Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 06 (19 page)

'What is your case?' asked the judge of the master.

'My lord,' said the man, bowing low, 'my shepherd here has robbed
me of everything. He has killed my children and my old mother; he
has stolen my sheep, he has drowned my cows in the sea.'

The shepherd answered: 'He must pay me what he owes me, and then
I will go.'

'Yes, that is the law,' said the judge.

'Very well,' returned the master, 'let him reckon up how long he
has been in my service.'

'That won't do,' replied Mohammed, 'I want my strip of skin, as
we agreed in the contract.'

Seeing there was no help for it, the master cut a bit of skin,
and gave it to Mohammed, who went off at once to his uncle.

'Now we are rich, dear uncle,' cried he; 'we will sell our cows
and sheep and go to a new country. This one is no longer the
place for us.'

The sheep were soon sold, and the two comrades started on their
travels. That night they reached some Bedouin tents, where they
had supper with the Arabs. Before they lay down to sleep,
Mohammed called the owner of the tent aside. 'Your greyhound will
eat my strip of leather,' he said to the Arab.

'No; do not fear.'

'But supposing he does?'

'Well, then, I will give him to you in exchange,' replied the
Arab.

Mohammed waited till everyone was fast asleep, then he rose
softly, and tearing the bit of skin in pieces, threw it down
before the greyhound, setting up wild shrieks as he did so.

'Oh, master, said I not well that your dog would eat my thong?'

'Be quiet, don't make such a noise, and you shall have the dog.'

So Mohammed put a leash round his neck, and led him away.

In the evening they arrived at the tents of some more Bedouin,
and asked for shelter. After supper Mohammed said to the owner of
the tent, 'Your ram will kill my greyhound.'

'Oh, no, he won't.'

'And supposing he does?'

'Then you can take him in exchange.'

So in the night Mohammed killed the greyhound, and laid his body
across the horns of the ram. Then he set up shrieks and yells,
till he roused the Arab, who said: 'Take the ram and go away.'

Mohammed did not need to be told twice, and at sunset he reached
another Bedouin encampment. He was received kindly, as usual, and
after supper he said to his host: 'Your daughter will kill my
ram.'

'Be silent, she will do nothing of the sort; my daughter does not
need to steal meat, she has some every day.'

'Very well, I will go to sleep; but if anything happens to my ram
I will call out.'

'If my daughter touches anything belonging to my guest I will
kill her,' said the Arab, and went to his bed.

When everybody was asleep, Mohammed got up, killed the ram, and
took out his liver, which he broiled on the fire. He placed a
piece of it in the girl's hands, and laid some more on her
night-dress while she slept and knew nothing about it. After this
he began to cry out loudly.

'What is the matter? be silent at once!' called the Arab.

'How can I be silent, when my ram, which I loved like a child,
has been slain by your daughter?'

'But my daughter is asleep,' said the Arab.

'Well, go and see if she has not some of the flesh about her.'

'If she has, you may take her in exchange for the ram;' and as
they found the flesh exactly as Mohammed had foretold, the Arab
gave his daughter a good beating, and then told her to get out of
sight, for she was now the property of this stranger.

They wandered in the desert till, at nightfall, they came to a
Bedouin encampment, where they were hospitably bidden to enter.
Before lying down to sleep, Mohammed said to the owner of the
tent: 'Your mare will kill my wife.'

'Certainly not.'

'And if she does?'

'Then you shall take the mare in exchange.'

When everyone was asleep, Mohammed said softly to his wife:
'Maiden, I have got such a clever plan! I am going to bring in
the mare and put it at your feet, and I will cut you, just a few
little flesh wounds, so that you may be covered with blood, and
everybody will suppose you to be dead. But remember that you must
not make a sound, or we shall both be lost.'

This was done, and then Mohammed wept and wailed louder than
ever.

The Arab hastened to the spot and cried, 'Oh, cease making that
terrible noise! Take the mare and go; but carry off the dead girl
with you. She can lie quite easily across the mare's back.'

Then Mohammed and his uncle picked up the girl, and, placing her
on the mare's back, led it away, being very careful to walk one
on each side, so that she might not slip down and hurt herself.
After the Arab tents could be seen no longer, the girl sat up on
the saddle and looked about her, and as they were all hungry they
tied up the mare, and took out some dates to eat. When they had
finished, Mohammed said to his uncle: 'Dear uncle, the maiden
shall be your wife; I give her to you. But the money we got from
the sheep and cows we will divide between us. You shall have
two-thirds and I will have one. For you will have a wife, but I
never mean to marry. And now, go in peace, for never more will
you see me. The bond of bread and salt is at an end between us.'

So they wept, and fell on each other's necks, and asked
forgiveness for any wrongs in the past. Then they parted and went
their ways.

(Märchen und Gedichte aus der Stadt Tripolis. Von Haus Stumme.)

Once on a time there was a rich merchant, who had an only son
called Bobino. Now, as the boy was clever, and had a great desire
for knowledge, his father sent him to be under a master, from
whom he thought he would learn to speak all sorts of foreign
languages. After some years with this master, Bobino returned to
his home.

One evening, as he and his father were walking in the garden, the
sparrows in the trees above their heads began such a twittering,
that they found it impossible to hear each other speak. This
annoyed the merchant very much, so, to soothe him, Bobino said:
'Would you like me to explain to you what the sparrows are saying
to each other?'

The merchant looked at his son in astonishment, and answered:
'What can you mean? How can you explain what the sparrows say? Do
you consider yourself a soothsayer or a magician?'

'I am neither a soothsayer nor a magician,' answered Bobino; 'but
my master taught me the language of all the animals.'

'Alas! for my good money!' exclaimed the merchant. 'The master
has certainly mistaken my intention. Of course I meant you to
learn the languages that human beings talk, and not the language
of animals.'

'Have patience,' answered the son. 'My master thought it best to
begin with the language of animals, and later to learn the
languages of human beings.'

On their way into the house the dog ran to meet them, barking
furiously.

'What can be the matter with the beast?' said the merchant. 'Why
should he bark at me like that, when he knows me quite well?'

'Shall I explain to you what he is saying?' said Bobino.

'Leave me in peace, and don't trouble me with your nonsense,'
said the merchant quite crossly. 'How my money has been wasted!'

A little later, as they sat down to supper, some frogs in a
neighbouring pond set up such a croaking as had never been heard.
The noise so irritated the merchant that he quite lost his temper
and exclaimed: 'This only was wanting to add the last drop to my
discomfort and disappointment.'

'Shall I explain to you?' began Bobino.

'Will you hold your tongue with your explanations?' shouted the
merchant. 'Go to bed, and don't let me see your face again!'

So Bobino went to bed and slept soundly. But his father, who
could not get over his disappointment at the waste of his money,
was so angry, that he sent for two servants, and gave them
orders, which they were to carry out on the following day.

Next morning one of the servants awakened Bobino early, and made
him get into a carriage that was waiting for him. The servant
placed himself on the seat beside him, while the other servant
rode alongside the carriage as an escort. Bobino could not
understand what they were going to do with him, or where he was
being taken; but he noticed that the servant beside him looked
very sad, and his eyes were all swollen with crying.

Curious to know the reason he said to him: 'Why are you so sad?
and where are you taking me?'

But the servant would say nothing. At last, moved by Bobino's
entreaties, he said: 'My poor boy, I am taking you to your death,
and, what is worse, I am doing so by the order of your father.'

'But why,' exclaimed Bobino, 'does he want me to die? What evil
have I done him, or what fault have I committed that he should
wish to bring about my death?'

'You have done him no evil,' answered the servant 'neither have
you committed any fault; but he is half mad with anger because,
in all these years of study, you have learnt nothing but the
language of animals. He expected something quite different from
you, that is why he is determined you shall die.'

'If that is the case, kill me at once,' said Bobino. 'What is the
use of waiting, if it must be done?'

'I have not the heart to do it,' answered the servant. 'I would
rather think of some way of saving your life, and at the same
time of protecting ourselves from your father's anger. By good
luck the dog has followed us. We will kill it, and cut out the
heart and take it back to your father. He will believe it is
yours, and you, in the meantime, will have made your escape.'

When they had reached the thickest part of the wood, Bobino got
out of the carriage, and having said good-bye to the servants set
out on his wanderings.

On and on he walked, till at last, late in the evening, he came
to a house where some herdsmen lived. He knocked at the door and
begged for shelter for the night. The herdsmen, seeing how gentle
a youth he seemed, made him welcome, and bade him sit down and
share their supper.

While they were eating it, the dog in the courtyard began to
bark. Bobino walked to the window, listened attentively for a
minute, and then turning to the herdsmen said: 'Send your wives
and daughters at once to bed, and arm yourselves as best you can,
because at midnight a band of robbers will attack this house.'

The herdsmen were quite taken aback, and thought that the youth
must have taken leave of his senses.

'How can you know,' they said, 'that a band of robbers mean to
attack us? Who told you so?'

'I know it from the dog's barking,' answered Bobino. 'I
understand his language, and if I had not been here, the poor
beast would have wasted his breath to no purpose. You had better
follow my advice, if you wish to save your lives and property.'

The herdsmen were more and more astonished, but they decided to
do as Bobino advised. They sent their wives and daughters
upstairs, then, having armed themselves, they took up their
position behind a hedge, waiting for midnight.

Just as the clock struck twelve they heard the sound of
approaching footsteps, and a band of robbers cautiously advanced
towards the house. But the herdsmen were on the look-out; they
sprang on the robbers from behind the hedge, and with blows from
their cudgels soon put them to flight.

You may believe how grateful they were to Bobino, to whose timely
warning they owed their safety. They begged him to stay and make
his home with them; but as he wanted to see more of the world, he
thanked them warmly for their hospitality, and set out once more
on his wanderings. All day he walked, and in the evening he came
to a peasant's house. While he was wondering whether he should
knock and demand shelter for the night, he heard a great croaking
of frogs in a ditch behind the house. Stepping to the back he saw
a very strange sight. Four frogs were throwing a small bottle
about from one to the other, making a great croaking as they did
so. Bobino listened for a few minutes, and then knocked at the
door of the house. It was opened by the peasant, who asked him to
come in and have some supper.

When the meal was over, his host told him that they were in great
trouble, as his eldest daughter was so ill, that they feared she
could not recover. A great doctor, who had been passing that way
some time before, had promised to send her some medicine that
would have cured her, but the servant to whom he had entrusted
the medicine had let it drop on the way back, and now there
seemed no hope for the girl.

Then Bobino told the father of the small bottle he had seen the
frogs play with, and that he knew that was the medicine which the
doctor had sent to the girl. The peasant asked him how he could
be sure of this, and Bobino explained to him that he understood
the language of animals, and had heard what the frogs said as
they tossed the bottle about. So the peasant fetched the bottle
from the ditch, and gave the medicine to his daughter. In the
morning she was much better, and the grateful father did not know
how to thank Bobino enough. But Bobino would accept nothing from
him, and having said good-bye, set out once more on his
wanderings.

One day, soon after this, he came upon two men resting under a
tree in the heat of the day. Being tired he stretched himself on
the ground at no great distance from them, and soon they all
three began to talk to one another. In the course of
conversation, Bobino asked the two men where they were going; and
they replied that they were on their way to a neighbouring town,
where, that day, a new ruler was to be chosen by the people.

While they were still talking, some sparrows settled on the tree
under which they were lying. Bobino was silent, and appeared to
be listening attentively. At the end of a few minutes he said to
his companions, 'Do you know what those sparrows are saying? They
are saying that to-day one of us will be chosen ruler of that
town.'