Earlier this summer I read the 1926 fantasy novel "Lud-in-the-Mist" by Hope Mirrlees. In addition to being amused with reading the novel exactly 100 years since its publication, I was surprised at how modern its depiction of Faerie felt. I won't spoil it more than that, but you can get a copy at Project Gutenberg if you'd like to check it out:

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/68061

#literature #fantasy #Faerie #fae #fey #fairy #fairies #ProjectGutenberg #1920s

The White Whale of Good Book Descriptions: Randomness Blogwagon

https://alexanderkeane.com/2026/06/14/the-white-whale-of-good-book-descriptions-randomness-blogwagon/

EP 340: Right and Might; Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops; How a Dead Tiger Killed the Princess; The Monkeys and the Crabs (Fleeson)

Listen Here

Watch Here

Right and Might

While a deer was eating wild fruit, he heard an owl call, “Haak, haak,” and a cricket cry, “Wat,” and, frightened, he fled.

In his flight he ran through the trees up into the mountains and into streams. In one of the streams the deer stepped upon a small fish and crushed it almost to death.

Then the fish complained to the court, and the deer, owl, cricket and fish had a lawsuit. In the trial came out this evidence:

As the deer fled, he ran into some dry grass, and the seed fell into the eye of a wild chicken, and the pain of the seed in the eye of the chicken caused it to fly up against a nest of red ants. Alarmed, the red ants flew out to do battle, and in their haste, bit a mongoose. The mongoose ran into a vine of wild fruit and shook several pieces of it on the head of a hermit, who sat thinking under a tree.

“Why did you, O fruit, fall on my head,” cried the hermit.

The fruit answered: “We did not wish to fall; a mongoose ran against our vine and threw us down.”

And the hermit asked, “O mongoose, why did you throw the fruit?”

The mongoose answered: “I did not wish to throw down the fruit, but the red ants bit me and I ran against the vine.”

The hermit asked, “O ants, why did you bite the mongoose?”

The red ants replied: “The hen flew against our nest and angered us.”

The hermit asked, “O hen, why did you fly against the red ants’ nest?”

And the hen replied: “The seed fell into my eyes and hurt me.”

And the hermit asked, “O seed, why did you fall into the hen’s eyes?”

And the seed replied: “The deer shook me down.”

The hermit said unto the deer, “O deer, why did you shake down the seed?”

The deer answered: “I did not wish to do it, but the owl called, frightening me and I ran.”

“O owl,” asked the hermit, “why did you frighten the deer?”

The owl replied: “I called but as I am accustomed to call—the cricket, too, called.”

Having heard the evidence, the judge said, “The cricket must replace the crushed parts of the fish and make it well,” as he, the cricket, had called and frightened the deer.

The End

Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops

In the days when the earth was young, there lived a poor man and his wife who had twelve daughters, whom they no longer loved and no longer desired. Day after day the father and mother planned to be free of them. One day, the father made a basket; in the bottom of it he placed ashes, but on the top he spread rice. Taking this basket with him, he called his daughters to come go to the jungle to hunt for game.

When the heat of the day had come, they all sat down to eat, and, after they had eaten, the father gave each daughter a bamboo joint, and asked her to get water for him. The joints were made so that they would not hold water, and while the maidens endeavored to make them so that they would, the father returned home. In vain the maidens tried to make the joints hold the water and after a while they sought their father, but, lo, the father was gone and only the basket remained! Examining the basket, they found rice but on the top, and on the bottom filled with ashes, so they knew their parents sought to be free of them by leaving them in the trackless jungle. Unable to find their way out, there they slept peacefully, for the wild beasts molest not those who fearlessly stay with them.

As the eye of day opened in the East, the forlorn maidens beheld, as they awakened, a beautiful woman standing near, and of her they sought help.

“Come with me and be companions to my little daughter. Often I am away from home and she is lonely. Come home with me, play with my daughter, and, in exchange I will give you a home,” said the beautiful woman.

Gladly the maidens consented and went with the woman to her home far in the jungle. All places save one small garden were they free to enter. And upon a day, the fair woman said, “I go to the jungle and will not return until the eye of day has closed. Do not play in the small garden.” Scarcely had she gone ere she returned, but the maidens had not sought the garden.

Again, after a day, the fair woman said, “I go to the jungle but for a short time. Go not to play in the small garden.”

Thinking she would this time be gone all day, the maidens sought the small garden, and lo, it was strewn with human bones! Then they knew the fair woman was a cannibal. Full of fear, they fled, and, as they fled they met a cow.

“Protect us,” they cried.

The cow opened its mouth and the maidens jumped in. Thus they journeyed from the cannibal’s home. As the cow returned, it met the fair woman seeking the maidens.

“Have you seen twelve maidens pass this way?” she asked.

“No,” answered the cow.

“If you do not speak the truth, I’ll kill and eat you,” she cried.

“I saw them as they made haste in that way,” replied the cow.

The cannibal woman ran that way.

After the cow left them, the maidens hastened on and as they hastened they met an elephant and begged it to save them from the cannibal.

The elephant opened its mouth and the maidens jumped in, but so slowly did one jump that an edge of her garment hung out of the mouth. As they journeyed the cannibal overtook them.

“Did you see twelve maidens hastening toward the city?” asked the cannibal.

“No,” answered the elephant.

“From this time forth forever the lip of your mouth shall hang down as a garment,” cursed the cannibal, for she had seen the edge of the maiden’s garment hanging out of the elephant’s mouth and knew it was protecting the twelve maidens. And to this day doth the lip of the elephant hangs down like a garment.

The End

How a Dead Tiger Killed the Princess

There was once a king who had a daughter, at whose birth a wise man foretold that she would be killed by a tiger when she was a grown maiden. In order that no animal might approach her, the king built her a house set upon one huge pillar, and there she and her attendants dwelt.

And it fell upon a day, when the daughter was well grown, that one of the hunters, whose labor it was to kill the tigers of the country, brought a dead one to the palace of the king. The princess, seeing her dead enemy, came down from her tower and plucked a whisker from the tiger, and, as she blew her breath on it, she cried, “I do not fear thee, O my enemy, for thou art dead!” But the poison, which is in the whiskers of a tiger, entered into the blood of the princess, and she died.

Then did the king make a proclamation, and sent messengers throughout all his realm, commanding that, when a tiger was killed, all his whiskers be immediately pulled out and burned, that a tiger may not be able to slay when dead; and until this day, the people obey the command of the king.

The End

The Monkeys and the Crabs

All the monkeys which live in the forests near the great sea in the south, watch the tide running out, hoping to catch the sea-crabs which are left in the soft earth. If they can find a crab above the ground, they immediately catch and eat it.

Sometimes, the crabs bury themselves in the mud, and the monkeys, seeing the tunnels they have made, reach down into them with their long tails, and torment the crabs until they, in anger, seizing the tormenting tail, are drawn out and devoured by their cunning foes. But, sometimes, alas, the crab fails to come out! No matter with what strength the monkey pulls and tugs, the crabs do not appear, and the poor monkey is held fast, while the tide comes in and drowns it. When the tide goes out again, leaving the luckless monkey on the beach, the crabs come out from their strongholds and feast on the dead enemy.

The End

Source:⁠ Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India, by Katherine Neville Fleeson

Photo Credit: “⁠Elephant mouth, Amboseli National Park, Kenya⁠” by ⁠GRIDArendal⁠ is licensed under ⁠CC BY-NC-SA 2.0⁠.

#ScribesAndMakers – 2nd Jun. Share a line from something you've read today (with credit.)

I knew myself to be on the threshold of a new order of experience—of an ecstasy. Something drew me forth with a sense of inexpressible yearning towards the being of this strange old man in the window seat, and for a moment I knew what it was to taste a mighty and wonderful sensation, and to touch the highest pinnacle of joy I have ever known.

THE WOOD OF THE DEAD by ALGERNON BLACKWOOD:

#AmReading #Horror #WierdTales #AlgernonBlackwood #projectgutenberg #NMSAM #NMPrompts

EP 338: The Jellyfish and The Monkey (Ozaki)

Listen Here

Watch Here

The Jellyfish and The Monkey

Long, long ago, in old Japan, the Kingdom of the Sea was governed by a wonderful King. He was called Rin Jin, or the Dragon King of the Sea. His power was immense, for he was the ruler of all sea creatures both great and small, and in his keeping were the Jewels of the Ebb and Flow of the Tide. The Ebbing Tide jewel caused the sea to recede from the land, and the Flowing Tide Jewel made the waves to rise mountains high and to flow in upon the shore like a tidal wave.

The Palace of Rin Jin was at the bottom of the sea, and was so beautiful that no one has ever seen anything like it even in dreams. The walls were of coral, the roof of jade, and the floors were of the finest mother-of-pearl. But the Dragon King, in spite of his wide-spreading Kingdom, his beautiful Palace and all its wonders, was not at all happy, for he reigned alone. At last he thought that if he married he would not only be happier, but also more powerful. So he decided to take a wife. Calling all his fish together, he chose several of them  to go through the sea and look for a young Dragon Princess.

At last they returned to the Palace with a lovely young dragon. Her scales were of shiny green like the wings of summer beetles, her eyes shone like fire, and she wore gorgeous robes. 

The King fell in love with her at once, and the wedding ceremony was celebrated. Every living thing in the sea, from the great whales down to the little shrimps, came in shoals to offer their congratulations to the bride and groom. 

Now for a time the Dragon King and his bride lived very happily. They loved each other dearly, and the bridegroom took delight in showing his bride all the wonders and treasures of his coral palace, and she was never tired of wandering through its vast halls and gardens. Life seemed like a long summer’s day.

Two months passed in this way, and then the Dragon Queen fell ill and was forced to stay in bed. The King was troubled when he saw his bride so ill, and at once sent for the fish doctor to come and give her some medicine. He gave special orders to the servants to nurse her carefully and to wait upon her with diligence, but in spite of all the nurses’ care and the medicine that the doctor prescribed, the Queen showed no signs of recovery, but grew worse.

Then the Dragon King interviewed the doctor and blamed him for not curing the Queen. The doctor was scared of the king’s wrath and said that the medicine she needed was not found in the ocean.

“Do you mean to tell me that you can’t get the medicine here?” asked the Dragon King.

“That’s what I said!” said the doctor.

“What do you want for the Queen?” demanded Rin Jin.

“I want the liver of a live monkey!” answered the doctor.

“The liver of a live monkey! Of course that will be most difficult to get,” said the King.

“If we could get that for the Queen, Her Majesty would recover,” said the doctor.

“Very well, that decides it; we MUST get it somehow or other. But where can we find a monkey?” asked the King.

Then the doctor told the King that somewhere in the south there was a Monkey Island where a great many monkeys lived.

“If only you could capture one of these monkeys?” said the doctor.

“How can any of my people capture a monkey?” said the Dragon King, greatly puzzled. “The monkeys live on dry land, while we live in the water! I don’t see what we can do!”

“I had the same problem,” said the doctor. “But one of your servants surely can go on shore for that!”

“Something must be done,” said the King, and calling his chief steward he asked his advice.

The chief steward thought for some time, and then said joyfully:

“I know what we must do! There is the jelly fish. He is certainly ugly to look at, but he is proud of being able to walk on land with his legs like a tortoise. Lets send him to the Island of Monkeys to catch one.”

The jelly fish was then summoned to the King’s presence, and was told to catch a monkey for its liver.

The jelly fish looked very troubled, and said that he had never been to the island, and he was worried that he won’t be able to catch a monkey.

The chief steward said, “Well if you depend on your strength you will never catch a monkey. The only way is to trick one!”

“How can I trick a monkey? I don’t know how,” said the perplexed jelly fish.

“Here’s what you do,” said the chief steward. “When you approach the Island and meet some of them, you must befriend one. Tell him that you are a servant of the Dragon King, and invite him to come and visit you and see the Dragon King’s Palace. Try and describe to him the grandeur of the Palace so as to arouse his curiosity and make him long to see it!”

“But how can I get the monkey here? You know monkeys can’t swim?” said the reluctant jelly fish.

“You must carry him on your back. What is the use of your shell if you can’t do that!” said the chief steward.

“Won’t he be very heavy?” asked Jellyfish again.

“Don’t worry, you work for the Dragon King,” replied the chief steward.

“I will do my best,” said the jelly fish, and he swam away from the Palace and started off towards Monkey Island. Swimming swiftly he reached his destination in a few hours, and landed on the shore. Looking around he saw a big pine tree and on one of the branches was just what he was looking for—a live monkey.

“I’m in luck!” thought the jelly fish. “Now I must flatter the creature and try to get him to come back with me to the Palace, and my part will be done!”

So the jelly fish slowly walked towards the pine tree. In those days the jelly fish had four legs and a hard shell like a tortoise. When he got to the pine tree he said:

“How do you do, Mr. Monkey? Isn’t it a lovely day?”

“A very fine day,” answered the monkey from the tree. “I have never seen you in this part of the world before. Where have you come from and what is your name?”

“My name is Jellyfish. I am one of the servants of the Dragon King. I have heard so much of your beautiful island that I have come to see it,” answered the jellyfish.

“I am very glad to see you,” said the monkey.

“By the by,” said the jelly fish, “have you ever seen the Palace of the Dragon King?”

“I have often heard of it, but I have never seen it!” answered the monkey.

“Then you have to come. The beauty of the Palace is beyond all description” said the jellyfish.

“Is that so?” asked the monkey in astonishment.

The jellyfish saw his chance, and went on describing the beauty of the Sea King’s Palace. The monkey grew more and more interested, and as he listened he climbed down the tree slowly to hear every detail.

“I have got him at last!” thought the jellyfish, but he said:

“Mr. Monkey. I must now go back. Since you’ve never seen the Palace of the Dragon King, won’t you take this opportunity to come with me? I will be able to act as guide and show you all the sights of the sea, which will be even more wonderful to you—a land-lubber.”

“I would love to go,” said the monkey, “but how am I to cross the water! I can’t swim, as you surely know!”

“There is no difficulty about that. I can carry you on my back.”

“That will be too much trouble for you,” said the monkey.

“It’s easy. I am stronger than I look, so don’t worry,” said the jelly fish, and taking the monkey on his back he stepped into the sea.

“Keep very still, Mr. Monkey,” said the jellyfish. “You mustn’t fall into the sea; I am responsible for your safe arrival at the King’s Palace.”

“Please don’t go so fast, or I will fall off,” said the monkey.

So they went along, the jelly fish skimming through the waves with the monkey sitting on his back. When they were about half-way, the jelly fish, who knew very little of anatomy, began to wonder if the monkey had his liver with him or not!

“Mr. Monkey, tell me, do you have a liver with you?”

The monkey was very much surprised at this queer question, and asked what the jellyfish wanted with a liver.

“That is the most important thing of all,” said the stupid jelly fish, “so as soon as I recollected it, I asked you if you had yours with you?”

“Why is my liver so important to you?” asked the monkey.

“Oh! you will learn the reason later,” said the jellyfish.

The monkey grew more and more suspicious, and urged the jellyfish to tell him why his liver was wanted. Then the jellyfish, seeing how anxious the monkey looked, was sorry for him, and told him everything. How the Dragon Queen had fallen ill, and how the doctor had said that only the liver of a live monkey would cure her, and how the Dragon King had sent him to find one.

“Now I have done as I was told, and as soon as we arrive at the Palace the doctor will want your liver, so I feel sorry for you!” said the silly jellyfish.

The poor monkey was horrified when he learnt all this, and very angry at the trick played upon him. He trembled with fear at the thought of what was in store for him.

But the monkey was a clever animal, and he thought it the wisest plan not to show any sign of the fear he felt, so he tried to calm himself and to think of some way by which he might escape.

“The doctor means to cut me open and then take my liver out! Why, I shall die!” thought the monkey. At last a bright thought struck him, so he said quite cheerfully to the jelly fish:

“What a pity it was, Mr. Jelly Fish, that you did not speak of this before we left the island!”

“If I had told you why I wanted you to accompany me, you would certainly have refused to come,” answered the jelly fish.

“You are quite mistaken,” said the monkey. “Monkeys can very well spare a liver or two, especially when it is wanted for the Dragon Queen. If I had only guessed what you were in need of. I should have presented you with one without waiting to be asked. I have several livers. But the greatest pity is, that as you did not speak in time, I have left all my livers hanging on the pine tree.”

“You left your liver behind?” asked the jelly fish.

“Yes,” said the cunning monkey, “during the daytime I usually leave my liver hanging up on the branch of a tree, because it gets in my way when I am swinging from tree to tree. Today, listening to your interesting conversation, I forgot it, and left it behind when I came with you. If only you had spoken in time I could have remembered it, and could have brought it along with me!”

The jellyfish was very disappointed when he heard this, for he believed every word the monkey said. The monkey was no good without a liver. Finally the jelly fish stopped and told the monkey so.

“Well,” said the monkey, “we can fix that. I am really sorry about your trouble; but if you will take me back to the place where you found me, I will be able to get my liver.”

The jellyfish did not at all like the idea of going all the way back to the island again; but the monkey assured him that if he would be so kind as to take him back he would get his very best liver, and bring it with him the next time. So persuaded, the jelly fish turned towards Monkey Island once more.

No sooner had the jelly fish reached the shore than the sly monkey landed, and climbing up into the pine tree where the jelly fish had first seen him, and looking down at the jellyfish he said:

“So many thanks for all of your troubles! Please give my compliments to the Dragon King on your return!”

The jellyfish was confused by this speech and the mocking tone in which it was uttered. Then he asked the monkey if it wasn’t his intention to come with him after getting his liver.

The monkey replied laughingly that he couldn’t afford to lose his liver: it was too precious.

“But remember your promise!” pleaded the jellyfish, now very discouraged.

“That promise was false, and anyhow it is broken!” answered the monkey. Then he began to jeer at the jelly fish and told him that he had been deceiving him the whole time; that he had no wish to lose his life. Which he certainly would have done had he gone to the Sea King’s Palace, instead of persuading the jelly fish to return under false pretenses.

“Of course, I won’t GIVE you my liver, but come and get it if you can!” added the monkey mockingly from the tree.

There was nothing for the jelly fish to do now but to repent his stupidity, and to return to the Dragon King of the Sea and to confess his failure, so he started slowly to swim back. The last thing he heard as he swam away was the monkey laughing at him.

Meanwhile the Dragon King, the doctor, the chief steward, and all the servants were waiting impatiently for the return of the jelly fish. When they caught sight of him approaching the Palace, they hailed him with delight. They began to thank him profusely for all the trouble he had taken in going to Monkey Island, and then they asked him where the monkey was.

Now the day of reckoning had come for the jellyfish. He quaked all over as he told his story. How he had brought the monkey halfway over the sea, and then had stupidly told the monkey his mission; how the monkey had deceived him by making him believe that he had left his liver behind him.

The Dragon King’s wrath was great, and he at once gave orders that the jelly fish was to be severely punished. The punishment was a horrible one. All the bones were to be drawn out from his living body, and he was to be beaten with sticks.

The poor jelly fish, humiliated and horrified beyond all words, cried out for pardon. But the Dragon King’s order had to be obeyed. The servants of the Palace each brought out a stick and surrounded the jelly fish, and after pulling out his bones they beat him to a flat pulp, and then took him out beyond the Palace gates and threw him into the water. Here he was left to suffer and repent his foolish chattering, and to grow accustomed to his new state of bonelessness.

From this story it is evident that in the old times the jellyfish once had a shell and bones, but, ever since the Dragon King’s order was carried out on their ancestor, his descendants have all been soft and boneless just as you see them today thrown up by the waves high upon the shores of Japan.

The End

Source: ⁠The Japanese fairy book by Ozaki, Yei Theodora

Edited by Dustin Steichmann 2026

Ich luscher’ lieb in deine Richtung #ProjectGutenberg und noch viel LIEBER in deine #ProjektGutenberg!

[Bidde nich’ drukoen "JA LOTHAR, MACH DOCH SELBER!" oder "SEI ÜBERHAUPT FROH, DAT WAT GEBEN TUT!" 🥺 Ich bin sensibel… Danke!]

#Meme #EBook #OpenSource #FreeAccess #EPub

Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

https://www.gutenberg.org/

#HackerNews #ProjectGutenberg #DigitalLibrary #OpenAccess #Books #Literature #Community

Messing around with books, as I always do.

I found a book by John Ball, who wrote "In the Heat of the Night" and other Virgil Tibbs novels. This one is called "The First Team", and it's not related to the VIrgil Tibbs series at all. So far it's about a man who works in the White House as a Russian translator. But Russia has conquered the USA thanks to the hippies and liberal politicians.

John Ball was a bit of a right-winger. And a white one, if you were wondering. Sydney Poitier did Ball a HUGE favor by not playing Virgil Tibbs the way he was written in the book, i.e. as basically a white guy dyed brown (metaphorically).

I'm not sure how far I'll get with "The First Team". The Russians are comically evil, so far.

I also took a look at the first few pages of "The Impossibles" by Mark Phillips. It features mind-crime (apparently) in the far-flung, exotic future of 1972! So far the writing seems above par, so that's good. I'll see where it goes.

Hold on! Turns out that "Mark Phillips" was a pseudonym used by Lawrence Jannifer (a good science fiction writer) and Randall Garrett (the author of the "Lord Darcy" stories, which is basically Sherlock Holmes in a magic-based universe). They wrote a series of three books under that pseudonym, and all three are available for download from Project Gutenberg—along with quite a few others!

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25267

#Books #Bookstodon #FreeEbooks #ProjectGutenberg #ScienceFiction #QuasitBookRecs