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The Giant Crab
THE PIOUS WOLF
The Giant Crab
And Other Tales
from Old India
Retold by
W. H. D. Rouse
Illustrated by W. Robinson
^^ London
David Nutt, 270-271, Strand
1897
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON <S^ Co.
London ^ Edinburgh
16.3
33 l
Warning
To the Studious or Scientific Reader
I HOPE no one will imagine this to be a scientific book.
It is meant to amuse children ; and if it succeeds in this,
its aim will be hit. Thus the stories here given, although
grounded upon the great Buddhist collection named
below, have been ruthlessly altered wherever this would
better suit them for the purpose in view; and probably
some of them Buddha himself would fail to recognise.
My thanks are due to the Syndics of the Cambridge
University Press for permitting the use of their translation
of the Jataka Book ; * from which comes the groundwork
of the stories, and occasionally a phrase or a versicle is
borrowed. To this work I refer all scholars, folk-lorists
and scientific persons generally : warning them that if
they plunge deeper into these pages, they will be horribly
shocked.
* The Jataka, or Stories of the Buddha's former Births. Translated from
the Pali by various hands, under the editorship of Professor E. B. Cowell.
Vol. I., translated by R. Chalmers, B.A. (1895). Vol. II., translated by
W. H. D. Rouse, M.A. (1895). Vol. III., translated by H. T. Francis, M.A.,
and R. A. Neil, M.A. (1897). Vol. IV., in preparation. All the stories but
two come from the second volume of this work.
8GOG56
Contents
FACE
THE GIANT CRAB . ... . . . .... I
THE HYPOCRITICAL CAT 6
THE CROCODILE AND THE MONKEY 9
THE AXE, THE DRUM. THE BOWL, AND THE DIAMOND ... 14
THE WISE PARROT AND THE FOOLISH PARROT 36
THE DISHONEST FRIEND 30
THE MOUSE AND THE FARMER '. . 34
THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE 38
THE MONKEYS AND THE GARDENER 4!
THE GOBLIN AND THE SNEEZE . . 45
THE GRATEFUL BEASTS AND THE UNGRATEFUL PRINCE ... 49
THE GOBLIN IN THE POOL 56
THE FOOLISH FARMER AND THE KING 59
THE PIOUS WOLF 62
BIRDS OF A FEATHER 64
SPEND A POUND TO WIN A PENNY . 68
x Contents
PAGE
THE CUNNING CRANE AND THE CRAB . . . . . . JO
UNION IS STRENGTH 77
SILENCE IS GOLDEN '. 80
THE GREAT YELLOW KING AND HIS PORTER 82
THE QUAIL AND THE FALCON 86
PRIDE MUST HAVE A FALL 88
THE BOLD BEGGAR 95
THE JACKAL WOULD A-WOOING GO 97
THE LION AND THE BOAR IO2
THE GOBLIN CITY IO6
LACKNOSE Ill
THE KING'S LESSON . . . , 114
THE GIANT CRAB
ONCE upon a time there was a lake in the mountains, and
in that lake lived a huge Crab. I daresay you have often
seen crabs boiled, and put on a dish for you to eat ; and
perhaps at the seaside you have watched them sidling
away at the bottom of a pool. Sometimes a boy or girl
bathing in the sea gets a nip from a crab, and then there
is squeaking and squealing. But our Crab was much
larger than these ; he was the largest Crab ever heard of ;
he was bigger than a dining-room table, and his claws were
A
2 The Giant Crab
as big as an armchair. Fancy what it must be to have a
nip from such claws as those !
Well, this huge Crab lived all alone in the lake. Now
the different animals that lived in the wild mountains
used to come to that lake to drink ; deer and antelopes,
foxes and wolves, lions and tigers and elephants. And
whenever they came into the water to drink, the great
Crab was on the watch ; and one of them at least never
went up out of the water again. The Crab used to nip it
The Giant Crab 3
with one of his huge claws and pull it under, and then
the poor beast was drowned, and made a fine dinner for
the big Crab.
This went on for a long time, and the Crab grew bigger
and bigger every day, fattening on the animals that came
there to drink. So at last all the animals were afraid to
go near that lake. This was a pity, because there was
very little water in the mountains, and the creatures did
not know what to do when they were thirsty.
At last a great Elephant made up his mind to put an
end to the Crab and his doings. So he and his wife
agreed that they would lead a herd of elephants there to
drink, and while the other elephants were drinking, they
would look out for the Crab.
They did as they arranged. When the herd of elephants
got to the lake, these two went in first, and kept farthest
out in the water, watching for the Crab ; and the others
drank, and trumpeted, and washed themselves close
inshore.
Soon they had had enough, and began to go out of the
water ; and then, sure enough, the Elephant felt a
tremendous nip on the leg. The Crab had crawled up
under the water and got him fast. He nodded to his
wife, who bravely stayed by his side ; and then she
began :
" Dear Mr. Crab ! " she said, " please let my husband
go ! "
The Crab poked his eyes out of the water. You know
a crab's eyes grow on a kind of little stalk ; and this Crab
was so big, that his eyes looked like two thick tree-trunks,
with a cannon-ball on the top of each. Now this Crab
4 The Giant Crab
was a great flirt, or rather he used to be a great flirt, but
lately he had nobody to flirt with, because he had eaten
up all the creatures that came near him. And Mrs.
Elephant was a beautiful elephant, with a shiny brown
skin, and elegant flapping ears, and a curly trunk, and two
white tusks that twinkled when she smiled. So when the
big Crab saw this beautiful elephant, he thought he would
like to have a kiss ; and he said in a wheedling tone :
" Dear little Elephant ! Will you give me a kiss ? "
Then Mrs. Elephant pretended to be very pleased, and
put her head on one side, and flapped her tail ; and she
looked so sweet and so tempting, that the Crab let go the
other elephant, and began to crawl slowly towards her,
waving his eyes about as he went.
All this while Mr. Elephant had been in great pain
from the nip of the Crab's claw, but he had said nothing,
for he was a very brave Elephant. But he did not mean
to let his wife come to any harm ; not he ! It was all
part of their trick. And as soon as he felt his leg free, he
trumpeted loud and long, and jumped right upon the
Crab's back !
Crack, crack ! went the Crab's shell ; for, big as he was,
an elephant was too heavy for him to carry. Crack,
crack, crack ! The Elephant jumped up and down on
his back, and in a very short time the Crab was crushed
to mincemeat.
What rejoicing there was among the animals when
they saw the Crab crushed to death ! From far and near
they came, and passed a vote of thanks to the Elephant
and his wife, and made them King and Queen of all the
animals in the mountains.
The Giant Crab 5
As for the Crab, there was nothing left of him but his
claws, which were so hard that nothing could even crack
them ; so they were left in the pool. And in the autumn
there came a great flood, and carried the claws down into
the river ; and the river carried them hundreds of miles
away, to a great city ; where the King's sons found them,
and made out of them two immense drums, which they
always beat when they go to war ; and the very sound of
these drums is enough to frighten the enemy away.
THE HYPOCRITICAL
CAT
ONCE upon a time there was a troop
of Rats that used to live in holes
by a river side. A certain Cat often
saw them going to and fro, and
longed to have them to eat. But
he was not strong enough to attack
them all together ; besides, that would
not have suited his purpose, be-
cause most of them would have run
away.
So he used to stand early in the
morning, not far from their holes,
with his face towards the sun,
snuffing up the air, and standing
on one leg.
The Hypocritical Cat 7
The Rats wondered why he did that, so one day they
all trooped up to him in a body, and asked the reason.
"What is your name, sir ?" they began.
" Holy is my name," said the Cat.
" Why do you stand on one leg ? "
" Because if I stood on all four, the earth could not bear
my weight."
"And why do you keep your mouth open?"
" Because I feed on the air, and never eat anything
else."
" And why do you face the sun ? "
" Because I worship the sun."
" What a pious Cat ! " the Rats all thought. Ever after
that, when they started out in the morning, they did not
fail first to make their bow to the Cat one by one, and
to show 'thus their respect for his piety.
This was just what our Cat wanted. Every day, as they
filed past, he waited till the tail of the string came up ;
then like lightning pounced upon the hindmost, and
gobbled him up in a trice ; after which he stood on one
leg as before, licking his lips greedily.
For a while all went well for the Cat's plan ; but at last
the Chief of the Rats noticed that the troop seemed to
grow smaller. Here and there he missed some familiar
face. He could not make it out ; but at last a thought
came into his mind, that perhaps the pious Cat might
know more about it than he chose to tell.
Next day accordingly, he posted himself at the tail of the
troop, where he could see everything that went on ; and
as the Rats one by one bowed before the Cat, he watched
the Cat out of the end of his eye.
8 The Hypocritical Cat
As he came up, the Cat prepared for his pounce. But
our Rat was ready for him, and dodged out of the way.
" Aha ! " says the Rat, " so that is your piety ! Feeds
on the air, does he ! and worships the sun — eh ? What a
humbug ! " And with one spring he was at the Cat's
throat, and his sharp teeth fast. The other Rats heard
the scuffle, and came trooping back ; and it was crunch
and munch, till not a vestige remained of the hypocritical
Cat. Those who came first had cat to eat, and those who
came last went sniffing about at the mouths of their friends,
and asking what was the taste of catsmeat. And ever after
the Rats lived in peace and happiness.
THE CROCODILE AND THE MONKEY
ONCE upon a time there was a deep and wide river, and
in this river lived a crocodile. I do not know whether
you have ever seen a crocodile ; but if you did see one, I
am sure you would be frightened. They are very long,
twice as long as your bed ; and they are covered with
hard green or yellow scales ; and they have a wide flat
snout, and a huge jaw with hundreds of sharp teeth, so
big that it could hold you all at once inside it. This
crocodile used to lie all day in the mud, half under water,
basking in the sun, and never moving ; but if any little
animal came near, he would jump up, and open his big
jaws, and snap it up as a dog snaps up a fly. And if you
had gone near him, he would have snapped you up too,
just as easily.
io The Crocodile and the Monkey
On the bank of this river lived a monkey. He spent the
day climbing about the trees, and eating nuts or wild fruit ;
but he had been there so long, that there was hardly any
fruit left upon the trees.
Now it so happened that the crocodile's wife cast a
longing eye on this Monkey. She was very dainty in her
eating, was Mrs. Crocodile, and she liked the tit-bits. So
one morning she began to cry. Crocodile's tears are very
big, and as her tears dropped into the water, splash, splash,
splash, Mr. Crocodile woke up from his snooze, and looked
round to see what was the matter.
" Why, wife," said he, "what are you crying about ? "
" I'm hungry ! " whimpered Mrs. Crocodile.
"All right," said he, " wait a while. I'll soon catch you
something."
" But I want that Monkey's heart ! " said Mrs. Crocodile.
Splash, splash, splash, went her tears again.
"Come, come, cheer up," said Mr. Crocodile. He was
very fond of his wife, and he would have wiped away her
tears, only he had no pocket-handkerchief. " Cheer up ! "
said he ; " I'll see what I can do."
His wife dried her tears, and Mr. Crocodile lay down
again on the mud, thinking. He thought for a whole
hour. You see, though he was very big, he was very
stupid. At last he heaved a sigh of relief, for he thought
he had hit upon a clever plan.
He wallowed along the bank to a place just underneath
a big tree. Up on the tree our Monkey was swinging by
his tail, and chattering to himself.
" Monkey ! " he called out, in the softest voice he could
manage. It was not very soft, something like a policeman's
The Crocodile and the Monkey 1 1
rattle ; but it was the best he could do, with all those sharp
teeth.
The Monkey stopped swinging, and looked down. The
Crocodile had never spoken to him before, and he felt
rather surprised.
" Monkey, dear ! " called the Crocodile, again.
"Well, what is it ?" asked the Monkey.
" I'm sure you must be hungry," said Mr. Crocodile.
" I see you have eaten all the fruit on these trees ; but why
don't you try the trees on the other side of the river ?
Just look, apples, pears, quinces, plums, anything you could
wish for ! And heaps of them ! "
" That is all very well," said the Monkey. " But how
can I get across a wide river like this ? "
" Oh ! " said the cunning Crocodile, " that is easily
managed. I like your looks, and I want to do you a good
turn. Jump on my back, and I'll swim across ; then you
can enjoy yourself ! "
Never had the Monkey had an offer so tempting. He
swung round a branch three times in his joy ; his eyes
glistened, and without thinking a moment, down he
jumped on the Crocodile's back.
The Crocodile began to swim slowly across. The
Monkey fixed his eyes on the opposite bank with its
glorious fruit trees, and danced for joy. Suddenly he felt
the water about his feet ! It rose to his legs, it rose to his
middle. The Crocodile was sinking !
" Mr. Crocodile ! Mr. Crocodile ! take care ! " said he.
" You'll drown me ! "
" Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed the Crocodile, snapping his
great jaws. " So you thought I was taking you across out
12 The Crocodile and the Monkey
of pure good nature ! You are a green monkey, to be
sure. The truth is, my wife has taken a fancy to you, and
wants your heart to eat ! If you had seen her crying this
morning, I am sure you would have pitied her."
" What a good thing you told me ! " said the Monkey.
(He was a very clever Monkey, and had his wits about
him.) "Wait a bit, and I'll tell you why. My heart, I
think you said ? Why, I never carry my heart inside me ;
that would be too dangerous. If we Monkeys went
jumping about the trees with our hearts inside, we should
knock them to bits in no time."
The Crocodile rose up to the surface again. He felt
very glad he had not drowned the Monkey, because, as I
said, he was a stupid creature, and did not see that the
Monkey was playing him a trick.
" Oh," said he, " where is your heart, then ? "
" Do you see that cluster of round things up in the tree
there, on the further bank ? Those are our hearts, all in
a bunch ; and pretty safe too, at that height, I should
hope ! " It was really a fig-tree, and certainly the figs did
look very much like a bunch of hearts. "Just you take
me across," he went on, "and I'll climb up and drop my
heart down ; I can do very well without it."
" You excellent creature ! " said the Crocodile, " so I
will ! "
And he swam across the river. The Monkey leapt
lightly off the Crocodile's back, and swung himself up the
fig-tree. Then he sat down on a branch, and began to eat
the figs with great enjoyment.
" Your heart, please ! " called out the Crocodile. " Can't
you see I'm waiting ? "
The Crocodile and the Monkey 13
" Well, wait as long as you like ! " said the Monkey.
" Are you such a fool as to think that any creature keeps
its heart in a tree ? Your body is big, but your wit is
little. No, no ; here I am, and here I mean to stay.
Many thanks for bringing me over ! "
The Crocodile snapped his jaws in disgust, and went
back to his wife, feeling very foolish, as he was ; and the
Monkey had such a feast in the fig-tree as he never had in
his life before.
Q
THE AXEt THE DRUM,
THE BOWLt AND
THE DIAMOND
OXCE upon a time there was a poor
young man who went out into the
world to seek his fortune. He went
aboard a ship sailing across the ocean ;
and after they had sailed for a year and
a day, suddenly a great storm arose.
The rain descended, and the wind blew,
and it blew so hard and so wild, that
the ship went miles out of her course,
and the skipper could not tell where
they were. And then, in the middle of
the night, a great crash came, and the
ship was dashed upon a reef. The
waves beat and battered it, and turned
it topsy-turvy, and the end of it
The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond 15
was that every soul was drowned except the poor young
man.
The waves washed him ashore, more dead than alive,
and on the shore he lay till next morning, when the sun
warmed him and woke him up from his faint. He got up
and looked about him, and wandered over the place, which
he found was an island. It did not take him long to
V
walk round it ; and then he saw that it was a small island,
and far as the eye could reach not another speck of land
was to be seen. There were plenty of trees growing in
the island, with fruit and flowers, bananas and cocoanuts,
and springs of water ; but on the trees were no birds, and
no animals ran about on the ground. So he lived on the
fruits and roots, and did the best he could.
One day, to his great surprise, he saw a black thing in
the skyj and, still more surprising, the black thing had no
wings. Yet it was flying, and flew nearer and nearer,
until he saw that it was a large wild pig. How could a
pig fly through the air ? He rubbed his eyes and looked
again ; yes, a pig it was beyond all doubt ; and it flew
closer and closer until it came to the island. He hid
behind a bush, and saw the pig sink slowly to the ground
1 6 The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond
and lie down under a tree. Soon the pig was fast asleep
and snoring. He went up close, and, to his amazement,
by the pig's side, was the most magnificent diamond he
ever saw. It blazed and sparkled in the sun and looked
like a ball of fire. He stepped gingerly up to the pig, and
took hold of the diamond ; the pig was very sleepy and
snored away heartily. As he turned the diamond about
in his hand and saw it flash, he suddenly thought to
himself, " What if the pig should wake ? He looks fierce,
he has great sharp tusks, and I have nothing to defend
myself with. If I were only up in that tree, now "
But what on earth had happened ? As the thought came
into his mind, he found himself perched in the tree-top.
For a little while he was quite dazed and dizzy. Then
he began to wonder if it could be the diamond which had
done this miracle. So just to try, he wished himself down
again ; and there he was, without knowing how ! He
began to understand that this was a magic diamond, and
something which he must take great care of. Then he
wished himself up in the tree again.
When he was in the tree once more, he picked off a nut
that was growing on the tree, and dropped it upon the pig's
nose. The pig woke up, raised his head, and looked round
for the diamond ; he was a very intelligent pig, indeed he
was really not a pig at all, but a great magician, who used
to fly about in the shape of a pig because he was as wicked
as could be, and preferred being a pig rather than a
man. There are really a great many people like that, only
we see them in the shape of men and do not know the
difference.
Now when this pig saw that his diamond was gone, he
The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond 17
fell in a fury ; for all his power lay in the diamond, and
without it he was nothing more than any other pig. So
he glared and snorted, and looked all round, and down,
and up — and then he saw the man who had dropped the
nut upon his snout ! Then his fury knew no bounds ; he
foamed at the mouth, and ran raging round and round
the trjp4 but the man only laughed, and dropped more
nuts on him. This made him mad indeed, for pigs cannot
climb trees, and he saw that his diamond was lost, and
with it all his magical power ; so in his madness he charged
straight at the tree, and ran his tusks right into the trunk.
There they stuck, and tug as he would, he could not get
them out.
The man wished himself down from the tree, and
looked about for a large stone, with which he battered the
pig's skull till it was dead. Then he held the diamond
over the pig, so that the sun's rays shone clown and
were reflected through it ; and so fine and strong was the
diamond, that in a very short time a delicious smell of roast
pork rose to his nostrils, and the whole pig was done to a
turn, with rich crisp crackling. Then he took a sharp shell
which he found lying on the beach, and carved off slices
of the pork, which he ate. It was very nice indeed, and he
had the best meal he had enjoyed since the ship had been
wrecked on the reef, and he had been cast ashore on that
island.
By-and-by, when he had finished his dinner, it occurred
to him that as the pig had flown there through the air, so
he might fly away. So holding his diamond in his hand,
he wished to fly through the air to the nearest land.
Then he felt himself rising, and he was carried swiftly
B
1 8 The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond
through the air, and away, away over the sea ; the island
grew smaller, it became a black patch, it dwindled to
a speck in the distance. The sun shone warm upon him,
the waves sparkled underneath ; porpoises gambolled
about, playing leap-frog in the sea; flying-fish came out
of the water in a flash of light, and dropped into the
water again ; still he went on, till, as the sun was setting,
he came close to a sandy beach ; and there before long
he stood, wondering what he should do next.
He looked round, and not far off, behind a clump of
bushes, rose a thin column of smoke. He put the
diamond in his pocket, and walked towards the smoke.
Soon he saw a queer little hut, and at the door, upon the
The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond 19
ground, sat a man without any legs. Whether a shark
had bitten off his legs, or whether he never had any,
I cannot tell you, for he never told me ; but there he sat,
like a chessman. He had a fur cap, and a fur coat ; he
did not need any trousers, for he had no legs tq put them
on, as I have told you. In front of him was a fire, and
over the fire was a spit, and on the spit was a young kid
roasting.
"Good evening, sir," said the young man.
" Good evening," said the other.
" Can you give me a night's shelter ? " the young man
asked.
" Whatever I have, you may share," said the old man
with no legs.
So they sat down, and ate a good meal ; but the young
man was rather frightened to see that the other man ate
skin, and bones, and everything. And he did not like the
way the old man eyed him. In fact I must tell you, that this
old man was another magician, and a friend of the
magician who looked like a pig ; and when any travellers
came that way, he used to eat them. He did not eat this
traveller, because the kid was ready roasted ; but he
meant to do it as soon as he should be hungry again.
" How did you get here ? " asked the old man.
" I flew over the sea," said the young man.
"Indeed!" said the old man. "And how did you
manage that ? "
Then the traveller showed his diamond, and told the
old man what a wonderful stone it was, and how it gave
any one power to fly through the air.
" If you will give me your diamond," said the old man,
20 The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond
" I will give you my axe. You see I have no legs, so you
may wonder how I live. This is the way I live. If I slap
this axe on the handle, and say, Wood and fire ! away it
flies, and cuts wood and kindles a fire. If I slap the steel,
and say, Heads ! away it flies, and chops off the head of a
goat or any animal I want ; and then it brings me meat for
my dinner. Now I have lived here for a thousand years by
the help of my axe, and I am rather tired of being in one
place. I should like to see the world before I die, and
that is why I want your diamond."
" All right," said the young man, " it's a bargain." They
exchanged the axe and the diamond ; the old man turned
it over in his hand, chuckling greedily. As soon as the
young man got grip of the axe, he smacked the steel, and
says he, " Heads !" In a jiffy the axe sliced through the
old man's neck like a turnip, and he had no more head
than legs.
Then the traveller picked up the diamond, and put it in
his pocket. So now he had two magic things instead of
one. He blessed his luck, and fell asleep very happily
inside the old magician's hut.
Next morning, with the diamond in his pocket and the
axe on his shoulder, the young man set out on his travels.
All day long he walked through the forest, until at even-
ing time he saw before him another hut, like the first,
where lived the old man with no legs. Before this hut,
too, there was a fire burning, and beside the fire sat an
old man without any arms. Whether a tiger had bitten
off his arms or whether he never had any, I cannot say,
because he never told me ; but there he sat like a pair of
compasses. He had the stump of a tree to sit on, and
The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond 21
before him was another stump, and on this stump was a
large bowl of milk, out of which he was drinking. When
he saw our friend, he tipped over this bowl with his chin ;
instantly a deep roaring river surrounded him and his
hut, and he sat in the middle, laughing at the young man's
surprise. But he did not laugh long, for the young man
instantly wished himself over the river, and there he was.
Now it was his turn to laugh.
" How on earth did you do that ? " asked the old man.
He was much too astonished to think of saying good-day.
" Oh, that's nothing," said the young man, and showed
him his diamond.
The old man's eyes glistened. He thought how nice it
would be to have that diamond.
" What do you say to selling me that diamond ? "
said he.
" What will you give me for it ? " asked the young
man.
" I will give you this bowl. It is a wishing bowl.
Whenever you are hungry all you have to do is to wish
for something in it, and there it is ; milk, or soup, or
wine ; anything that can go in a bowl. And if you turn
it over, as you saw me do just now, a rushing, roaring
river pours out, and surrounds you, or, if you like, it will
flood a whole country and drown every living thing."
" Dear me ! " said the young man, " that is a wonderful
bowl. Well, I agree ; I'll give you my diamond for it."
So they exchanged the bowl and the diamond. The old
man took the diamond in his hand and watched it sparkle ;
but he did not watch long, for the young man slapped his
hatchet and cried, "Heads!" In a jiffy the steel sliced
22 The Axe, Drumt Bowl, and Diamond
through the old man's neck like a cucumber, and he had
no more head than arms. Then .the young man picked
up his diamond and put it away in his pocket. So now
he had three wonderful things instead of two. He blessed
his good luck, wished for some delicious wine in his bowl,
drank it, and went to sleep happily, in the old man's hut.
Next morning the young man was up betimes ; and after
taking a meal out of his wishing-bowl, he set out once more
to walk through the forest. After he had walked for some
hours, he heard, far in the distance, a loud rub-a-dub-dub,
rub-a-dub-dub, boom, boom, boom. He felt as if he
could hardly help running away ; still, with a great effort,
he began to walk towards the sound, which got louder
and louder every minute, till at last it made a tremendous
din. Then, suddenly, just as he came upon a little open
glade in the forest, he heard a rustle, bustle, jostle, and
out of the trees came a great herd of elephants, lions,
tigers, wrolves, and all sorts of wild animals, their hair
bristling with fright, and every one of them tearing along
at full speed. They were far too much terrified to notice
him, and, scurrying across the glade, they vanished among
the trees.
By this time the noise had ceased, but it was riot long
before he came upon another little glade, and at the end
of the glade was a hut, and in front of that hut sat a big
black giant with a drum.
" Good day to you ! " roared the giant, in a great voice.
" Good day ! " said the young man, rather frightened.
" Come and have something to eat ! " roared the giant.
" Thank you," said the young man.
They sat down, and the giant offered him some food.
The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond 23
But the young man thought it was safer not to take any of
the giant's food, so he pulled out his bowl, and wished for
some soup, and sipped it.
" What is that ? " asked the giant.
The young man told him it was a wishing bowl, that
gave any food he wanted. The giant was very much
delighted with the wishing bowl, and thought that if
he could get that bowl, he would be able to eat without
the trouble of getting things.
" I'll buy that bowl ! " he roared.
"What will you give me for it?" asked the young
man.
" I will give you this drum," said the giant. " If you
beat on one side, everybody that hears it will run away."
"Ah, that was why the lions and tigers were running
away just now ! " said the young man.
"Yes," said the giant. "And if you beat on the other
side, a splendid army of soldiers and horses will spring up
out of the ground and defend you."
" All right, here you are," said the young man, and gave
him the bowl.
The giant took the bowl in great glee, and horrid to
tell, wished out loud for a bowlful of blood ! He began
to drink it, but he did not finish ; for as he buried his nose
in the bowl, the young man slapped his axe, and said —
" Heads ! " Down came the axe with a crash on the
giant's head, and cut it clean in two !
If the young man \vas glad when he saw the giant's head
cleft in two, he was gladder when he went inside the giant's
hut. For there, all round the wall, were the bodies of
travellers who had passed that way ; and they were tied to
24 The Axe, Drum, Bowl, and Diamond
the uprights of the wall, and their bodies were dry as
dust, and shrivelled like a medlar. For this giant used to
catch all travellers and tie them up in his house, and then
he sucked their blood till they were dry. So when our
traveller saw what a narrow escape he had had, he
determined no longer to remain in that dreadful place.
Picking up the bowl and the drum, and feeling to see that
his axe and diamond were safe, he wished himself at the
gate of the nearest city.
Now the king of this city was a very cruel king. He
used to rob and murder even his own subjects ; and
as for strangers, he had short shrift and no mercy for
them. So when the king heard that there was a stranger
outside the gates, he made up his mind to have some
sport ; and sent out a company of soldiers to fetch him in.
The young man beat his drum, and they all took to their
heels ! You may imagine how angry the king was to hear
this ; he had all their heads chopped off on the spot,
and sent a regiment. The same thing happened to the
regiment. But this only made the king angrier than ever.
He ordered all his army to be marshalled before the gates,
and himself riding at their head, led them forward to cap-
ture this audacious stranger." Then the young man tipped
over his wishing bowl. Out poured a roaring torr,ent of
water that flooded the plain, and drowned every soldier
in the army, all except the king, who had galloped back
to the city, and got up on the wall. Then the young man
slapped his axe, and cried, " Heads ! I want the king's
head ! " Off flew the axe through the air like a boomer-
ang, and sliced off the king's head, and brought it back to
its master. The people inside the city began to cheer with
The Axe, Drum, Bowlt and Diamond 25
joy, when they saw the king with his head off. And when
the axe came back, the young man beat upon the other
side of his drum ; and lo and behold ! the earth began to
tremble, it seemed full of holes, and from every hole
sprouted a warrior fully armed. Surrounded by his army,
he marched into the city, where he became king, and
lived happily ever after. And I hope that we may be half
as happy as he was.
THE WISE PARROT
AND THE
FOOLISH PARROT
ONCE upon a. time there
was a man who had two
pet parrots that could talk
very nicely; indeed they
had more sense than most people have, and when their
master was alone he used to spend the evening chattering
with them. They cracked jokes like any Christian, and
told the funniest tales.
But this man had a thievish maid-servant. He had to
lock everything up, and even as it was, never turned his
back but she was filching and pilfering.
The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot 27
One day the man had to go away on a journey. Before
he went he took out the two parrots, and perched one on
each fist, and says he to them, "Now, Beaky and Tweaky,
I want you to watch the maid while I am gone ; and if
she steals anything, you are to tell me when I come home
again."
They blinked at him, their eyelids coming up over their
eyes from underneath, as you must have noticed in
parrots ; looking very solemn as they did so. Then
Beaky said,
" If she do it
She shall rue it ! "
But Tweaky said nothing at all ; only winked again
more solemnly than ever.
" Good Beaky ! " said the man, " naughty Tweaky ! "
Then he went away.
As soon as he was out of sight, the maid began her
games. She picked the locks of his cupboards and ate the
sugar, she ate the biscuits, she drank the wine. Beaky
hopped into the room, stood on one leg, and shrieked,
" Naughty maid !
Aren't you afraid ?
Master shall know,
And you shall go ! "
The maid jumped as if she had been shot, and looked
round. She thought somebody had caught her unawares ;
but when she saw it was Beaky she put on a sweet smile,
and held out a lump of sugar, saying in a coaxing voice,
" Pretty Poll ! pretty Beaky ! I won't do it again ! Come,
then, and have a nice lump of sugar."
This temptation was too strong for poor Beaky. He
28 The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot
wanted very much to do his duty, but he wanted the
lump of sugar more. So he put his head on one side and,
looking very wise, sidled up to the maid. This was very
wrong of Beaky, because he knew the sugar was stolen ;
and in another minute he was sorry ; for as soon as he
came within reach and pecked at the sugar, the maid
caught him by the neck with the other hand. Then her
smile changed, and she sneered,
" So Beaky is going to tell, is he ? Tell-tale tit ! I'll
teach Beaky to tell tales ! " As she said each word, she
plucked out a feather from poor Beaky's head. Beaky
shrieked and Beaky struggled, but all in vain ; she did not
let him go till he was bald as a bullet.
Tweaky saw all this, but said nothing, only winked and
blinked, and looked more solemn than ever. The maid
looked at him, but thought she, " That bird is too stupid
to tell, and he isn't worth the trouble of plucking." So
she left him alone.
By-and-by the master came in. The maid went up to
him in a great bustle, and said she had found Beaky
stealing sugar, and she had plucked him as a punishment.
When the evening came, the master sat in his room with
Beaky and Tweaky. Poor Beaky felt ashamed of himself,
and had nothing to say ; he sat on his perch the picture
of misery, with his tail drooping, and his ridiculous bald
head. Tweaky said nothing at all.
Now it happened that the master had a bald head too,
and when he took off his skull-cap, which he generally
wore to keep his head warm, Tweaky noticed it.
He laughed loud and shrieked out, "Oh-oh-oh!
Where's your feathers, Tell-tale tit ? Where's your feathers,
Tell-tale tit ? "
The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot 29
Tweaky was only a parrot, you see, and was not always
quite correct in his grammar, as you are.
" What do you mean ? " asked the master.
But for a long time Tweaky would say nothing but the
same words over and over again, " Where's your feathers,
Tell-tale tit ? " However, by-and-bye they heard the maid
going to bed, tramp, tramp, tramp. Then Tweaky grew a
little braver ; and next time the master asked him what he
meant, he replied :
" Every parrot has two eyes,
Both the foolish and the wise ;
But the wise can shut them tight
When 'tis best to have no sight.
Wisdom has the best of it :
Where's your feathers, Tell-tale tit ? "
Then the master understood what had happened, for he
was a very clever man ; and without any delay he ran
upstairs two steps at a time, and woke the maid, and made
her dress herself, and turned her out of the house then and
there. I wonder why he did not do it before, but that is
no business of mine.
After that, poor Beaky never had the heart to talk again ;
but Tweaky, whenever he saw a bald-headed man, or a
woman with a high forehead, shrieked out at the top of
his voice —
" Ha ! ha ! ha ! Where's your feathers, Tell-tale tit ? "
THE DISHONEST FRIEND
THERE was once a man who went on a journey, and he
asked a friend to take charge of his plough till he should
return. The friend promised
to take great care of it. But
no sooner was the man gone
than he sold the plough and
put the price in his own
pocket. Was not that a mean
trick to serve a friend ?
The man came back, and
asked his friend for the
plough.
" Oh, I am so sorry," the
friend replied ; " my house is
infested with rats, and one
night a very big rat came and
ate it up."
" Ah well," said the man,
" what can't be cured must be
endured ! It must have been a very big rat, though."
" It was," said the other, " very big."
The Dishonest Friend 31
You must not suppose this man was quite such a fool
as he seemed. You will soon see why he did not make a
fuss about his plough.
Next day he took his friend's son out for a walk. When
they had gone some distance he took the boy to another
friend's house, and told this friend to keep the boy safe,
but not to let him go out of the house till he returned.
Then he ran back to the boy's father.
" Where is my boy ? " asked the father.
" Your boy ? Oh, I remember — a hawk swooped down
and carried him off."
" Oh, you liar ! oh, you murderer ! " said the friend.
"Come before the judge, and then we shall see."
"As you please," said the man.
32 The Dishonest Friend
So they went to the court.
" What is your complaint ? " asked the judge.
" My lord, this man took my son out for a walk with
him, and came back alone, and now he says a hawk
carried him off. He must have murdered the boy !
Justice, my lord, justice ! "
"What is this ?" asked the judge sternly. " Come, my
man, tell the truth."
" It is the truth, my lord," said the man ; " he came
with me for a walk, and was carried away by a hawk."
"Nonsense !" said the judge. "Who ever heard of a
hawk carrying off a boy ? "
"And who ever heard, my lord, of a rat eating a
plough ? "
The Dishonest Friend 33
"What do you mean ? " asked the judge.
The man told his story. Then the judge saw that the
man who complained had cheated his friend, and under-
stood what was the reason of this little trick. So he said
to the man whose son was lost :
" If you find the plough that was entrusted to you,
perhaps your son may be found too."
The man was much annoyed at being found out, but,
willy nilly, he had to give the plough back. Then his son
was brought back safe to him again. And he began to
see that honesty is the best policy.
THE MOUSE AND THE FARMER
ONCE upon a time there was a Mouse, who made his hole
in a place where there were thousands and thousands of
golden sovereigns buried in the ground. Now there was
a Farmer who owned the land where this treasure was
buried ; but he did not know about it, or else of course he
would have dug it up. He often noticed the little Mouse
sitting with his head peeping out of the hole, but as he
was a very kind Farmer, he never hurt the Mouse ; and
now and then when he was having his own dinner, he
would throw the Mouse a bit of cheese.
The Mouse was very grateful to the Farmer, and
wondered what he could do to show it. At last he
thought of the treasure ; for this Mouse was sensible enough
to know that Farmers are very pleased to get a golden
sovereign now and again. So one day, as the Farmer
went by the hole, Mousie ran out with a golden sovereign
in his mouth, and dropped it at the Farmer's feet. You can
imagine how glad the Farmer was to see a golden
The Mouse and the Farmer 35
sovereign. Indeed, it was the first one he had seen since
the Corn Laws were abolished. So he thanked the Mouse,
and went down to the village, and bought him a beautiful
piece of meat. After this the Mouse every day brought
the Farmer a golden sovereign, and every day the Farmer
gave him a big chunk of meat. Thus in a few weeks
Mousie grew quite fat.
But the Farmer had a big black cat that used to prowl
about watching for mice. It used never to notice the
Farmer's own favourite Mouse while the Mouse was thin ;
but when he grew sleek and fat and shiny, Grimalkin
(which was the Cat's name) lay in wait for him one day
and pounced upon him. Poor little Mousie was terrified.
" Please don't kill me, Mr. Grimalkin ! " said Mousie.
"Why not ? I'm hungry and you are fat ! "
" But, sir, if you eat me now, you'll be hungry to-morrow,
won't you ? "
" Of course I shall ! " said Grimalkin.
" Well," said Mousie, who had suddenly thought of a
plan ; " if you will only let me go, I'll bring you a beautiful
juicy piece of meat every day ! "
This was a tempting offer for Grimalkin, who was a lazy
Cat, and liked sitting by the fire, and licking himself all
over, better than hunting for mice.
" All right," said he ; " only if you leave out one day,
you're a dead mouse ! " Then, with a frightful spit,
bristling up all his whiskers and eyebrows, Grimalkin ran
away.
So next day, when the Farmer gave Mousie his dinner,
Mousie carried it off to the black Cat, and the black Cat
spat and swore and ate it up, and away ran Mousie
36 The Mouse and the Farmer
trembling. But by degrees Mousie grew thinner and
thinner, because Grimalkin always had his dinner ; and
soon he was nothing but skin and bone. Then the
Farmer noticed how thin his Mouse had become, so one
day he asked the Mouse whether he was ill.
" No," said Mousie, " I'm not ill."
" What is the matter, then ? " asked the Farmer.
" I never get any dinner now," said Mousie, with tears
running down over his nose, " because Grimalkin eats it
all ! " Then he told the Farmer about the bargain he
had made with Grimalkin.
Now the Farmer had a beautiful piece of glass, with a
hole in the middle. I think it was an inkstand, but I am
not sure. So he took this piece of glass and put Mousie
inside it, and turned it upside down upon the ground in
front of Mousie's hole. "Now," said he, "next time
Grimalkin comes for your dinner, tell him you have none
for him, and see what will happen."
So next day up comes Grimalkin for his dinner, spitting
and looking very fierce.
" Meat ! meat ! " says he to the Mouse.
" Get off, vile thief ! " says Mousie, " I've no meat for
the likes of you ! "
At this Grimalkin could hardly believe his ears. He \vas
in a rage, I can tell you ; and, without stopping to think,
pounced upon Mousie, and swallowed him, inkstand and
all. You see, as it was all glass, Grimalkin did not know
that there was any inkstand there, because he saw the
Mouse through it.
Now cats can digest a good deal, but they can't digest a
glass inkstand. So Grimalkin, when he had swallowed
The Mouse and the Farmer
37
the Mouse and the inkstand, felt a pain inside ; and this
got worse and worse, until at last he died. And then
Mousie crept out of the inkstand, and crawled up through
Grimalkin's throat, and went back to his hole again. And
there he lived all his life in happiness, every day bringing
a golden sovereign to the Farmer, who gave him every
day a beautiful dinner of meat.
THE TALKATIVE
TORTOISE
ONCE upon a time there was
a Tortoise that lived in a
pond. He was a most worthy
Tortoise, but he had one fault,
he would talk in season and
out of season; all day long
it was chatter, chatter, chatter
in that pond, until the fish said
that they would rather live on
dry land than put up with it
any longer.
But the Tortoise had two
friends, a pair of young Geese,
who used to fly about near
the pond in search of food.
And when they heard that
things were getting hot for the
The Talkative Tortoise 39
Tortoise in that pond, because he talked so much, they
flew up to him and cried eagerly :
" Oh, Tortoise ! do come along with us ! We have such
a beautiful home away in the mountains, where you may
talk all day long, and nobody shall worry you there ! "
" All very well," grumbled the Tortoise, " but how am I
to get there ? I can't fly !"
" Oh, we'll carry you, if you can only keep your mouth
shut for a little while."
" Yes, I can do that," says he, " when I like. Let us be
off."
So the Geese picked up a stout stick, and one Goose
took one end in her bill and the other Goose took the
other end, and then they told the Tortoise to get
hold in the middle ; " only be careful," said they, " not
to talk."
The Tortoise set his teeth fast on the stick, and held on
like grim death, while the Geese, flapping their strong
wings, rose in the air and flew towards their home.
All went well for a time. But it so happened that some
boys were looking up in the air, and were highly amused
by what they saw.
" Look there ! " cried one to the rest, " two Geese carry-
ing a Tortoise on a stick ! "
The Tortoise on hearing this was so angry that he forgot
all about his danger, and opened his mouth to cry out :
" What's that to you ? Mind your own business ! " But
40 The Talkative Tortoise
he got no farther than the first word ; for when his mouth
opened he loosed the stick, down he dropped, and fell with
a crash on the stones.
The talkative Tortoise lay dead, with his shell cracked
in two.
v
THE MONKEYS
AND
THE GARDENER
ONCE upon a time
there was a beautiful
park, full of all manner
of trees and shrubs,
with beds of flowers
set here and there, and
no end of fruit-trees.
A gardener used to
take care of this park ;
pruning the trees
when they made too
much wood, and digging the ground, and watering the
flowers in dry weather.
It happened that there was a fair to be held away in the
city, and the gardener very much wanted to go. But
who would take care of the park and garden ? If his
42 The Monkeys and the Gardener
master came in and found all the flowers drooping or
dead, what would he say then ! It would never do.
Meditating thus, and in doubt, he looked up into the
branches of the trees, and a bright thought struck him.
I must tell you that in this park there were not only herds
of deer, and plenty of rabbits and other creatures that
usually live in parks, but there were troops of monkeys in
the trees, who climbed and chattered and cracked nuts all
day long, with no lessons to do. -And when the gardener
cast up his eyes to the trees, he saw some monkeys
that he knew very well indeed. Many a time he
had been kind to them ; and now he thought they
should do the like by him, as one good turn deserves
another.
So the gardener called out, " Monkeys, I want you ! "
Down they all clambered, and in a very short time they
were sitting beside him on the grass.
" Monkeys," said he, " I have been a good friend to
you, letting you eat my nuts and apples. And now I
want to take a holiday. Will you water my garden while
I am away ? "
" Oh yes, yes, yes ! " cried the Monkeys. They thought
it a great joke, and leaped for joy.
So the gardener handed over his watering-pots to the
monkeys, and put on his Sunday clothes, and went away
to the fair.
Meanwhile, the Monkeys held a solemn council, sitting
in a ring round the Monkey chief.
" Brothers," said the Monkey chief, " our good friend,
the gardener has given us charge of this garden and all
there is in it. We must take care not to hurt anything,
The Monkeys and the Gardener
43
and, above all, not to waste the water. There is very little
water, and I really don't think
it will go round."
It was in fact a well, very
small at the top, but very deep,
and at the bottom the water
was always running. You
might have watered till dooms-
day out of that well ; but
monkeys, though they are cun-
ning, are not wise, and these
monkeys thought that a little
round hole could not hold very
much water.
"So you see," the Monkey chief went on, "you must
give each plant just enough
water, and no more ; and I
think the best way will be,
to see how long the roots
are."
So each Monkey took a
watering-pot, and they scat-
tered all over the garden.
Every bush and every plant
they carefully pulled up,
and measured its roots ;
and then they gave a great
deal of water to plants
with long roots, and only
a little when the roots
were short. After that
44 The Monkeys and the Gardener
they put the plants and bushes back in the holes they
came from.
After a day or two, back came the gardener from his
fair. But what was his horror to see that nearly all the
plants in the garden were drooping, some of them dead
and many dying, while the Monkeys were busy in every
direction pulling up the rest.
" Oh dear, oh dear, what in the world are you doing ?
My garden is ruined, my garden is ruined ! " The poor
gardener wept for sorrow.
The Chief Monkey was very much surprised. He
thought he had been very clever to put water according
to the size of the roots, and he said so.
" Clever ! " said the gardener. " Clever indeed ! Fools
you are, there is no mistake about it."
" Fools they may be," said his master, who had come
up behind him without being seen, " but, after all, that is
their nature. You ought to have known better than to
put monkeys in charge of a garden, and you are a greater
fool than they."
Then he sent that gardener away and got another.
THE GOBLIN AND THE SNEEZE
ONCE upon a time there was a very powerful Goblin, who
haunted a little house just outside the gates of a city.
Nobody else lived in this house. There was a big black
beam that ran across from one side to the other, up in
the roof ; and there this Goblin perched. For twelve
years he had served the King of the Goblins faithfully,
and as a reward he was now permitted to gobble up any
man who sneezed inside that house ; and, indeed, that is
why these creatures are called Goblins. But if, when a man
sneezed, some one else said, " God bless you ! " as people
The Goblin and the Sneeze
do say, or " May you live a hundred years ! " then the
man who said it was free ; and if the other answered,
" The same to you ! " he was free too. Everybody but
these the Goblin might gobble up for a single sneeze.
Now it fell out that one day a
father and son were travelling along
the road, and they came to the city
gates just as the sun went down. I
must tell you that in those days the
people used to shut the city gates fast
at sunset, and nothing would make
them open again till the morning —
they were horribly afraid of robbers
or wild soldiers, who might come
and damage them in the night. So
when these two wayfarers came up
to the gates, and wanted to go in, the
porter said no.
" Now, do we look like robbers ? "
asked the father. Certainly they did
not, dusty and grimy with their trudge,
and a bag of tools over the shoulder.
" Robbers or no robbers, orders are orders," said the
porter, " and this gate doesn't open for the King himself."
"Well, what are we to do ?" The poor fellow was in
despair.
" Oh, there's an empty house outside ; there it is among
the trees. It is haunted, they say ; but I daresay the
Goblin won't hurt you."
" Goblin ! — well, we must take our chance, I suppose."
Indeed, there was nothing for it ; so to the house they
The Goblin and the Sneeze 47
went. They rested, and cooked a meal for themselves
on a fire of sticks, and then prepared to go to sleep.
The Goblin, however, was not going to let them off so
easily ; he wanted his dinner too. After waiting a long
time, with never a sneeze from one or the other, he raised
a cloud of fine dust ; that was rather mean of him, but
still he was very hungry, and did not stick at trifles.
Sure enough, the father nearly sneezed his head off.
The Goblin chuckled, and made ready to pounce from
his perch and devour the pair of them. But the son
happened to see him, and, being a sharp lad, he guessed
the truth. " God bless you, father ! " says he ; " may you
live a hundred years ! "
How the Goblin gnashed his teeth ! However, if his
48 The Goblin and the Sneeze
pudding was lost, his meat was left ; so he stretched out a
great claw to clutch the father and tear him to pieces.
Just then the father cried, "Thank you, my son, and
the same to you ! "
He was only just in time ; the claw was within an inch
of his throat ; but the Goblin, baffled, flew up to his perch
again, and sat mouthing and mumbling there.
Then the son began to talk to this Goblin, and showed
him the error of his ways, and how cruel he was to eat
men ; and the end of it was, he persuaded the Goblin to
become a vegetarian, and to follow him about, and be his
errand-boy. You will think this was a very soft-hearted
Goblin. Perhaps no one had ever spoken kindly to him
before ; anyhow, whatever the reason was, he went out
with the two travellers, as tame as a tabby cat ; and for all
I know, they may be travelling together to this very day.
THE GRATEFUL BEASTS AND THE
UNGRATEFUL PRINCE
ONCE upon a time there was a King, and he had a son.
And this son was so cruel and disagreeable, that he took
a delight in hurting people, and never spoke to anybody
without an oath or a blow. He was a thorn in the flesh to
everybody he came across ; he was like grit in the
porridge, like a fly in the eye, like a stone in the shoon.
And they called him the Wicked Prince.
One day the Wicked Prince went down to the river to
bathe, along with a number of servants. By-and-by a
great storm came on, and the clouds were so thick that it
became pitch-dark. However, this Prince was obstinate,
and would not give up his bathe ; and as he was too lazy
even to bathe himself, he swore at his servants, and
said :
" You lazy beasts ! Bathe me, and look sharp about it,
or I'll tickle you with a cat-o'-nine-tails ! "
Now the servants had had enough of this young bully ;
and thought they, " What if we pitch him into the river,
where the current is strong, and just leave him there !
D
50 Grateful Beasts and Ungrateful Prince
We can easily pretend he was carried away where we
could not reach him ; and if the King finds us out, and
puts us to death — anyhow, death is better than his eternal
bullying." So they pitched him head over heels into the
water, though he screamed and struggled, and then they
went home and told the King that he had gone in to
bathe, and a flood carried him away. I daresay it was
wicked of them to tell such a lie, but it was more the
Prince's fault than theirs.
Meanwhile the Prince had got hold of a tree that had
been torn up by the roots, and climbing upon it, went
floating down the river.
Now on the banks of this river lived a Snake. This
Snake had once been a very rich man, and he had buried
a vast treasure on the river bank ; and he loved his riches
more than he loved his own soul, so when he died, he
was born again as a Snake, and had to live for ever close
to his buried hoard. And a Rat that lived close by had
also been a man once, and buried his money as the Snake
had done, instead of using it in doing good ; so he was
born as a Rat, and made a hole where his money lay.
These two creatures were caught by the flood, and it so
happened that they saw the tree where the Wicked Prince
was, and swimming to it, each got on one end, while the
Prince was in the middle. And a young Parrot flying
through the air, was beaten down by the rain ; for in that
country the drops of rain are as big as pigeons' eggs, and
no birds can fly through it. Then it so happened that
this Parrot dropped down upon the same tree where the
Snake was, and the Rat, and the Wicked Prince ; and so
there were four of them on the tree, floating down the river.
Grateful Beasts and Ungrateful Prince 53
As the tree came near to a bend in the river, it was
washed close to the bank. And on the bank a man was
sitting. He did not mind the rain a bit, because he was a
Hermit, who thought the world so wicked that he left it
and went to live in the jungle all by himself. He built
himself a little hut by the riverside, and, wet or fine, he
cared not a jot. This man saw the tree, and managed to
catch hold of it and pull it ashore. Then he got the four
creatures off it, and took them into his hut, and dried
them and warmed them by the fire. But he began with
the Parrot, because she looked the most miserable of them
all ; and then he dried the Rat ; and next the Snake ;
and only attended to the man when he had comforted the
other three. This made the Wicked Prince very angry.
If he abused even those who made much of him, you may
imagine how he cursed and swore in his heart at this
man who left him to the last ! But he said nothing,
because he was afraid that if he did the man might turn
him out in the storm again.
In a day or two the rain stopped, and the flood went
down ; and the creatures were all right again as they took
their leave of the Hermit. The Snake thanked him for
his kindness and said :
" You have saved my life, good Hermit ! What can I
do for you ? You seem to be a poor man ; I am rich,
and if you ever want money just come to my hole and
call * Snake,' and you shall have all my treasure. Good-
bye ! " The Rat said the same.
The Parrot was very sorry to think that she had no
money, so she said : "Silver and gold have I none; but if
you ever are hungry, and want some rice, come to my tree
54 Grateful Beasts and Ungrateful Prince
and -call ' Parrot/ and I'll get you as much rice as ever you
like."
But the Wicked Prince hated this kind Hermit, because
he had been left to the last. However, he pretended to be
grateful, and said to the Hermit : " I hope you will pay
me a visit soon. I am a Prince, and I shall be glad of a
chance to repay you for all you have done for me."
Then he went away, chuckling to think how he would
torment the poor Hermit, if ever he got him into his
power.
This Hermit had all his wits about him, and he knew
that people often promise what they never mean to do ;
so after a while he thought he would put them all to the
test. So first he took his stick, and journeyed to the city
where the Wicked Prince lived. The Prince, who was
King himself now, saw him coming, and thought to him-
self : " Aha ! here's that rascal that left me to the last.
Wants me to pay him for it, I suppose ! Well, I'll pay him !
I'll pay him out ! " So he called to his men : " Hi there,
brutes ! do you see that fellow ? He tried to rob me the
other day — just catch him and give him a flogging, and then
stick a stake through his body, and leave him to die ! "
Then the servants caught the Hermit, and flogged him
well. But the Hermit did not cry out or grumble, only
kept on saying to himself quietly: "The proverb's true,
the proverb's true ! "
" What proverb do you mean ? " they asked him.
" It's unlucky to save a drowning man," said the
Hermit.
Then he told them the whole story, and very angry
they were when they heard it. They stopped beating the
Grateful Beasts and Ungrateful Prince 55
Hermit at once, and seizing the Wicked King, they beat
him instead, and stuck a stake through his body, and left
him to die.
Then they made the Hermit King instead of the Wicked
Prince. And the Hermit took them a walk into the country,
and when they came to the Snake's hole he called out
" Snake ! " Out came the Snake, and curled up against his
feet, and showed him the hole where his treasure was ; and
the Hermit gave it all to his servants. And then they went
to the Rat's hole, and he called out " Rat ! " And the Rat
ran up, and rubbed his nose against the King's hand, and
gave him all his treasure, which the King gave to his
servants as well as the other. And last of all they went
to the Parrot's tree, and called " Parrot ! " And the
Parrot flew up and gave a call, and instantly all the air
was black with Parrots. And all the Parrots carried a grain
of rice in their beaks, and dropped it on the ground ; and
there was such a heap of rice, that it was enough to feed
all the people for the rest of their lives.
So the grateful beasts kept their promise, and the
ungrateful Prince was killed, and the Hermit ruled over
his people kindly, and they all lived happily until they
died. And when they died they all went to heaven ; and
the Snake and the Rat and the Parrot went there too,
because they had at last overcome their love of money,
and given it away to show how grateful they were to the
Hermit for being kind to them.
THE GOBLIN IN THE POOL
ANIMALS in the forest have no bottles and glasses to drink
out of, so if they are thirsty they have to go down to a
pool. Now in a certain great forest there was a pool, in
which lived a horrible Goblin. He was big and black,
like an immense monkey, with an immense mouth, and
four rows of sharp teeth ; but he could not come out of
the water, because he had no nose, but only gills like a
fish. So if any animal came down into the water to get a
drink, he pounced upon him at once and gobbled him
up ; but he could not touch the animals while they
remained on the bank.
The Goblin in the Pool 57
One year there was a great drought, and the sun was so
hot that it dried up all the water in that forest for many
miles round, except the pool where this Goblin was ; but
this pool was very deep and cool, under the trees, and
therefore it was not dried up. There was a herd of
monkeys who had been wandering about for a long time
in search of water, but found none, until they came to
this pool. But the King of the Monkeys was very clever,
and he noticed that there were a great many footprints
going down to the water, and none coming away. So he
warned his Monkeys not to go near that pool. However,
one of them was very thirsty, and ran down into the
water ; but as soon as he got into the water, and was
having a delicious drink — suddenly he disappeared !
There were some bubbles, and no more was seen of the
Monkey. The other Monkeys watched for a long time,
wondering what had become of their friend ; and then an-
other, who was so thirsty that he could not help it, stepped
quietly into the water and began to drink. In an instant
he gave a shriek and threw up his hands, and the others
saw him dragged down below the water ! A few bubbles
came upto the top andburst, but the poor Monkey was gone.
What were they to do ? They were dying of thirst, and
yet they were afraid to drink ; the banks were high,
and they could not reach the water from the top. So
they all sat round the banks, looking at the water, very
unhappy.
By-and-by a man came down to the side of the pool.
He wanted a drink of water, but he had no glass. So he
looked round, and then he saw the Monkeys sitting on
the bank, very unhappy.
58 The Goblin in the Pool
" What's the matter ? " said he.
" Don't go into that pool ! " said the King of the
Monkeys. " If you do, you will be drowned, like our two
poor friends ! "
Then they told him how7 their friends had gone into the
water to drink, and how they had both been pulled under-
neath and drowned, none of them could tell how.
The man understood at once that it was a Goblin. So
he pulled up a long reed that was growing on the bank
of the pool and cut off the ends, and then he put down
one end of it into the water and sucked at the other end,
and the water came up from the pool into his mouth. At
this the Monkeys were delighted, and they all pulled up
reeds from the bank (for you know a monkey always
imitates what he sees men do), and sucked up the water
through them, and so quenched their thirst without going
into the pool. And the Goblin, finding that no more food
was to be got, died of starvation ; and a good thing too.
THE FOOLISH FARMER AND
THE KING
ONCE there was a foolish Farmer, who had a son at
court, serving the King. This Farmer was a very poor
man, and all he had to plough his fields with was one
pair of oxen. Two oxen was all he had, and one of
them died.
The poor Farmer was in despair. One ox was not
enough to draw the plough over the heavy land ; and he
had no money to buy another. So he sent a message to
his son, that he was wanted at home.
When the son came, his father told him that one of his
oxen was dead, and he had no money to buy another.
So he begged his son to ask the King to give him an ox.
" No, no," said his son, " I am always asking the King
for something. If you want an ox, you must ask him
yourself."
" I can't do it ! " said the poor Farmer. " You know
60 The Foolish Farmer and the King
what a muddle-head I am. If I go to ask the King for
another ox, I shall end by giving him this one ! "
" Well, what must be, must be," said his son. " Anyhow,
I cannot ask the King : but I'll train you to do it."
So he led his father to a place which was dotted all
over with clumps of grass. The young courtier tied up a
number of bundles of this grass, and arranged them in
rows. ^ " Now, look here, father," said he, " this is the
King, that is the Prime Minister, that is the General, here
are the other grandees," pointing to each bundle as he
said the name. " When you come into the King's
presence, you must begin by saying : ' Long live the
King ! ' and then ask your boon." To help him to
remember, the son made up a little verse for his father
to say, and this is the verse :
" I had two oxen to my plough, with which my work was done.
Now one is dead : O, mighty king, please give me another one ! "
" Well," said the Farmer, " I think I can say that."
And he repeated it over and over, bowing and scraping
to the bunch of grass that he called the King.
Every day for a whole year the Farmer practised ; and
how the ploughing got on meanwhile I do not know.
Perhaps he lived on the seed-corn, and did not plough at
all.
At the end of the year he said to his son :
" Now I know that little verse of yours ! Now I can
say it before any man ! Take me to the King ! "
So together father and son trudged away to the King's
palace. There on a throne he sat, in gorgeous robes, with
his courtiers all around him, the Prime Minister, the
The Foolish Farmer and the King 61
General, and all, just as the young man had told his
father. But the poor Farmer ! his head was beginning to
swim already.
" Who is this ? " said the King to the Farmer's son, who,
as you know, was a courtier, so the King knew him.
" It is my father, Sire," he answered.
" What does he want ? " the King asked.
All eyes were turned on the Farmer, who by this time
was as red as a turkey-cock, and hardly knew vijhether
he stood on head or heels. However, he plucked up
courage, and out came the verse, as pat as a pancake :
" I had two oxen to my plough, with which my work was done.
Now one is dead : O, mighty king, please take the other one ! "
The King couldn't help laughing ; and he saw there
must be a mistake somewhere. " Plenty of oxen at home,
eh ! " said he, keeping up the joke.
"If so, Sire," said the Farmer's son with a bow, "you
must have given them."
The King thought that rather neat. " If I have not
given you any so far," said he, smiling, " I will do it
now."
And when the pair got home, the Farmer in despair at
his blunder, lo and behold in his cowhouse were half a
dozen of the finest oxen he had ever seen ! So the poor
old Farmer got his oxen, though he did make a muddle of
the verse.
THE PIOUS WOLF
ONCE there was a flood, and there was a large rock with a
Wolf sleeping on the top. The water came pouring
around the rock, and when the Wolf awoke he found
himself imprisoned, with no way of getting off, and
nothing to eat.
" H'm ! " said he to himself, " here I am, caught fast
sure enough, and here I shall have to stay yet awhile.
Nothing to eat, either ! Well," he thought, after a pause,
" it is Friday to-day, when people say you ought to fast.
Suppose I keep a holy fast to-day ? A capital idea ! "
So he crossed his paws, and pretended to pray, and
thought himself very good and pious to be fasting.
A fairy saw this, and heard what he said ; and she
thought she would just see how much was real and how
much was sham. So she changed herself into the shape
of a pretty little Kid, and jumped down out of the air on
to the rock.
The Wolf opened an eye to see what the noise could
be,- and there was a tender little Kid, standing on the
rock. He forgot his prayers in a minute. "Aha ! " said
he. " A Kid ! I can keep my Friday fast to-morrow.
The Pious Wolf 63
Now for the Kid ! " He smacked his lips, and jumped at
the Kid.
But the Kid jumped away, and, try as he would, he
could not come near it. You know it was the fairy, and
the fairy did not let herself be caught.
After trying to catch the Kid for some time the Wolf
lay down again. " After all," said he, " it is Friday ; and
perhaps I had best keep my fast to-day."
" You humbug ! " said the fairy, who had gone back to
her proper shape ; " you are a nice creature to pretend
that you are keeping fast ! You fast because you can't
help it, not because you are really good. As a punish-
ment, you shall stay on this rock till next Friday, and fast
for a week ! "
So saying, she opened her wings and flew far away.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
ONCE upon a time there was a big horse called Chestnut.
He was as fierce as a fury, and bit everybody who came
near him ; his groom always had a broken bone, or a
bruise at the least ; and, as for the other horses, let Chest-
nut loose in the herd, and there was a fine to-do : a kick
for one, a bite for another ; it was hurry, skurry, worry,
till they took themselves off and left him alone in the
clover.
Now the King wanted to buy some horses, and a dealer
had driven down a couple of hundred of them for the
King to buy. But the King was a skinflint, and wanted to
get them cheap ; so he dropped a hint to his groom, that
it would not be a bad thing if Chestnut made acquaint-
ance with these horses ; at the same time, he dropped a
gold piece in the groom's hand. So the groom led Chest-
nut by this new herd, and, all of a sudden, he quietly
flicked Chestnut with his whip ; Chestnut reared and
plunged, the groom shouted, and, pretending to find the
horse too strong for him, let go the halter. Off galloped
Chestnut, kicking up his heels in the air, roaring and
whinnying ; and fine fun he had among the new horses !
Birds of a Feather 65
By the time he had done with them, hardly one had a
whole skin.
The poor dealer was in despair. He would be ruined !
And next day, when the King came to see the horses, he
turned up his nose. " Pooh ! do you suppose I want
bruised old hacks like that ? Look at that sore ! And here
is a broken jaw ! Why, half of them limp ! " In vain
the dealer protested that it was Chestnut's fault ; the King
only laughed, and asked if he expected him to believe
that one horse could do all that mischief. (And yet, as
you know, it was one horse, and at the King's own bid-
ding too.) However, it was a pity that he should have to
take them back again, the King said ; so, if he liked, as a
favour, he would buy the horses, at half price.
The dealer was not taken in by this, but he pretended
to be very grateful, and went home again, wondering
what he could do. He was afraid to offend the King, and,
indeed, very few people were rich enough to buy his
splendid horses. So he knew that he would be obliged
to take some more down to the King another time. Then
he suddenly remembered he had just such another vicious
brute at home, named Strongjaw, that nobody could do
anything with. "Aha !" said he ; ".I have it ! I'll take
Strongjaw down with me next time, and if he does not
prove a match for Chestnut I am very much mistaken."
He chuckled with glee as he thought what a fine fight
there would be between the two.
Next time, as he had resolved, he brought Strongjaw
with the drove, and as soon as the King's groom came by
with Chestnut, and let him go as he did before, the
dealer's eyes twinkled, and he let out Strongjaw. Chest-
E
66 Birds of a Feather
nut pricked up his ears, and Strongjaw pricked up his ;
then, without taking any notice of the rest, they trotted
up to each other and rubbed noses, and began to lick
each other all over. They did not fight at all, but in a
moment they became bosom friends.
The dealer could not understand this, neither could the
King. However, this time the King had to pay a good
price for the horses, and as he saw his little trick was
found out, he felt rather ashamed of himself, and so he
paid the man for the other horses as well. Still, they
kept wondering and wondering what the reason could be
that these two horses, each so fierce and wild, were quiet
as a pair of kittens together. The King asked the wisest
man in all his kingdom to explain it ; and the man, who
was a minstrel, that is, he used to sing songs to the King
Birds of a Feather 67
about all that had happened or would happen in the
world, took up his harp and sang :
" If the reason you would know,
Like to like will always go ;
Here's a pair of vicious horses
Just the same in all their courses ;
Both are wild, and bite their tether :
Birds of a feather flock together."
SPEND A POUND TO
WIN A PENNY
SOME people were steaming peas
under a tree, in order to make a
meal for their horses. Up in the
branches sat a Monkey, who
watched with his restless eyes
what they were doing.
" Aha ! " thought the Monkey
" I spy my dinner ! "
So when they had finished
steaming the peas, and turned
away for a moment to look after
the horses, gently, gently, the
Monkey let himself down from
the tree. He grabbed at the
peas, and stuffed his mouth with
them, and both hands as full as
they could hold, then he clam-
bered up to his perch as best
Spend a Pound to Win a Penny 69
he could. There he sat, his wizened old face happy and
cunning, eating the peas.
Suddenly one pea fell.
" O dear, O dear ! O my pea, my pea ! " cried the
Monkey, gibbering in distress. The other peas began to
fall out of his mouth, but he did not notice them. He
wrung his hands in despair, and the peas began to fall
out of his hands too, but he took no notice. All he
thought of was this, that one pea was gone.
So he shinned down the trunk, and scrambled about
on the ground, hunting for his lost pea, but he could not
find it anywhere.
By this time the men had come back, after seeing to
their horses. When they saw a monkey meddling with
their cooking-pots they all waved their arms, and called
out, " Shoo ! shoo ! " Then they picked up stones, and
began to pelt the Monkey with them. This terrified the
Monkey so much that he gave one jump to the nearest
branch, and swung himself up to the top of the tree.
" After all," said he to himself, " it was only one pea."
But he ought to have thought of that before, for now
like a thunderclap, it came home to him, that somehow
or other all the other peas had gone too.
That day the Monkey had to content himself with the
smell of boiled peas for dinner, and I hope the loss taught
him not to be so greedy in future.
THE CUNNING CRANE AND THE CRAB
ONCE upon a time a number of fish lived in a little pool.
It was all very well while there was rain ; but when
summer came, and it began to be very hot, the water
dried up and got lower and lower, until there was hardly
enough to hide the fish.
Now not far away there was a beautiful lake, always
fresh and cool ; for it lay under the shadow of great trees,
and it was covered all over with water-lilies. And a Crane
lived on the banks of this lake.
The Crane used to eat fish, when he could catch any ;
and one day, coming to the little pool, he saw all the fish
gasping in it, and thought of a neat trick to get hold of
them without trouble.
" Dear Fish," said the Crane, " I am so sorry to see you
cooped up in this hole. I know a beautiful lake close by,
deep and fresh and cool, and if you like I will carry you
there."
The Fish did not know what to make of this, because
never since the world began had a crane done a good
turn to a fish. You see it is just as absurd to suppose
The Cunning Crane and the Crab 73
that a crane would help fish, as to think that a cat would
be kind to a mouse.
So they said to the Crane, " We don't believe you ;
what you want is to eat us."
This was just what the Crane did want, but he did not
say so. " No, no ! " said he ; " I'm not so cruel as all
that. I have eaten a fish now and then " — he saw it was
of no use denying that, because they knew he had — " but
I have plenty of other food, and it goes to my heart to see
you here. In this hot water you will all be boiled fish
before long ! "
" That's true enough," said the Fish ; " the water is
hot." Well, the end of it was, they persuaded an old Fish
with one eye to go and see.
The Crane took the one-eyed Fish in his beak and put
him in the lake ; and when he had seen that what the
Crane said was true so far, he carried the Fish back again
to tell the others.
The old Fish could not say enough to praise the lake.
" It's ever so big," he said, " and deep and cool, just as
the Crane said ; and there are trees overshadowing it, and
water-lilies are growing in the mud ; and the whole of it is
covered with fine fat flies ! Ah, what a feast I have had ! "
And he rolled up his one eye at the thought of it.
Then all the Fish were eager to go. And now it was
who should be first ; every Fish was anxious to remain no
longer in the pool. They came to the top of the water,
all begging the Crane to take them to this beautiful lake.
" One at a time ! " said the Crane. " I have only one
beak, you know ! " And he smiled to himself, for that
beak was made to eat fish, not to carry them.
74 The Cunning Crane and the Crab
However, it was decided that as the one-eyed Fish had
been so brave as to trust himself in the Crane's beak,
before he knew what the truth was, he certainly deserved
to go first.
So the Crane took the one-eyed Fish in his beak, and
carried him over to the lake. But this time he did not
drop the Fish in ; he laid him in the cleft of a tree, and
pecked his one eye out with his beak ; then he killed
him, and ate him up, and dropped his bones at the foot
of the tree.
By-and-by the Crane came back for another. " Now
then, who's next ? " asked the Crane. " Old One-eye is
swimming about, as happy as a king ! " He picked
up another fish, and served him like the first, dropping
his bones at the foot of the tree.
And so it went on, until in a few days the pool was
empty. The cunning Crane had eaten every single one
of the fish ! He stood on the bank, peering into every
hole, to see whether there might not be a little one left
somewhere. There was one, surely ! No, it was a
Crab. Never mind, he thought ; all's fish that comes
to my net !
So he invited the Crab to come with him to the lake.
" Why, how are you going to carry me ? " asked the
Crab.
" In my beak, to be sure ! " replied the Crane.
" You might drop me," said the Crab, " and then I
should split."
" Oh no, I promise I won't drop you ! " said the Crane.
But the Crab had more sense than all the fish put
together, and he did not believe in the Crane's friendship
The Cunning Crane and the Crab 75
at all. So he still pretended to hesitate, and at last he
said :
" Well, I'll tell you what. I can hold on tighter with
my claws than you can with your beak. I'll come, but
you must let me hold on to your neck with my claws.
Then I shall feel safe."
The Crane was so hungry that, without stopping to
think, he agreed ; and then the Crab got tight hold of his
neck with his claws, and the Crane carried him towards
the lake.
But after a while the Crab saw that he was being
carried somewhere else, indeed to that tree where the
Crane used to sit and eat the fish.
" Crane dear," said he, " aren't you going to put me in
the lake ? "
" Crane dear, indeed ! " said the Crane, " do you
suppose I was born to carry crabs about ? Not I ! Just
look at that heap of bones under yon tree ! Those are
the bones of the fish that used to live in your pool. I
ate them, and I'm going to eat you ! "
" Are you, though ! " said the Crab, and gave the
Crane's neck a little nip.
Then the Crane saw what a fool he had been to let a
Crab put a claw round his neck. He knew that the Crab
could kill him if he liked, and he was frightened to
death at the thought. People who try to deceive others
often pay for it themselves ; and that is what happened
to the Crane.
" Dear Crab ! " said he, with tears streaming from his
eyes, " forgive me ! I won't kill you, only let me go ! "
"Just put me in the lake, then," said the Crab.
7 6 The Cunning Crane and the Crab
The Crane stepped down to the lakeside, and laid the
Crab upon the mud. And the Crab, as soon as he felt
himself safe, nipped off the Crane's head as clean as if it
had been cut with a knife.
So perished the treacherous Crane, caught by his own
trick. And the Crab lived happily in the beautiful lake
for the rest of his life.
UNION IS STRENGTH
THERE once was a clever Fowler who used to hunt
quails. He could imitate the quail's note exactly ; and
when he had found a hiding-place, he used to sit hidden
in it, and call out the quail's note, until a number of
quails had come together ; then he threw a net over
them, and bagged them all.
But amongst the quails was one very clever bird, and
he hit on the following device : He told the quails, when
they felt the net drop over them, that each one should
7 8 Union is Strength
pop his head through one of the meshes of the net, and
then at the word, away they should fly together.
All fell out as he arranged. Next day the Fowler
sounded his imitation of the quail's note, and the birds
flocked from far and near ; then, when a good many had
gathered in a clump within his reach, he cast the net,
which fell over them and made them all prisoners. They
all did what the wise Quail had told them ; each quail
put his head through one of the meshes, then at a word
they were all away together, bearing the net with them.
After some little time they saw a large bush, and dropped
upon this bush ; then the net was held up by the bush,
while all the birds got away underneath.
Again and again this happened, until the Fowler began
to despair ; he came home every night empty-handed,
and besides that he had lost ever so many nets.
Why did he keep on trying to catch them, then ?
Because he thought that sooner or later they would begin
to quarrel, and then the game would be his.
And quarrel they soon did. One Quail happened to
tread on another's toe.
" What are you doing, clumsy ? " said the second Quail
angrily.
" I'm very sorry," said the first ; " I really did not mean
to tread on your toe."
"You did!"
" I tell you I didn't ! "
"What a lie!"
" A lie, is it ? Hoity, toity, how high-and-mighty we
are, to be sure ! I suppose it is you lift up the net, all
by yourself, when the man throws it over us ! "
Union is Strength
79
And so they went on, getting angrier and angrier.
And the result was, that next day, when the fowler made
his cast, said the first Quail to the second :
" Now then, Samson, lift away ! They say that last
time your feathers all fell off your head ! "
" Oh, indeed ! They say that when you tried to lift,
both your wings moulted ! Lift away, and let us see if it
is true ! "
But while they were quarrelling, and each telling the
other to lift the net, the Fowler lifted it for them, and
crammed them all together into his basket, and took
them home for supper.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN
OXCE upon a time a Lion had a she-jackal
for his mate, and they had a young one,
This Cub was just like his sire to look at,
in shape and colour, mane and claws ; but in voice he
took after his dam. So you would fancy he was a lion,
so long as he held his tongue.
This Cub used to play about with the young Lions, and
merry times they had to be sure, tumbling head over heels,
and trying to knock each other down. One day, in the
midst of their game, the mongrel Cub thought he would
frighten them ; so he opened his mouth wide, intending to
roar, and all that came out was a yelp like the yelp of a
jackal. The other young Lions were quite shocked ; they
Silence is Golden
81
could not imagine what strange creature this was. One
of them went up to the old Lion, who was watching them,
and said :
" Lion's claws and lion's paws
Lion's feet to stand upon ;
But the bellow of this fellow
Sounds not like a lion's son ! "
" You are right," said the old Lion ; " his dam was a
Jackal." And then, turning to the poor Cub, who was
looking very crestfallen, he said :
" All will see what kind you be
If you yelp as once before ;
So don't try it, but keep quiet,
Yours is not a lion's roar."
The poor Cub slunk away with his tail between his
legs, while the other Lions sniffed and turned up their
noses at him. Ever after that he took good care to hold
his tongue when he was in the company of his betters.
THE GREAT YELLOW KING AND
HIS PORTER
ONCE upon a time, in a great and rich city, reigned a
mighty King, who was called by the title of the Great
Yellow King. This King was very cruel to his people,
and ground them like grist in the mill ; he robbed them
of their goods, many he cast into prison, others he
ill-treated, cutting off an arm, or a leg, or blinding them,
and some he put to death without cause. He was just as
bad at home ; when he was a boy he did nothing but tease
his sisters, pulling their hair and putting spiders down
their necks ; and now that he was grown up he made life
a misery to wife and child. He was like a speck of dust
that gets into your eye, or a thorn in the heel, or grit
between your teeth.
But it is a long lane that has no turning ; and at last
the Great Yellow King died. When a king or queen dies,
people are generally very sorry, and wear mourning for
them ; but when the Great Yellow King died there was
such rejoicing and merriment as had not been known for
many a long day. All the shops were shut, and all the
The Great Yellow King and his Porter 85
schools had a whole holiday ; there were raree-shows
and merry-go-rounds, and everybody high and low was
half daft with joy.
But one man was not joyful. On the steps of the
palace sat the Yellow King's porter, sighing and sobbing,
weeping and wailing. No one could understand it ;
everybody in the whole town was glad, and here was this
porter crying ! At last some one asked him why he
cried.
"What is the matter?" said he. "Was the Great
Yellow King so kind to you as all that ? I never heard
of his being kind to anybody ! "
" No, it isn't that ! " sobbed the man.
" Well, what is it then ? "
The man looked up and rubbed his eyes. " Well," said
he, " I'll tell you. When his majesty used to come out of
his palace, down the steps, he always gave me a cuff on
the head, and another when he came back. What a fist
his majesty had, to be sure ! Now if he tries that game
on with the porter who sits by the gates of Death, I am
very much afraid they won't have him there at any price,
and then he will come back to us ! "
But the other man laughed, and said, " Don't be afraid
of that, Porter ! He's dead and done for, and however
much they wish it, they can never send him back to us
again."
So the Porter was comforted, and wiped his eyes, and
went to get a glass of beer.
THE QUAIL AND
THE FALCON
THERE once was a young Quail that
lived on a farm. When the farmer
ploughed up the land, Quailie used to
hop about over the clods and pick up seeds, or weeds, or
worms, or anything that the plough turned up, and he ate
these and lived on them.
You might think this was very nice for him ; he had no
trouble to find food, because the ploughman turned it up ;
he had only to hop along after the plough and peck.
Not a bit of it ; he must needs better himself, as he said ;
so one fine day he flew away over the farm, away to the
forest which fringed it ; and, alighting on the ground just
where the forest began, he looked about to see if there was
anything good to eat.
Up in the air, just above the tree-tops, a Falcon was sail-
ing, poised on outstretched wings ; as Quailie searched for
The Quail and the Falcon 87
worms, so the Falcon was searching for quails ; and lo
and behold, he spied one ! Down he came with a swoop
and a whirr, and in an instant the Quail was in his crooked
claws.
What could poor Quailie do now ? He twittered and
fluttered, and at last began to cry.
" Oh dear, oh dear ! " whimpered Quailie, the tears run-
ning down his beak, " what a fool I was to poach on
other people's preserves ! If I had only stayed at home
this Falcon could never have caught me, not even if he
had come and tried ! "
" What's that, Quailie ? " asked the Falcon. " Do you
think I can't catch you anywhere ? "
" Not on my own ground ! " cried the Quail.
" What do you mean by that ? "
" A ploughed field full of clods."
" Oh, nonsense, Quailie, clods won't help you. Just try;
off you go ! I'll follow."
The Quail flew off, feeling as happy now as he was
miserable a moment gone ; and when he got back to his
farm he picked out a big clod and perched on the top.
" Come on, Falcon ! " cried he ; " come on ! "
Down came the Falcon with a swoop like a flash of
lightning ; but just as he came close the Quail dodged
him nimbly and tumbled over the clod to the other side,
leaving the Falcon to come full tilt against the clod of
earth ; and so swift was he, that the shock killed him.
So the Quail found out how much better it is for most
people to stick to what they are used to ; and as for the
Falcon, he might have thought, if he had been able to think
at all, that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
PRIDE MUST HAVE A FALL
ONCE upon a time there was a beautiful wild Goose that
lived in the mountains ; he was King of the Geese, and he
had a mate and two or three fine young ones. But it had
happened once that this Goose, in his travels about the
world, fell in with a young lady Crow, who was very
pretty ; as black as jet, with two eyes like black beads,
and she flirted and flouted so enchantingly that he had
married her, like the goose he was ; so he had two wives,
the little black Crow and the Goose.
In course of time this Crow laid a beautiful egg, all white
with blue spots, and twice as big as an ordinary crow's egg.
She was very proud of her egg, and sat on it for a longtime,
until one day, pop ! went the egg, and out came a funny
little chick. The Crow did not know what to make of
this chick ; he was not black, as she was, and he was not
white, like his father, but something betwixt and between,
a dingy grey with brown streaks. So she named him
Streaky.
Pride Must Have a Fall 89
Be sure that Streaky fancied himself mightily, being so
very different from all the Crows he lived with ; he was
larger, to begin with, and then he had a very loud voice,
with several different notes in it ; not to mention his
brown streaks, which made him a proud bird indeed.
And I think the other Crows took him at his own price,
as foolish creatures are apt to do, and thought him very
wonderful, though he was really only a mongrel.
Now the Goose, his father, used to pay a visit to the
Crow colony now and again, flying down from the
mountains to the dust-heap where they lived, outside the
city gate. But he did not stay long, because the Crows
used to feed on offal and dead bodies, in fact anything
dirty they could find ; and King Goose could not get
what he liked to eat.
Well, once as he was talking to his sons, the young
Geese, they asked him why he was always going away for
days at a time.
" Why," said he, " I go to see a son of mine that lives
somewhere else."
" Oh, how nice ! " said the Geese. " Then he must be
our brother. Do let us bring him here on a visit ! Do,
father ! "
At first the father Goose would not let them go, for fear
of mischief ; but after a while he was persuaded, and gave
them very careful directions how to fly, and where to go,
and how to find the place where Streaky lived, on the top
of a tall palm-tree that grew out of a dust-heap at the
city gate.
So away they flew, and away they flew, till at last they
saw the tall palm-tree ; and on the very top of it, a big
90 Pride Must Have a Fall
nest ; and in the nest, a little black Crow, and our funny
friend Streaky.
They said " How do you do ?" and told their errand ;
because they meant to go through with it now, although
they did not much like the look of this ugly bird Streaky,
with his airs and graces. Mrs. Crow was very much pleased,
but Streaky looked bored, and said :
"Aw, caw, I don't think I can fly all that way. It is
really too much trouble. Why did not the Governor
come to see me instead, as usual — aw ? " This rude bird
called his father the Governor ; you see, as he had been
brought up among carrion crows, his manners were none
of the best.
The young Geese began to like him less than ever.
However, they put a good face on it, and answered
him :
" Well, Streaky, if you are as weak as all that, we will
carry you on a stick."
These Geese were very big, strong birds, and they
thought nothing of carrying Streaky. So they looked
about until they found a strong stick, and then each of
them tcok an end in his mouth, and Streaky perched in
the middle. They could not say good-bye to Mrs. Crow,
because their mouths were full of the stick, but they made
her a nice bow, like polite little Geese, and flew off.
As for Streaky, he was far too full of his own importance
to say good-bye to his mother, or even so much as " Thank
you " to the two birds who were so kindly carrying him.
There he sat, on the middle of the stick, as proud as
Punch, pluming his feathers, and feeling that now all the
world would see what a splendid bird he was.
Pride Must Have a Fall 91
As they flew over the city Streaky looked down, and
saw the king of the city, in a beautiful carriage drawn by
four white thoroughbred?, driving round the city in great
state and grandeur. " Aha ! " thought he, " that's as it
should be ! But I'm every bit as good as he ! " and in his
joy he began to sing a little song which he made up on the
spur of the moment, and here is his song :
" As yonder king goes galloping with his milk-white four-in-hand,
Streaky has these, his pair of Geese, to carry him over the land ! "
The Geese were very angry when they heard Streaky
sing this song. But they were very well-bred Geese, as you
must have seen already ; so they said nothing at all to him
then, but carried him safely to their home, and then they
told their father what Streaky had said, so that he might
do as he thought best.
Old King Goose was more angry than they were, and
was very sorry he had left his son to be brought up by a
Crow who knew no manners. So he called Streaky, and
this is what he said :
" Streaky, you have been very rude to your brothers,
who are at least as good as you ; and if you think they
are like a pair of horses, to be driven about for your
pleasure, you make a great mistake. So the best thing
you can do is to fly back to your mother ; for your
manners suit the dust-heap better than the mountains."
I don't know whether Streaky was ashamed of what he
had said ; creatures like Streaky are very thick-skinned,
and it takes a great deal to make them ashamed ; but
anyhow he had to go back, and this time he must fly by
himself, for it was hardly likely that his brothers would
92
Pride Must Have a Fall
carry him when he had been so rude. He got back a few
days later, tired and hungry, and spent the rest of his
days on the dust-heap, eating carrion. What his mother
thought of it all I don't know ; but King Goose never
went to see them any more.
THE BOLD BEGGAR
THERE was once a King who was so fond of good eating
and drinking that they called him King Dainty. He often
spent as much as a thousand pounds on a single dish ;
which is great wastefulness, when you can dine heartily
for a shilling. He thought that if people could not eat
things so nice as his, yet they must greatly enjoy seeing
him eat them. So he fitted up a beautiful tent outside
his own door, and there he took his meals, sitting on a
golden throne, under a white silk umbrella. Anybody
who liked could see him eat his dinner without charge.
This was very generous, wasn't it ?
A man who had often seen him eat thought he would
like a taste of the King's choice food. And this is what
he did.
He came running towards the crowd who, as usual,
were watching the King eat his dinner, and shouted :
" News ! news ! news ! " Now at that time there were
no newspapers, and no posts, and no telegraphs ; so any
one who brought news was sure of instant hearing.
Accordingly the crowd made way for him at once, and he
ran up to the King, looking very much excited, and
96 The Bold Beggar
shouting " News ! " Then he fell down before the King,
as if he were faint with hunger, and gasped.
" Poor fellow ! " said the King. " Give him something
to eat." So they propped him up on a chair, and the
King fed him out of his own dish, and gave him delicious
wine to drink. The man made a hearty meal, I can tell
you. They thought he never would finish ; but he did
finish at last, after an hour or two.
Then the King said to him : " Now, my good fellow,
let us hear your news."
"The news is, your Majesty," said the man, "that an
hour ago I was hungry, and now I am not ! "
All the people looked shocked at his impertinence.
But the King only laughed, and said : " That news is true
of most of us every day of our lives. Well, you are a
bold fellow ; this time you may go free, but 1 advise you
not to try it again."
The man bowed low, and went away happy in the
success of his trick. I don't know whether the King
spent less money upon his dinner after that, but I am
quite sure that no one else got a meal at his table in the
same way.
THE JACKAL
WOULD
. WOOING GO
ONCE upon a time there was a family of Lions that lived
in the Himalaya Mountains in a Golden Cave. They were
three brothers and one sister. Near by was a silver
mountain with a Crystal Cave, and in this Crystal Cave
lived a Jackal.
The young Lions used to be out all day, hunting, while
their sister kept everything neat and tidy at home. When
they caught anything they used to keep a bit for her,
because they were not greedy Lions, and they thought
that if she did the work at home she deserved some of
the game they got abroad.
Now this Jackal fell violently in love with the young
Lioness. She was very beautiful, with soft brown fur, and
large soft eyes, and fine whiskers ; and he did not stop to
think what a mongrel cur a Jackal looks beside a Lion,
how small, and sneaking, and snarling ; so that it was the
height of impertinence even to think of such a thing.
G
98 The Jackal Would A- Wooing Go
He did think of it, and more, he actually proposed to the
Lioness ! You shall hear how he did it.
He had the sense to wait until the three brothers had
gone out hunting for food ; and then he came and tapped
on the rock at the mouth of the Golden Cave. The
Lioness looked out, and very much surprised was the
Lioness to see the Jackal there. She knew him by sight, of
course, as a neighbour ; and, indeed, when he was in his
Crystal Cave you could always see him, perched up in the
air as it might be ; for you can see through crystal like glass,
and it looked just as if there were nothing there. But they
were not on visiting terms, so the Lioness was surprised to
see him come tapping at her door. She gave him a distant
bow, and waited.
" Beautiful Lioness ! " said he, " I love you ! see how
much we are alike ! You have four feet, and so have I ;
clearly we are made for one another. Will you marry
me ? We shall be so happy together ! "
This offer so astonished the Lioness that she could say
nothing. She hated the vile creature, vilest of all crea-
tures ; that he should dare to address himself to a royal
lioness ! a scavenger to a queen ! The very thought of
the insult made her furious. She resolved that, after such
a thing as that had spoken to her, she might just as well
die, either by holding her breath or by starving herself.
As these thoughts passed through her mind the Jackal
was waiting for his answer ; but no answer he got. This
seemed a pretty broad hint that he was not wanted there ;
so he went home again, very woebegone, with his tail
between his legs, and lay down in his Crystal Cave in
much misery.
The Jackal Would a- Wooing Go 99
By-and-by the eldest brother of the Lioness came home
again, with a fine fat deer which he had killed. " Here,
sister," he called out, " have a bit ! "
She put on a very gloomy air. " No," she said, " I
think I shall have to die."
" Why, what on earth is the matter ? " asked he.
"A nasty, dirty Jackal came, and wanted to marry me ! "
" The brute ! " said her brother. " Where is he ? "
" Can't you see him, lying up in the sky ? " You know
the crystal was transparent, and as she had never been
there she could not tell he was really in a cave.
Off galloped the young Lion, furious with rage, and
when he got near the place where the Jackal was lying in
his Crystal Cave, he leaped at him, when — crack ! went his
skull against the wall of crystal, and down fell the Lion —
dead!
Just as the Lioness was getting anxious about her eldest
brother, the second came in. She told him the same
tale, though she was beginning to be sorry that she was
going to die. He had not hurt her, after all ; and how
nice the meat smelt ! But the second Lion did not give
her much time to think ; he growled, and off he went,
leaped into the air, cracked his crown against the wall of
crystal, and fell down dead beside his brother.
Now when the third brother came in, the Lioness was
quite sure she didn't mean to die. However, she looked
as gloomy as ever, and told her brother what had
happened ; he had better go out and see what was
become of the other two. Surely two Lions were a
match for any Jackal ! Still, there he was, as before, up
in the air.
too The Jackal Would a^ Wooing Go
" Up in the air ? " said the youngest brother, who was
cleverer than all the rest put together. " Stuff and
nonsense ! Now let me think. There must be something
for him to lie upon ; and yet you can see through it."
He scratched his head with one paw and looked wise.
" I have it ! Crystal, of course, or glass — that's what it
is ! " So up he jumped, and when he got near the
Crystal Cave, there were his two brothers, dead, with
their skulls cracked right across like a teacup.
He sat down again, and scratched his head with the
other paw. " H'm ! it looks as though it may be difficult
to get at this Jackal. However, I'll try kindness first.
Jackie, Jackie dear ! " he called out.
The Jackal Would a^ Wooing Go 101
Now you must know that Lions have a very loud voice,
and, if you have heard them talking in the Zoo, you will
know that even when they want to coax and purr they
are enough to frighten you. And so the poor Jackal,
who, after all, was not so bad as the proud Lioness made
out, when he heard the Lion coaxing him down, thought
"What an awful roar!" His heart was beating very
hard before, but this time it gave such a leap that some-
thing went snap ! And the Jackal was dead too.
Then the Lion looked up, and saw that the Jackal was
dead. So he buried his brothers, and went and told his
sister all about it. You might expect her to be sorry that
her two brave brothers were dead, all because she held
her nose so high in the air ; but not a bit of it ; she was
quite satisfied so long as one was left to catch food for
her. So she lived all the rest of her life in the Golden
Cave, but I never heard that any other animal asked her
to marry him.
THE LION AND THE BOAR
ONCE upon a time there was a Lion who lived in the
mountains, and he used to drink water out of a beautiful
lake. It so happened that, as he was drinking there one
day, he saw a Boar feeding over on the opposite bank.
Now he had just eaten a leg of elephant, and was not
hungry ; but he made a note of that Boar, thinking to
himself what a nice meal the Boar would make some other
day. So, after drinking his fill, he crawled quietly away
through the bushes, hoping that the Boar could not see
him. But the Boar had sharp eyes, and did see him.
" Hullo ! " said he to himself, '* yon Lion is afraid of me,
that's clear ! Ah well, he need not think to get off so
easy. If he wants to go, he must fight me first ! " He
puffed his chest out very big, and rubbed his tusks against
a tree, then he called out :
" Stay, stay, runaway !
Let us have a fight to-day !
You have four feet, so have I !
If you fail, you can but try ! "
The Lion and the Boar 103
The Lion could hardly believe his ears. What ! a
Boar challenge him to fight ! He could break a Boar's
back with a tap of his paw. Still, he hid his astonishment
at this impertinent Boar and only said :
" Please, Mr. Boar, let me off to-day, as I'm rather
tired ; I have just been wrestling with a fox. But, if you
like, I will meet you here this day week, and then we can
fight it out between us."
He said this so humbly that the Boar became haughtier
than ever. " Oh, very well," said he, " it shall never be
said I took a mean advantage of any one. This day
week, then ! Good-day to you."
When he got home, his friends hardly knew him.
Every bristle on his back was standing up straight ; his
little greedy eyes were gleaming ; he ran into the house,
knocking over the pots and pans, snarling at his wife, and
making himself very disagreeable indeed. At last the
other Boars protested, and said they would not stand it
any longer. "Oho!" says he, "you defy a Boar that
has killed a Lion ! Come on, then ! " and very fierce
indeed he looked.
Killed a Lion ! They did open their eyes. " Where is
the Lion you have killed ? " asked a pretty little sow, full
of curiosity.
" Well, I haven't exactly killed him yet," said the Boar
rather unwillingly. " He is coming to be killed this day
week."
" What on earth do you mean ? " his friends asked.
He told them the story, but he did not feel quite so bold
now as he had felt before. And when he finished, he
felt worse than ever ; for one and all they set up such a
104 The Lion and the Boar
weeping and wailing that the whole forest resounded with
it ! " Oh dear, oh dear ! " they cried, " you'll be the
death of us ! Kill a Lion ? Why, he will crunch you up
in a trice, and then he'll come here, and we are all dead
Boars ! "
By this time the poor Boar had lost all his conceit ;
you see he was an ignorant Boar, and did not know at all
what the strength of a Lion is. So his heart was down in
his toes, and all he wanted now was some way out of the
mischief. Nobody could think of a way, until one very
old and wise Boar advised him to roll in the mud till he
was very dirty, because Lions are clean beasts and do not
like dirt.
So every day he rolled and wallowed in the dirtiest
places he could find ; and by the appointed time he was
like a big cake of dirt. So when he came to the lake
where he was to meet the Lion, the wind took a whiff of
him to the Lion, and the Lion gave a jump, and snuffed,
and sneezed, and swished his tail, and cried out, " Get to
leeward, get to leeward ! Here's a pretty trick ! Well,
you have saved your life ; I would not touch you with a
pair of tongs now ! " and, in great disgust he went away,
saying, as he went, this little rhyme :
" Dirty Boar, I want no more,
You're saved from being eaten ;
If you would fight, I yield me quite,
And own that I am beaten ! "
You may be sure that our friend the Boar did not wait
any longer, but scampered off home. But when he got
there, I am sorry to say he told all his friends he had
The Lion and the Boar 105
beaten the Lion, and the Lion had run away ! He cer-
tainly had beaten the Lion in one way, but not in fair fight,
so it was rather mean to pretend he had. However, no-
body believed him, and the colony of Boars thought the
best thing they could do was to get away from that
place as fast as their four legs could carry them. " If he is
beaten," said they with a wink, "still, after all, he is a
Lion."
THE GOBLIN CITY
LONG, long ago, in the island of Ceylon, there was a large
city full of nothing but Goblins. They were all She-
goblins, too ; and if they wanted husbands, they used to
get hold of travellers and force them to marry ; and
afterwards, when they were tired of their husbands, they
gobbled them up.
One day a ship was wrecked upon the coast near the
goblin city, and five hundred sailors were cast ashore.
The She-goblins came down to the seashore, and brought
food and dry clothes for the sailors, and invited them to
come into the city. There was nobody else there at all ;
but for fear that the sailors should be frightened away,
the Goblins, by their magic power, made shapes of
people appear all around, so that there seemed to be men
ploughing in the fields, or shepherds tending their sheep,
and huntsmen with hounds, and all the sights of the quiet
country life. So, when the sailors looked round, and saw
everything as usual, they felt quite secure ; although, as
you know, it \vas all a sham.
The end of it was, that they persuaded the sailors to
The Goblin City 107
marry them, telling them that their own husbands had
gone to sea in a ship, and had been gone these three
years, so that they must be drowned and lost for ever.
But really, as you know, they had served others in just
the same way, and their last batch of husbands were then
in prison, waiting to be eaten.
In the middle of the night, when the men were all
asleep, the She-goblins rose up, put on their hats, and
hurried down to the prison ; there they killed a few men,
and gnawed their flesh, and ate them up ; and after this
orgie they went home again. It so happened that the
captain of the sailors woke up before his wife came home,
and riot seeing her there, he watched. By-and-by in
she came ; he pretended to be asleep, and looked out of
the tail of his eye. She was still munching and crunch-
ing, and as she munched she muttered :
" Man's meat, man's meat,
That's what Goblins like to eat ! "
She said it over and over again, then lay down ; and
soon she was snoring loudly.
The captain was horribly frightened to find he had
married a Goblin. What was he to do ? They could
not fight with Goblins, and they were in the Goblins'
power. If they had a ship they might have sailed away,
because Goblins hate the water worse than a cat ; but
their ship was gone. He could think of nothing.
However, next morning, he found a chance of telling
his mates what he had discovered. Some of them
believed him, and some said he must have been dreaming ;
they were sure their wives would not do such a thing.
io8 The Goblin City
Those who believed him agreed that they would look out
for a chance of escape.
But there was a kind fairy who hated those Goblins ;
and she determined to save the men. So she told her
flying horse to go and carry them away. And accordingly,
as the men were out for a walk next day, the captain saw
in the air a beautiful horse with large white and gold
wings. The horse fluttered down, and hovered just
above them, crying out, in a human voice :
" Who wants to go home ? who wants to go home ?
who wants to go home ? "
" I do, I do ! " called out the sailors.
" Climb up, then ! " said the horse, dropping within
reach. So one climbed up, and then another, and
another ; and, although the horse looked no bigger than
any other horse, there was room for everybody on his
back. I think that somehow, when they got up, the
fairy made them shrink small, till they were no bigger than
so many ants, and thus there was plenty of room for all.
When all who wanted to go had got up on his back,
away flew the beautiful horse and took them safely
home.
As for those who remained behind, that very night the
Goblins set upon them and mangled them, and munched
them to mincemeat.
LACKNOSE
THERE was once a Gardener who had no nose, and he
had a very nice garden full of beautiful flowers : roses,
and pinks, and lilies, and violets, and all the prettiest
flowers you can imagine.
Three little boys thought they would like a bunch of
flowers, but they did not know how to get it. So one
of them went into the garden and said :
" Good morning, Mr. Lacknose ! "
" Good morning, boy," said the Gardener.
The boy thought the best thing he could do was to
flatter the old fellow, so he had made up a verse of poetry
that he thought very pretty, and so he said to the
Gardener :
" Cut, and cut, and cut again,
Hair and whiskers grow amain :
And your nose will grow like these :
Give me a little posy, please ! "
The Gardener knew very well that his nose would not
grow again like his whiskers, and he thought the little
boy rather rude to mention it ; so he became angry.
1 1 2 Lacknose
" Go away ! " said he, " and get your posy somewhere
else ! "
The boy went away disappointed ; but the second boy
thought he would try his luck too. Perhaps the first boy
had not spoken nicely ; and he had made a verse of
poetry too, which he thought would just suit the old
Gardener. So in he came with " Good morning, Mr.
Lacknose ! "
"Good morning, boy," said the old man. "And
what do you want ? "
Then the boy put on a coaxing smile, and said :
" In the autumn seeds are sown,
And ere long they're fully grown ;
May your nose sprout up like these !
Give me a little posy, please ! "
" There ! " he thought, " the old fellow will like that,
because he is a Gardener." But not a bit of it ! • The
Gardener saw through his trick, and was angrier than
ever.
" Be off !" said he, "or I'll be after you with a stick !
Plant a nose, indeed ! You had better go somewhere
and learn manners before you ask for my flowers ! "
So the second boy went away faster than the first.
But the third boy was an honest little boy, and knew
that there is nothing like the truth ; so he determined to
try what truth could do. He walked modestly into the
garden and said :
" Good morning, sir ! "
" What, another of 'em ! " growled the Gardener to
himself. " Another pack of lies, I suppose ! " He would
Lacknose 1 1 3
But the boy, nothing daunted,
hardly look at the boy.
repeated his verse :
" Babbling fools ! to think that they
Can get a posy in this way !
Say they yes, or say they no,
Noses cut no more will grow.
See, I ask you honestly :
Give a posy, sir, to me ! "
The Gardener was so pleased to find a straightforward
and honest little boy, that he took his scissors and cut a
most beautiful bunch of flowers, which he gave the boy
with a smile. The boy said, "Thank you, sir, very
much ! " and went away delighted.
THE KING'S LESSON
ONCE upon a time there lived a very good King, whose
name was Godfrey. Of course, when a man is King,
everybody is ready to call him good ; but this King really
was good. He used to hold courts of justice for people to
come to when they had a quarrel ; and he decided all the
cases so wisely that nobody durst bring an unjust cause
before him. So after a while the result was, that the courts
became empty ; all the rustle and bustle was quiet, the
wigs and gowns were hung up on pegs, and as dusty as
dusty could be ; and nobody had any quarrels at all.
" What a blessing ! " thought King Godfrey to himself.
" Now we have a little peace. And they say it's all my
doing ! I wonder if I am really as good as people make
me out. Suppose I try to see ? " No sooner said than
done with this King. He asked one and he asked another ;
he begged and prayed them to tell him of his faults, so
that he might mend them ; but no, they said they really
could not tell him of his faults, when he had none to tell
of. He tried in the palace, he tried in the city ; high and
low, to and fro, it was just the same : all praise and no
blame.
The King's Lesson 117
" Well, upon my word," thought the King, " I had no
idea I was such a good fellow. Still, who knows what
they say behind my back ? Happy thought ! I'll disguise
myself, and that will soon show me the truth." So he
dressed himself like a traveller, and got a carriage and
pair, and drove all over the country, asking everybody
what they thought of the King. Wonder of wonders !
they said the same behind his back as they did to his
face ! That must have been a very nice country to live
in, but I am sure I cannot tell where it is.
Now in such a strange country as that, strange things
will happen ; and so it turned out that, as our King was
driving along, he came to a narrow lane sunk between
two steep banks, with only just room for the carriage ;
and right in the middle of this lane another carriage met
him. There they stood, both of them, and neither would
budge. Our King did not know who was in that carriage,
but I will tell you who it was. This was the King of the
next country, who was also a good king as kings go, though
not so good as the first ; and he had got the same idea
into his head, that he would wander about in disguise,
and find out what people thought of him. Everybody
had a good word for him too, it seems ; but if he found
no one to pick faults in him before, here was one now, as
you shall see.
" Get out of the way ! " said the driver of the other
carriage.
" Get out of the way yourself ! " said King Godfrey's
man. " I have a King inside," said he ; you see, he knew
who the disguised traveller was, and he thought there was
no need to hide it now, when it might save him trouble.
u8 The King's Lesson
" If you have one King, I have another ! " said the other
man ; and imagine how astonished King Godfrey's coach-
man was to hear that.
" Oh dear, oh dear," he said, " what is to be done ?
Both Kings ! Haw old is your King ? " he added
suddenly, hoping, you see, that the younger might be
willing to give way.
" Fifty."
" Fifty ! So is mine ! And how rich is he ? "
But it turned out they were just the same in that
point ; and though he cudgelled his brains to find out
some difference, there seemed to be none ; their kingdoms
were exactly the same size, with exactly the same number
of people in them, and their ancestors had been just as
brave and glorious in peace or war. In fact, they were
as like as two peas in a pod.
All this time the horses were champing their bits and
pawing the ground, as if they would like to jump over
each other's heads ; and I daresay the Kings were getting
impatient too, though they were much too dignified to
say anything. And there they might have stayed till
doomsday, but that King Godfrey's coachman hit on a
fine idea. He suggested that perhaps one of them was a
better King than the other ; what were his master's virtues,
would the other coachman kindly tell him ?
The other coachman had his answer all ready, in poetry
too, and this it was :
" Rough to the rough, my mighty King the mild with mildness sways,
Masters the good by goodness, and the bad with badness pays :
Give place, give place, O driver ! such are this monarch's ways ! "
"H'm," said King Godfrey's driver, "tit for tat is all
The King's Lesson 119
very well, but I shouldn't call it virtue to pay out a bad
man in his own coin."
" Oh, well," says the other in a huff, " you can call it
vice if you like ; and I should be very glad to hear all
your King's virtues, if you laugh at mine ! "
"Certainly," said King Godfrey's coachman; and, not
to be beaten, he did his answer into poetry, like the
other :
" He conquers wrath by mildness, the bad with goodness sways,
By gifts the miser vanquishes and lies with truth repays.
Give place, give place, O driver ! such are this monarch's ways ! "
Then the other man felt he had met his match. " I can't
cap that," said he; "your master'is better than mine."
And the new King, who had not said a word all this time,
thought it was time to be moving ; perhaps he had been
asleep ; anyhow, he was not at all angry with his coach-
man, but out he got, and they let the horses loose, and
pulled the carriage up on the slope to let King Godfrey
pass by. But King Godfrey, before he went on, gave the
other King a little good advice, which the King promised to
take ; for in that strange country people used to follow
good advice sometimes. And then they said " Good-bye,"
and both went back home again, and both of them ruled
their countries well until they died. The other King, we
may be sure, was all the better for that lesson ; and I
hope Godfrey did not become conceited in that strange
country, as he would have been if he lived here with us.
¥1 N I S
MR. DAVID NUTT'S LIST OF
GIFT-BOOKS FOR CHILDREN OF ALL
AGES, for the most part fully illustrated by leading
artists in black and white, sumptuously printed on
specially made paper, bound in attractive and original
covers, and sold at the lowest price consistent with
equitable remuneration to authors and artists, and
beauty and durability of get up.
CONTENTS.
FAIRY TALES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
WORKS BY HIS HONOUR JUDGE E. A. PARRY.
WORKS BY MRS. RADFORD.
WORKS ILLUSTRATED BY MISS WINIFRED SMITH.
WORKS BY MRS. LEIGHTON, ASBJORNSEN, ETC.
All works in the present list may be had post free from the
Publisher at the annexed prices, and are kept on sale by the leading
booksellers of the United Kingdom,
i
"The Ideal Gift=Books of the Season."
FAIRY TALES OF THE
BRITISH EMPIRE.
Collected and Edited by JOSEPH JACOBS.
Illustrated by J. D. BATTEN.
MR. JACOBS' FAIRY TALES, which have been appear-
ing since 1890, have won immediate and widespread
acceptance. The choice of matter, the simplicity and
suitable character of the language of the text, the beauty, humour,
and charm of Mr. BATTEN'S illustrations, and the large and
legible type, have commended the series alike to children and to
lovers of art; whilst the prefaces and elaborate notes, parallels,
and references added by the Editor, have made them indispens-
able to the increasingly large portion of the public interested in
the history and archaeology of popular fiction.
" Fairy Tales of the British Empire " are to be had in two
forms, at 35. 6d. and at 6s. a volume.
In so far as Tales and Illustrations are concerned, the 35. 6d.
Edition will be the same as the original 6s. one. But the Editor's
Prefaces, Notes, Parallels, and References are omitted.
A full list of the Series, a specimen of Mr. BATTEN'S beautiful
Illustrations, and a very small selection from the numberless kindly
notices which the Press has bestowed upon the Series, will be
found on the following pages.
Fairy Tales of the British Empire.
English Fairy Tales. Complete Edition, xvi., 255 pages, 9
full-page Plates, and numerous Illustrations in the text.
Designed Cloth Cover, Uncut or Gilt Edges. 6s.
The same. Children's Edition, viii., 227 pages, 7 full-
page Plates, and numerous Illustrations in text. Cloth, Cut.
3S. 6d.
More English Fairy Tales. Complete Edition, xvi., 243 pages,
8 full-page, and numerous Illustrations in text. Designed
Cloth Cover, Uncut or Gilt Edges. 6s.
The same. Children's Edition, viii., 214 pages, 7 full-
page Plates, and numerous Illustrations in text. Cloth, Cut.
3S. 6d.
Celtic Fairy Tales. Complete Edition, xvi., 274 pages, 8 full-
page Plates, numerous Illustrations in text. Designed Cloth
Cover, Uncut or Gilt Edges. 6s.
The same. Children's Edition, viii., 236 pages, 7 full-page
Plates and numerous Illustrations in text. Cloth, Cut. 35. 6d.
More Celtic Fairy Tales. Complete Edition, xvi., 234 pages,
8 full-page Plates, numerous Illustrations in text. Designed
Cloth Cover, Uncut or Gilt Edges. 6s.
The same. Children's Edition, viii., 217 pages, 7 full-
page Plates, and numerous Illustrations in text. Cloth, Cut.
3s. 6d.
Indian Fairy Tales. Complete Edition, xvi., 255 pages, 9 full-
page Plates, and numerous Illustrations in text. Designed
Cloth Cover, Uncut or Gilt Edges. 6s.
No Children's Edition of the " Indian Fairy Tales "
will be issued for the present.
N.B. — A few copies of the Japanese Vellum Issues, printed in
large 8vo, with double state of the plates, are still to be had of
Indian, More Celtic, and More English Fairy Tales. Prices may
be learnt on application to the Publisher. The special issues of
English and Celtic Fairy Tales, entirely out of print, command a
heavy premium.
3
Specimen of Mr. Batten's full-page Illustrations to " Fairy Tales
of the British Empire."
4
Some {press IFlotices
OF
JACOBS' AND BATTEN'S FAIRY TALES.
English Fairy Tales.
Daily Graphic. — "As a collection of fairy tales to delight children of all
ages, ranks second to none." Globe. — "A delight alike to the young people
and their elders." England. — "A most delightful volume of fairytales."
Daily News. — "A more desirable child's book . . . has not been seen for
many a day." Athenaum. — " From first to last, almost without exception,
these stories are delightful." E. S. HARTLAND. — "The most delightful
book of fairy tales, taking form and contents together, ever presented to
children. ' ' Miss THACKERAY. — " This delightful book." Review of Reviews.
— " Nothing could be more fascinating."
Celtic Fairy Tales.
Scotsman. — " One of the best books of stories ever put together." Free-
man's Journal. — "An admirable selection." Ariel. — "Delightful stories,
exquisite illustrations by John D. Batten, and learned notes." Daily
Telegraph.— " A stock of delightful little narratives." Daily Chronicle.—" A
charming volume skilfully illustrated." Pall Mall Budget. — "A perfectly
lovely book. And oh! the wonderful pictures inside." Liverpool Daily
Post. — " The best fairy book of the present season. " Oban Times. — " Many
a mother will bless Mr. Jacobs, and many a door will be open to him from
Land's End to John o' Groat's."
More English Fairy Tales.
Aihmceum. — "Will become more popular with children than its prede-
cessor." Notes and Queries. — "Delightful and in every respect worthy of
its predecessor." Glasgow Herald. — " A more delightful collection of fairy
tales could hardly be wished for." Glasgow Evening News. — "The new
volume of ' English Fairy Tales ' is worthy of the one that went before,
and this is really saying a great deal."
More Celtic Fairy Tales.
Daily Chronicle. — "A bright exemplar of almost all a fairy-tale book
should be." Saturday Review. — " Delightful for reading and profitable for
comparison." Notes and Queries. — "A delightful companion into a land of
enchantment." Irish Daily Independent. — " Full of bold and beautiful illus-
trations." North British Daily Mail. — "The stories are admirable, and
nothing could be better in their way than the designs." News of the World.
— " Mr. Batten has a real genius for depicting fairy folk." -
Indian Fairy Tales.
Dublin Daily Express. — " Unique and charming anthology." Daily News.
— "Good for the schoolroom and the study." Stay. — " Illustrated with a
charming freshness of fancy." Gloucester Journal.— " A book which is some-
thing more than a valuable addition to folk-lore ; a book for the student as
well as for the child." Scotsman. — "Likely to prove a perfect success."
Literary World.—" Admirably grouped, and very enjoyable."
WORKS BY HIS HONOUR
JUDGE EDWARD ABBOTT PARRY.
Illustrated by ARCHIE MACGREGOR.
THE issue of Katawampus : its Treatment and Cure, in the
Christmas Season of 1895, revealed a writer for children
who, in originality, spontaneity, and fulness of humour
as well as in sympathy with and knowledge of childhood, may be
compared, and not to his disadvantage, with Lewis Carroll. And,
as is the case with " Alice in Wonderland," an illustrator was
found whose sympathy with his author and capacity for rendering
his conceptions have won immediate and widespread recognition,
A specimen of the illustrations and a small selection from the press
notices will be found overleaf.
KATAWAMPUS : its Treatment and Cure. Second Edition.
96 pages, Cloth. 3s. 6d.
BUTTER- SCOTIA, or, a Cheap Trip to Fairy Land. 180 pages.
Map of Butter-Scotia, many Full-page Plates and Illustrations
in the Text. Bound in specially designed Cloth Cover. 6s.
KATAWAMPUS KANTICLES. Music by Sir J. F. BRIDGE,
Mus. Doc., Organist of Westminster Abbey. Words by His
Honour Judge E. A. PARRY. Illustrated Cover, representing
Kapellmeister Krab, by ARCHIE MACGREGOR. Royal 8vo,
Is.
For Christmas 1897.
THE FIRST BOOK OF KRAB. Christmas Stories for
Children of all Ages. 132 pages, with many Full-page Plates
and Illustrations in the Text. Bound in specially designed
Cloth Cover. 3s. 6d.
6
KAT A WAMPUS: ITS TREATMENT AND CURE.
By His Honour Judge E. A. PARRY.
Illustrated by ARCHIE MACGREGOR.
Second Edition, Cloth, 33. 6d.
press -Notices.
" One of the very best books of the season." — The World.
"A very delightful and original book." — Review of Reviews.
" The book is one of rare drollery, and the verses and pictures
are capital of their kind." — Saturday Review.
"We strongly advise both parents and children to read the
book. " — Guardian.
" A truly delightful little book. . . ."—Pall Mall Gazette.
" A tale full of jinks and merriment." — Daily Chronicle.
"The brightest, wittiest, and most logical fairy-tale we have
read for a long time." — Westminster Gazette.
"Its fun is of the sort that children revel in and ' grown-ups '
also relish, so spontaneous and irresistible is it."
^Manchester Guardian.
" A delightful extravaganza of the ' Wonderland ' type, but by
no means a slavish imitation." — Glasgow Herald.
" Since ' Alice in Wonderland ' there has not been a book more
calculated to become a favourite in the nursery." — Baby.
GOT HIM THIS TIME
THE BOOK OF WONDER VOYAGES.
Edited with Introduction and Notes by JOSEPH JACOBS.
Illustrated by J. D. BATTEN.
Square demy 8vo, sumptuously printed in large clear type on
specially manufactured paper, at the Ballantyne Press. With
Photogravure Frontispiece, and many Full-page Illustrations
and Designs in the Text. Specially designed Cloth Cover, 6s.
Contents. — The Argonauts — The Voyage of Maelduin — The
Journeyings of Hasan of Bassorah to the Islands of Wak-Wak —
How Thorkill went to the Under World and Eric the Far-
Travelled to Paradise.
This, the latest of the volumes in which Mr. Jacobs and Mr.
Batten have collaborated with such admirable results, will be
welcomed as heartily as its predecessors by the children of the
English-speaking world. A specimen of Mr. Batten's illustration
is appended.
WORKS ILLUSTRATED ET MISS WINIFRED
SMITH, Silver and Gold Medallist^ South Kensington^
Winner of the Princess of Wales'' Prize^ etc. etc.
CHILDREN'S SINGING GAMES, with the Tunes
to which they are Sung. Collected and Edited by ALICE
BERTHA GOMME. Pictured in Black and White by WINIFRED
SMITH. Two Series, each 35. 6d.
Charming albums in small oblong
4to, printed on antique paper and
bound in specially designed cloth
cover, and serving equally for the nur-
sery, the schoolroom, and the drawing-
room. Mrs. Gomme, the first living
authority on English games, has care-
fully chosen the finest and most inter-
esting of the old traditional singing
games, has provided accurate text and
music, has given precise directions for
playing, and added notes pointing out
the historical interests of these survivals
of old world practices. The humour,
spirit, and grace of Miss Winifred
Smith's drawings may be sufficiently
gauged from the annexed specimens
and from the following press notices.
Some press IRotices of " CbU&ren's
Singing (Barnes."
Baby.—" A delightful gift for little boys
and girls. . . . Cannot fail to become quickly
popular."
Journal of Education. — " Most charmingly
illustrated."
Saturday Review. — "A truly fascinating
book. . . . It is hopeless to make a choice
which is best. The traditional rhymes and
music, so quaintly and prettily illustrated,
with moreover so much humour and go in
all the designs, are charming."
Scotsman. — " The pictures must please any-
body who can appreciate delicate humour."
Bookman. — " The designs are witty, pretty,
and effective."
Sylvia's jfournal.—"The illustrations are
charming."
NURSERY SONGS AND RHYMES OF ENGLAND.
Pictured in Black and White by WINIFRED SMITH. Small
4to. Printed on hand-made paper. In specially designed
cloth cover, 33. 6d.
Some press "notices of "Hursere Songs an£> TRbgnies."
Literary World.—" Delightfully illustrated."
Athenanm. — ".Very cleverly drawn and humorous designs."
Manchester Guardian. — " All the designs are very apt and suited to the
comprehension of a child."
Scotsman. — " The designs are full of grace and fun, and give the book an
artistic value not common in nursery literature."
Globe. — "The drawings are distinctly amusing and sure to delight
children."
Star.—" Really a beautiful book. . . . Winifred Smith has revelled into
old rhymes, and young and old alike will in their turn revel in the results
of her artistic revelry."
Pall Mall Gazette. — "No book of nursery rhymes has charmed us so
much."
Magazine of Art. — " Quite a good book of its kind."
Woman. — "Miss Smith's drawings are now celebrated and are indeed
very beautiful, decorative, and full of naive humour."
10
WORKS BT MRS. ERNEST RADFORD.
SONGS FOR SOMEBODY. Verses by DOLLIE
RADFORD. Pictures by GERTRUDE BRADLEY. Square
crown 8vo. Six plates printed in colour by EDMUND
EVANS, and 36 designs in monochrome. Coloured cover
by Louis DAVIS. 35. 6d.
GOOD NIGHT. Verses by DOLLIE RADFORD.
Designs by Louis DAVIS. Forty pages entirely designed by
the artist and pulled on the finest and the thickest cartridge
paper. Boards and canvas back with label, 23. 6d.
Some press notices.
Daily Chronicle. — " As far as we know no one elbe sings quite like Mrs.
Radford ; hers is a bird's note — thin, high, with a sweet thrill in it, and the
thrill is a home thrill, a nest thrill."
Commonwealth. — " We have read with pure enjoyment Mrs. Radford's
slight but charming cycle of rhymes."
Star. — "A tender spirit of motherhood inspires Mrs. Radford's simple
little songs."
Review of Reviews. — "Very charming poems for children not unworthy
even to be mentioned in the same breath with Stevenson's ' Child's Garden
of Verses.' "
Athenceum. — " ' Good Night ' is one of the daintiest little books we have
seen for years. The verses are graceful and pretty, and the illustrations
excellent. It will please both young and old."
Literary World. — " Charming little songs of childhood."
New Age. — " Mrs. Radford is closely in touch with a child's mind, and
her ideal child is a nice, soft, loving little creature whom we all want lo
caress in our arms."
Artist. — " Since Blake died never has a book been produced which can
so truly be described as a labour of love to the artist as ' Good Night.' "
MEDIEVAL LEGENDS. Being a Gift-Book to
the Children of England, of Five Old-World Tales from
France and Germany. Demy 8vo. Designed cloth cover,
3s. 6d.
Contents. — The Mysterious History of Melusina— The Story of
^sop — The Rhyme of the Seven Swabians — The Sweet and
Touching Tale of Fleur and Blanchefleur— The Wanderings of
Duke Ernest.
Some press flotices.
Saturday Review. — "A capital selection of famous legends."
Times. — " There can be no question as to the value of this gift."
Morning Post. — " Full of romantic incident, of perilous adventure by land
and sea. ' '
Guardian. — " This delightful volume. . . . In all respects admirable. "
World.—" An elegant and tasteful volume."
THE HAPPY PRINCE, and other Tales. By OSCAR
WILDE. 1 1 6 pages, small 4to. Beautifully printed in old-
faced type, on cream-laid paper, with wide margins. Bound
in Japanese vellum cover, printed in red and black. With
three full-page Plates by WALTER CRANE, and eleven
Vignettes by JACOMB HOOD. Second Edition. 33. 6d.
Some press notices.
Christian Leader. — "Beautiful exceedingly; charmingly devised— exqui-
sitely told."
Universal Review.— " Heartily recommended."
Athenaum. — " Mr. Wilde possesses the gift of writing fairy tales in a rare
degree."
Dublin Evening Mail. — " A beautiful book in every sense."
Glasgow Herald. — " It is difficult to speak too highly of these tales."
For Christmas 1897.
FAIRY TALES FROM THE FAR NORTH. By
P. C. ASBJORNSEN. Translated by H. L. BR/EKSTAD. With
94 Illustrations by E. WERENSKIOLD, T. KITTELSEN, and H.
SINDING. Small 4to (" Wonder Voyages " size), beautifully
printed at the Ballantyne Press on specially manufactured
paper. Cloth, designed Cover. 6s.
*** The raciest and quaintest of stories, the most spirited
and humorous of illustrations.
THE GIANT CRAB, and other Tales from Old India.
Retold by W. H. D. ROUSE. Profusely Illustrated by W.
ROBINSON. Square crown 8vo, beautifully printed at the
Ballantyne Press on special paper. Designed cloth cover.
3s. 6d.
*** Adaptation for English children of Tales from the Oldest
Story Book in the world, the Jatakas, or Birth-stories of
Buddha. cj t
W **
A\K-UN1VER%
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
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