Fairy books of Andrew Lang

by Andrew Lang

  At last one day signs of houses appeared, far, far off. And those who saw cried out, 'Gazelle!'

  And it answered, 'Ah, my mistresses, that is the house of Sultan Darai.'

  At this news the women rejoiced much, and the slaves rejoiced much, and in the space of two hours they came to the gates, and the gazelle bade them all stay behind, and it went on to the house with Sultan Darai.

  When the old woman saw them coming through the courtyard she jumped and shouted for joy, and as the gazelle drew near she seized it in her arms, and kissed it. The gazelle did not like this, and said to her: 'Old woman, leave me alone; the one to be carried is my master, and the one to be kissed is my master.'

  And she answered, 'Forgive me, my son. I did not know this was our master,' and she threw open all the doors so that the master might see everything that the rooms and storehouses contained. Sultan Darai looked about him, and at length he said:

  'Unfasten those horses that are tied up, and let loose those people that are bound. And let some sweep, and some spread the beds, and some cook, and some draw water, and some come out and receive the mistress.'

  And when the sultana and her ladies and her slaves entered the house, and saw the rich stuffs it was hung with, and the beautiful rice that was prepared for them to eat, they cried: 'Ah, you gazelle, we have seen great houses, we have seen people, we have heard of things. But this house, and you, such as you are, we have never seen or heard of.'

  After a few days, the ladies said they wished to go home again. The gazelle begged them hard to stay, but finding they would not, it brought many gifts, and gave some to the ladies and some to their slaves. And they all thought the gazelle greater a thousand times than its master, Sultan Darai.

  The gazelle and its master remained in the house many weeks, and one day it said to the old woman, 'I came with my master to this place, and I have done many things for my master, good things, and till to-day he has never asked me: "Well, my gazelle, how did you get this house? Who is the owner of it? And this town, were there no people in it?" All good things I have done for the master, and he has not one day done me any good thing. But people say, "If you want to do any one good, don't do him good only, do him evil also, and there will be peace between you." So, mother, I have done: I want to see the favours I have done to my master, that he may do me the like.'

  'Good,' replied the old woman, and they went to bed.

  In the morning, when light came, the gazelle was sick in its stomach and feverish, and its legs ached. And it said 'Mother!'

  And she answered, 'Here, my son?'

  And it said, 'Go and tell my master upstairs the gazelle is very ill.'

  'Very good, my son; and if he should ask me what is the matter, what am I to say?'

  'Tell him all my body aches badly; I have no single part without pain.'

  The old woman went upstairs, and she found the mistress and master sitting on a couch of marble spread with soft cushions, and they asked her, 'Well, old woman, what do you want?'

  'To tell the master the gazelle is ill,' said she.

  'What is the matter?' asked the wife.

  'All its body pains; there is no part without pain.'

  'Well, what can I do? Make some gruel of red millet, and give to it.'

  But his wife stared and said: 'Oh, master, do you tell her to make the gazelle gruel out of red millet, which a horse would not eat? Eh, master, that is not well.'

  But he answered, 'Oh, you are mad! Rice is only kept for people.'

  'Eh, master, this is not like a gazelle. It is the apple of your eye. If sand got into that, it would trouble you.'

  'My wife, your tongue is long,' and he left the room.

  The old woman saw she had spoken vainly, and went back weeping to the gazelle. And when the gazelle saw her it said, 'Mother, what is it, and why do you cry? If it be good, give me the answer; and if it be bad, give me the answer.'

  But still the old woman would not speak, and the gazelle prayed her to let it know the words of the master. At last she said: 'I went upstairs and found the mistress and the master sitting on a couch, and he asked me what I wanted, and I told him that you, his slave, were ill. And his wife asked what was the matter, and I told her that there was not a part of your body without pain. And the master told me to take some red millet and make you gruel, but the mistress said, 'Eh, master, the gazelle is the apple of your eye; you have no child, this gazelle is like your child; so this gazelle is not one to be done evil to. This is a gazelle in form, but not a gazelle in heart; he is in all things better than a gentleman, be he who he may.'

  And he answered her, 'Silly chatterer, your words are many. I know its price; I bought it for an eighth. What loss will it be to me?'

  The gazelle kept silence for a few moments. Then it said, 'The elders said, "One that does good like a mother," and I have done him good, and I have got this that the elders said. But go up again to the master, and tell him the gazelle is very ill, and it has not drunk the gruel of red millet.'

  So the old woman returned, and found the master and the mistress drinking coffee. And when he heard what the gazelle had said, he cried: 'Hold your peace, old woman, and stay your feet and close your eyes, and stop your ears with wax; and if the gazelle bids you come to me, say your legs are bent, and you cannot walk; and if it begs you to listen, say your ears are stopped with wax; and if it wishes to talk, reply that your tongue has got a hook in it.'

  The heart of the old woman wept as she heard such words, because she saw that when the gazelle first came to that town it was ready to sell its life to buy wealth for its master. Then it happened to get both life and wealth, but now it had no honour with its master.

  And tears sprung likewise to the eyes of the sultan's wife, and she said, 'I am sorry for you, my husband, that you should deal so wickedly with that gazelle'; but he only answered, 'Old woman, pay no heed to the talk of the mistress: tell it to perish out of the way. I cannot sleep, I cannot eat, I cannot drink, for the worry of that gazelle. Shall a creature that I bought for an eighth trouble me from morning till night? Not so, old woman!'

  The old woman went downstairs, and there lay the gazelle, blood flowing from its nostrils. And she took it in her arms and said, 'My son, the good you did is lost; there remains only patience.'

  And it said, 'Mother, I shall die, for my soul is full of anger and bitterness. My face is ashamed, that I should have done good to my master, and that he should repay me with evil.' It paused for a moment, and then went on, 'Mother, of the goods that are in this house, what do I eat? I might have every day half a basinful, and would my master be any the poorer? But did not the elders say, "He that does good like a mother!"'

  And it said, 'Go and tell my master that the gazelle is nearer death than life.'

  So she went, and spoke as the gazelle had bidden her; but he answered, 'I have told you to trouble me no more.'

  But his wife's heart was sore, and she said to him: 'Ah, master, what has the gazelle done to you? How has he failed you? The things you do to him are not good, and you will draw on yourself the hatred of the people. For this gazelle is loved by all, by small and great, by women and men. Ah, my husband! I thought you had great wisdom, and you have not even a little!'

  But he answered, 'You are mad, my wife.'

  The old woman stayed no longer, and went back to the gazelle, followed secretly by the mistress, who called a maidservant and bade her take some milk and rice and cook it for the gazelle.

  'Take also this cloth,' she said, 'to cover it with, and this pillow for its head. And if the gazelle wants more, let it ask me, and not its master. And if it will, I will send it in a litter to my father, and he will nurse it till it is well.'

  And the maidservant did as her mistress bade her, and said what her mistress had told her to say, but the gazelle made no answer, but turned over on its side and died quietly.

  When the news spread abroad, there was much weeping among the people, and Sultan Darai arose in wrath, and cr
ied, 'You weep for that gazelle as if you wept for me! And, after all, what is it but a gazelle, that I bought for an eighth?'

  But his wife answered, 'Master, we looked upon that gazelle as we looked upon you. It was the gazelle who came to ask me of my father, it was the gazelle who brought me from my father, and I was given in charge to the gazelle by my father.'

  And when the people heard her they lifted up their voices and spoke:

  'We never saw you, we saw the gazelle. It was the gazelle who met with trouble here, it was the gazelle who met with rest here.

  So, then, when such an one departs from this world we weep for ourselves, we do not weep for the gazelle.'

  And they said furthermore:

  'The gazelle did you much good, and if anyone says he could have done more for you he is a liar! Therefore, to us who have done you no good, what treatment will you give? The gazelle has died from bitterness of soul, and you ordered your slaves to throw it into the well. Ah! leave us alone that we may weep.'

  But Sultan Darai would not heed their words, and the dead gazelle was thrown into the well.

  When the mistress heard of it, she sent three slaves, mounted on donkeys, with a letter to her father the sultan, and when the sultan had read the letter he bowed his head and wept, like a man who had lost his mother. And he commanded horses to be saddled, and called the governor and the judges and all the rich men, and said:

  'Come now with me; let us go and bury it.'

  Night and day they travelled, till the sultan came to the well where the gazelle had been thrown. And it was a large well, built round a rock, with room for many people; and the sultan entered, and the judges and the rich men followed him. And when he saw the gazelle lying there he wept afresh, and took it in his arms and carried it away.

  When the three slaves went and told their mistress what the sultan had done, and how all the people were weeping, she answered:

  'I too have eaten no food, neither have I drunk water, since the day the gazelle died. I have not spoken, and I have not laughed.'

  The sultan took the gazelle and buried it, and ordered the people to wear mourning for it, so there was great mourning throughout the city.

  Now after the days of mourning were at an end, the wife was sleeping at her husband's side, and in her sleep she dreamed that she was once more in her father's house, and when she woke up it was no dream.

  And the man dreamed that he was on the dust-heap, scratching. And when he woke, behold! that also was no dream, but the truth.

  (Swahili Tales.)

  HOW A FISH SWAM IN THE AIR AND A HARE IN THE WATER.

  Once upon a time an old man and his wife lived together in a little village. They might have been happy if only the old woman had had the sense to hold her tongue at proper times. But anything which might happen indoors, or any bit of news which her husband might bring in when he had been anywhere, had to be told at once to the whole village, and these tales were repeated and altered till it often happened that much mischief was made, and the old man's back paid for it.

  One day, he drove to the forest. When he reached the edge of it he got out of his cart and walked beside it. Suddenly he stepped on such a soft spot that his foot sank in the earth.

  'What can this be?' thought he. 'I'll dig a bit and see.'

  So he dug and dug, and at last he came on a little pot full of gold and silver.

  'Oh, what luck! Now, if only I knew how I could take this treasure home with me-but I can never hope to hide it from my wife, and once she knows of it she'll tell all the world, and then I shall get into trouble.'

  He sat down and thought over the matter a long time, and at last he made a plan. He covered up the pot again with earth and twigs, and drove on into the town, where he bought a live pike and a live hare in the market.

  Then he drove back to the forest and hung the pike up at the very top of a tree, and tied up the hare in a fishing net and fastened it on the edge of a little stream, not troubling himself to think how unpleasant such a wet spot was likely to be to the hare.

  Then he got into his cart and trotted merrily home.

  'Wife!' cried he, the moment he got indoors. 'You can't think what a piece of good luck has come our way.'

  'What, what, dear husband? Do tell me all about it at once.'

  'No, no, you'll just go off and tell everyone.'

  'No, indeed! How can you think such things! For shame! If you like I will swear never to-'

  'Oh, well! if you are really in earnest then, listen.'

  And he whispered in her ear: 'I've found a pot full of gold and silver in the forest! Hush!-'

  'And why didn't you bring it back?'

  'Because we'll drive there together and bring it carefully back between us.'

  So the man and his wife drove to the forest.

  As they were driving along the man said:

  'What strange things one hears, wife! I was told only the other day that fish will now live and thrive in the tree tops and that some wild animals spend their time in the water. Well! well! times are certainly changed.'

  'Why, you must be crazy, husband! Dear, dear, what nonsense people do talk sometimes.'

  'Nonsense, indeed! Why, just look. Bless my soul, if there isn't a fish, a real pike I do believe, up in that tree.'

  'Gracious!' cried his wife. 'How did a pike get there? It IS a pike-you needn't attempt to say it's not. Can people have said true-'

  But the man only shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth and gaped as if he really could not believe his own eyes.

  'What are you standing staring at there, stupid?' said his wife. 'Climb up the tree quick and catch the pike, and we'll cook it for dinner.'

  The man climbed up the tree and brought down the pike, and they drove on.

  When they got near the stream he drew up.

  'What are you staring at again?' asked his wife impatiently. 'Drive on, can't you?'

  'Why, I seem to see something moving in that net I set. I must just go and see what it is.'

  He ran to it, and when he had looked in it he called to his wife:

  'Just look! Here is actually a four-footed creature caught in the net. I do believe it's a hare.'

  'Good heavens!' cried his wife. 'How did the hare get into your net? It IS a hare, so you needn't say it isn't. After all, people must have said the truth-'

  But her husband only shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as if he could not believe his own eyes.

  'Now what are you standing there for, stupid?' cried his wife. 'Take up the hare. A nice fat hare is a dinner for a feast day.'

  The old man caught up the hare, and they drove on to the place where the treasure was buried. They swept the twigs away, dug up the earth, took out the pot, and drove home again with it.

  And now the old couple had plenty of money and were cheery and comfortable. But the wife was very foolish. Every day she asked a lot of people to dinner and feasted them, till her husband grew quite impatient. He tried to reason with her, but she would not listen.

  'You've got no right to lecture me!' said she. 'We found the treasure together, and together we will spend it.'

  Her husband took patience, but at length he said to her: 'You may do as you please, but I sha'n't give you another penny.'

  The old woman was very angry. 'Oh, what a good-for-nothing fellow to want to spend all the money himself! But just wait a bit and see what I shall do.'

  Off she went to the governor to complain of her husband.

  'Oh, my lord, protect me from my husband! Ever since he found the treasure there is no bearing him. He only eats and drinks, and won't work, and he keeps all the money to himself.'

  The governor took pity on the woman, and ordered his chief secretary to look into the matter.

  The secretary called the elders of the village together, and went with them to the man's house.

  'The governor,' said he, 'desires you to give all that treasure you found into my care.'

 
; The man shrugged his shoulders and said: 'What treasure? I know nothing about a treasure.'

  'How? You know nothing? Why your wife has complained of you. Don't attempt to tell lies. If you don't hand over all the money at once you will be tried for daring to raise treasure without giving due notice to the governor about it.'

  'Pardon me, your excellency, but what sort of treasure was it supposed to have been? My wife must have dreamt of it, and you gentlemen have listened to her nonsense.'

  'Nonsense, indeed,' broke in his wife. 'A kettle full of gold and silver, do you call that nonsense?'

  'You are not in your right mind, dear wife. Sir, I beg your pardon. Ask her how it all happened, and if she convinces you I'll pay for it with my life.'

  'This is how it all happened, Mr. Secretary,' cried the wife. 'We were driving through the forest, and we saw a pike up in the top of a tree-'

  'What, a PIKE?' shouted the secretary. 'Do you think you may joke with me, pray?'

  'Indeed, I'm not joking, Mr. Secretary! I'm speaking the bare truth.'

  'Now you see, gentlemen,' said her husband, 'how far you can trust her, when she chatters like this.'

  'Chatter, indeed? I!! Perhaps you have forgotten, too, how we found a live hare in the river?'

  Everyone roared with laughter; even the secretary smiled and stroked his beard, and the man said:

  'Come, come, wife, everyone is laughing at you. You see for yourself, gentlemen, how far you can believe her.'

  'Yes, indeed,' said the village elders, 'it is certainly the first time we have heard that hares thrive in the water or fish among the tree tops.'

  The secretary could make nothing of it all, and drove back to the town. The old woman was so laughed at that she had to hold her tongue and obey her husband ever after, and the man bought wares with part of the treasure and moved into the town, where he opened a shop, and prospered, and spent the rest of his days in peace.

  TWO IN A SACK