home a poetic rendition of
THE SEVEN LITTLE DOVES
Day 4, Tale 8
Mother Time
A woman each year had a baby
Seven years did her family grow.
Seven sons were her prize
and they varied in size
like Pan’s flute. Seven pipes in a row.
They had grown to young men when she told them
another was coming along.
If it pleases you then
we are happy young men,
but eight sons is decidedly wrong.
We beg to inform you, dear Mother,
if it’s male we are going away.
Let us make it quite plain.
If a girl we’ll remain.
If a boy we’re not going to stay.
Put a sign for us there in the window.
When we see it we’ll know it’s from you.
Well, the babe was a girl
but the nurse, in a whirl,
mixed the signs up as nurses will do.
So the brothers went forth through the forest.
till they came to the house of a ghoul
who abhorred womankind.
One had rendered him blind,
and he ate all he met as a rule.
The brothers were tired of walking.
When they begged for a few bites to eat.
If you tend to me well,
said the ghoul, you may dwell
in my house which I’ve furnished complete.
This they did. In the meantime their sister,
having grown up, decided to seek
for her lost wandering kin.
Dressed in clothes masculine
she trudged on, day by day, week by week.
One day she heard news at a tavern
and managed at last to arrive
at their door. They were thrilled.
But, dear girl, you’ll be killed
for the ghoul leaves no woman alive.
You must stay in your room or he’ll scent you.
We will bring you your food. And take care.
Give a part without fail
to his cat with striped tail.
It will harm you if you do not share.
She did what her brothers had told her.
This for me, this for thee, she would say.
She shared most things, but
she once swallowed a nut
without thinking. For that she would pay.
The cat peed at once on the candle
and, seeing the flame had grown dark,
she forgot what they’d said
and went running instead
to the ghoul’s room to ask for a spark.
The ghoul heard her speak and said, Welcome
you will soon get what you’re looking for,
then with movements quite brusque
fell to sharpening each tusk.
She ran back and she bolted the door.
Her brothers had been away hunting
but they heard the ghoul try to break in.
You are traitors, he roared.
She’s not our girl, my lord,
but a trespasser, to our chagrin.
She’s blockaded the door, but we’ll lead you
to a place you can reach her, they said.
But instead of to it
they went straight to a pit,
shoved him in and threw dirt on his head.
In the future be careful, they warned her.
Sister, never pluck grass from his grave.
If you don’t mind our words
we’ll be turned into birds.
Heaven guard us from that! I’ll behave.
And she would have. She had best intentions
till she pitied an old man in pain
who was crying, Ah me.
a fir nut from a tree
has made a huge lump on my brain.
She had instantly gathered rosemary
from the grave and with bread made a paste,
and his head ceased to swell.
Now good man, fare you well,
for my brothers will be here posthaste.
But no brothers appeared on her doorstep.
Instead seven doves flew in then.
Now see what you’ve done!
We are birds. Only one,
Mother Time, can restore us again.
She sobbed. She implored them for pardon.
I will find Mother Time without fail.
She went forth and inquired
and she never grew tired.
At the shore she encountered a whale.
And where are you going young lady?
To find Mother Time, so I pray.
You must follow that brook
to its source. Stop and look.
You’ll find someone to show you the way.
And if you succeed will you kindly
solicit an answer for me?
Jagged rocks cause me grief
when I’m cast on a reef.
Ask her what the solution might be.
I will, and I thank you, she answered.
She came to a meadow and there,
though its voice was quite weak,
she heard a mouse speak,
Tell me where do you go, lady fair?
I must find Mother Time, she informed him.
and my mission is urgent and strong.
You’ve a way to go still.
Walk as far as that hill.
Someone little will help you along.
And if you succeed will you kindly
solicit an answer for me?
We are frequently at
the mouth end of a cat.
Ask her what the solution might be.
I will on my honor, she answered.
And bravely walked on in her quest.
At the root of some plants
was an army of ants
bearing forage to store in their nest.
One ant turned away and approached her.
May I ask where you’re going, young miss?
Yes you may, she said, I’m
off to see Mother Time.
That you will. Just keep walking like this.
And if you succeed will you kindly
solicit an answer for me?
We work hard, yet we earn
such short lives in return.
Ask her what the solution might be.
Past the hill, on a plain, spoke an oak tree.
On a mountain, not far, stands a house.
That’s the place you will need.
You were clever to heed
the advice of the whale, ant and mouse.
But if you succeed will you kindly
solicit an answer for me?
Acorns, once prized by men,
now are tossed in a pen.
Ask her what the solution might be.
I am grateful to you. And she meant it.
I would rest but I really can’t stay.
She had just reached the base
when she made out the face
of a man lying down in the hay.
It was he whose great pain she had lightened.
He, too, sought the succor of Time,
though he could not ascend
for his life neared its end.
Listen well. Do not yet start to climb.
The house at the top is in ruins.
When you reach its cracked walls you must hide.
Keep a sharp eye about.
When you see Time come out,
only then may you venture inside.
You’ll find there a wrinkled old woman
whose beard reaches down to her knee.
Her hump is so high
that it touches the sky,
her lashes so thick she can’t see.
She’ll be sitting on top of a timepiece.
Take the weights off the clock. Then demand
what you want to her to do.
She’ll scream ‘Son!’ But it’s true.
She can’t move with the weights in your hand.
She will coax you but do not believe her
till she swears on the wings her son grows.
Saying that the man sighed
and next moment he died.
She prayed heaven to grant him repose.
Then she climbed up the mountain and waited.
Time left. She went in. What a shock!
Mother Time all in grays
was a sight to amaze.
She made haste to dismantle the clock.
I have come here to rescue my brothers,
she announced in a voice filled with dread.
Though the old woman screamed,
she was helpless it seemed.
It was just as the old man had said.
So the old woman turned to persuasion.
And she promised her all kinds of things.
But she held the weights fast
till the woman at last
said, I swear to you by my son’s wings.
I swear that I won’t ever harm you.
You will learn all that you wish to know
Ask your questions of me.
You’ll be happy. You’ll see.
So she kissed her and let the weights go.
Time flew back. At his mother’s beseeching
he answered, The tree must be told
it will gain good repute
if from under its root
someone digs up a pot filled with gold.
The mice will be captured by felines
until they tie bells on their paws.
The ants must not fly.
When they’re ready to die
the wings that they sprout are the cause.
The whale should make friends with the sea-mouse.
He will guide her and keep her in health.
The doves, men of late,
will return to their state
when they rest on a column of wealth.
Having ended his say, Time departed.
She, too, left that pile of old rocks
feeling glad she’d survived.
Then her brothers arrived
and set down on the horns of an ox.
They were changed all at once. They were puzzled
but she laughed and they realized then
why their state was reborn.
It was Mother Times' horn.
and the place to which Time had referred.
They set out to retrace her footsteps.
At the oak tree they dug up a chest
and divided the gold
so that each one would hold
equal shares. Then they laid down to rest.
While they slept, though, a band of marauders,
tied them up and made off with the loot.
They were left to lament
that their gold had been spent
and that they were in danger to boot.
Along came the mouse who released them
in gratitude for Time’s advice.
Their spirits were scant.
Then they chanced on the ant
who, when told of Time’s message said, Nice.
Now I will tell you in repayment
where the robbers have hidden your goods:
in a cave underground
which I yesterday found
as I hurried along in the woods.
They retrieved what they’d lost and went onward.
All at once a new trouble appeared:
behind on the heath
robbers armed to the teeth
while before them the ocean careered.
But there was the whale who said, Welcome.
Have you brought me an answer? They had.
Well then, climb on my back.
You’ll be safe from attack,
for which all were exceedingly glad.
He left them at sea on an island,
and they soon hailed a fisherman’s smack.
They returned hale and rich
to their country to which
they were awfully pleased to be back.
Now, if you should visit their village,
find a house without sorrow or care.
You are certain to see,
as content as can be,
seven sons and a sister live there.
