The Islands of Magic Part 8

PETER-OF-THE-PIGS

_The Story of a Sharp Lad and a Sharper_

Long ago there lived a man who employed a boy to take care of his pigs.

The lad's name was Peter and he was commonly called by every one in the countryside Peter-of-the-pigs.

One day a man came up to him and said:

"Sell me these seven pigs."

"I can't sell but six of them," said Peter. "I must keep one, but you may buy the other six if you will cut off their tails and ears and leave them for me."

The man promised to do this, and the boy pocketed the money. The six pigs looked sad enough without their tails and ears as they were driven away by their new master.

Peter led his one remaining pig down to the sand pit. He buried it halfway in the sand. He buried the tails and ears of the other six pigs, too, so that part of them stuck out. Then he ran with all speed for his master.

[Ill.u.s.tration: He buried it halfway in the sand]

"Come and help me get the pigs out of the sand pit!" he called out.

His master ran as fast as he could to the sand pit. There he saw one of the pigs halfway out of the sand. He and Peter together soon pulled it out completely. Then he took hold of the tail nearby. To his horror it appeared to break off in his hand.

"Run to the house and ask my wife to give you two shovels!" cried the owner of the pigs. "With the shovels we can dig out the rest of the pigs."

The boy ran to the house. He knew that his master kept his money in two big bags.

"My master says that you shall give me his two money bags," said Peter to his mistress.

The woman did not approve of doing this. "Are you sure he said both of them?" she asked.

"Yes, both of them," said Peter. "Go ask him yourself."

Accordingly, the woman ran out of the house.

"Did you say both of them?" she called to her husband.

"Yes, both of them," he replied. "Be quick about it, too."

Of course the poor man thought that she was asking about the two shovels which he had sent Peter to get.

Thus Peter received his master's two bags of money, and set out into the world with the bags on his shoulder and his pockets full of the money he had obtained from the sale of the six pigs.

After a time Peter-of-the-pigs met a robber. The robber stole one of his money bags and ran away with it. Peter ran after him.

Now it happened that the robber had just killed a deer. He was carrying the liver inside his blouse. As he ran he threw it back so that he could run faster. Peter saw what he had done.

"If you want to catch me, you'll have to throw away your liver, too,"

called out the robber over his shoulder.

Peter-of-the-pigs pulled out his knife and cut out his liver. Of course he dropped dead at once.

When at last Peter's master found out that he had been deceived he ran after the lad. As he found him lying dead there by the wayside, he said:

"Oh, Peter-of-the-pigs! You were sharp, but you found some one who was sharper."

Thus it is in life.

THE PRINCESS WHO LOST HER RINGS

_The Story the Lame Old Women Told_

Long ago there lived a lovely princess who owned the most beautiful rings in the whole world. She had rings set with diamonds and rings set with pearls. She had rings set with rubies and rings set with sapphires. She had rings set with emeralds and turquoises and amethysts and every other kind of precious stone. She had rings which had no precious stones in them, but which were wonderfully decorated with fine and delicate carving, wrought with great skill.

This princess lived in a magnificent palace surrounded by a high wall.

Her own apartments opened upon a pleasant balcony. From the balcony she could see the blue waters of the ocean and the tall trees of the forest. Here she liked to pa.s.s her days.

In a corner of the balcony there was a basin and pitcher of silver always kept filled with water in order that the princess might wash her hands on the balcony instead of having to go inside the house.

Whenever she washed her hands she always removed the ring she was wearing that day. Some days it was one ring and other days it was another, but, whatever ring it happened to be, the princess always took it off carefully when she washed her hands.

One day a pretty white rabbit came up to the balcony to play with the princess. That day the princess was wearing her best diamond ring.

She removed it very carefully when she washed her hands. Then it disappeared. She knew that the rabbit must have stolen it.

The next day the rabbit came again and that day the princess lost her best emerald ring. She was very sure that the rabbit must have stolen that, too. However, she liked to play with the rabbit, so she said nothing to her father, the king, about the lost rings.

Every day the rabbit came and every day there was a ring missing. The princess had a large box full of rings, in the beginning, but one morning she opened the box and saw that it was entirely empty. She remembered then that she had put on her last ring, one set with a sapphire, the morning before.

The princess became so sad that she would not go out to the balcony to play with the white rabbit. Every day she grew sadder and sadder. At last her father, the king, noticed it.

"What is the matter with our daughter, the princess?" he asked the queen. "She is sad now, and once she was the very jolliest, happiest princess in the whole world."

"I cannot imagine what the trouble is," replied the queen. "Perhaps she is lonely. Let us send for the storytellers of the kingdom to come and tell their stories to entertain her."

Accordingly, the king sent for all the storytellers in the whole kingdom. All the storytellers had to come to the palace even if they were old and lame.

Now it so happened that in the kingdom there were two old women who were very lame. They knew the most interesting stories of anybody, but it took them so long to reach the palace that they forgot all their best stories on the way.

"What story are you going to tell the princess?" one of the lame old women asked the other.

"I can't remember a single one of my stories," said the other old woman. "It has taken my lame old legs so long to travel the road to the palace that now that we are almost there I can't think of a single story."

The two old women tried to remember some of their stories, but they could not think of any. They were almost at the royal palace, too.