The White Elephant and Other Tales from India by Frederick Richardson

Author:Frederick Richardson [Georgene Faulkner and Frederick Richardson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

So General Blackbird was shut in the stable.

At midnight, when all the world was asleep, Blackbird said:

“Come out, Rope, and come out, Stick!

Tie the horses lest they kick.

Beat the horses on the head!

Beat them till they fall down dead!”

Out came the Rope and the Club, and the Rope bound all the horses until they could not move, and the Club beat them until they all fell down dead.

Then the Rope and the Club climbed back into the Blackbird’s ear, and they all went to sleep again.

The next morning the King said, “I am sure my wild horses have settled that Blackbird. Go out and bring in his corpse.”

The servants went out to the stable, and there was the Blackbird sitting on a stall, drumming away on his walnut shell, while all around him were the dead bodies of the horses. Now these horses had cost the King a great deal of money and to have them killed in this way was more than he could stand.

“That Blackbird shall not trick me again,” scolded the King. “I will kill him tonight. Put him in with my Elephants and they will crush the life out of him.”

So that night the servants shut the Blackbird up in the shed with all the big Elephants.

At midnight, when all the world was sound asleep, the Blackbird began to sing:

“Come out from my ear, you Ants,

Come and sting the Elephants.

Sting each trunk and sting each head!

Sting them till they fall down dead!”

Then out came the swarm of Ants from the Blackbird’s ear. They crawled inside the Elephants’ trunks; they burrowed into the Elephants’ brains; they bit them and stung them so sharply that the Elephants all went mad and trumpeted wildly as they pushed each other about tramping upon each other until they all fell down dead.

The next morning the King said to his servants, “Go and bring me the proof that the insolent Blackbird is dead.”

But, when the servants went out, there they found the Blackbird playing upon his drum, while about him all the dead Elephants were piled upon the ground.

When the King heard this he was furious, and he said, “I cannot imagine how he does this, but, tonight, you must tie him to my bed and I will watch to see what happens.”

So that night General Blackbird was escorted to the King’s bedroom, and there he was tied fast to the King’s bed.

The King would not go to sleep, but kept awake listening to find out what the Blackbird was doing.

At midnight the Blackbird began to sing:

“Come out, River, from my ear!

Flow about the King’s room here.

Pour yourself upon his bed!

Drown the King until he’s dead!”

Then out came the River, drip-drip-drip, pour-pour-pouring out of the Blackbird’s ear. It flooded the room; the chairs and tables began to float about; then the King’s bed began to float, and the King himself was wet. At last the King cried out:

“Oh, good General Blackbird, stop the River! I will give you back your wife if you will only be gone and leave me in peace.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.