if we could find a fox, and got us to come out to the hills and catch
one; and so we can't sell him to you at any price."
"Well, I suppose it cannot be helped, then; but how much would the
young man give you for the cub?"
"Oh, he'll give us three hundred cash at least."
"Then I'll give you half a bu; and so you'll gain five hundred cash by
the transaction."
"Oh, we'll sell him for that, sir. How shall we hand him over to you?"
"Just tie him up here," said the other; and so he made fast the cub
round the neck with the string of the napkin in which the luncheon box
was wrapped, and gave half a bu to the three boys, who ran away
delighted.
The man's friend, upon this, said to him, "Well, certainly you have
got queer tastes. What on earth are you going to keep that fox for?"
"How very unkind of you to speak of my tastes like that. If we had not
interfered just now, the fox's cub would have lost its life. If we had
not seen the affair, there would have been no help for it. How could I
stand by and see life taken? It was but a little I spent--only half a
bu--to save the cub, but had it cost a fortune I should not have
grudged it. I thought you were intimate enough with me to know my
heart; but to-day you have accused me of being eccentric, and I see
how mistaken I have been in you. However, our friendship shall cease
from this day forth."
And when he had said this with a great deal of firmness, the other,
retiring backward and bowing with his hands on his knees, replied:
"Indeed, indeed, I am filled with admiration at the goodness of your
heart. When I hear you speak thus, I feel more than ever how great is
the love I owe you. I thought that you might wish to use the cub as a
sort of decoy to lead the old ones to you, that you might pray them to
bring prosperity and virtue to your house. When I called you eccentric
just now, I was but trying your heart, because I had some suspicions
of you; and now I am truly ashamed of myself."
And as he spoke, still bowing, the other replied, "Really! was that
indeed your thought? Then I pray you to forgive me for my violent
language."
When the two friends had thus become reconciled, they examined the
cub, and saw that it had a slight wound in its foot, and could not
walk; and while they were thinking what they should do, they spied out
the herb called "Doctor's Nakase," which was just sprouting; so they
rolled up a little of it in their fingers and applied it to the part.
Then they pulled out some boiled rice from their luncheon box and
offered it to the cub, but it showed no sign of wanting to eat; so
they stroked it gently on the back, and petted it; and as the pain of
the wound seemed to have subsided, they were admiring the properties
of the herb, when, opposite to them, they saw the old foxes sitting
watching them by the side of some stacks of rice straw.
"Look there! the old foxes have come back, out of fear for their cub's
safety. Come, we will set it free!" And with these words they untied
the string round the cub's neck, and turned its head toward the spot
where the old foxes sat; and as the wounded foot was no longer
painful, with one bound it dashed to its parents' side and licked them
all over for joy, while they seemed to bow their thanks, looking
toward the two friends. So, with peace in their hearts, the latter
went off to another place, and, choosing a pretty spot, produced the
wine bottle and ate their noon-day meal; and after a pleasant day,
they returned to their homes, and became firmer friends than ever.
Now the man who had rescued the fox's cub was a tradesman in good
circumstances: he had three or four agents and two maid-servants,
besides men-servants; and altogether he lived in a liberal manner. He
was married, and this union had brought him one son, who had reached
his tenth year, but had been attacked by a strange disease which
defied all the physicians' skill and drugs. At last a famous physician
prescribed the liver taken from a live fox, which, as he said, would
certainly effect a cure. If that were not forthcoming, the most
expensive medicine in the world would not restore the boy to health.
When the parents heard this, they were at their wits' end. However,
they told the state of the case to a man who lived on the mountains.
"Even though our child should die for it," they said, "we will not
ourselves deprive other creatures of their lives; but you, who live
among the hills, are sure to hear when your neighbours go out
fox-hunting. We don't care what price we might have to pay for a fox's
liver; pray, buy one for us at any expense." So they pressed him to
exert himself on their behalf; and he, having promised faithfully to
execute the commission went his way.
In the night of the following day there came a messenger, who
announced himself as coming from the person who had undertaken to
procure the fox's liver; so the master of the house went out to see
him.
"I have come from Mr. So-and-so. Last night the fox's liver that you
required fell into his hands; so he sent me to bring it to you." With
these words the messenger produced a small jar, adding, "In a few days
he will let you know the price."
When he had delivered his message, the master of the house was greatly
pleased and said, "Indeed, I am deeply grateful for this kindness,
which will save my son's life."
Then the good wife came out, and received the jar with every mark of
politeness.
"We must make a present to the messenger."
"Indeed, sir, I've already been paid for my trouble."
"Well, at any rate, you must stop the night here."
"Thank you, sir: I've a relation in the next village whom I have not
seen for a long while, and I will pass the night with him;" and so he
took his leave, and went away.
The parents lost no time in sending to let the physician know that
they had procured the fox's liver. The next day the doctor came and
compounded a medicine for the patient, which at once produced a good
effect, and there was no little joy in the household. As luck would
have it, three days after this the man whom they had commissioned to
buy the fox's liver came to the house; so the good wife hurried out to
meet him and welcome him.
"How quickly you fulfilled our wishes, and how kind of you to send at
once! The doctor prepared the medicine, and now our boy can get up and
walk about the room; and it's all owing to your goodness."
"Wait a bit!" cried the guest, who did not know what to make of the
joy of the two parents. "The commission with which you entrusted me
about the fox's liver turned out to be a matter of impossibility, so
I came to-day to make my excuses; and now I really can't understand
what you are so grateful to me for."
"We are thanking you, sir," replied the master of the house, bowing
with his hands on the ground, "for the fox's liver which we asked you
to procure for us."
"I really am perfectly unaware of having sent you a fox's liver; there
must be some mistake here. Pray inquire carefully into the matter."
"Well, this is very strange. Four nights ago, a man of some five or
six and thirty years of age came with a verbal message from you, to
the effect that you had sent him with a fox's liver, which you had
just procured, and said that he would come and tell us the price
another day. When we asked him to spend the night here, he answered
that he would lodge with a relation in the next village, and went
away."
The visitor was more and more lost in amazement, and, leaning his head
on one side in deep thought, confessed that he could make nothing of
it. As for the husband and wife, they felt out of countenance at
having thanked a man so warmly for favours of which he denied all
knowledge; and so the visitor took his leave, and went home.
That night there appeared at the pillow of the master of the house a
woman of about one or two and thirty years of age, who said, "I am the
fox that lives at such-and-such a mountain. Last spring, when I was
taking out my cub to play, it was carried off by some boys, and only
saved by your goodness. The desire to requite this kindness pierced me
to the quick. At last, when calamity attacked your house, I thought
that I might be of use to you. Your son's illness could not be cured
without a liver taken from a live fox, so to repay your kindness I
killed my cub and took out its liver; then its sire, disguising
himself as a messenger, brought it to your house."
And as she spoke, the fox shed tears; and the master of the house,
wishing to thank her, moved in bed, upon which his wife awoke and
asked him what was the matter; but he, too, to her great astonishment,
was biting the pillow and weeping bitterly.
"Why are you weeping thus?" asked she.
At last he sat up in bed, and said, "Last spring, when I was out on a
pleasure excursion, I was the means of saving the life of a fox's cub,
as I told you at the time. The other day I told Mr. So-and-so that,
although my son were to die before my eyes, I would not be the means
of killing a fox on purpose; but asked him in case he heard of any
hunter killing a fox, to buy it for me. How the foxes came to hear of
this I don't know; but the foxes to whom I had shown kindness killed
their own cub and took out the liver; and the old dog-fox, disguising
himself as a messenger from the person to whom we had confided the
commission, came here with it. His mate has just been at my
pillow-side and told me all about it; hence it was that, in spite of
myself, I was moved to tears."
When she heard this, the good wife likewise was blinded by her tears,
and for a while they lay lost in thought; but at last, coming to
themselves, they lighted the lamp on the shelf on which the family
idol stood, and spent the night in reciting prayers and praises, and
the next day they published the matter to the household and to their
relations and friends. Now, although there are instances of men
killing their own children to requite a favour, there is no other
example of foxes having done such a thing; so the story became the
talk of the whole country.
Now, the boy who had recovered through the efficacy of this medicine
selected the prettiest spot on the premises to erect a shrine to Inari
Sama, the Fox God, and offered sacrifice to the two old foxes, for
whom he purchased the highest rank at court of the Mikado.
_The Black Horse_
Once there was a king, and he had three sons, and when the king died,
they did not give a shade of anything to the youngest son, but an old
white limping garron.
"If I get but this," quoth he, "it seems that I had best go with this
same."
He was going with it right before him, sometimes walking, sometimes
riding. When he had been riding a good while he thought that the
garron would need a while of eating, so he came down to earth, and
what should he see coming out of the heart of the western air toward
him but a rider riding high, well, and right well.
"All hail, my lad," said he.
"Hail, king's son," said the other.
"What's your news?" said the king's son.
"I've got that," said the lad who came. "I am after breaking my heart
riding this ass of a horse; but will you give me the limping white
garron for him?"
"No," said the prince; "it would be a bad business for me."
"You need not fear," said the man that came, "there is no saying but
that you might make better use of him than I. He has one value, there
is no single place that you can think of in the four parts of the
wheel of the world that the black horse will not take you there."
So the king's son got the black horse, and he gave the limping white
garron.
Where should he think of being when he mounted but in the Realm
Underwaves. He went, and before sunrise on the morrow he was there.
What should he find when he got there but the son of the King
Underwaves holding a court, and the people of the realm gathered to
see if there was any one who would undertake to go to seek the
daughter of the King of the Greeks to be the prince's wife. No one
came forward, when who should come up but the rider of the black
horse.
"You rider of the black horse," said the prince, "I lay you under
crosses and under spells to have the daughter of the King of the
Greeks here before the sun rises to-morrow."
The lad went out and he reached the black horse and leaned his elbow
on his mane, and he heaved a sigh.
"Sigh of a king's son under spells!" said the horse; "but have no
care; we shall do the thing that was set before you." And so off they
went.
"Now," said the horse, "when we get near the great town of the Greeks,
you will notice that the four feet of a horse never went to the town
before. The king's daughter will see me from the top of the castle
looking out of a window, and she will not be content without a turn of
a ride upon me. Say that she may have that, but the horse will suffer
no man but you to ride before a woman on him."
They came near the big town, and he fell to horsemanship; and the
princess was looking out of the windows, and noticed the horse. The
horsemanship pleased her, and she came out just as the horse had come.
"Give me a ride on the horse," said she.
"You shall have that," said he, "but the horse will let no man ride
him before a woman but me."
"I have a horseman of my own," said she.
"If so, set him in front," said he.
Before the horseman mounted at all, when he tried to get up, the horse
lifted his legs and kicked him off.
"Come then, yourself, and mount before me," said she; "I won't leave
the matter so."
He mounted the horse and she behind him, and before she glanced from
her she was nearer sky than earth. He was in Realm Underwaves with her
before sunrise.
"You are come," said Prince Underwaves.
"I am come," said he.
"There you are, my hero," said the prince. "You are the son of a
king, but I am a son of success. Anyhow, we shall have no delay or
neglect now, but a wedding."
"Just gently," said the princess; "your wedding is not so short a way
off as you suppose. Till I get the silver cup that my grandmother had
at her wedding, and that my mother had as well, I will not marry, for
I need to have it at my own wedding."
"You rider of the black horse," said the Prince Underwaves, "I set you
under spells and under crosses unless the silver cup is here before
dawn to-morrow."
Out the lad went and reached the horse and leaned his elbow on his
mane, and he heaved a sigh.
"Sigh of a king's son under spells!" said the horse; "mount and you
shall get the silver cup. The people of the realm are gathered about
the king to-night, for he has missed his daughter, and when you get to
the palace go in and leave me without; they will have the cup there
going round the company. Go in and sit in their midst. Say nothing,
and seem to be as one of the people of the place. But when the cup
comes round to you, take it under your oxter, and come out to me with
it, and we'll go."
Away they went and they got to Greece, and he went into the palace and
did as the black horse bade. He took the cup and came out and mounted,
and before sunrise he was in the Realm Underwaves.
"You are come," said Prince Underwaves.
"I am come," said he.
"We had better get married now," said the prince to the Greek
princess.
"Slowly and softly," said she. "I will not marry till I get the silver
ring that my grandmother and my mother wore when they were wedded."
"You rider of the black horse," said the Prince Underwaves, "do that.
Let's have that ring here to-morrow at sunrise."
The lad went to the black horse and put his elbow on his crest and
told him how it was.
"There never was a matter set before me harder than this matter which
has now been set in front of me," said the horse, "but there is no
help for it at any rate. Mount me. There is a snow mountain and an ice
mountain and a mountain of fire between us and the winning of that
ring. It is right hard for us to pass them."
Thus they went as they were, and about a mile from the snow mountain
they were in a bad case with cold. As they came near it the lad struck
the horse, and with the bound he gave the black horse was on the top
of the snow mountain; at the next bound he was on the top of the ice
mountain; at the third bound he went through the mountain of fire.
When he had passed the mountains the lad was dragging at the horse's
neck, as though he were about to lose himself. He went on before him
down to a town below.
"Go down," said the black horse, "to a smithy; make an iron spike for
every bone end in me."
Down he went as the horse desired, and he got the spikes made, and
back he came with them.
"Stick them into me," said the horse, "every spike of them in every
bone end that I have."
That he did; he stuck the spikes into the horse.
"There is a loch here," said the horse, "four miles long and four
miles wide, and when I go out into it the loch will take fire and
blaze. If you see the Loch of Fire going out before the sun rises,
expect me, and if not, go your way."
Out went the black horse into the lake, and the lake became flame.
Long was he stretched about the lake, beating his palms and roaring.
Day came, and the loch did not go out.
But at the hour when the sun was rising out of the water the lake went
out.
And the black horse rose in the middle of the water with one single
spike in him, and the ring upon its end.
He came on shore, and down he fell beside the loch.
Then down went the rider. He got the ring, and he dragged the horse
down to the side of a hill. He fell to sheltering him with his arms
about him, and as the sun was rising he got better and better, till
about midday, when he rose on his feet.
"Mount," said the horse, "and let us be gone."
He mounted on the black horse, and away they went.
He reached the mountains, and he leaped the horse at the fire mountain
and was on the top. From the mountain of fire he leaped to the
mountain of ice, and from the mountain of ice to the mountain of snow.
He put the mountains past him, and by morning he was in Realm
Underwaves.
"You are come," said the prince.
"I am," said he.
"That's true," said Prince Underwaves. "A king's son are you, but a
son of success am I. We shall have no more mistakes and delays, but a
wedding this time."
"Go easy," said the Princess of the Greeks. "Your wedding is not so
near as you think yet. Till you make a castle, I won't marry you. Not
to your father's castle nor to your mother's will I go to dwell; but
make me a castle for which your father's castle will not make washing
water."
"You rider of the black horse, make that," said Prince Underwaves,
"before the morrow's sun rises."
The lad went out to the horse and leaned his elbow on his neck and
sighed, thinking that this castle never could be made for ever.
"There never came a turn in my road yet that is easier for me to pass
than this," said the black horse.
The lad gave a glance from him and saw all that were there, and ever
so many wrights and stone masons at work, and the castle was ready
before the sun rose.
He shouted at the Prince Underwaves, and he saw the castle. He tried
to pluck out his eye, thinking that it was a false sight.
"Son of King Underwaves," said the rider of the black horse, "don't
think that you have a false sight; this is a true sight."
"That's true," said the prince. "You are a son of success, but I am a
son of success, too. There will be no more mistakes and delays, but a
wedding now."
"No," said she. "The time is come. Should we not go to look at the
castle? There's time enough to get married before the night comes."
They went to the castle and the castle was without a fault.
"I see one," said the prince. "One want at least to be made good. A
well must be made inside, so that water may not be far to fetch when
there is a feast or a wedding in the castle."
"That won't be long undone," said the rider of the black horse.
The well was made, and it was seven fathoms deep and two or three
fathoms wide, and they looked at the well on the way to the wedding.
"It is all very good," said she, "but for one little fault yonder."
"Where is it?" said Prince Underwaves.
"There," said she.
He bent him down to look. She came out, and she put her two hands at
his back, and cast him in.
"Be thou there," said she. "If I go to be married, thou art not the
man; but the man who did each exploit that has been done, and, if he
chooses, him will I have."
Away she went with the rider of the little black horse to the wedding.
And at the end of three years after that, so it was that he first
remembered the black horse or where he left him.
He got up and went out, and he was very sorry for his neglect of the
black horse. He found him just where he left him.
"Good luck to you, gentleman," said the horse. "You seem as if you had
got something that you like better than me."
"I have not got that, and I won't; but it came over me to forget you,"
said he.
"I don't mind," said the horse, "it will make no difference. Raise
your sword and smite off my head."
"Fortune will not allow that I should do that," said he.
"Do it instantly, or I will do it to you," said the horse.
So the lad drew his sword and smote off the horse's head; then he
lifted his two palms and uttered a doleful cry.
What should he hear behind him but "All hail, my brother-in-law!"?
He looked behind him, and there was the finest man he ever set eyes
upon.
"What set you weeping for the black horse?" said he.
"This," said the lad, "that there never was born of man or beast a
creature in this world that I was fonder of."
"Would you take me for him?" said the stranger.
"If I could think you the horse I would; but if not, I would rather
have the horse," said the rider.
"I am the black horse," said the lad, "and if I were not, how should
you have all these things that you went to seek in my father's house.
Since I went under spells, many a man have I ran at before you met me.
They had but one word amongst them: they could not keep me, nor manage
me, and they never kept me a couple of days. But when I fell in with
you, you kept me till the time ran out that was to come from the
spells. And now you shall go home with me, and we will make a wedding
in my father's house."
_Truth's Triumph_
Several hundred years ago there was a certain Rajah who had twelve
wives, but no children, and though he caused many prayers to be said,
and presents made in temples far and near, never a son nor a daughter
had he. Now this Rajah had a Wuzeer who was a very, very wise old man,
and it came to pass that one day, when he was travelling in a distant
part of his kingdom, accompanied by this Wuzeer and the rest of his
court, he came upon a large garden, in walking round which he was
particularly struck by a little tree which grew there. It was a
bringal tree, not above two feet in height. It had no leaves, but on
it grew a hundred and one bringals. The Rajah stopped to count them,
and then turning to the Wuzeer in great astonishment, said, "It is to
me a most unaccountable thing, that this little tree should have no
leaves, but a hundred and one bringals growing on it. You are a wise
man--can you guess what this means?"
The Wuzeer replied, "I can interpret this marvel to you, but if I do,
you will most likely not believe me; promise therefore that if I tell
you, you will not cause me to be killed as having told (as you
imagine) a lie."
The Rajah promised, and the Wuzeer continued: "The meaning of this
little bringal tree, with the hundred and one bringals growing on it,
is this. Whoever marries the daughter of the Malee in charge of this
garden will have a hundred and one children--a hundred sons and one
daughter."
The Rajah said. "Where is the maiden to be seen?"
The Wuzeer answered, "When a number of great people like you and all
your court come into a little village like this, the poor people, and
especially the children, are frightened and run away and hide
themselves; therefore, as long as you stay here as Rajah you cannot
hope to see her. Your only means will be to send away your suite, and
cause it to be announced that you have left the place. Then, if you
walk daily in this garden, you may some morning meet the pretty Guzra
Bai, of whom I speak."
Upon this advice the Rajah acted; and one day whilst walking in the
garden he saw the Malee's young daughter, a girl of twelve years old,
busy gathering flowers. He went forward to accost her, but she, seeing
that he was not one of the villagers, but a stranger, was shy, and ran
home to her father's house.
The Rajah followed, for he was very much struck with her grace and
beauty; in fact, he fell in love with her as soon as he saw her, and
thought he had never seen a king's daughter half so charming.
When he got to the Malee's house the door was shut; so he called out,
"Let me in, good Malee; I am the Rajah, and I wish to marry your
daughter."