water-meadows, and dried it before the fire, so that it smelt like
new-mown hay, and she sat at the mouth of the Cave and plaited a halter
out of horse-hide, and she looked at the shoulder of mutton-bone--at the
big broad blade-bone--and she made a Magic. She made the Second Singing
Magic in the world.
Out in the Wild Woods all the wild animals wondered what had happened to
Wild Dog, and at last Wild Horse stamped with his foot and said, 'I will
go and see and say why Wild Dog has not returned. Cat, come with me.'
'Nenni!' said the Cat. 'I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all
places are alike to me. I will not come.' But all the same he followed
Wild Horse softly, very softly, and hid himself where he could hear
everything.
When the Woman heard Wild Horse tripping and stumbling on his long mane,
she laughed and said, 'Here comes the second. Wild Thing out of the Wild
Woods what do you want?'
Wild Horse said, 'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, where is Wild Dog?'
The Woman laughed, and picked up the blade-bone and looked at it, and
said, 'Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, you did not come here for Wild
Dog, but for the sake of this good grass.'
And Wild Horse, tripping and stumbling on his long mane, said, 'That is
true; give it me to eat.'
The Woman said, 'Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, bend your wild head
and wear what I give you, and you shall eat the wonderful grass three
times a day.'
'Ah,' said the Cat, listening, 'this is a clever Woman, but she is not
so clever as I am.'
[Illustration: THIS is the picture of the Cat that Walked by Himself,
walking by his wild lone through the Wet Wild Woods and waving his wild
tail. There is nothing else in the picture except some toadstools. They
had to grow there because the woods were so wet. The lumpy thing on the
low branch isn't a bird. It is moss that grew there because the Wild
Woods were so wet.
Underneath the truly picture is a picture of the cozy Cave that the Man
and the Woman went to after the Baby came. It was their summer Cave, and
they planted wheat in front of it. The Man is riding on the Horse to
find the Cow and bring her back to the Cave to be milked. He is holding
up his hand to call the Dog, who has swum across to the other side of
the river, looking for rabbits.]
Wild Horse bent his wild head, and the Woman slipped the plaited
hide halter over it, and Wild Horse breathed on the Woman's feet and
said, 'O my Mistress, and Wife of my Master, I will be your servant for
the sake of the wonderful grass.'
'Ah,' said the Cat, listening, 'that is a very foolish Horse.' And he
went back through the Wet Wild Woods, waving his wild tail and walking
by his wild lone. But he never told anybody.
When the Man and the Dog came back from hunting, the Man said, 'What is
Wild Horse doing here?' And the Woman said, 'His name is not Wild Horse
any more, but the First Servant, because he will carry us from place to
place for always and always and always. Ride on his back when you go
hunting.'
Next day, holding her wild head high that her wild horns should not
catch in the wild trees, Wild Cow came up to the Cave, and the Cat
followed, and hid himself just the same as before; and everything
happened just the same as before; and the Cat said the same things as
before, and when Wild Cow had promised to give her milk to the Woman
every day in exchange for the wonderful grass, the Cat went back through
the Wet Wild Woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone,
just the same as before. But he never told anybody. And when the Man and
the Horse and the Dog came home from hunting and asked the same
questions same as before, the Woman said, 'Her name is not Wild Cow any
more, but the Giver of Good Food. She will give us the warm white milk
for always and always and always, and I will take care of her while you
and the First Friend and the First Servant go hunting.'
Next day the Cat waited to see if any other Wild thing would go up to
the Cave, but no one moved in the Wet Wild Woods, so the Cat walked
there by himself; and he saw the Woman milking the Cow, and he saw the
light of the fire in the Cave, and he smelt the smell of the warm white
milk.
Cat said, 'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, where did Wild Cow go?'
The Woman laughed and said, 'Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, go back
to the Woods again, for I have braided up my hair, and I have put away
the magic blade-bone, and we have no more need of either friends or
servants in our Cave.'
Cat said, 'I am not a friend, and I am not a servant. I am the Cat who
walks by himself, and I wish to come into your cave.'
Woman said, 'Then why did you not come with First Friend on the first
night?'
Cat grew very angry and said, 'Has Wild Dog told tales of me?'
Then the Woman laughed and said, 'You are the Cat who walks by himself,
and all places are alike to you. You are neither a friend nor a servant.
You have said it yourself. Go away and walk by yourself in all places
alike.'
Then Cat pretended to be sorry and said, 'Must I never come into the
Cave? Must I never sit by the warm fire? Must I never drink the warm
white milk? You are very wise and very beautiful. You should not be
cruel even to a Cat.'
Woman said, 'I knew I was wise, but I did not know I was beautiful. So I
will make a bargain with you. If ever I say one word in your praise you
may come into the Cave.'
'And if you say two words in my praise?' said the Cat.
'I never shall,' said the Woman, 'but if I say two words in your
praise, you may sit by the fire in the Cave.'
'And if you say three words?' said the Cat.
'I never shall,' said the Woman, 'but if I say three words in your
praise, you may drink the warm white milk three times a day for always
and always and always.'
Then the Cat arched his back and said, 'Now let the Curtain at the mouth
of the Cave, and the Fire at the back of the Cave, and the Milk-pots
that stand beside the Fire, remember what my Enemy and the Wife of my
Enemy has said.' And he went away through the Wet Wild Woods waving his
wild tail and walking by his wild lone.
That night when the Man and the Horse and the Dog came home from
hunting, the Woman did not tell them of the bargain that she had made
with the Cat, because she was afraid that they might not like it.
Cat went far and far away and hid himself in the Wet Wild Woods by his
wild lone for a long time till the Woman forgot all about him. Only the
Bat--the little upside-down Bat--that hung inside the Cave, knew where
Cat hid; and every evening Bat would fly to Cat with news of what was
happening.
One evening Bat said, 'There is a Baby in the Cave. He is new and pink
and fat and small, and the Woman is very fond of him.'
'Ah,' said the Cat, listening, 'but what is the Baby fond of?'
'He is fond of things that are soft and tickle,' said the Bat. 'He is
fond of warm things to hold in his arms when he goes to sleep. He is
fond of being played with. He is fond of all those things.'
'Ah,' said the Cat, listening, 'then my time has come.'
Next night Cat walked through the Wet Wild Woods and hid very near the
Cave till morning-time, and Man and Dog and Horse went hunting. The
Woman was busy cooking that morning, and the Baby cried and interrupted.
So she carried him outside the Cave and gave him a handful of pebbles to
play with. But still the Baby cried.
Then the Cat put out his paddy paw and patted the Baby on the cheek, and
it cooed; and the Cat rubbed against its fat knees and tickled it under
its fat chin with his tail. And the Baby laughed; and the Woman heard
him and smiled.
Then the Bat--the little upside-down Bat--that hung in the mouth of the
Cave said, 'O my Hostess and Wife of my Host and Mother of my Host's
Son, a Wild Thing from the Wild Woods is most beautifully playing with
your Baby.'
'A blessing on that Wild Thing whoever he may be,' said the Woman,
straightening her back, 'for I was a busy woman this morning and he has
done me a service.'
The very minute and second, Best Beloved, the dried horse-skin Curtain
that was stretched tail-down at the mouth of the Cave fell
down--_woosh!_--because it remembered the bargain she had made with the
Cat, and when the Woman went to pick it up--lo and behold!--the Cat was
sitting quite comfy inside the Cave.
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,' said the Cat,
'it is I: for you have spoken a word in my praise, and now I can sit
within the Cave for always and always and always. But still I am the Cat
who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.'
The Woman was very angry, and shut her lips tight and took up her
spinning-wheel and began to spin.
But the Baby cried because the Cat had gone away, and the Woman could
not hush it, for it struggled and kicked and grew black in the face.
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,' said the Cat,
'take a strand of the wire that you are spinning and tie it to your
spinning-whorl and drag it along the floor, and I will show you a magic
that shall make your Baby laugh as loudly as he is now crying.'
'I will do so,' said the Woman, 'because I am at my wits' end; but I
will not thank you for it.'
She tied the thread to the little clay spindle-whorl and drew it across
the floor, and the Cat ran after it and patted it with his paws and
rolled head over heels, and tossed it backward over his shoulder and
chased it between his hind-legs and pretended to lose it, and pounced
down upon it again, till the Baby laughed as loudly as it had been
crying, and scrambled after the Cat and frolicked all over the Cave till
it grew tired and settled down to sleep with the Cat in its arms.
'Now,' said the Cat, 'I will sing the Baby a song that shall keep him
asleep for an hour.' And he began to purr, loud and low, low and loud,
till the Baby fell fast asleep. The Woman smiled as she looked down upon
the two of them and said, 'That was wonderfully done. No question but
you are very clever, O Cat.'
That very minute and second, Best Beloved, the smoke of the fire at the
back of the Cave came down in clouds from the roof--_puff!_--because it
remembered the bargain she had made with the Cat, and when it had
cleared away--lo and behold!--the Cat was sitting quite comfy close to
the fire.
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of My Enemy,' said the Cat,
'it is I, for you have spoken a second word in my praise, and now I can
sit by the warm fire at the back of the Cave for always and always and
always. But still I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are
alike to me.'
Then the Woman was very very angry, and let down her hair and put more
wood on the fire and brought out the broad blade-bone of the shoulder of
mutton and began to make a Magic that should prevent her from saying a
third word in praise of the Cat. It was not a Singing Magic, Best
Beloved, it was a Still Magic; and by and by the Cave grew so still that
a little wee-wee mouse crept out of a corner and ran across the floor.
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,' said the Cat,
'is that little mouse part of your magic?'
'Ouh! Chee! No indeed!' said the Woman, and she dropped the blade-bone
and jumped upon the footstool in front of the fire and braided up her
hair very quick for fear that the mouse should run up it.
'Ah,' said the Cat, watching, 'then the mouse will do me no harm if I
eat it?'
'No,' said the Woman, braiding up her hair, 'eat it quickly and I will
ever be grateful to you.'
Cat made one jump and caught the little mouse, and the Woman said, 'A
hundred thanks. Even the First Friend is not quick enough to catch
little mice as you have done. You must be very wise.'
That very moment and second, O Best Beloved, the Milk-pot that stood by
the fire cracked in two pieces--_ffft_--because it remembered the
bargain she had made with the Cat, and when the Woman jumped down from
the footstool--lo and behold!--the Cat was lapping up the warm white
milk that lay in one of the broken pieces.
'O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,' said the Cat,
'it is I; for you have spoken three words in my praise, and now I can
drink the warm white milk three times a day for always and always and
always. But _still_ I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places
are alike to me.'
Then the Woman laughed and set the Cat a bowl of the warm white milk and
said, 'O Cat, you are as clever as a man, but remember that your bargain
was not made with the Man or the Dog, and I do not know what they will
do when they come home.'
'What is that to me?' said the Cat. 'If I have my place in the Cave by
the fire and my warm white milk three times a day I do not care what the
Man or the Dog can do.'
That evening when the Man and the Dog came into the Cave, the Woman
told them all the story of the bargain while the Cat sat by the fire and
smiled. Then the Man said, 'Yes, but he has not made a bargain with _me_
or with all proper Men after me.' Then he took off his two leather boots
and he took up his little stone axe (that makes three) and he fetched a
piece of wood and a hatchet (that is five altogether), and he set them
out in a row and he said, 'Now we will make _our_ bargain. If you do not
catch mice when you are in the Cave for always and always and always, I
will throw these five things at you whenever I see you, and so shall all
proper Men do after me.'
'Ah,' said the Woman, listening, 'this is a very clever Cat, but he is
not so clever as my Man.'
The Cat counted the five things (and they looked very knobby) and he
said, 'I will catch mice when I am in the Cave for always and always and
always; but _still_ I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places
are alike to me.'
'Not when I am near,' said the Man. 'If you had not said that last I
would have put all these things away for always and always and always;
but I am now going to throw my two boots and my little stone axe (that
makes three) at you whenever I meet you. And so shall all proper Men do
after me!'
Then the Dog said, 'Wait a minute. He has not made a bargain with _me_
or with all proper Dogs after me.' And he showed his teeth and said, 'If
you are not kind to the Baby while I am in the Cave for always and
always and always, I will hunt you till I catch you, and when I catch
you I will bite you. And so shall all proper Dogs do after me.'
'Ah,' said the Woman, listening, 'this is a very clever Cat, but he is
not so clever as the Dog.'
Cat counted the Dog's teeth (and they looked very pointed) and he said,
'I will be kind to the Baby while I am in the Cave, as long as he does
not pull my tail too hard, for always and always and always. But _still_
I am the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.'
'Not when I am near,' said the Dog. 'If you had not said that last I
would have shut my mouth for always and always and always; but _now_ I
am going to hunt you up a tree whenever I meet you. And so shall all
proper Dogs do after me.'
Then the Man threw his two boots and his little stone axe (that makes
three) at the Cat, and the Cat ran out of the Cave and the Dog chased
him up a tree; and from that day to this, Best Beloved, three proper Men
out of five will always throw things at a Cat whenever they meet him,
and all proper Dogs will chase him up a tree. But the Cat keeps his side
of the bargain too. He will kill mice and he will be kind to Babies when
he is in the house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard.
But when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up
and night comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are
alike to him. Then he goes out to the Wet Wild Woods or up the Wet Wild
Trees or on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his
wild lone.
[Illustration]
PUSSY can sit by the fire and sing,
Pussy can climb a tree,
Or play with a silly old cork and string
To 'muse herself, not me.
But I like _Binkie_ my dog, because
He knows how to behave;
So, _Binkie's_ the same as the First Friend was
And I am the Man in the Cave.
Pussy will play man-Friday till
It's time to wet her paw
And make her walk on the window-sill
(For the footprint Crusoe saw);
Then she fluffles her tail and mews,
And scratches and won't attend.
But _Binkie_ will play whatever I choose,
And he is my true First Friend.
Pussy will rub my knees with her head
Pretending she loves me hard;
But the very minute I go to my bed
Pussy runs out in the yard,
And there she stays till the morning-light;
So I know it is only pretend;
But _Binkie_, he snores at my feet all night,
And he is my Firstest Friend!
[Illustration]
[Illustration: The Butterfly that Stamped]
THE BUTTERFLY THAT STAMPED
THIS, O my Best Beloved, is a story--a new and a wonderful story--a
story quite different from the other stories--a story about The Most
Wise Sovereign Suleiman-bin-Daoud--Solomon the Son of David.
[Illustration]
There are three hundred and fifty-five stories about Suleiman-bin-Daoud;
but this is not one of them. It is not the story of the Lapwing who
found the Water; or the Hoopoe who shaded Suleiman-bin-Daoud from the
heat. It is not the story of the Glass Pavement, or the Ruby with the
Crooked Hole, or the Gold Bars of Balkis. It is the story of the
Butterfly that Stamped.
Now attend all over again and listen!
Suleiman-bin-Daoud was wise. He understood what the beasts said, what
the birds said, what the fishes said, and what the insects said. He
understood what the rocks said deep under the earth when they bowed in
towards each other and groaned; and he understood what the trees said
when they rustled in the middle of the morning. He understood
everything, from the bishop on the bench to the hyssop on the wall, and
Balkis, his Head Queen, the Most Beautiful Queen Balkis, was nearly as
wise as he was.
Suleiman-bin-Daoud was strong. Upon the third finger of the right
hand he wore a ring. When he turned it once, Afrits and Djinns came
out of the earth to do whatever he told them. When he turned it
twice, Fairies came down from the sky to do whatever he told them;
and when he turned it three times, the very great angel Azrael of
the Sword came dressed as a water-carrier, and told him the news of
the three worlds,--Above--Below--and Here.
And yet Suleiman-bin-Daoud was not proud. He very seldom showed off,
and when he did he was sorry for it. Once he tried to feed all the
animals in all the world in one day, but when the food was ready an
Animal came out of the deep sea and ate it up in three mouthfuls.
Suleiman-bin-Daoud was very surprised and said, 'O Animal, who are you?'
And the Animal said, 'O King, live for ever! I am the smallest of thirty
thousand brothers, and our home is at the bottom of the sea. We heard
that you were going to feed all the animals in all the world, and my
brothers sent me to ask when dinner would be ready.' Suleiman-bin-Daoud
was more surprised than ever and said, 'O Animal, you have eaten all the
dinner that I made ready for all the animals in the world.' And the
Animal said, 'O King, live for ever, but do you really call that a
dinner? Where I come from we each eat twice as much as that between
meals.' Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud fell flat on his face and said, 'O
Animal! I gave that dinner to show what a great and rich king I was, and
not because I really wanted to be kind to the animals. Now I am ashamed,
and it serves me right.' Suleiman-bin-Daoud was a really truly wise man,
Best Beloved. After that he never forgot that it was silly to show off;
and now the real story part of my story begins.
[Illustration: THIS is the picture of the Animal that came out of the
sea and ate up all the food that Suleiman-bin-Daoud had made ready for
all the animals in all the world. He was really quite a nice Animal, and
his Mummy was very fond of him and of his twenty-nine thousand nine
hundred and ninety-nine other brothers that lived at the bottom of the
sea. You know that he was the smallest of them all, and so his name was
Small Porgies. He ate up all those boxes and packets and bales and
things that had been got ready for all the animals, without ever once
taking off the lids or untying the strings, and it did not hurt him at
all. The sticky-up masts behind the boxes of food belong to
Suleiman-bin-Daoud's ships. They were busy bringing more food when Small
Porgies came ashore. He did not eat the ships. They stopped unloading
the foods and instantly sailed away to sea till Small Porgies had quite
finished eating. You can see some of the ships beginning to sail away by
Small Porgies' shoulder. I have not drawn Suleiman-bin-Daoud, but he is
just outside the picture, very much astonished. The bundle hanging from
the mast of the ship in the corner is really a package of wet dates for
parrots to eat. I don't know the names of the ships. That is all there
is in that picture.]
He married ever so many wifes. He married nine hundred and
ninety-nine wives, besides the Most Beautiful Balkis; and they all lived
in a great golden palace in the middle of a lovely garden with
fountains. He didn't really want nine-hundred and ninety-nine wives, but
in those days everybody married ever so many wives, and of course the
King had to marry ever so many more just to show that he was the King.
Some of the wives were nice, but some were simply horrid, and the horrid
ones quarrelled with the nice ones and made them horrid too, and then
they would all quarrel with Suleiman-bin-Daoud, and that was horrid for
him. But Balkis the Most Beautiful never quarrelled with
Suleiman-bin-Daoud. She loved him too much. She sat in her rooms in the
Golden Palace, or walked in the Palace garden, and was truly sorry for
him.
Of course if he had chosen to turn his ring on his finger and call up
the Djinns and the Afrits they would have magicked all those nine
hundred and ninety-nine quarrelsome wives into white mules of the desert
or greyhounds or pomegranate seeds; but Suleiman-bin-Daoud thought that
that would be showing off. So, when they quarrelled too much, he only
walked by himself in one part of the beautiful Palace gardens and wished
he had never been born.
One day, when they had quarrelled for three weeks--all nine hundred and
ninety-nine wives together--Suleiman-bin-Daoud went out for peace and
quiet as usual; and among the orange trees he met Balkis the Most
Beautiful, very sorrowful because Suleiman-bin-Daoud was so worried. And
she said to him, 'O my Lord and Light of my Eyes, turn the ring upon
your finger and show these Queens of Egypt and Mesopotamia and Persia
and China that you are the great and terrible King.' But
Suleiman-bin-Daoud shook his head and said, 'O my Lady and Delight of my
Life, remember the Animal that came out of the sea and made me ashamed
before all the animals in all the world because I showed off. Now, if I
showed off before these Queens of Persia and Egypt and Abyssinia and
China, merely because they worry me, I might be made even more ashamed
than I have been.'
And Balkis the Most Beautiful said, 'O my Lord and Treasure of my Soul,
what will you do?'
And Suleiman-bin-Daoud said, 'O my Lady and Content of my Heart, I
shall continue to endure my fate at the hands of these nine hundred and
ninety-nine Queens who vex me with their continual quarrelling.'
So he went on between the lilies and the loquats and the roses and the
cannas and the heavy-scented ginger-plants that grew in the garden, till
he came to the great camphor-tree that was called the Camphor Tree of
Suleiman-bin-Daoud. But Balkis hid among the tall irises and the spotted
bamboos and the red lillies behind the camphor-tree, so as to be near
her own true love, Suleiman-bin-Daoud.
Presently two Butterflies flew under the tree, quarrelling.
Suleiman-bin-Daoud heard one say to the other, 'I wonder at your
presumption in talking like this to me. Don't you know that if I stamped
with my foot all Suleiman-bin-Daoud's Palace and this garden here would
immediately vanish in a clap of thunder.'
Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud forgot his nine hundred and ninety-nine
bothersome wives, and laughed, till the camphor-tree shook, at the
Butterfly's boast. And he held out his finger and said, 'Little man,
come here.'
The Butterfly was dreadfully frightened, but he managed to fly up to
the hand of Suleiman-bin-Daoud, and clung there, fanning himself.
Suleiman-bin-Daoud bent his head and whispered very softly, 'Little man,
you know that all your stamping wouldn't bend one blade of grass. What
made you tell that awful fib to your wife?--for doubtless she is your
wife.'
The Butterfly looked at Suleiman-bin-Daoud and saw the most wise King's
eye twinkle like stars on a frosty night, and he picked up his courage
with both wings, and he put his head on one side and said, 'O King, live
for ever. She _is_ my wife; and you know what wives are like.'
Suleiman-bin-Daoud smiled in his beard and said, 'Yes, _I_ know, little
brother.'
'One must keep them in order somehow,' said the Butterfly, 'and she has
been quarrelling with me all the morning. I said that to quiet her.'
And Suleiman-bin-Daoud said, 'May it quiet her. Go back to your wife,
little brother, and let me hear what you say.'