 How the alphabet was made. The week after Taffy Mai met Halloumi—we will still call her Taffy, best beloved—made that little mistake about her daddy's spear and the stranger man and the picture-letter and all, she went carp-fishing again with her daddy. Her mummy wanted her to stay at home and help hang up hides to dry on the big drying poles outside their neolithic cave, but Taffy slipped away down to her daddy quite early and they fished. Presently she began to giggle, and her daddy said, Don't be silly, child. But wasn't it inciting, said Taffy, don't you remember how the head chief puffed out his cheeks and how funny the nice stranger man looked with the mud in his hair? Well, do I, said Tegumai, I had to pay two deerskins, soft ones with fringes, to the stranger man for the things we did to him. We didn't do anything, said Taffy. It was mummy and the other neolithic ladies and the mud. We won't talk about that, said her daddy. Let's have lunch. Taffy took a marrow-bone and sat mousy quiet for ten whole minutes while her daddy scratched on pieces of birch bark with a shark's tooth. Then she said, Daddy, I've think of a secret surprise. You make a noise—any sort of noise. Ah, said Tegumai. Will that do to begin with? Yes, said Taffy. You look just like a carpfish with its mouth open. Say it again, please. Ah, ah, ah, ah, said her daddy. Don't be rude, my daughter. I'm not meaning rude really and truly, said Taffy. It's part of my secret surprise think. Do say ah, Daddy, and keep your mouth wide open at the end and lend me that tooth. I'm going to draw a carpfish's mouth wide open. What for, said her daddy. Don't you see, said Taffy, scratching away on the bark. That will be our little secret surprise. When I draw a carpfish with his mouth open in the smoke at the back of our cave, if Mummy doesn't mind, it will remind you of that ah noise. Then we can play that it was me jumped out of the dark and surprised you with that noise, same as I did in the beaver's swamp last winter. Really? said her daddy, in the voice that grown-ups use when they are truly attending. Go on, Taffy. Oh, bother, she said. I can't draw all of a carpfish, but I can draw something that means a carpfish's mouth. Don't you know how they stand on their heads, rooting in the mud? Well, here's a pretence carpfish. We can play that the rest of him is drawn. Here's just his mouth, and that means ah. And she drew this. That's not bad, said Tegumai, and scratched on his own piece of bark for himself, but you've forgotten the feeler that hangs across his mouth. But I can't draw, daddy. You needn't draw anything of him except just the opening of his mouth and the feeler across, then we'll know he's a carpfish, because the perches and trouts haven't got feelers. Look here, Taffy. And he drew this. Now I'll copy it, said Taffy. Will you understand this when you see it? Perfectly, said her daddy. And she drew this. And I'll be quite as surprised when I see it anywhere as if you had jumped out from behind a tree and said ah. Now make another noise, said Taffy, very proud. Yah, said her daddy, very loud. Hmm, said Taffy, that's a mixy noise. The end part is ah, carpfish mouth. But what can we do about the front part, yur, yur, yur, and ah, yah? It's very like the carpfish mouth noise. Let's draw another bit of the carpfish and join him, said her daddy. He was quite incited, too. No, if they're joined I'll forget. Draw it separate, draw his tail. If he's standing on his head, the tail will come first. Sides, I think I can draw tails easiest, said Taffy. A good notion, said Tegumai. Here's a carpfish tail for the yur noise. And he drew this. I'll try now, said Taffy. Remember, I can't draw like you, daddy. Will it do if I just draw the split part of the tail and the sticky down line for where it joins? And she drew this. Her daddy nodded and his eyes were shiny bright with excitement. That's beautiful, she said. Now make another noise, daddy. Oh, said her daddy, very loud. That's quite easy, said Taffy. You make your mouth all around like an egg or a stone. So an egg or a stone will do for that. You can't always find eggs or stones. We'll have to scratch around something like one. And he drew this. My gracious, said Taffy, what a lot of noise pictures we've made. Carp mouth, carp tail, and egg. Now make another noise, daddy. Sh, said her daddy, and frowned to himself. But Taffy was too incited to notice. That's quite easy, she said, scratching on the bark. Eh, what, said her daddy. I meant I was thinking and didn't want to be disturbed. It's a noise just the same. It's the noise a snake makes, daddy, when it is thinking and doesn't want to be disturbed. Let's make the sh, noise a snake. Will this do? And she drew this. There, she said, that's another surprise secret. When you draw a hissy snake by the door of your little back cave where you mend the spears, I'll know you're thinking hard. And I'll come in most mousy quiet. And if you draw it on a tree by the river when you are fishing, I'll know you want me to walk most, most mousy quiet so as not to shake the banks. Perfectly true, said Tegomai. And there's more in this game than you think. Taffy, dear, I have a notion that your daddy's daughter has hit upon the finest thing that there ever was since the tribe of Tegomai took to using shark's teeth instead of flints for their spearheads. I believe we found out the big secret of the world. Why, said Taffy, and her eyes shone too with incitement. I'll show, said her daddy, what's water in the Tegomai language? Ya, of course, and it means river, too, like waga ya, the waga river. What is bad water that gives you a fever if you drink it? Black water, swamp water. Yo, of course. Now, looks at her daddy. Suppose you saw this scratched by the side of a pool in the beaver swamp, and he drew this. Carp tail and round egg, two noises mixed. Yo, bad water, said Taffy. Of course, I wouldn't drink that water because I'd know you said it was bad. But I needn't be near the water at all. I might be miles away hunting and still. And still it would be just the same as if you stood there and said, go away, Taffy, or you'll get fever. All that in a carp fish tail and a round egg. Oh, daddy, we must tell mummy quick. And Taffy danced all round him. Not yet, said Tegumai. Not till we've gone a little further. Let's see. Yo is bad water, but so is food cooked on the fire, isn't it? And he drew this. Yes, snake and egg, said Taffy. So that means dinner's ready. If you saw that scratched on a tree, you'd know it was time to come to the cave. So would I. My winky, said Tegumai, that's true too. But wait a minute, I see a difficulty. So means come and have dinner, but sho means the drying poles where we hang our hides. Horrid old drying poles, said Taffy. I hate helping to hang heavy, hot, hairy hides on them. If you drew the snake and egg, and I thought it meant dinner, and I came in from the wood and found that it meant I was to help mummy hang the two hides on the drying poles. What would I do? You'd be cross. So'd mummy. We must make a new picture for sho. We must draw a spotty snake that hisses shh shh. And we'll play that the plain snake only hisses sss. I couldn't be sure how to put in the spots, said Taffy. And perhaps if you were in a hurry, you might leave them out. And I'd think it was so when it was sho, and then mummy would catch me just the same. No, I think we'd better draw a picture of the horrid high drying poles there very selves and make quite sure. I'll put them in just after the hissy snake, look. And she drew this. Perhaps that's safest. It's very like our drying poles anyhow, said her daddy, laughing. Now I'll make a new noise with a snake and drying pole sound in it. I'll say she. That's Tegumai for spear, Taffy. And he laughed. Don't make fun of me, said Taffy, as she thought of her picture letter and the mud in the stranger man's hair. You draw it, daddy. We won't have beavers or hills this time, eh? Said her daddy. I'll just draw a straight line for my spear. And he drew this. Even mummy couldn't mistake that for me being killed. Please don't, daddy. It makes me uncomfy. Do some more noises. We're getting on beautifully. Ahem, said Tegumai, looking up. We'll say sho, that means sky. Taffy drew the snake and the drying pole. Then she stopped. We must make a new picture for that end sound, mustn't we? Shoo, shoo, said her daddy. Why, it's just like the round egg sound made thin. Then suppose we draw a thin round egg and pretend it's a frog that hasn't eaten anything for years. No, said her daddy. If we drew that in a hurry, we might mistake it for the round egg itself. Shoo, shoo, shoo, like this. And he drew this. Oh, that's lovely. Much better than a thin frog. Go on, said Taffy, using her shark's tooth. Her daddy went on drawing and his hand shook with incitement. He went on till he had drawn this. Don't look up, Taffy, he said. Try if you can make out what that means in the Tegumai language. If you can, we've found the secret. Snake, pole, broken egg, carp tail and carp mouth, said Taffy. Shoo, yah, sky water, rain. Just then a drop fell on her hand for the day had clouded over. Why, daddy, it's raining. Was that what you meant to tell me? Of course, said her daddy. And I told it to you without saying a word, didn't I? Well, I think I would have known it in a minute, but that raindrop made me quite sure. I'll always remember now. Shoo, yah, means rain or it is going to rain. Why, daddy? She got up and danced round him. Suppose you went out before I was awake and drawed Shoo, yah in the smoke on the wall. I'd know it was going to rain and I'd take my beaver skin hood. Wouldn't mummy be surprised? Tegumai got up and danced. Daddies didn't mind doing those things in those days. More than that, more than that, he said. Suppose I wanted to tell you it wasn't going to rain much and you must come down to the river. What would we draw? Say the words in Tegumai talk first. Shoo, yah, las, yah, maru. Sky, water, ending. River, come to. What a lot of new sounds. I don't see how we can draw them. But I do, but I do, said Tegumai. Just attend a minute, Taffy, and we won't do any more today. We've got Shoo, yah, all right, haven't we? But this las is a teaser. La, la, la. And he waved his shark tooth. There's the hissy snake at the end and the carp mouth before the snake. As, as, as, we only want la, la, said Taffy. I know it, but we have to make la, la, and we're the first people in all the world who ever tried to do it, Taffy Mai. Well, said Taffy, yawning, for she was rather tired. Las means breaking or finishing as well as ending, doesn't it? So it does, said Tegumai. Yolas means that there's no water in the tank for mommy to cook with, just when I'm going hunting, too. And she, las, means that your spear is broken if I'd only thought of that instead of drawing silly beaver pictures for the stranger. La, la, la, said Tegumai, waving his stick and frowning. Oh, bother. I could have drawn she quite easily, Taffy went on. Then I'd have drawn your spear all broken this way, and she drew. The very thing, said Tegumai, that's la all over. It isn't like any of the other marks either, and he drew this. Now for ya, oh, we've done that before. Now for maru, mum, mum, mum, mum shuts one's mouth up, doesn't it? We'll draw a shut mouth like this, and he drew. Then the carp mouth open, that makes ma, ma, ma, but what about this rur thing, Taffy? It sounds all rough and edgy like your shark tooth saw when you're cutting out a plank for the canoe, said Taffy. You mean all sharp at the edges like this, said Tegumai, and he drew. Exactly, said Taffy, but we don't want all those teeth, only put two. I'll only put in one, said Tegumai. If this game of ours is going to be what I think it will, the easier we make our sound pictures, the better for everybody. And he drew. Now we've got it, said Tegumai, standing on one leg. I'll draw him all in a string like fish. Hadn't we better put a little bit of stick or something between each word, so as they won't rub up against each other and jostle, same as if they were carps? Oh, I'll leave a space for that, said her daddy, and very incitedly he drew them all without stopping on a big new bit of birch bark. Shuyalas yamaru, said Taffy, reading it out sound by sound. That's enough for today, said Tegumai. Besides, you're getting tired, Taffy. Never mind, dear, we'll finish it all tomorrow and then we'll be remembered for years and years after the biggest trees you can see are all chopped up for firewood. So they went home, and all that evening, Tegumai sat on one side of the fire and Taffy on the other, drawing yas and yos and shoes and she's in the smoke on the wall and giggling together till her mummy said, really, Tegumai, you're worse than my Taffy. Please don't mind, said Taffy. It's only our secret surprise, mummy, dear, and we'll tell you all about it the very minute it's done, but please don't ask me what it is now or else I'll have to tell. So her mummy most carefully didn't, and bright and early next morning, Tegumai went down to the river to think about new sound pictures and when Taffy got up she saw, yalas. Water is ending or running out, chalked on the side of the big stone water tank outside the cave. Oh, said Taffy, these picture sounds are rather a bother. Daddy's just as good as come here himself and told me to get more water for mummy to cook with. She went to the spring at the back of the house and filled the tank from a bark bucket and then she ran down to the river and pulled her daddy's left ear, the one that belonged to her to pull when she was good. Now come along and we'll draw all the leftover sound pictures, said her daddy, and they had a most inciting day of it and a beautiful lunch in the middle and two games of romps. When they came to tea, Taffy said that as her name and her daddy's and her mummies all began with that sound, they should draw a sort of family group of themselves holding hands. That was all very well to draw once or twice but when it came to drawing it six or seven times Taffy and Tegumai drew it scratchier and scratchier till at last the tea sound was only a thin long Tegumai with his arms out to hold Taffy and Tegumai. You can see from these three pictures partly how it happened. Many of the other pictures were much too beautiful to begin with, especially before lunch but as they were drawn over and over again on birch bark they became planer and easier till at last even Tegumai said he could find no fault with them. They turned the hissy snake the other way around for the zee sound to show it was hissing backwards in a soft and gentle way and they just made a twiddle for e because it came into the pictures so often and they drew pictures of the sacred beaver of the Tegumais for the bee sound and because it was a nasty nosey noise they just drew noses for the end sound till they were tired and they drew a picture of the big lake pike's mouth for the greedy ga sound and they drew the pike's mouth again with a spear behind it for the scratchy herty ka sound and they drew pictures of a little bit of the winding wagi river for the nice windy, windy wa sound and so on and so forth and so following till they had done and drawn all the sound pictures that they wanted and there was the alphabet all complete and after thousands and thousands and thousands of years and after hieroglyphics and demotics and nilotics and cryptics and kufics and runics and dorics and ionics and all sorts of other ricks and tricks because the wounds and the neguses and the akhouns and the repositories of tradition would never leave a good thing alone when they saw it the fine old easy understandable alphabet A, B, C, D, E and the rest of them got back into its proper shape again for all best beloveds to learn when they are old enough but I remember Tegumai Bopsulai and Tafimai Metalumai and Teshumai Tewindro, her dear mummy and all the days gone by and it was so just so a little time ago on the banks of the big wagai one of the first things that Tegumai Bopsulai did after Tafi and he made the alphabet was to make a magic alphabet necklace of all the letters so that it could be put in the temple of Tegumai and kept forever and ever all the tribe of Tegumai brought their most precious beads and beautiful things and Tafi and Tegumai spent five whole years getting the necklace in order this is a picture of the magic alphabet necklace the string was made of the finest and strongest reindeer sinew bound round with thin copper wire beginning at the top the first bead is an old silver one that belonged to the head priest of the tribe of Tegumai then came three black muscle pearls next is a clay bead blue and gray next a nubbly gold bead sent as a present by a tribe who got it from Africa but it must have been Indian really the next is a long flat-sided glass bead from Africa the tribe of Tegumai took it in a fight then came two clay beads white and green with dots on one and dots and bands on the other next are three rather chipped amber beads then three clay beads red and white two with dots and the big one in the middle with a toothed pattern then the letters begin and between each letter is a little whitish clay bead with the letter repeated small here are the letters A is scratched on a tooth an elk tusk I think B is the sacred beaver of Tegumai on a bit of old glory C is a pearly oyster shell inside front D must be a sort of muscle shell outside front E is a twist of silver wire F is broken but what remains of it is a bit of stag's horn G is painted black on a piece of wood the bead after G is a small shell and not a clay bead I don't know why they did that H is a kind of a big brown cowrie shell I is the inside part of a long shell ground down by hand it took Tegumai three months to grind it down J is a fish hook in Mother of Pearl L is the broken spear in silver K ought to follow J of course but the necklace was broken once and they mended it wrong K is a thin slice of bone scratched and rubbed in black M is on a pale gray shell N is a piece of what is called porphyry with a nose scratched on it Tegumai spent five months polishing this stone O is a piece of oyster shell with a hole in the middle P and Q are missing they were lost a long time ago in a great war and the tribe mended the necklace with the dried rattles of a rattlesnake but no one ever found P and Q that is how the saying began you must mind your P's and Q's R is of course just a shark's tooth S is a little silver snake T is the end of a small bone polished and shiny U is another piece of oyster shell W is a twisty piece of Mother of Pearl that they found inside a big Mother of Pearl shell and saw it off with a wire dipped in sand and water it took Taffy a month and a half to polish it and drill the holes X is silver wire joined in the middle with a raw garnet Taffy found the garnet Y is the carp's tail in ivory Z is a bell-shaped piece of agate marked with Z-shaped stripes they made the Z snake out of one of the stripes by picking out the soft stone and rubbing in red sand and beeswax just in the mouth of the bell you see the clay bead repeating the Z letter these are all the letters the next bead is a small round greenie lump of copper ore the next is a lump of rough turquoise the next is a rough gold nugget what they call water gold the next is a melon-shaped clay bead white with green spots then come four flat ivory pieces with dots on them rather like dominoes then come three stone beads very badly worn then two soft iron beads with rust holes at the edges they must have been magic because they look very common and last is a very very old African bead like glass blue red white black and yellow then comes the loop to slip over the big silver button at the other end and that is all I have copied the necklace very carefully it weighs one pound seven and a half ounces the black squiggle behind is only put in to make the beads and things look better of all the tribe of Tegumai who cut that figure none remain on merrow down the cuckoo's cry the silence and the sun remain but as the faithful years return and hearts unwounded sing again comes taffy dancing through the fern to lead the surrey spring again her brows are bound with brechenfrans and golden elf-locks fly above her eyes are bright as diamonds and bluer than the skies above in moccasins and deerskin cloak unfearing free and fair she flits and lights her little damp wood smoke to show her daddy where she flits for far oh very far behind so far she cannot call to him comes Tegumai alone to find the daughter that was all to him end of how the alphabet was made read by Kara Schellenberg on May twenty seventh two thousand seven in Oceanside California the crab that played with the sea this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Kara Schellenberg the just so stories by Rudyard Kipling the crab that played with the sea before the high and far off times oh my best beloved came the time of the very beginnings and that was in the days when the eldest magician was getting things ready first he got the earth ready then he got the sea ready and then he told all the animals that they could come out and play and the animals said oh eldest magician what shall we play at and he said I will show you he took the elephant all the elephant there was and said play at being an elephant and all the elephant there was played he took the beaver all the beaver there was and said play at being a beaver and all the beaver there was played he took the cow all the cow there was and said play at being a cow and all the cow there was played he took the turtle all the turtle there was and said play at being a turtle and all the turtle there was played one by one he took all the beasts and birds and fishes and told them what to play at but towards evening when people and things grow restless and tired There came up the man, with his own little girl-daughter, yes, with his own best-beloved little girl-daughter sitting upon his shoulder, and he said, "'What is this play, eldest magician?' And the eldest magician said, "'Oh, son of Adam, this is the play of the very beginning, but you are too wise for this play.' And the man saluted and said, "'Yes, I am too wise for this play, but see that you make all the animals obedient to me.' Now, while the two were talking together, Pao Amma, the crab, who was next in the game, scuttled off sideways and stepped into the sea, saying to himself, "'I will play my play alone in the deep waters, and I will never be obedient to this son of Adam.' Nobody saw him go away except the little girl-daughter, where she leaned on the man's shoulder. And the play went on till there were no more animals left without orders, and the eldest magician wiped the fine dust off his hands and walked about the world to see how the animals were playing. He went north, best-beloved, and he found all the elephant there was digging with his tusks and stamping with his feet in the nice new clean earth that had been made ready for him. "'Kun,' said all the elephant there was, meaning, "'is this right?' Pao Amma said the eldest magician, meaning that is quite right, and he breathed upon the great rocks and lumps of earth that all the elephant there was had thrown up, and they became the great Himalayan mountains, and you can look them out on the map.' He went east, and he found all the cow there was feeding in the field that had been made ready for her, and she licked her tongue round the whole forest at a time and swallowed it and sat down to chew her cud. "'Kun,' said all the cow there was. "'Paya Kun,' said the eldest magician, and he breathed upon the bear patch where she had eaten, and upon the place where she had sat down, and one became the great Indian desert, and the other became the desert of Sahara, and you can look them out on the map. He went west, and he found all the beaver there was making a beaver dam across the mouths of broad rivers that had been got ready for him. "'Kun,' said all the beaver there was. "'Paya Kun,' said the eldest magician, and he breathed upon the fallen trees and the still water, and they became the Everglades in Florida, and you may look them out on the map. Then he went south, and found all the turtle there was, scratching with his flippers in the sand that had been got ready for him, and the sand and the rocks whirled through the air and fell far off into the sea. "'Kun,' said all the turtle there was. "'Paya Kun,' said the eldest magician, and he breathed upon the sand and the rocks where they had fallen in the sea, and they became the most beautiful islands of Borneo, Celebes, Sumatra, Java, and the rest of the Mele archipelago, and you can look them out on the map. By and by the eldest magician met the man on the banks of the Parak River, and said, "'Ho, son of Adam, are all the animals obedient to you?' "'Yes,' said the man. "'Is all the earth obedient to you?' "'Yes,' said the man. "'Is all the sea obedient to you?' "'No,' said the man. "'Once a day and once a night the sea runs up the Parak River and drives the sweet water back into the forest so that my house is made wet. Once a day and once a night it runs down the river and draws all the water after it, so that there is nothing left but mud, and my canoe is upset. "'Is that the play you told it to play?' "'No,' said the eldest magician. "'That is a new and a bad play.' "'Look,' said the man, and as he spoke, the great sea came up the mouth of the Parak River, driving the river backwards till it overflowed all the dark forests for miles and miles, and flooded the man's house. "'This is wrong. Launch your canoe, and we will find out who is playing with the sea,' said the eldest magician. They stepped into the canoe. The little girl-daughter came with them, and the man took his criss, a curving, wavy dagger with a blade like a flame, and they pushed out on the Parak River. Then the sea began to run back and back, and the canoe was sucked out of the mouth of the Parak River, past Selangor, past Malacca, past Singapore, out and out to the island of Bingpang, as though it had been pulled by a string. Then the eldest magician stood up and shouted, "'Oh, beasts, birds, and fishes that I took between my hands at the very beginning and taught the play that you should play? Which one of you is playing with the sea?' Then all the beasts, birds, and fishes said together, "'Eldest magician, we play the plays that you taught us to play. We and our children's children, but not one of us plays with the sea.' Then the moon rose big and full over the water, and the eldest magician said to the hunchbacked old man who sits in the moon, spinning a fishing line with which he hopes one day to catch the world. "'Oh, Fisher of the moon, are you playing with the sea?' "'No,' said the fisherman, "'I am spinning a line with which I shall some day catch the world, but I do not play with the sea.' And he went on spinning his line. Now there is also a rat up in the moon who always bites the old fisherman's line as fast as it is made, and the eldest magician said to him, "'Oh, rat of the moon, are you playing with the sea?' And the rat said, "'I am too busy biting through the line that this old fisherman is spinning, I do not play with the sea.' And he went on biting the line. Then the little girl-daughter put up her little soft brown arms with the beautiful white-shell bracelets, and said, "'Oh, eldest magician, when my father here talked to you at the very beginning, and I leaned upon his shoulder while the beasts were being taught their plays, one beast went away nautily into the sea before you had taught him his play.' And the eldest magician said, "'How wise are little children who see and are silent! What was the beast like?' And the little girl-daughter said, "'He was round and he was flat, and his eyes grew upon stocks, and he walked sideways like this, and he was covered with strong armor upon his back.' And the eldest magician said, "'How wise are little children who speak truth! Now I know where Pa Alma went, give me the paddle.' So he took the paddle, but there was no need to paddle, for the water flowed steadily past all the islands till they came to the place called Pusat Tasek, the heart of the sea, where the great hollow is that leads down to the heart of the world, and in that hollow grows the wonderful tree, Pao Jangi, that bears the magic twin nuts.' Then the eldest magician slid his arm up to the shoulder through the deep warm water, and under the roots of the wonderful tree he touched the broad back of Pao Amma the crab. And Pao Amma settled down at the touch, and all the sea rose up as water rises in a basin when you put your hand into it. "'Ah!' said the eldest magician. "'Now I know who has been playing with the sea,' and he called out. "'What are you doing, Pao Amma?' And Pao Amma, deep down below, answered, "'Once a day and once a night I go out to look for my food. Once a day and once a night I return, leave me alone.' Then the eldest magician said, "'Listen, Pao Amma, when you go out from your cave, the waters of the sea pour down into Pusat Tasek, and all the beaches of all the islands are left bare, and the little fish die, and Raja Moyang Kaban, the king of the elephants, his legs are made muddy. When you come back and sit in Pusat Tasek, the waters of the sea rise, and half the little islands are drowned, and the man's house is flooded, and Raja Abdullah, the king of the crocodiles, his mouth is filled with the salt water. Then Pao Amma, deep down below, laughed, and said, "'I did not know I was so important, henceforward I will go out seven times a day, and the waters shall never be still.' And the eldest magician said, "'I cannot make you play the play you were meant to play, Pao Amma, because you escaped me at the very beginning, but if you are not afraid, come up, and we will talk about it.' "'I am not afraid,' said Pao Amma, and he rose to the top of the sea in the moonlight. There was nobody in the world so big as Pao Amma, for he was the king-crab of all crabs. Not a common-crab, but a king-crab. One side of his great shell touched the beach at Sarawak, the other touched the beach at Pahang, and he was taller than the smoke of three volcanoes. As he rose up through the branches of the wonderful tree he tore off one of the great twin fruits, the magic double-kerneled nuts that make people young, and the little girl-daughter saw it bobbing alongside the canoe, and pulled it in, and began to pick out the soft eyes of it with her little golden scissors. "'Now,' said the magician, make a magic, Pao Amma, to show that you are really important. Pao Amma rolled his eyes and waved his legs, but he could only stir up the sea, because, though he was a king-crab, he was nothing more than a crab, and the eldest magician laughed. "'You are not so important after all, Pao Amma,' he said. Now let me try.' And he made a magic with his left hand. With just the little finger of his left hand, and low and behold best beloved, Pao Amma's hard blue-green-black shell fell off him, as a husk falls off a coconut, and Pao Amma was left all soft, soft as the little crabs that you sometimes find on the beach, best beloved. "'Indeed, you are very important,' said the eldest magician. Shall I ask the man here to cut you with his criss? Shall I send for Raja Moya and Kaban, the king of the elephants, to pierce you with his tusks? Or shall I call Raja Abdullah, the king of the crocodiles, to bite you?' And Pao Amma said, "'I am ashamed. Give me back my hard shell, and let me go back to Pusat Tasek, and I will only stir out once a day and once a night to get my food.' And the eldest magician said, "'No, Pao Amma, I will not give you back your shell, for you will grow bigger and prouder and stronger, and perhaps you will forget your promise, and you will play with the sea once more.' Then Pao Amma said, "'What shall I do? I am so big that I can only hide in Pusat Tasek, and if I go anywhere else, all soft as I am now, the sharks and the dogfish will eat me. And if I go to Pusat Tasek, all soft as I am now, though I may be safe, I can never stir out to get my food, and so I shall die.' Then he waved his legs and lamented. "'Listen, Pao Amma,' said the eldest magician, "'I cannot make you play the play you were meant to play, because you escaped me at the very beginning. But if you choose, I can make every stone and every hole and every bunch of weed and all the seas a safe Pusat Tasek for you and your children for always.' Then Pao Amma said, "'That is good, but I do not choose yet. Look, there is that man who talked to you at the very beginning. If he had not taken up your attention, I should not have grown tired of waiting and run away, and all this would never have happened. What will he do for me?' And the man said, "'If you choose, I will make a magic, so that both the deep water and the dry ground will be a home for you and your children, so that you shall be able to hide both on the land and in the sea.' And Pao Amma said, "'I do not choose yet. Look, there is that girl who saw me running away at the very beginning. If she had spoken then, the eldest magician would have called me back, and all this would never have happened. What will she do for me?' And the little girl daughter said, "'This is a good nut that I am eating. If you choose, I will make a magic, and I will give you this pair of scissors, very sharp and strong, so that you and your children can eat coconuts like this all day long when you come up from the sea to the land. Or you can dig a pusatasek for yourself with the scissors that belong to you when there is no stone or hole nearby, and when the earth is too hard by the help of these same scissors you can run up a tree.' And Pao Amma said, "'I do not choose yet, for all soft as I am, these gifts would not help me. Give me back my shell, O eldest magician, and then I will play your play.' And the eldest magician said, "'I will give it back, Pao Amma, for eleven months of the year, but on the twelfth month of every year it shall grow soft again, to remind you and all your children that I can make magics, and to keep you humble, Pao Amma. For I see that if you can run both under the water and on land, you will grow too bold, and if you can climb trees and crack nuts and dig holes with your scissors, you will grow too greedy, Pao Amma.' Then Pao Amma thought a little and said, "'I have made my choice. I will take all the gifts.' Then the eldest magician made a magic with the right hand, with all five fingers of his right hand, and, lo and behold, best beloved, Pao Amma grew smaller and smaller and smaller, till at last there was only a little green crab swimming in the water alongside the canoe, crying in a very small voice. Give me the scissors.' And the girl-daughter picked him up on the palm of her little brown hand, and sat him in the bottom of the canoe, and gave him her scissors, and he waved them in his little arms, and opened them, and shut them, and snapped them, and said, "'I can eat nuts. I can crack shells. I can dig holes. I can climb trees. I can breathe in the dry air, and I can find a safe pusat tasek under every stone. I did not know I was so important. Kun?' Is this right? "'Paya, Kun!' said the eldest magician, and he laughed and gave him his blessing, and little Pao Amma scuttled over the side of the canoe into the water, and he was so tiny that he could have hidden under the shadow of a dry leaf on land, or of a dead shell at the bottom of the sea. "'Was that well done?' said the eldest magician. "'Yes,' said the man, but now we must go back to Parak, and that is a weary way to paddle. If we had waited till Pao Amma had gone out of pusat tasek and come home, the water would have carried us there by itself. "'You are lazy,' said the eldest magician. "'So your children shall be lazy. They shall be the laziest people in the world. They shall be called the melezy, the lazy people.' And he held up his finger to the moon and said, "'Oh, fishermen, here is the man too lazy to row home. Pull his canoe home with your line, fishermen.' "'No,' said the man, "'if I am to be lazy all my days, let the sea work for me twice a day for ever. That will save paddling.' And the eldest magician laughed and said, "'Paya Kun,' that is right.' And the rat of the moon stopped biting the line, and the fishermen let his line down till it touched the sea, and he pulled the whole deep sea along, past the island of Bintang, past Singapore, past Malacca, past Selangor, till the canoe whirled into the mouth of the Parak River again. "'Kun,' said the fisherman of the moon. "'Paya Kun,' said the eldest magician. "'See now that you pull the sea twice a day and twice a night for ever, so that the melezy fishermen may be saved paddling. But be careful not to do it too hard, or I shall make a magic on you, as I did to Palama.' Then they all went up the Parak River and went to bed best beloved. Now listen and attend. From that day to this the moon has always pulled the sea up and down and made what we call the tides. Sometimes the fisher of the sea pulls a little too hard, and then we get spring tides, and sometimes he pulls a little too softly, and then we get what are called neep tides, but nearly always he is careful, because of the eldest magician. And Palama? You can see when you go to the beach how all Palama's babies make little pusat-taseks for themselves under every stone and bunch of weed on the sands. You can see them waving their little scissors, and in some parts of the world they truly live on the dry land and run up the palm trees and eat coconuts, exactly as the girl-daughter promised. But once a year all Palama's must shake off their hard armor and be soft, to remind them of what the eldest magician could do, and so it isn't fair to kill or hunt Palama's babies just because old Palama was stupidly rude a very long time ago. Oh yes, and Palama's babies hate being taken out of their little pusat-taseks and brought home in pickle-bottles. That is why they nip you with their scissors, and it serves you right. China-going peas and o's pass Palama's playground close, and his pusat-tasek lies near the track of most bee eyes. U-Y-K and N-D-L know Palama's home as well, as the Fisher of the Seas knows Ben's, M-M's, and Rubatino's. But, and this is rather queer, A-T-L's cannot come here. O and O and D-O-A must go round another way. Orient, anchor, b-b-hall never go that way at all. U-C-S would have a fit if it found itself on it. And if beavers took their cargos to Penang instead of Lagos, or a fat Shaw-Savill bore passengers to Singapore, or a white star were to try a little trip to Sourabaya, or a B-S-A went on past Natal to Cherubon, then great Mr. Lloyds would come with a wire and drag them home. You'll know what my riddle means when you've eaten mango-steans. Or if you can't wait till then ask them to let you have the outside page of the Times, turn over to page two where it has marked Shipping on the top left hand, then take the Atlas, and that is the finest picture book in the world, and see how the names of the places that the steamers go to fit into the names of the places on the map. Any steamer kiddie ought to be able to do that, but if you can't read, ask someone to show it to you. End of The Crab that Played with the Sea, read by Kara Schellenberg on May 28, 2007, in Oceanside, California, the cat that walked by himself. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Kara Schellenberg. The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, the cat that walked by himself. Here and attend and listen. For this befell and behappened, and became and was, O my best beloved, when the tame animals were wild. The dog was wild, and the horse was wild, and the cow was wild, and the sheep was wild, and the pig was wild, as wild as wild could be, and they walked in the wet wild woods by their wild loans. But the wildest of all the wild animals was the cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him. Of course the man was wild, too. He was dreadfully wild. He didn't even begin to be tame till he met the woman, and she told him that she did not like living in his wild ways. She picked out a nice dry cave, instead of a heap of wet leaves to lie down in. And she strewed clean sand on the floor, and she lit a nice fire of wood at the back of the cave, and she hung a dried wild horse-skin tail down across the opening of the cave, and she said, Wipe your feet, dear, when you come in, and now we'll keep house. That night, best beloved, they ate wild sheep, roasted on the hot stones, and flavored with wild garlic and wild pepper, and wild duck stuffed with wild rice, and wild fenugreek and wild coriander, and marrow bones of wild oxen and wild cherries and wild grenadillas. Then the man went to sleep in front of the fire ever so happy, but the woman sat up, combing her hair. She took the bone of the shoulder of mutton, the big fat blade bone, and she looked at the wonderful marks on it, and she threw more wood on the fire and she made a magic. She made the first singing magic in the world. Out in the wet wild woods all the wild animals gathered together where they could see the light of the fire a long way off, and they wondered what it meant. Then wild horse stamped with his wild foot and said, Oh, my friends and oh, my enemies, why have the man and the woman made that great light in that great cave, and what harm will it do us? Wild dog lifted up his wild nose and smelled the smell of roast mutton and said, I will go up and see and look and say, for I think it is good. Cat, come with me. Nenny said the cat, I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. I will not come. Then we can never be friends again, said wild dog, and he trotted off to the cave. But when he had gone a little way the cat said to himself, All places are alike to me, why should I not go to and see and look and come away at my own liking? So he slipped after a wild dog softly, very softly, and hid himself where he could hear everything. When wild dog reached the mouth of the cave he lifted up the dried horse skin with his nose and sniffed the beautiful smell of the roast mutton, and the woman, looking at the blade bone, heard him and laughed and said, Here comes the first, wild thing out of the wild woods, what do you want? Wild dog said, Oh my enemy and wife of my enemy, what is this that smells so good in the wild woods? Then the woman picked up a roasted mutton bone and threw it to wild dog and said, Wild thing out of the wild woods, taste and try. Wild dog gnawed the bone and it was more delicious than anything he had ever tasted and he said, Oh my enemy and wife of my enemy, give me another. The woman said, Wild thing out of the wild woods, help my man to hunt through the day and guard this cave at night and I will give you as many roast bones as you need. Ah! said the cat, listening, this is a very wise woman, but she is not so wise as I am. Wild dog crawled into the cave and laid his head on the woman's lap and said, Oh my friend and wife of my friend, I will help your man to hunt through the day and at night I will guard your cave. Ah! said the cat, listening, that is a very foolish dog. And he went back through the wet wild woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild flown, but he never told anybody. When the man waked up he said, What is wild dog doing here? And the woman said, His name is not wild dog any more, but the first friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always, take him with you when you go hunting. Next night the woman cut great green armfuls of fresh grass from the water meadows and dried it before the fire so that it smelled like pneumone hay. After she sat at the mouth of the cave and plaited a halter out of horse hide and she looked at the shoulder of mutton bone, at the big broad blade bone, and she made a magic. She made the second singing magic in the world. Out in the wild woods all the wild animals wondered what had happened to wild dog and at last wild horse stamped with his foot and said, I will go and see and say why wild dog has not returned. But come with me. Nanny, said the cat, I am the cat who walks by himself and all places are alike to me, I will not come. But all the same he followed wild horse softly, very softly, and hid himself where he could hear everything. When the woman heard wild horse tripping and stumbling on his long mane she laughed and said, Here comes the second. Wild thing out of the wild woods, what do you want? Wild horse said, Oh my enemy and wife of my enemy, where is wild dog? The woman laughed and picked up the blade bone and looked at it and said, Wild thing out of the wild woods, you did not come here for wild dog, but for the sake of this good grass. And wild horse, tripping and stumbling on his long mane said, That is true, give it me to eat. The woman said, Wild thing out of the wild woods, bend your wild head and wear what I give you and you shall eat the wonderful grass three times a day. Ah! said the cat, listening, this is a clever woman but she is not so clever as I am. Wild horse bent his wild head and the woman slipped the plated hide halter over it and wild horse breathed on the woman's feet and said, Oh my mistress and wife of my master, I will be your servant for the sake of the wonderful grass. Ah! said the cat, listening, that is a very foolish horse and he went back through the wet wild woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone but he never told anybody. When the man and the dog came back from hunting the man said, What is wild horse doing here? And the woman said, His name is not wild horse any more but the first servant because he will carry us from place to place for always and always and always, right on his back when you go hunting. Next day holding her wild head high so that her wild horns should not catch in the wild trees, wild cow came up to the cave and the cat followed and hid himself just the same as before and everything happened just the same as before and the cat said the same things as before and when wild cow had promised to give her milk to the woman every day in exchange for the wonderful grass the cat went back through the wet wild woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone just the same as before but he never told anybody. And when the man and the horse and the dog came home from hunting and asked the same questions same as before the woman said, Her name is not wild cow any more but the giver of good food she will give us the warm white milk for always and always and always and I will take care of her while you and the first friend and the first servant go hunting. Next day the cat waited to see if any other wild thing would go up to the cave but no one moved in the wet wild woods so the cat walked there by himself and he saw the woman milking the cow and he saw the light of the fire in the cave and he smelt the smell of the warm white milk. Cat said, Oh my enemy and wife of my enemy where did wild cow go? The woman laughed and said, Wild thing out of the wild woods go back to the woods again for I have braided up my hair and I have put away the magic blade bone and we have no more need of either friends or servants in our cave. Cat said, I am not a friend and I am not a servant I am the cat who walks by himself and I wish to come into your cave. Woman said, Then why did you not come with first friend on the first night? Cat grew very angry and said, Has wild dog told tales of me? Then the woman laughed and said, You are the cat who walks by himself and all places are alike to you. You are neither a friend nor a servant. You have said it yourself. Go away and walk by yourself in all places alike. Then cat pretended to be sorry and said, Must I never come into the cave? Must I never sit by the warm fire? Must I never drink the warm white milk? You are very wise and very beautiful. You should not be cruel even to a cat. Woman said, I knew I was wise but I did not know I was beautiful so I will make a bargain with you. If ever I say one word in your praise you may come into the cave. And if you say two words in my praise, said the cat, I never shall, said the woman, but if I say two words in your praise you may sit by the fire in the cave. And if you say three words, said the cat, I never shall, said the woman, but if I say three words in your praise you may drink the warm white milk three times a day for always and always and always. Then the cat arched his back and said, Now let the curtain at the mouth of the cave and the fire at the back of the cave and the milk pots that stand beside the fire remember what my enemy and the wife of my enemy has said. And he went away through the wet wild woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild loan. That night when the man and the horse and the dog came home from hunting the woman did not tell them of the bargain that she had made with the cat because she was afraid that they might not like it. Cat went far and far away and hid himself in the wet wild woods by his wild loan for a long time till the woman forgot all about him. Only the bat, the little upside down bat that hung inside the cave knew where cat hid and every evening bat would fly to cat with news of what was happening. One evening bat said, There is a baby in the cave. He is new and pink and fat and small and the woman is very fond of him. Ah! said the cat, listening. But what is the baby fond of? He is fond of things that are soft and tickle, said the bat. He is fond of warm things to hold in his arms when he goes to sleep. He is fond of being played with. He is fond of all those things. Ah! said the cat, listening. Then my time has come. Next night cat walked through the wet wild woods and hid very near the cave till morning time and man and dog and horse went hunting. The woman was busy cooking that morning and the baby cried and interrupted, so she carried him outside the cave and gave him a handful of pebbles to play with. But still the baby cried. Then the cat put out his patty-paw and patted the baby on the cheek and it cooed, and the cat rubbed against its fat knees and tickled it under its fat chin with his tail. And the baby laughed, and the woman heard him and smiled. And the bat, the little upside-down bat that hung in the mouth of the cave, said, Oh, my hostess and wife of my host and mother of my host's son, a wild thing from the wild woods is most beautifully playing with your baby. A blessing on that wild thing, whoever he may be, said the woman, straightening her back. For I was a busy woman this morning and he has done me a service. That very minute and second, best beloved, the dried horse-skin curtain that was stretched pale down at the mouth of the cave fell down, whoosh! Because it remembered the bargain she had made with the cat. And when the woman went to pick it up, lo and behold, the cat was sitting quite comfy inside the cave. Oh, my enemy and wife of my enemy and mother of my enemy, said the cat, it is I, for you have spoken a word in my praise, and now I can sit within the cave, for always and always and always. But still I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. The woman was very angry and shut her lips tight and took up her spinning-wheel and began to spin. But the baby cried because the cat had gone away and the woman could not hush it, for it struggled and kicked and grew black in the face. Oh, my enemy and wife of my enemy and mother of my enemy, said the cat, take a strand of the wire that you are spinning and tie it to your spinning-whirl and drag it along the floor, and I will show you a magic that shall make your baby laugh as loudly as he is now crying. I will do so, said the woman, because I am at my wit's end, but I will not thank you for it. She tied the thread to the little clay spindle-whirl and drew it across the floor, and the cat ran after it and patted it with his paws and rolled head over heels and tossed it backward over his shoulder and chased it between his hind legs and pretended to lose it and pounced down upon it again till the baby laughed as loudly as it had been crying and scrambled after the cat and froliced all over the cave till it grew tired and settled down to sleep with the cat in its arms. Now, said the cat, I will sing the baby a song that shall keep him asleep for an hour. And he began to purr, loud and low, low and loud, till the baby fell fast asleep. The woman smiled as she looked down upon the two of them and said, That was wonderfully done. No question, but you are very clever, O cat. At very minute and second best beloved, the smoke of the fire at the back of the cave came down in clouds from the roof—puff!—because it remembered the bargain she had made with the cat, and when it had cleared away, lo and behold, the cat was sitting quite comfy close to the fire. O my enemy and wife of my enemy and mother of my enemy, said the cat, It is I, for you have spoken a second word in my praise, and now I can sit by the warm fire at the back of the cave for always and always and always, but still I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. Then the woman was very, very angry, and let down her hair and put more wood on the fire, and brought out the broad-blade bone of the shoulder of mutton, and began to make a magic that should prevent her from saying a third word in praise of the cat. It was not a singing magic, best beloved, it was a still magic, and by and by the cave grew so still that a little wee-wee mouse crept out of a corner and ran across the floor. O my enemy and wife of my enemy and mother of my enemy, said the cat, Is that little mouse part of your magic? Oh, gee, no indeed, said the woman, and she dropped the blade bone and jumped upon the footstool in front of the fire and braided up her hair very quick, for fear that the mouse should run up it. Ah, said the cat, watching. Then the mouse will do me no harm if I eat it. No, said the woman, braiding up her hair, eat it quickly, and I will ever be grateful to you. Cat made one jump and caught the little mouse, and the woman said, A hundred thanks, even the first friend is not quick enough to catch little mice as you have done, you must be very wise. That very moment and second, O best beloved, the milk-pot that stood by the fire cracked in two pieces, because it remembered the bargain she had made with the cat, and when the woman jumped down from the footstool, lo and behold, the cat was lapping up the warm white milk that lay in one of the broken pieces. O my enemy and wife of my enemy and mother of my enemy, said the cat, it is I, for you have spoken three words in my praise, and now I can drink the warm white milk three times a day for always and always and always, but still I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. Then the woman laughed, and set the cat a bowl of the warm white milk, and said, O cat, you are as clever as a man, but remember that your bargain was not made with the man or the dog, and I do not know what they will do when they come home. What is that to me, said the cat, if I have my place in the cave by the fire and my warm white milk three times a day I do not care what the man or the dog can do. That evening, when the man and the dog came into the cave, the woman told them all the story of the bargain while the cat sat by the fire and smiled. Then the man said, Yes, but he has not made a bargain with me or with all proper men after me. Then he took off his two leather boots, and he took up his little stone ax, that makes three, and he fetched a piece of wood and a hatchet, that is five altogether, and he set them out in a row, and he said, Now we will make our bargain. If you do not catch mice when you are in the cave for always and always and always, I will throw these five things at you whenever I see you, and so shall all proper men do after me. Ah! said the woman, listening. This is a very clever cat, but he is not so clever as my man. The cat counted the five things, and they looked very knobby, and he said, I will catch mice when I am in the cave for always and always and always, but still I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. Not when I am near, said the man. If you had not said that last I would have put all these things away for always and always and always, but I am now going to throw my two boots and my little stone ax, that makes three, at you whenever I meet you, and so shall all proper men do after me. Then the dog said, Wait a minute! He has not made a bargain with me or with all proper dogs after me, and he showed his teeth and said, If you are not kind to the baby while I am in the cave for always and always and always, I will hunt you till I catch you, and when I catch you I will bite you, and so shall all proper dogs do after me. Ah! said the woman, listening. This is a very clever cat, but he is not so clever as the dog. Cat counted the dog's teeth, and they looked very pointed, and he said, I will be kind to the baby while I am in the cave as long as he does not pull my tail too hard for always and always and always, but still I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. Not when I am near, said the dog, if you had not said that last I would have shut my mouth for always and always and always, but now I am going to hunt you up a tree whenever I meet you, and so shall all proper dogs do after me. Then the man threw his two boots and his little stone ax, that makes three, at the cat, and the cat ran out of the cave, and the dog chased him up a tree, and from that day to this, best beloved, three proper men out of five will always throw things at a cat whenever they meet him, and all proper dogs will chase him up a tree. But the cat keeps his side of the bargain, too. He will kill mice, and he will be kind to babies when he is in the house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard. But when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and night comes, he is the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to him. Then he goes out to the wet wild woods, or up the wet wild trees, or on the wet wild roofs, waving his wild tail, and walking by his wild lone. Pussy can sit by the fire and sing, pussy can climb a tree, or play with a silly old cork and string to amuse herself, not me. But I like Binky my dog, because he knows how to behave, so Binky's the same as the first friend was, and I am the man in the cave. Pussy will play man Friday till it's time to wet her paw, and make her walk on the window sill for the footprint Crusoe saw. Then she fluffles her tail and mews and scratches, and won't attend, but Binky will play whatever I choose, and he is my true first friend. Pussy will rub my knees with her head, pretending she loves me hard, but the very minute I go to my bed Pussy runs out in the yard, and there she stays till the morning light, so I know it is only pretend. But Binky he snores at my feet all night, and he is my firstest friend, of the cat that walked by himself, read by Kara Schellenberg on May 31, 2007, in Oceanside, California, the butterfly that stamped. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org, this reading by Kara Schellenberg. The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, The Butterfly That Stamped. This, O my best beloved, is a story. A new and a wonderful story. A story quite different from the other stories. A story about the most wise, sovereign, Suleman Bindoud, Solomon, the son of David. There are three hundred and fifty-five stories about Suleman Bindoud, but this is not one of them. It is not the story of the lapwing who found the water, or the hoop-o who shaded Suleman Bindoud from the heat. It is not the story of the glass pavement, or the ruby with the crooked hole, or the gold bars of Balkis. It is the story of the butterfly that stamped. Now attend all over again and listen. Suleman Bindoud was wise. He understood what the beasts said, what the birds said, what the fishes said, and what the insects said. He understood what the rocks said, deep under the earth, when they bowed in towards each other and groaned, and he understood what the trees said when they rustled in the middle of the morning. He understood everything, from the bishop on the bench, to the hyssop on the wall, and Balkis, his head queen, the most beautiful queen Balkis, was nearly as wise as he was. Suleman Bindoud was strong. Upon the third finger of the right hand he wore a ring. When he turned it once, aphrits and jins came out of the earth to do whatever he told them. When he turned it twice, fairies came down from the sky to do whatever he told them, and when he turned it three times, the very great angel Azrael of the sword came dressed as a water carrier and told him the news of the three worlds, above, below, and here. And yet Suleman Bindoud was not proud. He very seldom showed off, and when he did he was sorry for it. Once he tried to feed all the animals in all the world in one day, but when the food was ready an animal came out of the deep sea and ate it up in three mouthfuls. Suleman Bindoud was very surprised and said, Oh, animal, who are you? And the animal said, Oh, king, live for ever. I am the smallest of thirty thousand brothers, and our home is at the bottom of the sea. We heard that you were going to feed all the animals in all the world, and my brother sent me to ask when dinner would be ready. Suleman Bindoud was more surprised than ever and said, Oh, animal, you have eaten all the dinner that I made ready for all the animals in the world. And the animal said, Oh, king, live for ever. But do you really call that a dinner? Where I come from we each eat twice as much as that between meals. Then Suleman Bindoud fell flat on his face and said, Oh, animal, I gave that dinner to show what a great and rich king I was, and not because I really wanted to be kind to the animals. Now I am ashamed, and it serves me right. Suleman Bindoud was a really truly wise man, best beloved. After that he never forgot that it was silly to show off. And now the real story part of my story begins. He married ever so many wives. He married nine hundred and ninety-nine wives, besides the most beautiful balkus, and they all lived in a great golden palace in the middle of a lovely garden with fountains. He didn't really want nine hundred and ninety-nine wives, but in those days everybody married ever so many wives, and of course the king had to marry ever so many more, just to show that he was the king. Some of the wives were nice, but some were simply horrid, and the horrid ones quarreled with the nice ones and made them horrid too, and then they would all quarrel with Suleman Bindoud, and that was horrid for him. But balkus, the most beautiful, never quarreled with Suleman Bindoud. She loved him too much. She sat in her rooms in the golden palace, or walked in the palace garden, and was truly sorry for him. Of course, if he had chosen to turn his ring on his finger and call up the jins and the affrits, they would have magicked all those nine hundred and ninety-nine quarrelsome wives into white mules of the desert, or greyhounds, or pomegranate seeds. But Suleman Bindoud thought that that would be showing off. So when they quarreled too much he only walked by himself in one part of the beautiful palace gardens, and wished he had never been born. One day, when they had quarrelled for three weeks, all nine hundred and ninety-nine wives together, Suleman Bindoud went out for peace and quiet as usual, and among the orange trees he met balkus the most beautiful, very sorrowful because Suleman Bindoud was so worried. And she said to him, O my lord and light of my eyes, turn the ring upon your finger and show these queens of Egypt and Mesopotamia and Persia and China, that you are the great and terrible king. But Suleman Bindoud shook his head and said, O my lady and delight of my life, remember the animal that came out of the sea and made me ashamed before all the animals in all the world because I showed off. Now if I showed off before these queens of Persia and Egypt and Abyssinia and China merely because they worry me, I might be made even more ashamed than I have been. And balkus the most beautiful said, O my lord and treasure of my soul, what will you do? And Suleman Bindoud said, O my lady and content of my heart, I shall continue to endure my fate at the hands of these nine hundred and ninety-nine queens who vex me with their continual quarreling. So he went on between the lilies and the loquats and the roses and the canas and the heavy-scented ginger-plants that grew in the garden till he came to the great camphor tree that was called the camphor tree of Suleman Bindoud. That balkus hid among the tall irises and the spotted bamboos and the red lilies behind the camphor tree so as to be near her own true love, Suleman Bindoud. Presently two butterflies flew under the tree quarreling. Suleman Bindoud heard one say to the other, I wonder at your presumption in talking like this to me, don't you know that if I stamped with my foot all Suleman Bindoud's palace and this garden here would immediately vanish in a clap of thunder. Then Suleman Bindoud forgot his nine hundred and ninety-nine bothersome wives and laughed till the camphor tree shook at the butterfly's boast. And he held out his finger and said, Little man, come here. The butterfly was dreadfully frightened but he managed to fly up to the hand of Suleman Bindoud and clung there, fanning himself. Suleman Bindoud bent his head and whispered very softly. Little man, you know that all your stamping wouldn't bend one blade of grass. What made you tell that awful fib to your wife? For doubtless she is your wife. The butterfly looked at Suleman Bindoud and saw the most wise king's eye twinkle like stars on a frosty night, and he picked up his courage with both wings and he put his head on one side and said, O king, live for ever. She is my wife and you know what wives are like. Suleman Bindoud smiled in his beard and said, Yes, I know, little brother. One must keep them in order somehow, said the butterfly, and she has been quarreling with me all the morning. I said that to quiet her. And Suleman Bindoud said, May it quiet her. Go back to your wife, little brother, and let me hear what you say. Back flew the butterfly to his wife, who was all of a Twitter behind the leaf, and she said, He heard you. Suleman Bindoud himself heard you. Heard me, said the butterfly. Of course he did. I meant him to hear me. And what did he say? Oh, what did he say? Well, said the butterfly, fanning himself most importantly. Between you and me, my dear. Of course I don't blame him, because his palace must have cost a great deal, and the oranges are just ripening. He asked me not to stamp, and I promised I wouldn't. Gracious, said his wife, and sat quite quiet. But Suleman Bindoud laughed till the tears ran down his face at the impudence of the bad little butterfly. Balkis the most beautiful stood up behind the tree among the red lilies and smiled to herself, for she had heard all this talk. She thought, If I am wise I can yet save my lord from the persecutions of those quarrelsome queens, and she held out her finger and whispered softly to the butterfly's wife. Little woman, come here! Up flew the butterfly's wife, very frightened, and clung to Balkis's white hand. Balkis bent her beautiful head down and whispered, Little woman, do you believe what your husband has just said? The butterfly's wife looked at Balkis and saw the most beautiful queen's eyes shining like deep pools with starlight on them, and she picked up her courage with both wings and said, O queen, be lovely forever. You know what men folk are like. And the queen Balkis, the wise Balkis of Sheba, put her hand to her lips to hide a smile and said, Little sister, I know. They get angry, said the butterfly's wife, fanning herself quickly. Over nothing at all, but we must humor them, O queen. They never mean half what they say. If it pleases my husband to believe that I believe he can make Suleiman Bindoud's palace disappear by stamping his foot, I'm sure I don't care. He'll forget all about it to-morrow. Little sister, said Balkis, you are quite right. But next time he begins to boast, take him at his word. Ask him to stamp, and see what will happen. We know what men folk are like, don't we? He'll be very much ashamed. Away flew the butterfly's wife to her husband, and in five minutes they were quarreling worse than ever. Remember, said the butterfly, remember what I can do if I stamp my foot. I don't believe you one little bit, said the butterfly's wife. I should very much like to see it done. Suppose you stamp now. I promised Suleiman Bindoud that I wouldn't, said the butterfly. And I don't want to break my promise. It wouldn't matter if you did, said his wife. You couldn't bend a blade of grass with your stamping. I dare you to do it, she said. Stamp, stamp, stamp. Suleiman Bindoud, sitting under the camphor tree, heard every word of this, and he laughed as he had never laughed in his life before. He forgot all about his queens. He forgot all about the animal that came out of the sea. He forgot about showing off. He just laughed with joy, and Balkis, on the other side of the tree, smiled, because her own true love was so joyful. Presently the butterfly, very hot and puffy, came hurling back under the shadow of the camphor tree, and said to Suleiman, She wants me to stamp. She wants to see what will happen. Oh, Suleiman Bindoud, you know I can't do it, and now she'll never believe a word I say. She'll laugh at me to the end of my days. No, little brother, said Suleiman Bindoud. She will never laugh at you again. And he turned the ring on his finger, just for the little butterfly's sake, not for the sake of showing off. And lo and behold, four huge jins came out of the earth. These, said Suleiman Bindoud, when this gentleman on my finger, that was where the impudent butterfly was sitting, stamps his left front forefoot, you will make my palace and these gardens disappear in a clap of thunder. When he stamps again you will bring them back carefully. Now, little brother, he said, go back to your wife, and stamp all you've a mind to. Away flew the butterfly to his wife, who was crying, I dare you to do it, I dare you to do it, stamp, stamp now, stamp. Balkis saw the four vast jins stoop down to the four corners of the gardens with the palace in the middle, and she clapped her hands softly and said, at last Suleiman Bindoud will do for the sake of a butterfly what he ought to have done long ago for his own sake, and the quarrelsome queens will be frightened. Then the butterfly stamped. The jins jerked the palace and the gardens a thousand miles into the air. There was a most awful thunderclap, and everything grew inky-black. The butterfly's wife fluttered about in the dark, crying, Oh, I'll be good, I'm so sorry, I spoke, only bring the gardens back, my dear darling husband, and I'll never contradict again. The butterfly was nearly as frightened as his wife, and Suleiman Bindoud laughed so much that it was several minutes before he found breath enough to whisper to the butterfly, stamp again, little brother, give me back my palace, most great magician. Yes, give him back his palace, said the butterfly's wife, still flying about in the dark like a moth. Give him back his palace, and don't let's have any more horrid magic. Well, my dear, said the butterfly as bravely as he could, you see what your nagging has led to, of course it doesn't make any difference to me, I'm used to this kind of thing, but as a favour to you and to Suleiman Bindoud I don't mind putting things right. So he stamped once more, and that instant the gins let down the palace and the gardens without even a bump. The sun shone on the dark green orange leaves, the fountains played among the pink Egyptian lilies, the birds went on singing, and the butterfly's wife lay on her side under the camphor tree, wriggling her wings and panting, oh, I'll be good, I'll be good. Suleiman Bindoud could hardly speak for laughing. He leaned back all weak and hiccupy, and shook his finger at the butterfly and said, Oh, great wizard, what is the sense of returning to me my palace if at the same time you slay me with mirth? Then came a terrible noise. For all the nine hundred and ninety-nine queens ran out of the palace shrieking and shouting and calling for their babies. They hurried down the great marble steps below the fountain, one hundred abreast, and the most wise Balkis went statelyly forward to meet them and said, What is your trouble, oh queens? They stood on the marble steps, one hundred abreast, and shouted, What is our trouble? We were living peacefully in our golden palace, as is our custom, and upon a sudden the palace disappeared, and we were left sitting in a thick and noisome darkness, and it thundered, and jins and affrets moved about in the darkness. That is our trouble, oh head queen, and we are most extremely troubled on account of that trouble, for it was a troublesome trouble, unlike any trouble we have known. Then Balkis, the most beautiful queen, Suleiman Bindoud's very best beloved, queen that was of Sheba and Sable, and the rivers of the gold of the south, from the desert of Zin to the towers of Zimbabwe. Balkis, almost as wise as the most wise Suleiman Bindoud himself, said, It is nothing, oh queens, a butterfly has made complaint against his wife because she quarreled with him, and it has pleased our lord Suleiman Bindoud to teach her a lesson in low speaking and humbleness, for that is counted a virtue among the wives of the butterflies. Suleiman up and spoke an Egyptian queen, the daughter of a pharaoh, and she said, Our palace cannot be plucked up by the roots like a leak for the sake of a little insect, no, Suleiman Bindoud must be dead, and what we heard and saw was the earth thundering and darkening at the news. Then Balkis beckoned that bold queen, without looking at her, and said to her and to the others, Come and see. They came down the marble steps, one hundred abreast, and beneath his camphor tree, still weak with laughing, they saw the most wise king Suleiman Bindoud rocking back and forth with a butterfly on either hand, and they heard him say, Oh wife of my brother in the air, remember after this to please your husband in all things lest he be provoked to stamp his foot yet again, for he has said that he is used to this magic, and he is most eminently a great magician, one who steals away the very palace of Suleiman Bindoud himself. Go in peace, little folk. And he kissed them on the wings, and they flew away. Then all the queens except Balkis, the most beautiful and splendid Balkis, who stood apart smiling, fell flat on their faces, for they said, If these things are done when a butterfly is displeased with his wife, what shall be done to us who have vexed our king with our loud speaking and open quarreling through many days? Then they put their veils over their heads, and they put their hands over their mouths, and they tiptoed back to the palace most moussy quiet. Then Balkis, the most beautiful and excellent Balkis, went forward through the red lilies into the shade of the camphor tree, and laid her hand upon Suleiman Bindoud's shoulder, and said, O my Lord and treasure of my soul rejoice, for we have taught the queens of Egypt and Ethiopia and Abyssinia and Persia and India and China with a great and memorable teaching. And Suleiman Bindoud, still looking after the butterflies where they played in the sunlight, said, O my lady and jewel of my felicity, when did this happen, for I have been jesting with a butterfly ever since I came into the garden? And he told Balkis what he had done. Balkis, the tender and most lovely Balkis, said, O my Lord and regent of my existence, I hid behind the camphor tree and saw it all. It was I who told the butterfly's wife to ask the butterfly to stamp, because I hoped that, for the sake of the jest, my Lord would make some great magic, and that the queens would see it and be frightened. And she told him what the queens had said and seen and thought. Then Suleiman Bindoud rose up from his seat under the camphor tree and stretched his arms and rejoiced and said, O my lady and sweetener of my days, know that if I had made a magic against my queens for the sake of pride or anger, as I made that feast for all the animals, I should certainly have been put to shame. But by means of your wisdom I made the magic for the sake of a jest and for the sake of a little butterfly, and behold, it has also delivered me from the vexations of my vexatious wives. Tell me, therefore, O my lady and heart of my heart, how did you come to be so wise? And Balkis, the queen, beautiful and tall, looked up into Suleiman Bindoud's eyes and put her head a little on one side, just like the butterfly, and said, First, O my Lord, because I loved you, and secondly, O my Lord, because I know what women folk are. Then they went up to the palace and lived happily ever afterwards. But wasn't it clever of Balkis? There was never a queen like Balkis from here to the wide world's end, but Balkis talked to a butterfly as you would talk to a friend. There was never a king like Solomon not since the world began, but Solomon talked to a butterfly as a man would talk to a man. She was queen of Sabea, and he was Asia's Lord, but both of them talked to butterflies when they took their walks abroad. And of the butterfly that stamped, and the end of the just so stories by Rudyard Kipling, read by Kara Schellenberg on May 31, 2007 in Oceanside, California.