_THE VALIANT CHATTEE-MAKER._
Once upon a time, in a violent storm of thunder, lightning, wind and
rain, a Tiger crept for shelter close to the wall of an old woman's
hut. This old woman was very poor, and her hut was but a tumble-down
place, through the roof of which the rain came drip, drip, drip on
more sides than one. This troubled her much, and she went running
about from side to side, dragging first one thing and then another out
of the way of the leaky places in the roof, and as she did so she kept
saying to herself, "Oh dear! oh dear! how tiresome this is! I'm sure
the roof will come down! If an elephant, or a lion, or a tiger were to
walk in, he wouldn't frighten me half so much as this perpetual
dripping." And then she would begin dragging the bed and all the other
things in the room about again, to get them out of the way of the wet.
The Tiger, who was crouching down just outside, heard all that she
said, and thought to himself, "This old woman says she would not be
afraid of an elephant, or a lion, or a tiger, but that this perpetual
dripping frightens her more than all. What can this 'perpetual
dripping' be?--it must be something very dreadful." And hearing her
immediately afterward dragging all the things about the room again,
he said to himself, "What a terrible noise! Surely that must be the
'_perpetual dripping_.'"
At this moment a Chattee-maker,[81] who was in search of his donkey,
which had strayed away, came down the road. The night being very cold,
he had, truth to say, taken a little more toddy than was good for him,
and seeing, by the light of a flash of lightning, a large animal lying
down close to the old woman's hut, he mistook it for the donkey he was
looking for. So, running up to the Tiger, he seized hold of it by one
ear, and commenced beating, kicking and abusing it with all his might
and main. "You wretched creature!" he cried, "is this the way you
serve me, obliging me to come out and look for you in such pouring
rain and on such a dark night as this? Get up instantly, or I'll break
every bone in your body;" so he went on scolding and thumping the
Tiger with his utmost power, for he had worked himself up into a
terrible rage. The Tiger did not know what to make of it all, but he
began to feel quite frightened, and said to himself, "Why, this must
be the 'perpetual dripping;' no wonder the old woman said she was more
afraid of it than of an elephant, a lion, or a tiger, for it gives
most dreadfully hard blows."
[81] Potter.
The Chattee-maker, having made the Tiger get up, got on his back and
forced him to carry him home, kicking and beating him the whole way,
for all this time he fancied he was on his donkey; and then he tied
his fore feet and his head firmly together, and fastened him to a post
in front of his house, and when he had done this he went to bed.
Next morning, when the Chattee-maker's wife got up and looked out of
the window, what did she see but a great big Tiger tied up in front of
their house, to the post to which they usually fastened the donkey:
she was very much surprised, and running to her husband, awoke him,
saying, "Do you know what animal you fetched home last night?" "Yes,
the donkey to be sure," he answered. "Come and see," said she, and she
showed him the great Tiger tied to the post. The Chattee-maker at this
was no less astonished than his wife, and felt himself all over to
find if the Tiger had not wounded him. But, no! there he was safe and
sound, and there was the Tiger tied to the post, just as he had
fastened it up the night before.
News of the Chattee-maker's exploit soon spread through the village,
and all the people came to see him and hear him tell how he had caught
the Tiger and tied it to the post; and this they thought so wonderful
that they sent a deputation to the Rajah, with a letter to tell him
how a man of their village had, alone and unarmed, caught a great
Tiger and tied it to a post.
When the Rajah read the letter he also was much surprised, and
determined to go in person and see this astonishing sight. So he sent
for his horses and carriages, his lords and attendants, and they all
set off together to look at the Chattee-maker and the Tiger he had
caught.
Now the Tiger was a very large one, and had long been the terror of
all the country round, which made the whole matter still more
extraordinary; and all this being represented to the Rajah, he
determined to confer all possible honor on the valiant Chattee-maker.
So he gave him houses and lands, and as much money as would fill a
well, made him a lord of his court, and conferred on him the command
of ten thousand horse.
It came to pass, shortly after this, that a neighboring Rajah, who had
long had a quarrel with this one, sent to announce his intention of
going instantly to war with him; and tidings were at the same time
brought that the Rajah who sent the challenge had gathered a great
army together on the borders, and was prepared at a moment's notice to
invade the country.
In this dilemma no one knew what to do. The Rajah sent for all his
generals, and inquired of them which would be willing to take command
of his forces and oppose the enemy. They all replied that the country
was so ill-prepared for the emergency, and the case was apparently so
hopeless, that they would rather not take the responsibility of the
chief command. The Rajah knew not whom to appoint in their stead.
Then some of his people said to him, "You have lately given the
command of ten thousand horse to the valiant Chattee-maker who caught
the Tiger: why not make him commander-in-chief? A man who could catch
a Tiger and tie him to a post, must surely be more courageous and
clever than most." "Very well," said the Rajah, "I will make him
commander-in-chief." So he sent for the Chattee-maker and said to
him, "In your hands I place all the power of the kingdom; you must
put our enemies to flight for us." "So be it," answered the
Chattee-maker; "but, before I lead the whole army against the enemy,
suffer me to go by myself and examine their position, and, if
possible, find out their numbers and strength."
The Rajah consented, and the Chattee-maker returned home to his wife,
and said: "They have made me commander-in-chief, which is a very
difficult post for me to fill, because I shall have to ride at the
head of all the army, and you know I never was on a horse in my life.
But I have succeeded in gaining a little delay, as the Rajah has given
me permission to go first alone and reconnoitre the enemy's camp. Do
you therefore provide a very quiet pony, for you know I cannot ride,
and I will start to-morrow morning."
But, before the Chattee-maker had started, the Rajah sent over to him
a most magnificent charger richly caparisoned, which he begged he
would ride when going to see the enemy's camp. The Chattee-maker was
frightened almost out of his life, for the charger that the Rajah had
sent him was very powerful and spirited, and he felt sure that even if
he ever got on it, he should very soon tumble off; however, he did not
dare to refuse it, for fear of offending the Rajah by not accepting
his present. So he sent back to him a message of thanks, and said to
his wife, "I cannot go on the pony, now that the Rajah has sent me
this fine horse; but how am I ever to ride it?" "Oh, don't be
frightened," she answered; "you've only got to get upon it, and I will
tie you firmly on, so that you cannot tumble off, and if you start at
night, no one will see that you are tied on." "Very well," he said. So
that night his wife brought the horse that the Rajah had sent him to
the door. "Indeed," said the Chattee-maker, "I can never get into that
saddle, it is so high up." "You must jump," said his wife. So he tried
to jump several times, but each time he jumped he tumbled down again.
"I always forget when I am jumping," said he, "which way I ought to
turn." "Your face must be toward the horse's head," she answered. "To
be sure, of course," he cried, and giving one great jump he jumped
into the saddle, but with his face toward the horse's tail. "This
won't do at all," said his wife as she helped him down again; "try
getting on without jumping." "I never can remember," he continued,
"when I have got my left foot in the stirrup, what to do with my right
foot or where to put it." "That must go in the other stirrup," she
answered; "let me help you." So, after many trials, in which he
tumbled down very often, for the horse was fresh and did not like
standing still, the Chattee-maker got into the saddle; but no sooner
had he got there than he cried, "Oh, wife, wife! tie me very firmly as
quickly as possible, for I know I shall jump down if I can." Then she
fetched some strong rope and tied his feet firmly into the stirrups,
and fastened one stirrup to the other, and put another rope round his
waist and another round his neck, and fastened them to the horse's
body and neck and tail.
When the horse felt all these ropes about him he could not imagine
what queer creature had got upon his back, and he began rearing and
kicking and prancing, and at last set off full gallop, as fast as he
could tear, right across country. "Wife, wife!" cried the
Chattee-maker, "you forgot to tie my hands." "Never mind," said she;
"hold on by the mane." So he caught hold of the horse's mane as firmly
as he could. Then away went horse, away went Chattee-maker--away,
away, away, over hedges, over ditches, over rivers, over plains--away,
away, like a flash of lightning--now this way, now that--on, on, on,
gallop, gallop, gallop--until they came in sight of the enemy's camp.
The Chattee-maker did not like his ride at all, and when he saw where
it was leading him he liked it still less, for he thought the enemy
would catch him and very likely kill him. So he determined to make one
desperate effort to be free, and stretching out his hand as the horse
shot past a young banyan tree, seized hold of it with all his might,
hoping that the resistance it offered might cause the ropes that tied
him to break. But the horse was going at his utmost speed, and the
soil in which the banyan tree grew was loose, so that when the
Chattee-maker caught hold of it and gave it such a violent pull, it
came up by the roots, and on he rode as fast as before, with the tree
in his hand.
All the soldiers in the camp saw him coming, and having heard that an
army was to be sent against them, made sure that the Chattee-maker was
one of the vanguard. "See," cried they, "here comes a man of gigantic
stature on a mighty horse! He rides at full speed across the country,
tearing up the very trees in his rage! He is one of the opposing
force; the whole army must be close at hand. If they are such as he,
we are all dead men." Then, running to their Rajah, some of them cried
again, "Here comes the whole force of the enemy" (for the story had by
this time become exaggerated); "they are men of gigantic stature,
mounted on mighty horses; as they come they tear up the very trees in
their rage; we can oppose men, but not monsters such as these." These
were followed by others, who said, "It is all true," for by this time
the Chattee-maker had got pretty near the camp; "they're coming!
they're coming! let us fly! let us fly! fly, fly for your lives!" And
the whole panic-stricken multitude fled from the camp (those who had
seen no cause for alarm going because the others did, or because they
did not care to stay by themselves), after having obliged their Rajah
to write a letter to the one whose country he was about to invade to
say that he would not do so, and propose terms of peace, and to sign
it and seal it with his seal. Scarcely had all the people fled from
the camp when the horse on which the Chattee-maker was came galloping
into it, and on his back rode the Chattee-maker, almost dead from
fatigue, with the banyan tree in his hand: just as he reached the camp
the ropes by which he was tied broke, and he fell to the ground. The
horse stood still, too tired with his long run to go farther. On
recovering his senses, the Chattee-maker found, to his surprise, that
the whole camp, full of rich arms, clothes and trappings, was entirely
deserted. In the principal tent, moreover, he found a letter addressed
to his Rajah, announcing the retreat of the invading army and
proposing terms of peace.
So he took the letter, and returned home with it as fast as he could,
leading his horse all the way, for he was afraid to mount him again.
It did not take him long to reach his house by the direct road, for
whilst riding he had gone a more circuitous journey than was
necessary, and he got there just at nightfall. His wife ran out to
meet him, overjoyed at his speedy return. As soon as he saw her, he
said, "Ah, wife, since I saw you last I've been all round the world,
and had many wonderful and terrible adventures. But never mind that
now: send this letter quickly to the Rajah by a messenger, and send
the horse also that he sent for me to ride. He will then see, by the
horse looking so tired, what a long ride I've had; and if he is sent
on beforehand, I shall not be obliged to ride him up to the palace
door to-morrow morning, as I otherwise should, and that would be very
tiresome, for most likely I should tumble off." So his wife sent the
horse and the letter to the Rajah, and a message that her husband
would be at the palace early next morning, as it was then late at
night. And next day he went down there, as he had said he would; and
when the people saw him coming, they said, "This man is as modest as
he is brave; after having put our enemies to flight, he walks quite
simply to the door, instead of riding here in state, as another man
would." For they did not know that the Chattee-maker walked because he
was afraid to ride.
The Rajah came to the palace door to meet him, and paid him all
possible honor. Terms of peace were agreed upon between the two
countries, and the Chattee-maker was rewarded for all he had done by
being given twice as much rank and wealth as he had before, and he
lived very happily all the rest of his life.
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