The Brown Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

  'Be quick, be quick, and pick them up,' cried the man. 'And if these are not enough, there are plenty more to be had for the asking.'

  The innkeeper and his wife did not need telling twice. Down they went on their knees and gathered up everything they could lay hands on. But busy though they seemed, they found time to whisper to each other:

  'If we can only get hold of that basket it will make our fortune!'

  So they began by inviting Father Grumbler to sit down to the table, and brought out the best wine in the cellar, hoping it might loosen his tongue. But Father Grumbler was wiser than they gave him credit for, and though they tried in all manner of ways to find out who had given him the basket, he put them off, and kept his secret to himself. Unluckily, though he did not SPEAK, he did drink, and it was not long before he fell fast asleep. Then the woman fetched from her kitchen a basket, so like the magic one that no one, without looking very closely, could tell the difference, and placed it in Father Grumbler's hand, while she hid the other carefully away.

  It was dinner time when the man awoke, and, jumping up hastily, he set out for home, where he found all the children gathered round a basin of thin soup, and pushing their wooden bowls forward, hoping to have the first spoonful. Their father burst into the midst of them, bearing his basket, and crying:

  'Don't spoil your appetites, children, with that stuff. Do you see this basket? Well, I have only got to say, "Little basket, little basket, do your duty," and you will see what will happen. Now you shall say it instead of me, for a treat.'

  The children, wondering and delighted, repeated the words, but nothing happened. Again and again they tried, but the basket was only a basket, with a few scales of fish sticking to the bottom, for the innkeeper's wife had taken it to market the day before.

  'What is the matter with the thing?' cried the father at last, snatching the basket from them, and turning it all over, grumbling and swearing while he did so, under the eyes of his astonished wife and children, who did not know whether to cry or to laugh.

  'It certainly smells of fish,' he said, and then he stopped, for a sudden thought had come to him.

  'Suppose it is not mine at all; supposing— Ah, the scoundrels!'

  And without listening to his wife and children, who were frightened at his strange conduct and begged him to stay at home, he ran across to the tavern and burst open the door.

  'Can I do anything for you, Father Grumbler?' asked the innkeeper's wife in her softest voice.

  'I have taken the wrong basket—by mistake, of course,' said he. 'Here is yours, will you give me back my own?'

  'Why, what are you talking about?' answered she. 'You can see for yourself that there is no basket here.'

  And though Father Grumbler DID look, it was quite true that none was to be seen.

  'Come, take a glass to warm you this cold day,' said the woman, who was anxious to keep him in a good temper, and as this was an invitation Father Grumbler never refused, he tossed it off and left the house.

  He took the road that led to the Holy Man's cave, and made such haste that it was not long before he reached it.

  'Who is there?' said a voice in answer to his knock.

  'It is me, it is me, Holy man. You know quite well. Father Grumbler, who has as many children as sparrows in the garden.'

  'But, my good man, it was only yesterday that I gave you a handsome present.'

  'Yes, Holy Man, and here it is. But something has happened, I don't know what, and it won't work any more.'

  'Well, put it down. I will go and see if I can find anything for you.'

  In a few minutes the Holy Man returned with a cock under his arm.

  'Listen to me,' he said, 'whenever you want money, you only have to say: "Show me what you can do, cock," and you will see some wonderful things. But, remember, it is not necessary to let all the world into the secret.'

  'Oh no, Holy Man, I am not so foolish as that.'

  'Nor to tell everybody that I gave it to you,' went on the Holy Man. 'I have not got these treasures by the dozen.'

  And without waiting for an answer he shut the door.

  As before, the distance seemed to have wonderfully shortened, and in a moment the tavern rose up in front of Father Grumbler. Without stopping to think, he went straight in, and found the innkeeper's wife in the kitchen making a cake.

  'Where have you come from, with that fine red cock in your basket,' asked she, for the bird was so big that the lid would not shut down properly.

  'Oh, I come from a place where they don't keep these things by the dozen,' he replied, sitting down in front of the table.

  The woman said no more, but set before him a bottle of his favourite wine, and soon he began to wish to display his prize.

  'Show me what you can do, cock,' cried he. And the cock stood up and flapped his wings three times, crowing 'coquerico' with a voice like a trumpet, and at each crow there fell from his beak golden drops, and diamonds as large as peas.

  This time Father Grumbler did not invite the innkeeper's wife to pick up his treasures, but put his own hat under the cock's beak, so as to catch everything he let fall; and he did not see the husband and wife exchanging glances with each other which said, 'That would be a splendid cock to put with our basket.'

  'Have another glass of wine?' suggested the innkeeper, when they had finished admiring the beauty of the cock, for they pretended not to have seen the gold or the diamonds. And Father Grumbler, nothing loth, drank one glass after another, till his head fell forward on the table, and once more he was sound asleep. Then the woman gently coaxed the cock from the basket and carried it off to her own poultry yard, from which she brought one exactly like it, and popped it in its place.

  Night was falling when the man awoke, and throwing proudly some grains of gold on the table to pay for the wine he had drunk, he tucked the cock comfortably into his basket and set out for home.

  His wife and all the children were waiting for him at the door, and as soon as she caught sight of him she broke out:

  'You are a nice man to go wasting your time and your money drinking in that tavern, and leaving us to starve! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?'

  'You don't know what you are talking of,' he answered. 'Money? Why, I have gold and diamonds now, as much as I want. Do you see that cock? Well, you have only to say to him, "Show me what you can do, cock," and something splendid will happen.'

  Neither wife nor children were inclined to put much faith in him after their last experience; however, they thought it was worth trying, and did as he told them. The cock flew round the room like a mad thing, and crowed till their heads nearly split with the noise; but no gold or diamonds dropped on the brick floor— not the tiniest grain of either.

  Father Grumbler stared in silence for an instant, and then he began to swear so loudly that even his family, accustomed as they were to his language, wondered at him.

  At last he grew a little quieter, but remained as puzzled as ever.

  'Can I have forgotten the words? But I KNOW that was what he said! And I saw the diamonds with my own eyes!' Then suddenly he seized the cock, shut it into the basket, and rushed out of the house.

  His heavy wooden shoes clattered as he ran along the road, and he made such haste that the stars were only just beginning to come out when he reached the cave of the Holy Man.

  'Who is that knocking?' asked a voice from within.

  'It is me! It is me! Holy Man! you know! Father—'

  'But, my good fellow, you really should give some one else a chance. This is the third time you have been—and at such an hour, too!'

  'Oh, yes, Holy Man, I know it is very late, but you will forgive me! It is your cock—there is something the matter. It is like the basket. Look!'

  'THAT my cock? THAT my basket? Somebody has played you a trick, my good man!'

  'A trick?' repeated Father Grumbler, who began to understand what had happened. 'Then it must have been those two—'

  'I warned you not to s
how them to anybody,' said the Holy Man. 'You deserve—but I will give you one more chance.' And, turning, he unhooked something from the wall.

  'When you wish to dust your own jacket or those of your friends,' he said, 'you have only got to say, "Flack, flick, switch, be quick," and you will see what happens. That is all I have to tell you.' And, smiling to himself, the Holy Man pushed Father Grumbler out of the cave.

  'Ah, I understand now,' muttered the good man, as he took the road home; 'but I think I have got you two rascals!' and he hurried on to the tavern with his basket under his arm, and the cock and the switch both inside.

  'Good evening, friends!' he said, as he entered the inn. 'I am very hungry, and should be glad if you would roast this cock for me as soon as possible. THIS cock and no other—mind what I say,' he went on. 'Oh, and another thing! You can light the fire with this basket. When you have done that I will show you something I have in my bag,' and, as he spoke, he tried to imitate the smile that the Holy Man had given HIM.

  These directions made the innkeeper's wife very uneasy. However, she said nothing, and began to roast the cock, while her husband did his best to make the man sleepy with wine, but all in vain.

  After dinner, which he did not eat without grumbling, for the cock was very tough, the man struck his hand on the table, and said: 'Now listen to me. Go and fetch my cock and my basket, at once. Do you hear?'

  'Your cock, and your basket, Father Grumbler? But you have just- -'

  'MY cock and MY basket!' interrupted he. 'And, if you are too deaf and too stupid to understand what that means, I have got something which may help to teach you.' And opening the bag, he cried: 'Flack, flick, switch, be quick.'

  And flack! flick! like lightening a white switch sprang out of the bag, and gave such hearty blows to the innkeeper and his wife, and to Father Grumbler into the bargain, that they all jumped as high as feathers when a mattress is shaken.

  'Stop! stop! make it stop, and you shall have back your cock and basket,' cried the man and his wife. And Father Grumbler, who had no wish to go on, called out between his hops: 'Stop then, can't you? That is enough for to-day!'

  But the switch paid no attention, and dealt out its blows as before, and MIGHT have been dealing them to this day, if the Holy Man had not heard their cries and come to the rescue. 'Into the bag, quick!' said he, and the switch obeyed.

  'Now go and fetch me the cock and the basket,' and the woman went without a word, and placed them on the table.

  'You have all got what you deserved,' continued the Holy Man, 'and I have no pity for any of you. I shall take my treasures home, and perhaps some day I may find a man who knows how to make the best of the chances that are given to him. But that will never be YOU,' he added, turning to Father Grumbler.

  (From Contes Populaires.)

  The Story of the Yara

  *

  Down in the south, where the sun shines so hotly that everything and everybody sleeps all day, and even the great forests seem silent, except early in the morning and late in the evening—down in this country there once lived a young man and a maiden. The girl had been born in the town, and had scarcely ever left it; but the young man was a native of another country, and had only come to the city near the great river because he could find no work to do where he was.

  A few months after his arrival, when the days were cooler, and the people did not sleep so much as usual, a great feast was held a little way out of the town, and to this feast everyone flocked from thirty miles and more. Some walked and some rode, some came in beautiful golden coaches; but all had on splendid dresses of red or blue, while wreaths of flowers rested on their hair.

  It was the first time that the youth had been present on such an occasion, and he stood silently aside watching the graceful dances and the pretty games played by the young people. And as he watched, he noticed one girl, dressed in white with scarlet pomegranates in her hair, who seemed to him lovelier than all the rest.

  When the feast was over, and the young man returned home, his manner was so strange that it drew the attention of all his friends.

  Through his work next day the youth continued to see the girl's face, throwing the ball to her companions, or threading her way between them as she danced. At night sleep fled from him, and after tossing for hours on his bed, he would get up and plunge into a deep pool that lay a little way in the forest.

  This state of things went on for some weeks, then at last chance favoured him. One evening, as he was passing near the house where she lived, he saw her standing with her back to the wall, trying to beat off with her fan the attacks of a savage dog that was leaping at her throat. Alonzo, for such was his name, sprang forward, and with one blow of his fist stretched the creature dead upon the road. He then helped the frightened and half- fainting girl into the large cool verandah where her parents were sitting, and from that hour he was a welcome guest in the house, and it was not long before he was the promised husband of Julia.

  Every day, when his work was done, he used to go up to the house, half hidden among flowering plants and brilliant creepers, where humming-birds darted from bush to bush, and parrots of all colours, red and green and grey, shrieked in chorus. There he would find the maiden waiting for him, and they would spend an hour or two under the stars, which looked so large and bright that you felt as if you could almost touch them.

  'What did you do last night after you went home?' suddenly asked the girl one evening.

  'Just the same as I always do,' answered he. 'It was too hot to sleep, so it was no use going to bed, and I walked straight of to the forest and bathed in one of those deep dark pools at the edge of the river. I have been there constantly for several months, but last night a strange thing happened. I was taking my last plunge, when I heard—sometimes from one side, and sometimes from another—the sound of a voice singing more sweetly than any nightingale, though I could not catch any words. I left the pool, and, dressing myself as fast as I could, I searched every bush and tree round the water, as I fancied that perhaps it was my friend who was playing a trick on me, but there was not a creature to be seen; and when I reached home I found my friend fast asleep.'

  As Julia listened her face grew deadly white, and her whole body shivered as if with cold. From her childhood she had heard stories of the terrible beings that lived in the forests and were hidden under the banks of the rivers, and could only be kept off by powerful charms. Could the voice which had bewitched Alonzo have come from one of these? Perhaps, who knows, it might be the voice of the dreaded Yara herself, who sought young men on the eve of their marriage as her prey.

  For a moment the girl sat choked with fear, as these thoughts rushed through her; then she said: 'Alonzo, will you promise something?'

  'What is that?' asked he.

  'It is something that has to do with our future happiness.'

  'Oh! it is serious, then? Well, of course I promise. Now tell me!'

  'I want you to promise,' she answered, lowering her voice to a whisper, 'never to bathe in those pools again.'

  'But why not, queen of my soul; have I not gone there always, and nothing has harmed me, flower of my heart?'

  'No; but perhaps something will. If you will not promise I shall go mad with fright. Promise me.'

  'Why, what is the matter? You look so pale! Tell me why you are so frightened?'

  'Did you not hear the song?' she asked, trembling.

  'Suppose I did, how could that hurt me? It was the loveliest song I ever heard!'

  'Yes, and after the song will come the apparition; and after that— after that—'

  'I don't understand. Well—after that?'

  'After that—death.'

  Alonzo stared at her. Had she really gone mad? Such talk was very unlike Julia; but before he could collect his senses the girl spoke again:

  'That is the reason why I implore you never to go there again; at any rate till after we are married.'

  'And what difference will our marriage make?'

/>   'Oh, there will be no danger then; you can go to bathe as often as you like!'

  'But tell me why you are so afraid?'

  'Because the voice you heard—I know you will laugh, but it is quite true—it was the voice of the Yara.'

  At these words Alonzo burst into a shout of laughter; but it sounded so harsh and loud that Julia shrank away shuddering. It seemed as if he could not stop himself, and the more he laughed the paler the poor girl became, murmuring to herself as she watched him:

  'Oh, heaven! you have seen her! you have seen her! what shall I do?'

  Faint as was her whisper, it reached the ears of Alonzo, who, though he still could not speak for laughing, shook his head.

  'You may not know it, but it is true. Nobody who has not seen the Yara laughs like that.' And Julia flung herself on the ground weeping bitterly.

  At this sight Alonzo became suddenly grave, and kneeling by her side, gently raised her up.

  'Do not cry so, my angel,' he said, 'I will promise anything you please. Only let me see you smile again.'

  With a great effort Julia checked her sobs, and rose to her feet.

  'Thank you,' she answered. 'My heart grows lighter as you say that! I know you will try to keep your word and to stay away from the forest. But—the power of the Yara is very strong, and the sound of her voice is apt to make men forget everything else in the world. Oh, I have seen it, and more than one betrothed maiden lives alone, broken-hearted. If ever you should return to the pool where you first heard the voice, promise me that you will at least take this with you.' And opening a curiously carved box, she took out a sea-shell shot with many colours, and sang a song softly into it. 'The moment you hear the Yara's voice,' said she, 'put this to your ear, and you will hear my song instead. Perhaps—I do not know for certain—but perhaps, I may be stronger than the Yara.'