Mr. Rabbit at Home - Joel Chandler Harris (beach books .txt) 📗
- Author: Joel Chandler Harris
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“Well, Mrs. Blue Hen went to setting, and after so long a time nine little chickens were hatched. She was very proud of them. She taught them how to talk, and then she wanted to get off her nest and teach them how to scratch about and earn their own living. But there was still one egg to hatch, and so Mrs. Blue Hen continued to set on it. One day she made up her mind to take her chicks off and leave the egg that wouldn’t hatch. The old Speckled Hen happened to be passing and Mrs. Blue Hen asked her advice. But the old Speckled Hen was very much shocked when she heard the particulars.
“‘What! with nine chickens!’ she cried. ‘Why, nine is an odd number. It would never do in the world. Hatch out the other egg.’
ONE OF THEM WAS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE REST
“But young people are very impatient, and Mrs. Blue Hen was young. She fretted and worried a good deal, but in a few days the tenth egg hatched. Mrs. Blue Hen felt very much better after this. In fact, she felt so comfortable that she didn’t take the trouble to look at the chicken that hatched from the tenth egg. But when she brought her children off the nest she was very much astonished to find that one of them was entirely different from all the rest. She was not only surprised, but shocked. Nine of her children were as neat-looking as she could wish them to be, but the tenth one was a sight to see. It had weak eyes, a bill as broad as a case-knife, and big, flat feet. Its feet were so big that it waddled when it walked, and all the toes of each foot were joined together.
“Mrs. Blue Hen had very high notions. She wanted everybody to think that she belonged to the quality, but this wabbly chicken with a broad bill and a foot that had no instep to it took her pride down a peg. She kept her children hid as long as she could, but she had to come out in public after a while, and when she did—well, I’ll let you know there was an uproar in the barnyard. The old Speckled Hen was the first to begin it. She cried out:—
“‘Look—look—look! Look at the Blue Hen’s chickens!’
“Then the Guinea hens began to laugh, and the old Turkey Gobbler was so tickled he came near swallowing his snout. Mrs. Blue Hen hung her head with shame, and carried her children away off in the woods.
“But her flat-footed chicken gave rise to a byword in all that country. When any stranger came along looking rough and ragged, it was the common saying that he was the Blue Hen’s chicken.”
“I’ve heard it many a time,” remarked Mrs. Meadows.
“There was no story in that,” Buster John suggested.
“No,” replied Mr. Rabbit. “Just some every-day facts picked up and strung together.”
“Speaking of stories,” said Mrs. Meadows, “I have one in my mind that is a sure enough story—one of the old-fashioned kind.”
“Well, please, ma’am, tell it,” said Buster John, so seriously that they all laughed except Mr. Rabbit.
HOW A KING WAS FOUND.
“What about the little girl who had the vial of sparkling water?” said Sweetest Susan, turning to Mr. Thimblefinger, just as Mrs. Meadows was about to begin her story.
“Oh, she is growing,” replied Mr. Thimblefinger.
Buster John frowned at his sister, as boys will do when they are impatient, and Sweetest Susan said no more.
“Once upon a time,” Mrs. Meadows began, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, “there was a country that suddenly found itself without a king. This was a long time ago, before people in some parts of the world began to think it was unfashionable to have kings. I don’t know what the trouble was exactly, whether the king died, or whether he was carried off, or whether he did something to cause the people to take away his crown and put him in the calaboose.
“Anyhow, they suddenly found themselves without a king, and it made them feel very uncomfortable. They were so restless and uneasy that they couldn’t sleep well at night. They were in the habit of having a king to govern them, and they felt very nervous without one.
“Now in that country there were eleven wise men whose trade it was to give advice. Instead of falling out and wrangling with one another and ruining their business, these eleven wise men had formed a copartnership and set up a sort of store, where anybody and everybody could get advice by the wholesale or retail. I don’t know whether they charged anything, because there never has been a time since the world had more than two people in it that advice wasn’t as cheap as dirt.
“The eleven wise men were there, ready to give advice, and so the people went to them and asked them how to select a king. The eleven wise men put their heads together, and after a while they told the people that they must select nine of their best men and send them out on the roads leading to the capital city, and when these nine men found a man sleeping in the shade of a tree, they were to watch him for four hours, and if the shadow of the tree stood still so as to keep the sun from shining on him, he was the one to select for their king. Then the eleven wise men, looking very solemn, bowed the people out, and the people went off and selected nine of their best men to find them a king.
“Now it happened that in a part of the country not far from the capital city there lived a boy with his mother and stepfather. They were not poor and they were not rich, but everybody said the boy was the handsomest and brightest that had ever been seen in that section. He was about sixteen years old, and was very strong and tall.
“One day, when the stepfather was in the village near which they lived, a stranger passed through on his way to the capital city. He had neither wallet nor staff, but he drew a great crowd of idle people around him. He was carrying a red rooster, and although the fowl’s feet were tied together and his head hanging down, he crowed lustily every few minutes. It was this that drew the crowd of idle people. One with more curiosity than the rest asked the stranger why the rooster crowed and continued to crow.
“‘He is a royal bird,’ the stranger replied. ‘There is no king in this country, and whoever eats this bird’s head will reign as king.’
“‘He must be worth a pretty sum,’ said one.
“‘By no means,’ answered the stranger. ‘He is worth no more than a silver piece.’
“But the people only laughed. They thought the stranger was making fun of them. He went on his way, and had soon passed beyond the village. Now it chanced that the stepfather of the bright and handsome boy was in the crowd that gathered around the stranger. He thought it was very queer that a rooster should be crowing so bravely when his legs were tied together and while his head was hanging down. So he said to himself that there might be some truth in what the stranger said. He ran after the man and soon overtook him.
“‘That is a fine fowl,’ said the boy’s stepfather.
“‘It is a royal bird,’ the stranger replied.
“‘What is he worth?’ asked the boy’s stepfather.
“‘I shall be glad to get rid of him,’ said the stranger. ‘Give me a piece of silver and take him.’
“This was soon done, and the stepfather took the rooster under his arm.
“‘Remember this,’ remarked the stranger; ‘if you eat the head of that bird you will reign in this country as king.’
“‘Oh, ho!’ laughed the boy’s stepfather, ‘you are a fine joker.’
“With the fowl under his arm he went toward his home. He had gone but a little way when he turned to look at the stranger, but the man had disappeared. The country was level for a long distance in all directions, but the stranger could not be seen.
“The boy’s stepfather carried the fowl home and said to his wife:—
“‘Cook this bird for supper. Cook the head also.’
“The man was afraid to tell his wife why he wanted the head cooked. He knew she was very fond of her son, and he reasoned to himself that if she knew what the stranger had said she would give the head to the boy. So he only told her to be careful to cook the fowl’s head and save it for him.
“The wife did as she was bid. She cooked the fowl and the fowl’s head, and placed them away in the cupboard until her husband and her son came home. It happened that something kept the husband in the village a little later than usual, and while the woman was waiting for him her son came in and said he was very hungry.
“‘You will find something in the cupboard,’ his mother said. ‘Eat a little now, and when your stepfather returns we will have supper.’
“The boy went to the cupboard. The fowl was on a big dish ready to be carved, and the head was in the saucer by itself. To save time and trouble the boy took the head and ate it, and then felt as if he could wait for supper very comfortably. The husband came, and the woman proceeded to set the table. When she came to look for the fowl’s head it was gone.
“‘Why, I ate it,’ said her son, when he heard her exclamation of surprise. ‘I found it in the saucer, and I ate it rather than cut the fowl.’
“The stepfather was angry enough to tear his hair, but he said nothing. The next day the boy went hunting. He was ready to return about noon, but, being tired, he stretched himself in the shade of a tree and was soon sound asleep.
THEY SAW THE HANDSOME BOY SLEEPING
“While he was sleeping his soundest, the nine men who had been appointed by the people to find them a king chanced to pass that way. They saw the handsome boy sleeping in the shade of the tree, and they stationed themselves around and watched him. For four long hours they watched the boy, but still the shadow of the tree kept the sun from his face. The nine men consulted among themselves, and they came to the conclusion that the shadow of the tree hadn’t moved, and that the boy was a well-favored lad who would look very well when he was dressed up and put on a throne with a crown on his head.
“So they shook the boy and aroused him from his sleep.
“‘What’s your name?’ asked the spokesman.
“‘Telambus,’ replied the boy.
“‘Where do you live?’
“‘Not far from here.’
“‘How would you like to be king?’
“‘I have never tried it. Is it an easy trade to learn?’
“The nine men looked at each other shrewdly and smiled. They each had the same thought.
“They went with the boy to his home and saw his mother, and inquired about his age and his education, and asked a hundred other questions besides. They cautioned the woman as they were leaving to say nothing of their visit except this, that they were going about hunting for a king and had called to make some inquiries.
“When her husband came home he had already heard of the visit of the
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