Boys -- Juvenile fiction; Fantasy literature; Nature -- Juvenile fiction; Self-reliance -- Juvenile fiction
Then there was his playmate, the great yellow-spotted cat, who followed
him about and was always ready for a frolic, playing in a very curious
way. Whenever Martin would prepare to take a running leap, or a swift
run down a slope, the animal, stealing quietly up behind, would put out
a claw from his big soft foot--a great white claw as big as an owl's
beak--and pull him suddenly back. At last Martin would lose his temper,
and picking up a stick would turn on his playmate; and away the animal
would fly, pretending to be afraid, and going over bushes and big stones
with tremendous leaps to disappear from sight on the mountain side. But
very soon he would steal secretly back by some other way to spring upon
Martin unawares and roll him over and over on the ground, growling as if
angry, and making believe to worry him with his great white teeth,
although never really hurting him in the least. He played with Martin
just as a cat plays with its kitten when it pretends to punish it.
When ever Martin began to show the least sign of weariness the Lady of
the Hills would call him to her. Then, lying back among the ferns, she
would unbind her long silky tresses to let him play with them, for this
was always a delight to him. Then she would gather her hair up again and
dress it with yellow flowers and glossy dark green leaves to make
herself look more lovely than ever. At other times, taking him on her
shoulders, she would bound nimbly as a wild goat up the steepest places,
springing from crag to crag, and dancing gaily along the narrow ledges
of rock, where it made him dizzy to look down. Then when the sun was
near setting, when long shadows from rocks and trees began to creep over
the mountain, and he had eaten the fruits and honey and other wild
delicacies she provided, she would make him lie on her bosom. Playing
with her loose hair and listening to her singing as she rocked herself
on a stone, he would presently fall asleep.
In the morning on waking he would always find himself lying still
clasped to her breast in that great dim cavern; and almost always when
he woke he would find her crying. Sometimes on opening his eyes he would
find her asleep, but with traces of tears on her face, showing that she
had been awake and crying.
One afternoon, seeing him tired of play and hard to amuse, she took him
in her arms and carried him right up the side of the mountain, where it
grew so steep that even the big cat could not follow them. Finally she
brought him out on the extreme summit, and looking round he seemed to
see the whole world spread out beneath him. Below, half-way down, there
were some wild cattle feeding on the mountain side, and they looked at
that distance no bigger than mice. Looking eastwards he beheld just
beyond the plain a vast expanse of blue water extending leagues and
leagues away until it faded into the blue sky. He shouted with joy when
he saw it, and could not take his eyes from this wonderful world of
water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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