waiting for her son, who was learning within, to come out so that she
might give him a piece of cake which she had brought with her. Whilst
she was sitting there she said to herself, "I will wait and see whether
all the creatures recognise my son to be the most beautiful child in
the world."
A tortoise just then came along. In order to put her to the test,
St. Mary said to her, "Would you like to give this cake to the most
beautiful child here in this school?"
"Willingly," replied the tortoise, and taking the cake she went into
the school room. It so happened then that her own child was also
among the pupils. She went straight up to it, and without a moment's
hesitation gave it the cake destined for the most beautiful child in
the school. When St. Mary saw what the tortoise had done, instead of
being angry she laughed heartily, and said to her:
"Thou hast acted as every mother would act, for to a mother no one
could be more beautiful than her own child. And because thou hast
driven away my sadness, the finest and softest grass shall henceforth
be thy food, and when thou diest thy bones shall not rot away."
And so it has remained to this very day, and the shell of the tortoise
remains sound.
LVIII.
WHY IS IT RIGHT TO KILL A SPARROW?
The Story of the Sparrow and the Crucifixion.
Another legend brings us again to the same events. This time it is
in connection with the sparrow. It is said that the sparrows were
originally much bigger birds than they are now, but at the time of
the crucifixion they flew round the cross and cried half mockingly,
"Jiviu Jiviu," which means "Live, live." Christ, who was in pain, and
annoyed at their behaviour, cursed them and said, "May you live only
on the crumbs which you will pick up on the roadside, and henceforth,
becoming smaller, you will be snared by little boys and tormented
by them, and the passers-by shall hit at you with whips, and kill
you." And so it has remained to this very day.
They live on crumbs wherever they can pick them up. They have become
very small birds. They are snared by children, who often play with them
cruelly, and the passers-by strike at them with a whip, and kill them.
A Russian Legend, Afanasief, p. 13, is a close parallel to this
story, though it differs somewhat from it in detail; v. Ralston,
Russian Folk Tales, p. 331.
LIX.
WHY SHOULD THE OAK TREE NOT BOAST?
The Story of the Sparrow and the Oak Tree.
The people regard the sparrow as one of the greatest pests, for he
eats up the seeds and the crops. The people believe that the sparrows
reach an age of over nine hundred years, and they tell the following
tale about it:
In a clearing of a huge oak forest, there grew up a tiny little
tree. All the other trees looked upon it with pleasure, it was so
green and so tender. Suddenly a sparrow flying over the trees came
down and settled on that little sapling, which bent under the weight
of the bird. Angrily, the little tree said to the sparrow, "It is a
great shame that thou shouldst have come and settled on me, I who am
so weak and tender and scarcely able to stand up, why didst thou not
go and settle on one of those huge trees of which the forest is full."
The sparrow, feeling ashamed and angered at the words of the little
sapling, replied: "Very well, I am going, but when thou shalt be
on thy death-bed I will come back, and thou wilt have to render me
account for these offensive words which thou hast spoken to me." And
the sparrow went away.
Now it is known that an oak lives for nine hundred years: for three
hundred years it grows in strength and might, the next three hundred
it rests quiet, and during the last three hundred it slowly decays and
dies. First the heart, that is, the core, dies, then the wood is slowly
eaten away, the branches fall off, and at the end of nine hundred years
the tree is changed into dust. And so it happened with that little
sapling. It grew for three hundred years, it stopped still for the
next three hundred years, and finally it decayed and died at the end
of the last three hundred years. When the last day of the nine hundred
years had come, and scarcely anything was left of the tree but dust,
the sparrow came back, and rolling about in the dust it said: "Dost
thou remember when thou wast a mere sapling, how thou didst insult me,
thou didst believe thou wouldst grow on and live for ever? Dost thou
see that my word has come true, thou proud tree of the forest, now
thy head is lying low and thou hast been changed into dust, thou hast
been humbled, whilst I am still living on in strength, and I am now as
I have then been." This longevity of the sparrow makes him the dread
of the peasants and farmers, and among the means taken to save the
crops from the inroads of this pest are magical practices and charms.
I will only quote one or two.
Charms against the Sparrow.
On the first day of Lent the man must collect all the crumbs and
bones from his table after he has finished his meal, and, taking them
out in the table-cover, he must strew them upon the field, and say,
"O ye birds of heaven, here I have brought you of the food from my
table, eat this, and do not touch the food from off the field." Or,
taking a handful of corn and standing with one foot on his field and
with the other on the roadside, he must throw the corn on the road
outside the field and to say, "O St. Mary, here I have brought food
for the birds of heaven. Let them feed on this seed and not on the
seed which I sow in my field."
There is still another charm.
At the time when the sparrows begin to pick at the corn the youngest
of the household must go to the field. He must take off all his
garments, then, tying a kerchief over his eyes, he must hold in
his hand a candle, which has been burning at the head of a corpse,
and carrying also a tuft of hair cut off from the head of the dead,
he is to walk with the lighted candle in his hand over the four sides
of the field and say, "As I do not see now, and as the dead man does
not see, so shall the birds not see this field with the corn growing
in it. And the mind of the birds should be taken off from this field,
as the mind of the dead is off it." When he comes to the fourth
corner of the field he must tie the hair of the dead round some of
the ears of corn and say, "I do not tie up this crop, but I tie the
mouth of the birds, that they may not be able to eat it, as the dead
man is unable to eat it. And they shall not be able to see the corn,
as the dead man does not see the world."
LX.
WHY DOES THE MOSQUITO LIVE IN THE WELL?
The Story of King Pic, Lady Mary and the Sun.
Once upon a time St. Mary talked with the sun about the sins of
this world. They also talked about the wicked deeds of the Emperor
Pic among others, of whom an evil report had spread on account
of his cruelty. The sun talked to her about all that he had seen,
and St. Mary, weighing up all his sins, came to the decision that he
should be thrown into the depths of the sea, so that even his memory
should be lost to the end of days.
But before she had time to pronounce her judgment, up came the Emperor
Pic himself in mighty wrath. He caught hold of St. Mary by the hair
of her head, for was he not the emperor, and was there anyone of whom
he should stand in awe? He feared no one, and cursing as fast as he
could fill his mouth with blasphemous words, he started fighting the
sun. When St. Mary wanted to remonstrate with him he gave her a blow
on her mouth, so as to stop her from speaking. The sun, seeing this
infamous conduct, got angry, and catching him by the throat, hurled
the Emperor Pic into a well with the intention of drowning him before
he could utter a single word. The only sound which he made before
sinking was Zi Zi Zi. St. Mary, having pity upon him, wanted to save
him from drowning, and tried to draw him out of the water. But she
looked in vain for him. Instead of finding Pic in the well, she only
found a little insect that was shivering with cold and was hiding
under one of the beams of the well. God had no doubt punished Pic
for his impudence. The mosquito (Culex pipiens) does not leave his
hiding place until the sun disappears, for he is frightened of him,
and this fear has remained with him. For this reason no mosquito will
come out during the daytime: he will wait until it gets dark, then he
will come out and, sitting on the edge of the well, sings Zi, Zi, Zi.
LXI.
WHY DOES THE MOSQUITO FEED ON BLOOD?
The Story of God and the Food of the Mosquito.
After God had made all the creatures, he called them together, to tell
them what they would have to do so that they might live. They all came,
and God gave every one its gift and the manner of its food. All had
come and gone, but the mosquito did not come until very late. When
asked why he had done so, he started telling tales, until God got
angry and, turning to him, said:
"I have no time to waste with thee, hurry up and tell me quickly,
what kind of food dost thou wish?"
The mosquito replied, "I wish to live by sucking."
"So it shall be," replied God, "now go and suck the juice of trees
and plants."
What was he to do? He went and sucked the trees and plants. After a
fortnight had passed he got weak and shrivelled from this kind of
food. His wife, seeing the state into which he had fallen by his
foolish demand, said to him:
"See what has become of you! You are shrivelled up and weak, a few
days more and you are sure to die. You had better go to God and beg
him to give you another food."
But he said, "I cannot go; if you have the impudence you had better
go."
"Very well, then, I will go," replied the female mosquito, and up
she went to God.
When he saw her he asked her, "What has brought you to me?"
"The miserable food which my husband has got is killing us. We cannot
live by it. We are getting shrivelled up."
"If so," said God, "I will give you the right to suck also blood
from man and beast, but as soon as you cannot get blood you must
die. Your husband, however, he may live on the blood and juice of
plants alike." And so it has remained, the female dies when she cannot
find blood to suck.
According to some local tradition, the mosquito has been made out
of the smoke of the devil's pipe, and for that reason he hates the
smoke. According to another they are also the servants of the devil
and the enemies of the angels, who cannot come into a room where
there are many mosquitos
LXII.
WHY DOES THE FLY EAT THE CHERRY?
The Story of Lady Mary and the Cherries.
It is told that, once upon a time, the Lady Mary wanted to bring some
cherries to her son. So she went to a cherry tree and began to shake
it. But to her surprise, instead of coming down as she expected,
the cherries seemed to rise higher and higher. It was a cherry tree
dedicated to the devil, and it was not meet that such cherries should
be brought to God. So she went away full of wrath, and cursed the
cherries. And lo! they were changed into small black mites that flew
away. But the love of their sisters--the cherries--brings them back,
and they come and kiss them, and when they kiss them they leave their
eggs behind, which, growing into little white worms, eat the cherries.
LXIII.
WHY HAS THE BUTTERFLY RINGS ON ITS WINGS?
The Story of St. Anne and the Magician.
Once upon a time the rumour spread through Palestine that there was
a man who could perform greater miracles than God. St. Anne, hearing
of it, determined to go and see him, and so she did.
When she approached the house where he lived, she washed her feet,
as it is customary in those parts of the world, and with meekness and
devotion she went in and asked the man to change a withered trunk into
a green tree. The man got very angry, and said he did not perform
miracles, and after insulting her before the assembled multitudes,
seized her hands and thrust her out of his house.
When St. Anne saw what he had done she fell upon her knees and prayed
to God to punish him. As she was lifting up her hands in prayer she
suddenly noticed that the ring which she had from her dear mother had
gone. She remembered that the man had got hold of her by the hand,
and she understood that he then must have slipped the ring off her
finger. So she prayed that God would punish this impostor, thief,
and robber.
And God heard her prayer. Of a sudden the man disappeared from amongst
the people, and a small ring appeared round one of the boughs of the
tree outside the house. Whilst the people were gazing upon this ring
into which the thief had been changed, it opened, and out of it came
a hundred of small butterflies with the mark of the ring on their
wings. This was the sign of the ring, which had been stolen from
St. Anne.
The miracle which St. Anne asks the man to perform, namely, to change a
withered trunk into a green tree, belongs to the large cycle of similar
miracles starting from the rod of Aaron, the story of Lot and Abraham,
the Tannhäuser legend, etc. (v. Gaster, Literatura Populara Româna,
Bucharest 1883, p. 286 ff.).
This ring of small insect eggs round the twigs of trees is also known
as the cuckoo's ring, and taken off from the tree is used for charms
by girls, who say "as men are pleased to hear me." This ring is also
called "Sleep," and it is therefore often put into the cradle of
restless children in order to cause them to sleep.
LXIV.
WHY DOES THE CRICKET CHIRP?
The Story of Lady Mary and the Yellow Bird.
It is said that at the time of the birth of Christ, there was a
beautiful little bird with feathers, yellow as gold and with a beak
shining like silver, and a thin, fine little body. Just as the bird
was beautiful, so she was insolent and disobedient. She was a friend
of St. Mary, who liked her singing. When she was sad, the bird would
come and comfort her with her sweet songs. And the Holy Mother also
helped the little bird when she was in trouble, and when the nest
was broken, she helped to mend it.
But when the Holy Mother got Jesus, her friendship with the bird came
to an end. For the bird did not like children. It could not stand their
crying. The bird believed that the crying child mocked at her singing,
and therefore, whenever she saw Christ, she made faces at him and
mockingly chirped, Gri Gri Gri. Christ, hearing it, got frightened
and cried bitterly. When St. Mary saw the insolence of the bird,
she drove her away from the house, and, cursing her, said: "From
the beautiful bird which thou art, thou shalt become one of the most
hideous insects, and, living only in clefts and holes, thou shalt sing
only Gri Gri Gri, as a punishment for having mocked at God's child."
Since then, that bird has entirely disappeared, and all of her kind
which were living at that time were turned into crickets chirping in
the hearths and mocking at the children of men, Gri Gri Gri.
LXV.
WHY DO THE ANTS FEED THE CRICKET?
The Story of Alexander and the Knight.
There is another legend of the origin of the cricket which leads us
to the cycle of the Alexander legends.
It is told that in the time of Alexander there lived a young man who,
when he was sixteen years old, was more beautiful than any one had
been before him, or after him. The princesses were fighting for him,
calling one another as many names as the moon and stars, and each
one vowing that hers only he was to be, none other was worthy of
him. Still more beautiful was his singing, for when you heard him your
mind stopped still, so sweet was his voice. Even the mothers of the
maidens fell in love with him. And grey-haired old kings with long,
white beards and bushy eyebrows, would lift their brows to see him,
who was as beautiful as a wonder and dear as a ball of gold. But whilst
everyone liked him, Alexander could not suffer him. He must hate him,
for though Alexander was the mightiest emperor of the world, yet
none could please him, no not one even of those princesses. For this
reason there grew up an enmity between them, which became so strong
that even the sun, which used at that time to walk about on the earth,
could not make peace between them. Alexander might perhaps have made
peace, but he would do so only on the condition that the other would
not make love to his own favourite.
But the young knight would not hear of any conditions, and in order to
spite him still more, he went more often than before to Alexander's
favourite wife, and sang to her as much as he could. When the sun
told how insolent he was, Alexander turned on him and drove him out of
the house. The sun chased him and burned him, so that from the white
that he was he turned as black as a coal, and from the big and tall
man that he was he shrivelled up and became as small as a hazelnut,
and hid himself away under the hearth of a poor woman's house, from
which he squeaked "Griji, Griji ( = take care) that the sun does not
catch me." When the sun heard it, he said, "Now thou shalt always live
here where thou art, and hungry and thirsty shalt thou cry Griji,
Griji without stopping." When the beautiful maidens heard what had
happened, they became very angry, and then, turning into ants, they
brought food to the poor cricket. To this very day they bring him food,
so that he may not die of hunger.
LXVI.
WHY DO CATS AND DOGS FIGHT?
The Story of the Dog, the Cat and the Mouse.
In the beginning there was no enmity between the cat and dog, and
they lived on friendly terms together and served their master (Adam)
faithfully, each one doing its own work. But as you know, it is very
much better to have a written agreement at the beginning than to have
a row afterwards, so they decided to draw up an agreement defining
the work which each had to do, and decided that the dog was to do
the work outside the house, and the cat the work inside. For greater
safety the dog agreed that the cat should take care of the agreement,
and the cat put it in the loft.
After a time, the devil, who could not allow peace to last for a long
time, must needs set the dog up against the cat; so one day the dog
remarked to the cat that he was not fairly treated, he did not see
why he should have all the trouble outside the house, to watch for
thieves and protect the house and suffer from cold and rain, and
only have scraps and bones for food, and sometimes nothing at all,
whilst the cat had all the comfort, purring and enjoying herself,
and living near the hearth in warmth and safety. The cat said,
"An agreement is an agreement." The dog replied, "Let me see that
agreement." The cat went quickly up the loft to fetch the agreement,
but the agreement, which had been a little greasy, had been nibbled
by the mice who were living in the loft, and they went on nibbling
away until nothing was left of it but a heap of paper fluff, and as
it was as soft as down the mice made their home of it. When the cat
came up and saw what the mice had done, her fury knew no bounds, she
pursued them madly, killing as many as she could seize, and running
after the others with the intent of catching them.
When she came down the dog asked her for the agreement, and as the
cat had not brought it, the dog, taking hold of her, shook her until
he got tired of shaking her.
Since that time, whenever a dog meets a cat he asks her for the
agreement, and as she cannot show it to him he goes for her, and the
cat, knowing what the mice had done to her, runs after them when she
sees them.
In the South Slavonic folk-lore (Krauss, No. 18) there is a parallel
to this story, but greatly changed from the original form. It is no
longer a "creation" legend. It runs as follows:
The dogs used to receive all the meat that fell off the table. This
became a habit, and so he and the cat drew up a statement to that
effect, and made it a permanent rule. They wrote it on the hide
of an ass, and the king of the dogs gave it to the cat--the first
chancellor--to take care of it. The cat hid it away in the rafters
of the house. There the skin was found by the mice, who nibbled it
until there was scarcely anything left. One day a dog got badly beaten
because he picked up some meat that had fallen from the table. He went
and complained to the king, who sent the cat to find the document. The
cat could not find it, and saw that the mice had eaten it. Since then
there is a continual feud between the cat, the mice and the dog.
In this version, the entire origin of the tale has been lost. It is
no longer referred to Adam, nor is there any question of a compact
between a cat and dog which was broken by the latter. In the Slavonic
tale there is no authority for this arrangement.
The Rumanian version approximates much more closely to the Oriental,
and seems to have preserved much more faithfully the ancient form. The
oldest which can thus far be traced is that in the "Alphabet of Pseudo
Sirach," printed here in the Appendix (No. III.).
LXVII.
WHY DO CATS EAT MICE?
The Story of Adam and Eve and the Devil.
When Adam and Eve had lived for some time together, Adam suddenly
noticed a change in his wife's demeanour. Watching her narrowly, he
found that she had fallen in love with the devil. She had introduced
him into the house, which she had built close to the seashore. Adam,
as a wise man, kept his peace, but he thought day and night what was he
to do to get rid of the devil and to save his wife? At last he thought
that the only way would be to take his wife away into some distant
land across the sea, where the devil could not follow him. But how
were they to cross that sea? At last he discovered that the best way
to cross the sea would be to make a boat, and then, when it was ready,
he would take his wife quietly and they would both sail away. But the
devil has nothing to do but to watch other people's doings, and to
put a spoke into the wheel wherever he can. He was therefore not to
be outdone in as simple a manner as Adam thought. He saw that Adam was
cutting wood, and making timber and laths, and joining them together,
but whenever he asked Adam what he was doing he would not answer him.
So at last he came to Eve and told her: "Look here, that husband
of yours is preparing some trick, and it is meant against you and
me. You better find out what is in Adam's mind. What is he doing,
and what is the meaning of it?"
Eve, in order to please the devil, asked Adam what he was doing, but
he knew it was no good giving a secret into the keeping of a woman. So
he kept his counsel to himself. At last, when the devil saw the boat,
he told Eve:
"I know what Adam means, he wants to take you away and leave me
here alone. That you must not allow, but when everything is ready
and he is coming to fetch you, you ask him to allow you to bring the
house-snake with you. He will not refuse you, and I will take the form
of the snake, and so you will carry me with you into the boat. Then
we shall see who will be the cleverer, Adam or I."
So when Adam came to fetch Eve, she asked him to be allowed to bring
also the house-snake with her. Adam, good-hearted fellow as he was,
did not refuse her. What did the devil do? He took the form of the
snake, and to make sure of being carried into the boat, he coiled
himself round Eve's bosom, and so was carried by her into the boat,
chuckling all the while at the stupidity of Adam. Adam had no suspicion
who the passenger was, he had brought with him.
One day, after he had sailed a long time, Adam, tired from his work,
laid himself down to rest, when he suddenly felt that the boat was
sinking. Up he jumped, trimmed the sail, and looked round to see
whether the boat had sprung a leak and was making water, for he could
not understand why the boat should suddenly sink and let the water
in. The devil, thinking that Adam was asleep and not able to watch
his tricks, had made himself heavy like lead in the hope of sinking
the ship and drowning Adam. But he had reckoned without his host,
for Adam woke up in the nick of time and caught the Wicked One at
his evil deeds. When the devil saw that Adam was awake, he changed
himself quickly into a mouse. Adam did not trouble, but thought his
time would come. The devil, who cannot keep quiet but must do mischief
whenever he can, was not content to be left in peace, and be carried
across the water, but he must needs start gnawing away at one of the
planks of the ship, and so make a hole and drown Adam. His misfortune
was that, just when the plank at which he was gnawing had got as thin
as a sheet of paper, Adam surprised the Black One at his work. What
did he do? He took off his fur glove and threw it at the mouse.
The fur glove changed into a cat which, seizing the mouse, killed
it and ate it up. And thus the cat got the devil into it. And that
is why the cat's hair bristles and makes sparks, and the eyes of the
cat glisten in the dark. These are sparks of the devil in the cat.
LXVII. A.
ANOTHER VERSION.
The Story of the Devil, Noah and the Ark.