The Brown Fairy Book Part 7

'Oh no, Holy Man, I am not so foolish as that.'

'Nor to tell everybody that I gave it to you,' went on the Holy Man.

'I have not got these treasures by the dozen.'

And without waiting for an answer he shut the door.

As before, the distance seemed to have wonderfully shortened, and in a moment the tavern rose up in front of Father Grumbler. Without stopping to think, he went straight in, and found the innkeeper's wife in the kitchen making a cake.

'Where have you come from, with that fine red c.o.c.k in your basket,'

asked she, for the bird was so big that the lid would not shut down properly.

'Oh, I come from a place where they don't keep these things by the dozen,' he replied, sitting down in front of the table.

The woman said no more, but set before him a bottle of his favourite wine, and soon he began to wish to display his prize.

'Show me what you can do, c.o.c.k,' cried he. And the c.o.c.k stood up and flapped his wings three times, crowing 'coquerico' with a voice like a trumpet, and at each crow there fell from his beak golden drops, and diamonds as large as peas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 'COQUERICO'--THE WONDERFUL c.o.c.k]

This time Father Grumbler did not invite the innkeeper's wife to pick up his treasures, but put his own hat under the c.o.c.k's beak, so as to catch everything he let fall; and he did not see the husband and wife exchanging glances with each other which said, 'That would be a splendid c.o.c.k to put with our basket.'

'Have another gla.s.s of wine?' suggested the innkeeper, when they had finished admiring the beauty of the c.o.c.k, for they pretended not to have seen the gold or the diamonds. And Father Grumbler, nothing loth, drank one gla.s.s after another, till his head fell forward on the table, and once more he was sound asleep. Then the woman gently coaxed the c.o.c.k from the basket and carried it off to her own poultry yard, from which she brought one exactly like it, and popped it in its place.

Night was falling when the man awoke, and throwing proudly some grains of gold on the table to pay for the wine he had drunk, he tucked the c.o.c.k comfortably into his basket and set out for home.

His wife and all the children were waiting for him at the door, and as soon as she caught sight of him she broke out:

'You are a nice man to go wasting your time and your money drinking in that tavern, and leaving us to starve! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?'

'You don't know what you are talking of,' he answered. 'Money? Why, I have gold and diamonds now, as much as I want. Do you see that c.o.c.k?

Well, you have only to say to him, "Show what you can do, c.o.c.k," and something splendid will happen.'

Neither wife nor children were inclined to put much faith in him after their last experience; however, they thought it was worth trying, and did as he told them. The c.o.c.k flew round the room like a mad thing, and crowed till their heads nearly split with the noise; but no gold or diamonds dropped on the brick floor--not the tiniest grain of either.

Father Grumbler stared in silence for an instant, and then he began to swear so loudly that even his family, accustomed as they were to his language, wondered at him.

At last he grew a little quieter, but remained as puzzled as ever.

'Can I have forgotten the words? But I _know_ that was what he said!

And I saw the diamonds with my own eyes!' Then suddenly he seized the c.o.c.k, shut it into the basket, and rushed out of the house.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HOLY MAN GIVES THE BAG TO FATHER GRUMBLER]

His heavy wooden shoes clattered as he ran along the road, and he made such haste that the stars were only just beginning to come out when he reached the cave of the Holy Man.

'Who is that knocking?' asked a voice from within.

'It is me! It is me! Holy Man! you know! Father----'

'But, my good fellow, you really should give some one else a chance.

This is the third time you have been--and at such an hour, too!'

'Oh, yes, Holy Man, I know it is very late, but you will forgive me!

It is your c.o.c.k--there is something the matter. It is like the basket.

Look!'

'_That_ my c.o.c.k? _That_ my basket? Somebody has played you a trick, my good man!'

'A trick?' repeated Father Grumbler, who began to understand what had happened. 'Then it must have been those two----'

'I warned you not to show them to anybody,' said the Holy Man. 'You deserve----but I will give you one more chance.' And, turning, he unhooked something from the wall.

'When you wish to dust your own jacket or those of your friends,' he said, 'you have only got to say, "Flack, flick, switch, be quick," and you will see what happens. That is all I have to tell you.' And, smiling to himself, the Holy Man pushed Father Grumbler out of the cave.

'Ah, I understand now,' muttered the good man, as he took the road home; 'but I think I have got you two rascals!' and he hurried on to the tavern with his basket under his arm, and the c.o.c.k and the switch both inside.

'Good evening, friends!' he said, as he entered the inn. 'I am very hungry, and should be glad if you would roast this c.o.c.k for me as soon as possible. _This_ c.o.c.k and no other--mind what I say,' he went on.

'Oh, and another thing! You can light the fire with this basket. When you have done that I will show you something I have in my bag,' and, as he spoke, he tried to imitate the smile that the Holy Man had given _him_.

These directions made the innkeeper's wife very uneasy. However, she said nothing, and began to roast the c.o.c.k, while her husband did his best to make the man sleepy with wine, but all in vain.

After dinner, which he did not eat without grumbling, for the c.o.c.k was very tough, the man struck his hand on the table, and said: 'Now listen to me. Go and fetch my c.o.c.k and my basket, at once. Do you hear?'

'Your c.o.c.k, and your basket, Father Grumbler? But you have just----'

'_My_ c.o.c.k and _my_ basket!' interrupted he. 'And, if you are too deaf and too stupid to understand what that means, I have got something which may help to teach you.' And opening the bag, he cried: 'Flack!

flick! switch, be quick.'

And flack! flick! like lightning a white switch sprang out of the bag, and gave such hearty blows to the innkeeper and his wife, and to Father Grumbler into the bargain, that they all jumped as high as feathers when a mattress is shaken.

'Stop! stop! make it stop, and you shall have back your c.o.c.k and basket,' cried the man and his wife. And Father Grumbler, who had no wish to go on, called out between his hops: 'Stop then, can't you?

That is enough for to-day!'

But the switch paid no attention, and dealt out its blows as before, and _might_ have been dealing them to this day, if the Holy Man had not heard their cries and come to the rescue. 'Into the bag, quick!'

said he, and the switch obeyed.

'Now go and fetch me the c.o.c.k and the basket,' and the woman went without a word, and placed them on the table.

'You have all got what you deserved,' continued the Holy Man, 'and I have no pity for any of you. I shall take my treasures home, and perhaps some day I may find a man who knows how to make the best of the chances that are given him. But that will never be _you_,' he added, turning to Father Grumbler.

[From _Contes Populaires_.]

_THE STORY OF THE YARA_