The Talking Beasts Part 21

"That is a lie; there is no animal bigger than I am."

"Well, wait," said the little ones, "and you will see."

The Camel came back while browsing the gra.s.s of the roadside.

The Wren stretched himself out near the nest. The Camel seized the bird, which pa.s.sed through its teeth safe and sound.

"Truly," he said to them, "the Camel is a gigantic animal, but I am not ashamed of myself."

On the earth it generally happens that the vain are as if they did not exist; but sooner or later a rock falls and crushes them.

Mule, Jackal, and Lion

The Mule, the Jackal, and the Lion went in company.

"We will eat the one whose race is bad," they said to each other.

"Lion, who is your father?"

"My father is a lion, and my mother is a lioness."

"And you, Jackal, what is your father?"

"My father is a jackal, and my mother too."

"And you, Mule, what is your father?"

"My father is an a.s.s, and my mother is a mare."

"Your race is bad; we will eat you."

He answered them: "I will consult an old man. If he says that my race is bad, you may devour me."

He went to a farrier, and said to him, "Shoe my hind feet, and make the nails stick out well."

He went back home. He called the Camel and showed him his feet, saying, "See what is written on this tablet."

"The writing is difficult to decipher," answered the Camel. "I do not understand it, for I only know three words--_outini_, _ouzatini_, _ouazakin_."

He called the Lion, and said to him, "I do not understand these letters; I only know three words--_outini_, _ouzatini_, _ouazakin_."

"Show it to me," said the Lion. He approached. The Mule struck him between the eyes and stretched him out level.

He who goes with a knave is betrayed by him.

AFRICAN FABLES

"The world is old, they say; I don't deny it; But, infant still In taste and will, Whoe'er would teach, must gratify it."

AFRICAN FABLES

The Hen and the Cat

A Cat arose in her house, went to a Hen and said to her: "Let us make friends.h.i.+p!"

The Hen replied to the Cat: "Dost thou like me for a friend?"

The Cat said, "Yes," and went away, and after having been at home for a while, she sent her child to the Hen, saying, "Go and tell the Hen to rise up early to-morrow morning, and to come and accompany me to a neighbouring town."

The child arose, went to the Hen's house and saluted her.

The Hen arose, and asked it: "Thou child of the Cat, dost thou come to me in peace?"

The Cat's child replied, "I come in peace; my mother has sent me to thee."

The Hen said to the Cat's child, "Say what thy mother has sent thee for; let me know."

After the Cat's child had told it to the Hen, it said: "I will go," and set out and went home.

When it was gone the Hen arose, called a child of hers, and said: "Go and ask the Cat at what time we shall go to the neighbouring town?"

When the child had already started, she called it back again, saying, "Come back, I will tell thee something."

The child returned, and when it had come to its mother, she said to it, "When thou goest to the Cat, open thy ears and hear well what she says, and come and tell me."

The child went to the Cat, and saluted her, and when the Cat arose and came out to it, the Hen's child was standing there. The Cat asked the Hen's child, "Why did thy mother send thee to me?"

The Hen's child said, "My mother said I must come and ask thee how early shall we go to the neighbouring town?"

The Cat said to the Hen's child, "Go and tell thy mother to arise and come at the c.o.c.kcrowing; for what should eat her?"

The Hen's child returned to its mother, and said to her, "Behold I went to the Cat's place where thou sentest me, and am come back."

The Hen said to her child, "What did the Cat say? Let me hear what word she spoke?"

Her child answered and said to her, "My mother, the word which the Cat spoke is this: 'Go and tell thy mother to come to me when the c.o.c.k crows, that we may go; for what should eat her?'"

Its mother, the Hen, said to her child, "My child, lie down in your house, for I have heard what the Cat said."

The child of the Hen obeyed her mother, went and lay down, and also her mother lay down. They slept their sleep until the c.o.c.k crew, which when the Cat heard, she arose, got ready and waited for the Hen, thinking, "May she come that we may go!" The c.o.c.k crew the second time, and the Cat looked out on the way whence the Hen was to come, thinking, "May she come that we may go!"

The Hen did not get up at home and day came on. When it became day, the Cat arose in her house, went to the Hen's home, and said to her, "Hen, thou sentest thy child to me, and asked at what time thou shouldst rise up, and I said to thy child, 'Go and tell thy mother to come when the c.o.c.k crows, that we may go.' Did it not tell thee what it was told by me, that thou art still sitting at home although it has become day?"