 Chapter one of Little Miss Joy Singh. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Little Miss Joy Singh by John Luther Long. Chapter one. What the people said. Little Miss Joy Singh had contracted the habit of envy. Now there is nothing so certain to make even a Japanese girl unhappy as envy. For with that she is sure to be different from all other Japanese girls who are diligently taught content in how to get and keep it, and to be unlike everybody else's to go the way of loneliness. Indeed there is a proverb in Japan about interring envy as it were dead and buried or ought to be. And it was Miss Joy Singh's own beauty that made her envious, but you may think curious until you know the way of it. The people who knew her called her honorably beautiful, and those who did not know her called her augustly beautiful. It is true that Joy Singh would protest always that she was excellently ugly, but that is only the way of Japanese politeness, and she would look into the small round nuttle mirror before which she made her toilet, and know that she was at least very pretty, if not augustly or honorably beautiful, but then always entered envy, discontent for what was the use of it all. It was only on the street that people called her beautiful. In her own home no one did, for no one came there but very old men and women, bent and seamed and bald and bearded, and they did not care much about beautiful things, being constantly anxious about the taxes, the prices of food and their funerals. And all these things were dull and sad to Joy Singh, so she would flutter away from them, stick a poppy behind her ear and go out into the sunshine. Thus she was nearly always quite happy, for she dressed her own hair, made her own kimono, and helped at the housework, until she looked up the hill. Then, as they say over there, the demons came and sat upon her brow. And this too must be explained. Her father was a humble potter and lived at the bottom of the hill in an ordinary Japanese house, with thin paper walls and heavy wooden shutters for the night, which made it look like a packing box. And all he did from morning to night was to turn his wheel, put water on the clay, fashion it into vases and teapots, and sing a little. You can fancy how tiresome this became by the time Joy Singh was a considerable girl, especially the singing. For Joy Singh's father, like many another person who cannot sing, would sing. And at the top of the hill lived the prince of Don't Care What. His splendid yashiki had windows in it, and every morning from the open sochi of her little upstairs room, Joy Singh could see the sun on the glass. And then the prince come forth in his glittering brocades and swords at the head of his retinue to worship the pine tree. This would set on Miss Joy Singh to thinking of all the fine stories she had ever heard about princess and pretty little girls. And then she would dream about this prince and herself, splendid dreams, all in broad daylight. Now all this happened long ago. Alas, more explanations are necessary here. Everyone knows that what the men of the East think beautiful we often think ugly, in vice versa. Sometimes it seems as if it were merely a matter of having been told very often, and for a very long time that a thing is beautiful, to make it so. At any rate, so it is in the matter of pine trees in Japan. Long ago, someone made a pine tree very ugly and called it beautiful, and kept on insisting that it was beautiful, and so it is today a thing to be referenced. And it is the more beautiful, the more it is gnarled and twisted and aged. Moreover, if the gardener can make of its foliage waves and birds and beasts and clouds and infinitum, then it is very beautiful. Now this pine tree of the prince of, don't care what, was sold that no one living remembered its age. But it was at least three hundred years. Indeed, some of the wise ones, the sort of people who tell the age of a horse by looking at his teeth, looked unspeakably at the pine tree and said it was at least a thousand years old. What do you think of that? Anyhow, one could see all sorts of queer things in its limbs and leaves. The gardeners who cared for it descended from one another so that it had always been in the care of one family. And they were taught when quite young to know and to understand the habits of the precious tree, exactly as if it lived and breathed. But most important of all, things in Japan have souls as well as people. The spirits of one's ancestors who have died are believed often to return and live in some object near those they have loved on earth. And a pine tree is held to be a fine place for a soul to reside. So that the Lord Buddha sometimes permits the ghost of the ancestor one has loved most to come and reside in one's pine tree. Thus it was with a princess tree. It had been the home of the soul of one of his ancestors from time immemorial. And this was the sort of honorable Mr. Pine Tree to speak in Japanese, which Joy Singh saw from her little upstairs room every morning when she opened her soji. It was so very beautiful in the Japanese fashion, understand, and so very renowned also in the Japanese fashion, that the ancestors of the young prince had kept it behind the high walls of the yashiki so that no one might touch it or even see it without a permit, and in charge of the gardener who carried a sword on such occasions. However, only a little while before this story begins, when the old prince died and the young one came from the Imperial University in Tokyo, where he had got a great deal of modern learning, the corner of the old wall where the tree stood had been torn down so that anyone who wished might see it. But a strong iron grating had been put up so that no one might touch it. Of course, no Japanese would have done this. They were all as proud of the tree as the prince. But once a foreigner had secretly cut off a slip, thinking that another such a funny tree would grow from it, for he only thought it funny, not sacred or beautiful, or the habitation of the soul. The prince was warned by the older men against another such occurrence, but he was the most headstrong prince of the whole line, and he wrinkled his forehead into vertical lines between the eyes and said, the gardener who permitted that lost his head, and the gardener who stood by shivered and meant not to lose his head. And the chapter one, what the people said. Chapter two of Little Miss Joycing by John Luther Long. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. What she wished. Suddenly, one day, before she knew what she was doing, Miss Joycing sighed and said, oh, I wish I were the Auguste Princess Honorable Mr. Pine Tree. Then she clapped her hand on her mouth, but it was too late. Her father had heard her. Miserable, my daughter said he, sadly, unless you cleanse your heart of envy, you will be most unhappy, and you will lose the other life with the Lord Buddha. The gods hear you and may give you your intemperate wish, and it may be the last wish you are to have. Speak to them softly so that the envy departs away. Yes said Miss Joycing, going out into the sunshine and forgetting all about the wooden god she was to petition. And she couldn't help wishing, which is itself a huge Japanese sin, for in Japan one must wish what one's uncles and aunts and other people like one to wish, and nothing else. Now and then her father saw her peeping through the soji and always in the direction of the pine tree. Wherefore he said again one day, alas, still you wish miserable, my daughter. I see you in the morning when the sun is on the windows and in the evening when the lights are in them. Be admonished. Wishing makes things happen. The gods read the heart. Do not remember how honorable little Miss Green Bamboo wished and became a rock in the garden of the prince for a wait for something? A rock with water, which is her tears, flowing out of it always? Well then. But this was not the sort of thing to frighten romantic Miss Joycing. To be a rock in the garden of the prince of wait for something, even in tears, was not a thing to regret. No. For he would come every morning in his glittering brocades and swords with his retinue and putting his head on his hands before the rock would probably say, Oh, August one, who has miserably come to reside in the garden of me, in the rock of me. Once more the sun shines and it is morning. Once more I salute you. Once more I beg happiness, beauty, joy, long life of you, permitted of the gods you are able to give it unto me. Miserably I trust you have slept well most August. Again I drink your tears, again I bathe in them, my face, my hands, my body. Once more I bow to you, very humbly. And she kept on thinking how it would be sweet to have people come to the grating and admire her and speak of her in her hearing, worship her. Now you perceive how her mind had drifted from the rock in the garden of the Prince of Wait for something, to the pine tree in the yashiki of the Prince of Don't Care What, so that she was quite incorrigible and everything finally turned into that one wish, no matter where it began, there it ended. End of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 of Little Miss Joy's Sing by John Luther Long This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. When she slept and when she woke. Well, she was wishing this when she went to bed one night, a little more unconsciously than she did sometimes, and woke with a strange feeling in her limbs. She tried to rub her eyes, but could not. And presently, when she looked dimly down, there was nothing to be seen but a confusion of gnarled limbs and some patches of queer foliage. They were like upturned hands at the ends of crippled arms. And she could presently make out the shapes of beasts and birds and waves and fishes she had heard about, but had never been quite able to see before. And she laughed to think how differently a pine tree looks from above. Then very suddenly and shockingly she understood she was the Prince's pine tree and wishing had made it happen. At first she was decidedly sorry, but in a moment she was not quite sure that she was sorry. It was something to know that she had done it. And presently, the Prince would come. No, she was not sorry. She would not be. And then the sun burst gloriously forth and dried the dampness, which had been just a little disagreeable and warmed her to her very heart. And she was glad. She would have shouted if she could. But here a little chill overtook her. She could not shout or sing or gossip. She had to behave precisely as a pine tree. And such a pine tree would. However, she had in a moment to indulge anything like regret. A glittering little procession started from the palace and she knew that the Prince was coming to worship her. This always happened at sunrise, precisely. She tried to put her hands to her hair and was pleased to remember that she was a pine tree and that at any rate the gardener would attend to her hereafter. Her hairdressing had always been an operation of three or four hours. And she was glad that instead of hair there was to be only green leaves. On came the Prince of Don't Care What and his retinue. They looked splendid in the morning sun. And she had never seen anyone quite so beautiful and manly as this young damsel. She thought, Oh August, soul said the Prince, I come at the rising of the sun to bow to you. And then he bowed to the very earth a dozen times. With the sleep still in my eyes I bow to you. And he repeated the bowing. Yet have I washed and am very clean that I may bow to you. For a moment he looked up at the pine tree. I wish that you may have slept well, that you may have all joy and no sorrow, that I may be enabled to do what will please you always, forever, in this day especially. Thus I miserably wish, thus I pray, Oh August, soul of an August ancestor, heavenly root of an earthly tree. And Miss Joyceing would have shouted again if she had not been a pine tree. She had not been able to look at the Prince carefully, but now as he gazed solicitously up at her, she saw that he was even more beautiful than she had fancied, with a pale aristocratic face, beautiful vertical lines in his forehead, and splendid long eyes. She really could not help expressing her joy in some handsome fashion, so she shook her limbs at him. Now this was a distinct breach of pine tree decorum. No soul had been known to do such a forward thing, and the Prince of Don't Care What was renowned all over the world for his knowledge of Japanese etiquette. He stared a little, and then his face plainly showed that he was sorry for this gouchery of the soul in the pine tree. But of course he would not let this appear, so he said to the gardener, Perhaps a bug disturbs the honorable serenity of my August ancestor. Miss Joyceing shuddered. Bugs, caterpillars, she imagined herself covered with them. But after the Prince was gone, she looked at herself and saw neither bug nor caterpillar, and was once more very happy. For would he not come again in the morning? She would have sung. There was a very pretty song she knew about pine trees. Only, as I have said, pine trees have no voice for singing. This made her reflect for a moment. Was she never to sing again, or laugh? Such a fate seemed rather dreadful. Yet it was quite certain that pine trees did none of these things. But she was comforted by the thought that if wishing made things happen so easily, she would simply wish herself back at home, if she should ever tire of this, would seem quite impossible now. End of When She Slept and When She Woke Chapter 4 of Little Miss Joyceing by John Luther Long This Libri Vox recording is in the public domain. What Miss Buttercup thought, and Miss Peony too. The next day her father came, weeping to the tree and begged piteously to know if she were there. But of course she could not make him understand, though she felt very sorry for him. Somehow she liked him better with the tears for her in his eyes. Everybody likes other people better with tears in their eyes for them. And for a moment she thought of ending it all with another wish and of going home with him. But then she would not be there when the prince came in the morning. So no. And Miss Peony and Miss Buttercup, her best two friends came and begged her, if it were she, to wish to come home. Because your honorable and very old father wished us to say that to you, said Miss Buttercup. But if there is really a prince behind those walls, and you can see him every morning, oh I don't know what I would do, I think I would not come home, never. And if the prince really worships you, said Peony son, I would stay in a pine tree forever, and ever to have a splendid prince come in the morning and worship me. And Miss Buttercup asked further, does he really bow and bow and bow to you? And is there a poem which he writes and recites every morning, a fresh one? Think of a poem, a fresh one, every morning. Some girls never have a poem written to them in their whole lives, and perhaps you have one written and read to you every morning. Oh I would stay. And does he wear his swords and his dimo headdress when he comes? Only think of a prince bowing, bowing, bowing to you. If I were your father, I would not wish you back. For perhaps if he does that, you will have to come back. And oh dear, you would never be contented now. Never. I wish I were you, if it is you. Is it? But of course Miss Joy Singh could not tell, it was she. Though their beautiful words made her both very proud and very determined to remain a pine tree. And anyhow, just then she did feel a bug cutting her limb, which took all the attention away from them. And of what Miss Buttercup thought, and Miss Peony too. Chapter 5 Of Little Miss Joy Singh by John Luther Long This Libri Vox recording is in the public domain. Bugs Presently the gardener came with some sharp tools. Miss Joy Singh shuttered. He put some boards up against the grating so that people could not see. She remembered that she had wondered before she became a pine tree what they were put there for. And then he said ferociously, bugs. He went all over her with his sharp tools and cut and hurt her dreadfully. She would have cried if a pine tree couldn't. And she would have wished herself at home if she had not been too much disturbed to even wish. Besides, just then the prince came down. He would make the gardener be kind to her, she knew, and anyhow it was a prince and her vicinity. But the prince was in negligee and had a foreign cigarette in his mouth. And he had no idea of worshipping her now. That was over for the day. And he showed that he was glad of it. She did not like him so much that way. Found the bug, he asked roughly. There is no bug. Augustness said the man. Find the bug, said the prince. Or I will have you whipped and confined. His tongue was so shocking for a prince of, don't care what, that Miss Joyceen could not help a little flutter. He saw this. Something still disturbs the spirit of my ancestor, or else it is the spirit of a fool. And that was most shocking. It was distinctly calling her horrid names. Suddenly the gardener, to save himself, pretended to have found a bug. Ah, he cried, thrust in the knife into Miss Joyceen. Now, though she was a tree, it hurt just as much as if she were a girl. She wanted to shriek, but of course could not. And this made her situation all the more heartbreaking. Just try and fancy it. Someone putting a knife into you and you not be able to say a word or move a limb. I knew it, said the prince, striking a match upon the back of a gardener and lighting a fresh cigarette. I always knew. Trim that ragged branch away. Augustness protest the gardener. It has been that way for low these 300 years. It was there the foreigner cut off the slip. Off with it, thundered the prince. Before she could catch her breath the gardener had snipped it off. Now, fancy that, if you please. Again, she suffered all the pangs of dismemberment. She looked down expecting to see the blood flow, but there was only a ragged white end wet with sap. And even then the gardener put something on it, which burned and hurt for days. Fancy that, too, putting caustic in a fresh wound on a tender limb. I'll let it alone, said the prince. So she was left alone all the rest of the day with the grating shut and no one to see or to pity and she could not cry. The gardeners came from a tori nearby and sat on her tallest limb and spoke softly to her. At first she did not understand, but the dove spoke very slowly and soon she comprehended every word. It is very beautiful to be the prince's pine tree, said the dove. No, it is not. They have hurt me and I'd like to cry, said Joy Singh, and cannot. Often I am hurt and would like to cry, answered the dove and cannot. It is so all over the world and with all the creatures. Only men and women cry. But I don't like the prince as much as I did before I ever was near him and I hate to stand still all the time. Yet I have wished to change back to a nice little girl and nothing has happened. It is perfectly terrible to think that perhaps I shall not have another wish. You know, in life we each have a certain number of wishes. No one knows how many and as long as there are any of our wishes left we get everything we wish for. But it must be with all the heart then when the last wish is granted we can have no more. I suppose all that is the matter is that I have not wished with all my heart yet. I cannot have exhausted all my wishes so soon. Why, I have scarcely wished for anything yet. No, you cannot have exhausted all your wishes, mild the dove. And perhaps you would not like to soar away off to the sky as I do. You would probably be afraid. So it is better that you wish to be a pine tree rather than an eagle, for instance. Yes, admit it, Joycing. I always get dizzy when I go up high. If the prince were anything like him I should not mind. Ah, dear, no prince is what we think him. But I am lonely and I will not be lonely. I never was until I became a pine tree. You shall not be lonely, dear, said the dove. I will call every day. And there are bugs. Joycing shivered audibly. Ah, you do not like bugs. Neither do I. But some of the creatures find them great fun. Some eat them. There is one in that limb just below and he bores dreadfully. And he buzzes, buzzes, night and day. He spoils my rest. I, I, I wish you would eat him and at Joycing desperately. The dove was distinctly embarrassed. I, I'd like to oblige you, dear, he said. No one is more obliging than I am. But I do not care greatly for bugs. Or as the owl called yet. No, no one but you has called. Well I am going now and I'll ask the owl to call it once. Only he never calls before six. He is so correct in everything. I think he is fond of bugs and he is so wise. Just mention the matter to him. Goodbye, dear. I am not going because you asked me to eat the bug. Keep up your spirits. You will like the owl. Yes, if he likes bugs, said Joycing crossily. End of bugs. Chapter 6 of Little Miss Joycing by John Luther Long. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. That night the owl called and the bat. That night considerably after six the owl came and sat on her upper limb and stared at her a long time. Then he said who? Miss Joycing said the tree. My father, who? said the owl again. I was going to tell you, my father is a potter and lives at the bottom of this who? said the owl. Why have I just told you? I don't think you wise at all. I think you stupid and I don't care how soon you go away. The bat likes bugs too. Maybe he will call. Who? said the owl once more. The bat. Is that the only word you know? Well then every time you say who I'll say bugs. So there. That is all you're good for. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. The owl seemed to understand that. He silently felt his way straight to the place where the bug was boring. He was tackling of some bones and the owl went back to his limb and again looked solemnly down. Well thank you said Joycing. But that is a relief. I'm sorry I called you names. You're not stupid. Not so very stupid. You're better than nobody. But won't you please ask some of the other creatures to call? It is so horribly lonely. Who? asked the owl. It was nice. It is so lonely without the sun began to threaten and the owl flew away. Without so much as good night said Joycing bitterly. I wish they were all as polite as the dove. No other creature came and after a while Joycing said oh how lonely it is. I would be glad to talk to anything. The bat was circling above her and I hoped he won't call. I never liked bats. They get into one's hair. And I cannot dodge. But even then the bat alighted. Good morning he said gaily. I don't know you said Joycing. Oh yes you do. You used to know me before you became a pine tree. And then you used to hate me. You would drive me out with a broom the moment I showed my nose at your house. But now you are a pine tree. I feel that we shall become the best of friends. And you do not need to be afraid for you have no hair for me to get into. And I do not get into hair anyhow. That's an unworthy superstition. Besides there are bugs which is not pleasant for you and I can relieve you of them. There was one but the owl has been here and needn't him. And if you do not take care I will get him to eat you. You are as cross and impolite as ever said the bat soaring away. I'm afraid of you. End of that night the owl cold and the bat. Chapter 7 of Little Miss Joycing by John Luther Long this LibriVox recording is in the public domain. She wouldn't marry the Prince if he should ask her. She was alone all the rest of the night and it was more terrible than she had and so cold again she tried to wish but could not and nothing happened. And then the sun arose and there was that splendid and worshipful ceremony and there was no bug to trouble her and presently she was glad once more that she had not seceded and wishing herself back. Then again after the Prince was gone it was quite as lonely as the day before. The boards went up once more and the gardener hunted for the bug and she couldn't even tell him that it was no longer there and he cut off more limbs. Fancy all that. She began to wish with all her might to be back at her own little room in her own futons which is the same as bed in English though it is not an English bed at all but only a sort of wadded overcoat put on backwards and nothing happened. Nothing whatever. She was still a pine tree and she resolved that she would not marry the Prince nor live happy of her after if he should ask her. In fact in that case she should tell him that she hated him. Now from that day on the pine tree began to droop in a way that was unaccountable to the Prince. They put upon her the most nauseous things possible as tonics they pruned her and braced and encouraged her till she was ready to die of weariness. Then came winter and she shivered all the time and her limbs were frozen and when it snowed the little upturned hands she had once thought so pretty were only places for keeping the cold snow a little longer upon her. And one day while she was piled up high with snow the Prince came in worship. She almost hated him now and as his shaven crown was bowed beneath her she shook her limbs violently and covered his naked head with snow. He leaped up furiously there was no one in sight who might have shaken the tree and there was only one conclusion to be drawn. He whipped out his sword you ingrate he cried you soul of a fool here now will I cut you down. Joy Singh shuddered with fear and he would certainly have done it if he had not at that moment remembered that the sword was his best one the one decorated with diamonds and rubies and worn only on state occasions to cut down the pine tree would be to ruin it besides no one kept a perfect edge on his holiday sword I will get my everyday sword and then I will heal you down yea though you were the habitation of a thousand souls all of whom must be homeless I'm the Prince of don't care what threaten the Prince terribly. He went to the house in an awful rage and did not return the truth is that it had been so long since he had worn his everyday sword that it had been mislaid and he was quite determined not withstanding his wrath not to ruin the ruby sword so only because of this happy chance the tree lived on but Joy Singh had received her lesson what if he should cut her down what would become of her and wouldn't it hurt horribly she asked the owl but she could make nothing of his answer who said the owl me me me that is what I asked you shouted Joy Singh who will I be then what where will it hurt who said the owl then she begged the dove to ask him that is the only way says the owl to secure your release and become a girl again the owl is strange and eccentric but he is very wise there is no doubt about that I understand his language better than you do so the owl says you must make him cut you down that is a fine suggestion it is a pity and it is a shame for all the creatures know you now and love you and it will be quite like losing an old friend but perhaps when you are a girl again you will not forget us who were kind to you when you were a pine tree oh I will never never forget you nor anything I have learned here if you will help me to get away said Joy Singh well then you must provoke the prince to cut you down it will be painful he says but after that you will be quite as you were again but how can I make him cut me down will Joy Singh either the dove nor the owl nor the bat knew though they cudgled their wits ceaselessly you see dear explain the dove they are wise but not cunning I am afraid you will have to ask the fox end of she wouldn't marry the prince if he should ask her Chapter 8 of Little Miss Joy Singh by John Luther Long the sleeper fox recording is in the public domain now the fox now among the acquaintances Joy Singh made after she became a pine tree was the fox of course everybody and everything in Japan is acquainted with the fox I know this seems a very ordinary announcement to you but you are to be made still more wise by being told about foxes there are many wild animals in Japan which trouble the Japanese very little indeed but the domestic fox is terrible for he can infest one and make one do the most strange and awful things it is something like being bewitched only a thousand times worse I've heard of a rice farmer who saw a railroad train on one of Japan's new railroads rushing down upon him in a cut from which he could not escape he dropped on his knees to pray a moment before being killed and he must have said just the right words there are right words but no one except certain priests know them and they charge so much for repeating them that poor people cannot buy them yes the farmer must have happened upon just the right words to exercise the fox for low the train stops snorting and roaring and disappeared and a fox ran by so that the rice farmer knew that it had all been done by the fox this is only a small sample of what he can do but then just as in witchcraft there are a few good witches so in Japan there are a few good foxes and the one joy sing found scratching at her roots one night claimed to be this sort at first of course she was frightened and mistrusted him as it is always wise to mistrust a fox till one knows that he is good but the fox said now don't you be frightened I have a bad reputation I know but did you ever hear that I heard a pretty girl or that I even play tricks on them no I am much too fond of pretty girls can you say con con whisper joy sing for this you must know as every Japanese girl does is the way to tell a bad fox from a good one a bad fox cannot say con con but will say in spite of himself like why and this fox immediately repeated after joy sing the words con con for though he was in reality a goblin fox of the most distinguished type that is not the sort of fox who gets into one and makes him do strange things but one that can change his shape and who worked by enchantments though he was that sort of a fox yet he could say con con because he watched joy sing's lips and did with his exactly what she had done with hers knowing nothing of the sound for these foxes cannot hear the sound of their voices when they say con con or quai quai however though he was a goblin fox he was very good natured as you will see and much the best kind of a fox for joy sing there said the fox in an injured tone I'm sure that I have proved to you that I am Kirisune which is the family name of good foxes and that you can trust me and joy sing had to admit that this was true on the contrary went on the fox you must have heard how I helped miss roly-poly of rice field dyke to get rid of an enchantment the badger of netzuki had put upon her no said miss joy sing weekly I'd never heard of it then perhaps you will not mind me telling it I should like it very much confess joy sing like in the fox more and more which indeed was precisely what the fox meant her to do for there is no animal in the world who knows so well how to fascinate a girl is an arikitsune end of now the fox chapter nine of little miss joy sing this is a Libri Vox recording all Libri Vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Libri Vox org little miss joy sing by John Luther Long chapter nine the story of miss roly-poly so the fox sat on his haunches and told the following story miss roly-poly was nearly as pretty as you are you know I have often seen you when you did not see me before you were a pine tree entirely untrue but she was not as discriminating in her friendships as you are so when the badger of Netsuke came by her father's rice fields one night with his coat shining and his whisk out intending abominably to infatuate her she fell at once into his stare he asked her to walk with him as far as the bridge where the moon was in the water telling her how beautiful the sight was and she did so because you know nothing so appeals to a Japanese girl as the moon in the water but much more because of Netsuke's very fascinating manners and conversation however no sooner had they arrived where the moon lay on the water and indeed he had told her the truth so far for it was more beautiful than Boon Chosa has ever painted it then she was strickened almost dumb with admiration of it now you know that the moon was seen from under the water as well as from over it and the wicked badger tempted Miss Rolly Poli by saying that it was more beautiful that way so that she consented to go with him under the water to see it but said the cunning badger I must change you into a fish to do so or you will drown and will you change me back again to a pretty girl? asked Miss Rolly Poli certainly said the badger as if his feelings had been hurt by the girl's mistrust do you suppose for an instant that I have such bad taste as to permit a pretty girl like you to remain a fish? besides there are badgers who are mean enough to eat fish so she let him change her into a fish and so she remained and narrowly escaped being eaten by odious Netsukes and did you change her back to a pretty little girl again previously? I did say the fox proudly and you saved her life? I did indeed I came just in time then maybe you can help me? cried Joy Singh for to tell you the truth I'm not a pine tree really but a pretty little girl just as Miss Rolly Poli was and there upon Miss Joy Singh told the fox her whole story I can help you said the fox well there but it will be more difficult than the case of Miss Rolly Poli you have let this go too long being a pine tree has become chronic with you still Joy Singh thought the fox had fallen asleep but he explained that he was only thinking end of chapter 9 the story of Miss Rolly Poli chapter 10 of Little Miss Joy Singh this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Little Miss Joy Singh by John Luther Long why did the fox laugh I saw a dove talking to you today oh yes cried Joy Singh she is my best friend that is well said the fox mysteriously ask her tonight when she calls if she can have a fresh dove here every night but why ask the unsuspicious Joy Singh they will be of the greatest service to me I am very fond of doves said the fox and they usually agree with me they will do what I ask readily and Miss Rolly Poli did not ask troublesome questions you won't hurt the dove certainly not said the fox I trust the doves will not hurt me I do not think they will a dove could not hurt you left Miss Joy Singh you are much larger I don't know said the fox my digestion is not what it was I do not understand that said Miss Joy Singh anyhow the dove has a beautiful plan for getting me back to being a girl again and she told him of the doves plan but the trouble is that neither she nor the owl can execute the plan it is often the case that the fox oriculately that clever people end with being clever then they have to call in someone who begins by being clever oh said Miss Joy Singh delightedly that is me said the fox throwing out his chest oh said Miss Joy Singh again the fact is that the fox notwithstanding his protests of modesty had begun to fascinate Miss Joy Singh quite as the badger had been this roly-poly only the case of Miss Joy Singh did not look so hopeless because the fox was likely to linger over a thing he liked until the fascination departed and one got one's senses quite back now the fox went on I think I can put this plan of the doves into perfect execution oh said Miss Joy Singh I must have the assistance each night of a dove or some other feathered creatures with a sharp bill and a humma a tender breast under my directions they shall strip the tree of its veritor every night we shall accomplish something and presently the tree will be as bare as when it was born for you know trees are quite leafless when they are born then after the night's labor I will invite the tired dove or other feathered creature to repose in my burrow Miss Joy Singh but the fox only laughed and said never mind I'll do the rest it's very strange that the dove who first thought of the plan could not think how to do it it seems very simple and easy to you Miss Joy Singh not at all said the fox that is the way with many people they must be taught how to use their own hands and feet that is why the gods made foxes so wise why no said Miss Joy Singh well so it was intended I suppose I could strip the green off of the tree if I would but what would you think of me if you saw me working like a beaver for instance you would lose all respect for me Miss Joy Singh had to admit that she would not consider him so cunning and powerful the mind that boldly conceives is always above the plotting hand that executes the conception yes said Joy Singh breathlessly she had heard of the fox's great words well then persuade the dove to come here tonight and begin End of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 of Little Miss Joy Singh this is a LibriVox recording while LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Little Miss Joy Singh by John Luther Long Chapter 11 into a hole so when the soft foist dove called that night Joy Singh told her of the fox's plan and she was so rejoiced at it that she at once took up the work of stripping the tree and by the time the light began to show in the east there was quite a patch of bare limbs why didn't I think of that myself said that delighted dove the fox says your mind does not go far said Miss Joy Singh then the fox came from his hole and said it is now light and you are very tired dear which was true come here's a hole for you where you cannot be seen it is my habitation use it as your own rest sleep the dove flew away to the hole and Joy Singh never saw her again and the fox slept all the next day but the next night there was another the first one had arranged it and the next night another and so on and on and on the supply of doves never failed after this had proceeded for a long while and the tree had become very bare Joy Singh began to wonder what had become of all the doves that went into the fox's burrow one day she asked him because she went on there are no more doves if the tree is not done you will have to get other creatures what cried the fox I cannot have no more doves in the whole world I do not think there are any more doves in the world I do not understand it and Joy Singh cried a little for all the creatures she loved the doves best end of chapter 11 into a hole chapter 12 of Little Miss Joy Singh this is a Libri Vox recording all Libri Vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Little Miss Joy Singh by John Luther Long chapter 12 a picture of Joy Singh now the fox had slept so much and had grown so fat and lazy that he did not seem like a cunning fox anymore and the prince came that very day and swore so furiously at the tree that the fox in his burrow became alarmed if I keep up this life of inglorious activity any longer I shall not be fit for business and shall fall in easy prey to dogs when I endeavor to change my residence I must be heroic and stop it though it is very hard to do beside the fox besides there are no more doves anyhow Miss Joy Singh very kind to me and have earned your freedom now just to show you that I have not lost my disposition to help you in what shape would you like me to appear before the prince appear before the prince gasp Joy Singh certainly said the fox he would be more frightened of me than I of him if he knew who I was I'm not afraid of any man or any machine and is now time to announce that the pine tree and that it must be cut down the work is far enough advanced even if there are no more doves and the fox ended with a sigh for the beautiful life which was ending for him can you take any shape anything from a locomotive to a nut left the fox but I hate to do it it is like work after these months of eating and sleeping eating question Joy Singh alas it is true I've been most inhospitable I've never thought of your food how hungry you must be it has been a regular feast Joy Singh did not understand this and she had no time now to think it out she had thought of something better can you change to a pretty girl certainly said the fox can you make yourself look like me yes if I could see a picture of you there is one in my little room in the house at the foot of the hill Asami the photographer and Honchi Dori made it she was all excitement now you go up one flight turn to the right then to the left open the sochi with the pink carp upon it enter and there in my red lacquered cabinet she was quite choked up with her own words but the fox was already gone how she looked and waited for him to appear just fancy end of chapter 12 of picture of Joy Singh chapter 13 of Little Miss Joy Singh this is a LibriVox recording while LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Little Miss Joy Singh by John Luther Long chapter 13 he couldn't change both feet presently she saw coming up the hill her very self it was not her best kimono the green one she had that on though it had been somehow lost in the foliage of the pine tree but it was certainly a very pretty one of a shaded pink crepe with a gold brocaded obi and a very good length of sleeve and that was her own walk and her own smile and everything was herself except horror upon horror the kimono parted in walking her feet showed and they were the feet of a fox how do I look? asked the fox oh lovely you are quite me but but can't you change your feet too will miss Joy Singh no said the fox or else I could never change back again I must have something to start with I should never want to change back about it Joy Singh if I were such a pretty girl that is because you have never been a fox it is ten times the fun it is to be a girl besides you know you were such a girl this very one and you were not satisfied with yourself you did prefer to be a pine tree yes I Joy Singh irrelevantly please change your feet then I shall be in precisely the fix you are and I couldn't help you do you have anything else always keep a foot or a hand to start back with wouldn't one foot do well yes at the fox but it is the very last atom I dare let go still to show you how much I like you I will run the risk and change the other foot and keep but one to get back with he did this and they both laughed to see one of Joy Singh's dainty little feet beside one of his hairy claws but the doofs of it is lamented the fox that it makes me limp he showed her that he did and if I should have to run I could not run half as fast as I ought to get away from dogs and men and it will take me longer to change myself back besides I might put the wrong foot forward but you are certainly a very pretty girl and you have certainly been kind to me beside the sentimental fox you must know that the one creature who can see through all this drapery that I am nothing more nor less than a fox is sleeping under and happens to be my deadliest enemy he pointed to the dog and inside there the palace is a ambush who can in a moment if he makes his fingers this way he blows toward me through the diamond shape holes and says the proper words exercise me so that I will be nothing but a very fat fox running for my life moreover all this place is surrounded by water and you know that no fox can cross water without his shadow being thrown upon it when that happens all is up with a fox for whatever his form he can't throw any but the shadow of a fox and he is drowned by that quite as if the shadow were he foxes always cross streams at night and in the dark moon when he can throw no shadow now do you see all the danger I am going into for you yes so kitsuni sons sit joicing coaxingly but if I could run as fast as you oh well said the fox I'll do it because it is you I'm not afraid only fat please don't let the prince see the fox foot keep mine out all the time and it will be all right the prince said the fox dog yes answer joicing I thought maybe you would not mind telling the prince that you are me no left the fox not at all if I get past the dog I'll leave your card end of chapter 13 he couldn't change both feet chapter 14 of little miss joicing this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org little miss joicing by John Luther Long chapter 14 if she had only remained a little girl thereupon up to the door of the yashiki he stuck in there he clapped his hands or joicings hands which you must know is the way they knock in Japan and carefully hiding his fox foot called out the honorable miss joicing to the prince of don't care what honorable pardon Dane in fact he should have let his tail appear and have knocked with that for all foxes knock at doors with their tails and for this purpose they are furnished at the end of the handsome jewel indeed some of them have golden fur on their tails besides so very important to a fox is his tail but if he had shown his tail the dog which was quite near might have seen it and then it would have been all up with okatsuni son as it was the dog did not even growl besides he remembered it once that he was not himself but joicing who disturbs my slumber joicing could hear the prince roar this and she was terrified but not the fox he turned and changed his face to that of a fox for a moment and winked then he repeated his salutation in the moment the prince saw it was a pretty girl he bowed low and spoke softly the fox drew him with the most cunning conversation to the tree so that joicing might hear what he was saying and know what he was doing and his language was the finest and most courtly the girl had ever heard so that she sighed and said of course the prince could not understand the language of a pine tree oh if I had only remained a pretty girl and gone straight to his door and knocked if I ever get over this I shall know better and I shall tell all the other girls perhaps write a book about it if they want a prince it is much better to go straight to his door and ask for him and that the very last thing a girl ought to be is emotionless speechless timid pine tree oh yes a prince may admire a pine tree but what a proper girl wants is to be admired as a girl still the prince talked on and in grand eloquence of language the fox could not be outdone indeed wherever the prince had won adjective the fox had ten beautiful maidens said the prince presently most augustly lovely one I can no longer restrain my lips most miserable and then and there the prince offered joy sing in the person of the fox his beautiful palace himself a chest full of splendid kimono jeweled kansashi for her hair a mirror to see her face in paint to paint her cheeks in almost everything she had ever wished for in all her life and the fox quite as he had been truly her accepted them all with profound thanks then turned and winked at joy sing tell me then beg the prince the place of your abode so that I may at once ask your hand of your father but she did wish that she had remained a pretty little girl and had gone straight to the prince's door no less than her father had ever taught her was so powerful as this remember that the fox went to joy sing and of chapter 14 if she had only remained a little girl chapter 15 of Little Miss Joy Sing this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Little Miss Joy Sing by John Luther Long Chapter 15 Dogs but alas honorable master prince of a thousand courtesies I have a disgusting duty to perform now spoke the fox behold how your honorable and ancient tree dies it is possessed not by the august spirits of your renowned ancestors but by foxes and I cannot accept your august hand until you purge yourself of foxes and there is but one way to dispossess yourself and your tree of them and that is to cut it down the fox had got so far well to stop and think and to wink to joy sing again for as you will perceive he was doing very well indeed alas that was a fatal wink no wink has ever been more fatal Miss Joy Sing saw a look of the utmost horror come over the features of the prince he was looking at something on the ground he was on his knees you know she looked too the fox had exposed his claw foot as he turned his claw foot cast joy sing but it was too late it is true that the fox at once withdrew his own foot and put forth the very pretty one of joy sing trusting for a moment in its fascination but the prince had seen that ominous sign before the fox he cried and then in a loud voice I am possessed by foxes benzu Joe now benzu Joe was the priest out foxes and disenchant their enchantments and he happened to be in the doorway he had once uttered the words of exorcism locked his fingers in a diamond shaped pattern and blew through them toward the poor fox the fox in mortal terror forgot abandoned joy sing and started to run but the skirts of joy sing impeded him he raised them now there could be no doubt that he was a fox there was the claw foot and the girls foot one going twice as fast as the other the one constantly impeding the other and worse and worse at the tumult the dog woke up and at once knew the pretty girl for nothing but a fox he bade terribly that thing all dogs bade when they pursue a goblin fox get soonie by get soonie by and almost at once this awful signal traveled to every dog for miles around so that all the world seemed alive with the bang of that terrible get soonie by get soonie by and from far and near they gathered upon the trail of the poor fox oh the fox amathematized joy sing and all pretty girls in their skirts if I ever get out of this no silly girl shall get me into such a scrape again oh oh oh now he could hear the words of exorcism and even the priest was gaining on him the moment a fox hears the words he ceases to be a fox the dogs gained prodigiously of course no fox has ever been caught was he to be the first nirunichu midabutsu well the exorcism was too powerful for get soonie son and the dogs were now very close there before him was the stream he had crossed in the night when he came to tempt joy sing so that he would cast no shadow but it was broad daylight the sun shone and he could not evade his shadow he plunged on and then he came to the stream and there joy sing saw her own presentment vanish in the form of a fat fox at the same time the dogs closed in upon him and the words of the priest were distinctly audible and no one knows to this day just what happened whether the dogs finished the fox or whether the fox changed himself into a fish and dived under that water whether he was drowned by his own shadow or but what is the use of guessing no one knows the priest returned still repeating the words of the exorcism the dogs stopped banging and went to their homes and that is the last that joy sing ever saw of the fox who deceived her yet was kind to her at the last and perhaps because he ignoble fattened upon doves now the prince hated the tree not withstanding the priest assured him of complete exorcism he accused the soul abiding there of having be foxed him and then too he accused the tree of being dead since it was as bare as if it had never been green he remembered the suggestion of the fox and that he might be be fox no more he resolved to cut it down and so it came to pass that the very thing joy sing had wished and could not bring about with the help of Kitsuni-san had been brought about by the wicked fox in his own selfishness which has a very good moral if you please sir and madame end of chapter 15 dogs chapter 16 of little miss joy sing this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org little miss joy sing by John Luther Long but was there no tree, no prince? so came the prince one morning to atomitize the tree before cutting it down quite in the Japanese way miserable pine tree he said now I know you have not the soul of any ancestor of mine first some vast demon cast out the soul of my blessed ancestor and possessed you to the foxes then you befoxed me you reviled me I hate you you have not given me long life my beard is white I am sad and ugly yet I am not so very old you are a lie you have not given me happiness the reason is evident you do not have it yourself one cannot give what one does not one self possess I do not believe the priest you yourself wither are naked dying a horrible skeleton can a thing which is itself dying give life can a thing which is unhappy give happiness can a thing which is befoxed to else than befox in the multitude you are at me as I go by they say behold the prince of don't care what his beard is white he withers he dies it is the pine tree that gives long life and happiness it has lived 400 1000 years it has given long life and happiness to all his ancestors that was because they lived so as to deserve it but this prince does not but they do not know that you are befoxed nor that I am think shaka they never shall tomorrow morning you shall be cut off yes early in the morning when there is no one to see without habitation forever foxes, foxes of the air I shall see you run run to new habitations and all that night joy sing shivered and waited in the morning came the prince and his retinue once more there was sadness in his face and now she saw that it had been a long time and he had grown very old and ill looking his beard was long and thin and quite white just like the old prince as said then and he stooped and held to the arm of the gardener as he walked for now the gardener had a stalwart son and it was he who carried the shining axe so she knew that many years had passed she did not remember when nor how they had happened all those years but then it was all a matter of enchantment for a moment the prince stood and looked sadly upon the tree and for a moment joy sing was sorry for she remembered that he had accused her of his ruin and if she had not taken the place of the habitation of the soul of his kindly ancestor who can say that his life would not have been better and longer and happier had she little joy sing because of a foolish wish spoiled the life of a prince and destroyed the most renowned pine tree in the world she was very sorry for him but that did not bring back his youth or his happiness or save the tree or remove the spell of the foxes such as the curse of envy the prince bowed his head and all his retinue did the same then he prayed once more not the angry prayer but one of pity and mercy he begged all the Japanese gods to pardon and be merciful to the evil soul which had dispossessed that of his ancestor then yielded it to the foxes which had destroyed his tree his life taken all his joy and to the soul itself he wished a longer and better life than his a better habitation and forgave it entirely for he said that with the tree he too must die there had always been a prophecy to the effect that with the death of the tree his blind should perish but he had no mercy for the foxes and he was ready so sahanara all while joicing was possessed with horror for the ruin she had wrought at the last word of the prince the stalwart young gardener sunk his axe into the tree and joicing shrieked and found herself in the arms of her father I must be old old and have missed so much let me have my mirror shh miserable my daughter why have you been so troubled troubled sob joicing oh I will never wish again to leave you leave me oh I have been gone for years and years and I have ruined destroyed everything there's not a dove in the whole world the prince was quite young when I went yesterday he was so old so old so old and sad hopeless such as the curse of envy she shivered let me have my little mirror her father brought it why I am not old I am not much older than when I went away you have not been away said her father what was there no pine tree no bug no owl no dove no creatures no gardener no axe no fox no prince bacon said to her father and your breakfast rice is hot if you do not understand precisely what had happened to joicing you have to return and read the beginning of chapter third as a penalty for careless reading and she put her arms around her father's neck and cried upon him and after that envy departed from joicing forever the end of chapter 16 was there no tree no prince and a little misjoicing by John Luther Long