Talking Thrush And Other Tales From India — Part 2: How The Mouse Got Into His Hole; King Solomon And The Owl; The Camel’s Neck; The Quail And The Fowler; The King Of The Kites; The Jackal And The Camel; The Wise Old Shepherd

The Miller saw that he was found out, and was so much ashamed that he gave back the mule to its owner, and the Merchant went home.

How the Mouse got into his Hole A MERCHANT was going along the road one day with a sack of peas on the back of an Ox.

The Ox was stung by a Fly, and gave a kick, and down fell the sack.

A Mouse was passing by, and the Merchant said, "Mousie, if you will help me up with this sack I will give you a pea."

The Mouse helped him up with the sack and got a pea for his trouble.

He stole another, and a third he found on the road.

When he got home with his three peas he planted them in front of his hole.

As he was planting them he said to them, "If you are not all three sprouting by to-morrow I'll cut you in pieces and give you to the black Ox."

The peas were terribly frightened, and the next morning they had already begun to sprout, and each of them had two shoots.

Then he said, "If I don't find you in blossom to-morrow I'll cut you in pieces and give you to the black Ox."

When he went to look next day they were all in blossom.

So he said, "If I don't find ripe peas on you to-morrow I'll cut you in pieces and give you to the black Ox."

Next day they had pods full of ripe peas on them.

So every day he used to eat lots of peas, and in this manner he got very fat.

One day a pretty young lady Mouse came to see him.

"Good morning, Sleekie," said she; "how are you?"

"Good morning, Squeakie," said he; "I'm quite well, thank you."

"Why, Sleekie," said she, "how fat you are."

"Am I?"

said he.

"I suppose that's because I have plenty to eat."

"What do you eat, Sleekie?"

asked the pretty young lady Mouse.

"Peas, Squeakie," said the other.

"Where do you get them, Sleekie?"

"They grow all of themselves in my garden, Squeakie."

"Will you give me some, please?"

asked the lady Mouse.

"Oh yes, if you will stay in my garden, you may have as many as you like."

So Squeakie stayed in Sleekie's garden, and they both ate so many peas that they got fatter and fatter every day.

One day Squeakie said to Sleekie, "Let's try which can get into the hole quickest."

Squeakie was slim, and she had not been at the peas so long as Sleekie, so she got into the hole easily enough; but Sleekie was so fat that he could not get in at all.

He was very much frightened, and went off in hot haste to the Carpenter, and said to him, "Carpenter, please pare off a little flesh from my ribs, so that I can get into my hole."

"Do you think I have nothing better to do than paring down your ribs?"

said the Carpenter angrily, and went on with his work.

The Mouse went to the King, and said, "O King, I can't get into my hole, and the Carpenter will not pare down my ribs; will you make him do it?"

"Get out," said the King; "do you think I have nothing better to do than look after your ribs?"

So the Mouse went to the Queen.

Said he, "Queen, I can't get into my hole, and the King won't tell the Carpenter to pare down my ribs.

Please divorce him."

"Bother you and your ribs," said the Queen; "I am not going to divorce my husband because you have made yourself fat by eating too much."

The Mouse went to the Snake.

"Snake, bite the Queen, and tell her to divorce the King, because he will not tell the Carpenter to pare my ribs down and let me get into my hole."

"Get away," said the Snake; "or I'll swallow you up, ribs and all; the fatter you are, the better I shall be pleased."

He went to the Stick, and said, "Stick, beat the Snake, because she won't bite the Queen, who won't divorce the King and make him tell the Carpenter to pare down my ribs, and let me get into my hole."

"Off with you," said the Stick; "I'm sleepy, because I have just beaten a thief; I can't be worried about your ribs."

He went to the Furnace, and said, "Furnace, burn the Stick, and make it beat the Snake, that he may bite the Queen and make her divorce the King, who won't tell the Carpenter to pare down my ribs, and let me get into my hole."

"Get along with you," said the Furnace; "I am cooking the King's dinner, and I have no time now to see about your ribs."

He went to the Ocean, and said, "Ocean, put out the Fire, and make it burn the Stick, so that it may beat the Snake, and the Snake may bite the Queen, and she may divorce the King, who won't tell the Carpenter to pare down my ribs, and let me get into my hole."

"Don't bother me," said the Ocean; "it's high tide, and all the fishes are jumping about, and giving me no rest."

He went to the Elephant, and said, "O Elephant, drink up the Ocean, that it may put out the Fire, and the Fire may burn the Stick, and the Stick may beat the Snake, and the Snake may bite the Queen, and the Queen may divorce the King, and make him tell the Carpenter to pare down my ribs, and let me get into my hole."

"Go away, little Mouse," said the Elephant; "I have just drunk up a whole lake, and I really can't drink any more."

He went to the Creeper, and said, "Dear Creeper, do please choke the Elephant, that he may drink up the Ocean, and the Ocean may put out the Fire, and the Fire may burn the Stick, and the Stick may beat the Snake, and the Snake may bite the Queen, and the Queen may divorce the King, and the King may tell the Carpenter to pare down my ribs, and let me get into my hole."

"Not I," says the Creeper; "I am stuck fast here to this tree, and I couldn't get away to please a fat little Mouse."

Then he went to the Scythe, and said, "Scythe, please cut loose the Creeper, that it may choke the Elephant, and the Elephant may drink up the Ocean, and the Ocean may put out the Fire, and the Fire may burn the Stick, and the Stick may beat the Snake, and the Snake may bite the Queen, and the Queen may divorce the King, and the King may tell the Carpenter to pare down my ribs, and let me get into my hole."

"With pleasure," said the Scythe, who is always sharp.

So the Scythe cut the Creeper loose, and the Creeper began to choke the Elephant, and the Elephant ran off and began to drink up the Ocean, and the Ocean began to put out the Fire, and the Fire began to burn the Stick, and the Stick began to beat the Snake, and the Snake began to bite the Queen, and the Queen told the King she was going to divorce him, and the King was frightened, and ordered the Carpenter to pare Sleekie's ribs, and at last Sleekie got into his hole.

King Solomon and the Owl ONCE King Solomon was hunting all alone in the forest.

Night fell, and King Solomon lay down under a tree to sleep.

Over his head, on the branch of a tree, sat a huge Owl; and the Owl hooted so loud and so long, Too-whit too-woo!

Too-whit too-woo!

that Solomon could not sleep.

Solomon looked up at the Owl, and said-- "Tell me, O Owl, why do you hoot all night long upon the trees?"

Said the Owl-- "I hoot to waken those that sleep, As soon as day's first beams do peep;

That they may rise, and say their prayers, And not be caught in this world's cares."

Then he went on again, Too-whit!

too-woo!

shaking his solemn old head to and fro.

He was a melancholy Owl; I think he must have been crossed in love.

Solomon thought this Owl very clever to roll out beautiful poetry like that, off-hand as it were.

He asked the Owl again-- "Tell me, O wise Owl, why do you shake your very solemn old head?"

Said the Owl-- "I shake my head, to let all know This world is but a fleeting show.

Men's days are flying with quick wings;

So take no joy in earthly things.

"Yet men will fix their hearts below Upon the pleasures that must go.

Their joy is gone when they are dead;

And that is why I shake my head."

This touched King Solomon in a tender place, for he was himself rather fond of earthly delights.

He sighed, and asked again-- "O most ancient and wise Owl!

tell me why you never eat grain?"

Answered the Owl-- "The bearded grain I do not eat, Because, when Adam ate some wheat, He was turned out of Paradise: So Adam's sin has made me wise.

"If I should eat a single grain, The joys of heaven I should not gain.

And so, to keep my erring feet, The bearded grain I never eat."

Thought Solomon to himself, "I don't remember reading that story in Genesis, but perhaps he is right.

I must look it up when I get home."

Then he spoke to the Owl once more, and said-- "And now, good Owl, tell me why you drink no water at night?"

Said the Owl-- "Since water all the world did drown In Noah's day, I will drink none.

Were I to drink a single drop, My life would then most likely stop."

Solomon was delighted to find the Owl so wise.

"O my Owl," said he, "all my life long I have been looking for a counsellor who had reasons to give for what he did; I have never found one until I found you.

Now I beg you to come home with me to-morrow, and you shall be my chief counsellor, and whatever I purpose I will first ask your advice."

The Owl was equally delighted, and said, "Thank you."

Thinking of the greatness that was to be his, the Owl stopped crying Too-whit!

too-woo!

and Solomon went to sleep.

[Illustration] [Illustration] The Camel's Neck ONCE upon a time there was a very religious Camel; at least, he was religious after the fashion of his country, that is, he used to mortify his flesh by fasting, and scratch himself with thorns, and lie awake all night meditating upon the emptiness of the world.

That is what men used to do in that country, in order to please their gods.

One of these gods was very much pleased with the piety of the Camel; so one night, as the Camel was fasting, and saying over and over to himself, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," the god appeared before him.

He was a curious-looking god, and he had four hands instead of two; but the Camel did not mind that, nor did he laugh; on the contrary, he went down on his knees and bowed before him.

"O Camel," said this god, "I have seen your fasting and heard your prayers; and I have come to reward you.

Choose what boon you like, and it shall be yours."

"O mighty god, I should like to have a neck eight miles long."

The god answered, "Be it so!"

and immediately the Camel felt his neck shooting out like a telescope, until it was eight miles long.

It shot out so fast, that the Camel found it hard to escape running his head against the trees.

However, he steered it successfully, barring a bump or two; and as by the time his neck stopped growing he was far out of sight of the god, he could not even say thank you.

Now perhaps you will wonder why this Camel wanted a neck so long as eight miles?

I will tell you.

The reason was, that for all his fastings and penances, he was a lazy Camel, and he wanted to graze without the trouble of walking about.

And now he could easily graze for a distance of eight miles all round in a circle, without moving from the spot where he lay.

But it was rather dangerous, though he thought nothing of that;

for when his head was grazing a few miles away, the hunters might stick a spear into his body, or tie his legs together, without his seeing them.

All the summer the Camel had a fine time of it; he lay still and comfortable and sent his head foraging around, and strange to say, no harm happened to him.

But before long the rainy season began.

In the rainy season there are storms every day, and it rains cats and dogs.

So when the rain began, the Camel wanted to keep dry, but he could not at first find a shed or a shelter eight miles long, or anything like it.

At last he lit on a long winding cave that held most of his long neck.

So he ran his neck into the cave, and lay still, with the rain pouring upon his body.

This was bad enough, but worse was to come.

For it happened that in this cave lived a He-jackal and a She-jackal.

When the Jackals saw this extraordinary neck winding along their cave, they were frightened, and hid away.

"What is this snake?"

said the He-jackal to his wife.

"Oh dear, I don't know!"

whimpered his wife, "I never saw a snake like this."

They kept quiet, the head passed out of view into the inner part of the cave; then after a while, the creature lay still.

"Let us smell him!"

said the He-jackal.

They smelt him.

"He smells nice," said the She-jackal; "not a bit like a snake."

"Let us taste him!"

said the He-jackal.

They took a bite; the Camel stirred restlessly.

They took another bite, and liked that better still.

They went on biting.

The Camel curled round his head to see what was going on; but before the Camel's head could get back more than a mile or two, he grew so weak from loss of blood, that he could move no more, and he died.

So died the idle Camel, because the god granted him his foolish wish.

Perhaps our wishes are often just as foolish, if we only knew it; and perhaps if they were fulfilled they would be the bane of us, as happened to the lazy and religious Camel.

[Illustration] The Quail and the Fowler A FOWLER once caught a Quail.

Said the Quail to the Fowler-- "O Fowler, I know four things that will be useful for you to know."

"What are they?"

asked the Fowler.

"Well," said the Quail, "I don't mind telling you three of them now.

The first is: Fast caught, fast keep; never let a thing go when once you have got it.

The second is: He is a fool that believes everything he hears.

And the third is this: It's of no use crying over spilt milk."

The Fowler thought these very sensible maxims.

"And what is the fourth?"

he asked.

"Ah," said the Quail, "you must set me free if you want to hear the fourth."

The Fowler, who was a simple fellow, set the Quail free.

The Quail fluttered up into a tree, and said-- "I see you take no notice of what I tell you.

Fast caught, fast keep, I said; and yet you have let me go."

"Why, so I have," said the Fowler, and scratched his head.

He was a foolish Fowler, I think.

"Well, never mind; what is the fourth thing?

You promised to tell me, and I am sure an honourable Quail will never break his word."

"The fourth thing I have to tell you is this: In my inside is a beautiful diamond, weighing ten pounds.

And if you had not let me go, you would have had that diamond, and you need never have done any more work in all your life."

"Oh dear, oh dear, what a fool I am!"

cried the Fowler.

He fell on his face, and clutched at the grass, and began to cry.

"Ha, ha, ha!"

laughed the Quail.

"He is a fool who believes everything he hears."

"Eh?

what?"

said the Fowler, and stopped crying.

"Do you think a little carcase like mine can hold a diamond as big as your head?"

asked the Quail, roaring with laughter.

"And even if it were true, where's the use of crying over spilt milk?"

The Quail spread his wings.

"Good-bye," said he; "better luck next time, Fowler."

And he flew away.

The Fowler sat up.

"Well," said he, "that's true, sure enough."

He got up and brushed the mud off his clothes.

"If I have lost a Quail," said he, "I've learnt something."

And he went home, a sadder but a wiser man.

[Illustration] The King of the Kites A MOUSE one day met a Frog, whom he knew very well; but the Frog turned up his flat nose, and would not speak to him.

"Friend Frog," said the Mouse, "why are you so proud to-day?"

"Because I am King of the Kites," said Froggie.

You must not suppose that this means a paper kite with a tail.

There is a kind of bird called a Kite; it is like a Hawk, only bigger.

How absurd it was of this Frog, who could not even fly, to call himself the King of the Kites!

And the Mouse was just as absurd, for he answered-- "Stuff and nonsense!

I am King of the Kites!"

I don't know whether they really believed this themselves, or whether they were only trying to show off.

Anyhow, both stuck to it stoutly, and a pretty quarrel was the result.

The Mouse grew red in the face; and as for Froggie, he was nearly bursting with rage.

At last they agreed to refer the decision to a council.

The council was made up of a Bat, a Squirrel, and a Parrot.

The Parrot took the chair, because he was the biggest, and also because he could talk most, and was therefore thought to be wise.

"I vote for the Mouse," said the Bat; not that he knew anything about it, but you see a Bat is very like a Mouse, and he wanted to stand up for the family.

"And I," said the Squirrel, "vote for my friend Froggie."

He knew nothing about it either, but he wanted to show that even a Squirrel has an opinion of his own.

So it fell to the Parrot to give the casting vote, and decide the matter.

He took a long time to decide, about two hours; and while he was thinking, and the others were all intent to hear what he should say, down from the sky swooped a Kite; and the Kite stuck one claw into the Mouse's back, and one claw into the Frog, and carried them both away to his nest, and ate them for dinner.

So that was the end of the two Kings of the Kites.

The other three creatures, in a great fright, made themselves scarce, lest the Kite should come back and eat them too.

[Illustration] The Jackal and the Camel ONCE a Camel was grazing in a forest.

He had a ring in his nose, as the custom is, and to the ring was tied a string, by which the Camel's master used to lead him about.

As the Camel grazed, this leading-string became entangled in a bush, and the Camel could not get it loose.

This misfortune so much confused the mind of the Camel that he did not know what to do.

Suddenly, as the Camel was struggling to get free from the bush, a Jackal appeared.

"Brother Jackal," said the Camel, "do please set me free from this bush."

"Brother Camel," said the Jackal, "I will set you free, only you must pay me for it.

Do not the wise say, 'Even a brother will not serve thee for nothing'?"

"What shall I pay you, brother Jackal?

I am a very poor Camel."

"You shall pay me," quoth the Jackal, "a pound of your flesh."

This was a hard condition, but there was nothing for it, "Better to lose a pound of my flesh," thought the Camel, "than lose my life."

So he agreed to pay the Jackal a pound of flesh.

Then the Jackal set the Camel free, and the Camel sat down on the ground and said-- "I am ready; take your pound of flesh."

"Open your mouth, then," said the Jackal.

"Why?"

asked the Camel.

"Because I choose to take my pound of flesh from your tongue."

This was a terrible blow.

The Camel could not agree, because he knew that if his tongue were torn out, he was bound to die.

So he said, "I did not promise you my tongue."

"You did," said the Jackal.

"Don't tell lies," said the Camel; "where are your witnesses?"

Away trotted the Jackal to find a witness.

First he asked the Lion if he would bear witness that he heard the Camel promise to give his tongue.

He promised to give him the half of all he should get, as a reward.

"Go away," said the King of Beasts; "I am a Lion, not a liar."

Then he asked the Tiger, but the Tiger said-- "I don't care for Camel's meat, so it isn't worth my while."

And so the Jackal tried one beast after another, but none of them would help him, until he came to the Wolf.

"Friend Wolf," said the Jackal, "if you will only swear that you heard the Camel promise me his tongue, you shall have half."

"Half a tongue?"

quoth the Wolf; "that's poor provender."

"No, no," said the Jackal, "half the Camel.

Don't you see that if we tear out his tongue, the Camel will soon bleed to death."

"True, so he will," said the Wolf.

"Well, I agree."

So the Wolf and the Jackal went back to the Camel, and the Wolf said, raising his right forepaw to heaven-- "I swear by heaven that I heard this Camel promise to give his tongue to this Jackal."

Of course this was a lie, and they all knew it; but the Camel did not like to appear mean, and besides, they were two to one.

"Very well," said the Camel; "come and take it."

The Camel opened his mouth wide.

The Jackal put his head in the Camel's mouth, and as he did so, the Camel curled his tongue backward, so that the Jackal could not reach it.

The Jackal pulled his head out again, and said to the Wolf-- "My mouth is too small, you try now--you have a big gape."

Then the Wolf put his head in the Camel's mouth.

The Camel curled his tongue back and back, and the Wolf pushed in his head further and further; at last all the Wolf's head was inside.

Then the Camel snapped his jaws together upon the Wolf's neck.

"O Daddy Camel," said the Wolf, half throttled; "what is this?"

"This," said the Jackal, rolling up the whites of his eyes to the sky in a most pious fashion; "this is the result of telling a lie."

The Camel said nothing at all, but simply throttled the Wolf to death, and the Jackal ran away.

I think you will agree with me, that the Jackal, who made the Wolf tell a lie, was wickeder than the Wolf who told it; but yet he laughed at the Wolf, and got off himself scot-free.

That often happens in this world; but we will hope that some other time his sin was bound to find him out.

[Illustration] The Wise Old Shepherd ONCE upon a time, a snake went out of his hole to take an airing.

He crawled about, greatly enjoying the scenery and the fresh whiff of the breeze, until, seeing an open door, he went in.

Now this door was the door of the palace of the King, and inside was the King himself, with all his courtiers.

Imagine their horror at seeing a huge Snake crawling in at the door.

They all ran away except the King, who felt that his rank forbade him to be a coward, and the King's son.

The King called out for somebody to come and kill the Snake; but this horrified them still more, because in that country the people believed it to be wicked to kill any living thing, even snakes, and scorpions, and wasps.

So the courtiers did nothing, but the young Prince obeyed his father, and killed the Snake with his stick.

After a while the Snake's wife became anxious, and set out in search of her husband.

She too saw the open door of the palace, and in she went.

O

horror!

there on the floor lay the body of her husband, all covered with blood, and quite dead.

No one saw the Snake's wife crawl in; she inquired from a white ant what had happened, and when she found that the young Prince had killed her husband, she made a vow, that as he had made her a widow, so she would make his wife a widow.

That night, while all the world was asleep, the Snake crept into the Prince's bedroom, and coiled around his neck.

The Prince slept on, and when he awoke in the morning, he was surprised to find his neck encircled with the coils of a Snake.

He was afraid to stir, so there he remained, until the Prince's mother became anxious, and went to see what was the matter.

When she entered his room, and saw him in this plight, she gave a loud shriek, and ran off to tell the King.

"Call the archers," said the King.

The archers came, and the King told them to go into the Prince's room, and shoot the Snake that was coiled about his neck.

They were so clever, that they could easily do this without hurting the Prince at all.

In came the archers in a row, fitted the arrows to the bows, the bows were raised ready to shoot, when, on a sudden, from the Snake there issued a voice, which spoke as follows:-- "O archers!

wait, and hear me before you shoot.

It is not fair to carry out the sentence before you have heard the case.

Is not this good law, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth?

Is it not so, O King?"

"Yes," replied the King, "that is our law."

"Then," said the Snake, "I plead the law.

Your son has made me a widow, so it is fair and right that I should make his wife a widow."

"That sounds right enough," said the King, "but right and law are not always the same thing.

We had better ask somebody who knows."

They asked all the judges, but none of them could tell the law of the matter.

They shook their heads, and said they would look up all their law-books, and see whether anything of the sort had ever happened before, and if so, how it had been decided.

That is the way judges used to decide cases in that country, though I daresay it sounds to you a very funny way.

It looked as if they had not much sense in their own heads, and perhaps that was true.

The upshot of all was, that not a judge would give any opinion; so the King sent messengers all over the country-side, to see if they could find somebody somewhere who knew something.

One of these messengers found a party of five Shepherds, who were sitting upon a hill and trying to decide a quarrel of their own.

They gave their opinions so freely, and in language so very strong, that the King's messenger said to himself, "Here are the men for us.

Here are five men, each with an opinion of his own, and all different."

Post-haste he scurried back to the King, and told him he had found at last some one ready to judge the knotty point.

So the King and the Queen, and the Prince and the Princess, and all the courtiers, got on horseback, and away they galloped to the hill whereupon the five Shepherds were sitting, and the Snake too went with them, coiled round the neck of the Prince.

When they got to the Shepherds' hill, the Shepherds were dreadfully frightened.

At first they thought that the strangers were a gang of robbers; and when they saw that it was the King, their next thought was that one of their misdeeds had been found out, and each of them began thinking what was the last thing he had done, and wondering, was it that?

But the King and his Court got off their horses, and said good-day in the most civil way.

So the Shepherds felt their minds set at ease again.

Then the King said-- "Worthy Shepherds, we have a question to put to you, which not all the judges in all the courts of my city have been able to solve.

Here is my son, and here, as you see, is a Snake coiled round his neck.

Now, the husband of this Snake came creeping into my palace hall, and my son the Prince killed him; so this Snake, who is the wife of the other, says that as my son has made her a widow, so she has a right to widow my son's wife.

What do you think about it?"

The first Shepherd said, "I think she is quite right, my lord King.

If any one made my wife a widow, I would pretty soon do the same to him."