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Once upon
a time...
One day a wolverine was out walking on the hill-side, when,
on turning a corner, he suddenly saw a large rock.
'Was that you I heard walking about just now?' he asked, for
wolverines are cautious animals, and always like to know the reasons
of things.
'No, certainly not,' answered the rock; 'I don't know how to walk.'
'But I saw you walking,' continued the wolverine.
'I am afraid that you were not taught to speak the truth,' retorted
the rock.
'You need not speak like that, for I have seen you walking,' replied
the wolverine, 'though I am quite sure that you could never catch
me!' and he ran a little distance and then stopped to see if the
rock was pursuing him; but, to his vexation, the rock was still in
the same place. Then the wolverine went up close, and struck the
rock a blow with his paw, saying: 'Well, will you catch me now?'
'I can't walk, but I can roll,' answered the rock.
And the wolverine laughed and said: 'Oh, that will do just as well';
and began to run down the side of the mountain.
At first he went quite slowly, 'just to give the rock a chance,' he
thought to himself; but soon he quickened his pace, for he found
that the rock was almost at his heels. But the faster the wolverine
ran, the faster the rock rolled, and by-and-by the little creature
began to get very tired, and was sorry he had not left the rock to
itself. Thinking that if he could manage to put on a spurt he would
reach the forest of great trees at the bottom of the mountain, where
the rock could not come, he gathered up all his strength, and
instead of running he leaped over sticks and stones, but, whatever
he did, the rock was always close behind him. At length he grew so
weary that he could not even see where he was going, and catching
his foot in a branch he tripped and fell. The rock stopped at once,
but there came a shriek from the wolverine:
'Get off, get off! can't you see that you are on my legs?'
'Why did you not leave me alone?' asked the rock. 'I did not want to
move--I hate moving. But you would have it, and I certainly sha'n't
move now till I am forced to.'
'I will call my brothers,' answered the wolverine. 'There are many
of them in the forest, and you will soon see that they are stronger
than you.' And he called, and called, and called, till wolves and
foxes and all sorts of other creatures all came running to see what
was the matter.
'How did you get under that rock?' asked they, making a ring round
him; but they had to repeat their question several times before the
wolverine would answer, for he, like many other persons, found it
hard to confess that he had brought his troubles on himself.
'Well, I was dull, and wanted someone to play with me,' he said at
last, in sulky voice, 'and I challenged the rock to catch me. Of
course I thought I could run the fastest; but I tripped, and it
rolled on me. It was just an accident.'
'It serves you right for being so silly,' said they; but they pushed
and hauled at the rock for a long time without making it move an
inch.
'You are no good at all,' cried the wolverine crossly, for it was
suffering great pain, 'and if you cannot get me free, I shall see
what my friends the lightning and thunder can do.' And he called
loudly to the lightning to come and help him as quickly as possible.
In a few minutes a dark cloud came rolling up the sky, giving out
such terrific claps of thunder that the wolves and the foxes and all
the other creatures ran helter-skelter in all directions. But,
frightened though they were, they did not forget to beg the
lightning to take off the wolverine's coat and to free his legs, but
to be careful not to hurt him. So the lightning disappeared into the
cloud for a moment to gather up fresh strength, and then came
rushing down, right upon the rock, which it sent flying in all
directions, and took the wolverine's coat so neatly that, though it
was torn into tiny shreds, the wolverine himself was quite unharmed.
'That was rather clumsy of you,' said he, standing up naked in his
flesh. 'Surely you could have split the rock without tearing my coat
to bits!' And he stooped down to pick up the pieces. It took him a
long time, for there were a great many of them, but at last he had
them all in his hand.
'I'll go to my sister the frog,' he thought to himself, 'and she
will sew them together for me'; and he set off at once for the swamp
in which his sister lived.
'Will you sew my coat together? I had an unlucky accident, and it is
quite impossible to wear,' he said, when he found her.
'With pleasure,' she answered, for she had always been taught to be
polite; and getting her needle and thread she began to fit the
pieces. But though she was very good-natured, she was not very
clever, and she got some of the bits wrong. When the wolverine, who
was very particular about his clothes, came to put it on, he grew
very angry.
'What a useless creature you are!' cried he. 'Do you expect me to go
about in such a coat as that? Why it bulges all down the back, as if
I had a hump, and it is so tight across the chest that I expect it
to burst every time I breathe. I knew you were stupid, but I did not
think you were as stupid as that.' And giving the poor frog a blow
on her head, which knocked her straight into the water, he walked
off in a rage to his younger sister the mouse.
'I tore my coat this morning,' he began, when he had found her
sitting at the door of her house eating an apple. 'It was all in
little bits, and I took it to our sister the frog to ask her to sew
it for me. But just look at the way she has done it! You will have
to take it to pieces and fit them together properly, and I hope I
shall not have to complain again.' For as the wolverine was older
than the mouse, he was accustomed to speak to her in this manner.
However, the mouse was used to it and only answered: 'I think you
had better stay here till it is done, and if there is any alteration
needed I can make it.' So the wolverine sat down on a heap of dry
ferns, and picking up the apple, he finished it without even asking
the mouse's leave.
At last the coat was ready, and the wolverine put it on.
'Yes, it fits very well,' said he, 'and you have sewn it very
neatly. When I pass this way again I will bring you a handful of
corn, as a reward'; and he ran off as smart as ever, leaving the
mouse quite grateful behind him.
He wandered about for many days, till he reached a place where food
was very scarce, and for a whole week he went without any. He was
growing desperate, when he suddenly came upon a bear that was lying
asleep. 'Ah! here is food at last!' thought he; but how was he to
kill the bear, who was so much bigger than himself? It was no use to
try force, he must invent some cunning plan which would get her into
his power. At last, after thinking hard, he decided upon something,
and going up to the bear, he exclaimed: 'Is that you, my sister?'
The bear turned round and saw the wolverine, and murmuring to
herself, so low that nobody could hear, 'I never heard before that I
had a brother,' got up and ran quickly to a tree, up which she
climbed. Now the wolverine was very angry when he saw his dinner
vanishing in front of him, especially as he could not climb trees
like the bear, so he followed, and stood at the foot of the tree,
shrieking as loud as he could, 'Come down, sister; our father has
sent me to look for you! You were lost when you were a little girl
and went out picking berries, and it was only the other day that we
heard from a beaver where you were.' At these words, the bear came a
little way down the tree, and the wolverine, seeing this, went on:
'Are you not fond of berries? I am! And I know a place where they
grow so thick the ground is quite hidden. Why, look for yourself!
That hillside is quite red with them!'
'I can't see so far,' answered the bear, now climbing down
altogether. 'You must have wonderfully good eyes! I wish I had; but
my sight is very short.'
'So was mine till my father smashed a pailful of cranberries, and
rubbed my eyes with them,' replied the wolverine. 'But if you like
to go and gather some of the berries I will do just as he did, and
you will soon be able to see as far as me.'
It took the bear a long while to gather the berries, for she was
slow about everything, and, besides, it made her back ache to stoop.
But at last she returned with a sackful, and put them down beside
the wolverine. 'That is splendid, sister!' cried the wolverine. 'Now
lie flat on the ground with your head on this stone, while I smash
them.'
The bear, who was very tired, was only too glad to do as she was
bid, and stretched herself comfortably on the grass.
'I am ready now,' said the wolverine after a bit; 'just at first you
will find that the berries make your eyes smart, but you must be
careful not to move, or the juice will run out, and then it will
have to be done all over again.'
So the bear promised to lie very still; but the moment the
cranberries touched her eyes she sprang up with a roar.
'Oh, you mustn't mind a little pain,' said the wolverine, 'it will
soon be over, and then you will see all sorts of things you have
never dreamt of.' The bear sank down with a groan, and as her eyes
were full of cranberry juice, which completely blinded her, the
wolverine took up a sharp knife and stabbed her to the heart.
Then he took off the skin, and, stealing some fire from a tent,
which his sharp eyes had perceived hidden behind a rock, he set
about roasting the bear bit by bit. He thought the meat was the best
he ever had tasted, and when dinner was done he made up his mind to
try that same trick again, if ever he was hungry.
And very likely he did!
The Wicked Wolverine
from the Brown Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
