Tales of Wonder Every Child Should Know | Page 9

startled crane turned and saw the eye in the wall. Throwing down
thread and web she moved angrily to the door, gave a shrill scream and
flew out under the sky. Like a white speck against the blue hills, she
appeared for a little while and then was lost to sight.
Son and mother once more faced poverty and loneliness, and Musai
again splashed barelegged in the rice field.

Little Surya Bai
A poor Milkwoman was once going into the town with cans full of
milk to sell. She took with her her little daughter (a baby of about a
year old), having no one in whose charge to leave her at home. Being
tired, she sat down by the roadside, placing the child and the cans full
of milk beside her; when, on a sudden, two large eagles flew overhead;
and one, swooping down, seized the child, and flew away with her out
of the mother's sight.
Very far, far away the eagles carried the little baby, even beyond the
borders of her native land, until they reached their home in a lofty tree.
There the old eagles had built a great nest; it was made of iron and
wood, and was as big as a little house; there was iron all round, and to
get in and out you had to go through seven iron doors.
In this stronghold they placed the little baby, and because she was like
a young eaglet they called her Surya Bai (the Sun Lady). The eagles
both loved the child; and daily they flew into distant countries to bring
her rich and precious things--clothes that had been made for princesses,
precious jewels, wonderful playthings, all that was most costly and
rare.
One day, when Surya Bai was twelve years old, the old husband Eagle
said to his wife, "Wife, our daughter has no diamond ring on her little
finger, such as princesses wear; let us go and fetch her one." "Yes,"
said the other old Eagle; "but to fetch it we must go very far." "True,"

rejoined he, "such a ring is not to be got nearer than the Red Sea, and
that is a twelve-month's journey from here; nevertheless we will go."
So the Eagles started off, leaving Surya Bai in the strong nest, with
twelve months' provisions (that she might not be hungry whilst they
were away), and a little dog and cat to take care of her.
Not long after they were gone, one day the naughty little cat stole some
food from the store, for doing which Surya Bai punished her. The cat
did not like being whipped, and she was still more annoyed at having
been caught stealing; so, in revenge, she ran to the fireplace (they were
obliged to keep a fire always burning in the Eagle's nest, as Surya never
went down from the tree, and would not otherwise have been able to
cook her dinner), and put out the fire. When the little girl saw this she
was much vexed, for the cat had eaten their last cooked provisions, and
she did not know what they were to do for food. For three whole days
Surya Bai puzzled over the difficulty, and for three whole days she and
the dog and the cat had nothing to eat. At last she thought she would
climb to the edge of the nest, and see if she could see any fire in the
country below; and, if so, she would go down and ask the people who
lighted it to give her a little with which to cook her dinner. So she
climbed to the edge of the nest. Then, very far away on the horizon, she
saw a thin curl of blue smoke. So she let herself down from the tree,
and all day long she walked in the direction whence the smoke came.
Toward evening she reached the place, and found it rose from a small
hut in which sat an old woman warming her hands over a fire. Now,
though Surya Bai did not know it, she had reached the Rakshas's
country, and this old woman was none other than a wicked old Rakshas,
who lived with her son in the little hut. The young Rakshas, however,
had gone out for the day. When the old Rakshas saw Surya Bai, she
was much astonished, for the girl was beautiful as the sun, and her rich
dress resplendent with jewels; and she said to herself, "How lovely this
child is; what a dainty morsel she would be! Oh, if my son were only
here we would kill her, and boil her, and eat her. I will try and detain
her till his return."
Then, turning to Surya Bai, she said, "Who are you, and what