Page:Sagas from the Far East; or, Kalmouk and Mongolian traditionary tales.djvu/61

Rh saying, "See thou speak never a word by the way," answered him nothing, neither spake at all.

Then said the Siddhî-kür, "If thou wilt not tell a tale, at least give me some token by which I may know that thou willest I should tell one, and without speaking, nod thy head backwards towards me, and I will tell a tale."

So the Well-and-wise-walking Khan nodded his head backwards, and the Siddhî-kür told this tale saying,—

Long ages ago there lived on the banks of a mighty river a man who had no wife, and no family, and no possessions, but only one cow; and when he mourned because he had no children, and his cow had no calf, and that he had no milk and no butter to live upon, his cow one day gave birth, not to a calf, but to a monster, which seemed only to be sent to mock him in his misery and distress; for while it had the head, and horns, and long tail of a bull, it had the body of a man. Never was such an ugly monster seen, and when the poor man considered it he said, "What shall I now do with this monster? It is not good for him to live; I will fetch my bow and arrows, and will make an end of him." But when he had strung his bow and fixed his arrow, Massang of the bull's head, seeing what he was going to do, cried out, "Master, slay me not; and doubt not but that your clemency shall have its reward."