A Picture-book of Merry Tales

  _The Frightful Monster._]

  XXII.

  _The Grateful Animals._

  A good many years ago some boys in a village were having rare sportwith a mouse which they had quite surrounded, so that the poor littlething could nowhere escape, for to which ever side it turned, a heavyshoe, or a stick, threatened it with instant death. The poor animalthought this no sport at all, but the boys shouted with laughter asthey saw it scamper and jump to avoid the blows aimed at it. Activityalone saved it from its tormentors; but this was beginning to fail,when, fortunately, a man came that way.

  This man had more kindness in his heart than money in his pockets; butwith this he had one great fault, for he was somewhat restless andfickle-minded, which, however, on this occasion proved fortunate forthe poor little mouse, and eventually so for himself. His restlessdisposition had driven him to travel, poor as he was, and thus he cameto the village, where witnessing the little creature's distress hereleased it, by giving the boys a few half-pence, and it instantly tookrefuge in a hole close by.

  In his wanderings he came to another village where he saw a crowd ofboys, and, I am sorry to say, there were girls as well, tormenting aninoffensive donkey, which he saved from further molestation by againparting with a little of his scanty stock of money.

  Further on he reached another village, where he released a bear fromlike persecution by giving more money.

  Not long after these adventures this good man himself got into trouble,and was condemned by a cruel judge to be put into a box with only a jugof water and one loaf of bread, and thus thrown into the river, thoughI assure you he was quite innocent.

  You may imagine his distress, for he was not very comfortable in hisbox, nor could he see where he was being carried to, when all at oncehe felt the box grating against the ground, and then heard a nibblingat the lock, which, after awhile, gave way, and when he raised the lidwas delighted to see his three friends, the Mouse, the Ass, and theBear, who now helped him in return for his kindness to them.

  _Friends in Grave Consultation._]

  They were not satisfied with merely saving his life, for they knew thathe was poor, and had, moreover, spent some of his money to save them;so they were consulting together what they could do for him, when thebear espied a white stone come floating along. "Nothing could happenmore fortunate," the Bear cried, "for here comes the lucky stone, andwhoever has that will have all his wishes fulfilled on the instant."

  The man, hearing this, seized the stone as it was passing, and wishedhimself in a palace with every comfort and luxury, surrounded bybeautiful grounds; and the next instant all was as he had wished. Now,dazzled by so much splendour, and happy beyond anything he had everdreamt of, he forgot his friends, the Mouse, the Ass, and the Bear,though, I have no doubt, he would have thought of them sooner or laterand wished them with him; but before this fault was remedied misfortunecame upon him.

  It so happened that some merchants passed that way, and seeing amagnificent palace, where before there had only been barren land,they were seized with wonder and curiosity, so they went in and askedthe owner how he had worked such a truly wonderful change. "I had onlyto wish for it," was the answer. They marvelled at this, as well theymight; and being told that it was by means of the lucky stone his wishhad been fulfilled, they offered all their merchandize for the stone.

  Our friend, whose head, it must be confessed, was not as good as hisheart, seeing so many beautiful things, agreed to the bargain at once,without thinking that he need only wish and he could have all those andmore beautiful things. He gave the merchants the stone; and it was nosooner out of his hands than he found himself in his former position,which was rendered worse when he compared all the splendour and comforthe had lost to his ugly comfortless box, with only a jug of water andone loaf.

  His friends, however, did not desert him in his distress, but this timethey could not open the box; and, after consulting, the Bear said, "Isee we cannot do any good without the lucky stone, so let us go to thepalace where the merchants now live and try to get it." This was agreedupon; and when they got there they held another council. The bear seemsto have had the wisest head, for he was again spokesman, and said, "Itis useless for us to expect to be let in here; but you, my friend Mrs.Mouse, you can creep through anywhere--see, there is just a little holeat the bottom of the door. Go in, and, as only one of the merchants isnow at home, worry him in every possible way, for you can always manageto escape; and when you have worked him into a perfect fury lead himhere to the door, and no doubt he will open it to rush out after you.Then we two will go in and easily master him between us. Only you takecare to find out where he keeps the stone."

  The mouse got through the hole in the door without difficulty; and,after finding out where the stone was, went in search of the merchant,whom she found in bed. She crept in at the bottom and began nibblingat his toes. The merchant jumped up in a fright, but when he saw themouse his fright turned to rage, and he made a snatch at it; but thelittle thing was too quick for him: and now began a chase all roundthe bed-room, round every table and chair, and into every corner of thenext room, and, finally, into the hall, where, jumping up and bitinghim in the calf of the leg, in order to exasperate him still more, sheslipped through the hole she had got in at.

  _The Merchant's Rough Handling._]

  The merchant threw open the door, and the bear, who was ready, greetedhim with the closest embrace. They rolled down together, but the bearsoon hugged all the breath out of him, and leaving him in charge ofthe donkey went with the mouse to fetch the stone. No sooner had theythis in their possession than the three went off, regardless of theconfusion they left behind them.

  They soon reached the water-side; but the box was floating in deepwater, and the Donkey said, in despair--

  "We shall never get at it."

  The Bear, however, cried, "Nonsense, leave that to me, I can swim wellenough, so you, Donkey, just put your fore-feet round my neck, and takethe stone in your mouth, but mind you don't swallow it; and you, mylittle Friend, can make yourself snug somewhere in my long hair."

  All being satisfactorily arranged, off they set, but were destined tomeet with a misfortune on their voyage; for the bear, who was ratherfond of hearing himself talk, could not refrain from expatiating on thepast adventure.

  "We managed that pretty well, I flatter myself. What is your opinion,my long-eared Friend?" And as the donkey made no answer he continued--

  "How is this? I was always taught that a civil question deserves acivil answer; but this does not seem to enter into your notions ofpoliteness. Who taught you manners, my Friend?"

  The donkey could stand it no longer, but opened his mouth, and out fellthe stone "plop" into the water.

  "There, you see what comes of your talking. Could you not wait till ourwork was finished? How could I open my mouth without losing the stone?And now it is gone, and with it all hope of helping our friend."

  "Well, well, my good Fellow," the Bear interrupted him, for he was notanxious to hear any more, as he felt himself in the wrong, "a moment'saction is better than an hour's regret. I have a bright idea that willput all right again. Let us go back, and I'll set about it at once."

  On the way back the bear called up all the frogs that were in thoseparts, and said to them, "Fetch me up as many stones as possible fromthe bottom of the water, for I have an idea of building you a place ofrefuge in case of danger."

  A loud croaking was immediately heard, which called the frogs from allparts; and they set about collecting stones without loss of time.

  It was not long before the lucky stone was added to the heap, whichthe bear immediately seized; and telling the frogs that there were nowstones enough, the three friends started off again.

  They soon reached the box, which now opened without difficulty, andthe poor prisoner was relieved; but only just in time, for the loaf ofbread was consumed, and he began to suffer from want.

  As soon as he had the stone in his hand he wished himself back
in thepalace, which he found just as he had left it. This time he did notforget his friends, and they lived happily together to the end of theirdays.

  Now, does not this story prove that an act of kindness meets with itsreward, and that the ungrateful are worse than the brute beasts, forour three good animals effectually showed their gratitude?

  [Decoration]

  XXIII.

  _Tim Jarvis._

  Tim Jarvis was as decent and hardworking a man as any one could wishto know, till the evil spirit got astride his imagination. Tim was notonly a decent, hardworking man, but recollected his early lessons, thatthe evil one should be resisted with might and main.

  Nor was it during the day that the enemy, at first, attempted to gainany advantage; but it was at night that he mainly worked upon his mindby means of dreams.

  Night after night he dreamed of treasures of gold and precious stonesthat were to be found, first in one place and then in another, till itgrew too much for him, and his waking hours were scarcely differentto dreaming. He was now found digging anywhere but in his garden orpotatoe field; and indeed his dreams led him all the way from Irelandto London-bridge, with his spade across his shoulder.

  Now, when poor Tim was on London-bridge he felt himself more puzzledthan ever he had been in his life; he was quite bewildered by theconfusion and noise, and being pushed from one side to another; butafter a while he began to recover himself; and as he walked up anddown, first on one side and then on the other, he tried the groundwith his spade, but quite accidentally like, or as if it were awalking-stick, for he was wide awake.

  "For sure," he said to himself, "I'm not going to let so many peoplesuspect what treasure is lying under their feet."

  He was encouraged by the hollowness of the sound; but then again hisspirits sank, for he found no spot where his spade could make theslightest impression, nay, he doubted whether he could stick a pin inanywhere, so hard were the stones.

  When it had grown dark, and the bridge was still crowded, he began tofear that all the people were there for the same purpose as himself;but he was determined that he would tire them out; and indeed thenumbers did gradually decrease.

  St. Paul's had just struck twelve, when a stranger, stopping just infront of our friend, said--

  "Well, Tim, you have come a long way, but you might have done betternearer home. You know, Tim, the lane that runs at the back of yourcabin, and you know the old wall, for I've seen you digging under thatmany a night. Well, Tim, you were in the right road, but too near home.I've seen you turn sharp round that wall, and, crossing the big bog,look longingly at the heap of stones behind the furze-bush in TerryO'Toole's field."

  "Yes," sighed Tim; "but it would have been more than my life was worthto dig there, for though Terry knows well that his whole field isnothing but ugly stones, he would murther man, woman, or child whostuck a spade in any part of the ground--the big baste."

  "True for you, Tim," the stranger said, "but the gold is there." Afterthese words the stranger was gone as suddenly as he had appeared, andpoor Tim was left, more puzzled than ever.

  "May be," he said to himself, "its desaiving me he is, that he may havethe digging of Lunnon-bridge all to hisself, but then sorrow a spadefulof earth could any one throw up here, in all his life. No, it was tomeet the sthrainger that I came all the way here without knowing it, sonow I'll go back to ould Ireland."

  Tim did go back, and, after selling his potatoe-field, bought the wastebit of land, which O'Toole was pleased to call a field.

  What did Tim care, when all the neighbours called him mad, or even whenhis wife threatened him because he sold the bed from under her to buya new spade and pick, for he knew it was troublesome ground he had towork in, and no mistake.

  When night came, after he had all ready, Tim went to his new property,and, hard as the work was, did not rest till the first grey of morningbegan to appear. Just then, through a crack in the ground, he thoughthe heard voices below. He listened, scarcely drawing his breath, whenall the breath was frightened out of him, for he plainly heard--

  "We'll give Tim a nice dance when he comes for our gold."

  When he had recovered himself a bit, he scrambled out of the hole asfast as possible, and went home, where he met with no over-pleasantreception from his wife.

  A strange day that was which Tim spent, divided between rejoicingand trembling, for he knew now for certain that gold was there; buthe knew, too, that there were some sort of beings to be dealt with;and what were those beings? His hair stood on end as he pictured somefrightful monsters to himself; but yet all must be risked to gainpossession of the gold, and he said, "It's mighty polite I'll be to thegintlemen, and sure they won't harm a poor man."

  Over and over again he repeated what he should say to the "gintlemen,"and thus the day passed; the most anxious day of his life. He took careto arm himself with more than natural courage, in the shape of a bottleof potheen, of which he took a sup, and then another, and then a stilllonger one, before he jumped into the hole.

  In the darkness, for night had come on, he plainly saw a lightshining through the crack in the ground, as the night before, so heimmediately set to work; and he had not thrown up many spades of earth,when the ground gave way, and he sank down, he never knew how low, norcould he ever recollect more than that he found himself surrounded bythe strangest little beings, who were all jabbering at once, and seemedvery angry.

  He remembered that he made them his best of bows, and gave them hisfairest words, when the tallest of them, stepping forward, addressedTim thus:--

  "Tim, we see that you are a decent, well-spoken, and polite gentleman,and in your case we will overlook our privacy being intruded on, whichyou must look upon as a great favour."

  "And 'tis very much obleged that I am to your honer and the othergintlemen, and sure 'tis I that will never forget it; but might I notmake so bold as to tell you that I am a poor man, and ask your honourwhether you could not help me with a thrifle?"

  There was a loud shout of laughter, and then the same little fellowthat had addressed him before, said, "Well, Tim, we have plenty of therubbish you all think so much of. There, take as much of the gold asyou can carry."

  Tim saw that the ground was covered with guineas, which he set topicking up as fast as he could stow them away, and when he could notfind room for one more, he took both his hands full, sighing that hemust leave so many behind.

  Then the little people cried out, "Go home, Tim Jarvis; but shut youreyes close, or some mischief will happen to you."

  He did as he was told, and felt himself whisked through the air quickerthan lightning. Some time after he knew that he no longer moved, heventured to open his eyes, for he felt a mighty tugging at his hair.He found himself by the side of the hole he had been digging, and hiswife, who had grown tired of his strange ways of late, was shaking himrather roughly.

  _Tim Jarvis and his Wife._]

  "Lave the breath in me," he cried, "and I will fill your apron withgolden guineas." He put his hand in his pocket, but only pulled out afew yellow furze-blossoms. When he saw this Tim was quite dejected,and did not venture to answer a word to his wife's reproaches, butallowed himself to be led home.

  From that night he left off dreaming; and taking again to hisindustrious, hardworking habits, soon made up for his past neglect, andwas not only able to buy back his potatoe-field, but became a happy,flourishing man.

  His wife used to say that it was only a dream about the little peopleand the gold, for that certainly she had found him asleep; but Timshook his head.

  [Decoration]

  XXIV.

  _The Shoemaker and the Dwarfs._

  Why do we read of so many shoemakers that were poor? Surely they musthave lived in Ireland; but, be that as it may, we have to tell ofanother, who, though he was most anxious to fit all the world, couldfind no customers, till at last he had nothing left but just leatherenough to make one pair of shoes.

  He had been running about all day, longingly looking at
all the feet,and wishing he might measure some one for this last pair of shoes,but he returned, having only worn out his own. However, with all hispoverty, he had a light heart and a good wife, who was always readyto cheer him; so he determined to make up the shoes in the very beststyle, and, putting them in his window, trust to a purchaser.

  He cut them out, intending to begin his work early the next morning,and went to bed, soon falling asleep. Imagine the good man'sastonishment when, on the following morning, he found the shoes alreadymade, and in such a manner that he could not take his eyes off them.

  He put them in his window, though he could hardly make up his mind topart with them, and, half hoping to frighten purchasers away, he settwice as high a price upon them as it had been his custom to charge.