{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42981/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42981","id":"gutenberg_42981","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42981","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Hungary","Tales -- Hungary"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustration.\n      See 42981-h.htm or 42981-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/42981/pg42981-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42981/42981-h.zip)\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Folk-Lore Society,\nfor Collecting and Printing\nRelics of Popular Antiquities, &c.\n\nEstablished in the Year MDCCCLXXVIII.\n\n\n[Illustration: Alter et Idem.]\n\n\nPUBLICATIONS\nOF\nTHE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.\nXIII. (1886).\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nList of Officers of the Society,\n\n1888-1889.\n\n\nPRESIDENT.\n\nANDREW LANG, ESQ., M.A.\n\n\nVICE-PRESIDENTS.\n\nW. R. S. RALSTON, M.A. THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF STRAFFORD. EDWARD B.\nTYLOR, LL.D., F.R.S.\n\n\nDIRECTOR.\n\nG. L. GOMME, F.S.A., 1, Beverley Villas, Barnes Common, S.W.\n\n\nCOUNCIL.\n\nHON. JOHN ABERCROMBY. THE EARL BEAUCHAMP, F.S.A. EDWARD BRABROOK, F.S.A.\nLOYS BRUEYRE. MISS C. S. BURNE. EDWARD CLODD. J. G. FRAZER, M.A. G. L.\nGOMME, F.S.A. S. HARTLAND, F.S.A. A. GRANGER HUTT, F.S.A. W. F. KIRBY.\nSIR JOHN LUBBOCK, Bt., F.R.S. REV. DR. RICHARD MORRIS. ALFRED NUTT. T.\nF. ORDISH. Lt.-Gen. PITT-RIVERS, D.C.L. F.R.S., F.S.A., ETC. PROFESSOR\nA. H. SAYCE, M.A. CAPTAIN R. C. TEMPLE. J. S. UDAL. HENRY B. WHEATLEY,\nF.S.A.\n\n\nHON. TREASURER.\n\nEDWARD CLODD, 19, Carleton Road, Tufnell Park, N.\n\n\nAUDITORS.\n\nG. L. APPERSON. JOHN TOLHURST, F.S.A.\n\n\nLOCAL SECRETARIES.\n\nIreland: G. H. KINAHAN. South Scotland: WILLIAM GEORGE BLACK. North\nScotland: Rev. WALTER GREGOR. India: Captain R. C. TEMPLE. China: J.\nSTEWART LOCKHART.\n\n\nHONORARY SECRETARY.\n\nJ. J. FOSTER, 36, Alma Square, St. John's Wood, N.W.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\nTHE FOLK-TALES OF THE MAGYARS.\n\nCollected by Kriza, Erd\u00e9lyi, Pap, and Others.\n\nTranslated and Edited, with Comparative Notes,\n\nby\n\nTHE REV. W. HENRY JONES\n\nand\n\nLEWIS L. KROPF.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon:\nPublished For The Folk-Lore Society\nby\nElliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row.\n1889.\n\nWestminster: Printed by Nichols and Sons, 25, Parliament Street.\n\n\n\n\nTO\n\nPROFESSOR ARMINIUS VAMB\u00c9RY,\n\nWHOSE INDEFATIGABLE LABOURS AND INDOMITABLE ZEAL HAVE DONE SO MUCH TO\nADVANCE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF MANKIND: AND WHOSE ILLUSTRIOUS LIFE IS SO\nBRIGHT AN EXAMPLE TO EVERY STUDENT,\n\nThis Work\n\nON THE STORIES OF THE FATHERLAND HE LOVES SO WELL AND SERVES SO\nFAITHFULLY\n\nIs Dedicated.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nA vast and precious store of Folk-Lore is to be found amongst the\nMagyars as yet but little known to English readers, and so it is hoped\nthat this work on the subject may prove of some value to the student of\nComparative Folk-Lore. The difficulty of the language is one which makes\nit well nigh impossible for the unaided foreigner to do anything like\njustice to the stories. We laboured together often till dawn to make the\ntranslation as literal as possible, that the reader might have as true a\nrendering of the Magyar story-teller's method and manner as so different\na tongue as English would permit.\n\nWhilst engaged on the Finnish stories we received the greatest help from\nFinnish friends, especially Mr. A. Nieminen, Dr. Fagerlund, Dr. Krohn,\nDr. Rancken, Professor Freudenthal, Mr. Halleen, and Mr. Walter von\nBonsdorff. In the Lapp stories Professor Friis of Christiania has ever\nbeen a true helper. Amongst numerous kindly helpers we tender thanks to\nDr. Retzius, Stockholm; Professor Gitt\u00e9e, Charleroi; the Rev. Henry\nJebb, of Firbeck Hall; Mr. Quigstad, of Troms; Mr. Nordlander; Mr. O. P.\nPetersson, Hern\u00f6sand; Mr. Lindholm; Dr. R. K\u00f6hler; Baron Nordenskj\u00f6ld;\nand the Rev. Walter H. James, rector of Fleet.\n\nWe regret that we cannot do more than acknowledge the courtesy of the\nlate Dr. Greguss (Buda Pest), whose lamented death removed a scholar and\nfriend to Englishmen.\n\nIf this collection adds a mite to the knowledge of man, our labours will\nnot have been in vain.[1]\n\n\nW. H. J.\n\nL. L. K.\n\n\n[1] Mr. Kropf desires it to be stated, that he is not responsible for\nthe Introduction and Notes beyond supplying certain portions of the\nmaterial for their compilation.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nBefore the arrival of the Magyars, Hungary was the \"cock-pit of eastern\nEurope;\" its history one incessant struggle between nation and nation,\nwhich either perished or was driven out by some more powerful neighbour.\nFirst we hear of the subjection of what was known as Pannonia, by the\nRomans; then, when that great power began to wane, a motley horde under\nthe great Attila swept down and founded a kingdom. \"Attila died in\nPannonia in 453. Almost immediately afterwards the empire he had amassed\nrather than consolidated fell to pieces. His too-numerous sons began to\nquarrel about their inheritance; while Ardaric, the King of the Gepidae,\nplaced himself at the head of a general revolt of the dependent nations.\nThe inevitable struggle came to a crisis near the river Netad, in\nPannonia, in a battle in which 30,000 of the Huns and their\nconfederates, including Ellak,[1] Attila's eldest son, were slain. The\nnation thus broken rapidly dispersed. One horde settled under Roman\nprotection in Little Scythia (the Dobrudsha); others in Dacia Ripensis\n(on the confines of Servia and Bulgaria), or on the southern borders of\nPannonia.\"[2] A tradition asserts that the Magyars are descendants of\nthose Huns, who, after their defeat, returned to their homes in Asia. On\nthe other hand, one of their most learned men says, we cannot \"form an\naccurate idea as to the part the Hungarians took in the irruption of the\nHuns, with which event they are associated in national tradition.\" But\nyet he adds, \"we fairly claim that the ancestors of the Hungarians took\npart in the great devastating campaigns which Attila carried on against\nRome and the Christian West, as far as France.\" Legend carries us still\nfurther back, saying that the giant Nimrod had two sons named Hunyor and\nMagyar, from whom the Huns and Magyars descended.[3] Leaving legend, in\nhistory we find that the Magyars appeared in Europe about 884, first on\nthe Ural, later on the banks of the middle Volga; and then, marching\nwestward, passed over the Danube and the Bug, crossing the Carpathians\nbetween 888 and 900, under \u00c1lmos, the father of \u00c1rp\u00e1d,[4] the founder of\nmodern Hungary, who is said to have claimed the country as his\ninheritance from Attila. The Magyars, then, are part of the numerous\nhordes of Turco-Tartar origin which, impelled by some mighty impulse,\nleft their home amid the Altai mountains, and, conquering the divided\nforces on the rich plains of Hungary, settled down, and so founded the\nrace whose tales form the body of this work.[5]\n\nAnother people, the Sz\u00e9kely,[6] speak a dialect of Magyar, which, like\nother Magyar dialects, differs but slightly from the written language.\nThis race claims to be descendants of those Hunnish tribes that remained\nin Europe after the defeats. They say, that when the Magyars arrived in\nmodern Hungary they found a Magyar-speaking people (the Sz\u00e9kely)\ninhabiting parts of Transylvania. This is confirmed to some extent by\nthe statement of Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, who, writing about 950,\nasserted that, amongst others, some Magyar tribes lived on the banks of\nthe rivers Maros and K\u00f6r\u00f6s (Transylvania). Kriza, too, quotes several\nSz\u00e9kely sayings referring to the Sz\u00e9kely-Magyar relationship, _e.g._:\n\n\"A Sz\u00e9kely has borne the Magyar.\"\n\n\"If there were no Sz\u00e9kelys in the world, there would not be any\nMagyars.\"\n\n\"There is the same difference between a Sz\u00e9kely and a Magyar as there is\nbetween a man's son and his grandson.\"\n\n\"Let the Magyar be thankful, that the Sz\u00e9kely is his acquaintance.\"\n\nWith regard to the alleged descent of the Sz\u00e9kelys from the Huns, the\nevidence in proof of such a pedigree is very meagre. First, it has not\nas yet--with any degree of accuracy--been determined who the Huns were.\nProf. Vamb\u00e9ry has, with infinite pains, collected and analysed some\nseventy words, mostly proper names--all that has come down to us of the\nold Hunnish language--and come to the conclusion that the Huns and Avars\nfor the greater part belonged to the Turco-Tartar branch of the\nUral-Altaic race; yet he is bound to acknowledge that he would gladly\nwelcome a few historical facts to support him in his conclusions, which\nare built upon an almost entirely philological basis.[7] Indeed, it\nseems as though the term \"Hun\" was a sort of conventional designation,\nlike \"Scythian,\" or \"Barbarian\" with the ancient Greeks and Romans; or\n\"Frenghi\" with the modern Turks. Attila and the various races he pressed\ninto his service were, of course, the Huns _par excellence_. After his\ndeath and the fatal battle near the river Netad his hordes appear to\nhave well-nigh vanished from Europe; but their terrible deeds left an\nindelible impression upon the people who were unfortunate enough to have\nbeen brought into contact with the \"scourge of God\" and his fierce\nwarriors. In the lapse of time all kinds of weird traditions gathered\nround their names, in the usual way, when great names pass into the\npossession of the Folk Historian;[8] and so they drifted through legends\nof saints into the region of myths. Thus we find the name H\u00fcne (Heune,\nHewne, Huyne) becomes synonymous with \"giant,\" and to this day the\nWestphalian and Dutch peasant speaks of the great tumuli as \"H\u00fcnen\ngr\u00e4ber\"--graves of the giants, or Huns.[9] To add to the confusion, it\nwould appear that there were some German tribes who were known as\nHunes. Mr. Karl Blind has pointed out in the _Gentleman's Magazine_,[10]\nthat our own Venerable Bede speaks of Hunes as being among the tribes of\nGermany that came over to Britain together with the Saxons.\nElsewhere[11] he explains \"the tribal origin of Siegfried (of the\nNibelungen lied) as a German H\u00fcne;\" a word which has nothing whatever to\ndo with the Mongolian Huns. We know medi\u00e6val writers were not very\nparticular about facts, and the _licentia poetica_ was claimed not only\nby poets, but also by historiographers, as an indisputable privilege.\nThus, Jo\u00e3o Barros, in his chronicle of Clarimundus,[12] calmly tells us\nthat Count Henry of Portugal, the Navigator, was of Hungarian descent,\nand that he found the statement in a Magyar book.[13] This alleged\npedigree was the cause of a fierce controversy amongst Hungarian\nsavants, and was fully threshed out in the early part of the present\ncentury.[14]\n\nVigfusson[15] remarks that the northern poet, whom he designates the\n\"Tapestry poet,\" uses Hunar (Huns), Hynske (Hunnish) as a vague word for\n\"foreign.\" Probably the East Baltic folk would have been Huns to the\nearlier poets. With regard to the German and Scandinavian Huns, it is\nnoteworthy what Olaus Magnus writes with regard to the \"Huns\" of his\ntime. The learned prelate says that \"in provincia Middelpadensi versus\nBoreales partes Sueti\u00e6 superioris, ubi fer\u00e8 major pars virorum Huni\nnomine appellantur tamquam populi clarius contra Hunos olim\nbelligerantes ac triumphantes.\"[16] His statement is borne out by his\ncolleague, Joannes Magnus,[17] who asserts that \"non desunt qui dicant\nipsos Hunnos \u00e0 Septentrionale parte Scandi\u00e6 utra Helsingorum terras ex\nMedelphatia primum erupisse: in qua etiam hodie plurimi pr\u00e6stantissim\u00e6\nfortitudinis homines inveniuntur, qui Hunni proprio nomine appellantur,\nquique magna et pr\u00e6clara opera in tyrannos, qui patri\u00e6 libertatem\nvexaverat, peregerunt.\"\n\nIn the face of all this, it is quite evident how difficult a task awaits\nthose who attempt to identify the lineal descendants of the Huns: and\nthose who uphold the Hunnish descent of the Sz\u00e9kelys do not appear, as\nyet, to have advanced sufficient historical grounds to establish the\nconnection of the modern Sz\u00e9kelys with the Huns of Attila.[18]\n\nIt is well known that the Hun descent of the Magyars and Sz\u00e9kelys has\nequally been questioned. Savants of such authority as Budenz and\nHunfalvy disclaim the Hun relationship, and endeavour to prove the\nFinn-Ugrian origin of the Magyars. Whereas Professor Vamb\u00e9ry, in his\nwork on the \"Origin of the Magyars,\" which received so favourable a\nreception at the hands of the whole learned world, defends, as we saw\nabove, a Turco-Tartar descent.\n\nIt lies far beyond the limits of this work to give even a brief outline\nof the history of the Sz\u00e9kelys: yet a few data may not be out of place\nto show that, although they are at the present time, and mayhap always\nhave been, a Magyar-speaking people, yet they are in many respects\ndistinct from the race known as the Magyars. Ibn Dasta, an Arab\nwriter,[19] at the end of the ninth century, informs us that in his time\nsome Bulgarians lived on the banks of the River Itil (Volga); and that\nthey consisted of three tribes, viz.: the Berzuls, the Esseghels, and\nthe Uz. He further says that \"the first territory of the Magyars lies\nbetween the country of the Bisseni and the Esseghel Bulgarians.\"\n\nAnother Arab writer, Ibn Muhalhal, about the middle of the tenth\ncentury, mentions a people named \"Jikil,\" who lived next to the\n\"Bajnak.\" If the writers who would identify in this Ashkal, Esseghel, or\nJikil people, the parents of the Sz\u00e9kely race, be right in their\nconclusions, then the Siculi (as they are called in Latin deeds) are of\nBulgarian descent.[20] But we know full well how dangerous it is to\nbuild up theories on a mere similarity of names amongst barbarous or\nsemi-barbarous races. The first reliable information we have about them\nis that about the year 1116 A.D. Bisseni and Siculi formed the\nbody-guard of the Magyar King Stephen II. in his war against the Czechs.\nThey supplied the vanguard of the army of King G\u00e9jza against Henry of\nAustria about 1146. More than half a century later, _i.e._ A.D. 1211,\nAndreas II. presented some uninhabited territory in Transylvania to the\nTeutonic knights; and, in a deed dated 1213, William, Bishop of\nTransylvania, granted the tithes of his territory to the same order, but\nreserved to himself the right of collecting them from all Magyar or\nSz\u00e9kely immigrants who might settle on the lands in question.[21] King\nB\u00e9la IV. ordered the Sz\u00e9kelys[22] to supply him with one hundred mounted\nwarriors in war; and later on, to show them his gratitude for their\nfaithful services, he created them military nobles:[23] \"Quod non sub\ncerto numero (in a body as hitherto) sed eo modo sicut servientes\nregales, per se et personaliter armata nobiscum exercituare\nteneantur.\"[24] The Sz\u00e9kelys of Hungary Proper gradually disappear, but\nthe Siculi of Transylvania figure throughout the pages of Hungarian\nhistory as a separate people, with institutions and privileges of their\nown, and acting as a sort of border-fencibles in the numerous wars with\nthe enemies of the Magyars. They furnished a separate title to the\nPrince of Transylvania,[25] and, although recent reforms have swept away\nold barriers, yet one still hears people speaking of the three nations\nof Transylvania, viz. the Magyars, the Sz\u00e9kelys, and the Saxons.[26]\nWhether they ever spoke a language of their own we are unable to say;\nthey speak several dialects, which have been carefully studied by\nKriza,[27] himself a Sz\u00e9kely by birth, and which possess peculiarities\nnot to be found amongst the Magyars, or any other part of the realm of\nSt. Stephen. A passage[28] in a work entitled \"Hungaria et Attila,\" by\nNicolaus Ol\u00e1h, Archbishop of Esztergom (died 1568), might, perhaps, be\nquoted to prove that an independent Sz\u00e9kely language had existed once,\nbut there is an ambiguity about the statement of the learned prelate\nwhich makes it useless to the philologist. At any rate, we do not\npossess a single scrap of the old language, if it ever existed.\n\nHaving thus made ourselves acquainted with the Sz\u00e9kelys, we may proceed\nto consider the other Magyar-speaking nationalities.\n\nThe Cs\u00e1ng\u00f3s[29] are Hungarian settlers in Moldavia; there are so many\nsimilarities in their tongue to the Sz\u00e9kely dialects that Hunfalvy\nappears to be quite confident that they are a people of Sz\u00e9kely\norigin.[30] Of late years an attempt has been made to resettle them in\nthe less populous crown lands in Hungary; the result, as one might\nexpect, is, that some are content, whilst others lust after the\nflesh-pots of Moldavia.\n\nNext come the K\u00fans (Cumanians). The non-Magyar writers,[31] who have\nmade the old language of this people their study, declare it, with\nalmost unanimous consent, to be a Turkish dialect, whereas the Magyar\nwriters, with very few exceptions, staunchly defend the Magyar origin of\nthe Cumanians.[32]\n\nForemost in the ranks of the latter party was the late Stephen Gy\u00e1rf\u00e1s,\nwho denied that a _lingua Cumenesca_ had ever existed, and that the\nvarious extant specimens are the remnants of the language of a people of\nMagyar descent, who had become Turks during the lapse of centuries.[33]\nHis most powerful antagonist is Count G\u00e9jza Kuun, the learned editor of\nthe _Codex Cumanicus_,[34] who espouses the cause of the Turkish party.\nBesides the valuable Glossary preserved in the Codex, several versions\nof the Lord's Prayer and other scraps of the Cumanian tongue are in\nexistence, and have been examined by competent scholars, and pronounced\nto be of undoubted Turkish origin.[35]\n\nJazygo-Cumanians have been quoted in the note, and so we proceed to\nconsider the next race--if one may use the word--viz.: the Jazyges,\nformerly a military tribe, who, together with the Cumanians, live in\ncentral Hungary, in the vicinity of the capital, and occupy a territory\non the banks of the rivers Danube, Zagyva, S\u00e1rr\u00e9t, Tisza, and K\u00f6r\u00f6s.\n\nFrom time immemorial, until quite recent times, they enjoyed certain\nprivileges and administered their own affairs in three districts--the\nJ\u00e1szs\u00e1g, Kis-K\u00fans\u00e1g, and Nagy-K\u00fans\u00e1g, entirely separate from the\nsurrounding population, thus forming a state within a state. They had\nhowever to surrender some of their old rights in 1848, and by the law of\n1876 (cap. xxxiii.), which readjusted the political divisions of the\nkingdom, the limits of their territory disappeared altogether from the\nmap of Hungary.[36] With regard, then, to the nationality of the J\u00e1sz\npeople, they are found at all periods of history in company with the\nCumanians, and so, as their institutions are the same as their fellow\narmigerents, we may safely assume with Hunfalvy that they are a branch\nof the Cumans, if they be not offspring of the same mother-stock.\n\nNext come the Pal\u00f3cz folk,[37] who live scattered among the other races\nin several of the northern counties of Hungary, and speak a dialect of\ntheir own. Hunfalvy asserts that they are the same people as the\n\"Polovczi\" mentioned by early Russian and Slavonic writers. And as\nJerney, in his paper _The Pal\u00f3cz Nation and The Pal\u00f3cz Chronicle_, has\nproved beyond doubt that, whatever the Magyar Chronicles and Byzantine\nwriters relate anent the Cumans can be traced, statement for statement,\nin Russian and Polish writers, with reference to the Polovczi, Hunfalvy\ndraws the conclusion that the Pal\u00f3cz people are Cumans.[38]\n\nTheir name first occurs in Russian Annals A.D. 1061, and the Magyar\nsavant to whose rich store of learning this work is so deeply indebted\nthinks that the migration of the Cumans into Hungary took place in two\ndistinct streams, one, an earlier one, from the North, _vi\u00e2_ the Slave\ncountries across the Northern Carpathians, and another, later one from\nthe south-east, through the passes and defiles of the south-eastern\nextension of the same range of mountains.\n\nBefore leaving this part of the subject, the reader must be reminded\nthat all the foregoing races or nationalities at the present time speak\none or other Magyar dialect,[39] and that the old Cuman tongue is the\nonly other language of which we know anything.[40]\n\nHaving, we hope, somewhat cleared the way as to people amongst whom the\nstories have been collected, we may now proceed to say a few words about\nthe tales themselves. Of course, the stories will be found to bear a\nstrong resemblance to other collections, as indeed they must do; the\nvery fact of the striking way in which not only tales, but even little\nsuperstitions, reappear in all manner of strange places,[41] is of\nitself a fact which is of the deepest interest to those who study the\nhistory of man. We have attempted to give some few variants to the tales\nin this work, chiefly confining ourselves to Lapp and Finnish tales,\nwhich are but little known in England, and of which, as of the Magyar,\nthere is a rich store. The more one considers comparative folk-lore, the\nmore one is convinced that many of these tales were the common property\nof mankind before they migrated from their Asiatic home.[42] Of course\nlocal circumstances often colour the stories, but do not change the\ntheme. Amidst the stories from Hungary we find, as we might presume, the\nSz\u00e9kely stories telling of snow-clad mountains, whilst those from the\nbanks of the Danube dwell on the beauties of the Hungarian plains. The\nfierce conflicts of the past, too, have left their marks on the stories,\nand so we find the Turkish Sultan[43] and the Dog-headed Tartar[44] as\nthe tyrants of the tale; and even, in one case, so modern a fact as the\nFrench invasion[45] is used to frighten an old-world witch. We see later\non the influence of Mohammedanism, and also the marks of\nChristianity,[46] in some tales which become as it were, a folk-lore\npalimpsest. Nor must we omit other ways by which the tales have been\nmodified. Many of the medi\u00e6val romances were, of course, translated into\nHungarian; and even to this day the penny bookstall is always present at\nfairs and popular gatherings where \"yards of literature\" are to be\nobtained for a nominal sum. The vendor cannot afford a booth or stall,\nso a mat or tarpaulin is spread on the ground, and weighted at the four\ncorners with brickbats or paving stones, hence the Hungarian name\n\"ponyva-irodalom\" (tarpaulin literature). Here we find mediaeval\nromances, bits of national history, biographies and panegyrics of famous\nrobbers, the wicked doings of the mistress of some castle and her\npunishment, the exploits of Magyar heroes, the chronicles of Noodledom,\nin prose, or versified by some such favourite poet of the people as\nPeter Tat\u00e1r; and by this means certain tales have been imported, others\nmodified. Then again, the wandering students were entertained by the\ncountry folk during their peregrinations, and no doubt in return amused\nthe old folks with the latest news from the town, and the young ones\nwith tales from the Greek and Roman Mythologies.[47] Another mode of\ndissemination and modification was the soldiers. When the Hapsburgs were\nat the height of their glory the emperor-king's soldiers were scattered\nfar and wide over Europe; and, after long years of service in an\ninfantry regiment and absence from home, the old private returned to his\nnative village, and at eventide in the village inn related how he, as\n\"Sergeant of Hussars,\" caught with his own hand the Emperor Napoleon,\nand only let him go at the earnest entreaties of his wife, and upon\nreceiving a rich bribe in gold.[48] The old soldier was well received in\nevery family, and enjoyed great authority as a man who had seen the\nworld. The children sat upon his knee, or stood round about him\nopen-mouthed, and listened to his marvellous yarns.[49]\n\nIn Hungary, as in other countries, until the labours of the Brothers\nGrimm directed attention to the importance of the Folk-tales, nothing\nwas done in the way of collecting them; and, even after Grimm's work\nappeared, no move was made in Hungary until Henszlman read his paper in\n1847 before the Kisfaludy Society on the \"Popular Tales of Hungary,\" in\nwhich paper he examined some 14 tales which afterwards appeared in\nErd\u00e9lyi's Collection, vols. 1 and 2. Ladislaus Arany in May 1867 read\nanother paper before the same society and according to his calculation\nsome 240 tales had been collected up to that date: the collections\nquoted by him were as follows:--\n\n\n  John Erd\u00e9lyi,[50] _Folk-Songs and Popular\n  Tales_, 3 vols.                                    containing 34 tales\n\n  George Ga\u00e1l,[51] _Hungarian Folk-Tales_, 3 vols.        \"     53   \"\n\n  John Erd\u00e9lyi, _Hungarian Popular Tales_, 1 vol.         \"     13   \"\n\n  Ladislaus Mer\u00e9nyi, _Original Popular Tales_, }\n  2 vols.                                      }\n                                               }\n  Ladislaus Mer\u00e9nyi, _Popular Tales from the_  }\n  _Valley of the Saj\u00f3_, 2 vols.                }          \"     65   \"\n                                               }\n  Ladislaus Mer\u00e9nyi, _Popular Tales from the_  }\n  _Banks of the Danube_, 2 vols.               }\n\n  Ladislaus Arany, _Original Popular Tales_, 1 vol.       \"     35   \"\n\n  John Kriza,[52] _Wild Roses_, 1 vol.[53]                \"     20   \"\n\n  Julius Pap, _Pal\u00f3cz Folk-Poetry_, 1 vol.                \"      6   \"\n\n  Count John Majl\u00e1th,[54] _Hungarian Fairy Tales_,\n  _Sagas and Popular Tales_, translated from the\n  German by G. Kazinczy, 1 vol.                           \"      6   \"\n\n  Maurus J\u00f3kai, _Witty Tales of the\n  Hungarian Folk_, 1 vol.                                 \"      8   \"\n                                                             -------\n                                                        Total, 240\n\n\nOf these, Erd\u00e9lyi's first collection and Kriza's _Wild Roses_ are the\nmost important, and the translation of them form the bulk of this\nvolume. Since 1867 the work of collecting the Popular Tales has been\ngoing on steadily, and the _Hungarian Language Guardian_ (Magyar\nNyelv\u00f6r) is a paper specially devoted to the purpose: publishing popular\nsayings, proverbs, children's games, nursery rhymes, &c. Very little of\nthe Folk-lore treasure is known outside of Hungary. There is Count\nMajl\u00e1th's collection, which appeared originally in German, and also a\nGerman edition of Ga\u00e1l, and one by Stier, which contains some of\nErd\u00e9lyi's stories. In English the only translations we are aware of are\nthe tale of \"The talking grapes, the smiling apple, and the tinkling\napricot,\" from Erd\u00e9lyi's collection, which was translated by Mr. E. D.\nButler, and appeared in a London suburban paper; and another tale, \"The\nRound Stone,\" in the February number of the _St. Nicholas Magazine_,\n1882; so that this collection opens up new ground. The great difficulty\nin considering these tales--in common with the Finn, Esthonian, and\nLapp--is the language; and the aim of the present translation is but to\nbe as literal as possible in its rendering of the stories; there being\nno attempt whatever made to polish or beautify the tales, but simply an\nendeavour to reproduce as near as may be the stories as told by the\npeople; in many cases, especially with regard to the Sz\u00e9kely stories,\nthis has been a work of very great difficulty, on account of the\ndialect, and must plead for the many shortcomings in the translations.\n\nA brief consideration of some points in Magyar Folk-lore may be found of\ninterest in a study of the stories. And I am indebted for the following\ninformation on giants, fairies, and witches to a valuable paper,\nentitled _Mythological Elements in Sz\u00e9kely Folk-lore and Folk-life_,\nread by Kozma before the Hungarian Academy in 1882.\n\n\nI. GIANTS.[55]\n\nMany of the characteristics of the Magyar giants are the same as those\nto be found in the Greek and German mythologies, but we do not find\nanything extraordinary in their appearance, such as one eye--as\nCyclops[56], or sundry heads as the northern giants, nor redundant\nfingers and toes as the Jews; they are simply big men. There is no trace\nof any struggle between the gods and the giants in Magyar mythology.\n\nThey are said to be sons of witches,[57] and as tall as towers,[58] and\nstep from mountain-top to mountain-top as they walk.\n\nThe length of their stride and the pace at which they walk is\nillustrated in a tradition, according to which the giants who inhabited\na fortress called Kadicsav\u00e1r, near the River Nyik\u00f3, were in the act of\nshaving when the bells rang first from the church-tower of\nGyula-Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1r, at the second ringing they dressed, on the third ringing\nthey sat in church.[59]\n\nNear Szotyor in H\u00e1romsz\u00e9k[60] there is a rock, which is called the\n\"Giant's Stone,\" on the top of this there is a cavity resembling in\nshape the heel of a man; the diameter of this hole is five feet, and\npopular tradition says it is the imprint of a giant's heel.\n\nWhen the giant is angry he strikes a blow with his fist on the rock, and\ntraces of his fist are shown now-a-days on a rock near Ikavar; his\nfootstep is shown in the neighbourhood of K\u00e9zdi-Borosny\u00f3, on a rocky\nledge near a spring, where he used to come down to drink.\n\nWith one foot he stands on the mountain where Csiki-B\u00e1lv\u00e1nyos-v\u00e1r castle\nstands; with the other on a mountain opposite, and bending down, he\npicks up the water of the River Olt, running in the valley below, in a\ngigantic bucket, with one swoop.\n\nHe mounts a horse of such size that it stands with its hind legs on a\nmountain in Bodok in H\u00e1romsz\u00e9k, while its fore-legs rest on another\nmountain in Bickfal\u00fa, and its head reaches far into Wallachia, where it\ngrazes in a green clover-field.\n\nOn short outings he walks; on long journeys he goes on horseback; his\nsteed is a t\u00e1tos,[61] with whom he holds many conversations. On\nreturning home from a long ride he throws his mace, weighing forty\nhundredweights, from a distance of forty miles (= about 180 English\nmiles), which drops into the courtyard of the castle, and penetrating\ninto the ground taps a subterranean spring.[62]\n\nWhile the giant of the Germans lives during the flint-period, and uses\ngigantic stones and masses of rock as weapons, the Hungarian giant uses\nswords and maces of iron and copper, and also goes in for wrestling. He\nis not a cannibal. He is fond of a good supper and warm food, and is not\na teetotaller. He always takes plenty of provisions on the journey.\n\nKozma has come across a tale, \"Iron-made Peter,\" in which there figure\nsix giants, each of whom is proficient in one thing or another. They\nbear names which characterise their special accomplishments. In English\nthey would be as follows: Sharp-eye, Fast-runner, Far-thrower, Glutton,\nDrinker, Shiverer. The first is sitting on a mountain-peak reaching up\nto heaven's vault, and keeps on bowing in every direction, muttering\n\"Which way shall I look? Is there nothing else to be seen? I have\nalready seen everything in the world.\" The second is wandering about a\nvast plain, the boundaries of which cannot even be seen, and is moaning,\nevidently in great trouble. \"Where shall I run? In which direction? No\nsooner do I start than I am at the end of this place.\" The third is seen\nsitting among huge pieces of rock, and crying, \"Where shall I throw now?\nWhich way? The whole world is covered by the stones I have thrown.\" The\nfourth is watching a bullock roasting, and continues yelling, \"Oh, how\nravenously hungry I am! What can I eat?\" The fifth is rolling about on\nthe sea-shore, roaring, \"Oh, how thirsty I am! What will become of me?\nWhat can I drink? If I drain the ocean there will not be left anything\nfor to-morrow!\" The sixth is shivering on the top of a huge stack of\nwood all in a blaze, and exclaiming, \"Oh, how cold I am! I am freezing.\"\n\nThe hero of the tale finds suitable employment for each of the giants.\n\"Fast-runner\" goes on an errand into the seven-times-seventh country,\nand returns in five minutes, although he goes to sleep on the road from\nthe sleeping draught administered to him by a witch. \"Sharp-eye\"\ndiscovers him asleep; and \"Far-thrower\" knocks away the pillow from\nunderneath his head, thus enabling him to return by the appointed time.\n\"Glutton\" consumes 366 fat oxen within six hours. \"Drinker\" empties\nduring the same interval the contents of 366 casks, each holding 100\nbuckets of wine. \"Shiverer\" creeps into a furnace, which has been\nbrought to, and kept in, a glowing heat for the last twenty-four years\nby twenty-four gipsies,[63] and by so doing lowers the temperature so\nthat his mates, who have gone with him, are shivering with cold although\nthey are wrapped up in thick rugs.[64]\n\nThe giants in northern regions live in six-storied diamond castles, or\nin golden fortresses which swivel round on a leg; more generally,\nhowever, they inhabit fortresses built by their own hands on the top of\nlofty mountains or steep rocks. In Sz\u00e9kelyland the ruins of thirty-six\nsuch castles are existing, all of which are ascribed by the people to\nthe giants. Some of their names show this; they are called the \"Giant's\nRock,\" the \"Giant's Castle,\" the \"Giant's Hill.\" In one case (Egyesk\u00f6 in\nCsiksz\u00e8k) they show the giants' table and bench in the rock. Sometimes,\nhowever, the castles are inhabited by fairies.\n\nTall mountain chains are sometimes said to be roads built by giants.\nTheir names are \"Attila's Track,\" \"Devil's Ridge,\" &c. These roads were\nconstructed by devils and magic cocks who were in the service of the\ngiants. Hence also the name \"Cocks' Ridge.\" In one case, however, near\nSz\u00e1raz Ajta, the ridges were made by giants themselves,[65] who used\nsilver-shared ploughs drawn by golden-haired bullocks for this purpose.\n\nThe giants left their homes when \"the country was given away to\nmankind,\" or when \"modern mankind commenced to exist.\" When the\nhusbandmen appeared and began to till the lands in the valleys and\nlowlands the giants did not associate with men, but kept to their\ncastles and only visited the impenetrable woods.\n\nThere is a tale which occurs in several localities about a giant's\ndaughter who finds a husbandman, picks up him and his team and puts them\ninto her apron and carries them off as toys, showing them to her father.\nThe father exclaiming angrily, \"Take him back, as he and his\nfellow-creatures are destined to be the lords of the globe,\" or \"Their\nanger might cause our ruin,\" or \"They will be our successors.\" We thus\nsee that, while in the German tale the giant of Nideck-burg in Alsacia\nbids his daughter to take back the ploughman and his team for fear that\nby preventing his tilling the land the bread-supply might fail, in the\nHungarian tales the giant openly acknowledges the superior power of the\nhuman race.[66]\n\nThe giants, unlike their brethren in foreign lands, are gregarious and\nlive under a royal dynasty. They hold assemblies, at which their king\npresides. Several royal residences exist in Sz\u00e9keland. Near Beseny\u00f6\nthere is one that is called \"Csentetet\u00f6.\" Tradition has even preserved\nthe giant-king's name, which was B\u00e1bolna. This king used to convoke the\nother giants to the assembly with huge golden bells. On feeling his\napproaching death he ordered the bells to be buried in a deep well in\nthe castle, but on feast days they are still to be distinctly heard\nringing, which sets the whole rock vibrating.\n\nThe name of another king of giants is to be found in Kriza's \"Prince\nMirk\u00f3\" (Kutyafej\u00fc = Dogheaded.)\n\nSometimes the giants were good-natured and full of kindness towards the\nweak.[67]\n\nThey marry, their wives are fairies, so are their daughters. They make\nvery affectionate fathers. They had no male issue, as their race was\ndoomed to extermination. They fall in love, and are fond of courting.\nNear Bikkfalva, in H\u00e1romsz\u00e9k, the people still point out the \"Lovers'\nBench\" on a rock, where the amorous giant of Csigav\u00e1r used to meet his\nsweetheart, the \"fairy of Veczeltet\u00f6.\"\n\nThe giants lived to a great age. Old \"Doghead\" remembers a dream he\ndreamt 600 years ago. His friend Knight Mezei finds him after a\nseparation of 600 years, and they live happy for a great many years\nafter.[68]\n\nThey have magic powers. They know when a stranger is hidden in their\nhome. Doghead knows who has thrown back his mace from a distance of 180\nEnglish miles. They are acquainted with the conjuring formul\u00e6 and charms\nof the fairies, and know how to overcome them. They have a thorough\nknowledge of geography, and can give advice to those who enter their\nservice, &c. They have great physical strength, and can build huge\ncastles and roads, subdue whole countries, amass treasures[69] which\nthey have guarded even after their death. Magic beings, animals, and\nimplements await their commands.\n\nIn the castle of Hereczv\u00e1ra, near Oltszem, the giants were negroes, and\ntheir servants were black dwarfs. Among the magic animals who guarded\nthe giant's treasures we may mention the bullock with golden hair, the\nt\u00e1tos, &c. Of weapons, charms, &c., Doghead's copper mace, Prince\nMirk\u00f3's magic sword, the wine kept in a cask in the seventh cellar, each\ndrop of which equals the strength of five thousand men.\n\nThe king of the giants of G\u00f6rg\u00e9ny is bullet-proof; but if a man who is\nthe seventh son of his mother (and all the elder brothers of whom are\nalive) casts a bullet, at the first appearance of the new moon, by a\nfire of wheat straw, this bullet will kill the monarch. Such a man was\nfound, and the bullet was made, and it killed the king. The other giant,\nnow being without a leader, evacuated the fortress and withdrew to\nHungary Proper. Thus we see a giant can only be killed with a magic\nweapon.\n\nIn one of Kozma's tales the hero is in possession of a rusty padlock,\nfrom which two giants appear whenever he commands. They produce by\ncharms, a golden cloak, and a golden fortress on the swivel principle,\nwhich they hand over to their master in a nutshell. They then clothe the\npoor lad in a copper suit and seat him on a copper steed so that he may\nappear decently dressed before the king; they change his miserable hovel\ninto a fine palace at eleven o'clock, and at noon the whole royal\nfamily, who are his guests, sit down to a sumptuous dinner; they carry\ntheir master and his royal bride across a sea of flames, &c. There are\nseveral other tales which attribute the power of flying to giants.\n\nSome of the giants have grown old and died a natural death. The greater\npart of them, however, were killed by enterprising knights. They have\nburied their treasures in deep wells, in huge mountains, or in extensive\ncellars under the fortresses. In the well of the V\u00e1rhegy in Sz\u00e1raz-Ajta\nthere lies hidden the silver plough and the golden bullock; in the\ncellar the silver plough with the fluid gold. In the cellars of\nHereczv\u00e1ra in black casks the accumulated treasure of the negro-giants\nis guarded by the black dwarfs, who spend their time in eating,\ndrinking, and dancing. In the cellar of K\u00e9zdi-Szent-L\u00e9lek castle the\ntreasure is guarded by a copper greyhound. In the well and cellar of the\nV\u00e1rb\u00e9rcz, near Kis-Borosny\u00f3, the gigantic golden bells and other\ntreasures of the king of giants are guarded by two black goats. Near\nAngyalos, in the B\u00e1bolna dyke, King B\u00e1bolna's golden sun and golden lamb\nare guarded by two black greyhounds and a snow-white stallion in full\nharness. In the well of Csigav\u00e0r there is a gold bucket on a golden\nchain, and in the bowels of the Tepej mountain, near Als\u00f3-R\u00e1kos, the\nrams with golden fleece, &c.\n\nSome of the cellar doors open every third, others every seventh year.\nPeople have been inside, but were careless and lost the treasure on the\nway back to the surface, others were more careful, and succeeded in\nbringing some of it out; but the moment the wind touched it it changed\ninto dry leaves or bits of charcoal. Some unwise people have been\nfoolhardy enough to try the expedition a second time, but the huge iron\ndoors closed behind them. But whereas the natives have hitherto been\nunsuccessful in recovering the hidden treasure, foreigners come and\ncarry it off wholesale on the backs of horses, which are shod with shoes\nturned the wrong way.[70]\n\n\nII. FAIRIES.[71]\n\nFairy, in Hungarian, \"t\u00fcnd\u00e9r,\" from the same root as \"t\u00fcn\" (verb) and\n\"t\u00fcn\u00e9s\" (noun) = comparitio, apparitio, and \"t\u00fcnd\u00f6k\u014dl\" = to shine.\nCf. the Mongolian \"Tinghir.\"\n\nThe queen of the fairies is sometimes called a goddess. Thus, south of\nthe sulphur cave, B\u00fcd\u00f6s, near Altorja, behind a mountain called the\nPriests' Mountain, is situated the very ancient village of Ikafalva,\nthrough which runs a brook named Furus. According to the tradition, the\nancestors of the people of the village were led to this place more than\n1,000 years ago, in the time of the conquest of the country, by a hero\nwho encouraged his warriors in the name of \"the goddess Furuzsina.\" The\nhero fell in the struggle, and on the spot where his blood had flowed a\nspring appeared, close to which the warriors built the present village,\nand named the brook after their goddess. The water of this brook is\ncollected, even at the present day, into ponds; and drinking from this\n\"blood and water\" has made the villagers so strong that they have quite\na name for physical strength in the neighbourhood. If a lad of Ikafalva\nperforms some feat of pluck or strength they say: \"It is no wonder, he\nhas grown up on Furus water!\"\n\nAlthough the fairies, as a rule, are kind, good-natured persons, and\ntake the hero's part in the tales, the Sz\u00e9kely folk-lore furnishes a\ncase to the contrary, _i.e._ that of two fairies, \"Firtos\" and \"Tartod,\"\nthe former being the queen of the good, the latter the queen of the bad,\nfairies.[72]\n\nKozma has found another variation of the first-named tale in \"Fairy\nHelena.\" Helena's father blows across a broad river, whereupon a golden\nbridge appears. The young fairy takes a \"kourbash,\" and wipes a rusty\ntable-fork with it, which at once changes into a steed with golden hair,\non which her lover, the prince, flees to Italy. When they discover that\nthey are followed, Helena spits on the floor,[73] on the door-handle,\nand on the hinge of the door, whereupon the planks, the handle, and the\nhinge commence to speak to the king's messengers from behind the closed\ndoor, and the fugitives gain time to make their escape. Her father is\nsent after them in the shape of a gigantic spotted eagle, who with the\ntip of one wing touches heaven and with the other earth. On the road the\nsame things happen as in \"Fairy Elisabeth,\" with this difference, that\nHelena's mother changes into a buffalo who drinks all the water in the\npond on which the lovers swim about as ducks, whereupon they change into\nworms; and, as the mother cannot find them in the mud, she pronounces\nthe curse of oblivion upon them.\n\nTheir means of charming were: The pond of beautifying milk, dresses,\ntears, the saliva, fascinating look, word of command, rejuvenating herb,\nrejuvenating water, wound-healing herb, water of life and death, iron\nbar, copper bridle, leather belt, gold and diamond rod, copper and gold\nwhip, at the cracking of which dragons and devils appear; magic wand,\ncurse of oblivion, sleeping draughts (wine), and the table that covers\nitself. The daughter of Doghead rides on a t\u00e1tos. The magic animals in\ntheir service are: the cat and the cock, although the loud crowing of\nthe latter has, by indicating the time, very often a fatal influence on\nfairies who are forgetful. One fairy queen, Dame Rapson, has the devil\nhimself in her service.\n\nTheir conjuring formulae are: \"You are mine, I am thine.\" \"Be there,\nwhere you have come from!\" \"Fog before me, smoke behind me.\" \"Hop, hop!\nlet me be, where I wish to be.\" \"Hop, hop! they shall not know where I\nhave come from, nor where I am going to! Let me be, where my thoughts\nare!\" They can teach their magic formulae to their heroes.\n\nAs to _their occupations_. Of serious ones, our tales only mention\nembroidery. Their more favourite pastimes seem to be: bathing, banquets,\nsinging, frivolous dances, and love adventures. After their nocturnal\ndances, flowers spring up where their feet have touched the ground. If\nanybody approaches them while they are dancing, they, in their unbounded\nmerriment, drag him also into the dance.\n\nOn one occasion they enticed a shepherd into Borza-v\u00e1ra Cave, and kept\nhim there for three days, amusing him with singing, dancing, playing\nmusic, and cajoling; finally they invited him to a game of cards and\ndismissed him with a big hatful of gold. From the castle-hill of\nMakkfalva the merry song of the fairies can be heard now every night as\nthey dance round the castle-walls to the strains of music. They are\nreserved in their love; but, having made their choice, they are\nfaithful, and their passion has no bounds. The daughter of Doghead is an\ninstance of this; she reveals to her hero her father's charms, in order\nto ensure his victory in his struggle for life and death. The young and\npretty mistress of Kisv\u00e1rtet\u00f6 Castle, near Zs\u00f6g\u00f6d, in the county of\nCs\u00edk, stood on a rock-ledge, waiting for the return of her husband from\nthe war, till she faded away in her grief. The impression of her foot\ncan still be seen in the rock. The fairy daughter of the giant who\ninhabited the castle near Bereczk fell in love with a hero who played\nthe flute, disguised as a shepherd, at the foot of the rock; but her\nhaughty father smashed the shepherd with a huge piece of rock, which is\nstill to be seen in the bed of the brook. His daughter thereupon\nescaped from the father's castle, and built a castle (Le\u00e1nyv\u00e1r =\nMaiden's Castle) near Ojtoz for herself, where she spent the rest of her\ndays mourning for her lover, until grief killed her. Another such a\npretty tale is associated with Firtos Castle. The fairy who lived here\nwas in love with a knight; and, notwithstanding that her father forbade\nthe intercourse, they secretly met in the garden every night. One\nbeautiful moonlight night she was standing on the brink of the rock,\nwhen, as she extended her arm to assist her lover up the steep slope,\nthe knight's horse slipped, and they were precipitated arm in arm into\nthe depth below, and thus perished, united for ever in death. The horse\ncaught on a projecting piece of rock, and petrified. \"Firtos's horse\" is\nstill to be seen. Dame Rapson's daughter, Irma, a fairy, also fell a\nvictim to prohibited love, and fell from a lofty peak where her mother's\ncastle stood, with her lover, Zelemir, into the depth below, where Dame\nRapson found them, and died of a broken heart. They all three were\nburied under the rock below, which tradition names \"Zelemir's Tower.\"\n\nAt the south angle of the Firtos there is a group of rocks which is\ncalled \"Fairy Helena's Carriage,\" in which the fairies who lived in the\ncastle used to drive out on moonlight nights. But one night they were so\nmuch engrossed in their enjoyments that they returned home late; and lo!\nthe cock crew, and the carriage turned into stone.\n\nThe fairies live in castles on lofty mountain peaks. They build their\ncastles themselves, or inherit them from giants. Sometimes they are at a\ngreat distance, as _e.g._ Fairy Elisabeth's Castle in the town of\nJohara, in the \"Land of Black Sorrow.\"\n\nKozma enumerates the names of about 23 castles which belonged to fairies\nand which still exist. The castle of Kadacs formerly belonged to giants,\nupon whose extinction the fairies moved into it. Dame Rapson's castle\nnear Paraja was built of materials which were carried up on the almost\nperpendicular side of the rock, to a height which makes one's head swim,\nby a magic cat and cock. The road leading to the castle was constructed\nby the Devil for a \"mountain of gold,\" and a \"valley of silver.\" Dame\nRapson owed the Devil his wages for several years, although he kept on\nreminding her of it, till at last the cunning fairy presented him with a\ngold coin between the tips of her upheld fingers, and a silver coin in\nher palm, explaining to him that the gold coin is the mountain and the\nsilver coin the valley.[74] The Devil, seeing that he was outwitted, got\ninto a fearful rage and destroyed the road, the traces of which are\nstill shown as far as the G\u00f6rg\u00e9ny (snow-clad) mountains, and is still\ncalled \"Dame Rapson's Road.\" The tale about building the road for a\nmountain of gold and valley of silver is also mentioned in connection\nwith the V\u00e1rhegy, near K\u00f6szv\u00e9nyes-Remete, but in this case it is Fairy\nHelen's daughter who cheats the devil. There is such a dam also at the\nfoot of the S\u00f3hegy, near Paraja, extending as far as Mikh\u00e0za, and this\nbank too is called \"Dame Rapson's Road,\" and also \"Devil's Dyke.\" A dam,\nsimilar to the \"Cock's Ridge,\" near Rika, extends in the neighbourhood\nof Gagy and K\u00f6rispatak in the direction of Firtos, and is called \"Pretty\nWomen's Road,\" or \"Fairies' Road.\" Another high dam with a deep moat at\nits southern side, and also called the \"Fairies' Road,\" is to be seen\nbetween Enlaka and Firtos. Under the Sz\u00e9pmez\u00f6 (Beautiful Meadow) in\nH\u00e1romsz\u00e9k, the golden bridge of the fairies lies buried. On the\noutskirts of Tord\u00e1tfalva there is a peak called \"Eb\u00e9dl\u00f6-M\u00e1l\" (eb\u00e9dl\u00f6 =\ndining-place) on which the fairies coming from Firtos to Kadacsv\u00e1ra used\nto assemble to dinner.\n\nIn some localities _caves_ are pointed out as the haunts of fairies\nsuch as the caves in the side of the rock named Budv\u00e1r. We have already\nmentioned the cave Borza-v\u00e1ra near the castle of Dame Rapson; another\nhaunt of fairies is the cave near Alm\u00e1s, and the cold wind known as the\n\"Nemere\" is said to blow when the fairy in Alm\u00e1s cave feels cold. On one\noccasion the plague was raging in this neighbourhood; the people\nascribed it to the cold blast emanating from the cave, so they hung\nshirts before the mouth of the cave, and the plague ceased. (Mentioned\nby L. K\u00f6v\u00e1ry.)\n\nThe fairies have beautiful flower-gardens in the castle grounds, and in\nthe centre of the garden there is generally a golden summer-house which\nswivels round on a pivot. On moonlight nights they returned to water\ntheir flower-beds long after they had disappeared from the\nneighbourhood. The peonies (Whitsun-roses) that bloom among the ruins of\nDame Rapson's Castle are even nowadays known among the people as Dame\nRapson's roses.\n\nThe fairies live an organised social life. Several of their queens are\nknown, as _e.g._ Dame Rapson and Fairy Helen. The latter was the most\npopular among them. The queens had court-dames, who were also fairies,\nand who lived near their queen's castle, as _e.g._ the court-dames of\nDame Rapson lived in Borza-v\u00e1ra Cave. They also live a family\nlife--their husbands being giants or heroes, their children fairy-girls.\nThose of them, however, who waste their love on ordinary mortals all die\nan ignoble death.\n\nAlthough they have disappeared from earth, they continue to live, even\nin our days, in caves under their castles, in which caves their\ntreasures lie hidden. The iron gates of Zeta Castle, which has subsided\ninto the ground and disappeared from the surface, open once in every\nseven years. On one occasion a man went in there, and met two beautiful\nfairies whom he addressed thus: \"How long will you still linger here,\nmy little sisters?\" and they replied: \"As long as the cows will give\nwarm milk.\"[75] (See Baron B. Orb\u00e1n, _Description of Sz\u00e9kelyland_, 3\nvols.)\n\nTheir subterranean habitations are not less splendid and glittering than\nwere their castles of yore on the mountain peaks. The one at Firtos is a\npalace resting on solid gold columns. The palace of Tartod, and the\ngorgeous one of Dame Rapson are lighted by three diamond balls, as big\nas human heads, which hang from golden chains. The treasure which is\nheaped up in the latter place consists of immense gold bars, golden\nlions with carbuncle eyes, a golden hen with her brood, and golden casks\nfilled with gold coin. The treasures of Fairy Helen are kept in a cellar\nunder Kov\u00e1szna Castle, the gates of the cellar being guarded by a magic\ncock. This bird only goes to sleep once in seven years, and anybody who\ncould guess the right moment would be able to scrape no end of diamond\ncrystals from the walls and bring them out with him. The fairies who\nguard the treasures of the Pog\u00e1nyv\u00e1r (Pagan Castle) in Marossz\u00e9k even\nnowadays come on moonlight nights to bathe in the lake below.\n\nOther fairies known by their names are: Tark\u00f6 (after whom a mountain\nnear Csik-Gyergy\u00f3 takes its name) with her twin daughters Olt and Maros\n(the names of the two principal rivers of Transylvania, the sources of\nwhich are on the Tark\u00f6); their mother touched them with her magic wand,\nand they were transformed into water-fairies, they then went in search\nof their father, who at the time when the elements were put in order\nwas transformed into the Black Sea.[76] Another fairy is Mika, the\nwarrioress fairy, who with her father Kadicsa led the remnants of\nAttila's Huns to their present place of sojourn.[77]\n\nAs mentioned before, there were good and bad fairies. The most complete\ntale about good and bad fairies is the one about Firsos and Tart\u00f3d,\nfully mentioned by Ipolyi.[78] The castle of Dame V\u00e9n\u00e9tur (near\nBereczk), the bad fairy who defied God, was swallowed up by the earth,\nand she herself turned into a stone frog.[79] Dame Jen\u00f6 (Eugen), who\nlived in \u00c9nlak Castle, drove out one day, and on her way home her\ncoachman happened to remark that: \"If the Lord will help us, we shall be\nhome soon!\" to which she haughtily replied: \"Whether he will help us, or\nwhether he won't, we shall get home all the same.\" At that moment she\nand her carriage were turned into stone and the people still call a rock\n\"Dame Jen\u00f6's Carriage.\" (There is also another place called \"Dame Jen\u00f6's\nGarden.\") The fairy who lived in S\u00f3v\u00e1r Castle near Csik-Somly\u00f3, was\nspinning on the Sabbath, and while doing so used the Lord's name in\nvain, and was, with her spinning-wheel turned into stone. Her stone\ndistaff is shown to this day. A pond near Sz\u00e9kely-Keresztur named\n\"Katustava\" (_i.e._ Kate's Pond) contains a sunken house which once upon\na time belonged to a woman who was punished for doing her washing on a\nfeast-day. Even now the children stand round the pond and sing out:\n\"Boil up, boil up, Catherine! boil up, boil up, Catherine! We do our\nsoaping on Saturday and rinse our clothes on Sunday!\" In days gone by,\nthe water used to boil up with great force and the little folks were\ndispersed, and had to run away in consequence of the rush of water.\nThey returned, however, and threw stones into the pond, and the water\nboiled up again vehemently. Aged people say that in their childhood the\npond was ten to twelve yards in diameter, and the water boiled up to a\nheight of two or three feet. Its present diameter is not more than a\ncouple of feet, and the boiling up has also considerably decreased in\nproportion. The pond will perhaps disappear altogether, but its name\nwill last, as the whole close of fields is named after it. (Kate's Pond\nClose).\n\nA clear Christian influence can be traced in the four last tales.\nMohamedanism[80] has also left behind its traces in the tales in which\nfairies figure who kidnap girls.\n\nSuch a fairy was Dame Hirip, who lived on the V\u00e1roldal, near\nGyergy\u00f3-Szens-Mikl\u00f3s. She used to stand on the castle tower with a\nwreath in her hand, waiting for her two sons, who were engaged at the\nbottom of the mountain, cutting down the sweethearts of the girls they\nhad kidnapped; until, at last, two heroes clad in mourning killed them;\nwhereupon their mother faded away with the wreath she held in her hand.\nOn mount B\u00fckk\u00f6s, which skirts the valley of the \u00daz, lived another\nkidnapping fairy, who kidnapped a girl every year from the shores of the\nBlack Sea. On one occasion she happened to kidnap the sweetheart of the\nKing of the Ocean-Fairies, the loveliest maid in the sea; the King\npursued her and impeded her flight, and tired her out by raising a\nhurricane and shower of rain. He overtook and caught her at a place\ncalled \"Stone Garden;\" and, seizing her, killed her by flinging her on\nto a rock. A mineral healing spring sprung up where her blood flowed on\nthe ground.[81]\n\n\nIII. WITCHES.\n\nThe degenerate descendants of bad fairies are witches;[82] in Hungarian,\n\"boszork\u00e1ny;\" in Turkish-Tartar, \"Bosh\u00fbr Kh\u00e2n;\" which signifies one who\nworries, annoys, or teases. They appear sometimes as green frogs,\nsometimes as black cats; and they find a demoniacal delight in\n\"plaguing\" people. Sometimes they appear as horses and kick their\nenemies cruelly;[83] if such a horse be caught and shod, the horse-shoes\nwill be found on the hands and feet of the witch next day.[84]\n\nIn nearly every village, one or two such old women are to be found who\nare suspected, but nobody dares to do them any harm.[85]\n\nIt is a very simple thing to see the witches. After the autumn sowing is\nover the harrow is to be left on the field over winter. In the morning\nof St. George's Day one has to go out in the field, make the harrow\nstand upright, stand behind it, and observe through it the herd of\ncattle as they pass by. You will then notice the head witch between the\nhorns of the bull, and the minor witches between the horns of the other\nbeasts.[86] But if you do not know the necessary protecting formula,\nthen you are done for.\n\nIf you do not like to risk this, there is another way. Dye the first egg\nof a black hen, and take it with you to church in your pocket on Easter\nSunday, and observe the people as they walk into church. Some of them\nwill have great difficulty in passing through the door on account of the\nlength of their horns. When leaving the church, you must go out before\nthem and put down the egg; or stand at the meeting of two cross-roads;\nor else they will carry you off. Witches, or other evil spirits, have no\npower at cross-roads. The popular tales describe the witches as mothers\nof giants, or dragons.[87] The witch is capable of changing forms by\nturning somersaults.[88] They appear then as a puddle, brook, golden\npear-tree, fiery oven, &c. They grow so old that their lower lips hang\ndown as far as their knees; their eyelids also become elongated, so that\nif they wish to see anything the eyelid has to be lifted up with a huge\niron rod, weighing 300 hundred-weights.\n\nThey exercise their magic powers: (1) in a defensive way;[89] (2) in an\naggressive way, by bewitching, the cause of which is some real or\nfictitious offence, or evil intention. Thus by magic you can make the\nwoman appear who has taken away the cow's milk, and you can make her\ngive back the milk. The _modus procedendi_ is as follows: take a rag\nsaturated with milk, or a horse-shoe or chain which has been made hot in\na clear fire, place it on the threshold and beat it with the head of a\nhatchet; or make a plough-share red hot, and plunge it several times\ninto cold water. In order to keep away intruders it is a rule that the\nfirst woman who enters the house while the incantation proceeds is\nseverely beaten, because she is the culprit. Sometimes the ridiculous\nthing happens that the man has to thrash his own wife, if she happens to\nbe the first comer.\n\nBy magic one can make a young man marry under all circumstances a girl\npreviously selected. Of such a young man they say, \"They have dug up a\nbig weed[90] for him;\" or, \"They are boiling his 'kapcza'[91] for him.\"\nThe latter seems to indicate some charm. The sorceress summons toads,\nholds an unintelligible conversation with them, and hands some\nmysterious charm which has to be placed under the threshold of the\nselected young man's house. The person, however, who orders the\nincantation will die the same year.\n\nSome kinds of severe illness or accidents can be produced by planting in\nsecret certain magic plants on the selected person's ground; the illness\nwill last, and the consequences of the accident be felt, until the\nplants are removed. If the owner plants these plants himself they will\nserve as a preventative.\n\nThieves can be found out or bewitched, and they dread the thing so much\nthat very often they return in secret the stolen articles.\n\nThere are various formul\u00e6 to cause marriage or produce sickness. One of\nthem may be mentioned here.[92] The person who orders the incantation\nsteals from the selected victim some article of dress, and takes it to\nthe sorceress, who adds three beans, three bulbs of garlic, a few pieces\nof dry coal, and a dead frog to it, and places these several articles in\nan earthenware pot under the victim's gate or threshold, accompanied by\nthese words: \"Lord of the infernal regions and of the devils, and\npossessor of the hidden treasures; give to ... (name of the victim) some\nincurable illness--(or inflame ... with irresistible love towards\n...)--and I will join your party!\"\n\nIn a Hungarian paper, published in 1833, we read\n\n\n     Some woman in Transylvania grew tired of her husband, and consulted\n     a sorceress about the means of getting rid of him. The sorceress (a\n     Wallachian old woman) visited the woman's house, and they both\n     retired to the garret, where the sorceress laid out an image in\n     clay, which was intended to represent the unfortunate husband, and\n     surrounded it with burning wax tapers, and both women engaged in\n     prayer for the quick departure from this life of the husband. The\n     latter, however, appeared on the scene and put an end to the\n     proceedings.\n\n\nAmidst the vast pile of superstitions still current amidst the\npeasantry, we may note the following, from a very valuable work by Varga\nJ\u00e1nos, entitled _A babond\u00e1k k\u00f6nyve, Arad_, 1877; a volume which won the\nprize offered at the time by the Hungarian physicians and others, for\nthe best work written on the existing superstitions of the Magyar\npeople. Its chief aim is to instruct the people, and is written in\n_very_ popular language.\n\nTo this day old women (Roman Catholics) do not swallow the consecrated\nwafer at communion; but save it and carefully wrap it in a handkerchief,\nand keep it in a drawer at home, as it will prevent the house from being\nburnt down. An epidemic raged all over Hungary, and the people in one of\nthe villages attributed the outbreak of cholera to an old woman who had\ndied shortly before, and who was said to have been a witch in her\nlifetime. The corpse was dug up, and replaced in the grave face\n_downwards_, in order to stay the plague. When the rinderpest broke out\nin another village they had recourse to the same remedy. The corpse of\nthe witch was unearthed, and reburied face downwards. As this had no\neffect, the shift of the corpse was turned inside out and put on again.\nAs the pest still continued, the heart of the witch was taken out and\ndivided into four pieces, and one quarter burnt at each of the four\ncorners of the village, and the herd driven through the smoke. One year,\nwhen there was a drought in the country, in a northern village, amongst\nthe Slov\u00e1ks, a young girl was let down into a well, in order to bring on\nthe rain.\n\n_Ghosts._[93] There is a proverb saying that: \"The good souls do not\nwish to come back, and the bad ones are not allowed to return;\" but\nstill people believe in ghosts.\n\n_Sprites._ (Evil spirits, garabonczas.) The father of the garabonczas is\nthe devil; the mother, a witch. The garabonczas mostly appears as a poor\nwandering student begging for milk in the village. If he be well treated\nno harm will happen to the village, but if he be sent away from the\ndoor, he will bring on hail and will destroy the crops belonging to the\nplace. He generally rides officially on dragons or t\u00e1tos.\n\n_Exchanged children_, or t\u00e1ltos.[94] If a child be born with some defect\n(say without an arm, &c.) or with some supernumerary member (say six\nfingers or six toes) or with a big head, people say it is an exchanged\nchild; it is a child of some witch who exchanged her offspring for the\nbaby, while the baby's mother was in bed. Babies born with teeth are\nespecially considered to be children of witches. Such unfortunate\ncreatures are very badly treated by the people, and even by their own\nparents. The name \"t\u00e1ltos\" sticks to them, even when grown up. A knife\nstuck into a slice of garlic and placed under the pillow of the woman in\nchildbed is an effective remedy against babies being exchanged by\nwitches.\n\n_Goblins_[95] (Lid\u00e9rcz) are the servants of evil spirits or the evil\nspirits themselves. One favourite form they like to appear in is the\n\"wandering fire,\" or will-o'-the-wisp. A hen that crows (a hermaphrodite\nbird) is also a goblin; and a combination of cock and hen is hatched\nfrom the first egg laid by the young hen, or from very small undersized\neggs as are sometimes laid by fowls. A little decrepit, undeveloped\nchicken is also always looked at with suspicion. The good housewife\nbreaks the first egg laid by a young hen, or a very small egg, to\nprevent the goblin's being hatched. The crowing hen is executed, the\nneck being laid on the threshold and cut off with a hatchet; if the head\njumps into the yard, then no matter, but if it hops inside the house,\nthen it means that the house will be burnt down. (In Germany some\nhundred and seventy years ago a crowing hen was brought before the\njudges, sentenced to death, its neck cut off by the public executioner\nin the market-place, and the body burnt at the stake.)\n\n_Roadside wanderers or inhabitants of graves._[96] Sickly, yellow,\nhaggard-looking people are said to live in graves or crypts at night.\nThe Magyar people are very good-natured, and their hospitality is well\nknown. But such a grave-inhabitant can reckon upon having no mercy. If\nthey stop and rest anywhere somebody is sure to die in the\nneighbourhood. If anybody look at them it will bring on jaundice; if\nanybody touch them the healthy person will dry up; children die if\ntouched or kissed by such a creature.\n\nThere is a rich mine of Folk-Medicine, as yet but little worked by\nwestern students: a few examples will be found in \"Sz\u00e9kely\nFolk-Medicine,\" _Folk-lore Journal_, April 1884, and we append a few\nmore, which may be of interest, from an old MS.[97]\n\n_Jaundice_ is brought on by looking through the window of a house where\nthere is a corpse laid out, and seeing it. It is cured by taking nine\n\"creepers\" from the head of a person with the same Christian names as\nthe patient; put the nine insects into an apple; bake the whole, and\ngive it to the patient for internal application. Then take the\nfoeces[98] of a person of the same Christian name; place them in a\nhard-boiled egg, having first removed the yolk; sew the egg in a small\nbag, and place it _secretly_ under the altar, and allow three masses to\nbe said over it; then hang it round the patient's neck, who has to wear\nit for nine days. The cure is to be repeated nine times. There is a\nmarginal note in the book to the effect that our \"doctor\" had altogether\nsix cases under treatment, but not one of the patients got beyond the\nfirst stage of the cure.[99]\n\n_Pleurisy._ Take a trough in which the dough has been kneaded and taken\nout; pour water into it cross-ways (diagonally from corner to corner)\nthen pour water in cross form over the peel; scrape out the trough and\nknead with one finger the scrapings into a flat cake and place it on the\naching side. Varga also gives a form of prayer which has to be recited\nwhen the dough is placed on the side. The same prayer is prescribed for\ntoothache and sore throat.\n\n_Scurvy._ (In Magyar \"s\u00fcly.\") The scorbutic place is to be rubbed with a\npiece of rancid bacon, and the following ditty sung:--\n\n\n    \"S\u00fc-s\u00fc, lentils-s\u00fc\n    Peas-s\u00fc,--pumpkin-s\u00fc,\n    Onion-s\u00fc,--77 sorts of s\u00fc,\n\n\nI order thee, in the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary to disappear!\"\n\n_Cataract_ in the eye. This is cured with a long prayer, commencing I \u2020\nN \u2020 R \u2020 I, and, if it has no effect, another (shorter) prayer is\nmumbled, and the performer breathes upon the eye.\n\n_Gangrene_ is also cured by prayers; a little garlic and broken glass is\nplaced upon the wound.\n\nAnother way is to bury three hairs of the patient in the gutter under\nthe eaves, and then to say the Lord's Prayer. When the medicine-man\narrives at the words \"as in earth,\" he drops a slice of garlick, this is\nafterwards buried in some secluded spot. If anybody steps on this place\nhe will be affected by the same disease.\n\n_Hydrophobia_ is cured by a mixture of the following nine ingredients:--\n\n\n      1. A kind of small, vermilion, flat beetle;\n\n      2. Some dittany gathered before St. John's Day;\n\n      3. Splinters of tree struck by lightning before St. George's Day;\n\n      4. Some cantharides;\n\n      5. Young buds of ash gathered in early spring;\n\n      6. Rue gathered before St. George's Day;\n\n      7. \"St. Ivan's beetle\" (? glow-worm);\n\n      8. \"Christmas crumb\"[100] and eggshell from between two\n      Christmases;\n\n      9. On Midsummer Day, at early dawn, the medicine-man walks out\n      barefoot, and the weeds, grasses, flowers, &c. that stick to his\n      sole or toes form ingredient No. 9.\n\n\nThe mixture is to be taken internally.\n\n_Epilepsy_ is treated with an oil prepared by the quack out of\nhorseradish; also some brimstone and other things.\n\n_External_ wounds and sore nails are cured by placing a live toad on the\nplace.\n\nThe rash called _St. Anthony's Fire_. A man whose Christian name is\nAnthony has to produce sparks with steel and flint.[101]\n\n_Scab_ is treated with an ointment made of beef-fat and brimstone; the\nointment to be used for three days, and to be followed up by a hot-air\nbath. As these useful establishments only exist in large towns, the\nunfortunate sufferer is put inside a hot oven.\n\n_Quinsy._--With the child's finger stroke the throat of a lizard,[102]\ncaught before St. George's Day.\n\n_Cramp._--Place a left-hand window-frame across the child suffering from\ncramp, or burn feathers under its nose.\n\n_Hand of Glory._[103]--The little finger of the human foetus has all the\nvirtues of (and is used for the same purpose as) the hand of glory. All\nthe famous brigands are believed to have one of these articles in their\npossession.\n\nWhen a person is _in extremis_ they place him or her, bed and all, in a\nline with and under the main joist of the ceiling. If the dead person's\neyes are left open somebody will soon follow him or her.\n\n\n_Superstitious Days._\n\n_Friday._ Work commenced or finished on Friday is sure to fail.\n\nWho laughs on Friday will cry on Sunday.\n\nTo sneeze on Friday the first thing in the morning when the stomach is\nempty means some great catastrophe.\n\nTo start on a journey on Friday is unlucky.\n\nHe or she who is taken ill on Friday will never again leave their bed.\n\nA guest on Friday means one week's distress.\n\nDough kneaded on Friday will not rise.\n\nLinen washed on Friday will give the wearer some skin disease.\n\nIf the fires are lighted in the rooms for the first time on Friday the\nhouse will be burnt down.\n\nIf a baby gets its first tooth on a Friday the front teeth will come all\nright but no more.\n\nIf a baby commence to talk on a Friday it will, when grown up, stammer\nor remain mute altogether.\n\nIf the new year commence with a Friday all the crops will fail.\n\nIf a hen commence to sit on her eggs on a Friday the eggs become\naddled.[104]\n\n_St. Matthias._ \"It is better trust the ice after St. Matthias' Day than\nin you, my dear little maid.\" _Erd\u00e9lyi_, vol. 3. Folk-Song No. 200.\n\n_St. George's Day_ is a very lucky day.\n\nA butterfly caught before St. George's Day brings great luck.\n\nSnakes caught before St. George's Day make a powerful medicine.\n\nThe skin of a marmot caught before St. George's Day will make a purse\nwhich will never be empty.\n\nThe person who sees a swallow or stork before St. George's Day will\nlive as many years as the bird flaps its wings.\n\nProcure the wing of a bat caught before St. George's Day and wrap up\nmoney in it; then you will never be without cash.\n\nOn the night following St. George's Day one can listen to the\nconversation of the witches and overhear their secrets about good and\nbad herbs.\n\nAll the medicines gathered before St. George's Day are very powerful.\n\n_Christmas Eve._--Roman Catholics fast on this day--eating no meat,\nusing instead fish and vermicelli with crushed poppy seed and honey.\nThose who stand on \"Lucy's chair\" during midnight mass can tell who is a\nwitch and who is not. St. Lucy's Day is December 13th, and on that day\nsome begin to make a small chair, or stool, working at it, on each\nfollowing day, so as to get it ready by Christmas Eve. The maker then\ntakes it to midnight mass, and sits upon it in order to discover who are\nwitches in the parish. All those who turn their backs to the altar\nwhilst he (or she) sits on the stool, are witches. \"Lucy's chair\" is\nalso said of anything that is being made very slowly. On this day, too,\nthe farmer's wife and servants wrap their heads up in cloaks, and, armed\nwith big brushes (a sort of brush tied athwart the end of a pole), go\nround and catch the hens and touch their hinder parts, believing that it\nwill cause them to lay more eggs. The twelve days following St. Lucy's\nare called Lucy's Kalendar, and are very carefully observed. If the\nfirst, second, third, &c., be raining, windy, foggy, &c., so will the\nfirst, second, third, &c., months of the next year be.\n\n_Christmas Day._--Every hour of this day is significant and pregnant\nwith good or evil. It seems as if on this day every good angel descended\nfrom heaven to scatter blessings, and every demon ascended from the\ninfernal regions to shower curses on the heads of men.[105]\n\nEven the remnants of food have their magic power. The well-known\n\"Christmas crumb\" forming an important ingredient in many\nfolk-medicines.\n\nWhoever picks up an apple or nut from the ground will be covered with\nsores; and if anyone steps upon a reel of cotton (or gets entangled in\nit) upon this day, he will, without fail, have an attack of the \"evil of\nLazarus.\"\n\nA sort of basket made of twisted or plaited straw, such as is used for\ntaking dough to the bakers, is filled with hay and put under the table\nto receive the \"little Jesus,\" who is said to get into it. Maize put\nunder this basket is said to fatten fowls to a wondrous extent, and\ncattle thrive marvellously on the hay. Whosoever eats nuts without honey\nwill lose his teeth.\n\nWhosoever does not eat a slice of garlic with honey on this holy day\nwill get a sore throat.[106]\n\nThere are several Finnish superstitions with regard to this season,\n_e.g._:\n\nIn West Bothnia one must not spin on St. John's Day (which is called a\nhalf-holyday), or the sheep will be attacked with disease during the\nyear. Cf. the well known saying that a spinning wheel is unlucky on\nboard a ship.\n\nFire must not be taken out of a house on Christmas Eve,[107] or else the\nso-called \"black ears\" will grow among the barley. See _Suomen\nMuinaismuisto-yhdistyksen, Aikakauskirja_, v. p. 109.\n\nIf the corn is found to be very much entangled when cut, it is said\nthat the farmer slept crooked in bed on Christmas Eve. In some villages,\non \"Knuts Day,\" Jan. 13th, a young girl is dressed up as a bride, and\ncalled \"twenty-days' bride\" (twenty days after Christmas), and driven\nthrough the village. The day ends with a dance, and a collection for the\n\"bride,\" who is generally one of the poor. Straw, too, was laid on the\nroom floors in remembrance of the Saviour's bed. A light burnt all night\non the settle.[108] These customs still exist in some places.\n\nA yule-cross used to be erected at the house-door on Christmas Eve.\n\nTo return to the Magyars. The bread at Christmas time is baked in\ncurious forms, just as it is in Finland, where, _e.g._, in \u00c5bo, it is\nmade in the form of a fish, &c., and called \"Kuse\" and \"Kasa,\" in other\nparts in the form of animals, &c. (cf. the \"Yuldoos\" in Northumberland).\n\n_New Year's Eve_ and _New Year's Day_.[109] Molten lead is cast into\nwater to see the future husband's trade. Watch which way the cock crows\non the dawn of the new year, for in that direction your future partner\nwill surely come. Turn your pillow at midnight (December 31st), and you\nwill see whom you are to marry, in your dreams. Any one born at midnight\nwill become a great person. Whosoever is whipped on New Year's Day will\nbe whipped every day in the new year! Indeed, anything done on this day\nwill be repeated during the year. It is unlucky to sow on this day, as\nit prevents the hens laying. If you put on new linen you will cause your\nskin to be covered with sores. New Year's morn is spent in wishing each\nother a happy new year; just as, in many parts of England (_e.g._ Hull)\nthe juvenile population call and expect to receive their reward in the\nshape of coin of the realm.\n\nIn Vienna they say: \"to have Schweinsgl\u00fcck,\" or \"Saugl\u00fcck,\" _i.e._, \"a\npig's luck,\" or a \"sow's luck;\" and so one sees in some houses a cook\nappear, bearing a sucking pig on a tray, and wishing all a happy New\nYear, expecting a New Year's box in return.\n\nAccording to Paul Kelecs\u00e9nyi, the following custom is observed at\nKolony, in the county of Nyitra. Girls make a bonfire, and leap through\nthe flame. From their mode of leaping the spectators gather when the\ngirl will be married. The performance is accompanied by a song, of which\na few verses will suffice as a specimen:\n\n\n   \"We lay a fire,\n    We lay it square,\n    At one corner sit five old men,\n    At the other sit good looking matrons,\n    At the third sit handsome young bachelors,\n    At the fourth sit pretty young maidens.\n    Then the fire is lighted.\n    John A's (the name of an unmarried man) is about to catch fire.\n    Let us extinguish it! (Susie.)\n    Oh! don't let us forsake the poor people!\n    Jane B's (generally John A's sweetheart) store house is about to\n        catch fire.\n    Let us....\n    Oh! don't....\"\n\n\nThen follow verses, like the following, and all more or less\nunintelligible:\n\n\n   \"How high the branch of the tree has grown,\n    [The tree] has sent out branches.\n    It is bending and bending across the ocean\n    Into the courtyard of John A.\n    Of [to?] pretty Helena with the silken yellow tresses.\"\n\n\nSee Erd\u00e9lyi's _Folk-Songs and Stories_, vol. iii. pp. 148-150. \"Szent\nIv\u00e1n \u00c9neke.\"\n\n_On St. John the Baptist's Day_[110] the glow-worm is gathered, and also\nat dawn the medicinal herbs for certain cures (see supra). On this day\nit is also customary to jump over \"St. John's fire;\" any person doing\nthis will not die during the year.\n\n_On the Day of St. Paul's Conversion_ all the bears turn round in their\nsleep in their winter dens.\n\n_On the Night of St. Andrew's_ every girl will dream about her future\nhusband; if she manage to procure a shirt of a young man and place it\nover-night under her pillow, she will so bewitch him that he will follow\nher like her shadow.\n\n_On Saturday before Easter_ all snakes, frogs, toads, &c., can be driven\naway in the morning when the cattle's bell is heard.\n\n_On Palm Sunday_, swallow without chewing three buds blessed by the\npriest and brought from church, and this will prevent a sore throat.\n\n_St. Martin._ On this day, in conformity with an old custom, the Jewish\ncommunity of Pozsony (Pressburg) yearly present a fat goose to the King\nof Hungary. This deputation is always received personally.\n\n_St. Michael._ The bier in Magyar is called \"St. Michael's horse.\"\n\n_St. Stephen._--See _Notes and Queries_, \"Magyar and Finn Songs on St.\nStephen's Day,\" 6 S. viii. 487, and x. 485, with which we may compare\nthe following:--\n\nVAUSENOTTES: La c\u00e9r\u00e9monie de crier les _valantins_: les gar\u00e7ons se\nnommoient _vausenots_ et les filles _vausenottes_: ces mots viennent de\n_vouser_ ou _vauser_, qui eux-m\u00eames viennent de _vocare_, nommer, et de\n_nuptiae_ noces: comme si l'on disoit appeler aux noces: aux mariages:\ncette c\u00e9r\u00e9monie s'est pratiqu\u00e9e longtemps dans le pays Messin. _Voyez\nValantin._\n\nVALANTIN: Futur \u00e9poux, celui qu' on d\u00e9signoit \u00e0 une fille le jour des\n_brandons_, ou premier dimanche de car\u00eame, qui, d\u00e8s qu'elle \u00e9toit\npromise, se nommoit _valantine_: Et si son _valantin_ ne lui faisoit\npoint un present ou ne la regaloit avant le dimanche de la mi-car\u00eame,\nelle le br\u00fbloit sous l'effigie d'un paquet de paille ou de sarment, et\nalors les promesses de mariage \u00e9toient rompues et annuli\u00e9s.\n\nBRANDON: Tisson allum\u00e9, feu, flambeau: de-l\u00e0 ou a appel\u00e9 _dimanche des\nbrandons_, le premier dimanche de car\u00eame, parce qu'on allumoit des feux\nce jour-l\u00e0, il \u00e9tait encore nomm\u00e9 le jour de _behourdi_, _behourt_,\n_bordes_, _bourdich_, termes qui signifioient une jo\u00fbte une course de\nlances. Il se nomme encore dans quelques provinces, le jour de _grand\nfeux_, des _valantins_, le jour des _bulles_ ou des _bures_, le dimanche\ndes _bordes_; au figur\u00e9, l'ardeur de l'amour et son flambeau, _brando_.\nOn appelle \u00e0 Lyons, _brandons_, des rameaux verds auxquels on attache\ndes g\u00e2teaux, des oublies et des bugnes, le premier dimanche de car\u00eame.\n\nBULE, _bulle_; Feu de rejouissance.\n\nBORDE. One of the meanings of the diminutive of \"borde,\" viz.:\n\"bordelle\" \"on a appliqu\u00e9 ensuite aux lieux de d\u00e9bauche.\"[111]\n\nHeltay G\u00e1sp\u00e1r, the typographer of Kolozsv\u00e1r, wrote his book in 1552\nagainst this custom as practised in Hungary.\n\nThe following Finnish superstitions at certain times may here be noted\nfor comparative purposes:--\n\n_Lent._ Witches are said to have cut off the sheep's wool at this time,\nand given it to the evil one; who in return gave them good luck with\ntheir sheep and butter.\n\n_Shrove Tuesday._ Women are not to spin on this day; because, if they\ndo, the sheep will suffer from diseases.\n\nIf the sun shines on this day there will be a fine summer. Much sledging\nmust be done if long flax is desired; and seven meals must be eaten\nwithout drinking, if thirst is to be avoided during the summer heats.\n\n_Good Friday._ It was not customary formerly to make a fire on this\nday.\n\n_Easter._ On Easter Eve cut off the wool from between the sheep's ears;\nso the young folks burn straw and tar-barrels to frighten the Easter\nwitches (in the parishes of W\u00f6r\u00e5 and Munsala). If anyone wishes to see\nthe witches, as they ride in mid-air on their broomsticks, he must sit\non the roof of a three-times-removed house. (Houses in Finland are built\nof wood, and often sold and removed to another site.)\n\n_May 1st._ As the weather is this day, so will the rest of the year be.\n\n_Eve of St. John Baptist._ On this night the young girls go out into\nrye-fields with bits of colored worsted, and tie them round the stalks\nthat are chosen. The stalks are then cut off just above the worsted.\nNext morning the stalk that has grown the most during the night\nforetells the future of the maiden. The red one foretells purity; green,\nlove; yellow, rejection; black, grief; blue, old maid; white, death;\nspeckled, an illegitimate child. The stalk is then taken up and placed\nunder the pillow, and whatever the sleeper then dreams will undoubtedly\nhappen.\n\nA Finnish lady friend relates that she and one of her friends on this\nnight gathered nine different sorts of flowers, and, having made wreaths\nof them, put them under their pillows--as it was said that next morning\nthere would be a lock of hair the colour of the future husband's found\nin each wreath. In order to make sure, each of the young ladies, unknown\nto the other, cut a lock off her own head and placed it in her friend's\nwreath, but, unfortunately, one of the ladies also put a lock of her own\nhair in her own wreath, and thus next day found she was doomed to have\ntwo mates! In some parts, when the farmers return from church, they see\nwho can get home first, as that one will get his harvest in first the\nfollowing year.\n\nIn some places straw is burnt on this night, but it is more common to\nburn wood (which fires are called Kokko). In some parts these fires are\nburnt on Maunday Thursday night. In Honkojoki, after the Kokko is burned\ntwo persons go and stand each on a wood stack, and begin throwing the\nlogs into a heap, each trying his best to throw more than his rival.\nThis done, the logs are counted, and, if found to be an odd number, it\nis regarded as an omen of misfortune. The girls are dressed in white on\nthis night. In the southern parts of the country stones used to be\nrolled down the hill sides on this night. The houses are decorated on\nthe outside with young birches and inside with leafy boughs, &c. For\ndressing with flowers and leaves at this time see _Hofberg_,\n\"Digerd\u00f6den.\"\n\n_St. Bartholomew._--According to some, seed ought to be sown this day.\n\n_St. Matthew's Day._--People disguise themselves so as not to be\nrecognised. A sledge, too, is drawn by a ram, with a straw man as\ndriver.\n\n_St. Thomas's Eve._--A Swedish superstition regards this as the goblins'\nspecial night, and one story (_Hofberg_, \"Tomten\") relates how no one\nwould go into a smithy that night on this account, and if anyone looked\nthrough the door he would see the goblins forging silver bars, or\n\"turning their own legs under the hammer.\"\n\nIn the Highlands, even in modern times, there were May-Day bonfires, at\nwhich the spirits were implored to make the year productive. A feast was\nset out upon the grass, and lots were drawn for the semblance of a human\nsacrifice; and whoever drew the \"black piece\" of a cake dressed on the\nfire was made to leap three times through the flame.[112]\n\nIn many parts of France the sheriffs or the mayor of a town burned\nbaskets filled with wolves, foxes, and cats, in the bonfires at the\nFeast of St. John; and it is said that the Basques burn vipers in wicker\npanniers at Midsummer, and that Breton villagers will sacrifice a snake\nwhen they burn the sacred boat to the goddess who assumed the title of\nSt. Anne.[113]\n\nVarga also gives the following information on numbers:\n\n_13_ is very unlucky.[114] If thirteen sit down to table, one will die.\n\n_9_ also plays an important part. See folk-medicine. Hydrophobia breaks\nout in nine days, weeks, months, or years. Nine different ingredients\noften make up the mixture--nine different shoots of nine different\ntrees. If a cow be bewitched, a cure with nine ants' nests is used. Most\nmedicines are taken nine times; the patient has to bathe nine times, &c.\n&c.\n\n_7_ is very superstitious. The seventh child plays an important part in\neverything; only a seventh child can lift hidden treasures. A seventh\nchild seven years old has great magic power. In digging for treasures\nseven people club together, each member removes seven spades-full of\nearth in one night. Seven times seven, or seventy-seven is also a magic\nnumber. The devil's grandmother is 777 years old.\n\n_3_ very often occurs in fairy-tales. It is an important number with\nwitches. It is said there are 33,333 witches in Hungary.\n\n_Superstitions about Animals._\n\nIt would be more easy to enumerate those animals about which there are\nnot superstitions, but we will give a few instances from Varga.\n\n_The Death-Bird_ (a kind of small owl).--If the death-bird settles on\nthe roof, and calls out three times \"kuvik,\" somebody will die in that\nhouse.\n\n_The Owl._--The well-known servant of witches. It procures them the\nrequired number of snakes, lizards, &c.\n\n_The Cuckoo._--It will tell you how many years you have to live. It\nsucks the milk out of the udder of the cow. There is also another bird\ncredited with this.\n\n_The Crowing-hen._--See _supra_. p. xlvi.\n\n_The Swallow_ and stork are favourite birds. To catch a swallow is very\nunlucky. To disturb its nest will set the roof on fire. If you kill it,\nyour arm will shrivel up. Of this bird the people say that it dies; of\nall others, they perish. (A human being \"dies\" = \"meghal\" in Hung. =\n\"stirbt\" in German; an animal \"perishes\" = \"megd\u00f6glik,\" = \"crepirt.\") If\nyou see the first swallow, stroke your face and sing, \"I see a swallow;\nI wash off the freckles\"--and the freckles will disappear. The stork is,\nalso, a sacred bird. It must not be caught or killed; to disturb its\nnest will set the house on fire. He who sees for the first time in the\nyear a stork standing, will be very lazy during the year; if flying,\nthen fresh and very healthy.\n\n_Lark_, _Plover_,[115] _Quail_, and _Pigeon_.--When Christ was hiding\nhimself he went among some underwood, his pursuers were about to follow\nhim there, when the lark rose and sang: \"Nincs, nincs, nincs, nincs,\nnincs, sehol itten.\" (He is not--he is nowhere here). The pursuers were\nabout to leave, when out of malice the quail flew up and called \"Itt\nszalad, itt szalad\" (Here he runs, here he runs); the pursuers thereupon\nreturned, and Christ took refuge in a shrubbery; then the plover flew up\nand cried \"b\u00fa vik, b\u00fa vik\" (he is hiding), and the pigeon added \"a\nbokorban, a bokorban\" (in the bush). Christ blessed the lark, hence it\nrises high up in the sky and sings merrily, whereas the three other\nbirds were accursed to never fly on a tree, but to hide themselves among\ngrass, in the mud, in old ruins.\n\nSee Arany L\u00e1szl\u00f3 \"Magyar N\u00e9pmes\u00e9inkr\u00f6l\" (On our Magyar Popular Tales),\na paper read before the Kisfaludy Society on May 29, 1867. Cf.\n_Hofberg_, Horsg\u00f6tten.\n\n_Newt._--If you swallow a newt with the water drawn from a well, it will\ngrow quite a monster in your stomach, and eat its way through. The\nmonster will have a head as a calf; immense immoveable eyes; a skin like\na human being; its voice like a baby's, and its head covered with fur,\nlike that of a wild cat.\n\n_Snake._--There is a snake in every house; if it creep out of its hole,\nsome great misfortune will happen. It is therefore unlucky to disturb\nit. The skin of a snake caught before St. George's Day, drawn over a\nstick, makes a powerful weapon; it will break iron in two.\n\n_Snakes and Frogs._[116]--If a snake or frog get into a man's stomach,\nit can be allured out by placing some steaming milk near the mouth of\nthe patient. If they die inside, the patient has to take internally some\npowderized stork's stomach. [Cf. \"Liber Quartus Practicae Haly,\" cap.\n49, \"De eius medela qui leporem marinum aut ranam biberit,\" p. 207,\nverso (Leyden, 1523)]. The so-called frog-rain; the frogs drop from the\nclouds, or that they are drawn up by the clouds from lakes, &c.\n\n_Lizard_, see \"Quinsy\" and \"St. George's Day,\" pp. xlix. and li.\n\n_Cat._--The black cat is a favourite disguise of the witch. When the cat\nis cleaning herself, you must observe at whom she looks first, when\nfinished; the person so looked at will go to a ball, or some other\namusement. If the cat uses one paw only, a guest will arrive; he will\ncome from the direction in which the cat stroked her paw the last time.\nIf a cat be uneasy, &c., it will rain.\n\n_Donkey._--There are three indents on the bulrush as if made with teeth.\nThe tradition is, that the donkey on which Christ sat commenced to\nnibble the reed, but before it had time to bite it off, Christ rode\naway. The traces of the teeth are still plainly visible. The cross on\nthe donkey's back is said to be the stains left by Christ's blood, as it\nran down on both sides.--Arany L\u00e1szl\u00f3 _loc. cit._\n\n_Raven._--There is a well-known Magyar folk-song commencing the thus:--\n\n\n    \"The raven washes his brood on Good Friday.\"\n\n\n_Clocks._--The ticking of the clock-beetle forbodes death in the house.\n\n_Dog._--The witch will sometimes appear as a black dog. If a dog whine\nin his sleep, it is a sign of conflagration; if it bark in its sleep,\nrobbers are due. If a dog howl,[117] it smells a dead body, and somebody\nwill die in the house.\n\n_The Sow_ with a litter of nine, _the Horse_ without a head, _the Bull_\nwith horns pointing downwards, are favourite forms assumed by witches.\n\n_The Tortoise._--When Christ was walking on earth, He appeared as a\nbeggar, and begged for alms at a Jew's house. The mistress of the house\nwas very mean; and in order not to be obliged to give anything, she hid\nunder a trough used for kneading bread, and told her little girl to say\nthat she was not to be found. When the girl said that her mother was not\nat home, Christ replied: \"May she never be able to get home!\" The girl\nwaited in vain for her mother to come forth; and when she opened the\ncloset door, an ugly thing crawled out, with a trough-like shield grown\nto its back. This is the origin of the tortoise.\n\n\n_Superstitions about Plants._\n\nVarga supplies the following notes on this subject:\n\n_Deadly Nightshade_ works miracles in folk-medicine. One of its uses is\nto cure maggots in beasts. It is not used internally nor applied\nexternally. The medicine-man approaches the plant wherever it grows,\nmakes a hole into the ground close to the root, then bends the plant\ngently down, sticks the top of it into the hole and buries it, taking\ncare not to break the plant. Then he repeats the following formula:--\"Do\nyou hear, deadly nightshade? I herewith bury you, and will not again\nliberate you until the maggots that have got into the left rump of John\nSo-and-So's cow clear out from there.\"\n\n_Vervain_ or \"lock-opening herb.\"--Open the skin on the palm of your\nhand, place a small leaf of vervain under the skin and let the wound\nheal over; then at the touch of such hand all locks and bars will open.\nAll the more famous brigands of old are said to have had such power.\n\n_Clover._--Clover with four leaves is very lucky.\n\n_Wolf's-milk._--The milky juice oozing from the broken stem of this\nplant will beautify the skin.[118]\n\n_The Wolf's-bane leaf_, the \u00f6k\u00f6rfark k\u00f3r\u00f3 (lit. the dried oxtail)[119],\nand _the Rue_ are very important herbs in folk-medicine.\n\nSome other plants are said to have had this power, that if at dusk you\nswitch with them three times in the air you hit the witch, and you can\nhear her moaning.\n\n_The Lily_ is the flower of the dead. If any body be executed innocent,\nthree yellow lilies will grow on his grave.\n\n\n_Superstitions about Stones._\n\n_The Diamond_ is blown, like glass, by thousands and thousands of snakes\nin caves, who bury them in the sand.\n\n_The Carbuncle_ glows in the dark.\n\n_The Garnet._ While the person who wears these stones is healthy the\ngarnet is of a beautiful red colour; when the wearer ails the stones\nturn pale.\n\n_The Opal_ is an unlucky stone.\n\n\n_Sundries._[120]\n\n_Astronomy._ The milky way came about in this way. The driver of a cart\nof straw was very drunk; the straw was badly loaded and fell off in all\ndirections as the drunken driver drove his horses irregularly over the\nway.\n\n*Comets forebode a great war or the pest.\n\nMany people get out at the left side of the bed, pull on the left side\nfirst of their trousers, the left sleeve of their coat, and undress left\nfirst because it is good for toothache.\n\n*If your palm itches, you receive money; rub it to your hair, and you\nget as much money as you touched hairs.\n\n*Right eye itching, you will cry; left eye, you will be merry; whose\neyes jump about will get beaten.\n\n*Singing in right ear, bad news; left, good news.\n\nIf a family gets into a new house, somebody will die; a dead body's eyes\nleft open, he is looking for somebody to follow him. If you pity an\nanimal when it is being slaughtered it dies very slowly.\n\n*If a knife, fork, or scissors drop and stick upright in the ground, a\nguest will arrive. If by accident one more plate is laid on the table\nthan necessary, a very hungry guest will come.\n\nWhere there is a baby in the house, you must sit down or you will take\naway its sleep. If you stare at the baby, you spoil it with your eye. To\ncounteract this, put your hat on the child's head or spit on the baby.\nIf the mischief is already done, drop a piece of live coal into a glass\nof water, and make the child drink of it, and bathe his eyes with the\nwater. At the same time wish the \"spoiling\" back to the person from whom\nit came.\n\nIf a spider lowers itself on somebody at night, it is lucky; in the\ndaytime, unlucky.\n\n*If the fire is noisy (a series of small explosions) there will be high\nwords or some scrimmage in the house. If you dream of fire, you will be\nrobbed. If in your dream you see yourself as bride or bridegroom, you\nwill die. If you dream that you are dead, you get married. If, at meals,\nyou sit between two brothers or sisters, you will get married.\n\nIf a woman in the family-way looks into the window, where there is a\ncorpse, the baby will be dumb. If the woman sends away a beggar, she\nwill bear twins.\n\nIn stormy weather stick a hatchet in the threshold, and the hail-clouds\nwill roll by. *Make the sign of a cross with the poker against the sky\nand the rainbow will appear.\n\nWhen it rains and the sun shines too, the devil beats his wife. If it\nthunders without lightning, the devil has got hold of a poor sinner. If\nyou abuse the rain, the angels cry and the devil tears his hair.\n\nIf the cow is bewitched and will not allow herself to be milked, place\nthe pail over her head; or go to the cemetery, procure a decayed old\nwooden cross, and beat the animal with it.\n\nIf the cow kicks, cover her head with an old apron and stick holes\nthrough the apron with the pitchfork. *The witch will feel the stabbing\nfrom the prongs. If the witch has taken away the milk of the cow,\nprocure nine ants'-nests,[121] bury this with nine pieces of bread on\nthe road over which the cattle goes, so that the cow may step over it.\nThen after three days knead the bread and soil together and make the cow\neat it, and her milk will be restored.\n\nOr pour some of the milk into a fiery oven, and the fire will burn the\nwitch who spoilt the cow.\n\nIt is not good to look at a cow while calving, because her milk will not\ncome. The first week's milk is to be given to the poor, or it will be\ndifficult to milk the cow afterwards.\n\nDo not call a child \"a frog,\" or it will with difficulty learn to talk.\nDo not step over it, or you stop its growing. Do not say thanks for a\nmedicine, or it will lose its power. Do not wish the fisher or hunter\n\"good luck,\" or he will have a poor day. To meet a priest is unlucky; to\nmeet a Jew lucky.\n\nIf a child suffers from epileptic fits, take the shirt it has worn\nduring one of the fits and wrap it around one of the (wooden) crosses in\nthe cemetery, this will cure the child; but the person who removes it\nwill catch the disease. When a child loses its first tooth, the mother\nought to eat the tooth in a piece of bread, and then she will never\nsuffer from toothache. When a child sees a swallow for the first time in\nSpring, it must spit several times into the palms of its hands and\npretend to wash its face; this will prevent freckles.\n\nThe following is said to cure abscesses: Boil together peas, beans,\nlentils, and millet in a new pot, and when the mess is ready bathe the\naffected place therein; then take pot and contents at dawn to the\ncross-roads, and dash it to the ground. The abscesses will disappear,\nthe first person who steps over the mess will get them.\n\nWhen sweeping the house the dust must not be swept towards the door but\nfrom it, and the sweepings burnt; then luck will never desert the house.\n\nA loaf that has been cut should never be placed so that the cut part\nfaces the door, because that would cause lack of bread.\n\nWhen the bread is taken from the oven, if a few red-hot cinders be\nthrown into the oven it is as good as throwing them down your enemy's\nthroat!\n\n*Whenever water is drawn from a well, great care must be taken that a\nlittle is returned, to propitiate the angry sprite of the well.\n\n\n_Manners at Table._\n\n\"Whereas other learned and wise nations keep their heads covered while\nthey are at meals, the Magyars uncover themselves at table. Perhaps they\nfollow this custom because they remember the words of St. Paul (1 Cor.\nii.), who says that every man praying, having his head covered,\ndishonoureth his head; the Magyars, however, not only often commence\ntheir meals with a prayer, but mention the Deity as often as they drink,\nand wish to those, in whose honour they lift their glasses, good luck\nand bliss, and pray to God for these, which custom is not always\nfollowed by other nations. Therefore they think it is better not to\ncover the head than to be obliged to uncover themselves so many\ntimes.\"[122]--_From \"A Kopaszsagnac diczireti\" (the praise of baldness).\nKolozsv\u00e1r, 1589; author unknown._\n\n_Drinking Custom._--The Finnish word \"ukko,\" at the present day, means\n\"the host,\" \"the master of the house;\" formerly \"yli-jumala\" meant \"the\nchief-God,\" \"the God of the weather and fertility.\" Wherefore\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f5inen prays to him when sowing the first seed (Kalevala, I. runes\n317-330).\n\nThe heathen Finns, after spring sowing,[123] sacrificed with \"Ukko's\ncup\" (Ukon malja). Jacob Grimm compares Ukko's cup to Thor's drinking\nvessel.[124]\n\nIn 1886, or thereabouts, the Magyar Academy of Science came into\npossession of some XVIth and XVIIth century deeds written in Magyar, and\nrelating to the sale of certain vine-yards in the Hegyalja, where the\nfamous vines of Tokaj[125] grow. From these deeds it appears, that in\neach case the bargaining for the vineyard was followed by a\ndrinking-bout, at which one of the men would lift up his glass; and if\nnobody objected to the sale the bargain became confirmed and binding\nupon all parties concerned. The ceremony of lifting up the cup that\nshould serve as a sign that the bargain was struck was called \"Ukkon\npoharat f\u00f6lmutatui,\" = show up Ukko's glass, and the name of the person\nwho performed the ceremony is mentioned in the deed in every case. Thus,\nin one of these documents, dated \"T\u00e1llya, December 28, 1623,\" we read as\nfollows: \"In witness thereof, we the above named magistrates and sworn\nmen, in conformity with the living old custom of our ancestors, have\ndrunk \u00e1ldom\u00e1s[126] &c. Ukko's glass was held up[127] by John Kantuk de\nLiszka.\"\n\nThus, while the Finnish Agricola in 1551 condemns the custom of\n\"drinking Ukko's cup\" of the ancient Finns as a superstition, in\nHungary, in the Hegyalja, it was, according to deeds bearing dates from\n1596 to 1660, a ceremony \"in accordance with the old law and living\ncustom.\"[128]\n\nSee Paul Hunfalvy's \"Magyarorsz\u00e1g Ethnographi\u00e1ja,\" Budapest, 1876, pp.\n242 & seq.\n\n[1] \"Alad\u00e1r,\" in Hungarian tradition.\n\n[2] _Enc. Britt._ \"Huns.\"\n\n[3] See \"Rege a csoda-szarvasr\u00f3l, by Arany J\u00e1nos, an English translation\nof which has been published by Mr. Butler in his _Legends, Folk Songs,\n&c._, from the Hungarian.\" Cf. _Hungary_, by Professor Vamb\u00e9ry, cap.\niii.\n\n[4] According to Hungarian history, \u00c1rp\u00e1d found numerous small\nnationalities inheriting Attila's realm, with each of whom he had to\nsettle separately. The number of nationalities has been further\nincreased by fresh arrivals from Asia, and immigrants from Western\nEurope during the past ten centuries: thus we hear of the continuous\nirruption of Besseni (Petchenegs) during the reign of Stephen the Saint\n(first King of Hungary, A.D. 1000); of Cumani in the time of Salamon\n(A.D. 1060) and his successors; and of Tartars under Batu Khan (A.D.\n1285) in the time of B\u00e9la IV. During this last invasion large tracts of\nland became depopulated, the inhabitants having either perished or fled;\nso that the king was obliged to invite immigrants from Western Europe,\nand this was the origin of the Saxon settlements in Transylvania. This\nwill to some extent show the difficulties which beset the writer who\nattempts to give a sketch of the races inhabiting modern Hungary. A\nfurther difficulty, in tracing the origin of such races, is due to the\nvariety of spelling adopted by different writers in describing the same\nrace, and the unscrupulous use of the names Huns, Scythae, &c. when\nwriting about tribes inhabiting regions beyond the borders of the then\nknown civilised world. _Vide infra_, p. x.\n\n[5] We have attempted to give but a brief sketch of the Magyars, feeling\nthat when there is so lucid a work as \"Hungary,\" by so well-known an\nauthority as Professor Vamb\u00e9ry, within the reach of all, and dealing\nwith this subject in a way that it would be folly for us to attempt, we\nmay content ourselves with referring all readers to that work, and to\n_Der Ursprung der Magyaren_ by the same author.\n\n[6] The Sz\u00e9kely (in German \"Sz\u00e9kler,\" in Latin \"Siculus\") inhabit the\neastern parts of Transylvania, the territory occupied by them forming an\noblong strip between the Saxon settlement of Besztercze and Brass\u00f3\n(Kronstadt), with two branches to the west known as Marossz\u00e9k and\nUdvarhelysz\u00e9k. Another district (sz\u00e9k) inhabited by them, Aranyos-sz\u00e9k,\nlies in the western part of Transylvania between the districts of Torda\nand Als\u00f3-Fej\u00e9r.\n\n[7] _The Nationality of the Huns and Avars_, a paper read before the\nHungarian Academy of Sciences, Oct. 4, 1881. Cf. also \"The Origin of the\nMagyars,\" by the same author.\n\n[8] See p. 380, _infra_.\n\n[9] Kozma says, that in the two above-mentioned countries the word\n\"Huns\" was used, up to the thirteenth century, among the people as\nequivalent to giants, who figured in fairy tales. Simrock and Grimm are\ninclined to see real persons in them, and say they were the Huns, and in\nlater history the Magyars.\n\n[10] 1883, vol. i. pp. 466, 467.\n\n[11] _Cornhill Magazine_, May, 1882.\n\n[12] The first edition appeared in 1520. Cf. _Diccionario Bibliographico\nPortuguez_ (Lisboa, 1859) _sub voce_ \"Barros.\"\n\n[13] He asserts that his chronicle is a translation of \"ex lingua\nUngara.\" So far as one knows, the _original_ remains undiscovered and\nunknown!\n\n[14] Cf. Geo. Fej\u00e9r, _Henricus Portagulliae Comes origine Burgundus non\nHungarus_, Bud\u00e6 1830, and other dissertations by M. Hol\u00e9czy, &c. in the\nBritish Museum. Press Mark 10632/1.\n\n[15] _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, by Vigfusson and Powell. Oxford, 1883,\np. lxi, vol. i.\n\n[16] _Historia de Gentium Septentrionalium variis conditionibus &c._\n(Basile\u00e6, 1567). Lib. ii. cap. xviii.\n\n[17] _De Hunnis et Herulis_ Libri Sex. Joannes Magnus died in 1544. His\nchronicle appeared interspersed with Olaus Magnus' work. Cf. Lib. viii.\ncap. xiii.\n\n[18] Cf. Paul Hunfalvy's polemic work, _A Sz\u00e9kelyek_. Budapest, 1880.\nThe same learned writer in his well-known _Ethnography of Hungary_,\ndisputes the separate origin of the Sz\u00e9kelys, and maintains that they\nare not a distinct people from the Magyars, but that they are Magyars\nwho have migrated from Hungary Proper into their modern Transylvanian\nhomes. This assertion gave rise to severe criticism on the part of the\ndefenders of the old tradition like Dr. John Nagy, Farkas De\u00e1k, and\nothers; and the above mentioned pamphlet was a reply, wherein the author\nfurther defends his assertion, on the testimony of comparative philology\nand history. One powerful argument in favour of the separate origin is,\nthat for centuries the Sz\u00e9kely population has kept distinct not only\nfrom the Saxons, but also from the Magyars in Transylvania; they had\nprivileges which were denied to the Magyars. Their administration until\nrecently was quite distinct. Their name first occurs in a deed signed by\nWilliam, Bishop of Transylvania, dated 1213, in which the Bishop\nrenounces his right of collecting tithes from settlers in the B\u00e1rczas\u00e2g\n\"a waste and uninhabited\" track of land, if those settlers be neither\nMagyars nor Sz\u00e9kelys.\n\n[19] Abu-Ali Achmed ben Omar ibn Dast\u00e1s. _Information regarding the\nKozars, Burt\u00e1s, Bulgarians, Magyars, Slavs and Russ._ Edited by D. A.\nChvolson, St. Petersburg, 1869 (in Russian); quoted by Hunfalvy in his\n_Ethnography of Hungary_.\n\n[20] Abn Dolif Misaris ben Mohalhal _De Intinere Asiatico_--Studio Kurd\nde Schloezer. Berolini, 1845. Cf. Defr\u00e9mery _Fragments de Geographes,\n&c._ in _Journ. Asiat._ ser. iv. tom. xiii. 466. Both quoted by Colonel\nYule in _Cathay and the Way Thither_. London, 1866. Vol. i. pp. cxi. and\nclxxxvii.\n\n[21] On the river V\u00e1g (in the North of Hungary Proper).\n\n[22] Hunfalvy _The Sz\u00e9kelys_, pp. 40-42.\n\n[23] _Ib._ p. 41.\n\n[24] Cf. _Republica Hungarica_, ex off. Elzeviriana, 1634, p. 12. \"Nemo\napud illos (Ciculos) ignobilis esse censetur, etiam si manu aratrum\ntractet, aut caprino gregi praesit.\"\n\n[25] Georgius R\u00e1k\u00f3czy. Dei Gratia Princeps Transylvani\u00e6 ... et Siculorum\nComes, &c.\n\n[26] Prior to 1876, the Sz\u00e9kelys administered their own affairs, and\nwere divided into five \"sz\u00e9ks\" (_sedes_).\n\n[27] His essay, entitled \"A few words on the Sz\u00e9kely Dialects,\" was\npublished at the end of his work, _Vadr\u00f3zs\u00e2k_, vol. i.\n\n[28] Quoted _infra_, p. xix.\n\n[29] _Vide infra_, p. 380.\n\n[30] _Opus citatum_, p. 34.\n\n[31] Such as Klaproth.\n\n[32] Cf. Hunfalvy _Ethnography_, p. 408.\n\n[33] Cf. _The History of the Cumanians_, and also _The Nationality and\nLanguage of the Jazygo-Cumanians_, by Stephen Gy\u00e1rf\u00e1s. Budapest, 1882.\n\n[34] Budapest, 1880. The original MS. is in the Bibliotheca Marciana in\nVenice. It was discovered by Cornides in 1770. Klaproth first made it\nknown in his \"M\u00e9moirs relatifs \u00e0 l'Asie,\" III. and Roesler published a\nspecimen of its grammar in his \"Rom\u00e4nische Studien,\" pp. 352-356.\n\n[35] Count G\u00e9jza Kuun has, we are glad to say, not yet spoken his last\nword; for that indefatigable scholar is busily engaged on a large work\non his favorite subject, which, judging by the extracts he read (June\n1st, 1885) before the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, promises to rank\nwith the best writings of modern philologists.\n\nIt may be of interest here to quote one of the Cumanian children's\nrhymes:\n\n\n    Heli, heli, j\u00e1de \u00fcz\u00fcrm\u00e9ny\n              \u00fczbe her!\n    Zeboralle, sarmamamile,\n    Alo bizon sasarma,\n    D\u00fcz\u00fcszt\u00fcrm\u00f6 d\u00fccs\u00fcrm\u00f6\n    Hej ala hilala\n    Zeboralle d\u00fccs\u00fcrm\u00f6.\n    (Wolan, wolan, ich l\u00f6se das Gel\u00fcbde,\n              Der Lenz ist da!\n    Mit Gebeten, Zauberzeichen\n    Mache ich den Zauber\n    Unsch\u00e4dlich. Ich preise dich!\n    Es ist nur ein Gott.\n    Mit Gebeten preise ich dich).\n\n\n_Vide Ungarische Revue_, viii.-ix., Heft. 1885, p. 644.\n\n[36] How dangerous a practice it is to build up history upon no other\nground than the mere similarity in the sound of the names of\nnationalities is shewn in the history of the modern Jazyges. This name\nhas led many a chronicler astray. Their Magyar proper name is \"J\u00e1sz,\"\nwhich, according to Hunfalvy (_Ethnography of Hungary_, p. 376) is\nderived from the word \"ij\u00e1sz,\" i.e. \"an archer,\" or \"bowman,\" a name\ndescribing their original occupation. In some old deeds of the xivth and\nxvth centuries, they are called \"Jassones\" and \"Pharetrarii,\" and things\nkept straight until Ranzanus the Papal Nuncio at the Court of Matthias\nCorvinus appeared on the scene, and, struck by the sound of the name\n\"Jassones\" and finding that they lived on the very territory which,\naccording to Ptolemy, was occupied by the Jazyges: Metanastae in his\ntime, at once jumped to the conclusion that they were lineal descendants\nof the wild horsemen mentioned by the classic author. We know how hard\nanything false dies, and so we find this statement copied by subsequent\nwriters, and even disfiguring the pages of so excellent a work as\nSmith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography_, sub. art. \"Jazyges.\"\nA still wilder mistake was made by a scribe of King Sigismund, who\nre-christened the J\u00e1sz folk \"Philist\u00e6i,\" which afterwards appears in\nmany deeds. It would appear to be reasoned out thus; a \"J\u00e1sz,\" or\n\"bowman,\" must naturally handle a bow and arrow; but an arrow is called\n\"pfeil\" in German, which comes from the old German \"phil,\" hence\nJ\u00e1sz-Philist\u00e6i, Q. E. D! Cf. Hunfalvy's _Ethnography loco citato_.\n\n[37] _Vide infra_, p. 412, &c.\n\n[38] _Ethnography of Hungary_, p. 362.\n\n[39] The true born Magyar repudiates with scorn the idea that there is\nany such thing as a dialect, boasting that rich and poor speak the same\ntongue. Cf. _Galeoti Martii, de Matthi\u00e6 egregie, sapienter, fortiter et\njocose dictis ac factis libellus_, ed. Cassovi\u00e6, 1611. \"Unde fit ut\ncarmen lingua Hungarica compositum rusticis et civibus, mediis et\nextremis, eodem tenore intelligatur.\" Galeoti was an Italian by birth,\nand Papal Nuncio at the Court of Matthias I. (Corvinus), King of\nHungary.\n\n[40] There is a passage in the writings of Nicolaus Ol\u00e1h (_Hungaria et\nAttila_, cap. xix. \u00a7 3) which at first sight seems to ascribe a separate\nlanguage to each of the peoples named in the text. According to him,\n\"the whole of Hungary in our days (xvith century) contains various\nnations, viz., Magyars, Germans, Czechs, Slov\u00e1ks, Croats, Saxons,\nSz\u00e9kelys, Wallachs, Servians, Cumans, Jazyges, Ruthens, and finally\nTurks, and all these (nations) \"differenti inter se utuntur lingua,\"\nexcept that some of the words may appear somewhat similar and identical\nin sound in consequence of (their) protracted use and (the continuous)\ncontact (of the said nations with each other).\" Against this, we may\nurge, that if the language of the Sz\u00e9kelys, for example, differed no\nmore from the Magyar than the German speech from that of the Saxons,\nthey can scarcely be described as two different languages. Moreover,\nanother writer says, that the \"Hungari nobiles ejusdem regionis\n(Transylvani\u00e6) passim intermixti Saxonibus, cum Ciculis propemodum tam\nsermone, quam vestitu et armis conveniunt.\" See _Respublica Hungarica_,\n1634. We have good reasons for believing that the passage has been\ncopied by the Elzevirian compiler from the _Chronigraphica Transylvani\u00e6_\nof George Reijchersdorffer, 1550.\n\n[41] Cf. Simpleton stories and lying stories, many of which as told in\nHungary, Finland, and Flanders, and even amongst the Lapps, are\nidentical with those we hear in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland,\nand Norfolk.\n\n[42] Professor Vamb\u00e9ry says: there are many features in Hungarian\nFolk-Tales which can be found in the tales of China, and other Asiatic\ncountries, ancient and modern. The characteristics of the chief\npersonages in the tales show that the tales have been imported by the\nMagyars from their old Asiatic homes, although a Slavonic influence\ncannot be denied.\n\n[43] P. 239 _infra_. See also remains of the Turkish occupation and\ntheir barbarous doings in the children's rhyme:\n\n\n   \"Lady bird, lady bird, fly away, fly away,\n    For the Turks are coming!\n    They will throw you into a well full of salt water:\n    They will take you out, and break you on the wheel.\"\n\n\nDark wine produced at Eger (Erlau) is called \"Turk's blood.\"\n\n[44] Pp. 70, 118.\n\n[45] P. 5, _infra_.\n\n[46] \"Stephen the Murderer,\" \"Fisher Joe,\" and the \"Baa Lambs\" in this\ncollection. Cf. \"Die Engel-l\u00e4mmer\" _Aus der im Auftrage der\nKisfaludy-Gesellschaft von Lad Arany und Paul Gyulai besorgten_.\nUngarische Revue viii. ix. Heft, 1885, p. 640, and note, which says:\n\"Eines der wenigen ungarischen Volkm\u00e4rchen, in welche die christliche\nMythologie hineinspielt.\"\n\n[47] Cf. Such stories as \"Handsome Paul,\" p. 29 _infra et seq._\n\n[48] See all this beautifully sketched by Czuczor, in his poem _Joannes\nH\u00e1ry_.\n\n[49] That the Magyar soldier can tell stories may be seen in Ga\u00e1l's\ntales, most of which Arany tells us have a most undesirable flavour of\nthe barracks about them.\n\n[50] John Erd\u00e9lyi (born 1814, died 1868), Hungarian poet and author,\nelected Member of the Hungarian Academy of Science, 1839.\n\n[51] These tales were collected from soldiers: and are full of\nunnecessary flourishes and coarse barrack-room jokes.\n\n[52] John Kriza (born 1812, died 1875), born in a small village of\nSz\u00e9kely parents. Unitarian minister, professor, poet, and author,\nelected Member of the Academy, 1841.\n\n[53] A second volume has, I believe, since appeared.\n\n[54] Ladislaus Arany objects to this collection, on the ground that the\ncollector has tried to improve on the original popular form, and\nendeavoured to produce something classic, and thus spoiled the stories.\n\n[55] Giant in Magyar is: \"\u00d3ri\u00e1s\" i. e. a tall man, tall father. Cf. pp.\n99, 147, 318, 340. Cf, numerous stories of giants and what they are like\nin Friis. _Lappiske Eventyr_ and Hofberg. _Svenska S\u00e4gner_.\n\n[56] See pp. 146 and 388.\n\n[57] See \"Knight Rose,\" p. 57.\n\n[58] See \"Knight Rose,\" p. 55.\n\n[59] Cf. \"Handsome Paul,\" p. 26 _infra_, where another illustration of\ntheir size will be found; also the giant in Swedish tale who travelled\nfrom Dalecarlia to Stockholm, and the bread was still warm in his\nknapsack when he ended his journey.\n\n[60] Cf. _Friis_. \"Jetanis.\" _Hofberg._ \"Bron \u00f6fver Kalmarsund\"\n\"Ulfgrytstenarna\" \"Ruggabron\" and \"Stenen i Gr\u00f6nan dal.\"\n\n[61] Vide pp. 345 and 392 _infra_.\n\n[62] Vide \"Prince Mirk\u00f3,\" p. 72.\n\n[63] In Hungary, the village blacksmith is a gipsy as a rule.\n\n[64] Vide \"Shepherd Paul,\" p. 244 and note p. 407.\n\n[65] Cf. \"A Lincolnshire tale,\" p. 363.\n\n[66] Cf. Story as found in Finland, Lapland, and Sweden, of Kaleva's\ndaughter, who, finding a man, put him and his horse and plough into her\napron, and carrying them off to her mother, asked what sort of a dung\nbeetle this was she had found scratching the earth, receiving a similar\nanswer to the above-mentioned one. Cf. Hofberg. _Svenska S\u00e4gner_, J\u00e4tten\nPuke. Dybeck, _Runa_ 1845, p. 15, and Thiel _Danmarks. Folksagn_ ii. p.\n228.\n\n[67] Vide \"Handsome Paul\" and \"Fairy Elizabeth.\"\n\n[68] See \"Prince Mirk\u00f3.\"\n\n[69] Cf. _Rancken_, \"Munsala,\" 22 i.: W\u00f6r\u00e5, 22: where a description of\nburied treasures will to be found. Also _Hofberg_, \"Den forl\u00e4rade\nskatten,\" \"Guldvaggan,\" \"Skatten i S\u00e4byb\u00e4cken,\" \"Skattgr\u00e4fvarna,\" vide\n_infra_. pp. xxx. xxxvii.\n\n[70] Amongst the numerous stories of hidden treasures, I may note two I\nheard in my own parish lately. There is a chest of gold buried in Mumby\nHill, and an old man went by \"his'sen,\" and dug and dug, and would have\ngot it, but so many little devils came round him, he had to give up.\n\nThe other tale is a long story of a man who went to an old house, and\nevery thing he did \"a little devil\" did, and as the man could not be\nfrightened a vast hidden treasure was revealed to him.--W. H. J.\n\n[71] Rancken, _N\u00e5gra \u00e5kerbrukspl\u00e4gseder i Finland_. Munsala, 22, c. and\nd. Hofberg. _Svenska S\u00e4gner_ \"Skogsr\u00e5et och Sj\u00f6r\u00e5et,\" and\n\"Ys\u00e4tters-Kajsa.\"\n\n[72] \"Fairy Elizabeth,\" \"Handsome Paul,\" \"Knight Rose,\" and \"Prince\nMirk\u00f3\" are full of the doings of fairies.\n\n[73] Cf. Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, \"The Baba Yaga,\" p. 143.\n_Afanassieff_, i. No. 3 b.\n\n[74] This is the nearest translation. In the original a hyphen between\ngold and mountain, silver and valley, alters the meaning.\n\n[75] _i.e._ \"For ever.\" A form of orientalism which frequently occurs in\nMagyar folk-poetry. For instance,\n\n\n  Cf.    \"My rose I will not marry you\n          Until there are no fish in the lake,\n          And as there always will be\n          You see, my rose, I cannot marry you.\"\n\n\n[76] The waters of the two rivers flow into the Theiss, this into the\nDanube, and the Danube into the Black Sea.\n\n[77] Baron Orb\u00e1n's _Sz\u00e9kelyland_.\n\n[78] Bishop Arnold Ipolyi, _Magyar Mythology_.\n\n[79] Ladislaus K\u00f6v\u00e1ry, _Historical Antiquities_.\n\n[80] In consequence of the Turkish rule over Hungary. Buda was 157 years\nin the hands of the Turks.\n\n[81] _Vide_ Baron Orb\u00e1n, _Sz\u00e9kelyland_.\n\n[82] One must be careful not to confound, as many writers do, the\nwitches of fairy tales, with the old women who are designated as witches\nby the common people.\n\n[83] Cf. Many Lincolnshire and Yorkshire tales.\n\n[84] Cf. _Rancken_, \"Purmo\" 27, and \"Munsala,\" 25.\n\n[85] It is interesting to note that, although prosecution for witchcraft\nwas only abolished in England under George II. in 1736, in Hungary it\nwas abolished under Coloman the Learned, who reigned 1095-1114, for a\nvery cogent reason, \"Witches are not to be prosecuted, as they do not\nexist!\"\n\n[86] The Hungarian cattle have long erect horns like those of the Roman\ncampagna.\n\n[87] Cf. p. 203 _infra._\n\n[88] As the wolf in the Finnish tale, \"The Golden Bird.\"\n\n[89] See _Folk Medicine_.\n\n[90] Charm-weed.\n\n[91] Square pieces of linen without seam or hem, wrapped round the bare\nfoot, instead of socks.\n\n[92] Only lately, a man in my own parish said that when \"Maud was a\nyoung 'un, she was amazin' badly. The doctors could do nowt for her: she\nwas all skin and bone. Doctors said it wor a decline; but a' didn't\nbelieve it, for she did sqwe\u00e4l amazin'. It was all an owd woman who used\nto sell pins and needles.\" It appears, this old woman always gave, and\ninsisted upon giving, Maud, some little thing; and at last they\nperceived the child was \"witched\"; so the next time the old woman\nappeared, another daughter ordered her off, and the child recovered; the\nsame old woman is said to have \"witched\" another child in the parish in\nlike manner. I may add \"Maud\" is now a fine strapping girl, and vows\nvengeance on the witch.--W. H. J.\n\n[93] Cf. _Hofberg_, \"Bissen,\" the manner of \"laying ghosts,\" is noticed,\n_ib._ \"Herrn till Rosendal.\"\n\n[94] In some parts of Finland the same superstition is, or was, current\n(_e.g._ in Munsala). Unbaptized children are specially liable to be\nchanged by the trolls, but this may be prevented by putting Holy\nScripture in the cradle, or silver coins, scissors, or other sharp\ntools. Cf. _Hofberg_, Svenska Folks\u00e4gner \"Bortbytingen.\"\n\n[95] Cf. _Hofberg_ \"Mylingen,\" \"Tomten.\" See also _N\u00e5gra\n\u00e5kerbrukspl\u00e4gseder bland svenskarne i Finland_ af Dr. J. Oscar I.\nRancken.\n\n[96] Cf. _Rancken_. \"Munsala,\" 22 g.\n\n[97] This belonged formerly to a well-known medicine man, who practised\nover three countries. There are hundreds and hundreds of cures in it.\n\n[98] This class of ingredients occupied an important place in the\npharmacop\u0153ia of the physicians of the middle ages. Cf. _Liber\nSecundus Practicae Haly_ cap. 51, \"De stercoribus et fimis,\" p. 178\n(Lyons 1523).\n\n[99]\n\n\n   \"I physicks 'em, I bleeds 'em, I sweats 'em,\n    And if they _will_ die, I lets 'em.\"\n\n\n\n\n[100] See \"Christmas Day.\"\n\n[101] Steel and flint are still in extensive use among smokers in rural\ndistricts.\n\n[102] The Magyar name of quinsy is torokgyik, _i.e._ throat-lizard.\n\n[103] Varga does not seem to know anything about\n\n\n   \"The dead, shrivelled hand ...\n    ... of the gentleman dangling up there.\"\n\n\n\n\n[104] So far is this day considered unlucky in Portugal that we heard of\na Portuguese young lady who had ordered a harp from England: it\nunfortunately arrived at her house on Friday, and was sent away till\nSaturday, although she was \"dying to try it!\" Tuesday is also regarded\nas unlucky in Portugal.\n\nOn St. Peter's Day, in Portugal, the saint is said to have a holiday,\nand take the keys with him, and the fisher-folk assert that if anyone is\ndrowned on that day the chances are he will be sent to the \"wrong\nplace.\"\n\n\n  Cf. \"Ma foi sur l'avenir bien fou qui se fiera,\n       Tel qui rit vendredi, dimanche pleurera.\"--\n\n\nRacine au commencement de la com\u00e9die des Plaideurs.\n\n[105] One is said to be most liable to be punished at this time on this\naccount.\n\n[106] Garlic is said to be a charm against evil. See _Notes and\nQueries_, 6 S. ix. 5.\n\n[107] It is a common superstition in many parts of Yorkshire that fire\nmust not go out of the house between New and Old Christmas Day. An old\nnurse told us she once went home during this time and her neighbours\nwould not even give her a match that she might light her candle and so\nfind her own.\n\n[108] Cf. Yorkshire, Yule-candle.\n\n[109] Lead is cast in Finland to see whether fortune or misfortune is in\nstore; in these degenerate days \"stearine,\" has been used by impatient\nsouls. See also Burnaby, _Ride to Khiva_, cap. xxii.\n\n[110] Elton's _Origins of English History_, 270, 271.\n\n[111] See _Glossaire de la langue Romane_, par J. B. B. Roquefort.\nParis, 1808.\n\n[112] See Cormac's Glossary, under \"Beltene,\" _Revue Celtique_, iv. 193;\nGrimm, _Deutsche Mythol._ 579.\n\n[113] \"C'\u00e9tait en beaucoup d'endroits en France l'usage de jeter dans le\nfeu de la Saint-Jean des mannes ou des paniers en osier contenant des\nanimaux, chats, chiens, renards, loups. Au si\u00e8cle dernier m\u00eame dans\nplusieurs villes c'\u00e9tait le maire ou les \u00e9chevins qui faisaient mettre\ndans un panier une ou deux douzaines de chats pour br\u00fbler dans le feu de\njoie. Cette cout\u00fbme existait aussi \u00e0 Paris, et elle n'y a \u00e9t\u00e9 supprim\u00e9e\nqu'au commencement du r\u00e8gne de Louis XIV.\"--Gaidoz, _Esquisse de la\nReligion des Gaulois_, 21.\n\n[114] In the West-end of London there is a house where No. 13 is\ncancelled, and the house re-numbered 15A for the very same reason. The\npeople are _comme il faut_, and consider themselves educated.\n\n[115] Plover.--_Notes and Queries_ 4th S. viii. 268. On the Lancashire\nMoors there is a tradition that the plovers contain the souls of those\nJews who assisted at the Crucifixion.\n\n[116] Hungarian saying: \"To speak snakes and frogs after a man,\" to say\neverything that is bad about him.\n\n[117] Or dig.\n\n[118] I (writes a Magyar friend) have seen a youth use this stuff to\nproduce a beard and moustache, and the whole of his skin was covered\nwith ugly sores.\n\n[119] German name, Himmelbrandt, Wollkraut, K\u00f6nigskerre; French,\nbouillon blanc, mol\u00e8ne.\n\n[120] The superstitions marked * have been in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire\nquite lately.\n\n[121] The small heap of soil thrown up by ants.\n\n[122] The modern custom is to lift the glass and say \"Isten \u00e9ltesse!\"\n(\"may God let you live.\")\n\n[123] The Finnish reformer, Michael Agricola, in his preface to the 1551\nedition of the Finnish Psalms, prepared by him, mentions the idols and\nsacrifices of the old Finns. The passage relating to this matter is in\nverses, and especially of the _Carialians_ he says the following:\n\"_Egres_ creates them peas, beans, and carrots, cabbage, flax, and hemp;\n_K\u00f6nd\u00f6s_ guards their cleared grounds and ploughed fields as they\nsuperstitiously believe; and when they finished their spring-sowing,\nthen they drank Ukko's Cup.\"\n\n\n   \"Kuin kev\u00e4-kylv\u00e4 kylvettiin\n    Silloin Ukon malja juottiin.\"\n\n\n\n\n[124] \"Wie Thor's cleinne trank man Ukko zu ehren volle Schale.\" _Mythol\nVorr_ xxviii. In Sweden, as toasts, the only word they mention is\n\"sk\u00e5l,\" cup; this is a meagre reminder of \"Thor's Sch\u00e5le.\"\n\n[125] Not Tokay; that is German. We have a hazy recollection that one of\nthe Popes--it may have been Sylvester II. (A.D. 1000) or Pio Nono--upon\nreceiving a small cask of Tokaj wine, exclaimed \"Talc vinum summum\npontificem decet!\" or words to this effect.\n\n[126] \"\u00c1ldom\u00e1s,\" from \"\u00e1ldani\" (Latin offerre and benedicere)\nhence--\"sacrificium\" and \"benedictio.\" Cf. \"Ultema\u0161\"--\"preces\" in\nCheremiss. In the district of Hradist in Moravia, \"oldoma\u0161\npit\"--\"\u00e1ldoma's drink.\" In modern Magyar the word \"\u00e1ldozni\" is used for\nto sacrifice. Whether the Magyar and Finnish Ukko are the same, or\nwhether it is a mere coincidence, we are not prepared to say. Hunfalvy\nmakes much of it.\n\n[127] Ukkon-pohar-felmutato volt.\n\n[128] In modern times the bargain is first settled and the \"liquor\"\ncomes afterwards, _tout comme chez nous_ in England.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                   PAGE\n  Preface                                             v\n  Introduction                                      vii\n  Contents                                          lxx\n\n\n  TALES AND NOTES.\n\n        I.--Prince Csihan                             1\n               Notes                                303\n\n       II.--Stephen the Murderer                      7\n               Notes                                306\n\n      III.--The Lamb with the Golden Fleece          13\n               Notes                                312\n\n       IV.--Fisher Joe                               15\n               Notes                                313\n\n        V.--Luck and Bliss                           22\n               Notes                                317\n\n       VI.--The Lazy Cat                             23\n\n      VII.--Handsome Paul                            25\n               Notes                                317\n\n     VIII.--The Travels of Truth and Falsehood       36\n               Notes                                322\n\n       IX.--The Hunting Princes                      39\n               Notes                                324\n\n        X.--The Lazy Spinning Girl                   46\n               Notes                                330\n\n       XI.--The Envious Sisters                      49\n               Notes                                335\n\n      XII.--Knight Rose                              54\n               Notes                                339\n\n     XIII.--Prince Mirk\u00f3                             59\n               Notes                                344\n\n      XIV.--The Student who was forcibly made King   76\n               Notes                                354\n\n       XV.--The Children of the Two Rich Men         80\n               Notes                                355\n\n      XVI.--The Hussar and the Servant Girl          83\n               Notes                                360\n\n     XVII.--My Father's Wedding                      86\n               Notes                                360\n\n    XVIII.--The Baa-Lambs                            90\n               Notes                                361\n\n      XIX.--Fairy Elizabeth                          95\n               Notes                                362\n\n       XX.--The Three Princes                       110\n               Notes                                373\n\n      XXI.--The Three Dreams                        117\n               Notes                                375\n\n     XXII.--Csabor Ur                               123\n               Notes                                380\n\n    XXIII.--The Devil and the Three Slov\u00e1k Lads     126\n               Notes                                383\n\n     XXIV.--The Count's Daughter                    127\n               Notes                                383\n\n      XXV.--The Speaking Grapes                     131\n               Notes                                383\n\n     XXVI.--The Three Oranges                       133\n               Notes                                386\n\n    XXVII.--The Youngest Prince                     137\n               Notes                                387\n\n   XXVIII.--The Invisible Shepherd Lad              141\n               Notes                                387\n\n     XXIX.--The Three Princesses                    144\n               Notes                                388\n\n      XXX.--Cinder Jack                             149\n               Notes                                389\n\n     XXXI.--The Three Brothers                      152\n               Notes                                391\n\n    XXXII.--The Three Valuable Things               155\n               Notes                                392\n\n   XXXIII.--The Little Magic Pony                   157\n               Notes                                392\n\n    XXXIV.--The Beggars' Present                    161\n               Notes                                394\n\n     XXXV.--The World's Beautiful Woman             163\n               Notes                                395\n\n    XXXVI.--The Girl without Hands                  182\n               Notes                                397\n\n   XXXVII.--The King and the Devil                  188\n               Notes                                397\n\n  XXXVIII.--The Three Princes, &c.                  196\n               Notes                                399\n\n    XXXIX.--The Widower and his Daughter            207\n               Notes                                401\n\n       XL.--The Wishes                              217\n               Notes                                402\n\n      XLI.--The Two Orphans                         220\n               Notes                                402\n\n     XLII.--The Wonderful Frog                      224\n               Notes                                404\n\n    XLIII.--The Devil and the Red Cap               225\n               Notes                                405\n\n     XLIV.--Jack Dreadnought                        228\n               Notes                                405\n\n      XLV.--The Secret keeping Little Boy           232\n               Notes                                406\n\n     XLVI.--Shepherd Paul                           244\n               Notes                                407\n\n    XLVII.--The Pelican                             250\n               Notes                                409\n\n   XLVIII.--The Girl with the Golden Hair           262\n               Notes                                413\n\n     XLIX.--The Lover's Ghost                       278\n               Notes                                416\n\n        L.--Snake Skin                              282\n               Notes                                417\n\n       LI.--The Fairies' Well                       288\n               Notes                                418\n\n      LII.--The Crow's Nest                         298\n               Notes                                418\n\n     LIII.--Woman's Curiosity                       301\n               Notes                                421\n\n  Index                                             423\n\n\n\n\nMAGYAR FOLK-TALES.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCE CSIHAN (NETTLES).\n\n\nThere was once--I don't know where, at the other side of seven times\nseven countries, or even beyond them, on the tumble-down side of a\ntumble-down stove--a poplar-tree, and this poplar-tree had sixty-five\nbranches, and on every branch sat sixty-six crows; and may those who\ndon't listen to my story have their eyes picked out by those crows!\n\nThere was a miller who was so proud that had he stept on an egg he would\nnot have broken it. There was a time when the mill was in full work, but\nonce as he was tired of his mill-work he said, \"May God take me out of\nthis mill!\" Now, this miller had an auger, a saw, and an adze, and he\nset off over seven times seven countries, and never found a mill. So his\nwish was fulfilled. On he went, roaming about, till at last he found on\nthe bank of the Gagy, below Martonos, a tumble-down mill, which was\ncovered with nettles. Here he began to build, and he worked, and by the\ntime the mill was finished all his stockings were worn into holes and\nhis garments all tattered and torn. He then stood expecting people to\ncome and have their flour ground; but no one ever came.\n\nOne day the twelve huntsmen of the king were chasing a fox; and it came\nto where the miller was, and said to him: \"Hide me, miller, and you\nshall be rewarded for your kindness.\" \"Where shall I hide you?\" said the\nmiller, \"seeing that I possess nothing but the clothes I stand in?\"\n\"There is an old torn sack lying beside that trough,\" replied the fox;\n\"throw it over me, and, when the dogs come, drive them away with your\nbroom.\" When the huntsmen came they asked the miller if he had seen a\nfox pass that way. \"How could I have seen it; for, behold, I have\nnothing but the clothes I stand in?\" With that the huntsmen left, and in\na little while the fox came out and said, \"Miller, I thank you for your\nkindness; for you have preserved me, and saved my life. I am anxious to\ndo you a good turn if I can. Tell me, do you want to get married?\" \"My\ndear little fox,\" said the miller, \"if I could get a wife, who would\ncome here of her own free will, I don't say that I would not--indeed,\nthere is no other way of my getting one; for I can't go among the\nspinning-girls in these clothes.\" The fox took leave of the miller, and,\nin less than a quarter of an hour, he returned with a piece of copper in\nhis mouth. \"Here you are, miller,\" said he; \"put this away, _you will\nwant_ it ere long.\" The miller put it away, and the fox departed; but,\nbefore long, he came back with a lump of gold in his mouth. \"Put this\naway, also,\" said he to the miller, \"as you will need it before long.\"\n\"And now,\" said the fox, \"wouldn't you like to get married?\" \"Well, my\ndear little fox,\" said the miller, \"I am quite willing to do so at any\nmoment, as that is my special desire.\" The fox vanished again, but soon\nreturned with a lump of diamond in his mouth. \"Well, miller,\" said the\nfox, \"I will not _ask_ you any more to get married; I will get you a\nwife myself. And now give me that piece of copper I gave you.\" Then,\ntaking it in his mouth, the fox started off over seven times seven\ncountries, and travelled till he came to King Yellow Hammer's. \"Good\nday, most gracious King Yellow Hammer,\" said the fox; \"my life and death\nare in your majesty's hands. I have heard that you have an unmarried\ndaughter. I am a messenger from Prince Csihan, who has sent me to ask\nfor your daughter as his wife.\" \"I will give her with pleasure, my dear\nlittle fox,\" replied King Yellow Hammer; \"I will not refuse her; on the\ncontrary, I give her with great pleasure; but I would do so more\nwillingly if I saw to whom she is to be married--even as it is, I will\nnot refuse her.\"\n\nThe fox accepted the king's proposal, and they fixed a day upon which\nthey would fetch the lady. \"Very well,\" said the fox; and, taking leave\nof the king, set off with the ring to the miller.\n\n\"Now then, miller,\" said the fox, \"you are no longer a miller, but\nPrince Csihan, and on a certain day and hour you must be ready to start;\nbut, first of all, give me that lump of gold I gave you that I may take\nit to His Majesty King Yellow Hammer, so that he may not think you are a\nnobody.\"\n\nThe fox then started off to the king. \"Good day, most gracious king, my\nfather. Prince Csihan has sent this lump of gold to my father the king\nthat he may spend it in preparing for the wedding, and that he might\nchange it, as Prince Csihan has no smaller change, his gold all being in\nlumps like this.\"\n\n\"Well,\" reasoned King Yellow Hammer, \"I am not sending my daughter to a\nbad sort of place, for although I am a king I have no such lumps of gold\nlying about in my palace.\"\n\nThe fox then returned home to Prince Csihan. \"Now then, Prince Csihan,\"\nsaid he, \"I have arrived safely, you see; prepare yourself to start\nto-morrow.\"\n\nNext morning he appeared before Prince Csihan. \"Are you ready?\" asked\nhe. \"Oh! yes, I am ready; I can start at any moment, as I got ready\nlong ago.\"\n\nWith this they started over seven times seven lands. As they passed a\nhedge the fox said, \"Prince Csihan, do you see that splendid castle?\"\n\"How could I help seeing it, my dear little fox.\" \"Well,\" replied the\nfox, \"in that castle dwells your wife.\" On they went, when suddenly the\nfox said, \"Take off the clothes you have on, let us put them into this\nhollow tree, and then burn them, so that we may get rid of them.\" \"You\nare right, we won't have them, nor any like them.\"\n\nThen said the fox, \"Prince Csihan, go into the river and take a bath.\"\nHaving done so the prince said, \"Now I've done.\" \"All right,\" said the\nfox; \"go and sit in the forest until I go into the king's presence.\" The\nfox set off and arrived at King Yellow Hammer's castle. \"Alas! my\ngracious king, my life and my death are in thy hands. I started with\nPrince Csihan with three loaded wagons and a carriage and six horses,\nand I've just managed to get the prince naked out of the water.\" The\nking raised his hands in despair, exclaiming, \"Where hast thou left my\ndear son-in-law, little fox?\" \"Most gracious king, I left him in\nsuch-and-such a place in the forest.\" The king at once ordered four\nhorses to be put to a carriage, and then looked up the robes he wore in\nhis younger days and ordered them to be put in the carriage; the\ncoachman and footman to take their places, the fox sitting on the box.\n\nWhen they arrived at the forest the fox got down, and the footman,\ncarrying the clothes upon his arm, took them to Prince Csihan. Then said\nthe fox to the servant, \"Don't you dress the prince, he will do it more\nbecomingly himself.\" He then made Prince Csihan arise, and said, \"Come\nhere, Prince Csihan, don't stare at yourself too much when you get\ndressed in these clothes, else the king might think you were not used to\nsuch robes.\" Prince Csihan got dressed, and drove off to the king. When\nthey arrived, King Yellow Hammer took his son-in-law in his arms and\nsaid, \"Thanks be to God, my dear future son-in-law, for that He has\npreserved thee from the great waters; and now let us send for the\nclergyman and let the marriage take place.\"\n\nThe grand ceremony over, they remained at the court of the king. One\nday, a month or so after they were married, the princess said to Prince\nCsihan, \"My dear treasure, don't you think it would be as well to go and\nsee your realm?\" Prince Csihan left the room in great sorrow, and went\ntowards the stables in great trouble to get ready for the journey he\ncould no longer postpone. Here he met the fox lolling about. As the\nprince came his tears rolled down upon the straw. \"Hollo! Prince Csihan,\nwhat's the matter?\" cried the fox. \"Quite enough,\" was the reply; \"my\ndear wife insists upon going to see my home.\" \"All right,\" said the fox;\n\"prepare yourself, Prince Csihan, and we will go.\"\n\nThe prince went off to his castle and said, \"Dear wife, get ready; we\nwill start at once.\" The king ordered out a carriage and six, and three\nwaggons loaded with treasure and money, so that they might have all they\nneeded. So they started off. Then said the fox, \"Now, Prince Csihan,\nwherever I go you must follow.\" So they went over seven times seven\ncountries. As they travelled they met a herd of oxen. \"Now, herdsmen,\"\nsaid the fox, \"if you won't say that this herd belongs to the Vasfogu\nB\u00e1ba, but to Prince Csihan, you shall have a handsome present.\" With\nthis the fox left them, and ran straight to the Vasfogu B\u00e1ba. \"Good day,\nmy mother,\" said he. \"Welcome, my son,\" replied she; \"it's a good thing\nfor you that you called me your mother, else I would have crushed your\nbones smaller than poppy-seed.\" \"Alas! my mother,\" said the fox, \"don't\nlet us waste our time talking such nonsense, the French are coming!\"\n\"Oh! my dear son, hide me away somewhere!\" cried the old woman. \"I know\nof a bottomless lake,\" thought the fox; and he took her and left her on\nthe bank, saying, \"Now, my dear old mother, wash your feet here until I\nreturn.\" The fox then left the Vasfogu B\u00e1ba, and went to Prince Csihan,\nwhom he found standing in the same place where he left him. He began to\nswear and rave at him fearfully. \"Why didn't you drive on after me? come\nalong at once.\" They arrived at the Vasfogu's great castle, and took\npossession of a suite of apartments. Here they found everything the\nheart could wish for, and at night all went to bed in peace.\n\nSuddenly the fox remembered that the Vasfogu B\u00e1ba had no proper abode\nyet, and set off to her. \"I hear, my dear son,\" said she, \"that the\nhorses with their bells have arrived; take me away to another place.\"\nThe fox crept up behind her, gave her a push, and she fell into the\nbottomless lake, and was drowned, leaving all her vast property to\nPrince Csihan. \"You were born under a lucky star, my prince,\" said the\nfox, when he returned; \"for see I have placed you in possession of all\nthis great wealth.\" In his joy the prince gave a great feast to\ncelebrate his coming into his property, so that the people from B\u00e1nczida\nto Zsukhajna were feasted royally, but he gave them no drink. \"Now,\"\nsaid the fox to himself, \"after all this feasting I will sham illness,\nand see what treatment I shall receive at his hands in return for all my\nkindness to him.\" So Mr. Fox became dreadfully ill, he moaned and\ngroaned so fearfully that the neighbours made complaint to the prince.\n\"Seize him,\" said the prince, \"and pitch him out on the dunghill.\" So\nthe poor fox was thrown out on the dunghill. One day Prince Csihan was\npassing that way. \"You a prince!\" muttered the fox; \"you are nothing\nelse but a miller; would you like to be a house-holder such as you were\nat the nettle-mill?\" The prince was terrified by this speech of the fox,\nso terrified that he nearly fainted. \"Oh! dear little fox, do not do\nthat,\" cried the prince, \"and I promise you on my royal word that I\nwill give you the same food as I have, and that so long as I live you\nshall be my dearest friend and you shall be honoured as my greatest\nbenefactor.\"\n\nHe then ordered the fox to be taken to the castle, and to sit at the\nroyal table, nor did he ever forget him again.\n\nSo they lived happily ever after, and do yet, if they are not dead. May\nthey be your guests to-morrow!\n\n\n\n\nSTEPHEN THE MURDERER.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, over seven times seven countries, or\neven beyond that, a very, very rich farmer, and opposite to him lived\nanother farmer just as rich. One had a son and the other a daughter.\nThese two farmers often talked over family matters together at their\ngates, and at last arranged that their children should marry each other,\nso that in case the old people died the young people would be able to\ntake possession of the farms. But the young girl could not bear the\nyoung man, although he was very fond of her. Then her parents threatened\nto disinherit her if she did not marry as she was bid, as they were very\nwishful for the marriage to take place.\n\nOn the wedding morning, when they arrived at church, and were standing\nbefore the altar, the bride took the wedding ring and dashed it on the\nfloor before the clergyman, saying, \"Here, Satan, take this ring; and,\nif ever I bear a child to this man, take it too!\" In a moment the devil\nappeared, snatched up the ring, and vanished. The priest, seeing and\nhearing all that was done, declined to proceed with the ceremony,\nwhereupon the fathers remonstrated with him, and declared that if he did\nnot proceed he would lose his living. The wedding thereupon was duly\ncelebrated.\n\nAs time went by the farmers both died; and the young folks, who couldn't\nbear each other before, at last grew very fond of each other, and a\nhandsome boy was born. When he was old enough he went to school, where\nhe got on so well that before long his master could teach him no more.\nHe then went to college, where he did the same as at school, so that his\nparents began to think of him taking holy orders. About this time his\nfather died; and he noticed that every night when he came home from the\ncollege that his mother was weeping: so he asked her why she wept.\n\"Never mind me, my son,\" said she; \"I am grieving over your father.\"\n\"But you never cared much for him,\" said he; \"cheer up, for I shall\nsoon be a priest.\" \"That's the very thing I'm weeping over,\" said his\nmother; \"for just when you will be doing well the devils will come for\nyou, because when I was married to your father I dashed the wedding-ring\non the ground, saying, 'Here, Satan, take this ring; and if ever I bear\na child to this man take it too.' One fine day, then, you will be\ncarried off by the devil in the same way as the ring.\" \"Is this indeed\ntrue, mother?\" said the student. \"It is indeed, my son.\" With that he\nwent off to the priest, and said, \"Godfather, are these things which my\nmother tells me concerning her wedding true?\" \"My dear godson,\" replied\nthe priest, \"they are true; for I saw and heard all myself.\" \"Dear\ngodfather, give me then at once holy candles, holy water, and incense.\"\n\"Why do you want them, my son?\" asked the priest. \"Because,\" replied the\nstudent, \"I mean to go to hell at once, after that lost ring and the\ndeed of agreement.\" \"Don't rush into their hands,\" said the priest;\n\"they will come for you soon enough.\" But the more the priest talked the\nmore determined was the student to set off at once for the infernal\nregions.\n\nSo off he went, and travelled over seven times seven countries. One\nevening he arrived at a large forest, and, as darkness set in, he lost\nhis way and roamed about hither and thither looking for some place to\nrest; at last he found a small cottage where an old woman lived. \"Good\nevening, mother,\" said he. \"Good luck has brought you here, my son,\"\nsaid she. \"What are you doing out here so late?\" \"I have lost my way,\"\nreplied the student, \"and have come here to ask for a night's lodging.\"\n\"I can give you lodging, my son, but I have a murderous heathen son, who\nhas destroyed three hundred and sixty-six lives, and even now is out\nrobbing. He might return at any moment, and he would kill you; so you\nhad better go somewhere else and continue your way in peace, and mind\nyou take care not to meet him.\"\n\n\"Whether he kill me or not,\" said the student, \"I shall not stir an\ninch.\" As the old woman could not persuade him to go he stayed. After\nmidnight the son returned, and shouted out loudly under the window,\n\"Have you got my supper ready?\" He then crept in on his knees, for he\nwas so tall that he could not enter otherwise. As they sat at table he\nsuddenly saw the student. \"Mother, what sort of a guest is that?\" said\nhe. \"He's a poor tramp, my son, and very tired.\" \"Has he had anything to\neat?\" \"No; I offered him food, but he was too tired to eat.\" \"Go and\nwake him, and say, 'Come and eat'; because whether he eat or whether he\nlet the food alone he will repent it.\"\n\n\"Hollo!\" said the student, \"what is the matter?\"\n\n\"Don't ask any questions,\" replied the old woman; \"but come and eat.\"\nThe student obeyed, and they sat down to supper. \"Don't eat much,\" said\nthe old woman's son, \"because you will repent it if you do eat and you\nwill repent it if you don't.\" While they were eating the old woman's son\nsaid, \"Where are you going, mate--what is your destination?\" \"Straight\nto hell, among the devils,\" quoth the student.\n\n\"It was my intention to kill you with a blow; but now that I know where\nyou are going I will not touch you. Find out for me what sort of a bed\nthey have prepared for me in that place.\"\n\n\"What is your name?\"\n\n\"My name,\" said he, \"is Stephen the Murderer.\"\n\nIn the morning, when they awoke, Stephen gave the student a good\nbreakfast, and showed him which way to go. On he travelled till at\nlength he approached the gates of hell. He then lighted his incense,\nsprinkled the holy water, and lighted the holy candles. In a very short\ntime the devils began to smell the incense, and ran out, crying, \"What\nsort of an animal are you? Don't come here! Don't approach this place;\nor we will leave it at once!\"\n\n\"Wherever you go,\" said the student, \"I tell you I will follow you; for,\non such and such a date, you carried off from the church floor my\nmother's wedding-ring; and if you don't return it and cancel the\nagreement, and promise me that I will have no more trouble from you, I\nwill follow you wherever you go.\" \"Don't come here,\" cried they; \"stop\nwhere you are, and we will get them for you at once.\"\n\nThey then blew a whistle and the devils came hastily out from all\ndirections, so many you could not count them, but they could not find\nthe ring anywhere. They sounded the whistle again, and twice as many\ncame as before, but still the ring was not to be found. They then\nwhistled a third time, and twice as many more came. One fellow came\nlimping up, very late. \"Why don't you hurry,\" cried the others; \"don't\nyou see that a great calamity has happened? The ring can't be found.\nTurn out everybody's pockets, and on who ever it is found throw him into\nthe bed of Stephen the Murderer.\" \"Wait a moment,\" cried the lame one,\n\"before you throw me into Stephen the Murderer's bed. I would rather\nproduce three hundred wedding-rings than be thrown into that place:\"\nwhereupon he at once produced the ring, which they threw over the wall\nto the student, together with the agreement, crying out that it was\ncancelled.\n\nOne evening the student arrived back at Stephen the Murderer's. The\nlatter was out robbing. After midnight, as usual, he returned, and when\nhe saw the student he woke him, saying, \"Get up, let's have something to\neat! And have you been to hell?\"\n\n\"I have.\" \"What have you heard of my bed?\" \"We should never have got the\nring,\" said the student, \"if the devils had not been threatened with\nyour bed.\" \"Well,\" said Stephen, \"that must be a bad bed if the devils\nare afraid of it.\"\n\nThey got up the next morning, and the student started for home. Suddenly\nit struck Stephen the Murderer that as the student had made himself\nhappy he ought to do as much for him. So he started after the student,\nwho, when he saw him coming, was very much afraid lest he should be\nkilled. In a stride or two Stephen overtook the student. \"Stop, my\nfriend; as you have bettered your lot, better mine, so that I may not go\nto that awful bed in hell.\"\n\n\"Well then,\" said the student, \"did you kill your first man with a club\nor a knife?\" \"I never killed anybody with a knife,\" said Stephen, \"they\nhave all been killed with a club.\" \"Have you got the club you killed the\nfirst man with? Go back and fetch it.\"\n\nStephen took one or two strides and was at home. He then took the club\nfrom the shelf and brought it to the student; it was so worm-eaten that\nyou could not put a needle-point on it between the holes. \"What sort of\nwood is this made of?\" asked the student. \"Wild apple-tree,\" replied\nStephen. \"Take it and come with me,\" said the student, \"to the top of\nthe rock.\" On the top of the rock there was a small hill; into this he\nbade him plant the club. \"Now, uncle Stephen, go down under the rock,\nand there you will find a small spring trickling down the face of the\nstone. Go on your knees to this spring and pray, and, creeping on your\nknees, carry water in your mouth to this club, and continue to do so\ntill it buds; it will then bear apples, and when it does you will be\nfree from that bed.\"\n\nStephen the Murderer began to carry the water to the club, and the\nstudent left him, and went home. He was at once made a priest on account\nof his courage in going to hell; and after he had been a priest for\ntwenty-five years they made him pope, and this he was for many years.\n\nIn those days it was the rule--according to an old custom--for the pope\nto make a tour of his country, and it so happened that this pope came to\nhis journey's end, on the very rock upon which the club had been\nplanted. He stopped there with his suite, in order to rest. Suddenly one\nof the servants saw a low tree on the top of the rock, covered with\nbeautiful red apples. \"Your holiness,\" said he to the pope, \"I have seen\nmost beautiful red apples, and if you will permit me I will go and\ngather some.\" \"Go,\" said the pope, \"and if they are so very beautiful\nbring some to me.\" The servant approached the tree; as he drew near he\nheard a voice that frightened him terribly saying, \"No one is allowed to\npluck this fruit except him who planted the tree.\" Off rushed the\nservant to the pope, who asked him if he had brought any apples.\n\n\"Your holiness, I did not even get any for myself,\" gasped the servant,\n\"because some one shouted to me so loudly that I nearly dropped; I saw\nno one, but only heard a voice that said, 'No one is allowed to pluck\nthis fruit but the man who planted the tree.'\"\n\nThe pope began to think, and all at once he remembered that he had\nplanted the tree when he was a lad. He ordered the horses to be taken\nout of his carriage, and, with his servant and his coachman, he set off\nto the red apple-tree. When they arrived, the pope cried out, \"Stephen\nthe Murderer, where are you?\" A dried-up skull rolled out, and said,\n\"Here I am, your holiness; all the limbs of my body dropped off whilst I\nwas carrying water, and are scattered all around; every nerve and muscle\nlies strewn here; but, if the pope commands, they will all come\ntogether.\" The pope did so, and the scattered members came together into\na heap.\n\nThe servant and the coachman were then ordered to open a large, deep\nhole, and to put the bones into it, and then cover all up, which they\ndid. The pope then said mass, and gave the absolution, and at that\nmoment Stephen the Murderer was delivered from the dreadful bed in hell.\nThe pope then went back to his own country, where he still lives, if he\nhas not died since.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAMB WITH THE GOLDEN FLEECE.\n\n\nThere was once a poor man who had a son, and as the son grew up his\nfather sent him out to look for work. The son travelled about looking\nfor a place, and at last met with a man who arranged to take him as a\nshepherd. Next day his master gave him a flute, and sent him out with\nthe sheep to see whether he was fit for his work. The lad never lay down\nall day, very unlike many lazy fellows. He drove his sheep from place to\nplace and played his flute all day long. There was among the sheep a\nlamb with golden fleece, which, whenever he played his flute, began to\ndance. The lad became very fond of this lamb, and made up his mind not\nto ask any wages of his master, but only this little lamb. In the\nevening he returned home; his master waited at the gate; and, when he\nsaw the sheep all there and all well-fed, he was very pleased, and\nbegan to bargain with the lad, who said he wished for nothing but the\nlamb with the golden fleece. The farmer was very fond of the lamb\nhimself, and it was with great unwillingness he promised it; but he gave\nin afterwards when he saw what a good servant the lad made. The year\npassed away; the lad received the lamb for his wages, and set off home\nwith it. As they journeyed night set in just as he reached a village, so\nhe went to a farmhouse to ask for a night's lodging. There was a\ndaughter in the house who when she saw the lamb with the golden fleece\ndetermined to steal it. About midnight she arose, and lo! the moment she\ntouched the lamb she stuck hard-and-fast to its fleece, so that when the\nlad got up he found her stuck to the lamb. He could not separate them,\nand as he could not leave his lamb he took them both. As he passed the\nthird door from the house where he had spent the night he took out his\nflute and began to play. Then the lamb began to dance, and on the wool\nthe girl. Round the corner a woman was putting bread into the oven;\nlooking up she saw the lamb dancing, and on its wool the girl. Seizing\nthe peel in order to frighten the girl, she rushed out and shouted, \"Get\naway home with you, don't make such a fool of yourself.\" As the girl\ncontinued dancing the woman called out, \"What, won't you obey?\" and gave\nher a blow on her back with the peel, which at once stuck to the girl,\nand the woman to the peel, and the lamb carried them all off. As they\nwent they came to the church. Here the lad began to play again, the lamb\nbegan to dance, and on the lamb's fleece the girl, and on the girl's\nback the peel, and at the end of the peel the woman. Just then the\npriest was coming out from matins, and seeing what was going on began to\nscold them, and bid them go home and not to be so foolish. As words were\nof no avail, he hit the woman a sound whack on her back with his cane,\nwhen to his surprise the cane stuck to the woman, and he to the end of\nhis cane. With this nice company the lad went on; and towards dark\nreached the royal borough and took lodgings at the end of the town for\nthe night with an old woman. \"What news is there?\" said he. The old\nwoman told him they were in very great sorrow, for the king's daughter\nwas very ill, and that no physician could heal her, but that if she\ncould but be made to laugh she would be better at once; that no one had\nas yet been able to make her smile; and moreover the king had issued\nthat very day a proclamation stating that whoever made her laugh should\nhave her for his wife, and share the royal power. The lad with the lamb\ncould scarcely wait till daylight, so anxious was he to try his fortune.\nIn the morning he presented himself to the king and stated his business\nand was very graciously received. The daughter stood in the hall at the\nfront of the house; the lad then began to play the flute, the lamb to\ndance, on the lamb's fleece the girl, on the girl's back the peel, at\nthe end of the peel the woman, on the woman's back the cane, and at the\nend of the cane the priest. When the princess saw this sight she burst\nout laughing, which made the lamb so glad that it shook everything off\nits back, and the lamb, the girl, the woman, and the priest each danced\nby themselves for joy.\n\nThe king married his daughter to the shepherd; the priest was made\ncourt-chaplain; the woman court bakeress; and the girl lady-in-waiting\nto the princess.\n\nThe wedding lasted from one Monday to the other Tuesday, and the whole\nland was in great joy, and if the strings of the fiddle hadn't broken\nthey would have been dancing yet!\n\n\n\n\nFISHER JOE.\n\n\nThere was once a poor man, who had nothing in the world but his wife and\nan unhappy son Joe. His continual and his only care was how to keep\nthem: so he determined to go fishing, and thus to keep them from day to\nday upon whatever the Lord brought to his net. Suddenly both the old\nfolks died and left the unhappy son by himself; he went behind the oven\nand did not come out till both father and mother were buried; he sat\nthree days behind the oven, and then remembered that his father had kept\nthem by fishing; so he got up, took his net, and went fishing below the\nweir: there he fished till the skin began to peel off the palms of his\nhands, and never caught so much as one fish. At last he said, \"I will\ncast my net once more, and then I will never do so again.\" So he cast\nhis net for the last time and drew to shore a golden fish. While he was\ngoing home he thought he would give it to the lord of the manor, so that\nperhaps he might grant a day's wages for it. When he got home he took\ndown a plate from the rack, took the fish from his bag, and laid it upon\nthe plate; but the fish slipped off the plate and changed into a lovely\ngirl, who said, \"I am thine, and you are mine, love.\" The moment after\nshe asked, \"Joe, did your father leave you anything?\" \"We had\nsomething,\" replied her husband; \"but my father was poor and he sold\neverything; but,\" continued he, \"do you see that high mountain yonder?\nit is not sold yet, for it is too steep and no one would have it.\" Then\nsaid his wife, \"Let's go for a walk and look over the mountain.\" So they\nwent all over it, length and breadth, from furrow to furrow. When they\ncame to a furrow in the middle his wife said, \"Let us sit down on a\nridge, my love, and rest a little.\" They sat down, and Joe laid his head\non his wife's lap and fell asleep. She then slipped off her cloak, made\nit into a pillow, drew herself away, and laid Joe upon the pillow\nwithout waking him. She rose, went away, uncoiled a large whip and\ncracked it. The crack was heard over seven times seven countries. In a\nmoment as many dragons as existed came forth. \"What are your Majesty's\ncommands?\" said they. \"My commands are these,\" replied she: \"you see\nthis place--build a palace here, finer than any that exists in the\nworld; and whatever is needed in it must be there: stables for eight\nbullocks and the bullocks in them, with two men to tend them; stalls for\neight horses and the horses in them, and two grooms to tend them; six\nstacks in the yard, and twelve threshers in the barn.\" She was greatly\ndelighted when she saw her order completed, and thanked God that He had\ngiven her what He had promised. \"I shall now go,\" said she, \"and wake my\nhusband.\" When she came to him he was still asleep. \"Get up, my love,\"\nsaid she, \"look after the threshers, the grooms, the oxen, and see that\nall do their work, and that all the work be done, and give your orders\nto the labourers; and now, my love, let us go into the house and see\nthat all is right. You give your orders to the men-servants, and I will\ngive mine to the maids. We have now enough to live on;\" and Joe thanked\nGod for His blessings. He then told his wife that he would invite the\nlord of the manor to dine with him on Whit Sunday. \"Don't leave me,\"\nreplied his wife; \"for if he catch sight of me you will lose me. I will\nsee that the table is laid and all is ready; but a maid shall wait on\nyou. I will retire into an inner room lest he should see me.\"\n\nJoe ordered the carriage and six, seated himself in it, the coachman sat\non the box, and away they went to the lord's house; they arrived at the\ngate, Joe got out, went through the gate, and saw three stonemasons at\nwork in the yard; he greeted them and they returned the greeting. \"Just\nlook,\" remarked one of them, \"what Joe has become and how miserable he\nused to be!\" He entered the castle, and went into the lord's room. \"Good\nday, my lord.\" \"God bless you, Joe, what news?\" \"I have come to ask your\nlordship to dine with me on Whit Sunday, and we shall be very pleased to\nsee you.\" \"I will come, Joe;\" they then said good-bye and parted. After\nJoe had gone the lord came into the courtyard, and the three masons\nasked him \"What did Joe want?\" \"He has invited me to dine with him,\" was\nthe reply, \"and I am going.\" \"Of course; you must go,\" said one of\nthem, \"that you may see what sort of a house he keeps.\"\n\nThe lord set out in his carriage and four, with the coachman in front,\nand arrived at the palace. Joe ran out to meet him, they saluted each\nother, and entered arm in arm. They dined, and all went well till the\nlord asked, \"Well, Joe, and where is your wife?\" \"She is busy,\" said\nJoe. \"But I should like to see her,\" explained the baron. \"She is rather\nshy when in men's society,\" said Joe. They enjoyed themselves, lighted\ntheir pipes and went for a walk over the palace. Then said the baron to\nhis servant, \"Order the carriage at once;\" it arrived, and Joe and he\nsaid \"Farewell.\" As the baron went through the gate he looked back and\nsaw Joe's wife standing at one of the windows, and at once fell so\ndeeply in love with her that he became dangerously ill; when he arrived\nat home the footmen were obliged to carry him from his carriage and lay\nhim in his bed.\n\nAt daybreak the three masons arrived and began to work. They waited for\ntheir master. As he did not appear, \"I will go and see what's the matter\nwith him,\" said one of them, \"for he always came out at 8 a.m.\" So the\nmason went in and saluted the baron, but got no reply. \"You are ill, my\nlord,\" said he. \"I am,\" said the baron, \"for Joe has such a pretty wife,\nand if I can't get her I shall die.\" The mason went out and the three\nconsulted together as to what was best to be done. One of them proposed\na task for Joe, _i.e._ that a large stone column which stood before one\nof the windows should be pulled down, the plot planted with vines, the\ngrapes to ripen over night, and the next morning a goblet of wine should\nbe made from their juice and be placed on the master's table; if this\nwas not done Joe was to lose his wife. So one of them went in to the\nbaron and told him of their plan, remarking that Joe could not do that,\nand so he would lose his wife. A groom was sent on horseback for Joe,\nwho came at once, and asked what his lordship desired. The baron then\ntold him the task he had to propose and the penalty. Poor Joe was so\ndowncast that he left without even saying \"good-bye,\" threw himself into\nhis carriage, and went home. \"Well, my love,\" asked his wife, \"what does\nhe want?\" \"Want,\" replied her husband, \"he ordered me to pull down the\nstone column in front of his window. Since my father was not a\nworking-man, how could I do any work? Nor is that all. I am to plant the\nplace with vines, the grapes have to ripen, and I am to make a goblet of\nwine, to be placed on his table at daybreak; and if I fail I am to lose\nyou.\"\n\n\"Your smallest trouble ought to be greater than that,\" said his wife.\n\"Eat and drink, go to bed and have a good rest, and all will be well.\"\nWhen night came she went out into the farmyard, uncoiled her whip, gave\na crack, which was heard over seven times seven countries, and\nimmediately all the dragons appeared. \"What are your Majesty's\ncommands?\" She then told them what her husband required, and in the\nmorning Joe had the goblet of wine, which he took on horseback lest he\nshould be late; he opened the baron's window, and, as nobody was there,\nhe placed the goblet on the table, closed the window, and returned home.\n\nAt daybreak the baron turned in his bed. The bright light reflected by\nthe goblet met his eyes, and had such an effect on him that he fell back\nin his bed, and got worse and worse.\n\nThe three masons arrived and wondered why their master did not appear.\nSaid the tallest to the middle one, \"I taught him something yesterday;\nnow you must teach him something else.\" \"Well,\" said the middle one, \"my\nidea is this, that Joe shall build a silver bridge in front of the gate\nduring the night, plant both ends with all kinds of trees, and that the\ntrees be filled with all kinds of birds singing and twittering in the\nmorning. I'll warrant he won't do that, and so he will lose his wife.\"\nWhen the baron came out they communicated their plan; he at once sent\nfor Joe and told him what he required. Joe went away without even\nsaying good-bye, he was so sad. When he got home he told his wife what\nthe baron wanted this time. \"Don't trouble yourself, my love,\" said his\nwife, \"eat and drink and get a good rest, all shall be well.\" At night\nshe cracked her whip and ordered the dragons to do all that was\nrequired, and so at daybreak all was done. The birds made such a noise\nthat the whole of the village was awakened by them. One nightingale\nloudly and clearly to the baron sang, \"Whatever God has given to some\none else that you must not covet; be satisfied with what has been given\nto you.\" The baron awoke and turned over, and, hearing the loud singing\nof the birds, rose and looked out of the window. The glare of the silver\nbridge opposite the gate blinded him, and he fell back in bed and got\nworse and worse. When the three masons arrived they could not enter, for\nthe splendour of the silver bridge dazzled them, and they were obliged\nto enter by another gate.\n\nAs they were working, the shortest said to the middle one, \"Go and see\nwhy his lordship does not come out; perhaps he is worse.\" He went in and\nfound the baron worse than ever. Then said the shortest, \"I thought of\nsomething, my lord, which he will never be able to do, and so you will\nget his wife.\" \"What is that, mason?\" demanded the baron. \"It is this,\nmy lord,\" said the mason, \"that he shall ask God to dinner on Palm\nSunday, and that he can't do, and so he will lose his wife.\" \"If you can\nget Joe's wife for me you shall have all this property,\" said the baron.\n\"It's ours, then,\" said they, \"for he can't do that.\" Joe was sent for,\nand came at once to know what was required of him. \"My orders are\nthese,\" replied the baron, \"that you invite God to dinner on Palm Sunday\nto my house; if you do not your wife is lost.\" Poor Joe went out without\nsaying good-bye, jumped into his carriage, and returned home dreadfully\nmiserable. When his wife asked him what was the matter he told her of\nthe baron's commands. \"Go on,\" said his wife; \"bring me that foal, the\nyearling, the most wretched one of all, put upon it an old saddle and\nsilver harness on its head, and then get on its back.\" He did so, said\ngood-bye, and the wretched yearling darted off at once straight to\nheaven. By the time it arrived there it had become quite a beautiful\nhorse. When Joe reached the gates of Paradise he tied his horse to a\nstake, knocked at the door, which opened, and he went in and greeted the\nAlmighty. St. Peter received him, and asked him why he had come. \"I've\ncome,\" said he, \"to invite God to dinner at my lord's on Palm Sunday.\"\n\"Tell him from me,\" said the deity, \"that I will come, and tell him that\nhe is to sow a plot with barley, and that it will ripen, and that I will\neat bread made of it at dinner. That a cow is to be taken to the bull\nto-day, and that I will eat the flesh of the calf for my dinner.\"\n\nWith this Joe took leave, and the foal flew downward. As they went Joe\nwas like to fall head-foremost off, and called upon the deity. St. Peter\ntold him not to fear, it was all right; he would fall on his feet. When\nJoe arrived at home the barley was waving in the breeze and the cow was\nin calf. \"Well, wife,\" said he, \"I will go to the baron's and give him\nthe message.\" So he went, knocked at the door, and entered the room.\n\"Don't come a step further,\" cried the baron. \"I don't intend to,\" said\nJoe: \"I've come to tell you I have executed your commands, and mind you\ndon't blame me for what will happen. The deity has sent you this\nmessage: you are to sow a plot with barley, and of it make bread for His\ndinner. A cow is to go to the bull, and of the calf's flesh He will\neat.\" The baron became thoughtful. \"Don't worry yourself, my lord,\" said\nJoe, \"you have worried me enough, it is your turn now;\" and so he said\n\"good-bye,\" and went off home: when he got there the barley-bread was\nbaking and the veal was roasting.\n\nAt this moment the deity and St. Peter arrived from heaven and were on\ntheir way to the baron's, who the moment he saw them called out to his\nservant, \"Lock the gate, and do not let them in.\" Then said the deity,\n\"Let us go back to the poor man's home, and have dinner there.\" When\nthey reached the foot of the mountain St. Peter was told to look back\nand say what he saw, and lo! the whole of the baron's property was a\nsheet of water. \"Now,\" said the deity to St. Peter, \"let us go on, for\nthe mountain is high, and difficult to ascend.\" When they arrived at\nJoe's he rushed out with outspread arms, fell to the ground, and kissed\nthe sole of the deity's foot. He entered and sat down to dinner, so did\nJoe and his wife and also St. Peter. Then said God to Joe, \"Set a table\nin this world for the poor and miserable, and you shall have one laid\nfor you in the world to come; and now good-bye: you shall live in joy,\nand in each other's love.\"\n\nThey are living still if they have not died since. May they be your\nguests to-morrow!\n\n\n\n\nLUCK AND BLISS.\n\n\nLuck and Bliss went out one day, and came to a town where they found a\npoor man selling brooms, but nobody seemed to buy anything from him.\nBliss thereupon said, \"Let us stop, and I will buy them all from the\npoor fellow, so that he may make a good bargain.\" So they stopped, and\nBliss bought them all, and gave him six times the market value of them,\nin order that the poor man might have a good start.\n\nOn another occasion they came to the same town and found the man still\nselling brooms. Bliss bought them all, and gave him ten times their\nmarket value. They came a third time to the town, and the man was still\nselling brooms, whereupon Luck said, \"Let me try now, for, see, you have\nbought them all twice, and in vain, for the man is a poor broom-seller\nstill;\" so Luck bought them, but she did not give a penny more than the\nmarket price. They came to the town a fourth time and saw the man who\nhad sold brooms leading wheat into town in a wagon with iron hoops on\nthe wheels and drawn by four fine bullocks. When they saw this Luck said\nto Bliss, \"Do you see that man who used to sell brooms? You bought them\nall twice for a very high price. I bought them but once, and that for\nthe market value, and the consequence of my having done so is that he no\nlonger sells brooms, as he used to do, but wheat, and it appears he must\nhave got on well with his farm too.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAZY CAT.\n\n\nA lad married a lazy rich girl, and he made a vow that he would never\nbeat her. The missis never did any work but went about from house to\nhouse gossiping and making all kinds of mischief, but still her husband\nnever beat her. One morning as he was going out to his work he said to\nthe cat, \"You cat, I command you to do everything that is needed in the\nhouse. While I am away put everything in order, cook the dinner, and do\nsome spinning; if you don't, I'll give you such a thrashing as you won't\nforget.\" The cat listened to his speech half asleep, blinking on the\nhearth. The woman thought to herself, \"My husband has gone mad.\" So she\nsaid, \"Why do you order the cat to do all these things, which she knows\nnothing about?\" \"Whether she does or whether she doesn't it's all the\nsame to me, wife. I have no one else whom I can ask to do anything; and\nif she does not do all that I have ordered her to do you will see that I\nwill give her such a thrashing as she will never forget.\" With this he\nwent out to work, and the wife began to talk to the cat and said, \"You\nhad better get your work done, or he will beat you;\" but the cat did not\nwork, and the wife went from house to house gossiping. When she came\nhome the cat was asleep on the hearth, and the fire had gone out; so she\nsaid, \"Make the fire up, cat, and get your work done, or you will get a\nsound thrashing;\" but the cat did no work. In the evening the master\ncame home and found that nothing was done and that his orders were not\ncarried out; so he took hold of the cat by its tail and fastened it to\nhis wife's back, and began to beat till his wife cried out, \"Don't beat\nthat cat any more! Don't beat that cat any more! it is not her fault,\nshe cannot help it, she does not understand these things.\" \"Will you\npromise then that you will do it all in her stead?\" inquired her\nhusband. \"I will do it all and even more than you order,\" replied his\nwife, \"if you will only leave off beating that cat.\"\n\nThe woman then ran off home to complain to her mother of all these\nthings, and said, \"I have promised that I will do all the work instead\nof the cat, in order to prevent my husband beating her to death on my\nback.\" And then her father spoke up and said, \"If you have promised to\ndo it you must do it; if not, the cat will get a thrashing to-morrow.\"\nAnd he sent her back to her husband.\n\nNext time the master again ordered the cat what she had to do, and she\ndid nothing again. So she got another beating on the wife's back, who\nran home again to complain; but her father drove her back, and she ran\nso fast that her foot did not touch the ground as she went.\n\nOn the third morning again the master commenced to give his commands to\nthe cat, who, however, was too frightened to listen, and did no work\nthat day; but this time the mistress did her work for her. She forgot no\none thing she had promised--she lighted the fire, fetched water, cooked\nthe food, swept the house, and put everything in order; for she was\nfrightened lest her husband should beat the poor cat again; for the\nwretched animal in its agony stuck its claws into her back, and,\nbesides, the end of the two-tailed whip reached further than the cat's\nback, so that with every stroke she received one as well as the cat.\nWhen her husband came home everything was in order, and he kept\nmuttering, \"Don't be afraid, cat, I won't thrash you this time;\" and his\nwife laid the cloth joyfully, dished up the food, and they had a good\nmeal in peace.\n\nAfter that the cat had no more beatings, and the mistress became such a\ngood housewife that you could not wish for a better.\n\n\n\n\nHANDSOME PAUL.\n\n\nThere was once, over seven times seven countries, a poor woman who had a\nson, and he decided to go into service. So he said to his mother,\n\"Mother, fill my bag and let me go out to work, for that will do me more\ngood than staying here and wasting my time.\" The lad's name was Paul.\nHis mother filled his bag for him, and he started off. As it became dark\nhe reached a wood, and in the distance he saw, as it were, a spark\nglimmering amongst the trees, so he made his way in that direction\nthinking that he might find some one there, and that he would be able to\nget a night's lodging. So he walked and walked for a long time, and the\nnearer he came the larger the light became. By midnight he reached the\nplace where the fire was, and lo! there was a great ugly giant sleeping\nby the fire. \"Good evening, my father,\" said Paul. \"God has brought you,\nmy son,\" replied the giant; \"you may think yourself lucky that you\ncalled me father, for if you had not done so I would have swallowed you\nwhole. And now what is your errand?\"\n\n\"I started from home,\" said Paul, \"to find work, and good fortune\nbrought me this way. My father, permit me to sleep to-night by your\nfire, for I am alone and don't know my way.\" \"With pleasure, my son,\"\nsaid the giant. So Paul sat down and had his supper, and then they both\nfell asleep. Next morning the giant asked him where he intended to go in\nsearch of work. \"If I could,\" replied Paul, \"I should like to enter the\nking's service, for I have heard he pays his servants justly.\" \"Alas! my\nson,\" said the giant, \"the king lives far away from here. Your\nprovisions would fail twice before you reached there, but we can manage\nthe matter if you will sit on my shoulder and catch hold of the hair on\nthe back of my head.\" Paul took his seat on the giant's shoulders. \"Shut\nyour eyes,\" said the giant, \"because if you don't you will turn giddy.\"\nPaul shut his eyes, and the giant started off, stepping from mountain to\nmountain, till noon, when he stopped and said to Paul, \"Open your eyes\nnow and tell me what you can see.\"\n\nPaul looked around as far as he could see, and said, \"I see at an\ninfinite distance something white, as big as a star. What is it, my\nfather?\" \"That is the king's citadel,\" said the giant, and then they sat\ndown and had dinner. The giant's bag was made of nine buffalo's skins,\nand in it were ten loaves (each loaf being made of four bushels of\nwheat), and ten large bottles full of good Hungarian wine. The giant\nconsumed two bottles of wine and two loaves for his dinner, and gave\nPaul what he needed. After a short nap the giant took Paul upon his\nshoulders, bade him shut his eyes, and started off again, stepping from\nmountain to mountain. At three o'clock he said to Paul, \"Open your eyes,\nand tell me what you can see.\" \"I can see the white shining thing\nstill,\" said Paul, \"but now it looks like a building.\" \"Well, then, shut\nyour eyes again,\" said the giant, and he walked for another hour, and\nthen again asked Paul to look. Paul now saw a splendid glittering\nfortress, such a one as he had never seen before, not even in his\ndreams. \"In another quarter-of-an-hour we shall be there,\" said the\ngiant. Paul shut his eyes again, and in fifteen minutes they were there;\nand the giant put him down in front of the gate of the king's palace,\nsaying, \"Well, now, I will leave you here, for I have a pressing\nengagement, and must get back, but whatsoever service they offer to you,\ntake it, behave well, and the Lord keep you.\" Paul thanked him for his\nkindness and his good-will, and the giant left. As Paul was a fine\nhandsome fellow he was engaged at once, for the first three months to\ntend the turkeys, as there was no other vacancy, but even during this\ntime he was employed on other work: and he behaved so well, that at the\nend of the time he was promoted to wait at the king's table. When he was\ndressed in his new suit he looked like a splendid flower. The king had\nthree daughters; the youngest was more beautiful than the rose or the\nlily, and this young lady fell in love with Paul, which Paul very soon\nnoticed; and day by day his courage grew, and he approached her more and\nmore, till they got very fond of each other.\n\nThe queen with her serpent's eye soon discovered the state of affairs,\nand told the king of it.\n\n\"It's all right,\" said the king, \"I'll soon settle the wretched fellow;\nonly leave it to me, my wife.\"\n\nPoor Paul, what awaits thee?\n\nThe king then sent for Paul and said, \"Look here, you good-for-nothing,\nI can see you are a smart fellow! Now listen to me: I order you to cut\ndown during the night the whole wood that is in front of my window, to\ncart it home, chop it up, and stack it in proper order in my courtyard;\nif you don't I shall have your head chopped off in the morning.\" Paul\nwas so frightened when he heard this that he turned white and said, \"Oh,\nmy king! no man could do this.\" \"What!\" said the king, \"you\ngood-for-nothing, you dare to contradict me? go to prison at once!\" Paul\nwas at once taken away, and the king repeated his commands, saying that\nunless they were obeyed Paul should lose his head. Poor Paul was very\nsad, and wept like a baby; but the youngest princess stepped into his\nprison through a secret trap-door, and consoled him, giving him a copper\nwhip, and telling him to go and stand outside the gate on the top of the\nhill, and crack it three times, when all the devils would appear. He was\nthen to give his orders, which the devils would carry out.\n\nPaul went off through the trap, and the princess remained in prison till\nPaul returned; he went out, stood on the hill, and cracked his whip well\nthrice, and lo! the devils came running to him from all sides, crying,\n\"What are your commands handsome Paul?\" \"I order you,\" replied Paul, \"by\nto-morrow morning to have all that large forest cut down, chopped, and\nstacked in the king's courtyard;\" with this he went back to prison and\nspent a little time with the princess before she went away. The devils\nentered the wood, and began to hew the trees down; there was a roaring,\nclattering, and cracking noise as the big trees were dragged by root and\ncrown into the king's yard; they were chopped up and stacked; and the\ndevils, having finished the task, ran back to hell. By one o'clock all\nwas done.\n\nIn the morning the first thing the king did was to look through the\nwindow in the direction of the wood; he could not see anything but bare\nland, and when he looked into the courtyard he saw there all the wood\nchopped and stacked.\n\nHe then called Paul from prison and said, \"Well, I can see that you know\nsomething, my lad, and I now order you to plough up to-night the place\nwhere the wood used to be, and sow it with millet. The millet must grow,\nripen, be reaped, threshed, and ground into flour by the morning, and of\nit you must make me a large millet-cake, else you lose your head.\" Paul\nwas then sent back to prison, more miserable than ever, for how could he\ndo such an unheard-of thing as that? His sweetheart came in again\nthrough the trap-door and found him weeping bitterly. When she heard the\ncause of his grief she said, \"Oh, don't worry yourself, dear; here is a\ngolden whip, go and crack it three times on the hill-top, and all the\ndevils will come that came last night; crack it again three times and\nall the female devils will arrive; crack it another three times and even\nthe lame ones will appear, and those enceinte come creeping forth. Tell\nthem what you want and they will do it.\"\n\nPaul went out and stood on the hill-top, and cracked his whip three good\ncracks, and then three more, and three more, such loud cracks that his\nears rung, and again the devils came swarming in all directions like\nants, old ones and young ones, males and females, lame and enceinte,\nsuch a crowd that he could not see them all without turning his head all\nround. They pressed him hard, saying, \"What are your commands, handsome\nPaul? What are your commands, handsome Paul? If you order us to pluck\nall the stars from heaven and to place them in your hands it shall be\ndone.\"\n\nPaul gave his orders and went back to prison, and stayed with the\nprincess till daybreak.\n\nThere was a sight on the hill-side, the devils were shouting and making\nsuch a din that you could not tell one word from another. \"Now then!\nCome here! This way, Michael! That way, Jack! Pull it this way! Turn it\nthat way! Go at it! See, the work is done!\"\n\nThe whole place was soon ploughed up, the millet sown, and it began to\nsprout, it grew, ripened, was cut, carted in wagons, in barrows, on\ntheir backs, or as best they could. It was thrashed with iron flails,\ncarried to the mill, crushed and bolted, a light was put to the timber\nin the yard, it took fire, and the wood crackled everywhere, and there\nwas such a light that the king in the seventh country off could see to\ncount his money by it. Then they brought from hell the biggest cauldron\nthey could find, put it on the fire, put flour into it and boiling\nwater; as the millet-cake was bubbling and boiling they took it out of\nthe pot and put it into Mrs. Pluto's lap, placed a huge spoon into her\nhands, and she began to stir away, mix it up, and cut it up with her\nquick hands till it began to curl up at the side of the cauldron after\nthe spoon. As it was quite done she mixed it well once more, and being\nout of breath handed the spoon to Pluto himself--who was superintending\nthe whole work,--who took out his pocket-knife--which was red-hot--and\nbegan to scrape the cake off the spoon and to eat it with great gusto.\n\nMrs. Pluto then took the cake out with a huge wooden spoon, heaped it up\nnicely, patted it all round, and put it on the fire once more; when it\nwas quite baked she turned it out a large millet-cake in the midst of\nthe yard, and then they all rushed back, as fast as they could run, to\nhell.\n\nNext morning, when the king looked through the window, an immense\nmillet-cake was to be seen there, so large that it nearly filled the\nwhole yard; and he, however vexed he was, could not help bursting out\ninto a loud laugh. He gave instant orders for the whole town to come and\nclear away the millet-cake, and not to leave so much as a mouthful.\nNever was such a feast seen before, and I don't think ever will be\nagain: some carried it away in their hands, some in bags, some in large\ntable-cloths, sacks, and even in wagons; everybody took some, and it\nwent in all directions in every possible manner, so that in three hours\nthe huge cake was all gone; even the part that had stuck to the ground\nwas scraped up and carried away. Some made tarts of it at home, pounded\npoppy-seed, and spread it over them; others wanted pork to eat with it,\nothers ate it with fresh milk, with dried prunes, with perry, with\ncraps, with cream-milk, sour-milk, cow's-milk, goat's-milk; some with\ncurds; others covered it over with cream-cheese, rolled it up and ate it\nthus; better houses mixed it with good buffalo-milk, and ate it with\nbutter, lard, and cream-cheese, so that it was no longer millet-cake\nwith cream-cheese, but cream-cheese with millet-cake! There were many\nwho had never eaten anything like it before, and they got so full of it\nthey could just breathe; even the king had a large piece served up for\nhis breakfast on a porcelain plate; he then went to the larder for a\nlarge tub, which was full of the best cream-cheese of Csik like unto the\nfinest butter; he took a large piece of this, spread it on his cake, set\nto and ate it to the very last. He then drank three tumblerfuls of the\nbest old claret, and said, \"Well, that really was a breakfast fit for\nthe gods!\" And thus it happened that all the millet-cake was used up,\nand then the king sent for Paul and said to him, \"Well, you brat of a\ndevil, did you do all this, or who did it?\" \"I don't know.\" \"Well, there\nare in my stables a bay stallion, a bay mare, two grey fillies and a bay\nfilly, you must walk them about, in turn, to-morrow morning, till they\nare tired out; if you don't I'll have your head impaled.\" Paul wasn't a\nbit frightened this time, but began to whistle, and hum tunes to himself\nin the prison, being in capital spirits. \"It will be very easy to walk\nthese horses out,\" said he; \"it's not the first time I've done that.\"\nThe matter looked different however in the evening when his sweetheart\ncame and he told her all about it. \"My love,\" said she, \"this is even\nworse than all the rest, because the devils did all your former tasks\nfor you, but this you must do yourself. Moreover, you must know that the\nbay stallion will be my father, the bay mare my mother, the two grey\nfoals my elder sisters, and the bay foal myself. However, we shall find\nsome way of doing even this. When you enter the stable we all will begin\nto kick so terribly that you won't be able to get near us; but you must\ntry to get hold of the iron pole that stands inside the door, and with\nit thrash them all till they are tame; then you must lead them out as\nwell as you can; but don't beat me, for I shall not desert you.\" His\nlove then gave him a copper bridle, which he hid in his bosom, and\nbuttoned his coat over it. And his lady-love went back to her bedroom;\nfor she knew there was plenty of hard work in store for her on the\nmorrow; for the same reason she ordered Paul to try to sleep well.\n\nIn the morning the jailer came, and brought two warders with him, and\nled Paul to the stable to take the horses out for a walk. Even in the\ndistance he could hear the snorting, kicking, pawing, and neighing in\nthe stable, so that it filled the air. He tried in vain to get inside\nthe stable-door, he had not courage enough to take even one step inside.\nSomehow or other, however, he got hold of the iron pole, and with it he\nbeat, pounded, and whacked the bay stallion till it lay down in agony.\nHe then took out his bridle, threw it over its head, led it out, jumped\nupon its back, and rode it about till the foam streamed from it, and\nthen led it in and tied it up. He did the same with the bay mare, only\nshe was worse; and the grey foals were worse still, till by the end he\nwas nearly worn out with beating them. At last he came to the bay foal,\nbut he would not have touched her for all the treasure of the world;\nyet, in order to deceive the others, he banged the crib, box, manger,\nand posts right lustily, till at last the bay foal lay down. With this\nthe mare, who was the queen, said to the bay stallion, \"You see it was\nthat bay foal who was the cause of all this. But wait a bit, confound\nher!\" she cried after them as he led her out of the stable; \"I also have\nas many wits as you, and I will teach you both a lesson. Never mind, my\nsweet daughter, you have treated us all most cruelly with that iron\npole, but you shall pay for it shortly.\" When Paul heard this he was so\nfrightened he could hardly lead the foal. \"Don't be afraid,\" said the\nfoal, \"let's get away from here, and the sooner the better, never to\nreturn, or woe betide us!\" They cantered up to the house, where she sent\nhim in to get money, and jewellery, and the various things they would\nneed, and then galloped off as fast as she could with Paul on her back,\nover seven times seven countries, till noon; and just as the sun was at\nnoon the foal said to Paul, \"Look back; what can you see?\" Paul looked\nback and saw in the distance an eagle flying towards them, from whose\nmouth shot forth a flame seven fathoms long. Then said the foal, \"I will\nturn a somersault, and become a sprouting millet-field; you do the same,\nyou will become the garde champ\u00eatre, and when the eagle, which is my\nfather, comes, if he ask you if you have seen such and such travellers,\ntell him, yes, you saw them pass when this millet was sown.\" So the foal\nturned over and became a sprouting millet-field, and Paul became the\ngarde champ\u00eatre. The eagle arrived, and said, \"My lad, have you not seen\na young fellow on a bay foal pass this way in a great hurry?\" \"Well,\nyes,\" replied Paul, \"I saw them at the time this millet was sown, but I\ncan't tell you where they may be now.\" \"I don't think they can have come\nthis way,\" said the eagle, and flew back home and told his wife all\nabout it. \"Oh! you baulked fool!\" cried she, \"the millet-field was your\ndaughter, and the lad Paul. So back you go at once, and bring them\nhome.\"\n\nPaul and his foal rode on half the afternoon, and then the foal said,\n\"Look back, what can you see?\" \"I see the eagle again,\" said Paul, \"but\nnow the flame is twice seven fathoms long; he flies very quickly.\"\n\"Let's turn over again,\" said the foal, \"and I will become a lamb and\nyou will be the shepherd, and if my father ask you if you have seen the\ntravellers say yes, you saw them when the lamb was born.\" So they turned\nover, and one became a lamb and the other a shepherd; the eagle arrived\nand asked the shepherd if he had seen the travellers pass by, and was\ntold that they were seen when the lamb was born. The king returned and\ntold his wife all, who drove him back, crying, \"The lamb was your\ndaughter and the shepherd, Paul, you empty-headed fool.\" Paul and the\nfoal went on a long way, when the foal said, \"What can you see?\" He saw\nthe eagle again, but now it was enveloped in flames; they turned over\nand the foal became a chapel, and Paul a hermit inside; the eagle\narrived and inquired after the travellers, and was told by the hermit\nthat they had passed by when the chapel was building. The eagle went\nback a third time, and his wife was in an awful rage and told him to\nstay where he was, telling him that the chapel was his daughter and the\nhermit Paul. \"But you are so dense,\" said she, \"they can make you\nbelieve anything; I will go myself and see whether they will fool me.\"\n\nThe queen started off as a falcon. Paul and the foal went still\ntravelling on, when the foal said, \"Look back, what can you see?\" \"I see\na falcon,\" said Paul, \"With a flame seventy-seven yards long coming out\nof its mouth.\" \"That's my mother,\" said the foal, \"We must be careful\nthis time, Paul, for we shall not be able to hoodwink her with lies; let\nus turn over quickly, she will be here in a second. I will be a lake of\nmilk and you a golden duck on it; take care she doesn't catch you, or we\nare done for.\" They turned over and changed; the falcon arrived and\nswooped down upon the duck like lightning, who had just time to dive and\nescape. The falcon tried again and again till it got quite tired; for\neach time the duck dived and so she missed him. In a great rage the\nfalcon turned over and became the queen. She picked up stones and tried\nto strike the duck dead, but he was clever enough to dodge her, so she\nsoon got tired of that and said, \"I can see, you beast, that I cannot do\nanything with you; my other two daughters died before my eyes to-day\nfrom the beating you gave them with the iron pole, you murderer. Now I\ncurse you with this curse, that you will forget each other, and never\nremember that you have ever known each other.\"\n\nWith this she turned over, became a falcon, and flew away home very sad,\nand the other two changed also, this time into Paul and the princess.\n\"Nobody will persecute us now,\" said she, \"let us travel on quietly. The\ndeath of my two sisters is no sad or bad news to me, for now when my\nfather and mother are dead the land will be ours, my dear Paul;\" so they\nwandered on, and talked over their affairs, till they came to a house;\nand as the day was closing they felt very tired and sat down to rest and\nfell asleep. After sunset they awoke and stared at each other, but\ncouldn't make out who the other was, for they had forgotten all the\npast, and inquired in astonishment \"Who are you?\" and \"Well, who are\nyou?\" But neither could tell who the other was; so they walked into the\ntown as strangers and separated. Paul got a situation as valet to a\nnobleman, and the princess became a lady's maid in another part of the\ncity. They lived there for twelve months, and never once remembered\nanything that had happened in the past. One night Paul dreamt that the\nbay stallion was in its last agony, and soon afterwards died; the lady's\nmaid, at the same time, dreamt that the bay mare was dying, and died; by\nthis dream they both remembered all that had happened to each other; but\neven then they did not know that they were in the same town. On the day\nfollowing this dream Paul was sent by the nobleman's son secretly with a\nlove-letter to the nobleman's youngest daughter where the lady's maid\nlived. Paul took the letter, and handed it to the lady's maid so that\nshe might place it in her mistress's hands; then he saw who the lady's\nmaid was, that it was his old sweetheart, the beloved of his soul; now\nhe remembered how often before he had given her letters from his young\nmaster for the young lady of the house, and how he had done a little\nlove-making on his own account, but never till now had he recognised\nher. The princess recognised Paul at a glance and rushed into his arms\nand wept for joy. They told each other their dreams, and knew that her\nfather and mother--the bay mare and bay stallion of yore--died last\nnight. \"Let us be off,\" said the princess, \"or else the kingdom will be\nsnatched from us.\" So they agreed, and fixed the day after the morrow\nfor the start. Next morning the official crier proclaimed that the king\nand queen had died suddenly about midnight; it happened at the very\nmoment they had had their dreams.\n\nThey started secretly by the same road, and arrived at home in a day.\n\nThe king and queen were still laid in state, and the princess, who was\nthought to be lost, shed tears over them.\n\nShe was soon afterwards crowned queen of the realm, and chose Paul for\nher consort, and got married; if they have not died since they are still\nalive, and in great happiness to this day.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRAVELS OF TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD.\n\n\nA long time ago--I don't exactly remember the day--Truth started, with\nher bag well filled, on a journey to see the world. On she went over\nhill and dale, and through village and town, till one day she met\nFalsehood. \"Good day, countrywoman,\" said Truth; \"where are you bound\nfor? Where do you intend going?\" \"I'm going to travel all over the\nworld,\" said Falsehood. \"That's right,\" said Truth; \"and as I'm bound in\nthe same direction let's travel together.\" \"All right,\" replied\nFalsehood; \"but you know that fellow-travellers must live in harmony, so\nlet's divide our provisions and finish yours first.\" Truth handed over\nher provisions, upon which the two lived till every morsel was consumed;\nthen it was Falsehood's turn to provide. \"Let me gouge out one of your\neyes,\" said Falsehood to Truth, \"and then I'll let you have some food.\"\nPoor Truth couldn't help herself; for she was very hungry and didn't\nknow what to do. So she had one of her eyes gouged out, and she got some\nfood. Next time she wanted food she had the other eye gouged out, and\nthen both her arms cut off. After all this Falsehood told her to go\naway. Truth implored not to be left thus helpless in the wilds, and\nasked that she might be taken to the gate of the next town and left\nthere to get her living by begging. Falsehood led her, not to where she\nwanted to go, but near a pair of gallows and left her there. Truth was\nvery much surprised that she heard no one pass, and thought that all the\nfolks in that town must be dead. As she was thus reasoning with herself\nand trembling with fear she fell asleep. When she awoke she heard some\npeople talking above her head, and soon discovered that they were\ndevils. The eldest of them said to the rest, \"Tell me what you have\nheard and what you have been doing.\" One said, \"I have to-day killed a\nlearned physician, who has discovered a medicine with which he cured all\ncrippled, maimed, or blind.\" \"Well, you're a smart fellow!\" said the old\ndevil; \"what may the medicine be?\" \"It consists simply of this,\" replied\nthe other, \"that to-night is Friday night, and there will be a new moon:\nthe cripples have to roll about and the blind to wash their eyes in the\ndew that has fallen during the night; the cripples will be healed of\ntheir infirmities and the blind will see.\" \"That is very good,\" said the\nold devil. \"And now what have you done, and what do you know?\" he asked\nthe others.\n\n\"I,\" said another, \"have just finished a little job of mine; I have cut\noff the water-supply and will thus kill the whole of the population of\nthe country-town not far from here.\" \"What is your secret?\" asked the\nold devil. \"It is this,\" replied he; \"I have placed a stone on the\nspring which is situated at the eastern corner of the town at a depth of\nthree fathoms. By this means the spring will be blocked up, and not one\ndrop of water will flow; as for me I can go everywhere without fear,\nbecause no one will ever find out my secret, and all will happen just as\nI planned it.\"\n\nThe poor crippled Truth listened attentively to all these things.\nSeveral other devils spoke; but poor Truth either did not understand\nthem or did not listen to what they said, as it did not concern her.\n\nHaving finished all, the devils disappeared as the cock crew announcing\nthe break of day.\n\nTruth thought she would try the remedies she had heard, and at night\nrolled about on the dewy ground, when to her great relief her arms grew\nagain. Wishing to be completely cured, she groped about and plucked\nevery weed she could find, and rubbed the dew into the cavities of her\neyes. As day broke she saw light once more. She then gave hearty thanks\nto the God of Truth that he had not left her, his faithful follower, to\nperish. Being hungry she set off in search of food. So she hurried off\nto the nearest town, not only for food, but also because she remembered\nwhat she had heard the devils say about cutting off the water supply.\nShe hurried on, so as not to be longer than she could help in giving\nthem her aid in their distress. She soon got there, and found every one\nin mourning. Off she went straight to the king, and told him all she\nknew; he was delighted when he was told that the thirst of the people\nmight be quenched. She also told the king how she had been maimed and\nblinded, and the king believed all she said. They commenced at once with\ngreat energy to dig up the stone that blocked the spring. The work was\nsoon done; the stone reached, lifted out, and the spring flowed once\nmore. The king was full of joy and so was the whole town, and there were\ngreat festivities and a general holiday was held. The king would not\nallow Truth to leave, but gave her all she needed, and treated her as\nhis most confidential friend, placing her in a position of great wealth\nand happiness. In the meantime Falsehood's provisions came to an end,\nand she was obliged to beg for food. As only very few houses gave her\nanything she was almost starving when she met her old travelling\ncompanion again. She cried to Truth for a piece of bread. \"Yes, you can\nhave it,\" said Truth, \"but you must have an eye gouged out;\" and\nFalsehood was in such a fix that she had either to submit or starve.\nThen the other eye was taken out, and after that her arms were cut off,\nin exchange for dry crusts of bread. Nor could she help it, for no one\nelse would give her anything.\n\nHaving lost her eyes and her arms she asked Truth to lead her under the\nsame gallows as she had been led to. At night the devils came; and, as\nthe eldest began questioning the others as to what they had been doing\nand what they knew, one of them proposed that search be made, just to\nsee whether there were any listeners to their conversation, as some one\nmust have been eaves-dropping the other night, else it would never have\nbeen found out how the springs of the town were plugged up. To this they\nall agreed, and search was made; and soon they found Falsehood, whom\nthey instantly tore to pieces, coiled up her bowels into knots, burnt\nher, and dispersed her ashes to the winds. But even her dust was so\nmalignant that it was carried all over the world; and that is the reason\nthat wherever men exist there Falsehood must be.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUNTING PRINCES.\n\n\nOnce there was a king whose only thought and only pleasure was hunting;\nhe brought up his sons to the same ideas, and so they were called the\nHunting Princes. They had hunted all over the six snow-capped mountains\nin their father's realm; there was a seventh, however, called the Black\nMountain, and, although they were continually asking their father to\nallow them to hunt there, he would not give them permission. In the\ncourse of time the king died, and his sons could scarcely wait till the\nend of the funeral ceremonies before they rushed off to hunt in the\nBlack Mountain, leaving the government in the hands of an old duke. They\nwandered about several days on the mountain, but could not find so much\nas a single bird, so they decided to separate, and that each of them\nshould go to one of the three great clefts in the mountain, thinking\nthat perhaps luck would serve them better in this way. They also agreed\nthat whoever shot an arrow uselessly should be slapped in the face. They\nstarted off, each on his way. Suddenly the youngest one saw a raven and\nsomething shining in its beak, that, he thought, was in all probability\na rich jewel. He shot, and a piece of steel fell from the raven's beak,\nwhile the bird flew away unhurt. The twang of the bow was heard all over\nthe mountain, and the two elder brothers came forward to see what he had\ndone; when they saw that he had shot uselessly they slapped his face and\nwent back to their places. When they had gone the youngest suddenly saw\na falcon sitting on the top of the rock. This he thought was of value,\nso he shot, but the arrow stuck in a piece of pointed rock which\nprojected under the falcon's feet, and the bird flew away; as it flew a\npiece of rock fell to the ground which he discovered to be real flint.\nHis elder brothers came, and slapped his face for again shooting in so\nfoolish a manner. No sooner had they gone and the day was drawing to an\nend than he discovered a squirrel just as it was running into its hole\nin a tree; so he thought its flesh would be good to eat; he shot, but\nthe squirrel escaped into a hollow of the tree, and the arrow struck\nwhat appeared to be a large fungus, knocking a piece off, which he found\nto be a fine piece of tinder. The elder brothers came and gave him a\nsound thrashing which he took very quietly, and after this they did not\nseparate. As it was getting dark and they were wandering on together a\nfine roebuck darted across their path; all three shot, and it fell. On\nthey went till they came to a beautiful meadow by the side of a spring,\nwhere they found a copper trough all ready for them. They sat down,\nskinned and washed the roebuck, got all ready for a good supper, but\nthey had no fire. \"You slapped my face three times because I was wasting\nmy arrows,\" said the youngest; \"if you will allow me to return those\nslaps I will make you a good fire.\" The elder brothers consented, but\nthe younger waived his claim and said to them, \"You see, when you don't\nneed a thing you think it valueless; see now, the steel, flint, and\ntinder you despised will make us the fire you need.\" With that he made\nthe fire. They spitted a large piece of venison and had an excellent\nhuntsman's supper. After supper they held a consultation as to who was\nto be the guard, as they had decided not to sleep without a guard. It\nwas arranged that they should take the duty in turns, and that death was\nto be the punishment of any negligence of duty. The first night the\nelder brother watched and the two youngest slept. All passed well till\nmidnight, when all at once in the direction of the town of the Black\nSorrow, which lay behind the Black Mountain, a dragon came with three\nheads, a flame three yards long protruding from its mouth. The dragon\nlived in the Black Lake, which lay beyond the town of the Black Sorrow,\nwith two of his brothers, one with five heads and the other with seven,\nand they were sworn enemies to the town of the Black Sorrow. These\ndragons always used to come to this spring to drink at midnight, and for\nthat reason no man or beast could walk there, because whatever the\ndragons found there they slew. As soon as the dragon caught sight of the\nprinces he rushed at them to devour them, but he who was keeping guard\nstood up against him and slew him, and dragged his body into a copse\nnear. The blood streamed forth in such torrents that it put the fire\nout, all save a single spark, which the guarding prince fanned up, and\nby the next morning there was a fire such as it did one good to see.\nThey hunted all day, returning at night, when the middle prince was\nguard. At midnight the dragon with the five heads came; the prince slew\nhim, and his blood as it rushed out put the fire entirely out save one\ntiny spark, which the prince managed to fan into a good fire by the\nmorning.\n\nOn the third night the youngest prince had to wrestle with the dragon\nwith seven heads. He vanquished it and killed it. This time there was so\nmuch blood that the fire was completely extinguished. When he was about\nto relight it he found that he had lost his flint. What was to be done?\nHe began to look about him, and see if he could find any means of\nrelighting the fire. He climbed up into a very high tree, and from it he\nsaw in a country three days' journey off, on a hill, a fire of some sort\nglimmering: so off he went; and as he was going he met Midnight, who\ntried to pass him unseen; but the prince saw him, and cried out, \"Here!\nstop; wait for me on this spot till I return.\" But Midnight would not\nstop; so the prince caught him, and fastened him with a stout strap to a\nthick oak-tree, remarking, \"Now, I know you will wait for me!\" He went\non some four or five hours longer, when he met Dawn: he asked him, too,\nto wait for him, and as he would not he tied him to a tree like\nMidnight, and went further and further. Time did not go on, for it was\nstopped. At last he arrived at the fire, and found there were\ntwenty-four robbers round a huge wood fire roasting a bullock. But he\nwas afraid to go near, so he stuck a piece of tinder on the end of his\narrow, and shot it through the flames. Fortunately the tinder caught\nfire, but as he went to look for it the dry leaves crackled under his\nfeet, and the robbers seized him. Some of the robbers belonged to his\nfather's kingdom, and, as they had a grudge against the father, they\ndecided to kill the prince. One said, \"Let's roast him on a spit\";\nanother proposed to dig a hole and bury him; but the chief of the\nrobbers said, \"Don't let us kill the lad, let's take him with us as he\nmay be very useful to us. You all know that we are about to kidnap the\ndaughter of the king of the town of the Black Sorrow, and we intend to\nsack his palace, but we have no means of getting at the iron cock at the\ntop of the spire because when we go near it begins at once to crow, and\nthe watchman sees us; let us take this lad with us, and let him shoot\noff the iron cock, for we all know what a capital marksman he is; and\nif he succeeds we will let him go.\" To this the robbers kindly\nconsented, as they saw they would by this means gain more than if they\nkilled him. So they started off, taking the prince with them, till they\ncame close to the fortress guarding the town of the Black Sorrow. They\nthen sent the prince in advance that he might shoot off the iron cock;\nthis he did. Then said the chief of the robbers, \"Let's help him up to\nthe battlements, and then he will pull us up, let us down on the other\nside, and keep guard for us while we are at work, and he shall have part\nof the spoil, and then we will let him go.\" But the dog-soul of the\nchief was false, for his plan was, that, having finished all, he would\nhand the prince over to the robbers. This the prince had discovered from\nsome whisperings he had heard among them. He soon found a way out of the\ndifficulty. As he was letting them down one by one, he cut off their\nheads, and sent them headless into the fortress, together with their\nchief. Finding himself all alone, and no one to fear, he went to the\nking's palace: in the first apartment he found the king asleep; in the\nsecond the queen; in the third the three princesses. At the head of each\none there was a candle burning; that the prince moved in each case to\ntheir feet, and none of them noticed him, except the youngest princess,\nwho awoke, and was greatly frightened at finding a man in her bedroom;\nbut when the prince told her who he was, and what he had done, she got\nup, dressed, and took the young prince into a side-chamber and gave him\nplenty to eat and drink, treated him kindly, and accepted him as her\nlover, and gave him a ring and a handkerchief as a sign of their\nbetrothal. The prince then took leave of his love, and went to where the\nrobbers lay, cut off the tips of their noses and ears, and bound them up\nin the handkerchief, left the fortress, got the fire, released Midnight\nand Dawn, arrived at their resting-place, made a good fire by morning,\nso that all the blood was dried up.\n\nAt daybreak in the town of the Black Sorrow, Knight Red, as he was\ninspecting the sentries, came across the headless robbers. As soon as he\nsaw them he cut bits off their mutilated noses and ears, and started for\nthe town, walking up and down, and telling everybody with great pride\nwhat a hero he was, and how that last night he had killed the\ntwenty-four robbers who for such a length of time had been the terror of\nthe town of the Black Sorrow. His valour soon came to the ears of the\nking, who ordered the Red Knight to appear before him: here he boasted\nof his valour, and produced his handkerchief and the pieces cut from the\nrobbers. The king believed all that he said, and was so overjoyed at the\ngood news that he gave him permission to choose which of the princesses\nhe pleased for his wife, adding that he would also give him a share of\nthe kingdom. The Red Knight, however, made a mistake, for he chose the\nyoungest daughter, who knew all about the whole affair, and was already\nengaged to the youngest prince. The king told his daughter he was going\nto give her as a wife.\n\nTo this she said, \"Very well, father, but to whomsoever you intend to\ngive me he must be a worthy man, and he must give proofs that he has\nrendered great service to our town.\" To this the king replied, \"Who\ncould be able or who has been able to render greater services to the\ntown than this man, who has killed the twenty-four robbers?\" The girl\nanswered, \"You are right, father; whoever did that I will be his wife.\"\n\"Well done, my daughter, you are quite right in carrying out my wish;\nprepare for your marriage, because I have found the man who saved our\ntown from this great danger.\" The young girl began to get ready with\ngreat joy, for she knew nothing of the doings of the Red Knight, and\nonly saw what was going to happen when all was ready, the altar-table\nlaid, and the priest called, when lo! in walked the Red Knight as her\nbridegroom, a man whom she had always detested, so that she could not\nbear even to look at him. She rushed out and ran to her room, where she\nfell weeping on her pillow. Everyone was there, and all was ready, but\nshe would not come; her father went in search of her, and she told him\nhow she had met the youngest of the Hunting Princes the night before,\nand requested her father to send a royal messenger into the deserted\nmeadow, where the dragons of the Black Lake went to drink at the copper\ntrough, and to invite to the wedding the three princes who were staying\nthere; and asked her father not to press her to marry the Red Knight\ntill their arrival; on such conditions she would go among the guests.\nHer father promised this, and sent the messenger in great haste to the\ncopper trough, and the young girl went among the guests. The feast was\ngoing on in as sumptuous a manner as possible. The messenger came to the\ncopper trough, and hid himself behind a bush at the skirts of an open\nplace, and as he listened to the conversation of the princes he knew\nthat he had come to the right place; he hastened to give them the\ninvitation from the king of the town of the Black Sorrow to the wedding\nof his youngest daughter.\n\nThe princes soon got ready, especially the youngest one, who, when he\nheard that his fianc\u00e9e was to be married, would have been there in the\ntwinkling of an eye if he had been able. When the princes arrived in the\ncourtyard the twelve pillows under the Red Knight began to move, as he\nsat on them at the head of the table. When the youngest prince stepped\nupon the first step of the stairs, one pillow slipped out from under the\nRed Knight, and as he mounted each step another pillow fled, till as\nthey crossed the threshold even the chair upon which he sat fell, and\ndown dropped the Red Knight upon the floor.\n\nThe youngest Hunting Prince told them the whole story, how his elder\nbrothers had slain the dragons with three and five heads, and he the one\nwith seven heads; he also told them especially all about the robbers,\nand how he met the king's daughter, how he had walked through all their\nbedrooms and changed the candles from their head to their feet; he also\nproduced the ring and the handkerchief, and placed upon the table the\nnose and ear-tips he had cut off the robbers.\n\nThey tallied with those the Red Knight had shown, and it was apparent to\neverybody which had been cut off first.\n\nEveryone believed the prince and saw that the Red Knight was false. For\nhis trickery he was sentenced to be tied to a horse's tail and dragged\nthrough the streets of the whole town, then quartered and nailed to the\nfour corners of the town.\n\nThe three Hunting Princes married the three daughters of the king of the\ntown of the Black Sorrow. The youngest prince married the youngest\nprincess, to whom he was engaged before, and he became the heir-apparent\nin the town of Black Sorrow, and the other two divided their father's\nrealm.\n\nMay they be your guests to-morrow!\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAZY SPINNING-GIRL WHO BECAME A QUEEN.\n\n\nA common woman had a daughter who was a very good worker, but she did\nnot like spinning; for this her mother very often scolded her, and one\nday got so vexed that she chased her down the road with the distaff. As\nthey were running a prince passed by in his carriage. As the girl was\nvery pretty the prince was very much struck with her, and asked her\nmother \"What is the matter?\" \"How can I help it?\" said the mother, \"for,\nafter she has spun everything that I had, she asked for more flax to\nspin.\" \"Let her alone, my good woman,\" said the prince; \"don't beat her.\nGive her to me, let me take her with me, I will give her plenty to\nspin. My mother has plenty of work that needs to be done, so she can\nenjoy herself spinning as much as she likes.\" The woman gave her\ndaughter away with the greatest pleasure, thinking that what she was\nunwilling to do at home she might be ashamed to shirk in a strange\nplace, and get used to it, and perhaps even become a good spinster after\nall. The prince took the girl with him and put her into a large shed\nfull of flax, and said \"If you spin all you find here during the month\nyou shall be my wife.\" The girl seeing the great place full of flax\nnearly had a fit, as there was enough to have employed all the girls in\nthe village for the whole of the winter; nor did she begin to work, but\nsat down and fretted over it, and thus three weeks of the month passed\nby. In the meantime she always asked the person who took her her food,\n\"What news there was?\" Each one told her something or other. At the end\nof the third week one night, as she was terribly downcast, suddenly a\nlittle man half an ell long, with a beard one and a-half ells long,\nslipped in and said, \"Why are you worrying yourself, you good, pretty\nspinning-girl?\" \"That's just what's the matter with me,\" replied the\ngirl; \"I am not a good spinster, and still they will believe that I am a\ngood spinster, and that's the reason why I am locked up here.\" \"Don't\ntrouble about that,\" said the little man; \"I can help you and will spin\nall the flax during the next week if you agree to my proposal and\npromise to come with me if you don't find out my name by the time that I\nfinish my spinning.\" \"That's all right,\" said the girl, \"I will go with\nyou,\" thinking that then the matter would be all right. The little dwarf\nset to work. It happened during the fourth week that one of the\nmen-servants, who brought the girl's food, went out hunting with the\nprince. One day he was out rather late, and so was very late when he\nbrought the food. The girl said, \"What's the news?\" The servant told her\nthat that evening as he was coming home very late he saw, in the forest,\nin a dark ditch, a little man half an ell high, with a beard one and\na-half ells long, who was jumping from bough to bough, and spinning a\nthread, and humming to himself:--\"My name is Dancing Vargaluska. My\nwife will be good spinster Sue.\"\n\nSue, the pretty spinning-girl, knew very well what the little man was\ndoing, but she merely said to the servant, \"It was all imagination that\nmade you think you saw it in the dark.\" She brightened up; for she knew\nthat all the stuff would be spun, and that he would not be able to carry\nher off, as she knew his name. In the evening the little man returned\nwith one-third of the work done and said to her, \"Well, do you know my\nname yet?\"\n\n\"Perhaps, perhaps,\" said she; but she would not have told his real name\nfor all the treasures in the world, fearing that he might cease working\nif she did. Nor did she tell him when he came the next night. On the\nthird night the little man brought the last load; but this time he\nbrought a wheelbarrow with him, with three wheels, to take the girl away\nwith him. When he asked the girl his name she said, \"If I'm not mistaken\nyour name is Dancing Vargaluska.\"\n\nOn hearing this the little man rushed off as if somebody had pulled his\nnose.\n\nThe month being up, the prince sent to see if the girl had completed her\nwork; and when the messenger brought back word that all was finished the\nking was greatly astonished how it could possibly have happened that so\nmuch work had been done in so short a time, and went himself,\naccompanied by a great suite of gentlemen and court-dames, and gazed\nwith great admiration upon the vast amount of fine yarn they saw. Nor\ncould they praise the girl enough, and all found her worthy to be queen\nof the land. Next day the wedding was celebrated, and the girl became\nqueen. After the grand wedding-dinner the poor came, and the king\ndistributed alms to them; amongst them were three deformed beggars, who\nstruck the king very much: one was an old woman whose eyelids were so\nlong that they covered her whole face; the second was an old woman\nwhose lower lip was so long that the end of it reached to her knee; the\nthird old woman's posterior was so flat that it was like a pancake.\n\nThese three were called into the reception-room and asked to explain why\nthey were so deformed. The first said, \"In my younger days I was such a\ngood spinster that I had no rival in the whole neighbourhood. I spun\ntill I got so addicted to it that I even used to spin at night: the\neffect of all this was that my eyelids became so long that the doctors\ncould not get them back to their places.\"\n\nThe second said, \"I have spun so much during my life and for such a\nlength of time that with continually biting off the end of the yarn my\nlips got so soft that one reached my knees.\"\n\nThe third said, \"I have sat so much at my spinning that my posterior\nbecame flat as it is now.\"\n\nHereupon the king, knowing how passionately fond his wife was of\nspinning, got so frightened that he strictly prohibited her ever\nspinning again.\n\nThe news of the story went out over the whole world, into every royal\ncourt and every town; and the women were so frightened at what had\nhappened to the beggars that they broke every distaff, spinning-wheel,\nand spindle, and threw them into the fire!\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENVIOUS SISTERS.\n\n\nA king had three daughters whose names were Pride, Gentleness, and\nKindness. The king was very fond of them all, but he loved the youngest\none, Kindness, the most, as she knew best how to please him. Many\nclever young gentlemen came to visit Kindness, but no one ever came near\nthe other two, and so they were very envious of her, and decided they\nwould get rid of her somehow or other. One morning they asked their\nfather's permission to go out into the fields, and from thence they went\ninto the forest. Kindness was delighted at having liberty to roam about\nin such pretty places; the other two were pleased that they had at last\ngot the bird into their hands. As the dew dried up the two eldest\nsisters strolled about arm in arm, whilst the youngest chased\nbutterflies and plucked the wild strawberries, with the intention of\ntaking some home to her father; she spent her time in great glee,\nsinging and listening to the songs of the birds, when suddenly she\ndiscovered that she had strolled into an immense wood. As she was\nconsidering what to do, her two sisters appeared by her side, and said\nspitefully, \"Well, you good-for-nothing! you have never done anything\nbut try to make our father love you most and to spoil our chances in\nevery way, prepare yourself for your end, for you have eaten your last\npiece of bread.\" Kindness lifted up her hands, and besought them not to\nharm her, but they cut off her hands, and only spared her life under the\ncondition that she would never go near her home again; they then took\nher beautiful precious mantle from her, and dressed her in old rags;\nthey then led her to the highest part of the forest, and showed her an\nunknown land, bidding her go there and earn her living by begging. The\nblood streamed from Kindness's arms, and her heart ached in an\nindescribable way, but she never uttered the slightest reproach against\nher sisters, but started off in the direction pointed out to her.\nSuddenly she came to a beautiful open plain, where there was a pretty\nlittle orchard full of trees, and their fruit was always ripening all\nthe year round. She gave thanks to God that he had guided her there,\nthen, entering the garden, she crouched down in a by-place. As she had\nno hands to pluck the fruit with she lived upon what grew upon low\nboughs; thus she spent the whole summer unnoticed by any one.\n\nBut towards autumn, when every other fruit was gone save grapes, she\nlived on these, and then the gardener soon discovered that the bunches\nhad been tampered with and that there must be some one about: he watched\nand caught her. Now it so happened that the garden belonged to a prince,\nwho spent a great deal of his time there, as he was very fond of the\nplace. The gardener did not like to tell him of what had happened, as he\npitied the poor handless girl and was afraid his master would punish her\nseverely. He decided therefore to let her go. Accidentally, however, the\nprince came past and asked who she was. \"Your highness,\" replied the\ngardener, \"I know no more of her than you do. I caught her in the\ngarden, and to prevent her doing any more damage I was going to turn her\nout.\" \"Don't lead her away,\" said the prince; \"and who are you,\nunfortunate girl?\" \"You have called me right, my lord,\" said Kindness,\n\"for I am unfortunate, but I am not bad; I am a beggar, but I am of\nroyal blood. I was taken from my father because he loved me most;\ncrippled because I was a good child. That is my story.\" To this the\nprince replied, \"However dirtily and ragged you are dressed, still it is\nclear to me that you are not of low birth: your pretty face and polished\nspeech prove it. Follow me; and whatever you have lost you will find in\nmy house.\" \"Your highness, in this nasty, dirty dress--how can I come\ninto your presence? Send clothes to me which I can put on, and then I\nwill do whatever you order.\" \"Very well,\" said the prince; \"stay here,\nand I will send to you.\" He went and sent her a lady-in-waiting with\nperfumed water to wash with, a gorgeous dress, and a carriage. Kindness\nwashed and dressed herself, got into the carriage, and went to the\nprince. Quite changed in her appearance, not at all like as she was\nbefore, however much she suffered she was as pretty as a Lucretia; and\nthe prince fell so much in love with her that he decided on the spot\nthat he would marry her; and so they got married, with great splendour,\nand spent their time together in great happiness.\n\nWhen the two elder sisters came home from the forest their father\ninquired where Kindness was. \"Has she not come home?\" said they; \"we\nthought that she would have been home before us. As she was running\nafter butterflies she got separated from us. We looked for her\neverywhere and called for her; as we got no answer we set off home\nbefore the darkness set in.\"\n\nThe king gave orders that Kindness was to be looked for everywhere; they\nsearched for days but could not find her; then the king got so angry in\nhis sorrow that he drove the two elder girls away because they had not\ntaken proper care of their sister. They set out into the world in quite\nanother direction, but by accident arrived in the country where Kindness\nwas queen; here they lived a retired life in a small town unknown to\nall. Kindness at this time was enceinte; and as war broke out with a\nneighbouring nation her royal husband was obliged to go to the field of\nbattle. The war lasted a long time, and in the meantime Kindness gave\nbirth to twins, two handsome sons; on the forehead of one was the sign\nof the blessed sun, on the other the sign of the blessed moon; in great\njoy the queen's guardian sent a letter containing the good news to the\nking by a messenger to the camp. The messenger had to pass through the\nsmall town where the envious sisters dwelt; it was quite dark when he\narrived, and as he did not see a light anywhere but in their window he\nwent and asked for a night's lodging; while he stayed there he told them\nall about the object of his journey; you may imagine how well he was\nreceived, and with what pleasure they offered him lodging, these envious\nbrutes! When the messenger fell asleep they immediately took possession\nof the letter, tore it open, read it, and burnt it, and put in its place\nanother to the king, saying that the queen had given birth to two\nmonsters which looked more like puppies than babes; in the morning they\ngave meat and drink to the messenger, and pressed him to call and see\nthem on his way back, as they would be delighted to see him. He accepted\ntheir kind invitation, and promised that he would come to them, and to\nno one else, on his return. The messenger arrived at the camp and\ndelivered his letter to the king, who was very downcast as he read it;\nbut still he wrote back and said that his wife was not to be blamed; \"if\nit has happened thus how can I help it? don't show her the slightest\ndiscourtesy,\" wrote he. As the messenger went back he slept again in the\nhouse of the two old serpent-sisters; they stole the king's letter and\nwrote in its place: \"I want neither children nor mother; see that by the\ntime I come home those monsters be out of my way, so that not even so\nmuch as their name remain.\" When this letter was read every one was very\nsorry for the poor queen, and couldn't make out why the king was so\nangry, but there was nothing for it but for the king's orders to be\ncarried out, and so the two pretty babes were put in a sheet and hung\nround Kindness's neck, and she was sent away. For days and days poor\nKindness walked about suffering hunger and thirst, till at last she came\nto a pretty wood; passing through this she travelled through a valley\ncovered with trees; passing through this at last she saw the great\nalpine fir-trees at the end of the vale; there she found a clear spring;\nin her parching thirst she stooped to drink, but in her hurry she lost\nher balance and fell into the water; as she tried to drag herself out\nwith her two stumps, to her intense astonishment she found that by\nimmersion her two hands had grown again as they were before; she wept\nfor joy. Although she was hiding in an unknown place with no husband, no\nfather, no friend, no help whatever, with two starving children in this\ngreat wilderness, still she wasn't sorrowful, because she was so\ndelighted to have her hands again. She stood there, and could not make\nup her mind in which direction to go; as she stood looking all round she\nsuddenly caught sight of an old man coming towards her. \"Who are you?\"\nsaid the old man. \"Who am I?\" she replied, sighing deeply; \"I'm an\nunfortunate queen.\" She then told him all she had suffered, and how she\nhad recovered her hands that very minute by washing in the spring. \"My\npoor good daughter,\" said the old man, bitterly, \"then we are both\nafflicted ones; it's quite enough that you are alive, and that I have\nfound you. Listen to me: your husband was warring against me, he drove\nme from my country, and hiding from him I came this way; not very far\nfrom here with one of my faithful servants I have built a hut and we\nwill live together there.\" The old man, in order to prove the miraculous\ncuring power of the spring, dipped his maimed finger into it, which was\nshot off in the last war; as he took it out, lo! it was all right once\nmore.\n\nWhen the war was over, Kindness's husband returned home and inquired\nafter his wife. They told him all that had happened, and he was deeply\ngrieved, and went in search of her with a great number of his people,\nand they found her at last with her two pretty babes, living with her\nold father. On inquiry it was also found out where the messenger with\nthe letters had slept and how the letters were changed. Pride and\nGentleness were summoned and sentenced to death; but Kindness forgave\nthem all their misdeeds, and was so kind to them that she obtained their\npardon, and also persuaded her father to forgive them.\n\nThere is no more of this speech to which you need listen, as I have told\nit to the very end and I have not missed a word out of it. Those of whom\nI have spoken may they be your guests, every one of them, to-morrow!\n\n\n\n\nKNIGHT ROSE.\n\n\nA king had three sons. When the enemy broke into the land and occupied\nit, the king himself fell in the war. The young princes were good\nhuntsmen and fled from the danger, all three, taking three horses with\nthem. They went on together for a long time, till they did not even know\nwhere they were; on they journeyed, till at last they came to the top of\nthe very highest snow-covered mountain, where the road branched off:\nhere they decided to separate and try their luck alone. They agreed that\non the summit of the mountain, at the top of a tall tree, they would fix\na long pole, and on it a white handkerchief. They were to keep well in\nsight of this white flag, and whenever the handkerchief was seen full of\nblood the one who saw it was to start in search of his brothers, as one\nof them was in danger. The name of the youngest was Rose; he started off\nto the left, the other two went to the right. When Rose came to the\nseventh snow-capped mount and had got far into it he saw a beautiful\ncastle and went in. As he was tired with travelling and wanted a night's\nrest, he settled down. When even came the gates of the castle opened\nwith great noise, and seven immense giants rushed into the courtyard and\nfrom thence into the tower. Every one of them was as big as a tall\ntower. Rose, in his fright, crept under the bed; but the moment the\ngiants entered one of them said, \"Phuh! What an Adam-like smell there is\nhere!\" Looking about they caught Rose, cut him up into small pieces like\nthe stalk of a cabbage and threw him out of the window.\n\nIn the morning the giants went out again on their business. From a bush\nthere came forth a snake, which had the head of a pretty girl; she\ngathered up every morsel of Rose's body, arranged them in order, and\nsaid, \"This belongs here, that belongs there.\" She then anointed him\nwith grass that had healing power, and brought water of life and death\nfrom a spring that was not far off and sprinkled it over him. Rose\nsuddenly jumped up on his feet and was seven times more beautiful and\nstrong than before. At this moment the girl cast off the snake-skin as\nfar as the arm-pits. As Rose was now so strong he became braver, and in\nthe evening did not creep under the bed, but waited for the giants\ncoming home, at the gate. They arrived and sent their servants in\nadvance to cut up that wretched heir of Adam; but they could not manage\nhim, it took the giants themselves to cut him up. Next morning the\nserpent with the girl's head came again and brought Rose to life as\nbefore, and she herself cast off her skin as far as her waist. Rose was\nnow twice as strong as a single giant. The same evening the seven giants\nkilled him again, he himself having killed the servants and wounded\nseveral of the giants. Next morning the giants were obliged to go\nwithout their servants. Then the serpent came and restored Rose once\nmore, who was now stronger than all the seven giants put together, and\nwas so beautiful that though you could look at the sun you could not\nlook at him. The girl now cast off the serpent's skin altogether and\nbecame a most beautiful creature. They told each other the story of\ntheir lives. The girl said that she was of royal blood, and that the\ngiants had killed her father and seized his land, that the castle\nbelonged to her father, and that the giants went out every day to\nplunder the people. She herself had become a snake by the aid of a good\nold quack nurse, and had made a vow that she would remain a serpent\nuntil she had been avenged on the giants, and she knew now that although\nshe had cast off the snake's skin she had nothing to fear because Rose\nwas a match for the seven giants. \"Now, Rose,\" said she, \"destroy them\nevery one, and I will not be ungrateful.\" To which he replied, \"Dearest\none, you have restored me to life these three times--how could I help\nbeing grateful to you? My life and my all are yours!\" They took an oath\nto be true to each other till death, and spent the day merrily till\nevening set in, when the giants came, and Rose addressed them thus: \"Is\nit not true, you pack of scoundrels, that you have killed me three\ntimes? Now, I tell you that not one of you shall put his foot within\nthese gates! Don't you believe me? Let's fight!\" They charged upon him\nwith great fury, but victory was, this time, on his side; he killed\nthem one after the other and took the keys of the castle out of their\npockets. He then searched over every nook in the building, and came to\nthe conclusion that they were safe, as they had now possession of the\ncastle.\n\nThe night passed quietly; next morning Rose looked from the courtyard to\nthe top of the snow-covered mountain, in the direction of the white\nflag, and saw that it was quite bloody. He was exceedingly sorry, and\nsaid to his love, \"I must go in search of my two elder brothers, as some\nmischief has befallen them; wait till I return, because if I find them I\nshall certainly be back.\"\n\nHe then got ready, took his sword, bow and arrow, some healing-grass,\nand water of life and death with him, and went to the very place where\nthey had separated. On the way he shot a hare, and when he came to the\nplace of separation he went on the same road by which his elder brothers\nhad gone; he found there a small hut and a tree beside it; he stopped in\nfront of the tree, and saw that his brothers' two dogs were chained to\nit; he loosed them, lighted a fire, and began to roast the hare. As he\nroasted it he heard a voice as if some one were shouting from the tree\nin a shivering voice; \"Oh, how cold I am!\" it said. \"If you're cold,\"\nreplied Rose, \"get down and warm yourself.\" \"Yes,\" said the voice, \"but\nI'm afraid of the dogs.\" \"Don't be afraid as they won't hurt an honest\nperson.\" \"I believe you,\" said the voice in the tree, \"but still I want\nyou to throw this hair between them; let them smell it first, then they\nwill know me by it.\" Rose took the hair and threw it into the fire. Down\ncame an old witch from the tree and warmed herself. Then she spitted a\ntoad and began to roast it. As she did so she said to Rose, \"This is\nmine, that is yours,\" and threw it at him. As Rose couldn't stand this\nhe jumped up, drew his sword, and smote the witch; but lo! the sword\nturned into a log of wood, and the witch flew at him to kill him,\ncrying, \"It's all up with you also. I've killed your brothers in\nrevenge because you killed my seven giant sons.\"[1] But Rose set the\ndogs at her, and they dragged her about till they drew blood. The blood\nwas spilt on the log of wood and it became a sword again. Rose caught\nhold of it and chopped the old witch's left arm off. Now the witch\nshowed him the place where she had buried his brothers. Rose smote her\nonce more with his sword and the old witch went to Pluto's. Rose dug out\nthe bodies, put the bits together, anointed them with the healing-grass,\nand sprinkled them with the water of life and death, and they came to\nlife again.\n\nWhen they opened their eyes and saw Rose, they both exclaimed, \"Oh! how\nlong I have been asleep.\" \"Very long indeed,\" said Rose, \"and if I\nhadn't come you'd have been asleep still.\" They told him that soon after\nthey had separated they received the news that the enemy had withdrawn\nfrom their country, and they decided to return, and that the elder\nshould undertake the government of the land, and the other go in search\nof Rose. On their way they happened to go into the hut, and the old\nwitch treated them as she was going to treat Rose.\n\nRose also told them his tale, and spoke to them thus: \"You, my eldest\nbrother, go home, and sit on our father's throne. You my other brother\ncome with me, and let us two govern the vast country over which the\ngiants had tyrannised until now:\" and thus they separated and each went\non his own business.\n\nRose found his pretty love again, who was nearly dead with fretting for\nhim, but who quite recovered on his happy return. They took into their\nhands the government of the vast country which they had delivered from\nthe sway of the giants. Rose and his love got married with the most\nsplendid wedding-feast, and the bride had to dance a great deal; and if\nthey've not died since they're alive still to this very day.\n\nMay they curl themselves into an eggshell and be your guests to-morrow.\n\n[1] According to Kozma this is the only instance in the Sz\u00e9kely\nfolk-lore which accounts for the origin of giants.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCE MIRK\u00d3.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, a king who had three sons. This king\nhad great delight in his three sons, and decided to give them a sound\neducation, and after that to give them a place in the government, so\nthat he might leave them as fit and willing heirs to his throne; so he\nsent these sons to college to study, and they did well for a while; but\nall of a sudden they left college, came home, and would not return. The\nking was very much annoyed at their conduct, and prohibited them from\never entering his presence. He himself retired, and lived in an eastern\nroom of the royal residence, where he spent his time sitting in a window\nthat looked eastward, as if he expected some one to come in that\ndirection. One of his eyes was continually weeping, while the other was\ncontinually laughing. One day, when the princes were grown up, they held\na consultation, and decided to ascertain from their royal father the\nreason why he always sat in the east room, and why one eye was\ncontinually weeping while the other never ceased laughing. The eldest\nson tried his fortune first, and thus questioned the king: \"Most\ngracious majesty, my father. I have come to ask you, my royal sire, the\nreason why one of your eyes is always weeping while the other never\nceases laughing, and why you always sit in this east room.\" The king\nmeasured his son from top to toe, and never spoke a word, but seized his\nlong straight sword which leant against the window and threw it at him:\nit struck the door, and entered into it up to the hilt. The prince\njumped through the door and escaped the blow that was meant for him. As\nhe went he met his two brothers, who inquired how he had fared. \"You'd\nbetter try yourself and you will soon know,\" replied he. So the second\nprince tried, but with no better result than his brother. At last the\nthird brother, whose name was Mirk\u00f3, went in, and, like his brother,\ninformed the king of the reason of his coming. The king uttered not a\nword, but seized the sword with even greater fury, and threw it with\nsuch vehemence that it entered up to the hilt in the wall of the room:\nyet Mirk\u00f3 did not run away, but only dodged the sword, and then pulled\nit out of the wall and took it back to his royal father, placing it on\nthe table in front of him. Seeing this the king began to speak and said\nto Prince Mirk\u00f3, \"My son, I can see that you know more about honour than\nyour two brothers. So I will answer your question. One of my eyes weeps\ncontinually because I fret about you that you are such good-for-nothings\nand not fit to rule; the other laughs continually because in my younger\ndays I had a good comrade, Knight Mezey, with whom I fought in many\nbattles, and he promised me that if he succeeded in vanquishing his\nenemy he would come and live with me, and we should spend our old age\ntogether. I sit at the east window because I expect him to come in that\ndirection; but Knight Mezey, who lives in the Silk Meadow, has so many\nenemies rising against him every day as there are blades of grass, and\nhe has to cut them down all by himself every day; and until the enemies\nbe extirpated he cannot come and stay with me.\" With this, Prince Mirk\u00f3\nleft his father's room, went back to his brothers, and told them what\nhe had heard from the king. So they held council again, and decided to\nask permission from their father to go and try their fortunes. First the\neldest prince went and told the king that he was anxious to go and try\nhis fortune, to which the king consented: so the eldest prince went into\nthe royal stables and chose a fine charger, had it saddled, his bag\nfilled, and started on his journey the next morning. He was away for a\nwhole year, and then suddenly turned up one morning, carrying on his\nshoulder a piece of bridge-flooring made of copper; throwing it down in\nfront of the royal residence, he walked into the king's presence, told\nhim where he had been, and what he had brought back with him. The king\nlistened to the end of his tale and said, \"Well, my son, when I was as\nyoung as you are I went that way, and it only took me two hours from the\nplace where you brought this copper from. You are a very weak knight:\nyou won't do; you can go.\" With this the eldest prince left his father's\nroom. The second prince then came in and asked the king to permit him to\ntry his fortune, and the king gave him permission. So he went to the\nroyal stables, had a fine charger saddled, his bag filled, and set off.\nAt the end of a year he returned home, bringing with him a piece of\nbridge-flooring made of silver; this he threw down in front of the royal\nresidence, and went in unto the king, told him all about his journey and\nabout his spoil. \"Alas!\" said the king, \"when I was as young as you I\nwent that way, and it did not take me more than three hours; you are a\nvery weak knight, my son: you will not do.\"\n\nWith this he dismissed his second son also. At last Prince Mirk\u00f3 went in\nand asked permission to go and try his fortune, and the king granted him\npermission, so he also went into the royal stables in order to choose a\nhorse for the journey; but he did not find one to suit him, so he went\nto the royal stud-farm to choose one there. As he was examining the\nyoung horses, and could not settle which to have, there suddenly\nappeared an old witch, who asked him what he wanted. Prince Mirk\u00f3 told\nher his intention, and that he wanted a horse to go on the journey.\n\"Alas! my lord,\" said the old witch, \"you can't get a horse here to suit\nyou, but I will tell you how to obtain one: go to your father, and ask\nhim to let you have the horn which in his younger days he used to call\ntogether his stud with golden hair, blow into it, and the golden stud\nwill at once appear. But don't choose any of those with the golden hair;\nbut at the very last there will come a mare with crooked legs and shaggy\ncoat; you will know her by the fact that when the stud passes through\nthe gates of the royal fortress the mare will come last, and she will\nwhisk her tail and strike the heel-post of the fortress-gate with such\nforce that the whole fort will quiver with the shock. Choose her, and\ntry your fortune.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3 followed the witch's advice most\ncarefully. Going to the king he said, \"My royal father, I come to ask\nyou to give me the horn with which in your younger days you used to call\ntogether your stud with the golden hair.\" \"Who told you of this?\"\ninquired the king. \"Nobody,\" replied Prince Mirk\u00f3. \"Well, my dear son,\nif no one has informed you of this, and if it be your own conception,\nyou are a very clever fellow; but if any one has told you to do this\nthey mean no good to you. I will tell you where the horn is, but by this\ntime, I daresay, it is all rust-eaten. In the seventh cellar there is a\nrecess in the wall; in this recess lies the horn, bricked up; try to\nfind it, take it out, and use it if you think you can.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3\nsent for the bricklayer on the spot, and went with him to the cellar\nindicated, found the recess, took the horn, and carried it off with him.\nHe then stood in the hall of the royal residence and blew it, facing\neast, west, south, and north. In a short time he heard the tingle of\ngolden bells begin to sound, increasing till the whole town rang with\nthe noise; and lo! through the gates of the royal residence beautiful\ngolden-haired horses came trooping in. Then he saw, even at the\ndistance, the mare with the crooked legs and shaggy coat, and as she\ncame, the last, great Heavens! as she came through the gates she whisked\nthe heel-post with her tail with such force that the whole building\nshook to its very foundation. The moment the stud had got into the royal\ncourtyard he went to the crooked-legged shaggy-coated mare, caught her,\nhad her taken to the royal stables, and made it known that he intended\nto try his fortune with her. The mare said \"Quite right, my prince; but\nfirst you will have to give me plenty of oats, because it would be\ndifficult to go a long journey without food.\" \"What sort of food do you\nwish? Because whatever my father possesses I will willingly give to\nyou,\" said the prince. \"Very well, my prince,\" said the mare; \"but it is\nnot usual to feed a horse just before you start on a journey, but some\ntime beforehand.\" \"Well, I can't do much at present,\" said the prince;\n\"but whatever I've got you shall have with pleasure.\" \"Well, then, bring\nme a bushel of barley at once, and have it emptied into my manger.\"\nMirk\u00f3 did this; and when she had eaten the barley she made him fetch a\nbushel of millet; and when she had eaten that she said, \"And now bring\nme half a bushel of burning cinders, and empty them into my manger.\"\nWhen she had eaten these she turned to a beautiful golden-haired animal\nlike to the morning-star. \"Now, my prince,\" said she, \"go to the king\nand ask him to give you the saddle he used when he rode me in his\nyounger days.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3 went to the old king and asked him for the\nsaddle. \"It cannot be used now,\" said he, \"as it has been lying about so\nlong in the coach-house, and it's all torn by this, but if you can find\nit you can have it.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3 went to the coach-house and found the\nsaddle, but it was very dirty, as the fowls and turkeys had for many\nyears roosted on it, and torn it; still he took it to the mare in order\nto put it on her, but she said that it was not becoming a prince to sit\nupon such a thing, wherefore he was going to have it altered and\nrepaired; but the mare told him to hold it in front of her, and she\nbreathed on it, and in a moment it was changed into a beautiful gold\nsaddle, such as had not an equal over seven countries; with this he\nsaddled the t\u00e1tos (mythical horse). \"Now, my prince,\" said she, \"you had\nbetter go to your father and ask him for the brace of pistols and the\nsword with which he used to set out when he rode me in former days.\" So\nthe prince went and asked these from his father, but the old king\nreplied \"that they were all rusty by this time, and of no use,\" but, if\nhe really wanted them, he could have them, and pointed out the rack\nwhere they were. Prince Mirk\u00f3 took them and carried them to the mare,\nwho breathed upon them, and changed them into gold; he then girded on\nhis sword, placed the pistols in the holsters, and got ready for a\nstart. \"Well, my dear master,\" said the mare, \"where now is my bridle?\"\nWhereupon, the prince fetched from the coach-house an old bridle, which\nshe blew upon and it changed into gold; this the prince threw over her\nhead, and led her out of the stable, and was about to mount her when the\nmare said, \"Wait a minute, lead me outside the town first, and then\nmount me;\" so he led her outside the town, and then mounted her. At this\nmoment the mare said, \"Well, my dear master, how shall I carry you?\nShall I carry you with a speed like the quick hurricane, or like a flash\nof thought?\" \"I don't mind, my dear mare, how you carry me, only take\ncare that you run so that I can bear it.\"\n\nTo this the mare replied, \"Shut your eyes and hold fast.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3\nshut his eyes, and the mare darted off like a hurricane. After a short\ntime she stamped upon the ground and said to the prince, \"Open your\neyes! What can you see?\" \"I can see a great river,\" said Prince Mirk\u00f3,\n\"and over it a copper bridge.\" \"Well, my dear master,\" said the mare,\n\"that's the bridge from which your eldest brother carried off part of\nthe flooring: can't you see the vacant place?\" \"Yes, I can see it,\" said\nthe prince, \"and where shall we go now?\" \"Shut your eyes and I will\ncarry you;\" with this, she started off like a flash of lightning, and in\na few moments again stamped upon the ground and said, \"Open your eyes!\nNow what do you see?\" \"I see,\" said Prince Mirk\u00f3, \"a great river, and\nover it a silver bridge.\" \"Well, my dear master, that's the bridge from\nwhich your second brother took the silver flooring; can't you see the\nplace?\" \"Yes,\" said he, \"I can, and now where shall we go?\"\n\n\"Shut your eyes and I will carry you,\" said the mare, and off she darted\nlike lightning, and in a moment she again stamped upon the ground and\nstopped and said to Prince Mirk\u00f3, \"Open your eyes! What can you see?\" \"I\nsee,\" replied he, \"a vast, broad, and deep river, and over it a golden\nbridge, and at each end, on this side and that, four immense and fierce\nlions. How are we to get over this?\" \"Don't take any notice of them,\"\nsaid the mare, \"I will settle with them, you shut your eyes.\" Prince\nMirk\u00f3 shut his eyes, the mare darted off like a swift falcon, and flew\nover the bridge; in a short time she stopped, stamped, and said, \"Open\nyour eyes! Now what do you see?\" \"I see,\" said the prince, \"an immense,\nhigh glass rock, with sides as steep as the side of a house.\" \"Well, my\ndear master,\" said the mare, \"We have to get over that too.\"\n\n\"But that is impossible,\" said the prince; but the mare cheered him, and\nsaid, \"Don't worry yourself, dear master, as I still have the very shoes\non my hoofs which your father put on them with diamond nails six hundred\nyears ago. Shut your eyes and hold fast.\"\n\nAt this moment the mare darted off, and in a twinkling of the eye she\nreached the summit of the glass rock, where she stopped, stamped, and\nsaid to the prince, \"Open your eyes! What can you see?\" \"I can see,\nbelow me,\" said Prince Mirk\u00f3, \"on looking back, something black, the\nsize of a fair-sized dish.\" \"Well, my dear master, that is the orb of\nthe earth; but what can you see in front of you?\" \"I can see,\" said\nPrince Mirk\u00f3, \"a narrow round-backed glass path, and by the side of it,\nthis side as well as on the other side, a deep bottomless abyss.\" \"Well,\nmy dear master,\" said the mare, \"we have to get over that, but the\npassage is so difficult that if my foot slips the least bit either way\nwe shall perish, but rely on me. Shut your eyes and grasp hold of me,\nand I will do it.\" With this the mare started and in another moment she\nagain stamped on the ground and said, \"Open your eyes! What can you\nsee?\" \"I can see,\" said Prince Mirk\u00f3, \"behind me, in the distance, some\nfaint light and in front of me such a thick darkness that I cannot even\nsee my finger before me.\" \"Well, my dear master, we have to get through\nthis also. Shut your eyes, and grasp me.\" Again she started and again\nshe stamped. \"Open your eyes! What can you see now?\" \"I can see,\" said\nPrince Mirk\u00f3, \"a beautiful light, a beautiful snow-clad mountain, in the\nmidst of the mountain a meadow like silk, and in the midst of the meadow\nsomething black.\" \"Well, my dear master, that meadow which looks like\nsilk belongs to Knight Mezey, and the black something in the middle of\nit is his tent, woven of black silk; it does not matter now whether you\nshut your eyes or not, we will go there.\" With this Prince Mirk\u00f3 spurred\nthe mare, and at once reached the tent.\n\nPrince Mirk\u00f3 jumped from his mare and tied her to the tent by the side\nof Knight Mezey's horse, and he himself walked into the tent, and lo!\ninside, a knight was laid at full length on the silken grass, fast\nasleep, but a sword over him was slashing in all directions, so that not\neven a fly could settle on him. \"Well,\" thought Prince Mirk\u00f3 to himself,\n\"this fellow must be a brave knight, but I could kill him while he\nsleeps; however, it would not be an honourable act to kill a sleeping\nknight, and I will wait till he wakes.\" With this he walked out of the\ntent, tied his mare faster to the tent-post, and he also lay down full\nlength upon the silken grass, and said to his sword, \"Sword, come out of\nthy scabbard,\" and his sword began to slash about over him, just like\nKnight Mezey's, so that not even a fly could settle on him.\n\nAll of a sudden Knight Mezey woke, and to his astonishment he saw\nanother horse tied by the side of his, and said, \"Great Heavens! what's\nthe meaning of this? It's six hundred years since I saw a strange horse\nby the side of mine! Whom can it belong to?\" He got up, went out of the\ntent, and saw Prince Mirk\u00f3 asleep outside, and his sword slashing about\nover him. \"Well,\" said he, \"this must be a brave knight, and as he has\nnot killed me while I was asleep, it would not be honourable to kill\nhim,\" with this he kicked the sleeping knight's foot and woke him. He\njumped up, and Knight Mezey thus questioned him: \"Who are you? What is\nyour business?\" Prince Mirk\u00f3 told him whose son he was and why he had\ncome. \"Welcome, my dear brother,\" said Knight Mezey, \"your father is a\ndear friend of mine, and I can see that you are as brave a knight as\nyour father, and I shall want you, because the large silken meadow that\nyou see is covered with enemies every day, and I have to daily cut them\ndown, but now that you are here to help me I shall be in no hurry about\nthem; let's go inside and have something to eat and drink, and let them\ngather into a crowd, two of us will soon finish them.\" They went into\nthe tent and had something to eat and drink; but all at once his enemies\ncame up in such numbers that they came almost as far as the tent, when\nKnight Mezey jumped to his feet and said, \"Jump up, comrade, or else we\nare done for.\" They sprang to their horses, darted among the enemy, and\nboth called out, \"Sword, out of thy scabbard!\" and in a moment the two\nswords began to slash about, and cut off the heads of the enemy, so that\nthey had the greatest difficulty in advancing on account of the piles of\ndead bodies, till at last, at the rear of the enemy, twelve knights took\nto flight, and Knight Mezey and Prince Mirk\u00f3 rode in pursuit of them,\ntill they reached a glass rock, to which they followed the twelve\nknights, Prince Mirk\u00f3 being the nearest to them. On the top of the rock\nthere was a beautiful open space, towards which the knights rode and\nPrince Mirk\u00f3 after them on his mare, when all at once they all\ndisappeared, as if the earth had swallowed them; seeing this, Prince\nMirk\u00f3 rode to the spot where they disappeared, where he found a\ntrap-door, and under the door a deep hole and a spiral staircase. The\nmare without hesitation jumped into the hole, which was the entrance to\nthe infernal regions. Prince Mirk\u00f3, looking round in Hades, suddenly\ndiscerned a glittering diamond castle, which served the lower regions\ninstead of the sun, and saw that the twelve knights were riding towards\nit; so he darted after them, and, calling out \"Sword, come out of thy\nscabbard,\" he slashed off the twelve knights' heads in a moment, and,\nriding to the castle, he heard such a hubbub and clattering that the\nwhole place resounded with it: he jumped off his horse, and walked into\nthe castle, when lo! there was an old diabolical-looking witch, who was\nweaving and making the clattering noise, and the whole building was now\nfull of soldiers, whom the devilish witch produced by weaving. When she\nthrew the shuttle to the right, each time two hussars on horseback\njumped out from the shuttle, and when she threw it to the left, each\ntime two foot soldiers jumped from it fully equipped. When he saw this,\nhe ordered his sword out of its scabbard, and cut down all the soldiers\npresent. But the old witch wove others again, so Prince Mirk\u00f3 thought to\nhimself, if this goes on, I shall never get out of this place, so he\nordered his sword to cut up into little pieces the old witch, and then\nhe carried out the whole bleeding mass into the courtyard, where he\nfound a heap of wood: he placed the mass on it, put a light to it, and\nburnt it. But when it was fully alight a small piece of a rib of the\nwitch flew out of the fire and began to spin around in the dust, and lo!\nanother witch grew out of it. Prince Mirk\u00f3 thereupon was about to order\nhis sword to cut her up too, when the old witch addressed him thus:\n\"Spare my life, Mirk\u00f3, and I will help you in return for your kindness;\nif you destroy me you can't get out of this place; here! I will give you\nfour diamond horse-shoe nails, put them away and you will find them\nuseful.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3 took the nails and put them away, thinking to\nhimself, \"If I spare the old witch she will start weaving again, and\nKnight Mezey will never get rid of his enemies,\" so he again ordered his\nsword to cut up the witch, and threw her into the fire and burnt her to\ncinders. She never came to life again. He then got on his mare and rode\nall over the lower regions, but could not find a living soul anywhere,\nwhereupon he spurred his mare, galloped to the foot of the spiral\nstaircase, and in another moment he reached the upper world. When he\narrived at the brink of the glass rock he was about to alight from his\nmare: and stopped her for this purpose, but the mare questioned him\nthus, \"What are you going to do, Prince Mirk\u00f3?\" \"I was going to get\ndown, because the road is very steep and it's impossible to go down on\nhorseback.\" \"Well then, dear master, if you do that you can't get below,\nbecause you couldn't walk on the steep road, but if you stop on my back,\ntake hold of my mane, and shut your eyes, I will take you down.\"\nWhereupon the mare started down the side of the rock, and, like a good\nmountaineer, climbed down from the top to the bottom, and having arrived\nat the foot of the steep rock, spoke to Prince Mirk\u00f3 thus: \"You can open\nyour eyes now.\" Mirk\u00f3 having opened his eyes, saw that they had arrived\nin the silken meadow.\n\nThey started in the direction of Knight Mezey's tent, but Knight Mezey\nthought that Mirk\u00f3 had already perished, when suddenly he saw that Mirk\u00f3\nwas alive, so he came in great joy to meet him, and leading him into his\ntent, as he had no heir, he offered him the silk meadow and his whole\nrealm, but Mirk\u00f3 replied thus: \"My dear brother, now that I have\ndestroyed all your enemies, you need not fear that the enemy will occupy\nyour country, therefore I should like you to come with me to my royal\nfather, who has been expecting you for a very long time.\" With this they\ngot on their horses, and started off in the direction of the old king's\nrealm, and arrived safely at the very spot on the glass rock where\nMirk\u00f3 had jumped down. Knight Mezey stopped here, and said to Prince\nMirk\u00f3: \"My dear brother, I cannot go further than this, because the\ndiamond nails of my horse's shoes have been worn out long ago, and the\nhorse's feet no longer grip the ground.\" But Mirk\u00f3 remembered that the\nold witch had given him some diamond nails, and said: \"Don't worry\nyourself, brother. I have got some nails with me, and I will shoe thy\nhorse.\" And taking out the diamond nails, he shod Knight Mezey's horse\nwith them. They mounted once more, and like two good mountaineers\ndescended the glass rock, and as swift as thought were on the way home.\n\nThe old king was also then sitting in the eastern window, awaiting\nKnight Mezey, when suddenly he saw two horsemen approaching, and,\nlooking at them with his telescope, recognised them as his dear old\ncomrade Knight Mezey, together with his son, Prince Mirk\u00f3, coming\ntowards him; so he ran down at once, and out of the hall. He ordered the\nbailiff to slaughter twelve heifers, and by the time that Knight Mezey\nand Mirk\u00f3 arrived, a grand dinner was ready waiting for them; and on\ntheir arrival he received them with great joy, embraced them and kissed\nthem, and laughed with both his eyes. Then they sat down to dinner, and\nate and drank in great joy. During dinner Knight Mezey related Mirk\u00f3's\nbrave deeds, and, amongst other things, said to the old king: \"Well,\ncomrade, your son Mirk\u00f3 is even a greater hero than we were. He is a\nbrave fellow, and you ought to be well pleased with him.\" The old king\nsaid: \"Well, when I come to think of it, I begin to be satisfied with\nhim, especially because he has brought you with him; but still I don't\nbelieve that he would have courage to fight Doghead also.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3\nwas listening to their talk but did not speak. After dinner, however, he\ncalled Knight Mezey aside, and asked him who Doghead was, and where he\nlived. Knight Mezey informed him that he lived in the north, and that he\nwas such a hero that there was no other to equal him under the sun.\nPrince Mirk\u00f3 at once gave orders for the journey, filled his bag, and\nnext day started on his mare to Doghead's place; according to his\ncustom, he sat upon the mare, grasped her firmly, and shut his eyes. The\nmare darted off, and flew like a swift cyclone, then suddenly stopped,\nstamped on the ground, and said, \"Prince Mirk\u00f3, open your eyes. What do\nyou see?\" \"I see,\" said the Prince, \"a diamond castle, six stories high,\nthat glitters so that one can't look at it, although one could look at\nthe sun.\" \"Well, Doghead lives there,\" said the mare, \"and that is his\nroyal castle.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3 rode close under the window and shouted\nloudly: \"Doghead! are you at home? Come out, because I have to reckon\nwith you.\" Doghead himself was not at home, but his daughter was\nthere--such a beautiful royal princess, whose like one could not find in\nthe whole world. As she sat in the window doing some needlework, and\nheard the high shrill voice, she looked through the window in a great\nrage, and gave him such a look with her beautiful flashing black eyes,\nthat Prince Mirk\u00f3 and his mare at once turned into a stone statue.\nHowever, she began to think that perhaps the young gentleman might be\nsome prince who had come to see her; so she repented that she had\ntransformed him into a stone statue so quickly; and ran down to him,\ntook out a golden rod, and began to walk round the stone statue, and\ntapped its sides with her gold rod, and lo! the stone crust began to\ncrack, and fell off, and all at once Prince Mirk\u00f3 and his mare stood\nalive in front of her. Then the princess asked; \"Who are you? and what\nis your business?\" And Mirk\u00f3 told her that he was a prince, and had come\nto see the Princess of Doghead. The princess slightly scolded him for\nshouting for her father so roughly through the window, but at the same\ntime fell in love with Prince Mirk\u00f3 on the spot, and asked him to come\ninto her diamond castle, which was six stories high, and received him\nwell. However, while feasting, Prince Mirk\u00f3 during the conversation\nconfessed what his true errand was, viz., to fight Doghead; but the\nprincess advised him to desist from this, because there was no man in\nthe whole world who could match her father. But when she found that\nMirk\u00f3 could not be dissuaded, she took pity on him, and, fearing that\nlest he should be vanquished, let him into the secret how to conquer her\nfather. \"Go down,\" she said, \"into the seventh cellar of the castle;\nthere you will find a cask which is not sealed. In that cask is kept my\nfather's strength. I hand you here a silver bottle, which you have to\nfill from the cask; but do not cork the bottle, but always take care\nthat it shall hang uncorked from your neck; and when your strength\nbegins to fail, dip your little finger into it, and each time your\nstrength will be increased by that of five thousand men; also drink of\nit, because each drop of wine will give you the strength of five\nthousand men.\" Prince Mirk\u00f3 listened attentively to her counsel, hung\nthe silver bottle round his neck, and went down into the cellar, where\nhe found the wine in question, and from it he first drank a good deal,\nand then filled his flask, and, thinking that he had enough in his\nbottle, he let the rest run out to the last drop, so that Doghead could\nuse it no more. There were in the cellar six bushels of wheat flour,\nwith this he soaked it up, so that no moisture was left, whereupon he\nwent upstairs to the princess, and reported that he was ready and also\nthanked her for her directions, and promised that for all her kindness\nhe would marry her, and vowed eternal faith to her. The beautiful\nprincess consented to all, and only made one condition, viz., that in\ncase Prince Mirk\u00f3 conquered her father he would not kill him.\n\nPrince Mirk\u00f3 then inquired of the beautiful princess when she expected\nher father home, and in what direction, to which the princess replied\nthat at present he was away in his western provinces, visiting their\ncapitals, but that he would be home soon, because he was due, and that\nit was easy to predict his coming, because when he was two hundred miles\nfrom home, he would throw home a mace weighing forty hundredweight, thus\nannouncing his arrival, and wherever the mace dropped a spring would\nsuddenly burst from the ground. Prince Mirk\u00f3 thereupon went with the\nroyal princess into the portico of the royal castle, to await there\nDoghead's arrival, when suddenly, good Heavens! the air became dark, and\na mace, forty hundredweight, came down with a thud into the courtyard of\nthe royal fortress, and, striking the ground, water burst forth\nimmediately in the shape of a rainbow. Prince Mirk\u00f3 at once ran into the\ncourtyard in order to try how much his strength had increased. He picked\nup the mace swung it over his head, and threw it back so that it dropped\njust in front of Doghead. Doghead's horse stumbled over the mace;\nwhereupon Doghead got angry. \"Gee up! I wish the wolves and dogs would\ndevour you,\" shouted Doghead to the horse. \"I have ridden you for the\nlast six hundred years, and up to this time you have never stumbled\nonce. What's the reason that you begin to stumble now?\" \"Alas! my dear\nmaster,\" said his horse, \"there must be something serious the matter at\nhome, because some one has thrown back your mace that you threw home,\nand I stumbled over it.\" \"There's nothing the matter,\" said Doghead; \"I\ndreamt six hundred years ago that I would have to fight Prince Mirk\u00f3,\nand it is he who is at my castle; but what is he to me? I have more\nstrength in my little finger than he in his whole body.\" With this he\ndarted off at a great speed and appeared at the castle. Prince Mirk\u00f3 was\nawaiting Doghead in the courtyard of the fortress. The latter, seeing\nPrince Mirk\u00f3, galloped straight to him and said, \"Well, Mirk\u00f3. I know\nthat you are waiting for me. Here I am. How do you wish me to fight you?\nWith swords? or shall we wrestle?\" \"I don't care how; just as you\nplease,\" said Mirk\u00f3. \"Then let us try swords first,\" said Doghead, and,\ngetting off his horse, they stood up, and both ordered out their swords.\n\"Swords, come out of the scabbards.\" The two swords flew out of the\nscabbards and began to fence over the heads of the combatants. The whole\nplace rung with their clashing, and in their vehemence they sent forth\nsparks in such quantity that the whole ground was covered with fire, so\nthat no one could stand the heat. Whereupon Doghead said to Mirk\u00f3,\n\"Don't let us spoil our swords, but let us put them back into their\nscabbards, and let us wrestle.\" So they sheathed their swords and began\nto wrestle. When suddenly Doghead grasped Mirk\u00f3 round the waist, lifted\nhim up, and dashed him to the ground with such force that Mirk\u00f3 sank to\nhis belt. Mirk\u00f3 was frightened, and quickly dipped his little finger\ninto the bottle. Whereupon he regained his strength, and, jumping out of\nthe ground, made a desperate dash at Doghead, and threw him to the\nground with such force, that he lay full length on the ground like a\ngreen frog; then he seized him by his hair and dragged him behind the\nroyal residence, where a golden bridge stood over a bottomless lake. He\ndragged him on to the bridge, and, holding his head over the water,\nordered his sword out of the scabbard and cut off his head, so that it\ndropped into the bottomless lake, and then he pushed the headless trunk\nafter it.\n\nDoghead's daughter saw all this, and grew very angry with Prince Mirk\u00f3,\nand as he approached her she turned her face away, and would not even\nspeak to him; but Prince Mirk\u00f3 explained to her that he could not do\notherwise, for if he had spared Doghead's life he would have destroyed\nhis; and that he was willing to redeem his promise, and keep his faith\nto the princess and take her for his wife. Whereupon the royal princess\nbecame reconciled, and they decided to get ready to go to Prince Mirk\u00f3's\nrealm. They ordered the horses--Doghead's charger was got ready for the\nbeautiful princess--and, mounting them, were about to start, when all at\nonce deep sorrow seized Prince Mirk\u00f3, and the beautiful royal princess\nthus questioned him: \"Why are you so downcast, Mirk\u00f3?\" \"Well, because,\"\nsaid Mirk\u00f3, \"I'm anxious to go back to my country, but I am also\nextremely sorry to leave behind this sumptuous diamond castle, six\nstories high, which belonged to your father, for there is nothing like\nit in my country.\" \"Well, my love,\" said the princess, \"don't trouble\nabout that. I will transform the castle into a golden apple at once, and\nsit in the middle of it, and all you will have to do is to put the apple\ninto your pocket, and then you can take me with you and the castle too,\nand when you arrive at home you can re-transform me wherever you like.\"\nThereupon the pretty princess jumped down from her horse, handed the\nreins to Mirk\u00f3, took out a diamond rod, and commenced to walk round the\ndiamond castle, gently beating the sides of it with the diamond rod, and\nthe castle began to shrink and shrunk as small as a sentry box, and then\nthe princess jumped inside of it, and the whole shrivelled up into a\ngolden apple, the diamond rod lying by the side of it. Prince Mirk\u00f3\npicked up the golden apple and the diamond rod, and put them into his\npocket, and then got on horseback, and, taking Doghead's horse by the\nbridle, he rode quietly home. Having arrived at home, Mirk\u00f3 had the\nhorses put in the stables, and then walked into the royal palace, where\nhe found the old king and Knight Mezey quite content and enjoying\nthemselves. He reported to them that he had conquered even Doghead, and\nthat he had killed him; but the old king and Knight Mezey doubted his\nwords. Therefore Prince Mirk\u00f3 took them both by their arms, and said to\nthem, \"Come along with me, and you can satisfy yourselves, with your own\neyes, that I have conquered Doghead, because I have brought away with\nme, not only his diamond castle, six stories high, but also his\nbeautiful daughter, inside it, as a trophy of my victory.\" The old king\nand Knight Mezey were astonished at his words, and, still doubting,\nfollowed Mirk\u00f3, who took them into the flower garden of the king, in the\nmiddle of which Prince Mirk\u00f3 selected a nice roomy place for the diamond\ncastle, and placed the golden apple there, and commenced walking round,\nand, patting its sides with the diamond rod, the golden apple began to\nswell. It took a quadrangular shape, growing and growing, higher and\nhigher, till it became a magnificent six-storied diamond castle; and\nthen he took the old king and Knight Mezey by their arms, and led them\nup the diamond staircase into the rooms of the castle, where the\nprincess, who was world-wide known for her beauty, met them, and\nreceived them most cordially. She bade them sit down, and sent lackeys\nto call the other sons of the old king and also the higher dignitaries\nof the court. In the dining-hall there was a big table, which could be\nopened out. She gave orders, and the table was laid of itself, and on it\nappeared all sorts of costly dishes and drinks, and the assembled guests\nfeasted in joy. The old king was highly satisfied with his son's doings,\nand handed over to Mirk\u00f3 the royal power and the whole realm: he himself\nand Knight Mezey retired into quiet secluded life, and lived long in\ngreat happiness. The young royal couple who got married had beautiful\nchildren, and they are alive still, to this very day, if they have not\ndied since. May they be your guests to-morrow!\n\n\n\n\nTHE STUDENT WHO WAS FORCIBLY MADE KING.\n\n\nA student started on a journey, and as he went over a field he found\nsome peas which were cracked. He thought that they might be of use to\nhim as he was a poor lad, and his father had advised him to pick up\nanything he saw, if it was worth no more than a flea; so he gathered up\nthe peas and put them in his pocket. As he travelled he was overtaken by\nnight just when he arrived at the royal borough; so he reported himself\nto the king, and asked for some money for travelling expenses, and a\nnight's lodging. Now the student was a comely lad, spoke grammatically,\nand had good manners. The queen noticed this, and as she had a daughter\nready for marriage, she came to the conclusion that he was a prince in\ndisguise, who had come in search of a wife. She told this to the king,\nand he thought it very probable. Both agreed that they would try to find\nout whether he really was a prince, and asked him to stay with them for\ntwo days. The first night they did not give him a very splendid bed,\nbecause they thought that if he were satisfied, he was but a student, if\nnot, then he must be a prince. They made his bed in the adjoining house,\nand the king placed one of his confidential servants outside of the\nwindow, that he might spy out all that the student did. They showed the\nbed to the student, and he began to undress when they left. As he\nundressed all the peas dropped out of his pocket, and rolled under the\nbed; he at once began to look for them and pick them up, one by one, and\ndid not finish till dawn. The spy outside could not make out what he was\ndoing, but he saw that he did not go to sleep till dawn, and then only\nfor a short time, having spent the night arranging his bed; so he\nreported to the king that his guest had not slept, but had fidgeted\nabout, appearing not to be used to such a bed. The student got up, and\nduring breakfast the king asked him how he had slept, to which he\nreplied, \"A little restlessly, but it was through my own fault.\" From\nthis they concluded that he already repented of not having shown them\nhis true position, and thus having not got a proper bed. They believed,\ntherefore, that he was a prince, and treated him accordingly. Next night\nthey made his bed in the same place, but in right royal style. As the\nstudent had not slept the night before, the moment he put his head down\nhe began to sleep like a pumpkin, and never even moved till dawn. He had\nno trouble with his peas this time, for he had tied them up in the\ncorner of his handkerchief as he picked them up from under the bed. The\nspy reported to the king next morning that the traveller slept soundly\nall night. They now firmly believed that the student simply dressed up\nas such, but in reality was a prince. They tried to persuade him that\nhe was a prince, and addressed him as such. The king's daughter ran\nafter the student to get into his favour, and it didn't take much to\nmake him fall in love with her, and so the two got married. They had\nlived a whole year together, when they were sent off to travel in order\nthat the student-king might show his wife his realm. The student was\nvery frightened that he might not get out of his trouble so well, and\ngrew more and more alarmed, till at last he accepted his fate. \"Let come\nwhatever is to come,\" thought he, \"I will go with them, and then, if\nnothing else can be done, I can escape, and go back to college,\" for he\nhad carried his student's gown with him everywhere. They started off and\ntravelled till they came to a large forest. The student slipped aside\ninto a deep ditch, where he undressed, in order to put on his student's\nclothes and to escape. Now there was a dragon with seven heads lazily\nlying there, who accosted him thus: \"Who are you? What are you looking\nfor here? What do you want?\" The student told him his whole history, and\nalso that he was just going to run away. \"There is no need to run away,\"\nsaid the dragon, \"that would be a pity, continue your journey; when you\nget out of this wood you will see a copper fortress, which swivels on a\ngoose's leg. Go into it, and live there in peace with your wife, with\nyour dog and cat, till the fortress begins to move and turn round. When\nthis happens, be off, because if I come home and catch you there, there\nwill be an end of you.\" The student went back to his travelling\ncompanions and continued his way until, emerging from the wood, he saw\nthe fortress. They all went in and settled down as in their own, and all\nwent on very well for two years, and he already began to believe that he\nreally was a king, when suddenly the fortress began to move, and swivel\nround very quickly. The student was downcast, and went up on the\nbattlement of the fortress, wandering about in great sorrow; he there\nfound an old woman, who asked him, \"What's the matter with your\nMajesty?\" \"H'm! the matter is, old woman,\" replied the student, \"that I\nam not a king, and still I am compelled to be one,\" and then he told her\nhis whole history up to that time. \"There's nothing in that, my son,\"\nsaid the old woman, \"be thankful that you have not tried to keep your\nsecret from me. I am the queen of magic, and the most formidable enemy\nof the dragon with seven heads; therefore this is my advice: get a loaf\nmade at once, and let this loaf be placed in the oven seven times with\nother loaves, this particular loaf each time to be put in the oven the\nfirst and to be taken out last. Have this loaf placed outside the\nfortress gate to-morrow, without fail. When the dragon with the seven\nheads is coming, it will be such a charm against him that he will never\ntrouble you again, and the fortress will be left to you with all that\nbelongs to it.\" The student had the loaf prepared as he was told, and\nwhen the clock struck one after midnight the bread was already placed\noutside the fortress gate. As the sun rose, the dragon with seven heads\nwent straight towards the fortress gate, where the loaf addressed him\nthus, \"Stop, I'm guard here, and without my permission you may not\nenter; if you wish to come in, you must first suffer what I have\nsuffered.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the dragon, \"I've made up my mind to enter, so let me know\nwhat ordeals you have gone through.\"\n\nThe loaf told him, that when it was a seed it was buried in a field that\nhad previously been dug up: then rotted, sprouted, and grew; it had\nsuffered from cold, heat, rain, and snow, until it ripened; it was then\ncut down, tied into sheaves, threshed out, ground, kneaded into dough,\nand then seven times running they put it in a fiery oven, each time\nbefore its mates: \"If you can stand all this,\" concluded the loaf,\n\"then I'll let you in, but on no other condition.\" The dragon, knowing\nthat he could not stand all this, got so angry that he burst in his rage\nand perished. The student from that day became lord of the fortress, and\nafter the death of his wife's parents became king of two lands; and if\nhe has not died yet, he reigns still.\n\nIf I knew that I should fare as well as that student I would become a\nstudent this very blessed day!\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN OF TWO RICH MEN.\n\n\nThere lived, at the two corners of a country, far away from each other,\ntwo rich men; one of them had a son, the other a daughter; these two men\nasked each other to be godfather to their children, and, during the\nchristening they agreed that the babes should wed. The children grew up,\nbut did no work, and so were spoilt. As soon as they were old enough\ntheir parents compelled them to marry. Shortly afterwards their parents\ndied and they were left alone; they knew nothing of the world and did\nnot understand farming, so the serfs and farm-labourers had it all their\nown way. Soon their fields were all overgrown with weeds and their\ncorn-bins empty; in a word they became poor. One day the master\nbethought himself that he ought to go to market, as he had seen his\nfather do; so he set off, and drove with him a pair of beautiful young\noxen that were still left. On his way he met a wedding-party, and\ngreeted them thus, \"May the Lord preserve you from such a sorrowful\nchange, and may He give consolation to those who are in trouble,\" Words\nhe had once heard his father use upon the occasion of a funeral. The\nwedding-party got very vexed, and, as they were rather flushed with\nwine, gave him a good drubbing, and told him that the next time he saw\nsuch a ceremony he was to put his hat on the end of his stick, lift it\nhigh in the air, and shout for joy. He went on further till he came to\nthe outskirts of a forest, where he met some butcher-like looking people\nwho were driving fat pigs, whereupon he seized his hat, put it on the\nend of his stick, and began to shout: which so frightened the pigs that\nthey rushed off on all sides into the wood; the butchers got hold of him\nand gave him a sound beating, and told him that the next time he saw\nsuch a party he was to say, \"May the Lord bless you with _two_ for every\n_one_ you have.\" He went on again and saw a man clearing out the weeds\nfrom his field, and greeted him, \"My brother, may the Lord bless you\nwith _two_ for every _one_ you have.\" The man, who was very angry about\nthe weeds, caught him and gave him a sound beating, and told him that\nthe next time he saw such things he had better help to pull out one or\ntwo. In another place he met two men fighting, so he went up and began\nto pull first at one and then at the other, whereupon they left off\nfighting with each other and pitched into him. Somehow or other he at\nlast arrived at the market, and, looking round, he saw an unpainted cart\nfor sale, whereupon he remembered that his father used to go into the\nwood in a cart, and so he asked the man who had it for sale whether he\nwould change it for his two oxen--not knowing that having once parted\nwith the oxen he would not get them back again. The man was at first\nangry, because he thought he was making fun of the cart, but he soon saw\nthat the man with the oxen was not quite right in his head, and so he\nstruck the bargain with the young farmer, who, when he got the cart,\nwent dragging it to and fro in the market. He met a blacksmith and\nchanged the cart for a hatchet; soon the hatchet was changed for a\nwhetstone; then he started off home as if he had settled matters in the\nmost satisfactory manner. Near his village he saw a lake, and on it a\nflock of wild ducks. He immediately threw his whetstone at them, which\nsank to the bottom, whilst every one of the ducks flew away.\n\nHe undressed and got into the lake, in order to recover his whetstone,\nbut in the meantime his clothes were stolen from the bank, and, having\nno clothes, he had to walk home as naked as when he was born. His wife\nwas not at home when he arrived. He took a slice of bread from the\ndrawer, and went into the cellar to draw himself some wine; having put\nthe bread on the door-sill of the cellar, he went back to get his wine,\nas he did so he saw a dog come up and run away with his bread; he at\nonce threw the spigot after the thief, so the spigot was lost, the bread\nwas lost, and every drop of wine was lost, for it all ran out. Now there\nwas a sack of flour in the cellar, and in order that his wife might not\nnotice the wine he spread the flour over it. A goose was sitting on eggs\nin the cellar, and as he worked she hissed at him. Thinking that the\nbird was saying, that it was going to betray him to his wife, he asked\nit two or three times, \"Will you split?\" Going up to the goose, it\nhissed still more, so he caught hold of it by the neck, and dashed it\nupon the ground with such force that it died on the spot. He was now\nmore frightened than ever, and in order to amend his error he plucked\noff the feathers, rolled himself about in the floury mess, then amongst\nthe feathers, and then sat on the nest as if he were sitting. His wife\ncame home, and, as she found the cellar door wide open, she went down\nstairs, and found her husband sitting in the nest and hissing like a\ngoose; but his wife soon recognised him, and, picking up a log of wood,\nshe attacked him, saying, \"Good Heavens, what an animal, let me kill it\nat once!\" Up he jumped from the nest, and cried out in a horrible\nfright, \"Don't touch me, my dear wife, it's I!\" His wife then questioned\nhim about his transactions, and he gave a full account of all that had\nhappened; so his wife drove him away and said, \"Don't come before my\neyes again till you have made good your faults.\" She then gave him a\nslice of bread and a small flask of spirit, which he put in his pocket\nand went on his way, his wife wishing him \"a happy journey, if the road\nis not muddy.\" On his way he met Our Lord Christ and said to him, \"I'm\nnot going to divide my bread with you, because you have not made a rich\nman of me.\" Then he met Death, with him he divided his bread and his\nspirits, therefore Death did not carry him off, and he asked Death to be\nhis child's godfather.\n\nThen said Death, \"Now you will see a wonder\"; with this he slipped into\nthe spirit flask, and was immediately corked up by the young man. Death\nimplored to be set free, but the young farmer said, \"Promise me then\nthat you will make me a rich man, and then I will let you out.\" Death\npromised him this, and they agreed that the man was to be a doctor, and\nwhenever Death stood at the patient's feet, he or she was not to die,\nand could be cured by any sort of medicine whatever: but if Death stood\nat the patient's head he was to die: with this they parted.\n\nOur man reached a town where the king's daughter was very ill. The\ndoctors had tried all they could, but were not able to cure her, so he\nsaid that he was going to cure her, if she could be cured, if not, he\nwould tell them; so thereupon he went into the patient and saw Death\nstanding at her feet. He burnt a stack of hay, and made a bath for her\nof the ashes, and she recovered so soon as she had bathed in it. The\nking made him so many presents that he became a very rich man: he\nremoved to the town, brought his wife there, and lived in great style as\na doctor. Once however he fell sick, and his koma [his child's\ngodfather] came and stood at his head, and the patient begged hard for\nhim to go and stand at his feet, but his koma replied, \"Not if I know\nit,\" and then the doctor also departed to the other world.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUSSAR AND THE SERVANT GIRL.[1]\n\n\nThe wife of a priest in olden times, it may have been in the\nantediluvian world, put all the plates, dishes, and milk-jugs into a\nbasket and sent the servant to wash them in the brook. While the girl\nwas washing she saw a cray-fish crawl out of the water, and, as she had\nnever seen one in her life before, she stood staring at it, and was a\nlittle frightened. It so happened that a hussar rode past on horseback,\nand the girl asked him, \"Would you mind telling me, my gallant horseman,\nwhat sort of a God's wonder that yonder is?\" \"Well, my sister,\" said the\nsoldier, \"that is a cray-fish.\" The servant then took courage, and went\nnear the cray-fish to look at it, and said, \"But it crawls!\" \"But it's a\ncray-fish,\" said the soldier again. \"But it crawls,\" said the servant\nabruptly. \"But it's a cray-fish,\" said the soldier a third time. \"Well,\nmy gallant horseman, how can you stand there and tell me that, when I\ncan see that it crawls?\" said the servant. \"But, my sister, how can you\nstand there and tell me, when I can see that it's a cray-fish?\" said the\nsoldier. \"Well, I'm neither blind nor a fool, and I can see quite well\nthat it's a-crawling,\" said the servant. \"But neither am I blind nor a\nfool, and I can see that it is a cray-fish,\" said the soldier.\n\nThe servant got so angry that she dashed her crockery to the ground and\nbroke it into fragments, crying, in a great rage, \"May I perish here if\nit is not a-crawling!\" The hussar jumped off his saddle, drew his sword,\nand cut off his horse's head, saying, \"May the executioner cut off my\nneck like this if it isn't a cray-fish!\" The soldier went his way on\nfoot, and the servant went home without her ware, and the priest's wife\nasked, \"Well, where are all the pots?\" The servant told her what had\nhappened between the soldier and her about a cray-fish and a-crawling.\n\"Is that the reason why you have done all the damage?\" said the priest's\nwife. \"Oh, mistress, how could I give in when I saw quite well that it\nwas a-crawling; and still that nasty soldier kept on saying it was a\ncray-fish?\" The wife of the priest was heating the oven, as she was\ngoing to bake, and she got into such a rage that she seized her new fur\njacket, for which she had given a hundred florins, and pitched it into\nthe oven, saying, \"May the flames of the fire burn me like this if you\nwere not both great fools!\" \"What is all this smell of burning?\" asked\nthe priest, coming in. Learning what had happened about a cray-fish and\na-crawling, he took his gown and cut it up on the threshold with a\nhatchet, saying, \"May the executioner cut me into bits like this if the\nthree of you are not fools!\" Then came the schoolmaster (his calf had\ngot loose and run into the clergyman's yard, and he had come after it to\ndrive it home): and, hearing what had happened, and why, he caught hold\nof a stick, and struck his calf such a blow on the head that it fell\ndown dead on the spot, exclaiming, \"If God will, may the fiery\nthunderbolt thus strike me dead if you all four are not fools!\"\n\nThen came the churchwarden, and asked what had happened there, and when\nhe was told he got into such a rage that he picked up the church-box and\ndashed it on the ground in the middle of the yard, so that the box was\nbroken to pieces, and the precious altar-covers and linen were rolling\nabout on the dirty ground, saying, \"May I perish like this, at this very\nhour, if the whole five of you are not fools!\"\n\nIn the meantime the sacristan came in, and, seeing the linen on the\nfloor, he threw up his hands and said, \"Well, I never! whatever's the\nmatter?\" Then they told him what had happened, and why, whereupon he\npicked up all the covers and linen and tore them into shreds, saying,\n\"May the devil tear me to atoms like this if you six are not a parcel of\nraving lunatics!\"\n\nNews of the event soon got abroad, and the whole congregation gathered\ntogether and set the priest's house on fire, crying, \"May the flames of\nthe fire burn us all like this, every one of us, if all the seven were\nnot fools!\"\n\n[1] The zest of this tale turns upon a similarity in the sound of the\nwords in Magyar for \"cray-fish,\" and \"crawling.\"\n\n\n\n\nMY FATHER'S WEDDING.\n\n\nOnce I discovered all of a sudden, it was before I was born, that my\nfather was going to get married, and take my mother unto him. My father\nsaid to me, \"Go to the mill and have some corn ground for bread for the\nwedding!\" Whereupon I betook myself hurriedly like a smart fellow, I\nlooked for a cloth, and took up into the loft three bags, and filled\nnine sacks with the best wheat of D\u00e1lnok, the best to be found; I put\nall nine sacks at once over my shoulder, and took them to the cart. I\nled out oxen and tried to yoke them, but neither of them could find it's\nold place; I put the off-side one on the near side, and the near-side\none on the off side, and they were all right. I tried the yoke-pins, but\nthey would not fit, I therefore put in lieu of one the handle of a\nshovel, and in place of the other a pole, and then all was right. I went\nto the mill with the team, and when I arrived there I stopped the oxen\nand stuck the whip into the ground in front of them to prevent them\nrunning away; I myself went into the mill to call the miller to assist\nme in carrying in the wheat. I couldn't find a soul in the mill. I\nlooked around, under the bed, behind the oven, and saw that the green\njug was not on it's peg; from this I knew that the mill was away\ngathering strawberries, so I thought, if this were so, I should have to\nwait patiently till it returned, but then I remembered that it was not\nits custom to hurry back, and by the time it got back my hair might be\ngrey, and then it would be difficult for oxen to wait from year to year\nas I had not brought aught for them to feed on. So I rushed after it at\na dog's trot, out on to the mount, and found it sniffing about the\nshrubs, so I cut a jolly good stick and began to bang it on both sides\nas hard as my strength allowed me, till I happened to hit it rather hard\nwith the stick, and, having struck it, I could hear it far away as it\nbegan to move down in the valley, and it ground away and made such a\nclatter; it was just grinding my wheat! In order to get down from the\nmount into the valley more quickly, I lay down on the ground and rolled\ndown the slope, and after me all the stumps, who envied my pastime.\nNothing happened to them, and the only accident I had was that I knocked\nmy nose a little into some soft cow-dung, but I didn't carry it away\naltogether, and a good deal of it is left there still. The poor white\nhorse fared much worse than that, as it was grazing at the foot of the\nmount, it got so frightened by us that it ran out of this world with a\nfetter fastened to it's feet, and has not returned to this very day. I\nrubbed my nose on the sward as a hen does, and went to see what had\nbecome of the oxen in the meantime: lo! the stock of my whip had taken\nroot and become such a tall tree that it was as high as the big tower at\nBrass\u00f3[1] and the starlings had built their nests in it, and had so many\nyoung ones that you couldn't hear the clattering of the mill for their\nchirping.\n\nWell, I was very much delighted, thinking that now I could catch a lot\nof young starlings; I knew how to climb well. I climbed the tree, and\ntried to put my hand into a hole but couldn't, so I tried my head, and\nthat went in comfortably. I stuffed my breast full of starlings. When I\ntried to get out of the hole I could not; so I rushed home and fetched\nan adze, and cut myself out. I couldn't get down, as the tree was so\nthick and my head so giddy, so I called the miller to help me, but he,\nthinking that my complaint was hunger, sent me some miller-cake by his\nson, but I told him in a great rage that that was not what I wanted: so\noff he ran at once, and brought me a bushel of bran, handing it up on\nthe end of a pale. I twisted the bran into a rope, so strong that it\nwould bear a millstone, and I tried whether it would reach the ground,\nbut it did not reach, so I doubled it up, then it not only reached, but\ntrailed on the ground. I began to glide down it, but a beetle aloft\nsawed it in two where it was tied to the bough, and down I dropped rope\nand all; but while I was falling to the ground, in the meantime, the\nyoung starlings in my breast got their feathers, took to their wings,\nand flew away with me. When we were flying over the river Olt, some\nwomen who were washing rags on the bank began to shout, \"What the fiery\nthunderbolt is the boy doing that he flies so well? If he drops he will\ndrop straight in the river and drown.\" I saw they were all staring at\nme, but from the chirping of the young starlings I couldn't clearly hear\nwhat they shouted: so I thought they were shouting that I should untie\nthe waist-band of my shirt. I untied the waist-band of my shirt below\nthe garter that tied my socks: with this the young starlings got out of\nmy bosom all at once and all the wings I had flew away. Down I dropped\ninto the middle of the river: with my splash the waters overflowed the\nbanks and washed as far as the foot of the mountain: but when the waters\nflowed back into the bed of the river, (with the exception of a few\ndrops that were lapped up by a thirsty shepherd-dog of Gid\u00f3fal\u00fa) so many\nfish were left on the bank that they covered the whole place, from\nM\u00e1ln\u00e1s to Doboly and from \u00c1rkos to Angyalos and even the whole plain of\nSz\u00e9pmez\u00f6. Well, there was a lot of fish! Twelve buffalo-carts were\ncarting them away without interruption for a whole week, and the\nquantity didn't get less, you couldn't see that any had been taken away:\nbut a stark naked gipsy brat came that way from K\u00f6r\u00f6spatak, and he\npicked them up, put them into his shirt lap, and carried them all away.\n\n\nI then remembered that they had not sent me here to play but to grind\ncorn, so I started in the direction of where I had left the oxen to see\nwhat they were doing, and whether they were there still. I travelled for\na long time till I got quite tired. I saw in a meadow a horse, and I\nthought I could easily get on it, and go where I wished to go, but it\nwould not wait for me. I caught hold of its tail, turned it round, and\nso we stood face to face, and I said to it quite bumptiously: \"Ho! stop,\nold nag. Don't be so frisky.\" It understood the kind words and stopped\ndead, like a peg. I put the saddle on the grey and sat on the bay and\nstarted off on the chestnut; over a ditch and over a stile, so that the\nhorse's feet did not touch the ground. In one place I passed a vineyard,\nand inside the hedge there was a lot of pretty ripe fruit. I stopped the\ngrey, got down from the bay, and tied the chestnut to the paling. I\ntried to climb over the hedge, but couldn't, so I caught hold of my\nhair, and swung myself over. I began to shake the plum-tree, and walnuts\ndropped. I picked up the filberts and put them in my bosom. It was very\nhot, I was very thirsty, so that I nearly died of thirst. I saw that not\nvery far away there were some reapers, and I asked, \"Where can I get\nwater here?\" They shewed me a spring not far off. I went there, and\nfound that it was frozen over. I tried in vain to break the ice with my\nheel, and then with a stone, but did not succeed, as the ice was a span\nthick; so I took the skull from my head and broke the ice with it\neasily. I scooped up water with it, and had a hearty drink. I went to\nthe hedge and swung myself over by the hair into the road; then I untied\nthe grey, got on the bay, and galloped off on the chestnut, over stile\nand ditch, so that my hair flew on the wind. In one place I passed two\nmen. As I overtook them, they called out after me: \"Where's your head,\nmy boy?\" I immediately felt my back, and lo! my head was not there; so I\ngalloped back at a quick dog-trot to the spring. What did I see? My\nskull felt lonely without me, and had so much sense that as I forgot it\nthere, it had made a neck, hands, waist, and feet, for itself out of\nthe mud, and I caught it sliding on the ice. Well! I wasn't a bad hand\nat sliding myself, so I slid after it as fast as I could. But it knew\nbetter than I did, and so I couldn't possibly catch it. My good God!\nWhat could I do? I was very much frightened that I was really going to\nbe left without a head but I remembered something, and thought to\nmyself: \"Never mind, skull, don't strain yourself, you can't outdo me.\"\nSo I hurriedly made a greyhound out of mud, and set it after my skull.\nHe caught it in a jiffy, and brought it to me. I took it and put it on:\nI went to the hedge, and seizing myself by the hair, swung myself over\nthe hedge: untied the grey, got on the bay, and galloped away on the\nchestnut, over a stile, and over a ditch, like a bird, till I came to\nthe mill, where I found that my father had not had patience to wait for\nme, and so had set off in search of me; and, as he couldn't find me,\nbegan to bewail me, vociferating: \"Oh! my soul! Oh! my son! Where have\nyou gone? Oh! Oh! Why did I send you without anybody to take care of\nyou? Oh! my soul! Oh! my son! Now all is over with you. You must have\nperished somewhere.\" As my father was always scolding me, and calling me\nbad names in my lifetime, I could never have believed that he were able\nto pity me so much. When I saw what was the matter with him, I called\nfrom a distance: \"Console yourself, father, I am here, 'a bad hatchet\nnever gets lost.'\" It brought my poor old father's spirits back. We put\nthe sacks full of flour on the cart and went home, and celebrated my\nfather's wedding sumptuously. The bride was my mother, and I was the\nfirst who danced the bride's dance with her, and then the others had a\nturn, and when the wedding was over, all the guests went away and we\nwere left at home by ourselves, and are alive at this date, if we are\nnot dead. I was born one year after this, and I am the legitimate son of\nmy father, and have grown up nicely, and have become a very clever lad.\n\n[1] Cronstadt in Transylvania.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BAA-LAMBS.\n\n\nThere was once, somewhere or in some other place, I don't know where,\nover seven times seven countries, or even beyond them, a poor widow, and\nshe had three unmarried sons who were so poor that one had always to go\nout to service. First the eldest went, and, as he was going and going\nover seven times seven countries, and even beyond them, he met an old\nman, who accosted him, saying, \"My younger brother, where are you\ngoing?\" The lad answered, \"My father, I am going to look for work.\" \"And\nI am in need of a servant,\" the old man replied; so he engaged the lad\non the spot to tend his baa-lambs. In the morning, as the lad went out\nwith them, the old man told him not to drive them and not to guide them,\nbut simply to go after them, as they would graze quietly if left to\nthemselves. The lad started with the baa-lambs; first they came to a\nsplendid meadow, he went in and trotted after them as his master had\ntold him; then they came to a swift stream and the baa-lambs went over\nit, but the lad had not the courage to go into the water, but walked up\nand down the bank till evening, when the baa-lambs returned of their own\naccord, recrossed the water, and, as night had set in, he drove them\nhome. \"Well, my dear son,\" said his master, \"tell me where you have been\nwith the baa-lambs.\" \"My dear father, I only followed after them. First\nof all they went into a large plain; after that we came to a great,\nswift stream; they got over the large sheet of water, but I remained on\nthis side, as I did not dare to go into the deep water.\" As the poor lad\nfinished his tale the master said, \"Well, my dear son, I shall send you\naway, as I can see very well that you are not fit for service,\" and he\nsent him off without any pay. The lad went home, very much cast down.\nWhen he got home his two brothers asked him, \"Well, dear brother, how\ndid you get on in service?\" \"Hum, how did I get on, and what did I do?\nYou'd better go yourselves and you will soon know.\" \"Very well,\" they\nreplied, and the second son went to look for service, met the same old\nman, and fared the same as his brother, and was sent home without\nanything. As he arrived home his younger brother met him and asked,\n\"Well, dear brother, what sort of service did you get?\" \"Hum,\" replied\nhe, \"What sort of a place did I get? You had better go and then you also\nwill know.\" \"Very well,\" replied the youngest, and he too went to try\nhis luck. As he went along he met the same old man, and was engaged by\nhim to tend his baa-lambs for a year; the old man told him, too, to walk\nafter them, and not to leave them under any circumstances. Next morning\nthe old man prepared the lad's bag, and let the baa-lambs out of the\nfold; they started off, and the lad followed them, step by step, till\nthey came to a pretty, green plain: they walked over it, quietly grazing\nalong as they went, till they came to the swift stream; the baa-lambs\ncrossed it, and the lad followed them; but the moment he entered the\nwater the swift current swept off his clothes and shrivelled his flesh,\nso that, when he got to the other side, he was only skin and bones; so\nsoon as he reached the other bank the baa-lambs turned back and began to\nblow on him, and his body was at once fairer than it ever was before.\nThe baa-lambs started off again till they came to a large meadow where\nthe grass was so high that it was ready for the scythe, and still the\ncattle grazing on it were so ill-fed that a breath of wind would have\nblown them away; the baa-lambs went on to another meadow which was quite\nbarren, and the cattle there had nothing to eat, yet they were as fat as\nbutter; thence the baa-lambs went into a huge forest, and there, on\nevery tree, was such a lamentation and crying and weeping as one could\nnot conceive of; the lad looked to see what the meaning of the loud\ncrying could be, and lo, on every bough there was a young sparrow, quite\nnaked! and all were weeping and crying. From here the baa-lambs went\nsauntering on till they came to a vast garden; in this garden there\nwere two dogs fighting, so that the foam ran from their mouths; still\nthey could not harm each other. The baa-lambs went on further till they\ncame to a great lake, and there the lad saw a woman in the lake,\nscooping with a spoon something from the water incessantly, and still\nshe was not able to scoop the thing up. From there the baa-lambs went\nfurther, and, as they went, he saw a brook of beautiful, running water,\nclear like crystal, and, as he was very thirsty, he had half a mind to\ndrink of it, but, thinking that the spring-head was very much better, he\nwent there, and saw that the water was bubbling out of the mouth of a\nrotting dead dog, which so frightened him that he did not taste a drop.\nFrom there the baa-lambs went into another garden, which was so\nwonderfully pretty that human eye had never seen the like before.\nFlowers of every kind were blooming, but the baa-lambs left them\nuntouched, only eating the green grass, and, as they ate, he sat down\nunder the shade of a beautiful flowering tree in order to partake of\nsome food, when suddenly he saw that a beautiful white pigeon was\nfluttering about in front of him; he took his small blunderbuss, which\nhe had with him, and shot at the pigeon, knocking off a feather, but the\npigeon flew away; he picked up the feather and put it in his bag. From\nthence the baa-lambs started off home, the lad following them. When they\narrived, the old man asked: \"Well, my son, and how did the baa-lambs\ngo?\" \"They went very well,\" answered the lad, \"I had no trouble with\nthem. I had merely to walk after them.\" As he said this, the old man\nasked him: \"Well, my son, tell me where you have been with the\nbaa-lambs.\" Then he told him that the baa-lambs first went into a pretty\ngreen plain, then they went through a swift stream; and he told him\nall--where he had been with them and so on. When he had finished his\ntale, the old man said: \"My dear son, you see that wonderful pretty\ngreen plain where you went first with the baa-lambs represents your\nyouth up to this day. The water through which you went is the water of\nlife which washes away sin: that it washed away all your clothes and\ndried up your flesh means that it washes away all your previous sins:\nthat on the other shore, upon the baa-lambs breathing on you, your body\nbecame purer, means that the holy faith, by the water of life, has\npenetrated all over your soul, and you have become purified from your\nsins, regenerate in all; the baa-lambs who breathed upon you are angels,\nand your good and pious teachers. The ill-fed cattle amidst the\nluxuriant grass means that the avaricious, whilst surrounded by plenty,\neven begrudge themselves food; they will be misers even in the other\nworld: they will have plenty to eat and drink, they will partake of\nboth, and still will be eternally hungry and thirsty. Those beasts who\nfed in the barren field, and were so fat, means that those who have\ngiven from their little to the poor in this world, and have not\nchastised their bodies with hunger and thirst, will feed heartily in the\nother world out of little food, and will never know hunger or thirst.\nThat the young birds cried so mournfully in the woods, my son, means\nthat those mothers in this world who do not have their children\nbaptised, but have them buried without, will, in the other world,\neternally weep and cry. The two dogs who fought so in the garden means\nthat those relatives who in this world fight and squabble over property\nwill eternally fight in the other world, and never come to terms. That\nwoman who was fishing in a lake so busily for something with a spoon,\nand could not catch it, is he who in this world adulterates milk with\nwater and sells it in this state to others; he will in the other world\ncontinually be in a lake, and will eternally fish about with a spoon, in\norder to fish the milk out of the water, and will never succeed. That\nyou saw a pretty clear brook and did not drink of it, but went to the\nspring where the water flowed out of the mouth of a dead dog, that\nmeans, my dear son, the beautiful sermons of the clergy and their holy\nprayers. The dead dog from whose mouth the clear water flowed represents\nthe priests who preach pious and wise lessons, but never keep them\nthemselves. The garden into which you went is Heaven. Those who live\nwithout sin in this world will come into such a beautiful garden in the\nother world. But now, my dear son, can you show me some proof that you\nhave really been in that garden?\"\n\nThe lad quickly took from his bag the white pigeon's feather, and handed\nit to him, saying, \"Look here, my old father, I shot this from a white\npigeon there.\" The old man took the pigeon's feather, and said to him,\n\"You see, my son, I was that white pigeon, and I have been following you\nall the journey through, and always kept watch over you, to see what you\ndid. So God also follows man unknown to him, to see what he does. The\nfeather you shot away was one of my fingers; look here, I have not got\nit!\" and as he looked he saw that the little finger was missing from the\nold man's hand; with this, the old man placed the feather there, blew\nupon it, and the finger was once more all right. In the meantime the\nyear came to an end--for if I may mention it here the year consisted of\nbut three days then--so the old man said to the lad: \"Well, my son, the\nyear is now ended; hand me over the bag, and then you can go. But first\nlet me ask you would you rather have heaven, or so much gold as you can\ncarry home?\" To this the lad replied that he did not wish for gold, but\nonly desired to be able to go to heaven. Thereupon the old man at once\nfilled a sack with gold for him, lifted it upon the lad's back, and sent\nhim home. The lad thanked the old man for his present, betook himself\nhome with his sack of gold, and became such a rich farmer with six oxen\nthat not in the whole village, nay, not even in the whole neighbourhood,\nwas there such a one who came near him. He also took to himself a\nsuitable girl as his wife, who was as pretty as a flower; he is alive to\nthis very day, if he has not died since. May he be your guest to-morrow!\n\n\n\n\nFAIRY ELIZABETH.\n\n\nThere was once somewhere, I don't know where, beyond seven times seven\ncountries, and even beyond them, a poor man who had a wife and three\nchildren. They were awfully poor. One day the eldest son said: \"Dear\nmother, bake me some ash-cake and let me go into service.\" His mother at\nonce baked the cake, and the lad started, and went on and on till he\ncame to a high snow-clad mountain, where he met a grey-haired man and\ngreeted him: \"May the Lord bless you, my good old father.\" \"The Lord\nbless you, my son. What are you after?\" asked the old man. \"I am going\nout to service, if the Lord will help me to some place.\" \"Well, then,\ncome to me,\" said the old man, \"I will engage you.\" So they went to the\nhouse of the grey-haired old man, and the very next day they went out\nploughing but they only ploughed up some grass-land, and sowed it with\nseed. Now let me tell you, that the old man promised him a bushel of\nseed for sowing. Two days passed, and at dawn of the third day the old\nman said: \"Well, my son, to-day you can go out ploughing for yourself;\nget the plough ready, yoke the oxen in, and in the meantime I will get\nthe bushel of wheat I promised.\" So the lad put the oxen to the plough\nand the old man got the bushel of wheat and placed it on the plough.\nThey started, the old man accompanying him. Just at the end of the\nvillage he said to the lad: \"Well, my son, can you see that place yonder\ncovered with shrubs? Go there, and plough up as much of it for yourself\nas you think will be enough for the bushel of wheat.\" The lad went, but\nwas quite alarmed at the sight of the shrubs, and at once lost heart.\n\"How could he plough there? Why, by the time he had grubbed up the\nshrubs alone it would be night.\" So he ran off home, and left the plough\nthere, and the oxen then returned of their own accord to the old man's\nplace--if I may interrupt myself, they were the oxen of a fairy. When\nthe lad arrived at his father's house, his other brothers asked him:\n\"What sort of a place have you found?\" \"What sort of a place!\" replied\nhe, \"go yourself, and you will soon find out.\" The middle son set out,\nand just as he was going over the snow-clad mountain he met the old man,\nwho engaged him on the spot as his servant, and promised him a bushel of\nwheat, as he had done before. They went to the old man's home, and he\nfared just as his elder brother had done. At dawn on the third day, when\nhe had to plough for himself, he got frightened at the sight of the vast\nnumber of shrubs, which no human being could have ploughed up in the\nstated time. So he went home too, and on his way he met his younger\nbrother, who asked him: \"What sort of a place have you found, my dear\nelder brother?\" \"What sort of a place had I? Get up out of the ashes,\nand go yourself, and you will soon find out.\" Now let me tell you that\nthis boy was continually sitting among the ashes. He was a lazy,\nne'er-do-weel fellow; but now he got up, and shook the ashes from him\nand said: \"Well, my mother, bake me a cake also: as my brothers have\ntried their fortune let me try mine.\" But his brothers said: \"Oh! you\nash-pan! Supposing you were required to do nothing else but eat, you\nwould not be good enough even for that.\" But still he insisted, that his\nmother should bake something for him. So his mother set to work and\nbaked him a cake of some inferior bran, and with this he set out. As he\nwent over the boundless snow-clad mountain, in the midst of it he met\nthe old man and greeted him: \"The Lord bless you, my old father!\" \"The\nLord bless you, my son! Where are you going?\" \"I am going out to\nservice, if I can find an employer.\" \"Well, you are the very man I want;\nI am in search of a servant.\" And he engaged him on the spot, promising\nto make him a present of a bushel of wheat for sowing. They went home\ntogether, and after they had ploughed together for two days, the lad set\nout on the third day to plough up the land allotted to him for his own\nuse: while the youngster was putting the oxen to the plough the old man\ngot the wheat and placed it on the plough. On the dyke there was a big\ndog, who always lay there quietly; but this time he got up, and started\noff in front of him. The old man also accompanied him as far as the end\nof the village, from whence he showed him where to go ploughing. The\nyoungster went on with the plough, and soon saw that he was not able to\nplough a single furrow, on account of the thick bushes. After\nconsidering what to do, he bethought himself, and took his sharp hatchet\nand began to cut down a vast quantity of shrubs and thorns, the dog\ncarrying them all into a heap. Seeing that he had cut enough, he began\nto plough. The two oxen commenced to drag the plough and cut up the\nroots in a manner never seen before. After he had turned three times, he\nlooked round and said: \"Well, I'm not going to plough any more, but will\nbegin to sow, so that I may see how much seed I've got.\" He sowed the\nseed, and noticed that it was just sufficient, and therefore he had to\nplough no more. In great joy he set the plough straight and went home.\nThe old man met him and said: \"Well, my son, thanks to the Lord, you\nhave now finished your year, and in God's name I will let you go. I do\nnot intend to engage any more servants.\" Before I forget to tell you, I\nmay mention it here, that the year had three days then. So the lad went\nhome, and his brothers asked him: \"Well, then, what sort of a place have\nyou found?\" \"Well, I believe I've served my master as well as you did.\"\n\nOne day, a year after, he went into the field to look at his wheat crop.\nThere he saw an old woman reaping some young wheat, so he went home and\nsaid to his father: \"Well, my father, do you know what we have to do?\nlet's go reaping.\" \"Where, my son?\" \"Well, father, for my last year's\nservice I had a bushel of wheat given to me for sowing, it has got ripe\nby this time, so let us go and reap it.\" So all four (his father, his\ntwo brothers, and himself) went; when they came to the spot they saw\nthat it was a magnificent crop, a mass of golden ears from root to top,\nready and ripe; so they all started to work and cut down every head.\n\nThey made three stacks of it, each stack having twenty-six sheaves.\n\"Well my son,\" said the father, \"there are three stacks here and there\nare three of you to guard them, so while I go home to hire a cart, guard\nthem well, so that the birds may not carry away a single stem.\" The\nfather went home, and the three sat down (one at the foot of each stack)\nto watch them, but the youngest was the most anxious, as it was his own,\nand ran to and fro continually to prevent his brothers falling asleep.\nJust as he had awakened them and was going back to his own stack he saw\na woodpecker dragging away, by jerks, a golden ear along the ground, so\nhe ran after it in order to get it back, but just as he was on the point\nof catching it the woodpecker flew off further and further, and enticed\nhim, until at last it got him into the very midst of the boundless\nsnow-clad mountains. All of a sudden the youngster discovered where he\nwas, and that it was getting dusk. \"Where was he to go? and what was he\nto do?\" So he thought he would go back to the stacks, but as he had kept\nhis eye on the woodpecker and the wheat-ear, he had taken no notice of\nthe surroundings, and knew not which way he had come. So he determined\nto climb the highest tree and look round from there: he looked about and\nfound the highest tree, climbed it, and looked East but saw nought,\nSouth and saw nought: North, and far, very far away he saw a light as\nbig as a candle; so he came down, and started off in the direction in\nwhich he had seen the light and went straight over ditches, woods,\nrocks, and fields till at last he came to a large plain, and there he\nfound the fire which he had seen before, and lo! it was such a heap of\nburning wood that the flames nearly reached heaven: he approached it and\nwhen he drew near the burning heap he saw that a man was lying curled\nround the fire, his head resting on his feet, and that he was covered\nwith a large cloak: then thought the lad, \"Shall I lie down inside or\noutside of the circle formed by the body of the man?\" If he lay outside\nhe would catch cold; if he lay inside he would be scorched, he thought;\nso he crept into the sleeve of the cloak, and there fell asleep. In the\nmorning when the sun arose, the big man awoke, he yawned wide, and got\nup from the fire; as he rose the youngster dropt out of his sleeve on to\nthe ground: the giant looked at him (because I forgot to tell you it\nwasn't a man, it was a giant), and was very much pleased at the sight;\nhe quickly picked him up, took him into his arms, and carried him into\nhis palace, (and even there put him into the best room) and put him to\nbed, covered him up well, and crept out of the room on tiptoe lest he\nshould wake him. When he heard that the youngster was awake, he called\nto him through the open door, \"Don't be afraid, my dear son, I am a big\nman it is true, but notwithstanding I will be to thee like thy father,\nin thy father's place; like thy mother, in thy mother's place.\" With\nthis he entered the room, and the poor lad stared into the giant's eyes,\nas if he were looking up to the sky. Suddenly the giant asked him how he\ngot there, and the lad told him the whole tale. \"Well, my dear little\nson, I will give you everything that your heart can think of, or your\nmouth name, I will fulfil your every wish, only don't worry yourself;\"\nand he had all sorts of splendid clothes made for him, and kept him on\ncostly food; and this lasted till the lad became twenty years of age,\nwhen one day the lad became very sad, and his giant father asked him,\n\"Well, my dear son, tell me why you are so sad, I will do all your heart\ncan think of, or your mouth name; but do tell me what's the matter with\nyou?\" So the lad said, after hesitation, \"Well! well! well! my dear\nfather, I am so sad because the time has come when I ought to get\nmarried, and there's nobody here to get married to.\" \"Oh! my son, don't\nworry yourself over that, such a lad as you has but to wish and you\nwill find plenty of womankind, the very prettiest of them, ready to have\nyou; you will but have to choose the one your heart loves best.\" So\nsaying he called the lad before the gate and said: \"Well, my son, you\ncan see that great white lake yonder: go there at noon prompt and hide\nyourself under a tree, for every noon three lovely fairy girls come\nthere who are as handsome as handsome can be: you _can_ look at the sun,\nbut you can't look at them! They will come disguised as pigeons, and\nwhen they arrive on the bank they will turn somersaults, and at once\nbecome girls: they will then undress, and lay their dresses on the bank:\nyou must then glide up, and steal the dress of the one your heart loves\nbest, and run away home with it, but be careful not to look back,\nhowever they may shout: because if you do, believe me, she will catch\nyou, box your ears, and take her clothes from you.\"\n\nSo he went to the lake and hid himself under an oak, and all at once\nthree white pigeons came flying, their wings flapping loudly as they\ncame, they settled down on the bank, and went to take a bath. The lad\nwasn't slow to leave his hiding-place, and pick up the dress of the\neldest fairy girl and run away with it; but she noticed it at once,\nrushed out of the lake, and ran after him, shouting: \"Stop! sweet love\nof my heart. Look at me; see how beautiful my skin is; how pretty my\nbreasts are. I'm yours, and you're mine!\" So he looked round, and the\nfairy snatched her dress away in a moment, slapped his face, and\nreturned to the others in the lake. Poor lad! he was very sad, and went\nback and told his giant father all that had happened, and his giant\nfather answered, \"Well; wasn't I right? Didn't I tell you not to look\nback? But don't fret; three in number are the divine truths, and three\ntimes also will you have to try. There are two yet left, go again\nto-morrow at noon. Take care you don't look back, or pick up the same\ndress that you picked up yesterday, because, believe me, if you do,\nthere will be the mischief to pay.\" So he went early next day (he\ncouldn't wait till noon) and hid himself under a tree, when all of a\nsudden the pigeons appeared, turned somersaults, and became three\nbeautiful fairy girls. They undressed, laid their dresses on the bank,\nand went into the lake; in short, the lad fared with the second as with\nthe first--he couldn't resist the temptation of looking back when the\nbeautiful fairy kept imploring him, as the sweet love of her heart, to\ngaze at her beautiful skin and breasts. He looked back, was slapped in\nthe face as before, and lost the fairy dress. He went home again, very\nsad, to his giant father, and told him how he had fared; and the giant\nsaid in reply: \"Never mind, don't bother yourself, my son, three are the\ndivine truths; there is one more left for you; you can try again\nto-morrow, but only be very careful not to look back this time.\" Next\nday he couldn't wait till noon, but went and hid himself under the oak\nvery early, and had to wait a long, long time. At last the white pigeons\narrived, turned somersaults as before, and put their dresses on the\nbank, whilst they themselves went into the lake. Out he rushed from his\nhiding-place, snatched up the youngest's dress, and ran away with it.\nBut the fairy noticed that her dress was gone, and rushed out of the\nlake after him like a hurricane, calling out incessantly: \"Stop! sweet\nlove of my heart, look how beautifully white my skin is! See how\nbeautifully white are my breasts. I am yours, and you are mine.\" But the\nlad only ran faster than ever, and never looked behind once, but ran\nstraight home to his giant father, and told him that he had got the\ndress this time. \"Well, my dear son,\" said he, \"didn't I tell you not to\nworry yourself in the least, and that I would do all for you that your\nheart could desire, or your mouth name?\" Once after this the lad was\nvery sad again, so his giant father asked him: \"Well, my son, what's the\nmatter this time, that you are so sad?\" \"Well, my dear father, because\nwe have only got a dress, and that is not enough for a wedding. What's\nthe use of it? What can I do with it?\" \"Never mind, don't worry about\nthat. Go into the inside closet, and on a shelf you will find a walnut,\nbring it here.\" So the lad went and fetched the nut, and the giant split\nit neatly in two, took out the kernel, folded up the dress (and I may\nmention it here the dress consisted of only one piece), put it inside\nthe nut-shell, fitted the two halves together, and said to the lad:\n\"Well, my son, let me have your waistcoat, so that I may sew this nut\ninto the pocket; and be careful that no one opens it, neither thy\nfather, nor thy mother, nor any one in this world, because should any\none open it your life will be made wretched; you will be an outcast.\"\n\nWith this, the giant sewed the nut into the pocket, and put the\nwaistcoat on him. As they finished this, they heard a great clamping\nnoise, and a chinking (as of coins) outside. So the giant bade him to\nlook out of the window, and what did he see? He saw that in the\ncourtyard there was a lovely girl sitting in a carriage drawn by six\nhorses, and about her beautiful maids and outriders, and the giant said,\n\"You see, it is Fairy Elizabeth, your ladylove.\" So they went out at\nonce, and helped Fairy Elizabeth out of her carriage, then she ordered\nthe carriage and horses to go back, at once, to where they had come\nfrom, and in a moment they disappeared, and there was no trace of them\nleft. They then went into the house, but the giant remained outside, and\nhe drew in the dust figures of a priest, and a cantor, and guests, and\nthey appeared at once. All went into the house, and the young folks got\nwed, and a great wedding feast was celebrated. There was the\nbridegroom's best man, and the groom's men, and the bride's duenna, and\nall her bridesmaids, and the wedding feast lasted three full days. They\nate, drank, and enjoyed themselves, and when all was over the young\ncouple lived together in quiet happiness. Once more, however, the lad\nbecame very sad, and the giant asked him: \"Well, my dear son, why are\nyou sad again? You know that I will do all your heart can desire, or\nyour mouth name.\" \"Well, my dear father,\" replied he, \"how can I help\nbeing sad; it is true we live together happily, but who knows how my\nfather and mother and brothers and sisters are at home? I should like\nto go to see them.\"\n\n\"Well, my dear son,\" said the giant, \"I will let you go; you two go\nhome, and you will find your relations keeping the third anniversary of\nyour death: they have gathered in all the golden corn, and become so\nrich that they are now the greatest farmers in the village: each of your\nbrothers have their own home and they have become great men (six-ox\nfarmers) and have a whole flock of sheep.\" So the giant went outside,\nand drew in the dust the figures of horses and carriage, coachman,\nfootmen, outriders, and court damsels, and they at once appeared; the\nyoung couple sat in the carriage, and the giant told the lad if ought\nhappened to him he had only to think of one of these horses, and it\nwould at once bring him back here. With this they started, and they\narrived at home and, saw that the courtyard of his father's house was\nfull of tables, crowded with people sitting round them, but no one spoke\na word; they all were speechless so that you could not even hear a\nwhisper. The couple got out of the carriage, in front of the gate,\nwalked into the yard, and met an old man; it happened to be his father.\n\"May the Lord give you a good day, Sir!\" said he; and the old man\nreplied, \"May the Lord bless you also, my lord!\" \"Well sir,\" asked the\nyoung man, \"what is the meaning of all this feasting that I see, all\nthis eating and drinking, and yet no one speaks a word; is it a marriage\nor a funeral feast?\" \"My lord, it is a burial feast,\" replied the old\nman; \"I had three sons, one was lost, and to-day we celebrate the third\nanniversary of his death.\" \"Would you recognise your son if he\nappeared?\" Upon hearing this his mother came forward and said, \"To be\nsure, my dearest and sweetest lord, because there is a mark under his\nleft armpit.\" With this the lad pulled up his sleeve and showed the\nmark, and they at once recognised him as their lost son; the funeral\nfeast, thereupon, was at once changed into a grand wedding festival.\nThen the lad called out to the carriage and horses \"Go back where you\nhave come from,\" and in a moment there was not a trace of them left. His\nfather at once sent for the priest and the verger and they went through\nall the ceremonies again, and whether the giant had celebrated them or\nnot, certainly the father did: the wedding feast was such a one as had\nnever been seen before! When they rose from the table they began the\nbride's dance: in the first place they handed the bride to the cleverest\ndancer, and whether he danced or not, most certainly the bride did: as\nshe danced her feet never touched the ground, and everyone who was there\nlooked at the bride only, and all whispered to each other, that no man\nhad ever seen such a sight in all his life. When the bride heard this\nshe said, \"Hum, whether I dance now or whether I don't, I could dance\nmuch better if anyone would return to me the dress I wore in my maiden\ndays.\" Whereupon they whispered to each other, \"Where can that dress\nbe?\" When the bride heard this she said, \"Well, my souls, it is in a\nnut-shell, sewn into my husband's waistcoat pocket, but no one will ever\nbe able to get it.\" \"I can get it for you,\" said her mother-in-law,\n\"because I will give my son a sleeping-draught in wine and he will go to\nsleep,\" and so she did, and the lad fell on the bed fast asleep; his\nmother then got the nut from his pocket and gave it to her\ndaughter-in-law, who at once opened it, took the dress out, put it on,\nand danced so beautifully, that, whether she danced the _first_ time or\nnot, she certainly danced this time; you could not imagine anything so\ngraceful. But, as it was so hot in the house, the windows were left\nopen, and Fairy Elizabeth turned a somersault, became a white pigeon,\nand flew out of the window. Outside there was a pear tree, and she\nsettled upon the top of it, the people looking on in wonder and\nastonishment; then she called out that she wanted to see her husband as\nshe wished to say a word or two to him, but the sleeping draught had not\nyet lost its power, and they could not wake him, so they carried him out\nin a sheet and put him under the tree and the pigeon dropped a tear on\nhis face; in a minute he awoke. \"Can you hear me, sweet love of my\nheart?\" asked the pigeon, \"if you ever want to meet me seek for me in\nthe town of Johara, in the country of Black Sorrow,\" with this she\nspread her wings and flew away. Her husband gazed after her for a while\nand then became so grieved that his heart nearly broke. What was he to\ndo now? He took leave of all and went and hid himself. When he got\noutside of the gate he suddenly remembered what the giant had told him\nabout calling to memory one of the horses; he no sooner did so than it\nappeared all ready saddled; he jumped upon it and thought he would like\nto be at the giant's gate. In a moment he was there and the giant came\nout to meet him. \"Well, my dear son, didn't I tell you not to give that\nnut to anyone?\" The poor lad replied, in great sorrow, \"Well, my dear\nfather, what am I to do now?\" \"Well, what did Fairy Elizabeth say when\nshe took leave of you?\" \"She said that if ever I wished to meet her\nagain I was to go to the town of Johara, in the country of Black\nSorrow.\" \"Alas, my son!\" said the giant, \"I have never even heard the\nname, so how could I direct you there? Be still, and come and live with\nme, and get on as well as you can.\" But the poor lad said that he would\ngo, and he must go, in search of his wife as far as his eye could see.\n\"Well, if you wish to go, there are two more children of my parents\nleft, an elder brother and an elder sister. Take this; here's a mace. We\nthree children couldn't divide it amongst us, so it was left with me.\nThey will know by this that I have sent you; go first to my elder\nbrother, he is the king of all creeping things; perhaps he may be able\nto help you.\" With this he drew in the dust the figure of a colt three\nyears old, and bade him sit on it, filled his bag with provisions, and\nrecommended him to the Lord. The lad went on and on, over seven times\nseven countries, and even beyond them; he went on till the colt got so\nold that it lost all its teeth; at last he arrived at the residence of\nthe king of all creeping things, went in, and greeted him, \"May the Lord\ngive you a good day, my dear father!\" And the old man replied, \"The Lord\nhas brought you, my son. What is your errand?\" And he replied, \"I want\nto go to the country of Black Sorrow, into the town of Johara if ever I\ncan find it.\" \"Who are you?\" asked the old man. With this he showed him\nthe mace, and the king at once recognised it and said, \"Ah, my dear son,\nI never heard the name of that town. I wish you had come last night,\nbecause all my animals were here to greet me. But stay, I will call them\ntogether again to-morrow morning, and we shall then see whether they can\ngive us any information.\" Next morning the old man got up very early,\ntook a whistle and blew it three times, and, in the twinkling of an eye\nall the creeping things that existed in the world came forward. He asked\nthem, one by one, whether they knew aught of the town of Johara in the\ncountry of Black Sorrow. But they all answered that they had never seen\nit, and never even heard its name. So the poor lad was very sad, and did\nnot know what to do. He went outside to saddle his horse, but the poor\nbrute had died of old age. So the old man at once drew another in the\ndust, and it was again a colt three years old. He saddled it for him,\nfilled his bag with provisions, and gave him directions where to find\nhis elder sister. With this the lad started off, and went over seven\ntimes seven countries, and even beyond them, till at last, very late, he\narrived at the elder sister's of the giant and greeted her. She returned\nit; and asked him, \"What is your errand?\" he replied that he was going\nto the town of Johara in the country of Black Sorrow. \"Well, my son,\"\nsaid the old woman, \"and who has sent you to me?\" \"Don't you know this\nmace?\" and she recognised it at once, and said, \"Alas! my dear son, I am\nvery pleased to see you, but I cannot direct you, because I never even\nheard of the place. Why did you not come last night, as all the animals\nwere here then. But as my brother has sent you, I will call them all\ntogether again to-night, and perhaps they will be able to tell you\nsomething.\" With this, he went out to put his horse in the stable, and\nfound that it had grown so old that it hadn't a single tooth left; he\nhimself, too, was shrivelled up with age, like a piece of bacon rind,\nand his hair was like snow. At eve the old woman said to him, \"Lie down\nin this bed!\" when he lay down she put a heavy millstone upon him; she\nthen took a whip, went outside the door, and cracked it. It boomed like\na gun and the poor man inside was so startled that he lifted up the\nmillstone quite a span high. \"Don't be afraid, my son,\" called out the\nold woman, \"I'm only going to crack it twice more,\" and she cracked it\nagain; whether it sounded the first time or not, it certainly did this\ntime, so that the poor man inside lifted the millstone quite a yard\nhigh, and called out to the old woman not to crack that whip again, or\nhe should certainly die on the spot. But she cracked it again,\nnotwithstanding, and it sounded so loud, that whether the first two\nsounded or not, this time it sounded so loud that the poor man kicked\nthe millstone right up to the ceiling. After that the old woman went in\nand said to him, \"You can get up now, as I am not going to crack my whip\nany more.\" So he got up at once, and she went and opened the window, and\nleft the door wide open too. At once it became quite dark, the animals\ncame in such clouds that they quite obscured the sunlight; she let them\nin one by one through the window, and read out the name of each one of\nthem from a list, and asked them if they knew where the country of Black\nSorrow was, but nobody knew it; so she dismissed them and shut the\nwindow and door. The poor man was very sad now; he didn't know what to\ndo next or where he was to go. \"There is nothing more to be done,\" said\nthe old woman; \"but I will give you a colt, and fill your bag full of\nprovisions, and in heaven's name go back where you have come from.\" They\nwere still consulting when somebody knocked at the window and the old\nwoman called out, \"Who's that?\" \"It is I, my dear queen,\" replied a\nbird; and she began to scold it for being so late; but still she let it\nin, hoping that it might tell them something. Lo! it was a lame\nwoodpecker. \"Why are you so late?\" she demanded, and the bird replied\nthat it was because it had such a bad foot. \"Where did you get your leg\nbroken?\" inquired the old woman. \"In Johara, in the country of Black\nSorrow.\" \"You are just the one we want,\" said the old woman; \"I command\nyou to take this man on your back without delay and to carry him to the\nvery town where you have come from.\" The woodpecker began to make\nexcuses and said that it would rather not go there lest they should\nbreak the other leg also; but the old woman stamped with her foot, and\nso it was obliged to obey and at once set off with the man on its back,\nwhose third horse had already died; on they went over seven times seven\ncountries, and even beyond them, till they came to a very high mountain,\nso high that it reached to heaven.\n\n\"Now then,\" said the woodpecker, \"you had better get down here, as we\ncannot get over this.\" \"Well, but,\" said the poor man, \"how did _you_\nget over it?\" \"I? Through a hole.\" \"Well then, take me also through a\nhole.\" Then the woodpecker began to make excuses, that it could not take\nhim, first urging this reason and then that; so the poor man got angry\nwith the woodpecker, and began to dig his spurs into the bird's ribs\nsaying, \"Go on, you must take me, and don't talk so much; it was you who\nstole the golden wheat-ear from my stack.\" So what could the poor\nwoodpecker do but carry him. They arrived in the country of Black\nSorrow, and stopped in the very town of Johara. Then he sent the\nwoodpecker away, and went straight into the palace where Fairy Elizabeth\nlived. As he entered Fairy Elizabeth sat on a golden sofa; he greeted\nher, and told her he had come to claim her as his wife. \"Is that why you\nhave come?\" replied she. \"Surely you don't expect me to be _your_ wife;\nan old bent, shrivelled-up man like you. I will give you meat and drink,\nand then in heaven's name go back to where you have come from.\" Hearing\nthis the poor man became very sad and didn't know what to do, and began\nto cry bitterly; but in the meantime (not letting him know) Fairy\nElizabeth had ordered her maids to go out at once and gather all sorts\nof rejuvenating plants, and to bring some youth-giving water, and to\nprepare a bath for him as quickly as possible. Then she turned to the\nold man again, and, in order to chaff him, said, \"How can you wish a\nbeautiful young girl like me to marry such an ugly old man as you? Be\nquick, eat, drink, and go back to where you have come from.\" In his\nsorrow the poor man's heart was nearly broken, when all at once Fairy\nElizabeth said to him, \"Well, dearest love of my youth, so that you may\nnot say that I am ungrateful to you for having taken the trouble to come\nto me, and made all this long journey for me, I will give you a bath.\"\nShe motioned to the maids, they at once seized him, undressed him, and\nput him into the tub; in a moment he was a young man again a hundred\ntimes handsomer than he was in his youth; and while they were bathing\nhim they brought from a shop numerous costly dresses and clothed him\nwith them and took him to Fairy Elizabeth; man and wife embraced and\nkissed each other again and again, and once more celebrated a grand\nmarriage festival, going through all the ceremonies again; after all\nthis was over they got into a carriage drawn by six horses, and went to\nlive with the giant, their father, but they never went again, not even\nonce, to the place where he had been betrayed. The giant received them\nwith great joy, and they are still alive to this-day, if they haven't\ndied since. May they be your guests to-morrow!\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCES.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, beyond seven times seven countries,\nand at a cock's crow even beyond them--an immense, tall, quivering\npoplar tree. This tree had seven times seventy-seven branches; on each\nbranch there were seven times seventy-seven crow-nests, and in each nest\nseven times seventy-seven young crows. May those who don't listen\nattentively to my tale, or who doze, have their eyes pecked out by all\nthose young crows; and those who listen with attention to my tale will\nnever behold the land of the Lord! There was once, I don't know where, a\nking who had three sons who were so much like each other that not even\ntheir mother could distinguish them from each other. The king sent his\nthree sons wandering; the three princes went, and went, and, on the\nthird day, they arrived at a vast forest, where they first met a\nshe-wolf with three whelps. \"What are you doing here, princes, where not\neven the birds ever come?\" asked the wolf, \"you can go no further,\nbecause I and my whelps will tear you in pieces.\" \"Don't harm us, wolf!\"\nsaid the princes, \"but rather, let's have your whelps to go as our\nservants.\" \"I _will_ tear you to pieces,\" howled the wolf, and attacked\nthem; but the princes overcame the wolf, and took the three whelps with\nthem. They went and went further into the vast forest and met a bear\nwith three cubs, the next day. \"What are you doing here, princes, where\nnot even a bird comes?\" asked the bear; \"you can go no further, because\nI and my cubs will tear you in pieces.\" \"Don't harm us, bear,\" said the\nprinces, \"but rather let's have your three cubs to come as our\nservants.\" \"I _will_ tear you in pieces,\" roared the bear, and attacked\nthem, but the princes overcame the bear, and took the three cubs with\nthem. Again they went into the vast forest, and met a lioness and her\nthree cubs, on the third day. \"What are you doing here, princes, where\nnot even a bird comes? you can go no further, because I and my cubs will\ntear you in pieces.\" \"Don't harm us, lioness,\" said the princes, \"but\nlet's have your three cubs to come as our servants.\" \"I _will_ tear you\nin pieces,\" roared the lioness, and attacked them, but the princes\novercame the lioness, and took the three cubs as their servants: and\nthus each prince had three servants, a lion, a bear, and a wolf. At last\nthey reached the outskirts of the vast forest, where the road divided\ninto three, under a tree, and here the eldest said, \"Let us stick our\nknives into the tree, and each start in a different direction; in a\nyear hence we will be back again, and whosoever's knife is covered with\nblood, he is in danger, and the others must go in search of him.\"\n\"Agreed,\" said the others, and, sticking their knives into the tree,\nstarted off in different directions.\n\nAfter long wanderings the eldest came to a town which was wholly covered\nwith black cloth, and here he took lodgings with an old woman. \"Why is\nthis town hung with black?\" asked the prince. \"Alas, we live in great\ndanger here!\" said the old woman, \"in the lake near the town lives the\ndragon with seven heads, who vomits fire, and to him we have to give a\nvirgin every week, and to-morrow it is the king's daughter's turn, and\nshe has to go, and this is the reason why our town is covered with\nblack.\" \"And is there no man who can help?\" inquired the prince. \"We\nhave not found one yet,\" said the old woman, \"although our king has\npromised his daughter, and after his death his realm, to the one who\nkills the dragon.\" The prince did not say another word, but took a rest\nand, afterwards, went towards the lake, and as he passed the royal\npalace he saw the princess in the window weeping. The royal princess was\nso beautiful that even the sun stopped before the window, in his course,\nto admire her beauty. At last he reached the lake, and could already\nhear, even at a distance, the dragon with seven heads roaring, so loudly\nthat the ground trembled. \"How dare you approach me? You must die, even\nhad you seven souls!\" roared the dragon, but instead of an answer the\nprince threw his mace at him, with such force that it smashed one of his\nheads on the spot, thereupon he attacked him with his sword, and also\nset his dogs at him, and while he cut the dragon's heads off one by one,\nhis servants bit him to pieces, and thus killed the dragon, whose blood\nformed a brook seven miles long. After this he drew a tooth out of each\nhead of the dragon and put them into his sabretache, and, as he was very\ntired, he lay down amongst the bulrushes and went fast asleep with his\ndogs. The Red Knight was watching the whole light from amongst the\nbulrushes, and, seeing that the prince was asleep, he crept to him and\nkilled him, and quartered him, so that he might not revive, and, picking\nup the dragon's seven heads, went off towards the town. As soon as the\nRed Knight had gone the three dogs woke, and, seeing that their master\nhad been murdered, began to howl in their sorrow. \"If we only had a\nrope, so that we could tie him together. I know of a weed which would\nbring him to life again,\" said the wolf. \"If we only knew how to tie him\ntogether, I would soon get a rope,\" said the lion. \"I would tie him\ntogether if I had a rope,\" said the bear; whereupon the lion ran to the\ntown, the wolf went in search of the weed, and the bear remained behind\nto guard his master's body. The lion rushed into a ropemaker's and\nroared, \"Give me a rope, or I will tear you in pieces.\" The ropemaker,\nin his fright, produced all the rope he had, and the lion rushed off\nwith a coil. In the meantime the wolf also returned with the weed, and\nthe bear tied the prince's body together, and the wolf anointed him.\nWhen, all at once, the prince woke, and, rubbing his eyes, stood up.\n\"Well, I have slept a long time,\" said the prince, and as he saw that\nthe sun was setting he returned to the town with his servants, and, as\nhe again passed in front of the royal palace, he saw the princess once\nmore, who looked at him, smiling this time. The prince again took his\nnight's lodging with the old woman, and, as he got up next morning, the\nwhole town was covered with red cloth. \"Why is the whole town covered\nwith red, now?\" asked the prince. \"Because the Red Knight killed the\ndragon, and saved the royal princess, and he is to be married to her\nto-day,\" replied the old woman. The prince thereupon went into the\npalace, into which crowds of people were streaming. The king was just\nleading the Red Knight to his daughter, and said, \"Here, my daughter,\nthis is the hero who killed the dragon, and only the hoe and the spade\nwill separate him from you from this day.\" \"My royal father,\" said the\nprincess, \"that isn't the man that killed the dragon, and therefore I\ncannot be his wife.\" \"He did kill him,\" shouted the king, \"and, in proof\nof it, he brought the dragon's seven heads with him, and therefore you\nhave to be his wife, according to my promise.\" And there was a great\nfeast after this, but the princess sat crying at the table, and the\nprince went home very downcast. \"Give me some food, master, I'm hungry,\"\nsaid the wolf, when his master came home. \"Go to the king and get some\nfood from his table,\" and the wolf went. The Red Knight sat on seven red\npillows, between the king and his daughter, but when he saw the wolf\nenter, in his fright a pillow dropped from under him, and the wolf took\na full dish, and went away, and told his master what had happened. \"Give\nme some food, master. I'm hungry too,\" said the bear; and his master\nsent him also to the palace, and as he entered the Red Knight in his\nfright again dropped a pillow from under him. When the bear arrived at\nhome with the food, he told this to his master. And as the lion got\nhungry too, he had to go for his food; and this time the Red Knight\ndropped a third pillow, and could hardly be seen above the table. Now\nthe prince went to the palace himself, and as he entered every one of\nthe pillows dropped from under the Red Knight in his fright. \"Majesty,\"\nsaid the prince, \"do you believe that the Red Knight has killed the\ndragon with seven heads?\" \"Yes,\" answered the king, \"and he brought the\nseven heads with him, they are here.\" \"But look, majesty, whether there\nis anything missing out of every head.\" The king examined the dragon's\nheads, and exclaimed in astonishment: \"Upon my word there is a tooth\nmissing from every head.\" \"Quite so,\" said the prince, \"and the seven\ndragon teeth are here,\" and, taking them from his sabretache, he handed\nthe teeth to the king. \"Your Majesty, if the Red Knight has killed the\ndragon, how could I have obtained the teeth?\" \"What's the meaning of\nthis?\" inquired the king, in anger, of the Red Knight; \"who killed the\ndragon?\" \"Pardon!\" implored the knight. In his fear he confessed all,\nand the king had him horsewhipped out of the palace, and sent the dogs\nafter him.\n\nHe bade the prince sit down at once by the side of his daughter, as her\nbridegroom; and in joyful commemoration of the event they celebrated\nsuch a wedding that the yellow juice flowed from Henczida to Bonczida.\nAnd the prince and princess lived happily afterwards as man and wife.\n\nHowever, it happened once that as the prince went hunting with his three\nservants, and after a long walk strolled into the wood, he became tired\nand hungry; so he made a fire under a tree, and sat down at it, and\nfried some bacon; when suddenly he heard some one call out with a\ntrembling voice in the tree: \"Oh! how cold I am.\" The prince looked up,\nand saw an old woman on the top of the tree shivering. \"Come down, old\nmother,\" said he. But the old woman said, still shivering with cold,\n\"I'm afraid to come down, because your dogs will kill me; but if you\nwill strike them with this rod, which I throw down to you, they will not\ntouch me.\" And the good prince, never thinking that the old woman was a\nwitch, struck his servants with the rod, who, without him noticing it,\nturned into stone. Seeing this, the old woman came down from the tree,\nand, having prepared a branch as a spit, she caught a toad. She drew it\non the spit, and held it to the fire, close to the bacon; and when the\nprince remonstrated and tried to drive the old woman away, she threw the\ntoad into his face, whereupon the prince fainted. As his servants could\nnot assist him, the witch killed him, cut him up in pieces, salted him,\nand put him into a cask. The princess was waiting for her husband in\ngreat sorrow; but days passed, and still he did not come, and the poor\nprincess bewailed him day and night.\n\nIn the meantime, the second prince returned to the tree in which they\nhad stuck their knives; and, finding that his elder brother's knife was\ncovered with blood, started in search of him. When he came to the town,\nit was again covered with black. He also took lodgings for the night\nwith the old woman, and on inquiring she told him the whole story of\nthe first prince, and also informed him that the town was draped in\nblack because the prince was lost while hunting. The second prince at\nonce came to the conclusion that it could be no one else but his elder\nbrother, and went to the palace. The princess, mistaking him for her\nhusband in her joy, threw her arms round his neck. \"Charming princess, I\nam not your husband,\" said the prince, \"but your husband's younger\nbrother.\" The princess, however, would not believe him, as she could not\nimagine how one man could so resemble another; therefore she chatted\nwith him the whole day, as if with her husband, and, night having set\nin, he had to get into the same bed with her. The prince, however,\nplaced his unsheathed sword between himself and his sister-in-law,\nsaying: \"If you touch me, this sword will at once cut off your hand.\"\nThe princess was very sorry on hearing this, but, in order to try, she\nthrew her handkerchief over the prince, and the sword cut it in two at\nonce, whereupon the princess burst out crying, and cried the whole\nnight. Next morning the prince went out in search of his brother, and\nwent out hunting in the same wood where he had heard his brother was\nlost. But, unfortunately, he met the witch, and was treated in the same\nway as his brother. She killed and salted him also.\n\nAfter this the youngest prince returned to the tree in which the knives\nwere, and, finding both his brothers' knives covered with blood, went in\nthe direction in which his eldest brother had gone. He came to the town,\nwhich was still draped in black, and learned all from the old woman; he\nwent to the palace, where the princess mistook him too for her husband.\nHe had to sleep with her, but, like his brother, placed a sword between\nthem, and, to the great sorrow of the princess, he, too, went out\nhunting the next morning. Having become tired, he made a fire, and began\nto fry some bacon, when the witch threw him the rod; but the prince\nluckily discovered in the thicket the six petrified dogs, and instead of\ntouching his own dogs with the rod, he touched those which had been\nturned into stone, and all six came to life again. The witch was not\naware of this and came down from the tree, and the brutes seized her on\nthe spot, and compelled her to bring their masters to life again. Then\nthe two princes came to life again. In their joy all three embraced each\nother, and their servants tore the witch in pieces. Whereupon they went\nhome, and now the joy of the princess was full, because her husband and\nher brothers-in-law had all returned, and she had no longer any fear\nthat the sword would be placed in the bed. On account of the joyful\nevent the town was again draped in red cloth. The eldest prince lived\nhappily with his wife for a long time, and later on became king. His two\nbrothers went home safely.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE DREAMS.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, even beyond the Operenczi\u00e1s Sea, a\npoor man, who had three sons. Having got up one morning, the father\nasked the eldest one, \"What have you dreamt, my son?\" \"Well, my dear\nfather,\" said he, \"I sat at a table covered with many dishes, and I ate\nso much that when I patted my belly all the sparrows in the whole\nvillage were startled by the sound.\" \"Well, my son,\" said the father,\n\"if you had so much to eat, you ought to be satisfied; and, as we are\nrather short of bread, you shall not have anything to eat to-day.\" Then\nhe asked the second one, \"What have you dreamt, my son?\" \"Well, my dear\nfather, I bought such splendid boots with spurs, that when I put them on\nand knocked my heels together I could be heard over seven countries.\"\n\"Well, my good son,\" answered the father, \"you have got good boots at\nlast, and you won't want any for the winter.\" At last he asked the\nyoungest as to what he had dreamt, but this one was reticent, and did\nnot care to tell; his father ordered him to tell what it was he had\ndreamt, but he was silent. As fair words were of no avail the old man\ntried threats, but without success. Then he began to beat the lad. \"To\nflee is shameful, but very useful,\" they say. The lad followed this good\nadvice, and ran away, his father after him with a stick. As they reached\nthe street the king was just passing down the high road, in a carriage\ndrawn by six horses with golden hair and diamond shoes. The king\nstopped, and asked the father why he was ill-treating the lad. \"Your\nMajesty, because he won't tell me his dream.\" \"Don't hurt him, my good\nman,\" said the monarch; \"I'll tell you what, let the lad go with me, and\ntake this purse; I am anxious to know his dream, and will take him with\nme.\" The father consented, and the king continued his journey, taking\nthe lad with him. Arriving at home, he commanded the lad to appear\nbefore him, and questioned him about his dream, but the lad would not\ntell him. No imploring, nor threatening, would induce him to disclose\nhis dream. The king grew angry with the lad's obstinacy, and said, in a\ngreat rage, \"You good-for-nothing fellow, to disobey your king, you must\nknow, is punishable by death! You shall die such a lingering death that\nyou will have time to think over what disobedience to the king means.\"\nHe ordered the warders to come, and gave them orders to take the lad\ninto the tower of the fortress, and to immure him alive in the wall. The\nlad listened to the command in silence, and only the king's pretty\ndaughter seemed pale, who was quite taken by the young fellow's\nappearance, and gazed upon him in silent joy. The lad was tall, with\nsnow-white complexion, and had dark eyes and rich raven locks. He was\ncarried away, but the princess was determined to save the handsome lad's\nlife, with whom she had fallen in love at first sight; and she bribed\none of the workmen to leave a stone loose, without its being noticed, so\nthat it could be easily taken out and replaced; and so it was done!\n\nAnd the pretty girl fed her sweetheart in his cell in secret. One day\nafter this, it happened that the powerful ruler of the dog-headed\nTartars gave orders that seven white horses should be led into the other\nking's courtyard; the animals were so much alike that there was not a\nhair to choose between them, and each of the horses was one year older\nthan another; at the same time the despot commanded that he should\nchoose the youngest from among them, and the others in the order of\ntheir ages, including the oldest; if he could not do this, his country\nshould be filled with as many Tartars as there were blades of grass in\nthe land; that he should be impaled; and his daughter become the\nTartar-chief's wife. The king on hearing this news was very much\nalarmed, held a council of all the wise men in his realm, but all in\nvain: and the whole court was in sorrow and mourning. The princess, too,\nwas sad, and when she took the food to her sweetheart she did not smile\nas usual, but her eyes were filled with tears: he seeing this inquired\nthe cause; the princess told him the reason of her grief, but he\nconsoled her, and asked her to tell her father that he was to get seven\ndifferent kinds of oats put into seven different dishes, the oats to be\nthe growths of seven different years; the horses were to be let in and\nthey would go and eat the oats according to their different ages, and\nwhile they were feeding they must put a mark on each of the horses. And\nso it was done, The horses were sent back and the ages of them given,\nand the Tartar monarch found the solution to be right.\n\nBut then it happened again that a rod was sent by him both ends of which\nwere of equal thickness; the same threat was again repeated in case the\nking should not find out which end had grown nearest the trunk of the\ntree. The king was downcast and the princess told her grief to the lad,\nbut he said, \"Don't worry yourself, princess, but tell your father to\nmeasure carefully the middle of the rod and to hang it up by the middle\non a piece of twine, the heavier end of it will swing downwards, that\nend will be the one required.\" The king did so and sent the rod back\nwith the end marked as ordered. The Tartar monarch shook his head but\nwas obliged to admit that it was right. \"I will give them another\ntrial,\" said he in a great rage; \"and, as I see that there must be some\none at the king's court who wishes to defy me, we will see who is the\nstronger.\" Not long after this, an arrow struck the wall of the royal\npalace, which shook it to its very foundation, like an earthquake; and\ngreat was the terror of the people, which was still more increased when\nthey found that the Tartar monarch's previous threats were written on\nthe feathers of the arrow, which threats were to be carried out if the\nking had nobody who could draw out the arrow and shoot it back. The king\nwas more downcast than ever, and never slept a wink: he called together\nall the heroes of his realm, and every child born under a lucky star,\nwho was born either with a caul or with a tooth, or with a grey lock; he\npromised to the successful one, half of his realm and his daughter, if\nhe fulfilled the Tartar king's wish. The princess told the lad, in sad\ndistress, the cause of her latest grief, and he asked her to have the\nsecret opening closed, so that their love might not be found out, and\nthat no trace be left; and then she was to say, that she dreamt that the\nlad was still alive, and that he would be able to do what was needed,\nand that they were to have the wall opened. The princess did as she was\ntold; the king was very much astonished, but at the same time treated\nthe matter as an idle dream in the beginning. He had almost entirely\nforgotten the lad, and thought that he had gone to dust behind the walls\nlong ago. _But in times of perplexity, when there is no help to be found\nin reality, one is apt to believe dreams_, and in his fear about his\ndaughter's safety, the king at last came to the conclusion that the\ndream was not altogether impossible. He had the wall opened; and a\ngallant knight stepped from the hole. \"You have nothing more to fear, my\nking,\" said the lad, who was filled with hope, and, dragging out the\narrow with his right hand, he shot it towards Tartary with such force\nthat all the finials of the royal palace dropped down with the force of\nthe shock.\n\nSeeing this, the Tartar monarch was not only anxious to see, but also to\nmake the acquaintance of him who did all these things. The lad at once\noffered to go, and started on the journey with twelve other knights,\ndisguising himself so that he could not be distinguished from his\nfollowers; his weapons, his armour, and everything on him was exactly\nlike those around him. This was done in order to test the magic power of\nthe Tartar chief. The lad and his knights were received with great pomp\nby the monarch, who, seeing that all were attired alike, at once\ndiscovered the ruse; but, in order that he might not betray his\nignorance, did not dare to inquire who the wise and powerful knight was,\nbut trusted to his mother, who had magic power, to find him out. For\nthis reason the magic mother put them all in the same bedroom for the\nnight, she concealing herself in the room. The guests lay down, when one\nof them remarked, with great satisfaction, \"By Jove! what a good cellar\nthe monarch has!\" \"His wine is good, indeed,\" said another, \"because\nthere is human blood mixed with it.\" The magic mother noted from which\nbed the sound had come; and, when all were asleep, she cut off a lock\nfrom the knight in question, and crept out of the room unnoticed, and\ninformed her son how he could recognise the true hero. The guests got up\nnext morning, but our man soon noticed that he was marked, and in order\nto thwart the design, every one of the knights cut off a lock. They sat\ndown to dinner, and the monarch was not able to recognise the hero.\n\nThe next night the monarch's mother again stole into the bedroom, and\nthis time a knight exclaimed, \"By Jove! what good bread the Tartar\nmonarch has!\" \"It's very good, indeed,\" said another, \"because there is\nwoman's milk in it.\" When they went to sleep, she cut off the end of the\nmoustache from the knight who slept in the bed where the voice came\nfrom, and made this sign known to her son; but the knights were more on\ntheir guard than before, and having discovered what the sign was, each\nof them cut off as much from their moustache as the knight's who was\nmarked; and so once more the monarch could not distinguish between them.\n\nThe third night the old woman again secreted herself, when one of the\nknights remarked, \"By Jove! what a handsome man the monarch is!\" \"He is\nhandsome, indeed, because he is a love-child,\" said another. When they\nwent to sleep, she made a scratch on the visor of the knight who spoke\nlast, and told her son. Next morn the monarch saw that all visors were\nmarked alike. At last the monarch took courage and spoke thus: \"I can\nsee there is a cleverer man amongst you than I; and this is why I am so\nmuch more anxious to know him. I pray, therefore, that he make himself\nknown, so that I may see him, and make the acquaintance of the only\nliving man who wishes to be wiser and more powerful than myself.\" The\nlad stepped forward and said, \"I do not wish to be wiser or more\npowerful than you; but I have only carried out what you bade me do; and\nI am the one who has been marked for the last three nights.\" \"Very well,\nmy lad, now I wish you to prove your words. Tell me, then, how is it\npossible there can be human blood in my wine?\" \"Call your cupbearer,\nyour majesty, and he will explain it to you,\" said the lad. The official\nappeared hastily, and told the king how, when filling the tankards with\nthe wine in question, he cut his finger with his knife, and thus the\nblood got into the wine. \"Then how is it that there is woman's milk in\nmy bread?\" asked the monarch. \"Call the woman who baked the bread, and\nshe will tell,\" said the lad. The woman was questioned, and narrated\nthat she was nursing a baby, and that milk had collected in her breasts;\nand as she was kneading the dough, the breast began to run, and some\nmilk dropped into it. The magic mother had previously informed her son,\nwhen telling him what happened the three nights, and now confirmed her\nprevious confession that it was true that the monarch was a love-child.\nThe monarch was not able to keep his temper any longer, and spoke in a\ngreat rage and very haughtily, \"I cannot tolerate the presence of a man\nwho is my equal: either he or I will die. Defend yourself, lad!\" and\nwith these words he flashed his sword, and dashed at the lad. But in\ndoing so, he accidentally slipped and fell, and the lad's life was\nsaved. Before the former had time to get on his feet, the lad pierced\nhim through, cut off his head, and presented it on the point of his\nsword to the king at home. \"These things that have happened to me are\nwhat I dreamt,\" said the victorious lad; \"but I could not divulge my\nsecret beforehand, or else it would not have been fulfilled.\" The king\nembraced the lad, and presented to him his daughter and half his realm;\nand they perhaps still live in happiness to-day, if they have not died\nsince.\n\n\n\n\nCSABOR UR.\n\n\nThere was once a young prince who was, perhaps, not quite twenty-five\nyears old, tall, and his slim figure was like a pine tree; his forehead\nwas sorrowful, like the dark pine; his thunder-like voice made his eyes\nflash; his dress and his armour were black, because the prince, who was\nknown all over the world simply as Csabor Ur (Mr. Csabor), was serving\nwith the picked heroes of the grand king, and who had no other ornaments\nbesides his black suit but a gold star, which the grand king had\npresented to him in the German camp for having saved his life. The fame\nof Csabor Ur's bravery was great, and also of his benevolence, because\nhe was kind to the poor, and the grand king very often had to scold him\nfor distributing his property in a careless way. The priests, however,\ncould not boast of Csabor Ur's alms, because he never gave any to them,\nnor did he ever give them any money for masses, and for this reason the\nwhole hierarchy was angry with him, especially the head priest at the\ngreat king's court; but Csabor Ur being a great favourite of the great\nking, not even a priest dared to offend him openly, but in secret the\npot was boiling for him. One cold autumn the great king arrived at the\nroyal palace from the camp with Csabor Ur, the palace standing on the\nbank of a large sheet of water, and before they had taken the saddles\noff the stallions the great king thus addressed Csabor Ur: \"My lad, rest\nyourself during the night, and at dawn, as soon as day breaks, hurry off\nwith your most trusty men into Roumania beyond the snow-covered\nmountains to old Demeter, because I hear that my Roumanian neighbours\nare not satisfied with my friendship, and are intriguing with the Turks:\nfind out, my lad, how many weeks the world will last there (what's the\nnews?) and warn the old fox to mind his tail, because I may perhaps send\nhim a rope instead of the archiepiscopal pallium.\" Csabor Ur received\nthe grand king's order with great joy, and, having taken leave of Dame\nMargit (Margaret), dashed off on his bay stallion over the sandy plains\nto the banks of the Olt, and from there he crossed over during a severe\nfrost beyond the snow-covered mountains; he arrived at the house of\nJord\u00e1n Boer, the king's confidential man, whose guest he was, and here\nhe heard of old Demeter's cunning in all its details, and also that he\nwas secretly encouraged by the great king's head priest to plot against\nthe sovereign; hearing this, Csabor Ur started on his journey, and\narrived on the fourth day in Roumania, where he became the bishop's\nguest, by whom he was apparently received cordially; the old dog being\nanxious to mislead with his glib tongue Csabor Ur, about the events\nthere, but it was very difficult to hoodwink the great king's man.\nCsabor Ur never gave any answer to the bishop's many words, and\ntherefore made the bishop believe that he had succeeded in deceiving\nCsabor Ur; but he was more on his guard than ever and soon discovered\nthat every night crowds of people gathered into the cathedral; therefore\none night he also stole in there dressed in the costume of the country,\nand to his horror heard how the people were conspiring with the bishop\nagainst the great king, and how they were plotting an attack with the\naid of the Turkish army.\n\nCsabor Ur listened to these things in great silence and sent one of his\nservants with a letter to the great king next day, in which he described\nminutely the whole state of affairs. The spies, however, laid in ambush\nfor the servant, attacked and killed him, took Csabor Ur's letter from\nhim, and handed it to the bishop, who learnt from its contents that\nCsabor Ur had stolen into the cathedral every night. He, therefore, had\nthe large oak doors closed as soon as the congregation had assembled on\nthe same night, and in an infuriated sermon he informed the people that\nthere was a traitor among them. Hearing this everybody demanded his\ndeath, and they were ready to take their oath on the Holy Cross that\nthey were not traitors. Whereupon the bishop ordered a stool to be\nplaced on the steps of the altar, sat down, and administered the oath to\nall present. Only one man, in a brown fur-cloak, did not budge from the\nside of the stoup. The bishop, therefore, addressed him thus: \"Then who\nare you? Why don't you come to me?\" But the dark cloak did not move, and\nthe bishop at once knew who it was and ordered the man to be bound;\nwhereupon the multitude rushed forward to carry out his command.\nThereupon the man dropped his brown cloak; and, behold, Csabor Ur stood\nerect--like a dark pine--with knitted brows and flashing eyes, holding\nin his right hand a copper mace with a gilt handle, his left resting on\na broad two-edged sword. The multitude stopped, shuddering, like the\nhuntsman, who in pursuit of hares suddenly finds a bear confronting him;\nbut in the next moment the crowd rushed at their prey. Csabor Ur, after\ncutting down about thirty of them, dropped down dead himself. His blood\nspurted up high upon the column, where it can still be seen in the\ncathedral--to the left of the entrance--although the Roumanian priests\ntried their best to whitewash it. The great king heard of this, had the\nhead priest imprisoned, and went with an immense army to revenge Csabor\nUr's murder. With his army came also Dame Margit, dressed in men's\nclothes, who wept at the foot of the blood-bespurt column till one day\nafter mass they picked her up dead from the flags.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL AND THE THREE SLOV\u00c1K LADS.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, in Slavonia, a man who had three\nsons. \"Well, my sons,\" said he one day to them, \"go to see the land; to\nsee the world. There is a country where even the yellow-hammer bathes in\nwine, and where even the fence of the yards is made of strings of\nsausages; but if you wish to get on there you must first learn the\nlanguage of the country.\" The three lads were quite delighted with the\ndescription of the wonderful country, and were ready to start off at\nonce. The father accompanied them as far as the top of a high mountain;\nit took them three days to get to the top, and when they reached the\nsummit they were on the border of the happy land: here the father slung\nan empty bag on every one of the lads' shoulders, and, pointing out to\nthe eldest one the direction, exclaimed, \"Ah! can you see Hungary?\" and\nwith this he took leave of them quite as satisfied as if he had then\nhanded them the key of happiness. The three lads went on and walked into\nHungary; and their first desire was to learn Hungarian, in accord with\ntheir father's direction. The moment they stepped over the border they\nmet a man, who inquired where they were going? They informed him, \"to\nlearn Hungarian.\" \"Don't go any further, my lads,\" said the man, \"the\nschool year consists of three days with me, at the end of which you will\nhave acquired the requisite knowledge.\" The three lads stayed; and at\nthe end of the three days one of them had happily learned by heart the\nwords \"we three\"; the other, \"for a cheese\"; and the third, \"that's\nright.\" The three Slov\u00e1k lads were delighted, and wouldn't learn any\nmore; and so they continued on their journey. They walked till they came\nto a forest, where they found a murdered man by the road-side; they\nlooked at him, and to their astonishment they recognised the murdered\nman as their late master whom they had just left; and while they were\nsighing, not knowing what to do, the rural policeman arrived on the\nspot. He began to question them about the murdered man, saying, \"Who\nkilled him?\" The first, not knowing anything else, answered, \"We three.\"\n\"Why?\" asked the policeman. \"For a cheese,\" replied the second. \"If this\nis so,\" growled the policeman, \"I shall have to put you in irons.\"\nWhereupon the third said, \"That's right.\" The lads were escorted by the\npoliceman, who also intended to get assistance to carry away the dead\nman; but the moment they left, the dead man jumped up, shook himself,\nand regained his ordinary appearance, and became a sooty devil, with\nlong ears and tail, who stood laughing at the lads, being highly amused\nat their stupidity, which enabled him to deceive them so easily.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COUNT'S DAUGHTER.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, an old tumble-down oven, there was\nnothing left of its sides; there was also once a town in which a\ncountess lived, with an immense fortune. This countess had an\nexceedingly pretty daughter, who was her sole heiress. The fame of her\nbeauty and her riches being very great the marrying magnates swarmed\nabout her. Among others the three sons of a count used to come to the\nhouse, whose castle stood outside the town in a pretty wood. These\nyoung men appeared to be richer than one would have supposed from their\nproperty, but no one knew where and how the money came to them. The\nthree young men were invited almost every day to the house, but the\ncountess and her daughter never visited them in return, although the\nyoung lady was continually asked by them. For a long time the girl did\nnot accept their invitation, till one day she was preparing for a walk\ninto the wood, in which the young counts' castle was supposed to be: her\nmother was surprised to hear that she intended to go into the wood, but\nas the young lady didn't say exactly where she was going her mother\nraised no objection. The girl went, and the prettiness of the wood, and\nalso her curiosity enticed her to go in further and further till at last\nshe discovered the turrets of a splendid castle; being so near to it her\ncuriosity grew stronger, and at last she walked into the courtyard.\nEverything seemed to show that the castle was inhabited, but still she\ndid not see a living soul; the girl went on till she came to the main\nentrance, the stairs were of white marble, and the girl, quite dazzled\nat the splendour she beheld, went up, counting the steps; \"one hundred,\"\nsaid the girl, in a half whisper, when she reached the first flight, and\ntarried on the landing. Here she looked round when her attention fell on\na bird in a cage. \"Girl, beware!\" said the bird. But the girl, dazzled\nby the glitter, and drawn on by her curiosity, again began to mount the\nstairs, counting them, without heeding the bird's words. \"One hundred,\"\nagain said the girl, as she tarried on the next landing, but still no\none was to be seen, but thinking that she might find some one she opened\nthe first door, which revealed a splendour quite beyond all she had ever\nimagined, a sight such as she had never seen before, but still no one\nappeared. She went into another room and there amongst other furniture\nshe also found three bedsteads, \"this is the three young men's bedroom,\"\nshe thought, and went on. The next room into which she stepped was full\nof weapons of every possible description; the girl stared and went on,\nand then she came to a large hall which was full of all sorts of\ngarments, clerical, military, civilian, and also women's dresses. She\nwent on still further and in the next room she found a female figure,\nmade up of razors, which, with extended arms as it seemed, was placed\nabove a deep hole. The girl was horror-struck at the sight and her fear\ndrove her back; trembling she went back through the rooms again, but\nwhen she came into the bedroom she heard male voices. Her courage fled\nand she could go no further, but hearing some footsteps approach she\ncrept under one of the beds. The men entered, whom she recognised as the\nthree sons of the count, bringing with them a beautiful girl, whom the\ntrembling girl recognised by her voice as a dear friend; they stripped\nher of all, and as they could not take off a diamond ring from her\nlittle finger, one of the men chopped it off and the finger rolled under\nthe bed where the girl lay concealed. One of the men began to look for\nthe ring when another said \"You will find it some other time,\" and so he\nleft off looking for it. Having quite undressed the girl they took her\nto the other room, when after a short lapse of time she heard some faint\nscreaming, and it appeared to her as if the female figure of razors had\nsnapped together, and the mangled remains of the unfortunate victim were\nheard to drop down into the deep hole. The three brothers came back and\none of them began to look for the ring: the cold sweat broke out on the\npoor girl hiding under the bed. \"Never mind, it is ours new and you can\nfind it in the morning,\" said one of the men, and bade the others go to\nbed; and so it happened: the search for the ring was put off till next\nday. They went to bed and the girl began to breathe more freely in her\nhiding-place; she began to grope about in silence and found the ring and\nsecreted it in her dress, and hearing that the three brothers were fast\nasleep, she stole out noiselessly leaving the door half ajar. The next\nday the three brothers again visited the countess when the daughter\ntold them that she had a dream as if she had been to their castle. She\ntold them how she went up a flight of marble stairs till she counted\n100, and up the next flight when she again counted 100. The brothers\nwere charmed and very much surprised at the dream and assured her that\nit was exactly like their home. Then she told them how she went from one\nroom to another and what she saw, but when she came in her dream as far\nas the razor-maid they began to feel uneasy and grew suspicious, and\nwhen she told them the scene with the girl, and in proof of her tale\nproduced the finger with the ring, the brothers were terrified and\nexclaiming, \"We are betrayed!\" took flight; but everything was arranged,\nand the servants, who were ordered to watch, caught them. After an\ninvestigation all their numberless horrible deeds were brought to light\nand they were beheaded.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPEAKING GRAPES, THE SMILING APPLE, AND THE TINKLING APRICOT.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, beyond seven times seven countries,\na king who had three daughters. One day the king was going to the\nmarket, and thus inquired of his daughters: \"What shall I bring you from\nthe market, my dear daughters?\" The eldest said, \"A golden dress, my\ndear royal father;\" the second said, \"A silver dress for me;\" the third\nsaid, \"Speaking grapes, a smiling apple, and a tinkling apricot for me.\"\n\"Very well, my daughters,\" said the king, and went. He bought the\ndresses for his two elder daughters in the market, as soon as he\narrived; but, in spite of all exertions and inquiries, he could not find\nthe speaking grapes, the smiling apple, and tinkling apricot. He was\nvery sad that he could not get what his youngest daughter wished, for\nshe was his favourite; and he went home. It happened, however, that the\nroyal carriage stuck fast on the way home, although his horses were of\nthe best breed, for they were such high steppers that they kicked the\nstars. So he at once sent for extra horses to drag out the carriage; but\nall in vain, the horses couldn't move either way. He gave up all hope,\nat last, of getting out of the position, when a dirty, filthy pig came\nthat way, and grunted, \"Grumph! grumph! grumph! King, give me your\nyoungest daughter, and I will help you out of the mud.\" The king, never\nthinking what he was promising, and over-anxious to get away, consented,\nand the pig gave the carriage a push with its nose, so that carriage and\nhorses at once moved out of the mud. Having arrived at home the king\nhanded the dresses to his two daughters, and was now sadder than ever\nthat he had brought nothing for his favourite daughter; the thought also\ntroubled him that he had promised her to an unclean animal.\n\nAfter a short time the pig arrived in the courtyard of the palace\ndragging a wheelbarrow after it, and grunted, \"Grumph! grumph! grumph!\nKing, I've come for your daughter.\" The king was terrified, and, in\norder to save his daughter, he had a peasant girl dressed in rich\ngarments, embroidered with gold, sent her down and had her seated in the\nwheelbarrow: the pig again grunted, \"Grumph! grumph! grumph! King, this\nis not your daughter;\" and, taking the barrow, it tipped her out. The\nking, seeing that deceit was of no avail, sent down his daughter, as\npromised, but dressed in ragged, dirty tatters, thinking that she would\nnot please the pig; but the animal grunted in great joy, seized the\ngirl, and placed her in the wheelbarrow. Her father wept that, through a\ncareless promise, he had brought his favourite daughter to such a fate.\nThe pig went on and on with the sobbing girl, till, after a long\njourney, it stopped before a dirty pig-stye and grunted, \"Grumph!\ngrumph! grumph! Girl, get out of the wheelbarrow.\" The girl did as she\nwas told. \"Grumph! grumph! grumph!\" grunted the pig again; \"go into\nyour new home.\" The girl, whose tears, now, were streaming like a brook,\nobeyed; the pig then offered her some Indian corn that it had in a\ntrough, and also its litter which consisted of some old straw, for a\nresting-place. The girl had not a wink of sleep for a long time, till at\nlast, quite worn out with mental torture, she fell asleep.\n\nBeing completely exhausted with all her trials, she slept so soundly\nthat she did not wake till next day at noon. On awaking, she looked\nround, and was very much astonished to find herself in a beautiful\nfairy-like palace, her bed being of white silk with rich purple curtains\nand golden fringes. At the first sign of her waking maids appeared all\nround her, awaiting her orders, and bringing her costly dresses. The\ngirl, quite enchanted with the scene, dressed without a word, and the\nmaids accompanied her to her breakfast in a splendid hall, where a young\nman received her with great affection. \"I am your husband, if you accept\nme, and whatever you see here belongs to you,\" said he; and after\nbreakfast led her into a beautiful garden. The girl did not know\n_whether it was a dream she saw or reality_, and answered all the\nquestions put to her by the young man with evasive and chaffing replies.\nAt this moment they came to that part of the garden which was laid out\nas an orchard, and the bunches of grapes began to speak \"Our beautiful\nqueen, pluck some of us.\" The apples smiled at her continuously, and the\napricots tinkled a beautiful silvery tune. \"You see, my love,\" said the\nhandsome youth, \"here you have what you wished for--what your father\ncould not obtain. You may know now, that once I was a monarch but I was\nbewitched into a pig, and I had to remain in that state till a girl\nwished for speaking grapes, a smiling apple, and a tinkling apricot. You\nare the girl, and I have been delivered; and if I please you, you can be\nmine for ever.\" The girl was enchanted with the handsome youth and the\nroyal splendour, and consented. They went with great joy to carry the\nnews to their father, and to tell him of their happiness.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE ORANGES.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, a king, who had three sons. They had\nreached a marriageable age, but could not find any one who suited them,\nor who pleased their father. \"Go, my sons, and look round in the world,\"\nsaid the king, \"and try to find wives somewhere else.\" The three sons\nwent away, and at bed-time they came to a small cottage, in which a\nvery, very old woman lived. She asked them about the object of their\njourney, which the princes readily communicated to her. The old woman\nprovided them with the necessaries for the journey as well as she could,\nand before taking leave of her guests, gave them an orange each, with\ninstructions to cut them open only in the neighbourhood of water, else\nthey would suffer great, very great damage. The three princes started on\ntheir way again, and the eldest not being able to restrain his curiosity\nas to what sort of fruit it could be, or to conceive what harm could\npossibly happen if he cut it open in a place where there was no water\nnear: cut into the orange; and lo! a beautiful girl, such as he had\nnever seen before, came out of it, and exclaimed, \"Water! let me have\nsome water, or I shall die on the spot.\" The prince ran in every\ndirection to get water, but could not find any, and the beautiful girl\ndied in a short time, as the old woman had said. The princes went on,\nand now the younger one began to be inquisitive as to what could be in\nhis orange.\n\nThey had just sat down to luncheon on a plain, under a tall, leafy tree,\nwhen it appeared to them that they could see a lake not very far off.\n\"Supposing there is a girl in the fruit, I can fulfil her wish,\" he\nthought to himself, and not being able to restrain his curiosity any\nlonger, as to what sort of girl there could be inside, he cut his\norange; and lo! a girl, very much more beautiful than the first, stepped\nout of it, and called out for water, in order to save her life. He had\npreviously sent his brother to what he thought was a lake; and, as he\ncould not wait for his return with the water, he ran off himself, quite\nout of breath, but the further he ran the further the lake appeared to\nbe off, because it was only a mirage. He rushed back to the tree nearly\nbeside himself, in order to see whether the girl was yet alive, but only\nfound her body lifeless, and quite cold.\n\nThe two elder brothers, seeing that they had lost what they had been\nsearching for, and having given up all hope of finding a prettier one,\nreturned in great sorrow to their father's house, and the youngest\ncontinued his journey alone. He wandered about until, after much\nfatigue, he came to the neighbourhood of some town, where he found a\nwell. He had no doubt that there was a girl in his orange also, so he\ntook courage, and cut it; and, indeed, a girl, who was a hundred times\nprettier than the first two, came out of it. She called out for water,\nand the prince gave her some at once, and death had no power over her.\nThe prince now hurried into the town to purchase rich dresses for his\nlove; and that no harm might happen to her during his absence, he made\nher sit up in a tree with dense foliage, the boughs of which overhung\nthe well.\n\nAs soon as the prince left, a gipsy woman came to the well for water.\nShe looked into the well, and saw in the water the beautiful face of\nthe girl in the tree. At first she fancied that she saw the image of her\nown face, and felt very much flattered; but soon found out her mistake,\nand looking about discovered the pretty girl in the tree. \"What are you\nwaiting for, my pretty maid?\" inquired the gipsy woman with a cunning\nface. The girl told her her story, whereupon the gipsy woman, shamming\nkindness, climbed up the tree, and pushed the pretty girl into the well,\ntaking her place in the tree, when the pretty girl sank. The next moment\na beautiful little gold fish appeared swimming in the water; the gipsy\nwoman recognised it as the girl, and, being afraid that it might be\ndangerous to her, tried to catch it, when suddenly the prince appeared\nwith the costly dresses, so she at once laid her plans to deceive him:\nthe prince immediately noticed the difference between her and the girl\nhe had left; but she succeeded in making him believe that for a time\nafter having left the fairy world, she had to lose her beauty, but that\nshe would recover it the sooner the more he loved her: so the prince was\nsatisfied and went home to his father's house with the woman he found,\nand actually loved her in hopes of her regaining her former beauty. The\ngood food and happy life, and also the pretty dresses, improved the\nsunburnt woman's looks a little: the prince imagining that his wife's\nprediction was going to be fulfilled, felt still more attached to her,\nand was anxious to carry out all her wishes.\n\nThe woman, however, could not forget the little gold fish, and therefore\nfeigned illness, saying that she would not get better till she had eaten\nof the liver of a gold fish, which was to be found in such and such a\nwell: the prince had the fish caught at once, and the princess having\npartaken of the liver, got better, and felt more cheerful than before.\nIt happened, however, that one scale of the fish had been cast out in\nthe courtyard with the water, and from it a beautiful tree began to\ngrow; the princess noticed it and found out the reason, how the tree\ngot there, and again fell ill, and said that she could not get better\nuntil they burnt the tree, and cooked her something by the flames. This\nwish also was fulfilled, and she got better; it happened, however that\none of the woodcutters took a square piece of the timber home to his\nwife, who used it as a lid for a milk jug: these people lived not very\nfar from the royal palace, and were poor, the woman herself keeping the\nhouse, and doing all servants' work.\n\nOne day she left her house very early, without having put anything in\norder, and without having done her usual household work; when she came\nhome in the evening, she found all clean, and in the best order; she was\nvery much astonished, and could not imagine how it came to pass; and it\nhappened thus on several days, whenever she had not put her house in\norder before going out. In order to find out how these things were\naccomplished, one day she purposely left her home in disorder, but did\nnot go far, but remained outside peeping through the keyhole, to see\nwhat would happen. As soon as everything became quiet in the house, the\nwoman saw that the lid of the milk jug which was standing in the window,\nbegan to move with gentle noise, and in a few moments a beautiful fairy\nstepped out of it, who first combed her golden tresses, and performed\nher toilet, and afterwards put the whole house in order. The woman, in\norder to trap the fairy before she had time to retransform herself,\nopened the door abruptly. They both seemed astonished, but the kind and\nencouraging words of the woman soon dispelled the girl's fear, and now\nshe related her whole story, how she came into the world, how she became\na gold fish, and then a tree, and how she used to walk out of the wooden\nlid of the milk jug to tidy the house; she also enlightened the woman as\nto who the present queen was. The woman listened to all in great\nastonishment, and in order to prevent the girl from slipping back into\nthe lid, she had previously picked it up, when she entered, and now\nthrew it into the fire. She at once went to the prince, and told him\nthe whole story.\n\nThe prince had already grown suspicious about his wife's beauty, which\nhad been very long in returning, and now he was quite sure that she was\na cheat: he sent for the girl and recognised her at once as the pretty\nfairy whom he had left in the tree. The gipsy woman was put into the\npillory, and the prince married the pretty girl, and they lived ever\nafter in happiness.\n\n\n\n\nTHE YOUNGEST PRINCE AND THE YOUNGEST PRINCESS.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, an old petticoat a hundred years\nold, and in this petticoat a tuck, in which I found the following story.\nThere was once a king who had seven sons and seven daughters: he was in\ngreat trouble where to find princesses of royal blood as wives for his\nsons and princes as husbands for his daughters. At last the idea struck\nhim that the seven sons should marry the seven daughters. They all\nconsented to their father's wish with the exception of the youngest son\nand daughter: \"Well, if you won't,\" said the father, \"I will give you\nyour inheritance and you can go and try your fortune, and get married as\nbest you can.\" The two children went, and came to a strange land, where\nthey were overtaken by darkness in a wood. They chose a bushy tree for\ntheir resting place, whose leafy boughs bent down to the ground and\nafforded shelter. When they woke next morning, the girl told her brother\nthat she had dreamt that there was a town not far off, where a king\nlived who had been ill for a long time, and thousands upon thousands of\ndoctors had failed to cure him. He again dreamt that an old man with\nsnow-white hair told him that the tree under which they slept gave\nwater: in this water the king was to be bathed, and he would be cured.\nThey at once examined the tree, and from a crack in the bark sap as\nclear as crystal was dripping; they filled their flasks with the fluid\nand continued their journey. When they reached the outskirts of the\nforest, they saw a town in front of them.\n\nHaving arrived there they went into an inn to find out whether their\ndream was true, and asked the host what the news was in the town; he, in\nhis conversation, mentioned the illness of the king, and the many\nunsuccessful attempts of men to cure him, and that he had strict orders,\nunder a heavy penalty, to report at once every doctor that came to his\ninn. \"I also am a doctor,\" said the prince, \"and this youth is my\nassistant,\" he continued, pointing to his sister, who was dressed in\nmale attire. The innkeeper at once reported them, and they went to court\nto try their remedy on the king. The king's body was covered with sores,\nand the doctor bathed his hand with the juice of the tree. To his great\njoy, the king discovered next morning that the place which had been\nbathed was visibly improving; he therefore, the very same night, sent a\nhuge wooden vessel on a cart to the tree, to bring him sufficient water\nfor a bath. After a few baths the king actually recovered; and the\ndoctor, having received a handsome present, requested a favour of the\nking, viz., to pay him a visit and to do him the honour of dining with\nhim. The king cordially granted the request, and the prince received him\nwith great splendour in his spacious apartments, which were decorated\nwith a lavishness becoming a sovereign. As the king found the doctor\nalone, he inquired after his assistant, and at this moment a charming\npretty girl stepped from one of the side rooms, whom the king at once\nrecognised as the doctor's assistant. The strangers now related to him\ntheir story, and the king became more affable, especially towards the\npretty assistant, who at once gained possession of his heart and soul,\nand the short acquaintance ended with a wedding. The prince, not\nforgetting the object of his journey, started soon after the wedding\nfestivities were over.\n\nHe passed on till he came to the boundary of the king's realm, and then\nwent on as far as the capital of the next country. He was riding about\nthe streets on a fine horse, when he heard a voice coming from a window\nclose by, \"Hum, you, too, won't get on without me,\" and looking in the\ndirection from which the voice came, he discovered an old man looking\nout of the window. He didn't take any notice of the voice, but went on;\nand, having arrived at an inn, made sundry inquiries, when he was told\nthat adventurous young men in this town might either meet with great\nfortune or with a great misfortune; because the king had a daughter whom\nno one had as yet seen, with the exception of her old nurse. The girl\nhad three marks on her, and whoever found out what they were, and where\nthey were, would become her husband; but whosoever undertook the task\nand failed, would be impaled, and that already ninety-nine young fellows\nhad died in this manner.\n\nUpon hearing this, it became clear to the prince what the meaning of the\nold man's saying was; he thought, that no doubt the old man took him for\nanother adventurer, and the thought struck him that the old man must be\nacquainted with the secret, and that it would be advantageous to make\nhis acquaintance. He found a plea at once; the old man was a goldsmith,\nand, as the prince had lost the rowel of his golden spur on the road, he\ncalled on him, and, having come to terms about the spur, the prince\ninquired of him about the princess, and the old man's tale tallied with\nthat of the innkeeper. After a short reflection, the prince told the old\nman who he was, and, with a look full of meaning, inquired if the\ngoldsmith could help him in case he tried his luck. \"For a good sum with\npleasure,\" replied the goldsmith. \"You shall have it,\" said the prince;\n\"but tell me how, and I will give you this purse on account.\" The old\nman, seeing that there was good opportunity for gain, said, \"I will\nconstruct a silver horse in which you can conceal yourself, and I will\nexpose it for sale in the market. I am almost sure that no one will buy\nit but some one attached to the royal court, and if once you get in\nthere, you can get out of the horse by a secret opening and go back\nwhenever you like and, I think, you will succeed.\"\n\nAnd so it happened; on the following market-day a splendid silver horse\nwas exhibited in the vicinity of the royal palace: there were a good\nmany admirers, but on account of the great price there was no buyer,\ntill at last a person belonging to the royal court enquired the price;\nafter a few moments he returned and bought the horse for the king, who\npresented it to his daughter, and thus the prince managed to get into\nthe chamber of the princess, which was the most difficult of all things,\nand he listened amidst fear and joy to the silvery voice of the pretty\ngirl, who amused herself with the horse--which ran on wheels--and called\nit her dear pet.\n\nEvening drew on, and the mysterious girl went to rest; everything became\nquiet, and only her old nurse was sitting up not far from her bed; but\nabout midnight she, too, fell asleep; hearing that she was fast asleep,\nthe prince got out of the horse and approached the girl's bed, holding\nhis breath, and found the mark of the sun shining on the girl's\nforehead, the moon on the right breast, and three stars on the left.\nHaving found out the three secret marks, the prince was about to retire\nto his hiding-place when the princess woke. She tried to scream, but at\nan imploring gesture of the youth she kept silence. The girl could not\ntake her eyes off the handsome prince, who related to her how and for\nwhat reason he had dared to come. The girl, being tired of her long\nseclusion, consented to his scheme, and they secretly plotted how the\nprince should get out of the palace; whereupon he went back to his\nhiding-place. In accord with the plot, next morning the girl broke one\nof the horse's ears off, and it was sent back to the goldsmith's to be\nrepaired, and the prince was thus able to leave his dangerous position.\n\n\nHaving again splendidly remunerated the goldsmith, he returned to his\nnew brother-in-law, so that he might come back with a splendid suite and\nroyal pomp, and appear as a king to try his fortune. The prince returned\nwith many magnificently-clad knights and splendid horses, and reported\nhimself to the king, and informed him by message that he was anxious to\ntry his luck for the possession of his daughter. The king was very much\npleased with the appearance of the youth, and therefore kindly\nadmonished him not to risk his life, but the prince seemed quite\nconfident, and insisted on carrying out his wishes; so a day was fixed\nfor carrying out the task. The people streamed out to the place where\nthe trial was to take place, like as to a huge festival. And all pitied\nthe handsome youth, and had sad misgivings as to his fate.\n\nThe king granted three days to those who tried their fortune, and three\nguesses. On the first and second day, in order not to betray the plot,\nand in order to increase the \u00e9clat the prince guessed wrongly on\npurpose; but on the third day, when everyone was convinced that he must\ndie, he disclosed in a loud voice the secret marks of the princess. The\nking declared them to be right, and the prince was led to his future\nwife, amidst the cheers of the multitude and the joyous strains of the\nband. The king ordered immense wedding festivities all over the town,\nand resigned his throne in favour of his son-in-law, who reigned happy\nfor many years after!\n\n\n\n\nTHE INVISIBLE SHEPHERD LAD.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, a poor man who had a very good son\nwho was a shepherd. One day he was tending his sheep in a rocky\nneighbourhood, and was sending sighs to Heaven as a man whose heart was\nthrobbing with burning wishes. Hearing a noise as of some one\napproaching he looked round and saw St. Peter standing in front of him\nin the guise of a very old grey man. \"Why are you sighing, my lad?\"\ninquired he, \"and what is your wish?\" \"Nothing else,\" replied the lad,\nrespectfully, \"but to possess a little bag which never gets full, and a\nfur cloak which makes me invisible when I put it on.\" His wish was\nfulfilled and St. Peter vanished. The lad gave up shepherding now and\nturned to the capital, where he thought he had a chance of making his\nfortune. A king lived there who had twelve daughters, and eleven of them\nwanted at least six pairs of shoes each every night. Their father was\nvery angry about this, because it swallowed up a good deal of his\nincome; he suspected that there was something wrong, but couldn't\nsucceed by any traps to get to the bottom of it. At last he promised the\nyoungest princess to him who would unveil the secret.\n\nThe promise enticed many adventurous spirits to the capital, but the\ngirls simply laughed at them, and they were obliged to leave in\ndisgrace. The shepherd lad, relying on his fur cloak, reported himself;\nbut the girls measured him, too, with mocking eyes. Night came, and the\nshepherd, muffling himself in his fur cloak, stood at the bedroom door\nwhere they slept, and stole in amongst them when they went to bed. It\nwas midnight and a ghost walked round the beds and woke the girls. There\nwas now great preparation. They dressed and beautified themselves, and\nfilled a travelling bag with shoes. The youngest knew nothing of all\nthis, but on the present occasion the invisible shepherd woke\nher--whereupon her sisters got frightened; but as she was let into their\nsecret they thought it best to decoy her with them, to which, after a\nshort resistance, the girl consented. All being ready, the ghost placed\na small dish on the table. Everyone anointed their shoulders with the\ncontents, and wings grew to them. The shepherd did the same: and when\nthey all flew through the window, he followed them.\n\nAfter flying for several hours they came to a huge copper forest, and to\na well, the railing round which was of copper, and on this stood twelve\ncopper tumblers. The girls drank here, so as to refresh themselves, when\nthe youngest, who was here for the first time, looked round in fear. The\nlad, too, had something to drink after the girls had left and put a\ntumbler, together with a twig that he broke off a tree, in his bag; the\ntree trembled, and the noise was heard all over the forest. The youngest\ngirl noticed it and warned her sisters that some one was after them, but\nthey felt so safe that they only laughed at her. They continued their\njourney, and after a short time came to a silver forest, and to a silver\nwell. Here again they drank, and the lad again put a tumbler and a\nsilver twig into his bag. In breaking off the twig the tree shook, and\nthe youngest again warned her sisters, but in vain.\n\nThey soon came to the end of the forest and arrived at a golden forest,\nwith a gold well and tumblers. Here again they stopped and drank, and\nthe lad again put a gold tumbler and twig in his bag. The youngest once\nmore warned her sisters of the noise the quivering tree made, but in\nvain. Having arrived at the end of the forest they came to an immense\nmoss-grown rock, whose awe-inspiring lofty peaks soared up to the very\nheavens. Here they all stopped. The ghost struck the rock with a golden\nrod, whereupon it opened, and all entered, the shepherd lad with them.\nNow they came to a gorgeous room from which several halls opened, which\nwere all furnished in a fairy-like manner. From these twelve fairy\nyouths came forth and greeted them, who were all wonderfully handsome.\nThe number of servants increased from minute to minute who were rushing\nabout getting everything ready for a magnificent dance. Soon after\nstrains of enchanting music were heard, and the doors of a vast dancing\nhall opened and the dancing went on without interruption. At dawn the\ngirls returned--also the lad--in the same way as they had come, and\nthey lay down as if nothing had happened, which, however, was belied by\ntheir worn shoes, and the next morning they got up at the usual hour.\n\nThe king was impatiently awaiting the news the shepherd was to bring,\nwho came soon after and told him all that had happened. He sent for his\ndaughters, who denied everything, but the tumblers and the twigs bore\nwitness. What the shepherd told the youngest girl also confirmed, whom\nthe shepherd woke for the purpose. The king fulfilled his promise with\nregard to the youngest princess and the other eleven were burnt for\nwitchcraft.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCESSES.\n\n\nThere was once, I shan't tell you where, it is enough if I tell you that\nthere was somewhere a tumble-down oven, which was in first-rate\ncondition barring the sides, and there were some cakes baking in it;\nthis person (the narrator points to some one present) has eaten some of\nthem. Well then, on the mountains of Kom\u00e1rom, on the glass bridges, on\nthe beautiful golden chandelier, there was once a Debreczen cloak which\nhad ninety-nine tucks, and in the ninety-ninth I found the following\ntale.\n\nThere was once a king with three daughters, but the king was so poor\nthat he could hardly keep his family; his wife, who was the girls'\nstepmother, therefore told her husband one night, that in the morning\nshe would take the girls into the wood and leave them in the thicket so\nthat they might not find again their way home. The youngest overheard\nthis, and as soon as the king and queen fell asleep she hurried off to\nher godmother, who was a magic woman, to ask her advice: her\ngodmother's little pony (t\u00e1tos) was waiting at the front gate, and\ntaking her on its back ran straight to the magic woman. She knew well\nwhat the girl needed and gave her at once a reel of cotton which she\ncould unwind in the wood and so find her way back, but she gave it to\nher on the condition that she would not take her two elder sisters home\nwith her, because they were very bad and proud. As arranged next morning\nthe girls were led out by their stepmother into the wood to gather chips\nas she said, and, having wandered about a long time, she told them to\nrest; so they sat down under a tree and soon all three went to sleep;\nseeing this, the stepmother hurried home.\n\nOn waking up, two of the girls, not being able to find their mother,\nbegan to cry, but the youngest was quiet, saying that she knew her way\nhome, and that she would go, but could not take them with her; whereupon\nthe two elder girls began to flatter her, and implored her so much that\nshe gave in at last. Arriving at home their father received them with\nopen arms; their stepmother feigned delight. Next night she again told\nthe king that she would lead them deeper still into the wood: the\nyoungest again overheard the conversation, and, as on the night before,\nwent on her little pony to her godmother, who scolded her for having\ntaken home her bad sisters, and on condition that this time she would\nnot do so, she gave her a bag full of ashes, which she had to strew over\nthe road as they went on, in order to know her way back; so the girls\nwere led into the wood again and left there, but the youngest again took\nher sisters home, finding her way by the ashes, having been talked over\nby many promises and implorings. At home, they were received, as on the\nfirst occasion; on the third night their stepmother once more undertook\nto lead them away; the youngest overheard them as before, but this time,\nshe had not courage to go to her godmother, moreover she thought that\nshe could help herself, and for this purpose she took a bag full of peas\nwith her, which she strewed about as they went. Left by their mother,\nthe two again began to cry, whereas the youngest said laughing, that she\nwas able to go home on this occasion also; and having again yielded to\nher sisters she started on her way back, but to her astonishment could\nnot find a single pea, as the birds had eaten them all. Now there was a\ngeneral cry, and the three outcasts wandered about the whole day in the\nwood, and did not find a spring till sunset, to quench their thirst;\nthey also found an acorn under an oak under which they had lain down to\nrest; they set the acorn, and carried water in their mouths to water it;\nby next morning it had grown into a tree as tall as a tower, and the\nyoungest climbed up it to see whether she could not discover some\nhabitation in the neighbourhood; not being able to see anything, they\nspent the whole day crying and wandering about. The following morning,\nthe tree was as big as two towers, but on this occasion too the youngest\ngirl looked in vain from its summit: but at last, by the end of the\nthird day, the tree was as tall as three towers, and this time the\nyoungest girl was more successful, because she discovered far away a\nlighted window, and, having come down, she led her sisters in the\ndirection of the light. Her sisters, however, treated her most\nshamefully, they took away all her best clothes, which she thoughtfully\nhad brought with her, tied up in a bundle, and she had to be satisfied\nwith the shabbiest; whenever she dared to contradict them they at once\nbegan to beat her; they gave her orders that wherever they came she had\nto represent them as daughters of rich people, she being their servant.\nThus, they went on for three days and three nights until at last they\ncame to an immense, beautiful castle.\n\nThey felt now in safety, and entered the beautiful palace with great\nhopes, but how frightened were they when they discovered a giantess\ninside who was as tall as a tower, and who had an eye in the middle of\nher forehead as big as a dish, and who gnashed her teeth, which were a\nspan long. \"Welcome, girls!\" thus spoke the giantess, \"What a splendid\nroast you will make!\" They all three were terrified at these words, but\nthe youngest shewed herself amiable, and promised the giantess that they\nwould make all kind of beautiful millinery for her if she did them no\nharm; the woman with the big teeth listened, and agreed, and hid the\ngirls in a cupboard so that her husband might not see them when he came\nhome; the giant, who was even taller than his wife, however, at once\nbegan to sniff about, and demanded human flesh of his wife, threatening\nto swallow her if she did not produce it. The girls were fetched out,\nbut were again spared, having promised to cook very savoury food for the\ngrumbling husband.\n\nThe chief reason of their life having been spared, however, was because\nthe husband wanted to eat them himself during the absence of his wife,\nand the woman had a similar plan in her mind. The girls now commenced to\nbake and roast, the two eldest kneaded the dough, the youngest making\nthe fire in the oven, which was as big as hell, and when it got red hot,\nthe cunning young girl called the giant, and having placed a pot full of\nlard into the oven, asked him to taste it with his tongue to see whether\nthe lard was hot enough, and if the oven had reached its proper heat.\nThe tower of flesh tried it, but the moment he put his head inside the\noven, the girl gave him a push and he was a dead man in the fiery oven;\nseeing this, the giantess got in a rage, and was about to swallow them\nup, but, before doing so, the youngest induced her to let herself be\nbeautified, to which she consented; a ladder was brought, so that the\nyoung girl might get on to her head to comb the monster's hair; instead\nof combing, however, the nimble little girl knocked the giantess on the\nhead with the huge iron comb, so that she dropped down dead on the spot.\nThe girls had the bodies carted away with twenty-four pair of oxen, and\nbecame the sole owners of the immense castle. Next Sunday, the two\neldest dressed up in their best, and went for a walk, and to a dance in\nthe royal town.\n\nAfter their departure their youngest sister, who remained at home to do\nservants' work, examined all the rooms, passages, and closets in the\ncastle. During her search she accidentally found something shining in a\nflue. She knocked it off with a stone, and found that it was a most\nbeautiful golden key. She tried it in every door and cupboard, but only\nsucceeded, after a long search, in opening a small wardrobe with it;\nand, how great was her surprise to find that it was full of ladies'\ndresses and millinery, and that every thing seemed made to fit her. She\nput on a silver dress in great haste, and went to the dance. The\nwell-known little pony was outside waiting for her, and galloped away\nwith her like a hurricane. The moment she entered the dancing hall all\neyes were fixed on her, and the men and youths of the highest dignity\nvied with each other as to who should dance with her. Her sisters who,\ntill her arrival, were the heroines of the evening and the belles of the\nball, were quite set aside now. After a few hours' enjoyment the young\nlady suddenly disappeared; and, later on, received her sisters on their\nreturn in her servant's clothes. They told her that they had enjoyed\nthemselves very well at first, but that later on some impudent female\nput them in the back-ground. The little girl laughed and said,\n\"Supposing that I was that lady;\" and she was beaten by her sisters, and\ncalled some not very polite names for her remark. Next Sunday the same\nthing happened again, only this time the young girl was dressed in gold.\nEverything happened the same, and she was again beaten at home.\n\nThe third Sunday the little girl appeared in a diamond dress. At the\ndance, again, she was the soul of the evening; but this time the young\nmen wanted her to stay to the end of the ball, and watched her very\nclosely, so that she might not escape. When, therefore, she tried to get\naway, she was in such a hurry that she had no time to pick up a shoe she\naccidentally dropped in the corridor; she was just in time to receive\nher sisters. The shoe came into the possession of the prince, who hid\nit carefully. After a few days the prince fell very ill, and the best\nphysicians could not find a cure for him; his father was very nearly in\ndespair about his only son's health, when a foreign doctor maintained\nthat the patient could only be cured by marrying, because he was\nlove-sick. His father, therefore, implored him to make him a full\nconfession of his love, and, whoever the person whom he wished might be,\nhe should have her. The prince produced the shoe, and declared that he\nwanted the young lady to whom the shoe belonged. So it was announced\nthroughout the whole realm, that all the ladies of the country should\nappear next Sunday to try on the shoe, and whosoever's foot it fitted\nshe should become the prince's wife. On Sunday the ladies swarmed in\ncrowds to the capital. Nor were the two eldest of the three sisters\nmissing, who had had their feet previously scraped with a knife by their\nyoungest sister, so that they might be smaller. The youngest sister also\ngot ready after their departure, and, having wrapped the mate of the\nlost shoe in a handkerchief, she jumped on the pony's back in her best\ndress, and rode to the appointed place. She overtook her sisters on the\nroad, and, jumping the pony into a puddle, splashed them all over with\nmud. The moment she was seen approaching 100 cannons were fired off, and\nall the bells were rung; but she wouldn't acknowledge the shoe as her\nown without a trial, and, therefore, tried it on. The shoe fitted her\nexactly, and when she produced its mate, 300 cannons greeted her as the\nfuture queen. She accepted the honour upon one condition, namely, that\nthe king should restore her father's conquered realm. Her wish was\ngranted, and she became the prince's wife. Her sisters were conducted\nback to their royal father, who was now rich and powerful once more;\nwhere they live still, if they have not died since.\n\n\n\n\nCINDER JACK.\n\n\nA peasant had three sons. One morning he sent out the eldest to guard\nthe vineyard. The lad went, and was cheerfully eating a cake he had\ntaken with him, when a frog crept up to him, and asked him to let it\nhave some of his cake. \"Anything else?\" asked the lad angrily, and\npicked up a stone to drive the frog away. The frog left without a word,\nand the lad soon fell asleep, and, on awaking, found the whole vineyard\nlaid waste. The next day the father sent his second son into the\nvineyard, but he fared like the first.\n\nThe father was very angry about it, and did not know what to do;\nwhereupon his youngest son spoke up, who was always sitting in a corner\namongst the ashes, and was not thought fit for anything, and whom for\nthis reason they nicknamed Cinder Jack. \"My father, send me out, and I\nwill take care of the vineyard.\" His father and his brothers laughed at\nhim, but they allowed him to have a trial; so Cinder Jack went to the\nvineyard, and, taking out his cake, began to eat it. The frog again\nappeared, and asked for a piece of cake, which was given to him at once.\nHaving finished their breakfast, the frog gave the lad a copper, a\nsilver, and a gold rod; and told him, that three horses would appear\nshortly, of copper, silver, and gold, and they would try to trample down\nthe vineyard; but, if he beat them with the rods he had given him they\nwould at once become tame, and be his servants, and could at any time be\nsummoned to carry out his orders. It happened as the frog foretold; and\nthe vineyard produced a rich vintage. But Cinder Jack never told his\nmaster or his brothers how he had been able to preserve the vineyard; in\nfact, he concealed all, and again spent his time as usual, lying about\nin his favourite corner.\n\nOne Sunday the king had a high fir pole erected in front of the church,\nand a golden rosemary tied to the top, and promised his daughter to him\nwho should be able to take it down in one jump on horseback. All the\nknights of the realm tried their fortune, but not one of them was able\nto jump high enough. But all of a sudden a knight clad in copper mail,\non a copper horse, appeared with his visor down, and snatched the\nrosemary with an easy jump, and quickly disappeared. When his two\nbrothers got home they told Cinder Jack what had happened, and he\nremarked, that he saw the whole proceeding much better, and on being\nasked \"Where from?\" his answer was, \"From the top of the hoarding.\" His\nbrothers had the hoarding pulled down at once, so that their younger\nbrother might not look on any more. Next Sunday a still higher pole,\nwith a golden apple at the top, was set up; and whosoever wished to\nmarry the king's daughter had to take the apple down. Again, hundreds\nupon hundreds tried, but all in vain; till, at last, a knight in silver\nmail, on a silver horse, took it, and disappeared. Cinder Jack again\ntold his brothers that he saw the festivities much better than they did;\nhe saw them, he said, from the pig-stye; so this was pulled down also.\nThe third Sunday a silk kerchief interwoven with gold was displayed at\nthe top of a still higher fir pole, and, as nobody succeeded in getting\nit, a knight in gold mail, on a gold horse, appeared; snatched it down,\nand galloped off. Cinder Jack again told his brothers that he saw all\nfrom the top of the house; and his envious brothers had the roof of the\nhouse taken off, so that the youngest brother might not look on again.\n\nThe king now had it announced that the knight who had shown himself\nworthy of his daughter should report himself, and should bring with him\nthe gold rosemary, the apple, and the silk kerchief; but no one came. So\nthe king ordered every man in the realm to appear before him, and still\nthe knight in question could not be found; till, at last, he arrived\nclad in gold mail on a gold charger; whereupon the bells were at once\nrung, and hundreds and hundreds of cannons fired. The knight, having\nhanded to the princess the golden rosemary, the apple, and the kerchief,\nrespectfully demanded her hand, and, having obtained it, lifted his\nvisor, and the populace, to their great astonishment, recognised Cinder\nJack, whom they had even forgotten to ask to the king's presence. The\ngood-hearted lad had his brothers' house rebuilt, and gave them presents\nas well. He took his father to his house, as the old king died soon\nafter. Cinder Jack is reigning still, and is respected and honoured by\nall his subjects!\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE BROTHERS.\n\n\nThere was once a poor man who had three sons. \"My sons,\" said he to them\none day, \"you have not seen anything yet, and you have no experience\nwhatever; it is time for you to go to different countries and try your\nluck in the world; so get ready for the journey, and go as far as your\neyes can see.\" The three lads got ready, and, having filled their bags\nwith cakes specially prepared For the occasion, they left home. They\nwent on and on till at last they got tired and lay down,--the two elder\nthen proposed that, as it became good brethren, they should all share\nequally, and that they should begin with the youngest's provisions, and\nwhen they were finished should divide those of the second, and lastly\nthose of the eldest. And so it happened; on the first day the youngest's\nbag was emptied; but the second day, when meal-time came, the two eldest\nwould not give the youngest anything, and when he insisted on receiving\nhis share, they gouged out his eyes and left him to starve. For the\npresent let us leave the two eldest to continue their way, and let's\nsee what became of the poor blind lad. He, resigning himself to God's\nwill, groped his way about, till, alas! he dropped into a well. There\nwas no water in it, but a great deal of mud; when he dropped into it the\nmud splashed all over his body, and he felt quite a new man again and\never so much better. Having besmeared his face and the hollows of his\neyes with the mud he again saw clearly, because the healing power of the\nmiracle-working mud had renewed his eyes once more, and his whole face\nbecame of a beautiful complexion.\n\nThe lad took as much mud in a flower pot with him as he could carry and\ncontinued his journey, when suddenly he noticed a little mouse quite\ncrushed, imploring him for help; he took pity on it, and, having\nbesmeared it with the miraculous mud, the mouse was cured, and gave to\nhis benefactor a small whistle, with the direction that if anything\nhappened to him he had to blow the whistle, and the mouse, who was the\nking of mice, would come to his help with all his mates on earth. He\ncontinued his way and found a bee quite crushed and cured it too with\nthe mud, and obtained another whistle, which he had to blow in case of\ndanger, and the queen of the bees would come to his aid. Again going on\nhe found a wolf shockingly bruised; at first he had not courage to cure\nit, being afraid that it would eat him; but the wolf implored so long\nthat at last he cured him too, and the wolf became strong and beautiful;\nthe wolf, too, gave him a whistle to use in time of need.\n\nThe lad went on till at last he came to the royal town, where he was\nengaged as servant to the king. His two brothers were there already in\nthe same service, and, having recognised him, tried in every way to\ndestroy him. After long deliberation as to how to carry out their plan\nthey went to the king and falsely accused their brother of having told\nthem that he was able to gather the corn of the whole land into the\nking's barn in one night; the lad denied it, but all in vain. The king\ndeclared that if all the corn was not in the barn by the morning he\nwould hang him. The lad wept and wailed for a long time, when suddenly\nhe remembered his whistles, and blew into the one that the mouse had\ngiven him and when the mice came he told them his misfortunes: by\nmidnight all the corn of the country was gathered together. Next day his\nbrothers were more angry still, and falsely said to the king that their\nbrother was able to build a beautiful bridge of wax from the royal\ncastle to the market place in one night; the king ordered him to do this\ntoo, and having blown his second whistle the bees, who appeared to\nreceive his command, did the task for him. Next morning from his window\nthe king very much admired the beautiful arched bridge; his brothers\nnearly burst in their rage, and spread the report that their brother was\nable to bring twelve of the strongest wolves into the royal courtyard by\nthe next morning. They firmly believed that on this occasion they were\nquite sure of their victory, because either the wolves would tear their\nbrother in pieces, or if he could not fulfil the task the king would\nhave him executed; but again they were out of their reckoning: the lad\nblew his third whistle and the king of wolves arrived to receive his\norders. He told him his misfortune, and the wolf ordered not only\ntwelve, but all his mates in the country, into the royal courtyard. The\nlad now sat on the back of the king of wolves, and drove with a whip the\nwhole pack in front of him, who tore everything in pieces that crossed\nthem. There was a great deal of weeping, imploring, and wailing in the\nroyal palace, but all in vain; the king promised a sack full of gold,\nbut all in vain. The king of the wolves, heedless of any words, urged on\nthe pack by howling at them continually: \"Drive on! Seize them!\" The\nking promised more; two sacks, three sacks, ten, or even twenty sacks\nfull of gold were offered but not accepted; the wolves tore everyone in\npieces; the two brothers perished, and so did the king and all his\nservants, and only his daughter was spared; the lad married her,\noccupied the king's throne, and lives happily to this day if he has not\ndied since. In his last letter he promised to come and see us to-morrow.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE VALUABLE THINGS.\n\n\nThere were once two kings who lived in great friendship; one had three\nsons, the other a daughter. The two fathers made an agreement, that in\ncase of either of them dying, the other should become guardian of the\norphans; and that if one of the boys married the girl he should inherit\nher property. Very soon after the girl's father died, and she went to\nlive with her guardian. After a little time the eldest boy went to his\nfather and asked the girl's hand, threatening to commit suicide if his\nrequest was refused; his father promised to give him a reply in three\nweeks. At the end of the first week the second son asked the girl's\nhand, and threatened to blow out his brains if he could not wed her; the\nking promised to reply to him in a fortnight. At the end of the second\nweek, the youngest asked for the girl, and his father bade him wait a\nweek for his answer. The day arrived when all three had to receive their\nreply, and their father addressed them thus: \"My sons, you all three\nlove the girl, but you know too well that only one can have her. I will,\ntherefore, give her to the one who will show himself the most worthy of\nher. You had better go, wherever you please, and see the world, and\nreturn in one year from this day, and the girl shall be his who will\nbring the most valuable thing from his journey.\" The princes consented\nto this, and started on their journey, travelling together till they\ncame to a tall oak in the nearest wood; the road here divided into three\nbranches; the eldest chose the one leading west, the second selected the\none running south, and the third son the branch turning off to the east.\nBefore separating, they decided to return to the same place after the\nlapse of exactly one year, and to make the homeward journey together.\n\nThe eldest looked at everything that he found worthy of note during his\ntravels, and spared no expense to get something excellent: after a long\njourney hither and thither, he at last succeeded in getting a telescope\nby the aid of which he could see to the end of the world; so he decided\nto take it back to his father, as the most valuable thing he had found.\nThe second son also endeavoured to find something so valuable that the\npossession of it should make him an easy winner in the competition for\nthe girl's hand: after a long search he found a cloak by means of which,\nwhen he put it on and thought of a place, he was immediately transported\nthere. The youngest, after long wandering, bought an orange which had\npower to restore to life the dead when put under the corpse's nose,\nprovided death had not taken place more than twenty-four hours before.\nThese were the three valuable things that were to be brought home; and,\nas the year was nearly up, the eldest and the youngest were already on\ntheir way back to the oak: the second son only was still enjoying\nhimself in various places, as one second was enough for him to get to\nthe meeting place. The two having arrived at the oak, the middle one\nappeared after a little while, and they then shewed each other the\nvaluables acquired; next they looked through the telescope, and to their\nhorror they saw that the lady for the possession of whom they had been\nworking hard for a whole year, was lying dead; so they all three slipped\nhurriedly into the cloak, and as quick as thought arrived at home; the\nfather told them in great grief that the girl could belong to no one as\nshe was dead: they inquired when she died, and receiving an answer that\nshe had been dead not quite twenty-four hours, the youngest rushed up to\nher, and restored her to life with his magic orange. Now there was a\ngood deal of litigation and quarrelling among the three lads: the eldest\nclaimed the greatest merit for himself, because, he said, had they not\nseen through his telescope that the girl was dead they would have been\nstill lingering at the oak, and the orange would have been of no avail;\nthe second maintained that if they had not got home so quickly with his\ncloak the orange would have been of no use; the third claimed his orange\nas the best, for restoring the girl to life, without which the other two\nwould have been useless. In order to settle the dispute, they called all\nthe learned and old people of the realm together, and these awarded the\ngirl to the youngest, and all three were satisfied with the award, and\nthe two others gave up all idea about suicide. The eldest, by the aid of\nhis telescope, found himself a wife who was the prettiest royal princess\non earth, and married her: the second heard of one who was known for her\nvirtue and beauty, and got into his cloak, and went to her, and so all\nthree to their great satisfaction led their brides to the altar, and\nbecame as happy as men can be.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE MAGIC PONY.\n\n\nOnce a poor man had twelve sons, and, not having sufficient means to\nkeep them at home, he sent them into the great world to earn their bread\nby work and to try their fortunes. The brothers wandered twelve days and\nnights over hills and dales till at last they came to a wealthy king,\nwho engaged them as grooms, and promised them each three hundred\nflorins a year for their wages. Among the king's horses there was a\nhalf-starved looking, decrepit little pony; the eleven eldest boys\ncontinually beat and ill-treated this animal on account of its ugliness,\nbut the youngest always took great care of it, he even saved all the\nbread crumbs and other little dainties for his little invalid pony, for\nwhich his brothers very often chaffed him, and in course of time they\ntreated him with silent contempt, believing him to be a lunatic; he bore\ntheir insults patiently, and their badgering without a murmur, in the\nsame way as the little pony the bad treatment it received. The year of\nservice having come to an end, the lads received their wages, and as a\nreward they were also each allowed to choose a horse from the king's\nstud. The eleven eldest chose the best-looking horses, but the youngest\nonly begged leave to take the poor little decrepit pony with him. His\nbrothers tried to persuade him to give up the foolish idea, but, all in\nvain, he would have no other horse.\n\nThe little pony now confessed to his keeper that it was a magic horse,\nand that whenever it wanted it could change into the finest charger and\ncould gallop as fast as lightning. The twelve brothers then started\nhomewards; the eleven eldest were proudly jumping and prancing about on\ntheir fine horses, whereas the youngest dragged his horse by its halter\nalong the road: at one time they came to a boggy place and the poor\nlittle decrepit pony sank into it. The eleven brothers who had gone on\nbefore were very angry about it, as they were obliged to return and drag\ntheir brother's horse out of the mud: after a short journey the\nyoungest's again stuck in the mud, and his brothers had to drag it out\nagain, swearing at him all the time. When at last it stuck the third\ntime they would not listen any more to their brother's cries for help.\n\"Let them go,\" said the little pony, and after a short time inquired if\nthey had gone far? \"They have,\" answered the lad. Again, after a short\ntime, the pony inquired whether he could still see them. \"They look like\nflying crows or black spots in the distance,\" replied his master. \"Can\nyou see them now?\" asked the pony in a few minutes. \"No,\" was the reply;\nthereupon the pony jumped out of the mud and, taking the lad on its\nback, rushed forth like lightning, leaving the others far behind. Having\narrived at home the pony became poor and decrepit as before, and crawled\non to the dung heap, eating the straw it found there, the lad concealing\nhimself behind the oven. The others having arrived showed their wages\nand horses to their father, and being asked about their brother they\nreplied that he had become an idiot, and chosen as his reward an ugly\npony, just such a one as the one on the dung heap, and that he stuck\nfast in a bog, and perhaps was now dead. \"It is not true,\" called out\nthe youngest from behind the oven, and stepped forth to the astonishment\nof all.\n\nHaving spent a few days in enjoying themselves at their father's house,\nthe lads again started on a journey to find wives. They had already\njourneyed over seven countries and seven villages as well, and had not\nas yet been able to find twelve girls suitable for them, till at last,\nas the sun was setting, they came across an old woman with an iron nose,\nwho was ploughing her field with twelve mares; she asked of them what\nthey sought, and, having learned the object of their wanderings, she\nproposed that they should look at her twelve daughters: the lads having\nconsented, the old woman drove her twelve mares home and took the lads\ninto her house and introduced them to her daughters, who were none\nothers than the twelve mares they saw before. In the evening she bade\neach lad go to bed with one of the girls; the eldest lad got into bed\nwith the eldest girl and so on, her youngest, who was the favourite\ndaughter and had golden hair, becoming the youngest lad's bedfellow.\n\nThis girl informed the lad that it was her mother's intention to kill\nhis eleven brothers; and so, in order to save them, on their all falling\nasleep, the youngest lad got up and laid all his brothers next to the\nwall, making all the girls lie outside, and having done this, quietly\ncrept back into his bed.\n\nAfter a little while, the old woman with the iron nose got up and, with\na huge sword, cut off the heads of the eleven sleepers who were lying\noutside, and then she went back to bed to sleep. Thereupon the youngest\nlad again got up, and, waking his brothers, told them how he had saved\nthem, and urged them to flee as soon as possible. So they hurried off,\ntheir brother remaining there till daybreak. At dawn he noticed that the\nold woman was getting up, and that she was coming to examine the beds,\nso he, too, got up, and sat on his pony, taking the little girl with the\ngolden hair with him. The old woman with the iron nose, as soon as she\nfound out the fraud, picked up a poker, turned it into a horse, and flew\nafter them; when she had nearly overtaken them, the little pony gave the\nlad a currycomb, a brush, and a piece of a horse-rug, and bade him throw\nfirst the currycomb behind him, and in case it did not answer, to throw\nthe brush, and as a last resource the piece of horse-rug; the lad threw\nthe currycomb, and in one moment it became a dense forest, with as many\ntrees as there were teeth in the comb; by the time that the old woman\nhad broken her way through the wood, the couple had travelled a long\ndistance. When the old woman came very near again, the lad threw the\nbrush behind him, and it at once became a dense forest, having as many\ntrees as there were bristles in the brush. The old woman had the\ngreatest difficulty in working her way through the wood; but again she\ndrew close to their heels, and very nearly caught them, when the lad\nthrew the horse-rug away, and it became such a dense forest between them\nand the old woman, that it looked like one immense tree; with all her\nperseverance, the old woman could not penetrate this wood, so she\nchanged into a pigeon to enable her to fly over it; but as soon as the\npony noticed this he turned into a vulture, swooped down on the pigeon,\nand tore it in pieces with his claws, thus saving both the lad and the\npretty girl with the golden hair from the fury of the hateful old woman\nwith the iron nose.\n\nWhile the eleven elder brothers were still out looking after wives, the\nyoungest married the pretty little girl with the golden hair, and they\nstill live merrily together, out of all danger, if they have not died\nsince.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEGGAR'S PRESENTS.\n\n\nThere was once a very poor man, who went into the wood to fell trees for\nhis own use. The sweat ran down his cheeks, from his hard work, when all\nat once an old beggar appeared and asked for alms. The poor man pitied\nhim very much, and, putting his axe on the ground, felt in his bag, and,\nwith sincere compassion, shared his few bits of bread with the poor old\nbeggar. The latter, having eaten his bread, spoke thus to the\nwood-cutter: \"My son, here! for your kindness accept this table-cloth,\nand whenever hereafter you feel need and are hungry, say to the cloth,\n'Spread thyself, little cloth,' and your table will be laid, and covered\nwith the best meats and drinks. I am the rewarder of all good deeds, and\nI give this to you for your benevolence.\" Thereupon the old man\ndisappeared, and the wood-cutter turned homewards in great joy.\n\nHaving been overtaken by night on his way, he turned into a hostelry,\nand informed the innkeeper, who was an old acquaintance, of his good\nfortune; and, in order to give greater weight to his word, he at once\nmade a trial of the table-cloth, and provided a jolly good supper for\nthe innkeeper and his wife, from the dainty dishes that were served up\non the cloth. After supper he laid down on the bench to sleep, and, in\nthe meantime, the wicked wife of the innkeeper hemmed a similar cloth,\nand by the morning exchanged it for that of the woodcutter. He,\nsuspecting nothing, hurried home with the exchanged cloth, and, arriving\nthere, told his wife what had happened; and, to prove his words, at once\ngave orders to the cloth to spread itself; but all in vain. He repeated\nat least a hundred times the words \"Little cloth, spread thyself,\" but\nthe cloth never moved; and the simpleton couldn't understand it. Next\nday he again went to the wood, where he again shared his bread with the\nold beggar, and received from him a lamb, to which he had only to say,\n\"Give me gold, little lamb,\" and the gold coins at once began to rain.\nWith this the woodcutter again went to the inn for the night, and showed\nthe present to the innkeeper, as before. Next morning he had another\nlamb to take home, and was very much surprised that it would not give\nthe gold for which he asked. He went to the wood again, and treated the\nbeggar well, but also told him what had happened to the table-cloth and\nlamb. The beggar was not at all surprised, and gave him a club, and said\nto him, \"If the innkeeper has changed your cloth and lamb, you can\nregain them by means of this club: you have only to say, 'Beat away,\nbeat away, my little club,' and it will have enough power to knock down\na whole army.\" So the woodcutter went to the inn a third time, and\ninsisted upon his cloth and lamb being returned; and, as the innkeeper\nwould not do so, he exclaimed, \"Beat away, beat away, my little club!\"\nand the club began to beat the innkeeper and his wife, till the missing\nproperty was returned.\n\nHe then went home and told his wife, with great joy, what had happened;\nand, in order to give greater consequence to his house, he invited the\nking to dinner next day. The king was very much surprised, and, about\nnoon, sent a lackey to see what they were cooking for him; the\nmessenger, however, returned with the news that there was not even a\nfire in the kitchen. His majesty was still more surprised when, at\nmeal-time, he found the table laden with the finest dishes and drinks.\nUpon inquiry where all came from, the poor woodcutter told him his\nstory, what happened in the wood, about the lamb and cloth, but did not\nmention a word about the club. The king, who was a regular tyrant, at\nonce claimed the cloth and the lamb; and, as the man would not comply,\nhe sent a few lackeys to him, to take them away; but they were soon\nknocked down by the club. So the king sent a larger force against him;\nbut they also perished to a man. On hearing this the king got into a\ngreat rage, and went in person with his whole army against him; but on\nthis occasion, too, the woodcutter was victorious, because the club\nknocked down dead every one of the king's soldiers; the king himself\ndied on the battle-field and his throne was occupied by the once poor\nwoodcutter. It was a real blessing to his people; because, in his\nmagnanimity, he delighted to assist all whom he knew to be in want or\ndistress; and so he, also, lived a happy and contented man to the end of\nhis days!\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORLD'S BEAUTIFUL WOMAN.\n\n\nIn the most beautiful land of Asia, where Adam and Eve may have lived,\nwhere all animals, including cows, live wild, where the corn grows wild,\nand even bread grows on trees, there lived a pretty girl, whose palace\nwas built on a low hill, which looked over a pretty, a very pretty\nvalley, from which one could see the whole world. In the same country\nthere lived a young king who decided not to get married till he\nsucceeded in finding the prettiest woman or girl in the world. The\npretty maid lived with her old father, and with only two servant girls.\nThe young king lived and enjoyed himself amongst the finest young\naristocrats. One day it struck the young king that it would be a good\nthing to get married; so he instructed his aristocratic friends to go\nall over his vast realm, and to search about till they found the\nprettiest girl in the land: they had not to trouble whether she was poor\nor rich; but she must be the prettiest. Each of them was to remain in\nthe town where he found the girl that he deemed was the prettiest and to\nwrite and let the king know, so that he might go and have a look at all\nof them and choose for himself the prettiest amongst all the beauties,\nthe one he liked best. After a year he received letters from every one\nof his seventy-seven friends, and extraordinarily all the seventy-seven\nletters arrived from the same town, where, on a low hill above a pretty\nlittle valley, there stood a golden palace, in which there lived a young\nlady with a nice old man and two maids, and from the four windows of\nwhich palace the whole world could be seen. The young king started with\na large retinue of wedding guests to the place where the prettiest girl\nin the world lived: he found there all his seventy-seven friends, who\nwere all fever-stricken with love, and were lying about on the pavement\nof the palace, on hay which was of a very fine silk-like grass; there\nthey lay every one of them. The moment the young king saw the beautiful\ngirl he cried: \"The Lord has created you expressly for me; you are mine\nand I am yours! and it is my wish to find my rest in the same grave with\nyou.\"\n\nThe young lady also fell very much in love with the handsome king; in\nher fond passion she could not utter a word, but only took him round his\nslender waist[1] and led him to her father. Her old father wept tears of\njoy, that at last a man was found whom his daughter could love, as she\nhad thought every man ugly hitherto. The ceremony of betrothal and\nwedding was very short; at his pretty wife's wish, the king came to\nlive on the beautiful spot, than which there was not a prettier one in\nthe whole world! By the side of the palace there was an earth-hut, in\nwhich lived an old witch who knew all the young lady's secrets, and who\nhelped her with advice whenever she needed it. The old witch praised the\nyoung lady's beauty to all she met, and it was she who had gathered the\nseventy-seven young aristocrats into the palace. On the evening of the\nwedding she called upon \"the world's beautiful lady\" and praised the\nyoung king to her, his handsomeness and riches, and after she had\npraised him for an hour or two she sighed heavily: the pretty young lady\nasked her what troubled her, as she had this very moment spoken of her\nhusband as being a handsome, rich, and worthy man? \"Because, my pretty\nlady, my beautiful queen, if you two live sometime here, you will not\nlong be the prettiest woman in the world; you are very pretty now, and\nyour husband is the handsomest of all men; but should a daughter be born\nto you, she will be more beautiful than you; she will be more beautiful\nthan the morning star--this is the reason of my sadness, my beautiful\nlady.\" \"You are quite right, good old woman, I will follow any advice;\nif you tell me what to do, I will obey you. I will do anything to remain\nthe most beautiful woman in the world.\" This was what the old witch said\nto the beautiful lady: \"I will give you a handful of cotton wool; when\nyour husband sleeps with you, put this wool on your lips, but be careful\nnot to make it wet, because there will be poison on it. When your\nhusband arrives at home all in perspiration from the dance, he will come\nto you and kiss you, and die a sudden death.\" The young lady did as the\nwitch told her, and the young king was found dead next morning; but the\npoison was of such a nature that the physicians were not able to find\nout what the king had died of.\n\nThe bride was left a widow, and again went to live with her maid and\nher old father, and made a solemn vow that she would never marry again.\nAnd she kept her word. As it happened, however, by some inexplicable\ncircumstance, or by some miracle, after a few months she discovered that\nshe was with child; so she ran to the old witch and asked her what to\ndo. The witch gave her a looking-glass and the following advice: \"Every\nmorning you have to ask this mirror whether there is a more beautiful\nwoman than yourself in existence, and if it says that there is not,\nthere really won't be one for a long time, and your mind may be at ease;\nbut should it say that there is one, there will be one, and I will see\nto that myself.\" The beautiful lady snatched the mirror from the witch\nin great joy, and as soon as she reached her dressing-room she placed\nthe little mirror on the window ledge and questioned it thus: \"Well, my\ndear little mirror, is there a more beautiful woman in the world than\nI?\" The mirror replied: \"Not yet, but there will be one soon, who will\nbe twice as handsome as you.\" The beautiful woman nearly lost her wits\nin her sorrow, and informed the witch what the mirror had replied. \"No\nmatter,\" said the old hag, \"let her be born, and we shall soon put her\nout of the way.\"\n\nThe beautiful lady was confined, and a pretty little daughter was born,\nand it would have been a sin to look at her with an evil eye. The bad\nwoman did not even look at the pretty little creature, but fetched her\nmirror and said: \"Well, my dear little mirror, is there a more beautiful\ncreature than I?\" and the looking-glass replied: \"You are very\nbeautiful, but your little daughter is seven times prettier than you.\"\nSo as soon as she left her bed she sent for the old witch to ask her\nadvice, who, when she took the babe in her arms, exclaimed that she had\nnever seen such a beautiful creature in all her life. While she gazed at\nthe beautiful child she spat in her eyes and covered her face, telling\nthe beautiful woman to look at the child again in three hours, and when\nshe uncovered it she would be surprised to find what a monster it had\nbecome. The beautiful lady felt very uneasy, and asked the witch whether\nshe was allowed to question the mirror again? \"Certainly,\" replied the\nwitch, \"for I know that at this moment you are the most beautiful woman\nin existence.\" But the mirror replied, \"You are beautiful, but your\ndaughter is seventy-seven times more beautiful than you.\" The beautiful\nwoman nearly died of rage, but the old witch only smiled, being\nconfident of her magic power.\n\nThe three hours passed, the little girl's face was uncovered, and the\nold witch fainted away in her rage; for the little girl had become not\nonly seven times, but seventy-seven times more beautiful than ever from\nthe very same thing that usually disfigured other babies: when she\nrecovered she advised the beautiful lady to kill her baby, as not even\nthe devil himself had any power over it. The old father of the beautiful\nwoman had died suddenly, broken hearted by his daughter's shame! The\nbeautiful woman was nearly killed by sorrow over the loss of her father,\nand in order to forget her troubles, she spared her daughter till she\nwas thirteen: the little girl grew more beautiful every day, so that the\nwoman could not bear her daughter's beauty any longer, and handed her to\nthe old witch to be killed. The witch was only too glad to avail herself\nof the opportunity, and took her into a vast forest, where she tied the\ngirl's hands together with a wisp of straw, placed a wreath of straw on\nher head, and a girdle of straw round her waist, so that by lighting\nthem she would burn to death the most beautiful masterpiece of the Lord.\nBut all of a sudden a loud shouting was heard in the forest, and twelve\nrobbers came running as swift as birds towards the place where the old\nwitch and the pretty girl were standing. One of the robbers seized the\ngirl, another knocked the old witch on the head, and gave her a sound\nbeating. The witch shammed death, and the robbers left the wicked old\nwretch behind, carrying off the pretty girl (who had fainted in her\nfright) with them. After half an hour the old witch got up, and rushed\nto the castle where the beautiful woman lived, and said, \"Well, my\nqueen, don't question your mirror any more, for you are now the most\nbeautiful creature in the world, your beautiful daughter lies under\nground.\" The beautiful lady jumped for joy, and kissed the ugly old\nwitch.\n\nThe pretty girl upon her recovery found herself in a nice little house,\nin a clean bed, and guarded by twelve men, who praised her beauty in\nwhispers, which was such as no human eye had seen before. The innocent\nlittle thing, not thinking of any harm, looked at the men with their\ngreat beards, who stared at her with wide open eyes. She got up from her\nsoft bed, and thanked the good men for having delivered her from the\nclutches of the awful old witch, and then inquired where she was, and\nwhat they intended to do with her; if they meant to kill her, she begged\nthem do it at once, as she would die with pleasure, and was only afraid\nof being killed by that horrible old witch, who was going to burn her to\ndeath. None of the robbers could utter a word, their hearts were so\nsoftened by her sweet words: such words as they had never before heard\nfrom human lips, and her innocent look which would have tamed even a\nwild bull. At last one of the robbers, who was splendidly dressed, said:\n\"You pretty creature of the Lord, you are in the midst of twelve\nrobbers, who are men of good hearts, but bad morals; we saved you from\nthe hands of the ugly old witch whom I knocked down, and killed I\nbelieve; we would not kill you, for the whole world; but, on the\ncontrary, would fight the whole world for you! Be the ornament of our\nhouse and the feast of our eyes! Whatsoever your eyes or your mouth may\ndesire, be it wherever man exists, we will bring it to you! be our\ndaughter, and we will be everything to you! your fathers! brothers!\nguardians! and, if you need it, your soldiers!\" The little girl smiled,\nand was very pleased: she found more happiness among the robbers than\nshe ever did in her mother's palace; she shook hands with all, commended\nherself to their protection, and at once looked after the cooking. The\nchief of the robbers called three strong maidens, dressed in white,\nfrom a cave, and ordered them to carry out without delay the orders of\ntheir queen, and if he heard one word of complaint against any of them,\nthey should die the death of a pig. The young girl spoke kindly to the\nthree maids, and called them her companions.\n\nThe robbers then went out on to the highway in great joy--to continue\ntheir plundering--singing and whistling with delight, because their home\nand their band had the most beautiful queen in the world. The beautiful\nwoman, the girl's mother, one day felt weary, and listless, because she\nhad not heard any one praise her beauty for a very long time. So in her\nennui she took her mirror and said to it: \"My dear, sweet little mirror,\nis there a more beautiful creature in all the world, than I?\" The little\nmirror replied, \"You are very beautiful, but your daughter is a thousand\ntimes handsomer!\" The woman nearly had a fit, in her rage, for she had\nnot even suspected that her hateful daughter was yet alive: she ran to\nthe old witch like one out of her mind, to tell what the mirror had\nsaid. The witch at once disguised herself as a gipsy, and started on her\njourney, and arrived at the fence of the place where the pretty girl\nlived; the garden was planted with flowers and large rose bushes; among\nthe flower beds she could see the pretty girl sauntering in a dress fit\nfor a queen. The old witch's heart nearly broke when she saw the young\ngirl, for never, not even in her imagination, had she ever seen any one\nso beautiful. She stole into the garden among the flower beds, and on\napproaching saw that the young girl's fingers were covered with the most\nprecious diamond rings: she kissed the girl's beautiful hand, and begged\nto be allowed to put on a ring more precious than any she had; the girl\nconsented, and even thanked her for it. When she entered the house, she\nall at once dropped down as if dead; the witch rushed home, and brought\nthe good news to the beautiful queen, who at once questioned the mirror,\nwhether there was yet any one who was prettier than she, and the mirror\nreplied, that there was not.\n\nThe pretty woman was delighted, and nearly went mad with joy on hearing\nthat she was once more the most beautiful creature in existence, and\ngave the witch a handful of gold.\n\nAt noon the robbers dropped in one after another from their plundering,\nand were thunderstruck when they saw that the glory of their house and\nthe jewel of their band lay dead. They bewailed her with loud cries of\ngrief, and commanded the maidens with threats to tell them who had done\nit, but they were even more stunned with grief, and bewailed the good\nlady, and could not utter a single word, till one of them said that she\nsaw the pretty girl talking with a gipsy woman for a while, and that the\nmoment the woman left she suddenly dropped down dead. After much weeping\nand wailing the robbers made preparations for the laying out of their\nadored queen; they took off her shoes in order to put more beautiful\nones upon her pretty feet: they then took the rings off her fingers in\norder to clean them, and as at the very last one of the robbers pulled\noff the most precious ring from her little finger, the young girl sat up\nand smiled, and informed them that she had slept very well, and had had\nmost beautiful dreams; and also that if they had not taken off that very\nring (which the gipsy woman had put on that day) from her little finger\nshe would never have waked again. The robbers smashed the murderous ring\nto atoms with their hatchet-sticks, and begged their dear queen not to\nspeak to anyone, except themselves, as all others were wicked, and\nenvious of her on account of her beauty, while they adored her. Having\npartaken of a good supper, the robbers again went out to their plunder\nsinging, and quite at rest in their minds, and for a couple of weeks\nnothing happened to the young lady; but after a fortnight her mother\nagain felt ennui and questioned her mirror: \"Is there any one living\nbeing on this earth more beautiful than I?\" The mirror replied: \"You\nare very beautiful, but your daughter is one thousand times more\nbeautiful.\" The beautiful lady began to tear her hair in rage, and went\nto complain to the witch that her daughter was alive still, so the witch\nagain went off and found the young lady, as before, among the\nflower-beds. The witch disguised herself as a Jewess this time, and\nbegan to praise the gold and diamond pins with which the young lady's\nshawl was fastened, which she admired very much, and begged the young\nlady's leave to allow her to stick another pin amongst those which she\nhad already in her bosom, as a keepsake. Among all the pins the\nprettiest one was the one which the witch disguised as a Jewess stuck in\nthe young lady's bosom. The young lady thanked her for it, and went\nindoors to look after the cooking, but as soon as she arrived in the\nhouse she gave a fearful scream and dropped down dead.\n\nThe joy of her mother was great when the witch arrived home in great\ndelight and the mirror again proved that the girl was dead. The robbers\nwere full of joy, in anticipation of the pleasure of seeing again their\npretty young girl, whose beauty was apparently increasing daily; but\nwhen they heard the cries of sorrow of the three servant maids and saw\nthe beautiful corpse stretched out on the bier, they lost all their\ncheerfulness and began to weep also. Three of the robbers carried in all\nthe necessaries for the funeral, while the others undressed and washed\nthe corpse, and as they were drawing out from her shawl the numerous\npins, they found one amongst them which sparkled most brilliantly,\nwhereupon two of them snatched it away, each being anxious to replace it\nin the girl's bosom when redressing her for burial, when suddenly the\nvirgin queen sat up and informed them that her death was caused by a\nJewess this time. The robbers buried the pin five fathoms deep in the\nground, so that no evil spirit might get it. There is no more restless\nbeing in the world than a woman; it is a misfortune if she is pretty,\nand the same if she is not: if she be pretty she likes to be continually\ntold of it, if she be not she would like to be. The evil one again\ntempted the beautiful lady, and she again questioned her mirror whether\nany living being was prettier than she: the mirror replied that her\ndaughter was prettier.\n\nUpon this she called the old witch all kinds of bad names in her rage,\nand threatened her that if she did not kill her daughter outright she\nwould betray her to the world, and accuse her of having led her to all\nher evil deeds; that it was she who induced her to kill her handsome\nhusband, and that she had given her the mysterious mirror, which was the\ncause of her not being able to die in peace. The old hag made no reply,\nbut went off in a boisterous manner: she transformed herself into a\npretty girl and went straight into the house in which the young lady was\ndressing herself and falsely told her that she had been engaged by the\nrobbers to wait always upon her while she dressed, because she had\nalready been killed twice, once by a gipsy woman, and another time by a\nJewess; and also that the robbers had ordered her not to do anything\nelse but to help her in her toilet. The innocent girl believed all that\nthe she-devil said. She allowed her to undo her hair and to comb it. The\nwitch did her hair in accordance with the latest fashion, and plaited it\nand fastened it with all sorts of hair pins; while doing so she hid a\nhair-pin which she had brought with her among the girl's hair, so that\nit could not be noticed by anyone; having finished, the new lady's maid\nasked permission to leave her mistress for a moment, but never returned,\nand her young lady died, while all wept and sobbed most bitterly. The\nmen and the maids had again to attend with tears to their painful duty\nof laying her out for her funeral; they took away all her rings,\nbreast-pins, and hair-pins; they even opened every one of the folds of\nher dress, but still they did not succeed in bringing the young girl to\nlife again. Her mother was really delighted this time, because she kept\non questioning the mirror for three or four days, and it always replied\nto her heart's content. The robbers wailed and cried, and did not even\nenjoy their food; one of them proposed that they should not bury the\ngirl, but that they should come to pray by the side of their dear dead;\nothers again thought that it would be a pity to confide the pretty body\nto the earth, where it would be destroyed; others spoke of the terrible\npang, and said that their hearts would break if they had to look at her\ndead beauty for any length of time. So they ordered a splendid coffin\nto be made of wrought gold. They wrapped her in purple and fine linen;\nthey caught an elk and placed the coffin between its antlers, so that\nthe precious body might not decompose underground: the elk quietly\ncarried the precious coffin about, and took the utmost care to prevent\nit falling from its antlers or its back. This elk happened to graze in\nPersia just as the son of the Persian king was out hunting all alone.\nThe prince was twenty-three years old; he noticed the elk and also the\nsplendid coffin between its antlers, whereupon he took a pound of sugar\nfrom his bag and gave it to the elk to eat. Taking the coffin from\nits back the Persian king's son opened the gold coffin with fear and\ntrembling, when, unfolding the fine linen, he discovered a corpse, the\nlike of which he had never seen before, not even in his dreams.\n\nHe began to shake it to wake her: to kiss her, and at last went down\nupon his knees by her side to pray to God fervently to restore her to\nlife, but still she didn't move. \"I will take her with me into my room,\"\nhe said, sobbing. \"Although it is a corpse that must have been dead for\nsome time, there is no smell. The girl is prettier in her death than all\nthe girls of Persia alive.\" It was late at night when the prince got\nhome, carrying the golden coffin under his cloak. He bewailed the dead\ngirl for a long time and then went to supper. The king looked anxiously\ninto his son's eyes, but did not dare to question him as to the cause of\nhis grief. Every night the prince locked himself up, and did not go to\nsleep until he had, for a long time, bemoaned his dead sweetheart; and\nwhenever he awoke in the night he wept again.\n\nThe prince had three sisters, and they were very good girls, and very\nfond of their brother. They watched him every night through the keyhole,\nbut could see nothing. They heard, however, their brother's sobbing and\nwere very much grieved by it. The Persian king had war declared against\nhim by the king of the neighbouring country. The king, being very\nadvanced in age, asked his son to go in his place to fight the enemy.\nThe good son promised this willingly, although he was tortured by the\nthought of being obliged to leave his beautiful dead girl behind. As,\nhowever, he was aware that he would again be able to see and weep over\nhis dear one when once the war was over, he locked himself in his room\nfor two hours, weeping all the time, and kissing his sweetheart. Having\nfinished, he locked his room and put the key in his sabretache. The\ngood-hearted princesses impatiently waited till their brother crossed\nthe border with his army, and so soon as they knew that he had left the\ncountry they went to the locksmith of the castle and took away every key\nhe had, and with these tried to unlock their brother's room, till at\nlast one of the keys did fit. They ordered every servant away from the\nfloor on which the room was situated and all three entered. They looked\nall round, and in all the cupboards, and even took the bed to pieces,\nand as they were taking out the planks of the bed they suddenly\ndiscovered the glittering gold coffin, and in all haste placed it on the\ntable, and having opened it found the sleeping angel. All three kissed\nher; but when they saw that they were unable to restore life, they wept\nmost bitterly. They rubbed her and held balsam under her nose, but\nwithout avail. Then they examined her dress, which was very far superior\nto their own. They moved her rings and breast-pins, and dressed her up\nlike a pretty doll. The youngest princess brought combs and perfumed\nhair-oils in order to do the hair of the dear dead. They pulled out the\nhair-pins and arranged them in nice order, so as to be able to replace\nthem as before. They parted her golden hair, and began to comb it,\nadorning each lock with a hair-pin. As they were combing the hair at the\nnape of the neck the comb stuck fast, so they looked at once for the\ncause of it, when they saw that a golden hair-pin was entangled in the\nhair, which the eldest princess moved with the greatest care. Whereupon\nthe beautiful girl opened her eyes and her lips formed themselves into a\nsmile; and, as if awakening from a long, long dream, she slightly\nstretched herself, and stepped from the coffin. The girls were not\nafraid at all, as she, who was so beautiful in her death, was still more\nbeautiful in life. The youngest girl ran to the old king and told him\nwhat they had done, and that they had found out the cause of their\nbrother's grief, and how happy they were now. The old king wept for joy\nand hastened after his daughter, and on seeing the beautiful child\nexclaimed: \"You shall be my son's wife, the mother of my grandchildren!\"\nAnd thereupon he embraced and kissed her, and took her into his room\nwith his daughters. He sent for singing birds so that they might amuse\nhis dear little new daughter. The old king inquired how she made his\nson's acquaintance and where she first met him. But the pretty princess\nknew nothing about it, but simply told him what she knew, namely, that\nshe had two enemies who sooner or later would kill and destroy her; and\nshe also told him that she had been living among robbers, to whom she\nhad been handed over by an old witch who would always persecute her till\nthe last moment of her life. The old king encouraged her, and bade her\nnot to fear anyone, but to rest in peace, as neither her mother nor the\nold witch could get at her, the Persian wise men being quite able to\ndistinguish evil souls from good ones. The girl settled down and partook\nof meat and drink with the king's daughters, and also inquired after the\nyoung prince, asking whether he was handsome or ugly; although, she\nsaid, it did not matter to her whether he was handsome or ugly; if he\nwas willing to have her, she would marry him. The princesses brought\ndown the painted portrait of the prince and the young girl fell so\ndeeply in love with it that she continually carried it with her kissing\nit. One morning the news spread over all the country that the young king\nhad conquered his enemy and was hurrying home to his residential city.\nThe news turned out to be true, and clouds of dust could be seen in the\ndistance as the horsemen approached. The princesses requested their\npretty new sister to go with them into the room which adjoined their\nbrother's, where her coffin was kept under the bed.\n\nThe moment the prince arrived, he jumped off his horse, and, not even\ntaking time to greet his father, he unlocked his room and began to sob\nmost violently, dragging out the coffin gently from under the bed,\nplacing it on the bed with great care, and then opening the lid with\ntears; but he could only find a hair-pin. He rushed out of the room like\na madman, leaving the coffin and the door open, crying aloud, and\ndemanding what sacrilegious hand had robbed his angel from him. But his\nangel, over whom he had shed so many tears, stood smiling before him.\nThe youth seized her and covered her with as many kisses as there was\nroom for. He took his betrothed, whom Providence had given to him, to\nhis father and told him how he had found the pretty corpse on the back\nof an elk; and the girl also told the whole story of her life; and the\nprincesses confessed how they had broken into their brother's room, and\nhow they restored his sweetheart to life again. The old king was\nintoxicated with joy, and the same day sent for a priest, and a great\nwedding feast was celebrated. The young folks whom Providence had\nbrought together lived very happily, when one day the young queen, who\nwas as beautiful as a fairy, informed her husband that she was being\npersecuted, and that while her mother lived she could never have any\npeace. \"Don't fear, angel of my heart,\" said the young king, \"as no\nhuman or diabolic power can harm you while you are here. Providence is\nvery kind to us. You seem to be a favourite and will be protected from\nall evil.\" The young queen was of a pious turn of mind and believed the\ntrue words of her husband, as he had only spoken out her own thoughts.\nAbout half a year had passed by and the beautiful woman of the world was\nstill happy. Her mirror was covered with dust, as she never dreamt for a\nmoment that her daughter was yet alive; but being one day desirous to\nrepeat her former amusement she dusted her mirror, and, pressing it to\nher bosom, said: \"Is there a prettier living creature in the world than\nmyself?\" The mirror replied: \"You are very pretty, but your daughter is\nseventy-seven thousand times more beautiful than you.\" The beautiful\nwoman, on hearing the mirror's reply, fainted away, and they had to\nsprinkle cold water over her for two hours before she came round. Off\nshe set, very ill, to the old witch and begged her, by everything that\nwas holy, to save her from that hateful girl, else she would have to go\nand commit suicide. The old witch cheered her, and promised that she\nwould do all that lay in her power.\n\nAfter eight months had elapsed the young prince had to go to war again;\nand, with a heavy heart, took leave of his dear pretty wife, as--if one\nis obliged to tell it--she was _enceinte_. But the prince had to go, and\nhe went, consoling his wife, who wept bitterly, that he would return\nsoon. The young king left orders that as soon as his wife was confined a\nconfidential messenger was to be sent without delay to inform him of the\nevent. Soon after his departure two beautiful boys with golden hair were\nborn and there was great joy in the royal household. The old king danced\nabout, like a young child, with delight. The princesses wrapped the\nbabies in purple and silk, and showed them to everybody as miracles of\nbeauty.\n\nThe old king wrote down the joyful news and sent the letter by a\nfaithful soldier, instructing him that he was not to put up anywhere\nunder any pretence whatever. The old soldier staked his moustache not to\ncall anywhere till he reached the young king.\n\nWhile angels were rejoicing, devils were racking their brains and\nplanning mischief!\n\nThe old witch hid a flask full of spirits under her apron and hurried\noff on the same road as the soldier, in order to meet him with his\nletter. She pitched a small tent on the road-side using some dirty\nsheets she had brought with her, and, placing her flask of spirits in\nfront of her, waited for the passers-by. She waited long, but no one\ncame; when all of a sudden a huge cloud gathered in the sky, and the old\nwitch was delighted. A fearful storm set in. As the rain poured down,\nthe old witch saw the soldier running to escape the rain. As he ran past\nher tent, the wicked old soul shouted to him to come in and sit down in\nher tent till the rain was over. The soldier, being afraid of the\nthunder, accepted her invitation, and sat musingly in the tent, when the\nold woman placed a good dose of spirits in front of him, which the\nsoldier drank; she gave him another drop, and he drank that too. Now\nthere was a sleeping-draft in it, and so the soldier fell fast asleep,\n_and slept like a fur cloak_. The old woman then looked in his bag for\nthe letter, and, imitating _the old king's_ hand-writing to great\nperfection, informed the young prince that a great sorrow had fallen\nupon his house, inasmuch as his wife had been delivered of two puppies.\nShe sealed the letter and woke the soldier, who began to run again and\ndid not stop until he reached the camp. The young prince was very much\nupset by his father's letter, but wrote in reply that no matter what\nsort of children his wife had borne they were not to touch but to treat\nthem as his own children until he returned. He ordered the messenger to\nhurry back with his reply, and not to stop anywhere; but the old soldier\ncould not forget the good glass of spirits he had, and so went into the\ntent again and had some more. The witch again mixed it with a\nsleeping-draught and searched the bag while the soldier slept. She stole\nthe letter, and, imitating the young prince's hand-writing, wrote back\nto the old king that he was to have his wife and the young babes killed,\nbecause he held a woman who had puppies must be a bad person. The old\nking was very much surprised at his son's reply but said nothing to\nanyone. At night he secretly called the old soldier to him and had his\ndaughter-in-law placed in a black carriage. The old soldier sat on the\nbox and had orders to take the woman and her two children into the\nmiddle of the forest and brain them there. The carriage stopped in the\nmiddle of the forest, the old soldier got down and opened the door,\nweeping bitterly. He pulled out a big stick from under his seat and\nrequested the young queen to alight. She obeyed his orders and descended\nholding her babes in her arms.\n\nThe old soldier tried three times to raise the stick, but could not do\nso; he was too much overcome by grief. The young queen implored him not\nto kill her, and told him she was willing to go away and never see\nanyone again. The old soldier let her go, and she took her two babes and\nsheltered in a hollow tree in the forest: there she passed her time\nliving on roots and wild fruit.\n\nThe soldier returned home, and was questioned by the old king as to\nwhether he had killed the young queen, as he didn't like to disappoint\nhis son, who was to return from the camp next day. The old soldier\ndeclared on his oath that he had killed her and her babes too, and that\nhe had thrown their bodies into the water. The young king arrived at\nhome in great sorrow, and was afraid to catch sight of his unfortunate\nwife and her ugly babes.\n\nThe old king had left his son's letter upon his desk by mistake; the\nprince picked it up, and was enraged at its contents: \"This looks very\nlike my writing,\" he said, \"but I did not write it; it must be the work\nof some devil.\" He then produced his father's letter from his pocket,\nand handed it to him. The old king was horrified at the awful lie which\nsome devil had written in his hand. \"No, my dear son,\" said the old\nfather, weeping, \"this is not what I wrote to you; what I really did\nwrite was, that two sons with golden hair had been born to you.\" \"And\nI,\" replied the young king, \"said that whatsoever my wife's offspring\nwas, no harm was to happen to them till I returned. Where is my wife?\nwhere are my golden-haired children?\" \"My son,\" said the old king, \"I\nhave carried out your orders; I sent them to the wood and had them\nkilled, and the corporal belonging to the royal household had their\nbodies cast into the water.\" The old soldier listened, through a crack\nin the door, to the conversation of the two kings, who both wept\nbitterly. He entered the room without being summoned, and said: \"I could\nnot carry out your orders, my lord and king; I had not the heart to\ndestroy the most beautiful creature in the world; so I let her go free\nin the forest, and she left, weeping. If they have not been devoured by\nwild beasts, they are alive still.\" The young king never touched a bit\nof supper, but had his horse saddled at once, and ordered his whole\nbody-guard out. For three days and three nights they searched the wood\nin every direction, without intermission: on the fourth night, at\nmidnight, the young king thought he heard, issuing from a hollow tree, a\nbaby's cry, which seemed as harmonious to him as the song of a\nnightingale. He sprang off his horse, and found his beautiful wife, who\nwas more beautiful than ever, and his children, who were joyfully\nprattling in their mother's arms. He took his recovered family home,\namidst the joyous strains of the band, and, indeed, a high festival was\ncelebrated throughout the whole realm.\n\nThe young woman again expressed her fears with trembling, that, while\nher mother and that she-devil were alive, she could not live in peace.\n\nThe young king issued a warrant for the capture of the old witch; and\nthe old soldier came, leading behind him, tied to a long rope, an awful\ncreature, whose body was covered all over with frightful prickles, and\nwho had an immense horn in the middle of her forehead. The young queen\nat once recognised her as the old witch, who had been captured in the\nact of searching the wood in order to find her, and slay her and her two\nbabes. The young queen had the old witch led into a secret room, where\nshe questioned her as to why she had persecuted her all her life.\n\"Because,\" said the old witch, \"I am the daughter of your grandfather,\nand the sister of your mother! When I was yet but a suckling babe, your\ngrandmother gave orders that I was to be thrown into the water; a devil\ncoming along the road took me and educated me. I humoured your mother's\nfolly because I thought she would go mad in her sorrow that a prettier\ncreature than herself existed; but the Lord has preserved you, and your\nmother did not go mad till I covered her with small-pox, and her face\nbecame all pitted and scarred. Her mirror was always mocking her, and\nshe became a wandering lunatic, roaming about over the face of the land,\nand the children pelting her with stones. She continually bewails you.\"\n\nThe young queen informed her husband of all this, and he had the old\nwitch strangled, strung up in a tree, and a fire made of brimstone\nlighted under her. When her soul (p\u00e1ra-animal soul) left her wicked\nbody, a horse was tied to each of her hands and feet, and her body torn\ninto four, one quarter of her body being sent to each of the points of\nthe compass, so that the other witches might receive a warning as to\ntheir fate.\n\nThe \"most beautiful woman in the world\" was now very ugly, and happened\nby chance to reach the palace where the pretty queen lived. Her daughter\nwept over her, and had her kept in a beautiful room, every day showing\nher through a glass door her beautiful children. The poor lunatic wept\nand tortured herself till one day she jumped out of the window and broke\nher neck. The young king loved his beautiful wife as a dove does its\nmate; he obeyed her slightest wish, and guarded her from every danger.\n\nThe two little sons with the golden hair became powerful and valiant\nheroes, and when the old king died he was carried to his vault by his\ntwo golden-haired grandchildren.\n\nThe young couple, who had gone through so many sad trials, are alive\nstill, if they have not died since.\n\n[1] The great pride of the Hungarian youth is to have a slender waist.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, a king whose only son was an\nexceedingly handsome and brave fellow, who went far into the\nneighbouring country to fight. The old king used to send letters to his\nson into the camp, through an old faithful servant. Once it happened\nthat the letter-carrying old servant took a night's lodging in a lonely\nhouse, which was inhabited by a middle-aged woman and her daughter, who\nwas very pretty. The people of the house had supper prepared for the\nmessenger, and during the meal the woman questioned him whether he\nthought her or her daughter to be the prettier, but the messenger did\nnot like to state the exact truth, as he did not wish to appear\nungrateful for their hospitality, and only said, \"Well, we can't deny\nbut must confess it that we old people cannot be so handsome as the\nyoung ones.\" The woman made no reply; but as soon as the messenger had\nleft she gave her servant orders to take her daughter into the wood and\nkill her, and to bring her liver, lungs, and two hands back with him.\nThe manservant took the pretty girl with him, and, having gone a good\ndistance, he stopped, and told the girl of her mother's commands.\n\"But,\" continued he, \"I haven't got the heart to kill you, as you have\nalways been very kind to me; there is a small dog which has followed us,\nand I will take his liver and lungs back to your mother, but I shall be\ncompelled to cut off your hands, as I can't go back without them.\" The\nservant did as he proposed; he took out the small dog's lungs and liver,\nand cut off the girl's hands, much as it was against his wish. He\ncarefully covered the stumps of her arms with a cloth, and sent the girl\naway and went back to his mistress. The woman took the lungs and liver,\nput them into her mouth, and said, \"You have come out of me, you must\nreturn into me,\" and swallowed them. The two hands she threw up into the\nloft. The servant left the woman's house in a great hurry at the\nearliest opportunity, and never returned again. In the meantime the girl\nwithout hands wandered about in unknown places. Fearing that she would\nbe discovered in the daytime, she hid herself in the wood, and only left\nher hiding place at night to find food, and if she chanced to get into\nan orchard she ate the fruit she could reach with her mouth.\n\nAt last she came to the town where the king lived: the prince had by\nthis time returned from the war. One morning, the king was looking out\nof his window, and to his great annoyance discovered that, again, there\nwere less pears on a favourite tree in the orchard than he had counted\nthe previous day. In a great rage he sent for the gardener, whose\nspecial business it was to take care of the orchard; but he excused\nhimself on the ground that while he was watching the orchard at night an\nirresistible desire to sleep came over him, the like of which he had\nnever experienced before, and which he was quite unable to shake off.\nThe king, therefore, ordered another man to keep watch under the tree\nthe next night, but he fared in the same way as the first; the king was\nstill more angry. On the third night, the prince himself volunteered to\nkeep watch, and promised to guard the fruit of the favourite tree; he\nlaid down on the lawn under the tree, and did not shut his eyes. About\nmidnight, the girl without hands came forth from a thicket in the\ngarden, and, seeing the prince, said to him, \"One of your eyes is\nasleep, the other one must go to sleep too, at once.\" No sooner had she\nuttered these words than the prince fell fast asleep, and the girl\nwithout hands walked under the tree, and picked the fruit with her\nmouth. But as there were only a few more pears left on the boughs which\nshe could get at, she was obliged, in order to satisfy her hunger, to\nstep on a little mound, and stand on tiptoe that she might reach the\nfruit; whilst standing in this position she slipped, and, having no\nhands to hold on with, she fell on the sleeping prince.\n\nThe shock awoke the prince at once, and, grasping the girl firmly with\nhis arms, he kept her fast. Next morning the king looking out of his\nwindow discovered to his astonishment that no pears were missing, and\ntherefore sent a messenger into the garden to his son to inquire what\nhad happened? As soon as dawn began to break, the prince saw the girl's\nbeautiful face; the king's messenger had by this time reached the\nprince, who in reply to his query, said: \"Tell my father that I have\ncaught the thief, and I will take care not to let her escape. If my\nfather, the king, will not give me permission to marry her, I will never\nenter his house again; tell him also, that the girl has no hands.\" The\nking did not oppose his son's desire, and the girl without hands became\nthe prince's wife, and they lived happily together for a time. It\nhappened, however, that war broke out again with the sovereign of the\nneighbouring country, and the prince was once more obliged to go with\nhis army. While he was away the princess was confined, and bore two\nchildren with golden hair. The old king was highly delighted, and at\nonce wrote to his son informing him of the happy event. The letter was\nagain entrusted to the same man, who took the messages during the first\nwar: he on his way remembered the house where he was so well received on\na previous occasion, and arranged that he should spend the night there.\nThis time he found the old woman only. He got into conversation with\nher, and she asked him where he was going, and what news he had from the\nroyal town: the messenger told her how the prince had found a beautiful\ngirl without hands, whom he had married, and who had had two beautiful\nchildren. The woman at once guessed that it was her own daughter, and\nthat she had been deceived by her servant; she gave her guest plenty to\neat and drink, till he was quite drunk and went to sleep. Whereupon the\nwoman searched the messenger's bag, found the king's letter, opened it\nand read it. The gist of the letter was this, \"My dear son, you have\nbrought to my house a dear and beautiful wife, who has borne you a\nbeautiful golden-haired child.\"\n\nThe woman instantly wrote another letter, which ran thus: \"You have\nbrought to my house a prostitute, who has brought shame upon you, for\nshe has been confined of two puppies.\" She folded the letter, sealed it\nas the first had been, and put it into the messenger's bag. Next morning\nthe messenger left, having first been invited to spend the night at her\nhouse on his return, as the wicked mother was anxious to know what the\nprince's answer would be to the forged letter. The messenger reached the\nprince, handed him the letter, which gave him inexpressible grief; but\nas he was very fond of his wife he only replied, that, whatever the\nstate of affairs might be, no harm was to happen to his wife until his\nreturn. The messenger took the letter back and again called upon the old\nwoman, who was not chary to make him drunk again and to read the reply\n_clandestinely_. She was angry at the prince's answer, and wrote another\nletter in his name, in which she said, that if matters were as they had\nbeen represented to him in the letter, his wife must get out of the\nhouse without delay, so that he might not see her upon his return.\n\nThe messenger, not suspecting anything, handed the letter to the king,\nwho was very much upset, and read it to his daughter-in-law. The old\nking pitied his pretty and good natured daughter deeply, but what could\nhe do? They saddled a quiet horse, put the two golden-haired princes in\na basket and tied it in front of the princess; and thus the poor woman\nwas sent away amidst great lamentations.\n\nShe had been travelling without ceasing for three days, till on the\nthird day she came into a country where she found a lake full of magic\nwater, which had the power of reviving and making good the maimed limbs\nof any crippled man or beast who bathed in it. So the woman without\nhands took a bath in the lake, and both her hands were restored. She\nwashed her children's clothes in the same lake, and again continued her\njourney. Not long after this the war with the neighbouring king was\nover, and the prince returned home. On hearing what had happened to his\nwife he fell into a state of deep grief, and became so ill that his\ndeath was expected daily. After a long illness, however, his health\nbegan to improve, but only very slowly, and years elapsed before his\nillness and his great grief had so far been conquered that he had\nstrength or inclination to go out. At last he tried hunting, and spent\nwhole days in the forest. One day as he was thus engaged he followed a\nstag, and got deeper and deeper into the thick part of the wood; in the\nmeantime the sun had set and darkness set in. The prince, having gone\ntoo far, could not find his way back. But as good luck would have it he\nsaw a small cottage, and started in its direction to find a night's\nlodging. He entered, and found a woman with two children--his wife and\ntwo sons. The woman at once recognised the prince, who, however, did not\neven suspect her to be his wife, because her hands were grown again:\nbut, at the same time, the great likeness struck him very much, and at\nfirst sight he felt a great liking for the woman. On the next day he\nagain went out hunting with his only faithful servant, and purposely\nallowed darkness to set in so that he might sleep at the cottage. The\nprince felt very tired and laid down to sleep, while his wife sat at the\ntable sewing, and the two little children played by her side.\n\nIt happened that in his sleep the prince dropped his arm out of bed; one\nof the children noticing this called his mother's attention to it,\nwhereupon the woman said to her son, \"Place it back, my son, place it\nback, it's the hand of your royal father.\" The child approached the\nsleeping prince and gently lifted his arm back again. After a short time\nthe prince dropped his leg from the bed while asleep; the child again\ntold his mother of it, and she said, \"Place it back, my son, put it\nback, it's your father's leg.\" The boy did as he was told, but the\nprince knew nothing of it. It happened, however, that the prince's\nfaithful servant was awake and heard every word the woman said to the\nchild, and told the story to his master the next day. The prince was\nastonished, and no longer doubted that the woman was his wife, no matter\nhow she had recovered her hands. So the next day he again went out\nhunting, and, according to arrangement, stayed late in the wood and had\nto return to the cottage again. The prince, having gone to bed, feigned\nsleep, and dropped his arm over the bed; his wife, seeing this, again\nsaid, \"Put it back, my son, put it back, it's your royal father's arm.\"\nAfterwards he dropped his other arm, and then his two legs purposely;\nand the woman in each case bade her son put them back, in the same\nwords. At last he let his head hang over the bedside, and his wife said\nto her son, \"Lift it back, my son, lift it back; it's your royal\nfather's head.\" But the little fellow, getting tired of all this,\nreplied, \"I shan't do it; you better do it yourself this time, mother.\"\n\"Lift it back, my son,\" again said the mother, coaxingly; but the boy\nwould not obey, whereupon the woman herself went to the bed, in order to\nlift the prince's head. But no sooner had she touched him than her\nhusband caught hold of her with both his hands, and embraced her. \"Why\ndid you leave me?\" said he, in a reproachful tone. \"How could I help\nleaving you,\" answered his wife, \"when you ordered me out of your\nhouse?\" \"I wrote in the letter,\" said the prince, \"this and this;\" and\ntold her what he had really written; and his wife explained to him what\nhad been read to her from the letter that had been changed. The fraud\nwas thus discovered, and the prince was glad beyond everything that he\nhad found his wife and her two beautiful children.\n\nHe at once had all three taken back to the palace, where a second\nwedding was celebrated, and a great festival held. Guests were invited\nfrom the 77th country, and came to the feast. Through the\nletter-carrying messenger it became known that the cause of all the\nmischief was no one else than the princess's envious mother. But the\nprince forgave her all at the urgent request of his wife; and the young\ncouple lived for a great many years in matrimonial bliss, their family\nincreasing greatly. At the old king's death the whole realm fell to the\nhappy couple, who are still alive, if they have not died since.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KING AND THE DEVIL.\n\n\nIn the country where lions and bearded wolves live there was a king\nwhose favourite sport was hunting and shooting; he had some hundred\nhounds or more, quite a house full of guns, and a great many huntsmen.\nThe king had a steady hand, a sharp eye, and the quarry he aimed at\nnever escaped, for the king never missed what he aimed at; his only\npeculiarity was that he did not care to go out shooting with his own\npeople only, but he would have liked the whole world to witness his\nskill in killing game, and that every good man in the world should\npartake of it. Well then, whenever he made a good bag the cook and the\ncellarer had so much work to do that they were not done till dawn. Such\nwas the king who reigned in the land where lions and bearded wolves\nlive.\n\nOnce upon a time this king, according to custom, invited the sovereigns\nof the neighbouring lands to a great shooting party, and also their\nchief men. It was in the height of summer, just at the beginning of the\ndog-days. In the early morning, when they were driving out on to the\npasture the sheep with the silken fleece, the dogs could already be\nheard yelping, huntsmen blowing with all their might into the thin end\nof their horns, and all was noise and bustle, so that the royal\ncourtyard rang out with the noise. Then the king swallowed his breakfast\nin a soldierlike fashion, and all put on their hunting hats adorned with\neagle's feathers, buckled the shining straps under their chins, mounted\ntheir horses, and in a short time were off over hedges and ditches,\nplunging into the vast forest, as the heat was too great for them to\nhunt in the open country. Each king accompanied by his own men went in\nhis own direction, and game was killed with lightning speed; but the\nking who owned the forest went by himself in order to show his friends\nhow much game he could kill single handed. But by some strange\nchance--who can tell how?--no game crossed the king's track. He went\nhither and thither but found nothing; looking round he discovered that\nhe had got into a part of the wood where not even his grandfather had\never been; he went forward but still was lost; sideways, but still did\nnot know the way; to the right, and found that he was in the same\npredicament as the man in Telek, namely, that unless he was taken home\nhe would never find it. He called upon God for help, but as he never did\nthat before--for the king didn't like to go to church and never invited\nthe priest, except upon All Souls' Day, to dinner--the Lord would not\nhelp him; so he called upon the Devil, who appeared at once, as he will\nappear anywhere, even where he is not wanted. \"You need not tell me\nwhat you are doing here, good king,\" said the evil spirit, \"I know that\nyou have been out shooting and have found no game and that you have lost\nyour way. Promise me that you will give me what you have not got in your\nhouse and you shall find plenty of game and I will take you home.\" \"You\nask very little, poor soul,\" said the king, \"Your request shall be\ngranted; moreover, I will give you something of what I have, whatever\nyou may wish, if you will but take me home.\"\n\nShortly afterwards the king arrived at home, and had so much game with\nhim that his horse could scarcely stand beneath the weight; the other\nkings were quite impatient with waiting for him, and were highly\ndelighted when he arrived. At last they sat down to supper and ate and\ndrank heartily, but the devil ate nothing but the scrapings from the\npots and pans, and drank no wine but the dregs that were left in the\nbottles. At midnight an old woman appeared before the company of jolly\nkings and shouted as loud as she could in delight because a beautiful\nlittle daughter had been born to the king. The devil jumped up and\ncapered about in his joy; _standing on his toes and clapping his bony\nheels together, he spun the king round like a whirlwind_ and shouted in\nhis ear, \"That girl, king, was not in your house to-day and I will come\nfor her in ten years.\" The devil hereupon saddled midnight and darted\noff like lightning, while the guests stared at each other in amazement,\nand the king's face turned ghastly pale.\n\nNext morning they counted the heads of game and found that the king had\ntwice as much as all the rest put together: yet he was very sad; he made\npresents to all his guests, and gave them an escort of soldiers as far\nas the boundary of his realm.\n\nTen years passed as swiftly as the bird flies and the devil appeared\npunctually to the minute. The king tried to put him off, and walked up\nand down his room greatly agitated; he thought first of one thing and\nthen of another. At last he had the swineherd's daughter dressed up like\na princess, and placed her on his wife's arm, and then took her to the\ndevil, both parents weeping most bitterly, and then handed the child\nover to the black soul. The devil carried her away in high glee, but\nwhen the pretty little creature was passing a herd of swine she said,\n\"Well, little sucking pigs, my father won't beat me any more on your\naccount, for I'm leaving you and going to the 77th country, where the\nangels live.\" The devil listened to the little girl's words and at last\ndiscovered that he had been deceived; in a rage he flew back to the\nroyal fortress, and dashed the poor child with such force against the\ngate-post that her smallest bone was smashed into a thousand atoms. He\nroared at the king in such a voice that all the window fittings dropped\nout and the plaster fell off the walls in great lumps. \"Give me your own\ndaughter,\" he screamed, \"for whatever you promise to the devil you must\ngive to him or else he will carry off what you have not promised.\" The\nking again tried to collect his wits and had the shepherd's daughter who\ntended the sheep with the golden fleece, and who was ten years old,\ndressed in the royal fashion and handed her to the devil amidst great\nlamentation. He even placed at the devil's disposal a closed carriage,\n\"so that the sun might not tan his daughter's face or the wind blow upon\nher,\" as he said, but it was really to prevent the little girl seeing\nwhat was passing and so betraying herself. As the carriage passed by the\nsilken meadow and the little girl heard the baaing of the lambs she\nopened the door and called to the little animals, saying, \"Well, little\nbaa-lambs, my father won't beat me any more on your account, and I won't\nrun after you in the heat now, because the king is sending me to the\n77th country, where the angels live.\" The devil was now in a towering\npassion, and the flame shot out of his nostrils as thick as my arm; he\nthrew the little girl up into the clouds and returned to the royal\npalace.\n\nThe king saw the carriage returning and trembled like an aspen leaf. He\ndressed up his daughter, weeping bitterly as he did so, and when the\ndevil stepped across the threshold of the palace he went to meet him\nwith the beautiful child, the like of which no other mother ever bore.\nThe devil, in a great rage, pushed the pretty lily into a slit of his\nshirt, and ran with her over hill and dale. Like a thunderstorm he\ncarried off the little trembling Maria into his dark home, which was\nlighted up with burning sulphur, and placed her on a pillow stuffed with\nowl's feathers. He then set a black table before her, and on it mixed\ntwo bushels of millet seed with three bushels of ashes, saying, \"Now,\nyou little wretch, if you don't clean this millet in two hours, I will\nkill you with the most horrible tortures.\" With this he left her, and\nslammed the door that it shock the whole house. Little innocent Maria\nwept bitterly, for she knew she could not possibly finish the work in\nthe stated time. While she wept in her loneliness, the devil's son very\nquietly entered the room. He was a fine handsome lad, and they called\nhim Johnnie. Johnnie's heart was full of pity at seeing the little\ngirl's sorrow, and cheered her up, telling her that if she ceased crying\nhe would do the work for her at once. He felt in his pocket, and took\nout a whistle; and, going into a side-room, he blew it, and in a moment\nthe whole place was filled with devils, whom Johnnie commanded to clean\nthe millet in the twinkling of an eye. By the time little Maria winked\nthree times, the millet was not only cleansed, but every seed was\npolished and glittered like diamonds. Until the father's return Maria\nand Johnnie amused themselves in childish games. The old devil upon his\nreturn, seeing all the work done, shook his head so vehemently that\nburning cinders dropped from his hair. He gave the little girl some\nmanna to eat and lay down to sleep.\n\nNext day the ugly old devil mixed twice as much millet and ashes, as he\nwas very anxious to avenge himself on the child whose father had taken\nhim in twice; but, by the help of Johnnie's servants, the millet was\nagain cleaned. The devil in his rage gnawed off the end of his beard\nand spat it out on the ground, where every hair became a venomous\nserpent. The little girl screamed, and at the sound of her voice all the\nserpents stretched themselves on the ground, and wriggled about before\nthe little girl like young eels, for they were charmed, never having\nheard so sweet a voice before. The devil was very much enraged that all\nthe animals and the devils themselves, with the exception of himself,\nwere so fond of this pretty little girl. \"Well, soul of a dog, you\nlittle imp,\" said the devil, gnashing his teeth, \"if by to-morrow\nmorning you do not build from nothing, under my window, a church, the\nceiling of which will be the sky, and the priest in it the Lord Himself,\nwhom your father does not fear, I will slay you with tortures the like\nof which are not known even in nethermost hell.\"\n\nLittle Maria was terribly frightened. The old devil, having given his\norders, disappeared amidst thunder. The kind-hearted Johnnie here\nappeared, blew his whistle, and the devils came. They listened to the\norders, but replied, that no devil could build a church out of nothing,\nand that, moreover, they dare not go up to heaven and had no power over\nthe Lord to make him become a priest; that the only advice they could\ngive was, for Johnnie and the little girl to set off at once, before it\nwas too late, and so escape the tortures threatened by the old devil.\nThey listened to the advice of the devils, and Johnnie buried his\nwhistle in a place where his father would not be able to find it, and\nsend the devils after them. They hurried off towards Maria's father's\nland; when, all of a sudden, Maria felt her left cheek burning very\nmuch, and complained of it to Johnnie, who, looking back, found that his\nmother was galloping after them on the stick of a whitewashing brush.\nJohnnie at once saw their position, and told Maria to turn herself into\na millet field, and he would be the man whose duty it was to scare away\nthe birds. Maria did so at once, and Johnnie kept the sparrows off with\na rattle. The old woman soon came up, and asked whether he had not seen\na boy and girl running past, a few minutes before. \"Well, yes,\" replied\nhe, \"there are a great many sparrows about, my good lady, and I can't\nguard my millet crop from them. Hush! Hush!\" \"I didn't ask you,\" replied\nshe, \"whether you had any sparrows on your millet field or not; but\nwhether you saw a boy and girl running past.\" \"I've already broken the\nwings of two cock sparrows, and hanged them to frighten away the rest,\"\nreplied the artful boy.\n\n\"The fellow's deaf, and crazy too,\" said the devil's wife, and hurried\nback to the infernal regions. The boy and girl at once retransformed\nthemselves, and hurried on, when Maria's left cheek began to burn again,\nmore painfully this time than before; and not without reason, for when\nJohnnie looked back this time, he saw his father, who had saddled the\nsouth wind, tearing after them, and great, awe-inspiring, rain-bearing\nclouds following in his track. Maria at once turned into a tumble-down\nchurch, and Johnnie into an aged monk, holding an old clasp-bible in his\nhand.\n\n\"I say, old fool, have you not seen a young fellow and a little wench\nrun past? If you have, say so; if you have not, may you be struck dumb!\"\nyelled the old devil to the monk with the Bible. \"Come in,\" said the\npious monk, \"come in, into the house of the Lord. If you are a good soul\npray to Him and He will help you on your journey, and you will find what\nyou are so anxiously looking for. Put your alms into this bag, for our\nLord is pleased with the offerings of the pure in heart.\" \"Perish you,\nyour church, and your book, you old fool. I'm not going to waste any\nmoney in such tomfoolery. Answer my question! Have you seen a boy and\ngirl go past?\" again inquired the devil, in a fearful rage. \"Come back\nto your Lord, you old cursed soul,\" replied the holy father, \"it's never\ntoo late to mend, but it's a sin to put off amending your ways. Offer\nyour alms, and you will find what you seek!\" The devil grew purple with\nrage; and, lifting up his huge mace, he struck like lightning at the\nmonk's head, but the weapon slipped aside and hit the devil on the shin\nsuch a blow that made him and all his family limp; they would limp to\nthis very day, if they had not perished since! Jumping on the wind with\nhis lame leg, the devil rode back home. The young couple by this time\nhad nearly reached the land where Maria's father reigned; when, all of a\nsudden, both the girl's cheeks began to burn as they had never burnt\nbefore. Johnnie looked back and saw that both his father and his mother\nwere riding after them on two dragons, who flew faster than even the\nwhirlwind. Maria at once became a silver lake and Johnnie a silver duck.\nAs soon as the two devils arrived they at once scented out that the lake\nwas the girl and the duck the boy; because wherever there are two devils\ntogether nothing can be concealed. The woman began to scoop up the water\nof the lake, and the male devil to throw stones at the duck; but each\nscoop of water taken out of the lake only caused the water to rise\nhigher and higher; and every stone missed the duck, as he dived to the\nbottom of the lake and so dodged them. The devil became quite exhausted\nwith throwing stones, and beckoned to his wife to wade with him into the\nlake, and so catch the duck, as it would be a great pity for their son\nto be restored to earth. The devils swam in, but the water of the lake\nrose over their heads so quickly that they were both drowned before they\ncould swim out, and that's the reason why there are no devils now left.\nThe boy and the girl, after all their trials, at last reached the palace\nof Maria's parents. The girl told them what had happened to her since\nthe devil carried her off, and praised Johnnie very highly, telling them\nhow he had guarded her. She also warned her father, that he who does not\nlove God must perish, and is not worthy of happiness. The king listened\nto his daughter's advice, and sent for a priest to the next village, and\nfirst of all married Maria to the son of the devil, and the young couple\nlived very happily ever after. The king gave up hunting, and sent\nmessages to the neighbouring kings, that he was a happy father; and the\npoor found protection and justice in his land. The king and his wife\nboth died at the same time, and, after that, Johnnie and his wife became\nrulers of the land inhabited by lions and bearded wolves.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCES, THE THREE DRAGONS, AND THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE IRON\nNOSE.\n\n\nOn the shores of the Blue Sea there was a land in which dragons grew.\nThis land had a king whose court was draped in black, and whose eye\nnever ceased to weep, because every Friday he had to send ninety-nine\nmen to the dragons, who were the pest of the place, and who slew and\ndevoured the ninety-nine human beings sent to them. The king had three\nsons, each of whom was handsomer and more clever than the other. The\nking was very fond of his sons, and guarded them most carefully. The\neldest was called Andrew, the next Emerich, and the youngest Ambrose.\nThere were no other lads left in the land, for the dragons fed on lads'\nflesh only. One day Andrew and Emerich went to their father and begged\nhim to allow them to go and fight the dragons, as they were sure they\ncould conquer them, and that the dragons would not want any more human\nflesh after they had been there. But the father would not even listen to\nhis sons' request. As for Ambrose, he did not even dare so much as to\nsubmit such a request to his father. Andrew and Emerich, at length, by\ndint of much talking, prevailed upon their father to allow them to go\nand fight the dragons. Now, there were only three dragons left in the\nland: one had seven heads, another eight, and the third nine; and these\nthree had devoured all the other dragons, when they found that there\nwere no more lads to be had. Andrew and Emerich joyfully galloped off\ntowards the copper, silver, and golden bridges in the neighbourhood of\nwhich the dragons lived, and Ambrose was left alone to console his royal\nfather, who bewailed his other sons.\n\nAmbrose's godmother was a fairy, and as it is the custom for godmothers\nto give presents to their godchildren, Ambrose received a present from\nhis fairy godmother, which consisted of a black egg with five corners,\nwhich she placed under Ambrose's left armpit. Ambrose carried his egg\nabout with him under his left armpit for seven winters and seven\nsummers, and on Ash Wednesday, in the eighth year, a horse with five\nlegs and three heads jumped out of the egg; this horse was a T\u00e1tos and\ncould speak.\n\nAt the time when the brothers went out to fight the dragons, Ambrose was\nthirteen years and thirteen days old, and his horse was exactly five\nyears old. The two elder brothers had been gone some time, when he went\ninto the stable to his little horse, and, laying his head upon its neck,\nbegan to weep bitterly. The little horse neighed loudly and said, \"Why\nare you crying, my dear master?\" \"Because,\" replied Ambrose, \"I dare not\nask my father to let me go away, although I should like to do so very\nmuch.\" \"Go to your royal father, my dear master, for he has a very bad\nattack of toothache just now, and tell him that the king of herbs sends\nword to him through the T\u00e1tos-horse with three heads, that his toothache\nwill not cease until he gives you permission to go and fight the\ndragons; and you can also tell him that if you go, there will be no more\ndragons left on this earth; but if you do not go his two elder boys will\nperish in the stomachs of the dragons. Tell him, also, that I have\nassured you that you will be able to make the dragons vomit out, at\nonce, all the lads whomsoever they have swallowed; and that his land\nwill become so powerful when the lads, who have grown strong in the\nstomachs of the dragons, return, that, while the world lasts, no nation\nwill ever be able to vanquish him.\" Thus spoke the T\u00e1tos colt, and\nneighed so loudly that the whole world rang with the sound. The little\nboy told his father what the T\u00e1tos colt had told him; but the king\nobjected for a long time, and no wonder, as he was afraid lest evil\nmight happen to his only son: but at last his sufferings got the better\nof him, and, after objecting for three hours, he promised his son that\nif the T\u00e1tos were able to carry out its promise he would give him\npermission to go and fight the dragons.\n\nAs soon as he had uttered these words his toothache left him. The little\nlad ran off and told the message to his little horse, which capered and\nneighed with delight. \"I heard you when you were bargaining,\" said the\nhorse to its little master, who in his delight didn't know what to do\nwith himself, \"and I should have heard you even if you had been a\nhundred miles away. Don't fear anything, my little master; our ride, it\nis true, will be a long one, but in the end it will turn out a lucky\none. Go, my great-great-grandmother's great-great-grandmother's saddle\nis there on that crooked willow; put it on me, it will fit me exactly!\"\n\nThe prince ran, in fact he rushed like a madman, fetched the ragged old\nsaddle, put it on his horse, and tied it to a gate-post. Before leaving\nhis father's home, the little horse asked its little master to plug up\none of its nostrils; the prince did so, and the little horse blew upon\nhim with the other nostril which he had left open, when, oh, horror! the\nlittle boy became mangy like a diseased sucking pig. The little horse,\nhowever, turned into a horse with golden hair, and glistened like a\nmirror. When the little boy caught sight of his ugly face amidst the\nhair of his shining horse, he became very sad. \"Plug up my other\nnostril, too!\" said the horse with the golden hair. At first the little\nmaster would not do it, until the horse neighed very loudly and bade him\ndo it at once, as it was very unwise to delay obeying the commands of a\nT\u00e1tos. So what could the poor lad do but plug up the other nostril of\nthe horse. The horse then opened wide its mouth, and breathed upon the\nlad, who at once became a most handsome prince, worthy to be a fairy\nking. \"Now sit on my back, my little master, my great king, we are\nworthy of each other; and there is no thing in the world that we cannot\novercome. Rejoice! You will conquer the dragons, and restore the young\nmen to your father's realm; only do as I bid you, and listen to no one\nelse.\"\n\nIn an hour's time they arrived on the shore of the Red Sea, which flows\ninto the Blue Sea. There they found an inn, and close to the inn, within\nearshot, stood the copper bridge, on the other side of which the dragon\nwith seven heads roamed about. Andrew and Emerich were already at the\ninn, and as they were very tired, they sat down and began to eat and\ndrink: when the new guest arrived the knives and forks dropped from the\ntwo princes' hands; but when they learned that he, too, had come to\nfight the dragons they made friends with him. They could not, however,\nrecognise him for all the world. Night set in, and Andrew and Emerich\nhad eaten and drunk too much, and became decidedly drunk, and so slept\nvery deeply. Ambrose ate little, drank nothing, and slept lightly. At\ndawn the T\u00e1tos-horse pulled his master's hair, in order to wake him;\nbecause it knew that the dragon had least strength at dawn, and that the\nsun increased his strength. Ambrose at once jumped on horseback and\narrived at the copper bridge: the dragon heard the clattering of the\nhorse's hoofs, and at once flew to meet him. \"Pooh!\" cried the dragon\nand snorted, \"I smell a strange smell! Ambrose, is it you? I know you;\nmay you perish, you and your horse! Come on!\" They fought for one hour\nand three quarters. Ambrose, with two strokes, slashed six of the\ndragon's heads off, but could not, for a long time succeed in cutting\noff the seventh, for in it lay the dragon's magic power. But, at last,\nthe seventh head came off too.\n\nThe dragon had seven horses, these Ambrose fastened together, and took\nthem to the inn, where he tied them by the side of Emerich's horse.\nAndrew and Emerich did not awake till nine o'clock, when Emerich asked\nAndrew if he had killed the dragon, and Andrew asked Emerich if he had\ndone so; at last Ambrose told them that he had killed the dragon with\nseven heads and taken away his seven horses, which he gave to Emerich,\nwho thanked him for them. The three then continued their journey\ntogether as far as the silver bridge: here again they found an inn,\nwhich stood close to the bridge. Emerich and Andrew ate and drank and\nwent to sleep as before; the T\u00e1tos horse, as soon as day began to break,\nawoke his master, who cheerfully jumped up, dressed neatly, and left the\nprinces asleep. The T\u00e1tos scented the dragon quite ten miles off, and\ngrowled like a dog, and the dragon in his rage began to throw his sparks\nat them when four German miles off; they rushed upon each other and met\nwith a tremendous clash on the bridge; it was a very difficult task for\nAmbrose to conquer this huge monster, but at last, through the skilful\nman\u0153uvring of his horse, he deprived the dragon of all his eight\nheads: the eight horses belonging to the dragon he tied to a post near\nthe head of the eldest prince, Andrew. Andrew and Emerich did not awake\ntill noon, and were astonished at the sight of the splendid horses,\nquestioning each other as to who could have brought them there at such\nan early hour, and then came to the conclusion that the prince must have\nkilled the dragon, and that these horses had belonged to the monster,\nfor no such horses ever neighed under a man before. Ambrose again\nconfessed that he had killed the dragon, and brought away his horses for\nthem. He also urged his two companions to hurry on to kill the third\ndragon, or they would be too late. They all got on horseback, but in\ntheir joy two of them had had to eat and drink, till they had more than\nenough, but Ambrose, according to his custom, took but little; the two\nelder brothers again went to sleep and slept like tops; but again the\nlittle T\u00e1tos pulled Ambrose's hair, so soon as the morning star began to\nglimmer.\n\nAmbrose got up at once, and dressed even more quickly than before; for\nthe journey he took a small flask of wine, which he secured upon his\nsaddle. The horse warned its master to approach the dragon with great\ncaution, because it was a very excitable one, and if he got frightened\nthe least it would be very difficult to conquer the monster. Soon the\nmonster with nine heads arrived, thumped once on the golden bridge, so\nthat it trembled under the thump; Ambrose dashed at the dragon and\nfought with it, but they could not conquer each other, although they\nfought fiercely and long. At the last hug, especially, Ambrose grew so\nweak that, if he had not taken a long draught from his flask he would\nhave been done for on the spot; the draught, however, renewed his\nstrength, and they dashed at each other again, but still neither could\nconquer the other.\n\nSo the dragon asked Ambrose to change himself into a steel hoop and he,\nthe dragon, would become a flint hoop, and that they should both climb\nto the top of yon rock, which was so high that the sun was only a good\nspan above it; and that they should roll down together, and if, while\nrunning, the flint hoop left the rut, and, striking the steel hoop, drew\nsparks therefrom, that Ambrose's head should fall off; but if on the\nother hand, the steel hoop left the rut and struck the flint hoop so as\nto draw sparks, then all the dragon's heads should fall off. But they\nwere both wise and stuck to their own ruts, rolling down in a straight\ncourse till they reached the foot of the mountain without touching each\nother, and lay down when they got to the bottom. As they could not\nmanage in this way, the dragon proposed: \"I will become a red flame and\nyou will become a white one, and which ever flame reaches highest he\nshall be victor.\" Ambrose agreed to this also; while they were\ncontending, they both noticed an old crow, which croaked at them from a\nhollow tree; the dragon was an old acquaintance of the aged crow, and\nrequested it to bring in its beak as much water as would extinguish the\nwhite flame, and promised that if he won, he would give his foe's flesh\nto the crow, every bit of it.\n\nAmbrose asked for a single drop of water, and promised the crow all the\nflesh of the big-bodied dragon. The crow helped Ambrose: it soaked its\ncrop full of water and spat it over the red flame; thus Ambrose\nconquered his last foe. He got on his horse, tied together the nine\nhorses of the dragon with nine heads and took them to his brothers, who\nwere still snoring loudly, although the sun had reached its zenith and\nwas hot enough to make a roast. At last the two lazy people got up, and\nAmbrose divided the nine horses between them and took leave of them,\nsaying, \"Go in peace, I myself am obliged to run wherever my eyes can\nsee.\" The two good-for-nothing brothers were secretly delighted, and\ngalloped off homewards. Ambrose turned himself into a small rabbit, and\nas it ran over hill and dale it ran into a small hut where the three\nwives of the three dragons were seated. The wife of the dragon with\nseven heads took it into her lap and stroked it for a long time, and\nthus addressed it: \"I don't know whether Ambrose has killed my husband;\nif he has, there will be a plague in the world, because I will turn into\na great pear tree, and the odour of its fruit will be smelt seven miles\noff, and will be sweet to the taste but deadly poison. The tree which\nthus grows from me will not dry up till Ambrose plunge his sword into\nits root, then both it and myself will die.\" Then the wife of the dragon\nwith eight heads also took the little rabbit in her lap, and spoke thus:\n\"If Ambrose has killed my husband there will be a plague in the world, I\ncan tell you! because in my sorrow I will change into a spring; there\nwill be eight streams flowing out of this spring, each one of which will\nrun eight miles, where it again will sub-divide into eight more\nbranches. And whoever drinks of the water will die; but if Ambrose wash\nhis sword in my blood--which is the water of the spring--all the water\nwill at once dry up and I shall die.\" Then the wife of the dragon with\nnine heads spoke to the rabbit, saying, \"If Ambrose has killed my\nhusband, in my sorrow I will change into a huge bramble, and will\nstretch all over the world, all along the highroads. And whoever trips\nover me, will die; but if Ambrose cut my stalk in two anywhere the\nbramble will dry up everywhere and I shall die.\"\n\nHaving listened to all this, the little rabbit scampered off out of the\nhut; but an old woman with an iron nose, the mother of the three\ndragons, chased him, and chased him over hill and dale: he ran, and\nrushed about, till at length he overtook his brothers; jumping on his\nlittle horse's back, he continued his journey at his leisure. As they\ntravelled on, his eldest brother longed for some good fruit; just then\nthey saw a fine pear tree, whereupon Ambrose jumped from his horse, and\nplunged his sword into the roots of the tree, and drew blood, and a\nmoaning voice was heard. They travelled on for a few miles, when Emerich\nall of a sudden became very thirsty: he discovered a spring, and jumped\noff his horse in order to drink, but Ambrose was first to arrive at the\nwater; when, plunging his sword into it, it became blood, and fearful\nscreams were heard, and in one moment the whole of the water dried up.\nFrom this point Ambrose galloped on in front till he left his brothers\ntwo miles behind, because he knew that the bramble was stretching far\nalong the country road; he cut it in two, blood oozed out, and the\nbramble at once dried up. Having thus cleared away all dangers from his\nbrothers' way, he blest them and separated from them.\n\nThe brothers went home, but the old woman with the iron nose persecuted\nAmbrose more than ever, being in a great rage at his having killed her\nsons and her daughters-in-law. Ambrose ran as hard as he could, for he\nhad left his horse with his brothers; but when he was quite exhausted\nand had lost all confidence in himself, he ran into a smithy, and\npromised the smith that he would serve him for two years for nothing if\nhe would hide him safely and well. The bargain was soon struck, and no\nsooner had the smith hidden him than the old woman appeared on the spot\nand inquired after a youth: she described his figure, the shape of his\neyes and mouth, height, colour of his moustache and hair, dress, and\ngeneral appearance. But the smith was not such a fool as to betray the\nlad who had engaged to work at his anvil for him for two years for\nnothing. So the old witch with the iron nose got to know nothing and\nleft the place growling. One day Ambrose was perspiring heavily by the\nside of the anvil, so at eventide he went for a short walk in the road\nin order to get a mouthful of fresh air. When he had nearly reached the\nedge of the wood, which was only at a dog's trot from the smithy, he met\na very old woman with wizened face, whose carriage was drawn by two\nsmall cats: the old woman began to ogle little Ambrose, making sheep's\neyes at him, like fast young women do. \"May hell swallow you, you old\nhag,\" said Ambrose to her angrily, \"I see you have still such foolish\nideas in your head, although you have grown so old!\" Having said this he\ngave the carriage in which the witch sat, a kick, but poor Ambrose's\nright foot stuck fast to the axle, and the two cats scampered off over\nhill and dale with him until he suddenly discovered that he was trotting\nin hell, and saw old Pilate staring at him. The old witch with the iron\nnose--because it was she who had the carriage and pair of cats--fell\nover head and ears in love with the young lad, and at once asked him to\nmarry her.\n\nAmbrose shuddered when he heard this repulsive, unnatural request. \"Very\nwell,\" said the woman with the iron nose, \"as you don't intend to marry\nme, into jail you go! twelve hundred-weight of iron on your feet!\" Nine\nblack servants seized hold of poor Ambrose, at once, and took him nine\nmiles down into the bowels of the earth, and fastened a piece of iron\nweighing twelve hundred-weight on his feet and secured it with a lock.\nThe poor lad wept and groaned, but no one had admission to where he was,\nwith the exception of the old witch and one of her maids. The maid of\nthe witch with the iron nose was not quite such an ugly fright as her\nwizened old mistress, in fact she was such a pretty girl that one would\nhave to search far for a prettier lass. She commenced to visit Ambrose\nin his prison rather often, sometimes even when the old witch did not\ndream of it--to tell the truth, she fell head over ears in love with the\nlad, nor did Ambrose dislike the pretty girl; on the contrary, he\npromised to marry her if she were able to effect his escape from his\ndeep prison. The girl did not require any further coaxing, but commenced\nplotting at once. At last she hit upon a scheme, and thus spoke to her\ndarling Ambrose: \"You cannot get out of this place, unless you marry the\nold woman with the iron nose. She having once become your wife will\nreveal to you all her secrets; she will also tell you how she manages to\nkeep alive so long, and by what ways and means she may be got rid of.\"\nAmbrose followed her instructions and was married to the old witch by a\nclergyman--there are clergy even in hell, as many as you want. The first\nnight Ambrose, after having for a long time been kissing and making love\nto the old iron nose, asked her: \"What keeps you alive for so long, and\nwhen do you think you will die? I don't ask these questions, my dearest\nlove,\" he added, flatteringly, \"as if I wished for your death, but\nbecause I should like to use those means myself which prolong your life\nand keep away everything from me which would shorten life, and thus\npreserve me, living long and happily with you.\" The old woman at first\nwas half inclined to believe his words, but while meditating over what\nshe had just heard, she suddenly kicked out in bed, and Ambrose flew\nthree miles into hell in his fright.\n\nBut the result of all the questioning and flattering in the end was that\nthe old woman confessed. She confided to him that she kept a wild boar\nin the silken meadow, and if it were killed, they would find a hare\ninside, inside the hare a pigeon, inside the pigeon a small box, inside\nthe little box one black and one shining beetle: the shining beetle held\nher life, the black one her power; if those two beetles died then her\nlife would come to an end, too. As soon as the old woman went out for a\ndrive--which she had to do every day--Ambrose killed the wild boar, took\nout the hare, from the hare the pigeon, from the pigeon the box, and\nfrom the box the two beetles: he killed the black one at once, but kept\nthe shining one alive. The old witch's power left her immediately. When\nshe returned home her bed had to be made for her. Ambrose sat by her\nbedside and looked very sad, and asked her with tears if she, who was\nthe other half of his soul, died what would become of him, who was a man\nfrom earth and a good soul, who had no business there. \"In case I die,\nmy dear husband,\" said the doomed woman, in a mild voice, \"open with the\nkey which I keep in my bosom yon black closet in the wall. But you can't\nremove the key from my bosom until I am dead. In the closet you will\nfind a small golden rod; with this rod you must strike the side of the\ncastle in which we are, and it will become a golden apple. You, then,\ncan get into the upper world by harnessing my two cats in my carriage,\nand by whipping them with the golden rod.\" Hereupon Ambrose killed the\nshining beetle too, and her p\u00e1ra (animal soul) left the old witch at\nonce.\n\nHe then struck the castle side with the golden rod, and it turned into\nan apple; having harnessed the two cats and patted them with the golden\nrod, he bade the maid sit by him, and in a wink they reached the upper\nworld. The maid had been kidnapped by the old witch with the iron nose\nfrom the king of the country in the upper world, in whose land the mouth\nof hell was situated. Ambrose placed the golden apple in the prettiest\npart of the country and tapped its side with the rod and it became a\nbeautiful castle of gold, in which he married his sweetheart and lived\nwith her happily. Some time after he returned to his father's land,\nwhere an immense number of strong soldiers had grown up since Ambrose\nhad killed the dragons. The old king distributed his realm among his\nthree sons, giving the most beautiful empires to Ambrose, who took his\nfather to him and kept him in great honour. His wife bore pretty\nchildren who rode out every day on the T\u00e1tos.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WIDOWER AND HIS DAUGHTER.\n\n\nI don't know in what country, in which county, in which district, in\nwhich village, in which street, in which corner, there lived a poor\nwidower, and not far from him a rich widow. The widower had a beautiful\ndaughter. The widow had two who were not very pretty, and were rather\nadvanced in years. The widower married the widow and they combined the\ntwo households and lived together. The husband was as fond of his wife's\ndaughters as of his own; but the woman liked her own daughters better\nthan her husband's child, and the two older girls loved their parents\ntruly but disliked their pretty sister very much. The poor man was very\nsad at this, but could not help it.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a fair held in the town, which was not far\nfrom the village, and the husband had to go to the fair. The two elder\ngirls and their loving mother asked for no end of pretty dresses they\nwished their father to bring them from the fair: but the pretty girl of\nthe poor man did not dare to open her mouth to ask for anything. \"Well,\nmy daughter, what shall I bring for you?\" asked the poor man, in a sad\nvoice; \"why don't you speak? You shall have something, too.\" \"Don't\nbring me anything,\" replied the pretty little girl, \"but three walnuts,\nand I shall be satisfied; a little girl does not want any pretty dresses\nas yet.\" The poor man went to the fair and brought home many showy\ndresses, red shoes, and bracelets. The two girls rummaged among the\nheaps of pretty things; they threw about the coloured ribbons, golden\nrings, and artificial flowers; they tried on their heads the various\nTurkish shawls, and tried the effect of paints on their faces; they\nskipped about and sang in their joy; they cheerfully embraced their\nmother and highly praised their father's choice. At last, having got\ntired of looking at the things, everyone put away her share into her\ncloset. The pretty little girl placed the three walnuts in her bosom and\nfelt very sad. The two elder girls could hardly wait for Sunday. They\ndressed up most showily; they painted their faces, and as soon as the\nbells began to ring ran to church and stuck themselves in the front pew.\nBefore leaving home, however, they gave the pretty little girl some very\ndirty wheat and ordered her to clean it--about half a bushel full--by\nthe time they came back from church. The little girl began to sort the\nwheat weeping, and her tears mingled with the wheat; but her complaining\nwas heard in Heaven and the Lord sent her a flock of white pigeons who\nin a minute picked out the dirt and the tares from among the wheat, and\nin another minute flew back to where they had come from. The little girl\ngave thanks to Providence and cried no more. She fetched her three\nwalnuts in order to eat them, but as she opened the first one a\nbeautiful copper dress fell out of it; from the second a silver one; and\nfrom the third a glittering gold one. She was highly delighted, and at\nonce locked the two walnuts in which the gold and silver dresses were,\nsafely in a cupboard. She put on the copper dress, hurried off to\nchurch, and sat down in the last pew all among the old women: and lo!\nthe whole congregation stood up to admire her, so that the clergyman was\nobliged to stop in his sermon: the two old maids looked back quite\nsurprised and found that the new comer's dress was ever so much prettier\nthan their own.\n\nIt happened that the king's son was also present in whose country the\nvillage was and in which village the poor man and his new wife lived.\nThe beautiful girl dressed in the glittering copper dress was at once\nnoticed by the king's son who was at that time looking for a wife all\nover the country. As soon as the pretty little girl noticed that the\nsermon was coming to an end she left her seat and ran home in order to\nget undressed before her step-mother and her two sisters got home. The\nking sent a flunkey after her and gave him orders to note the door where\nthe pretty girl entered; but the swift girl ran much quicker than the\nking's servant, and he lost her. She undressed in a great hurry, and by\nthe time that her two sisters got home in company with their young men\nshe had her copper dress put away in the walnut and locked it in a\ncupboard and donned her ordinary every-day dress, which was very clean,\nand was found in the act of fanning the fire under a pot full of\ncabbage, and making herself busy about the kitchen in general. \"Poor\norphan, you have not seen any thing,\" exclaimed the two eldest sisters,\nwho were in high spirits. \"The king's son was at church, he sat just\nopposite, for a while he kept his eyes fixed on us as if enchanted. You\ndid not see that, did you? At the beginning of the sermon, however, such\na beautiful girl, dressed in such a gorgeous dress, came in the like of\nwhich no human eye has ever seen before.\" \"I did see that pretty girl as\nshe turned the corner of the street.\" \"From where did you see her?\" at\nonce asked the envious sisters. \"I got on the ladder and went up to the\nchimney and saw her from there.\" \"Indeed, then you spent your time\ngaping about. You will catch it when father comes home and finds the\nwheat unpicked.\" And they rushed to the place where the wheat was kept,\nbut lo! the wheat was as clean as washed gold, and the tares and the\ndirt had been removed from the house.\n\nIn the afternoon the ladder was taken away from the front of the house,\nso that the orphan girl should not be able to get on it any more. In\nthe afternoon the church bells were again heard ringing. The two elder\ngirls dressed up even more showily than before and went to church. The\nprince also put in his appearance. The little orphan girl had twice as\nmuch wheat meted out to her, and they threatened that if it was not\ncleaned by the time they came home they would maltreat her. The little\ngirl set to work in great sorrow, but white pigeons came, twice as many\nas in the morning. The wheat got cleaned like gold in one minute. The\nlittle girl at once opened the second walnut, and the silver dress,\nshining like moonbeams, unfolded itself. She went to church and sat in\nthe same seat where she sat in the morning. The prince took out his\neyeglass and eyed the pretty girl in the silver dress. He nearly\ndevoured her with his eyes. The girl did not stay long in her place, and\nat a moment when nobody was looking she stole out of the church and ran\nhome. The king's flunkey again was unable to find out her abode. When\nthe two sisters came home the little girl was filling the cleaned wheat\ninto bags ready to be carried up into the loft. \"Don't carry it up\nyet--wait a moment,\" said the two sisters to her. \"You have never seen\nand will never behold in all your life what we saw to-day. The fairy\ngirl of this morning came this afternoon to church dressed in pure\nsilver; she gleamed like moonlight.\" \"I've seen her,\" said the orphan\ngirl, with a meek smile; \"I got on the hoarding and stood on the top\nrail and saw her as she slipped out of church.\" \"And how about the\nwheat; let's have a look at it. We suppose you spent all your time\ngaping again. Father will give it to you,\" said the two wicked girls.\nBut the wheat was all clean, and would have been so if it had been as\nmuch more. They drove a lot of sharp nails into the top of the hoarding,\nin order to prevent the orphan girl getting on to it.\n\nThe two elder girls anxiously waited for the coming Sunday, as they were\neager to show off some of their new dresses they had never had on\nbefore. Sunday at last arrived, and the two elder girls dressed up ever\nso much more gorgeously than before. They put on their rings; tied on\nmany coloured bows; put on red shoes; and rouged their faces. They went\noff in great hurry as soon as the bells began. The prince again was\npresent, and some of his friends with him. The two elder girls tried\ntheir best to look charming: they screwed up their mouths to make them\nlook small; they piously bent their heads on one side, and kept on\nadjusting their ribbons and bows. Whenever the prince, or any of his\nfriends looked at them they coyly cast down their eyes and played with\ntheir nosegays. The little girl was again left at home; they gave her\nthree times as much dirty wheat to pick as on the first occasion, and\nthreatened her that if by the time they came home she did not get it\npicked her father would give her a sound thrashing. The pigeons again\ncame to assist the pretty child, there were three times as many as at\nfirst, and her wheat was again picked in a minute. The little girl\nopened the third nut, and, dressed in the golden dress, went to church,\nand sat down in her usual place. The congregation was more astounded\nthan ever; the women and girls jumped up from their seats. They did not\nlisten to the sermon, but kept staring at the fairy little girl, and\nwhispered to each other. The prince was determined that the girl must\nbecome his wife, whatever happened; but the fairy-like girl again\nslipped away, and the king's servant followed her, until he saw her run\ninto a house, whereupon he marked it by sticking a gold rose into the\ngate-post. The little girl did not notice this. The elder girls came\nrunning home. \"If you lived for another thousand years you would not see\nsuch a beauty as we saw to-day. We saw a pretty creature dressed in pure\ngold; we don't think there is another in the whole world like her.\" \"I\nsaw her,\" said the little girl, laughing; \"I climbed on the mulberry\ntree and followed her with my eyes from the street corner all the way to\nchurch.\" \"And how about the wheat; is it picked?\" \"The Lord has helped\nme,\" said the good little child, \"as He always will help orphans.\" The\nmulberry tree was cut down the very same afternoon.\n\nIn the afternoon the girls did not bring home any more news from church;\nthey did not inquire any more whether the wheat had been cleaned,\nbecause they noticed that their step-father was very angry with them for\ntheir having shown so much envy against their sister. The poor father\nled his little girl to the cottage of a widow who lived at the end of\nthe village, and who herself had no children. There she was kept for\nseveral weeks on rather scanty food. The prince had not come to church\nfor several Sundays; but, after the lapse of three months, three weeks,\nand three days, at three in the afternoon, three quarters, and three\nminutes, he came on foot into the village, where he had seen the pretty\ngirl. He had only his servant with him. They examined every gate-post,\nand at last found the golden rose which the servant had stuck there.\nThey entered the cottage, wherein they found an old woman seated reading\nher prayers. \"Is there a girl in this cot?\" inquired the prince. \"Yes,\nyour highness,\" replied the old woman, \"there are two, and either of\nthem is well worthy of a prince's love.\" \"Call them, my old mother, call\nthem both; my heart will then recognise its choice.\"\n\n\"Here they are my lord and prince,\" said the mother with a joyful face,\nhaving in about half an hour got her two daughters dressed up as well as\nshe could. \"The choice of my heart is not among them;\" said the prince,\nsadly, \"have you no more daughters, good woman? call also the third if\nyou value my happiness.\" \"The Lord has not given me any more, these two\nare quite enough, you cannot find any prettier or better in the whole\nvillage.\" \"Haven't you got a husband and hasn't he got a daughter?\"\nasked the prince, in great sorrow. \"My husband is dead,\" said the old\nhag, \"it is three years since he was put into his grave.\" \"Let us go on\nthen, my lord and prince,\" said the servant, \"and we shall find her if\nit please the Lord.\" As they passed through the gate the servant took\nthe golden rose from the crack in the gate-post and threw it to the\nwinds. The golden rose thereupon quietly floated in the air above the\nheads of the prince and his servant. The fortune-seekers followed the\nrose, mumbling prayers, till at the end of the village it dropped on the\nground in front of the gate of the last cot. \"Let's go in here, my lord\nand prince, as our prayer has brought us here.\" \"If the Lord call us,\nlet us enter, my faithful servant,\" replied the prince. A cock crowed\njust as they stepped across the threshold, and a very poor old woman\ngreeted the guests. \"Have you a daughter, my old mother?\" inquired the\nprince graciously. \"No, my lord; I never had one,\" said the old woman\nsadly. \"If not, don't you keep an orphan? The Lord will preserve the\ngood mother who takes care of the orphan, as well as the orphan.\" \"Yes,\nmy lord, but she has no dress fit to appear in, and she is not a bit\nworthy of your looking at her; she is naughty and does not like work,\nand for this reason her step-mother has cast her off. Her father\nsupplies in secret her daily food.\" \"The Lord will provide for him who\nis in need,\" said the prince. \"Call her; never mind how ugly she is, or\nhow badly she is clad. I like to make orphans happy.\" After much\npressing the wretch of an old woman at last produced the little girl,\nwho looked very poor, but was very cleanly dressed; her face was as soft\nas dew. The prince recognised at the first glance the beautiful figure\nand the charming features.\n\n\"I'm not sorry for the trouble I have taken,\" said the prince, and\nembraced the pretty girl. He gave rich presents to the poor woman, and\ntook his long-sought-for sweetheart with him. On his way home the\nservant reminded his master that it would not be the proper thing to\nbring the prince's bride home in such a sorry plight. The prince found\nhis servant's remark correct. They had only to walk about three miles to\nreach the frontier of land where the prince's father reigned. They came\nto a round lake where they halted, and on its bank stood a large\nweeping willow, so they made the girl sit among the branches and\nadvised her not to leave her place until they returned with the golden\ndresses and the royal carriage. Thereupon they left. The little girl had\nhidden the three walnuts in her bosom and in order to surprise her\nbridegroom she put on her golden dress and thus dressed awaited his\nreturn. No sooner had she finished her toilet than a whole troop of\ngipsy women arrived under the tree on which she sat in her golden dress.\nThe gipsy women at once questioned her, why she sat there? whom she\nexpected? and where she was going! She, in her innocence, was not afraid\nof them, and told them of her descent, narrated them her past\nvicissitudes, her present good fortune, and also confided to them that\nshe was preparing a joke for her royal bridegroom, and showed her\nwalnuts and her glittering dresses in them. The prettiest of the gipsy\nwomen climbed on the tree and commenced to flatter her. She asked her to\nbe allowed to see her walnuts, and in one moment, when the girl was off\nher guard, pushed her from the tree down into the lake. To the great\namazement of the gipsies the girl transformed herself into a gold duck,\nand flew to the centre of the lake, and, alighting on the water, began\nto swim. Thereupon the gipsy women began to throw stones at her, which,\nhowever, she evaded by diving under water. The women at last got tired\nof throwing stones, and left the gold duck in the lake, and the gipsy\nwoman among the branches of the weeping willow. The prince arrived at\nsunset at the tree where he had left his pretty _fianc\u00e9e_. When lo! he\ndiscovered the woman in the golden dress. He admired her golden raiment,\nand begged her to tell him where she had got her golden dress. The gipsy\ntold him what the girl had related to her, and asked him his forgiveness\nfor not having mentioned it when she first saw him at the widow's cot,\nand made the prince believe that she had kept silence about it solely\nbecause she wished to find out whether he loved her in her poor dress.\nThe prince believed every word the gipsy said, and begged her to come\ndown and sit in his carriage, and to drive home with him to his royal\nfather's palace. As the prince assisted the gipsy woman down from the\nwillow, the tanned face of his _fianc\u00e9e_ looked to him as something most\nextraordinary. \"You were not so sunburnt, my dear, when I left you; what\nmade your skin get so discoloured?\" \"My tender skin got discoloured from\nthe broiling rays of the sun,\" replied the wicked soul; \"let me get into\nthe shade and in a few days I shall become pale again.\" The prince\nbelieved it and bade her sit in his carriage. \"I can't leave here until\nyou shoot that gold duck, I should like to have a bit of it at my\nwedding feast,\" said the false one. The bridegroom and his servants\ntried for a long time to hit the golden bird, they wasted a vast amount\nof powder and shot; but still the golden duck was unhurt because it\nalways dived under the water.\n\nThe dusky woman looked very much disheartened when she took her seat in\nthe prince's coach, but he soon revived her spirits by sweet and kind\nwords, and in a short time they arrived at home. The old king did not at\nall like the looks of his future daughter-in-law, but on his son\nassuring him that in a few days she would regain her fairy-like beauty\nhis mind was set at ease. They lived together for several months and the\nyoung wife was still sunburnt, and so the prince gradually got cool\ntowards her. The gipsy woman noticed this, and in order to revive the\nspirits of her royal husband she announced it all over the town and in\nthe adjacent villages that there would be a great feather-picking, held\nhenceforth three times a week in the royal palace, and everybody rich\nand poor was invited, the queen being glad to see anyone. The golden\nduck had flown after the coach when the queen was driven home, and,\nhaving regained her girl-form, entered service not far from the royal\nmansion and worked diligently. She too went to the first feather-picking\nmeeting, and, not saying a word to anyone, sat at the end of the table\nand made herself busy. \"Well, my dear queen and wife,\" said the prince,\n\"tell the good work-people here the pretty story which happened to you\nwhen your envious sisters would not let you go to church. Tell them also\nwho helped you to clean the wheat.\" The gipsy did not know anything\nabout these events; but still commenced to chatter away whatever came\ninto her head first. She told them, among other things, that she had\ncrept through the keyhole in the gate, and collected all the girls in\nthe neighbourhood, with whose help she finished her wheat-cleaning.\n\"That wasn't so, most gracious queen,\" said a girl, with a pretty voice,\nwho was very shabbily dressed but looked very clean; \"it was from the\nchimney stack, and from the top of the hoarding, and from among the\nbranches of the mulberry tree, from where the orphan girl did her\npeeping. But the poor orphan girl only told an innocent fib. It was the\nsame girl with whom the prince fell in love, whom her half-sisters had\ncast off, for whom the prince searched with his servant, whom he seated\nin the willow tree, and whom you pushed into the lake, whom your husband\ntried to shoot. That orphan girl is nobody else but myself.\" The prince\nat once recognised his sweetheart. His wife thereupon fainted away. She\nsoon recovered however.\n\nThe king made an example of the gipsy woman for her wicked deed: he had\nher quartered, and burnt, and then married the little orphan girl. He\nhad her stepmother cast into prison, and her two daughters' hair cut,\nwhich he ordered to be burnt and cast to the winds: he also took the\norphan girl's father to his court, and married him to the widow at whose\ncot he had found his wife. The poor little orphan girl's and her\nfather's wedding were celebrated together. There was plenty to eat and\ndrink, so that even the orphan children had rice to eat. Behind the door\nthere stood a sack in which the Danube and the Theiss were kept. I too\nwas among the dancing guests, and had a long spur made of straw on my\nboot; somebody pushed me by accident, and my spur knocked a hole in the\nsack in which the Danube and Theiss were kept; so the water all ran out\nand engulphed me, and washed me ashore, not far from here. If you don't\nbelieve my story, here I am!\n\n\n\n\nTHE WISHES.\n\n\nThere were 10,000 wagons rolling along the turnpike road, in each wagon\nthere were 10,000 casks, in each cask 10,000 bags, in each bag 10,000\npoppy seeds, in each poppy seed 10,000 lightnings. May all these\nthunderous lightnings strike him who won't listen to my tale, which I\nhave brought from beyond the Operencian Sea!\n\nThere was once, it doesn't matter where: there was once upon a time, a\npoor man who had a pretty young wife; they were very fond of each other.\nThe only thing they had to complain of was their poverty, as neither of\nthem owned a farthing; it happened, therefore, sometimes, that they\nquarrelled a little, and then they always cast it in each other's teeth\nthat they hadn't got anything to bless themselves with. But still they\nloved each other.\n\nOne evening the woman came home much earlier than her husband and went\ninto the kitchen and lighted the fire, although she had nothing to cook.\n\"I think I can cook a little soup, at least, for my husband. It will be\nready by the time he comes home.\" But no sooner had she put the kettle\nover the fire, and a few logs of wood on the fire in order to make the\nwater boil quicker, than her husband arrived home and took his seat by\nthe side of her on the little bench. They warmed themselves by the fire,\nas it was late in the autumn and cold. In the neighbouring village, they\nhad commenced the vintage on that very day. \"Do you know the news,\nwife?\" inquired he. \"No, I don't. I've heard nothing; tell me what it\nis.\" \"As I was coming from the squire's maize-field, I saw in the dark,\nin the distance, a black spot on the road. I couldn't make out what it\nwas, so I went nearer, and lo! do you know what it was?--A beautiful\nlittle golden carriage, with a pretty little woman inside, and four fine\nblack dogs harnessed to it.\" \"You're joking,\" interrupted the wife. \"I'm\nnot, indeed, it's perfectly true. You know how muddy the roads about\nhere are; it happened that the dogs stuck fast with the carriage and\nthey couldn't move from the spot; the little woman didn't care to get\nout into the mud, as she was afraid of soiling her golden dress. At\nfirst, when I found out what it was, I had a good mind to run away, as I\ntook her for an evil spirit, but she called out after me and implored me\nto help her out of the mud; she promised that no harm should come to me,\nbut on the contrary she would reward me. So I thought that it would be a\ngood thing for us if she could help us in our poverty; and with my\nassistance the dogs dragged her carriage out of the mud. The woman asked\nme whether I was married. I told her I was. And she asked me if I was\nrich. I replied, not at all; I didn't think, I said, that there were two\npeople in our village who were poorer than we. That can be remedied,\nreplied she. I will fulfil three wishes that your wife may propose. And\nshe left as suddenly as if dragons had kidnapped her: she was a fairy.\"\n\n\"Well, she made a regular fool of you!\"\n\n\"That remains to be seen; you must try and wish something, my dear\nwife.\" Thereupon the woman without much thought said: \"Well, I should\nlike to have some sausage, and we could cook it beautifully on this nice\nfire.\" No sooner were the words uttered than a frying-pan came down the\nchimney, and in it a sausage of such length that it was long enough to\nfence in the whole garden. \"This is grand\" they both exclaimed together.\n\"But we must be a little more clever with our next two wishes; how well\nwe shall be off! I will at once buy two heifers and two horses, as well\nas a sucking pig,\" said the husband. Whereupon he took his pipe from his\nhatband, took out his tobacco-pouch, and filled his pipe; then he tried\nto light it with a hot cinder, but was so awkward about it that he upset\nthe frying-pan with the sausage in it. \"Good heavens! the sausage; what\non earth are you doing! I wish that sausage would grow on to your nose,\"\nexclaimed the frightened woman, and tried to snatch the same out of the\nfire, but it was too late, as it was already dangling from her husband's\nnose down to his toes. \"My Lord Creator help me!\" shouted the woman.\n\"You see, you fool, what you've done, there! now the second wish is\ngone,\" said her husband, \"what can we do with this thing?\" \"Can't we get\nit off?\" said the woman. \"Take off the devil! Don't you see that it has\nquite grown to my nose; you can't take it off.\" \"Then we must cut it\noff,\" said she, \"as we can do nothing else.\" \"I shan't permit it: how\ncould I allow my body to be cut about? not for all the treasures on\nearth; but do you know what we can do, love? there is yet one wish left;\nyou'd better wish that the sausage go back to the pan, and so all will\nbe right.\" But the woman replied, \"How about the heifers and the horses,\nand how about the sucking pig; how shall we get those?\" \"Well, I can't\nwalk about with this ornament, and I'm sure you won't kiss me again with\nthis sausage dangling from my nose.\" And so they quarrelled for a long\ntime, till at last he succeeded in persuading his wife to wish that the\nsausage go back to the pan. And thus all three wishes were fulfilled;\nand yet they were as poor as ever.\n\nThey, however, made a hearty meal of the sausage; and as they came to\nthe conclusion that it was in consequence of their quarrelling that they\nhad no heifers, nor horses, nor sucking pig, they agreed to live\nthenceforth in harmony together; and they quarrelled no more after this.\nThey got on much better in the world, and in time they acquired heifers,\nhorses, and a sucking pig into the bargain, because they were\nindustrious and thrifty.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO ORPHANS.\n\n\nThere was once, I know not where, even beyond the Operencian Land, a\nvillage, and at the end of the village a little hovel. Within the\ntumble-down walls of this hovel a poor old woman was lying on some\nrotting straw, and two children were crying by her side. The elder was a\npretty girl. The younger was her brother, a small boy with auburn hair.\nThe old mother died. Her cold body was buried by the parish; but, as\nnone offered themselves to take charge of the two orphans, they left the\nplace. They went and went, over many a hill and dale, and had already\ncovered a long distance when Jack felt burning thirst. They found in the\nroad some turbid water in a rut, at the sight of which the thirsty\nlittle fellow shouted for joy. \"My dear sister, I will drink from this\nrut.\" \"Don't drink from it,\" said his thoughtful sister, \"or you will\nturn into a cart-wheel if you do.\" Jack sighed, and they went on their\nway. They found some bears' tracks in which some stale rain-water was\nputrifying. \"My dear sister, I'm thirsty, allow me to drink of this\nrain-water.\" \"If you drink, my dear brother, you will become a bear.\"\nThe little fellow began to cry, but obeyed, and they went on. In the\nroad they found some footprints of a wolf. Jack again implored his\nsister, with tears, and repeated his former request. \"Don't drink, my\ndear Jack, or else you will become a wolf.\" Jack, although his tongue\nwas parched with burning thirst, obeyed, and they continued their walk\nquite exhausted. They found the footmarks of a roebuck in the road.\nWater clear as crystal shone in them, that invited him to drink. Jack's\nfeet gave way under him when he reached the water, and, in spite of all\nwarning, he drank of it with avidity. His sister, seeing her fear\nrealised, began to cry. The beautiful auburn locks of her brother\nsuddenly turned to a soft grayish hair, and horns grew behind his ears.\nHis legs and arms became the four legs of a roedeer, and the pretty\nlittle creature rubbed gently against his sister, who stroked him with\nher pretty hands. The little girl and her brother, the roebuck,\ncontinued their journey till at last they reached the king's palace,\nwhere the young monarch received them with smiles, and offered them a\ntidy little room. The little girl lived with her brother here, and,\nalthough she forbade him to speak before others, they would chat when\nleft alone, their conversation turning mainly upon their deceased good\nmother, their journey, the handsome young king, and his frequent hunts.\nAfter several weeks the pretty girl received a royal splendid dress and\nwas married to the young king.\n\nThe fame of their wedding travelled over seven countries. The loving\ncouple lived contentedly together; the queen was pretty and good, and\nher husband was madly in love with her. The little deer kept continually\nby his sister's side; they ate from the same plate, and drank out of the\nsame glass, and slept in the same room; but this happiness did not last\nlong. There lived in the king's country an old witch, with iron teeth,\nwho had a very ugly daughter, whose face was black, her eyes were\nyellow, her nose was full of warts, her teeth like hoes, her voice\nscreeching, her waist crooked; and, besides all this, she was lame of\none foot. It was the old witch's determination to make this creature the\nqueen of the realm. As she was frustrated in her design she raved. In\nher fury she tore up bits of rocks, and dried up whole forests. She\nvowed death upon the poor orphan's head; and, in order to cheer up her\nugly daughter's long forlorn hope, she prophecied the queen's death, and\nthus spoke: \"Dear child, beloved Lucinda, would you like to be a queen?\nif so, go secretly into the king's palace, and when the king is out\nhunting, steal near the queen in her sleep, and cut off a large lock of\nher hair, and bring it to me. Mind where you step, and keep an eye on\nevery movement of hers.\" Lucinda dressed herself in a cloak with grey\nand red stripes, and at dead of night she reached the king's palace, and\nwithout arousing suspicion stole into the queen's bedroom. She spread\nher cloak on the floor, so that she might not awake the sleeping queen\nwith its rustling as she moved about, and at her mother's sign she\napproached the queen's bed on tiptoe, and cut off a beautiful lock with\na rusty old knife: the little deer did not wake. In the morning, the\nwitch wrapt the beautiful auburn lock in the lungs of a toad, and\nroasted it over the embers of some yew boughs which were cut on\nChristmas night. After a while, with the ointment thus made, the old\nwitch rubbed Lucinda from head to foot, who became the next moment an\nexact likeness of the young queen. Now the old witch began to ponder how\nto do away with the young queen, and at last she hit upon a plan. There\nlived at court a miserly gate-keeper, whom she bribed with gold, and\nwith his assistance, in the absence of the king, they broke into the\nqueen's bedroom at night, and dragged away by force the poor innocent\nwoman; the little deer woke at the noise, and followed the murderers at\na distance.\n\nIn a secluded corner of the courtyard there was an old disused\nstone-well, and in this well lived a huge whale; they threw the pretty\nqueen to the bottom of this well, and in her now empty bed Lucinda was\nplaced, whose outer appearance was not in the slightest different from\nthat of the queen, so that when the king arrived at home he did not\nnotice the awful fraud. The little deer henceforward spent all his days\nnear the well, which circumstance did not escape the notice of the\nquick-eyed old witch. So she instructed her daughter to persuade her\nroyal husband to have the deer killed, and in order to carry this out,\nshe planned the following scheme. Lucinda shammed deadly illness, her\nmother having previously changed her red complexion to yellow; her\nhusband sat every day and night by her bedside, while the little deer\nstill spent all his time by the well. They could not find any medicine\nwhich could give the patient relief, when Lucinda, as planned\nbeforehand, expressed a desire to have the deer's heart and liver cooked\nfor her. Her husband was horrified on hearing this unexpected wish, and\nbegan to suspect his wife. He could not believe that she could wish to\nhave her dear little animal, which she idolized, killed; but Lucinda\nwould not give in, until at last the king, being very much concerned\nabout his wife's recovery, allowed himself to be persuaded, and gave\norders to one of his cooks to have the deer killed. The deer heard quite\nwell what Lucinda wished and what the orders were, but kept silence;\nand, in order not to arouse suspicion, went back to its favourite place,\nthe well, where, in its deep grief, it thus spoke down into the whale's\ndwelling:\n\n\n    My little sister, my little sister,\n    You dear little sister,\n    Come out of the well,\n    Out of the whale's stomach,\n    Because they are whetting the knife\n    For my gentle breast,\n    They are washing the basin\n    For my beautiful red blood.\n\n\nWhen the cook, clasping a long knife, stole up to the\nlittle animal in order to drag it to the slaughter-house, the deer\nrepeated his mournful song, upon hearing which the cook got frightened\nand ran away and informed the king of what he had heard and seen.\nThereupon the king determined to personally satisfy himself as to\nwhether his tale was true. The little deer thereupon cried twice as\nmournfully as before, and amid tears sang out the same song as before.\n\nThe king now stepped forward from his hiding-place, and the deer, upon\nbeing questioned, told him the story how the witch and the gate-keeper\ndragged his sister out of bed, and how they threw her into the well. As\nsoon as the pretty animal finished its tale, the huge whale was dragged\nout from the bottom of the well; they slit open its stomach, and the\nreal queen appeared, now seven times prettier than before; her husband\nhimself assisted her and conducted her back to the palace in triumph.\n\nLucinda, her mother, and the gate-keeper were quartered, and their\nbodies exhibited at the four corners of the castle as a warning to\neverybody. The queen anointed her little brother with some ointment she\nhad found in the whale's stomach, and he regained his old form. And so\nall three of them are alive to this very date, if they have not died\nsince. May they get into an egg shell and be your guests to-morrow.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL FROG.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, a man who had three daughters. One\nday the father thus spoke to the eldest girl: \"Go, my daughter, and\nfetch me some fresh water from the well.\" The girl went, but when she\ncame to the well a huge frog called out to her from the bottom, that he\nwould not allow her to draw water in her jug until she threw him down\nthe gold ring on her finger. \"Nothing else? is that all you want?\"\nreplied the girl, \"I won't give away my rings to such an ugly creature\nas you,\" and she returned as she came with the empty pitchers. So the\nfather sent the second girl, and she fared as the first; the frog would\nnot let her have any water, as she refused to throw down her gold ring.\nHer father gave his two elder daughters a good scolding, and then thus\naddressed the youngest: \"You go, Betsie, my dear, you have always been a\nclever girl: I'm sure you will be able to get some water, and will not\nallow your father to suffer thirst; go, shame your sisters!\" Betsie\npicked up the pitchers and went, but the frog again refused the water\nunless she threw her ring down; but she, as she was very fond of her\nfather, threw the ring in as demanded, and returned home with full\npitchers to her father's great delight.\n\nIn the evening, as soon as darkness set in, the frog crawled out of the\nwell, and thus commenced to shout in front of Betsie's father's door:\n\"Father-in-law! father-in-law! I should like something to eat.\" The man\ngot angry, and called out to his daughters; \"Give something in a broken\nplate to that ugly frog to gnaw.\" \"Father-in-law! father-in-law! this\nwon't do for me; I want some roast meat on a tin plate,\" retorted the\nfrog. \"Give him something on a tin plate then, or else he will cast a\nspell on us,\" said the father. The frog began to eat heartily, and,\nhaving had enough, again commenced to croak: \"Father-in-law!\nfather-in-law! I want something to drink.\" \"Give him some slops in a\nbroken pot,\" said the father. \"Father-in-law! father-in-law! I won't\nhave this; I want some wine in a nice tumbler.\" \"Give him some wine\nthen,\" angrily called out the father. He guzzled up his wine and began\nagain: \"Father-in-law! Father-in-law! I would like to go to sleep.\"\n\"Throw him some rags in a corner,\" was the reply. \"Father-in-law!\nfather-in-law! I won't have that; I want a silk bed,\" croaked the frog.\nThis was also given to him; but no sooner has he gone to bed than again\nhe began to croak, \"Father-in-law! father-in-law! I want a girl,\nindeed.\" \"Go, my daughter, and lie by the side of him,\" said the father\nto the eldest. \"Father-in-law! father-in law! I don't want that, I want\nanother.\" The father sent the second girl, but the frog again croaked:\n\"Father-in-law! father-in-law! I don't want that, Betsie is the girl I\nwant.\" \"Go, my Betsie,\" said the father, quite disheartened, \"else this\nconfounded monster will cast a spell on us.\" So Betsie went to bed with\nthe frog, but her father thoughtfully left a lamp burning on the top of\nthe oven; noticing which, the frog crawled out of bed and blew the lamp\nout.\n\nThe father lighted it again, but the frog put it out as before, and so\nit happened a third time. The father saw that the frog would not yield,\nand was therefore obliged to leave his dear little Betsie in the dark by\nthe side of the ugly frog, and felt great anxiety about her. In the\nmorning, when the father and the two elder girls got up, they opened\ntheir eyes and mouths wide in astonishment, because the frog had\ndisappeared, and by the side of Betsie they found a handsome Magyar lad,\nwith auburn locks, in a beautiful costume, with gold braid and buttons\nand gold spurs on his boots. The handsome lad asked for Betsie's hand,\nand, having received the father's consent, they hastened to celebrate\nthe wedding, so that christening might not follow the wedding too soon.\n\nThe two elder sisters looked with invidious eyes on Betsie, as they also\nwere very much smitten with the handsome lad. Betsie was very happy\nafter, so happy that if anyone doubt it he can satisfy himself with his\nown eyes. If she is still alive, let him go and look for her, and try to\nfind her in this big world.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL AND THE RED CAP.\n\n\nThere was once, I know not where, a soldier who was flogged many times,\nand who one night had to stand on sentry. As he paced up and down, a man\nwith a red cap stopped in front of him and stared hard into his eyes.\nThe soldier said not a word, but the stranger began: \"My dear son, I\nknow what happens in your heart, you don't like this soldier's life, and\nyour thoughts are at this very minute wandering to your sweetheart.\" The\nsoldier at once concluded that he had to do with the devil, and so made\nhis acquaintance. \"Well, my dear son,\" said the devil, \"undress quickly,\nand let's change our clothes; I will stand here on guard for you if you\npromise me that in a year hence, on this very day, at this very hour, to\nthe very minute, you will be back here. In the meantime, go home to your\nnative place, and don this red cap, as you can freely walk about and no\none will see you as long as you have it on your head.\" The soldier went\nhome to his native land, over seven times seven countries, and no one\nsaw him as he reached his village. He walked into the garden and opened\nthe door leading into his father's house and stood there listening. His\nfriends were just then speaking of him. He was delighted to hear it, and\ngradually took the red cap from his head and suddenly appeared before\nthem, who were very pleased to see him back. His sweetheart was also\nthere; but no one would believe their own eyes, and thought that some\nsprite played them a trick. But the soldier explained it all; and, in\norder to prove the truth, he disappeared, and the next minute\nreappeared. All went well with the poor soldier until the time came when\nhe had to start back. At the appointed hour and minute he took leave of\nhis friends and sweetheart amid tears.\n\nHe put on his red cap and walked back unseen by any. \"Bravo, my son,\"\nsaid the devil. \"I see now that you are an honest man. A Magyar always\nkeeps his word. You've returned to the very hour and minute. I've\nreceived a good many floggings, though, during your absence; but don't\nbe afraid, we shall alter all this. You needn't be particular about your\ngood conduct; nobody will touch you henceforth, as I've cast a spell\nand whenever they flog you the captain will feel the pain.\" The devil\nthen changed his uniform, took back the red cap, and disappeared. The\npoor soldier--he couldn't help it, as he was tired of soldiering--again\ncommitted something wrong, the punishment for which was one hundred\nstrokes. All the preparations to carry out the sentence had already been\nmade, but before he was even touched the captain began to yell as he\nfelt quite sure that he would suffer under it. Therefore he deemed it\nmore wise to recommend the dismissal of the useless fellow, instead of\nworrying about him. And so it happened, the soldier was dismissed and\narrived home safely: but since this happened even the devil will not\ntake pity on a poor soldier.\n\n\n\n\nJACK DREADNOUGHT.\n\n\nA poor widow had a son who was so courageous that not even the devil's\nmother would have frightened him, and therefore he was named in his\nchildhood Jack Dreadnought. His mother was in continual terror lest\nsomething dreadful might happen to her son, as he was so plucky, nay\nfoolhardy, and determined to use all possible means to teach him to\nfear. For this reason she sent him to the clergyman of the village as\n\"mendicant,\" and requested the minister to use all his knowledge in\ntrying to teach her son to fear. The clergyman left nothing untried to\nmake the boy frightened; he told him all sorts of ghostly and horrible\ntales, but these, instead of frightening the lad, made him only more\nanxious to make the acquaintance of ghosts similar to those mentioned in\nthe tales. The clergyman thereupon hit upon the idea of introducing some\nsham ghosts in order to break Jack Dreadnought's intrepidity.\n\nHe fixed upon the three nights before Christmas; on these nights the lad\nhad to go to ring the bells at midnight in the tower that stood at the\nvery end of the village, and the clergyman thought that he could find\nsome opportunity of frightening Jack. He took an old cassock and stuffed\nit with straw and placed it before the tower door with one hand on the\nhandle. Midnight came and Jack went to ring the bells and discovered the\ndummy in the cassock. \"Who are you?\" he called out, but received no\nreply. \"Very well,\" said the boy, \"if you won't answer I will tell you\nthis, that if you don't clear off from that door I'll kick you in the\nstomach that you will turn twelve somersaults.\" As there was no reply,\nJack in his rage took hold of the dummy's collar and threw him on the\nground with such violence that it rolled away three fathoms, and then,\nas if nothing had happened, went up into the tower, rang the bells, and\nwent home. The clergyman, as his first experiment did not succeed, made\ntwo dummies the next day, which were exactly alike; one he placed in the\nsame position as before at the door of the tower, the other near the\nbell ropes.\n\nAt midnight Jack again went to ring the bells and, as before, made short\nwork of the first dummy; as he did not receive any reply he took him by\nthe collar and threw him on the ground. When he went up into the tower\nand saw that the rope was held by another, he thought it was the first\none, and thus addressed him, \"Well, my friend, you've come here, have\nyou? You hadn't enough with the first fall? Answer me or I will dash you\non the ground so that you will not be able to get up again,\" and as the\ndummy did not reply Jack took it by the throat and pitched it from the\nwindow of the tower, and it whizzed through the air. The clergyman had\nhad two unsuccessful experiments but he had great confidence in the\nthird. He made three dummies this time, two were placed as before and\nthe third he stood on the bell so that it might prevent it ringing.\nJack Dreadnought dealt with the two first dummies as on the previous\nnight, but as he was about to ring, to his astonishment, he discovered\nthe dummy on the bell; he was not frightened, but when he saw that it\nwould not come down, after a polite request, took it angrily by one leg\nand pitched it through the window like a cat. The clergyman had now come\nto the conclusion that he was unable to teach Jack fear, and now\ncommenced to plan how he might get rid of him. The next morning he\ncalled him, and thus spoke to him: \"Jack, you are a fine courageous\nfellow; go, take my grey horse, and as much provisions as you think will\nlast you three days, and go into the world and follow your nose; do not\nstop all day, but take up your night quarters wherever darkness finds\nyou. Do this for three days, and settle down where you spend the third\nnight, and you will be prosperous.\"\n\nThe clergyman thought that Jack would perish on the way; but we shall\nsee whether he did. Jack started off the first day, and in the evening\ncame to a narrow, round timber hut, which was rather high, and he\ndecided to sleep there. As he found it empty he made a fire in its\ncentre and commenced to fry some bacon; all of a sudden he felt\nsomething dripping, he looked up and saw something like a human form\ndangling in the air. \"Well, upon my word,\" shouted he, \"the devil won't\nleave me alone even here: get down from there, will you, or do you\nexpect me to take you down?\" No reply came, and Jack, with a clever\njump, caught hold of one of his legs, and brought it down, but the head\nwas torn off and fell down. Only then he discovered that it was a hanged\nman, but he did not think much of it, and stayed there all night. He\ntravelled the whole of the next day; in the evening he reached an inn\nand asked for a room, and received in reply that they had an empty room\non the upper floor, the only one vacant; but that no one could sleep\nthere, as the place was haunted. \"What!\" shouted Jack; \"Oh! I know those\nghosts; let me have a dish of good food, a mouthful of good wine, and a\nburning candle in the upper room, and I will sleep there. I swear by\nBeelzebub that the ghosts will come no more!\" The innkeeper tried to\ndissuade Jack from his foolhardy attempt, but he would not give way.\n\nHe was shown into the room; it was a large apartment on the upper floor.\nJack placed the lighted candle in the middle; a dishful of food and a\njug of wine by the side of it; and settled down in a chair, waiting for\nthe awful ghosts. No sooner had the clock struck midnight than, all of a\nsudden, a fearful chorus of animal noises was to be heard, like the\nhowling of dogs, neighing of horses, bellowing of cattle, roaring of\nwild beasts, bleating of sheep and of goats, and also crying, laughing,\nand clanking of chains. Jack was quite delighted with the nocturnal\nconcert; but, all of a sudden a big skull rolled in through the door and\nstopped by the side of the dish. Jack stared at it, and, instead of the\nskull, he saw an old monk standing before him with long heavy chains.\n\"Good evening, brother friar!\" shouted Jack, \"pray have supper with me.\"\n\"I'm going from here,\" said the friar, \"and I want you to come too; I\nwill show you something.\" \"With pleasure,\" replied Jack, \"will you lead\nthe way, you devil, or you reverend gentleman?\" Thereupon Jack followed\nthe friar with the lighted candle. When they arrived at the stairs the\nfriar insisted upon his going first, but Jack would not; and the friar\nwas obliged to lead the way. Next they came to a narrow landing at the\ntop of the cellar stairs. Here, again, the friar invited him to go\nfirst, but he would not; and so the apparition had to go first. But, as\nsoon as he went down a few steps, Jack gave the friar such a push with\nsuch dexterity that he went head over heels down the steps and broke his\nneck. In the morning the innkeeper had the friar buried. He made Jack a\nhandsome present, and the latter continued his journey.\n\nJack Dreadnought rode the whole next day, and in the evening again came\nto an inn, where he could not get any room except up stairs, where no\none else would sleep, on account of ghostly visitors. Jack took the room\nand was again enjoying his supper in the centre, when the old clock\nstruck midnight. The same sort of music struck his ear as on the\nprevious night, and, amid a great crash, a human hand dropped from the\nceiling to near his dish. Jack, in cold blood, took up the hand and\nthrew it behind the door. Another hand fell and went the same way. Now a\nleg came, and this, too, went behind the door. Then came its fellow,\nwhich was soon despatched to the rest. At last a big skull dropped right\ninto the middle of the dish and broke it. Jack got into a rage, and\nthrew the skull violently behind the door; and, on looking back, he\nfound, instead of the limbs, an immense ghost standing behind the door,\nwhom Jack at once taxed with the damage done to the dish, demanding\npayment. The ghost replied, \"Very well; I will pay for it, if you come\nwith me.\" Jack consented, and they went off together; as before, he\nalways insisted on the ghost going first. They came to a long winding\nstaircase, and down into a huge cellar. Jack opened his eyes and mouth\nwide when he found in the cellar three vats full of gold, six vats of\nsilver, and twelve vats of copper coins. Then the ghost said to him,\n\"There, choose a vat full of coins for your dish, and take it whenever\nyou like.\" But Jack, however, did not touch the money, but replied, \"Not\nI; do you suppose that I will carry that money? Whoever brought it here,\nlet him take it away.\" \"Well done,\" replied the ghost; \"I see I've found\nmy man at last. Had you touched the treasure you would have died a\nsudden death; but now, since you are such a fine courageous fellow, the\nlike of whom I have never seen before, settle down in this place and\nuse the treasure in peace; nobody will ever disturb or haunt you any\nmore.\" After these words the ghost disappeared.\n\nJack became the owner of the immense treasure, and married the\ninnkeeper's only daughter, who was very pretty, and lives with her to\nthis day, if he has not died since, enjoying life and spending the money\nhe found in the vats in the cellar.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SECRET-KEEPING LITTLE BOY AND HIS LITTLE SWORD.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, beyond the seas, a little village,\nand in the village a widow. The widow had a pretty little son whose\ncheeks were as the rose; on the left side of the little boy a scabbard\nhad grown, and as the boy grew the scabbard grew with him. On the same\nday on which the little boy was born the point of a sword appeared in\nthe soil in their little garden, which kept pace with the growth of the\nscabbard on the little boy's side. When the boy was a year old he\ndiscovered the sword in the garden, and every evening at sunset he tried\nthe sword in the scabbard. One evening after sunset the little boy lay\ndown and fell fast asleep. Next morning he awaited dawn squatting by the\nside of the growing sword, which he passed seven times into the\nscabbard. He ran quite delighted to his mother, who got up as the\nmorning bell began to ring. \"Oh, my dear mother, I had such a nice\ndream. I wouldn't give my dream for the whole world.\" \"Then what have\nyou dreamt, my son?\" queried the mother. \"I wouldn't tell anyone till my\ndream has been realised.\" \"Yes, but I want to know it,\" said his mother\nangrily, \"and if you won't tell me, I will thrash you.\"\n\nBut the widow threatened her little son in vain; neither kind words nor\nthreats could induce him to tell his secret. At last she thrashed him,\nbut with no result; the little fellow went into the garden and knelt\ndown by the side of his little sword, which had the peculiar feature\nthat it continually revolved, and cut everyone's hand who touched it\nwith the exception of that of the little boy. The little sword as soon\nas its point felt the touch of the scabbard stopped and slid into the\nscabbard, and the little boy for a long time gazed at his weapon and\nwept bitterly. As he was thus weeping in his mother's garden, the king\nof the country passed outside the fencing; the king heard the sound of\ncrying and stopped his carriage, and thus spoke to his footman: \"My dear\nservant, go to see who is crying in that garden, and ask the cause of\nit?\" The footman obeyed, and on his return gave the following reply to\nhis royal master: \"Your majesty, a child is kneeling among the flowers,\nand cries because his mother has cruelly beaten him.\" \"Bring him here,\nmy dear servant, tell him his king wants him, who has never cried in his\nlife, and cannot bear to hear anyone else cry.\" The footman brought the\nchild back with him, wiped away his tears, and the king asked the dear\nlittle boy whether he would like to go with him as he was willing to\nadopt him as his son. \"I would like to go, majesty, if my mother would\nlet me.\" \"Go, my servant, to this little fellow's mother,\" said the king\nto his footman, \"and tell her that the king will take her pretty son to\nhis palace and if he behave well will give him half of his realm, and\nalso his prettiest daughter.\"\n\nThe widow, who only a moment ago was so angry, commenced to cry for joy,\nand placed her son with her own hands into the king's lap, and kissed\nthe monarch's hand. \"Don't be so stubborn when you are at your royal\nfather's court as you were at your widow-mother's house,\" she said to\nhim, and with these words the old woman ran away from her pretty little\nson, who again cried bitterly. Then the dear little prince begged leave\nto get down from the carriage; he pulled the little sword up out of the\nground, and placed it in the scabbard, where it rattled unceasingly.\nThey had driven a good distance, and the boy had had his cry, when the\nking said, \"Why did you cry so bitterly in the little garden, my dear\nson?\" \"Because\" replied the little boy \"my mother continually scolded\nme, and also thrashed me cruelly.\" \"And why did your mother thrash you\ncruelly and scold you?\" asked the king. \"Because I wouldn't tell her my\ndream.\" \"And why would you not tell your dream to your poor mother?\"\n\"Because I will not tell it to anyone till it is fulfilled.\" \"And won't\nyou tell it to me either?\" asked the king in astonishment. \"No, nobody\nshall know it but God, who knows it already.\" \"I'm sure you will tell me\nwhen we get home,\" said his royal father smiling. After three days'\njourney they arrived at the king's town: the queen with her three\ndaughters were greatly delighted that their royal husband and father had\nbrought them such a pretty boy. The girls offered all sorts of things to\ntheir pretty brother.\n\n\"Don't love him so much,\" said the wise king, \"as he does not deserve\nit; he harbours some secret in his heart which he will not tell anyone.\"\n\"He will tell me,\" said the eldest girl, but the little boy shook his\nhead. \"He will tell it me,\" said the second. \"Not I,\" said the little\nboy angrily. \"You won't keep it from me,\" said the youngest coaxingly.\n\"I will not tell my secret to anyone till it is realised, and I will\npunish anyone who dares to inquire,\" threatened the little boy. The king\nin his great sorrow looked at his wife and daughters; he summoned his\nservants, handed the little boy to them, and said, \"Take away this\nstubborn child, take him to your house, he's not fit for a royal\npalace.\" The sword at the little boy's side clanked loudly; the servants\nobeyed their royal master's orders, and took the boy to the place where\nthey lived. The pretty child cried upon being taken away from the\ngorgeous palace, and the servants' children consoled him, offered him\nfruits and toys, and thus brought back his spirits in a few hours; the\nchildren got used to each other, and the little boy lived with them\nuntil he became seventeen years of age. The elder daughters of the king\nmarried kings of countries beyond the seas, and the youngest one has\nalso grown old enough to be married. One day she ran from the lofty\npalace into the servants' house, where she saw the little boy, who had\ngrown so handsome that there wasn't a more handsome lad to be seen over\nseven times seven countries. The king's daughter was very much struck as\nshe had never before seen so fine a lad, and thus spoke to him: \"If you,\nhandsome lad, will reveal your secret to me I will become yours, and you\nwill be mine, and not even the coffin shall separate us.\" The lad\nthrashed the inquisitive princess as he had promised of yore; the pretty\ngirl wept bitterly and ran to her royal father and complained about the\nlad's cruelty. The old king was very angry and uttered an oath, adding,\n\"If he had a thousand souls he will have to die; his very memory must\ndie out in my country.\"\n\nOn the same day on which the widow's son had beaten the king's daughter,\nlofty gallows were erected on the western side of the royal town, and\nthe whole population went out to the place where the execution was to\ntake place. The hangman tied the handsome lad's hands behind his back,\nwhen the sword again clanked at the lad's side. The assembled people,\nwho a moment ago were so noisy, grew silent, when the king's preacher\nread out the sentence. Suddenly a great hubbub arose, and a gorgeous\ncoach, from which a white flag was waving, was seen driving rapidly up\nto the gallows; in the coach sat the King of the Magyars. The coach\nstopped underneath the gallows, and the King of the Magyars jumped out\nand asked for the handsome lad's reprieve, who was blindfolded. The\nangry king informed him that he had great reason to have the scoundrel\nhanged, because he thrashed his daughter for no other cause than her\nasking him to reveal his secret. The secret was a dream which he could\nonly tell when it was realised. \"My royal colleague, hand the culprit\nover to me,\" said the king of the Magyars, \"I'm sure he will tell me his\nsecret. I have a pretty daughter who is like the Morning Star, and she\nwill get it out of him.\" The sword again clanked at the side of the\nhandsome lad. The king handed the prisoner to the Magyar king, who bade\nhim sit in his carriage, and asked him his secret. \"It is impossible, my\nking and master,\" said the sad lad, \"until the dream is fulfilled.\" \"You\nwill tell my daughter,\" said the Magyar king smiling. \"To none!\" said\nthe lad resolutely, and his sword gave a terrific clank. The king and\nthe handsome lad arrived at Buda in a few days. The king's daughter was\njust promenading in the garden when her father arrived with the handsome\nlad. The pretty girl hurried to her father, and as she kissed his hand\nshe noticed the handsome lad, the like of whom she had never seen\nbefore. \"Have you brought him for me?\" inquired the love-sick maid,\n\"from fairy land? No woman has yet carried, has yet borne, such a child\nin her arms!\"\n\n\"My dear daughter, I've brought him not from fairy land, but from the\ngallows,\" replied the king, who was vexed with his daughter for having\nso quickly fallen in love with him, although she had never spoken to a\nman before. \"I don't care, my dear father,\" said the blushing maid,\n\"even if you brought him from the gallows, he's mine, and I am his, and\nwe shall die together.\" The last words were addressed by the king's\ndaughter to the handsome lad, who smothered the pretty princess with\nkisses. \"You will soon be angry with him, my dear daughter,\" said the\nsorrowful king, \"if you ask his secret; he's a coarse fellow, he's of no\nroyal blood, his place is among the servants.\" \"If he killed me, if he\ngouged out my eyes, or bit off my nose, I couldn't get angry with him,\"\nsaid the princess. \"He will tell me his secret, his lodging will be in\nthe room set apart for my guests, and he will find a place in the middle\nof my heart!\"\n\nBut the king shook his head, and sent the lad down into the\nsummer-house, where he could amuse himself with reading. No sooner had a\nweek passed than the girl, who was as pretty as a fairy, put her best\ndress on and went to the summer-house to pay a visit to the lad who\nlived secluded there, to get his secret out of him. When the young lad\nsaw the pretty girl and had examined her beautiful dress, the book\ndropped from his hand, and he stared but could not utter a single word.\nThe princess thereupon addressed him in such a beautiful voice as his\near had never heard before, \"Tell me, my handsome lad, why have I come\nto see you, if you guess it I will be yours?\" \"My dove, my angel!\" said\nthe lad with glowing cheeks, \"I won't tell you my secret, and if you\nwish to get back safely to your royal father's palace you had better not\nask any more questions about the matter.\" But the girl would not listen\nto the lad's warning but pressed for an answer more urgently and\nembraced him and kissed him. The lad at last got so angry that he\nslapped the princess's face and made her nose bleed. The princess ran\nscreaming back to the palace, where her father was waiting for her\nanswer; when the king beheld the blood running down upon the pretty\ngirl's beautiful dress, he yelled down from the window into the garden,\n\"I will starve you to death, you son of a dragon!\" and began to wash his\ndaughter's cheek and nose.\n\nThe very same day the king summoned all the masons and bricklayers in\nthe town, and gave them orders to run up in all haste a square building\nin which there was to be just room for a stool and a small table, the\ntable to be so small that only a prayer book could find room on it. In\ntwo hours a small tower was built; the masons had already left off work,\nand were going to inform the king that the structure was finished. They\nmet the king's daughter, who asked one of the masons to stay, the one\nwho appeared to be the eldest, and asked him whether he could make so\nsmall a hole in the tower that a plate of food and a bottle of wine\ncould be passed through, and which could not be noticed by any one. \"To\nbe sure,\" said the grey old mason, \"I can and I will make it.\" The hole\nwas ready in a quarter of an hour; the king's daughter paid the mason\nhandsomely and hurried home.\n\nAt sunset, among a large crowd of people, the secret-keeping lad was\nconducted into the stone structure, and after all his misdeeds had been\nonce more enumerated he was walled in. But the king's daughter did not\nallow him to suffer either hunger or thirst, she visited her sweetheart\nthree times every day; and brought him books for which he asked. The\nking sent every third day his secretary to look after the prisoner and\nto see if he were dead, but the scribe found him still alive, and the\nking was very much astonished. One day the Turkish Sultan sent a letter\nto the Magyar king; the messenger bearing the letter brought with him\nalso three canes; the Turkish Sultan wrote in the letter, that if the\nking could not tell him which of the three canes grew nearest the root,\nwhich in the middle, and which at the top, he would declare war against\nhim. The king was very much alarmed, and became sad. His daughter\nnoticed her father's sorrow, and inquired, \"Why are you so downcast, my\nroyal father?\" \"How can I be otherwise, my dear daughter,\" said the good\nking; \"look here, the Turkish Sultan has sent me three canes, and\nwrites, that if I cannot tell him which is the cane's root-end,\nmiddle-part, and top-end, he will send his army against my country.\"\n\"_The God of the Magyar's_ will help you, my dear father,\" said the\ngirl; and hurried to the tower, and informed her sweetheart through the\nsecret hole of the Turkish Sultan's message, and of her father's sorrow.\n\"Go home, my love, my sweetheart; go to bed and sleep, and when you wake\ntell your royal father that you have dreamt that the canes have to be\nplaced in lukewarm water, and he will then be able to tell on which part\nof the plant the canes grew: the one that sinks to the bottom is the one\nfrom nearest the root; the one which does not sink and does not float\non the surface, comes from the middle; and the one that remains on the\nsurface is from the top.\" The girl ran home, went to bed and slept, and\ntold her father her dream, as her sweetheart had instructed her. The\nking did as his daughter advised him, and marked the three canes,\nnamely, with one notch the root-piece, the middle-piece with two\nnotches, and the top-piece with three, and sent the explanation to the\nSultan; and, actually, the canes had grown as the Magyar king had picked\nthem out; and the Sultan did not declare war against the Magyar.\n\nAfter a year the Sultan wrote another letter to the Magyar king and sent\nhim three foals; in the letter he asked him to guess which of the three\nanimals was foaled in the morn, which at noon, and which in the evening,\nand threatened with war in case a correct guess was not forthcoming. The\nking was again sorrowful, and his daughter asked him the reason. \"How\nshould I not be sorrowful, my pretty sweet daughter,\" said the old king,\n\"I had another letter from the Sultan, and he sent me three foals, and\nif I cannot tell him which was foaled in the morn, noon, and even, he\nwill declare war against me.\" \"The Lord will again help you, my dear\nroyal father,\" said the girl quite joyfully. In half an hour she was\nagain with her sweetheart, and communicated to him her father's trouble\nand sorrow. \"Go home, idol of my heart,\" said the captive lad; \"go to\nbed and sleep. In your dream scream out, and when your father asks you\nwhat is the matter, tell him that you dreamt that the Sultan had sent\nsome Turks in order to carry your father off to captivity, as he was not\nable to guess when the foals were born; but just as they were pinioning\nhim, you dreamt that the lad who had slapped your face got out somehow\nfrom his prison, and told you which of the foals was foaled in the\nmorning, which at noon, and which in the evening.\" The king's daughter\nran home and did exactly as the immured lad had told her. Next morning\nthe tower was pulled down and the handsome lad conducted before the\nking. \"The Lord has preserved you in your long captivity, my son, and I\nalso feel inclined to grant you pardon. But before doing this you will\nhave to help me in an important matter. I hand you here the Sultan's\nletter, read it; the three foals are in my stables; can you answer his\nquery?\" \"I can, my king and master,\" said the liberated lad, \"but I must\nask you some questions. Have you got three exactly similar troughs?\"\n\"No, but I will get some,\" replied the king. In a quarter of an hour\nthree troughs of the same size and colour were ready. \"Give orders, my\nking,\" said the lad, \"to have some oats put into one, some live coals in\nthe other, and some dry coal in the third: the foal which goes to the\noats was foaled in the morning, the one to the live coals, at noon, and\nthe one which goes to the dry coals, in the evening.\" The king did as\nthe lad advised him. He marked the foals and sent them home. The Sultan\nwas satisfied and did not send any troops against the Magyar king.\n\nThe Sultan had an aunt who was a witch, whom he consulted what to do in\norder to get possession of Hungary, and to tell him how he could get to\nknow who was the man who answered all his questions so cleverly. \"Alas!\nmy dear relative,\" said the witch, \"it isn't the Magyar king who\nanswered all your queries: he has a lad who is the son of a very poor\nwoman, but who will become king of Hungary; so long as you do not kill\nhim you will covet Hungary in vain.\" Another letter came to the king of\nHungary, in which it was written that if the lad who was kept by the\nking, and who was the brat of a poor woman, be not sent to Turkey, war\nshall be declared against the king. The king shewed the letter to the\ngood lad in great sorrow, who, after having read the haughty monarch's\nlines, spoke thus: \"I'm not afraid of bald-headed dogs, and I will cut\nto pieces the whole lot of them.\" At these words the sword clanked as it\nnever did before. \"I do not want anything save two lads; they must be\nboth alike, and I will paint a mask resembling their features, and if we\nthree look alike I'm not afraid of the whole world.\"\n\nIn the royal town were two brothers who were exactly alike, and the\nhandsome lad painted himself a mask and put it on, and all three went to\nTurkey. The witch smelt the strangers' approach from a great distance.\nWhen they arrived in the Sultan's palace they all three saluted him, and\nall three bowed simultaneously; they answered the Sultan's questions all\ntogether; they sat down to supper all together; they all conveyed their\nfood to their mouths at the same time; they all got up at the same time;\nafter supper they all three bowed, and at the signal from the Sultan all\nthree went to bed. The Sultan could not see any difference between the\nthree, but he did not like to kill all three. The witch, however,\nrecognised the lad, and explained to her nephew his distinguishing\nfeature, but the Sultan could not understand her explanation. \"Well, you\nwill know to-morrow morning, my Sultan and relative, which is the one\nwhom we intend to kill,\" said the witch; \"you will know him by his\nshirt-collar, which will have a scissors-cut in it; he is the Magyar\nking's man.\" An hour before midnight, at the time the witches are\ninvisible, and when they are able to pass through the eye of a needle,\nthe old witch glided through the keyhole into the bedroom where the\nyouths soundly slept. All three were lying in the same bed, the handsome\nlad on the outside. The witch produced a pair of small scissors, and\nclipped out a piece of his shirt-collar, and then crept out of the room.\nBut the handsome lad, when dressing in the morning, noticed in the\nlooking-glass the damaged shirt-collar and marked his two mates' collars\nthe same way. The Sultan asked the three lads to breakfast. The old\nwitch stood in the window, and was very much surprised that the\nshirt-collars of all three were marked in the same way. After breakfast,\nthey bowed and retired, and were allowed to return home. The king's\ndaughter was very anxious until her sweetheart returned, but when she\nsaw him one evening in her father's palace in good health and safe she\nwas greatly delighted, and begged her father's permission to marry him.\nThe king, however, made no reply, and the girl was very vexed with her\nfather. One evening when she was again pleading on his behalf she\nsuddenly fainted away; her eye fell on a letter sent by the Turkish\nSultan asking her Father to send him this strange lad alone, because he\nwas a dangerous man to Hungary. The old king sent the letter to the lad\nby his daughter, which the girl handed to him with tears. \"Do not weep,\nlove of my heart. God is with me, and his power.\" Thus he consoled her.\n\"I will start at sunrise to-morrow, and in a year's time we shall be\neach other's.\" The brave hero went alone to the Sultan; he met the old\nwitch in the courtyard, who whispered to him, \"It is the last time you\nwill come to beautiful Turkey.\" The sword clanked, and the youth would\nnot even listen to the old woman's words. When he stepped across the\nSultan's threshold, fifteen armed Turks confronted him: the sword darted\nforth from its scabbard, and cut up the Turks into pulp. It did not\ntouch the Sultan, but went back into its scabbard. At night the old\nwitch tried to steal the lad's sword, but the sword jumped out and\nchopped off the witch's iron nose. Next morning the Sultan arrayed an\nenormous army against the lad, but the sword did its work so swiftly\nthat not a sword, nor an arrow even so much as scratched the lad, and\nall the Turks were killed in a heap.\n\nThe daughter of the Magyar king was nearly in despair, because her\nsweetheart did not return on the appointed day, and she bothered her\nfather with her requests until he led an army against Turkey. The girl\nled the troops herself in military uniform, but the troops had not to\nmarch more than a mile, as the lad was already on his way home with his\nlittle sword. The king's daughter and the army conducted him to the\nroyal palace, and proclaimed him viceroy. The young hero with a few\nthousand soldiers returned to the country where he was born. His mother\nwas very much frightened when she saw the soldiers approach, as she\nthought that they had come to destroy the town; and was still more\nfrightened when she discovered that, while other courtyards were free\nfrom soldiers, her own was full of them, so full that one could not even\ndrop a needle among them. She trembled, when a handsome fellow got off\nhis horse, and approached her, but was very much surprised when the same\nhandsome fellow took hold of her hand and kissed it, saying: \"Well, my\ndear mother, I will now tell you what I have dreamt. I dreamt that I\nshould become king of Hungary, my dream has become true, and I may tell\nyou now what it was, because it is an accomplished fact, and I am king\nof Hungary. I wouldn't tell you in my childhood when you asked me,\nbecause had I told you my dream the Magyar king would have killed me.\nAnd now may the Lord bless you that you did beat me; had you not beaten\nme the king would not have taken me; had he not taken me he would not\nhave sentenced me to the gallows; had the king not sentenced me to the\ngallows the other king would not have carried me off.... I am now off to\nget married.\" And so it happened; he went home with his soldiers, and\nmarried the daughter of the Magyar king. He is still alive if he has not\ndied since!\n\n\n\n\nSHEPHERD PAUL.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, a shepherd, who one day found a\nlittle boy in a meadow; the boy was not more than two days old, and so\nthe shepherd took him to an old ewe and it nursed the child. The little\nboy was suckled by it for seven years, his name was Paul; and he grew so\nstrong that he was able to uproot good-sized trees. The old shepherd\nkept the boy another seven years on the old ewe's milk, and after that\nhe grew so strong that he could pull up oak-trees like weeds. One day\nPaul betook himself into the world in order to see countries, to get to\nknow something of life, and try his luck. He went on and on, and on the\nvery first day he met a man who was combing huge trees like one does\nflax. \"Good day, my relative,\" said Paul; \"upon my word, you are very\nstrong! my Koma!\" \"I am Tree-Comber,\" said the man, \"and am very anxious\nto wrestle with Shepherd Paul.\" \"I'm the man you name; come along and\nlet us wrestle,\" exclaimed Paul. And thereupon he seized Tree-Comber and\nthrew him to the ground with such force that he sunk into the ground as\nfar as his knees. But he soon recovered, jumped up, seized Paul, and\nthrew him to the ground, so that he went in as far as his waist; and\nthen Paul again caught him, and put him in as far as his neck. \"That\nwill do!\" called out Tree-Comber; \"I can see that you are a smart\nfellow, and should be glad to become your ally.\" \"Well and good,\" said\nPaul, and they continued their journey together.\n\nThey went on and soon after found a man who was crushing stones to\npowder with his hands, as if they were clods. \"Good day,\" said Paul;\n\"you must be a strong chap, my Koma.\" \"I am Stone-Crusher, and should\nlike to wrestle with Shepherd Paul.\" Thereupon Paul wrestled with him\ntoo, and defeated him the same way as he had done Tree-Comber; and he\ntoo became an ally, and all three continued their journey. After a short\ntime, they came across a man who was kneading hard iron, as if it were\ndough. \"Good day,\" said Paul; \"you must have the strength of a devil,\nKoma.\" \"I am Iron-Kneader, and should like to fight Shepherd Paul,\"\nanswered this man. Paul wrestled with him and defeated him, and they all\nfour became allies, and continued their journey. About noon they settled\ndown in a forest, and Paul thus addressed his mates: \"We three are going\nto look for some game, and you, Koma Tree-Comber, will stop here in the\nmeantime and prepare a good supper for us.\" The three went hunting, and\nTree-Comber in the meantime commenced to boil and roast, until he had\nnearly got the meal ready, when a little dwarf with a pointed beard\ncame to the place, and said, \"What are you cooking, countryman? Give me\nsome of it.\" \"I'll give you some on your back if you like,\" replied\nTree-Comber. The little dwarf made no reply, but waited till the\nsauerkraut was done, and then, suddenly seizing Tree-Comber by the neck\nand pulling him on his back, he placed the saucepan on his belly, ate\nthe sauerkraut, and disappeared. Tree-Comber was rather ashamed of this,\nand in order to hide the real facts from his friends, commenced working\nafresh; however, the vegetable was not done by the time his mates\nreturned, but he did not tell them the cause of it.\n\nNext day, Stone-Crusher remained behind, while the others went hunting;\nhe fared like Tree-Comber with the dwarf with the pointed beard, and the\nsame thing happened to Iron-Kneader on the third day. Thereupon, Paul\nspoke thus: \"Well, my Komas, there must be something behind all this, I\nthink; none of you have been able to do the work while the rest of us\nwere hunting. I propose that you three go hunting, while I remain and\nprepare the food.\" They went in high glee, chuckling that the little\ndwarf would teach Shepherd Paul a lesson also. Paul hurried on with the\ncooking, and had nearly finished, when the little fellow with the\npointed beard came and asked for something to eat. \"Be off,\" shouted\nPaul, and picked up the saucepan, so that the little fellow could not\nget it. The dwarf tried to get hold of his collar, but Paul swiftly\nseized him by his beard and tied him to a big tree, so that he could not\nmove. The three mates returned early from their hunting, but Paul had\nthe supper ready, and thus spoke to the three astonished men: \"You, my\nKomas, are a fraud, you weren't able even to outwit that little dwarf\nwith the pointed beard. Now let us have our supper at once, and then I\nwill show you what I have done with him.\" When they finished, Paul took\nhis mates to the place where he had fastened the dwarf, but he was gone,\nand so was the tree, as he had pulled it up by its roots and run away.\nThe four fellows thereupon decided to give chase to him, and they\nfollowed the track made by the tree, and thus arrived at a deep hole,\nand as the track of the tree stopped here they came to the conclusion\nthat the dwarf must have for a certainty got down into the deep hole.\nThey held a short consultation and came to the resolution that they\nwould lower Paul in a basket, and that they would remain above until\nPaul should pull the rope, and thus give them a signal to haul him up\nwith all haste. So they lowered Paul, and deep below in the earth among\nbeautiful valleys he found a splendid castle, into which he at once\nentered. In the castle he found a beautiful girl who at once warned him\nto run away as fast as possible if he valued his life, because the\ncastle belonged to a dragon with six heads, who had kidnapped her from\nearth, taken her to this underground place, and made her his wife; but\nPaul decided to await the dragon's return, as he was desirous of\nliberating the pretty girl. The monster with six heads soon arrived and\nangrily gnashed his teeth at the foolhardy Paul, who thus addressed him,\n\"I am the famous Shepherd Paul, and I've come to fight you.\" \"Well\ndone,\" replied the dragon; \"so, at least, I shall have something for\nsupper, but first, let's have something to whet our appetites.\"\nWhereupon he commenced to devour a few hundredweights of huge round\nboulders, and, after he had satisfied his hunger, offered Paul one. Paul\ntook a wooden knife and cut in two the stone offered to him, which\nweighed one hundredweight, and took up both halves and launched them\nwith such power at the dragon that two of his heads were smashed to\npulp. The dragon thereupon got into an awful rage, and made a furious\nonslaught on Paul, but he with a clever sword-cut slashed off two more\nof the monster's heads, and took him round the waist, and dashed him\nagainst the rock with such force, that the brains splashed out of the\nremaining two heads. The pretty girl thereupon with tears in her eyes\nthanked Paul for his services, for having liberated her from her ugly\ntormentor, but at the same time informed him, that two younger sisters\nof hers were languishing in the possession of two more powerful\ndragons.\n\nPaul thereupon at once made up his mind to liberate the other two, and\nto take the girl with him. The girl handed him a golden rod, with which\nhe struck the castle; and it became a golden apple, which he put in his\npocket and went on. Not far off in a gorgeous castle he found the second\ngirl, whose husband and tormentor was a dragon with twelve heads. This\ngirl gave Paul a silk shirt in order to make him more fit for the\nstruggle with her husband. The shirt made Paul twice as strong. He had\ndinner with the twelve-headed dragon, and after a long struggle\nsucceeded in defeating him, and took away all his twelve heads; he then\ntransformed the castle with a golden rod into a golden apple, and\ncontinued his way with the two girls. Not far off in a castle they found\nthe third girl, who was the youngest and the prettiest, and whose\nhusband was a dragon with eighteen heads, who, however, assumed the\nshape of a little dwarf with a pointed beard whenever he went on his\nexpeditions on the surface of the earth.\n\nPaul longed more than ever to be at him, and in order the better to\nfortify him for the struggle with the awful monster, the pretty girl\ndressed him in a silk shirt which made him ten times stronger, and she\nalso gave him some wine which doubled his power again. When the huge\ndragon with the eighteen heads arrived, Paul at once accosted him,\nsaying, \"Well, my Koma, I'm Shepherd Paul, and I've come to wrestle with\nyou, and to liberate that pretty girl from your claws.\" \"I'm glad I've\nmet you,\" replied the dragon, \"it's you who killed my two brothers, and\nyou'll have to pay for that with your life, for it is only your blood\nthat can repay me for the loss.\" Thereupon the monster went into the\nnext room, to put on the fortifying shirt, and to drink the\nstrengthening wine; but there was no shirt, and no wine in the cask,\nbecause the pretty girl had allowed what Paul could not drink to run\nout. The dragon became very angry and began to pace up and down, being\nrather nervous as to the issue. But Paul was not long before he set at\nhim, and with one stroke slashed off six of his heads, and, after a\nshort struggle, either broke or cut off the rest; and having thus\nliberated the third girl, he transformed the castle, like the previous\ntwo, into a golden apple, hid it in his pocket, and started with the\nthree girls towards the opening at the top of which his mates awaited\nhim.\n\nHaving got there, as there was no room for all four in the basket, Paul\nbade the three girls to get in, and pulled the rope, whereupon his three\nmates hastily drew up the basket. Seeing the three pretty girls, they\nforgot all about hauling up Paul; each chose a girl and hastily left the\nforest, and settled down with them beyond the seventh country. Paul\nseeing that he was deceived by his faithless friends, began to swear in\nhis rage, and vowed by heaven and earth that so soon as he should get\nout he would take bloody revenge on his deceitful mates, even if they\nhad hidden themselves at the end of the world. Thereupon, he walked\nabout aimlessly underground, and cogitated how to get out. After long\nwanderings he came to the nest of the huge griffin, in which he found\nseveral small griffins, and as the old bird was away, and it was hailing\nfire, he covered the nest with his cloak, and thus saved the little\ngriffins. The old bird, in order to reward him, took him upon its back\nto carry him up to the surface. It took with it some provisions for the\nway, which consisted of a roast bullock hanging on one side, and a cask\nof wine on the other, and gave Paul directions that whenever it turned\nits head to the bullock he was to cut off a piece, and put it in its\nmouth, and whenever it turned its head to the cask, to pour a pint of\nwine down its throat. The griffin started off with Paul on its back, and\nflew three days and three nights, and on the morning of the fourth day\nit alighted with Paul outside the very town where his three faithless\nmates lived, put him down, and returned to its nest. Paul, as soon as he\nhad rested from his fatigues, started off in search of his three mates,\nwho were dreadfully frightened when they saw Shepherd Paul appear, who\nthey thought was dead long ago. Paul gave them a severe scolding for\ntheir faithlessness, and then quietly killed all three. He placed the\nthree apples in the prettiest part of the town, side by side, tapped\nthem with the golden rod, and they became three splendid castles. He\nplaced the three girls in them, married the youngest, and lives with her\nstill in the middle castle, if he hasn't died since!\n\n\n\n\nTHE PELICAN.\n\n\nThere was once, I don't know where, there was in the world an old king;\none of whose eyes always wept, and the other always smiled. He had three\nsons. The youngest was twelve, the eldest twenty, and the middle one\nsixteen. These three sons got talking together one spring morning about\ndifferent things: the eldest of his sweetheart, the middle one of his\nsaddle-horse, and the youngest one of his birds. Their conversation at\nlast turned upon more serious matters, and they wished to know why their\nfather's one eye always wept and why the other always smiled; so they\ndecided to go and ask him the reason at once. The father was at\nluncheon. The eldest son knocked; and, after greeting his father, kissed\nhis hand, and asked him why the one eye always wept and the other always\nsmiled? The father looked very angrily at his son, and beckoned him to\ngo. The boy became very frightened at seeing his father grow angry so\nsuddenly, and ran away. Just as he ran through the door he heard a noise\nat his heels, and found that his father had thrown his knife and fork\nafter him. The terrified lad brought the disappointing news to his\nbrothers. \"Then I'll ask him, if no one else will,\" said the middle son,\nwho, for his chivalrous deeds, was his father's favourite. The king\nstill sat at lunch, and the second son, like his elder brother, also\nasked his father why one eye always wept, whilst the other always\nsmiled. The father then threw knife and fork after him, and the fork\nstuck fast in the heel of the lad's shoe. The lad was very frightened,\nand told his brothers what had happened, at which they were much\ndisappointed, as they had every confidence in him. \"It is of no use your\ngoing,\" said the second eldest to the youngest, \"because our royal\nfather dislikes you on account of your bird-catching habits.\"\n\nBut still the little boy went in, and in a trembling but confident voice\nasked his father why one eye always wept, whilst the other always\nsmiled. The king, who had just finished his lunch, no sooner heard the\nboy's question than he threw his knives and forks at him, and the blade\nof one knife lodged in the boy's thigh, so that the blood spurted out;\nbut the little boy was not frightened, and, amid his tears, drew the\nknife out from his thigh, and having wiped it, took it back to his\nfather, and repeated his question. The father lovingly stroked the\nlittle fellow's hair and bade him sit on a low chair, and told him the\nsecret, saying: \"One eye always laughs because you three boys are very\nhandsome children; and when I die you will make three brave kings for\nany three countries. My other eye always weeps because once upon a time\nI had a beautiful pelican, whose song was so charming, that whosoever\nheard it was at once transformed into a youth seventeen years of age.\nThat bird was stolen from me by two men dressed in black. That is the\nreason why one eye always weeps, and why my soul is vexed within me.\"\nThe little fellow kissed his father's hand and hurried off to his\nbrothers, who received him with a mocking smile, but soon felt ashamed\nof themselves, when the child, with his wounded thigh, brought the reply\nto their question. \"We will try to console our father, and make him\nyoung again,\" said the three brothers all together; \"We will endeavour\nto find that pelican, if it be yet alive, whether it be on land or sea.\"\nHaving thus spoken, they at once got ready for the journey.\n\nThe eldest and the middle sons went to their father's stables, saddled\nthe finest horses, and put a great deal of treasure in their\nsabretaches, and set forth: so that the youngest son was left without a\nhorse, as his elder brothers had taken away the horses that would have\nsuited him.\n\nWhen they came to the end of the village, an old beggar met them, and\nasked them for a coin or a bit of bread: the two elder lads took no\nnotice of him, but galloped on, the beggar shouting mocking words after\nthem. The youngest lad arrived half an hour later, and shared half his\ncake with the beggar. \"As you have helped me, prince,\" said the beggar,\n\"I will help you. I know where you are going, and what you are seeking.\nYou would need the lives of three men if you went on foot, or on the\nback of an ordinary horse, for the church in which your pelican sings\nnow is beyond the Operencian Sea. The saddle-horse which can go there\nmust have been brought up on dragon's milk, to prevent its hoofs being\nworn away on the long journey; but for a good deed you may expect a good\none in return. You have helped me, and I will help you, with my advice\nat least, and that is all a poor beggar can offer. Five miles from this\nbridge where we stand lives an old witch who has two horses. If you\nserve her for a year (her year has three days) she will give you as much\nmoney as you ask for; but if you do not serve your whole year she will\nchop off your head. The man has not yet been found who can serve her a\nwhole year, for her horses are her two daughters, and so soon as the\ngroom falls asleep, they either disappear into the clouds or the sea; or\nslip under ground, and do not reappear until the groom's head is\nimpaled. But I trust that you will be able to take care of them. Take\nthis whistle; it has three holes. If you open the first hole the King of\nthe Gnats will appear at your command; if the second, the King of the\nFishes; if the third, the King of the Mice. Take great care of this\nwhistle, and when you have done your year, don't ask for money, cattle,\nclothes, lands, or suchlike things (the old witch will offer you all\nthese), but ask for the half-rotten foal which lies buried seven fathoms\ndeep in the dung-heap. There is a hen-coop, and on the top of it a\nsaddle and a bridle; put these on the foal just after you have dug it\nout. It will be too weak to walk, therefore you must take it on your\nback, and carry it to the end of the village. There you will find a\nbridge. Place it under the bridge, in the water, for one hour, and then\nwash it. I won't tell you any more.\"\n\nThe same evening, just after the cows had been driven home, the lad was\nto be seen sitting on the threshold of the witch's door. The old witch\nwas at the same hour driving her horses home from the field. Sometimes\nthey jumped about on the ground; sometimes they flew in the air; but the\nold witch was after them everywhere, riding a-straddle on a saddled\nmopstick. \"Good evening, my dear old mother,\" said the lad, in a\nconfidential voice. \"Good fortune has brought you, my dear son,\"\ncommenced the witch, \"it's lucky that you called me your mother, for\nsee! there are ninety-nine human heads impaled, and yours would have\nbeen the hundredth. What's your errand, my dear son?\" \"I'm looking for a\nsituation, my dear old mother!\" \"Good fortune has brought you, my dear\nson; the year lasts three days with me, and during that time you will\nhave to take care of my two horses. Your wages will be whatever you ask,\nand as much as you desire. But if you don't take care of those two\nhorses, you must die!\" \"The Lord will help me.\" \"Come in to supper, for\nyou will have to take the horses out into the Silken Meadow for the\nnight.\" The prince went in, and after supper the witch poured a sleeping\ndraught into the new groom's drinking-cup. Supper over the prince went\ninto the stables and stroked the horses. He then prepared two halters\nfrom a piece of rope that the beggar had given him, threw them over\ntheir heads, and jumped on the back of the finer horse. The horse, which\nhad become quite tame with the unusual halter, walked along peaceably\nwith the prince on its back, to the great surprise of the witch. \"Well,\nthat fellow must know a thing or two!\" sighed the old witch as she\nlooked after him, and slammed the door behind her. As soon as the prince\narrived in the Silken Meadow with the horses a heavy sleep seized him,\nand he slept soundly all night. The sun was high in the heavens when he\nwoke, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and began to call for his horses, which\nwould not come. He was in great despair until, fumbling in his pockets,\nhe found the little whistle, which he immediately blew, leaving the\nfirst hole open. The King of the Gnats appeared! \"We wait your orders,\"\nsaid a huge gnat: \"speak and tell us what you require. If it be anything\nin the air we will find it for you.\" \"I had to take care of two horses,\nand I cannot find them. If I do not take them home, death will be my\ndoom.\" Gnats went flying forth in all directions at their king's\nsinging, and in less than half an hour two griffins alighted in front of\nthe lad. He struck them on the heads with a halter, and they became\nhorses, and the little groom went home in great joy. \"So you have\nbrought them home safely, my son; your breakfast is ready; eat it and\nthen go to sleep. By-and-by your dinner will be ready. You have nothing\nelse to do to-day.\" So saying, the old witch gave her horses a sound\nthrashing with a peel, and then, giving them some burning cinders to\neat, went back to the house, and, sitting in a corner, threaded beads\nuntil noon.\n\nIn the evening the old woman again mixed some sleeping draught into the\nlittle groom's drink, making it stronger than before. He took out his\nhorses, and when he had gone a little way on the road he fell off the\nsaddle, and slept till noon the next day. When he awoke his horses were\ngone, and so he blew his whistle, leaving the second hole open, and the\nKing of the Fishes appeared. \"We wait your orders,\" said a mighty whale;\n\"speak and tell us. If it is to be found in or above the ocean we will\nfind it.\" \"I had to guard two horses, and I can't find them anywhere,\nand if I don't take them back I must die.\" Fishes swam forth in every\nriver and sea at the command of their king, and in an hour they drove a\nbig pike to shore, which had two little gold fish in its inside. The\nwhale ordered a sword-fish to rip open the pike's belly. The little lad\nstruck the gold fishes on the head with his halter, and they became\nhorses once more. Late in the afternoon the little groom arrived in the\ncourtyard with the horses. \"Go inside, my son, and have something to\neat, you have nothing more to do until the evening,\" said the witch, who\nthen thrashed her horses with a huge poker, and, having given them some\nburning cinders to eat, hobbled back into the house and began to count\nher gold coins. The prince had to spend another night with the horses;\nand in the evening the old witch went to the horses, and, having scolded\nthem well, declared that if they would not hide themselves properly this\ntime she would punish them horribly. She gave her little groom drink\nuntil he was half drunk, and also three pillows which were stuffed with\nowl's feathers, which would make him sleep sounder. And he did go to\nsleep until the midday sun awoke him next day in the Silken Meadow. But\nthe little whistle again came to his aid; he opened the lowest hole and\nblew the whistle, and the King of all the Mice appeared. \"We wait your\norders,\" said a rat with a big moustache. \"Whatever is to be found on\nearth or under its crust we will bring to you, if you order us to do\nso.\" \"I had to guard two horses and can't find any trace of them; if I\ndon't take them home I must die.\" The mice came forth from every wall\nand every hole in the ground at the squeak of their king. After an hour\nand a half they drove two rats from a granary to the lad, who struck\nthem on the head with his halter, and changed them back into his horses.\n\nOn his arrival at home the witch said to the prince, \"So you have\nguarded them well, my dear son. Your year of service is over. Ask what\nyou like. Here are three keys, one of which opens a cellar where there\nare vats full of gold and silver, take as much as you like. The second\nkey opens a wardrobe, from which you may choose either royal dresses, or\nif you like magic garments, which will change into anything you like.\nThe third key opens the stables, where you will find horses with golden\nor silver hair; take which you like best, and as many as you like, it is\nall the same to me.\" The prince looked at the treasures, clothes, and\nhorses, but chose none of them, and returned the keys, looking very\ndowncast.\n\n\"My father the king has horses, costly garments, and gold; I have no\nneed for any of these things.\"\n\n\"Ask, then, whatever you like; ask my life, because whosoever has served\na year with me well deserves his wages.\"\n\n\"I don't want your life or your death, my dear old mother; but under\nyour dung-heap there lies buried seven fathoms deep a wretched foal, and\non the top of your hen-coop there's a worn-out old saddle very much\nsoiled. These are the things I want; give them to me.\"\n\n\"You're in league with the devil, my dear son, take care that you don't\nget into hell.\"\n\nThe witch tried to put him off, and made all manner of excuses, but at\nlast she brought a golden spade and traced a triangle on the dung-heap\nwhich pointed to where, without fail, the wretched foal was to be found.\nThe prince dug without ceasing for seven days and seven nights, and on\nthe dawn which followed the eighth night the ground began to move under\nhis spade and the T\u00e1tos foal showed its hoofs. The prince dug it out,\nscraped the dirt from it, and, having fetched the saddle from the\nhen-coop, put it on the foal; and having taken leave of his witch\nmistress he took the foal on his back and carried it as far as the\nbridge. While the foal was soaking in the water the old beggar appeared\non the bridge and received a piece of bread from the prince.\n\n\"Prince, when you sit on your horse's back,\" said the beggar, \"take care\nof yourself. It will carry you through clouds and over waters; it knows\nwell the way to the country where the pelican lives, so let it go\nwherever it pleases. When you arrive at the shore of the Operencian Sea\nleave your horse there, for you will have to walk three hundred miles\nfurther. On your way go into every house and make inquiries. A man who\nknows how to use his tongue can get far, and one question is worth more\nthan a hundred bad guesses. On the shore of the Operencian Sea there are\ntwo trees, one on this side and one on the opposite shore; you cannot\nget over the sea unless you climb the trees when they kiss each other,\nand this only happens twice a year, at the end of the summer and at the\nbeginning of spring. More I will not tell you. Good-bye.\"\n\nTheir conversation had lasted a whole hour, and behold! the wretched\nfoal had become such a beautiful horse with golden hair and three legs,\nthat one could not find another to match it.\n\nThe little prince got into the saddle, which had also become gold, and\nrode leisurely over the bridge. At the other end his steed spoke thus:\n\"I shall now be able to see, my little master, whether we can start at\nonce;\" and thereupon darted into the clouds; from thence to the moon;\nfrom thence to the sun; and from the sun to the \"hen and chickens\" (the\nPleiades); and from thence back to the bridge.\n\n\"I have lived for many a thousand years, but such a rider as you has not\nsat on my back before.\" And again it darted off over seven times seven\ncountries, and in half an hour the prince reached his brothers, who had\nbeen galloping for the last three days and three nights. They rode\ntogether for a little while when the eldest thus spoke: \"My younger\nbrothers, if we all three keep together we shall never be able to find\nthe pelican. The road divides into three branches here. Let each of us\ngo into a different country, and let us mark this finger-post, and in\none year's time meet here again. Should blood ooze out of the post it\nwill be a sign that the brother who is absent is in misery or captivity;\nbut if milk flow out of it, then he is well.\" This proposal was\naccepted. The two eldest took the roads on the right and the youngest\nthe one on the left. But the two eldest were wicked. They did not look\nfor the pelican but got into bad habits and spent their time in making\nlove to young ladies. They did not trouble themselves very much about\ntheir father's rejuvenescence. The youngest prince went on steadily and\ncovered a thousand miles a day; till at last he reached the Operencian\nSea. The two trees which stood on its shores were just then kissing each\nother. The prince slackened the girth of his horse, jumped on the tree,\nran along its upper branches, which touched the tree on the other side\nof the sea, and in an hour gained the opposite shore. He had left his\nhorse in a silken meadow, the grass standing as high as the horse's\nknees. His horse neighed after him and urged him to make haste.\n\nOn the opposite shore of the sea there was a golden forest. He had a\nsmall hand-adze with him and with it he notched the stems of the trees\nso that he might not miss his road upon his return. Beyond the golden\nforest there stood a small cottage where an aged woman a hundred years\nold lived.\n\n\"Good day, my dear old mother.\"\n\n\"Good fortune has brought you, my dear son. What are you doing here,\nwhither not even a bird ever comes? What do you want here, my dear son?\"\n\n\"I am trying to find the pelican, my dear old mother.\"\n\n\"Well, my son, I do not know where it is, but I have heard of it. Go a\nhundred miles beyond yonder silver forest, and ask my grandmother. If\nshe does not know anything about it, nobody does. On your way back with\nyour bird come and see me, my dear son, and I will give you a present.\nLife is worth living.\"\n\nThe old woman sent her cat with the prince, which accompanied him as far\nas the right road, mewed once, and turned back. The wandering prince,\nafter a journey which lasted for weeks, got through the silver forest\nand found a cottage where the old woman lived, who was so much bent from\nage that her nose touched the ground.\n\n\"Good evening, my grandmother.\"\n\n\"Good fortune has brought you, my dear son. What are you doing here,\nwhither not even a bird ever comes? What do you want, my dear son?\"\n\n\"I seek the pelican, my dear mother, whose song makes old people young\nagain. The Jesuits have stolen it from my father.\"\n\n\"Well, my son, I know nothing of it. But fifty miles beyond yonder\ncopper-forest lives my mother, and if she knows nothing about your bird,\nthen nobody does. On your way back with the bird call upon me, my dear\nson, and I will give you a good present for your trouble. Life is still\nvery pleasant, even to me.\"\n\nThe prince again continued his journey in company with a red cock, which\ntook him as far as the right road. There it crowed once, and flew back.\nAfter a journey of days and weeks the prince discovered on the borders\nof the copper-forest a little cottage, in which the old woman sat, whose\neyelids were quite covered with moss. \"Good day, my dear old mother!\"\n\"Good fortune has brought you, my dear son. What do you want?\"\n\n\"I am looking for the pelican.\" \"You are on the right spot, my dear son.\nThough I have never seen it; because when it was brought hither I could\nuse my legs no longer. Step across the threshold, and within a gun-shot\nyou will see an old tumble-down church; the pelican is kept in there.\nBy the side of the church there is a beautiful mansion, in it live the\ntwo old Jesuits who brought the bird from some foreign land; but the\nbird will not sing to them. Go and tell them that you think you will be\nable to make the bird sing, as perhaps it will sing to you as you come\nfrom a foreign land.\"\n\nThe prince, however, didn't dare to go to see the friars, but waited for\nthe evening or the morning bell to be rung, and then stole into the\nchurch. He had to wait for seven days, and still he did not succeed in\nhearing the pelican sing, as on each occasion a deep sleep overcame\nhim. The two friars had become youths of seventeen years of age during\nthe last two days.\n\nNo one knew why the bird did sing on the third day. On this day, the\nprince, as soon as he had stepped into the church, made his nose bleed,\nand this kept him awake, and he heard the bird's song, and saw the\nfriars caper round the cage and throw sugar into it. The prince hid\nhimself under a chair, and when every one had retired to rest after\nevening prayers he let the bird out of its cage, hid it under his cloak,\nand went back to the first old woman and made her young again. The old\nwoman jumped with delight, and gave him as much gold and silver as he\nliked. In a few weeks he got back to the other old women who lived in\nthe gold and silver forests, and they regaled him in a royal manner.\n\nWhen he reached the sea-shore the two trees were kissing again, so he\nran across them with the bird and appeared by the side of his horse,\nwhich had eaten so much of the fine grass that it had become so fat that\nthe girth had quite cut into its belly. He made the horse young too, and\nsat on its back, and in a short time returned to the post where he had\nleft his brothers. Lo! blood was flowing on that side on which his\nbrothers had gone. His sensitive heart was quite overcome with sorrow,\nbecause his brothers were either in danger or misery. So he went on the\nsame road on which the poor fellows had departed. He had not gone more\nthan a couple of miles before he came to an inn. Adjoining the inn was a\ngarden, where his two brothers were working in irons, because they had\nsquandered their all, including their horses, and had got into debt for\ndrink. After scolding the innkeeper the little prince bought his\nbrothers off and repurchased their horses.\n\nThey then started home all together, and he related all his adventures,\nand how he had got possession of the favorite pelican. At last they came\nto the outskirts of a forest about three miles from home, and at this\nplace the two elder brothers attacked him from behind, cut off his hands\nand feet, took his little bird from him, and hurried home in order to\nlengthen their father's life by means of the song of the dear bird that\nhad been brought back from so far off. The poor little prince began to\ncry bitterly with pain and fear. His cries were heard by a swine-herd\nwho was tending his herd in the same forest in which the wicked brothers\nhad maimed the little prince.\n\nThe swine-herd picked up the poor boy without hands and feet and carried\nhim to his hut. \"He will do to take care of the hut,\" said the\nswine-herd, \"poor wretch!\" In the evening, the little crippled boy\nrelated all about his brothers' cruelty, and the poor swine-herd's heart\nwas filled with pity for the boy's misfortune. Next morning just as he\nwas going to look after his hogs the little prince called him back with\nfearful screams, and to his surprise he saw something that looked like a\nhuman skull wriggle out of the ground. He quickly knocked off the top of\nthe skull with his hatchet, and the remainder slipped back into the\nground. From the part cut off, blood flowed on to the ground. Somehow or\nother his maimed finger came in contact with the mud formed out of the\nblood and the dust and to his astonishment it was healed. Great was the\nsimple swine-herd's joy! He rubbed the boy's stumps with the mud, and\nlo! his hands and feet grew again!\n\nAs soon as the news had spread in the royal town that the pelican had\ncome back all the old men gathered together and many brought presents to\nthe princes, and took out their horses and dragged their carriage along\nthe streets. At ten o'clock the next morning the church was crowded, and\nthe pelican was reinstalled in its old place. The organ began to play\nbut the bird would not sing. The king had it proclaimed through the\nlength and breadth of his kingdom that any one who could make the\npelican sing should have half his realm. The swine-herd heard the news\nand told it to his helpmate. \"Take me, my brother, under your cloak,\"\nsaid the little prince, \"as I do not wish my brothers to see me, lest\nthey kill me. Let us then go into the town, and, as you are very old, I\nwill induce the pelican to sing and make you young.\" So they set off\ntogether and the swine-herd sent word into the crowded meeting that he\nhad confidence in the Lord, and thought he would be able to make the\nbird sing. The people crowded round the swine-herd, who had a handsome,\nwell-built boy hidden under his cloak. They conducted him into the\nchurch, where he at once took off his great cloak, and no sooner did the\npelican see its liberator than it at once began to sing most\nbeautifully, and all the old men who were there assembled in great\nnumbers became seventeen years old. The king recognised his son and made\nhim tell all about his journey. When he came to the incident of the\nsavage attack by his brothers the people began to hiss and groan, and\nresolved to draw and quarter the two villains, to tie them to horses'\ntails, drag them over the town, and hang them on the four corners of the\nfortress. The resolution was at once carried into effect. In vain did\nthe kind-hearted lad beg for their lives. They had to die. The old king\ngave half of the realm to the young prince. The swine-herd was dressed\nup in velvet and purple, and they all are alive to this day, if they\nhave not died since.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN HAIR.\n\n\nThere was once, I do not know where, in the world an old man who had\ntwelve sons; the eldest of whom served the king for twenty-four years.\nOne day the old man took it into his head that all his sons should get\nmarried, and they all were willing to comply with their father's wish,\nwith the exception of the eldest son, who could not on any account be\ncoaxed into matrimony. However the old man would not give in, and said,\n\"Do you hear me, my son? the eldest of you must marry at the same time\nas the youngest; I want you all to get married at the same time.\"\n\nSo the old man had a pair of boots made for himself with iron soles and\nwent in search of wives for his twelve sons. He wandered hither and\nthither over several countries until the iron soles of his boots were\nworn into holes; at last, however, he found at a house twelve girls,\nwho, he thought, would do.\n\nThe eleven younger lads made great preparations and went to the fair to\nbuy themselves saddle-horses; but the eldest, who was serving the king,\ndid not concern himself about anything, and turned out the king's horses\nto grass as usual. Among the animals there was a mare with a foal, and\nJack--this was the name of the eldest lad--always bestowed the greatest\ncare upon the mare. One day, as the whole stud were grazing in the\nfields, the mare neighed and said to the lad, \"I say, Jack, I hear that\nyou are thinking of getting married; your eleven brothers have already\ngone to the fair to purchase riding-horses for the wedding; they are\nbuying the finest animals they can get; but don't you go and purchase\nanything: there is a foal of mine that was foaled last year, go and beg\nthe king to let you have it, you will have no cause to repent your\nchoice. The king will try to palm off some other animal on you, but\ndon't you take it. Choose the foal as I tell you.\"\n\nSo it happened Jack went up stairs and saw the king and spoke to him\nthus: \"Most gracious Majesty! I have now served you for twenty-four\nyears and should like to leave this place, because my eleven brothers\nare already on their way to get themselves wives; the tips of my\nmoustache too reach already to my ears, the days fly fast, and it is\nhigh time for me to find a wife too; I should be much obliged if you\nwould pay me my wages.\" \"You are perfectly right, my dear son, Jack,\"\nreplied the king, \"it is high time that you too get married; and, as you\nhave so faithfully served me, I will give orders for your wedding to be\ncelebrated with the greatest pomp. Let me know your wishes! would you\nlike to have so much silver as you can carry, or would you prefer as\nmuch gold?\" \"Most gracious Majesty, I have only one desire, and that is\nto be allowed to take with me from your stud a certain foal that belongs\nto a certain mare that is with foal again this year.\" \"Surely you don't\nwant to make an exhibition of yourself on that wretched creature?\" \"Aye,\nbut I do, your Majesty, and I do not want anything else.\"\n\nOur Jack was still fast asleep when his eleven brothers set out on the\nfinest horses to fetch their girls. Jack did not get up till noon, at\nwhich hour the king ordered out a coach and six, together with a couple\nof outriders, and thus addressed the lad: \"Well, Jack, my boy, I have no\nobjection, you can take your foal, but don't reproach me hereafter.\"\nJack thereupon had plenty to eat and drink, and even took out a\nbucketful of wine to his foal and made it drink the whole. He then took\nhis goods and chattels and sat in the coach, but the king would not\nallow the foal to run along with the coach, and said: \"Not that way, if\nI know it; put the ugly creature up on the box! I should feel ashamed if\nanybody saw the ugly brute running alongside my coach.\" So the foal was\ntied up to the box, and they set off till they reached the outskirts of\nthe town. By this time the foal, which was in a most uncomfortable\nposition, presented a most pitiful sight; for by rubbing against the box\nthe whole of one of its sides had become raw. So they stopped, and it\nwas taken down and placed on the ground. Jack got out, and, the coach\nhaving set out for home, he sat on the foal's back, his feet touching\nthe ground. The foal gazed round to see whether anybody was looking on,\nand, not seeing a soul, it flew up high into the air and thus addressed\nthe lad: \"Well, my dear master, at what speed shall we proceed? Shall we\ngo like the hurricane or like a flash of thought?\" \"As quick as you can,\nmy dear horse,\" was his reply.\n\nThey flew along for a while, when the foal again spoke, asking: \"Is your\nhat tied on, my dear master?\"\n\n\"Yes, it is, my dear horse.\"\n\nAgain they flew along, and again the little foal said: \"Well, my dear\nmaster, your hat that you have bought for your wedding is gone. You have\nlost it. We have left it some seven miles behind, but we will go back to\nfetch it; nobody has as yet picked it up.\" So they returned and picked\nup the hat, and the little foal again flew high up into the air. After\nproceeding for three hours they reached the inn where his brothers had\ndecided to take up their night's lodgings. The other lads had started at\ndawn, he not till noon, after his midday meal, and still he left them\nbehind. Having got within a short distance of the inn, the foal alighted\non the ground with Jack, and addressed him in these words: \"Well, my\ndear master, get off here and turn me out on to that heap of rubbish and\nweeds yonder, then walk into the inn and have plenty to eat and drink;\nyour eleven younger brothers will also arrive here shortly.\" So Jack\nentered the inn, ordered a bottle of wine, made a hearty meal, and\nenjoyed himself heartily. He took out a bucketful of wine to his foal\nand gave it to drink; time passed on ... when, at last his brothers\narrived. They were still at some distance when the youngest caught sight\nof the foal, and exclaimed: \"Oh, look at that miserable screw! Surely it\nis our eldest brother's steed.\" \"So it is! So it is!\" exclaimed all the\nothers, but at the same time they all stared at each other, and could\nnot explain how it came to pass that, although they had started much\nearlier than their brother, they had been outdistanced by him,\nnotwithstanding the fact that his animal could not be compared with\ntheir own horses. The brothers put their steeds into the stables and\nplaced plenty of hay and corn before them, then they walked into the\ntap-room and found Jack already enjoying himself.\n\n\"So you have got here, brother,\" they remarked. \"As you behold,\nyoungsters, though I had not left home when the clock struck twelve.\"\n\"Certainly it is a mystery how you have got here on that thorough-bred\nof yours, a wolf could swallow the creature at a bite.\"\n\nThey sat down and ate and drank; so soon as it became dark, the lads\nwent out to look after the horses.\n\n\"Well then, where will you put your horse over night?\" they inquired of\nthe eldest.\n\n\"I will put it into the same stables with yours.\"\n\n\"You don't mean that, it will barely reach to the bellies of our horses,\nthe stables are too big for that steed of yours.\"\n\nBut Jack took his foal into the stables and threw his cloak over its\nback. In the meantime his brothers had returned to the tap-room and were\nholding council as to what was to be done with their eldest brother.\n\n\"What shall we do with him? what indeed? what can we do under the\ncircumstances but kill him? It will never do to take him with us to the\ngirls, they will laugh at us and drive us off in disgrace.\"\n\nAt this the foal began to speak, and said: \"I say, dear master, tie me\nnear the wall, your brothers will come to kill you, but don't do\nanything in the matter, leave it to me; join them, eat and drink, and\nthen come back and lie down at my feet, I will do the rest.\"\n\nJack did as he was told; upon leaving the tap-room he returned to the\nstables and lay down at the feet of his foal, and as the wine had made\nhim a bit drowsy he soon fell asleep. Ere long his brothers arrived with\ntheir hatchet-sticks which they had purchased for the wedding.\n\n\"Gee-up, you jackass,\" they shouted, and all eleven were about to attack\nthe poor little foal, when it kicked out with such force that it sent\nthe youngest flying against the wall.\n\n\"Get up, dear master, they have come.\" Jack thereupon woke, and his\nlittle foal asked him, \"What shall I do with them?\"\n\n\"Oh! knock them all against the wall.\"\n\nThe foal did as it was told, and the lads dropped about like\ncrab-apples. It collected them all into a heap, when Jack, seeing their\ncondition, became frightened, so he hurriedly picked up a bucket, ran to\nthe well, fetched some water and poured it over the eleven. They\nmanaged, with some difficulty, to get on to their feet and then showered\nreproaches upon him, complaining bitterly about his unbrotherly conduct\nin ordering his foal to handle them so roughly as it had done.\n\nThe eleven then left the inn without a moment's delay, and toiled along\nthe whole night and the next day, until at last, on the following\nevening, they reached the home of the twelve girls. But to get in was\nnot such an easy task, for the place was fenced round with strong iron\nrails, the gate was also very strong and made of iron, and the latch was\nso heavy that it took more than six powerful men to lift it. The eleven\nbrothers made their horses prance about and bade them to kick against\nthe latch, but all their manoeuvres were of no avail--they could not\nmove the latch.\n\nBut what has become of Jack? where did he tarry? His foal knew only too\nwell where the girls could be found, and how they could be got at; so he\ndid not budge from the inn until late in the afternoon, and spent his\ntime eating and drinking. His brothers were still busily engaged with\nthe latch, hammering at it and kicking, when at last, just when the\npeople were lighting the candles at dusk, the brothers discovered Jack\napproaching high up in the air on his foal. As soon as he reached the\ngate he wheeled round, the foal gave a tremendous kick at the latch,\nwhereupon the gate, and with it a portion of the railing, heeled over\ninto the dust. The landlady, a diabolical old witch, then came running\nto the gate with a lamp in her hand, and said: \"I knew Jack that you\nhad arrived, and I have come and opened the gate.\" This statement was of\ncourse not true.\n\nThe lads entered the house, where they found the twelve girls all\nstanding in a row. With regard to the age of the maidens they\ncorresponded to those of the lads; and when it came to choice, the\neldest lad fell in love with the eldest girl, the youngest lad with the\nyoungest maid, and so on, every lad with the girl of his own age. They\nsat down to supper, each girl by the side of her beau; they ate and\ndrank, enjoyed themselves, and the kissing had no end. At last they\nexchanged handkerchiefs. As it was getting late, and the young folks\nbecame sleepy, they all retired to rest. Beds were prepared for all\ntwenty-four in a huge room; on one side stood the beds for the girls, on\nthe other those for the lads. Just then the mischievous old witch, who\nwas the girls' mother, walked out of the house, and muttered to herself:\n\n\"Now I have got you all in my net, you wretched crew, we shall see which\nof you will leave this place alive!\"\n\nIt so happened that Jack went out to look after his foal; he took a\nbucketful of wine with him and gave his animal a drink, whereupon the\nfoal spoke to him thus:\n\n\"I say, dear master! we have come to an awful place; that old witch\nintends to kill you all. At the same time don't be frightened, but do\nwhat I am about to tell you. After everybody has gone to bed, come out\nagain and lead us horses out from these stables, and tie twelve horses\nbelonging to the old witch in our places. With regard to yourselves,\nplace your hats on to the girls' heads, and the old witch will mistake\nthe maids, and slay them in your stead. I will send such a deep slumber\nover them that even a noise seven times as loud as you will make cannot\nwake them.\"\n\nIn conformity with the advice thus received, Jack re-entered the\nbedchamber, placed the twelve men's hats on to the heads of the girls;\nhe then exchanged the horses, and went back to bed. Soon after the old\nwitch commenced to whet a huge knife, which sent forth a shower of vivid\nsparks: she then approached the beds, groped about, and as soon as she\ndiscovered a hat, snap! off went a head, and so she went on until she\nhad cut off all the girls' heads. Then she left the house, fetched a\nbroad axe, sharpened it and went into the stables. Snap! off came the\nhead of the first horse, then the next, till she had killed all twelve.\n\nThe foal then stamped upon the ground, whereupon Jack went out, and was\nthus spoken to by his foal:\n\n\"Now then, dear master! rouse up all your brothers, and tell them to\nsaddle their horses! and let them get away from this place without a\nmoment's delay. Don't let dawn overtake them here, or they are lost. You\nyourself can go back and finish your sleep.\"\n\nJack rushed in and with great difficulty roused them; and then informed\nthem of the dangerous position they were in. After a great deal of\ntrouble, they got up and left the place. Jack himself laid down and had\na sound sleep. As soon as the first streaks of dawn appeared, the foal\nagain stamped; Jack went out, sat upon it, and as they flew through the\ngate the foal gave the railing such a powerful kick that even the house\ntottered and fell. The old witch hereupon jumped up in great hurry, sat\na-straddle an iron pole, and rode in pursuit of Jack.\n\n\"Stop Jack, you deceitful lad!\" she shouted; \"you have killed my twelve\ndaughters, and destroyed my twelve horses. I am not sure whether you\nwill be able to come again hither or not!\"\n\n\"If I do, I shall be here; if not, then I shan't.\"\n\nPoor Jack got weary of his life, not having been able to get himself a\nwife. He did not return to his native town, but went into the wide,\nwide world. As he and his foal were proceeding on their journey, the\nsteed said to him: \"Look, dear master! I have stept on a hair of real\ngold; it is here under my hoof. It would bring ill luck if we picked it\nup, but it would equally be unlucky to leave it; so you had better take\nit with you.\" Jack picked up the golden hair, and re-mounted his foal,\nand continued his journey. After a while the foal again spoke, saying:\n\"My dear master! now I have stept on a half horse-shoe of pure gold, it\nis here under my hoof. It would be unlucky to take it with us, but we\nshould not fare better if we left it; so you had better take it.\" Jack\npicked up the half horse-shoe of pure gold, put it into his bag, and\nthey again flew like lightning. They reached a town just as the evening\nbell rang, and stopped in front of an hostelry; Jack got off, walked in\nand asked the innkeeper:\n\n\"Well, my dear host, what is the news in this town?\"\n\n\"Nothing else, my kinsman, but that the king's coachman, who drove his\nstate-coach, is lying on his death-bed; if you care for the situation,\nyou had better take it.\"\n\nSo Jack at once made up his mind, and went to see the king--who was then\nstill a bachelor--and was at once engaged by him to drive the\nstate-coach. He did not ask for any wages, but only stipulated that his\nfoal should be allowed to feed with the coach-horses from the same\nmanger. To this the king agreed, and Jack at once proceeded to the\nstables. In the evening the other grooms (there were some fifty or sixty\nof them) raised a great cry, and all asked for candles from the woman\nwho served out the stores. But Jack did not want any, so he did not ask\nfor any, and still his horses were in better condition, and were better\ngroomed than the rest. All the other grooms used a whole candle a head\nevery night. This set the storekeeper woman thinking; she could not\nimagine how it could be that, whereas all the other men wanted a whole\ncandle a head every blessed night, the man who drove the state-coach\ndid not want any, and still his horses looked a hundred times better\nthan the others. She told the strange discovery to the king, who\nimmediately sent for all the men with the exception of Jack.\n\n\"Well, my sons, tell me this: How is it that every one of you burns a\nwhole candle every night, whereas my state-coachman has never asked for\nany, and still his horses look seven times better than yours?\"\n\n\"Oh, your majesty, he has no need to ask for any; we could do without\nthem, if we were in his position.\"\n\n\"How is that, explain yourselves.\"\n\n\"Because, sir, he does his work one morning by the light of a golden\nhair, and every other morning by the rays of half a horse-shoe of pure\ngold.\"\n\nThe king dismissed the grooms, and the next day at dawn concealed\nhimself, and watched Jack, and satisfied himself with his own eyes that\nhis men had spoken the truth. So soon as he got back into his rooms, he\nsent for Jack, and addressed him thus:\n\n\"I say, my boy, you were working this morning by the light of a hair of\nreal gold.\"\n\n\"That is not true, your majesty; where on earth could I get a hair of\nreal gold?\"\n\n\"Don't let us waste any words! I saw it with my own eyes this morning.\nIf the girl to whom that golden hair belonged is not here by to-morrow\nmorning you forfeit your life! I'll hang you!\"\n\nPoor Jack returned to the stables and wept like a child. \"What is the\nmatter?\" inquired his foal; \"Why do I see those tears? what makes you\ncry?\"\n\n\"How could I help crying and weeping? the king has just sent for me and\ntold me that if I can't produce the girl to whom the golden hair\nbelonged he will hang me.\"\n\n\"This is indeed a very serious look-out, my dear master, because you\nmust know that the old witch whose twelve girls we have slain has yet\nanother most beautiful daughter; the girl has not yet been allowed to\nsee daylight, she is always kept in a special room which she has never\nyet left, and in which six candles are kept burning day and night--that\nis the girl to whom that golden hair once belonged. But never mind, eat\nand drink to your heart's content, we will go and fetch her. But be\ncautious when you enter the house where the daughter of the old witch is\nguarded, because there are a dozen bells over the door, and they may\nbetray you.\"\n\nJack therefore ate and drank, and took a bucketful of wine to his foal\ntoo, and gave it a drink. Then they started and went and went, until\nafter a while they reached the dwelling of the old witch. Jack\ndismounted, cautiously approached the door, carefully muffled the dozen\nbells, and gently opened the door without making the slightest noise.\nAnd lo! inside he beheld the girl with the golden tresses, such a\nwonderfully pretty creature the like of which he had not set his eyes\nupon before during all his eventful life. He stole up to her bedside on\ntiptoe, grasped the girl round the waist, and in another second was\nagain out of the house, carrying her off with him. He ran as fast as he\ncould and mounted his steed. The foal gave a parting kick to the house\nthat made the roof tumble in, and the next moment was off, high up in\nthe air like a swift bird. But the old witch was not slow either, the\nmoment she was roused she mounted a long fir-pole and tore after Jack\nlike forked lightning.\n\n\"It is you, Jack, you good-for-nothing, deceitful fellow! My twelve\ndaughters have perished by your hand, and now you carry off my\nthirteenth! You may have been here before, but I'll take care that you\ndon't come again.\"\n\n\"If I do, I do; if I don't, I don't.\"\n\nJack went and went, and by dawn had already reached home; he conducted\nthe girl into the king's presence, and lo! no sooner had the monarch\ncaught sight of her than he rushed forward and embraced her, saying:\n\"Oh, my darling, my pretty love, you are mine and I am yours!\" But the\ngirl would not utter a single word, not for the whole world. This made\nthe king question her: \"What is the matter, my love? Why are you so\nsad?\"\n\n\"How can I help being sad? Nobody can have me until some one brings\nhither all my goods and chattels, my spinning-wheel and distaff, nay,\nthe very dust in my room.\"\n\nThe king at once sent for Jack.\n\n\"Well, my boy, if the golden-haired girl's goods and chattels,\nspinning-wheel, distaff, and the very dust in her room, are not here by\nto-morrow morning, I will hang you.\"\n\nJack was very much downcast and began to cry. When he reached the\nstables his foal again asked him: \"What's the matter with you, my dear\nmaster? Why all this sorrow?\"\n\n\"How can I help weeping and crying, my dear horse; the king has sent for\nme and threatened to hang me if the golden-haired girl's goods and\nchattels, nay, the very dust of her room, be not here by to-morrow\nmorning.\"\n\n\"Don't fret, my dear master, we will go and fetch them too. Get a\ntable-cloth somewhere, and when you enter her room spread out the cloth\non the floor and sweep all her paraphernalia into it.\"\n\nJack got ready and started on his errand. Within a short time he reached\nthe dwelling of the old witch, entered the room, and spread out his\ncloth. But, would anybody believe it, the glare of the place very nearly\nblinded him; the very dust on the floor was pure gold. He swept\neverything he could find into the table-cloth, swung the bundle on his\nback, and ran out; having got outside, the foal at his bidding gave the\nbuilding a powerful kick that demolished its very foundations. This woke\nthe old witch, who immediately mounted a red-hot broom and tore after\nhim like a whirlwind.\n\n\"Confound you, deceitful Jack! after you have robbed me of all my\nthirteen daughters, you now come and steal the chattels of the youngest\ngirl. I warrant that you won't return hither any more.\"\n\n\"If I do, I do; if I don't, I don't.\"\n\nJack went home with the luggage and handed it to the king.\n\n\"Well, my darling, my pretty love! your wish is now fulfilled, and\nnothing can prevent you from becoming mine.\"\n\n\"You shall have me, but only on one condition. Somebody must go for my\nstud with golden hair, which is to be found beyond the Red Sea. Until\nall my horses are here nobody can have me.\"\n\nThe king again sent for Jack.\n\n\"Listen to this, my boy; the girl with the golden hair has a\ngolden-haired stud beyond the Red Sea; if you don't go at once to fetch\nthem, you forfeit your life.\"\n\nJack went down stairs in great trouble, bent over his foal, buried his\nface in his hands, and wept most bitterly, and as he sobbed and moaned\nthe little foal asked: \"What are you crying about now?\" Jack told the\nfoal what the king had ordered him to do, and what the punishment would\nbe if the order were not obeyed.\n\n\"Don't weep, dear master, don't fret; the thing can be done if you\nfollow my directions. Go up stairs to the king and beg of him twelve\nbuffalo-hides, twelve balls of twine, a grubbing-hoe, and an ordinary\nhoe, besides a stout awl to sew the buffalo-hides together with.\"\n\nJack went to the king and declared himself willing to carry out his\norder if he would let him have these things, to which the king replied:\n\"Go and take anything that you may require, there must be some sixty\nbuffalo-hides still left hanging in the loft.\"\n\nJack went up to the loft and took what he wanted; then he ate and drank,\ngave his foal a bucketful of wine, and set out in search of the horses\nwith the golden hair.\n\nHe journeyed on till, after a short lapse of time, he reached the Red\nSea, which he crossed on the back of his foal. As soon as they emerged\nfrom the water and gained the opposite shore, the foal said: \"Look, my\ndear master; can you see the pear-tree on that hill yonder? Let's go up\non the hill, take your hoe and dig a hole big enough to hold me; and as\nsoon as you have dug the hole sew the twelve buffalo-hides together and\nwrap them round me, as it would not be advisable for me to get into the\nhole without them. As soon as I have got in, blow this whistle and the\nstallion will appear; and the moment you see it touching the buffalo\nskins, throw a halter over its head.\"\n\nJack tucked up his shirt-sleeves, dug the hole, sewed the twelve\nbuffalo-hides on to the foal, and his steed got into the hole. Then he\nblew the whistle, and lo! a fine stallion, with golden hair, and almost\nentirely covered with golden froth, jumped out of the ground; it pranced\nabout, and kicked out in all directions, whereupon Jack's foal said:\n\"Now then, my dear master, throw that halter over its head and jump on\nits back.\" Jack did as he was told; when, no sooner was he on its back,\nthan the stallion gave a tremendous neigh that rent all the mountains\nasunder. At its call a vast number of golden-haired horses appeared; so\nmany, that Jack was not able to count them. The whole herd immediately\ntook to their heels, and galloped off with the speed of lightning. The\nking had not yet finished dressing in the morning when the whole stud\nwith golden hair stood arrayed in his courtyard. So soon as he caught\nsight of them he rushed off to the girl with the golden hair and\nexclaimed: \"Well, my love, the golden horses are all here, and now you\nare mine.\" \"Oh, no! I shan't be yours. I won't touch either food or\ndrink until the lad who has fetched my animals milks the mares.\"\n\nThe king sent for Jack.\n\n\"I say, my boy, if you do not at once milk the mares, I'll play the\nhangman with you.\"\n\n\"How can I milk them, sir? Even as they are, I find it difficult to save\nmyself from being trampled to death.\"\n\n\"Do not let us waste any words; it must be done!\"\n\nJack returned to the stables, and looked very sad; he would not touch\nany food or drink. His foal again addressed him and asked: \"Why all this\nsorrow, dear master?\"\n\n\"How could I help being sad? The king has ordered me to milk the mares\nno matter what happens, whether I get over it dead or alive.\"\n\n\"Don't fret. Ask him to lend you the tub up in the loft, and milk the\nmares. They won't do you the least harm.\"\n\nAnd so it happened. Jack fetched the tub and milked the mares. They\nstood all the time as quietly as the most patient milch-cows. The king\nthen said to the girl with the golden hair, \"Well, my darling; your wish\nis fulfilled, and you are mine.\"\n\n\"I shan't be yours until the lad who milked the mares has bathed in the\nmilk.\"\n\nThe king sent for Jack.\n\n\"Well, my boy, as you have milked the mares, you had better bathe in the\nmilk.\"\n\n\"Gracious majesty! How could I do that? The milk is boiling hot, and\nthrows up bubbles as high as a man.\"\n\n\"Don't talk; you have to bathe in the milk or you forfeit your life.\"\n\nJack went down and cried, and gave up all hope of life; he was sure of\ndeath on the gallows. His foal again spoke, and said: \"Don't cry, dear\nmaster, but tell me what is the matter with you.\" Jack told him what he\nhad to do under penalty of death.\n\n\"Don't fret, my dear master; but go to the king and ask his permission\nto allow you to lead me to the tub, and be present when you take your\nbath. I will draw out all the heat, and you can bathe in the milk\nwithout any fear.\"\n\nSo Jack went to the king, and said, \"Well, gracious majesty, at least\ngrant me the favour of allowing my foal to be present when I am having\nmy bath, so that it may see me give up the ghost.\"\n\n\"I don't care if there be a hundred foals present.\"\n\nJack returned to the stables, led his foal to the tub, who began to\nsniff. At last it took a deep breath, and beckoned to Jack not to jump\nin yet. Then it continued drawing in its breath, and suddenly at a sign\nJack jumped into the tub, and had his bath. When he finished and got out\nof the tub he was three times more handsome than before; although he was\na very handsome lad then. When the king saw this he said to the lad:\n\"Well, Jack, you see you would not have the bath at first. I'm going to\nhave one myself.\" The king jumped in, but in the meantime the foal had\nsent all the heat into the milk back again, and the tyrant was scalded\nto death. The heat was so intense that nothing was left of his body\nexcept a few bits of bone, as big as my little finger, which were every\nnow and then brought up by the bubbles. Jack lost not a moment, but\nrushed up to the girl with the golden hair, embraced and kissed her, and\nsaid: \"Well, my pretty darling, love of my heart, you are now mine, and\nI am yours; not even the spade and the hoe shall separate us one from\nanother.\" To which she replied: \"Oh, my love, Jackie, for a long time\nthis has been one of my fondest wishes, as I knew that you were a brave\nlad.\"\n\nThe wedding was celebrated with great pomp, that gave people something\nto talk about over seven countries. I, too, was present at the banquet,\nand kept on shouting: \"Chef! Cook! let me have a bone,\" till, at last,\nhe did take up a bone and threw it at me. It hit me, and made my side\nache ever since.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LOVER'S GHOST.\n\n\nSomewhere, I don't know where, even beyond the Operencian Seas, there\nwas once a maid. She had lost her father and mother, but she loved the\nhandsomest lad in the village where she lived. They were as happy\ntogether as a pair of turtle-doves in the wood. They fixed the day of\nthe wedding at a not very distant date, and invited their most intimate\nfriends to it; the girl, her godmother--the lad, a dear old friend of\nhis.\n\nTime went on, and the wedding would have taken place in another week,\nbut in the meantime war broke out in the country. The king called out\nall his fighting-men to march against the enemy. The sabres were\nsharpened, and gallant fellows, on fine, gaily-caparisoned horses,\nswarmed to the banners of the king, like bees. John, our hero, too, took\nleave of his pretty _fianc\u00e9e_; he led out his grey charger, mounted, and\nsaid to his young bride: \"I shall be back in three years, my dove; wait\nuntil then, and don't be afraid; I promise to bring you back my love and\nremain faithful to you, even were I tempted by the beauty of a thousand\nother girls.\" The lass accompanied him as far as the frontier, and\nbefore parting solemnly promised to him, amidst a shower of tears, that\nall the treasures of the whole world should not tempt her to marry\nanother, even if she had to wait ten years for her John.\n\nThe war lasted two years, and then peace was concluded between the\nbelligerents. The girl was highly pleased with the news, because she\nexpected to see her lover return with the others. She grew impatient,\nand would sally forth on the road by which he was expected to return, to\nmeet him. She would go out often ten times a day, but as yet she had no\ntidings of her John. Three years elapsed; four years had gone by, and\nthe bridegroom had not yet returned. The girl could not wait any longer,\nbut went to see her godmother, and asked for her advice, who (I must\ntell you, between ourselves) was a witch. The old hag received her well,\nand gave her the following direction: \"As it will be full moon to-morrow\nnight, go into the cemetery, my dear girl, and ask the gravedigger to\ngive you a human skull. If he should refuse, tell him that it is I who\nsent you. Then bring the skull home to me, and we shall place it in a\nhuge earthenware pot, and boil it with some millet, for, say, two hours.\nYou may be sure it will let you know whether your lover is alive yet or\ndead, and perchance it will entice him here.\" The girl thanked her for\nher good advice, and went to the cemetery next night. She found the\ngravedigger enjoying his pipe in front of the gate.\n\n\"Good evening to you, dear old father.\"\n\n\"Good evening, my lass! What are you doing here at this hour of the\nnight?\"\n\n\"I have come to you to ask you to grant me a favour.\"\n\n\"Let me hear what it is; and, if I can, I will comply with your\nrequest.\"\n\n\"Well, then, give me a human skull!\"\n\n\"With pleasure; but what do you intend to do with it?\"\n\n\"I don't know exactly, myself; my godmother has sent me for it.\"\n\n\"Well and good; here is one, take it.\"\n\nThe girl carefully wrapped up the skull, and ran home with it. Having\narrived at home, she put it in a huge earthenware pot with some millet,\nand at once placed it on the fire. The millet soon began to boil and\nthrow up bubbles as big as two fists. The girl was eagerly watching it\nand wondering what would happen. When, all of a sudden, a huge bubble\nformed on the surface of the boiling mass, and went off with a loud\nreport like a musket. The next moment the girl saw the skull balanced on\nthe rim of the pot. \"He has started,\" it said, in a vicious tone. The\ngirl waited a little longer, when two more loud reports came from the\npot, and the skull said, \"He has got halfway.\" Another few moments\nelapsed, when the pot gave three very loud reports, and the skull was\nheard to say, \"He has arrived outside in the yard.\" The maid thereupon\nrushed out, and found her lover standing close to the threshold. His\ncharger was snow-white, and he himself was clad entirely in white,\nincluding his helmet and boots. As soon as he caught sight of the girl,\nhe asked: \"Will you come to the country where I dwell?\" \"To be sure, my\ndear Jack; to the very end of the world.\" \"Then come up into my saddle.\"\n\nThe girl mounted into the saddle, and they embraced and kissed one\nanother ever so many times.\n\n\"And is the country where you live very far from here?\"\n\n\"Yes, my love, it is very far; but in spite of the distance it will not\ntake us long to get there.\"\n\nThen they started on their journey. When they got outside the village,\nthey saw ten mounted men rush past, all clad in spotless white, like to\nthe finest wheat flour. As soon as they vanished, another ten appeared,\nand could be very well seen in the moonlight, when suddenly John said:\n\n\n    \"How beautifully shines the moon, the moon;\n    \"How beautifully march past the dead.\n    \"Are you afraid, my love, my little Judith?\"\n\n\n\"I am not afraid while I can see you, my dear Jack.\"\n\nAs they proceeded, the girl saw a hundred mounted men; they rode past in\nbeautiful military order, like soldiers. So soon as the hundred vanished\nanother hundred appeared and followed the others. Again her lover said:\n\n\n    \"How beautifully shines the moon, the moon;\n    \"How beautifully march past the dead.\n    \"Are you afraid, my love, my little Judith?\"\n\n\n\"I am not afraid while I can see you, my darling Jack.\"\n\nAnd as they proceeded the mounted men appeared in fast increasing\nnumbers, so that she could not count them; some rode past so close that\nthey nearly brushed against her. Again her lover said:\n\n\n    \"How beautifully shines the moon, the moon;\n    \"How beautifully march past the dead.\n    \"Are you afraid, my love, my little Judith?\"\n\n\n\"I am not afraid while I see you, Jack, my darling.\"\n\n\"You are a brave and good girl, my dove; I see that you would do\nanything for me. As a reward, you shall have everything that your heart\ncan wish when we get to my new country.\"\n\nThey went along till they came to an old burial-ground, which was\ninclosed by a black wall. John stopped here and said to his sweetheart:\n\"This is our country, my little Judith, we shall soon come to our\nhouse.\" The house to which John alluded was an open grave, at the bottom\nof which an empty coffin could be seen with the lid off. \"Go in, my\ndarling,\" said the lad. \"You had better go first, my love Jack,\" replied\nthe girl, \"you know the way.\" Thereupon the lad descended into the grave\nand laid down in the coffin; but the lass, instead of following him, ran\naway as fast as her feet would carry her, and took refuge in a mansion\nthat was situated a couple of miles from the cemetery. When she had\nreached the mansion she shook every door, but none of them would open to\nher entreaties, except one that led to a long corridor, at the end of\nwhich there was a dead body laid out in state in a coffin. The lass\nsecreted herself in a dark corner of the fire-place.\n\nAs soon as John discovered that his bride had run away he jumped out of\nthe grave and pursued the lass, but in spite of all his exertions could\nnot overtake her. When he reached the door at the end of the corridor he\nknocked and exclaimed: \"Dead man, open the door to a fellow dead man.\"\nThe corpse inside began to tremble at the sound of these words. Again\nsaid Jack, \"Dead man, open the door to a fellow dead man.\" Now the\ncorpse sat up in the coffin, and as Jack repeated a third time the words\n\"Dead man, open the door to a fellow dead man,\" the corpse walked to the\ndoor and opened it.\n\n\"Is my bride here?\"\n\n\"Yes, there she is, hiding in the corner of the fire-place.\"\n\n\"Come and let us tear her in pieces.\" And with this intention they both\napproached the girl, but just as they were about to lay hands upon her\nthe cock in the loft began to crow, and announced daybreak, and the two\ndead men disappeared.\n\nThe next moment a most richly attired gentleman entered from one of the\nneighbouring rooms. Judging by his appearance one would have believed it\nwas the king himself, who at once approached the girl and overwhelmed\nher with his embraces and kisses.\n\n\"Thank you so much. The corpse that you saw here laid out in state was\nmy brother. I have already had him buried three hundred and sixty-five\ntimes with the greatest pomp, but he has returned each time. As you have\nrelieved me of him, my sweet, pretty darling, you shall become mine and\nI yours; not even the hoe and the spade shall separate us from one\nanother!\"\n\nThe girl consented to the proposal of the rich gentleman, and they got\nmarried and celebrated their wedding-feast during the same winter.\n\nThis is how far the tale goes. This is the end of it.\n\n\n\n\nSNAKE SKIN.\n\n\nFar, very far, there was once, I do not know where, even beyond the\nfrozen Operencian Sea, a poplar-tree, on the top of which there was a\nvery old, tattered petticoat. In the tucks of this old petticoat I found\nthe following tale. Whosoever listens to it will not see the kingdom of\nheaven.\n\nThere was in the world a poor man and this poor man had twelve sons. The\nman was so poor that sometimes he had not even enough wood to make a\nfire with. So he had frequently to go into the forest and would pick up\nthere what he could find. One day, as he could not come across anything\nelse, he was just getting ready to cut up a huge tree-stump, and, in\nfact, had already driven his axe into it, when an immense,\ndread-inspiring serpent, as big as a grown-up lad, crept out of the\nstump. The poor man began to ponder whether to leave it or to take it\nhome with him; it might bring him luck or turn out a disastrous venture.\nAt last he made up his mind that after all was said and done he would\ntake it home with him. And so it happened, he picked up the creature and\ncarried it home. His wife was not a little astonished at seeing him\narrive with his burden, and said, \"What on earth induced you, master, to\nbring that ugly creature home? It will frighten all the children to\ndeath.\"\n\n\"No fear, wife,\" replied the man; \"they won't be afraid of it; on the\ncontrary, they will be glad to have it to play with.\"\n\nAs it was just meal-time, the poor woman dished out the food and placed\nit on the table. The twelve children were soon seated and busily engaged\nwith their spoons, when suddenly the serpent began to talk from\nunderneath the table, and said, \"Mother, dear, let me have some of that\nsoup.\"\n\nThey were all not a little astonished at hearing a serpent talk; and the\nwoman ladled out a plateful of soup and placed it under the bench. The\nsnake crept to the plate and in another minute had drunk up the soup,\nand said: \"I say, father, will you go into the larder and fetch me a\nloaf of bread?\"\n\n\"Alas! my son,\" replied the poor man, \"it is long--very long--since\nthere was any bread in the larder. I was wealthy then; but now the very\nwalls of the larder are coming down.\"\n\n\"Just try, father, and fetch me a loaf from there.\"\n\n\"What's the good of my going, when there is nothing to be found there?\"\n\n\"Just go and see.\"\n\nAfter a good deal of pressing the poor man went to the larder when--oh,\njoy!--he was nearly blinded by the sight of the mass of gold, silver,\nand other treasure; it glittered on all sides. Moreover, bacon and hams\nwere hanging from the roof, casks filled with honey, milk, &c., standing\non the floor; the bins were full of flour; in a word, there were to be\nseen all imaginable things to bake and roast. The poor man rushed back\nand fetched the family to see the miracle, and they were all astounded,\nbut did not dare to touch anything.\n\nThen the serpent again spoke and said \"Listen to me, mother dear. Go up\nto the king and ask him to give me his daughter in marriage.\"\n\n\"Oh, my dear son, how can you ask me to do that? You must know that the\nking is a great man, and he would not even listen to a pauper like\nmyself.\"\n\n\"Just go and try.\"\n\nSo the poor woman went to the king's palace, knocked at the door, and,\nentering, greeted the king, and said: \"May the Lord grant you a happy\ngood day, gracious king!\"\n\n\"May the Lord grant the same to you, my good woman. What have you\nbrought? What can I do for you?\"\n\n\"Hum! most gracious king, I hardly dare to speak ... but still I will\ntell you.... My son has sent me to request your majesty to give him your\nyoungest daughter in marriage.\"\n\n\"I will grant him the request, good woman, on one condition. If your son\nwill fill with gold a sack of the size of a full-grown man, and send it\nhere, he can have the princess at any minute.\"\n\nThe poor woman was greatly pleased at hearing this; returned home and\ndelivered the message.\n\n\"That can easily be done, dear mother. Let's have a wagon, and the king\nshall have the gold to a grain.\"\n\nAnd so it happened. They borrowed a wagon of the king, the serpent\nfilled a sack of the required size full of gold, and put a heap of gold\nand diamonds loose in the wagon besides. The king was not a little\nastonished, and exclaimed, \"Well! upon my word, although I am a king I\ndo not possess so much gold as this lad.\" And the princess was\naccordingly given away.\n\nIt happened that the two elder princesses were also to be married\nshortly, and orders were issued by the king that the wedding of his\nyoungest daughter should take place at the same time. The state carriage\nwas therefore wheeled out of the shed, six fine horses were put to it,\nthe youngest princess sat in it and drove straight to the poor man's\ncottage to fetch her bridegroom. But the poor girl very nearly jumped\nout of the coach when she saw the snake approaching. But the snake tried\nto allay her fears and said, \"Don't shrink from me, I am your\nbridegroom,\" and with this crept into the carriage. The bride--poor\nthing, what could she do?--put her arm round the snake and covered him\nwith her shawl, as she did not wish to let the whole town know her\nmisfortune. Then they drove to church. The priest threw up his arms in\namazement when he saw the bridegroom approach the altar. From church\nthey drove to the castle. There kings, princes, dukes, barons, and\ndeputy-lieutenants of the counties were assembled at the festival and\nenjoying themselves; they were all dancing their legs off in true Magyar\nstyle, and very nearly kicked out the sides of the dancing-room, when\nsuddenly the youngest princess entered, followed by her bridegroom, who\ncrept everywhere after her. The king upon seeing this grew very angry,\nand exclaimed, \"Get out of my sight! A girl who will marry such a\nhusband does not deserve to stay under the same roof with me, and I will\ntake care that you two do not remain here. Body-guards, conduct this\nwoman with her snake-husband down into the poultry-yard, and lock them\nup in the darkest poultry-house among the geese. Let them stay there,\nand don't allow them to come here to shock my guests with their\npresence.\"\n\nAnd so it happened. The poor couple were locked up with the geese; there\nthey were left crying and weeping, and lived in great sorrow until the\nday when the curse expired, and the snake--who was a bewitched\nprince--became a very handsome young man, whose very hair was of pure\ngold. And, as you may imagine, great was the bride's joy when she saw\nthe change.\n\n\"I say, love,\" spoke her prince, \"I will go home to my father's and\nfetch some clothes and other things; in the meantime, stay here; don't\nbe afraid. I shall be back ere long without fail.\"\n\nThen the prince shook himself and became a white pigeon, and flew away.\nHaving arrived at his father's place he said to his parent, \"My dear\nfather, let me have back my former horse, my saddle, sword, gun, and all\nmy other goods and chattels. The power of the curse has now passed away,\nand I have taken a wife to myself.\"\n\n\"The horse is in the stables, my son, and all your other things are up\nin the loft.\"\n\nThe prince led out his horse, fetched down his things from the loft, put\non his rich uniform all glittering with gold, mounted his charger, and\nflew up into the air. He was yet at a good distance from the castle\nwhere the festivities were still going on, when all the loveliest\nprincesses turned out and crowded the balconies to see who the great\nswell was whom they saw coming. He did not pass under the crossbeam of\nthe gate, but flew over it like a bird. He tied his charger to a tree in\nthe yard, and then entered the castle and walked among the dancers. The\ndance was immediately stopped, everybody gazed upon him and admired him,\nand tried to get into his favour. For amusement several of the guests\ndid various tricks; at last his turn came, and by Jove! he did show them\nthings that made the guests open their mouths and eyes in astonishment.\nHe could transform himself into a wild duck, a pigeon, a quail, and so\non, into anything one could conceive of.\n\nAfter the conjuring was over he went into the poultry-yard to fetch his\nbride. He made her a hundred times prettier than she already was, and\ndressed her up in rich garments of pure silver and gold. The assembled\nguests were very sorry that the handsome youth in rich attire, who had\nshown them such amusing and clever tricks, had so soon left them.\n\nAll at once the king remembered the newly-married couple and thought he\nwould go to see what the young folks were doing in the poultry-yard. He\nsent down a few of his friends, who were nearly overpowered by the shine\nand glitter on looking into the poultry-house. They at once unlocked the\ndoor, and led the bride and bridegroom into their royal father's\npresence. When they entered the castle, every one was struck with wonder\nat discovering that the bridegroom was no one else than the youth who\nhad amused them shortly before.\n\nThen the bridegroom walked up to the king and said: \"Gracious majesty,\nmy father and king, for the past twelve years I lay under a curse and\nwas compelled to wear a serpent's skin. When I entered, not long ago,\nyour castle in my former plight, I was the laughing-stock of everybody,\nall present mocked me. But now, as my time of curse has passed, let me\nsee the man who can put himself against me.\"\n\n\"There is, indeed, nobody, no man living,\" replied the king.\n\nThe bridegroom then led off his bride to the dance, and celebrated such\na fine wedding, that it was talked of over seven countries.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRIES' WELL.\n\n\nTale, tale, mate; a black little bird flew on the tree; it broke one of\nits legs; a new cloak, a shabby old cloak; it put it on.\n\nWell, to commence! there was in the world a king, who was called the\n\"Green King,\" and who had three daughters. He did not like them at all;\nhe would have very much preferred if they had been boys. He continually\nscolded and abused them, and one day, in a fit of passion, the words\nslipped from his lips: \"What _is_ the good of all these wenches? I wish\nthe devil would come and fetch them all three!\" The devil wasn't slow;\nhe took the king at his word and ran away with all three girls at once.\nThe king's fondest wish was hereafter fulfilled; his wife bore him three\nsons, and he was very fond of them.\n\nBut the king grew old; his hair turned quite grey. So his sons set out\nfor the fairies' well to fetch their father some youth-giving water.\nThey wandered along till they came to a small road-side inn, where they\nhad something to eat and drink, and gave their horses hay and corn. They\ntippled for some time, until the two elder princes got jolly, and\ncommenced to dance in true style. The youngest one every now and then\nreminded them that it was time to continue the journey, but they would\nnot listen to him. \"Don't talk so much,\" they said, \"if you are so very\nanxious to be off you had better leave us and go alone.\"\n\nSo the youngest saddled his horse and left his two brothers. He\ntravelled along until all of a sudden he discovered that he had lost his\nway and found himself in a vast forest. In wandering hither and thither,\nhe came to a small hut in which an old hermit dwelt. He at once went to\nit, knocked and entered, and greeted the old man, saying, \"May the Lord\ngrant you a happy good day, my father.\"\n\n\"The Lord bless you, my son! where are you going?\"\n\n\"Well, old father, I intend to go to the fairies' well for some\nyouth-giving water, if I can the way thither.\"\n\n\"May the Lord help you, my son! I don't believe that you will be able to\nget there unaided, because it is a difficult journey. But I will tell\nyou something. I have a piebald horse, that will carry you without\nmishap to the fairies' well. I will let you have it if you promise to\nbring me back some youth-giving water.\"\n\n\"I will bring you some with pleasure, old father. You are quite welcome\nto it.\"\n\n\"Very well, my son! Get on the piebald, and be off in the name of\nHeaven!\"\n\nThe piebald horse was led out and saddled, the prince mounted, and in\nanother second they were high up in the air, like birds, because the\npiebald was a magic horse that at all times grazed on the silken meadow,\nthe meadow of the fairies. On they travelled, till all at once the\npiebald said:\n\n\"I say, dear master, I suppose you know that once you had three sisters,\nand that all three were carried off by the devil. We will go and pay a\nvisit to the eldest. It is true, your brother-in-law is at this moment\nout rabbiting, but he will be back soon if I go to fetch him. He will\nask you to bring him, also, some youth-giving water. I'll tell you what\nto do. He has a plaid which has the power of making the wearer\ninvisible. If you put it on, nobody on this earth can see you. If he\nwill give you that plaid you can promise him as much water as he likes;\na whole tub full, if he wants it.\"\n\nWhen they reached the house, the prince walked in; and the piebald horse\nimmediately hurried off to the fields, and began to drive the devil so\nthat his eyes sparkled. As the devil ran homewards, he passed a pair of\ngallows with a man hanging upon them; he lifted off the corpse, and ran\naway with it. Having arrived at home, he called from the yard through\nthe window: \"Take this, wife! half of him roasted, the other half\nboiled, for my meal. Be sure to have him ready by the time I get\ninside.\" Thereupon he pitched the dead man through the window; the meal\nwas ready in a minute and the devil walked in, sat down and ate him.\nHaving finished, he happened to look towards the oven and caught sight\nof the prince.\n\n\"Halloo! is it you, brother-in-law? Why did you not speak? What a pity\nthat I did not notice you sooner? You are just too late; you could have\nhad a bit or two of my bonne-bouche.\"\n\n\"Thank you, brother-in-law. I don't care for your dainties.\"\n\n\"Well, then get him some wine, wife! perhaps he will have some of that?\"\n\nThe wife brought in the wine and placed it on the table, and the two set\nto drinking.\n\n\"May I ask, what are you looking for in this strange part of the world?\"\ninquired the devil.\n\n\"I am going to the fairies' well for some youth-giving water.\"\n\n\"Look here, my good man, I am a bit of a smart fellow myself, something\nbetter than you, and still I could not accomplish that journey. I can\nget to within about fourteen miles of the place, but even there the heat\nis so great that it shrivels me up like bacon-rind.\"\n\n\"Well, I will go all the same, if Heaven will help me!\"\n\n\"And I will give you as much gold and silver as you can carry, if you\nwill bring me back a gourdful of that water.\"\n\n\"I'll bring you back some, but for nothing less than for the plaid\nhanging on that peg. If you will give that to me you shall have the\nwater.\"\n\nAt first the devil would not part with the plaid on any account; but the\nprince begged so hard that the devil at last yielded.\n\n\"Well, brother-in-law! This is such a plaid, that if you put it on\nnobody can see you.\"\n\nThe prince was just going when the devil asked him, \"Have you any money\nfor the journey, brother?\"\n\n\"I had a little, but I have spent it all.\"\n\n\"Then you had better have some more.\" Whereupon he emptied a whole\ndishful of copper coins into the prince's bag. The prince went out into\nthe yard and shook the bridle; the piebald horse at once appeared, and\nthe prince mounted. The devil no sooner caught sight of the piebald than\nhe exclaimed, addressing the prince, \"Oh, you rascally fellow! Then you\ntravel on that villainous creature--the persecutor and murderer of our\nkinsfolk? Give me back at once my plaid and my gourd, I don't want any\nof your youth-giving water!\"\n\nBut the prince was not such a fool as to give him back the plaid. In a\nminute the piebald was high up in the air and flew off like a bird. They\ntravelled along until the horse again spoke and said, \"Well then, dear\nmaster, we will now go and look up your second sister. True, your\nbrother-in-law is out rabbiting, but he will soon be back if I go for\nhim. He, too, will offer you all sorts of things in return for getting\nhim some youth-giving water. Don't ask for anything else but for a ring\non the window sill, which has this virtue, that it will squeeze your\nfinger and wake you in case of need.\"\n\nThe prince went into the house and the piebald fetched the devil.\nEverything happened as at the previous house. The devil had his meal,\nrecognised his brother-in-law, sent for wine, and asked the prince:\n\n\"Well, what are you doing in this neighbourhood?\"\n\n\"I am going to the fairies' well for some youth-giving water.\"\n\n\"You don't mean that! You have undertaken a very difficult task. I am as\ngood a man as a hundred of your stamp put together, and still I can't go\nthere. The heat there is so great that it would shrivel me up like\nbacon-rind at a distance of fourteen miles. They boil lead there as we\nboil water here.\"\n\n\"Still I intend to go, by the help of Heaven.\"\n\n\"Very well, brother-in-law. I will give you so much treasure that you\ncan fill several wagons with it, if you will bring me a gourd full of\nthat youth-giving water.\"\n\n\"I don't want anything, brother-in-law, but that ring in the window\nyonder.\"\n\n\"Of what use would it be to you?\"\n\n\"Oh! I don't know; let me have it.\"\n\nSo after a good deal of pressing the devil gave him the ring and said:\n\n\"Well, brother-in-law, this is such a ring that it will squeeze your\nfinger and wake you, no matter how sound you may be asleep.\"\n\nBy this time the prince had already reached the courtyard, and was ready\nto start, when the devil stopped him and said:\n\n\"Stop a bit, brother-in-law, have you any money for the journey?\"\n\n\"I had a little, but it is all gone,\" replied the prince.\n\n\"Then you had better have some.\" Whereupon the devil emptied a dishful\nof silver money into the prince's bag. The prince then shook the bridle\nand the piebald horse at once appeared, which nearly frightened the\ndevil into a fit.\n\n\"Oh, you rascally fellow!\" he exclaimed. \"Then you are in league with\nthe persecutor of our kinsfolk? Stop! Give me back that ring and gourd\nat once. I don't want any of your youth-giving water!\"\n\nBut the Green Prince took no notice of the devil's shouting and flew\naway on his piebald like a bird. They had been travelling for some\ndistance when the horse said: \"We shall now go to see your youngest\nsister. Her husband, too, is out at present rabbiting, but I shall fetch\nhim in, in no time. He, also, will beseech you to get him some\nyouth-giving water, but don't you yield, no matter how much wealth he\npromises you, until he gives you his sword that hangs on the wall. It is\nsuch a weapon that at your command it will slay the populations of seven\ncountries.\"\n\nIn the meantime they reached the house. The Green Prince walked in and\nthe piebald went to look for the third devil. Everything happened as on\nthe two previous occasions, and the devil asked his wife to send him in\nthree casks of wine, and they commenced drinking. All of a sudden the\ndevil asked, \"Where are you going?\"\n\n\"I am going to the fairies' well for some youth-giving water. My father\nhas grown very old and requires some of the water to give him back his\nyouth.\"\n\nThe devil replied that it was impossible to get there on account of the\ngreat heat. To which the prince said, that he was determined to go, no\nmatter what might happen.\n\n\"Very well,\" continued the devil. \"I will give you as much gold and\nsilver as your heart can wish or your mouth name if you will bring me\nback a gourd full of the water.\"\n\n\"The gold is of no use to me; I have plenty of it at home; as much as I\nneed. But if you will give me that sword on the wall, I will bring you\nsome water from the fairies' well, with pleasure.\"\n\n\"Of what use would that sword be to you? You can't do anything with it.\"\n\n\"No matter. Let me have it.\"\n\nThe devil, at first, would not part with the sword; but, at last, he\ngave in. The Green Prince went into the yard, and was about to start,\nwhen the devil asked:\n\n\"Brother-in-law, have you any money left for the journey?\"\n\n\"I had some; but it's nearly gone.\"\n\n\"Then you had better have some.\" And with this the devil put a plateful\nof gold coins into the prince's bag. The latter shook the bridle and his\npiebald appeared. The devil was very much alarmed at the sight, and\nexclaimed: \"You rascal, then you associate with our arch-persecutor. Let\nme have back my sword and the gourd, I don't want any of your water.\"\nBut the prince did not listen to him; in fact he had no time to heed the\ndevil's words even if he had any intention of doing so, as he was\nalready high up in the air, and the piebald now questioned him: \"How\nshall we go, dear master? shall we fly as fast as the whirlwind, or like\na flash of thought?\" \"Just as you please, my dear horse.\"\n\nAnd the piebald flew away, with the prince on its back, in the direction\nof the fairies' well. Soon they reached their goal, and alighted on the\nground, whereupon the horse said: \"Well, my dear master, we have reached\nour destination. Put on the plaid that the first devil gave you and walk\ninto the fairy queen's palace. The queen has just sat down to supper.\nEat, drink, and enjoy yourself. Don't be afraid, nobody will know that\nyou are there. In the meantime I will go into the silken meadow and\ngraze with the horses of the fairy over night. I shall return in the\nmorning and we will then fill our gourd.\"\n\nAnd so it happened. The Green Prince put on the plaid and walked into\nthe fairy queen's dining-room, sat down and supped, and for every glass\nof wine consumed by the fairy he drank two. The supper over they enjoyed\nthemselves. Suddenly the fairy queen felt a sensation as if she were\ntouched by a man, although she could not see anybody. She thereupon\nexclaimed to her fairies: \"Fairies, fairies, keep the bellows going\nunder the boiling lead. Some calamity will befall us to-night.\"\n\nIn the morning the piebald appeared before the castle; the Green Prince\nwas still fast asleep, but luckily the ring squeezed his finger and he\nawoke and so was saved. He lost no time in going down to his horse.\n\n\"I am glad to tell you, my dear master, that all is well. They have not\nyet been able to see you. Let us go and get the water at once. This is\nhow you must proceed. Stick the gourd on the point of your sword and\nthen dip it under. But, be careful; the gourd must touch the water\nbefore my feet get wet, or else we must pay with our lives for our\naudacity.\"\n\nThe Green Prince did as he was told. He stuck the gourd on the point of\nthe sword and dipped it into the well, before the piebald's hoofs\ntouched the surface of the water.\n\n\"Well, my dear master, this has gone off without mishap. Let us at once\ngo and liberate your sisters.\" First they visited the youngest. The\nGreen Prince put on the plaid, and brought her away unnoticed. Then he\nrescued the second princess; and at last the eldest, by the aid of his\nplaid. And their diabolic husbands never noticed that they had been\nstolen. Having thus liberated his three sisters, he returned without\ndelay to the hermit's hut.\n\n\"Well done, my son! Have you brought back any youth-giving water?\"\nexclaimed the hermit, as he saw the prince approaching in the distance.\n\n\"To be sure, old father; I have brought plenty.\"\n\nWith these words the Green Prince approached the hermit, and allowed\njust one drop of the magic water drop on to the old man's hand; and oh,\nwonder! immediately a change came over him, and the old man instantly\nbecame young, and looked like a lad of sixteen.\n\n\"Well, my son; you have not made your journey in vain. You have secured\nthe prize that you have striven for; and I shall always be deeply\ngrateful to you until the end of my days. I won't take back the piebald\nfrom you, as I have another one exactly like it hidden away somewhere.\nTrue, it is only a little foal; but it will grow, and will then be good\nenough for me.\"\n\nThen they parted, and the prince bent his way homewards. Having arrived\nat home he allowed a drop of the magic water drop on to his father's\nhand, and the old king immediately became a youth of sixteen. And he not\nonly got younger, but also grew handsomer; and a hundred times better\nlooking than he ever was before.\n\nBut the Green Prince had been away for such a length of time on his\njourney to the fairies' well that not even his father could remember\nhim. The king had completely forgotten that the prince was ever born.\nWhat was he to do? Nobody knew him at his father's palace, or would\nrecognise him as his father's son; so he conceived the strange idea of\naccepting a situation as swineherd in his father's service. He found\nstables for the piebald in a cellar at the end of the town.\n\nWhile he tended his father's pigs, and went through his duties as\nswineherd, the fairies travelled all over the world and searched every\nnook and corner for the father of the child of their queen. Among other\nplaces they also came to the town of the Green King, and declared that\nit was their intention to examine every prince, as the person for whom\nthey searched could only be a prince. The Green King then suddenly\nremembered that he had once another son but did not know his\nwhereabouts. Something or other, however, recalled to his mind the\nswineherd, so he at once took pen and paper and wrote a note to the\nswineherd. The purport of the writing was that the king was the real\nfather of the swineherd, and that the prince should come home with the\nleast possible delay. The Green King sealed the letter and handed it to\na gipsy with strict instructions to at once deliver it to the swineherd.\nThe gipsy went, and the swineherd read the note and handed it back to\nthe messenger, saying:\n\n\"My good man, take the note back. They have sent you on a fool's errand.\nI am not the son of the Green King.\"\n\nThe gipsy took the letter back in great anger. The swineherd, again, ran\nas fast as his legs would carry him to the stables in the cellar at the\noutskirts of the town, saddled his piebald, and rode _ventre \u00e0 terre_ to\nthe centre of the town, and pulled up in front of the king's palace.\nThere was such a sight to be seen. A great number of wonderfully pretty\nfairies had congregated, and were fanning the fire under a huge cauldron\nof boiling lead, which emitted such a heat that nobody could approach.\nThe eldest prince came out and was about to try his fortune; he was\ngorgeously dressed, his garments glittering like a mass of gold. As he\napproached the cauldron full of boiling lead, a pretty fairy called out\nto him:\n\n\"Son of the Green King! are you the father of the child of the queen of\nfairies?\"\n\n\"I am.\"\n\n\"Then jump into this seething mass of boiling lead.\"\n\nHe jumped in and was burnt, shrivelling up to the size of a crab-apple.\n\n\"You won't do,\" said the fairy.\n\nThen the second prince stepped forth; his dress, too, was one mass of\nsparkling gold. As he approached the cauldron a fairy exclaimed:\n\n\"Son of the Green King! are you the father of the child of the queen of\nfairies?\"\n\n\"I am.\"\n\n\"Then jump into this seething mass of boiling lead.\"\n\nHe jumped in and fared no better than his elder brother.\n\nNow the swineherd rode forth on his piebald horse. His clothes were one\nmass of dirt and grease. To him, too, the fairy called out:\n\n\"Are you the father of the child of the queen of fairies?\"\n\n\"I am.\"\n\n\"Then jump into this seething mass of boiling lead like the rest.\"\n\nAnd, behold! he spurred the piebald horse, pulled tight the bridle, and\nagain slackened it. The piebald shot up into the air like an arrow; and,\nhaving reached a good height, it came down with the swineherd on its\nback in one bold swoop, and jumped into the cauldron full of boiling\nlead without a single hair of him getting hurt. Seeing this, the fairies\nat once lifted him out, tore his dirty clothes from him, and dressed him\nup in garments becoming a king.\n\nHe married the queen of fairies and a sumptuous wedding-feast was\ncelebrated.\n\nThis is the end of my tale.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CROW'S NEST.\n\n\nThere was once in the world a poor man who had a wife and two children,\nthe elder a girl, the younger a boy. The poor man went out one day\nploughing with two wretched little oxen, his only property; his wife\nremained at home to do the cooking. The girl, being the older of the two\nchildren, was often sent out on short errands; upon the present\noccasion, too, she was away from the house, her mother having sent her\nout to borrow a peel, the dough for the bread being very nearly spoilt\nfor having been kept too long in the trough.\n\nAvailing herself of the girl's absence, the mother killed the poor\nlittle boy and hid him in a pot of stewed cabbage. By the time that the\ngirl returned her dear little brother was half stewed. When the mess was\nquite done, the woman poured it into a smaller pot, placed the small pot\ninto a sling, and sent the food by her daughter to her husband who was\nin the field. The man liked the dish very much, and asked the girl:\n\n\"What kind of meat is this? It is very nice.\"\n\n\"I believe, dear father, mother had to kill a small lamb last night, and\nno doubt she cooked it for you,\" replied the girl.\n\nBut somehow or other the girl learned the true state of things, and the\nnews nearly broke her heart. She immediately went back to the field,\ngathered up the bones of her little brother, carefully wrapped them into\na beautiful piece of new white linen and took them into the nearest\nforest, where she hid them in a hollow tree. Nobody can foretell what\nwill happen, and so it came to pass that the bones did not remain very\nlong in the hollow of the tree. Next spring a crow came and hatched\nthem, and they became exactly such a boy as they were before. The boy\nwould sometimes perch on the edge of the hollow, and sing to a beautiful\ntune the following words:--\n\n\n    \"My mother killed me,\n    \"My father ate me,\n    \"My sister gathered up my bones,\n    \"She wrapped them in clean white linen,\n    \"She placed them in a hollow tree,\n    \"And now, behold, I'm a young crow.\"\n\n\nUpon one occasion, just as he was singing this song, a man with a cloak\nstrolled by.\n\n\"Go on, my son,\" he said, \"repeat that pretty song for me! I live in a\nbig village, and have travelled a good deal in my lifetime, but I have\nnever heard such a pretty song.\"\n\nSo the boy again commenced to sing:--\n\n\n    \"My mother killed me,\n    \"My father ate me,\n    \"My sister gathered up my bones,\n    \"She wrapped them in clean white linen,\n    \"She placed them in a hollow tree,\n    \"And now, behold, I'm a young crow.\"\n\n\nThe man with the cloak liked the song very much, and made the boy a\npresent of his cloak; Then a man with a crutch-stick hobbled by. \"Well,\nmy boy,\" he said, \"sing me that song again. I live in a big village,\nhave travelled far, but have never heard such a pretty tune.\" And the\nboy again commenced to sing:--\n\n\n    \"My mother killed me,\n    \"My father ate me,\n    \"My sister gathered up my bones,\n    \"She wrapped them in clean white linen,\n    \"She placed them in a hollow tree,\n    \"And now behold I'm a young crow.\"\n\n\nThe man with the crutch-stick, too, liked the song immensely, and gave\nthe boy his crutch-stick. The next one to pass was a miller. He also\nasked the boy to repeat the pretty tune, and as the boy complied with\nhis request the miller presented him with a millstone.\n\nThen a sudden thought flashed across the boy's head and he flew to his\nfather's house, settled on the roof, and commenced to sing:--\n\n\n    \"My mother killed me,\n    \"My father ate me,\n    \"My sister gathered up my bones,\n    \"She wrapped them in clean white linen,\n    \"She placed them in a hollow tree,\n    \"And now behold I'm a young crow.\"\n\n\nThe woman was terrified, and said to her daughter, \"Go and drive away\nthat bird, I don't like its croaking.\" The girl went out and tried to\ndrive away the bird, but instead of flying away the young crow continued\nto sing the same song, and threw down the cloak to his sister. The girl\nwas much pleased with the present, ran into the house and exclaimed:\n\"Look here what a nice present that ugly bird has given to me!\"\n\n\"Very nice indeed; very nice indeed. I will go out too,\" said her\nfather. So he went out, and the bird threw down to him the crutch-stick.\nThe old man was highly delighted with the gift; he was getting very\nweak, and the crutch-stick came in useful to him as a support.\n\n\"Look here what a strong crutch-stick he has given to me! It will be a\ngreat help to me in my old age.\"\n\nThen his mother jumped up from behind the oven and said, \"I must go out\ntoo; if presents won't shower at least a few might drivel to me.\"\n\nSo she went out and looked up to the roof, and the boy gave her a\npresent for which she had not bargained. He threw the millstone at her,\nwhich killed her on the spot.\n\nThus far goes our tale. Here it ends.\n\n\n\n\nWOMAN'S CURIOSITY.\n\n\nA shepherd saved the life of the daughter of the king of snakes, the\nprincess narrowly escaping being burnt to death. To show him her\ngratitude she taught him the language of animals, and he was able to\nunderstand them. One day his donkey said something that made him smile;\nwhereupon his wife commenced to tease him, and wanted to know the joke,\nbut the shepherd was unable to gratify her wish, as his betraying the\nsecret would have immediately been followed by the penalty of sudden\ndeath. However the wife would not give in and leave him in peace, but\ncontinued to torment her husband with so many questions that he at last\ndetermined to die rather than to bear his wife's ill-temper any longer.\nWith this view he had his coffin made and brought to his house; he laid\ndown in the coffin quite prepared for death and ready to divulge the\nsecret. His faithful dog sat mournfully by his side watching, while the\ncock belonging to the house merrily hopped about in the room. The dog\nremonstrated with the cock and said that this was not the time for\nmerriment, seeing how near their master was to death. But the cock\nreplied quite curtly, \"It's master's own fault! why is he such a great\nfool and coward? Look at me! I have fifty wives, and they all do as I\ntell them to do! If I can get on with so many, surely he ought to be\nable to manage one!\" Hearing this the shepherd jumped out of the coffin,\nseized a wet rope-end and gave the woman a sound thrashing.\n\nPeace was restored, and they lived happily together ever after.\n\n\nEND OF THE TALES.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES TO THE FOLK-TALES.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCE CSIHAN. Kriza xvii.\n\n\nIn this tale and some others (_e.g._ \"Fairy Elisabeth\") it is said that\nin order to celebrate a wedding the clergyman and the _executioner_ were\nsent for. Several of the clergy who live among the Sz\u00e9kely people on the\nvery spot have been applied to for an explanation of the perplexing\nword, but they were unable to furnish any clue. The word is not given in\nKriza's Glossary. It appears to be one of those curiosities of popular\nnomenclature so often found in Hungary, and may be a fanciful name for\n\"sacristan,\" or sexton. One of the many names of this official is\n\"harangoz\u00f3,\" _i. e._ the bellringer; hence the individual who holds the\ncorresponding office among the Jews is in small villages sometimes\ncalled \"the Jewish bellringer,\" a clear case of _lucus a non lucendo_. A\nfriend of the editors (who is a Sz\u00e9kely) says that \"h\u00f3h\u00e9r\" in his part\nmeans any one who torments, maltreats, or brutalises another. It is also\nmade into a verb thus, \"h\u00f3h\u00e9rholja a lovat,\" \"he maltreats the horse.\"\nHe says that the h\u00f3h\u00e9r is nearly always mentioned in fairy tales in\nconnection with the priest, who was generally accompanied by him: but he\ndoes not think the word has any special significance in Folk-Lore.\n\n_Page 5._ \"Vasfogu B\u00e1ba.\" B\u00e1ba, in Magyar, as in Japanese, means a\nmidwife: in Slavonic, an old woman. See Ralston's _Russian Folk Tales_:\nnote, p. 137. \"The French are coming.\" This must be unique. The usual\nexclamations are, \"The Turks are coming,\" or \"The Tartars are coming.\"\nThe nurse will frighten a naughty child with Turks or Tartars. For the\nheroic deeds of a popular hero against the French, cf. \"_Le Chevalier\nJean_, Conte Magyar, par Alex. Petoefi ...traduit par A. Dozon.\" Paris.\n18\u00ba.\n\nThe present story is one of a host wherein the gratitude of beasts is\ncompared with the ingratitude of man; and is a more perfect version of\nthe well-known Puss in Boots. Cf. Schiefner, _Avar Tales_. There is a\nvariant, \"Madon linna\" (\"The Snake's Castle\"), collected in Russian\nKarelia, where the hero is the only son of an old couple, the mother\nwhen dying tells her son not to be downhearted, as he still has his\nfather to help him; soon after the father fell sick. \"What shall I do,\ndear father, when you die?\" asked the lad. \"Go to the forest,\" replied\nthe father, \"and there you will find three traps, bring home alive\nwhatever you find.\" Soon the father died, and the lad was left alone in\nhis sorrow; after many days he suddenly remembered what his father had\nsaid, and set off to the forest, where he found the traps. In the first\nand second there was nothing, but in the third was a brown fox, which he\nbrought home alive, thinking to himself, \"There's not much to be got out\nof this beast; I shall soon die of hunger.\" When he got home, he put the\nfox on a bench and sat down, when, lo! the fox said, \"Look here, Jussi\nJuholainen, wouldn't you like to get married?\" The lad replied, \"Why\nshould I marry, poor fox? I couldn't live with a poor woman, and a rich\none wouldn't have me.\" \"Marry one of the royal family, and then you'll\nbe rich.\" The lad said that it was all nonsense; but the fox declared he\ncould do it, and then the story goes on very much like Prince Csihan,\nshewing the king how rich the suitor for his daughter's hand was, and\nfrightening the dependents of the snake into declaring that they\nbelonged to Jussi Juholainen. At last they reach the snake's castle,\n\"the like of which is not in the whole country, nay, not in the wide\nworld. An oak was growing by the wayside, and a holly tree in the\ncourtyard, all the leaves were golden coloured, and golden feathered\nbirds sang among the branches; and in the park was a magnificent elk\nwith gold and silver hairs.\"\n\nThe fox frightens the snake by telling of the coming of a great king,\nsaying, \"O poor snake, the king is coming to destroy your house, and\nkill you.\" The snake at once hurried off to the store-house[1] where the\nlinen was kept, and hid there, and in due course was burnt up with the\nstores, by the fox, who set fire to the whole. The king was \"giddy\" with\ndelight at his son-in-law's wealth, and stayed many days. When he\nprepared to return home, the fox proposed that Jussi Juholainen and his\nman should now visit the king, much to the king's chagrin, who tried to\nmake excuses; but as this failed, calves and dog-like creatures, and so\nforth, were made to jump about the wayside, and in the courtyard, so as\nto be something like the palace of his son-in-law. But all failed; and\nthe fox, having shown how much greater and wealthier a man Jussi\nJuholainen was, disappeared. See _Suomen Kansan Satuja ja Tarinoita_.\nPart ii. Helsingiss\u00e4, 1873:[2] where, under head \"Kettu kosiomiehen\u00e4\"\n(the fox as wooer for some one), page 36, another variant (Kehnon koti),\n\"the Evil One's home,\" is given.\n\nIn the Karelian story, \"Awaimetoin Wakka\" (the Keyless Chest), _S. ja\nT._ i. p. 151, a lad, when walking in the wood one day, heard his dog\nbarking, and saw that it was a wood-grouse it had found. He drew his bow\nand was about to shoot when the bird begged him not to do so, and\npromised to reward him. The lad kept the bird for three years, and at\nthe end of each year a feather fell from the bird's tail, first a copper\none, then a silver one, and lastly a gold one; which feathers in the end\nbrought wealth and greatness.\n\nIn the Finnish story of \"the Golden Bird,\" a story very much like\n\"Cinder Jack\" (in this collection), p. 149, a wolf brings fortune and\npower to the hero because he fed her and her young ones.\n\nIn another Finnish story, \"Oriiksi muutettu poika\" (The Enchanted\nSteed), in _Suomalaisia Kansansatuja_, i. (Helsingiss\u00e4, 1881), a fox\nassists the fugitives to defeat the devil, who pursues them. This tale\nis very much like the latter part of \"Handsome Paul,\" p. 33. Compare\nalso a variant from near Wiborg in _Tidskriften Suomi_, ii. 13, p. 120.\n\nIn a Lapp story a little bird helps. See \"J\u00e6tten og Veslegutten,\" from\nHammerfest. _Lappiske Eventyr og Folkesagn ved. Prof. Friis,\nChristiania_, 1871,[3] p. 52, &c.\n\nIt is a cat in \"J\u00e6tten, Katten og Gutten,\" from Alten, _Friis_, 63; and\na fox in \"Bondes\u00f8nnen, Konges\u00f8nnen og Solens S\u00f8ster,\" from Tanen,\n_Friis_, 140.\n\nMr. Quigstad reports another variant from Lyngen, in which also a cat\nhelps the hero.\n\nSee also Steere's _Swahili Tales_: \"Sultan Darai\"; Dasent's _Tales from\nthe Norse_: \"Lord Peter,\" and \"Well done, and ill-paid.\"\n\n_Old Deccan Days_: \"The Brahman.\" \"The Tiger and the Six Judges.\"\n\nMitford's _Tales of Old Japan_: \"The Grateful Foxes.\" \"The Adventures of\nlittle Peachling\"; and a Bohemian story of the Dog and the Yellow-hammer\nin Vernaleken's _In the Land of Marvels_.\n\nRalston's _Puss in Boots_ in _XIXth Century, January_, 1883. A most\ninteresting and exhaustive article.\n\nRalston's _Russian Folk Tales_: \"The water King and Vasilissa the Wise.\"\nA story which in the beginning is very like \"The Keyless Chest.\"\n\nBenfey's _Pantschatantra_, i. 208, and _passim_.\n\nKletke, _M\u00e4rchensaal aller V\u00f6lker_: \"Gagliuso.\"\n\nPerrault, _Contes des F\u00e9es_: \"Le maitre chat.\"\n\nHylt\u00e9n-Cavallius and Stephens. _Svenska Folksagor_, i. _Stockholm_,\n1844: \"Slottet som stod p\u00e5 Guldstolpar.\"\n\nGubernatis, _Zoological Mythology_, vol. i. 193; vol. ii. 134, 157.\n\nGrimm's _Household Tales_, Bohn's ed. vol. i. \"the Golden Bird,\" p. 227;\nvol. ii. pp. 46, 154, 323, 427, 527.\n\n_Mentone Stories_, in the _Folk-Lore Record_, vol. iii. part 1, 43.\n\nDenton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_, 51, 296.\n\nNaake's _Slavonic Tales_: \"Golden Hair,\" p. 133, a Bohemian Tale.\n\nStokes's _Indian Fairy Tales_: \"The Demon and the King's Son,\" 180.\n\nPayne's _The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night_, \"Abou\nMohammed,\" vol. iv. p. 10.[4]\n\n\n\n\nSTEPHEN THE MURDERER. Kriza, xviii.\n\n\nThe Hungarians have had a Dr. Faust in the person of Professor Hatvani,\nbut in his case he got the best of the bargain; see _A Magyar Fauszt_,\nby Maurus J\u00f3kai. The Hungarian professor is an historical personage, and\nonly resembles Dr. Faust in having a compact with the devil.\n\nLad. Arany traces a resemblance between this tale and one in Benfey's\n_Pantschatantra_, where it is related how a poor Brahmin, in reward for\nhis long penitence, has his bones thrown into the sacred waters of the\nGanges.\n\nThere is a curious Finnish story which resembles this tale,\n\"Ennustukset\" (Predictions), from Ilomantsi in _S. ja T._ ii. 64-72. Two\nwise men (seers) were out walking, and came near a house where a ewe was\njust in the throes of parturition. The younger man wished the elder (and\nchief) to help it. \"Why should I?\" replied he, \"a wolf will eat the\nlamb.\" \"It is very sad; but still we ought to help the poor sheep.\" In a\nmoment the lamb was born. Just then the cries of the mistress of the\nhouse were heard, for she was in travail. The young man again begged his\ncompanion to use his power. \"Well! I will help her,\" said the old seer;\n\"but would it be kind, for the boy, when born, will murder his father?\"\nHe gave his assistance, and in a moment the child was born. The master\nof the house, however, had overheard the conversation, and told it to\nhis wife, who was horrified at the news. Upon talking it over, they\ndecided to let the lamb and child live, as the men's words were most\nlikely of no importance. In the autumn, at the feast of Keyri (the\ncattle-god), the lamb was slain and made into Keyri soup, according to\nthe old custom. The broth was put on the table, and the meat in the\nwindow to cool;[5] and the couple laughed at the words of the men. After\nthe broth was finished they went for the meat, and lo! it was all\nscattered on the ground, and a wolf was devouring the last pieces at its\nleisure.\n\nThey were terrified, and cried, \"Well, then! the men's words were true.\"\nThe man then snatched the child out of its cradle, and was about to cut\nits throat, when the woman cried, \"Do not kill our own child! Let us\nfasten it on a plank, and put it to sea, so that it may die in that\nway.\" And so they did. Tossed by wind and waves, the child chanced to\ncome to the shore near a monastery, where a peasant found him and took\nhim to the abbot, who brought him up. When he had grown up, he got tired\nof living there, and was sent to the mainland. He wandered on and on\ntill he came to a house. The mistress only was in, the master being in\nthe wood. Here the lad was engaged to go and look after the turnips, as\nsome thieves had been stealing them; and the mistress gave him a bow and\narrows, with strict orders to shoot any one who came. This just suited\nthe lad, who went and hid himself behind a large stone in the middle of\nthe field. Before long a man came over the fence and filled his arms\nwith turnips. The lad drew his bow and shot, and the man fell. The lad\nreturned home, and told what he had done; and the mistress said that she\nwas glad that the thief had perished. They then waited for the master's\nreturn, but as he did not come, they went to look for him, and found\nthat the lad had killed him. The lad stayed with the woman, and after a\ntime married her, and all went well till one day they went to the\nbath[6] together; then she saw a red stripe on the man's chest, and\nasked, \"What is this?\" \"I don't know,\" replied he, \"I've had it ever\nsince I was born.\" \"Where were you born?\" asked the woman. He then told\nher all he knew; and, to their horror, i they found out they were mother\nand son. The man at once set off to the wise men, to know what to do,\nand how to be forgiven. On the way he met a monk, with a book under his\narm, and said, \"I've killed my father, and married my mother! How can I\nbe forgiven?\" The monk looked through his book and said, \"Poor man! your\nsins can never be forgiven; they are too awful.\" The man could not\ncontain himself when he heard this, and struck the monk such a blow that\nhe died.\n\nHe then went on and met an older monk and told him all. He looked\nthrough his book and said \"There is no forgiveness.\" He then killed this\nmonk also. Going on he met a third monk with books under his arms, and\ncried, \"I've killed my father, and married my mother, and murdered two\nold men who said there was no forgiveness. What do you think?\" The old\nman looked through his books, thought a little, and said, \"There is no\ncrime so great but that it can be forgiven when man truly repents. You\nmust go to a rock and dig a well in it. Wait till the water rises. And\nyour mother must sit beside it with a black sheep in her arms until its\nwool becomes white.\" When the man heard this he thanked the monk, and\nreturned and told his mother all. So they went to a rock, and the man\nbegan to dig with a chisel; and the woman sat beside him with the sheep\nin her arms. He worked for a long time, but with no success. Now the\nrock was close to the road, and good and bad passed by. One day a\ngentleman drove past gaily, the horse-bells tinkling as he went; he\nasked the man what he was doing, and was told all. \"Who and what are\nyou?\" said the man. \"O! I am a very clever man,\" replied the other. \"I\ncan make wrong right, and right wrong. I am going to the assizes, where\nI will help you if you pay me.\" This enraged the man, because he had to\nwork so hard, whilst the other lived by trickery. Whilst he grumbled his\nold anger flared up, and he struck the gentleman in the forehead with\nhis chisel and killed him. In a moment the rock opened and there was a\nwell, and the black sheep became white. This they were exceedingly glad\nto see, but the man did not know what to do about killing the gentleman.\nSo he went to the old monk again and told him all. \"Well!\" said the\nmonk, \"that's better. He has sinned much more against God than you;\ntherefore your time of repentance has been shortened. Go in peace.\" Thus\nthe sinners escaped judgment and continued to live together in peace.\nThe one as mother, the other as son. So much for that! (The ordinary\nending of Finnish tales.)\n\nAnother Finnish story, \"Antti Puuhaara\" (Andrew Tree Twig), _S. ja. T._\nii. 100, begins much in the same way, only in that case the child is to\nbe heir of a rich merchant who happened to be in the house at the time\nand overheard all. He does his best to prevent the prediction coming\ntrue; which, however, spite of all, is fulfilled. Cf. _Magyarische\nSagen_ von Mail\u00e1th. \"Die Br\u00fcder.\" Also \"_Die Thaten des Bogda Gesser\nCh\u00e2ns_,\" _eine ostasiatische Heldensage aus dem mongolischen \u00fcbersetzt\nvon J. J. Schmidt_, _Petersburg_ 1839. And _Folk-lifvet i Skytts h\u00e4rad i\nSk\u00e5ne wid b\u00f6rjan af detta \u00e5rhundrade, Barndomsminnen utgifna af\nNicolovius_, _Lund_. 1847. \"Rike Pehr Kr\u00e4mare.\" Also _Dasent_, \"Rich\nPeter the Pedlar\"; _Grimm_, \"The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs\"; and\n_Sagas from the Far East_, in which the king fears when he hears the\nhermit's prophecy of his son's future, p. 268.\n\nThe bed that the devils so much dreaded occurs in the Polish tale,\n\"Madey,\" Naake's _Slavonic Tales_, p. 220. A merchant being lost in a\nwood promises an evil spirit that he will give him something that he had\nnot seen in his house if he will set him in the right road. This\nsomething turns out to be a son born in the merchant's absence. When the\nboy grows up he sets out to get the bond from the devil that his father\ngave when lost in the wood. As the lad goes on his journey he comes to\nthe hut of a robber of the name of Madey. He had murdered his father,\nand only spared his mother to prepare his food. Here, as in the Magyar\nstory, the lad is spared on condition that he finds out what sort of bed\nis prepared for the robber in hell. The lad enters hell by means of holy\nwater and incense, and the lame demon Twardowski[7] is threatened with\nMadey's bed if he does not give up the bond, which he is loth to do.\nThis at once produces the desired effect, and Madey was so horrified at\nthe lad's account of the bed that he struck his murderous club into the\nground, and vowed he would wait till the lad returned as a bishop. Years\nafterwards, when the little boy had become a bishop, he found a\nbeautiful apple tree and an old man kneeling at its foot. The tree was\nthe robber's club, the old man Madey. As Madey makes his confession\napple after apple becomes a dove and flies heavenward, till at last he\nconfesses his father's murder, and then the last disappears; and, as the\nbishop pronounces the absolution, Madey crumbles to dust.\n\nSee, also, _Svenska Folks\u00e4gner_, _af H. Hofberg_, _Stockholm_, 1882, p.\n48. \"Ebbe Skammelsson was a knight who was engaged to the beauteous\nMalfrid of Tiraholm. As they both were yet young, the knight set out for\nthe Holy Land, promising to return in seven years. Soon after Ebbe's\ndeparture Malfrid's father died, and the maid remained with her mother.\nYears rolled on, but Ebbe did not return; and as the maid began to fade\naway, her mother promised her to another, thinking Ebbe must be dead.\nThere was a splendid wedding; and just as the guests sat down to the\ntable, a knight in golden armour galloped up to the house. The bride\nturned pale beneath her crown, and the mother, who recognised Ebbe,\nrushed out and reminded him that the seven years were past, and he was\ntoo late. In wild rage he struck off the lady's head; and then, dashing\ninto the wedding hall, slew the bride and bridegroom. Filled with horror\nand remorse at his own deeds, he vaulted on to his horse, and rode into\nthe wild woods. There he roamed in agony and despair. The pope's\nindulgence was obtained at the holy father's feet, but not peace; so,\nreturning to the home of his old love, he begged the judge to sentence\nhim to the severest punishment. After long deliberation the council\ndetermined that he should be loaded with the heaviest irons, and should\npass a day and a night on each of the three hundred and sixty-five\nislands in Bolmen. This was carried out; and in his little boat he\ndragged himself from isle to isle. At length he reached the last, and\ncrawled into a barn. His sad fate had made a deep impression on the\npeople, and a minstrel wrote a song, which, a witch said, so soon as\nEbbe heard, his irons would fall off and he would die. As he lay in the\nbarn, a servant, who went to milk the cows, began to sing, 'Knight\nEbbe's Song.' He listened with breathless attention, and then cried out:\n'One part is true, one part is false.' The girl fled in terror. Soon the\nvillagers gathered round to know who he was. He dragged himself to the\nhill, and, telling who he was, begged to be taken to the churchyard.\nNow, between the village of Angelstad and the church there is a large\nstone: mounting this, Ebbe cried, 'Am I worthy to rest in consecrated\nground? If so, let it be....' At that moment the irons dropped off, and\nhe died. The people buried him in the path, outside the north wall of\nthe church; but the wall fell down each night, until it was so built as\nto include the outlaw's grave. The crosses on the roof of the parish\nchurch are said to be made of Ebbe's fetters, which for a long time hung\ninside the sacred building.\" Cf. J. Allvin, _Beskrifning \u00f6fver Vestbo\nh\u00e4rad_, p. 147. The same story, with some slight difference, is current\nin Halland.[8] A comparison between this and the wild Finnish story is\nnot without interest, as shewing the humanising influence which has\ntoned down the rude and rugged teaching of the early ages.\n\nCf. Campbell, _Tales of the Western Highlands_, p. 19: \"The\nInheritance.\"\n\nBaring Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_. \"The Mountain of\nVenus,\" p. 213.\n\n_Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 366. \"The Three Green Twigs.\"\n\nMer\u00e9nyi, _Tales from the Banks of the Danube_, vol. ii. p. 7, in\nHungarian.\n\nThere is an interesting Lapp variant, \"Fattiggutten, Fanden og\nGuldbyen.\" _Friis_, p. 161.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAMB WITH THE GOLDEN FLEECE. Kriza, ix.\n\n\nCf. _Round the Yule Log._ \"Hans, who made the Princess laugh,\" p. 269.\n\n_Grimm_, vol. ii. \"The Jew among the Thorns,\" p. 97 and Notes, p. 410,\nin which the Jew is compelled to dance to the sound of the fiddler.\n\nEngel's _Musical Myths_, vol. ii. \"The Indefatigable Fiddler,\" p. 29,\nand the \"Ratcatcher of Hamelin,\" p. 37. (Also, _Baring Gould's Curious\nMyths_, p. 417.)\n\n_Griechische und Albanische M\u00e4rchen, von J. G. von Hahn, Leipzig_, 1864,\nvol. i. p. 222, and vol. ii. p. 240.--_Ladislaus Arany._ \"The Sad\nPrincess\" (in Hungarian).--_Gaal_, vol. iii. \"The Powerful Whistle.\"\n\n\n\n\nFISHER JOE. Kriza, xvi.\n\n\n_Page 16. Grimm_, vol. i, \"The Gold Children,\" p. 331, where a man draws\na gold fish out of the water, which tells him if he will throw it back\ninto the water he shall have a splendid castle. He throws it back, and\nall comes as the fish said. The fisher must not reveal how it has come\nabout; but his wife's curiosity makes him break his word, and all\ndisappears.[9] The man catches the fish once more, and the same things\nhappen, wealth and destitution; and then the fish is caught a third\ntime. This time the fish is cut into six pieces, two of which are put in\nthe ground, and grow up as golden cities; two are given to the man's\nhorse, which has two golden foals; and two to the man's wife, who bears\ntwo golden children. See _Grimm's_ notes, p. 453. _Gubernatis_, vol. i.\np. 249 (as to Phallic Significance), and vol. ii. sub. art. \"Fish,\" p.\n330. Also Caballero's (Spanish) _Fairy Tales_, \"The Bird of Truth,\" p.\n1, and the \"Knights of the Fish,\" p. 29, where a poor cobbler, with no\nwork, goes a-fishing as a last resource, catches a fish, and cuts it\ninto six, with the same result as in the above tale. And _Portuguese\nFolk-Tales, Folk-Lore Society_, 1882; \"The Baker's Idle Son,\" p. 72;\nPayne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. i. pp. 33-51.\n\nJust as Fisher Joe lays his head on his wife's knee, and sleeps while\nwonders happen, so does the drummer rest, while the maiden does his\ntasks for him, in the story of the \"Drummer,\" in _Grimm_, ii. 335.\n\nCf. also Dasent's _Tales from the Norse_. \"The Mastermaid,\" p. 84, and\nDenton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_. \"The Golden Fleeced Ram,\" p. 71.\n\n_Page 18._ The trouble that comes from the king (or lord) seeing the\nhero's wife, or bride, is a common incident in Folk-Tales.\n\nSee the Finnish \"Lepp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky\" (Alder Block). _S. ja T._ ii. p. 2, where\nthe hero, after infinite trouble, secures the lovely Katherine, who is\nsaid to be so beautiful that--\n\n\n   \"One can see her skin through her clothes,\n    Her flesh through her skin,\n    Her bones through her flesh,\n    Her marrow through her bones!\"\n\n\nWhen he arrived at home with his lovely prize, the king wished to know\nthe whole of his adventures. Now it so happened that Alder Block had\nduring his travels changed himself to an ermine, and had heard\nSy\u00f6j\u00e4t\u00e4r--who was the mother of the snakes he and his comrades had\nkilled--tell what plans she had for destroying her children's murderer,\nas in the Magyar tale of \"The three Princes, the three Dragons, and the\nOld Woman with the Iron Nose,\" p. 202 of this collection. Sy\u00f6j\u00e4t\u00e4r\ndeclared at the same time that whoever dared to repeat her words[10]\nwould be changed into a blue cross. Alder Block saved his comrades from\nthe snares till the last one, which took the form \"of beds with feather\npillows;\" and this time his companions, before he could stop them, threw\nthemselves down, and were caught. The king ordered him to explain why\nhis companions were not with him; and as Alder Block did so, he changed\ninto a blue cross, standing in the churchyard. The whole story is a most\ninteresting one, weaving in materials that are ordinarily to be found,\nnot in one, but in many folk tales. The end of all is, the king got the\nlovely Katherine, and \"took her to his castle, where they still live\nto-day, and perhaps to-morrow also; and there came good sons and\nbeautiful daughters. I was also at the wedding. They gave me a wax\nhorse. The saddle was made of turnip and the whip of peas. The feast\nlasted for many days; and when I came from it I came to Riettil\u00e4's corn\nkiln.[11] The kiln began to burn, and I to extinguish it. In the heat my\nhorse began to melt, my saddle to roast, and the village's illegitimate\nchildren to eat it up. I began to drive them away, but the dogs were set\nat me; and when I began to whip them, they bit my whip to pieces. So all\nmy things were destroyed, and poor me fell down. Perhaps I shall never\nbe well again, it was so long.\" Compare this characteristic ending with\nthat of the Magyar tales.\n\nIn the Finnish \"Ei-niin-mit\u00e4\" (Just nothing), _S. ja T._ ii. 53, a man\ncatches a swan-maiden of great beauty. The king, so soon as he hears of\nher, determines to have her for his son, and the courtiers advise him to\nmake the man procure--1st, \"A table, on which is painted the moon and\nstars;\" this his wife gets her husband while he is asleep; 2nd, \"he was\nto go nowhere and fetch nothing.\" His wife again helps him, by sending\nhim to a house where an old woman summons all her servants (Cf. \"Fairy\nElizabeth,\" p. 106). This time it is a frog who takes the man, and he at\nlength comes to a palace; and as he paces the floor at night, he mutters\nto himself, \"Just nothing.\" \"Beg your pardon,\" says a voice; and he\nfinds that he has an invisible companion, who obeys all his commands,\nand answers to the name of \"Just Nothing.\" When he returns to the king,\nhe finds they are just celebrating the wedding of the king's son with\nhis own wife, who does not recognise him till he drops a ring into the\nempty goblet out of which he has drunk the corn brandy the bride had\ngiven him. By his new powers he soon upsets the bad king and his host,\nand then all is joy and happiness. Cf. _Musaeus_, _Volksm\u00e4rchen der\nDeutschen von J. L. Klee_. _Leipzig_, 1842. \"Der geraubte Schleier\";\n_Walachische M\u00e4rchen von A. und A. Schott_. _Stuttgart_, 1845. \"Der\nverstossene Sohn.\" Weil, _Tausend und eine Nacht_, vol. iv. \"Geschichte\ndes Prinzen Ojanschach;\" _Irische Elfenm\u00e4rchen, von Grimm_. _Leipzig_,\n1826. \"Die Flasche.\"\n\nKletke, _M\u00e4rchensaal aller V\u00f6lker, f\u00fcr Jung und Alt_. _Berlin_ 1845,\nvol. iii. \"Der Wundermann.\"\n\nCf. \"Bondes\u00f8nnen, Konges\u00f8nnen og Solens S\u00f8ster,\" _Friis_, p. 140; where\nthe hero, by means of a fox, rescues the Sun's sister's sister, \"Evening\nRed,\" from the giants who had stolen her, and who were turned into\npillars of stone as soon as they caught sight of the Sun's sister, Dawn.\nSo soon as the king heard of her, he determined to have her for his\nson's wife, and set heavy tasks for the hero to perform, which he does\nby means of his wife's power.\n\nIn another tale from Tanen, \"B\u00e6ive Kongens eller Sol Kongens Datter,\"\n_Friis_, p. 152, the hero will insist upon the king knowing that he is\ngoing home with the Sun King's daughter, whom he has caught by stealing\nher swan dress, and so gets into trouble, as the king does all he can to\nget possession of the girl.\n\nIn \"Gutten, som tjente hos Kongen,\" _Friis_, p. 167, from Tanen, the\nhero is to have the king's daughter in return for faithful service but\nat the last moment the king demands certain labours before he will allow\nthe marriage to take place. In this case it is the Gieddeg\u00e6s\u0303 old\nwoman, that is, a wise or troll woman, who helps the hero.\n\nA magic ship that can sail over land and sea is a favourite in Lapp\nstories, and is often one of the tasks set. Cf. \"Ruobba[12] J\u00e6tten og\nFanden,\" _Friis_, p. 67. Here the third son feeds axes, augurs, planes,\nand all sorts of tools,[13] which come and beg for food, and by their\nmeans builds the ship. See Finnish \"Maan, meren, kulkija laiwa\" (\"The\nShip that can Sail on Land and Sea\"), from Ilomantsi. _S. ja T._ ii. p.\n22.\n\nSomewhat similar incidents occur in the tale \"Seppo Ilmarisen kosinta\"\n(\"Smith Ilmarinen's Courtship\"). _S. ja T._ i. p. 1, wherein Ilmarinen\ngoes to woo fair Katherine, the Hiihto king's daughter. The first task\nwas to plough the king's snake-field--where the snakes were crawling\ntwo yards deep--in bare feet and bare skin. Then he sang a lake full of\nfishes into the courtyard. Next he went to bring a chest which had been\ncovered for a long time, and which the old man, Untamoinen, had. When\nIlmarinen asked for the beautiful Katherine's wedding chest the old man\nreplied, \"If you can stand on my tongue, jump and dance, then I will\ngive it to you.\" The smith jumped on to his tongue, but the old man's\nmouth was so wide he swallowed Ilmarinen. The smith did not mind that;\nhe made a smithy of his shirt, bellows of his trousers, used his left\nknee for an anvil, and his left hand for tongs. Of the copper buckle of\nhis skirt he made a bird with claws of iron and bill of steel. He then\nsang a song and the bird became alive, and by its means he dug his way\nout of Untamoinen's stomach, got the chest, and after a great many\ntroubles with fair Katherine at last got home.\n\nIn the latter part of the tale one is reminded of such stories as\n_Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_, \"St. Peter's Three Loaves,\"\np. 265; _Grimm_, vol. ii., \"The Rich Man and the Poor Man,\" p. 1, and\nNotes, p. 373; Stokes's _Indian Tales_, \"Rajah Harichand's Punishment,\"\np. 224.\n\n\n\n\nLUCK AND BLISS. Kriza, xii.\n\n\nCf. Caballero's _Spanish Tales_, \"Dame Fortune and Don Money,\" p. 190,\nand \"Fortune and Misfortune,\" p. 147.\n\n_Naake_, \"Wisdom and Fortune,\" p. 243, a Bohemian tale.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAZY CAT. Kriza, xi.\n\n\nThis tale does not call for any special remark.\n\n\n\n\nHANDSOME PAUL. Kriza, i.\n\n\n_Page 25_. Old men in Hungary are always addressed as \"my father,\" or\n\"my elder brother,\" and in turn address their juniors as \"my son,\" or\n\"my younger brother.\" Women are also addressed as \"mother,\" \"daughter,\"\n\"elder sister,\" or \"younger sister.\" Cf. the \"little father,\" in modern\nRussian; also _Reynard the Fox in South Africa_, by Dr. Bleek, \"The Lion\nwho took a Woman's Shape,\" p. 50, where the lion calls a woman \"my\nmother\" and \"my aunt,\" and she calls him \"my uncle.\"\n\nFisk, _Myths and Myth-Makers_, pp. 166, 167, Zulu Uthlakanyana meets a\ncannibal, whom he calls \"uncle,\" and is called \"child of my sister.\" The\nYakuts in Siberia call the bear \"beloved uncle.\"\n\nTylor's _Primitive Culture_, vol. ii. p. 231.\n\nTylor's _Early History of Mankind_. pp. 130-49; 288-91.\n\nIbn Batuta, the Moorish traveller, mentions that in his time--about\n1347--old men in Cansai, the modern Hangchenfu, were commonly addressed\nas \"Atha,\" _i. e._ \"Father\" in Turkish. Cf. _The Travels of Friar\nOdoric_ (Hakluyt Soc.), iv. p. 288.\n\n_Vide_ Giants in the Introduction to this collection.\n\nThe incident of finding the giant occurs in many stories, _e.g._ a\nFinnish tale relates how some sailors sailing along the coast near\nWiborg saw a fire lighted on the shore, and, as they were nearly frozen,\nlanded, and found to their horror a giant laid round it with his feet\nunder his head (cf. Giant in \"Fairy Elizabeth,\" p. 99 of this vol.) The\ngiant awakes and asks where they are from, and hearing that they were\nfrom Wiborg, tells them he knows it well, and drinks with great gusto a\ntun of tar, remarking, \"Ah! that's the old Wiborg drink!\" Topelius,\n_Boken om v\u00e5rt Land. Helsingfors_, 1875, p. 153.\n\nSee also a similar tale, \"Glosheds Altare,\" from Bohusl\u00e4n, _Hofberg_, p.\n81. It is commonly reported in Bohusl\u00e4n and Dal that the giants withdrew\nto Dovre in Norway, or else to some uninhabited island in the North Sea,\nand that they most anxiously inquired of any travellers they came across\nhow things were going on in their native land. They are said to have\nleft their homes \"when modern mankind began to exist,\" in the Swedish\nstories. They often declare it was on account of the continued ringing\nthat they left the land.\n\nIn \"Ulfgrytstenarna,\" from N\u00e4rike, the giant hearing the bells for the\nfirst time tells his wife to put a stone in her garter and sling it at\nthe grey cow which is tinkling near Hjelmar, meaning the newly-built\nchurch at \u00d6rebro. The giantess threw the stone thirteen miles too far.\nThe giant threw and missed, and the bells sounded with wondrous\nclearness. The giant then seized two enormous rocks, and set off to\ncrush the church; on the way an old man who had set out to stop him,\nshowed him a pile of shoes worn out by his journey from \u00d6rebro. The\ngiant threw the rocks down and went home. _Hofberg_, p. 132.\n\nSee also the story about the old man and Ragnar Lodbrok, who is said to\nhave delivered Rome from the Norse men, by showing their worn-out iron\nshoes. Also Gibeonites and Joshua; Joshua, ix. 5.\n\nGiants sometimes built instead of destroying religious houses. See\n_Afzelius, Svenska Folkets Sagoh\u00e4fder_, v. p. 31, where the giant Rise\nis said to have built Riseberg Monastery and given it his own name; also\n\"Skaluda-J\u00e4tten,\" a story from Vesterg\u00f6tland.\n\nFor a giant's appetite, _p. 26_, see \"Vas P\u00e9ter,\" a tale quoted by\nKozma, in which Glutton eats 366 fat oxen in six hours, and Drunkard\nempties 366 casks of wine, each holding one hundred buckets, in the same\ntime.\n\nBig Mouth, in \"Hidatsa,\" an Indian tale, drinks enormous draughts.\n_Folk-Lore Record_, vol. i. p. 140.\n\nThe horse in \"Prince Mirk\u00f3,\" p. 65, like the giant in this tale, asks\nthe hero what he sees, and then tells him to shut his eyes, whilst they\ngo on.\n\n_Page 27_. The king's daughter falling in love with one who acts as\nservant is a common incident in Finnish and Lapp tales. Generally, the\nhero is one who by wearing a cap on the pretext of having a sore head\nconceals his beauty, which the king's daughter by chance happens to see\nwhen the cap is off.\n\nCf. \"Tuhkamo\" from Sodan Kyla in North Finland, _S. ja T._ i. p. 35,\nwhere the hero is told to fell all the trees near a bay, and is assisted\nby his bride. The whip as a mode of summoning assistance is mentioned in\n\"Fisher Joe,\" _supra_, p. 16.\n\nFor difficult tasks vide \"Fisher Joe,\" _supra_, p. 18; \"The Three\nBrothers,\" p. 153; \"The King and the Devil,\" p. 192; \"The Widower and\nhis Daughter,\" p. 208; \"The Girl with the Golden Hair,\" p. 271.\n\nCf. also _Malagasy Is\u00f9lak\u00f2lona_, in _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, p. 130.\n\nAlso _Verhandlungen der gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat.\nZweiter Band, drittes Heft_, p. 76. \"Der dankbare F\u00fcrstensohn.\"\n\nStier, _Ungarische M\u00e4rchen_, \"Das kleine Zauberpferd.\"--Kletke,\n_M\u00e4rchensaal aller V\u00f6lker_, \"Die gl\u00e4serne Hacke\"; \"Kojata\"; \"Der\nOrangenbaum und die Biene.\"\n\n_Polnische Volksagen und M\u00e4rchen_, by Woycicki, translated by Levestam,\n\"Die Flucht.\"\n\nHylt\u00e9n-Cavallius och Steffens. _Svenska Folksagor_. \"Hafs-Firum.\"\n\n_Samlade Sm\u00e4rre Ber\u00e4ttelser_, af C. F. Ridderstad, _Link\u00f6ping_, 1849.\n\"Agnete lille Dei.\"\n\nWinter, _Danske Folkeventyr_: \"Prindsen och Havmanden.\"\n\nThe reader need not be surprised to hear that the simple Magyar peasant\nuses classical names like Pluto, Furuzsina (Euphrosin\u00e9); for until 1848\nLatin was the official language, and many of the scientific works were\nwritten in it, and so a great many words found their way into the vulgar\ntongue, such as: penna, calamus, bugyell\u00e1ris (pugillares), jus, &c.\n\n_Page 32_. The chase after the fugitives is a well-known folk-tale\nincident. See several instances in this collection. Generally the\npursuer is stopped by something thrown down by the pursued. See \"The\nLittle Magic Pony,\" p. 160, and notes _infra_.\n\nIn other stories such as the present and \"The King and the Devil,\" p.\n193, the pursued change into all manner of wonderful things. Cf.\n_Grimm_, vol. i. \"Fundevogel,\" p. 202, and \"The Two King's Children,\"\nvol. ii. p. 113.\n\nIn a Portuguese Folk-Tale, \"The Daughter of the Witch,\" F.L.S. 1882, p.\n15, the boy becomes a public road, and the girl an old man with a sack\non his back; then the boy becomes a hermitage and the girl a hermit; and\nlastly, when the mother comes, who, as usual, is the keenest witted, the\nlad becomes a river, and the girl an eel. The mother, as she cannot\ncatch the eel, pronounces the curse of forgetfulness in case any one\nshould kiss the hero, which one of his sisters does, while he sleeps.\nSee also in the same collection, \"May you vanish like the wind,\" p. 20.\n\nIn \"Fairy Helena,\" a story quoted by Kozma in his paper read before the\nHungarian Academy, the fairy's father blows across a wide river, and at\nonce it is spanned by a golden bridge. The fairy then strikes a rusty\ntable-fork with a _kourbash_, and it at once becomes a golden steed,\nupon which the lovers flee into Italy. When they discover that they are\nfollowed, Helena spits on the floor, the door-latch, and the hinge of\nthe door, and each expectoration speaks, and so deludes the king's\nmessengers, and allows the fugitives more time (Cf. Ralston's _Russian\nTales_, p. 142; _Grimm_, i.: \"Sweetheart Roland,\" p. 225, where one\nchange of Roland is to a fiddler, who makes the witch dance till dead.)\nThe king following in the form of a gigantic eagle, the tips of whose\nwings touch heaven and earth, reminds of such stories as the Lapp\n\"Jaetten og Veslegutten,\" from Hammerfest, _Friis_. p. 49, where the\ngiant is heard coming like a gust of wind; and in \"Jaetten og Drengen\nhans,\" from Tanen, _id_. p. 58, where the giant and his wife pursue the\nlad, as he walks away, with his bag of silver coins.\n\nSee also Finnish \"Oriiksi muntettu poika,\" _S. ja. T._ i. 142, and\nvariants there given, in which the devil follows in the form of a\nstorm-cloud.\n\nWonderful transformations of a like sort occur in Indian stories,\n_e.g._, \"The Ph\u00falmati R\u00e1n\u00ed's arms and legs grew into four houses, her\nchest became a tank, and her head a house in the middle of the tank; her\neyes turned into two little doves; and these five houses, the tank, and\nthe doves, were transported to the jungle. The little doves lived in the\nhouse that stood in the middle of the tank. The other houses stood round\nthe tank.\" Stokes' _Indian Tales_, \"Ph\u00falmati R\u00e1n\u00ed,\" p. 5, and \"The B\u00e9l\nPrincess,\" p. 148, where we read, \"Then the girl took a knife in her own\nhand, and cut out her two eyes; and one eye became a parrot, and the\nother a _main\u00e1_ (a kind of starling). Then she cut out her heart, and it\nbecame a great tank. Her body became a splendid palace and garden; her\narms and legs became the pillars that supported the verandah roof; and\nher head the dome on the top of the palace.\"\n\n_Page 34_. For the curse of oblivion see Panch-Phul Ranee, _Old Deccan\nDays_, p. 143, where the conjurors throw some powder in the rice and\nfire, and no sooner did the rajah receive them than he forgot his wife,\nchild, and all that had ever happened to him. In \"Chandra's Vengeance,\"\np. 260, forgetfulness is brought about by enchanted drink. Cf. _Grimm_,\nii. \"The Drummer,\" p. 338.\n\nIn the romance of _Ogier le Danois_, Morgue la Faye, who had kissed\nOgier at his birth, but had been forgotten by him, meets him when he is\na hundred years old, and by means of a ring restores him to youth and\nbeauty. When Ogier drew near to the castle of Avalon he was met by\nsinging fays, and a glorious crown placed on his head, whereupon he\ninstantly forgot all the past, and had no thought \"ni de la dame\nClarice, qui tant estoit belle et noble ... ne de creature vivante.\" See\nKeightley's _Fairy Mythology, Bohn's Library_, p. 48.\n\nThe Irish tale of \"Grey Norris\" from Warland, tells how a little dog\njumps up and kisses the hero, and at once he forgets the poor princess\nwho waits outside. _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1883, p. 323.\n\nThe Polish tale \"Prince Unexpected,\" contains a similar incident. _Id_.\n1884, p. 16.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRAVELS OF TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD. Kriza, ii.\n\n\nIn another version three crows discuss the healing powers of the dew.\nCf. also another version communicated by Kriza in the _Sz\u00e9pirodalmi\nFigyel\u00f6_. The tale is also found in Hungary Proper. Cf. Gaal, _M\u00e4rchen\nder Magyaren_, \"Die dankbaren Thiere.\"\n\nCf. Cruelty of sister or others: in \"Envious Sisters,\" p. 50, \"The Three\nBrothers,\" p. 152, and \"The Girl without Hands,\" p. 182.\n\nSteere's _Swahili Tales_, \"Blessing or Property,\" p. 397.\n\nAlso Wagner's _Asgard and the Gods_, p. 113, where Holda's Quick-born\n(fountain of life) restores the crippled and aged. Spanish peasants\nbelieve in a mysterious herb, _pito-real_, invisible to men, and known\nto swallows only, which restores eyesight. See _Folk-Lore Record_, p.\n295. 1883.\n\n_Page 37_. Obtaining useful knowledge in secret. Cf. _Sagas from Far\nEast_, xiv. \"The Avaricious Brother,\" p. 151, in which the poor brother\nobtained precious gifts, which he saw the Dakinis (female genii) use;\nthe rich brother when he heard of it went to see what he could get, and\nwas seized by the enraged spirits, and after due consultation punished,\nby having his nose pulled out five ells long, and nine knots tied in it.\n\nIn _Old Deccan Days_, \"The Learned Owl,\" p. 74, tells how the birds in\nthe tree tell secrets. In \"The Wanderings of Vicram Maharajah,\" p. 121,\nit is two cobras, and in \"Panch-Phul Ranee,\" p. 139, two jackals.\n\nSee also _Stories from Mentone_, \"The Charcoal Burners,\" p. 41.\n_Folk-Lore Record_, vol. iii.; and Stokes' _Indian Tales_, \"The Fair\nPrince,\" p. 198.\n\nCf. Finnish \"Totuus ja walhe\" (Truth and falsehood), and \"Riuta ja\nRauta;\" under section 10 of _S. ja T._ ii. pp. 134-146, entitled \"Paha\non pett\u00e4j\u00e4n perint\u00f6\" (The Deceiver's part is a bad one).\n\n_Magyarische Sagen_, by Mail\u00e1th, i. \"Die Br\u00fcder,\" p. 169.\n\nGerle, _Volksm\u00e4rchen der B\u00f6hmen_. _Prag._ 1819. \"St. Walburgisnachttraum\noder die drei Gesellen.\"\n\n_Volkslieder und Sagen der Wenden_, von Haupt und Schmaler, _Grimma_\n1843. \"Recht bleibt immer Recht.\"\n\n_Old Deccan Days_, \"Truth's Triumph,\" p. 50.\n\n_Serbian Folk-Lore:_ \"Justice or Injustice--which is best?\" p. 83. Where\nthe heroes are king's sons, and the just one is helped by fairies who\ncome to the spring to bathe.\n\nIn \"The two Travellers,\" _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 81, the heroes are a\nsour-tempered shoemaker and a merry tailor. Two sinners hanging on the\ngallows talk, and thus the sightless tailor learns many secrets. So soon\nas he recovers his sight, he sets off, and arrives at the very town\nwhere the shoemaker has gone, who persuades the king to set the tailor\nterrible tasks to perform, which he does, by the aid of grateful\nanimals, whose lives he spared. The cobbler has his eyes picked out by\nthe crows that sit on the heads of the two hanged men. See notes, p.\n408, and a fragmentary story of \"The Men on the Gallows,\" p. 466, in the\nsame volume.\n\nIn Naake's _Slavonic Tales_, \"Right and Wrong,\" from the Servian, the\nVilas, beings peculiar to Servia, female genii, come to the spring where\nthe blind brother is, and talk.\n\nAlso Dasent's _Tales from the Norse_, \"True and Untrue,\" p. 1.\n\n_Undvalgte Eventyr og Fort\u0153llinger_ ved C. Molbech, _Kj\u00f6benhavn_,\n1843. \"Godtro og utro, et Skaansk Folkesagn.\"\n\n_Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Lieder der Herzogth\u00fcmer Schleswig--Holstein and\nLauenburg_ vom R. M\u00fcllenhoff. _Kiel_, 1845. \"Vom Bauernsohn der K\u00f6nig\nward.\"\n\n_Portuguese Stories_. \"Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in\nvain who build it.\" _Folk-Lore Record_, 1881, p. 157. The driver hears\nthe devils talking on the top of the cave, where he shelters, and by\nmeans of which he obtains riches and honour. In this case, the gouging\nout of the eyes is omitted, and the whole story modified, and, if one\nmay so say, Christianised.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUNTING PRINCES. Kriza, iii.\n\n\nSteel, flint, and tinder, form to this day the \"Smoker's companion\" in\nthe rural districts of Hungary, although matches were invented more than\nhalf a century ago by a Hungarian.\n\n_Page 39_. The youngest son in the Finnish story, \"Ihmeellinen Sauwa,\"\n(The Wonderful Stick,) _S. ja T._ i. p. 158, is told to shoot at an oak,\nand if he hits it (which he does) he would find his mother who had been\ncarried off one day whilst walking in the garden years before.\n\nFor other versions see \"A Year Hence\" in Gaal, vol. ii.; also \"The Three\nPrinces\" in the present vol. p. 110, and \"The Prince who tied the Dawn\"\nin another collection of Erd\u00e9lyi, entitled \"_Magyar N\u00e9pmes\u00e9k_.\"\n\nDragons[14] appear at every turn in folk-lore, and therefore we can give\nbut a short selection of comparisons out of the countless hosts of\nlegends and tales. \"At Lueska there is a dark cavern called the\nDragon's Den, which was the terror of the country, and its legend is an\ninteresting example of how old folk-tales are modified, as time rolls\non; in this case, the burghers of the town can't tell what to do, and a\nlittle dwarf tinker declares he can kill the monster, but that he will\nclaim as his reward the hand of the burgomaster's daughter. The\nburgomaster is mightily indignant, but is obliged to give way to the\nforce of popular opinion; and is surprised to find his daughter quite\nwilling to make the sacrifice for the sake of her neighbours. The tinker\nconfesses and communicates. He then sets off and gathers a herb called\ndragon's bane--a powerful narcotic--and makes a strong infusion of it.\nWith this he sets out, driving two calves before him, and taking some of\nhis tools, and his fire-pan full of hot embers. The dragon soon scents\nthe cattle, and rushing out devours them. Meanwhile, the tinker views\nall from a tree. Soon the dragon rolls over and falls asleep. The tinker\nthen pours a goatskin full of his infusion over the monster's head, who\nfalls into a deep sleep. Down comes the tinker and settles him, cuts off\nhis head, and carries it in triumph to the town, where the joyous crowd\ncarry him shoulder-high to the burgomaster's. There the tinker declares\nthat he will not accept the maiden's hand unless she accepts him freely\nand willingly. The young girl, won by his magnanimous conduct, declares\nhe has won her heart. Whereat he flings off his disguise, and lo! the\nlord of Csicso, who confesses that he has long loved the beautiful maid.\nGeneral happiness and joy. Curtain!\" _Pictures of Hungarian Life_, p.\n28.\n\nCf. \"Grendel\" in the \"Lay of Beowulf\"; \"The Lambton Worm,\" in Surtees'\n_History of Durham_, ii. p. 173; Hardwick's _Traditions_, p. 40, and\nHenderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, F.L.S., under \"Worms.\"\nNork, _Mythologie der Volksagen_, says, the dragon was sacred to Wodin,\nand that its image was placed over houses, &c. to keep away evil\ninfluences.\n\nIn _Tales from Hofer's Land_, \"The Three Black Dogs,\" p. 214, the dogs\nkill the dragon, and J\u00f6ssl marries the princess; in \"Zovanin Senza\nPaura,\" p. 348, fearless Johnny kills the dragon that has taken\npossession of the fountains.\n\nBaring Gould's _Curious Myths_. \"St. George,\" and Brady's _Clavis\nCalendaria_, vol. i. p. 310.\n\nIn Denton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_, \"True-steel,\" p. 146, an alligator\nreplaces the dragon; the incidents are very like those in the Magyar\ntale, but the tale is longer, beginning with three sisters, as well as\nthe brothers. The sisters are carried off, much the same as in the\nRussian story \"Marya-Morevna\" (_Ralston_, p. 85); and, in seeking for\nthe sisters, the Magyar incidents come in. The story continues to tell\nof the youngest son's entering the forbidden chamber, and letting loose\na man, True-steel, who was confined there (cf. Payne's _Arabian Nights_,\nvol. i. p. 141, \"Story of the Third Calender\"), who runs away with his\nwife. His labours to regain her occupy the rest of the tale. True-steel\nis killed in the end, by the secret of his strength being destroyed, as\nin \"Punchkin.\"\n\nThe tying up of Midnight and Dawn is a piece of primitive science that\nin one shape or other is to be found in many stories. Cf. Lapp stories,\nwhere \"Evening Red,\" and the \"Sun's Sister\" are girls; _Friis_, No. 44;\nand in No. 45 Ashiepattle goes for a golden lasso, and has to go till\nthe sunlight ceases; and then till the moonlight ceases; and then till\nstarlight ceases. When he arrives in the regions of darkness he finds\nthe golden lasso. The tale appears to be imperfect, and no use is made\nof the lasso. Guns and cannons appear beyond the land of the moonlight!\n\nThe Finnish \"Lepp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky\" tells how Alder Block goes to a castle, and is\ntold \"that a wicked one cursed the sunlight, and so a snake with nine\nheads has taken it; and when the snake goes to the sea, he takes the sun\nwith him. When he is in the country it is day, when he is in the sea it\nis night. A wicked one has cursed the moonshine, and a snake with six\nheads has taken the moonshine. When he is on the land, it is light; but\nwhen he is in the sea, it is dark. The wicked one has also cursed the\ndawn, because it began to shine too soon, and he could not sleep; so the\nsnake with three heads has taken the dawn. When he is on the land we\nhave dawn, but when he is at sea we have no dawn.\" The heroes in turn\ndestroy the snakes; and dawn, the moon, and the sun escape; and as each\nshines over the land, the people pray for blessings on the man's head,\nwho has delivered the dawn, moon, and sun. This appears to be pretty\nclearly an attempt of early man to describe natural phenomena. The story\ngoes on to tell how the king offered his daughters to the heroes, but\nthey declined them, only asking for a little corn.\n\nThere is a most interesting myth of Dawn and Twilight, well worthy of\nnotice, in the Esthonian \"Koit ja \u00c4marik\" (Dawn and Twilight). In old\ntimes a mother had two daughters named Videvik (twilight) and \u00c4marik\n(evening twilight). Both were charming and beautiful in appearance, and\nin behaviour just as the song says:\n\n\n   \"Pea valge, p\u00f4sld punased\n    Sitik mustad silmakulmud.\"\n\n   \"Eyes white, cheeks red,\n    Eyebrows black as a dung beetle.\"\n\n\nWhen the sun went to its Creator (set), the elder sister came from the\nplough with two oxen, and led them, as an intelligent being ought, to\nthe river's brink to drink. But, just as now, beauty is the first thing\namong girls, and the good-looking ones often gaze into the\nlooking-glass. So, also, did she, the handsome Videvik. She let her oxen\nbe oxen, and went to the river's edge; and lo! there on the silver\nlooking-glass of the water lay reflected the eyebrows black as dung\nbeetles, and the charming gold-coloured cheeks, and her heart was glad.\nThe moon, who in accord with the Creator's command and ordinance, was\ngoing to light the land, in place of the sun, who had sunk to rest,\nforgot to attend to his duty, and threw himself, like an arrow, with\nloving desire into the earth's deep bosom, down to the bottom of the\nriver; and there, mouth to mouth, and lip to lip, he sealed his\nbetrothal to Videvik with a kiss, and claimed her as his bride. But,\nduring this he had quite forgotten his duties; and, see! deep darkness\ncovered the land whilst he lay on Videvik's bosom. Then occurred a sad\nmisfortune. The forest robber, Wolf, who now had all his own way, as no\none could see him, tore one of Videvik's oxen, which had gone to the\nforest to feed, and seized it as food for himself. Although the shrill\nnightingale was heard, and its clear song from the forest rang through\nthe darkness:\n\n\n   \"Lazy girl! lazy girl! the long night! the striped ox!\n    To the furrows! to the furrows! fetch the whip! fetch the nag!\n            Ts\u00e4t! Ts\u00e4t!\"\n\n   \"Laisk t\u00fcdruk, laisk t\u00fcdruk, \u00f6\u00f6pik! kirik\u00fc\u00fct!\n    Raule, raule, too p\u00fcts, too p\u00fcts!\n            Ts\u00e4t! Ts\u00e4t!\"\n\n\nYet Videvik heard not: she forgot all but love. Blind, deaf, and without\nunderstanding is love. Of the five senses but feeling is left! When\nVidevik at last woke from her love, and saw the Wolf's deed, she wept\nbitterly, and her tears became a sea. The innocent tears did not fall\nunobserved by Vana-isa (the old father). He stepped down from his golden\nheaven to punish the evil-doers, and to set a watch over those who had\nbroken his commands. He scolded the wicked Wolf, and the Moon received\nVidevik to wife. To this day Videvik's mild face shines by the Moon's\nside, longingly looking at the water where she tasted for the first time\nher husband's love. Then Vana-isa said, \"In order that there may be no\nmore carelessness about the light, and lest darkness grows in power, I\ncommand you, guardians, go each one to your place. And you, Moon and\nVidevik, take charge of the light by night. Koit and \u00c4marik I put\ndaylight into your hands. Do your duty honestly. Daughter \u00c4marik in your\ncare I place the setting sun. See that in the evening every spark be put\nout, so that no accident happen, and that all men be in peace! And you\nmy son Koit take care when you light the new light of the new day that\nevery place has its light.\" Both the Sun's servants honestly attended to\ntheir duty, so that he was never missing, even for a single day, from\nthe heavens. The short summer nights now drew near, when Koit and \u00c4marik\nstretched hand and mouth to each other: the time when the whole world\nrejoices, and the little birds make the forests ring with their songs in\ntheir own language; when plants begin to bloom, and shoot forth in their\nbeauty; when Vana-isa stepped down from his golden throne to keep\nLijon's festival. He found all in order, and rejoiced greatly over his\ncreation, and said to Koit and \u00c4marik, \"I am pleased with your\nwatchfulness, and wish you continued happiness! You may now become man\nand wife.\" But they both replied together, \"Father, perplex us not. We\nare satisfied as we are, and wish to remain lovers: for in this we have\nfound a happiness which never grows old, but is ever young.\" Vana-isa\ngranted their wish, and returned to his golden heaven.\n\nCf. Castr\u00e9n, _Finsk Mytologi_, p. 66, and \"Kalevala,\" Run. 17, line 478.\nThe Rev. Dr. Taylor kindly points out Dr. Donner's observation in his\n_Lieder der Lappen_, p. 55: \"Diese Anschauung ist doch bekanntlich auch\nunter den arischen V\u00f6lkern vielfach verbreitet.\"\n\nFor the discovery of the hero by his shooting, and the rest of the\nincidents of the story, cf. _Grimm_, ii. \"The Skilful Huntsman,\" p. 103,\nand notes, p. 412: and the marshal in \"The Two Brothers,\" _Grimm_, i. p.\n252. In the Lapp. _Friis_, No. 18, the Vesle boy compels the nobles who\ngo out shooting with him to give him the rings they had received from\nthe princesses they are betrothed to, before he will give them some\nptarmigan he had shot, and which they are anxious to have, as they had\nbeen unsuccessful in their search for game; and this in order to prevent\nfalse boasting on the part of the nobles, as we find in other variants.\nJuanillo, in the Spanish tale, makes each of his brothers give him a\ngolden pear, and then one of their ears; and next insists upon branding\nthem on the shoulder, as if they were his slaves: and so in the end\nproves their treacherous conduct; see _Patra\u00f1as_, \"Simple Johnny,\" p.\n38.\n\nIn \"Gutten, Havfruen, og Ridder R\u00f8d,\" from Lyngen, _Friis_, p. 131,\nKnight Red[15] acts the part of a traitor, and is shown to be so by the\nhero, who exhibits part of a ring, the other part of which the princess\nhas, and which they broke when the lad entered the princess' tower to\nfetch the king's sword, which was hidden there. The reward for bringing\nit to the battle-field being the princess' hand.\n\nSee also Ritter Red in \"Shortshanks,\" and the \"Big Bird Dan,\" pp. 155,\n443, in Dasent's _Tales from the Norse_.\n\nIn a Russian tale (_Afanassieff_, vi. 52), Ivan, by the help of his\nanimals, kills the twelve-headed serpent that is killing all his people,\nand then goes to sleep on the princess's knees. A water-carrier passing\ncuts off Ivan's head, and presents himself as the hero. The beasts\nreturn, and find a crow upon Ivan's body, which they spare on condition\nthat it brings the water of life and death. (This incident occurs in the\nFinnish \"Golden Bird\" a raven coming with its young ones to eat the\ncorpse.) Ivan is resuscitated, and the water-carrier punished.\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i. 216. Dogs restore the dead hero to life in the\nstory of \"John and the Amulet.\" _Folk-Lore Record_, 1884, p. 197. The\ncandle at the princesses' heads suggests the Indian stories which tell\nof sticks placed at the head or feet, and whilst they are there the girl\ncannot move. _Stokes_, pp. 54, 186.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAZY SPINNING GIRL WHO BECAME A QUEEN. Kriza, iv.\n\n\nThe story of the mannikin who is clever at spinning or weaving is\nwidespread. Thus, in a rubric of the \"Catalan\" map of the world, in the\nNational Library at Paris, the date of which map has been fixed at A.D.\n1375, we read, \"Here [N.W. of Catayo] grow little men who are but five\npalms in length; and though they be little, and not fit for weighty\nmatters, yet they be brave and _clever at weaving_, and at keeping\ncattle....\" (Col. Yule's translation in _Cathay, and the Way Thither_.)\n\nA Swedish story tells how a young newly-married girl is terribly upset\nby the constant calls of household work; and one morning, in despair at\nthe many things to be done, she shut herself in the room, and, throwing\nherself on the couch, wept bitterly, saying, \"Oh, unhappy me! Is there\nno one to help me, or comfort a poor woman?\" \"I can,\" said a voice; and\nlo! there was the old man of Hoberg, a good sprite, who had been a\nfriend to the family for generations.\n\n\"You bewail your slave life,\" said the old man, \"but that comes from\nyour want of practice in real work. I will give you ten obedient\nservants who will faithfully assist you in all your doings.\" Just then\nhe shook his coat, and ten droll little creatures sprang out, and began\nto put the room in order. \"Stretch forth your hands to me,\" said the old\nman. Elsa tremblingly put out her hands to the old man, who said--\n\n\n   \"Tummetott, Hjertehand\n    Slikepott, Lille Per Roligman.\"\n    L\u00e5ngest\u00e5ng,[16]\n\n\n\"Be quick and take your places!\" In a moment the ministering spirits\ndisappeared into Elsa's fingers, and the old man vanished.\n\nThe young wife sat staring at her hands for a time, but soon felt a\nstrange desire to work.\n\n\"Here am I sitting dreaming,\" said she, with unwonted cheerfulness, \"and\nit's already seven o'clock. Everyone is waiting for me,\" she continued;\nand, hurrying out, she began her work. From that time she was the model\nhousewife of the district; see _Hofberg_, p. 58. \"De tio tjenstandarna,\"\nfrom Sm\u00e5land.[17]\n\nCf. the mannikin called \"Panczimanczi,\" in Lad. Arany's \"_Eredeti\nN\u00e9pmes\u00e9k_,\" p. 277. His height is half an ell, his moustache two ells,\nhis beard three ells long. He is seen leaping merrily over a fire, and\nheard singing the following: \"I am Panczimanczi; no one knows my name; I\nroast, I cook, I boil; the day after to-morrow I shall fetch my pretty\nbride home.\"\n\nIn Kriza's tale his name is Dancing Vargaluska. \"How the name is held to\nbe part of the very being of the man who bears it, so that by it his\npersonality may be carried away, and, so to speak, grafted elsewhere,\nappears in the way in which the sorcerer uses it as a means of putting\nthe life of his victim into the image upon which he practises;\" _e.g._\nthe widespread making of wax images to represent certain persons, and\nthen melting them, that the persons named may waste away. Magyar\npeasants say, that hair combings must not be thrown away, lest the birds\nget them, and build them in their nests; for whilst they are doing so,\nyou will have headache; and again, if a young girl wishes to compel a\nyoung man to marry her she must steal something from the young man, and\ntake it to a witch, who adds to it three beans, three bulbs of garlic, a\nfew pieces of dry coal, and a dead frog. These are all put into an\nearthenware pot, and placed under the threshold, with the words, \"Lord\nof the infernal regions and of the devils, and possessor of the hidden\ntreasure, give to N. or M. some incurable illness (or inflame him with\nunquenchable love for N. or M.), and I will join you.\"\n\nSee also \"The two Orphans,\" where the witch's daughter steals a lock of\nthe queen's hair, p. 222. Cf. the Finnish method of curing \"knarr\"\n(German \"Knirrband\"), a complaint that is common at harvest-time among\nthose who are not used to the reaping-hook. Amongst its symptoms are\ncurious crackings of the wrist. The sick one asks someone who is well\n\"to chop his knarr\" for him, which is done as follows. The patient lays\nhis sick hand upon a chopping block, and three pieces of three-jointed\nstraw are so laid, side by side, as to correspond joint for joint. The\n\"doctor\" then takes an axe, and chops with all his strength into the\nblock through the first joint. \"What are you chopping?\" asks the sick\none. \"I'm chopping the 'knarr' out of your joint into the wood.\" The\nsame question and answer is repeated after second blow; after the last\nblow the chopper cries \"Now he's gone!\" In North Germany the ceremony is\nperformed on the threshold, and ends with the sign of the cross. Cf.\n_Finnish Folk-Lore_ in \"_Notes and Queries_,\" 6th S. xi. p. 23. Also,\n_Suomen Muinaismuisto-Yhdistyksen Aikakauskirja_, v. p. 103.\n\nAlgerian peasants have a great objection to their portraits being taken;\nand Holderness folks rub warts with stolen beef, &c., and let it rot,\nsaying the warts will disappear with the decaying of the meat, &c., &c.\n\"A similar train of thought shows itself in the belief that the\nutterance of the name of a deity gives to man a means of direct\ncommunication with the being who owns it, or even places in his hands\nthe supernatural power of that being, to be used at his will.\" Tylor's\n_Early History of Mankind_, pp. 124, 129, and Lubbock's _Origin of\nCivilisation_, p. 245.\n\nCf. Swedish \"J\u00e4tten Finn och Lunds domkyrka.\" _Hofberg_, p. 12. The\ngiant promises to build a church for the white Christ if Laurentius can\nfind out his name, and if not he must forfeit his eyes--\n\n\n   \"Helt visst\n    \u00c4r hvite krist\n    En gud, som sitt temple \u00e4r v\u00e4rdig.\n    Jag bygger det jag, om du s\u00e4ger mig blott\n    Hvad namn jag f\u00e5tt,\n    Se'n kyrkan \u00e4r murad och f\u00e4rdig.\n    Men kan du ej s\u00e4ga mitt namn, v\u00e4lan,\n    Du vise man!\n    Gif akt p\u00e5 hvad vite jag s\u00e4tter:\n    D\u00e5 m\u00e5ste du ge mig \u00e5t mina sm\u00e5\n    De facklor tv\u00e5,\n    Som vandra p\u00e5 himmelens sl\u00e4tter.\"[18]\n\n\nLaurentius found out that the giant's name was \"Finn\" by hearing the\ngiantess hush her crying child.\n\nSimilar tales are told of many churches. _E.g._ Drontheim Cathedral,\nwhere the giant is called \"Skalle\"; see Sj\u00f6borg, _Collections_, Part ii.\np. 182. Of Eskilss\u00e4ter's Church, where the giant's name was \"Kinn,\" see\nFernow, _Verml. Beskr_, i. p. 318.\n\nAlso of a church in Norrland, where St. Olaf found out the troll's name,\n\"Wind and Weather,\" see _Iduna_, vol. iii. p. 60; and about Kallundborgs\nChurch, in Sj\u00e4lland, cf. Thiele, _Danske Folkesagn_, i. p. 43.\n\n_Tales from the Land of Hofer_, \"The Wild J\u00e4ger and the Baroness\";\nsecret name, \"Buzinigala,\" p. 110.\n\nIn the _Land of Marvels_, Vernaleken, \"Winterkolble,\" p. 24; and\n\"Kruzim\u00fcgeli,\" p. 28.\n\n_Grimm_. vol. i. \"Rumpelstiltskin,\" pp. 221, 412.[19]\n\nThe tale appears to be confused towards the end, the three deformed\nbeggars being the three aunts of the Norse; see _Dasent_, p. 222. The\nordinary story has no dwarf or secret name in it; cf. Spanish tale of\n\"Guardian Spirits,\" in _Caballero_, p. 64.\n\nAlso, _Patra\u00f1as_, \"What Anna saw in the Sunbeam,\" p. 193.\n\nAnd in _Portuguese Folk-Tales_. \"The Aunts.\" _Folk-Lore Soc_. p. 79.\n\nOn the other hand, in the Swedish story from Upland the girl who could\nspin gold from clay and long straw was helped by a dwarf whose name\nturned out to be \"Titteli Ture!\". See Thorpe's _Yule Tales_, p. 168.\n\nSee also, _Grimm_, ii. p. 163, \"The Lazy Spinner,\" in which the woman by\nher wit contrives to evade her spinning; notes, p. 428. The Finnish\nstory of \"The Old Woman's Loom,\" from Korpo, is almost identical with\nGrimm's.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENVIOUS SISTERS. Kriza, v.\n\n\nCf. the beginning of the tale \"The Three Princesses,\" in the present\nvolume, p. 144. The tale is frequently found in Hungary, also amongst\nthe Germans and Servians.\n\nFor cruelty towards the best (generally the youngest), cf. pp. 36, 152,\n182 in this collection; _Chaucer_ and _Boccacio_; _Grimm_, i. \"The Girl\nwithout Hands,\" p. 127, and Notes, p. 378. The Finnish variant tells how\nthere was once a brother and sister, and when the father was dying he\nsaid to his son, \"Treat your sister well.\" All went on comfortably until\nthe brother married a girl who was \"the devil's wife's daughter,\" and\nbefore long, owing to her slanders, the sister was turned out. The girl\nthen went to the king's castle, and lived there as a beggar. In the\nspring the king's son went to sow his field, and said: \"Who first eats\nof these peas, she shall be my wife.\" This he said in a joke to the\nothers. But the girl was there, behind the fence, and she heard and\nremembered it all.\n\nSummer came--the peas were ripe. Then the girl dug a hole under the\nfence, and went and ate some peas. Suddenly the king's son remembered\nhis pea-field, and thought, \"I will go and see how the peas are getting\non.\" He went and saw some one had been eating them, and so he watched for\nsome time, and lo! a girl came cautiously through a hole and began to\neat the peas. The king's son seized her and carried her home in a sheet.\nThen he dressed her in a royal dress, and made her ready to be his wife,\nas a king's bride ought to be. They lived together till the king's son\nmade his wife pregnant, then he was obliged to go to the war, and he\nsaid to his wife, \"If you have a boy send me a letter, and I will come\nback: if it is a girl, send me a letter, and I will come back when I\ncan.\" Well! the wife had a son. She sent a letter asking her husband to\ncome home at once, and sent a slave with it. The slave went to spend the\nnight in the girl's home. When he had been there a little time the\nmistress said, \"Would you like to sleep here?\" \"Yes,\" answered the\nmessenger, and began to bathe; but the devil's daughter, in the\nmeantime, opened his bag and changed the letter's meaning, and put \"a\nfemale child is born.\" The slave knew nothing of it, but set off with\nthe letter to the king's son. When he read it he sent the same slave\nback with the answer, \"I will come when I have time,\" and the slave\nreturned. On his way he came to the same house, and the mistress in the\nsame way sent him to the bath and opened the bag and changed the letter,\n\"As the child is born, the woman must put off the royal dress and put on\nher own rags, and she may, with her child, go where she likes.\" The\nslave brought the letter to the wife, who did as the letter said, and\nset off begging and moaning. She began to be thirsty, and sought for\nwater in the wood. In a little time she found a well, where there was\nwonderfully clear water and a beautiful golden ladle. She put down her\nchild, and went a little way from the well. When the child was alone it\nstretched out to the ladle and fell head first into the well. The mother\nrushed to help him and got her child out before he was drowned. Wherever\nthe water touched her she became much more beautiful and white. The\nchild also became like no other in the world. The woman set off with her\nchild, and at last came to her own home, where her brother was still\nliving with his wife. She was not recognised, and asked for a night's\nlodging. The mistress shouted, \"Outside the door is a good place for\nyou.\" \"Very well,\" said the woman, and stayed there with her child all\nnight.\n\nShe sat there all night, and the king with his soldiers from the war\ncame there. As the king walked in his room, the woman let her child\ncrawl on the floor. It crawled to the king, who took it and said, \"Who\nare you, poor woman, who are so beautiful, and have so handsome a\nchild?\" \"I have been in this house before, but my sister-in-law hated\nme.\" \"Hold your noise, you blackguard,\" shouted the woman, and wished\nto stop her. But the other went on, \"My sister-in-law hated me, and\nthrashed me, and drove me away almost dead. I then went to the king's\ncastle, and became the king's son's wife. When I was pregnant the king's\nson went to war, and I sent him a letter that I had got a boy; but he\nwas so angry, that he ordered me and my child out; and so I had to leave\na good home.\" \"Hold your noise!\" shouted the brother's wife again. But\nthe king said, \"I am lord here;\" and the woman continued and explained\nall. The brother's wife again shouted, \"Hold your noise, you\ngood-for-nothing!\" Then the king seized her by the hair, and hanged her\nfrom the gutter, and took his wife and boy home, and they lived happily.\nIf they are yet alive, I don't know. \"Neitonen Hernemaassa.\"--\"The maid\nin the pea-field,\" _S. ja T._ 1, p. 116.--Cf. \"Neitonen Kuninkaan\nSadussa,\" (\"The maid in the king's garden,\") _id_. 108; \"Pigen uden\nHaender,\" in _Udwalgte Eventyr og Fortaellinger, en Laesebog for Folket\nog for den barnlige Werden_, (Copenhagen, 1843). No. 48, p. 258; \"The\nGirl without Hands,\" p. 182, in this collection; and Steere's _Swahili\nTales_. \"Blessing and Property,\" p. 403.\n\nThe Finnish tale, \"Tynnyriss\u00e4 kaswanut Poika,\" (\"The boy who grew in a\nbarrel,\") _S. ja T._ 1, 105, tells how a king's son heard the three\ndaughters of a peasant woman talking. The eldest said, \"I would like to\nmake all sorts of foods and drinks out of one corn;\" the middle one, \"I\nwould like to make all sorts of clothes out of one flax thread;\" the\nyoungest said, \"I don't like work, but will bear children three times,\nand have three sons each time, who shall have:\n\n\n   \"Kun kupeesta kuumottawi,\n    P\u00e4iwyt ompi p\u00e4\u00e4la' ella,\n    K\u00e4et on kultaa kalwoisesta,\n    Jal'at hopeiset polwista.\"\n\n   \"The moon shining in the temples,\n    The sun on the top of the head,\n    Hands of gold to the wrist,\n    Feet of silver from the knees.\"\n\n\nThe king's son marries the youngest girl and, when she is pregnant, goes\nto war. She bears three sons, which the midwife exchanges for three\nwhelps; the same thing happens a second time; and also a third time,\nwhen the wife manages to save one son. The people insist upon her being\nsent away; and so she and her child (which she takes secretly in her\nbosom) are put in a barrel and thrown into the sea. The barrel grows too\nsmall, so the lad kicks the bottom out, and they land, and live in a\nhut, where the woman makes nine cakes of her milk, and finds her other\neight boys. The king's son soon discovers them, and all goes well. The\nchanged letter also occurs in Antti Puuhaara.\n\nCf. Hahn, _Griechische M\u00e4rchen_; \"Sun, Moon, and Morning Star;\" in which\nthe king's son marries all the three girls.\n\n_Deccan Days_, \"Truth's Triumph,\" p. 54, where Guzra Bai had one hundred\nand one children, which the nurse threw out of the palace on the\ndust-heap, and substituted stones for them.\n\n_In the Land of Marvels_, \"The Blackbird,\" p. 34.\n\nStokes' _Indian Tales_. \"The boy who had a moon on his forehead, and a\nstar on his chin:\" also Ph\u00falmati R\u00e1ni who had on her head the sun; on\nher hands, moons; and her face was covered with stars.\n\nGonzenbach, _Sicilianische M\u00e4rchen_, vol. i. p. 19.\n\nStier, _Ungarische Volksm\u00e4rchen_: \"Die verwandelten Kinder.\"\n\nStier, _Ungarische Sagen_: \"Die beiden j\u00fcngsten K\u00f6nigskinder.\"\n\nSchott, _Wallachische M\u00e4rchen_: \"Die goldenen Kinder.\"\n\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i p. 412, says, \"In the European story, when the\nbeautiful princess, in the absence of the prince, her husband, gives\nbirth to two beautiful sons, the witch induces the absent prince to\nbelieve that, instead of real sons, his young wife has given birth to\npups. In the seventh story of the third book of Afanassieff, the young\nqueen gives birth, during the king's absence, to two sons, of whom one\nhas the moon on his forehead, and the other a star on the nape of his\nneck (the A\u00e7vin\u00e2u). The wicked sister of the young queen buries the\nchildren. Where they were buried a golden sprout and a silver one sprung\nup. A sheep feeds upon these plants, and gives birth to two lambs,\nhaving, the one the sun on its head, the other a star on its neck. The\nwicked sister, who has meanwhile been married to the king, orders them\nto be torn in pieces, and their intestines to be thrown out into the\nroad. The good lawful queen has them cooked, eats them, and again gives\nbirth to her two sons, who grow up hardy and strong, and who, when\ninterrogated by the king, narrate to him the story of their origin:\ntheir mother is recognised, and becomes once more the king's wife. The\nwicked sister is put to death.\" In vol. ii. p. 30, another story of\nAfanassieff, bk. iii. 13, is quoted, which resembles the \"Envious\nSisters\"; also a Servian story, p. 31, where the cut-off hands are\nreplaced by golden ones, by means of the ashes of three burned hairs\nfrom the tails of a black stallion and a white mare. Reference is also\nmade to _Pentamerone_, bk. iii. No. 2; _Afanassieff_, bk. iii. No. 6;\n_the Medi\u00e6val Legends of St. Uliva_, by Prof. A. d'Ancona, Pisa, Nistri,\n1863; and, _Figlia del Re di Dacia_, by Prof. A. Wesselofski, Pisa,\nNistri, 1866.\n\nCf. Notes in _Stokes_, pp. 242, 250; _Grimm_, vol. i.: \"The Gold\nChildren,\" p. 333.\n\n_Portuguese Tales_, by Pedroso: \"The Maiden with the Rose on her\nForehead,\" _F.L.S._ p. 65.\n\n\n\n\nKNIGHT ROSE. Kriza vi.\n\n\nIn folk-stories we often find the heroes erecting some post or pole, or\nleaving some article behind them, which will tell of their danger. Cf.\n\"The Three Princes,\" p. 111 of this volume. In \"The Two Brothers,\"\n(_Grimm_, vol. i. p. 244,) the foster-father gave to each of the boys a\nbright knife, and said, \"If ever you separate, stick this knife into a\ntree at the place where you part, and then when one of you goes back, he\nwill be able to see how his absent brother is faring, for the side of\nthe knife which is turned in the direction by which he went will rust if\nhe dies, but will remain bright as long as he lives.\" Cf. \"The Gold\nChildren,\" where death is shown by the drooping of the brother's gold\nlily: and notes, _ib._ p. 453.\n\nIn the Russian story \"Ivan Popyalof\" (_Afanassieff_, ii. 30), Ivan hung\nup his gloves, and said to his brothers, \"Should blood drop from my\ngloves, make haste to help me.\"\n\nIn \"Marya-Morevna\" (_Afanassieff_ viii. No. 8), the silver left by\nPrince Ivan turned black when evil befell him.\n\nIn \"Koschei, the Deathless\" (_Afanassieff_, ii. 24), Prince Ivan let\nsome drops of blood run from his little finger into a glass, gave it to\nhis brothers, and said \"If the blood in this glass turns black, tarry\nhere no longer; that will mean I am about to die.\"\n\nSee Ralston's _Russian Folk-Tales_, pp. 67, 88, 102.--The Serbian story\nof \"The Three Brothers\" tells how the brothers stuck their knives into\nan oak tree, and when a knife fell out it was a sign that the owner was\ndead. Vide _Denton_, p. 273.\n\nIn \"Five to One,\" _Sagas from the Far East_, p. 107, six youths set out\nand travelled till they came to where six streams met, and each planted\na tree at the head of the stream he chose, and if any tree withered away\nit was a sign evil had befallen its planter.\n\nIn the Greek story, \"Sun, Moon, and Morning Star,\" (Hahn, _Griechische\nM\u00e4rchen_,) the brothers give their sisters two shirts, and if they\nbecome black it means misfortune.--Cf. also _Folk-Lore Record_, vol. i.\np. 207.\n\nIn the curious Egyptian story of the \"Two Brothers,\" the younger brother\nsays to the elder one, \"When thou shalt take a jug of beer into thy hand\nand it turns into froth, then delay not; for to thee of a certainty is\nthe issue coming to pass.\" _Records of the Past_, vol. ii. p. 144.\n\nSee also Is\u00eclak\u00f2lona in \"Malagasy Folk-Tales,\" _Folk-Lore Journal_,\n1884, p. 130.\n\nIn folk-stories the giants were gifted with a keen sense of smell; and\nno sooner did they enter the room where a man was than they knew of his\nbeing there. The Norwegians and Swedes have stories of beings, which are\ncalled \"Trynetyrk,\" or \"Hundetyrk,\" and so have the Lapps and Finns. The\nLapps call them \"B\u00e6dnag-njudne,\" _i.e._, dog's nose; and the Finns,\n\"Koiran-Kuonalanien,\" which means the same. These monsters were men who\nhad noses like dogs, and so could track men by their scent. They were\nsaid to be enormously large, and to have had one eye in the middle of\ntheir forehead; and were much dreaded on account of their being\ncannibals. A Lapp story tells how once a Lapp girl got lost, and came to\na B\u00e6dnag-njudne's house. He was not at home, but his wife was. The girl\nwas little, poor, and quite benumbed by the cold, and looked so\nterrified that the wife thought it would be a sin for B\u00e6dnag-njudne to\neat her when he came home. So she took her and hid her under her gown.\nWhen B\u00e6dnag-njudne came home, he at once began to sniff about, and said,\n\"I smell some one.\" His wife said all sorts of things to make him\nbelieve it was not so; and, when she did not dare to conceal the girl\nany longer, she let her out of the house secretly, and told her to fly\nfor her life. Meanwhile, B\u00e6dnag-njudne was long sniffing about the\nhouse; and when he could not find anyone inside he went outside, and\nsoon found the footprints. So soon as the girl saw the monster was after\nher, in her terror she sprang from a bridge and hid herself under it. So\nthe monster lost the track, and the girl was saved. _Friis_, p. 43.--Cf.\n\"Jack the Giant Killer,\" where the giant says,\n\n\n   \"Fa, fe, fi, fo, fum,\n    I smell the blood of an Englishman;\n    Be he alive, or be he dead,\n    I'll grind his bones to make my bread.\"\n                              _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 504.\n\n\nIn the northern ballad we are told how a girl is carried off by the\nfairies. Two of her brothers set off to rescue her, but fail, because\nthey do not carry out Merlin's instructions. The third one succeeds;\nand, while he sits talking to his sister, the hall doors fly open and\nthe elf king comes in shouting:\n\n\n    \"With _fi_, _fe_, _fa_, and _fum_,\n    I smell the blood of a Christian man,\n    Be he dead, be he living, with my brand,\n    I'll clash his harns frae his harn pan.\"\n\n\nSee Dr. Jamieson's _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_.\n\nIn the Eskimo story of \"The Girl who fled to the Inlanders,\" (_Rink_, p.\n218,) the inlanders know a coast woman has come, by the smell: In\n\"Inuarutligak,\" we are told of singular people, whose upper parts are\nhuman, and lower little dogs: and are endowed with a keen sense of\nsmell.--Cf. p. 199, in this collection.\n\nThe cutting up of the hero's body reminds us of the Egyptian story of\nTyphon cutting up Osiris, who is restored to life by Horus; see _Uarda_,\nnote to cap. viii. Cf. also _Sagas from the Far East_, tale v. p. 75,\nand _Vernaleken_, \"The Three White Doves,\" p. 269.\n\nIn the Eskimo stories the heroes are restored to life by the singing of\ncertain mystic songs.\n\nIn the legend of Gur\u00fb Gugg\u00e2, the bullocks are restored to life by the\nsinging of charms; Temple's _Legends of the Punj\u00e2b_, p. 124. Cf.\n_Grimm_, vol. ii. \"Water of Life,\" and note, p. 399; Ralston's _Russian\nTales_, p. 236.\n\nThe \"wound-healing grass\"[20] is in all probability flixweed\n(_Sisymbrium Sophia_), the Magyar name for which signifies\n\"wound-healing leaf;\" see article on Sz\u00e9kely Folk-Medicine in _Folk-Lore\nRecord_, April, 1884, p. 98, and the Finnish story of \"Golden Bird.\"\n\nWith regard to the passage \"Rose ... was so beautiful that though you\ncould look at the sun you could not look at him,\" cf. the reply of\nCuridach to Attila, as related by Priscus. \"He, (Attila,) then invited\nCuridach, chieftain of the Akatziri, to come and celebrate their joint\ntriumph at his court, but that chieftain, suspecting that his\nbenefactor's kindness was of the same nature as the promised boon of\nPolyphemus to Ulysses, courteously declined, saying, 'It is hard for a\nman to come into the presence of a god, and if it be not possible to\nlook fixedly even at the orb of the sun, how shall Curidach gaze\nundistressed upon the greatest of God's' (_i.e._ Attila).\" _Italy and\nher Invaders_, by T. Hodgkin, London, 1880, vol. ii. p. 84.\n\nThe story of a girl assuming a snake's skin reminds us of the daughter\nof Ypocras, who dwelt at Lango, in the form of a great dragon; see _The\nVoyages and Travels of Sir John Maundeville_, cap. iv. See also,\n\"Snake-skin,\" in this collection, p. 283.--A Snake Friend occurs in the\nSwahili \"Blessing or Property,\" (_Steere_, p. 405); in the Finnish\n\"Haastelewat Kuuset,\" (\"The Talking Pines,\"); in \"Melusina,\" B. Gould's\n_Curious Myths_, p. 471, and in Keightley's _Fairy Mythology_, p.\n480.--In the Norse story of the \"Three Princesses of Whiteland,\"\n(_Dasent_, p. 210,) the princesses gradually rise out of the earth as\nthe lad destroys the trolls. See also _Vernaleken_, \"The Fisher's Son,\"\np. 250.\n\nIn the Serbian tale of \"The Three Brothers,\" _Denton_, p. 275, the witch\ndestroys two of the brothers, having first persuaded them to throw one\nof her hairs on their animals. The third brother resuscitates them, and\nall goes well. Cf. \"The Enchanted Doe,\" in _Pentamerone_.[21]\n\nCf. \"To Lappepiger gifte sig med Stall,\" _Friis_, 106, and \"Ivan,\nKupiskas Son,\" _Friis_, p. 170. Cf. exhaustive note in Stokes's _Indian\nTales_, pp. 163, 268; and the Portuguese tale, \"Slices of Fish,\" in\n_Pedroso: Folk-Lore Society_, p. 102. For animals that help, cf. \"The\nThree Princes,\" p. 113 of this volume.\n\nTo defeat a witch by drawing her blood is well known in the lore of the\npeople.\n\nCf. Lapp stories, \"Ulta Pigen,\" where the lad catches an Ulta girl by\npricking her in the hand with a pin, so as to draw blood. A similar\nincident occurs in \"Goveiter Pige,\" from N\u00e6sseby. In \"Bondes\u00f8nnen,\nKonges\u00f8nnen og Solens S\u00f8ster,\" from Tanen, the herd is told to prick his\nbride (who has gone from him on account of his looking behind) in her\nhand till blood comes, and then suck the drop off. He did so and secured\nhis bride. _Friis_, pp. 23, 39, 140.\n\nThe same superstition is well known in the North of England. In\nLincolnshire there is a tale still told (1888) of a farmer who could not\nget his horses to go past a certain cottage until he got down and\nthrashed the old woman, who lived there, till the blood came. Whereupon\nthe horses went past without further ado. In Sykes's _Local Records_ of\nNewcastle-upon-Tyne, under March 26th, 1649, we are told how it was\ndecided that certain women were witches, because blood did not come when\nthey were pricked with pins by the \"witch-finder.\" See also _Witch\nStories_ by L. Linton, p. 260, &c.\n\nWe must not feel surprised when we learn that it is still customary\namong the Servians and other half-civilised nations to subject women who\nare suspected as witches to the trial by water, since there are still\nmany persons living who can remember the same thing having been done in\nthe Netherlands and Germany. Thus, in 1823, it went through all the\npapers that a middle-aged woman at Delten, in Guelderland, being\nsuspected of being a witch, volunteered herself to prove her innocence\nby the trial of water, that the trial actually took place in broad\ndaylight before a crowd of people in a neighbouring canal, and that the\nresult of the trial turned out in her favour. The following case is more\nhorrible. It happened about thirteen years after the above date on the\nPeninsula Hela, near Dantzic. A man living in the Cassubian village\nCeynowa was taken ill with dropsy, and a quack pointed out a poor widow\nfifty-one years old, and mother of five young children, as the witch who\nhad caused the man's illness. In order to force her to undo the charm,\nthe quack beat her and jumped on her in a most brutal manner, and she\nwas led to the bed of the patient, who beat her with a stick until she\nwas covered with blood. Not content with this, the quack and some\nfishermen took her into a boat and rowed out to sea twice; they tied her\nhands and threw her into the water. On the second occasion they towed\nher after the boat so long that the poor creature was drowned. The\nfurther particulars are so revolting that one is apt to think that one\nreads a description of a punishment among the cannibals. And this\nhappened in the Prussian State in the month of August of the year\n1836!--From _Die Gartenlaube_, December 1884.\n\nSee also _Folk-Lore Record_, vol. v. p. 156, and Feb. 1883, p. 58; and\nHenderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, p. 181, and notes, which\nsays, \"In Brittany, if the lycanthropist be scratched above the nose, so\nthat three drops of blood are extracted, the charm is broken. In\nGermany, the werewolf has to be stabbed with knife or pitchfork thrice\non the brows before it can be disenchanted.\"\n\n_Restoration to Life_. Cf. \"Marya Morevna,\" _Ralston_, p. 91; Panch-Phul\nRanee, _Frere_, p. 140; \"Loving Lail\u00ed,\" _Stokes_, p. 83, where Majn\u00fan is\nrestored to life by Lail\u00ed cutting her little finger inside her hand\nstraight down from the top of her nail to her palm, out of which the\nblood gushed like healing medicine; and the B\u00e9l-Princess, where the\nblood of the little finger again comes in. Also \"Golden Hair,\" _Nauk\u00e9_,\np. 108, and the Lapp story \"Ivan,\" _Friis_, p. 176. Mr. Quigstad, of\nTroms\u00f8, to whose courtesy and learning I am deeply indebted, says he has\nheard a similar incident in a Lapp story from Lyngen.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCE MIRK\u00d3. Kriza, xiii.\n\n\n_Page 59_. In the Finnish \"Lepp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky\" (\"Alder Block\"), _S. ja T_. ii.\np. 2, one half of the castle laughs and one half cries. The crying being\non account of a great three-headed snake which arose from the sea, and\nwould devour half the castle, half the men, and half the precious stones\nif the king did not give his eldest daughter in their stead.\n\n_Page 63_. The T\u00e1tos is a mythic horse possessed of the most marvellous\npowers. It is generally represented (as in the present tale) as being a\nmost wretched creature to begin with. Cf. \"The Little Magic Pony,\" p.\n157; \"The Three Princes, &c.,\" p. 197, where it is hatched from a\nfive-cornered black egg; \"the wretched foal which lies seven fathoms\ndeep in the dung-heap,\" in \"The Pelican,\" p. 256; the ugly creature in\n\"The Girl with the Golden Hair,\" p. 264; and the piebald in the\n\"Fairies' Well,\" p. 289. It feeds on burning cinders, and its breath\nchanges the most wretched things into the most glorious. Sometimes,\nhowever, the first breath has an extraordinary effect, as _e.g._ p. 198,\nwhere Ambrose becomes like \"a diseased sucking pig.\" The name is still a\nfavourite one among the peasants for their horses. The word T\u00e1tos also\nmeant a priest in the old pagan days, but it never has this meaning in\nthe folk-tales.\n\n\nThe T\u00e1tos also appears in \"Die K\u00f6nigst\u00f6chter,\" in Mail\u00e1th's _Magyarische\nSagen_, vol. i. p. 61. See also \"Zauberhelene,\" vol. ii. of the same\ncollection, where we are told \"Taigarot war ein wunderbares Pferd; es\nverstand die Reden der Menschen, antwortete auch und hatte neun F\u00fcsze.\"\nThe whole story tells how Argilus carries off his wife, Helen, from the\npower of Holofernes, the fire-king, who has got her in his underground\nhome. Taigarot belongs to Holofernes, and tells him where Helen is\ncarried off, and so he recovers her. Argilus hears that the magic horse\nhas a younger brother still more powerful although possessing but four\nlegs. This horse belongs to one Iron nose, a witch, and so Argilus\nenters her service in order to obtain it. His duties are, first to\ncontrol the witch's stud of brazen horses; next to look after her\ntwelve black mares, who are her daughters, and then to milk them, and\nmake a bath of their milk. He manages to do all by means of a magic\nstaff, and so obtains the horse; whilst the witch is burnt to death in\nthe bath which she thinks will make her young. The horse tells Argilus\nto wash it in the bath, and it at once becomes the colour of gold, and\nfrom every hair hangs a golden bell. With this horse Argilus carries off\nhis wife. Holofernes follows on Taigarot, and not being able to overtake\nthem, digs his spurs into Taigarot, who in his indignation at such\ntreatment kicks Holofernes off, and so breaks his neck.\n\nFor magic horses in other lands cf. the following tales:--the Finnish\n\"Oriiksi Muntettu Poika;\" \"The Little White Horse\" in \"Ferdinand the\nFaithful,\" _Grimm_, ii. p. 156; Katar, in \"The Bay with a Moon and\nStar,\" _Stokes_, p. 131, which becomes changed by twisting his right\near; \"Weisnittle,\" in Stier's _Ungarische Volksm\u00e4rchen_, p. 61;\nSleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse that used to carry the father of the\ngods as swift as the wind over land and sea, in Wagner's _Asgard and the\nGods;_ and \"Bayard, Faithful Bayard!\" the good steed in the Carolingian\nLegends in Wagner's _Epics and Romances of the Middle Ages_, pp.\n367-396; \"the shaggy dun filly\" in \"The Young King of Easaidh Ruadh,\" in\n_Campbell's Tales of the Western Highlands_, vol. i. p. 4; and the\n\"steed,\" in \"The Rider of Grianaig,\" vol iii. p. 14 of the same book.\n\nA magic horse appears in the Lapp story \"J\u00e6tten og Veslegutten,\" (The\nGiant and the Vesle Boy), from Hammerfest; _Friis_, p. 48. In this case\nit assists the boy to escape from the giant, and to marry a king's\ndaughter; and finally becomes a prince when its head is cut off. \"A\nwinged horse\" appears in \"Ivan, Kupiskas S\u00f8n,\" a story from Akkala, in\nRussian Finland; _Friis_, p. 170. In \"J\u00e6tten Katten og Gutten\" (the\nGiant, the Cat, and the Boy), from Alten, _Friis_, p. 63, the boy saves\nthe giant's son from a troll cat, and is told by the lad he saves, that\nhis father will offer him a gold horse and \"a miserable one,\" and he is\nto be sure and choose the miserable one; and in like manner he was to\nchoose a miserable box, and a miserable flute, in preference to golden\nones, which would be offered to him. There is a somewhat similar Finnish\nstory, \"Paholaisen antamat Soittoneuwot\" (Musical Instruments Given by\nthe Devil), _S. ja T._, vol. i. p. 181, where the hero, when in the\nwoods, sees the devil[22] running for his life, with a pack of wolves at\nhis heels. The lad shoots into the pack, killing one wolf, and thus\nterrifying the rest. The grateful devil promises the lad whatever he\nwishes. Acting on the advice of a maid in the devil's house, he asks\n\"for the mare which is in the third stall, on the right-hand side of the\nstable.\" The devil is very loath to give this, but is obliged to do so,\nand gives the boy a kantele, a fiddle, and a flute besides. The mare\nacts the part of a T\u00e1tos for part of the tale, and then changes into a\nwoman, being the wife of the king, who appears at the latter part of the\nstory, and who orders the hero to perform difficult tasks. The kantele\nis like the fiddle in the \"Jew in a thicket\" (_Musical Myths_, vol. ii.\np. 122; _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 97), it makes every one dance that hears\nit. The woman drops out of the story, and the persecuting king is kicked\nup into the clouds by the irate devil who comes to help the hero, and is\nnever heard of again.\n\nA horse that can talk plays a prominent part in another Finnish tale,\n\"The Golden Bird.\"--\"Dapplegrim\" is the magic foal in the Norse; see\n_Dasent_, pp. 313 and 367. See also the \"brown foal\" in _Grimm_, \"Two\nBrothers,\" No. 107, and the \"white horse,\" in \"Ferdinand the Faithful,\"\nNo. 126, and _note_.\n\nNote also horses in \"Der goldne Vogel,\" \"Das Zauberross,\" and \"Der Knabe\nund der Schlange,\" in Haltrich's, _Siebenbuergische M\u00e4rchen_; \"La Belle\naux cheveux d'or,\" in _Contes des F\u00e9es_, par Mme. D'Aulnoy; \"Sch\u00f6nchen\nGoldhaar,\" _M\u00e4rchensaal aller V\u00f6lker f\u00fcr Jung und Alt_, Dr. Kletke, i.\np. 344; \"Der goldne Apfelbaum,\" in Kaiadschitsch, _Volksm\u00e4rchen der\nSerben_, p. 33; and Denton, p. 43. Enchanted horses play a prominent\npart in \"Simple Johnny,\" p. 36, and \"The Black Charger of Hernando,\" p.\n292, in _Patranas or Spanish Stories_.--Cf. \"The little Mare\" from\nMentone, _F. L. Record_, vol. iii. p. 44. The Russians tell of \"a sorry\ncolt rolling in the muck,\" which possesses marvellous powers in \"Marya\nMorevna,\" _Ralston_, p. 94; and in \"Koshchei, the Deathless,\" there is\nan heroic steed, _ibidem_, p. 101. See also \"Ivan Kruchina,\" _Naake_, p.\n124. \"The marvellous white horse\" appears also in Austria; see _Land of\nMarvels_, pp. 48, 256, 260, 272, 342.\n\nIn the story of the third royal mendicant, in the _Arabian Nights_, Agib\nmounts a black horse and flies through the air. Similar incidents will\nbe found in Nos. 1, 2, 4, 10, 17 of Dietrich's _Runische Volksm\u00e4rchen_.\nSeveral variants, together with the author's view of their significance,\nare to be found in _Gubernatis_, vol. i., chap. ii.\n\nThe following, quoted from Stokes's _Fairy Tales_, p. 278, is worthy of\nnotice:--\n\n\"On the morning of the day which was to see his last fight, C\u00fachulainn\nordered his charioteer, Loeg, to harness the Gray to his chariot. 'I\nswear to God what my people swears' said Loeg, 'though the men of\nConchobar's fifth (Ulster) were around the Gray of Macha, they could not\nbring him to the chariot.... If thou wilt, come thou, and speak with the\nGray himself.' C\u00fachulainn went to him. And thrice did the horse turn his\nleft side to his master.... Then C\u00fachulainn reproached his horse, saying\nthat he was not wont to deal thus with his master. Thereat the Gray of\nMacha came and let his big round tears of blood fall on C\u00fachulainn's\nfeet. The hero then leaps into his chariot and goes to battle. At last\nthe Gray is sore wounded, and he and C\u00fachulainn bid each other farewell.\nThe Gray leaves his master; but when C\u00fachulainn, wounded to death, has\ntied himself to a stone pillar to die standing, then came the Gray of\nMacha to C\u00fachulainn to protect him so long as his soul abode in him, and\nthe 'hero's light' out of his forehead remained. Then the Gray of Macha\nwrought the three red routs all around him. And fifty fell by his teeth\nand thirty by each of his hooves. This is what he slew of the host. And\nhence is (the saying) 'Not keener were the victorious courses of the\nGray of Macha after C\u00fachulainn's slaughter.' Then Lugaid and his men cut\noff the hero's head and right hand and set off, driving the Gray before\nthem. They met Conall the Victorious, who knew what had happened when\nhe saw his friend's horse. And he and the Gray of Macha sought\nC\u00fachulainn at the pillar-stone. Then went the Gray of Macha and laid his\nhead on C\u00fachulainn's breast. And Conall said, 'A heavy care to the Gray\nof Macha is that corpse.' Conall himself, in the fight he has with\nLugaid, to avenge his friend's slaughter, is helped by his own horse,\nthe Dewy-Red. When Conall found that he prevailed not, he saw his steed,\nthe Dewy-Red, by Lugaid. And the steed came to Lugaid and tore a piece\nout of his side.\"\n\n(\"C\u00fachulainn's Death,\" abridged from the \"Book of Leinster,\" in _Revue\nCeltique_, Juin, 1877, pp. 175, 176, 180, 182, 183, 185).\n\nSee also, Grimm's _Teutonic Mythology_, Stallybrass, vol. i. pp. 328,\n392; McGregor's _Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland_, p. 131; and\nBelludo, the goblin horse of Alhambra. Nor must we forget \"Phooka,\" the\nwild horse of Erin's isle.\n\nNote also the \"Iliad\"; cf. book ii. 760, book viii. 157, book x. 338,\n473; specially Xanthus and Balius who talk, book xix. 440; and,\nMartial's splendid epigram, beginning \"Phosphore redde diem, cur gaudia\nnostra moraris?\"\n\nThus on every side we find this noble creature entwined in the lore of\nthe people, from the peasants' dull superstition to great Milton's\nsong,--\n\n\n   \"Of the wondrous horse of brass,\n    On which the Tartar king did ride.\"\n\n\nThe horse still plays an important part in the folk-lore. Thus _e.g._\nYorkshire people say, that if you see a piebald horse, and do not look\nat his tail, or think of a fox, whatever you wish for will be granted;\nalso, that you must spit over your finger for luck when you see a white\nhorse. The four black horses and chariot still rush through Penzance\nstreets in the night, according to some, and the white horse is carried\nby the Christmas mummers in various parts of England and Germany. In the\nMidlands a horse's head and skin is dragged about on Christmas eve; a\nsimulacrum, as some think, of Odin's heroic steed. Cf. _Henderson_, p.\n70, also F. Finn and Magyar Songs on St. Stephen's Day. _Academy_ 1884.\npp. 150, 315.\n\n_Page 63_. For breathing on old things and causing them to change, see\np. 92, where the baa-lambs restore the lad's body by blowing; and a\nFinnish tale tells how a snake commands the hero to create with his\nclean breath a copper battlefield that they may fight, and is told by\nthe man to create an iron one with his heathen breath, which he does;\nand other snakes come in the story who in turn create copper and silver\nbattlefields, see Lepp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky, _S. ja T._ 2.\n\nSometimes the change is effected by a bath, as in \"Fairy Elizabeth,\" p.\n110, _supra_.\n\nCf. _Grimm_, \"Iron John,\" vol. ii. p. 195.\n\n_Page 65._ A glass mountain appears in the \"Iron Stove,\" _Grimm_, vol.\nii. p. 161; \"the princess on the glass mountain\" in Thorpe's _Yule-Tide\nStories_, p.86; and \"The crystal mountain\" in _Vernaleken_ p. 276. It\noccurs also in a Lincolnshire story, where the forsaken wife sits at her\nhusband's door and sings:\n\n\n   \"Bare bull of orange return to me,\n    For three fine babes I bore to thee,\n    And climbed a glass hill for thee,\n    Bare bull of orange return to me.\"\n                      _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1885, p. 188.[23]\n\n\nSee also notes to \"The Little Magic Pony,\" _infra_.\n\nThe giant in \"Handsome Paul,\" p. 26, like the T\u00e1tos in the present tale,\ntells his friend to shut his eyes and open them at intervals on account\nof the great speed they are going at; just as in the Finnish \"Golden\nBird,\" the young man on the wolf's back is obliged to rub his eyes with\nhis handkerchief because the pace they are going at makes them water. In\nthe hurry he drops it and asks the wolf to stop a minute to pick it up\nand is told it is already 1,000 miles behind them.\n\n_Page 66._ Knight Mezey's wonderful sword is one of a numberless group\nof incidents wherein the sword plays an important part; in this story\nMirk\u00f3 ordered out his magic sword to protect him while he slept, and\nthen to join with Knight Mezey's in mowing down the enemies. When he met\nDoghead (p. 73), their swords in like manner flew out of the scabbards\nand fought their masters' battles; and in the \"Secret-keeping little\nBoy,\" p. 233, in this collection, the hero is born with a scabbard at\nhis side, whilst a sword point appeared in the garden and grew as the\nscabbard grew; this sword cut up into pulp any one who came near its\nmaster on mischief bent. Alderblock's sword in the Finnish story in like\nmanner flew out and cut Sy\u00f6j\u00e4t\u00e4r into mincemeat. The Greeks told of\n\"Harp\u00e9,\" the sword Hermes lent to Perseus, and of the honoured swords of\nUlysses and Achilles.\n\nNorse legends tell of wondrous swords, such as Odin's \"Gram\" that he\ndrove into an ash tree there to remain till the man should be found\nstrong enough to draw it out.[24] Cheru's sword, forged by the dwarfs,\n\"shone every morning on the high place of the sanctuary, sending forth\nits light afar when dawn arose like a flame of fire;\" then there is\nHeimdal, born of nine mothers, the sword \"Ase\" of the Edda, who with his\nmighty sword made even cunning Loki cry for mercy.\n\nIn the Niebelungen there is \"Balmung,\" craftily made by the dwarfs and\ntempered in dragons' blood, wherewith Siegfried smote the giants, and\ndid mighty wonders, yea, even after its master's death slaying his\nenemies, till at last it rested on his grave by Brunhild's side. Roland\nwielded his good sword \"Durindart,\" the gift of an angel, against the\nPaynim foe and did great wonders.\n\nDietrich in terrible conflict won \"Eche-sax\": Flammberg and the good\nhorse Bayard wrought wonders in the days of Haymon and his children:\nHunford's token of reconciliation to Beowulf, was the gift of \"Hrunting\"\nhardened in dragon's blood: N\u00e4gling, Nagelring, and Rosen, too, smote\ntheir worms, whilst \"Mimung,\" good trusty Mimung, in the hands of\nheroes, did mighty wonders, even splitting asunder a floating pack of\nwool; and was so keen that Amilias did not know that Mimung had cut him\nin two till he shook himself; and lo! he fell into two pieces. Wayland\nSmith laboured in our own land, and brought forth a wondrous sword.\n\n\n   \"Bitterfer, the sword hight,\n    Better swerde bar never knight.\n      Horn, to thee ich it thought,\n\n    Is nought a knight in Inglond\n    Schal sitten a dint of thine hand;\n    Forsake thou it nought.\"\n\n\nCharlemagne had his \"Joyeuse\"; Roland his \"Durendal\"; Arthur his\n\"Excalibur\"--\n\n\n   \"All the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,\n    Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth work\n    Of subtlest jewellery.\"\n\n\nA wondrous thing that \"rose up out of the bosom of the lake,\" held by an\narm \"clothed in white samite, mystic and wonderful;\" and when the sword\nwas thrown back to the lake (its master's life being well nigh run) by\nthe bold Sir Bedivere--\n\n\n                              \"behold an arm\n    Clothed in white samite, mystic and wonderful,\n    That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him\n    Three times, and drew him under in the mere.\"\n\n\nCf. Wagner's _Epics and Romance; Asgard and the Gods; Morte d'Arthur_,\nbook 1, cap. xxiii. and book 21, cap. v.; _Mythical and Medi\u00e6val\nSwords_, by Lady Verney, in _Contemporary Review_, October, 1880; _The\nSeven Champions of Christendom;_ and Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. xi.\npp. 129, 164.\n\nIn the Finnish \"Oriiksi muutettu poika,\" the devil has a wonderful\nsword, which the hero obtains by the help of the horse: see also \"The\nWater Smith,\" Keightley's _Fairy Mythology_, p. 260.--\"Shortshanks,\" in\n_Dasent_, p. 153, gets possession of the only eye an old hag had, and so\nobtained \"a sword, such a sword! It would put a whole army to flight, be\nit ever so great;\" and certainly it chopped up sundry ogres later on in\nthe tale; cf. p. 188 in the same collection.\n\nThe trap-door by which Mirk\u00f3 entered the nether world appears in many\nstories, such as \"St. Patrick's Purgatory\"; see Baring Gould's _Curious\nMyths_, p. 230, and note to \"Shepherd Paul\" in this collection, _infra_.\n\n_Page 68._ In the Lapp stories it is said that if Stallo's[25] dog is\nnot killed as well as the monster himself, that it will lick its\nmaster's blood and then Stallo will come to life again, just as the\nwitch in this story is evolved out of the morsels of unburnt ribs. See\n\"Stallo\" and \"Fogden i Vads\u00f8, som gjorde sig til en Stallo,\" in _Friis_,\npp. 74, 97.\n\n_Page 71._ The flashing eyes of the princess remind us of the Gorgons.\nHer repentance is like that of the queen in the Russian story, who slays\nand restores the hero; _Ralston_, p. 235.\n\nThe \"strength-giving fluid\" occurs in numerous stories, _e.g._, in the\nFinnish stories, \"Alder Block,\" _S. ja T._, ii., p. 2, and the\n\"Enchanted Horse,\" where the hero cannot move an immense sword until he\nwets his head with the blood that is in a tub in the middle of the\nforbidden room in the devil's house. Cf. also _Ralston_, p. 237;\n_Dasent_, \"The big bird Dan,\" pp. 445, 459; _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879, p.\n99; and, \"Irish Folk-Tales,\" _ibidem_, 1883, p. 55.\n\nSometimes it is a belt or ointment that gives strength, as in \"The Blue\nBelt\" and \"The Three Princesses of Whiteland,\" in _Dasent_, pp. 178,\n209. Cf. _ante_, p. 248.\n\nA daughter explains to the hero how to conquer her father, in Brockhaus,\n_M\u00e4rchensammlung des Somadeva Bhatta_, vol. i., p. 110.\n\n_Page 72._ In the Karelian story \"Awaimetoin Wakka,\" _S. ja T._ i., p.\n151, the lad threw a great iron pole against V\u00e4\u00e4r\u00e4py\u00e4r\u00e4's castle, in\norder to let the inmates know he was coming. In the Finnish \"Alder\nBlock,\" _S. ja T._ ii. p. 2, the hero throws or kicks off one of his\nshoes, and it flies to his comrades, and they come and help him.\n\nIn \"The History of Gherib and his brother Agib,\" Terkenan threw an iron\nmace at his son with such power that it smote three stones out of a\nbuttress of the palace; Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. vi., p. 152. See\nalso \"Story of Vasilisa\" in Naake's _Slavonic Tales_, p. 57; and \"Sir\nPeppercorn,\" in Denton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_, p. 128: where Peppercorn\nhurls the giant's mace back to him just as Mirk\u00f3 did; and _Roumanian\nFairy Tales_, p. 64.\n\nAs to the name \"Doghead,\" see Notes to \"The Three Dreams,\" _infra_, p.\n377.\n\n_Page 74._ The castle that collapses into an apple also appears in \"The\nThree Princes,\" p. 206, in this collection.\n\nFor a variant of Knight Mezey cf. \"Z\u00f6ldike,\" a Magyar tale, in _Gaal_,\nvol. iii., in which the beautiful meadow, the tent, the sleeping knight,\nand the witch weaving soldiers, all occur.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STUDENT WHO WAS FORCIBLY MADE KING. Kriza vii.\n\n\n_Page 77._ Heroes of folk-tales often attain wealth, &c., by picking up\nsome apparently useless thing on the road. See Halliwell, _Nursery\nRhymes_, \"The Three Questions;\" \"The Princess of Canterbury,\" pp.\n153-155.\n\nOriental writers, Indian and Persian, as well as Arab, lay great stress\nupon the extreme delicacy of the skin of the fair ones celebrated in\ntheir works, constantly attributing to their heroines, bodies so\nsensitive as to brook with difficulty the contact of the finest shift,\nand we may fairly assume that the skin of an Eastern beauty, under the\ninfluence of constant seclusion and the unremitting use of cosmetics and\nthe bath, would in time attain a pitch of delicacy and sensitiveness\nsuch as would in some measure justify the seemingly extravagant\nstatements of their poetical admirers, of which the following anecdote\n(quoted by Ibn Khellikan from the historian Et Teberi) is a fair\nspecimen. Ardeshir Ibn Babek (Artaxerxes I.), the first Sassanian King\nof Persia (A.D. 226-242), having long unsuccessfully beseiged El Hedr, a\nstrong city of Mesopotamia, belonging to the petty king Es Satiroun, at\nlast obtained possession of it by the treachery of the owner's daughter,\nNezireh, and married the latter, this having been the price stipulated\nby her for the betrayal of the place to him. It happened afterwards\nthat one night as she was unable to sleep and turned from side to side\nin the bed, Ardeshir asked her what prevented her from sleeping. She\nreplied, 'I never yet slept in a rougher bed than this; I feel something\nirk me.' He ordered the bed to be changed, but she was still unable to\nsleep. Next morning she complained of her side, and on examination a\nmyrtle leaf was found adhering to a fold of the skin, from which it had\ndrawn blood. Astonished at this circumstance, Ardeshir asked if it was\nthis that had kept her awake, and she replied in the affirmative. 'How,\nthen,' asked he, 'did your father bring you up?' She answered, 'He\nspread me a bed of satin, and clad me in silk, and fed me with marrow\nand cream and the honey of virgin bees, and gave me pure wine to\ndrink.'--Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. ix., note to p. 148. Cf. \"the\nTale of the Dragon,\" in Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, p. 142.\n\nThe same idea is the theme of _Andersen's_ \"The Princess and the\nPea.\"--Cf. Finnish verse about the lovely Katherine, p. 314.\n\n_Page 78._ The castle turns round upon the approach of the dragon in the\nstory of \"Vasilisa,\" in _Naak\u00e9_, p. 51; see also _Ralston_, p. 66.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN OF TWO RICH MEN. Kriza viii.\n\n\nFor another variant cf. the Magyar tale \"The Poor Man and His Child's\nGodfather\" in Mer\u00e8nyi's _Eredeti N\u00e9pmes\u00e9k_, vol. i. See also the Finnish\nstory, \"Lehm\u00e4\u00e4 wuohena my\u00f6j\u00e4,\" (\"The Man who sold his Cow as a Goat\")\nfrom Tavastland and Karelia, _S. ja T._ ii. p. 126, which tells of a man\nbeing fooled into the belief that his cow was a goat, but in the end he\noverreaches the sharpers.\n\nCf. Dasent's _Tales from the Norse:_ \"Gudbrand on the Hill Side,\" p.\n172; \"Not a Pin to choose between them,\" p. 198; and \"Big Peter and\nLittle Peter,\" p. 387.\n\n_Grimm_, \"Wise Folks,\" vol. ii. p. 73; \"Hans in Luck,\" vol. i. p. 325.\n\nRalston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, \"The Fool and the Birch Tree\"\n(Afanassieff V. No. 52), p. 49. Also the latter part of the \"Bad wife,\"\n_ib._ i. No. 9.\n\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 44, 200, and 388.\n\n_Dublin Magazine_ 1868, p. 707, \"Bardiello.\"\n\nPayne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. iv. p. 223, \"The Simpleton and the\nSharper.\"\n\n_Udvalgte Eventyr og Fort\u0153llinger_ ved C. Molbech. _Kj\u00f6benhavn_,\n1843, p. 317, \"L\u00f6n som forskyldt, et jydsk eventyr.\"\n\nMyllenhoff, _Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Lieder der Herzogth\u00fcmer Schleswig\nHolstein und Lauenburg_. (Kiel, 1845.) \"Die reichen Bauern.\"\n\nJ. W. Wolff (Leipzig, 1845), _Deutsche M\u00e4rchen und Sagen_, ii. p. 52,\n\"Die betrogenen Schelme.\"\n\nKletke, _M\u00e4rchensaal aller V\u00f6lker_, i. p. 98, \"Herr Scarpacifico.\"\n\n_Il Pentamerone_, ii. 10, \"Lo compare.\"\n\n_Grimm_, vol. i. \"Clever Elsie,\" p. 138; Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_;\n\"Foolish Sach\u00fali,\" pp. 27, 257; _Folk-Lore Record_, 1884, p. 40, Variant\nof \"The Three Noodles.\" See also Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, \"Mr.\nVinegar,\" p. 149, and the well-known verses about the pedlar called\nStout, and \"The Wise Men of Gotham,\" pp. 24, 56.\n\nAmongst the numerous other simpleton stories we may note those where\npeople harrow up their feelings about that which might happen to as yet\nunborn children.\n\nThe following are Magyar simpleton tales:--\n\nThe people in one village tried to carry a ladder through a forest\n_across_ their shoulders and cut all the trees down so as to get\nthrough.\n\n_In another_: A stork soiled the new gold nob on the spire and they shot\nit so awkwardly that it hung there and disfigured the place worse than\never.\n\n_In another_: Some grass was growing upon an old church: so, instead of\ncutting it and throwing it down, they erected an elaborate scaffold and\npulled a bull up by a rope tied round his neck. The poor brute, half\nstrangled, put out his tongue, whereupon they said, \"See, he wants it\nalready.\"\n\n_In another_: When the Turks were coming they put a foal in a little\ngrotto, and when it grew they could not get it out.\n\n_In another_: By mistake they made it out that they ate the _same_\nlentils twice, which is still a joke against them.\n\nIn Finland there are many such tales current, of which the following are\nspecimens. There is a village called H\u00f6lm\u00f6la, the inhabitants of which\nare said to be very cautious, and who always considered well before\ndoing anything, lest they might get into trouble by overmuch haste. For\ninstance, when they are going to cut their rye, they always take seven\npersons, one bent the rye-stalk down; another held a piece of wood under\nit; the third cut the straw off; the fourth carried it to the sheaf; the\nfifth bound the sheaf; the sixth piled the sheaves together; and the\nseventh ricked them. Matti chanced to see them one day, and was struck\nwith their manner of working. When evening came there was but a quarter\nof the field cut; so he thought he would do them a good turn, and set to\nwork to cut and bind the rest. When he had finished he laid his sickle\non the last shock and went to sleep. Next morning, when the H\u00f6lm\u00f6la\npeople came, they found all cut, and the sickle lying on the shock. They\nwere all astounded, and came to the conclusion that work done in such\nhurry must have been done by witchcraft, and that the sickle was the\nwizard who had transformed himself into that shape, and concluded that\nhe ought to be drowned in order to prevent him interfering with honest\nfolks' work for the future. As it was not deemed wise to touch such a\ncreature, they fished it down by means of a long pole with a loop at the\nend, and dragged it to the shore, although it was very troublesome, as\nit would stick into the stubble and ditches, and try to prevent them\ndragging it along. At last it was got into a boat, and rowed off into\nthe middle of the lake. They then tied a large stone to the handle with\na strong rope, so that it might not float, and then with joyous shout\nthrew it into the water. Unfortunately the sickle caught the bulwark of\nthe boat; and, being weighted with a heavy stone, the boat canted over,\nand the good folks barely escaped with their lives from the wicked wiles\nof the wizard.[26]\n\nOnce they built a hut, and did it so thoroughly that they forgot the\nwindows. When it was done, it was very dark, and so they sat down to\nconsider how to get the light in. At last they hit upon a plan: the\nlight was to be brought in a sack! So they opened the bag wide in the\nsunlight, and then, when it was full, tied it carefully up, and brought\nit in; but alas! the darkness was not enlightened. They were very much\ncast down at this; and while they pondered over it Matti passed by, and,\nhearing of their trouble, offered to get them the needed light for one\nhundred marks; and they were delighted to get it for so little. Matti\ncut a hole in the wall, and lo! the hut was flooded with light. The\npeople were so delighted that they decided to take the whole wall down.\nNow they had light enough, but unfortunately, just then the hut fell\ndown.\n\nThe writer of this has often heard in Holderness of a man who could not\nget into his trousers, and used to get up hours before his comrade, and\nget into his trousers by setting them up by a chair and jumping into\nthem; till at last he was told to sit down, and put on first one leg and\nthen the other. This was a great revelation to him. Another man took his\nwheelbarrow to wheel daylight in, and worked away till he was told to\nopen his shutters, and it would _come_ in. One day another brilliant saw\nsome grass in a church steeple, and was just going to hoist his cow up\nto it, when a friend pointed out to him that it was easier for _him_ to\ngo up and bring it down. When at school at Newcastle-on-Tyne, some\ntwenty years ago, we were very fond of the story of a Dutchman, who,\nwith his comrades, went out walking one night; saw the moon's reflection\nin the water, and thought it was a Dutch cheese. He determined that the\nbest way to get it was to go on to the bridge, and by taking hold of\neach other's feet to form a chain, and so reach the cheese. The Dutchman\nwas top man, and held on to the bridge. Just when the bottom man was\nabout to seize the cheese, the Dutchman hollowed out, \"Hold on a minute,\ntill I spit on my hands!\" and so they all fell into the water, and\ndestroyed the cheese, besides other calamities![27]\n\nAmongst the Lapps, it is the Giants, and Stallo who are fooled, _e.g._:\n\"Patto-Poadnje h\u00e6vner sig paa Stallo,\" \"En Askelad narrer Stallo,\" and\nan amusing story of how a dressed-up log was palmed off as a Lapp girl\n(\"Stallobruden\"). _Friis_, pp. 78, 90 and 98.\n\nSee also \"Den listige Lappen,\" Hofberg, _Svenska S\u00e4gner_, p. 195; and a\nRussian variant given in _Ralston_, p. 53.\n\nForgetting to put the spigot into the vessel, and so losing all the\nwine, occurs in \"The Husband who had to mind the House,\" _Dasent_, p.\n310, and in _Grimm_, vol. i.; cf. also note to \"Frederick and\nCatherine,\" p. 238; and \"Clever Hans,\" p. 381.\n\n_Page 82._ In _S. ja T._ ii. pp. 113-126, under head \"Kuolema Kummina\"\n(\"Death as Godfather\"), two stories are given which resemble this part\nof the Magyar tale. In \"Taiwaan wuohen synty\" (\"Heaven's Goat's Origin\")\nfrom Karelia, a poor man has a child, and goes to look for a godfather.\nHe meets a stranger, who turns out to be God; but the poor man will not\nhave him, as he makes one poor and another rich. Soon after he meets\nDeath, and him he accepts, for with him there are no favourites. Death\ngives his godchild three gifts: a chair that whoever sits down on it\ncannot get up without leave; a bag that is never empty; and the power to\nknow whether a person will recover, by noticing whether Death stands at\nthe head or foot of the bed. The man lived to be over three hundred\nyears old by tricking Death; and when he died he was not admitted into\nheaven because he called God a deceiver, and so he still goes wailing in\nmid-air: and this was the origin of the Snipe. In the other story,\n\"Taiwaasen menij\u00e4,\" (Going to Heaven,) from Kivigari in Tavastland,\nDeath gives the man an ointment, as a christening present, to heal all,\nproviding the man sees him standing at the foot of the patient's bed.\nDeath is grossly deceived, and when the man does die, he only gets into\nheaven by a fluke. A variant of the whole story is \"Gambling Hansel,\"\n_Grimm_, No. 81. See also: _Grimm_, vol. i. \"The Godfather,\" p. 168;\n\"Godfather Death,\" p. 171, and note, p. 391; and \"Brother Lustig,\" p.\n312. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, ii. p. 951; _Dasent_, \"The Master\nSmith,\" p. 120; C. Molbech, _Udvalgte Eventyr_, No. 70: \"D\u00f6den og hans\nGuds\u00f6n,\" and \"Brave Petrus en zign Zak,\" a Flemish Tale in _Volkskunde_.\nTijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Folklore onder redactie van Prof. A.\nGitt\u00e9e 3\u1d49 Aflevering 1888, may be quoted as further instances.\n\nMistress Death appears in \"Starving John, the Doctor,\" in _Patra\u00f1as_, p.\n125; and in _Vernaleken_, \"Hans with the Goitre,\" p. 238, it is a\nskeleton.\n\nIn a Wendish Story, St. Hedwige stands as godmother; see _Dublin\nMagazine_, 1861, p. 355.\n\nIn the Russian Story, \"The Bad Wife,\" _Afanassieff_, i. No. 9, quoted in\n_Ralston_, p. 39, the devil flies out of Tartarus, to get out of the bad\nwife's way, and assists her husband to become a great doctor. See also a\nLapp variant, from Utsjok, \"Kj\u00e6rringen og Fanden,\" in _Friis_, p. 138.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUSSAR AND THE SERVANT GIRL. Kriza xix.\n\n\nCf. _Dasent_, \"The Dancing Gang,\" p. 507; and the \"Drop of Honey,\" in\nPayne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. v. p. 275, where, we are told, \"a certain\nman used to hunt the wild beasts in the desert, and one day he came upon\na grotto in the mountains, where he found a hollow full of bees' honey.\nSo he took somewhat thereof in a water-skin he had with him, and,\nthrowing it over his shoulder, carried it to the city, followed by a\nhunting dog which was dear to him. He stopped at the shop of an oilman,\nand offered him the honey for sale, and he bought it. Then he emptied it\nout of the skin, that he might see it, and in the act a drop fell to the\nground; whereupon the flies flocked to it, and a bird swooped down upon\nthe flies. Now, the oilman had a cat, which pounced upon the bird, and\nthe huntsman's dog, seeing the cat, sprang upon it and killed it;\nwhereupon the oilman ran at the dog and killed it; and the huntsman in\nturn leapt upon the oilman and killed him. Now the oilman was of one\nvillage and the huntsman of another; and when the people of the two\nplaces heard what had passed, they took up arms and rose on one another\nin anger, and there befel a sore battle; nor did the sword cease to play\namongst them till there died of them much people; none knoweth their\nnumber save God the Most High.\" See also, \"_The Book of Sindibad_,\"\nFolk-Lore Society, 1882, p. 133.\n\n\n\n\nMY FATHER'S WEDDING. Kriza x.\n\n\nCf. Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes:_ \"Sir Gammer Vans,\" p. 147.\n\n_Grimm_, vol. ii., \"The story of Schlauraffen land,\" p. 229; \"No-beard\nand the Boy,\" p. 518; \"The Turnip,\" p. 213, and notes, pp. 413, 442,\n452.\n\n_Vernaleken_, \"The King does not believe Everything,\" p. 241.\n\nCaballero, _Fairy Tales_, \"A tale of Taradiddles,\" p. 80.\n\nDenton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, \"Lying for a Wager,\" p. 107.\n\nStokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, Nos. 4, 8, and 17.\n\nRalston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, p. 295.\n\nMr. Quigstad has kindly sent the following Lapp variants collected at\nLyngen. There was once a pot so large that when cooking was going on at\none end, little boys were skating at the other. One of the men to whom\nthe pot belonged set to work to make his comrade a pair of shoes, and\nused up seven ox-hides on the job. One of them got a bit of dust in his\neye, and the other sought for it with an anchor, and found during his\nsearch a three-masted ship, which was so large that a little boy who\nwent aloft was a white-haired old man when he got back again. There were\nseven parishes in that ship!\n\n\"L\u00fcgenm\u00e4rchen\" are common in Finland, and generally turn on a big fish,\nor a big turnip, and a big kettle to boil it in, giant potatoes, huge\nmushrooms, and so on. A schoolboy's story in Newcastle-on-Tyne relates\nhow one man told his comrade of a remarkable dream he had had of an\nenormous turnip; whereat his comrade replied he had dreamt about an\nenormous kettle which was to boil the turnip in.\n\nThe other day a Boston friend told the writer a Lincolnshire story of a\nman who grew such splendid turnips that there were only three in a\nten-acre field, and one grew so big it pushed the other two out. This\nman had a mate who made such a big kettle, that the man at one side\ncould not hear the rivetting at the other! I am told by my friend Prof.\nGitt\u00e9e that similar tales are current in Flanders.\n\nAnother north country yarn tells of a naked blind man going out to\nshoot, and seeing six crows, he shot them, and put them in his pocket.\n\n_Page 88._ The river Olt rises in Transylvania, and flows into the\nDanube in Wallachia, in which country it is called the Aluta.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BAA-LAMBS. Kriza xiv.\n\n\nCf. \"Saint Peter's Goddaughter,\" in _Portuguese Folk-Tales_. Folk-Lore\nSociety, 1882, p. 54.\n\nDasent, _Tales from the Norse_, \"The Seven Foals,\" p. 349.\n\nNaak\u00e9, _Slavonic Tales:_ \"The Three Brothers\", p. 254.\n\nStokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, \"The King's Son,\" p. 234; and the Servian\ntale quoted on p. 294.\n\n_Page 93._ Kriza notes that the \"rotting, dead dog's head\" occurs in the\n\"Historiae Tripartitae ex Socrate, Sozomeno et Theodorico in unum\ncollectae,\" by Cassiodorus; ii. 12. The first edition appeared in 1472.\n\n\n\n\nFAIRY ELIZABETH. Kriza xv.\n\n\nCf. Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, \"The Outcast Son,\" p. 151.\n\n_Page 98._ The Judas she-devil's service lasted for three days in \"The\nThree White Doves,\" _Vernaleken_, p. 269.\n\nAmongst the many stories in which time passes rapidly, see Gilmour,\n_Among the Mongols_, \"The Wizard,\" p. 344; Ralston, _Russian\nFolk-Tales_, p. 304; Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths_, \"The Seven\nSleepers,\" p. 93; and _Friis_, \"Troldkjaerringen og Jes,\" from Swedish\nLapmark, p. 38.\n\nIn the Lapp tale, _Friis_, No. 45, swan-maids come and steal the corn,\nand the two elder sons fail to catch the thieves, Gudnavirus\n(Ashiepattle) the youngest, succeeding in doing so.\n\n_Page 99._ Concerning the bird enticing the boy, cf. the bird that\nsteals the jewel in \"Kemerezzam and Budour,\" in Payne's _Arabian\nNights_, vol. iii. p. 157.\n\nCf. also Rink, _Tales of the Eskimo_, \"The Sun and the Moon,\" p. 236;\n_S. ja T._, i., \"Lippo ja Tapio,\" from Ilomantsi, p. 6; and _Friis_,\nNos. 44 and 45.\n\nIn some other Magyar tales a lame wolf or a lame eagle takes the\nwoodpecker's place. Cf. Gaal, \"T\u00f6bbsinsckir\u00e1lyfi\" (\"Prince Non-such\").\nIn a Bohemian story it is a limping cock-pigeon, see _Vernaleken_, p.\n359.\n\n_Page 101._ Numerous incidents in folk-tales bear on the widespread\nsuperstition against looking (or going) back after setting out on a\njourney.\n\nCf. _Friis_, \"Ulta-Pigen,\" where a lad is returning home with his bride;\nthe girl warns him not to look back but he does, and lo! there is a\ngreat herd of beasts his wife's parents have given him. The moment he\nturned all those outside of the gate vanished; in \"J\u00e6tten og\nVeslegutten,\" the lad fools the giant, because he dare not look back;\nand in \"Bondes\u00f8nnen og Solens S\u00f8ster,\" the hero stumbles and falls and\nso sees behind him and in a moment the king's town and palaces\ndisappear.\n\nSee also Rink, _Tales of the Eskimo_, \"The Revived who came to the\nunderground people,\" p. 300; Hofberg, _Svenska S\u00e4gner_, \"So\u00e5safrun\";\nStokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, \"The B\u00e9l Princess,\" pp. 140, 283; and\nGregor, _Folk-Lore of North-East Scotland_, Folk-Lore Society, 1881, p.\n91.\n\nA Lincolnshire labouring man, when I lived in the north of the county,\ntold me he knew a wizard who wished to mend the road that led to his\nhouse across a field. He ordered one of his men to take a cartful of\nstones and a rake and to set off to mend the road, which was to be done\nas follows. The cart was to be taken to the far side of the field, and\ndriven slowly along the road that needed mending, but the man was under\nno circumstances to look back. He did as he was ordered, but there was\nsuch a noise behind him that when he had got nearly over the field he\nlooked round, and lo! there were thousands of devils at work, who\ndisappeared the moment he looked round, and the road is not done yet.\n\nIn the same part of Lincolnshire, one day when a lady had gone out with\na child to be baptized she turned back as she had forgotten something;\nwhen she entered the house one of the servants begged her to sit down\nbefore she went out again or something terrible would happen. The same\nsuperstition exists in Holderness, Finland, Hungary, Algeria, and\nSweden.\n\n_Page 101._ Amongst the numberless examples of swan-maidens, cf. the\nfollowing:\n\n_Friis_, \"Pigen fra Havet,\" p. 27; \"B\u00e6ivekongens eller Solkongens\nDatter,\" p. 152; and \"Goveiter-Pige,\" p. 39, where the girls appear in\ngorgeous dresses.\n\n_S. ja T._ i. p. 35, \"Tuhkamo\"; and ii. p. 53, \"Ei-niin-mit\u00e4.\"\n\nHofberg, _Svenska S\u00e4gner_: \"Jungfrun i Svanhamn,\" p. 27.\n\nA story is current in Sm\u00e5land of a clergyman's son who assisted his\nfather as curate. One morning when the young man awoke he saw the\nsun-beams coming in through a knot-hole in the floor, and suddenly a\nwoman of marvellous beauty came floating in on the light and stood\nbefore him. He sprang up and threw his cloak over her and took her to\nhis parents. She became his wife and lived happily with him for many\nyears. One day he chanced to say how strange her coming was, and in\norder to emphasize his words he took the knot out of the hole in the\nfloor, and in a moment she was gone!\n\nIn a Lapp story, _Friis_, No. 7, the girl tells her husband to drive a\nnail into the threshold to prevent her going away. See also \"Lappen i\nSkathamn.\" _Hofberg_, p. 174.[28]\n\nOther examples of the swan-maiden kind are to be found in:--\n\nRink, _Tales of the Eskimo_, \"The Man who mated himself with a\nSea-fowl,\" p. 146.\n\nKeightley's _Fairy Mythology_, \"The Peri Wife,\" p. 20; also p. 163,\nwhere seals are said to put off their skins; and \"The Mermaid Wife,\" p.\n169.\n\n_Legends of the Wigwam_, \"Son of the Evening Star,\" p. 81.\n\nStokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, \"Ph\u00falmati R\u00e1ni,\" p. 6.\n\nSteere, _Swahili Tales_, \"Hasseebu Kareem Ed Deed,\" p. 355.\n\n_Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_, \"The Dove Maiden,\" p. 368.\n\nVernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, \"The Three White Doves,\" p. 263;\n\"The Maiden on the Crystal Mountain,\" p. 274; \"How Hans finds his Wife,\"\np. 281; and \"The Drummer,\" p. 288.\n\n_Grimm_, vol. ii. \"The Drummer,\" p. 333.\n\nRalston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, p. 120.\n\nCroker, _Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland_, \"The Lady of Gollerus,\"\np. 177.\n\n_Sagas from the Far East_, pp. 29, 91.\n\nPayne's _Arabian Nights_, \"The Story of Janshah,\" vol. v. p. 98;\n\n\"Hassan of Bassora,\" and the \"King's Daughter of the Jinn,\" vol. vii. p.\n145.\n\n_Portuguese Folk-Tales_, Folk-Lore Society 1882, \"The Spell-bound\nGiant,\" p. 35.\n\n_Folk-Lore Record_, 1879, p. 12; 1883, pp. 203, 250, 284, 320; and 1884,\np. 11.\n\nW\u00e4gner's _Epics and Romances_, p. 280, see \"Valkyrs\"; _Asgard and the\nGods_, sub voce \"Walkyries.\"\n\nBaring Gould, _Curious Myths_, sub \"Swan-maidens.\"\n\n_Page 103._ Anent the wedding here mentioned, it may be interesting to\nnote some ceremonies connected with Magyar weddings in olden times.\nLove-making was very simple: there was no long courtship before the\nbetrothal, and one meeting of the couple was often deemed quite\nsufficient.[29] The young folks did not choose their future companions,\nthat being the parents' prerogative; and very often the match was\narranged when they were in their cradles. It was not considered\ndesirable to make connections with foreign families, and in case a girl\nwas given away to a foreigner, one of the conditions insisted upon was\nthat the husband should learn the language of the country. Francis Cs\u00e1ky\nwas thrown into prison by his father because he would not marry Miss\nHomonmay, who had been selected as his wife. Occasionally, however, some\nchoice was allowed; thus, for instance, Nicholas Bethlen was allowed to\nchoose his wife from among the daughters of Paul B\u00e9ldy and Stephen Kun.\nIt was considered an offence if a young man, not being a relative, paid\na visit to a house where marriageable girls[30] were, as he was\nsuspected of courting the young ladies on the sly; if the young man was\none whom the parents approved, a day was fixed for him to come and \"see\"\nthe girls. On the appointed day the young man started on his journey\nwith great pomp, and generally arranged to arrive about supper time (7\nto 8 p.m.); if the sight was satisfactory, the girl's hand was at once\nasked for.[31] During supper the young couple sat opposite to each\nother, and after supper there was a dance. Some parents left it to their\ndaughters to decide, while others endeavoured \"to enlighten them.\" If\nthe father was dead the widow sought the advice of her eldest son, or of\nthe children's guardian. If the young man was refused[32] he left the\nplace, sometimes carrying the young lady off by force, as John Mikes did\nSarah Tarn\u00f3czy. The asking for the young lady's hand was performed by\nthat member of the family who had the greatest authority; if the offer\nwas accepted the bridegroom fixed a day for the betrothal. Then came the\ninterchange of rings. The betrothal ring was not a plain hoop, but one\nenamelled and set with diamonds or rubies. From the day of the betrothal\nthey were considered engaged, and henceforth called each other \"my\nyounger sister\" (hugom), and \"my elder brother\" (b\u00e1ty\u00e1m),[33] and the\nyoung man was allowed to make his offerings of gold and silver. The\nbetrothal--called in Magyar \"the clasping of hands\"--and interchange of\nrings was considered binding on both parties, and a breach of promise\nwas considered the greatest insult. Sometimes a sort of preliminary\nwedding was celebrated, thus Nicholas Bethlen went through the marriage\nceremony soon after the interchange of rings, but a whole year elapsed\nbefore, he took his bride to his house.[34]\n\nSometimes an agreement was drawn up; and the wedding-day having been\nfixed by the bridegroom, it was communicated to the bride's father, so\nas to allow him to make his preparations. The number of the wedding\nguests often amounted to several hundreds. At the wedding of Barbara\nThurz\u00f3, in 1612, seventy Magyar nobles of the highest rank appeared\npersonally, besides several from the Austrian dominions. The king of\nPoland sent his sons and several ambassadors, the number of the guests'\nhorses being 4324.[35] The wedding-feast was sometimes utilized for the\ndiscussion of politics. All the inhabitants of the village were invited,\nbullocks with gilt horns were roasted, and a goodly number of knives\nstuck into them for the use of the people. The bread was exposed in\ntroughs, and the wine in vats. Amongst people of modest means the forms\nwere the same, the supplies being smaller. The expenses of the wedding\nwere borne by the serfs.\n\nThe bridegroom chose his best man from among his near relations, the\ngroomsmen were young friends. A widower had neither best man nor groom's\nmen. The bride had a matron[36] who gave her away, and who, together\nwith the bridesmaids were chosen from near relatives. There was\ngenerally also \"a host\" chosen from the higher nobility, and he carried\na gold stick in his hand; the deputy host carried a stick painted green;\nthese two walked about and looked after the guests. A few days before\nthe wedding the guests met at the bridegroom's house, and on the night\nprevious to starting a weeping soir\u00e9e was held, when the bridegroom took\nleave of his bachelorship.[37] On the night previous to the wedding the\nbridegroom and his guests journeyed to a village near the bride's\nresidence, and slept there. So far the bridegroom had come on horseback;\nbut now he took his seat in a carriage, and in front of him rode two\nyoung nobles clad in wild animals' skins,[38] who were called\n\"fore-greeters\" (el\u00f6lk\u00f6sz\u00f6nt\u00f6k). These were followed by pipers,\ndrummers, and buglers. In the bridegroom's carriage the best man sat by\nhis side, his groomsmen in the opposite seat. The \"matron of the\nbedchamber\" (nyoszoly\u00f3 asszony) followed in another carriage preceded by\ntwo young nobles dressed in skins and on horseback. The procession was\nclosed by the servants, leading gaily caparisoned horses. The two\n\"fore-greeters\" saluted the chief host of the bride, who returned the\ngreeting, and sent a message saying that the master would be heartily\nwelcome: this was conveyed to the assembled guests, who thereupon\nproceeded to the bride's residence. When they arrived at the outskirts\nof the village, the bride's chief host sent a gold ring and some saddled\nhorses, and a horse-race was at once got up,[39] the prize being the\ngold ring. Then the bridegroom sent his presents to the bride; the\nguests, too, sent their presents; as did also the representatives of the\nunited towns and counties.\n\nIf the wedding was kept in a fortified town the guests were saluted by\nthe firing of guns. The best man greeted the family of the bride, to\nwhich the chief host replied: thereupon the best man asked for the\nbride[40] and the chief host replied, endeavouring to pass a joke on the\nbridegroom and his best man, to which the latter replied as best he\ncould. Then the chief host delivered up the bride, and, with a long\nspeech, invited the guests to the midday meal.[41] The meal was a\nsumptuous feast; musicians discoursing sweet music as it proceeded. The\nchief host assigned the proper places to the guests. The bride was not\nexpected to eat, but to weep. The banquet over, dancing began. The first\ndance was danced by the best man and matron, who were followed by the\nbride and bridegroom; the former simply walking through her dances:\nseveral other dances followed. The bride appeared in three different\ndresses on the wedding-day;[42] the bridegroom in three different\ndresses on the three days of the wedding. When the bride appeared they\nplayed the \"bride's dance.\" During the parting ceremony the bride went\ndown upon her knees before her parents, and was handed over to the\nbridegroom, who unsheathed his sword and cut off the wedding wreath.[43]\nThis ceremony was called \"taking possession of the girl.\" The fortress\nguns thundered out to let the world know when it took place. The young\ncouple remained with the bride's parents till the third day, when she\ndistributed her presents, and then set off to her new home.[44]\n\nSee also an account of the Pal\u00f3cz wedding customs in the Notes to the\n\"Girl with the Golden Hair,\" _infra_.\n\nThere is a host of wedding and love songs, especially in cases where\nthe ardent lover had to go far to meet his beloved, as for instance, the\nLapps had to do. Two are given in Nos. 366 and 406 of the _Spectator_.\nThe following[45] I do not think has ever been translated before:\n\n\n    No, not under the wide spreading heaven\n    Is there so sweet and rich a flower\n    As my own, dear, sweet, beloved one, she has all my poor heart.\n\n    When I travel over the windy Alps\n    I remember my own belov'd one,\n    And in a moment it's calm and warm, as after Midsummer.\n\n\nThe tune is very sweet and plaintiff, like so many of the folk-songs,\nthe translation conveys no idea of the sweet and liquid music that even\nthe words of the original are brimful of.[46]\n\n\"_Six-ox farmers._\"--To say that a farmer ploughs his land with six oxen\nyoked to his plough means that he is very wealthy.\n\n_Page 104._ The giant in an Austrian story (_Vernaleken_, p. 95) draws\ncircles in the sand and a fowl appears; and in the Lapp story\n(\"Ulta-Pigen.\" _Friis_, No. 7) the lad marks out on the ground the plan\nof a house, &c., at night, and in the morning all is found complete.\n\n\"My lad, it is a _burial_ feast.\" Halotti tors or burial-feasts are\nstill very common among the Magyar rural population.\n\n_Page 105._ The trouble that comes from those at home[47] occurs over\nand over in all manner of folk-tales, _e.g._, in the Lapp story\n[\"Fattiggutten, Fanden og Guldbyen\"] the lad, after meeting a beautiful\ngirl who becomes his bride, insists upon going home to tell of his good\nluck, and when there wishes for his bride and her attendants to appear,\nto prove that his story is true. They come, but vanish almost at once,\nand then comes the numerous troubles before the lost bride can be found.\n_Friis_, p. 161. In another, the son of the swan-maiden shows his mother\nher dress, which she at once puts on and vanishes, \"Pigen fra Havet,\"\n_id._ p. 27, with which Cf. _Dasent_. \"Soria Moria Castle,\" p. 466.\n\n_Vernaleken._ \"The Drummer,\" p. 289.\n\nPayne, _Arabian Nights_, \"The Story of Janshah,\" vol. v. p. 109, and\n\"Hassan of Bassoria,\" vol. vii. p. 175.\n\n_Page 105, \"Johara.\"_ There is no town of _Johara_ in Hungary,\nbut there is in Russia a province of the name of _Jugaria_ or\n_Juharia_--according to Lehrberg the \u042e\u0433\u0440\u0430 or \u0423\u0433\u0440\u0430, of old Russian\nrecords--whence \"the Hungarians (_sic!_) proceeded when they took\npossession of Pannonia [their modern home] and subdued many provinces\nof Europe under their leader Attila.\"[48] According to Lehrberg,[49]\nit comprised the greater parts of the governments of Perm and Tobolsk\nof our days. It was said in Herberstein's time--his journeys were\nmade in 1517 and 1526--that \"the Juhari ... use the same dialect as\nthe Hungarians, but whether this be true, I cannot say from my own\nknowledge; for though I have made diligent search I have been unable to\nfind any man of that country with whom my servant, who is skilled in\nthe Hungarian language, might have an opportunity of conversing.\"[50]\nSince Ivan the Terrible, the province gives a title to the Emperors of\nRussia.[51]\n\nCf. Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. v. p. 121, wherein the maid flies to\n\"the Castle of Jewels.\" The man only gets there by the aid of birds and\nbeasts, and it is the _third_ and most skilful magician alone who\nsummons a bird, which is the only one who knows the far-off place. In\nanother story, vol. vii., p. 176, the maiden flies to the \"islands of\nWac.\"\n\n_Dasent_, p. 212, it is \"Whiteland,\" and an old pike knows where it is.\n\n_Vernaleken_, p. 251, Moon and Sun do not know where the mysterious\nplace is, but the wind does. See also \"the Drummer,\" p. 289, where the\nbride flies to the \"Crystal Mountain.\"\n\nIn the Lapp stories we find \"Banka Castle\" and \"B\u00e6ive-kingdom,\" and in\nan Irish tale, \"Grey Horn's Kingdom,\" as the mysterious land.\n\nThe three men (or women) to whom the forsaken husband goes occurs in the\nLapp stories, \"Bondes\u00f8nnen,\" \"B\u00e6ive Kongens Datter,\" and \"Fattiggutten,\"\nNos. 44, 45, and 46, _Friis_.\n\nFinnish, _S. ja T._ \"Tuhkamo,\" i. p. 35, and \"Ei-niin-mit\u00e4,\" ii. p. 53.\n\n_Vernaleken_, \"The Judas She-Devil,\" p. 255. \"The Three White Doves,\" p.\n264. \"The Maiden of the Crystal Mountain,\" p. 275.\n\n_Folk-Lore Record_, 1883, p. 319.\n\n_Portuguese Stories_, F. L. Soc., 1882, p. 108, \"The Prince who had the\nhead of a Horse.\"\n\n_Grimm_, vol. ii. pp. 381, 399.\n\nThe Whistle and Whip as a mode of summoning in common, see \"Fisher Joe,\"\np. 16, _ante_.\n\n_Page 108._ \"The Lame Woodpecker\" reminds us of the lame devil in\n\"Stephen the Murderer,\" p. 10; in _Vernaleken_, there is \"a limper,\" p.\n265, and a \"lame hare,\" p. 275, the reluctance of the birds to take the\nman to Johara, &c., occurs in the Finnish and Lapp stories referred to.\n\n_Page 109._ \"Youth-giving water.\" Cf. \"The Fairies Well,\" in present\ncollection, p. 295. In Hungary snow-water collected in March is said to\npossess the same virtue.\n\nCf. also _Finnish_, \"Tuhkamo.\" _S. ja T._ i. p. 43, where Ashiepattle\nwashes in a well and becomes marvellously beautiful.\n\n_Lapp_, \"B\u00e6ivekongen.\". _Friis_, p. 152. Where the lad dips his sore\nhead into a kettle and becomes beautiful and golden haired. See also\n_Folk-Lore Record_, 1879. \"Old Ballad Folk-Lore,\" p. 100. In \"The Jewel\nin the Cock's Head,\" an Italian story, quoted in the _Dublin Magazine_,\n1868, p. 706, the hero at once becomes young and handsome by the virtues\nof the jewel, and in a Finnish story, \"The Enchanted Ship,\" the same end\nis attained by eating some berries. Cf. the effect of the T\u00e0tos and\nbaa-lambs breathing on anything, pp. 63 and 92 _ante_; also _Dasent_, p.\n362; and such stories as \"The Old Man made Young,\" _Grimm_, vol. ii., p.\n215, and note, p. 444.\n\nThere are numerous springs and wells whose waters are said to possess\nmarvellous powers, such as St. Winifred's in Flintshire, St. Keyne's in\nCornwall, St. Bede's at Jarrow, &c. See Chambers' _Book of Days_, sub\nvoce \"Wells\"; _Henderson's_ \"Wells\"; Hardwick, _Traditions,\nSuperstitions, and Folk-Lore_, p. 267; and Aubrey, _Remains of\nGentilisme_, F.L.S., 1880, pp. 121.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCES. Erd\u00e9lyi, i. 1.\n\n\nCf. _Grimm_, vol. i. \"The Gold Children,\" and note; vol. ii. \"The Two\nBrothers,\" p. 244, and notes, p. 418; in \"Ivan Kupiskas S\u00f8n.\" _Friis_,\np. 170, a bear, a wolf, and a dog help the hero.\n\nSee also _Dasent_, \"The Blue Belt\"; and Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_,\n\"The Three Brothers.\"\n\n_Page 111._ In explanation of the fact that the wolf, lion, and bear\nare sometimes called \"dogs,\" and other times \"servants,\" we may mention\nthat is quite common in Hungary to address a dog as \"my servant;\" and\nthe three brutes in the story are supposed to follow their masters like\ndogs. For animals and birds that help, cf. _Ralston_, \"The Water King,\"\np. 120. _Old Deccan Days_, \"Punchkin,\" p. 14. _Vernaleken_, \"The Three\nWhite Doves,\" p. 269, and \"The Enchanted Sleep,\" p. 312. _Sagas from the\nFar East_, p. 137. _Friis_, \"Jaetten Os Veslegutten.\" _Uncle Remus_, No.\nxxii. and notes to Prince Csihan.\n\nThe sticking of knives into a tree to tell of the fortune or misfortune\nof the owner occurs also in \"Knight Rose,\" see notes there, and p. 257.\n\nA town draped in black cloth appears in _Grimm_, vol. i. note, p. 421.\n_Dasent_, \"Shortshanks,\" p. 160. _Vernaleken_, \"The Cobblers Two Sons,\"\np. 197.\n\nThe dragon that devours a virgin every week reminds us of St. George,\nsee Baring Gould, _Curious Myths_, \"St. George,\" and _The Seven\nChampions of Christendom_. Cf. _Grimm. Stories from the Land of Hofer_,\n\"The Three Black Dogs,\" p. 214. _Friis_, Bondes\u00f8nnen and _Dasent_, p.\n158.\n\n_Page 112._ \"The healing weed;\" see note to \"Knight Rose,\" p. 342.\n\nThe dragon in _No. 7, Pentamerone_, when one of its heads is cut off,\nrubs itself against a certain leaf and the head is at once fastened on\nagain.\n\nThe treachery of the Red Knight which appears in this story has already\nbeen noticed in the notes to \"The Hunting Princes.\" Cf. _Dasent_, \"Big\nBird Dan.\"\n\n_Page 113._ Animals restore their master to life in _Grimm_, vol. i. p.\n253. _Friis_, \"Ivan,\" p. 170. _Ralston_, p. 231. _S. ja T._ i. \"H\u00e4r'\u00e4n\nkorwista syntyneet Koirat siw\" (The Dogs who grew from the Ears of a\nBull), p. 138; in another Finnish story, \"The Golden Bird,\" the hero is\nrestored to life by a wolf, after being slain by his treacherous\nbrothers. In the Kalevala it is a bee that brings the honey which\nrestores Lemmink\u00e4inen; Rune 15, 530.\n\nThe prince thinks he has been asleep, just as Lemmink\u00e4inen does in\nKalevala, Song 15, 559. Cf. \"Golden Hair,\" _Naak\u00e9_, p. 108;\n\"Marya-Morevna,\" _Ralston_, p. 91.\n\n_Page 114._ \"Henczida to Bonczida,\" names of villages, the former in the\ncounty of Bihar, the latter in Kolozs.\n\n_Page 115._ The witch throwing down a rod or hair; see also \"Knight\nRose,\" cf. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, Folk-Lore Society, 1882, \"The Tower\nof Ill-Luck,\" p. 49. Basile, _Pentamerone_, No. 7, where a fairy binds\nCienzo by her hair. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, \"The Three Brothers,\"\np. 275.\n\nIt is curious the part hair plays in popular lore.[52] According to the\nold idea that any part of a person, such as his hair, nail clippings,\n&c. was to all intents and purposes himself (see notes to \"The Lazy\nSpinning Girl\"[53]); so it appears here the witch's power would be\nconveyed by one of her hairs, just as the witch in the \"World's\nBeautiful Woman\" spits on the child's face with the hope of conveying\nher enchantment, p. 166. See _Henderson_, _sub voce_, \"Hair.\" Black,\n_Folk Medicine in W\u00e4s_.\n\n_Page 116._ The unsheathed sword in bed occurs in the story of Siegfried\nand Brunhild. Cf. also _Dasent_, \"The Big Bird Dan,\" p. 450; Payne's\n_Arabian Nights_, \"The Story of Prince Seif el Mulouk,\" vol. vii. p. 94;\n_Pentamerone_, i. 9; and _Gubernatis_, vol. i. 330.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE DREAMS. Erd\u00e9lyi, i. 2.\n\n\nCf. \"The Secret-keeping Little Boy,\" p. 233, in this collection.\n\nAccording to Ladislaus Arany,[54] an almost exact version of the tale is\ngiven in Schott's _Wallachische M\u00e4rchen_ (No. 9). Schott calls attention\nto the resemblance of this tale to the story of Joseph, in the Old\nTestament, who is released from prison and exalted for the successful\nsolution of dreams. See also two stories from Radloff, _Proben der\nVolkslitteratur der T\u00fcrkischen St\u00e4mme S\u00fcd-Siberiens_, quoted in\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 139-142.\n\nThe \"Operenczi\u00e1s Tenger,\" is the mythical sea of Hungarian folk-tales.\nWith regard to the etymology of the word, it is said by some to come\nfrom the expression \"ober der Enns,\" in the German name of the Duchy of\nUpper Austria. The etymology is given for what it is worth. As to the\ncosmology of the story-tellers, all we can say is, that they appear to\nuphold the Zetetic school. The earth is flat, and surrounded by the\nOperenczian sea: beyond that is fairyland.\n\nThe Magyar peasants think much of dreams, as may be seen in their\nwonderful dream-book, \"_A legr\u00e9gibb \u00e9s legnagyobb Egyiptomi\nAlmosk\u00f6nyv_,\" a work something in the same style as the dream-books that\nare still common in country places in England.\n\nThe significance of dreams is noticed in _Uarda_, cap. xv. Cf. _Denton_,\n\"The Dream of the King's Son.\" _Horace_, c. _iii_. _xxvii_. 41; S. i. x.\n33. _Homer_ says that dreams of falsehood passed through an ivory gate\nin the lower world: true ones through a gate of horn.\n\nSee also Tylor, _Early History of Mankind_, pp. 5-10; and _Primitive\nCulture_, \"Dreams.\"\n\nThere are many stories of dreams which foretold wealth and power, or\nwere the means of the dreamer attaining them, _e.g._ \"Gontram the good\nKing of Burgundy,\" Claud Paradin, _Symbola Heroica_. Also Chambers's\n_Book of Days_, vol. i. pp. 276, 394, 617; vol. ii. p. 188. The writer\nremembers hearing an almost precisely similar story to the last, when\nthe ill-fated \"Lifeguard\" was lost on her way from Newcastle to London.\n\nThe Indians pay great attention to their dreams during the long fast at\nthe beginning of manhood: see _Legends of the Wigwam_, p. 99. In some\nstories one of the chief characters pretends to dream that she may\nobtain certain information, such as \"Luxhale's wives:\" _Stories from the\nLand of Hofer_, p. 317.\n\nIt is a common superstition in Holderness that a morning dream is sure\nto come true, but if it is told to anyone before breakfast, it will not.\n\n_Page 118_. \"Immured alive\": see a Magyar folk-song, \"Clement the\nMason,\" in the _Academy_, July 31, 1886. Cf. a paper read by Oscar\nMailand before the Historical and Antiquarian Society of the County of\nHunyad (April 29, 1885) on the legend of the building of the Monastery\nat Arges in Roumania. The story is nearly the same as in the song of\n\"Clement the Mason.\" Manuli, the master builder, has a dream, wherein he\nis recommended to immure the first woman that appears on the scene; the\nvictim is Manuli's wife. During the discussion that followed, the\npresident, Count G\u00e9za Kuun, mentioned that the same tale is told of the\ncastle of D\u00e9v\u00e9n in the county of N\u00f3gr\u00e1d; the fortress of D\u00e9v\u00e9ny near\nPozsony (Pressburg); and of another fortress in the Trans-danubian\ndivision, and that the legend is of Slavonic origin.\n\n_Grimm_, ii. \"Maid Maleen,\" p. 350.\n\n_Livius_, viii. c. 15, \"Virgo Vestalis damnati incesti, viva deforsa\nest.\"\n\nThe king vows to slaughter thirty Muslims at the gate of his palace,\nwhen complete, in \"Ali Noureddin.\" Payne's _Arabian Nights_, vol. viii.\np. 141.\n\n_Folk-Lore Journal_, 1880, p. 282; January 1883, \"A Bewildering\nSuperstition.\"\n\nCf. also the incident in \"Secret-keeping Little Boy\", p. 238.\n\n\"_Dog-Headed Tartars_.\" Our story-tellers almost invariably use the\nepithet \"dog-headed\" when speaking of their old enemies, the Tartars.\nMedieval travellers, who wrote in Latin, speak of the Great Khan of\nTartary as \"Magnus Canis.\" Cf. _The Travels of Friar Odoric_, in _Cathay\nand the way Thither_ (Hakluyt Soc. 1866). The learned editor remarks (p.\n128, note): \"I am not sure that a faithful version should not render\n'Magnus Canis' as the 'Great Dog,' for in most copies the word is\nregularly declined 'Canis,' 'Cani,' 'Canem,' as if he were really a\nbow-wow. According to Ludolf, an old German translation of Mandeville\ndoes introduce the mighty prince as 'Der grosse Hund.'\"\n\nThe irruption into Hungary of the Tartars under Batu Khan, in the\nthirteenth century, and their frightful slaughter and terrible\ndevastations are sufficiently known, and need not further be enlarged\nupon here.\n\nWith regard to dog-headed people (cf. the Kynokephaloi of Ktesias), such\npeople are often mentioned in ancient travels; thus, Odoric of Pordenone\nsays: \"[L'Isola che si chiama] Nichovera ... nella quale tutti gli\nnomini [h]anno il capo a modo d'un cane.\" From an old Italian MS. text\nin the Bibl. Palatina at Florence, printed in _Cathay and the Way\nThither_, p. 51.\n\nThe womankind of dog-headed people are always described as beautiful.\nCf. the travels of Friar Jordanus, Odoric of Pordenone, Ibn Batuta. Cf.\nalso the lovely wife of old Doghead in \"Prince Mirk\u00f3\" in this volume;\nand _Gubernatis_, vol. i. Preface, xix.\n\n_Page 120._ \"Born with a caul.\"\n\nIn Holderness and North Lincolnshire, a caul is said to prevent the\nowner from drowning. I have heard others say, that you can tell by its\ncondition what the state of its owner's (the one who was born with it)\nhealth is, even if he (or she) is in a distant land. So long as it keeps\nas it is he is well, but if it \"snerkles up\" he is dead.[55] It is\ncommonly called a \"sillyhood\" in the North.\n\nCf. _Henderson_, pp. 22, 23. _Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme_, p. 113.\n\nGregor, _Folk-Lore of North-East of Scotland_, p. 25.\n\n_Grimm_, i. Hans in Luck. \"I must have been born with a caul,\" p. 329.\n\nNapier, _Folk-Lore_, p. 32.\n\nBabies born with teeth are said by the Magyar peasants to be the\nchildren of witches; see Varga J\u00e1nos, _A babon\u00e1k K\u00f6nyve_, Arad, 1877, p.\n70.\n\nBabies born with teeth are regarded as different to other children, in\nsome parts of England, but the superstition is vague. A friend had a\nservant who was born with a grey lock, and the writer has often seen the\ngirl; it was regarded as somewhat uncanny. Francisque Michel mentions in\nhis _Histoire des Races Maudites_, that in the Valley of Argel\u00e8s old\nwomen, when quarrelling with a cagot, shew their tongue \"ou derrier\nl'oreille\"; this is to remind the poor man of the wisp of hair on his\near, which is considered uncanny.\n\n_Page 120_. The incident of the lad disguising himself so as to be\nexactly like his comrades occurs also at p. 241, in \"The Secret-Keeping\nLittle Boy.\" To be able to select the right person from several is\nlooked upon as a test of the magic power of the person tried as in this\ncase.\n\nCf. _Naak\u00e9_. \"Golden Hair,\" p. 107.\n\n_Vernaleken_. \"How Hans finds his Wife,\" p. 284.\n\n_Folk-Lore Record_, 1883. Ananci Stories, p. 284; and the Polish story,\n\"Prince Unexpected,\" _ib._ 1884, p. 13.\n\n_S. ja T._ i. \"Kulta-orit,\" p. 187.\n\nCf. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1880, \"Mons Tro,\" p. 220.\n\n_Page 121._ In the Lapp story, \"Patto-Poadnje.\" _Friis_, p. 78, the\nStallo's wife suspects there is something wrong with the soup, which is\nin reality made of her late husband, but the man fools her by saying he\ncut his finger while making it.\n\nIn the Finnish story, \"Tynnyriss\u00e4 kaswanut Poika,\" (\"The Boy who grows\nin a Barrel\"), _S. ja T._ i., p. 105, there are nine cakes made of a\nwoman's milk. Cf. \"How the widow saved her son's life,\" _Sagas from the\nFar East_, p. 207.\n\nWe may here note the constant difficulties that appear in the\nfolk-tales, and thwart the love-making of the heroes and heroines.\nCommonly it is the king who does all he can to prevent the lovers being\nhappy, or it is some one at home who causes infinite trouble. For\nexamples of the tasks that the lover or husband has to accomplish, see\nthe tales \"Fisher Joe,\" \"Handsome Paul,\" \"Fairy Elizabeth,\" \"The Three\nBrothers,\" \"The Girl with the Golden Hair,\" &c., in this volume.\n\nCf. also _Friis_. \"Ruobba. J\u00e6tten og Fanden,\" p. 67; \"Bondes\u00f8nnen.\nKonges\u00f8nnen og Solens S\u00f8ster,\" p. 140; \"Solkongens Datter,\" p. 152;\n\"Gutten, som tjente hos Kongen,\" p. 167.\n\n_S. ja T._ ii. \"Lepp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky\" (\"Alder Block\"), p. 2; \"Maan, meren kulkija\nlaiwa\" (\"The Ship that sails over Land and Sea\"), p. 22; \"Kaikkia,\nmatkalla karwitaan\" (All is useful in a Voyage), p. 29; and \"Lakwan\ntekij\u00e4t,\" (Ship Builders), p. 33.\n\nBasile. _Pentamerone_. No. 23.\n\nSchott. _Wallachische M\u00e4rchen_, No. 24.\n\n_Ralston_. \"The Water King,\" p. 120.\n\n_Sagas from the Far East._ \"How Shanggasba buried his Father,\" p. 189.\n\nSee also the troubles in getting to Johara in Notes to \"Fairy\nElizabeth,\" _ante_.\n\n\n\n\nCSABOR \u00daR. Erd\u00e9lyi, i. 3.\n\n\nAccording to some writers this story refers to King Matthias and his\nblack troop. It is a Cs\u00e1ng\u00f3 tale.[56]\n\nThese traditional stories, as specimens of folk-history, are of great\ninterest, showing how the kindness or tyranny of some lord or lady\nclings to the popular mind, and how all manner of stories attach\nthemselves to great names.\n\nCf. \"Herrn till Rosendal,\" in Hofberg, _Svenska S\u00e4gner_, p. 14;\n\"Herrskapet p\u00e5 Ugerup,\" p. 17, where Arild dupes the Danish king by\nobtaining leave of absence until he reaps his harvest, he having sown\nfir-cones. (A variant of which the writer has heard amongst the peasants\nof the Eastern counties) and \"Elestorps skog,\" p. 71, where the whole\nforest seems on the move as in _Macbeth_, act v. scene v. See also \"An\nancient Arabian parallel,\" by Dr. Redhouse, in the _Academy_, July, 24,\n1886. See also \"Snapphane-grafven,\" _ib_. p. 75, a story of a heap of\nstones,[57] now known as the \"freebooter's grave,\" that tells how a\nbrave peasant slew the chief of the plundering band and so dispersed\nthem.\n\n\"Grefvinnan p\u00e5 H\u00f6jentorp,\" _ib_. p. 97, which is a good example of how\nhistoric incident is moulded and blended in the popular lore, and it may\nbe of interest to give it here. Shortly after Charles XI. had seized the\ngreater part of his nobles' property, he went to see his aunt Maria\nEufrosyna and was saluted with a sound box on the ear, and upon asking\nwhy she did it was told he got it for taking all her property from her.\nThey entered the house where a herring tail and an oat cake was set\nbefore the king, and he was told as he had made his bed so must he lie\non it. The king then asked his aunt if he might take care of her riches\nfor her, but was saluted with such a box on the ear that he fled and\nleft her to enjoy her estates in peace.\n\n\"Fru Barbro p\u00e5 Brokind,\" _ib_. p. 112, is an example of how the memory\nof a tyrant lives.\n\n\"Qvick i jord,\" _ib_. p. 122, tells of a terrible outbreak of plague,\nand how a Finn advised the people to bury a live cock, but as the plague\nraged as fiercely as ever a live goat was buried, and then a living\nboy.[58]\n\n\"Jonas Spets,\" p. 123, tells how the king found an old soldier\nsharpening (putting a point to) his sword and was warned to use it well\non the morrow. After the battle the king ordered him to show his sword,\nand lo! it was dripping with blood. \"Well done,\" said the king, \"I will\ngild the point for you,\" and so he ennobled the soldier and changed his\nname to \"Gyllenspets\" (Golden-Point). This, according to the popular\nstory, is the way the family of Gyllenspets in Vermland became nobles.\n\nThe writer heard the following from old men in North Lincolnshire.\n\nLIMBER.--There have been great wars and battles all over here and most\nof them are attributed to Cromwell. At Riby there was a fearful fight,\nthe blood ran as deep as the horses' bellies, and to this day there is\nan opening in the hedge, where nothing will ever grow, known as Riby\nGap, and there the blood flowed deepest.[59]\n\nTHORNTON ABBEY.--There was a great battle there and the soldiers knocked\nthe church down and the town that used to be near it.\n\nYARBOROUGH CAMP[60]--according to popular belief--was made by Cromwell's\nsoldiers, who are said to have sat behind the entrenchment when firing\nat their enemies.\n\nMELTON ROSS.--Perhaps the most curious is the tale told by an old groom\nabout the gallows at Melton Ross:--\n\nSome hundred years ago or so three or four boys were playing at hanging,\nand seeing who could hang the longest on a tree, when a three-legged\nhare (the devil, sir), came limping past; off ran the lads who were on\nthe ground after him and forgot their comrade, who when they came back\nwas dead. The gallows was put up in memory of that. The true story is\nthat there was a rivalry between the Ross family and the Tyrwhits, and\nto such a pitch had it grown among their dependants that the two parties\nmeeting on a hunting excursion got to blows and many were killed. James\nI. being in Lincolnshire shortly after, and hearing of it, ordered a\ngallows to be erected where the fight occurred, and enacted that in the\nfuture any persons slain in an encounter of this kind should be deemed\nmurdered, and the perpetrators of the crime hanged. A gallows is always\nkept on the spot and when the old one falls to decay a new one is\nerected.[61]\n\n_Page 125_. _Permanent blood stains._ Cf. those of Rizzio in Holyrood\nPalace; those in the Carmelite convent in Paris, said to have been made\nby murdered priests in the revolution; those at Cottele, on the banks of\nthe Tamar, blood of the warder slain by the Lord of the Manor; those in\nSta. Sophia, at Constantinople, &c.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL AND THE THREE SLOVAK LADS. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 1.\n\n\nCf. _Grimm_, vol. ii. \"The Three Apprentices,\" pp. 132, 418. _Stier_,\nNo. 25.\n\nA similar story used to be current among the schoolboys in\nNorthumberland.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COUNT'S DAUGHTER. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 2.\n\n\nThe writer of this remembers his grandmother telling him this story when\nhe was a boy in Newcastle on Tyne.\n\nCf. _Grimm_, i. \"The Robber Bridegroom,\" pp. 164, 389.\n\nChambers, _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 291, \"Mr. Fox.\"\n\nHalliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 164, \"The Story of Mr. Fox\"; and\nBenedict, in \"Much Ado About Nothing,\" act i. scene i.[62]\n\nCf. _Hofberg_, p. 14, \"Herrn till Rosendal,\" where the horrors of the\nlord's house drives his betrothed away; and the \"Iron Virgin,\" of\nMunich, who was said to clasp the doomed in her arms and pierce them\nwith spikes. _Fraser's Magazine_, 1872, p. 354.\n\nThe story reminds us strongly of Blue Beard. Cf. _Notes and Queries_,\n7th S. ii. p. 321.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPEAKING GRAPES. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 3.\n\n\nCf. Thorpe. _Yule-Tide Stories_. \"Prince Hatt under the Earth,\" p. 15.\nStokes' _Indian Fairy Tales_, \"The Fan Prince,\" p. 195. _Grimm_, vol.\nii. \"The Singing, Soaring Lark,\" p. 5, and Variants given on pp. 378,\n382. _Gubernatis_, vol. ii. Story from Piedmont, p. 381, and a Tuscan\ntale, p. 382. In the latter, the father, who has promised his daughter a\nrose, forgets it, and his ship refuses to move on the homeward journey,\nand so he goes to a garden to get the rose, which is given to him by a\nhideous magician. This reminds us of the Finnish story, \"Jyke\u00e4 Lipas\"\n(The Heavy Chest), _S. ja T._ ii. p. 146, where a man who was ploughing\nnear a lake, went down to the strand to drink. When he had done drinking\nhe tried to raise his head but could not, as a sea-troll had got hold of\nhis beard,[63] and although the man repeated all manner of magic\nsentences he could not get away. The man at last had to promise his\ndaughter, and so was set free: the story then turns on the forbidden\nchamber. In another, \"Awaimetoim Wakka\" (The Keyless Chest), _S. ja T._\ni. p. 151, a man was lost and wanted to get home, when a being appeared\nand promised to take him if he would give him what he had at home, which\nturns out to be a beautiful child. Cf. \"The King and the Devil,\" p. 189,\nin this collection. In Lapp stories the devil comes in. Cf.\n\"Fattiggutten, Fanden og Guldbyen;\" _Friis_, p. 161, where he promises\nplenty of fish to a poor man if he will promise what his wife \"carries\nunder her heart;\" in another, \"Gutten, Havfruen og Ridder R\u00f8d,\" _Friis_,\np. 131,[64] a mermaid stops the king's ship and won't let it go till the\nking promises what his wife is bringing into the world. The latter part\nof the Finnish and Lapp stories is not like the Magyar, but rather\nreminds us of \"Stephen the Murderer,\" and the latter part of \"Shepherd\nPaul.\"\n\nThe \"Dirty, filthy pig,\" that helps, is a variant of the huge frog that\nwill not allow the girl to draw water from the well until she gives it\nher ring. Cf. \"The wonderful frog,\" p. 224, and notes.\n\nFor the youngest daughter who wishes for such out-of-the-way, and in\nmany cases utterly incomprehensible objects, Cf. Stokes' _Indian Tales_,\n\"The Fan Prince,\" where the girl wants \"Sabr,\" p. 195; and \"The R\u00e1j\u00e1's\nSon,\" where the young man hears some parrots talk about the Princess\nLab\u00e1m, whom he determines to find, p. 154; and the \"B\u00e9l Princess,\" p.\n138. Mr. Ralston also notes _Afanassieff_, vol. i. No. 14, and vol. vii.\nNo. 6.\n\n_Page 131._ The king tries to deceive the pig, in the same way as he,\nthe king, on p. 191 tries to deceive the devil.\n\nUsually, there is a long series of troubles between the enchanted one\nappearing in some loathsome form and the revelation of the prince in all\nhis beauty, as in the well-known story of \"Beauty and the Beast.\"[65]\nCf. \"Prince Wolf,\" _Folk-Lore Record_, 1880, p. 227. \"Prince Jalma,\"\n_ib._ 1885, p. 293. On the subject of \"Husks,\" or glorious beings\noccurring under lowly forms, see in this collection the snake in \"Knight\nRose,\" \"The Wonderful Frog,\" \"Snake Skin,\" the youngest daughter in \"The\nThree Princesses,\" and notes to \"The Three Oranges,\" \"Cinder Jack,\" and\n\"The Widower and his Daughter.\"\n\nCf. also: The boy in the Lapp stories that wears a hat to hide his\ngolden helmet. _Friis_, \"J\u00e6tten og Veslegutten.\" _Stokes_, \"The Monkey\nPrince,\" and \"The Boy who had a Moon on his Forehead, and a Star on his\nChin,\" pp. 126, 130, and note, p. 280. _Old Deccan Days_, \"The\nwanderings of Vicram Maharajah,\" p. 119, \"The Jackal, the Barber, and\nthe Brahmin,\" p. 167, and \"Muchie Lal,\" P. 221.[66] _Dasent:_ Hacan\nGrizzlebeard. Also, \"The twelve wild ducks\" in the same collection,\nwhere the brothers appear under the form of ducks. Cf. the Finnish\n\"Welji\u00e4ns\u00e4-etsij\u00e4t ja Joutsenina lent\u00e4j\u00e4t\" (one who seeks brothers\nflying as swans): \"Saaressa el\u00e4j\u00e4t\" (living on an island). \"Tynnyriss\u00e4\nkaswanut poika\" (a boy grown in a barrel); _S. ja T._ i. _M\u00e4rchensaal\naller V\u00f6lker von Kletke_, No. 2. \"Die Drei K\u00f6nigskinder.\" _Household\nStories from the Land of Hofer_, \"The grave Prince and the beneficent\nCat.\" _Grimm_ ii. \"The Donkey.\" \"The Goose-girl at the Well,\" and note,\np. 441. _Sagas from the Far East_, pp. 28, 92, 222, 244, and 274.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE ORANGES. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 4.\n\n\n_Page 133._ In \"Loving Lail\u00ed.\" _Stokes_, p. 81, the prince is commanded\nto open the fruit when he is alone, as Lail\u00ed will be inside quite naked.\nSee also _ib._ pp. 251, 284, and _Grimm_ ii. p. 496. _Pentamerone_, \"The\nThree Citrons.\" _Portuguese Folk Tales_, p. 10, F. L. S. 1882; also\n_Dasent_, p. 437, \"The Cock and Hen a-nutting.\"\n\n_Page 134._ The changed bride occurs in the Finnish \"Merest\u00e4nousija\nNeito.\" (The Sea-Maid.) _S. ja T._ i. p. 77, and \"Ihmeellinen Koiwu\"\n(The wonderful Birch) _S. ja T._ i. p. 59. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, \"The\nMaid and the Negress,\" F. L. S. 1882. _Stokes, Indian Fairy Tales_, pp.\nxxiii. xxv. 3, 143, 284. _Dasent_, \"The lassie and her Godmother,\" p.\n219, and the \"Bushy Bride,\" p. 376. _Grimm_, ii. \"The Goose-girl;\" \"The\nWhite Bride and the Black one,\" and \"The Maid Maleen,\" pp. 508, 525.\n_Friis_, Lappiske Eventyr, \"Haccis-\u00e6dne,\" see \"N. and Q.\" 7th Series,\nii. p. 104. _Pentamerone_, \"The Three Citrons.\" Geldart, _Folk-Lore of\nModern Greece_, \"The Knife of Slaughter,\" p. 63. _Folk-Lore Record_,\n1884, p. 242, _ib._ 1885, p. 292. _Gubernatis_, vol. ii. p. 242. Thorpe,\n_Yule-Tide Stories_, pp. 47, 54, 62. Gerle, _Volksm\u00e4rchen der B\u00f6hmen_\nNo. 5. \"Die Goldene Ente.\" Hylt\u00e9n-Cavallius. _Svenska Folk Sagor_, No.\n7, \"Prinsessan som gick upp ur hafvet.\" Cf. also Steere, _Swahili\nTales_, p. 398. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, p. 310; and Denton, _Serbian\nTales_, p. 191; also pp. 214 and 222, in this collection.\n\n_Page 135._ The feigned illness occurs in numerous stories, _e.g._:\n_Deccan Days_, \"Punchkin,\" p. 5. _Dasent_, \"Katie Woodencloak,\" p. 413.\n_Payne_, vol. i. \"The first old man's story,\" p. 21. _Stokes_, \"The\nPomegranate King,\" p. 9. _Records of the Past_, vol. ii. \"Tale of the\nTwo Brothers,\" p. 149. _Friis_, \"Ivan, Kupiskas S\u00f8n,\" p. 170.\n\n_Page 136._ House tidying incident. Cf. _Grimm_, vol. i. p. 226.\n\"Sweetheart Roland.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE YOUNGEST PRINCE, AND THE YOUNGEST PRINCESS. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 5.\n\n\n_Page 137._ Good luck coming from being under a tree. Cf. p. 323 in this\ncollection; and Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, \"Kagsagsuk,\" p. 101. Stokes,\n_Indian Tales_, \"The Fan Prince,\" p. 198, and \"The Bed,\" p. 204.\n_Pentamerone_, \"The Raven.\"\n\n_Page 138._ Old one who helps. Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_,\n\"The Three Tasks,\" p. 226, and \"Piping Hans,\" p. 221. _S. ja T._ \"Maan,\nmeren kulkija laiwa\" (a ship which can sail on land and sea), vol. ii.\np. 22, and \"Ihmeellinen Sauwa\" (the wonderful stick), _ib._ vol. i. p.\n158. In Vicram Maharajah, _Old Deccan Days_, p. 101, the parents of Anar\nRanee caused her garden to be hedged round with seven hedges made of\nbayonets, so that none could go in or out, and published a decree that\nnone should marry her but he who could enter the garden and gather the\nthree pomegranates in which she and her maids slept.\n\n_Page 139._ The horse incident. Cf. Trojan horse, also _Gubernatis_,\nvol. i. p. 336. Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, \"The Golden\nSteed,\" p. 98.\n\n_Page 140._ The marks of moon and stars. In _Payne_, vol. ii. p. 163, we\nread, that an old woman was taken \"for a man of the flower of God's\nservants, and the most excellent of devotees, more by token of the\n_shining of her forehead_ for the ointment with which she had anointed\nit.\" _S. ja T._ vol. i. p. 105, \"Tynnyriss\u00e4 kaswanut Poika\" (a boy who\ngrew in a barrel) p. 337, _ante_. Stokes _Indian Fairy Tales_, \"a boy\nwho had a moon on his forehead, and a star on his chin,\" p. 119. Denton,\n_Serbian Folk Lore_, \"The Shepherd and the King's daughter,\" p. 173.\n\n\n\n\nTHE INVISIBLE SHEPHERD LAD. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 6.\n\n\nThere is a similar tale in Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 5. See also _Grimm_, vol. ii.\n\"The shoes that were danced to pieces,\" and notes, p. 430. _Roumanian\nFairy Tales_, London, 1881, \"The Slippers of the Twelve Princesses.\" A\nsleeping draught is given to the prince in the story of the Enchanted\nYouth. _Payne_, vol. i. p. 59.\n\n_Page 142._ A copper forest occurs in the Lapp story, \"J\u00e6tten og\nVeslegutten.\" _Friis_, No. 18. Also in _Dasent_, \"Katie Woodencloak,\"\np. 414.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCESSES. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 7.\n\n\n_Page 144._ A girl finds her way back in a similar way in the Lapp\nstories. \"Stallo og Lappe br\u00f8drene Sodno.\" _Friis_, p. 85, and\n\"Stallo-vagge,\" _ib._ p. 106. Cf. also _Roumanian Fairy Tales_,\n\"Handsome is as Handsome does,\" p. 81. _Pentamerone_, \"Nennillo and\nNennella.\" _Serbian Folk-Lore_. Denton, \"The wicked stepmother.\"\n_Grimm_, vol. i. \"H\u00e4nsel and Grethel,\" and note p. 355.\n\nIn the Swedish legend, \"Tibble Castle, and Klinta Well.\" (Hofberg.\n_Svenska S\u00e4gner_, p. 146,) the princess coming to meet her lover is\ncarried off by the Mountain King, and leaves her crown hanging on a fir\ntree, to show her lover what has happened.\n\n_Page 146._ The acorn's rapid growth reminds one of Jack and the Bean\nStalk.\n\nFor Magyar idea of giants and giantesses, see the Introduction,[67] The\none-eyed monster occurs in the Lapp, \"Ruobba, J\u00e6tten og Fanden,\"\n_Friis_, p. 67, and in the Finnish \"Lepp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky.\" (_S. ja T._ ii. p. 2)\nnine daughters fall into Sy\u00f6j\u00e4t\u00e4r's power, and are only allowed one eye\namongst them. See also _Round the Yule Log_.\n\nThe Lapps tell of monsters which they call B\u00e6dnag-njudne[68] who had\ndog's noses, and one eye in the middle of their forehead.\n\nPage 147. Cannibalism. Cf. the Lapp Stories, \"B\u00e6dnag-njudne,\" \"Stallo og\nFiskerlappen,\" \"En Datter af Stallosl\u00e6gten flygter fra sine For\u00e6ldre og\ngifter sig med en Lapp,\" \"To Lappepiger gifte sig med Stallo,\" &c. in\n_Friis_. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, \"The Brothers visit their Sister,\" p.\n128. _Old Deccan Days_, \"Brave Seventee Bai,\" p. 28. Payne, _Arabian\nNights_, The History of Gherib and his brother Agib, vol. vi. p. 112.\n\n_Page 148._ A monster is fooled in a similar way, in \"The two Children\nand the Witch,\" p. 60. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, F.L.S. 1882. See also\n_Grimm_, vol. i. Hansel and Grethel, p. 67. _Dasent_, \"Buttercup,\" p.\n146, and \"Boots and the Troll,\" p. 253. Also other parallels noted in\nRalston _Russian Tales_, p. 168.\n\nThe hair combing is a favorite incident in numerous Lapp stories.\n\nThe latter part of the story seems to be a compressed edition of the\nCinderella incident.\n\n\n\n\nCINDER JACK. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 11.\n\n\nThe Magyar title of this tale is: \"Hamupip\u00f6ke,\" and as there are no\ngenders in the Magyar language, the name may stand either for a male or\na female.\n\nSports similar to those mentioned in the tale (but of course on a very\nmuch reduced scale, so as to suit ordinary mortals) formed part of the\nwedding festivities in Hungary in days gone by. Cf. Baron Radv\u00e1nszky's\nwork on _Magyar Family Life in the 15th and 16th Centuries_. 3 vols. (In\nMagyar).\n\nFor the whole story, Cf. the Finnish \"Maan, meren kulkija laiwa\" (_S.\nja T._ ii. p. 22), a story from Ilomantsi, which tells of a king with an\nonly daughter, whom he does not wish to marry, as he cannot bear the\nthought of parting from her, and so set as a task for any one who wished\nto marry her, the building of a ship that could sail over land and sea.\nThree brothers, who were merchants, lived in the land: the youngest was\ncalled Tuhkamo (Ashiepattle): these determined to try their luck; but\nthe elder failed, because they rejected the offer of help from an old\nman; Ashiepattle secured the old man's good will, and so won the day.\nThe latter part of the tale is something like that of Shepherd Paul in\nthis collection.\n\nA Karelian story, entitled \"Tuhkamo\" turns upon three brothers, whose\nfather before he died bade them come and pray for him by his grave: only\nthe youngest did so. He was rewarded, and by means of a wonderful horse,\nachieved marvellous feats of jumping, and so won the princess. Another\nstory from North Finland: \"Tuhkamo,\" relates how a dead father came to\nhis three sons in their dreams, and ordered them to watch on the\nsea-shore; the youngest alone did so, and caught a swan maiden, whose\nfather set him three tasks; viz. to fell all the trees near a bay; to\nset them up again; and to bring a golden chain from heaven. He managed\nall that by the help of his bride, but got into trouble over the last,\nas when he rode up to it, on his wondrous steed, and seized it, it was\nso heavy that he fell down to the earth, and was completely buried in\nthe ground, except a little hair, which remained above ground; a duck\nmade her nest on his head, and laid her eggs in it, and by means of a\nfox and other animals which came to eat the eggs Tuhkamo got out of his\ndifficulty; he next fooled two men who were quarrelling over three\nprecious gifts; he then went on to three houses asking for his bride;\nall the animals, &c. were summoned, and at last an eagle took him to his\nlost bride, who recognised him by a piece of the golden chain he put in\nthe water the princess's servants drew.\n\nIn another Finnish tale, \"The Golden Bird,\" the third son is the only\none who can watch all night, and so finds out what it is that steals\nfruit from his father's favourite tree.\n\nThe Lapp story, \"Ruobba,[69] J\u00e6tten og Fanden,\" _Friis_, p. 67, tells of\n_tools_ of all sorts, axes and planes, &c. coming and asking the sons\nto give them some food; the eldest refuse, but the youngest gives them\nfood, and so succeeds in finding out the robber.\n\nAnother tale, \"Solkongens Datter,\" _Friis_, p. 152, relates how a man\nhas a barn full of corn from which some one steals every night. The\nman's two elder sons try to watch and fail; but Gudnavir\u0169s (_i.e._\nAshiepattle) succeeds in finding the robbers--three swan-maidens--and\nsecuring one of them.\n\nCf. also Rink, _Eskimo Legends_, \"Kagsagsuk,\" and \"The Child Monster,\"\nwhere ill treated ones suddenly develope vast power. Dasent, _Tales from\nthe Norse_, \"The Princess on the glass hill.\" _Old Deccan Days_, \"The\nRaksha's Palace,\" p. 205. Stokes' _Indian Fairy Tales_, \"The boy who had\na moon on his forehead,\" p. 126, &c. and p. 280. Mitford, _Tales of Old\nJapan_, \"The story of the Old Man who made withered trees to blossom.\"\nVernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, \"Hondiddledo and his Fiddle,\" and\n\"Mr. Chick,\" p. 228. _Roumanian Fairy Tales_, \"The Hermit's Foundling.\"\nGeldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, \"The Scab Pate.\" Steere, _Swahili\nTales_, \"Sultan Majn\u00fan.\" Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, \"The Norka,\" p.\n73. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, \"The Golden Apple Tree and the nine\nPeahens.\" \"Who asks much gets little.\" _Grimm_, vol. i. \"The Golden\nBird,\" \"The Three feathers.\" _Ibidem_, vol. ii. \"Iron John,\" and notes,\np. 434. _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 25, 177, and 293, &c. where Russian\nvariants are given. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_ \"The Millet Thief.\"\n_Polnische Volkssagen und M\u00e4rchen_, Aus dem Polnischen des K. B.\nWoycicki von F. H. Levestam, \"Der Glasberg.\" _Deutches M\u00e4rchenbuch_, von\nL. Bechstein, \"Hirsedieb.\" _Sagen M\u00e4rchen und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Sachsen und\nTh\u00fcringen_, Gesammelt von Emil Sommer, \"Der Dumme Wirrschopf.\" _Svenska\nFolk Sagor_, Hylt\u00e9n-Cavallius och G. Steffens, \"Prinsessan upp\u00e5\nGlasberget.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE BROTHERS. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 8.\n\n\nThe beginning of the tale reminds us of \"The travels of Truth and\nFalsehood,\" p. 36 in this collection.\n\n_Healing Mud_, p. 152. Cf. pp. 36, 53, 323, and 336, in this collection.\nAlso, \"Right is always right,\" a Wendish story, quoted in the _Dublin\nMagazine_, 1868, p. 356, and _Vernaleken_, \"The Accursed Garden,\" p.\n308.\n\nIn Tuscany, the peasants believe that whoever washes his face in the dew\nbefore the sun rises on St. John's Day will have no illness all the year\nfollowing. See _Gubernatis_, vol. i. p. 219. Cf. also Payne, _Arabian\nNights_, vol. v. pp. 279, 281. A magic whistle appears in the Finnish\nstory, _e.g._ \"The ship that can sail on land and sea,\" _S. ja T._ ii.\np. 22. See also in this collection, p. 192, and _Gubernatis_, vol. i. p.\n289.\n\nThe envious brothers (or fellow-servants) appear in numerous stories,\nsuch as \"Kulta-orit, Kulta-nuotta, wasta ja pilli (the golden stallion,\ngolden drag net, broom and flute),\" _S. ja T._ i. p. 187, and _Dasent_,\n\"Boots and the Troll.\"\n\nThe tasks set are somewhat like those in \"Fisher Joe.\"\n\nIn the Lapp story, \"Gutten, som tjente hos Kongen\" (_Friis_, p. 167),\nthe hero is ordered to bring all the wild beasts of the forest into the\nKing's courtyard. Animals help Hans in the \"Maiden on the Crystal\nMountain;\" _Vernaleken_, p. 276. Cf. also notes to \"Fisher Joe\" and\n\"Handsome Paul.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE VALUABLE THINGS. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 9.\n\n\nCf. Naak\u00e9, _Slavonic Fairy Tales_, \"The wise judgment.\" Caballero,\n_Spanish Fairy Tales_, \"A girl who wanted three husbands.\" _Sagas from\nthe far East_: \"Five to one,\" p. 112; and \"Who invented Woman,\" p. 298.\nDenton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, \"The three Suitors.\" Geldart, _Folk-Lore of\nModern Greece_, \"The Golden Casket,\" pp. 112 and 115, and _Arabian\nNights_, \"Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Banou.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE MAGIC PONY. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 10.\n\n\nA curious story of a magic horse is still told in Lincolnshire, which I\nheard the other day in Boston. This is _verbatim_. \"Near Lincoln is a\nplace called Biard's Leap; near there an old witch lived in a cave, who\nenticed people in and eat them. One day a man offered to go and kill\nher. He had his choice of a dozen horses, so he took them all to a pond,\nwhere he threw a stone into the water, and then led the horses to have a\ndrink, and the one which lifted its head first he chose. It was blind.\nHe got on its back, and, taking his sword, set off. When he got to the\ncave's mouth, he shouted to the witch to come out.\n\n\n    \"Wait till I've buckled my shoe,\n    And suckled my cubs,\"\n\n\ncried the witch. She then rushed out, and jumping on to the horse stuck\nher claws into its rump, which made it jump over thirty feet (the\nso-called Biard's leap). The man struck behind him with his sword, which\nentered the old woman's left breast, and killed her.\"\n\nThe legend is given in a curious little tract, entitled \"The existing\nremains of the Ancient Britons within a small district lying between\nLincoln and Sleaford, by the Rev. G. Oliver, D.D. London, 1846.\" The man\nof the above version is replaced by a knight, who \"cast a large stone\ninto the lake, accompanied by a secret petition to the gods, that the\nchosen steed might raise his head from the water;\" Biard rises, and they\ngo to meet the witch, who has her left breast cut off by the first blow\nof the knight's sword; the second blow she evades by springing on to\nBiard's flank, where she fixes her talons, so that the horse took a\nseries of prodigious leaps, three of which are at least sixty yards\nasunder, and are still marked by the impressions of his feet. The witch\ndied from her wound, and was buried under a huge stone at the cross\nroads, and a stake driven through her body. _Gubernatis_, i. p. 338. Cf.\nNotes to Prince Mirk\u00f3.\n\n_Page 160. Obstructions placed in the way of the witch or giant who\nfollows._\n\nCf. Finnish, \"Awaimetoin Wakka\" (the Keyless Chest), _S. ja T._ i. p.\n151, and \"Oriiksi muutettu poika\" (the enchanted horse), _ib_. p. 142.\nLapp. \"Jaetten og Veslegutten.\" _Friis_, p. 49, and \"Jaetten og Drengen\nhans,\" _ib._ p. 58. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, \"A tale about Two Girls,\" and\n\"Giviok.\" Naak\u00e9, _Slavonic Tales_, \"The wonderful hair,\" and \"Ivan\nKruchina.\" _Legends of the Wigwam_, \"Exploits of Grasshopper,\" p. 61.\n_Old Deccan Days_, \"Truth's Triumph,\" p. 63. _Portuguese Folk Tales_, F.\nL. S. 1882, \"The Maid and the Negress,\" and \"St. Peter's Goddaughter.\"\nRalston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, \"Marya Morevna,\" p. 95: \"the Baba Yaga,\"\np. 141, and \"the Witch and the Sun's Sister,\" p. 173. Dasent, _Norse\nTales_, \"The Mastermaid,\" p. 91; \"Farmer Weathersky,\" p. 334, and \"The\nWidow's Son,\" p. 363. _Grimm_, vol. i. \"The Water Nix.\" Geldart, _Greek\nTales_, \"Starbright and Birdie,\" \"The Golden Casket,\" p. 123, and \"The\nScab Pate,\" p. 164. _Vernaleken_, \"The Two Sisters,\" p. 157.\n_Pentamerone_, \"The Flea,\" and \"Petrosinella.\" _Records of the Past_,\nvol. ii. \"Tale of the Two Brothers,\" p. 142. _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp.\n166, 175. _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1883, \"The Three Sisters and Itr\u00ecmob\u00e9,\"\np. 235. A Malagasky tale. Ananci Stories, _ib._ p. 286. Irish\nFolk-Tales, _ib._ p. 323. _Ibid._ 1884. \"Prince Unexpected,\" p. 15, a\nPolish tale, and \"Is\u00eclak\u00f2lona,\" _ib._ p. 31, a Malagasy tale.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEGGAR'S PRESENTS. Erd\u00e9lyi, ii. 12.\n\n\nCf. the wonderful gifts in: \"Taiwaasen menij\u00e4\" (one who goes to heaven)\n_S. ja T._ ii. p. 113, and \"Ei-niin-mit\u00e4\" (just nothing) _ib._ p. 53.\n\"Bondes\u00f8nnen, Konges\u00f8nnem og Solens S\u00f8ster.\" _Friis_, p. 140. _Dasent_,\n\"The Best Wish,\" p. 294, and \"Katie Woodencloak,\" _ib._ p. 412. _Old\nDeccan Days_, \"The Jackal, the Barber, and the Brahman.\" Stokes' _Indian\nFairy Tales_, \"The Story of Foolish Sach\u00fal\u00ed.\" _Sagas from the Far East_,\n\"The Avaricious Brother,\" p. 23. _Vernaleken, In the Land of Marvels_,\n\"The Wishing Rag,\" \"The Magic Pot.\" _Patr\u00e1nas_, \"Matanzas.\" Caballero,\n_Spanish Folk-Tales_, \"Uncle Curro and his Cudgel.\" _Pentamerone_, \"The\nMonths.\" _Grimm_, vol. i. \"The Wishing Table, the Gold Ass, and the\nCudgel in the Sack,\" and notes, p. 387. Also \"The Knapsack, the Hat,\n&c.\" and notes, p. 409. Crofton Croker, _Irish Fairy Legends_, \"The\nLegend of Bottle Hill.\" Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. vi. Jouder and his\nBrothers. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1878, \"Some Italian Folk-Lore,\" p. 202.\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 127, 154, 161; and Nordlander, _Sagor, S\u00e4gner\noch Viso_ No. 4.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORLD'S BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 1.\n\n\nArany gives the following variants of this tale: _Mailath_ 2,\n_Grimm_[70] 53, and _Schott_, Wallachische M\u00e4rchen 5. See also in\nRussian poetry by Pushkin, in Bodenstedt's translation i. p. 100. In the\nGerman variants, twelve pigmies take the place of the twelve robbers in\nthe Hungarian tale; and the queen thus addresses her mirror:\n\n\n   \"Spieglein, spieglein an der Wand\n    Wer ist die sch\u00f6nste im ganzen Land?\"\n\n\nAnd receives the reply--\n\n\n   \"Frau K\u00f6nigin. Thr seid die Sch\u00f6nste hier\n    Aber Schneewitchen ist thausendmal sch\u00f6ner.\n                             Als Thr.\"\n\n\nCf. Pedroso _Portuguese Folk-Tales_, F.L.S. 1882. \"The Vain Queen,\" and\n\"The Maiden with the Rose on her Forehead.\"\n\n_Page 164._ The love-stricken ones is a touch of the Oriental method of\ndescribing the power of love. See numberless examples in Payne's\n_Arabian Knights_.\n\n_Page 165._ There is an Indian superstition noted in Temple's _Legends\nof the Punj\u00e1b_, p. 51, where we read, \"he wore some coarse clothes over\nhis own, so that her perspiration should not injure him,\" and in the\nfootnote: \"the woman's perspiration would take his 'virtue' out of him.\"\n\n_Page 165._ Magic Mirror. Besides the variants at the beginning of the\nnotes, we may compare the Magic Mirror in the Norse Saga, \"King Gram\"\nand the Hanoverian tale, in _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 379.\n\nFor spitting as a mode of enchantment, see numerous examples in _Arabian\nNights_.\n\n_Page 172._ \"The Pin, &c. which prevents the girl from moving.\" Cf.\nStokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, p. xiii., \"The Pomegranate King,\"\n\np. 14, \"The princess who loved her father like salt,\" p. 165; and notes\non pp. 248, &c.\n\nIn the Finnish tale, \"H\u00e4r' \u00e4n Korwista syntyneet Koirat siw\" (Dogs which\nsprang from the ears of a bull), in _S. ja T._ 1, a girl scratches her\nbrother's head with a devil's tusk, and so kills him; but his faithful\ndogs lick the wound, and so restore him to life.\n\nIn a Lapp story, \"Bondes\u00f8nnen\" (_Friis_, No. 44) the son's sister\nawakes, when the hero pricks her hand, and sucks the drop of blood off.\n\nCf. Schott, _Wallachische M\u00e4rchen_, p. 251. Pedroso, _Portuguese Tales_,\nF.L.S. 1882, \"The Maid and the Negress.\" _Irish Folk Tales_, Folk-Lore\nRecord. 1884, p. 197, \"The Story of John and the Amulet.\" Halliwell,\n_Nursery Rhymes and Tales_, \"The Red Bull of Norroway,\" p. 169. Thorpe,\n_Yule-Tide Stories_, p. 40, \"The Princess that came out of the water.\"\nPayne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. i. p. 375. _Gubernatis_, vol. ii. p. 15,\nand a story from near Leghorn, p. 242, where it states that similar\nstories are to be found in Piedmont, in other parts of Tuscany, in\nCalabria, &c. and in the _Tuti-Name_. _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 243, \"The\nGlass Coffin.\" _Pentamerone_, \"Sun, Moon, and Talia,\" and \"The Three\nCitrons.\" Gonzenbach, _Sicilianiasches M\u00e4rchen_, vol. i. p. 82.[71] _Old\nDeccan Days_, \"Little Surya Bai,\" p. 83; \"Chundun Rajah,\" p. 233;\n\"Sodewa Bai,\" p. 240. In the two last, we also have examples of bodies\nremaining undecayed for months after death. Sodewa Bai looked as lovely\na month after her death as on the night she died; cf. also the\nwell-known \"Sleeping Beauty.\"\n\nThe prince in the Greek story weeps and groans over a picture, just as\nthis prince does over his dead princess. See _Geldart_, p. 95, \"The\nGolden Steed.\"\n\n_Page 180._ For a fuller note on witches see the Introduction.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 2.\n\n\nCf. \"Neitonen kuninkaan Sadussa\" (The Maid in the King's Garden), and\n\"Neitonen Hernemaassa\"[72] (The Maid in the Pea-field). _S. ja T._ i.\npp. 108-119. _Grimm_, vol. i. \"The Girl without Arms,\" and note, p. 378.\nMolbech, _Udvalgte Eventyr og Fortaellinger_, \"Pigen uden Haender.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE KING AND THE DEVIL. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii 3.\n\n\nCf. _Some Italian Folk-Lore_, \"Lion Bruno,\" _Folk-Lore Record_, 1878, p.\n209. _Portuguese Stories_, \"The Story of a Turner,\" _Folk-Lore Record_,\n1881, p. 152. _Irish Stories, Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, p. 39. _Grimm_,\nvol. ii. \"The King of the Golden Mountain,\" and \"The Nix of the Mill\nPond.\" Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_, \"The Gold Ring and the Frog,\" \"The\nKing's Son and Messeria,\" and \"Goldmaria and Goldfeather.\" _Vernaleken,\nIn the Land of Marvels_, \"The Fisher's Son,\" and \"The Stolen Princess.\"\n\n_S. ja T._ i. \"Awaimetoin Wakka,\" and _S. ja T._ ii. p. 146, \"Jyke\u00e4\nLipas\" (the Heavy Chest). _Friis_, \"Gutten, Havfruen og Ridder R\u00f8d,\" and\n\"Fattiggutten, Fanden og Guldbyen.\" Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_ p.\n362-366, 124, 133.\n\nSteere, _Swahili Tales_, \"The Spirit who was cheated by the Sultan's\nSon.\" _Gubernatis_, ii. p. 382. One may also compare the Viennese\nLegends of the \"Stock-im-Eisen,\" and of the \"Baren-H\u00e4uter,\" for which\n_vide Pictures of Hungarian Life_, pp. 172 and 387. Cf. also the Swedish\nLegend, \"Friskytten,\" in Hofberg's _Svenska Folks\u00e4gner_, and the\nwell-known stories of Faust and Der Freisch\u00fctz. See also p. 130 _ante_.\n\n_Page 191._ The attempts to deceive the devil are found in numerous\ntales, e.g. _Friis_, \"Stallobruden.\" _Grimm_ ii., \"The Iron Stone,\" p.\n158. Lindholm, _Lappb\u00f6nder_, \"De bedragne j\u00e4tten and; Quigstad og,\"\nSandberg _Lappiske eventyr og folkesagn_, \"Stallo og lappepigen.\"\n\n_Page 191._ \"Owl's Feathers.\" Pillows of the same sort appear in \"The\nPelican,\" p. 255, and remind us of the superstitions connected with wild\nbirds' feathers. In many parts of Lincolnshire, it is said, that it is\nimpossible to die on a bed that contains them. I know of one old lady in\nYorkshire, who when _in extremis_ begged to be moved off her bed, as she\nwas sure she could not die on it, as it had some bad feathers in it. In\nsome places it is pigeon's feathers that the people particularly\ndislike. See also Henderson's _Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties_, p.\n60.\n\n_Page 192._ For different tasks, such as the millet cleaning, see also:\n_S. ja T._ i. \"Ihmeellinen Koiwu\" (The wonderful Birch). Stokes, _Indian\nFairy Tales_, \"The R\u00e1j\u00e1's Son,\" p. 163, and p. 180. Temple, _Legends of\nthe Punj\u00e1b_, \"R\u00e2j\u00e2 Ras\u00e2l\u00fb,\" p. 43. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_. \"Svend's\nExploits,\" p. 353. Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, \"The Snake,\nthe Dog, and the Cat,\" p. 44. _Pentamerone_, \"The Dove.\" _Folk-Lore\nJournal_, 1884, \"Prince Unexpected,\" p. 13. _Gubernatis_, Vol. i. p. 38.\nRalston, _Russian Folk Tales_, \"The Water King,\" p. 126; also pp. 18,\n153, 208 in this work.\n\nThe hairs that became serpents remind us of Medusa.\n\n_Page 193._ The changes of the pursued, in order to avoid capture, occur\nin numerous tales, _e.g._ \"Handsome Paul,\" and note 320 _ante_. Also _S.\nja T._ i. \"Oriiksi muutettu poika,\" and \"Awaimetoin Wakka.\" _Friis_,\n\"J\u00e6tten og Veslegutten,\" and \"J\u00e6tten og Drengen hans.\" _Household\nStories from the Land of Hofer_, \"The Dove Maiden,\" p. 384. _Vernaleken,\nIn the Land of Marvels_, \"How Hans finds his Wife,\" p. 284, and \"The\nDrummer,\" p. 292. _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, \"Prince Unexpected,\" p. 15,\nand Malagasy Folk-Tales, \"Is\u00eclak\u00f2lona,\" p. 131. Campbell, _Popular Tales\nof the Western Highlands_, \"The Battle of the Birds.\"\n\n_Page 194._ The devil's limping and the woodpeckers and hares in other\nstories,[73] reminds us of an old Yorkshire saw, \"Beware of those whom\nGod has marked,\" and I know cases of people who regard any external\ndeformity as the expression of internal malformation.\n\n_Page 195._ In the Lapp stories, the giants swallow so much water that\nthey burst.\n\nWith the moral tacked on to this tale, cf. _Vernaleken_, \"The Nine\nBirds.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCES, THE THREE DRAGONS, AND THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE IRON\nNOSE. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 4.\n\n\n_Page 197._ T\u00e1tos. Cf. notes, p. 345, also _Roumanian Fairy-Tales_, \"The\nHermit's Foundling\" and \"Vasilica the Brave.\" _Pentamerone_, \"Corvetto\"\nand Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, \"The Golden Steed,\" and \"The\nScab Pate.\"\n\nThe dragon vomiting out those it has eaten. Cf. The queen swallowed by\nthe whale, in the story of the \"Two Orphans,\" p. 223. Also Red Riding\nHood. _Grimm_, i. \"The Wolf and the Seven little Kids.\" Cf. old Greek\nlegend of Kronos devouring his children.\n\n_Page 199._ The bridge seems to suggest the bridge in the Koran. See\nalso the bridge in _Pentamerone_, \"The golden root.\"\n\nThis part of the story somewhat resembles that of \"the Accursed Garden,\"\nin _Vernaleken_.\n\n_Page 201._ The transformation of Ambrose and the Dragon. Cf. _Roumanian\nFairy Tales_, \"Vasilica the Brave,\" p. 73.\n\nIn the Lapp stories the hero calls for help to his gods. See _Friis_.\n\"Stallo og Patto Poadnje,\" and \"Stallo og Fiskerlappen.\"\n\n_Page 202._ In the Finnish story, Alderblock turns himself into an\nermine. See _S. ja T._ 2, \"Lepp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky,\" a story which is very much like\nthe Magyar in this part. Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, \"Ivan Popyalof,\"\np. 69. Also _ib._ pp. 71 and 72. In the Finnish tale (_S. ja T._ i.)\n\"Welji\u00e4ns\u00e4-etsij\u00e4t Tytt\u00f6\"--a little dog prevents the girl from bathing\nin water which would transform her. Cf. Pedroso, _Portuguese\nFolk-Tales_, \"Pedro and the Prince,\" p. 26. _Gubernatis_, i. p. 191.\n\n_Page 203._ Ambrose sticks to the axle as the people did to the lamb, p.\n14, _ante_. Cf. Story of Loki and the Eagle.\n\n_Page 204._ The witch in the lower world reminds us of the Egyptian\nLegend of Ishtar, _Records of the Past_, vol. i. p. 144.\n\n_Page 205._ The folk-tale-teller was ever fond of having a sly rap at\nthe clergy. Cf. Lapp tale, where the priest wants to marry the goveiter\ngirl himself, because she has a costly silver girdle; _Friis_,\n\"Goveiter-Pige.\" Also Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, p. 27.\n\n_Page 205._ Worming secrets out of witch, &c. by flattery. Cf. _S. ja\nT._ ii. \"Antti Puuhaara,\" and _Friis_, \"Stallo og Lappebr\u00f8drene Sodno.\"\n\n_Ib._ Concealed Life. Cf. _Friis_, \"J\u00e6tten, som havde skjult sit Liv i\net H\u00f8nseaeg,\" and \"J\u00e6tten og Veslegutten,\" where the giant has hid his\nlife in the middle of a cow's heart. Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, \"The girl who\nfled to the Inlanders,\" p. 220. _Old Deccan Days_, \"Punchkin,\" p. 13.\nStokes, _Indian Tales_. \"Brave H\u00edr\u00e1l\u00e1lb\u00e1s\u00e1,\" p. 58; \"The Demon and the\nKing's Son,\" p. 187, and note, p. 261. Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_,\n\"The giant who had no heart in his body,\" p. 75.\n\n_Sagas from the Far East_, \"Child Intellect,\" p. 133. Steere, _Swahili\nTales_, \"Story of the Washerwoman's Donkey,\" p. 5. Ralston, _Russian\nFolk Tales_. \"Koschei the Deathless,\" p. 103, and pp. 113--115. Mr.\nRalston also gives _Asbj\u00f6rnsen_, \"New Series,\" No. 70, p. 39. Haltrich,\n_Deutsche Volksm\u00e4rchen ausdem Sachsenlande in Siebenb\u00fcrgen_, p. 188.\nWenzig, _Westabauischer M\u00e4rchenschatz_, No. 37, p. 190. _Hahn_, No. 26,\ni. 187, and ii. pp. 215, 294--5, _Vuk Karajich_, No. 8. Cf. _Records of\nthe Past_, vol. ii. \"Tale of the Two Brothers,\" p. 149. Geldart, _Greek\nFolk-Tales_, \"The little Brother who saved his Sister from the Dragon,\"\np. 56. _Pentamerone_, \"The Dragon.\" Campbell, \"Tales of the Western\nHighlands,\" vol. i. p. 81. _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 564. Denton, _Serbian\nFolk-Lore_. \"Bash-chalek,\" p. 172. Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vol. i. p.\n118, and vol. vii. p. 91. Engel, _Musical Myths_, vol. i. p. 201.\n_Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, \"The Philosophy of Punchkin.\" Tylor,\n_Primitive Culture_, pp. 152, 153. _Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 131, 140,\n269, and 412. Thorpe, _Yule-Tide Stories_. \"The Man without a Heart.\"\nBlack, _Folk-Medecine_, p. 32. _Gesta Romanorum_, \"The Knight and the\nNecromancer.\" Castren, _Ethnologische Vorlesungen \u00fcber die Altaischen\nV\u00f6lker_, p. 174. _Page 206._ A wonderful chest in the Finnish story,\n\"Awaimetoin Wakka\" (_S. ja T._ i.) opens as the golden apple in the\nMagyar tale, and out of it comes castle, servants, &c. See also Prince\nMirk\u00f3, p. 74, _ante_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WIDOWER AND HIS DAUGHTER. Erd\u00e9lyi iii. 7.\n\n\nThere are some wild variants of this tale to be found amongst the\nFinnish Folk-Tales. See \"Ihmeelinen Koiwu,\" the wonderful birch,\n\"Kummallinen Tammi,\" the marvellous oak, and \"Kolmet Sis\u00e4rykset,\" the\nthree sisters. _S. ja T._ i. pp. 59-77, also \"Awannolla kehr\u00e4\u00e4j\u00e4t,\" the\nspinner beside the ice-hole, and \"Sis\u00e4rpuolet,\" the half-sisters. _S. ja\nT._ ii. pp. 161-172. Winther, _Danske Folkeeventyr_, \"Den onde\nSkemoder,\" Asbj\u00f6rnsen og Moe, _Norske Folkeeventyr_, \"Manddattern og\nKj\u00e4rringdattern.\" _Deutsches M\u00e4rchenbuch von L. Bechstein_, \"Die\nGoldmaria und Pechmaria.\" Kuhn und Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen_, \"Das\nM\u00e4dchen im Paradis.\" Hylt\u00e9n-Cavallius, _Svenska Folksagor_. \"De tw\u00e5\nSkrinen,\" Geldart, _Folk Lore of Modern Greece_. \"Little Saddleslut\" and\nthe \"Goat Girl,\" _Sagas from the Far East_, p. 180. Ralston's _Russian\nFolk Tales_, \"The Dead Mother,\" and p. 260, where a Serbian variant is\nquoted, which apparently bears a strong resemblance to some of the\nFinnish. Denton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_, \"Papalluga.\" Vernaleken, _In the\nLand of Marvels_, \"The Blackbird,\" and p. 84. _Pentamerone_, \"La Gatta\nCenerentola.\"\n\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i., pp. 31, 182, 195, 208, 241, 291, 293. Thorpe's\n_Yule-tide Stories_. \"The Little Gold Shoe\" and \"The Girl clad in\nMouseskin.\" _Grimm_, vol. 1, \"Cinderella,\" \"Allerleirauh,\" and notes,\npp. 364, 416, 420. _Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_.\n\"Klein-Else.\" _Folk-Lore Record_ 1878. \"Some Italian Folk-Lore,\" p. 188:\n_ib._ 1880. \"The Icelandic story of Cinderella.\" _Portuguese\nFolk-Tales_, F. L. S. pp. 68 and 97: _Folk-Lore Record_ 1884; Folk Tales\nof the Malagasy, p. 74, _ib._ Chilian Popular Tales, \"Maria the Cinder\nMaiden.\" _Tasks imposed_, p. 208; see _ante_, p. 398. The gold rose\nstuck into the gate-post (p. 211) occurs in one of the Finnish variants.\n\n_Page 214_. The gipsy woman incident. Cf. _ante_, p. 386.\n\n_Page 215_. The \"feather picking\" refers to gatherings of country girls\nheld during the winter, to dress feathers collected during the year for\nbedding.\n\n_Ib_. The golden duck incident is an exceedingly common one. Cf. _Old\nDeccan Days_, pp. 85 and 223. _Portuguese Folk-Tales_: F.L.S. p. 12.\nStokes' _Indian Tales_, p. 284.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WISHES. Erd\u00e9lyi iii. 11.\n\n\nCf. _Payne_, vol. v. \"The man who saw the night of power.\" _Caballero's_\nFairy Tales, \"The three wishes.\" _Grimm_, \"The poor man and the rich\nman,\" and notes; and a fragment in _Notes and Queries_. Finnish\nFolk-Lore, 6th S. viii., p. 201, also _Lewins_ \"A fly on the wheel,\" p.\n81, where a Hindustani variant is given.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO ORPHANS. Erd\u00e9lyi iii. 9.\n\n\nIn a Finnish Tale, \"Welji\u00e4ns\u00e4-etsij\u00e4t Tytt\u00f6,\" _S. ja T_. i. p. 119, the\ngirl who seeks her brothers, the girl is warned by a faithful dog, from\ngoing near or touching water which a witch wishes her to do, and which\nentails misery on her; as also in another, \"Leppap\u00f6lky,\" where the witch\ntempts the heroes in like manner. Cf. Geldart's _Folk-Lore of Modern\nGreece_. \"Starbright and Birdie,\" p. 33. _Grimm_, \"Brother and Sister.\"\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i., pp. 175, 354, and 390.\n\n_P. 221_. The cutting off of the lock of hair reminds us of the\nwidespread superstitions connected with hair, or any other part of a\nperson. Cf. _ante_ pp. 332 and 374. _Archaeology_, \"The Physicians of\nMyddfai,\" p. 113. I have also often heard the following in Yorkshire and\nLincolnshire. That you must not give a lock of hair to anyone, or else\nyou will quarrel with that person; that you must not keep the hair of a\ndead person unless it is \"made up,\" or you will have ill-luck; and that\nall hair cuttings and nail parings ought to be saved and placed in the\ncoffin, so that the person may \"enter heaven perfect!\" A baby's hair and\nnails must not be cut until it is a year old, or else it will be a\nthief. Hair must not be cut when the moon is waning. It is also said\nthat ague can be cured by hanging a lock of hair on a willow tree.[74]\n\n_Page 223._ The witch wishes to get rid of the deer, in the same way\nthat the gipsy does the golden duck, _ante_ p. 215. Cf. Stokes's _Indian\nFairy Tales:_ \"The Pomegranate King,\" p. 10; \"Ph\u00falmati R\u00e1ni,\" p. 4; \"The\nJackal and the Kite,\" p. 22; \"The B\u00e9l-Princess,\" p. 144; and Notes, pp.\n245-253. _Gubernatis_, vol. i., p. 412, and vol. ii., p. 31.\n\n_Page 223._ In the Lapp Story, \"Pigen fra Havet,\" _Friis_, No. 8,[75] a\nchild is brought down to the sea-shore to bring mother back; and in the\nFinnish story, \"Ihmeelinen Koiwu,\" The wonderful Birch, the child's cry\nbrings mother back, just as the little deer's lament in this tale\nreaches the sister's ears at the bottom of the well.\n\nIn this Finnish tale the mother replies, and says to the reindeer, which\nare feeding near:\n\n\n   \"Reindeer! Reindeer! feeding in the swamp,\n    Come and take care of your child!\n    Come and see the child you have borne!\n    For the witch's daughter has neither food nor drink,\n    And cannot quiet its cries.\"\n\n\nSee also _Finnish_, \"Maid who rose out of the sea.\"\n\n_Grimm_, \"The lambkin and the little fish,\" and notes.\n\n_Pentamerone_, \"The two cakes.\" Theal, _Kaffir Folk-Lore_, \"The story of\nTangalimlibo,\" p. 61.\n\n_Page 223._ Creatures inside others.\n\nCf. Theal, _Kaffir Folk-Lore_, \"The story of the cannibal mother,\" p.\n142; \"The story of the glutton,\" p. 175; \"The great chief of the\nanimals,\" p. 177; and the Finnish story, \"Seppo Ilmarisen Kosinta\"\n(Smith Ilmarinen's courtship), where the smith, after being swallowed by\nUntamoinen, cuts his way out.\n\nStokes's _Indian Fairy Tales_, \"Loving Lail\u00ed,\" p. 76.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL FROG. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 15.\n\n\nMy friend, Prof. Aug. Gitt\u00e9e, has kindly forwarded me a Flemish variant,\n\"Van het Meisje dat met een Puits trouwde.\" \"The tale of a girl who\nmarried a frog.\" See _Volskunde Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche\nFolklore_, 1888, p. 48. Cf. _Grimm_. \"The Frog King\" and notes. Stokes,\n_Indian Folk Tales_, p. xvi. and \"The Monkey Prince.\" _Gubernatis_. \"The\nFrog.\" Max M\u00fcller, _Chips from a German Workshop_, vol. ii. p. 249. Cox.\n_Mythology of the Aryan Nations_. \"Frog.\" Halliwell. _Nursery Rhymes and\nTales_. \"The maiden and the frog.\"[76] Dasent. _Tales from the Norse_.\n\"Bushy Bride.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL AND THE RED CAP. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 19.\n\n\nCf. Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, \"The Soldier and the Vampire,\" p.\n314. Vernaleken. _In the Land of Marvels._ \"How a Shepherd became rich.\"\n\n\n\n\nJACK DREADNOUGHT. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 16.\n\n\nCf. _Grimm_, \"The Story of the youth who went to learn what fear was,\"\nand notes: _ib._ \"The King's son who feared nothing,\" and notes.\n_Household Stories from the Land of Hofer._ \"Fearless Johnny.\"\n_Afanassieff_, v. 46.\n\n_Page 232._ The secret treasures guarded by ghosts, &c. is a world-wide\ntradition. Cf. Hofberg, _Svenska Folks\u00e4gner_. \"Skatten i S\u00e4byb\u00e4cken,\"\nWhere a carriage full of gold and silver is said to be sunk mid-stream,\nover which a weird light flickers. Many attempts, we are told, have been\nmade to rescue it, but each time some one has spoken, or else the\nbull-calves--which are not to have a single black hair on them, and were\nto be fed for three years on unskimmed milk--were not strong enough; and\nso the attempts have ever failed. See also, in the same work\n\"Skattgr\u00e4fvarna,\" where the searchers were frightened away by the Demon\nguardians of the hidden store. In Lincolnshire I have heard of a field\nwhere, tradition says, countless barrels of beer, and a fender and\nfireirons of silver, are buried, and in my own parish I have collected\nthree similar tales told of places here, and the other day a Negro from\nSouth Carolina told me another. Cf. Hardwick, _Traditions,\nSuperstitions, and Folk-Lore_ (chiefly Lancashire and the north of\nEngland), pp. 41, 46, 195, and 252. Cf. Baring Gould. _Curious Myths_.\n\"The Divining Rod.\"[77]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SECRET-KEEPING LITTLE BOY AND HIS LITTLE SWORD. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 8.\n\n\nCf. _Grimm_, vol. i., \"Faithful John\" and note. See _ante_, p. 350.\n\nWith regard to the sword growing in the garden, Cf. the Hunnish\nsuperstition mentioned by Priscus. \"He (Attila) believes also that there\nwill be before long some noteable increase of his power; and that the\ngods have signified this by revealing to him the sword of Mars, a sacred\nrelic much venerated by the Huns, for many years hidden from their eyes,\nbut quite lately re-discovered by the trail of the blood of an ox which\nhad wounded its hoof against it, as it stuck upright in the long grass.\"\n_Italy and her defenders_, by T. Hodgkin, vol. ii. p. 92. No doubt\nPriscus makes use of the name of Mars to designate the Hunnish deity in\nthe same way as Tacitus when he speaks of the Teutonic god of war. A\nnaked sabre, fixed hilt downwards in the earth, was worshipped by the\nAlani. Cf. p. 33 of the above-mentioned work.\n\n_Payne_, vol. vi. \"Jouder and his brothers,\" pp. 129, 152, 164.\n\nSee also, Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, \"The Scab Pate.\" Payne,\n_Tales from the Arabic_, vol. i., \"The story of the King who knew the\nquintessence of things.\"\n\n\"The Three Dreams,\" p. 117, in this collection, and notes, p. 375.\n\n_Page 236._ The execution. The last ceremony with a condemned man when\nhe is pinioned is to read once more his sentence to him. This is done by\nthe sheriff, and concludes with \"Hangman, do your duty!\" After the\nexecution is over, the military present are commanded to prayer; the\nhelmet is taken off, the musket taken in the left hand and grounded, and\nevery soldier kneels on his left knee, and remains so for a few minutes\ntill order is given \"From prayer.\"\n\nIn olden times the sheriff, after he read the sentence, broke his\njudicial staff in twain, and threw the pieces at the culprit's feet:\nhence the Hungarian saying, \"to break the staff near anyone,\" is\nequivalent to pronouncing sentence: _e.g._, \"I have done this, but don't\nbreak a staff over my action,\" _i.e._, do not condemn my action.\n\n_Page 238._ \"Immuring alive.\" Cf. Roumanian legend \"Manuli,\" and notes\nin this collection, p. 376.\n\n_Page 243._ In the Finnish tale, \"Alderblock,\" there is a sword, which\ncuts the enemy into fragments.\n\n\n\n\nSHEPHERD PAUL. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 17.\n\n\nCf. Finnish stories, \"Lapp\u00e4p\u00f6lkky,\" _S. ja T._ 2; where Alderblock has\nfive companions who assist him in his labours; also \"Mikko Metsolainen\"\nand \"Mikko Miehel\u00e4inen,\" _S. ja T._ i.; stories very much like the\nMagyar one. Also, \"Maan, meren kulkija laiwa.\" In a Lapp story we find\ncompanions helping the hero. _Friis_. \"Ruobba, Jaetten og Fanden.\"\n\n_Grimm._ \"How six men got on in the world,\" and notes; \"The six\nservants,\" and notes; \"Strong Hans,\" and notes.\n\nM\u00fcllenhoff, _M\u00e4rchen und Lieder der Hertzogenth\u00fcmer Schleswig Holstein\nund Lauenberg_, \"Rinroth.\" Molbech, _Udwalgte Eventyr_, \"De fer\nTienere.\" Cavallius och Stefens, _Svenska Folksagor_, \"De begge\nFosterbr\u00f6derne,\" and \"Halftrollet eller de Tre Sw\u00e4rden.\"\n\nBechstein. _Deutsches M\u00e4rchenbuch_. \"Der Hafenh\u00fcter.\"\n\nDenton. _Serbian Folk-Lore_. \"Sir Peppercorn.\"\n\n_Patra\u00f1as._ \"The ill-tempered Princess.\" \"A tale of fourteen men,\" a\nFlemish tale; see _Magazin f\u00fcr die Literatur des Auslandes_, 1844.\nCaballero, _Spanish Tales_, \"Lucifer's ear.\" Geldart, _Folk-Lore of\nModern Greece_, \"The Golden Casket\" and \"Little John, the widow's son.\"\n_Pentamerone_, \"The Flea\" and \"The Booby.\"\n\n_Folk-Lore Record_, 1881, p. 142. \"The story of Mamma-na-Bura,\" a\nPortuguese tale: _ib._ 1883, p. 254, \"Folk-Lore of Yucatan.\"\n\n_Page 246._ The latter portion of the tale is to be met with in many\ntales, _e.g._, \"Awannolla Kehr\u00e4aj\u00e4t,\" where the girl goes through a hole\nin the ice, and finds a beautiful world there.\n\nDasent. _Tales from the Norse._ \"The two step-sisters,\" p. 129;\n\"Shortshanks,\" p. 166; and \"The Big Bird Dan,\" p. 449.\n\nVernaleken. _In the Land of Marvels._ \"The Taylor and the Hunter,\" \"The\nAccursed Garden,\" and \"The Three Princesses.\"\n\nDenton. _Serbian Folk-Lore._ \"The wonderful Kiosk.\"\n\n_Patra\u00f1as_, \"Simple Johnny and the spell-bound Princesses.\" _Grimm_,\n\"The Elves,\" and notes. _Sagas from the Far East_, \"How the Schimnu-Khan\nwas slain.\" Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, \"The Norka,\" and variants\nthere given on p. 80.\n\nGeldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece,_ \"The Prince and the Fairy.\"\nSteere, _Shahili Tales_, \"Hasseebu Kareem ed Deen,\" p. 337.\n\n_Arabian Nights._ \"Ahmed and Pari-Banou,\" and numerous other examples of\nunderground palaces, where distressed princesses lie awaiting\ndeliverance.\n\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 25, 129, 193, 194; vol. 187, &c.\n\nRink. _Tales of Traditions of the Esquimaux._ \"The woman who got\nconnected with the Ingersuit or under-world people.\" There are numerous\nstories about the under-world and its people in Lapp stories, _e.g._,\n_Friis_, \"Cacce-haldek eller Havfolk,\" where a boy rows to the\nunder-world. (_Notes and Queries_, 7th s. v. p. 381; cf. _ib._ 7th s. v.\np. 501.) \"B\u00e6ivekongens Datter,\" \"Goveiter.\" There is also a tribe of\nunderground people called Kadnihak, who are said to dress in red\nclothes, and have long flaxen hair reaching to their waists. Some people\nare said to have learned their songs, which are called \"Kadniha-Vuolee.\"\nCf. Baring Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_, \"St. Patrick's\nPurgatory.\" _Deutsche M\u00e4rchen und Sagen_, Gesammelt und mit Anmerkungen\nherausgegeben von J. W. Wolff, \"Der K\u00fchne Sergeant.\" _Polnische\nVolksagen_, Aus dem Polnischen des K. W. Woycicki von F. Levestam, \"Die\ndrei Br\u00fcder.\"\n\nSee also, Friis, _Lappisk Mythologi._ \"Under jordiske Guder.\"\n\n_Page 248._ The Lapp tales say that the Stallos used to wear an iron\nshirt. See _Friis_, No. 26. L\u00e6stadius believes them to have been old\nVikings.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PELICAN. Erd\u00e9lyi, iii. 6.\n\n\nPelicans may occasionally be seen in the South of Hungary, but upon the\nwhole the bird is unknown to the common people. The story-teller\nrepresents it as a little bird that sings most beautifully.\n\nThe hypercritical reader may be shocked at another natural historical\nblunder, viz., when the whale is described as \"the king of fishes.\" But\nthen we must remember that our own Sir Walter Scott speaks of the phoca\nas a fish in the last sentence of chapter xxxvii. of _The Antiquary_.\n\nThe Emperor Joseph II.'s edict expelling the Jesuits is still valid, we\nbelieve, but is not enforced. The Order has one or two houses in the\ncountry, and nobody disturbs them.\n\nIn a Finnish tale one half of a castle weeps while the other half\nlaughs. Cf. also another Finnish story \"The Golden Bird,\" where a king's\nson goes in search of a splendid bird which his father longs for. The\nhero is assisted by a wolf, which, amongst many other strange things, by\nrolling three times on the ground on its back, becomes a shop full of\nprecious goods.[78] After many trials, chiefly due to the perfidy of his\nbrothers, the hero, by the assistance of the wolf, wins the golden bird\nand a lovely princess. The golden bird will not sing till the youngest\nprince appears, just as in the present tale.\n\n_Page 251._ \"The old Beggar.\" This incident is common in folk-tales.\n\n_Page 252._ \"Dragon's milk,\" a favourite compound of mighty power in the\nmagic formul\u00e6 of Finnish and Magyar folk-medicine.\n\n_Page 255._ \"Owls' feathers.\" _Vide_ p. 398, _ante_, and _Notes and\nQueries_, 6th S. X. p. 401.\n\n_Page 256._ \"Traced triangle,\" _ante_, p. 370.\n\n_Page 257._ \"Pleiades.\" Stars and their lore is one of the most\ninteresting branches of Folk-Lore. Space forbids more than passing\nallusion to it here. In a note sent by Mr. Haliburton, he points out the\nimportant part this group of stars plays in the history of Primitive\nMan. There appears to be a mass of primitive traditions amongst savages,\nas to a prim\u00e6val paradise with its Tree of Life and Knowledge being\nsituated in the Pleiades. See also legends current amongst the\nPolynesians, Kiowas of the Prairies, the Abipones of the Pampas, Dyaks,\n&c. We may also compare the Cabeiric brethren in Phoenician tradition.\n\nIn the seventh star, say the Finns, is the sign of the slave; the\nancient Finns having regulated their rising by the seven stars. A\nFinnish friend, Mr. K. Krohn, says he has obtained some forty old\nFinnish star names from an old woman, and hopes, by comparison of the\nsame with the Arabic names, to obtain valuable results.\n\nSee also _Sagas from the East_, p. 53, and _Gubernatis_, vol. i., p.\n228. Cox, _Mythology of the Aryan Nations_, \"Pleiades.\"\n\n_Page 258._ Just as the hero here goes to seek in an unknown land for\nwhat he needs, so does the hero in the Finnish tale, \"Antti Puuhaara\";\n_S. ja T._ 2, go to Pohjola. (Darkness, _i.e._ the Northern Part). Cf.\nalso Dasent's _Tales from the Norse_ \"Rich Peter the Pedlar,\" p. 236.\nVernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, \"For one Kreuzer a hundred.\"\n_Pentamerone_, \"The Seven Doves,\" &c. and pp. 107 and 371 in this work.\n\n_Page 259._ The threshold is a most interesting object in the lore and\ntales of the people. In Finland it is regarded as unlucky if a clergyman\nsteps on the threshold when he comes to preach at a church. A Finnish\nfriend told me of one of his relations going to preach at a church a few\nyears ago, he being a candidate for the vacant living, and that the\npeople most anxiously watched if he stepped on the threshold as he came\nin. Had he done so, I fear a sermon never so eloquent would have\ncounted but little against so dire an omen.[79] In the Lapp tales the\nsame idea appears, see _Friis_, \"Ulta-Pigen,\" the lad returning from a\nvisit to his wife's parents (who are fairy folk) is ordered to step\nquickly over the threshold, and so saves his life. In the same story we\nread that a nail driven into the threshold will prevent a fairy wife\nfrom running away.\n\nRalston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, \"The Fiend.\" Here Marusia gets entangled\nwith the evil one, and death comes into her family; in terror she asks\nher granny what she is to do, and is told, \"Go quickly to the priest and\nask him this favour--that if you die your body shall not be taken out of\nthe house through the doorway, but that the ground shall be dug away\nfrom under the threshold, and that you shall be dragged out through that\nopening.\" Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, \"The Angakok from Kakortok,\" p. 391.\nNapier, _Folk-Lore from West Scotland_, p. 46, where, in the description\nof marriage ceremonies, we read \"The threshold of the house was\ndisenchanted by charms, and by anointing it with certain unctuous\nperfumes, but as it was considered unlucky for the new-made wife to\ntread upon the threshold on first entering her house, she was lifted\nover it and seated upon a piece of wood, a symbol of domestic industry.\"\n\nCf. 1 Samuel, v. 5, \"Therefore neither the priests, nor any that come\ninto Dagon's house, _tread on the threshold_ of Dagon in Ashdod unto\nthis day.\" Priests and dervishes in India still leap over the threshold\nof their temples, as they are considered too sacred to be trodden\nupon.[80]\n\n_Page 261._ \"The Organ Playing.\" Cf. a similar incident in the Finnish\nstory of the Golden Bird.\n\n_Page 262._ In the Finnish \"Alder Block,\" the hero's father and mother\nhave their age at once reduced by one-half, when the lovely Catherine\nembraces them. In the romance of Ogier le Danois sweet singing banishes\nall care and sorrow. \"Et quand Morgue approcha du dit chasteau, les Faes\nvindrent au devant dogier, chantant les plus melodieusement quon\nscauroit jamais ouir, si entra dedans la salle pour se deduire\ntotallement,\" and so time is destroyed. \"Tant de joyeulx passetemps lui\nfaisoient les dames Faees, quil nest creature en ce monde quil le sceust\nimaginer se penser, car les ouir si doulcement chanter il lui sembloit\nproprement quil fut en Paradis, si passoit temps de jour en jour, de\nsepmaine en sepmaine, tellement que ung an ne lui duroit par ung mois.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN HAIR.\n\n\nThis story, with the four that follows, viz., \"The Lover's Ghost,\"\n\"Snake Skin,\" \"The Fairies' Well,\" and \"The Crow's Nest,\" are Pal\u00f3cz\nFolk-Tales, _vide Pal\u00f3cz Folk-Poetry_, by Julius Pap, Sarospatak, 1865.\n\nThe hatchet-stick (in Magyar \"fokos\") mentioned in the tale is an\nordinary walking-stick with an axe-shaped brass or steel implement at\nthe end. It is nothing else than the old Scandinavian \"paalstaf,\" the\n\"palstave\" or \"winged celt\" of English antiquaries. It forms part of the\nnational costume of the Magyars, and was carried by nearly everybody\nbefore 1867.\n\nThe ceremony of exchanging handkerchiefs alluded to in the tale requires\nsome explanation, and we avail ourselves of this opportunity to give a\nfew details of the marriage customs among the Pal\u00f3cz people as related\nby Pap.\n\nOn the first morning in May the lad erects a May-pole outside of the\nwindow of his lady-love, the higher the pole the more it pleases the\ngirl, because the length is understood to be in direct proportion to the\nintensity of her lover's passion. On Whitsunday a pilgrimage to the Holy\nWell adjoining the monastery at the village of Vereb\u00e9ly is arranged, and\nhere the girl buys a nosegay made of artificial flowers for her lover,\nin return for the maypole, which nosegay is worn by the lad until next\nMay-Day, or until the wedding. In the meantime the lover visits the girl\nsecretly once or twice at the house of her parents under the cover of\nnight, and later on introduces himself to her parents. If he be well\nreceived he sends some friends to ask for the girl's hand, who state\ntheir request generally in very flowery language. If the lad's proposal\nbe accepted, the ceremony of exchanging handkerchiefs takes place soon\nafter, the lovers presenting handkerchiefs to one another in which they\nwrap apples or nuts. From this moment they are considered to be engaged.\n\nThe wedding is generally held after the vintage. On the day before the\nwedding a man, whom we shall call the master of ceremonies, perambulates\nthe village and invites the guests to the festival. On the day itself\nthe guests congregate at a place appointed by the M.C., and the whole\ncompany start in procession, headed by a band, to the house of the\nbride. They all stop outside the gate, and only the bridegroom's best\nman enters the house and invites the bride to start. The girl then,\naccompanied by her relations and bridesmaids, and a married woman, whom\nwe shall call the Mistress of the Bedchamber, leaves the house and joins\nthe procession, and they all proceed straight to the church. After\nchurch the young woman returns with the whole procession to her own\nhouse, and a light breakfast is served, at the end of which all the\npeople adjourn to the bridegroom's house, leaving however the bride\nbehind, until after lengthy coaxing, begging, and some elaborate\nceremonies, she consents to go, and is led in triumph to her husband's\nhouse, where she is received by the father-in-law at the gate, who\nnearly overwhelms her with kind words, flattery, and congratulations,\nand holding her hand leads her into the house and introduces her to his\nwife, children, and relations. The rejoicing has now reached its climax,\nand the wedding banquet is at once commenced, to which each invited\nguest contributes a share according to his or her means.\n\nDuring the banquet the bridegroom's best man waits at table, and ushers\nin the various courses reciting a verse for each _plat_, setting forth\nin most flowery language the various good points of the dish.\n\nAfter supper the bridegroom's best man takes three lighted candles into\nhis left hand and escorts the bride into her bedchamber, where he\nremoves the \"p\u00e1rta,\"[81] and confides her to the care of the Mistress of\nthe Bedchamber. The best man lifts the p\u00e1rta high up in the air at the\nend of his palstave, and invites the company to bid for it, and then\nrecites the so-called slumber-verses, which are attentively listened to\nby everyone present.\n\nNext morning two married women from among the bride's friends arrive \"to\nwake the bride,\" who awaits them sitting in a corner. The two females\nplace the cap worn by married women only, on her head, and present the\nyoung couple with cakes and a mixture of spirit and honey.\n\nIn the meantime another procession has arrived from the bride's house\nwith the wedding presents, and the people inquire of the Master of the\nCeremonies whether he has not seen a \"pretty little golden lamb that\nstrayed from home and must have come here.\" The Master of the Ceremonies\nreplies in the affirmative, but before producing the \"lamb\" requires a\ndescription of the stray one, and then produces some very old person\nbent with age and her face covered with wrinkles, and wants to know\nwhether this is the lamb they seek for; of course they reply in the\nnegative, and add that the missing one is young and pretty. The bride is\nthen produced and shakes hands all round and receives presents from all\npresent.\n\nIn some places the wedding lasts on and off a whole week, and sometimes\nends with another ceremony of \"searching for the lamb,\" similar to the\none just described.\n\nSuch complicated wedding ceremonies are to be found all over Hungary,\nand in order to facilitate matters, the rules and verses for the\noccasion are printed and sold at all country fairs, the title-page\ngenerally representing the Master of the Ceremonies and the bridegroom's\nbest man in their full festive attire.[82]\n\nCf. Finnish, \"Kulta-orit, Kulta-nuotta, wasta ja pilli.\" \"The golden\nStallion, golden Drag-net, broom and flute.\" _S. ja T._ i. and \"Meresta\nnousija Neito,\" \"The Sea Maid.\" Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, \"Bushy\nBride,\" p. 374.\n\nPayne, _Arabian Nights_, vii. pp. 70, 114, and ix. p. 23.\n\nPayne, _Arabic Tales_, iii. p. 61.\n\n_Grimm_, \"The White Bride and the Black one.\"\n\nIn the Lapp Story \"Bondes\u00f8nnen, Konges\u00f8nnen og Solens S\u00f8ster.\" _Friis_.\nIt is the tail feather of a golden hen, that causes all the troubles.\nThe beautiful girl, who is the Sun's sister, shone like a star, and\nwhenever she entered a house it became as light as the brightest day,\neven if before it had been pitch dark. The whole tale is a most\ninteresting one; the Sun's sister's sister, \"Evening Red,\" being stolen\nby giants, who are turned into stone by looking at the Sun's sister,\n\"Dawn.\" Cf. Princess Lab\u00e1m in \"The R\u00e1j\u00e1's Son,\" Stokes's _Indian Fairy\nTales_, p. 158. Also, pp. 43, 50, 54, 69, and 93.\n\n_Grimm_, \"The Devil with the three golden hairs,\" and notes. _Dublin\nMagazine_, 1868, Fireside Lore of Italy, \"Corvetto.\" _Folk-Lore Record_,\n1880. Danish Popular Tales, p. 217. \"Mons Tro.\" Naak\u00e9, _Slavonic Fairy\nTales_, \"Golden Hair,\" from the Bohemian.[83] _Old Deccan Days_, \"Brase\nSeventee Bai,\" p. 35; Panch-Phul Ranee, p. 141.\n\nHaltrich, _Siebenbuergische M\u00e4rchen_, pp. 61 and 171.\n\nMr. Ralston, in his notes in Stokes also gives the following examples of\nshining and glorious beings. _Indian Antiquary_, vol. iv. p. 54; _ib._\nJan. 1875, p. 10.\n\nSchott, _Wallachische M\u00e4rchen_, p. 125.\n\n_Mabinogion_, vol. ii. p. 310; and Thorpe, _Northern Mythology_, vol. i.\np. 47. Cf. Mailath, _Magyarische Sagen_, \"Die Br\u00fcder,\" and \"Die Gaben.\"\nCavallius and Stephens, _Svenska Folksagor_, No. 7.\n\n_Records of the Past_, vol. ii. \"Tales of the two Brothers,\" a fragrant\nlock is found in the water, which is said to belong to the daughter of\nthe Sun God.\n\n_Page 273._ In the Lapp story of the Sun's Sister the King will not\nallow the lad to marry his bride until he has done certain tasks. So\nalso in the Finnish stories of the Golden Bird and the Golden Stallion.\n\n_Page 273._ In the Finnish Tale \"Totuus ja walte,\" the King's daughter\nis cured by being washed with dew. See also Notes to Fairy Elizabeth and\nthe Fairies' Well in this collection.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LOVER'S GHOST.\n\n\nAs pointed by Lad. Arany, the plot of this tale is, with the exception\nof the happy ending, essentially the same as in B\u00fcrger's beautiful poem,\n\"Leonore,\" in which the bridegroom's ghost repeats three times the\nquestion--\n\n\n   \"Graut Liebchen auch? Der Mond scheint hell!\n    Hurrah! Die Todten reiten schnell!\n    Graut Liebchen auch vor Todten?\"\n\n\nto which the girl each time replies--\n\n\n   \"Ach! lass sie ruh'n, die Todten.\"\n\n\nArany mentions a Dutch and a Norwegian version of the same tale. Cf.\n_Grimm_, vol. iii. p. 75.\n\nIt cannot be supposed that the good Pal\u00f3cz folk have read B\u00fcrger, either\nin the original or in translation. They only read two kinds of\nliterature, the prayer-book and politics. Pap relates an incident that\nis characteristic. He had to superintend some farm-work; and, in order\nto while away the time, was reading a book, which made an old Pal\u00f3cz\nremark that he would go straight to heaven if he read his prayer-book\nall day, as he did.\n\nCf. The old ballad quoted in Old Ballad Lore. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879,\npp. 111, 112.\n\n_Page 279._ The charm given by the witch is one of the innumerable\nsuperstitions of a like class. Vide _Magyar Folk-Tales. Notes and\nQueries_, 6th s. ix. pp. 501 and 502.\n\n_Finska Fornminnesfor\u00ebningens Tidskrift_ v. p. 106, \"Folkstr\u00f6 och\npl\u00e4gseder i Mellersta \u00d6sterbotten,\" and _Notes and Queries_, 6th s. x.\np. 404, and _ib._ 6th s. xi. p. 22.\n\nCf. \"The churchyard mould,\" in McGregor, _Folk-Lore of the North-East of\nScotland_, p. 216.\n\n_Page 280._ The ghostly horsemen recalls a strange story an old woman\n(nearly 80) told me some time ago, and which it is averred happened in\nLincolnshire. One fine frosty night, as the Winterton carrier was going\nalong the road, he met a pale man on horseback, who said, \"It's a hard\nwinter, and there's going to be a hard time: twenty years' disease\namongst vegetables, twenty years' disease amongst cattle, and twenty\nyears' disease amongst men, and this will happen as surely as you have a\ndead man in your cart.\" The carrier angrily declared that there was no\ndead man in his cart. \"But there is,\" said the horseman. Then the\ncarrier went and looked, and found that a man he had taken up to give a\nride was dead. Turning round he found the horseman had disappeared. The\npotato disease, cattle disease, and cholera followed, said the old dame.\nThis pale horseman is said to have ridden through the county, and I have\nheard of him at various places.\n\n\n\n\nSNAKE SKIN.\n\n\nIn the Finnish Story, \"Haastelewat Kuuset,\" the talking Pines, _S. ja\nT._ 2: a hunter is rewarded for helping a snake. See notes to \"Woman's\nCuriosity,\" in this collection.\n\n_Pentamerone_, \"The Serpent.\"\n\n_Folk-Lore Record_, 1883. \"The good Serpent,\" a Chilian tale.\n\nThe king in this tale is angry at his daughter marrying such a husband,\njust as he is in the Finnish \"H\u00fcri Morsiamena,\" where the bride is a\nmouse.\n\nCf. _Grimm_, \"The three Feathers;\" \"The poor Miller's Boy and the Cat;\"\nand notes thereto.\n\nKahn und Schwartz, _Norddentsche Sagen_, \"Das weisze K\u00e4tschen.\"\n\nAsbj\u00f6rnsen og Moe, _Norske Folke eventyr_, \"Dukken i Gr\u00e6sset.\"\n\nHylt\u00e9n-Cavallius och Stephens, _Svenska Folksagor_, \"Den f\u00f6rtrollade\ngoodan,\" and \"Den f\u00f6rtrollade f\u00e4stem\u00f6n.\"\n\n_Contes des f\u00e9es par Mdme d'Aulnoy_, \"La chatte blanche.\"\n\n_Polnische Sagen und M\u00e4rchen des K. Woycicki._ \"Die Kr\u00f6te.\"\n\nCf. also an interesting article by Mr. Ralston, on \"Beauty and the\nBeast.\" _Nineteenth Century._ December, 1878.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRIES' WELL.\n\n\nThe chief points in this tale have already been noted in others. We may,\nhowever, note the following: The Devil in Stephen the Murderer, p. 7, in\nthis collection, at once appears, when summoned, as in this tale.\n\n_Page 290._ With regard to the _menu_ of the devil, cf.\n\n\n   \"Here lies the carcass of a curs\u00e9d sinner\n    Doomed to be roasted for the devil's dinner.\"\n                        Poems of Robert Wilde. Strahan, 1870.\n\n\n_Page 296._ There is a hunt for the father of a child in the Lapp.\n\"J\u00e6tten, Katten og Gutten.\" _Friis_. Cf. Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vii.\np. 227.\n\n_Page 297._ Hot Bath, see p. 276, in this collection; and _Afanassieff_,\nv. 23.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CROW'S NEST.\n\n\nThe following version is still known to old nurses in Holderness, where\nI collected it. It is called \"Orange and Lemon\": \"There were once a\nmother and a father who had two daughters, Orange and Lemon. The mother\nliked Lemon best, and the father Orange. The mother used to make Orange\ndo all the dirty work, as soon as the father had turned his back. One\nday she sent her to fetch the milk, and said, 'If you break the pitcher\nI'll kill you.' As Orange returned she fell down and broke the pitcher,\nand so when she came home she hid herself in the passage. When the\nmother came out she saw the broken pitcher and the girl, and took her\ninto the house, when the girl cried 'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill\nme!'\n\nThe mother said, 'Close the shutters in.'\n\n'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'\n\n'Light the candle.'\n\n'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'\n\n'Put the pan on.'\n\n'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'\n\n'Fetch the block we chop the wood on.'\n\n'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'\n\n'Bring the axe.'\n\n'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'\n\n'Put your head on the block.'\n\n'Oh, mother! Oh, mother! Don't kill me!'\n\nBut the mother chopped off her head, and cooked it for dinner. When the\nfather came home, he asked what there was for dinner.\n\n'Sheep's head,' replied the mother.\n\n'Where's Orange?'\n\n'Not come from school yet.'\n\n'I don't believe you,' said the father. Then he went upstairs and found\nfingers in a box; whereupon he was so overcome that he fainted. Orange's\nspirit flew away to a jeweller's shop and said--\n\n\n   'My mother chopped my head off,\n    My father picked my bones,\n    My little sister buried me\n    Beneath the cold marble stones.'\n\n\nThey said, 'If you say that again we will give you a gold watch.' So\nshe said it again, and they gave her a gold watch. Then she went off to\na boot shop and said--\n\n\n   'My mother, &c., &c., &c.'\n\n\nAnd they said, 'If you say it again we will give you a pair of boots.'\nSo she said it again, and they gave her a pair of boots. Then she went\nto the stonemason's and said--\n\n\n   'My mother, &c., &c., &c.'\n\n\nAnd they said, 'If you say it again we will give you a piece of marble\nas big as your head.' So she said it again, and they gave her a piece of\nmarble as big as her head.\n\nShe took the things, and flew home, and sat at the top of the chimney,\nand shouted down--\n\n\n   'Father! Father! come to me,\n    And I will show thee what I've got for thee.'\n\n\nSo he came, and she gave him a gold watch.\n\nThen she shouted down--\n\n\n   'Sister! Sister! come to me,\n    And I will show thee what I've got for thee.'\n\n\nSo she came, and she gave her a pair of boots.\n\nThen she shouted down--\n\n\n   'Mother! Mother! come to me,\n    And I will show thee what I've got for thee.'\n\n\nThe mother, who thought the others had got such nice things, put her\nhead right up the chimney, when the big block of marble came down and\nkilled her.\n\nThen Orange came down and lived with her father and Lemon happily ever\nafter.\"\n\nCf. The story of the child that was murdered at Lincoln by a Jewess. See\na fragment of it quoted in Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 276[84].\nShouting down the chimney occurs in several Lapp stories; also in the\nFinnish stories of the \"Wonderful Birch\" and \"The Girl who seeks her\nBrothers,\" where songs somewhat like the above-mentioned occur. Also Cf.\n_Vernaleken_, \"Moriandle and Sugarkandle,\" and Naake, _Slavonic Tales_,\n\"Story of the little Simpleton.\" A story of a somewhat similar kind is\ncurrent in Sweden. See Hofberg. _Svsnska Folks\u00e4gner_, \"Mylingen\"[85] and\nHylt\u00e9n-Cavallius _V\u00e4rend och Virdarne_, ii. p. 1.\n\nAlso _Grimm_, vol. i. \"The Juniper Tree\" and notes, and _ib._ \"The\nBrother and Sister\" and notes; _ib._ vol. ii. \"The Lambkin and the\nLittle Fish,\" and notes.\n\n\n\n\nWOMAN'S CURIOSITY. Mer\u00e9nyi.[86]\n\n\nCf. _S. ja T._ ii. p. 73, \"Haastelewat Kuuset\" (the Talking Pines),\nwhich is very like the whole story.\n\n_Payne_, i. p. 14. Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, ii. p. 4. Denton,\n_Serbian Folk-Lore_, \"The Snake's Gift.\" Naake, _Slavonic Tales_, \"The\nLanguage of Animals\" (from the Servian), and _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 541.\nThe power to understand the language of animals is often referred to in\nfolk-tales, _e.g. Grimm_, vol. i. \"The White Snake\" and note, and _ib._\nvol. ii. p. 541, _et seq._\n\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i. p. 152.\n\n_Tales of the Alhambra_, \"Legend of Prince Ahmed al Kamel.\"\n\nTylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. i. pp. 190, 469.\n\nThe power of animals to speak still remains amongst the superstitions of\nthe people. In Neudorf, near Sch\u00e4rsburg, there is a prevalent\nsuperstition that on new year's night--at midnight--the cattle speak,\nbut in a language which man may not hear, if he does so he dies. See\nBoner, _Transylvania_, p. 372; and I have heard a similar story as to\ntheir speaking (or kneeling) on Christmas Eve in Lincolnshire. Curious\nremnants, too, are to be found in the doggrel rhymes of the people,\n_e.g._, a few years ago I heard a woman in North Lincolnshire say,\n\n\"What do doves say?\n\n\"Croo! pee! croo!\n\n\"Gillivirens and Jackdaws lay eight or ten eggs to my poor two.\"\n\nIt is very interesting to compare a Finnish fragment entitled \"The\nDove's Cooing\" with the foregoing. A dove and a hen had each a nest, but\nthe dove had ten eggs and the hen only two. Then the hen began to try\nand make the dove change with her. At last the dove consented, and gave\nthe hen her ten eggs and took her two. Soon the dove saw she had lost,\nand began to repent her foolish bargain, and she still laments it, for\nas soon as you hear her voice you hear her sad song,\n\n\n   \"Kyy, Kyy, Kymmenen munaa min\u00e4,\n    waiwainen waihdoin tanan, kahteen munaan.\"\n\n   \"I've foolishly bartered my ten eggs\n    For the hen's two!\" [87]\n\n\n[1] Cf. _Finska Kranier j\u00e4mte n\u00e5gra natur och literatur-studier inom\nandra omr\u00e5den af Finsk Antropologi_ Skildrade af Prof. G. Retzius,\nStockholm, 1878, p. 121. A most valuable and interesting work which\nought to be known to all students of anthropology. See also Du Chaillu's\n_Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. p. 277.\n\n[2] Hereafter quoted as _S. ja T._\n\n[3] This valuable collection will hereafter be quoted as _Friis_.\n\n[4] Villon Society. London, 1884; and hereafter quoted as Payne's\n_Arabian Nights_.\n\n[5] Such a window as they had in old times: a hole with sliding door or\nshutter. _Vide_ Retzius, p. 110.\n\n[6] The bath-house is a separate building with a stove in the corner\ncovered with large stones which become red hot and then water is thrown\nupon them which fills the house with steam. Round the sides are shelves\nwhere the bathers (both sexes) recline, and whip themselves with\nbranches of birch on which the leaves have been left to die. _Retzius_,\np. 119. Cf. also _Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. p. 207.\n\n[7] A John Twardowski is said to have been a doctor of medicine in the\nuniversity of Cracow, who, like Dr. Faust, signed a contract in his own\nblood with the devil. He is said to have been wont to perform his\nincantations on the mountains of Krzemionki, or on the tumulus of\nKrakus, the mythic founder of Cracow. The demon was to do all the\nmagician bade him and to have no power over him until he met him at\nRome, where he took good care not to go. Whether this gentleman is\nsupposed to have ultimately become the lame fiend I know not. See\n_Slavonic Folk-Lore_, by Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma, in _Folk-Lore Record_,\nvol. iv. p. 62.\n\n[8] A division of South Sweden washed by the Skaggerack and Kattegat.\n\n[9] Cf. \"Haastelewat Kuuset\" (The Talking Pines), _S. ja T._ ii. p. 73,\nwhere the man is about to reveal to his wife, who has been plaguing him\nto tell her, why he laughed when he heard some birds twittering, and, as\nthis means death, he puts on all his clothes and lays himself out on a\nbench. Just then the hens are let loose, and as they run about the floor\nof the chamber where the man is the cock struts about and says, \"Cock,\ncocko, cock, cocko! See, I have fifty wives and govern them all; the\nmaster has only one and can't manage her, therefore the fool is going to\ndie.\" The man heard that, got up and kept his secret. Animals' language\nmust not be revealed. Cf. Benfey, _Ein M\u00e4rchen von der Thiersprachen_ in\n_Orient und Occident_. Naake's _Slavonic Tales_, Servian story of the\nLanguage of Animals, 71-99; and \"Woman's Curiosity,\" p. 301, in the\npresent volume.\n\n[10] _Old Deccan Days_, \"Rama and Luxman,\" p. 66.--Thorpe's _Yule-Tide\nStories_, \"Svend's Exploits,\" p. 343.--_Grimm_, \"Faithful John,\" vol. i.\np. 33, and Notes, p. 348.--\"Secret-Keeping Little Boy,\" p. 233, in this\nvolume.\n\n[11] Near the bath-house (_vide supra_, p. 308) is the kiln to dry corn,\na most important building in the Finnish farmstead. It is built of wood\nlike the bath-house. On one side of the doorway is a stove (built of\nstones, see _Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. p. 274, where there are\nillustrations of somewhat similar stoves or ovens), that gives out a\ngreat heat and _smoke_, which fills the inside of the building,\nespecially the upper part. This \"ria\" or kiln is used to dry the corn\nin. All Finnish rye is dried in this way. _Retzius_, p. 120.\n\n[12] Ruobba, scurfy skull, or Gudnavirus, _i.e._ Ashiepattle.\n\n[13] Cf. _Dasent_: \"Boots and His Brothers,\" p. 382, where Boots finds\nan axe hewing away at a fir tree, and a spade digging and delving by\nitself, and by their means he got the princess and half the kingdom.\n\n[14] Wagner's _Asgard_, p. 208. Roman intruders are called \"the Roman\ndragon, the bane of Asgard.\" Wagner's _Epics and Romances_, \"the\nNibelung,\" p. 3; \"the Dragonstone,\" p. 243. Henderson's _Folk-Lore of\nthe Northern Counties_, p. 283.\n\n[15] Professor Ebers says: \"Red was the colour of Seth and Typhon. The\nEvil One is named the Red, as, for instance, in the papyrus of Ebers\nred-haired men were _typhonic_.\" See \"Uarda,\" note on p. 58. Red-haired\npeople are still in some parts looked on as unlucky to meet when going\nto sea, or as \"first foot.\" See also Black's _Folk-Medicine_, pp.\n111-113. According to a Magyar jingle:\n\n\n   \"A red dog; a red nag; a red man; none is good!\"\n\n\n\n\n[16] A finger song, common, with slight variations, in Sweden, Norway,\nand Denmark, and Swedish speaking people in Finland. Cf. Yorkshire--\n\n\n    Tom Thumbkins, Bill Wilkins,\n    Long Daniel, Bessy Bobtail,\n    And Little Dick.\n\n\nSee Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 206.\n\n[17] It is interesting to note the finger-lore of the people, _e.g._\n_Gubernatis_, vol. i. 166, says: \"The little finger, although the\nsmallest, is the most privileged of the five.\" It is the one that knows\neverything; in Piedmont, when the mothers wish to make the children\nbelieve that they are in communication with a mysterious spy, who sees\neverything that they do, they are accustomed to awe them by the words,\n\"my little finger tells me everything.\" See also vol. ii. p. 151.\n\nIn Holderness, Yorkshire, it is a common superstition that if you pinch\nanyone's little finger when they are asleep, they will tell you their\nsecrets; or, as some say, \"if you can bear your little finger pinching\nyou can keep a secret.\" If you see a white horse, spit over your little\nfinger for luck. Schoolboys make their bargains irrevocable by spitting\nover their little fingers.[A] In Petalaks (a parish in East Bothnia,\nabout twenty miles from Wasa) every one believes in a \"bjero\"[B] or\n\"mjero,\" which is one respect resembles Sampo in Kalevala, insomuch as\nhe brings good luck to his possessor. Sometimes he looks like a ball of\nyarn, but more often like a hare. The way he is manufactured is as\nfollows:--A wafer spared from the Communion, some wool stolen from seven\ncow-houses on Maundy Thursday, and a drop of blood from the _little\nfinger_ of the left hand. During the performance the manufacturer must\ncurse and swear without ceasing. The wool is to be spun on Easter morn\nwhen the sun dances; the thread to be wrapped round the wafer, and the\nwhole put in the churn. Whilst churning, the spellmaker sings, \"Milk and\nbutter thou must bring to me; I shall burn in hell-fire for thee.\" After\na time the \"bjero\" springs out, and asks, \"What will you give me to\neat?\" \"Raisins and almonds,\" is the reply. And all is complete. See\n_Suomen Muinaismusto-yhti\u00f6n Aikakauskirja_, ii.; _Helsingissa_, 1877, p.\n133; _Vidskepelser insamlade bland allmogan i Petalaks_, 1874; _Skrock\noch vidskepliga bruk hos svenska allmogen i Vasabygden_. Af. Prof.\nFreudenthal, _Helsingfors_, 1883, p. 8; and Rink's _Tales and Traditions\nof the Eskimo_, p. 440.\n\n[A] Cf. Tylor's Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 103; vol. ii. p. 439-441.\n\n[B] _N\u00e5gra \u00e5kerbrukspl\u00e4gseder bland svenskarne i Finland_, af. dr. J.\nOscar Rancken, pp. 17, 24, 32.\n\n[18] Tegn\u00e9r: Prologen till Gerda.\n\n[19] See variants given in _Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern\nCounties_, pp. 258, 262.\n\nCf. Riddle set to three soldiers by the devil, and found out by the help\nof his grandmother. _Grimm_, vol. ii. pp. 152, 425. Also, _Vernaleken_,\np. 206.\n\n[20] A similar plant occurs in \"The Merchant,\" in the _Pentamerone_.\n\n[21] Taylor's Edition. London. 1848.\n\n[22] Of the word \"devil\" one cannot do better than quote Mr. Ralston's\nwords: \"The demon rabble of 'popular tales' are merely the lubber fiends\nof heathen mythology, being endowed with supernatural might, but\nscantily provided with mental power; all of terrific manual clutch, but\nof weak intellectual grasp.\" Cf. _Castr\u00e9n, Finsk Mytologi_, p. 163.\n\n[23] A similar tale still exists in Holderness under the name of \"The\nGlass Stairs.\"\n\n[24] _Morte d'Arthur_, book I, cap. iii. tells how \"in the greatest\nchurch in London, there was seen in the churchyard a great stone\nfoursquare, and in the midst thereof was like an anvil of steel a foot\non high, and therein stuck a fair sword naked by the point, and letters\nthere were written in gold about the sword that said thus: whoso pulleth\nout this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all\nEngland.\" Which sword was drawn out by Sir Arthur. Cf. book 2, cap. i.\nwhere a maiden comes girt with a sword, that no one could pull out but\nthe poor knight Balin.\n\n[25] This man-eating being was said to be something like a very big and\nmighty man, and was to be found in waste places. He was generally\ndressed in a white coat, with a silver belt round his waist, from which\nhung a silver-hafted knife, and a great many silver ornaments. He was\nexceedingly stupid, and the butt of Gudnavirucak. (Ashiepattle) They\nwere probably nothing more than the old Vikings, and Stallo is thought\nto be derived from \"Staalmanden,\" or men dressed in steel (Lapp,\n_staale_ = steel).\n\n[26] Cf. _Grimm_, \"The Three Sons of Fortune,\" i. p. 291.\n\n[27] I have heard similar stories amongst the peasants in Flanders.\n\n[28] The magpie is an important bird in folk-belief, and Swedish\npeasants say you must not kill it lest it be a troll in disguise as in\nthis story. If they build in a house it is a sign of luck; if in the\nfields and come to the house and laugh, woe be to the house.\n\n[29] Cf. Amelia Ferrier, _A Winter in Morocco_, p. 172, _et seq_.\n\n[30] It is curious that the Magyar word for a marriageable girl, \"elad\u00f3\nle\u00e1ny,\" also means \"a girl for sale.\"\n\n[31] In old times in Finland, a \"spokesman\" used to go beforehand to the\ngirl, in order to find out whether the young man was likely to be\nacceptable. Cf. Scheffer, _The History of Lapland_. London, 1751, p. 71;\nand Boner, _Transylvania_, p. 488.\n\n[32] \"Given the basket:\" in Finland the same phrase is used. Cf. the\nEnglish phrase, \"to give the sack.\"\n\n[33] Cf. Note to \"Handsome Paul,\" p. 317, _ante_.\n\n[34] In the Russian Church there are two distinct services, which are\nperformed at the same time, the \"betrothal\" when rings are given and\nexchanged, and the \"coronation.\" Lansdell, _Through Siberia_, vol. i. p.\n168.\n\n[35] Cf. Denton, _Serbian Folk-Lore_, p. 205.\n\n[36] Cf. this with the Finnish \"bride-dresser,\" who looked after the\nbride's toilette, even providing the necessary dresses if the girl did\nnot possess them.\n\n[37] See Scotch \"feetwashing,\" _Folk-Lore of North-East Scotland_;\nFolk-Lore Society, p. 89. In Finland, before a wedding, the friends of\nthe bridegroom-elect invite to a party, which is called the \"bachelor's\nfuneral,\" at which he is oftentimes carried on a sofa shoulder-high as a\nmock funeral.\n\n[38] The royal Hungarian bodyguard wear leopard-skins clasped with\nsilver buckles.\n\n[39] I have heard of racing for ribbons, &c., at weddings in Yorkshire;\nand of young men racing home from the church to tell the good folk at\nhome that the marriage was _un fait accompli_. Cf. Napier, _Folk-Lore_,\np. 49, and _Henderson_, p. 37.\n\n[40] A remain of the marriage by force. V\u00e1mb\u00e9ry notes the existence of\nthis amongst the Turkomans. The bride's door in Transylvania is often\nlocked, and the bridegroom has to climb over; or sometimes he has to\nchase her, and catch her: _Boner_, p. 491. Cf. also _Tissot_, vol. i. p.\n94; _Scheffer_, p. 75; Gilmour, _Among the Mongols_, p. 259; _Napier_,\np. 50.\n\n[41] For accounts of English wedding-feasts in the north, see Sykes'\n_Local Records_, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1833, vol. i. pp. 194, 205, 209.\n\n[42] The vizier's daughter is displayed in seven dresses in the story of\n\"Noureddin Ali of Cairo, and his son Bedreddin Hassan\": Payne's _Arabian\nNights_, vol. i. pp. 192-194. And in old times the brides in Japan\nchanged their dress three to five times during the ceremony: Mitford,\n_Tales of Old Japan_, p. 370.\n\n[43] Cf. _Lappb\u00f6nder, Skildringar S\u00e4gner och sagor fr\u00e5n S\u00f6dra Lappland_.\naf. P. A. Lindholm, p. 89.\n\n_Fra Finmarken. Friis_, (\"Laila\" in S.P.C.K. translation), cap. xi.\n\nDancing the crown off the bride in Finland. See \"A Finnish wedding in\nthe olden times.\" _Notes and Queries_, 6th s. x. p. 489.\n\nThey cut the long hair off the Saxon brides in Transylvania; and in\nSpain, when the bride goes to her bedroom, the young unmarried men\nunloose her garter.\n\nJust as in our land old shoes are thrown after the bride when she leaves\nhome, and never matter how they fall, or how young relatives batter the\nbacks of bride and bridegroom with aged slippers, you must not _look\nback_: so they say in Holderness, at least. The sumptuary laws of\nHamburg of 1291, enacted that the bridegroom should present his bride\nwith a pair of shoes. According to Grimm, when the bride put the shoe on\nher foot it was a sign of her subjection. (Boner, _Transylvania_, p.\n491). See old Jewish custom, _Rath_. iv. 7.\n\nSee also _Napier_, p. 53, where he refers to the Grecian custom of\nremoving the bride's coronet and putting her to bed.\n\nHenderson, _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, pp. 36, 37, 42.\n\nAubrey, _Remains of Gentilisme_, Folk-Lore Society, p. 173.\n\nGregor, _Folk-Lore of North-East of Scotland_, pp. 96, 100.\n\n[44] From a paper read before the Hungarian Historical Society, by Baron\nB\u00e9la Radv\u00e1nszky, on Feb. 1st, 1883; Cf. _A magyar csal\u00e0di \u00e8let a_ xv.\n_es_ xvi. _sz\u00e0zadban_, by the same author.\n\nCf. Tissot, _Unknown Hungary_, vol. i. p. 227.\n\nBoner, _Transylvania_, pp. 488-495.\n\nFagerlund, _Anteckningar om Korpo och Houtsk\u00e4rs Socknar_, Helsingfors,\n1878, p. 42.\n\n_Lindholm_, \"Ett bondbr\u00f6llop,\" p. 86; and \"Ett lappbr\u00f6llop,\" p. 91.\n\n[45] Laulu Lapista.\n\n[46] See also Swedish Songs in Du Chaillu, _Land of the Midnight Sun_,\nvol. ii. p. 424.\n\n[47] Cf. another group of stories, where trouble comes from the advice\nof those at home, such as _Dasent_, \"East o' the Sun, and West o' the\nMoon,\" p. 29; _Afanassieff_, vol. vii. No. 15, and \"Cupid and Psyche,\"\nsee also notes to \"The Speaking Grapes, &c.\" in this collection.\n\n[48] Cf. _Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii_ by the Baron Sigismund von\nHerberstein. London, 1852. (Hakluyt Soc.) vol. ii. pp. 46 _et seq_.\n\n[49] _Untersuchungen zur Erl\u00e4uterung der \u00e4ltesten Geschichte Russlands._\nSt. Petersburg. 1806.\n\n[50] Loc. cit.\n\n[51] Cf. Hunfalvy P\u00e1l, _Magyarorsz\u00e1g Ethnographi\u00e1ja_. Budapest. 1876.\nchap. 41.\n\n[52] _Notes and Queries_, 7th S. ii. pp. 110, 111.\n\n[53] Cf. also, _Folk-Lore Record_. 1879, p. 121; _Gesta Romanorum_, \"The\nKnight and the Necromancer;\" _Records of the Past_, vol. i. p. 136.\n\"Tablet V.\"; Rink, _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, p. 302; and\nLeland, _The Gipsies_, p. 159, where we are told gipsies object to\nhaving their photographs taken unless you give them a shoe-string.\n\n[54] _Magyar N\u00e9pmes\u00e9inkr\u00f6l_ in the _Kisfaludy T\u00e1rsas\u00e1g \u00e9vlapjai_. New\nSeries iv. p. 146.\n\n[55] A Worcestershire woman told the writer that she had a nephew born\nwith a caul, and when he was at the point of death it became quite\nmoist.\n\n[56] The Cs\u00e1ng\u00f3s are Magyar settlers in Moldavia; they are now assisted\nto return to Hungary by the Government. This story is told of the feud\nbetween two races. There are others which strike off the characteristics\nof neighbouring races, such as the story of the angels, current in\nHungary, which is as follows:--\n\nWhen Adam and Eve fell, God sent Gabriel, the Magyar angel, to turn them\nout of the garden of Eden. Adam and his wife received him most\ncourteously, and most hospitably offered him food and drink. Gabriel had\na kind heart, and took pity on them. He was too proud to accept any\nhospitality from them, as he did not consider it quite the right thing.\nSo he returned to the Deity, and begged that somebody else should be\nsent to evict the poor couple, as he had not the heart to do it.\nWhereupon Raphael, the Roumanian angel, was sent, who was received and\ntreated by Adam and Eve in like manner. He, however, was not above a\ngood dinner, and having finished, he informed the couple of the purpose\nof his coming. The two thereupon began to cry, which so mollified\nRaphael that he returned to his Master, and begged Him to send some one\nelse, as he could not very well turn them out after having enjoyed their\nhospitality. So Michael, the German angel, was sent, and was treated as\nthe others. He sat down to a sumptuous meal, and when the last morsel of\nfood had disappeared, and the last drop of liquor was drained, he rose\nfrom the table, and, addressing the host and hostess said, \"Now then,\nout you go!\" and the poor couple, though they cried most pitifully and\nbegged hard to be allowed to remain, were cruelly turned out of the\ngarden of Eden. See Arany's collection.\n\n[57] The mound was opened in 1870, and found to contain bones.\n\n[58] As late as 1875, a farmer near Mariestad buried a cow alive, upon\ndisease breaking out in his herd. See also _Contemporary Review_, Feb.\n1878, \"Field and Forest Myths,\" p. 528, \"Within the last few years, at\nleast one Russian peasant has been known to sacrifice a poor relation in\nhopes of staying an epidemic.\"\n\n[59] I heard this story again the other day in South Lincolnshire.\n\n[60] Remains of a Roman camp near Brocklesby.\n\n[61] Vide _A History of the County of Lincoln_. By the author of _The\nHistories of London, Yorkshire, Lambeth, &c. &c._ London and Lincoln:\nJohn Saunders gent., 1834.\n\n[62] Boswell's _Variorum Edition of Shakespeare_, vii. pp. 162, 163.\n\n[63] \"Prince Unexpected.\" _Folk Lore Record_, 1884, p. 10.\n\n[64] Cf. Lion Bruno. _Folk Lore Record_, 1878, p. 209.\n\n[65] See Ralston's \"Beauty and the Beast\" in _The 19th Century_,\nDecember, 1878.\n\n[66] In \"The Raksha's Palace\" in the same work, p. 203, the young\nprincess found \"the skeleton of a poor old beggar-woman, who had\nevidently died from want and poverty. The princess took the skin and\nwashed it, and drew it over her own lovely face and neck, as one draws a\nglove on one's hand.\"\n\n[67] The giant who demands human flesh of his wife, and the giantess who\nhas only one eye in the middle of her forehead, are proofs of the\nforeign origin of this tale.\n\n[68] See p. 340 _ante_.\n\n[69] Ruobba, or Gudnavir\u0169s, _i. e._ scurfy skull, is the Lapp for\nAshiepattle. See \"J\u00e6tten og Veslegutten,\" _Friis_.\n\n[70] See note, vol. i. p. 407.\n\n[71] _The Death of Dermid_, by Ferguson, may also be compared. Where the\nhero is slain by the envenomed bristle piercing his foot. For this part\nof the poem, vide _Dublin Magazine_, 1868, p. 594.\n\n[72] See p. 335, _ante_.\n\n[73] The witch's daughter in the \"Two Orphans\" is lame of one foot. See\np. 221.\n\n[74] There is a curious tale of a relation of my own who was popularly\nsaid to be able to cure people of ague by going to a thorn and shaking\nwhile she said: \"Shake, good tree, shake for So-and-so,\" and then the\ndisease fled. I have heard that the good old dame was herself always\nvery ill after this operation. The hanging of a lock of hair on a tree,\nI presume, was understood to be the same as taking the afflicted person\nto the tree.\n\n[75] See also another Lapp tale, \"Haccis \u00c6dne.\" _Notes and Queries_, 7th\ns. ii. Aug. 7, 1886.\n\n[76] I have often had this tale told to me by my nurse when a child, and\nheard the following version a short time ago in Holderness, and was\ninformed it had been told thus for ages: \"There was a stepmother who was\nvery unkind to her stepdaughter and very kind to her own daughter; and\nused to send her stepdaughter to do all the dirty work. One day she sent\nher to the pump for some water when a little frog came up through the\nsink and asked her not to pour dirty water down, as his drawing-room was\nthere. So she did not, and as a reward he said pearls and diamonds\nshould drop from her mouth when she spoke. When she returned home it\nhappened as he said; and the step-mother, learning how it had come\nabout, sent her own daughter to the pump. When she got there the little\nfrog spoke to her and asked her not to throw dirty water down, and she\nreplied \"Oh! you nasty, dirty little thing, I won't do as you ask me.\"\nThen the frog said \"Whenever you speak frogs, and toads, and snakes\nshall drop from your mouth.\" She went home and it happened as the frog\nhad said. At night when they were sitting at the table a little voice\nwas heard singing outside--\n\n\n   \"Come bring me my supper,[A]\n    My own sweet, sweet one.\"\n\n\nWhen the step-daughter went to the door there was the little frog. She\nbrought him in in spite of her step-mother; took him on her knee and fed\nhim with bits from her plate. After a while he sang\n\n\n   \"Come, let us go to bed,\n    My own sweet, sweet one.\"\n\n\nSo, unknown to her step-mother, she laid him at the foot of her bed, as\nshe said he was a poor, harmless thing. Then she fell asleep and forgot\nall about him. Next morning there stood a beautiful prince, who said he\nhad been enchanted by a wicked fairy and was to be a frog till a girl\nwould let him sleep with her. They were married, and lived happily in\nhis beautiful castle ever after.\" This is one of the few folk-stories I\nhave been able to collect from the lips of a living story-teller in\nEngland.\n\n[A] There is a traditional air to which these lines are always sung.\n\n[77] See also notes in the Introduction.\n\n[78] There is a similar incident in _Grimm_, \"The Sea Hare,\" where a fox\nchanges himself by dipping in a spring.\n\n[79] In Finland they say that if two persons shake hands across the\nthreshold they will quarrel. In East Bothnia, when the cows are taken\nout of their winter quarters for the first time, an iron bar is laid\nbefore the threshold, over which all the cows must pass, for if they do\nnot, there will be nothing but trouble with them all the following\nsummer. Cf. _Suomen Muinaismuisto Yhdistyksen Aikakauskirja_, v. p. 99.\n\n[80] On entering a house, especially a royal house, it is improper to\nuse the _left_ foot on first stepping into it; one must \"put one's best\n(or right) foot foremost.\" Malagasy Folk-Lore, p. 37. _Folk-Lore Record_\n1879.\n\n[81] The \"p\u00e1rta\" is a head-dress worn by unmarried women only, in the\nshape of a \"diadem\" of the ancients in silk, satin, or velvet, and\ngenerally embroidered\n\n[82] Cf. p. 365 _ante_.\n\n[83] Cf. Gerll, Volksm\u00e4rchen der B\u00f6hmen, \"Die Goldene Ente.\"\n\n[84] See also _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879, \"Old Ballad Folk-Lore,\" pp. 110,\n111.\n\n[85] Myling, myring, or myrding generally means the ghost of a murdered\nperson.\n\n[86] Arany says he dare not accept the collection from which this story\nis taken for scientific purposes, as Mer\u00e9nyi has drawn very liberally on\nhis own imagination.\n\n[87] _S. ja T._ iii. \"Pienempi\u00e4 El\u00e4in-jutun katkelmia,\" p. 37. The whole\nof the Finnish beast stories are most interesting, and the resemblance\nin many cases to the negro variants in _Uncle Remus_ very striking.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\nAcorn, magic growth of [Jack and the Beanstalk incident], 146, 388\n\nAge of giants, xxix.\n\n----, hero grows old in his travels, 107\n\nAgricultural, xli., see \"plough\"\n\nAgriculture, giants' dislike of, xxviii.\n\nAgue, cure for, 403\n\nAllegorical story, 91-95\n\nAlligator in Serbian folk-lore, 325\n\nAmerican Indians, folk-tales quoted, 364\n\n---- notions of, as to dreams, 376\n\nAnanci folk-tales, quoted, 379, 394\n\nAngels, allegory of, 93\n\nAnimal superstitions, lx-lxiii.\n\nAnimals, grateful, assistance by, 158, 160, 249, 303-306, 323, 342, 371,\n373, 374, 384, 392, 409\n\n----, king of the, 106-107, 108\n\n----, language of, 301, 421-422\n\n----, magic, in service of fairies, xxxiii.\n\n----, marriage of, with human beings, 225\n\n----, sacrifice of, to stay the plague, 381\n\n---- servants, 111\n\n---- skins of, worn at Magyar weddings, 367\n\n----, witch's life contained in, 205\n\n----, &c., transformation of, into human beings, see \"boy,\" \"eagles,\"\n\"falcon,\" \"fish,\" \"horses,\" \"mares,\" \"pig,\" \"pigeons,\" \"oranges,\"\n\"snake\"\n\nAnthony's (St.) fire, cure for, xlix.\n\nApple, castle transformed into, 74, 247, 248, 353\n\n---- smiling, 130\n\nApple tree, miraculous growth of, 11\n\nApricot, tinkling, 130\n\nArabian folk-tales, quoted, 381\n\n_Arabian Nights_, quoted, 347, 352, 353, 355, 360, 362, 364, 368, 371,\n375, 377, 389, 392, 395, 396, 400, 402, 406, 408, 415, 418\n\nArgilus and Helen, story of, 345\n\n\u00c1rp\u00e1d, the founder of modern Hungary, viii.\n\nArrow, shooting of, as test of strength, 120\n\n_Arthur, morte d'_, quoted, 351, 352\n\nAshes, strewed, used for finding way through forest, 145\n\n---- (house), youngest brother sits among, 97\n\nAsia, migration from, into Europe, viii.\n\nAssembly of the giants, xxix.\n\nAstronomy superstitions, lxiv.\n\nAttila, conquest of Hungary by, vii.\n\n----, story of, quoted, 342\n\nAustrian folk-tales quoted, 370\n\nAvaricious, allegory of the, 94\n\nAvars, ethnology of, x.\n\n\nBaa-lambs (the), story-title, 90-95\n\nBachelors' funeral at Magyar weddings, 367\n\nB\u00e6dnag-njudne, giant beings, Lapp, 340\n\nBag which never gets full, 141\n\nBaptism, allegory of unbaptised children, 94\n\nBasket, to give the, that is to dismiss, Magyar, 366\n\nBath used to produce youthfulness, 110, 349\n\nBathing custom in Hungary, 308\n\nBathing in mare's milk, task set hero, 276\n\nBathing of fairy maidens, 101\n\nBattlefields, silver and copper, created for fighting, 349\n\nBattles, legends of, in Lincolnshire, 382\n\nBeanstalk (Jack) parallel incident, 146, 388\n\nBeating of wife, story incident, 23\n\nBeauty, delicate skin a feature of, 354\n\nBeauty and beast stories, 385\n\nBed, Madeys, devils dread, Slavonic tale, 310\n\nBede (St.), well of, at Jarrow, 373\n\nBees, assistance of, to hero, 153\n\n----, honey brought by, restores life, 374\n\nBeetles, witch's life and power contained in, 205\n\nBeggar character in story helps hero, 251\n\nBeggar's presents, story of, 161-163\n\nBells, church, ringing of, a hero-task, 228-229\n\nBells, magic, in giant assemblies, xxix.\n\nBelt, strength-giving, 353\n\nBerries, youth-giving qualities of, 373\n\nBetrothal in Magyar marriage, 366\n\nBible quoted, 375, 411\n\nBiblical characters, see \"God,\" \"Joseph,\" \"Peter\"\n\nBirds having power to restore youth, 251\n\n----, hero transforms himself into, 286\n\n----, iron, made alive by hero's singing, 317\n\n----, leading of hero by, 99; carrying of hero by, 108-109\n\n----, enticing of boys by, 362\n\n----, hero assisted by, 201, 249\n\n----, moral rebuke by, 20\n\nBirth, signs of luck at, 120\n\nBlack, colour of the giants, xxx.\n\n---- cloth, town draped in, 374\n\nBlindness, cure for, in story incident, 37; by mud from well, 152\n\nBlood flowing from finger post sign of disaster, 257\n\n----, human, wine mixed with, 121\n\n---- letting for restoration to life, 344\n\n---- stains, indelible, 125, 382\n\nBlood feud, incident, Arabian nights, 360\n\nBlowing upon wound to heal, 95\n\nBlue Beard incidents, 129, 383\n\nBlue cross, hero changed to, on divulging secret, 314\n\nBohemian folk-tales, quoted, 323\n\nBoiling skull with millet seed used as omen, 279\n\nBones, human, hatched by crow, 299\n\n---- of boy collected by sister, 299\n\n----, skeleton, miraculous joining of scattered, 12\n\nBoy killed for dinner by mother, 298\n\nBoy who could not shiver nor shake, type story, 228-232\n\nBramble, dragon's wife takes form of, 202\n\nBread, operation of making, used as story incident, 79\n\nBreathing on old things, causes change, 349\n\nBridal customs, Magyar, 365\n\nBride, false, given to prince, 214\n\n----, gipsy personates, 214\n\nBride-capture, evidence of, Magyar, 366, 368; Pal\u00f3cz, 413, 414\n\n---- and pursuit, story incident, 32-35\n\n----, symbolic customs representing, 369\n\nBride purchase, evidence of, Magyar, 365\n\nBridges, fights between hero and dragon, on, 199-201\n\n----, in folk-tales, 399\n\n---- of copper, silver, and gold, 64, 196; of gold, 74\n\nBritain, Teutonic conquest of, xi.\n\nBritanny, were-wolves, 344\n\nBrocklesby, Roman camp near, Lincolnshire, 382\n\nBroom, red hot, ridden by witch to pursue hero, 273\n\n---- seller, story character, 22\n\nBrothers, elder, separate from hero on journey, 257\n\nBrothers, three, story title, 152-154\n\nBrothers and sisters, marriage of, 137\n\nBrush, used as obstacle to pursuit of hero, 160\n\nBuilding, immuration during, 376-377\n\nBuilding legends, 333-334\n\nBulgarians, origin of, xiii.\n\nBullet, magic, to kill a giant, xxx.\n\nBullocks with gilt horns, roasted at Magyar weddings, 367\n\nBulls used for rescuing treasure, 405\n\nBurial feasts, 370\n\n\nCake, hero shares with beggar, 252\n\n----, millet, used in story incident, 28-29\n\nCakes made with woman's milk, 379\n\nCannibalism, 25, 352, 388-389, 403\n\nCannibal-giant story character, 25\n\nCannibal-man in Lapp stories, 352\n\nCastle built by magical command, 16\n\n---- built and inhabited by fairies, xxxv.-xxxvi.\n\n---- built by giants, xxvii.\n\n---- turned into golden apple, 206, 247\n\n---- weeping and laughing, 409\n\nCat, accompanies hero, 258\n\n----, a servant of fairies, xxxiii.\n\nCat, the lazy, story title, 23-25, 317\n\n----, troll, 346\n\n----, witches assume the shape of xli.\n\nCataract, cure for, xlviii.\n\nCats, witch's carriage drawn by, 204\n\nCaul, superstition as to being born with, 378\n\nCaves as the haunts of fairies, xxxvii.\n\nCaves, the three, riddle solved by hero, 259\n\nChanged bride incident in folk tales, 386\n\nChap-books, xx.\n\nChapel and hermit, pursued heroine and hero turn themselves into, 33\n\nCharitable (the) allegory of, 94\n\nCharles XI., legend of, 381\n\nCharming, fairy means of, xxxiii.\n\nCharms, singing, used for restoration of life, 341\n\nChest, magic, incident in folk-tales, 401\n\nChild, first-born, dedication to devil, 7, 189, 384\n\nChild-marriage incident, 80\n\n\"Child born to be a King\" type stories, 307-309\n\nChildren, substitution of, xlv., 52\n\nChildren's rhymes, Cumanian, xvi.\n\nChopping, symbolic action of, for cure of wrist disease, 332\n\nChrist, _see_ \"God.\"\n\nChristianity, influence of, on folk-tales, xx., xl.\n\nChristmas customs, li.\n\nChurch building legends, 333-334\n\nChurch to be built in one night task set heroine, 193\n\nChurch, heroine takes form of, 194\n\n----, youth-giving bird kept in, 259\n\nChurch bells, ringing of, task of hero, 228-229\n\nChurch marriage, 4, 7\n\nCinder Jack, story title, 149-152\n\nCinderella incident occurring with hero, 97, 150; with heroine, 148; in\nfolk-tales, 207-216, 389\n\nCinders, burning, drop from devil's hair, 192\n\nClan feuds, Lincolnshire, 382\n\nCloak given to hero for singing, 299\n\n----, giving power of invisibility to its wearer, 141\n\n----, giving power to transport wearer to any place, 156\n\nCloth, magic, provides food, 161\n\nClothes, stealing of fairy maiden's, 101\n\nClub, used by giant for killing, 11\n\n----, magic fighting, 162\n\nCoachman, King's, hero takes service as, 270\n\nCock, a servant of fairies, xxxiii.\n\n----, crowing of, good omen, 213\n\n----, iron, on spire, in story incident, 42\n\n----, lesson taught by, 301\n\n----, red, accompanies hero, 259\n\nCock-crow, devils disappear at, 37\n\n----, means of getting rid of ghost, 282\n\nCollege, hero's attendance at, 7, 59\n\nConstantinople, St. Sophia, blood stains at, 382\n\nCooking, methods alluded to, 30\n\nCopper bridge, dragon's home near, 196, 199\n\n---- forest, 388\n\n---- objects used in story incidents, 2, 28, 31, 40, 61, 78, 142, 150\n\nCorn, Finnish method of drying, 315.\n\nCornish folk-lore, 349\n\n---- wells, 373\n\nCorpse assists ghost to find bride, 282\n\nCosmogony, tales dealing with, 375-376\n\nCottele on the Tamar, blood-stains at, 382\n\nCotton as a clew to find way out of thicket, 144\n\nCount's daughter, the, story-title, 127-130\n\nCountry inhabited by lions and wolves, 189, 195\n\nCramp, cure for, xlix.\n\nCray-fish in story incident, 84\n\nCripple, cure for, in story incident, 37\n\nCromwell, battles attributed to, 382\n\nCrow assists hero in fight with dragon, 201\n\n---- hatches bones of boy, 299\n\nCrow's nest, story title, 298-301\n\nCrutch sticks given to hero for singing, 300\n\nCsabor Ur, story title, 123-125\n\nCs\u00e1ng\u00f3s, Magyar settlers in Moldavia, 380\n\n----, origin of the, xv.\n\nCsihan, Prince, story title, 1-6; notes to story, 303-306\n\nCuchulaiun, story of, quoted, 348\n\nCumanians, origin of the, xv.-xvi.\n\nCumberland wells, 373\n\nCurry-comb, used as obstacle to pursuit of hero, 160\n\nCurse of oblivion, 321-322\n\n\nDances, wedding, 104-105\n\nDancing, caused by flute, 13-15\n\n---- fairy, xxxiv. 143\n\nDanish folk-tales quoted, 306, 324, 334, 355, 401\n\nDaughters, king ill-using, 288\n\n---- of witch, mares till nightfall, 159\n\nDawn, as story character, 42\n\nDawn and night, tying up of, in folk-tales, 326\n\nDays of the week, xlix.\n\nDeath cured by magic orange, 156\n\n---- in equalled with sleep, 374\n\n---- personification of, as story character, 82\n\n---- sign of, to three brothers on adventure, 55; superstition, 403\n\n---- (sudden) penalty for telling secret, 301\n\nDeath superstitions, xlix.\n\nDeception as to birth of prince during king's absence, 335-338\n\nDeer, brother of heroine transformed into, 221\n\nDevil and the Red Cap, story title, 226-228\n\n---- and the Three Slovac lads, story title, 126-127\n\n---- and the King, story title, 188-195\n\n\"Devil with three golden hairs,\" Finnish variant of, 310\n\nDevil carries off corpse from gallows, 289\n\n---- carries off girls, 288\n\n---- construction of road by, xxxvi.\n\n---- conversations of, overheard, story incident, 37\n\n---- dedication of first child to, 7, 189, 384\n\n---- helps king to find game, 189\n\n---- personates hero, 226\n\n---- use of the word 346\n\n---- son of, helps heroine to escape devil, 192\n\nDevils marry sisters of hero, 288\n\n---- used for carrying out magical commands, 27\n\nDevonshire, Cottele on the Tamar, blood-stains at, 382\n\nDew, at Friday's new moon, used for cure of blindness, 37\n\nDew, healing powers of, 322, 416\n\n---- St. John's Day, properties of, 392\n\nDiamond, brought by fox to hero, 2\n\n---- castle, the light of Hades, 68; abode of giant, 71\n\n---- horse-shoe nails, used by hero, 68\n\nDissemination of folk-tales, causes of, xxi.\n\nDoctor, successful, story incident, 83, 138\n\nDog, faithful, in folk-tales, 402\n\n----, kissing of hero by, causes oblivion, 322\n\n---- lungs and liver of, given instead of heroine's, 182\n\nDoghead, story character, 70\n\nDogheaded Tartars, 118\n\n---- people, xx., 377-378\n\nDragon, sacrifice of virgin to, 112, 374\n\n---- milk of, 409; horse fed on, 252\n\nDragons devouring human beings, 196\n\n----, pursuing devils take form of, 195\n\n----, slain by three princes, story incident, 41, 199-201 247, 248\n\n----, used for carrying out magical commands, 16, 78\n\n----, when defeated vomiting lads they had swallowed, 197\n\nDrawing of object on the ground, magic powers of, 370\n\nDream of hero _raison d'\u00eatre_ of story, 233\n\nDream-books, 376\n\nDreams obviate the curse of forgetfulness, 35; importance of in\nmisfortune, 120\n\nDreams, three, story title 117-123\n\nDress, fairy, stealing of, to secure bride, 101; losing of, gives power\nof escape to fairy bride, 105\n\nDresses, wedding, among the Magyars, 368\n\nDrink, enchanted, causes oblivion, 321\n\n---- customs, lxviii.\n\nDrowning of devils when pursuing heroine, 195\n\nDrugging hero's wine by witch, 253, 254, 255\n\nDuck, gold, heroine transformed into, 214, 402\n\n---- silver, devil's son takes form of, 195\n\nDust, figures drawn in, come to life, 103, 104\n\nDutch witchcraft, 343\n\nDwarf, assistance to heroine by, 47\n\n---- outwits strong men, 245, 246\n\n\nEagle, pursuing-father takes the form of, 32, 33\n\nEarthenware pot, skull boiled in, used to obtain news of lover, 279\n\nEating taboo, 9\n\nEgg (black) presented to hero by fairy godmother, 197\n\nEgyptian story quoted, 340, 341, 400\n\nEldest brother hero of tale, 262-277\n\nElk, coffin of heroine, carried about by, 174\n\n---- with gold and silver hairs in Russian story, 304\n\nEmbroidery, an occupation of the fairies, xxxiv.\n\nEnchantment by spitting, 395\n\nEnglish folk-tales, quoted, 354, 356, 360, 383, 396, 404, 406\n\nEnvious sisters, story title, 49-54\n\nEpilepsy, cures for, xlviii.\n\nEskimo folk-tales quoted, 331, 341, 362, 363, 364, 375, 386, 387, 389,\n391, 393, 400, 408, 411\n\nEsthonian folk-tales quoted, 326\n\nEthnology of giants in Magyar folk-lore, xxvi., xxviii.\n\n---- of Hungary, viii.\n\nEwe, hero suckled by, 244\n\nExecutioner, functionary at a wedding, 303\n\nEye in forehead, giantess with, 146\n\nEye, one, monster, 388\n\nEyes, affection of, story incident, 59\n\nEyes of King unlike each other, _raison d'\u00eatre_ of story, 250\n\nEye-sight restored by herb, 322\n\n\nFairies in Magyar folk-lore, xxxii-xl.\n\nFairies, marriage of, with the giants, xxix.\n\n----, descent of witches from, xli.\n\nFairies' well, youth-giving water from, 289\n\nFairies' well, story title, 288\n\nFairy dancing, 142\n\nFairy Elizabeth, story title, 95-110\n\nFairy godmother, present from, to hero, 197\n\nFairy, house, origin of, 136\n\n\"Faithful John,\" variants of, 313-315\n\nFalcon, shooting at, story incident, 40\n\nFalcon, pursuing mother takes the form of, 33\n\nFalse champion, story character, 43, 112\n\nFalsehood, personification of, story character, 36\n\nFamily feuds, Lincolnshire, 382\n\nFamily life of the fairies, xxxvii.\n\nFarmer, story character, 7\n\nFarming life in story incident, 80\n\nFather eats flesh of his boy, 298\n\n---- murdered by son in Finnish story, 307\n\n---- throws knives and forks to frighten hero, 251\n\nFather's (my) wedding, story title, 86-90\n\nFaust type stories, 306-312\n\nFays, kissing by, causes oblivion, 322\n\nFear, hero unable to learn, 228\n\n----, shown by pillows dropping from the seat, 45, 114\n\nFeather picking festival, 215\n\n---- picking, peasant occupation, 402\n\nFeathers, copper, gold and silver, from tail of wood grouse in Karelian\nstory, 305\n\nFeet, silver, child born with, 337\n\n---- washing at weddings in Scotland, 367\n\nFeet and hands of hero renewed by rubbing with blood and dust, 261\n\nFeuds, clan or family, Lincolnshire, 382\n\nFight between hero and dragons, 199, 200, 201, 247, 248\n\nFinger-lore, 331\n\nFinger-post as trysting place for hero and brothers, 257\n\nFinger songs, 330\n\nFinn giant beings, 340\n\nFinnish folk-tales, quoted, 307, 314-315, 318, 321, 323, 324, 326, 328,\n329, 331, 332, 334, 335, 337, 342, 346, 347, 349, 350, 352, 353, 355,\n356, 372, 373, 374, 379, 384, 385, 386, 389-390, 392, 393, 396, 399,\n401, 402, 403, 404, 407, 409, 410, 411, 414, 416, 421\n\n---- marriage custom, 365, 369\n\n---- names for stars, 410\n\nFire, ever-burning, story incident, 41\n\nFire camp, in story incident, 99\n\n---- customs, liv., lviii., see \"hearth\"\n\nFire, obtained by youngest brother, 40\n\nFirpole ridden by witch to pursue hero, 272\n\nFish, gold, princess turns into, when pushed into well, 135\n\n----, king of, assists hero in task, 252, 254\n\n----sung out of lake by hero, 316\n\n----, transformation of, into lovely girl, 16\n\n----, witch's daughters change to, 254\n\nFisher Joe, notes to, 313\n\n---- story title, 15-22\n\nFishing, story incident, 16\n\nFlame, red, dragon takes form of, 201\n\nFlame, white, hero takes form of, 201\n\nFlattery, applied to witches, 400\n\nFlint, falling from falcons' rock, story incident, 40\n\nFlint hoop, dragon takes form of, 201\n\nFlintshire wells, 373\n\nFlower gardens belonging to the fairies, xxxvii.\n\nFluid, strength-giving, 353\n\nFlute, powers of, to compel dancing, 13-15\n\nFlying, power of, by giants, xxx.\n\nFoal, half rotten, of hero, demands for wages for performing tasks, 252\n\n----, magic power of, 263; helps hero, 263-277\n\nFoals, the three, riddle solved by hero, 240\n\nFolk-tales, origin of, xix.\n\nFood, enchanted, causes oblivion, 321\n\n----, magic supply of, 284\n\nForbidden chamber stories, 326, 384\n\nForest, filling of, by devils, 28; clearing of, for ploughing, 96\n\nForgetfulness, curse of, story incident, 34\n\nFormulae, conjuring, of the fairies, xxxiv.\n\nFortunatus' story, 141\n\nFoundation sacrifice, 376-377\n\nFoundling child becomes hero of tale, 244\n\nFox, a story character, 1, 316\n\n---- in Russian Puss-in-Boots story, 304; in Finnish story, 305\n\nFrench folk-tales quoted, 306, 347, 418\n\n---- invasion appearing in folk-tales, xx., 5\n\nFriar, ghost, in shape of, guardian of buried treasure, 231\n\nFriday, efficacy of, in folk-medicine, 37\n\nFrisian variants of Fisher Joe, 316\n\nFrog, grateful, for hero's kindness, assists him, 150\n\n----, the wonderful, story of, 224-226\n\nFrog prince story, Lincolnshire, 404-405\n\nFrogs, witches assume the shape of, xli.\n\nFruit, fairy maiden concealed in, 386\n\nFuneral of heroine, 171, 173\n\n\nGallows, devil carries off man hanging from, 289\n\n----, legend of, 382\n\n----, resort of devils at night, 37\n\n----, secrets heard under, 323\n\nGangrene, cures for, xlviii.\n\nGarter, unloosing of, at weddings, 369\n\nGeorge (St.) legend of, quoted, 374\n\nGepidae, Ardaric King of, vii.\n\nGerman folk-tales quoted, 306, 312, 321, 323, 324, 339, 341, 346, 347,\n349, 350, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 364, 372, 373, 374, 377, 378,\n383, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 391, 394, 395, 397, 399, 400, 401, 402,\n403, 405, 406, 407, 408, 415, 416 417, 421\n\n---- wedding customs, 369\n\n---- witchcraft, 343\n\n_Gesta Romanorum_ quoted, 375\n\nGhost, story character, 142\n\n----, wishing to marry bride, 282\n\nGhost lovers, story title, 278-282, 417\n\nGhosts, xlv; guard buried treasure, 232\n\nGiant objects in folk-tales, 361\n\n---- story, xxvi.-xxvii.\n\nGiants, northern, 340\n\n----, identified with Huns, x.\n\n----, origin of, as sons of witch, 57\n\n----, story characters, 9, 25, 55, 72, 101, 147\n\n---- in Magyar folk-lore, xxiv.-xxxi.\n\n---- and giantesses, 388\n\nGiantess, cannibal story characters, 146\n\nGift to hero by fairy godmother, 197\n\nGifts, wonderful, 394\n\nGipsy tales quoted, 375\n\nGipsy women in folk-tale, 213\n\nGirl with the golden hair, story-title, 262-277\n\n---- without hands, story of, 182-188\n\nGirls assist hero, 248\n\n----, captive, rescued by hero, 247, 248\n\n---- under form of mares in daytime, 159\n\nGlass mountains in folk-tales, 350\n\nGlass rock, hero taken over by magic horse, 65\n\nGnats, assists hero in task, 252, 254\n\nGoats, guardians of giant's treasure, xxxi.\n\nGoblet of dazzling brightness, story incident, 19\n\nGoblins, xlv.-xlvi.\n\nGod, or Christ, descent of, to earth, story incident, 20, 82\n\nGold bridge, dragon's home near, 196, 201\n\n---- children, variant of story, 313\n\n---- duck, heroine transformed into, 214\n\n---- hair picked up by hero, 269\n\n---- horses, fetched by hero as task, 274\n\n---- objects used in story incidents, 2, 28, 63-64, 65, 71, 74, 130,\n143, 150\n\nGolden apple, castle contained in, 206\n\n---- coffin of heroine carried about by elk, 173\n\n---- forest, 258\n\n---- haired children born to heroine, 177, 184\n\n---- haired stud of horses, 62\n\n---- hair, girl with, story title, 262-277\n\n---- girl married to hero, 159\n\n---- hair, T\u00e1tos horse with, 198\n\n---- horned bullocks roasted at Magyar weddings, 367\n\n---- spade used to dig up T\u00e1tos foal, 251\n\nGoods of heroine fetched by hero in table cloth, 273\n\nGoose's egg, copper fortress swivelling on, 78\n\nGorgons, parallels to, 353\n\nGothamite stories quoted, 356, see \"noodle\"\n\nGrapes, speaking, smiling apple, and tinkling apricot, story title,\n130-132\n\nGrateful beasts, story incident, 2, [150], 153, 158, 160, 249, 303-306\n\nGrave stone and mound, story about, 381\n\nGreek folk-tales, quoted, 338, 340, 350, 355, 386, 387, 391, 392, 394,\n396, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 406, 407, 408\n\nGreen king, character in story, 288\n\nGreyhound, guardian of giant's treasure, xxxi.\n\nGriffin helps hero to escape from underground world, 249\n\nGriffins, witch's daughter changed to, 254\n\nGuns fired at weddings, Magyar, 368\n\nGyllenspets, family of, legends as to ennobling, 381\n\n\nHair combing in folk-tales, 389\n\n----, not to be thrown away, 332\n\n----, cutting of, punishment, 216\n\n----, at wedding, 369\n\n----, folk-lore of, 374-375, 402\n\n---- of heroine used as means to bewitch her, 222\n\n----, gold, of heroine, used by her to give light, 270\n\nHair-pin, poisonous, used by witch for destroying heroine, 172\n\nHairs, transformed into serpents, 398\n\nHandkerchiefs, exchange of, mode of engagements, Pal\u00f3cz, 413\n\nHands, girl without, story of, 182-188\n\n----, gold, child born with, 337\n\nHands and feet of hero cut off by his brothers, 260; renewed by rubbing\nwith blood, 261\n\n----, cutting off of heroine's, by eldest sisters, 50\n\nHandsome Paul, story title, 25-35; variants of, 317\n\nHanging, ceremonial at, 406-407\n\nHarvesting customs, 98\n\nHead-dress worn by maidens, Pal\u00f3cz, 414\n\nHealing-grass, restoration of life by, 58\n\nHealing-mud, 391\n\nHealing-plants, 374\n\nHearth custom, mourning behind the oven, 15, see \"ashes\"\n\nHeat, great, round fairies' well, 291\n\nHeaven, journey to, story incident, 20; allegory of, 94\n\nHelen and Argilus, story of, 345\n\nHell, hero marries witch in, 204\n\n---- voyage to, 8-10, 67\n\nHermit character in tale, helps hero, 288; hero restores him to youth,\n295\n\nHero maimed by elder brothers, 260\n\n----, limbs of, restored by using magic mud, 261\n\n---- suckled by ewe, 244\n\n---- swallowed by king, 317\n\nHero transformed by T\u00e1tos horse, 198\n\n---- unable to learn to fear, 228\n\nHeroine marries devil's son, 195\n\nHistory in folk-tales, 380-382\n\nHolofernes, the fire-king, story of, 345\n\nHolly tree with gold leaves in Russian story, 304\n\nHolyrood, blood-stains at, 382\n\nHome, troubles arising from bringing bride to the, 370-371\n\nHomer quoted, 376\n\nHorace quoted, 376\n\nHorn, magic, in story incident, 61\n\nHorse fed on dragon's milk for strength, 252\n\n----, magic, story incident, 20, 62, 105, 144, 158, 160, 197, 387, 390,\n392-393\n\n----, old, made young by hero, 260\n\n----, piebald, assists hero, 289\n\n---- racing at weddings, Magyar, 368\n\n---- (stallion) guardian of giant's treasure, xxxi.\n\n---- with five legs produced from egg, 197\n\nHorse-shoe, gold, picked up by hero, 270\n\nHorses, age of, tested, 119\n\n----, hero's task to take charge of, 253\n\n----, mythic, called T\u00e1tos, 345-349\n\n----, transformation of human beings into, 31\n\n----, witch's daughters in shape of, 252\n\n----, witches assume the shape of, xli.\n\nHouse, folk-lore of the threshold, 410-411\n\n---- tidying incident in folk-tales, 386\n\nHouse-fairy, origin of, 136\n\nHuman sacrifice in story incident, 112\n\n---- to stay the plague, 381\n\nHundetyrk, giant beings, Swedish, 340\n\nHunes, a tribe who came over with Saxons to Britain, xi.\n\nHungarian Faust story, 312\n\n---- folk-tales, collections of, xxii.-xxiii.\n\nHungarians, origin of, vii.-viii.\n\nHungary, bathing customs in, 308\n\n----, the happy land, 126\n\nHuns, origin of the, vii., x.\n\nHunting princes, story title, 39-46\n\n----, story incident, 1, 39, 54, 186, 188\n\nHusks in folk-tales, 385\n\nHussar and the servant girl, story-title, 83-85\n\nHydrophobia, cures for, xlviii.\n\n\n_Iliad_, quoted, 349\n\nIllness, feigned, incident in folk-tales, 386\n\nImages, wax, used in sorcery, 332\n\nImmuration of human beings, 376-377, 407\n\n----, punishment by, 114\n\nIncantation, witch, xliii.\n\nIndian tales quoted, 306, 307, 314, 321, 323, 338, 339, 341, 342, 344,\n346, 356, 361, 362, 363, 364, 373, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 389, 391,\n394, 395, 396, 398, 400, 402, 403, 404, 415\n\nInvisible cap given by devil, 227\n\n---- shepherd lad, story title, 141-144\n\nIshtar, legend of, quoted, 400\n\nItalian folk-tales quoted, 356, 383, 384, 396-398, 400, 401, 408. 421\n\nIrish folk-tales quoted, 322, 348, 353, 355, 364, 372, 394, 396, 397\n\nIron age, giants connected with, xxvi.\n\n---- kneader, character in story, 245, 246\n\n---- nose, woman with, 159, 203, 243\n\n---- pole, witch rides on, to pursue hero, 269\n\n---- railing round witch's house, 267\n\n---- teeth, witch possessing, 221\n\nIrons, brothers of hero working in, for debt, 260\n\n\nJack and the Bean Stalk incident, 146, 388\n\nJack Dreadnought, story title, 228-232\n\nJack the Giant Killer, 341\n\nJames I., legend of, 382\n\nJapan marriage customs, 368\n\nJapanese folk-tales quoted, 306, 391\n\nJaundice, cures for, xlvi.\n\nJazyges, origin of the, xvii.\n\nJesuits in Hungary, 409\n\nJewel, youth-giving qualities of, 373\n\nJewish wedding customs, 369\n\nJikil, a people of Hungary, xiii.\n\nJohara, Juharia, province of, recorded in folk-tales, 371\n\nJoseph, Biblical story of, quoted, 375\n\n\nKaffir folk-tales, 403\n\n_Kalevala_, quoted, 331, 374\n\nKarelian story quoted, 353, 359, 390\n\nKeyne, St., well of, in Cornwall, 373\n\nKing adopts hero as his son, 234\n\n---- and the devil, story of, 188-195\n\n----, child born to be, type story, 233-244\n\n---- made young again by magic water, 295\n\n---- marrying most beautiful woman, 163\n\n---- with eyes that weep and laugh, 251\n\nKing's daughter, story character, 4, 15, 234, 238\n\n---- youngest daughter, story character, 27\n\nKissing by fays and by dog, causes oblivion, 322\n\nKnife, non-use of, for killing, 11\n\n----, wooden, stone cut by, 247\n\nKnives stuck in a tree for life index, 374\n\nKnot-holes in wood, folk-tale connected with, 364\n\nKnowledge, obtaining of secret, 322-324\n\nKoiran-Kuonalanien, giant beings, Finn, 340\n\nKronos, legend of, quoted, 399\n\nKuns, origin of the, xv.-xvi.\n\n\nLadybird rhyme, xx.\n\nLake, magic, power of restoring limbs possessed by, 185\n\n----, silver, heroine takes form of, 195\n\nLamb, possessing power to rain gold, 162\n\n---- with golden fleece, story title, 13-15; variants of, 312\n\nLamb and shepherd, pursued heroine and hero become, 33\n\nLameness of characters in folk-tales, 372\n\n----, superstition about, 398\n\nLanguage of animals, see \"animals\" Languages of Hungary, xviii., xix.\n\nLapp folk-tales quoted, 305, 312, 321, 326, 328, 329, 343, 344, 346,\n352, 358, 359, 361, 362, 364, 370, 372, 373, 379, 384, 385, 386, 388,\n389, 390, 392, 393, 396, 397, 399, 400, 403, 408, 410, 415, 418, 420\n\nLapp giant beings, 340\n\n---- wedding customs, 369\n\nLaughing, cure of illness by, 15\n\nLazy cat, 23-25; note to, 317\n\nLead, boiling, ordeal of truth by jumping in, 297\n\n---- used as punishment by fairies, 294\n\nLetter forged by witch, 178, 185\n\nLetter intercepted, story incident, 52, 185\n\nLife, allegory of, 92-94\n\n---- concealed away from the body, 400\n\n---- restoration to, 329, 341, 342, 344; by animals, 374, 396; by snake,\n55; by healing grass, 58, 113\n\nLife or soul, witch's, contained in animals, 205\n\nLife index incidents, 339, 340, 374, 378\n\nLight extinguished by animal bridegroom, 226\n\nLimber, Lincolnshire, battle legends in, 382\n\nLincolnshire folk-lore, 343, 350, 363, 376, 378, 382, 398\n\n---- folk-tales quoted, 358, 392, 393, 404, 405, 417, 418-420, 421\n\n---- Mumby Hill, treasure legend, xxxi.\n\n---- superstitions, 402\n\n---- treasure legend, 406\n\n---- wedding customs, 369\n\n---- witchcraft, xliii.\n\nLions, country inhabited by, 188, 195\n\nLiterature, medi\u00e6val, influence on folk-tales, xx., xxi.\n\nLivy quoted, 377\n\nLoaf, baked seven times with other loaves, used as charm against dragon,\n79\n\nLocal influences on folk-tales, xx.\n\nLodging, hero's, at a cottage held by a murderer, 9\n\nLondon, legend relating to, quoted, 351\n\nLooking back, misfortune from, 101\n\n----, superstition against, in folk-tales, 362-363\n\n----, unlucky at weddings, 369\n\nLooking-glass, magic, power of speaking possessed by, 165\n\nLord of the manor, story character, 17\n\nLove of the fairies, xxxiv.-xxxv.\n\nLover's ghost, story title, 278-282\n\nLuck and bliss, story title, 22, 23; variants of, 317\n\nLungs and liver eaten by would-be murderer, 183\n\n\nMace, sent as sign of recognition, 106\n\n---- used by devil as weapon, 194\n\nMace-throwing, 353\n\nMagic pony, little, story of, 157-160\n\n---- powers of giants, xxix.\n\n---- queen of, 78\n\n---- woman, godmother to heroine, 144\n\nMagpie in Swedish folk-lore, 364\n\nMagyars, origin of, viii., xiii.\n\nMaiming of slain enemies, story incident, 43\n\nMalagasy folk-tales quoted, 340, 394, 398, 401\n\n---- superstition as to the threshold, 411\n\nMan, hanged, eaten by devil, 290\n\nManners of Magyars, lxvii.\n\nM\u00e4rchen, origin of, xix.\n\nMare, power of talking possessed by, 263\n\nMares, milking, task set hero, 275\n\nMares, witch's daughter in story, 159\n\nMarket operations in noodle story, 81\n\nMarriage by guessing of bride's secret marks, 141\n\n---- by taking down objects from high pole, 151\n\n----, child, 80\n\n----, church, 4, 7\n\n---- customs, Magyar, liv., 365; Pal\u00f3czy, 412-414\n\n---- festivals, Magyar, 389\n\n---- in folk-tales, 328\n\n---- of hero to queen of the fairies, 298\n\n---- of hero with witch, 204\n\n---- of heroine with frog, 225\n\n---- of most beautiful girl, 163\n\n---- of twelve brothers to twelve sisters, 159\n\n---- to slayer of king's enemies, 44\n\n---- by capture, see \"bride-capture.\"\n\nMaundeville's travels quoted, 342\n\nMay-pole, used in marriage custom, Pal\u00f3czy, 412\n\nMeadow, silken, of enemies, 67\n\nMedicine folk, xlvi.-xlix., 403, 409; in story incident, 37\n\nMelton Ross, Lincolnshire, gallows legend at, 382\n\nMerlin, tradition of, 341\n\nMessage stick, story incident, 106\n\nMessenger, intercepted, story incident, 52\n\nMezey, knight, story character, 66\n\nMice, king of, assists hero in task, 252, 255\n\nMidnight, a story character, 42\n\nMigration of a people, probable reference to, in folk-tales, 371\n\nMilk, adulteration of, allegory of, 94\n\nMilk, bathing in, task set hero, 276\n\nMilk flowing from finger-post a sign of prosperity, 257\n\nMilk-jug, lid of, formed from remains of murdered princes, 136\n\nMilk lake and golden duck, pursued heroine and hero become, 34\n\nMilk, woman's, bread made with, 121\n\nMilking mares, task set hero, 274\n\nMiller, a story character, 1\n\nMillet-cake, story incident, 29, 30\n\nMillet-field, heroine takes form of, 32, 193\n\nMillet-seed, skull boiled with, as means of divination, 279\n\n---- to cleanse, task set heroine, 192\n\nMillstone given to hero for singing, 300\n\nMirk\u00f3, Prince, story title, 59-76\n\nMirror, magic, 395\n\nMohammedanism, influence of, on folk-tales, xx., xl.\n\nMoldavia, Hungarian settlers in, xv.\n\n----, Magyar settlers in, 380\n\nMoney given to hero by devil to aid him on his journeys, 290, 292, 293\n\nMongolian marriage customs, 368\n\nMonk, devil's son takes form of, 194\n\nMoon, on forehead of twin son, 52, 337; on hero's forehead, 387; on\nright breast of king's daughter, 140\n\n----, myth of, in folk-tales, 327\n\n----, new, efficacy of, in folk-medicine, 37\n\n---- superstition, 403\n\nMoonlight in the water, 358\n\nMopstick, witch riding on, 253\n\nMoss, eyelids covered with, sign of old age, 259\n\nMother marrying son, in Finnish story, 308\n\n---- of heroine, her enemy, 183\n\nMountain adventures, story incident, 39, 54\n\nMountains built by giants, xxvii.\n\nMouse, assistance of, to hero, 153\n\nMurder, crime of, committed and punished, 9-13\n\nMurder of father by son in Finnish story, 307\n\nMurders of the Blue Beard type, 129\n\nMusic, folk-, 370\n\nMusical air to rhymes, 405\n\nMusical myths, quoted, 347, 400\n\nMysterious land in folk-tales, 371-372\n\nMyth, saints' legends develop into, x.\n\n\nNail-pairing superstitions, 402\n\nName, taboo in story incident, 47, 330-344\n\nNames of fairies, xxxvi. xxxviii.\n\nNegro legend of treasure, 406\n\nNettles, Prince Czihan, story title, 1-6\n\nNew Year's Day, liii.\n\n_Niebelungen_ quoted, 351\n\nNight and dawn, tying up of, in folk-tales, 326\n\nNimrod, giant legend of, viii.\n\nNoodle stories, 80, 83, 86, 356-359, 361; parallels between, xix.\n\nNorse tales quoted, 322, 323, 329, 342, 346, 350, 352, 353, 355, 358,\n359, 360, 361, 370, 371, 372, 373, 375, 383, 385, 386, 389, 391, 392,\n394, 396, 397, 398, 400, 404, 408, 410, 415, 421\n\nNorthumberland folk-lore, 343, 383\n\nNorwegian giant beings, 340\n\nNose, sausage grows to man's, 219\n\nNothing, character in Finnish story, 315\n\nNumbers, lix.\n\nNutshell, fairy bride's dress placed in, 102\n\n\nOak tree with golden leaves in Russian story, 304\n\nOblivion curse of, 321-322\n\nObstacles to pursuit in folk-tale, xxxiii., 32-35, 160, 393-394\n\nOccupations of the fairies, xxxiv.\n\nOintment, strength-giving, 353\n\nOperencian Sea, magic trees on shores of, 256\n\nOrange, cure of dead by, 156\n\nOranges, three, story title, princesses spring from, 133-136\n\nOrphans, the two, story of, 220-224\n\nOven, retirement behind, as mourning, 15\n\nOwls' feathers, 409\n\n----, pillow stuffed with, 191, 255, 398\n\nOxen, ploughing with, in tale, 298\n\n\nPalaces of the fairies, xxxviii.\n\nPalm Sunday, descent of God to earth on, 21\n\nPalocz, origin of the, xviii.\n\n----, folk-tales, 412\n\nPalstave, used by Magyars, 412\n\nPannonia conquest of by Romans, vii.\n\nParis, Carmelite convent, blood stains at, 382\n\nPear-tree, poisonous, dragon's wife takes form of, 202\n\nPears, stolen from tree, incident in tale, 183\n\nPeas in open field, picked up by hero, 76\n\nPeel borrowed by mother in tale, 298\n\nPelican, the, story title, 250-262\n\nPelicans, unknown in Hungary, 409\n\n_Pentamerone_ quoted, 339, 342, 374, 375, 379, 386, 387, 388, 394, 396,\n398, 399, 400, 401, 403, 407, 410, 417\n\nPerspiration, superstition about, Indian, 395\n\nPeter (St.), appearance of, to hero, 141\n\n----, descent of, to the earth with God, 20\n\nPetticoat, tale said to be in tucks of, 282\n\nPhooka, the wild horse of Ireland, 349\n\nPicture in folk-tales, 396\n\nPiebald horse, magic horse, 289; assists hero, 289; enemy of devils,\n291, 292, 293\n\nPig, prince in form of, 131, 132\n\nPig-driving, in story incident, 80\n\nPigeon, hero transforms himself into, 286\n\nPigeons, transformation of, into girls, 101\n\nPigeons help heroine in task, 208\n\nPillow stuffed with owls' feathers in devil's house, 191\n\nPin, in folk-tales, 395-396\n\n----, poisonous, used by witch to destroy heroine, 170\n\nPistols, used by hero, 63\n\nPlaid, possessing power of making wearer invisible, 289\n\nPlague, animal sacrifice at, 381; witch sacrifice, xliv.\n\nPlants, wound-healing, 341\n\n----, superstitions, lxiii-lxiv.\n\n----, see \"apples,\" \"apricot,\" \"bramble,\" \"oak,\" \"pear\" Pleurisy, cures\nfor, xlvii.\n\nPlough, six-ox, yoking of, 370\n\nPloughing task, story incident, 28, 96\n\nPluto, story character, 29\n\nPoker changed into horse by witch, 160\n\nPolish folk-tales quoted, 322, 379, 418\n\nPony, magic, story of, 157-160\n\nPope, hero becomes, 12\n\nPortraits, superstition against, 333\n\nPortuguese folk-tales quoted, 324, 334, 339, 342, 361, 365, 372, 374,\n386, 389, 394, 395, 396, 397, 399, 400, 401, 402\n\nPost (finger) oozing blood, sign of misfortune to hero, 257\n\n---- used as trysting place, 257\n\nPoultry yard, hero and heroine locked in, 286\n\nPresents, the beggar's, story of, 161-163\n\nPriest, name for T\u00e1tos, also name for mythic horse, 345\n\nPriests and their sermons, allegory of, 94\n\n----, folk-tale allusion to, 205, 400\n\nPrinces, the three, story title, 110-117\n\nPrincess who never laughed, type story, 312\n\nPrincesses, the three, story title, 144-149\n\nProperty, obtaining of, by descent, 16, 34, 137; by force, 6; by\nmarriage, 7, 46, 53, 153\n\nProverbial sayings, Sz\u00e9kely, ix.\n\nPunchkin, incident in folk-tales, 205, 400\n\nPunishment by immuration, 114\n\nPunishment of false knight, story incident, 45\n\nPuppies supposed to be born of heroine, 178, 185\n\nPurse which never gets full, see \"bag\"\n\nPursuit obstacles, in story incident, 32-35, 160, 393-394\n\nPuss in Boots, type story, 1-6, 303, 306\n\nPygmy race, 330\n\n\nQueen of the faires, 294\n\nQuinsy, cure for, xlix.\n\n\nRabbit, hero takes form of, 202\n\nRaces, stories indicating old feuds between, 380\n\nRats, witch's daughters changed to, 255\n\nRaven, shooting at, story incident, 39\n\nRed cap, devil and the, story of, 226-228\n\nRed-haired people, unluck of meeting, 329\n\nRed Knight, a false champion, 43, 114\n\nRelations, quarrels of, allegory of, 94\n\nRhymes, children's, Cumanian, xvi.\n\nRich men, children of two, story title, 80-83\n\nRiddles in folk-tales, 239, 240, 334\n\nRing, betrothal, in Magyar marriage, 366\n\n----, poisonous, used by witch to kill heroine, 168\n\n---- possessing power of waking wearer in case of need, 291\n\nRing, wedding, 3, 7\n\n----, wife's means of recognising husband, 315\n\nRivers, fairy origin of, xxxix.\n\nRobbers, twenty-four, story characters, 42\n\n----, heroine protected by, 167\n\nRod, growth of, put as a test, 119\n\n----, growth, magic, 71\n\nRose, gold, means of identifying heroine, 211-213\n\nRose, knight, story title, 54-58\n\nRoumanian folk-tales quoted, 353, 387, 388, 391, 399, 407\n\nRoumanian intrigues with Turkey alluded to, 124\n\nRug, used as obstacle in pursuit of hero, 160\n\nRussian folk-tales quoted, 304, 306, 321, 325, 329, 338, 339, 341, 344,\n347, 353, 355, 358, 359, 361, 362, 364, 373, 374, 379, 381, 389, 391,\n392, 393, 394, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 404, 408, 411, 415, 420, 421\n\nRussian marriage ceremony, 366\n\n\nSacrifice, human, in story incident, 112, 344\n\n----, to stay the plague, 381\n\nSaddle, magic, for magic horse, 63\n\n----, old, used on T\u00e1tos horse, 198\n\nSaddle and bridle demanded by hero for wages, 252\n\nSale at markets, used as story incident, 22\n\nSaints' legends, place of, in mythology, x.\n\n---- quoted, 339\n\nSaints' Days, customs, l.-lix.\n\nSausage, magic, 219\n\nScab, cure for, xlix.\n\nScabbard growing on hero's side, 233\n\nScandinavian Huns, xi.\n\nSchool, hero's attendance at, 7\n\nScottish folk-lore, 363, 368, 411\n\n---- folk-tales quoted, 312, 346, 349, 398, 400\n\n---- wedding custom, 369\n\nScurvy, cures for, xlvii.\n\nSea, mythical, in Hungarian folk-tales, 375-376\n\nSecret, hero's life depends on keeping, 233, 244\n\nSecret-keeping little boy and his little sword, story title, 233-244,\n314\n\nSecrets, transformation of hero on divulging, 314\n\nSelection, magic powers in, 378\n\nSerbian folk-tales quoted, 306, 323, 325, 339, 342, 347, 353, 361, 362,\n373, 374, 386, 387, 388, 391, 392, 400, 401, 407, 408, 421\n\nSerpents, hairs from devil's beard become, 192\n\nServants, animals so-called, 373\n\nServian witchcraft, 343\n\nService of hero with king, 263\n\nSeventh son superstition, xxx.\n\nShepherd, story character, 13, 91, 141\n\nShepherd Paul, story title, 244-249\n\nShepherd's daughter given to devil instead of heroine, 191\n\nShip that sails over land and sea, 316\n\nShirt, silk, given to hero to increase strength, 248\n\nShoe, Cinderella's, 149\n\nShoes, in folk-tales, 387\n\nShoes thrown after the bride, 369\n\nShooting incidents in folk-tales, 329\n\nSicilian folk-tales quoted, 338\n\nSiculus, people of Sz\u00e9kely, ix., xiii., xiv.\n\nSillyhood, name for the caul, 378\n\nSilver bridge, dragon's house near, 196, 200\n\n---- of dazzling brightness, story incident, 20\n\nSilver horse, concealment in, 139\n\nSilver objects mentioned in story incidents, 61, 130, 143, 150\n\n_Sindibad_, book of, quoted, 360\n\nSins, washing away of, allegory of, 93\n\nSisters, twelve, marry twelve brothers, story incident, 159\n\nSkin, delicacy of heroines, 354\n\nSkin, assumption of snake's, 342\n\nSkull, boiling of, used in divination to get news of absent lover, 279\n\nSlavonic folk-tales quoted, 323, 306\n\nSleep, magic, falls on watchers of heroine, 183\n\n----, mode of, as a test of princely origin, 77\n\nSleeping beauty incidents in folk-tales, 396\n\nSmell, giants sense of, 340\n\nSmithy, hero takes refuge at, 203\n\nSnake in Russian Puss in Boots story, 304\n\n----, prince in form of, 283; proposes to marry king's daughter, 284\n\n---- teaches hero language of animals, 301\n\n----, three-headed, sacrifice of king's daughter to, 344\n\n---- with girl's head, restores life to hero, 55\n\n---- field, task of hero's to clean, 316\n\n---- friends, 342\n\nSnake-skin, story title 282-287, 417\n\nSnakes-skin, assumption of, by heroine, 342\n\nSnipe, origin of, 359\n\nSnow-water collected in March, youth-giving qualities of, 372\n\nSocial organisation of the fairies, xxxvii.\n\nSon marrying mother in Finnish story, 308\n\nSong, singing a, means of discovering truth, 299\n\nSongs, mystic, for restoration of life, 341\n\n----, wedding and love, 370\n\nSpade, golden, used to dig up T\u00e1tos foal, 256\n\nSpanish belief in herb to restore eyesight, 322\n\nSpanish folk-tales quoted, 313, 329, 334, 347, 360, 392, 394, 402, 407,\n408\n\nSpanish wedding customs, 369\n\n_Spectator_, wedding songs quoted from, 370\n\nSpinning in folk-tales, 330\n\nSpinning-girl (the lazy) who became queen, story-title, 46-49\n\nSpitting, enchantment by, 395\n\nSpittle, fairy, makes objects speak, xxxiii.\n\n---- speaking of, to delude pursuers, 321\n\n---- used by witch to disfigure heroine, 166\n\nSports at weddings, Magyar, 389\n\nSpring of poisonous water, dragon's wife takes form of, 202\n\nSprites, xlv.\n\nSquirrel, shooting at, story incident, 40\n\nStaff broken at hanging ceremony, 407\n\nStag, means of finding heroine, 186\n\nStar, morning, horse similar to, 63\n\n---- superstitions, 410\n\nStars, child born with, on his face, 338\n\n----, marks of, on hero's forehead, 387\n\n----, three, on left breast of king's daughter, 140\n\n----, kicking of, by high-stepping horses, 130\n\nSteel dropping from raven's back, story incident, 39\n\n---- hoop, hero takes form of, 201\n\nStepsister, heroine of tale, 207\n\nStephen the murderer, story title, 7-13; variants of, 306-312\n\nStone cut with wooden knife by hero, 247\n\nStone, giants turned to pillars of, 316\n\n---- hero turned into, 71; hero's animal servants turned into, 115\n\nStone-boulders eaten by giants for food, 247\n\nStone-column, removal of, as task for hero, 18\n\nStone-crusher, character in story, 245, 246\n\nStonemasons, story characters, 18\n\nStones, with imprint of giant's heel, xxv; of fairies xxxiv.-xxxv.\nxxxix.\n\nStones, (precious) superstitions, lxiv.\n\nStrength of giant kept apart from his body, 71\n\n----, secret of, revealed in order to kill hero, 326\n\nStrength-giving substances, 353\n\nStudent who was forcibly made king, story-title, 76\n\nStudents' careers alluded to, see \"college\" \"school\"\n\nSubterfuge for gaining a wife, 4\n\nSubterranean houses of the fairies, xxxviii.\n\nSummons by whistle and whip, 372\n\nSun, child born with, on top of head, 337\n\n----, on forehead of twin son, 52; of king's daughter, 140\n\n----, comparison of hero with, 342\n\n----, hero's beauty like the, 56\n\n----, myth of, in folk-tale, 328\n\n----, stoppage of, to admire heroine's beauty 112\n\nSunbeams, woman appearing on, 364\n\nSwahili folk-tales quoted, 306, 322, 342, 364, 386, 391, 397, 400, 408\n\nSwallow, herb known to, will restore eyesight 322\n\nSwan-maiden incident, 101, 363-365, 315 390\n\nSwedish folk-tales quoted, 306, 330, 333, 334, 362, 386, 388, 391, 397,\n401, 405,415\n\nSwedish giant beings, 340\n\nSwedish wedding songs, 370\n\nSwineherd helps hero of tale, 261\n\nSwineherd hero-prince takes situation as, 296\n\nSwineherd's daughter given to devil instead of heroine, 190\n\nSword, clanking of hero's, denoting approbation, 235, 241\n\nSword possessing power of slaying numbers, 293\n\nSword, unsheathed, placed between wife and husband's substitute, 116,\n375\n\n---- used by hero, 63, 66; growing in garden, 233; kills hero's enemies,\n243\n\nSwords, magic, in folk-tales, 350, 406\n\nSz\u00e9kely folk-medicine quoted, 342\n\n----, origin of the, ix., xii.-xv.\n\n\nTable-cloth, magic, 162\n\n---- used by hero to carry goods, 273\n\nTartar conquest alluded to, 118-119, 124\n\nTartars, dog-headed, 377\n\nTasks in folk-tales, 18, 27, 47, 153, 192-193, 273-275, 313, 315, 379,\n390, 392, 393, 415\n\nT\u00e1tos, giant's horse, xxv., 197, 345\n\nTeeth, children born with, 378\n\nTelescope, wonderful, bought by prince to win a bride, 156\n\nThorn-tree, cure for ague by shaking, 403\n\nThornton Abbey, Lincolnshire, battle legend about, 382\n\nThree, significance of the number, 101\n\n---- canes, riddle of, solved by hero, 239\n\n---- foals, riddle of, solved by hero, 240\n\n---- legs, foal with, 257\n\n---- Princes, Three Dragons, and the Old Woman with the Iron Nose,\nstory of, 196-206\n\n---- sisters in tale, 224\n\n---- sons, hero youngest of, 250\n\n---- wishes type story, 217-219\n\nThreshold, ceremonies at, 332, 333\n\n----, folk-lore of, 410-411\n\nTinder, shot from squirrel's tree, story incident, 40\n\nTime, rapid passing of, in folk-tales, see \"age,\" \"year\"\n\n----, stopping of, story incident, 42, 362\n\nToad used as means to bewitch heroine, 222\n\nTools, assistance by, to youngest son, 390\n\n---- work by themselves, Frisian, 316\n\nToothache of king ceasing only with granting hero's wishes, 197\n\nTower, hero immured in, 240\n\nTown draped in black cloth, 374\n\nTrance, heroine falls into, through treachery, 172, 174\n\nTransformation of hero and heroine to avoid pursuit, 321\n\nTransylvania, wedding customs, 369\n\n----, races occupying, ix.\n\nTravelling, speed of, in folk-tales, xxiv.-xxv., 26, 350\n\n---- with magic wings, 142\n\nTreasure, buried, ghosts as guards of, 231, 232, 405\n\n----, buried, legends, xxix., xxx.\n\nTreasures, offered by witch as reward refused by hero, 255\n\nTree, good luck coming from being under, 387\n\n----, grown from remains of murdered princes, 135\n\n----, heroine and her children take refuge in, 179\n\n----, heroine placed amongst branches of, 213\n\n----, magic growth of, 146\n\n----, sap of, used for cure of illness, 138\n\n----, witch seated in, 57, 115\n\nTree-comber, character in story, 244\n\nTrees, magic, on borders of Operencian Sea, 256\n\n----, kissing each other means of hero crossing water, 258\n\n----, notched by hero to guide his path, 258\n\nTriangle traced by witch, 256\n\nTribal blood feud incident, _Arabian Nights_, 360\n\nTrolls, assume shape of magpies, in Sweden, 364\n\nTruth and falsehood, travels of, story title, 36-39\n\nTrynetyrk, giant beings, Norwegian, 340\n\nTumuli, called giants graves, x.\n\nTurkish sultan in folk-tales, xx.\n\nTwelve brothers marry twelve sisters, 159, 263, 267\n\nTwins, golden-haired, born to heroine, 184\n\nTwilight, myth of, in folk-tales, 327\n\n\nUliva (St.) legend of, quoted, 339\n\nUnderground people, in folk-tales, 408\n\nUseless article found on road, source of wealth to finder, 354\n\n\nValuable, three things, story title, 155-157\n\nVargaluska (dancing), concealed name of dwarf, 48\n\nVasfogu, B\u00e1ba, story character, 5\n\nVikings, probable legend of, quoted, 352\n\nVine-growing as task for hero, 18\n\nVomiting of persons eaten, incident in folk-tales, 399\n\n\nWalachian folk-tales, quoted, 338, 395, 396\n\nWatching, youngest son successful in, 390\n\nWater, foal washed in to gain strength, 256\n\n---- immersion, cure of maiming by, story incident, 53\n\n---- possessing power of transforming human being into animal, 220\n\n----, reflection of heroine's face in, 135\n\n----, want of, causes death of princesses who were cut from oranges, 133\n\n----, youth-giving, from fairies' well, 289, 293, 295\n\n---- of life, allegory of, 93, 250-262\n\nWater-spring, blocking up by devils, story incident, 37\n\n----, magic origin of, 72\n\nWayland Smith, legend quoted, 351\n\nWeaving in folk-tales, 330\n\n----, soldiers produced by, 68\n\nWedding customs, Magyar, 365\n\n---- festivities, 104-105\n\n---- party, greeting to, 80\n\nWeeding operations in story incident, 81\n\nWell, frog residing in, 224\n\n----, holy, flowers from, used at marriages, Pal\u00f3cz, 412\n\n----, mud from, cures blindness, 152\n\n---- worship, xxxii.\n\nWells, marvellous powers of water, 373\n\nWend, folk-tales quoted, 359\n\nWere-wolves, 344\n\nWhale, heroine devoured by, 222\n\nWheat, dirty, heroine set task of cleaning, 208, 209, 211\n\nWhip, magical, 16, 27, 107\n\nWhistle, magic, 392\n\n---- given by grateful animals for summons, 153\n\n---- commanding obedience from insects, fish, or mice, 252, 253\n\nWhistle and whip, a method of summons, 372\n\nWidower and his daughter, story of, 207-216\n\nWife, lord's power over vassals, alluded to, 18\n\nWife of hero desired by king, 314\n\nWife-beating of, story incident, 23\n\nWife's kindred, interposition of, 24\n\nWine taken by hero to renew strength, 201, 248\n\n---- drank by foal for food, 265\n\nWings, magic, for travelling, 142\n\nWinifred, St., well of, in Flintshire, 373\n\nWishes, the, story of, 217-219\n\nWitches, assist youngest son, hero, 61\n\n---- burning of, 181\n\n---- changes into pigeon, story incident, 160\n\n----, children of, born with teeth, 378\n\n---- drugs hero, 253, 254, 255\n\n----, fear of, for animals, 57, 115\n\n----, giants supposed to be, xxiv.\n\n---- guardian of castle in Hades, 68\n\n---- in Magyar folk-lore, xli.-xliv.\n\n---- kills her own children by ruse, 159, 268\n\n----, magical powers of, xlii.\n\n----, method of seeing, xli.\n\n----, mother of giants, 57\n\n---- with iron nose, 241, 243\n\n---- year consists of three days, 252\n\nWitch's daughter personates heroine, 221\n\n---- daughters in shape of horses, 252\n\n---- maid helps hero, 204\n\nWitchcraft defeated by the drawing of blood, 343\n\nWives, dragon's, destroyed by hero, 203\n\nWodin, dragon sacred to, 325\n\nWolf, assistance of, to hero, 153\n\nWolf, in Finnish grateful animal story, 305\n\nWolves, country inhabited by, 188, 195\n\nWoman's curiosity, story title, 301-302, 313\n\nWoman, old, made young by hero, 260\n\nWomen, aged, direct hero in quest, 258\n\nWood-grouse in Karelian grateful animal story, 305\n\nWoodpecker in folk-tales, 362, 372\n\n----, influence of, on hero's actions, 99, 108-109\n\nWorcestershire folk-lore, 378\n\nWords, story turning on similarity of, 84\n\nWorld, underground, visited by hero, 247\n\nWorld's beautiful woman, story of, 163\n\nWrestling of hero with strong men, 245\n\n\nYarborough Camp, Lincolnshire, legend concerning, 382\n\nYear of service given by hero, 157\n\n---- of three days duration, 98\n\nYellow Hammer, King, story character, 2\n\nYorkshire finger-lore, 330, 331\n\n---- folk-lore, 349, 398\n\n---- superstitions, 402\n\nYoungest, success of, 389-391\n\nYoungest brother, story hero, 40, 55, 60, 92, 97, 116, 153, 157, 203\n\n---- daughter, story heroine, 27, 43, 49, 159\n\n---- prince successful in quest, 288\n\n---- prince and youngest princess, story title, 137-141\n\n---- sister heroine of tale, 207, 224-226\n\n---- son successful, 150, 196, 250\n\nYouth, allegory of, 93\n\n---- giving plants, 109\n\n---- giving water, 288, 372-373\n\n----, power to restore, possessed by pelican, 251, 258, 262\n\n\nWESTMINSTER: PRINTED BY NICHOLS AND SONS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET.\n\n\n\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nAll obvious printer errors were corrected.\n\nSome spelling was corrected for consistency.","title":"The Folk-Tales of the Magyars: Collected by Kriza, Erd\u00e9lyi, Pap, and Others","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":185516}