Transcriber's Note:
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
1867.
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
MRS. GRABEM AND FUZ-BUZ.
M drop cap.
MRS. GRABEM was a hairy spider who knit cobwebs and caught flies and brought up a small household of nine young spiders.
When I first knew this happy family, and learned all the wonderful things they heard and did, their home was as pretty a place as a spider need want. Their web was spun to and fro across the crotch of an old apple tree, and when they looked down they could see the green grass, and when they looked up they could see the great jolly red apples which must have looked to those young spiders just as the stars look to our own young folks.
On one side of their web, Mrs. Grabem had knit with great labour a long dark cave all of cobweb, where the family slept at night, and where they lay trembling while the great winds blew and the tree rocked and bent.
One fine breezy morning in June, when the leaves above were clapping their palms for joy at growing, and when the birds were tossing little love songs to one another, the old lady sat mending her web which a great wasp had broken. Meanwhile, the young spiders chased each other along one thread and down another and shook the dew from the web as they played.
"Ah!" said the eldest of them, as he saw it sparkle in the sun, "these must be the diamonds we have heard about."
"No," said another, "they look to me blue, they are turquoises."
"Geese!" said a third, who was on a distant part of the web, "they are drops of gold, any one can see they are yellow."
At this they fell to abusing each other, when suddenly the old lady cried out, "Foolish children, if you change places you will see that each of you is right. You make me think of a tale which my grandmother used to tell me. It is a story which has come down in our family from your ancestor who gave Robert Bruce such very good advice without ever saying a word. You know that the king was looking at the spider when he was swinging a line, striving to fasten it. The spider having tried six times was about to stop, for before this spiders never tried more than six times. But when he looked up and saw the king he knew just what was needed to give him courage, and therefore it was that the spider made one more mighty effort, and so at last made fast the web.
"Thus you see that our ancestor invented trying seven times, although I think the Bruce usually gets more credit than the spider. When this wise spider grew older he went to Spain in the helmet of the good Lord Douglas who was killed by the Moors, so that they got his helmet and your great-great-great-grandfather, who kept quiet enough in the darkest corner until he was carried to Granada, where he lived a long while and found the flies many, and tender, and of good flavour. And this was one of his stories which he had gotten at Granada, when he lay among the Moors."
Then all the young spiders listened, and the old mother spider began.
"One night the King Almanzor was walking alone when he overheard three water-carriers gossiping.
"'I would not be the King,' said Amric, the first who spoke. 'Every morning before prayers I peep through a crack in the wall of the Palace garden, and always I see the King grave and sober, just when the sun is rising red and the birds are laughing and telling their dreams. I would not be a King, to look sober at dawn every day in the year. A grave man is the King.'
"'Bosh!' said the second, whose name was Hassan. 'The King is a sad man. He must have done some evil in his youth, for just before noon-day prayers I look into the Palace garden from my window, and lo! always the King kneels weeping at the great fountain, which we call the forest of waters.'
"'And I,' cried Amrah, 'think ye both wrong. A merry man is King Almanzor. For ever at evening, when the minarets call to prayer, I have seen the King at the fountain laughing, always laughing, always glad. A foolish man must the King be to laugh at nothing.'
"'He's too sober,' said one.
"'Too sad,' cried the second.
"'Too merry,' said the third.
"Then each held to his own opinion, and abused the others, until from words they came to blows.
"This roused the guard, who seized upon the whole three, and was taking them away, when the King whispered to the Captain to bring them to the Palace next day.
"Accordingly in the morning they were brought to the King in the garden before prayer time.
"'I hear,' said Almanzor, 'that you talked of me last night. It is said that you think me sober, sad, and foolish.'
"Not one of them answered.
"'I will think of your crime, and how you shall be punished. Begone, and return hither at noon.'
"At noon-tide they were brought again to the King, who said to them gravely, 'You have abused the King. You shall die to-morrow.'
"'Woe is me!" cried they all, and as they were led away the King stayed weeping by the water's edge.
"But at evening, the guard took them out yet once more, and this time the King was merry, and the sound of music mocked their sadness.
"'You are pardoned,' said the King Almanzor. 'Judge not lightly of me again. In the morning I reflect on the crimes which I have to judge, and then I am grave. At noon I condemn some to die, and then ever I weep. But at night-fall I pardon the least guilty, and then always I am glad at heart. Be ye also merry to-night, and to-morrow wiser.'
"And thus saying, the King gave them a purse of gold and turned away."
"What a little story," cried the young spiders.
"Hush!" answered Mrs. Grabem. "Now I must mend this hole in our cobweb. But, bless me! run to the den. Here comes a big fly."
Quick as could be they all ran into the dark passage and Mrs. Grabem stayed at the door. Pretty soon the fly flew near. He was a handsome gay fellow all over gold and purple and sparkling in the sun-light. He thought he would have a little of the nice gum which flowed from the apple tree bark, so he flew nearer, but just as he alighted his legs caught in the net and then what a fuss he made! Buz, Buz, and pulled and bit, but it was in vain, for he was held fast by a long cobweb which allowed him to go a little way but no further.
Then Mrs. Grabem ran out, and pulled at the web, and drew him near, when all the little spiders began to sing, "We shall have a good breakfast."
"What! do you mean to eat me?" said Fuz-buz, the Fly. "I never hurt you."
"Oh no," said Mrs. Grabem, "you will do us a great deal of good very soon. You are a queer-looking fly any how. I hope you won't disagree with my children. Where do you live?"
"In Spain," replied Fuz-buz proudly. "I am a Spanish fly."
"Dear me," cried one of the spiders, "perhaps you can tell us some stories."
"I know a thousand fairy tales," said Fuz-buz.
"Oh mamma!" said one fat little spider, "It would be a shame to eat a thousand stories all at once. Let us keep him until he tells us nine hundred and ninety-nine tales, and then we can eat him afterwards."
"That I call good advice," cried Mrs. Grabem, and at once she fastened the cobweb so that poor Fuz-buz could walk just a little way from the web and no farther.
"And now," said she, "twice a day you must tell my children a story. But never let me find you trying to get away or I will eat you in a moment."
The young spiders could hardly wait.
"Quick!" they cried, "a story!" "a story!"
"What about?" replied Fuz-buz, glad to be spared.
"Oh about men, big men like Robert Bruce," said they, "and about a Princess too."
"Very well," returned Fuz-buz, "Don't eat me, and I will tell you no end of stories and the first shall be about
Lady Golden Hair and her Two Lovers, Prince Clever and Prince Sturdy.
"A long while ago, and far far away, a lady lived who had such beautiful locks that the people named her Lady Golden Hair. Folks said that when she was little, her fairy Godmother had so well woven three strands of sunshine with her curly tresses that it never got loose again, and I suppose this must have been so, because when at night she walked in the garden all the flowers woke up and looked about thinking the daylight had come.
"All day long her maidens combed her hair with combs of gold, and at evening sang to her of the beautiful Prince who would one day come across the seas and win her love for evermore.
"Many came and looked into her deep brown eyes, but none suited her, and so she shook her golden hair, and they went their ways again.
"At length her Father the King said she must make up her mind to marry somebody.
"The Princess said, 'I will marry no one who does not own a Roc's egg, And no one who has not kissed me, and no one who has not a lock of hair to show exactly like my own. And no one shall kiss me, and no one ever shall have a lock of my hair, and where on earth will any one get a Roc's egg? and so how shall I ever be married? No, I never will marry anybody.'
"At this her Father was in despair, but as he thought that perhaps some one might be bright enough to outwit the Princess, he caused it to be proclaimed everywhere that the Lady Golden Hair would marry the man who had kissed her, and who could show a lock of hair just like hers, and who owned a Roc's egg.
"When her lovers heard this they all cried and went away, except two who were named Prince Clever and Prince Sturdy.
"Prince Clever was handsome and tall, and very cunning, because he was a Sorcerer's son, but Prince Sturdy was brave and straightforward, and had honest eyes of his own which were brown as garnets and as steady as stars.
"Now when these two heard about the Princess, and what must be done to marry her, Prince Clever said, 'I am so cunning that I shall be sure to succeed;' but Prince Sturdy said, 'Thorns are roses to those who love! I will try.'
"When the Princess saw them she wished silently that Prince Sturdy might succeed; still she only said, 'How foolish you both must be. Do either of you own a Roc's egg?' and then she bade them good-bye and they kissed their hands to her and rode away by different paths till each of them entered a wood where they dismounted, and thought how to get a Roc's egg. 'Then,' said Clever, 'I see;' but Sturdy said, 'I will ride till I find one.'
"About a thousand miles away, across a great sea, lived a Roc who had just laid an egg as big as a house and as hard as marble. No one knew where she lived except a witch, to whose cave in a great hill Prince Clever rode swiftly.
"Because he was a Sorcerer's son the witch came out to speak to him. But, meanwhile, Prince Sturdy having become lost in the woods rode on, until at night-fall he heard voices.
"Then he alighted and clambered over the hill and lay quiet until he heard to his delight the witch telling Clever where to get the Roc's egg.
"As quick as could be Sturdy got on his horse and rode away as hard as ever a man could ride. By and by he came to the sea, where he hired a ship, and sailed many days to a desolate land where was nothing but hills of gray sand.
"Here he went on shore and sent the ship away. Then, drawing his sword, he climbed a great sand hill and after two days reached the top. There he saw in a mighty nest the great egg, as white and smooth as ivory.
"As soon as the Roc flew away to get her dinner the Prince came near and began to crack a big hole in the egg with his sword. Presently all the insides of the egg ran out of the hole and nearly drowned him. When it was well emptied and the whole of it had flowed away to the sea, the Prince put his bag of cakes into the egg, and then his sword, and at last squeezed himself in.
"He was just able to thrust his turban into the hole, when the Roc flew home to her nest.
"When she left her nest once more Sturdy made a nice little opening as big as a pea, so that he could just see through it. And what think you he saw?
"There were two ships on the sea, and Prince Clever with a hundred men. Very soon they came up the hill and began to push the egg and to heave it over with crow-bars and beams of wood, until it rolled to the edge of the sand heap. Then to Prince Sturdy's horror the egg began to turn over and over down the hill to the sea.
"Fast it went, and faster and faster, while Sturdy tumbled over and over, and was on his head one minute, and on his heels the next, till at last splash went the egg into the water and floated lightly on the rolling waves.
Egg on the rolling waves.
"Very soon the sailors tied a rope around the egg, and fastened the other end to their ships, and sailed away rejoicing.
"In this manner they sailed many weeks, until poor Sturdy had eaten his last cake and was nearly starved to death.
"When at last they came to land, the egg was hoisted on to a huge car, and a hundred horses drew it to the Palace of the Princess Golden Hair, while Prince Clever rode alongside as happy as could be.
"When the lady saw Clever and the egg she was ready to cry with vexation, because she knew there was only one Roc's egg in the world, and because Prince Clever had gotten it.
"Soon her father called her to welcome the Prince, and every one went to see the egg, while the music sounded and the people hurrahed for Prince Clever.
"As soon as he saw the lady he ran and knelt and said, 'Princess, here is my Roc's egg.'
"Then a voice was heard saying, 'No, it is mine!'
"'Who spoke?' said Clever.
"'I,' said the voice, 'It is mine!'
"But no one could tell where the voice came from.
"At last the Chief Magician cried aloud, 'Who dares to mock the King?'
"Then said the voice, 'Oh great Magician, who owns the house, he who lives in it, or he who looks at it?'
"'He who lives in it,' answered the Magician.
"'Then it is my egg,' said Sturdy, as he broke away the shell and stepped out of the hole in the side of the egg.
Sturdy broke away the shell and stepped out.
"'Ah,' said the lady to herself, 'what beautiful eyes he has.' But Prince Clever smote his breast, and the people hurrahed for Prince Sturdy.
"Meanwhile Sturdy knelt to the Lady. 'Ah,' said he, 'it is easy to live in a Roc's egg, or to storm a city for a Lady's love, but to kiss her and to find hair like thine, woe is me! How can these things be done?'
"As for Clever, he smiled, and said to himself, 'It is hard to bring a Roc's egg home, but to cheat a woman with a lock of hair and to steal a kiss is easy.'
"After Prince Clever had eaten and rested the two Princes kissed their hands to the lady and rode away once more to find a tress of hair which should be like that of the Princess.
"Now what did Prince Clever do to get the lady? He went into the country to see his fairy godmother and to ask her advice, and this was what she told him to do.
"He was to dress himself like a pedlar and was to take with him a beautiful great opal, and afterwards he was to do other things which presently you shall hear of.
"When the Fairy told him all these things he said, 'Ah Godmother, how shall I make my nose long and my mouth big and ugly so as to be like a real pedlar?'
"'Well my dear,' she replied, 'that is easy,' and so saying she put a forefinger into the two corners of his mouth and pulled it until one corner was under each ear.
She put a forefinger into the two corners of his mouth.
"'I think that will do,' she said, 'and as to your nose, take a pinch of this snuff.'
"No sooner had he done as she desired than he began to sneeze so hard that in five minutes the end of his delicate nose was blown out into a great round purple knob, which was so bright that he could not keep from squinting to get a look at it.
"'I do not think any one will know you now,' said the Fairy, 'but be careful not to open your mouth very wide or possibly your head may fall off backwards.'
"'Upon my word,' cried the Prince when he looked at his face in a smooth pool of water, 'If I be as cunning as I am ugly I shall surely win the Lady!'
"The Fairy then gave him a little red cloak, and bade him walk like an old man and be careful.
"Finally she placed in his basket a gold box containing the magical opal.
The Fairy then gave him a little red cloak.
"When he had left her she drew a ring on the ground and stood within it, and enchanted the Lady Golden Hair with wicked words, so that for four days and nights she had no sleep, because the instant her lids closed she dreamed that nine beautiful ladies were kissing Prince Sturdy, and that he was also kissing one of them and the one he kissed was not herself.
"So it was that all these days she lay awake angry, and all the while Prince Clever rode fiercely to her garden gate.
"Near by he hid his horse, and walking like an old man came to the Palace slowly and asked to see the Lady.
"The guard laughed at his nose and told him the Princess was ill and could not sleep.
"'It is well,' answered he, 'I have a charm here to bring her sleep.'
"As soon as this was known he was quickly ordered to the chamber of the Princess, where resting on a couch she lay, while her ladies fanned her with fans made of fresh flowers which every ten minutes were brought to them by slaves.
"Although she felt very badly from want of sleep no sooner did she see the Prince with his new face than she began to laugh until she cried with mirth. 'For tears,' said Saadi the poet, 'are the diamonds of affliction and the pearls of merriment.'
"After a time however the Princess grew silent, although she did not dare to look at him when he talked. Now this was what he said,—'Here is an amulet for them that sleep not, or sleeping have evil dreams. Let thy ladies leave thee, and in a moment thou shalt sleep.'
"'Instantly begone!' cried the Princess to her maidens. 'Fly! I have no fears. Let a slave with a drawn scimetar keep the door and leave me with this wise and astonishing man.'
"Then, when there were none in the room but the Lady and himself, the Prince opened his gold box and lifted out of it a large opal which shone with a dim gray sleepy lustre with points of red and purple light.
"When he held the jewel up before her eyes she said, 'It has letters on it. What be they? What do they mean?'
"'The words,' he replied, 'are the names of the nine most stupid books that ever were written, and within is the name of the sleepiest man that ever lived, and also the name of a very young baby who slept every night all night long.'
"'It is well,' said the Princess. 'Let me sleep.'
"'Rise!' said the Prince, and she stood erect while he held the opal before her eyes, and the golden flow of her hair fell from head to neck and from waist to floor in curves of darkling gold like the early sunlight when it is yet touched with the fading brown of twilight.
"As she gazed fixedly at the jewel her eyelids closed, and drowsy languor grew upon her face, till at last she swayed backwards and fell upon the couch.
"Then the Prince laid the jewel on the floor and crushed it with his foot. As it brake, a rosy flame flashed from it, and a heavy odorous smoke curled upwards and filled the room with dense vapour.
"Then the Prince took a long lock of her golden hair, and with his dagger cut it quickly. When he had twisted it around his sword hilt he leaned over and kissed her cheek, but though the Lady slept the blood seemed to leap to the spot he had touched, and her cheek grew scarlet, as he turned away ashamed and fled from the palace.
"Near to the garden he mounted his horse, and spurred swiftly away through the night, while the trees moaned in the wind as he passed, and the birds awoke and sang, 'Shame! shame!' till he stopped his ears and fled faster and faster.
"Thus it was that Prince Clever kissed the Lady and had a golden lock to show which was like her own, because it was her own. The next day he met Sturdy.
"'Ha! ha!' said Clever, 'you own a Roc's egg, but I have kissed the Lady, and who do you think has hair like this?'
"'Only one,' replied Prince Sturdy sadly.
"'We shall meet to-morrow,' said Clever, for so they had agreed, and thus saying he rode away.
"Prince Sturdy also arose and entered a wood near by, for he was sick at heart and desired to see no man's face.
"In a little while he was aware of two wild roses beside a rock on which he had seated himself. As he thought of the Lady he wept, and just one tear fell upon a rose.
"Then said a faint clear voice, 'The dew falls.'
"'I hope it is rain,' said another voice which was still more sweet and pure.
"'Ah,' sighed the Prince, 'happy roses!'
"'Why do you weep?' said the roses, for it was their voices he had heard.
"'Because I may not steal a lady's kiss,' said the Prince, 'and because I want a tress of golden hair the like of which is not to be had on earth.'
"'We don't know much about kisses,' said the rose. 'But it is pleasant to touch a young rose bud when the winds blow us against one another. I suppose that is a kiss.'
"'Yes,' said Sturdy laughing, as he pushed the two roses together till their red lips touched.
"'Thanks,' said they. Then after a silence one of them said, 'If I were you I would go and lie on the top of a great cliff, and as the yellow sunlight trickles over the stones at morning, I would catch a bit in a gold box and shut the lid quickly and keep it. Where is a Lady would have golden locks like that, so yellow and so fine?'
"'It is well,' cried the Prince, and so saying he went away, sadly thinking of the kiss he might not have.
"Next day the Court and the King and the Princess were in the garden awaiting the two Princes.
"First came Prince Clever who had gotten his good looks again, and who came gaily with a hundred knights and with slaves who bore an ivory box which held the Princess' hair.
"Next came Prince Sturdy on a great black steed, but all alone and with only a little gold box in his hand.
"When both had bent before the lady she smiled and said, 'You are empty handed.'
"'No,' said Clever, and bade the slaves approach. Then from the ivory box he took a glorious tress of the Lady's hair.
"'Is it like?' said he. 'Ah!' she cried, as she matched it with her own long hair. 'It is the same! It was mine! How came you by this?'
"'Pardon me, Lady,' he said. 'It was I who in your sleep yesterday stole this tress of hair. Where else is any like it?'
"'Ah!' she cried, growing pale, 'You were the Sorcerer with the foul visage. You must have worn your heart upon your face for once Fair Sir. But ah me!' she continued, 'the kiss! the kiss! Did you dare to kiss me, sir Prince?'
"'I dared,' he said. 'How else could I win you?'
"'Enough,' she said, and turned, pale and despairing, to Prince Sturdy.
"'Lady,' said he, 'at morning I climbed the hill and caught in this box a tress of golden sunlight. If it be not as like to thy hair as sun to sun I am a false knight.' Then he opened the box beside the Lady's wealth of hair.
"'Bosh!' cried Prince Clever. 'There is nothing there,' for the box of a truth was empty.
"'True,' said Sturdy, 'It was bright this morning, but it is darkness now beside the sunshine of my Lady's locks.'
"'Well said!' cried the King, while the Princess blushed like a whole summer of rosy peaches.
"'By my beard!' cried Clever, 'He has the egg, and it seems I am outwitted about the lock of hair. I pray you to tell me which of us has the kiss.'
"'A gift is better than a theft,' said she, and whispering this, bent down and kissed the brow of brave Prince Sturdy who trembled like a lily of earth in the wind of Paradise.
"But as for Prince Clever, he made a wry face and said, 'It is very warm in this place,' and so went away with his hands in his pockets and was no more seen among men."
When Fuz-buz had ended, all the little family of spiders began to rejoice together, because of the nice story they had heard and also because of the many more which were yet to be told.
The next afternoon as soon as ever Mrs. Grabem began to knit, the spiders cried aloud for a story.
"But I am tired," said Fuz-buz.
"No matter!" cried the spiders, "we are not."
"Come, no nonsense!" roared Mrs. Grabem.
"Well," cried poor Fuz-buz. "Let me think a little."
"I should not suppose it took much thinking to make up stories," replied Mrs. Grabem.
By this time Fuz-buz was ready and having eaten a little cherry gum to clear his throat, he began as follows:
"This is a fairy tale about
Cold Country.
About Trowel Ku the Beaver who builds Dams. About Kanecri the Loon who sings on the Lakes. About Hoota the Owl who is not so wise as he looks. About Weeska the Fox who is just as sharp as his own nose, and that is saying a great deal.
"Ever so many days ago," said Fuz-buz, "and ever so far away up among the great lakes it was always summer. There the trees were always green and the flowers never ceased to bloom nor the birds to sing.
"The beaver built dams and no winter came to freeze them. The owl hooted solemnly and the squirrels raced and played and ate nuts all the year, and the foxes joked with the big bears, and the loons sang to the stars all the nights long, and the stars winked at the lakes, and no one ate any one else, for every one was merry and happy, because it was summer all the year.
"But at last everything and everybody grew tired of being so happy.
"'Ah me!' said the bear, 'I get so fat it would be as easy to roll as to walk.'
"'Just so,' sighed the trees, 'what a bore to have to make leaves all the time.'
"Only the owl said, 'I'm comfortable,' and gave his feathers a lazy shake and went to sleep again.
"After a while all the animals and trees and fish had a great talk and made up their minds that it was unpleasant to have hot weather always.
"So the fox proposed that they should go in search of cool weather, and bring back a little by way of a change.
"At last they agreed to send Trowel Ku the Beaver, and Kanecri the Loon, and Hoota the Owl, and Weeska the Fox.
Trowel Ku the Beaver, and Kanecri the Loon, and Hoota the Owl, and Weeska the Fox.
"All were ready except Hoota the Owl, who said, 'I'm comfortable. What's the use?' and fell asleep again, but Weeska bit his toes and Kanecri the Loon sang in his ears and at last they woke him up. 'For,' said the Beaver, 'he looks so wise we cannot do without him.'
"Therefore it was resolved that Trowel Ku the Beaver should pull out one of his feathers every five minutes to keep him wide awake, and having thus planned the matter each one filled a birch bark bag with food, and the whole party set off at daybreak.
"After a long journey they came to the hut of a magician called a Manitou, on a high hill. Here the Loon called aloud, but no one came until the Owl mounted on the Fox's back and knocked at the door, when a little hunch-backed woman opened it and said, 'You can't come in without money.'
"'Ha! ha!' said the Fox and ran away into the wood, and presently came back with a handful of green leaves which he gave to the old woman.
"'That will do,' said she, for she was blind. 'Money must be plenty where you live. Come in.' By and by the Manitou came home.
"'What now?' said he.
"'Sir,' answered Trowel Ku, the Beaver, 'I am tired of summer and of building dams. Tell us where we can buy a little cold to take home for a change.' 'And I,' said the Fox, 'I find it always too hot.' 'For my part,' cried the Loon, Kanecri, 'You have given us only summer. Either give me fewer feathers or else a little cold. As for the trees they are all growling about having no rest at making leaves.'
"'Then,' said Manitou to the Owl, 'What do you want?' 'I'm comfortable,' said Hoota the Owl, and straightway went to sleep.
"'Well,' said Manitou, 'I will send you to the cold country and you can all of you take home a bag of cold to your friends.' Then he began to laugh, and taking a deer-skin bade them all jump inside.
"When they were all in he sewed them up and putting the skin outside of the hut bade it go.
"At once it became alive and bounded off over the hills and through the streams until it came to a great frozen lake.
"Here the Beaver heard a noise, and presently an arrow went through the deer which fell on the ice. The next moment a knife ripped the deer open, and the Owl and the Beaver and Fox and Loon jumped out.
"Then they saw two tall men made of icicles who gave a cry when they saw them, dropped their knives, and skated away over the lake.
"'Dear me!' said Trowel Ku, 'This must be cold land, let us fill our bags,' cried Weeska the Fox, 'and be off.' 'Here is too much cold for me, I'm not comfortable,' said Hoota the owl. 'Boo hoo how it bites my toes!'
"Then they all filled their birch bags with cold, of which there was plenty for every one lying about loose, and set off homewards.
"But after a little while they all became so cold that their jaws chattered. By and by they saw the Manitou.
"'What now?' said he.
"'Too much cold,' said the Beaver. 'I think one bag would answer,' added the Fox, 'and we could carry it by turns.' 'I'm not comfortable,' groaned Hoota the Owl, 'my toes are frozen.' 'Suppose,' said the Loon, 'you were to help us to carry the cold home.'
"'Ho!' answered Manitou, for he was very angry. 'Begone! you wanted summer and I gave it to you, and you had leave to take as much cold as you wanted, and were greedy and took too much. I will warm you a little and send your cold home too.'
"Thus saying he tore the sunset out of the west and threw it a thousand miles into their country, and lo! it fell on the trees, and some it stained yellow and some red and some brown, which so amazed them that they let their leaves fall in affright and horror.
"Next the Manitou took up the bags of cold and threw them after the sunset, and as they flew they broke, and the white cold fell in little fleecy blankets on the naked trees and on the land.
"When the animals reached home there was no summer. So the Fox Weeska ran into his den in the rocks, and the Beaver Trowel Ku cried, 'Woe is me! the water has become white stone,' and the Loon Kanecri sang a song to the stars and flew up into the skies and sailed away and away. But Hoota the Owl said, 'I'm comfortable,' and fell fast asleep in a hollow stump."
The next night Mrs. Grabem herself came along with her little ones to hear Fuz-buz relate a tale.
"Be sure it is a nice story," said one of the spiders.
"For my part," cried Mrs. Grabem, "I take no interest in stories, but it pleases me to see the youngsters amused. You may go on while I knit, and as I have ten threads to mend let the story be a long one."
"Please ma'am," answered Fuz-buz, "I will now tell you a story which I flatter myself is the very best one I ever heard. It was brought by a cousin of mine from Bagdad where he got it from a very aristocratic fly who lived many years in the household of Sinbad the Sailor."
The Fountain of Youth.
"Once upon a time there lived in Persia a great king. He had one nephew who was to be the ruler after him, and to have all his kingdom.
"When this lad was about six years old a daughter was born to the King. No sooner was her birth known than the magicians foretold that she would be beautiful, and would have blue eyes like lakes, which last was not very hard to foretell because they were already blue, but the magi also declared that on the day of her marriage the King would die.
"'Oh ho!' said the King, who was called Omar, 'If this be so she shall never marry, and I shall live long and pleasantly, and after me she shall be queen. As for my nephew, I fear that he may wish to be king when he grows to manhood. Therefore let him be thrown into the sea.' Then an old Magician arose and spoke thus.
"'Be careful, oh King, not to do this wicked act, or if you greatly dread the Prince Ali give him to me, and I will carry him far away to an island on the coast, where he may be taught as a Prince should be, and where he may live all his days and never know what he might have been.'
"Then said a second counsellor, 'For my part I advise that the Princess be shut up in a palace around whose gardens a wall shall be built, that she may grow up and see none but women, for so only can you make sure that she will not fall in love and marry.'
"'It were well,' said the King. 'Let the Magician take the Prince as he has said.' Accordingly the next day Prince Ali was carried to an island many miles from the main land and lodged in a fair palace. Here he was cared for by trusty persons who taught him all manner of wisdom, as well as to ride and hunt and swim, so that he grew up brave and handsome and full of goodness and knowledge.
"Meanwhile the Princess lived alone with her women in a gleaming marble castle which looked across the sea, and was girt about by a high wall on every side but that bounded by the waters of the ocean.
"The busy years went on and by and by the little girl grew to be a stately woman, and the Prince a tall and vigourous man, while the King Omar became gray and old, and was every day more greedy to live. Each morning he sent a slave to see how the Princess fared, and every month he was told all about Prince Ali, and so made sure of his constant safe keeping.
"One fine morning just after a storm a strange thing happened to the Prince. He was walking up and down the beach and looking at the waves which were rushing up the shore and sweeping down again with a fierce roar, when he heard a cry of distress among the rocks near by. In a moment he climbed towards the spot and saw to his great wonder as he came near long tresses of something like thin seaweed floating in the wind from a rock above him. He seized it and was more amazed to find that it was beautiful hair like his own, but of a bright green colour. As he pulled it he heard again a cry of pain which hastened his steps.
"This hair was wonderful, for it not only fell far down the cliff but lay on top of the rocks and across bushes, and was strung here and there with coral and great pearls.
"When the nimble Prince had traced it some thirty feet it led him to a deep hollow between two rocks. Into this he descended. As he reached the bottom what should he see but a little old woman, with fins for hands and a long scaly tail like that of a fish. She was such a comical little old lady that the Prince sat down and laughed for five minutes. He ceased his mirth, however, when the old creature waved her fins in a helpless way and groaned aloud.
The old creature waved her fins in a helpless way.
"'What can I do for you Mrs. Woman-fish?' said he, 'and how came you here?'
"'My dear,' said she, 'I am, as you see, a mermaid. I happened to come on shore last night just to do a little knitting by the light of the moon, when up came a big storm, and the waves gave me a great toss over these rocks and into this hole. But the worst of it is I have lost my spectacles, and my poor back is nearly broken, and one fin's out of joint, and I've lost a knitting-needle and my back comb. Now if you would kindly carry me to the edge of the rocks and throw me in, I think I could reach home, but, as you may notice, I don't get along very well upon land.'
"The Prince was too good-natured to refuse, so he lifted her carefully, and drawing her long hair after him climbed with his queer load to the top of the cliff. Here he gave her a mighty cast, and away she went fifty feet down into the sea with her green hair sailing after her. The moment she felt the water she rolled over and kissing her fin to Prince Ali sculled away as cleverly as could be.
"The Prince said nothing about this adventure, but felt sorry that he had not asked her some questions, for you must know that whenever he asked questions of the people who waited on him, and taught him, they were very apt to say, 'Oh don't bother me! I'm busy,' so that there were many things which he desired to learn and could not.
"From this day forward he spent all of his time upon the shore and among the rocks. At last one evening he saw a large white crested wave rolling in, and on a sudden out of it paddled the mermaid. She sculled up the sand and rolling over on her back said to the Prince, 'My dear I can never thank you enough. If the doctors had been quicker about getting my flapper well I should have been here long ago.'
"'You are most welcome,' returned Ali, 'and the more so because perhaps you can tell me who I am.'
"'Sir!' said she, 'You are a King's son. Your parents are dead, and your uncle has put you here for fear that you may wish to take the kingdom away from his daughter the Princess Jessalie who is the most beautiful woman in the world. She also is a prisoner within the gardens of her Palace because it has been foretold that whenever she marries, her Father the King will die.'
"'Would that I could see her!' said the Prince.
"'Sir!' replied the mermaid, 'to-morrow I will bring you her picture, and meanwhile here are some trifles which my children have sent you as tokens of their gratitude.'
"Thus saying she shook her head and a double handful of pearls fell from her hair and dropped at the feet of the Prince, after which the mermaid tumbled into the water and swam deftly away.
"The next morning early Ali went to the beach and found the mermaid waiting with a large piece of crystal in her flappers.
"'Prince,' she said, 'Yesterday the Princess Jessalie chanced to look into a small pool of water on the shore where she walks. As quick as could be I enchanted the pool and turned it into a crystal mirror, so that the face of the Princess is fixed upon it forever. Look, I have brought it away with me.'
"At once the Prince regarded the mirror, and this was what he saw in it. Calm lazy eyes of blue, and below them cheeks dimpled and rosy, and twin lips which made you jealous of each, because ever they kissed one the other, and brown hair which must have fallen down about this face as it looked into the pool of water, and blue around it all, the heavens which spread above her as she had bent to gaze at her own fairness.
"'Ah!' said Ali, 'This is my fate! Take me to this woman swiftly that I may see her and die contented.'
"'Not so,' said the mermaid, 'be guided by me and in time you shall marry her. Give me a message and I will carry it to the Princess, but as yet she must not know your name, or it might be that the King hearing it would put you to death. Speak your message to this shell and I will answer for the rest.'
"Thus saying she pointed to a white shell which lay on the beach. The Prince took it up, and laughing, whispered a few words in its curled lip, and then as the mermaid bade him threw it far out into the sea.
"'Now,' said the mermaid, 'If you tell a lady once that you love her she laughs. If you tell her twice she is angry, but when you have ten times said 'I love,' she will either hate or love you, or perhaps may hate and love by turns, each for five minutes as sometimes doth chance. Now, therefore, many times you must say to her I love you.'
"'But how shall I do this?' asked Prince Ali.
"'Sir,' she said, 'look upwards and clap your hands thrice.'
"Without further words the young man did as he was told, when instantly a great white swan descended from a vast height and alighted on the water's edge beside them. The mermaid at once began to dig in the sand, and presently found a large oyster shell which she desired Ali to open. As he did so a necklace of pearls fell out, the like of which no jeweller ever saw before or since.
"'Now!' said the mermaid, 'hang this on the swan's neck for a present to the Princess, and with thy finger write on the bird's breast a message.'
"The Prince was lost in wonder, but without hesitation he traced a few rapid letters on the white breast of the swan. As he wrote, the feathers where he touched them grew scarlet, so that you might read in red letters 'I love thee,' marked on the snowy whiteness of the swan's bosom.
"Scarcely had he made an end of this short letter of love when the swan rose in swift flight until she was no longer to be seen by the amazed Prince, who turned to look at the mermaid, though only to find that she too had vanished. Then in still greater wonder Ali walked homeward along the water's edge.
"Thus many days went by and brought no change, for ever the west winds blew, and ever the waves climbed the shore and laid soft cheeks on the sands and whispered, and went backward moaning again.
"This sadness pleased the Prince who lay on the rocks all day and heard the sobbing waters, and looked wearily over the wide green ocean fields where the bubble-crested foam came and went from sight like the white clover blossoms which swayed amid their fields of green, when the wind leaped across the rocks and took its pleasure inland.
"One of these days the Princess walked on the shore with her women, when the youngest of them said, 'What a lovely shell!' 'Let me hear what it says,' cried the Princess; but no sooner had she put it to her ear than the shell murmured softly, 'I love you.'
"'Ah!' said the Princess Jessalie to the oldest of her ladies, 'This shell sings to me words new and strange. Tell me I pray you what is love?'
"She had scarcely finished when all the old ladies held up their hands in horror, for this and all other such words were forbidden within the Palace bounds. The more they made faces and signs at her the more the Princess wished to know. So she kept saying continually, 'What is love? I will know what is love.'
"But no one answered, and some of the old ladies cried, and some ran away, for they all feared that King Omar would strangle them because the Princess had heard the forbidden word, and because no one of them knew but that presently she would say, 'what is a man?' or some other such dreadful words.
"When at length the Princess found herself alone with her governess, she said again, 'What is love?'
"'My dear child,' replied the old lady, 'it is a kind of medicine!'
"'Ah!' cried the Princess, 'Then I see why the ladies made faces when I spoke of it. I suppose they had all taken a dose. But it sounds very pleasant,' she added, and all day long she went about with the shell at her ear.
"The next morning the shell was gone, for the ladies had taken it away so that they might prevent further mischief by hiding this wonderful shell. But before they concealed it they listened to hear it say 'I love you.' No one listened twice, and they all said the shell was an ill-bred shell and had no manners, though what it said to them I know not, perhaps something true but not pleasant.
"The next day while walking in the garden the Princess asked eagerly about her singing shell. While everybody pretended to look for it a whirring noise was heard and a fluttering of white wings was seen as the swan lit at the feet of the lady and shook the pearl necklace into her lap.
"'Oh marvellous!' cried the Princess, 'come quickly look at this! see what pearls! and Mahomet preserve us! Bismillah! Here is the name of that medicine again, written in scarlet on the breast of this beautiful swan, 'I love thee.'
"No sooner had the old ladies seen these fatal words than they rushed at the bird and beat it so cruelly that it had hard work to get away even with the help of the Princess herself.
"This time she was so urgent to be told more, and so eager in her questions, that the matter came to the quick ears of the King Omar her father. At once the guards around her Palace gardens were doubled. Twelve old ladies were set to work to gather up all the shells along shore, while twelve more were ordered to keep strict watch lest any other messages of love should come to the fair Jessalie.
"Meantime none knew whence came these strange words, and the King grew more and more angry and alarmed whenever he thought about it.
"All his precautions were in vain. One fine morning every rose-leaf in the gardens had written upon it in golden Arabic letters, 'I love you.'
"This drove the King wild, and he commanded all the rose-bushes in the kingdom to be cut down, which was instantly done.
"The next morrow at day-break a great noise was heard, and when the Princess arose and peeped from her window every bird in the garden was singing, 'I love you, I love you, I love you.'
"This time the King ordered the Princess to be shut up in the Palace. Then the birds were driven away and a great silken net hung over the garden so that the voice of the birds might no more be heard singing this sweet treason among the flowers.
"Very soon, however, the Princess became so weary of her Palace that she fell ill, and no one dared to tell the King that all night long in dreams she whispered, 'I love you, I love you.'
"Far and near the King sought counsel of all manner of wise men and doctors, but no one would venture to order medicine for the Princess without seeing her, and as to a man doing that, it was out of the question.
"About this time the mermaid, who I need not say was the merrymaker of all this mischief, met the Prince on the beach one evening and thus addressed him.
"'The Princess whom you love is ill, because she has not found out who it is that is ever saying through the shells and the birds and the flowers, "I love you." Take therefore this mirror, write on it a letter with your finger tip, and I will see that it reaches the Princess.'
"The Prince gladly followed these directions, for though when he had traced words on the glass he could see nothing of them, he felt sure of the mermaid's power to help him.
"When he had ended she took the mirror, and carrying it all the way above the waves hastened to the main-land. When she came to the shore she put on a long petticoat to hide her scaly fish tail, and drawing her fins through the sleeves of a gown, mounted up on a pair of crutches and hobbled with great labour to the Palace of King Omar. Here she told the guard to let the King know that a lame doctoress who had come from a far country was waiting to cure the Princess.
"So soon as ever the King heard this he ordered her to be admitted. When he set eyes upon her odd figure he cried out,
"'Quick! old woman speak! and that shortly! If you can cure my daughter say so.'
"'Oh King!' she answered, 'Let the lady look into this mirror, but see that no one touches it on the way. Let the Princess breathe upon it as she looks, and if it does not cure her throw me into the sea without mercy.'
"'Well said!' cried the King. 'It shall be as you desire. Let the mirror be carried to the Princess.'
"Accordingly that evening the crystal was taken to the Palace with every care and given to Jessalie.
"'You have but to breathe on it,' said her Governess, 'and you will be well.'
"'Give it to me,' she said, and instantly blew a breath upon its polished surface. As she did so, to her great amazement she read these words which seemed to come into view on the glass as her breathing moistened it, 'I love you. I, the Prince Ali your Cousin, I love you.'
"As her breath faded from the glass the words fled from sight, but the Princess fell back murmuring, 'My cousin Ali, he loves me.'
"Then there was confusion. The ladies tore their hair and screamed aloud, and the slaves beat their breasts, while the Princess fainted away. In a moment the news came to the King that his daughter had no sooner seen the mirror than she had called aloud the name of her cousin and fainted.
"'Allah!' muttered the King, 'Well said the poet, "A daughter is an aching tooth, and he who doth not beat his child shall one day strike his knees in vain." Let this old hag of a doctor be cast into the sea,' he added, 'and let the captain of the guard take ship speedily and slay this nephew of mine whom I did ill to spare so long.'
"Accordingly the mermaid was taken to the rocks and thrown a hundred feet down into the waves, where she laughed a little, and kicking off her petticoats swam away merrily to see the Prince, for whose safety she had great fears.
"Just as she reached the island she saw the Prince standing on a rock and bravely defending himself against the guard of the King.
"As quick as could be the mermaid called to him to leap off of the rocks into the sea, for although he had killed at least a dozen of his foes he was faint and sorely pressed. When he heard her call he smote the captain of the guard a fierce blow, and bounding up the rocks hesitated an instant, and then leaped boldly into the foaming waters at their feet.
"For a moment he felt his strength fail, then he saw a thousand colours before his eyes, then a gray mist came over them, and after that darkness, until he awakened as from a dream of death.
"When he became conscious, he was under the water seated at the foot of a vast tree of coral. About him was a forest of like trees, hung with huge pearls and covered with sea-weed of many tints, among which great fish and nameless ocean beasts floated lazily to and fro.
"'Come,' said the mermaid, 'You are now a son of the sea. Let us go.'
"Upon this he arose and in a great maze of wonder walked along, while the mermaid swam easily by his side. Sometimes they passed huge heaps of amber, and sometimes turned aside from the wrecks of mighty ships, or else trode through caverns whose sand was gold dust and gleaming jewels, till at length they came to a vast wall of rock.
"Here the mermaid knocked and a door opened and let them into a mighty hall builded throughout of the purest jasper.
"But what the Prince saw here no one will ever know, for here the mermen and mermaids lived, and here they made the Prince so welcome that he would never have wished for earth again if the Princess whom he loved had only been with him.
"Meanwhile King Omar felt himself growing old and feeble, but the nearer he came to death the more he desired to live. Then there came into his head a cunning way to cheat the Angel of Death. He therefore summoned his counsel and spake to them thus,
"'It has been foretold that I shall die when my daughter marries. Now let proclamation be made that whosoever shall bring to me a cup of water from the fountain of youth shall have the Princess for his wife. So shall I drink of the water and become young again, and that which was to kill me shall bring me life.'
"Then there was silence awhile till at last an aged Mufti arose.
"'Oh King!' said he, 'Beware how you resist the words of fate. Is it so easy to live rightly that you would crave for more of life? He who lengthens the life of this world makes shorter the life of the world to come. Beware!'
"'Fool!' said the King, 'thou art ten years younger than I. Let it be as I have said.'
"Soon after this the mermaid said to Ali, 'It is time Prince that you left us. The King desires a cup of the fountain of youth, and to him who brings it he will give the Princess. Therefore have no fear, but take thy sword and this crystal flask, and passing through yonder gateway journey on until you reach a deep valley, at the bottom of which you will find the fountain. Drink none, but fill your flask and hasten to the King without pause or fear.'
"With this counsel the Prince took his sword, and tying the flask about his neck set out. As he stepped through the gate-way of amber he looked up and saw above him the splendid blue of the deep sea like one vast quiet sapphire. Before him a gradual slope led downwards over rocks and sea grasses which at last ceased, and he came upon a floor of sand whiter than the purest snow.
"As the descent ended he saw in front of him a majestic angel of vast height. Her foot rested on a marble skull of huge proportions, and upon her brow was written Azrael.
