Just So Stories for Little Children / Просто сказки. Книга для чтения на английском языке

‘Gracious!’ said his wife, and sat quite quiet; but Suleiman-bin-Daoud laughed till the tears ran down his face at the impudence of the bad little Butterfly.

Balkis the Most Beautiful stood up behind the tree among the red lilies and smiled to herself, for she had heard all this talk. She thought, ‘If I am wise I can yet save my Lord from the persecutions of these quarrelsome Queens,’ and she held out her finger and whispered softly to the Butterfly’s Wife, ‘Little woman, come here.’

Up flew the Butterfly’s Wife, very frightened, and clung to Balkis’s white hand.

Balkis bent her beautiful head down and whispered, ‘Little woman, do you believe what your husband has just said?’

The Butterfly’s Wife looked at Balkis, and saw the Most Beautiful Queen’s eyes shining like deep pools with starlight on them, and she picked up her courage with both wings and said, ‘O Queen, be lovely for ever. You know what men-folk are like.’

‘They get angry,’ said the Butterfly’s Wife, fanning herself quickly, ‘over nothing at all, but we must humour them, O Queen. They never mean half they say. If it pleases my husband to believe that I believe he can make Suleiman-bin-Daoud’s Palace disappear by stamping his foot, I’m sure I don’t care. He’ll forget all about it tomorrow.’

‘Little sister,’ said Balkis, ‘you are quite right; but next time he begins to boast, take him at his word[346]. Ask him to stamp, and see what will happen. We know what men-folk are like, don’t we? He’ll be very much ashamed.’

Away flew Butterfly’s Wife to her husband, and in five minutes they were quarrelling worse than ever.’

‘Remember!’ said the Butterfly. ‘Remember what I can do if I stamp my foot.’

‘I don’t believe you one little bit,’ said the Butterfly’s Wife. ‘I should very much like to see it done. Suppose you stamp now.’

‘I promised Suleiman-bin-Daoud that I wouldn’t,’ said the Butterfly, ‘and I don’t want to break my promise.’

‘It wouldn’t matter if you did,’ said his wife. ‘You couldn’t bend a blade of grass with your stamping. I dare[347] you to do it,’ she said. ‘Stamp! Stamp! Stamp!’

Suleiman-bin-Daoud, sitting under the camphor-tree, heard every word of this, and he laughed as he had never laughed in his life before. He forgot all about his Queens; he forgot about the Animal that came out of the sea; he forgot about showing off. He just laughed with joy, and Balkis, on the other side of the tree, smiled because her own true love was so joyful.

Presently the Butterfly, very hot and puffy, came whirling back under the shadow of the camphor-tree and said to Suleiman, ‘She wants me to stamp! She wants to see what will happen, O Suleiman-bin-Daoud! You know I can’t do it, and now she’ll never believe a word I say. She’ll laugh at me to the end of my days!’

‘No, little brother,’ said Suleiman-bin-Daoud, ‘she will never laugh at you again,’ and he turned the ring on his finger – just for the little Butterfly’s sake, not for the sake of showing off, – and, lo and behold, four huge Djinns came out of the earth!

‘Slaves,’ said Suleiman-bin-Daoud, ‘when this gentlemen on my finger’ (that was where the impudent Butterfly was sitting) ‘stamps his left front forefoot you will make my Palace and these gardens disappear in a clap of thunder. When he stamps again you will bring them back carefully.’

‘Now, little brother,’ he said, ‘go back to your wife and stamp all you’ve a mind to.’

Away flew the Butterfly to his wife, who was crying, ‘I dare you to do it! I dare you to do it! Stamp! Stamp now! Stamp!’ Balkis saw the four vast Djinns stoop down to the four corners of the gardens with the Palace in the middle, and she clapped her hands softly and said, ‘At last Suleiman-bin-Daoud will do for the sake of a Butterfly what he ought to have done long ago for his own sake, and the quarrelsome Queens will be frightened!’

Then the Butterfly stamped. The Djinns jerked the Palace and the gardens a thousand miles into the air: there was a most awful thunder-clap, and everything grew inky black. The Butterfly’s Wife fluttered about in the dark, crying, ‘Oh, I’ll be good! I’m sorry I spoke! Only bring the gardens back, my dear darling husband, and I’ll never contradict[348] again.’

The Butterfly was nearly as frightened as his wife, and Suleiman-bin-Daoud laughed so much that it was several minutes before he found breath enough to whisper to the Butterfly, ‘Stamp again, little brother. Give me back my Palace, most great magician.’

‘Yes, I give him back his Palace, and don’t let’s have any more horrid magic.’

‘Well, my dear,’ said the Butterfly as bravely as he could, ‘you see that what you nagging has led to. Of course it doesn’t make any difference to me – I’m used to this kind of thing – but as a favour to you and to Suleiman-bin-Daoud I don’t mind putting things right.’