Kalo Dant & the Seventh World, part II
Kalo Dant thanked him kindly, took his leave and departed. He traversed the forest, came to the meadow, sat down and waited. But no one came. Night fell and he lay down in the grass and fell asleep. In the morning he awoke-again no one. He waited and waited. The day passed, and not a soul appeared. It was the same the next day. On the third day Kalo Dant was half dead with hunger, but he decided he would rather die than return with his task unfinished. Whereupon he lay down in the grass and closedhis eyes once more. And all of a sudden he heard a voice above him.
“Stand up, Kalo Dant!”
He was taken by surprise, jumped up and saw before him the tall fair figure of an old man with a long white beard. And as he looked at him, he was seized with such hold awe that he fell on his knees and bowed his head.
“So you have taken it into your head to look at all my worlds, have you?” asked the venerable old man severely. “And did it not occur to you, you miserable mortal, that if I separated them from each other to prevent people like you from running one to ther other, that I probably knew why I was doing it?”
Whereupon Kalo Dant knew that this was not a man, but the Creator of the Seven World Himself. He remained silent a while and then said, “Curiosity, of Lord, is an evil thing. It is like thirst. If a man doesn’t want to die of thirst, he must dig himself a well. Some people are clever; they know at once where to find water in the ground and have tools with which to dig. Others are more foolish-they know nothing and have nothing. But even the fool must drink. If he has no toold, he must dig with his bare hands.”
“That was well said, Kalo Dant,” said God. “You people are very inquisitive, but that is right. He who asks no questions learns nothing, and he who does not seek finds nothing. You have asked and sought. That pleases me and I will help you. But listen well and think it over before you give your answer. I will allow you to look at all the worlds, but I won’t help you get back. That you will have to manage yourself. Do you accept such terms?”
“Yes, I do,” answered Kalo Dant.
Whereupon the Lord waved His hand and Kalo Dant rose up into the air, up and up, higher and higher. And that was how Kalo Dant landed on the third world. He roamed about it for some time, had a good look at it, but soon discovered that it did not differ much from the first two. There was only one difference-there seemed to be fewer people inhabiting it. He hardly met a sould on his wanderings. And when he soared to the fourth world, he found there were even fewer people. By the time he reached the fifth and sixth worlds he was quite sure that the higher the world, the fewer the people that lived on its surface.
Finally, he found himself in the last, the Seventh World. Here there were only bare mountains and cliffs, and endless forests and luxurious meadows, where herds of animals were pasturing. Above them flew all kinds of birds in great flocks.
In none of the lower worlds had Kalo Dant seen such vast numbers of birds. And the insects! There were white clouds of them, they flew low over the ground, buzzinf around and stinging him faster than he could chase them away.
I wouldn’t like to stay here, Kalo Dant thought to himself, and then he suddenly remembered that he had no idea whether or how he would get away from the place. He felt very hot. The sun hung quite low above his head, and it was scorching that he soon threw off his shirt and all the rest of his clothes. He stretched himsel out in the shade of an enormous tree, just as naked as the day God made him.
Suddenly he noticed it was getting darker. Looking up at the sky, he saw a dark red cloud passing in front of the fiery ball of the sun. It’s going to rain, he thought with relief.
And indeed, a moment later the first drops fell on his face. But what rain! The water was hot, so hot that when it touched his skin it almost burnt him.
He jumped up and sought shelter. The tree under which he had lain had a thick crown. So Kalo Dant climbed the trunk and hid himself among the leaves. Suddenly he heard a plaintive squawking. He glanced up to the top f his tree and saw a large bird’s nest.
No wonder they’re complaining, poor babies, he thought compassionately; this fiery rain will destroy such small fledglings. He climbed up swiftly to the very top and found seven large, but as yet unfeathered, fledglings in the nest. He threw his shirt over them, crouched down and waited for the rain to stop.
At last it did, and Kalo Dant stretched out his hand to take his shirt. But at that moment a large black bird was circling the treetop. The span of its wings was so great that it completely veiled the sun. The bird alighted on the edge of the nest and spoke with a human voice:
“Thank you for saving my children. You are in the Land of Birds, and I am their King. How can I reward you for this?”
“Probaly best by advising me how to get away from here,” answered Kalo Dant. “Couldn’t you perhaps carry me down to one of the lower worlds, where people live?”
“That’s not possible, I’m afraid,” said the King of the Birds. “But I can give you one of my subjects, who will. He’s known as Dragon Sharkan. Climb down and I’ll take you to him!”
When Kalo Dant reached the ground, the King of the Birds circled low over his head and said:
“Now pull out one of my tail-feathers!”
Kalo Dant did as he was bid and the King of the Birds soared up with him and showed him the way.
Suddenly Kalo Dant saw a mountain ahead. In front of it was a meadow, where a herd of cattle was pasturing. The King of the Birds flew down and alighted, saying:
“This is Salt Mountain. Inside there is a cave and that’s where Sharkan lives. The cattle you see are his. Go to the cave and call Sharkan by name. When he emerges, order him to destroy all his cattle. Then skin the animals, gut them, cut them up in pieces and preserve them in salt. Then make two large barrels from wood which you’ll find in the forest. Put salted meat in one and drinking water in the other. Tie both the vats to a long pole, which you must yoke behind Sharkan’s neck, and seat yourself in the centre of it. He will carry you down to whichever of the lower worlds you choose.”
“Even to the lowest?” asked Kalo Dant. He had had enough of roaming and wanted to get home.
“Yes,” agreed the King of the Birds. “Should he for some reason want to disobey, just show him my feather, or tap him lightly with it. You’ll tame him at once that way.”
The King of Birds took his leave and flew off.
Kalo Dant went up to the cave and called Sharkan’s name. The dragon heaved himself out and looked round threateningly. He measured a good fifteen feet from head to tail, and fire blazed from his nostrils.
Up to this time no dragons had yet been seen in our world. And if it hadn’t been for Kalo Dant, perhaps no dragon would ever have reached us. So when Kalo Dant first saw him, he got a good fright. Indeed, Sharkan was not a pleasant sight and, what’s more, he didn’t even try to look a bit friendly. But when the dragon saw the King of the Birds’ feather, he said politely, “I am your servant; what am I to do for you?”
Kalo Dant ordered him to do just as the Bird King had said. He helped him a bit with the slaughtering of the cattle and so they more or less became friends. When they had a sufficient store of meat, kalo Dant made the two barrels, filled one with meat, the other with drinking water and then told the dragon to carry him to the lowest world.
“That’s terribly far away,” said the dragon irritably, but as soon as Kalo Dant touched him lightly on the back with the feather, he stopped making excuses and set off.
The journey lasted long, ever so long. Not just because the dragon had to cover the tremendous distances between the various worlds, but also because it always took him quite a while to find a whole in the solid celestial arch bored through by the peak of some great mountain or other. Fortunately they had enough meat and drinking water with them. Whenever Sharkan felt hungry or thirsty, Kalo Dant would take a chunk of meat from the barrel and put it in ne of Sharkan’s claws or tip the barrel of water over towards his mouth.
Finally, both barrels were empty and Sharkan began to get restless. He would swish his tail more and more often, and Kalo Dant only just managed to remain seated on his back. When he realised that the dragon was doing it on purpose, he began to feel hot under the gills. Then he remembered the Bird Kng’s tail feather, pulled it out and stroked it several times up and down the dragon’s back. Sharkan was tamed at once and continued the flight more amiably.
But everything finally comes to an end, and so it was that suddenly, as Kalo Dant was looking down, he saw a landscape that he recognised. It was the spot where, long ago, he had begun his climb up the mountain.
When Sharkan landed on the mountainside, Kalo Dant slid from his back and heaved a great sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” he said to Sharkan, “so now we’re home again.”
“You mean, you’re home all right, but I can’t say that I am.”
“True, but you’ll go back now, and all will be well,” said Kalo Dant.
“But how can I get back?” asked the dragon.
“Why, you’ve got wings and surely you’ll find the way?” replied Kalo Dant.
“And will you get me meat and water for the journey?” asked Sharkan.
Kalo Dant scratched behind his ear. To get large supplies of meat for the dragon’s journey would not be as easy in this world as in his. Here all the cattle belonged to the farmers, and they didn’t give anything away for nothing. When the gypsies , who themselves were poor, relieved them now and again of a chicken or a sheep, the farmers ran straight for the magistrate. My, what a hullabaloo they’d make if Kalo Dant were to steal as many cattle as the dragon would need for his journey.
“You know what?” he said after a moment. “You wait here. I’ll go and ask my people for advice, and we’ll see how we can get you some meat.”
But Sharkan didn’t like the idea.
“I don’t like to be left here alone,” he said. “I feel all out of place in this world. Besides, by now I am so desperately hungry, I could eat a whole herd of cattle on the spot.”
“You’ll have to last out a little longer,” said Kalo Dant. “There’s a large cave here in this mountain; I’ll show you the way and you can wait there till I get back. But you mustn’t show yourself outside. People would be frightened!”
Sharkan still didn’t like the idea. So Kalo Dant pulled out the feather and threatened the dragon with it, and straightaway he crawled obediently into the cave to which Kalo Dant had led him and promised he would wait there till Kalo Dant returned.
You’ll learn how he kept that promise in the next tale.