GURIAN FOLK TALES
I
THE STRONG MAN AND THE DWARF
There came from far-off lands a strong man who had nowhere met
his match, and challenged any one in the whole kingdom to wrestle
with him. The king gathered his folk together, but, to his wonder,
could not for a long time find anybody ready to face the strong man,
till, at last, there stood forth a weak insignificant-looking dwarf,
who offered to wrestle with the giant.
Haughtily looking down on his adversary, the giant carelessly turned
away, thinking that he was befooled. But the dwarf asked that his
strength should be put to the proof before the struggle began.
The giant angrily seized a stone, and, clasping it in his fingers,
squeezed moisture out of it.
The dwarf cunningly replaced the stone by a sponge of the same
appearance, and squeezed still more moisture out of it.
The giant then took another stone, and threw it so violently on the
ground that it became dust.
The dwarf took a stone, hid it under the ground, and threw on the
ground a handful of flour, to the great astonishment of the giant.
Stretching forth his hand to the dwarf, the giant said: 'I never
expected to find so much strength in such a small man, I will not
wrestle with you; but give me your hand in token of friendship and
brotherhood.'
After this, the giant asked the dwarf to go home with him. But first
he asked the dwarf why he had not pressed his hand in a brotherly
manner. The dwarf replied that he was unable to moderate the force
of his pressure, and that more than one man had already died from the
fearful force of his hand. The new brothers then set out together. On
their way to the giant's house, they came to a stream which had to
be forded.
The dwarf, fearing to be carried away by the current, told the strong
man that he was suffering from belly-ache, and did not therefore wish
to go into the cold water, so he asked to be carried over.
In the midst of the stream, the strong man, with the dwarf on his
shoulders, suddenly stopped and said: 'I have heard that strong people
are heavy, but I do not feel you on my shoulders. Tell me how this is,
for God's sake.'
'Since we have become brothers,' replied the dwarf, 'I have no right
to press with all my weight upon you, and did I not support myself
by holding on to the sky with one hand, you could never carry me.'
But the strong man, wishing to test his strength, asked the dwarf to
drop his hand for a moment, whereupon the dwarf took from his pocket
two nails, and stuck the sharp points of them in the shoulders of
the strong man.
The giant could not endure the pain, and begged the dwarf to lighten
his burden at once, i.e. to lay hold of heaven with one hand again.
When they had reached the other side, the two new friends soon came
to the strong man's house. The giant, wishing to give a dinner to the
dwarf, proposed that they should share the work of getting it ready,
that one of them should take the bread out of the oven, while the
other went to the cellar for wine.
The dwarf saw in the oven an immense loaf which he could never have
lifted, so he chose to go to the cellar for wine. But when he had
descended, he was unable even to lift the weights on the top of the
jars, so, thinking that by this time the giant would have taken the
loaf out of the oven, he cried: 'Shall I bring up all the jars?'
The giant, alarmed lest the dwarf should spoil his whole year's stock
of wine, by digging the jars out of the ground, where they were buried,
rushed down into the cellar, and the dwarf went upstairs.
But great was the astonishment of the dwarf when he found that
the bread was still in the oven, and that he must take it out,
willy-nilly. He succeeded with difficulty in dragging a loaf to the
edge of the oven, but then he fell with the hot bread on top of him,
and, being unable to free himself, was almost smothered.
Just then the giant came in, and asked what had happened. The
dwarf replied: 'As I told you this morning, I am suffering from a
stomach-ache, and, in order to soothe the pain, I applied the hot
loaf as a plaster.' ... Then the giant came up, and said: 'Poor
fellow! How do you feel now, after your plaster?' 'Better, thank
God,' replied the dwarf, 'I feel so much better that you can take
off the loaf.' ... The giant lifted the loaf, and the two then sat
down to dinner. Suddenly the giant sneezed so hard that the dwarf
was blown up to the roof, and seized a beam, so that he should not
fall down again. The giant looked up with astonishment, and asked:
'What does this mean?' The dwarf angrily replied: 'If you do such
a vulgar thing again I shall pull this beam out and break it over
your stupid head.' The giant made humble excuses, and promised that
he would never sneeze again during dinner time; he then brought a
ladder by which the dwarf came down.... [50]
II
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT [51]
The grasshopper and the ant became friends, and entered into a compact
of brotherhood, promising never to separate. They then set out on a
journey, forgetful of the proverb that 'footman and horseman can never
be comrades.' Of the truth of this they had a proof on the very first
day of their travels, for, chancing to come to a brook which they had
to ford, the grasshopper jumped over, while the poor ant was carried
away by the stream.
The grasshopper thought, for a moment, how he could save his drowning
companion, and then cried: 'Catch hold of something, and I shall run
and get help.'
The bright idea struck him of applying to the sow for one of her
bristles, to which the ant could attach herself while he pulled her
out of the water.
The sow answered: 'Brother grasshopper, you know the proverb, "hand
washes hand"; for three days I have eaten nothing, and am I to let
people pull bristles out of me for nothing? Feed me with acorns,
and then you can have as many bristles as you like.'
The grasshopper hurried off to the oak and said: 'Oak, oak, give me
acorns, I give the acorns to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle,
and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.'
The oak answered:
'Those thievish jays give me no rest, they pull off my acorns; keep
them off.'
The grasshopper ran to the jays, and said:
'Jays! leave the oak, and the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I
give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I
save my drowning comrade.'
The jays answered:
'The kites pursue us; go and drive them off.'
The grasshopper ran to the kites, and said:
'Kites! leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak, the oak
will give me acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me
a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning comrade.'
The kites answered:
'We are hungry; bring us chickens.'
The grasshopper ran to the hen, and said:
'Hen, give me chickens. The chickens I shall give to the kites, the
kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns,
the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, with the
bristle I save my drowning comrade.'
The hen replied:
'Feed me with millet.'
The grasshopper hastened to the barn:
'Barn, give me millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me
chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays,
the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to
the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with the bristle I save my
drowning comrade.'
The barn replied:
'The rats have the mastery over me, they gnaw me on every side;
send them away.'
The grasshopper ran to the rats:
'Rats! go away from the barn, and the barn will give me millet, the
millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me chickens, the chickens I
give to the kites, the kites leave the jays, the jays leave the oak,
the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to the sow, the sow gives me
a bristle, and with the bristle I save my drowning friend.'
The rats replied:
'The cats give us no peace; send them away.'
The grasshopper went to the cats:
'Cats! go away from the rats, and the rats will leave the barn, the
barn will give millet, the millet I give to the hen, the hen gives me
chickens, the chickens I give to the kites, the kites leave the jays,
the jays leave the oak, the oak gives acorns, the acorns I give to
the sow, the sow gives me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall
save my drowning comrade.'
The cats replied:
'Feed us with milk.'
The grasshopper ran to the cow:
'Cow! give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, the cats will
leave the rats alone, the rats will leave the barn,' etc., etc.
The cow replied:
'Feed me with grass.'
The grasshopper applied to the earth, and said:
'O earth! give me grass, the grass I shall give to the cow, the
cow will give me milk, the milk I shall give to the cats, then the
cats will leave the rats alone, and the rats will leave the barn,
the barn will give me millet, the millet I shall give to the hen,
the hen will give me chickens, the chickens I shall give to the kites,
then the kites will leave the jays, and the jays will leave the oak,
the oak will give me acorns, the acorns I shall give to the sow,
the sow will give me a bristle, and with this bristle I shall save
my drowning friend.'
The earth gave the grass ... and finally the grasshopper obtained the
bristle, and hastened with it to his drowning friend, but, to his
astonishment, the ant was quite dead when he pulled him out. This
story teaches that help is only valuable when it is given in time,
that the earth alone refuses not to yield her gifts to him that asks,
and that all other things exist only by reciprocal services.
III
THE COUNTRYMAN AND THE MERCHANT
A countryman caught a pheasant, and was carrying it home to cook it
for himself and his wife.
Suddenly the pheasant spoke like a man, and said: 'Let me go, goodman,
and I shall repay you.'
The countryman was astonished, and asked:
'What could you do for me?'
The pheasant replied: 'You are an old man, and must soon die; when
you are dead, I shall gather together all the birds of the air, and
follow you to the grave. Since the world began, no king ever had such
an honour paid to him at his funeral.'
The countryman was pleased at the offer, and set the pheasant
free. When he reached home, he told his wife what had happened, and,
although she scolded him at first for letting the bird go, yet she
was pleased when the pheasant sent, every morning, birds to ask after
the old man's health.
A happy thought soon occurred to the wife, and she said to her
husband: 'Listen to me, we are almost dying of hunger, and we have
a good chance of getting plenty of food. Pretend that you are dead;
I shall begin to cry, and all the birds will come to your funeral,
I shall entice them into our cottage, shut the doors and windows;
we can knock them down with sticks, and thus lay in a store of food
to last us for a long time.'
So the countryman covered himself with a sheet, and lay down, while
his wife went outside and wept loudly.
A hoopoe flew down, and asked after her husband's health; when the
wife announced his death, the hoopoe at once flew away, and, within
an hour, there flew into the yard, in long lines, some thousands of
pheasants, the same number of doves, snipe, quails, woodcock, etc.,
and even eagles, kites, hawks, etc.
Some of the birds settled in the cottage, some in the barn, some in
the stable, some in the yard, and the rest, for which there was no
room, remained in serried ranks in the air.
Then the wife shut the doors, and, with her husband, set about killing
the birds; only those that were outside escaped.
In the evening, there came a merchant, and asked to be allowed to
spend the night in the cottage. At supper, the merchant saw a great
abundance of game of all kinds, and asked the countryman how such
luxury was within the reach of a poor man. The countryman replied:
'I have a cat of a famous breed, which has never yet failed me. When
I want game for my table, I tell her what kind of birds I should like,
and how many, and she goes into the forest and gets them. I do not know
what was the matter with her last night, but see! she went into the
wood of her own will, and killed all the birds in the neighbourhood,
and brought them to us.' The countryman then showed a whole heap of
dead game.
The merchant at once began to bargain with the countryman for the cat,
and finally purchased it for a large sum.
When the merchant reached home, he went about his business, and told
his wife that he would not leave her any money for housekeeping,
for she had only to give her orders, and the cat would bring all
sorts of game for food. But when he came in, he was astonished to
find that his wife had eaten nothing, the cat had brought no birds,
but had even stolen what was in the house already. So he went back
to ask the countryman about it.
The countryman saw him coming, filled a pot with millet and hung
it over the fire. He then sat down near it, put a grain of millet
in the palm of his hand, and began to wash it. The merchant came in
and stood by him; the countryman pretended not to see the merchant,
muttered an incantation, and dropped the grain into the pot. Then he
stirred it with a spoon, and behold the pot was full. The merchant
did not know whether to quarrel with the countryman or to get this
magic pot from him.
'What is this you have done to me?' said he. 'Your cat is useless,
it brings nothing, and steals what we have.'
'Have you been feeding it with roast meat? I forgot to warn you that
you must not do this.'
'Well, it is my fault then,' said the merchant. 'But will you sell
me that pot?'
'I have already lost my famous cat. It is not likely that I shall
now let you have this pot, in which I can make a dish of porridge
with only one grain.'
However, they began bargaining, and at last the countryman sold his
pot for a large sum. When the merchant reached home, he consoled his
wife by telling her that from one barleycorn she could now make as
much porridge as she wanted; he then set out again. When he returned,
his wife complained that the pot was of no use. So he called again
on the countryman, to ask for an explanation.
The countryman, foreseeing that the merchant would come, got two
hares exactly alike, and tied ribbons of the same colour round their
necks. He left one hare at home, and took the other out into the fields
with him. He told his wife that if the merchant came, she was to send
him out to the field, and in an hour bring him a dinner consisting
of two boiled fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.
The merchant came, and the woman sent him to the field where her
husband was working. In reply to the reproaches of the merchant, the
countryman said: 'You have probably made some stupid mistake with the
pot as you did with the cat. But let us sit down and dine while we
talk it over, for I cannot suffer you to come to me without feeding
you.' The merchant looked round and said: 'How can we get anything
to eat out here in the fields?'
The peasant went to a bush, untied the hare, and said to it: 'Run
at once, little hare, to my wife, and tell her to come with you and
bring us a pair of fowls, a roast turkey, ten eggs, wine, and bread.'
The hare ran off as fast as it could. It is easy to understand the
astonishment of the merchant when the woman came with the hare,
bringing all that the man had ordered. When they had eaten, the
merchant said: 'You have cheated me about the cat and the pot, but I
forgive you if you let me have the hare.' The countryman refused at
first, but finally agreed to sell the hare for a large sum. [52]
On his way home with the hare, the merchant met some friends whom he
asked to sup with him, but seeing that he would not arrive until it
was late, he ordered the hare to run and tell his wife that he was
coming with some guests, and that she was to prepare supper. When
he and his friends reached home, they found the house quite dark,
and had difficulty in rousing the wife from her sleep. She told him
that no hare had been there, and that she did not know what he was
talking about.
The merchant was now furious, and determined to punish the countryman
severely. But the countryman guessed what would happen, and arranged
with his wife what should be done. He took the intestine of a small
calf, filled it with blood, and tied it round his wife's neck,
telling her to cover it up with a kerchief. The merchant came in,
and without saying a word rushed at the countryman, who, in his turn,
attacked his wife, accusing her of being the guilty party, and with a
knife pierced the intestine under her throat. She fell on the ground,
and pretended that she was dying. The merchant was alarmed, and cried:
'What have you done, you wretched man? I would willingly have lost
the money rather than have this innocent blood shed.' The countryman
answered: 'That is my affair. Though I have killed my wife I can raise
her to life again.' 'I believe you no longer,' said the merchant, 'but
if you perform this miracle I shall forgive you all.' The countryman
approached his wife with the knife in his hand, muttered something,
and his wife opened her eyes, and, to the surprise of the merchant,
rose up.
The merchant bought the wonderful knife, saying that his wife, too,
needed a lesson sometimes. When the merchant reached home, his wife
asked where he had been. He told her to be silent and mind her own
business. 'If you are not quiet I will cut your throat.' The woman
looked at him with astonishment, and wondered whether he had gone out
of his mind. The merchant threw down his wife, and cut her throat. All
the neighbours flocked in, and raised a great cry. The merchant said:
'What if I have killed my wife? I can bring her to life again.' The
neighbours stood by while he muttered the invocations he had learnt,
but he could not raise her. Then he flew to the countryman, tied his
hands, and dragged him into the forest, saying: 'I wish to prolong your
sufferings, and will not kill you at once. I shall starve you, drag
you about in the woods, and, when I have worn you out with tortures, I
shall throw you into the sea.' On the road there was a town, in which a
king had just died, and his funeral was then taking place. Having bound
the countryman to a tree in the depths of the forest, the merchant
returned to the town to see the royal funeral. Just then, a shepherd
happened to drive his flock near the tree to which the countryman
was tied. Seeing the shepherd a little way off, the countryman began
to shout: 'I will not be king! I will not be king! No! No! No!' The
shepherd came up and asked what was wrong. The countryman replied:
'You know, brother, that the king is dead in the town: they want
me to take his place, but I will not, for I have been king twice,
and know what it is. Ah, brother! one has so many cares, so much
work, that one's head swims. I had rather be tied to this tree than
consent to be king.' The shepherd thought for a moment, and replied:
'I, brother, would give anything in the world to have a trial of the
life of a king.' 'I gladly give you my place, but, so that people
may not know, put on my clothes, and I shall bind you to the tree,
and by to-morrow you shall be king.' The shepherd gladly gave him
his flock, and took his place at the tree.
As soon as the countryman was free, he drove away the flock.
When it was quite dark, the merchant appeared, loosed his victim, and
drove him on. When they came to the steep seashore, the shepherd saw
that the merchant wished to drown him, and cried: 'Do not drown me! I
had rather consent to be king.' The merchant thought his prisoner had
lost his wits through fatigue and ill-treatment; without more ado he
threw him into the sea.
A fortnight later, the merchant was travelling on business, when
he met on the road the same countryman whom he, as he thought, had
drowned, and who was now driving a flock. 'What do I see!' cried the
merchant. 'Are you there? Did I not drown you in the sea?'
'My benefactor!' replied the countryman. 'I wish you would drown me
again. You cannot imagine what a quantity of cattle there is down
there at the bottom of the sea. It is a pity I had no stick with me,
for I could not drive out more than these with my hands.'
The merchant besought the countryman, saying: 'You have ruined me. The
cat, the pot, the hare, the knife, have all cost money; thanks to you,
I am a beggar and a widower. If you remember the place where I threw
you into the sea, drown me there, but let me have a stick, so that
I may repair my fortune.' To get rid of the troublesome merchant,
the countryman agreed to fulfil his request, and so drowned him with
a very long switch in his hand. [53]
IV
THE KING AND THE SAGE
Once upon a time, there reigned in one of the realms of the East a
shah named Ali, a man of amiable and merry character. Ali was much
beloved by his subjects, and he too loved them with all his heart. The
shah played with them as if they had been his children; he gave them
festivals, arranged competitions, and gave prizes for the best poetical
productions, etc. The shah was skilled in the famous literature of
Arabia, and was thought to be a learned man; besides this, he was a
wit and a joker, and loved to set his folk merry riddles to guess:
prizes were given to the successful. Once the ferashes (or servants)
of the shah made known to the people, that Ali had promised three
hundred pieces of gold to him who should ask his majesty such a
question that the answer must inevitably be: That is Impossible.
This announcement created great excitement, and men, women, and
children all alike set themselves to think out such a question. The
day of the competition dawned at last, and the vast square before the
palace was crowded with a curious throng. At the appointed hour, Shah
Ali appeared, surrounded by a brilliant guard, and music filled the
air. After greeting his folk, the shah sat down on a throne, opposite
the platform on which the candidates were to stand while they asked the
shah their questions. Heralds gave out the challenge, and a wit of the
town mounted the rostrum and loudly said: 'Shah! a courier has just
galloped into the town and told me a most astonishing piece of news,
to wit, that at dawn this morning, twenty versts from your capital,
the moon fell from the sky to the ground, and burned two and twenty
villages to ashes.' The shah meditated a moment, and then replied:
'That is possible.' The town wit got down, amid the laughter of
the people.
His place was taken by a courtier, the shah's body-surgeon, who
shouted: 'Most illustrious Shah! In your harem a most astounding
event has just happened--your first wife, your beloved Zuleika, has
just given birth to a sucking-pig covered with bristles.' The shah
considered, and then replied: 'That is possible.' The doctor fled in
shame, and the people laughed more loudly than before.
After the doctor came an astrologer, who said: 'Most noble Shah! In
observing the courses of the stars I have discovered a woful piece of
news; an awful fate awaits you. O King, you will soon have horns like
a goat, and claws like a panther, you will lose the power of speech,
and flee from us into the woods, where you will dwell exactly seven
years and three months.' To him likewise the shah replied: 'That is
possible,' and he too disappeared, amid the jeers of the mob.
The competition lasted throughout the whole of that day and the next,
to the delight of the people, until at last they thought of getting
a certain Nasr-Eddin, a wit well known throughout the East, to oppose
to the shah. [54]
On the third, and last, day appeared Nasr-Eddin, tattered and
almost naked, dragging with him two great clay jars. Addressing
the shah, he said: 'Hail to the commander of the faithful, blessed
be thy name! Thou shalt reign yet a hundred years, and the love and
confidence of thy subjects will increase yearly.' 'That is possible,'
said the shah. 'That the confidence your subjects repose in you
is unbounded is evident from a fact which I am about to relate;
you will doubtless deign to listen.' 'That is possible.' 'Your
late father (God rest his soul!) was very friendly with my late
father (may the Prophet give him a place in Paradise!)...' 'That
is possible.' 'Listen to me, O Shah! When your father went forth to
war with the unbelievers, he was so poor that he could not raise an
army.' ... 'That is possible.' 'Not only is it possible but true, for,
owing to his want of money, he borrowed from my father these two jars
full of gold pieces, and promised on his royal word that you, O Shah,
would pay your father's debt to me.' Shah Ali burst into laughter,
and said: 'That is impossible! Your father was a tatterdemalion like
yourself, and never saw two jars of gold even in his dreams. Take
your three hundred gold pieces, and the devil take you. You rascal,
you have outwitted me.'
V
THE KING'S SON
A certain king had a son, and sent him out to be nursed by a smith's
wife. This crafty woman put the king's child in a common cradle,
and her own son in the gorgeous royal cradle. Some years afterwards,
the king took the changeling to court, and brought his foster-brother
with him. One fine day, the king set out for his favourite forest
to hunt, and took his pretended son with him. When they arrived,
the king asked: 'How do you like this place, my son? Is it not a
magnificent wood?' The boy replied: 'O father, if we could only burn
it all somehow, what a fine lot of charcoal we should have!'
Then the king sent for the other boy, and asked him the same
question. 'There could not be a better forest, your Majesty!' 'But what
would you do with it if it were yours?' 'Nothing, your Majesty. I would
double the guards, so that it should not be injured.' Then the king
saw how the smith's wife had tried to cheat him, and put her in prison.
VI
TEETH AND NO-TEETH
Shah Ali desired to see the hungriest man in his kingdom, and find out
how much of the daintiest food such a man could eat at a meal. So he
let it be known that on a certain day he would dine with his courtiers
in the open air, in front of the palace. At the appointed hour,
tables were laid and dinner was served, in the presence of a vast
crowd. After the first course, the shah mounted a daïs, and said:
'My loyal subjects! you see what a splendid dinner I have. I should
like to share it with those among you who are really hungry, and have
not eaten for a long time, so tell me truly which is the hungriest
of you all, and bid him come forward.'
Two men appeared from the crowd: an old man of fifty and a young man
of twenty-seven. The former was grey-haired and feeble, the latter
was fresh and of athletic build.
'How is it that you are hungry?' asked the shah of the old man. 'I
am old, my children are dead, toil has worn me out, and I have eaten
nothing for three days.' 'And you?' said the shah, turning to the
young man. 'I could not find work, and as I am a hearty young man I
am ashamed to beg, so I too have not eaten for three days.' The shah
ordered them to be given food, on one plate, and in small portions. The
hungry men eagerly ate, watching each other intently. Suddenly the
old man and the young one both stopped and began to weep. 'Why do
you weep?' asked the shah in astonishment. 'I have no teeth,' said
the old man, 'and while I am mumbling my food this young man eats
up everything.' 'And why are you weeping?' 'He is telling lies,
your majesty; while I am chewing my meat the old man gulps down
everything whole....'
VII
THE QUEEN'S WHIM
A certain queen wished to have a palace built of the bones of
all kinds of birds. The king ordered birds to be caught, and the
building was begun. Bones of all kinds were brought and cleaned,
and the walls were rising, but they could not find a hedge-sparrow,
and, as the queen wanted all sorts of birds, a search was made for the
missing one. At last the hedge-sparrow was found, and brought before
the king, who asked where she had been. 'Mighty monarch! I have been
flying all over the kingdom counting the men and women; unfortunately
there are twice as many women as men.' The king ordered the bird
to be punished for telling him such a shameless falsehood. 'King of
kings,' said the hedge-sparrow, 'perhaps I did not count in the same
way as you do.' 'How did you count, then?' 'I counted all those men
who are under the slipper of women as old women.' The hedge-sparrow
thus hinted that the king himself was an old woman, because he had
not strength of mind enough to resist the foolish whims of his wife.
VIII
THE FOOL'S GOOD FORTUNE
A certain man died and left three sons. One was altogether a fool,
another was fairly intelligent, and the third was rather clever. This
being so, it was of course difficult for them to live together. In
dividing the inheritance among them, the fool was cheated, and in
regard to the cattle he was thus cozened: There were three entrances
to the penfold, two open and one very narrow. The two clever brothers
proposed to drive the beasts out of all three at once; those that
issued from the small gap were to belong to the fool. In this way the
latter's share was only one young bull out of the whole flock. But
to his feeble mind the division seemed fair enough, so he contentedly
drove his bull out into the forest, and tied it with a stout rope to
a young tree, whilst he himself wandered aimlessly about.
Three days later, the fool went to see his beast. It had eaten and
drunk nothing, but had pulled the tree up by the roots, and laid bare
a jar full of old gold coins. The fool was delighted, and played with
the money for a time, then he resolved to take the jar and present it
to the king. As he passed along the road, every wayfarer looked into
the pot, took out the gold in handfuls, and so that he should not
notice their thefts, filled it up with stones and blocks of wood. On
reaching the palace, the fool asked for an audience of the king, and
it was granted. He emptied out the contents of the jar at the feet of
the king. When the courtiers saw the wrath of the king, they took the
fool away and beat him. When he had recovered himself he asked why
he had been thrashed. One of the bystanders, for fun, cried to him:
'You have been beaten because you labour in vain.' The fool went
his way, muttering the words: 'You labour in vain.' As he passed a
peasant who was reaping, he repeated his phrase again and again, until
the peasant grew angry, and thrashed him. The fool asked why he had
been beaten, and what he ought to have said. 'You ought to have said:
"God give you a good harvest!"' The fool went on saying, 'God give you
a good harvest!' and met a funeral. Again he was beaten, and again
he asked what he should say. They replied that he should have said:
'Heaven rest your soul!' He then came to a wedding, and saluted the
newly-married couple with this funereal phrase. Again he was beaten,
and then told that he should say: 'Be fruitful and multiply!' His
next visit was to a monastery, and he accosted every monk with his
new salutation. They too gave him a thrashing, with such vigour that
the fool determined to have his revenge by stealing one of the bells
from their belfry. So he hid himself until the monks had gone to rest,
and then carried off a bell of moderate size. He went into the forest,
climbed a tree, and hung the bell on the branches, ringing it from
time to time, partly to amuse himself and partly to frighten away wild
beasts. In the forest there was a gang of robbers, who were assembled
to share their booty, and had just ended a merry banquet. Suddenly
they heard the sound of the bell, and were much afraid. They took
counsel as to what was to be done, and most of them were for flight,
but the oldest of the band advised them to send a scout to see what
was wrong. The bravest among them was sent to get information, and
the rest remained as quiet as possible. The brigand went on tiptoe
through the bushes to the tree where the fool was, and respectfully
asked: 'Who are you? If you are an angel sent by God to punish our
wickedness, pray spare us and we shall repent; if you are a devil
from hell, come and share with us.' The fool was not so stupid that
he did not see he had to deal with robbers, so he took out a knife,
tolled the bell, and then said with a grave air: 'If you wish to know
who I am, climb the tree and show me your tongue, so that I may mark
on it who I am and what I ask of you.' The robber obediently climbed
the tree, and put out his tongue as far as he could. The fool cut off
his tongue, and kicked him to the ground. The robber, mad with pain,
and frightened by his sudden fall, ran off howling. His comrades had
come out to meet him, and when they saw the plight he was in they
ran off in terror, leaving their wealth. Next morning the fool found
the booty, and without saying anything to anybody, took it home and
became much richer than his brothers. The fool built three palaces:
one for himself, one for me, and one for you. There is merrymaking
in the fool's palace--come and be one of the guests!
IX
TWO LOSSES
During a great storm at sea, a learned man heard the skipper giving his
orders, but could not understand a word. When the danger was past, he
asked the skipper in what language he had spoken. The sailor replied:
'In my mother tongue, of course!' The scholar expressed his regret
that a man should have wasted half his life without learning to speak
grammatically and intelligibly. A few hours later the storm arose
again, and this time the ship sprang a leak and began to founder. Then
the captain went to the scholar and asked if he could swim. The man
of books replied that he had never learned. 'I am sorry, sir, for you
will lose your whole life. The ship will go to the bottom in a minute,
and my crew and I shall swim ashore. You would have done well if you
had spent a little of your time in learning to swim.'
X
THE STORY OF DERVISH
A hunter killed in the mountains a stag, and began to skin it. He
then hung the skin on a bush, and went down to a stream to wash the
blood from his hands. When he came back, he found to his surprise that
the dead stag had come to life, and was bounding away. When he had
recovered from his astonishment, he chased the beast, but could not
overtake it, and it was soon lost to sight. He met a wayfarer, briefly
told him the story, and asked if he had ever seen a stag without a
skin. 'I have never seen a stag without a skin, but I do not wonder
at your story. Near here there is a healing spring where any beast,
even if wounded unto death, can be cured by bathing. Your stag probably
bathed there, and is now sound and well. But if you want to know more
about this wonderful country of ours, seek out a man called Dervish,
and he will tell you things that will soon make you forget all about
the stag.' 'Where can I find this Dervish?' asked the hunter. 'Go
from village to village, and look into every courtyard, and when you
see a man smoking a pipe, with an ass and a she-ass bound before him,
ask him.'
The hunter went away, and, after a long search, found Dervish, who
told him the following story:--
'I was married,' said Dervish, 'and loved my wife, but she deceived
me with my next-door neighbour. When I heard of this I questioned my
wife, but, instead of answering, she struck me with a whip, and, to my
horror, I was turned into a dog. My wife drove me out into the yard,
and for shame I ran away. On the road I suffered hunger, thirst, and
despair, and, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was to be
powerless, and realised what a great difference there is between man
and beast. When I opened my mouth and tried to speak, I only barked
and howled. I tried to stand on my hind legs, and walk like a man,
but I fell either backwards or forwards. Then I jumped about, and did
this so easily and briskly that I regained my spirits, and came to
think that even a dog's life had its pleasures. While I was merrily
jumping, I unexpectedly saw a man. He looked at me and I at him. The
man smiled, and I ran up to him, but he was afraid, and lifted his
stick to strike me. We both moved away from each other. I wanted to
speak, but I barked, and the man raised his stick again. I then began
to frolic and jump, and the man smiled again, and let me come up to
him. I understood how dog and man are always the best of friends, and
in my mind I thanked my wicked wife that she had turned me into a dog,
and not some other beast, a pig, for instance. The man who beckoned
me to come to him was a good village priest, and we soon became great
friends. He caressed me, gave me something to eat, and I went away
with him. The kind-hearted priest, overcome by the heat, lay down to
rest under a tree, and I wished to do the same, but the priest said:
"Watch over me!" so I did not go to sleep, rightly thinking that if
the priest woke and found me asleep he would give me no more bread,
and perhaps would drive me away. Ah! the beginning of my dog life
was grievous. In the evening, the priest stopped to sleep with some
shepherds who were watching their flocks. The shepherds, to show
honour to their pastor, killed a lamb for supper, got wine, and made
merry. Though I took no direct part in the feast, I kept close behind
my master. After supper, one of the shepherds looked at me, and said:
"This dog must be fond of wine, for he never takes his eyes from the
glass, and now and then he licks his lips." I nodded my head several
times. Then the shepherds poured me out some wine in a plate, and I
lapped it up with pleasure. When they were all asleep, wolves came and
attacked the sheep. The shepherds' dogs barked, but did not dare to
attack the wolves; I rose and killed three wolves on the spot. When the
shepherds saw this, they offered the priest a good price for me, and
he finally sold me. Before long I had killed a vast number of wolves,
and the fame of me reached the ears of the king of the country. I was
brought and taken to the palace, to the sick daughter of the king,
who was tormented at night by brownies. Every morning the princess
woke exhausted and enfeebled. On the first night of my watch, I saw
swans enter the bedchamber through the closed doors, they choked and
trampled upon the sleeping princess. I was chained up, and could do
nothing to help the poor maiden. In the morning, I was scolded for not
having done anything, but one of the courtiers defended me, saying:
"He is a good dog, but he must be unchained, and then we shall see
what he can do." Next night the swans came again. I killed ten of
them, but the eleventh asked me to spare her, saying she would help
me in the matter of my wife and our neighbour. I trusted the swan,
and let her go. To my delight, the princess rose healthy and merry
next morning. The king was exceedingly pleased with me, and ordered
me to have a heavy gold chain, and to be fed right royally. I lived
well in the palace, but I longed to see my home and wife again, so I
soon ran away. When I entered my own house, my wife took off my gold
chain, struck me with her whip, and turned me into a duck. I flew into
a field near by, where millet had been sown, and, being inexperienced,
was caught at once in nets laid by a peasant. The peasant took me under
his arm, and gave me to his wife, telling her to cook me for dinner. As
soon as the peasant had gone out, the woman looked at me intently,
and then took down from the wall a whip, with which she struck me,
and turned me into a man again, saying: "Have I helped you or not? We
were twelve sisters, you killed ten of us, I am the eleventh, and your
wife is the twelfth. Now go home, take the whip which hangs over your
wife's bed, strike her and your neighbour with it, and you can turn
them into any kind of beasts that you wish." I went in late at night,
when my wife and the neighbour were both asleep, I struck them with
the whip, and turned my wife into an ass, and the man into a she-ass,
and here they are.' The hunter was terrified when he heard this story
of Dervish, he ran away from the enchanted mountain realm as fast as
he could, and resolved never to go back there again.
XI
THE FATHER'S PROPHECY
A certain man was wont to tell his son, while thrashing him,
that he would never come to any good. The boy grew tired of these
rebukes, and ran away from home. Ten years later he had risen to
the rank of pasha, and was set over the very pashalik where his
father lived. On his way to his post, the new pasha stopped at a
place twenty miles off, and said to the Bashi-Bazouks of his guard:
'Ride to such and such a village, seize so and so, and bring him to
me.' The Bashi-Bazouks arrived at night, dragged the sick old man out
of bed, and took him to the pasha. The pasha stretched himself to his
full height, and, ordering the old man to look him in the face, said:
'Do you know me?' The old man fixed his gaze on the pasha, and cried:
'Ah, pasha! you are surely my son.' 'Did you not tell me in my boyhood
that I should never come to any good? Now look at me,' and the pasha
pointed to his epaulets. 'Well, was I wrong? You are no man, but only
a pasha. What man worthy the name would send for his father in the
way you have done? I repeat it, you have gained the rank of pasha,
but you have not become a good man.'
XII
THE HERMIT PHILOSOPHER
There was once a wise man who loved solitude, and dwelt far away from
other men, meditating on the vanities of the world. He spent nearly all
his time in the open air, and he could easily do this, for he lived
in a lovely southern land where there is no winter and but little
rain. As he wandered once among the verdure of his garden, the sage
stopped before an aged walnut tree covered with ripening nuts, and
said: 'Why is there such a strange want of symmetry in nature? Here,
for instance, is a walnut tree a hundred years old, hiding its top
in the clouds, and yet how small is its fruit: itself it grows from
year to year, but its fruit is always of the same size. Now, on the
beds at the foot of the tree there grow great pumpkins and melons on
very small creeping plants. It would be more fitting if the pumpkins
grew on the walnut trees and the walnuts on the pumpkin beds. Why
this want of symmetry in nature?' The sage thought deeply on the
subject, and walked in the garden for a long time, till at last he
felt sleepy. He lay down under the shady walnut tree, and was soon
slumbering peacefully. In a short time, he felt a slight blow on
the face, then a second, and then a third. As he opened his eyes, a
ripe walnut fell on his nose. The sage leaped to his feet, and said:
'Now I understand the secret of nature. If this tree had borne melons
or pumpkins, my head would have been broken. Henceforth let no one
presume to find fault with Providence!'
XIII
THE KING'S COUNSELLOR [55]
The counsellor of an Arabian king once bethought himself that, though
he had lived so many years, and knew so much, he had never yet found
out how much the king valued his services, and to what extent his
wife and friends really loved him. He decided to try them all at once,
so he went to the palace and stole a goat of which the king was very
fond, and of which he was the keeper. He then went home, told this
secret to his wife, and in her presence ordered the cook to roast the
goat. But afterwards he privately told the cook to hide the royal
goat, and roast a kid in its place. At supper his wife praised the
dish very highly. As soon as the king heard of the loss of his goat,
he was very angry, and cried in his wrath: 'If any man finds the
thief I shall load him with gold, if a woman finds him I shall marry
her!' The counsellor's wife, thinking it better to be a king's wife,
betrayed her husband. The king ordered his counsellor to be executed,
and married the woman. When the execution was about to take place,
the victim's old friends succeeded in saving him by a large bribe,
and another criminal was executed instead. The counsellor was hidden
in a neighbouring realm. Some years afterwards, troublesome questions
of state arose, and none of the council could solve them. The king
often longed for his old counsellor, and said: 'For the sake of a
goat I sacrificed a clever man, if he were alive he would get me
out of all my trouble in a day.' The counsellor's old friends at
last resolved to acknowledge the trick they had played. So one day,
when the king was in a good humour, they went and said: 'Pardon us,
O king! Your first counsellor is alive!' and they told him all. The
king was heartily glad, and ordered the exile to be brought back. He
was well received, and restored the goat to the king. The king said:
'My friend! we thus see that the greatest scourge of all is false
witness, and that we must beware, above all things, of our wives.'
XIV
A WITTY ANSWER
A certain king was angry with one of his lords, and put him in prison;
wishing to keep him there, he said he would only set him free if he
could bring to the court a horse which was neither grey, nor black,
brown nor bay, white nor roan, dun, chestnut, nor piebald--and, in
short, the king enumerated every possible colour that a horse could
be. The imprisoned lord promised to get such a horse if the king would
set him free at once. As soon as he was at liberty, the lord asked
the king to send a groom for the horse, but begged that the groom
might come neither on Monday nor Tuesday, Wednesday nor Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday, but on any other day of the week that
suited His Majesty.
NOTES
[1] The Kingdom of Georgia: Notes of Travel in a Land of Women,
Wine, and Song. To which are appended Historical, Literary, and
Political Sketches, Specimens of the National Music, and a Compendious
Bibliography, with Illustrations and Maps. By Oliver Wardrop. London:
Sampson Low, 1888.
[2] In Georgian: Vakh ra cargi kharo!
[3] Cf. Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion (1877), p. 472. Taliesin.
[4] Cf. Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion, p. 353. Pwll.
[5] Cf. Talmud (Polano's translation), p. 290.--'While our love was
strong we lay on the edge of a sword, now a couch sixty yards wide
is too narrow for us.'
[6] The expression 'bird's milk' is often used in Georgian to signify
a great rarity.
[7] Cf. Paspati, Études sur les Tchinghianés (Constantinople, 1870),
p. 605, Conte 2me.
[8] The Georgian Cinderella or Tattercoats. Cf. Miss Roalfe Cox's
Story-Variants of Cinderella for parallels.
[9] In some parts of the Caucasus the houses of the peasantry are
built in the ground, and it is quite possible to walk on to a roof
unwittingly.
[10] Asphurtzela = hundred leaves: this name refers to the manner of
his birth.
[11] Doki = an Imeretian measure for wine, holding 5 bottles.
[12] Qantsi = a drinking-horn.
[13] Coca = a large measure for water or wine (about 25 bottles).
[14] Codchi = knuckle-bones, with which children play.
[15] This obscure incident will be better understood by referring to
p. 50 of Carnoy et Nicolaïdes (Traditions de l'Asie Mineure).
[16] Cf. Carnoy et Nicolaïdes, p. 77.
[17] Kvevri = a large wine-jar which is kept buried in the earth up
to the neck.
[18] Cf. Carnoy et Nicolaïdes, p. 81.
[19] Cf. Carnoy et Nicolaïdes: Traditions de l'Asie Mineure, p. 43,
'Le Fils du Laboureur,' and p. 75, 'Les trois Robes.'
[20] The usual greeting between Georgians.
[21] Cf. Carnoy et Nicolaïdes: Traditions Populaires de l'Asie Mineure,
p. 1, 'Le Roman du Renard.'
[22] From Karthuli Kristomatia (Tiflis, 1885), p. 85.
[23] Mingrelskie etyudy. Pervyi vypusk. Mingrelskie teksty s perevodom
i obyasneniyami, sobr. i izd. Al. Tsagareli. S. Pbg. 1880.
[24] The Mingrelian Tales usually begin thus; sometimes the formula
used is: 'there was, there was, there was, and nothing there was,
but nevertheless there was.'
[25] When a Mingrelian undertakes a journey, he turns to the right
several times before his door and then sets out. This is held to be
a favourable omen.
[26] The usual salutation in Georgia.
[27] The word Khvitho in Mingrelian signifies a precious stone laid by
a snake or a fowl, which turns into gold or precious stones whatever
it touches.
[28] Cf. Carnoy et Nicolaïdes: Traditions de l'Asie Mineure, p. 42.
[29] Chkidi, bread made of Indian corn, is generally used in
Mingrelia. It is cooked on the ashes, and the latter are often found
sticking to it.
[30] These verses form the concluding formula of Mingrelian
folk-tales. The second couplet is not so frequently used as the first.
[31] demi, dii, ndii in Mingrelian, devi, mdevi in Georgian (connected
with Pers. div), a representative of the principle of evil, but with
certain limitations, neither incorporeal nor immortal, but half
demon half man, i.e. an unclean spirit in the form of a giant. He
is subject to death, even a man can kill, cheat, terrify him; he can
marry a woman, etc.
[32] This phrase is continually applied to beautiful girls in Georgian
poetry. It has three meanings: (1) A girl strictly kept, and not seen
out of doors; (2) One who is not sunburnt, fair complexioned; (3)
A maiden such as the sun has never seen the like of for beauty. The
last meaning is the most frequent.
[33] Cf. No. III. 'Geria's faithful dog and three-legged horse.'
[34] Geria means little wolf. In Mingrelia there are many such
nicknames,--e.g. Joghoria, little dog; Lomikia, little lion; Tholiorko,
golden-eyed, etc.
[35] Meaning: 'I also am a human being.'
[36] Three years, three months, and three weeks are the usual measures
of time in Mingrelian tales.
[37] Rokapi in Georgian tales is an old woman of a demoniacal
character, possessing enchanted castles and domains; sometimes the
word simply means witch, and in ordinary conversation it is applied
to an ugly, ill-natured, toothless old hag.
[38] i.e. he that has a star in his brow.
[39] The orgia, i.e. shoulder, is a measure of length equal to the
space from finger-tips to finger-tips of the hands when extended
horizontally.
[40] Cf. with this the end of 'Master and Pupil' on p. 5.
[41] Cf. the beginning of 'Gulambara and Sulambara' on p. 42; also
the Biblical story of Tobit and the Angel.
[42] Kila, a measure of flour = about 36 to 40 pounds.
[43] A variant substitutes a cheese for an egg.
[44] ? Finch.
[45] Another Mingrelian version of this story tells that the demi took
the old man home, and left him his house, wife and children. As he was
going away, the jackal met him, and asked whither he was going. The
demi replied that the old man had almost killed him, and he was going
to hide himself. The jackal told him to go home, and have no fear
of the old man, for it would choke him. The demi tied the jackal to
himself, with a stout rope, and went back. The old man met them with
the following words: 'This is splendid, my jackal--thou wast to bring
me nine demis, thou hast brought eight already, and this will make
the ninth.' The demi was alarmed, he rushed off, dragging after him
the jackal, whom he knocked against twenty trees, and disappeared. The
old man stayed in the demi's house all the days of his life.
Cf. also 'The Strong Man and the Dwarf,' p. 147; Sir John Malcolm's
Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi. 'The Story of Ameen Beg of Ispahan,'
and 'The Goat and the Lion' in the Panchatantra.
[46] Ocho-Kochi, literally, 'the goat-man,' occupies an important
place in Mingrelian mythology. He is a satyr, a wild man of the
woods, represented as an old man with a long beard, his body covered
with hair.
[47] The word translated 'nurse' is dzidze, which means not only a
nurse but any woman, married or single, who has been adopted into
relationship by the ceremony of a man taking her breast between his
teeth. This creates a degree of kinship inferior only to that between
mother and son. The custom still exists in Mingrelia.
[48] Cf. note 3 on p. 109.
[49] Cf. The Talmud (Polano's Selections, p. 287). 'If the fox is
king bow before him.'
[50] Cf. Malcolm: Sketches of Persia, ch. xvi. 'Ameen and the
Ghool. Jacobs: More English Fairy Tales, p. 173, and note on p. 239.
[51] Cf. The House that Jack built.
[52] Cf. Jacobs: More English Fairy Tales, p. 209, and note on p. 242.
[53] Cf. the last incident with the end of 'Little Fairly,' in Samuel
Lover's Legends and Stories of Ireland.
[54] The Mullah Nasr-Eddin is the hero of hundreds of witty tales. A
French translation of some of them (from the Turkish) was published,
by Decourdemanche, in 1878.
[55] Francesco Strapparola's story of Salardo and the Falcon is
practically the same as this.