l see all sorts of things you have never
dreamt of.' The bear sank down with a groan, and as her eyes were full
of cranberry juice, which completely blinded her, the wolverine took
up a sharp knife and stabbed her to the heart.

Then he took off the skin, and, stealing some fire from a tent, which
his sharp eyes had perceived hidden behind a rock, he set about
roasting the bear bit by bit. He thought the meat was the best he ever
had tasted, and when dinner was done he made up his mind to try that
same trick again, if ever he was hungry.

And very likely he did!

[Adapted from _Bureau of Ethnology_.]

_THE HUSBAND OF THE RAT'S DAUGHTER_

Once upon a time there lived in Japan a rat and his wife who came of
an old and noble race, and had one daughter, the loveliest girl in all
the rat world. Her parents were very proud of her, and spared no pains
to teach her all she ought to know. There was not another young lady
in the whole town who was as clever as she was in gnawing through the
hardest wood, or who could drop from such a height on to a bed, or run
away so fast if anyone was heard coming. Great attention, too, was
paid to her personal appearance, and her skin shone like satin, while
her teeth were as white as pearls, and beautifully pointed.

Of course, with all these advantages, her parents expected her to make
a brilliant marriage, and, as she grew up, they began to look round
for a suitable husband.

But here a difficulty arose. The father was a rat from the tip of his
nose to the end of his tail, outside as well as in, and desired that
his daughter should wed among her own people. She had no lack of
lovers, but her father's secret hopes rested on a fine young rat, with
moustaches which almost swept the ground, whose family was still
nobler and more ancient than his own. Unluckily, the mother had other
views for her precious child. She was one of those people who always
despise their own family and surroundings, and take pleasure in
thinking that they themselves are made of finer material than the rest
of the world. '_Her_ daughter should never marry a mere rat,' she
declared, holding her head high. 'With her beauty and talents she had
a right to look for someone a little better than _that_.'

So she talked, as mothers will, to anyone that would listen to her.
What the girl thought about the matter nobody knew or cared--it was
not the fashion in the rat world.

Many were the quarrels which the ol