Mr. Rabbit at Home, Joel Chandler Harris [ap literature book list TXT] 📗
- Author: Joel Chandler Harris
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“‘A likely story—a very likely story indeed!’ exclaimed the father. ‘If you have brought the sheep and the goat home, you would do well to take them back where you got them, else we shall all be put in jail for stealing and for harboring stolen property.’
“‘Now don’t talk that way to your own children,’ said the tender-hearted mother. ‘For my part, I believe every word they say;’ then she kissed them, and hugged them, and cried over them a little, while the father sat by, looking sour and glum. The children, when they placed the goat and the sheep in the stable, had each taken a handful of gold and silver coins from the horns of the wonderful animals. So now the boy went forward and placed upon the table near his father a handful of gold and silver. The girl did the same.
“The father heard the rattle and jingle of coin, and, looking around, saw there at his elbow more money than he had ever seen before in all his life. He was both astonished and alarmed.
“‘Worse and worse!’ he cried, throwing up his hands. ‘Worse and worse! We are ruined! Tell me where you got that treasure, that I may take it back to its owner. Make haste! If there’s any delay about it, we shall all be thrown into prison.’
“‘Come with us,’ said the boy, ‘and we will show you where we found the treasure.’
“So they went out of the house and into the stable, and there the children showed their father where the treasure came from.
“‘Wonderful! most wonderful!’ exclaimed the father. ‘Wonderful! most wonderful!’ cried the mother. Then they hugged and kissed their children again and again, and all were very happy. It made no difference now whether crops were good or bad.”
“The man was mighty honest,” remarked Mr. Rabbit.
“Yes,” said Mrs. Meadows. “But a man can be honest and thick-headed at the same time, and that was the way with this man. He was too honest to keep other people’s money, and too thick-headed to know how to keep his own.”
“Excuse me!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit, with a bow that made his ears flop; “excuse me! I thought the story had come to an end. You said they were all very happy; so I says to myself, ‘Now is the time to make a slight remark.’”
“No; the end of the story is yet to come,” replied Mrs. Meadows. “But if these children are getting tired, I’m ready to quit. Goodness knows, I don’t want to worry them, and I don’t want to make them think that I want to do all the talking.”
“Please go on,” said Sweetest Susan.
“Well, when the father found where the money and treasure came from, he was willing to believe that his children had visited Uncle Rain and Brother Drouth; for he knew perfectly well that the wonderful black sheep and the wonderful snow-white goat were not bred on any farm in that country. So his mind was easy; and, as I said, the father, the mother, and the two children were all happy together.
“The mother and the children were so happy that they stayed at home and enjoyed one another’s company, and the father was so happy that it made him restless in the mind. He got in the habit of going to the tavern every day, and sometimes more than once a day; and he got to drinking more ale and wine than was good for him. And on these occasions his legs would wobble under him, as if one leg wanted to go home, and the other wanted to go back to the tavern.
“Sometimes, at the tavern, he would get to gaming; and when he lost his money, as he always did, he’d ask his companions to wait until he could go home and get more. He would soon come back with his pockets full. This happened so often that people began to talk about it, and to wonder how a man who had been so very poor could suddenly become so wealthy that he had money to throw away at the gaming-table. His neighbors were very curious about it, but they asked him no questions, and he went on drinking and gambling for many long days.
“But finally there came to that village a company of five men, who let it be understood that they were peddlers. They came into the village on foot, carrying packs on their backs, and put up at the tavern. They were not peddlers, but robbers, who had been attracted to the village by rumors about the poor man who was rich enough to throw away money night after night at the gaming-table.
“Shortly after nightfall, three of the five men arranged themselves around a table; and when the man came in, they invited him to join them. Two of the five sat by the fire, and appeared to be watching the game. The man didn’t wait for two invitations, but seated himself at the table, and called for wine. Then the gaming began. Aided by their two companions, the three robbers at the table had no difficulty in swindling the man. Though he came with all his pockets filled with gold and silver, they were soon emptied. The robbers plied him with wine, and he played wildly.
“When his money was all gone, he excused himself and said he would go and get more, and then continue the game. He went out; and, at a sign from the leader, the two robbers who had been sitting by the fire, rose and followed him. They had no trouble in doing this, for the man’s legs were already getting wobbly. One leg wanted to go home and go to bed, and the other wanted to go back and be stretched out under the table.
“But, though the man’s legs were wobbly, his head was pretty clear. He knew his way home, and he knew his way into the stable, where the coal-black sheep and the snow-white goat were housed. The two robbers followed him as closely as they dared, but it was too dark for them to see what he was doing. They knew that he went into the stable, and presently they heard the jingle and clinking of gold and silver, and then he came out with his pockets full.
“They waited until he had gone on toward the tavern and was out of sight. Then they slipped into the yard, and crept into the stable. It was very dark in the stable, but not too dark to see dimly. The two men felt their way along, and soon saw that there were but two stalls in the stable. Each went into a stall, and began to feel around. They expected to find bags of gold and silver stacked around, but they were mistaken. Finally they stooped to feel along the ground; and, as they did so, there was a loud thump in each stall and a yell of pain from both robbers. When they stooped to feel along the ground, the coal-black sheep and the snow-white goat rushed at them, and gave each one a thump that nearly jarred the senses out of him. The robbers rolled over with a howl, and the goat and the sheep thumped them again, and kept on thumping them.
AT LAST THE ROBBERS MANAGED TO ESCAPE
“But at last the robbers managed to escape, though they made a pretty looking sight. Their hats were lost, their clothes were torn and muddy, their heads were bleeding, their eyes were knocked black and blue, and they felt as if there was not a whole bone in their body. They were too frightened to talk, but finally their voices came to them.
“‘What was it hit you?’ says one.
“‘I’m blessed if I know,’ says the other. ‘What hit you?’
“‘Something hard,’ says one.
“‘What did it look like?’
“‘Satan dressed in white, and he had his maul and wedge with him. What did yours look like?’
“‘Satan dressed in black, and he had all his horns and hoofs with him; and I think he must have struck me one or two licks with his forked tail.’
“They went off to the nearest branch, and bathed themselves the best they could, but even then they made a sorry spectacle. Their heads and faces were still swollen, their eyes were nearly closed, and their clothes were split and ripped from heel to collar. They didn’t know where to go. They knew that it wouldn’t do to go back to the tavern and present themselves among the guests, for that would cast suspicion on their companions. Finally, they went outside the village, and hid themselves under a haystack, where they soon fell asleep, and would have slept soundly if their dreams had not been disturbed by visions of a black Satan and a white Satan, both armed with long, hard horns and sharp hoofs.
“All this time, the father of the children, wobbly as he was, sat at the gaming-table with the three robbers. The robbers were waiting for the return of their companions, and at last they became so uneasy that they played loosely, and the man began to win his gold and silver back again. At last the robbers concluded to go in search of their companions; and the man went home, carrying with him more gold and silver than he had ever before brought away from the tavern. The robbers failed to find their companions until the next day, and the story they told was so alarming that the band concluded to leave that part of the country, at least for awhile.
“But reports and rumors of the great wealth of the poor farmer continued to travel about, and finally they came to the ears of a company of merchants, who were more cunning in their line of business than the robbers were in theirs. So these merchants journeyed to the village, and put up at the tavern. There they soon made the acquaintance of the fortunate farmer who owned the wonderful coal-black sheep and the wonderful snow-white goat.
“They talked business with him from the word go. They wanted him to put his money in all sorts of schemes that were warranted to double it in a few months. But the man said he didn’t want his money doubled. He already had as much as he wanted. He told them that if he were to sit on the street and throw away a million dollars a minute for ten years he’d be just as rich at the end of that time as he was before he threw away the first million.
“Of course, the merchants didn’t understand this. Some said the man was crazy, but the shrewder ones concluded that there must be some secret behind it all. So they set to work to find it out. They flattered him in every way. They made him rich presents for himself, his wife, and children. For the first time he began to wear fine clothes and put on airs. The shrewd merchants asked his advice about their own business, and went about telling everybody what a wise man he was. They pretended to tell him all their own business secrets.
“This, of course, pleased the man very much; and, at last, one day, when he had more wine in his head than wit, he
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