The Orange Fairy Book (20 page)

Now the king was so delighted with the table, and the dinners it gave
him, that when the three days were over he could not make up his mind
to part with it. Instead, he sent for his carpenter, and bade him copy
it exactly, and when it was done he told his chamberlain to return it
to Jack with his best thanks. It happened to be dinner time, and Jack
invited the chamberlain, who knew nothing of the trick, to stay and
dine with him. The good man, who had eaten several excellent meals
provided by the table in the last three days, accepted the invitation
with pleasure, even though he was to dine in a stable, and sat down on
the straw beside Jack.

'The dinner of an emperor!' cried Jack. But not even a morsel of
cheese made its appearance.

'The dinner of an emperor!' shouted Jack in a voice of thunder. Then
the truth dawned on him; and, crushing the table between his hands, he
turned to the chamberlain, who, bewildered and half-frightened, was
wondering how to get away.

'Tell your false king that to-morrow I will destroy his castle as
easily as I have broken this table.'

The chamberlain hastened back to the palace, and gave the king Jack's
message, at which he laughed more than before, and called all his
courtiers to hear the story. But they were not quite so merry when
they woke next morning and beheld ten thousand horsemen, and as many
archers, surrounding the palace. The king saw it was useless to hold
out, and he took the white flag of truce in one hand, and the real
table in the other, and set out to look for Jack.

'I committed a crime,' said he; 'but I will do my best to make up for
it. Here is your table, which I own with shame that I tried to steal,
and you shall have besides, my daughter as your wife!'

There was no need to delay the marriage when the table was able to
furnish the most splendid banquet that ever was seen, and after
everyone had eaten and drunk as much as they wanted, Jack took his bag
and commanded a castle filled with all sorts of treasures to arise in
the park for himself and his bride.

At this proof of his power the king's heart died within him.

'Your magic is greater than mine,' he said; 'and you are young and
strong, while I am old and tired. Take, therefore, the sceptre from my
hand, and my crown from my head, and rule my people better than I have
done.'

So at last Jack's ambition was satisfied. He could not hope to be more
than king, and as long as he had his cornet to provide him with
soldiers he was secure against his enemies. He never forgave his
brothers for the way they had treated him, though he presented his
mother with a beautiful castle, and everything she could possibly wish
for. In the centre of his own palace was a treasure chamber, and in
this chamber the table, the cornet, and the bag were kept as the most
prized of all his possessions, and not a week passed without a visit
from king John to make sure they were safe. He reigned long and well,
and died a very old man, beloved by his people. But his good example
was not followed by his sons and his grandsons. They grew so proud
that they were ashamed to think that the founder of their race had once
been a poor boy; and as they and all the world could not fail to
remember it, as long as the table, the cornet, and the bag were shown
in the treasure chamber, one king, more foolish than the rest, thrust
them into a dark and damp cellar.

For some time the kingdom remained, though it became weaker and weaker
every year that passed. Then, one day, a rumour reached the king that
a large army was marching against him. Vaguely he recollected some
tales he had heard about a magic cornet which could provide as many
soldiers as would serve to conquer the earth, and which had been
removed by his grandfather to a cellar. Thither he hastened that he
might renew his power once more, and in that black and slimy spot he
found the treasures indeed. But the table fell to pieces as he touched
it, in the cornet there remained only a few fragments of leathern belts
which the rats had gnawed, and in the bag nothing but broken bits of
stone.

And the king bowed his head to the doom that awaited him, and in his
heart cursed the ruin wrought by the pride and foolishness of himself
and his forefathers.

(From Contes Populaires Slaves, par Louis Leger.)

A long way off, near the sea coast of the east of Africa, there dwelt,
once upon a time, a man and his wife. They had two children, a son and
a daughter, whom they loved very much, and, like parents in other
countries, they often talked of the fine marriages the young people
would make some day. Out there both boys and girls marry early, and
very soon, it seemed to the mother, a message was sent by a rich man on
the other side of the great hills offering a fat herd of oxen in
exchange for the girl. Everyone in the house and in the village
rejoiced, and the maiden was despatched to her new home. When all was
quiet again the father said to his son:

'Now that we own such a splendid troop of oxen you had better hasten
and get yourself a wife, lest some illness should overtake them.
Already we have seen in the villages round about one or two damsels
whose parents would gladly part with them for less than half the herd.
Therefore tell us which you like best, and we will buy her for you.'

But the son answered:

'Not so; the maidens I have seen do not please me. If, indeed, I must
marry, let me travel and find a wife for myself.'

'It shall be as you wish,' said the parents; 'but if by-and-by trouble
should come of it, it will be your fault and not ours.'

The youth, however, would not listen; and bidding his father and mother
farewell, set out on his search. Far, far away he wandered, over
mountains and across rivers, till he reached a village where the people
were quite different from those of his own race. He glanced about him
and noticed that the girls were fair to look upon, as they pounded
maize or stewed something that smelt very nice in earthen
pots—especially if you were hot and tired; and when one of the maidens
turned round and offered the stranger some dinner, he made up his mind
that he would wed her and nobody else.

So he sent a message to her parents asking their leave to take her for
his wife, and they came next day to bring their answer.

'We will give you our daughter,' said they, 'if you can pay a good
price for her. Never was there so hardworking a girl; and how we shall
do without her we cannot tell! Still— no doubt your father and mother
will come themselves and bring the price?'

'No; I have the price with me,' replied the young man; laying down a
handful of gold pieces. 'Here it is—take it.'

The old couple's eyes glittered greedily; but custom forbade them to
touch the price before all was arranged.

'At least,' said they, after a moment's pause, 'we may expect them to
fetch your wife to her new home?'

'No; they are not used to travelling,' answered the bridegroom. 'Let
the ceremony be performed without delay, and we will set forth at once.
It is a long journey.'

Then the parents called in the girl, who was lying in the sun outside
the hut, and, in the presence of all the village, a goat was killed,
the sacred dance took place, and a blessing was said over the heads of
the young people. After that the bride was led aside by her father,
whose duty it was to bestow on her some parting advice as to her
conduct in her married life.

'Be good to your husband's parents,' added he, 'and always do the will
of your husband.' And the girl nodded her head obediently. Next it
was the mother's turn; and, as was the custom of the tribe, she spoke
to her daughter:

'Will you choose which of your sisters shall go with you to cut your
wood and carry your water?'

'I do not want any of them,' answered she; 'they are no use. They will
drop the wood and spill the water.'

'Then will you have any of the other children? There are enough to
spare,' asked the mother again. But the bride said quickly:

'I will have none of them! You must give me our buffalo, the Rover of
the Plain; he alone shall serve me.'

'What folly you talk!' cried the parents. 'Give you our buffalo, the
Rover of the Plain? Why, you know that our life depends on him. Here
he is well fed and lies on soft grass; but how can you tell what will
befall him in another country? The food may be bad, he will die of
hunger; and, if he dies we die also.'

'No, no,' said the bride; 'I can look after him as well as you. Get
him ready, for the sun is sinking and it is time we set forth.'

So she went away and put together a small pot filled with healing
herms, a horn that she used in tending sick people, a little knife, and
a calabash containing deer fat; and, hiding these about her, she took
leave of her father and mother and started across the mountains by the
side of her husband.

But the young man did not see the buffalo that followed them, which had
left his home to be the servant of his wife.

No one ever knew how the news spread to the kraal that the young man
was coming back, bringing a wife with him; but, somehow or other, when
the two entered the village, every man and woman was standing in the
road uttering shouts of welcome.

'Ah, you are not dead after all,' cried they; 'and have found a wife to
your liking, though you would have none of our girls. Well, well, you
have chosen your own path; and if ill comes of it beware lest you
grumble.'

Next day the husband took his wife to the fields and showed her which
were his, and which belonged to his mother. The girl listened
carefully to all he told her, and walked with him back to the hut; but
close to the door she stopped, and said:

'I have dropped my necklace of beads in the field, and I must go and
look for it.' But in truth she had done nothing of the sort, and it
was only an excuse to go and seek the buffalo.

The beast was crouching under a tree when she came up, and snorted with
pleasure at the sight of her.

'You can roam about this field, and this, and this,' she said, 'for
they belong to my husband; and that is his wood, where you may hide
yourself. But the other fields are his mother's, so beware lest you
touch them.'

'I will beware,' answered the buffalo; and, patting his head, the girl
left him.

Oh, how much better a servant he was than any of the little girls the
bride had refused to bring with her! If she wanted water, she had only
to cross the patch of maize behind the hut and seek out the place where
the buffalo lay hidden, and put down her pail beside him. Then she
would sit at her ease while he went to the lake and brought the bucket
back brimming over. If she wanted wood, he would break the branches
off the trees and lay them at her feet. And the villagers watched her
return laden, and said to each other:

'Surely the girls of her country are stronger than our girls, for none
of them could cut so quickly or carry so much!' But then, nobody knew
that she had a buffalo for a servant.

Only, all this time she never gave the poor buffalo anything to eat,
because she had just one dish, out of which she and her husband ate;
while in her old home there was a dish put aside expressly for the
Rover of the Plain. The buffalo bore it as long as he could; but, one
day, when his mistress bade him go to the lake and fetch water, his
knees almost gave way from hunger. He kept silence, however, till the
evening, when he said to his mistress:

'I am nearly starved; I have not touched food since I came here. I can
work no more.'

'Alas!' answered she, 'what can I do? I have only one dish in the
house. You will have to steal some beans from the fields. Take a few
here and a few there; but be sure not to take too many from one place,
or the owner may notice it.'

Now the buffalo had always lived an honest life, but if his mistress
did not feed him, he must get food for himself. So that night, when
all the village was asleep, he came out from the wood and ate a few
beans here and a few there, as his mistress had bidden him. And when
at last his hunger was satisfied, he crept back to his lair. But a
buffalo is not a fairy, and the next morning, when the women arrived to
work in the fields, they stood still with astonishment, and said to
each other:

'Just look at this; a savage beast has been destroying our crops, and
we can see the traces of his feet!' And they hurried to their homes to
tell their tale.

In the evening the girl crept out to the buffalo's hiding-place, and
said to him:

'They perceived what happened, of course; so to-night you had better
seek your supper further off.' And the buffalo nodded his head and
followed her counsel; but in the morning, when these women also went
out to work, the races of hoofs were plainly to be seen, and they
hastened to tell their husbands, and begged them to bring their guns,
and to watch for the robber.

It happened that the stranger girl's husband was the best marksman in
all the village, and he hid himself behind the trunk of a tree and
waited.

The buffalo, thinking that they would probably make a search for him in
the fields he had laid waste the evening before, returned to the bean
patch belonging to his mistress.

The young man saw him coming with amazement.

'Why, it is a buffalo!' cried he; 'I never have beheld one in this
country before!' And raising his gun, he aimed just behind the ear.

The buffalo gave a leap into the air, and then fell dead.

'It was a good shot,' said the young man. And he ran to the village to
tell them that the thief was punished.

When he entered his hut he found his wife, who had somehow heard the
news, twisting herself to and fro and shedding tears.

'Are you ill?' asked he. And she answered: 'Yes; I have pains all over
my body.' But she was not ill at all, only very unhappy at the death
of the buffalo which had served her so well. Her husband felt anxious,
and sent for the medicine man; but though she pretended to listen to
him, she threw all his medicine out of the door directly he had gone
away.