'So you think I am a washerman's donkey?' said the monkey to the
shark, when the story was ended. 'You are wrong; I am not. And as
the sun is getting low in the sky, it is time for you to begin
your homeward journey. You will have a nice cool voyage, and I
hope you will find the sultan better. Farewell!' And the monkey
disappeared among the green branches, and was gone.

From 'Swahili Tales,' by Edward Steere, LL.D.






The Fairy Nurse




There was once a little farmer and his wife living near
Coolgarrow. They had three children, and my story happened while
the youngest was a baby. The wife was a good wife enough, but her
mind was all on her family and her farm, and she hardly ever went
to her knees without falling asleep, and she thought the time
spent in the chapel was twice as long as it need be. So, friends,
she let her man and her two children go before her one day to
Mass, while she called to consult a fairy man about a disorder
one of her cows had. She was late at the chapel, and was sorry
all the day after, for her husband was in grief about it, and she
was very fond of him.