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The Six Hungry BeastsFrom the Crimson Fairy Book, Edited by Andrew LangOnce upon a time there lived a man whodwelt with his wife in a little hut, far away fromany neighbours. But they did not mind beingalone, and would have been quite happy, if ithad not been for a marten, who came everynight to their poultry yard, and carried off oneof their fowls. The man laid all sorts of trapsto catch the thief, but instead of capturing thefoe, it happened that one day he got caughthimself, and falling down, struck his headagainst a stone, andwas killed.Not long afterthe marten cameby on the lookout for his supper.Seeing the deadman lying there,he said to himself:‘That is a prize,this time I havedone well’; and dragging the body with greatdifficulty to the sledge which was waiting forhim, drove off with his booty. He had notdriven far when he met a squirrel, who bowedand said: ‘Good-morning, godfather! whathave you got behind you?’The marten laughed and answered: ‘Didyou ever hear anything so strange? The oldman that you see here set traps about his henhouse, thinking to catch me but he fell intohis own trap, and broke his own neck. He isvery heavy; I wish you would help me to drawthe sledge.’ The squirrel did as he was asked,and the sledge moved slowly along.By-and-by a hare came running acrossa field, but stopped to see what wonderfulthing was coming. ‘What have you got there?’she asked, and the marten told his story andbegged the hare to help them pull.The hare pulled her hardest, and after awhile they were joined by a fox, and then bya wolf, and at length a bear was added to thecompany, and hewas of more usethan all the otherfive beasts puttogether. Besides,when the wholesix had supped offthe man he wasnot so heavy todraw.Theworstof it was that they soon began to get hungryagain, and the wolf, who was the hungriest ofall, said to the rest:‘What shall we eat now, my friends, asthere is no more man?’‘I suppose we shall have to eat the smallestof us,’ replied the bear, and the marten turnedround to seize the squirrel who was much smallerthan any of the rest. But the squirrel ran up a treelike lightning, and the marten remembering,just in time, that he was the next in size, slippedquick as thought into a hole in the rocks.— —Created for Lit2Go on the web at fcit.usf.edu

The Six Hungry BeastsEdited by Andrew Lang‘What shall we eat now?’ asked thewolf again, when he had recovered from hissurprise.‘We must eat the smallest of us,’ repeatedthe bear, stretching out a paw towards thehare; but the hare was not a hare for nothing,and before the paw had touched her, she haddarted deep into the wood.Now that the squirrel, the marten, and thehare had all gone, the fox was the smallest ofthe three who were left, and the wolf and thebear explained that they were very sorry, butthey would have to eat him. Michael, the fox,did not run away as the others had done, butsmiled in a friendly manner, and remarked:‘Things taste so stale in a valley; one’s appetiteis so much better up on a mountain.’ Thewolf and the bear agreed, and they turned outof the hollow where they had been walking,and chose a path that led up the mountainside. The fox trotted cheerfully by his two bigcompanions, but on the way he managed towhisper to the wolf: ‘Tell me, Peter, when Iam eaten, what will you have for your nextdinner?’This simple question seemed to put outthe wolf very much. What would they havefor their next dinner, and, what was moreimportant still, who would there be to eat it?They had made a rule always to dine off thesmallest of the party, and when the fox wasgone, why of course, he was smaller than thebear.These thoughts flashed quickly throughhis head, and he said hastily:‘Dear brothers, would it not be better forus to live together as comrades, and everyoneto hunt for the common dinner? Is not myplan a good one?’‘It is the best thing I have ever heard,’answered the fox; and as they were two to onethe bear had to be content, though in his hearthe would much have preferred a good dinnerat once to any friendship.For a few days all went well; there wasplenty of game in the forest, and even thewolf had as much to eat as he could wish. Onemorning the fox as usual was going his roundswhen he noticed a tall, slender tree, with amagpie’s nest in one of the top branches.Now the fox was particularly fond of youngmagpies, and he set about making a plan bywhich he could have one for dinner. At last hehit upon something which he thought woulddo, and accordingly he sat down near the treeand began to stare hard at it.‘What are you looking at, Michael?’ askedthe magpie, who was watching him from abough.‘I’m looking at this tree. It has just struckme what a good tree it would be to cut mynew snow-shoes out of.’ But at this answer themagpie screeched loudly, and exclaimed: ‘Oh,not this tree, dear brother, I implore you! Ihave built my nest on it, and my young onesare not yet old enough to fly.’‘It will not be easy to find another treethat would make such good snow-shoes,’answered the fox, cocking his head on oneside, and gazing at the tree thoughtfully; ‘but— —Created for Lit2Go on the web at fcit.usf.edu

The Six Hungry BeastsEdited by Andrew LangI do not like to be ill-natured, so if you willgive me one of your young ones I will seek mysnow-shoes elsewhere.’Not knowing what to do the poor magpiehad to agree, and flying back, with a heavyheart, he threw one of his young ones out ofthe nest. The fox seized it in his mouth andran off in triumph, while the magpie, thoughdeeply grieved for the loss of his little one,found some comfort in the thought that onlya bird of extraordinary wisdom would havedreamed of saving the rest by the sacrifice ofthe one. But what do you think happened?Why, a few days later, Michael the fox mighthave been seen sitting under the very sametree, and a dreadful pang shot through theheart of the magpie as he peeped at him froma hole in the nest.‘What are you looking at?’ he asked in atrembling voice.‘At this tree. I was just thinking what goodsnowshoes it would make,’ answered the fox inan absent voice, as if he was not thinking ofwhat he was saying.‘Oh, my brother, my dear little brother,don’t do that,’ cried the magpie, hoppingabout in his anguish. ‘You know you promisedonly a few days ago that you would get yoursnow-shoes elsewhere.’‘So I did; but though I have searchedthrough the whole forest, there is not a singletree that is as good as this. I am very sorryto put you out, but really it is not my fault.The only thing I can do for you is to offer togive up my snow-shoes altogether if you willthrow me down one of your young ones inexchange.’And the poor magpie, in spite of hiswisdom, was obliged to throw another of hislittle ones out of the nest; and this time he wasnot able to console himself with the thoughtthat he had been much cleverer than otherpeople.He sat on the edge of his nest, his headdrooping and his feathers all ruffled, lookingthe picture of misery. Indeed he was sodifferent from the gay, jaunty magpie whomevery creature in the forest knew, that a crowwho was flying past, stopped to inquire whatwas the matter. ‘Where are the two young oneswho are not in the nest?’ asked he.‘I had to give them to the fox,’ replied themagpie in a quivering voice; ‘he has been heretwice in the last week, and wanted to cut downmy tree for the purpose of making snow-shoesout of it, and the only way I could buy him offwas by giving him two of my young ones.’Oh, you fool,’ cried the crow, ‘the foxwas only trying to frighten you. He couldnot have cut down the tree, for he has neitheraxe nor knife. Dear me, to think that youhave sacrificed your young ones for nothing!Dear, dear! how could you be so very foolish!’And the crow flew away, leaving the magpieovercome with shame and sorrow.The next morning the fox came to hisusual place in front of the tree, for he washungry, and a nice young magpie would havesuited him very well for dinner. But this timethere was no cowering, timid magpie to do his— —Created for Lit2Go on the web at fcit.usf.edu

The Six Hungry BeastsEdited by Andrew Langbidding, but a bird with his head erect and adetermined voice.‘My good fox,’ said the magpie putting hishead on one side and looking very wise—’mygood fox, if you take my advice, you will gohome as fast as you can. There is no use yourtalking about making snow-shoes out of thistree, when you have neither knife nor axe tocut it down with!’‘Who has been teaching you wisdom?’asked the fox, forgetting his manners in hissurprise at this new turn of affairs.‘The crow, who paid me a visit yesterday,’answered the magpie.‘The crow was it?’ said the fox, ‘well, thecrow had better not meet me for the future, orit may be the worse for him.’As Michael, the cunning beast, had nodesire to continue the conversation, he leftthe forest; but when he came to the high roadhe laid himself at full length on the ground,stretching himself out, just as if he was dead.Very soon he noticed, out of the corner of hiseye, that the crow was flying towards him, andhe kept stiller and stiffer than ever, with histongue hanging out of his mouth. The crow,who wanted her supper very badly, hoppedquickly towards him, and was stooping forwardto peck at his tongue when the fox gave a snap,and caught him by the wing. The crow knewthat it was of no use struggling, so he said:‘Ah, brother, if you are really going to eatme, do it, I beg of you, in good style. Throwme first over this precipice, so that my feathersmay be strewn here and there, and that allwho see them may know that your cunningis greater than mine.’ This idea pleased thefox, for he had not yet forgiven the crow fordepriving him of the young magpies, so hecarried the crow to the edge of the precipiceand threw him over, intending to go roundby a path he knew and pick him up at thebottom. But no sooner had the fox let thecrow go than he soared up into the air, andhovering just out of reach of his enemy’s jaws,he cried with a laugh: ‘Ah, fox! you know wellhow to catch, but you cannot keep.’With his tail between his legs, the foxslunk into the forest. He did not know whereto look for a dinner, as he guessed that thecrow would have flown back before him, andput every one on their guard. The notion ofgoing to bed supperless was very unpleasant tohim, and he was wondering what in the worldhe should do, when he chanced to meet withhis old friend the bear.This poor animal had just lost his wife, andwas going to get some one to mourn over her,for he felt her loss greatly. He had hardly lefthis comfortable cave when he had come acrossthe wolf, who inquired where he was going.‘I am going to find a mourner,’ answered thebear, and told his story.‘Oh, let me mourn for you,’ cried thewolf.‘Do you understand how to howl?’ saidthe bear.‘Oh, certainly, godfather, certainly,’replied the wolf; but the bear said he shouldlike to have a specimen of his howling, to— —Created for Lit2Go on the web at fcit.usf.edu