 Chapter 11 of the Animal Storybook This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Elaine Conway, England. The Animal Storybook, edited by Andrew Lang. Chapter 11 Stories About Bears Baron de Vogan, a French gentleman, whose adventures with snakes are also curious, was the hero of some encounters with a grizzly bear of North America. First, I would have you understand what sort of a creature he had for an opponent. Imagine a monster measuring when, standing upright 8 or 9 feet, weighing 900 pounds, of a most terrifying appearance and agility and strength surpassing all other animals, and cruel in proportion, like his cousin the brown bear, whom he resembles in shape. He is a hermit, and lives alone in the immense trackless forests, which cover to the rocky mountains, and indeed, at least in olden times, the greater part of North America. During the day he sleeps in the depths of some mountain coven, and wakes up at dusk to go out in search of prey. All the beasts of the forest live in terror of him, even the white bear flies before him. He would go down to the valleys and attack the immense hurts of buffaloes, which grazed there, and which were powerless against him, in spite of their numbers and their great horns. They join themselves closely together and form one compact rank, but the grizzly bear hurls himself at them, breaks their ranks, scatters them, and then, pursuing them, till he catches them up, flings himself on the back of one, hugs it in his iron embrace, breaks its skull with his teeth, and so goes slaying right and left before he eats one, before the barrens first, so to say, hand to hand, encounter with a grizzly. He had been wrong enough in the country to know something of their ways, and how worse than useless the shot is, and less in a fatal spot. After the return to her tribe of Kallua, a young Indian girl who had been his one human, companion in many days of wandering, the barren was left with only his yule, caddy, for friend and companion, and to naturally felt very lonely. He set his heart on getting to the top of the Rocky Mountains, at the foot of which he then happened to be. Their glittering summits had so irresistible an attraction for him, that he did not stay to consider the difficulties, which soon beset him at every step. No sooner did he conquer one than another arose, added to which the cold of these high regions was immense, and it constantly snowed. After three days, he had to declare himself not only beaten, but so worn out that he must take a week's rest if he did not want to fall ill. First it was necessary to have some sort of a shelter, and by great good luck he found just a tanned cavern in the rock, which without being exactly a palace, seemed as if it would answer his purpose. Upon closer examination, he found that it had more drawbacks than he cared about. All round were scattered gnawed bones of animals, and the prince of bears his claws on the ground, left no doubt as to who the lost inmate had been. The barren, however, preferred to risk an invasion, rather than seek another abode, and prepared for probable inroads by making, across the entrance to the cave, a barricade of branches, of oak tied together with a flax, a quantity of which go near. He then lit a good fire inside the cave, but as the last tenant had not considered a chimney necessary, the dense smoke soon obliged him to beat a hasty retreat. Besides, he had to go out to get supplies for his larder, at present as bear as mother-hubbits. With his usual good luck the barren found, first a large salmon flopping wildly, in its effort to get out of a pool, where the fallen river had left it. Thus he killed, and next shot a young deer about a mile away, and carried it to camp on his back. In order to preserve these eatables, he salted some of them with salt, that he had previously found in a lake near, and had carefully preserved for future use. He then dug a hole in a corner of the cave, putting a thick layer of dry hay at the bottom, and buried his provisions, Indian fashion, in order to preserve them. As it was still only twelve o'clock, the barren thought he would spend the rest of the day in exploring the neighborhood. First he summoned the cave, which he found to be formed of big blocks of rock, firmly joined together. Above the cave rose the cliff, and in front of it grew a fir tree, which served at the same time to defend the entrance, and as a ladder to enable him to mount the cliff. As he could not take Caddy with him, he fastened him to the fir tree by his altar, and girth joined together, so as to leave him plenty of room to grace. Then he put some eatables in his game bag, and set off on a tour of Discovery. When he had walked about three hours, and had reached a rocky point from which he had a fine view of the surrounding country, he sat down to rest under an oak tree. He knew nothing more till the cold awoke him. It was now six o'clock, and he had slept three hours. He started with all the haste he could to get back to his cave, and Caddy before dark, but so tired and foot sore was he that he was obliged to give in and camp where he was. The night was coming on fast. It was bitterly cold, and snow fell constantly, so he lit a large fire, which at the same time warmed him, and kept away the bears, whom he heard wandering around the camp most of the night. As soon as the sun was up in the morning, he set off with all his speed to see what had become of Caddy. But though fifteen miles is not much to bears bought of their prey, it is much to a weary and foot sore man. And when he had hobbled to within half a mile of the camp, he saw that it was too late. The bears, whom he had driven away from his camp in the night, with firebrands, had scented poor Caddy, and four of them were now devouring him, father, mother, and two cubs. Imagine his rage and grief at seeing his only friend and companion devoured piecemeal before his very eyes. His first impulse was to fire, but he reflected in time that there were four to one, and that instead of avenging Caddy, he would only share his fate. He decided to wait on a high rock till the meal was ended. It lasted an hour, and then he saw the whole family set off to climb the mountain, the top of which he had been watching them. They seemed to be making straight for him, and as it would be certain death to sit, and wait for them. He slipped into a cranny in the rock, hoping that he might not be perceived, even if he was, he would only be attacked by one at a time. He had not long to wait, soon all four bears passed in single file, without smiling him or being aware of him. For this he had to thank poor Caddy, their horrid snouts and jewels being smeared with his blood, prevented their sending fresh prey. When he had seen them at a safe distance, he ventured to go down to the cave, he could no longer call his own. Of Caddy nothing remained but his head, still fastened to the tree by his altar. The barricade was gone too, and from the cave came low but unmistakable growls. With one bound the barren was up the tree, and from the tree on to the cliff. From there he threw stones down before the entrance to the cave, to induce the present inmate to come out, in order that he might take possession again. The bear soon came out, and perceiving him, made for the fir tree. By its slow and languid movements, the barren saw that it was curiosity, all the anger that prompted it, and moreover it was evidently a very old bear, probably a grandfather. His children and grandchildren had been to pay a visit. Curiosity or not, the barren had no wish to make a closer acquaintance, and fired a shot at the brute by way of a hint to that effect. This immediately turned his curiosity into wrath. Seizing the fir tree, which he was going to use as a ladder, he began to climb up. A second shot hit him in the shoulder. He fell, mortally wounded, but even off to a third shot, which took him in the flank. His dying struggles lasted 20 minutes, during which he tore out the roots of the fir trees with his terrific claws. The barren did not care to waste any of his bullets, nagging scarce, and putting out of his pain one of Katty's murderers. When finally the bear was dead, the barren came down to take possession of his cave, and at the same time of the bear's skin. Unpenetrated into the cave, he found that the rascal had paid him out in his own coin, and in revenge for the barren taking his cave had eaten his provisions. The barren was quits in the end. However, as the bear's carcass furnished him meat enough for several days, the barren cut off pounds of steak, which he salted and dried over the fire. The useless remains he threw over the nearest precipice, so that they should not attract wild beasts. To keep them awake all night with their cries. Then, having made a huge fire in front of the entrance, which moreover he barricaded with branches, he threw himself on his bed of dry leaves to sleep, the sleep of exhaustion. Some time passed before the barren's next encounter with the bear. He was camping one night in a dense forest, sleeping as usual, with one eye and one ear open, and his weapon at hand already loaded. His rest was broken by the usual nightly sounds of the forest. Of leaves crunched and branches broken, showing that many of the inmates of the woods were a stir. But he did not let these usual sounds disturb him, till he heard in the distance the horse and unmistakable cry of the bear. Then he thought it time to change the shot in his gun, for some think more worthy of such a foe. This preparation made, he set off at dawn on his day's march, which out to midday let him along the bank of a large river. He thought no more of the blood-curdling howls of the night, till suddenly he heard from a distance terror-stricken cries. He put his ear to the ground, Indian fashion, to listen better, and as the danger, whatever it was, seemed to be coming nearer, he jumped into a thicket of wild cherry and willow trees, and waited there in ambush, gun in hand, in a few minutes a band of Indians, with their squalls appeared on the opposite bank of the river, and straight away leaped into the water, like so many frogs jumping into an undisturbed swamp. At first he thought he was being attacked, but soon saw it was the Indians who were being pursued, and that they all, men and women, were swimming for dear life. Moreover the women were laden with their children, one and sometimes two, being strapped to their backs in a sort of cradle of birch bark. This additional weight made them swim slower than the men, who soon reached the opposite shore, and then took to their heels, how to scout her, except three, who remained behind to encourage the women. The baron at first thought it was an attack of other Indians, and that it would be prudent to beat a retreat, when suddenly the same terrible cry that had kept him awake in the latter part of the night resounded through the forest, and at the same time there appeared on a high bank, on the other shore a huge mass of a dirty grey colour, which held itself downhill, plunged into the river, and began to swim across at a terrific speed. It was a grisly bear of tremendous size, so fast did it swim, that in no time it had nearly caught up at the last of the schools, a young woman with twin babies at her back, whose cries, often interrupted by the water getting into their mouths, would have melted the heart of a stone. The three Indians who had remained on the bank, did their utmost to stop the bear by shooting their poisoned arrows at it, but the distance was too great, and the huge animal came on so fast, that in another minute mother and child would be lost. The baron could not remain a spectator of so terrible a scene. He came out of the thicket, where he was hidden, and frightened the Indians, almost as much as if he had been another bear. Resting his gun on the trunk of a tree, he fired at the distance of 125 yards, and hit the animal right on the head. It dived several times, and the water all round was dyed red with blood, but the wound was not mortal, and it continued on its way, only more slowly. After urging the Indian, who seemed to be the unhappy woman's husband, to go into the water to help her, for through terror and fatigue, she could no longer swim. The baron took deliberate aim again, and fired. The second shot, like the first, hit the bear on the head, but again without killing it. It stopped the brute, however, long enough to let the poor woman get to shore, where she fainted, and was carried away by the men to the forest, leaving the baron and the bear to fight out their duel alone. The baron had barely time to reload, and climbed to the top of one of the trees, when the bear was already at the foot of it. Sonia was he when he stood upright, that the baron could feel his horrid breath. Up to then, the baron thought that all bears could climb like squirrels. Fortunately for him, he was mistaken. Expecting to be taken by storm, he fired straight in the creature's face. The two balls took a different course. One went through the duel, and came out by the neck. The other went into the chest. The bear uttered a terrific roar, stiffened itself in a last effort to reach him, and fell heavily on its back, at the foot of the tree. The baron might have thought him dead, had he not already seen such wonderful resurrections on the part of bears. But the four shots, though at first they dazed and troubled the beast, seemed afterwards to act as spurs, and he rose furious, and returned to the charge. The baron tried to use his revolver, but finding it impossible, he drew out his axe from his belt, and out a violent blow at the bear's head, which nearly split it in two, and sent the blood splashing in all directions. The bear again fell to the ground, this time to rise no more. The baron, being now convinced that the grizzly bear is no tree climber, took his time to draw out his revolver to take aim and fire. The shot put out one of the bears' eyes. The axe had already taken out the other. This finished him, but his death struggles lasted 20 minutes, during which the tree was nearly uprooted. When all was at an end, the baron came down. He cut off the formidable claws, and broke off the teeth with an axe to take a trophy, in imitation of the Indians, and then proceeded to skin him and cut him up. The Indians, who had been watching the combat at a safe distance, now came back enthusiastic. They surrounded them, the victor and the vanquished, and danced a war dance, singing impromptu words. The baron, seated on the bear's carcass, joined in the chorus, but the Indians, not content with that, insisted on his joining in the dance as well. The rejoicing over, the baron divided among the 20 Indians the flesh of the bear, about 15 pound or 20 pound, fell to each, the skin he kept to himself, and the claws of which the Indians made him a warrior's necklace, hanging it round his neck, like an order of knighthood. End of chapter 11. Section 12 of the Animal Storybook. This is a Libovolts recording, or Libovolts recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libovolts.org. Recording by Elaine Conway, England. The Animal Storybook, edited by Andrew Lang. Chapter 12 Stories About Ants by Mrs. Lang. If anyone will watch an ant hill on a fine day in April, he will see the little inhabitants begin to rise in sails from their winter's sleep, glasks, from the month of October, with a red ant at all events. Groups of them come out to the top of the ant hill to warm and thaw themselves in the rays of the sun. Some, more active and robust, run in and out, waking up the lazy, hurrying the laggards, and rising all the little community to begin their summer habits. But this activity does not last long. They are as yet only half awake, and still numb and torpid from the winter's cold, and the little throng increases or diminishes as the sun shines or disappears behind a cloud. As two, half past two, and three o'clock arrive, they have nearly all disappeared inside the ant heap, leaving only a few warriors of a larger make, and tried courage to watch over the well-being of the Little Republic, and to close up all openings with tiny chips of wood, dry leaves, and shreds of moss, so as to hide the entrances from human eye. Two or three sentinels wander round to see that all is secure, and then they enter, and all is still. If we come back again in about a week, we shall find the ants in the middle of their regular migration to the summer quarters, not far from their winter ones. This takes place with the Red Ant at all events, with great regularity every April and October. The Red Ant is beyond doubt a slave owner. The slaves may be easily recognized from their masters by being of a smaller make and light yellow color. As soon as the masters have fixed the day of their flitting, they begin properly to ensure the consent of the slaves by violently seeking them and rolling them into a ball, and then grasping them firmly, they're set off towards the summer quarters at full gallop. If an ant can be set to gallop, the masked ant is in a great hurry to get rid of his living burden. He goes straight ahead in spite of all obstacles, avoiding all interruptions and delays, and as soon as he arrives at the summer ant heap, plunges in, deposits the slave all breathless and terrified from his forced journey, and sets off back for another. Darwin, who closely studied the migrations of the ant, says that they differ in their means of transport. One sort is carried by the slaves, the other are friend the Red Ant, scientifically called Formica sanguini, carries his property carefully in his mouth. It seems strange to us that the master should carry the slave, but no stranger than it would appear to the ants if they should begin to study our habits, that some of us should sit in a carriage and be driven by the coachman. The slave, once installed in his summer quarters, seldom appears again before the autumn exodus, unless in the event of some disturbance in the camp or its invasion by some ants of a hostile tribe, where the slaves take part in the defense and especially watch over the young ones, the slaves seem to be carpenters and miners and warriors when necessary, they build the dwelling, repair it, of which it has constant need, and defend it in case of attack with dauntless courage, badge their principal duties seem to be to take charge of the development of the young and to feed the masters, no small task, as there seem to be ten masters to one slave, and they seem incapable of eating unless fed. Experiments have been tried of removing the slaves from them, and though sugar and every sort of tempting food is put down beside them, they will starve rather than help themselves. In fact one wonders what the masters can be left for, but to drive for slaves, which they do with great ardour. A French gentleman who spent years studying the habits of the ants tried one day by way of experiment to take a slave away from its master, he had great difficulty in removing it from its bearer, who struggled furiously and clung to its burden. When at last the slave was set free, instead of profiting from its liberty, it turned round and round in a circle as if dazed, then hid itself under a dead leaf, a master ant presently came along, an animated conversation took place, and the slave ant was seized upon and borne off again to bondage. The same gentleman another day observed a slave ant venture out to the entrance to the ant hill to enjoy the warmth of the sun. A great master ant spied it and set to with blows of its horns and ten eye, they are called, to persuade it that that was not its place. Finding the slave persisted in not understanding. The master resorted to a force and seizing it by its head without taking the trouble to roll it up as they are generally carried. He held it into the ant hill where no doubt it received the punishment he deserved. If we came back to the ant heap a week after our last visit we should find the migration finished if the weather has been fine, but ants especially after their first awaking are extremely sensitive to wind and rain and only work well in fine weather. They are equally affected by weather before a storm. Even though the sun may be shining they will remain in the ant heap with closed doors. If it is shut before midday the storm will burst before evening. If it is shut before eight or nine in the morning the rain will fall before noon. All this time we have been speaking only of the red ant but there are any number of different kinds in Europe not to mention the enormous ants of the tropics who march into such armies that the people fly before them deserting their villages. Different species differ totally in their habits and ways of building ant living. The greater number of species live apart and not in a community with an elaborately constructed house like the red ant. The little black ant is the communist in this country and the busiest and most active. She is the first to awake in March sometimes in February and the last to sleep sometimes not till November. Their instincts and habits of activity however are apt to deceive them and they get up too soon. The French gentleman already mentioned observed an instance of the kind on February the 24th after an unusually mild winter the sun shone as if it were already summer and it was difficult to persuade oneself that it was not except that there were no leaves on the trees no birds singing in the branches and no insects humming in the air. First our friend went to examine the red ant heap which was closed as usual or the inhabitants being still planned in their winter sleep. The black ants on the contrary were all awake and lively and seemed persuaded that the fine weather had come to stay. Their instincts deceived them for that night it froze. Rain, snow and fog succeeded each other in turn and when next he visited the ant heap he found them lying in masses stiff and dead before the entrance to their dwelling. Between the red and black ants there is great enmity and terrible combats take place. When they fight they grasp each other like men wrestling and each tries to throw the other down and break his back. The conquered remain on the battlefield nearly broken into and feebly waving their paws till they slowly expire in agonies. The conqueror on the other hand carries away his dead burial and is wounded to the camp and then entering triumphantly himself closes the doors after him. The gentleman already quoted witness to the funeral of an ant. He had passed the ant heap about a quarter an hour and left as he thought all the inhabitants behind him when he saw what appeared to be an enormous red ant making for home on stooping to look more closely he saw that it was one ant carrying another he succeeded in separating them from each other and then saw that the burden was neither a slave nor a prisoner but a dead comrade being carried back to the ant heap for a decent burial for if ants fall into the hands of the enemy they are subjected if alive to the most cruel tortures and if dead to mutilations usually when an ant is relieved of anything it is carrying whether it be a slave a wounded ant or some eatable it will set off at full speed and let the burden be picked up by the next passing ant but this one made no attempt to run away and only turned round and round in a perplexed and irresolute way till his third friend was put down beside it then it seized its precious burden and set off homewards with it travelers even tell that in Algeria there are ant cemeteries near the ant heaps no lover of animals doubts that they have a language of their own which we are too stupid or deaf to understand anyone who studies the ways of the ant sees beyond a doubt that they too have a way of communicating with each other for instance an ant was one day seen at some distance from the ant hill and evidently no hurry to go back to it in the middle of the path she perceived a large dead snail she began by going round and round it then climbed on its back and walked all over it having satisfied herself that it was a choice morsel but too large for her to carry home alone she set off at once to seek help on the way she met one of her companions she ran at once to her they rubbed their antennae together and evidently an animated conversation took place for the second ant set off immediately in the direction of the snail the first one continued on her way home communicating with every ant she met in the same way by the time she disappeared inside the ant heap an endless file of busy little ants were on the way to take their share of the spool in ten minutes the snail was completely covered by the little throng and by the evening every trace of it had vanished recent observations have proved that the time-honored idea of the ants storing up provision for the winter is a delusion a delusion which La Fontaine's is famous fable Le formi e la sigale has done much to spread and confirm which is now known as we have already seen that ants sleep all winter and that's the food which we constantly see them laden with is for immediate consumption in the camp they eat all kinds of insects hornets and cockchafers are favourite dishes but the choicest morsel is a fine fat green caterpillar caught alive it sees it some by its head some by its tail it struggles it writhes and sometimes succeeds in freeing itself from its enemies but they do not consider themselves beaten and attack it again little by little it becomes stupefied from the destratus of formic acid the ants throw out from their bodies and presently it succumbs to their renewed forces finally though the struggle may last an hour more it is born to the ant heap and disappears to be devoured by the inmates perhaps these short stories about ants may induce some of you to follow the advice of the preacher and go to the ant yourselves for more end of chapter 12 section 13 of the animal story book this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the animal story book edited by Andrew Lang The Teaming of an Otter from Bingley's British Quadrupeds Otters use ones to be very common in England in the neighbourhood of rivers and even in some instances of the sea but in many places where they once lived in great numbers they have now ceased to exist they destroy large quantities of fish though they are so dainty that they only care for the upper parts of the body if the rivers are frozen and no fish are to be had they will eat poultry or even lambs and if these are not to be found they can get on quite well for a long time on the bark of trees or in young branches fierce though otters are when brought to bay they can easily be teamed if they are cut young enough more than a hundred years ago the monks of Otton in France found a baby otter only a few weeks old and took it back to the convent and fed it upon milk for nearly two months when it was promoted to soup and fish and vegetables the food of the good monks it was not very sociable with strange animals but it made great friends with a dog and cat who had it known from a baby and they would play together half the day at night it had a bed in one of the rooms but in the day it always preferred a heap of straw when it was tired of running about curious to say the otter was not at all fond of the water and it was very seldom that it would go near a basin of water that was always carefully left near its bed when it did it was only to wash its face in front paws after which it would go for a run in the courtyard or curl itself to sleep in the sun indeed it seemed to have such an objection to water of all kinds that the monks wondered whether it knew how to swim so one day when they were not so busy as usual some of the brothers took it off to a good size pond and waited to see what it would do the otter smelt about cautiously for a little and then recognising that here was something it had seen before it ducked its head and wetted its feet as it did in the mornings this did not satisfy the monks who threw it right in upon which it instantly swam to the other shore and came round again to its friends all tame otters are not however as forgetful of the habits and manners of their race as this one was and in some parts they have even been taught to fish for their masters instead of themselves careful directions are given for their proper teaching and a great deal of patience is needful because if an animal is once frightened or made angry there's not much hope of training it afterwards to begin with it must be fed while it is very young on milk or soup and when it gets older on bread and the heads of fishes and it must get its food from one person only to whom it will soon get accustomed and attached the next step is to have a sort of leather bag made stuffed with wool and shaped like a fish large enough for the animal to take into mouth finally he must wear a collar formed on the principle of a slip-ness which can tighten when a long string that is fastened to it is pulled this is of course to teach the otter to drop the fish after he has caught it the master then leads the otter slowly behind him till by this means he has learned how to follow and then he has to be made to understand the meanings of certain words and tones so the man says to him come here and pulls the cord after this has been repeated several times the otter gradually begins to connect the words with the action then the string is dropped and the otter trots up obediently without it after that the sham fish is placed on the ground and the collar which seems rather like a horse's bit is pulled so as to force the mouse open while the master exclaims take it and when the otter is quite perfect in this which most likely will not happen for a long time the collar is loosened and he is told to drop it last of all he is led down to a river with a clear shallow water where a small dead fish is thrown in this he catches it once and then the cord which has been fastened to his neck is gently pulled and he gives up his price to his master then life fish are put in instead of the dead one and when they are killed the otter is given the heads as a reward of course some masters have a special talent for teaching these things and some otters are specially at pupils this must have been the case with the otter belonging to a Mr Campbell who lived near Inverness it would sometimes catch eight or ten salmon in a day and never attempted to eat them while a man in Sweden called Nisen and his family lived entirely on the fish that was caught for them by their otter when he is in his wild state the otter lives in holes in the rocks or among the roots of trees though occasionally he has been known to burrow underground having his door in the water and only a very tiny window opening landlords so they may not die of suffocation end of section 13 section 14 of the animal storybook this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rebecca Zimmerman the animal storybook edited by Andrew Lang chapter 14 the story of Andrew Cleese and the Lion by Miss Eleanor Seller many hundred years ago there lived in the north of Africa a poor Roman slave called Andrew Cleese his master held great power and authority in the country but he was a hard cruel man and his slaves led a very unhappy life they had little to eat had to work hard and were often punished and tortured if they failed to satisfy their master's caprices for long Andrew Cleese had born with the hardships of his life but at last he could bear it no longer and he made up his mind to run away he knew that it was a great risk for he had no friends in that foreign country with whom he could seek safety and protection and he was aware that if he was overtaken and caught he would be put to a cruel death but even death he thought would not be so hard as the life he now led and it was possible that he might escape to the sea coast and somehow someday get back to Rome and find a kinder master so he waited till the old moon had waned to a tiny gold thread in the skies and then one dark night he slipped out of his master's house and creeping through the deserted forum and along the silent town he passed out of the city into the vineyards and the cornfields lying outside of the walls in the cool night air he walked rapidly from time to time he was startled by the sudden barking of a dog or the sound of voices coming from some late revelers in the villas which stood besides the road along which he hurried but as he got further into the country these sounds ceased and there was silence and darkness all round him when the sun rose he had already gone many miles away from the town in which he had been so miserable but now a new terror oppressed him the terror of great loneliness he had gone into a wild barren country and there were no signs of human habitation a thick growth of low trees and thorny mimosa bushes spread out before him and as he tried to thread his way through them he was severely scratched and his scant garments torn by the long thorns besides the sun was very hot and the trees were not high enough to afford him any shade he was worn out with hunger and fatigue and he longed to lie down and rest but to lie down in that fierce sun would have meant death and he struggled on hoping to find some wild berries to eat and some water to quench his thirst but when he came out of the scrubwood he found he was as badly off as before a long low line of rocky cliffs rose before him but there were no houses and he saw no hope of finding food he was so tired that he could not wander further and seeing a cave which looked cool and dark in the side of the cliffs he crept into it and stretching his tired limbs on the sandy floor fell fast asleep suddenly he was awakened by a noise that made his blood turn cold the roar of a wild beast sounded in his ears and as he started trembling and in terror to his feet he beheld a huge tawny lion with great glistening white teeth standing in the entrance of the cave it was impossible to fly for the lion bared the way and movable with fear intricately stood rooted to the spot waiting for the lion to spring on him and tear him limb from limb but the lion did not move making a low moan as if in great pain it stood licking its huge paw from which Andrew Cleese now saw that blood was flowing freely seeing the poor animal in such pain and noticing how gentle it seemed Andrew Cleese forgot his own terror and slowly approached the lion who held up its paw as if asking the man to help it then Andrew Cleese saw that a monster thorn had entered the paw making a deep cut and causing great pain and swelling swiftly but firmly he drew the thorn out and pressed the swelling to try to stop the flowing of the blood relief from the pain that lion quietly laid down at Andrew Cleese feet slowly moving his great bushy tail from side to side as a dog does when it feels happy and comfortable from that moment Andrew Cleese and the lion became devoted friends after lying for a little while at his feet licking the poor wounded paw the lion got up and limped out of the cave a few minutes later it returned with a little dead rabbit in its mouth which it put down on the floor of the cave besides Andrew Cleese the poor man who was starving with hunger cooked the rabbit somehow and ate it in the evening led by the lion he found a place where there was a spring at which he quenched his dreadful thirst and so for three years Andrew Cleese and the lion lived together in the cave wandering about the woods together by day sleeping together at night for in summer the cave was cooler than the woods and in winter it was warmer at last the longing in Andrew Cleese's heart to live once more with his fellow man became so great that he felt he could remain in the woods no longer but that he must return to a town and take his chance of being caught and killed as a runaway slave and so one morning he left the cave and wandered away in the direction where he thought the sea and the large towns lay but in a few days he was captured by a band of soldiers who were patrolling the country in search of fugitive slaves and he was put in chains and sent as a prisoner to Rome here he was cast into prison and tried for the crime of having run away from his master he was condemned as a punishment to be torn to pieces by wild beasts on the first public holiday in the great circus at Rome when the day arrived Andrew Cleese was brought out of his prison dressed in a simple short tunic and with a scarf around his right arm he was given a lance with which to defend himself a forlorn hope as he knew that he had to fight with a powerful lion which had been kept without food for some days to make it more savage and bloodthirsty as he stepped into the arena of the huge circus above the sound of the voices of thousands on thousands of spectators he could hear the savage roar of the wild beast from their cages below the floor on which he stood all of a sudden the silence of expectation fell on the spectators for signal had been given and the cage containing the lion with which Andrew Cleese had to fight had been shot up into the arena from the floor below a moment later with a fierce spring and a savage roar the great animal had sprung out of its cage into the arena and with a bound had rushed at the spot where Andrew Cleese stood trembling but suddenly as he saw Andrew Cleese the lion stood still wondering then quickly but quietly it approached him and gently moved its tail and licked the man's hands and fond upon him like a great dog and Andrew Cleese padded the lion's head and gave a sob of recognition for he knew that it was his own lion with whom he had lived and lodged all those months and years and seeing this strange and wonderful meeting between the man and the wild beast all the people marveled and the emperor from his high seat above the arena sent for Andrew Cleese and made him tell a story and explain this mystery and the emperor was so delighted with the story that he said Andrew Cleese was to be released and to be made a free man from that hour and he rewarded him with money and ordered that the lion was to belong to him and to accompany him wherever he went and when the people in Rome met Andrew Cleese walking followed by his faithful lion they used to point at them and say that is the lion the guest of the man and that is the man the doctor of the lion end of section 14 recording by Rebecca Zimmerman section 15 of the animal story book edited by Andrew Lang this is a lee revox recording all lee revox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit lee revox.org recording by Matt Bishop the animal story book edited by Andrew Lang Michel Dumas and his beasts chapters one through three by mrs. Lang chapter one most people have heard of alexander dumas the great french novelist who wrote the three musketeers and many other delightful historical romances besides being a great novelist M. Dumas was a most kind and generous man kind both to human beings and animals he had a great many pets of which he gives us the history in one of his books here are some of the stories about them in his own words i was living he says at Monte Cristo this was the name of his villa at saint germans i live there alone except for the visitors i received i love solitude for solitude is necessary to anyone who works much however i do not like complete loneliness what i love is that of the garden of eden a solitude peopled with animals therefore in my wilderness at Monte Cristo without being quite like adam in every way i had a kind of small earthly paradise this is the list of my animals i had a number of dogs of which the chief was pritchard i had a vulture named deo genus three monkeys of which bore the name of a celebrated translator another of a famous novelist and the third which was a female bad of a charming actress we will call the writer potish the novelist of the last of the late menos and the lady mademoiselle de gossens i had a great blue and yellow macaw named buval and the green and yellow periquette named papa evarde a cat named mesuf a golden pheasant called luckulous and finally a cock called a caesar let us give honor where honor is due and begin with the history of pritchard i had an acquaintance named em laurat who having heard me say i had no dog to take out shooting said ah how glad i am to be able to give you something you really like a friend of mine who lives in scotland sent me a pointer of the very best breed i will give him to you bring pritchard he added to his two little girls how could i refuse a present offered so cordially pritchard was brought in he was an odd looking dog to be called a pointer he was a long haired gray and white with ears nearly erect mustard colored eyes and a beautifully feathered tail except for the tail he could scarcely be called a handsome dog em laurat seemed even more delighted to give the present than i was to receive it which showed what a good heart he had the children called the dog pritchard he said but if you don't like the name call him what you please i had no objection to the name my opinion was that if anyone had caused to complain it was a dog himself pritchard therefore continued to be called pritchard he was at this time about nine or ten months old and ought to begin his education so i sent him to a gatekeeper named veteran to learn his duties but two hours after i had sent pritchard to veteran he was back again at my house he was not made welcome on the contrary he received a good beating from michelle who was my gardener porter butler and confidential servant all in one and who took pritchard back to veteran veteran was astonished pritchard had been shut up with the other dogs in the kennel and he must have jumped over the enclosure which was a high one early the next morning when the house made had opened my front door there was pritchard sitting outside michelle again beat the dog and again took him back to veteran who this time put a collar around his neck and chained him up michelle came back and informed me of the severe but necessary measure veteran sent a message to say that i should not see pritchard again until his education was finished the next day while i was writing in a little summer house in my garden i heard a furious barking it was pritchard fighting with a great perinean sheep dog which another of my friends had just given me this dog was named mooton because of his white woolly hair like a sheep's not on account of his disposition which was remarkably savage pritchard was rescued by michelle from mootons enormous jaws once more beaten and for the third time taken back to veteran pritchard it appears had eaten his collar though how he managed it veteran never knew he was now shut up in a shed and unless he ate the walls of the door he could not possibly get out he tried both and finding the door more digestible he ate the door and the next day at dinnertime pritchard walked into the dining room wagging his plumy tail his yellow eyes shining with satisfaction this time pritchard was neither beaten nor taken back we waited till veteran should come to hold the council of war as what should be done with him the next day veteran appeared did you ever see such a rascal he began veteran was so excited that he had forgotten to say good morning or how do you do i tell you he said that rascal pritchard puts me in such a rage that i have crunched the stem of my pipe three times between my teeth and broken it and my wife has had to tie it up with string he'll ruin me in pipes that brute that vagabond pritchard do you hear what is said about you said i pritchard heard but perhaps did not think it mattered much about veterans pipes for he only looked at me affectionately and beat upon the ground with his tail i don't know what to do with him said veteran if i keep him he'll eat holes in the house i suppose yet i don't like to give him up he's only a dog it's humiliating for a man don't you know i'll tell you what veteran said i we will take him down to vezenay and go for a walk through your preserves and then we will see whether it is worthwhile to take any more trouble with this vagabond as you call him i call him by his name it ought and be pritchard it should be blue beard it should be plunder bore it should be Judas is scare yet veteran enumerated all the greatest villains he could think of at the moment i called michelle michelle give me my shooting shoes and gators we will go to vezenay to see what pritchard can do you will see sir said michelle that you'd be better pleased than you think for michelle always had a liking for pritchard we went down a steep hill to vezenay michelle followed with pritchard on a leash at the steepest place i turned round looked there upon the bridge in front of us michelle i said there is a dog very like pritchard michelle looked behind him there was nothing but the leather straps in his hand pritchard had cut it through with his teeth and was now standing on the bridge amusing himself by looking at the water through the railing he is a vagabond said veteran look where is he off to now he has gone said i to see what my neighbor corage has for luncheon sure enough the next moment pritchard was seen coming out of m corage's back door pursued by a maid's servant with her broom he had a veal cutlet in his mouth which he had just taken out of the frying pan missio dumas cried the maid missio dumas stop your dog we tried but pritchard passed between michelle and me like a flash of lightning it seems said michelle that he likes his veal underdone my good woman i said to the cook who was still pursuing pritchard i fear that you are losing time and that you will never see your cutlet again well then let me tell you sir that you have no right to keep and feed a thief like that it is you my good woman who are feeding him today not i me said the cook it's it's m corage and what will m corage say i should like to know he will say like michelle that it seems pritchard likes his veal underdone well but he'll not be pleased he will think it's my fault never mind i will invite your master to luncheon with me all the same if your dog goes on like that he will come to a bad end that is all i have to say he will come to a bad end and she stretched out her broom in an attitude of melodiction towards the spot where pritchard had disappeared we three stood looking at one another well said i we have lost pritchard we'll soon find him said michelle we therefore set off to find pritchard whistling and calling to him as we walked on towards veterans shooting ground this search lasted for a good half hour pritchard not taking the slightest notice of our appeals at last michelle stopped sir he said look there just come look well what said i going to him look said michelle pointing i followed the direction of michelle's finger and saw pritchard in a perfectly immovable attitude as rigid as if carved in stone veteran said i come here veteran came i showed him pritchard i think he is making a point said veteran michelle thought so too but what is he pointing at i asked we cautiously came nearer to pritchard who never stirred he certainly is pointing said veteran then making a sign to me look there he said do you see anything nothing what you don't see a rabbit sitting if only i had my stick i'd knock it on the head and it would make a nice stew for your dinner oh said michelle if that's all i'll cut you a stick well but pritchard might leave off pointing no fear of him i'll answer for him unless indeed the rabbit goes away veteran proceeded to cut a stick pritchard never moved only from time to time he turned his yellow eyes upon us which shone like a topaz have patience said michelle can't you see that m veteran is cutting a stick and pritchard seemed to understand as he turned his eye on veteran you have still time to take off the branches said michelle when the branches were taken off and the stick was quite finished veteran approached cautiously took a good aim and struck with all his might into the middle of the tuft of grass where the rabbit was sitting he had killed it pritchard darted in upon the rabbit but veteran took it from him and michelle slipped it into the lining of his coat this pocket had already held a good many rabbits in its time a veteran turned to congratulate pritchard but he had disappeared he's off to find another rabbit said michelle and accordingly after 10 minutes or so we came upon pritchard making another point this time veteran had a stick ready cut and after a minute plunging his hands into a briar bush he pulled out by the ears a second rabbit there michelle he said put that into your other pocket oh said michelle there's room for five more in this one hello michelle people don't say those things before a magistrate and turning to veteran i added let us try once more veteran the number three is approved by the gods maybe said veteran but perhaps it won't be approved by m uren m uren was the police inspector next time we came upon pritchard pointing veteran said i wonder how long he would stay like that and he pulled out his watch well veteran said i you shall try the experiment as it is your own vocation but i'm afraid i have not the time to spare michelle and i then returned home veteran followed with pritchard an hour afterwards five and 25 minutes he called out as soon as he was within hearing and if the rabbit had not gone away the dog would have been there now well veteran what do you think of him why i say he is a good pointer he has only to learn to retrieve and that you can teach him yourself i need not keep him any longer do you hear michelle oh sir said michelle he can do that already he retrieves like an angel this failed to convey to me an exact idea of the way in which pritchard retrieved but michelle threw a handkerchief and pritchard brought it back he then threw one of the rabbits that veteran carried and pritchard brought back the rabbit michelle then fetched an egg and placed it on the ground pritchard retrieved the egg as he had done the rabbit and the handkerchief well said veteran the animal knows all that human skill can teach him he wants nothing now but practice and when one thinks he added that if the rascal would only come in to heal he would be worth 20 pounds if he was worth a penny true i said with the sigh but you may give up hope veteran that is a thing he will never consent to chapter two i think that the time has now come to tell my readers a little bit about mademoiselle de gossens potish and the last of the laidman wars mademoiselle de gossens was a tiny monkey i do not know the place of her birth but i brought her from havrah where i had gone i don't know why perhaps to look at the sea but i thought i must bring something home with me from havrah i was walking there in the cave when at the door of a bird fancier's shop i saw a green monkey and a blue and yellow macaw the monkey put its paw through the bars of its cage and caught hold of my coat while the blue parrot turned its head and looked at me in such an affectionate manner that i stopped holding the monkey's paw with one hand and scratching the parrot's head with the other the little monkey gently drew my hand within reach of her mouth the parrot half shut its eyes and made a little purring noise to express its pleasure monsieur de moss said the shopman coming out with the air of a man who was more delighted to sell than i was to buy monsieur de moss may i accommodate you with my monkey and my parrot it would have been more to the purpose if he had said monsieur de moss may i incommode you with my monkey and my parrot however after a little bargaining i bought both animals as well as a cage for the monkey and a perch for the parrot and as soon as i arrived home i introduced them to michelle this said michelle is the green monkey of senegal sarcopithecus sabia i looked at michelle in the greatest astonishment do you know latin michelle i don't know latin but i do know my dictionary of natural history oh indeed and do you know what bird this is i asked showing him the parrot to be sure i know it said michelle it is a blue and yellow macaw macro circus are rana oh sir why did you not bring a female as well as a male what is the use michelle since parents will not breed in this country there you make a mistake sir the blue macaw will breed in france in the south perhaps it need not be in the south sir where then at con at con i did not know con had a climate which permits parrots to rear their young go and fetch my gazette here you will soon see said michelle as you brought it i read con capital of the department of calvados upon the oren and the odin two hundred and twenty three kilometers west of paris forty one thousand eight hundred and six inhabitants you will see said michelle the parrots are coming great trade and plaster salt wood taken by english in 1346 retaken by the french nc nc nevermind the date that is all michelle what your dictionary never says that the rana otherwise called the blue macaw produces young at con no michelle it does not say that here what a dictionary just wait till i fetch you mind and you will see michelle returned in a few minutes with his book of natural history you will soon see sir he said open in his dictionary in his turn parrot here it is parrots are monogamous as you know latin michelle of course you know what monogamous means that means they can sing scales gamut i suppose well no michelle not exactly it means that they only have one wife indeed sir that is because they talk like us most likely now i have found the place it was long believed that parrots were incapable of breeding in europe but the country has been proven on a pair of blue macaws which lived at con and lemurs furnishes the details of these results let us hear the details which m lemurs furnishes these macaws from march 1818 until august 1822 including a period of four years and a half laid in all 62 eggs michelle i never said they did not lay eggs what i said was out of this number continued michelle in a loud voice 25 young macaws were hatched of which only ten died the others lived and continued perfectly healthy michelle i confessed to having entertained false ideas on the subject of macaws they laid at all seasons of the year continued michelle and more eggs were hatched in the latter than in the former years michelle i have no more to say the number of eggs in a nest varied there have been as many as six at a time michelle i yield rescue or no rescue only said michelle shutting the book you must be careful not to give them bitter almonds or parsley no bitter almonds i answered because they contain plastic acid but why not parsley michelle who had kept his thumb on the page reopened the book parsley and bitter almonds he read are a violent poisoned parrots all right michelle i shall remember i remembered so well that sometime after hearing that m persil had died suddenly persil being the french for parsley i exclaimed much shocked ah poor man how unfortunate he must have been eating parrot however the news was afterwards contradicted the next day i desired michelle to tell the carpenter to make a new cage for mademoiselle de gossens who would certainly die of cramp if left in her small traveling cage but michelle with a solemn face said it was unnecessary for he said i am sorry to tell you sir that a misfortune has happened a weasel has killed the golden pheasant you will however have it for your dinner today i did not refuse though the prospect of this repasse caused me no great pleasure i am very fond of game but somehow pervert pheasants which have been shot to those killed by weasels then said i if the cage is empty let us put in the monkey we brought the little cage close to the big cage and opened the doors the monkey sprang into her new abode bounded from perch to perch and then came and looked at me through the bars making grimaces and uttering plaintive cries she's unhappy without a companion said michelle suppose we give her the parrot you know that little boy an ovinot who comes here with his monkey asking for pennies if i were you sir i would buy that monkey and why that monkey rather than another he has been so well educated and is so gentle he has a cap with a feather and he takes it off when you give him a nut or a bit of sugar can he do anything else he can fight a duel is that all no he can also catch fleas on his master but michelle do you think that that youth would part with so useful an animal we can but ask him and there he is at this moment and he called the boy to come in the monkey was sitting on a box which the little boy carried on his back and when his master took off his cap the monkey did the same it had a nice gentle little face and i remarked to michelle that it was very like a well-known translator of my acquaintance if i have the happiness to become the owner of this charming animal i continued we will call it potish and giving michelle forty francs i left him to make his bargain with the little ovinot chapter three i had not entered my study since my return from havre and there is always a pleasure in coming home again after an absence i was glad to come back and looked about me with a pleasure to smile feeling sure that the furniture and ornaments of the room if they could speak would say they were glad to see me again as i glanced from one familiar object to another i saw upon a seat by the fire a thing like a black and white muff which i had never seen before when i came closer i saw that the muff was a little cat curled up half a sleep and purring loudly i called the cook whose name was madame lamarck she came in after a minute or two so sorry to have kept you waiting but you see sir i was making a white sauce and you who can cook yourself know how quickly those sauces curdle if you are not looking after them yes i know that madame lamarck but what i do not know is where this new guest of mine comes from and i pointed to the cat ah sir said madame lamarck in a sentimental tone that is antony on antony madame lamarck what is that in other words an orphan a foundling sir poor little beast i felt sure that would interest you sir and where did you find it madame lamarck in the cellar i heard a little cry meow meow meow and i said to myself that must be a cat no did you actually say that yes and i went down myself sir and i found the poor little thing behind the sticks then i recollected how you had once said we ought to have a cat in the house did i say so i think you are making a mistake madame lamarck indeed sir you did say so then i said to myself providence has sent us the cat which my master wishes for and now there is one question i must ask you sir what shall we call the cat we will call it mesuf if you have no objection and please be careful madame lamarck that it does not eat my quails and turtle doves or any of my little foreign birds if m do moss is afraid of that said michelle coming in there is a method of preventing cats from eating birds and what is the method my good friend you have a bird in a cage very well you cover three sides of the cage you make a gridiron red hot you put it against the uncovered side of the cage you let out the cat and you leave the room the cat when it makes its spring jumps against the hot gridiron the hotter the gridiron is the better the cat is afterwards thank you michelle and what of the troubadour and his monkey to be sure i was coming to tell you about that it is all right sir you are to have potish for 40 francs only you must give the boy two white mice and a guinea pig in return but where am i to find two white mice and a guinea pig if you will leave the commission to me i will see that they are found i left the commission to michelle if you won't think me impertinent sir said madame lamarck i should so like to know what mesuf means mesuf means just mesuf madame lamarck it's a cat's name then certainly since mesuf the first was so called it is true madame lamarck you never knew mesuf and i became so thoughtful that madame lamarck was kind enough to withdraw quietly without asking any questions about mesuf the first that name had taken me back to 15 years ago when my mother was still living i had then the great happiness of having a mother to scold me sometimes at the time i speak of i had a situation in the service of the duke dolion and the salary of 1500 francs my work occupied me from 10 in the morning until five in the afternoon we had a cat in those days whose name was mesuf this cat had missed his vocation he ought to have been a dog every morning i started my office at half past nine and came back every evening at half past five every morning mesuf followed me to the corner of a particular street and every evening i found him in the same street at the same corner waiting for me now the curious thing was that on the days when i had found some amusement elsewhere and was not coming home to dinner it was no use to open the door for mesuf to go and meet me side note a remarkable instance of telepathy in the cat a period l mesuf in the attitude of the serpent with its tail and its mouth refused to sit from his cushion on the other hand the days i did come mesuf would scratch at the door until someone opened it for him my mother was very fond of mesuf she used to call him her barometer mesuf marks my good and my bad weather my dear mother would say the days you come in are my days of sunshine my rainy days are when you stay away when i came home i used to see mesuf at the street corner sitting quite still and gazing into the distance as soon as he caught sight of me he began to move his tail then as i drew nearer he rose and walked backwards and forwards across the pavement with his back arched and his tail in the air when i reached him he jumped up upon me as a dog would have done and bounded and played round me as i walked towards the house but when i was close to it he dashed in at full speed two seconds after i used to see my mother at the door never again in this world but in the next perhaps i shall see her standing waiting for me at the door that is what i was thinking of dear readers when the name of mesuf brought back all those recollections so you understand why i did not answer madam lamarck's questions henceforth mesuf the second enjoyed the same privileges that mesuf the first had done although as will be seen later he was not distinguished by similar virtues but was in fact a very different sort of cat end of section 15 section 16 of the animal story book edited by andrew lang this is a leverbox recording all leverbox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit leverbox.org recording by matt bishop section 16 of the animal story book mesuf du mas and his beasts chapters four through six by mrs. lang chapter four the following sunday when my son alexandra and one or two intimate friends were assembled in my room a second avenue a boy with a second monkey demanded admittance and said that a friend having told him that m du mas had bought his monkey for 40 francs two white mice and a guinea pig he was prepared to offer his for the same price my friends urged me to buy the second monkey do buy this charming creature said my artist friend jeru yes do buy this ridiculous little beast said alexandra by him indeed said i have i 40 francs to give away every day to say nothing of a guinea pig and two white mice gentleman said alexandra i am sorry to tell you that my father is without exception the most ever-richest man living my guests exclaimed but alexandra said that one day he would prove the truth of his assertion i was now called upon to admire the monkey and to remark how like he was to a friend of ours jeru who was painting a portrait of this gentleman said that if i would let the monkey sit to him he would help him very much in his work and mckay another of my guests offered a midst general applause to make me a present of it side note mckay the immortal augustus mckit this decided me you see said alexandra he accepts come young man i said to the ravignan embrace your monkey for the last time and if you have any tears to shed shed them without delay when the full price was paid the boy made an attempt to do as i told him but the last of the laidman wars refused to be embraced by his former master and as soon as the latter had gone away he seemed delighted and began to dance well madam was held to gossons in her cage too danced with all her might look said mckay they like each other let us complete the happiness of these interesting animals we shut them up in their cage together to the great delight of mademoiselle de gossons who did not care for potish and much preferred her new admirer potish indeed showed signs of jealousy but not being armed with a sword which he used to have when he fought duels he could not wash out his affronts in the blood of his rival but become a prey to silent melancholy and wounded affection while we were still looking at the monkeys a servant came in bringing a tray with wine and seltzer water i say said alexandra let us make mademoiselle de gossons open the seltzer water bottle and he put the bottle inside the cage on the floor no sooner had he done so then all three monkeys surrounded it and looked at it with the greatest curiosity mademoiselle de gossons was the first to understand something would happen if she undid the four crossed wires which held down the cork she accordingly set to work first with her fingers and then with her teeth and it was not long before she undid the first three she next attacked the fourth while the whole company both men and monkeys watched her proceedings with breathless attention presently a frightful explosion was heard mademoiselle de gossons was knocked over by the cork and drenched with seltzer water while potish and the last of the lady manwars fled to the top of their cages uttering piercing cries oh cried alexandra i'll give my share of seltzer water to see her open another bottle mademoiselle de gossons had got up shaken herself and gone to rejoin her companions who were still hollowing lamentably you don't suppose she'll let herself be caught a second time said geru do you know said macae i should not wonder if she would i believe her curiosity would still be stronger than her fear monkeys said michelle who had come in on hearing their cries are more obstinate than mules the more seltzer water bottles you give them the more they will uncork do you think so michelle you know of course how can they catch them in their own country no michelle what you don't know that gentleman said michelle full of compassion for our ignorance you know that monkeys are very fond of indian corn well you put some indian corn into a bottle the neck with which is just large enough to admit a monkey's paw he sees the indian corn through the glass well michelle he puts his hand inside and takes a good handful of indian corn at that moment the hunter shows himself they are so obstinate the monkeys i mean they won't let go of what they have in their hand but as they can't draw their closed fists through the opening there they are you see caught well then michelle if ever our monkeys get out you will know how to catch them again oh no fear sir that is just what i shall do the seltzer water experiment was successfully repeated to the triumph of michelle in the delight of alexandra who wished to go on doing it but i forbade it seeing that poor mademoiselle the gossons nose was bleeding from the blow of the cork it is not that said alexandra it is because you judge your seltzer water i have already remarked gentlemen that my father is i regret to say an exceedingly avaricious man chapter five it is now my painful duty to give my readers some account of the infamous conduct of mesuf the second one morning on waking rather late i saw my bedroom door gently opened and the head of michelle thrust in wearing such a concerned expression that i knew at once that something was wrong what has happened michelle why sir those villains of monkeys have managed to twist a bar of their cage i don't know how until they have made a great hole and now they have escaped well but michelle we foresaw that this might occur and now you have only to buy your indian corn and to procure three bottles the right size ah you are laughing sir said michelle reproachfully but you won't laugh when you know all they open the door of the aviary and so my birds have flown away sir your six pairs of turtle doves your 14 quails and all your little foreign birds are eaten up side note let the reader compare the conduct of mr gully later but monkeys won't eat birds no but master mesuf will and he has done it the juicy has i must see for myself yes go for yourself sir you will see a sight a field of battle a massacre of saint bartholomew as i was coming out michelle stopped me to point to potish who had hung himself by the tail to the branch of a maple and was swinging gracefully to and fro mademoiselle the gossans was bounding gaily about in the aviary while the last of the late when wars was practicing gymnastics on the top of the greenhouse well michelle we must catch them i will manage the last of the late when wars if you will get hold of mademoiselle the gossans as to poor little potish he will come of his own accord i wouldn't trust him sir he is a hypocrite he has made it up with the other one just think of that what he has made friends with his rival and the affections of mademoiselle the gossans just so sir this is sad indeed michelle i thought only human beings could be guilty of so mean in action you see sir these monkeys have frequented the society of human beings i now advanced upon the last of the late manwars with so much precaution that i contrived to shut him into the greenhouse where he retreated into a corner and prepared to defend himself while potish from the outside encouraged his friend by making horrible faces at me through the glass at this moment piercing shrieks were heard from mademoiselle the gossans michelle had just caught her these cries so enraged the last of the late manwars that he dashed out upon me but i parried his attack with the palm of my hand with which he came in contact so forcibly that he lost breath for a minute and then i picked him up by the scruff of the neck have you caught mademoiselle the gossans i shouted to michelle have you caught the last of the late manwars returned he yes we both replied in turn and each bearing his prisoner we returned to the cage which had in the meantime been mended and shut them up once more while potish without lamentations fled to the top of the highest tree in the garden no sooner however did he find that his two companions were unable to get out of their cage then he came down from his tree approached michelle in a timid and side long manner and with clasped hands and little plaintive cries and treated to be shut up again with his friends just see what a hypocrite he is said michelle but i was of opinion that the conduct of potish was prompted by devotion rather than hypocrisy i compared it to that of regulus who returned to carthage to keep his promised word or to king john of france who voluntarily gave himself up to the english for the countess of salesbury's sake michelle continued to think potish a hypocrite but on account of his repentance he was forgiven he was put back into the cage where mademoiselle the gossans took very little notice of him all this time mesuf had been forgotten calmly remained in the aviary and continued to crunch the bones of his victims with the most hardened indifference it was easy enough to catch him we shut him into the aviary and held the council as to what should be his punishment michelle was of option that he should be shot forthwith i was whoever opposed to this immediate execution and resolved to wait into the following sunday and then to cause mesuf to be formally tried by my assembled friends the condemnation was therefore postponed in the meantime mesuf remained a prisoner in a very spot where his crimes had been committed he continued however to refresh himself with the remains of his victims without apparent remorse but michelle removed all the bodies and confined him to a diet of bread and water next sunday having convoked council of all my friends the trial was proceeded with michelle was appointed chief justice and nozion st lauren was consul to the prisoner i re remarked that the jury were inclined to find a verdict of guilty and after the first speech of the judge the capital sentence seemed almost certain but the skillful advocate in a long and eloquent speech brought clearly before us the innocence of mesuf the malice of the monkeys their quickness and incessant activity compared with the less inventive minds of cats he showed us that mesuf was incapable of contemplating such a crime he described him wrapped in peaceful sleep then suddenly aroused from his innocence slumber by the abandoned creatures who living as they did opposite the aviary had doubtless long harbored their diabolical designs we saw mesuf but half awake still praying innocently opening his pink mouth from which protruded a tongue like that of a heraldic lion he shakes his ears a proof that he rejects the infamous proposal that is being made to him he listens at first he refuses the advocate insists that the prisoner had begun by refusing then naturally yielding hardly more than a kitten corrupted as he had been by the cook who insisted on feeding him milk or a little weak broth as she had been told to do had recklessly excited his carnivorous appetite by giving him pieces of liver and pairings of raw chops the unfortunate young cat yields little by little prompted more by good nature and weakness of mind than by cruelty or greed and only half awake he does the bidding of the villainous monkeys the real instigators of the crime the council here took the prisoner in his arms showed us his paws and defied any unanimous to say that with paws so made an animal could possibly open a door that was bolted finally he borrowed michelle's dictionary of natural history opened it at the article cat domestic cat wild cat he proved that musuf was no wild cat seeing that nature had robed him in white the color of innocence then smiting the book of vehemence cat he exclaimed cat you shall now hear gentlemen what the illustrious bouffan the man with lace sleeves has to say about the cat the cat says and davon is not to be trusted but it is kept to rid the house of enemies which cannot otherwise be destroyed although the cat especially when young is pleasing nature has given it perverse and untrustworthy qualities which increase with age and with education may conceal but will not eradicate well then exclaimed the orator after having read this passage what more remains to be said did poor mesuf come here with a false character seeking a situation was it not the cook herself who found him who took him by force from the heap of sticks behind which he had sought refuge it was merely to interest and touch the heart of her master that she described him mewing in the cellar we must reflect also that those unhappy birds his victims i elude especially the quails which are eaten by man though their death is doubtless much to be deplored yet they have felt themselves liable to death at any moment and are now released from their tears they experienced every time they saw a cook approaching their retreat finally gentlemen i appeal to your justice and i think you will now admit that the interesting and unfortunate mesuf has but yielded not only to uncontrollable natural instincts but also to foreign influence i claim from my client the plea of extenuating circumstances the council's pleading was received with cries of applause and mesuf found guilty of the complicity in the murders of the quails turtle doves and other birds of different species but with extenuating circumstances was sentenced only to five years of monkeys chapter six the next winter certain circumstances with which i need not trouble my readers led to my making a journey to algears i seldom make a long journey without bringing home some animal to add to my collection and accordingly i returned from africa accompanied by a vulture which i bought from a little boy who called himself a benny mufatard i paid ten francs for the vulture and made the benny mufatard a president of two more in return for which he warned me that my vulture was excessively savage and had already bitten off the thumb of an arab and the tail of a dog i promised to be very careful and the next day i became the possessor of a magnificent vulture whose only fault consisted in a strong desire to tear in pieces everybody who came near him i bestowed on him the name of this compatriot jugatha he had a chain fastened to his leg and had for further security been placed in a large cage made of spars in this cage he traveled quite safely as far as philip phil without any other accident than that he nearly bit off the finger of a passenger who had tried to make friends with him at philip phil a difficulty arose it was three miles from stora the port where we were to embark and the diligence did not go on so far i and several other gentlemen thought that we would like to walk to stora the scenery being beautiful and the distance not very great but what was i to do about jugatha i could not ask a porter to carry the cage jugatha would certainly have eaten him through the spars i thought of a plan it was to lengthen his chain eight or ten feet by means of a cord and then to drive him in front of me with a long pole but the first difficulty was to induce jugatha to come out of his cage none of us dared put our hands within reach of his beak however i managed to fasten the cord to his chain then i made two men armed with pickaxes break away the spars jugatha finding himself free spread out his wings to fly away but he could of course only fly as far as his cord would permit now jugatha was a very intelligent creature he saw that there was an obstacle in the way of his liberty and that i was that obstacle he therefore turned upon me with fury in the hope of putting me to flight or devouring me in case of resistance i however was no less sagacious than jugatha i had overseen the attack and provided myself with a good switch made of dogwood as thick as one's forefinger and eight feet long with this switch i parried jugatha's attack which astounded but did not stop him however a second blow given with all my force made him stop short and a third caused him to fly in the opposite direction that is towards stora once launched upon this road i had only to use my switch adequately to make jugatha proceed at about the same pace as we did ourselves to the great admiration of my fellow travelers and of all the people whom we met on the road on our arrival at stora jugatha made no difficulty about getting on board the steamer and when tied to the mast waited calmly while a new cage was made for him he went into it of his own accord received with gratitude the pieces of meat which the ships cook gave him and three days after his embarkation he became so tame that he used to present me with his head to scratch as a parrot does i brought jugatha home without further adventure and committed him to the charge of michelle it was not until my return drumel jeers on this occasion that i went to live at matty crystal the building of which had been finished during my absence up to this time i had lived in a smaller house called the vilimidesis and while the other was building michelle made arrangements for the proper lodgings of all my animals for he was much more occupied about their comfort than he was about mine or even his own they had all plenty of room particularly the dogs who were not confined by any sort of enclosure and prichard who was naturally generous kept open house with a truly scottish hospitality it was his custom to sit in the middle of the road and salute every dog that passed with a little unfriendly growl smelling him and permitting himself to be smelt in a ceremonious manner when a mutual sympathy had been produced by this means a conversation something like this would begin have you a good master ask the strange dog not bad prichard would apply does your master feed you well well one has porridge twice a day bones at breakfast and dinner and anything one can pick up in the kitchen besides the stranger licks his lips you are not badly off said he i do not complain replied prichard then seeing the strange dog look pensive he added would you like to dine with us the invitation was accepted at once for dogs do not wait to be pressed like some foolish human beings at dinner time prichard came in followed by the unknown dog who like prichard placed himself besides my chair and scratched my knee with his paw in such a confiding way that i felt sure that prichard must have been commending my benevolence the dog after spending a pleasant evening found that it was rather too late to return home so slept comfortably on the grass after his good supper next morning he took two or three steps as if to go away then changing his mind he inquired of prichard should i be much in the way if i stayed on here prichard replied you could quite well with management make them believe you are the neighbor's dog and after two or three days nobody would know you did not belong to the house you might live here just as well as those idle useless monkeys who do nothing but amuse themselves or that greedy vulture who eats tripe all day long or that idiot macaw who is always screaming about nothing the dog stayed keeping in the background at first but in a day or two he jumped up upon me and followed me everywhere and there was another guest to feed that was all michelle asked me one day if i knew how many dogs there were about the place i answered that i did not sir said michelle there are 13 that is an unlucky number michelle you must see that they do not all dying together else one of them is sure to die first it is not that though said michelle it is the expense i am thinking of why they would eat an ox a day all those dogs and if you allow me sir i will just take a whip and put the whole pack to the door tomorrow morning but michelle let us do it handsomely these dogs after all do honor the house by staying here so give them a grand dinner tomorrow tell them that it is the farewell banquet and then at dessert put them all to the door but after all sir i cannot put them to the door because there isn't a door michelle said i there are certain things in this world that one must just put up with to keep up one's character in position since all these dogs have come to me let them stay with me i don't think they will ruin me michelle only on their own account you should be careful that there are not 13 i will drive away one suggested michelle and then there will only be 12 on the contrary let another come and then there will be 14 michelle sighed it's a regular kennel he murmured it was in fact a pack of hounds though rather a mixed one there was a russian wolfhound there was a poodle a water spaniel a spitz a doxin with crooked legs a mongrel terrier a mongrel king charles and a turkish dog which had no hair on its body only a tuft upon its head and a tassel at the end of its tail our next recruit was a little malty's terrier name the set which raised the number to 14 after all the expense of these 14 amounted to rather over two pounds a month a single dinner given to five or six of my own species would have cost me three times as much and they would have gone away dissatisfied for even if they had liked my wine they would have certainly found fault in my books out of this pack of hounds one became pritchard's particular friend and michelle's favorite this was a doxin with short crooked legs a long body and as michelle said the finest voice in the department of cine was portugal that was his name had in truth the most magnificent bass voiced i used to hear it sometimes in the night when i was writing and think how that deep tone majestic bark would please st hubert if he heard it in his grave but what was portugal doing at that hour and why was he awake while the other dog slumbered this mystery was revealed one day when a stewed rabbit was brought me for dinner i inquired where the rabbit came from you thought it good sir michelle asked me with a pleased face excellent well then you can have one just the same every day sir if you like every day michelle surely that is almost too much to promise besides i should like before consuming so many rabbits to know where they come from you shall know that this very night if you don't mind coming out with me ah michelle i have told you before that you are a poacher oh sir as to that i am as innocent as a baby and as i was saying if you will only come out with me tonight must i go far michelle not a hundred yards sir at what o'clock just at the moment when you hear portugal's first bark very well michelle i will be with you i had nearly forgotten this promise and was writing as usual when michelle came into my study it was about 11 o'clock and a fine moonlight night hollow said i portugal hasn't barked yet has he no but i was just thinking that if you waited for that you would miss seeing something curious what should i miss michelle the council of war which is held between pritchard and portugal i followed michelle and sure enough among the 14 dogs which are mostly sleeping in different attitudes portugal and pritchard were sitting up and seemed to be gravely debating some important question when the debate was ended they separated portugal went out at the gate to the high road turned the corner and disappeared while pritchard began deliberately as if he had plenty of time before him to follow the little path which led up to a stone quarry we followed pritchard who took no notice of us though he evidently knew we were there he went up to the top of the quarry examined and smelled about over the ground with great care and when he had found a scent and assured himself that it was fresh he laid down flat and waited almost at the same moment portugal's first bark was heard some 200 yards off now the plan the two dogs had laid was clear to us the rabbits came out of their holes in the quarry every evening to go to their feeding ground pritchard found the scent of one portugal then made a white circuit found and chased the rabbit and as a rabbit or a hare always comes back upon its former track pritchard lying in ambush awaited its return accordingly as the sound of portugal's parking came closer we saw pritchard's yellow eyes light up and flame like a topaz then all of a sudden he made a spring and we heard a cry of fright and distress they've done it said michelle and he went to pritchard took out of his mouth a nice plump rabbit gave it a blow behind the ears to finish it and opening it on a spot gave the inside to the two dogs who shared their portion contently although they probably regretted michelle's interference as michelle told me i could have eaten a stewed rabbit every day for dinner if such had been my desire but after this events of a different kind were taking place which obliged me to leave my country pursuits and i spent about two months in paris the day before i returned to saint germain's i wrote and told michelle to expect me and found him waiting for me on the road halfway from the station i must tell you sir he said as soon as i was within hearing that two important events have happened at montecristos since you went away well michelle let me hear in the first place pritchard got his hind foot into a snare and instead of staying where he was as any other dog would have done he bit off his foot with his teeth and so he came home upon three legs but said i much shocked is the poor beast dead after such an accident dead sir was not i there to doctor him and what did you do to him then i cut off the foot properly at the joint with a pruning knife i then sewed the skin neatly over it and now you would never know it was off look there the rascal has smelt you and is coming to meet you and at that moment pritchard appeared coming at full gallop so that as michelle had said one would hardly have noticed that yet only three feet my meeting with pritchard was as may be supposed full of deep emotion on both sides i was sorry for the poor animal when i had recovered a little i asked michelle what his other piece of news was the latest news sir is as jugatha's name is no longer jugatha what is it then it is deogynus and why look sir we had now reached the little avenue of ash trees which formed the entrance to the villa to the left of the avenue the vulture was seen walking proudly to and fro in an immense tub which michelle had made into a house for him ah now i understand said i of course directly he lives in a tub that's it said michelle directly he lives in a tub he cannot be jugatha anymore he must be deogynus i admired michelle's historical learning no less than i did his surgical skill just as the year before i had bowed before his superior knowledge of natural history end of section 16