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Once upon
a time...
There lived in Japan a rat and his wife who came of an old
and noble race, and had one daughter, the loveliest girl in all the
rat world. Her parents were very proud of her, and spared no pains
to teach her all she ought to know. There was not another young lady
in the whole town who was as clever as she was in gnawing through
the hardest wood, or who could drop from such a height on to a bed,
or run away so fast if anyone was heard coming. Great attention,
too, was paid to her personal appearance, and her skin shone like
satin, while her teeth were as white as pearls, and beautifully
pointed.
Of course, with all these advantages, her parents expected her to
make a brilliant marriage, and, as she grew up, they began to look
round for a suitable husband.
But here a difficulty arose. The father was a rat from the tip of
his nose to the end of his tail, outside as well as in, and desired
that his daughter should wed among her own people. She had no lack
of lovers, but her father's secret hopes rested on a fine young rat,
with moustaches which almost swept the ground, whose family was
still nobler and more ancient than his own. Unluckily, the mother
had other views for her precious child. She was one of those people
who always despise their own family and surroundings, and take
pleasure in thinking that they themselves are made of finer material
than the rest of the world. 'Her daughter should never marry a mere
rat,' she declared, holding her head high. 'With her beauty and
talents she had a right to look for someone a little better than
that.'
So she talked, as mothers will, to anyone that would listen to her.
What the girl thought about the matter nobody knew or cared--it was
not the fashion in the rat world.
Many were the quarrels which the old rat and his wife had upon the
subject, and sometimes they bore on their faces certain marks which
looked as if they had not kept to words only.
'Reach up to the stars is MY motto,' cried the lady one day, when
she was in a greater passion than usual. 'My daughter's beauty
places her higher than anything upon earth,' she cried; 'and I am
certainly not going to accept a son-in-law who is beneath her.'
'Better offer her in marriage to the sun,' answered her husband
impatiently. 'As far as I know there is nothing greater than he.'
'Well, I WAS thinking of it,' replied the wife, 'and as you are of
the same mind, we will pay him a visit to-morrow.'
So the next morning, the two rats, having spent hours in making
themselves smart, set out to see the sun, leading their daughter
between them.
The journey took some time, but at length they came to the golden
palace where the sun lived.
'Noble king,' began the mother, 'behold our daughter! She is so
beautiful that she is above everything in the whole world.
Naturally, we wish for a son-in-law who, on his side, is greater
than all. Therefore we have come to you.'
'I feel very much flattered,' replied the sun, who was so busy that
he had not the least wish to marry anybody. 'You do me great honour
by your proposal. Only, in one point you are mistaken, and it would
be wrong of me to take advantage of your ignorance. There is
something greater than I am, and that is the cloud. Look!' And as he
spoke a cloud spread itself over the sun's face, blotting out his
rays.
'Oh, well, we will speak to the cloud,' said the mother. And turning
to the cloud she repeated her proposal.
'Indeed I am unworthy of anything so charming,' answered the cloud;
'but you make a mistake again in what you say. There is one thing
that is even more powerful than I, and that is the wind. Ah, here he
comes, you can see for yourself.'
And she DID see, for catching up the cloud as he passed, he threw it
on the other side of the sky. Then, tumbling father, mother and
daughter down to the earth again, he paused for a moment beside
them, his foot on an old wall.
When she had recovered her breath, the mother began her little
speech once more.
'The wall is the proper husband for your daughter,' answered the
wind, whose home consisted of a cave, which he only visited when he
was not rushing about elsewhere; 'you can see for yourself that he
is greater than I, for he has power to stop me in my flight.' And
the mother, who did not trouble to conceal her wishes, turned at
once to the wall.
Then something happened which was quite unexpected by everyone.
'I won't marry that ugly old wall, which is as old as my
grandfather,' sobbed the girl, who had not uttered one word all this
time. 'I would have married the sun, or the cloud, or the wind,
because it was my duty, although I love the handsome young rat, and
him only. But that horrid old wall--I would sooner die!'
And the wall, rather hurt in his feelings, declared that he had no
claim to be the husband of so beautiful a girl.
'It is quite true,' he said, 'that I can stop the wind who can part
the clouds who can cover the sun; but there is someone who can do
more than all these, and that is the rat. It is the rat who passes
through me, and can reduce me to powder, simply with his teeth. If,
therefore, you want a son-in-law who is greater than the whole
world, seek him among the rats.'
'Ah, what did I tell you?' cried the father. And his wife, though
for the moment angry at being beaten, soon thought that a rat
son-in-law was what she had always desired.
So all three returned happily home, and the wedding was celebrated
three days after.
The Husband Of the Rat's
Daughter
from the Brown Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
