Indian Fairy Tales Read Online Free

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 in
the middle, and trundled away gaily. Soon he met with the Eagle, who
called out:
    "Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?"
    And Mr. Lambikin, curled up in his soft warm nest, replied:
    "Fallen into the fire, and so will you
On little Drumikin. Tum-pa, tum-too!"
    "How very annoying!" sighed the Eagle, thinking regretfully of the
tender morsel he had let slip.
    Meanwhile Lambikin trundled along, laughing to himself, and singing:
    "Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, tum-too!"
    Every animal and bird he met asked him the same question:
    "Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?"
    And to each of them the little slyboots replied:
    "Fallen into the fire, and so will you
On little Drumikin. Tum-pa, tum too;
Tum-pa, tum-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!"
    Then they all sighed to think of the tender little morsel they had let
slip.
    At last the Jackal