TALES FOR CHILDREN
FROM MANY LANDS

EDITED BY F. C. TILNEY

He found Himself tied by the Neck, Wings and Feet.

FAIRY TALES
FROM SPAIN

By
J. MUNOZ ESCOMEZ

Illustrated by
W. MATTHEWS

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS LTD
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. INC.

All rights reserved
Made in Great Britain
at The Temple Press Letchworth
for
J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd
Aldine House Bedford St London
First Published in this Edition 1913
Reissued at a cheaper price 1936
Reprinted 1940

CONTENTS

[Khing-Chu-Fu]
[The City of Fortune]
[The Garden of Health]
[Carabi! Carabo!]
[The Author of the Wall]
[The Devil's Tournament]
[The Treasure of the Dragon]
[The Man with the Two Faces]
[The Treachery of Micifuf]
[Trompetilla and Trompetin]
[The Quack Doctor]
[The Drawing School]
[The Man with the Nose]
[The Island of Brilliants]
[The Judgment of the Flowers]
[The Three Questions]
[The Captain's Exploit]
[The Topsy-Turvy World]
[Don Suero the Proud]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[He Found Himself tied by the Neck, Wings, and Feet] . . . Frontispiece

["Rise, Wise Man," said the Empress sweetly]

[The Vulture carried Him to the other side of the abyss]

[She transformed Herself into a Lovely Girl]

["What are You doing here, Boy?"]

[The Quack Doctor.]

[He met Two Dwarfs who were playing Marbles]

[Pero Gil at one Bound Approached the Statue]

headpiece to Khing-Chu-Fu

KHING-CHU-FU

Khing-Chu-Fu, Empress of China, was doing her hair when her maids who, on their knees witnessed the delicate operation of artistically arranging the imperial hair of her majesty, burst into cries of admiration scarcely repressed by the etiquette of the palace.

"What is the matter?" Khing-Chu-Fu deigned to ask, turning her head.

"Ah, lady!" exclaimed the maids in a chorus. "Brahma has deigned to favour you with a sign of his protection."

"And what is that?" inquired the empress.

"A silver thread which appears amidst your beautiful hair."

"That is to say I have a white hair."

"So it is called amongst simple mortals, but in the Daughter of the Sun they are threads of silver, to which poets spontaneously sing verses under the penalty of being quartered like dogs."

"Let the seers and astrologers come at this very moment. I must know what this foretells."

Five minutes afterwards the royal boudoir was full of moustached men with eye-protectors, who, kneeling, waited to be consulted.

"To-day a white hair has appeared in my head!" exclaimed the empress.

The seers tugged at their moustaches in desperation, leaving the floor covered with hairs.

"Hail!" said the eldest, "Daughter of the Sun, who hast all the brilliance of the diamond, the beauty of the iris, the wisdom of Confucius, and the sweetness of the honey! This silver thread foretells a terrible calamity in the empire. Know that Brahma has decreed—it horrifies me to say so!—that one of your imperial teeth will commence to ache."

Terror was depicted on every countenance, and all who witnessed this scene pulled their pigtails, a sign of terrible desperation among the Chinese. The pages and maids groaned in chorus; the mandarins sat down on their hats, passing the time by eating tangerine oranges and rubbing their eyes with the peel. The news spread into the city, and very soon the whole of Pekin came out into the streets and places weeping salt tears over the terrible aching of the too—, for simple subjects were forbidden to pronounce completely the names of the imperial members or other parts of their illustrious sovereign's body.

"The too—, the too—!" shouted the maddened people, making Pekin seem like an immense enclosure of bulls: and as if to make the illusion still more complete, there were not lacking people who produced cattle-bells with which the faithful are called to the pagoda—the church of the Chinese.

In those days there came to Pekin a young Spaniard, a native of Seville, a sharp and witty youth, who had arrived at the capital of the Chinese Empire after having wandered over half the world on foot, without money and without shame. He was thought to be very wide-awake and even clever, and all because he had been a groom and bull-ring attendant in his own town where he was nicknamed Pinchauvas.

Well, our Pinchauvas was astonished to see the desperation of those Chinese and above all when he heard the sound of too—! too—! which made him fear he was going to meet a drove of bulls. In case it was so, he thought it better to climb up to the first window which came to hand.

He had hardly reached the window, when from the interior of the house came forth a hand, and then an arm, which, catching hold of him firmly by the neck, pulled him up and made him enter the house in a most original way.

The arm was that of a palace guard who, on seeing our Sevillian climbing up to a window of one of the imperial rooms, detained him in order to deliver him up to justice.

This crime was a terrible one. In China it was something daring to profane one of the windows of the empress! That crime was punishable, at the least, with death.

The worst of it was that Pinchauvas did not know a word of Chinese, and was therefore amazed when the guard said to him, with a terrible air:

"Kun-chin-pon-ton!"

"What is this fellow saying to me?" thought Pinchauvas. "He seems to have a stomach-ache and is telling me that he has indigestion. Well, let him get better." And he shrugged his shoulders.

But the guard was nasty and, seizing him again by the neck, took him through the passages of the palace to the rooms of the great chancellor. The latter was found praying to God that the terrible prediction might not be fulfilled, as it might cost him his destiny. "If the empress's tooth hurts her, she will hurt me," said he.

So when he was told of the horrible sacrilege committed by a foreigner, he became exceedingly angry and wished to have him beheaded.

"Take me to this youth, that I may settle him," he said to the guard.

And facing the Spaniard he said sharply:

"Kun-chin-pon-ton?"

"Another stomach-ache? The same as the horses in the bull-ring. But perhaps they have worries!"

By good fortune the great chancellor spoke broken French and Pinchauvas also, so that at last they almost came to understand each other.

"And what may you have been in your country?" asked the chancellor.

"I? A wise monkey."[#]

[#] A wise monkey is a boy attendant in a Spanish bull-ring.

The chancellor did not understand the word monkey, but did understand the word wise, and full of joy he said:

"I am going to ask you a question, and if you answer me rightly, count on my protection."

The chancellor then informed Pinchauvas of the cause which had sown such sorrow in Pekin, and the lad, smiling, said to him with the greatest sang-froid:

"Is that all? Well I will restore calm to the Chinese Empire. I will make this white hair disappear and with it the presages of these charlatans. What has the hair to do with the teeth? Introduce me to the empress and you will see something interesting."

"I will, but it would not be well for the empress to see you in these clothes. May God make your days happy! We must make you look decent!"

And taking him to the bathroom, he placed him in the hands of his slaves who, in a twinkling, perfumed and clothed him in beautiful robes of silk and gold.

Pinchauvas, accompanied by the great chancellor, went to the imperial rooms, and there, on account of the person who accompanied him being the head of the government, had only to wait in eleven ante-chambers, after which he was shown into the imperial presence.

"Here I bring you, celebrated princess, the most famous and wise necromancer of the world," said the chancellor, who must have been fond of exaggerating. "A whirlwind made him fall on this palace dragging him from far lands, and in the centre of the whirlwind it seems to me I saw great Confucius, who held him by the neck."

"Rise, wise man!" said the empress sweetly.

"Rise, Wise Man," said the Empress, sweetly.

Pinchauvas did not move.

"Get up, wise man!" repeated the chancellor in French.

"Do you mean me?" exclaimed Pinchauvas. And with one bound he stood up.

"Bow down, or you are a dead man," shouted the chancellor to him.

"I don't want to," answered the youth.

"What does he say?" inquired the princess.

"That he must see the silver thread that Brahma presented you with this morning."

"Look at it!" said the queen with emphasis.

And taking out the seven hundred hair-pins and the three hundred packing needles with which she adorned herself, she let her silky black hair fall down, and amongst it could be seen one hair as white as snow.

Pinchauvas advanced, with more fear than shame and his mind made up, seized the hair, and, making signs as if in prayer, sharply pulled it out. The queen gave a scream and Pinchauvas, approaching a window, threw out the white hair, the cause of the misfortune of the Chinese Empire.

"Ah!" exclaimed the queen, "do you return Brahma his gift? What a marvellous man! He deserves a thousand rewards. For the present you will cede to him your post, and from to-day he will be my chancellor; and, so that you will not be troubled, I will hang you this afternoon with a rope that I made for you some days ago."

"What an honour for the family, lady!" said the chancellor, terrified. "Do you wish me to translate your proposal to the wise man?"

"Do so at once."

The poor man translated with complete fidelity what the queen had said, and then Pinchauvas told the chancellor that he would only accept his post on condition that he was given him as his secretary.

The empress acceded to Pinchauvas' request, and granted him the royal seal as a sign of his unlimited authority.

"So that I can do what I like?" he asked.

"Whatever your highness wishes! Now, I am going to present you to the high functionaries of the palace."

He received them all with gestures of amiable protection, and the chancellor translated what he said.

"See here," said Pinchauvas, "let them bring me that Chinaman who seized me by the neck two hours ago."

"Seized your highness by your venerable neck?" indignantly asked the secretary.

"Does your highness wish us to burn him alive or simply to hang him?"

"I want you to bring him here safe and sound."

"Really, does your highness wish to strangle him with your own hands? He does not deserve such an extraordinary honour."

They brought the poor guard into the presence of Pinchauvas, and when they told him he was the new chancellor he almost died of terror.

"And now shall I really give you stomach-ache?" asked Pinchauvas, deliberately, raising his hand to his neck, which still hurt him.

The guard thought these were signs to hang him, and they would have done so, but for the opportune intervention of the brand new chancellor, who, besides pardoning the unfortunate man, conferred a high post upon him close to his person.

Pinchauvas has now learned Chinese and is called Pin-chu-chu, which means the wisest of the wise. And when he remembers his youth, he says inwardly:

"What would those poor horses in the bull-ring of Seville have said if they had been told that they had had the honour of being guided by the future Chancellor of China!"

THE FUTURE
IS A SEALED BOOK
OF WHICH
GOD ALONE
HAS THE KEY

THE CITY OF FORTUNE

Once upon a time there was a boy named Rupert, the sharpest and most prudent lad in his village, and indeed in any of those to be found for twenty leagues around.

One night he was with a group of boys of his own age, who, gathered round the fire, were listening with amazement to a veteran soldier, covered with scars, which had gained him the modest stripes of a sergeant pensioner, and who was telling the story of his adventures. The narrator was at the most interesting point of his tale.

"The great City of Fortune," he said, "is situated on the summit of a very high mountain, so steep that only very few have succeeded in reaching the top. There gold circulates in such abundance that the inhabitants do not know what to do with the precious metal. Houses are built of it, the walls of the fortress are of solid silver, and the cannons which defend it are enormous pierced diamonds. The streets are paved with duros, always new, because as soon as they begin to lose their brilliance they are replaced by others just minted.

"You ought to see the cleanliness of it! What dirt there is is pure gold dust, which the dust carts collect in order to throw in large baskets into the drains.

"The pebbles against which we stumble continually are brilliants as large as nuts, despised on account of the extraordinary abundance with which the soil supplies them. In a word, he who lives there may consider the most powerful of the earth as beggars.

"The worst of it is that the path which leads there is rough and difficult, and most people succumb without having been able to arrive at the city of gold."

Rupert did not let the words of the soldier go in at one ear and out at the other; and so it was that, hardly had the occasion of being alone with him arisen before he inquired:

"Do you know the way to this enchanted city?"

"I should rather think so, my son; but I do not advise you to try the journey."

"Why?"

"The way is long and rocky. I came back the first day, startled at the difficulties which must be overcome. But anyhow, if you are resolved to go, I must give you the following warning. In order to get to Fortune there are two paths: a very broad one, full of stones and crags; if you go that way the sharp points of the pebbles will tear your feet to pieces and you will be crushed by fatigue. A thousand terrible difficulties will arise to meet you; you will have to struggle with cruel enemies, and if, at last, you succeed in vanquishing all, you will arrive at Fortune already old and worn, when riches will be of no use to you. The other path is level and short, but..."

"Enough! Do not say any more; show me it now, and I will look after the rest."

"All right, all right! I will show it to you, and God grant that your not having wished to hear me to the end will not bring you suffering."

And the little rogue, without saying good-bye to his parents or his brother, began to walk in the direction the old soldier had shown him; and went on and on, happier than a sand-boy, thinking of the riches which awaited him, and which he already believed to have within reach of his hand.

At the end of two days he arrived at the bank of a large river. On it was a boat, and in the boat a negro of colossal stature.

Our lad approached the boatmen and asked him:

"Good man, is this the way to Fortune?"

"Yes, little boy, but it is necessary to cross the river."

"Good, then take me across."

"Do you know how much it costs?"

"No."

"Fifty duros."

"But do I look as if I had them, or had even seen them in my life? Be kind and take me over for nothing."

"This river, my little friend, is never crossed gratis. It is the first step towards Fortune and it must be paid for somehow. If you have no money, never mind; let me cut off a little piece of your heart. Perhaps it will hurt you a bit at first, but later you will feel as if you were whole."

Rupert allowed the negro to open his chest and to take out a piece of his heart. When he crossed to the other side he gave a sigh of satisfaction. The first step was taken, and he already saw the beautiful City of Fortune, whose resplendent walls sent out lovely reflections. But he noticed that he was much less anxious to arrive at the city of gold and had a strange emptiness in his chest. Withal, he continued his walk; but he had not taken a hundred steps when a new difficulty arose to obstruct the way. This stretched between two inaccessible mountains and the entrance to the defile was kept by another guardian as black as the one of the boat.

"Where are you going, boy?" he asked our lad.

"To the City of Fortune."

"Quite so, this is the way; but you have to pay for the passage. The payment is a little piece of heart."

Without hesitating, Rupert opened his chest and left a handful of fibres of that organ of life in the hands of the terrible gate-keeper.

And he went on and on towards the city, which each time showed itself nearer and more beautiful to his eyes. But each time he felt less anxiety to arrive.

Still he had not finished with the difficulties. The path soon shortened, forming a terrible ravine; only to think of crossing it was more than he could dream of. Rupert believed his hopes broken, and sat down disheartened on a stone.

At that moment a vulture of great size came down from the top of a mountain and, drawing near him, said:

"Do you wish to go across? Well, give me a piece of your heart."

"Take it, and carry me over," said Rupert, desperate.

The vulture thrust its beak into Rupert's chest and took out a good piece of heart. At once it seized our lad with its claws and carried him to the other side of the abyss.

The Vulture carried Him to the other Side of the Abyss.

Now he was at the very gates of Fortune. He could already count the number of towers which raised themselves above the high walls, and took his happiness for granted—if that consists in money. At the gate they stopped him. There heart was contraband, and therefore they took out what remained of it and put a pretty one inside of him, made of steel, but hard as a diamond. Only one little fibre escaped their search, which passed unnoticed behind the metal heart.

"At last I am inside," said Rupert to himself; but, strangely enough, the city of gold produced neither surprise nor joy.

"What do I want riches for?" he exclaimed, "if I have lost my heart and with it my illusions?" And he walked through the city, looking with great disdain at those riches which were within reach of his hand and which so much tempted his ambition before.

That dazzling brilliance began to disturb him.

"Here it seems," he said to himself, "there is nothing else but gold. Cursed metal, which has cost me my heart. Goodness me! Who will give me back my little heart?"

He looked for friends, but did not succeed in finding them, because those people had hearts of steel, and Rupert felt that that little fibre that remained of his own made him suffer atrociously.

Without friends or affection, in that city of gold, Rupert remembered his parents and his brother and bitterly lamented his fate.

And then he resolved to return to the little white house of his own village and to live in it as God had ordered. On going out of the city he felt a strange joy. But that accursed steel heart made him suffer horribly, only the little fibre which remained of his own beat for joy in his breast. He took the first path he found, and then encountered no difficulties. It seemed that wings had grown on his feet. He went down hill, and so walked very quickly. When he arrived at his village he was as poor as before, and moreover that cold, hard heart did not let him breathe. It beat with the regularity of a clock, tic-tac, tic-tac!

His brother was the first to come out and meet him, full of joy. He embraced him, kissed him, and accompanied him home, transported with gladness.

But the steel heart did not allow Rupert to rejoice. Tears did nor run to his eyes, and his chest felt as if a hand was pressing on it.

His old father strained him to his bosom, but not even he succeeded in moving that hard heart. Rupert felt an extraordinary anguish.

But his mother arrived running, out of breath, towards her son, and embraced him weeping, and her tears fell on Rupert's heart. Then, oh, the power of a mother's love! That steel heart quickened its beats and, unable to resist any longer, jumped out, just as a broken spring of a watch jumps out. The little fibre was already a new heart and Rupert a happy man.

And when they spoke to him of riches he said:

"God will give them if he deem it right, but don't seek them by short cuts at the expense of your heart and illusions."

THE GARDEN OF HEALTH

A boy of twelve years, named Enrique, was taking a walk one day in the outskirts of his village. He was very sad because his little sister was ill and the doctors said she would soon die.

"Poor Luisa!" exclaimed the boy sobbing. "So pretty and to have to leave this world so soon!"

Enrique sat down on some stones to weep over his sorrow, and there prayed to heaven for his sister's life. A kid which was grazing near the spot heard the sound of his lamentations and drawing near the disconsolate boy said:

"Calm yourself and I will try and save Luisa."

"How?" asked Enrique, startled at hearing the kid speak.

"You have the remedy within reach of your hand. Look there, to the right in that spring, and you will see a ring which was left there and forgotten by the magician Agrajes. Put it on and ask to go to the Garden of Health, and immediately it will take you there. Ask there for the Blue Ivy whose juice will cure your sister, and if they deny it to you, use the ring and you will see."

"Ay, little kid, anything to please you. Will you tell me who you are?"

"Well, you can see: a kid with its horns and all."

"But kids don't speak, and you do."

"That is because I am a well-bred and compassionate kid. Anyway, I cannot tell you who I am. If you are grateful you will know. Meanwhile, don't lose time, and do what I tell you."

Enrique saw, indeed, a gold ring which was on the edge of the spring: he seized it and on it saw certain mysterious signs engraved.

He put it on the ring finger of his left hand and said in a loud voice: "To the Garden of Health."

Scarcely had he finished saying these words than a cloud descended and carried him through the air at lightning speed.

In a few minutes he found himself at the gates of a beautiful garden surrounded by a silver fence with golden ornaments. At the gate there were two maidens, one in white and the other in black. The one in white had a fresh and smiling face; the other was sad and taciturn. The former carried an apple in her hand, the latter bore a scythe.

"Who are you?" asked Enrique.

"I am Life," said the first.

"I, Death," replied the second in dismal tones.

"What have you come here for?" they asked the boy.

"I have come for a branch of Blue Ivy to cure my sister with."

"I cannot give it to you without the permission of this maiden," said Life, motioning towards Death.

"I will not permit it, because Luisa belongs to me. She is a prize which I will not give up," growled Death angrily.

Life smiled sadly and turning to Enrique said:

"I cannot give you what you wish, but bear in mind that you can take it without my giving it to you."

"Well, then, I will enter, cost what it may," exclaimed the boy.

"You shall not enter alive," shouted Death, brandishing her scythe.

"Oh, yes, he will, if he is quick," said Life provoked. "Do not meddle with this boy who is mine for many years."

"We shall see now."

Enrique jumped over the threshold of the garden gate and Death dealt him a terrible blow with her scythe, which would have deprived him of existence if at that moment Life had not made him smell the apple which she held in her hand and which quite cured him.

So Enrique passed between Life and Death into the Garden of Health and once inside commenced his quest in order to see if he could find the famous ivy which was to cure his little sister. It was difficult to find it among so many and such different plants as filled that beautiful garden where was medicine for every illness; but Enrique was resolved to find it, and passed through, one after another, the avenues of trees which crossed the park of health in all directions.

"I am the Red Celery, that cures all chest diseases," said a highly coloured celery plant bowing to Enrique.

"And I am the Spanish Onion, that cures the kidneys."

"And I am the Valerian, that cures the nerves."

"And I this, and I the other," cried the other plants and trees.

"That's enough!" shouted Enrique, "otherwise you will drive me mad."

"I cure madness," cried a shrub from the bottom of the garden.

"What I want is the Blue Ivy," exclaimed the boy.

"Here I am," cried the plant alluded to, "but I am kept closely guarded."

Enrique searched everywhere, without ascertaining where the precious plant was, but he always seemed to hear the noise in different places.

The trees laughed at Enrique's despair.

"And who keeps you so hidden?" said Enrique, stopping still for a moment.

"Death hides me in order that you may not find me. You have passed near and have not seen me. Your sister will die if you cannot find me."

Enrique now did not know what to do, until he presently remembered his ring.

"Ring of Agrajes, I want to see the Blue Ivy," he exclaimed.

Instantly he saw, within reach of his hand, a lovely ivy that, clinging to an oak, displayed beautiful leaves to the winds.

"Do not cut me now," cried the Ivy, "because your sister is going to die, and you will not arrive in time. Death is now close to her bedside."

"Ring of Agrajes," exclaimed Enrique at once, "bring Death to me tied up."

Hardly had he finished saying it than Death appeared quite dishevelled, without her scythe, her elbows tied together like a criminal. All the health-giving plants began to applaud.

"Bravo, bravo!" they cried.

"Don't spare her; she is our enemy!" shouted some.

"Don't let her go, and the world will be grateful to you!" said others.

"What have you done to my sister?" said Enrique, angrily.

"Nothing yet, but as soon as you let me go you will see," answered Death.

"Well, if you wait until you are free before killing her, my little sister will die of old age. Ring, give this shameful woman a thrashing."

Immediately a number of sticks came through the air and commenced to bestow a fine thrashing upon Death.

The latter screamed like a mouse whose tail has been trodden on, and heaped insults on the boy, threatening to kill him as soon as she was free.

"Do not spare her!" said Enrique at each insult.

And the blows again descended on Death like rain. One knocked an eye out, another knocked all her teeth out, although it must be admitted they were false, and another took her hair out by the roots, leaving her head quite bald.

Then Enrique cut a sprig of the Ivy and said to the ring, "Take me to my sister's side."

Immediately he found himself at the bedside, where all the family were weeping over the approaching death of the girl.

"Here is something which will cure my little sister," said the boy.

And drawing near her, he squeezed into her mouth the juice of the fresh ivy he had plucked in the Garden of Health.

The girl at once opened her eyes and called her mother, and, amidst the general surprise, asked to be dressed.

The family would not do so until the doctor said that indeed she was well and sound. They all complimented Enrique enthusiastically, until at length the boy said:

"All this is due to a kid, and I must go and thank her."

He went to the same place where he had met the kid, but did not see her. In vain he ran about in all directions. But he had not got the ring of Agrajes for nothing.

"Ring," he said, "bring me the kid that was here a short time ago."

And the kid appeared.

"What do you want of me, Enrique?" asked the animal.

"To thank you, and to ask how I may serve you," answered Enrique.

"I see that you are grateful, and I wish you to know who I am. I am called Atala, and am the daughter of Agrajes, the magician. I put my father's ring beside you with the object that you might be able to save your sister."

"I should like to know you in your real form and not in that of a kid."

"Well, here I am," exclaimed Atala.

And thereupon she transformed herself into a lovely girl of more or less Enrique's age.

She transformed Herself into a Lovely Girl.

"How pretty you are!" exclaimed the boy. "Come home and play with my little sister, who is now quite well, thanks to you."

"I can deny you nothing while you wear this ring," answered the girl.

"No, take it, I beg of you."

Atala disappeared at once, and when Enrique thought she had gone never to return, she reappeared smiling, and said:

"I have been for a moment to ask my father's permission to accompany you."

They went to Enrique's house together, and he introduced her to his parents as Luisa's saviour. They fêted her with cakes and sweets, and on saying good-bye she promised to come back every afternoon to play with her little friends.

One day Agrajes himself visited Enrique's home, to make the acquaintance of the family of which his daughter spoke so much, and on going away he touched in a special way an old chest.

"Open it, presently," he said on saying farewell.

On opening it they found it full to the brim of gold coins. On it there was a paper which said: "A present from Agrajes to two very nice children."

With that money Enrique followed his career and Luisa had a splendid dowry, and with that and the love of their parents and friends they were two very happy beings.

CARABI! CARABO!

Little Arthur once went out in his garden, and on sitting down at the foot of an acacia he heard a clover leaf saying:

"I am Antonio."

And one of the points of the leaf changed into the head of a small boy.

"I am Juanita!" exclaimed the second point of the leaf. And a tiny girl appeared.

"And I Perico."

And another head showed itself beside the others.

"Good gracious!" exclaimed little Arthur, "this could be set to music like the rats' dance." He approached the clover but now saw nothing: nor was he quite sure which was the marvellous leaf where he had seen those three children as small as they were beautiful.

"Well, I shan't rest until I have seen into this," said the boy.

So the following day, at the same time, he re-seated himself in the same place, and presently a sigh: the clover leaf began to tremble and immediately the little heads appeared in succession, saying, as on the previous day;

"I am Antonio."

"I am Juanita."

"And I Perico."

"And I Arthur!" exclaimed the boy, showing himself suddenly, and seizing the mysterious leaf, "Either you tell me who you are or I will pull you up by the roots."

The stem trembled, and from another near by came forth a very sad voice saying: "Don't kill them for heaven's sake, they are quite innocent of doing any wrong: come back to-night at twelve o'clock and you will be amazed at what you see."

Contented, the boy obeyed, and went away resolved to come back again that night. And so about half-past eleven Arthur went out into the garden, and hiding himself amongst a group of magnolias, waited until the stated hour struck. Scarcely had the church clock chimed the last stroke of midnight than a noise was heard in the air, and there appeared on the ground a horse as white as snow and provided with wings which it shook at the moment of touching the earth. From the wings there came millions of drops of water which fell in a fine rain on the plants in the garden. The effect was magical; instantly all the plants took on the most unexpected forms. The clover leaf was changed into a grand stand covered with a splendid canopy of velvet and gold, and on three gilded arm-chairs sat three children of dazzling beauty wearing rich clothing, in which elegance and sumptuousness struggled for supremacy.

The acacias were transformed into towers of shining silver full of soldiers, who presented arms to the children in token of homage. The group of magnolias was a stone castle, with a steel drawbridge hanging by chains of red silk interwoven with gold. A crowd of pages in bright uniforms, soldiers on horseback provided with lances and with glittering helmets adorned with airy plumes, walked about the garden in all directions. Life animated all those beings passing before the astonished eyes of little Arthur, who, hidden behind a tower, could see what happened without being seen himself. Such was his amazement that, thinking he was dreaming, he hit himself in the most fleshy part of the body, and noticing that it hurt, convinced himself that he was not dreaming. Thereupon the horse neighed, and they all stopped still, full of terror.

"Carabi! Carabo! Two minutes are left you of becoming like me," shouted the horse.

On hearing him they all wept, except the three princes who rose, exclaiming:

"Treacherous magician, God wills that you pay for your crimes."

The horse rose on two legs and after a terrific neigh shouted: "Carabi! Carabo!" and immediately they all resumed their original forms. The horse gave a jump in order to rise in the air and commenced his flight, but this time he was not alone; for when waving his tail it caught up good little Arthur, winding itself round his body. The boy clung to it in order not to fall, and when he tried to find out where he was, he discovered himself in the air more than a thousand yards from the ground. Then he yelled with all the strength that fear gives, without paying any attention to the neighing of the horse which, turning its head, said to him: "Leave go, or I will dash your brains out with a kick."

But little Arthur remembered that if he let go he would certainly be killed, while it was by no means sure that the horse could reach him with his feet, because he had climbed up to the top part of the tail, where he hung on with one hand, while with the other he caught hold of the other end, so that he sat on the doubled-up tail as on a trapeze.

The horse landed out half a dozen kicks, which only hurt the clouds; he turned his head in order to see where to bite that customer who had got the better of him; but his wings hindered him, and the only other vengeance he could take was to snort. This he did, making such a noise that it could have been heard for miles around.

"What a storm!" exclaimed little Arthur.

"That is the wind I swallow in my flight," said the horse.

"That is not wind, it must be a hurricane let loose."

Then the horse began to descend towards the earth, passing through clouds and breaking up fogs, until, at dawn, he arrived at a lovely palace whose roof of gold and precious stones opened of its own accord to let that singular horse pass through. He alighted on the floor of an enormous room in the palace, and when on firm ground said:

"Will you please leave go of me."

"That depends," said little Arthur, "because I am just beginning to like this way of travelling."

"Well, my son, I am sorry, but your goose is cooked for ever."

So saying he began to butt round the room with the object of smashing poor little Arthur to pieces; but the latter, firm as firm could be, would not leave go even if he were killed. Then the horse sat down to see if he could crush the boy with his weight, but the latter, by a clever movement, dropped clear of the crupper and sat down on the floor.

"Here!" he exclaimed, "don't do any more such silly things; if you want to throw me off, you will have to tear your tail off first."

"Not if I know it," shouted the magician, "rather let us make an agreement. What do you want in order to let me go?"

"First, you must tell me the story of the enchanted children in my garden."

"I will not."

"Well, now I shall pull out a hair of your tail by way of punishment," and dragging out one of them he made the horse neigh with pain.

"So, I shall pull them out one by one until you are as hairless as a hired horse."

"No, you have persuaded me. Listen to the story you ask me for. You must know that these youngsters are the children of the great King of Samarcanda, Ali-Tebelin, who is a great enemy of mine. I was then condemned to be ridden by any cavalier who wished to do so, thanks to the enchantment of a relative on my mother's side, who knew how to do these things better than I. Not finding any better way of passing the three years as saddle-horse which had been imposed upon me, I entered the stables of Ali-Tebelin, who several times had me thrashed on the frivolous pretext that I bit whoever wanted to ride on me, kicked anybody who came near, and one day gave the king himself a terrible bite. Angry on account of this injustice I promised myself to have my revenge, and when the period of my enchantment was finished, I became, in my turn, an enchanter, and taking a bottle of water gathered by me from the clouds, I caused the king's court to be transformed into a garden which I transported to your house. Every night I go to it, and as my wings are wet with the water from the clouds, which is the thing that has the property of changing them into their original shapes, I shake my wings, and after enjoying myself for a while I enchant them again with my word. Now you know all, will you leave me in peace?"

"Now less than ever," said the boy: "because if I let you go, you will be revenged on me as on them, so that I shan't leave you until you take me back to my home. At this very moment you will give me something to eat. Go somewhere slowly where there is something to put inside one; if you don't I will skin you."

The horse stamped on the floor, and at once several tables covered with eatables appeared. With one hand, while with the other he held on, Arthur ate of what seemed best to him, and when he was satisfied, said: "At this very instant you will take me home." The horse, resigned, took to flight again, rose up in the air, and flew towards Arthur's garden. Passing through the clouds, Arthur got all his clothing wet, being drenched with that precious liquid. When they arrived, and before the horse had time to turn round, little Arthur ran away and took refuge in his home. His precaution was very wise, because the magician followed him with the object of biting him, but when he was ready to do so the boy was already in the house. The horse had only stretched his wings and disappeared on the horizon when Arthur went into the garden again, and shaking his clothes, let the cloud-water with which he was soaked fall upon the plants. At once all the enchanted beings recovered their original shape, and saw with surprise that it was not the magician who disenchanted them. On seeing such surprise, little Arthur advanced towards the grand stand and said to the princes:

"Children of Ali-Tebelin, I have the pleasure of informing you that you are free; but vanish from here quickly, because at twelve o'clock to-night the magician will return."

"Thanks, kind boy," said one of the princes, "but we will not go away from here without giving the magician a surprise and bestowing on him something that will make him stare."

So they fastened some strong ropes to the towers, and that night, when the horse arrived, before he knew what had happened, he found himself tied by the neck, wings, and feet, and all the warriors and pages, provided with strong cords, rained such a shower of blows on him that he did not know where he was.

"Take that, Carabi!"

"Take that, Carabo!" they shouted. And the hail of lashes was such that the magician begged them for pardon.

"No pardon!" shouted little Arthur, "you can stay there till your feet drop off."

Such were his groans that at last little Arthur, full of compassion, went up to him and said:

"How can we set you free when we should only be exposing ourselves to your vengeance?"

"To avoid that the only thing you have to do is to pull out the longest feather in each wing, and then I shall be deprived of power."

This Arthur did, and immediately the magician took human shape, it being seen that he was a horrid dwarf who could hardly move. They touched him again with the feathers and he was changed into a caged parrot which began to shout, "Carabi! Carabo! It's all over with me now!"

Arthur informed his parents, telling them all about his extraordinary adventure, and begged them for permission to accompany the princes. Little Arthur's parents were astonished to see their garden changed into a fortress; and on becoming acquainted with the series of events which, without their knowledge, had occurred, granted their permission and at once the expedition was organised. Little Arthur mounted one of the magic feathers, bearing the princess behind him. The princes bestrode the other feather, and all the rest clung to each other. At a given signal they all flew away, and in a twinkling found themselves in their own country.

There little Arthur was splendidly presented with a pair of socks and several boxes of toys, his efforts being rewarded by a long and happy life in the bosom of his family.

tailpiece to Carabi! Caribo!

THE AUTHOR OF THE WALL

Ninin was reading in a newspaper: "They are beginning to pull down the great wall of China."

"Is that so? What! Does the newspaper say so?"

"Look at it yourself," says Ninin showing me the paper where the news was printed.

"Well," I answered, "I am glad, because of what use ... Would you like me to tell you a story?"

"Is it about the Chinese wall?"

"You will see. Once there was a king in the country called Tsi-Ching-Hoang-Ti (what a name!) with a very long pigtail. The Chinese are recognised by their pigtails, while, in Spain, we only know toreadors for the same reason.

"Well, the king in my story had few teeth, but a very long pigtail, and had a stomach which could have held half his kingdom. What a wolfish appetite! Every five minutes he yawned, and in every room of the palace there were attendants whose only mission was to place a boiled egg in the monarch's mouth as soon as he commenced to open it. And what a mouth! Once some one absent-mindedly placed his memorial in it thinking he was putting it in the letter box. One night, while he was sleeping, Tsi-Ching-Hoang-Ti (Dear me! what work to call a person thus!) gave a tremendous kick and, sitting up in bed, shouted:

"'I have an idea!'

"The guards, electrified, shouted:

"'The emperor has an idea!'

"And all the functionaries of the palace and the imperial family came to the regal room to congratulate their emperor.

"'What a happy day!' they exclaimed. 'It is the first time that such a thing has happened in China. To have an idea.'