There was once a young Mussulman, who lived with his poor mother in a
small cottage on the outskirts of a large town. As the Boy grew up, it
was found that he was rather weak-minded, and that he was continually
getting himself into scrapes, owing to his own folly and carelessness;
and the naughty boys of the neighbourhood used to take advantage of the
poor young fellow, and were constantly teasing him and telling him all
sorts of absurd stories.
It chanced one day that he went for a walk in a large meadow, where
there were a number of yellow flowers, and presently sitting down to
rest, he began to gather a nosegay, when a young man passing by called
out to him:
“Hullo! what are you doing there? Do you know that the soles of your
feet are all yellow, and that is a sure sign that you are going to die
at once?”
The poor young fellow was greatly frightened at hearing this, and he
thought to himself:
“Well, if I am going to die, I had better have a grave ready.”
So he set to work, and soon scraped out for himself a shallow grave in
the soft soil. As soon as it was ready, he lay down in it and resigned
himself to death.
A few minutes later one of the King’s Servants, who happened to be
passing by carrying an earthen jar full of oil for the King’s palace,
noticed the Boy lying on his back in the shallow grave, so he stopped
and asked him what he was doing. The Boy replied:
“The soles of my feet are turning yellow, and that, as you know, is a
sure sign that I am going to die; so I have prepared myself a grave,
and am just waiting here till death comes.”
“Oh, nonsense!” replied the Servant; “you could not talk like that if
you were really dying. Come, get up, and help me to carry this jar of
oil for the King, and I will give you a hen for yourself.”
So the foolish Boy got up out of his grave, and taking the jar of oil
on his back, he walked along the road with the King’s Servant towards
the palace. As they went along, he kept thinking to himself what he
should do with his hen when he got it.
“As soon as I have got some eggs,” thought he to himself, “I shall set
the hen to hatch them. And then I shall have a nice lot of chickens.
And when the chickens grow up into cocks and hens I shall sell them in
the market. And with the money I get I shall buy a cow. And presently
the cow will have a calf. And when the calf grows big I shall sell both
the cow and the calf. And with the money I get I shall buy a nice
little house. And when I have settled down in my house I shall marry a
wife. And after a time we shall have a child. And as the child grows
big I shall have to take its education in hand. And I shall be very
firm and judicious with it. And if it is a good child and does what I
tell it, I shall be very kind to it. And if it is naughty and does not
do what it is told, I shall be very stern and stamp my foot, so!”
And thus thinking he stamped his foot so violently that the jar of oil
slipped off his back and was smashed to pieces on the ground. When he
saw this, the King’s Servant became very angry, and asked him what on
earth he meant by stamping his foot like that, and breaking a valuable
jar of oil, which was intended for the King. The Boy tried to explain
how it occurred, but the Servant would not listen, and dragged him off
by force into the King’s presence.
When the King saw them coming in together, he asked his Servant what he
wanted, and why he was bringing in a strange Boy with him. The Servant
replied that he had entrusted the Boy with a jar of oil intended for
the King, and as they were walking along the road quite quietly
together, the Boy all of a sudden began to stamp his feet like a
maniac, and the jar of oil slipped off his back and got broken. The
King asked the Boy what he meant by his conduct, and the Boy replied:
“Well, Your Majesty, your Servant said that if I would carry this jar
of oil, he would give me a hen, and it seemed to me quite natural to
consider within myself what I should do with my hen when I got it. So I
soon saw that by selling the chickens I could buy a cow, and that later
on by selling the cow and her calf, I could get a wife and set up a
house of my own, and that presently we should have a child; and I was
thinking to myself how I should keep my child in order, and if it was
naughty I should be obliged to stamp my foot very firmly, in order to
show it that I was not to be trifled with.”
On hearing this ridiculous story the King was much amused, and laughed
very heartily; and he gave the foolish Boy a piece of gold, and told
him to go home to his Mother.
So the Boy went off towards his own home, and as he got near to the
house he saw a strange dog sneaking out of the door, carrying in his
mouth a purse full of money, which he had just picked up inside. On
seeing this the Boy became very much excited, and began calling aloud
to his Mother that a dog was making off with her purse. The Mother,
when she found what was up, was afraid that he would attract the
attention of the neighbours to the loss of the purse, and that in the
excitement some one else would chase the dog and get the money; so
hastily running up on to the flat roof of the house she sprinkled some
sugar over the roof, and then called to the Boy to come up as quickly
as he could.
“Look!” she said, as soon as he arrived; “what a curious thing! It has
been raining sugar all over the roof of the house.”
Her son, who was very fond of sugar, at once set to work to pick up all
that he saw; and while he was so engaged, the good woman slipped away
and soon found the dog and recovered her purse.
Some time afterwards the Boy’s Mother arranged with a rich family, who
lived some miles away, and who were not acquainted with her son’s
failings, that the Boy should marry the daughter of the house; and
that, in accordance with Tibetan custom, he should become a member of
the Bride’s family. When all the preliminaries had been satisfactorily
arranged, a party of horsemen arrived from the Bride’s house to greet
the Bridegroom and to bring him home. The Boy dressed himself up in his
best clothes, and, after feasting the wedding party in the usual
manner, he begged them all to go on ahead of him, saying that he would
follow as soon as he had said good-bye to his Mother.
Towards evening he set out by himself on horseback. It was a moonlight
night, and as he rode down the road he could see his own shadow
travelling along beside him. He could not make out what the shadow was,
but thought it must be some ghost or demon, which wanted to do him an
injury, so he urged his horse into a gallop, in order to try and get
away from it. But the faster he galloped the faster went the shadow,
and he soon saw that it was no good trying to escape. So in order to
frighten the strange object he took off his puggaree and flung it at
it. As this produced no effect, he followed up the puggaree with his
cloak, and, finally, with all the clothes he had on, but without in any
way frightening the shadow, which still continued to follow him
closely. So thinking to give it the slip, he jumped off his horse and
ran along the road on foot, until he got into the shade of a big
poplar-tree growing near the road-side.
Here he stopped to take breath, and he noticed to his great joy that
the shadow had disappeared; but on peeping out from the shadow of the
tree he was annoyed to find that on whichever side he looked the shadow
immediately showed itself also. So thinking that the shade of the tree
was the safest place to stay in, he climbed into the upper branches and
very soon fell fast asleep.
A short while after a party of travellers happened to be passing by
this road from the same direction, and as they came along they were
surprised to find a number of garments scattered about the roadway. So
they picked them up as they came along, and presently they found a
horse grazing beside the road. Him, too, they brought along with them,
and when they arrived in the shade of the poplar-tree, they all stopped
and sat down on the ground to divide the spoil amongst them.
Just then the Boy woke up, and looking down he saw what was going on
below, so he called out in a loud voice:
“I say, I want my share too, you know.”
On hearing this voice emerging from the upper branches of the tree, the
travellers were greatly alarmed. They thought it must certainly be a
demon, who lived in the tree, and who wanted his share of the spoils,
so they took to their heels and made off as fast as they could, leaving
the horse and all the clothes behind them. The Boy then climbed down
from the tree, put on his own clothes, and, mounting his horse, rode
off to his Bride’s house.
When he arrived at the house the parents of his Bride hurried out to
greet him, and after asking him why he was so late, they led him to the
room where the wedding feast was laid out. All the friends and
neighbours from round about were gathered there ready to share in the
feast, and to offer their congratulations to the Bride and Bridegroom.
During the progress of the feast the young Mussulman, who was of a very
kindly disposition, and very fond of his Mother, kept thinking to
himself how he could save something nice for her to eat from amongst so
much plenty. So he picked from the table a narrow-mouthed copper vessel
and concealed it in his lap, and whilst eating his food he every now
and then dropped into it some particularly succulent dainty, which he
thought his Mother would enjoy. Presently, however, he inadvertently
thrust his hand right into the vessel, and to his horror he found that
he was unable to withdraw it again. In this awkward predicament he was
unable to eat anything, and the Bride’s parents noticing that he no
longer partook of any food, kept pressing him to have a little more.
The young Man was still hungry, but was obliged to refuse all their
offers, saying that he had already eaten enough.
Towards evening, when the feast was completed, the guests withdrew, and
the Boy was left alone with his Bride; and she began asking him what
the matter was, and why he had been behaving so strangely during the
banquet.
He was at first too shy to tell her what had happened, but after much
coaxing she elicited from him the fact that his right hand was confined
in the neck of the copper vessel.
“Never mind,” said she; “there is a large white stone lying at the foot
of the staircase. You had better slip down stairs in the dark, and by
beating the vessel against the stone you will soon succeed in freeing
yourself.”
The young fellow thought this was a good idea, and he went off quietly
down the staircase, until he detected what he thought was a white stone
lying near the foot of the steps. So, creeping up to it, he raised his
arm and brought down the copper vessel with great force upon the white
object, shattering the vessel and leaving his hand free. But to his
horror the stone, instead of being hard, gave way, and a muffled groan
issued from it; and on examining the spot, he found that instead of
striking a stone, he had delivered a violent blow upon the grey head of
his Bride’s father, who, overcome by his potations during the wedding
feast, had fallen asleep at the foot of the stairs.
The young Man was terrified at what he had done, and feeling sure that
he must have killed the old man, he decided to flee from the house; so
he opened the door and ran off into the night. After running for some
distance he reached a neighbouring farm, where, as it happened, a large
honeycomb had been left lying in the corner of the courtyard. The Boy,
not knowing what it was, lay down upon this and fell fast asleep, and
soon smeared himself all over with honey. Later in the night he woke up
feeling very cold, and creeping into a shed close by, which was used as
a storage for wool, he lay down upon the wool and slept until morning.
He woke with the first gleam of dawn, and in the early morning light he
saw that he was all white and woolly, and in his simplicity he believed
that, as a punishment for his wickedness in killing his father-in-law,
he had been turned into a sheep. So under this impression, he ran out
of the courtyard and joined a flock of sheep, which were grazing on a
neighbouring hillside. He wandered about with the sheep all day,
feeling very miserable, and trying to accommodate himself to the
manners and customs of his new companions, and when evening came he
accompanied them into the fold where they always spent the night.
About midnight some robbers came to the fold, and getting in amongst
the sheep felt about for a good fat heavy one; and finally finding that
the Boy was the heaviest of them all, they proceeded to carry him off.
One of them hoisted him up on to his back, and they carried him along
for some distance until they reached the banks of a small stream. Here
they halted, and, laying him down upon the ground, they began to make
preparations for cutting his throat. This trial proved rather too much
for the nerves of the young Man, and forgetting his rôle of sheep, he
called out in a shrill voice:
“Please don’t kill me, kind robbers.”
On hearing this the robbers were very much frightened, and ran off as
fast as they could; and the Boy, thankful to have escaped from this
danger, and being thoroughly worn out by the exertions and exposure of
the last twenty-four hours, returned to his Bride’s house. There he
found that the old man, though sorely hurt, was not dead, and having
explained all the circumstances of the case, he was freely forgiven,
and taken back into the household.
After living for some years very happily with his Bride, he thought
that he would like to make a little money for himself by trading, so
having procured a good stock of merchandise he set off for India, in
the hope of making a good profit on his goods. On the way he halted one
evening at a large house. The Landlord received him very hospitably,
and made him quite comfortable, and during the conversation which
followed their evening meal the Master of the house began telling some
very tall stories. Some of these stories being rather too wonderful for
belief, the young Man bluntly said that he could not believe them.
Thereupon the Landlord replied:
“I can prove to you that I am telling the truth by showing you a
stranger thing than anything which I have hitherto related. I will bet
you that when night falls a lantern will be carried into this room by a
cat instead of by a servant.”
The young Man was amused at his Host’s boasting, and he said:
“Very well, I am prepared to bet you anything you like that this will
not happen.”
“Very good,” said the Landlord. “If this does not happen, I will hand
you over my house, my merchandise, and everything I possess; but if it
does, you will forfeit all your baggage, animals and merchandise to
me.” And so the bet was arranged.
Now this was a regular trick of the Landlord’s, who had a tame cat
which had been taught to carry in a lantern in her mouth every evening
just at dusk, and he was accustomed to practise this deceit upon unwary
travellers, and by this means to secure their goods and whatever
property they possessed.
Sure enough, just at dusk a large white cat entered the sitting-room,
holding a lighted lantern in its mouth, and the unfortunate young Man
was obliged to hand over to his Host everything he possessed in the
world; and finding himself without money or goods he decided to stay on
in the house as a servant.
After the lapse of one or two months his Wife grew anxious about him,
and knowing that from the infirmity of his mind he was likely to get
himself into some scrape or another, she decided to set out herself to
see what had become of him. So she disguised herself as a man, and
taking with her a few ponies laden with wool, she started off to follow
in the tracks of her Husband.
After several days she arrived at the house where her Husband was now
employed as a servant, and, meeting him in the courtyard, she learnt
from him all that had happened. So she bade him hold his tongue, and
she herself entered the inn, and asked for a night’s lodging. During
the evening the Host got talking, and in the course of the conversation
he made her the same wager as he had done to her Husband some time
before.
“Well,” said she, “that sounds a very strange story. I can scarcely
believe it possible you can have a cat so well trained as to be able to
carry in a lantern. But I will think over what you say to-night, and we
will see about making the bet to-morrow morning.”
Next morning at breakfast she said to her Host:
“I have thought over what you said to me yesterday, and I am now
prepared to make a bet with you that the cat will not carry a lantern
into this room at dusk this evening.”
So the bet was concluded upon the same terms as before, and the Lady
privately told her Husband what he was to do. So in accordance with the
instructions she had given him, he caught three mice, and concealed
them in a little box, which he placed in the bosom of his robe. When
evening approached, the Landlord and the Lady seated themselves in the
supper room, waiting to see whether or no the cat would appear as
expected, whilst the Husband hid himself in a corner of the courtyard,
just outside the door near where the cat was accustomed to pass.
Just at dusk the cat, carrying the lantern in its mouth, began to cross
the courtyard towards the door of the room where it was expected to
bring the light, and when about half way across the yard the Husband
released one of the mice from the box which he had hidden in his robe.
The mouse scampered off across the courtyard, and the cat gave a
violent start, and was on the point of pursuing it, when its training
overcame its natural instincts, and it allowed the mouse to escape.
It reluctantly continued its way towards the house, and scarcely had it
started to go on, when the Husband released a second mouse, which also
scampered off right in front of the cat. This time it was all the cat
could do to refrain from following so tempting an opportunity. It
paused with great indecision, but again, its training standing it in
good stead, it pursued its way towards the house.
Just as it was reaching the door of the house the third mouse was
released. This was more than the cat could stand. It dropped the
lantern upon the threshold, bounded across the courtyard, and seized
the mouse just as it was entering its hole.
Meanwhile the Landlord and the Lady having waited until long after
dark, the Landlord was reluctantly obliged to own that he had lost his
bet. So he handed over to the disguised merchant, not only his own
property, but also the merchandise, which he had previously won from
her Husband; and the two, carrying their possessions with them,
returned to their own home, where they lived happily ever afterwards.
STORY No. VII.