A FABLE FROM THE SOUDAN.

PROBABLY there is no form of literature that so much makes mankind feel that they are all members of one large family as folk-tales. The science of comparative mythology has greatly helped forward the feeling of universal brotherhood. When we come in contact with primitive modes of thought and feeling we invariably encounter that one touch of nature which makes the whole world kin. Folk-tales give us the true tone of man in his childhood, when as yet, as Carlyle aptly says, "the universe within was divided by no wall of adamant from the universe without." An extended knowledge of this primitive literature is consequently of more value than would at first appear, and every such accession to our information should be eagerly welcomed. As yet Africa — that great Sphinx-land — has been most resolutely closed to us in this respect. We know little of the mental life of her races, especially those that people the interior. Anything is therefore doubly welcome which helps us to see if we can discover in the legendary lore of the Africans the same wondrous touch of unity that breathes through that of other continents, even though, as is sometimes the case, it is disguised in unfamiliar shapes. To the industry and research of an Austrian scholar we owe the first contribution towards the folk-lore of equatorial Africa. Herr Ernst Marno accompanied Colonel Gordon in his expedition (undertaken in 1874-76) into the interior of the Khedive's dominions, far into the Soudan. Of this journey, with the help of the Austrian Imperial Academy of Sciences, he published a detailed account. One chapter relates some of the tales that are disseminated over the whole of equatorial Africa. They are narrated by wandering story-tellers, and are listened to with the same breathless interest that distinguishes Arab and other non-literary audiences. These tales treat chiefly of animals, and more especially of the slyness and craft of the jackal, a near relative to our fox, who is always spoken of under the name of Abu'l Hossein, much as the fox is known in literature as Master Reynard. This peculiarity, as well as many others developed in these stories, would seem to point to a common Indo-Germanic origin. Here is a translation of one of these fables, known as "Abu'l Hossein and the Crocodile:"

      "A large crocodile carefully selected as its lair that spot in the river where he knew men and beasts must come down to drink, and then patiently awaited his prey. When the beasts became aware of this they abandoned the spot, and turned to a more remote watering-place. But Abu'l Hossein did not wish to give himself this trouble. He drew a long reed from out the thicket bordering the river, seated himself on a tree overhanging the water, and drank comfortably and safely out of this tube whenever he was thirsty. The crocodile, who noticed this, was much annoyed at his proceeding, and begged the ant to oblige him by biting Abu'l Hossein from behind when next he came to drink. So when Abu'l Hossein next sat upon his tree and drank out of his reed, the ant bit him hard. This startled Abu'l Hossein; he let the reed fall to scratch himself, and in so doing he overbalanced and fell into the water, where he was seized by the crocodile, who was lying in wait.

      'Now I have got you,' said the crocodile; 'and to-day all is over with you.'

      'What will you do with me?' asked Abu'l Hossein; 'my flesh is so hard and tough that you cannot enjoy it undressed.'

      'Very well,' said the crocodile; 'then I will roast you.'

      "So speaking, he seized Abu'l Hossein and gave him to his old blind grandmother. She was to roast Abu'l Hossein, and in return to receive the paw by which she held him; the rest was to fall to the share of the crocodile, who at once went off to seek for firing.

      "Abu'l Hossein in this his sore extremity perceived a piece of wood floating down the stream. He grasped it with the paw that was free, and holding it out to the old blind crocodile grandmother, he said,

      'Take hold of me here by the head, else I shall escape you.'

      "The grandmother seized the piece of wood extended to her, and thus let go of Abu'l Hossein, who ran off as fast as his legs could carry him.

      'Why do you hold that piece of wood in your hand, and what have you done with Abu'l Hossein?' said the crocodile, when he returned with the sticks for firing.

      "For a long while the grandmother would not believe that she grasped a piece of wood with her hand, and thought the crocodile only spoke thus that she might not have her promised share of the booty. She upbraided the crocodile, he scolded back in return; and so both jangled on till each was deeply angered with the other. At last the crocodile set out across the land to pursue Abu'l Hossein. Fury had made him careless; he wandered too far away from the river, and by and by the unwonted exercise across the arid ground, the heat, thirst, and hunger made him sink down on the steppe quite exhausted. Here he lay a long while, and it seemed as though he must perish miserably.

      "Then a man came riding past upon a camel. He saw the half-dead crocodile, and was not a little astonished when he thus spoke to him with feeble voice:

      'I pray you be so good as to convey me back to the river, and I will swear to you never again to harm a being of Adam's race.'

      "The man took pity upon the crocodile, bound him, and loaded him upon his camel. Thus he brought him to the river's bank.

      'Shall I release you here?' asked the man.

      'Take me where the water is deep,' replied the crocodile; and the man brought him to deep water, unbound him, and let him free. But the crocodile now seized the man, and said, 'So, now I retain you, or else you must give me your camel.'

      'But you promised never again to hurt a human being,' said the man.

      'Yes,' said the crocodile; 'but to-day I am hungry. It can't be helped. Either you or your camel.'

      "At this moment the hyena passed by, and was appealed to by both to decide their dispute. Now the hyena did not wish to fall out with either the man or the crocodile; but in order to compass the escape of the man, he said to the crocodile:

      'When you have caught a human being, do not eat him in the water, but bring him out on dry land, or he will disagree with you.'

      "It so happened that at this moment Abu'l Hossein came by. The hyena told him the story, and asked him what could be done; while both the man and the crocodile begged Abu'l Hossein to be umpire in this matter. Abu'l Hossein called out to them:

      'I am rather hard of hearing. Both of you come out on to the shore, that I may cross-examine you and understand the case.'

      "The man and the crocodile did as he desired; and Abu'l Hossein asked the man how all this had come about, and was told the story.

      'Probably you bound the crocodile too tight, and so hurt him and made him angry,' said Abu'l Hossein, when he had heard all.

      'Yes, yes,' said the crocodile. 'He bound me so tight that I could not breathe; and all the ribs of my body still ache as though they were broken.'

      'I cannot decide this matter without judging with my own eyes,' said Abu'l Hossein. 'Let the man bind you once more as before.'

      'Good,' said the crocodile; 'I will consent to be bound, and then you shall decide.'

      "The man bound the crocodile as before.

      'Did the man bind you thus?' asked Abu'l Hossein.

      'No; much tighter,' replied the crocodile.

      'Very well,' said Abu'l Hossein to the man, 'tie him tighter.'

      "And the man bound him so tight, that the crocodile screamed,

      'Enough, enough! this was how he bound me!'

      "Then Abu'l Hossein said to the man,

      'You must have been mad to tie the poor crocodile thus. Allah gave into your hands a mass of meat, and you did not kill this son of a dog!'

      "The crocodile, when he heard this, saw what Abu'l Hossein was aiming at, and begged for mercy. But the man killed the crocodile, and carried home the flesh."

      Might not this fable have emanated from Kriloff, or even from Æsop?

      In recent literature readers will be struck by the resemblance of the foregoing fable to the doings of "Brere Rabbit," "Brere Fox," and "Brere Tarrypin," as narrated with quaint humour in the plantation stories of Uncle Remus.^*

* London: David Bogue. (1881)

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