III

IIIGURIAN FOLK TALESGURIAN FOLK TALESIThe Strong Man and the DwarfThere came from far-off lands a strong man who had nowhere met his match, and challenged any one in the whole kingdom to wrestle with him. The king gathered his folk together, but, to his wonder, could not for a long time find anybody ready to face the strong man, till, at last, there stood forth a weak insignificant-looking dwarf, who offered to wrestle with the giant.Haughtily looking down on his adversary, the giant carelessly turned away, thinking that he was befooled. But the dwarf asked that his strength should be put to the proof before the struggle began.The giant angrily seized a stone, and, clasping it in his fingers, squeezed moisture out of it.The dwarf cunningly replaced the stone by a sponge of the same appearance, and squeezed still more moisture out of it.The giant then took another stone, and threw it so violently on the ground that it became dust.The dwarf took a stone, hid it under the ground, and threw on the ground a handful of flour, to the great astonishment of the giant.Stretching forth his hand to the dwarf, the giant said: ‘I never expected to find so much strength in such a small man, I will not wrestle with you; but give me your hand in token of friendship and brotherhood.’After this, the giant asked the dwarf to go home with him. But first he asked the dwarf why he had not pressed his hand in a brotherly manner. The dwarf replied that he was unable to moderate the force of his pressure, and that more than one man had already died from the fearful force of his hand. The new brothers then set out together. On their way to the giant’s house, they came to a stream which had to be forded.The dwarf, fearing to be carried away by the current, told the strong man that he was suffering from belly-ache, and did not therefore wish to go into the cold water, so he asked to be carried over.In the midst of the stream, the strong man, with the dwarf on his shoulders, suddenly stopped and said: ‘I have heard that strong people are heavy, but I do not feel you on my shoulders. Tell me how this is, for God’s sake.’‘Since we have become brothers,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I have no right to press with all my weight upon you, and did I not support myself by holding on to the sky with one hand, you could never carry me.’But the strong man, wishing to test his strength, asked the dwarf to drop his hand for a moment, whereupon the dwarf took from his pocket two nails, and stuck the sharp points of them in the shoulders of the strong man.The giant could not endure the pain, and begged the dwarf to lighten his burden at once,i.e.to lay hold of heaven with one hand again.When they had reached the other side, the two newfriends soon came to the strong man’s house. The giant, wishing to give a dinner to the dwarf, proposed that they should share the work of getting it ready, that one of them should take the bread out of the oven, while the other went to the cellar for wine.The dwarf saw in the oven an immense loaf which he could never have lifted, so he chose to go to the cellar for wine. But when he had descended, he was unable even to lift the weights on the top of the jars, so, thinking that by this time the giant would have taken the loaf out of the oven, he cried: ‘Shall I bring up all the jars?’The giant, alarmed lest the dwarf should spoil his whole year’s stock of wine, by digging the jars out of the ground, where they were buried, rushed down into the cellar, and the dwarf went upstairs.But great was the astonishment of the dwarf when he found that the bread was still in the oven, and that he must take it out, willy-nilly. He succeeded with difficulty in dragging a loaf to the edge of the oven, but then he fell with the hot bread on top of him, and, being unable to free himself, was almost smothered.Just then the giant came in, and asked what had happened. The dwarf replied: ‘As I told you this morning, I am suffering from a stomach-ache, and, in order to soothe the pain, I applied the hot loaf as a plaster.’ ... Then the giant came up, and said: ‘Poor fellow! How do you feel now, after your plaster?’ ‘Better, thank God,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I feel so much better that you can take off the loaf.’ ... The giant lifted the loaf, and the two then sat down to dinner. Suddenly the giant sneezed so hard that the dwarf was blown up to the roof, and seized a beam, so that he should not fall down again. The giant looked up withastonishment, and asked: ‘What does this mean?’ The dwarf angrily replied: ‘If you do such a vulgar thing again I shall pull this beam out and break it over your stupid head.’ The giant made humble excuses, and promised that he would never sneeze again during dinner time; he then brought a ladder by which the dwarf came down....11Cf. Malcolm:Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi. ’Ameen and the Ghool. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 173, and note on p. 239.IIThe Grasshopper and the Ant1The grasshopper and the ant became friends, and entered into a compact of brotherhood, promising never to separate. They then set out on a journey, forgetful of the proverb that ‘footman and horseman can never be comrades.’ Of the truth of this they had a proof on the very first day of their travels, for, chancing to come to a brook which they had to ford, the grasshopper jumped over, while the poor ant was carried away by the stream.The grasshopper thought, for a moment, how he could save his drowning companion, and then cried: ‘Catch hold of something, and I shall run and get help.’The bright idea struck him of applying to the sow for one of her bristles, to which the ant could attach herself while he pulled her out of the water.The sow answered: ‘Brother grasshopper, you know the proverb, “hand washes hand”; for three days I have eaten nothing, and am I to let people pull bristles out of me for nothing? Feed me with acorns, and then you can have as many bristles as you like.’The grasshopper hurried off to the oak and said: ‘Oak, oak, give me acorns, I give the acorns to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The oak answered:‘Those thievish jays give me no rest, they pull off my acorns; keep them off.’The grasshopper ran to the jays, and said:‘Jays! leave the oak, and the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The jays answered:‘The kites pursue us; go and drive them off.’The grasshopper ran to the kites, and said:‘Kites! leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The kites answered:‘We are hungry; bring us chickens.’The grasshopper ran to the hen, and said:‘Hen, give me chickens. The chickens I shall give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The hen replied:‘Feed me with millet.’The grasshopper hastened to the barn:‘Barn, give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The barn replied:‘The rats have the mastery over me, they gnaw me on every side; send them away.’The grasshopper ran to the rats:‘Rats! go away from the barn, and the barn will give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning friend.’The rats replied:‘The cats give us no peace; send them away.’The grasshopper went to the cats:‘Cats! go away from the rats, and the rats will leave the barn, the barn will give millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning comrade.’The cats replied:‘Feed us with milk.’The grasshopper ran to the cow:‘Cow! give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, the cats will leave the rats alone, the rats will leave the barn,’ etc., etc.The cow replied:‘Feed me with grass.’The grasshopper applied to the earth, and said:‘O earth! give me grass, the grass I shall give to the cow, the cow will give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, then the cats will leave the rats alone, and the rats willleave the barn, the barn will give me millet, the millet I shall give to the hen, the hen will give me chickens, the chickens I shall give to the kites, then the kites will leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I shall give to the sow, the sow will give me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning friend.’The earth gave the grass ... and finally the grasshopper obtained the bristle, and hastened with it to his drowning friend, but, to his astonishment, the ant was quite dead when he pulled him out. This story teaches that help is only valuable when it is given in time, that the earth alone refuses not to yield her gifts to him that asks, and that all other things exist only by reciprocal services.1Cf.The House that Jack built.IIIThe Countryman and the MerchantA countryman caught a pheasant, and was carrying it home to cook it for himself and his wife.Suddenly the pheasant spoke like a man, and said: ‘Let me go, goodman, and I shall repay you.’The countryman was astonished, and asked:‘What could you do for me?’The pheasant replied: ‘You are an old man, and must soon die; when you are dead, I shall gather together all the birds of the air, and follow you to the grave. Since the world began, no king ever had such an honour paid to him at his funeral.’The countryman was pleased at the offer, and set the pheasant free. When he reached home, he told his wife what had happened, and, although she scolded him at first forletting the bird go, yet she was pleased when the pheasant sent, every morning, birds to ask after the old man’s health.A happy thought soon occurred to the wife, and she said to her husband: ‘Listen to me, we are almost dying of hunger, and we have a good chance of getting plenty of food. Pretend that you are dead; I shall begin to cry, and all the birds will come to your funeral, I shall entice them into our cottage, shut the doors and windows; we can knock them down with sticks, and thus lay in a store of food to last us for a long time.’So the countryman covered himself with a sheet, and lay down, while his wife went outside and wept loudly.A hoopoe flew down, and asked after her husband’s health; when the wife announced his death, the hoopoe at once flew away, and, within an hour, there flew into the yard, in long lines, some thousands of pheasants, the same number of doves, snipe, quails, woodcock, etc., and even eagles, kites, hawks, etc.Some of the birds settled in the cottage, some in the barn, some in the stable, some in the yard, and the rest, for which there was no room, remained in serried ranks in the air.Then the wife shut the doors, and, with her husband, set about killing the birds; only those that were outside escaped.In the evening, there came a merchant, and asked to be allowed to spend the night in the cottage. At supper, the merchant saw a great abundance of game of all kinds, and asked the countryman how such luxury was within the reach of a poor man. The countryman replied: ‘I have a cat of a famous breed, which has never yet failed me. When I want game for my table, I tell her what kind of birds I should like, and how many, and she goes into the forest and gets them. I do not know what was the matter with herlast night, but see! she went into the wood of her own will, and killed all the birds in the neighbourhood, and brought them to us.’ The countryman then showed a whole heap of dead game.The merchant at once began to bargain with the countryman for the cat, and finally purchased it for a large sum.When the merchant reached home, he went about his business, and told his wife that he would not leave her any money for housekeeping, for she had only to give her orders, and the cat would bring all sorts of game for food. But when he came in, he was astonished to find that his wife had eaten nothing, the cat had brought no birds, but had even stolen what was in the house already. So he went back to ask the countryman about it.The countryman saw him coming, filled a pot with millet and hung it over the fire. He then sat down near it, put a grain of millet in the palm of his hand, and began to wash it. The merchant came in and stood by him; the countryman pretended not to see the merchant, muttered an incantation, and dropped the grain into the pot. Then he stirred it with a spoon, and behold the pot was full. The merchant did not know whether to quarrel with the countryman or to get this magic pot from him.‘What is this you have done to me?’ said he. ‘Your cat is useless, it brings nothing, and steals what we have.’‘Have you been feeding it with roast meat? I forgot to warn you that you must not do this.’‘Well, it is my fault then,’ said the merchant. ‘But will you sell me that pot?’‘I have already lost my famous cat. It is not likely that I shall now let you have this pot, in which I can make a dish of porridge with only one grain.’However, they began bargaining, and at last the countryman sold his pot for a large sum. When the merchant reached home, he consoled his wife by telling her that from one barleycorn she could now make as much porridge as she wanted; he then set out again. When he returned, his wife complained that the pot was of no use. So he called again on the countryman, to ask for an explanation.The countryman, foreseeing that the merchant would come, got two hares exactly alike, and tied ribbons of the same colour round their necks. He left one hare at home, and took the other out into the fields with him. He told his wife that if the merchant came, she was to send him out to the field, and in an hour bring him a dinner consisting of two boiled fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.The merchant came, and the woman sent him to the field where her husband was working. In reply to the reproaches of the merchant, the countryman said: ‘You have probably made some stupid mistake with the pot as you did with the cat. But let us sit down and dine while we talk it over, for I cannot suffer you to come to me without feeding you.’ The merchant looked round and said: ‘How can we get anything to eat out here in the fields?’The peasant went to a bush, untied the hare, and said to it: ‘Run at once, little hare, to my wife, and tell her to come with you and bring us a pair of fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.’The hare ran off as fast as it could. It is easy to understand the astonishment of the merchant when the woman came with the hare, bringing all that the man had ordered. When they had eaten, the merchant said: ‘You have cheated me about the cat and the pot, but I forgive you ifyou let me have the hare.’ The countryman refused at first, but finally agreed to sell the hare for a large sum.1On his way home with the hare, the merchant met some friends whom he asked to sup with him, but seeing that he would not arrive until it was late, he ordered the hare to run and tell his wife that he was coming with some guests, and that she was to prepare supper. When he and his friends reached home, they found the house quite dark, and had difficulty in rousing the wife from her sleep. She told him that no hare had been there, and that she did not know what he was talking about.The merchant was now furious, and determined to punish the countryman severely. But the countryman guessed what would happen, and arranged with his wife what should be done. He took the intestine of a small calf, filled it with blood, and tied it round his wife’s neck, telling her to cover it up with a kerchief. The merchant came in, and without saying a word rushed at the countryman, who, in his turn, attacked his wife, accusing her of being the guilty party, and with a knife pierced the intestine under her throat. She fell on the ground, and pretended that she was dying. The merchant was alarmed, and cried: ‘What have you done, you wretched man? I would willingly have lost the money rather than have this innocent blood shed.’ The countryman answered: ‘That is my affair. Though I have killed my wife I can raise her to life again.’ ‘I believe you no longer,’ said the merchant, ‘but if you perform this miracle I shall forgive you all.’ The countryman approached his wife with the knife in his hand, muttered something, and his wife opened her eyes, and, to the surprise of the merchant, rose up.The merchant bought the wonderful knife, saying that his wife, too, needed a lesson sometimes. When the merchant reached home, his wife asked where he had been. He told her to be silent and mind her own business. ‘If you are not quiet I will cut your throat.’ The woman looked at him with astonishment, and wondered whether he had gone out of his mind. The merchant threw down his wife, and cut her throat. All the neighbours flocked in, and raised a great cry. The merchant said: ‘What if I have killed my wife? I can bring her to life again.’ The neighbours stood by while he muttered the invocations he had learnt, but he could not raise her. Then he flew to the countryman, tied his hands, and dragged him into the forest, saying: ‘I wish to prolong your sufferings, and will not kill you at once. I shall starve you, drag you about in the woods, and, when I have worn you out with tortures, I shall throw you into the sea.’ On the road there was a town, in which a king had just died, and his funeral was then taking place. Having bound the countryman to a tree in the depths of the forest, the merchant returned to the town to see the royal funeral. Just then, a shepherd happened to drive his flock near the tree to which the countryman was tied. Seeing the shepherd a little way off, the countryman began to shout: ‘I will not be king! I will not be king! No! No! No!’ The shepherd came up and asked what was wrong. The countryman replied: ‘You know, brother, that the king is dead in the town: they want me to take his place, but I will not, for I have been king twice, and know what it is. Ah, brother! one has so many cares, so much work, that one’s head swims. I had rather be tied to this tree than consent to be king.’ The shepherd thought for a moment, and replied: ‘I, brother, would give anything in the world to have a trial of the life of a king.’ ‘I gladly give you my place,but, so that people may not know, put on my clothes, and I shall bind you to the tree, and by to-morrow you shall be king.’ The shepherd gladly gave him his flock, and took his place at the tree.As soon as the countryman was free, he drove away the flock.When it was quite dark, the merchant appeared, loosed his victim, and drove him on. When they came to the steep seashore, the shepherd saw that the merchant wished to drown him, and cried: ‘Do not drown me! I had rather consent to be king.’ The merchant thought his prisoner had lost his wits through fatigue and ill-treatment; without more ado he threw him into the sea.A fortnight later, the merchant was travelling on business, when he met on the road the same countryman whom he, as he thought, had drowned, and who was now driving a flock. ‘What do I see!’ cried the merchant. ‘Are you there? Did I not drown you in the sea?’‘My benefactor!’ replied the countryman. ‘I wish you would drown me again. You cannot imagine what a quantity of cattle there is down there at the bottom of the sea. It is a pity I had no stick with me, for I could not drive out more than these with my hands.’The merchant besought the countryman, saying: ‘You have ruined me. The cat, the pot, the hare, the knife, have all cost money; thanks to you, I am a beggar and a widower. If you remember the place where I threw you into the sea, drown me there, but let me have a stick, so that I may repair my fortune.’ To get rid of the troublesome merchant, the countryman agreed to fulfil his request, and so drowned him with a very long switch in his hand.21Cf. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 209, and note on p. 242.2Cf. the last incident with the end of ‘Little Fairly,’ in Samuel Lover’sLegends and Stories of Ireland.IVThe King and the SageOnce upon a time, there reigned in one of the realms of the East a shah named Ali, a man of amiable and merry character. Ali was much beloved by his subjects, and he too loved them with all his heart. The shah played with them as if they had been his children; he gave them festivals, arranged competitions, and gave prizes for the best poetical productions, etc. The shah was skilled in the famous literature of Arabia, and was thought to be a learned man; besides this, he was a wit and a joker, and loved to set his folk merry riddles to guess: prizes were given to the successful. Once theferashes(or servants) of the shah made known to the people, that Ali had promised three hundred pieces of gold to him who should ask his majesty such a question that the answer must inevitably be:That is Impossible.This announcement created great excitement, and men, women, and children all alike set themselves to think out such a question. The day of the competition dawned at last, and the vast square before the palace was crowded with a curious throng. At the appointed hour, Shah Ali appeared, surrounded by a brilliant guard, and music filled the air. After greeting his folk, the shah sat down on a throne, opposite the platform on which the candidates were to stand while they asked the shah their questions. Heralds gave out the challenge, and a wit of the town mounted the rostrum and loudly said: ‘Shah! a courier has just galloped into the town and told me a most astonishing piece of news, to wit, that at dawn this morning, twenty versts from your capital, the moon fell from the skyto the ground, and burned two and twenty villages to ashes.’ The shah meditated a moment, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The town wit got down, amid the laughter of the people.His place was taken by a courtier, the shah’s body-surgeon, who shouted: ‘Most illustrious Shah! In your harem a most astounding event has just happened—your first wife, your beloved Zuleika, has just given birth to a sucking-pig covered with bristles.’ The shah considered, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The doctor fled in shame, and the people laughed more loudly than before.After the doctor came an astrologer, who said: ‘Most noble Shah! In observing the courses of the stars I have discovered a woful piece of news; an awful fate awaits you. O King, you will soon have horns like a goat, and claws like a panther, you will lose the power of speech, and flee from us into the woods, where you will dwell exactly seven years and three months.’ To him likewise the shah replied: ‘That is possible,’ and he too disappeared, amid the jeers of the mob.The competition lasted throughout the whole of that day and the next, to the delight of the people, until at last they thought of getting a certain Nasr-Eddin, a wit well known throughout the East, to oppose to the shah.1On the third, and last, day appeared Nasr-Eddin, tattered and almost naked, dragging with him two great clay jars. Addressing the shah, he said: ‘Hail to the commander of the faithful, blessed be thy name! Thou shalt reign yet a hundred years, and the love and confidence of thy subjectswill increase yearly.’ ‘That is possible,’ said the shah. ‘That the confidence your subjects repose in you is unbounded is evident from a fact which I am about to relate; you will doubtless deign to listen.’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Your late father (God rest his soul!) was very friendly with my late father (may the Prophet give him a place in Paradise!)...’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Listen to me, O Shah! When your father went forth to war with the unbelievers, he was so poor that he could not raise an army.’ ... ‘That is possible.’ ‘Not only is it possible but true, for, owing to his want of money, he borrowed from my father these two jars full of gold pieces, and promised on his royal word that you, O Shah, would pay your father’s debt to me.’ Shah Ali burst into laughter, and said: ‘That is impossible! Your father was a tatterdemalion like yourself, and never saw two jars of gold even in his dreams. Take your three hundred gold pieces, and the devil take you. You rascal, you have outwitted me.’1The Mullah Nasr-Eddin is the hero of hundreds of witty tales. A French translation of some of them (from the Turkish) was published, by Decourdemanche, in 1878.VThe King’s SonA certain king had a son, and sent him out to be nursed by a smith’s wife. This crafty woman put the king’s child in a common cradle, and her own son in the gorgeous royal cradle. Some years afterwards, the king took the changeling to court, and brought his foster-brother with him. One fine day, the king set out for his favourite forest to hunt, and took his pretended son with him. When they arrived, the king asked: ‘How do you like this place, my son? Is it not a magnificent wood?’ The boy replied: ‘O father, if we could only burn it all somehow, what a fine lot of charcoal we should have!’Then the king sent for the other boy, and asked him the same question. ‘There could not be a better forest, your Majesty!’ ‘But what would you do with it if it were yours?’ ‘Nothing, your Majesty. I would double the guards, so that it should not be injured.’ Then the king saw how the smith’s wife had tried to cheat him, and put her in prison.VITeeth and No-TeethShah Ali desired to see the hungriest man in his kingdom, and find out how much of the daintiest food such a man could eat at a meal. So he let it be known that on a certain day he would dine with his courtiers in the open air, in front of the palace. At the appointed hour, tables were laid and dinner was served, in the presence of a vast crowd. After the first course, the shah mounted a daïs, and said: ‘My loyal subjects! you see what a splendid dinner I have. I should like to share it with those among you who are really hungry, and have not eaten for a long time, so tell me truly which is the hungriest of you all, and bid him come forward.’Two men appeared from the crowd: an old man of fifty and a young man of twenty-seven. The former was grey-haired and feeble, the latter was fresh and of athletic build.‘How is it that you are hungry?’ asked the shah of the old man. ‘I am old, my children are dead, toil has worn me out, and I have eaten nothing for three days.’ ‘And you?’ said the shah, turning to the young man. ‘I could not find work, and as I am a hearty young man I am ashamed to beg, so I too have not eaten for three days.’The shah ordered them to be given food, on one plate, and in small portions. The hungry men eagerly ate, watching each other intently. Suddenly the old man and the young one both stopped and began to weep. ‘Why do you weep?’ asked the shah in astonishment. ‘I have no teeth,’ said the old man, ‘and while I am mumbling my food this young man eats up everything.’ ‘And why are you weeping?’ ‘He is telling lies, your majesty; while I am chewing my meat the old man gulps down everything whole....’VIIThe Queen’s WhimA certain queen wished to have a palace built of the bones of all kinds of birds. The king ordered birds to be caught, and the building was begun. Bones of all kinds were brought and cleaned, and the walls were rising, but they could not find a hedge-sparrow, and, as the queen wanted all sorts of birds, a search was made for the missing one. At last the hedge-sparrow was found, and brought before the king, who asked where she had been. ‘Mighty monarch! I have been flying all over the kingdom counting the men and women; unfortunately there are twice as many women as men.’ The king ordered the bird to be punished for telling him such a shameless falsehood. ‘King of kings,’ said the hedge-sparrow, ‘perhaps I did not count in the same way as you do.’ ‘How did you count, then?’ ‘I counted all those men who are under the slipper of women as old women.’ The hedge-sparrow thus hinted that the king himself was an old woman, because he had not strength of mind enough to resist the foolish whims of his wife.VIIIThe Fool’s good FortuneA certain man died and left three sons. One was altogether a fool, another was fairly intelligent, and the third was rather clever. This being so, it was of course difficult for them to live together. In dividing the inheritance among them, the fool was cheated, and in regard to the cattle he was thus cozened: There were three entrances to the penfold, two open and one very narrow. The two clever brothers proposed to drive the beasts out of all three at once; those that issued from the small gap were to belong to the fool. In this way the latter’s share was only one young bull out of the whole flock. But to his feeble mind the division seemed fair enough, so he contentedly drove his bull out into the forest, and tied it with a stout rope to a young tree, whilst he himself wandered aimlessly about.Three days later, the fool went to see his beast. It had eaten and drunk nothing, but had pulled the tree up by the roots, and laid bare a jar full of old gold coins. The fool was delighted, and played with the money for a time, then he resolved to take the jar and present it to the king. As he passed along the road, every wayfarer looked into the pot, took out the gold in handfuls, and so that he should not notice their thefts, filled it up with stones and blocks of wood. On reaching the palace, the fool asked for an audience of the king, and it was granted. He emptied out the contents of the jar at the feet of the king. When the courtiers saw the wrath of the king, they took the fool away and beat him. When he had recovered himself he asked why he had been thrashed. One of the bystanders, for fun, cried to him: ‘You have been beaten because you labourin vain.’ The fool went his way, muttering the words: ‘You labour in vain.’ As he passed a peasant who was reaping, he repeated his phrase again and again, until the peasant grew angry, and thrashed him. The fool asked why he had been beaten, and what he ought to have said. ‘You ought to have said: “God give you a good harvest!”’ The fool went on saying, ‘God give you a good harvest!’ and met a funeral. Again he was beaten, and again he asked what he should say. They replied that he should have said: ‘Heaven rest your soul!’ He then came to a wedding, and saluted the newly-married couple with this funereal phrase. Again he was beaten, and then told that he should say: ‘Be fruitful and multiply!’ His next visit was to a monastery, and he accosted every monk with his new salutation. They too gave him a thrashing, with such vigour that the fool determined to have his revenge by stealing one of the bells from their belfry. So he hid himself until the monks had gone to rest, and then carriedoffa bell of moderate size. He went into the forest, climbed a tree, and hung the bell on the branches, ringing it from time to time, partly to amuse himself and partly to frighten away wild beasts. In the forest there was a gang of robbers, who were assembled to share their booty, and had just ended a merry banquet. Suddenly they heard the sound of the bell, and were much afraid. They took counsel as to what was to be done, and most of them were for flight, but the oldest of the band advised them to send a scout to see what was wrong. The bravest among them was sent to get information, and the rest remained as quiet as possible. The brigand went on tiptoe through the bushes to the tree where the fool was, and respectfully asked: ‘Who are you? If you are an angel sent by God to punish our wickedness, pray spare usand we shall repent; if you are a devil from hell, come and share with us.’ The fool was not so stupid that he did not see he had to deal with robbers, so he took out a knife, tolled the bell, and then said with a grave air: ‘If you wish to know who I am, climb the tree and show me your tongue, so that I may mark on it who I am and what I ask of you.’ The robber obediently climbed the tree, and put out his tongue as far as he could. The fool cut off his tongue, and kicked him to the ground. The robber, mad with pain, and frightened by his sudden fall, ran off howling. His comrades had come out to meet him, and when they saw the plight he was in they ran off in terror, leaving their wealth. Next morning the fool found the booty, and without saying anything to anybody, took it home and became much richer than his brothers. The fool built three palaces: one for himself, one for me, and one for you. There is merrymaking in the fool’s palace—come and be one of the guests!IXTwo LossesDuring a great storm at sea, a learned man heard the skipper giving his orders, but could not understand a word. When the danger was past, he asked the skipper in what language he had spoken. The sailor replied: ‘In my mother tongue, of course!’ The scholar expressed his regret that a man should have wasted half his life without learning to speak grammatically and intelligibly. A few hours later the storm arose again, and this time the ship sprang a leak and began to founder. Then the captain went to the scholar and asked if he could swim. Theman of books replied that he had never learned. ‘I am sorry, sir, for you will lose your whole life. The ship will go to the bottom in a minute, and my crew and I shall swim ashore. You would have done well if you had spent a little of your time in learning to swim.’XThe Story of DervishA hunter killed in the mountains a stag, and began to skin it. He then hung the skin on a bush, and went down to a stream to wash the blood from his hands. When he came back, he found to his surprise that the dead stag had come to life, and was bounding away. When he had recovered from his astonishment, he chased the beast, but could not overtake it, and it was soon lost to sight. He met a wayfarer, briefly told him the story, and asked if he had ever seen a stag without a skin. ‘I have never seen a stag without a skin, but I do not wonder at your story. Near here there is a healing spring where any beast, even if wounded unto death, can be cured by bathing. Your stag probably bathed there, and is now sound and well. But if you want to know more about this wonderful country of ours, seek out a man called Dervish, and he will tell you things that will soon make you forget all about the stag.’ ‘Where can I find this Dervish?’ asked the hunter. ‘Go from village to village, and look into every courtyard, and when you see a man smoking a pipe, with an ass and a she-ass bound before him, ask him.’The hunter went away, and, after a long search, found Dervish, who told him the following story:—‘I was married,’ said Dervish, ‘and loved my wife, but she deceived me with my next-door neighbour. When I heard of this I questioned my wife, but, instead of answering, she struck me with a whip, and, to my horror, I was turned into a dog. My wife drove me out into the yard, and for shame I ran away. On the road I suffered hunger, thirst, and despair, and, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be powerless, and realised what a great difference there is between man and beast. When I opened my mouth and tried to speak, I only barked and howled. I tried to stand on my hind legs, and walk like a man, but I fell either backwards or forwards. Then I jumped about, and did this so easily and briskly that I regained my spirits, and came to think that even a dog’s life had its pleasures. While I was merrily jumping, I unexpectedly saw a man. He looked at me and I at him. The man smiled, and I ran up to him, but he was afraid, and lifted his stick to strike me. We both moved away from each other. I wanted to speak, but I barked, and the man raised his stick again. I then began to frolic and jump, and the man smiled again, and let me come up to him. I understood how dog and man are always the best of friends, and in my mind I thanked my wicked wife that she had turned me into a dog, and not some other beast, a pig, for instance. The man who beckoned me to come to him was a good village priest, and we soon became great friends. He caressed me, gave me something to eat, and I went away with him. The kind-hearted priest, overcome by the heat, lay down to rest under a tree, and I wished to do the same, but the priest said: “Watch over me!” so I did not go to sleep, rightly thinking that if the priest woke and found me asleep he would give me no more bread, andperhaps would drive me away. Ah! the beginning of my dog life was grievous. In the evening, the priest stopped to sleep with some shepherds who were watching their flocks. The shepherds, to show honour to their pastor, killed a lamb for supper, got wine, and made merry. Though I took no direct part in the feast, I kept close behind my master. After supper, one of the shepherds looked at me, and said: “This dog must be fond of wine, for he never takes his eyes from the glass, and now and then he licks his lips.” I nodded my head several times. Then the shepherds poured me out some wine in a plate, and I lapped it up with pleasure. When they were all asleep, wolves came and attacked the sheep. The shepherds’ dogs barked, but did not dare to attack the wolves; I rose and killed three wolves on the spot. When the shepherds saw this, they offered the priest a good price for me, and he finally sold me. Before long I had killed a vast number of wolves, and the fame of me reached the ears of the king of the country. I was brought and taken to the palace, to the sick daughter of the king, who was tormented at night by brownies. Every morning the princess woke exhausted and enfeebled. On the first night of my watch, I saw swans enter the bedchamber through the closed doors, they choked and trampled upon the sleeping princess. I was chained up, and could do nothing to help the poor maiden. In the morning, I was scolded for not having done anything, but one of the courtiers defended me, saying: “He is a good dog, but he must be unchained, and then we shall see what he can do.” Next night the swans came again. I killed ten of them, but the eleventh asked me to spare her, saying she would help me in the matter of my wife and our neighbour. I trusted the swan, and let her go. To my delight, theprincess rose healthy and merry next morning. The king was exceedingly pleased with me, and ordered me to have a heavy gold chain, and to be fed right royally. I lived well in the palace, but I longed to see my home and wife again, so I soon ran away. When I entered my own house, my wife took off my gold chain, struck me with her whip, and turned me into a duck. I flew into a field near by, where millet had been sown, and, being inexperienced, was caught at once in nets laid by a peasant. The peasant took me under his arm, and gave me to his wife, telling her to cook me for dinner. As soon as the peasant had gone out, the woman looked at me intently, and then took down from the wall a whip, with which she struck me, and turned me into a man again, saying: “Have I helped you or not? We were twelve sisters, you killed ten of us, I am the eleventh, and your wife is the twelfth. Now go home, take the whip which hangs over your wife’s bed, strike her and your neighbour with it, and you can turn them into any kind of beasts that you wish.” I went in late at night, when my wife and the neighbour were both asleep, I struck them with the whip, and turned my wife into an ass, and the man into a she-ass, and here they are.’ The hunter was terrified when he heard this story of Dervish, he ran away from the enchanted mountain realm as fast as he could, and resolved never to go back there again.XIThe Father’s ProphecyA certain man was wont to tell his son, while thrashing him, that he would never come to any good. The boy grew tired of these rebukes, and ran away from home. Ten years later he had risen to the rank ofpasha, and was set over the verypashalikwhere his father lived. On his way to his post, the new pasha stopped at a place twenty miles off, and said to the Bashi-Bazouks of his guard: ‘Ride to such and such a village, seize so and so, and bring him to me.’ The Bashi-Bazouks arrived at night, dragged the sick old man out of bed, and took him to the pasha. The pasha stretched himself to his full height, and, ordering the old man to look him in the face, said: ‘Do you know me?’ The old man fixed his gaze on the pasha, and cried: ‘Ah, pasha! you are surely my son.’ ‘Did you not tell me in my boyhood that I should never come to any good? Now look at me,’ and the pasha pointed to his epaulets. ‘Well, was I wrong? You are no man, but only a pasha. What man worthy the name would send for his father in the way you have done? I repeat it, you have gained the rank of pasha, but you have not become a good man.’XIIThe Hermit PhilosopherThere was once a wise man who loved solitude, and dwelt far away from other men, meditating on the vanities of the world. He spent nearly all his time in the open air, and he could easily do this, for he lived in a lovely southern land where there is no winter and but little rain. As he wandered once among the verdure of his garden, the sage stopped before an aged walnut tree covered with ripening nuts, and said: ‘Why is there such a strange want of symmetry in nature? Here, for instance, is a walnut tree a hundred years old, hiding its top in the clouds, and yet how small is its fruit: itself it grows from year to year, but its fruit is always of the same size. Now, on the bedsat the foot of the tree there grow great pumpkins and melons on very small creeping plants. It would be more fitting if the pumpkins grew on the walnut trees and the walnuts on the pumpkin beds. Why this want of symmetry in nature?’ The sage thought deeply on the subject, and walked in the garden for a long time, till at last he felt sleepy. He lay down under the shady walnut tree, and was soon slumbering peacefully. In a short time, he felt a slight blow on the face, then a second, and then a third. As he opened his eyes, a ripe walnut fell on his nose. The sage leaped to his feet, and said: ‘Now I understand the secret of nature. If this tree had borne melons or pumpkins, my head would have been broken. Henceforth let no one presume to find fault with Providence!’XIIIThe King’s Counsellor1The counsellor of an Arabian king once bethought himself that, though he had lived so many years, and knew so much, he had never yet found out how much the king valued his services, and to what extent his wife and friends really loved him. He decided to try them all at once, so he went to the palace and stole a goat of which the king was very fond, and of which he was the keeper. He then went home, told this secret to his wife, and in her presence ordered the cook to roast the goat. But afterwards he privately told the cook to hide the royal goat, and roast a kid in its place. At supper his wife praised the dishvery highly. As soon as the king heard of the loss of his goat, he was very angry, and cried in his wrath: ‘If any man finds the thief I shall load him with gold, if a woman finds him I shall marry her!’ The counsellor’s wife, thinking it better to be a king’s wife, betrayed her husband. The king ordered his counsellor to be executed, and married the woman. When the execution was about to take place, the victim’s old friends succeeded in saving him by a large bribe, and another criminal was executed instead. The counsellor was hidden in a neighbouring realm. Some years afterwards, troublesome questions of state arose, and none of the council could solve them. The king often longed for his old counsellor, and said: ‘For the sake of a goat I sacrificed a clever man, if he were alive he would get me out of all my trouble in a day.’ The counsellor’s old friends at last resolved to acknowledge the trick they had played. So one day, when the king was in a good humour, they went and said: ‘Pardon us, O king! Your first counsellor is alive!’ and they told him all. The king was heartily glad, and ordered the exile to be brought back. He was well received, and restored the goat to the king. The king said: ‘My friend! we thus see that the greatest scourge of all is false witness, and that we must beware, above all things, of our wives.’1Francesco Strapparola’s story of Salardo and the Falcon is practically the same as this.XIVA Witty AnswerA certain king was angry with one of his lords, and put him in prison; wishing to keep him there, he said he would only set him free if he could bring to the court a horse which was neither grey, nor black, brown norbay, white nor roan, dun, chestnut, nor piebald—and, in short, the king enumerated every possible colour that a horse could be. The imprisoned lord promised to get such a horse if the king would set him free at once. As soon as he was at liberty, the lord asked the king to send a groom for the horse, but begged that the groom might come neither on Monday nor Tuesday, Wednesday nor Thursday, Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday, but on any other day of the week that suited His Majesty.

IIIGURIAN FOLK TALESGURIAN FOLK TALESIThe Strong Man and the DwarfThere came from far-off lands a strong man who had nowhere met his match, and challenged any one in the whole kingdom to wrestle with him. The king gathered his folk together, but, to his wonder, could not for a long time find anybody ready to face the strong man, till, at last, there stood forth a weak insignificant-looking dwarf, who offered to wrestle with the giant.Haughtily looking down on his adversary, the giant carelessly turned away, thinking that he was befooled. But the dwarf asked that his strength should be put to the proof before the struggle began.The giant angrily seized a stone, and, clasping it in his fingers, squeezed moisture out of it.The dwarf cunningly replaced the stone by a sponge of the same appearance, and squeezed still more moisture out of it.The giant then took another stone, and threw it so violently on the ground that it became dust.The dwarf took a stone, hid it under the ground, and threw on the ground a handful of flour, to the great astonishment of the giant.Stretching forth his hand to the dwarf, the giant said: ‘I never expected to find so much strength in such a small man, I will not wrestle with you; but give me your hand in token of friendship and brotherhood.’After this, the giant asked the dwarf to go home with him. But first he asked the dwarf why he had not pressed his hand in a brotherly manner. The dwarf replied that he was unable to moderate the force of his pressure, and that more than one man had already died from the fearful force of his hand. The new brothers then set out together. On their way to the giant’s house, they came to a stream which had to be forded.The dwarf, fearing to be carried away by the current, told the strong man that he was suffering from belly-ache, and did not therefore wish to go into the cold water, so he asked to be carried over.In the midst of the stream, the strong man, with the dwarf on his shoulders, suddenly stopped and said: ‘I have heard that strong people are heavy, but I do not feel you on my shoulders. Tell me how this is, for God’s sake.’‘Since we have become brothers,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I have no right to press with all my weight upon you, and did I not support myself by holding on to the sky with one hand, you could never carry me.’But the strong man, wishing to test his strength, asked the dwarf to drop his hand for a moment, whereupon the dwarf took from his pocket two nails, and stuck the sharp points of them in the shoulders of the strong man.The giant could not endure the pain, and begged the dwarf to lighten his burden at once,i.e.to lay hold of heaven with one hand again.When they had reached the other side, the two newfriends soon came to the strong man’s house. The giant, wishing to give a dinner to the dwarf, proposed that they should share the work of getting it ready, that one of them should take the bread out of the oven, while the other went to the cellar for wine.The dwarf saw in the oven an immense loaf which he could never have lifted, so he chose to go to the cellar for wine. But when he had descended, he was unable even to lift the weights on the top of the jars, so, thinking that by this time the giant would have taken the loaf out of the oven, he cried: ‘Shall I bring up all the jars?’The giant, alarmed lest the dwarf should spoil his whole year’s stock of wine, by digging the jars out of the ground, where they were buried, rushed down into the cellar, and the dwarf went upstairs.But great was the astonishment of the dwarf when he found that the bread was still in the oven, and that he must take it out, willy-nilly. He succeeded with difficulty in dragging a loaf to the edge of the oven, but then he fell with the hot bread on top of him, and, being unable to free himself, was almost smothered.Just then the giant came in, and asked what had happened. The dwarf replied: ‘As I told you this morning, I am suffering from a stomach-ache, and, in order to soothe the pain, I applied the hot loaf as a plaster.’ ... Then the giant came up, and said: ‘Poor fellow! How do you feel now, after your plaster?’ ‘Better, thank God,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I feel so much better that you can take off the loaf.’ ... The giant lifted the loaf, and the two then sat down to dinner. Suddenly the giant sneezed so hard that the dwarf was blown up to the roof, and seized a beam, so that he should not fall down again. The giant looked up withastonishment, and asked: ‘What does this mean?’ The dwarf angrily replied: ‘If you do such a vulgar thing again I shall pull this beam out and break it over your stupid head.’ The giant made humble excuses, and promised that he would never sneeze again during dinner time; he then brought a ladder by which the dwarf came down....11Cf. Malcolm:Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi. ’Ameen and the Ghool. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 173, and note on p. 239.IIThe Grasshopper and the Ant1The grasshopper and the ant became friends, and entered into a compact of brotherhood, promising never to separate. They then set out on a journey, forgetful of the proverb that ‘footman and horseman can never be comrades.’ Of the truth of this they had a proof on the very first day of their travels, for, chancing to come to a brook which they had to ford, the grasshopper jumped over, while the poor ant was carried away by the stream.The grasshopper thought, for a moment, how he could save his drowning companion, and then cried: ‘Catch hold of something, and I shall run and get help.’The bright idea struck him of applying to the sow for one of her bristles, to which the ant could attach herself while he pulled her out of the water.The sow answered: ‘Brother grasshopper, you know the proverb, “hand washes hand”; for three days I have eaten nothing, and am I to let people pull bristles out of me for nothing? Feed me with acorns, and then you can have as many bristles as you like.’The grasshopper hurried off to the oak and said: ‘Oak, oak, give me acorns, I give the acorns to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The oak answered:‘Those thievish jays give me no rest, they pull off my acorns; keep them off.’The grasshopper ran to the jays, and said:‘Jays! leave the oak, and the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The jays answered:‘The kites pursue us; go and drive them off.’The grasshopper ran to the kites, and said:‘Kites! leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The kites answered:‘We are hungry; bring us chickens.’The grasshopper ran to the hen, and said:‘Hen, give me chickens. The chickens I shall give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The hen replied:‘Feed me with millet.’The grasshopper hastened to the barn:‘Barn, give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The barn replied:‘The rats have the mastery over me, they gnaw me on every side; send them away.’The grasshopper ran to the rats:‘Rats! go away from the barn, and the barn will give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning friend.’The rats replied:‘The cats give us no peace; send them away.’The grasshopper went to the cats:‘Cats! go away from the rats, and the rats will leave the barn, the barn will give millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning comrade.’The cats replied:‘Feed us with milk.’The grasshopper ran to the cow:‘Cow! give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, the cats will leave the rats alone, the rats will leave the barn,’ etc., etc.The cow replied:‘Feed me with grass.’The grasshopper applied to the earth, and said:‘O earth! give me grass, the grass I shall give to the cow, the cow will give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, then the cats will leave the rats alone, and the rats willleave the barn, the barn will give me millet, the millet I shall give to the hen, the hen will give me chickens, the chickens I shall give to the kites, then the kites will leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I shall give to the sow, the sow will give me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning friend.’The earth gave the grass ... and finally the grasshopper obtained the bristle, and hastened with it to his drowning friend, but, to his astonishment, the ant was quite dead when he pulled him out. This story teaches that help is only valuable when it is given in time, that the earth alone refuses not to yield her gifts to him that asks, and that all other things exist only by reciprocal services.1Cf.The House that Jack built.IIIThe Countryman and the MerchantA countryman caught a pheasant, and was carrying it home to cook it for himself and his wife.Suddenly the pheasant spoke like a man, and said: ‘Let me go, goodman, and I shall repay you.’The countryman was astonished, and asked:‘What could you do for me?’The pheasant replied: ‘You are an old man, and must soon die; when you are dead, I shall gather together all the birds of the air, and follow you to the grave. Since the world began, no king ever had such an honour paid to him at his funeral.’The countryman was pleased at the offer, and set the pheasant free. When he reached home, he told his wife what had happened, and, although she scolded him at first forletting the bird go, yet she was pleased when the pheasant sent, every morning, birds to ask after the old man’s health.A happy thought soon occurred to the wife, and she said to her husband: ‘Listen to me, we are almost dying of hunger, and we have a good chance of getting plenty of food. Pretend that you are dead; I shall begin to cry, and all the birds will come to your funeral, I shall entice them into our cottage, shut the doors and windows; we can knock them down with sticks, and thus lay in a store of food to last us for a long time.’So the countryman covered himself with a sheet, and lay down, while his wife went outside and wept loudly.A hoopoe flew down, and asked after her husband’s health; when the wife announced his death, the hoopoe at once flew away, and, within an hour, there flew into the yard, in long lines, some thousands of pheasants, the same number of doves, snipe, quails, woodcock, etc., and even eagles, kites, hawks, etc.Some of the birds settled in the cottage, some in the barn, some in the stable, some in the yard, and the rest, for which there was no room, remained in serried ranks in the air.Then the wife shut the doors, and, with her husband, set about killing the birds; only those that were outside escaped.In the evening, there came a merchant, and asked to be allowed to spend the night in the cottage. At supper, the merchant saw a great abundance of game of all kinds, and asked the countryman how such luxury was within the reach of a poor man. The countryman replied: ‘I have a cat of a famous breed, which has never yet failed me. When I want game for my table, I tell her what kind of birds I should like, and how many, and she goes into the forest and gets them. I do not know what was the matter with herlast night, but see! she went into the wood of her own will, and killed all the birds in the neighbourhood, and brought them to us.’ The countryman then showed a whole heap of dead game.The merchant at once began to bargain with the countryman for the cat, and finally purchased it for a large sum.When the merchant reached home, he went about his business, and told his wife that he would not leave her any money for housekeeping, for she had only to give her orders, and the cat would bring all sorts of game for food. But when he came in, he was astonished to find that his wife had eaten nothing, the cat had brought no birds, but had even stolen what was in the house already. So he went back to ask the countryman about it.The countryman saw him coming, filled a pot with millet and hung it over the fire. He then sat down near it, put a grain of millet in the palm of his hand, and began to wash it. The merchant came in and stood by him; the countryman pretended not to see the merchant, muttered an incantation, and dropped the grain into the pot. Then he stirred it with a spoon, and behold the pot was full. The merchant did not know whether to quarrel with the countryman or to get this magic pot from him.‘What is this you have done to me?’ said he. ‘Your cat is useless, it brings nothing, and steals what we have.’‘Have you been feeding it with roast meat? I forgot to warn you that you must not do this.’‘Well, it is my fault then,’ said the merchant. ‘But will you sell me that pot?’‘I have already lost my famous cat. It is not likely that I shall now let you have this pot, in which I can make a dish of porridge with only one grain.’However, they began bargaining, and at last the countryman sold his pot for a large sum. When the merchant reached home, he consoled his wife by telling her that from one barleycorn she could now make as much porridge as she wanted; he then set out again. When he returned, his wife complained that the pot was of no use. So he called again on the countryman, to ask for an explanation.The countryman, foreseeing that the merchant would come, got two hares exactly alike, and tied ribbons of the same colour round their necks. He left one hare at home, and took the other out into the fields with him. He told his wife that if the merchant came, she was to send him out to the field, and in an hour bring him a dinner consisting of two boiled fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.The merchant came, and the woman sent him to the field where her husband was working. In reply to the reproaches of the merchant, the countryman said: ‘You have probably made some stupid mistake with the pot as you did with the cat. But let us sit down and dine while we talk it over, for I cannot suffer you to come to me without feeding you.’ The merchant looked round and said: ‘How can we get anything to eat out here in the fields?’The peasant went to a bush, untied the hare, and said to it: ‘Run at once, little hare, to my wife, and tell her to come with you and bring us a pair of fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.’The hare ran off as fast as it could. It is easy to understand the astonishment of the merchant when the woman came with the hare, bringing all that the man had ordered. When they had eaten, the merchant said: ‘You have cheated me about the cat and the pot, but I forgive you ifyou let me have the hare.’ The countryman refused at first, but finally agreed to sell the hare for a large sum.1On his way home with the hare, the merchant met some friends whom he asked to sup with him, but seeing that he would not arrive until it was late, he ordered the hare to run and tell his wife that he was coming with some guests, and that she was to prepare supper. When he and his friends reached home, they found the house quite dark, and had difficulty in rousing the wife from her sleep. She told him that no hare had been there, and that she did not know what he was talking about.The merchant was now furious, and determined to punish the countryman severely. But the countryman guessed what would happen, and arranged with his wife what should be done. He took the intestine of a small calf, filled it with blood, and tied it round his wife’s neck, telling her to cover it up with a kerchief. The merchant came in, and without saying a word rushed at the countryman, who, in his turn, attacked his wife, accusing her of being the guilty party, and with a knife pierced the intestine under her throat. She fell on the ground, and pretended that she was dying. The merchant was alarmed, and cried: ‘What have you done, you wretched man? I would willingly have lost the money rather than have this innocent blood shed.’ The countryman answered: ‘That is my affair. Though I have killed my wife I can raise her to life again.’ ‘I believe you no longer,’ said the merchant, ‘but if you perform this miracle I shall forgive you all.’ The countryman approached his wife with the knife in his hand, muttered something, and his wife opened her eyes, and, to the surprise of the merchant, rose up.The merchant bought the wonderful knife, saying that his wife, too, needed a lesson sometimes. When the merchant reached home, his wife asked where he had been. He told her to be silent and mind her own business. ‘If you are not quiet I will cut your throat.’ The woman looked at him with astonishment, and wondered whether he had gone out of his mind. The merchant threw down his wife, and cut her throat. All the neighbours flocked in, and raised a great cry. The merchant said: ‘What if I have killed my wife? I can bring her to life again.’ The neighbours stood by while he muttered the invocations he had learnt, but he could not raise her. Then he flew to the countryman, tied his hands, and dragged him into the forest, saying: ‘I wish to prolong your sufferings, and will not kill you at once. I shall starve you, drag you about in the woods, and, when I have worn you out with tortures, I shall throw you into the sea.’ On the road there was a town, in which a king had just died, and his funeral was then taking place. Having bound the countryman to a tree in the depths of the forest, the merchant returned to the town to see the royal funeral. Just then, a shepherd happened to drive his flock near the tree to which the countryman was tied. Seeing the shepherd a little way off, the countryman began to shout: ‘I will not be king! I will not be king! No! No! No!’ The shepherd came up and asked what was wrong. The countryman replied: ‘You know, brother, that the king is dead in the town: they want me to take his place, but I will not, for I have been king twice, and know what it is. Ah, brother! one has so many cares, so much work, that one’s head swims. I had rather be tied to this tree than consent to be king.’ The shepherd thought for a moment, and replied: ‘I, brother, would give anything in the world to have a trial of the life of a king.’ ‘I gladly give you my place,but, so that people may not know, put on my clothes, and I shall bind you to the tree, and by to-morrow you shall be king.’ The shepherd gladly gave him his flock, and took his place at the tree.As soon as the countryman was free, he drove away the flock.When it was quite dark, the merchant appeared, loosed his victim, and drove him on. When they came to the steep seashore, the shepherd saw that the merchant wished to drown him, and cried: ‘Do not drown me! I had rather consent to be king.’ The merchant thought his prisoner had lost his wits through fatigue and ill-treatment; without more ado he threw him into the sea.A fortnight later, the merchant was travelling on business, when he met on the road the same countryman whom he, as he thought, had drowned, and who was now driving a flock. ‘What do I see!’ cried the merchant. ‘Are you there? Did I not drown you in the sea?’‘My benefactor!’ replied the countryman. ‘I wish you would drown me again. You cannot imagine what a quantity of cattle there is down there at the bottom of the sea. It is a pity I had no stick with me, for I could not drive out more than these with my hands.’The merchant besought the countryman, saying: ‘You have ruined me. The cat, the pot, the hare, the knife, have all cost money; thanks to you, I am a beggar and a widower. If you remember the place where I threw you into the sea, drown me there, but let me have a stick, so that I may repair my fortune.’ To get rid of the troublesome merchant, the countryman agreed to fulfil his request, and so drowned him with a very long switch in his hand.21Cf. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 209, and note on p. 242.2Cf. the last incident with the end of ‘Little Fairly,’ in Samuel Lover’sLegends and Stories of Ireland.IVThe King and the SageOnce upon a time, there reigned in one of the realms of the East a shah named Ali, a man of amiable and merry character. Ali was much beloved by his subjects, and he too loved them with all his heart. The shah played with them as if they had been his children; he gave them festivals, arranged competitions, and gave prizes for the best poetical productions, etc. The shah was skilled in the famous literature of Arabia, and was thought to be a learned man; besides this, he was a wit and a joker, and loved to set his folk merry riddles to guess: prizes were given to the successful. Once theferashes(or servants) of the shah made known to the people, that Ali had promised three hundred pieces of gold to him who should ask his majesty such a question that the answer must inevitably be:That is Impossible.This announcement created great excitement, and men, women, and children all alike set themselves to think out such a question. The day of the competition dawned at last, and the vast square before the palace was crowded with a curious throng. At the appointed hour, Shah Ali appeared, surrounded by a brilliant guard, and music filled the air. After greeting his folk, the shah sat down on a throne, opposite the platform on which the candidates were to stand while they asked the shah their questions. Heralds gave out the challenge, and a wit of the town mounted the rostrum and loudly said: ‘Shah! a courier has just galloped into the town and told me a most astonishing piece of news, to wit, that at dawn this morning, twenty versts from your capital, the moon fell from the skyto the ground, and burned two and twenty villages to ashes.’ The shah meditated a moment, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The town wit got down, amid the laughter of the people.His place was taken by a courtier, the shah’s body-surgeon, who shouted: ‘Most illustrious Shah! In your harem a most astounding event has just happened—your first wife, your beloved Zuleika, has just given birth to a sucking-pig covered with bristles.’ The shah considered, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The doctor fled in shame, and the people laughed more loudly than before.After the doctor came an astrologer, who said: ‘Most noble Shah! In observing the courses of the stars I have discovered a woful piece of news; an awful fate awaits you. O King, you will soon have horns like a goat, and claws like a panther, you will lose the power of speech, and flee from us into the woods, where you will dwell exactly seven years and three months.’ To him likewise the shah replied: ‘That is possible,’ and he too disappeared, amid the jeers of the mob.The competition lasted throughout the whole of that day and the next, to the delight of the people, until at last they thought of getting a certain Nasr-Eddin, a wit well known throughout the East, to oppose to the shah.1On the third, and last, day appeared Nasr-Eddin, tattered and almost naked, dragging with him two great clay jars. Addressing the shah, he said: ‘Hail to the commander of the faithful, blessed be thy name! Thou shalt reign yet a hundred years, and the love and confidence of thy subjectswill increase yearly.’ ‘That is possible,’ said the shah. ‘That the confidence your subjects repose in you is unbounded is evident from a fact which I am about to relate; you will doubtless deign to listen.’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Your late father (God rest his soul!) was very friendly with my late father (may the Prophet give him a place in Paradise!)...’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Listen to me, O Shah! When your father went forth to war with the unbelievers, he was so poor that he could not raise an army.’ ... ‘That is possible.’ ‘Not only is it possible but true, for, owing to his want of money, he borrowed from my father these two jars full of gold pieces, and promised on his royal word that you, O Shah, would pay your father’s debt to me.’ Shah Ali burst into laughter, and said: ‘That is impossible! Your father was a tatterdemalion like yourself, and never saw two jars of gold even in his dreams. Take your three hundred gold pieces, and the devil take you. You rascal, you have outwitted me.’1The Mullah Nasr-Eddin is the hero of hundreds of witty tales. A French translation of some of them (from the Turkish) was published, by Decourdemanche, in 1878.VThe King’s SonA certain king had a son, and sent him out to be nursed by a smith’s wife. This crafty woman put the king’s child in a common cradle, and her own son in the gorgeous royal cradle. Some years afterwards, the king took the changeling to court, and brought his foster-brother with him. One fine day, the king set out for his favourite forest to hunt, and took his pretended son with him. When they arrived, the king asked: ‘How do you like this place, my son? Is it not a magnificent wood?’ The boy replied: ‘O father, if we could only burn it all somehow, what a fine lot of charcoal we should have!’Then the king sent for the other boy, and asked him the same question. ‘There could not be a better forest, your Majesty!’ ‘But what would you do with it if it were yours?’ ‘Nothing, your Majesty. I would double the guards, so that it should not be injured.’ Then the king saw how the smith’s wife had tried to cheat him, and put her in prison.VITeeth and No-TeethShah Ali desired to see the hungriest man in his kingdom, and find out how much of the daintiest food such a man could eat at a meal. So he let it be known that on a certain day he would dine with his courtiers in the open air, in front of the palace. At the appointed hour, tables were laid and dinner was served, in the presence of a vast crowd. After the first course, the shah mounted a daïs, and said: ‘My loyal subjects! you see what a splendid dinner I have. I should like to share it with those among you who are really hungry, and have not eaten for a long time, so tell me truly which is the hungriest of you all, and bid him come forward.’Two men appeared from the crowd: an old man of fifty and a young man of twenty-seven. The former was grey-haired and feeble, the latter was fresh and of athletic build.‘How is it that you are hungry?’ asked the shah of the old man. ‘I am old, my children are dead, toil has worn me out, and I have eaten nothing for three days.’ ‘And you?’ said the shah, turning to the young man. ‘I could not find work, and as I am a hearty young man I am ashamed to beg, so I too have not eaten for three days.’The shah ordered them to be given food, on one plate, and in small portions. The hungry men eagerly ate, watching each other intently. Suddenly the old man and the young one both stopped and began to weep. ‘Why do you weep?’ asked the shah in astonishment. ‘I have no teeth,’ said the old man, ‘and while I am mumbling my food this young man eats up everything.’ ‘And why are you weeping?’ ‘He is telling lies, your majesty; while I am chewing my meat the old man gulps down everything whole....’VIIThe Queen’s WhimA certain queen wished to have a palace built of the bones of all kinds of birds. The king ordered birds to be caught, and the building was begun. Bones of all kinds were brought and cleaned, and the walls were rising, but they could not find a hedge-sparrow, and, as the queen wanted all sorts of birds, a search was made for the missing one. At last the hedge-sparrow was found, and brought before the king, who asked where she had been. ‘Mighty monarch! I have been flying all over the kingdom counting the men and women; unfortunately there are twice as many women as men.’ The king ordered the bird to be punished for telling him such a shameless falsehood. ‘King of kings,’ said the hedge-sparrow, ‘perhaps I did not count in the same way as you do.’ ‘How did you count, then?’ ‘I counted all those men who are under the slipper of women as old women.’ The hedge-sparrow thus hinted that the king himself was an old woman, because he had not strength of mind enough to resist the foolish whims of his wife.VIIIThe Fool’s good FortuneA certain man died and left three sons. One was altogether a fool, another was fairly intelligent, and the third was rather clever. This being so, it was of course difficult for them to live together. In dividing the inheritance among them, the fool was cheated, and in regard to the cattle he was thus cozened: There were three entrances to the penfold, two open and one very narrow. The two clever brothers proposed to drive the beasts out of all three at once; those that issued from the small gap were to belong to the fool. In this way the latter’s share was only one young bull out of the whole flock. But to his feeble mind the division seemed fair enough, so he contentedly drove his bull out into the forest, and tied it with a stout rope to a young tree, whilst he himself wandered aimlessly about.Three days later, the fool went to see his beast. It had eaten and drunk nothing, but had pulled the tree up by the roots, and laid bare a jar full of old gold coins. The fool was delighted, and played with the money for a time, then he resolved to take the jar and present it to the king. As he passed along the road, every wayfarer looked into the pot, took out the gold in handfuls, and so that he should not notice their thefts, filled it up with stones and blocks of wood. On reaching the palace, the fool asked for an audience of the king, and it was granted. He emptied out the contents of the jar at the feet of the king. When the courtiers saw the wrath of the king, they took the fool away and beat him. When he had recovered himself he asked why he had been thrashed. One of the bystanders, for fun, cried to him: ‘You have been beaten because you labourin vain.’ The fool went his way, muttering the words: ‘You labour in vain.’ As he passed a peasant who was reaping, he repeated his phrase again and again, until the peasant grew angry, and thrashed him. The fool asked why he had been beaten, and what he ought to have said. ‘You ought to have said: “God give you a good harvest!”’ The fool went on saying, ‘God give you a good harvest!’ and met a funeral. Again he was beaten, and again he asked what he should say. They replied that he should have said: ‘Heaven rest your soul!’ He then came to a wedding, and saluted the newly-married couple with this funereal phrase. Again he was beaten, and then told that he should say: ‘Be fruitful and multiply!’ His next visit was to a monastery, and he accosted every monk with his new salutation. They too gave him a thrashing, with such vigour that the fool determined to have his revenge by stealing one of the bells from their belfry. So he hid himself until the monks had gone to rest, and then carriedoffa bell of moderate size. He went into the forest, climbed a tree, and hung the bell on the branches, ringing it from time to time, partly to amuse himself and partly to frighten away wild beasts. In the forest there was a gang of robbers, who were assembled to share their booty, and had just ended a merry banquet. Suddenly they heard the sound of the bell, and were much afraid. They took counsel as to what was to be done, and most of them were for flight, but the oldest of the band advised them to send a scout to see what was wrong. The bravest among them was sent to get information, and the rest remained as quiet as possible. The brigand went on tiptoe through the bushes to the tree where the fool was, and respectfully asked: ‘Who are you? If you are an angel sent by God to punish our wickedness, pray spare usand we shall repent; if you are a devil from hell, come and share with us.’ The fool was not so stupid that he did not see he had to deal with robbers, so he took out a knife, tolled the bell, and then said with a grave air: ‘If you wish to know who I am, climb the tree and show me your tongue, so that I may mark on it who I am and what I ask of you.’ The robber obediently climbed the tree, and put out his tongue as far as he could. The fool cut off his tongue, and kicked him to the ground. The robber, mad with pain, and frightened by his sudden fall, ran off howling. His comrades had come out to meet him, and when they saw the plight he was in they ran off in terror, leaving their wealth. Next morning the fool found the booty, and without saying anything to anybody, took it home and became much richer than his brothers. The fool built three palaces: one for himself, one for me, and one for you. There is merrymaking in the fool’s palace—come and be one of the guests!IXTwo LossesDuring a great storm at sea, a learned man heard the skipper giving his orders, but could not understand a word. When the danger was past, he asked the skipper in what language he had spoken. The sailor replied: ‘In my mother tongue, of course!’ The scholar expressed his regret that a man should have wasted half his life without learning to speak grammatically and intelligibly. A few hours later the storm arose again, and this time the ship sprang a leak and began to founder. Then the captain went to the scholar and asked if he could swim. Theman of books replied that he had never learned. ‘I am sorry, sir, for you will lose your whole life. The ship will go to the bottom in a minute, and my crew and I shall swim ashore. You would have done well if you had spent a little of your time in learning to swim.’XThe Story of DervishA hunter killed in the mountains a stag, and began to skin it. He then hung the skin on a bush, and went down to a stream to wash the blood from his hands. When he came back, he found to his surprise that the dead stag had come to life, and was bounding away. When he had recovered from his astonishment, he chased the beast, but could not overtake it, and it was soon lost to sight. He met a wayfarer, briefly told him the story, and asked if he had ever seen a stag without a skin. ‘I have never seen a stag without a skin, but I do not wonder at your story. Near here there is a healing spring where any beast, even if wounded unto death, can be cured by bathing. Your stag probably bathed there, and is now sound and well. But if you want to know more about this wonderful country of ours, seek out a man called Dervish, and he will tell you things that will soon make you forget all about the stag.’ ‘Where can I find this Dervish?’ asked the hunter. ‘Go from village to village, and look into every courtyard, and when you see a man smoking a pipe, with an ass and a she-ass bound before him, ask him.’The hunter went away, and, after a long search, found Dervish, who told him the following story:—‘I was married,’ said Dervish, ‘and loved my wife, but she deceived me with my next-door neighbour. When I heard of this I questioned my wife, but, instead of answering, she struck me with a whip, and, to my horror, I was turned into a dog. My wife drove me out into the yard, and for shame I ran away. On the road I suffered hunger, thirst, and despair, and, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be powerless, and realised what a great difference there is between man and beast. When I opened my mouth and tried to speak, I only barked and howled. I tried to stand on my hind legs, and walk like a man, but I fell either backwards or forwards. Then I jumped about, and did this so easily and briskly that I regained my spirits, and came to think that even a dog’s life had its pleasures. While I was merrily jumping, I unexpectedly saw a man. He looked at me and I at him. The man smiled, and I ran up to him, but he was afraid, and lifted his stick to strike me. We both moved away from each other. I wanted to speak, but I barked, and the man raised his stick again. I then began to frolic and jump, and the man smiled again, and let me come up to him. I understood how dog and man are always the best of friends, and in my mind I thanked my wicked wife that she had turned me into a dog, and not some other beast, a pig, for instance. The man who beckoned me to come to him was a good village priest, and we soon became great friends. He caressed me, gave me something to eat, and I went away with him. The kind-hearted priest, overcome by the heat, lay down to rest under a tree, and I wished to do the same, but the priest said: “Watch over me!” so I did not go to sleep, rightly thinking that if the priest woke and found me asleep he would give me no more bread, andperhaps would drive me away. Ah! the beginning of my dog life was grievous. In the evening, the priest stopped to sleep with some shepherds who were watching their flocks. The shepherds, to show honour to their pastor, killed a lamb for supper, got wine, and made merry. Though I took no direct part in the feast, I kept close behind my master. After supper, one of the shepherds looked at me, and said: “This dog must be fond of wine, for he never takes his eyes from the glass, and now and then he licks his lips.” I nodded my head several times. Then the shepherds poured me out some wine in a plate, and I lapped it up with pleasure. When they were all asleep, wolves came and attacked the sheep. The shepherds’ dogs barked, but did not dare to attack the wolves; I rose and killed three wolves on the spot. When the shepherds saw this, they offered the priest a good price for me, and he finally sold me. Before long I had killed a vast number of wolves, and the fame of me reached the ears of the king of the country. I was brought and taken to the palace, to the sick daughter of the king, who was tormented at night by brownies. Every morning the princess woke exhausted and enfeebled. On the first night of my watch, I saw swans enter the bedchamber through the closed doors, they choked and trampled upon the sleeping princess. I was chained up, and could do nothing to help the poor maiden. In the morning, I was scolded for not having done anything, but one of the courtiers defended me, saying: “He is a good dog, but he must be unchained, and then we shall see what he can do.” Next night the swans came again. I killed ten of them, but the eleventh asked me to spare her, saying she would help me in the matter of my wife and our neighbour. I trusted the swan, and let her go. To my delight, theprincess rose healthy and merry next morning. The king was exceedingly pleased with me, and ordered me to have a heavy gold chain, and to be fed right royally. I lived well in the palace, but I longed to see my home and wife again, so I soon ran away. When I entered my own house, my wife took off my gold chain, struck me with her whip, and turned me into a duck. I flew into a field near by, where millet had been sown, and, being inexperienced, was caught at once in nets laid by a peasant. The peasant took me under his arm, and gave me to his wife, telling her to cook me for dinner. As soon as the peasant had gone out, the woman looked at me intently, and then took down from the wall a whip, with which she struck me, and turned me into a man again, saying: “Have I helped you or not? We were twelve sisters, you killed ten of us, I am the eleventh, and your wife is the twelfth. Now go home, take the whip which hangs over your wife’s bed, strike her and your neighbour with it, and you can turn them into any kind of beasts that you wish.” I went in late at night, when my wife and the neighbour were both asleep, I struck them with the whip, and turned my wife into an ass, and the man into a she-ass, and here they are.’ The hunter was terrified when he heard this story of Dervish, he ran away from the enchanted mountain realm as fast as he could, and resolved never to go back there again.XIThe Father’s ProphecyA certain man was wont to tell his son, while thrashing him, that he would never come to any good. The boy grew tired of these rebukes, and ran away from home. Ten years later he had risen to the rank ofpasha, and was set over the verypashalikwhere his father lived. On his way to his post, the new pasha stopped at a place twenty miles off, and said to the Bashi-Bazouks of his guard: ‘Ride to such and such a village, seize so and so, and bring him to me.’ The Bashi-Bazouks arrived at night, dragged the sick old man out of bed, and took him to the pasha. The pasha stretched himself to his full height, and, ordering the old man to look him in the face, said: ‘Do you know me?’ The old man fixed his gaze on the pasha, and cried: ‘Ah, pasha! you are surely my son.’ ‘Did you not tell me in my boyhood that I should never come to any good? Now look at me,’ and the pasha pointed to his epaulets. ‘Well, was I wrong? You are no man, but only a pasha. What man worthy the name would send for his father in the way you have done? I repeat it, you have gained the rank of pasha, but you have not become a good man.’XIIThe Hermit PhilosopherThere was once a wise man who loved solitude, and dwelt far away from other men, meditating on the vanities of the world. He spent nearly all his time in the open air, and he could easily do this, for he lived in a lovely southern land where there is no winter and but little rain. As he wandered once among the verdure of his garden, the sage stopped before an aged walnut tree covered with ripening nuts, and said: ‘Why is there such a strange want of symmetry in nature? Here, for instance, is a walnut tree a hundred years old, hiding its top in the clouds, and yet how small is its fruit: itself it grows from year to year, but its fruit is always of the same size. Now, on the bedsat the foot of the tree there grow great pumpkins and melons on very small creeping plants. It would be more fitting if the pumpkins grew on the walnut trees and the walnuts on the pumpkin beds. Why this want of symmetry in nature?’ The sage thought deeply on the subject, and walked in the garden for a long time, till at last he felt sleepy. He lay down under the shady walnut tree, and was soon slumbering peacefully. In a short time, he felt a slight blow on the face, then a second, and then a third. As he opened his eyes, a ripe walnut fell on his nose. The sage leaped to his feet, and said: ‘Now I understand the secret of nature. If this tree had borne melons or pumpkins, my head would have been broken. Henceforth let no one presume to find fault with Providence!’XIIIThe King’s Counsellor1The counsellor of an Arabian king once bethought himself that, though he had lived so many years, and knew so much, he had never yet found out how much the king valued his services, and to what extent his wife and friends really loved him. He decided to try them all at once, so he went to the palace and stole a goat of which the king was very fond, and of which he was the keeper. He then went home, told this secret to his wife, and in her presence ordered the cook to roast the goat. But afterwards he privately told the cook to hide the royal goat, and roast a kid in its place. At supper his wife praised the dishvery highly. As soon as the king heard of the loss of his goat, he was very angry, and cried in his wrath: ‘If any man finds the thief I shall load him with gold, if a woman finds him I shall marry her!’ The counsellor’s wife, thinking it better to be a king’s wife, betrayed her husband. The king ordered his counsellor to be executed, and married the woman. When the execution was about to take place, the victim’s old friends succeeded in saving him by a large bribe, and another criminal was executed instead. The counsellor was hidden in a neighbouring realm. Some years afterwards, troublesome questions of state arose, and none of the council could solve them. The king often longed for his old counsellor, and said: ‘For the sake of a goat I sacrificed a clever man, if he were alive he would get me out of all my trouble in a day.’ The counsellor’s old friends at last resolved to acknowledge the trick they had played. So one day, when the king was in a good humour, they went and said: ‘Pardon us, O king! Your first counsellor is alive!’ and they told him all. The king was heartily glad, and ordered the exile to be brought back. He was well received, and restored the goat to the king. The king said: ‘My friend! we thus see that the greatest scourge of all is false witness, and that we must beware, above all things, of our wives.’1Francesco Strapparola’s story of Salardo and the Falcon is practically the same as this.XIVA Witty AnswerA certain king was angry with one of his lords, and put him in prison; wishing to keep him there, he said he would only set him free if he could bring to the court a horse which was neither grey, nor black, brown norbay, white nor roan, dun, chestnut, nor piebald—and, in short, the king enumerated every possible colour that a horse could be. The imprisoned lord promised to get such a horse if the king would set him free at once. As soon as he was at liberty, the lord asked the king to send a groom for the horse, but begged that the groom might come neither on Monday nor Tuesday, Wednesday nor Thursday, Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday, but on any other day of the week that suited His Majesty.

GURIAN FOLK TALESIThe Strong Man and the DwarfThere came from far-off lands a strong man who had nowhere met his match, and challenged any one in the whole kingdom to wrestle with him. The king gathered his folk together, but, to his wonder, could not for a long time find anybody ready to face the strong man, till, at last, there stood forth a weak insignificant-looking dwarf, who offered to wrestle with the giant.Haughtily looking down on his adversary, the giant carelessly turned away, thinking that he was befooled. But the dwarf asked that his strength should be put to the proof before the struggle began.The giant angrily seized a stone, and, clasping it in his fingers, squeezed moisture out of it.The dwarf cunningly replaced the stone by a sponge of the same appearance, and squeezed still more moisture out of it.The giant then took another stone, and threw it so violently on the ground that it became dust.The dwarf took a stone, hid it under the ground, and threw on the ground a handful of flour, to the great astonishment of the giant.Stretching forth his hand to the dwarf, the giant said: ‘I never expected to find so much strength in such a small man, I will not wrestle with you; but give me your hand in token of friendship and brotherhood.’After this, the giant asked the dwarf to go home with him. But first he asked the dwarf why he had not pressed his hand in a brotherly manner. The dwarf replied that he was unable to moderate the force of his pressure, and that more than one man had already died from the fearful force of his hand. The new brothers then set out together. On their way to the giant’s house, they came to a stream which had to be forded.The dwarf, fearing to be carried away by the current, told the strong man that he was suffering from belly-ache, and did not therefore wish to go into the cold water, so he asked to be carried over.In the midst of the stream, the strong man, with the dwarf on his shoulders, suddenly stopped and said: ‘I have heard that strong people are heavy, but I do not feel you on my shoulders. Tell me how this is, for God’s sake.’‘Since we have become brothers,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I have no right to press with all my weight upon you, and did I not support myself by holding on to the sky with one hand, you could never carry me.’But the strong man, wishing to test his strength, asked the dwarf to drop his hand for a moment, whereupon the dwarf took from his pocket two nails, and stuck the sharp points of them in the shoulders of the strong man.The giant could not endure the pain, and begged the dwarf to lighten his burden at once,i.e.to lay hold of heaven with one hand again.When they had reached the other side, the two newfriends soon came to the strong man’s house. The giant, wishing to give a dinner to the dwarf, proposed that they should share the work of getting it ready, that one of them should take the bread out of the oven, while the other went to the cellar for wine.The dwarf saw in the oven an immense loaf which he could never have lifted, so he chose to go to the cellar for wine. But when he had descended, he was unable even to lift the weights on the top of the jars, so, thinking that by this time the giant would have taken the loaf out of the oven, he cried: ‘Shall I bring up all the jars?’The giant, alarmed lest the dwarf should spoil his whole year’s stock of wine, by digging the jars out of the ground, where they were buried, rushed down into the cellar, and the dwarf went upstairs.But great was the astonishment of the dwarf when he found that the bread was still in the oven, and that he must take it out, willy-nilly. He succeeded with difficulty in dragging a loaf to the edge of the oven, but then he fell with the hot bread on top of him, and, being unable to free himself, was almost smothered.Just then the giant came in, and asked what had happened. The dwarf replied: ‘As I told you this morning, I am suffering from a stomach-ache, and, in order to soothe the pain, I applied the hot loaf as a plaster.’ ... Then the giant came up, and said: ‘Poor fellow! How do you feel now, after your plaster?’ ‘Better, thank God,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I feel so much better that you can take off the loaf.’ ... The giant lifted the loaf, and the two then sat down to dinner. Suddenly the giant sneezed so hard that the dwarf was blown up to the roof, and seized a beam, so that he should not fall down again. The giant looked up withastonishment, and asked: ‘What does this mean?’ The dwarf angrily replied: ‘If you do such a vulgar thing again I shall pull this beam out and break it over your stupid head.’ The giant made humble excuses, and promised that he would never sneeze again during dinner time; he then brought a ladder by which the dwarf came down....11Cf. Malcolm:Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi. ’Ameen and the Ghool. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 173, and note on p. 239.

GURIAN FOLK TALESIThe Strong Man and the Dwarf

There came from far-off lands a strong man who had nowhere met his match, and challenged any one in the whole kingdom to wrestle with him. The king gathered his folk together, but, to his wonder, could not for a long time find anybody ready to face the strong man, till, at last, there stood forth a weak insignificant-looking dwarf, who offered to wrestle with the giant.Haughtily looking down on his adversary, the giant carelessly turned away, thinking that he was befooled. But the dwarf asked that his strength should be put to the proof before the struggle began.The giant angrily seized a stone, and, clasping it in his fingers, squeezed moisture out of it.The dwarf cunningly replaced the stone by a sponge of the same appearance, and squeezed still more moisture out of it.The giant then took another stone, and threw it so violently on the ground that it became dust.The dwarf took a stone, hid it under the ground, and threw on the ground a handful of flour, to the great astonishment of the giant.Stretching forth his hand to the dwarf, the giant said: ‘I never expected to find so much strength in such a small man, I will not wrestle with you; but give me your hand in token of friendship and brotherhood.’After this, the giant asked the dwarf to go home with him. But first he asked the dwarf why he had not pressed his hand in a brotherly manner. The dwarf replied that he was unable to moderate the force of his pressure, and that more than one man had already died from the fearful force of his hand. The new brothers then set out together. On their way to the giant’s house, they came to a stream which had to be forded.The dwarf, fearing to be carried away by the current, told the strong man that he was suffering from belly-ache, and did not therefore wish to go into the cold water, so he asked to be carried over.In the midst of the stream, the strong man, with the dwarf on his shoulders, suddenly stopped and said: ‘I have heard that strong people are heavy, but I do not feel you on my shoulders. Tell me how this is, for God’s sake.’‘Since we have become brothers,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I have no right to press with all my weight upon you, and did I not support myself by holding on to the sky with one hand, you could never carry me.’But the strong man, wishing to test his strength, asked the dwarf to drop his hand for a moment, whereupon the dwarf took from his pocket two nails, and stuck the sharp points of them in the shoulders of the strong man.The giant could not endure the pain, and begged the dwarf to lighten his burden at once,i.e.to lay hold of heaven with one hand again.When they had reached the other side, the two newfriends soon came to the strong man’s house. The giant, wishing to give a dinner to the dwarf, proposed that they should share the work of getting it ready, that one of them should take the bread out of the oven, while the other went to the cellar for wine.The dwarf saw in the oven an immense loaf which he could never have lifted, so he chose to go to the cellar for wine. But when he had descended, he was unable even to lift the weights on the top of the jars, so, thinking that by this time the giant would have taken the loaf out of the oven, he cried: ‘Shall I bring up all the jars?’The giant, alarmed lest the dwarf should spoil his whole year’s stock of wine, by digging the jars out of the ground, where they were buried, rushed down into the cellar, and the dwarf went upstairs.But great was the astonishment of the dwarf when he found that the bread was still in the oven, and that he must take it out, willy-nilly. He succeeded with difficulty in dragging a loaf to the edge of the oven, but then he fell with the hot bread on top of him, and, being unable to free himself, was almost smothered.Just then the giant came in, and asked what had happened. The dwarf replied: ‘As I told you this morning, I am suffering from a stomach-ache, and, in order to soothe the pain, I applied the hot loaf as a plaster.’ ... Then the giant came up, and said: ‘Poor fellow! How do you feel now, after your plaster?’ ‘Better, thank God,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I feel so much better that you can take off the loaf.’ ... The giant lifted the loaf, and the two then sat down to dinner. Suddenly the giant sneezed so hard that the dwarf was blown up to the roof, and seized a beam, so that he should not fall down again. The giant looked up withastonishment, and asked: ‘What does this mean?’ The dwarf angrily replied: ‘If you do such a vulgar thing again I shall pull this beam out and break it over your stupid head.’ The giant made humble excuses, and promised that he would never sneeze again during dinner time; he then brought a ladder by which the dwarf came down....1

There came from far-off lands a strong man who had nowhere met his match, and challenged any one in the whole kingdom to wrestle with him. The king gathered his folk together, but, to his wonder, could not for a long time find anybody ready to face the strong man, till, at last, there stood forth a weak insignificant-looking dwarf, who offered to wrestle with the giant.

Haughtily looking down on his adversary, the giant carelessly turned away, thinking that he was befooled. But the dwarf asked that his strength should be put to the proof before the struggle began.

The giant angrily seized a stone, and, clasping it in his fingers, squeezed moisture out of it.

The dwarf cunningly replaced the stone by a sponge of the same appearance, and squeezed still more moisture out of it.

The giant then took another stone, and threw it so violently on the ground that it became dust.

The dwarf took a stone, hid it under the ground, and threw on the ground a handful of flour, to the great astonishment of the giant.

Stretching forth his hand to the dwarf, the giant said: ‘I never expected to find so much strength in such a small man, I will not wrestle with you; but give me your hand in token of friendship and brotherhood.’

After this, the giant asked the dwarf to go home with him. But first he asked the dwarf why he had not pressed his hand in a brotherly manner. The dwarf replied that he was unable to moderate the force of his pressure, and that more than one man had already died from the fearful force of his hand. The new brothers then set out together. On their way to the giant’s house, they came to a stream which had to be forded.

The dwarf, fearing to be carried away by the current, told the strong man that he was suffering from belly-ache, and did not therefore wish to go into the cold water, so he asked to be carried over.

In the midst of the stream, the strong man, with the dwarf on his shoulders, suddenly stopped and said: ‘I have heard that strong people are heavy, but I do not feel you on my shoulders. Tell me how this is, for God’s sake.’

‘Since we have become brothers,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I have no right to press with all my weight upon you, and did I not support myself by holding on to the sky with one hand, you could never carry me.’

But the strong man, wishing to test his strength, asked the dwarf to drop his hand for a moment, whereupon the dwarf took from his pocket two nails, and stuck the sharp points of them in the shoulders of the strong man.

The giant could not endure the pain, and begged the dwarf to lighten his burden at once,i.e.to lay hold of heaven with one hand again.

When they had reached the other side, the two newfriends soon came to the strong man’s house. The giant, wishing to give a dinner to the dwarf, proposed that they should share the work of getting it ready, that one of them should take the bread out of the oven, while the other went to the cellar for wine.

The dwarf saw in the oven an immense loaf which he could never have lifted, so he chose to go to the cellar for wine. But when he had descended, he was unable even to lift the weights on the top of the jars, so, thinking that by this time the giant would have taken the loaf out of the oven, he cried: ‘Shall I bring up all the jars?’

The giant, alarmed lest the dwarf should spoil his whole year’s stock of wine, by digging the jars out of the ground, where they were buried, rushed down into the cellar, and the dwarf went upstairs.

But great was the astonishment of the dwarf when he found that the bread was still in the oven, and that he must take it out, willy-nilly. He succeeded with difficulty in dragging a loaf to the edge of the oven, but then he fell with the hot bread on top of him, and, being unable to free himself, was almost smothered.

Just then the giant came in, and asked what had happened. The dwarf replied: ‘As I told you this morning, I am suffering from a stomach-ache, and, in order to soothe the pain, I applied the hot loaf as a plaster.’ ... Then the giant came up, and said: ‘Poor fellow! How do you feel now, after your plaster?’ ‘Better, thank God,’ replied the dwarf, ‘I feel so much better that you can take off the loaf.’ ... The giant lifted the loaf, and the two then sat down to dinner. Suddenly the giant sneezed so hard that the dwarf was blown up to the roof, and seized a beam, so that he should not fall down again. The giant looked up withastonishment, and asked: ‘What does this mean?’ The dwarf angrily replied: ‘If you do such a vulgar thing again I shall pull this beam out and break it over your stupid head.’ The giant made humble excuses, and promised that he would never sneeze again during dinner time; he then brought a ladder by which the dwarf came down....1

1Cf. Malcolm:Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi. ’Ameen and the Ghool. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 173, and note on p. 239.

1Cf. Malcolm:Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi. ’Ameen and the Ghool. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 173, and note on p. 239.

IIThe Grasshopper and the Ant1The grasshopper and the ant became friends, and entered into a compact of brotherhood, promising never to separate. They then set out on a journey, forgetful of the proverb that ‘footman and horseman can never be comrades.’ Of the truth of this they had a proof on the very first day of their travels, for, chancing to come to a brook which they had to ford, the grasshopper jumped over, while the poor ant was carried away by the stream.The grasshopper thought, for a moment, how he could save his drowning companion, and then cried: ‘Catch hold of something, and I shall run and get help.’The bright idea struck him of applying to the sow for one of her bristles, to which the ant could attach herself while he pulled her out of the water.The sow answered: ‘Brother grasshopper, you know the proverb, “hand washes hand”; for three days I have eaten nothing, and am I to let people pull bristles out of me for nothing? Feed me with acorns, and then you can have as many bristles as you like.’The grasshopper hurried off to the oak and said: ‘Oak, oak, give me acorns, I give the acorns to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The oak answered:‘Those thievish jays give me no rest, they pull off my acorns; keep them off.’The grasshopper ran to the jays, and said:‘Jays! leave the oak, and the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The jays answered:‘The kites pursue us; go and drive them off.’The grasshopper ran to the kites, and said:‘Kites! leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The kites answered:‘We are hungry; bring us chickens.’The grasshopper ran to the hen, and said:‘Hen, give me chickens. The chickens I shall give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The hen replied:‘Feed me with millet.’The grasshopper hastened to the barn:‘Barn, give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The barn replied:‘The rats have the mastery over me, they gnaw me on every side; send them away.’The grasshopper ran to the rats:‘Rats! go away from the barn, and the barn will give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning friend.’The rats replied:‘The cats give us no peace; send them away.’The grasshopper went to the cats:‘Cats! go away from the rats, and the rats will leave the barn, the barn will give millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning comrade.’The cats replied:‘Feed us with milk.’The grasshopper ran to the cow:‘Cow! give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, the cats will leave the rats alone, the rats will leave the barn,’ etc., etc.The cow replied:‘Feed me with grass.’The grasshopper applied to the earth, and said:‘O earth! give me grass, the grass I shall give to the cow, the cow will give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, then the cats will leave the rats alone, and the rats willleave the barn, the barn will give me millet, the millet I shall give to the hen, the hen will give me chickens, the chickens I shall give to the kites, then the kites will leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I shall give to the sow, the sow will give me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning friend.’The earth gave the grass ... and finally the grasshopper obtained the bristle, and hastened with it to his drowning friend, but, to his astonishment, the ant was quite dead when he pulled him out. This story teaches that help is only valuable when it is given in time, that the earth alone refuses not to yield her gifts to him that asks, and that all other things exist only by reciprocal services.1Cf.The House that Jack built.

IIThe Grasshopper and the Ant1

The grasshopper and the ant became friends, and entered into a compact of brotherhood, promising never to separate. They then set out on a journey, forgetful of the proverb that ‘footman and horseman can never be comrades.’ Of the truth of this they had a proof on the very first day of their travels, for, chancing to come to a brook which they had to ford, the grasshopper jumped over, while the poor ant was carried away by the stream.The grasshopper thought, for a moment, how he could save his drowning companion, and then cried: ‘Catch hold of something, and I shall run and get help.’The bright idea struck him of applying to the sow for one of her bristles, to which the ant could attach herself while he pulled her out of the water.The sow answered: ‘Brother grasshopper, you know the proverb, “hand washes hand”; for three days I have eaten nothing, and am I to let people pull bristles out of me for nothing? Feed me with acorns, and then you can have as many bristles as you like.’The grasshopper hurried off to the oak and said: ‘Oak, oak, give me acorns, I give the acorns to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The oak answered:‘Those thievish jays give me no rest, they pull off my acorns; keep them off.’The grasshopper ran to the jays, and said:‘Jays! leave the oak, and the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The jays answered:‘The kites pursue us; go and drive them off.’The grasshopper ran to the kites, and said:‘Kites! leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The kites answered:‘We are hungry; bring us chickens.’The grasshopper ran to the hen, and said:‘Hen, give me chickens. The chickens I shall give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The hen replied:‘Feed me with millet.’The grasshopper hastened to the barn:‘Barn, give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’The barn replied:‘The rats have the mastery over me, they gnaw me on every side; send them away.’The grasshopper ran to the rats:‘Rats! go away from the barn, and the barn will give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning friend.’The rats replied:‘The cats give us no peace; send them away.’The grasshopper went to the cats:‘Cats! go away from the rats, and the rats will leave the barn, the barn will give millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning comrade.’The cats replied:‘Feed us with milk.’The grasshopper ran to the cow:‘Cow! give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, the cats will leave the rats alone, the rats will leave the barn,’ etc., etc.The cow replied:‘Feed me with grass.’The grasshopper applied to the earth, and said:‘O earth! give me grass, the grass I shall give to the cow, the cow will give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, then the cats will leave the rats alone, and the rats willleave the barn, the barn will give me millet, the millet I shall give to the hen, the hen will give me chickens, the chickens I shall give to the kites, then the kites will leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I shall give to the sow, the sow will give me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning friend.’The earth gave the grass ... and finally the grasshopper obtained the bristle, and hastened with it to his drowning friend, but, to his astonishment, the ant was quite dead when he pulled him out. This story teaches that help is only valuable when it is given in time, that the earth alone refuses not to yield her gifts to him that asks, and that all other things exist only by reciprocal services.

The grasshopper and the ant became friends, and entered into a compact of brotherhood, promising never to separate. They then set out on a journey, forgetful of the proverb that ‘footman and horseman can never be comrades.’ Of the truth of this they had a proof on the very first day of their travels, for, chancing to come to a brook which they had to ford, the grasshopper jumped over, while the poor ant was carried away by the stream.

The grasshopper thought, for a moment, how he could save his drowning companion, and then cried: ‘Catch hold of something, and I shall run and get help.’

The bright idea struck him of applying to the sow for one of her bristles, to which the ant could attach herself while he pulled her out of the water.

The sow answered: ‘Brother grasshopper, you know the proverb, “hand washes hand”; for three days I have eaten nothing, and am I to let people pull bristles out of me for nothing? Feed me with acorns, and then you can have as many bristles as you like.’

The grasshopper hurried off to the oak and said: ‘Oak, oak, give me acorns, I give the acorns to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’

The oak answered:

‘Those thievish jays give me no rest, they pull off my acorns; keep them off.’

The grasshopper ran to the jays, and said:

‘Jays! leave the oak, and the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’

The jays answered:

‘The kites pursue us; go and drive them off.’

The grasshopper ran to the kites, and said:

‘Kites! leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’

The kites answered:

‘We are hungry; bring us chickens.’

The grasshopper ran to the hen, and said:

‘Hen, give me chickens. The chickens I shall give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’

The hen replied:

‘Feed me with millet.’

The grasshopper hastened to the barn:

‘Barn, give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.’

The barn replied:

‘The rats have the mastery over me, they gnaw me on every side; send them away.’

The grasshopper ran to the rats:

‘Rats! go away from the barn, and the barn will give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning friend.’

The rats replied:

‘The cats give us no peace; send them away.’

The grasshopper went to the cats:

‘Cats! go away from the rats, and the rats will leave the barn, the barn will give millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning comrade.’

The cats replied:

‘Feed us with milk.’

The grasshopper ran to the cow:

‘Cow! give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, the cats will leave the rats alone, the rats will leave the barn,’ etc., etc.

The cow replied:

‘Feed me with grass.’

The grasshopper applied to the earth, and said:

‘O earth! give me grass, the grass I shall give to the cow, the cow will give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, then the cats will leave the rats alone, and the rats willleave the barn, the barn will give me millet, the millet I shall give to the hen, the hen will give me chickens, the chickens I shall give to the kites, then the kites will leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I shall give to the sow, the sow will give me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save my drowning friend.’

The earth gave the grass ... and finally the grasshopper obtained the bristle, and hastened with it to his drowning friend, but, to his astonishment, the ant was quite dead when he pulled him out. This story teaches that help is only valuable when it is given in time, that the earth alone refuses not to yield her gifts to him that asks, and that all other things exist only by reciprocal services.

1Cf.The House that Jack built.

1Cf.The House that Jack built.

IIIThe Countryman and the MerchantA countryman caught a pheasant, and was carrying it home to cook it for himself and his wife.Suddenly the pheasant spoke like a man, and said: ‘Let me go, goodman, and I shall repay you.’The countryman was astonished, and asked:‘What could you do for me?’The pheasant replied: ‘You are an old man, and must soon die; when you are dead, I shall gather together all the birds of the air, and follow you to the grave. Since the world began, no king ever had such an honour paid to him at his funeral.’The countryman was pleased at the offer, and set the pheasant free. When he reached home, he told his wife what had happened, and, although she scolded him at first forletting the bird go, yet she was pleased when the pheasant sent, every morning, birds to ask after the old man’s health.A happy thought soon occurred to the wife, and she said to her husband: ‘Listen to me, we are almost dying of hunger, and we have a good chance of getting plenty of food. Pretend that you are dead; I shall begin to cry, and all the birds will come to your funeral, I shall entice them into our cottage, shut the doors and windows; we can knock them down with sticks, and thus lay in a store of food to last us for a long time.’So the countryman covered himself with a sheet, and lay down, while his wife went outside and wept loudly.A hoopoe flew down, and asked after her husband’s health; when the wife announced his death, the hoopoe at once flew away, and, within an hour, there flew into the yard, in long lines, some thousands of pheasants, the same number of doves, snipe, quails, woodcock, etc., and even eagles, kites, hawks, etc.Some of the birds settled in the cottage, some in the barn, some in the stable, some in the yard, and the rest, for which there was no room, remained in serried ranks in the air.Then the wife shut the doors, and, with her husband, set about killing the birds; only those that were outside escaped.In the evening, there came a merchant, and asked to be allowed to spend the night in the cottage. At supper, the merchant saw a great abundance of game of all kinds, and asked the countryman how such luxury was within the reach of a poor man. The countryman replied: ‘I have a cat of a famous breed, which has never yet failed me. When I want game for my table, I tell her what kind of birds I should like, and how many, and she goes into the forest and gets them. I do not know what was the matter with herlast night, but see! she went into the wood of her own will, and killed all the birds in the neighbourhood, and brought them to us.’ The countryman then showed a whole heap of dead game.The merchant at once began to bargain with the countryman for the cat, and finally purchased it for a large sum.When the merchant reached home, he went about his business, and told his wife that he would not leave her any money for housekeeping, for she had only to give her orders, and the cat would bring all sorts of game for food. But when he came in, he was astonished to find that his wife had eaten nothing, the cat had brought no birds, but had even stolen what was in the house already. So he went back to ask the countryman about it.The countryman saw him coming, filled a pot with millet and hung it over the fire. He then sat down near it, put a grain of millet in the palm of his hand, and began to wash it. The merchant came in and stood by him; the countryman pretended not to see the merchant, muttered an incantation, and dropped the grain into the pot. Then he stirred it with a spoon, and behold the pot was full. The merchant did not know whether to quarrel with the countryman or to get this magic pot from him.‘What is this you have done to me?’ said he. ‘Your cat is useless, it brings nothing, and steals what we have.’‘Have you been feeding it with roast meat? I forgot to warn you that you must not do this.’‘Well, it is my fault then,’ said the merchant. ‘But will you sell me that pot?’‘I have already lost my famous cat. It is not likely that I shall now let you have this pot, in which I can make a dish of porridge with only one grain.’However, they began bargaining, and at last the countryman sold his pot for a large sum. When the merchant reached home, he consoled his wife by telling her that from one barleycorn she could now make as much porridge as she wanted; he then set out again. When he returned, his wife complained that the pot was of no use. So he called again on the countryman, to ask for an explanation.The countryman, foreseeing that the merchant would come, got two hares exactly alike, and tied ribbons of the same colour round their necks. He left one hare at home, and took the other out into the fields with him. He told his wife that if the merchant came, she was to send him out to the field, and in an hour bring him a dinner consisting of two boiled fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.The merchant came, and the woman sent him to the field where her husband was working. In reply to the reproaches of the merchant, the countryman said: ‘You have probably made some stupid mistake with the pot as you did with the cat. But let us sit down and dine while we talk it over, for I cannot suffer you to come to me without feeding you.’ The merchant looked round and said: ‘How can we get anything to eat out here in the fields?’The peasant went to a bush, untied the hare, and said to it: ‘Run at once, little hare, to my wife, and tell her to come with you and bring us a pair of fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.’The hare ran off as fast as it could. It is easy to understand the astonishment of the merchant when the woman came with the hare, bringing all that the man had ordered. When they had eaten, the merchant said: ‘You have cheated me about the cat and the pot, but I forgive you ifyou let me have the hare.’ The countryman refused at first, but finally agreed to sell the hare for a large sum.1On his way home with the hare, the merchant met some friends whom he asked to sup with him, but seeing that he would not arrive until it was late, he ordered the hare to run and tell his wife that he was coming with some guests, and that she was to prepare supper. When he and his friends reached home, they found the house quite dark, and had difficulty in rousing the wife from her sleep. She told him that no hare had been there, and that she did not know what he was talking about.The merchant was now furious, and determined to punish the countryman severely. But the countryman guessed what would happen, and arranged with his wife what should be done. He took the intestine of a small calf, filled it with blood, and tied it round his wife’s neck, telling her to cover it up with a kerchief. The merchant came in, and without saying a word rushed at the countryman, who, in his turn, attacked his wife, accusing her of being the guilty party, and with a knife pierced the intestine under her throat. She fell on the ground, and pretended that she was dying. The merchant was alarmed, and cried: ‘What have you done, you wretched man? I would willingly have lost the money rather than have this innocent blood shed.’ The countryman answered: ‘That is my affair. Though I have killed my wife I can raise her to life again.’ ‘I believe you no longer,’ said the merchant, ‘but if you perform this miracle I shall forgive you all.’ The countryman approached his wife with the knife in his hand, muttered something, and his wife opened her eyes, and, to the surprise of the merchant, rose up.The merchant bought the wonderful knife, saying that his wife, too, needed a lesson sometimes. When the merchant reached home, his wife asked where he had been. He told her to be silent and mind her own business. ‘If you are not quiet I will cut your throat.’ The woman looked at him with astonishment, and wondered whether he had gone out of his mind. The merchant threw down his wife, and cut her throat. All the neighbours flocked in, and raised a great cry. The merchant said: ‘What if I have killed my wife? I can bring her to life again.’ The neighbours stood by while he muttered the invocations he had learnt, but he could not raise her. Then he flew to the countryman, tied his hands, and dragged him into the forest, saying: ‘I wish to prolong your sufferings, and will not kill you at once. I shall starve you, drag you about in the woods, and, when I have worn you out with tortures, I shall throw you into the sea.’ On the road there was a town, in which a king had just died, and his funeral was then taking place. Having bound the countryman to a tree in the depths of the forest, the merchant returned to the town to see the royal funeral. Just then, a shepherd happened to drive his flock near the tree to which the countryman was tied. Seeing the shepherd a little way off, the countryman began to shout: ‘I will not be king! I will not be king! No! No! No!’ The shepherd came up and asked what was wrong. The countryman replied: ‘You know, brother, that the king is dead in the town: they want me to take his place, but I will not, for I have been king twice, and know what it is. Ah, brother! one has so many cares, so much work, that one’s head swims. I had rather be tied to this tree than consent to be king.’ The shepherd thought for a moment, and replied: ‘I, brother, would give anything in the world to have a trial of the life of a king.’ ‘I gladly give you my place,but, so that people may not know, put on my clothes, and I shall bind you to the tree, and by to-morrow you shall be king.’ The shepherd gladly gave him his flock, and took his place at the tree.As soon as the countryman was free, he drove away the flock.When it was quite dark, the merchant appeared, loosed his victim, and drove him on. When they came to the steep seashore, the shepherd saw that the merchant wished to drown him, and cried: ‘Do not drown me! I had rather consent to be king.’ The merchant thought his prisoner had lost his wits through fatigue and ill-treatment; without more ado he threw him into the sea.A fortnight later, the merchant was travelling on business, when he met on the road the same countryman whom he, as he thought, had drowned, and who was now driving a flock. ‘What do I see!’ cried the merchant. ‘Are you there? Did I not drown you in the sea?’‘My benefactor!’ replied the countryman. ‘I wish you would drown me again. You cannot imagine what a quantity of cattle there is down there at the bottom of the sea. It is a pity I had no stick with me, for I could not drive out more than these with my hands.’The merchant besought the countryman, saying: ‘You have ruined me. The cat, the pot, the hare, the knife, have all cost money; thanks to you, I am a beggar and a widower. If you remember the place where I threw you into the sea, drown me there, but let me have a stick, so that I may repair my fortune.’ To get rid of the troublesome merchant, the countryman agreed to fulfil his request, and so drowned him with a very long switch in his hand.21Cf. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 209, and note on p. 242.2Cf. the last incident with the end of ‘Little Fairly,’ in Samuel Lover’sLegends and Stories of Ireland.

IIIThe Countryman and the Merchant

A countryman caught a pheasant, and was carrying it home to cook it for himself and his wife.Suddenly the pheasant spoke like a man, and said: ‘Let me go, goodman, and I shall repay you.’The countryman was astonished, and asked:‘What could you do for me?’The pheasant replied: ‘You are an old man, and must soon die; when you are dead, I shall gather together all the birds of the air, and follow you to the grave. Since the world began, no king ever had such an honour paid to him at his funeral.’The countryman was pleased at the offer, and set the pheasant free. When he reached home, he told his wife what had happened, and, although she scolded him at first forletting the bird go, yet she was pleased when the pheasant sent, every morning, birds to ask after the old man’s health.A happy thought soon occurred to the wife, and she said to her husband: ‘Listen to me, we are almost dying of hunger, and we have a good chance of getting plenty of food. Pretend that you are dead; I shall begin to cry, and all the birds will come to your funeral, I shall entice them into our cottage, shut the doors and windows; we can knock them down with sticks, and thus lay in a store of food to last us for a long time.’So the countryman covered himself with a sheet, and lay down, while his wife went outside and wept loudly.A hoopoe flew down, and asked after her husband’s health; when the wife announced his death, the hoopoe at once flew away, and, within an hour, there flew into the yard, in long lines, some thousands of pheasants, the same number of doves, snipe, quails, woodcock, etc., and even eagles, kites, hawks, etc.Some of the birds settled in the cottage, some in the barn, some in the stable, some in the yard, and the rest, for which there was no room, remained in serried ranks in the air.Then the wife shut the doors, and, with her husband, set about killing the birds; only those that were outside escaped.In the evening, there came a merchant, and asked to be allowed to spend the night in the cottage. At supper, the merchant saw a great abundance of game of all kinds, and asked the countryman how such luxury was within the reach of a poor man. The countryman replied: ‘I have a cat of a famous breed, which has never yet failed me. When I want game for my table, I tell her what kind of birds I should like, and how many, and she goes into the forest and gets them. I do not know what was the matter with herlast night, but see! she went into the wood of her own will, and killed all the birds in the neighbourhood, and brought them to us.’ The countryman then showed a whole heap of dead game.The merchant at once began to bargain with the countryman for the cat, and finally purchased it for a large sum.When the merchant reached home, he went about his business, and told his wife that he would not leave her any money for housekeeping, for she had only to give her orders, and the cat would bring all sorts of game for food. But when he came in, he was astonished to find that his wife had eaten nothing, the cat had brought no birds, but had even stolen what was in the house already. So he went back to ask the countryman about it.The countryman saw him coming, filled a pot with millet and hung it over the fire. He then sat down near it, put a grain of millet in the palm of his hand, and began to wash it. The merchant came in and stood by him; the countryman pretended not to see the merchant, muttered an incantation, and dropped the grain into the pot. Then he stirred it with a spoon, and behold the pot was full. The merchant did not know whether to quarrel with the countryman or to get this magic pot from him.‘What is this you have done to me?’ said he. ‘Your cat is useless, it brings nothing, and steals what we have.’‘Have you been feeding it with roast meat? I forgot to warn you that you must not do this.’‘Well, it is my fault then,’ said the merchant. ‘But will you sell me that pot?’‘I have already lost my famous cat. It is not likely that I shall now let you have this pot, in which I can make a dish of porridge with only one grain.’However, they began bargaining, and at last the countryman sold his pot for a large sum. When the merchant reached home, he consoled his wife by telling her that from one barleycorn she could now make as much porridge as she wanted; he then set out again. When he returned, his wife complained that the pot was of no use. So he called again on the countryman, to ask for an explanation.The countryman, foreseeing that the merchant would come, got two hares exactly alike, and tied ribbons of the same colour round their necks. He left one hare at home, and took the other out into the fields with him. He told his wife that if the merchant came, she was to send him out to the field, and in an hour bring him a dinner consisting of two boiled fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.The merchant came, and the woman sent him to the field where her husband was working. In reply to the reproaches of the merchant, the countryman said: ‘You have probably made some stupid mistake with the pot as you did with the cat. But let us sit down and dine while we talk it over, for I cannot suffer you to come to me without feeding you.’ The merchant looked round and said: ‘How can we get anything to eat out here in the fields?’The peasant went to a bush, untied the hare, and said to it: ‘Run at once, little hare, to my wife, and tell her to come with you and bring us a pair of fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.’The hare ran off as fast as it could. It is easy to understand the astonishment of the merchant when the woman came with the hare, bringing all that the man had ordered. When they had eaten, the merchant said: ‘You have cheated me about the cat and the pot, but I forgive you ifyou let me have the hare.’ The countryman refused at first, but finally agreed to sell the hare for a large sum.1On his way home with the hare, the merchant met some friends whom he asked to sup with him, but seeing that he would not arrive until it was late, he ordered the hare to run and tell his wife that he was coming with some guests, and that she was to prepare supper. When he and his friends reached home, they found the house quite dark, and had difficulty in rousing the wife from her sleep. She told him that no hare had been there, and that she did not know what he was talking about.The merchant was now furious, and determined to punish the countryman severely. But the countryman guessed what would happen, and arranged with his wife what should be done. He took the intestine of a small calf, filled it with blood, and tied it round his wife’s neck, telling her to cover it up with a kerchief. The merchant came in, and without saying a word rushed at the countryman, who, in his turn, attacked his wife, accusing her of being the guilty party, and with a knife pierced the intestine under her throat. She fell on the ground, and pretended that she was dying. The merchant was alarmed, and cried: ‘What have you done, you wretched man? I would willingly have lost the money rather than have this innocent blood shed.’ The countryman answered: ‘That is my affair. Though I have killed my wife I can raise her to life again.’ ‘I believe you no longer,’ said the merchant, ‘but if you perform this miracle I shall forgive you all.’ The countryman approached his wife with the knife in his hand, muttered something, and his wife opened her eyes, and, to the surprise of the merchant, rose up.The merchant bought the wonderful knife, saying that his wife, too, needed a lesson sometimes. When the merchant reached home, his wife asked where he had been. He told her to be silent and mind her own business. ‘If you are not quiet I will cut your throat.’ The woman looked at him with astonishment, and wondered whether he had gone out of his mind. The merchant threw down his wife, and cut her throat. All the neighbours flocked in, and raised a great cry. The merchant said: ‘What if I have killed my wife? I can bring her to life again.’ The neighbours stood by while he muttered the invocations he had learnt, but he could not raise her. Then he flew to the countryman, tied his hands, and dragged him into the forest, saying: ‘I wish to prolong your sufferings, and will not kill you at once. I shall starve you, drag you about in the woods, and, when I have worn you out with tortures, I shall throw you into the sea.’ On the road there was a town, in which a king had just died, and his funeral was then taking place. Having bound the countryman to a tree in the depths of the forest, the merchant returned to the town to see the royal funeral. Just then, a shepherd happened to drive his flock near the tree to which the countryman was tied. Seeing the shepherd a little way off, the countryman began to shout: ‘I will not be king! I will not be king! No! No! No!’ The shepherd came up and asked what was wrong. The countryman replied: ‘You know, brother, that the king is dead in the town: they want me to take his place, but I will not, for I have been king twice, and know what it is. Ah, brother! one has so many cares, so much work, that one’s head swims. I had rather be tied to this tree than consent to be king.’ The shepherd thought for a moment, and replied: ‘I, brother, would give anything in the world to have a trial of the life of a king.’ ‘I gladly give you my place,but, so that people may not know, put on my clothes, and I shall bind you to the tree, and by to-morrow you shall be king.’ The shepherd gladly gave him his flock, and took his place at the tree.As soon as the countryman was free, he drove away the flock.When it was quite dark, the merchant appeared, loosed his victim, and drove him on. When they came to the steep seashore, the shepherd saw that the merchant wished to drown him, and cried: ‘Do not drown me! I had rather consent to be king.’ The merchant thought his prisoner had lost his wits through fatigue and ill-treatment; without more ado he threw him into the sea.A fortnight later, the merchant was travelling on business, when he met on the road the same countryman whom he, as he thought, had drowned, and who was now driving a flock. ‘What do I see!’ cried the merchant. ‘Are you there? Did I not drown you in the sea?’‘My benefactor!’ replied the countryman. ‘I wish you would drown me again. You cannot imagine what a quantity of cattle there is down there at the bottom of the sea. It is a pity I had no stick with me, for I could not drive out more than these with my hands.’The merchant besought the countryman, saying: ‘You have ruined me. The cat, the pot, the hare, the knife, have all cost money; thanks to you, I am a beggar and a widower. If you remember the place where I threw you into the sea, drown me there, but let me have a stick, so that I may repair my fortune.’ To get rid of the troublesome merchant, the countryman agreed to fulfil his request, and so drowned him with a very long switch in his hand.2

A countryman caught a pheasant, and was carrying it home to cook it for himself and his wife.

Suddenly the pheasant spoke like a man, and said: ‘Let me go, goodman, and I shall repay you.’

The countryman was astonished, and asked:

‘What could you do for me?’

The pheasant replied: ‘You are an old man, and must soon die; when you are dead, I shall gather together all the birds of the air, and follow you to the grave. Since the world began, no king ever had such an honour paid to him at his funeral.’

The countryman was pleased at the offer, and set the pheasant free. When he reached home, he told his wife what had happened, and, although she scolded him at first forletting the bird go, yet she was pleased when the pheasant sent, every morning, birds to ask after the old man’s health.

A happy thought soon occurred to the wife, and she said to her husband: ‘Listen to me, we are almost dying of hunger, and we have a good chance of getting plenty of food. Pretend that you are dead; I shall begin to cry, and all the birds will come to your funeral, I shall entice them into our cottage, shut the doors and windows; we can knock them down with sticks, and thus lay in a store of food to last us for a long time.’

So the countryman covered himself with a sheet, and lay down, while his wife went outside and wept loudly.

A hoopoe flew down, and asked after her husband’s health; when the wife announced his death, the hoopoe at once flew away, and, within an hour, there flew into the yard, in long lines, some thousands of pheasants, the same number of doves, snipe, quails, woodcock, etc., and even eagles, kites, hawks, etc.

Some of the birds settled in the cottage, some in the barn, some in the stable, some in the yard, and the rest, for which there was no room, remained in serried ranks in the air.

Then the wife shut the doors, and, with her husband, set about killing the birds; only those that were outside escaped.

In the evening, there came a merchant, and asked to be allowed to spend the night in the cottage. At supper, the merchant saw a great abundance of game of all kinds, and asked the countryman how such luxury was within the reach of a poor man. The countryman replied: ‘I have a cat of a famous breed, which has never yet failed me. When I want game for my table, I tell her what kind of birds I should like, and how many, and she goes into the forest and gets them. I do not know what was the matter with herlast night, but see! she went into the wood of her own will, and killed all the birds in the neighbourhood, and brought them to us.’ The countryman then showed a whole heap of dead game.

The merchant at once began to bargain with the countryman for the cat, and finally purchased it for a large sum.

When the merchant reached home, he went about his business, and told his wife that he would not leave her any money for housekeeping, for she had only to give her orders, and the cat would bring all sorts of game for food. But when he came in, he was astonished to find that his wife had eaten nothing, the cat had brought no birds, but had even stolen what was in the house already. So he went back to ask the countryman about it.

The countryman saw him coming, filled a pot with millet and hung it over the fire. He then sat down near it, put a grain of millet in the palm of his hand, and began to wash it. The merchant came in and stood by him; the countryman pretended not to see the merchant, muttered an incantation, and dropped the grain into the pot. Then he stirred it with a spoon, and behold the pot was full. The merchant did not know whether to quarrel with the countryman or to get this magic pot from him.

‘What is this you have done to me?’ said he. ‘Your cat is useless, it brings nothing, and steals what we have.’

‘Have you been feeding it with roast meat? I forgot to warn you that you must not do this.’

‘Well, it is my fault then,’ said the merchant. ‘But will you sell me that pot?’

‘I have already lost my famous cat. It is not likely that I shall now let you have this pot, in which I can make a dish of porridge with only one grain.’

However, they began bargaining, and at last the countryman sold his pot for a large sum. When the merchant reached home, he consoled his wife by telling her that from one barleycorn she could now make as much porridge as she wanted; he then set out again. When he returned, his wife complained that the pot was of no use. So he called again on the countryman, to ask for an explanation.

The countryman, foreseeing that the merchant would come, got two hares exactly alike, and tied ribbons of the same colour round their necks. He left one hare at home, and took the other out into the fields with him. He told his wife that if the merchant came, she was to send him out to the field, and in an hour bring him a dinner consisting of two boiled fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.

The merchant came, and the woman sent him to the field where her husband was working. In reply to the reproaches of the merchant, the countryman said: ‘You have probably made some stupid mistake with the pot as you did with the cat. But let us sit down and dine while we talk it over, for I cannot suffer you to come to me without feeding you.’ The merchant looked round and said: ‘How can we get anything to eat out here in the fields?’

The peasant went to a bush, untied the hare, and said to it: ‘Run at once, little hare, to my wife, and tell her to come with you and bring us a pair of fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.’

The hare ran off as fast as it could. It is easy to understand the astonishment of the merchant when the woman came with the hare, bringing all that the man had ordered. When they had eaten, the merchant said: ‘You have cheated me about the cat and the pot, but I forgive you ifyou let me have the hare.’ The countryman refused at first, but finally agreed to sell the hare for a large sum.1

On his way home with the hare, the merchant met some friends whom he asked to sup with him, but seeing that he would not arrive until it was late, he ordered the hare to run and tell his wife that he was coming with some guests, and that she was to prepare supper. When he and his friends reached home, they found the house quite dark, and had difficulty in rousing the wife from her sleep. She told him that no hare had been there, and that she did not know what he was talking about.

The merchant was now furious, and determined to punish the countryman severely. But the countryman guessed what would happen, and arranged with his wife what should be done. He took the intestine of a small calf, filled it with blood, and tied it round his wife’s neck, telling her to cover it up with a kerchief. The merchant came in, and without saying a word rushed at the countryman, who, in his turn, attacked his wife, accusing her of being the guilty party, and with a knife pierced the intestine under her throat. She fell on the ground, and pretended that she was dying. The merchant was alarmed, and cried: ‘What have you done, you wretched man? I would willingly have lost the money rather than have this innocent blood shed.’ The countryman answered: ‘That is my affair. Though I have killed my wife I can raise her to life again.’ ‘I believe you no longer,’ said the merchant, ‘but if you perform this miracle I shall forgive you all.’ The countryman approached his wife with the knife in his hand, muttered something, and his wife opened her eyes, and, to the surprise of the merchant, rose up.

The merchant bought the wonderful knife, saying that his wife, too, needed a lesson sometimes. When the merchant reached home, his wife asked where he had been. He told her to be silent and mind her own business. ‘If you are not quiet I will cut your throat.’ The woman looked at him with astonishment, and wondered whether he had gone out of his mind. The merchant threw down his wife, and cut her throat. All the neighbours flocked in, and raised a great cry. The merchant said: ‘What if I have killed my wife? I can bring her to life again.’ The neighbours stood by while he muttered the invocations he had learnt, but he could not raise her. Then he flew to the countryman, tied his hands, and dragged him into the forest, saying: ‘I wish to prolong your sufferings, and will not kill you at once. I shall starve you, drag you about in the woods, and, when I have worn you out with tortures, I shall throw you into the sea.’ On the road there was a town, in which a king had just died, and his funeral was then taking place. Having bound the countryman to a tree in the depths of the forest, the merchant returned to the town to see the royal funeral. Just then, a shepherd happened to drive his flock near the tree to which the countryman was tied. Seeing the shepherd a little way off, the countryman began to shout: ‘I will not be king! I will not be king! No! No! No!’ The shepherd came up and asked what was wrong. The countryman replied: ‘You know, brother, that the king is dead in the town: they want me to take his place, but I will not, for I have been king twice, and know what it is. Ah, brother! one has so many cares, so much work, that one’s head swims. I had rather be tied to this tree than consent to be king.’ The shepherd thought for a moment, and replied: ‘I, brother, would give anything in the world to have a trial of the life of a king.’ ‘I gladly give you my place,but, so that people may not know, put on my clothes, and I shall bind you to the tree, and by to-morrow you shall be king.’ The shepherd gladly gave him his flock, and took his place at the tree.

As soon as the countryman was free, he drove away the flock.

When it was quite dark, the merchant appeared, loosed his victim, and drove him on. When they came to the steep seashore, the shepherd saw that the merchant wished to drown him, and cried: ‘Do not drown me! I had rather consent to be king.’ The merchant thought his prisoner had lost his wits through fatigue and ill-treatment; without more ado he threw him into the sea.

A fortnight later, the merchant was travelling on business, when he met on the road the same countryman whom he, as he thought, had drowned, and who was now driving a flock. ‘What do I see!’ cried the merchant. ‘Are you there? Did I not drown you in the sea?’

‘My benefactor!’ replied the countryman. ‘I wish you would drown me again. You cannot imagine what a quantity of cattle there is down there at the bottom of the sea. It is a pity I had no stick with me, for I could not drive out more than these with my hands.’

The merchant besought the countryman, saying: ‘You have ruined me. The cat, the pot, the hare, the knife, have all cost money; thanks to you, I am a beggar and a widower. If you remember the place where I threw you into the sea, drown me there, but let me have a stick, so that I may repair my fortune.’ To get rid of the troublesome merchant, the countryman agreed to fulfil his request, and so drowned him with a very long switch in his hand.2

1Cf. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 209, and note on p. 242.2Cf. the last incident with the end of ‘Little Fairly,’ in Samuel Lover’sLegends and Stories of Ireland.

1Cf. Jacobs:More English Fairy Tales, p. 209, and note on p. 242.

2Cf. the last incident with the end of ‘Little Fairly,’ in Samuel Lover’sLegends and Stories of Ireland.

IVThe King and the SageOnce upon a time, there reigned in one of the realms of the East a shah named Ali, a man of amiable and merry character. Ali was much beloved by his subjects, and he too loved them with all his heart. The shah played with them as if they had been his children; he gave them festivals, arranged competitions, and gave prizes for the best poetical productions, etc. The shah was skilled in the famous literature of Arabia, and was thought to be a learned man; besides this, he was a wit and a joker, and loved to set his folk merry riddles to guess: prizes were given to the successful. Once theferashes(or servants) of the shah made known to the people, that Ali had promised three hundred pieces of gold to him who should ask his majesty such a question that the answer must inevitably be:That is Impossible.This announcement created great excitement, and men, women, and children all alike set themselves to think out such a question. The day of the competition dawned at last, and the vast square before the palace was crowded with a curious throng. At the appointed hour, Shah Ali appeared, surrounded by a brilliant guard, and music filled the air. After greeting his folk, the shah sat down on a throne, opposite the platform on which the candidates were to stand while they asked the shah their questions. Heralds gave out the challenge, and a wit of the town mounted the rostrum and loudly said: ‘Shah! a courier has just galloped into the town and told me a most astonishing piece of news, to wit, that at dawn this morning, twenty versts from your capital, the moon fell from the skyto the ground, and burned two and twenty villages to ashes.’ The shah meditated a moment, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The town wit got down, amid the laughter of the people.His place was taken by a courtier, the shah’s body-surgeon, who shouted: ‘Most illustrious Shah! In your harem a most astounding event has just happened—your first wife, your beloved Zuleika, has just given birth to a sucking-pig covered with bristles.’ The shah considered, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The doctor fled in shame, and the people laughed more loudly than before.After the doctor came an astrologer, who said: ‘Most noble Shah! In observing the courses of the stars I have discovered a woful piece of news; an awful fate awaits you. O King, you will soon have horns like a goat, and claws like a panther, you will lose the power of speech, and flee from us into the woods, where you will dwell exactly seven years and three months.’ To him likewise the shah replied: ‘That is possible,’ and he too disappeared, amid the jeers of the mob.The competition lasted throughout the whole of that day and the next, to the delight of the people, until at last they thought of getting a certain Nasr-Eddin, a wit well known throughout the East, to oppose to the shah.1On the third, and last, day appeared Nasr-Eddin, tattered and almost naked, dragging with him two great clay jars. Addressing the shah, he said: ‘Hail to the commander of the faithful, blessed be thy name! Thou shalt reign yet a hundred years, and the love and confidence of thy subjectswill increase yearly.’ ‘That is possible,’ said the shah. ‘That the confidence your subjects repose in you is unbounded is evident from a fact which I am about to relate; you will doubtless deign to listen.’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Your late father (God rest his soul!) was very friendly with my late father (may the Prophet give him a place in Paradise!)...’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Listen to me, O Shah! When your father went forth to war with the unbelievers, he was so poor that he could not raise an army.’ ... ‘That is possible.’ ‘Not only is it possible but true, for, owing to his want of money, he borrowed from my father these two jars full of gold pieces, and promised on his royal word that you, O Shah, would pay your father’s debt to me.’ Shah Ali burst into laughter, and said: ‘That is impossible! Your father was a tatterdemalion like yourself, and never saw two jars of gold even in his dreams. Take your three hundred gold pieces, and the devil take you. You rascal, you have outwitted me.’1The Mullah Nasr-Eddin is the hero of hundreds of witty tales. A French translation of some of them (from the Turkish) was published, by Decourdemanche, in 1878.

IVThe King and the Sage

Once upon a time, there reigned in one of the realms of the East a shah named Ali, a man of amiable and merry character. Ali was much beloved by his subjects, and he too loved them with all his heart. The shah played with them as if they had been his children; he gave them festivals, arranged competitions, and gave prizes for the best poetical productions, etc. The shah was skilled in the famous literature of Arabia, and was thought to be a learned man; besides this, he was a wit and a joker, and loved to set his folk merry riddles to guess: prizes were given to the successful. Once theferashes(or servants) of the shah made known to the people, that Ali had promised three hundred pieces of gold to him who should ask his majesty such a question that the answer must inevitably be:That is Impossible.This announcement created great excitement, and men, women, and children all alike set themselves to think out such a question. The day of the competition dawned at last, and the vast square before the palace was crowded with a curious throng. At the appointed hour, Shah Ali appeared, surrounded by a brilliant guard, and music filled the air. After greeting his folk, the shah sat down on a throne, opposite the platform on which the candidates were to stand while they asked the shah their questions. Heralds gave out the challenge, and a wit of the town mounted the rostrum and loudly said: ‘Shah! a courier has just galloped into the town and told me a most astonishing piece of news, to wit, that at dawn this morning, twenty versts from your capital, the moon fell from the skyto the ground, and burned two and twenty villages to ashes.’ The shah meditated a moment, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The town wit got down, amid the laughter of the people.His place was taken by a courtier, the shah’s body-surgeon, who shouted: ‘Most illustrious Shah! In your harem a most astounding event has just happened—your first wife, your beloved Zuleika, has just given birth to a sucking-pig covered with bristles.’ The shah considered, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The doctor fled in shame, and the people laughed more loudly than before.After the doctor came an astrologer, who said: ‘Most noble Shah! In observing the courses of the stars I have discovered a woful piece of news; an awful fate awaits you. O King, you will soon have horns like a goat, and claws like a panther, you will lose the power of speech, and flee from us into the woods, where you will dwell exactly seven years and three months.’ To him likewise the shah replied: ‘That is possible,’ and he too disappeared, amid the jeers of the mob.The competition lasted throughout the whole of that day and the next, to the delight of the people, until at last they thought of getting a certain Nasr-Eddin, a wit well known throughout the East, to oppose to the shah.1On the third, and last, day appeared Nasr-Eddin, tattered and almost naked, dragging with him two great clay jars. Addressing the shah, he said: ‘Hail to the commander of the faithful, blessed be thy name! Thou shalt reign yet a hundred years, and the love and confidence of thy subjectswill increase yearly.’ ‘That is possible,’ said the shah. ‘That the confidence your subjects repose in you is unbounded is evident from a fact which I am about to relate; you will doubtless deign to listen.’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Your late father (God rest his soul!) was very friendly with my late father (may the Prophet give him a place in Paradise!)...’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Listen to me, O Shah! When your father went forth to war with the unbelievers, he was so poor that he could not raise an army.’ ... ‘That is possible.’ ‘Not only is it possible but true, for, owing to his want of money, he borrowed from my father these two jars full of gold pieces, and promised on his royal word that you, O Shah, would pay your father’s debt to me.’ Shah Ali burst into laughter, and said: ‘That is impossible! Your father was a tatterdemalion like yourself, and never saw two jars of gold even in his dreams. Take your three hundred gold pieces, and the devil take you. You rascal, you have outwitted me.’

Once upon a time, there reigned in one of the realms of the East a shah named Ali, a man of amiable and merry character. Ali was much beloved by his subjects, and he too loved them with all his heart. The shah played with them as if they had been his children; he gave them festivals, arranged competitions, and gave prizes for the best poetical productions, etc. The shah was skilled in the famous literature of Arabia, and was thought to be a learned man; besides this, he was a wit and a joker, and loved to set his folk merry riddles to guess: prizes were given to the successful. Once theferashes(or servants) of the shah made known to the people, that Ali had promised three hundred pieces of gold to him who should ask his majesty such a question that the answer must inevitably be:That is Impossible.

This announcement created great excitement, and men, women, and children all alike set themselves to think out such a question. The day of the competition dawned at last, and the vast square before the palace was crowded with a curious throng. At the appointed hour, Shah Ali appeared, surrounded by a brilliant guard, and music filled the air. After greeting his folk, the shah sat down on a throne, opposite the platform on which the candidates were to stand while they asked the shah their questions. Heralds gave out the challenge, and a wit of the town mounted the rostrum and loudly said: ‘Shah! a courier has just galloped into the town and told me a most astonishing piece of news, to wit, that at dawn this morning, twenty versts from your capital, the moon fell from the skyto the ground, and burned two and twenty villages to ashes.’ The shah meditated a moment, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The town wit got down, amid the laughter of the people.

His place was taken by a courtier, the shah’s body-surgeon, who shouted: ‘Most illustrious Shah! In your harem a most astounding event has just happened—your first wife, your beloved Zuleika, has just given birth to a sucking-pig covered with bristles.’ The shah considered, and then replied: ‘That is possible.’ The doctor fled in shame, and the people laughed more loudly than before.

After the doctor came an astrologer, who said: ‘Most noble Shah! In observing the courses of the stars I have discovered a woful piece of news; an awful fate awaits you. O King, you will soon have horns like a goat, and claws like a panther, you will lose the power of speech, and flee from us into the woods, where you will dwell exactly seven years and three months.’ To him likewise the shah replied: ‘That is possible,’ and he too disappeared, amid the jeers of the mob.

The competition lasted throughout the whole of that day and the next, to the delight of the people, until at last they thought of getting a certain Nasr-Eddin, a wit well known throughout the East, to oppose to the shah.1

On the third, and last, day appeared Nasr-Eddin, tattered and almost naked, dragging with him two great clay jars. Addressing the shah, he said: ‘Hail to the commander of the faithful, blessed be thy name! Thou shalt reign yet a hundred years, and the love and confidence of thy subjectswill increase yearly.’ ‘That is possible,’ said the shah. ‘That the confidence your subjects repose in you is unbounded is evident from a fact which I am about to relate; you will doubtless deign to listen.’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Your late father (God rest his soul!) was very friendly with my late father (may the Prophet give him a place in Paradise!)...’ ‘That is possible.’ ‘Listen to me, O Shah! When your father went forth to war with the unbelievers, he was so poor that he could not raise an army.’ ... ‘That is possible.’ ‘Not only is it possible but true, for, owing to his want of money, he borrowed from my father these two jars full of gold pieces, and promised on his royal word that you, O Shah, would pay your father’s debt to me.’ Shah Ali burst into laughter, and said: ‘That is impossible! Your father was a tatterdemalion like yourself, and never saw two jars of gold even in his dreams. Take your three hundred gold pieces, and the devil take you. You rascal, you have outwitted me.’

1The Mullah Nasr-Eddin is the hero of hundreds of witty tales. A French translation of some of them (from the Turkish) was published, by Decourdemanche, in 1878.

1The Mullah Nasr-Eddin is the hero of hundreds of witty tales. A French translation of some of them (from the Turkish) was published, by Decourdemanche, in 1878.

VThe King’s SonA certain king had a son, and sent him out to be nursed by a smith’s wife. This crafty woman put the king’s child in a common cradle, and her own son in the gorgeous royal cradle. Some years afterwards, the king took the changeling to court, and brought his foster-brother with him. One fine day, the king set out for his favourite forest to hunt, and took his pretended son with him. When they arrived, the king asked: ‘How do you like this place, my son? Is it not a magnificent wood?’ The boy replied: ‘O father, if we could only burn it all somehow, what a fine lot of charcoal we should have!’Then the king sent for the other boy, and asked him the same question. ‘There could not be a better forest, your Majesty!’ ‘But what would you do with it if it were yours?’ ‘Nothing, your Majesty. I would double the guards, so that it should not be injured.’ Then the king saw how the smith’s wife had tried to cheat him, and put her in prison.

VThe King’s Son

A certain king had a son, and sent him out to be nursed by a smith’s wife. This crafty woman put the king’s child in a common cradle, and her own son in the gorgeous royal cradle. Some years afterwards, the king took the changeling to court, and brought his foster-brother with him. One fine day, the king set out for his favourite forest to hunt, and took his pretended son with him. When they arrived, the king asked: ‘How do you like this place, my son? Is it not a magnificent wood?’ The boy replied: ‘O father, if we could only burn it all somehow, what a fine lot of charcoal we should have!’Then the king sent for the other boy, and asked him the same question. ‘There could not be a better forest, your Majesty!’ ‘But what would you do with it if it were yours?’ ‘Nothing, your Majesty. I would double the guards, so that it should not be injured.’ Then the king saw how the smith’s wife had tried to cheat him, and put her in prison.

A certain king had a son, and sent him out to be nursed by a smith’s wife. This crafty woman put the king’s child in a common cradle, and her own son in the gorgeous royal cradle. Some years afterwards, the king took the changeling to court, and brought his foster-brother with him. One fine day, the king set out for his favourite forest to hunt, and took his pretended son with him. When they arrived, the king asked: ‘How do you like this place, my son? Is it not a magnificent wood?’ The boy replied: ‘O father, if we could only burn it all somehow, what a fine lot of charcoal we should have!’

Then the king sent for the other boy, and asked him the same question. ‘There could not be a better forest, your Majesty!’ ‘But what would you do with it if it were yours?’ ‘Nothing, your Majesty. I would double the guards, so that it should not be injured.’ Then the king saw how the smith’s wife had tried to cheat him, and put her in prison.

VITeeth and No-TeethShah Ali desired to see the hungriest man in his kingdom, and find out how much of the daintiest food such a man could eat at a meal. So he let it be known that on a certain day he would dine with his courtiers in the open air, in front of the palace. At the appointed hour, tables were laid and dinner was served, in the presence of a vast crowd. After the first course, the shah mounted a daïs, and said: ‘My loyal subjects! you see what a splendid dinner I have. I should like to share it with those among you who are really hungry, and have not eaten for a long time, so tell me truly which is the hungriest of you all, and bid him come forward.’Two men appeared from the crowd: an old man of fifty and a young man of twenty-seven. The former was grey-haired and feeble, the latter was fresh and of athletic build.‘How is it that you are hungry?’ asked the shah of the old man. ‘I am old, my children are dead, toil has worn me out, and I have eaten nothing for three days.’ ‘And you?’ said the shah, turning to the young man. ‘I could not find work, and as I am a hearty young man I am ashamed to beg, so I too have not eaten for three days.’The shah ordered them to be given food, on one plate, and in small portions. The hungry men eagerly ate, watching each other intently. Suddenly the old man and the young one both stopped and began to weep. ‘Why do you weep?’ asked the shah in astonishment. ‘I have no teeth,’ said the old man, ‘and while I am mumbling my food this young man eats up everything.’ ‘And why are you weeping?’ ‘He is telling lies, your majesty; while I am chewing my meat the old man gulps down everything whole....’

VITeeth and No-Teeth

Shah Ali desired to see the hungriest man in his kingdom, and find out how much of the daintiest food such a man could eat at a meal. So he let it be known that on a certain day he would dine with his courtiers in the open air, in front of the palace. At the appointed hour, tables were laid and dinner was served, in the presence of a vast crowd. After the first course, the shah mounted a daïs, and said: ‘My loyal subjects! you see what a splendid dinner I have. I should like to share it with those among you who are really hungry, and have not eaten for a long time, so tell me truly which is the hungriest of you all, and bid him come forward.’Two men appeared from the crowd: an old man of fifty and a young man of twenty-seven. The former was grey-haired and feeble, the latter was fresh and of athletic build.‘How is it that you are hungry?’ asked the shah of the old man. ‘I am old, my children are dead, toil has worn me out, and I have eaten nothing for three days.’ ‘And you?’ said the shah, turning to the young man. ‘I could not find work, and as I am a hearty young man I am ashamed to beg, so I too have not eaten for three days.’The shah ordered them to be given food, on one plate, and in small portions. The hungry men eagerly ate, watching each other intently. Suddenly the old man and the young one both stopped and began to weep. ‘Why do you weep?’ asked the shah in astonishment. ‘I have no teeth,’ said the old man, ‘and while I am mumbling my food this young man eats up everything.’ ‘And why are you weeping?’ ‘He is telling lies, your majesty; while I am chewing my meat the old man gulps down everything whole....’

Shah Ali desired to see the hungriest man in his kingdom, and find out how much of the daintiest food such a man could eat at a meal. So he let it be known that on a certain day he would dine with his courtiers in the open air, in front of the palace. At the appointed hour, tables were laid and dinner was served, in the presence of a vast crowd. After the first course, the shah mounted a daïs, and said: ‘My loyal subjects! you see what a splendid dinner I have. I should like to share it with those among you who are really hungry, and have not eaten for a long time, so tell me truly which is the hungriest of you all, and bid him come forward.’

Two men appeared from the crowd: an old man of fifty and a young man of twenty-seven. The former was grey-haired and feeble, the latter was fresh and of athletic build.

‘How is it that you are hungry?’ asked the shah of the old man. ‘I am old, my children are dead, toil has worn me out, and I have eaten nothing for three days.’ ‘And you?’ said the shah, turning to the young man. ‘I could not find work, and as I am a hearty young man I am ashamed to beg, so I too have not eaten for three days.’The shah ordered them to be given food, on one plate, and in small portions. The hungry men eagerly ate, watching each other intently. Suddenly the old man and the young one both stopped and began to weep. ‘Why do you weep?’ asked the shah in astonishment. ‘I have no teeth,’ said the old man, ‘and while I am mumbling my food this young man eats up everything.’ ‘And why are you weeping?’ ‘He is telling lies, your majesty; while I am chewing my meat the old man gulps down everything whole....’

VIIThe Queen’s WhimA certain queen wished to have a palace built of the bones of all kinds of birds. The king ordered birds to be caught, and the building was begun. Bones of all kinds were brought and cleaned, and the walls were rising, but they could not find a hedge-sparrow, and, as the queen wanted all sorts of birds, a search was made for the missing one. At last the hedge-sparrow was found, and brought before the king, who asked where she had been. ‘Mighty monarch! I have been flying all over the kingdom counting the men and women; unfortunately there are twice as many women as men.’ The king ordered the bird to be punished for telling him such a shameless falsehood. ‘King of kings,’ said the hedge-sparrow, ‘perhaps I did not count in the same way as you do.’ ‘How did you count, then?’ ‘I counted all those men who are under the slipper of women as old women.’ The hedge-sparrow thus hinted that the king himself was an old woman, because he had not strength of mind enough to resist the foolish whims of his wife.

VIIThe Queen’s Whim

A certain queen wished to have a palace built of the bones of all kinds of birds. The king ordered birds to be caught, and the building was begun. Bones of all kinds were brought and cleaned, and the walls were rising, but they could not find a hedge-sparrow, and, as the queen wanted all sorts of birds, a search was made for the missing one. At last the hedge-sparrow was found, and brought before the king, who asked where she had been. ‘Mighty monarch! I have been flying all over the kingdom counting the men and women; unfortunately there are twice as many women as men.’ The king ordered the bird to be punished for telling him such a shameless falsehood. ‘King of kings,’ said the hedge-sparrow, ‘perhaps I did not count in the same way as you do.’ ‘How did you count, then?’ ‘I counted all those men who are under the slipper of women as old women.’ The hedge-sparrow thus hinted that the king himself was an old woman, because he had not strength of mind enough to resist the foolish whims of his wife.

A certain queen wished to have a palace built of the bones of all kinds of birds. The king ordered birds to be caught, and the building was begun. Bones of all kinds were brought and cleaned, and the walls were rising, but they could not find a hedge-sparrow, and, as the queen wanted all sorts of birds, a search was made for the missing one. At last the hedge-sparrow was found, and brought before the king, who asked where she had been. ‘Mighty monarch! I have been flying all over the kingdom counting the men and women; unfortunately there are twice as many women as men.’ The king ordered the bird to be punished for telling him such a shameless falsehood. ‘King of kings,’ said the hedge-sparrow, ‘perhaps I did not count in the same way as you do.’ ‘How did you count, then?’ ‘I counted all those men who are under the slipper of women as old women.’ The hedge-sparrow thus hinted that the king himself was an old woman, because he had not strength of mind enough to resist the foolish whims of his wife.

VIIIThe Fool’s good FortuneA certain man died and left three sons. One was altogether a fool, another was fairly intelligent, and the third was rather clever. This being so, it was of course difficult for them to live together. In dividing the inheritance among them, the fool was cheated, and in regard to the cattle he was thus cozened: There were three entrances to the penfold, two open and one very narrow. The two clever brothers proposed to drive the beasts out of all three at once; those that issued from the small gap were to belong to the fool. In this way the latter’s share was only one young bull out of the whole flock. But to his feeble mind the division seemed fair enough, so he contentedly drove his bull out into the forest, and tied it with a stout rope to a young tree, whilst he himself wandered aimlessly about.Three days later, the fool went to see his beast. It had eaten and drunk nothing, but had pulled the tree up by the roots, and laid bare a jar full of old gold coins. The fool was delighted, and played with the money for a time, then he resolved to take the jar and present it to the king. As he passed along the road, every wayfarer looked into the pot, took out the gold in handfuls, and so that he should not notice their thefts, filled it up with stones and blocks of wood. On reaching the palace, the fool asked for an audience of the king, and it was granted. He emptied out the contents of the jar at the feet of the king. When the courtiers saw the wrath of the king, they took the fool away and beat him. When he had recovered himself he asked why he had been thrashed. One of the bystanders, for fun, cried to him: ‘You have been beaten because you labourin vain.’ The fool went his way, muttering the words: ‘You labour in vain.’ As he passed a peasant who was reaping, he repeated his phrase again and again, until the peasant grew angry, and thrashed him. The fool asked why he had been beaten, and what he ought to have said. ‘You ought to have said: “God give you a good harvest!”’ The fool went on saying, ‘God give you a good harvest!’ and met a funeral. Again he was beaten, and again he asked what he should say. They replied that he should have said: ‘Heaven rest your soul!’ He then came to a wedding, and saluted the newly-married couple with this funereal phrase. Again he was beaten, and then told that he should say: ‘Be fruitful and multiply!’ His next visit was to a monastery, and he accosted every monk with his new salutation. They too gave him a thrashing, with such vigour that the fool determined to have his revenge by stealing one of the bells from their belfry. So he hid himself until the monks had gone to rest, and then carriedoffa bell of moderate size. He went into the forest, climbed a tree, and hung the bell on the branches, ringing it from time to time, partly to amuse himself and partly to frighten away wild beasts. In the forest there was a gang of robbers, who were assembled to share their booty, and had just ended a merry banquet. Suddenly they heard the sound of the bell, and were much afraid. They took counsel as to what was to be done, and most of them were for flight, but the oldest of the band advised them to send a scout to see what was wrong. The bravest among them was sent to get information, and the rest remained as quiet as possible. The brigand went on tiptoe through the bushes to the tree where the fool was, and respectfully asked: ‘Who are you? If you are an angel sent by God to punish our wickedness, pray spare usand we shall repent; if you are a devil from hell, come and share with us.’ The fool was not so stupid that he did not see he had to deal with robbers, so he took out a knife, tolled the bell, and then said with a grave air: ‘If you wish to know who I am, climb the tree and show me your tongue, so that I may mark on it who I am and what I ask of you.’ The robber obediently climbed the tree, and put out his tongue as far as he could. The fool cut off his tongue, and kicked him to the ground. The robber, mad with pain, and frightened by his sudden fall, ran off howling. His comrades had come out to meet him, and when they saw the plight he was in they ran off in terror, leaving their wealth. Next morning the fool found the booty, and without saying anything to anybody, took it home and became much richer than his brothers. The fool built three palaces: one for himself, one for me, and one for you. There is merrymaking in the fool’s palace—come and be one of the guests!

VIIIThe Fool’s good Fortune

A certain man died and left three sons. One was altogether a fool, another was fairly intelligent, and the third was rather clever. This being so, it was of course difficult for them to live together. In dividing the inheritance among them, the fool was cheated, and in regard to the cattle he was thus cozened: There were three entrances to the penfold, two open and one very narrow. The two clever brothers proposed to drive the beasts out of all three at once; those that issued from the small gap were to belong to the fool. In this way the latter’s share was only one young bull out of the whole flock. But to his feeble mind the division seemed fair enough, so he contentedly drove his bull out into the forest, and tied it with a stout rope to a young tree, whilst he himself wandered aimlessly about.Three days later, the fool went to see his beast. It had eaten and drunk nothing, but had pulled the tree up by the roots, and laid bare a jar full of old gold coins. The fool was delighted, and played with the money for a time, then he resolved to take the jar and present it to the king. As he passed along the road, every wayfarer looked into the pot, took out the gold in handfuls, and so that he should not notice their thefts, filled it up with stones and blocks of wood. On reaching the palace, the fool asked for an audience of the king, and it was granted. He emptied out the contents of the jar at the feet of the king. When the courtiers saw the wrath of the king, they took the fool away and beat him. When he had recovered himself he asked why he had been thrashed. One of the bystanders, for fun, cried to him: ‘You have been beaten because you labourin vain.’ The fool went his way, muttering the words: ‘You labour in vain.’ As he passed a peasant who was reaping, he repeated his phrase again and again, until the peasant grew angry, and thrashed him. The fool asked why he had been beaten, and what he ought to have said. ‘You ought to have said: “God give you a good harvest!”’ The fool went on saying, ‘God give you a good harvest!’ and met a funeral. Again he was beaten, and again he asked what he should say. They replied that he should have said: ‘Heaven rest your soul!’ He then came to a wedding, and saluted the newly-married couple with this funereal phrase. Again he was beaten, and then told that he should say: ‘Be fruitful and multiply!’ His next visit was to a monastery, and he accosted every monk with his new salutation. They too gave him a thrashing, with such vigour that the fool determined to have his revenge by stealing one of the bells from their belfry. So he hid himself until the monks had gone to rest, and then carriedoffa bell of moderate size. He went into the forest, climbed a tree, and hung the bell on the branches, ringing it from time to time, partly to amuse himself and partly to frighten away wild beasts. In the forest there was a gang of robbers, who were assembled to share their booty, and had just ended a merry banquet. Suddenly they heard the sound of the bell, and were much afraid. They took counsel as to what was to be done, and most of them were for flight, but the oldest of the band advised them to send a scout to see what was wrong. The bravest among them was sent to get information, and the rest remained as quiet as possible. The brigand went on tiptoe through the bushes to the tree where the fool was, and respectfully asked: ‘Who are you? If you are an angel sent by God to punish our wickedness, pray spare usand we shall repent; if you are a devil from hell, come and share with us.’ The fool was not so stupid that he did not see he had to deal with robbers, so he took out a knife, tolled the bell, and then said with a grave air: ‘If you wish to know who I am, climb the tree and show me your tongue, so that I may mark on it who I am and what I ask of you.’ The robber obediently climbed the tree, and put out his tongue as far as he could. The fool cut off his tongue, and kicked him to the ground. The robber, mad with pain, and frightened by his sudden fall, ran off howling. His comrades had come out to meet him, and when they saw the plight he was in they ran off in terror, leaving their wealth. Next morning the fool found the booty, and without saying anything to anybody, took it home and became much richer than his brothers. The fool built three palaces: one for himself, one for me, and one for you. There is merrymaking in the fool’s palace—come and be one of the guests!

A certain man died and left three sons. One was altogether a fool, another was fairly intelligent, and the third was rather clever. This being so, it was of course difficult for them to live together. In dividing the inheritance among them, the fool was cheated, and in regard to the cattle he was thus cozened: There were three entrances to the penfold, two open and one very narrow. The two clever brothers proposed to drive the beasts out of all three at once; those that issued from the small gap were to belong to the fool. In this way the latter’s share was only one young bull out of the whole flock. But to his feeble mind the division seemed fair enough, so he contentedly drove his bull out into the forest, and tied it with a stout rope to a young tree, whilst he himself wandered aimlessly about.

Three days later, the fool went to see his beast. It had eaten and drunk nothing, but had pulled the tree up by the roots, and laid bare a jar full of old gold coins. The fool was delighted, and played with the money for a time, then he resolved to take the jar and present it to the king. As he passed along the road, every wayfarer looked into the pot, took out the gold in handfuls, and so that he should not notice their thefts, filled it up with stones and blocks of wood. On reaching the palace, the fool asked for an audience of the king, and it was granted. He emptied out the contents of the jar at the feet of the king. When the courtiers saw the wrath of the king, they took the fool away and beat him. When he had recovered himself he asked why he had been thrashed. One of the bystanders, for fun, cried to him: ‘You have been beaten because you labourin vain.’ The fool went his way, muttering the words: ‘You labour in vain.’ As he passed a peasant who was reaping, he repeated his phrase again and again, until the peasant grew angry, and thrashed him. The fool asked why he had been beaten, and what he ought to have said. ‘You ought to have said: “God give you a good harvest!”’ The fool went on saying, ‘God give you a good harvest!’ and met a funeral. Again he was beaten, and again he asked what he should say. They replied that he should have said: ‘Heaven rest your soul!’ He then came to a wedding, and saluted the newly-married couple with this funereal phrase. Again he was beaten, and then told that he should say: ‘Be fruitful and multiply!’ His next visit was to a monastery, and he accosted every monk with his new salutation. They too gave him a thrashing, with such vigour that the fool determined to have his revenge by stealing one of the bells from their belfry. So he hid himself until the monks had gone to rest, and then carriedoffa bell of moderate size. He went into the forest, climbed a tree, and hung the bell on the branches, ringing it from time to time, partly to amuse himself and partly to frighten away wild beasts. In the forest there was a gang of robbers, who were assembled to share their booty, and had just ended a merry banquet. Suddenly they heard the sound of the bell, and were much afraid. They took counsel as to what was to be done, and most of them were for flight, but the oldest of the band advised them to send a scout to see what was wrong. The bravest among them was sent to get information, and the rest remained as quiet as possible. The brigand went on tiptoe through the bushes to the tree where the fool was, and respectfully asked: ‘Who are you? If you are an angel sent by God to punish our wickedness, pray spare usand we shall repent; if you are a devil from hell, come and share with us.’ The fool was not so stupid that he did not see he had to deal with robbers, so he took out a knife, tolled the bell, and then said with a grave air: ‘If you wish to know who I am, climb the tree and show me your tongue, so that I may mark on it who I am and what I ask of you.’ The robber obediently climbed the tree, and put out his tongue as far as he could. The fool cut off his tongue, and kicked him to the ground. The robber, mad with pain, and frightened by his sudden fall, ran off howling. His comrades had come out to meet him, and when they saw the plight he was in they ran off in terror, leaving their wealth. Next morning the fool found the booty, and without saying anything to anybody, took it home and became much richer than his brothers. The fool built three palaces: one for himself, one for me, and one for you. There is merrymaking in the fool’s palace—come and be one of the guests!

IXTwo LossesDuring a great storm at sea, a learned man heard the skipper giving his orders, but could not understand a word. When the danger was past, he asked the skipper in what language he had spoken. The sailor replied: ‘In my mother tongue, of course!’ The scholar expressed his regret that a man should have wasted half his life without learning to speak grammatically and intelligibly. A few hours later the storm arose again, and this time the ship sprang a leak and began to founder. Then the captain went to the scholar and asked if he could swim. Theman of books replied that he had never learned. ‘I am sorry, sir, for you will lose your whole life. The ship will go to the bottom in a minute, and my crew and I shall swim ashore. You would have done well if you had spent a little of your time in learning to swim.’

IXTwo Losses

During a great storm at sea, a learned man heard the skipper giving his orders, but could not understand a word. When the danger was past, he asked the skipper in what language he had spoken. The sailor replied: ‘In my mother tongue, of course!’ The scholar expressed his regret that a man should have wasted half his life without learning to speak grammatically and intelligibly. A few hours later the storm arose again, and this time the ship sprang a leak and began to founder. Then the captain went to the scholar and asked if he could swim. Theman of books replied that he had never learned. ‘I am sorry, sir, for you will lose your whole life. The ship will go to the bottom in a minute, and my crew and I shall swim ashore. You would have done well if you had spent a little of your time in learning to swim.’

During a great storm at sea, a learned man heard the skipper giving his orders, but could not understand a word. When the danger was past, he asked the skipper in what language he had spoken. The sailor replied: ‘In my mother tongue, of course!’ The scholar expressed his regret that a man should have wasted half his life without learning to speak grammatically and intelligibly. A few hours later the storm arose again, and this time the ship sprang a leak and began to founder. Then the captain went to the scholar and asked if he could swim. Theman of books replied that he had never learned. ‘I am sorry, sir, for you will lose your whole life. The ship will go to the bottom in a minute, and my crew and I shall swim ashore. You would have done well if you had spent a little of your time in learning to swim.’

XThe Story of DervishA hunter killed in the mountains a stag, and began to skin it. He then hung the skin on a bush, and went down to a stream to wash the blood from his hands. When he came back, he found to his surprise that the dead stag had come to life, and was bounding away. When he had recovered from his astonishment, he chased the beast, but could not overtake it, and it was soon lost to sight. He met a wayfarer, briefly told him the story, and asked if he had ever seen a stag without a skin. ‘I have never seen a stag without a skin, but I do not wonder at your story. Near here there is a healing spring where any beast, even if wounded unto death, can be cured by bathing. Your stag probably bathed there, and is now sound and well. But if you want to know more about this wonderful country of ours, seek out a man called Dervish, and he will tell you things that will soon make you forget all about the stag.’ ‘Where can I find this Dervish?’ asked the hunter. ‘Go from village to village, and look into every courtyard, and when you see a man smoking a pipe, with an ass and a she-ass bound before him, ask him.’The hunter went away, and, after a long search, found Dervish, who told him the following story:—‘I was married,’ said Dervish, ‘and loved my wife, but she deceived me with my next-door neighbour. When I heard of this I questioned my wife, but, instead of answering, she struck me with a whip, and, to my horror, I was turned into a dog. My wife drove me out into the yard, and for shame I ran away. On the road I suffered hunger, thirst, and despair, and, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be powerless, and realised what a great difference there is between man and beast. When I opened my mouth and tried to speak, I only barked and howled. I tried to stand on my hind legs, and walk like a man, but I fell either backwards or forwards. Then I jumped about, and did this so easily and briskly that I regained my spirits, and came to think that even a dog’s life had its pleasures. While I was merrily jumping, I unexpectedly saw a man. He looked at me and I at him. The man smiled, and I ran up to him, but he was afraid, and lifted his stick to strike me. We both moved away from each other. I wanted to speak, but I barked, and the man raised his stick again. I then began to frolic and jump, and the man smiled again, and let me come up to him. I understood how dog and man are always the best of friends, and in my mind I thanked my wicked wife that she had turned me into a dog, and not some other beast, a pig, for instance. The man who beckoned me to come to him was a good village priest, and we soon became great friends. He caressed me, gave me something to eat, and I went away with him. The kind-hearted priest, overcome by the heat, lay down to rest under a tree, and I wished to do the same, but the priest said: “Watch over me!” so I did not go to sleep, rightly thinking that if the priest woke and found me asleep he would give me no more bread, andperhaps would drive me away. Ah! the beginning of my dog life was grievous. In the evening, the priest stopped to sleep with some shepherds who were watching their flocks. The shepherds, to show honour to their pastor, killed a lamb for supper, got wine, and made merry. Though I took no direct part in the feast, I kept close behind my master. After supper, one of the shepherds looked at me, and said: “This dog must be fond of wine, for he never takes his eyes from the glass, and now and then he licks his lips.” I nodded my head several times. Then the shepherds poured me out some wine in a plate, and I lapped it up with pleasure. When they were all asleep, wolves came and attacked the sheep. The shepherds’ dogs barked, but did not dare to attack the wolves; I rose and killed three wolves on the spot. When the shepherds saw this, they offered the priest a good price for me, and he finally sold me. Before long I had killed a vast number of wolves, and the fame of me reached the ears of the king of the country. I was brought and taken to the palace, to the sick daughter of the king, who was tormented at night by brownies. Every morning the princess woke exhausted and enfeebled. On the first night of my watch, I saw swans enter the bedchamber through the closed doors, they choked and trampled upon the sleeping princess. I was chained up, and could do nothing to help the poor maiden. In the morning, I was scolded for not having done anything, but one of the courtiers defended me, saying: “He is a good dog, but he must be unchained, and then we shall see what he can do.” Next night the swans came again. I killed ten of them, but the eleventh asked me to spare her, saying she would help me in the matter of my wife and our neighbour. I trusted the swan, and let her go. To my delight, theprincess rose healthy and merry next morning. The king was exceedingly pleased with me, and ordered me to have a heavy gold chain, and to be fed right royally. I lived well in the palace, but I longed to see my home and wife again, so I soon ran away. When I entered my own house, my wife took off my gold chain, struck me with her whip, and turned me into a duck. I flew into a field near by, where millet had been sown, and, being inexperienced, was caught at once in nets laid by a peasant. The peasant took me under his arm, and gave me to his wife, telling her to cook me for dinner. As soon as the peasant had gone out, the woman looked at me intently, and then took down from the wall a whip, with which she struck me, and turned me into a man again, saying: “Have I helped you or not? We were twelve sisters, you killed ten of us, I am the eleventh, and your wife is the twelfth. Now go home, take the whip which hangs over your wife’s bed, strike her and your neighbour with it, and you can turn them into any kind of beasts that you wish.” I went in late at night, when my wife and the neighbour were both asleep, I struck them with the whip, and turned my wife into an ass, and the man into a she-ass, and here they are.’ The hunter was terrified when he heard this story of Dervish, he ran away from the enchanted mountain realm as fast as he could, and resolved never to go back there again.

XThe Story of Dervish

A hunter killed in the mountains a stag, and began to skin it. He then hung the skin on a bush, and went down to a stream to wash the blood from his hands. When he came back, he found to his surprise that the dead stag had come to life, and was bounding away. When he had recovered from his astonishment, he chased the beast, but could not overtake it, and it was soon lost to sight. He met a wayfarer, briefly told him the story, and asked if he had ever seen a stag without a skin. ‘I have never seen a stag without a skin, but I do not wonder at your story. Near here there is a healing spring where any beast, even if wounded unto death, can be cured by bathing. Your stag probably bathed there, and is now sound and well. But if you want to know more about this wonderful country of ours, seek out a man called Dervish, and he will tell you things that will soon make you forget all about the stag.’ ‘Where can I find this Dervish?’ asked the hunter. ‘Go from village to village, and look into every courtyard, and when you see a man smoking a pipe, with an ass and a she-ass bound before him, ask him.’The hunter went away, and, after a long search, found Dervish, who told him the following story:—‘I was married,’ said Dervish, ‘and loved my wife, but she deceived me with my next-door neighbour. When I heard of this I questioned my wife, but, instead of answering, she struck me with a whip, and, to my horror, I was turned into a dog. My wife drove me out into the yard, and for shame I ran away. On the road I suffered hunger, thirst, and despair, and, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be powerless, and realised what a great difference there is between man and beast. When I opened my mouth and tried to speak, I only barked and howled. I tried to stand on my hind legs, and walk like a man, but I fell either backwards or forwards. Then I jumped about, and did this so easily and briskly that I regained my spirits, and came to think that even a dog’s life had its pleasures. While I was merrily jumping, I unexpectedly saw a man. He looked at me and I at him. The man smiled, and I ran up to him, but he was afraid, and lifted his stick to strike me. We both moved away from each other. I wanted to speak, but I barked, and the man raised his stick again. I then began to frolic and jump, and the man smiled again, and let me come up to him. I understood how dog and man are always the best of friends, and in my mind I thanked my wicked wife that she had turned me into a dog, and not some other beast, a pig, for instance. The man who beckoned me to come to him was a good village priest, and we soon became great friends. He caressed me, gave me something to eat, and I went away with him. The kind-hearted priest, overcome by the heat, lay down to rest under a tree, and I wished to do the same, but the priest said: “Watch over me!” so I did not go to sleep, rightly thinking that if the priest woke and found me asleep he would give me no more bread, andperhaps would drive me away. Ah! the beginning of my dog life was grievous. In the evening, the priest stopped to sleep with some shepherds who were watching their flocks. The shepherds, to show honour to their pastor, killed a lamb for supper, got wine, and made merry. Though I took no direct part in the feast, I kept close behind my master. After supper, one of the shepherds looked at me, and said: “This dog must be fond of wine, for he never takes his eyes from the glass, and now and then he licks his lips.” I nodded my head several times. Then the shepherds poured me out some wine in a plate, and I lapped it up with pleasure. When they were all asleep, wolves came and attacked the sheep. The shepherds’ dogs barked, but did not dare to attack the wolves; I rose and killed three wolves on the spot. When the shepherds saw this, they offered the priest a good price for me, and he finally sold me. Before long I had killed a vast number of wolves, and the fame of me reached the ears of the king of the country. I was brought and taken to the palace, to the sick daughter of the king, who was tormented at night by brownies. Every morning the princess woke exhausted and enfeebled. On the first night of my watch, I saw swans enter the bedchamber through the closed doors, they choked and trampled upon the sleeping princess. I was chained up, and could do nothing to help the poor maiden. In the morning, I was scolded for not having done anything, but one of the courtiers defended me, saying: “He is a good dog, but he must be unchained, and then we shall see what he can do.” Next night the swans came again. I killed ten of them, but the eleventh asked me to spare her, saying she would help me in the matter of my wife and our neighbour. I trusted the swan, and let her go. To my delight, theprincess rose healthy and merry next morning. The king was exceedingly pleased with me, and ordered me to have a heavy gold chain, and to be fed right royally. I lived well in the palace, but I longed to see my home and wife again, so I soon ran away. When I entered my own house, my wife took off my gold chain, struck me with her whip, and turned me into a duck. I flew into a field near by, where millet had been sown, and, being inexperienced, was caught at once in nets laid by a peasant. The peasant took me under his arm, and gave me to his wife, telling her to cook me for dinner. As soon as the peasant had gone out, the woman looked at me intently, and then took down from the wall a whip, with which she struck me, and turned me into a man again, saying: “Have I helped you or not? We were twelve sisters, you killed ten of us, I am the eleventh, and your wife is the twelfth. Now go home, take the whip which hangs over your wife’s bed, strike her and your neighbour with it, and you can turn them into any kind of beasts that you wish.” I went in late at night, when my wife and the neighbour were both asleep, I struck them with the whip, and turned my wife into an ass, and the man into a she-ass, and here they are.’ The hunter was terrified when he heard this story of Dervish, he ran away from the enchanted mountain realm as fast as he could, and resolved never to go back there again.

A hunter killed in the mountains a stag, and began to skin it. He then hung the skin on a bush, and went down to a stream to wash the blood from his hands. When he came back, he found to his surprise that the dead stag had come to life, and was bounding away. When he had recovered from his astonishment, he chased the beast, but could not overtake it, and it was soon lost to sight. He met a wayfarer, briefly told him the story, and asked if he had ever seen a stag without a skin. ‘I have never seen a stag without a skin, but I do not wonder at your story. Near here there is a healing spring where any beast, even if wounded unto death, can be cured by bathing. Your stag probably bathed there, and is now sound and well. But if you want to know more about this wonderful country of ours, seek out a man called Dervish, and he will tell you things that will soon make you forget all about the stag.’ ‘Where can I find this Dervish?’ asked the hunter. ‘Go from village to village, and look into every courtyard, and when you see a man smoking a pipe, with an ass and a she-ass bound before him, ask him.’

The hunter went away, and, after a long search, found Dervish, who told him the following story:—

‘I was married,’ said Dervish, ‘and loved my wife, but she deceived me with my next-door neighbour. When I heard of this I questioned my wife, but, instead of answering, she struck me with a whip, and, to my horror, I was turned into a dog. My wife drove me out into the yard, and for shame I ran away. On the road I suffered hunger, thirst, and despair, and, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be powerless, and realised what a great difference there is between man and beast. When I opened my mouth and tried to speak, I only barked and howled. I tried to stand on my hind legs, and walk like a man, but I fell either backwards or forwards. Then I jumped about, and did this so easily and briskly that I regained my spirits, and came to think that even a dog’s life had its pleasures. While I was merrily jumping, I unexpectedly saw a man. He looked at me and I at him. The man smiled, and I ran up to him, but he was afraid, and lifted his stick to strike me. We both moved away from each other. I wanted to speak, but I barked, and the man raised his stick again. I then began to frolic and jump, and the man smiled again, and let me come up to him. I understood how dog and man are always the best of friends, and in my mind I thanked my wicked wife that she had turned me into a dog, and not some other beast, a pig, for instance. The man who beckoned me to come to him was a good village priest, and we soon became great friends. He caressed me, gave me something to eat, and I went away with him. The kind-hearted priest, overcome by the heat, lay down to rest under a tree, and I wished to do the same, but the priest said: “Watch over me!” so I did not go to sleep, rightly thinking that if the priest woke and found me asleep he would give me no more bread, andperhaps would drive me away. Ah! the beginning of my dog life was grievous. In the evening, the priest stopped to sleep with some shepherds who were watching their flocks. The shepherds, to show honour to their pastor, killed a lamb for supper, got wine, and made merry. Though I took no direct part in the feast, I kept close behind my master. After supper, one of the shepherds looked at me, and said: “This dog must be fond of wine, for he never takes his eyes from the glass, and now and then he licks his lips.” I nodded my head several times. Then the shepherds poured me out some wine in a plate, and I lapped it up with pleasure. When they were all asleep, wolves came and attacked the sheep. The shepherds’ dogs barked, but did not dare to attack the wolves; I rose and killed three wolves on the spot. When the shepherds saw this, they offered the priest a good price for me, and he finally sold me. Before long I had killed a vast number of wolves, and the fame of me reached the ears of the king of the country. I was brought and taken to the palace, to the sick daughter of the king, who was tormented at night by brownies. Every morning the princess woke exhausted and enfeebled. On the first night of my watch, I saw swans enter the bedchamber through the closed doors, they choked and trampled upon the sleeping princess. I was chained up, and could do nothing to help the poor maiden. In the morning, I was scolded for not having done anything, but one of the courtiers defended me, saying: “He is a good dog, but he must be unchained, and then we shall see what he can do.” Next night the swans came again. I killed ten of them, but the eleventh asked me to spare her, saying she would help me in the matter of my wife and our neighbour. I trusted the swan, and let her go. To my delight, theprincess rose healthy and merry next morning. The king was exceedingly pleased with me, and ordered me to have a heavy gold chain, and to be fed right royally. I lived well in the palace, but I longed to see my home and wife again, so I soon ran away. When I entered my own house, my wife took off my gold chain, struck me with her whip, and turned me into a duck. I flew into a field near by, where millet had been sown, and, being inexperienced, was caught at once in nets laid by a peasant. The peasant took me under his arm, and gave me to his wife, telling her to cook me for dinner. As soon as the peasant had gone out, the woman looked at me intently, and then took down from the wall a whip, with which she struck me, and turned me into a man again, saying: “Have I helped you or not? We were twelve sisters, you killed ten of us, I am the eleventh, and your wife is the twelfth. Now go home, take the whip which hangs over your wife’s bed, strike her and your neighbour with it, and you can turn them into any kind of beasts that you wish.” I went in late at night, when my wife and the neighbour were both asleep, I struck them with the whip, and turned my wife into an ass, and the man into a she-ass, and here they are.’ The hunter was terrified when he heard this story of Dervish, he ran away from the enchanted mountain realm as fast as he could, and resolved never to go back there again.

XIThe Father’s ProphecyA certain man was wont to tell his son, while thrashing him, that he would never come to any good. The boy grew tired of these rebukes, and ran away from home. Ten years later he had risen to the rank ofpasha, and was set over the verypashalikwhere his father lived. On his way to his post, the new pasha stopped at a place twenty miles off, and said to the Bashi-Bazouks of his guard: ‘Ride to such and such a village, seize so and so, and bring him to me.’ The Bashi-Bazouks arrived at night, dragged the sick old man out of bed, and took him to the pasha. The pasha stretched himself to his full height, and, ordering the old man to look him in the face, said: ‘Do you know me?’ The old man fixed his gaze on the pasha, and cried: ‘Ah, pasha! you are surely my son.’ ‘Did you not tell me in my boyhood that I should never come to any good? Now look at me,’ and the pasha pointed to his epaulets. ‘Well, was I wrong? You are no man, but only a pasha. What man worthy the name would send for his father in the way you have done? I repeat it, you have gained the rank of pasha, but you have not become a good man.’

XIThe Father’s Prophecy

A certain man was wont to tell his son, while thrashing him, that he would never come to any good. The boy grew tired of these rebukes, and ran away from home. Ten years later he had risen to the rank ofpasha, and was set over the verypashalikwhere his father lived. On his way to his post, the new pasha stopped at a place twenty miles off, and said to the Bashi-Bazouks of his guard: ‘Ride to such and such a village, seize so and so, and bring him to me.’ The Bashi-Bazouks arrived at night, dragged the sick old man out of bed, and took him to the pasha. The pasha stretched himself to his full height, and, ordering the old man to look him in the face, said: ‘Do you know me?’ The old man fixed his gaze on the pasha, and cried: ‘Ah, pasha! you are surely my son.’ ‘Did you not tell me in my boyhood that I should never come to any good? Now look at me,’ and the pasha pointed to his epaulets. ‘Well, was I wrong? You are no man, but only a pasha. What man worthy the name would send for his father in the way you have done? I repeat it, you have gained the rank of pasha, but you have not become a good man.’

A certain man was wont to tell his son, while thrashing him, that he would never come to any good. The boy grew tired of these rebukes, and ran away from home. Ten years later he had risen to the rank ofpasha, and was set over the verypashalikwhere his father lived. On his way to his post, the new pasha stopped at a place twenty miles off, and said to the Bashi-Bazouks of his guard: ‘Ride to such and such a village, seize so and so, and bring him to me.’ The Bashi-Bazouks arrived at night, dragged the sick old man out of bed, and took him to the pasha. The pasha stretched himself to his full height, and, ordering the old man to look him in the face, said: ‘Do you know me?’ The old man fixed his gaze on the pasha, and cried: ‘Ah, pasha! you are surely my son.’ ‘Did you not tell me in my boyhood that I should never come to any good? Now look at me,’ and the pasha pointed to his epaulets. ‘Well, was I wrong? You are no man, but only a pasha. What man worthy the name would send for his father in the way you have done? I repeat it, you have gained the rank of pasha, but you have not become a good man.’

XIIThe Hermit PhilosopherThere was once a wise man who loved solitude, and dwelt far away from other men, meditating on the vanities of the world. He spent nearly all his time in the open air, and he could easily do this, for he lived in a lovely southern land where there is no winter and but little rain. As he wandered once among the verdure of his garden, the sage stopped before an aged walnut tree covered with ripening nuts, and said: ‘Why is there such a strange want of symmetry in nature? Here, for instance, is a walnut tree a hundred years old, hiding its top in the clouds, and yet how small is its fruit: itself it grows from year to year, but its fruit is always of the same size. Now, on the bedsat the foot of the tree there grow great pumpkins and melons on very small creeping plants. It would be more fitting if the pumpkins grew on the walnut trees and the walnuts on the pumpkin beds. Why this want of symmetry in nature?’ The sage thought deeply on the subject, and walked in the garden for a long time, till at last he felt sleepy. He lay down under the shady walnut tree, and was soon slumbering peacefully. In a short time, he felt a slight blow on the face, then a second, and then a third. As he opened his eyes, a ripe walnut fell on his nose. The sage leaped to his feet, and said: ‘Now I understand the secret of nature. If this tree had borne melons or pumpkins, my head would have been broken. Henceforth let no one presume to find fault with Providence!’

XIIThe Hermit Philosopher

There was once a wise man who loved solitude, and dwelt far away from other men, meditating on the vanities of the world. He spent nearly all his time in the open air, and he could easily do this, for he lived in a lovely southern land where there is no winter and but little rain. As he wandered once among the verdure of his garden, the sage stopped before an aged walnut tree covered with ripening nuts, and said: ‘Why is there such a strange want of symmetry in nature? Here, for instance, is a walnut tree a hundred years old, hiding its top in the clouds, and yet how small is its fruit: itself it grows from year to year, but its fruit is always of the same size. Now, on the bedsat the foot of the tree there grow great pumpkins and melons on very small creeping plants. It would be more fitting if the pumpkins grew on the walnut trees and the walnuts on the pumpkin beds. Why this want of symmetry in nature?’ The sage thought deeply on the subject, and walked in the garden for a long time, till at last he felt sleepy. He lay down under the shady walnut tree, and was soon slumbering peacefully. In a short time, he felt a slight blow on the face, then a second, and then a third. As he opened his eyes, a ripe walnut fell on his nose. The sage leaped to his feet, and said: ‘Now I understand the secret of nature. If this tree had borne melons or pumpkins, my head would have been broken. Henceforth let no one presume to find fault with Providence!’

There was once a wise man who loved solitude, and dwelt far away from other men, meditating on the vanities of the world. He spent nearly all his time in the open air, and he could easily do this, for he lived in a lovely southern land where there is no winter and but little rain. As he wandered once among the verdure of his garden, the sage stopped before an aged walnut tree covered with ripening nuts, and said: ‘Why is there such a strange want of symmetry in nature? Here, for instance, is a walnut tree a hundred years old, hiding its top in the clouds, and yet how small is its fruit: itself it grows from year to year, but its fruit is always of the same size. Now, on the bedsat the foot of the tree there grow great pumpkins and melons on very small creeping plants. It would be more fitting if the pumpkins grew on the walnut trees and the walnuts on the pumpkin beds. Why this want of symmetry in nature?’ The sage thought deeply on the subject, and walked in the garden for a long time, till at last he felt sleepy. He lay down under the shady walnut tree, and was soon slumbering peacefully. In a short time, he felt a slight blow on the face, then a second, and then a third. As he opened his eyes, a ripe walnut fell on his nose. The sage leaped to his feet, and said: ‘Now I understand the secret of nature. If this tree had borne melons or pumpkins, my head would have been broken. Henceforth let no one presume to find fault with Providence!’

XIIIThe King’s Counsellor1The counsellor of an Arabian king once bethought himself that, though he had lived so many years, and knew so much, he had never yet found out how much the king valued his services, and to what extent his wife and friends really loved him. He decided to try them all at once, so he went to the palace and stole a goat of which the king was very fond, and of which he was the keeper. He then went home, told this secret to his wife, and in her presence ordered the cook to roast the goat. But afterwards he privately told the cook to hide the royal goat, and roast a kid in its place. At supper his wife praised the dishvery highly. As soon as the king heard of the loss of his goat, he was very angry, and cried in his wrath: ‘If any man finds the thief I shall load him with gold, if a woman finds him I shall marry her!’ The counsellor’s wife, thinking it better to be a king’s wife, betrayed her husband. The king ordered his counsellor to be executed, and married the woman. When the execution was about to take place, the victim’s old friends succeeded in saving him by a large bribe, and another criminal was executed instead. The counsellor was hidden in a neighbouring realm. Some years afterwards, troublesome questions of state arose, and none of the council could solve them. The king often longed for his old counsellor, and said: ‘For the sake of a goat I sacrificed a clever man, if he were alive he would get me out of all my trouble in a day.’ The counsellor’s old friends at last resolved to acknowledge the trick they had played. So one day, when the king was in a good humour, they went and said: ‘Pardon us, O king! Your first counsellor is alive!’ and they told him all. The king was heartily glad, and ordered the exile to be brought back. He was well received, and restored the goat to the king. The king said: ‘My friend! we thus see that the greatest scourge of all is false witness, and that we must beware, above all things, of our wives.’1Francesco Strapparola’s story of Salardo and the Falcon is practically the same as this.

XIIIThe King’s Counsellor1

The counsellor of an Arabian king once bethought himself that, though he had lived so many years, and knew so much, he had never yet found out how much the king valued his services, and to what extent his wife and friends really loved him. He decided to try them all at once, so he went to the palace and stole a goat of which the king was very fond, and of which he was the keeper. He then went home, told this secret to his wife, and in her presence ordered the cook to roast the goat. But afterwards he privately told the cook to hide the royal goat, and roast a kid in its place. At supper his wife praised the dishvery highly. As soon as the king heard of the loss of his goat, he was very angry, and cried in his wrath: ‘If any man finds the thief I shall load him with gold, if a woman finds him I shall marry her!’ The counsellor’s wife, thinking it better to be a king’s wife, betrayed her husband. The king ordered his counsellor to be executed, and married the woman. When the execution was about to take place, the victim’s old friends succeeded in saving him by a large bribe, and another criminal was executed instead. The counsellor was hidden in a neighbouring realm. Some years afterwards, troublesome questions of state arose, and none of the council could solve them. The king often longed for his old counsellor, and said: ‘For the sake of a goat I sacrificed a clever man, if he were alive he would get me out of all my trouble in a day.’ The counsellor’s old friends at last resolved to acknowledge the trick they had played. So one day, when the king was in a good humour, they went and said: ‘Pardon us, O king! Your first counsellor is alive!’ and they told him all. The king was heartily glad, and ordered the exile to be brought back. He was well received, and restored the goat to the king. The king said: ‘My friend! we thus see that the greatest scourge of all is false witness, and that we must beware, above all things, of our wives.’

The counsellor of an Arabian king once bethought himself that, though he had lived so many years, and knew so much, he had never yet found out how much the king valued his services, and to what extent his wife and friends really loved him. He decided to try them all at once, so he went to the palace and stole a goat of which the king was very fond, and of which he was the keeper. He then went home, told this secret to his wife, and in her presence ordered the cook to roast the goat. But afterwards he privately told the cook to hide the royal goat, and roast a kid in its place. At supper his wife praised the dishvery highly. As soon as the king heard of the loss of his goat, he was very angry, and cried in his wrath: ‘If any man finds the thief I shall load him with gold, if a woman finds him I shall marry her!’ The counsellor’s wife, thinking it better to be a king’s wife, betrayed her husband. The king ordered his counsellor to be executed, and married the woman. When the execution was about to take place, the victim’s old friends succeeded in saving him by a large bribe, and another criminal was executed instead. The counsellor was hidden in a neighbouring realm. Some years afterwards, troublesome questions of state arose, and none of the council could solve them. The king often longed for his old counsellor, and said: ‘For the sake of a goat I sacrificed a clever man, if he were alive he would get me out of all my trouble in a day.’ The counsellor’s old friends at last resolved to acknowledge the trick they had played. So one day, when the king was in a good humour, they went and said: ‘Pardon us, O king! Your first counsellor is alive!’ and they told him all. The king was heartily glad, and ordered the exile to be brought back. He was well received, and restored the goat to the king. The king said: ‘My friend! we thus see that the greatest scourge of all is false witness, and that we must beware, above all things, of our wives.’

1Francesco Strapparola’s story of Salardo and the Falcon is practically the same as this.

1Francesco Strapparola’s story of Salardo and the Falcon is practically the same as this.

XIVA Witty AnswerA certain king was angry with one of his lords, and put him in prison; wishing to keep him there, he said he would only set him free if he could bring to the court a horse which was neither grey, nor black, brown norbay, white nor roan, dun, chestnut, nor piebald—and, in short, the king enumerated every possible colour that a horse could be. The imprisoned lord promised to get such a horse if the king would set him free at once. As soon as he was at liberty, the lord asked the king to send a groom for the horse, but begged that the groom might come neither on Monday nor Tuesday, Wednesday nor Thursday, Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday, but on any other day of the week that suited His Majesty.

XIVA Witty Answer

A certain king was angry with one of his lords, and put him in prison; wishing to keep him there, he said he would only set him free if he could bring to the court a horse which was neither grey, nor black, brown norbay, white nor roan, dun, chestnut, nor piebald—and, in short, the king enumerated every possible colour that a horse could be. The imprisoned lord promised to get such a horse if the king would set him free at once. As soon as he was at liberty, the lord asked the king to send a groom for the horse, but begged that the groom might come neither on Monday nor Tuesday, Wednesday nor Thursday, Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday, but on any other day of the week that suited His Majesty.

A certain king was angry with one of his lords, and put him in prison; wishing to keep him there, he said he would only set him free if he could bring to the court a horse which was neither grey, nor black, brown norbay, white nor roan, dun, chestnut, nor piebald—and, in short, the king enumerated every possible colour that a horse could be. The imprisoned lord promised to get such a horse if the king would set him free at once. As soon as he was at liberty, the lord asked the king to send a groom for the horse, but begged that the groom might come neither on Monday nor Tuesday, Wednesday nor Thursday, Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday, but on any other day of the week that suited His Majesty.

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