Why The Heron Has A Crooked Neck

: Outa Karel's Stories

The flames leapt gaily upward in the wide fireplace, throwing strange

shadows on the painted walls and gleaming on the polished wood of

floor and beam and cupboard. Little Jan basked contentedly in the

warmth, almost dozing--now absently stroking the terrier curled up

beside him, now running his fingers through the softer fur of the

rug on which he lay. It was made of silver-jackal skins--a dozen of

them, to judge from
the six bushy tails spread out on either side;

and as Outa Karel's gaze rested on them, he remarked reminiscently--



"Arre! but Oom Jakhals was a slim kerel! No one ever got the better

of him without paying for it."



In an instant little Jan was sitting bolt upright, every symptom

of sleep banished from his face; the book from which Willem had been

laboriously trying to gain some idea of the physical features of Russia

was flung to the far end of the rustbank; while Pietie, suspending

for a brief moment his whittling of a catapult stick, slid along the

floor to get within better sight and sound of the story-teller.



"Yes, my little masters, sometimes it was Oom Leeuw he cheated,

sometimes it was Oubaas Babiaan or Oom Wolf, and once it was the

poor little Dove, and that is what made me think of how he was

cheated himself."



"Did the little Dove cheat him?" asked Pietie eagerly.



"No, baasje, the Dove is too frightened--not stupid, baasje, but like

people are when they are too gentle and kind and believe everything

other people tell them. She was sitting on her nest one day singing

to her little children, 'Coo-oo, coo-oo coo-oo,' when Oom Jakhals

prowled along under the tree and heard her.



"'Alla wereld! Now I'll have a nice breakfast,' he thought, and he

called out, 'Good morning, Tante. I hear you have such pretty little

children. Please bring them down for me to see.'



"But the Tante was frightened of Jakhals, and said, 'I'm sorry, Oom,

they are not well to-day, and I must keep them at home.'



"Then Jakhals lost his temper, and called out, 'Nonsense, I'm hungry

and want something to eat, so throw down one of your little children

at once.'



"Baasjes know, sometimes crossness drives away frightenness; and Tante

was so cross with Oom Jakhals for wanting to eat one of her little

children that she called out, 'No, no, you bad Jakhals, I shall do

nothing of the sort. Go away and look for other food.'



"'If you don't, I'll fly up and eat them all,' said Jakhals. 'Throw

one down at once.' And he stamped about and made such a horrible noise

that the poor Tante thought he was really flying up. She looked at

her babies: there wasn't one she wanted to give, but it was better to

lose one than have them all eaten; so she shut her eyes and fluttered

about the nest till one of them fell out, and Jakhals caught it in

his mouth and carried it off to his hole to eat.



"Ach! but the poor Tante was sad! She spread her wings over her other

children and never slept all night, but looked about this way and

that way with her soft eyes, thinking every little noise she heard was

Oom Jakhals trying to fly up to her nest to gobble up all her babies.



"The next morning there was Oom Jakhals again. 'Tante, your child

was a nice, juicy mouthful. Throw me down another. And make haste,

do you hear? or I'll fly up and eat you all.'



"'Coo-oo, coo-oo, coo-oo,' said Tante, crying, 'no, I won't give

you one.' But it was no use, and in the end she did what she had

done before--just shut her eyes and fluttered round and round till

a baby fell out of the nest. She thought there was no help for it,

and, like some people are, she thought what the eye didn't see the

heart wouldn't feel; but her heart was very sore, and she cried more

sadly than ever, and this time she said, 'Oo-oo, oo-oo, oo-oo!' It

was very sad and sorrowful to listen to 'Oo-oo, oo-oo, oo-oo!'



"Here came old Oom Reijer. He is a kind old bird, though he holds

his neck so crooked and looks like there was nothing to smile at in

the whole wide world.



"'Ach! why do you cry so sadly, Tante? It nearly gives me a stitch

in my side.'



"'Oo-oo! I'm very miserable. Oom Jakhals has eaten two of my little

children, and to-morrow he will come for another, and soon I shall

have none left.'



"'But why did you let him eat them?'



"'Because he said if I didn't give him one he would fly up and eat

them all. Oo-oo-oo!'



"Then Oom Reijer was very angry. He flapped his wings, and stretched

out his long neck--so, my baasjes, just so" (the children hugged

themselves in silent delight at Outa's fine acting)--"and he opened

and shut his long beak to show how he would like to peck out Oom

Jakhals's wicked eyes if he could only catch him.



"'That vervlakste Jakhals!' he said. 'To tell such lies! But, Tante,

you are stupid. Don't you know Oom Jakhals can't fly? Now listen to

me. When he comes again, tell him you know he can't fly, and that

you won't give him any more of your children.'



"The next day there came Oom Jakhals again with his old story, but

Tante just laughed at him.



"'Ach, no! you story-telling Bushytail!' she said, 'I won't give you

any more of my little children, and you needn't say you'll fly up

and eat them, because I know you can't.'



"'Nier-r-r, nier-r-r!' said Oom Jakhals, growling, 'how do you

know that?'



"'Oom Reijer told me, so there!' said Tante. 'And you can just go to

your mother!'



"My! but Tante was getting brave now that she knew she and her little

children were safe. That was the worst insult you can ever give a

grown-up jakhals, and Oom Jakhals growled more than ever.



"'Never mind,' he said at last, 'Tante is only a vrouwmens; I won't

bother with her any more. But wait till I catch Oom Reijer. He'll

be sorry he poked his long nose into my business, the old meddler,'

and he trotted off to look for him.



"He hunted and hunted, and at last he found him standing on one leg

at the side of the river, with his long neck drawn in and his head

resting on his shoulders.



"'Good day, Oom Reijer,' he said politely. 'How is Oom to-day?'



"'I'm all right,' answered Oom Reijer shortly, without moving an inch.



"Jakhals spoke in a little small voice--ach! toch so humble. 'Oom,

please come this way a little: I'm so stupid, but you are so wise

and clever, and I want to ask your advice about something.'



"Oom Reijer began to listen. It is maar so when people hear about

themselves. He put down his other leg, stretched out his neck, and

asked over his shoulder, 'What did you say, eh?'



"'Come toch this way a little; the mud over there is too soft for me

to stand on. I want your valuable advice about the wind. The other

people all say I must ask you, because no one is as wise as you.'



"Truly Jakhals was a slim kerel! He knew how to stroke Oom Reijer's

feathers the right way.



"Oom Reijer came slowly over the mud--a person mustn't show he is

too pleased: he even stopped to swallow a little frog on the way,

and then he said, carelesslike, 'Yes, I can tell you all about the

wind and weather. Ask what you like, Jakhals.' His long neck twisted

about with pride.



"Oom, when the wind is from the west, how must one hold one's head?'



"'Is that all?' said Oom Reijer. 'Just so.' And he turned his head

to the east.



"'Thank you, Oom. And when the wind is from the east?'



"'So.' Oom Reijer bent his neck the other way.



"'Thank you, Oom,' said the little small voice, so grateful and

humble. 'But when there is a storm and the rain beats down, how then?'



"'So!' said Oom Reijer, and he bent his neck down till his head nearly

touched his toes.



"My little masters, just as quickly as a whip-snake shoots into his

hole, so Jakhals shot out his arm and caught Oom Reijer on the bend of

his neck--crack!--and in a minute the poor old bird was rolling in the

mud with his neck nearly broken, and so weak that he couldn't even lift

his beak to peck at the false wicked eyes that were staring at him.



"O! how glad was cruel Jakhals! He laughed till he couldn't any

more. He screamed and danced with pleasure. He waved his bushy tail,

and the silver mane on his back bristled as he jumped about.



"'Ha! ha! ha! Oom thought to do me a bad turn, but I'll teach

people not to interfere with me. Ha! ha! ha! No one is as wise as

Oom Reijer, eh? Then he will soon find out how to mend his broken

neck. Ha! ha! ha!'



"Jakhals gave one last spring right over poor Oom Reijer, and danced

off to his den in the kopjes to tell Tante Jakhals and the little

Jakhalsjes how he had cheated Oom Reijer.



"And from that day, baasjes, Oom Reijer's neck is crooked: he can't

hold it straight; and it's all through trying to interfere with

Jakhals. That is why I said Jakhals is a slim kerel. Whether he walks

on four legs or on two, the best is maar to leave him alone because

he can always make a plan, and no one ever gets the better of him

without paying for it in the end."



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