Part 22 (1/2)

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.