GIFT OF 
 MICHAEL REESE 
 
THE TALES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
; THE PRINCESS TOOK UP THE PARCHMENT, AND . . . LOOKED AT HIS FACE" (/. 176). 
 
THE TALES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 BY 
 
 P. V. iRAMASWAMI RAJU. 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY PROFESSOR HENRY MORLEY. 
 
 ILL US TRA TED^GORDON BRO WNE. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED 
 
 LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE. 
 
 [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PA^K 
 
 THE BLACK CHINAMAN AND His JUNK i 
 
 THE GIANT TABALAN AND THE BOY TUCK 6 
 
 THE MISER MYWUNG AND THE BAG OF BLUE VELVET . .10 
 
 THE USURER OF ECBATANA 14 
 
 THE FAIRY PERIWINKLE OF TONQUIN . . . . .18 
 
 THE SELF-SUFFICIENT SAINT 22 
 
 THE RIGHTEOUS REGICIDE 26 
 
 THE STORY OF LITTLE TULLIMA AND THE SUNBEAM ... 30 
 THE BOY BAHADUR AND THE MAGIC CLUB . . . . -35 
 
 ^THE BASKET IN THE STREAM 39 
 
 THE QUEER GLADIATOR 43 
 
 THE CITY THAT HAD SEVEN GATES TO IT 50 
 
 THE GIANT JIMLAC AND THE PHILOSOPHER NEE WANG . . 55 
 THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR AND His WIFE . . . . . .59 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 FACE 
 
 How THE MILKMAID MARALANA BOILED THE DRAGON TO DEATH 63 
 
 THE HISTORY OF SULTAN DINWAR MA.NDEEL ... 67 
 
 THE VIRGIN FROM VELAYET 7 2 
 
 THE STORY OF THE AERIAL MUSICIAN 76 
 
 THE SULTAN AND THE GENIUS OF ADVERSITY .... 80 
 
 THE FAMOUS BOOK ON ALCHYMY 84 
 
 THE OCEAN OF MILK 88 
 
 THE BABIES OF BAHLISTAN 91 
 
 THE STORY OF THE SURLY FARMER AND THE BOY PANDARAM . 97 
 
 THE TURBULENT CITIZENS OF SHANGHAE . . . 100 
 
 THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE 103 
 
 THE BOY PADANG MID THE HUNDRED GIANTS . . . . 109 
 
 i FISHING IN THE STREETS * .114 
 
 KAPLOTH GUNI OF CANTON 119 
 
 THE ELIXIR OF LIFE 123 
 
 THE MAGIC RUBY ON THE HEAD OF A SERPENT . . .128 
 
 THE STORY OF THE YELLOW BANNER 132 
 
 THE WONDERFUL PAIR OF SPECTACLES 136 
 
 THE MISER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD ..... 140 
 
 THE PRINCESS DIRNAR AND THE GIANT DEATH-SPRINKLE . 145 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 f AGE 
 
 THE STORY OF THE GIANT LEFT-WHISKER 149 
 
 THE HIVE OF HAPPY BEES 153 
 
 THE MISER IN THE MOSQUE 157 
 
 THE CAT GUNDUPLE AND THE GOLDEN MOUSE .... 160 
 
 \, LITTLE UZBEC "I KNOW" 164 
 
 THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING 168 
 
 THE STORY OF TALIB THE TEN-EYED YOUTH . . . .174 
 
 THE STORY OF SULTAN BEY BEY AND THE GIANT HUM HAW . 177 
 
 THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER FROM THE INVISIBLE CASTLE 181 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS 186 
 
 THE STORY OF THE CREEPER OF LIGHTNING .... 194 
 
 ^ THE REVENGE OF THE ROYAL MENDICANT 198 
 
 THE STORY OF PRINCE RAGOBA AND THE FAIR PUCHANDY . 203 
 
 THE STORY OF VAMA-VIKRAMA ; -OR, THE CASCADE OF PEARLS 208 
 
 THE STORY OF THE CALIPH HAROUN ALRASCHID AND His FOOL 
 
 SHUM SHEER 214 
 
 THE STORY OF THE BOY BIG TURBAN 219 
 
 THE FAIR CAVALIERS . . .224 
 
 THE LAME SULTAN 228 
 
 PRINCE JUBAL, THE MAN OF BREVITY 232 
 
 THE BRAYING MANDARIN ,.,.... 239 
 
x CONTENTS* 
 
 PAOH 
 
 THE IDLE MAN AND THE ELF 248 
 
 THE Two PHILOSOPHERS . . 255 
 
 THE BAMBOO FIEND 260 
 
 THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY 263 
 
 THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTARY, WHO HAD THE 
 
 PHILOSOPHER'S STONE IN His TURBAN .... 269 
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE FIENDS , 276 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THIS is a real book of new Fairy Tales. Gatherings of legends 
 of the people, partly Indian, partly Chinese, have been 
 touched by the genius of a writer, himself from the East, 
 who brings his own wit and fancy to the telling of his tales, 
 and is as ready to invent as to hand down tradition. A 
 Fairy Tale should be all action, with something done in 
 every sentence, or something said that carries on the story 
 in a short and lively way. Whatever truth there may be 
 living in its fiction must live in the tale itself, as closely 
 joined to it as soul to body. Long moralising in a Fairy 
 Tale is as the sound of Bottom snoring in Titania's lap. 
 
 But here is Titania herself in whimsical mood, at play 
 in the East. It is an old playground of hers she must have 
 been visiting her comrades there, when she made Oberon 
 jealous with "a lovely boy stolen from an Indian king." 
 And Oberon, when he came to tease her for the boy, had 
 not he also, as far as Titania knew, " come from the farthest 
 steep of India ? " 
 
 Mr. P. V. Ramaswami Rajiv's best Introduction to 
 readers in England is this book of his, to which he has 
 written his own Preface. He is a graduate of the Madras 
 University ; he is a Member of the Asiatic Society ; and he 
 had just been called to the bar at the Inner Temple when 
 he left England for India, and left the manuscript of these 
 tales in my hands. 
 
 We had come into friendly relations at University 
 College, London, where he was Lecturer on Tamil and 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Telugu in the Indian School for the training of Selected 
 Candidates for the Indian Civil Service. A slight official 
 charge connects me with that Indian School by a few 
 duties that bring the pleasure of acquaintance with its 
 students and its teachers. In this way I had become 
 known to Mr. Raju, when he first asked me to read his 
 tales. I said I would, and put them away in a drawer. 
 
 After a year I was asked gently for an opinion about 
 them, and again from time to time, at intervals of about a 
 month ; and still so gently, without any of the impatient 
 self-assertion common to those who have asked one to read 
 what is worthless, that I thought they would prove good. 
 Then I began to read with hope, and went on with surprised 
 enjoyment. Good Fairy Tales, in these hard-headed times, 
 are rare as grass in the desert. 
 
 May the readers of these find as much pleasure in them 
 as I have had in brushing at them with a goose-feather as 
 they passed through the printing-office, light task, as of one 
 "sent before, to sweep the dust behind the door." But 
 now the door is open, and there is good cheer within. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 University College^ London. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 IN a country like India, or China, where people from all 
 parts of Asia, if not of the world, meet for commercial 
 purposes, there is a free interchange, not only of com- 
 modities, but also of ideas. 
 
 In the course of such friendly communion, not seldom 
 the speakers cite proverbs, tales, and traditions, by way of 
 argument or illustration, in the way best suited to the 
 special subject of discourse. Listening to such talk, not 
 to speak of higher paths of research, is one of the chief 
 sources from which stories like these might be drawn. 
 
 A considerable number of them will be found to be of 
 Chinese origin. Some have for their basis traditions said to 
 be prevalent among the people of the Indo-Chinese Penin- 
 sula and the Eastern Archipelago. Some are connected 
 with a number of Tartar and other Central Asian legends 
 that had worked their way into the southern parts of the 
 Continent. Some belong to Persia, Asiatic Turkey, and 
 Arabia. The remaining few may be described as purely 
 Hindu in their character. 
 
 The political relations between the East and the West 
 have given rise to some amusing tales. The Virgin from 
 Velayet is a specimen of them. The nucleus of this story 
 was found among a section of the Indian peasantry, and 
 must have arisen from that good-humoured representation 
 of Western ideas and institutions, which very often recom- 
 mends itself to their rustic and unsophisticated hearts. 
 
xiv AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The Fair Cavaliers was derived from a Persian source ; 
 but there is a tale in Indian history very similar to it. 
 The heroine in the Indian story was the daughter of the 
 King of Chittoor, in Rajasthan, and the tyrant outwitted 
 was the rapacious Alla-ud-deen, the Patan King of Delhi. 
 This instance of the same tale being found in two different 
 countries, howsoever it might be explained, recalls to mind 
 the story of the Arabian merchant who knew the language 
 of the lower animals, in the fable of The Ass, the Ox, 
 and the Labourer, and the story of King Kikaya and his 
 obstinate queen, in Ramayana, in both of which we have 
 the same narrative pointing to the same moral, though in 
 different words and under different circumstances. 
 
 It may be added that the difficulty of tracing the origin, 
 or recognising the position, of these proverbs, tales, and 
 traditions, or their parallels, in " the lore of the learned of 
 the land " will, in a great many cases, be found to be very 
 great, if not almost insurmountable; so much so, that a 
 person versed in the language and literature of the country 
 from which they may be said to have come, would often 
 be at a loss to say anything definitely about their origin ; 
 while the fact remains that one who by a mere accident 
 heard "the stray fragments of folk-lore" recited to him, 
 had the advantage of noting and collecting them. 
 
 The Story of the Caliph Haroun Alraschid and his Fool, 
 in this collection, may be adduced in evidence of this. 
 The tale was once told, though in a very crude form, by 
 an Arab trader, in Ceylon. The hero of the story is the 
 famous Caliph Haroun Al Raschid and the heroine his 
 consort the amiable Sultana Zobeide. Those who are 
 familiar with the adventures of the Caliph, as narrated in 
 the Arabian Nights Entertainments, will find there nothing 
 analogous to it. 
 
 Some Arabic scholars of the East, who were consulted as 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xv 
 
 to its existence in the literature of the Arabs, expressed their 
 surprise at their inability to find there any traces of it. One 
 of them, whose words I have already quoted in this Preface, 
 Wazeer Abdul AH of Three Maha Mondon Pur, made this 
 quaint, yet judicious remark, with which I ask the per- 
 mission of the reader to conclude these observations 
 
 " It must have been some stray fragment of the folk-lore 
 of the Arabs, that had nothing to do with the lore of the 
 learned of the land. So far as such popular tales go, it 
 matters not whether they are anchored firmly like great 
 ships in the havens of the writings of the learned, or floating 
 like stray waifs on the seas of the traditions of the people, 
 provided they fulfil the triple conditions of being wholesome, 
 entertaining, and instructive." 
 
 To what extent these tales fulfil the conditions laid down 
 by the Wazeer, or whether they fulfil them at all, I leave it 
 to the gentle reader to decide. 
 
 P. V. R. R. 
 
THE 
 
 TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 was a Prince of China who had a great many 
 learned Mandarins for his friends. They visited him 
 every day, and spent some time in pleasant and edifying 
 discourse One day, in the course of conversation, the 
 Prince had occasion to observe, "Alas! opium is the 
 greatest curse of our country." 
 
 One of the Mandarins observed, " Illustrious Prince, like 
 the fabulous Black Chinaman, who was long the terror of 
 the coast of Corea, the Chinese may escape any and every 
 danger but that proceeding from the odious drug." 
 
 The curiosity of the Prince being roused, he said, 
 " Good Mandarin, what is the story that you refer to ? " 
 
 The Mandarin proceeded to relate the story as follows : 
 
 !Uack ffiljinantan attb Ijts Junfe. 
 
 On the coast of Corea, there was a Chinaman, who 
 lived in a junk. He was black ; his junk was black ; 
 and the sails of his junk were equally black. He seldom 
 came on land ; but when he did come, he generally carried 
 of, as the good people of Corea said, a boy for his breakfast, 
 because he was very fond of eating boys. But he observed 
 one good rule that he never touched a boy who was not 
 
 a 
 
2 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Quarrelsome. So, whenever a boy was missed on the coast, 
 they would say, " The boy quarrelled with his companions, 
 and the Black Chinaman has carried him off." 
 
 Again, he was supposed to have acquired perfect control 
 over the water of the sea, and over the winds. So, when 
 the water rose in huge waves, they would say, " Yes ; the 
 Black Chinaman is lashing them." If the winds raged 
 furiously, they would say, " Yes ; the Black Chinaman is 
 setting them on." If the lightning flashed, they would say, 
 " Yes ; the Black Chinaman is lighting his pipe." He was 
 so quick in sailing, that people said they saw his junk in the 
 horizon, and heard the clinking of his anchor chain by the 
 coast at one and the same time. Mothers often fancied they 
 saw his black junk passing on the horizon, and, trembling 
 from head to foot, held their children closely to their 
 bosoms. 
 
 The people along the coast of Corea, where the Black 
 Chinaman committed his depredations, long endeavoured to 
 destroy him ; but he was so vigilant, that all their efforts 
 proved useless. 
 
 There was a little boy named Honoi, who said to him- 
 self, " Well, they say the Black Chinaman, who eats 
 quarrelsome boys, lives in a junk by himself. I dare say he 
 has nets, and daily fishes in the sea. Now, what does he do 
 with the fish ? Certainly, he eats all the fish. Now, how 
 does he slake his thirst after that ? Certainly, with a great 
 barrel of ale, which they say he drinks at a gulp. Then 
 again, they say the hollow mast of his junk has a bowl on 
 the top, and serves him as a pipe, which he smokes in calm 
 weather, when he furls the sails, and lets the junk drift on 
 the sea. So, what with the boys and the fish, what with the 
 ale and the pipe, he must be leading a very happy life, 
 indeed ! " 
 
 One evening therefore, when the junk of the Blacl> 
 
"ON THE COAT OF CoREA, THERE WAS A CHINAMAN, WHO LIVED N 
 
 A JUNK" (/. i) 
 
THE BLACK CHINAMAX AND HIS JUNK. 5 
 
 Chinaman was lying at anchor near the coast, Honoi said, 
 " Good Captain of the Black Junk, will you take me on 
 board ? I will cook the fish you eat, and light the pipe you 
 smoke. When you wish to drink, I will hand you the 
 barrel ; and when you do want boys, I will point out such 
 of them as quarrel." 
 
 The Black Chinaman was glad to hear Honoi say so. 
 He took him at once on board, observing, " Honoi, now 
 cook the fish." Honoi cooked the fish, and laid it on the 
 table. Before he could turn round, the Black Chinaman 
 ate the fish, and said, " Honoi, hand me the barrel." Before 
 Honoi could turn round after handing the barrel, the Black 
 Chinaman laid it down, saying, " Honoi, light my pipe." 
 
 Honoi, who wanted a moment to breathe, pretended not 
 to know what he meant by his pipe. 
 
 The Black Chinaman grinned, displaying his teeth from 
 ear to ear, and said, " Honoi, you are an idle boy. You will 
 never do with me. You must know before you are told. Now 
 go up to the top of this mast and clean the bowl, while I go 
 down to bring the tobacco." 
 
 Honoi went up and cleaned the bowl, and filled one half 
 of it with a great quantity of opium, which he had brought 
 concealed in his clothes. 
 
 The Black Chinaman brought a great quantity of tobacco 
 and gave it to Honoi, who filled the remaining half of the 
 bowl with a part of it, and returned the remainder to his 
 master. 
 
 " Is the bowl full, Honoi ? " thundered the Black China- 
 man. 
 
 " It is, sir," replied Honoi. 
 
 "How did you fill the bowl with one-half the usual 
 quantity, Honoi ? " said the Black Chinaman. 
 
 " It is all in the doing of the thing, sir ; I can do with a 
 little 'vhat most people cannot do with much." 
 
6 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 " You are just the sort of boy I want," said the Black 
 Chinaman, and putting his right hand on the shoulder of 
 Honoi, took the huge pipe with the left, reclined his head 
 on the helm, with his long whiskers dangling in the sea on 
 both sides, threw his legs on the prow, and smoked till he 
 grew utterly insensible. 
 
 Honoi bound him to the junk tightly with strong ropes, 
 and steered it to the shore, shouting, " I am Honoi, Captain 
 of the Black Junk!" 
 
 The people assembled in great crowds, and welcomed 
 Honoi as the deliverer of their boys. 
 
 They killed the Black Chinaman, and buried him on 
 the coast ; but they hung up his long whiskers on a tree, 
 and whenever boys quarrel, the good people of Corea say 
 that the whiskers coil and hiss like serpents ready to devour 
 them. 
 
 The Prince, who expressed himself highly amused at the 
 story, remarked, " The Black Chinaman must have been a 
 great glutton to have eaten such a quantity of fish, and 
 drunk so much ale." 
 
 The good opinion which the Prince gave of the story, 
 excited the emulation of another Mandarin ; so, he observed, 
 " Illustrious Prince, the Black Chinaman was not a greater 
 glutton than the Giant Tabalan." 
 
 The Prince asked what the story was, and the Mandarin 
 related it as follows : 
 
 (Biattt 
 
 On an island, in a distant sea, there lived a giant named 
 Tabalan, and a little boy named Tuck. These two were the 
 only inhabitants on it. The giant was a glutton ; the boy 
 
THE GIANT TABALAN AND THE BOY TUCK. 7 
 
 ate little or nothing. So the giant liked him very much, 
 saying, " I like boys that feed on air, and drink ether." He 
 said so because he liked everybody but himself eating 
 almost nothing. 
 
 There was a volcano in the middle of the island, which 
 was constantly burning. Tabalan roasted the camels, 
 elephants, and other animals he ate, on its crater. There 
 was a great rock with a flat top : this was his table. There 
 was a nice little valley, in which grew various herbs and 
 plants, which Tabalan ate with his dinner. The whole of 
 this valley he called his vegetable basket. 
 
 He generally got up at noon, and finished his breakfast 
 in a few minutes, because he was in a hurry to prepare for 
 tiffin. He would finish his tiffin in a few minutes, because 
 he was in a hurry to prepare for dinner. For dinner he had 
 not much time to spare, because he was in a hurry to pre- 
 pare for supper. 
 
 Tabalan was very fond of being told every now and then, 
 that he ate very little. Of course this was a duty that 
 devolved on his servant, Tuck. So when he roasted a whole 
 herd of elephants, and a number of camels to boot, at the 
 crater, and put them on his table, the boy Tuck would say, 
 " Ah, good master, how little you eat ! " 
 
 Tabalan would say, with a smile, " Tuck, you are a 
 shrewd fellow. You see what it really is. But we must all 
 eat sparingly, my boy, if we wish to get on in the world." 
 Then he would put into his mouth the trunk of an elephant, 
 or the hump of a camel, and, smacking his lips, drink his 
 wine. This was the water of the sea. By his table was a 
 great pipe, which he put into his mouth and sucked, and 
 the sea-water flowed down his throat. Tabalan said he 
 liked the drink specially for the shoals that got in, and fur- 
 nished him with an excellent mouthful of fish at every 
 draught. 
 
8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Tuck would exclaim, " Ah, good master, how little you 
 drink ! " 
 
 Tabalan would say, "Tuck, you are a shrewd fellow. 
 You see what it really is. We must all drink sparingly if 
 we wish to get on in the world." 
 
 When Tabalan rose from bed at noon, Tuck would say, 
 " Good Master, how soon you get up ! " 
 
 Tabalan would say, " Tuck, you are a shrewd fellow. 
 <*...-', 
 
 " TABALAN GREW VERY FAT." 
 
 You see what it really is. We must all sleep sparingly, my 
 boy, if we wish to get on in the world ! " 
 
 What with his eating, what with his sleeping, Tabalan 
 grew very fat. Neither ox nor horse, neither camel nor 
 elephant could show anything equal to the fat in his body. 
 Now Tabalan was very fond of fat things. So, one day, 
 he looked at himself and his mouth watered. Instantly, he 
 called out, " Tuck, shrewd fellow, come in ! " 
 
 Tuck came in. 
 
 Tabalan said, " Now, I have a project in my head," 
 
THE GIANT TAB ALAN AND THE BOY TUCK. 9 
 
 " Good master," said Tuck, " I dare say it is a very 
 good one of its kind." 
 
 " You are quite right, my boy," said the giant ; " now, 
 tell me if you will be able to roast me at the crater and give 
 me me for dinner ? " 
 
 Tuck said nothing could be more easy, only he wished 
 to know how he was to give him him for dinner after he 
 had been roasted. 
 
 Tabalan said, " My life is in this cocoanut. When you 
 have roasted my body, put it down on the table and lay the 
 cocoanut by, saying, ' Master Tabalan, your dinner is ready, 
 and I will be up.'" 
 
 The boy consented with a wink. 
 
 " Why do wink, my boy ? " said Tabalan. 
 
 " Ah, good master," said Tuck, tl that you are so shrewd 
 as to eat yourself." 
 
 " Well," said Tabalan, " we must all be shrewd, my boy, 
 if we wish to get on in the world." 
 
 Tabalan went into the cocoanut with his mouth watering 
 again at the thought of the approaching banquet, and 
 instantly his body fell on the ground. 
 
 Tuck said to himself, " Well, I have been on this island 
 long enough. It is not every day that Tabalan will pro- 
 pose roasting himself for dinner," and threw the cocoanut 
 into the sea. Instantly, it began to float. By its aid, he 
 reached the mainland where his home was. Then he dug .a 
 deep pit and buried the cocoanut in it, saying, "Good 
 Master Tabalan, lie thou there till I ask thee to come up 
 for dinner again." 
 
 The spirit of Tabalan replied, " You are, indeed, a shrewd 
 boy, Tuck ; you will call me up so soon as you have roasted 
 me for dinner will you not ?" 
 
 " Certainly I will," said Tuck, and went home. 
 
 In course of time a tree grew on the spot, and the 
 
io THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 children of the country often gathered round the tree, while 
 one of them asked, " Good Master Tabalan, will you come 
 up?" 
 
 Another would stand behind the tree and reply, " Bid 
 my boy Tuck come up, and tell me if he has roasted me 
 on the crater and made my dinner ready, and I will be 
 up." 
 
 The children would then dance round the tree shouting, 
 " Tuck is no more ! Tabalan is no more ! " 
 
 The Prince complimented the Mandarin on the story he 
 had related, observing, "Instances in which people fall a 
 prey to some gross passion of their own, in the manner of 
 the Giant Tabalan, are indeed not rare." 
 
 Another Mandarin whose emulation was roused by this 
 praise bestowed on his companion, replied, " Mighty Prince, 
 this story reminds me of the Miser Mywung, who fell a prey 
 to his own cupidity, and the Bag of Blue Velvet." 
 
 " Ah, who was the miser, and what had the bag to do 
 with him ? " said the Prince. 
 
 The Mandarin related the story as follows : 
 
 Jlis*r ^Uning antr tb* $ag of XUu* 
 Vtlteb 
 
 In the city of Cashgar there was a miser of whom the 
 people said, " There is wealth in his coffers, famine at his 
 door, and misery in every nook of his house." He had 
 neither wife, nor children, nor relations, nor friends. 
 Occasionally, an old woman, who affected to pay the same 
 reverence to gold as himself, was permitted to enter the 
 house to sweep it and set the few things in it in the order 
 which best suited him. He cooked his own meals, and as 
 
THE MISER MYWUNG AND THE 13 AG. 1 1 
 
 his wants were very few, he spent next to nothing in 
 gratifying them. 
 
 He seldom stirred out of his house, nor did any people 
 visit him ; so this old woman was the only medium of 
 intercourse between himself and the wide world. As some 
 of the wags in the city observed, she was the only isthmus 
 that connected the two great continents the miser and the 
 world at large. 
 
 Mywung had got into the habit of consulting this old 
 woman on matters relating to magic and medicine, for the 
 very good reason that her incantations and prescriptions 
 involved no expenditure. 
 
 He had also a passion for stories about wealth. When- 
 ever he felt inclined to listen to them, the old woman 
 entertained him with such wonderful tales as the Golden 
 Elephant with the Magic Tail, the Palace of Jasper that had 
 Gates of Adamant, and the River of Molten Gold that flowed 
 from the Emerald Mountain. 
 
 In the house opposite to Mywung's there was a great 
 spendthrift named Lywung, in speaking of whom people 
 invariably said, " Heaps of money disappeared at the magic 
 touch of his fingers." 
 
 There is a saying that if extremes are put together 
 and divided by two, the quotients would be the media. 
 
 Well, if the niggardliness of the miser Mywung and the 
 extravagance of the spendthrift Lywung be put together, 
 accordingly, the mean of common life would no doubt 
 result from the process. 
 
 This spendthrift said to himself, " What does the miser 
 do with his wealth ? Who is there to inherit it ? The 
 authorities will get it after all ; so, if possible, let me get it 
 to myself."' 
 
 With this resolve, he put a piece of silver into the hands 
 of the old woman, and said, " Do you know that I have 
 
12 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY 
 
 with me the wonderful bag of blue velvet that gives me 
 whatever I want ? " 
 
 The old woman said she did not know. 
 
 Thereupon Lywung gave a detailed account of it. The 
 next time the old woman saw Mywung, she spoke to him of 
 the bag of blue velvet. 
 
 He remarked, " I was wondering how he was able to 
 spend so much. He must certainly possess something like 
 the bag you speak of to give him money incessantly. I 
 should like to see the bag very much ; but only if you 
 should be able to get it for a while from him, for I will on 
 no account permit him to come in." 
 
 The old woman communicated this to Lywung. 
 
 Instantly he put a piece of gold into the hands of the 
 woman, and borrowing her clothes, altered his guise so as to 
 resemble her as much as possible, and went to the miser in 
 the evening, and in faltering accents said, " Ah, good sir, I 
 have, after all, got the bag for three short minutes. The 
 spendthrift is waiting in the street to get it back." 
 
 "What is to be done with the bag?" said the miser 
 with great eagerness. 
 
 The old woman said, " It was given to the spendthrift by 
 a Lama in an oasis in the great desert of Gobi. If you wish 
 to examine the marvellous properties of the bag, you must 
 thrust your head into it. There is a noose round its mouth 
 which will be pulled round the neck. The tighter the noose 
 is pulled, the more the wealth of the world that will be 
 seen." 
 
 As the time specified was very brief, Mywung thrust his 
 head into the bag. 
 
 The old woman, or the spendthrift in that guise, pulled 
 the string round his neck. Whether it was the magic in 
 the bag, or the force of his imagination, or all combined, is 
 a mystery to this day ; but the miser said he saw more of 
 
THE MISER MYWUNG AND THE BAG. 13 
 
 the treasures of the universe the tighter the string was 
 drawn. 
 
 After all it seemed to reach a point of suffocation, and 
 the spendthrift paused. 
 
 " Pull on ! " cried the miser, " I have just got a glimpse 
 of the great valley of diamonds with the emerald banks and 
 the ruby caverns ! " 
 
 Lywung pulled tighter, and the miser dropped down 
 dead as though his spirit had disappeared in one of those 
 caverns in the valley he saw, and refused to return to his 
 body any more. 
 
 ** LYWUNG PULLED TIGHTER." 
 
 The spendthrift gave him a decent burial, saying, " Poor 
 man, this is perhaps the only luxury he ever had ; " and 
 took all his wealth to himself, giving a pittance to the old 
 woman who had aided him. 
 
 When the authorities asked him how he was entitled to 
 the wealth of Mywung, he said the miser had made it ovei 
 to him in lieu of the Bag of Blue Velvet, that the latter was 
 his only property, and that they might take it. 
 
 The authorities took the bag, and on opening it found 
 such a goodly store of gold coins in it, that they said the ends 
 of justice were completely satisfied, and gave no further 
 trouble to Lywung, 
 
14 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 When the Mandarin had finished his story, the Prince 
 remarked that he was greatly indebted to him for his kind- 
 ness, and that he had well illustrated the maxim The misei 
 hoards for the spendthrift. 
 
 At the same time, the Prince observed that, as a rule, 
 misers, usurers, and other people of the fraternity were ex- 
 tremely wary, and that it was the good fortune of Lywung 
 that blinded Mywung, and made him fall an easy prey to his 
 own cupidity. 
 
 Thereupon another Mandarin rose up, and said, " Mighty 
 Prince, the remark that misers and usurers are extremely 
 wary reminds me of the usurer of Ecbatana, who by his 
 cunning escaped the fatal results of his own folly." 
 
 " Who was the usurer of Ecbatana ? How did he escape 
 the fatal results of his own folly, good Mandarin ? " said the 
 Prince eagerly. 
 
 The Mandarin narrated the story as follows : 
 
 0f (Matana. 
 
 In the ancient city of Ecbatana lived a Jew named 
 Jacob, who was a great usurer. There was a law in the 
 city that if it was proved that a man received interest at the 
 rate of a hundred per cent, he should at once be hanged. 
 
 So Jacob contented himself with advancing money at 
 vninety-nine and three quarters per cent., the quarter being 
 the margin left to evade the law. 
 
 The officers of justice, who had ever an eye on Jacob 
 and his transactions, were watching for an opportunity 
 to chastise him as he deserved. But the Jew was too 
 vigilant to get into their clutches. 
 
 The only other person that lived with old Jacob was his 
 fair daughter Eliam, a virgin whose beauty and amiable djs- 
 
THE USURER OF ECBATANA. 15 
 
 position were well known to the people of Ecbatana. But 
 Jacob was very cautious in admitting strangers into his house. 
 
 They came to him only on business, and after transacting 
 it, were promptly shown the street door, without being per- 
 mitted to loiter in the house for a single moment. 
 
 So those who had actually seen Eliam were very few 
 indeed. But "a veil of mystery enhances beauty," says 
 the proverb. 
 
 So the people ever spoke in rapturous terms of the ex- 
 traordinary charms of Eliam, and of the precautions taken 
 by her father to keep her from the sight of strangers. 
 
 These reports reached the ears of Vishtasp, the youthful 
 son of the Satrap, or Governor of Ecbatana. He said to 
 himself, " Ah, the virgin Eliam, they say, is fair as the smiling 
 morn in spring. Her accomplishments must, indeed, be 
 rare to make her the subject of conversation throughout 
 the city. That man must, indeed, be counted happy who 
 can call her his wife." 
 
 So he went to Jacob, and said, "You know I am 
 Vishtasp, son of the Satrap of Ecbatana. I love your 
 daughter with all my heart, and will do everything in my 
 power to make her happy. So, may I flatter myself with 
 the hope of obtaining her hand in marriage ? " 
 
 The Jew replied, " Vishtasp, you are yet a boy in charge 
 of a pedagogue ; yet you say you have fallen desperately in 
 love with my daughter. It is not difficult to see what has 
 made you so precipitate in the matter. My gold has 
 temptations which you cannot conveniently resist. Well, 
 I know more of the world and its ways than you give me 
 credit for, so the best advice that I can give you at present 
 is to bid the passion cool and go at once to school/' 
 
 This provoked Vishtasp extremely. So he said, " Jacob, 
 as you have declined to treat the declaration of my love 
 to your daughter with the consideration which it deserves, 
 
1 6 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDAKIKS. 
 
 I do not wish to remain any longer in Ecbatana ; for, if I 
 did, I should not only make myself extremely unhappy, but 
 may prove a source of danger to you from the ill-will I shall 
 bear towards you. I therefore mean to travel in foreign 
 lands, starting on my journey, as I am, without going home. 
 Will you advance me some money on this inestimable jewel 
 which adorns my turban ? " 
 
 The Jew pondered within himself for a while on the 
 subject, and concluding that it would be well to send 
 Vishtasp out of the city, said, " Well, when and where will 
 you pay the money back ? What interest will you pay on 
 it?" 
 
 Vishtasp said, " To your agents at Damascus, when I go 
 there in the course of the year. As to interest, you may 
 charge a hundred per cent, if you please. It is immaterial 
 to me." 
 
 Jacob said, " As the money is to be paid at Damascus, 
 will you pay the interest you propose ? " 
 
 " With the greatest pleasure," said Vishtasp. 
 
 So the necessary deed was executed, and the money 
 paid on the jewel. 
 
 Vishtasp took leave of Jacob, saying, " You will soon 
 hear from me." 
 
 That night, as Jacob was going to bed, a loud knock 
 was heard at the door. He rushed out to see what had 
 happened. The officers of justice, with Vishtasp at their 
 head, were there. 
 
 As Jacob gazed at them with a bewildered countenance, 
 they said, " Now, you have, after all, advanced money at a 
 hundred per cent, and have, therefore, put yourself under 
 the power of the law which governs the subject. To- 
 morrow you will be hanged before sunrise. The Satrap is 
 awaiting our return, with you in our custody, to pronounce 
 sentence and then go to bed." 
 
THE USURER OF ECBATANA. 17 
 
 The usurer grew pale as death when he heard this. 
 Soon he recovered his usual self-possession, and solicited 
 a private interview with Vishtasp. His request was readily 
 granted. 
 
 The outwitted usurer said, " Ah, Vishtasp, you are, 
 indeed, a shrewd young man. You will certainly be, one 
 day, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Persia. Before 
 bestowing my daughter on you, I wished to know the depth 
 of your cunning ; for I had resolved that the most cunning 
 man alive should wed her. Else, I should have been the 
 last to risk my life on such a cheap bargain ; for the 
 sum that will accrue to me at the rate of interest proposed 
 to-day will be a mere trifle." 
 
 This turn which Jacob gave to the whole affair surprised 
 as ^ell as delighted Vishtasp. Before he could recover 
 from his astonishment, Jacob brought Eliam and introduced 
 Vishtasp to her, saying, " Dear child, this is the young 
 nobleman of whom I have already spoken to you." 
 
 From the moment her father had spoken to her of 
 Vishtasp that evening, she had conceived a very favourable 
 opinion of him. Now his appearance and conversation but 
 strengthened the opinion ; so she consented to be his wife. 
 The usurer solemnly pledged his word that so soon as the 
 Satrap should give his consent to the contract, the marriage 
 would be celebrated. 
 
 The next morning the Satrap was duly informed by his 
 son of all that had happened, and gladly gave his consent 
 to the marriage. The ceremony was celebrated with great 
 pomp. The story goes on to say that the prediction of the 
 usurer, Jacob, that his son-in-law would one day be the 
 Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Persia, was fulfilled. 
 
 When Vishtasp filled the high office, the good sense of 
 Eliam his wife was one of his safest guides. When he 
 returned from his day's work at the king's court, he laid 
 
1 8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS 
 
 down his mantle, saying, " Now, let me sit by my Eliam and 
 refresh myself with her smiles and wisdom." 
 
 We forgot all about the officers of justice. They re- 
 turned to the Satrap, saying, " Sire, we could find nothing 
 to prove that Jacob had advanced money at the rate of 
 a hundred per cent. ; so we did not arrest him." 
 
 The Prince smiled at this last remark of the Mandarin, 
 and said that Jacob had, no doubt, very cleverly escaped 
 the fatal result of his folly, that his daughter Eliam was a 
 rare specimen of her sex, and that the good opinion she 
 conceived of Vishtasp, when she had heard of him from her 
 father, did credit to her good sense and feelings. 
 
 On hearing this, another Mandarin remarked, "Sire, 
 youth and innocence are sure to impress the minds of the 
 fair sex, even as the swain, Hearty Love, of Tonquin, 
 impressed the mind of the Fairy Periwinkle." 
 
 " The Fairy Periwinkle ! " exclaimed the Prince. 
 
 "Yes, mighty Prince, the good Fairy Periwinkle," re- 
 peated the Mandarin. 
 
 " Ah, let us know all about the fairy at once, good 
 Mandarin," said the Prince 
 
 The Mandarin narrated the story as follows : 
 
 On the shores of the country of Tonquin, in a little shell 
 called a Periwinkle', there lived a fairy, who was considered 
 the most beautiful and accomplished of that beautiful and 
 accomplished sisterhood known as the fairy world. 
 
 People had often seen her go out of the Periwinkle, and 
 walk on the beach, in the moonlight, now pursuing the 
 
THE FAIRY PERIWINKLE OF TONQUIN. 19 
 
 crabs up to their holes, now collecting pretty little shells, 
 now flying on the breeze some distance over the sea, now 
 talking to a moonbeam about sundry affairs of the skies, 
 now plunging into the waves to see how the people at the 
 sea-bottom fared, and coming up again as trim and tidy as 
 if she had never been into the water ; now trembling at the 
 chirping of a cricket, now laughing at the roaring of the 
 waves, and doing a great many other things, which fairies 
 generally do when they go out to amuse themselves. There- 
 fore the people called her the Fairy Periwinkle. 
 
 This Fairy Periwinkle one day said to herself, " I have 
 had various offers of marriage from various fairy princes 
 and mandarins ; not to speak of the shoals of fairy mer- 
 chants and bankers that have been constantly swimming 
 after me. But in the whole fairy race I do not think I shall 
 find a husband to suit my heart. So let me seek out some 
 member of the human race, and marry him." With this 
 resolve the good fairy stood in the breeze one evening, and 
 said, 
 
 "If possible, I wish to marry a man." 
 
 The breeze carried the news into the country of Tonquin, 
 and, knocking at every door, secretly whispered it into the 
 ears of the maid who opened the door, with a special request 
 that she should keep the secret to herself, and on no 
 account gossip about it with others. All the maids promised 
 solemnly to keep the secret. But, in spite of their strenuous 
 efforts to do so, it was somehow known to the people that 
 the fairy Periwinkle was going to marry ; so every one ot 
 them went up at one and the same time to seek her hand in 
 marriage. The fairy was alarmed when she saw so many 
 surrounding her shell to marry her. So she said : 
 
 " I am but one little fairy. I cannot, of course, marry 
 every one ot you. So you must allow me to choose some 
 one among you for my husband." 
 C ii 
 
20 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 " Ah, that is but fair," exclaimed all the men assembled 
 around her. 
 
 The fairy said, " Now let each come forth and plead his 
 
 cause." 
 
 Instantly the lawyer Mandarin stepped forth and said, 
 "I will make an ample settlement in your favour, and 
 deposit the deed in the Periwinkle in which you live, if you 
 
 "EVERY ONE OF THEM WENT UP , .TO SEEK HER HAND" (/. 19). 
 
 will marry me. Further, no bounds to my learning, or the 
 fees I have been earning. In cross-examination I display the 
 greatest animation. In confounding a thief, or tossing a 
 debtor, you can never hope to find my better. Give me 
 your hand, good fairy, and make me for ever happy." 
 
 The fairy said, " Sir, I do not understand a word of your 
 speech, nor should you my ignorance impeach." 
 
 Then the doctor Mandarin stepped forth with a lancet 
 and said, " Fits, fevers, cholers, colics, with me can never 
 

 THE FAIRY PERIWINKLE OF TONQUIN. 21 
 
 play their frolics. I have pills, I have potions, I have 
 elixirs ; I can pull out your teeth without your tears. Give 
 me your hand, good fairy, and reign the queen of my 
 dispensary." 
 
 But the fairy replied, " Sir, I do not want your aid ; as 
 yet I am a healthy maid." 
 
 Then came the philosopher, adjusting his flowing robes, 
 and said, " I know all about the soul, and all about its 
 future goal. Life, and all its problems great, and all about 
 unerring fate, I have studied, and found that wisdom is 
 the safest guide, and all the rest but bloated pride. Give 
 me your hand, good fairy, and be the first-fruit of my 
 philosophy." 
 
 But the fairy said he was in a world too high for her, who 
 was but a little fairy. 
 
 Then a youthful swain, named Hearty Love, approached 
 the fairy, and said, " Good fairy Periwinkle, love is all I 
 have to give ; by love I move, by love I live." 
 
 At once the fairy gave her hand to Hearty Love, the 
 swain ; the rest a hopeless band, they lingered there in vain. 
 So the fairy sent them away, saying, she was going to marry, 
 and that they might go home, and went into her little house 
 with the swain. 
 
 The lawyer Mandarin said that if ever he should meet 
 Hearty Love he would sue him for damages. The doctor 
 Mandarin said he would bleed him to death. The philo- 
 sopher said he would prove to the world that Hearty Love 
 was a hymeneal empiric, a marital mountebank, a charlatan 
 that trifled with feminine hearts, and a quack that dealt in 
 love nostrums. 
 
 The swain replied he could not hear what they said, for 
 he and his wife had gone to bed. 
 
 The people assembled round the tiny mansion of the 
 fairy asked the Mandarins and the philosopher why they did 
 
22 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 not accuse one another for having ventured to apply for 
 the hand of the fairy. They replied, as they went home, 
 " It is the first of nature's laws that all our failures have 
 one cause." 
 
 The Prince remarked, " No doubt this is a pretty little 
 story ; the Mandarins and the philosopher made a mistake 
 when they thought that their learning, or wealth, or wisdom, 
 would produce a favourable impression upon the youthful 
 and amiable fairy Periwinkle. It is therefore a matter for 
 wonder why they applied for her hand at all." 
 
 Another Mandarin replied, " Sire, they must have done 
 so in a mood of self-sufficiency, like the learned hermit 
 Papatup, who very nearly drowned himself in the Lake 
 Manasasara, because he fancied he could achieve a feat 
 which was quite beyond his power." 
 
 "Ah, let us know all about Papatup," exclaimed the 
 Prince, eagerly ; " we have heard of the great lake 
 Manasasara, but never yet about the hermit you spoke of, 
 good Mandarin." 
 
 Steint. 
 
 To the north of the Himalaya Mountains, in the country 
 of Thibet, there is the great lake Manasasara, which 
 literally means a lake so beautiful and romantic as to be 
 called a creation of the imagination. On the banks of this 
 lake lived a holy Buddhist hermit, named Papatup, which 
 means one that has burned sin, or a person of great sanctity 
 and wisdom. 
 
 This hermit Papatup had a great many disciples. But 
 of them all, there was one named Sidhartha, after the great 
 founder of the holy Buddha religion, who was specially dear 
 
THE SELF-SUFFICIENT SAINT. 23 
 
 to him. Sidhartha was but a youth ; yet the benignity of 
 his disposition, the extent of his learning, the depth of his 
 wisdom, the austere purity of his life, and the peculiar 
 sanctity of his character made him a source of special pride 
 to his master. 
 
 When asked what his guides in life were, he would 
 reply, u The wisdom of the great Buddha, the approbation of 
 all the dutiful and good, and the faith I have in my saintly 
 preceptor, Papatup, are my only guides through this world 
 of woe." 
 
 The fame of Sidhartha spread over the whole Buddhist 
 world, and learned men from all parts of it came to listen to 
 his wise exposition of some of the most abstruse doctrines 
 of the holy faith. In course of time, it so happened that 
 people referred to Papatup himself only as the preceptor of 
 Sidhartha. 
 
 Sidhartha had his house on the shores of the lake, at a 
 considerable distance from the spot were Papatup had his 
 hermitage. He spent the greater part of his time with his 
 preceptor, and occasionally paid a visit to his parents, who 
 were justly proud of such a son, and loved him tenderly. 
 Sidhartha was equally attached to them, especially to his 
 mother, who had taught him in early youth a great many 
 good and useful things. 
 
 The lady had requested her son to come home on a par- 
 ticular fast day, when she wished to have him by her side. 
 It so happened that on that day a great many learned men 
 from Lassa and other great centres of Buddhist learning and 
 civilisation came to the hermitage and held a very edifying 
 conversation with Papatup and his disciples. Sidhartha, 
 according to his wont, took the leading part, and gave the 
 learned visitors more satisfaction than they had promised 
 themselves from his company. 
 
 It was evening when they had concluded, and the learned 
 
24 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 men rose, saying, " Now we may separate for a while, for it 
 is the day of the fast." Here they specified the fast by name. 
 
 Sidhartha was startled to hear it; for his mother had 
 solicited him to be present that day at home. Across the 
 lake it was nearly half a day's journey in a boat ; around the 
 lake on foot it was more. Sidhartha was very sorry for the 
 neglect with which he had treated his mother's request. 
 So he hastened to the wharf where he could get into the 
 boat that was to take him across the lake. But, unfortunately 
 for him, such a severe tempest arose that the boatmen would 
 not stir out from their huts. 
 
 " I shall part with all the wealth I am master of, if you 
 will land me on the opposite shore," said he. 
 
 They replied, " If you will calm the waves, which rise 
 like mountains, smooth the swelling surf that breaks upon 
 the rocks, and bid the eddying pool stand still, we will 
 leave our huts at once, and do our duty." 
 
 Thereupon, Sidhartha, in great agony of mind, stood in 
 the water knee-deep, and said, " If the love I bear to my 
 parents be true, if my faith in my preceptor is sincere, let 
 me reach the opposite shore safely this instant," and got 
 into the lake, essaying to wade through it. To his astonish- 
 ment, it was knee-deep wherever he went. So, with little or 
 no difficulty, and in a wonderfully short space of time, he 
 reached his house, and had the gratification to hear his 
 mother say, "Ah, dear Sidhartha, you have come just in 
 time!" 
 
 Instantly the boatmen ran to Papatup, and told him 
 what had happened. 
 
 Papatup asked what mysterious formula his pupil had 
 pronounced before descending into the lake. 
 
 The boatmen, who had heard the latter part of Sidhartha's 
 words, said that he invoked the faith he had in his preceptor, 
 and that carried him through the lake. 
 
THE SELF-SUFFICIENT SAINT. 25 
 
 Papatup argued within himself thus : " If the mere 
 faith which he had in my sanctity and wisdom was able to do 
 so much, how much more should I not be able to accom- 
 plish, who actually possess the sanctity and wisdom ! Let it 
 not be said that Papatup was behind his pupil, Sidhartha, 
 in working miracles ! " 
 
 So saying, Papatup descended into the lake, assuring 
 himself and the boatmen that stood near that if the waters 
 were knee-deep to Sidhartha, they would be but ankle-deep 
 
 "HE PLUNGED ABRUPTLY INTO THE WATER." 
 
 to his preceptor Papatup. But scarcely had he proceeded 
 a few paces, when he plunged abruptly into the water 
 beyond his depth and disappeared. While the boatmen 
 were wondering what had become of him, a huge wave lifted 
 him upon its crest, and tossed him into a deep valley of the 
 troubled waters again, and the boatmen had much ado in 
 bringing him back to shore. 
 
 When Papatup regained his senses, he exclaimed, " Ah, 
 pupils may, after all, be superior to their preceptors in wisdom 
 and sanctity ! " 
 
 When the people living on the banks of the lake came 
 to know the real cause of the mishap that had occurred to 
 Papatup, they called him "the self-sufficient saint," and 
 he was long known as such on the banks of the Lake 
 Manasasara. 
 
26 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 When the Mandarin had finished the story of Papatup, 
 the Prince observed, "Instances in which youthful men 
 have proved more holy and powerful than saints of long 
 standing are, indeed, rare. Papatup must have imagined 
 that, as Sidhartha was younger, therefore he was less 
 endowed with sanctity and strength." 
 
 Another Mandarin replied, "Sire, Papatup made a 
 blunder which was analogous to another committed by the 
 Righteous Regicide Parasuram, but his disgrace was cer- 
 tainly not so great as that of Parasuram." 
 
 " Ah ? Who was the Righteous Regicide Parasuram ? " 
 said the Prince. 
 
 The Mandarin told the story as follows : 
 
 In India, in ancient times, there was a great saint, who 
 had the wonderful power of going to any place he liked with 
 the swiftness of a glance of mind. He was popularly known 
 as the Righteous Regicide Parasuram. His father had been 
 killed through the instrumentality of a certain king. There- 
 fore Parasuram took an oath that he would put to death 
 every king on earth that came in his way, unless he was 
 engaged in wedding a lady at the time he saw him. Ac- 
 cordingly, the Righteous Regicide, with a great battle-axe, 
 which was his weapon, killed a great many kings, with their 
 families, and threw them into a lake of blood which he had 
 created. 
 
 A few of the kings of earth escaped the fury of Parasuram 
 by marrying a lady every day on which Parasuram paid them 
 a visit. But the rest sent up their supplications to heaven 
 to put a stop to the atrocities of the king-killer, and a voice 
 came forth in reply to this effect " In the city of Ayodhya, 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS REGICIDE. 27 
 
 which is situated on the banks of the Sarayu, in the King- 
 dom of Kossala, which is situated to the north of the great 
 river Janhavi, or Gunga, will be born of King Dasaratha and 
 his Queen Kousalya Rama, the avenger of your wrongs." 
 
 The kings of earth, therefore, waited patiently till the 
 great avenger was born. 
 
 While yet Rama was a youth, a sage, named Visvamitra, 
 came to his father, King Dasaratha, when he was at court 
 with his High Priest, Vasishta, and a great many other holy 
 men, and said, " I have been harassed by a band of giants, 
 who have constantly entered my hermitage, and impeded 
 my holy rites and ministrations. Prithee, sire, lend me 
 the services of your son Rama, that I may stay the plun- 
 dering of the marauders." 
 
 King Dasaratha replied, " Holy sire, my son is yet a 
 youth ; he cannot contend against the giants you speak of. 
 
 The sage replied, " I know the greatness of Rama, 
 whose might consists in truth and holiness. There is your 
 High Priest, Vasishta, who knows it ; and there are the other 
 sages of your court, whose holy wisdom has perceived the 
 same." 
 
 So King Dasaratha sent Rama and his brother Lakch- 
 mana with the sage. Rama repulsed the marauders and 
 put an end to their depredations. The sage Visvamitra was 
 highly pleased. 
 
 He said, " Rama, in the city of Mithila, in the country 
 of Vidaha, King Janaka celebrates a holy sacrifice ; let 
 us repair to the city." 
 
 So Rama, with his brother Lakchmana, accompanied 
 the sage and his companions to Mithila. 
 
 After crossing the river Gunga, and passing through 
 a great many provinces and. cities, they approached the city 
 of Mithila, where was performed the miracle known as " the 
 Redemption of Ahalya." The beauteous Ahalya was the 
 
28 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 wife of a sage named Gontama. In an unguarded moment 
 she erred against the rules of virtue, and the irate sage, her 
 husband, doomed her to an invisible existence, in a wood 
 near Mithila, subject to the condition that she should 
 resume her former shape and rejoin her husband when 
 Rama entered the wood. 
 
 So, as Rama stepped into the wood, Ahalya resumed her 
 former shape, and after doing him the honours of the place, 
 rejoined her husband. 
 
 When the sage Visvamitra, with Rama and Lakchmana, 
 entered Mithila, King Janaka received them with every 
 attention, and said : 
 
 " You have all heard of the great bow that I have in my 
 custody, and the reward I have promised to bestow on him 
 that bends it ? " 
 
 This reward was the hand of the Princess Secta, the 
 daughter of King Janaka. 
 
 The sage and the Princes said they knew it. 
 
 Thereupon King Janaka ordered the great bow to be 
 brought. 
 
 Rama took it up with ease, although it was of extraordin- 
 ary weight, and bent it. In this process the bow snapped. 
 
 It must be remembered, in this connection, that the 
 bow belonged to the preceptor of the Righteous Regicide 
 Parasuram. 
 
 King Janaka requested King Dasaratha, with his other 
 sons, Bharata and Satrugna, and all his family and court to 
 repair to Mithila, and bestowed the Princess Secta on Rama, 
 saying, "This is Secta, my daughter, your partner in life; 
 accept her with love and esteem, and live happily with her 
 for ever." 
 
 Then he bestowed on each of the three remaining 
 princes a princess of his family. 
 
 When the royal weddings were over, Visvamitra took 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS REGICIDE. 29 
 
 leave of his young friends, and repaired to some holy haunt 
 in the Himalayas, where he wished to spend the remaining 
 days of his life. 
 
 King Dasaratha, with, his sons Rama, Lakchmana, 
 Bharata, and Satrugna, started on his journey to Ayodhya. 
 When they had proceeded some distance, the earth trem- 
 bled as if an earthquake shook it, and the saint Parasuram, 
 with his monstrous battle-axe, and a great bow to boot, 
 presented himself abruptly before Rama, and said with 
 a sneer, " Now then, my little man, you snapped the bow 
 of my preceptor at Mithila, and married the fair Princess 
 Secta did you not ? Well, here is another bow for you to 
 bend. When you shall have bent it, we shall have some 
 wrestling, and something else thereafter till you should be 
 utterly discomfited." 
 
 Rama said nothing in reply, for it was his wont to say 
 nothing when people bantered. He received the bow, and 
 bending it, he adjusted the string and shaft in an instant. 
 
 " Ah, this is indeed another miracle ! for he that bends 
 this bow with such ease must indeed be more than 
 human ! " 
 
 This was not all. In receiving the bow from Parasu- 
 ram, Rama utterly extracted all his might and energy from 
 him. So he became utterly powerless. 
 
 Rama said, "I have fitted the shaft to the string, and 
 you must point out some vicarious victim to it, if you wish 
 to escape." 
 
 Parasuram said, " I have long possessed, as all the world 
 knows, the wonderful power of going to any place I like 
 with the swiftness of a glance of mind. Let the shaft 
 demolish that power." 
 
 So the Righteous Regicide was deprived of the power, 
 and as he could hardly move thereafter, he did no more 
 harm to the kings of earth, but contented himself with 
 
30 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 spending the remaining days of his life on a mountain 
 named Mahendra, where he had his home ever cherishing 
 with reverence the memory of the great avenger of the 
 kings of earth. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Ah, the story is a good illus- 
 tration of the adage ' Conquerors often meet with defeat 
 from a quarter where they least expect it.' " 
 
 Another Mandarin, who wished to take this opportunity 
 to relate another story to the Prince, said, " Sire, Parasuram, 
 like the Giant Ever-bidding, in the story of Tullima and the 
 Sunbeam, no doubt met with discomfiture in a quarter 
 where he least expected it." 
 
 The Prince asked, " Who was the Giant Ever-bidding ? 
 How did he figure in the story of Tullima and the Sunbeam, 
 good Mandarin ? " 
 
 The Mandarin spoke as follows : 
 
 Smllima anir 
 
 In the Island of Niphon, there was a giant who went to 
 people and said, "Give me a bidding." When they gave 
 him one, he did it at once and asked for another. When 
 this was given, he did it at once and asked for a third. In 
 this manner, he asked for biddings incessantly and did 
 them. 
 
 If any paused or failed to give him biddings, he devoured 
 them at once, saying, " This person has fallen to my share 
 by the right I possess of devouring those that fail to give me 
 biddings." 
 
 The people were in despair, and said they would make 
 that person Sovereign of the island who drove Ever-bidding 
 out of it. 
 
LITTLE TULLIMA AND THE SUNBEAM. 31 
 
 A shopkeeper said he would drive out Ever-bidding. 
 The people solicited him to do so at once. 
 
 His shop was built of pieces of paste-board, on which 
 were placarded such phrases as " selling off," " selling on," 
 " selling in," " selling out," selling up," selling down," and 
 sundry other challenges to the trade to sell cheaper if 
 possible. The goods in the shop were as well arranged as 
 ever ; for he scarcely had a customer from New Year's day 
 to New Year's day. 
 
 He asked Ever-bidding to bring customers to his shop. 
 Instantly so many people came that all the goods were sold, 
 and while the shopkeeper was considering what stock he 
 was to take next, Ever-bidding made a morsel of him, saying, 
 " We can sell no more ! " 
 
 There was a physician, who advertised a great many 
 pills, potions, and panaceas. He told Ever-bidding to bring 
 him a great many herbs and drugs from different parts of 
 the world. Ever-bidding brought them all at once. While 
 the physician was considering what he was to ask him to do 
 next, Ever-bidding made a morsel of him, saying, " You are 
 not such a good pill after all ! " 
 
 There was a miser, who told Ever-bidding to bring him 
 all the wealth of the world. 
 
 Instantly all the wealth of the world was in the hand of 
 the miser. 
 
 Then the miser said, " Take me to a lake of gold, where 
 I may bathe \ put me by a table of gold where I may dine ; 
 lay me on a couch of gold where I may sleep." 
 
 Ever-bidding did so. 
 
 The miser said, " I have had all the wealth of the world 
 brought to me. I can hope to get nothing more. Fortune 
 is a fickle maid, as the proverb says ; so the next moment 
 she may change. Let me therefore go off in this the 
 happiest condition of my life." 
 
32 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 As he thus paused, Ever-bidding came to make a morse) 
 of him. 
 
 The miser said, "Ah, Ever-bidding, I am extremely 
 indebted to you for all your kind offices. There is but one 
 wish more to be gratified. Just put me in a coffin of gold, 
 on a hearse of gold, and after driving through a street of 
 gold towards a cemetery of gold, bury me for five seconds in 
 a grave of gold, and then make a morsel of me ! " 
 
 Ever-bidding was kind enough to do so. 
 
 There was a Mandarin who was very learned in the laws 
 of the country. 
 
 The people went to him and said, " Good Mandarin, is 
 there nothing in the big books you keep constantly turning, 
 that would enable you to get rid of him somehow ? " 
 
 Instantly, the Mandarin gave Ever-bidding a great many 
 subtle questions to be answered about brothers and cousins 
 who struggled to get at one another's property ; about 
 creditors who wanted to drive their debtors and their children 
 from their homes because the mole-hills they had lent to 
 them had become mountains ; about husbands and wives 
 who disliked each other ; about people who were prepared 
 to spend thousands to walk by a certain foot-path while 
 those to whom it belonged said they should not; and 
 sundry other points which the Mandarin and the people 
 fancied formed together a clever trap to catch Ever-bidding. 
 
 But he answered them all, pointing to the texts and cases 
 bearing on each. 
 
 The poor Mandarin had to acknowledge his defeat, and 
 Ever-bidding made a morsel of him, while the Mandarin 
 persisted in calling it manslaughter and murder as he went 
 down his throat. 
 
 Then a great many other people tried their skill at 
 giving biddings, but were eventually devoured by him. 
 
 There was a little girl named Tullima, who was very 
 
LITTLE TULLIMA AND THE SUNBEAM. 33 
 
 gentle and amiable. She was the only child of her parents, 
 who were very poor. One evening Ever-bidding chanced 
 to meet her as she was returning from the field where her 
 father had been working, and stopped her, saying, 
 
 " Give me a bidding." 
 
 Her mother, who was close by, said, " Ah Ever-bidding, 
 this is the only child I have ; do leave her to herself and go 
 to some one else who may be in a better position to give 
 biddings to one of your wonderful ability and skill." 
 
 But the giant was inexorable. So the mother of 
 Tullima stood shedding tears and sobbing aloud at a 
 distance. 
 
 But Tullima, with that courage which innocent and 
 amiable hearts often command, said, "Good Ever-bidding, 
 our hut is almost in ruins ; make it a nice little cottage." 
 Instantly the hut became a nice little cottage. 
 
 " Give father corn enough for the year," said Tullima. 
 
 The corn was there. 
 
 " Give mamma a brindled cow," said Tullima. 
 
 The cow was there. 
 
 After asking for some more necessaries of life and 
 getting them, Tullima said, " Good Ever-bidding, I have 
 long been desirous of possessing a sunbeam to myself. I 
 have a pretty little work-box in which I wish to put it, and 
 shall feel much obliged to you if you can get it for me. 
 There are a few yet lingering on the top of the hill there." 
 
 Ever-bidding ran to fetch a sunbeam for Tullima, 
 saying, " I have got her after all." But he could not catch 
 any of them. 
 
 He said, " These beams seem to help one another in 
 resisting me ; I will wait until only one lingers and then 
 seize it." 
 
 So he waited. But when the sun went, the sunbeam 
 went with him. Ever-bidding trembled from head to foot, 
 
34 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 and left the island, exclaiming, " Alas, what a brilliant career 
 was mine ! How sadly it has ended ! To be conquered in 
 this style by a little innocent girl on account of a sunbeam 
 it looks more like a dream than a reality ! " 
 Tullima became the Queen of the island. 
 
 "EVER-BIDDING RAN TO FETCH A SUNBEAM" (/>. 33). 
 
 When the Mandarin had finished the story, the Prince 
 said, "Asking people for a bidding, and then devouring 
 them was the dagger with which the giant stabbed his 
 victims. But the proverb says, ' Some day a man's heart 
 may prove the sheath of his own dagger.' So the giant 
 Ever-bidding was, indeed, worsted by his own weapon." 
 
 Another Mandarin, who was eager to tell a story of his 
 own to the Prince and secure the praise which had been 
 accorded to his companion, said, " Sire, the Giant Ever- 
 bidding, like the Boy Bahadur with the Magic Club, no 
 doubt, found defeat and ignominy from his own instrument;," 
 
THE BOY BAHADUR AND THE MAGIC CLUB. 35 
 
 The Prince eagerly asked, " Who was the Boy Bahadur ? 
 How did the Magic Club turn against its own master, good 
 Mandarin ? " 
 
 The Mandarin related the story as follows : 
 
 38aljaiwr attft tljs jWak (flub. 
 
 In a country not far from China, there was a boy 
 named Bahadur, who was very fond of stealing other folks' 
 property. At the same time he was very jealous of other 
 thieves like himself. If any of them went to steal the fruit 
 in an orchard, he tried his best to get as much of the spoil 
 to himself as he possibly could. He was very clever and 
 nimble; so nobody could catch him, while most of his 
 associates were often seized and punished. Therefore they 
 remarked that Bahadur had it all his own way, while they 
 were whipped at the end of every doubtful adventure. 
 
 The longer his lease of impunity the greater became the 
 greed and vanity of Bahadur. So, he once went to a Genius, 
 who lived in a mountain close by, and said, " Good Genius, 
 I must have some instrument which will glorify me. Do 
 grant me one." 
 
 The Genius replied, " Well, to those that have committed 
 ten clever thefts undetected I grant a club called Zubbur- 
 dust. Those that have achieved a hundred feats of the 
 kind are entitled to a heavy mace called Burra Zubburdust. 
 The illustrious folk that have solved a thousand difficult pro- 
 blems in the thieving art are rewarded with a wonderfully 
 good scimitar called Burra Burra Zubburdust. Now let me 
 know without reserve all that you have done, that I may 
 judge of your merits and reward you accordingly. 7 ' 
 
 Bahadur, who fancied he had done enough to get the 
 scimitar, narrated at length a great many feats in which he 
 P 3 
 
36 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 had victimised, with marvellous skill and celerity, apple- 
 women, orchard-keepers, cake vendors, and sundry other 
 people, and deprived them of their wares. 
 
 The Genius made a long calculation within himself, and 
 said that all the really clever feats in themselves amounted 
 to nine tricks and three-quarters ; that he called them tricks 
 because they were more thieving tricks than genuine clever 
 thefts ; that he added by way of grace a quarter, and 
 that made up the number which entitled him to the magic 
 club. 
 
 Bahadur was quite mortified to hear that, after all, what 
 he had actually accomplished was so little, so he exclaimed, 
 " Ah, I hoped to get the scimitar ! " 
 
 " Ah, Bahadur," said the Genius, " we often hope for 
 mountains, when \ve are but entitled to molehills ; so never 
 mind your hopes. Will you take the magic club, or not ? 
 say yes or no. " 
 
 Bahadur, finding the Genius determined on the subject, 
 quietly consented to take the club. 
 
 The Genius handed it over to him, saying, " This will, 
 indeed, glorify you. Whenever you wish to find out a thief, 
 say, ' Zubburdust, bring the thief,' and it will bring him to 
 you, or to anybody else to whom you may direct it, 
 knocking him over the knuckles all the way. But if 
 ever you get into trouble, it will leave you that very 
 moment." 
 
 Having acquired this great instrument, Bahadur every 
 morning seated himself on a high rock adjacent to the town 
 in which he lived, and said, "Zubburdust, bring all the 
 thieves of yesterday." Instantly all the thieves of the 
 previous day would be brought to him, with hard knocks 
 over the knuckles. 
 
 In that town the greatest number of thieves was among 
 the servants of the Sultan, so among the culprits whom the 
 
THE BOY BAHADUR AND THE MAGIC CLUB. 37 
 
 club brought to Bahadur daily, figured a great many of the 
 palace servants. 
 
 The Sultan came to know of Bahadur as the wonderful 
 thief-catcher, and was glad that he and his magic club were 
 doing such useful work for the public good. But Bahadur 
 had his own principles of equity in dealing with the thieves. 
 He generally took one-half the stolen property to himself, 
 and let them off with the remainder. 
 
 One day, to Bahadur's surprise and delight, the club 
 brought to him the chief of the Sultan's eunuchs, dealing 
 hard knocks over his knuckles. 
 
 " What have you done, my good man ? " said Bahadur, 
 with a laugh. 
 
 " Unfortunately, sir, I stole a gem in the turban of the 
 Sultan," said the chief. 
 
 "Ah," said Bahadur, with a mischievous wink, "you 
 need not be concerned on that score ; we have all our 
 weaknesses. Now let me see the gem." 
 
 The eunuch gave the gem. Bahadur put it into his 
 pocket, and fancying it was an excellent opportunity to 
 curry favour with the Sultan, ran to his Majesty, and 
 divulged the secret. 
 
 The Sultan asked the eunuch to explain his conduct. 
 
 He replied, "Sire, I request your Majesty to ask 
 Bahadur to order his magic club to bring to us the 
 offender." 
 
 " That is but right," said the Sultan, turning to the owner 
 of the wonderful club. 
 
 Instantly, Bahadur said, "Now, Zubburdust, I bid thee 
 take the man that has stolen the gem in the Sultan's turban, 
 and lock him up in the palace jail." 
 
 Scarcely had he finished speaking, when Zubburdust 
 began to operate on the knuckles of poor Bahadur himself 
 for he had the gem in his pocket and did not stop till it 
 
38 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 had thrust him into jail, and shutting him up in it, left him 
 for ever, for he had got into trouble. 
 
 Zubburdust dealt such hard knocks over the knuckles of 
 poor Bahadur, that he exclaimed, " Ah, when this club, 
 Zubburdust itself, is so hard in dealing with its victims, what 
 must be the energy of the monster, Burra Zubburdust, and 
 the fiend, Burra Burra Zubburdust, who, the Genius said, 
 exist in the shape of a mace and scimitar respectively ! " 
 
 "ZUBBURDUST DEALT SUCH HARD KNOCKS." 
 
 The Sultan and his eunuch had a hearty laugh over it. 
 The eunuch, who had done the whole thing on purpose to 
 bring Bahadur to grief, because he had been the source of 
 constant annoyance to the thieves in the Sultan's palace, 
 celebrated his victory over the thief-catcher with all his 
 jubilant companions. 
 
 A great many other people who had daily suffered at the 
 hands of Bahadur went to see him, and every one of them said, 
 "Ah, Bahadur, you have been after all glorified by your club!" 
 
 As often as they said so, poor Bahadur exclaimed, " Alas ! 
 it is, indeed, hard that the thief-catcher should himself be 
 
THE BASKET IN THE STREAM. 39 
 
 caught. Oh for a Zubburdust that would not try conclusions 
 with its owner ! " 
 
 The Prince observed, " So it was, after all, the artifice 
 of the chief eunuch that brought about the downfall of 
 Bahadur." 
 
 Another Mandarin observed, " Sire, people that are a 
 source of constant annoyance to others are often subdued, 
 even as Pahili subdued his wife, Comaya, by the aid of the 
 Basket in the Stream." 
 
 The Prince said. " Good Mandarin, it must, indeed, be 
 interesting to know how Pahili conquered his wife Comaya. 
 Do relate the story." 
 
 The Mandarin related it as follows \ 
 
 Saskt in tfc 
 
 In the Shan country there was a man named Pahili, who 
 had a wife named Comaya. She was one of those women 
 who are never satisfied with their husbands. If Pahili sat, 
 she said he sat in a manner peculiarly his own. If he stood, 
 he did not stand like other men. If he walked, why it was 
 a strange gait he presented. If he coughed or sneezed, why 
 it was a most unearthly sound. If ever he ventured to smile, 
 she exclaimed, " Ah, good husband, what makes you weep?" 
 and if he appeared in good humour, she said, " Ah, good 
 husband, you have the knack of being pleasant in the midst 
 of misery ! " 
 
 Poor Pahili was, therefore, ever on the alert to avoid 
 giving occasion for such unsavoury remarks. This caution 
 again on his part gave rise to the invariable observation 
 
 " Good husband, remember you are not surrounded by 
 bears, wolves, and hyenas, but in the midst of human beings.'' 
 
40 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 If, pestered by such poignant gibe and banter, Palnli 
 said he would flee to the woods and be happy, Cornaya 
 would exclaim 
 
 " Ah, good husband, you will find me there ! " 
 
 Pahili was not very well off in point of temporal 
 means, but Comaya was very extravagant. Every orna- 
 ment that women in the neighbourhood wore she must 
 have. Every article of apparel that suited her fancy 
 should be supplied to her at once. In spite of his diffi- 
 culties, Pahili took care not only to supply all the wants 
 of his wife, but most of her whims also in this department. 
 If, after he had given her some coveted article of dress or 
 ornament, he approached her with an air of satisfaction, 
 she would at once cut him down, saying 
 
 " Ah, good husband, what credit you take to yourself 
 for the trinkets and trumpery that you have got for me 
 to-day." 
 
 This would, of course, bring poor Pahili to his senses, 
 and make him eat humble pie. 
 
 As time advanced, the wants and whims of Madame 
 Pahili increased. In the course of the same day she 
 often made a great many purchases, and the tradesmen 
 sent Pahili a great many bills ; for tradesmen's bills exist 
 all the world over in some shape or other. If they are on 
 paper in Pekin, they are on palm-leaf in the Shan country. 
 The strain was too great on the resources of Pahili. So, 
 after all, he grew bold, and said to his wife 
 
 "Good Comay?s I can give you no more money." 
 
 Comaya replied 
 
 "Well, good husband, you speak as if you had given 
 me money before. I should like to know when you 
 did?" 
 
 Of course, Pahili confessed, by his silence, his inability 
 to reply to this query ; while Comaya threw before him a 
 
THE BASKET IN THE STREAM. 41 
 
 great bundle of bills from the tradesmen, which had not yet 
 been paid. 
 
 Pahili wreaked his vengeance on the bundle by putting 
 upon it a covering bill with the words, " The result of a 
 wife's extravagance " ; while Comaya lost no time in doing 
 justice to her own feelings on the subject by attaching to 
 the bundle another bill with the words, " The result of a 
 husband's incompetency." 
 
 Thereupon, words ran high between husband and wife, 
 and they agreed to submit their case for decision to a spirit, 
 who, they knew, lived in a river close by, Comaya speci- 
 fying the process as follows 
 
 " We will put the bills in a basket and set it down on 
 the stream next morning. If it floats against the current, 
 you are right, and I will be ever after your obedient and 
 humble wife. But if it floats down with the current, I am 
 right, and you shall be more obedient and humble than 
 ever." 
 
 " Agreed ! " said Pahili, and going to a friend of his, 
 who was famous all over the country as a great swimmer, 
 said 
 
 "My good friend, here is a fair chance of subduing my 
 wife once for all, if you will only help me to-morrow." 
 
 Then they conversed long on the method to be adopted, 
 and settled it ; while the other, as if he spoke from his 
 own bitter experience on the subject, concluded with the 
 observation 
 
 "All mankind must unite in aiding a man who tries 
 to tame a termagant wife." 
 
 The next morning Pahili and Comaya carried the 
 basket together, and set it down on the waters of the 
 stream. Instead of going down with the current, as 
 Comaya had shrewdly imagined, it went up right against 
 it; for the friend of Pahili was in the water pulling it 
 
42 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 after him the other way, without giving the slightest indi- 
 cation of his presence there. 
 
 Poor Comaya was nonplussed for the first time in her 
 life ; and as the basket continued to travel up the stream 
 with incredible rapidity, she addressed her husband as 
 follows 
 
 " Now, if the spirit of the river is really pulling it up 
 the other way, in your favour, let us examine the basket 
 and see if there is any written indication of its will in 
 it." 
 
 So, they stopped the basket, and, opening it, they found 
 a note to this effect 
 
 " If Comaya, or any other termagant wife in the Shan 
 country does not rectify her ways at once, let her have the 
 ducking-stool, on the banks of this very stream, without a 
 moment's hesitation, and, I shall be on the spot to see 
 that she is well chastised." 
 
 The universal fiat of the spirit, who appeared to have 
 issued it in a very angry tone, startled Comaya. From that 
 day forth she seldom stirred out of her house, nor did her 
 tongue stir out of its retreat in that capacious region of 
 human volubility, the mouth. Further, from that day forth 
 Pahili had no more tradesmen's bills to pay ; nor had he 
 any unkind words from Comaya. 
 
 The story of Pahili's victory over his wife went abroad, 
 and was hailed as a God-send by all the other good folk 
 in the Shan country, who had been similarly afflicted by 
 that prevailing malady, which some have called, in vulgar 
 phrase, wife-bother, and others, more learned and euphe- 
 mistic, designate by such expressions as uxorious annoy- 
 ance and connubial infelicity. As the good luck of these 
 men would have it, the wives of the Shan country are 
 to this day in the dark as to the trick by which Pahili 
 subdued his irrepressible wife. So, if a wife should un- 
 
THE QUEER GLADIATOR. 43 
 
 wittingly take it into her head to annoy her husband to any 
 the least degree, the latter exclaims 
 
 " Now, good wife, let us put our quarrels in a basket, 
 and go to the river-spirit for decision." 
 
 This, of course, instantly brings the wife to her senses. 
 So the husbands in the Shan country remember Pahili as 
 the great Patriarch of the tribe of successful husbands, 
 while the wives remember Comaya as an ancient martyr to 
 masculine vanity and tyranny. 
 
 The Prince exclaimed, "Ah, but for the secrecy with 
 which Pahili conducted his operations, Comaya had not 
 been so easily subdued ! " 
 
 Another Mandarin, who wished to secure the admiration 
 of the Prince, like his other companions, said, " Sire, a veil 
 of mystery has often sheltered the weakest, and in some 
 instances it has given them the victory over the most 
 powerful opponents, as in the case of the Queer Gladiator, 
 who said he was skilled in symbolical fencing." 
 
 " The Queer Gladiator ! Symbolical fencing ! Who ever 
 heard of such? Good Mandarin, let us know all about 
 them without any further delay," said the Prince. 
 
 The Mandarin related the story as follows : 
 
 In the ancient Kingdom of Corea there was a monarch, 
 who was very'fond of witnessing the performances of acro- 
 bats, wrestlers, gladiators, and other prize-fighters. He kept 
 a great many of these men, paying them large sums of 
 money, and training them from time to time under his own 
 personal care. Some, who were considered the strongest 
 and the cleverest, belonged to what was called the First 
 
44 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Brigade. Others, slightly inferior to them in strength and 
 skill, were counted men of the Second. All other men, 
 who had the ambition to perform, but had neither the 
 physical energy nor the training required for it, came under 
 the Third ; and the King gave them a pittance from time 
 to time, rewarding thereby, as he said, their inclination to 
 distinguish themselves rather than their intrinsic merit in 
 that respect. 
 
 His Majesty was also fond of such men as made him 
 laugh constantly. " He that makes me laugh," said the King, 
 " shall have a high reward, however insignificant his pains 
 may be." 
 
 Hence, all the wits and wags, humourists and harlequin*;, 
 mimics and motley fools, and a great many others of that 
 populous brotherhood known as the laughing and the 
 laughter-making tribe, congregated at the Court of his 
 Majesty, and often drove him to the necessity of holding 
 his ribs very tightly. 
 
 Of these, there was one who was as remarkable for his 
 madcap tricks as he was small and ugly in size. The King 
 called him Caterpillar, because, as his Majesty observed, 
 he spun out the threads of his wit and humour even as that 
 worm spun out threads of silk in one of its progressive 
 stages. 
 
 The people, with whom Caterpillar was a great fa- 
 vourite, delighted in calling him by such names as Spider- 
 leg, Apple-pate, Currant-eye, from the very diminutive size 
 of the limb or organ referred to in each. 
 
 Caterpillar, in spite of all his defects and disadvantages, 
 had the audacity to call himself the Captain of the Third 
 Brigade, observing that all inefficient men went into it; 
 that he was the most gifted with that qualification called 
 inefficiency, and that, therefore, he had the best right to 
 the command of the Brigade. 
 
THE QUEER GLADIATOR. 45 
 
 Not content with assuming the title of the Captain of 
 the Third Brigade, he constantly rallied the ablest men 
 of the First Brigade, saying, "The best men generally 
 go down when there is an emergency, even as the best 
 stones go to the bottom when there is a flood. There will 
 be a day, I am sure, when you will seek my help, and when 
 I shall become your Captain." 
 
 The men of the First Brigade would ask, " Ah, Cater- 
 pillar, what will you do when you become Captain ol 
 our Brigade ? " 
 
 He would reply, " Why, I will make each of you my 
 horse for a day." 
 
 There was a gladiator named Mountain Shoulder, in the 
 Kingdom of Japan, who came to the King of Corea, and 
 said, " I challenge the strongest and boldest of the First 
 Brigade of your Majesty to single combat. I am, as your 
 Majesty sees, seven feet high ; my sword is fourteen, and 
 my spear twenty-seven. Should your men despair of coping 
 with me, let them say so to my face, that I may make a 
 note of their names in the list of vanquished foes that 
 I keep, and go to the Courts of other monarchs, where 
 I may find foemen more worthy of my steel. " 
 
 The King of Corea, who was quite provoked by the 
 defiant speech of Mountain Shoulder, turned to his 
 men. 
 
 They said, " We can fight with men, but not with giants 
 like Mountain Shoulder." 
 
 " Then," said the King in an angry tone, " am I to 
 understand that there is not one among you to fight 
 Mountain Shoulder ? " 
 
 Caterpillar stepped forth and said, "Your humble 
 servant will fight Mountain Shoulder, and maintain the 
 glory of your Majesty's name untarnished." 
 
 The King laughed outright. But Caterpillar said he was 
 
46 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 in earnest, and that he was not to be dissuaded from his 
 purpose. 
 
 So Mountain Shoulder was asked to meet Caterpillar 
 in the arena. 
 
 Mountain Shoulder waved his sword, fourteen feet long, 
 wondering how Caterpillar would withstand the charge. 
 
 But before he could recover from his wonder, Caterpillar 
 said, " Well, my good fellow, Mountain Shoulder, let me tell 
 you I have a sword twenty-eight feet long ; but I have not 
 brought it, because I do not want it, as you will see ere long. 
 So put your sword by, and tell me if you have any objection 
 to do a little symbolical fencing at first." 
 
 " What is symbolical fencing ?" said Mountain Shoulder. 
 
 " Well," said Caterpillar, after casting a glance of the 
 utmost contempt at his adversary, " if you do not under- 
 stand symbolical fencing, which is the very alphabet of 
 gladiators, I would like to know what you have learnt at all." 
 
 This struck dismay into the heart of Mountain Shoulder. 
 Yet, as he had to keep up with his adversary, he said, 
 " Well, let us have some symbolical fencing at first, as you 
 say." 
 
 " Will you be the aggressor, or shall I commence ? " said 
 Caterpillar. 
 
 Mountain Shoulder said he conceded the honour of com- 
 mencing to his adversary, the secret being that Mountain 
 Shoulder did not know how to commence. 
 
 Instantly, Caterpillar pointed to the north, brought his 
 hand to the level of his shoulder, then to the level of his 
 waist, then to the level of his knee, then passed an imaginary 
 knife round his own throat, and clenching his fist, shook 
 it at Mountain Shoulder in the attitude of a man who eagerly 
 asked a question, and said, " Now, my good fellow, Moun- 
 tain Shoulder, tell me what this pass means, and we shall 
 proceed further," 
 
MOUNTAIN SHOULDKR WAVED HIS SWORD" (/. 6), 
 
THE QUEER GLADIATOR. 49 
 
 Mountain Shoulder recalled to his mind all the lessons 
 in fencing that he had received from the greatest masters 
 of the art in Japan ; but not one of them furnished him with 
 a clue to find out the meaning of Caterpillar's pass. 
 
 So he requested the King of Corea to grant him a day to 
 answer the query. His Majesty readily granted his request. 
 
 Instantly Caterpillar stepped forth, and said, " Well, my 
 good fellow, Mountain Shoulder, when next we meet, I shall 
 have to bring such weapons as would be compatible with the 
 size of my adversary ; for instance, if it should come to the 
 question of cutting your throat, I shall be able to accom- 
 plish it better with a knife two feet long than one of a foot. 
 So tell me with what weapons you mean to fight when next 
 we meet." 
 
 Mountain Shoulder, who was absorbed in his endeavours 
 to solve the problem in symbolical fencing which Cater- 
 pillar had set him, gave no reply ; but went home, and 
 finding himself no wiser at the end of the day, decamped, 
 with his followers, leaving the city at dead of night. 
 
 The King asked Caterpillar for an explanation of the 
 problem in symbolical fencing. 
 
 Caterpillar said, " Sire, I simply meant that in the northern 
 part of this city there lived in my house my wife, who came 
 up to my shoulders in height ; my first child, who came up to 
 my waist in height ; and my second child, who came up to 
 my knee in height ; that Mountain Shoulder was determined 
 to cut my throat, and that I was determined to know how he 
 was to dispose of them all after disposing of me ! " 
 
 His Majesty, who roared with laughter, made Caterpillar 
 Captain of the First Brigade on the spot, and he rode on 
 the shoulders of a man of the Brigade every day, and the 
 men bore him with pleasure, calling him their great Captain 
 Caterpillar, who had delivered them from Mountain 
 Shoulder. 
 E 
 
so THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 But Mountain Shoulder, who, from the day he decamped 
 ignominiously from the Capital of Corea, at dead of night, 
 laid by his list of vanquished foes, remembered Caterpillar 
 as the Queer Gladiator, who was skilled in the mysterious 
 art of symbolical fencing, which he could learn from no- 
 body. 
 
 The Prince thanked the Mandarin for the story, and said, 
 " The audacity of the little wretch Caterpillar, when he refers 
 to the question of cutting the throat of Mountain Shoulder 
 with a knife two feet long, is simply provoking. How happy 
 the Japanese giant would have been if he had only known 
 the real meaning of the problem in symbolical fencing ! " 
 
 Here another Mandarin, who had been watching for an 
 opportunity to amuse the Prince with a story of his own, 
 said, " Sire, it is not every one that can hope to become 
 happy like Maneloi by surmising the real meaning of the 
 professions of others." 
 
 " Who was Maneloi, good Mandarin ? " said the Prince. 
 
 The Mandarin told the story as follows : 
 
 tljai Ija& Sfcten daks to it. 
 
 In the midst of the desert, on the confines of the Celestial 
 Empire, there was a capricious fairy, who built a city for 
 herself, with seven gates, and a palace in the centre with 
 a lofty tower. These seven gates were not on seven different 
 sides, but in a line from the outskirts of the city to the 
 palace of the fairy. ; 
 
 So a person who wished to reach the palace had to pass 
 through* the seven gates one .after another. On all other 
 sides the city was so well guarded by fairy soldiers that, as 
 they said, not the winds themselves could enter unnoticed. 
 
THE CITY THAT HAD SEVEN GATES. 51 
 
 This fairy once said to herself "Everybody hears of 
 people that fall in love with fair women and seek them in 
 marriage. But nobody has yet heard of an ugly female being 
 courted by a man. That man who is prepared to lay down 
 his life for a woman with frightful appearance and manners 
 must, indeed, be counted a true lover. So let me see if such 
 a man exists on earth." 
 
 With this resolve she transformed herself into one of 
 the most hideous shapes imaginable. Her head was like 
 the head of a monstrous ape, with an additional eye on her 
 forehead. Her neck was as slender and twice as long as 
 that of a crane. Her waist was thick and round like a 
 drum. Her legs were thin like the legs of a spider, while 
 her feet had claws as big and sharp as the claws of a great 
 eagle. Her whole body was covered with scales like fish, 
 while bristles and feathers appeared scattered here and 
 there, including the face. 
 
 Her dress and ornaments were contrived to suit her 
 appearance. Reptiles of various shapes and sizes formed 
 her necklaces and garlands. A string of snails and crabs 
 alternately arranged formed her bracelet on each wrist, and 
 a huge adder, which coiled round her waist, arid whose 
 perpetual hisses filled the air, she called her girdle. 
 A great toad and a monstrous hedgehog were her 
 pets. 
 
 When she breathed she hissed like a great serpent ; and 
 when she spoke, she brayed, as her maids observed, like a 
 donkey that had received a severe beating. 
 
 When she had completed her metamorphosis, she 
 posted a goblin at each gate, with special instructions as to- 
 their duties, and said, " Now let my lover come and plead 
 his cause." 
 
 Of course all her maids assumed corresponding shapes, 
 and formed a little world of hideousness round their 
 E 2 
 
52 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 frightful mistress, whom they called their Incomparable 
 Fairy Queen Adder-Girdle. 
 
 The fame of the Fairy Queen Adder-Girdle reached 
 the ends of the world. Many a valiant youth came to the 
 gate of the city to see her. To every one who thus came 
 she presented herself on the top of the tower in her palace, 
 and said, " Fair youth, if you really love me, come through 
 the seven gates, and kiss me on my third good eye." 
 
 Then she would take up the toad and the hedgehog and 
 kiss them, one after the other, saying, " So will I kiss the 
 youth that seeks my love." 
 
 But so soon as the youth scanned her person, heard her 
 voice, and observed her kissing her pets, he would turn his 
 back and fly, exclaiming, " Oh, what a frightful monster ! 
 I would rather kiss a flaming torch than kiss such a being ! 
 I should like to know who ever will love her ! " 
 
 The fairy, in the midst of her maids, would shout, " He 
 who for my love is born, will find me fair as summer morn. 
 When he has kissed my third good eye, for a second kiss 
 how he will sigh ! " 
 
 A man in the Celestial Empire, named Maneloi, who 
 had long heard of the fairy and her peculiarities, said to 
 himself, " Fairies, as a rule, are exceedingly beautiful ; but 
 this fairy is hideous in the extreme. Again, the allusion 
 she makes to the fact of her being fair as summer morn, 
 and to the kiss on her third eye, evidently means some 
 mystery which is yet to be unravelled ; so I must court her, 
 and see what will come of it." 
 
 Accordingly he presented himself at the gate of the city, 
 and said, " I love the Fairy Queen Adder-Girdle with all 
 my heart, and am prepared to lay down my life for her." 
 
 Instantly the fairy with her maids appeared on the 
 tower, and said, " If so, fair youth, come up and kiss me on 
 my third good eye." 
 
THE CITY THAT HAD SEVEN GATES. 
 
 53 
 
 Maneloi essayed to pass the first gate. 
 
 Instantly he was addressed by the goblin in charge of it 
 in these words : " You must make over some part of your 
 body as the fee for letting you pass this gate." 
 
 iUiIlli.. 
 
 "THE GOBLIN TOOK HIS RIGHT LEG" (p. 54). 
 
 "Will nothing else satisfy you?" said Maneloi. 
 
 " No," said the goblin, resolutely. 
 
 Maneloi surmised that the goblin was simply acting in 
 obedience to instructions from his whimsical mistress, and 
 said, " If so, take one of my legs." 
 
54 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The goblin took his right leg, which he devoured on the 
 spot, and transported him to the second gate. 
 
 The goblin here made the same demand. Maneloi 
 gave him his left leg, which he disposed of like his brother 
 at the first gate, and Maneloi found himself at the third. 
 After gratifying the goblin here with one of his hands, and 
 the next three with his other hand, and his nose, and his 
 ears respectively, he found himself at the seventh or inner- 
 most gate, where a huge goblin observed, " Unless you 
 give up your heart you cannot pass this gate." 
 
 Maneloi, who conjectured rightly that this was the last 
 and the grandest test to which the whim of the fairy subjected 
 him, said, "You are welcome to take my lips, and my eyes, 
 and my life to boot, but not my heart." 
 
 "Why not your heart?" said the hideous goblin. 
 
 Maneloi said, " Ah, that is for the incomparable Fairy 
 Queen Adder-Girdle." 
 
 Just then he saw the Fairy Adder- Girdle with her maids 
 approaching him, saying, " Here I am, to receive your heart 
 that for me you have set apart ! " 
 
 Maneloi was shocked to some extent by her frightful 
 appearance. It seemed to him as though she was a 
 thousand times more hideous than when he first saw her 
 at the outskirts of the city. Again he conjectured rightly 
 that it was her final effort to be as hideous as practicable 
 before throwing off the guise she had assumed, and with 
 great self-command, said, " Fairy, may I kiss your third good 
 eye?" 
 
 " By all means," said she, bringing her frightful face near 
 his, as he had no legs to stand upon. 
 
 Maneloi kissed her on her third good eye. when she 
 turned at once into a fairy of surpassing beauty and 
 elegance, and he regained all his limbs and found himself 
 more youthful and vigorous than ever. 
 
THE GIANT AND THE PHILOSOPHER. 55 
 
 The maids of the fairy also regained their former shapes 
 and danced round the happy couple. Maneloi sighed for 
 a kiss almost every second, and the good fairy gave it to 
 him as often, saying that Maneloi was about the only true 
 lover on earth. 
 
 Maneloi led a very happy life with his fairy wife in the 
 City with Seven Gates to it ; and when people wished to 
 express their admiration of a lover's attachment to his 
 mistress, they would say, "Why, he is as devoted as 
 Maneloi ! " 
 
 The Prince observed, " No doubt, the action of Maneloi 
 judged by itself is an extraordinary instance of self-devotion 
 in the cause of love. In this respect he was, indeed, unlike 
 a great many who would rather see a whole community 
 perish than sustain an injury themselves." 
 
 Another Mandarin remarked, "Sire, Maneloi was cer- 
 tainly unlike the philosopher Nee Wang, who doomed a 
 whole city to destruction at the hands of a giant named 
 Jimlac rather than himself fall a prey to his greed." 
 
 The Prince asked who Nee Wang was, and how he came 
 in contact with Jimlac. 
 
 The Mandarin told the story : 
 
 Jimlac attb 
 jltt 
 
 In the Peling Mountains, which is a range in the 
 Celestial Empire, there lived a giant named Jimlac, who 
 was remarkable for his truthfulness and honesty. At the 
 same time, he was very fond of eating men on New Year's 
 Day. At other times other animals formed his prey. Being 
 
56 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS* 
 
 a very honest giant, he disdained breaking upon men at un- 
 awares, so he generally gave them notice in these terms : 
 " Know ye, people of the Celestial Empire, New Year's Day 
 is approaching ; we abhor taking people by surprise ; so, 
 Yvhen we come round, all the liars that may be found in our 
 way will become our prey." 
 
 The last words of Jimlac's notice need explanation. He 
 never touched a man that was not an habitual liar. Every 
 liar of this kind he found out by some secret clue. So New 
 Year's Day in that part of the Celestial Empire became a 
 day of lamentation and woe, as so many people fell a prey 
 to the greed of Jimlac. 
 
 Therefore, on that day, everybody shut himself up in his 
 house, and the whole country presented a silent and melan- 
 choly aspect. This precaution of the people often enraged 
 Jimlac. But as he never battered a door that was closed, 
 he often returned without eating a single man. 
 
 One New Year's Day J imlac went through a great city 
 near the mountains, and finding every door shut, stood 
 opposite to a little house, and said, " The cat Jimlac is come 
 in request of his mouse ; let every inveterate liar in this house 
 come out to meet him." 
 
 The only inmate of the house was a philosopher, named 
 Nee Wang. He opened the door ajar, put out his spectacled 
 face in solemn style, and finding the giant there, trembled 
 from head to foot, saying, " Ah, Jimlac, my good fellow, is 
 it you ? " 
 
 Jimlac said, " Nee Wang, under the cloak of philosophy 
 and wisdom, I know you have told a great many lies in 
 your day ; so, throw off your philosophic guise, and fall a 
 prey to me." 
 
 Nee Wang said, "Jimlac, surely you will show some 
 consideration to men of learning. I have read all the 
 volumes in the Imperial Library but one. I shall have 
 
THE GIANT AND THE PHILOSOPHER. 57 
 
 finished this one also by next New Year's Day. Till then 
 disturb me not." 
 
 Jimlac replied, " You are the only one that has fallen in 
 my way, and you know this is New Year's Day." 
 
 Thereupon the philosopher Nee Wang looked into the 
 calendar, and finding it to be New Year's Day, heaved forth 
 a deep sigh, and said to himself, " In spite of all that 
 philosophy and religion say, nobody knows for certain what 
 will become of us after death. It may be, there is nothing 
 like life after death. So we must endeavour to live as long 
 as we can. Again, of all nature's laws, the first is self- 
 preservation. In this respect, it will be well to remember 
 the story of the two peasants, Ting and Ming, who had to 
 stand for three days on the top of a slippery pole in the 
 midst of an inundated stream, and of whom Ting made 
 himself more secure and comfortable on the fourth day, by 
 throwing Ming into the stream, when he fell into a slumber 
 as he stood on the pole weary with watching and hunger. 
 I know this Jimlac is an inexorable fiend; and that the 
 people of this city are all extremely vigilant on this day. 
 Yet, if I do not devise some means of gratifying his greed, 
 I must fall a victim to him." 
 
 With this object in view, he first tapped at every door 
 in the street in which he lived, and when the inmates asked 
 who it was, said, " Ah me ! it is your friend Nee Wang in 
 distress ! " 
 
 When they opened the door, Jimlac, who followed the 
 philosopher, also entered the house, and ate up all the 
 habitual liars that might be found in the house. 
 
 In this manner, a great many houses had been entered 
 and a great many people eaten up, till, fortunately for the 
 people of the city, they came to the house of a hag, at 
 whose sight the giant himself was shocked for she was so 
 hideous in appearance. 
 
58 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Before the giant could speak to her, the hag said, " Ah ! 
 good Jimlac, how happy I am to see you ! You have till 
 now eaten men raw ; would you like to taste them roasted ? 
 I have some on the spit, and if you can give me a philoso- 
 pher to be cooked with them, you will have a dish that 
 you never tasted in your life." 
 
 " Here is one," said Jimlac, and twisting the neck of Nee 
 Wang gave his body to the hag. 
 
 This hag, who was a great sorceress, pretended to have 
 roasted it, and sprinkling over it a poisonous herb, known in 
 that part of the Celestial Empire as " Giants' Bane," gave it 
 to Jimlac, and he fell dead at her door after eating it. 
 
 The people of the city assembled round his carcass with 
 great joy, and praised the hag for her philanthropy. They 
 came to know that it was the selfishness of the treacherous 
 Nee Wang that had been the death of so many people that 
 day. 
 
 So they exclaimed, " Jimlac, fiend though he was, never 
 deceived us. But for Nee Wang, many of us who perished 
 should be living now. Fiendish honesty is, indeed, better 
 than philosophical deceit ! " 
 
 The Prince observed, " No doubt, the conduct of the 
 hag was, on the whole, commendable ; but for her the 
 whole city might have suffered through the treachery of the 
 man Nee Wang. It is, indeed, a wonder why he called him- 
 self a philosopher with so many frailties about him." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the 
 hag was instrumental in saving a great many people, even as 
 the man Dicklemar, in the story of the Boa-constrictor and 
 his Wife. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Good Mandarin, not one of us 
 has ever heard the story, I am sure ; so let us share the 
 delight of knowing it with you." 
 
THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR AND HIS WlFE. 59 
 
 The Mandarin, who was highly flattered by this remark, 
 related the story as follows : 
 
 attb Ijis Wife. 
 
 In a mountain region in Manchuria there was a sorceress 
 named Dickima, who was so very wicked and whimsical 
 that she married every morning a husband, and in the 
 evening transformed him to some animal, as a toad or 
 chameleon, a hedgehog or porcupine, an elephant or a 
 rhinoceros. It was also written in the book of fate that 
 she should forget all her magic, and become an amiable 
 and accomplished young lady, so soon as someone of these 
 animals should seize her and swallow her piecemeal the 
 animal also resuming thereafter the form of the fair youth, 
 her husband. 
 
 In this manner, many a poor youth had been inveigled 
 into matrimony with the sorceress and converted into some 
 hideous animal. 
 
 There was a clever young man named Dicklemar, who 
 lived in that neighbourhood, and who said to himself, <( It 
 is, indeed, deplorable that nobody has yet put an end to 
 the ravages of this woman on the young men in this region. 
 I must try to do so. I know what is written about the 
 sorceress in the book of fate. If I succeed I achieve three 
 great feats I rescue a great many young men from the 
 wiles of Dickima ; I obtain an excellent wife ; I shall 
 become famous all over this country as the man that 
 subdued the wicked witch, Dickima. If I fail, I shall no 
 doubt be transformed to some hideous shape and continue 
 in it till death put an end to my misery." 
 
 So he presented himself before Dickima one morning, 
 while she was in quest of a husband, and said, "Fair 
 
60 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Dickima, I have been long in love with you. I know your 
 rules as to the period of living with a husband after 
 marrying him. I am prepared to sacrifice the rest of my 
 life for that one happy day which I shall be able to enjoy in 
 your company." 
 
 As Dickima had been in quest of a husband that 
 morning without finding one, she readily agreed to the 
 proposal of Dicklemar and proceeded to prepare for the 
 marriage. 
 
 Dicklemar said, " Sweet Dickima, when you have done 
 with me into what animal do you propose transforming 
 me?" 
 
 Dickima said, " Well, I am extremely kind and con- 
 siderate in that respect. I shall transform you into the 
 animal that you choose to be." 
 
 Dicklemar thanked her for her kindness and said, "If 
 so, will you be so good as to transform me into a great 
 boa-constrictor ? I wish to be that animal for the rest of 
 my life." 
 
 " Certainly I will," said Dickima. 
 
 So they were married at once. According to her wont 
 she treated her husband with great kindness, and when the 
 evening approached she said, " Now, good husband, pre- 
 pare for your fate." 
 
 Dicklemar said, "Alas, good Dickima, will you not 
 permit me to spend another day with you. How happy 
 have I been in your company to-day ! " 
 
 " Ah ! " said Dickima, " if I should show such lenity to 
 you, every one of my former husbands will claim the same 
 from me, then I shall have to marry every one of them 
 again, and grant him the indulgence ; so prepare for your 
 fate at once." 
 
 " Good Dickima," said Dicklemar, " can't you make an 
 exception in my case. Ah ! how I loved you within the 
 

 THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR AND HIS WlFE. 6 1 
 
 brief space I was your husband. Is there not a spark of 
 mercy in your bosom that can warm it to forbearance and 
 consideration ? " 
 
 " Not the slightest," said Dickima ; " when I make a rule 
 there is no exception to it at all ! " 
 
 On hearing this resolution of his amiable wife, poor 
 Dicklemar appeared to resign himself to his fate, and, with 
 tears in his eyes, said, " Good Dickima, in consideration of 
 my devotion to you, will you, at least, give me a kiss in my 
 transformed shape before bidding adieu to it ? " 
 
 Dickima said she would, and leading him to a wooded 
 valley between two mountains, pronounced a magic spell 
 and sprinkled some water over him. Instantly he became 
 a great boa-constrictor. According to her promise, Dickima 
 bent to kiss her husband in his hideous metamorphosis, 
 when he seized her by the lips and coiled round her -at once 
 with frightful hisses. 
 
 Poor Dickima could not help herself, as her lips were so 
 seized as to prevent her from moving them to pronounce 
 the formula with which she could disengage herself from 
 the monster. So the boa-constrictor reduced her frame 
 to a great many pieces, and swallowed them one after 
 another. 
 
 The Manchur historian, who has handed down to posterity 
 the story of the Boa-constrictor and his Wife, says that, as 
 often as the monster put a piece of her body into his mouth, 
 he hissed forth the query, " Well, piece of my beloved wife, 
 Dickima, have you got anything to say, now that you are 
 going down to my stomach ? " That every piece but the 
 last went in silently ; that this last, which was her tongue, 
 replied, "Good husband Dicklemar, the only part of a woman 
 that is never-ending is her tongue ; so your stomach cannot 
 digest me !" 
 
 When the serpent had swallowed this^ also, he assumed 
 
62 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 his former shape, and the sorceress, Dickima, stood before 
 him, in the form of an amiable young lady. 
 
 Dicklemar embraced his wife tenderly, and the two 
 went home, and lived together thenceforth in such amity and 
 love 4 that everybody called them the happiest couple in the 
 country. Dickima would often look at her husband and 
 smile, and when he asked for the reason, would reply, " Ah, 
 good husband, some women have whims, which, if uncon- 
 trolled, will lead them to marry a husband every day, and 
 turn him into a monster in the evening ! " 
 
 As the remark was based on her own life prior to his 
 metamorphosis, Dicklemar would smile at it, and say, " Ah, 
 good wife, I am so happy to see you are so very different 
 from your former self! What a comfort it would be to 
 many a husband on earth to be able to say so ! " 
 
 The Prince thanked the Mandarin for the story, and 
 said, " Dickima was a sorceress ; but Dicxlemar was 
 evidently in utter ignorance of the art, yet he triumphed 
 over her. Wickedness often proves its ov n ruin ! " 
 
 Another Mandarin remarked, "Sire, innocence often 
 triumphs over wickedness, even as the milkmaid Maralana 
 triumphed over the Dragon, which she boiled to death in 
 her pail." 
 
 The Prince said, " Why, good Mandarin, she must have 
 been a wonderful milkmaid, indeed, to have boiled a dragon 
 to death. Do permit us to make her acquaintance." 
 
 The Mandarin was highly pleased to hear this good- 
 humoured request of the Prince, and proceeded to narrate 
 the story as follows : 
 
Jftilkmaiir Jltaralana Uotltfi 
 Dragon in 
 
 In the island of Sagalean there was a Dragon, which had 
 the remarkable power of hearing the cries of children at a 
 great distance. If a boy or a girl cried, the Dragon was 
 there, saying, " I am here ; you can cry no more." 
 
 Suiting the action to the word, it would carry off its 
 victim to its cave, and eat it little by little, saying, " A 
 crying child is a dying child in my opinion. I will show it 
 no mercy." 
 
 In this manner, a great many of the children in the 
 neighbourhood had been carried off by it, as every one of 
 them cried at some time or other, forgetting the Dragon. 
 
 There was a little milkmaid, named Maralana, who was 
 a very quiet girl. She seldom spoke loud. People said she 
 had not cried even once in her life. 
 
 The Dragon saw her one day, and said to itself, " Ah, 
 what a nice looking girl this Maralana is ! I must have her 
 for dinner some day. But she would never cry, and I 
 cannot get at a girl that will not" 
 
 Then the Dragon took the form of a pretty little doll, 
 and was dancing in the way of Maralana. 
 
 She went to take hold of it ; but, just as she was going 
 to seize it, the doll disappeared. Maralana felt as though 
 she could cry at this disappointment, but, remembering the 
 Dragon, kept quiet. 
 
 The next day, the Dragon assumed the form of a nice 
 piece of cake, in a tempting little dish, and lay in the way 
 of Maralana. 
 
 She went to take it. Just then the cake and the dish 
 disappeared. Maralana felt as though she could cry at 
 
6 4 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 this disappointment, but, remembering the Dragon, kept 
 quiet. 
 
 The next day, again, the Dragon stood in the way of 
 Maralana in the form of a beautiful bouquet. But she took 
 no notice of it, remembering the doll and the cake that had 
 deceived her. 
 
 ^fe|li|t s;/ - 
 'lilii 
 
 "THE DRAGON SAW HER ONE DAY" (/> 63). 
 
 The Dragon was in despair ; so it stood in the way of 
 Maralana in the form of a little girl, while she was carrying 
 her pail full of milk, and said, " Good sister Maralana, will 
 you give me a draught of milk ? I feel so thirsty ! " 
 
 Maralana asked her to come near to have the milk. 
 
 The little girl cunningly upset the pail as Maralana lifted 
 it up to give her a draught, and all the milk flowed out 
 on the ground. 
 
 Maralana stood silently gazing on the scene. 
 
How THE MILKMAID BOILED THE DRAGON. 65 
 
 The little girl said, "Ah, sister Maralana, I am so sorry 
 that the pail has been upset. At the same time, I wonder 
 you do not cry even now ! " 
 
 Maralana said, " Ah, little sister, never mind the milk. 
 I am so sorry the pail was upset before you could slake 
 your thirst. There is no use of crying over it, losing courage, 
 like a silly girl." 
 
 " Ah," said the little girl, " what is courage, good sister 
 Maralana ? " 
 
 "Why," said Maralana, "it is that which has kept me so 
 long from the Dragon. If once I had lost it, and cried, I 
 should have been devoured by it long ere this." 
 
 The Dragon, which was in the form of a little girl, said 
 to itself, " Now, so long as Maralana keeps in her possession 
 this thing called courage, I shall not be able to have her. 
 First, let me therefore find it out. I am also curious to 
 know what it is made of." 
 
 Maralana had been listening with a keen ear to the 
 words which the little girl had whispered to herself, and 
 concluded she was the Dragon in that guise. So, when 
 the Dragon requested her to show what courage was, she 
 said she couldn't do so unless she got into her pail. 
 
 So the Dragon got into the pail, and Maralana closed the 
 lid tightly. 
 
 " Why do you close the lid so tightly, sister Maralana ? " 
 said the Dragon. 
 
 " Else, you will not be able to see courage," said 
 Maralana. 
 
 "If so," said the Dragon, "close the lid, and put apiece 
 of rock over it, that there may be no chance of its escaping 
 at all, as I am eager to catch it at once. 1 ' 
 
 "Very good," said Maralana, adopting the valuable 
 suggestion at once. Then she lighted a fire, and put the 
 pail over it. 
 
66 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Some time after, the Dragon said, " Sister Maralana, I 
 feel it hot" 
 
 Maralana said, " Then it is near." 
 
 A while after, the Dragon said, " I feel it very hot." 
 
 Maralana said, " So it has come nearer." 
 
 " Maralana/' said the Dragon, " I assure you I cannot 
 stay a moment longer within this pail." 
 
 " Hold hard, good sister, it has entered the pail," said 
 Maralana. 
 
 Soon after, the Dragon exclaimed, " I am dying, good 
 sister Maralana ! Ah, how have you been able to keep this 
 thing with you, that is killing hot ? " 
 
 "Rather it is that which kept me, and which kills you 
 now," said Maralana, as the last groans of the monster died 
 on her ears. 
 
 To this day, whenever their children cry, the mothers in 
 the place say, " Now, would you boil the Dragon in the 
 pail, or let it eat you ? " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Indeed, Maralana was a wonder- 
 ful milkmaid ; but it is not every milkmaid that gets a 
 dragon to be boiled to death in her pail in that style." 
 Thereupon, another Mandarin stood up and said, " Sire, it 
 is not every milkmaid that gets a dragon to boil, even as 
 it is not every one that converts a stone into a throne, as 
 Sultan Dinwar Mandeel did." 
 
 The Prince asked the Mandarin to be so good as to 
 relate the story, and the Mandarin complied with his 
 request as follows : 
 
6 7 
 
 Bittfoar 
 
 In a country named Dabulistan, there was a farmer 
 named Baman, who was a distant cousin of the Sultan of 
 the country. But, as he was poor, he kept aloof from his 
 royal relative, attending to his own calling of cultivating his 
 paternal acre. The Sultan had often expressed a desire to 
 see his cousin. But the cousin was a philosopher, so he as 
 often sent him this reply : " The honey that bees collect 
 often goes to the share of men; similarly, the wealth 
 hoarded by misers goes to the share of spendthrifts. 
 Whereas, the boa-constrictor, that cannot move from the 
 place where nature had first deposited it, liveth comfortably, 
 although its frame is so long and bulky. Having long con- 
 sidered the characteristics of these, I have betaken myself to 
 a life of solitary meditation. So I ask none for anything 
 that I may not have. I am not sorry I have it not. Should 
 others ask me to see them, I do not decline. I neither 
 exult nor grieve to excess in connection with any subject." 
 
 The Sultan, who had the highest respect for the life and 
 character of his cousin, therefore contented himself, saying, 
 "There will be a day when we shall have to meet each 
 other on business. Till then, good cousin, please yourself." 
 
 Baman had an only son, named Dinwar, whom he edu- 
 cated with great care. Dinwar was more ambitious than his 
 father. He would often assemble a number of other youths of 
 his age in the village, and speak to them about the govern- 
 ment of kingdoms. They would seat him on a rock in a 
 wood near their village, call the rock a throne, the wood a 
 kingdom, himself being their Sultan, and themselves his 
 ministers and subjects. 
 
 On such occasions Dinwar- would often ask the youth 
 that played the part of his Grand Vizier, " Have they come?" 
 F 2 
 
68 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The Grand Vizier would reply, " Sire, the elephant and 
 the men will soon enter the village, and your Majesty ride 
 out in state towards the capital of the Sultan." 
 
 This conversation was sportive Dinwar fancying that 
 some day an elephant from the Sultan would come and take 
 him to Court, and the Grand Vizier giving an appropriate 
 reply. 
 
 The good farmer Baman would often go to the wood 
 with his wife, and entertain her with the spectacle from a 
 distance. The fond mother on such occasions would 
 invariably exclaim, " Ah ! Dinwar has such princely dignity 
 about him when he sits on the rock throne, that I wish the 
 rock had been transformed into a real throne, the wood 
 into a real kingdom, and the boys into real ministers and 
 subjects ! " 
 
 Baman would reply, " Good wife, such aspirations are 
 unbecoming in people of our position. The hedgehog 
 cannot hope to leap from precipice to precipice like the 
 mountain goat. But should it please heaven that Dinwar 
 should one day be a king, why he will be one." 
 
 One day, while the youth and his companions were 
 playing in the wood as usual, an elephant with a rider in a 
 hovvdah on it approached the village. It was a most un- 
 usual sight, so the villagers flocked round the elephant, and 
 demanded what the rider wanted. He replied, " Let us 
 know the direction in which the house of Farmer Baman 
 is." 
 
 Everybody in the village knew the house, so they led 
 him at once to it. Instantly the rider descended, and 
 addressed Farmer Baman as follows : 
 
 " Sire, I have been directed by the Sultan to bring your 
 son to the capital this instant." 
 
 Baman, with his wife, who was eager to know what the 
 Sultan wanted Dinwar for, led the rider on the elephant to 
 
THE HISTORY OF SULTAN DINWAR MAN D EEL. 69 
 
 the wood, where his son was playing with his companions, 
 as usual. 
 
 The elephant went in sight of Dinwar and his com- 
 panions, just as the former asked his Grand Vizier the usual 
 query, " Have they come? " 
 
 So the Grand Vizier replied, " Sire, after all they have 
 
 "SALUTING THE MOCK SULTAN. 
 
 The rider saluting the mock Sultan, said, " Sire, the 
 Sultan wishes to see you this moment at Court." 
 
 Dinwar replied, " Sultans are not like ordinary people. 
 They cannot leave their kingdoms when they like ; let me 
 therefore first appoint a council of regency to look after the 
 affairs of my kingdom." 
 
 So a council of regency was appointed, and Sultan 
 Dinwar, with his Grand Vizier, got into the howdah on 
 the elephant, while his parents and the other inhabitants 
 of the village watched his movements with pleasurable 
 surprise. 
 
70 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 When Dinwar arrived at the capital the Sultan received 
 him with great attention, and was extremely pleased to hear 
 from his messages of the council of regency, which he had 
 appointed before starting. 
 
 The Sultan assembled the chief officers and dignitaries 
 of his Court around him, and gave Dinwar these three 
 questions to answer : (i) Why should not people be 
 made to pay taxes whenever the Sultan pleases ? (2) 
 Is mercy compatible with justice ? (3) How should friends 
 agree ? 
 
 Dinwar, after some consideration, replied : (i) Trees 
 have their seasons to bear fruit ; even so, people have their 
 seasons to pay taxes. (2) Just as the softest and sweetest 
 flowers may blossom on trees with the hardest trunks, 
 mercy may blossom on the branches of the strictest 
 justice. (3) Friends should agree to agree as well as 
 disagree. 
 
 " How many eyes and arms has a Sultan ? " said his 
 Majesty. 
 
 Dinwar, after some consideration, replied 
 
 "As many eyes as he has judges, and as many arms as 
 he has soldiers." 
 
 The Sultan was delighted to hear these answers which 
 Dinwar gave, so he said 
 
 " You were, till now, called the Sultan of some wood 
 near your village. We now bestow on you the title Sultan 
 Mandeel, or Sultan of the Universe." 
 
 Then, turning to his ministers, courtiers, and subjects 
 assembled before him, his Majesty said 
 
 " We have this day adopted Dinwar, or, as we would 
 call him, Sultan Dinwar Mandeel, son of our good cousin 
 Baman, as our son. The Prince shall henceforth be 
 treated with the respect due to the heir-apparent to the 
 throne." 
 
THE HISTORY OF SULTAN DIN WAR M AND EEL. 71 
 
 The people and the whole court of the Sultan rejoiced 
 to hear of the adoption of Sultan Dinwar Mandeel. 
 
 Baman and his wife soon arrived at the capital, the 
 wife observing 
 
 "After all, Dinwar has converted his stone into a throne, 
 indeed ! " 
 
 While the husband replied, " Good wife, heaven had 
 so willed it, and so it has been." 
 
 The Sultan, addressing Baman, said, " Ah, good cousin 
 Baman, we have met after all on business, have we not ? " 
 
 Baman gave no reply, for he could hardly find terms 
 for it. 
 
 Of course, Sultan Dinwar, or Sultan Dinwar Mandeel, 
 as his adoptive father called him, gave up asking any more 
 " Have they come ? " as they had actually come and taken 
 him away to fill the throne for which he had been intended 
 by heaven. 
 
 The story goes to say that in course of time Sultan 
 Dinwar Mandeel ascended the throne, with his boy Prime 
 Minister for his Grand Vizier, and that the two brought 
 the country to such a prosperous condition that the reign 
 of Sultan Dinwar Mandeel passed into a by-word for a 
 period of perfect peace, prosperity, and happiness. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Dinwar seems to have been 
 born with the germs of greatness in him." 
 
 Another Mandarin, who was eager to contribute to the 
 amusement of the Prince, said, " Sire, if not, the Sultan 
 who adopted him must have been disappointed even as the 
 Virgin from Velayet was in her husband, who set about 
 imitating the institutions of her country." 
 
 The Prince asked who the Virgin from Velayet was. 
 
 The Mandarin told the story of 
 
Utrgitt fr0nt 
 
 There was a Sultan of Damascus, who had long heard 
 of the freedom and enlightenment of the people of a certain 
 country in the West called Velayet. He said to himself, 
 "Why should not my people enjoy the same freedom? 
 Why should they not be as enlightened as the people of 
 Velayet ? The person that exercises the greatest influence 
 on a man, for good or evil, is his wife. This is true of 
 every man be he prince or peasant. I am young ; so, if 
 I marry an enlightened virgin of this country Velayet 
 she will exercise over me such a wholesome influence as 
 will be highly beneficial to my people." 
 
 With this resolve, the Sultan sent for a slave dealer in 
 his capital, and said, " Can you get a fair and accomplished 
 virgin from Velayet for me? I wish to make her my 
 Queen." 
 
 The slave dealer went out, saying he would try, and re- 
 turned some months after with a young lady of rare beauty 
 and accomplishments, riding on a milk-white mare, and said to 
 his Majesty, " Sire, I went to the country of this lady, which 
 is in the far West, and had, first of all, to conceal my occu- 
 pation, for such a thing as slavery neither exists, nor is 
 tolerated, in that land. The people of the country generally 
 advertise for everything they want. If a man wants a wife, 
 he may advertise for her also, if he chooses to do so. So, 
 I advertised for a wife for your Majesty. This lady sent 
 me a reply, and finding her every way suited to be the 
 Sultana of this kingdom, I have conducted her to your 
 capital" 
 
 The Sultan was very glad to see the Virgin from Velayet. 
 He married her with great pomp, and the royal couple spent 
 their honeymoon together in the summer palace. 
 
THE VIRGIN FROM VELAYET. 73 
 
 From the moment the lady from . Velayet became the 
 Queen of the Sultan, she proved extremely attentive to his 
 interests. His Majesty was so deeply impressed with her 
 sound sense and highly useful and elegant attainments, that 
 he requested her to describe to him in detail all the insti- 
 tutions of her country. She did so. The Sultan was ex- 
 tremely delighted with everything he heard. So he said, 
 ' My dear Sultana, I wish to adopt a great many of these 
 institutions that you have detailed. How shall I proceed?" 
 
 The Sultana replied, " Sire, you must, first of all, abolish 
 slavery in your dominions, and make it a crime under all 
 circumstances ; for slavery may be said to be the first great 
 curse of mankind." 
 
 The Sultan abolished slavery throughout his dominions 
 that very day. 
 
 The Sultana said, " Sire, make a rule that every man that 
 chooses to marry shall not take more than one wife ; for 
 man can have but a single partner in life." 
 
 His Majesty ruled that henceforth all persons marrying 
 more than one wife should be severely punished. 
 
 The Sultana said, " Sire, make a rule that no man shall 
 remain in the country, who is an able-bodied idler, and 
 acquires not sufficient means of sustenance for himself and 
 for those that must depend on him for aid." 
 
 His Majesty at once banished all idlers from his 
 dominions, and the remaining people bestirred themselves 
 to such a degree that everywhere prosperity began to smile. 
 
 "Sire," said the Sultana, ''let people speak out what 
 they have to say, whether in favour of your Majesty and 
 your ministers or against you all ; for no Sultan can b,e safe 
 that knows not the hearts of his subjects in full." 
 
 His Majesty granted perfect liberty of speech to all his 
 subjects, and soon had the satisfaction of doing and undoing 
 a great many things for their welfare. 
 
7t THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The Sultana said, "Sire, let every man be tried by a 
 body of men of about the same condition in life ; for this 
 mode of trying him will secure perfect justice to the person 
 accused." 
 
 His Majesty proclaimed such a form of trial throughout 
 his dominions. , 
 
 In this manner, in course of time, the Sultan, guided by 
 his wise Sultana, introduced a great many useful institutions, 
 undoing some that were positively pernicious in their 
 character; so that all the arts of civilised life began to 
 flourish in the country. 
 
 Then the Sultan said, " My dear Sultana, you spoke to 
 me of the great assembly in your country of all the wise men 
 in it ; shall we not have one of the kind here ? Of course, 
 in your country, the members of this body, as you said, 
 appear to spend a great part of their time in factious decla- 
 mations and hair-splitting harangues. Again, there appear 
 to be two parties in the body, one saying ' no ' to every 
 'yes' of the other, out of sheer party spirit and jealousy. 
 When one party gets into power, the other goes about the 
 country inflaming the hearts of the people against their 
 successful rivals till they pull them down and step into their 
 place. But we can effectively guard against these evils." 
 
 The Sultana, who took great interest in the welfare of 
 her subjects, and who was eager to see them enjoy all the 
 great benefits social and political which people in Velayet 
 had secured to themselves, requested to be informed about 
 the manner in which his Majesty proposed guarding against 
 the evils he had enumerated. 
 
 His Majesty replied, " Why, my dear Sultana, we wih 
 make this rule and enforce it vigorously that any member 
 who talks for more than five minutes, or indulges in factious 
 discourse, should be instantly led to execution ! " 
 
 The Sultana smiled at these words of his Majesty. 
 
THE VIRGIN FROM VELAYET. 75 
 
 The Sultan asked why she smiled. 
 
 Her Majesty replied, " In spite of the numerous 
 improvements your Majesty has introduced into your 
 country, your despotic instincts remain unaltered. Of what 
 avail will it be to form an assembly of all the wise people in 
 your country, if every member that talks for more than five 
 minutes is to be led to instant execution ? At that rate, in 
 the course of a few hours, not a member will be left in the 
 assembly. 
 
 The Sultan perceived the disappointment of the Sultana, 
 and remarked that he was himself surprised at what he 
 had said, and that he deserved to be led to execution for it 
 instantaneously. 
 
 " There, again, Sire ! " exclaimed the sadly disappointed 
 Sultana, " The instincts are the same whether they point to 
 your Majesty's self or subjects. Freedom is a plant which 
 grows by nature in the hearts of some races and their 
 sovereigns. The germs of it can seldom sprout and take 
 root in soils unaccustomed to their culture ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, "Evidently, the Virgin from 
 Velayet was taken by surprise by the last outburst of the 
 Sultan's despotic instincts." 
 
 Here another Mandarin, who was eager to tell the 
 Prince a story of his own, observed, " Sire, the remark of 
 the Sultan about punishing the wise men of the assembly, 
 indeed, took the Virgin from Velayet by surprise, even as 
 the Aerial Musician astonished the orphan youth, Chucker." 
 
 The Prince asked the Mandarin to relate the story, and 
 he proceeded with it as follows, thanking the Prince for 
 thus giving him an opportunity of contributing to his amuse- 
 ment : 
 
t\jt 
 
 In the province of Fergana, there was an orphan youth 
 named Chucker, who spent his time in going round the 
 village in which he lived and doing the biddings of the boys 
 and girls in it. If a boy was going to school, Chucker 
 carried his satchel and slate for him. 
 
 If a peasant girl was taking her father's breakfast to the 
 
 "CHUCKER INSTANTLY GAVE KIM A HELPING HAND." 
 
 fields, Chucker would run up to her, saying, " Fair maid, let 
 me carry the basket for you," and did so. 
 
 If a shop-boy was struggling under a great load of 
 goods which his master had given him for a customer, 
 Chucker instantly gave him a helping hand, saying, "Let 
 me do myself the pleasure of relieving you." 
 
 If a girl was asked by her mother to fetch some grass 
 for the calf, and went out with basket and scythe, Chucker 
 
THE STORY OF THE AERIAL MUSICIAN. 77 
 
 would accost her with these words : " Ah, fair maid, my 
 hands tell me that they were made for work ! ' ; and do the 
 work for her. 
 
 As the schoolmaster of the village observed, Chucker 
 was an indispensable companion of the children in all their 
 sports and amusements. At leap-frog, he lent every one 
 his shoulders ; at hide and seek, he was invariably blind- 
 folded ; at Jack o' lantern, he carried the light ; at monkey 
 on the tree, he was the tree ; at dummy horse, he was the 
 groom. 
 
 He never stayed for a moment at any one place ; but, 
 as the children said, he was here, he was there, and he was 
 everywhere, at one and the same time with such wonderful 
 rapidity did he regulate his movements. 
 
 As to his personal comforts, he was the best fed, the 
 best clothed, and the best lodged in the village. Having no 
 house of his own, he made everybody's his, and ate where 
 he chose, as hunger called, and slept where he chose, as 
 sleep overtook him. Some, therefore, called him the son 
 of the village, and some, the son-in-law. Thus Chucker was 
 at everybody's door, in everybody's way, doing everybody's 
 pleasure, and seeking everybody's favour. So no wonder 
 Chucker became a great favourite with the boys and girls of 
 the village so much so, that they often said, " We can do 
 without ourselves, but not without Chucker." 
 
 Again, Chucker had a strange prejudice against wedded 
 life. He often remarked, " I see so many husbands and 
 wives constantly quarrelling in the village, that I am led 
 to conclude that, if I should get a wife, I shall have to 
 prepare to fight it out with her almost every second of my 
 life. Further, I cannot be so free then as I am at 
 present." 
 
 One day the boys and girls of the village said, " Chucker 
 has long been our faithful companion. He has a strange 
 
78 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 prejudice against being married ; so let us content ourselves 
 by celebrating his marriage in sport." 
 
 Accordingly, they invited him to go to the banks of a 
 river close by. Chucker said, " If you will put a girl by 
 my side, and call her a wife " he feared to say my wife 
 "even though in sport, I will scream and run away." 
 
 The children promised not to do so. 
 
 They took him to the banks of the river, and on the 
 sands, in the pleasant moonlight, celebrated his marriage, 
 with a great quantity of cake and fruit, to which full justice 
 was done. The children danced round him, saying, 
 " Chucker, what says your wife ? " 
 
 As often at they asked him the question, a voice in the 
 air, which seemed to accompany a lute, sang in response, 
 " His wife will see him, sure, to-night, when you should all 
 be out of sight." 
 
 The children were alarmed ; so they exclaimed, " Ah, 
 who is the Aerial Musician ! " and ran away from the 
 place, with Chucker, who, of course, joined them in the 
 flight. 
 
 When the elders of the village heard about the Aerial 
 Musician, they said, " Surely, some spirit has taken a fancy 
 for the youth Chucker, and may visit him ere long ! " 
 
 Chucker trembled when he heard their words, and said, 
 " Whoever the spirit may be, I hope she does not want to 
 marry me, when she actually comes to visit me ! " 
 
 After all, Chucker found a bed for the night and crept 
 into it. It was his wont to sleep at once. But on this 
 occasion he found a strange fidgetiness coming over him. 
 While he was endeavouring to free himself from it, he heard 
 the same sweet voice in the air that had been heard in the 
 river. While he was wondering who the Aerial Musician 
 was, a fairy with a lute in one hand and a golden plate 
 with a cover of brocade in the other, descended Chucker 
 
THE STORY OF THE AERIAL MUSICIAN. 79 
 
 knew not whence and said, " I am Little Dill, your wife, 
 and here is your supper ! " 
 
 Chucker, who was overcome by surprise and sorrow, 
 said, " I want no supper, I want no wife ; if you will leave 
 me to myself, I shall be thankful all my life." 
 
 Scarcely had he finished speaking, when the fairy gave 
 him such a shaking, that he thought he would fall to pieces. 
 So he said, sobbing, "Ah, Little Dill, what is your will?" 
 
 The fairy replied, " Acknowledge me as your wife first, 
 and then I will speak to you further." 
 
 Chucker sobbed forth, " But I never married you." 
 
 The fairy said, " Ah, you did ! " 
 
 Chucker said, " We simply played at a children's 
 wedding." 
 
 The fairy replied, "Ah, you can't trifle with matrimony 
 like that. It is a law of Fairy Land, that when children 
 play at husband and wife they should be such for life. 
 But when a youth is married without a bride, to give him 
 a fairy is our pride. You were married without a wife, and 
 I have been made your partner in life. To shun me no\v 
 will be in vain ; love me, if you would wake again ! " 
 
 Poor Chucker could not help taking Little Dill, the 
 Aerial Musician, for his wife. 
 
 The next morning, the children were astonished to see 
 Chucker, with his wife, going about the village in quest of a 
 house ; for he could no more eat where he chose, nor sleep 
 where he might find a bed. The children asked him for 
 an account of all that had happened. 
 
 He did so, and concluded as follows : "I shall be 
 happy to join you in future at hide and seek, or dummy 
 horse, or Jack o' lantern, or monkey on the tree ; but never 
 at a wedding, though in sport." 
 
 "Why not? " said the children, laughingly. 
 
 Poor Chucker gave this plaintive reply, "He that plav? 
 
8o THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 at man and wife is sure to have a partner in life ; if he would 
 be free from care, let him of that game beware ! " 
 
 The Prince .said, " Poor Chucker is, indeed, an object 
 of pity, for he had to accept the fairy for his wife, in spite 
 of his prejudices against a married life." 
 
 Another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, a man may find 
 himself a husband while he had been fondly fancying he 
 was not one, even as the Sultan, who was under the sway 
 of the Genius of Adversity, while all the while he imagined 
 he was not." 
 
 The Prince said, " Good Mandarin, let us hear the 
 story of the Sultan, who was seized by the Genius of 
 Adversity." 
 
 The Mandarin told the story as follows : 
 
 Sultan antr t\}t (Sitting of 
 
 There was a Sultan in Persia, who, from the cradle to 
 the throne, knew not what Adversity was. After ascending 
 the throne, he had such a prosperous reign that there was 
 no occasion whatever to know it. 
 
 So one day he said to himself, " Ah ! people often speak 
 of Ill-fortune, Adversity, Reverses, and such other things; 
 but I have not seen one of these. Perhaps the genii 
 that preside over them are afraid of me." 
 
 Scarcely had he finished his speech, when a Genius, with 
 flapping wings, descended from the skies and addressed 
 the Sultan as follows : 
 
 "Your Majesty fancies that you are exempt from my 
 power for know, I am the Genius of Adversity but it 
 is a great mistake. If I choose, I can take hold of your 
 Majesty at any time I like." 
 

 THE SULTAN AND THE GENIUS. 81 
 
 The Sultan said, " If so, appoint a day when you would 
 exercise your influence over me." 
 
 The Genius said, " The Ramazan is fast approaching. 
 On the last day of the month, when you are in the midst of 
 your courtiers, surrounded by all the might and magnifi- 
 cence of your exalted position, I shall seize you." 
 
 The Sultan said, " How long will you keep me in your 
 power ? " 
 
 " Say for a hundred twinkles of the eye," replied the 
 Genius. 
 
 " Agreed," said the Sultan. 
 
 The Ramazan came. 
 
 As the last day of the month approached, his Majesty 
 assembled all his ministers and generals, and giving them an 
 account of his conversation with the Genius, concluded as 
 follows : 
 
 " So you must take special care that the Genius does not 
 get into the palace by some unguarded opening. You have 
 ever evinced the greatest fidelity to my cause. In this 
 instance, I trust you will prove it more than ever." 
 
 The ministers and generals instantly set about fortifying 
 the city on all sides. The palace of the Sultan, especially, 
 was surrounded by ramparts, with buttresses and bastions, 
 from which sentinels watched without winking. The whole 
 edifice was covered by a gigantic net of steel which pro- 
 tected it like the shell of an egg ; and the Sultan shut 
 himself up in its inmost, recesses, where, as some of 
 his courtiers observed, not a breath of wind could enter 
 unnoticed. 
 
 On the day mentioned by the Genius, the Sultan, 
 accoutred in mail, with his scimitar by his side, sat on his 
 throne, surrounded by his ministers and generals, who were 
 all similarly equipped. The moment when the Genius said 
 he would seize his Majesty was very near, 
 Q 
 
82 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Just then, one of the courtiers said, " Sire, we have taken 
 every precaution against the entrance of the Genius into the 
 palace. If, in spite of all our vigilance, he should succeed, 
 by some superhuman device, in making his way into the 
 edifice, he will no doubt repair to this hall, where your 
 Majesty generally gives audience to your courtiers and 
 subjects. So I suggest that your Majesty at once leave this 
 place, and hide somewhere in the inner apartments- 
 aye, in such a spot as you may be never expected to 
 occupy." 
 
 The whole Court applauded the suggestion ; so his 
 Majesty went in. 
 
 The Sultana, who was equally anxious about his safety, 
 at once asked an old female slave, in whom she had great 
 confidence, where his Majesty could hide without raising in 
 the mind of a stranger the slightest suspicion as to the 
 exact place of his concealment. 
 
 The slave replied, " Madam, his Majesty has been 
 known to go into every part of the palace in your company. 
 There is but one nook in it where he has not been. If per- 
 mitted, I shall point it out." 
 
 " Do," said the Sultan, in a hurry. 
 
 The slave pointed to a sewer under the ground, which 
 had long been shut up. 
 
 Instantly his Majesty crept into it, ordering his chamber- 
 lains to keep the bath ready that he might go to it at once, 
 after emerging from the hole. The stench within was in- 
 sufferable, yet his Majesty made a shift to count the hundred 
 twinkles of the eye, which the Genius had specified as the 
 period of his sway, and then came out. 
 
 After bathing and dressing again, the Sultan went to the 
 hall of audience, where his courtiers received him with 
 loud shouts of applause, for having thus eluded the Genius 
 of Adversity. 
 
THE SULTAN AND THE GENIUS. 83 
 
 His Majesty addressed them as follows, after the tumult- 
 uous uproar caused by their shouts had subsided : 
 
 " We have after all conquered the Genius of Adversity. 
 He could not seize us during the stipulated period of time. 
 Of course, we owe this victory to your vigilance. Well 
 may the Sultan that has such ministers and generals around 
 him, exclaim I am proof against the machinations of all 
 adversaries." 
 
 Then his Majesty distributed among his courtiers shawls, 
 turbans, and robes of inestimable value, in recognition of 
 their meritorious services. 
 
 When every one of them had received his reward, the 
 Sultan, according to his wont on such occasions, said, 
 " Should there be any among you whom, by oversight, we 
 have not duly rewarded, let him step forth." 
 
 Instantly, the ceiling of the hall of audience opened, and 
 while the courtiers stood wondering at it, the Genius of 
 Adversity descended through the opening with flapping 
 wings, and said, " O, Sultan, where is my reward ? " 
 
 His Majesty was astonished to see the Genius there, and 
 much more to hear his words, 
 
 So he said, " You are almost the only person within my 
 knowledge who has ever claimed the reward due to success 
 after having suffered an ignominious defeat." 
 
 The Genius, who appeared to have been roused by this 
 remark of his Majesty, said, "Ah, you are about the only 
 person in my knowledge that would not acknowledge 
 defeat when it has been actually inflicted on him ! " 
 
 The Sultan said, " Prove it." 
 
 " Ah," said the Genius, " if I had not seized him, how 
 would the Sultan of this great kingdom have hidden 
 himself in a sewer and counted a hundred twinkles of the 
 eye therein ! " 
 
 " Enough ! " said the Sultan, bowing his head low 
 
84 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 " the Genius of Adversity may seize a man in his very 
 endeavours to avoid it ! " 
 
 The Genius left the hall promising to return whenever 
 his Majesty should require his services. But as his Majesty 
 took care not to see him again, or wish for his company, he 
 never met him thereafter. 
 
 The Prince observed, " No doubt great credit is due to 
 the courtiers of the Sultan for having guarded him with such 
 vigilance, although the Genius contrived to outwit them." 
 
 Another Mandarin said, " Sire, their endeavours were 
 after all, in vain, even as the endeavours of the misers of 
 Balk to preserve the famous Book on Alchymy." 
 
 The Prince asked the Mandarin to tell the story, and 
 the Mandarin did so in the following manner : 
 
 1600k 0n 
 
 In the great library at Balk there was a quarter known as 
 the Misers' Corner. In this there were a great many books 
 on alchymy. 
 
 The people who chiefly resorted to this part of the 
 library were misers, who, being ever eager to enhance 
 their wealth, constantly turned up the pages of the volumes, 
 in expectation of alighting on some recipe for converting 
 baser metals into gold. 
 
 Of all the books thus stored up on the subject there was 
 one which was considered of great antiquity. It had been 
 composed many thousands of years before by a magician and 
 philosopher, who was born in Ethiopia, who studied in Egypt, 
 and, after travelling throughout the then-known world, came 
 to Balk, where he embraced the religion of Zartusht, and 
 settled down with his disciples. 
 
THE FAMOUS BOOK ON ALCHYMY. 85 
 
 In the course of his extensive researches, almost into 
 every branch of knowledge, he collected the materials for his 
 great work, and wrote it down in three parts. 
 
 The first part treated of various methods for making 
 gold by the aid of appliances in the vegetable kingdom. 
 
 In the second, the great philosopher described the' 
 properties' of various animals, by whose aid the same end 
 might be accomplished. 
 
 In the third, he detailed a number of minerals by 
 contact with which the same result would necessarily follow. 
 
 This volume, by special orders of the High Priest of 
 Balk, was kept locked up in a great iron chest. From times 
 of remote antiquity a fabulous sum was fixed as the fee for 
 taking out a copy of the volume. The only one who paid 
 the enormous fee and took a copy was a king of ancient 
 days named Croesus. 
 
 The iron chest was guarded by a body of soldiers with 
 drawn scimitars. The misers who flocked to that part of 
 the library were not allowed to go near the chest. But 
 their avidity to do something in connection with it was so 
 great, that they strove to touch it at least with their fingers. 
 
 A special fee was levied on this, at the rate of a silver 
 piece per finger ; if a miser paid two pieces of silver, he 
 could touch it with two fingers; if three, with thref 
 fingers, and so on. 
 
 This quaint mode of levying the fees was a precaution 
 against the speedy wearing out of the iron chest for so 
 many misers came to touch it, from time to time, that there 
 was a visible diminution in its bulk by constant contact with 
 the millions of misers' fingers passing over it. 
 
 The librarians and other officers, who witnessed the fees 
 paid by the misers, would exclaim, " To be sure, this is the 
 only kind of fee that they ever paid in their lives ! " It became 
 a saying among the wag* in the city, that, if a person wished 
 
86 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 to see all the denizens of miserdom, he ought to go and 
 watch them as they paid their fees to touch the iron 
 chest. 
 
 After all, an army of Arabs laid siege to the city, and 
 took it by storm. After giving up the whole city to 
 plunder, they entered the library, and at once doomed it to 
 destruction. The Arab General, who was deputed to look 
 to the work of annihilating the library, stalked in barbarian 
 grandeur through the long rooms and corridors. 
 
 His followers pointed to the grand collections of books 
 on every branch of human knowledge, which were arranged 
 on all sides, and concluded with the remark, " These works 
 may be divided into two classes those opposed to the 
 Koran, and those that contain things already revealed in it." 
 
 The General replied, " The first class of books must go 
 to the flames, because they are against the Koran; the 
 second must share the same fate, because they are contained 
 in it. The first are heretical, and the second irrelevant." 
 
 After the destruction of the rest of the library, they came 
 to the misers' quarter. Instantly, all the misers of Balk) 
 who had assembled to protect the iron chest that contained 
 the famous Book on Alchymy, exclaimed with one voice, 
 " The iron chest is our ark ; it contains our covenant with 
 Mammon; we will defend it to the last man." 
 
 Two haggard Jews among them, who were but eyes, 
 bones, and skin, stood, one on each side of the chest, 
 exclaiming, " We are the cherubim ; who will take the ark 
 from us ? " 
 
 The Arab General paused, and asked for an explanation 
 of the scene before him. 
 
 When his followers explained it, he exclaimed, " Ah, the 
 iron chest is the Kebla of these men ; so they are deter- 
 mined to stand by it ! " 
 
 Here the misers, with one voice, said, " We will give 
 
THE FAMOUS BOOK ON ALCHYMY. 87 
 
 you the amount of wealth you would name, if you will but 
 save this volume from the flames/' 
 
 The General said, " On that condition, the volume may 
 be permitted to exist" 
 
 Instantly the misers held a conference. For a long 
 time they could not decide as to the sum that each was to 
 subscribe, to make up the whole amount. 
 
 Then the question arose as to which of them was to be 
 the custodian of the volume. After all, they came to a 
 settlement on these points, and each went home to bring 
 his share of the money. 
 
 On the way, each thought over the matter again, and 
 came to the conclusion that the directions in the book 
 might, for aught he knew, be genuine or spurious so he 
 had better not pay the money. 
 
 As the misers did not return with the money, the Arab 
 General threw the iron chest, with its invaluable contents, into 
 the flames. Such of the misers as lingered in the corner 
 paid the final obsequies to the chest, by clinging to it 
 tenaciously to the last ; and the Arab soldiers had to cast 
 them out, one by one, by sheer force, and then proceed 
 with the work of final destruction. 
 
 The misers who had gone home did not escape with 
 their wealth, as they had fondly imagined. The Arab 
 soldiers followed them at a distance, and so soon as they 
 recognised their houses, they broke into them, and 
 carried off the wealth of the misers, who, in this style, not 
 only failed to ransom the chest, but lost the treasures which 
 they had valued more than their own lives. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " The poor men, in their en- 
 deavours to save the chest, lost the wealth they had so long 
 been hoarding ; no doubt their fate is pitiable in the 
 extreme." 
 
88 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Another Mandarin stood up, and said, " The misers of 
 Balk are as much to be pitied as the people who sold all 
 their kine in expectation of having the Ocean of Milk at 
 their doors." 
 
 The Prince wished to know all about the Ocean of Milk, 
 and the Mandarin related the story of 
 
 aan of 
 
 There was a King of a certain country, near the Celestial 
 Empire, who believed implicitly everything his priests told 
 him. It was written in their sacred books that there was 
 somewhere an Ocean of Milk. 
 
 The King, therefore, said to the High Priest one day, 
 " Holy sire, the fact of the existence of the Ocean of Milk 
 is no myth, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Your Majesty may as well doubt your own existence ! " 
 exclaimed the High Priest. 
 
 " If so," said the King, " the milk in this ocean must be 
 infinitely superior to the milk ordinarily obtained from kine ; 
 it is a wonder that people have not made use of it." 
 
 The High Priest replied, " Your Majesty is aware of the 
 fact that one half the world is made of atheists, a quarter 
 again of sceptics, and of the remaining quarter, the true 
 believers are, again, but as the ring-finger." 
 
 The last metaphor of his holiness puzzled the King. He 
 said to himself, " This may mean that the true believers are 
 one in five, taking one hand alone, or one in ten taking the 
 two hands together, one of the hands having no ring-finger 
 properly so called." 
 
 But as high priests should not be asked unnecessary 
 questions, or such questions as would convey the remotest 
 inkling of doubt or infidelity, the King feigned a clear 
 
THE OCEAN OF MILK. 89 
 
 knowledge of the whole, and said, " Holy sire, may we not 
 undertake a journey to the Ocean of Milk ? A bath in it 
 ought to sanctify us. A few drops from it carefully brought 
 home should provide the whole country with milk for ages 
 to come." 
 
 This last remark of his Majesty needs explanation. It 
 was written in the books of the priests that if a few drops of 
 the Ocean of Milk were brought into a country, and emptied 
 into a cistern, it would at once be filled by the magic drops, 
 and continued unabated for ages to come, be the quantity 
 of milk consumed ever so great, hourly, daily, weekly, 
 monthly, and yearly. 
 
 The High Priest said, " Holy thoughts do not come to 
 all. Your Majesty, in your sanctity and wisdom, has con- 
 ceived a glorious idea. Great ideas have great obstacles in 
 their way. Therefore, the sooner we start for the Ocean of 
 Milk, the better." 
 
 Instantly his Majesty gave orders that all the kine in 
 the country should be sold, and that every one should build 
 a large cistern for himself, into which a few drops of the 
 milk from the great ocean would be poured, to the eternal 
 benefit and happiness of the owner. So all the kine in the 
 country were sold, and everybody built for himself a cistern 
 to be filled with the milk from the ocean. 
 
 The Prime Minister, who knew the real character of the 
 record in the holy books about the Ocean of Milk, was 
 alarmed at the credulity with which the King was preparing 
 for his journey. So he went to the High Priest in secret, 
 and said, " My good sir, do you really believe in the exist- 
 ence of this Ocean of Milk ? " 
 
 The High Priest said, " Well, I have not seen it ; the 
 books say that it exists, and when kings believe the books 
 the priests ought to be only too glad of -it." 
 
 Thereupon the Prime Minister put a heavy purse of gold 
 
9 o 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 ;nto the hands of his holiness and said, " This is, of course, 
 more substantial than the drops of the imaginary Ocean of 
 Milk; so let me soon hear from your holiness that the King 
 has been successfully diverted from his purpose." 
 
 The next morning, when the King went to see his holi- 
 ness, he observed, with a melancholy face, " Alas, I am, 
 indeed, sorry to tell your Majesty that the Ocean of Milk has 
 curdled. I have just now received the information, and 
 
 " HERE IS A VIAL CONTAINING A FEW DROPS OF IT." 
 
 here is a vial containing a few drops of it in its present con- 
 dition, which the messenger brought from my friend, the 
 spirit that guards the ocean. Of course, the calamity must 
 have resulted from the infidelity of some one of us." 
 
 The King imagined it was his own fault. The High 
 Priest, with equal modesty, said he rather thought it was his 
 own. Then the King asked for a few drops in the vial, and 
 the High Priest gave them to his Majesty, saying, " It is, 
 indeed, a holy treasure ! " 
 
 His Majesty sprinkled the drops on his own head, and 
 said it was at least some gratification to have seen the 
 curdled milk of th? ocean. 
 
 The people of the country, who had sold all their kine 
 
THE BABIES OF BAHLISTAN. 91 
 
 to foreigners, assembled round his Majesty in turbulent 
 crowds. His Majesty looked at the Prime Minister, and 
 the Prime Minister addressing the people, said, " In future 
 you should take care not to sell your kine, even when the 
 Ocean of Milk is actually brought to your very doors, for, 
 even then, it may curdle at any time ! " 
 
 The Prince said, " The subjects of his Majesty must 
 have been very simple-minded, indeed, to have sold all their 
 kine, trusting to such a contingency." 
 
 Here another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, they must, 
 indeed, have been greater simpletons than the Babies of 
 Bahlistan ! " 
 
 " The Babies of Bahlistan ! " exclaimed the Prince. 
 " Good Mandarin, introduce us to them at once. We long 
 to make their acquaintance " 
 
 The other Mandarins joined the Prince in his request, 
 and the Mandarin told the story as follows : 
 
 latos 0f lablistatt. 
 
 In a certain country, not far from the Celestial Empire, 
 there was a province called Bahlistan, where lived a tribe of 
 men, who were so simple-minded and innocent, that the 
 people of the adjacent provinces called them, in derision, 
 the Babies of Bahlistan. 
 
 The Babies lived by agriculture, which they conducted 
 by the aid of money borrowed from the usurers of the 
 adjacent provinces. The usurers found it so profitable to 
 deal with the Babies, that they advanced to them any 
 amount they required, and were generally repaid threefold, 
 and sometimes even fourfold, when the harvests were over. 
 Among these usurers there was a merchant named Dalai, 
 
92 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 who had grown extremely wealthy by dealing with the 
 Babies. 
 
 When they came to borrow money from him, Dalai 
 generally gave them a treat, and conducted them over the 
 halls and corridors of his mansion, that they might be better 
 impressed with his wealth and magnificence, although he 
 gave out to people that he did so out of kindly feelings. 
 The Babies, who were rough and ingenuous men, would 
 admire the sights displayed to their view, and borrow more 
 money than ever from their benefactor. 
 
 Dalai was also a sort of universal agent and purveyor 
 for the Babies. If they wanted a spade, he had it made. 
 If they wanted a. broom or mop, it, went out from his shop. 
 In this style everything went on well between Dalai and his 
 victims till a certain year, when the harvest in Bahlistan 
 proved a total failure, and the Babies were reduced to the 
 verge of absolute poverty and misery. 
 
 They flocked round the mansion of Dalai and solicited 
 his aid. He said, "Your harvest this year has failed totally. 
 Well, it may similarly fail next year also. Am I to lose on 
 your account ? No. Therefore, I not only advance no 
 money to you this year, but proceed instantly against you in 
 the Courts of Law, that what chattels yet remain with 
 you may cover the debt you owe me, at least, to some 
 extent." 
 
 The Babies, with tears trickling down their bushy 
 whiskers, said, " Ah, Dalai, we have paid you interest at a 
 hundred per cent, at two hundred per cent., at three hun- 
 dred per cent., and on some occasions at four hundred per 
 cent. If we had but a tenth of the money we paid as 
 interest, we shall be able to live comfortably with our 
 families and children, even if the harvest should fail for a 
 dozen years. Do, therefore, pity our present condition and 
 help us." 
 
THE BABIES OF BAIILISTAN. 
 
 93 
 
 But Dalai was inexorable; for, as his neighbours observed, 
 there was as much feeling and tenderness in his heart as in 
 an iron-mine. So, by the time the Babies went home, the 
 officers of justice were at their doors, and when the Babies 
 entered their homes the officers entered with them, and 
 turned everything upside down. 
 
 The Babies were utterly incapable of cunning ; yet the 
 pressure of circumstances sharpened the wits of one of them, 
 named Jumbilar, and he said to his brethren, " Friends, till 
 this moment we have been the victims of our own folly. 
 Now let us learn a lesson which will serve us well in future. 
 Mind, we shall all be utterly ruined if you do not take my 
 advice." 
 
 The Babies flocked round Jumbilar, and said, " Brother 
 Jumbilar, anything in this exigency that is likely to serve us 
 is welcome." 
 
 Jumbilar said, lt Leave everything to me, and when people 
 put on a question about anything, however trifling it may be, 
 say 'Ask Jumbilar.'" They consented with pleasure to 
 this proposal. 
 
 Instantly Jumbilar said to the officers of justice, " We 
 have just received news, of an unexpected turn of good for- 
 tune. If you call again the day after to-morrow, you will 
 not only see the demands of justice satisfied, but get a purse 
 of gold in recognition of your forbearance on this 
 occasion." 
 
 The officers of justice were puzzled when they heard the 
 latter part of Jumbilar's speech, and went home in suspense, 
 some of them remarking, " Well, if the ends of justice as 
 well as our own ends are to be satisfied, there is no reason 
 why we should not wait." 
 
 Jumbilar, with all the Babies, went to Dalai, and said, 
 " Good friend Dalai, on second thoughts, your apprehensions 
 about the safety of your advances appeared to us but just. 
 
94 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 In every civilised community the rights of property should- 
 be guarded by all legitimate means ; so we entertain no dis- 
 content against you on that score. Now, as good luck 
 would have it, a great treasure-trove has turned up in one 
 of our fields." 
 
 Dalai, in his eagerness to hear all about it, exclaimed, 
 " Ah, let us know all about it ; you cannot communicate it 
 to a better friend and benefactor." 
 
 Jumbilar continued, " It consists of innumerable nuggets 
 of gold, which have to be dug out. This business needs a 
 great many implements and a very large sum of money to 
 pay the workmen. Will you supply us with all these things 
 at once ? Further, there ought to be no deed or document 
 bearing on the subject. For, should the Sultan know of it, 
 we will not have a dinar out of it." 
 
 The greed of Dalai being excited to an inordinate 
 extent, he opened his mouth wide enough to reach his ears, 
 and asked each of the Babies, in whose honesty he had 
 unbounded confidence, if he agreed to pay interest on the 
 money advanced at five hundred per cent, in the shape of 
 the solid nuggets of gold. 
 
 Of course each Baby said, " Ask Jumbilar." 
 
 Jumbilar agreed to pay accordingly, expressing his regret 
 that Dalai contented himself with five hundred per cent, 
 when the Babies had so much in their possession to give. 
 
 Instantly Dalai ordered the implements and the money. 
 The Babies went home with the implements and the money, 
 of which Jumbilar had the lion's share, and soon retrieved 
 their fortunes. Of course they gave no more thought to 
 the nuggets, which Jumbilar said lay buried somewhere 
 in their fields ; for they found none, although they had 
 ploughed deep every inch of them. 
 
 Dalai, who had implicit faith in the honesty of the 
 Babies of Bahlistan, waited long patiently. He had also 
 
THE BABIES OF BAHLISTAX. 
 
 95 
 
 made a special kind of chest to contain the nuggets, and as 
 he opened the empty chest every hour, to see how it would 
 look when filled with the brilliant nuggets, it seemed to cry 
 out, " Oh, where are the nuggets ! When will they 
 come ! " 
 
 So Dalai went to Bahlistan, and asked each of the Babies 
 for the gold. 
 
 Each said, "Ask Jumbilar." 
 
 So he went to Jumbilar. But Jumbilar put three of the 
 fingers of his right hand, in the form of a trident, on his own 
 forehead, and stood silent. 
 
 'JUMBILAR PUT THREE OF HIS FINGERS . 
 
 ON HIS OWN FOREHEAD. 
 
 " Ah, what is the matter with my friend Jumbilar ? " said 
 the usurer, turning to the Babies, fancying that something 
 had gone wrong with the wits of the man. 
 
 To this query also the Babies gave the inveterate reply, 
 " Ask Jumbilar." 
 
 But as Jumbilar spoke not, and the Babies made the 
 same reference over and over again, and as there was 
 neither deed nor document in the bargain, poor Dalai 
 returned saying, " Ah, they are Babies no more, but shrewd 
 men, whose cunning cannot be easily construed \ for the 
 
96 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 symbols with which Jumbilar replied to my queries are, I 
 daresay, indications of deceit. I shall have nothing to do 
 with these men any more." 
 
 The Babies borrowed no more money from the usurer, 
 but saved enough every year to help them in conducting 
 their operations. They asked Jumbilar what he meant by the 
 symbol of the trident. He replied, " When I held up the 
 three fingers, two others were down as you saw. I meant 
 simply that we had grown thrice as cunning as he was, and 
 that he and his cupidity must go down before us, like the 
 two fingers." 
 
 Ever after the Babies of Bahlistan acquired the name of 
 the Shrewd Men of Bahlistan, and gave birth to a saying to 
 this effect : " The very babies of Bahlistan will take to 
 cunning, when driven to it." 
 
 The Prince observed, " Well, if the Babies had been 
 self-reliant from the beginning, there would have been no 
 occasion for Dalai to deprive them of so much of their 
 wealth. A man must ever remember that the best master 
 he has is Heaven, and the best servant he has is himself." 
 
 Here another Mandarin said, " Sire, if a man would 
 only take pains to do so, he will find all the elements of 
 prosperity in the talents which Heaven has bestowed on 
 him. In fact, he will find them all in his own head and 
 heart, even as the surly farmer found a son-in-law under his 
 own roof, after going round the whole country in quest of 
 one. 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
97 
 
 nf 
 
 farmer anlr 
 |3anlraram* 
 
 In a certain village in the country of Behar, where the 
 holy religion of Buddha first flourished, there was an orphan 
 boy named Pandaram, who for a long time struggled to 
 make a living with great difficulty. Being desirous oi 
 improving his circumstances, he went to a philosopher in 
 that neighbourhood, and asked him for help. 
 
 "HE WAS VERY ANGRY." 
 
 The philosopher had no money, for, as everybody knows, 
 there was scarcely any philosopher who was ever rich 
 poetry, philosophy, and poverty being counted sisters born 
 of the same parents ; but he had wisdom. So he wrote 
 down on a palm-leaf these words : Patience, perseverance, 
 and perfect happiness ; and gave it to Pandaram. 
 
 With this leaf in hand, Pandaram went to a surly farmer 
 in the village, and asked him for help. 
 
 He was very angry, and said, " If you show your face at 
 li 
 
98 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 this door again, you will have a bucket of cold water thrown 
 at it ! " 
 
 When Pandaram heard this polite and encouraging 
 admonition, he looked into the leaf, and read the first word, 
 " Patience." So he patiently put up with the words of the 
 farmer, and every day showed his face at his threshold. 
 
 When Pandaram had done this for a month or so, the 
 farmer said, " Now tell me if you know how to plough." 
 
 Pandaram said he did not know, but that if he tried 
 he could. So the surly farmer gave him ploughing work in 
 his fields, observing, " If you aspire for more, you will be 
 made as destitute as you were before." 
 
 Pandaram now looked into the palm-leaf and found the 
 word " Perseverance ; " so he persevered, and in the course 
 of a few months became such an expert ploughman, that the 
 farmer, who had long been in quest of an agent to look after 
 some of his lands, promoted Pandaram to the place, saying. 
 " If you aspire for more, you will be a ploughboy as before." 
 
 Pandaram persevered in this also. He took special care 
 to see that the lands entrusted to his charge were well-tilled 
 and manured. So, when the harvest season came, the lands 
 of Pandaram yielded more than the lands farmed by his 
 master ; so that the wife of the surly farmer said, " Good 
 husband, let Pandaram look after your lands next year, 
 that they may prove as productive as those already en- 
 trusted to his care." 
 
 The surly farmer was very glad at heart that Pandaram 
 was coming up so well. But yet, as he had a quaint way of 
 concealing his gratification behind the veil of harsh speech, 
 he said, "So this Pandaram is such a great man in farming 
 as to be considered superior to his master by the very wife of 
 that master. Let us see how he acquits himself in his new 
 charge." 
 
 So the farmer entrusted to his care his other lands also, 
 
THE FARMER AND THE BOY. 99 
 
 In his new charge, Pandaram worked with such patience 
 and perseverance that the farmer, who had been indebted 
 to others, paid off all his debts, and had a surplus. 
 
 When people in that part of the world get a surplus, 
 they generally think of marrying their children, however 
 youthful they may be. The surly farmer had an only 
 daughter, whom he had long intended to marry to some 
 youth in the village, or its neighbourhood. The surplus gave 
 his project a fresh impetus. So he went about the village in 
 quest of a son-in-law. 
 
 A number of young men fell in his way ; but to each of 
 them he had some insuperable objection. So he returned 
 home, and told his wife that he had been all round the 
 village without finding a suitable son-in-law. His wife said, 
 "Good husband, I have a proposal to make." 
 
 " Do make it at once," said the surly farmer, who had 
 shouldered his wallet to start again in quest of a son-in-law 
 in some neighbouring village. 
 
 The wife said, "What if we bestow our daughter on 
 Pandaram ? " 
 
 " That shall never be ! " said the surly farmer, and went 
 out prepared for a long journey in quest of a son-in-law. 
 
 There was hardly a village in the country of Behar in 
 which he had not inquired for a youth who would suit him ; 
 for he took it for granted that if the youth suited him, he 
 would suit everybody else, including his wife and his 
 daughter. But every one was below the mark. What was 
 more surprising not one of them came up to the level of 
 Pandaram in any respect. 
 
 So the surly farmer returned to his village, and told his 
 wife that after all they had to bestow their daughter on the 
 orphan youth Pandaram. Then he addressed Pandaram as 
 follows : " What settlement do you propose making for the . 
 benefit of your wife ? " 
 
too THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Pandaram gave no reply ; but placed before the farmer 
 with great ceremony a plate, on which was the palm leaf 
 which the philosopher had given him, painted yellow the 
 colour which was considered most auspicious in that part of 
 the world. 
 
 The farmer read the words on the leaf, bestowed his 
 daughter on Pandaram, and made him the real manager of 
 all his concerns. The farmer and his wife led a quiet life 
 thereafter in happy retirement. Pandaram eventually 
 became a great landholder of Behar, and whenever people 
 asked him by what means he had attained his greatness, he 
 would repeat the words of the philosopher, Patience, per- 
 severance, and perfect happiness. 
 
 The Prince said, " Perseverance in a good cause, indeed, 
 leads to happiness." 
 
 Another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, if people persevere 
 in a bad cause, they may be equally sure of coming to 
 grief some day, like the turbulent citizens of Shanghae." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded to tell it as follows : 
 
 ^t S/trrbxtkttt Citi^ns 0f 
 
 Among the innabitants of the city of Shanghae there 
 were, at one time, two rival factions, who constantly 
 quarrelled with each other. Each had its representative 
 council ; each had its festivals and processions, with banners 
 and music ; each had its armies of roughs and unprincipled 
 men to annoy the other; while both gave a world of 
 trouble to the Mandarin who governed the city. 
 
 The device on the banner of one party was a white dog, 
 while the other faction gloried in having a black dog. So 
 
THE TURBULENT CITIZENS OP SHANGHAE. 101 
 
 the two factions were known as the Black Dogs and the 
 White Dogs in popular phrase. Whenever the rival pro- 
 cessions met in the streets, the rabble gathered round them, 
 exclaiming, " The Black Dogs and the White Dogs have 
 met. Now they fight. What a splendid sight ! " 
 
 The ringleaders in these civic disturbances were some 
 of the leading merchants of the city. The Mandarin often 
 sent for them, and said, "You are men of education, wealth, 
 and position. If you do not see that your less educated 
 dependents and followers behave properly, but incite them 
 to riot, it will be utterly impossible to preserve order in 
 the city. Further, the matter has already reached the 
 imperial ears, and I am sure rigorous measures will be 
 adopted to quell your turbulence." 
 
 On such occasions the Black Dogs would tell the Man- 
 darin, "Ah, but for the White Dog?, there would be no 
 riot whatever in the streets of Shanghae." 
 
 The White Dogs would invariably reply, " But for the 
 Black Dogs, a stranger coming into the city might ask if it 
 was inhabited." 
 
 Of course the White Dogs meant that they, for their part, 
 were so silent and peaceful. 
 
 The Mandarin being tired of frequently expostulating 
 with these people, pondered over the subject within himself, 
 and one day, summoning the two Dogs before him, said, 
 *' The Emperor has received a request from a foreign poten- 
 tate that the merchants of this city should be permitted to 
 sell to him silken stuffs, of which there are great quantities 
 in your warehouses. The agent is shortly expected at this 
 port, in a yellow junk. Will you prepare to transact busi- 
 ness with him ? " 
 
 The merchants readily consented, and prepared to meet 
 the agent who was expected in the yellow junk. One 
 morning, as the sun appeared in the east, the yellow junk 
 
io2 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 appeared in the harbour. The merchants were in high 
 spirits at the thought of the enormous profits they expected 
 to make. So they put their wares in a great many boats 
 and rowed to the junk. 
 
 The agent of the foreign potentate received them with 
 great attention, and fell to bargaining about the prices of 
 the different kinds of stuffs. 
 
 While the merchants were thus engaged, the captain of 
 the junk ordered the anchor to be weighed. The Black 
 Dogs said that the captain wished to take the junk nearer to 
 the shore. The White Dogs said that the captain wished to 
 go farther away from the shore. While they were thus 
 contending again on this subject, with all their traditional 
 animosity and vehemence, the junk had left the harbour, and 
 sailed some distance into the sea. 
 
 When all chances of escape were cut off, the captain 
 addressed the merchants as follows : " Under the com- 
 mand of the Imperial Court at Pekin, the captain of the 
 Yellow Junk gives his compliments to the Black Dogs and 
 the White Dogs that long disturbed the peace of Shanghae, 
 and hereby informs them that they will be transported in 
 this good vessel the Yellow Junk to a distant island, 
 where they will be left to fight it out without annoying the 
 people of their native city any more ! " 
 
 The Black Dogs and the White Dogs perceived, when it 
 was too late, the trap that had been set by the Mandarin to 
 catch them all at one and the same time. So, for the first 
 time in their lives, the two Dogs united and addressed the 
 captain as follows : "You have a wife like us; you have 
 children like us. You know the pangs of being separated 
 from them too well to need explanation. If you will land 
 us quietly in some out-of-the-way portion of the coast, and 
 sail away, we will reach Shanghae at dead of night, and 
 shut ourselves up with our families no more music, no 
 
THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE. 103 
 
 more processions, no more banners, no more festivals, no 
 more dog- devices, no more quarrels and disturbances ! " 
 
 But the captain was inexorable. So they were eventually 
 landed on the shores of the distant island from which they 
 never returned. 
 
 The Black Dogs and White Dogs that yet remained in 
 Shanghae, having lost their leaders and in such an abrupt 
 style, dreaded a similar fate to themselves, and settled down 
 to a life of mutual goodwill and friendship. 
 
 The Mandarin, who for a long time had not enjoyed the 
 luxury of a quiet wink of sleep during the nights for the pro- 
 cessions of the two Dogs were conducted generally at a late 
 hour after dark laid his head peacefully on the pillow as he 
 went to bed, saying, " Ah, the Black Dogs and the White 
 Dogs will howl no more in the streets of Shanghae at dead 
 of night ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, "After all the captain of the Yellow 
 Junk enabled the Mandarin of Shanghae to surmount the 
 difficulty." 
 
 Here another Mandarin got up, and saluting the Prince, 
 said, " Sire, even as the Truant in a Triple Guise enabled 
 the Sultan to surmount a difficulty which his astrologers 
 had thrown in the way of his daughter's marriage." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to narrate the story, 
 and he proceeded as follows : 
 
 Bfruattt in a 
 
 There was a Sultan of Samarcand, who had a daughter, 
 at whose birth the astrologers said, " She will wed a physician, 
 a fisherman, and a prince." 
 
 On being asked by the Sultan whether she would marry 
 
104 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 the three husbands one after the other, as death cleared the 
 way, or at one and the same time, the astrologers said, " Oh, 
 Sultan, it is written in the book of fate that she should 
 marry them at one and the same time a Prince with a 
 scimitar, a Fisherman with a net, and a Physician with a bag 
 of medicines." 
 
 The Sultan said, " Why, it would be simply monstrous 
 if my daughter did so. So let her live in celibacy and in 
 strict confinement all her life." 
 
 Accordingly, the princess was shut up in a fortress close 
 to the capital. His Majesty also issued a proclamation to 
 the effect that neither physicians, nor fishermen, nor princes 
 should be permitted to step into his dominions ; that all 
 people who belonged to these three orders should at once 
 evacuate it ; that the Princess should be kept in utter 
 ignorance of the three, and that everybody who ventured to 
 utter audibly any one of the terms Physic, Fish, and Prince, 
 should be at once led to the block and have his head cut off. 
 
 There was a Genius in the castle in which the Princess 
 was confined, who said to himself, " The Sultan has issued 
 a cruel edict. The princes and physicians are indeed a 
 handful, when compared with the fishermen in the country. 
 These have been deprived of their living, while those have 
 left the country and have been shifting for themselves some- 
 how in foreign lands. Further, the Sultan's mandate is to 
 the effect that no fish shall ever be served at the table of the 
 Princess, and that none shall be taken into the castle. This 
 is depriving the Princess of one of the most wholesome 
 delicacies of the table. When men err, higher powers ought 
 to set them right. So I must do my duty in this instance." 
 
 With this resolve, the Genius approached the Princess 
 invisibly, and whispered into her ears, " Fish ! " 
 
 The Princess had never heard the name before, so she 
 asked her maids what the name meant. They said that it 
 
THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE. 105 
 
 was as much as their life was worth, and that they should be 
 excused. But the Princess was very sorry that she could 
 not find out the meaning of the term, so she neither ate nor 
 drank, nor dressed nor played, but pined away day by day, 
 crying " Fish ! " and sobbing at intervals in a most piteous 
 fashion. 
 
 The Sultan came to know of it. He said to himself, 
 " Nobody, I am sure, spoke to the Princess of the three 
 terms ; yet she utters one of them, which may be a clue to 
 the rest for aught we know. Her cruel destiny seems to 
 have revealed the term to her. But yet I must contend 
 against it." 
 
 Accordingly he tried his best to make his daughter 
 forget the term ; but the more he endeavoured to do so, the 
 oftener she repeated it. 
 
 So he issued another proclamation, saying, " He that 
 frees our daughter from the delusion under which she has 
 been labouring will have a high reward, provided he is 
 neither a physician, nor a fisherman, nor a prince." 
 
 When the Genius heard this proclamation, he said, 
 " Well, that is a wise Sultan after all! " and going to a prince 
 named Bakeer who was a nephew of his Majesty, and who 
 had been expelled from his court as a mischievous truant 
 and traitor, because he often loitered by the castle where the 
 Princess was confined to obtain a sight of her if possible 
 and said, " Now, put on a triple guise, one over another, so 
 that you may appear a physician with all three, a fisherman 
 with two, and a prince with one." 
 
 Bakeer did so. Then the Genius gave him a bag 
 containing a parcel of medicines, a net with three large 
 fishes in it, and a scimitar of exquisite workmanship, and 
 transported him to the apartments of the Princess in the 
 castle, saying, " Now, court the Princess, and win her heart 
 before the Sultan can know of your arrival here. Take out 
 
io6 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 the parcel of medicines first, then the fishes with the net 
 containing them, then the scimitar, and show them all to the 
 Princess ; for each of them has a rare charm of love in it, 
 which will help you wonderfully in your suit." 
 
 Having thus introduced Bakeer into the apartments of 
 the Princess, the Genius approached the Sultan invisibly, 
 
 A PHYSICIAN . , TALKING TO THE PRINCESS " (p. 107). 
 
 and whispered into his ears, " O, Sultan, the person that is 
 to free your daughter from the delusion has arrived at the 
 castle. He is this moment talking to the Princess. What 
 are you doing here ! " 
 
 The Sultan was pleased to hear from the invisible person 
 that his daughter was likely to be freed from the delusion ; 
 but at the same time he was enraged to see that the man 
 had gone to her without his permission. 
 
 So he sent for the Grand Vizier and said, " Let every one 
 
THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE. 107 
 
 of the guards who watch round the fortress be sent to prison 
 for having let a man in, who is to treat the Princess, without 
 our permission." 
 
 But when the Grand Vizier questioned the guards about 
 it, they swore nobody had entered the castle. 
 
 The Sultan hastened therefore, with drawn scimitar, to 
 examine the apartments of the Princess personally. 
 
 When he went in he was astonished to see a physician, 
 with a parcel of medicines, talking to the Princess, evincing 
 great affection and esteem for her. The Sultan ran towards 
 him with uplifted scimitar, exclaiming, " This is a villainous 
 physician, indeed, with his perilous parcel of medicines." 
 
 Instantly Bakeer ran into an opposite room. Before 
 the Sultan could enter the room, the "invisible Genius 
 whispered into the ears of Bakeer, "Now, throw off the 
 physician's clothes and parcel, and take up the net with the 
 fishes in it." 
 
 Bakeer did so in the twinkling of an eye. 
 
 So, when the Sultan entered the room, he found a 
 fisherman there, and exclaimed, " Ah, here is a villainous 
 fisherman, with his perilous net and fish ! " and ran towards 
 him with uplifted scimitar. 
 
 Bakeer ran into another room. The invisible Genius 
 whispered into his ears, " Throw off the fisherman's clothes 
 and net, and, taking up the scimitar in the bag, boldly 
 resist the Sultan." 
 
 Bakeer did so in the twinkling of an eye. 
 
 So, when the Sultan entered the room, he found a prince 
 there, and exclaimed, "Ah, here is a villainous prince, with 
 his perilous scimitar ! " and ran towards him, muttering to 
 himself, " So my daughter has actually proved a monster. 
 She has had three husbands, at one and the same time, 
 concealed in her apartments ! The astrologers have proved 
 true, after all 1 " 
 
io8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 But Bakeer, instead of fleeing into another room, met 
 the Sultan face to face. Finding a great resemblance 
 between him and his nephew, the Sultan stood silent for 
 one moment. 
 
 The invisible Genius whispered into the ears of Bakeer, 
 "Now, put your two other disguises before the Sultan 
 forget not the parcel of medicines and the net with the 
 three fishes in it." 
 
 Bakeer did so in the twinkling of an eye. 
 
 His Majesty exclaimed, "Ah, Bakeer, is it you phy- 
 sician, fisherman, and prince in one ? So you are the 
 truant, in a triple guise, again ! But have you freed my 
 daughter from her delusion ? " 
 
 " Long ago, sire," said Bakeer, smiling. 
 
 Here the Princess came out, and said, " Sire, I am now 
 quite free from delusion, and feel much better than ever 
 before in my life ! " 
 
 " I am, indeed, happy to hear of it," said the Sultan, and 
 united the hands of Bakeer and his daughter, observing to 
 himself, " After all, she has found three husbands in one, 
 and blame attaches to none ! " 
 
 The Prince observed, "The invisible Genius played a 
 double part. He appeared to be the friend of the Sultan 
 when he informed him of the presence of the Prince in the 
 castle, while all the while he was favouring the Prince." 
 
 Here another Mandarin got up, and said, " Sire, like 
 the boy Padang in the Valley of the Hundred Giants, it is 
 often necessary to play a double part for the public weal." 
 
 The Prince asked the Mandarin to relate the story, and 
 he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
109 
 
 15 erg fairattg antr tfa fjwtfrrcb (giants. 
 
 In a valley at a great distance from the city of Amara- 
 pura, in the Kingdom of Burmah, there lived a hundred 
 giants, who were " tall as the cocoa palm, and round like a 
 boulder." Each had a huge club in his hand. There was 
 this fatal peculiarity about them if they went out in the 
 rain, they were sure to fall down dead. Therefore, during 
 the summer months, they scoured the plains with their huge 
 clubs, and seizing as many people as came in their way, 
 returned to the valley, where they spent the rainy months 
 in feasting. 
 
 Further, the giants loved one another very tenderly, and 
 if any of them suffered any injury, all the rest felt it. 
 Many people, therefore, fancied they were one hundred 
 brothers, living in perfect concord. But, in spite of their 
 brotherly love towards one another, as they treated the 
 people in the plains with great cruelty, the people were bent 
 upon working their ruin. 
 
 They often said to themselves, in despair, "We are 
 men ; they are giants. With one sweep of his club, a giant 
 knocks down a thousand among us. How can we destroy 
 them?" 
 
 There was a poor widow in the city, who had an only 
 son, named Padang. He was a little boy, that had not his 
 right arm. People might fancy that a boy who had only 
 one arm would have kept quiet, without doing any mischief 
 whatever, brooding over the misfortune that had befallen 
 him in the loss of the other arm. But Padang was of a 
 different type. He went about the streets of the city 
 collecting a great many boys around him, and setting them 
 on to all kinds of mad frolics and tricks. 
 
 This annoyed the townspeople greatly. So they said to 
 
no THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 the widow, " If you do not take proper care of your boy, 
 and keep him within doors, we will send him off to the 
 Valley of the One Hundred Giants." 
 
 Padang, who had just then returned from one of his 
 raids in the city, heard this, and said, " It will do you good 
 to send me to the valley. Tell the King I wish to go at 
 once." 
 
 When his Majesty was informed of this, he ordered 
 Padang to leave the city at once for the Valley of the One 
 Hundred Giants. 
 
 Padang said to his mother, "Give me as much bread 
 and water as will last for seven days, and put in the bag 
 some flint and steel. I am going to the Valley of the 
 Giants. 
 
 His mother tried her best to keep him from the enter- 
 prise, as he was her only son. But he was resolute. So, 
 with tears in her eyes, the poor widow gave him the bread 
 and water, together with the flint and steel in a bag. 
 
 After a long journey, Padang reached the valley, and 
 stood at the mouth of the cave in which the giants lived. 
 
 They saw him with surprise, and said, "Well, little 
 fellow, with a single hand, who are you ? " 
 
 Padang replied, "Well, tall fellows, with two hands, I 
 am an old friend of your great-grandfather." 
 
 The giants said, " Good ! What is your name ? " 
 
 Padang replied, " Padang, the single-handed." 
 
 The giants said, " Good ! You say you are an old 
 friend of our great-grandfather how old are you ? " 
 
 Padang said, " Ah, that I can't say. I remember when 
 this cavern, in which you live, was built by your great- 
 grandfather, compared with whom you are but pigmies. I 
 was then by his side, and helped him in lifting up the huge 
 rocks. One of them fell on my hand, and broke it." 
 
 The giants said, " If you assisted our great-grandfather 
 
PADANG . . . STOOD'AT THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE" (/. no 
 
THE BOY AND THE HUNDRED GIANTS. 113 
 
 in building this cave, you must have been present when it 
 was furnished, and you ought to know why it was not 
 carpeted, in spite of the ground being so rough." 
 
 Padang said, " Ah, your ancestors never complained of 
 the ruggedness of the floor ; it was nothing to them. But 
 you have degenerated, and so you feel it. But would you 
 have it carpeted ? " 
 
 " Certainly," said the giants. 
 
 Padang bade them bring a great quantity of dried grass 
 from the mountains, and spread it on the floor. Then he 
 bade them bring the naphtha in a great well in the moun- 
 tains, and pour it over the grass, saying, " It will make it 
 smooth and glossy." 
 
 The giants were very glad to see the carpet of dried 
 grass and naphtha. 
 
 They treated Padang with the respect due to an old 
 friend of their grandfather, who had also lost an arm in 
 building the cave which was their mansion, and he waited 
 patiently, saying, " The seventh day since I left home is yet 
 to come. It ought to rain some day in seven days." 
 
 Accordingly, it began to rain very hard one evening. 
 
 The giants sat down to dinner in great glee. While they 
 were carousing, Padang came to the mouth of the cave, and, 
 striking a light with the flint and steel in his bag, set fire to 
 the carpet. 
 
 The naphtha helped the grass to burn quickly, and the 
 suffocating smoke, mingled with the flames, drove the giants 
 out of the cave into the open air, where the rain killed them 
 all. 
 
 Padang collected the one hundred clubs of the Uiants, 
 and returning to Amarapura, laid them before the King, say- 
 ing, " I am sure your Majesty knows whose clubs these are." 
 
 The King knew they belonged to the giants, and that 
 they must all have perished. 
 I 
 
ii4 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Padang gave him an account of bis adventure, as his 
 Majesty was eager to know all about it. 
 
 His Majesty was very glad to see that the hundred giants 
 had been destroyed by Padang, so he bestowed on him the 
 hand of his only daughter, and presented him with a great 
 golden umbrella, which was a high honour at the court of 
 Amarapura. 
 
 His mother had apartments in the palace. 
 
 His Majesty also issued a proclamation, to the effect that 
 before all his other royal titles, proper to be used whenever 
 his Majesty was mentioned, he should be called the Father- 
 in-law of Padang, the Single-handed, the Lord of the Golden 
 Umbrella, and the Destroyer of the One Hundred Giants 
 in the great Valley, at a great distance from Amarapura, in 
 the kingdom of Burmah. 
 
 The Prince said, " The giants met with ruin because they 
 sought a luxury which their great-grandfather had not." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the 
 giants fancied it was simply carpeting the floor ; but very 
 serious consequences followed from it, even as from the 
 endeavours of the man Neph, who lived on the banks of the 
 Sanpo, and who amused himself by fishing in the streets." 
 
 " Fishing in the streets," said the Prince ; " why, that 
 must have been a curious operation, indeed ! Good 
 Mandarin, tell us how Neph fished in the streets." 
 
 The Mandarin told the story as follows : 
 
 n 
 
 In an ancient city, on the banks of the Sanpo, there was 
 a wealthy man named Neph, who was passionately fond of 
 the amusement of fishing. But, at the same time, his 
 luxurious habits had made him so fat and unwieldy that he 
 
FISHING IN THE STREETS. 
 
 had neither the power nor the inclination to stir out 
 
 house, so he would sit at the window of his chamber, 
 
 the street, with a fishing-rod 
 
 and a long line attached to one 
 
 end of it, and throw it into the 
 
 street. To the other end of the 
 
 string was attached some eatable, 
 
 as a piece of bread, or some 
 
 fruit. 
 
 He had a boy named Ning, 
 whose special duty it was to 
 run out into the street as soon 
 as his master had thrown the 
 line, and keep pulling it for 
 awhile, just as a fish would do 
 in its endeavours to catch the 
 bait, and then give it a jerk. 
 
 Neph would instantly pull 
 up the string, saying, " I have 
 got the fish, my boy ! " and 
 give the eatable to 
 Ning, who put it into 
 
 his mouth, and rushed 
 
 into the street to amuse 
 his master again. 
 
 The friends of the 
 fat roan long endea- 
 voured to take him out 
 into the open air, ob- 
 serving that, by his 
 luxurious living, and 
 sedentary habits, he was 
 marching towards his 
 grave with rapid strides. 
 i 2 
 
 of his 
 facing 
 
 HE WOULD !T . . WITH A FISHING ROD. 
 
n6 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 But he would say, "Well, my only amusement out of 
 doors would be fishing. Now, the real sport in fishing con- 
 sists in throwing down the line and pulling it up. I have it 
 at home. My endeavours to amuse myself at home being 
 so far successful, there is no reason why I should go out 
 so be so good as to leave me to myself." 
 
 They would reply, "Ah, Neph, your endeavours to 
 amuse yourself in this style may lead to serious con- 
 sequences ! " So he acquired the name of Fat Neph among 
 his neighbours, some of whom called him the idlest man 
 on the banks of the Sanpo. 
 
 Neph was an old bachelor. He did not wish to take a 
 wife, because he said he could get on very well without one. 
 But the true reason that Neph had for not marrying was to 
 save the expense of getting a wife, and keeping her, for 
 Neph was a miser, although he spent much for a good 
 table. 
 
 In the house opposite to the one in which he lived there 
 was a lady, who had long conceived the idea of marrying 
 Neph some day, saying, " I will first reduce his bulk, and 
 then make him happy." 
 
 She waited for an opportunity to meet him, but as he 
 neither went out of his house, nor admitted ladies into it, 
 she came up to Ning one evening, as he was about to give 
 the string a jerk, and, snatchin-; the eatable, put it into her 
 own mouth, saying, " Well, Ning, if your master should ask 
 who caught the bait, say { a fish with jet-black hair,' and 
 nothing more, till you see Uj together, will you? there's a 
 good boy," and, putting a piece of money into his hand, 
 disappeared. 
 
 When Fat Neph pulled up the string he found the bait 
 had disappeared. 
 
 "Now, my boy," said Neph, "you have grown extremely 
 greedy. You would not wait till I gave you the fish to eat." 
 
FISHING IN THE STREETS. 117 
 
 " I did not eat it, sir," said Ning. 
 
 " Who did eat it, then ? " said Neph. 
 
 " It was a fish with jet-black hair, sir," said Ning. 
 
 " Ah," said Neph to himself, pondering over the subject, 
 " I see how it was. Some fair .spirit who has long admired 
 my endeavours to amuse myself by fishing steadily in the 
 street has done it" 
 
 Then he thought of the many gods and goddesses 
 described in some of the books of the Lamas or Priests of 
 Thibet, and came to the conclusion that it was a spirit 
 resembling one of them in shape. 
 
 Now there was along-winded proverb, with a hyperbo- 
 lical conclusion, along the banks of the Sanpo, which said, 
 " Love smites the fat man, love smites the lean man ; love 
 smites the tall man, love smites the short man ; love 
 smites the young, loves smites the old ; love smites the 
 living, love smites the dead ; so be a man fat or lean, giant 
 or dwarf, young or old, living or dead, against love he can 
 never hope to hold up his head." 
 
 Fat Neph had long wondered what this proverb meant, 
 but now his doubts were cleared ; for he fell desperately in 
 love with the fish with jet-black hair, and rushed out of his 
 house to see which way it had gone. 
 
 This was the first instance for many years when he 
 crossed the street door. But as he could not decide which 
 way the fish had gone, he said to himself, " Fish, and spirits 
 resembling fish, must dwell in the river. So I will go to the 
 Sanpo and seek for this fish." 
 
 So with difficulty, he walked up to the banks of the 
 Sanpo, and strolled up and down in quest of the fish. But 
 not finding it there, returned home with a heavy heart. 
 
 The next day, while he was fishing from the window, the 
 lady caught the bait in the same style, unperceived by Neph, 
 and Ning told the same tale. 
 
n8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Neph went out to the banks of the Sanpo with the 
 same eagerness, and returned disappointed, as on the pre- 
 vious day. 
 
 The lady played this for one year. During this period, 
 Neph had the amount of exercise necessary to reduce his 
 bulk, and infuse quite a different spirit into him. 
 
 On the evening of the last day of the year, Neph, as he 
 strolled on the banks of the river, said to himself, " Well, 
 this is strange that the fish should seize the bait every day, 
 and persistently disappear before I could come out. How 
 shall I find it out?" 
 
 Just then a boat approached the spot where Neph stood, 
 and a fair lady landed from it. She had jet-black hair. 
 
 "Perhaps," said Neph to himself, "the fish has hair 
 like this lady," and calling to Ning, who was close by, 
 asked, u Had the fish hair like this lady, my boy ? " 
 
 Ning replied, " This lady is the fish, sir." 
 
 Here the lady came up to Neph, and said, " Ning is 
 quite right." 
 
 "Ah, Ning," said Neph, "you might have told me this 
 long before." 
 
 " No, sir," said the mischievous little Ning, " I was 
 requested not to tell you who the fish was till I saw you 
 together." 
 
 " Well, well, Ning," said his master impatiently, taking 
 the lady by the hand, " when next a fish of the kind catches 
 the bait, you will tell me at once, won't you ? " 
 
 Ning promised to do so without failure. 
 
 Fat Neph soon acquired the name of Lean Neph, and 
 from an old bachelor he turned into a young husband, and 
 lived happily with his wife, whom he persistently called The 
 Fish with the Jet-black Hair. 
 
 As his master's endeavours to amuse himself had led to 
 such serious consequences, Ning had not to run into 
 
KAPLOTH GUNI OF CANTON. 1 19 
 
 the street any more, for he was told once for all that the 
 fish had been caught for which they had been angling for 
 one whole year. 
 
 The Prince remarked that the lady after all did Neph a 
 world of good by her stratagem. 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up and said, " By such 
 clever devices, no doubt a world of good may be done 
 to people, even as Kaploth Guni of Canton did to the 
 boys of the city, the animals living therein, and the Man- 
 darin who was long concerned about them." 
 
 The Prince asked for the story, which the Mandarin 
 related as follows : 
 
 (Bunt 0f Catttatt. 
 
 In the city of Canton, there was a person named Kap- 
 loth Guni, whom some people called a wise man, and others 
 a mad beggar. If he was mad he had, of course, his lucid 
 intervals. In these, he was very fond of telling little 
 people all kinds of stories about fairies, genii, goblins, and 
 giants, in the existence of all of which he said he fully believed. 
 
 When he was mad he did nobody any harm, but sat 
 quietly under a great tree, at some distance from the city, 
 and ate what his little friends brought him, saying, " Poor 
 Guni, who will help him if we neglect him ? " 
 
 The Mandarin of Canton heard of the great influence 
 which Guni exercised over the minds of the children of the 
 city. He came to Guni, as he sat under the tree, and said, 
 " Kaploth Guni, are you really mad, as people say ? It 
 really you are subject to fits of insanity, it strikes me you 
 are sober when you tell your tales, and mad when you sit 
 quiet and moody." 
 
i2o THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Kaploth Guni said, " Good Mandarin. If so, I am 
 mad when I am sober, and sober when I am mad ! " 
 
 The Mandarin said, " You may take a wild buffalo by 
 its horns, but not a paradox by its words. So, unless you 
 explain yourself, I cannot understand you." 
 
 Guni said, " Prattling is madness ; silence is wisdom. 
 So I am mad when you think I am sober, and sober when 
 you think I am mad." 
 
 This remark of Kaploth Guni puzzled the Mandarin. 
 At the same time it impressed him with the idea that Kap- 
 loth Guni had a great deal of hidden wisdom in him. So 
 he said, " Guni, the boys and girls of Canton have grown 
 very troublesome. They constantly pelt stones at birds and 
 break the windows of houses. I have sent round the 
 watchman and the town crier with gongs and threatening 
 proclamations ; but they care not. You have been a kind 
 of moral watchman to them. Will you try to stop the 
 evil?" 
 
 Guni promised to do so. 
 
 The next day, when the children came to see him, they 
 said, "Good Guni, you speak of the fairies that live in 
 flowers, the gins that live under the earth, the goblins that 
 ride on whirlwinds, and the giants that come down from 
 their caves in the mountains with huge clubs ; well, we like 
 them all very much. They are, indeed, wonderful people. 
 May we see them some day ? " 
 
 Guni replied, " If you wish to see them, you must go to 
 the world in which they live. There is but one animal that 
 knows the way to that world." 
 
 " Ah, which is the animal, good Guni ? " asked the 
 children eagerly. 
 
 Guni said, "Well, this animal is a bird through its 
 nest lies the way to the world of the wonderful people. If 
 this bird should perish the clue will be utterly lost." 
 
KAPLOTH GUNI OF CANTON. 121 
 
 " What kind of a bird was it ? " was the next question. 
 
 Guni replied, " It is a raven, with one wing broken." 
 
 The children said, "We see a raven every day; so we 
 do not think that you mean what you say." 
 
 Guni said, " I beg your pardon. I forgot to tell you 
 that the raven has a bill of gold, and claws of adamant." 
 
 " Ah, it must be a pretty little bird ! " said the children 
 
 " Indeed, it is ! " said Guni. 
 
 One of the children asked, " Good Guni, how did the 
 poor raven break its wing ? " 
 
 All the rest joined in the demand, saying, " How did 
 the poor raven, with the bill of gold, and claws of adamant, 
 through whose nest lies the way to the world of the wonder- 
 ful people, break its wing ? " 
 
 " Well," said Guni, " There is a boy in Canton named 
 Hing " Here Guni paused. 
 
 The children cried, " Do tell us what he did to the 
 raven, Guni ! " 
 
 Guni continued, " Well, this boy is very fond of pelting 
 stones at ravens and other birds. One of the stones he 
 threw broke the wing of the raven." 
 
 The children cried, " We will not see his face hereafter. 
 We will not pronounce the name Hing any more ! " 
 
 " But," said Guni, " Have you not thrown stones at 
 ravens yourselves ? Why do you find fault with him ? " 
 
 "But," said the children, "we never broke the wing of a 
 raven with a beautiful bill of gold and brilliant claws of 
 adamant ; nor ever will." 
 
 Guni said, " Good. I must communicate to you another 
 fact. This raven at times goes out like an ordinary raven, 
 concealing its golden bill and claws of adamant." 
 
 " If so," cried the children, " we will take care not to 
 throw stones at any raven hereafter." 
 
 "Good," said Kaploth Guni. 
 
122 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 So, for some days, the boys and girls of Canton, who 
 came to hear of the wonderful raven, threw no stones at 
 ravens. 
 
 Then, when the children went to see him on another 
 day, Kaploth Guni said, "I have just received news that 
 the raven at times goes out in the form of any bird, and lays 
 its eggs in any nest it likes." 
 
 Instantly the children made a rule among themselves 
 that they should pelt no stones at any bird, or take the eggs 
 out of any nest thereafter. 
 
 When all this had transpired, the Mandarin said, " Good 
 Kaploth Guni, the evil has assumed another shape. The 
 boys and girls of Canton now throw stones at the dogs, 
 cats, and other animals, and worry them extremely." 
 
 The next day, when the children came to him, Guni 
 said, "Ah, I had information last night that at times the 
 raven assumes the forms of dogs, cats, and other animals, 
 and goes about the streets of Canton. Till we catch it, 
 and ascertain from it the clue to the world of the wonderful 
 people, we must take care it is not injured." 
 
 The children at once desisted from worrying these 
 animals also. Then the children asked Guni when they 
 would be able to see the wonderful people. 
 
 Guni said, " I have been trying to catch the wonderful 
 raven. So soon as it comes into my possession, we will get 
 the clue and go through its nest to the world of the wonder- 
 ful people. In the meanwhile, as I have already said, you 
 must take special care not to hurt any animal ; the raven, 
 as you are aware, may go about in any form it likes. If it 
 should be disabled or killed, all our hopes of seeing the 
 wonderful people will be blasted." 
 
 Long the boys and girls of Canton hurt no animal, in 
 expectation of catching the wonderful raven with the bill 
 of gold and claws of adamant, through whose nest lay the 
 
THE ELIXIR OF LIFE. 123 
 
 route to the world of the wonderful people, and Kaploth 
 Guni told them the same tale whenever they asked him 
 about it. 
 
 The Mandarin of Canton was astonished to see the 
 wisdom of Kaploth Guni, which worked such wonders with 
 the boys and girls of the city, and honoured him as his 
 friend and counsellor. 
 
 The Prince said, "The wisdom of Kaploth Guni 
 effected a great deal more than all the power of the 
 Mandarin and his subordinates put together." 
 
 Another Mandarin stood up and said, "Sire, wisdom 
 can work wonders, even as it did in the case of the Imam 
 of Arabia, who converted No-Date-Land into All-Date- 
 Land, by inducing his people to strive for the attainment of 
 the Elixir of Life." 
 
 The Prince expressed an eager de> re to hear the story, 
 and the Mandarin related it as follows : 
 
 (Blmr 0f 
 
 There was an Imam who ruled over a certain province 
 of Arabia, the people of which were notorious for their idle 
 and nomadic habits. But the Imam was a very learned 
 and wise man. So he said to himself, " The value of a 
 good ruler is perceived in the results that flow from his 
 rule. My people have long been addicted to wandering 
 from place to place without a settled abode; they have 
 neither wealth nor refinement. I must endeavour to 
 better their condition." 
 
 With this resolve, he carefully examined the various 
 traits in the character of his subjects, and found out that a 
 
124 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 passion for long life was the most powerful impetus for 
 action among them. So he told them one day, " I saw the 
 prophet last night in a vision. He said he had learnt that 
 my subjects were eager to live long in this world, and that 
 all that they had to do to secure longevity was to find out 
 the Elixir of Life. . This, again, the prophet said, would be 
 found, after all, enclosed within a date fruit in this 
 province." 
 
 The subjects of the Imam said, " Did the prophet say 
 that the Elixir of Life would be found enclosed in a date 
 fruit of this province, or did he say that it would be found 
 in a date fruit simply ? If the latter, we will at once make 
 a raid into any and every province of Arabistan where there 
 are date trees, and find out the particular fruit alluded to by 
 the prophet." 
 
 "Alas !" said the Imam, " I am sorry it is not as you 
 have suggested. I remember the prophet distinctly saying 
 a date fruit of this province." 
 
 The people said, " There are no date trees in this 
 province at all. In all Araby it is counted the most 
 barren ; so much so, that many call it No-Date-Land. 
 But the prophet's word, at the same time, must be true. 
 So, good Imam, do ask the prophet again what his words 
 mean." 
 
 The Imam promised to do so. 
 
 The next morning the Imam said, " The prophet, with 
 that regard which he ever maintains for the faithful, 
 answered my prayer, and told me, last night, that the date 
 fruit after all will be found in this very province." 
 
 " If so," said the people, " we have to cultivate the trees 
 in this province." 
 
 " That is exactly what the prophet meant ! " said the 
 Imam. 
 
 One of the men said, " No date trees will ever grow in our 
 
THE ELIXIR OF LIFE. 
 
 125 
 
 soil, it is so barren. If any could be grown, they should 
 have been grown long ago." 
 
 Instantly the Imam observed, " I forgot to tell you what 
 the prophet said on this point. It would appear that every 
 soil has a certain amount of fecundity for the date tree ; 
 that our land has not produced dates from time immemorial; 
 that, therefore, its productiveness has been long conserved, 
 and that the dates we shall produce will be so rich and 
 bulky, that the one which is to contain the Elixir of Life will 
 be found among them." 
 
 This argument appeared incontrovertible to every one 
 in the assembly. While they were pondering as to what 
 they were to do next, the Imam with his own hands 
 planted in his garden a date plant, which he had already 
 imported from an adjacent province. 
 
 Thereupon, every man said to himself, " Well, longevity 
 is a blessing which, by all means, is worth having. The 
 prophet has said that the Elixir of Life will be found in a date 
 fruit in this province. Who knows in whose garden the 
 tree may grow that is to produce the wonderful date fruit ? 
 It may appear, after all, on a tree in my own garden, if I 
 should take the trouble of cultivating it there. Once I get 
 the fruit, not only do I secure to myself great longevity, 
 but -I can sell every atom of it for a fabulous sum of money 
 and make mountains of wealth by it. Again, look to the 
 reputation I shall gain. Why, every holy man among the 
 faithful will call me a blessed saint, and crave the favour of 
 my intercession on his behalf with the prophet, who has 
 been pleased to confer such a blessing on me. So let me 
 not neglect the duty I owe to myself in this respect." 
 
 With this resolve, every man worked at it. He enclosed 
 a plot of ground, imported the date plant from the surround- 
 ing provinces, and cultivated it with such care that in course 
 of time the whole territory was covered with date trees, 
 
126 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 whose fruit not only supplied the inhabitants with nutritious 
 food, but gave them a large surplus, which they sold to 
 people of other provinces. 
 
 Thus, a brisk trade in the fruit, which soon led to the 
 exportation and importation of sundry other commodities, 
 infused a commercial spirit into the people. With commerce 
 came wealth ; with wealth came the arts and sciences. With 
 
 " EVERY MAN CULTIVATED IT WITH 
 
 CARE" (/ 125). 
 
 them refinement of tastes and manners, till, after all, travellers 
 passing through No-Date-Land, failed to recognise it as such. 
 In fact, the very name of the province had changed. So 
 many date trees grew on all sides in it, that it came to be 
 known all over Araby as All-Date-Land. 
 
 In the midst of all this the people did not forget the 
 promise of the prophet, as they fancied that the Elixir of 
 Life would be found in some date fruit some day in the 
 province. 
 
THE ELIXIR OF LIFE. 127 
 
 So they one day surrounded the Imam, and said, " Holy 
 luler, the blessings that have been showered upon us by 
 your wise and beneficent rule have been incalculable. We 
 were a nomadic tribe, with precarious means of subsistence. 
 But your wisdom has converted us into a little nation of 
 industrious men, with knowledge, wealth, and refinement. 
 We are perfectly happy as we are ; yet, as curiosity impels 
 us to ask the question, deign to tell us if the Elixir ot 
 Life will actually appear some day in the fruit of our 
 trees." 
 
 .The Imam replied, "The prophet did not specify the 
 time within which it ought to appear, so persevere to culti- 
 vate the date and leave the rest to Providence." 
 
 So to this day the people of All-Date-Land are the most 
 industrious and prosperous in Araby. They celebrate once 
 a year a festival in honour of the first planting of the date 
 in the garden of the Imam, which memorable event was the 
 commencement of their prosperity. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Prior to the Imam who con- 
 verted No- Date-Land into All-Date-Land, there must have 
 been Imams equally wise, but they had not resolved to 
 ameliorate the condition of their subjects as this good 
 Imam did." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up and said, " He who 
 resolves to do a thing will often do it, even as the Prince 
 who resolved to obtain the Magic Ruby on the Head of the 
 Serpent, and got it at last, together with the Princess, who 
 had declared her willingness to wed the man who achieved 
 the feat" 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to narrate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
128 
 
 0n l\)t H^atr of tljt 
 
 In the country of Siam, which was famous for its rubies, 
 there was in ancient times a serpent which was said to 
 have in its head the best ruby in the world. The tradi- 
 tion about the jewel was that a magician who knew all about 
 the properties of these stones once turned over the books 
 that treated about the subject in the occult art, and said to 
 himself, " Ah, here is the formula after all. The best rubies 
 in the world are those that are cultivated in the heads of 
 serpents by the power of magic. If a thousand serpents be 
 chosen and the formula pronounced a thousand times, every 
 one of them begins to bear the crude form of the ruby at 
 once in its head. A thousand years after, some one of them 
 will survive. That one will bear in its head the most 
 precious ruby in the world." 
 
 The magician, counting upon living a thousand years, 
 selected in his imagination a thousand serpents, and infused 
 the ruby principle, as he called it, into the head of each, 
 by the magic formula. But before the full period of a 
 thousand years required for the maturing of the gems could 
 elapse, all the serpents but one had perished, and the 
 magician himself went the way of all mortality. 
 
 The one surviving serpent lived in the cave of a great 
 mountain far from the capital of the Sultan. 
 
 When the sun or moon shone, it never crept out of its 
 den. In the darkest nights the serpent emerged from it, 
 deposited the gem in its head, in the middle of a vast plain 
 near the mountain, and, by the aid of the brilliant red light 
 emitted by it far and wide, went in quest of its prey. 
 
 A great many travellers had seen the red glare of the 
 ruby, but not one of them had the courage to approach it. 
 For instantly, they said, the serpent would rush hissing at 
 
THE MAGIC RUBY. 129 
 
 them with flaming eyes, and reduced them to a heap of ashes 
 by its fiery gaze. 
 
 The kings of the country had long been eager to possess 
 this ruby. But as the difficulties in the way of getting at 
 it were almost insurmountable, they had died without 
 accomplishing the object, till it came to the turn of a king 
 who had an only child a daughter to strive to obtain the 
 gem. The Princess, as the poets of her father's court 
 observed, was fair as the full-blown lotus, and accomplished 
 like the goddess of wisdom. She was called Ratnamala, or 
 Necklace of Gems. 
 
 She was so called, not only because she was as beautiful 
 as a necklace of gems, but also because she wore a necklace 
 of the most valuable gems in the world. When she came 
 of age, her mother said to her, " Dear Ratnamala, your father 
 wishes to celebrate your marriage ere long. Confide to me 
 the secret wish of your heart as to the Prince who is to be 
 our son-in-law." 
 
 Ratnamala, gracefully holding her necklace in her hano\ 
 said, " Dear mother, there are eight large gems in this, which 
 have been called eight planets. If I remember right the 
 planets are nine. So one more gem is wanted to complete 
 the number. That one shall be the brightest yet obtained 
 the magic ruby in the head of the serpent. He that 
 brings me the gem will be your son-in-law." 
 
 The Queen was very sorry that her daughter had set her 
 heart on such a perilous prize. 
 
 When the King heard it, he was no less concerned. So 
 he proclaimed throughout his dominions that he would 
 bestow his daughter in marriage on that person who brought 
 him the magic ruby. 
 
 In the kingdom of Burmah there was a Prince named 
 Bahubal, who had long been in love with the Princess 
 Ratnamala, although he had never once seen her. He said 
 J 
 
130 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 to himself, " If I do not marry the Princess Ratnamala, I 
 do not want to live. If I get this gem, I marry her ; if not, 
 I perish in the attempt. So I must go in quest of it." 
 
 Accordingly, he accoutred himself in mail, with a helmet, 
 which had sharp spikes on it, and rode on in the direction 
 of the mountain in Siam, where the serpent lived. 
 
 He alighted at the inn of a village at some distance from 
 the mountain, and asked the landlady what the wonders of 
 the place were. 
 
 She said, " Ah, there is a reptile in this neighbourhood, 
 which they have dignified with the name of a serpent. It 
 has a piece of red tinsel in its hood, which they have digni- 
 fied with the name of a magic ruby.* There is the daughter 
 of a Sultan here, who has fallen in love with the valiant un- 
 known who is to fetch her the trinket. If you have a 
 mind to marry her I have no doubt you deserve her you 
 may get the ruby." 
 
 The Prince asked what the secret of attaining the gem was. 
 
 The landlady replied, " The only secret of success is to 
 advance boldly and cover the gem with something on which 
 the serpent may strike its head to death. Of this many are 
 aware, but not one of them will dare. So all that is required 
 is the resolution to do so." 
 
 Prince Bahubal thanked the landlady for her valuable 
 information, and when night had set in proceeded to the 
 plain near the mountain, and hid himself in a cluster of 
 rocks. About midnight the serpent came out of its den, 
 hissing in a most hideous fashion, arid depositing the ruby at 
 some distance from the spot where Bahubal was, proceeded 
 far in quest of its prey. When it was almost out of sight, 
 Bahubal silently approached the gem, covered it with his 
 helmet, and returning to his hiding-place in the rocks, care- 
 fully watched the result. 
 
 So soon as the helmet covered the gem it became dark 
 
THE MAGIC RUBY. 131 
 
 all round. But, owing to the slightly uneven surface of the 
 plain, a glimpse of light escaped through a small aperture 
 at the bottom of the helmet, which pointed out to the 
 serpent where the gem was. So it returned with great fury, 
 and, raising its head, struck the helmet with it. But the 
 helmet being spiked, the hood of the serpent was pierced 
 through, and in a few moments more it was writhing in 
 agony, hissing in a very hideous style. Soon the hisses 
 subsided, and it lay lifeless on the ground. 
 
 "THE SERPENT . . . , RETURNED WITH GREAT FURY." 
 
 When the day dawned the Prince came out of his hiding- 
 place, and fastening the gem to his heart with a chain of 
 gold took up the bloody helmet in one hand, and dragging 
 the carcase of the serpent with the other, presented himself 
 at the gates of the capital of the King. 
 
 His Majesty received Prince Bahubal with every mark 
 of attention, while the Princess Ratnamala asked why he 
 had fastened the gem to his heart. 
 
 Bahubal instantly unloosened the jewel and presented it 
 to the Princess with great courtesy, saying, " That is my 
 heart." 
 
132 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY I\TANDARINS. 
 
 The Princess had from this an idea of the love and 
 devotion of Prince Bahubal towards her, and completing the 
 number of the planets in the necklace, gave her hand in 
 marriage to Prince Bahubal, who rejoiced to say that he 
 had wooed her at the risk of his life, and wedded her, to 
 his great happiness. 
 
 The King and Queen were extremely delighted. The 
 people shared in their delight sincerely, and all over the 
 country there were rejoicings in honour of the double event 
 the acquisition of the Magic Ruby after all by Prince 
 Bahubal, and the marriage of the Prince with fair Ratna- 
 mala, who wore the necklace with the nine planets in it 
 the Magic Ruby emitting its red light in the middle. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " The Magic Ruby was the means 
 of uniting the Prince Bahubal and the Princess Ratnamala. 
 Well, it often happens that such strange media bring together 
 kindred souls." 
 
 Another Mandarin replied, " Sire, the Magic Ruby united 
 the Prince and the Princess, even as the Yellow Banner 
 brought together the charitable merchant, Le Hoi, of 
 Nankin, and his still more charitable and benevolent wife." 
 
 The Prince expressed an eager desire to know all about 
 the Yellow Banner, and the Mandarin told the story as 
 follows : 
 
 0f tfc f dioto 
 
 In the city of Nankin there was a youth named Le Hoi, 
 who had extremely tender feelings and susceptibilities. He 
 could not, as he often said, bear the sight of a butterfly with 
 a broken wing, or a beetle that was ill-treated by wicked 
 children. 
 
THE STORY OF THE YELLOW BANNER. 
 
 '33 
 
 When he walked through the streets especially, he 
 carried in his pockets crumbs of bread, and other perqui- 
 sites from the pantry and the kitchen, and distributed them 
 freely among the hungry dogs and other animals, that had 
 got into the habit of applying to him for aid, whenever they 
 found themselves in his way. 
 
 The father of Le Hoi was one of the wealthiest mer- 
 chants in Nankin ; and as he was his only son, he gave him 
 
 " HE COULD NOT .... BEAR THE SIGHT OF A BUTTERFLY WITH A BROKEN 
 
 WING" (p. 132). 
 
 any amount of pocket-money that he required. This Le 
 Hoi generally laid out in relieving the wants of the dis- 
 tressed. If he saw in the streets a child without shoes, or 
 other articles of necessary attire, he took it silently to 
 a shop that sold the articles, and, supplying the want, went 
 his way. 
 
 Another great point, which Le Hoi made it a religious 
 duty to observe, was that no third party should know 
 anything of his humane services to the poor. 
 
 One day Le Hoi was passing by a place, not far from 
 the great Porcelain tower, in the city of Nankin, when he 
 saw near it a great concourse of people. He mixed with 
 the crowd. 
 
134 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 In the centre of a circle formed by the rabble there 
 was a poor little kitten, one of whose legs had been broken 
 by some carriage passing over it, and which was lying in a 
 helpless condition. Every one was amusing himself with its 
 agonies. 
 
 One said, " The wily little thing ! It appears to be so 
 helpless at present. But if it had been permitted to grow 
 into a great tom-cat, and came to your window of a night 
 with its hideous caterwauling, you would then see it in its 
 true colours. I really thank the man that has disabled the 
 pest so completely." 
 
 Another observed, " I hate the cat tribe with all my 
 heart. Look how the monster, with his wily little eyes, 
 feigns weakness. You must let him go near the pail, and 
 see how he would fall to lapping." 
 
 Just then a little girl, with a very innocent and amiable 
 face, and eyes full of compassionate tears, approached the 
 helpless animal and held over it a yellow banner, which she 
 had in her hand, to shelter it from the rays of the sun, 
 saying, " I am glad mamma bought me this for a plaything 
 to-day. It helps me to shelter the poor kitten from the 
 rays of the burning sun." 
 
 Le Hoi exclaimed, "Ah, here is a ring of all the 
 brutality and wickedness in Nankin, and there, in the 
 centre of it, a true picture of humane sympathy and kind- 
 ness. The philosophers say that man is compounded 
 of the gods and the demons, and maintain their position 
 by pointing to the world above, which has all the good in 
 it, and the world below, which has all the evil in it, while 
 this intermediate world shares the characters of both. 
 The demons are in the ring, and the gods in the centre in 
 the form of that little sympathetic soul. Why, she is yet a 
 child ! and her banner it is, indeed, the banner of triumphant 
 mercy and benevolence. I wish I knew who she is." 
 
THE STORY OF THE YELLOW BANNER. 135 
 
 While Le Hoi was thus soliloquising on the scene, a 
 servant of the house from which the kitten had strayed info 
 the streets came up, and, taking it gently in her hands, kissed 
 the girl in recognition of her kindly feelings towards it, and 
 returned home. 
 
 Le Hoi hastened to know who the girl was ; but, before 
 he could see her, she had disappeared. He spent a long 
 time in the neighbourhood making inquiries about her, but 
 no one seemed to know anything about her. 
 
 The tableau of the girl, with the yellow banner held over 
 the helpless kitten, surrounded by all the brutality and wicked- 
 ness of Nankin, as he put it, made such a vivid impression 
 on the mind of Le Hoi, that he thought of nothing else. 
 Day and night it haunted his mind, and made him extremely 
 unhappy. 
 
 He laid himself down on a couch in a mood of utter 
 despondency, and seldom stirred out. His parents came to 
 know of it. They tried their best to find out who the little 
 girl was ; but their endeavours were equally fruitless with his 
 own. 
 
 "Father," said Le Hoi, "the fair little girl, with her 
 sympathetic looks, stands before me ! I see the tears 
 flowing down her cheeks ! " and fell down on the couch 
 sobbing. 
 
 The merchant concluded that his son was growing de- 
 lirious over it, and that if the girl was not found out he 
 would pine away. So he sent the town-crier, specifying the 
 day on which Le Hoi saw her, to proclaim a high reward 
 to any who would point out the place where the little girl 
 lived that held a yellow banner over a kitten with a broken 
 leg, near the Porcelain Tower, on that day. 
 
 After all, the girl was found out. She was the daughter 
 of another merchant, who proved to be a friend of the father 
 of Le Hoi. When Le Hoi saw her, he was beside himself 
 
136 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 with joy, and requested her to make him a present of her 
 banner. Every day he visited her in her house, and then 
 brought her home to spend a few hours with him and his 
 parents. His parents, who had long been in suspense if he 
 would ever find a partner in life as humane and tender as 
 himself, were extremely delighted to see the two together. 
 
 In course of time a deep attachment sprang up between 
 them, and they became husband and wife. They were so 
 humane and charitable that it was long a saying in Nan- 
 kin, that the poor of the city would find all the comforts of 
 life if they but pronounced the names of Le Hoi and his 
 wife 
 
 The Prince remarked, " When Le Hoi read the heart of 
 the little girl in her innocent and amiable countenance, and 
 in the tears of commiseration she shed over the helpless 
 little animal, he must, indeed, have been extremely gratified. 
 All such means of reading others' thoughts and feelings have 
 to be highly commended." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire, all 
 means of reading others' thoughts short of the Wonderful 
 Pair of Spectacles have, indeed, to be highly commended." 
 
 The Prince wished to know all about the Wonderful Pair 
 of Spectacles, and the Mandarin told the tale as follows : 
 
 ir of 
 
 In a certain city on the banks of the Amu there were 
 two friends, named Damar and Sirnib, \vho v one day, while 
 walking on the banks of the river, entered into a conversa- 
 tion to this effect. 
 
 Damar " What an excellent thing it would be if we 
 could know what passes in the hearts of others ! " 
 
THE WONDERFUL PAIR OF SPECTACLES. 137 
 
 Sirnib "Yes, it would, indeed, be the happiest thing 
 on earth to read others' thoughts at a glance ! " 
 
 Damar " Then I shall be able to know what you wish 
 to have from me without putting you to the trouble of ask- 
 ing for it." 
 
 Sirnib " Yes, I should be able to know what you 
 choose to have from me before you should actually let me 
 know of it." 
 
 Sirnib had scarcely finished speaking, when a fairy rose 
 from the river, and, standing before them, said, " Well, your 
 wish has been heard by the god of the river, and I have 
 been sent up to see you, and give you your desires." 
 
 Damar said, " Then let us know how our wish is to be 
 gratified." 
 
 Sirnib said, " O, do not delay any longer." 
 
 Thereupon, the fairy drew out from her pocket a pair of 
 gilt spectacles, and addressing Damar, said, " Now, put them 
 on and look at the heart of your friend." 
 
 To his surprise, Damar read every secret thought of 
 Sirnib, and, after meditating for a while, said, with a sigh, 
 " Ah, Sirnib, but for that one thought of yours, you must, 
 indeed, be counted the most sincere friend ! " 
 
 Sirnib said, with great concern, " Damar, do tell me what 
 it is ! " 
 
 "Why, Sirnib," said Damar, "did you not, a moment 
 ago, think that if you alone had the privilege of using this 
 pair of spectacles it would be an excellent thing?" 
 
 Sirnib said with a smile, " Now, good Damar, let us see 
 if your thoughts have been purer," and putting on the 
 pair of spectacles, looked attentively at the heart of his 
 friend. 
 
 After scrutinising all the thoughts in it, he put by the 
 pair of spectacles with a deep sigh, and said, "Ah, Damar, I 
 never knew you would be so vindictive ! " 
 
138 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 " I should like to know why you call me vindictive," 
 said Damar. 
 
 " Why, Damar," said Sirnib, " did not the thought 
 occur to you a moment ago that you should avail yourself 
 of the earliest opportunity to chastise me for the thought 
 
 " PUTTING ON THE PAIR OF SPECTACLES " (p. 137). 
 
 I entertained about the proprietorship of the pair of 
 spectacles ? " 
 
 Daniar replied, " Your query but betrays your folly ! " 
 
 " How so ? " said Sirnib, angrily. 
 
 Damar replied, " Why do you complain against my 
 thought when your thought was equally bad ? " 
 
 Sirnib said, " I assure you the evil intent in my thought 
 was not half as reprehensible as in yours." 
 
THE WONDERFUL PAIR OF SPECTACLES. 139 
 
 Damar said, " Evil is evil, be it the size of a mustard- 
 seed or of a mountain." 
 
 Sirnib said, "Let me tell you that you are the mosv 
 vindictive person alive, in spite of all your specious argu- 
 ments to the contrary." 
 
 Damar said, " Allow me to assure you that there is more 
 hidden villainy in your bosom than in twenty hearts like 
 mine put together, and that your heart was black as the 
 blackest night while I fancied it was bright as a summer 
 day ! " 
 
 Sirnib exclaimed, " How I curse the day on which I 
 called you friend for the first time ! " 
 
 " I curse the day when I first saw you ! " said Damar. 
 
 Thus poor Damar and Sirnib, who had been such friends 
 before, became deadly enemies, and were going to challenge 
 each other to mortal combat, when the fairy drew out a 
 golden vial from the folds of her garment, and poured a little 
 of the balmy ointment in it on the head of each. Instantly 
 all ill-feelings disappeared from their minds. They asked 
 the fairy what the name of the vial was. 
 
 She replied, " It is the vial of oblivion ; out of it come 
 the drops of a balmy ointment called forgiveness." 
 
 Then the two friends, who had forgotten all that had 
 transpired between them, walked hand in hand as before. 
 
 The fairy followed them some distance, and said, " Will 
 you put on the spectacles once more ? " 
 
 " Never more ! " said Damar ; " we will keep all the evil 
 to ourselves, and do nothing but good to our friends." 
 
 Sirnib said, "Ah, evil of the size of a mustard-seed 
 weighs down good of the size of a mountain. A moment 
 of animosity annihilates an age of harmony and friendship. 
 It is, therefore, evident that heaven has denied to man the 
 power of reading the hearts of his companions, lest the plea- 
 sure of reading others' thoughts might be more than counter- 
 
/4o THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 balanced by the misery to which it leads. So, good fairy, 
 keep the pair of spectacles to yourself, and see that it no 
 more falls into our hands ! " 
 
 The Prince observed, " It is, indeed, true that a mere 
 trifle often creates differences between people who had been 
 friends for years together." 
 
 Another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, a great deal of good 
 that friends do to one another is often lost through the 
 lack of self-denial in some trifling instance or other, on 
 either side, even as the Mountain of Gold was lost by the 
 miser Aga, because he would not part with as much of it 
 as would come up to a mustard-seed in size." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he narrated it as follows : 
 
 antr tfyt Jtt0utttain of 
 
 In the city of Bushire there was a miser, named Aga, 
 who fancied that there was somewhere a mountain of 
 pure gold, and that if he secured it he would be the 
 richest man on earth. 
 
 He said to himself, " Surely, I shall be able to meet 
 some man in Bushire who knows where the mountain is," 
 and often went out, dressed in the rags which formed his 
 garments, to find out the man. 
 
 People that saw him go out would say, " Miser Aga is 
 going out in quest of the mountain of gold." 
 
 One day, as he was rambling at some distance from the 
 city, a Genius appeared before him, saying, " Aga, I know 
 where the mountain is. Yet all that I can do is to show it 
 lo you ; more I cannot. What will you do with it ? " 
 
THE MISER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD. 141 
 
 Aga replied, " I will bring it home and lock it up in my 
 coffers." 
 
 So the Genius transferred him at once to a wood 
 full of trees whose trunks, branches, and leaves were of gold, 
 and whose fruit consisted of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, 
 and other precious stones, saying, " Our road to the 
 Mountain of Gold is through this wood." 
 
 Aga said, " In addition to the mountain, I shall cut down 
 these trees and take them all home, not omitting their roots, 
 and the earth from which they have been growing." 
 
 The Genius said, " You propose putting the mountain 
 in your coffers ; where will you put the branches of these 
 trees ? " 
 
 " I will sell all my cattle and put the branches in the 
 sheds," said Aga. 
 
 11 The leaves ?" said the Genius. 
 
 " I keep a dog to watch my house ; I will sell him for 
 the price he may fetch, and put the leaves in his hole," said 
 Aga. 
 
 " The trunks ? " said the Genius. 
 
 " I have a son and a daughter who have each been 
 occuping a room, I shall send them down to sleep in the 
 kitchen, and put the trunks in their rooms," said Aga. 
 
 " The vast quantity of fruit ? " said the Genius. 
 
 " Let me see," said Aga ; " my wife has a room for her- 
 self. She will vacate it and go into the kitchen with her 
 children, and I will put the fruit into it." 
 
 " The roots, and the earth, and sundry other things ? ' 
 said the Genius. 
 
 " They will go into my own room, and into various other 
 holes and crevices in the house." 
 
 The Genius asked how he was going to guard so much 
 wealth from thieves. 
 
 Aga replied, " Dogs as a rule are more faithful than men. 
 
142 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 There are many hungry dogs in the streets of Bush ire. 
 Myself, my wife, and our children will stint ourselves in our 
 usual fare, and give to them a share, so that they may guard 
 the house with care." 
 
 The Genius observed with a smile, " Why, good Aga, 
 your comforts seem to diminish in proportion to the increase 
 of your wealth and prosperity ! " 
 
 Aga replied, " Of all things that elude our grasp with 
 dogged pertinacity, gold is the most conspicuous. So, when 
 once it gets into our clutches, it ought to be our care to 
 keep it, and, if possible, to augment it." 
 
 Then the Genius led Aga to the mountain. It was very 
 lofty, and some of its peaks seemed to touch the clouds. 
 Aga saw it with wonder, and exclaimed, " I wish I had been 
 born, bred, and buried on this mountain ! " 
 
 Then they walked round its base, and saw various 
 people, young and old, of both sexes, going round like 
 themselves. 
 
 The miser asked his guide who they were. 
 
 The Genius replied, " Aga, all people, young or old, 
 dream of the Mountain of Gold. I have been appointed 
 to bring some of them here. They have come to carry 
 off the mountain like you." 
 
 " Alas," said Aga, " it is but one mountain, and so many 
 of them here ! So, I shall not have it after all ! " 
 
 "Not so, Aga," said the Genius, "I am sorry I did not 
 speak to you of these people, when I told you of the 
 mountain. But there is no harm in going shares with 
 them." 
 
 Aga exclaimed, with an emphatic shake of the head, " I 
 will not give them an atom out of the mountain. I must 
 have it all to myself." 
 
 The Genius said, " No, good Aga, you will not lost 
 much by going shares with them. There are but a dozen 
 
THE MISER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD. 143 
 
 people after all, as you see. There are a dozen peaks of the 
 mountain. Further, each peak, when taken out, will grow 
 into another mountain with a dozen peaks, by itself." 
 
 Aga replied, " If so, I shall be all the happier. I 
 will carry the whole mountain, and splitting it into twelve 
 peaks, breed twelve great mountains out of them. Then 
 
 "AGA 
 
 WENT TO ITS BASE." 
 
 again, I shall split each mountain into twelve peaks, and 
 have them all grown into great mountains of gold and so 
 on, continually." 
 
 As Aga was in this manner determined to have the 
 whole Mountain of Gold to himself, the Genius said, " Well, 
 if so, you had better take the mountain home." 
 
 Instantly Aga, in his eagerness to possess the Mountain 
 of Gold, went to its base to see if he could by any 
 
144 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 chance lift it up. But it defied all his strength. So he 
 requested the Genius to transfer it to his house. 
 
 The Genius replied, " I can, as I already pointed out, 
 but show you the Mountain of Gold. There is, however, 
 another secret in connection with the mountain which 
 I may divulge to you." 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Aga, with still greater avidity. 
 
 The Genius said, " If you will give as much as a mustard- 
 seed of gold out of the mountain to the twelve people going 
 round it I assure you they will share the seed equally 
 among themselves, and depart contented you will be 
 able to carry off the mountain as though it were a feather." 
 
 Aga pondered over the subject for a moment, and said, 
 "That I will not!" 
 
 "If so," said the Genius, "you must carry it home if you 
 can," and disappeared. 
 
 "Alas/' said Aga, "what is the use of longing to 
 possess the Mountain of Gold, without the power to carry it 
 home ! " 
 
 The Genius, who was watching him at a distance, said, 
 " Aga, if misers had the power to carry off all the moun- 
 tains of gold of which they dream, without giving as much 
 as a mustard -seed out of them to others, then there would 
 hardly be any space on earth for other people to put their 
 things in." 
 
 Poor Aga returned to Bushire with a very unhappy 
 heart. 
 
 The story of his failure got abroad. Whenever a man 
 fancied he would get at some great thing, like the Mountain 
 of Gold, people in Bushire would say, " Well, there is Aga 
 going in quest of the Mountain of Gold ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Poor Aga !' He must, indeed, 
 be pitied. It seemed as though his cupidity was scoring 
 
THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT. 145 
 
 victory after victory in conjunction with the Genius, till, 
 after all, a mere trifle upset the whole, and sent back Aga 
 with all his hopes blasted for ever." 
 
 Another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, misers and 
 despots meet with discomfiture from some unexpected 
 obstacle of their own creation, even as the Giant Death- 
 Sprinkle, who fell a victim to his own wickedness, which 
 led him to aspire for such a high prize as the hand of 
 the fair and amiable Princess Dirnar." 
 
 The Prince wished to know all about the Giant and 
 the Princess, and the Mandarin proceeded with the 
 story : 
 
 Birttar aitfc tfa (Slant 
 
 In the island of Java there lived a Giant, named Death- 
 Sprinkle, because he had the wonderful power o f killing 
 people by simply sprinkling water on their heads. When- 
 ever he felt hungry, he took a great bucket of water, and, 
 going about the country, would sprinkle the water in it on 
 the heads of as many people as came in his way, and carry 
 off their bodies for his breakfast. 
 
 The matter was reported to the Sultan, and he went out 
 with his army to meet the Giant. 
 
 He came out from the mountain-cave in which he lived. 
 and with a loud laugh addressed the Sultan as follows : 
 
 " You have an army I have a bucket. Yet see what 
 the result of the contest will be." Then he sprinkled 
 the water in his bucket on the troops of his Majesty, 
 and all those on whom the drops fell dropped down 
 dead. 
 
 K 
 
146 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The Sultan escaped with the remaining army, and shut 
 himself up in his capital. 
 
 The Giant pursued him to the very gates of the city, and 
 posted himself in a tower at some distance, saying, " I will 
 not leave this place till I sprinkle on the heads of the 
 Sultan and all his subjects the water in this bucket, and 
 feed upon their bodies." 
 
 During the day, Death-Sprinkle went out into the coun- 
 try, and killing as many as came in his way, returned to the 
 tower for the night. Therefore the people left their homes, 
 and hid themselves in the caves of the mountains. 
 
 At the same time a great drought came over the land. 
 A dreadful famine followed the drought. The people in the 
 city, who were cut off from their brethren in the country, 
 having no provisions whatever, ate cats, dogs, rats, mice, 
 and other vermin. 
 
 The Sultan assembled his ministers, and laid the state 
 of affairs before them. They advised his Majesty to enter 
 into a treaty with the Giant. So the Grand Vizier was sent 
 to negotiate with him. 
 
 He stood on the ramparts, and said, "Great Death- 
 Sprinkle, the Sultan is sorry for what has happened. 
 Propose your own terms of peace, and he will accept 
 them." 
 
 "Well," said Death-Sprinkle, "that is a wise Sultan 
 after all. Tell him Death- Sprinkle will not take his hand out 
 of his bucket till the Princess Dirnar, his only daughter, 
 is sent to him as his bride, and one-half his Majesty's 
 kingdom is ceded therewith." 
 
 The Grand Vizier laid the terms of peace before the 
 Sultan and his council. 
 
 " His Majesty said, " I would rather give up the whole 
 of my kingdom than give him my daughter in marriage." 
 
 So there was lamentation again in the city. 
 
THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT. 147 
 
 The Princess Dirnar heard what had happened. She 
 went to her father, and said, "Sire, send me to Death- 
 Sprinkle. I think it better that one like me should suffer 
 than that a whole country should be lost in suspense and 
 misery." 
 
 The Sultan tried to dissuade the Princess from her 
 purpose, representing to her the dreadful fate to which she 
 voluntarily offered herself a victim. But Dirnar continued 
 resolute, so the Sultan, with tears in his eyes, ordered the 
 Grand Vizier to take her to the ramparts of the city and 
 hand her over to the Giant. 
 
 When Death-Sprinkle saw the Princess he was very 
 glad. So he exclaimed, " I will do no more harm to my 
 father-in-law and his subjects ; for he that receives a man's 
 daughter in marriage becomes the guardian of his interests." 
 Then he addressed the Princess as follows : " What a 
 beautiful little Princess you are ! If I had not made up my 
 mind to make you my wife, I should roast you this moment 
 for breakfast ! You are so sweet ! " 
 
 The Princess pretended to be delighted by this com- 
 pliment. The Giant came nearer to take her hand and kiss 
 it The Princess said, " You have long been without a wife 
 to take care of you. Wash yourself with the water in the 
 bucket that I may comb your hair and help you to 
 dress." 
 
 So, beginning to wash his head, he sprinkled on it a little 
 of the water in the bucket, and instantly fell down dead upon 
 the ground. The Princess exclaimed, " Certainly, no man 
 had ever a dagger that could not stab him to death ! The 
 Giant has fallen a victim to his own wicked power ! " 
 
 The Sultan was in an ecstasy of joy when he saw that 
 
 the Giant was dead, and that his daughter was freed from 
 
 the dreadful fate that had been impending over her. He 
 
 received her with open arms, and embracing her tenderly 
 
 K 2 
 
148 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 said, "My child, thou hast, indeed, made me and my 
 subjects happy for ever by a stroke of thy genius ! " 
 
 Then his Majesty returned to the city with his daughter, 
 and his subjects praised the Princess Dirnar for her strata- 
 gem, and spake of her everywhere as the benefactress of the 
 country. In the island of Java they celebrated, for a long 
 time after the event, a festival once a year in commemoration 
 of it, when a young lady, dressed as the Princess Dirnar, 
 would stand before a tall man in the grotesque attire of a 
 giant, and enact the scene ; while the Sultan, his Grand 
 Vizier, and the people stood at a distance watching the 
 whole proceedings with eagerness. After the overthrow of 
 the Giant, a procession would form round the lady in the 
 disguise of the Princess, with the Sultan and his courtiers 
 at its head, and the whole party would return to the city, 
 shouting, " Ye Javanese, call upon the Princess Dirnar 
 when ye are in trouble, and she will deliver you, even as 
 she delivered your fathers from the fell fiend Death- 
 Sprinkle ! " 
 
 The Prince, with a smile remarked, " Poor Death- 
 Spinkle was, indeed, a very unhappy lover. When he 
 fancied the joy he had hoped for was at hand, he was 
 sorely disappointed." 
 
 Another Mandarin, who heard this jocose observation 
 of the Prince, stood up and said, "Sire, Death-Sprinkle was, 
 indeed, as unhappy in his love as his brother Left-Whisker, 
 who lived in the island of Formosa." 
 
 The Prince laughed when he heard the name Left- 
 Whisker, and requested the Mandarin to relate all about 
 him without further delay. 
 
 The Mandarin narrated the story as follows : 
 
149 
 
 ^torg of % diant 
 
 In the island of Formosa there lived a Giant who had 
 only the limbs and organs on his left side. Therefore, he 
 
 " HIS LEFT WHISKER, HOWEVER, WAS VERY LONG." 
 
 had not the right ear, the right eye, the right nostril, the 
 right whisker, the right lip, the right hand, and the right 
 leg. His left whisker, however, was very long, as if the 
 
150 THE TALES OF THE SIXTV MANDARINS. 
 
 two whiskers had been growing into one. Therefore, he 
 was known all over the island as the Giant Left-Whisker. 
 
 Although he hobbled on one leg, smiled with half a lip, 
 smelt with a single nostril, saw with one eye, heard with 
 one ear, and had but one whisker to adjust with one hand, 
 yet he had a fancy that he was the most comely person ever 
 born on the island of Formosa. Although, as the people 
 said, he was as old as the mountains and streams, and had 
 been the terror of the island from time immemorial, yet he 
 had a belief that he was the youngest person on the island. 
 He showed no mercy whatever to those who expressed a 
 different opinion. But he had such a hideous appearance, 
 that people who saw him at once exclaimed, "What a 
 horrid monster ! " Instantly he pursued them with frightful 
 speed and put them to death. 
 
 Left-Whisker would go about the country from time to 
 time, to see if any young lady fell in love with him; for 
 he was very eager to get married, and often said to himself, 
 I do not wish to carry off a young lady and marry her. I 
 am comely, I am young. They say young ladies are fond 
 of comely youths. ' Thus some young lady will some day fall 
 in love with me, and accept me as her husband. So that, 
 if ever she should quarrel with me, I might be able to say, 
 " Against me never raise your voice ; for I am the husband 
 of your choice." 
 
 But instead of any young lady falling in love with Left- 
 Whisker, a great many people perished at his hands, 
 because, so soon as they saw him, they exclaimed, " What 
 a horrid monster ! " 
 
 There was an old hag in the island whose sons kept a 
 smithy. She said to herself, " Left- Whisker is mad after 
 young ladies ; but not one of them will ever come in his 
 way. In the meanwhile, people are perishing by hundreds. 
 Something must be done on their behalf." 
 
THE GIANT LEFT-WHISKER. 151 
 
 So she posted herself in the way of Left-Whisker one 
 evening, and said, " Left- Whisker, I am comely, I am 
 young; take me for your wife." 
 
 Left-Whisker said, " Prove to me you are young, and I 
 will take you for my wife." 
 
 "Why, Left- Whisker," said the hag, "my great-grand- 
 father was killed by you, because he called you a monster. 
 He was born long after you ; and I was born, of course, 
 long after him. So am I not young enough to be your 
 wife?" 
 
 " Good ! " said Left-Whisker ; " now prove to me you 
 are comely." 
 
 "Why, Left-Whisker/' said the hag, "you hobble on 
 one leg, I walk on two. You smile with half a lip, I smile 
 with lips in perfect order. You smell with a single nostril, 
 I smell with two. You see with one eye, I see with two. 
 You hear with one ear, I hear with two " 
 
 Before the hag could finish her long-winded description 
 of her charms the Giant interrupted her, saying, "Well! 
 well ! Let me cut short your rigmarole by telling you that I 
 possess one thing which you have not." 
 
 " Ah, what is it, good Left- Whisker ? " said the hag, with 
 surprise. 
 
 " Why my manly, beautiful, long whisker," said Left- 
 Whisker, proudly adjusting that emblem of manliness and 
 beauty. 
 
 The hag acknowledged her defeat, and silently went 
 home. 
 
 The next day she presented herself before Left- Whisker 
 with two long whiskers, to his great astonishment. 
 
 " How did you get them ? " said Left- Whisker. 
 
 The hag replied, " The process is easy ; but it is possible 
 only to those who are really in love. I am in love with 
 you ah, who would not love you, that sees your manly, 
 
152 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 beautiful, long whisker ! and so, I got the two whiskers in 
 no time." 
 
 Left-Whisker was eager to have his right whisker first. 
 " For," said he, " if one whisker of mine captivated one 
 young lady, two whiskers must enslave the hearts of an equal 
 number, so I shall have two wives instead of one. I will 
 put an arm over the shoulders of each. Ah ! that I can't. I 
 will put an arm over the shoulders of one, and a leg over the 
 shoulders of the other, and bid them dance and bid them 
 skip, while I smile and kiss each with half a lip." So he said 
 to the hag, " I must confess I am desperately in love with 
 you do help me to get my right whisker." 
 
 The hag said, " The process may give you some pain. 
 Are you prepared to endure it ? " 
 
 Left-Whisker replied, "I am prepared to endure any 
 amount of pain for another whisker." 
 
 The hag then led the Giant to the smithy, and, taking up 
 a pair of heated tongs, bade her sons hold him tight, drew 
 the heated tongs in the form of a whisker on his right cheek, 
 and then thrust the instrument into his left eye, which, by 
 the way, was the only eye he had. 
 
 Poor LefWVhisker roared like thunder as he ran from 
 the smithy, shouting at intervals, "I shall have nothing 
 more to do with young ladies ! nothing more ! I say, nothing 
 more ! " 
 
 Having lost his only eye he did not know how to reach 
 his cave in the mountain. Nor is it known yet which way 
 he went. Some fancied that he plunged into the sea, which 
 he reached, and disappeared. 
 
 But this was a mere conjecture. For some people in 
 Formosa to this day maintain that Left-Whisker is trimming 
 his right whisker to make his debut again into the world of 
 beauty and fashion, as it exists on the island. 
 
 Be this as it may, the old hag was long known in the 
 
THE HIVE OF HAPPY BEES. 153 
 
 island as the wife of Left-Whisker. If any young gentleman 
 fancied himself remarkably youthful and comely, people 
 would ask him to pay a visit to the wife of Left- Whisker, and 
 get his pretensions to youthfulness and comeliness tested by 
 her and her famous pair of tongs. 
 
 The Prince observed, " The ambition of the Giant to get 
 a suitable wife and settle down in life was, indeed, laudable. 
 The only pity was that nobody on the island chose to be 
 his wife." 
 
 This humorous remark excited the emulation of another 
 Mandarin, and he stood up saying, " Sire, some who wish to 
 get suitable wives never find their object fulfilled, while 
 those who do not really want them are compelled to have 
 them, even as the brothers who went by the name of the 
 Hive of Happy Bees." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story 
 of the Hive of Happy Bees, and he proceeded with it as 
 follows : 
 
 In a certain country, not far from the Celestial Empire, 
 there were six dwarfs, who were brothers. They were born 
 in idleness, brought up in idleness, and lived in idleness, 
 so that it might be said of them that they breathed, moved, 
 and had their being in idleness. They had, at the same 
 time, plenty of money, so they lived very luxuriously. 
 
 What with idleness, what with their wealth and luxury, they 
 became very bulky. Some called them turnips, some called 
 them melons, and some called them pumpkins. But they 
 recked not. They continued to grow crosswise, till they 
 could hardly lift up their heads and look at the ceiling. What 
 little activity was in them gradually disappeared. Their 
 
154 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 servants observed, " Formerly masters would come down to 
 the breakfast-parlour and have their breakfast there ; but 
 now they want it to be served in their bedroom." 
 
 Here it must be pointed out that all the brothers, who 
 loved one another tenderly, and who said they could not live 
 for one moment without seeing one another, occupied the 
 same bedroom, which they seldom left. 
 
 Thus, in course of time, they solved all those happy 
 problems of drones, which some eminent philosophers 
 of their school have summed up in the following dicta: 
 "Walking is better than running; standing better than 
 walking; sitting better than standing; lying better than 
 sitting ; and sleeping better than waking," and spent the 
 greater part of the day in sleep, each waking at intervals for 
 a moment or two to inquire how the rest were getting on 
 thus graphically illustrating the truth of the maxim the 
 activity of sluggards is slumber. 
 
 In this style they got on very well for a good long while, 
 everybody calling them, collectively, The Hive of Happy 
 Bees. It is yet a mystery why they were called bees while 
 actually they were such drones. Perhaps the name was 
 applied to them from their diminutive size. 
 
 Now it was a custom in that country that everybody 
 should be married while yet he was very young. It was 
 the highest praise that could possibly be bestowed upon 
 parents to say that they had married their children while 
 they were mere babies. So, be he poor or wealthy, 
 sickly or healthy, sane or insane, dwarf or giant, he must be 
 married by a certain age. Parents who, by any unforeseen 
 causes, doomed their children to celibacy beyond the 
 period, were considered unpardonably guilty by the com- 
 munity to which they belonged. 
 
 So the parents of the Six Happy Bees made up their 
 minds to marry them. Again, bulk was the standard of 
 
THE HIVE OF HAPPY BEES. 155 
 
 beauty among the people. A lady might possess the most 
 charming face, the most elegant manners, the most valued 
 accomplishments, yet, if she was but lean, they unhesitatingly 
 called her ugly. A lady might possess none of these, yet, if 
 she had, as the poets of the country put it, a neck as thick 
 as a cabbage, a waist as round as a drum, and hands and 
 legs which rivalled the trunk and legs of an elephant, she 
 was sure to be called the greatest beauty of the land. 
 
 Hence, it was a common thing among the people to 
 speak of ladies as fat and fair. Again, the taller a lady 
 was, the comelier she was deemed to be ; so much so, that 
 they often expressed their admiration of the wisdom of the 
 parents of a man in these terms " What a tall wife they 
 have given their son ! That is true parental kindness ! " 
 
 Therefore, the parents of the Six Happy Bees resolved 
 to marry them to six of the fattest, fairest, and tallest ladies 
 available among their connections. When all the pre- 
 liminary arrangements for the weddings had been made, 
 the priest came up to the Six Happy Bees, and said, " Now, 
 gentlemen, get up and have a shave," according to the 
 inevitable religious custom on such occasions. 
 
 The Six Bees, who did not wish to stir out for a trifling 
 operation like that religious rite though it was deemed to 
 be said, "Sire, be so good as to give yourself a shave, and 
 count it ours by proxy." 
 
 So the priest got himself shaved on their account. Then 
 the priest said, " Now, gentlemen, get up, and come to 
 church to be married." 
 
 They, who were eager to avoid this exertion also, if pos- 
 sible, said, "Sire, be so good as to celebrate the weddings 
 at church without our presence. We will count the brides 
 none the less our wives." 
 
 So they were married at church at least, the brides 
 were married, without the bridegrooms by their side. 
 
156 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Then it was an indispensable rite in that country that, 
 while returning from church after marriage, the husbands 
 should kiss their wives on the thresholds of their houses, 
 and take them in. 
 
 So the priest went up to the Six Happy Bees, who still 
 kept rolling in their several beds, in their common bedroom, 
 and said, " Now, gentlemen, get up, and go down to kiss 
 your wives, who are waiting at the threshold." 
 
 " Ah, Sire ! " said the Six Happy Bees, " can't you go 
 through that part of the ritual also by proxy, without putting 
 us to any inconvenience ? " 
 
 " No not I ! " exclaimed the relentless priest 
 
 So, in spite of themselves, the Six Happy Bees were 
 brought down to kiss their wives, whom they saw for the 
 first time in their lives. 
 
 But as the husbands were too short and fat, and the 
 wives too tail and fat, the former could neither rise high 
 enough to kiss their wives, nor the latter bend down low 
 enough to be kissed by their husbands ; so the Six Happy 
 Bees and their six unhappy wives are still at the thres- 
 hold of that house, in that country, trying to manage the 
 business somehow ; but, report says, yet without success. 
 
 The Prince said, " The feelings of the priest must have 
 been greatly shocked when the six idle youths said that he 
 might do the kissing also by proxy." 
 
 Another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, his feel- 
 ings must have been shocked even as the feelings of the 
 good Cazi Jelaludien, when he heard that the miser, Sheik 
 Dulloo, of Mosul, was determined to go to heaven with his 
 mortal frame and the clothes he wore thereon." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
'57 
 
 n 
 
 In the city of Mosul there lived a miser, named Sheik 
 Dulloo, who was reputed to be very rich, although nobody 
 knew where he kept all his riches. Sheik Dulloo was a very 
 regular attendant at the great mosque of the city. He took 
 care to enter the holy edifice very early, that he might 
 safely avoid the numerous beggars who assembled at the 
 gate, clamouring for alms ; and, when the service was over, 
 lingered within till all the beggars had disappeared, after 
 receiving the gifts of the rest of the congregation. 
 
 Sheik Dulloo had an object in going to the mosque so 
 very regularly, for his prayers were to this effect : 
 
 " Holy prophet, do intercede on my behalf with Allah 
 and His angels, and get me a passport to enter Paradise 
 with my mortal frame, and the clothes I wear on it." 
 
 People had often heard this prayer as Sheik Dulloo 
 ejaculated it, and wondered at its very odd character. 
 The beggars at the gate of the mosque, who often lay in 
 ambush and surrounded Sheik Dulloo, in spite of his 
 vigilance to avoid them, rallied him on the point. They 
 would exclaim, " Ah ! Sheik Dulloo, Sultan of Irem, when 
 will you give us alms ? " 
 
 Sheik Dulloo would reply, " After reaching Paradise." 
 
 The beggars would say, "Ah, that will never do. If 
 you go to Paradise without giving us alms, you will find all 
 the nymphs blind that fall to your share in the mansions 
 there." 
 
 " Why should they be blind? " would ask Sheik Dulloo. 
 
 The beggars would reply, " Their eyes are but the coins 
 the faithful give to the poor that they may live. The 
 brighter and larger their size, the larger and brighter the 
 eyes of the nymphs of Paradise that bring joy to the donor." 
 
158 THE TALES o* ?M SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 To this Sheik Dulloo would invariably reply, " I dare 
 say, even in Paradise, everything can be had for a price. 
 So I will pay for the eyes of the houris, and save up money 
 to give them dowries ; and live with many a charming wife 
 under the shade of the tree of life." 
 
 One day, the great Cazi of Mosul chanced to hear the 
 conversation between Sheik Dulloo and the beggars. On 
 making inquiries of some of the members of the congre- 
 gation, they gave him an account of the aspirations of the 
 miser. 
 
 Now Cazi Jelaludien was a very pious Mussulman ; so 
 he was shocked to hear that the miser entertained such a 
 monstrous and impious idea. 
 
 That evening, therefore, when the prayers had been said, 
 and the members of the congregation were about to 
 disperse, he addressed them as follows : " Brethren, there 
 is, I hear, a member of this holy congregation who has been 
 desirous of reaching heaven with this mortal frame and the 
 clothes thereon. I have been thinking about the subject 
 for some time past. I shall be happy to speak to him about 
 the result of my cogitations, should he step forth and stand 
 by my side for one moment." 
 
 Sheik Dulloo stepped forth. 
 
 The Cazi said, " Holy brother, your object is, indeed, 
 praiseworthy. But there are insurmountable obstacles in 
 your way. We may leave out of account the millions upon 
 millions of genii that guard the way to heaven, and carefully 
 force back to this world all who endeavour to journey on 
 the road with this mortal frame, for we may obtain the aid 
 of some saint, like Gazi Mustan or Gazi Mubarick, and throw 
 dust in the eyes of the genii. But who will help you when 
 you approach the river of fire with the bridge of hair over 
 it ? The flames in it are not like the flames in this mortal 
 world. They are intended by Allah and his Angels specially 
 
THE MISER IN THE MOSQUE. 159 
 
 to purge mortals of all terrestrial traces and taints, should 
 they bear any, and then let them into the pure precincts of 
 Paradise. Should you approach the stream as you are, 
 your body and your clothes will be burnt to ashes in no time." 
 
 As Sheik Dulloo gave no indication of falling in with 
 this view of the Cazi, he snatched a torch from the hands of 
 a torch-bearer close by, and brandishing it before Sheik 
 Dulloo, exclaimed, "Ah, brother Sheik Dulloo, you see how 
 hot the flame of this torch is ! The flames of the stream on 
 the way to Paradise are a million times as hot and quick in 
 consuming things ! " 
 
 Whether the good Cazi Jelaludien did so by design, or 
 whether it was a mere accident, is yet a mystery. But some- 
 how, the torch, in one of the flourishes the Cazi made with 
 it, came in such close contact with the clothes on the mortal 
 frame of the immortal Sheik Dulloo, that instantly they 
 caught fire. 
 
 All the members of the congregation rushed to his aid, 
 and, in the twinkling of an eye, stripped him safe and gave 
 all his clothes to the Imam to be handed over to the beggars 
 at the gate, according to a time-honoured custom in Mosul, 
 that anything and everything catching fire in the great 
 mosque should go to the share of the poor waiting at its gate 
 for alms. The good Cazi Jelaludien threw his own mantle 
 over the naked person of Sheik Dulloo, and clothed him for 
 the nonce. 
 
 As the Iman threw the garments of Sheik Dulloo one 
 after another to the beggars at the gate, they received them 
 with great joy. The last, which was the shirt Sheik Dulloo 
 had worn next to his skin, was very heavy, and as it was 
 thrown to the beggars, the seams gave way and a shower of 
 gold pieces and gems of inestimable value fell to the ground. 
 
 The beggars had all the wealth, of course, according to 
 the time-honoured custom in Mosul. The members of th^ 
 
160 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 congregation stood mute with astonishment. The mystery 
 of Sheik Dulloo's aspirations about going to heaven with his 
 mortal frame and the clothes thereon was solved. The 
 story goes to say that Sheik Dulloo wished no more to 
 go to heaven with his mortal frame and the clothes thereon. 
 Nor did he go to the great mosque to say his prayers, nor 
 see the good Cazi Jelaludien ever after. 
 
 To this day, in the city of Mosul and its neighbourhood, 
 when a husband takes it into his head to play the miser, 
 saying, " Good wife, I have no money to spare," while his 
 wife asks him for clothes or jewels, the latter generally says, 
 "Ah, good husband, let me see Sheik Dulloo's shirt; "I 
 know the money is there," and suiting the action to the word 
 sets about scrutinising the garments of the bewildered 
 husband, and, of course, invariably finds the object of her 
 wishes there. 
 
 The Prince said, " It was very kind of the Cazi to have 
 pointed out to the miser the extreme folly of his aspirations ; 
 but it was too late when he perceived it." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the 
 miser was, indeed, too late in perceiving the value of the 
 advice given by the Cazi, even as the goblin perceived, when 
 it was too late, that he had assumed the wrong guise, when 
 the Cat Gunduple made a morsel of him." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to narrate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 Cat (Smtbiiplte attb tljt 
 
 In the Island of Borneo there was a Goblin named 
 Pasangu, who delighted in deceiving children in the follow- 
 ing manner. Whenever a number of them joined together 
 
THE CAT AND THE GOLDEN MOUSE. 161 
 
 to play, he would assume the form of some child that had 
 received a severe beating, and stand sobbing and crying at a 
 distance. 
 
 Instantly the children would say, " Ah, poor little thing ! 
 Some wicked boy has given it a beating ! " and ask, " Where 
 is the boy ? " 
 
 At this Pasangu would cry louder with a more woeful 
 face. The children would say, " Don't cry do tell us 
 where the boy is now don't there is a dear ! " 
 
 Pasangu would continue shouting all kinds of in- 
 articulate things after the manner of little folk in that 
 sad predicament, and ultimately point to some quarter at 
 a distance. 
 
 The children would say, " The little dear has received a 
 thrashing from some wicked boy over there." Instantly 
 some of their number, resolving to avenge the wrongs of the 
 little dear that had got a thrashing from the wicked boy 
 over there, would follow their dependent with that spirit of 
 chivalrous sympathy which characterises children all the 
 world over. As many as thus followed him became the 
 victims of Pasangu for the day. 
 
 There was an orphan boy in the village who was utterly 
 lame, and who was maintained by the people. His only 
 duty was to see that the children went to the playground and 
 returned safely. He was generally carried to the playground 
 by his little friends and deposited on a high mound, from 
 which he witnessed their sports. He had a cat named 
 Gunduple, who was his constant companion, and who 
 amused him by all kinds of sportive tricks. 
 
 The boy would say, " Now, Gunduple, play at catching 
 mice ! " 
 
 Instantly, Gunduple would pretend to have seen mice 
 before it, and, chasing them up and down, kill every one of 
 his imaginary victims. 
 
 L 
 
162 THE TALES OF THE SIXT\ MANDARINS. 
 
 Then the boy would say, " Now, Gunduple, there is a 
 rat in the hole ! " 
 
 Instantly, the cat would pretend to have discovered the 
 hole, and go round it sprinkling imaginary grain. After this 
 it would wait at some distance for the rat which was 
 expected to come out for the grain, and then, pretending to 
 have seen it, dart at a brick or broken tile, and bring it to 
 the boy, as if it were a rat. 
 
 This lame boy the people of the village considered 
 responsible for the children that disappeared from time to 
 time ; so they gave him a good beating one day, saying, 
 " You are a helpless orphan. We help you that you may 
 take care of our children when they play. Why don't you 
 find out the goblin that devours them ? " 
 
 The lame boy said to himself, "Well, I have neither father 
 nor mother, nor brother nor sister, so if I cry, nobody will 
 ask why. I must be bold, like a man that is old. Now, these 
 people think I am a burden on them. I must see that they 
 don't think so hereafter." So he replied, " I have neither 
 father nor mother, nor brother nor sister. I have a cat, so 
 I may go where I like. If you promise to give me a 
 house and a hundred acres of land, I will kill the goblin. 
 If you say you won't why then, I won't ! " 
 
 The people said, " If you kill the goblin, we will give 
 you a house and a hundred acres of land." 
 
 The boy seemed to consider the question for a moment, 
 and, with an angry face, said, " Well, I think I had better not 
 kill the giant, specially when I think of the beating I got 
 from you," and, calling to his cat, prepared to creep out of 
 the village. 
 
 The villagers, with one voice, said, " Now don't go with- 
 out killing the goblin; we will give you the house and the 
 hundred acres at once." So they gave him what he wanted 
 that very moment. 
 
THE CAT AND THE GOLDEN MOUSE. 163 
 
 The next day, at the playground, the boy said, " Now, 
 my good friends, there is a goblin here who can assume 
 every form but that of a mouse. So remember that every 
 thing strange but a mouse should at once rouse your 
 suspicions." 
 
 Pasangu said to himself, " I can take any form I like ; 
 but the boy says I can't be a mouse, so I must take the form 
 of a mouse, if I wish to avoid suspicion. Why, then I shall 
 be a golden mouse, and lead all the children away from the 
 place. Not a single child will turn to his house till he has 
 caught the golden mouse." 
 
 "THE CAT SPRANG AT THE GOLDEN MOUSE." 
 
 The greed of the goblin being thus excited to an inor- 
 dinate extent, he became a golden mouse with a pretty tail, 
 which was very long and bright, and with nice little bells round 
 his neck. The children exclaimed with one voice, " Ah ! 
 what a pretty mouse ! Why, it is a golden mouse ! Without 
 it not one of us will turn towards his house ! " 
 
 The lame boy said to his cat. " Hollo, Gunduple, there 
 is a golden mouse for you to-day ! " 
 
 Instantly, the cat sprang at the golden mouse and made 
 a morsel of it. When it was too late the goblin exclaimed, 
 " Ah, it was indeed unwise to have assumed this guise 
 in the presence of a cat, which was ready to devour its 
 victim ! " 
 
 The boy had already got the house and the hundred 
 L 2 
 
164 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 acres. Now he got the title Lord of the Cat Gunduple 
 that killed the Goblin Pasangu when he became the golden 
 mouse. They say Gunduple was long eager to get another 
 golden mouse of the kind, but was not successful ; for in 
 the island of Borneo none ever met in his house with a 
 marvellous golden mouse. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " The lame boy was a knowing 
 little fellow. You can hardly imagine that one of his age 
 and circumstances would be so provident as to get the house 
 and the acres before actually achieving the feat for which 
 they were meant as a reward." 
 
 Here another Mandarin, who was watching for an 
 opportunity to amuse the Prince with a story, stood up and 
 said, " Sire, knowing boys, no doubt, do well, provided they 
 are not knowing like Uzbec ' I know.' " 
 
 " Who was he ? " asked the Prince, with great curiosity, 
 and the Mandarin proceeded with the story as follows : 
 
 ItttU m?b "1 mnofar." 
 
 In the province of Ajerbizan there was a poor tailor 
 who had a son named Uzbec. This little boy of ten said to 
 himself, " Men know : women know : why should not boys 
 know ? Whenever they say, ' O, he is but a boy, he knows 
 nothing,' it simply throws me into a passion. I will not say, 
 for one moment, ' I do not know,' come what will." So he 
 got into the habit of replying, " I know," in connection with 
 everything said to him. 
 
 His father remarked, " My dear boy, you are young, and 
 utterly inexperienced in the ways of the world. If you 
 continue saying ' I know,' without endeavouring to know 
 before telling people you know, you will be counted a 
 
LITTLE UZBEC " I KNOW" 165 
 
 very presumptuous little fellow, and every one will shun 
 you." 
 
 But little Uzbec said, " I care not what they say of me. 
 I would rather be called a knowing and presumptuous little 
 fellow, than a stupid, modest youth." This made his father 
 utterly hopeless of himself amending his son's conduct, so 
 he took him one day to a pedagogue, who was said to have 
 acquired wonderful skill in training boys, and said, "Sir, 
 will you set my boy right ? " 
 
 The pedagogue said, " Don't put me any questions on 
 the point. Hand over your boy and go home. Come back 
 to-morrow, and see if he is not quite a different boy." 
 
 The tailor said, "But Uzbec is a very obstinate little 
 fellow ; how will you set him right so soon ? " 
 
 The pedagogue said, " The more the wildness and 
 obstinacy of the boy, the less the time I take in taming him. 
 My brother is a tamer of horses : I am a tamer of boys. 
 He uses the whip : I use the birch rod. He breaks the 
 mettle of wild horses : I break the mettle of wild boys. We 
 were born very nearly under the same star." 
 
 " Of course you are never needlessly rough to boys," 
 said the tailor. 
 
 "Well," said the pedagogue, "as to that, I may say I 
 tame them in the politest way. I am rough only when they 
 are rough. As the good old proverb says, ' When they play 
 the chick, I play the cock ; but when they play the cock, I 
 play the kite.' " Then he turned to Uzbec and said, " you 
 know that don't you ? " 
 
 Uzbec said, demurely, " I know." 
 
 The tailor went home, leaving Uzbec with the peda- 
 gogue. After a while the pedagogue said, " Uzbec, my boy, 
 you know how to play at catching the crane all day do you 
 not?" 
 
 " I know," was the reply. 
 
i66 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The pedagogue then bade Uzbec lift up his right leg 
 behind, and bending his body, put his right thumb on the 
 floor thus representing the outlines of a crane standing on 
 one leg. 
 
 Poor Uzbec could not disobey, because he said he knew 
 how to catch the crane all day. So he was catching the crane 
 all day. The wife of the pedagogue looked after the com- 
 
 " THE PEDAGOGUE THEN BAD* UZBECK LIFT UP HIS RIGHT LEG. ' 
 
 forts of the boys who boarded at the school. In the evening 
 the pedagogue put a note to her in the hands of, Uzbec, 
 saying, " You know what is written in it, do you not ?" 
 
 " I know," said Uzbec, and gave the note to the wife of 
 the pedagogue. 
 
 She gave all the other boys their dinner, and said to 
 Uzbec, "The note says that you are not to have your 
 dinner, and that you are aware of it." 
 
 " I know," said Uzbec, and went to bed. 
 
 But soon hunger pinched him hard. He went into the 
 pantry to see if he could get anything to eat. As he was 
 going out in another direction, after his fruitless search iu 
 
LITTLE UZBEC " I KNOW" 167 
 
 the pantry, the housemaid, who had been watching him, 
 said, " You know what there is in your way don't you ? " 
 
 "I know," said Uzbec, and proceeding a few steps 
 further, tumbled into a deep sink, and stood buried up to 
 the neck in the mire. The cries of the housemaid brought 
 down the pedagogue, his wife, and all the boys boarding in 
 the house. They laughed outright at the ludicrous position 
 in which poor Uzbec had placed himself, and helped him 
 out of the sink. The housemaid washed him, saying, l( Ah, 
 if you had told me you did not know, I should have instantly 
 informed you of the sink." 
 
 When Uzbec went to bed he could not sleep. He said 
 to himself, " My muscles were very nearly cracked by 
 catching the crane all day. Then I had no dinner. When I 
 went out in quest of some food, I fell into that horrid sink 
 and stood buried up to the neck the laughing-stock of my 
 comrades, the pedagogue, and his wife, not to speak of the 
 housemaid, who pitied me so much. Who knows how 
 many such sinks there are, perhaps one at every turn ! " 
 
 This last thought made him tremble. Then with 
 difficulty he composed himself to sleep, dreaming all night 
 of the sink and its horrors. The next morning the peda- 
 gogue said to Uzbec, " My good boy, all yesterday you were 
 engaged in the game of catching the crane. To-day you 
 will play at leaping the fence. You know it don't you ? " 
 
 Uzbec replied, with great humility, " I do not know." 
 
 Instantly the pedagogue sent for the tailor, and handing 
 over the boy, said, " You know I remarked the more the 
 wildness and obstinacy of the boy the sooner I could tame 
 him. Now, here is your son, who has fully answered my 
 expectations." 
 
 The tailor wishing to test this, asked Uzbec, " Do you 
 know how you will get on in future ? " 
 
 ' I do not know," was the modest reply. 
 
i68 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Father and son went home together, and that day 
 forward Uzbec was one of the most intelligent and modest 
 boys in Ajerbizan. When people asked him questions at 
 random about things he did not know, saying, " Do you 
 know that?" "Do you know this?" he would pause 
 before giving a reply, muttering to himself: "Ah, let me 
 first know if there is a sink in the turn." 
 
 If people asked why he had grown so tardy in giving 
 replies to queries, he would exclaim, " Ah, there may be a 
 sink in the turn." 
 
 The Prince remarked, "Well, it was by bitter experience 
 that Uzbec ' I know,' became Uzbec ' I don't know.' " 
 Before the Prince could proceed further, another Mandarin 
 stood up, and said, " Sire, it is experience that gives us a real 
 knowledge of things, and helps us to form a correct opinion 
 of the good and evil in them, even as the savage King 
 Amambeeni did." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to tell him the 
 story, and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 0f 
 
 Far to the east of the Celestial Empire there was an 
 island in which all men lived as brothers, and all women as 
 sisters. Each lived in a shed which he called a house, had 
 a mat which he called a bed, and a piece of timber which 
 he called a pillow. Every man had a wife, and every woman 
 had a husband. So there were neither old bachelors nor 
 old maids on the island. 
 
 Any one might go into the shed of another, and have 
 his meals. Nobody called whatever he had his own. It 
 was the common property of all ; and nobody had anything 
 
THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING. 169 
 
 which every other person on the island had not. Each 
 wore the skin of a tiger round his loins, and carried a spear 
 and shield to hunt in the woods, all sharing the spoils of 
 the chase equally. 
 
 Every one on the island lived a hundred years. When 
 his lifetime approached its end, he dressed himself in his 
 tiger-skin garments, took up his spear and shield, and, with 
 his wife by his side, said, " Death, now you may approach 
 me ! " and was gathered unto his fathers. 
 
 This happy island was known among its inhabitants as 
 Andango, or the Island. of Contented People. But the rest 
 of the world, and especially the people of the Celestial 
 Empire, called it the Island of the Tiger Skin Savages. 
 
 They had a king named Amambeeni, which, in their 
 language, meant the King of the Contented People. His 
 office was nominal, there being nothing to be done by way 
 of administration no post, no police, no revenue, no 
 judges, no ministers, no ambassadors ; because no letters, no 
 thieves, no taxes, no quarrels, no politics, no international 
 relations. The King lived in a shed like other people, and 
 went round eating where he liked, and sleeping where he 
 liked. 
 
 This King Amambeeni had long heard that there was 
 such a thing as Civilisation in the Celestial Empire, and he 
 was very eager to know all about the good and evil in it. 
 But, as he had no junks in which he could make a 
 voyage to our shores, he contented himself with the thought 
 that some day the Spirit of Civilisation for these savages 
 believed that everything had a spirit presiding over it would 
 pay him a visit, and give him some idea of the good and 
 evil under its control. 
 
 One day this King Amambeeni was on the sea-shore, 
 playing with the children of the island. His Majesty, 
 according to his wont, made himself one of them, now 
 
170 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 pursuing the crabs that disappeared in the holes which they 
 dug with wonderful rapidity; now building baby houses 
 of sand, with shells for windows, and doing a great many 
 other things to amuse his juvenile friends. 
 
 Just then, a junk appeared in the horizon, and soon a 
 boat put to shore from it. 
 
 A fair young lady, with other ladies, who appeared to be 
 her companions, landed from the boat, and, addressing 
 Amambeeni, said, "Good Amambeeni, I am Civilisation. 
 
 "KING AMAMBEENI WAS ON THE SEA-SHORE" (p. 169). 
 
 I was born in the Celestial Empire, and have long flourished 
 in it. These are my handmaids wealth, fashion, and many 
 others, as you see." 
 
 Before she could finish Amambeeni interrupted her, 
 saying, "Ah, I have long heard of you. I am glad to see 
 you after all. Now, tell me what you can do ? " 
 
 The lady replied, " I can change the condition of your 
 subjects completely, and make them all happy." 
 
 Amambeeni said, "Well, there is good as well as evil in 
 you, as I have been told. Now, let us have some experience 
 of the latter, and I shall be able to tell you whether we shall 
 have you here, or send you back in your junk to the Celestial 
 Empire." 
 
 Instantly the lady passed her hands over the eyes of the 
 
THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING. 171 
 
 Savage King, when he fell into a slumber, and began to 
 dream as follows : 
 
 One morning, he rose from bed, and, girding the tiger- 
 skin round his loins, came out of his bed, when two tall 
 men, dressed like the Pekin police, took hold of him, saying, 
 ''You have come out without your trousers and other 
 clothes ; now, come to the lock-up, or give bail." 
 
 Amambeeni knew not who the men were, nor what bail 
 meant. 
 
 They said, " There is the'good Lawyer Mandarin, Tokiliti, 
 close by ; he may help you." 
 
 Tokiliti was one of his subjects, who had asked him 
 already to spend the day with him at his shed. So he went 
 to him, and said, " Ah, Tokiliti, these men have taken hold 
 of me for some reason that I cannot understand, and they 
 want me to give them something which I neither have nor 
 ever heard of in my life ! " 
 
 Tokiliti said, " Address me with the respect due to my 
 position as a Mandarin. I am not plain Tokiliti, but 
 Atahualpa Li Hung Tokiliti." 
 
 The King could not believe him, so he said, " Ah, 
 Tokiliti, did you not beg of me to spend the day with you, 
 and have a draught of milk from the new cow that you 
 have, like every other subject of mine in the island?" 
 
 Tokiliti said he did not remember a word of the kind, 
 and sent Amambeeni away. 
 
 When the men left the house of Tokiliti with the King, 
 he said he felt hungry. So they took him to a house where 
 they sold food, and gave him his breakfast. 
 
 Amambeeni wondered all the while why they wanted 
 so many dishes and plates, while the chop-sticks with which 
 he had to convey the food to his mouth puzzled him 
 completely. 
 
 Then the men conducted him through the streets, which 
 
172 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 had houses, mansions, and palaces on both sides, in lieu of 
 the sheds of his subjects. A great many people were going 
 about in quest of amusement. 
 
 The King asked, "Are they not going to the sea-shore to 
 pursue the crabs, to build baby houses, to play at hide and 
 seek, or wolf and lamb, or cock and kite ? " 
 
 The men said that they were going to do nothing of the 
 kind, and described to the King a great many amusements 
 of people in the Celestial Empire, of which he did not 
 understand a word. 
 
 At every turn he found places of public resort, where 
 people drank intoxicating liquors and smoked opium ; some 
 laughing, some singing, some dancing, some discussing ab- 
 struse questions of philosophy, some deciding with wonder- 
 ful ease and lucidity the most knotty points of law and 
 politics, while others were quarrelling, swearing, and blas- 
 pheming. 
 
 While he was observing these spectacles, two men put 
 two bills into the hands of Amambeeni. One was from 
 Tokiliti, for having admitted Amambeeni to a consultation, 
 for he was a lawyer ; and the other from the keeper of the 
 great house where he had his breakfast one of the items in 
 the latter bill being, " For looking out at the window and 
 telling Amambeeni that it was not raining, three, four, 
 five." 
 
 Of course Amambeeni had no money, so they took him 
 to a money-lender, who had put up a notice saying, " From 
 five to five hundred advanced daily without security ; no 
 fees whatever." 
 
 Amambeeni went in and asked for a loan. 
 
 A man with a long pig-tail, and a pair of whiskers vieing 
 with the pig-tail in length, said, " We can't attend to your 
 application unless you pay down two, five, eight." 
 
 But as Amambeeni had no money whatever, he could 
 
THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING. 173 
 
 not pay the money-lender's fee. So he sent away the two 
 men with their bills. 
 
 Now the King requested the men to take him to the 
 lock-up, by way of his shed, that he might tell his wife 
 about his fate, and then go with them. 
 
 Accordingly, when they came to the shed, a number of 
 men, who called themselves law officers, came to afford 
 relief to the two men, whose bills Amambeeni had sent 
 back, and drove out the wife and children of the King, and 
 distrained what property he had, saying, " Every man ought 
 to pay his debts first, and then feed his wife and children." 
 
 Being unable to endure the sight, Amambeeni turned 
 away from the spot with the two men, who took him to 
 their station, and thrusting him into a close room, locked it. 
 
 Just then, the King awoke from his dream. 
 
 The lady said, " All that you have seen is but a page 
 in that chapter of my book which represents the dark side. 
 If you will permit me to subject you to a series of such 
 dreams, you will be able to know all about both the 
 sides." 
 
 Amambeeni said, " There was nothing very remarkable 
 in the dream I saw, beyond a series of evils which were the 
 result of overstepping the bounds of simplicity and content. 
 We have had but one side in this island, and have never 
 had any occasion to dream of the two sides you speak of. 
 Let us therefore live contented with it." 
 
 So he sent away the lady and her companions in the 
 junk, and went into the island to assure himself that what 
 he had seen was nothing but a dream, saying, " Ah ! I had 
 long imagined that the Spirit Civilisation, who flourished 
 in the Celestial Empire, could give us more simplicity 
 and, content if possible, but, the brief experience I had of 
 her influence has convinced me that I would do well never 
 to think of her again." 
 
174 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The Prince said, "Well, Civilisation, as we all know, 
 can never rest content. She is a Spirit that by the aid 
 of Knowledge, her ally, goes on creating new wants, and 
 gratifying them. In proportion to the progress we make, 
 our desires multiply, and seek a thousand gratifications, to 
 which we were strangers before." 
 
 Here another Mandarin, who wished to tell the Prince 
 a story, said, " Sire, it would, indeed, be a blessing if some 
 one could devise the means of bringing the aspirations of 
 the Spirit within reasonable bounds. But we must all 
 admit that she cannot be so easily disposed of. She is not 
 a lady as simple-hearted as the daughter of the Imam of 
 Muscat, that we might get some Talib with ten eyes, and 
 gratify her ambition once for all." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to tell him all about 
 the wonderful individual he had referred to as Talib with 
 ten eyes, and the Mandarin related the story as follows : 
 
 0f 
 
 In the city of Muscat there was a boy named Talib, who 
 had lost an eye while yet a child. His parents were very 
 poor, so they could not send him to school. Talib, there- 
 fore, spent a great part of his time in playing with .the boys 
 of the neighbourhood. When he came home, he helped his 
 mother in her domestic duties. 
 
 One day, his mother said to him, " My dear Talib, you 
 have been growing up pretty quickly. Very soon you will 
 be a man. I shall have to get you a wife suited to our 
 position in life. But, as you are blind of one eye, nobody 
 will give you his daughter in marriage, unless he sees you 
 are rich. Now, what are you going to do ? Will you make 
 
THE TEN-EYED YOUTH. 175 
 
 a fortune and secure a wife, or remain poor and un- 
 married ? " 
 
 Talib replied, "Mother, I do not care to have a wife so 
 soon. I shall wait till I find some one who will marry 
 me as I am." 
 
 His mother said, "Then you may wait like the daughter 
 of our Imam, who has long remained single, because she 
 wishes to marry a man with ten eyes." 
 
 Talib said, " I daresay she will find him some day." 
 
 His mother replied, " On that day you may hope to find 
 your wife also," meaning, of course, that the Princess would 
 never get a husband, and Talib would never get a wife. 
 
 Some time after Talib went out for a stroll in the streets. 
 In one of the thoroughfares he saw a crowd assembled round 
 two men, one of whom was reading a proclamation, and the 
 other beating a great gong, to attract the attention of people 
 passing by. The proclamation was to this effect : The 
 Imam of Muscat will be obliged to any person who will 
 introduce to him a young man with ten eyes, whom he 
 wishes to make his son-in-law. It is no matter what his 
 position is. Be he rich or poor, high or low, he will be at 
 once accepted by the Imam and his daughter, provided he 
 has that one qualification ten eyes. 
 
 Talib stepped forth and said, " I am prepared to 
 introduce to the Imam of Muscat the young man he wants. 
 Take me to his presence." The reader of the proclamation 
 took him to the Imam, who received him with every mark 
 of attention, and entered into a long conversation with him. 
 
 In the course of this conversation Talib asked the 
 Imam, " Is the Princess well educated ? " 
 
 The Imam, being desirous of recommending his 
 daughter's attainments, gave a long list of sciences and arts, 
 in all of which, he said, she was a great proficient. 
 
 " For one moment," said Talib, to the Imam, l< you 
 
176 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 must leave me face to face with the Princess, and retire, 
 otherwise I cannot hope to introduce the young man to 
 you." 
 
 The Imam did so. 
 
 Talib, addressing the Princess, who stood on the other 
 side of a screen, said, " Madam, you are well acquainted 
 with arithmetic is it not ? " 
 
 " Very well, indeed ! " said the Princess. 
 
 " Should 1 demonstrate to you, arithmetically, that I 
 have ten eyes, will you take me ? " said Talib. 
 
 " With pleasure ; for nothing can be more reasonable," 
 said the Princess. 
 
 "You won't raise any needless objections? " said Talib. 
 
 " None whatever," said the Princess, " if you demon- 
 strate to me that you have ten eyes." 
 
 Talib said, " Now then, take a piece of parchment 
 remove this screen for one second, and carefully looking at 
 my eyes, note down what I say." 
 
 The Princess took up the parchment, and removing the 
 screen, looked at his face. 
 
 " Now," said Talib, " one of my eyes is all right. How 
 would you represent it arithmetically ? " 
 
 "As one," said the Princess. 
 
 " Good ! " said Talib. " Put it down one." 
 
 The Princess put it down. 
 
 TaliD said, <{ You see the other eye is gone. Now, tell 
 me how you would represent it arithmetically ? " 
 
 " As zero," said the wondering Princess. 
 
 " Good ! " said Talib. " Put it down zero." 
 
 The Princess put it down. 
 
 " Now," said Talib, " good Princess, do me the favour of 
 reading the number of my eyes arithmetically." 
 
 " Ten," said the astonished Princess. 
 
 " Give me your hand," said Talib ; and the Princess did 
 
THE SULTAN AND THE GIANT. 177 
 
 give him her hand, as she was tired of waiting for a husband 
 so long. 
 
 The Imam was surprised at his daughter having taken 
 for her husband a man with one eye; while all the while she 
 had been expressing her determination to marry a man with 
 ten eyes. 
 
 But the Princess explained to her father how Talib had 
 ten eyes really. 
 
 The Imam accepted the explanation, and accepted Talib 
 as his son-in-law, because he had so successfully solved the 
 long-felt difficulty about getting a man with ten eyes. 
 
 The Prince remarked, "She was, indeed, a happy 
 Princess, that was long in quest of a husband with ten eyes, 
 and eventually married a man with one eye. But the arith- 
 metic of Talib was unimpeachable, so she must have been 
 constrained to take him." 
 
 This humorous remark elicited the following observation 
 from another Mandarin : 
 
 " Sire, the arithmetic of Talib was, indeed, as unimpeach- 
 able as the judgment of Sultan Bey Bey." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 0f Sultan f*ir !i> antr ffa> iant 
 
 In a certain village near the city of Algiers, there was a 
 boy who often said to his playmates, in sport, " The whole 
 country belongs to me. I am the Sultan. You are my 
 ministers. All the rest are my subjects." 
 
 They would reply, " Well, the Sultan of Algiers is the 
 Bey ; you are his Sultan ; so you are the Bey Bey." 
 M 
 
178 
 
 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Hence, the boy acquired the name of Sultan Bey Bey in 
 the neighbourhood in which he lived. In the mountains, 
 near Algiers, lived a Giant, who was very fond of eating little 
 children. He would assume some tempting form, and lie 
 in their way. When they approached him, he would cry, 
 
 HE WOULD . 
 
 LIE IN THEIR WAY." 
 
 " Hum Haw," and move towards the mountains. The 
 children would follow, fancying it was some curious animal. 
 
 He would lead them a great way into the mountains, 
 crying, " Come, good children, Hum Haw ; don't fear, good 
 children, Hum Haw; pretty dear children, Hum Haw." 
 When they went sufficiently near, he would devour them. 
 Their parents often thought that the lions, which abounded 
 in the mountains near Algiers, carried off the children. 
 
 Sultan Bey Bey was very fond of playing at " Judge and 
 Thief," assembling a number of children around him to 
 help him in the game. He displayed such sagacity and 
 
THE SULTAN AND THE GIANT. 179 
 
 wisdom in the character of a judge, which he invariably 
 assumed, that the Sultan of Algiers heard of it with sur- 
 prise, and expressed a desire to see him while discharging 
 his functions in that capacity in the game. His Majesty 
 appointed a day. A great pavilion was erected on a plain 
 near the village, with seats for his Majesty and his courtiers, 
 while Bey Bey and his officers had a portion of it set apart 
 to themselves. All the children in the neighbourhood were 
 also invited to be present. 
 
 . Hum Haw fancied it was a very favourable opportunity 
 to get a good number of children into his power ; so he 
 presented himself in the form of a little thief. Instantly 
 the children who acted as policemen arrested him, and 
 took him before the judge, with a chain round his neck. 
 The other end of the chain was passed over a branch of 
 a tree in front of the pavilion, and held by the officer who 
 was the head of the police. 
 
 Bey Bey was very actively engaged in his duties. A 
 great many thieves were brought before him, and after due 
 inquiry convicted and punished according to the extent of 
 their guilt. The Sultan and his courtiers were in raptures 
 from time to time, as they heard his decisions. When Hum 
 Haw was brought before him, he looked at him attentively, 
 and said to the officer, " Keep him under the tree till I 
 should be able to attend to him." 
 
 Giants, as a rule, are very greedy and thoughtless, so the 
 mouth of Hum Haw watered at the sight of so many children 
 around him, and he exultingly said to himself, in a whisper, 
 " You have got them, Hum Haw ; you will eat them, Hum 
 Haw ! " 
 
 Now the head of the police, who had been listening to 
 his words, communicated the same, secretly, to the judge. 
 But he pretended to take no notice whatever of the words 
 of the officer. 
 M 2 
 
i So THE TALES OF THE SIXTY ^fA^'DARr?rs. 
 
 Addressing Hum Haw, he said, " Now, my good fellow, 
 will you speak the truth, and point out the place where you 
 have hidden the stolen property, and be treated leniently 
 or would you like to have the chain hanging round your 
 neck tightened till you die ? " 
 
 Hum Haw said to himself, with a laugh, ' The children 
 I ate are the property I stole, I cannot give them back 
 can I ? " and turning to the judge, said, " It was hunger that 
 compelled me to steal. What I stole I ate ; so the property 
 went into my stomach. If any of your officers can get in 
 and see, I shall, indeed, be happy to let them in ! " 
 
 Here Hum Haw put out his long tongue, and smacked 
 his lips, saying to himself that he would relish extremely 
 sending in as many children as chose to go into his stomach 
 to search for others that had gone before ! 
 
 The tone and character of the thiefs reply convinced 
 Bey Bey that he was Hum Haw. He waited, therefore, for 
 a while before pronouncing judgment The Sultan and his 
 courtiers were eagerly watching him. After mature delibera- 
 tion, the judge said, " You refused to tell us what you stole. 
 For aught we know, you might have stolen men, women, 
 and children, and devoured them like the Giant Hum Haw. 
 Therefore, we sentence you to be hanged by the neck." 
 
 Instantly, the officer of police pulled up the chain over 
 the branch of the tree, and the Giant swung in the air, crying, 
 44 1 am no thief! I am no thief! I am the Giant Hum 
 Haw ! I am the Giant Hum Haw ! " 
 
 The judge replied, " I am no judge 1 I am no judge ! 
 I am the boy Bey Bey ! I am the boy Bey Bey ! many of 
 whose companions you have eaten ! n 
 
 All the other children danced round the tree: one of 
 them shouting, " The Giant-thief, Hum Haw, has been 
 hanged by the boy-judge, Bey Bey!" and the rest repeating 
 the chorus, " The boy-judge, Bey Bey ! " 
 
TtiE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER. 181 
 
 The Sultan was very glad to see that the boy Bey Bey 
 had, by his sagacity, found out the real character of the 
 Giant when he appeared as a little thief, and got rid of him 
 according to the rules of justice. 
 
 He took him to his palace, and after giving him a sound 
 education, made him a great judge. The boy who acted 
 as the officer of police became, in course of time, the head 
 of the police in the kingdom of Algiers. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " The guise of a thief which Hum 
 Haw assumed led to the fatal result which he could not 
 avoid " 
 
 Before the Prince could proceed further, another Man- 
 darin, who was eager to tell him a story, stood up and said, 
 "Sire, the guise that Hum Haw assumed proved fatal to 
 him, even as the guise of a female slave, assumed by the 
 Giant in the story of the Golden Slipper from the Invisible 
 Castle, led to his own destruction eventually." 
 
 The Prince, in a severe tone, requested the Mandarin to 
 tell his tale, and he told it as follows : 
 
 rrf ilj* (golton ^Iipp*r fr0m 
 CastU. 
 
 In the Shan country there was a Giant who lived in a 
 castle in the air, which nobody could see. He went into 
 the country from time to time and carried off the most 
 beautiful and accomplished maidens, saying, " When I shall 
 have collected a thousand, I will marry them all, and be 
 known as the Giant with a thousand wives. I shall have ten 
 thousand children, who will overrun the whole of the Shan 
 country, and rule over k/ 
 
1 82 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY ' MANDARINS. 
 
 Whenever he went into the country and carried off a 
 maiden, the bravest man in the neighbourhood would pursue 
 him some distance, when, all of a sudden, he would go up 
 into his castle, exclaiming, " Now, I have got into my castle 
 in the air, those that pursue me beware ! " 
 
 In this manner he had collected nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine maidens, whom he confined closely in his castle, and 
 said to himself, " One more is wanting. When she is 
 brought in, I shall at once celebrate my wedding. But who 
 is this one ? Let me see Varagun, the daughter of the 
 King of the Shan country, they say, is the most beautiful 
 and accomplished Princess in the whole world. She shall 
 complete the number." 
 
 Accordingly, the Giant went to the palace of the King in 
 the disguise of a female slave, and told the Princess that her 
 mother wished to see her in the garden. When the Princess 
 come to the garden, the slave said that the Queen was in 
 the park close by. When the Princess came to the park? 
 the slave asked her to look up. Instantly she found herself 
 in the castle of the Giant, to which he conveyed her, throwing 
 off his disguise in the twinkling of an eye. 
 
 He said, " I am the King of this castle and the regions 
 in the air over which it roams. You will be my Queen, and 
 the mistress of the nine hundred and ninety-nine fair ladies 
 confined in these rooms, who will also be my wives." 
 
 The Princess at once perceived that the Giant intended 
 to marry her and the other ladies confined in the rooms ; so, 
 suppressing her emotions, she said, " Mighty Monarch of 
 the Invisible Castle, I am, indeed, proud of the honour you 
 wish to confer on me. The nine hundred and ninety-nine 
 ladies ought to be equally proud of the honour your Majesty 
 will soon confer on him. But before actually uniting my 
 destiny with your Majesty's, I wish to know where the secret 
 principle of your life is." 
 
THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER. 183 
 
 The Giant said, " But before I tell you where it is, let 
 me know your object in asking for the information." 
 
 The Princess replied, "Illustrious Monarch of the In- 
 visible Castle, when we begin to love a person, we are 
 naturally concerned about his safety. If 1 should know that 
 the principle of your life is safe, I shall be free from all 
 anxiety on that score." 
 
 The Giant said, "Princess, you need not be afraid. It 
 is perfectly safe within a toad which lives in the bowels of a 
 great rock by the summer palace of your father. If the 
 animal receive an injury, I shall at once receive the same. 
 Should it perish, I shall not live a moment thereafter. So I 
 shall live for many a long year to come ay, till our great- 
 great-grandchildren shall have been succeeded by their 
 great-great-grandchildren, on the throne of the Shan country, 
 and even thereafter for many a long year." 
 
 At this the Princess appeared to have been eased of a 
 great burden that had been oppressing her mind as, indeed, 
 she was. Then she said, " I am, indeed, thankful to your 
 Majesty for the information. There is another piece of in- 
 formation that I long to possess. How can this Invisible 
 Castle be made to alight on earth ? " 
 
 The Giant said, " There are nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine corners in the Castle ; at each corner there is a ring. 
 In the great central hall of the Castle there is another ring, 
 on which all the nine hundred and ninety-nine depend. If 
 a person should stand in each corner, while another stands 
 in the hall, and all pull up the one thousand rings at one 
 and the same time, the Castle will go down to the ground. 
 So soon as it touches the earth, the edifice will be visible 
 to all." 
 
 Some time after, while the Giant went out, the Princess 
 took up a golden slipper which she had worn, and opening 
 it, put a little scroll containing a minute description of the 
 
i&4 THE TALES OF THE Sfxrr MANDARINS. 
 
 life-principle of the Giant, and stitching the slipper partly, 
 sat brooding over it in a very melancholy mood. 
 
 The Giant, on his return, finding the Princess in great 
 grief, said, " Dear Varagun, soul of my soul, why are you 
 so sad?" 
 
 Varagun replied, "Alas, this slipper is a present from my 
 dear mother. I tore it to-day by an accident. I was eager 
 to wear it on our wedding-day ; but all my hopes have been 
 blasted." 
 
 The Giant said, " If you have set your heart on this 
 slipper to such an extent, I shall get it repaired for you this 
 instant." 
 
 The Princess replied, " But the only person who knows 
 how to repair it is my dear mother." 
 
 The Giant said, " Why, then, I shall see that it is repaired 
 by your mother this instant." So the Giant went out with 
 the slipper, in the disguise of a female slave, to have it 
 mended at the palace of the King. 
 
 When the Queen saw the slipper, she concluded that it 
 was from her beloved daughter. So she took it into her 
 chamber, and carefully examining the inside, found the 
 scroll. As soon as she finished reading it, she told the 
 female slave, " Now, you may go, and return for the slipper 
 about this time to-morrow." Then she laid the scroll before 
 the King. His Majesty instantly set about searching for the 
 toad in the great rock by his summer palace. 
 
 On returning to the Castle, the Giant said, " This even- 
 ing I shall celebrate my wedding." Accordingly, he prepared 
 a great feast. In the great central hall of the Castle, which 
 was splendidly decorated for the occasion, a long table was 
 laid out, covered with the choicest viands. On the side- 
 board were the richest wines. 
 
 The nine hundred and ninety-nine maidens sat round the 
 table with melancholy faces, and the Princess Varagun sat 
 
THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER, 185 
 
 by the Giant, on his right hand. After the dinner, the 
 Giant rose to take the Princess by the hand, for the first 
 time, as his wife. But scarcely had he lifted up his right 
 hand for the purpose, when it fell from his shoulder. 
 
 Then the Giant lifted up his left hand, and it shared the 
 same fate. In a few more seconds his whole body fell in 
 various pieces on the floor. At each limb he lost the Giant 
 roared louder than thunder, and the nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine maidens trembled like the drops on a lotus leaf. 
 
 The Princess Varagun knew that the King, her father, 
 had seized the toad and commenced the work of destroying 
 it and the Giant at one and the same time. For the Giant 
 had already pointed out that any injury inflicted on the toad 
 was sure to affect him equally, and that when the toad 
 perished he would be no more. So she stood firm. 
 
 When the Giant had been completely destroyed, the 
 Princess and the nine hundred and ninety-nine young ladies 
 threw out the pieces of his body and cleared the hall. Then 
 Varagun explained to the nine hundred and ninety-nine 
 maidens the secret of the thousand rings, and bade each 
 stand at a corner and pull up the ring at a signal from her 
 from the central ring. 
 
 They all pulled up the rings at one and the same time. 
 The Castle moved slowly towards the capital city, and 
 alighted on the ground in the royal gardens of the King of 
 the Shan country, where it stands to this day. 
 
 The Princess Varagun gave a grand dinner to the nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine virgins. The King and Queen 
 presided at the feast, and there were rejoicings in honour 
 of the event for many a day thereafter, not only in the city, 
 but all over the Shan country. 
 
 The Prince observed, "It is remarkable that even giants 
 should show a regard to royal personages, and treat them 
 
j86 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 respectfully. Why, the Giant of the Invisible Castle would 
 not rest content till he had obtained a Princess for his 
 presiding wife." 
 
 When the Prince had quite finished speaking, another 
 Mandarin, after waiting for two minutes, stood up, and 
 said, "Sire, the Emperor Mandarin, who ruled over the 
 Island of Allfriars, had for his motto' Nor sun may rise, 
 nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions yet.' The 
 same applies to giants as well." 
 
 The Prince exclaimed, " The Emperor Mandarin, who 
 ever heard of such a title ! The Island of Allfriars where 
 was it? Good and polite Mandarin, do introduce us at 
 once to the august personage that you have referred to, and 
 tell us all about the island also." 
 
 The Mandarin told the story as follows : 
 
 0f ifc Jslantr 0f Allfriars. 
 
 There was an Emperor of the Celestials in ancient times, 
 who was so philanthropic in spirit, that one day he spoke to 
 his Prime Minister as follows : 
 
 " All human beings are born alike. They have hunger 
 and other appetites and passions alike. When they die, 
 they return alike to the dust of which they were made. 
 Under these circumstances we see no reason why the mani- 
 fold conventional distinctions social and political that 
 prevail in communities, should be permitted to exist. So 
 to-morrow issue an edict that at the end of three years 
 hence there will be an equitable revision of rights, and that 
 all the property in the Celestial Empire will be put together 
 and apportioned equally among the many hundred millions 
 that inhabit it." 
 
THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 187 
 
 The Prime Minister was surprised to hear his Majesty 
 say so. 
 
 Before he could open his lips, the Emperor continued, 
 " Of course, the potentates of earth generally copy our 
 example, because we have been ordained by heaven to 
 take the lead in every movement of importance. So when 
 they perceive the equity of our plan, and the incalculable 
 benefits that are sure to flow from it to mankind at large, 
 they will do the same." 
 
 The Prime Minister essayed again to say something. 
 
 But his Majesty continued, " In course of time the 
 whole world will be freed from those pernicious differences, 
 which, under the various imaginary heads of wealth, rank, 
 power, and pedigree, have handicapped the free progress of 
 man towards perfection. As a preliminary step we abolish 
 all titles and dignities in the Empire. The Empire itself 
 shall be known in future as the Empire of Allfriars, every 
 man being counted by the rest as a brother ; for the title 
 Celestial Empire indicates a superiority over the other 
 Empires of the world, which we would not, in our 
 philanthropy, tolerate." 
 
 The Prime Minister found it his duty to intercede. 
 
 But his Majesty continued, " We know that the title 
 Mandarin is dear to the people, and that they will not part 
 with it. So we make it general throughout our dominions. 
 Every man shall bear the title, and we further illustrate our 
 will on this point as follows : Persons like merchants, 
 bankers, farmers, shepherds, poulterers, scullions, scavengers 
 shall henceforth be known as merchant mandarins, banker 
 mandarins, shepherd mandarins, poulterer mandarins, 
 scullion mandarins, and scavenger mandarins.' 7 
 
 The Prime Minister, who was extremely alarmed to hear 
 all that the Emperor had said, and whose feelings were 
 specially outraged by the last two titles with which His 
 
t88 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Majesty illustrated the sweeping character of his reforms, 
 said, " It is impossible to controvert the decrees of the 
 Imperial conscience and wisdom, yet I venture to suggest 
 that the scheme may be tried on a small scale, and then 
 propagated." 
 
 The Emperor agreed. So the Prime Minister brought 
 before his Majesty six men without any distinctions among 
 them as to wealth, rank, power, and pedigree, and addressed 
 them as follows : " In the Hoangho there is a little island 
 which has long been uninhabited. You will repair to it, and 
 live there on terms of perfect equity and equality. In fact, 
 you are to lead such a free life of brotherly harmony and 
 affection that each may give a highly satisfactory account of 
 himself when his Imperial Majesty visits the island at the 
 end of three years." 
 
 Here the Emperor asked the Prime Minister what name 
 might be bestowed on the island. 
 
 He replied, " Your Majesty wished to bestow the name 
 Empire of Allfriars on your Majesty's dominions. The 
 same name, slightly modified, may be bestowed upon the 
 island. It may be called the Island of Allfriars, as a tenta- 
 tive measure, of course." 
 
 The Emperor said, " It is, indeed, an appropriate name. 
 The men will live like brothers all of them." Then turning 
 to the men, his Majesty said, "You are to use no title 
 among you. But if ever you should feel inclined to have 
 one, address one another as Mandarin, as we have made it 
 universal among our subjects." 
 
 His Majesty, who was eager to know how the men 
 answered his expectations, was counting the days. At the 
 end of three years he repaired to the island, with his Prime 
 Minister, without giving any previous notice to the six in- 
 habitants. Finding a hut at some distance from the shore, 
 they climbed a tree and hid themselves in its foliage, intent 
 
THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 189 
 
 upon watching the movements of the people, the Emperor 
 exclaiming, " Surely they have been leading a life of perfect 
 equality and unity under one brotherly roof; for there is 
 evidently but one hut on the island." 
 
 Scarcely had his Majesty finished speaking, when they 
 saw a litter of bamboo canes borne on the shoulders of four 
 men, while one sat upon it in great dignity, and another 
 ran before him like a herald, holding a thick bamboo cane 
 with a bunch of feathers suspended from the top in the 
 form of a tassel, shouting at every step " Ho, ho ! hi, ho ! 
 hi, hing, ho ! Here is the Emperor Mandarin of the 
 Island of Allfriars ! I am his Prime Minister Mandarin ! 
 These are his Bearer Mandarins ! Nor sun may rise, nor 
 sun may set, but men will have distinctions yet ! " 
 
 The litter was gently placed on the ground before the 
 hut, and the person on it walked in, while the four 
 bearers sat outside, and the herald stood at the gate. The 
 Emperor was astounded to see this spectacle. So he, with 
 the Prime Minister, went to the hut, and asked each to give 
 an account of himself. 
 
 They all pointed to the person that had gone into the 
 hut, saying, "Sire, the Emperor Mandarin ought to speak 
 first to your Majesty." 
 
 This puzzled his Majesty more. While he was 
 wondering what the title meant, the Emperor Mandarin 
 came out, and receiving his Majesty and the Prime 
 Minister with the air of a potentate, said, " Your Majesty, 
 with your Prime Minister, is welcome to my kingdom of the 
 Island of Allfriars ! " 
 
 His Majesty, being eager to know all about their doings 
 on the island during the three years they were on it, asked 
 him to relate at length every incident that had happened to 
 them during the period. 
 
 The Emperor Mandarin said, " Sire, when we landed on 
 
190 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 this island, each of us had a knife and an equal quantity 
 of corn, and nothing more. 
 
 " One of us cut the branch of a tree with the knife, and 
 making a wooden spade and hoe sowed a portion of the 
 corn. The second man made a trap and caught a great 
 many birds, which he put in a cage of his own making. 
 The third man cut down a great quantity of wood and 
 stored it up in a yard which he enclosed. The fourth 
 collected a great quantity of the bark of trees, and set about 
 preparing it for apparel. 
 
 " The fifth employed himself in helping each to build 
 whatever he required. 
 
 "The sixth said, 'Each of you has been doing 
 something after his own fashion. You want some one 
 to look after these things when you are away in the 
 woods or elsewhere. Further, doubts may arise among 
 you as to the relative value of the commodities you wish 
 to exchange. Various other questions will arise which a 
 sixth man alone can well decide for you. What do you 
 say to my looking after your affairs in that style ? Of 
 course, you will pay me for my trouble in the article which 
 each has.' 
 
 ''They all consented, saying that the proposal solved 
 a problem and supplied a desideratum. I was the sixth 
 man. Every day I had my fees for looking after their 
 things while they were away, and for settling questions 
 about barter and other transactions among them, while the 
 fifth man built me a hut. 
 
 "Thus, I had corn, poultry, wood for fuel, bark for 
 apparel, and a hut ; whereas, each of the rest had but one 
 or two things with him. So what with, my hut, what with 
 my varied store, I became the centre of the circle, and my 
 hut the rendezvous of our little community. At first they 
 called me Watchman Mandarin, then Agent Mandarin, 
 
THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 191 
 
 then Umpire Mandarin, then Lawyer Mandarin, then Judge 
 Mandarin. 
 
 " When matters had advanced thus far, the crops of the 
 Farmer Mandarin failed, because an inundation swept over 
 his fields. The fox made a raid or two into his yard, and 
 the Poulterer Mandarin lost his all. A fire caught the fuel 
 stored by the Wood Mandarin, and he was a bankrupt. As 
 the store of the Bark Mandarin was close by, it shared the 
 same fate. 
 
 "The Builder Mandarin lost his means of living, because 
 those who needed his services had failed. So all these 
 were driven to the necessity of resorting to me for aid. 
 
 " I said, ' Now that you have been constrained to seek 
 my help, I shall have to maintain you all. I shall, indeed, 
 be happy to relieve you, if you will somehow make me a 
 return for the aid I give you.' 
 
 " They replied, ' You know, we have nothing to give 
 you ; so the only manner in which we can hope to com- 
 pensate you is by serving you each in some capacity under 
 your control.' 
 
 " ' Ah,' said I, ' that would be creating distinctions, 
 against which we have been specially cautioned by his 
 Majesty and the Prime Minister.' 
 
 " But they, who were very hungry, for they had tasted 
 nothing for a long time, impatiently exclaimed, ' Nor sun 
 may rise, nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions 
 yet. So relieve our wants instantaneously, and be our 
 Emperor in future.' 
 
 " Then the Farmer Mandarin stepped forth, and said, 
 ' call me your Prime Minister.' 
 
 "The remaining four said they would call themselves 
 my subjects. I pointed out to them the necessity of add- 
 ing Mandarin as a title common to all, to the office of 
 each, according to your Majesty's injunctions. So I be- 
 
1 92 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 came the Emperor Mandarin of the Island of Allfriars. 
 The Farmer Mandarin is my Prime Minister Mandarin as 
 well as the Police Mandarin, as will be evident from his 
 bamboo bdton with the bunch of feathers on the top. 
 
 " The Poulterer Mandarin, the Wood Mandarin, the 
 Bark Mandarin, and the Builder Mandarin are my 
 subject Mandarins, and whenever I have to go out they 
 bear my litter, which was made for me by the Builder 
 Mandarin. Thus, as your Majesty sees, I have strictly 
 observed your Majesty's injunction as to the universal title 
 Mandarin, according it to every one of my subjects. 
 
 "Further, this hut I call my palace. The wooden 
 bench within is my throne. The words engraved on the 
 piece of bark on the top of the flagstaff there form my 
 motto. As such, it is also the motto of the exalted Order 
 of the Black Dragon, which I have had to create for the 
 benefit of my. subjects, and to which the Farmer Mandarin 
 has been already admitted, because he was the first to 
 recover, by his continued diligence, from the effects of the 
 calamities that had happened one after another to my 
 subjects." 
 
 Here the Emperor turned in the direction pointed out 
 by the Emperor Mandarin, and found a long pole, which 
 he had not noticed before, planted on the ground in front 
 of the hut, with a piece of bark cut in the form of a long 
 dragon flying on the top, bearing the words, "Nor sun 
 may rise, nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions 
 yet." 
 
 The Emperor Mandarin continued, " I have divided the 
 Empire of the Island of Allfriars into four great provinces. 
 My subject Mandarins have been long soliciting me to 
 appoint each of them Governors of a province. Further, 
 the other four, who have recovered from the effects of the 
 calamities that had befallen them, have been sc licking the 
 
THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 193 
 
 honour of being admitted to the most exalted Order of 
 the Black Dragon. 
 
 "To go through the double ceremony of appointing 
 the Governors and installing the remaining four as mem- 
 bers of the Order, I was on my way to my Court from 
 another hut on that side of the island, which I call my 
 summer palace, when your Majesty and the Prime Minister 
 arrived/' 
 
 The Emperor was, of course, lost in amazement at the 
 turn which his scheme had taken. He returned to his 
 capital, with his Prime Minister, without alluding any further 
 to his philanthropic edict, exclaiming all the way, as often 
 as the dignity of his position would permit, " Ah, all rivers 
 must be of equal length and width, all mountains of equal 
 height and bulk, and all seasons of equal temperature, be- 
 fore all men may live and move with equal wealth and 
 privileges ! " 
 
 As often the Prime Minister responded in the words of 
 the motto of the Order of the Black Dragon, " Nor sun may 
 rise, nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions yet ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " It was, no doubt, a mistake 
 on the part of his Imperial Majesty to have fancied that 
 all men could continue to have the same rights and privi- 
 leges without any distinctions whatever." 
 
 Here another Mandarin got up and said, "Sire, his 
 Imperial Majesty was as much mistaken, when he fancied 
 that all men could live and move equally without any dis- 
 tinctions whatever, as the nobleman Nowroze, of the Island 
 of Ormaz, when he fancied that his affection towards his 
 wife would ever continue as warm as it was at a particular 
 period of time." 
 
 The Prince asked the Mandarin to relate the story, and 
 he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 In the city of Ormaz, which was on an island of the 
 same name in the Persian Gulf, there lived a youthful 
 nobleman, named Nowroze, who once said to his wife, the 
 fair lady Nourmahal, " My dear wife, I love you more than 
 my life, and long to prove to you the truth of my assertion." 
 
 The lady Nourmahal said, " Ah, good husband, make 
 no professions that you cannot well carry out. The proof 
 of your attachment must be perceived in your conduct 
 throughout life. So it is too early to say to your wife that 
 you love her more than your life." 
 
 " No, good wife," said Nowroze, " you may try me as 
 carefully as you can. I will stand the trial." 
 
 Nourmahal said, " Well, if you are in such earnest 
 about it, I hope to test your fidelity to your wife ere long." 
 
 That day forward Nowroze paid greater attention to 
 his wife than ever. 
 
 One day Nourmahal said to her husband, " I have not 
 seen my parents for a long time past. You say you are 
 very busy at present. So permit me to go to the house 
 of my parents first, and have the pleasure of seeing you 
 there, ere long." 
 
 Nowroze consented to this. So the lady Nourmahal 
 left for the house of her parents, which was at some distance 
 from the city. 
 
 The next evening, as Nowroze went into the apartments 
 of his wife, to have a look at her picture, he saw a letter 
 on the table by her bed, and opening it, found a miniature 
 portrait of a young lady of remarkable beauty, and a letter, 
 which read as follows : 
 
 " Dear Cousin Nourmahal, I have been longing to see 
 you all this week ; but no time. I shall positively call to- 
 
THE STORY OF THE CREEPER OF LIGHTNING. 195 
 
 morrow. Herewith I send you a copy of my portrait, 
 which I painted with my own hands by observing my image 
 in a mirror. In your last letter you ask very eagerly when 
 I am to be married. My father has not yet fixed upon a 
 suitable son-in-law. Nor have I any idea as to his identity. 
 I would rather remain some time longer as I am. It is not 
 every one that can be as fortunate as Nourmahal in attain- 
 ing that universal desideratum of marriageable maids a 
 good husband ! With love, dear cousin, ever yours, 
 
 "CREEPER OF LIGHTNING." 
 
 The last, of course, was the name of the lady. 
 
 Nowroze looked at the portrait again and again, and 
 said to himself, "She is, indeed, a creeper of lightning! 
 I doubt very much if a creeper of lightning has the bril- 
 liancy of the countenance of this lady. Her eyes have cer- 
 tainly more light in them than a thousand creepers of light- 
 ning put together ! She is unmarried,! She has not yet fixed 
 upon a husband ! She envies Nourmahal her husband ! " 
 
 Here Nowroze carefully scanned himself from head to 
 foot in a mirror, adjusted his whiskers, and came to the 
 conclusion that he must try the effect of giving the lady an 
 opportunity to see him, saying, " I will not love her ; but will 
 simply increase her misery by giving her an idea of my 
 personal accomplishments." 
 
 Having thus introduced the thin end of the wedge into 
 the impenetrable block of his affections, Nowroze waited 
 patiently for the arrival of the lady. The next day, the lady 
 arrived in a closely covered litter, borne on the shoulders of 
 four sumptuously attired eunuchs, and on learning that her 
 cousin Nourmahal was absent at her father's house, appeared 
 to be highly disappointed. 
 
 Nowroze, for his part, was extremely attentive to her and 
 her attendants. Although he had no opportunity of seeing 
 her, according to the etiquette of his nation, as of many 
 N 2 
 
196 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 another nation on earth, yet he showed in various other ways 
 how assiduous he was in doing her the honours of the house. 
 One of the eunuchs that accompanied the lady came to 
 Nowroze and said, " My mistress is very sorry that her lady- 
 ship is absent. In her absence, she wishes at least to kiss 
 her portrait in her apartments. May she do so ? " 
 
 Nowroze consented with pleasure to the lady coming 
 into the apartments of Nourmahal and kissing her portrait. 
 By this time the heart and head of Nowroze were so roughly 
 agitated by the presence of the Creeper of Lightning in the 
 same house with him, that he said to himself, " Well, 
 according to our law we can marry more than one wife at 
 one and the same time. Now, if I should take another 
 wife not that I am actually going to do so will my heart 
 be any the less warm in loving my dear Nourmahal ? No ; 
 for hearts are like flames, that go on augmenting their own 
 heat and energy as they extend." 
 
 When he had arrived at this plausible conclusion, he 
 paused for a moment, and said to himself, " Now, I have 
 Ncurrnahal that is my wife number one ; suppose I make 
 the Creeper of Lightning my wife number two. Ah ! not 
 that I am actually going to do so but it is a mere supposi- 
 tion ! " 
 
 So Nowroze waited with such conflicting thoughts till 
 the lady entered the apartments of his wife, and then beckon- 
 ing to the eunuch who accompanied her, said, in a whisper, 
 " Ask the lady if she will accept me for her husband." 
 
 The eunuch went up to the lady, and, after a short con- 
 ference with her, returned, saying, " My mistress is quite 
 opposed to your proposal. She says she will be doing a 
 great piece of injustice to her friend and cousin, Nourmahal, 
 who has ever informed her that she was tenderly attached to 
 you, and that you loved her dearer than your life." 
 
 Nowroze, who had by this time expelled from his mind 
 
THE STORY OF THE CREEPER OF LIGHTNING. 197 
 
 all scruples on the subject, replied, "No doubt I have spoken 
 to my wife such words but words are words, as you know. 
 So let bygones be bygones, and let me know if the lady will 
 or will not accept me." 
 
 The eunuch returned saying, " My mistress will marry 
 you this moment, if your wife should give her consent." 
 
 Nowroze said, " If I had her by my side this moment 
 I would make her consent at once to this proposal ; but she 
 is at her father's house." 
 
 Here the veiled figure, which Nowroze had fancied was 
 some lady bearing the strange name of Creeper of Lightning, 
 exclaimed, " Oh, no, dear husband, she is here, ready to 
 give consent ! " 
 
 It was the Lady Nourmahal that had spoken ; for she 
 it was that had painted the picture, written the letter, and 
 come in that guise to test the worth of the professions which 
 her husband had so persistently made to her. Nowroze was 
 lost in amazement. In his confusion, he knew not what he 
 said. So, he exclaimed, "Ah ! What do I hear ! " 
 
 The lady Nourmahal replied, " Good husband, it is the 
 voice of thunder that you hear in your quest after the 
 Creeper of Lightning ! " 
 
 Poor Nowroze never after said to his wife, " I love you 
 better than my life ! " but by his conduct proved how 
 much he loved and esteemed her. The lady readily forgave 
 him, saying, " The worst of our frailties is fancying we have 
 none." 
 
 They lived long in perfect happiness, highly respected 
 and admired throughout the Island of Ormaz. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " After all, the lady Nourmahal 
 revenged herself on her husband in the noblest way 
 possible." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, 
 
198 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 the lady's revenge was like the revenge of the Royal 
 Mendicant." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 0f tlj* Jlrmai 
 
 In the days of the Tartar Conqueror, Zengis Khan, there 
 were three small kingdoms in Central Asia, the Sultans of 
 which were what are popularly known as " very good friends." 
 Often they visited one another, and even exchanged very 
 valuable presents. They were called Cobad, Jan war, and 
 Fyzul respectively. The last was a very righteous man. He 
 had, however, this fault he fancied that the world always 
 meant what it said, and took every one at his word. So he 
 said, " I am the happiest man alive ; I have two Sultans of 
 equal power and territory for my friends ! " 
 
 The Grand Vizier of Sultan Fyzul, who had the highest 
 respect for the character of his master, said, " Sire, friends 
 are ever tested by adversity. If the craft of friendship 
 weather the storm of adversity, it is, indeed, worth the name. 
 So let the sincerity of these two allies be first tested by your 
 Majesty." 
 
 Thereupon, Sultan Fyzul entrusted the government of 
 his dominions to his faithful Vizier, and, in the disguise 
 of a Mendicant, repaired to the capital of Sultan Cobad, 
 and while he was going out of his palace for a ride, threw 
 himself in his way, and, saluting him, exclaimed, with tears 
 in his eyes, "Ah, good friend Cobad, adversity has driven 
 me out of my kingdom. If you will condescend to help 
 me, I shall be able to retrieve my fortunes. If not, I shall 
 be undone." 
 
 Cobad lifted up his riding-whip a trifle higher, in ac- 
 
THE REVENGE OF THE ROYAL MENDICANT. 199 
 
 knowledgment of the salutation of Sultan Fyzul, and with 
 a sombre face full of wisdom, silent lips full of caution, and 
 uplifted eyebrows, that denoted a superior order of surprise 
 and embarrassment, which Sultans alone could exhibit, 
 gazed at the prostrate Sultan Fyzul for a long while, and 
 then broke silence as follows : 
 
 "Friendship can exist only between equals in every 
 
 " HE . . . THREW HIMSELF IN HIS WAY " (/. 198). 
 
 respect. You were Sultan Fyzul before but you are 
 nobody now. You had better therefore seek the relief you 
 need from some person of inferior rank, suited to your 
 present circumstances." 
 
 Then he rode off, saying, "I am, indeed, sorry for 
 you, and wish I could do more in conformity with my rank 
 and dignity." 
 
 When his Majesty had given expression to these admir- 
 able sentiments, and disappeared in the woods adjoining 
 
200 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 his palace gardens, Sultan Fyzul left the place, and after a 
 long journey sought the presence of Sultan Janwar. 
 
 He lent a patient ear to all that Sultan Fyzul said, and, 
 with as much sophistry as inelegance, replied, " The choicest 
 viands must go to the dunghill, and the choicest wines 
 to the sewer, when they have been spoilt. So you must 
 now mix with people better suited to your circumstances 
 than Sultans, who were your friends before." 
 
 Then Sultan Janwar meditated for a while, and said, 
 " If you have no objection, you may reside with the watch- 
 man of our palace, and receive the comforts which his home 
 provides." 
 
 Sultan Fyzul said to himself, " Of the two friends I have, 
 the second is, indeed, the better man. For he was so good 
 as to say that I might reside with his watchman." 
 
 Then Sultan Fyzul returned to his capital, and ap- 
 plauded his Vizier for the very wise suggestion he had made. 
 
 Some time after, Zengis Khan invaded the dominions of 
 Cobad and Janwar, because they had openly sheltered some 
 of his rebellious subjects, who had fled to them for refuge, 
 and drove the two Sultans out of their capitals. 
 
 With their families in disguise, they were constrained to 
 flee into the adjacent kingdom of Sultan Fyzul, and 
 presenting themselves before him, said, " O, Sultan Fyzul, 
 when adversity frowned on you and drove you out of your 
 dominions, we refused to help you. It was our folly that 
 led us to do so. Now we have been constrained to 
 seek shelter in your dominions, you may do with us what 
 you like. Alas ! in our reverses nothing serves us so well as 
 the good offices we do to our friends ; and nothing proves 
 a greater stumbling-block than infidelity towards them." 
 
 When Sultan Fyzul heard all these wise things that the 
 two fallen potentates uttered in his presence, he replied, with 
 a very demure countenance, " So you have come to me after 
 
THE REVENGE OF THE ROYAL MENDICANT. 201 
 
 all. I must have my revenge in full. Men like you should 
 never be let off with impunity." 
 
 Here Sultan Fyzul paused, and Cobad and Janwar 
 fancied he was collecting materials for a volley of the 
 most powerful abuse from his armoury of offensive 
 epithets, when he told his Grand Vizier, "Send each 
 of these men with his family and children to a separate 
 mansion in our capital, and see that he is well provided 
 with all the comforts of life." 
 
 The Grand Vizier did so. 
 
 Sultan Fyzul paid each of them a visit every day, and at 
 times brought over their children to play with his own in 
 the palace. 
 
 Cobad and Janwar said to themselves, "Evidently 
 Sultan Fyzul is treating us with a semblance of regard that 
 he may murder us in our beds some night with his own 
 hands, for nothing short of such direct revenge can gratify 
 him." 
 
 So they never slept at night, but ever lay vigilant, in 
 momentary expectation of death. 
 
 One evening Sultan Fyzul sent for both of them, with 
 their wives and children, to his palace", where a sumptuous 
 feast was laid out for them. After they had all partaken of 
 it together, their wives and children being entertained in the 
 inner apartment, by the Sultana, Sultan Fyzul spoke to them 
 as follows : 
 
 " Since your arrival at my court, I have been soliciting 
 the great Zengis Khan, with whom heaven be praised ! I 
 stand on amicable terms, to pardon you, and restore you to 
 your kingdoms, that your wives and children, who are, of 
 course, as innocent as mine, and who, I am sure, have 
 never shut their doors against their friends in adversity, 
 may be happy again. This day the courier has arrived, 
 bearing his written mandate complying with my request. 
 
202 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 " I know you have been living here in constant fear of 
 assassination. But therein you but paid the penalty due 
 to your own suspicious hearts. You had to dread unkind- 
 ness from others as you had never done a kindness 
 properly so called to a friend. But henceforth be better 
 men, and enjoy the happiness which virtue and benevolence 
 alone can bestow. Now let me assure you that the Royal 
 Mendicant, whom you turned away from your doors, has 
 had his revenge in full ! " 
 
 The Sultans Cobad and Janwar were quite overcome 
 by this act of extraordinary forgiveness and benevolence. 
 They rose together from their seats, with tears in their 
 eyes, and, saluting his Majesty most reverentially, said, 
 " Adversity has, indeed, been our monitor, as it has been 
 the monitor of almost every individual on earth. We have 
 learnt from it a lesson which we shall never forget. Nor 
 shall we fail to profit by the revenge of the Royal Mendi- 
 cant, on whom heaven shower its choicest blessings for 
 ever!" 
 
 Here the children of the two Sultans came forward, and 
 saluted his Majesty. 
 
 The wives of the two Sultans, who were in the inner 
 apartments, exclaimed in an audible tone, " Sultan Fyzul, 
 our brother, has made us happy again ! " 
 
 His Majesty replied, "Ah, good sisters, see that your 
 royal husbands turn away no helpless mendicant from their 
 doors in future, be he royal or ordinary ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Sultan Fyzul illustrated the 
 truth that forgiveness is the noblest revenge. At the same 
 time, it may be added that forgiveness is the most effective 
 revenge; for revenge leads to revenge, while forgiveness 
 alone annihilates it completely." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire 
 
THE STORY OF PRINCE R AGO DA. 203 
 
 forgiveness is the most efficacious antidote to that raging 
 malady known as vindictiveness, even as love proved the 
 most effective tamer of the wildness of the little Prince 
 Ragoba." 
 
 The Prince, being curious to know all about Ragoba, 
 requested the Mandarin to tell the story, and he proceeded 
 with it as follows : 
 
 0f Ipritttt Jlagnba an& tfa IFair 
 
 In a certain country not far from the Celestial Empire 
 there was an ancient custom of training people, called 
 Puchandies, for the special purpose of frightening children 
 when they proved troublesome. At times these people, in 
 grotesque attire, with long feathers in their caps, and bells 
 round their waists, went about the streets knocking at every 
 door, and asking if there was any demand for their services. 
 
 If the housewife said, " Yes," they posted themselves at 
 the gate, exclaiming, " We live together as bees in a hive ; 
 we take babies, and roast them alive; then in chariots 
 drawn by elephants we drive ! " 
 
 This incoherent jargon would frighten the little folk. If 
 at the time they were indulging in their usual pastime of 
 crying, then they would at once give it up, and run into the 
 darkest corners of the house, and hide their little heads, 
 vowing they would give their mammas no further trouble. 
 At other times, when the children proved very refractory, 
 the Puchandies assumed the forms of hideous monsters 
 to tame their wildness. 
 
 The King of the country had a son, a little Prince named 
 Ragoba, whose lungs were so abnormally powerful that his 
 
204 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 crying could be heard, as some of the courtiers said, at the 
 very boundaries of his father's kingdom. It was, therefore, 
 proposed to appoint a Puchandy to keep the Prince in 
 order. Accordingly, a great many Puchandies, with great 
 feathers in their caps, and huge bells in their belts, had a 
 fair trial given them one after another. 
 
 Unfortunately for them all, the Prince had a heart which 
 was as courageous as his voice was loud. He never had 
 
 EVERY ONE 
 
 HAD TO BEAT A DISGRACEFUL RETREAT. 
 
 the slightest inkling from it of that fiend Fear, whom children 
 know so well. 
 
 So every one of the Puchandies had to beat a disgraceful 
 retreat from the presence of the redoubtable Prince Ragoba. 
 
 But as the Prince was extremely troublesome, and as 
 the Queen and the nurses who looked after him were ever 
 worried by his pranks, her Majesty addressed the King as 
 follows : 
 
 " Ah, the Prince is growing more and more unmanage- 
 able every day. We have not had a wink of sleep in the 
 
THE STORY OF PRINCE RAGOBA.' 205 
 
 night. We can neither go to breakfast, nor dinner, nor 
 supper with any hope of finishing the meal undisturbed. 
 He breaks everything that comes in his way, strikes, bites, 
 and kicks people without mercy. When told .that his 
 Puchandy would soon come and take him away, he says 
 he will treat him in the same style. Your Majesty must, 
 therefore, take steps without delay to set him right." 
 
 The King at once assembled a council of his ministers, 
 and laid the matter before them. 
 
 They said, " Sire, we have not yet given the Prince 
 a good Puchandy. He must have one at once. We 
 propose that three of us disguise ourselves as three monster 
 Puchandies, and frighten the Prince one after another." 
 
 The King assented. 
 
 Of the three ministers who had agreed to undertake the 
 taming of Prince Ragoba, the first assumed the form of 
 a huge elephant, and, with waving ears and uplifted trunk, 
 approached the Prince, with one foot raised on high, as 
 though he meant to trample him down at a tread. 
 
 The Prince advanced towards his adversary with a 
 steady step, and, taking hold of his trunk, gave it such 
 a twisting that it fell to pieces, for it was made of paste- 
 board. 
 
 The Prince laughed heartily over it, and the discomfited 
 elephant fled to some forest, from which he said he had 
 come for the special purpose of rectifying the conduct of 
 Prince Ragoba. 
 
 The King and Queen, the nurses, and other servants of 
 the palace, who were watching the scene from a distance 
 behind a screen, roared with laughter. 
 
 The second minister assumed the form of a black lion, 
 with flowing mane and frightful claws, and roaring louder 
 than thunder, presented himself before the Prince. In- 
 stantly the Prince fell on all-fours, and stalking like another 
 
206 THE. TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 lion went up to his adversary, and, putting his nose to his, 
 gave such a tremendous roar that the other beat a hasty 
 retreat to some wood in a distant glen, from which he said 
 he had come for the special purpose of rectifying the con- 
 duct of Prince Ragoba. There were roars of laughter again 
 behind the screen. 
 
 It was now the turn of the third minister. He assumed 
 the form of a flying dragon, with crested head and claws out- 
 spread, and presented himself before the Prince, spitting 
 fire and performing various rapid evolutions with his long, 
 forked tongue. Not all the children in the world put 
 together could have so much as endured the sight of the 
 horrid monster. 
 
 But Prince Ragoba at once ran to the kitchen, and 
 snatching a flaming brand, returned saying, " Now, 
 Puchandy, here I am ; will you have a fight with me ? " 
 
 The dragon found out that his adversary was determined 
 to set fire to him if he ventured to advance a step further 
 towards him. So he beat a hasty retreat to some dark cave 
 in a distant mountain, from which he said he had come for 
 the special purpose of rectifying the conduct of Prince 
 Ragoba. 
 
 The Queen and all the nurses and other servants of the 
 palace who were concerned in the affair were in absolute 
 despair when they found that there was no kind of Puchandy 
 who could tame the wildness of Prince Ragoba. At the 
 same time the Queen was opposed to all employment of 
 physical force in bringing him to his senses. " For," she 
 said, "if you touch my Ragoba with a blade of grass, I 
 shall feel it as though I had been beaten with a club." 
 
 The King said, " Neither elephants with uplifted trunk, 
 nor lions roaring louder than thunder, nor dragons spitting 
 fire will do as Puchandies any more. We must, therefore, 
 get a Puchandy of a different type altogether." 
 
THE STORY OF PRINCE RAGOBA. 207 
 
 So he sent for little Jollima, who was the daughter of 
 his sister, the Queen of a neighbouring country, and whom 
 the Prince had never seen before, and said, " Ragoba, here 
 is a Puchandy whom you cannot easily send away. Now, 
 what do you say ? " 
 
 When Ragoba saw Little Jollima, her innocent smiles, 
 her charming looks, and her amiable disposition at once 
 prepossessed his heart. 
 
 So he gave up his turbulent ways and went to play with 
 her. In the course of a few days he contracted the habit of 
 doing everything in his power to please little Jollima. She 
 exercised a wonderful influence over him ay, the influence 
 which every innocent and amiable soul is capable of 
 exercising over those that seek its company. 
 
 The Queen and all the nurses and other servants, who 
 were concerned in the affair, and who were before in 
 absolute despair, were now perfectly happy. So the King 
 proposed to send Jollima back to her parents. 
 
 But Prince Ragoba said, " If you take Jollima away 
 from me, I will strike, I will bite, I will kick, I will cry, and 
 make you sore as ever before. But if you keep Jollima with 
 me you need bring no more Puchandy ! " 
 
 The story goes on to say that the King did keep Jollima 
 with the Prince. That they played together for years, as 
 long as play alone could amuse them, that then they loved 
 each other, and became eventually King and Queen of the 
 country. King Ragoba was ever fond of saying, " The 
 best Puchandy I had was my beloved Jollima. She accom- 
 plished in my case what elephants, lions, and dragons failed 
 to do. Ah, yes, when all else failetb, love availeth ! " 
 
 The children of the country, who are familiar with the 
 story to this day, play at " Ragoba and Puchandy," enacting 
 the scenes in it one after another, and concluding with the 
 scene in which Ragoba tells his father that he would revive 
 
208 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 all his wildness and mischief if the fair Jollima should be 
 taken away from him. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " The amiable disposition of 
 little Jollima tamed the wildness of Prince Ragoba. This 
 was, no doubt, an instance of a thing being cured by 
 its contrary." 
 
 Another Mandarin stood up and said, " Sire, to bring 
 certain things to existence, we have often to employ their 
 contraries even as the Prince Vikrama made his wife weep 
 to do himself the pleasure of witnessing the cascade of 
 pearls that fell from her eyes." 
 
 The Prince said, " Good Mandarin, she must have 
 indeed been a wonderful lady from whose eyes fell a 
 cascade of pearls when she wept. Do relate the story 
 without any further delay." 
 
 The Mandarin proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 of 33ama JJikrama ; or, fKfyt ffiasrato 
 of 
 
 In the fair Province of Cashmere there was a picturesque 
 little lake with an island in the middle. On this island 
 was a wood of aromatic trees. In the wood was a bower, 
 wherein lived a fairy named Varna. She seldom smiled, 
 but when she did smile, the trees and plants around her 
 blossomed. She seldom wept, but when she did weep a 
 cascade of pearls fell from her eyes. 
 
 Her abode was called by the people the Enchanted 
 Island, and the lake the Enchanted Lake. If any got into 
 a boat or other craft to reach the island, he felt such an 
 eager thirst as compelled him to drink the water. So soon 
 
THE STORY OF VAMA VIKRAMA. 209 
 
 as he drank it he became a crocodile and fell into the lake, 
 where he mingled with others, who had turned crocodiles in 
 similar enterprises before him. 
 
 A great many people had thus been lost in the lake. 
 Further, when any person appeared in a boat or raft, the 
 crocodiles were so jealous of him that they strove to capsize 
 his craft. 
 
 In the country of Nepaul there was a Prince called 
 Vikrama, who had heard of the fairy Varna. He said to 
 himself, " The fairy must, indeed, be willing to wed some one 
 worthy of her. The obstacles in the way to her bower are, 
 of course, intermediate. Probably she has no control over 
 them. So I must somehow reach the bower." 
 
 With this resolve he went to a sage in the Himalaya 
 Mountains, and asked him for some means of travelling in 
 the air. 
 
 The sage gave him a pair of shoes, and said, " If you 
 put on these shoes, shut your eyes, and think of the place 
 that you wish to reach, you will be there." 
 
 That evening, when the full moon rose in splendour over 
 the. snowy mountains, he put on the shoes, and shut his 
 eyes, wishing to be at the fairy's bower. He was there. 
 The fairy was sitting pensively on a bank of white roses, 
 looking at the moon from time to time, and sighing. 
 
 Prince Vikrama approached her with great courtesy, and 
 said, " Fair Varna, I am Vikrama, Prince of Nepaul. I 
 have long loved you dearer than my life. If you do not 
 love me tell me so, that I may this moment terminate 
 my existence. For life without you will be no life to me, 
 and I assure you this is no hypocrisy." 
 
 The tender and sincere appeal which Vikrama thus made 
 
 to her heart at once melted it, and she smiled so happil} 
 
 that all the trees and plants around her were at once 
 
 covered with blo-soms. What with the moonlight, what 
 
 
 
210 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 with the fragrance of flowers, the scene became very de- 
 lightful and romantic. The fairy gave her hand in marriage 
 to Vikrama, and the two lived for some time happily on 
 the island. 
 
 The first care of the Prince, after the wedding, was to 
 solicit the fairy to break the spell which had transformed the 
 men into crocodiles. 
 
 THE FATRV WAS SITTING PENSIVELY" (/. 209). 
 
 The fairy said, " My father, who lives in the Himalayas, 
 created this island for my abode by the power of enchant- 
 ment, and said : ' Let that man wed my child who finds out 
 the means of reaching the island without crossing the waters 
 of the lake. Let those that attempt to cross the lake 
 remain transformed into crocodiles till I release them 
 from the spell.' " 
 
 Scarcely had Varna finished her words, when the sage, 
 who had given Prince Vikrama the magic shoes, descended 
 from the sky. 
 
THE STORY OF VAMA VIKRAMA. 211 
 
 The fairy ran to meet him with open arms, exclaiming 
 " Father ! You have come after all ! " 
 
 The sage, pronouncing a benediction on the fairy and 
 her husband, said, " Prince Vikrama, this is my daughter. 
 You are my son. You deserved her. For that reason I put 
 myself in your way, and supplied you with the means of 
 reaching the island. Live happily with your wife for long, 
 long years to come, and let the love of Vama-Vikrama be 
 celebrated by the royal bards of Nepaul in glowing verse ! " 
 
 Then the sage turned to the waters of the lake, and 
 pronounced some mystic words. Instantly, the men, who 
 had been floating in the form of huge crocodiles, regained 
 their natural shapes, and swam ashore. 
 
 " My son," said the sage, addressing the Prince, " if I 
 had not guarded the island so 'carefully by the aid of 
 magic, my daughter would have had no rest in her abode. 
 Every clown in the country would have aspired for her hand. 
 For to attain what is fair becomes every man's care." Here 
 the sage pronounced another benediction on the happy 
 couple, and disappeared. 
 
 The Prince said to himself, " I have seen the smile of 
 Varna and its wonderfully delightful effects. Now I must 
 see the cascade of pearls." So he said to her, " Dear Varna, 
 I have come away from my parents abruptly. They have 
 been, no doubt, lamenting my absence bitterly. So permit 
 me to go home for a week." 
 
 " Dear husband," said Varna, " I give you permission to 
 do so. Just take this memento with you for my sake." 
 
 Here she put into his hand a beautiful white rose, which 
 he received with every mark of affection and esteem. But 
 at the same time the Prince was extremely surprised and 
 disappointed. Varna had often told him that she could not 
 live for one moment without him ; that if ever he was 
 separated from her, she would count it the greatest calamity 
 
2i2 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 So the Prince thought that if he asked her to let him go, 
 she would weep, and give him an opportunity of witnessing 
 the wonderful cascade of pearls. 
 
 But, as he had taken leave of Varna for a week, he put 
 on his magic shoes, and was in the Palace of the King of 
 Nepaul his father. He gave an account to his parents 
 of all that he had done. 
 
 They said, " Dear son, we are, indeed, happy to see you 
 again safe. But our happiness would have been tenfold if 
 you had brought your wife with you ! " 
 
 After spending the greater part of the day with his 
 parents, he retired to his own apartments, when what was 
 his astonishment to see his wife the gentle fairy Varna 
 there, reclining pensively on a cushion, as when she sat on 
 the bank of white roses, when the Prince first saw her in 
 the Enchanted Island ! 
 
 Vikrama flew towards her with open arms, exclaiming, 
 " My love, when did you come here ? and how ? " 
 
 " Dear husband, you said you would never part with me. 
 But yet you asked my permission to leave the island for a 
 week. As your heart had grown so indifferent to me, I did 
 not wish to gainsay its wishes. But I could not live without 
 you. So the moment you left the island I left it also, and 
 reached our apartments in the palace, where I have been 
 since eagerly expecting you. Of course I need hardly 
 repeat that I have been thinking of you with a yearning 
 heart every moment since we parted. Now, let me see how 
 often you have thought of me since. For every time you 
 thought of me a petal would have disappeared in the rose I 
 gave you. It is one of those magic white roses growing on 
 the bank on which you saw me seated when first we met. 
 So, dear husband, let me see the rose." 
 
 The Prince knew that since taking leave of her that 
 morning he had not once thought of her with a yearning 
 
THE STORY OF VAMA VIKRAMA. 213 
 
 heart. So he produced the flower with a trembling hand. 
 Of course every petal of it was in perfect order. 
 
 Instantly the fairy wept, saying, " Alas ! dear husband, 
 you were in my heart all the day, while I failed to be with 
 you even once ! " and a cascade of pearls fell from her 
 eyes. 
 
 The Prince was as deeply affected by the tenderness of 
 his wife's affection as astonished by the size and beauty of 
 the pearls that fell from her eyes. So he embraced her with 
 sincere love, and said, " Dear wife, I think heaven made me 
 forget you for a while to-day that I might have the pleasure 
 of witnessing this marvellous cascade of pearls. Never 
 more, Varna, shalt thou be absent from my mind for the 
 twinkling of an eye ! " 
 
 The fairy was gratified with the explanation and the 
 pledge. Vikrama presented her to the King and Queen 
 his parents, and their joy at seeing their daughter-in-law was 
 boundless. The loving couple lived long in perfect happi- 
 ness. When Vikrama became King of Nepaul, Varna 
 became his Queen the warmth and sincerity of their affec- 
 tion giving rise to the saying "As loving as Vama- 
 Vikrama ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Vikrama must have indeed been 
 surprised to see his wife in his apartments, when all the 
 while he had been under the impression that she was on the 
 Enchanted Island." 
 
 Before the Prince could proceed further, another Man- 
 darin stood up and said, " Sire, he must have been as much 
 surprised as the Caliph Haroun Alraschid, of Bagdad, when 
 he saw himself in the apartments of the virgin from Cir- 
 cassia, through a stratagem of his fool, Shum Sheer." 
 
 The Prince said, " We have all heard of this famous 
 Caliph who ruled over the Saracens. But not one of us 
 
214 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 has ever heard the story referred to by you, good Mandarin. 
 Be so good as to gratify our curiosity without further 
 delay." 
 
 The Mandarin proceeded with the story, as follows : 
 
 antr J 
 
 Zobeide was the favourite Queen of the Caliph Haroun 
 Alraschid. In the midst of the many acts of affection and 
 courtesy which they did to each other, there were occasional 
 differences, which, as the Caliph observed, gave the highest 
 zest to their happiness. 
 
 Once the Caliph said, " Men are more truthful than 
 women." 
 
 Zobeide at once replied, " It is more easily said 
 than proved. My own opinion is the other way. I 
 am prepared to prove that women are more truthful than 
 men." 
 
 "Well," said the Caliph, "till you prove it, let there be 
 a cessation in our happy intercourse, with this condition, 
 that the one of us should yield as being in error who enters 
 the apartments of the other, whether wittingly or un- 
 wittingly." 
 
 " Agreed ! " said the Queen. 
 
 But as neither the Caliph nor the Queen found it easy 
 to demonstrate the proposition enunciated by each, they 
 continued without seeing each other for a good many days. 
 The Caliph felt eager to see the Queen, but held back, 
 saying, "The world will remark that, after all, the Com- 
 mander of the Faithful yielded to a woman Zobeide 
 though she be." 
 
THE CALIPH AND HIS FOOL. 215 
 
 The Queen felt eager to see the Caliph ; but being too 
 high spirited to yield, avoided him, saying, " The world 
 will remark that Zobeide tarnished the honour of her sex 
 simply because she was in a hurry to see her husband Com- 
 mander of the Faithful though he be." 
 
 This alarmed the ministers of his Majesty. They held 
 a council, with the Grand Vizier at their head, and said, 
 " The might of the world is represented by the Commander 
 o-f the Faithful, and Zobeide represents all the mercy in it. 
 If the two fail to work in unison, the efficacy of the one is 
 as much impaired as the exercise of the other is uncon- 
 trolled. We have, therefore, to devise some means of 
 bringing the two together." 
 
 The Grand Vizier said, " The Caliph shuts himself up in 
 his apartments, and seldom permits any of us to approach 
 him. So there is evidently some difficulty in accomplishing 
 our object." 
 
 One of the Fools of the Caliph, who was known by the 
 name of Shum Sheer, or The Scimitar a name which the 
 Caliph had bestowed upon him in recognition of some of his 
 cutting jokes and repartees, said, "Ye are wise men ; so ye 
 fear to approach the Caliph. But I am a fool, and as such 
 free from all fear. So leave the business to me." 
 
 The Giand Vizier asked Shum Sheer, with a smile, 
 what reward he expected for his trouble. 
 
 Now this Shum Sheer was a great favourite of the 
 Caliph. He had the extraordinary privilege of addressing 
 him as the Commander of the Faithless. As often as he 
 addressed the Caliph by that strange title, his Majesty 
 would ask him, with a smile, why he applied it to him, 
 and the Fool would invariably reply, " Sire, your Majesty 
 is, indeed, the Commander of the Faithful. At the same 
 time, your Majesty is lord of a great many fair women in 
 your harerq. Now, women, as your Majesty often com- 
 
216 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 plains, are faithless. So I have every reason to call youi 
 Majesty Commander of the Faithless also ! " 
 
 The Caliph would laugh, and would approve of the 
 epithet which the Fool applied to the sex, exclaiming, 
 "Indeed, they are faithless ! " 
 
 Shum Sheer had the privilege of committing a hundred 
 faults with impunity. The Caliph invariably punished him 
 for the one hundred and first fault, with his own hands, by 
 simply touching him with a long bar of gold, and handing it 
 over to him as a compensation for the injury which he was 
 supposed to have sustained by the chastisement. Finding 
 this mode of chastisement highly advantageous, Shum Sheer 
 often endeavoured successfully to exceed the limits of 
 impunity, and carried off the prize. 
 
 So, in reply to the Grand Vizier's query, Shum Sheer 
 said, " If your Excellency gets an order passed that I should 
 be chastised for every eleventh fault, in lieu of the one 
 hundred and first, in future, I shall consider myself amply 
 rewarded for my pains." 
 
 The Grand Vizier promised to have the order issued if 
 Shum Sheer played his part successfully, while the other 
 ministers observed, with a smile, that Shum Sheer was about 
 the only person who within their knowledge had ever 
 courted chastisement oftener than the Commander of the 
 Faithful had intended ! 
 
 So the Fool presented himself before the Caliph, and 
 said, " Commander of the Faithless, after all she has come ! 
 the Circassian beauty with gazelle eyes, tulip cheeks, coral 
 lips, arched brows, jet-black hair, and a girdle of the purest 
 gold on a costume of the richest white ! " 
 
 The Caliph, whose curiosity was ever roused when 
 people spoke to him of beauties, wished to know all about 
 the Circassian. 
 
 Shum Sheer said, " Commander of the Faithless, a 
 
THE CALIPH AND HIS FOOL. 217 
 
 wealthy nobleman of Bassora was long in quest of the most 
 beautiful woman in Circassia. After all he found her, and 
 having purchased her for a million pieces of gold, is now on 
 his way home with the prize. Bagdad is a stage in his 
 journey; so he spends a day here, and will be away to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Instantly the Caliph rose from his seat, and bade Shum 
 Sheer lead him to the place where the beauty was. 
 
 Shum Sheer said, " I have been told that the woman, 
 who is somewhat whimsical, has ruled that those who wish 
 to be introduced to her must travel to her abode blind- 
 folded, and, on approaching, pledge to her eternal love and 
 fidelity." 
 
 The Caliph said, " I have known women more whim- 
 sical in my days. The easiest way with them is to comply 
 with their whims. So blindfold me this very instant, and 
 lead me to her." 
 
 So Shum Sheer blindfolded the Caliph with a kerchief. 
 Then he led the Caliph slowly over a great many halls, 
 which he called streets, and finally made him stop before 
 a door which, he said, looked like the gate of a houri's 
 mansion. The Caliph said he longed to enter at once. 
 
 The Fool said, "Sire, you will not forget the required 
 pledge, I am sure." 
 
 " Oh, no," said the Caliph, " never fear. I will swear to 
 her such fidelity as never man pledged to woman." 
 
 " That is it ! " said the Fool, and opening the door, said, 
 " Madam, here is the Commander of the Faithless. I have 
 brought him to your door." 
 
 Within was seated Zobeide, in a pensive attitude, brood- 
 ing over the rash vow she had taken not to see the Caliph 
 till he should yield. When she saw him thus brought to 
 her chamber blindfolded, she was beside herself with sur- 
 prise and joy. 
 
218 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The Fool, however, signed to her not to speak, and 
 whispered into the ears of the Caliph, " Sire, the lady 
 stands before you ; now render your pledge." 
 
 The Caliph said, " Madam, I love you dearer than my 
 life, and pledge eternal fidelity to you, with all my heart ! " 
 
 Here Shum Sheer disappeared. 
 
 Zobeide imagined that the Caliph craved her forgiveness, 
 and that he came blindfolded to avoid shame. So she 
 
 "HIS MAJESTY WAS SURPRISED." 
 
 exclaimed, " I forgive your Majesty with all my heart ; for 
 I am ever your Majesty's affectionate wife and companion, 
 Zobeide ! " 
 
 So saying, she untied the kerchief with which Shum 
 Sheer had blindfolded the Caliph. His Majesty was no 
 less surprised to find himself there. He was also overjoyed 
 to see that the Fool, Shum Sheer, had solved the difficulty. 
 So he laughed, and Zobeide joined him in his laughter. 
 After their Majesties had laughed over the whole affair for 
 one whole day, they sent for the Grand Vizier, and asked 
 him to bestow on Shum Sheer the reward he desired. 
 
THE STORY OF THE BOY BIG TURBAN. 219 
 
 As this had been already settled, there was no difficulty 
 in satisfying him. Shum Sheer acquired the privilege of 
 being chastised for every eleventh fault, and took care to be 
 more faulty than ever ; and as often as he carried home the 
 bars of gold, exclaimed, " What a precious penalty ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " The Caliph Haroun Alraschid 
 was one of the most powerful potentates of his time. It was 
 unbecoming on his part to have permitted himself to be 
 blindfolded by his Fool, Shum Sheer ; although it has to be 
 added, in extenuation of the Fool's fault, that the end justi- 
 fied the means to a great extent." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up and said, "Sire, be 
 they high or low, when people do things not suited to their 
 position and circumstances, they are sure to come to grief 
 like the boy Big Turban." 
 
 The Prince desired the Mandarin to relate the story, and 
 he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 0f 
 
 In a certain city of the Celestial Empire there was a 
 little boy named Big Turban, who longed to do very much 
 as big people did. Instead of a cap, he wore a great tur- 
 ban. Instead of being sportive and gay, he put on a very 
 serious countenance. Instead of seeing with his bright 
 little eyes, he saw through a pair of spectacles. Instead of 
 keeping his breath pure and sweet, he had a long pipe in his 
 mouth, which he constantly filled and adjusted, with an air 
 of extreme importance. 
 
 A fairy, who observed his ways, said to him, " Sir, you 
 have a turban ; you are not gay ; you wear spectacles, and 
 you smoke a pipe. You are just the man I want. For my 
 
22O THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 husband deserted me with two babies, and I have been in 
 quest of another whom I might marry." Here the fairy 
 pointed to two big babies in her arms, which she called her 
 own. 
 
 Big Turban was delighted to hear the fairy address him 
 " Sir," and call him a " man " ; so, with a smile, he said, 
 " I seldom smile well knowing that it is a breach of good 
 manners to do so ; but I cannot but express in that style 
 my pleasure at the very great politeness with which you 
 have addressed me. What can I do for you ? " 
 
 " What can you do for me ? " said the fairy. " My dear 
 sir, why you can do everything for me ! Now, marry me at 
 once ! " 
 
 Big Turban married the fairy on the spot. 
 
 Instantly the fairy handed over her two babies to Big 
 Turban, saying, " Henceforth you must carry the babies, 
 because you are my husband, and they are our children ! " 
 
 The little arms of Big Turban could hardly hold one 
 of the babies, who, as he subsequently complained, was as 
 heavy as a pig. But he was eager to prove to his wife 
 that, though a boy in years and appearance, he was more 
 than a man in spirit. So he told the fairy to go in advance, 
 proposing to follow with the babies. 
 
 The fairy went in advance. Big Turban put one baby 
 down, and carrying the other some distance with great diffi- 
 culty, laid it down, and retracing his steps, took up the 
 other baby and carried it to the spot where the first baby 
 had been left, and moved on, continuing the process. 
 
 The fairy observed that he was not able to carry the 
 two babies at one and the same time, so she turned round 
 and said, "My dear husband, may I carry one of the 
 babies ? " 
 
 The title, " My dear husband," which the fairy be- 
 stowed upon him made Big Turban almost giddy with 
 
'MY DPAR HUS9AND, MAY I CARRY ONE OF THE BABIES?"' (?. 290] 
 
THE STORY OF THE BOY BIG TURBAN. 223 
 
 delight. Further, he did not wish to produce an impression 
 on the mind of his wife that he was unequal to the task of 
 carrying the burden which he had imposed on himself. 
 
 So he said, " No, good wife, it is not out of lack of 
 physical power that I carry baby after baby it is simply 
 an amusement that I have proposed to myself. Indeed, 
 if I choose, I can carry twenty babies like these as if they 
 were so many mice." 
 
 So the fairy went in advance, and Big Turban followed 
 with the babies as before. 
 
 But soon he found it impossible to carry even one 
 baby at a time. He felt his feet staggering, and his 
 muscles as though they would crack. 
 
 "Ah," said Big Turban, "I was a boy. Then I be- 
 came a man. Then a husband. Then a carrier of babies. 
 If I had known that a husband had to carry babies I 
 would never have become a husband. If I had known 
 that a man had to be a husband I would never have be- 
 come a man ! " 
 
 Then he walked a few more steps, and said, " Now, 
 let me see : if I tell her I cannot carry the babies, it will 
 be an open confession of weakness. If I continue to carry 
 them, why I shall split, and fall to pieces ! " 
 
 When he had finished uttering these words, he came 
 to the conclusion that the best course to pursue would be 
 to drop down the babies, together with his turban, his 
 spectacles, and his pipe, which he had smoked all the 
 way, and fly from the spot before the fairy could know 
 of it. 
 
 Accordingly, he had laid the babies gently on the 
 ground, and had half divested himself of his huge turban, 
 when the fairy turned round and said, in an angry tone, 
 " Now, what are you doing there, my husband ? " 
 
 Poor Big Turban's heart sank within him. He looked 
 
224 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 round as though he were ready to leap into a well, if one 
 presented itself before him. 
 
 The fairy came up to him, and roughly taking hold of 
 his hand, said, " Do you mean to desert me like my first 
 husband ? You shall not. While I was his wife I had two 
 eyes, but now I have twenty ! " 
 
 Big Turban knew not what to say in reply. His boyish 
 instincts prevailed. So, with piteous sobs, he laid his 
 turban, his spectacles, and his pipe at the feet of the 
 fairy, saying, " Take these away, and let me go ! " 
 
 " But you are my husband. When will you come back 
 to me ? ' ; said the fairy. 
 
 Big Turban disengaged himself from her hold, and ran 
 away, exclaiming, " Not till I shall be better able to carry 
 babies ! " 
 
 Nor did he turn behind to see what had become of his 
 wife and her two babies. 
 
 The Prince remarked, " After all, the fairy must have 
 let off her husband out of contempt." 
 
 Before he could proceed further another Mandarin 
 stood up, and said, "Whether it was out of contempt or 
 not, the fairy knew that much would not result from her 
 endeavours to keep him, even as the Tartar Khan found out 
 that it would be of no great advantage to him to strive 
 to gain possession of the Persian Princess Fair Blossom." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it, as follows : 
 
 ar 
 
 There was a Tartar Khan who conquered a great many 
 countries, and ruled over them with unbounded sway. But 
 
THE FAIR CAVALIERS. 225 
 
 there was one province, in the north of Persia, which long 
 resisted his authority. 
 
 The ruler of this province, who was descended from 
 the great Kusru, or Cyrus, went by the name Feroze, and 
 he had a fair and accomplished daughter, who bore a 
 name which, in the Persian language, meant " Fair 
 Blossom." 
 
 The Tartar Khan heard of the beauty and accomplish- 
 ments of Fair Blossom, and resolved that she should be- 
 come one of his numerous wives. So he assembled a 
 large army, and advancing into the territory of Feroze, laid 
 it waste on all sides, sending an ultimatum to the chieftain 
 in these terms, " Either send your daughter to us, and yield 
 implicit obedience to our sway, or be destroyed with all 
 your people, for we have decided that no mercy shall be 
 shown to you on this occasion." 
 
 Feroze assembled his councillors, and laid the ultimatum 
 before them. They, with that courage and dignity which 
 characterised the ancient nobility of Persia, said, " Sire, we 
 will follow you to the very gates of death's mansion in 
 your contest with the foe. Depend upon our valour and 
 fidelity, and hurl back the ultimatum at the face of the 
 barbarian who sent it." 
 
 Accordingly, Feroze sent his family, including his 
 daughter, to a place of safety, and gave battle to the 
 Tartars. Although he and his heroic troops performed 
 prodigies of valour, the numbers and strategy of the Tartar 
 Khan prevailed, and Feroze, with a great many of his fol- 
 lowers, was taken prisoner. 
 
 When he was taken before the Tartar Khan, the latter 
 observed, " I have been, till now, courting your daughter 
 at the point of the sword. Now that I have got you into 
 my power, may I lay it by, and call you my father-in-law ? " 
 
 Feroze replied, "You have, no doubt, got my body 
 p 
 
226 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 into your power, but not my spirit. That is as powerfully 
 opposed to you and the detested alliance you propose as 
 ever ! " 
 
 Instantly Feroze and his officers were put into 
 chains, and carried off to the Khan's capital, where they 
 were confined in cells, into which, people said, everything 
 entered but light and air. 
 
 When Fair Blossom heard of the calamity that had 
 befallen her father, she said to herself, " My father is a 
 descendant of the great Kusru. I have his blood in my 
 veins. What if I am a woman ? Courage springs up in 
 hearts, and I have a heart ! " 
 
 So she assembled all the officers of her father that yet 
 remained in the province, and laid the matter before 
 them. 
 
 But they said that it was hopeless to contend against the 
 overwhelming numbers of the Tartars. Thereupon Fair 
 Blossom, with one hundred followers, whom she called her 
 maids, marched on horseback towards the capital of the 
 Khan. 
 
 On arriving at the gates of the city, Fair Blossom sent 
 the following message to his barbarian majesty : 
 
 " On second thought, I have come to the conclusion that 
 I cannot get a better husband on earth than the great Khan 
 of the Tartars, before whom the whole world trembles. I 
 have therefore come to yield implicit obedience to his will, 
 and contribute to his happiness to the best of my humble 
 powers. But, before joining his harem, I beg permission to 
 see my parent Feroze in his prison." 
 
 The Tartar Khan was very glad that after all Fair 
 Blossom had the good sense to appreciate his love, and 
 return it in that style. So he permitted her, with the fair 
 cavaliers that accompanied her, to go to the prison and see 
 her father first, issuing orders, at the same time, to the 
 
THE FAIR CAVALIERS. 227 
 
 officers of his palace to prepare for the reception of Fair 
 Blossom. 
 
 When Fair Blossom and the fair cavaliers, her maids, 
 entered the prison, the guards were ordered to go out ; and 
 the hundred maids who accompanied her threw off theii 
 veils, when lo ! instead of turbans and petticoats, they had 
 helmets and coats of mail, with scimitars and shields, and 
 wrinkles and whiskers, that struck terror into the hearts of 
 the bravest. They were, in fact, a trusty band of her 
 father's veterans, whom Fair Blossom had brought in the 
 guise of maids for the rescue of her father. 
 
 His chains and the chains of his officers were instantly 
 struck off, and he, his daughter, the officers, and the hundred 
 veterans, after slaying as many of the guards as came in 
 their way, rode off in the direction of their province in 
 Persia with such rapidity that the cavalry of the Tartar 
 Khan could not overtake them. 
 
 The Khan made no more endeavours to get Fair 
 Blossom into his harem ; for he contented himself with 
 saying, " It really is not worth one's while to fight for a 
 woman in this style ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " Fair Blossom was indeed a great 
 heroine. She accomplished by her courage and skill what 
 the officers of her father that were left behind, and that 
 were tried veterans, perhaps, failed to attempt. It is indeed 
 a pleasure to see the weak triumphing over the tyrants 
 who unjustly oppress them." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, it is 
 indeed a pleasure to see the weak triumphing over theii 
 oppressors, even as the Lame Sultan triumphed over the 
 Goblin that carried off his sister Pakima." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 p 2 
 
228 
 
 !n> fam* Sultan, 
 
 In the country of the Seljuks there were three boys, who 
 had a little sister named Pakima. The youngest of the boys 
 was lame, but he was a very clever little fellow. 
 
 He directed his brothers in their sports, although he 
 could not take an active part in them. So, whenever they 
 had to go from place to place, the two brothers carried him 
 on their shoulders together with a bag, which he ever took 
 with him, and which was so wonderfully made that anything 
 and everything could be put into it without increasing its 
 bulk or weight. The brothers called him their dear little 
 Lame Sultan, and his bag the Wonderful Magic Bag. 
 
 One fine morning in the spring they went out gathering 
 flowers in the fields. One of the blossoms was very fine 
 and large. Little Pakima went to pluck it ; but it moved 
 from its place. As Pakima followed . the flower it went 
 further and further, eluding her grasp, till she left her 
 brothers at a great distance behind her. 
 
 She turned round, and finding none of her brothers near, 
 cried, "Oh, when shall I see my brothers again?" 
 
 " When you shall have kept house for me for a year and 
 six months ! " said a great Goblin, leaping out of the 
 blossom. 
 
 Poor Pakima was terrified to see the monster. But he 
 took her up on his shoulders and strode on in the direction 
 of the mountains which lifted up their lofty peaks in the 
 distant horizon. 
 
 The three brothers saw him carry off their sister, 
 although they were at a great distance. They shouted after 
 him ; but he pretended not to hear their cries, saying to 
 himself with a laugh, " I will roast you little urchins for my 
 wedding breakfast." 
 
 The Goblin said this in a whisper ; but the words 
 
THE LAME SULTAN. 
 
 229 
 
 sounded like thunder in the ears of the brothers. So they 
 concluded that he was going to marry their little sister, and 
 that the wedding breakfast would come off on that day. 
 
 This alarmed the two brothers more. So they ran after 
 the Goblin, leaving the Lame Sultan behind. But before 
 they could proceed some distance the Goblin reached the 
 
 ".TOOK KAKIMA WAS TERRIFIED" (/. 22t>). 
 
 base of the mountains, and planting one foot on their top, 
 as if he were going up a stile, drew the other after him, and 
 disappeared with little Pakima into a great cave, which he 
 called his castle. 
 
 The two brothers, with tears in their eyes, retraced their 
 steps to the spot where they had left the Lame Sultan, who, 
 instead of weeping, was smiling as though he were very 
 happy. So they said, " How now, dear brother, you seem 
 to feel no concern whatever at all that has happened ? " 
 
 But he replied, "I am glad for one moment that the 
 Goblin did not turn round and take you also on his 
 
230 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 shoulders. I am sorry, of course, that Pakima has been 
 taken away. But, dear brothers, there is no good in tears. 
 Weeping is out of keeping with success." 
 
 " Oh, what shall we do, then ? " said the two brothers. 
 
 " Now go home and bring my bag," said the Lame 
 Sultan. 
 
 So they brought him his bag. 
 
 " Now carry me towards the castle of the Goblin on the 
 mountains," said he ; and they trudged on towards the 
 mountains, with their brother on their shoulders. 
 
 On the way there was an indigo vat. The Lame Sultan 
 bade his brothers fill a barrel with the indigo juice, and put 
 it into his bag. Then there was the trunk of a great palm 
 tree lying by the road, and he ordered them to thrust it into 
 the same. Then they saw an ass on a meadow, and the 
 Lame Sultan ordered him also into his capacious bag. 
 
 When they reached the foot of the mountains the Lame 
 Sultan observed a string of black ants marching from one 
 cavern to another, and ordered a good number of them into 
 his bag, while the brothers wondered what he wanted the 
 indigo juice, the palm tree, the ass, and the black ants 
 for ! 
 
 When they had reached the castle of the Goblin, Pakima 
 said, " Dear brothers, I am so glad you have come. The 
 Goblin is out. Now get into the loft through the trap-door 
 in the ceiling." 
 
 So they got into the loft just as the Goblin got into his 
 castle, and said, " Pakima, I smell human beings ; are there 
 any here ? " 
 
 " Yes, there are ! " said the Lame Sultan from above. 
 
 The Goblin said, " Pakima, you know I proposed 
 bringing your brothers, and roasting them for our wedding 
 breakfast, on the day of our marriage a year and six 
 months hence when you shall have satisfied me with your 
 
THE LAME SULTAN. 
 
 231 
 
 housekeeping. But I see we have one to day, as good 
 luck would have it ! " 
 
 The Lame Sultan replied, " Not one, but three, as good 
 luck would have it ! " 
 
 " Pray what are your names ? " said the Goblin, with a 
 grin. 
 
 " Blue Spit, Long Leg, and Loud Music," said the 
 Lame Sultan. 
 
 " Now let us see Blue Spit," said the Goblin. 
 
 Instantly the Lame Sultan emptied the barrel on his 
 head, saying, " Do you wish to see the mouth that spits 
 on you ? " 
 
 " Now let us see Long Leg," said the Goblin, with great 
 concern. 
 
 The Lame Sultan held out the palm tree through the 
 trap-door, saying, " This is but a toe. Do you wish to see 
 the whole foot and the leg ? " 
 
 The Goblin hastened to the door of his castle, and with 
 one foot in the open air, said, " Ah, that must indeed be 
 the largest leg ! Now let me hear Loud Music, and I shall 
 have done ! " 
 
 Instantly the Lame Sultan let the black ants run into the 
 ears of the ass, and he roared louder than thunder. 
 
 The Goblin put his other foot out, and without turning 
 behind, ran away, exclaiming, "One goblin against three 
 such monsters is bad odds indeed ! " 
 
 The Lame Sultan and his two brothers led their sister, 
 little Pakima, triumphantly home. The Goblin was never 
 heard of in that part of the world thereafter ; and the three 
 brothers and their little sister gathered flowers in the fields 
 during many a spring thereafter, with their friends, in perfect 
 peace and security. 
 
 The Prince remarked, "The Lame Sultan was not a man 
 
232 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 of words, but quite a man of action. He spake but so 
 much as was absolutely necessary. Nj man ever got any- 
 thing by repining. The Lame Sultan was aware of this ; 
 hence he was more successful than his brothers." 
 
 When the Prince had followed this remark with an im- 
 portant Hem ! and again settled himself to tranquillity, 
 another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, just as men eat 
 a great deal more than nature requires, they speak a great 
 deal more than the subject of discourse actually needs. 
 Even as we have some men who eat in moderation and keep 
 up their health and strength in perfect order, we have had 
 some men who never spoke more than was absolutely neces- 
 sary for the subject at hand, like Prince Jubal, of the 
 Laconic Tartars." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to proceed with the 
 story, and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 f ritta futml tlj* Jttan 0f 
 
 In Mongolia there were, at one time, three Khanates in 
 a line along the Sagalean. The people of the first bore a 
 name which meant the Laconic Tartars, because they 
 generally gave very brief replies to queries addressed to 
 them. The Khan who ruled over these people had a son 
 named Jubal, who was reported the most laconic of his 
 laconic race. 
 
 The people of the second Khanate were known as the 
 Central Tartars. Their Khan had a daughter named 
 Danima, who was known as the most beautiful and accom- 
 plished of her sex in those parts. 
 
 The people of the third Khanate were known by 
 a name which meant the Voluble Tartars, for they 
 generally employed a great many words to express even the 
 
PRINCE JUBAL THE MAN OF BREVITY. 233 
 
 simplest and most ordinary things. Thus, if a stranger 
 asked one of this race, " What is your name ? " he would 
 reply, " Ah, it is a source of extreme gratification to me. as 
 it is to every other member of my race, to answer this 
 query. One makes a friend when he communicates his 
 name to a stranger, and loses a friend when he withholds 
 it from him. The elders of our country and creed Ah ! 
 what country on earth has not its elders and eminent men 
 of wisdom ? have been very particular on this point. They 
 say at least one of them, to be sure, I forget his name at 
 present Ah, this is bad ! Let me see Was he Mylo Ding 
 or Kalam Tuppan ? To be sure it was the former ! Oh, no, 
 it was the latter, as certainly as I am alive ! Ah, what 
 memories we have at times ! It was neither it was Tuppan 
 Dimmy ! How we confound Dimmy with Ding ! " 
 
 At this stage of its trot, or something like it, the tongue 
 of the Voluble Tartar would be arrested by the stranger, 
 who, after a repetition of the query, perhaps a dozen times, 
 would get the right sort of reply, consisting of a word or 
 two. 
 
 The Khan of these people had a son named Didibal, 
 and he was reputed the most voluble of his voluble race. 
 
 The two princes were rival suitors for the hand of 
 Danima. 
 
 Jubal said to her one evening, " I love you," and this 
 was all that he ever said to her in the course of his court- 
 ship concerning his attachment to her. 
 
 Didibal went to her the next evening, as on many 
 another evening before, and said, " Illustrious princess or 
 shall I call you my dear Danima ? there is no reason why 
 hearts that have been so closely drawn to each other should 
 stand on insipid formalities, so, dear Danima, allow me for 
 one moment to disclose my inmost feelings and impressions 
 concerning your charms and accomplishments aye, for one 
 
234 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 moment only for every moment of your happy and inno- 
 cent life is a delightful dream, and the greatest sin that man 
 could commit would be to mar it with importunate plaints, 
 howsoever sincere the heart from which they proceed ; so 
 allow me to tell you that the moon is ashamed of his light 
 when he sees the light of your countenance. The gazelles 
 hide their heads in the wilderness when they see your eyes. 
 Love is the noblest of feelings that exalt our nature. The 
 heart of Danima is the noblest edifice in which it can abide. 
 Ah, our hearts are indeed edifices ! let none doubt it for 
 one moment ; and let me repeat with all the energy and 
 emphasis at my command here, by the way, let me observe 
 that I mean no self-adulation ; for every man must possess 
 some amount of energy and emphasis, even as every muscle 
 has some tension, and everybody, however insignificant, 
 some heat in it so let me repeat, with all the energy and 
 emphasis at my command, that love is the goddess that 
 dwells in the edifices of our hearts. * Now, what says my 
 Didibal ? ' is the yearning query of your heart, oh, Danima ! 
 Yes ' What says Didibal ? ' there is much in the query. 
 To do justice to it, as to many other things on earth for 
 here, by the way, it may be pointed out that we seldom do 
 full justice to things when we speak of them it must be 
 urged that there is a whole world squeezed into it. Ay, it 
 is a mustard-seed into which all the mountains of Tartary 
 have been compressed. Now to the query again : it is pos- 
 sible to speak without a tongue, or write without a pen, if it 
 is possible to give a suitable reply to the query. For, the 
 fact of the matter is, Didibal knows not what to say, as his 
 heart has been taken away. This confession, so very enig- 
 matical, if not paradoxical, in its character, which I make in 
 the present congested state of my feelings, may appear at 
 the first blush a remonstrance. If it should be counted a 
 remonstrance, it is, indeed, a purblind remonstrance. Now 
 
PRINCE JUBAL THE MAN OF BREVITY. 235 
 
 to the query again : as his heart has been taken away, how is 
 it to be answered or rather, by whom ? Ah, that proves to 
 be the next great query ! Query begetting query, impreg- 
 nated by curiosity, as money begets money, impregnated by 
 interest ! 
 
 In this manner Didibal made a long speech, of which 
 what has been cited is but a portion of the preface, so full 
 of painful platitudes and tiresome truisms that the friends 
 of Jubal, his rival, called it " a great pudding of sand, with 
 pebbles for plums and chalk for sugar ! " 
 
 The Princess Danima said that she would consider the 
 claim of each to her love and esteem, and soon decide 
 between them. Didibal said he would win. Jubal shook 
 his head negatively. The negative nod of his rival incensed 
 Didibal to such a degree that he proposed an appeal to 
 arms on the fourth day thence, the interval being devoted 
 to the requisite preparations for the battle. 
 
 Jubal assembled his troops, and his friends gave out that 
 he would make three great speeches to his army at the rate 
 of one each day. The army and the people were in eager 
 expectation to hear their prince speak. 
 
 The first day Jubal surveyed his troops for a long time 
 with minute attention, and rising in his saddle addressed 
 them as follows: "Shoes torn !" 
 
 This was the first great speech. Instantly every soldier 
 went to mend his shoes : for in those days every Mongol 
 soldier was his own cobbler. 
 
 The second great speech after the review on the second 
 day was : " Weapons rusty ! " 
 
 Instantly every soldier went to polish his sword and spear. 
 
 The third great speech on the third day was : 
 " Forget defeat ! " and every soldier banished from his 
 mind the very idea of defeat, and stood resolved to fight foi 
 victory or death. 
 
236 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 About the same time, Didibal made three great speeches 
 on the three consecutive days, each speech taking up a fore- 
 noon, while the soldiers and the people took the whole of 
 the afternoon in admiring and applauding it, and went to bed 
 at nightfall quite weary with admiring and applauding, 
 without attending to their arms and equipments. 
 
 "jUBAL POINTED THE ENEMY TO HIS MEN" (/. 237). 
 
 The Mongol historian, who has narrated the history of 
 these two princes Jubal and Didibal gives at length the 
 speeches of the latter on the three days. But we may rest 
 content with a few extracts. 
 
 On the first day, Didibal, speaking to his troops on the 
 condition of their shoes, said that, before proceeding to 
 speak to them on the subject, he found himself constrained 
 to place before them a lucid and comprehensive definition 
 of the article, and so defined a shoe as follows : " That 
 pedestrial panoply of neat leather and nails which, under 
 such varied names as boots, shoes, sandals, and slippers, has 
 
PRINCE JUBAL THE MAN OF BREVITY. 237 
 
 been the perennial comfort of man and woman from time 
 immemorial ! " 
 
 The next day, Didibal spoke of rusty weapons in these 
 terms : " What dross is in a mine of shining metals, what 
 jades are in a herd of high mettled horses, what drones are 
 in a hive of active bees, are rusty weapons in an armoury of 
 brilliant arms and accoutrements ! " 
 
 On the third day, speaking of defeat, Didibal said, 
 " Neither gods nor men should court defeat. But when it 
 cometh in spite of them, they should strive to hold their 
 own in spite of it. Such a spirit actuated the ancestors of 
 our glorious race, and such shall be our guide and impetus, 
 come what would ! " 
 
 On the fourth day the armies met. Didibal said to his 
 troops, " Heroes, highly disciplined warriors, redoubtable 
 revellers on the field of carnage Victory or Death ! that 
 shall be our motto, if motto we need, as we march against 
 the enemy. Now let the fire of courage that glows in the 
 furnace of your -hearts heat your swords and spears red-hot, 
 and thrust them with all-consuming energy into the hearts 
 of your foes. The annals of glory ah, what memories that 
 magic word calls forth ! especially of our great ancestors 
 those valiant sons of fame that fought and won, on fields of 
 gore, in times of yore ! 
 
 In this style Didibal was proceeding with his high- 
 spirited harangue to his troops, when Jubal pointed the 
 enemy to his men, and said, " Turn not ! " 
 
 They turned not, but advanced so steadily, and 
 in such compact order, that Didibal's men threw down 
 their weapons on the field, and fled so precipitately, that, 
 as their enemies remarked, "their heels touched their 
 helmets ! " 
 
 The Princess Danima was apprised of the result of 
 the battle, and gave her hand to the man of brevity, who 
 
238 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 was the victor, saying, " A word of his is worth a volume of 
 the other ! " 
 
 These incidents in the lives of the rival Princes gave 
 rise to a saying in the three Khanates to this effect : " I f 
 you would win like Jubal, never woo like Didibal ; " while 
 the Tartars in that part of the world long spoke of such 
 things as "Jubalic brevity" and " Didibalic volubility." 
 
 Didibal never forgave his rival Jubal, but spent the re- 
 mainder of his life in holding up his character in the blackest 
 colours to his own people, who liked him more and more in 
 proportion to the increase of his ill-will and volubility 
 against his happy rival ; while the latter simply replied with 
 a negative nod whenever his friends gave him an account 
 of the doings of Didibal, as much as if he meant to say, 
 " Words are not actions so let him speak as long as he 
 has breath to do so ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, "Jubal was, indeed, a man of 
 few words. Perhaps his intelligent friends often explained 
 to people his affirmative and negative nods, when they were 
 the only replies he made." 
 
 The Prince would then have rested after the fatigues of 
 thought which had produced so valuable a suggestion, but 
 when another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, one may 
 not possess even the faculty of speech, 'like the Braying 
 Mandarin, yet, if he should have intelligent people around 
 him, he may save an empire from ruin ! " 
 
 The Prince, opening his eyes widely, exclaimed, " Good 
 Mandarin, you spoke of the Braying Mandarin, did you not ? 
 Who was he ? Surely this is the first time we hear of him ! 
 And it is, indeed, a curious name he bears ! " 
 
 The Mandarin related the story as follows, after a few 
 prefatory remarks : 
 
2 39 
 
 Uraging JJlanlrarht. 
 
 In ancient times, when the Tartars made constant in- 
 cursions into the Empire of China, there was an Emperor 
 who spent the revenues of the country in dissipation, and 
 turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances of his ministers. 
 Among these, the oldest, who was the Prime Minister, was 
 a very wise and patriotic statesman. 
 
 One day, as his Majesty was proceeding to that part of 
 his palace where some of his dissolute courtiers were await- 
 ing his arrival, a courier came up, and said, " Sire, the 
 Tartar Khan, with a hundred thousand horsemen, is on his 
 way to the capital of the Celestial Empire." 
 
 Instantly the Emperor ordered the Prime Minister to 
 assemble the troops. 
 
 But the troops said, " We have not received our pay for 
 the past three years. Unless we are paid all the arrears at 
 once, we will not move a step." 
 
 So the Emperor assembled the representatives ot the 
 people, and solicited their aid. 
 
 They said, " All the taxes for the year have been paid 
 down. Your Majesty has no proper right to demand 
 more." 
 
 But as his Majesty pressed them to contribute they 
 went home, and returned at the head of rebellious bands 
 more formidably arrayed than the army itself. 
 
 Just then a courier arrived from the Tartar Khan with 
 this message : 
 
 " The army of the Celestial Empire holds back. The 
 people have risen in revolt. The Exchequer is empty. 
 These facts we have ascertained through our spies. We 
 have a hundred thousand horses. We are determined to 
 win. Who will repel our attack ? '' 
 
240 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The patriotic Prime Minister was so provoked by this 
 message from the enemy, that he instantly exclaimed, in a 
 defiant mood, " An ass will ! " and despatched the laconic 
 reply to the Tartar Khan. 
 
 The Emperor and the Prime Minister again laid before 
 the people the very serious condition of affairs, and besought 
 them to contribute, promising that for three years following 
 all taxes would be remitted. 
 
 But they were inexorable. 
 
 Thereupon the Prime Minister addressed the Emperor 
 as follows : " Sire, there is an old proverb that the public 
 have a hundred eyes and a thousand ears ; but, certainly, 
 the public of the Celestial Empire must see with strange 
 eyes, and hear with strange ears, when they would not 
 realise the danger that threatens them, and the destruction 
 that knocks at their very door. But there is a way ol 
 making them pay." 
 
 Here the Prime Minister paused. 
 
 The Prime Minister continued, " If your Majesty will 
 solemnly promise to return to the righteous ways of the 
 great Imperial sages, your ancestors, I shall pay down the 
 arrears due to the army in the course of an afternoon, send 
 it in the evening against the Tartars, and show it to your 
 Majesty as it returns, with' flying colours, the next morning, 
 after routing the barbarians." 
 
 The Emperor took a solemn oath that he would give up 
 his dissolute habits altogether, saying, " Henceforth, I am a 
 different man." 
 
 Instantly the Prime Minister purchased from a poor 
 washerman, who lived at some distance from the palace, an 
 old jaded donkey, got it painted in brilliant colours, with 
 the emblem of the Imperial Dragon on its forehead, and 
 issued a proclamation, in the name of his Majesty, to this 
 effect : 
 
THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 241 
 
 " In the Imperial Archives deposited in our palace, for 
 our special guidance from time to time, it is recorded that 
 when three great evils occur together viz., when foreign 
 foes threaten the Empire, the army holds back, and the 
 people revolt a miracle would save the throne. We sent 
 up our supplications to heaven, and have been told that a 
 donkey, with the Imperial Dragon heaven bless the 
 emblem for ever ! on its forehead, would come out of the 
 Peiho at noon, on the eighth day hence, just as the Tartars 
 come within a day's march of the capital, that in the evening 
 our mighty army would march out, and that the next morn- 
 ing it would return to the city with flying colours, after 
 routing the barbarians." 
 
 This proclamation was accompanied by a request to 
 people of all denominations, and trades, and professions, to 
 join the Prime Minister in giving publicity to the fact. 
 
 The first to respond to this call was a Jewish Rabbi, who 
 preached a sermon in his synagogue, adducing what he 
 called auxiliary testimony to the existence of such wonderful 
 asses, and concluded with writing a book on the subject. 
 There was such a demand for the book, that the one 
 hundred and thirty-seventh edition had to be brought out 
 before the donkey had actually appeared. 
 
 The next people to move in the matter were the Im- 
 perial Scribes. These were a class of .men employed by the 
 State in those days to give publicity to its edicts by com- 
 menting freely on their merits. 
 
 So the Scribes were divided into two classes : those 
 who spoke in favour of these edicts, and those who opposed 
 them. These two factions were ever at war. 
 
 According to the historian who has recorded the story 
 of the Braying Mandarin, some of the Scribes had quills 
 with one hundred horse power; some with two hundred 
 horse power ; some with three hundred horse power. 
 
242 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Some could turn out a column per minute ; some two 
 columns per minute; some three columns per minute, on 
 any most abstruse subject, on any most out-of-the-way 
 subject, and on all subjects existent, or non-existent, 
 from a horseshoe to a flying elephant's nest. 
 
 When the scribbling afflatus was on them, some con- 
 sidered themselves High Priests, some Prime Ministers, 
 some autocrats with unbounded authority. 
 
 When their pugnacious propensities were roused by the 
 growls of militant contemporaries, especially of the other 
 faction, some fought like lions, calling their quills claws, 
 some like policemen, calling their quills batons, and some 
 like scorpions, calling their quills stings. 
 
 When the Prime Minister had issued the proclamation, 
 he sent a secret note to the two factions, that they should 
 unite in this instance in recommending the project to the 
 people. 
 
 So the Imperial Scribes laid their animosities aside, and 
 bringing all their energies to bear upon the subject, wrote 
 at length, exhorting the people to join the Emperor and the 
 Prime Minister in giving a fitting reception to the expected 
 hero, every one of them concluding with these words : 
 
 " As we had already predicted, the Emperor has been 
 driven to the necessity of invoking the aid of Heaven. We 
 need hardly point out to the public of the Celestial Empire 
 that our prediction in this instance, as in many another 
 instance before, has been verified by the incontrovertible 
 logic of facts." 
 
 Thirdly, the tradesmen of the Imperial City contributed 
 the facilities in their power for the accomplishment of the 
 Prime Minister's project. Everywhere, with that shrewd- 
 ness which characterises the tradesmen of the Celestial 
 Empire, they sold donkey shoes, donkey trowsers, donkey 
 spectacles, donkey meat, donkey fish, donkey eggs, djnkey 
 
THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 243 
 
 bags, donkey belts, and innumerable other things of the 
 kind. 
 
 In justice to these benevolent tradesmen, who were 
 more bent upon making the public comfortable and happy 
 than lining their own purses, the historian points out that 
 the articles of attire were for wear while proceeding to see 
 the donkey, and the articles of consumption for break- 
 fast on the morning of the eventful day on which he was 
 expected. 
 
 When ample publicity had been given to the proclama- 
 tion by all these means, the people, that had taken up 
 arms everywhere, threw them down and repaired to the 
 banks of the Peiho, to witness the advent of the wonderful 
 donkey. 
 
 This was a windfall to all who had lodgings to let 
 along the river. They charged for sleeping rooms, sitting 
 rooms, standing rooms, smoking rooms, coughing rooms, 
 and sneezing rooms, and various other kinds of rooms by 
 the inch, and made enormous fortunes, some of them ex- 
 pressing regret that they could not charge for the air 
 men consumed. 
 
 The historian here points out, that the people who took 
 up lodgings along the river paid for their lodgings alone 
 twenty times as much as they would have paid if they had 
 complied with the request of the Emperor to contribute 
 towards the emergency. 
 
 On the eighth day the people thronged to the banks of 
 the Peiho in such numbers that there was hardly room on 
 the ground to plant a needle. On all sides petty traders 
 vended their wares. The street- boys, who form a tribe by 
 themselves in every great city of the Celestial Empire, made 
 themselves conspicuous everywhere with huge placards, 
 on which were visible such stirring words as^-" The Advent 
 of the Wonderful Donkey ! " " Our Illustrious Four-footed 
 
244 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 Visitor from the Peiho ! " " The Most Sensational Event of 
 the Century ! " which the boys also shouted forth in a 
 most hideous fashion to attract the attention of the public. 
 
 The air resounded on all sides with the loud harangues 
 of prophets and philosophers, who assured their audiences 
 that the advent of the hero of the day had been revealed 
 long before, and dwelt with special emphasis on his remark- 
 able virtues, summoning to their aid all the enthusiasm and 
 rhetoric at their command, and citing at the same time 
 a great many texts from the huge volumes in the Im- 
 perial library, in corroboration of their assertions, which 
 the people could not well hear in the midst of the 
 deafening din of gongs and cymbals which resounded on 
 all sides. 
 
 At noon exactly there was a blast of trumpets, and 
 an announcement to the effect that the donkey had just 
 risen from the Peiho, and arrived at a grand pavilion 
 erected for his reception. 
 
 Everybody was eager to get into the pavilion, and 
 pressed forward towards its entrance. 
 
 Just then the Prime Minister, who had been actively 
 superintending the operations in holiday costume, stepped 
 forth, and addressed the surging masses as follows : 
 
 " I am but a humble servant of the Emperor and of 
 the Celestials, who are his subjects. So let me lay the 
 actual state of affairs before my worthy masters. There 
 is not enough of space in the pavilion to contain so many 
 at one and the same time. How shall we get over the 
 difficulty?" 
 
 The people with one voice replied, "If so, fix your 
 fee, and let all those who can afford to pay it get in and 
 see." 
 
 The Prime Minister pretended to yield implicit obedience 
 to the public will, and fixed the fee. As everybody was 
 

 THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 245 
 
 eager to see the donkey, everybody paid the fee. Such 
 numbers came and paid their fees that in the course of the 
 afternoon the Imperial treasury had more money in it than 
 it ever before had from all the taxes of a decade put 
 together. 
 
 The officers and the army had all the arrears at once, 
 with a promise of twice as much if they returned victorious. 
 So they marched against the Tartars that evening, and 
 returned the next morning with flying colours, after routing 
 the barbarians. 
 
 As the troops entered the city triumphantly, the Prime 
 Minister pointed them out to his Majesty from the window 
 of the Imperial chamber, saying, " Sire, the ass has filled 
 the Imperial coffers, routed the one hundred thousand 
 horses of the barbarians, and saved the throne ! " It also 
 paid the troops the promised reward. 
 
 His Majesty rejoiced to see all that had happened. So 
 he issued another proclamation to the effect that none in 
 the Celestial Empire should refer to the animal under the 
 name that naturally belonged to it, but call it the Beatified 
 Mandarin. But the people got into the habit of calling it 
 the Braying Mandarin, as the name came to their lips more 
 easily and naturally than the title in the Imperial proclama- 
 tion. 
 
 Of course, all the people of the Celestial Empire, which 
 is the most populous empire in the world, could not see 
 the Braying Mandarin at one and the same time. So they 
 came day after day from the remotest provinces of it, 
 impelled by curiosity to see the wonderful animal that had 
 saved the country from perdition. The Prime Minister 
 therefore continued to levy the fees as ever, and they 
 became an enormous source of revenue to the Empire. In 
 fact, quite another exchequer had to be built to put the fees 
 in, and quite another office created to look after its affairs. 
 
246 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 There is a proverb in the Celestial Empire which says, 
 " Prom one effort of the wise a thousand benefits arise." 
 Accordingly, a great many callings and trades arose from the 
 fact of so many people coming to see the Braying Man- 
 darin ; one of the most noteworthy of these trades was the 
 following. 
 
 The dealers in donkeys in the Celestial Empire, some 
 time after the advent of the wonderful animal, had the 
 sagacity to trace out a great many donkeys that belonged to 
 the same breed as the Braying Mandarin, and brought them 
 to the Imperial city. 
 
 So many rushed to purchase the animals that prices ran 
 high, profits became incredibly great, and companies sprang 
 up on all sides with the rapidity of the magic gourd, for the 
 propagation of the illustrious breed for which such a demand 
 had arisen among a highly intelligent and appreciative 
 public. Everybody invested his spare cash in the specula- 
 tion so much so, that for a long time the capitalists of the 
 Celestial Empire maintained and with good reason, of 
 course that the safest and most advantageous investment 
 was in the stocks of the Braying Mandarin. 
 
 The advent of the Braying Mandarin gave rise to a 
 great many amusing anecdotes. 
 
 This was one of them. 
 
 The poor washerman who had parted with the animal 
 for a price, whose only good fortune appeared to have 
 consisted in his having been the original possessor of the 
 animal, and who had not the remotest idea of its present 
 prosperity and pre-eminence for the Prime Minister care- 
 fully concealed its antecedents saved a small sum out of 
 his weekly earnings, and at the end of a year had enough to 
 cover the fee to get into the pavilion. 
 
 When he saw the Braying Mandarin, he exclaimed, 
 " Ah, this is very much like my old donkey Padalang ! 
 
THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 2.17 
 
 with this difference, that it has the Imperial dragon painted 
 on its forehead ! " 
 
 But the guards in attendance took him before a Man- 
 darin, who was a magistrate, and he sent him to prison for a 
 year and six months, for his irreverent conduct towards the 
 Beatified Mandarin. 
 
 The poor washerman, who had not heard this name 
 which the Mandarin mentioned in his sentence, said he 
 knew nothing of such an animal, but that he had been to 
 see the Braying Mandarin. 
 
 The Mandarin gave him another six months, observing, 
 " In a court of justice, you must use only such names as 
 are recognised in the Imperial edicts, which form the law 
 of the country. You have, therefore, been guilty of another 
 crime in calling the Beatified Mandarin by a name which, 
 in the opinion of this court, is but an echo of the 
 Imperial will, is not only vulgar, but of questionable 
 propriety." 
 
 The Prince remarked : " It was, indeed, very wrong of 
 the people to have so persistently refused to help the 
 Emperor when the country was threatened by such a 
 dangerous foe. They might have taken advantage of the 
 opportunity to impose such restrictions on his Majesty's 
 private conduct as would conduce to his own benefit and 
 the benefit of his subjects at large. But for the stratagem 
 adopted by his Prime Minister, disastrous results must have 
 ensued." 
 
 Here another Mandarin got up, and said : " Sire, the 
 people of the Celestial Empire on this occasion were as 
 persistently blind to their own interests as the idle man 
 who was set right by the elf." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
248 
 
 JM* jKan anb ifc (Rlf. 
 
 In one of the western provinces of the Celestial Empiie 
 there was a man named Kairath Vangi, who spent his time 
 in chatting with his neighbours, and concerned himself in 
 everybody's business but his own. For instance, if a 
 neighbour's waggon stuck in the mud at some distance from 
 the village, Kairath Vangi was the first to go there and put 
 his shoulder to the wheel. 
 
 But he had a cart whose wheels he seldom greased, and 
 
 "KAIRATH VANGI WAS THE FIRST TO RUN AFTER IT " 
 
 which he never drove, saying, <; By the time I set my cart 
 in driving order, the cart of my life may reach its 
 destination who knows it will not ? " 
 
 If the thatch of a neighbour's cottage flew away in the 
 wind, Kairath Vangi was the first to run after it, and bring 
 it back to its place on the roof. 
 
 But he lived in a hut, one-half of which had become a 
 heap of ruins, and which he never attempted to repair, 
 saying, " Life is a bubble. It may burst before the other 
 
THE IDLE MAN AND THE ELF 249 
 
 half of the hut, which is in good order, and which is quite 
 enough for my purposes, drops down, and I may be no 
 more ; so I need not trouble myself about setting my hut 
 in order." 
 
 If the straw in the trough of a neighbour's cow ran 
 short, Kairath Vangi was the first to observe it, and supply 
 the deficiency. But he had a cow which grew leaner and 
 leaner every day, because he gave it nothing to eat 
 turning it adrift on the common, where there was hardly a 
 blade of grass, saying, " Well, every animal has its allotted 
 period of life. The cow will certainly live for the period 
 for which it has been destined to live. Neither good 
 feeding will keep it longer, nor bad feeding curtail its life." 
 
 His own means of subsistence were almost gone. Yet he 
 said to himself, " How do the birds of the air live ? How 
 do the beasts in the wilderness live ? Certainly, he that 
 has planted the tree must see to its watering ! " 
 
 In spite of all his philosophy and Kairath Vangi 
 fancied he had a great deal of it he summed up his happi- 
 ness thus, " As to work, why, that I must shirk. To get up 
 at noon, I consider too soon. What if I am no bread-winner, 
 yet I shall enjoy my dinner." 
 
 But as it was not easy to get a good dinner in the 
 Celestial Empire without being an active bread-winner, or 
 dependent upon somebody else who was, or had been, a 
 bread-winner by toil or plunder and we may be sure it is 
 the same all the world over Kairath Vangi was obliged to 
 curry favour with his neighbours, and be ever on the look- 
 out for an opportunity to get in, when they kept a good 
 table, and were in a mood to admit him. 
 
 Again, Kairath Vangi had a secret desire to marry, and 
 some day earn the coveted title of a father. But every 
 woman whom he thought of turned away from him, saying 
 he was " Fair as an ape, and provident as a butterfly !" 
 
250 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY 
 
 But Kairath Vangi was not disconcerted in the least. 
 He persisted in making the acquaintance of the young 
 ladies in the neighbourhood, saying, "If a man should 
 make the acquaintance of a hundred young ladies, some 
 one of them ought to take a fancy to him some day, and 
 return his love." 
 
 An Elf, named Mima, had long been watching his con- 
 duct, and said to herself, " This man is an inveterate idler 
 and a scandal to his race. I must knock his idleness out of 
 him, and his aggravating philosophy, to boot." 
 
 So she said to him, " Good Kairath Vangi, I have been 
 long in love with you. Will you marry me? You need not 
 work at all ; I shall maintain you with the proceeds of my 
 labour." 
 
 Kairath Vangi said to himself, " Ah ! the philosophy in 
 my saying about making the acquaintance of a hundred 
 young ladies has proved itself! I get a wife, and ease 
 for life ! I need not trouble myself about work any more ! " 
 
 So he married the Elf. 
 
 Now, this Elf, Mima, had the wonderful power of pro- 
 viding babies at the rate of one baby a day. So the day 
 after their marriage a baby appeared. 
 
 Mima said, " Dear husband, I am so sorry to send you 
 to work. The sun may burn your fine face and the wind 
 may give you a cold. But it is inevitable, that we might 
 maintain ourselves and this baby. So soon as I am able, I 
 will go to work, and let you live as happily as ever." 
 
 Kairath Vangi flattered himself with the hope that he 
 had to work only for a day or two, and then be relieved by 
 his wife, when he might return to his old ways. But the 
 next day another baby was born. So they had to feed 
 and clothe two babies. Kairath Vangi again flattered 
 himself with the hope that his wife would soon relieve 
 him. So he went to work again. The next day 
 
THE TDLE MAN AND THE ELF. 253 
 
 another baby was born, and he had to play the same 
 part again. 
 
 Thus in the course of a year the hut, or the part of it 
 that was habitable, was filled with babies. Some got into 
 the kitchen, some got into the pantry, some crept over the 
 walls, some stuck to the ceiling, some tumbled on the roof, 
 some rolled in the garden. There was hardly an inch of 
 space where there was not a baby, and hardly a baby that 
 had not an inch of space for itself, somewhere in the hut 
 or the garden. This state of affairs extremely alarmed 
 Kairath Vangi. 
 
 Again, the quantity of food they consumed was 
 enormous. As Kairath Vangi remarked, with a shudder, 
 they required a lake of milk and a mountain of biscuit 
 every day ! In addition to his being thus profoundly 
 impressed with the magnitude of the requirements of baby 
 hunger, he had a good specimen of what some people call 
 baby music, for all the three hundred and odd babies 
 cried at times in a chorus ; at times two babies would cry, , 
 as if they sang a duet. 
 
 At times, only one baby would strike up a low note, and 
 then there would be the chorus again in full swing, thus 
 exhibiting in the course of every hour all that rich variety of 
 voice high and low, sharp and flat, grave and gay with 
 which babies are specially gifted. 
 
 During the night, if ever there was a moment of silence, 
 and he composed himself to sleep, Mima would startle him 
 with the cry, " Dear husband, some baby has rolled on to 
 the ground ! " 
 
 Instantly Kairath Vangi would start to his feet in quest 
 of the truant, lamenting the hour he was born. When 
 he had put it to bed, another would play the same trick ; 
 then a third, then a fourth, and so on. 
 
 This proved to him with a vengeance the false philosophy 
 
254 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 in his favourite saying, "Rising at noon was rising too 
 soon." 
 
 Instead of rising at such a late hour, he rose before his 
 neighbours, and went to bed after them, seldom enjoying 
 the luxury of a quiet wink of sleep. 
 
 If ever he had some leisure in the week, and showed an 
 inclination to go to gossip with his neighbours, Mima 
 brought him the babies one by one, saying, "Ah, dear 
 husband, the poor dear little ones seldom get a kiss from 
 you ! " 
 
 So Kairath Vangi would fall to kissing the babies. Of 
 course, kissing every one such a hive of babies will take 
 time ; so, before he had kissed half the family, his leisure 
 hour was gone. 
 
 Thus, without sleep, without leisure, without any chance 
 of gossiping with his neighbours, poor Kairath Vangi was 
 constrained to work. He worked hard and well. Soon 
 he converted his cart into a number of waggons, with 
 well-harnessed teams, his hut into a large and commodious 
 house, his cow into a herd, and showed signs of remark- 
 able progress in every other respect 
 
 His neighbours fancied he had acquired some secret of 
 making wealth which they had not, and asked him what it was. 
 
 He replied, " Ah ! if you had a baby every day, you 
 would soon find out where the secret lay ! " 
 
 The Prince observed, with a smile : " Poor Kairath 
 Vangi eventually gave expression to sentiments that had not 
 originally formed a part of his philosophy." 
 
 Then another Mandarin stood up and said, " Sire, like 
 the two great philosophers of the Imperial city, Kairath 
 Vangi had to give such sentiments a niche in the temple 
 of his wisdom because experience forced them upon his 
 attention," 
 
THE Two PHILOSOPHERS. 255 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story 
 of the Two Philosophers and he proceeded with it as 
 follows : 
 
 In the city of Pekin there were two philosophers, named 
 Si Melang Ho and DI Telang Ho, who were generally 
 known by the abbreviated forms of their names Melang and 
 Telang. They had read a great many books, discussed a 
 great many problems, and contracted a great many habits, 
 conspicuous among which were demure silence and deep 
 meditation ; the philosophers observing, " On the still waters 
 of the Lake of Silence repose the swans, Sanctity and 
 Wisdom." 
 
 "TWO PHILOSOPHERS." 
 
 Each of these philosophers had conceived an utter con- 
 tempt for human kind and its enjoyments, saying, " This 
 world is a dream ; and all the men and women in it are 
 phantoms." This contempt, says the biographer of these 
 great men, was increased tenfold after a certain incident 
 which happened to them at a boarding-house in the Im- 
 perial city. 
 
 One evening the landlady asked them what philosophy 
 was. They said it was not easy to explain the term, but 
 that, in brief, it involved superior knowledge and wisdom 
 about some of the most important problems of life. The 
 
256 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARIXS. 
 
 landlady asked if they had a good recipe in the philosophy 
 for making soup of the nest of the eider duck, which is a 
 well-known delicacy throughout the Celestial Empire, and 
 which therefore everybody, including the two philosophers, 
 prized highly. 
 
 But the philosophers indignantly replied, " Philosophy 
 is not cookery." 
 
 " I thought it was," said the landlady. 
 
 " What made you think so ? " cried the philosophers, 
 whose feelings were outraged by this reply. 
 
 The irrepressible landlady replied, " Ah ! you said it had 
 something to do with the most important problems of life ! 
 These are three, as you and everybody else must admit 
 Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. To devise what we can 
 have for each is to solve the problem ! " 
 
 This reply confirmed the opinion of the philosophers 
 that human kind is more solicitous about the gratification 
 of its animal appetites and passions than the attainment of 
 true wisdom. Each philosopher, at that period, in the 
 Celestial Empire belonged to what he called his school. 
 Now, a philosopher's school, in those days, was not like a 
 boys' school, with sceptred pedagogues wielding unbounded 
 sway over their juvenile subjects. It was a guild, the 
 members of which entertained a certain opinion. 
 
 For instance, if a boy said, rightly or wrongly, that 
 oysters were cheap in autumn, and another said " No," and 
 the two went to the philosophers, they would say the first 
 boy belonged to the school of the Autumnal Oysterians, 
 and the second to the school of the Non-Autumnal 
 Oysterians. 
 
 As these philosophers constantly endeavoured to impress 
 on the minds of their pupils, each scnool might consist of 
 one person, or two persons, or twenty persons, or two 
 hundred thousand persons. As an example of the first, 
 
THE Two PHILOSOPHERS. 257 
 
 they often cited a certain man in Pekin, who said that all 
 the old women in that city, when they died, instead of 
 receiving the burial due to people in the Celestial Empire, 
 were converted into meat for the cats, dogs, and other 
 inferior animals in it ; for they assumed that he could be 
 the only man who entertained such an inhuman and irre- 
 verent opinion. 
 
 As an example of the second, they cited a certain 
 married couple in Pekin, who maintained that they were the 
 most loving and happy pair in that city. 
 
 These philosophers had also what they called their 
 Doctrines and Laws. Now, it is not very easy to explain 
 the meanings of these terms, as they were understood by 
 the philosophers ; but we may illustrate them. Suppose a 
 husband quarrelled with his wife, or a wife with her husband, 
 Melang and Telang said they quarrelled because there had 
 been an aberration from the Law of the Equilibrium of 
 the Affections. 
 
 If the question arose whether the husband and wife 
 would make it up between themselves, Melang would say, 
 " Well, brother Telang, you know I believe in the doctrine 
 of the Ultimate Separation of the Sexes ; so I maintain that 
 they will not unite." 
 
 Telang would say, " Well, brother Melang, you .know 
 I believe in the doctrine of the Ultimate Adhesion of the 
 Sexes ; so I maintain that they will unite." 
 
 Again, if two dogs came together in the streets, or two 
 cats met each other on the roof, or the cock crowed in the 
 morning, or a horse reared its hind legs and kicked the 
 groom, or some unprincipled man in authority, in a fit of 
 rage, ordered the bastinado to the man of wealth who would 
 not give him presents, or a lover bent the knee before his 
 mistress, calling her his goddess, and appreciating her 
 beauty and accomplishments in sundry other ways, or a 
 
 B 
 
258 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 glutton died of surfeit, the philosophers ascribed them all 
 to certain laws, which they enunciated respectively under 
 such learned titles as Canine Cognitions, Feline Frailties, 
 Matutinal Intonations, Equestrian Energy, Emotional 
 Ebullitions, ^Esthetic Genuflections, and Gastronomical 
 Conclusions. 
 
 They had a great many other phrases, of a miscellaneous 
 character, in their philosophical vocabulary. If a boy cried 
 for cake, and his mother gave it to him, they called it the 
 Logic of Tears. A wise painter they called a Philosopher 
 of the Pencil. A wise barber, in their solicitude to subor- 
 dinate every art and profession to philosophy, they called a 
 Philosopher of the Razor and the Strop. 
 
 In this manner these philosophers had a great many 
 fine phrases, in which they embalmed some of the most 
 ordinary ideas and incidents of life, and constantly cited 
 them in the course of their dissertations. 
 
 One day they were walking through the streets of the 
 Imperial city, studying life, and stocking their overburdened 
 memories with fresh facts and phrases, and drawing moral 
 and philosophical conclusions at every step. In a certain 
 street they found a Manchur merchant with a shuttlecock 
 in his hand, shouting, " I give this to the cleverest fighter 
 among the boys here." 
 
 Instantly a number of little boys gathered round the 
 merchant. 
 
 Melang said, " Ah, good brother Telang, here is a scene 
 for study ! How the boys have verified the law of Juvenile 
 Concentration ! " 
 
 Then the boys began to fight each other furiously for the 
 prize. 
 
 Telang said it was in strict conformity with the law of 
 Puerile Pugnacity. 
 
 Then one of the boys knocked the others down, one 
 
THE Two PHILOSOPHERS. 259 
 
 after another, and got the shuttlecock, while the rest lay 
 rolling helplessly on the ground. 
 
 Melang said, " Ah ! this is in strict conformity with 
 the great law of the Survival of the Strongest and the 
 Fittest. 
 
 Then they marched a step further to study the fallen 
 boys more closely, when a little fellow, who had been 
 rolling on the ground, apparently in a piteous condition, 
 started up, and at a bound wrenched the prize from 
 the victor, and laid him hopelessly grovelling on the 
 ground. 
 
 Melang paused for a moment, and said, " Ah ! what 
 is this strange law, brother Telang?" 
 
 Telang said, " Well, brother, it is a law which we have 
 not in our books. But none the less is it a law ; so 
 we ought to give it a name this moment. Well, we may 
 call it the Great Law of the Revival of the Weakest." 
 
 The Prince remarked, with a smile, " The philosophers 
 had, no doubt, a good opportunity to apply their principles, 
 and deduce conclusions from them, in the scene of the 
 shuttlecock, and the little boys struggling for it. But 
 what a misfortune it was to the boy who fancied he had 
 conquered all his companions to be so suddenly hurled 
 down by the little fellow ! " 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire, 
 it must have been as great a surprise to the boy who 
 was at first victorious to be so suddenly pulled down 
 from his triumphant position as it was to Ting Chang 
 to meet with ignominy and defeat from the Bamboo Devil, 
 after having subdued every fiend in and around the country 
 where he lived." 
 
 The Prince requested him to relate the story, and 
 the Mandarin proceeded with it as follows : 
 it '2 
 
Near the great wall of the Celestial Empire there lived 
 in a village a man named Ting Chang, who called himself 
 a great magician. He said he was very old, and knew 
 a great many fiends who were afraid of him. 
 
 For instance, he spoke of the Smoke Fiend, the Fire 
 Fiend, the Wind Fiend, the Wood Fiend, and the Wall Fiend 
 in terms of extreme familiarity. 
 
 When he spoke of the last, he invariably pointed to 
 the great wall, and said, " Do you know how that wall came 
 into existence ? " 
 
 The people would say " No." 
 
 He would say, " Well, it was in this manner. There 
 was a great Emperor of the Celestials, who had an only 
 daughter. She was very fair. A fiend one day fell in love 
 with her, and told the Emperor, her father, that he wished to 
 have her for his bride. 
 
 "The Emperor, wishing to know the qualifications 
 of the fiend who desired to become his son-in-law, asked 
 him in what he excelled. 
 
 " He said he was a great builder. 
 
 " ' If so/ said the Emperor, ' build me a great wall 
 round the Celestial Empire.' 
 
 " Instantly he built the wall, and asked for his daughter. 
 
 " I was then close by. 
 
 " The Emperor said, ' Ah ! Ting Chang, what shall we 
 do?' 
 
 "I said, 'Your Majesty has only to mention my name to 
 the fiend, and leave the rest to me.' 
 
 " So the Emperor mentioned my name. 
 " The fiend exclaimed, ' Ah ! I can throw a great wall 
 round the Celestial Empire in no time. But neither I, nor 
 
THE BAMBOO FIEND. 
 
 261 
 
 all the fiends that form my band, can ever hope to throw 
 an obstacle in the way of the Magician, Ting Chang, when 
 he has decided to do a thing.' 
 
 " So saying, the fiend came to me, and said, ' Master 
 Ting Chang, what is thy bidding ? ' 
 
 "' Get into the wall, and never leave it till I bid you do 
 so/ said I. 
 
 " ' I am thy obedient slave, Master Ting Chang,' said he, 
 and got into the wall, where he is confined to this day. At 
 
 I 
 
 "SENDING HIM OUT OP THE NEIGHBOURHOOD." 
 
 times he sighs bitterly, and as often as he does so a crevice 
 appears in the wall, which those who are not acquainted 
 with the real state of affairs foolishly ascribe to the action 
 of Time and the Elements." 
 
 The credulous people of the place believed the story of 
 Ting Chang, and paid him the homage due to a man of 
 superior learning and wisdom. 
 
 Now, really this Ting Chang was a dreadful impostor. 
 No fiend had ever become his slave. If a cat took it into 
 his head to regale people with his caterwauling, and dis- 
 turb their slumbers of a night, Ting Chang called him a 
 Cat Fiend, and had his fee for sending him out of the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
262 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 If a drought or famine came over the province, he drove 
 out the Drought Fiend or the Famine Fiend, and had a 
 heavy fee in every case. In this manner he made plenty 
 of money by his pretensions. 
 
 The name of Ting Chang spread over the whole province 
 as that of a potent magician, who had unbounded sway over 
 the spirit and the fiend world. 
 
 The Mandarin of the province had an only daughter, 
 who had been ill for some time. So he sent for Ting Chang, 
 and laid her case before him. 
 
 Ting Chang said, " Unless I see the lady, I cannot give 
 an opinion about her malady." 
 
 With great difficulty they made such arrangements as 
 would enable Ting Chang to see her. 
 
 When he saw her, he exclaimed, " Ah, what a fair young 
 lady ! I must have her for my wife ! " 
 
 With this resolution, Ting Chang told the Mandarin, in 
 a whisper, that his daughter had what magicians called the 
 Love Fiend. 
 
 The Mandarin requested him to exorcise the demon 
 without delay. 
 
 Ting Chang put on a very serious countenance, and 
 said, " But it is no easy task. I cannot undertake to 
 exorcise the fiend unless your Excellency issues strict 
 orders that any and every direction I give should be carried 
 out at once." 
 
 The Mandarin, who was solicitous about the health of 
 his child, said, " Your directions shall be strictly followed." 
 
 The Mandarin having presently observed that the 
 incantations to drive out the Love Fiend really meant the 
 entrapping of his daughter into marriage with Ting Chang, 
 ordered his men to bind Ting Chang hand and foot, arid 
 give him the bastinado. 
 
 Accordingly, they bound him hand and foot, and laid 
 
THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY. 263 
 
 him on the ground, while one of them brought the great 
 bamboo stick with which he was to be flogged. 
 
 Ting Chang asked what that was. 
 
 The Mandarin replied, "Ah, Ting Chang, it is the 
 Bamboo Fiend ! " 
 
 Ting Chang found his master in the Bamboo Fiend, 
 which obtained also such mastery over all the other fiends, 
 that Ting Chang never named them any more. 
 
 Poor Ting Chang could give no reply, he was so faint 
 and thirsty. He went home, and never thought of the 
 Love Fiend or any other fiend thereafter." 
 
 Along the great wall of the Celestial Empire the people 
 have to this day a saying that " the best cure for the Love 
 Fiend is the Bamboo Devil." 
 
 The Prince observed, with a smile, "The Love Fiend 
 Is, indeed, the most mischievous fiend. Everything seemed 
 to go on very well with Ting Chang till he roused him from 
 his slumbers." 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire, 
 everything may go on very well with people till they come 
 in contact with the Love Fiend, as in the case of the Five 
 Princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, who lived on terms of un- 
 wonted harmony and friendship till they met him in the 
 enchanting form of a Fairy." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 Jftfo Jinnee* tljat !0tob a 
 
 In a certain country not far from the Celestial Empire, 
 there were five princes, who were such great friends that 
 they called themselves Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, meaning thereby 
 
264 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 that just as the vowel in all the words was the same, they 
 had the same spirit, though their bodies differed like the 
 consonants. 
 
 They ate out of one dish, they slept in one bed, and sat, 
 rose, walked, and talked like one man. So if one sneezed, 
 all the rest sneezed ; if one coughed, all the rest coughed ; 
 if one got a head-ache, all the rest got it ; if one sprained 
 his foot, all the rest did the same ; if one said he liked an 
 egg, all the rest liked it ; if one said he hated jams and 
 cheese-cakes, all the rest hated them. 
 
 5. 
 
 WALKED AND TALKED LTKE ONE MAN." 
 
 If one said he felt fidgety in bed, all the rest felt the 
 same ; if one snored, all the rest did. When they .were 
 at school, the pedagogue had to give them all lessons at one 
 and the same time, and hear them recited at one and the 
 same time. If one had a bad memory over a lesson, all the 
 rest had it ; and if one was entitled to a flogging, all the 
 rest went in for it at the same time. 
 
 But as the pedagogue had but one flogging hand : the 
 right for pedagogues seldom flog with the left, as every 
 
THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY. 265 
 
 school-going boy knows he could not flog the princes 
 as they required. So he never flogged them. 
 
 There is a curious anecdote in connection with the 
 scholastic career of these princes. One day a man, who 
 said he was a logician and philosopher, met them at school, 
 and said, in sport, he would give some one of them that 
 would take it a nice plaything called a Dilemma. 
 
 They replied they wanted five one for each. 
 
 But he said, "What do you want five for? You may 
 count yourself extremely fortunate if you can manage with 
 one." 
 
 The princes asked the logician for the thing. 
 
 He said, " You will see it some day. It is a very nice 
 thing to look at." 
 
 Of course the whole discourse on the subject was a 
 hoax, as the logician knew very well. But the princes 
 believed what he said, and were eagerly watching at every 
 turn in their transactions for the very nice-looking thing, 
 Dilemma. 
 
 These five princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, often rode out 
 into the country in quest of various amusements. If a fence 
 was in the way, they jumped over it together. If one 
 caught a hare, he would not say he caught it, but they all 
 the five caught it. If one threw a stone at a frog in the 
 pond, all the rest hit the same poor thing. If one gave a 
 piece of copper to a poor country beggar, all the rest gave 
 him a piece per head. 
 
 If, while passing through the woods, one whooped like 
 a savage, all the rest whooped alike. If one screeched like 
 an owl, all the rest imitated the sweet notes of the same 
 amiable bird. If one climbed a tree, all the rest went up at 
 the same time. If one jumped down from it, all the rest 
 did the same. 
 
 Now, there was a mischievous fairy in that neighbour- 
 
266 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 hood, who had long watched with intense interest the 
 proceedings of the five friends, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, and 
 said to herself, " Ah ! these are queer little men that stick to 
 one another like this ! But let me see how long they will 
 live in such harmony." 
 
 So one day she appeared on the chin of one, in the form 
 of down. 
 
 Instantly he went to a barber for a shave, and all the 
 rest went with him, and subjected themselves to the same 
 process, though there was as much down on their chins as on 
 a piece of polished marble. 
 
 The next day, while they were going to sing a familiar 
 song in chorus, the fairy effaced it from the memories of 
 Ka, Ma, Na, Sa ; Ya recited the first line, and said he 
 had also forgotten it. 
 
 The day after, the mischievous fairy smeared on the 
 head of Ya the juice of some mysterious plant, and instantly 
 he raved like a madman, and snatched a knife to cut his 
 own throat, and Ka, Ma, Na, Sa snatched a knife each, of 
 equal width, length, and sharpness, and raving by the 
 side of their comrade in the same style, gave earnest in- 
 dications of the same suicidal propensities. 
 
 When she saw this, the fairy was in despair. She said to 
 herself, "Well, these princes are indeed proof against all 
 my arts. Almost all the arrows in my quiver have been 
 shot but one. Let me see if they can resist in unison that 
 one also." 
 
 So the next day, when the princes went out into the 
 country for a ride, she presented herself to their view in all 
 the charms proverbially ascribed to her race, on a sunny 
 bank, decked with eglantines, as though she was listening 
 with rapt attention to the murmurs of a rill that flowed 
 from a gently-sloping hill. 
 
 Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa called out to her with one voice 
 
THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY. 267 
 
 " Good fairy, turn this side, and be for aye our happy 
 bride ! " and said to themselves, " Ah ! she is indeed the 
 nicest-looking that we have yet seen; so she is no 
 doubt Dilemma, of whom the good logician spoke to us 
 before." 
 
 The fairy exclaimed, " I see five princes before me 
 ride ; how can they have a single bride ? " 
 
 The princes replied, " No, good Dilemma ; though five, 
 we love you all the same ; we are but one, though five in 
 name." 
 
 The fairy appeared to be satisfied, and solicited to 
 be taken behind some one on the saddle, that she might 
 ride home and be their bride. 
 
 Up to this point everything went on very well with the 
 five friends. But here the question arose on whose saddle 
 she was to sit. 
 
 Ya said, he would have her by his side. Ka said, 
 he would take her on his own saddle. Ma said, the fairy 
 was very delicate, and that he alone could take such care as 
 would ensure her safety and comfort on horseback. Na 
 and Sa each put forth some incontrovertible argument 
 of his own to have the fairy by his side. 
 
 While they were thus engaged in discussing the point 
 this, by the way, being the very first instance in their lives 
 when they so discussed a point Ya, with the celerity of 
 lightning, put the good fairy Dilemma on the saddle behind 
 him, and rode off. 
 
 Ka exclaimed, that he was a freebooter ! 
 
 Ma said, he was a marauder ! 
 
 Na said, he was a wretch ! 
 
 Sa said, he was an incorrigible villain ! 
 
 So the four princes pursued him, and cut off his pigtail. 
 
 Just then the mischievous fairy Dilemma, by some 
 magic of hr own, appeared on the saddle behind Ka, and 
 
268 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 he rode off with her, fancying for one moment that he was, 
 after all, the victor. 
 
 The rest ran after him, shouting the same names as had 
 been applied to Ya, and soon overtaking him, cut off his 
 pigtail. 
 
 Then they saw her behind Ma, and inflicted the same 
 summary punishment on him. 
 
 Then Na found her by his side, and sacrificed his pigtail 
 to the fury of his comrades, till, after all, Sa successfully 
 
 "SA . . . RODE OFF WITH THE FAIRY." 
 
 rode off with the Fairy Dilemma, and shut himself with her 
 in his palace. 
 
 The four princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, are still knocking at 
 his door, calling him all kinds of names, and challenging 
 him to come out and close in deadly fight with any one, or 
 all four of them, if he has a spark of gallantry in his heart. 
 But people say that the only reply is an occasional chuckle, 
 which the four princes hear when they put their ears to 
 the key-hole, after repeating their defiant shouts and threats 
 from time to time. 
 
 Further, it must be recorded that Sa, at times, puts his 
 head out of his chamber window with a long pipe in his 
 
THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTAR Y. 269 
 
 mouth, and the Fairy Dilemma fondly leaning on his arm, 
 and waves his hand at the four princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, as 
 if he meant to say, " There is no good in your tarrying here 
 be gone ! " 
 
 Thereupon, the four princes jump and somersault in the 
 air, endeavouring to get at him, when he and the fairy draw 
 their heads in with perfect composure, and the same 
 chuckle is heard again, while a voice in the air observes : 
 " When the fairies come in their way, friends have indeed a 
 trying day ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked, " It is indeed foolish of the four 
 princes to linger at the door of Sa's palace when he has 
 made the Fairy Dilemma his wife, and has been living with 
 her for a long time already. Surely they do not mean to 
 say that they can get her back to themselves ! " 
 
 Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the 
 four princes may get the fairy, perhaps, about the same time 
 that the descendants of the architects who built for the 
 Sultan of Tartary his capital city will get the philosopher's 
 stone which hangs in a golden casket on a silver pole in a 
 charming little island in the midst of a glassy lake by the 
 great city." 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 0f ilje Sultan 0f artarg tolja Ijair 
 in Ijis Durban. 
 
 There was a Sultan of Tartary who wished to build a 
 great city for his capital. He said to himself, " We have 
 bricks, we have stone, we have wood, we have men. All 
 
270 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 that is required is labour. Well, labour means wages to the 
 workmen. There is no money in the exchequer to pay the 
 men ; yet the work must be done." 
 
 So he assembled his subjects, and said, "We want a 
 hundred thousand efficient men to build the capital will 
 you help us ? " 
 
 They said, " How will you pay for our work, O Sultan?" 
 
 The Sultan said, " There is no money in the exchequer, 
 as you all know. When the capital shall have been built, 
 each of you will have a hundred acres of land, a herd of 
 fat cattle, as well as a house for himself in the city." 
 
 They said, " We will not leave our homes and families 
 for such a precarious reward. If your Majesty should 
 promise something more substantial, we will help you." 
 
 The Sultan mused within himself as follows : " A house 
 to live in, a herd of fat cattle, and a hundred acres of land 
 are no inducement to work to these wanderers in the 
 desert ! So, when their reason would not respond to our 
 call, we must appeal to their imagination." 
 
 The next day his Majesty assembled his subjects again, 
 and said, " Well, we simply wished to test the extent of your 
 ambition ; for it was a high ambition that prompted us to 
 build a great city for ourselves, while till now we were 
 content to live in tents in the desert. It was indeed a 
 pleasure to know that our subjects were equally ambitious, 
 and demanded something more substantial. We have to 
 make a revelation this day." 
 
 Here his Majesty paused for one moment, and reading 
 in the faces of his subjects that their curiosity was roused 
 to the highest pitch by this preface, proceeded with his 
 speech as follows : " We have got the philosopher's stone, 
 of whose wonderful virtues you have all heard. We keep it 
 concealed this moment in the folds of our turban. So soon 
 as the city shall be finished, we will give each as much 
 
THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TAR TAR Y 271 
 
 gold as he can weigh in the largest pair of scales of his 
 own making." 
 
 The subjects replied, " O Sultan ! we shall have to work 
 very hard at it. We will do our best to make the city as 
 extensive, as beautiful, and as magnificent as it could 
 possibly be. But this one condition must be strictly borne 
 in mind by your Majesty that to every one of us be given 
 exactly the same quantity of gold." 
 
 The Sultan said, " Till now, you have had no occasion 
 to impugn the justice of our motives and actions. In this 
 instance also you may depend upon our dealing out the 
 gold with the strictest impartiality ay, without an atom of 
 difference." 
 
 So the people set to work at the building of the city. 
 
 In the midst of an extensive oasis the Sultan marked 
 out a plot in the form of a perfect circle, which he cut into 
 two halves. One semicircle was converted into a deep lake, 
 with an island in the middle. When it was full, the building 
 of the city, over the other semicircle, began. The diameter 
 of the circle between the site of the city and the lake was 
 the great royal street. 
 
 In it, the Sultan's palaces and offices rose in one magni- 
 ficent row, commanding a view of the lake. Behind were 
 the innumerable squares and crescents, places and streets, 
 roads and lanes. His Majesty superintended the work in 
 person, encouraging the men in every possible way. At 
 times his Majesty would pretend to have felt something 
 going wrong in his turban, and fall to adjusting it with great 
 caution. 
 
 When the men asked what it was, his Majesty would 
 reply, " It is all the doing of that philosopher's stone that we 
 have got in our turban. It wishes to get out as soon as 
 possible. Of course, we have to keep it there, yet a while, 
 with the plea that the work is not yet over the only plea to 
 
272 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 which it would listen and that so soon as it is finished it 
 will be asked to do its duty." 
 
 Here the men would pause for one moment in the 
 midst of their work, and ask what its duty was. 
 
 The Sultan would reply, "As we have already informed 
 you, it was acquired by a great philosopher, who lived a 
 thousand years in the Thian Shan Mountains, for the 
 special purpose of aiding Sultans who wish to build great 
 cities. Many a city was built before by its aid. Every one 
 of those cities was built in a hundred days, and on the next 
 day after completion the men were paid. Now, you have 
 already spent a hundred days in laying the foundations of the 
 city, and the superstructure may take another hundred days, if 
 not more. Hence the haste which the stone in our turban 
 makes." 
 
 This was a hint to the men that they were slow in doing 
 their work. It was also an inducement to work harder. So 
 they worked very hard, in sanguine expectation of getting 
 the promised gold. 
 
 When the city was finished, the Sultan, with all his 
 family and court, entered it, and took up his residence in the 
 royal street, where a palace was assigned to each minister 
 and dignitary of the realm. 
 
 Then the Sultan addressed the one hundred thousand 
 workmen as follows : " In addition to the gold which we 
 are to give you, we wish each of you to accept a house, a 
 herd of fat cattle, and a hundred acres of land, as originally 
 stipulated. Again, as it has been decided that you should 
 all have exactly the same quantity of gold, without an iota 
 of difference, and as we have already promised to give each 
 as much gold as he could weigh in the largest pair of scales 
 of his own making, we shall be very happy to see you with 
 the scales as soon as practicable." 
 
 Here his Majesty perceived that the workmen received 
 
THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTAR v. 273 
 
 this part of his speech with great gratification. So he 
 continued: "The city being completed, the stone in the 
 folds in our turban has grown more troublesome than even 
 So we propose confining its turbulent energies in a casket 
 of gold, and hanging it up on the top of a silver pole, to be 
 planted in the middle of the island in the lake of course, 
 awaiting eagerly your arrival with the pairs of scales, which 
 we earnestly hope you will lose no time in completing." 
 
 "THE CASKET WAS IN . . A CONSPICUOUS POSITION. 
 
 Each of the men accepted the house, the herd of fat 
 cattle, and the hundred acres of land, which kept him and 
 his family in perfect comfort, and went to make his pair of 
 scales at leisure. The Sultan hung up the golden casket, 
 which, he said, contained the philosopher's stone, on the 
 top of a lofty silver pole planted on the island in the middle 
 of the lake. 
 
 The casket was in such a conspicuous position as to be 
 visible from the door of every house in the city. So almost 
 every minute of the day each of the one hundred thousand 
 
274 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 architects came out of his house, and snatched a look at it. 
 Now, every time he looked at it he felt his cupidity increase 
 a hundred-fold. So after making the largest pair of scales 
 for the time being, he would again look at the golden 
 casket on the lofty silver pole on the island in the midst of 
 the glassy semicircular lake, and demolish the unlucky 
 instrument, exclaiming, " Ah ! this pair of scales is ridicu- 
 lously small in comparison with the quantity it may have to 
 weigh. So I ought to make it larger ! " 
 
 In this manner, after working at it for a long time, the 
 men put all their scales together to see that they were 
 exactly of equal dimension. But as each was constructed 
 in proportion to the greed and capacity of its owner, there 
 was great diversity, if not disparity, among the instruments. 
 So the men fell to adjusting and comparing their scales 
 again and again. 
 
 The Sultan, finding the men still unready, issued a 
 general edict that when they should be no more, the gold 
 should be given to their posterity whenever they should 
 present themselves with their scales in perfect order. 
 
 In course of time the workmen, one and all, died with- 
 out adjusting their scales But their posterity, being eager 
 to obtain the prize which their fathers missed, are still 
 actively striving to adjust their scales, while the philosopher's 
 stone, which the great Sultan said he had locked up in the 
 casket, still hangs from the top of the silver pole planted on 
 the charmii g little island in the midst of the glassy semi- 
 circular lake. 
 
 Again, the progeny of the one hundred thousand work- 
 men have in course of time multiplied enormously. Each 
 among them, at the time of bequeathing his property 
 to his children, adds a clause to his will in these terms : 
 " My children shall each have an equal share of all this pro- 
 perty, as also of the gold from the casket of the Sultan 
 
THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTAR Y. 275 
 
 peace be to his generous soul, and blessed be his glorious 
 memory for aye ! should it fall to their share in their genera- 
 tion." 
 
 In this manner a great amount of imaginary wealth is 
 being transferred from father to son throughout that great 
 country over which that magnanimous Sultan ruled. When 
 
 "HE GENERALLY POINTS TO THE CASKET." 
 
 a young man has spent lavishly all the tangible property 
 that he inherited from his father, he is yet proud, in that 
 country, of possessing what he and a great many like him 
 persistently denominate " Casket wealth." 
 
 Should unruly creditors overslip the bounds of forbear- 
 ance and due lime for the debts he owed them, he generally 
 s 2 
 
276 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 points to the casket, saying, " Mind, I have all my wealth 
 in it. I have very nearly finished the pair .of scales, along 
 with others concerned. When I shall have got my share of 
 the gold, I shall be able to pay you, and a thousand snarling 
 creditors like you, a thousand times over ! " 
 
 The Prince remarked : " Tt is indeed a pleasure to note 
 the intense gratitude with which the posterity of the one 
 hundred thousand architects remembered the great Sultan. 
 As grateful men are sure to thrive, and to be honoured 
 all the world over, we may rest assured that the descend- 
 ants of the subjects of the great Sultan are to this day 
 prosperous and happy." 
 
 Here another Mandarin got up, and said, "Sire, "the 
 Tartars of the country over which the great Sultan ruled in 
 course of time embraced the religion of Islam. Yet they 
 cherish the memory of the monarch with such reverence 
 and gratitude, that it has become quite an ordinary thing in 
 that country to speak in terms of unbounded praise of that 
 exalted virtue of our race. 
 
 "They have a proverb among them which says The 
 grateful man has starved the devils ! and which they 
 illustrate with a story called The Banquet of the Fiends " 
 
 The Prince requested the Mandarin to tell the story, 
 and he proceeded with it as follows : 
 
 Hattqxtrf flf % Jfwtbs. 
 
 Iblis, the Sultan of All-Fiend-Land, said to his courtiers, 
 " To-morrow is the anniversary of our revolt against Allah 
 and his Angels ; how shall we celebrate it ?" 
 
 They said with one voice, " Sire, for a long time we 
 have been eager to hold a banquet at which the best among 
 
THE BANQUET OF THE FIENDS. 277 
 
 mankind might be served roasted. If it should please 
 your Majesty, we shall have such a banquet to-morrow." 
 
 "Agreed," said Sultan Iblis. 
 
 Instantly a number of fiends ascended to this world from 
 All-Fiend-Land, and scouring over every country in it, 
 carried off the best men in each. Thus there was lamen- 
 tation all the world over. Thereupon, the guardian angels 
 of the men followed them to the confines of All-Fiend-Land, 
 and with loud voices complained to Iblis. 
 
 Iblis said, " Well, there is no use in your complaining 
 now. To-morrow, as we sit down to dinner, remind us 
 of the afifair. Then, if there should be among the men one 
 who has much of a quality that we do not possess, we 
 will set him and all his brethren free." 
 
 The guardian angels consented to this, and retired. 
 
 The next morning there was great rejoicing in All-Fiend- 
 Land. The imams and improvisatores among the subjects 
 of Sultan Iblis went about celebrating his victories. His 
 Majesty rose from bed in the midst of loud music, and 
 after bathing in a great lake of flame, dressed, and sat 
 down in his divan with a turban upon which shone diamonds, 
 the least of which was bigger than a roc's egg. 
 
 His Majesty smoked a pipe, the bowl of which was 
 a great well communicating with the lake of flame, and the 
 tube of which, at the narrowest part, was so wide that a 
 man standing on a lofty elephant with uplifted hand could 
 drive through it without touching the concave above him. 
 
 The courtiers paid their homage to his Majesty one 
 after another, calling him their great Sultan Iblis, who had 
 warred in times of yore against heaven, and who owned the 
 lake of flame into which more than half the world went. 
 
 Sultan Iblis said, " Now let the banquet be got ready." 
 
 Instantly great dishes and salvers were laid on a carpet, 
 which was greater in extent than the greatest desert of 
 
278 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 earth, and the men who were to be eaten at the feast were 
 led near the well which formed the bowl of the Sultan's 
 pipe, that they might be roasted. 
 
 Just then Sultan Iblis heard the sound of a great many 
 trumpets. There was a tradition in All-Fiend-Land that 
 the saints in Paradise were planning an attack on Sultan 
 Iblis and his numerous subjects, to blot out their country 
 altogether from the map of the universe, and that this 
 scheme was out of mercy to the human race, to which the 
 saints had originally belonged. 
 
 Sultan Iblis thought that the holy confederacy might 
 have chosen that particular day to break upon the fiends 
 unawares. 
 
 So he exclaimed, " Hollo ! what is that ? " 
 
 "Sire," said the courtiers of his Majesty, " they are the 
 guardian angels of these men who are to be cooked." 
 
 " Well, I will keep my promise to them ! " said Iblis, 
 and pointing to one of the men, asked, " Who is this ? " 
 
 " Sire, this is the kind man," said the fiend who cooked. 
 
 Iblis said, " As to kindness, we have plenty of it among 
 us, so he goes to the spit." 
 
 " Now, who is this ? " said Iblis, pointing to another. 
 
 " Sire, this is the munificent man," said the fiend. 
 
 " Well," said Sultan Iblis, " what of that ? There is no 
 end of the gold and gems we give men for adherence to our 
 cause. So he goes to the spit." 
 
 " Now, who is this ? " said Iblis, pointing to another man. 
 
 " Sire, this is the heroic man," said the fiend. 
 
 Iblis said, " Ah ! in point of heroism very few can equal 
 us and our subjects. The prodigies of our valour in our 
 battles against Allah and his angels, and the noble self- 
 sacrifice with which our followers rescued one another, are 
 yet known in the seven heavens. So the heroic man also 
 goes to the spit." 
 
THE BANQUET OF THE FIENDS. 279 
 
 In this manner a great many men were chosen for the 
 spit, and there was but one man yet remaining. 
 
 The men trembled from head to foot, for some ot 
 them had concluded that all hope was lost, while others 
 fancied that between them and utter perdition there was yet 
 but a hair-breadth in the shape of that one man. 
 
 The guardian angels also were equally concerned. 
 Sultan Iblis asked who that one remaining man was. 
 
 The fiend replied, " Sire, this is the grateful man." 
 
 Instantly the face of Iblis grew pale. He exclaimed, 
 " Alas ! but for this one man, our feast should have 
 been great ! But he rescues all, and bids us starve 
 to-day ! " 
 
 " How, sire ? " said the astonished courtiers. 
 
 " Why, my good courtiers," said he, " do you not know 
 that gratitude is the only virtue that we do not possess ? If 
 we had it, we should not have rebelled against Allah, who 
 showered his blessings upon every one of us." 
 
 At this, the courtiers of Sultan Iblis hung down their 
 heads. The fiend that held the men released them all, 
 and the guardian angels led them out of All-Fiend-Land, 
 exclaiming in a chorus of celestial symphony "The 
 Grateful Man has starved the Fiends ! " 
 
 Thus sixty Mandarins had told their tales. The Prince 
 stood up, and the sixty Mandarins stood in a circle round 
 him. The Prince addressed them as follows : 
 
 " I am greatly indebted to you for the very kind manner 
 in which you have amused me by leading from one 
 story to another. If I remember right, we began with a 
 curse on Opium, and ended with a blessing on that 
 exalted virtue of mankind Gratitude. I am grateful. But 
 now go ; I am reminded by the hunger of Iblis that I have 
 forgotten my dinner." 
 
2 So THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS. 
 
 The Mandarins with one voice, as of many trees 
 touched by the breath of heaven, replied as follows : 
 
 "Sire, if we have to any extent entertained you with 
 our stories, the capacity to do so was evoked by youi 
 illustrious presence, which has ever enlarged our hearts 
 with inspiration. To us your smile is an abundant feast 
 It has gladdened us, and we depart with joy." 
 
 TAlL-1'lfc.CE. 
 
 PRINTED BY CASSELL & CO., LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.G. 
 
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