Part 12
"This is a nice story, Muskwa," sneered Magh. "I'm so glad to hear of your people and their ways."
"Only cousins of mine," declared Muskwa, "and called Bhalu."
"All Bears are alike," snapped Coyote; "meddlesome thieves."
"They steal little Pigs," added Boar.
"They wouldn't go away," said Sa'-zada, "and I began to fear that I shouldn't get a shot at Stripes. I did not want to shoot, because if Tiger was anywhere in the neighborhood it would put an end to his visit. I had nothing heavy to throw at them except my water-bottle; but, finally, taking a long drink to keep the thirst away for a time, I stood up in the _machan_ and let fly the bottle. It caught the Bear just behind the ear, and Bhalu, thinking one of his comrades had hurt him, pitched into the other two, and there was a fierce three-cornered fight on in a minute."
"I can swear that it is a true tale," barked Gidar, "for twice I've seen a family of Bhalu's people in just such a stupid fight. Not that they were possessed of toddy, for they are silly enough at all times. But it is known in the Jungle that when Bhalu is wounded, he fights with the first one he sees, even his own brother, thinking he has done him the harm."
"One chap got the worst of the encounter and reeled off into the Jungle, the other two following. I could hear them wrangling and snarling for a long distance--all the world like a party of drunken sailors."
"These Bear stories are just lovely," grinned Magh. "Aren't they, Muskwa?"
"Did you kill Bagh, the Man-eater?" asked Muskwa, to change the subject.
"Yes, I stopped his murderous career that night," answered Sa'-zada. "He was an evil animal and deserved to die. Now it is late and you must all go to your cages."
"I'm glad your people had a chance to be heard from, Muskwa," lisped Magh as she slid down Hathi's trunk. "You always looked so terribly respectable and honest, that I was really afraid to speak to you."
"Phrut, phrut!" muttered Hathi through his trunk; "I have lived for a matter of forty years or so, amongst the Jungle Dwellers and with the Men-kind, and I think that we are all alike, all having some good and some bad qualities."
THE END
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* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Added missing hyphen to "Sa'-Zada", but kept the lowercase z variation "Sa'-zada" which was used throughout the book. Removed the hyphen in "Sher Abi" for consistency. Corrected mismatched quote marks, and made the following changes:
Contents: Changed "Bheh" to "Bagh" to match chapter title and character name. Orig.: Raj Bheh, the King Tiger
Page xi: "HANSOR, (the Laugher) Hyena" is only mentioned in the list of "The Dwellers in Animal Town." "Jaruk the Hyena" is used throughout the remainder of the book.
Pages 5 and 177: "Pard" is used instead of "Pardus;" it might be a nickname rather than a typo.
Page 129: Changed "tale" to "tail". Orig.: I pulled the tale of every Donkey of the line
Page 225: "Grizzy" may be a typo for "Grizzly," or just Muskwa's nickname for Grizzly.
Note: Bakri apparently refers to a sheep or goat: Page 71: a jungle Bakri (sheep) Page 83: I sprang on Bakri the Goat Page 175: kill Bakri, the Men's Sheep
Spelling variations:
Pages 8, 58: Wie-sak-ke-chack Pages 225, 227: Wie-sah-ke-chack
End of Project Gutenberg's The Sa'-Zada Tales, by William Alexander Fraser