Tales of Wonder Every Child Should Know | Page 7

smith approached the threshold
steadily, stuck the dirk into it as directed, and entered. Protected by the
Bible he carried on his breast, the fairies could not touch him; but they
asked him, with a good deal of displeasure, what he wanted there. He
answered, "I want my son, whom I see down there, and I will not go
without him."
Upon hearing this the whole company before him gave a loud laugh,
which wakened up the cock he carried dozing in his arms, who at once
leaped up on his shoulders, clapped his wings lustily, and crowed loud
and long.
The fairies, incensed, seized the smith and his son, and throwing them
out of the hill, flung the dirk after them, and in an instant all was dark.
For a year and a day the boy never did a turn of work, and hardly ever
spoke a word; but at last one day, sitting by his father and watching
him finishing a sword he was making for some chief, and which he was
very particular about, he suddenly exclaimed, "That is not the way to

do it;" and taking the tools from his father's hands he set to work
himself in his place, and soon fashioned a sword, the like of which was
never seen in the country before.
From that day the young man wrought constantly with his father, and
became the inventor of a peculiarly fine and well-tempered weapon, the
making of which kept the two smiths, father and son, in constant
employment, spread their fame far and wide, and gave them the means
in abundance, as they before had the disposition, to live content with all
the world and very happily with each other.

The Grateful Crane[1]
"Fighting sparrows fear not man," as the old proverb says. Yet it was
not a sparrow but a crane that fell down out of the air. Near the feet of
Musai, the farmer's boy, it lay, as he waded in the ooze of his rice field,
working from daybreak to sundown.
[Footnote 1: From "The Fire-fly's Lovers," by William Elliot Griffis,
copyright, 1008, by T. Y. Crowell & Co.]
The farmer's boy was used to cranes, for in the plough's furrow on the
dry land these long-legged birds walked close behind, not the least
afraid in the Mikado's dominions. For who would hurt the
white-breasted creature, that every one called the Honourable Lord
Crane? The graceful birds seemed to love to be near man, when he
worked in the wet or paddy fields, where under four inches of water the
seeds were planted and the rice plants grew. So graceful in all its
movements is the crane that many a dainty little maid who acts politely
hears herself spoken of as the "bird that rises from the water without
muddying the stream."
Musai hurried to the grassy bank at the edge of the paddy field as fast
as he could wade through the liquid mud, to see what was the matter
with the crane. Throwing down his hoe, and looking in the grass, he
saw that an arrow was sticking in the crane's back, and that red drops of

blood dappled its white plumage. Instead of seeming frightened when
the man came near, the bird bent down its neck, as if to submit to
whatever the farmer's boy should do.
Gently Musai plucked out the arrow and helped the bird to rise,
pushing back the undergrowth so that its broad white pinions could
have free play. After a few feeble attempts to fly it spread its wings,
rose up from the earth, and after circling several times round its
benefactor as though to thank him, it flew off to the mountain.
Musai went back to his work, hoping that in season his labor would
yield a good crop. He had his widowed mother to support and must
needs toil every day. His one delight was to come home, weary after
the long hours of labour in the muddy rice field, and have a hot bath.
This his mother always had ready for him. Then, clean and with a fresh
kimono, and a little rest before supper-time, he was ready for a quiet
evening with the neighbours.
So in routine the days passed by until autumn was near at hand. One
day, returning before the sun was fully set, he found seated beside his
mother a lovely girl. In spite of his contemptible appearance after a
day's toil, working barelegged in the mire, she welcomed him with the
grace of a princess.
Not thinking of returning the salute in his unwashed condition, he took
off his head-kerchief, drew in his breath, and bowing to his mother
asked.
"Who is the honourable That Side, and how comes she into this
miserable hut?"