half
aloud, "I must learn to be brave and face every danger."
It was not long before he was very sure that he could hear a deep
roar. His heart beat fast, but he walked steadily forward, and soon
the roar was repeated, this time nearer and more distinctly, and he
saw in the dim light a great wild ox coming towards him.
He found a large hole in the trunk of a huge tree. "I will pass the
night here in this tree," he said to himself.
In a little while an old man appeared. His body was covered with coarse
hair and he was very ugly. He looked fiercely at Jackyo from head to
foot and said: "What are you thinking of to come in here? Do you not
know that this is the royal castle of the king of evil spirits?"
Jackyo became more frightened than before and for a long time he
could not speak, but at last he stammered: "Excuse me, sir, but I
cannot go home on account of the dark night. I pray you to let me
rest here for a short time."
"I cannot let you stay here, because our king is not willing to help
any one who does not belong to his kingdom. If he did so, his kingdom
would be lost. But what is your name? Do you know how to sing?" said
the old man.
"My name is Jackyo, and I know a little bit about singing," replied
Jackyo.
"Well," said the old man, "if you know any song, sing for me." Now
Jackyo knew but one song, and that was about the names of the days of
the week except Sunday. He did not like to sing it, but the old man
urged him, saying: "If you do not sing, I will cut your head off." So
Jackyo began to sing.
It happened that the king [5] of the evil spirits, whose name was
Mensaya, heard Jackyo's song and was very much interested in it. He
called a servant, named Macquil, and said: "Macquil, go downstairs and
see who is singing down there, and when you find him, bring him to me."
Jackyo went before the king, bowed to the floor, touching the carpet
with his forehead, and stood humbly before the king.
"Let me hear your song," said the king. So Jackyo, with great respect,
sang the only song he knew. Here it is:
Mon-day, Tues-day, Wednesday, Thurs-day, Fri-day, Sat-ur-day.
While he was singing, all the evil spirits in the cave gathered around
him to hear his song, and Mensaya asked him to sing it over and over
again. They were all so pleased with it that Mensaya ordered Macquil
to give Jackyo a large quantity of gold and silver as a reward for
his beautiful song.
When the morning came Jackyo r
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