Part 25 (1/2)

”To think,” said the jay, ”that we should have been so long deceived.

But I had my suspicions.”

”I cannot say I suspected anything,” said the hare; ”but I remember Kauc did make a very curious remark on one occasion; he was always looking askew into things and places that did not concern him, so that I did not much heed, especially as he had started slanders about me.”

”Well,” said the jay, ”the truth is, my wife--she is, you know, the most beautiful creature in the world, and quite turned the head of the late monarch--told me that she all along had her ideas; and Kapchack himself indeed told her in confidence that he was not so old as he looked, being jealous of the youth of Tchack-tchack, who objected to having his eye pecked out, and his feathers ruffled, as if he had any claims to be handsome;” and the jay surveyed his own bright feathers with pride.

”You stupids!” said Bevis, ”what is the use of talking in that way? I want to know the secret.”

”There is no secret,” said the jay; ”and I am not stupid. How can there be a secret, when everybody knows it?”

”Hus.h.!.+ hus.h.!.+” said the hare, trying to make peace; ”do not let us quarrel, at all events, if all the rest do.”

”No,” said the squirrel; ”certainly not.”

”Certainly not,” repeated the jay.

”Well, what is it, then?” said Bevis, still frowning.

”The fact is,” said the squirrel, ”Tchack-tchack has babbled out the great state secret. I myself knew a little of it previously, having overheard the crow muttering to himself--as Ulu said, he peers into things that do not concern him. And, if you remember, Bevis, I was in a great fright one day when I nearly let it out myself. Now Prince Tchack-tchack, finding that he could not get the crown, has babbled everything in his rage, and the beautiful jay has told us many things that prove it to be true. It now turns out that Kapchack was not Kapchack at all.”

”Not Kapchack!” said Bevis. ”How could Kapchack not be Kapchack, when he was Kapchack?”

”Kapchack could not be Kapchack,” said the squirrel, ”because he never was Kapchack.”

”Then who was Kapchack?” said Bevis, in amazement.

”Well, he was not who he was,” said the squirrel; ”and I will tell you why it was that he was not, if you will listen, and not keep interrupting, and asking questions. The reed once told you how stupid it is to ask questions; you would understand everything very well, if you did not trouble to make inquiries. The king who is just dead, and who was called Kapchack, was not Kapchack, because the real old original Kapchack died forty years ago.”

”What?” said Bevis.

”Extraordinary!” said the jay.

”Extraordinary!” said the hare.

”But true,” said the squirrel. ”The real old original Kapchack, the cleverest, cunningest, most consummate schemer who ever lived, who built the palace in the orchard, and who played such fantastic freaks before the loving couple, who won their hearts, and stole their locket and separated them for ever (thinking that would serve his purpose best, since if they married they would forget him, and have other things to think about, while if they were apart he should be regarded as a sacred souvenir), this marvellous genius, the founder of so ill.u.s.trious a family, whose dominion stretched from here to the sea--I tell you that _this_ Kapchack, the real old original one, died forty years ago.

”But before he died, being so extremely cunning, he made provision for the continuation of himself in this way. He reflected that he was very old, and that a good deal of the dignity he enjoyed was due to that fact. The owner of the orchard and warden of his fortress regarded him with so much affection, because in his youth he had capered before the young lady whom he loved. It was not possible for the old gentleman to transfer this affection to a young and giddy magpie, who had not seen any of these former things. Nor, looking outside the orchard wall, was it probable that the extensive kingdom he himself enjoyed would pa.s.s under the sway of a youthful prince in its entirety.

”Some of the n.o.bles would be nearly certain to revolt: the empire he had formed with so much labour, ingenuity, and risk, would fall to pieces, the life of one ruler not being sufficiently long to consolidate it. The old king, therefore, as he felt the years pressing heavy upon him, cast about in his mind for some means of securing his dynasty.

”After long cogitation one day he called to him his son and heir, a very handsome young fellow, much like the Tchack-tchack whom we know, and motioning him to come close, as if about to whisper in his ear, suddenly pecked out his left eye. The vain young prince suffered not only from the physical pain, but the intense mortification of knowing that his beauty was destroyed for ever. If he wanted even to look at himself in the pond, before he could see his own reflection, he had to turn his head upon one side. He bitterly upbraided his unnatural father for this cruel deed: the queen joined in the reproaches, and the palace resounded with rage and lamentation.

”Old King Kapchack the First bore all this disturbance with equanimity, sustained by the conviction that he had acted for the welfare of the royal house he had founded. After a time, when the young one-eyed prince ceased to complain, and was only sullen, he seized an opportunity when they were alone in the apple-tree, and explained to him the reason why he had done it.

”'I,' said he, 'I have founded this house, and through me you are regarded everywhere as of royal dignity; but if I were gone, the wicked and traitorous world which surrounds the throne would certainly begin to conspire against you on account of your youth; nor would the warden of this orchard take any interest or defend you, as you were not the witness of the caresses bestowed upon him by his young lady. If you look at me, you will see that a wound, received in the wars which I waged long since, extinguished my left eye. You will also see that my tail is not, to say the least, either so glossy or so ample as of yore, and my neck and temples are somewhat bare, partly because in those wars I received divers swas.h.i.+ng blows upon my head, and partly because of my increasing age.'

”The prince looked at him, and remarked that he certainly was a draggled old scarecrow. Not the least annoyed by this unfilial expression, the old king proceeded to show his heir how, in order for him, first, to retain the kingdom, and secondly, to keep the interest of the old gentleman owner of the orchard, it was necessary for him to present the same appearance as Kapchack himself did. 'In short,' said he, 'when I die you must be ready to take my place, and to look exactly like me.'

The prince began to see the point, and even to admire the cunning of his father, but still he could not forgive the loss of his eye.