Tales of Wonder Every Child Should Know | Page 5

and his ears they clipped closer, because they said he ought
to have taken a lesson from his brother.
So now Youngling was to try.
"If you want to look like a marked sheep, we're quite ready to clip your
ears at once, and then you'll save yourself some trouble," said the King,
for he was angry with him for his brothers' sake.
"Well, I'd just like to try first," said Youngling, and so he got leave.
Then he took his Axe out of his wallet and fitted it to its handle.
"Hew away!" said he to his Axe, and away it hewed, making the chips
fly again, so that it wasn't long before down came the oak.
When that was done, Youngling pulled out his Spade and fitted it to its
handle.
"Dig away!" said he to his Spade, and so the Spade began to dig and
delve till the earth and rock flew out in splinters, and he soon had the
well deep enough, you may believe.
And when he had got it as big and deep as he chose, Youngling took
out his Walnut and laid it in one corner of the well, and pulled the plug
of moss out.
"Trickle and run," said Youngling, and so the Nut trickled and ran till
the water gushed out of the hole in a stream, and in a short time the
well was brimful.
So as Youngling had felled the oak which shaded the King's palace,
and dug a well in the palace-yard, he got the Princess and half the
kingdom, as the King had said; but it was lucky for Peter and Paul that
they had lost their ears, else they might have grown tired of hearing
how everyone said each hour of the day:
"Well, after all, Youngling wasn't so much out of his mind when he

took to wondering."

What the Birds Said
A lad named Kong Hia Chiang, who lived with his parents among the
mountains, understood the language of the birds. One twilight, as he sat
at his books, a flock of birds alighted on a tree before his window and
sang:
"Kong Hia Chiang, on the southern plain A sheep awaits you by a heap
of stones,-- A fine fat wether, that the dogs have slain; You eat the flesh
and we will pick the bones!"
Kong Hia Chiang went and brought in the torn sheep and cooked it
during the night. The next morning a shepherd came and said that one
of his sheep was missing; he had found blood on the meadow, had
followed the trail, and it had brought him to that house. Kong Hia
Chiang acknowledged that he had brought in the sheep, but declared
that the dogs had killed it, and that its death and the place where it
might be found had been made known to him by birds. His story was
considered to be an impudent fabrication, and he was haled away to
prison.
While he was awaiting his trial before the magistrate, a bird, flying
eastward, perched on the wall, saw him, and piped:
"Foes approach the western border, Banners, bows, and spears in order,
While the gate lacks watch or warder."
Kong Hia Chiang thereupon so vehemently besought his jailer to
inform the magistrate of the imminent danger of invasion through the
unprotected Western Pass, that the jailer, though wholly incredulous,
decided to test his power of comprehending the utterances of birds. He
took some rice, soaked a part of it in sweetened water, and a part in
brine, and then spread the whole on the roof of a shed into which he
brought Kong Hia Chiang, and asked him if he knew why so many
birds were chirruping overhead. Kong Hia Chiang at once replied that

those on the roof were hailing those that were flying past, and saying:
"Call a halt; call a halt; Here is rice fresh and white; Half is sweet, half
is salt; Stop a bit; take a bite."
The jailer was at once convinced that the prisoner understood the
speech of birds, and therefore hastened to the magistrate to report the
warning and the test. The magistrate sent a swift courier to notify the
military officers, and a scout was sent out to the west. He soon
confirmed the message of Kong Hia Chiang, and troops were
dispatched to strengthen the garrison at the pass, the invaders thereby
being successfully repelled. The great service rendered to the country
by Kong Hia Chiang was acknowledged by his sovereign, who
afterward made use of his remarkable talent, invited him to study with
the princes, and eventually raised him to a high rank among the nobles
of the empire.

The Smith and the Fairies
Years ago there lived in Crossbrig a