The Talking Beasts Part 22

The Hen said to the Cat, "Sister Cat, if thou wishest to have me for a friend, I must never get up in my house and come out at night."

The Cat said to the Hen, "What art thou afraid of that thou sayest, 'I will never come out at night'? What is there in the way?"

The Hen listened to what the Cat said, got herself ready and called her children, saying, "Come and let us accompany the Cat to a neighbouring town!" All the children arose and when they had set out on their way, the Cat went before, and having gone on a little, she seized two of the children of the Hen; and the Hen saw that the cat was seizing two of her children; so she said to the Cat, "Sister Cat, we have scarcely set out on our way and dost thou seize two of my children?"

The Cat replied, "Thy two children which I took have not strength enough to walk; therefore did I take them to my bosom that we may go on."

The Hen said to the Cat, "If thou actest thus, I and thou must dissolve our friends.h.i.+p."

The Cat replied, "If thou wilt not have a friend, I shall let thee go home." So, as the Hen began to go home, the Cat made a bound, and seized the Hen's head, whereupon the Hen cried for help. All the people of the town heard her, arose, ran, and when they were come, the Cat was holding the Hen's head tight. When the Cat saw the people of the town, she left the Hen, ran away, and entered the forest.

There the Hen was standing and the people of the town said to her: "Foolish one, didst thou, a Hen, arise and go to befriend a Cat? If we had not heard thy screams, and come to thee, she would have killed thee and carried away all thy children into her forest."

The Hen said to the people of the town: "G.o.d bless you: you have taken me out of the Cat's mouth."

The people of the town said to her: "To-day our Lord has delivered thee, but for the future do thou no more make friends.h.i.+p with the Cat.

The Cat is too cunning for thee: beware of the Cat in future!"

I have heard old people say, that on that day the cats and the fowls dissolved their friends.h.i.+p. This is finished.

The Stork and the Toad

A Stork went and laid eggs in a tree, brooded and hatched young ones.

Then she left and went to seek food for her little ones; but she did not get any food, and all her little ones were crying for hunger. The Stork did not know what to do. So she arose one day, went to her friend, and said, "My friend, I am come to thee."

Her friend said: "What dost thou want that thou art come to me?"

She replied to her friend: "My children are hungry, and I have no food; therefore, am I come to thee; teach me a device!"

Her friend said to her: "Arise in the morning, go to the brook, and see whether there are Toads in it; then come back, and on the following morning go again, and lie down by the side of the brook; stretch out thy legs and thy wings, shut thine eyes, keep quite silent, and lie in one place until the Toads come out in the morning, and, after seeing thee, go home and call all their people to come, to take thee by the wing and to drag thee away. But do not thou speak to them--be perfectly quiet."

She listened to what her friend said, and at night-quiet she arose, and went to the brook, when all the Toads were singing; but as soon as they saw her, they went and hid themselves at the bottom of the water. So the Stork went home and slept, and having slept she arose up early and went back again to the brook, without being observed by the Toads; she went softly, and lay down by the side of the water, pretending to be dead, stretched out her legs, her wings, and her mouth, and shut her eyes. Thus she lay, until at break of day when one Toad arose, and, finding that it was day, came forth and saw the Stork lying. He went back, and called all the Toads:

"Come, behold, I have seen something dead, lying at the door of our house, and when I had seen it I came back to call you."

So all the Toads arose and followed him, and having come out, they all saw a Stork lying at the door of their house; but they did not know that the Stork was more cunning than themselves. They returned home, called a council together and said: "What shall we do? Some one who came, we do not know whence, has died before the gate of our town."

All their great men answered, and said, "Arise all of you, go out, drag this dead body far away, and leave it there."

So they all arose, went, and, taking the Stork by its wings and legs, dragged it away.

The Stork was cunning; she saw them without their knowing it. They sang, as they dragged her away:

"Drag her and leave her! Drag her and leave her!"

The Stork did not speak to them, as they all dragged her away, although she saw them. Now when they had carried her far away, the Stork opened her eyes, which when they saw they all began to run away. As soon as the Stork saw that the Toads had begun to run away, she arose, and pursued them; having overtaken one, she took and swallowed it, and went on taking and swallowing them. The Toads kept running, but by the time they would have got home the Stork had swallowed them all, one by one.

She had filled her bag, and then started on her way home. As soon as her children saw her, they all ran to their mother, saying, "Our mother has brought us food." When they came their mother threw all the Toads in her bag down to her children, and her children ate them, so that their hunger was appeased.

The Stork arose, went to her friend, and said:

"My friend, what thou toldest me yesterday is excellent: I went and lay down by the side of the brook, and when the Toads saw me in the morning, they thought I was dead; they came, dragged me along, and when they had carried me far away, not knowing that I was wiser than they and thinking that I was dead, I opened mine eyes to look at them; but on seeing me open mine eyes, they all began to run away. Then I arose, pursued them, and when I had overtaken one, I took and swallowed it; and when I had overtaken a second I took and swallowed it; so by the time they would have reached home I had swallowed them all, and filled my bag with them. I brought them to my children, and when my children were around me, I threw the Toads before them out of the bag and they ate them, that their hunger was appeased."

She also thanked her friend, saying: "G.o.d bless thee; thou hast taught me an excellent device."

Thus the Stork and her friend devised a plan, and thus they were able to maintain their children while the Toads were sitting in their house.

So now, when the Toads are croaking in a brook, and they see any one come, they are all quite silent, supposing that a Stork is coming.

This fable of the Stork and Toads, which I heard, is now finished.

The Rat and the Toad

The Toad said to the Rat, "I can do more than thou."

The Rat replied to the Toad: "Thou dost not know how to run; having flung thyself anywhere thou stoppest there. This is all thy run; and wilt thou say that thou canst do more than I?"

When the Toad had heard the words of the Rat he said to him: "If, according to thy opinion, I cannot do more than thou, thou shalt see what I will begin to do to-morrow; and if thou beginnest and doest the same, without anything happening to thee, thou canst do more than I."

The Rat agreed to the Toad's proposal, and went to see the Toad.

The Toad prepared himself, and when the sun reached about the middle, between the horizon and the zenith, the great men felt its heat, and went to sit down in the shade of a tree. The Toad on seeing this, arose, went to where the men were sitting, and pa.s.sed through the midst of them. When the men observed him they said: "If you touch him, your hand will become bitter." So no one touched him, and the Toad pa.s.sed through and went home.

Then the Toad said to the Rat, "Didst thou see me? Now if thou canst do what I do, arise, and begin to do it. I will see!"

The Rat, attending to what the toad said, got ready and the following morning, when the sun had gained strength and the great men had stood up and got under the shade of a tree, the Rat saw them sitting there, and went to do what the Toad had done; but when he came to where the men were sitting, and just went to pa.s.s through the midst of them, they saw him, and they all took sticks, and sought to kill him: one man attempting to kill him with a stick, struck at him, but did not hit him well, the stick touching him only a little on the back; so he ran away to the Toad.

On his arrival the Rat said to the Toad:

"Brother Toad, as thou wentest to where the people were sitting no one said a word to thee, and thou camest home again with a sound skin; but when I went, and they saw me, just as I went to pa.s.s through them they all took sticks, and sought to kill me; and one man taking a stick and striking at me to kill me, our Lord helped me, that the stick hit me only a little on the back; so I ran away, and came to thee. I disputed with thee, thinking that I could do what thou doest: now to-day I have experienced something; to-morrow let us begin again and when I have the experience of to-morrow, I shall be able to give thee an answer."

The Toad said to the Rat: "The things of today are pa.s.sed; to-morrow, when the great men have gone and sat down under the tree, I will get ready and when thou hast seen that, on observing me come to them and pa.s.s through the midst of them, they will not say a word to me, thou also shalt do what I did." So the Rat then went to see the Toad.

As soon as the Toad saw the great men sitting under the tree, he again began, saying to the Rat, "Look at me, as I go to the place where the great men are sitting, with a sound skin: but if, on my return from them, if thou seest the wale of a stick on any part of my body, thou hast spoken the truth, and canst do more than I."

The Toad got ready, and on coming to where the men were sitting no one said anything to him; so he pa.s.sed through the midst of them, and went again to the Rat, saying: "Look at me! Look at my whole body! Canst thou see the wale of a stick? If thou seest one, then tell me of it!"

When the Rat had looked at the Toad's whole body and not seen any wale of a stick he said to the Toad:

"Brother Toad, I have looked at thy whole body, and not seen any wale of a stick: thou art right."

The Toad said to the Rat. "As thou disputest with me, and maintainest that thou canst do what I do, get up again, and go to where the great men are sitting; and if on seeing thee, these men do not say anything to thee, so that I see thee come back to me again with a sound skin, then I know that thou canst do more than I."

The Rat, attending to what the Toad said, arose, got himself ready, and when he saw the great men sitting under the tree, he went toward them; but on observing him, they said: "Here comes a Rat," and they every one took a stick, and pursued him in order to kill him; so he ran away, and as he ran, a man with a stick pursued him; saying, "I will not let this Rat escape."

The Rat ran until his strength failed him. The man pursued him with his stick, to kill him; and having come near to him, he took his stick, and struck at him, with the purpose of killing him; but the stick did not hit him, and G.o.d saved him, his time being not yet arrived, by showing him a hole into which he crept. When the man saw that he had gotten into the hole, he went back and returned home. The Rat, on seeing that the man had gone home, came again out of the hole, and went to the Toad, saying to him: