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1. Preface
a. Who Should Read This Book
b. New Developments
i. New in This Edition (Java 11, 12, 13, 14)
c. Using This Book
d. Online Resources
e. Conventions Used in This Book
f. Using Code Examples
g. O’Reilly Online Learning
h. How to Contact Us
i. Acknowledgments

2. 1. A Modern Language
a. Enter Java
i. Java’s Origins
ii. Growing Up

b. A Virtual Machine
c. Java Compared with Other Languages
d. Safety of Design
i. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify…
ii. Type Safety and Method Binding
iii. Incremental Development
 iv. Dynamic Memory Management
v. Error Handling
vi. Threads
vii. Scalability
e. Safety of Implementation

i. The Verifier
ii. Class Loaders
iii. Security Managers

f. Application and User-Level Security

g. A Java Road Map

i. The Past: Java 1.0–Java 11

ii. The Present: Java 14
iii. The Future
iv. Availability
3. 2. A First Application

a. Java Tools and Environment

i. Installing the JDK

ii. Installing OpenJDK on Linux
iii. Installing OpenJDK on Mac
iv. Installing OpenJDK on Windows
v. Configuring IntelliJ IDEA and Creating
a Project
vi. Running the Project
 vii. Grabbing the Learning Java Examples
b. HelloJava

i. Classes
ii. The main() Method
iii. Classes and Objects
iv. Variables and Class Types
v. HelloComponent
vi. Inheritance
vii. The JComponent Class
viii. Relationships and Finger Pointing
ix. Package and Imports
x. The paintComponent() Method

c. HelloJava2: The Sequel

i. Instance Variables
ii. Constructors
iii. Events
iv. The repaint() Method
v. Interfaces

d. Goodbye and hello again

4. 3. Tools of the Trade

a. JDK Environment
b. The Java VM
 c. Running Java Applications
i. System Properties

d. The Classpath

i. javap
ii. Modules
e. The Java Compiler
f. Trying Java
g. JAR Files

i. File Compression
ii. The jar Utility
iii. The pack200 Utility

h. Building up
5. 4. The Java Language
a. Text Encoding
b. Comments

i. Javadoc Comments
c. Variables and Constants
d. Types

i. Primitive Types
ii. Reference Types
iii. Inferring Types
iv. Passing References
 v. A Word About Strings
e. Statements and Expressions
i. Statements
ii. Expressions
f. Arrays

i. Array Types
ii. Array Creation and Initialization
iii. Using Arrays
iv. Anonymous Arrays
v. Multidimensional Arrays
g. Types and Classes and Arrays, oh my!
6. 5. Objects in Java
a. Classes

i. Declaring and Instantiating Classes

ii. Accessing Fields and Methods
iii. Static Members

b. Methods
i. Local Variables
ii. Shadowing
iii. Static Methods
iv. Initializing Local Variables
v. Argument Passing and References
 vi. Wrappers for Primitive Types
vii. Method Overloading
c. Object Creation
i. Constructors
ii. Working with Overloaded Constructors

d. Object Destruction
i. Garbage Collection

e. Packages
i. Importing Classes
ii. Custom Packages
iii. Member Visibility and Access
iv. Compiling With Packages

f. Advanced Class design

i. Subclassing and Inheritance
ii. Interfaces
iii. Inner classes
iv. Anonymous inner classes
g. Organizing content and planning for failure
7. 6. Error Handling and Logging

a. Exceptions
i. Exceptions and Error Classes
ii. Exception Handling
 iii. Bubbling Up
iv. Stack Traces
v. Checked and Unchecked Exceptions
vi. Throwing Exceptions
vii. try Creep
viii. The finally Clause
ix. Try with Resources
x. Performance Issues
b. Assertions

i. Enabling and Disabling Assertions

ii. Using Assertions

c. The Logging API

i. Overview
ii. Logging Levels
iii. A Simple Example
iv. Logging Setup Properties
v. The Logger
vi. Performance

d. Real-world Exceptions
8. 7. Collections and Generics
a. Collections

i. The Collection Interface

 ii. Collection Types
iii. The Map Interface
b. Type Limitations

i. Containers: Building a Better

Mousetrap
ii. Can Containers Be Fixed?
c. Enter Generics

i. Talking About Types

d. “There Is No Spoon”

i. Erasure
ii. Raw Types
e. Parameterized Type Relationships

i. Why Isn’t a List<Date> a

List<Object>?

f. Casts

i. Converting between collections and

arrays
ii. Iterator

g. A closer look: The sort() Method

h. Application: Apples and trees on the field
i. Conclusion
9. 8. Text and Core Utilities

a. Strings
 i. Constructing Strings
ii. Strings from Things
iii. Comparing Strings
iv. Searching
v. String Method Summary
b. Things from Strings

i. Parsing Primitive Numbers

ii. Tokenizing Text

c. Regular Expressions
i. Regex Notation
ii. The java.util.regex API

d. Math Utilities

i. The java.lang.Math Class

ii. Big/Precise Numbers

e. Dates and Times

i. Local Dates and Times
ii. Comparing and Manipulating Dates
and Times
iii. Time Zones
iv. Parsing and Formatting Dates and
Times
v. Parsing Errors
vi. Timestamps
 f. Other Useful Utilities
10. 9. Threads

a. Introducing Threads

i. The Thread Class and the Runnable

Interface
ii. Controlling Threads
iii. Death of a Thread

b. Synchronization

i. Serializing Access to Methods

ii. Accessing class and instance Variables
from Multiple Threads

c. Scheduling and Priority

i. Thread State
ii. Time-Slicing
iii. Priorities
iv. Yielding

d. Thread Performance
i. The Cost of Synchronization
ii. Thread Resource Consumption
e. Concurrency Utilities

11. 10. Desktop Applications

a. Buttons and sliders and text fields, oh my!

i. Component hierarchies
 ii. Model View Controller architecture
iii. Labels and Buttons
iv. Text components
v. Other components
b. Containers and layouts

i. Frames and windows

ii. JPanel
iii. Layout managers

c. Events
i. Mouse events
ii. Action events
iii. Change events
iv. Other events
d. Modals and popups

i. Message dialogs
ii. Confirmation dialogs
iii. Input dialogs

e. Threading considerations

i. SwingUtilities and component updates

ii. Timers
f. Next steps

i. Menus
 ii. Preferences
iii. Custom components and Java2D
iv. JavaFX
g. User Interface and User Experience
12. 11. Networking and I/O
a. Streams

i. Basic I/O
ii. Character Streams
iii. Stream Wrappers
iv. The java.io.File Class
v. File Streams
vi. RandomAccessFile
b. The NIO File API

i. FileSystem and Path

ii. NIO File Operations

c. The NIO Package

i. Asynchronous I/O
ii. Performance
iii. Mapped and Locked Files
iv. Channels
v. Buffers
vi. Character Encoders and Decoders
 vii. FileChannel
d. Network Programming
e. Sockets

i. Clients and Servers

ii. The DateAtHost Client
iii. A Distributed Game

f. More to explore
13. 12. Programming for the Web
a. Uniform Resource Locators
b. The URL Class
i. Stream Data
ii. Getting the Content as an Object
iii. Managing Connections
iv. Handlers in Practice
v. Useful Handler Frameworks
c. Talking to Web Applications
i. Using the GET Method
ii. Using the POST Method
iii. The HttpURLConnection
iv. SSL and Secure Web Communications
d. Java Web Applications

i. The Servlet Lifecycle

 ii. Servlets
iii. The HelloClient Servlet
iv. The Servlet Response
v. Servlet Parameters
vi. The ShowParameters Servlet
vii. User Session Management
viii. The ShowSession Servlet
e. Servlet Containers
i. Configuration with web.xml and
Annotations
ii. URL Pattern Mappings
iii. Deploying HelloClient
f. The World-Wide Web is, well, wide
14. 13. Expanding Java
a. Java Releases
i. JCP and JSRs

b. Lambda Expressions
i. Retrofitting Your Code
c. Expanding Java beyond the core
d. Final wrap up and next steps
15. A. Code Examples and IntelliJ IDEA

a. Grabbing the Main Code Examples

 b. Installing IntelliJ IDEA
i. Installing on Linux
ii. Installing on Mac
iii. Installing on Windows
c. Importing the Examples
d. Running the Examples
e. Grabbing the Web Code Examples
f. Working with Servlets
16. Glossary
17. Index
 Learning Java
FIFTH EDITION

An Introduction to Real-World Programming with

Java

Marc Loy, Patrick Niemeyer, and Daniel

Leuck
Learning Java

by Marc Loy, Patrick Niemeyer, and Daniel Leuck

Copyright © 2020 Marc Loy, Patrick Niemeyer, Daniel Leuck. All

rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway

North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.

O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or

sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for
most titles (http://oreilly.com). For more information, contact
our corporate/institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or
[email protected].

Acquisitions Editor: Suzanne McQuade

Developmental Editor: Amelia Blevins

Production Editor: Beth Kelly

Copyeditor: Sonia Saruba

Proofreader:

Indexer:
 Interior Designer: David Futato

Cover Designer: Karen Montgomery

Illustrator: Rebecca Demarest

July 2020: Fifth Edition

Revision History for the Early Release

2019-11-14: First Early Release
2020-01-13: Second Early Release
2020-02-05: Third Early Release

See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781449319243
for release details.

The O’Reilly logo is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media,

Inc. Learning Java, the cover image, and related trade dress
are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.

While the publisher and the authors have used good faith
efforts to ensure that the information and instructions
contained in this work are accurate, the publisher and the
authors disclaim all responsibility for errors or omissions,
including without limitation responsibility for damages resulting
from the use of or reliance on this work. Use of the information
and instructions contained in this work is at your own risk. If
any code samples or other technology this work contains or
describes is subject to open source licenses or the intellectual
property rights of others, it is your responsibility to ensure that
your use thereof complies with such licenses and/or rights.

978-1-492-05627-0

[LSI]
Preface
This book is about the Java programming language and
environment. Whether you are a software developer or just
someone who uses the Internet in your daily life, you’ve
undoubtedly heard about Java. Its introduction was one of the
most exciting developments in the history of the Web and Java
applications have powered much of the growth of business on
the Internet. Java is, arguably, the most popular programming
language in the world, used by millions of developers on
almost every kind of computer imaginable. Java has surpassed
languages such as C++ and Visual Basic in terms of developer
demand and has become the de facto language for certain
kinds of development—especially for web-based services. Most
universities are now using Java in their introductory courses
alongside the other important modern languages. Perhaps you
are using this text in one of your classes right now!

This book gives you a thorough grounding in Java

fundamentals and APIs. Learning Java, Fifth Edition, attempts
to live up to its name by mapping out the Java language and
its class libraries, programming techniques, and idioms. We’ll
dig deep into interesting areas and at least scratch the surface
of other popular topics. Other titles from O’Reilly pick up where
we leave off and provide more comprehensive information on
specific areas and applications of Java.

Whenever possible, we provide compelling, realistic, and fun

examples and avoid merely cataloging features. The examples
are simple, but hint at what can be done. We won’t be
developing the next great “killer app” in these pages, but we
hope to give you a starting point for many hours of
experimentation and inspired tinkering that will lead you to
develop one yourself.

Who Should Read This Book

This book is for computer professionals, students, technical
people, and Finnish hackers. It’s for everyone who has a need
for hands-on experience with the Java language with an eye
toward building real applications. This book could also be
considered a crash course in object-oriented programming,
networking, and user interfaces. As you learn about Java, you’ll
also learn a powerful and practical approach to software
development, beginning with a deep understanding of the
fundamentals of Java and its APIs.

Superficially, Java looks like C or C++, so you’ll have a tiny

head start in using this book if you have some experience with
one of these languages. If you do not, don’t worry. Don’t make
too much of the syntactic similarities between Java and C or
C++. In many respects, Java acts like more dynamic
languages such as Smalltalk and Lisp. Knowledge of another
object-oriented programming language should certainly help,
although you may have to change some ideas and unlearn a
few habits. Java is considerably simpler than languages such
as C++ and Smalltalk. If you learn well from concise examples
and personal experimentation, we think you’ll like this book.

The last part of this book branches out to discuss Java in the
context of web applications, web services, and request
processing, so you should be familiar with the basic ideas
behind web browsers, servers, and documents.

New Developments
This edition of Learning Java is actually the seventh edition—
updated and retitled—of our original, popular Exploring Java.
With each edition, we’ve taken great care not only to add new
material covering additional features, but to thoroughly revise
and update the existing content to synthesize the coverage
and add years of real-world perspective and experience to
these pages.

One noticeable change in recent editions is that we’ve

deemphasized the use of applets, reflecting their diminished
role in recent years in creating interactive web pages. In
contrast, we’ve greatly expanded our coverage of Java web
applications and web services which are now mature
technologies.
We cover all of the important features of the latest “long-term
support” release of Java, officially called Java Standard Edition
(SE) 11, OpenJDK 11, but we also add in a few details from
the “feature” releases of Java 12, Java 13, and Java 14. Sun
(Java’s keeper before Oracle) has changed the naming scheme
many times over the years. Sun coined the term Java 2 to
cover the major new features introduced in Java version 1.2
and dropped the term JDK in favor of SDK. With the sixth
release, Sun skipped from Java version 1.4 to Java 5.0, but
reprieved the term JDK and kept its numbering convention
there. After that, we had Java 6, Java 7, and so on and now
we reach Java 14.

This release of Java reflects a mature language with occasional

syntactic changes and updates to APIs and libraries. We’ve
tried to capture these new features and update every example
in this book to reflect not only the current Java practice, but
style as well.

New in This Edition (Java 11, 12, 13, 14)

This edition of the book continues our tradition of rework to be
as complete and up-to-date as possible. It incorporates
changes from both the Java 11—again, the long term support
version—and Java 12, 13, and 14 feature releases. (More on
the specifics of the Java features included and excluded in
recent releases in Chapter 13.) New topics in this edition
include:
 New language features, including type inference in
generics and improved exception handling and
automatic resource management syntax

New interactive playground, jshell, for trying out

code snippets

The proposed switch expression

Basic lambda expressions

Updated examples and analysis throughout the book

Using This Book

This book is organized roughly as follows:

Chapters Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 provide a basic

introduction to Java concepts and a tutorial to give you
a jump start on Java programming.

Chapter 3 discusses fundamental tools for developing

with Java (the compiler, the interpreter, jshell, and
the JAR file package).

Chapters Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 introduce

programming fundamentals then describe the Java
language itself, beginning with the basic syntax and
then covering classes and objects, exceptions, arrays,
enumerations, annotations, and much more.

Chapter 6 covers exceptions, errors, and the logging

facilities native to Java.

Chapter 7 covers collections alongside generics and

parameterized types in Java.

Chapter 8 covers text processing, formatting, scanning,

string utilities, and much of the core API utilities.

Chapter 9 covers the language’s built-in thread

facilities.

Chapter Chapter 10 covers the basics of graphical user

interface (GUI) development with Swing.

Chapter 11 covers Java I/O, streams, files, sockets,

networking, and the NIO package.

Chapter 12 covers web applications using servlets,

servlet filters, and WAR files, as well as web services.

Chapter 13 introduces the Java Community Process

and highlights how to track future changes to Java
while helping you retrofit existing code with new
features such as the lambda expressions introduced in
Java 8.
If you’re like us, you don’t read books from front to back. If
you’re really like us, you usually don’t read the Preface at all.
However, on the off chance that you will see this in time, here
are a few suggestions:

If you are already a programmer and just need to learn

Java in the next five minutes, you are probably looking
for the examples. You might want to start by glancing
at the tutorial in Chapter 2. If that doesn’t float your
boat, you should at least look at the information in
Chapter 3, which explains how to use the compiler and
interpreter. This should get you started.

Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 are the places to head if

you are interested in writing network or web-based
applications and services. Networking remains one of
the more interesting and important parts of Java.

Chapter 10 discusses Java’s graphics features and

component architecture. You should read this if you are
interested in writing desktop graphical Java
applications.

Chapter 13 discusses how to stay on top of changes to

the Java language itself regardless of your particular
focus.
Online Resources
There are many online sources for information about Java.

Oracle’s official website for Java topics is

https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/index.html; look
here for the software, updates, and Java releases. This is
where you’ll find the reference implementation of the JDK,
which includes the compiler, the interpreter, and other tools.

Oracle also maintains the OpenJDK site. This is the primary

open-source version of Java and the associated tools. We’ll be
using the OpenJDK for all the examples in this book.

You should also visit O’Reilly’s site at http://oreilly.com/. There

you’ll find information about other O’Reilly books for both Java
and a growing array of other topics. You should also check out
the online learning and conference options—O’Reilly is a real
champion for education in all its forms.

And of course, you can check the home page for Learning
Java!

Conventions Used in This Book

The font conventions used in this book are quite simple.

Italic is used for:

Pathnames, filenames, and program names

 Internet addresses, such as domain names and URLs

New terms where they are defined

Program names, compilers, interpreters, utilities, and

commands

Threads

Constant width is used for:

Anything that might appear in a Java program,

including method names, variable names, and class
names

Tags that might appear in an HTML or XML document

Keywords, objects, and environment variables

Constant width bold is used for:

Text that is typed by the user on the command line or

in a dialog

Constant width italic is used for:

Replaceable items in code

In the main body of text, we always use a pair of empty

parentheses after a method name to distinguish methods from
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
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THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER HERE was once a

farmer who suffered much at the hands of a money-lender. Good
harvests, or bad, the farmer was always poor, the moneylender rich.
At last, when he hadn't a farthing left, the farmer went to the
moneylender's house, and said, ' You can't squeeze water from a
stone, and as you have nothing to get by me now, you might tell me
the secret of becoming rich.' ' My friend,' returned the money-lender
piously, ' riches come from Ram — ask him' ' Thank you, I will ! '
replied the simple farmer ; so he prepared three girdle-cakes to last
him on the journey, and set out to find Ram. First he met a
Brahman, and to him he gave a cake, asking him to point out the
road to Ram ; but the Brahman only took the cake and went on his
way without a word. Next the farmer met a Jogi or devotee, and to
him he gave a cake, without receiving any help in return. At last, he
came upon a poor man sitting under a tree, and finding out he
The text on this page is estimated to be only 27.99%
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204 TALES OF THE PUNJAB was hungry, the kindly farmer

gave him his last cake, and sitting down to rest beside him, entered
into conversation. ' And where are you going ? ' asked the poor man
at length. ' Oh, I have a long journey before me, for I am going to
find Ram ! ' replied the farmer. ' I don't suppose you could tell me
which way to go ? ' ' Perhaps I can,' said the poor man, smiling, ' for
/ am Ram ! What do you want of me ? ' Then the farmer told the
whole story, and Ram, taking pity on him, gave him a conch shell,
and showed him how to blow it in a particular way, saying, '
Remember ! whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the conch
that way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of that
moneylender, for even magic is not proof against their wiles ! ' The
farmer went back to his village rejoicing. In fact the money-lender
noticed his high spirits at once, and said to himself, ' Some good
fortune must have befallen the stupid fellow, to make him hold his
head so jauntily.' Therefore he went over to the simple farmer's
house, and congratulated him on his good fortune, in such cunning
words, pretending to have heard all about it, that before long the
farmer found himself telling the whole story — all except the secret
of blowing the conch, for, with all his simplicity, the farmer was not
quite such a fool as to tell that. Nevertheless, the money-lender
determined to have the conch by hook or by crook, and as he was
villain enough not to stick at trifles, he waited for a favourable
opportunity and stole it.
The text on this page is estimated to be only 27.51%
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THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER 205 But, after

nearly bursting himself with blowing the thing in every conceivable
way, he was obliged to give up the secret as a bad job. However,
being determined to succeed, he went back to the farmer, and said, '
Now, my friend ! I've got your conch, but I can't use it ; you haven't
got it, so it's clear you can't use it either. The matter is at a standstill
unless we make a bargain. Now, I promise to give you back your
conch, and never to interfere with your using it, on one condition,
which is this, — whatever you get from it, I am to get double.' '
Never ! ' cried the farmer ; ' that would be the old business all over
again ! ' ' Not at all ! ' replied the wily money-lender ; ' you will have
your share ! Now, don't be a dog in the manger, for if you get all you
want, what can it matter to you if / am rich or poor ? ' At last,
though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit to a
money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield, and from that time, no
matter what he gained by the power of the conch, the money-lender
gained double. And the knowledge that this was so preyed upon the
farmer's mind day and night, until he had no satisfaction out of
anything he did get. At last there came a very dry season, — so dry
that the farmer's crops withered for want of rain. Then he blew his
conch, and wished for a well to water them, and, lo ! there was the
well. Bttt the money -lender had two ! — two beautiful new wells !
This was too much for any farmer to stand ; and our friend brooded
over it, and brooded over it, till at last a bright idea came into his
head. He seized the
The text on this page is estimated to be only 28.67%
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206 TALES OF THE PUNJAB conch, blew it loudly, and cried

out, ' O Ram, I wish to be blind of one eye ! ' And so he was, in a
twinkling, but the money-lender, of course, was blind of both eyes,
and in trying to steer his way between the two new wells, he fell into
one and was drowned. Now this true story shows that a farmer once
got the better of a money-lender ; but only by losing one of his eyes
!
The text on this page is estimated to be only 29.23%
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THE LORD OF DEATH NCE upon a time there was a road,

and every one who travelled along it died. Some folk said they were
killed by a snake, others said by a scorpion, but certain it is they all
died. Now a very old man was travelling along the road, and being
tired, sat down on a stone to rest; when suddenly, close beside him,
he saw a scorpion as big as a cock, which, while he looked at it,
changed into a horrible snake. He was wonderstruck, and as the
creature glided away, he determined to follow it at a little distance,
and so find out what it really was. So the snake sped on day and
night, and behind it followed the old man like a shadow. Once it
went into an inn, and killed several travellers ; another time it slid
into the King's house and killed him. Then it crept up the waterspout
to the Queen's palace, and killed the King's youngest daughter. So it
passed on, and wherever it went the sound of weeping and wailing
arose, and the old man followed it, silent as a shadow. Suddenly the
road became a broad, deep, swift
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ao8 TALES OF THE PUNJAB river, on the banks of which sat

some poor travellers who longed to cross over, but had no money to
pay the ferry. Then the snake changed into a handsome buffalo, with
a brass necklace and bells round its neck, and stood by the brink of
the stream. When the poor travellers saw this, they said, ' This beast
is going to swim to its home across the river ; let us get on its back,
and hold on to its tail, so that we too shall get over the stream.'
Then they climbed on its back and held by its tail, and the buffalo
swam away with them bravely ; but when it reached the middle, it
began to kick, until they tumbled off, or let go, and were all
drowned. When the old man, who had crossed the river in a boat,
reached the other side, the buffalo had disappeared, and in its stead
stood a beautiful ox. Seeing this handsome creature wandering
about, a peasant, struck with covetousness, lured it to his home. It
was very gentle, suffering itself to be tied up with the other cattle ;
but in the dead of night it changed into a snake, bit all the flocks
and herds, and then, creeping into the house, killed all the sleeping
folk, and crept away. But behind it the old man still followed, as
silent as a shadow. Presently they came to another river, where the
snake changed itself into the likeness of a beautiful young girl, fair to
see, and covered with costly jewels. After a while, two brothers,
soldiers, came by, and as they approached the girl, she began to
weep bitterly. ' What is the matter ? ' asked the brothers ; ' and why
do you, so young and beautiful, sit by the river alone ? ' Then the
snake-girl answered, ' My husband was
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THE LORD OF DEATH 209 even now taking me home ; and

going down to the stream to look for the ferry-boat, fell to washing
his face, when he slipped in, and was drowned. So I have neither
husband nor relations ! ' ' Do not fear ! ' cried the elder of the two
brothers, who had become enamoured of her beauty ; ' come with
me, and I will marry you.' ' On one condition,' answered the girl : '
you must never ask me to do any household work ; and no matter
for what I ask, you must give it me.' ' I will obey you like a slave ! '
promised the young man. ' Then go at once to the well, and fetch
me a cup of water. Your brother can stay with me,' quoth the girl.
But when the elder brother had gone, the snakegirl turned to the
younger, saying, ' Fly with me, for I love you ! My promise to your
brother was a trick to get him away ! ' ' Not so ! ' returned the
young man ; ' you are his promised wife, and I look on you as my
sister.' On this the girl became angry, weeping and wailing, until the
elder brother returned, when she called out, ' O husband, what a
villain is here ! Your brother asked me to fly with him, and leave you
! ' Then bitter wrath at this treachery arose in the elder brother's
heart, so that he drew his sword and challenged the younger to
battle. Then they fought all day long, until by evening they both lay
dead upon the field, and then the girl took the form of a snake once
more, and behind it followed the old man silent as a shadow. But at
last it changed into the likeness of an old white-bearded man, and
when he who p
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210 TALES OF THE PUNJAB had followed so long saw one

like himself, he took courage, and laying hold of the white beard,
asked, ' Who and what are you ? ' Then the old man smiled and
answered, ' Some call me the Lord of Death, because I go about
bringing death to the world.' ' Give me death ! ' pleaded the other, '
for I have followed you far, silent as a shadow, and I am aweary."
But the Lord of Death shook his head, saying, ' Not so ! I only give
to those whose years are full, and you have sixty years of life to
come ! ' Then the old white-bearded man vanished, but whether he
really was the Lord of Death, or a devil, who can tell ?
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THE WRESTLERS A STORY OF HEROES THERE was, once

upon a time, long ago, a wrestler living in a far country, who,
hearing there was a mighty man in India, determined to have a fall
with him ; so, tying up ten thousand pounds weight of flour in his
blanket, he put the bundle on his head and set off jauntily. Towards
evening he came to a little pond in the middle of the desert, and sat
down to eat his dinner. First, he stooped down and took a good long
drink of the water ; then, emptying his flour into the remainder of
the pond, stirred it into good thick brose, off which he made a
hearty meal, and lying down under a tree, soon fell fast asleep. Now,
for many years an elephant had drunk daily at the pond, and,
coming as usual that evening for its draught, was surprised to find
nothing but a little mud and flour at the bottom. ' What shall I do ? '
it said to itself, ' for there is no more water to be found for twenty
miles ! ' Going away disconsolate, it espied the wrestler sleeping
placidly under the tree, and at once made sure he was the author of
the mischief ; so, galloping up to the sleeping man, it stamped on
his head in a furious rage, determined to crush him.
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212 TALES OF THE PUNJAB But, to his astonishment, the

wrestler only stirred a little, and said sleepily, ' What is the matter ?
what is the matter? If you want to shampoo my head, why the
plague don't you do it properly? What's worth doing at all is worth
doing well ; so put a little of your weight into it, my friend ! ' The
elephant stared, and left off stamping ; but, nothing daunted, seized
the wrestler round the waist with its trunk, intending to heave him
up and dash him to pieces on the ground. ' Ho ! ho ! my little friend
! — that is your plan, is it ? ' quoth the wrestler, with a yawn ; and
catching hold of the elephant's tail, and swinging the monster over
his shoulder, he continued his journey jauntily. By and by he reached
his destination, and, standing outside the Indian wrestler's house,
cried out, ' Ho ! my friend ! Come out and try a fall ! ' ' My husband's
not at home to-day,' answered the wrestler's wife from inside ; ' he
has gone into the wood to cut pea-sticks.' ' Well, well ! when he
returns give him this, with my compliments, and tell him the owner
has come from far to challenge him.' So saying, he chucked the
elephant clean over the courtyard wall. ' Oh, mamma ! mamma ! '
cried a treble voice from within, ' I declare that nasty man has
thrown a mouse over the wall into my lap ! What shall I do to him ? '
' Never mind, little daughter ! ' answered the wrestler's wife ; ' papa
will teach him better manners. Take the grass broom and sweep the
mouse away.' Then there was a sound of sweeping, and immediately
the dead elephant came flying over the wall.
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THE WRESTLERS 213 ' Ahem ! ' thought the wrestler

outside, ' if the little daughter can do this, the father will be a worthy
foe!' So he set off to the wood to meet the Indian wrestler, whom he
soon saw coming along the road, dragging a hundred and sixty carts
laden with brushwood. ' Now we shall see ! ' quoth the stranger,
with a wink ; and stealing behind the carts, he laid hold of the last,
and began to pull. ' That's a deep rut ! thought the Indian wrestler,
and pulled a little harder. So it went on for an hour, but not an inch
one way or the other did the carts budge. ' I believe there is some
one hanging on behind ! ' quoth the Indian wrestler at last, and
walked back to see who it was. Whereupon the stranger, coming to
meet him, said, ' We seem pretty well matched ; let us have a fall
together.' ' With all my heart ! ' answered the other, ' but not here
alone in the wilds ; it is no fun fighting without applause.' ' But I
haven't time to wait ! ' said the stranger ; ' I have to be off at once,
so it must be here or nowhere.' Just then an old woman came
hurrying by with big strides. ' Here's an audience ! ' cried the
wrestler, and called aloud, ' Mother ! mother ! stop and see fair play
! ' ' I can't, my sons, I can't ! ' she replied, ' for my daughter is going
to steal my camels, and I am off to stop her ; but if you like, you can
jump on
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214 TALES OF THE PUNJAB to the palm of my hand, and

wrestle there as I go along.' So the wrestlers jumped on to the old
woman's palm, and wrestled away as she strode over hill and dale.
Now when the old woman's daughter saw her mother, with the
wrestlers wrestling on her hand, she said to herself, ' Here she
comes, with the soldiers she' spoke about ! It is time for me to be
off ! ' So she picked up the hundred and sixty camels, tied them in
her blanket, and swinging it over her shoulder, set off at a run. But
one of the camels put its head out of the blanket and began
groaning and hubble-bubbleubbling, after the manner of camels ; so,
to quiet it, the girl tore down a tree or two, and stuffed them into
the bundle also. On this, the farmer to whom the trees belonged
came running up, and calling, ' Stop thief! stop thief!' ' Thief, indeed
! ' quoth the girl angrily ; and with that she bundled farmer, fields,
crops, oxen, house, and all into the blanket. Soon she came to a
town, and being hungry, asked a pastry-cook to give her some
sweets ; but he refused, so she caught up the town bodily ; and so
on with everything she met, until her blanket was quite full. At last
she came to a big water-melon, and being thirsty, she sat down to
eat it ; and afterwards, feeling sleepy, she determined to rest a
while. But the camels in her bundle made such a hubble-
bubbleubbling that they disturbed her, so she just packed everything
into the lower half of the water-melon
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THE WRESTLERS 215 rind, and popping on the upper half

as a lid, she rolled herself in the blanket and used the melon as a
pillow. Now, while she slept, a big flood arose, and carried off the
water-melon, which, after floating down stream ever so far, stuck on
a mud-bank. The top fell off, and out hopped the camels, the trees,
the farmer, the oxen, the house, the town, and all the other things,
until there was quite a new world on the mud-bank in the middle of
the river.
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THE LEGEND OF GWASHBRARI, THE GLACIER-HEARTED

QUEEN ONCE upon a time, ever so long ago, when this old world
was young, and everything was very different from what it is
nowadays, the mighty Westanvan was King of all the mountains.
High above all other hills he reared his lofty head, so lofty, that when
the summer clouds closed in upon his broad shoulders he was alone
under the blue sky. And thus, being so far above the world, and so
lonely in his dignity, he became proud, and even when the mists
cleared away, leaving the fair new world stretched smiling at his
feet, he never turned his eyes upon it, but gazed day and night upon
the sun and stars. Now Haramukh, and Nanga Parbat, and all the
other hills that stood in a vast circle round great Westanvan, as
courtiers waiting on their king, grew vexed because he treated them
as nought ; and when the summer cloud that soared above their
heads hung on his shoulders like a royal robe, they would say bitter,
wrathful words of spite and envy. Only the beautiful Gwashbrari, cold
and glistening amid her glaciers, would keep silence. Self-satisfied,
serene, her beauty was enough for her ; others might
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GWASHBRARI, THE GLACIER-HEARTED QUEEN 217 rise

farther through the mists, but there was none so fair as she in all
the land. Yet once, when the cloud-veil wrapped Westarwan from
sight, and the wrath rose loud and fierce, she flashed a
contemptuous smile upon the rest, bidding them hold their peace. '
What need to wrangle ? ' she said, in calm superiority ; ' great
Westarwan is proud ; but though the stars seem to crown his head,
his feet are of the earth, earthy. He is made of the same stuff as we
are ; there is more of it, that is all.' ' The more reason to resent his
pride ! ' retorted the grumblers. ' Who made him a King over us ? '
Gwashbrari smiled an evil smile. ' O fools ! poor fools and blind !
giving him a majesty he has not in my sight. I tell you mighty
Westarwan, for all his star-crowned loftiness, is no King to me. Tis I
who am his Queen ! ' Then the mighty hills laughed aloud, for
Gwashbrari was the lowliest of them all. ' Wait and see ! ' answered
the cold passionless voice. ' Before to-morrow's sunrise great
Westarwan shall be my slave ! ' Once more the mighty hills echoed
with scornful laughter, yet the icy-hearted beauty took no heed.
Lovely, serene, she smiled on all through the long summer's day ;
only once or twice from her snowy sides would rise a white puff of
smoke, showing where some avalanche had swept the sure-footed
ibex to destruction. But with the setting sun a rosy radiance fell over
the whole world. Then Gwashbrari's pale face flushed into life, her
chill beauty glowed into passion. Trans 
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2i8 TALES OF THE PUNJAB figured, glorified, she shone on

the fast-darkening horizon like a star. And mighty Westarwan, noting
the rosy radiance in the east, turned his proud eyes towards it ; and,
lo! the perfection of her beauty smote upon his senses with a sharp,
wistful wonder that such loveliness could be — that such worthiness
could exist in the world which he despised. The setting sun sank
lower, reflecting a ruddier glow on Gwashbrari's face ; it seemed as if
she blushed beneath the great King's gaze. A mighty longing filled
his soul, bursting from his lips in one passionate cry — ' O
Gwashbrari ! kiss me, or I die ! ' The sound echoed through the
valleys, while the startled peaks stood round expectant. Beneath her
borrowed blush Gwashbrari smiled triumphant, as she answered
back, ' How can that be, great King, and I so lowly ? Even if I would,
how could I reach your star-crowned head ? — I who on tip-toe
cannot touch your cloud-robed shoulder ? ' Yet again the passionate
cry rang out — ' I love you ! kiss me, or I die ! ' Then the glacier-
hearted beauty whispered soft and low, the sweet music of her voice
weaving a magical spell round the great Westarwan — 'You love me
? Know you not that those who love must stoop? Bend your proud
head to my lips, and seek the kiss I cannot choose but give ! '
Slowly, surely, as one under a charm, the monarch of the mountains
stooped — nearer and nearer to her radiant beauty, forgetful of all
else in earth or sky. The sun set. The rosy blush faded from
Gwashbrari's fair false face, leaving it cold as ice, pitiless as
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GWASHBRARI, THE GLACIER-HEARTED QUEEN 219 death.

The stars began to gleam in the pale heavens, but the King lay at
Gwashbrari's feet, discrowned for ever ! And that is why great
Westarwan stretches his long length across the valley of Kashmir,
resting his once lofty head upon the glacier heart of Queen
Gwashbrari. And every night the star crown hangs in the heavens as
of yore.
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^sgP5^ ^&t22^& S£L f THE BARBER'S CLEVER WIFE

ONCE upon a time there lived a barber, who was such a poor silly
creature that he couldn't even ply his trade decently, but snipped off
his customers' ears instead of their hair, and cut their throats instead
of shaving them. So of course he grew poorer every day, till at last
he found himself with nothing left in his house but his wife and his
razor, both of whom were as sharp as sharp could be. For his wife
was an exceedingly clever person, who was continually rating her
husband for his stupidity ; and when she saw they hadn't a farthing
left, she fell as usual to scolding. But the barber took it very calmly. '
What is the use of making such a fuss, my dear?' said he; 'you've
told me all this before, and I quite agree with you. "I never did
work, I never could work, and I never will work. That is the fact ! ' '
Then you must beg ! ' returned his wife, ' for / will not starve to
please you ! Go to the palace, and beg something of the King. There
is a wedding feast going on, and he is sure to give alms to the poor.'
' Very well, my dear!' said the barber submissively. He was rather
afraid of his clever wife, so he did as
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THE BARBER'S CLEVER WIFE 221 he was bid, and going to

the palace, begged of the King to give him something. ' Something ?
' asked the King ; ' what thing ? ' • Now the barber's wife had not
mentioned anything in particular, and the barber was far too addle-
pated to think of anything by himself, so he answered cautiously, '
Oh, something ! ' ' Will a piece of land do ? ' said the King.
Whereupon the lazy barber, glad to be helped out of the difficulty,
remarked that perhaps a piece of land would do as well as anything
else. Then the King ordered a piece of waste, outside the city,
should be given to the barber, who went home quite satisfied. ' Well
! what did you get ? ' asked the clever wife, who was waiting
impatiently for his return. ' Give it me quick, that I may go and buy
bread ! ' And you may imagine how she scolded when she found he
had only got a piece of waste land. ' But land is land ! ' remonstrated
the barber ; ' it can't run away, so we must always have something
now ! ' ' Was there ever such a dunderhead ? ' raged the clever wife.
' What good is ground unless we can till it ? and where are we to get
bullocks and ploughs ? ' But being, as we have said, an exceedingly
clever person, she set her wits to work, and soon thought of a plan
whereby to make the best of a bad bargain. She took her husband
with her, and set off to the piece of waste land ; then, bidding her
husband imitate her, she began walking about the field, and peering
anxiously into the ground. But when any 
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222 TALES OF THE PUNJAB body came that way, she would
sit down, and pretend to be doing nothing at all. Now it so
happened that seven thieves were hiding in a thicket hard by, and
they watched the barber and his wife all day, until they became
convinced something mysterious was going on. So at sunset they
sent one of their number to try and find out what it was. ' Well, the,
fact is,' said the barber's wife, after beating about the bush for some
time, and with many injunctions to strict secrecy, ' this field
belonged to my grandfather, who buried five pots full of gold in it,
and we were just trying to discover the exact spot before beginning
to dig. You won't tell any one, will you ? ' The thief promised he
wouldn't, of course, but the moment the barber and his wife went
home, he called his companions, and telling them of the hidden
treasure, set them to work. All night long they dug and delved, till
the field looked as if it had been ploughed seven times over, and
they were as tired as tired could be ; but never a gold piece, nor a
silver piece, nor a farthing did they find, so when dawn came they
went away disgusted. The barber's wife, when she found the field so
beautifully ploughed, laughed heartily at the success of her
stratagem, and going to the corn-dealer's shop, borrowed some rice
to sow in the field. This the corn-dealer willingly gave her, for he
reckoned he would get it back threefold at harvest time. And so he
did, for never was there such a crop ! — the barber's wife paid her
debts, kept enough for the house, and sold the rest for a great crock
of gold pieces.
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THE BARBER'S CLEVER WIFE 223 Now, when the thieves

saw this, they were very angry indeed, and going to the barber's
house, said, 1 Give us our share of the harvest, for we tilled the
ground, as you very well know." ' I told you there was gold in the
ground,' laughed the barber's wife, ' but you didn't find it I have,
and there's a crock full of it in the house, only you rascals shall
never have a farthing of it ! ' ' Very well ! ' said the thieves ; ' look
out for yourself to-night. If you won't give us our share we'll take it !
' So that night one of the thieves hid himself in the house, intending
to open the door to his comrades when the housefolk were asleep ;
but the barber's wife saw him with the corner of her eye, and
determined to lead him a dance. Therefore, when her husband, who
was in a dreadful state of alarm, asked her what she had done with
the gold pieces, she replied, ' Put them where no one will find them,
— under the sweetmeats, in the crock that stands in the niche by
the door.' The thief chuckled at hearing this, and after waiting till all
was quiet, he crept out, and feeling about for the crock, made off
with it, whispering to his comrades that he had got the prize.
Fearing pursuit, they fled to a thicket, where they sat down to divide
the spoil. ' She said there were sweetmeats on the top," said the
thief; ' I will divide them first, and then we can eat them, for it is
hungry work, this waiting and watching.' So he divided what he
thought were the sweetmeats as well as he could in the dark. Now
in
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224 TALES OF THE PUNJAB reality the crock was full of all
sorts of horrible things that the barber's wife had put there on
purpose, and so when the thieves crammed its contents into their
mouths, you may imagine what faces they made and how they
vowed revenge. But when they returned next day to threaten and
repeat their claim to a share of the crop, the barber's wife only
laughed at them. ' Have a care ! ' they cried ; ' twice you have
fooled us — once by making us dig all night, and next by feeding -us
on filth and breaking our caste. It will be our turn to-night ! ' Then
another thief hid himself in the house, but the barber's wife saw him
with half an eye, and when her husband asked, ' What have you
done with the gold, my dear ? I hope you haven't put it under the
pillow ? ' she answered, ' Don't be alarmed ; it is out of the house. I
have hung it in the branches of the nim tree outside. No one will
think of looking for it there ! ' The hidden thief chuckled, and when
the housefolk were asleep he slipped out and told his companions. '
Sure enough, there it is ! ' cried the captain of the band, peering up
into the branches. ' One of you go up and fetch it down.' Now what
he saw was really a hornets' nest, full of great big brown and yellow
hornets. So one of the thieves climbed up the tree ; but when he
came close to the nest, and was just reaching up to take hold of it, a
hornet flew out and stung him on the thigh. He immediately clapped
his hand to the spot.
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THE BARBER'S CLEVER WIFE 225 ' Oh, you thief ! ' cried
out the rest from below, ' you're pocketing the gold pieces, are you ?
Oh ! shabby ! shabby ! '- —For you see it was very dark, and when
the poor man clapped his hand to the place where he had been
stung, they thought he was putting his hand in his pocket. ' I assure
you I'm not doing anything of the kind ! ' retorted the thief ; ' but
there is something that bites in this tree ! ' Just at that moment
another hornet stung him on the breast, and he clapped his hand
there. ' Fie ! fie for shame ! We saw you do it that time ! ' cried the
rest. ' Just you stop that at once, or we will make you ! ' So they
sent up another thief, but he fared no better, for by this time the
hornets were thoroughly roused, and they stung the poor man all
over, so that he kept clapping his hands here, there, and
everywhere. ' Shame ! Shabby ! Ssh-sh ! ' bawled the rest ; and
then one after another they climbed into the tree, determined to
share the booty, and one after another began clapping their hands
about their bodies, till it came to the captain's turn. Then he, intent
on having the prize, seized hold of the hornets' nest, and as the
branch on which they were all standing broke at the selfsame
moment, they all came tumbling down with the hornets' nest on top
of them. And then, in spite of bumps and bruises, you can imagine
what a stampede there was ! After this the barber's wife had some
peace, for every one of the seven thieves was in hospital. In fact,
they were laid up for so long a time that she Q
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226 TALES OF THE PUNJAB began to think that they were

never coming back again, and ceased to be on the look-out. But she
was wrong, for one night, when she had left the window open, she
was awakened by whisperings outside, and at once recognised the
thieves' voices. She gave herself up for lost ; but, determined not to
yield without a struggle, she seized her husband's razor, crept to the
side of the window, and stood quite still. By and by the first thief
began to creep through cautiously. She just waited till the tip of his
nose was visible, and then, flash ! — she sliced it off with the razor
as clean as a whistle. ' Confound it ! ' yelled the thief, drawing back
mighty quick ; 'I've cut my nose on something ! ' 1 Hush-sh-sh-sh ! '
whispered the others, ' you'll wake some one. Go on ! ' ' Not I ! '
said the thief ; ' I'm bleeding like a pig ! ' ' Pooh ! — knocked your
nose against the shutter, I suppose,' returned the second thief. ' I'll
go \ ' But, swish ! — off went the tip of his nose too. ' Dear me ! '
said he ruefully, ' there certainly is something sharp inside ! ' ' A bit
of bamboo in the lattice, most likely,' remarked the third thief. ' I'll
go !.' And, flick ! — off went his nose too. ' It is most extraordinary !
' he exclaimed, hurriedly retiring ; ' I feel exactly as if some one had
cut the tip of my nose off! ' 4 Rubbish ! ' said the fourth thief. ' What
cowards you all are ! Let me go ! ' But he fared no better, nor the
fifth thief, nor the sixth. ' My friends ! ' said the captain, when it
came to
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THE BARBER'S CLEVER WIFE 227 his turn, ' you are all
disabled. One man must remain unhurt to protect the wounded. Let
us return another night.' — He was a cautious man, you see, and
valued his nose. So they crept away sulkily, and the barber's wife lit
a lamp, and gathering up all the nose tips, put them away safely in a
little box. Now before the robbers' noses were healed over, the hot
weather set in, and the barber and his wife, finding it warm sleeping
in the house, put their beds outside ; for they made sure the thieves
would not return. But they did, and seizing such a good opportunity
for revenge, they lifted up the wife's bed, and carried her off fast
asleep. She woke to find herself borne along on the heads of four of
the thieves, whilst the other three ran beside her. She gave herself
up for lost, and though she thought, and thought, and thought, she
could find no way of escape ; till, as luck would have it, the robbers
paused to take breath under a banyan tree. Quick as lightning, she
seized hold of a branch that was within reach, and swung herself
into the tree, leaving her quilt on the bed just as if she were still in
it. ' Let us rest a bit here,' said the thieves who were carrying the
bed ; ' there is plenty of time, and we are tired. She is dreadfully
heavy ! ' The barber's wife could hardly help laughing, but she had
to keep very still, for it was a bright moonlight night ; and the
robbers, after setting down their burden, began to squabble as to
who should take first watch. At last they determined that it should
be the captain, for the others had really barely recovered from the
shock of having their noses
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