Clever John & Crazy Jane
©
4 Dawn of Reality
Clever John explained: “Look, bros. The
innkeeper is no angel. Indeed, I’ve heard it said that She is the Mother of the
Devil himself. She is angry with you. You fell asleep last night and did not
singing praises to her this the morning. She would as soon as….”(here Clever
John drew a finger across his throat) “…do this to you”. “Her daughters are no
ordinary barmaids as you may think. If they were ordered, they could as easily strangle
as pet you.”
“What kind of idiots do you think we are?” replied
the brothers. “Our brides purred us to sleep last night. They said they would
be happy to marry us?”
“Yes, but that was the price to learn how little
you honor their mother.”
The brothers thought that over. The truth
dawned on them gradually. “Bros, we are into big doodoo,” said the oldest.
“Here is my plan,” began Clever John in an
encouraging voice. “Listen! When the Mother of the Devil bids us good night,
she will—just to fool us even more—give each one of us a kiss. She will also
hand to each one of us a pillow. Those for her daughters will be white; the
ones for us red.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” replied the
brothers.
“But that is not all,” continued Clever
John. “The Mother will instruct her daughters to sleep on the left side of the
isle, while we sleep on the right side.”
Clever John then upturned one of the
Devil’s boots he was taking to his mare, and shook out seven cream of milk
candies. “These are for our brides,” Clever John said. “If they ask what they
are, tell them it is a love potion. They will not mind. Just make sure they eat
them. When they do, they will soon be snoring.
“When they are asleep, we will roll them to
the right hand side of the isle. Then we will put our red pillows under their
heads and put under our heads their white ones—that is if you want to live.”
Clever John looked around to make sure there
were no spies, then invited his brothers to listen closely. Their eyes opened
wide. They could hardly believe what they heard.
Later, as the brothers were sitting with
the bacchantes and having a nightcap, the innkeeper finally came out of her
room. Though she was dressed in a red dress, she hardly looked like the Mother
of the Devil. She gave everyone a kiss, gave
each one of them a pillow, and bid them all a good night. Then she went back to
her room.
The bacchantes and the seven brothers went
to the hayloft. Everything happened as Clever John had said (which was only
what Crazy Jane had told him). The bacchantes soon were asleep, but the
brothers lay with one eye open.
A few minutes after midnight the hatch of
the door to the hayloft creaked, and up the ladder climbed the innkeeper. This
time she did look like the Mother of the Devil. In her hands she held an axe
that was as big as a half moon. She did not waste time, but swung immediately at
the heads of all who lay along the right side of the isle and had a red pillow
under their head.”
In about a minute’s time, the Mother of the
Devil had cut off the heads of all her daughters—including that of Crazy Jane.
After she was done, the Mother of the Devil
let go a roar of relief. All seven brothers turned pale. But as soon as the
innkeeper had gone back into the Inn , they all
jumped out the barn window and run for their horses. They rode like hell was on
fire. The Devil’s boots on the horse of Clever John carried him to the head of
the pack. Of course, Crazy Jane was not with him, unless she held her head
under her arm.
The brothers rode all night, and noted
nothing amiss. But toward morning they, nevertheless, noted a strange thing.
The night did not seem to want to end. There was no streak of light along the eastern
horizon. They passed several farms, but heard no roosters crowing.
Then Clever John had one of his
inspirational ideas.
He reined his horse and waved for his
brothers to stop also.
“Listen, bros,” he said, “we are out of
danger. The witch will not catch us now. But something else strange is going
on. It is getting to about four o’clock in the morning, but there is no dawn. This
is not how it is usually on Midsummer. As you know, at this time of year, the sky
is bright as dawn all night even in the north. It might be a good idea for us
to visit the Sun and ask her why she did not show on Johns Day, and why she
still delays?”
“Are you crazy, bro?” asked all six
brothers. “We just escaped from the Mother of the Devil and are lucky to be
alive. We’re not going anywhere but home.”
“I am not crazy,” answered Clever John. “I
am as smart as always. I saved you your lives once and may save them again.
Trust me. Let’s go.”
“You are crazy all the same,” the brothers insisted.
“You promised us brides, and here we are still bachelors. You have no more
smarts than there is dirt behind your fingernails.”
5 The Second Adventure
Clever John continued the journey on his
own. His mare, who he had named Rocinante http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocinante
after the name of another famous mare,
seemed to know where to go. After riding for a while, Clever John decided he had done enough riding
for the day. Since Midsummer is haying time, he took the Devil’s boots off Rocinante,
tied her ankles, and found for himself a hay stack to sleep in.
At the tip of the tree sat a raven and
cawed: “Where you going, Clever John?”
“I am riding to ask the Sun why this is the
second day she is not shining,” answered Clever John.
„Ai, be so good, Clever John, and ask mother
Sun for how long will I to be tied to this tree.”
Clever John continued his journey. On the
following day he came to a sea. He saw a fish as big as the sea itself.
The fish asked: “Where you going, Clever
John?”
“I am riding to ask the Sun why this is the
third day that she is not shining,” answered Clever John.
“Ai, be so good, Clever John, and ask mother
Sun when she will untie me from the shore and let me swim free?”
On the fourth day Clever John came to a river. To his surprise, he saw Crazy Jane standing in it up to her knees. She held a bucket with no bottom. As soon as Crazy Jane had put the bucket in the river, she pulled it out empty again. She did so tirelessly, bucket after bucket.
“I wondered what had happened to you,
Jane,” Clever John addressed her when he had come close. “What are you doing? I
thought that you were dead.”
“The Devil’s and the Sun’s children have
ways of coming to life again,” answered Crazy Jane. “I will tell you how it is,
Clever John. This is my punishment for trusting you with my mother’s secrets. By
the way, where are you going?”
“I am riding to ask the Sun why this is the
fourth day that I must walk in dusk and she is not shining,” answered Clever
John.
“Ai, be so good, Clever John, and ask mother
when she will allow me to stop bailing?”
By the fifth day, Clever John arrived at
the Sun Mountain
As if She knew he was at the gate, the Sun herself
came to meet him. She was very kind. She brought Clever John a large iron chair
and put around his shoulders the thick pelt of a black bear. After a few
minutes Clever John was pouring water like he was a rain cloud. Steam rose from
the chair. To help him endure his troubles, a black angel (so he could see her
in the bright light) brought him a glass of lemonade.
The Sun spoke: “Clever John, where are you going? It is five days since the skies are cloudy, and I cannot see is happening on Earth.”
“That is what I came to ask you about,”
answered Clever John. “You stuck out of the clouds a few rays on Johns Day
morning, but then went away. Everyone was sad to see you go.”
“I know,” answered the Sun. “But you all
made me cry. You were not at all like the Latvians that I used to know.”
“Thank you, Mother,” said Clever John. “The
raven asked me to ask you for how long she must he be tied to the tree?”
“As long as it is necessary,” answered the
Sun. “She will be tied to it as long as
the child of the king’s chambermaid lies dead and unburied. Once the
child is buried, the raven is free to go.”
“Thank you, Mother,” answered Clever John.
“The great fish wants to know for how long she will be tied to the sea shore?”
“That will be a long time,” answered the
Sun. “No fish can be larger than the sea. But if you know how to untie it, go
ahead.”
“Thank you, Mother,” answered Clever John.
“Crazy Jane wants to know for how long she must bail the river.”
“That may not ever end,” answered the Sun,
“if she does not answer why she stole from her father his boots? But if you
return the boots to her, she is free to go.”
Clever John was sweating unbearably. As
soon as the Sun finished speaking, he sprang to his feet and with many bows and
walking backward, he left the court. Once on the back of Rocinante, Clever John
rode down Sun Hill as fast as Rocinante
could carry him. When he was finally out of the heat, Clever John was so tired
that he decided to spend the night where he was.
To be continued.
Socialist Villages: Chinese concentration camps for Tibetans: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23100427
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