{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36668/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36668","id":"gutenberg_36668","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36668","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales -- Belarus","Fairy tales -- Poland","Folklore -- Poland","Polish people -- Belarus -- Folklore"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Jana Srna, Matthew Wheaton and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                           POLISH FAIRY TALES\n\n              [Illustration: THE FAIRY GIRLS MAKE THE CARPET]\n\n\n\n\n                           POLISH FAIRY TALES\n\n\n                       TRANSLATED FROM A J GLINSKI\n                         By MAUDE ASHURST BIGGS\n\n                      ILLUSTRATED By CECILE WALTON\n\n\n                   LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD\n                     NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY 1920\n\n\n   _The Mayflower Press, Plymouth, England._ William Brendon & Son, Ltd.\n\n\n       [Illustration: The pictures in this book are dedicated to\n       my sons ... Gavril and Teddy.              Cecile Walton.]\n\n\n\n\nTALES FROM POLAND\n\n\nThese are selections from a large collection made by A. J. Glinski,\nprinted at Wilna in 1862. These fairy tales come from a far past and may\neven date from primitive Aryan times. They represent the folklore\ncurrent among the peasantry of the Eastern provinces of Poland, and also\nin those provinces usually known as White Russia.\n\nThey were set down by Glinski just as they were related to him by the\npeasants.\n\nIn the translation it was of course necessary to shorten them\nconsiderably; the continual repetition--however quaint and fascinating\nin the original--cannot easily be reproduced. Portions, too, are often\ntold in rhyme, or in a species of rhyming prose that we associate with\nthe ancient ballad. The obvious likenesses between these and the\nfolklore of Germany, the Celtic nations, or to the Indian fairy-tales,\nwill strike every reader.\n                                                 MAUDE ASHURST BIGGS.\n\n\n\n\n  CONTENTS\n\n\n  THE FROG PRINCESS\n\n  PRINCESS MIRANDA AND PRINCE HERO\n\n  THE EAGLES\n\n  THE WHIRLWIND\n\n  THE GOOD FERRYMAN AND THE WATER NYMPHS\n\n  THE PRINCESS OF THE BRAZEN MOUNTAIN\n\n  THE BEAR IN THE FOREST HUT\n\n  APPENDIX\n\n\n\n\nTHE FROG PRINCESS\n\n\nThere was once a king, who was very old; but he had three grown-up sons.\nSo he called them to him, and said:\n\n\"My dear sons, I am very old, and the cares of government press heavily\nupon me. I must therefore give them over to one of you. But as it is the\nlaw among us, that no unmarried prince may be King, I wish you all to\nget married, and whoever chooses the best wife shall be my successor.\"\n\nSo they determined each to go a different way, and settled it thus.\nThey went to the top of a very high tower, and each one at a given\nsignal shot an arrow in a different direction to the others. Wherever\ntheir arrows fell they were to go in search of their future wives.\n\nThe eldest prince's arrow fell on a palace in the city, where lived a\nsenator, who had a beautiful daughter; so he went there, and married\nher.\n\nThe second prince's arrow struck upon a country-house, where a very\npretty young lady, the daughter of a rich gentleman, was sitting; so he\nwent there, and proposed to her, and they were married.\n\nBut the youngest prince's arrow shot through a green wood, and fell into\na lake. He saw his arrow floating among the reeds, and a frog sitting\nthereon, looking fixedly at him.\n\nBut the marshy ground was so unsafe that he could not venture upon it;\nso he sat down in despair.\n\n\"What is the matter, prince?\" asked the frog.\n\n\"What is the matter? Why, I cannot reach that arrow on which you are\nsitting.\"\n\n\"Take me for your wife, and I will give it to you.\"\n\n\"But how can you be my wife, little frog?\"\n\n\"That is just what has got to be. You know that you shot your arrow from\nthe tower, thinking that where it fell, you would find a loving wife; so\nyou will have her in me.\"\n\n\"You are very wise, I see, little frog. But tell me, how can I marry\nyou, or introduce you to my father? And what will the world say?\"\n\n\"Take me home with you, and let nobody see me. Tell them that you have\nmarried an Eastern lady, who must not be seen by any man, except her\nhusband, nor even by another woman.\"\n\nThe prince considered a little. The arrow had now floated to the margin\nof the lake; he took the arrow from the little frog, put her in his\npocket, carried her home, and then went to bed, sighing very deeply.\n\nNext morning the king was told that all his sons had got married; so he\ncalled them all together, and said:\n\n\"Well children, are you all pleased with your wives?\"\n\n\"Very pleased indeed, father and king.\"\n\n\"Well, we shall see who has chosen best. Let each of my daughters-in-law\nweave me a carpet by to-morrow, and the one whose carpet is the most\nbeautiful shall be queen.\"\n\nThe elder princes hastened at once to their ladies; but the youngest,\nwhen he reached home, was in despair.\n\n\"What is the matter, prince?\" asked the frog.\n\n\"What is the matter? My father has ordered that each of his\ndaughters-in-law shall weave him a carpet, and the one whose carpet\nproves the most beautiful shall be first in rank. My brothers' wives are\nmost likely working at their looms already. But you, little frog,\nalthough you can give back an arrow, and talk like a human being, will\nnot be able to weave a carpet, as far as I can see.\"\n\n\"Don't be afraid,\" she said; \"go to sleep, and before you wake the\ncarpet shall be ready.\"\n\nSo he lay down, and went to sleep.\n\nBut the little frog stood on her hind-legs in the window and sang:\n\n    \"Ye breezes that blow, ye winds that sigh,\n      Come hither on airy wing;\n    And all of you straight to my dwelling hie,\n      And various treasures bring.\n        Two fleeces I crave of the finest wool,\n        And of the loveliest flowers a basketful;\n        From the depths of the ocean bring sands of gold,\n        And pearl-drops of lustre manifold;\n        That so I may fashion a carpet bright,\n        Adorned with fair flow'rets and gems of light,\n        And weave it in one short day and night,\n        When my true love's hands must the treasure hold.\"\n\nThere was a gentle murmur of the breezes, and from the sunbeams\ndescended seven lovely maidens, who floated into the room, carrying\nbaskets of various coloured wools, pearls, and flowers. They curtsied\ndeeply to the little frog, and in a few minutes they wove a wonderfully\nbeautiful carpet; then they curtsied again, and flew away.\n\nMeanwhile the wives of the other princes bought the most beautifully\ncoloured wools, and the best designs they could find, and worked hard at\ntheir looms all the next day.\n\nThen all the princes came before the king, and spread out their carpets\nbefore him.\n\nThe king looked at the first and the second; but when he came to the\nthird, he exclaimed:\n\n\"That's the carpet for me! I give the first place to my youngest son's\nwife; but there must be another trial yet.\"\n\nAnd he ordered that each of his daughters-in-law should make him a cake\nnext day; and the husband of the one whose cake proved the best should\nbe his successor.\n\nThe youngest prince came back to his frog wife; he looked very\nthoughtful, and sighed deeply.\n\n\"What is the matter, prince?\" she asked.\n\n\"My father demands another proof of skill; and I am not so sure that we\nshall succeed so well as before; for how can you bake a cake?\"\n\n\"Do not be afraid,\" she said: \"Lie down, and sleep; and when you wake\nyou will be in a happier frame of mind.\"\n\nThe prince went to sleep; and the frog sprang up to the window, and\nsang:\n\n    \"Ye breezes that blow, ye winds that sigh,\n      Come hither on airy wing;\n    And all of you straight to my dwelling hie,\n      These various gifts to bring.\n        From the sunbeams bright\n        Bring me heat and light;\n        And soft waters distil\n        From the pure flowing rill.\n        From the flowers of the field\n        The sweet odours they yield.\n        From the wheatfields obtain\n        Five full measures of grain,\n        That so I may bake\n        In the night-time a cake,\n        For my true love's sake.\"\n\nThe winds began to rise, and the seven beautiful maidens floated down\ninto the room, carrying baskets, with flour, water, sweetmeats, and all\nsorts of dainties. They curtsied to the little frog, and got the cake\nready in a few minutes; curtsied again, and flew away.\n\nThe next day the three princes brought their cakes to the king. They\nwere all very good; but when he tasted the one made by his youngest\nson's wife, he exclaimed:\n\n\"That is the cake for me! light, floury, white, and delicious! I see, my\nson, you have made the best choice; but we must wait a little longer.\"\n\nThe two elder sons went away much depressed; but the youngest greatly\nelated. When he reached home he took up his little frog, stroked and\nkissed her, and said:\n\n\"Tell me, my love, how it was that you, being only a little frog, could\nweave such a beautiful carpet, or make such a delicious cake?\"\n\n\"Because, my prince, I am not what I seem. I am a princess, and my\nmother is the renowned Queen of Light, and a great enchantress. But she\nhas many enemies, who, as they could not injure her, were always seeking\nto destroy me. To conceal me from them she was obliged to turn me into a\nfrog; and for seven years I have been forced to stay in the marsh where\nyou found me. But under this frog-skin I am really more beautiful than\nyou can imagine; yet until my mother has conquered all her enemies I\nmust wear this disguise; after that takes place you shall see me as I\nreally am.\"\n\nWhile they were talking two courtiers entered, with the king's orders to\nthe young prince, to come to a banquet at the king's palace, and bring\nhis wife with him, as his brothers were doing by theirs.\n\nHe knew not what to do; but the little frog said:\n\n\"Do not be afraid, my prince. Go to your father alone; and when he asks\nfor me, it will begin to rain. You must then say that your wife will\nfollow you; but she is now bathing in May-dew. When it lightens say that\nI am dressing; and when it thunders, that I am coming.\"\n\nThe prince, trusting to her word, set out for the palace; and the frog\njumped up to the window, and standing on her hind-legs, began to sing:\n\n    \"Ye breezes that blow, ye winds that sigh,\n      Come hither on airy wing;\n    And all of you straight to my dwelling hie,\n      These several gifts to bring.\n      My beauty of yore;\n      And my bright youth once more;\n      All my dresses so fair;\n      And my jewels so rare;\n      And let me delight\n      My dear love by the sight.\"\n\nThen the seven beautiful damsels, who were the handmaidens of the\nprincess--when she lived with her mother--floated on the sunbeams into\nthe room. They curtsied, walked three times round her, and pronounced\nsome magical words.\n\nThen the frog-skin fell off her, and she stood among them a miracle of\nbeauty, and the lovely princess she was.\n\nMeanwhile the prince, her husband, had arrived at the royal\nbanquet-hall, which was already full of guests. The old king welcomed\nhim warmly, and asked him:\n\n\"Where is your wife, my son?\"\n\nThen a light rain began to fall, and the prince said:\n\n\"She will not be long; she is now bathing herself in May-dew.\"\n\nThen came a flash of lightning, which illuminated all the palace, and he\nsaid:\n\n\"She is now adorning herself.\"\n\nBut when it thundered, he ran to the door exclaiming:\n\n\"Here she is!\"\n\nAnd the lovely princess came in, seeming to bring the sunshine with her.\nThey all stood amazed at her beauty. The king could not contain his\ndelight; and she seemed to him all the more beautiful, because he\nthought her the very image of his long-deceased queen. The prince\nhimself was no less astonished and overjoyed to find such loveliness in\nher, whom he had only as yet seen in the shape of a little frog.\n\n\"Tell me, my son,\" said the king, \"why you did not let me know what a\nfortunate choice you had made?\"\n\nThe prince told him everything in a whisper; and the king said:\n\n\"Go home then, my son, at once, and pick up that frog-skin of hers;\nthrow it in the fire, and come back here as fast as you can. Then she\nwill have to remain just as she is now.\"\n\nThe prince did as his father told him, went home, and threw the\nfrog-skin into the fire, where it was at once consumed.\n\nBut things did not turn out as they expected; for the lovely princess,\non coming home, sought for her frog-skin, and not finding it, began to\ncry bitterly. When the prince confessed the truth, she shrieked aloud,\nand taking out a green poppy-head, threw it at him. He went to sleep at\nonce; but she sprang up to the window, sang her songs to the winds; upon\nwhich she was changed into a duck, and flew away.\n\nThe prince woke up in the morning, and grieved sadly, when he found his\nbeautiful princess gone.\n\nThen he got on horseback, and set out to find her, inquiring everywhere\nfor the kingdom of the Queen of Light--his princess's mother--to whom he\nsupposed she must have fled.\n\nHe rode on for a very, very long time, till one day he came into a wide\nplain, all covered with poppies in full flower, the odour of which so\noverpowered him, that he could scarce keep upright in his saddle. Then\nhe saw a queer little house, supported on four crooked legs. There was\nno door to the house; but knowing what he ought to do, he said:\n\n    \"Little house, move\n      On your crooked legs free;\n    Turn your back to the wood,\n      And your front door to me.\"\n\nThe hut with the crooked legs made a creaking noise, and turned round,\nwith its door towards the prince. He went straight in, and found an old\nfury, whose name was Jandza,[1] inside; she was spinning from a distaff,\nand singing.\n\n[1] _Jandza_ pronounced Yen-jar.\n\n\"How are you, prince?\" she said, \"what brings you here?\"\n\nSo the prince told her, and she said:\n\n\"You have done wisely to tell me the truth. I know your bride, the\nbeautiful daughter of the Queen of Light; she flies to my house\ndaily, in the shape of a duck, and this is where she sits. Hide yourself\nunder the table, and watch your opportunity to lay hold of her. Hold her\nfast, whatever shapes she assumes; when she is tired she will turn into\na spindle; you must then break the spindle in two, and you will find\nthat which you are seeking.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE LITTLE HOUSE TURNS]\n\nPresently the duck flew in, sat down beside the old fury, and began to\npreen her feathers with her beak. The prince seized her by the wing. The\nduck quacked, fluttered, and struggled to get loose. But seeing this was\nuseless she changed herself into a pigeon, then into a hawk, and then\ninto a serpent, which so frightened the prince, that he let her go; on\nwhich she became a duck again, quacked aloud, and flew out of the\nwindow.\n\nThe prince saw his mistake, and the old woman cried aloud:\n\n\"What have you done, you careless fellow! you have frightened her away\nfrom me for ever. But as she is your bride, I must find some other way\nto help you. Take this ball of thread, throw it before you, and wherever\nit goes follow after it; you will then come to my sister's house, and\nshe will tell you what to do next.\"\n\nSo the prince went on day and night, following the ball of thread, till\nhe came to another queer little house, like the first, to which he said\nthe same rhyme, and going in, found the second old fury, and told her\nhis story.\n\n\"Hide under the bench,\" she exclaimed; \"your bride is just coming in.\"\n\nThe duck flew in, as before, and the prince caught her by the wing; she\nquacked, and tried to get away. Then she changed herself into a turkey,\nthen into a dog, then into a cat, then into an eel, so that she slipped\nthrough his hands, and glided out of the window.\n\nThe prince was in despair; but the old woman gave him another ball of\nthread, and he again followed it, determining not to let the princess\nescape again so easily. So going on after the thread, as it kept\nunwinding, he came to a funny little house, like the two first, and\nsaid:\n\n    \"Little house, move\n      On your crooked legs free;\n    Turn your back to the wood,\n      And your front door to me.\"\n\nThe little house turned round, so that he could go in, and he found a\nthird old fury inside; much older than her sisters, and having white\nhair. He told her his story, and begged for help.\n\n\"Why did you go against the wishes of your clever and sensible wife?\"\nsaid the old woman. \"You see she knew better than you what her frog-skin\nwas good for; but you must needs be in such a hurry to display her\nbeauty, to gain the world's applause, that you have lost her; and she\nwas forced to fly away from you.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE WAY HOME]\n\nThe prince hid himself under the bench: the duck flew in and sat at the\nold woman's feet; on which he caught her by the wings.\n\nShe struggled hard; but she felt his strength was too great for her to\nresist; so she turned herself into a spindle at once. He broke it across\nhis knee.... And lo! and behold! instead of the two halves of the\nspindle he held the hands of his beautiful princess, who looked at him\nlovingly with her beautiful eyes, and smiled sweetly.\n\nAnd she promised him that she would always remain as she was then, for\nsince her mother's enemies were all dead she had nothing to fear.\n\nThey embraced each other, and went out of the old fury's hut. Then the\nprincess spoke some magical spells; and in the twinkling of an eye there\nappeared a wonderful bridge, reaching from where they stood hundreds of\nmiles, up to the very gallery of the palace, belonging to the prince's\nfather. It was all made of crystal, with golden hand-rails, and diamond\nbosses upon them.\n\nThe princess spoke some more magical words, and a golden coach appeared,\ndrawn by eight horses, and a coachman, and two tall footmen, all in\ngolden liveries. And there were four outriders on splendid horses,\nriding by the side of the coach, and an equerry, riding in front, and\nblowing a brazen trumpet. And a long procession of followers, in\nsplendid dresses, came after them.\n\nThen the prince and princess got into the golden coach, and drove away,\nthus accompanied, along the crystal bridge, till they reached home, when\nthe old king came out to meet them, and embraced them both tenderly. He\nappointed the prince his successor; and such magnificent festivities\nwere held on the occasion, as never were seen or heard of before.\n\n[Illustration: THROUGH THE TELESCOPE]\n\n\n\n\nPRINCESS MIRANDA AND PRINCE HERO\n\n\nFar away, in the wide ocean there was once a green island where lived\nthe most beautiful princess in the world, named Miranda. She had lived\nthere ever since her birth, and was queen of the island. Nobody knew who\nwere her parents, or how she had come there. But she was not alone; for\nthere were twelve beautiful maidens, who had grown up with her on the\nisland, and were her ladies-in-waiting.\n\nBut a few strangers had visited the island, and spoken of the princess's\ngreat beauty; and many more came in time, and became her subjects, and\nbuilt a magnificent city, in which she had a splendid palace of white\nmarble to live in.\n\nAnd in course of time a great many young princes came to woo her. But\nshe did not care to marry any of them; and if anyone persisted, and\ntried to compel her by force to be his wife, she could turn him and all\nhis soldiers into ice, by merely fixing her eyes upon them.\n\nOne day the wicked Kosciey,[2] the king of the Underground realm, came\nout into the upper world, and began to gaze all round it with his\ntelescope. Various empires and kingdoms passed in review before him; and\nat last he saw the green island, and the rich city upon it; and the\nmarble palace in this city, and in this palace the twelve beautiful\nyoung ladies-of-honour, and among them he beheld, lying on a rich couch\nof swansdown, the Princess Miranda asleep. She slept like an innocent\nchild, but she was dreaming of a young knight, wearing a golden helmet,\non a gallant steed, and carrying an invisible mace, that fought of\nitself; ... and she loved him better than life.\n\n[2] _Kosciey_ pronounced Kosh-che-eh, literally \"Boney.\"\n\nKosciey looked at her; he was delighted with her beauty; he struck the\nearth three times, and stood upon the green island.\n\nPrincess Miranda called together her brave army, and led them into the\nfield, to fight the wicked Kosciey. But he, blowing on them with his\npoisonous breath, sent them all fast asleep, and he was just going to\nlay hands upon the princess, when she, throwing a glance of scorn at\nhim, changed him into a lump of ice, and fled to her capital.\n\nKosciey did not long remain ice. So soon as the princess was away, he\nfreed himself from the power of her glance, and regaining his usual\nform, followed her to her city. Then he sent all the inhabitants of the\nisland to sleep, and among them the princess's twelve faithful damsels.\n\nShe was the only one whom he could not injure; but being afraid of her\nglances, he surrounded the castle--which stood upon a high hill--with an\niron rampart, and placed a dragon with twelve heads on guard before the\ngate, and waited for the princess to give herself up of her own accord.\n\nThe days passed by, then weeks, then months, while her kingdom became a\ndesert; all her people were asleep, and her faithful soldiers also lay\nsleeping on the open fields, their steel armour all rusted, and wild\nplants were growing over them undisturbed. Her twelve maidens were all\nasleep in different rooms of the palace, just where they happened to be\nat the time; and she herself, all alone, kept walking sadly to and fro\nin a little room up in a tower, where she had taken refuge--wringing her\nwhite hands, weeping, and her bosom heaving with sighs.\n\nAround her all were silent, as though dead; only every now and then,\nKosciey, not daring to encounter her angry glance, knocked at the door\nasking her to surrender, promising to make her queen of his Underground\nrealm. But it was all of no use; the princess was silent, and only\nthreatened him with her looks.\n\nBut grieving in her lonely prison Princess Miranda could not forget the\nlover of whom she had been dreaming; she saw him just as he had appeared\nto her in her dream.\n\nAnd she looked up with her blue eyes to heaven, and seeing a cloud\nfloating by, she said:\n\n    \"O cloud! through the bright sky flying!\n    Stay, and hearken my piteous sighing!\n        In my sorrow I call upon thee;\n    Oh! where is my loved one? say!\n    Oh! where do his footsteps stray?\n        And does he now think of me?\"\n\n\"I know not,\" the cloud replied. \"Ask the wind.\"\n\nAnd she looked out into the wide plain, and seeing how the wind was\nblowing freely, she said:\n\n    \"O wind! o'er the wide world flying!\n    Do thou pity my grief and crying!\n        Have pity on me!\n    Oh! where is my loved one? say!\n    Oh! where do his footsteps stray?\n        And does he now think of me?\"\n\n\"Ask the stars,\" the wind replied; \"they know more than I do.\"\n\nSo she cried to the stars:\n\n    \"O stars! with your bright beams glowing!\n    Look down on my tears fast flowing!\n        Have pity, have pity on me!\n    Oh! where is my loved one? say!\n    Oh! where do his footsteps stray?\n        And does he now think of me?\"\n\n\"Ask the moon,\" said the stars; \"who being nearer to the earth, knows\nmore of what happens there than we do.\"\n\nSo she said to the moon:\n\n    \"Bright moon, as your watch you keep,\n    From the starry skies, o'er this land of sleep,\n        Look down now, and pity me!\n    Oh! where is my loved one? say!\n    Where? where do his footsteps stray?\n        And does he now think of me?\"\n\n\"I know nothing about your loved one, princess,\" replied the moon; \"but\nhere comes the sun, who will surely be able to tell you.\"\n\nAnd the sun rose up in the dawn, and at noontide stood just over the\nprincess's tower, and she said:\n\n    \"Thou soul of the world! bright sun!\n    Look on me, in this prison undone!\n        Have pity on me!\n    Oh! where is my loved one? say!\n    Through what lands do his footsteps stray?\n        And does he now think of me?\"\n\n\"Princess Miranda,\" said the sun; \"dry your tears, comfort your heart;\nyour lover is hastening to you, from the bottom of the deep sea, from\nunder the coral reefs; he has won the enchanted ring; when he puts it on\nhis finger, his army will increase by thousands, regiment after\nregiment, with horse and foot; the drums are beating, the sabres\ngleaming, the colours flying, the cannon roaring, they are bearing down\non the empire of Kosciey. But he cannot conquer him by force of mortal\nweapons. I will teach him a surer way; and there is good hope that he\nwill be able to deliver you from Kosciey, and save your country. I will\nhasten to your prince. Farewell.\"\n\nThe sun stood over a wide country, beyond the deep seas, beyond high\nmountains, where Prince Hero in a golden helmet, on a gallant horse, was\ndrawing up his army, and preparing to march against Kosciey, the\nbesieger of the fair princess. He had seen her three times in a dream,\nand had heard much about her, for her beauty was famous throughout the\nworld.\n\n\"Dismiss your army,\" said the sun. \"No army can conquer Kosciey, no\nbullet can reach him; you can only free Princess Miranda by killing him,\nand how you are to do it, you must learn from the old woman Jandza; I\ncan only tell you where you will find the horse, that must carry you to\nher. Go hence towards the East; you will come to a green meadow, in\nwhich there are three oak trees; and among them you will find hidden in\nthe ground an iron door, with a brazen padlock; behind this door you\nwill find a battle charger, and a mace; the rest you will learn\nafterwards; ... farewell!\"\n\nPrince Hero was most surprised; but he took off his enchanted ring and\nthrew it into the sea; with it all his great army vanished directly into\nmist, leaving no trace behind. He turned to the East and travelled\nonwards.\n\nAfter three days he came to the green meadow, where he found the three\noak trees, and the iron door, as he had been told. It opened upon a\nnarrow, crooked stairway, going downwards, leading into a deep dungeon,\nwhere he found another iron door, closed by a heavy iron padlock. Behind\nthis he heard a horse neighing, so loudly that it made the door fall to\nthe ground, and at the same moment eleven other doors flew open and\nthere came out a war-horse, which had been shut up there for ages by a\nwizard.\n\nThe prince whistled to the horse; the horse tugged at his fastenings,\nand broke twelve chains by which he had been fettered. He had eyes like\nstars, flaming nostrils, and a mane like a thunder-cloud; ... he was a\nhorse of horses, the wonder of the world.\n\n\"Prince Hero!\" said the horse, \"I have long waited for such a rider as\nyou, and I am ready to serve you for ever. Mount on my back, take that\nmace in your hand, which you see hanging to the saddle; you need not\nfight with it yourself, for it will strike wherever you command it, and\nbeat a whole army. I know the way everywhere; tell me where you want to\ngo, and you will presently be there.\"\n\nThe prince told him everything; took the self-fighting mace in his hand,\nand sprang on his back.\n\nThe horse reared, snorted, spurned the ground, and they flew over\nmountains and forests, higher than the flying clouds, over rapid rivers,\nand deep seas; but when they flew along the ground the charger's light\nfeet never trampled down a blade of grass, nor raised an atom of dust on\nthe sandy soil.\n\nBefore sunset Prince Hero had reached the primeval forest in which the\nold woman Jandza lived.\n\nHe was amazed at the size and age of the mighty oaks, pine trees and\nfirs, where there reigned a perpetual twilight. And there was absolute\nsilence--not a leaf or a blade of grass stirring; and no living thing,\nnot so much as a bird, or the hum of an insect; only amidst this\ngrave-like stillness the sound of his horse's hoofs.\n\nThe prince stopped before a little house, supported on crooked legs, and\nsaid:\n\n    \"Little house, move\n    On your crooked legs free:\n    Turn your back to the wood,\n    And your front to me.\"\n\nThe house turned round, with the door towards him; the prince went in,\nand the old woman Jandza asked him:\n\n\"How did you get here, Prince Hero, where no living soul has penetrated\ntill now?\"\n\n\"Don't ask me; but welcome your guest politely.\"\n\nSo the old woman gave the prince food and drink, made up a soft bed for\nhim, to rest on after his journey, and left him for the night.\n\nNext morning he told her all, and what he had come for.\n\n\"You have undertaken a great and splendid task, prince; so I will tell\nyou how to kill Kosciey. In the Ocean-Sea, on the island of Everlasting\nLife, there is an old oak tree; under this tree is buried a coffer bound\nwith iron; in this coffer is a hare; under the hare sits a grey duck;\nthis duck carries within her an egg; and in this egg is enclosed the\nlife of Kosciey. When you break the egg he will die at once. Now\ngood-bye, prince; and good luck go with you; your horse will show you\nthe way.\"\n\nThe prince got on horseback, and they soon left the forest behind them,\nand came to the shore of the ocean.\n\nOn the beach was a fisherman's net, and in the net was a great fish, who\nwhen he saw the prince, cried out piteously:\n\n\"Prince Hero! take me out of the net, and throw me back into the sea; I\nwill repay you!\"\n\nThe prince took the fish out of the net, and threw it into the sea; it\nsplashed in the water, and vanished.\n\nThe prince looked over the sea, and saw the island in the grey distance,\nfar, far away; but how was he to get there? He leaned upon his mace,\ndeep in thought.\n\n\"What are you thinking of, prince?\" asked the horse.\n\n\"I am thinking how I am to get to the island, when I cannot swim over\nthat breadth of sea.\"\n\n\"Sit on my back, prince, and hold fast.\"\n\nSo the prince sat firm on the horse's back, and held fast by the thick\nmane; a wind arose, and the sea was somewhat rough; but rider and horse\npushed on, through the billows, and at last came to shore on the island\nof Everlasting Life.\n\nThe prince took off his horse's bridle, and let him loose to feed in a\nmeadow of luxuriant grass, and walked on quickly to a high hill, where\ngrew the old oak tree. Taking it in both hands he tugged at it; the oak\nresisted all his efforts; he tugged again, the oak began to creak, and\nmoved a little; he mustered all his strength, and tugged again. The oak\nfell with a crash to the ground, with its roots uppermost, and there,\nwhere they had stood firmly fixed so many hundred years, was a deep\nhole.\n\nLooking down he saw the iron-bound coffer; he fetched it up, broke open\nthe lock with a stone, raised the lid, picked up the hare lying in it by\nits ears; but at that moment the duck, which had been sitting under the\nhare, took the alarm, and flew off straight to sea.\n\nThe prince fired a shot after her; the bullet hit the duck; she gave one\nloud quack, and fell; but in that same instant the egg fell from\nher--down to the bottom of the sea. The prince gave a cry of despair;\nbut just then a great fish came swimming, dived down to the depths of\nthe sea, and coming to the shore, with the egg in its jaws, left it on\nthe sand.\n\n[Illustration: THE DRAGON WHO KEPT WATCH]\n\nThe fish swam away; but the prince, taking up the egg, mounted his horse\nonce more; and they swam till they reached Princess Miranda's island,\nwhere they saw a great iron wall stretching all round her white marble\npalace.\n\nThere was only one entrance through this iron wall to the palace, and\nbefore this lay the monstrous dragon with the twelve heads, six of which\nkept guard alternately; when the one half slept the other six remained\nawake. If anyone were to approach the gate he could not escape the\nhorrid jaws. Nobody could hurt the dragon; for he could only suffer\ndeath by his own act.\n\nThe prince stood on the hill before that gate, and commanded his\nself-fighting mace, which also had the faculty of becoming invisible, to\ngo and clear his entrance to the palace.\n\nThe invisible, self-fighting mace fell upon the dragon and began to\nthunder on all his heads with such force, that all his eyes became\nbloodshot, and he began to hiss fiercely; he shook his twelve heads, and\nstretched wide his twelve horrid jaws; he spread out his forest of\nclaws; but this helped him not at all, the mace kept on smiting him,\nmoving about so fast, that not a single head escaped, but could only\nhiss, groan, and shriek wildly! Now it had given a thousand blows, the\nblood gushed from a thousand wounds, and there was no help for the\ndragon; he raged, writhed about, and shrieked in despair; finally, as\nblow followed blow, and he could not see who gave them, he gnashed his\nteeth, belched forth flame, and at length turned his claws upon himself,\nplunging them deep into his own flesh, struggled, writhed, twisted\nhimself round, and in and out; his blood flowed freely from his wounds\n... and now it was all over with the dragon.\n\nThe prince, seeing this, went into the courtyard of the palace, put his\nhorse into the stable, and went up by a winding stair, towards the\ntower, whence the Princess Miranda, having seen him, addressed him:\n\n\"Welcome, Prince Hero! I saw how you disposed of the dragon; but do be\ncareful, for my enemy, Kosciey, is in this palace; he is most powerful,\nboth through his own strength, and through his sorceries; and if he\nkills you I can live no longer.\n\n\"Princess Miranda, do not trouble about me. I have the life of Kosciey\nin this egg.\" Then he called out:\n\n\"Invisible self-fighting mace, go into the palace and beat Kosciey.\"\n\nThe mace bestirred itself quickly, battered in the iron doors, and set\nupon Kosciey; it smote him on the neck, till he crouched all together,\nthe sparks flew from his eyes, and there was a noise of so many mills in\nhis ears.\n\nIf he had been an ordinary mortal it would have been all over with him\nat once; as it was, he was horribly tormented, and puzzled--feeling all\nthese blows, and never seeing whence they came. He sprang about, raved,\nand raged, till the whole island resounded with his roaring.\n\nAt last he looked through the window, and behold there he saw Prince\nHero. \"Ah! that is all your doing!\" he exclaimed; and sprang out into\nthe courtyard, to rush straight at him, and beat him to a jelly! But the\nprince held the egg in one hand ready; and he squeezed it so hard, that\nthe shell cracked and the yolk and the white were all spilled together\n... and Kosciey fell lifeless!\n\nAnd with the death of the enchanter all his charms were dissolved at\nonce; all the people in the island who were asleep woke up, and began to\nstir. The soldiers woke from sleep, and the drums began to beat; they\nformed their ranks, massed themselves in order, and began to march\ntowards the palace.\n\nAnd in the palace there was great joy; for Princess Miranda came towards\nthe prince, gave him her white hand, and thanked him warmly. They went\nto the throne-room, and following the princess's example, her twelve\nwaiting-maids paired off with twelve young officers of the army, and\nthe couples grouped themselves round the throne, on which the prince and\nprincess were sitting.\n\nAnd then a priest, arrayed in all his vestments, came in at the open\ndoor, and the prince and princess exchanged rings, and were married.\n\nAnd all the other couples were married at the same time, and after the\nwedding there was a feast, dancing, and music, which it is a pleasure to\nthink of. Everywhere there was rejoicing.\n\n[Illustration: THE CHILDREN TRANSFORMED]\n\n\n\n\nTHE EAGLES\n\n\nThere was once a king, who had lost his wife. They had a family of\nthirteen--twelve gallant sons, and one daughter, who was exquisitely\nbeautiful.\n\nFor twelve years after his wife's death the king grieved very much; he\nused to go daily to her tomb, and there weep, and pray, and give away\nalms to the poor. He thought never to marry again; for he had promised\nhis dying wife never to give her children a stepmother.\n\nOne day, when visiting his dead wife's grave as usual, he saw beside him\na maiden so entrancingly fair, that he fell in love with her, and soon\nmade her his second queen. But before long he found out that he had made\na great mistake. Though she was so beautiful she turned out to be a\nwicked sorceress, and not only made the king himself unhappy, but\nproved most unkind to his children, whom she wished out of the way, so\nthat her own little son might inherit the kingdom.\n\nOne day, when the king was far away, at war against his enemies, the\nqueen went into her stepchildren's apartments, and pronounced some\nmagical words--on which every one of the twelve princes flew away in the\nshape of an eagle, and the princess was changed into a dove.\n\nThe queen looked out of the window, to see in what direction they would\nfly, when she saw right under the window an old man, with a beard as\nwhite as snow.\n\n\"What are you here for, old man?\" she asked.\n\n\"To be witness of your deed,\" he answered.\n\n\"Then you saw it?\"\n\n\"I saw it.\"\n\n\"Then be what I command!\"\n\nShe whispered some magical words. The old man disappeared in a blaze of\nsunshine; and the queen, as she stood there, dumb with terror, was\nchanged into a basilisk.\n\nThe basilisk ran off in fright; trying to hide herself underground. But\nher glance was so deadly, that it killed every one she looked at; so\nthat all the people in the palace were soon dead, including her own son,\nwhom she slew by merely looking at him. And this once populous and\nhappy royal residence quickly became an uninhabited ruin, which no one\ndared approach, for fear of the basilisk lurking in its underground\nvaults.\n\n[Illustration: THE OLD MAN BLESSES THE PRINCESS]\n\nMeanwhile the princess, who had been changed into a dove, flew after her\nbrothers the eagles, but not being able to overtake them, she rested\nunder a wayside cross, and began cooing mournfully.\n\n\"What are you grieving for, pretty dove?\" asked an old man, with a\nsnow-white beard, who just then came by.\n\n\"I am grieving for my poor dear father, who is fighting in the wars far\naway; for my loved brothers, who have flown away from me into the\nclouds. I am grieving also for myself. Not long ago I was a happy\nprincess; and now I must wander over the world as a dove, to hide from\nthe birds of prey--and be parted for ever from my dear father and\nbrothers!\"\n\n\"You may grieve and weep, little dove; but do not lose hope,\" said the\nold man. \"Sorrow is only for a time, and all will come right in the\nend.\"\n\nSo saying he stroked the little dove, and she at once regained her\nnatural shape. She kissed the old man's hand in her gratitude, saying:\n\n\"How can I ever thank you enough! But since you are so kind, will you\nnot tell me how to rescue my brothers?\"\n\nThe old man gave her an ever-growing loaf, and said:\n\n\"This loaf is enough to sustain, not only you, but a thousand people for\na thousand years, without ever diminishing. Go towards the sunset, and\nweep your tears into this little bottle. And when it is full....\"\n\nAnd the old man told her what else to do, blessed her, and disappeared.\n\nThe princess travelled on towards the sunset; and in about a year she\nreached the boundary of the next world, and stood before an iron door,\nwhere Death was keeping guard with his scythe.\n\n\"Stop, princess!\" he said; \"You can proceed no further, for you are not\nyet parted by death from your own world.\"\n\n\"But what am I to do?\" she asked. \"Must I go back without my poor\nbrothers?\"\n\n\"Your brothers,\" said Death, \"fly here every day in the guise of eagles.\nThey want to reach the other side of this door, which leads into the\nother world; for they hate the one they live in; nevertheless they, and\nyou also, must remain there, until your time be come. Therefore every\nday I must compel them to go back, which they can do, because they are\neagles. But how are you going to get back yourself?--look there!\"\n\nThe princess looked around her, and wept bitterly. For though she had\nnot perceived this before, nor seen how she got there, she saw now that\nshe was in a deep abyss, shut in on all sides by such high precipices,\nthat she wondered how her brothers, even with eagle wings, could fly to\nthe top.\n\nBut remembering what the mysterious old man had said she took courage,\nand began to pray and weep, till she had filled the little bottle with\nher tears. Soon she heard the sound of wings over her head, and saw\ntwelve eagles flying.\n\nThe eagles dashed themselves against the iron portal, beating their\nwings upon it, and imploring Death to open it to them. But Death only\nthreatened them with his scythe, saying:\n\n\"Hence! ye enchanted princes! you must fulfil your penance on earth,\ntill I come for you myself.\"\n\nThe eagles were about to turn and fly, when all at once they perceived\ntheir sister. They came round her, and caressed her hands lovingly with\ntheir beaks.\n\nShe at once began to sprinkle them with her tears from the lachrymatory;\nand in one moment the twelve eagles were changed back into the twelve\nprinces, and joyfully embraced their sister.\n\nThe princess then fed them all round from her ever-growing loaf; but\nwhen their hunger was appeased they began to be troubled as to how they\nwere to ascend from the abyss, since they had no longer eagles' wings to\nfly up.\n\nBut the princess knelt down and prayed:\n\n    \"Bird of heavenly pity here,\n      By each labour, prayer and tear,\n    Come in thine unvanquished power,\n      Come and aid us in this hour!\"\n\nAnd all at once there shot down from heaven to the depth of the abyss a\nray of sunshine, on which descended a gigantic bird, with rainbow wings,\na bright sparkling crest, and peacock's eyes all over his body, a golden\ntail, and silvery breast.\n\n\"What are your commands, princess?\" asked the bird.\n\n\"Carry us from this threshold of eternity to our own world.\"\n\n\"I will, but you must know, princess, that before I can reach the top of\nthis precipice with you on my back, three days and nights must pass; and\nI must have food on the way, or my strength will fail me, and I shall\nfall down with you to the bottom, and we shall all perish.\"\n\n\"I have an ever-growing loaf, which will suffice both for you and\nourselves,\" replied the princess.\n\n\"Then climb upon my back, and whenever I look round, give me some bread\nto eat.\"\n\nThe bird was so large that all the princes, and the princess in the\nmidst of them, could easily find place on his back, and he began to fly\nupwards.\n\nHe flew higher and higher, and whenever he looked round at her, she gave\nhim bits of the loaf, and he flew on, and upwards.\n\nSo they went on steadily for two nights and days; but upon the third\nday, when they were hoping in a short time to view the summit of the\nprecipice, and to land upon the borders of this world, the bird looked\nround as usual for a piece of the loaf.\n\nThe princess was just going to break off some to give him, when a sudden\nviolent gust of wind from the bottom of the abyss snatched the loaf from\nher hand, and sent it whistling downwards.\n\nNot having received his usual meal the bird became sensibly weaker, and\nlooked round once more.\n\nThe princess trembled with fear; she had nothing more to give him, and\nshe felt that he was becoming exhausted. In utter desperation she cut\noff a piece of her flesh, and gave it to him.\n\nHaving eaten this the bird recovered strength, and flew upwards faster\nthan before; but after an hour or two he looked round once more.\n\nSo she cut off another piece of her flesh; the bird seized it greedily,\nand flew on so fast that in a few minutes he reached the ground at the\ntop of the precipice. When they alighted, and he asked her:\n\n\"Princess, what were those two delicious morsels you gave me last? I\nnever ate anything so good before.\"\n\n\"They were part of my flesh, I had nothing else for you,\" replied the\nprincess in a faint voice, for she was swooning away with pain and loss\nof blood.\n\nThe bird breathed upon her wounds; and the flesh at once healed over,\nand grew again as before. Then he flew up again to heaven, and was lost\nin the clouds.\n\nThe princess and her brothers resumed their journey, this time towards\nthe sunrise, and at last arrived in their own country, where they met\ntheir father, returning from the wars.\n\nThe king was coming back victorious over his enemies, and on his way\nhome had first heard of the sudden disappearance of his children and of\nthe queen, and how his palace was tenanted only by a basilisk with a\ndeath-dealing glance.\n\nHe was therefore most surprised and overjoyed to meet his dear children\nonce more, and on the way his daughter told him all that had come to\npass.\n\nWhen they got back to the palace the king sent one of his nobles with a\nlooking-glass down into the underground vaults. The basilisk saw herself\nreflected in this mirror, and her own glance slew her immediately.\n\nThey gathered up the remains of the basilisk, and burnt them in a great\nfire in the courtyard, afterwards scattering the ashes to the four\nwinds. When this was done the king, his sons, and his daughter, returned\nto live in their former home and were all as happy as could be ever\nafter.\n\n[Illustration: TO TRICK THE BASILISK]\n\n[Illustration: THE BRIDE CARRIED OFF BY THE WHIRLWIND]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WHIRLWIND\n\n\nIn a far-off country, beyond the sea and the mountains, there lived a\nking and queen, with a beautiful daughter, who was called Princess\nLadna.\n\nA great many princes came to woo her; but she liked only one of them,\ncalled Prince Dobrotek; so they confessed their love for one another to\nthe king, who gave his consent, and the wedding-day was fixed.\n\nNow among the princess's rejected suitors there was one, who though he\nhad changed himself into the shape of a prince, in order to come to\ncourt and make love to her, really was an ugly dwarf, only seven inches\nhigh, but with a beard more than seven feet long, and a great hump on\nhis back. He was so offended with the princess for refusing him, that he\ndetermined to carry her off; so he watched his opportunity.\n\nAs the young couple, with all their followers and their guests, were\nleaving the palace to go to church, a violent wind began to blow, a\nregular whirlwind, raising a column of sand, and lifting the princess\noff her feet. She was carried up over the clouds, to the top of some\ninaccessible mountains, and dropped down into a magnificent palace, with\na golden roof, and a high wall all round.\n\nAfter a while the princess woke up from the fainting-fit into which she\nhad fallen. She looked round the splendid apartment in which she was,\nand came to the conclusion that some young and handsome prince must have\ncarried her off.\n\nIn the room there was a table ready spread; all the plates and dishes,\nas well as the knives, forks, and spoons, were of silver and gold; and\nthe dinner itself was so good, that in spite of her grief and terror,\nshe could not refrain from tasting it; and she had no sooner tasted,\nthan she ate, till her appetite was appeased.\n\nThen the doors opened, and there came in a company of negroes, bearing a\ngreat chair, in which sat the ugly dwarf, with the long beard and the\ngreat hump.\n\nThe dwarf now began to pay his court to the princess, and explain how he\nhad carried her off in the guise of the whirlwind, because he loved her\nso much. But she would not listen to him, and gave him a sounding slap\nwith her open hand right in his face, so that sparks danced before his\neyes. Of course he was in a great passion; but for love of her he\nmanaged to keep his temper, and turned round to leave the room. But in\nhis haste he caught his feet in his long beard, and was thrown down on\nthe threshold, and in his fall he dropped his cap, which he was holding\nin one hand.\n\nThe negroes helped him again into the chair, and carried him out; but\nthe princess jumped up, locked the door, and took up the cap that was\nlying on the ground. She put it on; and went to the glass to see how she\nlooked in it. But what was her surprise to find that she could not see\nherself, till she took it off! So she came to the wise conclusion that\nthis was an invisible cap; at which she was highly delighted; she put on\nthe cap again, and began to walk about the room.\n\nThe door opened once more with a loud noise, and the dwarf came in with\nhis long beard thrown back and twisted all round his hump, to be out of\nthe way. But not seeing either his cap, or the princess, he guessed what\nhad happened; so full of wild despair he began to rush madly about the\nroom, knocking himself against the tables and chairs, while the princess\nmade her escape through the door, and ran out into the garden.\n\nThe garden was very extensive, and full of beautiful fruit-trees; so she\nlived upon these fruits, and drank the water of a spring in the garden\nfor some time. She used to make fun of the dwarf's impotent rage.\nSometimes when he rushed wildly about the garden, she would tease him\nby taking off the invisible cap, so that he saw her before him, in all\nher beauty; but when he made a rush after her she would put it on again,\nand become invisible to him; she would then throw cherry-stones at him,\ncome close to him, and laugh loudly: and then run away again.\n\nOne day, when she was playing about in this manner, her cap got caught\nin the boughs of a tree, and fell upon a gooseberry bush. The dwarf saw\nit, and seized hold of the princess with one hand, and of the cap with\nthe other. But just then--from the summit of the mountain, above the\ngarden itself, was heard the sound of a trumpet-challenge, three times\nrepeated.\n\nAt this the dwarf trembled with rage; but first breathing upon the\nprincess, he put her to sleep with his breath, then placed his invisible\ncap on her head. Having done this he seized his two-edged sword, and\nflew up into the clouds, so as to strike the knight who had challenged\nhim from above, and destroy him at one stroke.\n\nBut where did this knight come from?\n\nWhen Princess Ladna had been carried off on her wedding-day by the\nwhirlwind, there was the greatest consternation among all the\nbystanders. Her distracted father and her bridegroom rushed about in all\ndirections, and sent courtiers everywhere in search of her; but the\nprincess had been neither seen nor heard of, nor was any trace left of\nher.\n\nThe king (very unnecessarily) told Prince Dobrotek that if he did not\nget back his daughter, the princess, he would not only put him to death,\nbut would reduce his whole country to ashes. He also told all the\nprinces there that whoever should bring back his daughter should have\nher to wife, and receive half of his kingdom into the bargain.\n\nWhen they heard this they all got to horse, and galloped in various\ndirections; among them Prince Dobrotek.\n\nHe went on for three days, never stopping for food or rest; but on the\nfourth day, at dusk, he felt overcome by sleep; so he let his horse go\nfree in a meadow, and himself lay down on the grass. Then all at once he\nheard a piercing shriek, and straight before him beheld a hare, and an\nowl perched upon it--its claws digging into the poor creature's side.\n\nThe prince caught up the first thing that lay near him, and aimed at the\nscreech-owl, so truly that he killed it on the spot, and the hare ran up\nto him, like a tame creature, licked his hands, and ran away.\n\nThen the prince saw that the thing he had thrown at the owl was a human\nskull. And it spoke to him, in these words:\n\n\"Prince Dobrotek, I thank you for what you have done for me. When I was\nalive I committed suicide, and was therefore condemned to lie unburied\nat this cross-way, till I should be the means of saving life. I have\nlain here for seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and Heaven knows\nhow much longer I should have had to remain, if you had not chanced to\nthrow me at the screech-owl, and so saved the life of the poor hare. Now\nbury me, so that I may lie peacefully in the ground at this same place,\nand I will tell you how to summon the Grey Seer-horse, with the golden\nmane, who will always help you in case of need. Go out into a plain, and\nwithout looking behind you, call out:\n\n    \"Grey Seer-horse, with golden mane!\n    Like a bird--and not like steed,\n    On the blast--and not the mead,\n    Fly thou hither unto me!\"\n\nThus having spoken, the head was silent; but a blue light shot up from\nit towards the sky; it was the soul of the deceased, which having now\nexpiated its sin by its long imprisonment in the skull, had attained\nheaven.\n\nThe prince then dug a grave, and buried the skull. He then called out:\n\n    \"Grey Seer-horse, with golden mane!\n    Like a bird--and not like steed,\n    On the blast--and not the mead,\n    Do thou hither fly to me!\"\n\nThe wind rose, the lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and the\nwonderful horse with the golden mane appeared. He flew as fast as the\nstorm-wind, flames shot from his nostrils, sparks from his eyes, and\nclouds of smoke from his mouth. He stood still, and said in human tones:\n\n[Illustration: THE HORSE APPEARS IN THE STORM]\n\n\"What are your commands, Prince Dobrotek?\"\n\n\"I am in trouble; I wish you to help me.\"\n\nAnd he told him all that had occurred.\n\n\"Creep in at my left ear,\" said the horse, \"and creep out again at the\nright.\"\n\nSo the prince crept in at the horse's left ear, and came out again at\nthe right one, all clad in golden armour. He also found himself\nmiraculously increased in strength, so that when he stamped on the\nground it trembled; and when he shouted a storm arose, which shook the\nleaves from the trees.\n\nThen he asked the horse:\n\n\"What is to be done next?\"\n\n\"Your betrothed, Princess Ladna,\" said the horse, \"was carried off by\nthe seven-inch-high dwarf, with the seven-foot-long beard; he is a\npowerful magician; he dwells beyond the seven seas, among inaccessible\nmountains. He can only be conquered by the All-Cutting Sword, which\nsword is jealously guarded by his own brother, the Giant-Head, with\nbasilisk eye. To this Giant-Head we must therefore go.\"\n\nPrince Dobrotek mounted on horseback, and they flew like an arrow, over\nlands and seas, high mountains and wide oceans. They stopped at length\nupon a wide plain strewn with bones, before a moving mountain. And the\nhorse said:\n\n\"This moving mountain, which you see before you, is the giant's head\nwith the basilisk eyes; and the bones strewn so thickly hereabouts prove\nhow deadly his looks are--so be careful. He is now asleep from the heat\nof the sun; but only two steps before him lies the sword, with which\nalone you can conquer your enemy. Lie down along my back, so that his\nglance cannot reach you through my neck and mane; but when you get near\nto it, lay hold of the sword; when you have it you will not only be safe\nfrom his basilisk glances, but you will even have the giant's head at\nyour mercy.\"\n\nAnd the horse drew near lightly, and the prince bent down, and secured\nthe wonderful sword; but he shouted so loud that the Giant-Head woke up,\nsniffed hard, and looked about with his bloodshot eyes; and seeing the\nwonderful sword in the prince's hand, he called out:\n\n\"Sir knight! are you weary of the world, that you court speedy death?\"\n\n\"You need not boast like that, you empty head!\" replied Prince Dobrotek.\n\"Your looks cannot hurt me now; and you shall die by this All-Cutting\nSword! But I would first know who, and what you are.\"\n\n\"Then I confess, prince,\" replied the head; \"that I am in your power;\nbut be merciful to me, for I am worthy of pity. I am a knight of the\nrace of giants, and were it not for the envy of my brother, I should\nstill have been happy. He was the black sheep of our family, and was\nborn an ugly dwarf, with a long beard; and my handsome giant-like\nproportions caused him to hate me bitterly. His only good point is his\ngreat strength, and it all resides in his long beard, and so long as it\nis not cut he cannot be conquered, and this can only be done by that\nsword, which you now hold.\n\n\"One day, being bent upon my destruction, he said to me:\n\n\"'Brother, do not refuse to help me. I have read in my books of magic\nthat beyond the mountains, on a plain lies buried a certain sword,\nwhereby a knight, seeking for his betrothed, shall compass the\ndestruction of us both; let us therefore go and dig it up, so that we\nshall escape the threatened doom!'\n\n\"To this I agreed. I took a hundred-year-old pine--torn up from its\nroots--on one arm, and carried my brother on my other. We set out; he\nshowed me the spot, and I dug up the sword, on this same plain. Then we\nbegan to quarrel about who should possess it. After a long dispute he\nsaid:\n\n\"'We were best decide it by lot, brother. Let each of us lay his ear to\nthe ground, and whoever first hears the sound of the evening bell shall\nhave the sword.'\n\n\"So he laid his ear to the ground, and I mine. I listened; but heard\nnothing; and he meantime, having got hold of the sword, crept up to me,\nand cut my head from my shoulders.\n\n\"My headless trunk, left unburied, rotted away, and the grass grew over\nit; but my head, endowed with supernatural life by the malicious dwarf,\nmy brother, was left here, with charge to guard this sword, and kill\nevery one who came near with my deadly glance. After many centuries you\nhave won it; so I implore you to cut off his seven-foot beard, and make\nhim into mince-meat; and avenge me.\"\n\n\"You shall be avenged,\" said the prince; \"and at once. Grey Seer-Horse,\ncarry me to the kingdom of the dwarf magician, with the seven-foot-long\nbeard.\"\n\nSo they set off at once, flying with lightning speed through the air,\nover the seas and over the forests. In an hour or two they halted on the\nsummit of a high mountain, and the horse said:\n\n\"These mountains are the kingdom of the dwarf magician, who carried off\nyour betrothed, and they are both now in the garden; challenge him to\nfight.\"\n\nPrince Dobrotek sounded a challenge three times, and the dwarf, as we\nhave seen, flew up into the air, so as to swoop down upon his\nantagonist, unperceived of him.\n\nAll at once the prince heard a murmuring sound above him, and he saw\nwhen he looked up, the dwarf soaring above him, like an eagle in the\nclouds--for he had the magic power of increasing his size and\nstrength--with his sword drawn, ready to fall upon him.\n\nThe prince sprang aside, and the dwarf came down, with such an impetus,\nthat his head and neck were rammed into the ground.\n\nThe prince dismounted, seized the dwarf by the beard, wound it about his\nleft hand, and began to sever it with the All-Cutting Sword.\n\nThe dwarf saw that he had to do with no feather-bed knight; so he tugged\nwith all his strength, and flew up again into the clouds; but the\nprince, holding fast with his left hand to the beard, kept on severing\nit with his sword, so that he had nearly cut half of it through; and the\ndwarf became weaker and weaker the more hair he lost, so he began to cry\nfor mercy.\n\n\"Drop down to the ground, off which you took me,\" said the prince.\n\nThe dwarf dropped down slowly, but the prince cut off the remainder of\nhis beard and threw him--when thus deprived of his charms and his\nstrength alike--on to the ground, wreathed the severed beard round his\nown helmet, and entered the palace.\n\nThe invisible servants of the dwarf, seeing their master's beard,\nwreathed about the prince's helmet, threw open all the doors to him at\nonce.\n\nHe went through all the rooms; but not finding his princess anywhere,\nwent into the garden, traversing all the paths and lawns, and calling\nher name. He could find her nowhere.\n\nBut thus running from one place to another he chanced to touch the\ninvisible cap; he caught hold of it, and pulled it away from where it\nwas, on the head of the princess, and saw her at once in all her\nloveliness, but fast asleep.\n\nOvercome with joy, he called her by her name; but she had been cast into\nsuch a deep sleep by the dwarf's poisonous breath, that he could not\nrouse her.\n\nHe took her up in his arms, put the invisible cap into his pocket, also\npicking up the wicked dwarf, whom he carried along with him. He then\nmounted his horse, flew like an arrow, and in a few minutes stood before\nthe Giant-Head, with the basilisk eyes.\n\nHe threw the dwarf into its open jaws, where he was ground at once into\npowder; the prince then cut up the monstrous head into small pieces, and\nscattered them all over the plain.\n\nThus having got rid of both the dwarf and the giant, the prince rode on\nwith the sleeping princess, upon the Golden-Mane horse, and at sunset\nthey came to the same cross-roads, where he had first summoned him.\n\n\"Here, prince, we must part,\" said the Golden-Mane; \"but here in the\nmeadow is your own horse, and it is not far to your own home, so\ncreep into my right ear, and come out at my left.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE DWARF DEFEATED]\n\nThe prince did as he was told, and came out as he was before. His own\nhorse recognized him, and came running with a joyful neigh to meet his\nmaster.\n\nThe prince was tired out with the long journey, so, having laid down his\nbetrothed wife, still sleeping, on the soft grass, and covered her up\nfrom the cold, he laid down himself and went to sleep.\n\nBut that very night, one of Princess Ladna's rejected suitors, riding\nthat way, saw by the light of the moon those two asleep, and he\nrecognized in them the princess, and the prince, his fortunate rival. So\nfirst stabbing the latter through with his sabre, he carried off the\nprincess, and bore her on horseback before him to her father.\n\nThe king welcomed him rapturously, as his daughter's deliverer. But when\nhe found, to his dismay, that he could not awake her, with all his\ncaresses, he asked the supposed rescuer what this meant.\n\n\"I do not know, Sir King,\" replied the knight. \"After I had overtaken\nand slain the great enchanter, who was carrying off the princess, I\nfound her as she is now, sound asleep.\"\n\nPrince Dobrotek meanwhile, mortally wounded, had just strength enough\nleft to summon the Wonderful Grey Horse, who came instantly; and seeing\nwhat was the matter, flew off to the top of the mountain of Everlasting\nLife. On its summit were three springs--the Water of Loosening, the\nWater of Healing, and the Water of Life. He sprinkled the dead prince\nwith all three; Prince Dobrotek opened his eyes, and exclaimed:\n\n\"Oh! how well I have slept!\"\n\n\"You were sleeping the sleep of death,\" returned the Golden-Mane; \"one\nof your rivals killed you sleeping, and carried off your princess home\nto her father, pretending to be her deliverer, in the hope of gaining\nher hand. But do not be afraid; she is still asleep, and only you can\nawaken her, by touching her forehead with the beard of the dwarf, which\nyou have with you. Go then to her; I must be elsewhere.\"\n\nThe Golden-Mane vanished, and the prince, calling his own horse, and\ntaking with him his invisible cap, betook himself to the court of his\nloved one's father.\n\nBut when he drew near he found that the city was all surrounded by\nenemies, who had already mastered the outer defences, and were\nthreatening the town itself; and half of its defenders being slain, the\nrest were thinking of surrender.\n\nPrince Dobrotek put on his invisible cap, and drawing his All-Cutting\nSword, fell upon the enemy.\n\nThey fell to right and left as the sword smote them on each side, till\none half of them were slain, and the rest ran away into the forest.\n\nUnseen by anyone the prince entered the city, and arrived at the royal\npalace, where the king, surrounded by his knights, was hearing the\naccount of this sudden attack, whereby his foes had been discomfited;\nbut by whom no one could inform him.\n\nThen Prince Dobrotek took off his invisible cap, and appearing suddenly\nin the midst of the assembly, said:\n\n\"King and father! it was I who beat your enemies. But where is my\nbetrothed, Princess Ladna, whom I rescued from the wizard dwarf, with\nthe seven-foot beard? whom one of your knights treacherously stole from\nme? Let me see her, that I may waken her from her magic sleep.\"\n\nWhen the traitor knight heard this he took to his heels; Prince Dobrotek\ntouched the sleeping princess's forehead with the beard, she woke up\ndirectly, gazed at him fondly with her lovely eyes, but could not at\nfirst understand where she was, or what had happened to her.\n\nThe king caught her in his arms, pressed her to his heart, and that very\nevening he married her to Prince Dobrotek. He gave them half his\nkingdom, and there was a splendid wedding, such as had never been seen\nor heard of before.\n\n[Illustration: THE GOOD FERRYMAN CAPTURES THE MERMAID]\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FERRYMAN AND THE WATER NYMPHS\n\n\nThere was once an old man, very poor, with three sons. They lived\nchiefly by ferrying people over a river; but he had had nothing but\nill-luck all his life. And to crown all, on the night he died, there was\na great storm, and in it the crazy old ferry-boat, on which his sons\ndepended for a living, was sunk.\n\nAs they were lamenting both their father and their poverty, an old man\ncame by, and learning the reason of their sorrow said:\n\n\"Never mind; all will come right in time. Look! there is your boat as\ngood as new.\"\n\nAnd there was a fine new ferry-boat on the water, in place of the old\none, and a number of people waiting to be ferried over.\n\nThe three brothers arranged to take turns with the boat, and divide the\nfares they took.\n\nThey were however very different in disposition. The two elder brothers\nwere greedy and avaricious, and would never take anyone over the river,\nwithout being handsomely paid for it.\n\nBut the youngest brother took over poor people, who had no money, for\nnothing; and moreover frequently relieved their wants out of his own\npocket.\n\nOne day, at sunset, when the eldest brother was at the ferry the same\nold man, who had visited them on the night their father died, came, and\nasked for a passage.\n\n\"I have nothing to pay you with, but this empty purse,\" he said.\n\n\"Go and get something to put in it then first,\" replied the ferry-man;\n\"and be off with you now!\"\n\nNext day it was the second brother's turn; and the same old man came,\nand offered his empty purse as his fare. But he met with a like reply.\n\nThe third day it was the youngest brother's turn; and when the old man\narrived, and asked to be ferried over for charity, he answered:\n\n\"Yes, get in, old man.\"\n\n\"And what is the fare?\" asked the old man.\n\n\"That depends upon whether you can pay or not,\" was the reply; \"but if\nyou cannot, it is all the same to me.\"\n\n\"A good deed is never without its reward,\" said the old man: \"but in the\nmeantime take this empty purse; though it is very worn, and looks\nworth nothing. But if you shake it, and say:\n\n    'For his sake who gave it, this purse I hold,\n    I wish may always be full of gold;'\n\nit will always afford you as much gold as you wish for.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE PURSE THAT WAS EVER FULL]\n\nThe youngest brother came home, and his brothers, who were sitting over\na good supper, laughed at him, because he had taken only a few copper\ncoins that day, and they told him he should have no supper. But when he\nbegan to shake his purse and scatter gold coins all about, they jumped\nup from the table, and began picking them up eagerly.\n\nAnd as it was share and share alike, they all grew rich very quickly.\nThe youngest brother made good use of his riches, for he gave away money\nfreely to the poor. But the greedy elder brothers envied him the\npossession of the wonderful purse, and contrived to steal it from him.\nThen they left their old home; and the one bought a ship, laded it with\nall sorts of merchandize, for a trading voyage. But the ship ran upon a\nrock, and every one on board was drowned. The second brother was no more\nfortunate, for as he was travelling through a forest, with an enormous\ntreasure of precious stones, in which he had laid out his wealth, to\nsell at a profit, he was waylaid by robbers, who murdered him, and\nshared the spoil among them.\n\nThe youngest brother, who remained at home, having lost his purse,\nbecame as poor as before. But he still did as formerly, took pay from\npassengers who could afford it, ferried over poor folks for nothing, and\nhelped those who were poorer than himself so far as he could.\n\nOne day the same old man with the long white beard came by; the\nferry-man welcomed him as an old friend, and while rowing him over the\nriver, told him all that had happened since he last saw him.\n\n\"Your brothers did very wrong, and they have paid for it,\" said the old\nman; \"but you were in fault yourself. Still, I will give you one more\nchance. Take this hook and line; and whatever you catch, mind you hold\nfast, and not let it escape you; or you will bitterly repent it.\"\n\nThe old man then disappeared, and the ferry-man looked in wonder at his\nnew fishing-tackle--a diamond hook, a silver line, and a golden rod.\n\nAll at once the hook sprang of itself into the water; the line\nlengthened out along the river current, and there came a strong pull\nupon it. The fisherman drew it in, and beheld a most lovely creature,\nupwards from the waist a woman, but with a fish's tail.\n\n\"Good ferry-man, let me go,\" she said; \"take your hook out of my hair!\nThe sun is setting, and after sunset I can no longer be a water-nymph\nagain.\"\n\nBut without answering, the ferry-man only held her fast, and covered\nher over with his coat, to prevent her escaping. Then the sun set, and\nshe lost her fish-tail.\n\n\"Now,\" she said: \"I am yours; so let us go to the nearest church and get\nmarried.\"\n\nShe was already dressed as a bride, with a myrtle garland on her head,\nin a white dress, with a rainbow-coloured girdle, and rich jewels in her\nhair and on her neck. And she held in her hand the wonderful purse, that\nwas always full of gold.\n\nThey found the priest and all ready at the church; were married in a few\nminutes; and then came home to their wedding-feast, to which all the\nneighbours were invited. They were royally entertained, and when they\nwere about to leave the bride shook the wonderful purse, and sent a\nshower of gold pieces flying among the guests; so they all went home\nvery well pleased.\n\nThe good ferry-man and his marvellous wife lived most happily together;\nthey never wanted for anything, and gave freely to all who came. He\ncontinued to ply his ferry-boat; but he now took all passengers over for\nnothing, and gave them each a piece of gold into the bargain.\n\nNow there was a king over that country, who a year ago had just\nsucceeded to his elder brother. He had heard of the ferry-man, who was\nso marvellously rich, and wishing to ascertain the truth of the story he\nhad heard, came on purpose to see for himself. But when he saw the\nferry-man's beautiful young wife, he resolved to have her for himself,\nand determined to get rid of her husband somehow.\n\nAt that time there was an eclipse of the sun; and the king sent for the\nferry-man, and told him he must find out the cause of this eclipse, or\nbe put to death.\n\nHe came home in great distress to his wife; but she replied:\n\n\"Never mind, my dear. I will tell you what to do, and how to gratify the\nking's curiosity.\"\n\nSo she gave him a wonderful ball of thread, which he was to throw before\nhim, and follow the thread as it kept unwinding--towards the East.\n\nHe went on a long way, over high mountains, deep rivers, and wide\nregions. At last he came to a ruined city, where a number of corpses\nwere lying about unburied, tainting the air with pestilence.\n\nThe good man was sorry to see this, and took the pains to summon men\nfrom the neighbouring cities, and get the bodies properly buried. He\nthen resumed his journey.\n\nHe came at last to the ends of the earth. Here he found a magnificent\ngolden palace, with an amber roof, and diamond doors and windows.\n\nThe ball of thread went straight into the palace, and the ferry-man\nfound himself in a vast apartment, where sat a very dignified old lady,\nspinning from a golden distaff.\n\n\"Wretched man! what are you here for?\" she exclaimed, when she saw him.\n\"My son will come back presently and burn you up.\"\n\nHe explained to her how he had been forced to come, out of sheer\nnecessity.\n\n\"Well, I must help you,\" replied the old lady, who was no less than the\nMother of the Sun, \"because you did Sol that good turn some days ago, in\nburying the inhabitants of that town, when they were killed by a dragon.\nHe journeys every day across the wide arch of heaven, in a diamond car,\ndrawn by twelve grey horses, with golden manes, giving heat and light to\nthe whole world. He will soon be back here, to rest for the night....\nBut ... here he comes; hide yourself, and take care to observe what\nfollows.\"\n\nSo saying she changed her visitor into a lady-bird, and let him fly to\nthe window.\n\nThen the neighing of the wonderful horses and the rattling of chariot\nwheels were heard, and the bright Sun himself presently came in, and\nstretching himself upon a coral bed, remarked to his mother:\n\n\"I smell a human being here!\"\n\n\"What nonsense you talk!\" replied his mother. \"How could any human being\ncome here? You know it is impossible.\"\n\nThe Sun, as if he did not quite believe her, began to peer anxiously\nabout the room.\n\n\"Don't be so restless,\" said the old lady; \"but tell me why you suffered\neclipse a month or two ago.\"\n\n\"How could I help it?\" answered the Sun; \"When the dragon from the deep\nabyss attacked me, and I had to fight him? Perhaps I should have been\nfighting with the monster till now, if a wonderful mermaid had not come\nto help me. When she began to sing, and looked at the dragon with her\nbeautiful eyes, all his rage softened at once; he was absorbed in gazing\nupon her beauty, and I meanwhile burnt him to ashes, and threw them into\nthe sea.\"\n\nThe Sun then went to sleep, and his mother again touched the ferry-man\nwith her spindle; he then returned to his natural shape, and slipped out\nof the palace. Following the ball of thread he reached home at last, and\nnext day went to the king, and told him all.\n\nBut the king was so enchanted at the description of the beautiful\nsea-maiden, that he ordered the ferry-man to go and bring her to him, on\npain of death.\n\nHe went home very sad to his wife, but she told him she would manage\nthis also. So saying she gave him another ball of thread, to show him\nwhich way to go, and she also gave him a carriage-load of costly lady's\napparel and jewels, and ornaments--told him what he was to do, and they\ntook leave of one another.\n\nOn the way the ferry-man met a youth, riding on a fine grey horse, who\nasked:\n\n\"What have you got there, man?\"\n\n\"A woman's wearing apparel, most costly and beautiful\"--he had several\ndresses, not simply one.\n\n\"I say, give me some of those as a present for my intended, whom I am\ngoing to see. I can be of use to you, for I am the Storm-wind. I will\ncome, whenever you call upon me thus:\n\n    'Storm-wind! Storm-wind! come with speed!\n    Help me in my sudden need!'\"\n\nThe ferry-man gave him some of the most beautiful things he had, and the\nStorm-wind passed.\n\nA little further on he met an old man, grey-haired, but strong and\nvigorous-looking, who also said:\n\n\"What have you got there?\"\n\n\"Women's garments costly and beautiful.\"\n\n\"I am going to my daughter's wedding; she is to marry the Storm-wind;\ngive me something as a wedding present for her, and I will be of use to\nyou. I am the Frost; if you need me call upon me thus:\n\n    'Frost, I call thee; come with speed;\n    Help me in my sudden need!'\"\n\nThe ferry-man let him take all he wanted and went on.\n\nAnd now he came to the sea-coast; here the ball of thread stopped, and\nwould go no further.\n\nThe ferry-man waded up to his waist into the sea, and set up two high\npoles, with cross-bars between them, upon which he hung dresses of\nvarious colours, scarves, and ribbons, gold chains, and diamond earrings\nand pins, shoes, and looking-glasses, and then hid himself, with his\nwonderful hook and line ready.\n\nAs soon as the morning rose from the sea, there appeared far away on the\nsmooth waters a silvery boat, in which stood a beautiful maiden, with a\ngolden oar in one hand, while with the other she gathered together her\nlong golden hair, all the while singing so beautifully to the rising\nsun, that, if the ferry-man had not quickly stopped his ears, he would\nhave fallen into a delicious reverie, and then asleep.\n\nShe sailed along a long time in her silver boat, and round her leaped\nand played golden fishes with rainbow wings and diamond eyes. But all at\nonce she perceived the rich clothes and ornaments, hung up on the poles,\nand as she came nearer, the ferry-man called out:\n\n    \"Storm-wind! Storm-wind! come with speed!\n    Help me in my sudden need!\"\n\n\"What do you want?\" asked the Storm-wind.\n\nThe ferry-man without answering him, called out:\n\n    \"Frost, I call thee; come with speed,\n    Help me in my sudden need!\"\n\n\"What do you want?\" asked the Frost.\n\n\"I want to capture the sea-maiden.\"\n\nThen the wind blew and blew, so that the silver boat was capsized,\nand the frost breathed on the sea till it was frozen over.\n\n[Illustration: THE MEETING OF THE SISTERS]\n\nThen the ferryman rushed up to the sea-maiden, entangling his hook in\nher golden hair; lifted her on his horse, and rode off as swift as the\nwind after his wonderful ball of thread.\n\nShe kept weeping and lamenting all the way; but as soon as they reached\nthe ferry-man's home, and saw his wife, all her sorrow changed into joy;\nshe laughed with delight, and threw herself into her arms.\n\nAnd then it turned out that the two were sisters.\n\nNext morning the ferry-man went to court with both his wife and\nsister-in-law, and the king was so delighted with the beauty of the\nlatter, that he at once offered to marry her. But she could give him no\nanswer until he had the Self-playing Guitar.\n\nSo the king ordered the ferry-man to procure him this wonderful guitar,\nor be put to death.\n\nHis wife told him what to do, and gave him a handkerchief of hers,\nembroidered with gold, telling him to use this in case of need.\n\nFollowing the ball of thread he came at last to a great lake, in the\nmidst of which was a green island.\n\nHe began to wonder how he was to get there, when he saw a boat\napproaching, in which was an old man, with a long white beard, and he\nrecognized him with delight, as his former benefactor.\n\n\"How are you, ferry-man?\" he asked. \"Where are you going?\"\n\n\"I am going wherever the ball of thread leads me, for I must fetch the\nSelf-playing Guitar.\"\n\n\"This guitar,\" said the old man, \"belongs to Goldmore, the lord of that\nisland. It is a difficult matter to have to do with him; but perhaps you\nmay succeed. You have often ferried me over the water; I will ferry you\nnow.\"\n\nThe old man pushed off, and they reached the island.\n\nOn arriving the ball of thread went straight into a palace, where\nGoldmore came out to meet the traveller, and asked him where he was\ngoing and what he wanted.\n\nHe explained:\n\n\"I am come for the Self-playing Guitar.\"\n\n\"I will only let you have it on condition that you do not go to sleep\nfor three days and nights. And if you do, you will not only lose all\nchance of the Self-playing Guitar; but you must die.\"\n\nWhat could the poor man do, but agree to this?\n\nSo Goldmore conducted him to a great room, and locked him in. The floor\nwas strewn with sleepy-grass, so he fell asleep directly.\n\nNext morning in came Goldmore, and on waking him up said:\n\n\"So you went to sleep! Very well, you shall die!\"\n\nAnd he touched a spring in the floor, and the unhappy ferry-man fell\ndown into an apartment beneath, where the walls were of looking-glass,\nand there were great heaps of gold and precious stones lying about.\n\nFor three days and nights he lay there; he was fearfully hungry. And\nthen it dawned upon him that he was to be starved to death!\n\nHe called out, and entreated in vain; nobody answered, and though he had\npiles of gold and jewels about him, they could not purchase him a morsel\nof food.\n\nHe sought in vain for any means of exit. There was a window, of clearest\ncrystal, but it was barred by a heavy iron grating. But the window\nlooked into a garden whence he could hear nightingales singing, doves\ncooing, and the murmur of a brook. But inside he saw only heaps of\nuseless gold and jewels, and his own face, worn and haggard, reflected a\nthousand times.\n\nHe could now only pray for a speedy death, and took out a little iron\ncross, which he had kept by him since his boyhood. But in doing so he\nalso drew out the gold-embroidered handkerchief, given him by his wife,\nand which he had quite forgotten till now.\n\nGoldmore had been looking on, as he often did, from an opening in the\nceiling to enjoy the sight of his prisoner's sufferings. All at once he\nrecognized the handkerchief, as belonging to his own sister, the\nferry-man's wife.\n\nHe at once changed his treatment of his brother-in-law, as he had\ndiscovered him to be; took him out of prison, led him to his own\napartments, gave him food and drink, and the Self-playing Guitar into\nthe bargain.\n\nComing home, the ferry-man met his wife half-way.\n\n\"The ball of thread came home alone,\" she explained; \"so I judged that\nsome misfortune had befallen you, and I was coming to help you.\"\n\nHe told her all his adventures, and they returned home together.\n\nThe king was all eagerness to see and hear the Self-playing Guitar; so\nhe ordered the ferry-man, his wife, and her sister to come with it to\nthe palace at once.\n\nNow the property of this Self-playing Guitar was such that wherever its\nmusic was heard, the sick became well, those who were sad merry, ugly\nfolks became handsome, sorceries were dissolved, and those who had been\nmurdered rose from the dead, and slew their murderers.\n\nSo when the king, having been told the charm to set the guitar playing,\nsaid the words, all the court began to be merry, and dance--except the\nking himself!... For all at once the door opened, the music ceased, and\nthe figure of the late king stood up in his shroud, and said:\n\n\"I was the rightful possessor of the throne! and you, wicked brother,\nwho caused me to be murdered, shall now reap your reward!\"\n\nSo saying he breathed upon him, and the king fell dead--on which the\nphantom vanished.\n\nBut as soon as they recovered from their fright, all the nobility who\nwere present acclaimed the ferry-man as their king.\n\nThe next day, after the burial of the late king, the beautiful\nsea-maiden, the beloved of the Sun, went back to the sea, to float about\nin her silvery canoe, in the company of the rainbow fishes, and to\nrejoice in the sunbeams.\n\nBut the good ferry-man and his wife lived happily ever after, as king\nand queen. And they gave a grand ball to the nobility and to the\npeople.... The Self-playing Guitar furnished the music, the wonderful\npurse scattered gold all the time, and the king entertained all the\nguests right royally.\n\n[Illustration: THE FIGHT FOR THE MAGIC BOOTS]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCESS OF THE BRAZEN MOUNTAIN\n\n\nThere was a young prince, who was not only most handsome and well-grown,\nbut also most kind-hearted and good. Now sooner or later kindness always\nmeets its reward, though it may not seem so at first.\n\nOne summer's evening the prince was walking on the banks of a lake, when\nhe looked up, and saw to his great surprise, in the air, against the\nrosy clouds of the sunset, three beautiful beings with wings--not\nangels, nor birds--but three beautiful damsels.\n\nAnd having alighted on the ground they dropped their wings and their\ngarments, and left them lying on the shore and leaped into the cool\nwater, and began splashing and playing about in it, like so many\nwaterfowl.\n\nAs soon as the prince saw this he came out from his hiding-place in the\nbushes, picked up one pair of wings and hid himself again.\n\nWhen they had been long enough in the water, the beautiful damsels came\nagain to land, and dressed themselves quickly.\n\nTwo of them soon had on both their white dresses and their wings; but\nthe youngest could not find hers.\n\nThey held a short consultation, and the result was, that the two elder\nflew away in the shape of birds, as fast as they could, to fetch another\npair of wings for their younger sister.\n\nThey soon vanished in the blue sky; but she remained alone, wringing her\nhands, and crying.\n\n\"What are you crying for, you lovely maiden?\" asked the prince, emerging\nfrom the bushes.\n\n\"Oh! I am so unhappy!\" she replied. \"I am a princess of the Brazen\nMountain; my sisters and I came here to bathe in the lake; and somebody\nhas stolen my wings; so I must wait here, until they bring me another\npair.\"\n\n\"I am a prince,\" he replied; \"this is my father's kingdom; be my wife,\nand I will give you back your wings.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" she said; \"I consent, only you must give me back my wings\nat once.\"\n\n\"Let us first go to church, and get married,\" he answered, and taking\nthe lovely princess by the hand, he brought her to his father and\nmother, and asked their permission to marry her.\n\n[Illustration: THE PRINCE STEALS THE WINGS]\n\nThe king and queen were delighted with their beautiful daughter-in-law,\ngave them their blessing, and all was got ready for the wedding.\n\nAnd directly they came back from church the prince, overcome with joy,\nkissed his bride, and gave her back her wings.\n\nShe took them joyfully, fastened them to her shoulders; then flew out of\nthe window, and vanished.\n\nAll the wedding-guests were in consternation; the king looked very\nserious; the queen wept bitterly; but the prince so grieved after his\nbride, that, having obtained his parents' consent, he went out into the\nwide world to search for that Brazen Mountain, where he hoped to find\nher.\n\nHe travelled for a long time, inquiring about it of every one he met;\nbut nobody had ever heard of such a mountain; and he began to give up\nall hope of ever finding it.\n\nLate one evening he saw a twinkling light before him, which he followed,\nin the hope of coming to some habitation. It led him on a long way,\nacross level plains, through deep defiles, and at length some way into a\ndark forest. But at last he came to whence the light proceeded--from a\nsolitary hermitage.\n\nHe went in; but found the hermit lying dead, with six wax candles\nburning around him. He had evidently been dead for some time. Yet there\nseemed to be nobody near him, nor any inhabitants at all in this\ndesolate region.\n\nThe prince's first thought was how to get him buried, and with proper\nrites, when there was no priest--nor indeed any people at all--to be\nfound in the neighbourhood.\n\nWhile he was thinking over this, something fell from a peg in the wall,\nclose beside him; it was a leather whip.\n\nThe prince took it up, and read on the handle these words:\n\n\"The Magic Whip.\"\n\nAs he knew its virtue, he called out:\n\n    \"Ho! Magical Whip!\n    To right and left skip!\n    And do what I will!\"\n\nThe whip jumped from his hand, became invisible, and flew away.\n\nIn a short time there was the hum of a multitude through the forest; and\nthe head-forester entered, breathless, followed by a crowd of\nunder-keepers, and many more people with them.\n\nSome set about making a coffin, others began digging a grave, and the\nhead-keeper rode off to fetch a priest.\n\nAnd as soon as it was dawn mass was said; the bells began ringing from\nseveral far-distant churches; and at sunrise the corpse was decently\nburied. When the funeral was over all the people dispersed to their\nhomes, and the Magical Whip returned of itself to the prince's hand.\n\nHe stuck it into his girdle, and went on, till after an hour or two he\ncame to a clearing in the forest, where twelve men were fighting\ndesperately among themselves.\n\n\"Stop, you fellows!\" exclaimed the prince. \"Who are you? and what are\nyou fighting about?\"\n\n\"We are robbers,\" they replied, \"and we are fighting for these boots,\nwhich were the property of our deceased leader. Whoever has them can go\nseven leagues at one step; and he who gets them will be our leader. As\nyou are a stranger we will abide by your decision, as to whom this pair\nof boots shall belong, and give you a heap of gold into the bargain for\nyour trouble.\"\n\nThe prince drew on the boots, took the Magical Whip from his girdle, and\nsaid:\n\n    \"Ho! Magical Whip!\n    To right and left skip!\n    And do what I will!\"\n\nThe whip jumped from his hand, became invisible, and well thrashed the\nrobbers. In the midst of the confusion the prince made his escape, and\nhaving the boots on he went seven miles at every step, and was soon far\nenough away from the robbers' den.\n\nBut as he was no nearer to finding out where the Brazen Mountain was, he\nhad no need to go quite so fast; so he took off the seven-league boots,\nput them under his arm, and the Magic Whip in his girdle, and went at\nhis ordinary pace, till he came to a narrow path between some rocks,\nwhere again he came upon twelve men fighting.\n\nThey explained that they were fighting for an invisible cap, which had\nbelonged to their late leader; and asked him, as a stranger, to decide\nwho should have it.\n\nSo he set the Magical Whip, as before, to work; and there was a nice\nconfusion among these robbers, for not seeing where the blows came from\nthey fell upon one another; and at last, frightened out of their senses,\nthey took flight, and scattered in all directions. The prince, having\nput on the invisible cap, was able to walk among them, and talk to them;\nand they all heard, though they could not see him.\n\nHe now began to consider whether he could not use all these treasures to\nhelp him to find the Brazen Mountain. So he drew on the seven-league\nboots, settled the invisible cap on his forehead, and taking the Magical\nWhip from his girdle, said:\n\n    \"Oh! thou wondrous Magic Whip!\n    Lead me on; I'll follow thee!\n    Onward to the Brazen Mountain\n    Lead me, where I fain would be!\"\n\nThe whip sprang from his hand. It did not become invisible this time,\nbut glided rapidly a little above the ground, like a boat over a calm\nsea. Though it flew like a bird, the prince was quite able to keep pace\nwith it, because he had on the seven-league boots. He was scarcely\naware of the fact, when in less than a quarter of an hour they came to a\nstandstill--at the Brazen Mountain.\n\nAt first the prince was overjoyed at having reached the goal of his\nwishes; but when he looked more closely at its smooth perpendicular\nsides, hard as adamant--its summit lost in the clouds--he was in\ndespair; for how was he ever to get to the top of it?\n\nHowever, he thought there must be some way up after all; so taking off\nhis boots and cap, he set off to walk round the base of the mountain.\n\nIn half an hour he came to a mill, with twelve millstones. The miller\nwas an old wizard, with a long beard down to the ground. He stood beside\na stove--whereupon a kettle was boiling--stirring the contents with a\nlong iron spoon, and piling wood on the fire.\n\nThe prince looked into the kettle.\n\n\"Good morning to you, gaffer. What are you doing there?\"\n\n\"That's my own business,\" replied the miller gruffly.\n\n\"What mill is this?\" the prince next asked.\n\n\"That's no business of yours,\" replied the miller.\n\nThe prince was not going to be satisfied with this; so he gave his usual\norders to the Magical Whip, which forthwith became invisible, and began\nto lash the miller soundly. He tried to run away; but it was no use;\ntill the prince took pity on him, and called the whip back again. He\nput it up, and then said:\n\n\"Whose mill is this?\"\n\n\"It belongs to the three princesses of the Brazen Mountain,\" replied the\nmiller. \"They let down a rope here every day, and draw up all the flour\nthey want by the rope.\"\n\nAs he said this a thick silken rope came down, with a loop at the end,\nwhich struck the threshold of the mill.\n\nThe prince made ready; and when the usual sack of wheat flour was bound\nfast in the loop, he climbed upon it, having first put on his invisible\ncap, and was thus drawn up to the top of the Brazen Mountain.\n\nThe three princesses, having drawn up their supply of flour, put it into\ntheir storehouse, and went back to their dwelling.\n\nTheir palace was most beautiful, all silver without, and all gold\nwithin. All the windows were of crystal; the chairs and tables were made\nof diamonds, and the floors of looking-glass. The ceilings were like the\nsky, with mimic stars and moon shining therein; and in the principal\nsaloon there was a sun, with rays all round; beautiful birds were\nsinging, monkeys were telling fairy tales; and in their midst amongst\nall this sat three most beautiful princesses.\n\nThe two eldest were weaving golden threads in their looms; but the\nyoungest, the prince's wife, sat silently apart from her sisters,\nlistening to the murmur of a fountain, her head leaning on her hand,\nin deep thought. And as she sat there two pearly tears coursed down her\nlovely face.\n\n[Illustration: THE TRUANT WIFE IS CAPTURED]\n\n\"What are you thinking of, sister?\" asked the two elder princesses.\n\n\"I am thinking of the prince, my husband. I love to think of him, and I\nam so sorry for him, poor fellow! To think I left him for no fault at\nall; and when we loved one another so dearly! Oh! sisters! I shall have\nto leave you, and go back to him; only I fear he will never forgive me,\nhowever I entreat him, for having behaved so unkindly to him.\"\n\n\"I forgive you, I forgive you everything, darling!\" exclaimed the prince\nthrowing off the invisible cap, and embracing her rapturously.\n\nThen she gave him wings like her own, and they flew away together. In an\nhour or two they arrived in his father's kingdom.\n\nThe king and queen welcomed them joyfully, and all was greatest joy and\nhappiness henceforward.\n\n[Illustration: THE MOUSE SAVES THE GOOD LITTLE GIRL]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEAR IN THE FOREST HUT.\n\n\nThere was once an old man, who was a widower, and he had married an old\nwoman, who was a widow. Both had had children by their first marriage;\nand now the old man had a daughter of his own still living, and the old\nwoman also had a daughter.\n\nThe old man was an honest, hard-working, and good-natured old fellow,\nbut too much under his wife's thumb. This was very unfortunate, because\nshe was wicked, cunning, and sly, and a bad old witch.\n\nHer daughter was only too like her in disposition; but she was her\nmother's darling.\n\nBut the old man's daughter was a very good sweet girl; nevertheless her\nstepmother hated her; she was always tormenting her, and wishing her\ndead.\n\nOne day she had beaten her very cruelly, and pushed her out of doors;\nthen she said to the old man:\n\n\"Your wretched daughter is always giving me trouble; she is such an\nill-tempered, spoilt hussy, that I cannot do anything with her. So if\nyou wish for peace in the house, you must put her into your waggon,\ndrive her away into the forest, and come back without her.\"\n\nThe old man was very sorry to have to do this; for he loved his own\nlittle daughter most dearly. But he was so afraid of his wife that he\ndared not refuse; so he put the poor girl into his waggon, drove a long\nway into the forest, took her out, and left her there alone.\n\nShe wandered about a long time, gathering wild strawberries, to eat with\na little piece of bread, which her father had given her. Towards evening\nshe came to the door of a hut in the forest, and knocked at the door.\n\nNobody answered her knock. So she lifted the latch, went in, and looked\nround--there was nobody there.\n\nBut there was a table in one corner, and benches all round the walls,\nand an oven by the door. And near the table, close to the window, was a\nspinning-wheel, and a quantity of flax.\n\nThe girl sat down to the spinning-wheel, and opened the window, looked\nout, and listened; but nobody came.\n\n[Illustration: THE GOOD LITTLE GIRL IS SENT AWAY]\n\nBut as it grew dusk she heard a rustle not far off, and from somewhere\nnot far from the hut, a voice was heard, singing:\n\n    \"Wanderer, outcast, forsaken!\n    Whom the night has overtaken;\n    If no crime your conscience stain,\n    In this hut to-night remain.\"\n\nWhen the voice ceased, she answered:\n\n    \"I am outcast and forsaken;\n    Yet unstained by crime am I:\n    Be you rich, or be you poor;\n    For this night here let me lie!\"\n\nOnce more there was a rustle in the branches; the door opened, and there\ncame into the room--a bear!\n\nThe girl started up, very frightened; but the bear only said:\n\n\"Good evening, pretty maiden!\"\n\n\"Good evening to you, whoever you are,\" she replied, somewhat reassured.\n\n\"How did you come here?\" he asked. \"Was it of your own free will, or by\ncompulsion?\"\n\nThe maiden told him all, weeping; but the bear sat down beside her, and\nstroking her face with his paw, replied:\n\n\"Do not cry, pretty one; you shall be happy yet. But in the meantime you\nmust do just what I tell you. Do you see that flax? You must spin it\ninto thread; of that thread you must weave cloth, and of that cloth you\nmust make me a shirt. I shall come here to-morrow at this same time, and\nif the shirt is ready I will reward you. Good-bye!\"\n\nSo saying the bear made her a parting bow, and went out. At first the\ngirl began to cry, and said to herself:\n\n\"How can I do this in only twenty-four hours--spin all that flax, weave\nit into cloth, and make a shirt out of it? Well! I must set to work! and\ndo what I can.... He will at least see that my will was good, though I\nwas unable to perform the task.\"\n\nThus saying, she dried her tears, ate some of her bread and\nstrawberries, sat down to the spinning-wheel, and began to spin by the\nlight of the moon.\n\nThe time went by quickly, as she worked, and it was daylight before she\nknew.\n\nAnd there was no more flax left; she had spun out the last distaff-full.\n\nShe was astonished to see how fast the work had gone, and began to\nwonder how she was to weave the thread without any loom.\n\nThinking, she fell asleep.\n\nWhen she woke the sun was already high in the heavens. There was\nbreakfast ready on the table, and a loom under the window.\n\nShe ran down to the neighbouring brook, washed her face and hands, came\nback, said grace, and ate her breakfast; then she sat down to the loom.\n\nThe shuttle flew so fast that the cloth was all ready by noon.\n\nShe took it out into a meadow, sprinkled it from the brook, spread it\nout in the sun, and in one hour the cloth was bleached.\n\nShe came back with it to the hut, cut out the shirt, and began to stitch\nat it diligently.\n\nThe twilight was falling, and she was just putting in the last stitch,\nwhen the door opened, and the bear came in, and asked:\n\n\"Is the shirt ready?\"\n\nShe gave it to him.\n\n\"Thank you, my good girl; now I must reward you. You told me you had a\nbad stepmother; if you like, I will send my bears to tear her and her\ndaughter in pieces.\"\n\n\"Oh! don't do that! I don't want to be revenged; let them live!\"\n\n\"Let it be so then! Meanwhile make yourself useful in the kitchen; get\nme some porridge for supper. You will find everything you want in the\ncupboard in the wall; but I will go and fetch my bedding, for I shall\nspend to-night at home.\"\n\nThe bear left the room, and the maiden made up the fire in the oven, and\nbegan to get the porridge ready.\n\nJust then she heard a sound under the bench, and there ran out a poor,\nlean little mouse, which stood up on its hind-legs, and said in human\ntones:\n\n    \"Mistress! help me lest I die\n    A poor weak, little mouse am I!\n    I am hungry, give me food;\n    And to you will I be good.\"\n\nThe girl was sorry for the mouse, and threw it a spoonful of porridge.\n\nThe mouse ate it, thanked her, and ran away to its hole.\n\nThe bear soon came in, with a load of wood and stones; these he laid\nupon the stove, and having eaten a basin of porridge, he climbed upon\nthe stove, and said:\n\n\"Here, girl, is a bunch of keys on a steel ring. Put out the fire; but\nyou must walk about the room all night, and keep on jingling these keys,\ntill I get up; and if I find you alive in the morning you shall be\nhappy.\"\n\nThe bear began snoring directly, and the old man's daughter kept walking\nabout the hut, jingling the keys.\n\nSoon the mouse ran out of its hole, and said:\n\n\"Give me the keys, mistress, I will jingle them for you; but you must\nhide yourself behind the stove, for the stones will soon be flying\nabout.\"\n\nSo the mouse began to run up and down by the wall, under the bench. The\nmaiden hid behind the oven, and about midnight the bear woke up, and\nthrew out a stone into the middle of the room.\n\nBut the mouse kept running about, and jingling the keys. And the bear\nasked:\n\n\"Are you alive?\"\n\n\"I am,\" replied the girl, from behind the oven.\n\nThe bear began to throw stones and billets of wood, thick and fast from\nthe stove, and every time he did so, he asked:\n\n\"Are you alive?\"\n\n\"I am,\" replied the girl's voice from behind the oven; and the mouse\nstill ran up and down, jingling the keys.\n\nWith the dawn the cocks began to crow, but the bear did not wake. The\nmouse gave up the keys, and ran back to its hole; but the old man's\ndaughter began to walk about the room, and jingled the keys.\n\nAt sunrise the bear came off the stove, and said:\n\n\"O daughter of the old man! you are blest of heaven! For here was I, a\npowerful monarch, changed by enchantment into a bear, until some living\nsoul should spend two nights in this hut. And now I shall soon become a\nman again, and return to my kingdom, taking you for my wife. But before\nthis comes to pass, do you look into my right ear.\"\n\nThe old man's daughter threw back her hair, and looked into the right\near of the bear. And she saw a beautiful country, with millions of\npeople, with high mountains, deep rivers, impenetrable forests, and\npastures covered with flocks, well-to-do villages, and rich cities.\n\n\"What seest thou?\" asked the bear.\n\n\"I see a lovely country.\"\n\n\"That is my kingdom. Look into my left ear.\"\n\nShe looked, and could not enough admire what she saw--a magnificent\npalace, with many carriages and horses in the courtyard, and in the\ncarriages rich robes, jewels, and all kinds of rarities.\n\n\"What do you see?\" asked the bear.\n\nShe described it all.\n\n\"Which of those carriages do you prefer?\"\n\n\"The one with four horses,\" she replied.\n\n\"That is yours then,\" answered the bear, as he opened the window.\n\nThere was a sound of wheels in the forest, and a golden carriage\npresently drew up before the cottage drawn by four splendid horses,\nalthough there was no driver.\n\nThe bear adorned his beloved with a gown of cloth-of-gold, with diamond\near-rings, a necklace set with various precious stones, and diamond\nrings, saying:\n\n\"Wait here a little while; your father will come for you presently; and\nin a few days, when the power of the enchantment is over, and I am a\nking again, I will come for you, and you shall be my queen.\"\n\nSo saying the bear disappeared into the forest, and the old man's\ndaughter looked out of the window to watch for her father's coming.\n\nThe old man, having left his daughter in the wood, came home very sad;\nbut on the third day he harnessed his waggon again, and drove into the\nforest, to see if she were alive or dead; and if she were dead at least\nto bury her.\n\nTowards evening the old woman and her own daughter looked out of the\nwindow, and a dog, the favourite of the old man's daughter, suddenly\nrushed to the door, and began to bark:\n\n    \"Bow! wow! wow! the old man's here!\n    Bringing home his daughter dear,\n    Decked with gold and diamonds' sheen,\n    Gifts to please a royal queen.\"\n\nThe old woman gave the dog an angry kick. \"You lie, you big ugly dog!\nBark like this!\n\n    'Bow! wow! wow! the old man's come!\n    His daughter's bones he's bringing home!'\"\n\nSo saying she opened the door; the dog leaped forth; and she went with\nher daughter into the courtyard. They stood as if transfixed!\n\nFor in drove the carriage with four galloping horses, the old man\nsitting on the box, cracking his whip, and his daughter sat inside,\ndressed in cloth of gold, and adorned with jewels.\n\nThe old woman pretended she was overjoyed to see her, welcomed her with\nmany kisses, and was anxious to know where she got all these rich and\nbeautiful things.\n\nThe girl told her that they were all given to her by the bear in the\nforest hut.\n\nNext day the old woman baked some delicious cakes, and gave them to her\nown daughter, saying to the old man:\n\n\"If your wretched, worthless daughter has had such good luck, I am sure\nmy sweet, pretty darling will get a deal more from the bear, if he can\nonly see her. So you must drive her out in the waggon, leave her in the\nforest, and come back without her.\"\n\nAnd she gave the old man a good push, to hasten his departure, shut the\ndoor of the cottage in his face, and looked out of the window to see\nwhat would happen.\n\nThe old man went to the stable, got out the waggon, put the horse to,\nhelped his stepdaughter in, and drove away with her into the forest.\n\nThere he left her, turned his horse's head, and drove quickly home.\n\nThe old woman's daughter was not long in finding out the hut in the\nforest. Confident in the power of her charms she went straight into the\nlittle room. There was nobody within; but there was the same table in\none corner, the benches round the walls, the oven by the door, and the\nspinning-wheel, under the window, with a great bundle of flax.\n\nShe sat down on one of the benches, undid her bundle, and began eating\nthe cakes with great relish, looking from the window all the time.\n\nIt soon began to get dark, a strong wind began to blow, and a voice was\nheard singing outside:\n\n    \"Wanderer! outcast, forsaken!\n    Whom the night has overtaken;\n    If no crime your conscience stain,\n    Here this night you may remain.\"\n\nWhen the voice ceased she answered:\n\n    \"I am outcast and forsaken;\n    Yet unstained by crime am I:\n    Be you rich, or be you poor,\n    For this night here let me lie.\"\n\nThen the door opened, and the bear walked in.\n\nThe girl stood up, gave him a winning smile, and waited for him to bow\nfirst.\n\nThe bear looked at her narrowly, made a bow, and said:\n\n\"Welcome, maiden ... but I have not much time to stay here. I must go\nback to the forest; but between now and to-morrow evening you must make\nme a shirt, out of this flax; so you must set at once about spinning,\nweaving, bleaching, washing, and then about sewing it. Good-bye!\"\n\nSo saying the bear turned, and went out.\n\n\"That's not what I came here for,\" said the girl, so soon as his back\nwas turned, \"to do your spinning, weaving, and sewing! You may do\nwithout a shirt for me!\"\n\nSo saying, she made herself comfortable on one of the benches, and went\nto sleep.\n\nNext day, at evening twilight, the bear came back, and asked:\n\n\"Is the shirt ready?\"\n\nShe made no answer.\n\n\"What's this? the distaff has not been touched.\"\n\nSilence as before.\n\n\"Get me ready my supper at once. You will find water in that pail, and\nthe groats in that cupboard. I must go and fetch my bedding, for\nto-night I will sleep at home.\"\n\nThe bear went out, and the old woman's daughter lit the fire in the\nstove, and began to prepare the porridge. Then the little mouse came\nout, stood on its hind-legs, and said:\n\n    \"Mistress! help me, or I die!\n    A poor, weak little mouse am I!\n    I am hungry, give me food;\n    And to you will I be good.\"\n\nBut the unkind girl only caught up the spoon with which she was stirring\nthe porridge, and flung it at the poor mouse, which ran away in a\nfright.\n\nThe bear soon came back with a huge load of stones and wood; instead of\na mattress he arranged a layer of stones on the top of the stove, and\ncovered this with the wood, in place of a sheet. He ate up the porridge,\nand said:\n\n\"Here! take these keys; walk all night about the hut, and keep on\njingling them. And if, when I get up to-morrow, I find you still alive,\nyou shall be happy.\"\n\nThe bear was snoring at once, and the old woman's daughter walked up and\ndown drowsily, jingling the keys.\n\nBut about midnight the bear woke up, and flung a stone towards the\nquarter whence he heard the jingling. It hit the old woman's daughter.\n\nShe gave one shriek, fell, and expired instantly.\n\nNext morning the bear descended from the top of the oven, looked once at\nthe dead girl, opened the cottage door, stood upon the threshold, and\nstamped upon it three times with all his force. It thundered and\nlightened; and in one moment the bear became a handsome young king, with\na golden sceptre in his hand, and a diamond crown on his head.\n\nAnd now there drew up before the cottage a carriage, bright as sunshine,\nwith six horses. The coachman cracked his whip, till the leaves fell\nfrom the trees, and the king got into the carriage, and drove away from\nthe forest to his own capital city.\n\nThe old man having left his stepdaughter in the forest came home\nrejoicing in his daughter's joy. She was expecting the king every day.\nIn the meantime he busied himself with looking after the four splendid\nhorses, cleaning the golden carriage, and airing the costly\nhorse-clothes.\n\nOn the third day after his return the old woman came down upon him and\nsaid:\n\n\"Go and fetch my darling; she is no doubt all dressed in gold by this\ntime, or married to a king; so I shall be a queen's mother.\"\n\nThe old man, obedient as ever, harnessed the waggon, and drove off.\n\nWhen evening came the old woman gazed from the window; when the dog\nbegan to bark:\n\n    \"Bow! wow! wow! the old man's come!\n    Your daughter's bones he's bringing home!\"\n\n\"You lie!\" exclaimed the old woman; \"bark like this:\n\n    'Bow! wow! wow! the old man's here!\n    Driving home your daughter dear,\n    Decked in gold and diamonds' sheen,\n    Gifts to please a royal queen.'\"\n\nSo saying she ran out of the house to meet the old man, coming back in\nthe waggon; but she stood as if thunderstruck, sobbed, and wept, and was\nhardly able to articulate:\n\n\"Where is my sweetest daughter?\"\n\nThe old man scratched his head, and replied:\n\n\"She has met with a great misfortune; this is all I have found of her--a\nfew bare bones, and blood-stained garments; in the wood, in the old hut\n... she has been devoured by wolves.\"\n\nThe old woman, wild with grief and despair, gathered up her\ndaughter's bones, went to some neighbouring cross-ways, and when a\nnumber of people had gathered together, she buried them there with\nweeping and lamentation; then she fell face downward on the grave--and\nwas turned to stone.\n\n[Illustration: THE REWARD OF THE GOOD LITTLE GIRL]\n\nMeanwhile a royal carriage drew up in the courtyard of the old man's\ncottage, bright as the sun, with four splendid horses, and the coachman\ncracked his whip--till the cottage fell to pieces with the sound.\n\nThe king took both the old man and his daughter into the carriage, and\nthey drove away to his capital, where the marriage soon took place.\n\nThe old man lived happily in his declining years, as the father-in-law\nof a king, and with his sweet daughter, who had once been so miserable,\na queen.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\n\nNOTE I\n\nTHE FROG PRINCESS\n\nThis is certainly a \"Nature story.\" The princess and her attendants are\nclearly personification of the elemental forces. The classical scholar\ncannot fail to be struck by the likeness of her metamorphoses to the\nstory of Peleus and Thetis. Indeed the \"Protean myth\" so repeatedly\noccurs in these primitive Slavonic stories that it is impossible not to\nsuspect a common origin.\n\n\nNOTE II\n\nPRINCESS MIRANDA AND PRINCE HERO\n\nThe old woman \"Jandza\"--which word Polish dictionary-makers translate by\n\"fury\"--appears very often both in Polish and Russian fairy tales, as a\nwitch of witches. She is sometimes \"Jaga\"; and seems pretty malevolent,\nthough capable of serving those who know how to manage her.\n\nThis story--probably a symbolic one--of the Spring and Winter, or the\ntriumph of Light over Darkness, might be read at the present moment into\nan allegory of Poland, overrun, her people oppressed, starved, and all\nbut extirpated by the malignant spirit of German militarism. Princess\nMiranda, herself unsleeping, awake, and watching, while all is\ndesolation and despair around her, might be taken for the Spirit of\nPoland herself, undying, but waiting for deliverance. But where is the\nPrince Hero, who shall deliver her?\n\n_Princess Miranda_--her name is _cud-dziewica_, i.e. \"Wonder\nMaiden\"--but is not \"admired Miranda\" the most obvious rendering?\n\n\nNOTE III\n\nTHE WHIRLWIND\n\nThe name of the heroine \"Ladna\" signifies \"pretty\" or \"beautiful\" in\nPolish. It is not the word originally used; but being nearly equivalent,\nand of similar meaning, appears preferable.\n\nThe prince's name \"Dobrotek,\" signifies \"good,\" or \"benefactor.\" Being\neasy of pronunciation, but not easily Englished into a proper name, it\nseemed best to retain it.\n\nThe whole story has a very Eastern cast. The mention of the \"Seven\nseas,\" and the high mountains beyond them, suggest Persian or Indian\ninfluence. The ugly dwarf, with the long beard and diminutive stature,\nseems a malignant \"Jinn,\" and to have his counterpart in a well-known\nlegend of the Arabian Nights. But this is not the only Polish tale that\ngives this impression; more than one appears directly taken from these\ntales.\n\nP. 50. \"The Water of Loosening.\" Loosening is not perhaps an exact\nrendering, which is rather \"unstiffening,\" or destroying the _rigor\nmortis_, as a preparative to healing a mortal wound, and breaking the\nsleep of death. These three waters always appear in stories, where this\nincident is used.\n\n\nNOTE IV\n\nTHE PRINCESS OF THE BRAZEN MOUNTAIN\n\nThis story is rather freely translated, and much shortened from the\noriginal. There is much pious reflection, too long for insertion. The\nconversation between the prince and the sorcerer-miller is somewhat\nchanged as much of it seemed rather irrelevant to the chief interest of\nthe story, and lacking in pithiness.\n\nThe story of a supernatural maiden, compelled by the theft of her wings\nto remain temporarily as a mortal with a mortal husband, has its\ncounterpart in many lands. The oldest perhaps is a Persian story,\nrelated in Keightly's \"Fairy Mythology,\" of a Peri, who being thus\nentrapped, lives several years as an ordinary woman; but accidently\nfinding her wings again, puts them on, and deserts her mortal husband\nand children, remarking as she does so: \"I loved you well enough, while\nwe remained together; but I love my former husband better\"--and so\nvanishes away to Peristan.\n\nThe parallel legend of \"Little Sealskin\" will readily occur to memory.\n\n\n                          THE END\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\n\nThe two footnotes in the original text were indicated by small symbols\nrather than numbers as shown here.\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Polish Fairy Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":20802}