farmyard fowl know of such things? And yet they presume to tell
stories! Tell stories that have nothing in them of Jewels, Kings,
Magicians, Palaces, or Dragons!"
"Nothing at all about such things," said Hoodie the Crow, as he
plucked a feather out of the Peacock's tail.
"Yet they will not listen to me," said Purpurpurati the Peacock. "They
affect even to scorn my voice! They pretend that it is less resonant
than the cock in the farmyard and less musical than the bird's that
sings at night."
"They'd say anything," said Hoodie the Crow, keeping behind the
Peacock's tail.
Purpurpurati the Peacock mounted higher on the terrace. "I shall walk
before the statue of the beautiful Queen yonder," he said, "and I
shall tell you a story. The reason that I shall tell you is that the
Queen always listens to me. But I would have her think that it is to
you that I am telling the story."
"I'll listen to you," said Hoodie the Crow and he plucked another
feather out of the Peacock's tail.
"When the Queen has been pleased with the sight of my tail, I shall
begin," said Purpurpurati, and he spread out his tail. Hoodie the Crow
plucked out three feathers.
"How pleased she looks," said he.
"Yes, she is always pleased by my appearance," the Peacock said, and
he turned round and walked the other way.
"Did I ever tell you," said Hoodie, hiding the feathers behind a bush.
"Did I ever tell you how the Pigeon went to the Crow to learn the art
of nest-making?"
"I do not know about such things," said Purpurpurati the Peacock.
"I'll tell you and then you'll know," said Hoodie the Crow.
[Illustration]
The Crow is the Master-builder among the Birds and so it was
to the Crow that the Pigeon went to learn the art of
nest-making. "We begin with the sticks," said the Crow. "I
know," said the Pigeon. "First we take one stick and lay it
lengthwise." "I know," said the Pigeon. "Then we put a stick
across it," said the Crow. "I know," said the Pigeon. "And
then we put another stick lower down," said the Crow. "I
know," said the Pigeon. "Then we put another stick
lengthwise." "I know," said the Pigeon. "Musha," said the
Crow, "If you know so much, why do you come here at all?
Away with you! Fly home now and build the nest yourself."
The Pigeon flew home, but of course he was not able to build
his nest, for he knew nothing about the laying of sticks and
the bringing of straws, and he was too young and foolish to
learn when he got the chance. And that is why the Pigeon to
this day cannot build a nest.
[Illustration]
"Why do you tell such foolish stories?" said Purpurpurati the Peacock
when Hoodie had finished.
"We have no other stories in our family," said Hoodie the Crow. "We
don't know about Jewels and Magicians and Palaces and Kings and
Dragons."
"The Magician," said Purpurpurati the Peacock, "The Magician lived in
a Palace of red marble that was all surrounded by a forest of black,
black trees. I lived there too and I ate golden grains out of pails of
silver. That was long ago and it was in far India.
"The Magician had precious stones of every kind and he would have me
walk beside him to the Cavern where he kept his precious stones, and
as he handled them over he would tell me of the virtues that each
stone possessed. And one day the Magician looking upon me said 'This
Peacock I will slay, for the beauty of his neck makes dull my
turquoises and the crest on his head is more shapely than my Persian
jewel-work.'"
"Dear me, dear me!" said Hoodie the Crow.
Hearing him say this, said the Peacock "I flew into the branches of a
dark, dark tree. And as I rested there the fair lady who walked about
the Garden--White-as-a-Pearl she was called and she was the Magician's
daughter--walked under the dark, dark trees, and I saw that she was
weeping.
"I knew why she wept. She wept for the young man whom her father had
imprisoned in a tower. This young man was the son of a King, and the
Magician was his father's brother. And if the young man died the
Magician would become King in his brother's Kingdom. But the lady
White-as-a-Pearl did not want the young man to die.
"A little snow-white dove flew down from the tower and spoke in words
to White-as-a-Pearl and asked her what word she had to send to the
young man.
"'You must tell him terrible news, my little snow white dove,' said
White-as-a-Pearl. 'My father will have him go forth to fight with a
dragon. And this is a terrible dragon. Every young man who has gone
forth against him has been slain.'
[Illustration: O most beauteous of all the birds, do you know of any
arms by which a hero can slay a dragon?]
"The little snow white dove flew back to the tower and the Princess
White-as-a-Pearl stood under the dark, dark trees and wept again. And
when she saw me on my branch she said 'O most beauteous of all the
birds, do you know of any arms by which a hero can slay a terrible
dragon?'
[Illustration]
"Then I came down off my branch and I walked beside the Princess, and
as I walked beside her I told her the wonderful secrets I knew."
"And what were the secrets," said Hoodie the Crow plucking a last
feather from the peacock's tail. "What were the secrets anyway?"
"Can I tell them to a Crow?" said Purpurpurati the Peacock. "But I
will tell them. I told her the secrets I had learnt from the Magician
when he spoke of the virtues of his precious stones--a ruby in a man's
helmet would make a dragon's eyes go blind. A turquoise on his arm
would make a dragon's blood turn to water. A sapphire on his spear
would make a dragon's heart burst within him.
"So the Princess White-as-a-Pearl went to her father's cavern and took
the precious stones I spoke of and gave them to the King's son. And he
went forth the next day and when he came to him the dragon's eyes were
blinded, and his blood turned to water and his heart burst within him.
And the King's son cut off his head and brought it into the Palace.
Then the Magician fled amongst the dark, dark trees and I was given
the red marble palace to live in."
"I lived in Lapland," said Hoodie the Crow. "And who do you think I
knew there?"
"No one of any dignity," said Purpurpurati the Peacock.
"I knew your White-as-a-Pearl. She had become an old ugly
witch-woman."
"Base crow!" said Purpurpurati and he walked up the steps and went
away.
Then Hoodie the Crow dressed himself in the feathers he had stolen
from the Peacock and went away and walked across the field admiring
himself. But a Fox that had promised to bring a Peacock to his
Mother-in-law saw Hoodie the Crow and stole up beside him and caught
him in his mouth and carried him away. And that was the end of Hoodie
who was such a clever crow. "This Peacock is very tough," said the
Fox's Mother-in-law as she ate Hoodie. "What would your Ladyship
have?" said Rory the Fox. "Peacock is always tough."
[Illustration]
[Illustration: The Treasure of King Labraid Lorc]
The Treasure of King Labraid Lorc
[Illustration]
Kingfisher-all-Blue used to sit on the branch that went furthest
across the stream with his head bent down and looking as if he were
trying to think his head off. Only in the most lonesome places, far
from where the hens cackled and the geese gabbled and the cocks crew,
would the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said find him. And when he did
find him Kingfisher-all-Blue would not open his beak to say one
word--no, not even when the Boy would say "Where did you get your
beautiful color?" and "Why is your beak so big, little
Kingfisher-all-Blue?"
Now one day when he had left behind him the hens that cackled, the
geese that gabbled and the cocks that crew, and had left behind him
too the old raven that built in the lone tree he came where
Kingfisher-all-Blue sat upon the slenderest branch that went farthest
across the stream. And when Kingfisher-all-Blue saw him he lifted up
his head and he fixed his eye upon him and he cried out the one word
"Follow." Then he went flying down the stream as if he were not a bird
at all but a streak of blue fire.
Kingfisher-all-Blue went flying along the stream and the Boy Who Knew
What the Birds Said was able to follow him. They went on until the
stream they followed came out on the sand of the sea-shore. Then
Kingfisher-all-Blue seated himself on a branch that was just above
where the grains of sand and the blades of grass mixed with each other
and he fixed his eye on a mound of sand and clay. And when the Boy Who
Knew What the Birds Said came beside him Kingfisher-all-Blue said the
one word "Find."
Then the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said began to take the sand and
clay from the mound. He worked all day at it and Kingfisher-all-Blue
sat on the branch above and watched him. And at evening, when all the
sand and clay had been taken away by him the Boy Who Knew What the
Birds Said came upon a stone that was as big and as round as the wheel
of a cart.
And when he had brushed away the grains of sand that was on the round
stone he saw a writing. The writing was in OGHAM, but at that time
even boys could read OGHAM. And the Ogham writing said YOU HAVE LUCK
TO HAVE SEEN THIS SIDE OF THE STONE BUT YOU WILL HAVE MORE LUCK WHEN
YOU SEE THE OTHER SIDE.
When he read that he looked up to where the bird sat, but
Kingfisher-all-Blue only said "I am done with you now," and then he
flew back along the stream like a streak of blue fire.
The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said stayed near the stone until the
dark was coming on. Then he thought he would go home and in the
morning he would speak to Pracaun the Crow and ask her about the stone
that Kingfisher-all-Blue had brought him to and what good luck there
was at the other side of it.
Pracaun the Crow came to the standing stone in the morning and ate the
boiled potato that the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said brought her,
and then the Boy spoke to her about the stone that Kingfisher-all-Blue
had brought him to, and he asked what good luck there was at the other
side of it.
"Kingfisher-all-Blue has brought you to good luck that none of the
rest of us could have shown you," said Pracaun the Crow. "Under that
round stone is the treasure of King Labraid Lorc."
"Who was King Labraid Lorc and what was his treasure?" said the Boy
Who Knew What the Birds Said.
"I will tell you first about King Labraid Lorc," said Pracaun the
Crow. "He was King of this part of the country and of two lovely
Islands that are now sunken deep in the sea. Mananaun Mac Lir who is
Lord of the Sea was his friend and Labraid Lorc would have been a
happy King only for--well, I'll tell you in a while what troubles he
had.
"No one knew where the King had come from. He was not born King of
this part of the country nor of the lovely Islands that are now deep
sunken under the sea. Mananaun who is Lord of the Sea had given him
the Islands, or rather he had given him the two keys that had brought
the Islands up from the bottom of the sea. Two silver keys they were,
O lad. And when they were brought together they struck each other and
rang like bells. And 'Labraid Lorc is King, King of the two Fair
Islands' is what they chimed out. As long as he held the keys the
Islands would remain above the water. But if he put the keys away the
Islands would sink back into the sea.
"Once in every month the King had a man killed. This is how it was. He
would have a man to shave his beard and to trim his hair. This man
never came alive out of the King's Castle. As soon as the poor barber
left the King's chamber and passed down the hall soldiers would fall
upon him and kill him with their swords. Every time when the King's
beard was shaved and his hair was trimmed a man was killed--twelve men
in a year, a hundred and forty-four men in twelve years!
"Now a warning came to a woman that her son would be called upon to be
the next barber to the King. She was a widow and the young man was her
only son. She was wild with grief when she thought that he would be
killed by the soldiers' swords as soon as he had shaved the King's
beard and trimmed the King's hair.
"She went everywhere the King rode. She threw herself before him and
asked for the life of her son. And at last the King promised that no
harm would befall her son's life if he swore he would tell no person
what he saw when he shaved the King's beard and trimmed the King's
hair. After that he would be always the King's barber.
"The widow's son came before the King and he swore he would tell no
person what he saw when he shaved his beard and trimmed his hair. Then
he went into the King's Chamber. And when he came out from it the
King's soldiers did not fall upon him and kill him with their swords.
The widow's son went home out of the Castle.
"His mother cried over him with joy at seeing him back. The next day he
went to work at his trade and his mother watched him and was
contented in her mind. But the day after her son only worked by fits
and starts, and the day after that he did no work at all but sat over
the fire looking into the burning coals.
"And after that the widow's son became sick and lay on his bed and no
one could tell what was the matter with him. He became more and more
ill and at last his mother thought that he had only escaped the
soldiers' swords to come home and die in his house. And when she
thought of that she said to herself that she would go see the Druid
who lived at the back of the hill and beg him to come to see her son
and strive to cure him. The Druid came and he looked into the eyes of
the young man and he said 'He has a secret upon his mind, and if he
does not tell it he will die.'
"Then his mother told the Druid that he had sworn not to tell any
person what he saw when he shaved the King's beard and trimmed the
King's hair, and that what he saw was his secret. Said the Druid 'If
he wants to live he will have to speak out his secret. But it need not
be to any person. Let him go to the meeting of two roads, turn with
the sun and tell his secret to the first tree on his right hand. And
when he feels he has told his secret your son will get the better of
his sickness.'
[Illustration]
"When this was told to the young man he got up off his bed and he
walked to where two roads met. He turned as the sun turns and he
whispered into the branches of the first tree on his right hand. And
the secret that he whispered was 'King Labraid Lorc has the ears of a
horse.' Then he turned from the tree and he went home. He slept, and
in the morning when he woke he was well and he went to his work and he
was happy and cheerful.
"But the tree that he whispered his secret to was a willow, and, as you
know, out of the branches of the willow the harp is made. As the
widow's son went away a Harper seeking wood to make a new harp came
that way. He saw the willow and he knew that its branches were just
right for the making of his harp. He cut them and he bent them and he
formed a harp from them. And when the harp was firmly fixed the Harper
came with it to the King's Castle.
"The King gave a feast so that the first music that came from the harp
should be honored. He made the Harper sit near his own High Chair.
Then, when the feast was at its height he called upon the Harper to
stand up and strike the first music from the new harp.
"'The first music from the new harp shall be praise of the King,' said
the Harper when he stood up. He drew his fingers across the strings
and all listened for the first music that would come. But the harp
that was made out of the willow branches that the widow's son had
whispered to murmured 'Labraid Lorc has the ears of a horse, Labraid
Lorc has the ears of a horse.' The King started up from his High
Chair. The Harper threw down the harp. Everyone was silent in the
hall. Then one voice was heard saying 'It is true. The King Labraid
Lorc has the ears of a horse.'
"The King had the man who said it taken by his soldiers and flung from
the top of the Castle. No one else spoke. But the next day when he
rode abroad the King heard the people behind the hedges saying
'Labraid Lorc has the ears of a horse.'
"After that, whenever he came near them, people went from him, and at
last no one was left in his Castle. And there was no one to take him
over to the fair Islands that Mananaun, Lord of the Sea, had given him
for a possession. And there was no one to bring over the fruits that
grew on the islands nor the cattle and sheep that pastured there.
"Then the King went to Mananaun, Lord of the Sea, and he offered him
back the keys Mananaun had given him--the silver keys that struck each
other when they were brought together and rang like bells, chiming out
'Labraid Lorc is King, is King of the two Fair Islands.' But no gift
that Mananaun gives is ever taken back and the keys were still left
with Labraid Lorc. Yet he thought he would let the keys go out of his
possession so that the Fair Islands would sink back into the sea. But
that they might not stay at the bottom of the sea for ever he took the
keys and he put them in a pit at the sea-shore and he covered the pit
with a round stone, and knowing that it would be only a lucky person
who would come to that stone, he wrote in Ogham writing on it YOU HAVE
LUCK TO HAVE SEEN THIS SIDE OF THE STONE BUT YOU WILL HAVE MORE LUCK
WHEN YOU SEE THE OTHER SIDE.
[Illustration: "Ernan is Lord, is Lord of the Fair Islands."]
"As he left the silver keys there the Fair Islands began to sink in the
water. So slow were they in sinking that the cattle and sheep that
pastured on the islands were taken off in boats and the people who
lived in villages on the Islands came away with all they owned. But at
last the Islands sank altogether out of sight. And after they went
down into the sea King Labraid Lorc was seen no more.
"And you, O Boy, are the lucky one that the King hid the silver keys
for. When you take them into your hands the Islands will begin to
rise above the water and when they are altogether risen and are called
the Fair Islands again you will be Lord of them. And
Kingfisher-all-Blue, the one we thought had no care but for himself,
brought you to this good fortune."
* * * * *
Day after day the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said went down to the
sea-shore and worked to lift up the round stone that was over the pit
in which King Labraid Lorc had put his silver keys. And one day he was
able to raise up the stone. There lay the great keys, shining in their
silver brightness. He took them up, and when he brought them near each
other they struck together and they rang like bells. "Mananaun" was
the the name they chimed out. And they chimed again "Ernan is Lord, is
Lord of the Fair Islands."
Looking out to sea, the boy Ernan saw waters rising up as though
whales were spouting fountains. And the next day, when he came to the
sea-shore, he saw that Islands had risen and that they were already
covered with green.
No longer he listened to what the Birds said but he watched the
Islands every day and he saw trees and grass come upon them. And when
the people came and said "Who can be Lord of these Islands?" he held
up the silver keys and brought them together so that they struck each
other and rang like bells. "Ernan is Lord, Lord of the Fair Islands"
was what they chimed out. Each day the Islands grew fairer in the
sight of the people, and Ernan was called, not "The Boy Who Knew What
the Birds Said," but "Ernan, Lord of the Fair Islands."
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE END]
Printed in the United States of America.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Minor punctuation and capitalization changes have been made for text
consistency. Some illustrations have been moved to avoid breaking up
paragraphs.
Page 125: Blue Ben has been changed to Blue Hen.