The Three Mulla-mulgars

by Walter De la Mare

  CHAPTER V

  By this time, it was plain, Thimble and Thumb had found something toraise them to the window-hole, for Nod, as he glanced up, saw half ofboth their astonished faces (one eye of each) peering in at the window.He waved his lean little arms, and their faces vanished.

  "Why do you wave your long thumbs in the air?" said the old Gungauneasily.

  "I wave to Tishnar," said Nod, "who watches over her wandering Princes,and will preserve them from thieves and cunning ones. And as for yourfilthy green-weed soup, how should a Mulla-mulgar soil his thumbs withgutting fish? And as for the Water-middens' song, _that_ I cannot teachyou, nor would I teach it you if I could, Master Fish-catcher. But I cancatch fish with it."

  The old Gunga squatted close on his stool, and grinned as graciously ashe could. "I am poor and growing old," he said, "and I cannot catch fishas once I could. How is that done, O Royal Traveller?"

  Nod stood up and put his finger on his lips. "Secrets, Puss!" says he,and stepped softly over and peeped out of the door. He came back."Listen," he said. "I go down to the water--at daybreak; oh yes, just atdaybreak. Then I row out a little way in my little Bobberie, quite,quite alone--no one must be near to spy or listen; then I cast my netsinto the water and sing and sing."

  "What nets?" said the Gunga.

  Nod dodged a crisscross with his finger in the air.

  "S[=o][=o]tli, s[=o][=o]tli," mewed Puss, with her eyes half shut.

  The old Gunga wriggled his head with his great lip sagging. "Whathappens then?" said he.

  "Then," said Nod, "from far and near my Magic draws the fishes, head,fin, and tail, hundreds and hundreds, all to hear my Water-middens'lovely song."

  "And what then?" said Gunga.

  "Then," said Nod, peeping with his eye, "I look and I look till I seethe biggest fish of all--seven, eight, nine times as big as that upthere, and I draw him out gently, gently, just as I choose him, into myBobberie."

  "And wouldn't _any_ fish come to the little Prince unless he fishedalone?" said the greedy Gunga.

  "None," said Nod. "But there, why should we be gossiping of fishing? Myboat is far away."

  "But," said the Gunga cunningly, "I have a boat."

  "Ohe, maybe," said Nod easily. "One cannot drown on dry land. But I didspeak of a Bobberie of skin and Bemba-wood, made by the stampingOomgar-nuggas next the sea."

  "Ay," said the Gunga triumphantly, "but that's just what my Bobberie_is_ made of, and I broke the backbone of the Oomgar-nugga chief thatmade it with one cuff of my cudgel-hand."

  Nod yawned. "Tishnar's Prince is tired," he said, "and cannot talk offishes any more. A bowlful more broth, Master Fish-catcher, and thenI'll just put on my jacket and go to sleep." And he laughed, oh, sosoftly to himself to see that sooty, gluttonous, velvety face, and thered, gleaming eyes, and the thick, twitching thumbs.

  "Ootz nuggthli!" coughed the Gunga sourly. He ladled out the broth,bobbing with broken pods, with a great nutshell, muttering angrily tohimself as he stooped over the pot. And there, as soon as he had turnedhis back, came those two dark wondering faces at the window, grinning tosee little Nod so snug and comfortable before the fire.

  And when the Gunga had poured out the broth, he brought his stool nearerto Nod, and, leaning his great hands on the floor, he said: "See here,Prince of Tishnar, if I lend you my skin Bobberie to-morrow morning,will you catch _me_ some fish with your magic song?"

  Nod frowned and stared into the fire. "The crafty Gunga would be peepingbetween the trees," he said, "and then----"

  "What then?" said he.

  "Then Tishnar's Meermuts would come with their silver thongs and driveyou squalling into the water. And the Middens would pick your eyes out,Master Fish-catcher."

  "I promise, I promise," said the old Gunga, and his enormous bodytrembled.

  "Where is this talked-of Bobberie?" said Nod solemnly. "Was it that oldlog Nod saw when whispering with the Water-middens?"

  "Follow, follow," said the other. "I'll show the Prince this log." Butfirst Nod stooped under the bench, and pulled out his sheep's-coat andput it on. Then he followed the old Fish-catcher down his frosty pathbetween its banks of snow, clear now in the silver shining of the moon.

  The Fish-catcher showed him everything--how to untie the knotted rope ofSamarak, how to use the paddles, where the mooring-stone for deep waterwas. He held it up in his hand, a great round stone as big as amillstone. Nod listened and listened, half hiding his face in his jacketlest the Gunga-mulgar should see him laughing. Last of all, theFish-catcher, lifting him lightly in his hand, pointed across the turbidwater, and bade him have care not to drift out far in his fishing, forthe stream ran very swiftly, the ice-floes or hummocks were sharp, andunder the Shining-one, he said, snorting River-horses and the weepingMumbo lurk.

  "Never fear, Master Fish-catcher," said Nod. "Tishnar will watch overme. How many big fish, now, can the old Glutton eat in comfort?"

  The Gunga lifted his black bony face, and glinted on the moon. "Fivewould be good," he said. "Ten would be better. Ohe, do not count, RoyalTraveller. It makes the head ache after ten." And he thought withinhimself what a fine thing it was to have kept this Magic-mulgar, thisPrince of Tishnar, for his friend, when he might in his rage have flunghim clean across Obea-munza into that great B[=o][=o]bab-tree grey inthe moon. "He shall teach me the Middens' song, and then I'll fish formyself," he thought, all his thick skin stirring on his bones withgreed.

  So he cozened and cringed and flattered, and used Nod as if he were hismother's son. He made him lie on his own bed; he put on him a great skinear-cap; he filled a bowl with the hot fish-water to bathe his feet; andhe fetched out from a lidded hole in the floor a necklet of scallopedBamba-shells, and hung it round his slender neck.

  But Nod, as soon as he lay down, began thinking of those poorMulla-mulgars, his brothers, hungry and shivering in the tree-tops. Andhe pondered how he could help them. Presently he began to chafe and tossin his bed, to sigh and groan.

  Up started the old Gunga from his corner beside the fire. "What ails thePrince? Why does he groan? Are you in pain, Mulla-mulgar?"

  "In pain!" cried Nod, as if in a great rage, "How shall a Prince sleepwith twice ten thousand Gunga fleas in his blanket?"

  He got up, dragging after him the thick Munzaram's fleece off his bed,and, opening the door, flung it out into the snow. "Try that, my hungryhopping ones," he said, and pushed up the door again. "Now I must haveanother one," he said.

  The old Fish-catcher excused himself for the fleas. "It is cold to combin the doorway," he said, rubbing his flat nose. And he took anotherwoolly skin out of his earth-cupboard and laid it over Nod.

  "That's one for Thumb," Nod said to himself, laughing. And presentlyonce more he began fretting and tossing. "Oh, oh, oh!" he cried out,"What! More of ye! more of ye!" and with that away he went again, andflung the second ram's fleece after the first.

  "Master Traveller, Master Traveller!" yelped the old Fish-catcher,starting up, "if you throw all my blankets out, those thieves thesmudge-faces will steal them."

  "Better no blankets than a million fleas," said Nod; "and yours, MasterFish-catcher, are as greedy as Ephelanto tics. And now I think I willsleep by the fire, then the first peep of day will shine in my eyes fromthat little window-hole up there, and wake me to my fishing."

  "Udzmutchakiss" ("So be it"), growled the Gunga. But he was very angryunderneath. "Wait ye, wait ye, wait ye, my pretty Squirrel-tail," hekept muttering to himself as he sat with crossed arms. "For everyblanket a Bobberie or great fish."

  But Nod had never felt so merry in his life. To think of his brotherswrapped warm in the Gunga-mulgar's blankets!--He laughed aloud.

  "What ails the Traveller? What is he mocking at now?" said theFish-catcher, glowering out of his corner.

  "Why," said Nod, "I laughed to hear the mice in this box hanging over myhead."

  "Mice?" said the Gunga.

  "Why, yes; a score or more," said Nod. "And one old husky Muttakin keepss
aying, 'Nibble all, nibble all; leave not one whole, my little prettyones--not the crumb of a crumb for the ugly old glutton.' I think, Ogenerous Gunga, she means the bread of Sudd, I smell."

  At that the Gunga flamed up in a fury. He rushed to his food-box,shouting, "Will ye, oh, will ye, ye nibbling thieves!" And, opening thedoor, he flung it after the blankets--Sudd-loaves, Nanoes, river-weed,and all. And he stood a minute in the doorway, looking out on the cold,moonlit snow.

  "Shut to the door, shut to the door, Master Fish-catcher," called Nod."I hear a distant harp-playing."

  The Gunga very quickly shut the door at that. But he came to the fireand stood leaning on his hand, looking into it, very sullen and angry."Did I not say it, Prince of Tishnar?" he said. "My blankets are gonealready. Stolen!"

  "Sleep softly, my friend," said Nod, "and weary me not with talking.There's better rams in the forest than ever were flayed. Your blanketswill creep back, never fear. Even to a Mullabruk his own fleas! But,there! I'll make magic even this very moment, and to-morrow, when you godown to the river to fetch up the fish, there shall your blankets be,folded and civeted, on the stones by the water."

  Then he rose up in his littleness, and began to dance slowly from onefoot to the other, waving his lean arms over the fire, and singing, inthe secret language of the Mulla-mulgars, as loud as ever he could:

  "Thumb, Thimble, Mulgar meese, In your blankets dream at ease, And never mind the frozen fleas; But don't forget the loaves and cheese!"

  "It is very strange magic," said the Fish-catcher.

  "Nay," said Nod; "they were very strange fleas."

  "And 'Thumthimble'--what does that mean?"

  "'Thumb' means short and fat, and 'Thimble' means long and lean, whichis Mulgar-royal for both kinds, Master Fish-catcher."

  "Ohe! the Prince knows best," said the old Gunga; "but _I_ never heardsuch magic. And I've watched the Dancing Oomgars leagues and leaguesfrom here, and drummed them home to their Shes."

  Nod yawned.

  As soon as it was daybreak the old Fish-catcher, who had scarcely slepta wink for thinking of the fishes he was to have for his breakfast, cameand woke Nod up. And Nod said: "Now I go, Master Fish-catcher; but besure you do not venture one toe's breadth beyond the door till you hearme bringing back the fishes."

  "How can the Prince carry them, fishes big as that?" said the Gunga.

  "One at a time, my friend, as Ephelantoes root up trees," said Nod,staring at his bristling arms and tusks of teeth. "Ohe!" he went on,"when you hear my sweet-sounding Water-middens' song, you will not beable to keep yourself from peeping. You must be bound with Cullum,Master Fish-catcher. Oh, I should weep riversful of salt tears if theWater-middens picked your gentle eyes out."

  At first the cunning old Gunga would not consent to be bound up. But Nodrefused to stir until he did. So at last he fetched a thick rope ofSamarak (which is stronger and tougher than Cullum) out of his oldchest or coffer, and Nod wound it round and round him--legs, arms, andshoulders--and tied the ends to the great fish-scaly table.

  "Sit easy, my friend," said he; "my magic begins wonderfully to burn inme." And, without another word, he skipped out and pulled up the doorbehind him.

  Words could not tell how rejoiced were his brothers to see him fromtheir tree-tops come frisking across the snow. Away went the travellersin the first light, hastening like thieves in their jackets, Nod in hissheep's-coat leading the way. They left the blankets as Nod had promisedthe Gunga. Then, one, two, three, they pushed the Bobberie into deepwater. In jumped Nod, in jumped Thimble, in jumped Thumb. Out splashedthe heavy paddles, and soon the Bobberie was floating like a cork amongthe ice-humps in the red glare of dawn. They shoved off, Thumb at onepaddle, Thimble and Nod at the other. The farther they floated, theswifter swept the water. And soon, however hard they pushed at the heavypaddles, the Bobberie began twirling round and round, zig-zagging fasterand faster down with the stream.

  But scarcely were they more than fifteen fathoms from the bank when ashrill and piercing "Illa olla! illa olla!" broke out behind them. Noneed to look back. There on the bank in his glistening fish-skins,gnashing his teeth and beating with his crusted hands on the drum of hisgreat chest, stood the terrible Gunga-mulgar, his Samarak-ropes allburst asunder. He stooped and tore up huge stones and lumps of ice asbig as a sheep, and flung them high into the air after the tossingBobberie. Splash, splash, splash, they fell, around the three poorsweating travellers, drenching them with water and melting snow. Thefaster they paddled the faster swirled the water, and the thicker cametumbling the Gunga's huge boulders of stone and ice. Let but one fallplump upon their Bobberie, down they would go to be Mumbo-meat for goodand all. But ever farther the surging water was sweeping them on.Suddenly the hailstones ceased, and they spied their dreadful enemyswinging furiously back on his thick five-foot arms.

  "Gone, gone!" cried Thimble in triumph, leaning breathless on hispaddle.

  "Crow when your egg's hatched, brother Thimble," muttered Thumb. "He'sgone to fetch his bow."

  True it was. Down swung the gibbering Gunga, his Oomgar-nugga's bowacross his shoulder. Crouching by the water-side, he stretched itsstring with all his strength. And a thin, keen dart sung shrill as aparakeet over their heads. Again, again, and then it seemed to Nod ared-hot skewer had suddenly spitted him through the shoulder, and heknew the Fish-catcher had aimed true. He plucked the arrow out and wavedit over his head, scrunching his teeth together, and saying nothing save"Paddle, Thimble! Paddle, O Thumb!"

  Mightily they leaned on their broad, unwieldy paddles. But now, notlooking where the water was sweeping them, of a sudden the Bobberiebutted full tilt into a great hummock of ice, and water began welling upthrough a hole in the bottom. Nod knelt down, and, while his brotherspaddled, he flung out the water as fast as he could with his bigfish-skin cap. But fast though he baled, the water rilled in faster, andjust as they floated under a long, snow-laden branch of anOllaconda-tree, the Bobberie began to sink.

  Then Thimble cried in a loud voice, "Guzza-guzza-nahoo!" and, with agreat leap, sprang out of the boat and caught the drooping branch. Thumbclutched his legs and Nod Thumb's; and there they were, all threeswinging over the water, while the branch creaked and trembled overtheir heads.

  Down sank the staved-in Bobberie, and up--one, two, three, four,five--floated huge, sluggish Mumboes or Coccadrilloes, with dull,grass-green eyes fixed gluttonously on the dangling Mulgars. And a thickmuskiness filled the air around them.

  Inch by inch Thimble edged along the bough, until, because of thejutting twigs and shoots, he could edge no farther. Then, slowly andsteadily at first, but gradually faster, the three travellers began toswing, sweeping to and fro through the air, above the enraged andsnapping Coccadrilloes. The wind rushed past Nod's ears; his jacketflapped about him. "Go!" squealed Thumb; and away whisked Nod, like aflying squirrel across the water, and landed high and dry on the bankunder the wide-spreading Ollaconda-tree. Thumb followed. Thimble, withonly his own weight to lift, quickly scrambled up into the boughs abovehim. And soon all three Mulla-mulgars were sitting in safety, munchingwhat remained of the Gunga's Sudd-bread, and between their mouthfulsshouting mockery at the musky Coccadrilloes.

  While they were thus eating happily together Thumb suddenly threw up hishands and called: "Blood, blood, O Ummanodda--blood, red blood!" Andthen it seemed to Nod, trees, sky, and river swam mazily before hiseyes. Darkness swept up. He rolled over against a jutting root of theOllaconda, and knew no more.