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THE JUNIOR CLASSICS

THE WONDERFUL HAIR

By W. S. Karajich

THERE once lived a man who was very poor, and who had many children; so
many that he was unable to support them. As he could not endure the
idea of their perishing of hunger, he was often tempted to destroy
them; his wife alone prevented him. One night, as he lay asleep, there
appeared to him a lovely child in a vision. The child said-

"Oh, man! I see your soul is in danger, in the thought of killing your
helpless children. But I know you are poor, and am come here to help
you. You will find under your pillow in the morning a looking-glass, a
red handkerchief, and an embroidered scarf. Take these three things,
but show them to no one, and go to the forest. In that forest you will
find a rivulet. Walk by the side of this rivulet until you come to its
source; there you will see a girl, as bright as the sun, with long hair
streaming down her shoulders. Take care that she does you no harm.
Say not a word to her; for if you utter a single syllable, she will
change you into a fish or some other creature, and eat you. Should she
ask you to comb her hair, obey her. As you comb it, you will find one
hair as red as blood; pull it out, and run away with it. Be swift, for
she will follow you. Then throw on the ground, first the embroidered
scarf, then the red handkerchief, and last of all the looking-glass;
they will delay her pursuit of you. Sell the hair to some rich man;
but see that you do not allow yourself to be cheated, for it is of
boundless worth. Its produce will make you rich and thus you will be
able to feed your children."

Next morning, when the poor man awoke, he found under his pillow
exactly the things the child mad told him of in his dream. He went
immediately into the forest, and when he had discovered the rivulet he
walked by the side of it, on and on, until he reached its source.
There he saw a girl sitting on the bank, threading a needle with the
rays of the sun. She was embroidering a net made of the hair of
heroes, spread on a frame before her. He approached and bowed to her.
The girl got up and demanded-

"Where did you come from, strange knight?"

The man remained silent. Again she asked him-

"Who are you, and why do you come here?" And many other questions.
But he remained silent as a stone, indicating with his hands only that
he was dumb and in need of help. She told him to sit at her feet, and
when he had gladly done so, she inclined her head toward him, that he
might comb her hair. He began to arrange her hair as if to comb it,
but as soon as he had found the red one, he separated it from the rest,
plucked it out, leaped up, and ran from her with his utmost speed.

The girl sprang after him, and was soon at his heels. The man, turning
round as he ran, and seeing that his pursuer would soon overtake him,
threw the embroidered scarf on the ground, as he had been told. When
the girl saw it, she stopped and began to examine it; turning it over
on both sides, and admiring the embroidery. Meanwhile the man gained a
considerable distance in advance. The girl tied the scarf round her
bosom and recommenced the pursuit. When the man saw that she was again
about to overtake him, he threw down the red handkerchief. At the
sight of it, the girl again stopped, examined, and wondered at it; the
peasant, in the meantime, was again enabled to increase the distance
between them. When the girl perceived this, she became furious, and
throwing away both scarf and handkerchief began to run with increased
speed after him. She was just upon the point of catching the poor
peasant, when he threw the looking-glass at her feet. At the sight of
the looking-glass, the like of which she had never seen before, the
girl checked herself, picked it up, and looked in it. Seeing her own
face, she fancied there was another girl looking at her. While she was
thus occupied the man ran so far that she could not possibly overtake
him. When the girl saw that further pursuit was useless, she turned
back, and the peasant, joyful and unhurt, reached his home. Once
within doors he showed the hair to his wife and children, and told them
all that had happened to him; but his wife only laughed at the Story.
The peasant, however, took no heed of her ridicule, but went to a
neighboring town to sell the hair. He was soon surrounded by a crowd
of people, and some merchants began to bid for his prize. One merchant
offered him one gold piece, another two, for the single hair, and so
on, until the price rose to a hundred gold pieces. Meanwhile the king,
hearing of the wonderful red hair, ordered the peasant to be called in,
and offered him a thousand gold pieces for it. The man joyfully sold
it for that sum.

What wonderful kind of hair was this after all? The king split it
carefully open from end to end, and in it was found the story of many
marvelous secrets of nature, and of things that had happened since the
creation of the world.

Thus the peasant became rich, and henceforth lived happily with his
wife and children. The child he had seen in his dream, was an angel
sent down from heaven to succor him, and to reveal to mankind the
knowledge of many wonderful things which had hitherto remained
unexplained.

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 THE JUNIOR CLASSICS
THE WONDERFUL HAIR

By W. S. Karajich

THERE once lived a man who was very poor, and who had many children; so
many that he was unable to support them. As he could not endure the
idea of their perishing of hunger, he was often tempted to destroy
them; his wife alone prevented him. One night, as he lay asleep, there
appeared to him a lovely child in a vision. The child said-

"Oh, man! I see your soul is in danger, in the thought of killing your
helpless children. But I know you are poor, and am come here to help
you. You will find under your pillow in the morning a looking-glass, a
red handkerchief, and an embroidered scarf. Take these three things,
but show them to no one, and go to the forest. In that forest you will
find a rivulet. Walk by the side of this rivulet until you come to its
source; there you will see a girl, as bright as the sun, with long hair
streaming down her shoulders. Take care that she does you no harm.
Say not a word to her; for if you utter a single syllable, she will
change you into a fish or some other creature, and eat you. Should she
ask you to comb her hair, obey her. As you comb it, you will find one
hair as red as blood; pull it out, and run away with it. Be swift, for
she will follow you. Then throw on the ground, first the embroidered
scarf, then the red handkerchief, and last of all the looking-glass;
they will delay her pursuit of you. Sell the hair to some rich man;
but see that you do not allow yourself to be cheated, for it is of
boundless worth. Its produce will make you rich and thus you will be
able to feed your children."

Next morning, when the poor man awoke, he found under his pillow
exactly the things the child mad told him of in his dream. He went
immediately into the forest, and when he had discovered the rivulet he
walked by the side of it, on and on, until he reached its source.
There he saw a girl sitting on the bank, threading a needle with the
rays of the sun. She was embroidering a net made of the hair of
heroes, spread on a frame before her. He approached and bowed to her.
The girl got up and demanded-

"Where did you come from, strange knight?"

The man remained silent. Again she asked him-

"Who are you, and why do you come here?" And many other questions.
But he remained silent as a stone, indicating with his hands only that
he was dumb and in need of help. She told him to sit at her feet, and
when he had gladly done so, she inclined her head toward him, that he
might comb her hair. He began to arrange her hair as if to comb it,
but as soon as he had found the red one, he separated it from the rest,
plucked it out, leaped up, and ran from her with his utmost speed.
The girl sprang after him, and was soon at his heels. The man, turning
round as he ran, and seeing that his pursuer would soon overtake him,
threw the embroidered scarf on the ground, as he had been told. When
the girl saw it, she stopped and began to examine it; turning it over
on both sides, and admiring the embroidery. Meanwhile the man gained a
considerable distance in advance. The girl tied the scarf round her
bosom and recommenced the pursuit. When the man saw that she was again
about to overtake him, he threw down the red handkerchief. At the
sight of it, the girl again stopped, examined, and wondered at it; the
peasant, in the meantime, was again enabled to increase the distance
between them. When the girl perceived this, she became furious, and
throwing away both scarf and handkerchief began to run with increased
speed after him. She was just upon the point of catching the poor
peasant, when he threw the looking-glass at her feet. At the sight of
the looking-glass, the like of which she had never seen before, the
girl checked herself, picked it up, and looked in it. Seeing her own
face, she fancied there was another girl looking at her. While she was
thus occupied the man ran so far that she could not possibly overtake
him. When the girl saw that further pursuit was useless, she turned
back, and the peasant, joyful and unhurt, reached his home. Once
within doors he showed the hair to his wife and children, and told them
all that had happened to him; but his wife only laughed at the Story.
The peasant, however, took no heed of her ridicule, but went to a
neighboring town to sell the hair. He was soon surrounded by a crowd
of people, and some merchants began to bid for his prize. One merchant
offered him one gold piece, another two, for the single hair, and so
on, until the price rose to a hundred gold pieces. Meanwhile the king,
hearing of the wonderful red hair, ordered the peasant to be called in,
and offered him a thousand gold pieces for it. The man joyfully sold
it for that sum.

What wonderful kind of hair was this after all? The king split it
carefully open from end to end, and in it was found the story of many
marvelous secrets of nature, and of things that had happened since the
creation of the world.

Thus the peasant became rich, and henceforth lived happily with his
wife and children. The child he had seen in his dream, was an angel
sent down from heaven to succor him, and to reveal to mankind the
knowledge of many wonderful things which had hitherto remained
unexplained.

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THE JUNIOR CLASSICS

THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS
By W. S. Karajich

A CERTAIN man had a shepherd who had served him faithfully and honestly
for many years. One day, as the Shepherd was tending his sheep, he
heard a hissing noise in the forest, and wondered what it could he. He
went, therefore, into the wood in the direction of the sound, to learn
what it was. There he saw that the dry grass and leaves had caught
fire, and in the middle of a burning circle a Snake was hissing. The
Shepherd stopped to see what the Snake would do, for the fire was
burning all around it, and the flames approached it nearer and nearer
every moment. Then the Snake cried from amid the fire-

"Oh, Shepherd! for heaven's sake save me from this fire!"

The Shepherd stretched out his crook over the flames to the Snake, and
the Snake passed along it on to his hand, and from his hand it crawled
to his neck, where it twisted itself round.

When the Shepherd perceived this, he was greatly alarmed, and said to
the Snake-

"What have I done in an evil hour? Have I saved you to my own

destruction?"

The Snake answered him, "Fear not, but carry me to my father's house.
My father is the King of the snakes."

The Shepherd, however, began to beg the Snake to excuse him, saying
that he could not leave the sheep; but the Snake answered-

"Be not troubled about the sheep; no harm shall happen to them; only go
as fast as you can."

The Shepherd then walked through the forest with the Snake until he
came to a gate which was entirely made of snakes knotted together.
There the Snake on the Shepherd's neck gave a whistle, and all the
other snakes untwisted themselves. Then the Snake said to the
Shepherd-

"When we come to my father's palace he will give you whatever you ask
for: silver, gold, and precious stones. Do you, however, take nothing
of these, but beg to know the language of the brutes and other
creatures. He will refuse you this for a long time, but at last he
will grant your request."

Meanwhile they came to the palace, to the father, who, shedding many
tears, cried-
"For heaven's sake! my dearest daughter, where have you been?"

And she told him in due order how she had been surrounded by the forest
fire, and how the Shepherd had rescued her. Then the King of the
snakes turned to the Shepherd and said to him-

"What would you have me give you for the deliverance of my daughter?"

The Shepherd answered, "Only let me understand the language of animals;

I want nothing else."

Then the King said, "That is not good for you; for if I were to bestow
upon you the gift of the knowledge of the tongue of animals, and you
were to tell anyone of it, you would instantly die. Ask, therefore,
for something else; whatever you desire to possess, I will give to
you."

To which the Shepherd replied-

"If you wish to give me anything, then grant me the knowledge of the
language of brute creatures; but if you do not care to give me that-
farewell, and God protect you! I want nothing else." And the Shepherd
turned to leave the place.

Then the King called him back, saying-

"Stay! come here to me, since you will have it at all hazards. Open
your mouth."

The Shepherd opened his mouth, and the King of the snakes breathed into
it, and said-

"Do you now breathe into my mouth."

The Shepherd breathed into his mouth, and the Snake King breathed again
into that of the Shepherd. After they had breathed each three times
into the other's mouth, the King said-

"Now you understand the language of animals, and of all created things.
Go in peace, and God be with you! but for the life of you, tell no one
of this; if you do, you will die on the instant!"

The Shepherd returned home through the forest. As he walked he heard

and understood all that the birds said, and the grass and all the other
things that are upon the earth. When he came to his sheep and found
them all together and quite safe, he laid himself down to rest.
Scarcely had he lain down when there flew two ravens toward him, who
took their perch upon a tree, and began to talk together in their own
language.

"What if that Shepherd only knew that underneath the place where the
black lamb lies there is a cellar full of silver and gold!'

When the Shepherd heard this, he went to his master, and told him of
it. The master took a cart with him, and they dug down to a door
leading to the cave, and removed the treasure to his house. But the
master was an honest man, and gave all the treasure to the Shepherd,
saying-

"My son, all this treasure is yours, for heaven has given it to you.
Buy yourself a house with it, marry, and live happily in it."

The Shepherd took the treasure, built himself a house, and, having
married, lived a happy life. Soon he became known as the richest man,
not only in his own village, but so rich that there was not his equal
in the whole neighborhood. He had his own shepherd, cow keeper,
hostler, and swineherd; plenty of goods and chattels, and great riches.

One day, just before Christmas, he said to his wife, "Get some wine,
and some brandy, and all things necessary; to-morrow we will go to the
farmyard and take the good things to the shepherds that they may also
enjoy themselves."

The wife followed his directions and prepared all that he had told her.
When they arrived on the following day at the farmhouse, the master
said to the shepherds in the evening--

"Come here, all of you; eat, drink, and be merry. I will watch over
the flocks for you to-night." And he went, in very deed, and remained
with the flocks.

About midnight the wolves began to howl and the dogs to bark, and the
wolves said in their language-

"May we come in and do what mischief we like? Then you, too, shall
have your share."

And the dogs answered in their language, "Come in; and we will eat our
fill with you."

But among the dogs there was an old one, who had but two teeth in his
head, and he said to the wolves-

"That will not do. So long as I have my two teeth in my head you shall
do no harm to my master nor his."

The master heard it all, and understood what was said. On the
following morning he ordered all the dogs to be killed save only the
old one. The hinds said, "Heaven forbid, sir; that would be a great
pity!" But the master answered, "Do what I have told you."

Then he prepared to return home with his wife, and they both mounted
their horses. And as they rode on, the husband got a little ahead,
while the wife fell behind. At last the husband's horse neighed, and
called to the mare-

"Come on! make haste! Why do you lag behind!"

And the mare answered him, "Ah yes, it is all very easy for you: you
have only one to carry, the master; while I have to carry two, the
mistress and her baby."

The husband turned round and laughed, and his wife seeing this, urged
the mare forward, overtook her husband, and asked him what he had been
laughing at.

"Nothing; I do not know; just something that came into my mind,"

answered the husband.

But the wife was not satisfied with this answer, and she pressed him
again and again to tell her why he had laughed.

But he excused himself, and said-

"Let me alone, wife! What is the matter with you? I do not know
myself why I laughed."

But the more he denied her the more she insisted upon his telling her
what he had been laughing at. At last the husband said to her-

"Know then, that if I tell you the reason, I shall instantly die."

The woman, however, did not care for that, but urged him to tell her
notwithstanding.

Meanwhile they had reached home. The husband ordered a coffin to be

made immediately, and when it was ready he had it placed before the
house, and said to his wife-

"See now, I now lay me down in this coffin, and then tell you why I
laughed; but as soon as I have told you I shall die."

The husband lay down in the coffin, and looked around him for the last
time. And there came the old Dog from the farmyard, and sat down at
his head and whined. The husband seeing this, said to his wife-
"Bring a piece of bread and give it to this Dog."

The wife brought out a piece of bread, and threw it down to the Dog;
but the Dog would not even look at it. Then the House Cock ran up, and
began to pick at the bread; and the Dog said to it-

"You miserable greedy thing, you! You can eat, and yet you see that
the master is going to die!"

The Cock answered the Dog, "And let him die since he is such a fool. I
have a hundred wives, and I call them all together whenever I find a
grain of corn, and as soon as they have come round me, I swallow it
myself. And if any one of them got angry, I should be at her directly
with my beak. The master has only one wife, and he cannot even manage
her."

When the husband heard this he quickly sprang out of the coffin, took
up a stick, and called his wife into the room.

"Come, wife," he said, "I will tell you what you so much want to hear."

Then as he beat her with the stick he cried, "This is it, wife! This
is it."

In this way he quieted his wife, and she never asked him again what he
had been laughing at.

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THE JUNIOR CLASSICS

THE EMPEROR TROJAN'S GOAT'S EARS

By W. S. Karajich

THERE once lived an emperor whose name was Trojan. This emperor had
goat's ears, and he used to call in barber after barber to shave him.
But whoever went in never came out again; for while the barber was
shaving him, the emperor would ask what he observed uncommon in him,
and when the barber would answer that he observed his goat's ears, the
Emperor would immediately cut him into pieces.

At last it came to the turn of a certain barber to go who feigned

illness, and sent his apprentice instead. When the apprentice appeared
before the emperor he was asked why his master did not come, and he
answered, "Because he is ill." Then the emperor sat down, and allowed
the youth to shave him.
As he shaved him the apprentice noticed the emperor's goat's ears, but
when Trojan asked him what he had observed, he answered, "I have
observed nothing."

Then the emperor gave him twelve ducats, and said to him-

"From this time forth you shall always come and shave me.

When the apprentice came home, his master asked him how he got on at
the emperor's, and the youth answered--

"All well; and the emperor has told me that I am to shave him in
future."

Then he showed the twelve ducats he had received; but as to the

emperor's goat's ears, of that he said nothing.

>From this time forth the apprentice went regularly to Trojan to shave
him, and for each shaving he received twelve ducats; but he told no one
that the emperor had goat's ears.

At last it began to worry and torment him that he dare tell no one his
secret; and he became sick and began to pine away. His master, who
could not fail to observe this, asked him what ailed him, and after
much pressing the apprentice confessed that he had something on his
heart which he dared not confide to anyone, and he added, "If I could
only tell it to somebody, I should feel better at once."

Then said the master-

"Tell it to me, and I will faithfully keep it from everybody else; or

if you fear to trust me with it, then go to the confessor and confide
it to him; but if you will not do even that, then go into the fields
outside the town, there dig a hole, thrust your head into it, and tell
the earth three times what you know, then throw the mold in again and
fill up the hole."

The apprentice chose the last course; went into the field outside the
city, dug a hole, into which he thrust his head, and called out three
times-

"The Emperor Trojan has goat's ears."

Then he filled up the hole again, and with his mind quite relieved went
home.

When some time had passed by, there sprang an elder tree out of this
very hole, and three slender sterns grew up, beautiful and straight as
tapers. Some shepherds found this elder, cut off one of the stems, and
made a pipe of it. But as soon as they began to blow into the new
pipe, out burst the words:

"The Emperor Trojan has goat's ears!"

The news of this strange occurrence spread immediately through the

whole city, and at last the Emperor Trojan himself heard the children
blowing on a pipe:

"The Emperor Trojan has goat's ears!"

He sent instantly for the barber's apprentice, and shouted to him-

"Heh! what is this you have been telling the people about me."

The poor youth began at once to explain that he had indeed noticed the
emperor's ears, but had never told a soul of it. The emperor tore his
saber out of its sheath to hew the apprentice down, at which the youth
was so frightened that he told the whole story in its order: how he had
confessed himself to the earth; how an elder tree had sprang up on the
very spot; and how, when a pipe was made of one of its sterns, the tale
was sounded in every direction.

Then the emperor took the apprentice with him in a carriage to the
place, to convince himself of the truth of the story; and when they
arrived there they found there was only a single stem left. The
Emperor Trojan ordered a pipe to be made out of this stem, that he
might hear how it sounded. As soon as the pipe was ready, and one of
them blew into it, out poured the words:

"The Emperor Trojan has goat's ears!"

Then the emperor was convinced that nothing on this earth could be
hidden, spared the barber apprentices life, and henceforth allowed any
barber, without exception, to come and shave him.

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THE JUNIOR CLASSICS

MANABOZHO, THE MISCHIEF-MAKER

Adapted from H. R. Schoolcraft

THERE was never in the whole world a more mischievous busybody than
that notorious giant Manabozho. He was everywhere, in season and out
of season, running about, and putting his hand in whatever was going
forward.

To carry on his game he could take almost any shape he pleased. He

could be very foolish or very wise, very weak or very strong, very rich
or very poor-just as happened to suit his humor best. Whatever anyone
else could do, he would attempt without a moment's reflection. He was
a match for any man he met, and there were few manitoes* (*good
spirits or evil spirits) that could get the better of him. By turns he
would be very kind or very cruel, an animal or a bird, a man or a
spirit, and yet, in spite of all these gifts, Manabozho was always
getting himself involved in all sorts of troubles. More than once, in
the course of his adventures, was this great maker of mischief driven
to his wits' ends to come off with his life.

To begin at the beginning, Manabozho, while yet a youngster, was living

with his grandmother near the edge of a great prairie. It was on this
prairie that he first saw animals and birds of every kind; he also
there made first acquaintance with thunder and lightning. He would sit
by the hour watching the clouds as they rolled by, musing on the shades
of light and darkness as the day rose and fell.

For a stripling, Manabozho was uncommonly wide-awake. Every sight he

beheld in the heavens was a subject of remark, every new animal or bird
an object of deep interest, and every sound was like a new lesson which
he was expected to learn. He often trembled at what he heard and saw.

The first sound he heard was that of the owl, at which he was greatly
terrified, and, quickly descending the tree he had climbed, he ran with
alarm to the lodge. "Noko! noko! grandmother!" he cried. "I have
heard a monedo."

She laughed at his fears, and asked him what kind of a noise it made.
He answered. "It makes a noise like this: ko-ko-ko-ho!"

His grandmother told him he was young and foolish; that what he heard
was only a bird which derived its name from the peculiar noise it made.

He returned to the prairie and continued his watch. As he stood there

looking at the clouds he thought to himself, "It is singular that I am
so simple and my grandmother so wise; and that I have neither father
nor mother. I have never heard a word about them. I must ask and find
out."

He went home and sat down, silent and dejected. Finding that this did
not attract the notice of his grandmother, he began a loud lamentation,
which he kept increasing, louder and louder, till it shook the lodge
and nearly deafened the old grandmother.

"Manabozho, what is the matter with you?" she said, "you are making a
great deal of noise."

Manabozho started off again with his doleful hubbub, but succeeded in
jerking out between his big sobs, "I haven't got any father nor mother,
I haven't."

Knowing that he was of a wicked and revengeful nature, his grandmother

dreaded to tell him the story of his parentage, as she knew he would
make trouble of it.

Manabozho renewed his cries and managed to throw out for a third or
fourth time, his sorrowful lament that he was a poor unfortunate who
had no parents or relatives.

At last she said to him, to quiet him, "Yes, you have a father and
three brothers living. Your mother is dead. She was taken for a wife
by your father, the West, without the consent of her parents. Your
brothers are the North, East, and South; and being older than you your
father has given them great power with the winds, according to their
names. You are the youngest of his children. I have nursed you from
your infancy, for your mother died when you were born."

"I am glad my father is living," said Manabozho, "I shall set out in
the morning to visit him."

His grandmother would have discouraged him, saying it was a long

distance to the place where his father, Ningabinn, or the West, lived.

This information seemed rather to please than to discourage Manabozho,

for by this time he had grown to such a size and strength that he had
been compelled to leave the narrow shelter of his grandmother's lodge
and live out of doors. He was so tall that, if he had been so
disposed, he could have snapped off the heads of the birds roosting on
the topmost branches of the highest trees, as he stood up, without
being at the trouble to climb. And if he had at any time taken a fancy
to one of the same trees for a walking stick, he would have had no more
to do than to pluck it up with his thumb and finger and strip down the
leaves and twigs with the palm of his hand.

Bidding good-by to his old grandmother, who pulled a very long face
over his departure, Manabozho set out at a great pace, for he was able
to stride from one side of a prairie to the other at a single step.

He found his father on a high mountain far in the west. His father
espied his approach at a great distance, and bounded down the
mountainside several miles to give him welcome. Apparently delighted
with each other, they reached in two or three of their giant paces the
lodge of the West which stood high up near the clouds.

They spent some days in talking with each other-for these two great
persons did nothing on a small scale, and a whole day to deliver a
single sentence, such was the immensity of their discourse, was quite
an ordinary affair.

One evening Manabozho asked his father what he was most afraid of on
earth.

He replied-"Nothing."

"But is there nothing you dread here-nothing that would hurt you if you
took too much of it? Come, tell me."

Manabozho was very urgent, so at last his father said: "Yes, there is a
black stone to be found a couple of hundred miles from here, over that
way," pointing as he spoke. "It is the only thing on earth I am afraid
of, for if it should happen to hit me on any part of my body it would
hurt me very much." The West made this important circumstance known to
Manabozho in the strictest confidence.

"Now you will not tell anyone, Manabozho, that the black stone is bad
medicine for your father, will you?" he added. "You are a good son,
and I know you will keep it to yourself. Now tell me, my darling boy,
is there not something that you don't like?"

Manabozho answered promptly-"Nothing."

His father, who was of a steady and persevering nature, put the same
question to him seventeen times, and each time Manabozho made the same
answer-' 'Nothing."

But the West insisted-"There must be something you are afraid of."

"Well, I will tell you," said Manabozho, "what it is."

He made an effort to speak, but it seemed to be too much for him.

"Out with it," said the West, fetching Manabozho such a blow on the
back as shook the mountain with its echo.

"Je-ee, je-ee-it is," said Manabozho, apparently in great pain. "Yes,

yes! I cannot name it, I tremble so."

The West told him to banish his fears, and to speak up; no one would
hurt him. Manabozho began again, and he would have gone over the same
make-believe of pain, had not his father, whose strength he knew was
more than a match for his own, threatened to pitch him into a river
about five miles off. At last he cried out:

"Father, since you will know, it is the root of the bulrush." He who
could with perfect ease spin a sentence a whole day long, seemed to be
exhausted by the effort of pronouncing that one word, "bulrush."

Some time after Manabozho observed: "I will get some of the black rock,
merely to see how it looks."

"Well," said the father, "I will also get a little of the bulrush root,
to learn how it tastes."

They were both double-dealing with each other, and in their hearts
getting ready for some desperate work. They had no sooner separated
for the evening than Manabozho was striding off the couple of hundred
miles necessary to bring him to the place where the black rock was to
be procured, while down the other side of the mountain hurried
Ningabinn, the West.

At the break of day they each appeared at the great level on the
mountain-top, Manabozho with twenty loads, at least, of the black
stone, on one side, and on the other the West, with a whole meadow of
bulrush in his arms.

Manabozho was the first to strike-hurling a great piece of the black

rock, which struck the West directly between the eyes, and he returned
the favor with a blow of bulrush that rung over the shoulders of
Manabozho, far and wide, like the long lash of the lightning among the
clouds.

First one and then the other, Manabozho poured in a tempest of black
rock, while the West discharged a shower of bulrush. Blow upon blow,
thwack upon thwack-they fought hand to hand until black rock and
bulrush were all gone. Then they betook themselves to hurling crags at
each other, cudgeling with huge oak trees, and defying each other from
one mountain top to another; while at times they shot enormous boulders
of granite across at each other's heads, as though they had been mere
jackstones. The battle, which had commenced on the mountains, had
extended far west. The West was forced to give ground. Manabozho
pressing on, drove him across rivers and mountains, ridges and lakes,
till at last he got him to the very brink of the world.

"Hold!" cried the West. "My son, you know my power, and although I
allow I am now fairly out of breath, it is impossible to kill me. Stop
where you are, and I will also portion you out with as much power as
your brothers. The four quarters of the globe are already occupied,
but you can go and do a great deal of good to the people of the earth,
which is beset with serpents, beasts and monsters, who make great havoc
of human life. Go and do good, and if you put forth half the strength
you have to-day, you will acquire a name that will last forever. When
you have finished your work I will have a place provided for you. You
will then go and sit with your brother, Kabinocca, in the north."
Manabozho gave his father his hand upon this agreement. And parting
from. him, he returned to his own grounds, where he lay for some time
sore of his wounds.

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THE JUNIOR CLASSICS

THE BOY AND THE WOLVES

Retold by Andrew Lang

ONCE upon a time an Indian hunter built himself a house in the middle
of a great forest, far away from all his tribe; for his heart was
gentle and kind and he was weary of the treachery and cruel deeds of
those who had been his friends. So he left them and took his wife and
three children, and they journeyed on until they found a spot near to a
clear stream, where they began to cut down trees and to make ready
their wigwam. For many years they lived peacefully and happily in this
sheltered place, never leaving it except to hunt the wild animals,
which served them both for food and clothes. At last, however, the
strong man fell sick, and before long lie knew he must die. So he
gathered his family round him and said his last words to them.

"You, my wife, the companion of my days, will follow me ere many moons
have waned to the island of the blessed. But for you, 0 my children,
whose lives are but newly begun, the wickedness, unkindness, and
ingratitude from which I fled are before you. Yet I shall go hence in
peace, my children, if you will promise always to love each other and
never to forsake your youngest brother."

"Never!" they replied, holding out their hands. And the hunter died
content.

Scarcely eight moons had passed when, just as he had said, the wife
went forth and followed her husband; but before leaving her children
she bade the two elder ones think of their promise never to forsake the
younger, for he was a child and weak. And while the snow lay thick
upon the ground they tended him and cherished him; but when the earth
showed green again the heart of the young man stirred within him, and
he longed to see the wigwams of the village where his father's youth
was spent.

Therefore he opened all his heart to his sister, who answered: "My
brother, I understand your longing for our fellow-men, whom here we
cannot see. But remember our father's words. Shall we not seek our
own pleasures and forget the little one?"

But he would not listen, and, making no reply, he took his bow and
arrows and left the hut. The snows fell and melted, yet he never
returned, and at last the heart of the girl grew cold and hard and her
little boy became a burden in her eyes, till one day she spoke thus to
him: "See, there is food for many days to come. Stay here within the
shelter of the hut. I go to seek our brother, and when I have found
him I shall return hither."

But when, after hard journeying, she reached the village where her
brother dwelt and saw that he had a wife and was happy, and when she,
too, was sought by a young brave, then she also forgot the boy alone in
the forest and thought only of her husband.

Now as soon as the little boy had eaten all the food which his sister
had left him, he went out into the woods and gathered berries and dug
up roots, and while the sun shone he was contented and had his fill.
But when the snows began and the wind howled, then his stomach felt
empty and his limbs cold, and he hid in trees all the night and only
crept out to eat what the wolves had left behind. And by and by,
having no other friends, he sought their company, and sat by while they
devoured their prey, and they grew to know him and gave him food. And
without them he would have died in the snow. But at last the snows
melted and the ice upon the great lake, and as the wolves went down to
the shore the boy went after them. And it happened one day that his
big brother was fishing in his canoe near the shore, and he heard the
voice of a child singing in the Indian tone:

"My brother, my brother!

I am becoming a wolf,

I am becoming a wolf!"

And when he had so sung he howled as wolves howl. Then the heart of
the elder sank and he hastened toward him, crying: "Brother, little
brother, come to me;" but he, being half a wolf, only continued his
song. And the louder the elder called him, "Brother, little brother,
come to me," the swifter he fled after his brothers the wolves and the
heavier grew his skin, till, with a long howl, he vanished into the
depths of the forest.

So, with shame and anguish in his soul, the elder brother went back to
his village, and with his sister mourned the little boy and the broken
promise till the end of his life.

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THE JUNIOR CLASSICS

THE GOLDEN FISH
By L. M. Gask

UPON a certain island in the middle of the sea dwelt an old man and his
wife. They were so poor that they often went short of bread, for the
fish he caught were their only means of livelihood.

One day when the man had been fishing for many hours without success,
he hooked a small Gold Fish, whose eyes were bright as diamonds.

"Let me go, kind man," the little creature cried. "I should not make a
mouthful either for yourself or your wife, and my own mate waits for me
down in the waters."

The old man was so moved by his pleadings that he took him off the hook
and threw him back into the sea. Before he swam off to rejoin his
mate, the Gold Fish promised that in return for his kindness he would
come to the fisherman's help if ever he wanted him. Laughing merrily
at this, for he did not believe that a fish could help him except by
providing him with food, the old man went home and told his wife.

"What!" she cried, "you actually let him go when you had caught him?
It was just like your stupidity. We have not a scrap of bread in the
house, and now, I suppose, we must starve!"

Her reproaches continued for so long that though he scarcely believed

what the fish had said, the poor old man thought that at least it would
do no harm to put him to the test. He therefore hastened back to the
shore, and stood at the very edge of the waves.

"Golden Fish, Golden Fish!" he called. "Come to me, I pray, with your
tail in the water, and your head lifted up toward me!"

As the last word was uttered the Gold Fish popped up his head.

"You see I have kept my promise," he said. "What can I do for you, my
good friend?"

"There is not a scrap of bread in the house," quavered the old man,
"and my wife is very angry with me for letting you go.

"Don't trouble about that!" said the Gold Fish in an off-hand manner;
"you will find bread, and to spare, when you go home." And the old man
hurried away to see if his little friend had spoken truly.

Surely enough, he found that the pan was full of fine white loaves.

"I did not do so badly for you after all, good wife!" he said, as they
ate their supper; but his wife was anything but satisfied. The more
she had, the more she wanted, and she lay awake planning what they
should demand from the Gold Fish next.

"Wake up, you lazy man!" she cried to her husband, early next morning.
"Go down to the sea and tell your fish that I must have a new washtub."

The old man did as his wife bade him, and the moment he called the Gold
Fish reappeared. He seemed quite willing to grant the new request, and
on his return home the old man found a beautiful new washtub in the
small yard at the back of their cabin.

"Why didn't you ask for a new cabin too?" his wife said angrily. "If
you had had a grain of sense you would have done this without being
told. Go back at once, and say that we must have one.

The old man was rather ashamed to trouble his friend again so soon; but
the Gold Fish was as obliging as ever.

"Very well," he said, "a new cabin you shall have." And the old mart
found one so spick-and-span that he hardly dare cross the floor for
fear of soiling it. It would have pleased him greatly had his wife
been contented, but she, good woman, did nothing but grumble still.

"Tell your Gold Fish," she said next day, "that I want to be a duchess,
with many servants at my beck and call, and a splendid carriage to
drive in.

Once more her wish was granted, but now her husband's plight was hard
indeed. She would not let him share her palace, but ordered him off to
the stables, where he was forced to keep company with her grooms. In a
few days, however, he grew reconciled to his lot, for here he could
live in peace, while he learned that she was leading those around her a
terrible life, it was not long before she sent for him again.

"Summon the Gold Fish," she commanded haughtily, "and tell him I wish
to be Queen of the Waters, and to rule over all the fish."

The poor old man felt sorry for the fish if they had to be under her
rule, for prosperity had quite spoiled her. However, he dared not
disobey, and once more summoned his powerful friend.

"Make your wife the Queen of the Waters?" exclaimed the Gold Fish.
"That is the last thing I should do. She is unfit to reign, for she
cannot rule herself or her desires. I shall make her once more a poor
old woman. Adieu! You will see me no more."

The old man returned sorrowfully with this unpleasant message, to find
the palace transformed into a humble cabin, and his wife in a skirt of
threadbare stuff in place of the rich brocade which she had worn of
late. She was sad and humble, and much more easy to live with than she
had been before. Her husband therefore had occasion many times to
think gratefully of the Gold Fish, and sometimes when drawing up his
net the glint of the sun upon the scales of his captives would give him
a moment's hope-which, alas! was as often disappointed-that once again
he was to see his benefactor.

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THE JUNIOR CLASSICS

THE WITCH IN THE STONE BOAT

Retold by Andrew Lang

THERE was once a king and queen, and they had a son called Sigurd, who
was very strong and active and good-looking. When the king came to be
bowed down with the weight of years he spoke to his son, and said that
now it was time for him to look out for a fitting match for himself,
for he did not know how long he might last now, and he would like to
see him married before he died.

Sigurd was not averse to this and asked his father where he thought it
best to look for a wife. The king answered that in a certain country
there was a king who had a beautiful daughter, and he thought it would
be most desirable if Sigurd could get her. So the two parted, and
Sigurd prepared for the journey and went to where his father had
directed him.

He came to the king and asked his daughters hand, which was readily
granted him, but only on the condition that he should remain there as
long as he could, for the king himself was not strong and not very able
to govern his kingdom. Sigurd accepted this condition, but added that
he would have to get leave to go home again to his own country when he
heard news of his father's death. After that Sigurd married the
princess and helped his father-in-law to govern the kingdom. He and
the princess loved each other dearly, and after a year a son came to
them, who was two years old when word came to Sigurd that his father
was dead. Sigurd now prepared to return home with his wife and child
and went on board ship to go by sea.

They had sailed for several days, when the breeze suddenly fell and
there came a dead calm at a time when they needed only one day's voyage
to reach home. Sigurd and his queen were one day on deck when most of
the others on the ship had fallen asleep. There they sat and talked
for a while, and had their little son along with them. After a time
Sigurd became so heavy with sleep that he could no longer keep awake,
so he went below and lay down, leaving the queen alone on the deck
playing with her son.

A good while after Sigurd had gone below the queen saw something black
on the sea which seemed to be coming nearer. As it approached she
could make out that it was a boat and could see the figure of some one
sitting in it and rowing it. At last the boat came alongside the ship,
and now the queen saw that it was a stone boat, out of which there came
on board the ship a fearfully ugly witch. The queen was more
frightened than words can describe, and could neither speak a word nor
move from the place so as to awaken the king or the sailors. The witch
came right up to the queen, took the child from her, and laid it on the
deck; then she took the queen and stripped her of all her fine clothes,
which she proceeded to put on herself and looked then like a human
being. Last of all she took the queen, put her into the boat and said:

"This spell I lay upon you, that you slacken not your course until you
come to my brother in the under world."

The queen sat stunned and motionless, but the boat at once shot away
from the ship with her, and before long she was out of sight.

When the boat could no longer be seen the child began to cry, and
though the witch tried to quiet it she could not manage it; so, with
the child on her arm, she went below to where the king was sleeping,
and awakened him, scolding him for leaving them alone on deck while he
and all the crew were asleep. It was great carelessness of him, she
said, to leave no one to watch the ship with her.

Sigurd was greatly surprised to hear his queen scold him so much, for
she had never said an angry word to him before; but he thought it was
quite excusable in this case, and tried to quiet the child along with
her but it was no use. Then he went and wakened the sailors and bade
them hoist the sails, for a breeze had sprung up and was blowing
straight toward the harbor.

They soon reached the land which Sigurd was to rule over, and found all
the people sorrowful for the old king's death, but they became glad
when they got Sigurd back to the court, and made him king over them.

The king's son, however, hardly ever stopped crying from the time he
had been taken from his mother on the deck of the ship, although he had
always been such a good child before, so that at last the king had to
get a nurse for him-one of the maids of the court. As soon as the
child got into her charge he stopped crying and behaved as well as
before.

After the sea voyage it seemed to the king that the queen had altered
very much in many ways, and not for the better. He thought her much
more haughty and stubborn and difficult to deal with than she used to
be. Before long others began to notice this as well as the king. In
the court there were two young fellows, one of eighteen years old, the
other of nineteen, who were very fond of playing chess and often sat
long inside playing at it. Their room was next the queen's, and often
during the day they heard the queen talking.

One day they paid more attention than usual when they heard her talk,
and put their ears close to a crack in the wall between the rooms, and
heard the queen say quite plainly: 'When I yawn a little, then I am a
nice little maiden: when I yawn halfway, then I am half a troll; and
when I yawn fully then I am a troll altogether."

As she said this she yawned tremendously, and in a moment had put on
the appearance of a fearfully ugly troll. Then there came up through
the floor of the room a three-headed giant with a trough full of meat,
who saluted her as his sister and set down the trough before her. She
began to eat out of it and never stopped till she had finished it. The
young fellows saw all this going on, but did not hear the two of them
say anything to each other. They were astonished, though, at how
greedily the queen devoured the meat and how much she ate of it, and
were no longer surprised that she took so little when she sat at table
with the king. As soon as she had finished it the giant disappeared
with the trough by the same way as he had come, and the queen returned
to her human shape.

Now we must go back to the king's son after he had been put in charge
of the nurse. One evening. after she had lit a candle and was holding
the child, several planks sprang up in the floor of the room, and out
at the opening came a beautiful woman dressed in white, with an iron
belt round her waist, to which was fastened an iron chain that went
down into the ground. The woman came up to the nurse, took the child
from her, and pressed it to her breast; then she gave it back to the
nurse and returned by the same way as she had come, and the floor
closed over her again. Although the woman had not spoken a single word
to her, the nurse was very much frightened, but told no one about it.

Next evening the same thing happened again, just as before, but as the
woman was going away she said in a sad tone, "Two are gone and one only
is left," and then disappeared as before. The nurse was still more
frightened when she heard the woman say this, and thought that perhaps
some danger was hanging over the child, though she had no ill opinion
of the unknown woman, who, indeed, had behaved toward the child as if
it were her own. The most mysterious thing was the woman saying "and
only one is left"; but the nurse guessed that this must mean that only
one day was left, since she had come for two days already.

At last the nurse made up her mind to go to the king. She told him the
whole story and asked him to be present in person the next day about
the time when the woman usually came. The king promised to do so, and
came to the nurse's room a little before the time and sat down on a
chair with his drawn sword in his hand. Soon after the planks in the
floor sprang up as before, and the woman came up, dressed in white,
with the iron belt and chain. The king saw at once that it was his own
queen, and immediately hewed asunder the iron chain that was fastened
to the belt. This was followed by such noises and crashings down in
the earth that all the king's palace shook, so that no one expected
anything else than to see every bit of it shaken to pieces. At last
the noises and shaking stopped, and they began to come to themselves
again.

The king and queen embraced each other, and she told him the whole
story-how the witch came to the ship when they were all asleep and sent
her off in the boat. After she had gone so far that she could not see
the ship, she sailed on through darkness until she landed beside a
three-headed giant. The giant wished her to marry him, but she
refused; whereupon he shut her up by herself and told her she would
never get free until she consented. After a time she began to plan how
to get her freedom, and at last told him that she would consent if he
would allow her to visit her son on earth three days on end. This he
agreed to, but put on her this iron belt and chain, the other end of
which he fastened around his, own waist, and the great noises that were
heard when the king cut the chain must have been caused by the giant's
falling down the underground passage when the chain gave way so
suddenly. The giant's dwelling, indeed, was right under the palace,
and the terrible shakings must have been caused by him in his death
throes.

The king now understood how the queen he had had for some time past had
been so ill-tempered. He at once had a sack drawn over her head and
made her be stoned to death, and after that torn in pieces by untamed
horses. The two young fellows also told now what they had heard and
seen in the queen's room, for before this they had been afraid to say
anything about it, on account of the Queen's power.

The real queen was now restored to all her dignity and was beloved by
all. The nurse was married to a nobleman and the king and queen gave
her splendid presents.