Part 4

The Crow, thinking this was a good idea, took two or three hops towards the stone, and began sharpening her bill. As soon as she had turned her back the Frog gave one desperate jump, and dived into the well.

As soon as the Crow had made her bill nice and sharp she returned from the stone, and looked about for the Frog. Not finding him where she had left him she hopped to the edge of the well and peeped over, craning her head from side to side. Presently she spied the Frog in the water, and called out to him:

“Oh, Brother Frog, I was afraid you were lost. My bill is quite nice and sharp now, so come along up and be eaten.”

“I am so sorry, Sister Crow,” replied the Frog, “but the fact is, I cannot get up the sides of this well. The best thing would be for you to come down here to eat me.”

And so saying he dived to the bottom of the well.

STORY No. IX.

THE HARE AND THE LIONS.

Once upon a time there lived a Lion and a Lioness who inhabited a den amongst some rocks on the slopes of a mountain. They were both very fine, well-grown animals, and they used to prey upon all the smaller beasts in that part of the country; until at last they became so powerful that no other animal was safe from their clutches, and the wild beasts of the neighbourhood lived in a continual state of terror.

It chanced one day that while the Lion was hunting for something to eat, he came across a Hare sleeping behind a boulder; and seizing the Hare in his great paws he was just about to devour him, when the Hare spoke as follows:

“Oh! Uncle Lion,” said he, “before eating me I just want to tell you about another animal who lives in that pond down there in the valley. He is very big and fierce, and I think he must be even stronger than you are. But if you will allow me to do so I will show you where he lives, and if you can succeed in killing him he will make a very much better meal for you than a poor little beast like me.”

On hearing this the Lion was very indignant.

“What!” said he, “do you mean to tell me that there is any animal in this country stronger and more powerful than I am? Don’t you know that I am the Lord of this district, and that I should never allow anyone else to dispute the mastery with me. Show me at once where this creature lives, and I will show you how I shall deal with him.”

“Oh! Uncle Lion,” said the Hare, “let me beg you to be careful. You have no idea what a big, strong creature this is; you must on no account allow yourself to be injured by fighting with him. Think what a grief it would be to us all if you were to come to any harm.”

This remark of the Hare’s made the Lion more angry than before, and he insisted that the Hare should at once lead him down and show him where the other animal lived. So the Hare, after again begging him to be careful of himself, preceded him down the hill until they arrived at the edge of a square-built stone tank, which was nearly full of water.

“Now, Uncle Lion,” said the Hare, “if you will go to the edge of that tank and look down into the water you will see the animal I speak of.”

So saying he moved on one side, and the Lion, stalking to the edge, peered down into the tank. The water was very smooth, and on the clear surface he saw his own head reflected.

“There he is,” called out the Hare from the background; “there he is, Uncle Lion, I can see him quite plainly in the water. You see how fierce he is looking; please be careful not to start fighting with him.”

These remarks made the Lion more angry than ever, and he moved up and down on the brink of the tank, glaring fiercely at his own reflection in the water, and growling and showing his teeth at it.

“That’s right, Uncle Lion,” called out the Hare; “I am so glad you are taking good care of yourself. Don’t on any account come to grips with that beast in the water or he might do you an injury. You are certainly much safer on the bank, and no doubt you will frighten him if you continue to growl and show your teeth.”

These last observations of the Hare goaded the Lion to desperation, and with a fierce roar he sprang straight at the image in the water. Once in the tank he was unable to get out, for its sides were built of masonry, and it was impossible for him to climb them. So he swam about for some time in the tank, whilst the Hare, sitting on the bank, threw stones at him and made nasty remarks; and finally, when quite wearied out, he sank to the bottom and was drowned.

The Hare was very pleased at having accomplished the destruction of the Lion, and he now turned his attention to the Lioness. It happened that near by there was a thick wall standing, which was part of the remains of a ruined castle; and in one portion of the wall there was a hole, very large at one end and tapering down to quite a small opening at the other. The Hare, having studied his ground, went off next morning to find the Lioness. He soon came across her stalking up and down near her den, very much perturbed at the disappearance of her lord and master.

“Good-morning, Aunt Lioness,” said the Hare, going up cautiously towards her; “what is the matter with you this morning? How is it I find you pacing here in front of your den instead of hunting your prey as usual on the hillside?”

The Lioness took no notice of the Hare, except to growl at him in an angry manner, and to lash her sides with her tail.

“I suppose,” went on the Hare, “you are anxious about Mr. Lion, but I am sorry to tell you that you are not likely to see him again for some time. The fact is, he and I had a little argument yesterday, in which we both lost our tempers. It ended in our having a free fight, and I regret to say that I was obliged to injure Mr. Lion rather severely before I could make him see reason, and he is now lying in a dying state in the valley below.”

This impudence so enraged the Lioness that she sprang towards the Hare and endeavoured to seize him; but he eluded her and galloped off down the hill hotly pursued by the angry beast. The Hare made straight for the ruined wall, and entering the breach in the wall at the large end he emerged safely at the other side by the smaller recess, which was just large enough for him to pass through. The Lioness, following closely at his heels, was so blind with rage that she did not see that she was being led into a trap; so she rushed head-foremost into the opening in the wall, and before she had time to stop herself was wedged tightly in the tapering hole. She struggled violently, trying to extricate herself, but all in vain.

Meanwhile the Hare, having cantered round to the other side, took up its position in rear of the Lioness, and began pelting her with stones and calling her all the bad names he could think of. When he was tired of this he went off home very pleased with himself, and the Lioness, being unable to free herself from the trap she was in, shortly afterwards starved to death.

STORY No. X.

THE SHEEP, THE LAMB, THE WOLF AND THE HARE.

Once upon a time there lived an old Sheep in a low-lying valley of Tibet, and every year she, with her Lamb, [5] were in the habit of leaving the valley during the early months of summer, and going up on to the great northern plateau, where grass is plentiful, and where many Sheep and Goats graze throughout the summer.

One spring the Sheep, in accordance with her annual custom, set out for the north, and one day, as she was strolling sedately along the path, while her little Lamb skipped about beside her, she suddenly came face to face with a large, fierce-looking Wolf.

“Good-morning, Aunty Sheep,” said the Wolf; “where are you going to?”

“Oh! Uncle Wolf,” replied the trembling Sheep, “we are doing no harm; I am just taking my Lamb to graze on the rich grass of the great northern plateau.”

“Well,” said the Wolf, “I am really very sorry for you; but the fact is, I am hungry, and it will be necessary for me to eat you both on the spot.”

“Please, please, Uncle Wolf, don’t do that,” replied the Sheep. “Please don’t eat us now; but if you will wait till the autumn, when we shall both be very much fatter than we are now, you can eat us with much more benefit to yourself on our return journey.”

The Wolf thought this was a good idea.

“Very well, Aunty Sheep,” said he, “that is a bargain. I will spare your lives now, but only on condition that you meet me at this very spot on your return journey from the north in the autumn.”

So saying, he galloped off, and the Sheep and the Lamb continued on their way towards the north, and soon forgot all about their encounter with the Wolf.

All the summer they grazed about on the succulent grass of the great plateau, and when autumn was approaching both were as fat as fat could be, and the little Lamb had grown into a fine young Sheep.

When the time came for returning to the south, the Sheep remembered her bargain with the Wolf, and every day as they drew farther and farther south she grew more and more downhearted.

One day, as they were approaching the place where they had met the Wolf, it chanced that a Hare came hopping along the road towards them. The Hare stopped to say good-morning to the Sheep, and noticing that she was looking very sad, he said:

“Good-morning, Sister Sheep, how is it that you, who are so fat and have so fine a Lamb, are looking so sad this morning?”

“Oh! Brother Hare,” replied the Sheep, “mine is a very sad story. The fact is that last spring, as I and my Lamb were coming up this very road, we met an ugly-looking Wolf, who said he was going to eat us; but I begged him to spare our lives, explaining to him that we should both be much larger and fatter in the autumn, and that he would get much better value from us if he waited till then. The Wolf agreed to this, and said that we must meet him at the same spot in the autumn. We are now very near the appointed place, and I very much fear that in another day or two we shall both be killed by the Wolf.”

So saying, the poor Sheep broke down altogether and burst into tears.

“Dear me! dear me!” replied the Hare; “this is indeed a sad story; but cheer up, Sister Sheep, you may leave it to me, and I think I can answer for it that I know how to manage the Wolf.”

So saying, the Hare made the following arrangements. He dressed himself up in his very best clothes, in a new robe of woollen cloth, with a long ear-ring in his left ear, and a fashionable hat on his head, and strapped a small saddle on to the back of the Sheep. He then prepared two small bundles, which he slung across the Lamb, and tied them on with a rope. When these preparations were complete, he took a large sheet of paper in his hand, and, with a pen thrust behind his ear, he mounted upon the back of the Sheep, and the little procession started off down the path.

Soon after, they arrived at the place where they were to meet the Wolf, and sure enough there was the Wolf waiting for them at the appointed spot.

As soon as they came within earshot of where the Wolf was standing the Hare called out in a sharp tone of authority:

“Who are you, and what are you doing there?”

“I am the Wolf,” was the reply; “and I have come here to eat this Sheep and its Lamb, in accordance with a regular arrangement. Who may you be, pray?”

“I am Lomden, the Hare,” that animal replied, “and I have been deputed to India on a special mission by the Emperor of China. And, by the way, I have a commission to bring ten Wolf skins as a present to the King of India. What a fortunate thing it is that I should have met you here! Your skin will do for one, anyway.”

So saying, the Hare produced his sheet of paper, and, taking his pen in his hand, he wrote down the figure “1” very large.

The Wolf was so frightened on hearing this that he turned tail and fled away ignominiously; while the Sheep and the Lamb, after thanking the Hare heartily for his kind offices, continued their journey safely to their own home.

[This story is a satire on the assumption and arrogance of Tibetan and Chinese officials, and the timidity and submissiveness of the Tibetan peasants. It illustrates how the meanest Government clerk, more especially when armed with pen and paper, can strike terror into the heart of the boldest and strongest countryman.]

STORY No. XI.

THE STORY OF HOW THE HARE MADE A FOOL OF THE WOLF.

[This story is really the continuation of Number X., which is sometimes told of “the Sheep and the Goat,” instead of “the Sheep and the Lamb.” The first part of the story is exactly the same as Number X. They experience the same adventures with the Wolf and are extricated in exactly the same manner by the aid of the Hare. But the end of the story is different.]

When the Wolf ran away, Da-gye the Sheep and Pen-dzong the Goat were so elated that they could not refrain from vaingloriously galloping after him until they saw him dive hastily into his earth some distance away; they then sat themselves down at the mouth of the hole and remained there for some time chaffing the Wolf and telling him to hurry up and come out to be skinned, whilst the foolish Wolf lay cowering and trembling within.

Presently the Sheep grew rather hungry and thirsty, so she went off to eat and drink, leaving the Goat to watch the earth. After sitting for a short while the Goat began rubbing his horns on a stone, and the Wolf hearing the grating sound squeaked out very humbly:

“Oh! Brother Goat, what are you doing now?”

“Sharpening a knife to kill you with,” replied the Goat.

And the Wolf cowered into the furthest recesses of his den trembling with fear.

A few minutes later some rain began to fall, and the Wolf hearing the sound of the pattering raindrops called out:

“What is happening now, pray, Brother Goat?”

“I am collecting the water to cook you in,” answered the Goat gruffly.

Presently the Goat began to scrape the earth with one hoof and the Wolf asked:

“What is that scraping noise, Brother Goat?”

“I am preparing a fireplace to boil the water at,” answered the Goat. “It will soon be time to finish you off.”

Just then the Sheep came back from grazing and said to the Goat:

“Now, Brother Goat, it is time for you to go and refresh yourself. I will stay here and look after the Wolf while you are away.”

The Goat thanked the Sheep for her offer and told her how he had been acting during her absence, and after advising her to behave in the same manner and on no account to show any signs of fear, he went off to get something to eat and drink.

When the Sheep found herself left alone at the mouth of the Wolf’s den, her natural timidity asserted itself, and she began to feel very nervous, but in order to keep up appearances she started to rub her horns against a stone, just as the Goat had advised her to do. As soon as he heard this noise the Wolf called out as before, asking what was happening.

“I am sharpening a knife to kill you with,” replied the Sheep, but she was so nervous that the Wolf at once noticed the terrified sound of her voice and began to suspect that he had been made a fool of.

“Is that you, Sister Sheep?” said the Wolf; “I thought it was Brother Goat.”

“No, Brother Wolf, it is me,” replied the Sheep. “Brother Goat has gone away to get himself something to eat and drink.”

“And are you all alone, Sister Sheep?” asked the Wolf.

“Yes, Brother Wolf,” replied the Sheep.

On hearing this the Wolf dashed out of his den, and seizing hold of the poor Sheep he quickly slew her.

The Wolf now realised that he had been made game of by the Sheep and the Goat and became very angry. So he started off to hunt for the Goat, vowing vengeance against him. As soon as the Goat caught sight of the Wolf coming along in the distance he guessed what had happened, and fled as fast as he could across the hills with the Wolf after him. They soon came to some rough, rocky ground, and here the Goat missed his footing and fell into a deep, narrow cleft between two rocks, breaking his leg; and the Wolf, who had not seen what had happened, jumped over the crevice and pursued his way, still hunting for the Goat.

For some time the poor Goat lay helpless at the bottom of the crevice, when by chance a Fox, who happened to be passing that way, heard him moaning and came to see what was wrong.

“Good-morning, Brother Goat,” said the Fox, peering down into the cleft. “What has happened to you, and why do you lie there moaning?”

“Oh! Brother Fox,” replied the Goat, “I have had a terrible misfortune. I am Pen-dzong the Goat, and I and my friend Da-gye the Sheep hunted a Wolf into his lair this morning and tried to frighten him by telling him that we were going to skin him; and while I was away getting myself something to drink and eat the Wolf came out of his den and killed my poor friend Da-gye the Sheep, and then proceeded to chase me. But I, as you see, fell down into this cleft and have broken my leg. I am unable to move, and the Wolf jumped over the crevice as I lay here and has gone right away. I have one dying request to make to you, however. I beg you when I am dead to strip off my skin and to hand it over to my young ones as a mat for them to lie on, and in return for this service you can have my flesh for yourself.”

The Fox was much affected on hearing the Goat’s tale, and promised to do as he asked. So when the Goat died shortly after the Fox stripped off his skin, and set off with it to hand it over to the Goat’s young ones. As he was going along, carrying the skin on his back, he chanced to come across a Hare.

“Good-day, Brother Fox,” said the Hare. “Where are you going to, and what is that you have on your back?”

“Good-day, Brother Hare,” replied the Fox. “This is the skin of Pen-dzong the Goat, whom I found lying in a cleft between two rocks with a broken leg. He and his friend Da-gye the Sheep have both been killed by a Wolf, and he begged me after his death to strip off his skin and to take it as a last present from him to his young ones.”

“Dear me,” replied the Hare, “that no doubt must be the same Goat and the same Sheep whom I rescued so recently from that very Wolf. What foolish creatures they are to have got themselves into so much trouble after I had freed them from all their difficulties. But, nevertheless, I am not going to let the Wolf get the best of me like this, and kill my friends with impunity. Come along with me and we will see what we can do to avenge Da-gye and Pen-dzong.”

The Fox agreed to this, and he and the Hare set off together to hunt for the Wolf. They travelled a long way without coming across him, but at length, as they were crossing a high pass they found him feeding upon the carcase of a dead Horse.

“Good-day, Uncle Wolf,” called out the Hare genially. “I am so glad to have met you. The fact is, there is a wedding feast going on at that big house over yonder, where Brother Fox and I expect to find plenty to eat and drink. If you care to come along with us too we shall be very glad, and I think we can promise you some better refreshment than that old Horse you are devouring here. So come along and see what we can find.”

The Wolf was very pleased at this invitation, so he joined the Hare and the Fox, and all three went off together to the big house where the wedding feast was being held. They studied the premises carefully before approaching too near, and they soon ascertained that the whole of the wedding party were busy feasting in the central room, and that the larder, full of good things to eat and drink, was quite unguarded. So they jumped in through a narrow window and began to enjoy themselves thoroughly, eating and drinking anything which took their fancy. When they were as full as could be the Hare said:

“What I advise now is as follows: let us each take some provisions, as much as we can carry, and bring them with us to our own homes, so that we may have something to go on with when we next feel hungry. I myself shall take some cheese; Brother Fox no doubt would like some cold fowl; and I should advise you, Brother Wolf, to carry off that jar of wine.”

The Fox and the Wolf both agreed with the Hare’s proposals, and they began to load themselves with the provisions they proposed to take with them. The Fox and the Hare had no difficulty in making up a bundle of cheese and cold fowl, but the Wolf found that it would be very difficult for him to carry off the jar of wine. So the Hare explained to him that the best plan would be for him to slip his head through the handle of the jar, in which case it would be quite easy for him to drag the jar along with him. So the Wolf put his head through the handle of the jar, and all three made ready to start.

“Well now, Brother Fox and Brother Wolf,” said the Hare in a genial tone of voice, “it is nearly time for us to be off. How are you both feeling? Have you had a good dinner? Are your bellies full?”

“Couldn’t be fuller,” replied the Wolf, rubbing his stomach with one paw. “I have done very well.”

“Well, then,” said the Hare, “as we have feasted well and feel happy and contented, let’s have a song before starting.”

“Certainly, Brother Hare,” replied the Wolf. “Will you begin?”

“I would with pleasure,” answered the Hare, “but really, the fact is, I can’t recollect a single song at this moment. Perhaps Brother Fox will oblige us.”

“I am very sorry, Brother Hare,” answered the Fox, “but I am afraid I don’t know any songs. I am sure Brother Wolf sings beautifully.”

“Yes,” joined in the Hare. “Pray, Brother Wolf, let us hear you sing?”

“No, no, please,” said the Wolf modestly, scratching his ear with one paw. “I am a very poor singer, you really must excuse me.”

But the Fox and the Hare pressed him, and presently he began to sing. At the first sound of his voice the men in the next room stopped their feasting, and saying to one another, “There is a Wolf in the house,” they rushed towards the larder.

As soon as they heard the disturbance the Hare and the Fox, carrying their provisions with them, hopped quietly out of the window and made off quickly for their homes. The Wolf, too, made a leap towards the window, but the great jar round his neck was too broad to go through the narrow opening, and he fell back into the room below. Again he jumped and again he fell back; and he was still jumping and falling when the people of the house rushed in and soon despatched him with sticks and stones.

STORY No. XII.

THE MOUSE’S THREE CHILDREN.

Many years ago, in the kingdom of Nepal, there was a little Mouse, who lived with her husband in a snug nest not far from the King’s palace.

Finding that she was about to be delivered of a child, the Mouse prayed to the gods that her offspring might be very strong; and when the child was born it appeared in the form of a young Tiger. The Tiger soon grew up, and one day he said to the Mouse:

“Mother, I must now go off into the jungle and live there with my brother Tigers. But if at any time you want my help, all you need do is to go into yonder thicket, and throw a handful of my hair into the air, and call my name three times.”

So saying, he gave the Mouse a handful of his hair, and went off into the forest.

Shortly afterwards the Mouse was again with child, and this time she prayed that her offspring might be very beautiful. When the child was born, instead of a young Mouse, she found that she had given birth to a Peacock. The Peacock soon grew into a large and beautiful bird, and when he had reached his full growth he one day said to his mother:

“Mother, it is now time for me to go and seek my own livelihood with my brothers in the forest. But if at any time you should require my assistance, all you have to do is to go to the top of that hill over there, and to throw a handful of my feathers into the air, and call my name three times.”

So saying, he gave the little Mouse a handful of his feathers, and flew away into the jungle.