THE SACRED BULL.
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Buttercup and Daisy stood at the edge of the pond in the cow-field. It was very hot and Daisy was cross—the flies worried her so. She stood with her two fore-feet in the water—her mother had told her not to—but as I said before, Daisy was cross, and when little calves are cross, and the weather is warm and the water is cold, they don’t always do as they are told.
Buttercup didn’t put her feet in the water. You see Buttercup was not cross.
Cow looking left
“Oh, those flies!” said Daisy,whisking her tail round and putting it into Buttercup’s eye by mistake. Buttercup began to cry and gave her sister a little shove with her new horns, which were just growing, and Daisy fell on her knees in the mud.
Two cows
“You nasty little thing!”she said, “I don’t like you any more. Oh yes, you can tell Mother if you like, but I shan’t get into trouble. I’m going away from this horrid old field.”
Buttercup ran off to her Mother and Daisy got up and tried to wash her knees.
Presently she heard all the others calling her.
“I shan’t go,” she said to herself, but when she turned her head a tiny bit and looked out of the corner of her eye so that the others should not see that she was looking, she saw that they were all running as hard as they could towards the gate that led into the road.
Herd of cows
“I’ll just go and see what it is,” she said, “and then I can run away afterwards, but I won’t speak to any of them.” She hurried across the field, and when she got to the gate some of the kind cows made room for her, and she looked into the road. There she saw every sort and kind of animal! There was going to be a circus in the town, and all the animals were walking down the road in a procession.First came the elephants, four of them—walking two and two—with their keepers beside them. Then came two camels, then a large cage of lions—drawn by horses—then another cage with tigers, and another with wolves in it. Oh, it was going to be a fine circus!
Then there were a great many horses ridden by people in beautiful dresses, and, last of all, came the most wonderful thing of all. It was a bull led by a man dressed like an Indian in gold-embroidered satin, who carried a trumpet in his hand, which he blew now and then after shouting, “Honour to my lord, the Sacred Bull of Burma!”
Cow in India
“Good gracious!” said Daisy’s Mother, “is that a bull? Poor thing, he does look ill and worn-like; a run in our field for a month or two would set him up for ever.”
Indeed the bull did look rather strange. All his hair had been carefully shaved, leaving him just in his pink skin, and then he had been tattooed, which means that he was covered with a pattern, drawn in blue. His horns had been gilded. He gave one look at the cows looking over the gate, as the procession turned the corner, and that was the last they saw of him. Daisy had quite forgotten her quarrelwith Buttercup, and they both walked away from the gate, talking of the wonderful things they had just seen, and especially of the bull.
“Don’t you think, Butty,” said Daisy, “that we could do something for the bull? He must be dreadfully cold without his proper coat. I feel so sorry for him.”
“So do I,” said Buttercup, “but I don’t know what we could do.”
“I shall try and find out where he lives,” said Daisy, “and then perhaps we could get him away from those people and he could stop here and livewith us. I’m sure he could tell us lovely tales.”
“Yes,” said Buttercup, “but how will you do it?”
“I don’t know,” said Daisy, “I must think.”
So all the afternoon Daisy thought, and thought, and when the sun sank down and twilight came she got through a hole in the hedge and went down the road, down which the procession had gone that morning. When she had turned the corner of the road she saw before her, in one of the fields, a great white tent, with a great many caravans round it. Daisy was a sensible little calf, and sheknew at once that this tent must have something to do with the Sacred Bull. So she walked up to it and looked through a small opening at the side. It was filled with people, and Daisy saw elephants doing tricks in the large ring, which was in the middle of the tent. She saw the cages of lions and tigers, but there was no Sacred Bull. Then Daisy said to herself:
“He must be outside—that is better, because no one will see me speak to him,” and she walked away from the tent and sniffed all round the caravans, but she could not find the bull.At last she saw a little wooden hut on wheels.
“That must be his house,” she said, and hurried up to it. When she got near it she mooed gently, and the Sacred Bull put his head out of a hole at one side of his house and answered her.
Now although the Bull was a Burmese bull there is only one language for bulls and cows in all countries, and he understood at once what Daisy had said to him.
“What is this field you speak of?” he said.
“Why!” said Daisy, “it’s just a field. Don’t you know what a field is? This is a fieldtoo, but it’s not as nice asourfield.”
Cow looking up
“Say ‘my lord’ when you speak to me,” said the bull, “and bend your knees. All people bow down before me wherever I go.”
“But I’m sure our cows won’t be always bending their knees in the field,” said Daisy, trying to bend hers as she spoke, and only hurting herself rather badly, besides looking silly.
“ThenIcertainly shan’t come!” said the bull. “What do you have to eat there?”
“We eat the flowers and the sweet green grass—my lord,” said Daisy.
“Common green grass!” shrieked the bull, “why, look here!” and he took hold of Daisy to make her look into his stall. It was painted in white and gold, and in one corner there was a large shining bowl ofpolished wood, filled with beautiful fresh vegetables.
“What do you think of that?” said the bull. “Go home, little cowlet, to your old field. WhenIgo out people bend their knees before me, and give me sweet things to eat, and make beautiful noises in my honour, while you are driven along by a boy with a stick—ah! it’s something to be a Sacred Bull of Burma I can tell you!” and he put his head back into his stall and would not speak again.
Daisy turned away and walked sadly home. She felt very angry with the bull and very sorry that she had taken so muchtrouble for him. When she got home she told her Mother all about it.
“Of course!” said her Mother, “never meddle with other people. And, my dear little calf, whathaveyou done to your knees?” she cried, beginning to lick Daisy’s knees, for they looked a little sore still.
“It was bending them before the Sacred Bull,” said Daisy.
“Sacred Bull, indeed! sacred cabbage-stalks. Lie down and go to sleep, Daisy, and mind you don’t fill your sister’s head with any nonsense about Sacred Bulls!”
Daisy did as she was told,but just as she was dropping off to sleep, she gave a little shake of joy. “Why,” she said, “I don’t mind! I don’t believe any calf ever had such an adventure before.”
And I am sure she was right.