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77 - The
Birds and the Beasts and the Carpenter
Long
time ago, a peacock used to live on the seashore with his wife. Now the
place was full of wild animals so he and his wife slept on a tree in the
night, and went in search of food in the night. But their fear continued
to increase till they thought to move from there. They found an island
with many streams and trees of fruits, so they went there and started
living there.
Now
there came a duck near that tree where those cock and hen were perching.
They asked the duck about her, she said - "I am sick of this
man." The peacock said - "Do not be afraid, we are here to
protect you." The duck got very happy to hear this and thanked God.
The peahen said - "How can a man come here on this island in the
midst of the sea? So be happy and don't worry about him." At this
duck said - "I had been living here happily till one night when I was
asleep, a voice said to me - "You should be careful of man. Do not
trust him because he is very crafty. He can take out fish out of the sea,
he can shoot the birds and even can trap the elephant. Nobody can escape
his mischief. I told you what I heard." Since that day my fear has
not gone.
I went
here and there and I came to a mountain and saw a lion cub sitting at the door
of a cave. He got very happy to see me and called me near him. When I went
to him, he asked me - "What is your name and what is your
nature?" I said - "My name is duck and I am of the bird kind.
But why are you here?" He said - "My father had warned me about
the man, but this night, I saw a man in my dream." And he told me the
same what I told you. So I said to him - "O lion cub, I take asylum
with you, because you can kill him. After all you are the king of the
beasts." And I urged him to kill the man.
So he
arose immediately and ran towards the road and I followed him. We came to
a spot where the road forked and a naked ass was rolling away in the dust.
The lion cub asked him - "What is your kind and why have you come
here?" He said - "My kind is ass and I am fleeing away from
man." The lion cub asked - "Do you fear that he will kill
you?" The ass answered - "No, not for that reason, but I fear
that he will put a cheat on me, he will ride on me and make me run more
than my strength, if I will bray he will beat me, and when I will grow old
he will give me to water carriers who will carry water on me." So O
Peahen, When I heard this, I trembled and I said to the lion cub - "I
am very afraid of all this." Then the lion cub asked the ass -
"Where are you going now?" The ass said - "I saw a man in
the morning and now I am going where the man cannot find me."
When
we were talking like this, another dust of cloud arose and we saw a horse
coming towards us. The lion cub asked him - "What is your kind and
why are you running away like this in this desert?" The horse said -
"I am horse and I am fleeing away from man." The lion cub said -
"You should be ashamed of saying this. You are such a majestic animal
and you are fearing from man? See, that even being so little I have
resolved that I will encounter the man and eat him so that I can protect
this duck; but you are turning me back from what I have resolved. You said
that the man has mastered you and you could not overcome him." The
horse laughed and said - "It is very far from my power to overcome
him. He can bind me, he can ride me, when I am old and weak he sells me to
the miller who makes me turn the mill; just do not ask me the
hardships I endure with him." The lion cub got very angry hearing
this, he asked him - "When did you leave him?" "At midday
and he is on my track." and he also went away.
While
the lion cub was talking like thus, he saw another cloud of dust and
coming out from it was a furious camel. When the lion cub saw such a big
animal, he took him to be the man and was about to spring upon him, that I
said to him - "O Prince, He is not the man. He is a camel, and it
seems that he has also run away from the man." The camel came and
saluted the lion cub. The lion cub asked - "What makes you run so
fast?" "I am fleeing away from the man." The lion cub again
asked - "How come that being so huge you fear from the man? If you
kick him even with your one foot, you can kill him." The camel said -
"O Son of the Sultaan, You don't know him, one cannot withstand him,
nor one can stand against him. He puts a rope in my nose and give me to
his little children to follow them. He puts me to hard labor all through
the hours of day and night. When I am old and weak, he sells me to the
knacker who kills me and sells my skin and flesh. Do not ask me about the
hardships I suffer from the man." The lion cub asked him - "When
did you leave the man?" "In the evening. And he might be coming
after me, so let me go to the wilds." The lion cub said - "Wait a
while, O Camel, till you see how I tear him and give his flesh you to
eat." The camel said - "I am afraid, O Prince, he is very
cunning."
Now
when the camel was speaking thus, there rose another cloud of dust and a
lean and thin man appeared out of it. He was carrying a basket of
carpenter's tools on his shoulder and a branch of tree and eight planks on
his head. He was leading little children by hand. He was coming slowly,
never stopping anywhere till he came near the lion cub. When I saw him, I
fell down from the fear, but the young lion rose and walked forward to
meet him. Seeing him coming towards him, the man said - "O King, Please protect me
from mischief." and he stood before him wailing and complaining. Hearing him,
the lion cub said - "I will surely save you from your fear. Who has
done you what, and who are you. I have never seen anything like you in my
life, nor any goodlier form and sweeter tongue than yours."
The
man said - "O King, I am a carpenter, but whoever has wronged me, he is
a man, and after this night, from next morning he will be with you."
Hearing this the Lion roared with anger and said - "By Allaah, I will
wait for him and will not return to my father till I have won him. I see that
you are short of step and you are finding hard to keep pace with wild
beasts. Tell me where are you going?" "In fact I was going to
your father's Vazeer (Lynx), for when he heard that the man had set his
foot in this forest, he feared greatly for himself and sent his messenger to me to make a
house for him where he could live safely and no man can come to him; so I am
taking these planks to make a house or him."
Now
when the young lion heard this, he envied with Lynx and said to the
carpenter - "There is no help for him, but first you make one house for me with
these planks. When you have finished mine, then you may go to Lynx and do
whatever he likes." The carpenter replied - "By Allaah, I cannot
make you a house unless I have made the one for Lynx. And of course, as soon as
I have finished with him, I will return to you." The lion cub cried -
"By Allaah, I will not let you leave this place until you build me
the house of these planks." And he sprang upon him, knocked the basket
off his shoulder and threw him down on the ground in a faint. He
said again - "Look, You are weak, you have no strength, so you must
fear the man."
The
carpenter got very angry at this but smilingly he said to him - "OK,
First I will make the house for you." So he made a box of the planks
he brought with him. He left the door open because he had cut in the box a
large opening for which he had made a strong cover with many holes. Then
he took out some old nails and a hammer and said to the lion cub -
"Now you enter your house through this opening, so that I can fit it
to your measure." The lion cub was very happy to see his new house
and went inside it. The carpenter said - "Now you crouch down on your
legs and arms." And the lion cub did the same, but his tail remain
outside. He wanted to come out but the carpenter said to him - "Just wait,
Let me see if I can make a place for your tail also." The carpenter
stuffed his tail also in the box. Then he put the lid over the opening and
nailed it down.
The
lion cub cried out - "O carpenter, What is this narrow house you have
made for me. Let me come out, Sir." The carpenter said laughing - "Now you
cannot come out of this place. You have fallen into the trap and now there
is no escape from here." "What are you saying?" "You have fallen into that
which you feared most." When the lion cub heard this he knew that this was
the man he had been listening about.
I also
moved a little far from him, just to see what he will do next with the
lion cub. Then the man dug a hole near the box, threw the box in it, put
some dry wood on it and, to my horror, set fire to those wood. The iron
cub had been burned.
On the
147th Night
But
when the peahen heard this story from the duck, she assured her safety
there, because they were on the island and there was no way the man could
come there. The duck said - "I fear lest some calamity falls on me by
night, because then nothing can save me then from him." Now when they
were talking like this a cloud of dust appeared and approached them. As
the cloud cleared they saw an antelope. Peahen said to the duck -
"This is an antelope, he cannot hurt us, because he lives on
herbs." The antelope saluted them and said to them - "I have
come here because this place is rich in herbs." They got happy to
hear his friendly talks, so they all ate and slept together ...
Till
one day a ship came there which had strayed from her course. People on it
soon caught sight of these three friends. Seeing them coming, peahen flew
on the treetop, the antelope ran into the desert, but the duck got
paralyzed by fear. So they chased her, caught her and took her to their
ship.
The
peahen saw this and flew to antelope. Antelope asked about the duck and
the peahen told him that the enemy had taken her to their ship. They must
have killed her. She also
wanted to leave the island because of this calamity fallen on duck, but
the antelope protested of this proposal, so they lived together for
sometime. The peahen said - "I think the duck died not because of the
ship but because she did not say "Praised be Allaah"; I fear for
you also, because you also do not say this, say always this." Then
the antelope also started saying "Praised be Allaah." And they
lived there for long time.
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