Indian Fairy Tales | Page 8

will," said the Raja's son.
Then the king showed him the trunk of a tree that was lying near his
court-house. It was a very, very thick trunk. He gave the prince a wax
hatchet, and said, "Tomorrow morning you must cut this trunk in two
with this wax hatchet."
The Raja's son went back to the old woman's house. He was very sad,
and thought that now the Raja would certainly kill him. "I had his oil
crushed out by the ants," he said to himself. "I had his demons killed by
the tigers. My bed helped me to beat his kettle-drum. But now what can
I do? How can I cut that thick tree-trunk in two with a wax hatchet?"
At night he went on his bed to see the princess. "To-morrow," he said
to her, "your father will kill me." "Why?" asked the princess.
"He has told me to cut a thick tree-trunk in two with a wax hatchet.
How can I ever do that?" said the Raja's son. "Do not be afraid," said
the princess; "do as I bid you, and you will cut it in two quite easily."
Then she pulled out a hair from her head, and gave it to the prince.
"To-morrow," she said, "when no one is near you, you must say to the

tree-trunk, 'The Princess Labam commands you to let yourself be cut in
two by this hair.' Then stretch the hair down the edge of the wax
hatchet's blade."
The prince next day did exactly as the princess had told him; and the
minute the hair that was stretched down the edge of the hatchet-blade
touched the tree-trunk it split into two pieces.
The king said, "Now you can marry my daughter." Then the wedding
took place. All the Rajas and kings of the countries round were asked to
come to it, and there were great rejoicings. After a few days the prince's
son said to his wife, "Let us go to my father's country." The Princess
Labam's father gave them a quantity of camels and horses and rupees
and servants; and they travelled in great state to the prince's country,
where they lived happily.
The prince always kept his bag, bowl, bed, and stick; only, as no one
ever came to make war on him, he never needed to use the stick.

THE LAMBIKIN
Once upon a time there was a wee wee Lambikin, who frolicked about
on his little tottery legs, and enjoyed himself amazingly.
Now one day he set off to visit his Granny, and was jumping with joy
to think of all the good things he should get from her, when who should
he meet but a Jackal, who looked at the tender young morsel and said:
"Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!"
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk and said:
"To Granny's house I go, Where I shall fatter grow, Then you can eat
me so."
The Jackal thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass.
By-and-by he met a Vulture, and the Vulture, looking hungrily at the
tender morsel before him, said: "Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!"
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said:
"To Granny's house I go, Where I shall fatter grow, Then you can eat
me so."
The Vulture thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass.
And by-and-by he met a Tiger, and then a Wolf, and a Dog, and an
Eagle, and all these, when they saw the tender little morsel, said:
"Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!"
But to all of them Lambikin replied, with a little frisk:

"To Granny's house I go, Where I shall fatter grow, Then you can eat
me so."
At last he reached his Granny's house, and said, all in a great hurry,
"Granny, dear, I've promised to get very fat; so, as people ought to keep
their promises, please put me into the corn-bin at once."
So his Granny said he was a good boy, and put him into the corn-bin,
and there the greedy little Lambikin stayed for seven days, and ate, and
ate, and ate, until he could scarcely waddle, and his Granny said he was
fat enough for anything, and must go home. But cunning little
Lambikin said that would never do, for some animal would be sure to
eat him on the way back, he was so plump and tender.
"I'll tell you what you must do," said Master Lambikin, "you must
make a little drumikin out of the skin of my little brother who died, and
then I can sit inside and trundle along nicely, for I'm as tight as a drum
myself."
So his Granny made a nice little drumikin out of his brother's skin, with
the wool inside, and Lambikin curled himself up snug and warm