How the Night Pt. 2

The three servants set forth toward the kingdom of the Great Sea Serpent. After a long, dangerous journey, they arrived at his home in the depths of the seas. They asked him to give them some of the shadows of night to carry back to the land. The Great Sea Serpent wanted his daughter to be happy again, so he gave the servants a full bag at once. The bag was securely fastened, and the Great Sea Serpent warned them not to open it until they were once more in the presence of his daughter.

The three servants started out, bearing the large bag of night upon their heads. Soon they heard strange sounds coming from within it. The sounds they heard were the voices of all the night beasts, all the night birds, and all the night insects. If you have ever heard the night chorus from a jungle on the banks of a river, you know how it sounded. In all their lives, the three servants had never heard sounds like these. They were terribly frightened.

“Let us drop the bag full of night right here where we are and run away as fast as we can,” said the first servant.

“We shall perish! We shall perish, anyway, whatever we do,” cried the second servant.

“Whether we perish or not, I am going to open the bag and see what makes all those terrible sounds,” said the third servant.

Accordingly, they laid the bag on the ground and opened it. Out rushed all the night beasts, all the night birds, and all the night insects. And out rushed the great black cloud of night. The servants were more frightened than ever at the darkness, so they fled into the jungle.