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Title: The Wonderful Stories of Fuz-Buz the Fly and Mother Grabem the Spider

Author: Silas Wier Mitchell

Release Date: August 26, 2016 [EBook #52899]

Language: English

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[Illustration]




  THE

  WONDERFUL STORIES

  OF

  FUZ-BUZ THE FLY

  AND

  MOTHER GRABEM

  THE

  SPIDER.




  PHILADELPHIA
  J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
  1867.




  Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

  J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,

  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District
  of Pennsylvania.




[Illustration]


MRS. GRABEM AND FUZ-BUZ.


Mrs. Grabem was a hairy spider who knit cobwebs and caught flies and
brought up a small household of nine young spiders.

When I first knew this happy family, and learned all the wonderful
things they heard and did, their home was as pretty a place as a spider
need want. Their web was spun to and fro across the crotch of an old
apple tree, and when they looked down they could see the green grass,
and when they looked up they could see the great jolly red apples which
must have looked to those young spiders just as the stars look to our
own young folks.

On one side of their web, Mrs. Grabem had knit with great labour a long
dark cave all of cobweb, where the family slept at night, and where
they lay trembling while the great winds blew and the tree rocked and
bent.

One fine breezy morning in June, when the leaves above were clapping
their palms for joy at growing, and when the birds were tossing little
love songs to one another, the old lady sat mending her web which a
great wasp had broken. Meanwhile, the young spiders chased each other
along one thread and down another and shook the dew from the web as
they played.

"Ah!" said the eldest of them, as he saw it sparkle in the sun, "these
must be the diamonds we have heard about."

"No," said another, "they look to me blue, they are turquoises."

"Geese!" said a third, who was on a distant part of the web, "they are
drops of gold, any one can see they are yellow."

At this they fell to abusing each other, when suddenly the old lady
cried out, "Foolish children, if you change places you will see that
each of you is right. You make me think of a tale which my grandmother
used to tell me. It is a story which has come down in our family from
your ancestor who gave Robert Bruce such very good advice without ever
saying a word. You know that the king was looking at the spider when he
was swinging a line, striving to fasten it. The spider having tried six
times was about to stop, for before this spiders never tried more than
six times. But when he looked up and saw the king he knew just what was
needed to give him courage, and therefore it was that the spider made
one more mighty effort, and so at last made fast the web.

"Thus you see that our ancestor invented trying seven times, although
I think the Bruce usually gets more credit than the spider. When this
wise spider grew older he went to Spain in the helmet of the good
Lord Douglas who was killed by the Moors, so that they got his helmet
and your great-great-great-grandfather, who kept quiet enough in the
darkest corner until he was carried to Granada, where he lived a long
while and found the flies many, and tender, and of good flavour. And
this was one of his stories which he had gotten at Granada, when he lay
among the Moors."

Then all the young spiders listened, and the old mother spider began.

"One night the King Almanzor was walking alone when he overheard three
water-carriers gossiping.

"'I would not be the King,' said Amric, the first who spoke. 'Every
morning before prayers I peep through a crack in the wall of the Palace
garden, and always I see the King grave and sober, just when the sun is
rising red and the birds are laughing and telling their dreams. I would
not be a King, to look sober at dawn every day in the year. A grave man
is the King.'

"'Bosh!' said the second, whose name was Hassan. 'The King is a sad
man. He must have done some evil in his youth, for just before noon-day
prayers I look into the Palace garden from my window, and lo! always
the King kneels weeping at the great fountain, which we call the forest
of waters.'

"'And I,' cried Amrah, 'think ye both wrong. A merry man is King
Almanzor. For ever at evening, when the minarets call to prayer, I have
seen the King at the fountain laughing, always laughing, always glad. A
foolish man must the King be to laugh at nothing.'

"'He's too sober,' said one.

"'Too sad,' cried the second.

"'Too merry,' said the third.

"Then each held to his own opinion, and abused the others, until from
words they came to blows.

"This roused the guard, who seized upon the whole three, and was taking
them away, when the King whispered to the Captain to bring them to the
Palace the next day.

"Accordingly in the morning they were brought to the King in the garden
before prayer time.

"'I hear,' said Almanzor, 'that you talked of me last night. It is said
that you think me sober, sad, and foolish.'

"Not one of them answered.

"'I will think of your crime, and how you shall be punished. Begone,
and return hither at noon.'

"At noon-tide they were brought again to the King, who said to them
gravely, 'You have abused the King. You shall die to-morrow.'

"'Woe is me!" cried they all, and as they were led away the King stayed
weeping by the water's edge.

"But at evening, the guard took them out yet once more, and this time
the King was merry, and the sound of music mocked their sadness.

"'You are pardoned,' said the King Almanzor. 'Judge not lightly of me
again. In the morning I reflect on the crimes which I have to judge,
and then I am grave. At noon I condemn some to die, and then ever I
weep. But at night-fall I pardon the least guilty, and then always I am
glad at heart. Be ye also merry to-night, and to-morrow wiser.'

"And thus saying, the King gave them a purse of gold and turned away."

"What a little story," cried the young spiders.

"Hush!" answered Mrs. Grabem. "Now I must mend this hole in our cobweb.
But, bless me! run to the den. Here comes a big fly."

Quick as could be they all ran into the dark passage and Mrs. Grabem
stayed at the door. Pretty soon the fly flew near. He was a handsome
gay fellow all over gold and purple and sparkling in the sun-light. He
thought he would have a little of the nice gum which flowed from the
apple tree bark, so he flew nearer, but just as he alighted his legs
caught in the net and then what a fuss he made! Buz, Buz, and pulled
and bit, but it was in vain, for he was held fast by a long cobweb
which allowed him to go a little way but no further.

Then Mrs. Grabem ran out, and pulled at the web, and drew him near,
when all the little spiders began to sing, "We shall have a good
breakfast."

"What! do you mean to eat me?" said Fuz-buz, the Fly. "I never hurt
you."

"Oh no," said Mrs. Grabem, "you will do us a great deal of good very
soon. You are a queer-looking fly any how. I hope you won't disagree
with my children. Where do you live?"

"In Spain," replied Fuz-buz proudly. "I am a Spanish fly."

"Dear me," cried one of the spiders, "perhaps you can tell us some
stories."

"I know a thousand fairy tales," said Fuz-buz.

"Oh mamma!" said one fat little spider, "It would be a shame to eat a
thousand stories all at once. Let us keep him until he tells us nine
hundred and ninety-nine tales, and then we can eat him afterwards."

"That I call good advice," cried Mrs. Grabem, and at once she fastened
the cobweb so that poor Fuz-buz could walk just a little way from the
web and no farther.

"And now," said she, "twice a day you must tell my children a story.
But never let me find you trying to get away or I will eat you in a
moment."

The young spiders could hardly wait.

"Quick!" they cried, "a story!" "a story!"

"What about?" replied Fuz-buz, glad to be spared.

"Oh about men, big men like Robert Bruce," said they, "and about a
Princess too."

"Very well," returned Fuz-buz, "Don't eat me, and I will tell you no
end of stories and the first shall be about


LADY GOLDEN HAIR AND HER TWO LOVERS, PRINCE CLEVER AND PRINCE STURDY.

"A long while ago, and far far away, a lady lived who had such
beautiful locks that the people named her Lady Golden Hair. Folks said
that when she was little, her fairy Godmother had so well woven three
strands of sunshine with her curly tresses that it never got loose
again, and I suppose this must have been so, because when at night she
walked in the garden all the flowers woke up and looked about thinking
the daylight had come.

"All day long her maidens combed her hair with combs of gold, and at
evening sang to her of the beautiful Prince who would one day come
across the seas and win her love for evermore.

"Many came and looked into her deep brown eyes, but none suited her,
and so she shook her golden hair, and they went their ways again.

"At length her Father the King said she must make up her mind to marry
somebody.

"The Princess said, 'I will marry no one who does not own a Roc's egg,
and no one who has not kissed me, and no one who has not a lock of hair
to show exactly like my own. And no one shall kiss me, and no one ever
shall have a lock of my hair, and where on earth will any one get a
Roc's egg? And so how shall I ever be married? No, I never will marry
anybody.'

"At this her Father was in despair, but as he thought that perhaps some
one might be bright enough to outwit the Princess, he caused it to be
proclaimed everywhere that the Lady Golden Hair would marry the man who
had kissed her, and who could show a lock of hair just like hers, and
who owned a Roc's egg.

"When her lovers heard this they all cried and went away, except two
who were named Prince Clever and Prince Sturdy.

"Prince Clever was handsome and tall, and very cunning, because he was
a Sorcerer's son, but Prince Sturdy was brave and straightforward, and
had honest eyes of his own which were brown as garnets and as steady as
stars.

"Now when these two heard about the Princess, and what must be done to
marry her, Prince Clever said, 'I am so cunning that I shall be sure to
succeed;' but Prince Sturdy said, 'Thorns are roses to those who love!
I will try.'

"When the Princess saw them she wished silently that Prince Sturdy
might succeed; still she only said, 'How foolish you both must be. Do
either of you own a Roc's egg?' and then she bade them good-bye and
they kissed their hands to her and rode away by different paths till
each of them entered a wood where they dismounted, and thought how to
get a Roc's egg. 'Then,' said Clever, 'I see;' but Sturdy said, 'I will
ride till I find one.'

"About a thousand miles away, across a great sea, lived a Roc who had
just laid an egg as big as a house and as hard as marble. No one knew
where she lived except a witch, to whose cave in a great hill Prince
Clever rode swiftly.

"Because he was a Sorcerer's son the witch came out to speak to him.
But, meanwhile, Prince Sturdy having become lost in the woods rode on,
until at night-fall he heard voices.

"Then he alighted and clambered over the hill and lay quiet until he
heard to his delight the witch telling Clever where to get the Roc's
egg.

"As quick as could be Sturdy got on his horse and rode away as hard as
ever a man could ride. By and by he came to the sea, where he hired a
ship, and sailed many days to a desolate land where was nothing but
hills of gray sand.

"Here he went on shore and sent the ship away. Then, drawing his sword,
he climbed a great sand hill and after two days reached the top. There
he saw in a mighty nest the great egg, as white and smooth as ivory.

"As soon as the Roc flew away to get her dinner the Prince came near
and began to crack a big hole in the egg with his sword. Presently all
the insides of the egg ran out of the hole and nearly drowned him. When
it was well emptied and the whole of it had flowed away to the sea, the
Prince put his bag of cakes into the egg, and then his sword, and at
last squeezed himself in.

"He was just able to thrust his turban into the hole, when the Roc flew
home to her nest.

"When she left her nest once more Sturdy made a nice little opening as
big as a pea, so that he could just see through it. And what think you
he saw?

"There were two ships on the sea, and Prince Clever with a hundred men.
Very soon they came up the hill and began to push the egg and to heave
it over with crow-bars and beams of wood, until it rolled to the edge
of the sand heap. Then to Prince Sturdy's horror the egg began to turn
over and over down the hill to the sea.

"Fast it went, and faster and faster, while Sturdy tumbled over and
over, and was on his head one minute, and on his heels the next,
till at last splash went the egg into the water and floated lightly on
the rolling waves.

[Illustration]

"Very soon the sailors tied a rope around the egg, and fastened the
other end to their ships, and sailed away rejoicing.

"In this manner they sailed many weeks, until poor Sturdy had eaten his
last cake and was nearly starved to death.

"When at last they came to land, the egg was hoisted on to a huge car,
and a hundred horses drew it to the Palace of the Princess Golden Hair,
while Prince Clever rode alongside as happy as could be.

"When the lady saw Clever and the egg she was ready to cry with
vexation, because she knew there was only one Roc's egg in the world,
and because Prince Clever had gotten it.

"Soon her father called her to welcome the Prince, and every one went
to see the egg, while the music sounded and the people hurrahed for
Prince Clever.

"As soon as he saw the lady he ran and knelt and said, 'Princess, here
is my Roc's egg.'

"Then a voice was heard saying, 'No, it is mine!'

"'Who spoke?' said Clever.

"'I,' said the voice, 'It is mine!'

"But no one could tell where the voice came from.

"At last the Chief Magician cried aloud, 'Who dares to mock the King?'

"Then said the voice, 'Oh great Magician, who owns the house, he who
lives in it, or he who looks at it?'

"'He who lives in it,' answered the Magician.

"'Then it is my egg,' said Sturdy, as he broke away the shell and
stepped out of the hole in the side of the egg.

[Illustration.]

"'Ah,' said the lady to herself, 'what beautiful eyes he has.' But
Prince Clever smote his breast, and the people hurrahed for Prince
Sturdy.

"Meanwhile Sturdy knelt to the Lady. 'Ah,' said he, 'it is easy to live
in a Roc's egg, or to storm a city for a Lady's love, but to kiss her
and to find hair like thine, woe is me! How can these things be done?'

"As for Clever, he smiled, and said to himself, 'It is hard to bring a
Roc's egg home, but to cheat a woman with a lock of hair and to steal a
kiss is easy.'

"After Prince Clever had eaten and rested the two Princes kissed their
hands to the lady and rode away once more to find a tress of hair which
should be like that of the Princess.

"Now what did Prince Clever do to get the lady? He went into the
country to see his fairy godmother and to ask her advice, and this was
what she told him to do.

"He was to dress himself like a pedlar and was to take with him a
beautiful great opal, and afterwards he was to do other things which
presently you shall hear of.

"When the Fairy told him all these things he said, 'Ah Godmother,
how shall I make my nose long and my mouth big and ugly so as to be
like a real pedlar?'

"'Well my dear,' she replied, 'that is easy,' and so saying she put a
forefinger into the two corners of his mouth and pulled it until one
corner was under each ear.

[Illustration.]

"'I think that will do,' she said, 'and as to your nose, take a pinch
of this snuff.'

"No sooner had he done as she desired than he began to sneeze so hard
that in five minutes the end of his delicate nose was blown out into a
great round purple knob, which was so bright that he could not keep
from squinting to get a look at it.

"'I do not think any one will know you now,' said the Fairy, 'but be
careful not to open your mouth very wide or possibly your head may fall
off backwards.'

"'Upon my word,' cried the Prince when he looked at his face in a
smooth pool of water, 'If I be as cunning as I am ugly I shall surely
win the Lady!'

"The Fairy then gave him a little red cloak, and bade him walk like an
old man and be careful.

"Finally she placed in his basket a gold box containing the magical
opal.

[Illustration.]

"When he had left her she drew a ring on the ground and stood within
it, and enchanted the Lady Golden Hair with wicked words, so that for
four days and nights she had no sleep, because the instant her lids
closed she dreamed that nine beautiful ladies were kissing Prince
Sturdy, and that he was also kissing one of them and the one he kissed
was not herself.

"So it was that all these days she lay awake angry, and all the while
Prince Clever rode fiercely to her garden gate.

"Near by he hid his horse, and walking like an old man came to the
Palace slowly and asked to see the Lady.

"The guard laughed at his nose and told him the Princess was ill and
could not sleep.

"'It is well,' answered he, 'I have a charm here to bring her sleep.'

"As soon as this was known he was quickly ordered to the chamber of the
Princess, where resting on a couch she lay, while her ladies fanned her
with fans made of fresh flowers which every ten minutes were brought to
them by slaves.

"Although she felt very badly from want of sleep no sooner did she see
the Prince with his new face than she began to laugh until she cried
with mirth. 'For tears,' said Saadi the poet, 'are the diamonds of
affliction and the pearls of merriment.'

"After a time however the Princess grew silent, although she did not
dare to look at him when he talked. Now this was what he said,—'Here is
an amulet for them that sleep not, or sleeping have evil dreams. Let
thy ladies leave thee, and in a moment thou shalt sleep.'

"'Instantly begone!' cried the Princess to her maidens. 'Fly! I have
no fears. Let a slave with a drawn scimetar keep the door and leave me
with this wise and astonishing man.'

"Then, when there were none in the room but the Lady and himself, the
Prince opened his gold box and lifted out of it a large opal which
shone with a dim gray sleepy lustre with points of red and purple light.

"When he held the jewel up before her eyes she said, 'It has letters on
it. What be they? What do they mean?'

"'The words,' he replied, 'are the names of the nine most stupid books
that ever were written, and within is the name of the sleepiest man
that ever lived, and also the name of a very young baby who slept every
night all night long.'

"'It is well,' said the Princess. 'Let me sleep.'

"'Rise!' said the Prince, and she stood erect while he held the opal
before her eyes, and the golden flow of her hair fell from head to
neck and from waist to floor in curves of darkling gold like the early
sunlight when it is yet touched with the fading brown of twilight.

"As she gazed fixedly at the jewel her eyelids closed, and drowsy
languor grew upon her face, till at last she swayed backwards and fell
upon the couch.

"Then the Prince laid the jewel on the floor and crushed it with his
foot. As it brake, a rosy flame flashed from it, and a heavy odorous
smoke curled upwards and filled the room with dense vapour.

"Then the Prince took a long lock of her golden hair, and with his
dagger cut it quickly. When he had twisted it around his sword hilt he
leaned over and kissed her cheek, but though the Lady slept the blood
seemed to leap to the spot he had touched, and her cheek grew scarlet,
as he turned away ashamed and fled from the palace.

"Near to the garden he mounted his horse, and spurred swiftly away
through the night, while the trees moaned in the wind as he passed,
and the birds awoke and sang, 'Shame! shame!' till he stopped his ears
and fled faster and faster.

"Thus it was that Prince Clever kissed the Lady and had a golden lock
to show which was like her own, because it was her own. The next day he
met Sturdy.

"'Ha! ha!' said Clever, 'you own a Roc's egg, but I have kissed the
Lady, and who do you think has hair like this?'

"'Only one,' replied Prince Sturdy sadly.

"'We shall meet to-morrow,' said Clever, for so they had agreed, and
thus saying he rode away.

"Prince Sturdy also arose and entered a wood near by, for he was sick
at heart and desired to see no man's face.

"In a little while he was aware of two wild roses beside a rock on
which he had seated himself. As he thought of the Lady he wept, and
just one tear fell upon a rose.

"Then said a faint clear voice, 'The dew falls.'

"'I hope it is rain,' said another voice which was still more sweet and
pure.

"'Ah,' sighed the Prince, 'happy roses!'

"'Why do you weep?' said the roses, for it was their voices he had
heard.

"'Because I may not steal a lady's kiss,' said the Prince, 'and
because I want a tress of golden hair the like of which is not to be
had on earth.'

"'We don't know much about kisses,' said the rose. 'But it is pleasant
to touch a young rose bud when the winds blow us against one another. I
suppose that is a kiss.'

"'Yes,' said Sturdy laughing, as he pushed the two roses together till
their red lips touched.

"'Thanks,' said they. Then after a silence one of them said, 'If I were
you I would go and lie on the top of a great cliff, and as the yellow
sunlight trickles over the stones at morning, I would catch a bit in a
gold box and shut the lid quickly and keep it. Where is a Lady would
have golden locks like that, so yellow and so fine?'

"'It is well,' cried the Prince, and so saying he went away, sadly
thinking of the kiss he might not have.

"Next day the Court and the King and the Princess were in the garden
awaiting the two Princes.

"First came Prince Clever who had gotten his good looks again, and who
came gaily with a hundred knights and with slaves who bore an ivory box
which held the Princess' hair.

"Next came Prince Sturdy on a great black steed, but all alone and with
only a little gold box in his hand.

"When both had bent before the lady she smiled and said, 'You are empty
handed.'

"'No,' said Clever, and bade the slaves approach. Then from the ivory
box he took a glorious tress of the Lady's hair.

"'Is it like?' said he. 'Ah!' she cried, as she matched it with her own
long hair. 'It is the same! It was mine! How came you by this?'

"'Pardon me, Lady,' he said. 'It was I who in your sleep yesterday
stole this tress of hair. Where else is any like it?'

"'Ah!' she cried, growing pale, 'You were the Sorcerer with the foul
visage. You must have worn your heart upon your face for once Fair Sir.
But ah me!' she continued, 'the kiss! the kiss! Did you dare to kiss
me, sir Prince?'

"'I dared,' he said. 'How else could I win you?'

"'Enough,' she said, and turned, pale and despairing, to Prince Sturdy.

"'Lady,' said he, 'at morning I climbed the hill and caught in this box
a tress of golden sunlight. If it be not as like to thy hair as sun
to sun I am a false knight.' Then he opened the box beside the Lady's
wealth of hair.

"'Bosh!' cried Prince Clever. 'There is nothing there,' for the box of
a truth was empty.

"'True,' said Sturdy, 'It was bright this morning, but it is darkness
now beside the sunshine of my Lady's locks.'

"'Well said!' cried the King, while the Princess blushed like a whole
summer of rosy peaches.

"'By my beard!' cried Clever, 'He has the egg, and it seems I am
outwitted about the lock of hair. I pray you to tell me which of us has
the kiss.'

"'A gift is better than a theft,' said she, and whispering this, bent
down and kissed the brow of brave Prince Sturdy who trembled like a
lily of earth in the wind of Paradise.

"But as for Prince Clever, he made a wry face and said, 'It is very
warm in this place,' and so went away with his hands in his pockets and
was no more seen among men."

       *       *       *       *       *

When Fuz-buz had ended, all the little family of spiders began to
rejoice together, because of the nice story they had heard and also
because of the many more which were yet to be told.

The next afternoon as soon as ever Mrs. Grabem began to knit, the
spiders cried aloud for a story.

"But I am tired," said Fuz-buz.

"No matter!" cried the spiders, "we are not."

"Come, no nonsense!" roared Mrs. Grabem.

"Well," cried poor Fuz-buz. "Let me think a little."

"I should not suppose it took much thinking to make up stories,"
replied Mrs. Grabem.

By this time Fuz-buz was ready and having eaten a little cherry gum to
clear his throat, he began as follows:

"This is a fairy tale about


COLD COUNTRY.

ABOUT TROWEL KU THE BEAVER WHO BUILDS DAMS. ABOUT KANECRI THE LOON WHO
SINGS ON THE LAKES. ABOUT HOOTA THE OWL WHO IS NOT SO WISE AS HE LOOKS.
ABOUT WEESKA THE FOX WHO IS JUST AS SHARP AS HIS OWN NOSE, AND THAT IS
SAYING A GREAT DEAL.

"Ever so many days ago," said Fuz-buz, "and ever so far away up among
the great lakes it was always summer. There the trees were always green
and the flowers never ceased to bloom nor the birds to sing.

"The beaver built dams and no winter came to freeze them. The owl
hooted solemnly and the squirrels raced and played and ate nuts all the
year, and the foxes joked with the big bears, and the loons sang to the
stars all the nights long, and the stars winked at the lakes, and no
one ate any one else, for every one was merry and happy, because it was
summer all the year.

"But at last everything and everybody grew tired of being so happy.

"'Ah me!' said the bear, 'I get so fat it would be as easy to roll as
to walk.'

"'Just so,' sighed the trees, 'what a bore to have to make leaves all
the time.'

"Only the owl said, 'I'm comfortable,' and gave his feathers a lazy
shake and went to sleep again.

"After a while all the animals and trees and fish had a great talk and
made up their minds that it was unpleasant to have hot weather always.

"So the fox proposed that they should go in search of cool weather, and
bring back a little by way of a change.

"At last they agreed to send Trowel Ku the Beaver, and Kanecri the
Loon, and Hoota the Owl, and Weeska the Fox.

[Illustration.]

"All were ready except Hoota the Owl, who said, 'I'm comfortable.
What's the use?' and fell asleep again, but Weeska bit his toes and
Kanecri the Loon sang in his ears and at last they woke him up. 'For,'
said the Beaver, 'he looks so wise we cannot do without him.'

"Therefore it was resolved that Trowel Ku the Beaver should pull out
one of his feathers every five minutes to keep him wide awake, and
having thus planned the matter each one filled a birch bark bag with
food, and the whole party set off at daybreak.

"After a long journey they came to the hut of a magician called a
Manitou, on a high hill. Here the Loon called aloud, but no one came
until the Owl mounted on the Fox's back and knocked at the door, when
a little hunch-backed woman opened it and said, 'You can't come in
without money.'

"'Ha! ha!' said the Fox and ran away into the wood, and presently came
back with a handful of green leaves which he gave to the old woman.

"'That will do,' said she, for she was blind. 'Money must be plenty
where you live. Come in.' By and by the Manitou came home.

"'What now?' said he.

"'Sir,' answered Trowel Ku, the Beaver, 'I am tired of summer and of
building dams. Tell us where we can buy a little cold to take home for
a change.' 'And I,' said the Fox, 'I find it always too hot.' 'For my
part,' cried the Loon, Kanecri, 'You have given us only summer. Either
give me fewer feathers or else a little cold. As for the trees they are
all growling about having no rest at making leaves.'

"'Then,' said Manitou to the Owl, 'What do you want?' 'I'm
comfortable,' said Hoota the Owl, and straightway went to sleep.

"'Well,' said Manitou, 'I will send you to the cold country and you can
all of you take home a bag of cold to your friends.' Then he began to
laugh, and taking a deer-skin bade them all jump inside.

"When they were all in he sewed them up and putting the skin outside of
the hut bade it go.

"At once it became alive and bounded off over the hills and through the
streams until it came to a great frozen lake.

"Here the Beaver heard a noise, and presently an arrow went through the
deer which fell on the ice. The next moment a knife ripped the deer
open, and the Owl and the Beaver and Fox and Loon jumped out.

"Then they saw two tall men made of icicles who gave a cry when they
saw them, dropped their knives, and skated away over the lake.

"'Dear me!' said Trowel Ku, 'This must be cold land, let us fill our
bags,' cried Weeska the Fox, 'and be off.' 'Here is too much cold for
me, I'm not comfortable,' said Hoota the owl. 'Boo hoo how it bites my
toes!'

"Then they all filled their birch bags with cold, of which there was
plenty for every one lying about loose, and set off homewards.

"But after a little while they all became so cold that their jaws
chattered. By and by they saw the Manitou.

"'What now?' said he.

"'Too much cold,' said the Beaver. 'I think one bag would answer,'
added the Fox, 'and we could carry it by turns.' 'I'm not comfortable,'
groaned Hoota the Owl, 'my toes are frozen.' 'Suppose,' said the Loon,
'you were to help us to carry the cold home.'

"'Ho!' answered Manitou, for he was very angry. 'Begone! you wanted
summer and I gave it to you, and you had leave to take as much cold as
you wanted, and were greedy and took too much. I will warm you a little
and send your cold home too.'

"Thus saying he tore the sunset out of the west and threw it a thousand
miles into their country, and lo! it fell on the trees, and some it
stained yellow and some red and some brown, which so amazed them that
they let their leaves fall in affright and horror.

"Next the Manitou took up the bags of cold and threw them after the
sunset, and as they flew they broke, and the white cold fell in little
fleecy blankets on the naked trees and on the land.

"When the animals reached home there was no summer. So the Fox Weeska
ran into his den in the rocks, and the Beaver Trowel Ku cried, 'Woe is
me! the water has become white stone,' and the Loon Kanecri sang a song
to the stars and flew up into the skies and sailed away and away. But
Hoota the Owl said, 'I'm comfortable,' and fell fast asleep in a hollow
stump."

       *       *       *       *       *

The next night Mrs. Grabem herself came along with her little ones to
hear Fuz-buz relate a tale.

"Be sure it is a nice story," said one of the spiders.

"For my part," cried Mrs. Grabem, "I take no interest in stories, but
it pleases me to see the youngsters amused. You may go on while I knit,
and as I have ten threads to mend let the story be a long one."

"Please ma'am," answered Fuz-buz, "I will now tell you a story which I
flatter myself is the very best one I ever heard. It was brought by a
cousin of mine from Bagdad where he got it from a very aristocratic fly
who lived many years in the household of Sinbad the Sailor."


THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.

"Once upon a time there lived in Persia a great king. He had one nephew
who was to be the ruler after him, and to have all his kingdom.

"When this lad was about six years old a daughter was born to the King.
No sooner was her birth known than the magicians foretold that she
would be beautiful, and would have blue eyes like lakes, which last was
not very hard to foretell because they were already blue, but the magi
also declared that on the day of her marriage the King would die.

"'Oh ho!' said the King, who was called Omar, 'If this be so she shall
never marry, and I shall live long and pleasantly, and after me she
shall be queen. As for my nephew, I fear that he may wish to be king
when he grows to manhood. Therefore let him be thrown into the sea.'
Then an old Magician arose and spoke thus.

"'Be careful, oh King, not to do this wicked act, or if you greatly
dread the Prince Ali give him to me, and I will carry him far away to
an island on the coast, where he may be taught as a Prince should be,
and where he may live all his days and never know what he might have
been.'

"Then said a second counsellor, 'For my part I advise that the Princess
be shut up in a palace around whose gardens a wall shall be built, that
she may grow up and see none but women, for so only can you make sure
that she will not fall in love and marry.'

"'It were well,' said the King. 'Let the Magician take the Prince as
he has said.' Accordingly the next day Prince Ali was carried to an
island many miles from the main land and lodged in a fair palace. Here
he was cared for by trusty persons who taught him all manner of wisdom,
as well as to ride and hunt and swim, so that he grew up brave and
handsome and full of goodness and knowledge.

"Meanwhile the Princess lived alone with her women in a gleaming marble
castle which looked across the sea, and was girt about by a high wall
on every side but that bounded by the waters of the ocean.

"The busy years went on and by and by the little girl grew to be a
stately woman, and the Prince a tall and vigourous man, while the King
Omar became gray and old, and was every day more greedy to live. Each
morning he sent a slave to see how the Princess fared, and every month
he was told all about Prince Ali, and so made sure of his constant safe
keeping.

"One fine morning just after a storm a strange thing happened to the
Prince. He was walking up and down the beach and looking at the waves
which were rushing up the shore and sweeping down again with a fierce
roar, when he heard a cry of distress among the rocks near by. In a
moment he climbed towards the spot and saw to his great wonder as he
came near long tresses of something like thin seaweed floating in the
wind from a rock above him. He seized it and was more amazed to find
that it was beautiful hair like his own, but of a bright green colour.
As he pulled it he heard again a cry of pain which hastened his steps.

"This hair was wonderful, for it not only fell far down the cliff but
lay on top of the rocks and across bushes, and was strung here and
there with coral and great pearls.

"When the nimble Prince had traced it some thirty feet it led him to a
deep hollow between two rocks. Into this he descended. As he reached
the bottom what should he see but a little old woman, with fins for
hands and a long scaly tail like that of a fish. She was such a comical
little old lady that the Prince sat down and laughed for five minutes.
He ceased his mirth, however, when the old creature waved her fins in a
helpless way and groaned aloud.

[Illustration.]

"'What can I do for you Mrs. Woman-fish?' said he, 'and how came you
here?'

"'My dear,' said she, 'I am, as you see, a mermaid. I happened to come
on shore last night just to do a little knitting by the light of the
moon, when up came a big storm, and the waves gave me a great toss over
these rocks and into this hole. But the worst of it is I have lost my
spectacles, and my poor back is nearly broken, and one fin's out of
joint, and I've lost a knitting-needle and my back comb. Now if you
would kindly carry me to the edge of the rocks and throw me in, I think
I could reach home, but, as you may notice, I don't get along very well
upon land.'

"The Prince was too good-natured to refuse, so he lifted her carefully,
and drawing her long hair after him climbed with his queer load to the
top of the cliff. Here he gave her a mighty cast, and away she went
fifty feet down into the sea with her green hair sailing after her. The
moment she felt the water she rolled over and kissing her fin to Prince
Ali sculled away as cleverly as could be.

"The Prince said nothing about this adventure, but felt sorry that he
had not asked her some questions, for you must know that whenever he
asked questions of the people who waited on him, and taught him, they
were very apt to say, 'Oh don't bother me! I'm busy,' so that there
were many things which he desired to learn and could not.

"From this day forward he spent all of his time upon the shore and
among the rocks. At last one evening he saw a large white crested wave
rolling in, and on a sudden out of it paddled the mermaid. She sculled
up the sand and rolling over on her back said to the Prince, 'My dear
I can never thank you enough. If the doctors had been quicker about
getting my flapper well I should have been here long ago.'

"'You are most welcome,' returned Ali, 'and the more so because perhaps
you can tell me who I am.'

"'Sir!' said she, 'You are a King's son. Your parents are dead, and
your uncle has put you here for fear that you may wish to take the
kingdom away from his daughter the Princess Jessalie who is the most
beautiful woman in the world. She also is a prisoner within the gardens
of her Palace because it has been foretold that whenever she marries,
her Father the King will die.'

"'Would that I could see her!' said the Prince.

"'Sir!' replied the mermaid, 'to-morrow I will bring you her picture,
and meanwhile here are some trifles which my children have sent you as
tokens of their gratitude.'

"Thus saying she shook her head and a double handful of pearls fell
from her hair and dropped at the feet of the Prince, after which the
mermaid tumbled into the water and swam deftly away.

"The next morning early Ali went to the beach and found the mermaid
waiting with a large piece of crystal in her flappers.

"'Prince,' she said, 'Yesterday the Princess Jessalie chanced to look
into a small pool of water on the shore where she walks. As quick as
could be I enchanted the pool and turned it into a crystal mirror, so
that the face of the Princess is fixed upon it forever. Look, I have
brought it away with me.'

"At once the Prince regarded the mirror, and this was what he saw in
it. Calm lazy eyes of blue, and below them cheeks dimpled and rosy,
and twin lips which made you jealous of each, because ever they kissed
one the other, and brown hair which must have fallen down about this
face as it looked into the pool of water, and blue around it all, the
heavens which spread above her as she had bent to gaze at her own
fairness.

"'Ah!' said Ali, 'This is my fate! Take me to this woman swiftly that I
may see her and die contented.'

"'Not so,' said the mermaid, 'be guided by me and in time you shall
marry her. Give me a message and I will carry it to the Princess,
but as yet she must not know your name, or it might be that the King
hearing it would put you to death. Speak your message to this shell and
I will answer for the rest.'

"Thus saying she pointed to a white shell which lay on the beach. The
Prince took it up, and laughing, whispered a few words in its curled
lip, and then as the mermaid bade him threw it far out into the sea.

"'Now,' said the mermaid, 'If you tell a lady once that you love her
she laughs. If you tell her twice she is angry, but when you have ten
times said 'I love,' she will either hate or love you, or perhaps
may hate and love by turns, each for five minutes as sometimes doth
chance. Now, therefore, many times you must say to her I love you.'

"'But _how_ shall I do this?' asked Prince Ali.

"'Sir,' she said, 'look upwards and clap your hands thrice.'

"Without further words the young man did as he was told, when instantly
a great white swan descended from a vast height and alighted on the
water's edge beside them. The mermaid at once began to dig in the sand,
and presently found a large oyster shell which she desired Ali to
open. As he did so a necklace of pearls fell out, the like of which no
jeweller ever saw before or since.

"'Now!' said the mermaid, 'hang this on the swan's neck for a present
to the Princess, and with thy finger write on the bird's breast a
message.'

"The Prince was lost in wonder, but without hesitation he traced a
few rapid letters on the white breast of the swan. As he wrote, the
feathers where he touched them grew scarlet, so that you might read in
red letters 'I love thee,' marked on the snowy whiteness of the swan's
bosom.

"Scarcely had he made an end of this short letter of love when the swan
rose in swift flight until she was no longer to be seen by the amazed
Prince, who turned to look at the mermaid, though only to find that
she too had vanished. Then in still greater wonder Ali walked homeward
along the water's edge.

"Thus many days went by and brought no change, for ever the west winds
blew, and ever the waves climbed the shore and laid soft cheeks on the
sands and whispered, and went backward moaning again.

"This sadness pleased the Prince who lay on the rocks all day and heard
the sobbing waters, and looked wearily over the wide green ocean fields
where the bubble-crested foam came and went from sight like the white
clover blossoms which swayed amid their fields of green, when the wind
leaped across the rocks and took its pleasure inland.

"One of these days the Princess walked on the shore with her women,
when the youngest of them said, 'What a lovely shell!' 'Let me hear
what it says,' cried the Princess; but no sooner had she put it to her
ear than the shell murmured softly, 'I LOVE YOU.'

"'Ah!' said the Princess Jessalie to the oldest of her ladies, 'This
shell sings to me words new and strange. Tell me I pray you what is
LOVE?'

"She had scarcely finished when all the old ladies held up their hands
in horror, for this and all other such words were forbidden within the
Palace bounds. The more they made faces and signs at her the more the
Princess wished to know. So she kept saying continually, 'What is love?
I will know what is love.'

"But no one answered, and some of the old ladies cried, and some ran
away, for they all feared that King Omar would strangle them because
the Princess had heard the forbidden word, and because no one of them
knew but that presently she would say, 'what is a man?' or some other
such dreadful words.

"When at length the Princess found herself alone with her governess,
she said again, 'What is love?'

"'My dear child,' replied the old lady, 'it is a kind of medicine!'

"'Ah!' cried the Princess, 'Then I see why the ladies made faces when
I spoke of it. I suppose they had all taken a dose. But it sounds very
pleasant,' she added, and all day long she went about with the shell at
her ear.

"The next morning the shell was gone, for the ladies had taken it away
so that they might prevent further mischief by hiding this wonderful
shell. But before they concealed it they listened to hear it say 'I
love you.' No one listened twice, and they all said the shell was an
ill-bred shell and had no manners, though what it said to them I know
not, perhaps something true but not pleasant.

"The next day while walking in the garden the Princess asked eagerly
about her singing shell. While everybody pretended to look for it a
whirring noise was heard and a fluttering of white wings was seen as
the swan lit at the feet of the lady and shook the pearl necklace into
her lap.

"'Oh marvellous!' cried the Princess, 'come quickly look at this! see
what pearls! and Mahomet preserve us! Bismillah! Here is the name of
that medicine again, written in scarlet on the breast of this beautiful
swan, 'I LOVE THEE.'

"No sooner had the old ladies seen these fatal words than they rushed
at the bird and beat it so cruelly that it had hard work to get away
even with the help of the Princess herself.

"This time she was so urgent to be told more, and so eager in her
questions, that the matter came to the quick ears of the King Omar her
father. At once the guards around her Palace gardens were doubled.
Twelve old ladies were set to work to gather up all the shells along
shore, while twelve more were ordered to keep strict watch lest any
other messages of love should come to the fair Jessalie.

"Meantime none knew whence came these strange words, and the King grew
more and more angry and alarmed whenever he thought about it.

"All his precautions were in vain. One fine morning every rose-leaf in
the gardens had written upon it in golden Arabic letters, 'I LOVE YOU.'

"This drove the King wild, and he commanded all the rose-bushes in the
kingdom to be cut down, which was instantly done.

"The next morrow at day-break a great noise was heard, and when the
Princess arose and peeped from her window every bird in the garden was
singing, 'I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU.'

"This time the King ordered the Princess to be shut up in the Palace.
Then the birds were driven away and a great silken net hung over the
garden so that the voice of the birds might no more be heard singing
this sweet treason among the flowers.

"Very soon, however, the Princess became so weary of her Palace that
she fell ill, and no one dared to tell the King that all night long in
dreams she whispered, 'I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU.'

"Far and near the King sought counsel of all manner of wise men and
doctors, but no one would venture to order medicine for the Princess
without seeing her, and as to a man doing that, it was out of the
question.

"About this time the mermaid, who I need not say was the merrymaker of
all this mischief, met the Prince on the beach one evening and thus
addressed him.

"'The Princess whom you love is ill, because she has not found out who
it is that is ever saying through the shells and the birds and the
flowers, "I love you." Take therefore this mirror, write on it a letter
with your finger tip, and I will see that it reaches the Princess.'

"The Prince gladly followed these directions, for though when he had
traced words on the glass he could see nothing of them, he felt sure
of the mermaid's power to help him.

"When he had ended she took the mirror, and carrying it all the way
above the waves hastened to the main-land. When she came to the shore
she put on a long petticoat to hide her scaly fish tail, and drawing
her fins through the sleeves of a gown, mounted up on a pair of
crutches and hobbled with great labour to the Palace of King Omar. Here
she told the guard to let the King know that a lame doctoress who had
come from a far country was waiting to cure the Princess.

"So soon as ever the King heard this he ordered her to be admitted.
When he set eyes upon her odd figure he cried out,

"'Quick! old woman speak! and that shortly! If you can cure my daughter
say so.'

"'Oh King!' she answered, 'Let the lady look into this mirror, but see
that no one touches it on the way. Let the Princess breathe upon it as
she looks, and if it does not cure her throw me into the sea without
mercy.'

"'Well said!' cried the King. 'It shall be as you desire. Let the
mirror be carried to the Princess.'

"Accordingly that evening the crystal was taken to the Palace with
every care and given to Jessalie.

"'You have but to breathe on it,' said her Governess, 'and you will be
well.'

"'Give it to me,' she said, and instantly blew a breath upon its
polished surface. As she did so, to her great amazement she read these
words which seemed to come into view on the glass as her breathing
moistened it, 'I LOVE YOU. I, THE PRINCE ALI YOUR COUSIN, I LOVE YOU.'

"As her breath faded from the glass the words fled from sight, but the
Princess fell back murmuring, 'My cousin Ali, he loves me.'

"Then there was confusion. The ladies tore their hair and screamed
aloud, and the slaves beat their breasts, while the Princess fainted
away. In a moment the news came to the King that his daughter had no
sooner seen the mirror than she had called aloud the name of her cousin
and fainted.

"'Allah!' muttered the King, 'Well said the poet, "A daughter is an
aching tooth, and he who doth not beat his child shall one day strike
his knees in vain." Let this old hag of a doctor be cast into the sea,'
he added, 'and let the captain of the guard take ship speedily and slay
this nephew of mine whom I did ill to spare so long.'

"Accordingly the mermaid was taken to the rocks and thrown a hundred
feet down into the waves, where she laughed a little, and kicking off
her petticoats swam away merrily to see the Prince, for whose safety
she had great fears.

"Just as she reached the island she saw the Prince standing on a rock
and bravely defending himself against the guard of the King.

"As quick as could be the mermaid called to him to leap off of the
rocks into the sea, for although he had killed at least a dozen of his
foes he was faint and sorely pressed. When he heard her call he smote
the captain of the guard a fierce blow, and bounding up the rocks
hesitated an instant, and then leaped boldly into the foaming waters at
their feet.

"For a moment he felt his strength fail, then he saw a thousand colours
before his eyes, then a gray mist came over them, and after that
darkness, until he awakened as from a dream of death.

"When he became conscious, he was under the water seated at the foot of
a vast tree of coral. About him was a forest of like trees, hung with
huge pearls and covered with sea-weed of many tints, among which great
fish and nameless ocean beasts floated lazily to and fro.

"'Come,' said the mermaid, 'You are now a son of the sea. Let us go.'

"Upon this he arose and in a great maze of wonder walked along, while
the mermaid swam easily by his side. Sometimes they passed huge heaps
of amber, and sometimes turned aside from the wrecks of mighty ships,
or else trode through caverns whose sand was gold dust and gleaming
jewels, till at length they came to a vast wall of rock.

"Here the mermaid knocked and a door opened and let them into a mighty
hall builded throughout of the purest jasper.

"But what the Prince saw here no one will ever know, for here the
mermen and mermaids lived, and here they made the Prince so welcome
that he would never have wished for earth again if the Princess whom he
loved had only been with him.

"Meanwhile King Omar felt himself growing old and feeble, but the
nearer he came to death the more he desired to live. Then there came
into his head a cunning way to cheat the Angel of Death. He therefore
summoned his counsel and spake to them thus,

"'It has been foretold that I shall die when my daughter marries. Now
let proclamation be made that whosoever shall bring to me a cup of
water from the fountain of youth shall have the Princess for his wife.
So shall I drink of the water and become young again, and that which
was to kill me shall bring me life.'

"Then there was silence awhile till at last an aged Mufti arose.

"'Oh King!' said he, 'Beware how you resist the words of fate. Is it
so easy to live rightly that you would crave for more of life? He who
lengthens the life of this world makes shorter the life of the world to
come. Beware!'

"'Fool!' said the King, 'thou art ten years younger than I. Let it be
as I have said.'

"Soon after this the mermaid said to Ali, 'It is time Prince that you
left us. The King desires a cup of the fountain of youth, and to him
who brings it he will give the Princess. Therefore have no fear, but
take thy sword and this crystal flask, and passing through yonder
gateway journey on until you reach a deep valley, at the bottom of
which you will find the fountain. Drink none, but fill your flask and
hasten to the King without pause or fear.'

"With this counsel the Prince took his sword, and tying the flask about
his neck set out. As he stepped through the gate-way of amber he looked
up and saw above him the splendid blue of the deep sea like one vast
quiet sapphire. Before him a gradual slope led downwards over rocks
and sea grasses which at last ceased, and he came upon a floor of sand
whiter than the purest snow.

"As the descent ended he saw in front of him a majestic angel of vast
height. Her foot rested on a marble skull of huge proportions, and upon
her brow was written _Azrael_.

[Illustration.]

"For a moment the Prince paused in dread; then he took courage and said
humbly,

"'Is this the fountain of youth?' As he ceased the angel murmured,
'_Out of death cometh all life_,' and solemnly struck the skull with
her wand. Instantly a purple liquid gushed from under the skull and
floated in slow spirals upward through the still water.

"With a bound the Prince knelt at the skull, filled his flask and
turned away in haste, for already the purple color was tinting the
whole sea about him, and he remembered well the mermaid's warning.

"Three days after this Ali reached the court of King Omar. To his great
joy he found the court sitting, and the King on his throne.

"So splendid was Prince Ali's dress and so noble his air that no one
stopped him, and he entered freely and unquestioned. Before him sat the
King his uncle. He was very old, but still vigourous enough to live for
many years beyond the common span of human life.

"Ali listened while the Muftis read aloud the promise of the King that
whosoever brought the cup of water from the fountain of youth should
marry the Princess Jessalie.

"No sooner had they ended than Ali bowed before the throne.

"'Oh King!' said he, 'I am the Prince Ali, thy nephew, whom you would
have slain. I have brought to you here a cup of the water of the
fountain of youth, Drink, but read first what words have come on the
flask since I filled it at the fountain. Drink then if you will, and
give me the Princess, for by my sword this is water of the fountain of
youth and none other.'

"'Ha!' said the King, 'Give it to me!' and tottering he arose and
descending a few steps seized the flask. Then he tore from it the
silver cover with which the Prince had sealed it.

"At once a dense purple vapour rose in clouds from the lip of the flask
and curled upwards through the hall. Whosoever breathed of this his
eyes flashed and he dreamed of mornings long ago, and of fair women and
of boyhood, so that all who felt it stood bewildered.

"Then cried the King, 'I drink to youth!' and would have drained the
flask, but Ali held his hand and bade him read the words which were
graven upon the vessel.

'"It is but a moment to wait for youth,' cried the King, and turning to
a magician bade him read the words, 'For,' said he, 'I am old and my
sight fails me.'

"'Oh my master!' said the magician, 'these are the words:

    "'He who steals to-morrows
      Shall drink the wine of sorrows.'"

"Then the aged counsellor fell back with an altered face as he breathed
the purple fumes, 'Woe is me! I am stronger! I am grown younger! Woe is
me! I am further from Allah.'

"But the King, saying no word, set the flask to his lips and drained
it to the utmost drop. Then with a cry of delight he threw the vessel
away, and shouting aloud, 'I am young again!' bounded up the steps and
pausing faced the mutely wondering crowd.

"When he turned he was seen as a man in the lusty vigour of life,
stalwart and strong of limb.

"'Ho!' he said, 'my guard!' but none stirred, for his face was still
changing, and now his beard was gone, and it was a lad who sat upon the
throne, and a lad's voice which cried aloud.

"'This man to the dungeons! What ho! my guard!' And yet they moved not,
for the lad was now a child.

"Still the stern will worked, and the child-King said faintly, 'My
guards! my guards!' till his voice broke into baby lispings, and now it
was an infant who sat upon the throne.

"Then the changes seemed to cease, and the ancient counsellor who had
so wisely warned the King cried aloud, 'Allah il Allah! great and
wonderful are thy ways!'

"When one man had thus broken silence a mighty tumult arose, amidst
which the baby King looked right and left with blue eyes of wonder.

"But Ali drew his sword and in a terrible voice ordered the guard to
clear the hall. Instantly he was obeyed, and then there was great
counsel held as to what should be done with the King. At length it was
decided that he should be sent to the island where Ali had lived, and
be kept there all his days. These indeed proved few, for it is recorded
in the chronicles of the kingdom that he took teething rather hard,
and died in his second summer of malignant whooping-cough.

"As to Prince Ali he married his cousin the Princess Jessalie, and the
mermen and the mermaids came to the wedding and brought with them for
presents pearls and amber and tortoise shells such as folks never see
now-a-days.

"They lived long together, and loved one another well, and they both
died at one and the same moment, which was the happiest thing of all
their happy lives."

       *       *       *       *       *

The sun was not yet down on the next evening when the young spiders
began to collect around Fuz-buz.

"Tell us," said one of them, "a story about giants."

"There's a jolly idea," cried another. "Is it to be a spider giant?"

"Ahem!" replied Fuz-buz. "I wish there were such giants, and I wish one
of them would come along this very moment and gobble you all up."

This he said in so fierce a voice that the young spiders ran away
squealing so loud that if you had been a spider and had owned an
ear-trumpet, you might have heard them at least three inches off.

As for Mrs. Grabem she hurried in a rage to Fuz-Buz, and gave him a
shake, saying, "Have a care old rascal, how you scare my young ones.
Tell them a story at once, or you shall never tell another on this
earth."

"Yes, madam," answered Fuz-buz very meekly, and as soon as ever he
could get his breath he began as follows, to tell them the story of
Krusstikuss and Growlegrum.


KRUSSTIKUSS AND GROWLEGRUM.

"There have been many giants I believe, but there never were any others
like the great giant Growlegrum and his twin brother Krusstikuss.

"These two giants were both of them Ogres. Their mother was an Afrite,
and their grandfather a Ghoul. On which account they were probably the
most unpleasant giants that anybody ever came across.

"When very young they were tall and stout, but one day unluckily for
Krusstikuss, his grandmother, who was a fat giantess, sat down on him.

"Not feeling anything in particular she fell asleep and did not awaken
for three months.

"Of course it was hard for Krusstikuss to grow while his grandmother
sat upon him, so he began to spread out sideways and never afterwards
got out of the habit. He therefore became as fat as a bun, while his
brother Growlegrum grew as tall as the highest tree.

"So one was tall, and one stout, but both were of the same size in
wickedness, and as to Krusstikuss he liked to eat babies, while
Growlegrum was fond of young ladies, although their hoops sometimes
disagreed with him.

"When these monsters grew up they ate so many people that their father
told them they would cause a famine, and must go away and find another
land where people were more plenty.

"At last they took his advice and started out together to seek a new
home. After eating a great many folks they came to a beautiful country
where lived a King who had a daughter as good as she was pretty.

"When the two giants reached the borders of this land they sat down and
began to talk.

"'I am getting so big,' said Krusstikuss, 'that I find it a labour to
walk about and look for babies. They must be very scarce.'

"'Not more so than young ladies,' cried Growlegrum. 'I should think
they would like to be eaten before they grow to be old and ugly, but
really it does not seem so.'

"While they were thus lamenting the scarcity of food, an old woman with
a red cap and a green kirtle came from the wood and stood before them.

"'Sirs,' said she, 'I am a cousin of yours, and also a witch. Why
should you be troubled about your meals? Order the King Hassan to send
hither twice every day ten fat babies and one young lady.'

"'Good,' said the giants, 'we can lie on these hills and eat and sleep
without labour. So let it be. Go you to King Hassan and tell him to
send us the babies and the young ladies without fail, or else we will
eat him and fry him first.'

"This made the old witch chuckle, and she went away quickly towards
the city with her wicked news. Presently she entered the Palace, for
she was a cousin of the King, and went straight to the garden where
she told King Hassan that the two giants were on the borders of his
country, and must have ten babies and a young lady twice a day or else
they would eat the King and fry him first, which made Hassan feel hot
all over.

"He soon saw that he could do nothing against such vast monsters, and
therefore beat his breast and ordered his captains to take to the
giants the babies and the young ladies.

"You may be sure that when this happened twice a day for a week folks
began to be very much troubled. By and by the mammas hid away the
babies in tree-tops and chimnies and in all sorts of out of the way
places. And as to young ladies there were none to be found, for every
one of them put on her brother's pantaloons, and it was hard work to
catch a woman at all.

"It chanced about this time that the Princess was walking in a wood
near the Palace when she saw a young girl crying. Now as the Princess
was very kind-hearted she stopped at once and said,

"'Why do you cry? What ails you?'

"'Oh dear!' said the other, 'to-morrow I am to be taken by the guard
to be eaten by the Ogres, Growlegrum and Krusstikuss, and when I am
gone who will comfort my old mother, for she has no child but me?'

"When the Princess heard this she told her to wait a little, and went
herself to find the King.

"'Father,' said she, 'it is hard that all the young girls should be
eaten alive by these false giants. Why do not you raise an army and go
and fight and kill them? It is base to give up to them in this way.
Were I a man I would slay them myself.'

"'It would be in vain to try,' answered the King. 'Well,' said the
Princess, 'to-morrow I shall go alone in place of the maiden who is
chosen, and perhaps some good knight will not willingly let me die so
mean a death.'

"The King was very angry, but the Princess was obstinate. Then a young
Prince who was present arose and said,

"'I have come, lady, a thousand miles to help you. My name is Prince
Bluets, and I am the great-grandson of John, who is sometimes called
Jack, the Giant Killer. Go to the giants as you have said and all will
yet be well.'

"Then the Princess looked and saw that the Prince had brave eyes and
was fair of face, so she replied,

"'It shall be as you say.'

"'To-morrow, then,' continued the Prince, 'you shall go to the giants
and I will follow you. But first take this amulet and hang it around
your neck. So long as you wear it all things living and dead will love
you, and no giant will wish to eat you.'

"Thus saying he hung around her neck a gold chain, and at once she went
away and ordered her horse to ride to the giants. Meanwhile it was
proclaimed that out of love for her people the Princess was going to
beg the giants to go away and not to eat any more babies.

"As for the Princess, she sent word to the little maiden in the wood
that she was going in her place, and then bravely mounted her horse and
rode through the town to the gate.

"No sooner did the people see her than they began to follow her,
because the amulet made every one wish to be near to her. But at the
gate she bade them return, and rode away alone into the wood, though
even there the charm still worked, and all things loved her more and
more. The sun stared her in the eyes like a gallant over-bold, and the
wind played with her chestnut hair and was happy, and the leaves bent
down and kissed her, and all the mice and the birds and the bears and
the foxes came out and followed her.

"But when she came near to the two Ogres and saw them sitting on a hill
with their white eyes and rough faces and great black teeth like marble
tombstones, all the animals set up a dismal howl and ran away. Yet
still the lady rode along, and presently the two giants became aware of
her presence.

"Then said Growlegrum, 'Here comes dinner,' but when she drew nearer he
added, 'She's too pretty to eat. Who are you my dear?'

"'I am the Princess Violet,' said she, 'the King's daughter.'

"'Hah!' said both of the Ogres, 'You shall be my wife.'

"'Well,' cried she, 'I cannot have two husbands; put me in a safe place
and after I have known you both for a month I can decide which I will
have for my husband.'

"'Good,' returned Krusstikuss, 'So let it be.' Then they lifted her
gently and put her near by in a castle whose owner they had devoured,
and every day they brought her goodies to eat, enough for twenty
dinners.

"In the morning came Growlegrum and looked over the castle wall and
said, 'I love you my dear.' But in the afternoons came Krusstikuss and
said, 'Bless me! how I love you!' Now the Princess knew that within a
month she should hear of Prince Bluets.

"As for that Prince he went away to a magician and asked him how he
could become thin.

"'There are four ways,' answered the magician,

    'Eat nothing,
    'Fall in love,
    'Become jealous, and
    'Think ever so much.'

"Then said the Prince, 'The advice is good,' and so saying he gave him
three links of a gold chain which he wore, and mounted his horse and
rode swiftly until he came to a high hill which at a great distance
overlooked the castle where the lady was. Here he sat down and with his
spy-glass looked until he saw Krusstikuss kissing his great hand to the
lady.

"This made him horribly jealous, and at once he began to get thin. Then
for four days he ate nothing and so became thinner and thinner. Of
course he was miserably in love, and this also made him lose flesh.

"After four days he was still too fat, so he began to think of all
the hard conundrums and riddles and charades that ever were heard of,
but at last when he had been two days thinking how to make apple pies
out of donkies he became so thin that his bones were no thicker than
walking sticks, and when he stood sideways he had no shadow at all.

"Then he took his sword and walking carefully for fear of breaking into
halves or of being blown away, he descended the hill, and late at night
knocked at a side door of the castle where the Princess Violet now
lived.

"As soon as she heard the noise she came to the door and said,

"'Who is it?'

"'It is I,' answered the Prince, but his voice was so thin that he
could hardly be heard, and if the Princess had not loved him she never
would have been able to hear a word he said.

"'My love,' he cried, 'It is I, Prince Bluets. Presently I shall
squeeze my head through the key-hole, and you must then seize me by the
hair and drag me in.'

"Of course giants' castles have very large key-holes, and as the Prince
was as thin as could be he easily pushed his head through the key-hole,
when the Princess took hold of his hair, and pretty soon drew him into
the castle.

"She was very much amazed when she saw him so lean and meagre, but the
Prince explained it all and they sat down and had a good talk until
morning, when the Prince hid away in a corner under some hay.

"By and by came Krusstikuss, and looking over the castle wall said in a
large voice, 'I love you my dear. Here are some nice little dishes for
breakfast!' and so saying, he emptied his pockets of about two wagon
loads of cakes and candy and bon-bons and all kind of goodies such as
Princesses eat.

"'Sir,' said the Princess, 'If I am to be a giant's wife, I must learn
to eat babies. If you love me you will bring me all the babies you get,
that I may keep them until they get so fat and tender that I shall be
tempted to eat them.'

"'But what shall I live on myself?' cried Krusstikuss.

"'Oh!' said the Princess, 'if you are in love you will not care to
eat.'

"'That's queer,' returned the giant, 'but I suppose it won't hurt me to
suck my paws for awhile like the bears.'

"Then he took four babies out of his hat and two out of his pockets,
saying, 'I am sorry, but I ate four on the way. To-morrow you shall
have all, and when you get them fat enough I will come and dine with
you.'

"After this he went away leaving the babies to the Princess, who put
them all in a row and fed them with nine dough-nuts apiece, so that if
they did not get fat it was not her fault.

"In the afternoon came Growlegrum, who was as big in length as
Krusstikuss was sideways.

"'My love,' said he, when he had peeped over the wall, 'What's this?
Babies.'

"'Sir,' she replied, 'Your brother loves me, and has promised me all
the babies, that I may fatten them. If you also love me at all, you
will give me the young ladies you were to eat every day, that I may
have some one to take care of the babies and feed them.'

"'Ah me!' said the giant, 'I shall die of starvation.'

"'Don't, if you love me,' said Violet.

"'Enough,' cried Growlegrum. 'Here lovely Princess is the first, and
every day you shall have another.'

"So saying, he jerked a beautiful young lady out of his pocket and set
her down inside of the castle.

[Illustration]

"'Good-bye,' said the Princess.

"'Good-bye,' said the giant, 'If I stay I shall steal a baby.'

"So he gnashed his ugly grim teeth and walked away with vast steps.

"When he was out of sight Prince Bluets came forth, and the Princess
and he laughed with joy, because of the babies whom they had saved. But
as there was no time to lose the Prince kissed her and wriggled through
the key-hole again.

"Then in haste he ran into the woods and took the road which led to the
city where King Hassan lived.

"On the way he heard voices, and climbing a tree he listened eagerly
until he learned that these came from five persons who were dressed in
long robes and were riding from the town. By good luck they rested a
little while just under the tree in which Bluets lay hidden. He soon
understood that all five were lawyers whom the King had sent to see
Krusstikuss, that they might offer the Princess in marriage to him with
half of the kingdom if he would send his brother away, and learn to eat
beef and mutton in place of babies.

"'Ho!' said the Prince, 'This won't do,' so he waited till they left,
and then descending ran back to the castle and called the Princess.

"Then through the key-hole he gave her a little advice about the five
lawyers. After this he went away once more towards the city.

"As for the Princess she waved her handkerchief from the castle wall
until Growlegrum espied her and strode over the hills and valleys to
the castle.

"'Sir,' she said, 'Do not be surprised if you see a party of men in
gowns coming from the city. Go and meet them, if they think you are
Krusstikuss they will tell you something.'

"'Good,' answered he. 'Now I perceive that you love me.'

"Then, without waiting, he walked towards the city. A little way on he
met the five lawyers. As soon as they saw him they dismounted and threw
themselves on the ground.

"'What do ye want?' roared Growlegrum.

"'Oh sir!' said they, 'we would see the great giant Krusstikuss.'

"'It is well,' returned the giant. 'Speak.'

"'Sir,' said they, 'We come to offer to the great giant Krusstikuss
one-half of the kingdom and the Princess for a wife.'

"'Ha!' answered the giant, 'and what shall his brother have?'

"'Perhaps,' returned one of the lawyers, 'he might be persuaded to
leave, or else your highness could quietly knock him on the head.'

"'Scoundrels!' roared Growlegrum, 'My name is not Krusstikuss. I'll
teach you to make trouble, you rascals.'

"Upon this he seized them one after another, and ate the whole five.
The effects of this meal were dreadful. In five minutes Growlegrum was
bent double with stomach-ache, for you see the lawyers disagreed with
him, and they also disagreed with one another inside of him.

"But this was not all, for in a few moments he began to grow so
quarrelsome that he became the most unsafe giant that could anywhere be
found.

"In half an hour he was outrageous, and by the time he met his brother
he was ready to fight anybody.

"Well the end of it was they did fight. They fought for two days and
two nights, when Krusstikuss got so weak that Growlegrum took him up by
the heels and stood him on his head and gave him a mighty spin, for he
was made just like a top, and then, while he was spinning, treated him
to a kick, and hoisted him over two hills into the sea, where he spun
to the bottom and never more was heard of.

"When this awful battle was over Growlegrum sat on a hill and began to
pick his teeth with a fence rail. Meanwhile Prince Bluets hastened to
the city.

"He had gone but a little way when who should he see but his
great-great-grandfather Jack, the Giant Killer, who had journeyed a
long way to see what had become of Bluets. After they had embraced one
another, the Prince told his grandfather all that had passed.

"'You have done well,' said Jack, 'but we must now get rid of this
other giant who I hear is a terrible fellow. Let us go and see him.'

"'Very well,' replied Bluets, 'We will go,' and so saying they turned,
and very soon spied Growlegrum sitting on the hill. As soon as ever he
saw them he roared out,

"'Dinner! Here comes my dinner!'

"When they had come still nearer Jack cried aloud, 'I am Jack, the
Giant Killer, and I have come to visit you.'

"'Ha, ha!' laughed the giant, 'You are a little man and brave.' 'There
is one thing you cannot do, big though you be,' said Jack.

"'Name it,' said Growlegrum. 'I can pull up trees and kick down towns
and chew cannon balls and eat you. What is there I cannot do?'

"'Sir,' answered Jack, 'All these things are easy.' 'If I cannot eat
anything and kill anybody I will quit this land and go home,' said the
giant in a rage.

"'Good!' cried Jack, 'Come with us.'

"Upon this the giant picked them both up and walked off in the
direction which Jack pointed out. Presently they came to a house.

"'Stop!' said Jack, and the giant set them down.

"'Eat the man who lives in that house,' said Jack.

"'Poh!' cried Growlegrum, and gave the house a kick which knocked it
down in a twinkling. Then he pulled out of the ruins a man who began to
roar for mercy.

"'Oh dear!' he said, 'Don't eat me, and I will never fib any more, and
never make any more speeches ever again.'

"'Who is he?' asked the giant. '_A member of Congress_,' cried Jack.

"'Eat _him?_ eat _him!_ said the giant, 'I don't want to be poisoned.
You must think I am a fool.'

"'Eat him!' cried Jack.

"'No, sir,' said Krusstikuss. 'I'd rather leave. If I must die I would
like to die easy.'

"So saying the giant gave a groan and set off across the hills. I do
not know where he went, but I suppose he travelled home to his mamma,
and told her what a fool Jack had made of him.

"As soon as the giant had gone Jack and Prince Bluets went to the
castle and set free the Princess and all the babies, who showed their
gratitude by screaming for a week. But perhaps this might have been
owing to the dough-nuts they had eaten.

"I do believe there never was such a wedding as that of Prince Bluets
and Princess Violet, for all the fairy folk came, and Cinderella and
all the fairy godmothers, and Aladdin, and Prince Nosey, and the seven
champions, and Hop O'my Thumb, Goody Two Shoes, and Red Riding Hood.
All of them brought presents to the bride, but the Prince gave her only
his love and took away from her the amulet for fear it should make any
one love her more than he could."

       *       *       *       *       *

During the next week it rained so hard every day that no one of the
spider's family could venture out of their den.

It was no wonder that they became hungry for stories, and that at the
first gleam of sunshine they all ran together and began to pull at the
line of cobweb to which poor Fuz-Buz was fettered.

As for Fuz-Buz he was so wet and cold that he crawled out of his hole
with trouble and pain.

"Ah, my dears!" cried he. "I ache all over with the gout. We lived too
high in Spain I fear."

"Bother the gout!" said the spiders.

"Tell us a new story, and pretty soon too, or mammy will eat you, and
won't that be worse than the gout?"

"I don't know," answered Fuz-Buz, "I think I would rather be eaten up
at once, and have it over."

"Ha! ha!" cried Mrs. Grabem, who overheard what the fly had said.

"Ha! ha! you would like to be eaten; would you like to have your legs
pulled off and your wings torn, and—-?"

"Oh dear! oh dear!" shrieked Fuz-Buz. "Pray stop, I am all in a shiver.
I will never be so hasty again."

[Illustration]

"Very well," returned the spider firmly. "See that you remember
what I have said, and on no account venture to keep my blessed little
children waiting. It spoils their tempers for life. I will have no more
of it."

When Mrs. Grabem ceased, all the young spiders cried aloud,

"You had better take care, or mammy will finish you!"

"How are your legs?" said one.

"Where is that story?" said another.

"Here it is," answered Fuz-Buz, tapping his head. "I have it all here
ever since the day I heard it told by a famous Dervish at the porch of
the great Mosque of Salamanca."


MUSTAPHA, OR THE MUSICAL GOURD.

"In the year of the Hegira, 709, and the twelfth of our Caliph Haroun,
the Magnificent, there lived in the royal city of Bagdad a cobbler of
the name of Ali Ben Slippah.

"His shop was small, but being well situated at the corner of the
street of the Prophet, and the great street of Mosques, the cobbler
managed to live very comfortably, so that with the aid of Smyrna
tobacco and a contented disposition which the poet has well called the
'Pipe of the just,' he eked out a tranquil life free from care and
ambition.

"His house was neatly kept by his daughter Lelie, or the Dark-eyed, who
was a little maiden with lips like the roses of Istamboul, and cheeks
as darkly lovely as the brown lilies of Ispahan.

"Besides these the sole remaining member of their household was a great
black cat known by the name of Yussef, or the Hump-backed, because she
was always in an evil humour, and was forever hunching her back up to
show how cross she felt.

"It so chanced that when Lelie was a child this cat pursued by boys and
dogs had taken refuge with Lelie, who had saved her life. Thenceforward
she had never left her, but was so jealous of her mistress that it was
enough to look at her to drive the Pussy crazy with rage.

"Now to let you into a secret. You should know that Yussef was a wicked
genius who for a terrible crime had been condemned to live an hundred
years in the body of a cat.

"About the time at which this trap story begins, a young soldier of the
Caliph's guard, whose name was Mustapha, fell in love with Lelie, and
as he was very handsome and clever, was so lucky as to make her also
love him in return.

"Unhappily for them both, Yussef overheard Mustapha speaking of the day
when they were to be married, and at once fell into a fit of jealousy
which was dreadful to see.

"In her wrath she flew at Mustapha and scratched his nose, then
knocked down and broke the cobbler's best chibouque, and at length
dashed out of the house just as Ali Ben Slippah threw his lap-stone at
her in fierce anger, because of his broken pipe.

"It was late in the evening when Yussef darted out, and with her heart
full of jealous rage bounded up the walls and over the house-tops,
until at last she seated herself on a gable and began to think.

"As it became later she was suddenly aware of a noble-looking person
who was walking slowly along, followed at a short distance by four
guards with drawn scimetars.

"As soon as Yussef saw the cavalier she knew that he was the Caliph,
and remembering that he was then seeking everywhere for beautiful women
to wait upon his sick daughter, she formed on the moment the most
spiteful scheme of mischief that ever you heard of.

"With two or three crazy leaps she alighted at the feet of the Caliph
and began to miaou a tune of the most singular character.

"'By the beard of the Prophet!' said Haroun al Raschid, 'This is
passing wonderful! Catch that cat!'

"But Yussef was too quick for that. She turned two somersaults, and
miaoued again. The guards and the Caliph followed her in wonder, while
she retreated until they came to the cobbler's door. Here she miaoued
once more, and leaped into an open window.

"When the Caliph drew near as she had desired he would do, he looked
into the window and saw the beautiful Lelie.

"'Bismillah!' cried he, as he thrust back the guards. 'Blessed be cats
for evermore! Here is the maiden I have sought for my daughter.'

"So saying, he turned and gave brief orders to his attendants bidding
them be careful and secret; and thus saying moved away quietly through
the deserted streets.

"Very early next morning when the cobbler had gone to market Yussef
heard a noise, and looking saw the shop full of black slaves who seized
Lelie, muffled her in a shawl, and leaving a bag of gold on the counter
hurried away swiftly.

"As soon as they left Yussef hastened after them, and when they entered
a gilded caique on the Tigris, she also tried to leap into the boat.
But to her dismay one of the guards seized her by the tail and threw
her thirty feet away into the river.

"Yussef spluttered and spit as she came to the surface, and must surely
have been drowned had she been a real cat.

"As it was she lost three out of her nine lives, and unluckily came to
land on the premises of a tanner where she was set upon by six dogs
who tore her hair out and bit her tail, and altogether so misused her
that she came to look more like a bit of ill-used foot-rug than a
respectable Maltese cat.

"At last, with her heart full of rage and her stomach full of water,
she reached home to find the poor cobbler in the utmost grief for the
loss of his daughter.

"By and by he resigned himself to his fate, and seeing well that no
common person had stolen the maiden, he smoked the more abundantly,
and like a true believer took comfort in that verse of the Koran which
says, 'All things that are are well; but some, saith the Prophet, are
disagreeable.'

"Meanwhile poor Mustapha became nearly crazed with grief. He roamed the
streets all day, and at evening returned to the cobbler's in the vain
hope of hearing some news of Lelie.

"On one of these occasions he was so unlucky as to stumble over Yussef
who gave him a fierce scratch, and fled from his wrath to devise new
plans of mischief, for although Lelie was gone, she was lost to herself
as well as to Mustapha, and the cat never had ceased to hate him as the
cause of all her troubles.

"Yussef therefore resolved to rid herself of his presence, and she set
about it after her own wicked fashion.

"Some two or three nights later Mustapha was wandering sadly in the
gardens of the Caliph when he heard a voice from the trees above him
saying,

"'Come to-night to the tomb of the Caliphs, under the cedars, on the
road to Damascus, and thou shalt hear news of thy love.'

"The voice sounded like that of Lelie, and the soldier in vain sought
about him on every side for its source. At length the words were
repeated and he made up his mind to obey them.

"It was near midnight when Mustapha found himself at the appointed
spot. All Bagdad lay behind him still and slumbering. Here and there
a long arrow of light darted from some tall minaret, while the full
moon-light pouring down on the Mosque of El Rahab lit up its golden
dome like a mound of fire.

"Before him the quiet groves of fig and olive, pomegranates and
mourning cypresses stretched away for miles, bounded in the far
distance by the curves of the Tigris, whose broad bendings flashed in
the light like gigantic scimetars.

"As Mustapha approached the Caliph's tomb he came to an open space
girt in by dense thickets. Pushing these aside he stepped cautiously
forward, for he heard a sound of music and voices.

"Presently a fire flashed up on the open ground among the ruined tombs,
and the soldier shook with fear as he looked on what its light revealed.

"Seated about the slope which led downwards on every side to a broken
tomb were gigantic figures in white robes that floated about them like
mist, so that only sometimes he could see their solemn faces.

"From the tomb came slowly a long procession of Ghouls and Vampires
and Afrites of hideous shapes, such as men see in dreams, while all the
air and the ground seemed to be alive with a myriad of little winged
forms who hovered about like butterflies.

"At last there was silence, when Yussef suddenly appeared before the
tallest of the Genii, and miaoued frightfully.

"Then the Genie said in a mild great voice, 'What would you of your
brethren?'

"'The man,' said Yussef, 'who has mocked my fallen estate and stolen my
love from me is here awaiting judgment.'

"When Mustapha heard these words he was ready to die with fear, but his
limbs refused to bear him away and he was forced to support himself by
grasping a tree.

"'Oh King,' cried Yussef, 'Let him be brought to thee.'

"'Be it so!' said the Genie.

"At this two fearful-looking Afrites leaped into the air, and with one
swoop of their clawed wings alighted beside Mustapha. Then they seized
him and thrust him into the circle before the cloudy form of the King
of the Genii who thus addressed him.

"'It is not given us to slay, but that thou shalt no more trouble us
we order thee to become a gourd, and as we may not sentence any to an
endless fate it shall be that when it pleaseth Allah to turn thee
inside out thou shalt then only assume again the form of man.'

"'It is well,' cried Yussef. 'Thanks, oh King!'

"At these words Mustapha fainted. When he recovered he found himself
hanging on a vine near by, and presently discovered that he was a huge
green gourd.

"After this many days fled away, and Mustapha the gourd grew bigger and
bigger, and at last began to ripen and turn yellow.

"Every night as he hung on the vine he saw the strange midnight
meetings of the Genii and Ghouls and Afrites. All the wonderful things
he heard and saw no one will ever know, for he saw their wild feasts
and dances, and heard music such as before no mortal ears had ever
listened to.

"At length one warm summer morning two farmers came by on the way to
market.

"'Bismillah!' cried one, as he saw the great gourd Mustapha. 'What a
monstrous gourd!'

"'Let us take it with us and sell it,' said the second.

"Thus saying he took a knife from his girdle and cut the stem by which
Mustapha hung. This caused him so much pain that he cried aloud,

"'What's that?' said the farmer. 'The gourd speaks! It is alive!'

"Upon this he pricked the gourd with his knife. At this Mustapha
exclaimed, 'Don't!'

"'Mahomet!' said the farmer. 'The thing is enchanted. It will fetch us
a fortune.'

"Shortly afterwards they carried the gourd to the market. Here they
made a goodly fortune by running pins into Mustapha that he might cry
out for the amusement of the by-standers.

"Before long all Bagdad flocked to see and hear this wonderful gourd,
and at last an officer of the Caliph's household arrived, payed a great
sum for the gourd, and putting it in a basket, carried it away to the
Palace.

"By and by Mustapha found himself in a superb room of the Palace,
where, surrounded by her ladies, the Princess lay upon a couch.

"Suddenly Mustapha the gourd as he lay in his basket heard the voice of
his beloved Lelie who was fanning the Princess.

"This so moved poor Mustapha that he cried aloud,

"'Allah! I hear my love!' and so saying rolled from the basket and fell
at Lelie's feet.

"'Mahomet!' cried the Princess. 'The thing is bewitched! take it away!'

"But as for Lelie the words were as sweet music to her, and seizing the
gourd she placed it tenderly in the basket and carried it to her room.
Here she implored it with tears to speak again, but in vain; so that at
last she was forced to leave it and return to the Princess.

"Soon after she had gone Mustapha was aware of a rose-colored cloud in
the room, out of which grew into shape the form of a huge Genie which
thus addressed him.

"'Know, frail mortal, that I am your guardian spirit. I have heard
with pity of your sad fate and am come to give you a chance for life
again. Perhaps what I shall do for you may render your position better.
Unluckily I cannot give to you once more your mortal shape.'

"With these words the figure inclined towards him gravely and touched
his yellow cheek. He shuddered and lost consciousness.

"What next was his amazement to find himself standing in the shop of
Harim, the merchant. Presently he began to look at himself with curious
care. He had a gold head like that of a bird, with ruby eyes. His
neck was of satin wood, long and slim, while his clothes which were
stiffened with whalebone and wire, resembled petticoats upside down.

"'Allah il Allah!' cried he, 'What an existence!'

"Just then a Dervish looking at him asked the merchant, 'What is that?'

"'It is,' answered he, 'a Frankish device which the men in Frangistan
carry to keep off the rain. Their women are only allowed to carry
smaller ones, so they make up for that by bearing them about in fair as
well as wet weather.'

"'A device of Eblis!' exclaimed the Dervish, and muttering a verse of
the Koran, walked gravely away.

"By and by came the grand Purveyor of the Caliph. He was seeking new
and curious things for the Princess, who was ill and refused to eat so
that day after day she became more feeble.

"'Ah!' said the Purveyor, 'This is a Frank tent. I saw them when I was
Envoy to the court of Charlemagne.'

"At this Mustapha blushed, for the officer seized him and began to
expand his skirts so that his leg, for he had but one, was alarmingly
exposed.

"Very soon the Purveyor, having paid a good price, took Mustapha away
to the Palace where he explained the uses of this portable tent.

"'This,' said he, 'Is what the Franks, whom Allah confound! call an
umbrella, and the female of the thing they term a parasol.'

"'I shall need it not,' said the Princess Ellera. 'No sun will shine
on me any more. On me no rain will fall. I shall die if I find nothing
that I can eat.'

"'Take it Lelie,' she cried, 'As thou hast lost thy gourd, take it.'

"Upon this Lelie took Mustapha away and placed him in a quiet corner of
her room.

"Meanwhile some days went by, and all the cooks tried in vain to please
the sick Princess. All day long an army of slaves went past her bed,
each bearing some rare dish or some luscious fruit, but still alas! in
vain; so that at length the doctors decided that if she did not eat
within a day she would surely die.

"Lelie, who was in great distress, left the Princess and went to her
own room to weep alone. At last she arose to go out into the garden,
thinking that perhaps the Princess might be tempted by a rose-leaf
salad.

"As she walked past Mustapha he cried aloud, 'Take me.'

"'This is queer,' said she, but when the words were repeated she
clutched the Frankish toy and ran out into the garden. Here she
wandered long, but as evening fell she suddenly saw that a storm had
gathered.

"Before she could reach the Palace, a wild gust of wind caught in
Mustapha's skirts and nearly tore him from her hand. As she struggled
the wind expanded his petticoats, and at last crack went the wires, and
then what do you think?

"Mustapha was turned inside out, and the umbrella was a man once more.

"In a moment he explained everything, but after he had kissed her twice
she began to sob, for now she knew that he had escaped one evil fate
only to light upon another as fearful.

"'Ah!' she cried, 'a man! You, a soldier, in the gardens of the Palace!
You will be put to death at once.'

"'No!' he answered, after thinking a little. 'Not if I can save the
Princess. Let us go to the Caliph and confess all. Meanwhile have no
fears.'

"Lelie at last gave her consent, and with trembling steps she left him,
and seeking the Princess related their strange story.

"In a moment all was confusion. A man in the harem!

"'Bowstrings and sacks!' cried the captain of the guard, as he hurried
Mustapha before the Caliph.

"'Wretch!' said Al Raschid the Caliph, 'Who art thou?'

"'A soldier,' said Mustapha.

"'Let him die!' cried Al Raschid.

"'Oh Caliph,' answered Mustapha, 'In the land of the Genii it was given
me once to learn secrets of the vile Franks, wherewith it may be that I
can save thy daughter the Princess.'

"'Thou dost lie like unto a rusty weathercock,' said the Caliph, 'But
that none may say I am unjust, take this man to the kitchen. Let him do
his best, and if he fail have him strangled instantly.'

"'It is well said,' replied Mustapha.

"Very soon he was left alone in the great kitchen of the Palace, while
all the strange things he had seen at the feasts of the Genii came back
to his mind.

"Presently he sought about him among the stores of provisions, and
took from a basket those striped apples which grow by the brooks of
Alkeldrina.

"These he pared deftly and set each within a cup of wheaten dough,
such as only the Caliph's farms can furnish. Therein he placed also
the golden orange-peel and the spices of distant Borneo. Lastly, he
sprinkled it within and without with the aromatic sugar of Turkan, and
hanging each apple thus prepared in a silken net carefully cooked them.

"When they were ready he placed them upon golden dishes, and threw over
each a hail of snowy sugar and fragrant cinnamon, covering all with a
handful of almond blossoms.

"Then he called the guard, and with scimetars crossed over his head he
was allowed to carry his dish to the Princess. As she looked languidly
upon it he shook off the blossoms.

"'Then,' said the Princess, 'These be the roses of Paradise which I do
smell.'

"At these words he knelt down and offered the dish to the lady.
Wonderful to tell the Princess called for a silver fork and ate up the
whole of the apples so greedily that she scalded her throat in the most
dreadful way.

"But between every mouthful she blessed poor Mustapha as the king of
cooks, and from that instant she recovered so quickly as to disgust all
the doctors, who said Mustapha was a quack, and went away.

"Of course he married Lelie, and had a patent for making this wonderful
dish, and was created Lord Marquis of Apple-butter and Duke of
Dumplings, and lived merrily all his days."

       *       *       *       *       *

"That's a good story," cried the spiders.

"Glad you like it," said Fuz-Buz. "Now if you please I will sleep, as I
am tired."

In this pleasant way the days went by until Fuz-buz had told them nine
hundred and ninety-nine stories.

On this last evening he overheard the spiders talking as he lay tied by
the leg in a deep dark crack of the apple tree where he slept.

"My children," said the old spider, "After Fuz-Buz has told us one more
story we will eat him. It will be best to wait until after dark, and
then seize him on a sudden and kill him; for he is a very strong fly,
and may give me trouble."

They all agreed to this excepting the youngest, who said it would be a
shame to serve him so, and that they ought to let him go.

But Mrs. Grabem replied, "You know nothing of house-keeping my dear. Go
to sleep and hold your tongue."

When Fuz-Buz overheard all this he was scared to death. All next day he
was so sick that he could not even tell the shortest story.

At night-fall when the family had gone to their den, he sat on the tree
near his cosy little crack and tried to gnaw the web which held him.

Unluckily it was too tough. When he was in despair who should hum by
but a huge Bee.

"Halloa!" said he, "What's wrong with you?"

"Sir!" replied Fuz-Buz, "I am tied by the leg to this web, and am to be
eaten to-night by a cruel monster of a spider who lives near, and who
will overhear you if you do not speak in a low voice."

"Who's afraid?" said the Bee. "Which leg is it?"

"This," answered Fuz-Buz.

"Pshaw!" cried the Bee, and with that he twisted the web about his legs
and gave a jump. Snap went the line and Fuz-buz was free once more.
Never a fly was so glad as he.

"Sir!" he said, "I am only sorry that you have not had the honour to
slay this vile spider. Now if you were to slip into this crack where I
sleep, you would have a fine chance, because when Mrs. Grabem comes to
eat me you could give her a pleasing surprise."

"That's a rather jolly notion," answered the Bee. So he went down on
the ground, and after sharpening his sting on a smooth pebble, thrust
himself deep into the crack where Fuz-Buz was wont to sleep.

But as for Fuz-Buz the fly, he sat on a limb above and looked on. After
a little, when it was dark or nearly so, out came Mrs. Grabem slowly,
and crawling over her web went down into the crack to murder poor
innocent Fuz-Buz. Presently she cried aloud,

"Oh! I'm dead!" which was true in a moment, for Sir Bee had run his
long sword straight through her, and she had tumbled off the tree as
dead as could be.

At the sound of her voice all the young spiders ran out, and in a
moment they saw Sir Bee with his quick sword. In a twinkling he stabbed
them one after another, until he came to the youngest. Then Fuz-Buz
said,

"Halloa! my friend, let this one go, for he was the only one who did
not desire to kill me."

"Sir!" cried the youngest spider, "I do not wish to live after you have
killed my mother and all my brothers and sisters. Take that, sir!"

So saying he dealt the Bee such a crack that he was forced to stab him
like the rest, and there at last was the end of all of them.

As for Fuz-Buz, he said "Well, it's one spider less, and so many flies
more. Spiders are of no use and flies are."

Meanwhile Sir Bee wiped his sword and took up his bag of honey, feeling
that he had done a clever day's work, while Fuz-Buz flew away to Spain,
and never could be brought to tell anybody a story long or short up to
the end of his happy life.




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