Bluebeard Part 4

Oh, ring-a-ting-a-ting; oh, ring-a-ting-ting!

The alligator's dead, and I am glad!"

After that the little jackal went wherever he pleased in safety, and he ate so many figs and so many crabs that he became as fat as fat could be.

VIII--THE BLIND OGRE

In Italy dwelt a woman named Janella who had eight children. Seven of them were sons, but the youngest was a daughter.

After the sons grew up they went off to see the world. They went on and on until they came to a wood in which dwelt an ogre. This ogre had been blinded by a woman while he lay asleep, and ever since then he had been such an enemy to womankind that he devoured all whom he could catch.

When the youths arrived at the ogre's house, tired out with walking, and faint with hunger, they begged him, for pity's sake, to give them something to eat.

The ogre replied that if they would serve him he would supply them with food. They would have nothing else to do but watch over his safety, each in turn, a day at a time.

This seemed a very satisfactory arrangement to them, and they consented to remain in the service of the ogre. So he let them have all the lower part of the house to live in.

After the brothers had been gone from home a long time, and no tidings of them were received, Channa, their sister, dressed for a journey and went to seek them. On and on she walked, asking at every place she came to whether any one had seen her seven brothers. Finally she got news at an inn of where they were, and away she went to the ogre's house in the wood.

There she made herself known to her brothers and was received with great joy. After the greetings were over the youths told her to stay quietly in their part of the house so the ogre would not be aware of her presence. They also cautioned her to give a portion of whatever she had to eat to a cat which lived there. Otherwise the cat would do her harm.

Channa heeded their advice and got along very well. She shared her food with the cat, always doing it fairly to the last morsel, and saying, "This for me--this for thee."

But one day when the ogre sent the brothers out to do some hunting they left Channa a little basket of peas to cook. While sh.e.l.ling the peas, she found a hazel nut among them, and as ill-luck would have it she ate the nut, forgetting to give half to the cat. The latter, out of spite, ran to the hearth and put out the fire.

Then Channa left the room and went upstairs to the blind ogre's part of the house. She asked him for a few coals, and when he heard a woman's voice he said: "Welcome, madam! Just you wait a while." Afterward he began to sharpen his teeth with a whetstone.

She saw that she had made a mistake in not obeying her brother's orders, and she ran back to the room below. There she bolted the door and placed against it stools, tables, chests, and in fact everything she could move.

As soon as the ogre had put an edge on his teeth he groped his way to the door and found it fastened. So he proceeded to kick it to break it open. The seven brothers came home while he was making all this disturbance, and the ogre accused them of treachery.

Things might have gone badly had it not been for the cleverness of Grazio, the eldest, who said to the ogre: "She has fortified herself so securely inside that you cannot get at her. Come, I will take you to a place where we can seize her without her being able to defend herself."

Then they led the ogre by the hand to the edge of a deep pit, where they gave him a push that sent him headlong to the bottom. After that they got shovels and covered him with earth.

By and by they returned to the house and Channa unfastened the door.

They told her to be more careful in future, and to beware of plucking any gra.s.s or other plant that might grow on the spot where the ogre was buried, or they would be changed into doves.

"Heaven keep me from bringing such a misfortune on you!" Channa exclaimed.

They took possession of all the ogre's goods, made themselves masters of the whole house, and lived very comfortably and merrily there until spring. Then it happened one morning when the brothers had gone off on some errand, that a poor pilgrim came to the ogre's wood. He was looking up at an ape perched in a pine tree when the creature threw a heavy cone at him. This struck him on the head so hard that the poor fellow set up a loud cry.

Channa heard the noise and ran to where he was sitting on the ground hanging on to his bruised head. She took pity on him and plucked a tuft of rosemary which was growing on the ogre's grave near by. Then she hurried to the house and made a plaster of it with bread and salt. In a few minutes she rejoined the pilgrim and bound the plaster on his head.

After that she had him go with her to the house where she gave him some breakfast. When he finished eating she sent him on his way.

IX--SEVEN DOVES

Scarcely had the pilgrim gone when seven doves came flying into the room, and said: "Behold your brothers turned to birds and made companions of snipes, woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, jays, owls, rooks, starlings, blackbirds, tom-t.i.ts, larks, kingfishers, wrens, and sparrows. We shall be persecuted by hawks, and hunters will try to shoot us. Ah! why did you pluck that accursed rosemary and bring such a calamity on us? Doves we must remain for the rest of our lives unless you find the Mother of Time. She can tell you how to get us out of our trouble."

Channa was greatly distressed over what she had done, and said she would start at once searching for the Mother of Time. She urged them to make the ogre's house their home until she returned.

Away she went and journeyed on and on until she came to the seash.o.r.e, where the waves were banging against the rocks. A huge whale came to the surface close at hand, looked at her, and asked, "What are you seeking, my pretty maiden?"

She replied, "I am seeking the Mother of Time."

"Hear then what you must do," the whale said. "Go along the sh.o.r.e, and when you come to a river, follow it up to its source. There you will meet some one who will show you the way. But do me one kindness. After you have found the old woman, ask her how I can swim about safely without so often knocking on the rocks and being thrown up on the sands."

"I will gladly do that for you," Channa said.

Then she thanked the whale and walked on along the sh.o.r.e. At length she came to a river and followed it up to its source in a beautiful open country of meadows starred with flowers. There she met a mouse who said to her, "Where are you going all alone, my pretty maiden?"

"I am seeking the Mother of Time," Channa replied.

"You have a long way to go," the mouse commented. "But do not lose heart. Go to yonder mountain, and you will obtain more news to help you in your search. And when you find the Mother of Time, will you do me one favor? Ask her what we mice can do to get rid of the tyranny of the cats."

Channa promised to do this for the mouse, and trudged off toward the mountain. When she got to it she sat down on a stone to rest. Some ants were busy close by, and one of them addressed Channa, saying, "Who are you and whither are you going?"

She answered, "I am an unhappy girl who is seeking the Mother of Time."

"Then keep on over the mountain to a large plain, and there you will get more news," the ant said. "After you find the old woman please ask her how the ants can live longer. We store up a great deal of food, and this seems to me a folly while our lives are so short."

"Be at ease," Channa responded. "You can be sure that I will do your errand."

Then she toiled on over the mountain to the great plain, where a wide-spreading old oak tree called to her as she was pa.s.sing. "Whither are you going so sad, my little lady?" it said. "Come and rest in my shade."

She thanked the old oak, but begged to be excused from stopping because she was going in haste to find the Mother of Time.

"You are not far from her dwelling," the oak announced. "Before you have finished another day's journey you will get to a high mountain on the summit of which is the home of her whom you seek. If you have as much kindness as beauty you will oblige me by asking her why it is that my fruit which used to be relished by strong men is now only made the food of hogs."

"It will be a pleasure to do you such a service," Channa affirmed, and departed.

The next day she arrived at the foot of a mountain which had its summit far up among the clouds. There she found an old man, wearied and wayworn, who had lain down on some hay. The moment he saw Channa he knew her, for he was the pilgrim to whom she had ministered. When she told him what she was seeking he responded that at last he could make some return for her kindness.

"My pretty maiden," he said, "I would have you know that on the top of this mountain you will find a castle which was built so long ago that no one knows when it was built. The walls are cracked, the foundations are crumbling, the doors are worm-eaten, the furniture is worn out, and, in short, everything is gone to wrack and ruin.

"When you are almost to the castle, hide until Time goes out. After he has gone, enter, and you will find an old, old woman, whose face is covered with deep wrinkles, and whose eyebrows are so s.h.a.ggy she will not be able to see you. She is seated on a clock which is fastened to the wall.

"Go in quickly and take off the weights that keep the machinery of the clock in motion. Then ask the old woman to answer your questions. She will instantly call her son to come and destroy you, but because you have stopped the clock by taking the weights he cannot move. Therefore she will be obliged to tell you what you want to know."