d
bird-talk, and he heard one of these ravens saying, "There is no meat
so tender; I wish I could pick their little eyes out."

"Yes," said another, "fairies are delicate eating indeed. We must
speak Jack fair if we want to get at them." And she heaved up a deep
sigh.

Jack lay still, and thought he had better pretend to be asleep; but
they soon noticed that his eyes were open, and one of them presently
walked up his leg and bowed, and asked if he was hungry.

Jack said, "No."

"No more am I," replied the raven; "not at all hungry." Then she
hopped off his leg, and Jack sat up.

"And how are the sweet fairies that my young master is taking to their
home?" asked another of the ravens. "I hope they are safe in my young
master's pockets?"

Jack felt in his pockets. Yes, they were all safe; but he did not take
any of them out, lest the ravens should snatch at them.

"Eh?" continued the raven, pretending to listen; "did this dear young
gentleman say that the fairies were asleep?"

"It doesn't amuse me to talk about fairies," said Jack; "but if you
would explain some of the things in this country that I cannot make
out, I should be very glad."

"What things?" asked the blackest of the ravens.

"Why," said Jack, "I see a full moon lying down there among the
water-flags, and just going to set, and there is a half-moon overhead
plunging among those great gray clouds, and just this moment I saw a
thin crescent moon peeping out between the branches of that tree."

"Well," said all the ravens at once, "did the young master never see a
crescent moon in the men and women's world?"

"Oh yes," said Jack.

"Did he never see a full moon?" asked the ravens.

"Yes, of course," said Jack; "but they are the same moon. I could
never see all three of them at the same time."

The ravens were very much surprised at this, and one of them said,--

"If my young master did not see the moons it must have been because he
didn't look. Perhaps my young master slept in a room, and had only one
window; if so, he couldn't see all the sky at once."

"I tell you, Raven," said Jack, laughing, "that I KNOW there is never
more than one moon in my country, and sometimes there is no moon at
all!"

Upon this all the ravens hung down their heads, and looked very much
ashamed; for there is nothing that birds hate so much as to be laughed
at, and they believed that Jack was saying this to mock them, and that
he knew what they had come for. So