, and he\nreplied:\n\n\u201cVery well, what you say is quite true; and if you will inform me what\nyou wish me to do, I will undertake to carry out my share of the\nbargain.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d answered the Mouse, \u201call we wish you to do is to provide\nus by to-morrow evening with one hundred thousand sticks, each about a\nfoot long, [8] and to have them laid in rows on the bank of the river.\nIf you will undertake to do this, we on our side will undertake to\nstave off the threatened invasion and to put the opposing army into a\nstate of confusion and panic. And if we succeed in carrying out all we\npromise, we will ask you for the future to safeguard us against the two\nprincipal dangers which threaten the existence of the Mice who live in\nyour country.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will gladly do what I can,\u201d replied the King, \u201cto safeguard you\nagainst these dangers if you will tell me how to proceed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe two dangers to which I refer,\u201d continued the Mouse, \u201care flood and\nCats. You see the majority of our burrows are in the low-lying land\nnear the river, and whenever the river rises a little it overflows this\nlevel country and floods our nests. What we would suggest to you is\nthat you should build a strong dam all down the river bank so as to\nensure that the water cannot overflow into our nests. And as to the\nCats they are always the persecutors of Mice, and we ask you to banish\nthem altogether from your kingdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d replied the King, \u201cif you can succeed in averting the\ndanger which now threatens us, I will undertake to do all that you ask\nof me in this respect.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this, the King of the Mice salaamed profoundly to the King,\nand returned as fast as he could to his own subjects.\n\nOn the following evening he marshalled all the full-grown Mice of his\nkingdom, and about dusk, he led down a large army numbering several\nhundreds of thousands to the edge of the river, where he found the\nsticks all laid out as had been arranged with the King. In accordance\nwith instructions they had received, the Mice at once proceeded to\nlaunch these sticks on the river, and they themselves embarked upon\nthem two or three at a time; and so, pushing off from the bank, they\nsailed across the river and soon landed on the opposite side.\n\nIt was now quite dark, and the enemy\u2019s soldiers were all asleep in\ntheir camp, some lying in tents and some in the open air, with their\narms beside them ready for any alarm. The Mice on a word of command\nfrom their King, scattered themselves without delay through the\nsleeping camp, and each one began to do as much destruction as he\npossibly could in the shortest possible space of time. Some nibbled at\nthe bowstrings and the slings of the soldiers\u2019 muskets; others gnawed\nthe slow-match and fuses; whilst others bit off the clothes and\npigtails of the sleeping men. In fact, they attacked fiercely anything\nupon which their teeth could make an impression, and tents, stores,\ngrain, and provisions of all kinds were soon reduced to shreds or\nscattered in confusion in every direction; and after a couple of hours\u2019\nwork they all collected upon the river bank, and, embarking again on\ntheir sticks, they sailed quietly over to their own shore without\nhaving been detected by the enemy, or even having caused any alarm.\n\nNext morning at daybreak, a great outcry arose from the enemy\u2019s camp.\nEach man as he rose from his sleep found himself in a woeful plight\u2014his\nclothes in rags, his pigtail cut off, his bow without a string, his\nrifle without a sling, and with no fuse or slow-match to fire it, and\nno provisions for breakfast. Each one began to accuse the other of\ntheft and treachery, and before many minutes had passed the whole camp\nwas in a state of wild confusion, comrade quarrelling with comrade, or\naccusing their officers of dishonesty and ill-faith.\n\nIn the midst of this uproar the sound of bugles was heard on the\nopposite bank, and a few shots were fired; and terrified at the thought\nof being taken unawares, the whole army took to flight, and in a few\nminutes not a man was to be seen.\n\nWhen the King of the country of the Mice saw what had happened he was\ngreatly elated, and, sending for the King of the Mice, he thanked him\nvery sincerely for his good offices. And, in accordance with the\nbargain they had made, he at once had a strong embankment constructed\nall down his own side of the river to guard against floods, and he\nissued an edict forbidding all persons, on pain of death, to keep a cat\nof any kind henceforth within the frontiers of his country, and so the\nMice lived securely and happily ever afterwards.\n\nAnd in order to insure against any more attempts at invasion from the\nside of the neighbouring kingdom, the King sent a herald across the\nriver to the ruler of that country, to say that, on this occasion, he\nhad only considered it worth while to employ his Mice to defeat his\nenemies; but that if he was again threatened, he was ready to employ\nfirst all the domestic animals of the country; and if they did not\nsucceed, he would have to have recourse to the wild beasts; and in the\nevent of their failing, he was prepared to come himself with his\nwarriors in order to produce the desired results.\n\nWhen the ruler of the other country heard this message he considered it\nwiser at once to make a treaty of peace, as he could not hope to defeat\nthe warriors and wild beasts of a country whose Mice had shown such\nskill and courage. So the two countries remained on friendly terms for\nmany years after; and the Mice, secured against flood and Cats, lived\nhappily and safely, and received every year from the King of the\ncountry a barnful of grain as a free gift in thankful recognition of\nthe services which they had rendered in time of need.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XX.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE TORTOISE AND THE MONKEY.\n\n\nThere was once an old Tortoise who lived with his wife and family in a\nlarge lake, on the borders of which grew an extensive jungle; and in\nthe forest there were many wild beasts, more especially Monkeys, who\nswarmed in great numbers all along the shores of the lake.\n\nIt happened one day that the Tortoise came out of the lake and went for\na stroll amongst the trees which grew near the water. After walking for\nsome distance he became hungry, and looking up into a cocoanut-tree,\nnear which he found himself, he thought how much he should like to get\none of the cocoanuts which were growing near the top. He made several\nawkward attempts to climb the tree, but the stem was so straight and so\nsmooth that he was quite unable to succeed; and he was just about to\ngive up the attempt in despair when he espied a large Monkey sitting\namong the branches. The Monkey, who had been watching the Tortoise\u2019s\nattempts to climb the tree with some curiosity, felt rather sorry at\nhis failure, and noticing that the Tortoise was a fine, well-grown\nfellow with a very handsome shell, he thought he would do him a\nkindness, so breaking off one or two of the cocoanuts, he threw them\ndown to the Tortoise, who gratefully ate the fruit.\n\nThe two animals now entered into conversation with one another, and\nsoon striking up quite a friendship, the Monkey led away the Tortoise\ninto the jungle, and showed him a comfortable cave where he could spend\nthe night. The Tortoise was so interested with all he saw and so\npleased with his friend the Monkey, that he remained for several days\nin the forest, moving about during the day and sleeping with the Monkey\nin the cave every night.\n\nMeanwhile Mrs. Tortoise was becoming rather anxious concerning her\nhusband\u2019s prolonged absence. He had never been away from home for so\nlong before, so finally she despatched one of the young Tortoises to\nfind out where his father was and how he was getting on. The young\nTortoise accordingly swam to land, and after hunting about for some\ntime in the forest he came across his father near the cave.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Father,\u201d said he, \u201cMother has sent me to find out where\nyou are and how you are getting on.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I am all right, my boy,\u201d replied Father Tortoise; \u201ctell Mother she\nneed not trouble about me. My friend, Brother Monkey, and I are just\nhaving a good time in the forest, and I will be home in a few days. Now\nrun off to your Mother.\u201d\n\nSo the young Tortoise went back to his mother and told her what had\nhappened. Mrs. Tortoise was not at all pleased at her husband\u2019s\nconduct.\n\n\u201cIt is quite time,\u201d thought she, \u201cthat he should return to his wife and\nfamily, instead of amusing himself with a vulgar Monkey in the forest.\u201d\n\nSo she sent the boy back again to his father, with a message to say\nthat Mrs. Tortoise was very ill, and that her physician had told her\nthat the only thing to cure her was a Monkey\u2019s heart. So he must return\nat once to his home and bring a Monkey along with him.\n\nThe young Tortoise accordingly proceeded to hunt out his father again,\nand as soon as he met him he gave him Mrs. Tortoise\u2019s message. On\nhearing the news of his wife\u2019s illness, Mr. Tortoise became much\nalarmed, and reproached himself for having stayed away for so long; and\nin order to secure the necessary medicine for his wife he informed his\nfriend the Monkey that he was obliged to return home at once on urgent\nbusiness, and he invited the Monkey to come and spend a few days at his\nhouse. The Monkey accepted his friend\u2019s invitation, and the two set off\ntogether to the shores of the lake.\n\nWhen the Monkey understood that it would be necessary for him to enter\nthe lake, he became rather alarmed, and remarked to the Tortoise that\nnever having been in the water, he was afraid it would be difficult for\nhim to reach the Tortoise\u2019s home.\n\n\u201cNever fear about that, Brother Monkey,\u201d said the Tortoise; \u201cI can\narrange that quite simply. If you will mount upon my back, I will swim\nwith you wherever we want to go.\u201d\n\nSo the Monkey mounted upon the Tortoise\u2019s back, and the Tortoise set\nout to swim to his house.\n\nAs they went across the lake the Tortoise began telling the Monkey\nabout his wife\u2019s illness, and in doing so he foolishly let out that the\nonly medicine to cure her was a Monkey\u2019s heart. On hearing this the\nMonkey became very much alarmed, and saw that he was being led into a\ntrap.\n\n\u201cDear me, Brother Tortoise,\u201d said he, \u201cI am very much grieved to hear\nof your wife\u2019s illness, but if she is as bad as all that I do not think\nthat one Monkey\u2019s heart will be enough. I should think that three or\nfour at least would be required in order to effect a cure. If you like,\nI can easily get several other Monkeys from amongst my friends to\naccompany us to your home.\u201d\n\nThe Tortoise thought that this was a good idea, and agreed to carry the\nMonkey back to the shore and await him there while he went off to fetch\nsome other Monkeys. So he turned round and swam back through the lake\ntill he reached the edge, where he waddled out on to the beach.\n\nAs soon as he found himself on dry land the Monkey skipped off the\nTortoise\u2019s back as fast as he could, and climbed to the top of the\ntallest tree he could find in a twinkling. On reaching the top of the\ntree he began reviling the Tortoise, and calling out every bad name he\ncould think of.\n\n\u201cYou are a nice sort of friend,\u201d said he, \u201cto ask me to pay a visit to\nyour home in order to kill me and use my heart as medicine for your\nugly wife. Do you call that a proper return for all my attention to\nyou, and for showing you all over the jungle? However, I have been too\nclever for you this time, and you will have to do without my heart for\nmany a long day to come. And as to the hearts of those other Monkeys\nthat I promised to you\u2014well, you can just wait till you find them for\nyourself.\u201d [9]\n\nThe Tortoise, on hearing these words, fell into a violent passion, and\nmade several efforts to climb the tree in order to punish the Monkey,\nbut being quite unable to climb at all, he soon gave up his attempt and\ndetermined to get even with the Monkey in some other way. So he hid\nhimself in the water until evening, and as soon as it was dusk he came\nout on the land and proceeded very quietly to the cave where he and the\nMonkey had lived together, and concealed himself in the darkest corner\nof it waiting till the Monkey should come in.\n\nThe Monkey, however, was a good deal too clever to be caught in a\nsimple trap like this. When his usual bedtime arrived, he came to the\nmouth of the cave and, looking in, he called out in a loud voice:\n\n\u201cOh, great cave! great cave!\u201d\n\nThe Tortoise lay low in his dark corner and gave no sign of life.\n\nAfter a few moments\u2019 silence the Monkey again called out:\n\n\u201cOh, great cave! great cave!\u201d\n\nStill the Tortoise lay low and gave no sign.\n\n\u201cCurious thing,\u201d said the Monkey to himself in an audible tone of\nvoice, \u201cvery curious! There used always to be an echo in this cave, but\nI can\u2019t hear the slightest echo to-night. There must be something\nwrong,\u201d and saying this he again called out:\n\n\u201cOh, great cave! great cave!\u201d\n\nThe foolish Tortoise, thinking that if he simulated an echo the Monkey\nwould enter the cave as usual, hereupon gave answer from his dark\ncorner:\n\n\u201cOh, great cave! great cave!\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Monkey chuckled to himself at the simplicity of the\nTortoise, and went off to sleep in some other part of the forest.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XXI.\n\nTHE STORY OF ROOM BACHA AND BAKI.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, in the country of Room, there lived a King called\nBacha, who, having married a young Princess from a neighbouring\nkingdom, lived with her for a short time very happily. But it happened\nthat both the King and Queen were of a very argumentative turn of mind,\nand were constantly disputing with one another about all sorts of\ntrifles, and as neither would ever give way to the other, it generally\nended in their quarrelling. The King, who was a proud and head-strong\nman, was not at all pleased that his wife should venture to maintain\nher opinion against his, and gradually became very much incensed\nagainst her.\n\nOne night, as the two were sitting together after dinner, a fox began\nto bark in the palace grounds outside.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the King, \u201cdo you hear that tiger roaring?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear,\u201d replied the Queen, \u201cthat is not a tiger, it is a fox.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly not!\u201d said the King. \u201cDo you think I don\u2019t know a tiger when\nI hear him? There can be no question but that it is a tiger.\u201d\n\nThe Queen again contradicted him, and a heated argument ensued, in\nwhich neither convinced the other. At length, the King said that he\ncould not stand this argument any longer, but would submit the question\nfor decision to his council on the following day. If the council agreed\nthat he was in the wrong, he should be sent adrift on a log of wood on\nthe great river that flowed past the palace; but if the Queen should be\nfound to be in the wrong, she should suffer this fate.\n\nSo next day the King summoned a council, composed of all his wisest\nministers and men of science. When they were all seated in the council\nchamber, he addressed them as follows:\n\n\u201cLast night,\u201d said he, \u201csome beast began to bark outside the palace. I\nmaintained that it was a tiger; the Queen affirmed that it was a fox. I\ndesire to submit the question to you for decision. If you decide that\nit was a fox, I agree to be sent adrift upon a log of wood on the great\nriver which flows past my palace; but if you think that the animal was\na tiger, then the Queen is to suffer this penalty.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the King withdrew, leaving his ministers to decide the\nquestion. The counsellors, after weighing the matter for some time,\nsummoned to their presence several peasants living in the\nneighbourhood, and these being all agreed that no tiger ever came\nwithin many miles of the palace, whereas foxes prowled there nightly,\nit was clear to the council that the King was in the wrong. Before any\ndecision was given, however, the oldest counsellor rose and addressed\nthe meeting as follows:\n\n\u201cIt appears to me,\u201d said he, \u201cthat the King is undoubtedly in the wrong\nin this matter; but I wish to point out to you that if we announce our\ndecision to that effect, the consequence will be that we shall be left\nwithout our King, and with only a Queen to reign over us. This, as you\nknow, is a most undesirable state of affairs. I propose, therefore,\nthat in spite of our real opinion in the matter we should make a public\nannouncement to the effect that the King was right in his argument.\u201d\n\nThe others agreed to these words of wisdom, and the counsellors\nproceeded in a body to the King\u2019s throne-room and informed him publicly\nthat after due deliberation they had come to the conclusion that he was\nundoubtedly in the right. The King was greatly pleased at hearing his\nopinion confirmed, and at once gave orders that the Queen should be\nsent adrift on the river astride a log of wood. So the poor Queen was\ntaken down to the river bank, and placing herself astride of a log of\nwood, she floated off down the great river.\n\nAfter floating along for several hours the current at length carried\nher to the opposite bank, many miles away from her own country, and as\nsoon as she arrived in shallow water she waded ashore and looked about\nher. As far as she could see, the whole country appeared to be one\ngreat plain, covered with high grass, through which it was almost\nimpossible for anyone to force their way; but after hunting about for a\ntime, she discerned a small opening in the grass, which led her to a\nnarrow winding path, along which she walked for some considerable\ndistance. After going some way she came suddenly upon an open clearing\nin the grass, in the middle of which a very old man, with a white beard\nreaching almost to his waist, was seated before a small fire cooking\nhimself some food.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, sir,\u201d said the Queen, when she saw him; \u201ccan you give me\na morsel of food, for I am very hungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly, Madam,\u201d replied the old man; \u201cyou are welcome to all I\nhave,\u201d and so saying, he handed over to her the whole of his\nprovisions.\n\nWhen the Queen had made a good meal, the old man addressed her as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cYou must know,\u201d said he, \u201cthat I am a magician, living in this\nprairie, and you must carefully follow the directions which I shall now\ngive you. You must first follow the path, which will lead you to the\ntop of a small hill, and when you arrive there a son will be born to\nyou. This boy is not an ordinary human child, but is the incarnation of\na very holy Lama, with miraculous qualities, and he will from his birth\nbe able to walk and talk. His name is Baki, and you must follow him\nwherever he leads.\u201d\n\nThe Queen thanked the old man for his advice, and following the narrow\npath, it soon led her to the top of a small hill; and here she was\ndelivered of a child, who, as the magician had predicted, was of a\nmiraculous nature, and was at once able to walk and talk. The boy\nwithout any hesitation went forward along the path, followed by his\nmother, and after travelling for some distance they emerged from the\ngreat grass jungle into an open cultivated country.\n\nNow it happened that on that day the three sons of the King of that\ncountry were out hunting together, and as they rode along looking out\nfor game they suddenly came upon the Queen and her son. Having heard\nher story, they mounted her and the boy upon a horse and carried them\noff to the King\u2019s palace. The King at once took them under his\nprotection, and gave orders that the boy should be brought up with his\nown sons, and he and his mother lodged in apartments in the palace.\n\nBaki grew rapidly in beauty and stature, and soon became an expert in\nall sports and games. One day he and the King\u2019s three sons were out\nhunting together, when by chance they suddenly came upon a beautiful\nsnow-white doe, who jumped up before them and galloped off towards the\nmountains. The four young men at once started off in pursuit; but the\nhorses upon which the King\u2019s sons were riding gradually tired, and one\nafter another they dropped out of the hunt, leaving Baki to continue\nalone. As the chase continued the poor doe began to show signs of\nexhaustion, and Baki, who was close upon her heels, was feeling\nconfident that he would soon catch her. All at once the deer galloped\nstraight up to what appeared to be a precipitous rock, and touching the\nrock with her muzzle, it flew asunder, revealing the entrance to a\ngreat cave within; and as she crossed the threshold of the cave her\nskin fell from her, and she appeared in the form of a beautiful young\nwoman. Baki, who was of a very courageous disposition, did not hesitate\nfor a moment, but, leaping from his horse, he followed the lady into\nthe cave, and scarcely had he entered when the rock doors closed behind\nhim with a loud crash. Following the form of the lady along a narrow\npassage, he emerged presently into a great lofty apartment, hollowed\nout in the centre of the rock, luxuriously furnished and brilliantly\nlighted, and with a row of great glass pillars running down the centre.\n\nThe girl meanwhile had seated herself upon a couch in one corner of the\nroom, and addressing the young man, she asked him who he was, and what\nhe meant by thus thrusting himself upon the privacy of a lady. The\nyoung Prince apologised, and explained the circumstances of the case as\nbest he could, whereupon the girl addressed him as follows:\n\n\u201cYou must know,\u201d said she, \u201cthat the place where you now find yourself\nis the abode of a terrible and blood-thirsty Ogre, and that I, who am\nhuman like yourself, was captured by him some time ago, and he proposes\nshortly to make me his wife. Meanwhile he has taught me certain magic\nspells, which enable me to transform myself into any animal I please,\nand to come and go at my pleasure; but without the assistance of some\nhuman being it is impossible for me to escape from his clutches. But we\nwill talk further regarding these matters to-morrow. It is now near the\ntime for the Ogre\u2019s return, and if he finds you here he will certainly\nkill you without the least hesitation, so you must hide now before he\nreturns.\u201d\n\nSo saying she went over to the central glass pillar and, unscrewing a\nportion of it, she showed him a cavity inside, within which he\nconcealed himself.\n\nScarcely was he securely hidden within the pillar when the door of the\ncave flew open, and a huge Ogre entered the central chamber. Calling\nthe young lady to him, he commanded her to bring his dinner, and after\nmaking a sumptuous repast he sat down on some cushions and began\nplaying the guitar. At the first sound of the music all the pillars in\nthe room, with the exception of the one in which Baki was concealed,\nbegan a slow and stately dance, his pillar alone remaining firm and\nunshaken. When the Ogre saw that one of the pillars was not dancing as\nusual he grew very angry, and seizing a huge hammer in his hand, he\nadvanced upon it, threatening to shatter it into a thousand fragments;\nbut the young lady, seizing him by the arm, begged him to spare it.\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d said she \u201cat the position of the pillar. It is the most central\nand the largest of them all. No doubt it feels some sense of dignity\nand wishes to be distinguished from the remainder. Spare it at any rate\nto-night, and it will probably dance as usual to-morrow.\u201d\n\nThe Ogre agreed to this, and shortly after retired to rest.\n\nNext morning at daybreak he set off about his business, and as soon as\nhe was gone the girl opened the pillar and released Baki, and after\ngiving him a good breakfast, she spoke to him as follows:\n\n\u201cIt is a very difficult thing,\u201d said she, \u201cfor a human being to kill an\nOgre, for whatever damage you may do to his body is of no avail unless\nyou can also destroy the object with which his spirit is bound up. Now\nthis particular Ogre\u2019s existence depends upon the life of a green\nParrot, which is carefully hidden from human view, but I have\nascertained where it is kept, and will explain to you how you may find\nit. Behind the rock in which we are now living you will find another\ngreat rock standing by itself. You must go up to this, and, kicking it\nthree times with your right foot, you must exclaim at each kick, \u2018Great\nRaven, open the door.\u2019 As you pronounce these words for the third time\nthe door will open, disclosing a large cave, in the centre of which,\nseated upon a red stone, you will see a green Parrot. If you can kill\nthis Parrot you will also destroy the Ogre without any danger to\nyourself.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this Baki at once promised to follow the lady\u2019s directions,\nand she released him from the cavern. Going round to the back of the\nrock, he found himself face to face with another great rock standing by\nitself. Kicking this rock three times with his right foot, he\npronounced the magic words, and as he said them for the third time two\nrocky doors flew open, disclosing a cave inside. Entering the cave he\nsaw a green Parrot seated on a red stone in the centre, and he at once\nseized the bird and wrung its neck. As soon as he had accomplished this\nhe ran hastily back to the main cavern, and as he approached the\nentrance he saw the Ogre, who had just been returning to his home,\nlying across the threshold stone dead, with his neck all twisted. The\nyoung lady was greatly rejoiced at the successful issue of their\nadventure, and the two, leaving the Ogre\u2019s body behind them, proceeded\nforthwith to the capital of the country, where the King\u2019s palace was\nsituated.\n\nOn arriving at the capital Baki decided to hire a small house, where he\ncould lodge the young lady and change his own dress before proceeding\nto pay his respects to the King; so having taken a house in the\nsuburbs, he left the lady there while he went out himself into the\nstreets to hear the news. He soon found out that during his absence the\nKing had announced his intention of marrying Baki\u2019s mother, and the\npoor lady, now that she had no son to protect her, had protested in\nvain, saying that she was already the wife of another. Baki was very\nindignant when he heard of this treacherous conduct on the part of the\nKing, and determined to foil his plans. So returning to the young lady,\nhe related to her all that he had heard.\n\n\u201cDo not be anxious,\u201d said she. \u201cIf you will follow my advice I will\nshow you how you may yet get the better of the King.\u201d\n\nAnd she forthwith instructed him in certain magic spells, which she had\nlearned from the Ogre.\n\nArmed with these, Baki proceeded at once to the palace. When he arrived\nin the courtyard he sat himself down upon the King\u2019s mounting-block,\nand muttering the necessary spell, he was at once transformed into a\nlarge cowrie-shell. After lying on the mounting-block for some time it\nchanced that one of the grooms of the palace passed by, and, seeing the\nshell, he paused to look at it, and remarked to himself:\n\n\u201cWhat a beautiful cowrie-shell!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am a very handsome shell,\u201d replied the cowrie, to the terror\nand astonishment of the groom.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat sort of a shell are you? What can you know about\ncowries, or anything else?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know a great deal,\u201d said the shell. \u201cFor instance, I could tell the\nKing something about Prince Baki, which perhaps he would not like to\nhear.\u201d\n\nWhen the groom heard this he ran straight into the palace and informed\nthe Prime Minister all that the shell had said. The Minister, having\ntold the King of the matter, the King gave orders that the shell should\nat once be brought into his presence and placed upon a table before\nhim. When this had been done the King addressed the shell, saying:\n\n\u201cWhat are you, and what do you know about Prince Baki?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can tell you this,\u201d replied the shell, \u201cthat if you attempt to marry\nPrince Baki\u2019s mother you will find yourself in a very unpleasant\nposition.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the King was very much incensed, and he ordered one of\nhis servants to bring in a big hammer to smash the shell to fragments,\nsaying that he would not be browbeaten by a wretched little object like\na shell. So one of the servants, bringing up a hammer, struck the shell\na violent blow and broke it to pieces. In an instant each piece of the\nshell turned into an armed man, and Prince Baki himself appeared\namongst them in his proper form.\n\nGreat confusion now arose amongst the courtiers; some fled in one\ndirection and some in another, whilst others, drawing their swords,\nprepared to fight with the strangers. Meanwhile the armed men, who were\nin reality demons, placed temporarily under the command of Prince Baki,\nlooked fiercely around them, and waving their swords, shouted to the\nPrince, \u201cWhom shall we kill? Whom shall we kill?\u201d\n\nBaki now pointed to the King, and in a moment the band of armed men\nfell upon him, cut him to pieces, and disappeared with shouts of\ntriumph through the roof of the palace. When the courtiers saw what had\nhappened, they hastened to prostrate themselves before the feet of so\npowerful a magician, and installed Baki as their new king.\n\nAs soon as he was seated upon his throne he sent for the young lady\nwhom he had rescued from the Ogre\u2019s cave, and, having married her, they\nlived happily for many years. And the Queen, his mother, soon after\nreturned to King Bacha, and having agreed with him never more to argue\non trivial matters, they had no more disputes or quarrels, and long\nreigned together over a contented and prosperous kingdom.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTORY No. XXII.\n\nTHE STORY OF THE HOME-BRED BOY.\n\nHOW HE FOUND THE LOST TURQUOISE.\n\n\nThere was once an old woman living in Tibet whose husband had died and\nleft her alone with her only son.\n\nAs the Boy grew up, his Mother grew more and more fond of him, and\ndisliked parting from him even for a moment. She was afraid that if he\nleft her house and began wandering about by himself some accident might\nhappen to him, and she would be left desolate in her old age. So the\nolder he grew the more careful she became, until at last she saw that\nit was impossible to restrain the Boy any longer, and it would be\nnecessary for him to go out into the world to seek his fortune, just as\nother young men of his age had to do. So when he had reached the age of\nfifteen she waited till the fifteenth day of the sixth month, which is\na very auspicious date, and calling the Boy to her, she presented him\nwith a new suit of clothes, a horse, a dog, a gun and a sword; and she\ntold him that he was now at liberty to leave his home and to go out\ninto the world to seek his fortune.\n\nThe Boy was greatly delighted at receiving these gifts and with the\nprospect of meeting with some adventures, so after saying farewell to\nhis Mother, he mounted his horse, and with the dog trotting at his\nheels he started away down the road. All day he rode quietly along by\nhimself without meeting with any adventures, and towards evening he\nreached a high plateau near the top of a range of mountains. As he was\ncrossing the plateau a fox jumped up in front of him and ran off\ntowards the mountains. The dog, on seeing the fox, started to chase it;\nwhile the young Man, thinking he was to have some fun at last, galloped\nafter the dog as fast as he could.\n\nAfter running for some distance the fox suddenly disappeared into his\nearth, and the Boy, riding up, dismounted at the mouth of the hole, and\nbegan to scheme how he was to catch the fox when he came out. So he\ntook off his cloak [10] and fastened it to the saddle with his sword\nand his gun, and then placed his horse a little to one side of the\nfox\u2019s earth, whilst his dog stood ready at the other side; and he\nhimself took off his hat and put it over the mouth of the hole, and\ntaking a large stone in his hand, he crouched down ready to slay the\nfox when it came out.\n\nAfter sitting waiting for some time the fox all of a sudden darted out\nof its earth, and ran off towards the hills, with the Boy\u2019s hat\nsticking over its head. It came so suddenly that he had no time to hit\nit with his stone, or to interrupt its flight. The dog, on seeing the\nfox go off, at once started in full pursuit; and the horse, excited by\nthe dog\u2019s cries, galloped off after the pair, and in a few moments all\nthree were lost to sight in the gathering darkness. The poor Boy found\nhimself in a moment bereft of all his possessions\u2014his horse, his dog,\nhis gun, his sword, his hat, and even his outer robe, which he had\nstrapped on his saddle, had all disappeared. After running after his\nhorse for some distance he gave it up in despair, and lay down to pass\nthe night as best he could under a big poplar-tree.\n\nHe woke towards dawn, and, looking up into the branches of the tree, he\nsaw a large Raven\u2019s nest, on which an old Raven was sitting hatching\nher eggs, whilst Father Raven perched on a branch near by. When day\nbroke the two Ravens began talking to one another.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Father Raven,\u201d said the old bird on the nest, \u201cwho is\nthis sleeping under our tree?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d replied Father Raven, \u201cis a foolish home-bred Boy who has no\nexperience of the world. In trying to catch a fox last night he lost\nhis horse, his gun, his sword, his dog, and even his clothes, and now\nhe has not the least idea where to find them.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, so I see,\u201d replied Mother Raven, \u201cbut it is clear, nevertheless,\nthat all he has to do is to go towards the villages which lie towards\nthe east from here\u2014there he will meet with good fortune.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this the Boy at once started off towards the east, and\nproceeding for some little distance, he met an old Beggar Man, to whom\nhe related the whole of his story, and asked him if by any chance he\nhad seen the missing property. The old Man, seeing before him only a\npoor Boy, without even a hat or a cloak, did not believe a word of this\nstory, so he only laughed at him and mocked him; and finally, when the\nBoy grew angry, gave him a sound beating, and left him to go on his way\ndisconsolate.\n\nWandering on a little further, he came to a big house where a wedding\nfeast was being celebrated. Coming timidly up to the door of the house,\nhe peeped in at the guests, and presently one of the servants happening\nto pass by, he related his sad story. But just then the Bridegroom\ncaught sight of him, and called out in a rough voice:\n\n\u201cWho are you who come crying here at my wedding feast? We want no\nwoebegone faces here to-day to bring us bad luck. Go away, you\nill-omened creature.\u201d\n\nSo the poor Boy slank away sadly, and after wandering about till\nnightfall he reached another large house further towards the east.\nAfter the reception he had received from the wedding party he was\nafraid to go in or to knock at the door, so creeping into the backyard\nhe dug himself a nest in the manure heap, and crouched down in this for\nwarmth, all hidden except his head. Thus he spent the night comfortably\nenough.\n\nEarly next morning the pigs belonging to the place began to poke about\nthe yard and the manure heap, and several of them, as they passed,\nrooted at his head with their snouts to see if he was anything good to\neat.\n\nHe could not stand this very long, so finally, screwing up his courage,\nhe went to the back door of the house, and asked one of the servants to\nlend him a knife, saying that he wanted it to cut up the dry meat which\nformed his breakfast. The servant lent him a knife, and as soon as he\nhad got it he enticed one of the pigs away to a quiet corner, where he\nkilled it and cut off its head; and taking with him some strips of its\nflesh, he returned to his nest in the manure, and hid himself there\nagain, together with the pig\u2019s head, waiting to see what would turn up.\n\nTowards noon the Lady of the house came out into the yard, and as she\nwas moving about superintending the various farming operations, it\nhappened that a large and valuable turquoise fell out of her headdress\nwithout her noticing it. When, after a few minutes, she went back into\nthe house, leaving the turquoise lying in the middle of the yard, the\nBoy thought that this would be a good opportunity of getting the\nturquoise for himself, but he was afraid to leave his nest for fear of\nbeing noticed; so picking up a piece of rag from amongst the manure he\nthrew it over the turquoise, concealing it from sight.\n\nShortly after, one of the maid-servants came out of the house, and\nseeing a piece of rag lying in the middle of the yard, she picked it\nup, and the turquoise with it, and thrust them both into a crevice in\nthe wall.\n\nJust then a great uproar arose from the house, where the Lady had\ndiscovered the loss of her turquoise. The whole household was summoned,\nand set to work to search for the missing jewel. For some time great\nbustle prevailed, everyone searching hither and thither, and ransacking\nevery hole and corner; but no one thought of examining the piece of\ndirty rag thrust carelessly into a crevice of the farmyard wall.\n\nFinding that all their efforts were of no avail, the Lady of the house\nsent off in hot haste to summon all the most famous diviners,\nmagicians, and lamas of the neighbourhood, and these, when they\narrived, began practising all kinds of spells and casting auguries in\nthe hope of discovering what had become of the turquoise; but all in\nvain, and when nightfall arrived, they were no better off than they\nwere before.\n\nTowards evening they packed up their various magical instruments and\nspells, and went away very downhearted; and as soon as they were gone\nthe Boy emerged from his hiding-place, and going boldly to the house,\nhe said that he was a famous magician and could find the turquoise for\nthem; and he asked that on the following morning all the diviners and\nlamas should again be summoned, as well as the inhabitants of all the\nneighbouring houses. The Lady of the house was at first inclined to\nridicule the idea of this disreputable-looking beggar being able to\naccomplish what none of these famous sorcerers could do; but thinking\nit worth while to give the Boy a chance, she decided to do what he\nsuggested, and meanwhile ordered her servants to let him have a good\nsupper, of which he stood badly in need.\n\nNext morning, about ten o\u2019clock, a large crowd of people assembled in\nthe courtyard of the house. In addition to the magicians and lamas of\nthe day before, a great many of the neighbours had obeyed the summons,\nand amongst them were the people who had treated the poor Boy so badly\nduring their wedding feast, and the Beggar who had reviled and beaten\nhim. As soon as they were all seated in rows ready to see what was\ngoing to happen, the Boy, holding the pig\u2019s head under his arm,\npresented himself before them all, and addressed them as follows:\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cI hope in a few minutes to be able to discover the\nmissing turquoise, for I am possessed of magic qualities of unusual\npower. In my search I shall be assisted by this enchanted pig\u2019s head\nwhich I hold under my arm. Owing to the spell I have cast upon it, it\nis able at once to detect a thief or a dishonest person, and also to\ndiscover stolen property.\u201d\n\nSo saying he took the pig\u2019s head in both hands, and holding its snout\ntowards the company, he went round from person to person, halting for a\nmoment in front of each. Presently he arrived in front of the\nBridegroom, who had been so rude to him some days before, and the pig\u2019s\nhead at once became violently agitated, and kept poking itself towards\nthis man.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Boy, \u201chere is evidently a dishonest man; it is no good\nour proceeding any further in our search until he has been beaten and\nturned out of here.\u201d\n\nThe other people at once seized upon the wretched man, and after giving\nhim a severe thrashing, they turned him out of the place. Next to him\nwas sitting the Beggar who had so insulted the Boy, and who had\ndisbelieved his story. Here, again, the pig\u2019s head became violently\nagitated, and the Beggar, too, was well beaten and turned out. Having\ngot rid of these two persons, the Boy now began to walk round the yard,\nthe pig\u2019s snout apparently sniffing carefully at every part of the wall\nin the farm buildings. Presently, coming to the crevice into which the\nrag had been thrust by the servant-maid, he moved the pig\u2019s head\nviolently to and fro.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d cried he, \u201cthe missing turquoise must be somewhere near here.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this everyone began to search about in that neighbourhood,\nand in a few minutes the turquoise was found inside the rag thrust into\nthe crevice of the wall.\n\nThe Mistress of the house on recovering her turquoise was greatly\nelated. She took the Boy into the house, and having presented him with\na new suit of clothes, and given him all he wanted to eat and drink,\nshe handed him a large sum of money, and he went on his way in a far\nbetter plight than when he had first arrived there.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOME-BRED BOY.\n\nHOW HE DISLODGED THE SPIDER.\n\n\nAfter leaving the house where he had found the turquoise, the home-bred\nBoy wandered along until, towards nightfall, he arrived at the same\npoplar-tree where he had previously stayed the night, and, lying down\nunder its branches, he fell fast asleep, and did not wake up until\ntowards morning.\n\nAs day was dawning the two Ravens overhead began talking to one another\nas before, and the boy overheard their conversation.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Father Raven,\u201d said the hen bird on the nest. \u201cWhat kept\nyou so late last night?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d replied Father Raven, \u201cthe fact is, I was visiting a farmhouse\ndown yonder, where the mistress of the house, as it happens, is very\nill. She is suffering from a severe pain in her left ear, which drives\nher almost distracted, and no one about the place knows what it is nor\nhow to cure it. They have consulted all of the most famous doctors and\nlamas in the neighbourhood without, however, affording her any relief\nat all. Indeed, no one knows what is the cause of the disease except\nmyself. I have ascertained that the pain in her ear is due to the fact\nthat some days ago a large Spider effected an entrance during her\nsleep, and that the Spider and her young ones have now taken up their\nabode inside the Lady\u2019s head. It is impossible to dislodge them except\nby a stratagem. As you are aware, Spiders are in the habit of sleeping\nall through the winter months, and only wake up and emerge from their\nretreat in the spring. If it were possible to make the Spiders believe\nthat spring had arrived, they would come out of the ear at once;\notherwise they will remain there all through the winter.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed,\u201d replied Mother Raven, \u201cthat is very interesting; but how\nwould it be possible to make the Spider believe that spring had come?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is a very simple stratagem, which I have often seen employed,\u201d\nreplied Father Raven, \u201cwhich is as follows: a piece of green cloth must\nfirst be spread upon a table and well sprinkled with water, and the\nLady must bend her ear over this so that the Spiders can see it. It\nwill appear to them to be a green field, wet with the spring rains, and\nthey will imagine it is time to come out; and then, if they still\ndisplay any reluctance to emerge, it is only necessary to beat a drum\nto simulate thunder. Thunderstorms, as you know, only occur in the\nspring, and the Spiders on hearing this noise will feel convinced that\nspring has really come, and will emerge without any further hesitation.\nThe moment they come out on the table they must be wrapped up in the\ncloth with the greatest expedition and carried away and killed, for if\nthis is not done, they will always be ready at the slightest alarm to\nclimb back into the ear by the threads which they have left suspended\nbehind them.\u201d\n\nMother Raven thanked Father Raven for his information, and she then\nsaid:\n\n\u201cBut you yourself are not looking at all well this morning, what is the\nmatter with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cI am sorry to say I over-ate myself yesterday. The\npeople of the house kept praying to the gods, and were all day long\noccupied in making offerings of rice and flour. Most of these offerings\nwere thrown out into the garden, and I was able to eat as much as I\nwanted. In fact, I ate a great deal too much, and I fear that I am\ngoing to die. If I do, you must faithfully promise to remain in\nmourning for me, in accordance with Tibetan custom, for three years,\nthree months and three days.\u201d\n\nMother Raven, on hearing this, was greatly affected, and solemnly vowed\nto carry out the wishes of her husband, and poor old Father Raven,\ngetting into the nest, shortly after breathed his last.\n\nAs soon as he was dead Mother Raven remarked to herself that she had a\ngreat deal too much to do in looking after her family and household\nduties to think for a moment of following so absurd a custom as\nmourning for a dead bird for any period at all. So she pushed old\nFather Raven\u2019s body out of the nest with her bill and let it fall to\nthe ground below, while she herself flew off to find food for the young\nravens, which had just been hatched out.\n\nMeanwhile the Boy, who had listened attentively to the colloquy of the\nRavens overhead, went straight off to hunt for the house where the Lady\nwas suffering from pains in her ear, and he decided in his own mind to\nmake this another opportunity for displaying his magical powers. He\nsoon arrived at the house in question, and found the whole family in\ngreat grief, and the poor mistress of the house suffering torments with\nthe pain in her ear. Going to the house he asked what was the matter,\nand on hearing the cause of their sorrow he at once announced that he\nwas possessed of very wonderful magic powers, and was prepared to\neffect a cure. The people of the house who had seen him on the previous\nday, when he had found the turquoise, were inclined to believe him, and\nasked him what they should do to procure relief for their mistress.\n\n\u201cAll that is necessary,\u201d replied he, \u201cis a square piece of green cloth,\nsome clean water in a jug and a couple of drums.\u201d\n\nWhen these things had been made ready he spread the piece of green\ncloth on the table and sprinkled some water over it, and he then told\nthe Lady of the house to lean across the table so that her painful ear\nshould come above the patch of green cloth. No sooner had she done so\nthan the Spiders inside, seeing the green expanse with water still\nlying upon it, thought that the spring had come and began moving about,\nand the old Mother Spider at once let herself down by a thread to see\nif it was really spring.\n\nThe people of the house were greatly astonished at seeing the Spider\nemerge, but the Boy ordered them not to touch her; and having satisfied\nherself that there was really water on the cloth, she climbed again up\nher thread, and went back into the Lady\u2019s ear to impart the good news\nto her family. The Boy now ordered the drums to be beaten, and on\nhearing this sound the whole of the spider family, thinking that the\nnoise was thunder, and that spring had undoubtedly arrived, hastily\nemerged from the Lady\u2019s ear and let themselves down, one after another,\non to the green cloth. As soon as they were all, to the number of\nseven, arrived upon the table, the Boy snatched up the piece of cloth,\nand wrapping up the spiders inside it, he carried them all outside and\ndestroyed them.\n\nThe Lady of the house was now completely cured and overwhelmed the Boy\nwith gifts and compliments, and he left the house carrying with him a\nlarge sum of gold, in addition to that which he had received the day\nbefore. He now bent his steps towards his Mother\u2019s house, and as he was\ngoing along the road to his home he suddenly came face to face with the\nold Beggar who had previously insulted him, and whom he had had beaten\nand turned out when he was looking for the turquoise. The old man, who\nwas of a very jealous and vindictive temper, was very much incensed\nagainst the Boy, and had determined to avenge himself upon him. As the\nBoy came down the road the old Beggar suddenly emerged from behind a\nclump of bushes, holding a sword in his right hand and a fly in the\nhollow of his left fist.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cI believe you to be an impostor. You have twice made\npretence to magical powers, which in reality you do not possess, and I\nam about to put you to a final test. If you can tell me what I hold in\nmy left hand I shall let you go free; but if you fail to do so, I shall\nimmediately kill you with this sword.\u201d\n\nThe poor Boy was greatly alarmed at hearing these words, and having no\nweapon himself he was completely at the old man\u2019s mercy. So at a loss\nto know what to say, he replied:\n\n\u201cWell, then, you can kill me if you like, for I am as much in your\npower as though I were a fly which you hold in your left hand and which\nyou can crush at your pleasure.\u201d\n\nThe old man was so much astonished at hearing this reply, which he\nlooked upon as a proof of the Boy\u2019s supernatural powers, that he\nforthwith became one of his most ardent admirers; and as he had seen\nwhere the Boy\u2019s horse, dog, and other belongings had disappeared to on\nthe occasion when they had all followed the fox, he was able to lead\nthe boy to a distant valley, where he found his horse and dog together.\nHere having recovered his sword and his gun, his clothing and other\npossessions, he mounted upon his horse and followed by his dog he\nreturned to his Mother\u2019s house a very much richer Boy than when he had\nleft it.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOME-BRED BOY.\n\nHOW HE DEFEATED THE ENEMY.\n\n\nOn his return to his home the home-bred Boy found that he was now\nfamous far and wide for his supposed magical powers, and he was\nconstantly consulted by people of all classes, who wanted his\nassistance in their various affairs.\n\nIt happened not long afterwards that a war broke out with a\nneighbouring country, and the King sent for the Boy, and asked him\nwhether he would be able to give any assistance in the campaign against\nthe enemy. The Boy was rather alarmed at this request of the King\u2019s,\nfor he did not in the least know how he should set about defeating the\nfoe, but he allowed no sign of hesitation to appear in his manner, and\nhe answered boldly that he was prepared to undertake the job; whereupon\nthe King presented him with a magnificent charger and begged him to do\nhis best.\n\nNow as it happened, the Boy was in reality a very bad rider, and did\nnot at all fancy the idea of riding about on a spirited horse, but for\nvery shame he could not refuse the King\u2019s gift. So early next morning,\nwhen he mounted his horse with the intention of riding out and\nreconnoitring the enemy\u2019s camp, in order to see what could be done, he\nmade his servant tie his feet together with a rope under the horse\u2019s\nbelly, so that he should not fall off if it ran away or played any\npranks with him. Having ridden for some distance he reached the top of\na hill, whence he could obtain a clear view of the enemy\u2019s camp, and as\nhe was sitting on his horse watching the scene below a trumpet suddenly\nsounded. The noise of the trumpet frightened the horse, which, after\ngiving one or two preliminary plunges, dashed off down the hill at full\ngallop straight towards the enemy\u2019s camp.\n\nThe poor Boy was much terrified at this untoward event, and did all he\ncould to stop his horse by pulling the bridle and speaking to it, but\nwith no avail. Just before reaching the camp the horse carried him\nunder a dead tree, and the Boy, raising his arms, seized one of the\nbranches with both hands in the hope of checking the horse\u2019s mad\ncareer; but the rotten bough broke in his grasp, and the horse\ncontinued its gallop right into the camp, with the Boy holding in his\nhands a huge branch of the tree.\n\nHither and thither rushed the horse amongst the tents of the enemy,\ntrampling the frightened soldiers underfoot, whilst the Boy in his\nstruggles to maintain his balance, swept his great branch to and fro\nwith equally disastrous effect. During his gallop his hair had become\nloosened, and was now flying wildly in the air, and his shouts and\nadjurations to his horse increased the terror of his appearance. The\nenemy\u2019s soldiers had never seen such a terrific-looking object before,\nand one and all came to the conclusion that he must undoubtedly be a\ndemon that was attacking them, and that he would soon compass their\nentire destruction. So instead of opposing him they tried to soothe and\nconciliate him, offering him silken scarfs and other presents as he\ngalloped to and fro. But he made no reply to them, and continued to\nshout fiercely at his horse.\n\nThese shouts were taken by the soldiers to be threats of vengeance\nagainst themselves, [11] and, finally, the General and all the\nprincipal officers, coming out in a body with scarfs, begged him to\nmake peace and to allow them to go away quietly. The Boy, who heard\nwhat they said, was quite willing to agree, but was totally unable to\ncontrol his horse, so he shouted to them that he accepted their\nsubmission on condition that they were able to stop his horse. So\nrunning on either side of him, they seized the bridle and soon brought\nthe animal to a standstill, when the Boy formally accepted their\nsurrender, and dictated to them terms of peace; and they on their part\nwere only too thankful to have escaped from such a danger, and gladly\nconsented to withdraw at once to their own country.\n\nWhen the King heard what had happened, he sent for the Boy and thanked\nhim very heartily for his services; and as a reward for what he had\ndone, he raised him to the highest rank, and presented him with lands\nand gold, and the young Man and his Mother lived happily ever\nafterwards.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSOME VERSES FROM TIBETAN LOVE-SONGS.\n\n\nA woman sings to a man whose affection for her is waning:\n\n\n \u201cAs a great mountain, with its cooling streams,\n Nourishes the little fields far down below,\n Do you, my lover, with a stream of love,\n Nourish the heart of her who loves you so.\u201d\n\n\nThe man replies to the woman:\n\n\n \u201cWhen autumn chills destroy the honeyed flowers,\n The bees must do without their favourite food;\n So when my passion cools, and dies my love,\n You should submit to this my chang\u00e9d mood.\u201d\n\n\nA man sings to a woman:\n\n\n \u201cUp every rocky cliff some path exists,\n If one can find a guide to show the way;\n So to your heart some avenue must lead,\n Teach me, forthwith, that path of love, I pray.\u201d\n\n\nThe woman replies:\n\n\n \u201cWere I inclined to grant this fruit [12] to you,\n The gift were thine at once\u2014to-day, to-morrow.\n But oh! I fear that lurking at your back,\n Are demons red [13] to bring me endless sorrow.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLOVE SONG.\n\n\n Could I but win the maiden\n For whom my heart doth pine,\n I\u2019d prize her as a jewel\n From depths of ocean brine.\n\n I\u2019d guard her fragrant body,\n Like white turquoise so rare.\n My wanderings all behind me,\n I\u2019d know no earthly care.\n\n As luscious fruit well ripened,\n Hangs tempting on the tree;\n So is thy beauty, maiden,\n Temptation sore to me.\n\n From longing for thy beauty,\n How can I sleep at night?\n By day I seek thee vainly,\n My heart is tired quite.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] Compare, for example, \u201cTibetan Tales derived from Indian Sources,\u201d\ntranslated from the Tibetan of the Kah Gyur into German by F. Anton von\nSchiefner. Done into English from the German by R. W. S. Ralston.\n\n[2] But I am preserving such of these as appear to me to possess any\nscientific interest.\n\n[3] Such a locality is described in the Tibetan language by a single\nword\u2014a monosyllable.\n\n[4] The Kyang is the wild ass of Tibet.\n\n[5] This story is also told of a Sheep and a Goat, instead of a Sheep\nand a Lamb. See accompanying illustration.\n\n[6] Known as \u201cLa\u201d in the Tibetan tongue. It is difficult to find an\nequivalent word in the English language, but the Princess describes its\nmeaning. See also the story of \u201cRoom Bacha and Baki,\u201d where the same\nsuperstition occurs.\n\n[7] This is in accordance with Tibetan custom, whereby a scarf is\ninvariably presented upon all occasions of ceremony.\n\n[8] Another version of the story says cakes of dried yaks\u2019 dung instead\nof sticks\u2014see accompanying illustration.\n\n[9] The Monkey\u2019s actual words, I regret to say, cannot be reported\nverbatim.\n\n[10] In Tibetan \u201cchu-ba,\u201d the outer garment, like a dressing-gown, worn\nby all Tibetans.\n\n[11] There is a play on the words of the Tibetan original here which\nexplains this point, but which is incapable of adequate translation\ninto English.\n\n[12] I.e., her heart. She compares her heart ripe with love to a ripe\nfruit.\n\n[13] Presumably she means the man\u2019s passions. She compares them to the\nterrific demons (red is the angry colour) of Tibetan Lamaist mythology.","title":"Folk tales from Tibet : $b With illustrations by a Tibetan artist and some verses from Tibetan love-songs","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":46033}