Part 44 (2/2)
”'Why, it's a cub bear!' exclaimed the man.
”'Well, it is a relative of some early settlers, all the same,' my master answered.
”At this the man smiled good-humoredly, then he went into another room, while my master petted me and gave me so much sugar that I had the toothache from it. After a while the man came back and said he was ready, and I was taken into a room where there was a big thing like a gun on three legs, with a cloth over it. My master sat down in a chair and held me in his lap while the man pointed the gun at us.
”I thought I was to be shot, and tried to get away, and this made the man so cross that he came out from under the cloth and said he couldn't do it. Then my master put me up in a child's chair and propped something tight against my head, at which they both laughed so loud you could have heard them in the street, and I jumped down.
”Finally, the man tapped his forehead and said, 'I have it.' He put a screen before the gun and my master set me on top of it, holding my chain while the man crept under the cloth. I did not dare move, as I was astride of the screen, my hind feet hanging in the air. I prepared for the worst. Then the man came out again, looked at me sharply, and turned my head a little, telling me to smile, at which my master laughed. The man next shook a tambourine at me, and as I turned to see what the noise meant, I heard a _click!_ and just then my master took me down and carried me home, much to my relief.
”I wondered what it was all about until one day my master took me on his knee, and, holding up a card, said, 'Well, here you are!'--and what do you suppose it was? Nothing more or less than my picture; just as I was perched astride the screen the day when I thought I was going to be killed. Here it is”:
[Ill.u.s.tration]
THE HARE AND THE HEDGEHOG
BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM
This tale, my young readers, will seem to you to be quite false; but still it must be true, for my Grandfather, who used to tell it to me, would wind up by saying, ”All this is true, my son, else it would never have been told to me.” The tale runs thus:--
It was a fine summer's morning, just before harvest-time; the buckwheat was in flower, and the sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly in the heaven above, a breeze was blowing over the fields, where the larks were singing; and along the paths the people were going to church dressed in their best.
Every creature seemed contented, even the Hedgehog, who stood before his door singing as he best could a joyful song in praise of the fine morning. Indoors, meanwhile, his Wife was was.h.i.+ng and drying the kitchen, before going into the fields for a walk to see how the crops were getting on. She was such a long while, however, about her work that Mr. Hedgehog would wait no longer, and trotted off by himself. He had not walked any very long distance before he came to a small thicket, near a field of cabbages, and there he espied a Hare, who he guessed had come on a similar errand to himself; namely, to devour a few fine heads.
As soon as Mr. Hedgehog saw the Hare, he wished him a good morning; but the latter, who was in his way a high-minded creature, turned a fierce and haughty look upon the Hedgehog, and made no reply to his greeting.
He asked, instead, in a very majestic tone, how he came to be walking abroad at such an early hour. ”I am taking a walk,” replied the Hedgehog.
”A walk!” repeated the Hare, in an ironical tone, ”methinks you might employ your legs about something better!”
This answer vexed the Hedgehog most dreadfully, for he could have borne anything better than to be quizzed about his legs, because they were naturally short, and from no fault of his own. However, he said to the Hare, ”Well, you need not be so proud, pray, what can you do with those legs of yours?” ”That is my affair,” replied the Hare. ”I expect, if you would venture a trial, that I should beat you in a race,” said the Hedgehog.
”You are laughing! you, with your short legs!” said the Hare contemptuously. ”But still, since you have such a particular wish, I have no objection to try. What shall the wager be?”
”A louis d'or,” replied the Hedgehog.
”Done!” said the Hare, ”and it may as well come off at once.”
”No! not in such great haste, if you please,” said the Hedgehog; ”I am not quite ready yet; I must first go home and freshen up a bit. Within half-an-hour I will return to this place.”
Thereupon the Hedgehog hurried off, leaving the Hare very merry. On his way home the former thought to himself, ”Mr. Hare is very haughty and high-minded, but withal he is very stupid, and although he thinks to beat me with his long legs, I will find a way to defeat him.” So, as soon as the Hedgehog reached home, he told his Wife to dress herself at once to go into the field with him.
”What is the matter?” asked his Wife.
”I have made a wager with the Hare, for a louis d'or, to run a race with him, and you must be witness.”
”My goodness, man! are you in your senses!” said the Wife, ”do you know what you are about? How can you expect to run so fast as the Hare?”
”Hold your tongue, Wife; that is my affair. Don't you reason about men's business. March, and get ready to come with me.”
As soon, then, as the Hedgehog's Wife was ready they set out together; and on the way he said, ”Now attend to what I say. On the long field yonder we shall decide our bet. The Hare is to run on the one side of the hedge and I on the other, and so all you have to do is to stop at one end of the hedge, and then when the Hare arrives on the other side at the same point, you must call out, 'I am here already.'”
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