The Three Mulla-mulgars Read online

  CHAPTER III

  It was now, what with the snow and what with natural evening, growingquickly dark. The birds had ceased to sing; only the Munza night-jarrattled. Now near, now far away, the Mulla-mulgars heard the beasts ofthe forest beginning to range and roar in the gloom. Nod buttoned up hissheep's jacket, for there was a frost-mist beneath the trees. He wascold, and began to be tired and very homesick. But Thumb was broad andfat and prodigiously strong, Thimble lean and sinewy. And when Thumb sawthat Nod went stumbling under his bundle, he said: "Give it to me,Mulla-jugguba!" (Prince of Bonfires). And Thimble laughed.

  But Nod refused to give up his bundle, and trudged on behind hisbrothers, until night came down in earnest. Then, when it was quitedark, after listening and muttering together, they thought that if theyspent the night down here they would certainly sleep "in danger." SoThumb clambered into a great Ollaconda-tree, and let down a rope ortwist of the thick creeper called Cullum, and drew up all three bundles.Then Thimble pushed and Thumb pulled, and up went Nod, too stiff andcold to climb up by himself, after the bundles, sheep's-jacket and all.Then Thimble climbed up too. They made their supper of Mulgar-bread andfrost-cockled Mambel-berries, which are sour and quench the thirst, anddrank or sucked splinters of ice, plenty of which hung glassy in thegreat, still, winter-troubled tree. And for fear of leopards (or"Roses," as their Munza name signifies), they agreed to keep watch inturn, Thumb first, then Thimble, then Nod. They tied their bundles tothe boughs, chose smooth forks to squat in, and soon Thimble was fastasleep.

  But when Nod found himself alone in the midst of the great icy tree inthe black forest, he could not sleep for thinking of it. He stroked hisface with his brown hand over and over to keep his eyes shut. He nuzzleddown into his sheep's-jacket. He counted his fingers again and again. Herepeated the lingo of the Seventy-seven Travellers from beginning toend. It was in vain. Far and near he heard the cries and wanderings ofthe forest beasts; the Ollaconda-tree was full of the nests of theweaver-birds; and, worse still, soon Thimble began to snore so loud andso sorrowfully that poor Nod trembled where he sat. He could bearhimself no longer. He stooped forward and called softly: "Thumb, mybrother, are you awake, Thumb?"

  "Sleep on, little Ummanodda," said Thumb; "if I watch, I watch."

  "But I cannot sleep," said Nod; "these weavers chatter so."

  Thumb laughed. "Thimble sings in his dreams," he said. "Why shouldn'tthe little tailors sing, too?"

  "Do you think any leopards will come?" said Nod.

  "Think good things, my brother, not bad," Thumb answered. "But this wewill do--wait a little while awake, and I will sleep, and as soon assleep begins to come, call me and wake me; then, little brother, youshall sleep in peace till morning."

  He put his head under his arm without waiting for an answer; and soon,even louder and more dismal than Thimble's, rose Thumb's snoring intothe Ollaconda-tree.

  Nod sat cold and stiff, his eyes stretched open, his ears twitching. Anda thin moonlight began to tremble between the leaves. The light cheeredhis spirits, and he thought, "Nod will soon feel sleepy now," whensuddenly out of the gloom of the forest burst a sounder or drove of wildpig, scuffling and chuggling beneath the tree. Peeping down, Nod couldjust see them in the faint moonshine, with their long, black, hairy earsand tufted tails.

  And presently, while they were grubbing in the snow, one lifted up itssnout and cried in a loud voice: "Co-older--and colder!"

  "Co-older--and colder," cried another.

  "Co-older--and colder," cried a third. And all silently grubbed on asbefore.

  "The Queen of the Mountains is in the Forest," began the first again,"with fingers of frost."

  "And shoulders of snow."

  "THE QUEEN OF THE MOUNTAINS IS IN THE FOREST ... WITH FINGERS OF FROST."]

  "And feet of ice," screamed the third.

  "The Queen of the Mountains," they grunted all together; and went onburrowing, and shouldering, and faintly squeaking.

  "Hungrier and hungrier," cried one in a shrill voice, suddenly liftingits head, so that Nod could see quite clearly its pale green, greedyslits of eyes.

  "Leaner and leaner," answered another.

  "All the Sudd hid, all the Ukkas gone, all the B[=o][=o]bab frozen!"squealed a third.

  "The Queen of the Mountains is in the Forest," they grunted alltogether. But the pig that had looked up into the tree was stillstaring--staring and wrinkling his narrow snout, till at last all thepigs stopped feeding. "Pigs, my brothers; pigs, my brothers," hemuttered. "Up in this tree are Mulgar three, which travellers be.... Ho,there!" But Nod thought it best to make no answer. And the pig turnedround and beat with his hind-feet against the bole or trunk of theOllaconda. "Ho, there, little Mulgar in the sheep-skin coat!"

  "If you beat like that, horny-foot, you'll wake my brothers," said Nod.

  "Brothers!" said the pig angrily. "What's brothers to Ukka-nuts? What'syour names, and where are you going?"

  "My brothers' names," said Nod, "are Thumma and Thimbulla, and I am Nod.We are going to the palace of ivory and Azmamogreel that is our UncleAssasimmon's, Prince of the Valleys of Tishnar." At that all the pigsbegan muttering together.

  "Come down and tell us!" said a lean yellow pig; and as he snapped hisjaws Nod saw in the moonbeam the frost-light blinking on his bristles.

  "Tell you what?" said Nod.

  "About this Prince of Tishnar. Oh, these false-tongued Mulgars!" Nodmade no answer.

  Then a fat old she-pig began speaking in a soft, pleasant voice. "Youmust be very, very rich, Prince Nod, with those great bags of nuts; and,surely, it must be royal Sudd I smell! And Assasimmon his uncle! whosehouse is more than a thousand pigs'-tails long; and gardens so thickwith trees of fruit and honey, one groans to have only one stomach. Comedown a little way, Prince Nod, and tell us poor hungry pigs of the royalAssasimmon and the dainty food he eats."

  So pleasant was her flattering voice Nod thought there could notpossibly be any harm in scrambling down just one or two branches. Andthough his fingers were still stiff with cold, he began to edge down.

  "Oh, but bring a bundle--bring a bundle, little Prince. It's cold forgentlefolk sitting in the snow."

  "Pigs--pigs must naked go; but not for gentlefolk the snow," squealedthe herd shrilly.

  "Come gently, Prince Nod; do not stir your royal brothers, Prince Nod!"said the old crafty one.

  Nod listened to her flattery, and, having untied his precious bundle, heslid down with it softly to the ground.

  "A seat--a seat for Prince Nod," cried the old sow. "Oh, what a royaljacket--oh, what a handsome jacket!" So Nod sat down on his bundle inthe moonlight of the snow, and all the wild pig, scenting his Sudd,pressed close--forty wild pig at least.

  "Assasimmon, Assasimmon, Prince of Tishnar, Prince of Tishnar," theykept grunting, and at every word they squeezed and edged closer andcloser, their hungry snouts in air--closer and closer, till Nod had tohold tight to keep his seat; closer and closer, and again they begansquealing: "Pigs are hungry, brother Nod. Cakes of Sudd, cakes of_Sudd_!" And then, like a great scrambling wave of pigs, they rushed athim all together. Over went Nod into the snow. Scores of little sharphoofs scuttled over him. And when at last he was able to get up and lookabout him, bruised and scratched and breathless, no trace of pigs wasthere, no trace of bundle; every nut and crust of Sudd and crumb ofpulpy Mulgar-bread was gone. And suddenly came a loud, harsh voice outof the tree. "Ho, ho, and ahoh! What's the trouble? what's the trouble?"Nod looked up, and saw Thumb and Thimble staring down between theirout-stretched arms through the moon-silvery leaves. And he told them,trembling, of how he could not sleep, and about the pigs and the bundle.

  "O most wise Nizza-neela!" said Thumb when he had finished. "Last nightMulla-jugguba; this night Nodda-nellipogo" (Prince of Bonfires, Noddleof Pork). But Thimble was too sore to say anything, for his littleExxswixxia-book of sorcery had been stuffed into Nod's bundle, and nowit was lost for ever. And they left Nod to climb up again by himself.Once
safely back on his fork, he was so tired and miserable that, withhis hands over his face, he fell almost directly fast asleep.

  When he opened his small clear eyes again, sunrise was glinting here andthere through the green twilight on the icicles and snow in the trees.He looked down, and saw Thumb and Thimble combing themselves. So down hewent, too, and took off his jacket, and skipped and frisked till he grewwarm. Then he, too, combed himself, and went and sat down beside hisbrothers at the foot of the Ollaconda-tree to eat his morning's share ofmusty nuts. At first his brothers sat angry and sullen, munching withtheir great dog-teeth, and seeming to begrudge him every Ukka-nut hecracked. But as the daybeams brightened, here where the trees grew notso dense, and the birds, some wellnigh as small as acorns, flashed andzigzagged, and Parrakeetoes squeaked and screamed in hundreds on thebranches, watching the three hungry travellers, they began to forgetNod's supper with the pigs. And when they had eaten, into the gloom ofMunza they set out once more.

  As a dog smells out the footsteps of his master so these Mulla-mulgarsseemed to smell out their way. No path was to be seen except wherepig-droves had rambled by, or droves of Mullabruks and packs ofMunza-dogs. And once Thumb, on a sudden, stood still, and pointed to theground, opening his great grinning mouth, with its little wall ofglistening teeth, and muttered, "Roses!" They stood together lookingdown at the frozen footprints of a mother-leopard and her cubs in thefresh-laid snow. Nod fancied, even, he could smell her breath on the icyair. After this they went forward more warily, but carried their cudgelswith a bravery, looking very fierce in their red jackets and great capsof furry skins. And, after a while, the huge trees gathered in again,and soon arched loftily overhead as thick as thatch, so that it was allin a cold and sluggish gloom they walked, like the dusk of comingnight. Nor, so thick was the leafy roof overhead, had any snow floatedinto its twilight. Only a rare frost shimmered on the spiky husks offruit thrown down by the Tree-mulgars. Huge frozen ropes of Cullum andwild Pepper dangled in knots and loops from bough to bough, andsometimes a troop of Squirrel-tails or spidery Skeetoes swung lightlydown these hoar-frost ropes, chattering and scolding at the threestrangers. But though Thumb called to them in their own tongue."Ullalullaubbajub," or some such sounds as that, meaning, "We arefriends," they skipped off, hand, foot, and tail, into their leafy roofsand shadows, afraid of these cudgel-carrying travellers in their redjackets, who walked, like the dreaded Oomgar, heads in air.

  Yet Nod was glad even of such company as this, so silent was the forest.In this darkness they sat and ate their handful of food, with scorpionsand speckled tree-spiders watching them from their holes, not knowingwhere the sun was, nor daring to kindle a fire with their fire-sticksfor fear of the tree-shadows. And at night they slept huddled closetogether for warmth and safety, while Thumb and Thimble kept watch inturn.

  In this way many days passed almost without blink of sunlight. Once andagain they would sidle over some pig-track, or stand, with club in hand,to watch a leopard pass. And often troops of Mulgars kept pace with themawhile, swinging from branch to branch, and chattering threats at thetravellers. But most of the forest creatures, parched and famished bysuch a cold as had never fallen on Munza-mulgar before, had been drivendown out of the forest in search of food and warmth. And often thetravellers were compelled to search the bark of the trees and in thecrevices of rocks and under stones, as do the Babbaboomas, and eatwhatever creeping things they could find. Beside the dangling Skeetoes,and now and then father, mother, and chidderkins of some old sour-facedmournful Mullabruk, they saw few things living, except the littleivory-gnawing M'boko, Peekodillies, and poison-spiders. But many ofthese, too, had died of cold and hunger. And now, instead of the palegreen and amber lamps of firefly and glowworm, burned only the fires ofTishnar's frost. Birds rarely ventured down into this snowy shadowland,except only the tiny Telateuties, blood-red as ladybirds, that ranchittering up the trees. These birds haunt only where daylight rarelysteals, and it is said they talk with the tree-spirits, or giantN[=o][=o]mas, that roam these shades.

  At last, their feet sore with poison-needles, which sometimes piercedclean through their thick skins, their eyes aching with the darkness,the three travellers, on the eighth day, broke out of the dense forestinto broad daylight and shining snow again. Down and down they descendedinto a frozen swampy valley. And about noon, half hidden in the fume andsteam of their own breath, they saw a great herd or muster ofEphelantoes feeding. They stood in a line beyond Nod's counting--big,middling-sized, and little--tearing down the rime-laden branches of thetrees, whose leaves and fruits they first warmed with theirbellows-breath before stuffing them into their mouths. The swampy groundshook with their tramplings. Nod gazed in wonder as he and his brothers,marching abreast, paced softly but doggedly on. And very soon thewatchful eyes, that glitter small in the great stone-coloured heads ofthese mountainous beasts, perceived the red jackets moving betwixt thegrasses. And a silence came; the beasts stopped feeding.

  "Meelm[=u]tha glaren djhar!" muttered Thumb.

  So the Mulla-mulgars pushed quietly and bravely on, without turningtheir heads or letting their eyes wander. For it is said that there isnothing frets and angers these monsters so much as a watchful eye. Theyleave their feeding and wallowing, even the big Shes their suckling.Their great bodies trembling, they stand in disquiet and unrest if butjust one small clear eye beneath its lid be fixed too close or earnestlyupon them. Oomgars, Mulgars, leopards--even down to the broodingMullabruk, with its clay-coloured face--they abhor all scrutiny. But whythis is so I cannot say.

  It may be, then, that Nod, in his first wonder, dwelt too lingeringlywith his eye on these Lords of Munza: for a behemothian bull-Ephelanto,with one of his tusks broken, lurched forward through the long grasses,his tail stock-stiff behind him, and stood in their path. And as theMulgar travellers passed him by, he wound his long, two-fingered trunkround Nod's belly, shook him softly, and lifted him high above the sedgeinto the air.

  At this many other of the Ephelantoes stamped across the swamp and stoodin the mist around him. Nod's hand was in his pocket and pressed againsthis slim thigh-bone, and there, hard and round, he felt as in a dreamhis Wonderstone. And he caught back his fears, and thus, up aloft,twenty feet or more between earth and sky, he twisted his head and saidsoftly: "Deal with the Nizza-neela gently, Lord of the Forest; we areservants of Tishnar." At the sound of the name of Tishnar all theEphelantoes lifted up their trunks, and with a great blast trumpeted inunison. Whereupon the bull-Ephelanto that had, half in sport, tossed Nodup into the air set him gently on the earth again. And the threebrothers, hastening their hobbling pace a little, journeyed on oncemore.