A WILD Swan was flying once to his home, when he paused to rest on a
tree. This was a kind of tree you have most likely never seen. It was
very tall, and had no branches upon it until you came to the top, but at
the top was a large clump of green leaves, and bunches of cocoa-nuts
hanging down.
It so happened that on this tree was the nest of a Paddy-bird. A
Paddy-bird is a bird something like a heron, which feeds on fish and
frogs. At the moment when the Swan perched upon the tree, this
Paddy-bird was sitting demurely on the edge of a pond that was below the
tree, watching the water for a rise. She had no fishing-rod, but when
she saw a little fish or a frog swim past, out went her beak like a
flash, and the fish was pierced. Then she ate the fish, or carried it
off to her little ones in the nest.
When the Paddy-bird chanced to look round, she saw the Swan sitting upon
her tree. She was frightened at this, thinking that perhaps it was some
bird of prey, come to devour her chicks. So she left her fishing, and at
once flew up to the top of the cocoa-nut tree. The Swan looked harmless
enough when she came closer, so plucking up courage, the Paddy-bird
thus addressed him--
"Good-day, sir. May I ask who you are?"
"I am a Swan," said the other, "and I am on my way home; but as it is a
hot day, I thought I would rest awhile on your tree. I hope you have no
objection?"
"Welcome, my lord Swan, welcome!" said the Paddy-bird. "I only wish I
could offer you entertainment. But I am ashamed to say that I have no
food worth your taking. I am a poor bird, and you know we Paddy-birds
eat only small fish and frogs, which your highness would hardly touch."
"Oh, never mind for that," answered the Swan; "thank you all the same,
but I can find my own food on this tree of yours."
This set our Paddy-bird's heart all a-flutter, for what could he mean
but her brood? However, all was well in a minute; when she saw the Swan
go to one of the green cocoa-nuts hanging to the tree. You have seen, I
suppose, three little soft places at the top of a cocoa-nut, which are
holes in the shell filled up with pulp. The Swan pierced his bill
through one of these holes, and drank the milk inside the cocoa-nut.
Then he gave some of the milk to the Paddy-bird, and flew away.
This milk tasted very nice, and the Paddy-bird began to say to herself,
"What a fool I have been all these years! Here am I, watching and
waiting all day long for a frog, and nasty things they are too, and all
this while there was plenty of delicious milk within a yard of my nest!
Well, good-bye fish, and good-bye frogs; I have done with you now for
ever."
The next time the Paddy-bird felt hungry, she flew to a cocoa-nut and
began to peck at it. But she did not know the secret of the three little
holes at the top of the cocoa-nut; so she pecked, and pecked, and got no
further. At last she gathered all her strength, and gave a tremendous
peck at the cocoa-nut. Snap! her bill broke off, and the blood ran out,
and very soon the poor Paddy-bird had bled to death.
Next day, the Swan happened to fly by that way
again; and coming to the tree, he found his friend the
Paddy-bird lying dead on the ground, with her bill
snapt off clean. He understood at once what had
happened, and said to himself, "This is what
comes of trying to do what one is not
fit for. Let the cobbler stick to
his last, or misfortune
follows fast."
[Illustration]
What is a Man?
IN a certain forest, a Lioness dwelt who had one cub. This cub did not
go to school, as you one day will go; but he learned his lessons at
home. And what do you think his lessons were? Not multiplication which
is vexation; not the Rule of Three which puzzles me; not spelling and
copy-books. No; the Lioness had only one lesson to teach her cub, and
that was, to avoid mankind as if they were poison. Every day, morning
and evening, she taught him for an hour; telling him again and again,
that of all the beasts of the forest he need fear none, for a lion is
stronger than any, but man he must fear and keep clear of.
Well, the little Lion grew big; and as often happens to children as well
as lions' cubs, he grew conceited too. He could not believe that his
mother was old enough to know better than he; no, he would see for
himself. So one fine day, this Lion set out on a voyage of discovery.
The first thing he saw was an Ox. This Ox was a fine sturdy animal, and
the Lion felt rather nervous to see such hoofs and horns. You must
remember he was young and ignorant, and had hardly seen any animal but
his mother and father. So he went up to the Ox, and said timidly--
"Good morning, sir. Will you be good enough to tell me if you are a
Man?"
If an Ox could laugh, that Ox would have laughed in the face of the
Lion's cub. But an Ox is always solemn, like a Turk, though he does not
love bloodshed as a Turk does. This Ox was chewing the cud, munching and
mouthing with great calmness, so as to get the full flavour of the rich
grass. He turned his meek eyes, and stared at the Lion. Then he said--
"A Man! God forbid. A Man is a terrible creature. He makes slaves of us
Oxen, and puts a yoke on our necks and fastens us to a thing called a
plough; and makes us pull the plough to and fro, up and down, till we
are tired to death. If we won't go, he sticks a prod into us, which
hurts us very much. I can't think what is the use of all this pother; we
get no good of it. And when we are old, and can work no more, he kills
us, and eats our flesh, and the skin he makes into shoes for his own
feet. Keep clear of Men, if you value your life." Then the Ox turned his
head away, and went on with his chewing.
This gave our Lion something to think about. He thought the Ox a very
fine animal indeed, and yet, said the Ox, Man was stronger.
The Lion went his ways, and by-and-by, what should he see but a Camel.
If the Ox was a fine creature, here was a finer; ever so tall, with a
hump on his back, and a long neck, and great long legs. Surely this must
be the terrible Man he had heard so much of. But to make certain, he
approached the Camel with great respect, and said--
"Good morning, sir. Pray, will you tell me if you are a Man?"
The Camel turned his long neck, and sniffed and sneered as Camels have a
way of doing, and a most unpleasant way it is.
"Pooh!" said he. "Stuff! poof! you oaf! you think me a Man? I wish I
were a Man, wouldn't I make short work of you! A man, quotha! Why, I am
a slave to that same Man. They catch us, these Men, and make a hole in
our noses, and put a ring in it--do you see my ring? How do you think I
like a hole made in my nose, as if two holes were not enough! Then they
tie a rope to the ring, and lead us about all day long just where they
please, without a with your leave, or by your leave! And they make us
squat down in the mud, and put a great load on our backs, enough to
crush a whipper-snapper like you. Groan as we may, it's all of no use,
they do what they choose. Man! the very name makes me shiver. Get out,
and leave me alone!"
This frightened our Lion, because who knew whether the great animal
might not kill him, if it came into his head, so the Lion went away as
fast as he could.
[Illustration]
In a little while, he espied an Elephant. Here was a monster, to be
sure! A great black mountain, with a long nose curling about, and huge
white teeth sticking out, and big ears flapping. The Lion was quite
terrified this time, and would not go near the Elephant, until he
suddenly saw that the Elephant had a rope round his tusks, by which he
was tied fast to a stake. Then he plucked up courage to approach, and
said--
"Good morning, my lord. Please will you tell me, are you a Man?"
The Elephant trumpeted loudly. That was his way of laughing at the idea
that he could be mistaken for a Man.
"Hooroo! hooroo!" he shrieked. "A Man! Hooroo! No, but a Man is my
master, and that's the truth. A Man tied me to this post. Cruel and
selfish brutes, are men; and with all my strength, I am no match for a
Man. They get on our backs, a dozen of them at a time, and make us
fetch, and carry, and drive us about by sticking a sharp spike into our
skulls. Don't you go near a Man, if you love your life; why, bless me,
they will make mincemeat of you! Hooroo!" The Elephant swished his trunk
all round him in his excitement.
Our Lion had now seen three astonishing creatures, and they all said
that a Man was stronger than they were. What could this terrible
creature be like? He must be a mountain indeed, if he was to master such
a beast as the black Elephant. Yet the black creature said that Men got
on his back, a dozen of them at a time. The Lion could not understand it
at all. He shook his head, and stalked away thoughtful.
As the Lion was going along, he saw a puny and weak-looking thing,
walking upright on two legs. He seemed to be a kind of monkey, thought
the Lion. It never entered his head that this little thing could be a
Man, but he trotted up to him gaily, and said--
"Good morning, my friend. Can you tell me where I can find a Man? I
have been hunting for one all the morning."
"I am a Man," said the other.
At this the Lion laughed in his face. "You a Man!" said he. "Come, come;
I may be young, but I am no fool, my good fellow. Why, you are not so
big as one leg of that mountain over there, who was tied to a stake, as
he said, by a Man."
"All the same," the Man said, "I am one of them."
"But look here," the Lion went on, "my father and mother both say that
Man is a terrible and cruel creature, and the only creature a Lion need
fear. Now, either you are no Man, or else my father and mother are quite
wrong."
"Well," said the Man, "I am not nearly so strong as you are, or the
Elephant and Camel, or even the Ox. As you say, I am not much to look
at, but I have one power which you all lack."
[Illustration]
"Indeed," said the Lion, "and what may that be?"