.S!? S r- . -•*'-. I.-'- t •; \\,* L-^ ■ : *^:;: C' ^M' Ciifit:** .".. r*^ <■■ . -1^ TO I^IY NEPHEWS AND NIECES I DEDICATE THESE TALES. M5o0428 PREFACE. — -^1-1^ — XN 1864 I wrote certain stories which made part of a little book called "The Children's Hour," published to aid the Sanitary Commission Fair in Philadelphia. It has been ever since a favorite in many homes, and is out of print. Some- what later, to help the Children's Hospital, I wrote the story of Fuz-Buz, the Fly. These small volumes, which have gone through several editions, I am now glad to claim as my own. I have added certain stories of recent date, and ask for the collection the approval of the nursery critics, whose favor I have long possessed. S. WEIR MITCHELL. CONTENTS. ■^M^ Prince Little Boy .....•• King Bear ......•• Mrs. Gr.abem and Fuz-buz Lady Golden Hair and her Two Lovers, Prince Prince Sturdy ..... Cold Country The Fountain of Youth .... Krusstikuss and Growlegrum Mustapha, or the Musical Gourd . WoGO Prince Lazy Boots and the Peck of Troubles The Curly Fish The Wolf that Wanted a Doctor Old Wine in a New Bottle Real Magic The Tale of the Great Giant, Smokey Pokey . Clever and 7 17 22 27 39 43 60 74 89 93 io6 132 139 146 153 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. •^i-i^ The Princess Elula and the Lily-Flowers The Princess at the Tower . King Bear and the Orphans Mrs. Grabem and her Children Lady Golden Hair At the Manitou's Hut . Krustikuss and iHE Princess. LeLIE carried off by THE SLAVES WoGO and the Ice God . Prince Lazy Boots and the Giants The Wolf that wanted a Doctor Frontispiece page 14 - 19 " 22 " 27 - 40 68 " 77 " 90 " 97 " i3« PRINCE LITTLE BOY. — -^i-i^ — A GREAT many children live on the borders of Fairy-land and never visit it at all, and really there are people who grow up and are not very unhappy who will not believe they have lived near to it all their lives. But if once you have been in that pleasant country you never quite forget it, and when some stupid man says " It is all stuff and nonsense," you do not say much, even if you yourself have come to be an old fellow with hair of two colors, but you feel proud to know how much more you have seen of the world than he has. Children are the best travellers in Fairy- land, and there also is another kingdom which is easy for them to reach and hard for some older folks. Once upon a time there was a small boy who lived so near to Fairy-land that he sometimes got over the fence and inside of that lovely country, but, being a litde afraid, never went very far, and was quick to run home if he saw Blue Beard or an Ogre or even Goody Two-Shoes. Once or twice he went a little farther, and saw things which may be seen but can never be written. Sometimes he told his father that he had been into Fairy- land ; but his father, who was a brick-maker and lived in the wood, only laughed, and cried aloud, " Next time you go, be 7 8 PRINCE LITTLE BOY. sure to fetch back some fairy money." One day the small boy, whose real name was Little Boy, told his father that he had gone a mile into Fairy-land, and that there the people were born old and grew younger all the time, and that on this account the hands of their clocks went backwards. When his father heard this, he said that boy was only fit to sing songs and be in the sun, and would never make bricks worth a penny. Then he added, sharply, that his son must g-et to work at once and stop ofoine over the fence to Fairy-land. So, after that, Little Boy was set to dig clay and make bricks for a palace which the King was building. He made a great many bricks of all colors, and did seem to work so very hard that his father began to think he might in time come to make the best of bricks. But if you are making bricks you must not even be thinking of fairies, because some- thing is sure to get into the bricks and spoil them for building anything except a Spanish castle or a palace of Aladdin. I am sorry to say that while Little Boy made bricks and patted them well and helped to bake them hard he was for- PRINCE LITTLE BOY. ever thinking of a fairy who had kissed him one day in the wood. This was a very strange fairy, large, with white limbs, and eyes which were full of joy for a child, but to such as be- ing old looked upon them, were, as the poet says, " lakes of sadness." Perhaps, being little, you who read can understand this. I cannot ; but whoever has once seen this fairy loves the sun and the woods and all living creatures, and knows things without being taught, and what men will say before they say it. Yet, while he knows all these strange things, and what birds talk about, and what songs the winds sing to the trees, he can never make good bricks. And this was why Little Boy's bricks were badly made ; on account of which the King's palace, having many poor bricks in it, fell down one fine day and ci-acked the crowns of twenty-three courtiers and had like to have killed the King himself. This made the King very angry, so he put on his crown and said wicked words, and told everybody he would give one hundred pieces of gold to whoever would find the person who had made the bad bricks. When Little Boy's father heard this, he knew it must have been his son who was to blame. So he told his son that he had been very careless, and that surely the King would kill him, and that the best thing he could do would be to run away and hide in Fairy-land. Little Boy was very badly scared, and was well pleased when his mother had put some cakes and apples in a bag and slung it over his shoulder and told him to run quickly away ; and this he was glad to do, because he saw the King's soldiers coming over the hill to take him. When they came to his father's house his father told them that it was his son who had made the bad bricks. lO PRINCE LITTLE BOY. After hearing this, they let the man go, and went after Little Boy. As their legs were long and his were short, they soon got very near to him, and he had just time to scramble over the fence into Fairy-land. Then the soldiers began to get over the fence, too ; but at this moment the giant Fee-Faw- Fum came out of the wood, and said, in a voice that was as loud as the roar of the winds of a winter night, " What do you want here ?" This gave them such a fright that they all sat there in a row on top of the fence like sparrows, and could not move for a week. You may be sure Litde Boy did not stop to look at them, but ran away, far away into Fairy- land. Of course, he soon got lost, because in the geographies there is not a word about Fairy-land, and nobody knows even what bounds it on the north. It is sad to be lost, but not in Fairy-land. The sooner you lose yourself, the happier you are. And then such queer things chance to you, — things no one could dream would happen. Mostly it is the children for whom they occur, and the grown- up person who is quite happy in this joyous land is not otten to be met with. Perhaps you think I will tell you all about the fairy country. Not I, indeed. I have been there in my time ; but my travels there I cannot write, or else I might never be allowed to return again. By and by Little Boy grew tired and went into a deep wood and there sat down and ate a cake, and sav/ very soon that the squirrels were throwing him nuts from the trees. Of course, as he was in Fairy-land, this was just what one might have ex- pected. He tried to crack the nuts with his teeth, but could not, and this troubled the squirrels so much that presently nine PRINCE LITTLE BOY. U of them came down and sat around him and began to crack nuts for him and to laugh. When Little Boy had finished his meal, he lay down and tried to go to sleep, for it was pleasant and warm, and the moss was soft to lie upon, and strange birds came and went and sang love-songs. But just as he was almost asleep he was shaken quite roughly, and when he looked up saw a beautiful Prince. " Ho ! ho !" said the Prince, " I heard you getting ready to snore. A moment more and I should have been too late." " How is that?" said Litde Boy, "and who are you ?" " Sir, I am Fine Ear, and before things happen I hear them. Do not you know. Fair Sir" (this is the way fairies speak), " that if you fall asleep the first day that you are in Fairy-land, it is years before you wake ? Some people don't wake." Little Boy felt that he was in high society, so he said, politely, — " Gracious Prince, a million thanks ; but how can I keep awake ?" "It is only for one night, young sir. Come with me. My sister, Goody Two-Shoes, lives close by, and she may help us." So they went along through the twilight and walked far, until Litde Boy was ready to drop. At last Fine Ear said that as he heard his sister breathing, she could not be more than three miles away. As they climbed a great hill, it became dark, and Little Boy grew more and more sleepy, and could not see his way, and tumbled about so much that at last the Prince stood still and said, " My dear fellow, this won't do ; you will be in Dream-land before I can pinch you." Then he 12 PRINCE LITTLE BOY. whistled, and a little silver star — a shining white light — fell out of the fairy sky and rolled beside them, making all the road as bright as day, and quite waking up Little Boy. After this they walked on, and the Prince said he would ask Jack the Giant-killer to supper. Little Boy replied that he would be proud to meet him. Just as they came near to the house, which was built of pearls and rubies, the Prince said, " Alas ! here comes that tiresome fool, Humpty Dumpty." When Little Boy looked, he saw a short man very crooked in the back, and with a head all to one side, not having been well mended by the doctors, as you may recall. Also his mouth was very large, which was a pity, because when he stopped before them and bowed in a polite way, all of a sudden he opened this great mouth and gaped ; and when poor, sleepy Little Boy saw this, what could he do but gape for company, and at once fall down sound asleep before the kind Prince could move ? "Alas! fool," said Fine Ear, "why must you gape at a mortal ? You knew what would happen. It was lucky you did not sneeze." Meanwhile, there lay Little Boy sound asleep, and what was to be done? At last he was carried into the house of Goody Two-Shoes and put on a bed. Every one knew that he could not be waked up, and so they put fairy food in his mouth twice a day, and just let him alone, so that for several years he slept soundly, and by reason of being fed with fairy food grew tall and beautiful ; what was more strange, his clothes grew also. At the end of seven years a great Sayer of Sooth came by on his way to visit his fairy godmother, and when he heard PRINCE LITTLE BOY. 1 3 about Little Boy's sleep he stood still and uttered a loud Sooth. When Goody Two-Shoes heard it she was sorry, because it was told her that Litde Boy would never wake until he was carried back to the country of mortals, when he would wake up at once. Now by this time she had come to love him very much, and was sorry to part with him, because in seven years he had never spoken one cross word ! But Sooths must be obeyed ; so she sent for a gende giant, and told him to carry Litde Boy to the Queen's tailor and to dress him like a fairy Prince, and to set him down on the road- side near his father's house. Then when the giant took him up in his great arms, all sound asleep, she put around Litde Boy's neck a fairy kiss tied fast to a gold chain, and this was for o-ood luck. After this the giant walked away, and Goody Two-Shoes went into the house and cried for two days and a night. When the giant came to Common-Folks'-land, he laid Litde Boy beside the high-road and went home. Towards evening, the King's daughter went by, and seeing Litde Boy, who, as I have said, was now grown tall and dressed all in velvet and jewels, she came and stood by him, and when she saw the fairy kiss hanging around his neck she knelt down and kissed him. Then all the old ladies cried " Fy ! for shame !" but you know she could not help it. As for Litde Boy, he kept ever so still, being now wide awake, but having hopes that she would kiss him again, which she did, twice. As he sdll seemed to sleep, he was put in the Princess's chariot and taken to the King's palace. There the Princess told how he had been found at the roadside, and said that he must be in an en- 14 PRINCE LITTLE BOY. chanted sleep, and begged to have him put in the Museum ! At last, when every one had looked at him, they put him on a bed, and when morning came he opened his eyes, and began to walk around to stretch his legs. But as he went down- stairs he met the King, who said to him, " Fair Sir, what is the name of thy beautiful self?" To which he answered : " I am called Prince Little Boy." "Ha! ha!" said the King. •' That was the name of the bad brick-maker. Perchance thou art he." Then he called his guards, and Litde Boy was at once shut up in a huge tower, for the King was not quite sure, or else he would have put him to death at once. But after Litde Boy had been there three days he put his head out of a window and saw the Princess in the garden. Then he said, — " Sweet lady, look up." " Alas !" said she, " they have sent for thy mother, and if she says thou art Litde Boy they will kill thee, and, alas ! I love thee." " Ah !" he cried, " come to this tower at midnight, and cast me kisses a many through the night ; blow a kiss to the north, blow a kiss to the south, to the east, to the west, from the flower of thy mouth, and it may be that one will float to Fairy- land and fetch us help, for if not, I be but a dead man." All this she did because she was brave and loved him. She stood in the dark and blew kisses to the four winds, and then listened, and by and by came a noise like great wings, and all the air was filled with strange, sweet odors, the like of which that Princess never smelled again. At these things, being now afraid, she tucked up her skirts and ran away swiftly. ■_ r^^ PRIXCE LITTLE BOY. 15 -;7> . w \ As for Little Boy, he was aware of a giant who was as tall as the tower. " Sir," said the giant, " it is told me that you must keep your eyes shut until I bid them to open. I have brought the Kiss Queen to pay you a visit. No man has ever seen her ; for if he did he could never, never kiss or be kissed of any mortal lips." " Sir," said Little Boy, " the Princess is more sweet than any that kiss in Fairy-land." " Prince," said the giant, " your education has been but slight, or else you would know that all kisses are made in Fairy-land. But shut your eyes and stir not." Then Litde Boy did close his two eyes. At once he felt a tiny kiss from lips that might have been as long as one's finger- nail, and once he was kissed on each cheek and once on his chin, and then he felt faint for a moment. All was still for a while, until the giant said, "You are lucky. Open your eyes. Fair Sir," and went away. Next day all the people came to see the King try Litde Boy. When Litde B.oy saw his mother he was almost ready to cry, but he kept still and waited. Then the King said to her, " Tell me, is this your son ? and do not deceive me, or dreadful things will happen to you and to him." At this the eood woman looked at him with care. " This J 6 PRINCE LITTLE BOY. looks like my son," she said; "but it is not my son, because this young man has a dimple on each cheek and one on his chin. Who ever saw any one with three dimples ?" When the King heard this and Litde Boy's father declared also that his lost son had no dimples, the King bade them all <^o free, and said he had been now nine years angr)^ about those bricks, and that whoever would find the bad brick-maker should marry the Princess. When Prince Litde Boy heard this he said that he was the bad boy who had made those bricks. But the King was as good as his word, and ordered that the Prince should marry the Princess, and not have his head cut off, because the Princess did wisely say that a husband with no head wasn't much good as a husband. Therefore they were married that minute, and I have heard that they spent their honeymoon in Fairy-land. And this is the end of the story of Prince Little Boy. KING BEAR. — -^i-i^ — THIS is the true story of King Bear. His father was a wise bear. He was a great bear to talk, so that some of the things he said are looked upon as wisdom. For instance, he used to say to his children " Bear and For- bear;" but they did not mind this much, and fought one another. One day six of them were shot by a bad man and made into muffs. The only one left was sold to a show, and grew up very clever, and ate peanuts and drank ginger-pop out of a bottle, and could stand on his head and eat ginger- bread. He liked better to eat gingerbread when he was right end up, but as they only gave him gingerbread when he was upper end down, he got to like it, and so the more he stood on his head the more gingerbread he got. Being a wise bear, he knew that although he was up side down, the ginger- bread was not ; and this made him reflect on the foolish- ness of the people who laughed to see a bear stand on his head, and could not see that they were wasting their lauo-hter and orettincr no orinQ^erbread, whilst he was being nobly paid for walking on his fore legs, instead of like a man, on his hind legs. One day he heard two men talking about bears, and one of them guessed their old King Bear might have a good time 2 17 1 8 KING BEAR. if he was once loose among those wild bears, and this was what made him run away. One day, in the great Rocky Mountains, the whole menagerie stopped for a night on a hill, and the keeper got a man to take King Bear down to a spring to p'et a drink. This man, who did not know much about him, took hold of a rope attached to the great red belt around the bear's waist, in which, on show days, he carried a watch and a pocket-handkerchief. When King Bear saw the great hills, and smelled of the strong breeze from the pines, and thought of seeing the other bears, he got restless. By and by the man, who was a lazy fellow, tied the rope to his own ankle and fell asleep. But when he waked up he was going fast over the prairie after King Bear. The more things that man said the faster went King Bear, It was unpleasant for that man, and once he was jerked so hard that he hit a rock, and stood on his head a moment, so that King Bear thought to himself, "Surely that man is going to eat gingerbread." At last, when they were on a hillside, and the trees were few and the rocks many. King Bear began to find it pretty hard to pull that man. So he stopped and ate berries and drank some water, and then went back to look at that man tied to the rope ; but the man did not move any more, and did not say loud words. King Bear walked away again slowly, and the man was pulled along after him. Pretty soon King Bear went back once more and stood on his hind leers near that man and made a low bow, and this he did because always at the end of the show when he made a bow every one went away and left him alone. But it did not do any good this time, and the man just lay sdll and did not seem to want to go home at all. So then King Bear turned KING BEAR. '9 him over with his great paw, and was more puzzled than ever. After a while King Bear tried standing on his head, but the man did not laugh any, which was discouraging ; and when King Bear saw this he sat down on his other end, and looked at that stupid man ; but when it came into his mind that when he had stood on his head he had had no gingerbread to eat he saw why the man did not laugh. Then King Bear went away up the hill very slowly because he was tired. When King Bear got near the top he came to a deep crack in the rocks. He jumped over and fell down a steep place, where he swung to and fro, the man being on one side of the rock and King Bear on the other. At last the rope broke, and King Bear fell down through trees and over rocks, and into a lake. As soon as possible he crawled out and sat on a stump and felt his back all over, for he was very sore and bruised. After a while he gathered up the part of the rope still left, and said that he Qryessed now that man had o-one home. At this moment he heard a p^runt, and saw eleven bears walkino- alono- in a row. Each bear had hold, with his teeth, of the tail of the bear in front of him. " Now this is curious," said King Bear. So he rose up and grunted and made a bow, and at last, seeing that no one took notice of him, he stood on his head. At this the bear in front of all said, " Goody gracious !" But none of the other bears looked at Kino^ Bear, who said in a loud voice, — " What does this mean ?" "Alas!" replied the leader, "all the other bears you see, except myself, are blind." 20 KING BEAR. "What made them bhnd ?" said King Bear. "Alas!" cried the other, "they lost their eyes playing seesaw on the trees. Now, as I am a good bear, I offered to take them where they could get food. Kindly relieve me a moment, until we get to the top of the hill ?" " Of course, sir," cried King Bear. So when the second bear understood the matter he let go of Head Bear's tail and took so tight a bite of King Bear's, which was fat and long, that King Bear started off in haste. When he looked around he saw Head Bear trotting away laughing. " Halloo !" said King Bear. " Halloo !" said Head Bear. " Good-by." At this Kine Bear saw that he was tricked. "What do you want?" he cried to the bears behind him. "We want to go home," they all growled through their shut teeth. "Where is your home?" said King Bear. "We don't know," they answered; "we are all blind orphans. Take us home." " Ha ! ha !" said King Bear, " come along." And so saying walked into a lake until the water ran into their mouths, and they all let go, one by one. " Oh, my poor tail !" said King Bear. "It is chewed to bits;" and set off to punish Head Bear; but when he came near. Head Bear cried out, — " How clever you are ! Let us be friends. I will hunt for you until your claws grow sharp. You must be a King Bear." So then they shook paws, and Head Bear bit off the rope, KING BEAR. 2 1 and they had a jolly time hunting rabbits and eating berries. But by and by King Bear got tired, because the winter was near and every day Head Bear became more stupid and sleepy. One day King Bear ran away and left him. After walk- ing all day night came, and he saw that he was in a little town, but every one was asleep. At last, of a sudden, he smelled gingerbread, and having good eyes, saw it was in a shop-window. Without losing time he broke the glass, and ate forty-seven gingerbreads and quarts of peanuts. Then he knocked the bottles of beer about till they broke, and he licked up so much beer that he got very drunk, and fell down and went sound asleep. When he awakened he found that he was tied fast with ropes, and there were all the men who belonged to his show. I am sorry to say that his keeper beat him well with a stick because the people had made that unlucky man pay five dollars on account of his bear o-ettingf drunk in their town. But after that King Bear did not like gingerbread. MRS. GRABEM AND FUZ-BUZ. — -^i-i^ — MRS. GRABEM was a hairy spider who knit cobwebs and caught flies and brought up a small household of nine young spiders. When I first knew this happy family, and learned all the wonderful things they heard and did, their home was as pretty a place as a spider need want. Their web was spun to and fro across the crotch of an old apple-tree, and when they looked down they could see the green grass, and when they looked up they could see the great jolly red apples which must have looked to those young spiders just as the stars look to our own young folks. On one side of their web Mrs. Grabem had knit with great labor a long, dark cave all of cobweb, where the family slept at night, and where they lay trembling while the great winds blew and the tree rocked and bent. One fine breezy morning in June, when the leaves above were clapping their palms for joy at growing, and when the birds were tossing litde love-songs to one another, the old lady sat mending her web which a great wasp had broken. Meanwhile, the young spiders chased each other along one thread and down another and shook the dew from the web as they played. "-"lillg MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. "Ah!" said the eldest of them, as he saw it sparkle in the sun, " these must be the diamonds we have heard about." "No," said another, "they look to me blue; they are tur- quoises." " Geese !" said a third, who was on a distant part of the web, " they are drops of gold : any one can see they are yellow." At this they fell to abusing one another, when suddenly the old lady cried out, " Foolish children, if you change places you will see that each of you is right. You make me think of a tale which my grandmother used to tell me. It is a story which has come down in our family from your ancestor who gave Robert Bruce such very good advice without ever saying a word. You know that the King was looking at the spider when he was swinging a line, striving to fasten it. The spider having tried six times was about to stop, for before this spiders never tried more than six times. But when he looked up and saw the King he knew just what was needed to give him courage, and therefore it was that the spider made one more mighty effort, and so at last made fast the web, " Thus you see that our ancestor invented trying seven times, although I think the Bruce usually gets more credit than the spider. When this wise spider grew older he went to Spain in the helmet of the good Lord Douglas who was killed by the Moors, so that they got his helmet and your great-great- great-grandfather, who kept quiet enough in the darkest corner until he was carried to Granada, where he lived a long while and found the (lies many, and tender, and of good flavor. 24 MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. And this was one of his stories which he had gotten at Granada, when he lay among the Moors." Then all the young spiders listened, and the old mother spider began : " One night the King Almanzor was walking alone when he overheard three water-carriers gossiping. " ' I would not be the King,' said Amric, the first who spoke. ' Every morning before prayers I peep through a crack in the wall of the Palace garden, and always I see the King grave and sober, just when the sun is rising red and the birds are lauehine and tellinof their dreams. I would not be a King, to look sober at dawn every day in the year. A grave man is the King.' "'Bosh!' said the second, whose name was Hassan. 'The King is a sad man. He must have done some evil in his youth, for just before noonday prayers I look into the Palace o-arden from my window, and lo ! always the King kneels weeping at the great fountain which we call the forest of waters.' "'And I,' cried Amrah, 'think ye both wrong. A merry man is King Almanzor. For ever at evening, when the mina- rets call to prayer, I have seen the King at the fountain laugh- ing, always laughing, always glad. A foolish man must the King be to laugh at nothing.' *' ' He's too sober,' said one. " ' Too sad,' cried the second. " ' Too merry,' said the third. " ' Then each held to his own opinion, and abused the others, until from words they came to blows. MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. 25 "This roused the guard, who seized upon the whole three, and was taking them away, when the King whispered to the Captain to bring them to the Palace next day. " Accordingly in the morning they were brought to the King in the* garden before prayer time. " * I hear,' said Almanzor, ' that you talked of me last night. It is said that you think me sober, sad, and foolish.' " Not one of them answered. " ' I will think of your crime, and how you shall be punished. Begone, and return hither at noon.' " At noontide they were brought again to the King, who said to them gravely, ' You have abused the King. You shall die to-morrow.' "'Woe is me!' cried they all,, and as they were led away the King stayed weeping by the water's edge. " But at evening the guard took them out yet once more, and this time the King was merry, and the sound of music mocked their sadness. "'You are pardoned,' said the King Almanzor. 'Judge not lightly of me again. In the morning I reflect on the crimes which I have to judge, and then I am grave. At noon I condemn some to die, and then ever I weep. But at nightfall I pardon the least guilty, and then I am always glad at heart. Be ye also merry to-night, and to-morrow wiser.' "And thus saying, the King gave them a purse of gold and turned away." "What a little story," cried the young spiders. " Hush !" answered Mrs. Grabem. " Now I must mend this 2 5 MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. hole in our cobweb. But, bless me ! run to the den. Here comes a big fly." Quick as could be they all ran into the dark passage, and Mrs. Grabem stayed at the door. Pretty soon the fly flew near. He was a handsome gay fellow, all over gold and purple and sparkling in the sunlight. He thought he would have a litde of the nice gum which flowed from the apple-tree bark, so he flew nearer, but just as he alighted his legs caught in the net and then what a fuss he made ! Buz, buz, and pulled and bit, but it was in vain, for he was held fast by a long cob- web which allowed him to go a litde way but no farther. Then Mrs. Grabem ran out, and pulled at the web, and drew him near, when all the litde spiders began to sing, " We shall have a good breakfast." " What ! do you mean to eat me ?" said Fuz-buz, the Fly. " I never hurt you." "Oh, no," said Mrs. Grabem, "you will do us a great deal of good very soon. You are a queer-looking fly anyhow. I hope you won't disagree with my children. Where do you live?" "In Spain," replied Fuz-buz, proudly. "I am a Spanish fly." " Dear me !" cried one of the spiders ; " perhaps you can tell us some stories." " I know a thousand fairy tales," said Fuz-buz. "Oh, mamma!" said one fat little spider, " it would be a shame to eat a thousand stories all at once. Let us keep him until he tells us nine hundred and ninety-nine tales, and then we can eat him afterwards." MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ BUZ. 27 "That I call good advice," cried Mrs. Grabem, and at once she fastened the cobweb so that poor Fuz-buz could walk just a little way from the web and no farther. "And now," said she, "twice a day you must tell my chil- dren a story. But never let me find you trying to get away, or I will eat you in a moment." The young spiders could hardly wait. " Quick !" they cried, " a story !" " a story !" " What about?" replied Fuz-buz, glad to be spared. " Oh, about men, big men like Robert Bruce," said they, " and about a Princess too." " Very well," returned Fuz-buz. " Don't eat me, and I will tell you no end of stories, and the first shall be about LADY GOLDEN HAIR AND HER TWO LOVERS, PRINCE CLEVER AND PRINCE STURDY. " A long while ago, and far, far away, a lady lived who had such beautiful locks that the people named her Lady Golden Hair. Folks said that when she was little her fairy god- mother had so well woven three strands of sunshine with her curly tresses that it never got loose again, and I suppose this must have been so, because when at night she walked in the garden all the flowers woke up and looked about thinking the daylight had come. " All day long her maidens combed her hair with combs of CTold, and at evenine sano- to her of the beautiful Prince who would one day come across the seas and win her love for ever- more. MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. " Many came and looked into her deep brown eyes, but none suited her, and so she shook her golden hair, and they went their ways again. '* At length her father, the King, said she must make up her mind to marry somebody. " The Princess said, ' I will marry no one who does not own a Roc's ^'gg, and no one who has not kissed me, and no one who has not a lock of hair to show exactly like my own. And no one shall kiss me, and no one ever shall have a lock of my hair, and where on earth will any one get a Roc's ^g'g^. and so how shall I ever be married? No, I never will marry any- body.' "At this her father was in despair, but as he thought that perhaps some one might be bright enough to outwit the Prin- cess, he caused it to be made known everywhere that the Lady Golden Hair would marry the man who had kissed her, and who could show a lock of hair just like hers, and who owned a Roc's eoof. " When her lovers heard this they all cried and went away, except two who were named Prince Clever and Prince Sturdy. " Prince Clever was handsome and tall, and very cunning, because he was a Sorcerer's son ; but Prince Sturdy was brave and straightforward, and had honest eyes of his own which were brown as garnets and as steady as stars. "Now when these two heard about the Princess, and what must be done to marry her, Prince Clever said, ' I am so cun- ning that I shall be sure to succeed;' but Prince Sturdy said, ' Thorns are roses to those who love ! I will try.' "When the Princess saw them she wished silently that MRS. GRAB EM AND FCZBUZ. 29 Prince Sturdy might succeed ; still she only said, ' How foolish you both must be. Do either of you own a Roc's egg ?' and "then she bade them good-by and they kissed their hands to her and rode away by different paths till each of them entered a wood where they dismounted, and thought how to get a Roc's ^gg. 'Then,' said Clever, 'I see;' but Sturdy said, ' I will ride till I find one.' " About a thousand miles away, across a great sea, lived a Roc who had just laid an &gg as big as a house and as hard as marble. No one knew where she lived except a witch, to whose cave in a great hill Prince Clever rode swiftly. " Because he was a Sorcerer's son the witch came out to speak to him. But, meanwhile, Prince Sturdy having become lost in the woods rode on, until at nightfall he heard voices. "Then he alighted and clambered over the hill and lay quiet until he heard to his delight the witch telline Clever where to get the Roc's Qgg. "As quick as could be, Sturdy got on his horse and rode away as hard as ever a man could ride. By and by he came to the sea, where he hired a ship, and sailed many days to a desolate land where was nothing but hills of gray sand. " Here he went on shore and sent the ship back. Then, drawing his sword, he climbed a great sand hill and after two days reached the top. There he saw in a mighty nest the great &gg, as white and smooth as ivory. " As soon as the Roc flew away to get her dinner, the Prince came near and beean to crack a bie hole in the eortr with his sword. Presently all the insides of the egg ran out of the so MRS. GRAB EM A AW FUZ-BUZ. hole and nearly drowned him. When it was well emptied and the whole of it had flowed away to the sea, the Prince put his bag of cakes into the ^g^, and then his sword, and at last squeezed himself in. " He was just able to thrust his turban into the hole, when the Roc flew home to her nest, " When she left her nest once more, Sturdy made a nice little opening as big as a pea, so that he could just see throuoh it. And w^hat think you he saw ? " There were two ships on the sea, and Prince Clever with a hundred men. Very soon they came up the hill and began to push the ^g'''>'- GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. " ' Mahomet !' cried the Princess. ' The thing is bewitched ! Take it away !' " But as for Lehe the words were as sweet music to her, and, seizing the gourd, she placed it tenderly in the basket and carried it to her room. Here she implored it with tears to speak again, but in vain ; so that at last she was forced to leave it and return to the Princess. " Soon after she had gone Mustapha was aware of a rose- colored cloud in the room, out of which grew into shape the form of a huge Genie, which thus addressed him : " ' Know, frail mortal, that I am your guardian spirit. I have heard with pity of your sad fate and am come to give you a chance for life again. Perhaps what I shall do for you may render your position better. Unluckily, I cannot give to you once more your mortal shape.' " With these words the figure inclined towards him gravely, and touched his yellow cheek. He shuddered and lost con- sciousness. " What next was his amazement to find himself standing in the shop of Harim, the merchant. Presendy he began to look at himself with curious care. He had a gold head like that of a bird, with ruby eyes. His neck was of satin-wood, long and slim, while his clothes, which were stiffened with whale- bone and wire, resembled petticoats upside down. " ' Allah il Allah !' cried he. * What an existence !' "Just then a Dervish looking at him asked the merchant, ' What is that ?' " ' It is,' answered he, ' a Prankish device which the men in Frangistan carry to keep off the rain. Their women are only MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. 83 allowed to carry smaller ones, so they make up for that by bearing them about in fair as well as wet weather.' " ' A device of Eblis !' exclaimed the Dervish, and, mutter- ing a verse of the Koran, he walked gravely away. " By and by came the grand Purveyor of the Caliph. He was seeking new and curious things for the Princess, who was ill and refused to eat, so that day after day she became more feeble. " ' Ah !' said the Purveyor, ' this is a Frank tent. I saw them when I was Envoy to the court of Charlemagne.' "At this Mustapha blushed, for the officer seized him and began to expand his skirts so that his leg, for he had but one, was alarmingly exposed. "Very soon the Purveyor, having paid a good price, took Mustapha away to the palace, where he explained the uses of this portable tent. " ' This,' said he, ' is what the Franks, whom Allah con- found! call an umbrella, and the female of the thing they term a parasol.' " ' I shall need it not,' said the Princess Ellera. ' No sun will shine on me any more. On me no rain will fall. I shall die if I find nothinor that I can eat. " ' Take it, Lelie,' she cried. ' As thou hast lost thy gourd, take it.' " Upon this Lelie took Mustapha away and placed him in a quiet corner of her room. " Meanwhile, some days went by, and all the cooks tried in vain to please the sick Princess. All day long an army of slaves went past her bed, each bearing some rare dish or some 84 MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. luscious fruit, but still, alas ! in vain ; so that at length the doctors decided that if she did not eat within a day she would surely die. "Lelie, who was in great distress, left the Princess and went to her own room to weep alone. At last she arose to go out into the garden, thinking that perhaps the Princess might be tempted by a rose-leaf salad. " As she walked past Mustapha, he cried aloud, ' Take me.' " ' This is queer,' said she ; but when the words were re- peated she clutched the Prankish toy and ran out into the garden. Here she wandered long, but as evening fell she suddenly saw that a storm had gathered, "Before she could reach the palace, a wild gust of wind caught in Mustapha's skirts and nearly tore him from her hand. As she struggled, the wind expanded his petticoats, and at last crack went the wires, and then what do you think ? " Mustapha was turned inside out, and the umbrella was a man once more. " In a moment he explained everything ; but after he had kissed her twice she began to sob, for now she knew that he had escaped one evil fate only to light upon another as fearful. "'Ah!' she cried, 'a man! You, a soldier, in the gardens of the palace ! You will be put to death at once.' " ' No !' he answered, after thinking a little. ' Not if I can save the Princess. Let us go to the Caliph and confess all. Meanwhile, have no fears.' " Lelie at last gave her consent, and with trembling steps she left him, and seeking the Princess related their strange story. MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. 85 " In a moment all was confusion. A man in the harem ! " ' Bowstrings and sacks !' cried the captain of the guard, as he hurried Mustapha before the Caliph. " ' Wretch !' said Al Raschid, the Caliph, * who art thou ?' " ' A soldier,' said Mustapha. " ' Let him die !' cried Al Raschid. " ' Oh, Caliph,' answered Mustapha, ' in the land of the Genii it was given me once to learn secrets of the vile Franks, wherewith it may be that I can save thy daughter the Princess.' " ' Thou dost lie like unto a rusty weathercock,' said the Caliph ; ' but that none may say I am unjust, take this man to the kitchen. Let him do his best, and if he fail have him strangled instantly.' " * It is well said,' replied Mustapha. " Very soon he was left alone in the great kitchen of the palace, while all the strange things he had seen at the feasts of the Genii came back to his mind. " Presently he sought about him among the stores of pro- visions, and took from a basket those striped apples which grow by the brooks of Alkeldrina. "These he pared deftly and set each within a cup of wheaten dough, such as only the Caliph's farms can furnish. Therein he placed also the golden orange-peel and the spices of distant Borneo. Lastly, he sprinkled it within and without with the aromatic sugar of Turkan, and hanging each apple thus prepared in a silken net carefully cooked them. " When they were ready he placed them upon golden dishes, and threw over each a hail of snowy suoar and fragrant cinnamon, covering all with a handful of almond blossoms. 86 MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. " Then he called the guard, and with cimeters crossed over his head he was allowed to carry his dish to the Princess. As she looked languidly upon it he shook off the blossoms. "Then said the Princess, 'These be the roses of Para- dise which I do smell' " At these words he knelt down and offered the dish to the lady. Wonderful to tell, the Princess called for a silver fork and ate up the whole of the apples so greedily that she scalded her throat in the most dreadful way. " But between every mouthful she blessed poor Mustapha as the king of cooks, and from that instant she recovered so quickly as to disgust all the doctors, who went away saying that Mustapha was a quack. "Of course he married Lelie, and had a patent for making this wonderful dish, and was created Lord Marquis of Apple- butter and Duke of Dumplings, and lived merrily all his days." "That's a good story," cried the spiders. " Glad you like it," said Fuz-buz. " Now, if you please, I will sleep, as I am tired." In this pleasant way the days went by until Fuz-buz had told them nine hundred and ninety-nine stories. On this last evening he overheard the spiders talking as he lay tied by the leg in a deep dark crack of the apple-tree where he slept. " My children," said the old spider, " after Fuz-buz has told us one more story we will eat him. It will be best to wait until after dark, and then seize him on a sudden and kill him, for he is a very strong fly, and may give me trouble." MA'S. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. 87 They all agreed to this, excepting the youngest, who said it would be a shame to serve him so, and that they ought to let him go. But Mrs. Grabem replied, " You know nothing of house- keeping, my dear. Go to sleep and hold your tongue." When Fuz-buz overheard this, he was scared to death. All next day he was so sick that he could not tell even the shortest story. At nightfall, when the family had gone to their den, he sat on the tree near his cosey little crack and tried to gnaw the web which held him. Unluckily, it was too tough. When he was in despair, who should hum by but a huge Bee. " Halloa !" said he. "What's wrong with you ?" " Sir," replied Fuz-buz, " I am tied by the leg to this web, and am to be eaten to-night by a cruel monster of a spider who lives near, and who will overhear you if you do not speak in a low voice." " Who's afraid ?" said the Bee. " Which leg is it ?" " This," answered Fuz-buz. " Pshaw !" cried the Bee, and with that he twisted the web about his legs and gave a jump. Snap went the line, and Fuz- buz was free once more. Never a fly was so glad as he. " Sir," he said, " I am only sorry that you have not had the honor to slay this vile spider. Now, if you were to slip into this crack where I sleep, you would have a fine chance, because when Mrs. Grabem comes to eat me you could give her a pleasing surprise." "That's a rather jolly notion," answered the Bee. So he MRS. GRAB EM AND FUZ-BUZ. went down on the ground, and, after sharpening his sting on a smooth pebble, thrust himself deep into the crack where Fuz- buz was wont to sleep. But, as for Fuz-buz, the fly, he sat on a limb above and looked on. After a little, when it was dark, or nearly so, out came Mrs. Grabem slowly, and, crawling over her web, went down into the crack to murder poor innocent Fuz-buz. Presently she cried aloud, — "Oh, I'm dead!" which was true in a moment, for Sir Bee had thrust his long sword straight through her, and she had tumbled off the tree as dead as could be. At the sound of her voice all the young spiders ran out, and saw Sir Bee with his quick sword. In a twinkHng he stabbed them one after another, until he came to the youngest. Then Fuz-buz said, — " Halloa ! My friend, let this one go, for he was the only one who did not desire to kill me." " Sir," cried the youngest spider, " I do not wish to live, after you have killed my mother and all my brothers and sisters. Take that, sir!" So saying, he dealt the Bee such a crack that he was forced to stab him like the rest, and there, at last, was the end of all of them. As for Fuz-buz, he said, "Well, it's one spider less, and so many flies more. Spiders are of no use, and flies are." Meanwhile, Sir Bee wiped his sword and took up his bag of honey, feeling that he had done a clever day's work, while Fuz-buz flew away to Spain, and never could be brought to tell anybody a story, long or short, up to the end of his happy life. WOGO. — -^i-i^ — IN days when all men were young and all women younger, a ofreat Maeic man lived on the shores of the sea. Where he lived it was the In-between-land, and was not warm so as to make fruit and flowers, nor yet cold so as to freeze. This Magic man was a Manitou, and was called VVogo. He grew tired of In-between-land, and said he would go where there was more of something than in In-between-land. He went away north. The northland Manitous heard him coming, and made fires in the sky at night to scare Wogo. But he only laughed so loud that the sound broke branches from the trees. Then soon he felt cold, and the winter gods threw their white cloaks on the ground and said, " Lie down and sleep. These are soft." But Wogo cried out, " Begone !" and tore from the hills their tall scalp-locks of a hundred pines and dashed the snow about and tumbled the winter gods over the cliffs. At last Wogo came to a cave and went in. A cold chill struck through him, and he saw a white giant. " Ugh !" said the giant ; " you are Manitou of the In- ' The legend on which this tale is founded is to be met with in tlie interesting Algonquin legends of Mr. Charles G. Leland. 89 go JVOGO. bet we en-land. Come and sit by the fire, and let us tell tales of the Ice Gods of dead days." Wogo looked about, but saw no fire, — only a great pile of huo-e icicles like logs ; and from these mist arose with dense clouds of snow, which darted high in air, in great gusts with a sound like the roar and fury of flames. " I am too warm, my brother," said Wogo. " Your fire is great." " Ugh !" said the giant ; " I am he of whom the loons sing for fear when they fly away to the south." " Indeed !" cried Wogo. " Are you the Ice God ?" He was so cold that his teeth chattered, but he would not show it, and amused himself casting ice logs on the cold fire till the mists rose from it like a great cloud and covered the earth and great hail-stones darted from it like sparks. "Ah ha!" cried the Ice God. "Let us go forth and smoke." So they went out and sat on the hill with their feet in the valley, but their heads were in the clouds, and each plucked a red brand out of the northern lights to kindle his pipe. Then Woeo told the tale of how out of one creature — Cheplunk the turde — Glooscap the maker formed all ani- mals that walk or fly or swim. But when he had talked a month, and Ice God had listened, at last he was silent. Ice God said now it was his turn. So he sat upon the hill and told how Glooscap stole tobacco from Manitou's land and gave it to men ; and this story was long, and took two years, for Ice God hoped that Wogo would go to sleep and die of cold. But all the beasts loved Wogo ; and when he nodded the bear wo GO. 91 stole up and pinched him with his claw, and Kanecri the loon struck his eyes with his wing, so that two years he sat upon the hill and heard the Ice God. At last the giant had no more breath, and Wogo arose and stretched his legs, which creaked and cracked as when at night the ice snaps with a loud sound on the lake. " It is too warm here," he said. " I will go away, lest I scorch ; but come soon and visit me, and perhaps I can have it a little cooler than it is here." This made Ice God angry. " Stay," he said, " and I will tell you another tale. I was afraid I might have made you sleepy." But Wogo had no mind to hear, and went away home, crying to Ice God to come soon. Not long after, Ice God bade the snow wolf and the fog bear to go before him and breathe over his path so that when he came to the tall wigwam of Wogo it was winter before and around him. Then Ice God mocked Wogo. " Where is the blue sky?" he cried; "and I did hear that you had a yellow sun, and that after the warm rain came a painted bow of colors in the sky, and that you hunted with this the whales and hung them at your belt like trout." " Soon it will come again, my brother," said Wogo. " Then we shall hunt. Now let us tell tales and smoke." They lay down in the valley with their legs over the tops of the hills, and smoked so that the skies were darkened. " This," said Wogo, " is the story of the Loon, the Wood- pecker, and the Brown Bear." Ever since Woq^o came home he sat on the hills and oot Q2 wo GO. ready this story. The part about the loon took two years. Five hundred and thirty suns were needed for the wood- pecker, and eleven years for the brown bear. Ice King was too polite to stop Wogo. Nine years he smoked and listened ; at the tenth his pipe fell out of his mouth and he slept. Then Wogo called the loon Kanecri and bade him fetch the south wind; and soon came Yagara, the breath of the south, and stood by Ice God, and, breathing, cast magic on him, so that Snow Wolf and Fog Bear fled from between his knees, and Ice King sweated sorely, and at last melted to a river and ran howling to the sea. But Wogo only laughed, and overhead Kanecri the loon cried out, " Beware ! he will come again." "If that be so," said Wogo, "I will make another story." So he lit his pipe and made a new tale, which had no end and no beginning. PRINCE LAZY BOOTS AND THE PECK OF TROUBLES. -■^i-i^ THERE was once a Prince who lived in the farthest-off country in the world. He was very lazy and very pleasant. He liked to sit in the sun all day and chuck the modest liHes under their chins, and read the beautiful story of the Loitering Rose. He was too lazy to love anybody very much. One day the daughter of the chief of all the wise men came by and said, — " Why do not you love me ? I am beautiful." "It is too troublesome," said the Prince. "I don't mind being loved, and if I could find some one to court you for me 93 94 PRINCE LAZY BOOTS I might love you." And at this he yawned, and said, " It is so fatiguing to yawn." " Indeed !" cried the lady, and went away weeping. Then the fairy godmother at last advised that the Prince should travel. "For," said she, "dear Prince, then perhaps you may get rid of this terrible laziness." The Prince, whose name was Lazy Boots, said he was not sorry to go, because he was tired of everything and every- body. So next day he rode away on the slowest horse in the King's stable. At last, after he had seen many lands and found no place idle enough to suit him, he wandered off one day from his friends and came to a wood. Here he saw a donkey, who walked along in such a leisurely way as to charm the Prince. So he bought him of the man who was leading him, and at once got on his back, thinking how nice it was to be a lazy Prince, and to ride on the slowest donkey in all the world. He soon found, however, that his legs reached the ground, and that, except for the honor of riding on a donkey, he might as well have walked ; besides, if he lifted his feet, that donkey at once lay down. By and by this became unpleasant, and he got a stick and beat the donkey. But what was his surprise when the donkey began to talk. " Sir," he said, " when you beat a donkey, you should choose a donkey of your own size. You are very heavy." At this the Prince laughed, and said, "What a treasure I have in you ! You are certainly small, and you are delightfully lazy. I thought no creature was as lazy as I, but now I know better." AiYD THE FECK OF TROUBLES. 95 "Sir," said the donkey, "if you were underneath and I on top, you would be still more lazy." " Indeed !" cried the Prince, turning away to look for a larofer stick. But in a moment he cried out, " Oh !" for the donkey had suddenly jumped so cleverly on to his back that the Prince fell on his hands and knees ; and there was the don- key on top, very queer to see, and the Prince Lazy Boots underneath. " Perhaps you call this a joke," said the Prince. " Halloa ! what's that?" "That's my tail," said the donkey. "It's as thick as a rope, and never was any use before. Now it serves to whack a lazy prince." " Oh ! oh !" cried the Prince. " Get up," said the donkey. " How can I," groaned the Prince, " with you on top ?" " Well, that was what they always said to me. I do agree with you that it is a stupid way to say ' Go on.' " Whack went that tail, and the Prince crawled away on the road, which was bad for his beautiful velvet pantaloons. At last he could go no farther, and fell down, at which the donkey said, — " Stupid, why did you not do that at first? Really, you are too lazy to think," and so saying brayed good-by and trotted away. In a few moments the Prince began to look about for a way to leave the wood ; but he soon saw that it was enchanted, because, if he moved this way or that, all of a sudden there 96 PRINCE LAZY BOOTS was a tree in his road. After turning here and there, he saw an owl asleep on a large toadstool. "Sir," said the Prince, "will you kindly advise a lost traveller?" " Oh, what a joke !" said the owl, and fell asleep again. This made the Prince angry. "I'll teach you manners," he said, and at once pulled all the feathers out of that owl's tail. The owl said, "Don't!" and fell on his horny nose, sound asleep, because now he had lost his balance. By and by Lazy Boots came to a road. It was not a pleasant road, because it seemed to squirm about, so that at last the Prince remembered something and said, " In the country of the Wine of Shiraz the roads are alive." But it was no use to quote Hafiz, the poet, and so he grew more and more tired. At last he saw before him a dwar', whose nose was red and who stood with one hand pointed to the right. "Who are you ?" said the Prince. " I am a sign-post." " I see," said the Prince, who was so lazy that he could never be surprised. A litde farther on he came to a long man on his hands and knees across the road. "Who are you?" said the Prince. " I am a toll-gate. You look so solemn, sir, you must be a funeral. Funerals don't pay. Go on." So he crawled aside, and the Prince went on. He was too lazy to smile. AND THE PECK OF TROUBLES. 97 By and by the Prince came to a place where on each side stood rows of giants smoking pipes. He said to one, "Who are you ?" for he was too lazy to be afraid. The giant answered, " Speak louder ; I can't hear. I am too high up." The Prince thought how troublesome it was to have to roar at a high-up giant, and went on. Then he saw that there were ladders put against these giants' legs, and litde red men and women going up and down. " Sir," he said to one of them, " who are these big fellows ?" But the red man cried out, "Don't speak so loud ; you deafen me." " Bother such a country !" said the Prince. At last he came to a middle-sized man with a stick, and all around him twelve dwarfs. As the Prince came near, the man hit one of the dwarfs, who cried out, " Twelve o'clock," " And what on earth are you ?" said the Prince. " I am a clock. I am striking the hours." " And who are these big men ?" " Houses, sir." "But do houses smoke pipes?" " What a fool !" said the man. " Don't know chimneys when you see them." "Ha! ha!" said the Prince, "what bad manners," and walked on till he came to a square full of giants and little people. In the middle, on a giant's shoulders, was a blue dwarf, who kept saying, " Buy, buy ; what will you buy ?" Also here and there were men and women, who all looked surprised. Then the Prince saw that these people were the only ones who 7 c,8 PRINCE LAZY BOOTS bought. The reason why they bought was because if they did not the giants trod on their toes. All sorts of queer things that blue dwarf sold. " Here's a year for sale. Here's a year for sale." This an old man bought, and went away with it under his arm ; but the Prince seeing that no one paid anythmg, asked an amiable dwarf who stood near why this was. " Fair Sir," he replied, " they pay later on." "Just so," said the Prince, and listened, for the blue dwarf cried aloud, "Love, love; who will buy a full measure of love ?" At this a girl was pushed forward, and the giants smiled large smiles. The dwarf gave her a basket, which seemed heavy, and she went away contented. "That's a very cosdy lot," said the amiable dwarf. "Ah, ha!" said a giant away up in the air. "Ah, ha! What's next?" " A peck of troubles. Who'll buy ? A peck— a peck of troubles." No one seemed to want this ; but soon a giant trod on the Prince's toes. " Good gracious !" cried he ; "get off." Then the giant begged his pardon very large, just as if he had not meant to walk on him, and remarked that he'd better buy. Upon which all the other giants said together, " Yes, he had better buy." And this made a loud noise, and the auction dwarf cried out, "A peck of troubles. Going, going, very cheap ; partly damaged by fire ; a peck of troubles." Then a bright thought struck the Prince. Perhaps if I were AND THE PECK OF TROUBLES. 99 to own a peck of troubles I might lose my laziness and become sometime a famous King. A peck of troubles would really rouse a fellow. But just as he made up his mind a young man cried out, " I will take a peck of troubles." When the Prince heard this, he began to want that peck of troubles very much. " Ha ! ha !" said the blue dwarf. " Bid ! Bid !" " I will bid a bushel of laziness," cried the Prince. " Done," said the dwarf, and gave the Prince a bag. "There, there," he said, "is your peck of troubles. Pay some day ; credits are long in Fairy-land." Then all the giants laughed, and so did the clock and the houses. As for the Prince, he tied the peck of troubles, which was in a bag, over his shoulders and walked away. By and by he sat down because the bag grew heavy. "What a fool I was," he cried, "to buy troubles! Why, my laziness is trouble enough. How can I get rid of one trouble with the help of more ?" Then, remembering that his fairy godmother lived In that countr}^ he went back to the town, and soon saw a pink dwarf with his left hand stretched out. Of course now he knew that the dwarf was a sign-post. "Which way to Fairy Godmother Street?" asked Lazy Boots. " Straight down Squirm Street, up Wriggle Lane, two turns to the left, and there you are," cried the pink dwarf. " How nice to have sign-posts that talk," said the Prince, and went on until he reached that part of the town where the fairy godmothers lived. When he came to the caves in lOO PRINCE LAZY BOOTS which they made their homes, he saw a silver horn at the entrance. When you blew on this, your own fairy godmother was sure to come out. The Prince blew on the horn quite strongly, so that the echoes flew back and forward between the hills like birds. In a moment an old lady came out of the cave. She had queer- colored cheeks, all tints, like a changeful soap-bubble, and white hair, — white as clouds or sea-foam, — which fell about her shoulders. " My dear Prince," she said, " how lustily you blew. Surely you are getting less lazy." The Prince said this was encouraging, and began to feel active. "Ah, godmamma," he said, "at last I have done a wise thing. All my life I have lived in the cradle of luxury. I became lazy. I liked it. I have seen a donkey so lazy that I — well, really, it was no use to pretend to be as lazy as that donkey. I give it up. And to cut the thing short, granny, I got into Fairy-land, and bought a peck of troubles from a blue dwarf," "Indeed," said the old dame. "Why did you do that?" " Well," he answered, " suppose you have a peck of troubles. Don't you have to stir about to get rid of them? and isn't that just what I require?" " I see," she returned. " That was very clever of )'0u." " And now, godmamma, what advice would you give me as to this peck of troubles? Eight quarts one peck. Sixteen pints — sixteen pints of troubles. The fact is, I begin to think that a quart or two might answer my purpose, and I am AND THE PECK OF TROUBLES. loi very much afraid to open the bag. Suppose they all come out at once. How many troubles go to make a quart, granny ?" " Eleven and a quarter in Fairy-land," she replied, " when you are old, but only two and a half when you are young." "I had better not wait," said the Prince. "The older I grow, the worse they will be." Then he laid the bag on the o-round. and beean to think about it; but while he rolled it all over in his mind his godmother went to the cave and blew the horn. Out came a fat godmother with two young god- mothers hanging out of her apron-pockets. "Oh dear!" they said; "what a sweet Prince! Why is he sad ?" " He has bought a peck of troubles because he is so lazy that, perhaps, before he is able to get rid of all these troubles he will have to bestir himself. He is so lazy that he has a man to ask another man to yawn for him." Then they all gave him advice. " It would be cowardly not to open the bag." "It would be foolish to let them out." "Take it back. Sell it." " Was it very dear ?" At this the Prince got angry, and cried out that Fairy-land was a poor place to get advice, and said that he would go home and consult the wise men as to what he should do. So he went away. By and by his load became heavy ; but he kept on, and soon was in a great sweat and very tired. "Dear- me!" he said ; " if this is the beginning, what shall I do when t open the bae?" I02 PRINCE LAZY BOOTS At last he met a Goblin. " Sir," he said, " carry my bag a day and I will give you four pieces of gold." But the Goblin said, " I know that bag ; it has been on its travels before. Every man must carry his own troubles." At this the Prince started afresh, but by nightfall resolved to be rid of his load, and so tied a stone to the bag and threw it into a lake, and fell down half dead with fatigue and slept. Next day, on awaking, he rubbed his eyes, for there was a laro-e fish standing on his tail before him. In his mouth he held the bag of troubles, which he let fall at the Prince's feet. "Sir," he said, "I return the bag you seem to have lost." The Prince said he was much obliged, which was polite, but not true. Soon after he shouldered the bag and went on. That night he slept at an inn, and there he left the peck of troubles under his pillow when he went away. But an hour afterwards the honest landlord overtook him, and said, all out of breath, " Here is the bag you left," on which the Prince had to give him a piece of gold as a reward. Seeing that it was quite useless to try to be rid of his burden, the Prince went on until, after many days, he came to the palace, where there was great rejoicing, and where he told the Kine all of his famous adventures. After this there was much counsel as to what should be done about the bag. The head astrologer was a very wise man. He said, " When you have troubles, and when you do not know what troubles your troubles are, there are no troubles so troublesome as those troubles. That is my ad- vice." Every one said this was noble wisdom. AND THE PECK OF TROUBLES. 103 The second wisest man said, " Better to burn the bag," but the fairy godmother, who had now come to court, cried out, *' What, cruel man ! Suppose the peck of troubles should be alive? How cruel to burn it." But at last the Prince said he would think about it, and took the bag away with him. As he walked down the garden, he met the daughter of the chief of the wise men. This beau- tiful lady was dying of love for the Prince ; so, being moved by his sadness, she said, "What is it?" but did not raise her veil. "Lady," he cried, "I am unhappy. I have not the courage to open my peck of troubles, because yesterday I saw you, and now life has become sweet. And what if there should be death in that bag ? Noiu I fear to lose my life ; once I did not care." " Sir," she said, " death is not a trouble. Moreover, this is a peck of troubles ; and if death be one, of what account are the rest," " Oh, daughter of the wise," he answered, " I shall take courage." But still he did not open the bag, and grew more and more sad every day. At last one afternoon he fell asleep in the summer-house among the lily gardens, and soon the fair lady came by. " Alas !" she said, " where is my Prince ? He thinks of nothing but that peck of troubles. Ah ! ha !" she exclaimed, seeing him asleep, and the bag hanging to a chair-back. " My lord dreams ill dreams," for truly his face was awry and the bag getting now big and now small. "I wonder what is in it?" said the Princess. "I will see for myself." So she took out her little scissprs and cut open I04 PRINCE LAZY BOOTS that bag. Out hopped nine crows and said caw and flew away. "Dear me," cried the Princess, "are those what troubles are Hke?" Then she pulled the bag over her head, and as it was a fairy bag she soon stretched it to cover herself all over ; and when this was done she tied it on the outside, which could not have been done with any but a fairy bag. " Now," she said, " I am a peck of troubles." When the Prince awakened, he rubbed his eyes. Some- times the bag had been little and at other times big, but now AND THE PECK OF TROUBLES. 105 it was huge. Still he knew he must carry it, because no one can get rid of fairy troubles. But at last he cast it on the ground, — it was so heavy, — and gave it a kick. Then the bag said, "Oh!" "Indeed," cried the Prince, and so saying sat down, very tired. Then by and by the wise men came out and sat about and thought wisdom. At last, out came the court fool. When the Prince had heard a good deal of advice from the wise men, he said, " In the words of the poet, ' Foolishness is the wisdom of the desperate.' What counsel, Sir Fool, hast thou ?" " Whether, Prince," said the fool, " I counsel well or ill, wilt thou do it ?" "Surely," said the Prince, "the words of wisdom have been but as wrinkled melons. I will do as the fool says." " Take, then, thy sword, oh Prince, and plunge it into this stupid bag." "Ha! ha!" cried the Prince; but as soon as he drew his cimeter loud cries arose from the bag, which was rent to pieces, and forth came the daughter of the wise man, the beau- tiful Lady Slipper, who, being very clever, cried out at once, — " See, Prince, your peck of troubles." At this he was well pleased, and married the lady ; and if it was a Hen peck of troubles or not, who can say ? THE CURLY FISH. — -^i-i^- — ONCE upon a time there lived in Upper Persia a great King, called, in the language of his realm, El Knobb, or the Mighty. In despite of golden palaces and gardens populous with roses, the Caliph El Knobb was the most un- happy of men, because, with every other blessing, Allah had failed to grant to his old age the kindly gift of children. At last, one fine morning, the Caliph became the happy father of twin Princes. Their birth was announced with sound of trumpet and cymbals, and all the wise men of the empire con- sulted the stars as to the future career of the litde strangers. It was wonderful how long it took the Magi to do their small sums in astrology ; one would really have concluded that they worked by the day. At last a day was set, and the Muftis, and Bismillahs, and Bashful Bazooks, and other great folk came to hear. The throne was placed in the great hall of the palace ; and the astrologers, fat with star-gazing, and all the officers and guards, stood up on either side. In the distance were the common folks, who kept up such a wonderful thump- ing of their heads on the floor, by way of reverence, that it sounded like a regiment of soldiers tumbling down-stairs. At last the gongs sounded, and twelve slaves came into the hall carrying a great shield of gold ; upon this stood four huge io6 THE CURLY FISH. iq; negroes clad in scarlet, and bearing aloft the ivory cradles of the young Princes, On a sudden the negroes leaped down, never so much as shaking the precious weights which they carried. The cradles were set at the foot of the throne, and Abou Ben Muff, the chief Magician, having bumped his head on the floor many times, began to unroll the decree of the fates. Abou Ben Muff was an astrologer of wondrous note. He was tall and of goodly frame, and had a beard so long that the middle of its length was tucked into his slippers, and the ends hung over the arms of pages who never came nearer him than ten feet. His eyebrows were curled about his ears, and his nose was hooked like the cimeter of Mahomet. Having cleared his throat seven times, Ben Muff began : " Oh most potent Lord! scourge of unbelievers! Allah has sent thee children, and lo ! we have read their fate in the stars wherewith Allah has sown the furrows of heaven. On the first night of our watch we saw in the sky signs and wonders. By these we read that Allah will soon take back his gifts, — thy children will die young." Then arose a wail and tumult. The Bashful Bazooks bel- lowed, and the Caliph swore high Persian ; the people groaned and the two little babies squealed. At last the Caliph arose with a troubled and sorrowful look. "Oh Allah," said he, "so mean a thing as the grass springs, waves green in the wind of summer, and is gathered in its due season. The grain that you send us is fruitful ere it dies ; it cannot be that I shall lose my children before they have grown into the ripe fruit of useful deeds. Woe is me ! How can these things be ? Send me, oh I08 THE CURLY FISH. Allah, better counsel." With this the Caliph and all the people bowed down in prayer to Allah, Suddenly a fearful roar of thunder shook the palace ; at the far end of the great hall the people swayed to and fro, and at last huddled into groups agfainst the walls. Then were seen two criants, clad in flowinor robes of cloudy lightness. With steps that sounded like the crash of the doors of paradise when they close against the sinful, and with eyes like flaming sapphires, and heads erect, they strode towards the Caliph's throne. They paused beside the cradles of the young Princes, who lay hushed for very fear. All was silent ; no one moved. At lencrth one of the strangers said, "Speak!" and at his voice the walls trembled, and the plumes on the soldiers' casques shook as with the blast of the north wind. "Speak!" echoed the second giant. "You have asked for counsel from Allah, and lo ! we are here." With this the Caliph took courage. "Allah il Allah," said he, "send us thy wisdom. Will my children die in their youth ?" " No," said the giants, and with that the two tall figures knelt down beside the Princes. Then each drew from his ofirdle a bright arrow which he laid upon the breast of one of the twins. As the giants rose up, their knee-joints cracked like the sound of breaking palm-trees, and with awful steps they walked together down the hall. In a moment they were gone, no man knew how or where. When the Caliph recovered from his great wonder a little, he went down from his throne, and, with a trembling hand, lifted the arrows from the bosoms of the twins. Upon the one which was of silver he read deeply graven, El Starr. On the other, which was of clear crystal. El Meteor was written. " Lo !" said he, "these be the names which Allah THE CURLY FISH. 109 hath given my children, but who shall read the riddle ? The arrow of El Meteor is keen and bright, and plumed with golden feathers. The arrow of El Starr is also sharp, but has no feathers on the shaft." " Give me a bow," said a young Magician to the Caliph. " I will read the riddle of Allah." "It is well," said the Caliph; "a bow." With that the young man ordered the hall to be cleared, and seizing the plumed and crystal arrow of El Meteor, fitted it to the bow-string. " Most noble Caliph," said he, as he raised the bow, " I will aim at yonder pillar." Upon this he drew the bow to its utmost arc, and like a line of light the arrow flashed through the parted air, and true of aim struck the pillar fair in the middle ; but with a sudden crash the fragile weapon broke upon the hard wood, and fell in a thousand splinters on the marble floor. " It is well," said the Magician, as he placed the arrow of EI Starr upon the bow, and once more drew the string. With a crooked leap the featherless shaft quitted the string. Whiz ! it flew up against the ceiling ; bang ! it came down upon the gouty toes of the great Abou Ben Muff, and at last, with an awkward jump, fell at the feet of the Caliph. " I see," said the Caliph, as it fell. " Great is Allah ! Keen, swift, well aimed, and fragile. Tough, sharp, aimless, and lucky: such shall my children be, Allah il x^llah." He at once ordered the head Magician to be choked with his own long beard, and promoted the wise young Soothsayer to the place of head astrologer. As the years fled away, men forgot the strange genii, and the I ] o THE CURL V FISH. royal twins grew up into stately young men. Both were tall and strone; but it was El Starr who best knew the Koran ; it was El Meteor who threw the lance with most unerring aim. El Meteor was noted far and wide for his courage in the chase, and for the headlong and thoughtless ardor with which he plunged into danger. His brother, on the other hand, was of a wavering nature, ever doubtful of success, and therefore ever unsuccessful in his pursuits, yet was he so kindly that to be with him was an endless lesson in goodness and honor. He was so gende, indeed, that by some men he was thought to be wanting in courage. Now it happened that Abou Ben Muff was yet alive, although he had been condemned by the lips of the Caliph himself. When the executioner was about to tie his long beard about his neck, the wily old fox gave the long hair a jerk, and the whole huge forest of beard, whiskers, and moustaches came off " Lo !" said he, "it is false ; how can I now be strangled with my own beard ?" The case was so plain that the astrologer escaped the fate that had awaited him. Very soon he regained his place in the Caliph's favor, and lost no chance of poisoning the Caliph's mind against the young Princes, and chiefly against El Starr. When the twins were just twenty-one years old, the empire of El Knobb was suddenly invaded by a great army, composed of two populous tribes called the Kurds and Wheys. It seemed that the King of these tribes had a daughter of such marvellous beauty that the flowers grew ashamed of them- selves as she passed, and the stars of heaven sang hymns in her praise. From neighboring kingdoms and from lands be- yond the sea great lords and princes came to woo her. Their THE CURL Y FISH. 1 1 1 sails of silk, and their ships with golden cordage, crowded every port in her father's realm, so that men ceased to say- Allah il Allah, and began to swear by the eyes of Elula, the Beautiful. Among her lovers was the young Prince, El Me- teor. Every week he visited her father's palace, and urged his suit with all the ardor of his nature. Nothing so much angered him as the presence of other suitors. Seventeen of them he slew in single combats ; and one fine night he attacked their ships as they lay at anchor, and burned them up, silk sails, o-olden rigging, sailors, and cooks. Swifdy then he sailed away under cover of the darkness, and the King of the Kurds and Wheys had nothing to do but to growl and smoke his chibouque, for nobody knew who had done it. Before long, however. El Muff came to know of it, so he tucked up his robe and repaired to the study of the other twin, El Starr. " High and Mighty Prince," said the Magician, " I am here to serve you. Do you not know that it was your brother, El Meteor, who burned up the ships of the princes who came to woo Elula?" " It is so," said the Prince, for he had thought as much. "And do you not see," continued the star-gazer, "that any one who will tell this to the King of Kurd will ruin El Meteor's hopes of the Princess ?" " It is so," cried El Starr. " Suppose," added the astrologer, " that you were to do this, would it not be a good way to win the Princess yourself?" " Ho !" said El Starr, in great wrath ; "begone !" and with this he seized a stick, and pursued Abou Ben Muff until he lost sight of him in the palace gardens. I I 2 THE CURL Y FISH. Shortly after this attempt to make mischief, El Starr warned his brother of the astrologer's wicked plots. When the astrol- oger found that his efforts to cause evil blood between the twins had failed, he took care to make things as bad as he could by telling the King of Kurd who had burned the ships of his daughter's suitors. The King cursed in Kurdish, and El Meteor was forbidden to visit Elula on pain of death. No sooner did El Meteor receive the news than he raoed like an angry hornet, and, calling for his horse, went fiercely away to the chase. The first day he did nothing but vow vengeance ; but on the second he killed eleven hippopotami, a young dromedary, and four lions, which so comforted him that he returned home in rather a pleasant humor. " Bismillah," said he, as he rode along, " Allah has made an abundance of women; why should we mourn?" Perhaps If the Princess had returned his love he would have been less easily pleased. One fine morning not long after this the Princess Elula walked with her maids on the banks of the river w^hich lay between the land of Kurd and that of El Knobb. Like a fleet of fairy ships the purple and silver lily-flowers floated by thousands on the water. "These be shells that swim," said Elula ; " let us wade in and gather them." Her attendants begged her not to do so ; but the Princess was wilful, and would have it that she must wade into the water without in the least heeding their words, or caring for her clothes. " It is great fun," said the girls who were with her, and their white feet twinkled clear in the water, and trod on pebbles which actually rolled about in delight. "Isn't it nice?" lauehed the girls, and they waded in yet farther and farther, while seven THE CURL Y FISH. \ \ 3 old ladies whom they had left on shore were seized with hys- terics fearful to see. " Come, come," said Elula, " here be the cities of lilies." Suddenly a cry of fear arose in place of mirth. From beneath a thick grove near by, on the margin of the stream, a black boat shot out into the river. On the bow a fiery eye glared red on the Princess, and in the stern an ugly hump-backed Dwarf sat in silence. Like a swift javelin thrown by an unseen hand, without sail or oar it shot towards the Princess ; beside her the boat stopped, dashing foam upon her as she stood. " Come, thou art mine !" cried the Dwarf. "Never! Allah, help me!" screamed the Princess. At the name of Allah the Dwarf scowled so darkly that the waves whereon his image fell flashed into a foam of fright. " Allah ! Allah !" cried the lady, for she knew that so long as she called on Allah the Dwarf could not touch her. " Allah !" cried she, panting with fear, while the fishes nibbled and kissed her little white toes. " Bosh !" said the Dwarf, and on a sudden dashed such a handful of water in her face that presendy she talked nothing but mouthfuls of water, and could cry Allah no longer. Then with a yell the Dwarf seized her by the hands and drew her into his boat. At once the red eye on the prow glared redder, the boat almost sprung through the water, and the foam was dashed up so high before the cleaving prow that it hung one constant arch of light above the boat, and fell in crystal drops far astern upon its snowy wake. No eagle's flight is swifter; on and on, beyond the lilies, around the farthest hill, into the sunset, lost, lost, lost ! Before 8 1 1 4 THE CURL V FISH. the last ripple broke on the bank, seven-and-tvventy maids of honor fainted. Six old nurses stabbed themselves with their scissors, and all the rest yelled murder in fine contralto voices. Who shall describe the wrath of the King of Kurds ! Troops of horsemen swept wildly along the river-banks, swift caiques fled arrowy across its bosom. Every thicket was searched, every house opened, and the newspapers were allowed to print nothing which did not begin with " Lost, strayed, or stolen." All was vain. The court went into mourning ; and the maids of honor, having told all that they knew of the matter, were condemned to hold their tongues forever after on pain of death. Besides this cruel punishment, all the old women in the harem were forbidden to knit from that day forward, and shopping of every kind was positively prohibited. Still the King was unsatisfied, and remembering how Ben Muff had befriended him with regard to the matter of the burned ships, he sent for that illustrious old Soothsayer. " Good," said Abou Ben Muff, as he read the letter, which was handed to him by a trusty messenger. " I will attend his Highness." That night, at a late hour, he wrapped himself in his cloak, and, pulling his turban over his brow, stole into the sleeping- chamber of the young Prince, El Meteor. With a careful hand the astrologer took the Prince's sword from beside his bed, and, rolling it in the folds of his cloak, crept silently out of the palace. With rapid steps he gained his horse, which was tied near by, and, throwing himself into the saddle, galloped away through the darkness. For six hours he urged his rapid course, until he saw with joy the bright waves of the THE CURLY FISH. \\ river shining in the moonUght. In a moment he stood upon the shore. With El Meteor's sword-point he drew a circle on the sand, and, bowing his head, he muttered some mystical words. A fierce, rushing sound was heard ; a red point ot o-rowinof lieht was seen in the distance. Near and more near it came, until the red eye of the Dwarf's boat glared wildly on the wet sand at the feet of the Soothsayer. " It is well," said he, and stepped into the little vessel. Whiz ! and away it flew, the Dwarf in silence scowling on the water, his master standing erect and calm upon the prow. Midway on their course, Abou Ben Muff lifted the cimeter of El Meteor, and, with a vigorous cast, threw it far away into the channel of the river. The bright rubies on its handle glittered in the soft pale light, and with a graceful curve the trusty weapon sunk into the stream. Before the day was over, Ben Muff presented himself at the throne of the Kurdish King. The King, without delay, told him of his desire to gain some knowledge as to the wretch w^ho had made away with the Princess. "She is eone," said the astrolos^er; " vou will see the maiden no more." "Woe is me !" cried the King. "Who is it that has taken from me the joy of my age ?" "Who shall say?" answered Ben Muff. "I know not. Why should you believe the lying tongues of your harem ? Doubtless the maiden is drowned, and, to save their necks from the bow-strine, her women have souo-ht to hide her late.'* " But what to do ?" said the King. "Search the river," said Ben Muff. The King was not very well pleased with the answer; but, 1 1 6 THE CURL V FISH. hiding his chagrin, he loaded the astrologer with gifts, and so sent him away rejoicing. Before a week had passed, the Kurds and Wheys had raked the river from mountain to sea. Four dead camels were the sole proceeds. Upon this the King sent word to Ben Muff that he was nothing more nor less than a cheat, and only wished he might just lay his hands on him. "Look again," was the only reply the astrologer deigned to make. " Allah il Allah," said the King ; and one hundred thousand men dug a new channel, and for fifty Persian miles they turned the tortured river from its bed. At last a lucky workman found the bright sword of El Meteor. It was sent to the King. " Is this all ?" cried he. "We have found," said the officers, "eleven more dead camels, six sheep, plenty of fish, and this cimeter." "We have doubled the national debt," said the King, "and got some dead catde and an old blade." With that he drew the sword from its jewelled sheath, and saw written on the blade, " I am the slave of the Prince El Meteor." " By Mahmoud ! the star-gazer hath brilliant counsels," said the King. " Not content with burning the ships of my guests, this young rascal has stolen my daughter." Therefore with horse and foot the King of Kurds invaded the hapless land of El Knobb. In vain the Caliph protested, and El Meteor swore that he had not set eyes on the Princess for a year at least. The King would believe no one, and the astrologer chuckled, while blazing villages marked the path of the invading army. THE CURL Y FISH. \ \ 7 Meanwhile, El Meteor raised a great force, and with his brother went out to do batde with the angry Kurds and Wheys. What between El Meteor's rash courage and the wavering temper of El Starr they lost seventeen pitched batdes, and their fine army was brought down to a mere hand ful of men. With these they retreated into the hills, carrying away with them the old Caliph, and leaving the Kurds in pos- session of the capital. El Meteor, almost sick with rage, sallied out upon his foes from the mountain fastnesses, now by day, now by night, so that they began to find their conquest no very easy posses- sion. One day, however, an ambush was laid, and the young Princes were surrounded by an overwhelming force. El Starr was, as usual, undecided as to what should be done, — at one minute thinking of surrender, at the next wishing to fight to the death. El Meteor cut short the parley by crying his war cry, and plunging headlong on the enemy. Like a great sea that closes over a sinking ship, the waves of battle closed upon the brothers. Now up, now down, a thousand crooked cime- ters waved and flashed around them. Night came on, and sdll faint and weary, behind the growing heap of dead, they fought despairing. At last it was over, and the quiet little stars throbbed with sweet pity as they looked down upon the battle-plain. By and by a single wounded wretch dragged himself out from the mass of hacked and bleeding men. It was the Prince El Starr. "Woe, woe," wailed the wounded Prince, " woe is me, oh, brother !" At a rivulet near by. El Starr slaked his burninq- thirst; and having cleansed the Il8 THE CURLY FISH. clotted blood from his many wounds, began to turn over wearily the pile of death. At last the pale face of El Meteor was seen by the Prince. He was lying by himself, and on his bosom rested the shattered fragment of a crystal arrow. Sadly, El Starr drew the body into a thicket near by, and, cov- erino- it over with big palm-leaves, took the sword of the dead man, and, leaning on its handle, staggered faintly and mourn- fully up the mountain-pass. The news of his son's death sadly affected the old Caliph, whose followers had all been killed, or else had fled away, saving only El Starr; as for Abou Ben Muff, he had gone over to the invader. The Caliph's grief was disturbed by the sound of the Kurdish drums, and to- gether the father and the son fled away farther into the hills. At length they found refuge in the hut of a shepherd, and here in disguise they rested until the wounded Prince was restored to health and vigor. One day the Caliph called his son to his side, and thus addressed him : " It is plain, my son, that until the lost Princess be brought back to her father, we cannot hope for safety, and yet less for a return to our much loved home. I am near to death, and would not wish to die an exile. I have long be- lieved that the Princess was spirited away by evil genii who dwell on the farther borders of our kingdom, in the land of Al Mudd. There the sun sits forever on the horizon's verge, and there gigantic cranes wander in search of travellers, across deep morasses rarely tracked by human feet. But I dread to tell you all the terrors of this fearful land. Have you the courage to seek the lost Elula ?" For a moment the Prince paused to think, ever doubtful THE CURLY FISH. 119 of his own prowess. At last he rephed, " I will go, but I fear that I shall not succeed." "My son," said the old Caliph, "doubt is the father of failure, and the grandfather of disgrace. I charge you lay It aside ; it has already proved the bane of your life. Now, as a father, I bid you to go." With that the old man kissed the forehead of El Starr, and, placing in his girdle the silvery and plumeless arrow with which the genii had foretold his char- acter, bade him adieu. "I will go to-morrow," said El Starr. "To-night or never," answered the Caliph. "Go; and I will await your return in this secure and quiet retreat." With a heavy heart the young Prince girded on his brother's sword, and, placing the Koran in his bosom, began to climb the mountain. Twenty days he travelled onward over huge snow-clad hill's; many great rivers he crossed, and thus living on berries and roots, at last descended from the hills and stood on the shores of a huge ocean. All was desolate and barren ; there was not a human home within sight. Before him lay only a waste of wind-worried waters. Far away he could just detect a cloudy strip of distant land, the wild and mysterious land of Al Mudd. How was he to reach it ? Full of uncertainty, he seized a log from the beach, proceeded to roll it into the water, and then, grasping one end of it, he tried doubtfully the depth of the shelving shore. After wading some distance, the water came up to his neck, and his heart began to fail him. " Fool that I am !" cried he, " to think of fording the sea." The doubt came too late, for the wind was blowing from off 120 THE CURLY FISH. the land, and the unfortunate young man soon found himself obliged to swim. To his horror the land seemed to recede, and before long he and the log, his sole hope, were fast drift- ing across the stormy surf. For eight long hours he held on to the mouldy trunk, and as night fell, and the moon rose, he saw before him the long low line of the enchanted land. Just as the last relics of strength were leaving him, his feet felt the shore, and with a cry of joy he welcomed the huge billow that rolled him, crushed and bleeding, upon the sloping beach. How long he lay there it were hard to say. By and by, how- ever, he awakened, and drawing from his vest a flask of Shiraz wine he drained it to the last drop ; and having thus gained a little strength, got up on his knees, and taking out the Koran, thanked Allah for his saving mercy. " Well may they call me ^aimless and lucky,'" said he; and thus saying, arose and began to look about him. It was, in truth, a fearful land. Before him lay one long and wide morass flecked here and there with pools of black and stagnant water and patches of lono- rank o-rasses. Upon the far horizon sat the never-chang- ino- sun, an orb of fiery gold that stared through sullen masses of cloud, which now and then trailed across his scarlet breadth long strips of darkness like the iron-barred visor of a Prank- ish knight. Before the Prince all was unutterably silent, be- hind him the wailing sea sobbed as it climbed the gradual shore. El Starr mused a little, and tightening his sword-belt, began cautiously to pick his steps over the black and oozy marsh. It was no easy task : at every step he plunged to the knee in the soft slime. As his strength failed, he sunk deeper and deeper, until at last he found himself waist-high and com- THE CURLY FISH. 121 pletely exhausted. Just then a great shadow hid the sun, and looking towards it he saw a sight which appalled his very soul. A monstrous crane, or stork, some thirty feet high, and with legs like palm-trees, was bounding over the marsh and rapidly nearing him. Presently the bird saw him, and with a cry of delight alighted beside him. " Well," thought El Starr, " I had better put a good face on it;" so he cried out, ''Halloo, there, stranger, help a poor fellow." "Boo!" said the stork; "you are in a fix. Come, clean yourself; I want to eat you ;" and at this he hooked the Prince's neck betwixt two of his toes, and jerked him out from the mud with a great noise like the sound of a cork coming out of a bottle. " You are thin," said the Stork, as he rolled El Starr over with his foot. " Too thin to eat, I hope," said the Prince. "I have eaten worse," said the Stork. "Come, undress; I've no notion of digesting your clothes. Hurry yourself; I am almost starved." "You can't eat me without salt," cried El Starr, in perfect despair. At this moment the Stork saw a man riding calmly over the morass. "Look !" said he ; " there comes the Magician." "Who?" asked the Prince. " Some folks call him Ben Muff," said the bird. " He will turn you into a sheep if he catches you." "Eat me, then," cried the Prince, "and be done with it." But the rider approached so rapidly that the bird had no time for his meal; so he said, "I'll save you up a litde," and. 122 THE CURLY FISH. bending down, seized El Starr, and whipping him under his wing, shut it down again upon his prisoner. El Starr was almost smothered ; but managing to separate the feathers a little, he peeped through, and saw that the horseman was indeed our old friend Ben Muff He drew rein at a short distance, and thus addressed the Stork : "Well, my pet, how are you ?" " Hungry!" said the bird, with a voice like that of a bull. "What's the matter with your left wing?" " I've an indigestion," answered the Stork. " I ate three babies this morning; they have disagreed with me," "I always told you," said Ben Muff, "you didn't chew your food enough. Go to the castle now ; I have a mufti there for your supper." " Good," said the bird, and instantly began to bound over the wet ground with steps that measured twenty feet at the very least. After running thus for some hours, the Stork came near a great flock of similar birds, who hailed him from a bit of dry ground near by. Our friend, the Stork, flapped his vast wings by way of greeting, and in consequence El Starr turned two somersaults in mid air and fell plump into a bed of mud, which thus broke his fall. Finding himself so happily forgotten, he wriggled into the marsh, and, leaving his nose exposed, he covered one eye with a knot of grass and awaited the result. After a little, the Stork came back, and took a good look for his lost dinner. Alas ! it was gone, and the disappointed bird was forced to give up the search. Pretty soon he and his companions went away over the marsh with gigantic steps, and El Starr slowly crawled out of the mud, THE CURLY FISH. 123 and on to the dry land which the birds had deserted. He soon saw that he was upon the only high spot of earth within view ; it was not over a mile in breadth, and arose like an island above the dead level of the marshes. At the centre it was nearly as high as the mountains of Ming. About two- thirds of the way down a rapid stream ran around the hill. It had no end and no beginning, and yet with the force of a torrent it constantly rushed onward through its broad and pebbly channel. El Starr soon climbed up to its shore, and, after some labor, succeeded in cleansing his face and clothes. Then seizing his cimeter, he plunged into the rapid current; so swift it was, that although but narrow, the Prince floated a good half-mile around the hill before he could gain the opposite side. The bank was covered with a dense thicket of thornless roses, whose odors were so strong that El Starr became faint, and being, moreover, very weary, fell fast asleep. When he awoke it was night; but the red sun still sat on the horizon, angry and crimson. Through the bushes he saw lights flashing, and heard such an awful mewinof as never before was heard. Very cautiously, El Starr dragged himself through the bushes, and thus coming nearer to the blaze, beheld a most singular sight. The mountain was belted round with a circle of huge watch-fires ; about them were seated or lying innumerable cats, not one of them less than four feet high. Their eyes flashed in the red fire-light, and the most of them were hungrily gnaw- ing the bones of rats and mice scarcely smaller than themselves. By and by the cats fell asleep one by one, and none was left awake, save a solitary guard, who mewed frightfully at inter- vals. Seizinor his chance. El Starr draofo-ed himself across the 124 THE CURLY FISH. line, and leaving the cats behind him, ascended the mountain with rapid steps. The road, for such there was, lay over a green and grassy slope which was strewn with human bones. Here and there he saw sheep with long fleece of floss silk. These regarded him with a curious blank look, and now and then an old ram would try to drive him back. The Prince finding no greater hindrance, continued his march, and at last gained the summit of the mountain. By the dim light he saw before him a small plain, covered with a thousand pleasant flowers, and crossed in every direcUon by little streams whose sofdy-flowing waters sang forever the most bewitching melodies. In the centre of this wonderful garden arose a little palace of crusted gold. It was built in the Moorish style, with moon-like arches, and numberless columns of porphyry and jasper. It was so wonderfully beautiful that the Prince forgot his ordinary caution, and in- stantly advanced to the portal. To his astonishment the vast ebony doors flew open before him, and with a thunder crash closed behind him. He now found himself in a hall of black marble, lighted with a multitude of alabaster lamps. Perceiv- ing no one, the Prince walked on in no litde awe, until he came to a door at the farthest end. It did not open like the other, and El Starr found himself a captive. In vain he ran to and fro ; in vain his hands sought for some bolt or secret spring. It was only too plain : El Starr, the aimless, had gotten in ; El Starr, the aimless, could not get out. At last, weary with use- less trials, he sat down at the foot of a pillar, and awaited his certain fate. Before very long the young man heard a noise, and, leaping to his feet, hid himself behind a pillar. A light THE CURLY FISH. 125 footfall was now heard, and a lady of the most ravishing love- liness walked by the hidden Prince. The damsel was so ex- quisite that the Prince again forgot himself, and, springing forward, fell upon his knees at her feet. The lady started back in dismay ; but observing the manly and noble features of El Starr, she subdued her terror, and thus addressed him : " Wretched mortal, if such you be, fly, I implore you, from this haunt of evil." "An hour past," said El Starr, "and I would willingly have gone ; now I would wish to live here were it the palace of Eblis." "Who are you ?" inquired the lady. "I am the Prince El Starr," he returned. "Hitherto men have called me the aimless, henceforth may they name me the blest of Allah ; for, surely, having seen you, none other can be compared to me." "Are you, in truth, that same El Starr whom my cruel tyrant, Abou Ben Muff, so earnestly hates ? Fly, I pray you, or death is your fate. I am called Elula ;" and with this she turned her eyes so pleadingly upon the Prince that his whole soul melted in the sunlight of her glance. "Come," cried he, "let us fly together. It is you I have come to seek." "Fly?" said the Princess. "Would it were possible ! yet is there one resource. Here is an amulet; it was given to me by my father. Useless in the hand of a woman, it is all power- ful in the hand of a man, if he but possess my love." "Oh!" groaned the Prince, "give it to me." " Ah," said the lady, " so noble a face can but foretell a 126 THE CURLY FISH. noble soul ; I will give it to you. Men have called you ' the aimless,' ' the wavering.' Know that this little gift will always enable you to avoid failure. Whenever a difficulty presents itself, place this upon your hand." So saying, she held out a litde fish made of thin leaf-like tissue. " Let us question it ;" and she laid it upon the open hand of the wondering Prince. " Now," said she, " curly fish, curly fish, shall we get out?" In- stantly the litde animal began to curl up into the oddest pos- sible shapes, twisting and writhing unul it fell on the floor. " We shall," said the Princess. "Good!" quoth El Starr; and so soon as success appeared no longer doubtful, a thousand schemes flashed through his mind. " I see," he cried. " Come, the door at the inner end will open to you ; come," and, seizing her hand, he walked boldly up to the portal by which she had entered. " Open," said Elula. At once a lofty room with many win- dows appeared. El Starr immediately opened one of these, and bidding Elula to return to the marble hall, he kissed her cheek, and leaped bravely full forty feet to the ground. Stunned, but undaunted, he soon reached the lofty door by which he had entered the palace. " Open at once," he cried ; and, as before, the huge doors swung sullenly apart. Through this avenue of safety the nimble Elula bounded with a cry of delight. "It is well." said the Prince, and placed the magical leaf-fish on his palm. "Shall I kill the cats, curly fish?" As before, the amulet wriggled, and twisted, and squirmed, and twirled, and at last fell on the ground. Upon this, they began to descend the mountain. It was now broad day, and before long they saw the cats, who were greedily eating their THE CURLY FISH. ^27 breakfast. The Prince and his sweetheart crept up as near to them as was possible, when suddenly El Starr drew his cimeter, and, carrying the lady, sprang right in amono- the lordly pussies. " Miaou," said the biggest, as El Starr chopped off his tail. In an instant, the lovers had reached the far side of the cat-camp, and pursued by ten thousand grimalkins, fled wildly down the hill. On they came, galloping down, with their backs gathered up into humps like those of the round- shouldered dromedaries of Abyssinia. " Allah, save us !" said the Princess, faindy, as they saw the swift stream which EI Starr had crossed when climbing the hill. Never pausincr, save to watch a moment the curly fish wriggle assent, with- out a doubt, El Starr seized Elula in his arms, and with a tremendous bound leaped some dozen feet beyond, and over the raging water. "Oh!" said the Princess, as they rolled on the grass. " Ha ! ha !" laughed El Starr. The cats smelt the water, and would not go in ; everybody knows that cats are very averse to water. Leaving the baffled cats and the roar- ing stream behind them. El Starr and Elula peacefully de- scended to the edge of the marshy plain, "Now," said the Prince, "how shall we get over?" " Positively," said Elula, " I can't walk ; I've only my thin shoes. Let us ask curly fish whether we must try it." The fish was put upon El Starr's open hand, and being questioned, instandy doubled himself into a small bundle. "Fishy, we shall certainly sink," said the Prince; but the more he doubted, the more the fish wriggled, so the lovers at once advanced towards the marsh. As they turned about the corner of a dense thicket, Elula 128 THE CURLY FISH. suddenly seized the Prince, and, drawing him back, pointed silently towards the sleeping figure of a fat old man, who was snoring away like a live organ with a cold in its head. It was the Magician, Ben Muff, who, having finished his two bottles of Shiraz wine, was dozing off their effects in the warm and pleasant sunshine on the grassy hillside. No sooner did El Starr behold his enemy than he grasped his sword, determined to finish him in the most effectual manner. "No, no," whispered Elula, hastily. "Steel cannot harm him. He himself has told me that until he is eaten alive death cannot approach him ; therefore do not go near him. Let us rather fiy before he awakens." " By my father's beard," said El Starr, " if I leave him thus, may love desert me !" After a few moments of deep thought, the Prince exclaimed, " I have it ! Do you hide in yonder thicket, and if I perish in my folly you must wait until night- fall and then try to make your escape." " Kiss me, then," said Elula ; and he did. After which she sat down in the midst of the thickly-clustered roses. El Starr now rolled up his sleeves, and, selecting a bunch of ripe alderberries, crept silently alongside of Abou Ben Muff. With great care he squeezed the purple juice of the alders into his own palm, and with a knot of silk-grass painted the face of the astrologer. Often El Starr paused to see if Ben Muff still slept ; but as he showed no sign of awakening, the Prince soon succeeded in staining his face of a very fine purplish red. Next he removed his own cloak, and with it covered over the body and legs of the drunken old Magician. Still he slept on, and finally El Starr possessed himself of THE CURLY FISH. 129 the sleeper's cloak, and rapidly retreated to a clump of palms where the horse of Abou Ben Muff was quietly grazing. In haste he threw himself into the saddle. Then he touched the steed with his heel, and with a fierce and violent plunge the animal snorted and set off over the morass with the speed of the simoon. "Good," said the Prince. In the distance were three of the hugfe storks who dwelt on the marshes. To- wards these the Prince rode with all possible speed. As soon as they saw him, the monstrous birds flapped their wings and shouted aloud. The Prince crathered the Magician's red cloak about him, so as to hide the lower part of his face, and thus prepared, drew rein beside the birds. " Well," said he, " how are you, my pets ?" " Hungry !" said all three at once. " What's for dinner ?" " Not much," said El Starr ; " only a black fellow, who has fallen asleep at the foot of the hill just below the palm- trees." "Great is Abou Ben Muff," said the storks, and without ■delay they began to bound over the soft ground with awful leaps and outstretched necks. The Prince followed as fast as he could; he was just in time to see one of the storks pick up Abou Ben Muff, and with a dexterous chuck pitch him head foremost down his throat. " Murder !" cried the Magician, as he went down with a gulp. " Murder ! help ! it's a mistake !" "Really," said the bird, "you ought to have spoken before. Bless me, how fat you are, ough !" By this time Elula was mounted safely behind the Prince. " Look !" she screamed. Well he mieht. As the bird bolted I ^-o THE CURL V FISH. the last of Abou Ben Muff a noise like a o-reat wind was heard, huge columns of dust arose, the ground shook, and in an in- stant marsh and ocean, hill and palace, storks and cats were gone. A bright yellow sun looked down from the upper sky, and before them lay waving corn-fields, orchards of olives, and fig-trees, festooned with vines, neat villages, and pleasant little merry streams. As the lovers rode along by cottage and palace they saw no human face. The white milk-pans hung upon the fences as the good wife had left them, the churn stood in the door-way, and the very ovens stood half open with their smouldering fires yet lazily smoking, "This land the Magician enchanted," said Elula. On they rode, over the distant mountains, by lake, stream, and village, until at last they entered the kingdom of El Knobb ; and so El Starr broug-ht back to the KinQ^ of Kurds the daughter whom the dwarf had stolen. Let us pass over the rejoicings. " I have given your father his kingdom again," said the King of the Kurds one day to El Starr, as they sat over their pipes, " What will you have for yourself?" El Starr kept silent. "Well, well," said the King, " I see ;" and so he married the Princess to El Starr ; and men ceased to call him the aimless, and thenceforth he was ever known as El Starr the Lucky. One day when the Prince was walking with his wife he began to talk about the curly fish. " Let us question it," said she, with a wicked twinkle in her eyes. " Good !" said El Starr, and he put the fish on his hand. "Does she love me?" said he. The fish actually jumped. " Can he jump over the moon ?" asked Elula. THE CURLY FISH. 131 "What!" exclaimed El Starr, for the fish still curled his back up. " Nonsense, my dear, the thing is a humbug." "Ah!" said the Princess. " I begin to suspect," said he. " Do you, my dear?" added the lady. " I desire," said the Prince, who felt rather small, — "I desire that the subject may never be spoken of again." And as the years fled away, there grew golden-feathered plumage on the silver arrow of El Starr, the Prince. THE WOLF THAT WANTED A DOCTOR. ■^i-i^ ONCE upon a time there was a wolf who was growing old. He had very bad teeth, and was fond of eating young lambs. One day, when he could get no more tender food, he met a big ram, and, being hungry, gobbled him up so greedily that one of his hard horns broke the wolf's front tooth off and gave him a dreadful aching, day and night. This made him so cross that he bit off the tails and ears of all the young wolves, until one of them said to him, " Papa, why do you not oo to the doctor and o-et cured ?" " Dear me, child," said the wolf, " that's a good idea ;" and so saying, he started off Presently, he met a great dog, whose business it was to guard the sheep. "Good-morning, sir," said the wolf; "do you know where a doctor lives?" "Yes," said the dog; "a good wolf doctor lives yonder in that house. Bow-wow and good-morning ; I must see after my sheep," and away he trotted. The wolf was not fond of houses; but his tooth hurt him, and he walked up to the door, holding his handkerchief to his face. There were two litde girls at the door who saw the wolf, 132 THE WOLF THAT WANTED A DOCTOR. 133 and ran in, crying aloud, "Father, father, here's a wolf!" Then the farmer who lived there seized his cfun, and, coming to the door, fired at the wolf, but, luckily for the wolf, did not hurt him. The farmer's gun was full of pills, but not the kind to cure toothache. "I don't like that doctor's medicine," said the wolf; and so saying, he ran away howling. By and by he met a monkey, who no sooner saw his bloody, fierce face than he climbed up a tree as high as he could get. " Come down," said the wolf, '' and show me where a doctor lives." But the monkey only climbed up higher, for he was very much scared. Unluckily, he climbed so high that he got on a small branch which was too weak to bear his weifrht, and down he tumbled head over heels. No sooner had he reached the ground than the wolf ran to him, and, putting one foot on him, said, sternly, " Show me where a doctor lives, or I will kill you. " Sir," said the monkey, " you have only to cross the bridge, and take two turns to the left, and nine turns to the right, and seven to the left, and there you will find Doctor Duck, who is the best little quack in all the country," "Just so," said the wolf; "get up and show me the way, and look sharp, too, how you go, or I will eat you before you can say boo." " How can I get up, if my leg be broken ?' answered the monkey. "Get on my back," cried the wolf, "and that quickly." 134 THE WOLF THAT WANTED A DOCTOR. The monkey climbed up on his back slowly, as though he was hurt, and the wolf galloped away with great speed. Presently, the monkey tumbled off and tried to run ; but the wolf was too quick for him, and gave him such a nip that he was glad to get on his back again in a mighty great hurry. "I shall surely be eaten," said the monkey to himself. Just then they came to a muddy place where the wolf had to go slowly, which gave the monkey time to think. So he said to the wolf, " Did ever you try a mud-poultice for your tooth- ache? My grandmother says It is a first-rate cure." " How do you use it?" said the wolf. " Oh, that is easy," answered the monkey ; and thus saying, he leaned over, and taking two handfuls of mud, quickly plastered it on the eyes of the wolf. While he was jumping about half blind, the monkey leaped off and climbed a tree. "You rascal," said the wolf, "come down." " No, sir," cried the monkey ; " not this time. Do you like my grandmother's poultice for spectacles ?" "Bother your grandmother!" said the wolf, and started off once more to find a doctor. After a long journey he met a pig. " Piggy-wiggy, niy friend," said the wolf, " get on my back, and show me where the doctor lives." "Just over there," replied the piggy, who was so much afraid that he shook all over. " Get on my back," said the wolf. "I don't know how to ride," said piggy. "If you don't go on top of me, you shall go inside of me," said the wolf, fiercely. " Some people like a stage better than horseback," and at once swallowed the pig all but his tail, THE WOLF THAT WANTED A DOCTOR. ^35 which stuck out of the wolf's mouth and made him feel very uncomfortable and much more ugly. About a mile farther on he came to a little pond, and on the far side he saw a sign with the words, — DR. DUCK, SURGEON. " Halloo !" cried the wolf. " Doctor, doctor, come over here and cure me of my toothache, and I will give you a bag of ^old." When the doctor heard this, he came out to the door, and began to laugh. "Ha! ha!" says he; "here is a wolf with two tails and a toothache. What gave you a toothache?" "Oh," said the wolf, "I broke my tooth cracking nuts for my neighbor, the squirrel. Come over quickly." "No sir," answered the duck; "I won't doctor you. I don't like patients with two tails. Your disease may be catchinor." This made the wolf angry, and he ran away, saying, " I will eat you up some day if I die for it." In a few moments he met a very long snake, who was one of his friends. When the snake heard his story, he said, "I will help you." They waited all night, and early in the morning they went to the pond where the doctor lived. Then the wolf took the end of the snake's tail and tied it to the pig's tail, which stuck out of his own mouth, and afterwards the snake swam under the water to the middle of the pond and lay quiet. " Halloo, Doctor Duck !" cried the wolf, "come out here and help me." But the Doctor Duck only looked from a window and laughed. " Here's nine worms for you, and a frog," cried the wolf, 136 THE WOLF THAT WANTED A DOCTOR. " if you will only swim out a little way, and tell me what to do." Now the duck thought it would be no harm to go just a little way, so he swam towards the wolf, but not very near. " Come nearer," said the wolf; "I am old and deaf." So then the duck came a little closer, but presently he cried aloud, "Murder! what's that? I have cramp in my toes." For just then the snake, who had waited so quietly, came up from the bottom of the pond and seized the duck by the leg. As to the wolf, he ran, and this pulled the snake's tail, and the snake's head held on to the duck, and the poor Doctor Duck was drao^ofed to the land, where the wolf seized him. " Now, sir," cried the wolf, " tell me how to cure my tooth- ache, or I will eat you." " Nothing will cure you," answered the duck, "but a young chicken four days old." "Very good," said the wolf; "get me one, for I fear to go near to the barn-yards." "Well," said Doctor Duck, "let me go to get one." "If you let him go, he will never come back," cried the snake. "Yes," said the wolf, "that is true;" and at once he bit off the duck's left leg, saying, " I will keep your leg here for you till you come back with the chick, and then you shall have your leg again." " Oh dear !" moaned the duck, and limped away on one leg. When he got to the barn-yard, he got behind a hedge and tried to cluck like a hen, but it was a poor attempt, and THE WOLF THAT WANTED A DOCTOR. "^^il the chicks chd not come. While the duck was trying, he heard a fox laughing at him; at this he turned and said, "Why do you laugh at me ?" "I am laughing at your fine voice," answered the Fox. "What are you trying to do?" "I wish to catch a chick," said the duck, " to cure the wolf of a toothache ; but I much fear he will eat me after all." " Oh, I will help you," said the fox, for he was just then in a good humor. " I am glad," cried Doctor Duck ; " and what a pity to have to give a poor little woolly chick to that wicked wolf; but I suppose I must, for he has bitten my leg off and will not give it to me until he orets a chick." "A good joke," cried foxy; "but we will fix him; you have only to follow my advice and all will be well." So saying, he went to his house and brought out a clock. " Now," said the fox, "I will , show you how to catch chicks, and you shall cure me of the gout when I eat too much." Then the fox wound up the clock and covered it with leaves, while he and the duck hid close by. When the clock began to tick it made a sound like cluck, cluck, just such as an old hen makes. No sooner did the chicks hear it than they came through the hedge, and the fox seized one of them, and ran away followed by the duck. Soon they came to the pond, and there sat the wolf very grim with his handkerchief tied around his sore face. Now, on the way, the fox had told the Doctor Duck what to do. When the wolf saw them, he said to the duck, " You are very slow." I -8 THE WOLF THAT WANTED A DOCTOR. "That's because I have only one leg," said the duck, "and because I had to bring Doctor Fox to talk over your case." The fox felt the wolf's pulse, and took hold of the pig's tail which still stuck out of his mouth. " It is very tight," said he. " Yes," answered the wolf, " I wish it was not. You have no idea how uncomfortable it is ; but quick, where's the chick?" " Here," said the duck. " I'll hold your head," said the fox, very tenderly ; and so saying he took hold of the pig-tail. " Open your mouth and shut your eyes, Mr. Wolf," cried the Duck, " that I may pass the chick down your throat." No sooner had the wolf shut his eyes, than the fox tied the pig-tail fast to the root of a tree, and the duck seized his leg and the chick, and ran off with the fox, leaving the wolf tied so fast that he never, never got away. Then the duck sewed his leg on, for he was a clever doctor. And as for the fox, he took the chick home to its mother, which was the best thing I ever heard of him, and grew to be a good fox, and never stole any more. <>-^ ..^:> OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE. — -^i-i^ — ONCE upon a time there was a white elephant named Ba Ba. He was washed all over with cream every day, and had nine cows all for his own use, because white elephants are rare. This one, you must know, was the Caliph's elephant, and was a great pet with everybody. There also lived in the town a litde tailor who had a witch for a wife, and, as the tailor was very lazy, she made him a gold needle which did any kind of work you put it to. All you had to do was to put the needle on the cloth, and at once it would dance to and fro and through and through until the work was done in the very nicest way. To be sure, it was hard to make it cease, for it was such a busy litde one-eyed fellow that to stop it you had to seize hold of the thread and drop the needle in a litde iron box, and even then it could be heard hopping about inside ; but it could not sew the iron, you know. This needle brought much custom to the tailor, because it did the work so well ; for no one liked the tailor, who was a cross fellow, and beat his litde children twice a day. And, in- deed, but for his needle, no one would have given him work to do at all, though I ought to say that folks thought he him- self did the sewing. But he never did do any at all. He 139 I40 OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE. liked to sit in his window with his legs crossed, and make be- lieve to sew, while he smoked a long pipe. Meanwhile, he would put the cloth to be made up on a shelf below his seat, and would place the needle on it, and would laugh to see how merrily it moved, and how neatly it made the stitches and the button-holes. He had to be very quick when the sewing was done, because if he did not seize the needle ever so cleverly it would sew the coat all up into such a heap that no one could eet the stitches out ao;ain. One sunny day the tailor was at the window when Ba Ba came by and put his trunk up to ask for an apple ; but this crusty tailor only put his hot pipe-bowl to Ba Ba's trunk and burned it, which made the elephant roar, while the tailor laughed at his pain. Next day Ba Ba came by again and put out his trunk as usual, for he did not think any one would be willing to hurt him. This time the tailor had the smart litde gold needle in his hand, and was about to put it away, for it had just done sewing a red coat for the Caliph. But first, he thought, I will give Ba Ba a litde prick with it, and then he will dance with pain. So he stuck Ba Ba's white trunk with the needle, which made him give a loud cry and jerk away his trunk so quickly that the needle stayed fast in his skin. " Oh dear !" cried the tailor ; " what shall I do ?" for he did not dare to tell that he had played ugly tricks on the white elephant, which was the Caliph's pet. Meanwhile, Ba Ba howled and ran away in great pain, because the busy litde needle kept sewing away at the inside of his trunk. Just fancy what pain it must be to have a needle sewing away inside of you, making clever litde OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE. 141 button-holes and coats, and lots of things to wear, out of your flesh. Ba Ba felt as if he had a toothache, and was so angry that next day he filled his trunk full of nasty, muddy water, and, as he came by the tailor's shop, squirted a great bucket- ful, at least, all over that wicked tailor, and his wife, and his nine children, and his dinner, and the cat, and, worse than all, over the red coat, which was ready for the Caliph to wear. " Now," said the tailor, " we shall all be killed and also beaten, because the Caliph's coat is spoiled." "Let the needle make another," cried his wife. Upon this the tailor had to tell her how he had lost the needle, and this made her angry enough, because she had been nine years making the gold needle, and could not make needles like that in a day, just when they were wanted. At last she o-ave her husband some orood advice as to what he should do. She told him to take the coat to the Caliph and say that Ba Ba had squirted muddy water on it ; " and then," said she, " we will ask the Caliph to cut off Ba Ba's trunk ; and, when it is off, we will go and get it at night, and find the needle inside of it ; thus Ba Ba will be made to suffer, and we shall escape being beaten." The tailor liked this advice so well that he took the coat, and, with his wife and children all over mud, went to the court of the Caliph. When they came in, the Caliph laughed to see such a funny-looking party ; but when he saw his coat, and heard the tailor's story, he was very angry, and cried aloud, " Bring Ba Ba." Now Ba Ba was very sick, because of that cruel litde needle, which never ceased sewinor the inside of his trunk, and, indeed, it hurt him so much 142 OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE. that he had to carry his trunk in a great silk shng, and had no comfort, day or night. When Ba Ba came in sight, the Caliph said to the tailor, "What shall be done to the white elephant, because he spoiled my new coat?" "Cutoff his trunk," cried the tailor's wife, "and then he will not be able to play such nasty tricks any more." "It is just," said the Caliph. " Cut off Ba Ba's trunk and bury it." So soon as Ba Ba heard this sad news, and saw the soldiers come towards him, he moaned in a piteous way, and ran and put the end of his trunk in the lap of the Caliph's daughter, who was a kind-hearted Princess, and was very fond of white elephants. She was so sorry for Ba Ba that she begged her father not to harm him. The Caliph said, " It does not matter much. W^e will wait a day or two." Now the Princess saw that Ba Ba was sick, so she had him put in a great garden of roses, and fed him with lumps of sugar and lady-apples every day. But the needle still kept on sticking him, so that at last he fell ill and lay down and could not get up at all, on account of the pain. Then the Princess tried all the elephant doctors ; but one said he had hysterics, and another said he was too fat, and one said he was in love. All the other doctors said he had a bad cold in his head, and must have a mustard plaster on his nose, and take a tubful of castor oil. But not one of them did him any good, and there- fore the Princess made a man cry aloud in the streets for a maeic doctor to cure her dear Ba Ba. OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE. 143 As soon as the tailor's witch wife heard this she told her husband to put on a tall hat, and a big beard, and a wig, so that no one would know him, and to go to the Princess's palace, reading a big book all the while he walked through the streets. When the Princess saw him, she said, " What a wise mao"ic doctor. He does not wish to waste his time even when he walks." So she took him to the garden and told him he should have a great stocking full of gold if he cured Ba Ba. But the tailor was afraid to go near to the elephant in the daytime ; therefore he said to the Princess, " I must not lose time. At night I will cure Ba Ba." So he walked up and down, as though he were reading, but really he could not read at all. When night came, he went quietly to Ba Ba and said, "I see you have a thorn in your trunk." This made Ba Ba trust him and say to himself, "This doctor knows a thing or two." " I will cut it out," said the tailor ; " but you must keep very still." Ba Ba nodded his head, as much as to say yes. At this the tailor was very full of joy; for, thinks he, I shall soon have my needle once more. Then he took hold of Ba Ba's sore trunk and made ready a little knife to cut out the needle. But all of a sudden he gave a loud cry of pain ; for what do you think happened ? The needle was sewing away so fiercely that it sewed the tailor's thumbs fast to the elephant's trunk, and then, before you could turn around, it sewed all his fingers fast and then his coat. This caused Ba Ba to roar with pain, and, as for the tailor, he howled at the top of his voice, and pulled to get away. But it was of no use at all, for that 144 OLD WINE IX A NEW BOTTLE. dreadful little needle sewed away until the tailor was stitched all over. At last Ba Ba got up and hoisted the tailor off of the eround and shook him in the air ; but, dear me, you know it was of no kind of use, for a witch's needle sews very tight stitches. At last the two made such a noise that all the guards, and the Caliph, and the Princess came out with torches, to see what could be the matter. As soon as the Caliph saw the tailor he knew him, because his hat, and wig, and beard had all fallen off The Princess said this was no magic doctor, but only a vile little tailor. Now, as nothing could quiet Ba Ba, who was rushing about all over the gardens, the Caliph sent for his head Magician. When the wise man saw Ba Ba he called to him, and at once the wise elephant came and knelt down and held out his trunk, which was sewed fast to the tailor with twenty-five thousand stitches. As soon as the Magician saw what was the trouble, he cried aloud, "This is witch's work." " Yes," said the tailor, " my wife is a witch. She got me into this scrape." No sooner was this known to the Caliph than he sent an officer to fetch the witch wife. When she came, the Magician bade her take her witch scissors and cut the stitches, because nobody else could ever do it. As it was it took her a week, because she had to catch the needle first, and then cut all the stitches afterwards. But Ba Ba was very patient, and at last he was set loose from that crusty old tailor. By this time the Magician knew all about the witch needle, and how the tailor had teased Ba Ba, the elephant ; and when the Caliph heard how cruel and wicked the tailor was he said OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE. 145 that he and his wife should be put to death. It was lucky for both of them that the Princess was near just then, because she was so gentle that she could not bear to have any one killed. So she begged the Caliph not to kill them, but only to cut off the tailor's nose, as he had wished to cut off poor Ba Ba's trunk. Now the tailor's witch wife was so very glad not to be killed that she went to the good Princess and told her that Ba Ba was not a real white elephant, but a beautiful young Prince, who had been enchanted, and, besides this, the witch wife went into the garden and cast some water on Ba Ba, and said three stranee words, which no one knew but herself. And no sooner were these said than there was a great smoke, and when it blew away, Ba Ba was gone, and there stood a handsome young Prince. And folks do say that he married the Princess. As to the tailor, his nose was cut off and buried, but his witch wife dug it up and sewed it on again. Only she was in such a hurry that she put it on upside down ; so that whenever the rain fell it got full of water, and what was worse than that, whenever the tailor wanted to blow his nose he had to stand on his head, because, you see, his nose was downside up, or, as some people say, upside down. 10 REAL MAGIC. — -^i-i^ — A GOOD while ago I knew two little children who lived in a nice old house in the country. There was a wood behind it full of squirrels, and acorns, and chestnut- trees, and birds, and crooked sticks which were good for shin- nies, and lots of jolly things such as boys like to have. On one side of this wood, and around the house, flowed a little brook, -where frogs lived, and minnows and speckled newts. If you had sharp eyes and looked cleverly, I should not wonder if you might also have found there little crayfish under the stones. It was a good brook to build dams across ; and in one place there was a fine large pond, where boys could sail boats. I used to think the garden the nicest part of all, because it was full of tall box, with no end of crooked walks, that were first-rate for hide and seek. In this nice old house lived a boy and girl. Their names were Tommy and Annie. These children had as pleasant a time as any that I ever knew, because, after their lessons, there was so much to see and to do in the barn-yard and fields, in the wood, and by the brook. After they had raced and chased all day, when the autumn evenings were growing long, they most loved to go and see their aunt, who sat in the library at 146 REAL MAGIC. i^j that time poking the wood-fire, and thinking all by herself, till of a sudden this boy and girl would scamper in and shout a verse or two of poetry about "This is th-e Children's Hour." I ought to say that if you are a little boy or girl, and have an old uncle or aunty who likes to sit still in the twilight, and not ever tell stories at all, you have only to learn those verses about " This is the Children's Hour," and say them to that old aunty or uncle. And I think if you try this you will find out that those little verses are a kind of charm at twilight to make big folks do whatever the little folks wish. When you all rush in and cry those nice verses, which I advise you to learn, saying, "This is the Children's Hour," you will be sure to get a story, and will be such clever fairies that you will make some of the grown folks feel like crying ; and I suppose you had better not ask them why. Whenever Tommy and Annie ran in and asked for stories, their aunt was always ready; and, when she could not think of any more, she knew just where to find the books about the fairies, and giants, and witches, and gnomes, and about Laun- celot, and Bedivere, and Gawain, and Tristram, and the Seven Champions. i\lso she knew stories about the sea-gods, and mermaids, and flying-fish, and a long story of an ancient mar- iner. I couldn't tell you the names of all the stories this good aunt knew. The stories Annie liked most were about those true knights of King Arthur; but Tommy had rather have heard about en- chanted places, and how young princes were turned into dogs and horses when the sorcerers sprinkled them with water, and said, "Abracadabra," and " Crononhotontholooos." 148 REAL MAGIC. These two children liked stories so much that when they were away in the woods they used to act them. Annie would say, " Now be a giant, and I will be Jack, and kill you." Or they would go to a great rock, which was hollowed out beneath, and which they called the robber's cave. Here Annie had their treasures, such as bits of broken china and looking-glass, two lame dolls, some shells, and an old kitchen-knife, which made a fine cimeter for the captain of the robbers when they played Ali Baba. Now Tommy had been thinking that it would be a very jolly thing to try a litde magic in good earnest, but it took him a long time to get everything ready. For first he must have a gold rod, and this was very hard to get; and then there must be candles. There was a certain Master Frank, who was a big brother of Tommy's, and who had come home trom school to stay for a litde while. Tommy thought he would get him to help him, because he felt sure that all big brothers must know a good deal about magic, and all that kind of thing. So Tommy and Frank had some long talks, and Frank amused himself a good deal with telling Tom how to try real magic. At last, one afternoon. Tommy asked Annie to go to the rock with him, and when he got there he made her sit down, and told her that he was going to try some real magic. At first she was a litde afraid, but by and by she agreed to it; and then he showed her that he had two half candles, which the cook had given him as a great favor. As for the gold rod, which no magician can do without, he told her he had been a good deal puzzled ; but at last he had borrowed his aunt's gold pencil-case. This pleased Annie very much, and they talked REAL MAGIC. 149 about it till it was getting to be towards dusk ; for, as Tom said, "it was of no use to try magic in tlie daylight." When the woods were becoming dark, and full of evening shadows, Tom said it was time. So he took a bit of chalk and drew a circle, and told Annie that she must not move beyond it, or else the fairies would carry her off to Fairy-land. This frightened Annie, and she said they had better not try any mao-ic this time, which made Tom tell her " she was a coward, just like all girls." By and by he lighted his two candles, and stuck them in the ground, which made a big enough candle- stick. Then he piled up some leaves in the middle of the circle and liofhted them, so as to cause a famous smoke. Now all this while the children did not know that Frank was hiding behind the big rock, and was quiedy laughing to himself until he was almost choked. You may be sure he thought it funnier than ever when Tom said to Annie, " Now I am going to try the real magic, and don't you be afraid." " Oh, dear !" said Annie ; " but, perhaps, when you say the words, and move your wands, perhaps the great giant, Blun- derbore, will come and — and — and gobble us up." " No," said Tom, " we will only call good fairies, and very, very little people." This comforted Annie, and Tom began to wave his gold rod and say, " Abracadabra," and all sorts of queer words out of fairy books. At last he said, " Hop o' my Thumb, come quickly," for you must know he was just a litde afraid himself; and Hop o' my Thumb was the smallest one of all the fairy folk he could think of. As soon as he said the words, the two children almost held their breaths. In a moment they heard 150 REAL MAGIC. pit pat, pit pat, behind the rock, and this was Frank, just for fun tapping on the dead leaves, to make them fancy it was Hop o' my Thumb walking. You may guess how still they kept. Pretty soon the noi'se ceased, and yet no one was seen. At this Tom grew bolder. " I heard him," said he. "And I, too," said Annie. "Who shall we call next?" "Suppose you call for Whittington's cat?" " Cats are not fairies. It wouldn't be any use," answered Tom. Just then, Frank, who was lying behind the rock, cried aloud, " Meyou !" "Oh, dear!" whispered Annie; "there it is. Please be careful not to say any names like Cormorant or Blunderbore !" Master Frank heard her, and roared out, "Fee fau fum ; I smell the blood of an Englishmun !" "Oh, my! oh, dear!" sobbed Annie; "call Jack the Giant- killer, quick." "We had better run," says Tom. " Boo ! I'm hungry for babies !" roared Frank. And, when they heard this, my goodness how they scampered. It was nearly dark, but they ran ever so fast, and were glad enough to get out of the wood. As to Frank, he walked after them lauehino; fit to kill himself When he came to the house, he found Tom and Annie sitting in the corner of the library, just like two little mice. Frank only said to them, " You were very late in the wood ; did you see any fairies ?" As for the children, they were so REAL MAGIC. j-] scared that they could hardly close their eyes that night. For my part, I think that anybody but Tom would have had enough of magic by this time, and I suppose that he would never have tried it again if Frank had not helped him. One day, about a week after the fright in the wood, Tom wanted to roast some chestnuts at the kitchen fire ; but, as it was near tea-time, the old black cook, whose name was Judy, shouted, " Clare out." Tom ran out of one door and in at another until the old cook lost all patience, and told him he was " the perseverenest chile dat eber she seed." By this time Tom was growing mischievous, so he ran to the dresser and took some water and sprinkled cookey, and cried out in a great solemn voice, "You old black cookey, be a sheep right away." " Dat's pretty talk," said Judy, and, as quick as could be, she seized Tom, who was waiting to see her turn into a sheep, and what did she do but tie a great dish-cloth to the tail of his jacket, and then let him go. Tom was so angry at this dis- grace that he went and told his good aunty, who only smiled, and said he should keep out of the kitchen, which was not the place for boys. Poor Tom found little comfort in this, and w'ent away crying, to find Frank. " Halloo, old fellow," says Frank, " quit crying. I know a boy as had a grandmother as knew a boy who cried so hard he drowned himself What's the matter?" 'T wanted to roast chestnuts," says Tom, "and Judy tied a dish-cloth to me, — to my jacket, — and I threw water on her, and told her to be a sh-sh-sheep, and she didn't." "Perhaps," said Frank, full of fun, "you did not sprinkle 152 REAL MAGIC. her enough ; she's a monstrous big old cookey, and you are a very small magician." Then keeping a grave face, he gave Tom some advice about magic, which, I fear, was rather naughty ; for what do you think happened ? Tom listened to Frank, and without saying a word, but very, very angry at cookey, he went straight down to the kitchen and said, " How dy'e do, Judy? Please to give me a drink." Now Judy was good-natured, like all fat cooks, so she gave him a ladle of cool water, and stooped down to tie his shoe, which was unlaced. As quick as could be Tom said, " Be a sheep this time, you bad old cookey," and poured the ladle full of water down the back of her neck. " Bress us!" says Judy, and she picked up Master Tom and tucked him under her arm, and took him away to his aunt. Tom roared and kicked, but Judy held him tightly ; and, when she found his aunt, she told all about how Tom had called her a sheep. And then Tom had nothing to say, but to blubber and promise to be a good boy, until Frank came in and told his aunt how he had put Tom up to this last trick, and also about the magic in the woods. His aunt was very much vexed, and gave him a nice long scolding, you may be sure. As to Tom, he was not allowed to hear another story for six weeks, until one night, when he came in sofdy, and got behind his aunt and whispered, "This is the children's hour." " Ah !" said she ; and so the two children sat down, one on each side of her, and she told them a long, long story, about the fairy Contenta, who turned rags into velvet, and dust into gold, and old crusts into apple-dumplings, — one of the jolliest kind of stories that ever anybody heard. THE TALE OF THE GREAT GIANT, SMOKEY POKEY. — -^i-i^ — ONCE upon a time there lived In the mountains of the moon a great giant, who lay all day on his back, and smoked a pipe as big as a stove. He was so huge that the people brought him presents in harvest-time, and begged him to go to sleep for a month, because if he stood up he got in the way of the sun, and kept the grain from growing ripe. This giant had a son who was no larger than most folks, but who was as vicious and wicked and cunning as a fox. One day he went away on a journey, and when he came back he said to his father, " Pick me up ; I have something to say." Smokey Pokey set him on his hand and listened. " I have seen a beautiful Princess," continued his son, "and I wish to marry her. I have only nine wives ; I have asked the King, her father, to give her to me, and he will not." " Then," said the giant, " we will eat him. Go and tell him this." Accordingly his son set off, and the next month reached the King's court, where he found a young Prince, who, having come with a orgeat retinue to woo the Princess Sweet Cheeks, 154 THE TALE OF THE GREAT GIANT, she had promised to love him for ever and ever. When the King heard the message of Smokey Pokey, he cried aloud, " I shall never give my daughter to such a cruel, ugly litde wretch as you. I will give her to whoever is brave enough to kill the giant." "Then," said the Prince, "I will go. Make your mind easy. In a year and a day I shall be with you again." Thus saying, he mounted his horse and rode away swifdy, kissing his hand to the Princess. Meanwhile, the giant's son also de- parted. So soon as they met outside of the city the Prince said to the giant's son, " You are a mean and cruel man to carry so base a message. Prepare to die, for I shall surely kill you." Upon this the giant's son fled, but the Prince soon over- took and slew him. Then he put on the clothes of the giant's son, and cut off his own beard, so as to be as like him as possi- ble. After a long journey, he came to the casde of the giant, and found him sitting on the hillside smoking a mighty great pipe, so that he could hardly be seen for the smoke. After the Prince had sneezed for a day, he was able to talk, and then he said to the giant, imitating his son's voice, " Papa, I have changed my mind ; the Princess is ugly ; I do not want her." " Bah !" said the giant. " No matter ; it is long since I ate a Kinor ; I shall eat them both." At this the Prince was in despair ; but he hid his vexation and said, "Well, let us set out." The giant arose at once and started off, leaving the Prince to follow him. The first night the Prince caught up to him and, finding him asleep, took his sword and tried to stab him, SMOKE V P ORE V. j ^ - but his skin was as tough as sole-leather, and the giant only rolled about and cried out, " How bad the mosquitoes are !" "I must delay his journey," thought the Prince, "and get time to think a little as to what I shall do." So he found the giant's shoes near by, and built a big fire in them and burned them both, so that they were good for nothing. " Dear me," cried Smokey Pokey, when he awoke and saw what had happened, "this is queer." But in a moment he went to a river near by, and took two ships and tore out the masts, and kicked in the decks, and put one foot in each ship, and walked away with these new shoes, saying, " They fit well enough, but they must be full of rats, for something is trying to nibble my toes," After another day's journey the giant lost his way, and, when the Prince caught up with him, he said, " These hills are very steep ; which is the right road ?" " Come here," said the Prince, and led the giant always on the side of a great mountain, around and around for a week. At last said Smokey Pokey, " It seems to me that my left leg is too long, and my right leg too short !" "What a dreadful hill, papa!" answered the Prince. "If you were to cut your left leg a little shorter, you could walk better on the hillside." "Yes," said the giant, who was as stupid as he was big, " that's a good idea." So he cut off five yards of his left leg, and found he fitted the side of the hill very nicely. But next day the Prince began to go in the other direction, which caused the giant to hop like a grasshopper and to cry out with fatigue. At last he grew angry, and, seizing the Prince, gave him a 156 THE TALE OF THE GREAT GIANT, squeeze which nearly mashed him. " You young rascal," said he, " you have lamed me for life ; I shall never find my leg again, and I shall die without having eaten a King. Tell me quickly, you who are so cunning, what I shall do, or I will kill you !" " Sire," answered the Prince, " there lives near here a great sorceress, who will turn you into a dog, so that you can run furiously ; and, when you are near the King's palace, she shall turn you into a giant again." "Good," replied Smokey Pokey; "bring her at once." Upon this the Prince left him, and after a week came back with his fairy godmother, who was the cleverest little Magician in the world. When she heard the giant's request, she told the Prince, in a whisper, that he must be careful, because she would have to turn the giant into his own shape again if she promised to do so. " Leave the rest to me," answered the Prince. "Only turn him into a dog; I ask no more." By this time, Smokey Pokey, who was very impatient, cried out, " Promise to change me into a giant again when we get near the palace." "Yes," said the fairy, " I promise." Then the fairy touched him with her wand, and cried aloud some Persian words, when instantly a dog as big as an elephant stood on the hill, and there was no longer a giant. Then they trotted along slowly, till at lenofth the Prince saw a swift little hare run out of the wood ! As soon as the giant dog, Smokey Pokey, espied it, he began to bark awfully and to leap about. But when the Prince cried out, "Hist! catch him, Towser," Smokey Pokey set off" after the hare at a great rate, and was soon lost to view. SMOKE V POKE V. 1-7 As to the fairy and the Prince, they laughed for a week, be- cause this was a magic hare, which no dog, big or little, ever could catch ; and I suppose that poor Smokey Pokey may be hard after him yet. This I do know, that he never came back, and that the young Prince married the lovely Princess Sweet Cheeks. THE END. ..M'*'-^ ^T?-,.'**. ^■. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO— ^ 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Renewals and Recharges may be mode 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 1T1989- SEP U 198 Q- 'j — ^j — i — y — iw\ '' C Vy w 1 < J 7 i y (J / UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DD6 BERKELEY, CA 94720 ®s s out of fairy-land ELEY LIBRA M53(n2ii ||i:jp|g^^||p^^^^g /