Gilly of the Goatskin wished for wide windows in his house and he got
them. He wished for a light within when there was darkness without, and
he got a silver lamp that burned until he wished to sleep. He wished for
the songs of birds and he had a blackbird singing upon his half-door, a
lark over his chimney, a goldfinch and a green linnet within his window,
and a shy wren in the evening singing from the top of his dresser. Then
he wished to hear the conversation of the beasts and all the creatures
of the fields and the wood and the mountain top came into his house.
The hare used to come in early in the morning. He was always the first
visitor and he never remained long, and always while he was there he
kept running up and down the house, and he generally ended his visit by
jumping through the open window. The martens, the beautiful wild cats of
the wood, came in to see Gilly once; they were very proud and told
him nothing. The little black rabbits were very much impressed by the
martens, and all the time the martens were there they stayed under the
bed and the chairs. Two or three times the King of the Wood himself--the
Boar of the Bristles and the Long Tusks--came to see Gilly; he used to
push open the door and then stand in the middle of the floor grunting
and grunting. Once he brought his wife with him, and six or seven of
their little pigs that went running over the floor, with their ears
hanging over their eyes, came with them too. The hedgehogs used to come,
but they always made themselves disagreeable. They just lay down by
the fire and snored, and when they wakened up they quarrelled with
each other. Everybody said that the hedgehogs’ children were very badly
brought up and very badly provided for. The squirrels who were so clean
and careful, and so fond of their children, thought the hedgehogs were
very bad creatures indeed. “It is just like them to have dirty sticky
thorns around them instead of nice clean fur,” said the squirrel’s wife.
“But, my dear,” said the squirrel, “every animal can’t have fur.”
“How well,” said she, “the rabbits have fur, though dear knows they’re
creatures of not much account. It’s all just to let us see that they’re
some relation of that horrible, horrible boar that goes crashing and
marching through the wood.”
The deer never came into the house, and Gilly had a shed made for them
outside. They would come into it and stay there for many nights and
days, and Gilly used to go out and talk with them. They knew about far
countries, and strange paths and passes, but they did not know so much
about men and about the doings of other creatures as the Fox did.
The Fox used to come in the evening and stay until nearly morning
whether Gilly fell asleep or kept awake. The Fox was a very good talker.
He used to lie down at the hearth with his paws stretched out, and tell
about this one and that one, and what she said and what he did. If the
Fox came to see you, and if he was in good humor for talking, you would
stay up all night to listen to him. I know I should. It was the Fox
who told Gilly what the Crow of Achill did to Laheen the Eagle. She had
stolen the Crystal Egg that Laheen was about to hatch--the Crystal Egg
that the Crane had left on a bare rock. It was the Fox who told Gilly
how the first cat came into the world. And it was the Fox who told Gilly
about the generations of the eel. All I say is that it is a pity the Fox
cannot be trusted, for a better one to talk and tell a story it would be
hard to find. He was always picking up and eating things that had been
left over--a potato roasting in the ashes, an apple left upon a plate,
a piece of meat under a cover. Gilly did not grudge these things to Rory
the Fox and he always left something in a bag for him to take home to
the young foxes.
I had nearly forgotten to tell you about Gilly’s friend, the brave
Weasel. He had made a home for himself under the roof. Sometimes he
would go away for a day or so and he would never tell Gilly where he
had been. When he was at home he made himself the door-keeper of
Gilly’s house. If any of the creatures made themselves disagreeable by
quarrelling amongst each other, or by being uncivil to Gilly, the
Weasel would just walk over to them and look them in the eyes. Then that
creature went away. Always he held his head up and if Gilly asked him
for advice he would say three words, “Have no fear; have no fear.”
One day Gilly wanted to have a bunch of cherries with his dinner, and he
went to find the Crystal Egg so that he might wish for it. The Crystal
Egg was not in the place he had left it. He called the Weasel and the
two of them searched the house. The Crystal Egg was nowhere to be found.
“One of the creatures has stolen the Egg,” said the Weasel, “but whoever
stole it I will make bring it back. I’ll soon find out who did it.” The
Weasel walked up to every creature that came in, looked him or her in
the eye and said, “Did you steal the Crystal Egg?” And every creature
that came in said, “No, Little Lion, I didn’t steal it.” Next day they
had examined every creature except the Fox. The Fox had not been in the
night before nor the night before that again. He did not come in the
evening they missed the Crystal Egg nor the evening after that evening.
That night the Weasel said, “As sure as there are teeth in my head the
Fox stole the Crystal Egg. As soon as there is light we’ll search for
him and make him give the Egg back to us.”