Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (ebook pdf reader for pc txt) ๐
THIS Uninhabited Island
Is off Cape Gardafui,
By the Beaches of Socotra
And the Pink Arabian Sea:
But it's hot--too hot from Suez
For the likes of you and me
Ever to go
In a P. and 0.
And call on the Cake-Parsee!
HOW THE LEOPARD GOT HIS SPOTS
IN the days when everybody started fair, Best Beloved, the Leopard lived in a place called the High Veldt. 'Member it wasn't the Low Veldt, or the Bush Veldt, or the Sour Veldt, but the 'sclusively bare, hot, shiny High Veldt, where there was sand and sandy-coloured rock and 'sclusively tufts of sandy- yellowish grass. The Giraffe and the Zebra and the Eland and the Koodoo and the Hartebeest lived there; and they were 'sclusively sandy-yellow-brownish all over; but the Leopard, he was the 'sclusivest sandiest-yellowish-brownest of them all--a greyish-yellowish catty-shaped kind of beast, and he matched the 'sclusively yellowish-greyish-brownish colour of the High Veldt to
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โThen we can never be friends again,โ said Wild Dog, and he trotted off to the Cave. But when he had gone a little way the Cat said to himself, โAll places are alike to me. Why should I not go too and see and look and come away at my own liking.โ So he slipped after 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, โHere comes the first. Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, what do you want?โ
Wild Dog said, โO my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, what is this that smells so good in the Wild Woods?โ
Then the Woman picked up a roasted mutton-bone and threw it to Wild Dog, and said, โWild Thing out of the Wild Woods, taste and try.โ Wild Dog gnawed the bone, and it was more delicious than anything he had ever tasted, and he said, โO my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, give me another.โ
The Woman said, โWild 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.โ
โAh!โ said the Cat, listening. โThis is a very wise Woman, but she is not so wise as I am.โ
Wild Dog crawled into the Cave and laid his head on the Womanโs lap, and said, โO 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.โ
โAh!โ said the Cat, listening. โThat is a very foolish Dog.โ 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 waked up he said, โWhat is Wild Dog doing here?โ And the Woman said, โHis 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.โ
Next night the Woman cut great green armfuls of fresh grass from the water-meadows, and dried it before the fire, so that it smelt like new-mown hay, and she sat at the mouth of the Cave and plaited a halter out of horse-hide, and she looked at the shoulder of mutton-boneโat the big broad blade-boneโand 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, โI will go and see and say why Wild Dog has not returned. Cat, come with me.โ
โNenni!โ said the Cat. โI am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. I will not come.โ 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, โHere comes the second. Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods what do you want?โ
Wild Horse said, โO my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, where is Wild Dog?โ
The Woman laughed, and picked up the blade-bone and looked at it, and said, โWild Thing out of the Wild Woods, you did not come here for Wild Dog, but for the sake of this good grass.โ
And Wild Horse, tripping and stumbling on his long mane, said, โThat is true; give it me to eat.โ
The Woman said, โWild 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.โ
โAh,โ said the Cat, listening, โthis is a clever Woman, but she is not so clever as I am.โ Wild Horse bent his wild head, and the Woman slipped the plaited hide halter over it, and Wild Horse breathed on the Womanโs feet and said, โO my Mistress, and Wife of my Master, I will be your servant for the sake of the wonderful grass.โ
โAh,โ said the Cat, listening, โthat is a very foolish Horse.โ 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, โWhat is Wild Horse doing here?โ And the Woman said, โHis 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. Ride on his back when you go hunting.
Next day, holding her wild head high 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, โHer 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, โO my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, where did Wild Cow go?โ
The Woman laughed and said, โWild 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, โI 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.โ
Woman said, โThen why did you not come with First Friend on the first night?โ
Cat grew very angry and said, โHas Wild Dog told tales of me?โ
Then the Woman laughed and said, โYou are the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to you. Your are neither a friend nor a servant. You have said it yourself. Go away and walk by yourself in all places alike.โ
Then Cat pretended to be sorry and said, โMust 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.โ
Woman said, โI 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.โ
โAnd if you say two words in my praise?โ said the Cat.
โI never shall,โ said the Woman, โbut if I say two words in your praise, you may sit by the fire in the Cave.โ
โAnd if you say three words?โ said the Cat.
โI never shall,โ said the Woman, โbut 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.โ
Then the Cat arched his back and said, โNow 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.โ And he went away through the Wet Wild Woods waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.
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 lone for a long time till the Woman forgot all about him. Only the Batโthe little upside-down Batโthat 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, โThere is a Baby in the Cave. He is new and pink and fat and small, and the Woman is very fond of him.โ
โAh,โ said the Cat, listening, โbut what is the Baby fond of?โ
โHe is fond of things that are soft and tickle,โ said the Bat. โHe 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.โ
โAh,โ said the Cat, listening, โthen my time has come.โ
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 paddy 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.
Then the Batโthe little upside-down batโthat hung in the mouth of the Cave said, โO my Hostess and Wife of my Host and Mother of my Hostโs Son, a Wild Thing from the Wild Woods is most beautifully playing with your Baby.โ
โA blessing on that Wild Thing whoever he may be,โ said the Woman, straightening her back, โfor I was a busy woman this morning and he has done me a service.โ
That very minute and second, Best Beloved, the dried horse-skin Curtain that was stretched tail-down at the mouth of the Cave fell downโwhoosh!โbecause it remembered the bargain she had made with the Cat, and when the Woman went to pick it up- -lo and behold!โthe Cat was sitting quite comfy inside the Cave.
โO my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy and Mother of my Enemy,โ said the Cat, โit 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.โ
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.
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