The Grateful Beasts

James Smith, Claremont, St. Anne.

A poor man was once travelling and saw a dog and a lion and a crow and ants fighting over dead prey. The poor man had nothing but a knife. He said, “Let me try and see if I can help you all.” He cut one quarter gave to the lion, cut one quarter gave to the dog, cut one quarter gave to the crow, gave the last quarter to the ants. The lion said, “My good man, I have nothing to pay for you kindness, but any trouble you get into just call upon the lion and you shall be ten times stronger than the lion.” The dog said, “Any trouble you get into just say, ‘The grey the dog,’ and you shall be ten times quicker than the dog.” The crow said, “Say, ‘The grey the crow,’ and you shall fly ten times higher than the crow.” The ants said, “Say, ‘The grey the ants,’ and you shall be ten times smaller than the ants.”

Some time after that, a great seven-headed giant who had one daughter, made a rule that any man coming to his house he would surely put to death. That poor man heard about the saying of the seven-headed giant and said he would marry the daughter. They laughed at him, but he found himself at the giant’s yard. There he found the daughter, but the giant was not at home. He told her that he would marry her, and she said that the giant would kill him. He said that he would give the giant a fight. He went back the second day, went back the third day. The father caught him there, said to his daughter in the house, “Aye! I smell fresh blood!”—“No, papa, nothing of the kind!” The giant went into the room she was hiding the man in. The man said, “The grey the ants,” and he was ten times smaller than ants; found his way through the crevices, ran down the stair-case, found himself out on the green, and he came back into his man’s shape. The giant came out and caught hold of him. He called upon the lion and he was ten times stronger than a lion. He flashed off three of the giant’s heads.

All the giant’s treasure was hidden in a round hill and the key was two marbles on an iron rod. The two marbles and the rod dropped from the giant’s pocket. “The grey the dog,” and he was ten times quicker than a dog and caught the marbles and the rod. The giant caught after him and he said, “The grey the crow,” and flew ten times higher than a crow, and flew down and hit off the other four heads. The giant was lying down dead. With the advice of the girl he walked straight up to the hill, joined the iron rod on the top of the hill, set the two marbles at the other side at the foot of the hill, and both marbles rolled to the iron rod. So the man went in and got all that hidden treasure and he married the daughter and got all the possessions.

So you can never be too strong to be brought low.