Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 09 (36 page)

Soon after this adventure the monkey went away into another part
of the country, right on the outskirts of the forest, where there
was a beautiful garden full of oranges hanging ripe from the
trees. This garden was a favourite place for birds of all kinds,
each hoping to secure an orange for dinner, and in order to
frighten the birds away and keep a little fruit for himself, the
master had fastened a waxen figure on one of the boughs.

Now the monkey was as fond of oranges as any of the birds, and
when he saw a man standing in the tree where the largest and
sweetest oranges grew, he spoke to him at once. 'You man,' he
said rudely, 'throw me down that big orange up there, or I will
throw a stone at you.' The wax figure took no notice of this
request, so the monkey, who was easily made angry, picked up a
stone, and flung it with all his force. But instead of falling
to the ground again, the stone stuck to the soft wax.

At this moment a breeze shook the tree, and the orange on which
the monkey had set his heart dropped from the bough. He picked
it up and ate it every bit, including the rind, and it was so
good he thought he should like another. So he called again to
the wax figure to throw him an orange, and as the figure did not
move, he hurled another stone, which stuck to the wax as the
first had done. Seeing that the man was quite indifferent to
stones, the monkey grew more angry still, and climbing the tree
hastily, gave the figure a violent kick. But like the two stones
his leg remained stuck to the wax, and he was held fast. 'Let me
go at once, or I will give you another kick,' he cried, suiting
the action to the word, and this time also his foot remained in
the grasp of the man. Not knowing what he did, the monkey hit
out, first with one hand and then with the other, and when he
found that he was literally bound hand and foot, he became so mad
with anger and terror that in his struggles he fell to the
ground, dragging the figure after him. This freed his hands and
feet, but besides the shock of the fall, they had tumbled into a
bed of thorns, and he limped away broken and bruised, and
groaning loudly; for when monkeys ARE hurt, they take pains that
everybody shall know it.

It was a long time before Jack was well enough to go about again;
but when he did, he had an encounter with his old enemy the puma.
And this was how it came about.

One day the puma invited his friend the stag to go with him and
see a comrade, who was famous for the good milk he got from his
cows. The stag loved milk, and gladly accepted the invitation,
and when the sun began to get a little low the two started on
their walk. On the way they arrived on the banks of a river, and
as there were no bridges in those days it was necessary to swim
across it. The stag was not fond of swimming, and began to say
that he was tired, and thought that after all it was not worth
going so far to get milk, and that he would return home. But the
puma easily saw through these excuses, and laughed at him.

'The river is not deep at all,' he said; 'why, you will never be
off your feet. Come, pluck up your courage and follow me.'

The stag was afraid of the river; still, he was much more afraid
of being laughed at, and he plunged in after the puma; but in an
instant the current had swept him away, and if it had not borne
him by accident to a shallow place on the opposite side, where he
managed to scramble up the bank, he would certainly have been
drowned. As it was, he scrambled out, shaking with terror, and
found the puma waiting for him. 'You had a narrow escape that
time,' said the puma.

After resting for a few minutes, to let the stag recover from his
fright, they went on their way till they came to a grove of
bananas.

'They look very good,' observed the puma with a longing glance,
'and I am sure you must be hungry, friend stag? Suppose you were
to climb the tree and get some. You shall eat the green ones,
they are the best and sweetest; and you can throw the yellow ones
down to me. I dare say they will do quite well!' The stag did as
he was bid, though, not being used to climbing, it gave him a
deal of trouble and sore knees, and besides, his horns were
continually getting entangled in the creepers. What was worse,
when once he had tasted the bananas, he found them not at all to
his liking, so he threw them all down, green and yellow alike,
and let the puma take his choice. And what a dinner he made!
When he had QUITE done, they set forth once more.

The path lay through a field of maize, where several men were
working. As they came up to them, the puma whispered: 'Go on in
front, friend stag, and just say "Bad luck to all workers!"' The
stag obeyed, but the men were hot and tired, and did not think
this a good joke. So they set their dogs at him, and he was
obliged to run away as fast as he could.

'I hope your industry will be rewarded as it deserves,' said the
puma as he passed along; and the men were pleased, and offered
him some of their maize to eat.

By-and-by the puma saw a small snake with a beautiful shining
skin, lying coiled up at the foot of a tree. 'What a lovely
bracelet that would make for your daughter, friend stag! said he.
The stag stooped and picked up the snake, which bit him, and he
turned angrily to the puma. 'Why did you not tell me it would
bite?' he asked.

'Is it my fault if you are an idiot?' replied the puma.

At last they reached their journey's end, but by this time it was
late, and the puma's comrade was ready for bed, so they slung
their hammocks in convenient places, and went to sleep. But in
the middle of the night the puma rose softly and stole out of the
door to the sheep-fold, where he killed and ate the fattest sheep
he could find, and taking a bowl full of its blood, he sprinkled
the sleeping stag with it. This done, he returned to bed.

In the morning the shepherd went as usual to let the sheep out of
the fold, and found one of them missing. He thought directly of
the puma, and ran to accuse him of having eaten the sheep. 'I,
my good man? What had put it into your head to think of such a
thing? Have I got any blood about me? If anyone has eaten a
sheep it must be my friend the stag.' Then the shepherd went to
examine the sleeping stag, and of course he saw the blood. 'Ah!
I will teach you how to steal!' cried he, and he hit the stag
such a blow on his skull that he died in a moment. The noise
awakened the comrade above, and he came downstairs. The puma
greeted him with joy, and begged he might have some of the famous
milk as soon as possible, for he was very thirsty. A large
bucket was set before the puma directly. He drank it to the last
drop, and then took leave.

On his way home he met the monkey. 'Are you fond of milk?' asked
he. 'I know a place where you get it very nice. I will show you
it if you like.' The monkey knew that the puma was not so good-
natured for nothing, but he felt quite able to take care of
himself, so he said he should have much pleasure in accompanying
his friend.

They soon reached the same river, and, as before, the puma
remarked: 'Friend monkey, you will find it very shallow; there is
no cause for fear. Jump in and I will follow.'

'Do you think you have the stag to deal with?' asked the monkey,
laughing. 'I should prefer to follow; if not I shall go no
further. The puma understood that it was useless trying to make
the monkey do as he wished, so he chose a shallow place and began
to swim across. The monkey waited till the puma had got to the
middle, then he gave a great spring and jumped on his back,
knowing quite well that the puma would be afraid to shake him
off, lest he should be swept away into deep water. So in this
manner they reached the bank.

The banana grove was not far distant, and here the puma thought
he would pay the monkey out for forcing him to carry him over the
river. 'Friend monkey, look what fine bananas,' cried he. 'You
are fond of climbing; suppose you run up and throw me down a few.
You can eat the green ones, which are the nicest, and I will be
content with the yellow.'

'Very well,' answered the monkey, swinging himself up; but he ate
all the yellow ones himself, and only threw down the green ones
that were left. The puma was furious and cried out: 'I will
punch your head for that.' But the monkey only answered: 'If you
are gong to talk such nonsense I won't walk with you.' And the
puma was silent.

In a few minutes more they arrived at the field were the men were
reaping the maize, and the puma remarked as he had done before:
'Friend monkey, if you wish to please these men, just say as you
go by: "Bad luck to all workers."

'Very well,' replied the monkey; but, instead, he nodded and
smiled, and said: 'I hope your industry may be rewarded as it
deserves.' The men thanked him heartily, let him pass on, and
the puma followed behind him.

Further along the path they saw the shining snake lying on the
moss. 'What a lovely necklace for your daughter,' exclaimed the
puma. 'Pick it up and take it with you.'

'You are very kind, but I will leave it for you,' answered the
monkey, and nothing more was said about the snake.

Not long after this they reached the comrade's house, and found
him just ready to go to bed. So, without stopping to talk, the
guests slung their hammocks, the monkey taking care to place his
so high that no one could get at him. Besides, he thought it
would be more prudent not to fall asleep, so he only lay still
and snored loudly. When it was quite dark and no sound was to be
heard, the puma crept out to the sheep-fold, killed the sheep,
and carried back a bowl full of its blood with which to sprinkle
the monkey. But the monkey, who had been watching out of the
corner of his eye, waited until the puma drew near, and with a
violent kick upset the bowl all over the puma himself.

When the puma saw what had happened, he turned in a great hurry
to leave the house, but before he could do so, he saw the
shepherd coming, and hastily lay down again.

'This is the second time I have lost a sheep,' the man said to
the monkey; 'it will be the worse for the thief when I catch him,
I can tell you.' The monkey did not answer, but silently pointed
to the puma who was pretending to be asleep. The shepherd
stooped and saw the blood, and cried out: 'Ah! so it is you, is
it? then take that!' and with his stick he gave the puma such a
blow on the head that he died then and there.

Then the monkey got up and went to the dairy, and drank all the
milk he could find. Afterwards he returned home and married, and
that is the last we heard of him.

(Adapted from Folk-lore Bresilien.)

Once upon a time there lived an old cobbler who worked hard at
his trade from morning till night, and scarcely gave himself a
moment to eat. But, industrious as he was, he could hardly buy
bread and cheese for himself and his wife, and they grew thinner
and thinner daily.

For a long while whey pretended to each other that they had no
appetite, and that a few blackberries from the hedges were a
great deal nicer than a good strong bowl of soup. But at length
there came a day when the cobbler could bear it no longer, and he
threw away his last, and borrowing a rod from a neighbour he went
out to fish.

Now the cobbler was as patient about fishing as he had been about
cobbling. From dawn to dark he stood on the banks of the little
stream, without hooking anything better than an eel, or a few old
shoes, that even he, clever though he was, felt were not worth
mending. At length his patience began to give way, and as he
undressed one night he said to himself: 'Well, I will give it one
more chance; and if I don't catch a fish to-morrow, I will go and
hang myself.'

He had not cast his line for ten minutes the next morning before
he drew from the river the most beautiful fish he had ever seen
in his life. But he nearly fell into the water from surprise,
when the fish began to speak to him, in a small, squeaky voice:

'Take me back to your hut and cook me; then cut me up, and
sprinkle me over with pepper and salt. Give two of the pieces to
your wife, and bury two more in the garden.'

The cobbler did not know what to make of these strange words; but
he was wiser than many people, and when he did not understand, he
thought it was well to obey. His children wanted to eat all the
fish themselves, and begged their father to tell them what to do
with the pieces he had put aside; but the cobbler only laughed,
and told them it was no business of theirs. And when they were
safe in bed he stole out and buried the two pieces in the garden.

By and by two babies, exactly alike, lay in a cradle, and in the
garden were two tall plants, with two brilliant shields on the
top.

Years passed away, and the babies were almost men. They were
tired of living quietly at home, being mistaken for each other by
everybody they saw, and determined to set off in different
directions, to seek adventures.

So, one fine morning, the two brothers left the hut, and walked
together to the place where the great road divided. There they
embraced and parted, promising that if anything remarkable had
happened to either, he would return to the cross roads and wait
till his brother came.

The youth who took the path that ran eastwards arrived presently
at a large city, where he found everybody standing at the doors,
wringing their hands and weeping bitterly.

'What is the matter?' asked he, pausing and looking round. And a
man replied, in a faltering voice, that each year a beautiful
girl was chosen by lot to be offered up to a dreadful fiery
dragon, who had a mother even worse than himself, and this year
the lot had fallen on their peerless princess.

'But where IS the princess?' said the young man once more, and
again the man answered him: 'She is standing under a tree, a mile
away, waiting for the dragon.'