THE RED FAIRY BOOK
Edited by ANDREW LANG
TO
MASTER BILLY TREMAYNE MILES
A PROFOUND STUDENT
YET
AN AMIABLE CRITIC
PREFACE
IN a second gleaning of the fields of Fairy Land we cannot
expect to find a second Perrault. But there are good stories
enough left, and it is hoped that some in the Red Fairy Book
may have the attraction of being less familiar than many of
the old friends. The tales have been translated, or, in the
case of those from Madame d'Aulnoy's long stories, adapted,
by Mrs. Hunt from the Norse, by Miss Minnie Wright from
Madame d'Aulnoy, by Mrs. Lang and Miss Bruce from other
French sources, by Miss May Sellar, Miss Farquharson, and
Miss Blackley from the German, while the story of `Sigurd'
is condensed by the Editor from Mr. William Morris's prose
version of the `Volsunga Saga.' The Editor has to thank
his friend, M. Charles Marelles, for permission to reproduce
his versions of the `Pied Piper,' of `Drakestail,' and of
`Little Golden Hood' from the French, and M. Henri Carnoy for the
same privilege in regard to `The Six Sillies' from La Tradition.
Lady Frances Balfour has kindly copied an old version of
`Jack and the Beanstalk,' and Messrs. Smith and Elder have
permitted the publication of two of Mr. Ralston's versions
from the Russian.
A. L.
CONTENTS
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Princess Mayblossom
Soria Moria Castle
The Death of Koschei the Deathless
The Black Thief and Knight of the Glen
The Master Thief
Brother and Sister
Princess Rosette
The Enchanted Pig
The Norka
The Wonderful Birch
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Little Good Mouse
Graciosa and Percinet
The Three Princesses of Whiteland
The Voice of Death
The Six Sillies
Kari Woodengown
Drakestail
The Ratcatcher
The True History of Little Goldenhood
The Golden Branch
The Three Dwarfs
Dapplegrim
The Enchanted Canary
The Twelve Brothers
Rapunzel
The Nettle Spinner
Farmer Weatherbeard
Mother Holle
Minnikin
Bushy Bride
Snowdrop
The Golden Goose
The Seven Foals
The Marvellous Musician
The Story of Sigurd
THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES
I
ONCE upon a time there lived in the village of Montignies-sur-
Roc a little cow-boy, without either father or mother. His
real name was Michael, but he was always called the Star Gazer,
because when he drove his cows over the commons to seek for
pasture, he went along with his head in the air, gaping at nothing.
As he had a white skin, blue eyes, and hair that curled all over
his head, the village girls used to cry after him, `Well, Star Gazer,
what are you doing?' and Michael would answer, `Oh, nothing,'
and go on his way without even turning to look at them.
The fact was he thought them very ugly, with their sun-burnt
necks, their great red hands, their coarse petticoats and their
wooden shoes. He had heard that somewhere in the world there
were girls whose necks were white and whose hands were small,
who were always dressed in the finest silks and laces, and were
called princesses, and while his companions round the fire saw
nothing in the flames but common everyday fancies, he dreamed
that he had the happiness to marry a princess.
II
One morning about the middle of August, just at mid-day when
the sun was hottest, Michael ate his dinner of a piece of dry bread,
and went to sleep under an oak. And while he slept he dreamt
that there appeared before him a beautiful lady, dressed in a robe
of cloth of gold, who said to him: `Go to the castle of Beloeil, and
there you shall marry a princess.'
That evening the little cow-boy, who had been thinking a great
deal about the advice of the lady in the golden dress, told his dream
to the farm people. But, as was natural, they only laughed at the
Star Gazer.
The next day at the same hour he went to sleep again under
the same tree. The lady appeared to him a second time, and said:
`Go to the castle of Beloeil, and you shall marry a princess.'
In the evening Michael told his friends that he had dreamed
the same dream again, but they only laughed at him more than
before. `Never mind,' he thought to himself; `if the lady appears
to me a third time, I will do as she tells me.'
The following day, to the great astonishment of all the village,
about two o'clock in the afternoon a voice was heard singing:
`Raleo, raleo,
How the cattle go!'
It was the little cow-boy driving his herd back to the byre.
The farmer began to scold him furiously, but he answered
quietly, `I am going away,' made his clothes into a bundle, said
good-bye to all his friends, and boldly set out to seek his fortunes.
There was great excitement through all the village, and on the
top of the hill the people stood holding their sides with laughing,
as they watched the Star Gazer trudging bravely along the valley
with his bundle at the end of his stick.
It was enough to make anyone laugh, certainly.
III
It was well known for full twenty miles round that there lived
in the castle of Beloeil twelve princesses of wonderful beauty, and
as proud as they were beautiful, and who were besides so very
sensitive and of such truly royal blood, that they would have felt
at once the presence of a pea in their beds, even if the mattresses
had been laid over it.
It was whispered about that they led exactly the lives that
princesses ought to lead, sleeping far into the morning, and never
getting up till mid-day. They had twelve beds all in the same
room, but what was very extraordinary was the fact that though
they were locked in by triple bolts, every morning their satin shoes
were found worn into holes.
When they were asked what they had been doing all night,
they always answered that they had been asleep; and, indeed,
no noise was ever heard in the room, yet the shoes could not wear
themselves out alone!
At last the Duke of Beloeil ordered the trumpet to be sounded,
and a proclamation to be made that whoever could discover how
his daughters wore out their shoes should choose one of them for
his wife.
On hearing the proclamation a number of princes arrived at
the castle to try their luck. They watched all night behind the
open door of the princesses, but when the morning came they had
all disappeared, and no one could tell what had become of them.
IV
When he reached the castle, Michael went straight to the
gardener and offered his services. Now it happened that the
garden boy had just been sent away, and though the Star Gazer
did not look very sturdy, the gardener agreed to take him, as he
thought that his pretty face and golden curls would please the
princesses.
The first thing he was told was that when the princesses got
up he was to present each one with a bouquet, and Michael thought
that if he had nothing more unpleasant to do than that he should
get on very well.
Accordingly he placed himself behind the door of the princesses'
room, with the twelve bouquets in a basket. He gave one to each
of the sisters, and they took them without even deigning to look at
the lad, except Lina the youngest, who fixed her large black eyes
as soft as velvet on him, and exclaimed, `Oh, how pretty he is--our
new flower boy!' The rest all burst out laughing, and the eldest
pointed out that a princess ought never to lower herself by looking
at a garden boy.
Now Michael knew quite well what had happened to all the
princes, but notwithstanding, the beautiful eyes of the Princess
Lina inspired him with a violent longing to try his fate.
Unhappily he did not dare to come forward, being afraid that he
should only be jeered at, or even turned away from the castle on
account of his impudence.
V
Nevertheless, the Star Gazer had another dream. The lady in
the golden dress appeared to him once more, holding in one hand
two young laurel trees, a cherry laurel and a rose laurel, and in
the other hand a little golden rake, a little golden bucket, and a
silken towel. She thus addressed him:
`Plant these two laurels in two large pots, rake them over with
the rake, water them with the bucket, and wipe them with the towel.
When they have grown as tall as a girl of fifteen, say to each of
them, ``My beautiful laurel, with the golden rake I have raked you,
with the golden bucket I have watered you, with the silken towel I
have wiped you.'' Then after that ask anything you choose, and the
laurels will give it to you.'
Michael thanked the lady in the golden dress, and when he
woke he found the two laurel bushes beside him. So he carefully
obeyed the orders he had been given by the lady.
The trees grew very fast, and when they were as tall as a girl
of fifteen he said to the cherry laurel, `My lovely cherry laurel,
with the golden rake I have raked thee, with the golden bucket I
have watered thee, with the silken towel I have wiped thee.
Teach me how to become invisible.' Then there instantly
appeared on the laurel a pretty white flower, which Michael
gathered and stuck into his button-hole.
VI
That evening, when the princesses went upstairs to bed, he
followed them barefoot, so that he might make no noise, and hid
himself under one of the twelve beds, so as not to take up much room.
The princesses began at once to open their wardrobes and boxes.
They took out of them the most magnificent dresses, which they
put on before their mirrors, and when they had finished, turned
themselves all round to admire their appearances.
Michael could see nothing from his hiding-place, but he could
hear everything, and he listened to the princesses laughing and
jumping with pleasure. At last the eldest said, `Be quick, my
sisters, our partners will be impatient.' At the end of an hour,
when the Star Gazer heard no more noise, he peeped out and saw
the twelve sisters in splendid garments, with their satin shoes on
their feet, and in their hands the bouquets he had brought them.
`Are you ready?' asked the eldest.
`Yes,' replied the other eleven in chorus, and they took their
places one by one behind her.
Then the eldest Princess clapped her hands three times and a
trap door opened. All the princesses disappeared down a secret
staircase, and Michael hastily followed them.
As he was following on the steps of the Princess Lina, he
carelessly trod on her dress.
`There is somebody behind me,' cried the Princess; `they are
holding my dress.'
`You foolish thing,' said her eldest sister, `you are always afraid
of something. It is only a nail which caught you.'
VII
They went down, down, down, till at last they came to a passage
with a door at one end, which was only fastened with a latch. The
eldest Princess opened it, and they found themselves immediately
in a lovely little wood, where the leaves were spangled with drops
of silver which shone in the brilliant light of the moon.
They next crossed another wood where the leaves were sprinkled
with gold, and after that another still, where the leaves glittered
with diamonds.
At last the Star Gazer perceived a large lake, and on the shores
of the lake twelve little boats with awnings, in which were seated
twelve princes, who, grasping their oars, awaited the princesses.
Each princess entered one of the boats, and Michael slipped into
that which held the youngest. The boats glided along rapidly, but
Lina's, from being heavier, was always behind the rest. `We never
went so slowly before,' said the Princess; `what can be the reason?'
`I don't know,' answered the Prince. `I assure you I am rowing
as hard as I can.'
On the other side of the lake the garden boy saw a beautiful
castle splendidly illuminated, whence came the lively music of
fiddles, kettle-drums, and trumpets.
In a moment they touched land, and the company jumped out
of the boats; and the princes, after having securely fastened their
barques, gave their arms to the princesses and conducted them to
the castle.
VIII
Michael followed, and entered the ball-room in their train.
Everywhere were mirrors, lights, flowers, and damask hangings.
The Star Gazer was quite bewildered at the magnificence of the
sight.
He placed himself out of the way in a corner, admiring the grace
and beauty of the princesses. Their loveliness was of every kind.
Some were fair and some were dark; some had chestnut hair, or
curls darker still, and some had golden locks. Never were so many
beautiful princesses seen together at one time, but the one whom
the cow-boy thought the most beautiful and the most fascinating
was the little Princess with the velvet eyes.
With what eagerness she danced! leaning on her partner's
shoulder she swept by like a whirlwind. Her cheeks flushed, her
eyes sparkled, and it was plain that she loved dancing better than
anything else.
The poor boy envied those handsome young men with whom
she danced so gracefully, but he did not know how little reason he
had to be jealous of them.
The young men were really the princes who, to the number of
fifty at least, had tried to steal the princesses' secret. The princesses
had made them drink something of a philtre, which froze the
heart and left nothing but the love of dancing.
IX
They danced on till the shoes of the princesses were worn into
holes. When the cock crowed the third time the fiddles stopped,
and a delicious supper was served by negro boys, consisting of
sugared orange flowers, crystallised rose leaves, powdered violets,
cracknels, wafers, and other dishes, which are, as everyone knows,
the favourite food of princesses.
After supper, the dancers all went back to their boats, and this
time the Star Gazer entered that of the eldest Princess. They crossed
again the wood with the diamond-spangled leaves, the wood with
gold-sprinkled leaves, and the wood whose leaves glittered with
drops of silver, and as a proof of what he had seen, the boy broke
a small branch from a tree in the last wood. Lina turned as she
heard the noise made by the breaking of the branch.
`What was that noise?' she said.
`It was nothing,' replied her eldest sister; `it was only the
screech of the barn-owl that roosts in one of the turrets of the
castle.'
While she was speaking Michael managed to slip in front, and
running up the staircase, he reached the princesses' room first. He
flung open the window, and sliding down the vine which climbed
up the wall, found himself in the garden just as the sun was
beginning to rise, and it was time for him to set to his work.
X
That day, when he made up the bouquets, Michael hid the branch
with the silver drops in the nosegay intended for the youngest
Princess.
When Lina discovered it she was much surprised. However,
she said nothing to her sisters, but as she met the boy by accident
while she was walking under the shade of the elms, she suddenly
stopped as if to speak to him; then, altering her mind, went on her
way.
The same evening the twelve sisters went again to the ball, and
the Star Gazer again followed them and crossed the lake in Lina's
boat. This time it was the Prince who complained that the boat
seemed very heavy.
`It is the heat,' replied the Princess. `I, too, have been feeling
very warm.'
During the ball she looked everywhere for the gardener's boy,
but she never saw him.
As they came back, Michael gathered a branch from the wood
with the gold-spangled leaves, and now it was the eldest Princess
who heard the noise that it made in breaking.
`It is nothing,' said Lina; `only the cry of the owl which roosts
in the turrets of the castle.'
XI
As soon as she got up she found the branch in her bouquet.
When the sisters went down she stayed a little behind and said to
the cow-boy: `Where does this branch come from?'
`Your Royal Highness knows well enough,' answered Michael.
`So you have followed us?'
`Yes, Princess.'
`How did you manage it? we never saw you.'
`I hid myself,' replied the Star Gazer quietly.
The Princess was silent a moment, and then said:
`You know our secret!--keep it. Here is the reward of your
discretion.' And she flung the boy a purse of gold.
`I do not sell my silence,' answered Michael, and he went away
without picking up the purse.
For three nights Lina neither saw nor heard anything
extraordinary; on the fourth she heard a rustling among the diamond-
spangled leaves of the wood. That day there was a branch of the
trees in her bouquet.
She took the Star Gazer aside, and said to him in a harsh voice:
`You know what price my father has promised to pay for our secret?'
`I know, Princess,' answered Michael.
`Don't you mean to tell him?'
`That is not my intention.'
`Are you afraid?'
`No, Princess.'
`What makes you so discreet, then?'
But Michael was silent.
XII
Lina's sisters had seen her talking to the little garden boy, and
jeered at her for it.
`What prevents your marrying him?' asked the eldest, `you
would become a gardener too; it is a charming profession. You
could live in a cottage at the end of the park, and help your husband
to draw up water from the well, and when we get up you could
bring us our bouquets.'
The Princess Lina was very angry, and when the Star Gazer
presented her bouquet, she received it in a disdainful manner.
Michael behaved most respectfully. He never raised his eyes to her,
but nearly all day she felt him at her side without ever seeing him.
One day she made up her mind to tell everything to her eldest sister.
`What!' said she, `this rogue knows our secret, and you never
told me! I must lose no time in getting rid of him.'
`But how?'
`Why, by having him taken to the tower with the dungeons, of course.'
For this was the way that in old times beautiful princesses got
rid of people who knew too much.
But the astonishing part of it was that the youngest sister did
not seem at all to relish this method of stopping the mouth of the
gardener's boy, who, after all, had said nothing to their father.
XIII
It was agreed that the question should be submitted to the other
ten sisters. All were on the side of the eldest. Then the youngest
sister declared that if they laid a finger on the little garden boy, she
would herself go and tell their father the secret of the holes in their shoes.
At last it was decided that Michael should be put to the test;
that they would take him to the ball, and at the end of supper would
give him the philtre which was to enchant him like the rest.
They sent for the Star Gazer, and asked him how he had contrived
to learn their secret; but still he remained silent.
Then, in commanding tones, the eldest sister gave him the order
they had agreed upon.
He only answered:
`I will obey.'
He had really been present, invisible, at the council of princesses,
and had heard all; but he had made up his mind to drink of the
philtre, and sacrifice himself to the happiness of her he loved.
Not wishing, however, to cut a poor figure at the ball by the side
of the other dancers, he went at once to the laurels, and said:
`My lovely rose laurel, with the golden rake I have raked thee,
with the golden bucket I have watered thee, with a silken towel I
have dried thee. Dress me like a prince.'
A beautiful pink flower appeared. Michael gathered it, and
found himself in a moment clothed in velvet, which was as black as
the eyes of the little Princess, with a cap to match, a diamond
aigrette, and a blossom of the rose laurel in his button-hole.
Thus dressed, he presented himself that evening before the Duke
of Beloeil, and obtained leave to try and discover his daughters'
secret. He looked so distinguished that hardly anyone would have
known who he was.
XIV
The twelve princesses went upstairs to bed. Michael followed
them, and waited behind the open door till they gave the signal for
departure.
This time he did not cross in Lina's boat. He gave his arm to
the eldest sister, danced with each in turn, and was so graceful that
everyone was delighted with him. At last the time came for him
to dance with the little Princess. She found him the best partner
in the world, but he did not dare to speak a single word to her.
When he was taking her back to her place she said to him in a
mocking voice:
`Here you are at the summit of your wishes: you are being
treated like a prince.'
`Don't be afraid,' replied the Star Gazer gently. `You shall
never be a gardener's wife.'
The little Princess stared at him with a frightened face, and he
left her without waiting for an answer.
When the satin slippers were worn through the fiddles stopped,
and the negro boys set the table. Michael was placed next to the
eldest sister, and opposite to the youngest.
They gave him the most exquisite dishes to eat, and the most
delicate wines to drink; and in order to turn his head more
completely, compliments and flattery were heaped on him from every
side.
But he took care not to be intoxicated, either by the wine or the
compliments.
XV
At last the eldest sister made a sign, and one of the black pages
brought in a large golden cup.
`The enchanted castle has no more secrets for you,' she said to
the Star Gazer. `Let us drink to your triumph.'
He cast a lingering glance at the little Princess, and without
hesitation lifted the cup.
`Don't drink!' suddenly cried out the little Princess; `I would
rather marry a gardener.'
And she burst into tears.
Michael flung the contents of the cup behind him, sprang over
the table, and fell at Lina's feet. The rest of the princes fell
likewise at the knees of the princesses, each of whom chose a husband
and raised him to her side. The charm was broken.
The twelve couples embarked in the boats, which crossed back
many times in order to carry over the other princes. Then they all
went through the three woods, and when they had passed the door
of the underground passage a great noise was heard, as if the
enchanted castle was crumbling to the earth.
They went straight to the room of the Duke of Beloeil, who had
just awoke. Michael held in his hand the golden cup, and he
revealed the secret of the holes in the shoes.
`Choose, then,' said the Duke, `whichever you prefer.'
`My choice is already made,' replied the garden boy, and he
offered his hand to the youngest Princess, who blushed and
lowered her eyes.
XVI
The Princess Lina did not become a gardener's wife; on the
contrary, it was the Star Gazer who became a Prince: but before
the marriage ceremony the Princess insisted that her lover should
tell her how he came to discover the secret.
So he showed her the two laurels which had helped him, and
she, like a prudent girl, thinking they gave him too much advantage
over his wife, cut them off at the root and threw them in the fire.
And this is why the country girls go about singing:
Nous n'irons plus au bois,
Les lauriers sont coupes,'
and dancing in summer by the light of the moon.
THE PRINCESS MAYBLOSSOM
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen whose children
had all died, first one and then another, until at last only one
little daughter remained, and the Queen was at her wits' end to
know where to find a really good nurse who would take care of her,
and bring her up. A herald was sent who blew a trumpet at every
street corner, and commanded all the best nurses to appear before
the Queen, that she might choose one for the little Princess. So on
the appointed day the whole palace was crowded with nurses, who
came from the four corners of the world to offer themselves, until the
Queen declared that if she was ever to see the half of them, they
must be brought out to her, one by one, as she sat in a shady wood
near the palace.
This was accordingly done, and the nurses, after they had made
their curtsey to the King and Queen, ranged themselves in a line
before her that she might choose. Most of them were fair and fat
and charming, but there was one who was dark-skinned and ugly,
and spoke a strange language which nobody could understand. The
Queen wondered how she dared offer herself, and she was told to
go away, as she certainly would not do. Upon which she muttered
something and passed on, but hid herself in a hollow tree, from
which she could see all that happened. The Queen, without giving
her another thought, chose a pretty rosy-faced nurse, but no sooner
was her choice made than a snake, which was hidden in the grass,
bit that very nurse on her foot, so that she fell down as if dead.
The Queen was very much vexed by this accident, but she soon
selected another, who was just stepping forward when an eagle flew
by and dropped a large tortoise upon her head, which was cracked
in pieces like an egg-shell. At this the Queen was much horrified;
nevertheless, she chose a third time, but with no better fortune, for
the nurse, moving quickly, ran into the branch of a tree and blinded
herself with a thorn. Then the Queen in dismay cried that there
must be some malignant influence at work, and that she would
choose no more that day; and she had just risen to return to the
palace when she heard peals of malicious laughter behind her, and
turning round saw the ugly stranger whom she had dismissed, who
was making very merry over the disasters and mocking everyone,
but especially the Queen. This annoyed Her Majesty very much,
and she was about to order that she should be arrested, when the
witch--for she was a witch--with two blows from a wand summoned
a chariot of fire drawn by winged dragons, and was whirled off
through the air uttering threats and cries. When the King saw this
he cried:
`Alas! now we are ruined indeed, for that was no other than
the Fairy Carabosse, who has had a grudge against me ever since
I was a boy and put sulphur into her porridge one day for fun.'
Then the Queen began to cry.
`If I had only known who it was,' she said, `I would have done
my best to make friends with her; now I suppose all is lost.'
The King was sorry to have frightened her so much, and
proposed that they should go and hold a council as to what was best to
be done to avert the misfortunes which Carabosse certainly meant
to bring upon the little Princess.
So all the counsellors were summoned to the palace, and when
they had shut every door and window, and stuffed up every keyhole
that they might not be overheard, they talked the affair over, and
decided that every fairy for a thousand leagues round should be
invited to the christening of the Princess, and that the time of the
ceremony should be kept a profound secret, in case the Fairy
Carabosse should take it into her head to attend it.
The Queen and her ladies set to work to prepare presents for
the fairies who were invited: for each one a blue velvet cloak, a
petticoat of apricot satin, a pair of high-heeled shoes, some sharp
needles, and a pair of golden scissors. Of all the fairies the Queen
knew, only five were able to come on the day appointed, but they
began immediately to bestow gifts upon the Princess. One promised
that she should be perfectly beautiful, the second that she should
understand anything--no matter what--the first time it was
explained to her, the third that she should sing like a nightingale, the
fourth that she should succeed in everything she undertook, and
the fifth was opening her mouth to speak when a tremendous
rumbling was heard in the chimney, and Carabosse, all covered
with soot, came rolling down, crying:
`I say that she shall be the unluckiest of the unlucky until she
is twenty years old.'
Then the Queen and all the fairies began to beg and beseech
her to think better of it, and not be so unkind to the poor little
Princess, who had never done her any harm. But the ugly old
Fairy only grunted and made no answer. So the last Fairy, who
had not yet given her gift, tried to mend matters by promising the
Princess a long and happy life after the fatal time was over. At
this Carabosse laughed maliciously, and climbed away up the
chimney, leaving them all in great consternation, and especially the
Queen. However, she entertained the fairies splendidly, and gave
them beautiful ribbons, of which they are very fond, in addition to
the other presents.
When they were going away the oldest Fairy said that they
were of opinion that it would be best to shut the Princess up in some
place, with her waiting-women, so that she might not see anyone
else until she was twenty years old. So the King had a tower built
on purpose. It had no windows, so it was lighted with wax candles,
and the only way into it was by an underground passage, which
had iron doors only twenty feet apart, and guards were posted
everywhere.
The Princess had been named Mayblossom, because she was as
fresh and blooming as Spring itself, and she grew up tall and
beautiful, and everything she did and said was charming. Every time the
King and Queen came to see her they were more delighted with her
than before, but though she was weary of the tower, and often
begged them to take her away from it, they always refused. The
Princess's nurse, who had never left her, sometimes told her about
the world outside the tower, and though the Princess had never
seen anything for herself, yet she always understood exactly, thanks
to the second Fairy's gift. Often the King said to the Queen:
`We were cleverer than Carabosse after all. Our Mayblossom
will be happy in spite of her predictions.'
And the Queen laughed until she was tired at the idea of having
outwitted the old Fairy. They had caused the Princess's portrait to
be painted and sent to all the neighbouring Courts, for in four days she
would have completed her twentieth year, and it was time to decide
whom she should marry. All the town was rejoicing at the thought
of the Princess's approaching freedom, and when the news came
that King Merlin was sending his ambassador to ask her in marriage
for his son, they were still more delighted. The nurse, who kept
the Princess informed of everything that went forward in the town,
did not fail to repeat the news that so nearly concerned her, and
gave such a description of the splendour in which the ambassador
Fanfaronade would enter the town, that the Princess was wild to
see the procession for herself.
`What an unhappy creature I am,' she cried, `to be shut up in
this dismal tower as if I had committed some crime! I have never
seen the sun, or the stars, or a horse, or a monkey, or a lion, except
in pictures, and though the King and Queen tell me I am to be set
free when I am twenty, I believe they only say it to keep me amused,
when they never mean to let me out at all.'
And then she began to cry, and her nurse, and the nurse's
daughter, and the cradle-rocker, and the nursery-maid, who all loved
her dearly, cried too for company, so that nothing could be heard
but sobs and sighs. It was a scene of woe. When the Princess saw
that they all pitied her she made up her mind to have her own way.
So she declared that she would starve herself to death if they did
not find some means of letting her see Fanfaronade's grand entry
into the town.
`If you really love me,' she said, `you will manage it, somehow
or other, and the King and Queen need never know anything
about it.'
Then the nurse and all the others cried harder than ever, and
said everything they could think of to turn the Princess from her
idea. But the more they said the more determined she was, and at
last they consented to make a tiny hole in the tower on the side
that looked towards the city gates.
After scratching and scraping all day and all night, they presently
made a hole through which they could, with great difficulty, push a
very slender needle, and out of this the Princess looked at the daylight
for the first time. She was so dazzled and delighted by what
she saw, that there she stayed, never taking her eyes away from the
peep-hole for a single minute, until presently the ambassador's
procession appeared in sight.
At the head of it rode Fanfaronade himself upon a white horse,
which pranced and caracoled to the sound of the trumpets. Nothing
could have been more splendid than the ambassador's attire. His
coat was nearly hidden under an embroidery of pearls and diamonds,
his boots were solid gold, and from his helmet floated scarlet plumes.
At the sight of him the Princess lost her wits entirely, and determined
that Fanfaronade and nobody else would she marry.
`It is quite impossible,' she said, `that his master should be half
as handsome and delightful. I am not ambitious, and having spent
all my life in this tedious tower, anything--even a house in the
country--will seem a delightful change. I am sure that bread and
water shared with Fanfaronade will please me far better than roast
chicken and sweetmeats with anybody else.'
And so she went on talk, talk, talking, until her waiting-women
wondered where she got it all from. But when they tried to stop
her, and represented that her high rank made it perfectly impossible
that she should do any such thing, she would not listen, and
ordered them to be silent.
As soon as the ambassador arrived at the palace, the Queen
started to fetch her daughter.
All the streets were spread with carpets, and the windows were
full of ladies who were waiting to see the Princess, and carried
baskets of flowers and sweetmeats to shower upon her as she
passed.
They had hardly begun to get the Princess ready when a dwarf
arrived, mounted upon an elephant. He came from the five fairies,
and brought for the Princess a crown, a sceptre, and a robe of golden
brocade, with a petticoat marvellously embroidered with butterflies'
wings. They also sent a casket of jewels, so splendid that no one
had ever seen anything like it before, and the Queen was perfectly
dazzled when she opened it. But the Princess scarcely gave a glance
to any of these treasures, for she thought of nothing but Fanfaronade.
The Dwarf was rewarded with a gold piece, and decorated with so
many ribbons that it was hardly possible to see him at all. The
Princess sent to each of the fairies a new spinning-wheel with a
distaff of cedar wood, and the Queen said she must look through
her treasures and find something very charming to send them
also.
When the Princess was arrayed in all the gorgeous things the
Dwarf had brought, she was more beautiful than ever, and as she
walked along the streets the people cried: `How pretty she is!
How pretty she is!'
The procession consisted of the Queen, the Princess, five dozen
other princesses her cousins, and ten dozen who came from the
neighbouring kingdoms; and as they proceeded at a stately pace the
sky began to grow dark, then suddenly the thunder growled, and
rain and hail fell in torrents. The Queen put her royal mantle
over her head, and all the princesses did the same with their trains.
Mayblossom was just about to follow their example when a terrific
croaking, as of an immense army of crows, rooks, ravens, screech-
owls, and all birds of ill-omen was heard, and at the same instant a
huge owl skimmed up to the Princess, and threw over her a scarf
woven of spiders' webs and embroidered with bats' wings. And
then peals of mocking laughter rang through the air, and they
guessed that this was another of the Fairy Carabosse's unpleasant
jokes.
The Queen was terrified at such an evil omen, and tried to pull
the black scarf from the Princess's shoulders, but it really seemed
as if it must be nailed on, it clung so closely.
`Ah!' cried the Queen, `can nothing appease this enemy of
ours? What good was it that I sent her more than fifty pounds of
sweetmeats, and as much again of the best sugar, not to mention
two Westphalia hams? She is as angry as ever.'
While she lamented in this way, and everybody was as wet as
if they had been dragged through a river, the Princess still thought
of nothing but the ambassador, and just at this moment he appeared
before her, with the King, and there was a great blowing of
trumpets, and all the people shouted louder than ever. Fanfaronade
was not generally at a loss for something to say, but when he saw
the Princess, she was so much more beautiful and majestic than he
had expected that he could only stammer out a few words, and
entirely forgot the harangue which he had been learning for
months, and knew well enough to have repeated it in his sleep. To
gain time to remember at least part of it, he made several low bows
to the Princess, who on her side dropped half-a-dozen curtseys without
stopping to think, and then said, to relieve his evident embarrassment:
`Sir Ambassador, I am sure that everything you intend to say
is charming, since it is you who mean to say it; but let us make
haste into the palace, as it is pouring cats and dogs, and the wicked
Fairy Carabosse will be amused to see us all stand dripping here.
When we are once under shelter we can laugh at her.'
Upon this the Ambassador found his tongue, and replied
gallantly that the Fairy had evidently foreseen the flames that
would be kindled by the bright eyes of the Princess, and had sent
this deluge to extinguish them. Then he offered his hand to conduct
the Princess, and she said softly:
`As you could not possibly guess how much I like you, Sir
Fanfaronade, I am obliged to tell you plainly that, since I saw you
enter the town on your beautiful prancing horse, I have been sorry
that you came to speak for another instead of for yourself. So, if
you think about it as I do, I will marry you instead of your master.
Of course I know you are not a prince, but I shall be just as fond of
you as if you were, and we can go and live in some cosy little
corner of the world, and be as happy as the days are long.'
The Ambassador thought he must be dreaming, and could hardly
believe what the lovely Princess said. He dared not answer, but
only squeezed the Princess's hand until he really hurt her little
finger, but she did not cry out. When they reached the palace the
King kissed his daughter on both cheeks, and said:
`My little lambkin, are you willing to marry the great King
Merlin's son, for this Ambassador has come on his behalf to fetch
you?'
`If you please, sire,' said the Princess, dropping a curtsey.
`I consent also,' said the Queen; `so let the banquet be prepared.'
This was done with all speed, and everybody feasted except
Mayblossom and Fanfaronade, who looked at one another and forgot
everything else.
After the banquet came a ball, and after that again a ballet, and
at last they were all so tired that everyone fell asleep just where
he sat. Only the lovers were as wide-awake as mice, and the
Princess, seeing that there was nothing to fear, said to Fanfaronade:
`Let us be quick and run away, for we shall never have a better
chance than this.'
Then she took the King's dagger, which was in a diamond
sheath, and the Queen's neck-handkerchief, and gave her hand to
Fanfaronade, who carried a lantern, and they ran out together into
the muddy street and down to the sea-shore. Here they got into
a little boat in which the poor old boatman was sleeping, and when
he woke up and saw the lovely Princess, with all her diamonds and
her spiders'--web scarf, he did not know what to think, and obeyed
her instantly when she commanded him to set out. They could see
neither moon nor stars, but in the Queen's neck-handkerchief there
was a carbuncle which glowed like fifty torches. Fanfaronade
asked the Princess where she would like to go, but she only
answered that she did not care where she went as long as he was
with her.
`But, Princess,' said he, `I dare not take you back to King
Merlin's court. He would think hanging too good for me.'
`Oh, in that case,' she answered, `we had better go to Squirrel
Island; it is lonely enough, and too far off for anyone to follow us
there.'
So she ordered the old boatman to steer for Squirrel Island.
Meanwhile the day was breaking, and the King and Queen and
all the courtiers began to wake up and rub their eyes, and think
it was time to finish the preparations for the wedding. And the
Queen asked for her neck-handkerchief, that she might look smart.
Then there was a scurrying hither and thither, and a hunting everywhere:
they looked into every place, from the wardrobes to the
stoves, and the Queen herself ran about from the garret to the
cellar, but the handkerchief was nowhere to be found.
By this time the King had missed his dagger, and the
search began all over again. They opened boxes and chests of
which the keys had been lost for a hundred years, and found
numbers of curious things, but not the dagger, and the King tore
his beard, and the Queen tore her hair, for the handkerchief and
the dagger were the most valuable things in the kingdom.
When the King saw that the search was hopeless he said:
`Never mind, let us make haste and get the wedding over before
anything else is lost.' And then he asked where the Princess was.
Upon this her nurse came forward and said:
`Sire, I have been seeking her these two hours, but she is
nowhere to be found.' This was more than the Queen could bear.
She gave a shriek of alarm and fainted away, and they had to pour
two barrels of eau-de-cologne over her before she recovered. When
she came to herself everybody was looking for the Princess in the
greatest terror and confusion, but as she did not appear, the King
said to his page:
`Go and find the Ambassador Fanfaronade, who is doubtless
asleep in some corner, and tell him the sad news.'
So the page hunted hither and thither, but Fanfaronade was
no more to be found than the Princess, the dagger, or the neck-
handkerchief!
Then the King summoned his counsellors and his guards, and,
accompanied by the Queen, went into his great hall. As he had not
had time to prepare his speech beforehand, the King ordered that
silence should be kept for three hours, and at the end of that time
he spoke as follows:
`Listen, great and ! My dear daughter Mayblossom is
lost: whether she has been stolen away or has simply disappeared
I cannot tell. The Queen's neck-handkerchief and my sword,
which are worth their weight in gold, are also missing, and, what
is worst of all, the Ambassador Fanfaronade is nowhere to be
found. I greatly fear that the King, his master, when he receives
no tidings from him, will come to seek him among us, and will
accuse us of having made mince-meat of him. Perhaps I could
bear even that if I had any money, but I assure you that the
expenses of the wedding have completely ruined me. Advise me,
then, my dear subjects, what had I better do to recover my daughter,
Fanfaronade, and the other things.'
This was the most eloquent speech the King had been known
to make, and when everybody had done admiring it the Prime
Minister made answer:
`Sire, we are all very sorry to see you so sorry. We would
give everything we value in the world to take away the cause of
your sorrow, but this seems to be another of the tricks of the Fairy
Carabosse. The Princess's twenty unlucky years were not quite
over, and really, if the truth must be told, I noticed that Fanfaronade
and the Princess appeared to admire one another greatly. Perhaps
this may give some clue to the mystery of their disappearance.'
Here the Queen interrupted him, saying, `Take care what you
say, sir. Believe me, the Princess Mayblossom was far too well
brought up to think of falling in love with an Ambassador.'
At this the nurse came forward, and, falling on her knees,
confessed how they had made the little needle-hole in the tower, and
how the Princess had declared when she saw the Ambassador that
she would marry him and nobody else. Then the Queen was very
angry, and gave the nurse, and the cradle-rocker, and the nursery-
maid such a scolding that they shook in their shoes. But the
Admiral Cocked-Hat interrupted her, crying:
`Let us be off after this good-for-nothing Fanfaronade, for with
out a doubt he has run away with our Princess.'
Then there was a great clapping of hands, and everybody
shouted, `By all means let us be after him.'
So while some embarked upon the sea, the others ran from
kingdom to kingdom beating drums and blowing trumpets, and
wherever a crowd collected they cried:
`Whoever wants a beautiful doll, sweetmeats of all kinds, a
little pair of scissors, a golden robe, and a satin cap has only to
say where Fanfaronade has hidden the Princess Mayblossom.'
But the answer everywhere was, `You must go farther, we have
not seen them.'
However, those who went by sea were more fortunate, for after
sailing about for some time they noticed a light before them which
burned at night like a great fire. At first they dared not go near
it, not knowing what it might be, but by-and-by it remained
stationary over Squirrel Island, for, as you have guessed already,
the light was the glowing of the carbuncle. The Princess and
Fanfaronade on landing upon the island had given the boatman
a hundred gold pieces, and made him promise solemnly to tell no
one where he had taken them; but the first thing that happened
was that, as he rowed away, he got into the midst of the fleet, and
before he could escape the Admiral had seen him and sent a boat
after him.
When he was searched they found the gold pieces in his pocket,
and as they were quite new coins, struck in honour of the Princess's
wedding, the Admiral felt certain that the boatman must have
been paid by the Princess to aid her in her flight. But he would
not answer any questions, and pretended to be deaf and dumb
Then the Admiral said: `Oh! deaf and dumb is he? Lash
him to the mast and give him a taste of the cat-o'-nine-tails. I
don't know anything better than that for curing the deaf and
dumb!'
And when the old boatman saw that he was in earnest, he told
all he knew about the cavalier and the lady whom he had landed
upon Squirrel Island, and the Admiral knew it must be the
Princess and Fanfaronade; so he gave the order for the fleet to
surround the island.
Meanwhile the Princess Mayblossom, who was by this time
terribly sleepy, had found a grassy bank in the shade, and throwing
herself down had already fallen into a profound slumber, when
Fanfaronade, who happened to be hungry and not sleepy, came
and woke her up, saying, very crossly:
`Pray, madam, how long do you mean to stay here? I see
nothing to eat, and though you may be very charming, the sight
of you does not prevent me from famishing.'
`What! Fanfaronade,' said the Princess, sitting up and rubbing
her eyes, `is it possible that when I am here with you you can
want anything else? You ought to be thinking all the time how
happy you are.'
`Happy!' cried he; `say rather unhappy. I wish with all my
heart that you were back in your dark tower again.'
`Darling, don't be cross,' said the Princess. `I will go and see
if I can find some wild fruit for you.'
`I wish you might find a wolf to eat you up,' growled Fanfaronade.
The Princess, in great dismay, ran hither and thither all about
the wood, tearing her dress, and hurting her pretty white hands
with the thorns and brambles, but she could find nothing good to
eat, and at last she had to go back sorrowfully to Fanfaronade.
When he saw that she came empty-handed he got up and left her,
grumbling to himself.
The next day they searched again, but with no better success.
`Alas!' said the Princess, `if only I could find something for
you to eat, I should not mind being hungry myself.'
`No, I should not mind that either,' answered Fanfaronade.
`Is it possible,' said she, `that you would not care if I died of
hunger? Oh, Fanfaronade, you said you loved me!'
`That was when we were in quite another place and I was not
hungry,' said he. `It makes a great difference in one's ideas to be
dying of hunger and thirst on a desert island.'
At this the Princess was dreadfully vexed, and she sat down
under a white rose bush and began to cry bitterly.
`Happy roses,' she thought to herself, `they have only to blossom
in the sunshine and be admired, and there is nobody to be unkind
to them.' And the tears ran down her cheeks and splashed on to
the rose-tree roots. Presently she was surprised to see the whole
bush rustling and shaking, and a soft little voice from the prettiest
rosebud said:
`Poor Princess! look in the trunk of that tree, and you will
find a honeycomb, but don't be foolish enough to share it with
Fanfaronade.'
Mayblossom ran to the tree, and sure enough there was the
honey. Without losing a moment she ran with it to Fanfaronade,
crying gaily:
`See, here is a honeycomb that I have found. I might have
eaten it up all by myself, but I had rather share it with you.'
But without looking at her or thanking her he snatched the honey
comb out of her hands and ate it all up--every bit, without offering
her a morsel. Indeed, when she humbly asked for some he said
mockingly that it was too sweet for her, and would spoil her teeth.
Mayblossom, more downcast than ever, went sadly away and
sat down under an oak tree, and her tears and sighs were so
piteous that the oak fanned her with his rustling leaves, and said:
`Take courage, pretty Princess, all is not lost yet. Take this
pitcher of milk and drink it up, and whatever you do, don't leave a
drop for Fanfaronade.'
The Princess, quite astonished, looked round, and saw a big
pitcher full of milk, but before she could raise it to her lips the
thought of how thirsty Fanfaronade must be, after eating at least
fifteen pounds of honey, made her run back to him and say:
`Here is a pitcher of milk; drink some, for you must be thirsty
I am sure; but pray save a little for me, as I am dying of hunger
and thirst.'
But he seized the pitcher and drank all it contained at a single
draught, and then broke it to atoms on the nearest stone, saying
with a malicious smile: `As you have not eaten anything you cannot
be thirsty.'
`Ah!' cried the Princess, `I am well punished for disappointing
the King and Queen, and running away with this Ambassador
about whom I knew nothing.'
And so saying she wandered away into the thickest part of the
wood, and sat down under a thorn tree, where a nightingale was
singing. Presently she heard him say: `Search under the bush
Princess; you will find some sugar, almonds, and some tarts there
But don't be silly enough to offer Fanfaronade any.' And this
time the Princess, who was fainting with hunger, took the nightingale's
advice, and ate what she found all by herself. But Fanfaronade,
seeing that she had found something good, and was not
going to share it with him, ran after her in such a fury that she
hastily drew out the Queen's carbuncle, which had the property of
rendering people invisible if they were in danger, and when she
was safely hidden from him she reproached him gently for his
unkindness.
Meanwhile Admiral Cocked-Hat had despatched Jack-the-
Chatterer-of-the-Straw-Boots, Courier in Ordinary to the Prime
Minister, to tell the King that the Princess and the Ambassador
had landed on Squirrel Island, but that not knowing the country
he had not pursued them, for fear of being captured by concealed
enemies. Their Majesties were overjoyed at the news, and the
King sent for a great book, each leaf of which was eight ells long.
It was the work of a very clever Fairy, and contained a description
of the whole earth. He very soon found that Squirrel Island was
uninhabited.
`Go,' said he, to Jack-the-Chatterer, `tell the Admiral from me
to land at once. I am surprised at his not having done so sooner.'
As soon as this message reached the fleet, every preparation was
made for war, and the noise was so great that it reached the ears of
the Princess, who at once flew to protect her lover. As he was not
very brave he accepted her aid gladly.
`You stand behind me,' said she, `and I will hold the carbuncle
which will make us invisible, and with the King's dagger I can
protect you from the enemy.' So when the soldiers landed they
could see nothing, but the Princess touched them one after another
with the dagger, and they fell insensible upon the sand, so that at
last the Admiral, seeing that there was some enchantment, hastily
gave orders for a retreat to be sounded, and got his men back into
their boats in great confusion.
Fanfaronade,being once more left with the Princess,
began to think that if he could get rid of her, and possess
himself of the carbuncle and the dagger, he would be
able to make his escape. So as they walked back over
the cliffs he gave the Princess a great push, hoping she
would fall into the sea; but she stepped aside so quickly that
he only succeeded in overbalancing himself, and over
he went, and sank to the bottom of the sea like a lump of
lead, and was never heard of any more. While the Princess
was still looking after him in horror, her attention was attracted
by a rushing noise over her head, and looking up she saw two chariots
approaching rapidly from opposite directions. One was bright and
glittering, and drawn by swans and peacocks, while the Fairy who sat
in it was beautiful as a sunbeam; but the other was drawn by bats and
ravens, and contained a frightful little Dwarf, who was dressed in a
snake's skin, and wore a great toad upon her head for a hood. The
chariots met with a frightful crash in mid-air, and the Princess
looked on in breathless anxiety while a furious battle took place
between the lovely Fairy with her golden lance, and the hideous little
Dwarf and her rusty pike. But very soon it was evident that the
Beauty had the best of it, and the Dwarf turned her bats' heads and
flickered away in great confusion, while the Fairy came down to
where the Princess stood, and said, smiling, `You see Princess, I have
completely routed that malicious old Carabosse. Will you believe it!
she actually wanted to claim authority over you for ever, because
you came out of the tower four days before the twenty years were
ended. However, I think I have settled her pretensions, and I
hope you will be very happy and enjoy the freedom I have won for
you.'
The Princess thanked her heartily, and then the Fairy despatched
one of her peacocks to her palace to bring a gorgeous robe for
Mayblossom, who certainly needed it, for her own was torn to shreds
by the thorns and briars. Another peacock was sent to the Admiral
to tell him that he could now land in perfect safety, which he at
once did, bringing all his men with him, even to Jack-the-Chatterer,
who, happening to pass the spit upon which the Admiral's dinner
was roasting, snatched it up and brought it with him.
Admiral Cocked-Hat was immensely surprised when he came
upon the golden chariot, and still more so to see two lovely ladies
walking under the trees a little farther away. When he reached
them, of course he recognised the Princess, and he went down on
his knees and kissed her hand quite joyfully. Then she presented
him to the Fairy, and told him how Carabosse had been finally
routed, and he thanked and congratulated the Fairy, who was most
gracious to him. While they were talking she cried suddenly:
`I declare I smell a savoury dinner.'
`Why yes, Madam, here it is,' said Jack-the-Chatterer, holding
up the spit, where all the pheasants and partridges were frizzling.
`Will your Highness please to taste any of them?'
`By all means,' said the Fairy, `especially as the Princess will
certainly be glad of a good meal.'
So the Admiral sent back to his ship for everything that was
needful, and they feasted merrily under the trees. By the time
they had finished the peacock had come back with a robe for the
Princess, in which the Fairy arrayed her. It was of green and gold
brocade, embroidered with pearls and rubies, and her long golden
hair was tied back with strings of diamonds and emeralds, and
crowned with flowers. The Fairy made her mount beside her in
the golden chariot, and took her on board the Admiral's ship, where
she bade her farewell, sending many messages of friendship to the
Queen, and bidding the Princess tell her that she was the fifth
Fairy who had attended the christening. Then salutes were fired,
the fleet weighed anchor, and very soon they reached the port.
Here the King and Queen were waiting, and they received the
Princess with such joy and kindness that she could not get a word
in edgewise, to say how sorry she was for having run away with
such a very poor spirited Ambassador. But, after all, it must have
been all Carabosse's fault. Just at this lucky moment who should
arrive but King Merlin's son, who had become uneasy at not
receiving any news from his Ambassador, and so had started himself
with a magnificent escort of a thousand horsemen, and thirty
body-guards in gold and scarlet uniforms, to see what could have
happened. As he was a hundred times handsomer and braver
than the Ambassador, the Princess found she could like him very
much. So the wedding was held at once, with so much splendour
and rejoicing that all the previous misfortunes were quite forgotten.[1]
[1] La Princesse Printaniere. Par Mme. d'Aulnoy.
SORIA MORIA CASTLE
THERE was once upon a time a couple of folks who had a son
called Halvor. Ever since he had been a little boy he had been
unwilling to do any work, and had just sat raking about among the
ashes. His parents sent him away to learn several things, but
Halvor stayed nowhere, for when he had been gone two or three
days he always ran away from his master, hurried off home, and
sat down in the chimney corner to grub among the ashes again.
One day, however, a sea captain came and asked Halvor if he
hadn't a fancy to come with him and go to sea, and behold foreign
lands. And Halvor had a fancy for that, so he was not long in
getting ready.
How long they sailed I have no idea, but after a long, long time
there was a terrible storm, and when it was over and all had become
calm again, they knew not where they were, for they had been
driven away to a strange coast of which none of them had any
knowledge.
As there was no wind at all they lay there becalmed, and Halvor
asked the skipper to give him leave to go on shore to look about
him, for he would much rather do that than lie there and sleep.
`Dost thou think that thou art fit to go where people can see
thee?' said the skipper; `thou hast no clothes but those rags thou
art going about in!'
Halvor still begged for leave, and at last got it, but he was to
come back at once if the wind began to rise.
So he went on shore, and it was a delightful country;
whithersoever he went there were wide plains with fields and meadows,
but as for people, there were none to be seen. The wind began to
rise, but Halvor thought that he had not seen enough yet, and that
he would like to walk about a little longer, to try if he could not
meet somebody. So after a while he came to a great highway, which
was so smooth that an egg might have been rolled along it without
breaking. Halvor followed this, and when evening drew near he
saw a big castle far away in the distance, and there were lights in
it. So as he had now been walking the whole day and had not
brought anything to eat away with him, he was frightfully hungry.
Nevertheless, the nearer he came to the castle the more afraid
he was.
A fire was burning in the castle, and Halvor went into the kitchen,
which was more magnificent than any kitchen he had ever yet beheld.
There were vessels of gold and silver, but not one human
being was to be seen. When Halvor had stood there for some time,
and no one had come out, he went in and opened a door, and inside
a Princess was sitting at her wheel spinning.
`Nay!' she cried, `can Christian folk dare to come hither? But
the best thing that you can do is to go away again, for if not the
Troll will devour you. A Troll with three heads lives here.'
`I should have been just as well pleased if he had had four heads
more, for I should have enjoyed seeing the fellow,' said the youth;
`and I won't go away, for I have done no harm, but you must give
me something to eat, for I am frightfully hungry.'
When Halvor had eaten his fill, the Princess told him to try if
he could wield the sword which was hanging on the wall, but he
could not wield it, nor could he even lift it up.
`Well, then, you must take a drink out of that bottle which is
hanging by its side, for that's what the Troll does whenever he goes
out and wants to use the sword,' said the Princess.
Halvor took a draught, and in a moment he was able to swing
the sword about with perfect ease. And now he thought it was
high time for the Troll to make his appearance, and at that very
moment he came, panting for breath.
Halvor got behind the door.
`Hutetu!' said the Troll as he put his head in at the door. `It
smells just as if there were Christian man's blood here!'
`Yes, you shall learn that there is!' said Halvor, and cut off all
his heads.
The Princess was so rejoiced to be free that she danced and sang,
but then she remembered her sisters, and said: `If my sisters were
but free too!'
`Where are they?' asked Halvor.
So she told him where they were. One of them had been taken
away by a Troll to his castle, which was six miles off, and the other
had been carried off to a castle which was nine miles farther off still
`But now,' said she, `you must first help me to get this dead
body away from here.'
Halvor was so strong that he cleared everything away, and made
all clean and tidy very quickly. So then they ate and drank, and
were happy, and next morning he set off in the grey light of dawn.
He gave himself no rest, but walked or ran the livelong day.
When he came in sight of the castle he was again just a little afraid.
It was much more splendid than the other, but here too there was
not a human being to be seen. So Halvor went into the kitchen,
and did not linger there either, but went straight in.
`Nay! do Christian folk dare to come here?' cried the second
Princess. `I know not how long it is since I myself came, but during
all that time I have never seen a Christian man. It will be better for
you to depart at once, for a Troll lives here who has six heads.'
`No, I shall not go,' said Halvor; `even if he had six more I
would not.'
`He will swallow you up alive,' said the Princess.
But she spoke to no purpose, for Halvor would not go; he was
not afraid of the Troll, but he wanted some meat and drink, for he
was hungry after his journey. So she gave him as much as he
would have, and then she once more tried to make him go away.
`No,' said Halvor, `I will not go, for I have not done anything
wrong, and I have no reason to be afraid.'
`He won't ask any questions about that,' said the Princess, `for
he will take you without leave or right; but as you will not go, try
if you can wield that sword which the Troll uses in battle.'
He could not brandish the sword; so the Princess said that he
was to take a draught from the flask which hung by its side, and
when he had done that he could wield the sword.
Soon afterwards the Troll came, and he was so large and stout
that he was forced to go sideways to get through the door. When
the Troll got his first head in he cried: `Hutetu! It smells of a
Christian man's blood here!'
With that Halvor cut off the first head, and so on with all the
rest. The Princess was now exceedingly delighted, but then she
remembered her sisters, and wished that they too were free. Halvor
thought that might be managed, and wanted to set off immediately;
but first he had to help the Princess to remove the Troll's body, so
it was not until morning that he set forth on his way.
It was a long way to the castle, and he both walked and ran to
get there in time. Late in the evening he caught sight of it, and it
was very much more magnificent than either of the others. And
this time he was not in the least afraid, but went into the kitchen,
and then straight on inside the castle. There a Princess was sitting,
who was so beautiful that there was never anyone to equal her. She
too said what the others had said, that no Christian folk had ever
been there since she had come, and entreated him to go away again,
or else the Troll would swallow him up alive. The Troll had nine
heads, she told him.
`Yes, and if he had nine added to the nine, and then nine more
still, I would not go away,' said Halvor, and went and stood by the
stove.
The Princess begged him very prettily to go lest the Troll
should devour him; but Halvor said, `Let him come when he
will.'
So she gave him the Troll's sword, and bade him take a drink
from the flask to enable him to wield it.
At that same moment the Troll came, breathing hard, and he
was ever so much bigger and stouter than either of the others, and
he too was forced to go sideways to get in through the door.
`Hutetu! what a smell of Christian blood there is here!' said he.
Then Halvor cut off the first head, and after that the others, but
the last was the toughest of them all, and it was the hardest work
that Halvor had ever done to get it off, but he still believed that
he would have strength enough to do it.
And now all the Princesses came to the castle, and were together
again, and they were happier than they had ever been in their lives;
and they were delighted with Halvor, and he with them, and he
was to choose the one he liked best; but of the three sisters the
youngest loved him best.
But Halvor went about and was so strange and so mournful
and quiet that the Princesses asked what it was that he longed for,
and if he did not like to be with them. He said that he did like to
be with them, for they had enough to live on, and he was very
comfortable there; but he longed to go home, for his father and mother
were alive, and he had a great desire to see them again.
They thought that this might easily be done.
`You shall go and return in perfect safety if you will follow our
advice,' said the Princesses.
So he said that he would do nothing that they did not wish.
Then they dressed him so splendidly that he was like a King's
son; and they put a ring on his finger, and it was one which would
enable him to go there and back again by wishing, but they told
him that he must not throw it away, or name their names; for if he
did, all his magnificence would be at an end, and then he would never
see them more.
`If I were but at home again, or if home were but here!' said
Halvor, and no sooner had he wished this than it was granted.
Halvor was standing outside his father and mother's cottage before
he knew what he was about. The darkness of night was coming
on, and when the father and mother saw such a splendid and stately
stranger walk in, they were so startled that they both began to bow
and curtsey.
Halvor then inquired if he could stay there and have lodging for
the night. No, that he certainly could not. `We can give you no
such accommodation,' they said, `for we have none of the things that
are needful when a great lord like you is to be entertained. It will
be better for you to go up to the farm. It is not far off, you can see
the chimney-pots from here, and there they have plenty of everything.'
Halvor would not hear of that, he was absolutely determined to
stay where he was; but the old folks stuck to what they had said,
and told him that he was to go to the farm, where he could get both
meat and drink, whereas they themselves had not even a chair to
offer him.
`No,' said Halvor, `I will not go up there till early to-morrow
morning; let me stay here to-night. I can sit down on the
hearth.'
They could say nothing against that, so Halvor sat down on the
hearth, and began to rake about among the ashes just as he had
done before, when he lay there idling away his time.
They chattered much about many things, and told Halvor of
this and of that, and at last he asked them if they had never had
any child.
`Yes,' they said; they had had a boy who was called Halvor,
but they did not know where he had gone, and they could not even
say whether he were dead or alive.
`Could I be he?' said Halvor.
`I should know him well enough,' said the old woman rising.
`Our Halvor was so idle and slothful that he never did anything at
all, and he was so ragged that one hole ran into another all over
his clothes. Such a fellow as he was could never turn into such a
man as you are, sir.'
In a short time the old woman had to go to the fireplace to stir
the fire, and when the blaze lit up Halvor, as it used to do when he
was at home raking up the ashes, she knew him again.
`Good Heavens! is that you, Halvor?' said she, and such great
gladness fell on the old parents that there were no bounds to it. And
now he had to relate everything that had befallen him, and the old
woman was so delighted with him that she would take him up to
the farm at once to show him to the girls who had formerly looked
down on him so. She went there first, and Halvor followed her.
When she got there she told them how Halvor had come home
again, and now they should just see how magnificent he was. `He
looks like a prince,' she said.
`We shall see that he is just the same ragamuffin that he was
before,' said the girls, tossing their heads.
At that same moment Halvor entered, and the girls were so
astonished that they left their kirtles lying in the chimney corner,
and ran away in nothing but their petticoats. When they came
in again they were so shamefaced that they hardly dared to look
at Halvor, towards whom they had always been so proud and
haughty before.
`Ay, ay! you have always thought that you were so pretty and
dainty that no one was equal to you,' said Halvor, `but you should
just see the eldest Princess whom I set free. You look like herds-
women compared with her, and the second Princess is also much
prettier than you; but the youngest, who is my sweetheart, is more
beautiful than either sun or moon. I wish to Heaven they were
here, and then you would see them.'
Scarcely had he said this before they were standing by his side,
but then he was very sorrowful, for the words which they had said
to him came to his mind.
Up at the farm a great feast was made ready for the Princesses,
and much respect paid to them, but they would not stay there.
`We want to go down to your parents,' they said to Halvor, `so
we will go out and look about us.'
He followed them out, and they came to a large pond outside
the farm-house. Very near the water there was a pretty green
bank, and there the Princesses said they would sit down and while
away an hour, for they thought that it would be pleasant to sit and
look out over the water, they said.
There they sat down, and when they had sat for a short time
the youngest Princess said, `I may as well comb your hair a little,
Halvor.'
So Halvor laid his head down on her lap, and she combed it, and
it was not long before he fell asleep. Then she took her ring from
him and put another in its place, and then she said to her sisters:
`Hold me as I am holding you. I would that we were at Soria
Moria Castle.'
When Halvor awoke he knew that he had lost the Princesses,
and began to weep and lament, and was so unhappy that he could
not be comforted. In spite of all his father's and mother's entreaties,
he would not stay, but bade them farewell, saying that he would
never see them more, for if he did not find the Princess again he
did not think it worth while to live.
He again had three hundred dollars, which he put into his pocket
and went on his way. When he had walked some distance he met
a man with a tolerably good horse. Halvor longed to buy it, and
began to bargain with the man.
`Well, I have not exactly been thinking of selling him,' said the
man, `but if we could agree, perhaps----'
Halvor inquired how much he wanted to have for the horse.
`I did not give much for him, and he is not worth much; he is
a capital horse to ride, but good for nothing at drawing; but he will
always be able to carry your bag of provisions and you too, if you
walk and ride by turns.' At last they agreed about the price, and
Halvor laid his bag on the horse, and sometimes he walked and
sometimes he rode. In the evening he came to a green field, where
stood a great tree, under which he seated himself. Then he let the
horse loose and lay down to sleep, but before he did that he took
his bag off the horse. At daybreak he set off again, for he did not
feel as if he could take any rest. So he walked and rode the whole
day, through a great wood where there were many green places
which gleamed very prettily among the trees. He did not know
where he was or whither he was going, but he never lingered longer
in any place than was enough to let his horse get a little food
when they came to one of these green spots, while he himself took
out his bag of provisions.
So he walked and he rode, and it seemed to him that the wood
would never come to an end. But on the evening of the second
day he saw a light shining through the trees.
`If only there were some people up there I might warm myself
and get something to eat,' thought Halvor.
When he got to the place where the light had come from, he
saw a wretched little cottage, and through a small pane of glass he
saw a couple of old folks inside. They were very old, and as grey-
headed as a pigeon, and the old woman had such a long nose that
she sat in the chimney corner and used it to stir the fire.
`Good evening I good evening!' said the old hag; `but what
errand have you that can bring you here? No Christian folk have
been here for more than a hundred years.'
So Halvor told her that he wanted to get to Soria Moria Castle,
and inquired if she knew the way thither.
`No,' said the old woman, `that I do not, but the Moon will be
here presently, and I will ask her, and she will know. She can
easily see it, for she shines on all things.'
So when the Moon stood clear and bright above the tree-tops
the old woman went out. `Moon! Moon!' she screamed. `Canst
thou tell me the way to Soria Moria Castle?'
`No,' said the Moon, `that I can't, for when I shone there, there
was a cloud before me.'
`Wait a little longer,' said the old woman to Halvor, `for the
West Wind will presently be here, and he will know it, for he
breathes gently or blows into every corner.'
`What! have you a horse too?' she said when she came in
again. `Oh! let the poor creature loose in our bit of fenced-in
pasture, and don't let it stand there starving at our very door. But
won't you exchange him with me? We have a pair of old boots
here with which you can go fifteen quarters of a mile at each step.
You shall have them for the horse, and then you will be able to get
sooner to Soria Moria Castle.'
Halvor consented to this at once, and the old woman was so
delighted with the horse that she was ready to dance. `For now I,
too, shall be able to ride to church,' she said. Halvor could take no
rest, and wanted to set off immediately; but the old woman said
that there was no need to hasten. `Lie down on the bench and
sleep a little, for we have no bed to offer you,' said she, `and I will
watch for the coming of the West Wind.'
Ere long came the West Wind, roaring so loud that the walls
creaked.
The old woman went out and cried:
`West Wind! West Wind! Canst thou tell me the way to
Soria Moria Castle? Here is one who would go thither.'
`Yes, I know it well,' said the West Wind. `I am just on my
way there to dry the clothes for the wedding which is to take place.
If he is fleet of foot he can go with me.'
Out ran Halvor.
`You will have to make haste if you mean to go with me,' said
the West Wind; and away it went over hill and dale, and moor and
morass, and Halvor had enough to do to keep up with it.
`Well, now I have no time to stay with you any longer,' said
the West Wind, `for I must first go and tear down a bit of spruce
fir before I go to the bleaching-ground to dry the clothes; but just
go along the side of the hill, and you will come to some girls who
are standing there washing clothes, and then you will not have to
walk far before you are at Soria Moria Castle.'
Shortly afterwards Halvor came to the girls who were standing
washing, and they asked him if he had seen anything of the
West Wind, who was to come there to dry the clothes for the
wedding.
`Yes,' said Halvor, `he has only gone to break down a bit of
spruce fir. It won't be long before he is here.' And then he asked
them the way to Soria Moria Castle. They put him in the right
way, and when he came in front of the castle it was so full of
horses and people that it swarmed with them. But Halvor was so
ragged and torn with following the West Wind through bushes
and bogs that he kept on one side, and would not go among the
crowd until the last day, when the feast was to be held at noon.
So when, as was the usage and custom, all were to drink to the
bride and the young girls who were present, the cup-bearer filled
the cup for each in turn, both bride and bridegroom, and knights
and servants, and at last, after a very long time, he came to Halvor.
He drank their health, and then slipped the ring which the Princess
had put on his finger when they were sitting by the waterside into
the glass, and ordered the cup-bearer to carry the glass to the bride
from him and greet her.
Then the Princess at once rose up from the table, and said,
`Who is most worthy to have one of us--he who has delivered us
from the Trolls or he who is sitting here as bridegroom?'
There could be but one opinion as to that, everyone thought,
and when Halvor heard what they said he was not long in flinging
off his beggar's rags and arraying himself as a bridegroom.
`Yes, he is the right one,' cried the youngest Princess when she
caught sight of him; so she flung the other out of the window and
held her wedding with Halvor.[2]
[2] From P. C. Asbjornsen.
THE DEATH OF KOSHCHEI
THE DEATHLESS
IN a certain kingdom there lived a Prince Ivan. He had three
sisters. The first was the Princess Marya, the second the Princess
Olga, the third the Princess Anna. When their father and
mother lay at the point of death, they had thus enjoined their
son: `Give your sisters in marriage to the very first suitors who
come to woo them. Don't go keeping them by you!'
They died, and the Prince buried them, and then, to solace his
grief, he went with his sisters into the garden green to stroll.
Suddenly the sky was covered by a black cloud; a terrible storm
arose.
`Let us go home, sisters!' he cried.
Hardly had they got into the palace, when the thunder pealed,
the ceiling split open, and into the room where they were came
flying a falcon bright. The Falcon smote upon the ground, became
a brave youth, and said:
`Hail, Prince Ivan! Before I came as a guest, but now I have
come as a wooer! I wish to propose for your sister, the Princess
Marya.'
`If you find favour in the eyes of my sister, I will not interfere
with her wishes. Let her marry you, in God's name!'
The Princess Marya gave her consent; the Falcon married her
and bore her away into his own realm.
Days follow days, hours chase hours; a whole year goes by. One
day Prince Ivan and his two sisters went out to stroll in the garden
green. Again there arose a storm-cloud, with whirlwind and lightning.
`Let us go home, sisters!' cries the Prince. Scarcely had they
entered the palace when the thunder crashed, the roof burst into a
blaze, the ceiling split in twain, and in flew an eagle. The Eagle
smote upon the ground and became a brave youth.
`Hail, Prince Ivan! I Before I came as a guest, but now I have
come as a wooer!'
And he asked for the hand of the Princess Olga. Prince Ivan
replied:
`If you find favour in the eyes of the Princess Olga, then let
her marry you. I will not interfere with her liberty of choice.'
The Princess Olga gave her consent and married the Eagle.
The Eagle took her and carried her off to his own kingdom.
Another year went by. Prince Ivan said to his youngest
sister:
`Let us go out and stroll in the garden green!'
They strolled about for a time. Again there arose a storm-cloud,
with whirlwind and lightning.
`Let us return home, sister!' said he.
They returned home, but they hadn't had time to sit down
when the thunder crashed, the ceiling split open, and in flew a
raven. The Raven smote upon the floor and became a brave
youth. The former youths had been handsome, but this one was
handsomer still.
`Well, Prince Ivan! Before I came as a guest, but now I have
come as a wooer! Give me the Princess Anna to wife.'
`I won't interfere with my sister's freedom. If you gain her
affections, let her marry you.'
So the Princess Anna married the Raven, and he bore her away
into his own realm. Prince Ivan was left alone. A whole year he
lived without his sisters; then he grew weary, and said:
`I will set out in search of my sisters.'
He got ready for the journey, he rode and rode, and one day
he saw a whole army lying dead on the plain. He cried aloud,
`If there be a living man there, let him make answer! Who has
slain this mighty host?'
There replied unto him a living man:
`All this mighty host has been slain by the fair Princess Marya
Morevna.'
Prince Ivan rode further on, and came to a white tent, and forth
came to meet him the fair Princess Marya Morevna.
`Hail, Prince!' says she; `whither does God send you? and is
it of your free will or against your will?'
Prince Ivan replied, `Not against their will do brave youths
ride!'
`Well, if your business be not pressing, tarry awhile in my
tent.'
Thereat was Prince Ivan glad. He spent two nights in the
tent, and he found favour in the eyes of Marya Morevna, and she
married him. The fair Princess, Marya Morevna, carried him off
into her own realm.
They spent some time together, and then the Princess took it
into her head to go a warring. So she handed over all the house-
keeping affairs to Prince Ivan, and gave him these instructions:
`Go about everywhere, keep watch over everything; only do
not venture to look into that closet there.'
He couldn't help doing so. The moment Marya Morevna had
gone he rushed to the closet, pulled open the door, and looked in--
there hung Koshchei the Deathless, fettered by twelve chains. Then
Koshchei entreated Prince Ivan, saying:
`Have pity upon me and give me to drink! Ten years long
have I been here in torment, neither eating nor drinking; my
throat is utterly dried up.'
The Prince gave him a bucketful of water; he drank it up and
asked for more, saying:
`A single bucket of water will not quench my thirst; give me
more!'
The Prince gave him a second bucketful. Koshchei drank it
up and asked for a third, and when he had swallowed the third
bucketful, he regained his former strength, gave his chains a shake,
and broke all twelve at once.
`Thanks, Prince Ivan!' cried Koshchei the Deathless, `now you
will sooner see your own ears than Marya Morevna!' and out of the
window he flew in the shape of a terrible whirlwind. And he came
up with the fair Princess Marya Morevna as she was going her
way, laid hold of her and carried her off home with him. But
Prince Ivan wept full sore, and he arrayed himself and set out a-
wandering, saying to himself, `Whatever happens, I will go and
look for Marya Morevna!'
One day passed, another day passed; at the dawn of the third
day he saw a wondrous palace, and by the side of the palace stood
an oak, and on the oak sat a falcon bright. Down flew the Falcon
from the oak, smote upon the ground, turned into a brave youth,
and cried aloud:
`Ha, dear brother-in-law! how deals the Lord with you?'
Out came running the Princess Marya, joyfully greeted her
brother Ivan, and began inquiring after his health, and telling him
all about herself. The Prince spent three days with them; then he
said:
`I cannot abide with you; I must go in search of my wife, the
fair Princess Marya Morevna.'
`Hard will it be for you to find her,' answered the Falcon. `At
all events leave with us your silver spoon. We will look at it and
remember you.' So Prince Ivan left his silver spoon at the
Falcon's, and went on his way again.
On he went one day, on he went another day, and by the dawn
of the third day he saw a palace still grander than the former one
and hard by the palace stood an oak, and on the oak sat an eagle.
Down flew the Eagle from the oak, smote upon the ground, turned
into a brave youth, and cried aloud:
`Rise up, Princess Olga! Hither comes our brother dear!'
The Princess Olga immediately ran to meet him, and began
kissing him and embracing him, asking after his health, and telling
him all about herself. With them Prince Ivan stopped three days;
then he said:
`I cannot stay here any longer. I am going to look for my
wife, the fair Princess Marya Morevna.'
`Hard will it be for you to find her,' replied the Eagle. `Leave
with us a silver fork. We will look at it and remember you.'
He left a silver fork behind, and went his way. He travelled
one day, he travelled two days; at daybreak on the third day he
saw a palace grander than the first two, and near the palace stood
an oak, and on the oak sat a raven. Down flew the Raven from
the oak, smote upon the ground, turned into a brave youth, and
cried aloud:
`Princess Anna, come forth quickly I our brother is coming.'
Out ran the Princess Anna, greeted him joyfully, and began
kissing and embracing him, asking after his health and telling him
all about herself. Prince Ivan stayed with them three days; then
he said:
`Farewell! I am going to look for my wife, the fair Princess
Marya Morevna.'
`Hard will it be for you to find her,' replied the Raven.
`Anyhow, leave your silver snuff-box with us. We will look at it and
remember you.'
The Prince handed over his silver snuff-box, took his leave, and
went his way. One day he went, another day he went, and on the
third day he came to where Marya Morevna was. She caught
sight of her love, flung her arms around his neck, burst into tears,
and exclaimed:
`Oh, Prince Ivan! why did you disobey me and go looking into
the closet and letting out Koshchei the Deathless?'
`Forgive me, Marya Morevna! Remember not the past; much
better fly with me while Koshchei the Deathless is out of sight.
Perhaps he won't catch us.'
So they got ready and fled. Now Koshchei was out hunting.
Towards evening he was returning home, when his good steed
stumbled beneath him.
`Why stumblest thou, sorry jade? Scentest thou some ill?'
The steed replied:
`Prince Ivan has come and carried off Marya Morevna.'
`Is it possible to catch them?'
`It is possible to sow wheat, to wait till it grows up, to reap it
and thresh it, to grind it to flour, to make five pies of it, to eat
those pies, and then to start in pursuit--and even then to be in time.'
Koshchei galloped off and caught up Prince Ivan.
`Now,' says he, `this time I will forgive you, in return for your
kindness in giving me water to drink. And a second time I will
forgive you; but the third time beware! I will cut you to bits.'
Then he took Marya Morevna from him, and carried her off.
But Prince Ivan sat down on a stone and burst into tears. He
wept and wept--and then returned back again to Marya Morevna.
Now Koshchei the Deathless happened not to be at home.
`Let us fly, Marya Morevna!'
`Ah, Prince Ivan! he will catch us.'
`Suppose he does catch us. At all events we shall have spent
an hour or two together.'
So they got ready and fled. As Koshchei the Deathless was
returning home, his good steed stumbled beneath him.
`Why stumblest thou, sorry jade? Scentest thou some ill?'
`Prince Ivan has come and carried off Marya Morevna.'
`Is it possible to catch them?'
`It is possible to sow barley, to wait till it grows up, to reap it
and thresh it, to brew beer, to drink ourselves drunk on it, to sleep
our fill, and then to set off in pursuit--and yet to be in time.'
Koshchei galloped off, caught up Prince Ivan:
`Didn't I tell you that you should not see Marya Morevna any
more than your own ears?'
And he took her away and carried her off home with him.
Prince Ivan was left there alone. He wept and wept; then he
went back again after Marya Morevna. Koshchei happened to be
away from home at that moment.
`Let us fly, Marya Morevna!'
`Ah, Prince Ivan! he is sure to catch us and hew you in
pieces.'
`Let him hew away! I cannot live without you.
So they got ready and fled.
Koshchei the Deathless was returning home when his good
steed stumbled beneath him.
`Why stumblest thou? Scentest thou any ill?'
`Prince Ivan has come and has carried off Marya Morevna.'
Koshchei galloped off, caught Prince Ivan, chopped him into
little pieces, put them into a barrel, smeared it with pitch and bound
it with iron hoops, and flung it into the blue sea. But Marya
Morevna he carried off home.
At that very time the silver articles turned black which Prince
Ivan had left with his brothers-in-law.
`Ah!' said they, `the evil is accomplished sure enough!'
Then the Eagle hurried to the blue sea, caught hold of the
barrel, and dragged it ashore; the Falcon flew away for the Water
of Life, and the Raven for the Water of Death.
Afterwards they all three met, broke open the barrel, took out
the remains of Prince Ivan, washed them, and put them together
in fitting order. The Raven sprinkled them with the Water of
Death--the pieces joined together, the body became whole. The
Falcon sprinkled it with the Water of Life--Prince Ivan shuddered,
stood up, and said:
`Ah! what a time I've been sleeping!'
`You'd have gone on sleeping a good deal longer if it hadn't been for us,'
replied his brothers-in-law. `Now come and pay us a visit.'
`Not so, brothers; I shall go and look for Marya Morevna.'
And when he had found her, he said to her:
`Find out from Koshchei the Deathless whence he got so good a steed.'
So Marya Morevna chose a favourable moment, and began
asking Koshchei about it. Koshchei replied:
`Beyond thrice nine lands, in the thirtieth kingdom, on the
other side of the fiery river, there lives a Baba Yaga. She has so
good a mare that she flies right round the world on it every day.
And she has many other splendid mares. I watched her herds for
three days without losing a single mare, and in return for that the
Baba Yaga gave me a foal.'
`But how did you get across the fiery river?'
`Why, I've a handkerchief of this kind--when I wave it thrice
on the right hand, there springs up a very lofty bridge, and the fire
cannot reach it.'
Marya Morevna listened to all this, and repeated it to Prince
Ivan, and she carried off the handkerchief and gave it to him. So
he managed to get across the fiery river, and then went on to the
Baba Yaga's. Long went he on without getting anything either to
eat or to drink. At last he came across an outlandish bird and its
young ones. Says Prince Ivan:
`I'll eat one of these chickens.'
`Don't eat it, Prince Ivan!' begs the outlandish bird; `some
time or other I'll do you a good turn.'
He went on farther and saw a hive of bees in the forest.
`I'll get a bit of honeycomb,' says he.
`Don't disturb my honey, Prince Ivan!' exclaims the queen-
bee; `some time or other I'll do you a good turn.'
So he didn't disturb it, but went on. Presently there met him
a lioness with her cub.
`Anyhow, I'll eat this lion cub,' says he; `I'm so hungry I feel
quite unwell!'
`Please let us alone, Prince Ivan!' begs the lioness; `some
time or other I'll do you a good turn.'
`Very well; have it your own way,' says he.
Hungry and faint he wandered on, walked farther and farther,
and at last came to where stood the house of the Baba Yaga.
Round the house were set twelve poles in a circle, and on each of
eleven of these poles was stuck a human head; the twelfth alone
remained unoccupied.
`Hail, granny!'
`Hail, Prince Ivan! wherefore have yon come? Is it of your
own accord, or on compulsion?'
`I have come to earn from you an heroic steed.'
`So be it, Prince! You won't have to serve a year with me, but
just three days. If you take good care of my mares, I'll give you
an heroic steed. But if you don't--why, then you mustn't be annoyed
at finding your head stuck on top of the last pole up there.'
Prince Ivan agreed to these terms. The Baba Yaga gave him
food and drink, and bade him set about his business. But the
moment he had driven the mares afield, they cocked up their tails,
and away they tore across the meadows in all directions. Before
the Prince had time to look round they were all out of sight.
Thereupon he began to weep and to disquiet himself, and then he
sat down upon a stone and went to sleep. But when the sun was
near its setting the outlandish bird came flying up to him, and
awakened him, saying:
`Arise, Prince Ivan! The mares are at home now.'
The Prince arose and returned home. There the Baba Yaga
was storming and raging at her mares, and shrieking:
`Whatever did ye come home for?'
`How could we help coming home?' said they. `There came
flying birds from every part of the world, and all but pecked our
eyes out.'
`Well, well! to-morrow don't go galloping over the meadows,
but disperse amid the thick forests.'
Prince Ivan slept all night. In the morning the Baba Yaga says
to him:
`Mind, Prince! if you don't take good care of the mares, if
you lose merely one of them--your bold head will be stuck on
that pole!'
He drove the mares afield. Immediately they cocked up their
tails and dispersed among the thick forests. Again did the Prince
sit down on the stone, weep and weep, and then go to sleep. The
sun went down behind the forest. Up came running the lioness.
`Arise, Prince Ivan! The mares are all collected.'
Prince Ivan arose and went home. More than ever did the
Baba Yaga storm at her mares and shriek:
`Whatever did ye come back home for?'
`How could we help coming back? Beasts of prey came
running at us from all parts of the world, and all but tore us utterly
to pieces.'
`Well, to-morrow run off into the blue sea.'
Again did Prince Ivan sleep through the night. Next morning
the Baba Yaga sent him forth to watch the mares.
`If you don't take good care of them,' says she, `your bold head
will be stuck on that pole!'
He drove the mares afield. Immediately they cocked up their
tails, disappeared from sight, and fled into the blue sea. There
they stood, up to their necks in water. Prince Ivan sat down on
the stone, wept, and fell asleep. But when the sun had set behind
the forest, up came flying a bee, and said:
`Arise, Prince! The mares are all collected. But when you
get home, don't let the Baba Yaga set eyes on you, but go into the
stable and hide behind the mangers. There you will find a sorry
colt rolling in the muck. Do you steal it, and at the dead of night
ride away from the house.'
Prince Ivan arose, slipped into the stable, and lay down behind
the mangers, while the Baba Yaga was storming away at her mares
and shrieking:
`Why did ye come back?'
`How could we help coming back? There came flying bees in
countless numbers from all parts of the world, and began stinging
us on all sides till the blood came!'
The Baba Yaga went to sleep. In the dead of the night Prince
Ivan stole the sorry colt, saddled it, jumped on its back, and galloped
away to the fiery river. When he came to that river he
waved the handkerchief three times on the right hand, and suddenly,
springing goodness knows whence, there hung across the river, high
in the air, a splendid bridge. The Prince rode across the bridge and
waved the handkerchief twice only on the left hand; there remained
across the river a thin, ever so thin a bridge!
When the Baba Yaga got up in the morning the sorry colt was
not to be seen! Off she set in pursuit. At full speed did she fly
in her iron mortar, urging it on with the pestle, sweeping away her
traces with the broom. She dashed up to the fiery river, gave a
glance, and said, `A capital bridge!' She drove on to the bridge,
but had only got half-way when the bridge broke in two, and the
Baba Yaga went flop into the river. There truly did she meet with
a cruel death!
Prince Ivan fattened up the colt in the green meadows, and it
turned into a wondrous steed. Then he rode to where Marya
Morevna was. She came running out, and flung herself on his
neck, crying:
`By what means has God brought you back to life?'
`Thus and thus,' says he. `Now come along with me.'
`I am afraid, Prince Ivan! If Koshchei catches us you will
be cut in pieces again.'
`No, he won't catch us! I have a splendid heroic steed now;
it flies just like a bird.' So they got on its back and rode away.
Koshchei the Deathless was returning home when his horse
stumbled beneath him.
`What art thou stumbling for, sorry jade? Dost thou scent any
ill?'
`Prince Ivan has come and carried off Marya Morevna.'
`Can we catch them?'
`God knows! Prince Ivan has a horse now which is better
than I.'
`Well, I can't stand it,' says Koshchei the Deathless. `I will
pursue.'
After a time he came up with Prince Ivan, lighted on the
ground, and was going to chop him up with his sharp sword.
But at that moment Prince Ivan's horse smote Koshchei the Deathless
full swing with its hoof, and cracked his skull, and the Prince
made an end of him with a club. Afterwards the Prince heaped up
a pile of wood, set fire to it, burnt Koshchei the Deathless on the
pyre, and scattered his ashes to the wind. Then Marya Morevna
mounted Koshchei's horse and Prince Ivan got on his own, and they
rode away to visit first the Raven, and then the Eagle, and then
the Falcon. Wherever they went they met with a joyful greeting.
`Ah, Prince Ivan! why, we never expected to see you again.
Well, it wasn't for nothing that you gave yourself so much trouble.
Such a beauty as Marya Morevna one might search for all the
world over--and never find one like her!'
And so they visited, and they feasted; and afterwards they went
off to their own realm.[3]
[3] Ralston.
THE BLACK THIEF
AND KNIGHT OF THE GLEN.
IN times of yore there was a King and a Queen in the south of
Ireland who had three sons, all beautiful children; but the
Queen, their mother, sickened unto death when they were yet very
young, which caused great grief throughout the Court, particularly
to the King, her husband, who could in no wise be comforted.
Seeing that death was drawing near her, she called the King to her
and spoke as follows:
`I am now going to leave you, and as you are young and in
your prime, of course after my death you will marry again. Now
all the request I ask of you is that you will build a tower in an
island in the sea, wherein you will keep your three sons until they
are come of age and fit to do for themselves; so that they may not
be under the power or jurisdiction of any other woman. Neglect not
to give them education suitable to their birth, and let them be
trained up to every exercise and pastime requisite for king's sons to
learn. This is all I have to say, so farewell.'
The King had scarce time, with tears in his eyes, to assure her
she should be obeyed in everything, when she, turning herself in
her bed, with a smile gave up the ghost. Never was greater
mourning seen than was throughout the Court and the whole
kingdom; for a better woman than the Queen, to rich and poor,
was not to be found in the world. She was interred with great
pomp and magnificence, and the King, her husband, became in
a manner inconsolable for the loss of her. However, he caused
the tower to be built and his sons placed in it, under proper
guardians, according to his promise.
In process of time the lords and knights of the kingdom counselled
the King (as he was young) to live no longer as he had done,
but to take a wife; which counsel prevailing, they chose him a rich
and beautiful princess to be his consort--a neighbouring King's
daughter, of whom he was very fond. Not long after, the Queen
had a fine son, which caused great feasting and rejoicing at the
Court, insomuch that the late Queen, in a manner, was entirely
forgotten. That fared well, and King and Queen lived happy
together for several years.
At length the Queen, having some business with the hen-wife,
went herself to her, and, after a long conference passed, was taking
leave of her, when the hen-wife prayed that if ever she should come
back to her again she might break her neck. The Queen, greatly
incensed at such a daring insult from one of her meanest subjects,
demanded immediately the reason, or she would have her put to death.
`It was worth your while, madam,' says the hen-wife, `to pay me
well for it, for the reason I prayed so on you concerns you much.'
`What must I pay you?' asked the Queen.
`You must give me,' says she, `the full of a pack of wool, and I
have an ancient crock which you must fill with butter, likewise a
barrel which you must fill for me full of wheat.'
`How much wool will it take to the pack?' says the Queen.
`It will take seven herds of sheep,' said she, `and their increase
for seven years.'
`How much butter will it take to fill your crock?'
`Seven dairies,' said she, `and their increase for seven years.'
`And how much will it take to fill the barrel you have?' says
the Queen.
`It will take the increase of seven barrels of wheat for seven
years.'
`That is a great quantity,' says the Queen; `but the reason
must be extraordinary, and before I want it, I will give you all you
demand.'
`Well,' says the hen-wife, `it is because you are so stupid that
you don't observe or find out those affairs that are so dangerous
and hurtful to yourself and your child.'
`What is that?' says the Queen.
`Why,' says she, `the King your husband has three fine sons he
had by the late Queen, whom he keeps shut up in a tower until
they come of age, intending to divide the kingdom between them,
and let your son push his fortune; now, if you don't find some
means of destroying them; your child and perhaps yourself will be
left desolate in the end.'
`And what would you advise me to do?' said she; `I am
wholly at a loss in what manner to act in this affair.'
`You must make known to the King,' says the hen-wife, `that
you heard of his sons, and wonder greatly that he concealed them
all this time from you; tell him you wish to see them, and that it
is full time for them to be liberated, and that you would be desirous
he would bring them to the Court. The King will then do so, and
there will be a great feast prepared on that account, and also
diversions of every sort to amuse the people; and in these sports,' said
she, `ask the King's sons to play a game at cards with you, which
they will not refuse. Now,' says the hen-wife, `you must make a
bargain, that if you win they must do whatever you command them,
and if they win, that you must do whatever they command you
to do; this bargain must be made before the assembly, and here
is a pack of cards,' says she, `that I am thinking you will not
lose by.'
The Queen immediately took the cards, and, after returning the
hen-wife thanks for her kind instruction, went back to the palace,
where she was quite uneasy until she got speaking to the King in
regard of his children; at last she broke it off to him in a very
polite and engaging manner, so that he could see no muster or
design in it. He readily consented to her desire, and his sons were
sent for to the tower, who gladly came to Court, rejoicing that they
were freed from such confinement. They were all very handsome,
and very expert in all arts and exercises, so that they gained the
love and esteem of all that had seen them.
The Queen, more jealous with them than ever, thought it an age
until all the feasting and rejoicing was over, that she might get
making her proposal, depending greatly on the power of the hen-
wife's cards. At length this royal assembly began to sport and play
at all kinds of diversions, and the Queen very cunningly challenged
the three Princes to play at cards with her, making bargain with
them as she had been instructed.
They accepted the challenge, and the eldest son and she played
the first game, which she won; then the second son played, and
she won that game likewise; the third son and she then played the
last game, and he won it, which sorely grieved her that she had not
him in her power as well as the rest, being by far the handsomest
and most beloved of the three.
However, everyone was anxious to hear the Queen's commands
in regard to the two Princes, not thinking that she had any ill
design in her head against them. Whether it was the hen-wife
instructed her, or whether it was from her own knowledge, I cannot
tell; but she gave out they must go and bring her the Knight of
the Glen's wild Steed of Bells, or they should lose their heads.
The young Princes were not in the least concerned, not knowing
what they had to do; but the whole Court was amazed at her
demand, knowing very well that it was impossible for them ever to
get the steed, as all that ever sought him perished in the attempt.
However, they could not retract the bargain, and the youngest
Prince was desired to tell what demand he had on the Queen, as he
had won his game.
`My brothers,' says he, `are now going to travel, and, as I
understand, a perilous journey wherein they know not what road to take
or what may happen them. I am resolved, therefore, not to stay
here, but to go with them, let what will betide; and I request and
command, according to my bargain, that the Queen shall stand on
the highest tower of the palace until we come back (or find out that
we are certainly dead), with nothing but sheaf corn for her food and
cold water for her drink, if it should be for seven years and longer.'
All things being now fixed, the three princes departed the Court
in search of the Knight of the Glen's palace, and travelling along
the road they came up with a man who was a little lame, and
seemed to be somewhat advanced in years; they soon fell into
discourse, and the youngest of the princes asked the stranger his
name, or what was the reason he wore so remarkable a black cap
as he saw on him.
`I am called,' said he, `the Thief of Sloan, and sometimes the
Black Thief from my cap; `and so telling the prince the most of his
adventures, he asked him again where they were bound for, or
what they were about.
The prince, willing to gratify his request, told him their affairs
from the beginning to the end. `And now,' said he, `we are travelling,
and do not know whether we are on the right road or not.'
`Ah! my brave fellows,' says the Black Thief, `you little know
the danger you run. I am after that steed myself these seven
years, and can never steal him on account of a silk covering he has
on him in the stable, with sixty bells fixed to it, and whenever you
approach the place he quickly observes it and shakes himself;
which, by the sound of the bells, not only alarms the prince and his
guards, but the whole country round, so that it is impossible ever
to get him, and those that are so unfortunate as to be taken by the
Knight of the Glen are boiled in a red-hot fiery furnace.'
`Bless me,' says the young prince, `what will we do? If we
return without the steed we will lose our heads, so I see we are ill
fixed on both sides.'
`Well,' says the Thief of Sloan, `if it were my case I would
rather die by the Knight than by the wicked Queen; besides, I will
go with you myself and show you the road, and whatever fortune
you will have, I will take chance of the same.'
They returned him sincere thanks for his kindness, and he,
being well acquainted with the road, in a short time brought them
within view of the knight's castle.
`Now,' says he, `we must stay here till night comes; for I know
all the ways of the place, and if there be any chance for it, it is
when they are all at rest; for the steed is all the watch the knight
keeps there.'
Accordingly, in the dead hour of the night, the King's three sons
and the Thief of Sloan attempted the Steed of Bells in order to
carry him away, but before they could reach the stables the steed
neighed most terribly and shook himself so, and the bells rung with
such noise, that the knight and all his men were up in a moment.
The Black Thief and the King's sons thought to make their
escape, but they were suddenly surrounded by the knight's guards
and taken prisoners; where they were brought into that dismal
part of the palace where the knight kept a furnace always boiling,
in which he threw all offenders that ever came in his way, which
in a few moments would entirely consume them.
`Audacious villains!' says the Knight of the Glen, `how dare
you attempt so bold an action as to steal my steed? See, now, the
reward of your folly; for your greater punishment I will not boil
you all together, but one after the other, so that he that survives
may witness the dire afflictions of his unfortunate companions.'
So saying he ordered his servants to stir up the fire: `We will
boil the eldest-looking of these young men first,' said he, `and so on
to the last, which will be this old champion with the black cap. He
seems to be the captain, and looks as if he had come through many
toils.'
`I was as near death once as the prince is yet,' says the Black
Thief, `and escaped; and so will he too.'
`No, you never were,' said the knight; `for he is within two or
three minutes of his latter end.'
`But,' says the Black Thief, `I was within one moment of my
death, and I am here yet.'
`How was that?' says the knight; `I would be glad to hear it,
for it seems impossible.'
`If you think, sir knight,' says the Black Thief, `that the danger
I was in surpasses that of this young man, will you pardon him his
crime?'
`I will,' says the knight, `so go on with your story.'
`I was, sir,' says he, `a very wild boy in my youth, and came
through many distresses; once in particular, as I was on my
rambling, I was benighted and could find no lodging. At length I
came to an old kiln, and being much fatigued I went up and lay on
the ribs. I had not been long there when I saw three witches
coming in with three bags of gold. Each put their bags of gold
under their heads, as if to sleep. I heard one of them say to the
other that if the Black Thief came on them while they slept, he
would not leave them a penny. I found by their discourse that
everybody had got my name into their mouth, though I kept silent
as death during their discourse. At length they fell fast asleep, and
then I stole softly down, and seeing some turf convenient,
I placed one under each of their heads, and off I went, with their gold,
as fast as I could.
`I had not gone far,' continued the Thief of Sloan, `until I saw a grey-
hound, a hare, and a hawk in pursuit of me, and began to think it must be the
witches that had taken the shapes in order that I might not escape them
unseen either by land or water. Seeing they did not appear in any formidable
shape, I was more than once resolved to attack them, thinking that with
my broad sword I could easily destroy them. But considering again
that it was perhaps still in their power to become alive again, I
gave over the attempt and climbed with difficulty up a tree, bringing
my sword in my hand and all the gold along with me. However,
when they came to the tree they found what I had done, and making
further use of their hellish art, one of them was changed into a
smith's anvil and another into a piece of iron, of which the third
soon made a hatchet. Having the hatchet made, she fell to cutting
down the tree, and in the course of an hour it began to shake
with me. At length it began to bend, and I found that one or
two blows at the most would put it down. I then began to think
that my death was inevitable, considering that those who were
capable of doing so much would soon end my life; but just
as she had the stroke drawn that would terminate my fate, the
cock crew, and the witches disappeared, having resumed their
natural shapes for fear of being known, and I got safe off with my
bags of gold.
`Now, sir,' says he to the Knight of the Glen, `if that be not as
great an adventure as ever you heard, to be within one blow of a
hatchet of my end, and that blow even drawn, and after all to
escape, I leave it to yourself.'
`Well, I cannot say but it is very extraordinary,' says the Knight
of the Glen, `and on that account pardon this young man his crime;
so stir up the fire, till I boil this second one.'
`Indeed,' says the Black Thief, `I would fain think he would not
die this time either.'
`How so?' says the knight; `it is impossible for him to escape.'
`I escaped death more wonderfully myself,' says the Thief of
Sloan, `than if you had him ready to throw into the furnace, and I
hope it will be the case with him likewise.'
`Why, have you been in another great danger?' says the knight.
`I would be glad to hear the story too, and if it be as wonderful as
the last, I will pardon this young man as I did the other.'
`My way of living, sir,' says the Black Thief, `was not good,
as I told you before; and being at a certain time fairly run out of
cash, and meeting with no enterprise worthy of notice, I was reduced
to great straits. At length a rich bishop died in the neighbourhood I
was then in, and I heard he was interred with a great deal of jewels
and rich robes upon him, all which I intended in a short time
to be master of. Accordingly that very night I set about it, and
coming to the place, I understood he was placed at the further end
of a long dark vault, which I slowly entered. I had not gone in
far until I heard a foot coming towards me with a quick pace, and
although naturally bold and daring, yet, thinking of the deceased
bishop and the crime I was engaged in, I lost courage, and ran
towards the entrance of the vault. I had retreated but a few paces
when I observed, between me and the light, the figure of a tall
black man standing in the entrance. Being in great fear and not
knowing how to pass, I fired a pistol at him, and he immediately
fell across the entrance. Perceiving he still retained the figure of
a mortal man, I began to imagine that it could not be the bishop's
ghost; recovering myself therefore from the fear I was in, I
ventured to the upper end of the vault, where I found a large
bundle, and upon further examination I found that the corpse was
already rifled, and that which I had taken to be a ghost was no
more than one of his own clergy. I was then very sorry that I had
the misfortune to kill him, but it then could not be helped. I took
up the bundle that contained everything belonging to the corpse
that was valuable, intending to take my departure from this
melancholy abode; but just as I came to the mouth of the entrance
I saw the guards of the place coming towards me, and distinctly
heard them saying that they would look in the vault, for that the
Black Thief would think little of robbing the corpse if he was
anywhere in the place. I did not then know in what manner to act,
for if I was seen I would surely lose my life, as everybody had a
look-out at that time, and because there was no person bold enough
to come in on me. I knew very well on the first sight of me that
could be got, I would be shot like a dog. However, I had not time to
lose. I took and raised up the man which I had killed, as if he was
standing on his feet, and I, crouching behind him, bore him up as
well as I could, so that the guards readily saw him as they came up
to the vault. Seeing the man in black, one of the men cried that
was the Black Thief, and, presenting his piece, fired at the man, at
which I let him fall, and crept into a little dark corner myself, that
was at the entrance of the place. When they saw the man fall,
they ran all into the vault, and never stopped until they were at the
end of it, for fear, as I thought, that there might be some others
along with him that was killed. But while they were busy
inspecting the corpse and the vault to see what they could miss, I
slipped out, and, once away, and still away; but they never had the
Black Thief in their power since.'
`Well, my brave fellow,' says the Knight of the Glen, `I see you
have come through many dangers: you have freed these two princes
by your stories; but I am sorry myself that this young prince has
to suffer for all. Now, if you could tell me something as wonderful
as you have told already, I would pardon him likewise; I pity this
youth and do not want to put him to death if I could help it.'
`That happens well,' says the Thief of Sloan, `for I like him
best myself, and have reserved the most curious passage for the last
on his account.'
`Well, then,' says the knight, `let us hear it.'
`I was one day on my travels,' says the Black Thief, `and I
came into a large forest, where I wandered a long time, and could
not get out of it. At length I came to a large castle, and fatigue
obliged me to call in the same, where I found a young woman and
a child sitting on her knee, and she crying. I asked her what
made her cry, and where the lord of the castle was, for I wondered
greatly that I saw no stir of servants or any person about the
place.
` ``It is well for you,'' says the young woman, ``that the lord of
this castle is not at home at present; for he is a monstrous giant,
with but one eye on his forehead, who lives on human flesh. He
brought me this child,'' says she, ``I do not know where he got it,
and ordered me to make it into a pie, and I cannot help crying at
the command.''
`I told her that if she knew of any place convenient that I
could leave the child safely I would do it, rather than it should be
killed by such a monster.
`She told me of a house a distance off where I would get a
woman who would take care of it. ``But what will I do in regard
of the pie?''
` ``Cut a finger off it,'' said I, ``and I will bring you in a young
wild pig out of the forest, which you may dress as if it was the
child, and put the finger in a certain place, that if the giant doubts
anything about it you may know where to turn it over at the first,
and when he sees it he will be fully satisfied that the pie is made of
the child.''
`She agreed to the scheme I proposed, and, cutting off the child's
finger, by her direction I soon had it at the house she told me of,
and brought her the little pig in the place of it. She then made
ready the pie, and after eating and drinking heartily myself, I was
just taking my leave of the young woman when we observed the giant
coming through the castle gates.
` ``Bless me,'' said she, ``what will you do now? Run away and
lie down among the dead bodies that he has in the room (showing
me the place), and strip off your clothes that he may not know you
from the rest if he has occasion to go that way.''
`I took her advice, and laid myself down among the rest, as if
dead, to see how he would behave. The first thing I heard was
him calling for his pie. When she set it down before him he swore
it smelled like swine's flesh, but knowing where to find the finger,
she immediately turned it up, which fairly convinced him of the
contrary. The pie only served to sharpen his appetite, and I heard
him sharpening his knife and saying he must have a collop or two, for
he was not near satisfied. But what was my terror when I heard
the giant groping among the bodies, and, fancying myself, cut the
half of my hip off, and took it with him to be roasted. You may be
certain I was in great pain, but the fear of being killed prevented
me from making any complaint. However, when he had eaten all
he began to drink hot liquors in great abundance, so that in a short
time he could not hold up his head, but threw himself on a large creel
he had made for the purpose, and fell fast asleep. When I heard
him snoring, as I was I went up and caused the woman to bind my
wound with a handkerchief; and, taking the giant's spit, reddened it
in the fire, and ran it through the eye, but was not able to kill him.
`However, I left the spit sticking in his head, and took to my
heels; but I soon found he was in pursuit of me, although blind;
and having an enchanted ring he threw it at me, and it fell on my
big toe and remained fastened to it.
`The giant then called to the ring, where it was, and to my great
surprise it made him answer on my foot; and he, guided by the
same, made a leap at me which I had the good luck to observe, and
fortunately escaped the danger. However, I found running was of
no use in saving me, as long as I had the ring on my foot; so I
took my sword and cut off the toe it was fastened on, and threw
both into a large fish-pond that was convenient. The giant called
again to the ring, which by the power of enchantment always made
him answer; but he, not knowing what I had done, imagined it was
still on some part of me, and made a violent leap to seize me, when
he went into the pond, over head and ears, and was drowned. Now,
sir knight,' says the Thief of Sloan, `you see what dangers I came
through and always escaped; but, indeed, I am lame for the want
of my toe ever since.'
`My lord and master,' says an old woman that was listening all
the time, `that story is but too true, as I well know, for I am the
very woman that was in the giant's castle, and you, my lord, the
child that I was to make into a pie; and this is the very man that
saved your life, which you may know by the want of your finger
that was taken off, as you have heard, to deceive the giant.'
The Knight of the Glen, greatly surprised at what he had heard
the old woman tell, and knowing he wanted his finger from his
childhood, began to understand that the story was true enough.
`And is this my deliverer?' says he. `O brave fellow, I not
only pardon you all, but will keep you with myself while you live,
where you shall feast like princes, and have every attendance that
I have myself.'
They all returned thanks on their knees, and the Black Thief
told him the reason they attempted to steal the Steed of Bells, and
the necessity they were under in going home.
`Well,' says the Knight of the Glen, `if that's the case I bestow
you my steed rather than this brave fellow should die; so you may
go when you please, only remember to call and see me betimes,
that we may know each other well.'
They promised they would, and with great joy they set off for
the King their father's palace, and the Black Thief along with
them.
The wicked Queen was standing all this time on the tower, and,
hearing the bells ringing at a great distance off, knew very well it
was the princes coming home, and the steed with them, and through
spite and vexation precipitated herself from the tower and was
shattered to pieces.
The three princes lived happy and well during their father's
reign, and always keeping the Black Thief along with them; but
how they did after the old King's death is not known.[4]
[4] The Hibernian Tales.
THE MASTER THIEF
THERE was once upon a time a husbandman who had three sons.
He had no property to bequeath to them, and no means of putting
them in the way of getting a living, and did not know what to
do, so he said that they had his leave to take to anything they most
fancied, and go to any place they best liked. He would gladly
accompany them for some part of their way, he said, and that he did.
He went with them till they came to a place where three roads
met, and there each of them took his own way, and the father bade
them farewell and returned to his own home again. What became
of the two elder I have never been able to discover, but the youngest
went both far and wide.
It came to pass, one night, as he was going through a great
wood, that a terrible storm came on. It blew so hard and rained
so heavily that he could scarcely keep his eyes open, and before he
was aware of it he had got quite out of the track, and could neither
find road nor path. But he went on, and at last he saw a light far
away in the wood. Then he thought he must try and get to it, and
after a long, long time he did reach it. There was a large house,
and the fire was burning so brightly inside that he could tell that
the people were not in bed. So he went in, and inside there was
an old woman who was busy about some work.
`Good evening, mother!' said the youth.
`Good evening!' said the old woman.
`Hutetu! it is terrible weather outside to-night,' said the young
fellow.
`Indeed it is,' said the old woman.
`Can I sleep here, and have shelter for the night?' asked the
youth.
`It wouldn't be good for you to sleep here,' said the old hag,
`for if the people of the house come home and find you, they will
kill both you and me.'
`What kind of people are they then, who dwell here?' said the
youth.
`Oh! robbers, and rabble of that sort,' said the old woman;
`they stole me away when I was little, and I have had to keep
house for them ever since.'
`I still think I will go to bed, all the same,' said the youth.
`No matter what happens, I'll not go out to-night in such weather
as this.'
`Well, then, it will be the worse for yourself,' said the old
woman.
The young man lay down in a bed which stood near, but he
dared not go to sleep: and it was better that he didn't, for the
robbers came, and the old woman said that a young fellow who was
a stranger had come there, and she had not been able to get him
to go away again.
`Did you see if he had any money?' said the robbers.
`He's not one to have money, he is a tramp! If he has a few
clothes to his back, that is all.'
Then the robbers began to mutter to each other apart about
what they should do with him, whether they should murder him,
or what else they should do. In the meantime the boy got up and
began to talk to them, and ask them if they did not want a man-
servant, for he could find pleasure enough in serving them.
`Yes,' said they, `if you have a mind to take to the trade that
we follow, you may have a place here.'
`It's all the same to me what trade I follow,' said the youth,
`for when I came away from home my father gave me leave to
take to any trade I fancied.'
`Have you a fancy for stealing, then?' said the robbers.
`Yes,' said the boy, for he thought that was a trade which would
not take long to learn.
Not very far off there dwelt a man who had three oxen, one of
which he was to take to the town to sell. The robbers had heard
of this, so they told the youth that if he were able to steal the ox
from him on the way, without his knowing, and without doing him
any harm, he should have leave to be their servant-man. So the
youth set off, taking with him a pretty shoe with a silver buckle
that was lying about in the house. He put this in the road by
which the man must go with his ox, and then went into the wood
and hid himself under a bush. When the man came up he at once
saw the shoe.
`That's a brave shoe,' said he. `If I had but the fellow to it, I
would carry it home with me, and then I should put my old woman
into a good humour for once.'
For he had a wife who was so cross and ill-tempered that the
time between the beatings she gave him was very short. But then
he bethought himself that he could do nothing with one shoe if he
had not the fellow to it, so he journeyed onwards and let it lie
where it was. Then the youth picked up the shoe and hurried off
away through the wood as fast as he was able, to get in front of the
man, and then put the shoe in the road before him again.
When the man came with the ox and saw the shoe, he was
quite vexed at having been so stupid as to leave the fellow to it
lying where it was, instead of bringing it on with him.
`I will just run back again and fetch it now,' he said to himself,
`and then I shall take back a pair of good shoes to the old woman,
and she may perhaps throw a kind word to me for once.'
So he went and searched and searched for the other shoe for a
long, long time, but no shoe was to be found, and at last he was
forced to go back with the one which he had.
In the meantime the youth had taken the ox and gone off with
it. When the man got there and found that his ox was gone, he
began to weep and wail, for he was afraid that when his old woman
got to know she would be the death of him. But all at once it came
into his head to go home and get the other ox, and drive it to the town,
and take good care that his old wife knew nothing about it. So he
did this; he went home and took the ox without his wife's knowing
about it, and went on his way to the town with it. But the robbers
they knew it well, because they got out their magic. So they told
the youth that if he could take this ox also without the man knowing
anything about it, and without doing him any hurt, he should
then be on an equality with them.
`Well, that will not be a very hard thing to do,' thought the
youth.
This time he took with him a rope and put it under his arms and
tied himself up to a tree, which hung over the road that the man
would have to take. So the man came with his ox, and when he
saw the body hanging there he felt a little queer.
`What a hard lot yours must have been to make you hang
yourself!' said he. `Ah, well! you may hang there for me; I can't
breathe life into you again.'
So on he went with his ox. Then the youth sprang down from
the tree, ran by a short cut and got before him, and once more hung
himself up on a tree in the road before the man.
`How I should like to know if you really were so sick at heart
that you hanged yourself there, or if it is only a hobgoblin that's
before me!' said the man. `Ah, well! you may hang there for me,
whether you are a hobgoblin or not,' and on he went with his ox.
Once more the youth did just as he had done twice already;
jumped down from the tree, ran by a short cut through the wood,
and again hanged himself in the very middle of the road before him.
But when the man once more saw this he said to himself,
`What a bad business this is! Can they all have been so heavy.
hearted that they have all three hanged themselves? No, I can't
believe that it is anything but witchcraft! But I will know the
truth,' he said; `if the two others are still hanging there it is true
but if they are not it's nothing else but witchcraft.'
So he tied up his ox and ran back to see if they really were
hanging there. While he was going, and looking up at every tree
as he went, the youth leapt down and took his ox and went off with
it. Any one may easily imagine what a fury the man fell into
when he came back and saw that his ox was gone. He wept and
he raged, but at last he took comfort and told himself that the best
thing to do was to go home and take the third ox, without letting
his wife know anything about it, and then try to sell it so well
that he got a good sum of money for it. So he went home and
took the third ox, and drove it off without his wife knowing
anything about it. But the robbers knew all about it, and they told
the youth that if he could steal this as he had stolen the two
others, he should be master of the whole troop. So the youth
set out and went to the wood, and when the man was coming along
with the ox he began to bellow loudly, just like a great ox
somewhere inside the wood. When the man heard that he was right
glad, for he fancied he recognised the voice of his big bullock, and
thought that now he should find both of them again. So he tied
up the third, and ran away off the road to look for them in the
wood. In the meantime the youth went away with the third ox.
When the man returned and found that he had lost that too, he fell
into such a rage that there was no bounds to it. He wept and
lamented, and for many days he did not dare to go home again, for
he was afraid that the old woman would slay him outright. The
robbers, also, were not very well pleased at this, for they were forced
to own that the youth was at the head of them all. So one day
they made up their minds to set to work to do something which it
was not in his power to accomplish, and they all took to the road
together, and left him at home alone. When they were well out of
the house, the first thing that he did was to drive the oxen out on
the road, whereupon they all ran home again to the man from whom
he had stolen them, and right glad was the husbandman to see
them. Then he brought out all the horses the robbers had, and
loaded them with the most valuable things which he could find--
vessels of gold and of silver, and clothes and other magnificent
things--and then he told the old woman to greet the robbers from
him and thank them from him, and say that he had gone away,
and that they would have a great deal of difficulty in finding him
again, and with that he drove the horses out of the courtyard.
After a long, long time he came to the road on which he was travelling
when he came to the robbers. And when he had got very near
home, and was in sight of the house where his father lived, he put
on a uniform which he had found among the things he had taken
from the robbers, and which was made just like a general's, and
drove into the yard just as if he were a great man. Then he entered
the house and asked if he could find a lodging there.
`No, indeed you can't!' said his father. `How could I possibly
be able to lodge such a great gentleman as you? It is all that I
can do to find clothes and bedding for myself, and wretched they
are.'
`You were always a hard man,' said the youth, `and hard you
are still if you refuse to let your own son come into your house.'
`Are you my son?' said the man.
`Do you not know me again then?' said the youth.
Then he recognised him and said, `But what trade have you
taken to that has made you such a great man in so short a
time?'
`Oh, that I will tell you,' answered the youth. `You said that I
might take to anything I liked, so I apprenticed myself to some
thieves and robbers, and now I have served my time and have
become Master Thief.'
Now the Governor of the province lived by his father's cottage,
and this Governor had such a large house and so much money that
he did not even know how much it was, and he had a daughter too
who was both pretty and dainty, and good and wise. So the
Master Thief was determined to have her to wife, and told his
father that he was to go to the Governor, and ask for his daughter
for him. `If he asks what trade I follow, you may say that I am a
Master Thief,' said he.
`I think you must be crazy,' said the man, `for you can't be in
your senses if you think of anything so foolish.'
`You must go to the Governor and beg for his daughter--there
is no help,' said the youth.
`But I dare not go to the Governor and say this. He is so rich
and has so much wealth of all kinds,' said the man.
`There is no help for it,' said the Master Thief; `go you must,
whether you like it or not. If I can't get you to go by using good
words, I will soon make you go with bad ones.'
But the man was still unwilling, so the Master Thief followed
him, threatening him with a great birch stick, till he went weeping
and wailing through the door to the Governor of the province.
`Now, my man, and what's amiss with you?' said the Governor.
So he told him that he had three sons who had gone away one
day, and how he had given them permission to go where they
chose, and take to whatsoever work they fancied. `Now,' he
said, `the youngest of them has come home, and has threatened
me till I have come to you to ask for your daughter for him, and
I am to say that he is a Master Thief,' and again the man fell
a-weeping and lamenting.
`Console yourself, my man,' said the Governor, laughing. `You
may tell him from me that he must first give me some proof of
this. If he can steal the joint off the spit in the kitchen on Sunday,
when every one of us is watching it, he shall have my daughter.
Will you tell him that?'
The man did tell him, and the youth thought it would be easy
enough to do it. So he set himself to work to catch three hares
alive, put them in a bag, clad himself in some old rags so that he
looked so poor and wretched that it was quite pitiable to see him,
and in this guise on Sunday forenoon he sneaked into the passage
with his bag, like any beggar boy. The Governor himself and
every one in the house was in the kitchen, keeping watch over the
joint. While they were doing this the youth let one of the hares
slip out of his bag, and off it set and began to run round the yard.
`Just look at that hare,' said the people in the kitchen, and
wanted to go out and catch it.
The Governor saw it too, but said, `Oh, let it go! it's no use to
think of catching a hare when it's running away.'
It was not long before the youth let another hare out, and the
people in the kitchen saw this too, and thought that it was the same.
So again they wanted to go out and catch it, but the Governor again
told them that it was of no use to try.
Very soon afterwards, however, the youth let slip the third
hare, and it set off and ran round and round the courtyard. The
people in the kitchen saw this too, and believed that it was still the
same hare that was running about, so they wanted to go out and
catch it.
`It's a remarkably fine hare!' said the Governor. `Come
and let us see if we can get hold of it.' So out he went, and the
others with him, and away went the hare, and they after it, in real
earnest.
In the meantime, however, the Master Thief took the joint and
ran off with it, and whether the Governor got any roast meat for
his dinner that day I know not, but I know that he had no roast
hare, though he chased it till he was both hot and tired.
At noon came the Priest, and when the Governor had told him
of the trick played by the Master Thief there was no end to the
ridicule he cast on the Governor.
`For my part,' said the Priest, `I can't imagine myself being
made a fool of by such a fellow as that!'
`Well, I advise you to be careful,' said the Governor, `for he
may be with you before you are at all aware.'
But the Priest repeated what he had said, and mocked the
Governor for having allowed himself to be made such a fool of.
Later in the afternoon the Master Thief came and wanted to
have the Governor's daughter as he had promised.
`You must first give some more samples of your skill,' said the
Governor, trying to speak him fair, `for what you did to-day was no
such very great thing after all. Couldn't you play off a really good
trick on the Priest? for he is sitting inside there and calling me a
fool for having let myself be taken in by such a fellow as you.'
`Well, it wouldn't be very hard to do that,' said the Master
Thief. So he dressed himself up like a bird, and threw a great white
sheet over himself; broke off a goose's wings, and set them on his
back; and in this attire climbed into a great maple tree which stood
in the Priest's garden. So when the Priest returned home in the
evening the youth began to cry, `Father Lawrence! Father
Lawrence! `for the Priest was called Father Lawrence.
`Who is calling me?' said the Priest.
`I am an angel sent to announce to thee that because of thy
piety thou shalt be taken away alive into heaven,' said the Master
Thief. `Wilt thou hold thyself in readiness to travel away next
Monday night? for then will I come and fetch thee, and bear thee
away with me in a sack, and thou must lay all thy gold and silver,
and whatsoever thou may 'st possess of this world's wealth, in a heap
in thy best parlour.'
So Father Lawrence fell down on his knees before the angel
and thanked him, and the following Sunday he preached a farewell
sermon, and gave out that an angel had come down into the large
maple tree in his garden, and had announced to him that, because
of his righteousness, he should be taken up alive into heaven, and
as he thus preached and told them this everyone in the church,
old or young, wept.
On Monday night the Master Thief once more came as an angel,
and before the Priest was put into the sack he fell on his knees and
thanked him; but no sooner was the Priest safely inside it than the
Master Thief began to drag him away over stocks and stones.
`Oh! oh! `cried the Priest in the sack. `Where are you taking
me?'
`This is the way to heaven. The way to heaven is not an easy
one,' said the Master Thief, and dragged him along till he all but
killed him.
At last he flung him into the Governor's goose-house, and the
geese began to hiss and peck at him, till he felt more dead than
alive.
`Oh! oh! oh! Where am I now?' asked the Priest.
`Now you are in Purgatory,' said the Master Thief, and off he
went and took the gold and the silver and all the precious things
which the Priest had laid together in his best parlour.
Next morning, when the goose-girl came to let out the geese, she
heard the Priest bemoaning himself as he lay in the sack in the
goose-house.
`Oh, heavens! who is that, and what ails you?' said she.
`Oh,' said the Priest, `if you are an angel from heaven do let
me out and let me go back to earth again, for no place was ever so
bad as this--the little fiends nip me so with their tongs.'
`I am no angel,' said the girl, and helped the Priest out of the
sack. `I only look after the Governor's geese, that's what I do,
and they are the little fiends which have pinched your reverence.'
`This is the Master Thief's doing! Oh, my gold and my silver
and my best clothes!' shrieked the Priest, and, wild with rage, he
ran home so fast that the goose-girl thought he had suddenly gone
mad.
When the Governor learnt what had happened to the Priest he
laughed till he nearly killed himself, but when the Master Thief
came and wanted to have his daughter according to promise, he
once more gave him nothing but fine words, and said, `You must
give me one more proof of your skill, so that I can really judge
of your worth. I have twelve horses in my stable, and I will put
twelve stable boys in it, one on each horse. If you are clever
enough to steal the horses from under them, I will see what I can
do for you.'
`What you set me to do can be done,' said the Master Thief, `but
am I certain to get your daughter when it is?'
`Yes; if you can do that I will do my best for you,' said the
Governor.
So the Master Thief went to a shop, and bought enough brandy
to fill two pocket flasks, and he put a sleeping drink into one of
these, but into the other he poured brandy only. Then he engaged
eleven men to lie that night in hiding behind the Governor's
stable. After this, by fair words and good payment, he borrowed a
ragged gown and a jerkin from an aged woman, and then, with a
staff in his hand and a poke on his back, he hobbled off as evening
came on towards the Governor's stable. The stable boys were just
watering the horses for the night, and it was quite as much as they
could do to attend to that.
`What on earth do you want here?' said one of them to the
old woman.
`Oh dear! oh dear! How cold it is!' she said, sobbing, and
shivering with cold. `Oh dear! oh dear! it's cold enough to freeze
a poor old body to death!' and she shivered and shook again, and
said, `For heaven's sake give me leave to stay here and sit just
inside the stable door.'
`You will get nothing of the kind! Be off this moment! If the
Governor were to catch sight of you here, he would lead us a pretty
dance,' said one.
`Oh! what a poor helpless old creature!' said another, who felt
sorry for her. `That poor old woman can do no harm to anyone.
She may sit there and welcome.'
The rest of them thought that she ought not to stay, but while
they were disputing about this and looking after the horses, she
crept farther and farther into the stable, and at last sat down behind
the door, and when once she was inside no one took any more notice
of her.
As the night wore on the stable boys found it rather cold work
to sit still on horseback.
`Hutetu! But it is fearfully cold!' said one, and began to beat
his arms backwards and forwards across his breast.
`Yes, I am so cold that my teeth are chattering,' said another.
`If one had but a little tobacco,' said a third.
Well, one of them had a little, so they shared it among them,
though there was very little for each man, but they chewed it. This
was some help to them, but very soon they were just as cold as before.
`Hutetu!' said one of them, shivering again.
`Hutetu!' said the old woman, gnashing her teeth together till
they chattered inside her mouth; and then she got out the flask
which contained nothing but brandy, and her hands trembled so
that she shook the bottle about, and when she drank it made a great
gulp in her throat.
`What is that you have in your flask, old woman?' asked one
of the stable boys.
`Oh, it's only a little drop of brandy, your honour,' she said.
`Brandy! What! Let me have a drop! Let me have a drop!'
screamed all the twelve at once.
`Oh, but what I have is so little,' whimpered the old woman.
`It will not even wet your mouths.'
But they were determined to have it, and there was nothing to
be done but give it; so she took out the flask with the sleeping drink
and put it to the lips of the first of them; and now she shook no
more, but guided the flask so that each of them got just as much as
he ought, and the twelfth had not done drinking before the first
was already sitting snoring. Then the Master Thief flung off his
beggar's rags, and took one stable boy after the other and gently
set him astride on the partitions which divided the stalls, and then
he called his eleven men who were waiting outside, and they rode
off with the Governor's horses.
In the morning when the Governor came to look after his stable
boys they were just beginning to come to again. They were driving
their spurs into the partition till the splinters flew about, and
some of the boys fell off, and some still hung on and sat looking like
fools. `Ah, well,' said the Governor, `it is easy to see who has been
here; but what a worthless set of fellows you must be to sit here and
let the Master Thief steal the horses from under you!' And they
all got a beating for not having kept watch better.
Later in the day the Master Thief came and related what he had
done, and wanted to have the Governor's daughter as had been
promised. But the Governor gave him a hundred dollars, and said that
he must do something that was better still.
`Do you think you can steal my horse from under me when I am
out riding on it?' said he.
`Well, it might be done,' said the Master Thief, `if I were
absolutely certain that I should get your daughter.'
So the Governor said that he would see what he could do, and
then he said that on a certain day he would ride out to a great
common where they drilled the soldiers.
So the Master Thief immediately got hold of an old worn-out
mare, and set himself to work to make a collar for it of green withies
and branches of broom; bought a shabby old cart and a great cask,
and then he told a poor old beggar woman that he would give her
ten dollars if she would get into the cask and keep her mouth wide-
open beneath the tap-hole, into which he was going to stick his
finger. No harm should happen to her, he said; she should only be
driven about a little, and if he took his finger out more than once,
she should have ten dollars more. Then he dressed himself in rags,
dyed himself with soot, and put on a wig and a great beard of goat's
hair, so that it was impossible to recognise him, and went to the
parade ground, where the Governor had already been riding about
a long time.
When the Master Thief got there the mare went along so slowly
and quietly that the cart hardly seemed to move from the spot.
The mare pulled it a little forward, and then a little back, and then
it stopped quite short. Then the mare pulled a little forward again,
and it moved with such difficulty that the Governor had not the least
idea that this was the Master Thief. He rode straight up to him,
and asked if he had seen anyone hiding anywhere about in a wood
that was close by.
`No,' said the man, `that have I not.'
`Hark you,' said the Governor. `If you will ride into that wood,
and search it carefully to see if you can light upon a fellow who is
hiding in there, you shall have the loan of my horse and a good
present of money for your trouble.'
`I am not sure that I can do it,' said the man, `for I have to go
to a wedding with this cask of mead which I have been to fetch,
and the tap has fallen out on the way, so now I have to keep my
finger in the tap-hole as I drive.'
`Oh, just ride off,' said the Governor, `and I will look after the
cask and the horse too.'
So the man said that if he would do that he would go, but he
begged the Governor to be very careful to put his finger into the
tap-hole the moment he took his out.
So the Governor said that he would do his very best, and the
Master Thief got on the Governor's horse.
But time passed, and it grew later and later, and still the man
did not come back, and at last the Governor grew so weary of keeping
his finger in the tap-hole that he took it out.
`Now I shall have ten dollars more!' cried the old woman
inside the cask; so he soon saw what kind of mead it was, and set
out homewards. When he had gone a very little way he met his
servant bringing him the horse, for the Master Thief had already
taken it home.
The following day he went to the Governor and wanted to have
his daughter according to promise. But the Governor again put
him off with fine words, and only gave him three hundred dollars,
saying that he must do one more masterpiece of skill, and if he
were but able to do that he should have her.
Well, the Master Thief thought he might if he could hear what
it was.
`Do you think you can steal the sheet off our bed, and my wife's
night-gown?' said the Governor.
`That is by no means impossible,' said the Master Thief. `I
only wish I could get your daughter as easily.'
So late at night the Master Thief went and cut down a thief
who was hanging on the gallows, laid him on his own shoulders,
and took him away with him. Then he got hold of a long ladder,
set it up against the Governor's bedroom window, and climbed
up and moved the dead man's head up and down, just as if he were
some one who was standing outside and peeping in.
`There's the Master Thief, mother!' said the Governor, nudging
his wife. `Now I'll just shoot him, that I will!'
So he took up a rifle which he had laid at his bedside.
`Oh no, you must not do that,' said his wife; `you yourself
arranged that he was to come here.'
`Yes, mother, I will shoot him,' said he, and lay there aiming,
and then aiming again, for no sooner was the head up and he caught
sight of it than it was gone again. At last he got a chance and
fired, and the dead body fell with a loud thud to the ground, and
down went the Master Thief too, as fast as he could.
`Well,' said the Governor, `I certainly am the chief man about
here, but people soon begin to talk, and it would be very unpleasant
if they were to see this dead body; the best thing that I can do is
to go out and bury him.'
`Just do what you think best, father,' said his wife.
So the Governor got up and went downstairs, and as soon as he
had gone out through the door, the Master Thief stole in and went
straight upstairs to the woman.
`Well, father dear,' said she, for she thought it was her husband.
`Have you got done already?'
`Oh yes, I only put him into a hole,' said he, `and raked a little
earth over him; that's all I have been able to do to-night, for it is
fearful weather outside. I will bury him better afterwards, but
just let me have the sheet to wipe myself with, for he was bleeding,
and I have got covered with blood with carrying him.'
So she gave him the sheet.
`You will have to let me have your night-gown too,' he said,
`for I begin to see that the sheet won't be enough.'
Then she gave him her night-gown, but just then it came into
his head that he had forgotten to lock the door, and he was forced
to go downstairs and do it before he could lie down in bed again.
So off he went with the sheet, and the night-gown too.
An hour later the real Governor returned.
`Well, what a time it has taken to lock the house door, father!'
said his wife, `and what have you done with the sheet and the
night-gown?'
`What do you mean?' asked the Governor.
`Oh, I am asking you what you have done with the night-gown
and sheet that you got to wipe the blood off yourself with,' said she.
`Good heavens!' said the Governor, `has he actually got the
better of me again?'
When day came the Master Thief came too, and wanted to
have the Governor's daughter as had been promised, and the
Governor dared do no otherwise than give her to him, and much
money besides, for he feared that if he did not the Master Thief
might steal the very eyes out of his head, and that he himself would
be ill spoken of by all men. The Master Thief lived well and happily
from that time forth, and whether he ever stole any more or not I
cannot tell you, but if he did it was but for pastime.
[5] From P. C. Asbjornsen.
BROTHER AND SISTER
BROTHER took sister by the hand and said: `Look here; we
haven't had one single happy hour since our mother died.
That stepmother of ours beats us regularly every day, and if we
dare go near her she kicks us away. We never get anything but
hard dry crusts to eat--why, the dog under the table is better off
than we are. She does throw him a good morsel or two now and
then. Oh dear! if our own dear mother only knew all about it!
Come along, and let us go forth into the wide world together.'
So off they started through fields and meadows, over hedges and
ditches, and walked the whole day long, and when it rained sister
said:
`Heaven and our hearts are weeping together.'
Towards evening they came to a large forest, and were so tired
out with hunger and their long walk, as well as all their trouble,
that they crept into a hollow tree and soon fell fast asleep.
Next morning, when they woke up, the sun was already high in
the heavens and was shining down bright and warm into the tree.
Then said brother:
`I'm so thirsty, sister; if I did but know where to find a little
stream, I'd go and have a drink. I do believe I hear one.' He
jumped up, took sister by the hand, and they set off to hunt for the
brook.
Now their cruel stepmother was in reality a witch, and she
knew perfectly well that the two children had run away. She had
crept secretly after them, and had cast her spells over all the
streams in the forest.
Presently the children found a little brook dancing and glittering
over the stones, and brother was eager to drink of it, but as it
rushed past sister heard it murmmuring:
`Who drinks of me will be a tiger! who drinks of me will be a
tiger!'
So she cried out, `Oh! dear brother, pray don't drink, or you'll
be turned into a wild beast and tear me to pieces.'
Brother was dreadfully thirsty, but he did not drink.
`Very well,' said he, `I'll wait till we come to the next spring.'
When they came to the second brook, sister heard it repeating
too:
`Who drinks of me will be a wolf I who drinks of me will be a
wolf!'
And she cried, `Oh! brother, pray don't drink here either, or
you'll be turned into a wolf and eat me up.'
Again brother did not drink, but he said:
`Well, I'll wait a little longer till we reach the next stream, but
then, whatever you may say, I really must drink, for I can bear
this thirst no longer.'
And when they got to the third brook, sister heard it say as it
rushed past:
`Who drinks of me will be a roe! who drinks of me will be a
roe!'
And she begged, `Ah! brother, don't drink yet, or you'll
become a roe and run away from me.'
But her brother was already kneeling by the brook and bending
over it to drink, and, sure enough, no sooner had his lips touched
the water than he fell on the grass transformed into a little Roebuck.
Sister cried bitterly over her poor bewitched brother, and the little
Roe wept too, and sat sadly by her side. At last the girl said:
`Never mind, dear little fawn, I will never forsake you,' and she
took off her golden garter and tied it round the Roe's neck.
Then she plucked rushes and plaited a soft cord of them, which
she fastened to the collar. When she had done this she led the
Roe farther and farther, right into the depths of the forest.
After they had gone a long, long way they came to a little house,
and when the girl looked into it she found it was quite empty, and
she thought `perhaps we might stay and live here.'
So she hunted up leaves and moss to make a soft bed for the
little Roe, and every morning and evening she went out and gathered
roots, nuts, and berries for herself, and tender young grass for the
fawn. And he fed from her hand, and played round her and seemed
quite happy. In the evening, when sister was tired, she said her
prayers and then laid her head on the fawn's back and fell sound
asleep with it as a pillow. And if brother had but kept his natural
form, really it would have been a most delightful kind of life.
They had been living for some time in the forest in this way,
when it came to pass that the King of that country had a great
hunt through the woods. Then the whole forest rang with such a
blowing of horns, baying of dogs, and joyful cries of huntsmen, that
the little Roe heard it and longed to join in too.
`Ah!' said he to sister, `do let me go off to the hunt! I can't
keep still any longer.'
And he begged and prayed till at last she consented.
`But,' said she, `mind you come back in the evening. I shall
lock my door fast for fear of those wild huntsmen; so, to make
sure of my knowing you, knock at the door and say, ``My sister
dear, open; I'm here.'' If you don't speak I shan't open the door.'
So off sprang the little Roe, and he felt quite well and happy in
the free open air.
The King and his huntsmen soon saw the beautiful creature and
started in pursuit, but they could not come up with it, and whenever
they thought they were sure to catch it, it bounded off to one side
into the bushes and disappeared. When night came on it ran home,
and knocking at the door of the little house cried:
`My sister dear, open; I'm here.' The door opened, and he ran
in and rested all night on his soft mossy bed.
Next morning the hunt began again, and as soon as the little
Roe heard the horns and the `Ho! ho! `of the huntsmen, he could
not rest another moment, and said:
`Sister, open the door, I must get out.'
So sister opened the door and said, `Now mind and get back by
nightfall, and say your little rhyme.'
As soon as the King and his huntsmen saw the Roe with the
golden collar they all rode off after it, but it was far too quick and
nimble for them. This went on all day, but as evening came on
the huntsmen had gradually encircled the Roe, and one of them
wounded it slightly in the foot, so that it limped and ran off slowly.
Then the huntsman stole after it as far as the little house, and
heard it call out, `My sister dear, open; I'm here,' and he saw the
door open and close immediately the fawn had run in.
The huntsman remembered all this carefully, and went off
straight to the King and told him all he had seen and heard.
`To-morrow we will hunt again,' said the King.
Poor sister was terribly frightened when she saw how her little
Fawn had been wounded. She washed off the blood, bound up the
injured foot with herbs, and said: `Now, dear, go and lie down and
rest, so that your wound may heal.'
The wound was really so slight that it was quite well next day,
and the little Roe did not feel it at all. No sooner did it hear the
sounds of hunting in the forest than it cried:
`I can't stand this, I must be there too; I'll take care they
shan't catch me.'
Sister began to cry, and said, `They are certain to kill you, and
then I shall be left all alone in the forest and forsaken by everyone.
I can't and won't let you out.'
`Then I shall die of grief,' replied the Roe, `for when I hear that
horn I feel as if I must jump right out of my skin.'
So at last, when sister found there was nothing else to be done,
she opened the door with a heavy heart, and the Roe darted forth
full of glee and health into the forest.
As soon as the King saw the Roe, he said to his huntsman, `Now
then, give chase to it all day till evening, but mind and be careful
not to hurt it.'
When the sun had set the King said to his huntsman, `Now come
and show me the little house in the wood.'
And when he got to the house he knocked at the door and said,
`My sister dear, open; I'm here.' Then the door opened and the
King walked in, and there stood the loveliest maiden he had ever seen.
The girl was much startled when instead of the little Roe she
expected she saw a man with a gold crown on his head walk in.
But the King looked kindly at her, held out his hand, and said, `Will
you come with me to my castle and be my dear wife?'
`Oh yes!' replied the maiden, `but you must let my Roe come
too. I could not possibly forsake it.'
`It shall stay with you as long as you live, and shall want for
nothing,' the King promised.
In the meantime the Roe came bounding in, and sister tied the
rush cord once more to its collar, took the end in her hand, and so
they left the little house in the forest together.
The King lifted the lonely maiden on to his horse, and led her to
his castle, where the wedding was celebrated with the greatest
splendour. The Roe was petted and caressed, and ran about at will
in the palace gardens.
Now all this time the wicked stepmother, who had been the
cause of these poor children's misfortunes and trying adventures,
was feeling fully persuaded that sister had been torn to pieces by
wild beasts, and brother shot to death in the shape of a Roe. When
she heard how happy and prosperous they were, her heart was filled
with envy and hatred, and she could think of nothing but how to
bring some fresh misfortune on them. Her own daughter, who was
as hideous as night and had only one eye, reproached her by saying,
`It is I who ought to have had this good luck and been Queen.'
`Be quiet, will you,' said the old woman; `when the time comes
I shall be at hand.'
Now after some time it happened one day when the King was
out hunting that the Queen gave birth to a beautiful little boy.
The old witch thought here was a good chance for her; so she took
the form of the lady in waiting, and, hurrying into the room where
the Queen lay in her bed, called out, `The bath is quite ready; it will
help to make you strong again. Come, let us be quick, for fear the
water should get cold.' Her daughter was at hand, too, and between
them they carried the Queen, who was still very weak, into the
bath-room and laid her in the bath; then they locked the door and
ran away.
They took care beforehand to make a blazing hot fire under the
bath, so that the lovely young Queen might be suffocated.
As soon as they were sure this was the case, the old witch tied a
cap on her daughter's head and laid her in the Queen's bed. She
managed, too, to make her figure and general appearance look like
the Queen's, but even her power could not restore the eye she had
lost; so she made her lie on the side of the missing eye, in order to
prevent the King's noticing anything.
In the evening, when the King came home and heard the news
of his son's birth, he was full of delight, and insisted on going at
once to his dear wife's bedside to see how she was getting on. But
the old witch cried out, `Take care and keep the curtains drawn;
don't let the light get into the Queen's eyes; she must be kept
perfectly quiet.' So the King went away and never knew that it was
a false Queen who lay in the bed.
When midnight came and everyone in the palace was sound
asleep, the nurse who alone watched by the baby's cradle in the
nursery saw the door open gently, and who should come in but the
real Queen. She lifted the child from its cradle, laid it on her arm,
and nursed it for some time. Then she carefully shook up the pillows
of the little bed, laid the baby down and tucked the coverlet in all
round him. She did not forget the little Roe either, but went to the
corner where it lay, and gently stroked its back. Then she silently
left the room, and next morning when the nurse asked the sentries
if they had seen any one go into the castle that night, they all said,
`No, we saw no one at all.'
For many nights the Queen came in the same way, but she never
spoke a word, and the nurse was too frightened to say anything
about her visits.
After some little time had elapsed the Queen spoke one night,
and said:
`Is my child well? Is my Roe well?
I'll come back twice and then farewell.'
The nurse made no answer, but as soon as the Queen had
disappeared she went to the King and told him all. The King exclaimed,
`Good heavens! what do you say? I will watch myself to-night
by the child's bed.'
When the evening came he went to the nursery, and at midnight
the Queen appeared and said:
`Is my child well? Is my Roe well?
I'll come back once and then farewell.'
And she nursed and petted the child as usual before she
disappeared. The King dared not trust himself to speak to her, but
the following night he kept watch again.
That night when the Queen came she said:
`Is my child well? Is my Roe well?
I've come this once, and now farewell.'
Then the King could restrain himself no longer, but sprang to
her side and cried, `You can be no one but my dear wife!'
`Yes,' said she, `I am your dear wife!' and in the same moment
she was restored to life, and was as fresh and well and rosy as ever.
Then she told the King all the cruel things the wicked witch and
her daughter had done. The King had them both arrested at once
and brought to trial, and they were condemned to death. The
daughter was led into the forest, where the wild beasts tore her to
pieces, and the old witch was burnt at the stake.
As soon as she reduced to ashes the spell was taken off the
little Roe, and he was restored to his natural shape once more, and
so brother and sister lived happily ever after.[6]
[6] Grimm.
PRINCESS ROSETTE
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had two
beautiful sons and one little daughter, who was so pretty that
no one who saw her could help loving her. When it was time for
the christening of the Princess, the Queen--as she always did--
sent for all the fairies to be present at the ceremony, and afterwards
invited them to a splendid banquet.
When it was over, and they were preparing to go away, the
Queen said to them:
`Do not forget your usual good custom. Tell me what is going
to happen to Rosette.'
For that was the name they had given the Princess.
But the fairies said they had left their book of magic at home,
and they would come another day and tell her.
`Ah!' said the Queen, `I know very well what that means--you
have nothing good to say; but at least I beg that you will not hide
anything from me.'
So, after a great deal of persuasion, they said:
`Madam, we fear that Rosette may be the cause of great
misfortunes to her brothers; they may even meet with their death
through her; that is all we have been able to foresee about your dear
little daughter. We are very sorry to have nothing better to tell you.'
Then they went away, leaving the Queen very sad, so sad that
the King noticed it, and asked her what was the matter.
The Queen said that she had been sitting too near the fire, and
had burnt all the flax that was upon her distaff.
`Oh! is that all?' said the King, and he went up into the
garret and brought her down more flax than she could spin in a
hundred years. But the Queen still looked sad, and the King
asked her again what was the matter. She answered that she
had been walking by the river and had dropped one of her green
satin slippers into the water.
`Oh! if that's all,' said the King, and he sent to all the shoe-
makers in his kingdom, and they very soon made the Queen ten
thousand green satin slippers, but still she looked sad. So the
King asked her again what was the matter, and this time she
answered that in eating her porridge too hastily she had swallowed
her wedding-ring. But it so happened that the King knew better,
for he had the ring himself, and he said:
`Oh I you are not telling me the truth, for I have your ring here
in my purse.'
Then the Queen was very much ashamed, and she saw that the
King was vexed with her; so she told him all that the fairies had
predicted about Rosette, and begged him to think how the misfortunes
might be prevented.
Then it was the King's turn to look sad, and at last he said:
`I see no way of saving our sons except by having Rosette's
head cut off while she is still little.'
But the Queen cried that she would far rather have her own
head cut off, and that he had better think of something else, for she
would never consent to such a thing. So they thought and thought,
but they could not tell what to do, until at last the Queen heard
that in a great forest near the castle there was an old hermit, who
lived in a hollow tree, and that people came from far and near to
consult him; so she said:
`I had better go and ask his advice; perhaps he will know what
to do to prevent the misfortunes which the fairies foretold.'
She set out very early the next morning, mounted upon a pretty
little white mule, which was shod with solid gold, and two of her
ladies rode behind her on beautiful horses. When they reached
the forest they dismounted, for the trees grew so thickly that the
horses could not pass, and made their way on foot to the hollow
tree where the hermit lived. At first when he saw them coming he
was vexed, for he was not fond of ladies; but when he recognised
the Queen, he said:
`You are welcome, Queen. What do you come to ask of me?'
Then the Queen told him all the fairies had foreseen for Rosette,
and asked what she should do, and the hermit answered that she
must shut the Princess up in a tower and never let her come out of
it again. The Queen thanked and rewarded him, and hastened
back to the castle to tell the King. When he heard the news he
had a great tower built as quickly as possible, and there the
Princess was shut up, and the King and Queen and her two brothers
went to see her every day that she might not be dull. The eldest
brother was called `the Great Prince,' and the second `the Little
Prince.' They loved their sister dearly, for she was the sweetest,
prettiest princess who was ever seen, and the least little smile from
her was worth more than a hundred pieces of gold. When Rosette
was fifteen years old the Great Prince went to the King and asked
if it would not soon be time for her to be married, and the Little
Prince put the same question to the Queen.
Their majesties were amused at them for thinking of it, but did
not make any reply, and soon after both the King and the Queen
were taken ill, and died on the same day. Everybody was
sorry, Rosette especially, and all the bells in the kingdom were
tolled.
Then all the dukes and counsellors put the Great Prince upon a
golden throne, and crowned him with a diamond crown, and they
all cried, `Long live the King!' And after that there was nothing
but feasting and rejoicing.
The new King and his brother said to one another:
`Now that we are the masters, let us take our sister out of that
dull tower which she is so tired of.'
They had only to go across the garden to reach the tower, which
was very high, and stood up in a corner. Rosette was busy at her
embroidery, but when she saw her brothers she got up, and taking
the King's hand cried:
`Good morning, dear brother. Now that you are King, please
take me out of this dull tower, for I am so tired of it.'
Then she began to cry, but the King kissed her and told her to
dry her tears, as that was just what they had come for, to take her
out of the tower and bring her to their beautiful castle, and the
Prince showed her the pocketful of sugar plums he had brought for
her, and said:
`Make haste, and let us get away from this ugly tower, and very
soon the King will arrange a grand marriage for you.'
When Rosette saw the beautiful garden, full of fruit and flowers,
with green grass and sparkling fountains, she was so astonished
that not a word could she say, for she had never in her life seen
anything like it before. She looked about her, and ran hither and
thither gathering fruit and flowers, and her little dog Frisk, who
was bright green all over, and had but one ear, danced before her,
crying `Bow-wow-wow,' and turning head over heels in the most
enchanting way.
Everybody was amused at Frisk's antics, but all of a sudden he
ran away into a little wood, and the Princess was following him,
when, to her great delight, she saw a peacock, who was spreading
his tail in the sunshine. Rosette thought she had never seen
anything so pretty. She could not take her eyes off him, and there she
stood entranced until the King and the Prince came up and asked
what was amusing her so much. She showed them the peacock,
and asked what it was, and they answered that it was a bird which
people sometimes ate.
`What!' said the Princess, `do they dare to kill that beautiful
creature and eat it? I declare that I will never marry any one but
the King of the Peacocks, and when I am Queen I will take very
good care that nobody eats any of my subjects.'
At this the King was very much astonished.
`But, little sister,' said he, `where shall we find the King of the
Peacocks?'
`Oh! wherever you like, sire,' she answered, `but I will never
marry any one else.'
After this they took Rosette to the beautiful castle, and the
peacock was brought with her, and told to walk about on the terrace
outside her windows, so that she might always see him, and then
the ladies of the court came to see the Princess, and they brought
her beautiful presents--dresses and ribbons and sweetmeats, diamonds
and pearls and dolls and embroidered slippers, and she was
so well brought up, and said, `Thank you!' so prettily, and was so
gracious, that everyone went away delighted with her.
Meanwhile the King and the Prince were considering how they
should find the King of the Peacocks, if there was such a person in
the world. And first of all they had a portrait made of the Princess,
which was so like her that you really would not have been surprised
if it had spoken to you. Then they said to her:
`Since you will not marry anyone but the King of the Peacocks,
we are going out together into the wide world to search for him.
If we find him for you we shall be very glad. In the meantime,
mind you take good care of our kingdom.'
Rosette thanked them for all the trouble they were taking on her
account, and promised to take great care of the kingdom, and only to
amuse herself by looking at the peacock, and making Frisk dance
while they were away.
So they set out, and asked everyone they met--
`Do you know the King of the Peacocks?'
But the answer was always, `No, no.'
Then they went on and on, so far that no one has ever been
farther, and at last they came to the Kingdom of the Cockchafers.
They had never before seen such a number of cockchafers, and
the buzzing was so loud that the King was afraid he should be
deafened by it. He asked the most distinguished-looking cockchafer
they met if he knew where they could find the King of the
Peacocks.
`Sire,' replied the cockchafer, `his kingdom is thirty thousand
leagues from this; you have come the longest way.'
`And how do you know that?' said the King.
`Oh!' said the cockchafer, `we all know you very well, since we
spend two or three months in your garden every year.'
Thereupon the King and the Prince made great friends with him,
and they all walked arm-in-arm and dined together, and afterwards
the cockchafer showed them all the curiosities of his strange country,
where the tiniest green leaf costs a gold piece and more. Then
they set out again to finish their journey, and this time, as they knew
the way, they were not long upon the road. It was easy to guess
that they had come to the right place, for they saw peacocks in
every tree, and their cries could be heard a long way off:
When they reached the city they found it full of men and women
who were dressed entirely in peacocks' feathers, which were evidently
thought prettier than anything else.
They soon met the King, who was driving about in a beautiful
little golden carriage which glittered with diamonds, and was drawn
at full speed by twelve peacocks. The King and the Prince were
delighted to see that the King of the Peacocks was as handsome as
possible. He had curly golden hair and was very pale, and he
wore a crown of peacocks' feathers.
When he saw Rosette's brothers he knew at once that they were
strangers, and stopping his carriage he sent for them to speak to
him. When they had greeted him they said:
`Sire, we have come from very far away to show you a beautiful
portrait.'
So saying they drew from their travelling bag the picture of
Rosette.
The King looked at it in silence a long time, but at last he said:
`I could not have believed that there was such a beautiful
Princess in the world!'
`Indeed, she is really a hundred times as pretty as that,' said
her brothers.
`I think you must be making fun of me,' replied the King of the
Peacocks.
`Sire,' said the Prince, `my brother is a King, like yourself. He
is called ``the King,'' I am called ``the Prince,'' and that is the
portrait of our sister, the Princess Rosette. We have come to ask
if you would like to marry her. She is as good as she is beautiful,
and we will give her a bushel of gold pieces for her dowry.'
`Oh! with all my heart,' replied the King, `and I will make her
very happy. She shall have whatever she likes, and I shall love
her dearly; only I warn you that if she is not as pretty as you have
told me, I will have your heads cut off.'
`Oh! certainly, we quite agree to that,' said the brothers in one
breath.
`Very well. Off with you into prison, and stay there until the
Princess arrives,' said the King of the Peacocks.
And the Princes were so sure that Rosette was far prettier than
her portrait that they went without a murmur. They were very
kindly treated, and that they might not feel dull the King came
often to see them. As for Rosette's portrait that was taken up to
the palace, and the King did nothing but gaze at it all day and all
night.
As the King and the Prince had to stay in prison, they sent a
letter to the Princess telling her to pack up all her treasures as
quickly as possible, and come to them, as the King of the Peacocks
was waiting to marry her; but they did not say that they were in
prison, for fear of making her uneasy.
When Rosette received the letter she was so delighted that she
ran about telling everyone that the King of the Peacocks was found,
and she was going to marry him.
Guns were fired, and fireworks let off. Everyone had as many
cakes and sweetmeats as he wanted. And for three days everybody
who came to see the Princess was presented with a slice of bread-
and-jam, a nightingale's egg, and some hippocras. After having
thus entertained her friends, she distributed her dolls among them,
and left her brother's kingdom to the care of the wisest old men of
the city, telling them to take charge of everything, not to spend any
money, but save it all up until the King should return, and above
all, not to forget to feed her peacock. Then she set out, only taking
with her her nurse, and the nurse's daughter, and the little green
dog Frisk.
They took a boat and put out to sea, carrying with them the
bushel of gold pieces, and enough dresses to last the Princess ten
years if she wore two every day, and they did nothing but laugh and
sing. The nurse asked the boatman:
`Can you take us, can you take us to the kingdom of the peacocks?'
But he answered:
`Oh no! oh no!'
Then she said:
`You must take us, you must take us.'
And he answered:
`Very soon, very soon.'
Then the nurse said:
`Will you take us? will you take us?'
And the boatman answered:
`Yes, yes.'
Then she whispered in his ear:
`Do you want to make your fortune?'
And he said:
`Certainly I do.'
`I can tell you how to get a bag of gold,' said she.
`I ask nothing better,' said the boatman.
`Well,' said the nurse, `to-night, when the Princess is asleep, you
must help me to throw her into the sea, and when she is drowned
I will put her beautiful clothes upon my daughter, and we will take
her to the King of the Peacocks, who will be only too glad to marry
her, and as your reward you shall have your boat full of diamonds.'
The boatman was very much surprised at this proposal, and
said:
`But what a pity to drown such a pretty Princess!'
However, at last the nurse persuaded him to help her, and when
the night came and the Princess was fast asleep as usual, with Frisk
curled up on his own cushion at the foot of her bed, the wicked nurse
fetched the boatman and her daughter, and between them they
picked up the Princess, feather bed, mattress, pillows, blankets and
all, and threw her into the sea, without even waking her. Now,
luckily, the Princess's bed was entirely stuffed with phoenix feathers,
which are very rare, and have the property of always floating upon
water, so Rosette went on swimming about as if she had been in a
boat. After a little while she began to feel very cold, and turned
round so often that she woke Frisk, who started up, and, having a
very good nose, smelt the soles and herrings so close to him that he
began to bark. He barked so long and so loud that he woke all the
other fish, who came swimming up round the Princess's bed, and
poking at it with their great heads. As for her, she said to herself:
`How our boat does rock upon the water! I am really glad
that I am not often as uncomfortable as I have been to-night.'
The wicked nurse and the boatman, who were by this time quite
a long way off, heard Frisk barking, and said to each other:
`That horrid little animal and his mistress are drinking our
health in sea-water now. Let us make haste to land, for we must
be quite near the city of the King of the Peacocks.'
The King had sent a hundred carriages to meet them, drawn by
every kind of strange animal. There were lions, bears, wolves, stags,
horses, buffaloes, eagles, and peacocks. The carriage intended for
the Princess Rosette had six blue monkeys, which could turn summer-
saults, and dance on a tight-rope, and do many other charming
tricks. Their, harness was all of crimson velvet with gold buckles,
and behind the carriage walked sixty beautiful ladies chosen by the
King to wait upon Rosette and amuse her.
The nurse had taken all the pains imaginable to deck out her
daughter. She put on her Rosette's prettiest frock, and covered her
with diamonds from head to foot. But she was so ugly that nothing
could make her look nice, and what was worse, she was sulky and
ill-tempered, and did nothing but grumble all the time.
When she stepped from the boat and the escort sent by the King
of the Peacocks caught sight of her, they were so surprised that they
could not say a single word.
`Now then, look alive,' cried the false Princess. `If you don't
bring me something to eat I will have all your heads cut off!'
Then they whispered one to another:
`Here's a pretty state of things! she is as wicked as she is ugly.
What a bride for our poor King! She certainly was not worth bringing
from the other end of the world!'
But she went on ordering them all about, and for no fault at all
would give slaps and pinches to everyone she could reach.
As the procession was so long it advanced but slowly, and the
nurse's daughter sat up in her carriage trying to look like a Queen.
But the peacocks, who were sitting upon every tree waiting to salute
her, and who had made up their minds to cry, `Long live our beautiful
Queen!' when they caught sight of the false bride could not
help crying instead:
`Oh! how ugly she is!'
Which offended her so much that she said to the guards:
`Make haste and kill all these insolent peacocks who have dared
to insult me.'
But the peacocks only flew away, laughing at her.
The rogue of a boatman, who noticed all this, said softly to the
nurse:
`This is a bad business for us, gossip; your daughter ought to
have been prettier.'
But she answered:
`Be quiet, stupid, or you will spoil everything.'
Now they told the King that the Princess was approaching.
`Well,' said he, `did her brothers tell me truly? Is she prettier
than her portrait?'
`Sire,' they answered, `if she were as pretty that would do very well.'
`That's true,' said the King; `I for one shall be quite satisfied if
she is. Let us go and meet her.' For they knew by the uproar that
she had arrived, but they could not tell what all the shouting was
about. The King thought he could hear the words:
`How ugly she is! How ugly she is!' and he fancied they must
refer to some dwarf the Princess was bringing with her. It never
occurred to him that they could apply to the bride herself.
The Princess Rosette's portrait was carried at the head of the
procession, and after it walked the King surrounded by his courtiers.
He was all impatience to see the lovely Princess, but when he
caught sight of the nurse's daughter he was furiously angry, and
would not advance another step. For she was really ugly enough
to have frightened anybody.
`What!' he cried, `have the two rascals who are my prisoners
dared to play me such a trick as this? Do they propose that I
shall marry this hideous creature? Let her be shut up in my great
tower, with her nurse and those who brought her here; and as for
them, I will have their heads cut off.'
Meanwhile the King and the Prince, who knew that their
sister must have arrived, had made themselves smart, and sat
expecting every minute to be summoned to greet her. So when the
gaoler came with soldiers, and carried them down into a black
dungeon which swarmed with toads and bats, and where they were up
to their necks in water, nobody could have been more surprised and
dismayed than they were.
`This is a dismal kind of wedding,' they said; `what can have
happened that we should be treated like this? They must mean to
kill us.'
And this idea annoyed them very much. Three days passed
before they heard any news, and then the King of the Peacocks came
and berated them through a hole in the wall.
`You have called yourselves King and Prince,' he cried, `to try
and make me marry your sister, but you are nothing but beggars,
not worth the water you drink. I mean to make short work with
you, and the sword is being sharpened that will cut off your heads!'
`King of the Peacocks,' answered the King angrily, `you had
better take care what you are about. I am as good a King as yourself,
and have a splendid kingdom and robes and crowns, and
plenty of good red gold to do what I like with. You are pleased to
jest about having our heads cut off; perhaps you think we have stolen
something from you?'
At first the King of the Peacocks was taken aback by this bold
speech, and had half a mind to send them all away together; but
his Prime Minister declared that it would never do to let such a
trick as that pass unpunished, everybody would laugh at him; so the
accusation was drawn up against them, that they were impostors,
and that they had promised the King a beautiful Princess in marriage
who, when she arrived, proved to be an ugly peasant girl.
This accusation was read to the prisoners, who cried out that
they had spoken the truth, that their sister was indeed a Princess
more beautiful than the day, and that there was some mystery
about all this which they could not fathom. Therefore they
demanded seven days in which to prove their innocence, The King
of the Peacocks was so angry that he would hardly even grant them
this favour, but at last he was persuaded to do so.
While all this was going on at court, let us see what had been
happening to the real Princess. When the day broke she and Frisk
were equally astonished at finding themselves alone upon the sea,
with no boat and no one to help them. The Princess cried and
cried, until even the fishes were sorry for her.
`Alas!' she said, `the King of the Peacocks must have ordered
me to be thrown into the sea because he had changed his mind
and did not want to marry me. But how strange of him, when I
should have loved him so much, and we should have been so happy
together!'
And then she cried harder than ever, for she could not help still
loving him. So for two days they floated up and down the sea, wet
and shivering with the cold, and so hungry that when the Princess
saw some oysters she caught them, and she and Frisk both ate some,
though they didn't like them at all. When night came the Princess
was so frightened that she said to Frisk:
`Oh! Do please keep on barking for fear the soles should come
and eat us up!'
Now it happened that they had floated close in to the shore,
where a poor old man lived all alone in a little cottage. When he
heard Frisk's barking he thought to himself:
`There must have been a shipwreck!' (for no dogs ever passed
that way by any chance), and he went out to see if he could be of
any use. He soon saw the Princess and Frisk floating up and
down, and Rosette, stretching out her hands to him, cried:
`Oh! Good old man, do save me, or I shall die of cold and
hunger!'
When he heard her cry out so piteously he was very sorry for
her, and ran back into his house to fetch a long boat-hook. Then he
waded into the water up to his chin, and after being nearly drowned
once or twice he at last succeeded in getting hold of the Princess's
bed and dragging it on shore.
Rosette and Frisk were joyful enough to find themselves once
more on dry land, and the Princess thanked the old man heartily;
then, wrapping herself up in her blankets, she daintily picked her way
up to the cottage on her little bare feet. There the old man lighted
a fire of straw, and then drew from an old box his wife's dress and
shoes, which the Princess put on, and thus roughly clad looked as
charming as possible, and Frisk danced his very best to amuse her.
The old man saw that Rosette must be some great lady, for her
bed coverings were all of satin and gold. He begged that she
would tell him all her history, as she might safely trust him. The
Princess told him everything, weeping bitterly again at the thought
that it was by the King's orders that she had been thrown overboard.
`And now, my daughter, what is to be done?' said the old man.
`You are a great Princess, accustomed to fare daintily, and I have
nothing to offer you but black bread and radishes, which will not
suit you at all. Shall I go and tell the King of the Peacocks that
you are here? If he sees you he will certainly wish to marry you.'
`Oh no!' cried Rosette, `he must be wicked, since he tried to
drown me. Don't let us tell him, but if you have a little basket
give it to me.'
The old man gave her a basket, and tying it round Frisk's neck
she said to him: `Go and find out the best cooking-pot in the town
and bring the contents to me.'
Away went Frisk, and as there was no better dinner cooking in
all the town than the King's, he adroitly took the cover off the pot
and brought all it contained to the Princess, who said:
`Now go back to the pantry, and bring the best of everything you
find there.'
So Frisk went back and filled his basket with white bread, and
red wine, and every kind of sweetmeat, until it was almost too
heavy for him to carry.
When the King of the Peacocks wanted his dinner there was
nothing in the pot and nothing in the pantry. All the courtiers
looked at one another in dismay, and the King was terribly cross.
`Oh well! `he said, `if there is no dinner I cannot dine, but
take care that plenty of things are roasted for supper.'
When evening came the Princess said to Frisk:
`Go into the town and find out the best kitchen, and bring me
all the nicest morsels that are being roasted upon the spit.'
Frisk did as he was told, and as he knew of no better kitchen
than the King's, he went in softly, and when the cook's back was
turned took everything that was upon the spit, As it happened it
was all done to a turn, and looked so good that it made him hungry
only to see it. He carried his basket to the Princess, who at once
sent him back to the pantry to bring all the tarts and sugar plums
that had been prepared for the King's supper.
The King, as he had had no dinner, was very hungry and
wanted his supper early, but when he asked for it, lo and behold it
was all gone, and he had to go to bed half-starved and in a terrible
temper. The next day the same thing happened, and the next, so that
for three days the King got nothing at all to eat, because just when
the dinner or the supper was ready to be served it mysteriously
disappeared. At last the Prime Minister began to be afraid that
the King would be starved to death, so he resolved to hide himself
in some dark corner of the kitchen, and never take his eyes off the
cooking-pot. His surprise was great when he presently saw a little
green dog with one ear slip softly into the kitchen, uncover the
pot, transfer all its contents to his basket, and run off. The Prime
Minister followed hastily, and tracked him all through the town to
the cottage of the good old man; then he ran back to the King and
told him that he had found out where all his dinners and suppers
went. The King, who was very much astonished, said he should
like to go and see for himself. So he set out, accompanied by the
Prime Minister and a guard of archers, and arrived just in time to
find the old man and the Princess finishing his dinner.
The King ordered that they should be seized and bound with
ropes, and Frisk also.
When they were brought back to the palace some one told the
King, who said:
`To-day is the last day of the respite granted to those impostors;
they shall have their heads cut off at the same time as these
stealers of my dinner.' Then the old man went down on his knees
before the King and begged for time to tell him everything. While
he spoke the King for the first time looked attentively at the
Princess, because he was sorry to see how she cried, and when he
heard the old man saying that her name was Rosette, and that she
had been treacherously thrown into the sea, he turned head over
heels three times without stopping, in spite of being quite weak from
hunger, and ran to embrace her, and untied the ropes which bound
her with his own hands, declaring that he loved her with all his heart.
Messengers were sent to bring the Princes out of prison, and
they came very sadly, believing that they were to be executed at
once: the nurse and her daughter and the boatman were brought
also. As soon as they came in Rosette ran to embrace her brothers,
while the traitors threw themselves down before her and begged for
mercy. The King and the Princess were so happy that they freely
forgave them, and as for the good old man he was splendidly rewarded,
and spent the rest of his days in the palace. The King of the
Peacocks made ample amends to the King and Prince for the way
in which they had been treated, and did everything in his power to
show how sorry he was.
The nurse restored to Rosette all her dresses and jewels, and the
bushel of gold pieces; the wedding was held at once, and they all
lived happily ever after--even to Frisk, who enjoyed the greatest
luxury, and never had anything worse than the wing of a partridge
for dinner all the rest of his life.[7]
[7] Madame d'Aulnoy.
THE ENCHANTED PIG
ONCE upon a time there lived a King who had three daughters.
Now it happened that he had to go out to battle, so he called
his daughters and said to them:
`My dear children, I am obliged to go to the wars. The enemy
is approaching us with a large army. It is a great grief to me to
leave you all. During my absence take care of yourselves and be
good girls; behave well and look after everything in the house.
You may walk in the garden, and you may go into all the rooms
in the palace, except the room at the back in the right-hand
corner; into that you must not enter, for harm would befall you.'
`You may keep your mind easy, father,' they replied. `We
have never been disobedient to you. Go in peace, and may heaven
give you a glorious victory!'
When everything was ready for his departure, the King gave
them the keys of all the rooms and reminded them once more of
what he had said. His daughters kissed his hands with tears in
their eyes, and wished him prosperity, and he gave the eldest the
keys.
Now when the girls found themselves alone they felt so sad and
dull that they did not know what to do. So, to pass the time, they
decided to work for part of the day, to read for part of the day, and
to enjoy themselves in the garden for part of the day. As long as
they did this all went well with them. But this happy state of
things did not last long. Every day they grew more and more
curious, and you will see what the end of that was.
`Sisters,' said the eldest Princess, `all day long we sew, spin, and
read. We have been several days quite alone, and there is no
corner of the garden that we have not explored. We have been
in all the rooms of our father's palace, and have admired the rich
and beautiful furniture: why should not we go into the room that
our father forbad us to enter?'
Sister,' said the youngest, `I cannot think how you can tempt
us to break our father's command. When he told us not to go into
that room he must have known what he was saying, and have had
a good reason for saying it.'
`Surely the sky won't fall about our heads if we DO go in,' said
the second Princess. `Dragons and such like monsters that would
devour us will not be hidden in the room. And how will our father
ever find out that we have gone in?'
While they were speaking thus, encouraging each other, they
had reached the room; the eldest fitted the key into the lock, and
snap! the door stood open.
The three girls entered, and what do you think they saw?
The room was quite empty, and without any ornament, but in
the middle stood a large table, with a gorgeous cloth, and on it lay
a big open book.
Now the Princesses were curious to know what was written in
the book, especially the eldest, and this is what she read:
`The eldest daughter of this King will marry a prince from the
East.'
Then the second girl stepped forward, and turning over the page
she read:
`The second daughter of this King will marry a prince from the
West.'
The girls were delighted, and laughed and teased each other.
But the youngest Princess did not want to go near the table or
to open the book. Her elder sisters however left her no peace, and
will she, nill she, they dragged her up to the table, and in fear and
trembling she turned over the page and read:
`The youngest daughter of this King will be married to a pig from
the North.'
Now if a thunderbolt had fallen upon her from heaven it would
not have frightened her more.
She almost died of misery, and if her sisters had not held her
up, she would have sunk to the ground and cut her head open.
When she came out of the fainting fit into which she had
fallen in her terror, her sisters tried to comfort her, saying:
`How can you believe such nonsense? When did it ever happen
that a king's daughter married a pig?'
`What a baby you are!' said the other sister; `has not our
father enough soldiers to protect you, even if the disgusting creature
did come to woo you?'
The youngest Princess would fain have let herself be convinced
by her sisters' words, and have believed what they said, but her heart
was heavy. Her thoughts kept turning to the book, in which stood
written that great happiness waited her sisters, but that a fate was
in store for her such as had never before been known in the world.
Besides, the thought weighed on her heart that she had been
guilty of disobeying her father. She began to get quite ill, and in
a few days she was so changed that it was difficult to recognise her;
formerly she had been rosy and merry, now she was pale and
nothing gave her any pleasure. She gave up playing with her sisters
in the garden, ceased to gather flowers to put in her hair, and never
sang when they sat together at their spinning and sewing.
In the meantime the King won a great victory, and having
completely defeated and driven off the enemy, he hurried home to his
daughters, to whom his thoughts had constantly turned. Everyone
went out to meet him with cymbals and fifes and drums, and there
was great rejoicing over his victorious return. The King's first act
on reaching home was to thank Heaven for the victory he had gained
over the enemies who had risen against him. He then entered his
palace, and the three Princesses stepped forward to meet him. His
joy was great when he saw that they were all well, for the youngest
did her best not to appear sad.
In spite of this, however, it was not long before the King noticed
that his third daughter was getting very thin and sad-looking. And
all of a sudden he felt as if a hot iron were entering his soul, for it
flashed through his mind that she had disobeyed his word. He felt
sure he was right; but to be quite certain he called his daughters to
him, questioned them, and ordered them to speak the truth. They
confessed everything, but took good care not to say which had led
the other two into temptation.
The King was so distressed when he heard it that he was almost
overcome by grief. But he took heart and tried to comfort his
daughters, who looked frightened to death. He saw that what had
happened had happened, and that a thousand words would not alter
matters by a hair's-breadth.
Well, these events had almost been forgotten when one fine day
a prince from the East appeared at the Court and asked the King for
the hand of his eldest daughter. The King gladly gave his consent.
A great wedding banquet was prepared, and after three days of
feasting the happy pair were accompanied to the frontier with
much ceremony and rejoicing.
After some time the same thing befell the second daughter, who
was wooed and won by a prince from the West.
Now when the young Princess saw that everything fell out
exactly as had been written in the book, she grew very sad. She
refused to eat, and would not put on her fine clothes nor go out
walking, and declared that she would rather die than become a
laughing-stock to the world. But the King would not allow her to
do anything so wrong, and he comforted her in all possible ways.
So the time passed, till lo and behold! one fine day an enormous
pig from the North walked into the palace, and going straight
up to the King said, `Hail! oh King. May your life be as prosperous
and bright as sunrise on a clear day!'
`I am glad to see you well, friend,' answered the King, `but
what wind has brought you hither?'
`I come a-wooing,' replied the Pig.
Now the King was astonished to hear so fine a speech from a Pig,
and at once it occurred to him that something strange was the
matter. He would gladly have turned the Pig's thoughts in another
direction, as he did not wish to give him the Princess for a wife; but
when he heard that the Court and the whole street were full of all
the pigs in the world he saw that there was no escape, and that he
must give his consent. The Pig was not satisfied with mere promises,
but insisted that the wedding should take place within a
week, and would not go away till the King had sworn a royal oath
upon it.
The King then sent for his daughter, and advised her to submit
to fate, as there was nothing else to be done. And he added:
`My child, the words and whole behaviour of this Pig are quite
unlike those of other pigs. I do not myself believe that he always
was a pig. Depend upon it some magic or witchcraft has been at
work. Obey him, and do everything that he wishes, and I feel sure
that Heaven will shortly send you release.'
`If you wish me to do this, dear father, I will do it,' replied the
girl.
In the meantime the wedding-day drew near. After the marriage,
the Pig and his bride set out for his home in one of the royal
carriages. On the way they passed a great bog, and the Pig ordered
the carriage to stop, and got out and rolled about in the mire till
he was covered with mud from head to foot; then he got back
into the carriage and told his wife to kiss him. What was the
poor girl to do? She bethought herself of her father's words, and,
pulling out her pocket handkerchief, she gently wiped the Pig's
snout and kissed it.
By the time they reached the Pig's dwelling, which stood in a
thick wood, it was quite dark. They sat down quietly for a little, as
they were tired after their drive; then they had supper together, and
lay down to rest. During the night the Princess noticed that the Pig
had changed into a man. She was not a little surprised, but
remembering her father's words, she took courage, determined to
wait and see what would happen.
And now she noticed that every night the Pig became a man,
and every morning he was changed into a Pig before she awoke.
This happened several nights running, and the Princess could not
understand it at all. Clearly her husband must be bewitched. In
time she grew quite fond of him, he was so kind and gentle.
One fine day as she was sitting alone she saw an old witch go past.
She felt quite excited, as it was so long since she had seen a human
being, and she called out to the old woman to come and talk to her.
Among other things the witch told her that she understood all
magic arts, and that she could foretell the future, and knew the
healing powers of herbs and plants.
`I shall be grateful to you all my life, old dame,' said the
Princess, `if you will tell me what is the matter with my husband.
Why is he a Pig by day and a human being by night?'
`I was just going to tell you that one thing, my dear, to show
you what a good fortune-teller I am. If you like, I will give you a
herb to break the spell.'
`If you will only give it to me,' said the Princess, `I will give
you anything you choose to ask for, for I cannot bear to see him in
this state.'
`Here, then, my dear child,' said the witch, `take this thread,
but do not let him know about it, for if he did it would lose its
healing power. At night, when he is asleep, you must get up very
quietly, and fasten the thread round his left foot as firmly as
possible; and you will see in the morning he will not have changed
back into a Pig, but will still be a man. I do not want any reward.
I shall be sufficiently repaid by knowing that you are happy. It
almost breaks my heart to think of all you have suffered, and I only
wish I had known it sooner, as I should have come to your rescue
at once.'
When the old witch had gone away the Princess hid the thread
very carefully, and at night she got up quietly, and with a beating
heart she bound the thread round her husband's foot. Just as she
was pulling the knot tight there was a crack, and the thread broke,
for it was rotten.
Her husband awoke with a start, and said to her, `Unhappy
woman, what have you done? Three days more and this unholy
spell would have fallen from me, and now, who knows how long I
may have to go about in this disgusting shape? I must leave you
at once, and we shall not meet again until you have worn out three
pairs of iron shoes and blunted a steel staff in your search for me.'
So saying he disappeared.
Now, when the Princess was left alone she began to weep and
moan in a way that was pitiful to hear; but when she saw that
her tears and groans did her no good, she got up, determined to go
wherever fate should lead her.
On reaching a town, the first thing she did was to order three
pairs of iron sandals and a steel staff, and having made these
preparations for her journey, she set out in search of her husband. On
and on she wandered over nine seas and across nine continents;
through forests with trees whose stems were as thick as beer-
barrels; stumbling and knocking herself against the fallen branches,
then picking herself up and going on; the boughs of the trees hit
her face, and the shrubs tore her hands, but on she went, and never
looked back. At last, wearied with her long journey and worn out
and overcome with sorrow, but still with hope at her heart, she
reached a house.
Now who do you think lived there? The Moon.
The Princess knocked at the door, and begged to be let in that
she might rest a little. The mother of the Moon, when she saw her
sad plight, felt a great pity for her, and took her in and nursed and
tended her. And while she was here the Princess had a little
baby.
One day the mother of the Moon asked her:
`How was it possible for you, a mortal, to get hither to the
house of the Moon?'
Then the poor Princess told her all that happened to her, and
added `I shall always be thankful to Heaven for leading me
hither, and grateful to you that you took pity on me and on my
baby, and did not leave us to die. Now I beg one last favour of
you; can your daughter, the Moon, tell me where my husband is?'
`She cannot tell you that, my child,' replied the goddess, `but,
if you will travel towards the East until you reach the dwelling of
the Sun, he may be able to tell you something.'
Then she gave the Princess a roast chicken to eat, and warned
her to be very careful not to lose any of the bones, because they
might be of great use to her.
When the Princess had thanked her once more for her hospitality
and for her good advice, and had thrown away one pair of
shoes that were worn out, and had put on a second pair, she tied up
the chicken bones in a bundle, and taking her baby in her arms and
her staff in her hand, she set out once more on her wanderings.
On and on and on she went across bare sandy deserts, where the
roads were so heavy that for every two steps that she took forwards
she fell back one; but she struggled on till she had passed these
dreary plains; next she crossed high rocky mountains, jumping
from crag to crag and from peak to peak. Sometimes she would
rest for a little on a mountain, and then start afresh always
farther and farther on. She had to cross swamps and to scale
mountain peaks covered with flints, so that her feet and knees and
elbows were all torn and bleeding, and sometimes she came to a
precipice across which she could not jump, and she had to crawl
round on hands and knees, helping herself along with her staff.
At length, wearied to death, she reached the palace in which the
Sun lived. She knocked and begged for admission. The mother of
the Sun opened the door, and was astonished at beholding a mortal
from the distant earthly shores, and wept with pity when she
heard of all she had suffered. Then, having promised to ask her
son about the Princess's husband, she hid her in the cellar, so that
the Sun might notice nothing on his return home, for he was always
in a bad temper when he came in at night. The next day the
Princess feared that things would not go well with her, for the
Sun had noticed that some one from the other world had been
in the palace. But his mother had soothed him with soft words,
assuring him that this was not so. So the Princess took heart
when she saw how kindly she was treated, and asked:
`But how in the world is it possible for the Sun to be angry?
He is so beautiful and so good to mortals.'
`This is how it happens,' replied the Sun's mother. `In the morning when]
he stands at the gates of paradise he is happy, and smiles on the whole
world, but during the day he gets cross, because he sees all the evil
deeds of men, and that is why his heat becomes so scorching; but
in the evening he is both sad and angry, for he stands at the gates
of death; that is his usual course. From there he comes back here.'
She then told the Princess that she had asked about her hus-
band, but that her son had replied that he knew nothing about him,
and that her only hope was to go and inquire of the Wind.
Before the Princess left the mother of the Sun gave her a roast
chicken to eat, and advised her to take great care of the bones,
which she did, wrapping them up in a bundle. She then threw
away her second pair of shoes, which were quite worn out, and with
her child on her arm and her staff in her hand, she set forth on
her way to the Wind.
In these wanderings she met with even greater difficulties than
before, for she came upon one mountain of flints after another, out
of which tongues of fire would flame up; she passed through woods
which had never been trodden by human foot, and had to cross
fields of ice and avalanches of snow. The poor woman nearly
died of these hardships, but she kept a brave heart, and at length
she reached an enormous cave in the side of a mountain. This
was where the Wind lived. There was a little door in the railing
in front of the cave, and here the Princess knocked and begged for
admission. The mother of the Wind had pity on her and took her
in, that she might rest a little. Here too she was hidden away, so
that the Wind might not notice her.
The next morning the mother of the Wind told her that her
husband was living in a thick wood, so thick that no axe had been able
to cut a way through it; here he had built himself a sort of house
by placing trunks of trees together and fastening them with withes
and here he lived alone, shunning human kind.
After the mother of the Wind had given the Princess a chicken
to eat, and had warned her to take care of the bones, she advised
her to go by the Milky Way, which at night lies across the sky, and
to wander on till she reached her goal.
Having thanked the old woman with tears in her eyes for her
hospitality, and for the good news she had given her, the Princess
set out on her journey and rested neither night nor day, so great
was her longing to see her husband again. On and on she walked
until her last pair of shoes fell in pieces. So she threw them away
and went on with bare feet, not heeding the bogs nor the thorns
that wounded her, nor the stones that bruised her. At last she
reached a beautiful green meadow on the edge of a wood. Her
heart was cheered by the sight of the flowers and the soft cool
grass, and she sat down and rested for a little. But hearing the
birds chirping to their mates among the trees made her think with
longing of her husband, and she wept bitterly, and taking her child
in her arms, and her bundle of chicken bones on her shoulder, she
entered the wood.
For three days and three nights she struggled through it, but
could find nothing. She was quite worn out with weariness and
hunger, and even her staff was no further help to her, for in her
many wanderings it had become quite blunted. She almost gave
up in despair, but made one last great effort, and suddenly in a
thicket she came upon the sort of house that the mother of the
Wind had described. It had no windows, and the door was up
in the roof. Round the house she went, in search of steps, but
could find none. What was she to do? How was she to get in?
She thought and thought, and tried in vain to climb up to the
door. Then suddenly she be-thought her of the chicken bones
that she had dragged all that weary way, and she said to
herself: `They would not all have told me to take such good care
of these bones if they had not had some good reason for doing
so. Perhaps now, in my hour of need, they may be of use to me.'
So she took the bones out of her bundle, and having thought
for a moment, she placed the two ends together. To her surprise
they stuck tight; then she added the other bones, till she had two
long poles the height of the house; these she placed against the wall,
at a distance of a yard from one another. Across them she placed
the other bones, piece by piece, like the steps of a ladder. As soon
as one step was finished she stood upon it and made the next one,
and then the next, till she was close to the door. But just as she got
near the top she noticed that there were no bones left for the last
rung of the ladder. What was she to do? Without that last step
the whole ladder was useless. She must have lost one of the bones.
Then suddenly an idea came to her. Taking a knife she chopped
off her little finger, and placing it on the last step, it stuck as the
bones had done. The ladder was complete, and with her child on
her arm she entered the door of the house. Here she found everything
in perfect order. Having taken some food, she laid the child
down to sleep in a trough that was on the floor, and sat down
herself to rest.
When her husband, the Pig, came back to his house, he was
startled by what he saw. At first he could not believe his eyes,
and stared at the ladder of bones, and at the little finger on the top
of it. He felt that some fresh magic must be at work, and in his
terror he almost turned away from the house; but then a better
idea came to him, and he changed himself into a dove, so that no
witchcraft could have power over him, and flew into the room
without touching the ladder. Here he found a woman rocking a
child. At the sight of her, looking so changed by all that she had
suffered for his sake, his heart was moved by such love and longing
and by so great a pity that he suddenly became a man.
The Princess stood up when she saw him. and her heart beat
with fear, for she did not know him. But when he had told her
who he was, in her great joy she forgot all her sufferings, and they
seemed as nothing to her. He was a very handsome man, as
straight as a fir tree. They sat down together and she told
him all her adventures, and he wept with pity at the tale. And
then he told her his own history.
`I am a King's son. Once when my father was fighting against
some dragons, who were the scourge of our country, I slew the
youngest dragon. His mother, who was a witch, cast a spell over me
and changed me into a Pig. It was she who in the disguise of an
old woman gave you the thread to bind round my foot. So that
instead of the three days that had to run before the spell was broken,
I was forced to remain a Pig for three more years. Now that we
have suffered for each other, and have found each other again, let
us forget the past.'
And in their joy they kissed one another.
Next morning they set out early to return to his father's
kingdom. Great was the rejoicing of all the people when they saw him
and his wife; his father and his mother embraced them both, and
there was feasting in the palace for three days and three nights.
Then they set out to see her father. The old King nearly went
out of his mind with joy at beholding his daughter again. When
she had told him all her adventures, he said to her:
`Did not I tell you that I was quite sure that that creature who
wooed and won you as his wife had not been born a Pig? You see,
my child, how wise you were in doing what I told you.'
And as the King was old and had no heirs, he put them on the
throne in his place. And they ruled as only kings rule who have
suffered many things. And if they are not dead they are still living
and ruling happily.[8]
[8] Rumanische Marchen ubersetzt von Nite Kremnitz.
THE NORKA
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen. They had three
sons, two of them with their wits about them, but the third a
simpleton. Now the King had a deer park in which were quantities
of wild animals of different kinds. Into that park there used to
come a huge beast--Norka was its name--and do fearful mischief,
devouring some of the animals every night. The King did all he
could, but he was unable to destroy it. So at last he called his
sons together and said, `Whoever will destroy the Norka, to him
will I give the half of my kingdom.'
Well, the eldest son undertook the task. As soon as it was night,
he took his weapons and set out. But before he reached the park,
he went into a traktir (or tavern), and there he spent the whole
night in revelry. When he came to his senses it was too late; the
day had already dawned. He felt himself disgraced in the eyes of
his father, but there was no help for it. The next day the second
son went, and did just the same. Their father scolded them both
soundly, and there was an end of it.
Well, on the third day the youngest son undertook the task.
They all laughed him to scorn, because he was so stupid, feeling
sure he wouldn't do anything. But he took his arms, and went
straight into the park, and sat down on the grass in such a position
that the moment he went asleep his weapons would prick him, and
he would awake.
Presently the midnight hour sounded. The earth began to
shake, and the Norka came rushing up, and burst right through
the fence into the park, so huge was it. The Prince pulled himself
together, leapt to his feet, crossed himself, and went straight at the
beast. It fled back, and the Prince ran after it. But he soon saw
that he couldn't catch it on foot, so he hastened to the stable, laid
his hands on the best horse there, and set off in pursuit. Presently
he came up with the beast, and they began a fight. They fought
and fought; the Prince gave the beast three wounds. At last they
were both utterly exhausted, so they lay down to take a short rest.
But the moment the Prince closed his eyes, up jumped the beast
and took to flight. The Prince's horse awoke him; up he jumped
in a moment, and set off again in pursuit, caught up the beast, and
again began fighting with it. Again the Prince gave the beast
three wounds, and then he and the beast lay down again to rest.
Thereupon away fled the beast as before. The Prince caught it up,
and again gave it three wounds. But all of a sudden, just as the
Prince began chasing it for the fourth time, the beast fled to a great
white stone, tilted it up, and escaped into the other world, crying
out to the Prince: `Then only will you overcome me, when you
enter here.'
The Prince went home, told his father all that had happened,
and asked him to have a leather rope plaited, long enough to reach
to the other world. His father ordered this to be done. When the
rope was made, the Prince called for his brothers, and he and they,
having taken servants with them, and everything that was needed
for a whole year, set out for the place where the beast had disappeared
under the stone. When they got there, they built a palace
on the spot, and lived in it for some time. But when everything
was ready, the youngest brother said to the others: `Now, brothers,
who is going to lift this stone?'
Neither of them could so much as stir it, but as soon as he
touched it, away it flew to a distance, though it was ever so big--
big as a hill. And when he had flung the stone aside, he spoke a
second time to his brothers, saying:
`Who is going into the other world, to overcome the Norka?'
Neither of them offered to do so. Then he laughed at them for
being such cowards, and said:
`Well, brothers, farewell! Lower me into the other world, and
don't go away from here, but as soon as the cord is jerked, pull it
up.'
His brothers lowered him accordingly, and when he had
reached the other world, underneath the earth, he went on his way.
He walked and walked. Presently he espied a horse with rich
trappings, and it said to him:
`Hail, Prince Ivan! Long have I awaited thee!'
He mounted the horse and rode on--rode and rode, until he saw
standing before him a palace made of copper. He entered the
courtyard, tied up his horse, and went indoors. In one of the rooms
a dinner was laid out. He sat down and dined, and then went into
a bedroom. There he found a bed, on which he lay down to rest.
Presently there came in a lady, more beautiful than can be imagined
anywhere but in a fairy tale, who said:
`Thou who art in my house, name thyself! If thou art an old
man, thou shalt be my father; if a middle-aged man, my brother;
but if a young man, thou shalt be my husband dear. And if thou
art a woman, and an old one, thou shalt be my grandmother; if
middle-aged, my mother; and if a girl, thou shalt be my own
sister.'
Thereupon he came forth. And when she saw him she was
delighted with him, and said:
`Wherefore, O Prince Ivan--my husband dear shalt thou be!--
wherefore hast thou come hither?'
Then he told her all that had happened, and she said:
`That beast which thou wishest to overcome is my brother.
He is staying just now with my second sister, who lives not far from
here in a silver palace. I bound up three of the wounds which thou
didst give him.'
Well, after this they drank, and enjoyed themselves, and held
sweet converse together, and then the Prince took leave of her, and
went on to the second sister, the one who lived in the silver palace,
and with her also he stayed awhile. She told him that her brother
Norka was then at her youngest sister's. So he went on to the
youngest sister, who lived in a golden palace. She told him that
her brother was at that time asleep on the blue sea, and she gave
him a sword of steel and a draught of the Water of Strength, and
she told him to cut off her brother's head at a single stroke. And
when he had heard these things, he went his way.
And when the Prince came to the blue sea, he looked--there
slept the Norka on a stone in the middle of the sea; and when it
snored, the water was agitated for seven miles around. The Prince
crossed himself, went up to it, and smote it on the head with his
sword. The head jumped off, saying the while, `Well, I'm done
for now!' and rolled far away into the sea.
After killing the beast, the Prince went back again, picking up
all the three sisters by the way, with the intention of taking them
out into the upper world: for they all loved him and would not be
separated from him. Each of them turned her palace into an egg
--for they were all enchantresses--and they taught him how to
turn the eggs into palaces, and back again, and they handed over
the eggs to him. And then they all went to the place from which
they had to be hoisted into the upper world. And when they came
to where the rope was, the Prince took hold of it and made the
maidens fast to it. Then he jerked away at the rope and his
brothers began to haul it up. And when they had hauled it up,
and had set eyes on the wondrous maidens, they went aside and
said: `Let's lower the rope, pull our brother part of the way up,
and then cut the rope. Perhaps he'll be killed; but then if he isn't,
he'll never give us these beauties as wives.'
So when they had agreed on this, they lowered the rope. But
their brother was no fool; he guessed what they were at, so he
fastened the rope to a stone, and then gave it a pull. His brothers
hoisted the stone to a great height, and then cut the rope. Down
fell the stone and broke in pieces; the Prince poured forth tears
and went away. Well, he walked and walked. Presently a storm
arose; the lightning flashed, the thunder roared, the rain fell in
torrents. He went up to a tree in order to take shelter under it,
and on that tree he saw some young birds which were being
thoroughly drenched. So he took off his coat and covered them
over with it, and he himself sat down under the tree. Presently
there came flying a bird--such a big one that the light was blotted
out by it. It had been dark there before, but now it became darker
still. Now this was the mother of those small birds which the
Prince had covered up. And when the bird had come flying up,
she perceived that her little ones were covered over, and she said,
`Who has wrapped up my nestlings?' and presently, seeing the
Prince, she added: `Didst thou do that? Thanks! In return, ask
of me anything thou desirest. I will do anything for thee.'
`Then carry me into the other world,' he replied.
`Make me a large vessel with a partition in the middle,' she
said; `catch all sorts of game, and put them into one half of it,
and into the other half pour water; so that there may be meat and
drink for me.'
All this the Prince did. Then the bird--having taken the
vessel on her back, with the Prince sitting in the middle of it--
began to fly. And after flying some distance she brought him to
his journey's end, took leave of him, and flew away back. But he
went to the house of a certain tailor, and engaged himself as his
servant. So much the worse for wear was he, so thoroughly had he
altered in appearance, that nobody would have suspected him of
being a Prince.
Having entered into the service of this master, the Prince began
to ask what was going on in that country. And his master replied:
`Our two Princes--for the third one has disappeared--have brought
away brides from the other world, and want to marry them, but
those brides refuse. For they insist on having all their wedding-
clothes made for them first, exactly like those which they used to
have in the other world, and that without being measured for them.
The King has called all the workmen together, but not one of them
will undertake to do it.'
The Prince, having heard all this, said, `Go to the King, master,
and tell him that you will provide everything that's in your line.'
`However can I undertake to make clothes of that sort? I work
for quite common folks,' says his master.
`Go along, master! I will answer for everything,' says the
Prince.
So the tailor went. The King was delighted that at least one
good workman had been found, and gave him as much money as
ever he wanted. When his tailor had settled everything, he went
home. And the Prince said to him:
`Now then, pray to God, and lie down to sleep; to-morrow all
will be ready.' And the tailor followed his lad's advice, and went
to bed.
Midnight sounded. The Prince arose, went out of the city into
the fields, took out of his pocket the eggs which the maidens had
given him, and, as they had taught him, turned them into three
palaces. Into each of these he entered, took the maidens' robes,
went out again, turned the palaces back into eggs, and went home.
And when he got there he hung up the robes on the wall, and lay
down to sleep.
Early in the morning his master awoke, and behold! there
hung such robes as he had never seen before, all shining with gold
and silver and precious stones. He was delighted, and he seized
them and carried them off to the King. When the Princesses saw
that the clothes were those which had been theirs in the other
world, they guessed that Prince Ivan was in this world, so they
exchanged glances with each other, but they held their peace.
And the master, having handed over the clothes, went home, but
he no longer found his dear journeyman there. For the Prince had
gone to a shoemaker's, and him too he sent to work for the King;
and in the same way he went the round of all the artificers, and
they all proffered him thanks, inasmuch as through him they were
enriched by the King.
By the time the princely workman had gone the round of all
the artificers, the Princesses had received what they had asked for;
all their clothes were just like what they had been in the other
world. Then they wept bitterly because the Prince had not come,
and it was impossible for them to hold out any longer; it was
necessary that they should be married. But when they were ready
for the wedding, the youngest bride said to the King:
`Allow me, my father, to go and give alms to the beggars.'
He gave her leave, and she went and began bestowing alms
upon them, and examining them closely. And when she had
come to one of them, and was going to give him some money, she
caught sight of the ring which she had given to the Prince in the
other world, and her sisters' rings too--for it really was he. So
she seized him by the hand, and brought him into the hall, and
said to the King:
`Here is he who brought us out of the other world. His
brothers forbade us to say that he was alive, threatening to slay us
if we did.'
Then the King was wroth with those sons, and punished them
as he thought best. And afterwards three weddings were celebrated.
THE WONDERFUL BIRCH
ONCE upon a time there were a man and a woman, who had an
only daughter. Now it happened that one of their sheep went
astray, and they set out to look for it, and searched and searched,
each in n different part of the wood. Then the good wife met a
witch, who said to her:
`If you spit, you miserable creature, if you spit into the sheath
of my knife, or if you run between my legs, I shall change you into
a black sheep.'
The woman neither spat, nor did she run between her legs, but
yet the witch changed her into a sheep. Then she made herself
look exactly like the woman, and called out to the good man:
`Ho, old man, halloa! I have found the sheep already!'
The man thought the witch was really his wife, and he did
not know that his wife was the sheep; so he went home with her,
glad at heart because his sheep was found. When they were safe
at home the witch said to the man:
`Look here, old man, we must really kill that sheep lest it run
away to the wood again.'
The man, who was a peaceable quiet sort of fellow, made no
objections, but simply said:
`Good, let us do so.'
The daughter, however, had overheard their talk, and she ran
to the flock and lamented aloud:
`Oh, dear little mother, they are going to slaughter you!'
`Well, then, if they do slaughter me,' was the black sheep's
answer, `eat you neither the meat nor the broth that is made of
me, but gather all my bones, and bury them by the edge of the
field.'
Shortly after this they took the black sheep from the flock and
slaughtered it. The witch made pease-soup of it, and set it before
the daughter. But the girl remembered her mother's warning.
She did not touch the soup, but she carried the bones to the edge
of the field and buried them there; and there sprang up on the
spot a birch tree--a very lovely birch tree.
Some time had passed away--who can tell how long they might
have been living there?--when the witch, to whom a child had been
born in the meantime, began to take an ill-will to the man's
daughter, and to torment her in all sorts of ways.
Now it happened that a great festival was to be held at the
palace, and the King had commanded that all the people should be
invited, and that this proclamation should be made:
`Come, people all!
Poor and wretched, one and all!
Blind and crippled though ye be,
Mount your steeds or come by sea.'
And so they drove into the King's feast all the outcasts, and the
maimed, and the halt, and the blind. In the good man's house, too,
preparations were made to go to the palace. The witch said to the man:
`Go you on in front, old man, with our youngest; I will give
the elder girl work to keep her from being dull in our absence.'
So the man took the child and set out. But the witch kindled
a fire on the hearth, threw a potful of barleycorns among the
cinders, and said to the girl:
`If you have not picked the barley out of the ashes, and put it
all back in the pot before nightfall, I shall eat you up!'
Then she hastened after the others, and the poor girl stayed at
home and wept. She tried to be sure to pick up the grains of
barley, but she soon saw how useless her labour was; and so she
went in her sore trouble to the birch tree on her mother's grave,
and cried and cried, because her mother lay dead beneath the sod
and could help her no longer. In the midst of her grief she
suddenly heard her mother's voice speak from the grave, and say to
her:
`Why do you weep, little daughter?'
`The witch has scattered barleycorns on the hearth, and bid
me pick them out of the ashes,' said the girl; `that is why I weep,
dear little mother.'
`Do not weep,' said her mother consolingly. `Break off one of
my branches, and strike the hearth with it crosswise, and all will
be put right.'
The girl did so. She struck the hearth with the birchen branch,
and lo! the barleycorns flew into the pot, and the hearth was clean.
Then she went back to the birch tree and laid the branch upon the
grave. Then her mother bade her bathe on one side of the stem,
dry herself on another, and dress on the third. When the girl had
done all that, she had grown so lovely that no one on earth could rival
her. Splendid clothing was given to her, and a horse, with hair
partly of gold, partly of silver, and partly of something more precious
still. The girl sprang into the saddle, and rode as swift as an arrow
to the palace. As she turned into the courtyard of the castle the
King's son came out to meet her, tied her steed to a pillar, and led
her in. He never left her side as they passed through the castle
rooms; and all the people gazed at her, and wondered who the
lovely maiden was, and from what castle she came; but no one
knew her--no one knew anything about her. At the banquet the
Prince invited her to sit next him in the place of honour; but the
witch's daughter gnawed the bones under the table. The Prince
did not see her, and thinking it was a dog, he gave her such a push
with his foot that her arm was broken. Are you not sorry for the
witch's daughter? It was not her fault that her mother was a witch.
Towards evening the good man's daughter thought it was time
to go home; but as she went, her ring caught on the latch of the
door, for the King's son had had it smeared with tar. She did not
take time to pull it off, but, hastily unfastening her horse from the
pillar, she rode away beyond the castle walls as swift as an arrow.
Arrived at home, she took off her clothes by the birch tree, left her
horse standing there, and hastened to her place behind the stove.
In a short time the man and the woman came home again too, and
the witch said to the girl:
`Ah! you poor thing, there you are to be sure! You don't
know what fine times we have had at the palace! The King's son
carried my daughter about, but the poor thing fell and broke her
arm.'
The girl knew well how matters really stood, but she pretended
to know nothing about it, and sat dumb behind the stove.
The next day they were invited again to the King's banquet.
`Hey! old man,' said the witch, `get on your clothes as quick
as you can; we are bidden to the feast. Take you the child; I will
give the other one work, lest she weary.'
She kindled the fire, threw a potful of hemp seed among the
ashes, and said to the girl:
`If you do not get this sorted, and all the seed back into the pot,
I shall kill you!'
The girl wept bitterly; then she went to the birch tree, washed
herself on one side of it and dried herself on the other; and this
time still finer clothes were given to her, and a very beautiful
steed. She broke off a branch of the birch tree, struck the hearth
with it, so that the seeds flew into the pot, and then hastened to the
castle.
Again the King's son came out to meet her, tied her horse to a
pillar, and led her into the banqueting hall. At the feast the girl sat
next him in the place of honour, as she had done the day before.
But the witch's daughter gnawed bones under the table, and the
Prince gave her a push by mistake, which broke her leg--he had
never noticed her crawling about among the people's feet. She
was VERY unlucky!
The good man's daughter hastened home again betimes, but the
King's son had smeared the door-posts with tar, and the girl's
golden circlet stuck to it. She had not time to look for it, but
sprang to the saddle and rode like an arrow to the birch tree.
There she left her horse and her fine clothes, and said to her
mother:
`I have lost my circlet at the castle; the door-post was tarred,
and it stuck fast.'
`And even had you lost two of them,' answered her mother, `I
would give you finer ones.'
Then the girl hastened home, and when her father came home
from the feast with the witch, she was in her usual place behind
the stove. Then the witch said to her:
`You poor thing! what is there to see here compared with what
WE have seen at the palace? The King's son carried my daughter
from one room to another; he let her fall, 'tis true, and my child's
foot was broken.'
The man's daughter held her peace all the time, and busied
herself about the hearth.
The night passed, and when the day began to dawn, the witch
awakened her husband, crying:
`Hi! get up, old man! We are bidden to the royal banquet.'
So the old man got up. Then the witch gave him the child,
saying:
`Take you the little one; I will give the other girl work to do,
else she will weary at home alone.'
She did as usual. This time it was a dish of milk she poured
upon the ashes, saying:
`If you do not get all the milk into the dish again before I come
home, you will suffer for it.'
How frightened the girl was this time! She ran to the birch
tree, and by its magic power her task was accomplished; and then
she rode away to the palace as before. When she got to the courtyard
she found the Prince waiting for her. He led her into the
hall, where she was highly honoured; but the witch's daughter
sucked the bones under the table, and crouching at the people's feet
she got an eye knocked out, poor thing! Now no one knew any
more than before about the good man's daughter, no one knew
whence she came; but the Prince had had the threshold smeared
with tar, and as she fled her gold slippers stuck to it. She reached
the birch tree, and laying aside her finery, she said:
`Alas I dear little mother, I have lost my gold slippers!'
`Let them be,' was her mother's reply; `if you need them I
shall give you finer ones.'
Scarcely was she in her usual place behind the stove when her
father came home with the witch. Immediately the witch began
to mock her, saying:
`Ah! you poor thing, there is nothing for you to see here, and
WE--ah: what great things we have seen at the palace! My little
girl was carried about again, but had the ill-luck to fall and get her
eye knocked out. You stupid thing, you, what do you know about
anything?'
`Yes, indeed, what can I know?' replied the girl; `I had
enough to do to get the hearth clean.'
Now the Prince had kept all the things the girl had lost, and he
soon set about finding the owner of them. For this purpose a great
banquet was given on the fourth day, and all the people were
invited to the palace. The witch got ready to go too. She tied a
wooden beetle on where her child's foot should have been, a log of
wood instead of an arm, and stuck a bit of dirt in the empty socket
for an eye, and took the child with her to the castle. When all the
people were gathered together, the King's son stepped in among
the crowd and cried:
`The maiden whose finger this ring slips over, whose head this
golden hoop encircles, and whose foot this shoe fits, shall be my
bride.'
What a great trying on there was now among them all! The
things would fit no one, however.
`The cinder wench is not here,' said the Prince at last; `go and
fetch her, and let her try on the things.'
So the girl was fetched, and the Prince was just going to hand
the ornaments to her, when the witch held him back, saying:
`Don't give them to her; she soils everything with cinders;
give them to my daughter rather.'
Well, then the Prince gave the witch's daughter the ring, and
the woman filed and pared away at her daughter's finger till the
ring fitted. It was the same with the circlet and the shoes of gold.
The witch would not allow them to be handed to the cinder wench;
she worked at her own daughter's head and feet till she got the
things forced on. What was to be done now? The Prince had to
take the witch's daughter for his bride whether he would or no; he
sneaked away to her father's house with her, however, for he was
ashamed to hold the wedding festivities at the palace with so strange
a bride. Some days passed, and at last he had to take his bride
home to the palace, and he got ready to do so. Just as they were
taking leave, the kitchen wench sprang down from her place by the
stove, on the pretext of fetching something from the cowhouse, and
in going by she whispered in the Prince's ear as he stood in the
yard:
`Alas! dear Prince, do not rob me of my silver and my gold.'
Thereupon the King's son recognised the cinder wench; so he
took both the girls with him, and set out. After they had gone some
little way they came to the bank of a river, and the Prince threw
the witch's daughter across to serve as a bridge, and so got over
with the cinder wench. There lay the witch's daughter then, like a
bridge over the river, and could not stir, though her heart was
consumed with grief. No help was near, so she cried at last in her
anguish:
`May there grow a golden hemlock out of my body! perhaps
my mother will know me by that token.'
Scarcely had she spoken when a golden hemlock sprang up from
her, and stood upon the bridge.
Now, as soon as the Prince had got rid of the witch's daughter
he greeted the cinder wench as his bride, and they wandered together
to the birch tree which grew upon the mother's grave. There they
received all sorts of treasures and riches, three sacks full of gold,
and as much silver, and a splendid steed, which bore them home to
the palace. There they lived a long time together, and the young
wife bore a son to the Prince. Immediately word was brought to
the witch that her daughter had borne a son--for they all believed
the young King's wife to be the witch's daughter.
`So, so,' said the witch to herself; `I had better away with my
gift for the infant, then.'
And so saying she set out. Thus it happened that she came to
the bank of the river, and there she saw the beautiful golden
hemlock growing in the middle of the bridge, and when she began to
cut it down to take to her grandchild, she heard a voice moaning:
`Alas! dear mother, do not cut me so!'
`Are you here?' demanded the witch.
`Indeed I am, dear little mother,' answered the daughter
`They threw me across the river to make a bridge of me.'
In a moment the witch had the bridge shivered to atoms, and
then she hastened away to the palace. Stepping up to the young
Queen's bed, she began to try her magic arts upon her, saying:
`Spit, you wretch, on the blade of my knife; bewitch my knife's
blade for me, and I shall change you into a reindeer of the forest.'
`Are you there again to bring trouble upon me?' said the young
woman.
She neither spat nor did anything else, but still the witch
changed her into a reindeer, and smuggled her own daughter into
her place as the Prince's wife. But now the child grew restless
and cried, because it missed its mother's care. They took it to the
court, and tried to pacify it in every conceivable way, but its crying
never ceased.
`What makes the child so restless?' asked the Prince, and he
went to a wise widow woman to ask her advice.
`Ay, ay, your own wife is not at home,' said the widow woman;
`she is living like a reindeer in the wood; you have the witch's
daughter for a wife now, and the witch herself for a mother-in-
law.'
`Is there any way of getting my own wife back from the wood
again?' asked the Prince.
`Give me the child,' answered the widow woman. `I'll take it
with me to-morrow when I go to drive the cows to the wood. I'll
make a rustling among the birch leaves and a trembling among
the aspens--perhaps the boy will grow quiet when he hears it.'
`Yes, take the child away, take it to the wood with you to quiet
it,' said the Prince, and led the widow woman into the castle.
`How now? you are going to send the child away to the wood?'
said the witch in a suspicious tone, and tried to interfere.
But the King's son stood firm by what he had commanded, and
said:
`Carry the child about the wood; perhaps that will pacify it.'
So the widow woman took the child to the wood. She came to
the edge of a marsh, and seeing a herd of reindeer there, she began
all at once to sing--
`Little Bright-eyes, little Redskin,
Come nurse the child you bore!
That bloodthirsty monster,
That man-eater grim,
Shall nurse him, shall tend him no more.
They may threaten and force as they will,
He turns from her, shrinks from her still,'
and immediately the reindeer drew near, and nursed and tended
the child the whole day long; but at nightfall it had to follow the
herd, and said to the widow woman:
`Bring me the child to-morrow, and again the following day;
after that I must wander with the herd far away to other lands.'
The following morning the widow woman went back to the
castle to fetch the child. The witch interfered, of course, but the
Prince said:
`Take it, and carry it about in the open air; the boy is quieter
at night, to be sure, when he has been in the wood all day.'
So the widow took the child in her arms, and carried it to the
marsh in the forest. There she sang as on the preceding day--
`Little Bright-eyes, little Redskin,
Come nurse the child you bore!
That bloodthirsty monster,
That man-eater grim,
Shall nurse him, shall tend him no more.
They may threaten and force as they will,
He turns from her, shrinks from her still,'
and immediately the reindeer left the herd and came to the child,
and tended it as on the day before. And so it was that the child
throve, till not a finer boy was to be seen anywhere. But the
King's son had been pondering over all these things, and he said to
the widow woman:
`Is there no way of changing the reindeer into a human being
again?'
`I don't rightly know,' was her answer. `Come to the wood with
me, however; when the woman puts off her reindeer skin I shall
comb her head for her; whilst I am doing so you must burn the skin.'
Thereupon they both went to the wood with the child; scarcely
were they there when the reindeer appeared and nursed the child
as before. Then the widow woman said to the reindeer:
`Since you are going far away to-morrow, and I shall not see
you again, let me comb your head for the last time, as a
remembrance of you.'
Good; the young woman stript off the reindeer skin, and let
the widow woman do as she wished. In the meantime the King's
son threw the reindeer skin into the fire unobserved.
`What smells of singeing here?' asked the young woman, and
looking round she saw her own husband. `Woe is me! you have
burnt my skin. Why did you do that?'
`To give you back your human form again.'
`Alack-a-day! I have nothing to cover me now, poor creature
that I am!' cried the young woman, and transformed herself first
into a distaff, then into a wooden beetle, then into a spindle, and
into all imaginable shapes. But all these shapes the King's son
went on destroying till she stood before him in human form again.
Alas! wherefore take me home with you again,' cried the young
woman, `since the witch is sure to eat me up?'
`She will not eat you up,' answered her husband; and they
started for home with the child.
But when the witch wife saw them she ran away with her
daughter, and if she has not stopped she is running still, though at
a great age. And the Prince, and his wife, and the baby lived
happy ever afterwards.[9]
[9] From the Russo-Karelian.
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
JACK SELLS THE COW
ONCE upon a time there was a poor widow who lived in a little
cottage with her only son Jack.
Jack was a giddy, thoughtless boy, but very kind-hearted and
affectionate. There had been a hard winter, and after it the poor
woman had suffered from fever and ague. Jack did no work as yet,
and by degrees they grew dreadfully poor. The widow saw that
there was no means of keeping Jack and herself from starvation
but by selling her cow; so one morning she said to her son, `I am
too weak to go myself, Jack, so you must take the cow to market
for me, and sell her.'
Jack liked going to market to sell the cow very much; but as
he was on the way, he met a butcher who had some beautiful
beans in his hand. Jack stopped to look at them, and the butcher
told the boy that they were of great value, and persuaded the silly
lad to sell the cow for these beans.
When he brought them home to his mother instead of the money
she expected for her nice cow, she was very vexed and shed many
tears, scolding Jack for his folly. He was very sorry, and mother
and son went to bed very sadly that night; their last hope seemed
gone.
At daybreak Jack rose and went out into the garden.
`At least,' he thought, `I will sow the wonderful beans. Mother
says that they are just common scarlet-runners, and nothing else;
but I may as well sow them.'
So he took a piece of stick, and made some holes in the ground,
and put in the beans.
That day they had very little dinner, and went sadly to bed,
knowing that for the next day there would be none and Jack,
unable to sleep from grief and vexation, got up at day-dawn and
went out into the garden.
What was his amazement to find that the beans had grown up
in the night, and climbed up and up till they covered the high cliff
that sheltered the cottage, and disappeared above it! The stalks
had twined and twisted themselves together till they formed quite
a ladder.
`It would be easy to climb it,' thought Jack.
And, having thought of the experiment, he at once resolved to
carry it out, for Jack was a good climber. However, after his late
mistake about the cow, he thought he had better consult his mother
first.
WONDERFUL GROWTH OF THE BEANSTALK
So Jack called his mother, and they both gazed in silent wonder
at the Beanstalk, which was not only of great height, but was thick
enough to bear Jack's weight.
`I wonder where it ends,' said Jack to his mother; `I think I
will climb up and see.'
His mother wished him not to venture up this strange ladder,
but Jack coaxed her to give her consent to the attempt, for he was
certain there must be something wonderful in the Beanstalk; so at
last she yielded to his wishes.
Jack instantly began to climb, and went up and up on the ladder-
like bean till everything he had left behind him--the cottage, the
village, and even the tall church tower--looked quite little, and still
he could not see the top of the Beanstalk.
Jack felt a little tired, and thought for a moment that he would
go back again; but he was a very persevering boy, and he knew
that the way to succeed in anything is not to give up. So after
resting for a moment he went on.
After climbing higher and higher, till he grew afraid to look
down for fear he should be giddy, Jack at last reached the top of
the Beanstalk, and found himself in a beautiful country, finely
wooded, with beautiful meadows covered with sheep. A crystal
stream ran through the pastures; not far from the place where he
had got off the Beanstalk stood a fine, strong castle.
Jack wondered very much that he had never heard of or seen
this castle before; but when he reflected on the subject, he saw that
it was as much separated from the village by the perpendicular
rock on which it stood as if it were in another land.
While Jack was standing looking at the castle, a very strange-
looking woman came out of the wood, and advanced towards him.
She wore a pointed cap of quilted red satin turned up with
ermine, her hair streamed loose over her shoulders, and she walked
with a staff. Jack took off his cap and made her a bow.
`If you please, ma'am,' said he, `is this your house?'
`No,' said the old lady. `Listen, and I will tell you the story of
that castle.
`Once upon a time there was a noble knight, who lived in this
castle, which is on the borders of Fairyland. He had a fair and
beloved wife and several lovely children: and as his neighbours, the
little people, were very friendly towards him, they bestowed on him
many excellent and precious gifts.
`Rumour whispered of these treasures; and a monstrous giant,
who lived at no great distance, and who was a very wicked being,
resolved to obtain possession of them.
`So he bribed a false servant to let him inside the castle, when
the knight was in bed and asleep, and he killed him as he lay. Then
he went to the part of the castle which was the nursery, and also
killed all the poor little ones he found there.
`Happily for her, the lady was not to be found. She had gone
with her infant son, who was only two or three months old, to visit
her old nurse, who lived in the valley; and she had been detained
all night there by a storm.
`The next morning, as soon as it was light, one of the servants
at the castle, who had managed to escape, came to tell the poor
lady of the sad fate of her husband and her pretty babes. She
could scarcely believe him at first, and was eager at once to go back
and share the fate of her dear ones; but the old nurse, with many
tears, besought her to remember that she had still a child, and that
it was her duty to preserve her life for the sake of the poor innocent.
`The lady yielded to this reasoning, and consented to remain at
her nurse's house as the best place of concealment; for the servant
told her that the giant had vowed, if he could find her, he would
kill both her and her baby. Years rolled on. The old nurse died,
leaving her cottage and the few articles of furniture it contained to
her poor lady, who dwelt in it, working as a peasant for her daily
bread. Her spinning-wheel and the milk of a cow, which she had
purchased with the little money she had with her, sufficed for the
scanty subsistence of herself and her little son. There was a nice
little garden attached to the cottage, in which they cultivated peas,
beans, and cabbages, and the lady was not ashamed to go out at
harvest time, and glean in the fields to supply her little son's wants.
`Jack, that poor lady is your mother. This castle was once your
father's, and must again be yours.'
Jack uttered a cry of surprise.
`My mother! oh, madam, what ought I to do? My poor
father! My dear mother!'
`Your duty requires you to win it back for your mother. But
the task is a very difficult one, and full of peril, Jack. Have you
courage to undertake it?'
`I fear nothing when I am doing right,' said Jack.
`Then,' said the lady in the red cap, `you are one of those who
slay giants. You must get into the castle, and if possible possess
yourself of a hen that lays golden eggs, and a harp that talks.
Remember, all the giant possesses is really yours.' As she ceased
speaking, the lady of the red hat suddenly disappeared, and of course
Jack knew she was a fairy.
Jack determined at once to attempt the adventure; so he
advanced, and blew the horn which hung at the castle portal. The
door was opened in a minute or two by a frightful giantess, with
one great eye in the middle of her forehead.
As soon as Jack saw her he turned to run away, but she caught
him, and dragged him into the castle.
`Ho, ho!' she laughed terribly. `You didn't expect to see me
here, that is clear! No, I shan't let you go again. I am weary of
my life. I am so overworked, and I don't see why I should not
have a page as well as other ladies. And you shall be my boy. You
shall clean the knives, and black the boots, and make the fires, and
help me generally when the giant is out. When he is at home I
must hide you, for he has eaten up all my pages hitherto, and you
would be a dainty morsel, my little lad.'
While she spoke she dragged Jack right into the castle. The
poor boy was very much frightened, as I am sure you and I
would have been in his place. But he remembered that fear
disgraces a man; so he struggled to be brave and make the best of
things.
`I am quite ready to help you, and do all I can to serve you,
madam,' he said, `only I beg you will be good enough to hide me
from your husband, for I should not like to be eaten at all.'
`That's a good boy,' said the Giantess, nodding her head; `it is
lucky for you that you did not scream out when you saw me, as
the other boys who have been here did, for if you had done so my
husband would have awakened and have eaten you, as he did them,
for breakfast. Come here, child; go into my wardrobe: he never
ventures to open THAT; you will be safe there.'
And she opened a huge wardrobe which stood in the great hall,
and shut him into it. But the keyhole was so large that it ad-
mitted plenty of air, and he could see everything that took place
through it. By-and-by he heard a heavy tramp on the stairs, like
the lumbering along of a great cannon, and then a voice like thunder
cried out;
`Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,
I smell the breath of an Englishman.
Let him be alive or let him be dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread.'
`Wife,' cried the Giant, `there is a man in the castle. Let me
have him for breakfast.'
`You are grown old and stupid,' cried the lady in her loud
tones. `It is only a nice fresh steak off an elephant, that I have
cooked for you, which you smell. There, sit down and make a
good breakfast.'
And she placed a huge dish before him of savoury steaming
meat, which greatly pleased him, and made him forget his idea of
an Englishman being in the castle. When he had breakfasted he
went out for a walk; and then the Giantess opened the door, and
made Jack come out to help her. He helped her all day. She
fed him well, and when evening came put him back in the wardrobe.
THE HEN THAT LAYS GOLDEN EGGS.
The Giant came in to supper. Jack watched him through the
keyhole, and was amazed to see him pick a wolf's bone, and put
half a fowl at a time into his capacious mouth.
When the supper was ended he bade his wife bring him his hen
that laid the golden eggs.
`It lays as well as it did when it belonged to that paltry knight,'
he said; `indeed I think the eggs are heavier than ever.'
The Giantess went away, and soon returned with a little brown
hen, which she placed on the table before her husband. `And now,
my dear,' she said, `I am going for a walk, if you don't want me
any longer.'
`Go,' said the Giant; `I shall be glad to have a nap by-and-by.'
Then he took up the brown hen and said to her:
`Lay!' And she instantly laid a golden egg.
`Lay!' said the Giant again. And she laid another.
`Lay!' he repeated the third time. And again a golden egg lay
on the table.
Now Jack was sure this hen was that of which the fairy had
spoken.
By-and-by the Giant put the hen down on the floor, and soon
after went fast asleep, snoring so loud that it sounded like thunder.
Directly Jack perceived that the Giant was fast asleep, he
pushed open the door of the wardrobe and crept out; very softly he
stole across the room, and, picking up the hen, made haste to quit
the apartment. He knew the way to the kitchen, the door of
which he found was left ajar; he opened it, shut and locked it after
him, and flew back to the Beanstalk, which he descended as fast
as his feet would move.
When his mother saw him enter the house she wept for joy, for
she had feared that the fairies had carried him away, or that the
Giant had found him. But Jack put the brown hen down before
her, and told her how he had been in the Giant's castle, and all his
adventures. She was very glad to see the hen, which would make
them rich once more.
THE MONEY BAGS.
Jack made another journey up the Beanstalk to the Giant's
castle one day while his mother had gone to market; but first
he dyed his hair and disguised himself. The old woman did not
know him again, and dragged him in as she had done before, to
help her to do the work; but she heard her husband coming, and hid
him in the wardrobe, not thinking that it was the same boy who had
stolen the hen. She bade him stay quite still there, or the Giant
would eat him.
Then the Giant came in saying:
`Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,
I smell the breath of an Englishman.
Let him be alive or let him be dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread.'
`Nonsense!' said the wife, `it is only a roasted bullock that I
thought would be a tit-bit for your supper; sit down and I will
bring it up at once.' The Giant sat down, and soon his wife
brought up a roasted bullock on a large dish, and they began their
supper. Jack was amazed to see them pick the bones of the bullock
as if it had been a lark. As soon as they had finished their
meal, the Giantess rose and said:
`Now, my dear, with your leave I am going up to my room to
finish the story I am reading. If you want me call for me.'
`First,' answered the Giant, `bring me my money bags, that I
may count my golden pieces before I sleep.' The Giantess obeyed.
She went and soon returned with two large bags over her shoulders,
which she put down by her husband.
`There,' she said; `that is all that is left of the knight's money.
When you have spent it you must go and take another baron's
castle.'
`That he shan't, if I can help it,' thought Jack.
The Giant, when his wife was gone, took out heaps and heaps of
golden pieces, and counted them, and put them in piles, till he was
tired of the amusement. Then he swept them all back into their
bags, and leaning back in his chair fell fast asleep, snoring so loud
that no other sound was audible.
Jack stole softly out of the wardrobe, and taking up the bags of
money (which were his very own, because the Giant had stolen
them from his father), he ran off, and with great difficulty descending
the Beanstalk, laid the bags of gold on his mother's table. She
had just returned from town, and was crying at not finding Jack.
`There, mother, I have brought you the gold that my father
lost.'
`Oh, Jack! you are a very good boy, but I wish you would not
risk your precious life in the Giant's castle. Tell me how you
came to go there again.'
And Jack told her all about it.
Jack's mother was very glad to get the money, but she did not
like him to run any risk for her.
But after a time Jack made up his mind to go again to the
Giant's castle.
THE TALKING HARP.
So he climbed the Beanstalk once more, and blew the horn at
the Giant's gate. The Giantess soon opened the door; she was
very stupid, and did not know him again, but she stopped a minute
before she took him in. She feared another robbery; but Jack's
fresh face looked so innocent that she could not resist him, and so
she bade him come in, and again hid him away in the wardrobe.
By-and-by the Giant came home, and as soon as he had crossed
the threshold he roared out:
`Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,
I smell the breath of an Englishman.
Let him be alive or let him be dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread.'
`You stupid old Giant,' said his wife, `you only smell a nice
sheep, which I have grilled for your dinner.'
And the Giant sat down, and his wife brought up a whole sheep
for his dinner. When he had eaten it all up, he said:
`Now bring me my harp, and I will have a little music while
you take your walk.'
The Giantess obeyed, and returned with a beautiful harp. The
framework was all sparkling with diamonds and rubies, and the
strings were all of gold.
`This is one of the nicest things I took from the knight,' said
the Giant. `I am very fond of music, and my harp is a faithful
servant.'
So he drew the harp towards him, and said:
`Play!'
And the harp played a very soft, sad air.
`Play something merrier!' said the Giant.
And the harp played a merry tune.
`Now play me a lullaby,' roared the Giant; and the harp played
a sweet lullaby, to the sound of which its master fell asleep.
Then Jack stole softly out of the wardrobe, and went into the
huge kitchen to see if the Giantess had gone out; he found no one
there, so he went to the door and opened it softly, for he thought he
could not do so with the harp in his hand.
Then he entered the Giant's room and seized the harp and ran
away with it; but as he jumped over the threshold the harp called
out:
`MASTER! MASTER!'
And the Giant woke up.
With a tremendous roar he sprang from his seat, and in two strides
had reached the door.
But Jack was very nimble. He fled like lightning with the harp,
talking to it as he went (for he saw it was a fairy), and telling it he
was the son of its old master, the knight.
Still the Giant came on so fast that he was quite close to poor
Jack, and had stretched out his great hand to catch him. But,
luckily, just at that moment he stepped upon a loose stone, stumbled,
and fell flat on the ground, where he lay at his full length.
This accident gave Jack time to get on the Beanstalk and hasten
down it; but just as he reached their own garden he beheld the
Giant descending after him.
`Mother I mother!' cried Jack, `make haste and give me the
axe.'
His mother ran to him with a hatchet in her hand, and Jack
with one tremendous blow cut through all the Beanstalks except
one.
`Now, mother, stand out of the way!' said he.
THE GIANT BREAKS HIS NECK.
Jack's mother shrank back, and it was well she did so, for just
as the Giant took hold of the last branch of the Beanstalk, Jack cut
the stem quite through and darted from the spot.
Down came the Giant with a terrible crash, and as he fell on his
head, he broke his neck, and lay dead at the feet of the woman he
had so much injured.
Before Jack and his mother had recovered from their alarm and
agitation, a beautiful lady stood before them.
`Jack,' said she, `you have acted like a brave knight's son, and
deserve to have your inheritance restored to you. Dig a grave and
bury the Giant, and then go and kill the Giantess.'
`But,' said Jack, `I could not kill anyone unless I were fighting
with him; and I could not draw my sword upon a woman. Moreover,
the Giantess was very kind to me.'
The Fairy smiled on Jack.
`I am very much pleased with your generous feeling,' she said.
`Nevertheless, return to the castle, and act as you will find needful.'
Jack asked the Fairy if she would show him the way to the castle,
as the Beanstalk was now down. She told him that she would
drive him there in her chariot, which was drawn by two peacocks.
Jack thanked her, and sat down in the chariot with her.
The Fairy drove him a long distance round, till they reached a
village which lay at the bottom of the hill. Here they found a
number of miserable-looking men assembled. The Fairy stopped
her carriage and addressed them:
`My friends,' said she, `the cruel giant who oppressed you and
ate up all your flocks and herds is dead, and this young gentleman
was the means of your being delivered from him, and is the son of
your kind old master, the knight.'
The men gave a loud cheer at these words, and pressed forward
to say that they would serve Jack as faithfully as they had served
his father. The Fairy bade them follow her to the castle, and they
marched thither in a body, and Jack blew the horn and demanded
admittance.
The old Giantess saw them coming from the turret loop-hole.
She was very much frightened, for she guessed that something had
happened to her husband; and as she came downstairs very fast
she caught her foot in her dress, and fell from the top to the bottom
and broke her neck.
When the people outside found that the door was not opened to
them, they took crowbars and forced the portal. Nobody was to be
seen, but on leaving the hall they found the body of the Giantess at
the foot of the stairs.
Thus Jack took possession of the castle. The Fairy went and
brought his mother to him, with the hen and the harp. He had the
Giantess buried, and endeavoured as much as lay in his power to do
right to those whom the Giant had robbed.
Before her departure for fairyland, the Fairy explained to Jack
that she had sent the butcher to meet him with the beans, in order
to try what sort of lad he was.
If you had looked at the gigantic Beanstalk and only stupidly
wondered about it,' she said, `I should have left you where
misfortune had placed you, only restoring her cow to your mother.
But you showed an inquiring mind, and great courage and enterprise,
therefore you deserve to rise; and when you mounted the Beanstalk
you climbed the Ladder of Fortune.'
She then took her leave of Jack and his mother.
THE LITTLE GOOD MOUSE
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen who loved each
other so much that they were never happy unless they were
together. Day after day they went out hunting or fishing; night
after night they went to balls or to the opera; they sang, and danced,
and ate sugar-plums, and were the gayest of the gay, and all their
subjects followed their example so that the kingdom was called the
Joyous Land. Now in the next kingdom everything was as different
as it could possibly be. The King was sulky and savage, and never
enjoyed himself at all. He looked so ugly and cross that all his
subjects feared him, and he hated the very sight of a cheerful face;
so if he ever caught anyone smiling he had his head cut off that
very minute. This kingdom was very appropriately called the Land
of Tears. Now when this wicked King heard of the happiness of
the Jolly King, he was so jealous that he collected a great army
and set out to fight him, and the news of his approach was soon
brought to the King and Queen. The Queen, when she heard of it,
was frightened out of her wits, and began to cry bitterly. `Sire,'
she said, `let us collect all our riches and run away as far as ever
we can, to the other side of the world.'
But the King answered:
`Fie, madam! I am far too brave for that. It is better to die
than to be a coward.'
Then he assembled all his armed men, and after bidding the
Queen a tender farewell, he mounted his splendid horse and rode
away. When he was lost to sight the Queen could do nothing but
weep, and wring her hands, and cry.
`Alas! If the King is killed, what will become of me and of my
little daughter?' and she was so sorrowful that she could neither eat
nor sleep.
The King sent her a letter every day, but at last, one morning,
as she looked out of the palace window, she saw a messenger
approaching in hot haste.
`What news, courier? What news?' cried the Queen, and he
answered:
`The battle is lost and the King is dead, and in another moment
the enemy will be here.'
The poor Queen fell back insensible, and all her ladies carried
her to bed, and stood round her weeping and wailing. Then began
a tremendous noise and confusion, and they knew that the enemy
had arrived, and very soon they heard the King himself stamping
about the palace seeking the Queen. Then her ladies put the little
Princess into her arms, and covered her up, head and all, in the
bedclothes, and ran for their lives, and the poor Queen lay there
shaking, and hoping she would not be found. But very soon the
wicked King clattered into the room, and in a fury because the
Queen would not answer when he called to her, he tore back her
silken coverings and tweaked off her lace cap, and when all her
lovely hair came tumbling down over her shoulders, he wound it
three times round his hand and threw her over his shoulder, where
he carried her like a sack of flour.
The poor Queen held her little daughter safe in her arms and
shrieked for mercy, but the wicked King only mocked her, and
begged her to go on shrieking, as it amused him, and so mounted
his great black horse, and rode back to his own country. When he
got there he declared that he would have the Queen and the little
Princess hanged on the nearest tree; but his courtiers said that
seemed a pity, for when the baby grew up she would be a very nice
wife for the King's only son.
The King was rather pleased with this idea, and shut the Queen
up in the highest room of a tall tower, which was very tiny, and
miserably furnished with a table and a very hard bed upon the floor.
Then he sent for a fairy who lived near his kingdom, and after
receiving her with more politeness than he generally showed, and
entertaining her at a sumptuous feast, he took her up to see the
Queen. The fairy was so touched by the sight of her misery that
when she kissed her hand she whispered:
`Courage, madam! I think I see a way to help you.'
The Queen, a little comforted by these words, received her
graciously, and begged her to take pity upon the poor little Princess, who
had met with such a sudden reverse of fortune. But the King got
very cross when he saw them whispering together, and cried harshly:
`Make an end of these fine speeches, madam. I brought you
here to tell me if the child will grow up pretty and fortunate.'
Then the Fairy answered that the Princess would be as pretty,
and clever, and well brought up as it was possible to be, and the
old King growled to the Queen that it was lucky for her that it was
so, as they would certainly have been hanged if it were otherwise.
Then he stamped off, taking the Fairy with him, and leaving the
poor Queen in tears.
`How can I wish my little daughter to grow up pretty if she is
to be married to that horrid little dwarf, the King's son,' she said
to herself, `and yet, if she is ugly we shall both be killed. If I could
only hide her away somewhere, so that the cruel King could never
find her.'
As the days went on, the Queen and the little Princess grew
thinner and thinner, for their hard-hearted gaoler gave them every
day only three boiled peas and a tiny morsel of black bread, so
they were always terribly hungry. At last, one evening, as the
Queen sat at her spinning-wheel--for the King was so avaricious
that she was made to work day and night--she saw a tiny, pretty
little mouse creep out of a hole, and said to it:
`Alas, little creature! what are you coming to look for here?
I only have three peas for my day's provision, so unless you wish
to fast you must go elsewhere.'
But the mouse ran hither and thither, and danced and capered
so prettily, that at last the Queen gave it her last pea, which she
was keeping for her supper, saying: `Here, little one, eat it up; I
have nothing better to offer you, but I give this willingly in return
for the amusement I have had from you.'
She had hardly spoken when she saw upon the table a delicious
little roast partridge, and two dishes of preserved fruit. `Truly,' said
she, `a kind action never goes unrewarded; `and she and the little
Princess ate their supper with great satisfaction, and then the
Queen gave what was left to the little mouse, who danced better
than ever afterwards. The next morning came the gaoler with
the Queen's allowance of three peas, which he brought in upon a
large dish to make them look smaller; but as soon as he set it
down the little mouse came and ate up all three, so that when the
Queen wanted her dinner there was nothing left for her. Then
she was quite provoked, and said:
`What a bad little beast that mouse must be! If it goes on like
this I shall be starved.' But when she glanced at the dish again
it was covered with all sorts of nice things to eat, and the Queen
made a very good dinner, and was gayer than usual over it. But
afterwards as she sat at her spinning-wheel she began to consider
what would happen if the little Princess did not grow up pretty
enough to please the King, and she said to herself:
`Oh! if I could only think of some way of escaping.'
As she spoke she saw the little mouse playing in a corner with
some long straws. The Queen took them and began to plait them,
saying:
`If only I had straws enough I would make a basket with them,
and let my baby down in it from the window to any kind passer-
by who would take care of her.'
By the time the straws were all plaited the little mouse had
dragged in more and more, until the Queen had plenty to make
her basket, and she worked at it day and night, while the little
mouse danced for her amusement; and at dinner and supper time
the Queen gave it the three peas and the bit of black bread, and
always found something good in the dish in their place. She
really could not imagine where all the nice things came from.
At last one day when the basket was finished, the Queen was looking
out of the window to see how long a cord she must make to
lower it to the bottom of the tower, when she noticed a little old
woman who was leaning upon her stick and looking up at her.
Presently she said:
`I know your trouble, madam. If you like I will help you.'
`Oh! my dear friend,' said the Queen. `If you really wish to
be of use to me you will come at the time that I will appoint, and
I will let down my poor little baby in a basket. If you will take
her, and bring her up for me, when I am rich I will reward you
splendidly.'
`I don't care about the reward,' said the old woman, `but there
is one thing I should like. You must know that I am very
particular about what I eat, and if there is one thing that I fancy
above all others, it is a plump, tender little mouse. If there is
such a thing in your garret just throw it down to me, and in
return I will promise that your little daughter shall be well taken
care of.'
The Queen when she heard this began to cry, but made no
answer, and the old woman after waiting a few minutes asked her
what was the matter.
`Why,' said the Queen, `there is only one mouse in this garret,
and that is such a dear, pretty little thing that I cannot bear to
think of its being killed.'
`What!' cried the old woman, in a rage. `Do you care more
for a miserable mouse than for your own baby? Good-bye, madam!
I leave you to enjoy its company, and for my own part I thank my
stars that I can get plenty of mice without troubling you to give
them to me.'
And she hobbled off grumbling and growling. As to the Queen,
she was so disappointed that, in spite of finding a better dinner
than usual, and seeing the little mouse dancing in its merriest
mood, she could do nothing but cry. That night when her baby
was fast asleep she packed it into the basket, and wrote on a slip
of paper, `This unhappy little girl is called Delicia!' This she
pinned to its robe, and then very sadly she was shutting the basket,
when in sprang the little mouse and sat on the baby's pillow.
`Ah! little one,' said the Queen, `it cost me dear to save your
life. How shall I know now whether my Delicia is being taken care
of or no? Anyone else would have let the greedy old woman have
you, and eat you up, but I could not bear to do it.' Whereupon
the Mouse answered:
`Believe me, madam, you will never repent of your kindness.'
The Queen was immensely astonished when the Mouse began
to speak, and still more so when she saw its little sharp nose turn
to a beautiful face, and its paws to hands and feet; then it suddenly
grew tall, and the Queen recognised the Fairy who had come with
the wicked King to visit her.
The Fairy smiled at her astonished look, and said:
`I wanted to see if you were faithful and capable of feeling a
real friendship for me, for you see we fairies are rich in everything
but friends, and those are hard to find.'
`It is not possible that YOU should want for friends, you charming
creature,' said the Queen, kissing her.
`Indeed it is so,' the Fairy said. `For those who are only
friendly with me for their own advantage, I do not count at all.
But when you cared for the poor little mouse you could not have
known there was anything to be gained by it, and to try you further
I took the form of the old woman whom you talked to from the
window, and then I was convinced that you really loved me.' Then,
turning to the little Princess, she kissed her rosy lips three times,
saying:
`Dear little one, I promise that you shall be richer than your
father, and shall live a hundred years, always pretty and happy,
without fear of old age and wrinkles.'
The Queen, quite delighted, thanked the Fairy gratefully, and
begged her to take charge of the little Delicia and bring her up as
her own daughter. This she agreed to do, and then they shut the
basket and lowered it carefully, baby and all, to the ground at the
foot of the tower. The Fairy then changed herself back into the
form of a mouse, and this delayed her a few seconds, after which
she ran nimbly down the straw rope, but only to find when she got
to the bottom that the baby had disappeared.
In the greatest terror she ran up again to the Queen, crying:
`All is lost! my enemy Cancaline has stolen the Princess away.
You must know that she is a cruel fairy who hates me, and as
she is older than I am and has more power, I can do nothing against
her. I know no way of rescuing Delicia from her clutches.'
When the Queen heard this terrible news she was heart-broken,
and begged the Fairy to do all she could to get the poor little Princess
back again. At this moment in came the gaoler, and when he
missed the little Princess he at once told the King, who came in a
great fury asking what the Queen had done with her. She answered
that a fairy, whose name she did not know, had come and carried
her off by force. Upon this the King stamped upon the ground, and
cried in a terrible voice:
`You shall be hung! I always told you you should.' And without
another word he dragged the unlucky Queen out into the nearest
wood, and climbed up into a tree to look for a branch to which he
could hang her. But when he was quite high up, the Fairy, who
had made herself invisible and followed them, gave him a sudden
push, which made him lose his footing and fall to the ground with
a crash and break four of his teeth, and while he was trying to
mend them the fairy carried the Queen off in her flying chariot to a
beautiful castle, where she was so kind to her that but for the loss of
Delicia the Queen would have been perfectly happy. But though
the good little mouse did her very utmost, they could not find out
where Cancaline had hidden the little Princess.
Thus fifteen years went by, and the Queen had somewhat
recovered from her grief, when the news reached her that the son of
the wicked King wished to marry the little maiden who kept the
turkeys, and that she had refused him; the wedding-dresses had been
made, nevertheless, and the festivities were to be so splendid that
all the people for leagues round were flocking in to be present at
them. The Queen felt quite curious about a little turkey-maiden
who did not wish to be a Queen, so the little mouse conveyed herself
to the poultry-yard to find out what she was like.
She found the turkey-maiden sitting upon a big stone, barefooted,
and miserably dressed in an old, coarse linen gown and cap; the
ground at her feet was all strewn with robes of gold and silver,
ribbons and laces, diamonds and pearls, over which the turkeys were
stalking to and fro, while the King's ugly, disagreeable son stood
opposite her, declaring angrily that if she would not marry him she
should be killed.
The Turkey-maiden answered proudly:
`I never will marry you I you are too ugly and too much like
your cruel father. Leave me in peace with my turkeys, which I like
far better than all your fine gifts.'
The little mouse watched her with the greatest admiration, for
she was as beautiful as the spring; and as soon as the wicked Prince
was gone, she took the form of an old peasant woman and said to
her:
`Good day, my pretty one! you have a fine flock of turkeys
there.'
The young Turkey-maiden turned her gentle eyes upon the old
woman, and answered:
`Yet they wish me to leave them to become a miserable Queen!
what is your advice upon the matter?'
`My child,' said the Fairy, `a crown is a very pretty thing, but
you know neither the price nor the weight of it.'
`I know so well that I have refused to wear one,' said the little
maiden, `though I don't know who was my father, or who was my
mother, and I have not a friend in the world.'
`You have goodness and beauty, which are of more value than
ten kingdoms,' said the wise Fairy. `But tell me, child, how came
you here, and how is it you have neither father, nor mother, nor
friend?'
`A Fairy called Cancaline is the cause of my being here,' answered
she, `for while I lived with her I got nothing but blows and harsh
words, until at last I could bear it no longer, and ran away from
her without knowing where I was going, and as I came through a
wood the wicked Prince met me, and offered to give me charge of
the poultry-yard. I accepted gladly, not knowing that I should
have to see him day by day. And now he wants to marry me, but
that I will never consent to.'
Upon hearing this the Fairy became convinced that the little
Turkey-maiden was none other than the Princess Delicia.
`What is your name, my little one?' said she.
`I am called Delicia, if it please you,' she answered.
Then the Fairy threw her arms round the Princess's neck, and
nearly smothered her with kisses, saying:
`Ah, Delicia! I am a very old friend of yours, and I am truly
glad to find you at last; but you might look nicer than you do in
that old gown, which is only fit for a kitchen-maid. Take this pretty
dress and let us see the difference it will make.'
So Delicia took off the ugly cap, and shook out all her fair shining
hair, and bathed her hands and face in clear water from the nearest
spring till her cheeks were like roses, and when she was adorned
with the diamonds and the splendid robe the Fairy had given her,
she looked the most beautiful Princess in the world, and the Fairy
with great delight cried:
`Now you look as you ought to look, Delicia: what do you
think about it yourself?'
And Delicia answered:
`I feel as if I were the daughter of some great king.'
`And would you be glad if you were?' said the Fairy.
`Indeed I should,' answered she.
`Ah, well,' said the Fairy, `to-morrow I may have some pleasant
news for you.'
So she hurried back to her castle, where the Queen sat busy with
her embroidery, and cried:
`Well, madam! will you wager your thimble and your golden
needle that I am bringing you the best news you could possibly hear?'
`Alas!' sighed the Queen, `since the death of the Jolly King
and the loss of my Delicia, all the news in the world is not worth a
pin to me.
`There, there, don't be melancholy,' said the Fairy. `I assure
you the Princess is quite well, and I have never seen her equal for
beauty. She might be a Queen to-morrow if she chose; `and then
she told all that had happened, and the Queen first rejoiced over the
thought of Delicia's beauty, and then wept at the idea of her being
a Turkey-maiden.
`I will not hear of her being made to marry the wicked King's
son,' she said. `Let us go at once and bring her here.'
In the meantime the wicked Prince, who was very angry with
Delicia, had sat himself down under a tree, and cried and howled
with rage and spite until the King heard him, and cried out from
the window:
`What is the matter with you, that you are making all this
disturbance?'
The Prince replied:
`It is all because our Turkey-maiden will not love me!'
`Won't love you? eh!' said the King. `We'll very soon see
about that!' So he called his guards and told them to go and
fetch Delicia. `See if I don't make her change her mind pretty
soon!' said the wicked King with a chuckle.
Then the guards began to search the poultry-yard, and could
find nobody there but Delicia, who, with her splendid dress and
her crown of diamonds, looked such a lovely Princess that they
hardly dared to speak to her. But she said to them very politely:
`Pray tell me what you are looking for here?'
`Madam,' they answered, `we are sent for an insignificant little
person called Delicia.'
`Alas!' said she, `that is my name. What can you want with me?'
So the guards tied her hands and feet with thick ropes, for fear
she might run away, and brought her to the King, who was waiting
with his son.
When he saw her he was very much astonished at her beauty,
which would have made anyone less hard-hearted sorry for her.
But the wicked King only laughed and mocked at her, and
cried: `Well, little fright, little toad! why don't you love my
son, who is far too handsome and too good for you? Make haste
and begin to love him this instant, or you shall be tarred and
feathered.'
Then the poor little Princess, shaking with terror, went down
on her knees, crying:
`Oh, don't tar and feather me, please! It would be so
uncomfortable. Let me have two or three days to make up my mind,
and then you shall do as you like with me.'
The wicked Prince would have liked very much to see her
tarred and feathered, but the King ordered that she should be shut
up in a dark dungeon. It was just at this moment that the Queen
and the Fairy arrived in the flying chariot, and the Queen was
dreadfully distressed at the turn affairs had taken, and said
miserably that she was destined to be unfortunate all her days.
But the Fairy bade her take courage.
`I'll pay them out yet,' said she, nodding her head with an air
of great determination.
That very same night, as soon as the wicked King had gone to
bed, the Fairy changed herself into the little mouse, and creeping
up on to his pillow nibbled his ear, so that he squealed out quite
loudly and turned over on his other side; but that was no good, for
the little mouse only set to work and gnawed away at the second
ear until it hurt more than the first one.
Then the King cried `Murder!' and `Thieves!' and all his
guards ran to see what was the matter, but they could find nothing
and nobody, for the little mouse had run off to the Prince's room
and was serving him in exactly the same way. All night long she
ran from one to the other, until at last, driven quite frantic by
terror and want of sleep, the King rushed out of the palace crying:
`Help! help! I am pursued by rats.'
The Prince when he heard this got up also, and ran after the
King, and they had not gone far when they both fell into the river
and were never heard of again.
Then the good Fairy ran to tell the Queen, and they went
together to the black dungeon where Delicia was imprisoned. The
Fairy touched each door with her wand, and it sprang open
instantly, but they had to go through forty before they came to the
Princess, who was sitting on the floor looking very dejected. But
when the Queen rushed in, and kissed her twenty times in a
minute, and laughed, and cried, and told Delicia all her history,
the Princess was wild with delight. Then the Fairy showed her all
the wonderful dresses and jewels she had brought for her, and said:
`Don't let us waste time; we must go and harangue the people.'
So she walked first, looking very serious and dignified, and
wearing a dress the train of which was at least ten ells long.
Behind her came the Queen wearing a blue velvet robe embroidered
with gold, and a diamond crown that was brighter than the sun
itself. Last of all walked Delicia, who was so beautiful that it was
nothing short of marvellous.
They proceeded through the streets, returning the salutations of
all they met, great or small, and all the people turned and followed
them, wondering who these noble ladies could be.
When the audience hall was quite full, the Fairy said to the
subjects of the Wicked King that if they would accept Delicia, who
was the daughter of the Jolly King, as their Queen, she would
undertake to find a suitable husband for her, and would promise
that during their reign there should be nothing but rejoicing and
merry-making, and all dismal things should be entirely banished.
Upon this the people cried with one accord, `We will, we will! we
have been gloomy and miserable too long already.' And they all
took hands and danced round the Queen, and Delicia, and the good
Fairy, singing: `Yes, yes; we will, we will!'
Then there were feasts and fireworks in every street in the
town, and early the next morning the Fairy, who had been all over
the world in the night, brought back with her, in her flying chariot,
the most handsome and good-tempered Prince she could find
anywhere. He was so charming that Delicia loved him from the
moment their eyes met, and as for him, of course he could not help
thinking himself the luckiest Prince in the world. The Queen felt
that she had really come to the end of her misfortunes at last, and
they all lived happily ever after.[10]
[10] La bonne vetite Souris' par Madame d'Aulnoy.
GRACIOSA AND PERCINET
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had one
charming daughter. She was so graceful and pretty and
clever that she was called Graciosa, and the Queen was so fond of
her that she could think of nothing else.
Everyday she gave the Princess a lovely new frock of gold brocade,
or satin, or velvet, and when she was hungry she had bowls full of
sugar-plums, and at least twenty pots of jam. Everybody said she
was the happiest Princess in the world. Now there lived at this
same court a very rich old duchess whose name was Grumbly.
She was more frightful than tongue can tell; her hair was red as
fire, and she had but one eye, and that not a pretty one! Her face
was as broad as a full moon, and her mouth was so large that
everybody who met her would have been afraid they were going to be
eaten up, only she had no teeth. As she was as cross as she was
ugly, she could not bear to hear everyone saying how pretty and
how charming Graciosa was; so she presently went away from the
court to her own castle, which was not far off. But if anybody who
went to see her happened to mention the charming Princess, she
would cry angrily:
`It's not true that she is lovely. I have more beauty in my little
finger than she has in her whole body.'
Soon after this, to the great grief of the Princess, the Queen was
taken ill and died, and the King became so melancholy that for a
whole year he shut himself up in his palace. At last his physicians,
fearing that he would fall ill, ordered that he should go out and
amuse himself; so a hunting party was arranged, but as it was very
hot weather the King soon got tired, and said he would dismount
and rest at a castle which they were passing.
This happened to be the Duchess Grumbly's castle, and when
she heard that the King was coming she went out to meet him, and
said that the cellar was the coolest place in the whole castle if he
would condescend to come down into it. So down they went
together, and the King seeing about two hundred great casks ranged
side by side, asked if it was only for herself that she had this
immense store of wine.
`Yes, sire,' answered she, `it is for myself alone, but I shall be
most happy to let you taste some of it. Which do you like, canary,
St. Julien, champagne, hermitage sack, raisin, or cider?'
`Well,' said the King, `since you are so kind as to ask me, I
prefer champagne to anything else.'
Then Duchess Grumbly took up a little hammer and tapped
upon the cask twice, and out came at least a thousand crowns.
`What's the meaning of this?' said she smiling.
Then she tapped the next cask, and out came a bushel of gold pieces.
`I don't understand this at all,' said the Duchess, smiling more
than before.
Then she went on to the third cask, tap, tap, and out came such
a stream of diamonds and pearls that the ground was covered with them.
`Ah!' she cried, `this is altogether beyond my comprehension,
sire. Someone must have stolen my good wine and put all this
rubbish in its place.'
`Rubbish, do you call it, Madam Grumbly?' cried the King.
`Rubbish! why there is enough there to buy ten kingdoms.'
`Well,' said she, `you must know that all those casks are full
of gold and jewels, and if you like to marry me it shall all be
yours.'
Now the King loved money more than anything else in the world,
so he cried joyfully:
`Marry you? why with all my heart! to-morrow if you like.'
`But I make one condition,' said the Duchess; `I must have
entire control of your daughter to do as I please with her.'
`Oh certainly, you shall have your own way; let us shake hands
upon the bargain,' said the King.
So they shook hands and went up out of the cellar of treasure together,
and the Duchess locked the door and gave the key to the King.
When he got back to his own palace Graciosa ran out to meet
him, and asked if he had had good sport.
`I have caught a dove,' answered he.
`Oh! do give it to me,' said the Princess, `and I will keep it and
take care of it.'
`I can hardly do that,' said he, `for, to speak more plainly, I
mean that I met the Duchess Grumbly, and have promised to
marry her.'
`And you call her a dove?' cried the Princess. `_I_ should have
called her a screech owl.'
`Hold your tongue,' said the King, very crossly. `I intend you
to behave prettily to her. So now go and make yourself fit to be
seen, as I am going to take you to visit her.'
So the Princess went very sorrowfully to her own room, and her
nurse, seeing her tears, asked what was vexing her.
`Alas! who would not be vexed?' answered she, `for the King
intends to marry again, and has chosen for his new bride my
enemy, the hideous Duchess Grumbly.'
`Oh, well!' answered the nurse, `you must remember that you
are a Princess, and are expected to set a good example in making
the best of whatever happens. You must promise me not to let the
Duchess see how much you dislike her.'
At first the Princess would not promise, but the nurse showed
her so many good reasons for it that in the end she agreed to be
amiable to her step-mother.
Then the nurse dressed her in a robe of pale green and gold
brocade, and combed out her long fair hair till it floated round her
like a golden mantle, and put on her head a crown of roses and
jasmine with emerald leaves.
When she was ready nobody could have been prettier, but she
still could not help looking sad.
Meanwhile the Duchess Grumbly was also occupied in attiring
herself. She had one of her shoe heels made an inch or so higher
than the other, that she might not limp so much, and put in a
cunningly made glass eye in the place of the one she had lost. She
dyed her red hair black, and painted her face. Then she put on a
gorgeous robe of lilac satin lined with blue, and a yellow petticoat
trimmed with violet ribbons, and because she had heard that queens
always rode into their new dominions, she ordered a horse to be
made ready for her to ride.
While Graciosa was waiting until the King should be ready to
set out, she went down all alone through the garden into a little
wood, where she sat down upon a mossy bank and began to think.
And her thoughts were so doleful that very soon she began to cry,
and she cried, and cried, and forgot all about going back to the
palace, until she suddenly saw a handsome page standing before
her. He was dressed in green, and the cap which he held in his
hand was adorned with white plumes. When Graciosa looked at
him he went down on one knee, and said to her:
`Princess, the King awaits you.'
The Princess was surprised, and, if the truth must be told, very
much delighted at the appearance of this charming page, whom she
could not remember to have seen before. Thinking he might belong
to the household of the Duchess, she said:
`How long have you been one of the King's pages?'
`I am not in the service of the King, madam,' answered he, `but
in yours.'
`In mine?' said the Princess with great surprise. `Then how
is it that I have never seen you before?'
`Ah, Princess!' said he, `I have never before dared to present
myself to you, but now the King's marriage threatens you with so
many dangers that I have resolved to tell you at once how much I
love you already, and I trust that in time I may win your regard. I
am Prince Percinet, of whose riches you may have heard, and whose
fairy gift will, I hope, be of use to you in all your difficulties, if you
will permit me to accompany you under this disguise.'
`Ah, Percinet!' cried the Princess, `is it really you? I have
so often heard of you and wished to see you. If you will indeed be
my friend, I shall not be afraid of that wicked old Duchess any
more.'
So they went back to the palace together, and there Graciosa
found a beautiful horse which Percinet had brought for her to ride.
As it was very spirited he led it by the bridle, and this arrangement
enabled him to turn and look at the Princess often, which he did not
fail to do. Indeed, she was so pretty that it was a real pleasure to
look at her. When the horse which the Duchess was to ride appeared
beside Graciosa's, it looked no better than an old cart horse, and as
to their trappings, there was simply no comparison between them,
as the Princess's saddle and bridle were one glittering mass of
diamonds. The King had so many other things to think of that
he did not notice this, but all his courtiers were entirely taken up
with admiring the Princess and her charming Page in green, who
was more handsome and distinguished-looking than all the rest of
the court put together.
When they met the Duchess Grumbly she was seated in an
open carriage trying in vain to look dignified. The King and the
Princess saluted her, and her horse was brought forward for her to
mount. But when she saw Graciosa's she cried angrily:
`If that child is to have a better horse than mine, I will go back
to my own castle this very minute. What is the good of being a
Queen if one is to be slighted like this?'
Upon this the King commanded Graciosa to dismount and to beg
the Duchess to honour her by mounting her horse. The Princess
obeyed in silence, and the Duchess, without looking at her or thanking
her, scrambled up upon the beautiful horse, where she sat looking
like a bundle of clothes, and eight officers had to hold her up for fear
she should fall off.
Even then she was not satisfied, and was still grumbling and
muttering, so they asked her what was the matter.
`I wish that Page in green to come and lead the horse, as he did
when Graciosa rode it,' said she very sharply.
And the King ordered the Page to come and lead the Queen's
horse. Percinet and the Princess looked at one another, but said
never a word, and then he did as the King commanded, and the
procession started in great pomp. The Duchess was greatly elated,
and as she sat there in state would not have wished to change places
even with Graciosa. But at the moment when it was least expected
the beautiful horse began to plunge and rear and kick, and
finally to run away at such a pace that it was impossible to stop
him.
At first the Duchess clung to the saddle, but she was very soon
thrown off and fell in a heap among the stones and thorns, and there
they found her, shaken to a jelly, and collected what was left of her
as if she had been a broken glass. Her bonnet was here and her
shoes there, her face was scratched, and her fine clothes were covered
with mud. Never was a bride seen in such a dismal plight. They
carried her back to the palace and put her to bed, but as soon as
she recovered enough to be able to speak, she began to scold and
rage, and declared that the whole affair was Graciosa's fault, that
she had contrived it on purpose to try and get rid of her, and that
if the King would not have her punished, she would go back to her
castle and enjoy her riches by herself.
At this the King was terribly frightened, for he did not at all
want to lose all those barrels of gold and jewels. So he hastened
to appease the Duchess, and told her she might punish Graciosa in
any way she pleased.
Thereupon she sent for Graciosa, who turned pale and trembled
at the summons, for she guessed that it promised nothing agreeable
for her. She looked all about for Percinet, but he was nowhere to
be seen; so she had no choice but to go to the Duchess Grumbly's
room. She had hardly got inside the door when she was seized by
four waiting women, who looked so tall and strong and cruel that
the Princess shuddered at the sight of them, and still more when she
saw them arming themselves with great bundles of rods, and heard
the Duchess call out to them from her bed to beat the Princess
without mercy. Poor Graciosa wished miserably that Percinet
could only know what was happening and come to rescue her. But
no sooner did they begin to beat her than she found, to her great
relief, that the rods had changed to bundles of peacock's feathers,
and though the Duchess's women went on till they were so tired
that they could no longer raise their arms from their sides, yet she
was not hurt in the least. However, the Duchess thought she must
be black and blue after such a beating; so Graciosa, when she was
released, pretended to feel very bad, and went away into her own
room, where she told her nurse all that had happened, and then the
nurse left her, and when the Princess turned round there stood
Percinet beside her. She thanked him gratefully for helping her so
cleverly, and they laughed and were very merry over the way they
had taken in the Duchess and her waiting-maids; but Percinet
advised her still to pretend to be ill for a few days, and after
promising to come to her aid whenever she needed him, he disappeared
as suddenly as he had come.
The Duchess was so delighted at the idea that Graciosa was
really ill, that she herself recovered twice as fast as she would have
done otherwise, and the wedding was held with great magnificence.
Now as the King knew that, above all other things, the Queen loved
to be told that she was beautiful, he ordered that her portrait should
be painted, and that a tournament should be held, at which all the
bravest knights of his court should maintain against all comers that
Grumbly was the most beautiful princess in the world.
Numbers of knights came from far and wide to accept the
challenge, and the hideous Queen sat in great state in a balcony
hung with cloth of gold to watch the contests, and Graciosa had to
stand up behind her, where her loveliness was so conspicuous that
the combatants could not keep their eyes off her. But the Queen
was so vain that she thought all their admiring glances were for
herself, especially as, in spite of the badness of their cause, the King's
knights were so brave that they were the victors in every combat.
However, when nearly all the strangers had been defeated, a
young unknown knight presented himself. He carried a portrait,
enclosed in a bow encrusted with diamonds, and he declared himself
willing to maintain against them all that the Queen was the
ugliest creature in the world, and that the Princess whose portrait
he carried was the most beautiful.
So one by one the knights came out against him, and one by
one he vanquished them all, and then he opened the box, and said
that, to console them, he would show them the portrait of his Queen
of Beauty, and when he did so everyone recognised the Princess
Graciosa. The unknown knight then saluted her gracefully and
retired, without telling his name to anybody. But Graciosa had no
difficulty in guessing that it was Percinet.
As to the Queen, she was so furiously angry that she could
hardly speak; but she soon recovered her voice, and overwhelmed
Graciosa with a torrent of reproaches.
`What!' she said, `do you dare to dispute with me for the prize
of beauty, and expect me to endure this insult to my knights? But
I will not bear it, proud Princess. I will have my revenge.'
`I assure you, Madam,' said the Princess, `that I had nothing to
do with it and am quite willing that you shall be declared Queen
of Beauty
`Ah! you are pleased to jest, popinjay!' said the Queen, `but
it will be my turn soon!'
The King was speedily told what had happened, and how the
Princess was in terror of the angry Queen, but he only said:
`The Queen must do as she pleases. Graciosa belongs to her!'
The wicked Queen waited impatiently until night fell, and then
she ordered her carriage to be brought. Graciosa, much against
her will, was forced into it, and away they drove, and never stopped
until they reached a great forest, a hundred leagues from the
palace. This forest was so gloomy, and so full of lions, tigers, bears
and wolves, that nobody dared pass through it even by daylight,
and here they set down the unhappy Princess in the middle of the
black night, and left her in spite of all her tears and entreaties. The
Princess stood quite still at first from sheer bewilderment, but when
the last sound of the retreating carriages died away in the distance
she began to run aimlessly hither and thither, sometimes knocking
herself against a tree, sometimes tripping over a stone, fearing
every minute that she would be eaten up by the lions. Presently
she was too tired to advance another step, so she threw herself
down upon the ground and cried miserably:
`Oh, Percinet! where are you? Have you forgotten me altogether?'
She had hardly spoken when all the forest was lighted up with
a sudden glow. Every tree seemed to be sending out a soft
radiance, which was clearer than moonlight and softer than
daylight, and at the end of a long avenue of trees opposite to her the
Princess saw a palace of clear crystal which blazed like the sun.
At that moment a slight sound behind her made her start round,
and there stood Percinet himself.
`Did I frighten you, my Princess?' said he. `I come to bid you
welcome to our fairy palace, in the name of the Queen, my mother,
who is prepared to love you as much as I do.' The Princess
joyfully mounted with him into a little sledge, drawn by two stags,
which bounded off and drew them swiftly to the wonderful palace,
where the Queen received her with the greatest kindness, and a
splendid banquet was served at once. Graciosa was so happy to
have found Percinet, and to have escaped from the gloomy forest
and all its terrors, that she was very hungry and very merry, and
they were a gay party. After supper they went into another lovely
room, where the crystal walls were covered with pictures, and the
Princess saw with great surprise that her own history was repre-
sented, even down to the moment when Percinet found her in the
forest.
`Your painters must indeed be diligent,' she said, pointing out
the last picture to the Prince.
`They are obliged to be, for I will not have anything forgotten
that happens to you,' he answered.
When the Princess grew sleepy, twenty-four charming maidens
put her to bed in the prettiest room she had ever seen, and then
sang to her so sweetly that Graciosa's dreams were all of mermaids,
and cool sea waves, and caverns, in which she wandered with
Percinet; but when she woke up again her first thought was that,
delightful as this fairy palace seemed to her, yet she could not stay
in it, but must go back to her father. When she had been dressed
by the four-and-twenty maidens in a charming robe which the
Queen had sent for her, and in which she looked prettier than ever,
Prince Percinet came to see her, and was bitterly disappointed when
she told him what she had been thinking. He begged her to
consider again how unhappy the wicked Queen would make her, and
how, if she would but marry him, all the fairy palace would be
hers, and his one thought would be to please her. But, in spite of
everything he could say, the Princess was quite determined to go
back, though he at last persuaded her to stay eight days, which were
so full of pleasure and amusement that they passed like a few
hours. On the last day, Graciosa, who had often felt anxious to
know what was going on in her father's palace, said to Percinet
that she was sure that he could find out for her, if he would, what
reason the Queen had given her father for her sudden disappearance.
Percinet at first offered to send his courier to find out, but
the Princess said:
`Oh! isn't there a quicker way of knowing than that?'
`Very well,' said Percinet, `you shall see for yourself.'
So up they went together to the top of a very high tower, which,
like the rest of the castle, was built entirely of rock-crystal.
There the Prince held Graciosa's hand in his, and made her put
the tip of her little finger into her mouth, and look towards the town,
and immediately she saw the wicked Queen go to the King, and
heard her say to him, `That miserable Princess is dead, and no
great loss either. I have ordered that she shall be buried at once.'
And then the Princess saw how she dressed up a log of wood
and had it buried, and how the old King cried, and all the people
murmured that the Queen had killed Graciosa with her cruelties,
and that she ought to have her head cut off. When the Princess
saw that the King was so sorry for her pretended death that he
could neither eat nor drink, she cried:
`Ah, Percinet! take me back quickly if you love me.'
And so, though he did not want to at all, he was obliged to
promise that he would let her go.
`You may not regret me, Princess,' he said sadly, `for I fear
that you do not love me well enough; but I foresee that you will
more than once regret that you left this fairy palace where we
have been so happy.'
But, in spite of all he could say, she bade farewell to the Queen,
his mother, and prepared to set out; so Percinet, very unwillingly,
brought the little sledge with the stags and she mounted beside him.
But they had hardly gone twenty yards when a tremendous noise
behind her made Graciosa look back, and she saw the palace of crystal
fly into a million splinters, like the spray of a fountain, and vanish.
`Oh, Percinet!' she cried, `what has happened? The palace is
gone.'
`Yes,' he answered, `my palace is a thing of the past; you will
see it again, but not until after you have been buried.'
`Now you are angry with me,' said Graciosa in her most coaxing
voice, `though after all I am more to be pitied than you are.'
When they got near the palace the Prince made the sledge and
themselves invisible, so the Princess got in unobserved, and ran up
to the great hall where the King was sitting all by himself. At
first he was very much startled by Graciosa's sudden appearance,
but she told him how the Queen had left her out in the forest, and
how she had caused a log of wood to be buried. The King, who
did not know what to think, sent quickly and had it dug up, and
sure enough it was as the Princess had said. Then he caressed
Graciosa, and made her sit down to supper with him, and they were
as happy as possible. But someone had by this time told the wicked
Queen that Graciosa had come back, and was at supper with the
King, and in she flew in a terrible fury. The poor old King quite
trembled before her, and when she declared that Graciosa was not
the Princess at all, but a wicked impostor, and that if the King did
not give her up at once she would go back to her own castle and
never see him again, he had not a word to say, and really seemed
to believe that it was not Graciosa after all. So the Queen in great
triumph sent for her waiting women, who dragged the unhappy
Princess away and shut her up in a garret; they took away all her
jewels and her pretty dress, and gave her a rough cotton frock, wooden
shoes, and a little cloth cap. There was some straw in a corner,
which was all she had for a bed, and they gave her a very little bit
of black bread to eat. In this miserable plight Graciosa did indeed
regret the fairy palace, and she would have called Percinet to her
aid, only she felt sure he was still vexed with her for leaving him,
and thought that she could not expect him to come.
Meanwhile the Queen had sent for an old Fairy, as malicious as
herself, and said to her:
`You must find me some task for this fine Princess which she
cannot possibly do, for I mean to punish her, and if she does not do
what I order, she will not be able to say that I am unjust.' So the
old Fairy said she would think it over, and come again the next
day. When she returned she brought with her a skein of thread,
three times as big as herself; it was so fine that a breath of air would
break it, and so tangled that it was impossible to see the beginning
or the end of it.
The Queen sent for Graciosa, and said to her:
`Do you see this skein? Set your clumsy fingers to work upon
it, for I must have it disentangled by sunset, and if you break a
single thread it will be the worse for you.' So saying she left her,
locking the door behind her with three keys.
The Princess stood dismayed at the sight of the terrible skein.
If she did but turn it over to see where to begin, she broke a
thousand threads, and not one could she disentangle. At last she
threw it into the middle of the floor, crying:
`Oh, Percinet! this fatal skein will be the death of me if you
will not forgive me and help me once more.'
And immediately in came Percinet as easily as if he had all the
keys in his own possession.
`Here I am, Princess, as much as ever at your service,' said he,
`though really you are not very kind to me.'
Then he just stroked the skein with his wand, and all the broken
threads joined themselves together, and the whole skein wound
itself smoothly off in the most surprising manner, and the Prince,
turning to Graciosa, asked if there was nothing else that she wished
him to do for her, and if the time would never come when she would
wish for him for his own sake.
`Don't be vexed with me, Percinet,' she said. `I am unhappy
enough without that.'
`But why should you be unhappy, my Princess?' cried he. `Only
come with me and we shall be as happy as the day is long together.'
`But suppose you get tired of me?' said Graciosa.
The Prince was so grieved at this want of confidence that he left
her without another word.
The wicked Queen was in such a hurry to punish Graciosa that
she thought the sun would never set; and indeed it was before the
appointed time that she came with her four Fairies, and as she fitted
the three keys into the locks she said:
`I'll venture to say that the idle minx has not done anything at
all--she prefers to sit with her hands before her to keep them
white.'
But, as soon as she entered, Graciosa presented her with the
ball of thread in perfect order, so that she had no fault to find, and
could only pretend to discover that it was soiled, for which
imaginary fault she gave Graciosa a blow on each cheek, that made
her white and pink skin turn green and yellow. And then she
sent her back to be locked into the garret once more.
Then the Queen sent for the Fairy again and scolded her
furiously. `Don't make such a mistake again; find me something
that it will be quite impossible for her to do,' she said.
So the next day the Fairy appeared with a huge barrel full of the
feathers of all sorts of birds. There were nightingales, canaries,
goldfinches, linnets, tomtits, parrots, owls, sparrows, doves,
ostriches, bustards, peacocks, larks, partridges, and everything else
that you can think of. These feathers were all mixed up in such
confusion that the birds themselves could not have chosen out their
own. `Here,' said the Fairy, `is a little task which it will take all
your prisoner's skill and patience to accomplish. Tell her to pick
out and lay in a separate heap the feathers of each bird. She
would need to be a fairy to do it.'
The Queen was more than delighted at the thought of the
despair this task would cause the Princess. She sent for her, and
with the same threats as before locked her up with the three keys,
ordering that all the feathers should be sorted by sunset. Graciosa
set to work at once, but before she had taken out a dozen feathers
she found that it was perfectly impossible to know one from another.
`Ah! well,' she sighed, `the Queen wishes to kill me, and if I
must die I must. I cannot ask Percinet to help me again, for if
he really loved me he would not wait till I called him, he would
come without that.'
`I am here, my Graciosa,' cried Percinet, springing out of the
barrel where he had been hiding. `How can you still doubt that I
love you with all my heart?'
Then he gave three strokes of his wand upon the barrel, and all
the feathers flew out in a cloud and settled down in neat little
separate heaps all round the room.
`What should I do without you, Percinet?' said Graciosa
gratefully. But still she could not quite make up her mind to go
with him and leave her father's kingdom for ever; so she begged
him to give her more time to think of it, and he had to go away
disappointed once more.
When the wicked Queen came at sunset she was amazed and
infuriated to find the task done. However, she complained that
the heaps of feathers were badly arranged, and for that the
Princess was beaten and sent back to her garret. Then the
Queen sent for the Fairy once more, and scolded her until she was
fairly terrified, and promised to go home and think of another task
for Graciosa, worse than either of the others.
At the end of three days she came again, bringing with her a
box.
`Tell your slave,' said he, `to carry this wherever you please,
but on no account to open it. She will not be able to help doing
so, and then you will be quite satisfied with the result.' So the
Queen came to Graciosa, and said:
`Carry this box to my castle, and place it upon the table in my
own room. But I forbid you on pain of death to look at what it
contains.'
Graciosa set out, wearing her little cap and wooden shoes and
the old cotton frock, but even in this disguise she was so beautiful
that all the passers-by wondered who she could be. She had not
gone far before the heat of the sun and the weight of the box
tired her so much that she sat down to rest in the shade of a little
wood which lay on one side of a green meadow. She was carefully
holding the box upon her lap when she suddenly felt the greatest
desire to open it,
`What could possibly happen if I did?' she said to herself.
`I should not take anything out. I should only just see what was
there.'
And without farther hesitation she lifted the cover.
Instantly out came swarms of little men and women, no taller
than her finger, and scattered themselves all over the meadow,
singing and dancing, and playing the merriest games, so that at
first Graciosa was delighted and watched them with much amusement.
But presently, when she was rested and wished to go on
her way, she found that, do what she would, she could not get them
back into their box. If she chased them in the meadow they fled
into the wood, and if she pursued them into the wood they dodged
round trees and behind sprigs of moss, and with peals of elfin
laughter scampered back again into the meadow.
At last, weary and terrified, she sat down and cried.
`It is my own fault,' she said sadly. `Percinet, if you can still
care for such an imprudent Princess, do come and help me once more.'
Immediately Percinet stood before her.
`Ah, Princess!' he said, `but for the wicked Queen I fear you
would never think of me at all.'
`Indeed I should,' said Graciosa; `I am not so ungrateful as
you think. Only wait a little and I believe I shall love you quite
dearly.'
Percinet was pleased at this, and with one stroke of his wand
compelled all the wilful little people to come back to their places
in the box, and then rendering the Princess invisible he took her
with him in his chariot to the castle.
When the Princess presented herself at the door, and said that
the Queen had ordered her to place the box in her own room, the
governor laughed heartily at the idea.
`No, no, my little shepherdess,' said he, `that is not the place
for you. No wooden shoes have ever been over that floor yet.'
Then Graciosa begged him to give her a written message telling
the Queen that he had refused to admit her. This he did, and she
went back to Percinet, who was waiting for her, and they set out
together for the palace. You may imagine that they did not go
the shortest way, but the Princess did not find it too long, and
before they parted she had promised that if the Queen was still
cruel to her, and tried again to play her any spiteful trick, she
would leave her and come to Percinet for ever.
When the Queen saw her returning she fell upon the Fairy,
whom she had kept with her, and pulled her hair, and scratched
her face, and would really have killed her if a Fairy could be
killed. And when the Princess presented the letter and the box
she threw them both upon the fire without opening them, and
looked very much as if she would like to throw the Princess after
them. However, what she really did do was to have a great hole
as deep as a well dug in her garden, and the top of it covered with
a flat stone. Then she went and walked near it, and said to
Graciosa and all her ladies who were with her:
`I am told that a great treasure lies under that stone; let us see
if we can lift it.'
So they all began to push and pull at it, and Graciosa among
the others, which was just what the Queen wanted; for as soon as
the stone was lifted high enough, she gave the Princess a push
which sent her down to the bottom of the well, and then the stone
was let fall again, and there she was a prisoner. Graciosa felt
that now indeed she was hopelessly lost, surely not even Percinet
could find her in the heart of the earth.
`This is like being buried alive,' she said with a shudder. `Oh,
Percinet! if you only knew how I am suffering for my want of
trust in you! But how could I be sure that you would not be like
other men and tire of me from the moment you were sure I loved
you?'
As she spoke she suddenly saw a little door open, and the
sunshine blazed into the dismal well. Graciosa did not hesitate an
instant, but passed through into a charming garden. Flowers and
fruit grew on every side, fountains plashed, and birds sang in the
branches overhead, and when she reached a great avenue of trees
and looked up to see where it would lead her, she found herself
close to the palace of crystal. Yes! there was no mistaking it,
and the Queen and Percinet were coming to meet her.
`Ah, Princess!' said the Queen, `don't keep this poor Percinet
in suspense any longer. You little guess the anxiety he has
suffered while you were in the power of that miserable Queen.'
The Princess kissed her gratefully, and promised to do as she
wished in everything, and holding out her hand to Percinet, with a
smile, she said:
`Do you remember telling me that I should not see your palace
again until I had been buried? I wonder if you guessed then
that, when that happened, I should tell you that I love you with all
my heart, and will marry you whenever you like?'
Prince Percinet joyfully took the hand that was given him, and,
for fear the Princess should change her mind, the wedding was
held at once with the greatest splendour, and Graciosa and Percinet
lived happily ever after.[11]
[11] Gracieuse et Percinet. Mdme. d'Aulnoy.
THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND
THERE was once upon a time a fisherman, who lived hard by a
palace and fished for the King's table. One day he was out
fishing, but caught nothing at all. Let him do what he might with
rod and line, there was never even so much as a sprat on his hook;
but when the day was well nigh over, a head rose up out of the
water, and said: `If you will give me what your wife shows you
when you go home, you shall catch fish enough.'
So the man said `Yes' in a moment, and then he caught fish in
plenty; but when he got home at night, and his wife showed him a
baby which had just been born, and fell a-weeping and wailing
when he told her of the promise which he had given, he was very
unhappy.
All this was soon told to the King up at the palace, and when he
heard what sorrow the woman was in, and the reason of it, he said
that he himself would take the child and see if he could not save it.
The baby was a boy, and the King took him at once and brought
him up as his own son until the lad grew up. Then one day he
begged to have leave to go out with his father to fish; he had a
strong desire to do this, he said. The King was very unwilling to
permit it, but at last the lad got leave. He stayed with his father,
and all went prosperously and well with them the whole day, until
they came back to land in the evening. Then the lad found that
he had lost his pocket-handkerchief, and would go out in the boat
after it; but no sooner had he got into the boat than it began to
move off with him so quickly that the water foamed all round about,
and all that the lad did to keep the boat back with the oars was done
to no purpose, for it went on and on the whole night through, and
at last he came to a white strand that lay far, far away. There he
landed, and when he had walked on for some distance he met an
old man with a long white beard.
`What is the name of this country?' said the youth.
`Whiteland,' answered the man, and then he begged the youth
to tell him whence he came and what he was going to do, and the
youth did so.
`Well, then,' said the man, `if you walk on farther along the
seashore here, you will come to three princesses who are standing in
the earth so that their heads alone are out of it. Then the first of
them will call you--she is the eldest--and will beg you very prettily
to come to her and help her, and the second will do the same, but you
must not go near either of them. Hurry past, as if you neither
saw nor heard them; but you shall go to the third and do what
she bids you; it will bring you good fortune.'
When the youth came to the first princess, she called to him
and begged him to come to her very prettily, but he walked on as
if he did not even see her, and he passed by the second in the same
way, but he went up to the third.
`If thou wilt do what I tell thee, thou shalt choose among us
three,' said the Princess.
So the lad said that he was most willing, and she told him that
three Trolls had planted them all three there in the earth, but that
formerly they had dwelt in the castle which he could see at some
distance in the wood.
`Now,' she said, `thou shalt go into the castle, and let the Trolls
beat thee one night for each of us, and if thou canst but endure
that, thou wilt set us free.'
`Yes,' answered the lad, `I will certainly try to do so.'
`When thou goest in,' continued the Princess, `two lions will
stand by the doorway, but if thou only goest straight between them
they will do thee no harm; go straight forward into a small dark
chamber; there thou shalt lie down. Then the Troll will come and
beat thee, but thou shalt take the flask which is hanging on the
wall, and anoint thyself wheresoever he has wounded thee, after
which thou shalt be as well as before. Then lay hold of the sword
which is hanging by the side of the flask, and smite the Troll dead.'
So he did what the Princess had told him. He walked straight
in between the lions just as if he did not see them, and then into the
small chamber, and lay down on the bed.
The first night a Troll came with three heads and three rods,
and beat the lad most unmercifully; but he held out until the Troll
was done with him, and then he took the flask and rubbed himself.
Having done this, he grasped the sword and smote the Troll
dead.
In the morning when he went to the sea-shore the Princesses
were out of the earth as far as their waists.
The next night everything happened in the same way, but the
Troll who came then had six heads and six rods, and he beat him
much more severely than the first had done but when the lad
went out of doors next morning, the Princesses were out of the
earth as far as their knees.
On the third night a Troll came who had nine heads and nine
rods, and he struck the lad and flogged him so long, that at last he
swooned away; so the Troll took him up and flung him against the
wall, and this made the flask of ointment fall down, and it splashed
all over him, and he became as strong as ever again.
Then, without loss of time, he grasped the sword and struck the
Troll dead, and in the morning when he went out of the castle the
Princesses were standing there entirely out of the earth. So he
took the youngest for his Queen, and lived with her very happily
for a long time.
At last, however, he took a fancy to go home for a short time to
see his parents. His Queen did not like this, but when his longing
grew so great that he told her he must and would go, she said to
him:
`One thing shalt thou promise me, and that is, to do what thy
father bids thee, but not what thy mother bids thee,' and this he
promised.
So she gave him a ring, which enabled him who wore it to obtain
two wishes.
He wished himself at home, and instantly found himself there;
but his parents were so amazed at the splendour of his apparel
that their wonder never ceased.
When he had been at home for some days his mother wanted
him to go up to the palace, to show the King what a great man he
had become.
The father said, `No; he must not do that, for if he does we shall
have no more delight in him this time; `but he spoke in vain, for
the mother begged and prayed until at last he went.
When he arrived there he was more splendid, both in raiment
and in all else, than the other King, who did not like it, and said:
`Well, you can see what kind of Queen mine is, but I can't see
yours. I do not believe you have such a pretty Queen as I have.'
`Would to heaven she were standing here, and then you would
be able to see!' said the young King, and in an instant she was
standing there.
But she was very sorrowful, and said to him, `Why didst thou
not remember my words, and listen only to what thy father said?
Now must I go home again at once, and thou hast wasted both thy
wishes.'
Then she tied a ring in his hair, which had her name upon it, and
wished herself at home again.
And now the young King was deeply afflicted, and day out and
day in went about thinking of naught else but how to get back
again to his Queen. `I will try to see if there is any place where
I can learn how to find Whiteland,' he thought, and journeyed forth
out into the world.
When he had gone some distance he came to a mountain,
where he met a man who was Lord over all the beasts in the forest
--for they all came to him when he blew a horn which he had.
So the King asked where Whiteland was.
`I do not know that,' he answered, `but I will ask my beasts.'
Then he blew his horn and inquired whether any of them knew
where Whiteland lay, but there was not one who knew that.
So the man gave him a pair of snow shoes. `When you have
these on,' he said, `you will come to my brother, who lives hundreds
of miles from here; he is Lord over all the birds in the air--ask him.
When you have got there, just turn the shoes so that the toes
point this way, and then they will come home again of their own
accord.'
When the King arrived there he turned the shoes as the Lord
of the beasts had bidden him, and they went back.
And now he once more asked after Whiteland, and the man
summoned all the birds together, and inquired if any of them knew
where Whiteland lay. No, none knew this. Long after the others
there came an old eagle. He had been absent ten whole years, but
he too knew no more than the rest.
`Well, well,' said the man, `then you shall have the loan of a
pair of snow shoes of mine. If you wear them you will get to my
brother, who lives hundreds of miles from here. He is Lord of
all the fish in the sea--you can ask him. But do not forget to turn
the shoes round.'
The King thanked him, put on the shoes, and when he had got
to him who was Lord of all the fish in the sea, he turned the snow
shoes round, and back they went just as the others had gone, and
he asked once more where Whiteland was.
The man called the fish together with his horn, but none of
them knew anything about it. At last came an old, old pike, which
he had great difficulty in bringing home to him.
When he asked the pike, it said, `Yes, Whiteland is well known
to me, for I have been cook there these ten years. To-morrow
morning I have to go back there, for now the Queen, whose King is
staying away, is to marry some one else.'
`If that be the case I will give you a piece of advice,' said the
man. `Not far from here on a moor stand three brothers, who have
stood there a hundred years fighting for a hat, a cloak, and a pair
of boots; if any one has these three things he can make himself
invisible, and if he desires to go to any place, he has but to wish and
he is there. You may tell them that you have a desire to try these
things, and then you will be able to decide which of the men is to
have them.'
So the King thanked him and went, and did what he had said.
`What is this that you are standing fighting about for ever
and ever?' said he to the brothers; `let me make a trial of these
things, and then I will judge between you.'
They willingly consented to this, but when he had got the hat,
the cloak, and the boots, he said, `Next time we meet you shall have
my decision,' and hereupon he wished himself away.
While he was going quickly through the air he fell in with the
North Wind.
`And where may you be going?' said the North Wind.
`To Whiteland,' said the King, and then he related what had
happened to him.
`Well,' said the North Wind, `you can easily go a little quicker
than I can, for I have to puff and blow into every corner; but when
you get there, place yourself on the stairs by the side of the door,
and then I will come blustering in as if I wanted to blow down the
whole castle, and when the Prince who is to have your Queen
comes out to see what is astir, just take him by the throat and fling
him out, and then I will try to carry him away from court.'
As the North Wind had said, so did the King. He stood on the
stairs, and when the North Wind came howling and roaring, and
caught the roof and walls of the castle till they shook again, the
Prince went out to see what was the matter; but as soon as he came
the King took him by the neck and flung him out, and then the
North Wind laid hold of him and carried him off. And when he
was rid of him the King went into the castle. At first the Queen
did not know him, because he had grown so thin and pale from
having travelled so long and so sorrowfully; but when she saw her
ring she was heartily glad, and then the rightful wedding was held,
and held in such a way that it was talked about far and wide.[12]
[12] From J. Moe.
THE VOICE OF DEATH
ONCE upon a time there lived a man whose one wish and prayer
was to get rich. Day and night he thought of nothing else,
and at last his prayers were granted, and he became very wealthy.
Now being so rich, and having so much to lose, he felt that it would
be a terrible thing to die and leave all his possessions behind; so he
made up his mind to set out in search of a land where there was no
death. He got ready for his journey, took leave of his wife, and
started. Whenever he came to a new country the first question
that he asked was whether people died in that land, and when he
heard that they did, he set out again on his quest. At last he
reached a country where he was told that the people did not even
know the meaning of the word death. Our traveller was delighted
when he heard this, and said:
`But surely there are great numbers of people in your land, if
no one ever dies?'
`No,' they replied, `there are not great numbers, for you see
from time to time a voice is heard calling first one and then another,
and whoever hears that voice gets up and goes away, and never
comes back.'
`And do they see the person who calls them,' he asked, `or do
they only hear his voice?'
`They both see and hear him,' was the answer.
Well, the man was amazed when he heard that the people were
stupid enough to follow the voice, though they knew that if they
went when it called them they would never return. And he went
back to his own home and got all his possessions together, and,
taking his wife and family, he set out resolved to go and live in that
country where the people did not die, but where instead they heard
a voice calling them, which they followed into a land from which
they never returned. For he had made up his own mind that when
he or any of his family heard that voice they would pay no heed to
it, however loudly it called.
After he had settled down in his new home, and had got everything
in order about him, he warned his wife and family that, unless
they wanted to die, they must on no account listen to a voice which
they might some day hear calling them.
For some years everything went well with them, and they lived
happily in their new home. But one day, while they were all sit-
ting together round the table, his wife suddenly started up,
exclaiming in a loud voice:
`I am coming! I am coming!'
And she began to look round the room for her fur coat, but her
husband jumped up, and taking firm hold of her by the hand, held
her fast, and reproached her, saying:
`Don't you remember what I told you? Stay where you are
unless you wish to die.'
`But don't you hear that voice calling me?' she answered. `I
am merely going to see why I am wanted. I shall come back
directly.'
So she fought and struggled to get away from her husband, and
to go where the voice summoned. But he would not let her go,
and had all the doors of the house shut and bolted. When she saw
that he had done this, she said:
`Very well, dear husband, I shall do what you wish, and remain
where I am.'
So her husband believed that it was all right, and that she had
thought better of it, and had got over her mad impulse to obey the
voice. But a few minutes later she made a sudden dash for one of
the doors, opened it and darted out, followed by her husband. He
caught her by the fur coat, and begged and implored her not to go,
for if she did she would certainly never return. She said nothing,
but let her arms fall backwards, and suddenly bending herself
forward, she slipped out of the coat, leaving it in her husband's hands.
He, poor man, seemed turned to stone as he gazed after her hurrying
away from him, and calling at the top of her voice, as she
ran:
`I am coming! I am coming!'
When she was quite out of sight her husband recovered his wits
and went back into his house, murmuring:
`If she is so foolish as to wish to die, I can't help it. I warned
and implored her to pay no heed to that voice, however loudly it
might call.'
Well, days and weeks and months and years passed, and
nothing happened to disturb the peace of the household. But one
day the man was at the barber's as usual, being shaved. The shop
was full of people, and his chin had just been covered with a lather
of soap, when, suddenly starting up from the chair, he called out in
a loud voice:
`I won't come, do you hear? I won't come!'
The barber and the other people in the shop listened to him
with amazement. But again looking towards the door, he exclaimed:
`I tell you, once and for all, I do not mean to come, so go
away.'
And a few minutes later he called out again:
`Go away, I tell you, or it will be the worse for you. You may
call as much as you like but you will never get me to come.'
And he got so angry that you might have thought that some
one was actually standing at the door, tormenting him. At last
he jumped up, and caught the razor out of the barber's hand,
exclaiming:
`Give me that razor, and I'll teach him to let people alone for
the future.'
And he rushed out of the house as if he were running after some
one, whom no one else saw. The barber, determined not to lose
his razor, pursued the man, and they both continued running at full
speed till they had got well out of the town, when all of a sudden
the man fell head foremost down a precipice, and never was seen
again. So he too, like the others, had been forced against his will
to follow the voice that called him.
The barber, who went home whistling and congratulating
himself on the escape he had made, described what had happened, and
it was noised abroad in the country that the people who had gone
away, and had never returned, had all fallen into that pit; for till
then they had never known what had happened to those who had
heard the voice and obeyed its call.
But when crowds of people went out from the town to examine
the ill-fated pit that had swallowed up such numbers, and yet never
seemed to be full, they could discover nothing. All that they could
see was a vast plain, that looked as if it had been there since the
beginning of the world. And from that time the people of the
country began to die like ordinary mortals all the world over.[13]
[13] Roumanian Tales from the German of Mite Thremnitz.
THE SIX SILLIES
ONCE upon a time there was a young girl who reached the age of
thirty-seven without ever having had a lover, for she was so
foolish that no one wanted to marry her.
One day, however, a young man arrived to pay his addresses to
her, and her mother, beaming with joy, sent her daughter down to
the cellar to draw a jug of beer.
As the girl never came back the mother went down to see what
had become of her, and found her sitting on the stairs, her head in
her hands, while by her side the beer was running all over the floor,
as she had forgotten to close the tap. `What are you doing there?'
asked the mother.
`I was thinking what I shall call my first child after I am
married to that young man. All the names in the calendar are
taken already.'
The mother sat down on the staircase beside her daughter and
said, `I will think about it with you, my dear.'
The father who had stayed upstairs with the young man was
surprised that neither his wife nor his daughter came back, and in
his turn went down to look for them. He found them both sitting
on the stairs, while beside them the beer was running all over the
ground from the tap, which was wide open.
`What are you doing there? The beer is running all over the
cellar.'
`We were thinking what we should call the children that our
daughter will have when she marries that young man. All the
names in the calendar are taken already.'
`Well,' said the father, `I will think about it with you.'
As neither mother nor daughter nor father came upstairs again,
the lover grew impatient, and went down into the cellar to see
what they could all be doing. He found them all three sitting on
the stairs, while beside them the beer was running all over the
ground from the tap, which was wide open.
`What in the world are you all doing that you don't come
upstairs, and that you let the beer run all over the cellar?'
`Yes, I know, my boy,' said the father, `but if you marry our
daughter what shall you call your children? All the names in the
calendar are taken.'
When the young man heard this answer he replied:
`Well! good-bye, I am going away. When I shall have found
three people sillier than you I will come back and marry your
daughter.'
So he continued his journey, and after walking a long way he
reached an orchard. Then he saw some people knocking down
walnuts, and trying to throw them into a cart with a fork.
`What are you doing there?' he asked.
`We want to load the cart with our walnuts, but we can't
manage to do it.'
The lover advised them to get a basket and to put the walnuts
in it, so as to turn them into the cart.
`Well,' he said to himself, `I have already found someone more
foolish than those three.'
So he went on his way, and by-and-by he came to a wood.
There he saw a man who wanted to give his pig some acorns to
eat, and was trying with all his might to make him climb up the
oak-tree.
`What are you doing, my good man?' asked he.
`I want to make my pig eat some acorns, and I can't get him
to go up the tree.'
`If you were to climb up and shake down the acorns the pig
would pick them up.'
`Oh, I never thought of that.'
`Here is the second idiot,' said the lover to himself.
Some way farther along the road he came upon a man who
had never worn any trousers, and who was trying to put on a pair.
So he had fastened them to a tree and was jumping with all his
might up in the air so that he should hit the two legs of the trousers
as he came down.
`It would be much better if you held them in your hands,' said
the young man, `and then put your legs one after the other in each
hole.'
`Dear me to be sure! You are sharper than I am, for that
never occurred to me.'
And having found three people more foolish than his bride, or
her father or her mother, the lover went back to marry the young
lady.
And in course of time they had a great many children.
Story from Hainaut.
(M. Lemoine. La Tradition. No, 34,)
KARI WOODENGOWN
THERE was once upon a time a King who had become a widower.
His Queen had left one daughter behind her, and she was so
wise and so pretty that it was impossible for any one to be wiser or
prettier. For a long time the King went sorrowing for his wife, for
he had loved her exceedingly; but at last he grew tired of living
alone, and married a Queen who was a widow, and she also had
a daughter, who was just as ill-favoured and wicked as the other
was good and beautiful. The stepmother and her daughter were
envious of the King's daughter because she was so pretty, but so
long as the King was at home they dared do her no harm, because
his love for her was so great.
Then there came a time when he made war on another King and
went away to fight, and then the new Queen thought that she could
do what she liked; so she both hungered and beat the King's daughter
and chased her about into every corner. At last she thought that
everything was too good for her, and set her to work to look after
the cattle. So she went about with the cattle, and herded them in
the woods and in the fields. Of food she got little or none, and
grew pale and thin, and was nearly always weeping and sad. Among
the herd there was a great blue bull, which always kept itself very
smart and sleek, and often came to the King's daughter and let her
stroke him. So one day, when she was again sitting crying and
sorrowing, the Bull came up to her and asked why she was always
so full of care? She made no answer, but continued to weep.
`Well,' said the Bull, `I know what it is, though you will not tell
me; you are weeping because the Queen is unkind to you, and because
she wants to starve you to death. But you need be under no concern
about food, for in my left ear there lies a cloth, and if you will but
take it and spread it out, you can have as many dishes as you like.'
So she did this, and took the cloth and spread it out upon the
grass, and then it was covered with the daintiest dishes that any one
could desire, and there was wine, and mead, and cake. And now
she became brisk and well again, and grew so rosy, and plump, and
fair that the Queen and her scraggy daughter turned blue and white
with vexation at it. The Queen could not imagine how her step-
daughter could look so well on such bad food, so she ordered one of
her handmaidens to follow her into the wood and watch her, and
see how it was, for she thought that some of the servants must be
giving her food. So the maid followed her into the wood and
watched, and saw how the step-daughter took the cloth out of the
Blue Bull's ear, and spread it out, and how the cloth was then covered
with the most delicate dishes, which the step-daughter ate and
regaled herself with. So the waiting-maid went home and told the Queen.
And now the King came home, and he had conquered the other
King with whom he had been at war. So there was great gladness
in the palace, but no one was more glad than the King's daughter.
The Queen, however, pretended to be ill, and gave the doctor much
money to say that she would never be well again unless she had
some of the flesh of the Blue Bull to eat. Both the King's daughter
and the people in the palace asked the doctor if there were no other
means of saving her, and begged for the Bull's life, for they were all
fond of him, and they all declared that there was no such Bull in the
whole country; but it was all in vain, he was to be killed, and should
be killed, and nothing else would serve. When the King's daughter
heard it she was full of sorrow, and went down to the byre to the
Bull. He too was standing there hanging his head, and looking so
downcast that she fell a-weeping over him.
`What are you weeping for?' said the Bull.
So she told him that the King had come home again, and that
the Queen had pretended to be ill, and that she had made the doctor
say that she could never be well again unless some of the flesh of
the Blue Bull was given her to eat, and that now he was to be
killed.
`When once they have taken my life they will soon kill you
also,' said the Bull. `If you are of the same mind with me, we will
take our departure this very night.'
The King's daughter thought that it was bad to go and leave
her father, but that it was worse still to be in the same house with
the Queen, so she promised the Bull that she wo