Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 06 (18 page)

Then the mother broke into sobs and tears. 'Oh, you wretched boy!
What have you done? Your father was in that straw, and you have
killed him!'

'Now, how was I to know that my father was lying in that straw,
instead of in the kitchen?' said the boy.

But his mother only wept the more, and sobbed out, 'From this day
you have no father. You must do without him as best you can!'

'Why did you marry a serpent?' asked the boy. 'I thought he was a
man! How did he learn those odd tricks?'

As the sun rose, she woke her brother, and said, 'Go and take the
goats to pasture!'

'I will come too,' said the little boy.

'Go then!' said his mother, and they went together.

On the way the boy began: 'Dear uncle, this night my mother means
to kill both of us, by poisoning us with the bones of the
serpent, which she will grind to powder and sprinkle in our
food.'

'And what are we to do?' asked the uncle.

'I will kill her, dear uncle. I do not want either a father or a
mother like that!'

When they came home in the evening they saw the woman preparing
supper, and secretly scattering the powdered bones of the serpent
on one side of the dish. On the other, where she meant to eat
herself, there was no poison.

And the boy whispered to his uncle, 'Dear uncle, be sure you eat
from the same side of the dish as I do!'

'All right,' said the uncle.

So they all three sat down to the table, but before they helped
themselves the boy said, 'I am thirsty, mother; will you get me
some milk?'

'Very well,' said she, 'but you had better begin your supper.'

And when she came back with the milk they were both eating
busily.

'Sit down and have something too,' said the boy, and she sat down
and helped herself from the dish, but at the very first moment
she sank dead upon the ground.

'She has got what she meant for us,' observed the boy; 'and now
we will sell all the sheep and cattle.'

So the sheep and cattle were sold, and the uncle and nephew took
the money and went to see the world.

For ten days they travelled through the desert, and then they
came to a place where the road parted in two.

'Uncle!' said the boy.

'Well, what is it?' replied he.

'You see these two roads? You must take one, and I the other; for
the time has come when we must part.'

But the uncle cried, 'No, no, my boy, we will keep together
always.'

'Alas! that cannot be,' said the boy; 'so tell me which way you
will go.'

'I will go to the west,' said the uncle.

'One word before I leave you,' continued the boy. 'Beware of any
man who has red hair and blue eyes. Take no service under him.'

'All right,' replied the uncle, and they parted.

For three days the man wandered on without any food, till he was
very hungry. Then, when he was almost fainting, a stranger met
him and said, 'Will you work for me?'

'By contract?' asked the man.

'Yes, by contract,' replied the stranger, 'and whichever of us
breaks it, shall have a strip of skin taken from his body.'

'All right,' replied the man; 'what shall I have to do?'

'Every day you must take the sheep out to pasture, and carry my
old mother on your shoulders, taking great care her feet shall
never touch the ground. And, besides that, you must catch, every
evening, seven singing birds for my seven sons.'

'That is easily done,' said the man.

Then they went back together, and the stranger said, 'Here are
your sheep; and now stoop down, and let my mother climb on your
back.'

'Very good,' answered Mohammed's uncle.

The new shepherd did as he was told, and returned in the evening
with the old woman on his back, and the seven singing birds in
his pocket, which he gave to the seven boys, when they came to
meet him. So the days passed, each one exactly like the other.

At last, one night, he began to weep, and cried: 'Oh, what have I
done, that I should have to perform such hateful tasks?'

And his nephew Mohammed saw him from afar, and thought to
himself, 'My uncle is in trouble—I must go and help him;' and
the next morning he went to his master and said: 'Dear master, I
must go to my uncle, and I wish to send him here instead of
myself, while I serve under his master. And that you may know it
is he and no other man, I will give him my staff, and put my
mantle on him.'

'All right,' said the master.

Mohammed set out on his journey, and in two days he arrived at
the place where his uncle was standing with the old woman on his
back trying to catch the birds as they flew past. And Mohammed
touched him on the arm, and spoke: 'Dear uncle, did I not warn
you never to take service under any blue-eyed red-haired man!

'But what could I do?' asked the uncle. 'I was hungry, and he
passed, and we signed a contract.'

'Give the contract to me!' said the young man.

'Here it is,' replied the uncle, holding it out.

'Now,' continued Mohammed, 'let the old woman get down from your
back.'

'Oh no, I mustn't do that!' cried he.

But the nephew paid no attention, and went on talking: 'Do not
worry yourself about the future. I see my way out of it all. And,
first, you must take my stick and my mantle, and leave this
place. After two days' journey, straight before you, you will
come to some tents which are inhabited by shepherds. Go in there,
and wait.'

'All right!' answered the uncle.

Then Mohammed with the Magic Finger picked up a stick and struck
the old woman with it, saying, 'Get down, and look after the
sheep; I want to go to sleep.'

'Oh, certainly!' replied she.

So Mohammed lay down comfortably under a tree and slept till
evening. Towards sunset he woke up and said to the old woman:
'Where are the singing birds which you have got to catch?'

'You never told me anything about that,' replied she.

'Oh, didn't I?' he answered. 'Well, it is part of your business,
and if you don't do it, I shall just kill you.'

'Of course I will catch them!' cried she in a hurry, and ran
about the bushes after the birds, till thorns pierced her foot,
and she shrieked from pain and exclaimed, 'Oh dear, how unlucky I
am! and how abominably this man is treating me!' However, at last
she managed to catch the seven birds, and brought them to
Mohammed, saying, 'Here they are!'

'Then now we will go back to the house,' said he.

When they had gone some way he turned to her sharply:

'Be quick and drive the sheep home, for I do not know where their
fold is.' And she drove them before her. By-and-by the young man
spoke:

'Look here, old hag; if you say anything to your son about my
having struck you, or about my not being the old shepherd, I'll
kill you!'

'Oh, no, of course I won't say anything!'

When they got back, the son said to his mother: 'That is a good
shepherd I've got, isn't he?'

'Oh, a splendid shepherd!' answered she. 'Why, look how fat the
sheep are, and how much milk they give!'

'Yes, indeed!' replied the son, as he rose to get supper for his
mother and the shepherd.

In the time of Mohammed's uncle, the shepherd had had nothing to
eat but the scraps left by the old woman; but the new shepherd
was not going to be content with that.

'You will not touch the food till I have had as much as I want,'
whispered he.

'Very good!' replied she. And when he had had enough, he said:

'Now, eat!' But she wept, and cried: 'That was not written in
your contract. You were only to have what I left!'

'If you say a word more, I will kill you!' said he.

The next day he took the old woman on his back, and drove the
sheep in front of him till he was some distance from the house,
when he let her fall, and said: 'Quick! go and mind the sheep!'

Then he took a ram, and killed it. He lit a fire and broiled some
of its flesh, and called to the old woman:

'Come and eat with me!' and she came. But instead of letting her
eat quietly, he took a large lump of the meat and rammed it down
her throat with his crook, so that she died. And when he saw she
was dead, he said: 'That is what you have got for tormenting my
uncle!' and left her lying where she was, while he went after the
singing birds. It took him a long time to catch them; but at
length he had the whole seven hidden in the pockets of his tunic,
and then he threw the old woman's body into some bushes, and
drove the sheep before him, back to their fold. And when they
drew near the house the seven boys came to meet him, and he gave
a bird to each.

'Why are you weeping?' asked the boys, as they took their birds.

'Because your grandmother is dead!' And they ran and told their
father. Then the man came up and said to Mohammed: 'What was the
matter? How did she die?'

And Mohammed answered: 'I was tending the sheep when she said to
me, "Kill me that ram; I am hungry!" So I killed it, and gave her
the meat. But she had no teeth, and it choked her.'

'But why did you kill the ram, instead of one of the sheep?'
asked the man.

'What was I to do?' said Mohammed. 'I had to obey orders!'

'Well, I must see to her burial!' said the man; and the next
morning Mohammed drove out the sheep as usual, thinking to
himself, 'Thank goodness I've got rid of the old woman! Now for
the boys!'

All day long he looked after the sheep, and towards evening he
began to dig some little holes in the ground, out of which he
took six scorpions. These he put in his pockets, together with
one bird which he caught. After this he drove his flock home.

When he approached the house the boys came out to meet him as
before, saying: 'Give me my bird!' and he put a scorpion into the
hand of each, and it stung him, and he died. But to the youngest
only he gave a bird.

As soon as he saw the boys lying dead on the ground, Mohammed
lifted up his voice and cried loudly: 'Help, help! the children
are dead!'

And the people came running fast, saying: 'What has happened? How
have they died?'

And Mohammed answered: 'It was your own fault! The boys had been
accustomed to birds, and in this bitter cold their fingers grew
stiff, and could hold nothing, so that the birds flew away, and
their spirits flew with them. Only the youngest, who managed to
keep tight hold of his bird, is still alive.'

And the father groaned, and said, 'I have borne enough! Bring no
more birds, lest I lose the youngest also!'

'All right,' said Mohammed.

As he was driving the sheep out to grass he said to his master:
'Out there is a splendid pasture, and I will keep the sheep there
for two or, perhaps, three days, so do not be surprised at our
absence.'

'Very good!' said the man; and Mohammed started. For two days he
drove them on and on, till he reached his uncle, and said to him,
'Dear uncle, take these sheep and look after them. I have killed
the old woman and the boys, and the flock I have brought to you!'

Then Mohammed returned to his master; and on the way he took a
stone and beat his own head with it till it bled, and bound his
hands tight, and began to scream. The master came running and
asked, 'What is the matter?'

And Mohammed answered: 'While the sheep were grazing, robbers
came and drove them away, and because I tried to prevent them,
they struck me on the head and bound my hands. See how bloody I
am!'

'What shall we do?' said the master; 'are the animals far off?'

'So far that you are not likely ever to see them again,' replied
Mohammed. 'This is the fourth day since the robbers came down.
How should you be able to overtake them?'

'Then go and herd the cows!' said the man.

'All right!' replied Mohammed, and for two days he went. But on
the third day he drove the cows to his uncle, first cutting off
their tails. Only one cow he left behind him.

'Take these cows, dear uncle,' said he. 'I am going to teach that
man a lesson.'

'Well, I suppose you know your own business best,' said the
uncle. 'And certainly he almost worried me to death.'

So Mohammed returned to his master, carrying the cows' tails tied
up in a bundle on his back. When he came to the sea-shore, he
stuck all the tails in the sand, and went and buried the one cow,
whose tail he had not cut off, up to her neck, leaving the tail
projecting. After he had got everything ready, he began to shriek
and scream as before, till his master and all the other servants
came running to see what was the matter.

'What in the world has happened?' they cried

'The sea has swallowed up the cows,' said Mohammed, 'and nothing
remains but their tails. But if you are quick and pull hard,
perhaps you may get them out again!'

The master ordered each man instantly to take hold of a tail, but
at the first pull they nearly tumbled backwards, and the tails
were left in their hands.

'Stop,' cried Mohammed, 'you are doing it all wrong. You have
just pulled off their tails, and the cows have sunk to the bottom
of the sea.'

'See if you can do it any better,' said they; and Mohammed ran to
the cow which he had buried in the rough grass, and took hold of
her tail and dragged the animal out at once.

'There! that is the way to do it!' said he, 'I told you you knew
nothing about it!'

The men slunk away, much ashamed of themselves; but the master
came up to Mohammed. 'Get you gone!' he said, 'there is nothing
more for you to do! You have killed my mother, you have slain my
children, you have stolen my sheep, you have drowned my cows; I
have now no work to give you.'

'First give me the strip of your skin which belongs to me of
right, as you have broken your contract!'

'That a judge shall decide,' said the master; 'we will go before
him.'

'Yes, we will,' replied Mohammed. And they went before the judge.