Part 23 (2/2)

In the beginning not one of all the beasts of the forest was endowed with sense: when they saw a hunter come to them intending to kill them, they stood and looked at the hunter, and so the hunter killed them; day after day he killed them. Then our Lord sent one who put all the sense into a bag, tied it, carried it, and put it down under a large tree.

The Weasel saw the man put the bag down, and afterward went, called the Hare, and said to him:

”Brother Hare, I saw a man put something down under a tree, but as I went to take it, I could not; so let us go and if thou wilt take it I will show it to thee that thou mayest do so.”

When the Weasel and the Hare had gone together to where the bag was, the Weasel said to the Hare, ”Behold, here is the thing which I could not take and for which I called thee here.”

But as the Hare went and attempted to take it, he could not, so he left it and went away.

When he was gone the Weasel went again to take hold of the bag, but as he attempted to take it, it was too heavy; so the Weasel did not know what to do. Then came a Pigeon, who sat upon a tree, and said something to the Weasel. The Weasel heard it say: ”Lean it over and take it.” And again, ”Bend it and take it.”

As soon as he had heard this, he dragged the bag along and thus brought it and leaned it against a tree, and caused it to stand in an inclined position; then having gone to the bottom of it, he bowed down, put his head to the bag, and as he drew the bag toward him it went upon his head; this being done, he pressed himself upon the ground, rose up and stood there. After this he went his way home, and on putting the bag down upon the ground and untying it, the Weasel saw that there was no other thing in the bag, but pure sense.

So he went and called the Hare again, and when the Hare was come, he said to him:

”Brother Hare, there was not a single other thing in that bag but pure sense: G.o.d has loved us so that to-day we have obtained sense; but do not tell it to anybody, then I will give thee a little, and what remains I will hide in my hole until some one comes and begs of me, and then I will give him also a little.”

So he took one sense and gave to the Hare, saying, ”If thou takest home this one sense, which I give thee, it will preserve thee. When thou sleepest by day open thy eyes; then if one comes to thee, thinking, 'I have got meat, I will take it,' and sees that thine eyes are open, he will think that thou art not asleep, will leave thee alone and go; but when thou goest and liest down without sleeping, then shut thine eyes, and if one sees thee, and sees that thine eyes are shut, when he comes close to thee, saying, 'I have got meat, I will take it,' then thou wilt see him, rise up and run away into thy forest. This one sense will be enough for thee; but what remains I will keep in mine own house.” The Hare took his one sense and went home.

Now if one sees a Hare lying with his eyes open, it sleeps, but if its eyes are closed it is awake, and does not sleep. By this one sense which it has got the Hare is preserved.

The Weasel took all the sense that was left and hid it in his house.

The Weasel surpa.s.ses all the beasts of the field in sense. When you see the Weasel, and say, ”There the King of Sense has come out,” and drive it before you, saying, ”I will catch it,” it runs into its hole; and if you begin to dig up the hole, it comes out behind you, and runs until you see it no more. This is why now if one sees a Weasel, one calls it ”The King of Sense.”

Amongst all the beasts of the field he distributed sense only little by little, and this is what they now have.

This word, showing how sense came abroad in the world, and the meaning of which I have heard, is now finished.

What Employment Our Lord Gave to Insects

All the Insects a.s.sembled and went to our Lord to seek employment. On their arrival they said to our Lord, ”Thou hast given every one his work; now give us also a work to do, that we may have something to eat.”

Our Lord attended to the request of the Insects, and said to them, ”Who will give notice that to-morrow all the Insects are to come?”

The Merchant-insect arose and said to our Lord, ”The Cricket can give notice well.”

So our Lord called the Cricket and said to him when he was come, ”Go and give notice this evening, when the sun has set, that to-morrow morning all the Insects are to come to me, for I wish to see them.”

The Cricket, obeying our Lord's command, went back to his house, waited until evening, until the sun set, and as soon as he had seen the setting of the sun, he prepared and arose to give notice. So when the Cricket had given notice until midnight, our Lord sent a man to him saying: ”Go and tell the Cricket, that there has been much notice, and that it is now enough; else he will have the headache.” But the Cricket would not hear, he said: ”If I am out they will see me.” So he went into his hole, stretched only his head out, and began to give notice. The Cricket went on giving notice until the day dawned; but when it was day he became silent and stopped giving notice. Then all the Insects arose and went to the prayer-place of our Lord, the Merchant alone being left behind. To all the Insects who came first, our Lord gave their employment, which they all took and went home.

Afterward also the Merchant-insect went to our Lord, and our Lord said to him: ”To all thy people who came before, I have given their work, and they are gone; now what kept thee back that thou camest to me last?”

The Merchant-insect replied to our Lord, ”My bags are many and on the day when I took my bags and bound them up in my large travelling sacks to load them upon my a.s.ses, then my people left me behind and came to thee first.”

Our Lord said to him: ”All other employments are a.s.signed; the people who came first took them and went away; but stop, I will also give one to thee. Go, and having arrived at the entrance of the black ants, where are a great many ant-heads, when thou seest these many heads of the black ants, take them, and fill thy bags with them; then load thy bags upon thy a.s.s, carry them to market, spread mats there, and sell them.”

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