{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46944/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46944","id":"gutenberg_46944","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46944","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Folklore -- Armenia"],"text":"THE GOLDEN MAIDEN and\n                       other folk tales and fairy\n                        stories told in Armenia\n\n                            A. G. SEKLEMIAN\n\n                              Introduction\n                         Alice Stone Blackwell\n\n                            Initial Letters\n                              Ella Dolbear\n\n                              Cover Design\n                            Elizabeth Geary\n\n\n                       The Helman-Taylor Company\n                         Cleveland and New York\n                                  1898\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nA distinguished English student of folk-lore has written:\n\"Armenia offers a rich and hitherto almost untouched field to the\nfolk-lorist, the difficulty of grappling with the language--the\nalphabet even of which was described by Byron as 'a very Waterloo of\nan alphabet'--having hitherto baffled European collectors.\"\n\nSo far as I can learn, the two volumes of Armenian folk-tales collected\nby Bishop Sirwantzdiants have hitherto been accessible to English\nand European readers only through the medium of a rare and more or\nless imperfect German translation. The late Ohannes Chatschumian had\nbegun a compilation of Armenian folk-lore for Miss Alice Fletcher;\nbut the work was cut short by his early death. Prof. Minas Tcheraz,\nof King's College, London, has published from time to time during the\nlast eight years, in his paper \"L'Armenie,\" a series of interesting\narticles on the folk-lore and fairy tales of the Armenians, under\nthe title \"L'Orient Inedit.\" He gathered these stories from the lips\nof the poorer classes in Constantinople, as Mr. Seklemian did in\nErzroom. Prof. Tcheraz says: \"The lowest strata of the population,\nhaving received no instruction, and not having changed perceptibly\nsince the earliest centuries of our planet, keep still intact the\ntraditions of the past. It is above all from the talk of the women\nof the common people, born in Constantinople or from the provinces,\nthat these things are to be learned. Gifted with strong memories and\nbrilliant imaginations, they still preserve all the legends bequeathed\nfrom the past.\" But the files of \"L'Armenie,\" like the books of Bishop\nSirwantzdiants, are inaccessible to the general public. Mr. Seklemian\nhas therefore rendered a real service to students of folk-lore who are\nunacquainted with the Oriental languages, by bringing these curious\nand interesting tales within their reach.\n\nMany things combine to give especial value to Armenian folk-lore. Among\nthese are the great antiquity of the Armenian race, and its singular\ntenacity of its own ideas and traditions.\n\nArmenia was the seat of one of the most ancient civilizations\non the globe. Its people were contemporary with the Assyrians\nand Babylonians. They are of Aryan race, and of pure Caucasian\nblood. Their origin is lost in the mists of time. According to\ntheir own tradition, they are descended from Togarmah, a grandson of\nJaphet, who settled in Armenia after the Ark rested on Ararat. In the\nearliest days of recorded history, we find them already occupying their\npresent home. They are referred to by Herodotus. Xenophon describes\ntheir manners and customs much as they still exist in the mountain\nvillages. The Bible relates that the sons of Sennacherib escaped \"into\nthe land of Armenia,\" (2 Kings xix., 37; Isaiah xxxvii., 38.) Ezekiel\nrefers to Armenia, under the name of Togarmah, as furnishing Tyre\nwith horses and mules, animals for which it is still famous; and \"the\nKingdom of Ararat\" is one of the nations called upon by Jeremiah to\naid in the destruction of Babylon. In the famous inscriptions of the\nAchemenid\u251c\u017d, at Persepolis and at Behistun, the name of Armenia occurs\nin various forms.\n\nThe Armenians, according to their own histories and mythology,\nenjoyed four periods of national independence, under four different\ndynasties, extending over about 3,000 years. The ruins of Ani\nand other great cities still testify to their former power and\nsplendor. It is now many centuries, however, since they lost their\npolitical independence, and their country has been little more than\na battle-ground for rival invaders. Geographically, Armenia is the\nbridge between Europe and Asia. In the early centuries, the Armenians\nacted the part of Horatius and \"kept the bridge,\" defending the gate\nof Europe against successive invasions of the uncivilized hordes of\nAsia. Their resistance was finally beaten down by superior numbers,\nand now for hundreds of years the armies of Europe and Asia have\nbeen marching and counter-marching across that bridge, slaughtering\nand devastating as they went, till it is a wonder that any Armenians\nare left, as a distinct race. Yet no race has ever retained its own\ncharacteristics more clearly. This persistency of the Armenian type\nis perhaps the most remarkable instance of race-survival in history,\nexcept that of the Jews. Good observers say that it is due in large\nmeasure to the comparatively pure family life of the Armenians in the\ninterior of Turkey, and especially to the virtue of the Armenian women.\n\nTradition relates that Christianity was preached in Armenia early\nin the first century, by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. It\nis historic fact that about A. D. 276 the king and the whole nation\nbecame Christian, under the preaching of St. Gregory, called \"the\nIlluminator.\" The Armenian Church is thus the oldest national Christian\nchurch in the world.\n\nAs a Christian nation whose lot has been cast beyond the frontiers\nof Christendom, the Armenians have had to suffer continual\npersecution,--in the early times from the Persian fire-worshippers,\nin later centuries from the Mohammedans. Since the withdrawal of\nthe Crusaders, to whom they alone of Asiatic nations gave aid and\nsupport, the Armenians have been at the mercy of the surrounding\nheathen peoples. Their country has been invaded successively by the\nCaliphs of Baghdad, the Sultans of Egypt, the Khans of Tartary,\nthe Shahs of Persia, and the Ottoman Turks. All these invasions\nwere accompanied by great slaughter and fierce barbarities; but\nthe Armenians have held steadfastly to their faith for more than\n1,500 years. They have clung not only to Christianity, but to their\nown peculiar form of Christianity. At many periods of their history\nthey could have obtained a measure of protection if they would have\nconformed either to the Roman Catholic or to the Greek Church; but\nthey have remained a distinct national communion of Eastern Christians.\n\nThis tenacity is one of the most marked features of the Armenian\ncharacter. It gives an additional interest to their folk-lore and to\ntheir customs, many of which have come down substantially unchanged\nfrom the farthest antiquity. Intensely wedded to Christianity as\nthe nation has become through perpetual persecution, there are yet\na multitude of curious Pagan rites, dating back before the dawn\nof recorded history, which still prevail among the common people,\nespecially in the villages that nestle in remote nooks among the\nCaucasus mountains.\n\nWhen the Armenians adopted Christianity, the old Pagan festivals\ncould not be rooted out; they were only baptized, so to speak, with\nChristian names. On February 26th, in Armenia, every young man who\nhas been married within the year brings a load of aromatic shrubs,\nand a huge pile is made of them in the church-yard. In the evening,\nafter a religious service in the open air, the clergyman advances with\na taper, and sets fire to the heap. All the villagers, men, women and\nchildren, dance around the great bonfire, and the boys and young men\nshow their courage and agility by leaping over it. When the flames\nhave died down, each person carries home a glowing brand, and places\nit on his hearthstone for good luck. This festival is now celebrated\nin commemoration of the bringing of the infant Christ to the Temple;\nbut it is an old Pagan rite in honor of Mihr, the god of fire.\n\nIn summer, a festival is held in commemoration of the subsiding\nof the Deluge. Local traditions of a Flood lingered in the region\naround Mt. Ararat long before the introduction of Christianity. On\n\"the day of our Father Noah,\" it is everybody's object to \"baptize\"\neverybody else by pouring water over him. Even a bishop will be\ndrenched without ceremony, if he ventures to show himself on the\nstreet. It is considered necessary that every one should be baptized\nbefore sunset. After the sun goes down, hundreds of tame doves are let\nloose, in honor of Noah's dove, and they play and \"tumble\" in the air,\nwhile all the people are out rowing on the river, or walking along\nits banks and sprinkling each other with water. This festival is a\ngreat delight to the Armenian boys.\n\n\"Fortune day\" is more especially the day of the Armenian girls. It is\nnow celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter, in honor of Christ's\nascension; but it is much older than Christianity. On the previous\nevening, the village girls assemble, and go in silence and mystery\nto fill a jar with water from seven springs. A single spoken word\nwould break the spell. The jar is set for the night in some secret\nplace under the open sky, where it can be \"watched by the stars.\" The\nyoung men of the village try their best to find it, or to coax from\nthe girls the secret of its hiding place, but in vain. Next morning\nthe girls bring out the jar in triumph, wreathe it with flowers, and\ncarry it in procession to a grassy place outside the village. Everybody\ndrops into it some small object easily identified--a ring, a coin,\na snail-shell, etc. A little girl about four years old, dressed in\nwhite, blindfolded and veiled, takes her stand beside the jar. She\nrepresents Fortune. An older girl begins to sing a verse of poetry,\nand the whole choir of girls joins in. The little girl then takes\nout of the jar one of the things that have been dropped into it, and\nholds it up. The verse that has been sung is supposed to predict the\nfortune of the owner. This ceremony is repeated till everything has\nbeen taken out of the jar. Afterwards the villagers dance in a circle,\nhand-in-hand. On this occasion every girl weaves herself a cross of\nflowers, which is hung on the wall of her home, near the fireplace,\nand is carefully saved until the next \"Fortune day.\"\n\nThe brightest point in Armenian history is the \"Holy War\" of the\nfifth century. In A. D. 450, a vast Persian army invaded Armenia to\nforce the Armenians to embrace fire-worship. The battle was fought\non the plain of Avarair, under Mt. Ararat. The much smaller force of\nthe Armenians was defeated, and their leader, Vartan, was killed;\nbut the obstinate resistance offered by rich and poor,--men, women\nand children, convinced the King of Persia that he could never make\nfire-worshippers of the Armenians. Eghishe (Elisaeus), an Armenian\nbishop and historian who wrote in the fifth century, relates that\neven the high priest of fire saw it to be impossible, and said to\nthe Persian monarch, \"These people have put on Christianity not\nlike a garment, but like their flesh and blood.\" To-day, after 1,400\nyears, the Armenian mountaineers, at their festivals, still drink the\nhealth of Vartan next after that of the Catholicos, or head of their\nChurch. From time immemorial it has been the custom in Armenian schools\nto celebrate the anniversary of the battle with songs and recitations,\nand to wreathe the picture of \"Vartan the Red\" with red flowers. Of\nlate years, this celebration has been forbidden by the government.\n\nIn the minds of the common people, all sorts of picturesque\nsuperstitions still cluster around that battle-field. A particular\nkind of red flowers grow there, which are found nowhere else; and they\nare believed to have sprung from the blood of the Christian army. A\nspecies of antelope, with a pouch on its breast secreting a fragrant\nmusk, is supposed to have acquired this peculiarity by browsing on\nherbage wet with the same blood. It is also believed that at Avarair\nthe nightingales all sing \"Vartan, Vartan!\"\n\nTo the Armenian peasant, all nature is full of stories. The forests,\nthe springs, the mountains, the lakes, the flowers,--all have\nspirits. An infinite number of strange superstitions prevail, some of\nwhich may cast a valuable light upon the early mythology of Asia. This,\nof course, refers only to the uneducated Armenians. The educated\nclasses are no more superstitious than those of other nationalities.\n\nAlmost all travelers have been struck by the ability of the Armenians,\nand by the marked difference between them and other Oriental\nraces. Lamartine calls them \"the Swiss of the East.\" Dulaurier\ncompares them to the Dutch. American missionaries speak of them as\n\"the Anglo-Saxons of Eastern Turkey.\" The Hon. James Bryce, author of\n\"The American Commonwealth,\" who has traveled in Armenia and studied\nthe people, says:\n\n\"Among all those who dwell in Western Asia, they stand first, with\na capacity for intellectual and moral progress, as well as with\na natural tenacity of will and purpose, beyond that of all their\nneighbors--not merely of Turks, Tartars, Kurds and Persians, but also\nof Russians. They are a strong race, not only with vigorous nerves\nand sinews, physically active and energetic, but also of conspicuous\nbrain power.\"\n\nMrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, the well-known English traveler, says:\n\"It is not possible to deny that they are the most capable, energetic,\nenterprising and pushing race in Western Asia, physically superior\nand intellectually acute; and above all they are a race which can\nbe raised in all respects to our own level, neither religion, color,\ncustoms, nor inferiority in intellect or force constituting any barrier\nbetween us. Their shrewdness and aptitude for business are remarkable,\nand whatever exists of commercial enterprise in Eastern Asia Minor\nis almost altogether in their hands.\"\n\nDr. Grace N. Kimball, after living for years in the heart of Armenia,\ndescribes the Armenians as \"a race full of enterprise and the spirit\nof advancement, much like ourselves in characteristics, and full of\npossibilities of every kind.\"\n\nLord Byron said: \"It would perhaps be difficult to find in the annals\nof a nation less crime than in those of this people, whose virtues\nare those of peace, and whose vices are the result of the oppression\nit has undergone.\"\n\nDr. Cyrus Hamlin, the founder of Robert College, who spent thirty-five\nyears in Turkey teaching among them, says: \"The Armenians are a\nnoble race.\"\n\nDr. James L. Barton, of the American Board of Foreign Missions,\nex-president of Euphrates College, writes: \"I know the Armenians to\nbe, by inheritance, religious, industrious and faithful. They are\nnot inferior in mental ability to any race on earth. I say this\nafter eight years' connection with Euphrates College, which has\ncontinually from 550 to 625 Armenians upon its list of students, and\nafter superintending schools which have four thousand more of them.\"\n\nWhile much criticism has been passed upon the Armenians by transient\ntourists, we may say truly of them, with the Rev. Edwin M. Bliss,\nlate of Constantinople, that \"those who know the race most widely\nand most intimately esteem it the most highly.\"\n\nArmenia has been described by a European traveler as the land of\nunsolved riddles. It is full of most interesting problems for the\nantiquarian, in its ruined cities, its rock grottoes, its unexplored\nmounds or tumuli, its half-effaced inscriptions, and the repositories\nof precious manuscripts in its ancient monasteries. But all these are\ndoomed to remain uninvestigated, as its fertile fields must remain\nuntilled, its rich mines unworked, and the fine natural abilities\nof its people unimproved by education, until the present disturbed\ncondition of the country becomes quiet. When Armenia is thus \"opened\nup\" to the peaceful investigator, the folk-lorists will profit by\nthe opportunity, as well as other classes of scholars. Meanwhile,\nrich gleanings may be obtained from the educated and English-speaking\nArmenians in this country; and by far the largest and most interesting\ncollection yet made of these is the present work. Both the author and\nthe publishers are to be congratulated on this valuable contribution\nto the world of folk-lore.\n\n\n    Alice Stone Blackwell.\n\n    Dorchester, Mass.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY-TELLER TO HIS AUDIENCE.\n\n\nIf I were telling my stories to an audience composed of Armenians, as\nI told them years ago, I would begin without any preliminary remarks\nor introduction. But since the audience is made up of people who are\ncomparatively unacquainted with my native land and its traditions,\nnaturally they will like to know who the story-teller is, where he\ngot his narratives, and by whom and how his tales were first told.\n\nAbout twenty years ago I was a boy living in a village on the heights\nof the Taurus Mountains in Cilicia, or Lesser Armenia, not far from\nthe Mediterranean Sea. Like boys and girls all over the world, I was\nvery fond of stories; but there were no story-books or other reading\nmatter with which I and other children of my age could gratify our\neager desire for stories. But better than these were the aged folks\nwho told us all the interesting stories which our inquisitive childhood\nrequired. I had two grandmothers and half a dozen aunts, all unlettered\ncountry people, who took great delight in a rich store of folk-lore\nand fairy tales, and who told me the most entertaining and delightful\nstories that I have ever heard. In every village home there were one\nor two such old people, who entertained the youth of their respective\nhomes. During the long winter evenings we boys and girls gathered\ntogether around the village hearth to listen to the old man or aged\nwoman rehearsing tales of fairies, giants, genii, dragons, knights,\nwinged beauties, captive maidens, and other thousand and one mysterious\nbeings. I need not say how, with utmost interest, our youthful minds\nused to follow the details of these vivid and picturesque stories,\ndrinking in every word with the greatest avidity. This was true not\nonly of children but of grown-up people also, whose principal pastime,\nduring the long and tedious winter nights, was the rehearsing of\nfolk-tales and fairy stories, or listening to others as they told them.\n\nThese circumstances gave me opportunity and power to commit to memory a\ngreat number of tales and rehearse them whenever there was a favorable\noccasion. By this means I improved and increased my store of tales\nso much that I became quite a noted story-teller in our village,\nat a time when I was but a mere lad. Subsequently, both during my\ncollege course in Aintab, Cilicia, and during the period when I was a\nteacher in Erzroom, of Armenia proper, I had the opportunity to travel\na great deal and to study the life and manners of the Armenians in\ntheir primitive homes. I found the same fairy stories and folk-tales\ncurrent everywhere, with such slight differences only as the people\nmade when appropriating the tales to their own surroundings and to\ntheir fund of knowledge. At that time it occurred to my mind that it\nwould be a good plan to make a collection of these tales in order to\nmake use of them some day, and so I kept notes of the tales just as\nthey were told by the common, unlettered country people.\n\nBishop Sirwantzdiants, an Armenian clergyman, also made a collection\nof Armenian folk-tales, taking them from the mouth of the people\njust as they were told. He published his collection in two separate\nbooks. The first, \"Manana\" (Manna), was printed in Constantinople in\n1876 by the Dindessian Printing-press (since closed), and the second,\n\"Hamov-Hodov\" (Delicious and Fragrant), was printed in Constantinople\nin 1884 by the Bagdadlian Printing-press.\n\nMy personal notes of Armenian tales and these two books of Bishop\nSirwantzdiants have furnished the material of the present volume. As\nthe Bishop and myself made our collections independently in different\ndistricts of Armenia, our texts naturally differed from each other in\nsome points. But the two being substantially the same, in putting the\nstories into English I have followed the one which I thought to be the\nmost original, taking all the circumstances into consideration. Let\nme here emphasize the point again that all the stories that appear\nin the present volume were taken down directly from the lips of the\nignorant, unlettered peasantry of Armenia, literally without any\nembellishment or addition whatever, except in the case of rude and\nunbecoming expressions which had to undergo some slight change.\n\nHow those unlettered, ignorant people came into possession of these\nstories, and what the value of such tales is to the student of\nantiquity and ethnology, are questions which I will not venture to\nanswer. I wish, however, to make a few statements which have been\nsuggested to me by the study of the Armenian folk-tales and fairy\nstories.\n\nThe history of the Armenians is greatly mixed up with mythology\nand tradition, as is the case with the history of all ancient\nnations. Many of the legends given in the written history of Armenia\nbear a marked similarity to the folk-tales of the present day. The\npeculiar geography of Armenia must have had a great deal to do with\nthe formation of these tales. High, inaccessible mountain ranges have\ndivided the country into such distinct divisions that the inhabitants\nof one section have, even in the present time, very strange ideas with\nregard to the people of the other section, attributing to one another\nmagic, witchcraft and other superhuman powers and practices. This,\nof course, was still more so in olden times, when the population of\nthe country had not yet been fused together into one nation. That\nwas probably the time when most of these tales were formed.\n\nS. Baring-Gould supposes that many of the fairy tales current\namong all nations took their beginning at a time when a conquering\npeople of one race lived among the conquered people of an entirely\ndifferent race. Thus \"two distinct races dwelt in close proximity, not\ncomprehending each other, each suspicious of and dreading the other,\nand each investing the other with superhuman powers or knowledge.\" [See\n\"Fairy Tales from Grimm\" Preface, pp. xvi. and xxi.] There are many\ninstances in Armenian history which confirm this supposition, so that\nin the case of such tales or portion of tales as are purely Armenian,\nwe may suppose that the process of fusion of two ancient races,\none the conquering and the other the conquered, has given birth\nto them. Although all the tales contained in this volume are taken\ndirectly from the lips of the Armenians, it will be noticed that some\nof them bear traces of Persian, Arabic and Turkish influence. This,\nof course, was naturally to be expected, as the Armenians have been\nruled successively by these nations.\n\nBut one of the greatest factors in the formation of the distinctively\nArmenian tales was, no doubt, Mount Ararat. That majestic mountain,\nsituated in the middle of an extensive plateau in the heart of Armenia,\nand seen from points distant a three or four days' journey, would\nnaturally draw the attention of the people. The many mythological and\nhistorical facts attached to it; its hoary, inaccessible peak covered\nwith everlasting snow; its towering heights piercing the sky; its high,\nsteep precipices; its deep ca\u251c\u2592ons; its underground caverns; its fierce\nstorms, and the wild beasts and large birds living on its slopes--would\nnaturally give birth to half-true and half-imaginary stories which\ngradually and by lapse of time would grow into legendary tales.\n\nThese are not the only folk-tales current among the Armenians; there\nare a great many more. We may be tempted to make another collection\nif this one proves acceptable.\n\nBefore closing these notes, I have to confess that my use of\nEnglish is defective, owing to the fact that it is not my mother\ntongue. Consequently I owe a great deal to generous friends who have\nbeen so kind as to take up my manuscript and pass upon it before it\nwas given to the press, smoothing the narrative without destroying\nthe personality of the story-teller. Among these generous friends I\ntake pleasure in mentioning the names of Mr. W. H. Brett, Librarian\nof the Cleveland Public Library; Mr. Wallace W. Newell, Secretary\nof the American Folk-Lore Society; Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, the\nnoted poetess and editor of the Woman's Journal, and my publishers.\n\nNow, I do not see how to remunerate these friends for their valuable\nassistance to me unless I share with them the \"three apples\" which fall\nfrom Heaven at the end of each tale, and which I had to appropriate\nto myself as a genuine story-teller. This I gladly do. May they\nprove as pleasant to them, and the stories be as interesting to you,\nas has been the re-telling of them to me.\n\n\n    A. G. Seklemian.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTALES.\n\n\n                                                         Page.\n\n     1. The Golden Maiden,                                  1\n     2. The Betrothed of Destiny,                           9\n     3. The Youngest of the Three,                         15\n     4. The Fairy Nightingale,                             33\n     5. The Dreamer,                                       41\n     6. The Bride of the Fountain,                         49\n     7. Dyjhicon: the Coward-Hero,                         53\n     8. Zoolvisia,                                         59\n     9. Dragon-Child and Sun-Child,                        73\n    10. Mirza,                                             85\n    11. The Magic Ring,                                   103\n    12. The Twins,                                        111\n    13. The Idiot,                                        123\n    14. Bedik and The Invulnerable Giant,                 127\n    15. Simon, the Friend of Snakes,                      137\n    16. The Poor Widow's Son,                             141\n    17. A Niggardly Companion,                            149\n    18. The Maiden of the Sea,                            155\n    19. The Golden-Headed Fish,                           159\n    20. Husband or Wife--Which?                           165\n    21. The Wicked Stepmother,                            169\n    22. The Tricks of a Woman,                            185\n    23. A Wise Weaver,                                    189\n    24. Mind or Luck--Which?                              193\n    25. The World's Beauty,                               197\n    26. Salman and Rostom,                                205\n    27. The Sparrow and the Two Children,                 209\n    28. The Old Woman and the Cat,                        213\n    29. Sia-Manto and Guje-Zare,                          217\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN MAIDEN.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a wicked widow who had an ugly daughter. She\nmarried a second husband who had a beautiful daughter and a son by\nhis first wife. The step-mother hated the two motherless children,\nand used every means to persuade her husband to take them away to\nthe mountains and abandon them as a prey to wild beasts. The poor man\nloved his children, but being frail was unable to resist the frequent\nimportunities and threats of his wife. Therefore one day he put bread\nin a bag, and taking the two children went to the mountains. After\na long journey they came to a lonely wilderness. The man said to\nthe children:\n\n\"Sit here and take a little rest,\" and then, turning his face away,\nhe began to sob bitterly.\n\n\"Father! father, why are you weeping?\" exclaimed the children, and\nthey also began to weep.\n\nThe man opened the bag and gave them bread, which they soon ate.\n\n\"Father,\" said the boy, \"I am thirsty.\"\n\nThe man drove his stick into the ground, and placing his cloak over\nthe stick, said:\n\n\"Come, children, sit here under the shadow of this cloak; I will go\nand see if there is a fountain near by.\"\n\nThe children seated themselves under the cloak, while their father\ndisappeared behind the trees and rocks.\n\nAfter waiting a long time, the two innocent children grew tired and\nbegan to ramble about in search of their father, but in vain.\n\n\"Father! father!\" they exclaimed, but only the echo of the mountains\nreturned them answer--\"Father! father!\"\n\nThe children came back, crying: \"Alas! alas! the stick is here,\nthe cloak is here, but father is not here!\"\n\nThus they cried for a long time, but seeing that nobody appeared,\nthey rose up, and one of them took the stick and the other the cloak\nand they began to wander about in the wilderness, not knowing where\nto go. After a long ramble, they came to a place where some rain-water\nhad gathered on the ground in a print made by the hoof of a horse.\n\n\"Sister,\" said the little boy, \"I am thirsty; I want to drink of\nthis water.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the maiden, \"do not drank of this water; as soon as you\ndrink of it you will become a colt.\"\n\nSoon they came to another print made by the hoof of an ox, and the\nboy said:\n\n\"Sister, I am thirsty; I want to drink.\"\n\nBut she would not let him drink, saying: \"As soon as you drink of\nthis water you will become a calf.\"\n\nThen they came to another print made by the paw of a bear, and the boy\nwanted to drink; but his sister prevented him lest he should become a\ncub of a bear. Then they came to a track made by the foot of a pig,\nand the boy again wanted to drink, but the maiden prevented him,\nlest he should turn into a young pig. Soon they came to a print made\nby the foot of a wolf; but the boy did not yield till they came to\none made by the hoof of a lamb.\n\n\"Sister,\" exclaimed the boy, \"I am thirsty; I cannot wait any longer;\nI will drink from this at any risk.\"\n\n\"Alas!\" said the maiden, \"what can I do? I am ready to give my life to\nsave you, but it is impossible. You will turn into a lamb the moment\nyou drink of this water.\"\n\nThe boy drank, and was at once changed into a lamb, and began to\nfollow his sister bleating. After a long and dangerous journey they\nfound the way to the town, and came to their house. The step-mother\nwas angry to see them come back, though one of them was now but a\nlamb. As she had great influence over her husband, he used every\nmeans to please her. One day she said to him:\n\n\"I want to eat meat; you must kill your lamb that I may eat it.\"\n\nThe sister, hearing this, at once took her lamb-brother and fled\nsecretly to the mountains, where, sitting on a high rock, she spun\nwool while the lamb grazed safely near her. As she was thus spinning,\nher spindle fell suddenly from her hand, and was precipitated into\na deep cave. The maiden, leaving the lamb grazing, went down to find\nher spindle. Entering the cave, she was surprised to see an old fairy\nwoman, a dame a thousand years of age, who perceiving the maiden,\nexclaimed: \"Maiden, neither the bird with its wing, nor the snake on\nits belly can enter here; how could you venture to come hither?\"\n\nThe terrified maiden was at a loss for an answer, but she replied\nwith a gentle voice: \"Your love brought me here, grandmother.\"\n\nThe old fairy was pleased with this kind answer, and calling the\nmaiden, gave her a seat beside herself and inquired of her many things\nconcerning the upper world. The more she talked with the maiden the\nbetter she liked her and she said:\n\n\"Now you are hungry; let me bring you some fishes to eat.\"\n\nShe went into the cave, and returned with a plateful of cooked snakes,\nat the sight of which the maiden shuddered with horror and began\nto weep.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" inquired the old dame; \"why are you weeping?\"\n\n\"Nothing at all,\" answered the maiden, shyly; \"I remembered my dead\nmother who was so fond of fish, and therefore I wept.\"\n\nThen she told the old dame her sad story, and the ill treatment of\nthe wicked step-mother. The fairy woman was very much interested in\nwhat the maiden told her, and said to her:\n\n\"Be seated, and let me sleep in your lap. In yonder fire-place there\nis a ploughshare heated in the fire. When the Black Fairy passes do\nnot waken me; but when the Red-and-Green Fairy passes, at once press\nthe red-hot ploughshare on my feet, that I may awake.\"\n\nThe poor maiden shuddered with fear, but she could do nothing but\nconsent. Accordingly the old fairy woman lay down in the maiden's\nlap and slept. Soon a fairy as black as night passed through the\ncave; but the maiden did not stir. After him the Red-and-Green Fairy\nappeared and the whole cave was gilded with his radiant beams. The\nmaiden at once pressed the red-hot ploughshare on the feet of the\nsleeping fairy woman, who immediately started up exclaiming:\n\n\"Oh! what is biting my feet?\"\n\nThe maiden told her that nothing had bitten her, but it was the red-hot\nploughshare she felt, and that it was time to get up. The old dame\narose and at once caused the maiden to stand up as the Red-and-Green\nFairy proceeded, whose gleaming rays had such an effect upon her that\nher hair and garments were all turned to gold and she herself was\nturned into a fairy maiden. After the Red-and-Green Fairy disappeared,\nthe maiden, kissing the fairy woman's hand, took leave of her, and\ntaking her lamb-brother, went home. Seeing that the step-mother was\nnot at home, she at once took off her golden garments and hiding them\nin a secret comer, put on her old rags. Soon the step-mother entered,\nand seeing the golden hair of the maiden, exclaimed:\n\n\"How now, little elf! what did you do to your hair to turn it into\ngold?\"\n\nThe maiden told her what had taken place. On the following day\nthe step-mother sent her own daughter to the same spot. There, on\npurpose, she let her spindle fall, and entered the cave as if to\npick it up. The fairy woman saw her, and taking a dislike to her,\nchanged her into an ugly thing, so ugly that it is impossible to\ndescribe her appearance. She came home, and the step-mother seeing\nher own daughter changed into a form of so great ugliness, was the\nmore enraged against the two step-children.\n\nOne day the Prince of that country sent out heralds to proclaim all\nover his realm that his son was to be married, and that the most\nbeautiful maiden in all the land should be his bride. He commanded\nall the marriageable maidens to assemble in the palace courtyard\nwhere the young Prince would make his selection. At the appointed\ntime all the maidens of the land had crowded into the courtyard. The\nstep-mother dressed her own daughter in the best garments and\nornaments she could procure, veiling her ugly face very carefully,\nhowever, and took her to the courtyard, hoping that the Prince would\nselect her for his bride. In order to prevent the orphan maiden from\nappearing before the Prince, the step-mother scattered a measure of\nwheat in the yard, and bade the maiden to pick up the wheat before\nshe returned, threatening to beat her to death in case she failed to\nfinish the task. Soon after the step-mother went away, however, the\nmaiden let loose the chickens, which in a moment picked the wheat up\nto the very last grain; and she, putting on her golden garments, was\nchanged to a fairy maiden so beautiful that she might say to the sun:\n\"Sun, you need not shine, for I am shining.\"\n\nThen she went to the Prince's courtyard, where she was the object\nof the admiration of all the crowd. But she could not stay very\nlong lest her step-mother should return first, and not finding her\nat home should beat her upon her return, so she ran hastily back,\nand hiding her golden garments put on her old rags. But in her haste\nshe had dropped one of her golden slippers in the Prince's fountain.\n\nSoon the young Prince, who had looked at the maidens without making\na selection, came on horseback leading his animal to the fountain to\nwater him; but the horse was frightened by the radiant beams from the\nslipper. The servants immediately entered the fountain, and taking out\nthe slipper gave it to the Prince, who seeing it at once declared that\nthe maiden who wore that slipper should be his bride. He and his peers\nbegan to search every house and to try the feet of the maidens to find\nthe true owner of the slipper. They had just approached the house of\nthe Golden Maiden, when the step-mother took her and hid her in the\ngreat kitchen pit which is used as a furnace, presenting her own ugly\ndaughter as the owner of the golden slipper. Of course, the slipper\ndid not fit. As the Prince and his peers were leaving the house, the\ncock flying from his roost perched on the top of the door, and cried:\n\n\"Goo-goo-lig-goo-goo! the Golden Maiden is in the pit!\"\n\nThe pit was immediately opened, and lo! the maiden jumped out. The\nslipper fitted, and the maiden, taking out her golden garments and\nthe mate of the slipper from the corner where she had hid them, put\nthem on, and was changed to a fairy maiden. The Prince seeing this\nembraced her as his bride. Taking the lamb-brother with them, they\nwent to the Prince's palace, where their nuptials were celebrated\nfor seven days and seven nights.\n\nOne day the step-mother took her own daughter and went to the Prince's\npalace to pay a visit to her step-daughter, who conducted them to\nthe Prince's orchard for a walk. As they came to the seashore the\nstep-mother said:\n\n\"Come, daughters, let us take a bath in the sea.\"\n\nNo sooner had they entered the sea, than the step-mother, intending to\ndrown the golden bride, pushed her into the deep water. A great fish,\nhowever, chanced to be there and swallowed her. The step-mother at\nonce gathered up the golden dresses of the bride, and putting them\non her own ugly daughter, brought her to the palace. There she left\nher in the place of the golden bride, veiling carefully her ugly face.\n\nThe true bride remained in the belly of the fish for several days. One\nday, very early in the morning, she heard the sexton ringing the bell\nand inviting the people to church. She cried to him from the belly\nof the fish:\n\n\n   \"Sexton! sexton! who ring your morning bell,\n    Crossing your face, send the devils to hell,\n    For God's sake, go to the young Prince and tell,\n    Let him not kill my lamb-brother, or sell.\"\n\n\nThe sexton, hearing this call repeated several times, went and\ninformed the young Prince, who had by that time discovered the loss\nof his fairy bride. He immediately came to the seashore, where the\nsexton had heard the voice. Once more it was repeated, and the Prince\nrecognized it as the voice of his bride. He drew his sword and leaped\ninto the sea. Splitting the fish's belly, he drew out his bride,\nand taking her in his arms brought her to the palace. Soon he called\nthe step-mother before him, saying:\n\n\"Now, kind mother, which gift do you prefer, a nimble-footed horse\nor a keen sword?\"\n\n\"Let your keen sword stab your enemies,\" answered the step-mother,\noverjoyed with the expectation of a valuable present; \"I will have\nthe nimble-footed horse.\"\n\n\"I take you at your word,\" said the Prince; \"you shall have the horse.\"\n\nHe ordered his men to bind the step-mother and her ugly daughter to\nthe tail of a wild horse. It was done, and the horse being whipped,\ncarried the two wicked women away to the mountains. They were thrown\nfrom stone to stone, and from tree to tree, until they were dashed\ninto pieces.\n\nThe wicked persons being punished, the Prince celebrated a new\nnuptial for forty days and forty nights, because he had found his\nlost golden bride. She, being released from her rival, thenceforth\nenjoyed a happy life with her lamb-brother.\n\nThree apples fell from Heaven;--one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BETROTHED OF DESTINY.\n\n\nOnce upon a time the King of the West had a son who, one night, dreamed\na dream in which destiny betrothed him to the daughter of the King\nof the East. In the morning he awoke, and lo! the betrothal ring of\nthe maiden was on his finger. On the very same night the same dream\nhad come to the sleeping maiden, who on the morrow found on her finger\nthe betrothal ring of the son of the King of the West. The lad at once\nstarted to find his betrothed, and after a long journey came to the\ncity of the King of the East. He entered into the service of the King\nas a stranger, because he could not make himself known on account of\nthe continuous strife existing between his father and the King of the\nEast. He served the King seven years, during which he spent many happy\nhours with the young princess, his betrothed. At the expiration of the\nseven years he asked the hand of the princess as a remuneration for\nhis services. The King, who was pleased with the lad, consented to give\nhim his daughter in marriage. But the lad said he must take her to his\ncountry, where the wedding should take place. The King consented to\nthat also, and let his daughter go, giving her a precious dower. On\ntheir way to the country of the King of the West they had to cross\nthe sea, and so went on board a ship. The captain, being a wicked man,\nwas charmed by the beauty of the maiden, and before the ship sailed he\nsent the lad ashore, bidding him to make further preparation, as the\nvoyage would probably be long on account of contrary winds. As soon as\nthe lad disappeared the captain weighed anchor and set sail. The lad\ncame back only to find that the ship had sailed away with his love on\nboard. There remained nothing for him to do but to lament and bewail\nhis ill-luck. The maiden, who was in the cabin, did not discover the\ntruth until it was too late. To her censure and upbraiding the vile\ncaptain answered with the proposal that she should become his wife.\n\n\"I marry you! such an ungracious beast as you!\" she exclaimed. \"I\nwould rather make my grave in the unfathomable sea.\"\n\nBut the captain was strong, and they were on the open sea where no\nhelp could be expected. Seeing that she could not resist force if\nthe captain resorted to it, she resolved to use craft.\n\n\"Well, then,\" she answered finally, \"I will be your wife, but not upon\nthe sea. We will go home to your city and there be married lawfully.\"\n\nThe captain consented, and they soon reached the city.\n\n\"Now, do you go first,\" said the maiden, \"and make preparation. I\nwill wait here until you return.\"\n\nWithout suspicion the captain went ashore. As soon as he had\ndisappeared the maiden bade the sailors weigh anchor, and she set sail\nwithout knowing where to go. At last she reached a certain city and\ncast anchor. The King of that city was a young lad of marriageable\nage, who was celebrating his wedding festival. Thirty-nine beautiful\nmaidens were already elected; only one maiden was missing to complete\nthe number forty from among whom he would choose his queen, while\nthe others were to become hand-maids to the queen-elect. The King,\nhearing that a beautiful maiden had come to the haven, hastened\nthither, and seeing the princess, said to her:\n\n\"Fair maiden, come and by your presence complete the number forty. You\nare the jewel of all the maidens, and will surely be my dear queen,\nwhile the rest shall become your handmaids.\"\n\n\"Very well, I will come,\" answered the princess; \"only send hither your\nthirty-nine maidens, that I may come to your palace with great pomp.\"\n\nThe youthful King consented and sent his maidens on board the ship. As\nsoon as they came, the princess weighed anchor and set sail. She told\nthe thirty-nine maidens who she was, and asked them to accompany her\nuntil destiny showed them what to do. The maidens were fascinated\nby her beauty and commanding appearance, and promised to follow her\nwherever she went, even to the end of the earth. After sailing for a\nlong time, they came to an unknown shore where there was a castle. They\ncast anchor and all the party landed. Entering the castle, they found\nin it forty rooms with a bed in each, all richly decorated. The castle\ncontained great wealth and abundant food. Satisfying their hunger,\nthey went to bed, each maiden occupying a chamber. In the middle of\nthe night the door of the castle suddenly opened, and there entered\nforty brigands, who were the owners of the stronghold, and who were\njust returning from a nightly foray, bringing with them great booty.\n\n\"Aha!\" exclaimed the brigands, seeing the maidens, \"we hunted\nelsewhere, and lo! the antelopes have come to our own home.\"\n\n\"Enter, you brave heroes,\" said the maidens; \"we were waiting for you.\"\n\nAnd they pretended to be very much pleased to see the brigands, who\nentered the rooms occupied by the maidens without suspicion. When they\nhad laid down their arms and retired to rest, each maiden took the\nsword of the brigand who lay in her room and cut off his head. Thus the\nmaidens were the owners of their wealth and property. In the morning\nthe maidens rose, and putting on the clothes and arms of the robbers,\nappeared as youthful knights. They mounted the brigands' horses,\ntaking in their saddlebags gold, silver, jewels and other portable\nwealth. After a long journey they came to the city of the King of\nthe West, and encamped in a meadow on the outskirts of the city. Soon\nthey heard a herald crying that on the following day there should be\nelected a King of the realm, for inasmuch as the late sovereign had\ndied and the heir-apparent was lost, it was necessary to choose a new\nruler. On the following day all the people of the realm were gathered\nin the park adjoining the palace; the forty strangers also went to\ngratify their curiosity. Soon the nobles let loose the royal eagle,\nwhich flapped its wings and soared over the immense crowd, as though\nsearching with its keen eyes for the true candidate for the throne. The\nmultitude held their breath and stood stone-still. The royal bird\nonce more flapped its wings, and descending from its towering flight,\nperched upon the head of the princess, who was disguised as a knight.\n\n\"That is a mistake,\" exclaimed the noblemen; \"we must try it again.\"\n\nOnce more they let loose the royal eagle, but again it alighted\nupon the head of the same stranger. A third trial gave the same\nresult. Thereupon all the multitude saluted the disguised princess, the\nelect of destiny, exclaiming with one voice: \"Long live the King!\" And\nwith great pomp they took her and her companions to the royal palace,\nwhere the princess was anointed with holy oil, and crowned King over\nthe realm, and her companions were made ministers.\n\nThis new King proved to be the wisest and most just ruler that that\ncountry had ever enjoyed, and all the people of the realm loved and\nhonored their sovereign with all their hearts. She built a splendid\nfountain in the midst of the city, on which she caused her image to\nbe carved, so that every one who came to drink might see it. She put\nguards to watch the fountain day and night, and said to them:\n\n\"Watch carefully, and when you perceive a stranger who, on seeing my\nimage, shows signs of knowing me, bring him hither.\"\n\nOne day there came a stranger who, after drinking, raised his eyes and\nsaw the image. He gazed for a long time, and sighed deeply. Immediately\nhe was arrested and taken to the King, who, looking at him from\nbehind a curtain, ordered him to be imprisoned. This was the captain\nof the ship. On another day there came another stranger, and he also\nsighed. It was the King, the owner of the thirty-nine maidens. He\nwas kept in an apartment of the palace. And at last, disguised as\na stranger, came the Prince, the betrothed of the ruling sovereign,\nand the heir-apparent to the crown. He also looked at the image and\nsighed, and was taken to the palace. Thereupon the princess summoned\na parliament of all the nobility and the learned and wise men of\nthe realm. She caused the three strangers to be brought before the\nassembly, and told her story from beginning to end.\n\nThe captain was condemned to be hanged, and was executed forthwith. The\nlord of the thirty-nine maidens received them all, to whose number\nthe princess added one of her most beautiful handmaids, thus making\nup the forty. The prince and the princess, the betrothed of destiny,\ncelebrated their wedding with great joy and pomp for forty days\nand forty nights. The prince, as the true heir, was crowned King,\nhis consort became Queen, and they reigned together.\n\nThus they reached their desire. May all of us attain our desires and\nthe happiness ordained to us by an all-wise Providence.\n\nThree apples fell from Heaven;--one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE YOUNGEST OF THE THREE.\n\n\nMy grandmother once told me a story of a King who fell sick in his\nroyal palace. All the doctors and magicians of the country gathered\nto consult, but they found no remedy. An old doctor, however, who\nwas well versed in magic, said:\n\n\"There is only one remedy for our King. There is a certain garden in\nIndia and in it a tree upon which grows the Apple of Life. As soon\nas the King eats an apple of that tree he will be healed and become\nas sound as a new-born babe.\"\n\n\"But I have heard,\" answered the King, \"that certain giants guard\nthat tree, and pick off the fruit as soon as it is ripe, no mortal\ncan get at it.\"\n\nNow the King had three sons standing near by. The eldest said:\n\n\"Long live the King! I will go and bring the Apple of Life for you;\"\nand he took leave of his father.\n\nAfter a long and perilous journey he came to the tree which bore the\nApple of Life. But the night on which the fruit ripened a sound sleep\noverpowered his senses, and the giant came, and picking off the fruit\nwent away. In the morning, the lad seeing the Apple had been picked\noff, returned home to tell of his ill-luck.\n\nThe following year the second brother undertook the expedition,\nbut had the same unfortunate sleep during the critical night.\n\nThe third year the youngest of the three brothers said to his father:\n\n\"Long live the King! I will go and bring the fruit.\"\n\n\"Why,\" said the King, \"your older brothers failed, and do you think\nyou will succeed?\"\n\nBut the lad importuned the King again and again until he gave him\npermission to go. The lad, taking his bow and arrow, came to the\ntree. During the critical night when the Apple would ripen he felt\nthat a heavy sleep was taking possession of his senses. To prevent it,\nhowever, he wounded one of his little fingers and put salt on the\nwound, and the sharp pain did not let him sleep. In the middle of\nthe night, as it was lightning and thundering, lo! a terrible giant\nappeared and began to climb the tree. The lad took aim with his bow\nand arrow and shot the giant in the leg. The giant roared and ran\naway. The lad climbed the tree, and picking off the Apple of Life\nbrought it to his father, who ate it and was soon after healed.\n\nThen the youngest of the three brothers said to the King:\n\n\"Please give me permission to go and avenge myself upon my enemy.\"\n\nThe King consented, and his two older brothers also went with\nhim. They found that the giant had fled from the tree of the Apple\nof Life, leaving a track of blood that came from his wound. The three\nbrothers followed the bloody track till they came to the mouth of an\nimmeasurably deep abyss, into which the giant had entered. The oldest\nbrother said:\n\n\"Bind me by the waist and let me down; I want to fight him.\"\n\nThe other two did as he said, but before he was half-way down he\nbegan to cry out:\n\n\"I am burning! I am roasting! Draw me up!\" And they drew him up.\n\nThen the second was lowered in his turn; but he also begin to cry as\nhad the former, and was drawn out.\n\nNow it was the turn of the youngest brother, who said: \"Let me down,\nand the more I cry, 'I am burning! I am roasting!' the further let\nme descend.\"\n\nSo they did, and the more he cried, the more they let him descend. At\nlast he reached the bottom, and began to ramble about. Soon he saw a\nterrible giant lying down, with his head in the lap of a beautiful\nmaiden; so beautiful that she seemed to say to the moon, \"Moon,\nyou need not shine, since I am shining.\"\n\nShe was working with her needle, and before her a golden rat and a\ngolden cat were playing in a golden basin. The maiden, seeing the\nlad, said:\n\n\"Human being! neither the snake on its belly, nor the bird with its\nwing would dare to come here. How could you venture to come?\"\n\n\"Your love brought me hither,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"Young man!\" said the maiden, \"if you love your life, go away; because\nif this giant, who is sleeping now, wakes he will cut you into pieces\nno larger than your ear.\"\n\n\"Wake him up,\" answered the lad; \"I have come on purpose to fight him.\"\n\n\"He sleeps forty days,\" said the maiden, \"and it is only eight\ndays since he began to sleep; you have thirty-two days more to wait\nbefore he will awake. But if you will not wait so long, put yonder\nploughshare into the fire, and heating it red-hot, press it on his\nlegs and he will awake.\"\n\nThe lad, heating the ploughshare, pressed it on the legs of the giant,\nwho began to awake, saying, \"Oh! what insects are biting my legs?\"\n\n\"Aha! insects!\" said the maiden. \"Get up! a human being has come to\nfight you.\"\n\nThe giant opened his eyes, and seeing the lad, exclaimed:\n\n\"What a delicious breakfast this morning!\"\n\n\"Get up, monster!\" said the lad. \"Let us see whom fortune will\nfavor--you or me.\"\n\nThey prepared their bows and arrows.\n\n\"You shoot first,\" said the giant to the lad.\n\n\"Not I,\" said the lad; \"you shoot first.\"\n\nThe giant shot, but the lad avoided the arrow very cleverly, and it\npassed by without hurting him. It was now his turn. He took aim and\nshot the giant through the heart, nailing him to the ground; and then\nhe cut off his head.\n\nLeaving the body of the giant there, the lad went a little farther,\nand to his great surprise saw another giant asleep with his head in\nthe lap of another beautiful maiden, whose beauty surpassed even that\nof the moon. She was working with her needle, and before her a golden\nhen and a golden weasel were playing in a golden basin. The maiden,\nseeing the lad, said to him:\n\n\"Human being! the snake on its belly, and the bird with its wing\ncould not come here. How could you venture to come?\"\n\n\"Your love brought me hither,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"If you love your life,\" said the maiden, \"avoid this giant while he\nis asleep. If he wakes he will tear you into pieces.\"\n\n\"Wake him up!\" said the lad; \"I have come to fight him.\"\n\n\"Do you see that iron?\" said the maiden; \"heat it red-hot and press\nit on his feet; he will then awake.\"\n\nThe hot iron being applied on the feet of the giant, he awoke, saying:\n\n\"Oh! what gnats are biting me?\"\n\n\"Gnats!\" exclaimed the maiden. \"Get up! a human being has come to\nfight you.\"\n\nThe giant, seeing the lad, exclaimed:\n\n\"Oh! what a good morsel has come for me on his own legs.\"\n\n\"Come!\" said the lad; \"let us see whether fortune will favor you\nor me.\"\n\nThey fought, and this giant also was killed as the former had been. The\nlad cut off his head, and leaving the dead body, went away.\n\nSoon he saw a third giant asleep with his head in the lap of another\nbeautiful maiden. So beautiful was she that she could say to the sun,\n\"Sun, you need not shine, since I am shining.\" She was working with\nher needle, and before her a golden greyhound and a golden fox were\nrunning a race in a golden basin. As soon as the lad saw this maiden\nhe fell in love with her. The maiden also fell in love with the lad,\nand said:\n\n\"Oh, you noble human being! the snake upon its belly, and the bird\nwith its wing cannot enter here. How could you come hither?\"\n\n\"Your love brought me hither, fair creature,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"Be on your guard, precious youth!\" said the maiden. \"If this giant\nawakes he will tear you into pieces.\"\n\n\"Wake him!\" said the lad; \"I have come to fight him.\"\n\nA hot iron was applied to the feet of the giant, who awoke, saying:\n\"Oh! what is biting me?\"\n\n\"What!\" said the maiden. \"Get up! this human being has come to\nfight you.\"\n\nThe giant, seeing the lad, said: \"Oh! what a good featherless partridge\nfor a breakfast.\" The lad noticed that the giant was wounded in his\nleg, and at once recognized him as the one who had tried to steal\nthe Apple of Life.\n\n\"Come!\" said the lad, \"let us see whom fortune will favor.\"\n\nAnd they begin to fight. After a long combat, this giant also shared\nthe fate of the former two, and the lad cut his throat.\n\nThen he brought together the three maidens, who told him that they\nwere daughters of three Princes and had been stolen by these giants,\nwho nourished them with the Apples of Life. Then they showed him their\nhouses, their treasure, and everything belonging to the giants. The\nlad took what he chose from the treasures and prepared three chests\nfor the maidens. He kept only a sword of lightning for himself. Then\nentering the stable, he found three horses of lightning, one black,\na second one red, and the third white. The youngest maiden advised\nthe lad to pick three hairs from the tails of the horses and keep\nthem. The lad did so. Then they came to the bottom of the abyss where\nthe lad had descended, and found the rope still hanging. He, binding\nthe oldest maiden and her chest to the rope, called to his brothers\nto draw her up.\n\n\"This is,\" he said, \"the betrothed of my oldest brother, and the\nchest is her dowry.\"\n\nThen he bound the second maiden and her chest, saying: \"This is the\nbetrothed of my second brother, and the chest is her dowry.\"\n\nNow it was the turn of the youngest maiden.\n\n\"You go up first,\" she said to the lad.\n\n\"Not I,\" said the lad; \"you must go up first.\"\n\n\"But when your brothers see me,\" said the maiden, \"they will not draw\nyou up, and you will remain here. I love you! I pity you!\"\n\n\"Why,\" said the lad, \"are they not my brothers? Do you believe my\nbrothers will do me evil? Go up, I say!\"\n\n\"Alas!\" said the maiden; \"I will obey. But if you do remain here below,\nas I am afraid you will, do as I tell you. Next Friday evening three\nrams will come here, one of them black, the second red, and the third\nwhite. As soon as you see them, throw yourself upon the black ram. He\nwill throw you upon the red, the red will throw you upon the white,\nand the white will throw you to the surface of the upper world. But\nif you make a mistake you are lost, or there is little hope for your\nrelease. Take this magic ring as a token of my love for you. Whatever\nyou desire, kiss this ring and you will certainly have it. And when\nyou are in need, cast the three hairs which you picked from the tails\nof the three horses in the fire, and they will immediately come to\nyou. So farewell, my love!\"\n\n\"Farewell!\" said the lad; and the maiden was drawn up.\n\nThe two brothers were amazed at the beauty of the youngest maiden.\n\n\"Lo! lo! lo!\" they exclaimed, \"he has preserved the most beautiful\none for himself, and has given us the uglier ones.\"\n\nThus envying their youngest brother, they took the three maidens and\nwent away, leaving the poor lad at the bottom of the abyss.\n\nOn Friday evening the three rams came, as foretold by the fair\nmaiden. The lad was so afflicted that he had forgotten the directions\nof the maiden, and his desire to go up to the surface of the world\nbeing very great, he threw himself upon the back of the white ram. It,\nin turn, threw him upon the back of the red; the red one threw him\nupon the back of the black; and it, in turn, threw him into the world\nof Darkness. Oh! it was awfully dark. The lad began to grope his way\nuntil he found a door, at which he knocked.\n\n\"Who is there?\" asked an old woman from behind the door.\n\n\"I am a poor orphan without father, without mother,\" answered the\nlad in a pitiful voice.\n\n\"Come in, then,\" said the old dame, opening the door. \"I have no\nchildren; you take me as a mother, and I will take you as a son;\nso let us live together. God will give us our bread.\"\n\nThey accepted one another as mother and son.\n\n\"Mother, please give me some water, I am thirsty,\" said the lad.\n\n\"Oh!\" sighed the old dame, \"you are asking the hardest thing in the\nworld. We have no water, son; be patient till we get some.\"\n\n\"Why, have you no water now?\" asked the lad, surprised.\n\n\"Alas!\" said the woman, \"there is only one fountain in our country,\nand it is guarded by a terrible dragon. Every day a virgin is cast\nto him to be devoured; else, he will not let the people take a drop\nof water. And soon after he finishes his repast upon the virgin,\nhe again stops the fountain from flowing. To-day the last virgin of\nthe country, the only daughter of the Prince, is to be given to the\ndragon. Hark! I hear an uproar in the streets; I suppose they are\ntaking the maiden to the dragon.\"\n\nThe lad looked out, and saw that indeed a great crowd of people were\nleading along a maiden as beautiful as the moon. He followed the crowd,\nwhich coming to the fountain, left the maiden there alone and went\naway. The lad approached the maiden, saying:\n\n\"Fair virgin, be not afraid. Let me sleep in your lap, and when the\ndragon comes, awake me; I will save you.\"\n\nShe consented, and he slept in her lap. But soon the dragon began\nto creep toward the maiden with its mouth wide open, rolling up\nits terrible tail and hissing like the thunder from joy at finding\ntwo victims instead of one. The poor maiden was horror-stricken and\nmute. She could neither speak nor move to awake the brave hero asleep\nin her lap. She could only weep. Her warm tears rolling down her\ncheeks dropped upon the face of the lad, who at once jumped up and\nsaw, to his great terror, that the dragon had partly swallowed the\nmaiden. One minute more, and the maiden would be lost. But what could\nhe do now? He could not cut the throat of the dragon without hurting\nthe feet of the maiden. At once he drew his sword of lightning and\nplaced it in the lap of the maiden. So when the dragon swallowed the\nmaiden the sword cut its mouth and down through its side, and just\nwhen the maiden was swallowed entirely the dragon also was cut in\ntwo pieces, and the maiden came out uninjured. The lad cutting off\nthe head of the dragon said to the maiden: \"Now, fair one, get up\nand go to your parents.\"\n\nThe maiden, soaking her hand in the blood of the dragon, made a red\nmark upon the back of the lad; and they departed, she to her father,\nand he to his adopted mother.\n\nThe dragon being killed, the fountain was opened and the people took\nthe water freely.\n\n\"Mother, why is your country so dark?\" asked the lad of the old woman.\n\n\"My son,\" answered the old dame, sighing, \"there is a very large eagle\nliving upon the top of yonder mountain. Every year she hatches young\nones, but a dragon eats them up; and the eagle thinking that men are\nthe cause, deprives us of the sunlight.\"\n\nThe lad, taking leave of the old woman, climbed up the mountain till\nhe came to the nest of the eagle. Taking refuge under a rock, he set\nhimself to watch. Soon a gigantic dragon came creeping up toward the\nyoung birds, and was just devouring them, when the lad drew his sword\nof lightning, and cutting the dragon into pieces, gave its flesh to\nthe young eaglets, which began to eat it and to chirp merrily. The\nmother-eagle hearing the voice of her young ones, hastened to the spot\nas swiftly as a flash, and thinking that it was the lad that devoured\nher young ones every year, and that he had come now to destroy them,\nwas about to tear him into pieces when her young ones cried out:\n\n\"Take care, mother! it was that noble lad that saved us from the\ndragon, and killing it gave its flesh to us to eat.\"\n\n\"Now, noble youth!\" said the eagle to the lad, \"what do you want me\nto do as a reward for your heroic deed?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" answered the lad, \"but to take me to the upper world upon\nyour wings.\"\n\n\"You are requesting the hardest thing in the world,\" answered the\neagle; \"but for such a brave hero as you I will do anything, even\nsacrifice my life if necessary. Go bring me forty bottles of wine\nand forty sheep's tails, and I will do as you request.\"\n\n\n\nNow let us return for a moment to the maiden who was saved from being\ndevoured by the dragon. She came to her father, who was very angry\nat seeing her.\n\n\"You little rogue!\" he said, \"you want to save your life, and\nnever care that so many thousands of people are dying of thirst. Go\nquickly! let the dragon devour you, that we may have water.\" The\nmaiden told him how a brave hero saved her by killing the monster,\nand how the fountain was flowing in torrents to quench the thirst of\nall the people. Upon this the Prince sent heralds to proclaim that the\nman who had saved his daughter's life must come to him; he should not\nonly be the son-in-law of the Prince by marrying the maiden whom he had\nsaved, but the Prince was ready to bestow upon him any gift which he\nmight ask. Thousands of young men appeared before the Prince's palace,\nevery one of them claiming the credit of killing the dragon and saving\nthe princess, but the maiden said, \"No, none of these is the hero.\"\n\nThe people of the town came before the Princess, but the hero was\nnot to be found.\n\n\"Is there no other man left in the town?\" asked the Prince.\n\n\"None,\" answered the officials, \"except a young stranger who is the\nguest of a poor widow.\"\n\n\"Bring him here!\" ordered the Prince. The lad was brought.\n\n\"Why,\" exclaimed the maiden, pointing at the blood mark which she\nhad made with her own hand, \"this is the hero!\"\n\n\"Now, hero,\" said the Prince, \"the maiden whom you saved is yours;\nask of me whatever else you please.\"\n\n\"Long live the Prince!\" answered the lad. \"May Heaven bless the\nunion of your daughter with a suitable husband, and may you enjoy\nyour estates for many, many years! I ask of you only forty bottles\nof wine and forty sheep's tails, that the eagle may take me to the\nupper world.\"\n\nThe Prince so commanded, and they were immediately given to the lad,\nwho at once took them to the eagle.\n\n\"Now,\" said the eagle, \"place the sheep's tails on my right wing,\nand the bottles of wine on my left, and seat yourself between. When I\nsay, \"Boo,\" pour in my mouth a bottle of wine, and when I say \"Coo,\"\ngive me a sheep's tail.\"\n\nThe lad went first to take leave of the old woman, who gave him her\nblessing. As soon as the load was placed on the back of the eagle\nshe took her flight. Every time she said \"Boo\" a bottle of wine was\npoured into her mouth, and every time she said \"Coo\" a sheep's tail\nwas given to her. They ascended and ascended until they came to the\nworld of light. \"Coo!\" said the eagle, the last time. The lad was so\nglad and in so great a hurry that the last sheep's tail which he was\ngoing to give to the eagle fell from his hand. But he did not wish to\ndisappoint his friend, so he drew his sword, and cutting one of the\ncalves of his own leg, gave it to the eagle. The wise bird knew from\nthe flavor that it was human flesh, and kept it under her tongue. They\narrived at their destination.\n\n\"Well, now,\" said the eagle putting the lad on the ground, \"go along\nyour way.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the lad, \"you go first; my legs are benumbed, I want to\ntake a little rest.\"\n\nThe eagle insisted till the lad tried to walk, but he could not walk\nbecause of his wound. Then the eagle drew the flesh out from under\nher tongue, and placing it in its proper place, licked it up, and\nthe wound was at once healed. She took her leave of the hero and flew\ndown to her young ones, who were chirping and waiting for her. After\nthat day she never deprived that country of the sun's rays, as she\nhad no longer reason for so doing.\n\nThe lad, before entering his father's city, thought he had better\ndisguise himself. So he went to a slaughter house, and getting a\nsheep's stomach, wrapped it around his head, thus changing himself to\na bald-headed youth. Entering the city as a stranger, he soon found\nout that a wedding ceremony was to be held in his father's palace. His\ntwo brothers were to marry the two maidens whom he saved for them,\nand his own betrothed was to be married to the King. The lad felt his\nheart bleeding. He went to the market place, and presenting himself to\na goldsmith, asked him to accept him as an apprentice. The goldsmith\nhesitated for a while, but afterwards said:\n\n\"Come, bald-headed fellow, be my apprentice.\"\n\nThat very day the officials of the King brought to the goldsmith a\nlarge bag of gold, saying:\n\n\"You must make of this gold a golden rat and a golden cat that shall\nplay in a golden basin.\"\n\n\"I can make the rat and the cat out of this gold,\" said the goldsmith,\n\"but I cannot give them life to make them run about.\"\n\n\"That is not our business,\" said the officials, \"it is the command\nof the King; you must either make them, or lose your head. The lady\nto whom the King is betrothed refuses to marry him until these are\nmade for her. You must make them by the morrow.\"\n\nSo saying, the officials went away, leaving the gold. The goldsmith\nwas at a loss. Poor man! what could he do? He could not make them,\nand in case he failed to make them by the appointed time his head\nwas in danger.\n\n\"What is the matter, master?\" said the lad; \"why are you puzzled\nand sad?\"\n\n\"Keep silent!\" exclaimed the goldsmith. \"I have no time to hear\nyour chatter.\"\n\n\"Be of good cheer, master,\" returned the lad; \"if you bring me two\nor three handfuls of nuts, I will make the golden rat and the golden\ncat to-night.\"\n\n\"Why, you rascal! you bald-headed dog!\" exclaimed the goldsmith;\n\"as if my affliction is not enough for me, do you make fun of me?\"\n\n\"No, master,\" said the lad, \"do not think I am making fun of you. I\nreally say bring me some nuts, and to-morrow morning come and take\nwhat you want.\"\n\nThe goldsmith thought there was no harm if he did what the lad\nrequested of him, and brought the nuts. That night he could not sleep\nat all, and very often he came to the door of the shop to listen to\nwhat the lad was doing, and heard nothing but the crack of the nuts,\nwhich the bald-headed apprentice was eating all the time. At daybreak\nthe lad took out of his pocket the magic ring which was given him by\nhis betrothed as a token. He kissed it, and immediately two negroes\npresented themselves with their hands folded on their breasts, saying:\n\n\"Say what is your will, and we will do it at once.\"\n\n\"Bring me here,\" said the lad, \"the golden rat and the golden cat\nwhich I saw playing in the golden basin.\"\n\nHe had scarcely finished the sentence, when lo! the golden basin was\nplaced before him. Just at that moment the goldsmith entered with\nbeating heart.\n\n\"Here, master,\" exclaimed the lad; \"I have just finished it.\"\n\nThe goldsmith began to dance with excess of joy, and at once took\nthe basin to the King, who was so much pleased with it that he gave\nhim costly presents and invited him to come to the royal wedding. The\ngoldsmith came back. He was so happy that he was dancing all the time.\n\n\"Master,\" said the lad, \"please take me with you to the wedding.\"\n\n\"But, my lad,\" said the goldsmith, \"there will be a tournament\nto-morrow; if you go there, I am afraid you will be trampled down by\ncavalry and get your bald head broken. You had better stay at home.\"\n\nOn the following day the goldsmith went to the tournament. The lad\ncast the black horse's hair into the fire, and lo! the black horse\nof the first giant whom he killed came neighing with a suit of black\narmor on his back. Immediately the lad put on the suit of armor and\nmounted the horse; thus being changed to a black knight, he rushed\nto the place of the tournament. He vanquished all the princes and\nhis brothers, and unhorsing his own master, disappeared, leaving the\nspectators in utmost surprise. He came to his home, and changing his\nclothes, was the same bald-headed apprentice. In the evening when the\ngoldsmith came, the lad implored him to tell him what he had seen;\nand he began to describe the tournament.\n\n\"But the unexpected thing,\" said he, \"was the appearance of a black\nknight, clad in armor at all points. Whether he was a fairy or a\nhuman being, I cannot tell. He vanquished all the princes and knights,\nand disappeared in a hurricane after unhorsing me, too.\"\n\n\"Alas!\" exclaimed the lad, shaking his head very sadly, as if\nunderstanding nothing.\n\n\n\nNow let us return to the maiden. She, seeing the golden rat and the\ngolden cat in a golden basin brought to her, was assured that her\nbetrothed had come from the infernal regions up to the world of light.\n\n\"I will not marry you,\" she said to the King, \"until you get me a\ngolden hen and a golden weasel playing in a golden basin.\"\n\nThe King sent his order to the goldsmith, who promised to make them,\nfirst getting the consent of the bald-headed apprentice. He brought\nhim nuts; and the lad, kissing the magic ring, the two negroes again\nappeared, who immediately brought the golden hen and the golden weasel\nplaying in a golden basin. The goldsmith took them to the King, who\ninvited him to the second day's tournament. The lad again asked leave\nto go with his master, and the goldsmith again refused him. Soon\nafter the goldsmith went, however, the lad cast into the fire the\nhair of the red horse, which immediately made its appearance with a\nsuit of red armor on its back. The lad, changing his clothes, mounted\nthe horse, which immediately ran to the place of the tournament. At\nonce vanquishing all who were there and unhorsing his own master,\nthe lad disappeared, and coming home changed his clothes and was\nagain the bald-headed apprentice. In the evening the goldsmith began\nto describe the tournament, and the apprentice listened to his story\nwith great surprise and seriousness.\n\nThe maiden was now sure that her betrothed had come, for no one else\ncould do these things. On the following day she said to the King:\n\n\"I want you to get for me a golden greyhound and a golden fox running\na race in a golden basin, else I will not marry you.\"\n\nThe goldsmith was again called, and promised to make them, first\nconsulting with the bald-headed apprentice, to whom he brought\nthe usual quantity of nuts. The lad cracked and ate the nuts till\nmorning. At daybreak he kissed the magic ring, and for the third time\nthe two negroes appeared, bringing in the golden greyhound and the\ngolden fox running a race in a golden basin. The goldsmith at once took\nthem to the King, who invited him to the third day's tournament. The\nlad cast into the fire, this time, the white horse's hair, which was\nthe third giant's horse; and immediately it stood before him with\na suit of white armor on its back. The lad, putting the armor on,\nwas changed to a white knight; and taking the sword of lightning in\nhand, rushed to the place of the tournament. After vanquishing all,\nand killing the King and his own unworthy brothers, he stood in the\nmidst of the crowd and told them who he was, what heroic deeds he\nhad done, and what wrongs he had endured. The people being tired of\nthe tyrannical King, immediately hailed the youth as their monarch.\n\nHe married his betrothed, and gave the other two maidens in marriage\nto two of his best friends. Thus he attained his wishes. May Heaven\ngrant that you may attain your wishes!\n\nThree apples fell from Heaven;--one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRY NIGHTINGALE.\n\n\nA very interesting story was once told me of a King who built a\nsplendid church. It took the architects seven years to finish the\nbuilding. The King went to dedicate the church and to pray in it, and\nlo! there was a fog so dense that the King was almost suffocated. In\nthe very midst of the dense fog a monk stood before the King, saying:\n\n\"Long live the King! You have built a fine church, but it lacks\none thing.\"\n\nThe monk then quickly disappeared. The King came out and ordered his\nmen to take down the building and to put up another one finer than\nthe first. It took them another seven years to finish the second\nbuilding. The King again went to dedicate the church and pray in it,\nand lo! again there was a dense fog, and the same monk stood before\nthe King, saying:\n\n\"Long live the King! You have built a beautiful church, but it lacks\none thing.\"\n\nAgain the monk mysteriously disappeared. The King again ordered his\nmen to take down the building and to put up a new one. It took them\nanother seven years to finish the third building, and it was this time\nso splendid that there was nothing like it in all the world. The King\nagain went to dedicate it and to pray in it, and lo! again there was\na dense fog, and the same monk stood before the King saying:\n\n\"Long live the King! You have built a church incomparably beautiful,\nbut it lacks one thing.\"\n\nThe monk was again about to make his exit when the King took hold of\nhis collar, saying:\n\n\"Tell me what is the one thing lacking in my church. This is the\nthird time that you compel me to take down my building, upon which\nso much labor and time have been spent.\"\n\n\"The Fairy Nightingale is the only thing that is lacking in this\nmagnificent church,\" said the monk, and disappeared in the fog.\n\nThe King returned to his palace, and thereafter was very sad. He had\nthree sons, who seeing their father sad, asked:\n\n\"Long live the King! What grieves you, father?\"\n\n\"My sons,\" said the King, \"I am getting old, and the Fairy Nightingale\nis needed for the church. I do not know how to get it.\"\n\n\"Be of good cheer, father,\" said the lads; \"we will go and bring it.\"\n\nAnd they started. After a long journey they came to a place where the\nroad divided into three branches, with a sign on each. The sign of the\nbroad road was,--\"He who goes on this road returns safely.\" The sign\non the middle road was,--\"He who goes on this road may return or may\nnot return.\" And the sign on the third narrow road was,--\"He who goes\non this road never returns.\" The oldest brother took the broad road;\nthe second brother took the middle road, and the youngest brother\ntook the narrow road. The oldest lad soon came to a large city,\nat sight of which he said to himself:\n\n\"Why should I go farther and be killed? I would better stay in this\nplace.\" And he became a servant in one of the inns of the city.\n\nThe second brother turned toward the other side of the mountain, and\ncame to a green meadow with shady trees here and there, and benches\nunder the trees. He was tired, and at once sat down upon one of the\nbenches. Soon a giant as black as night came along with an iron rod\nin his hand. He gave the lad one stroke with the rod, and lo! the\nlad turned into a round stone, and rolled under the bench.\n\nThe youngest of the three brothers started on the road along which\nthere could be no return. A dense fog covered him, and lo! the monk\nwho had talked with his father appeared to him, saying:\n\n\"God speed thee, son! Whither are you going?\"\n\n\"I am going to bring the Fairy Nightingale for our new church,\"\nsaid the lad.\n\n\"Good,\" said the monk; \"but this way is dangerous; let me advise\nyou. The owner of the Fairy Nightingale is the Fairy Queen, a very\nbeautiful maiden. On your way you will soon come to a river which\nthe Fairy Queen has by her arts changed into a poisoned stream,\nand she does not drink of it. But you must drink of it, and say:\n'O happy! this is the water of immortality.' After crossing the river\nyou will come to a grove which the queen has changed into a jungle\nof thorns and thistles. You must smell the trees and shrubs, and say:\n'O happy! this grove is the flower of Paradise.' Then you will come to\na narrow pass on one side of which there is a wolf bound with chains,\nand on the other side there is a lamb bound with chains. There is\na bundle of grass before the wolf, and a piece of meat before the\nlamb. You must put the grass before the lamb, and the meat before\nthe wolf. You will then come to a large gate with double doors, one\nopen and one closed. You must open the closed door and shut the open\none. Entering in you will find the Fairy Queen, owner of the Fairy\nNightingale, sleeping in a splendid bedchamber. She sleeps seven days\nand nights, and is awake seven days and nights. If you can do what\nI have told you, and reach there at a time when the Queen is asleep,\nyou can bring the Nightingale; if not, you are lost.\"\n\nThe lad started, and came successively to the river, the grove, the\nlamb and the wolf, and the gate. He did all that the monk had told\nhim, and entering in, saw an exquisite bedchamber where a maiden as\nbeautiful as the sun was sleeping on a purple bed embroidered with\ngold and jewelry. The Fairy Nightingale came down from its cage,\nand standing on the Queen's bedside, sang to her a thousand songs\nwith enchanting melody, and lullabied her to sound sleep. The lad,\nwho was watching from behind the arras, seeing the maiden asleep,\nand that the Nightingale had returned to its cage, crept in slowly,\ntook the Nightingale's cage, pressed a kiss upon the forehead of\nthe sleeping maiden, thus stamping the sign of his lips there, and\nstarted back on his way.\n\nThe Queen awoke, and seeing the Nightingale had been stolen, exclaimed:\n\n\"Doors, catch the thief!\"\n\n\"God speed him!\" said the doors; \"he closed the open one of us and\nopened the closed one of us.\"\n\n\"Wolf and lamb, catch the thief!\" exclaimed the Fairy Queen.\n\n\"God speed him!\" said the wolf and the lamb; \"he gave the meat to\nthe wolf, and the grass to the lamb.\"\n\n\"Grove, catch the thief!\" exclaimed the Queen.\n\n\"God speed him!\" said the grove; \"you made me thorns and thistles;\nhe made me a flower of Paradise.\"\n\n\"River, catch the thief!\" exclaimed the Queen.\n\n\"God speed him!\" said the river; \"you made me a stream of poison;\nhe made me the water of immortality.\"\n\nWhen the Queen saw that all her charms were unavailing, she mounted\nher horse and started in pursuit of the lad.\n\n\n\nBut let us return to the lad. He passed all the dangerous places and\ncame to the square where the road divided into the three branches. He\nsaw the monk waiting for him.\n\n\"Here is the Fairy Nightingale, holy father,\" said the lad, and seeing\nthat his brothers had not yet come back, he give the cage to the\nmonk and he himself started in search of his brothers. He went first\nalong the broad road, until he came to the inn where his brother was\nserving. He secretly made himself known to him, and taking him away\nbrought him to the monk. He then took the next road, and went as far\nas the green meadow and sat down upon one of the benches. Soon the\ngiant appeared with his iron rod and tried to strike the lad. But\nthe lad cleverly avoided the blow, and snatching the rod from the\ngiant's hand, struck him. Immediately the giant fell down and was\nchanged into a huge round black stone.\n\n\"My brother must have been lost somewhere in this place,\" thought the\nlad, and began to strike with the iron rod the stones scattered here\nand there upon the meadow, and lo! the stones were changed into men,\nwho began to run away; but his brother was not among them. He saw a\nstone under the bench, and struck it. It was changed into his brother,\nand began to run.\n\n\"Brother! brother, do not run, it is I,\" exclaimed the lad.\n\nHe stopped and both returned to the monk. All three, taking the Fairy\nNightingale, went toward their father's city. On the way they were\nthirsty, and came to a well.\n\nThey lowered the youngest brother to draw water, and as soon as\nhe reached the bottom of the well, the two older brothers said to\none another:\n\n\"When we go home to our father all praise and glory will be given\nto that fellow who is now in the well, and we shall be despised. It\nshall not be; he shall never come up from that well.\"\n\nThey cut the rope, and leaving the hero in the well, took the\nNightingale and went to their father, saying:\n\n\"Our youngest brother was killed in our attempt to get the Fairy\nNightingale, but we two succeeded in bringing it.\"\n\nThey hung the cage in the new church, but the Fairy Nightingale did\nnot warble a single song; it was sad and silent. Soon the Fairy Queen\ncame riding to the King, and said:\n\n\"Who is the hero that has brought my Nightingale?\"\n\n\"We brought it,\" said the two brothers.\n\n\"Well, what did you meet on the way?\" inquired the Queen.\n\n\"Nothing,\" said the lads.\n\n\"Then it was not you who brought it,\" said the Queen; \"you are\nthieves.\" And she caused them to be arrested and cast into prison,\nsaying:\n\n\"You shall not be released until the real hero who brought the Fairy\nNightingale is presented to me.\"\n\nSome women who were gleaning barley in the fields happened to pass near\nthe well where the lad was left, and hearing him groan took him out;\none of them, who had no children, adopted him as her son. After a few\nweeks news came from the city to the village to the effect that the\nKing's sons had brought the Fairy Nightingale, but the Fairy Queen,\nthe owner of the Nightingale, also had come after it. One day the\nlad asked permission of his adopted mother, saying:\n\n\"A new church has been built, let me go and see it.\"\n\nThe old woman consented, and he went to the city as a peasant\nboy. He went to his father's house and heard that his brothers were\nimprisoned. He went directly to the prison and set them free. The\nFairy Queen, hearing this, came and said to the lad:\n\n\"I am the Fairy Queen, the owner of the Nightingale; are you not\nafraid of me?\"\n\n\"I am he who brought the Fairy Nightingale,\" said the lad, \"I am not\nafraid of you.\"\n\n\"What did you see on the way?\" asked the Queen.\n\nThe lad told her what he had seen and what he had done.\n\n\"And moreover,\" said the lad, \"I have put a sign upon your forehead\nwith my own lips. Look at your image in yonder pond, and you will\nsee that you are my betrothed.\"\n\nThe Queen looked at her reflected image in the water, and seeing the\nmark of the lad's kiss, exclaimed:\n\n\"Hero, you are worthy of me; I am yours hereafter.\"\n\nA wedding festival for forty days and forty nights was\ncelebrated. After this the couple went to the church to be married. The\nFairy Nightingale began to warble, and sang them a thousand and one\nsongs. It is still singing, and all the world is wondering at its\nsweet melodies.\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DREAMER.\n\n\nA father and mother once lived whose son was a dreamer. One morning\nthe lad arose and said to his mother:\n\n\"Mother, I dreamed a dream last night, but I will not tell it.\"\n\n\"Why will you not tell it?\" asked the mother.\n\n\"I will not,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"The mother beat the lad, who ran to his father, saying:\n\n\"Father, I dreamed a dream last night; I did not tell it to mother,\nand I will not tell it to you.\"\n\nThe father also beat the lad, who was angered and ran away from the\nhouse. After a day's journey he met a traveler.\n\n\"Good-day!\" said the lad.\n\n\"Good-day!\" replied the traveler.\n\n\"I dreamed a dream,\" said the lad; \"I did not tell it to my mother,\nI did not tell it to my father, and I will not tell it to you.\"\n\nThe lad went on until he came to the Prince's palace. The Prince was\nsitting at the door. The lad said:\n\n\"Prince, I dreamed a dream; I did not tell it to my mother, I did\nnot tell it to my father, I did not tell it to the traveler, and I\nwill not tell it to you.\"\n\nThe Prince was angry, and cast the lad into a prison in the cellar\nof his palace. The lad dug through the wall of his prison with his\ndagger and opened a hole into the adjacent room which happened to be\nthe dining-room of the Prince's daughter. The lad finding the maiden's\nfood in the cupboard, ate it all and withdrew to his prison. Soon\nthe maiden came in, and lo! the food was eaten. This was repeated\non several days. The maiden was very anxious to know who it was who\nate her food, and one day hiding herself in her wardrobe she began to\nwatch. Soon she saw the lad, who lifting a great stone opened a hole\nin the wall, crept into her room, took the food from the cupboard\nand began to help himself. She jumped out, and taking hold of the\nlad, said:\n\n\"Who are you, young man?\"\n\n\"I dreamed a dream,\" said the lad, \"I did not tell it to my mother,\nI did not tell it to my father, I did not tell it to the traveler,\nI did not tell it to the Prince; the Prince cast me into prison,\nand I dug a hole with my dagger and came here. I am at your mercy.\"\n\nThe maiden fell in love with the lad, and thereafter cherished him not\nonly with her food but with her love, and they accepted one another\nas husband and wife.\n\nOne day the King of the East sent messengers to the Prince bearing\na stick which had both ends equal, saying:\n\n\"Now, tell me which is the bottom and which is the top of this\nstick. If you solve this, well and good; if not, you must give your\ndaughter in marriage to my son.\"\n\nThe Prince called all his wise men into council, but no one could\nsolve the riddle. The princess told it to the lad. The lad said:\n\n\"Go and tell your father to tell them to cast the stick into the pond;\nthe bottom end will sink the deeper in the water.\"\n\nThey did so, and the riddle was solved. On the following day the King\nof the East sent three horses, all being exactly the same size and\nhaving the same appearance, saying:\n\n\"Which is the one year old colt, which is the two year old colt,\nand which is the mother? If you solve this, well and good; if not,\nyou must give your daughter in marriage to my son.\"\n\nAll the learned men of the Prince could not solve this riddle. The\nprincess, in the evening, said to the lad:\n\n\"No one could solve the riddle, and they will take me away to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Tell your father,\" said the lad, \"to let them keep the horses in\nthe stable over night. In the morning let them take a bundle of hay,\nwet and salt it and cast it before the horses outside the stable\ndoor. The mother will come out first, the two year old colt after her,\nand the one year old colt last.\"\n\nThey did as the lad advised, and the riddle was solved. On the\nfollowing day the King of the East sent to the Prince a steel shield\nand a steel spear, saying:\n\n\"If you can pierce this shield with this spear with one stroke, I will\ngive my daughter to your son in marriage; if you cannot pierce it,\nyou must give your daughter to my son in marriage.\"\n\nThe Prince and all his men tried, and could not pierce the shield. The\nPrince then said to his daughter:\n\n\"Go, send your man; let us see if he can pierce it.\"\n\nThe lad came, and at one stroke pierced the steel shield with the\nsteel spear. Now, the Prince had no son; he therefore adopted the\nlad, who was already his son-in-law, and made him heir apparent to\nhis throne. Thereupon the lad set out to go and bring the daughter\nof the King of the East. After a long journey he met a man who was\nkneeling down with his ear close to the ground.\n\n\"What man are you?\" asked the lad.\n\n\"I lay my ear to the ground,\" answered the man, \"and listen to whatever\nmen say all over the world.\"\n\n\"Aha! what a man!\" exclaimed the lad, \"he can hear what is said all\nover the world.\"\n\n\"Man?\" said the listener. \"A man is he who pierced the steel shield\nwith the steel spear.\"\n\n\"It was I,\" said the lad.\n\n\"Then I am your brother,\" said the listener, and followed the\nlad. After another long journey they met a man who was standing with\none of his feet upon Mount Ararat and the other upon Mount Taurus.\n\n\"Aha! what a man!\" exclaimed the lad. \"He strides over the world.\"\n\n\"Man?\" exclaimed the colossal strider. \"A man is he who pierced the\nsteel shield with the steel spear.\"\n\n\"It was I,\" said the lad.\n\n\"Then I am your brother,\" said the colossus, and followed the lad.\n\nAfter a long journey they met a man who was eating all the loaves baked\nin seven ovens, and still crying, \"I am hungry! I am famishing! For\nheaven's sake, give me something to eat!\"\n\n\"Aha!\" said the lad. \"What a man! whom seven ovens continually baking\ncannot satisfy.\"\n\n\"Man?\" exclaimed the glutton. \"A man is he who pierced the steel\nshield with the steel spear.\"\n\n\"I am the man,\" said the lad.\n\n\"Then I am your brother,\" said the glutton, and followed the lad.\n\nSoon they met a man who was carrying the earth upon his shoulders.\n\n\"What a man!\" exclaimed the lad.\n\n\"Man?\" replied the carrier of the earth. \"A man is he who has pierced\nthe steel shield with the steel spear.\"\n\n\"I am the man,\" said the lad.\n\n\"Then I am your brother,\" said the carrier of the earth, and he also\nfollowed the lad.\n\nThey soon met a man who was lying flat on the bank of the Euphrates,\nand drinking the river dry, but still crying, \"I am thirsty! I am dry;\nmore water, for heaven's sake!\"\n\n\"Aha! what a man,\" exclaimed the lad, \"the river Euphrates does not\nsatisfy his thirst.\"\n\n\"Man?\" exclaimed the river-drinker, \"a man is he who pierced the\nsteel shield.\"\n\n\"I am he,\" said the lad.\n\n\"Then I am your brother,\" said the river-drinker, and followed the lad.\n\nThey soon met a shepherd who was blowing his horn, and lo! hills and\nvalleys, plains and forests, men and beasts were dancing.\n\n\"Aha! what a man!\" exclaimed the lad, \"all the world is dancing to\nhis music.\"\n\n\"Man!\" returned the shepherd, \"a man is he who pierced the steel\nshield.\"\n\n\"I am he,\" said the lad.\n\n\"Then I am your brother,\" said the shepherd, and he followed the\nlad. Now they were seven.\n\n\"Brother Steel-shield-steel-spear,\" said the six adopted brothers to\nthe lad, \"where shall we go now?\"\n\n\"We shall go and bring the daughter of the King of the East,\" answered\nthe lad.\n\n\"You are worthy of her,\" said his six companions.\n\nSoon they arrived at the city of the King of the East, who seeing\nthem said to his servants secretly:\n\n\"These seven fellows have come to take away my daughter. Heaven\nforbid! They are bashful lads and will hardly eat a bowlful of\nsoup. Now go and bake twenty-one ovens full of bread and make\ntwenty-one cauldrons full of soup and put it all before them. If they\ncan eat all at one sitting, I will give them my daughter; if not,\nI will not.\"\n\nThe lad and his crew were entertained in an apartment some distance\nfrom the King's apartment, where he was giving these instructions\nto his men. The ground-listener, hearing the King's orders, said to\nthe lad:\n\n\"Brother Steel-shield-steel-spear, did you hear what the King said\nto his men?\"\n\n\"No, blockhead!\" said the lad, \"how can I hear him while he is in\nanother apartment far from us?\"\n\nThe ground-listener said: \"They are going to serve us twenty-one\nhorse-loads of bread and twenty-one cauldrons full of soup, and\nin case we fail to eat all at one meal they will refuse to give us\nthe princess.\"\n\n\"Be of good cheer.\" said the ravenous eater; \"I take the responsibility\nupon myself.\"\n\nOn the following day all the bread and soup was served to one man,\nand there was not enough to gratify him. He was still crying, \"I am\nhungry! I am famishing! Give me something to eat!\"\n\n\"A plague upon these fellows!\" said the King to his peers; \"we could\nnot satisfy one; what if all the seven should eat! Now I tell you\nwhat to do; entertain them in another house; bring quantities of\nwood and rushes at night and pile them round about the building,\nand in the middle of the night when they are asleep set fire to the\npiles. Thus they will perish and we shall get rid of them.\"\n\nThe ground-listener hearing everything, told it to the lad.\n\n\"Never mind,\" said the river-drinker, \"I can keep in my stomach water\nenough to extinguish their fire.\"\n\nHe went and drank the neighboring river dry and came back, and all\nwent to bed. At midnight they saw that the house was on fire. The\nriver-drinker blew upon the flames, and lo! a stream of water began to\nflow from his mouth. It not only extinguished the flames, but drowned\nall those who were making the fire. That caused the King to be still\nmore angry, and he said to his peers:\n\n\"Let come what may, I will not give up my daughter.\"\n\n\"Now it is my turn,\" said the earth-carrier, \"if he does not give us\nhis daughter I will carry away his whole kingdom.\"\n\nHe had hardly finished his words when he put his shoulder under the\nground of the King of the East, and lo! he took on his back the whole\nrealm. Then the shepherd began to blow his horn and the mountains and\nvalleys, plains and forests, and all living creatures in them began to\ndance; the strider-of-the-world walked before them opening the way;\nand so the procession went on with great merriment. Thereupon the\nKing began to weep and to beg them, saying:\n\n\"For heaven's sake, leave me my kingdom! take my daughter and go.\"\n\nThen the earth-carrier set the kingdom down in its place again; the\nshepherd ceased blowing his horn, and the universe stopped dancing. The\nlad thanked his six brothers for their valuable services and sent\nthem to their homes, and he himself took the maiden and came to the\nPrince's city, where a wedding festival was celebrated for forty\ndays, and he married this maiden also. He sat down with the baby born\nduring his absence, in his arms, and his two wives one on each side,\nand calling his father and mother to him, said:\n\n\"Now shall I tell you what my dream was?\"\n\n\"Yes, what was it?\" said his parents.\n\n\"I dreamed in my dream,\" said the lad, \"that there was one sun upon\nmy right side, another sun upon my left side, and a bright star was\ntwinkling upon my heart.\"\n\n\"Was that your dream?\" said they.\n\n\"Yes, that was my dream,\" said he.\n\nThis tale was a dream. The Sender of dreams has sent three apples\nfrom above; one for him who told the story, one for him who asked\nthat the story be told, and one for him who listened to the story.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRIDE OF THE FOUNTAIN.\n\n\nSomewhere I have heard that there were once three sisters, whose mother\nwent to town to buy them dresses. On her way back to the village she\nsat down by a fountain to rest.\n\n\"Tush!\" exclaimed she, remembering that she had forgotten to buy a\ndress for her youngest daughter.\n\nSuddenly an old man came out from the fountain, and standing before\nthe woman, said:\n\n\"My name is Tush; why did you call me?\"\n\n\"I did not call you,\" said the woman, \"I exclaimed, 'Tush!' because\nI had forgotten to buy a dress for my youngest daughter.\"\n\n\"Go, bring her,\" said the old man, \"and call on me again; I will give\nher a dress.\"\n\nThe woman went and brought her daughter to the fountain. As soon as she\nuttered the word \"Tush!\" the old man came out. He took the maiden into\nthe fountain and never came back, in spite of the repeated exclamations\nof the woman, who tired of repeating, \"Tush! Tush!\" At last she gave up\nhope, and going home mourned the wonderful disappearance of her pretty\ndaughter. After one or two months she went again to the fountain and\nuttered the word \"Tush!\" The old man came out, and seeing the woman\nhe turned toward the fountain, saying:\n\n\"Halloo! son, your mother-in-law has come to call on her\ndaughter. Won't you send her out?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" said a voice from within. \"I will send her to pay a\nvisit to her mother, as is the custom.\"\n\nIn a few minutes the anxious mother saw her daughter come out from\nthe fountain dressed as a beautiful bride, and she took her home.\n\n\"Mamma,\" said the bride, \"give me a separate room; my husband told\nme that he will come to me every night.\"\n\nThe mother gave her a separate room. The bridegroom visited her every\nnight in the shape of a partridge. He used to come after nightfall,\nand flapping his wings, perch on the window ledge. She opened the\nwindow and took him in. Every morning the partridge flew away before\ndawn. Her two sisters, envious of the happiness of their youngest\nsister, brought razors and nailed them around the window. At nightfall\nthe partridge came flying, and when he was perching on the window\nhe struck his wings against the razors, which wounded his body in\nseveral places. He was hardly able to fly back to his fountain, and\nthere he was confined to his bed. He vowed to be revenged upon his\nbride, who he thought had put the razors on the window. The bride,\nseeing that the partridge did not come for five or six days, went\nwith her mother to the fountain.\n\n\"Tush!\" they called, and lo! the old man came out, and turning to\nthe fountain, exclaimed:\n\n\"Son, your bride and mother-in-law have come.\"\n\n\"Oh! oh!\" cried the partridge from within, \"I do not want such a\nbride. I beseech you, put on your eagle's suit, take her to the\nseventh heaven, and thence cast her to the torrid desert.\"\n\nFather Tush at once changed himself into an eagle, and carried the\nbride away and cast her to the sandy desert. There she fell upon the\nsand, but did not die.\n\n\"O Heaven!\" exclaimed the maiden, \"what have I done to deserve such\ntreatment.\"\n\nShe wandered about in the desert without knowing where to go. At\nnightfall she buried herself in the sand to sleep. Soon there came two\nconjurers, who sat down near her. They conjured, and lo! innumerable\ngreat serpents gathered around them. They sat in council, inquired of\neach other, and prepared remedies for a thousand and one diseases. For\nrazor cuts they devised this remedy: \"Wash the patient with the first\nmilk from the breasts of a woman, and put upon the wounds the dried\nblood taken from a young woman's veins. On the third application the\npatient will be healed.\"\n\nThe maiden, who was listening to them attentively, kept that remedy\nin mind, and on the following morning started for her husband's\nfountain. After a long journey, she came to her own country, begged\nfrom the village women a mother's first milk, and opening one of her\nown veins, got some blood which she dried in the sun. She then went\nto the fountain disguised as a lad.\n\n\"Tush!\" she exclaimed, and the old man came out.\n\n\"What do you want?\" said he.\n\n\"I am a doctor,\" she said; \"I had forgotten to get some of my medicines\nin the village, therefore I said 'Tush.'\"\n\nThe old man went in and informed his son that there was a human doctor\non the fountain.\n\n\"Bring him in,\" said the lad, \"let us see if he can administer some\nremedy to my wounds.\"\n\nThe maiden went in, and after an examination said:\n\n\"I can heal you within three days.\"\n\nShe washed him with the milk and put the dried blood on the wounds,\nand on the third day the lad was healed.\n\n\"What do you want me to pay you?\" said the lad.\n\n\"I do not want anything,\" said the maiden; \"I wish you only to remember\nmy name.\"\n\n\"What is it?\" asked the lad.\n\n\"Incense-Tree is my name,\" answered the maiden.\n\n\"Ah!\" exclaimed the lad, \"that is my wife's name.\"\n\n\"I am your wife,\" said she, throwing away her masculine attire.\n\nShe fell on his neck sobbing, and told him how without a fault she\nwas. They loved each other thereafter, and are still living in that\ndeep fountain.\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDYJHICON:\n\nTHE COWARD-HERO.\n\n\nDyjhicon was a poor unfortunate fellow who had only two goats and a\ncow. His wife was an ambitious woman, and annoyed him by her frequent\ndemands.\n\n\"I want you to go out and work,\" she often said. \"I want you to build\na new house, I want to buy myself some new dresses, oxen and sheep,\na horse and wagon.\"\n\nDyjhicon, tiring of her endless complaints and scoldings, one day took\nhis great stick and drove the cow out of the house, saying to himself:\n\n\"Let me run from this wicked wife to the wilderness and there die.\"\n\nThis was what the woman wanted. Thus he ran from her and wandered\nin the wilderness. When he was hungry he milked the cow and drank\nthe milk, and when he was tired he mounted the cow. He was very\ntimid,--a typical coward. The sight of a running rat was enough to\nmake him tremble.\n\n\"Eh!\" he thought, nevertheless, \"it is better to be torn by wild\nbeasts than to become the slave of a wicked woman.\"\n\nOne day, as the cow was pasturing on a green meadow and Dyjhicon\nwas lying down lazily, the flies stung him. He cursed his wife and\nclapped his hands to kill the flies. Then he counted to see how\nmany flies he had killed at one stroke, and lo! they were seven in\nnumber. This encouraged him, and he took his knife and carved upon\nhis stick these words:\n\n\"I am Dyjhicon; I have killed seven by one stroke of the hand.\"\n\nThen he got astride the cow and rode away. After a long journey he\ncame to a green meadow in the center of which there was a magnificent\ncastle with an orchard around it. He let the cow graze in the meadow\nand he lay down to sleep. Seven brothers lived in that castle. One of\nthem, seeing Dyjhicon and his cow in the meadow came to find who it\nwas that had ventured to enter their ground. Dyjhicon was sleeping,\nwith his stick standing near him. The man approached and, reading\nthe inscription, was terrified.\n\n\"What a hero!\" he thought to himself, \"he has killed seven men by one\nstroke of the hand. He must be a brave man, else he would not dare to\nsleep here so carelessly. What courage! what boldness! he has come\nso far without arms, without a horse, without a companion. This man\nis surely a great hero.\"\n\nHe went and informed his brothers as to what he had seen; and all the\nseven brothers came to pay their respects to the unknown hero, and to\ninvite him to their humble home. The cow, being frightened by their\napproach, began to leap and bellow. Her voice wakened Dyjhicon, who,\nseeing seven men standing before him, was terrified, and snatching\nhis club, stood aside trembling. The seven brothers thought that he\nwas angry with them, and was trembling on account of his wrath, and\nthat he would kill all of them by one stroke of his stick. Thereupon\nthey began to supplicate him to pardon their rudeness in disturbing\nhis repose. Then they invited him to go with them, saying:\n\n\"We are seven brothers and have a great reputation as good fighters\nin this district. But we shall be entirely invincible, if you will\njoin us and become our elder brother. We will take great pleasure in\nplacing our house and all that belongs to us at the service of such\na hero as yourself.\"\n\nHearing this, Dyjhicon ceased trembling, and said:\n\n\"Very well, let it be as you say.\"\n\nThey took him to the castle with great pomp and served to him a\ngrand banquet, at which all the seven brothers stood before him,\nfolding their arms upon their breasts and awaiting his permission\nto sit. Dyjhicon was in great alarm, his heart was faint and he had\nfallen into meditation as to the manner in which he might free himself\nfrom this perplexing situation. The seven brothers thought that he\nwas not only a very brave hero, but was also such a great sage, that\nhe did not care even to look at their faces. They began to cough in\na low voice to draw his attention. On account of his internal fear\nDyjhicon suddenly shook his head. The seven brothers took this as a\npermission to sit. After the banquet they said to him:\n\n\"My lord, where have you left your horse, arms and servants? Will\nyou command us to go and bring them?\"\n\n\"Horse and arms are necessary for timid men,\" said Dyjhicon; \"I have\nnever had need of them. I use horse and arms only when I fight a great\nbattle. As to servants, I never need them; all men are my servants. You\nsee, I have come so far having only a cow and my stick. Dyjhicon is\nmy name; I have killed seven by one stroke of the hand.\"\n\nTheir esteem and admiration for Dyjhicon increased every day, and at\nlast they were so much fascinated by his alleged bravery that they\ngave him in marriage their only sister, who was a very beautiful\nmaiden. Dyjhicon knew that he was unworthy, but he could not refuse\nthis gift.\n\n\"Eh!\" he said, \"I will do you the favor of marrying her since you\nentreat me so earnestly.\"\n\nThey brought costly garments, and putting them on Dyjhicon, made him\na handsome bridegroom. They had a splendid wedding festival which\nwas reported in all neighboring countries. The four princes of the\nneighboring countries had asked the hand of the maiden in marriage,\nand all of them had been refused. Now hearing that the maiden was\ngiven in marriage to a stranger, the four princes waged war against\nthe seven brothers. Dyjhicon, hearing this, was stricken with fear,\nand longed that the earth might open its mouth and swallow him. He\nthought to run away, but there were no means of escaping. While he\nindulged in these sad meditations, the seven brothers came, and bowing\ndown before him, said:\n\n\"What is your order, my lord? Will you go fight yourself, or will\nyou have us go first?\"\n\nThis caused Dyjhicon's heart to melt. He began to tremble in his\nwhole body, and to strike his teeth one against another. The seven\nbrothers thought that it was because of his violent rage, and that\nin his fury he would destroy whole armies.\n\n\"My lord,\" they said, finally, \"let us seven brothers go fight them\nat first, and if we find them hard to conquer we will send you word,\nthat you may come to our assistance.\"\n\n\"Well, well; do so,\" answered Dyjhicon, somewhat relieved.\n\nThey went and began the battle. Their neighboring peoples were in\nconstant terror of the seven brothers, who were famous as brave\nfighters. Now that they had also a brother-in-law who could kill\nseven men by one stroke of the hand, their foes were the more afraid\nof them. But this time the men of the four princes were united,\nand they fought with unusual zeal and determination. This caused\nthe seven brothers to retreat a little, and they sent to brother\nDyjhicon, saying:\n\n\"We are in trouble; come to our assistance.\"\n\nA fast horse and magnificent arms awaited him. He began to curse the\nday when he came to that house. But what could he do now? At last he\ndecided to go to the battle-field, cast himself against the swords of\nthe enemy and die; death was preferable to such a disgraceful life. As\nsoon as he mounted the horse, the beast who knew that the rider was\ninexperienced, ran away like a winged eagle. Dyjhicon could not stop\nor manage it. The seven brothers thought he was so brave that he left\nthe horse free in order to reach and slaughter the enemy. The horse\nbroke into the line of the enemy, who began to fly, saying:\n\n\"Who can stand before this great hero?\"\n\nIn their hurry to retreat they began to slaughter one\nanother. Dyjhicon, who had never been on horseback before, was so\nmuch afraid that he thought he was already lost. As the horse was\nrunning through the forest, he threw his arms around an oak tree and\nembraced it, letting the horse go from under him. The tree happened\nto be rotten and was rooted out when he took hold of it. This caused\na great panic among the enemy, who ran away exclaiming:\n\n\"Aha! he has pulled up by the roots an enormous oak, and now he\nmeans to batter us into pieces with it. Who can stand before this\nstrong warrior?\"\n\nSo crying as they ran away, they slaughtered one another. Thereupon,\nthe seven brothers came and embracing the feet of their heroic\nbrother-in-law, exclaimed:\n\n\"What magnificent courage! What a great victory!\"\n\nWith these words they brought Dyjhicon home with great pomp and\nglory. The four princes who waged the war, being greatly humiliated,\nsued for reconciliation, and in order to gain Dyjhicon's favor, each\nof them sent him as a present one thousand ewes with their lambs,\nten mares with their colts, and other costly offerings.\n\nThus the greatest coward became the greatest hero.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nZOOLVISIA\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a King who was very fond of hunting. He\nhad extensive forests full of all kinds of game. But at the farthest\nboundaries of his dominions was a strip of land, surrounded by steep\nhills, which the people of the country considered enchanted ground,\nbecause none who had gone thither for the purpose of hunting had ever\nreturned. One day the King said to his noblemen:\n\n\"Let us go and see what is there.\"\n\nHis men asked him to be advised and not to go. But the King insisted;\nthey started upon the fatal journey and never came back. The King\nhad two sons, the eldest of whom succeeded him. One day the younger\nbrother said to the new King:\n\n\"I will go and revenge my father's death.\"\n\nThe King tried to dissuade him, but all in vain; the lad insisted. He\nhad some very faithful servants who said they would accompany him, and\nthey all set out upon the perilous journey. As soon as they entered\nthe enchanted ground they saw a beautiful antelope running before\nthem. They began to chase the animal, which seemed to mock them with\nits graceful bounds over the bushes and rocks. They continued chasing\nit until late in the day, when they came to a thick forest surrounded\nby steep rocks. The antelope leaped over the rocks and disappeared\nin the forest. But the hunters' horses could go no farther, and they\nall dismounted. They were surprised to find an elegant tent pitched\namong the trees beside a fountain of pure water. Entering the tent,\nthey saw a table spread with all kinds of delicious foods. They were\nvery hungry and began to devour the food with ravenous appetites;\nafter that they quenched their thirst from the crystal waters of the\nfountain. But the lad never tasted the food or the water; he thought\nto himself that there must be some deviltry at the bottom of this\nbanquet. While his men gave themselves up to eating and drinking,\nthe lad occupied himself in examining the neighborhood. To his great\nterror he saw not far from the tent a heap of human skeletons bleached\nand showing their grinning teeth. What could these be if not the bones\nof those who, from time to time, had come to hunt in that enchanted\nground and been lost? Among these, perchance, were the bones of his own\nfather. How could he have been killed? With these thoughts he came back\nto the tent, and to his great horror and grief saw that some of his\nmen were already dead and others were breathing their last. He wished\nto help them, but in vain; they were soon as dead as stones. He could\nplainly see the cause; both the food and the water were poisoned. He\nnow understood how all human beings who hunted in this region were\ndone away with and heaped up on the pile of skeletons. But who was\nthe perpetrator of this devilish crime? His blood began to boil, and\nhe determined to do battle with the perpetrator whether human being,\nfairy or demon, until he had revenged the victims of this diabolical\nplot. He was buried in this meditation when he heard the footsteps\nof approaching horsemen, and he immediately withdrew to the depths of\nthe forest, bound his horse to a sycamore tree, and concealed himself\nbehind the bushes, whence he could see the tent and the neighborhood\nwithout himself being perceived. Soon a number of horsemen arrived,\nwho appeared to be greatly pleased at seeing the dead men, and at once\nbegan to strip them of their clothes. They loaded each man's property\nupon his own horse, and prepared to drive the horses away. One of the\nriders, who no doubt was their leader, wore a complete suit of white\narmor, had locks of long hair and a graceful countenance, feminine in\nits beauty. The lad who was watching them closely, took aim with his\nbow and arrow and was just about to shoot the leader in the forehead,\nwhen he suddenly stopped.\n\n\"That is a woman,\" he said to himself. \"I will not shoot at a\nwoman.\" At once he jumped out from the place of his concealment and\nstanding before the leader exclaimed:\n\n\"Are you a human being, a fairy or a demon? Disclose yourself. To\nlead people astray and to destroy human life by poison are not the\ndeeds of heroes. Come, let me measure swords with you.\"\n\nThese words of the lad at first called forth expressions of rage\nupon the countenance of the leader. But the next second the natural\nfeminine grace again bloomed upon her cheeks, and she answered with\na sweet musical voice, the sweetest that ever fell upon a human ear:\n\n\"Youth, I spare your life provided that your heart is as brave as\nyour words. Zoolvisia is my name. If you want to show your courage\nbefore me, you must come where I live.\"\n\nAnd she spurred her horse, and galloping disappeared behind the trees\nand rocks. The lad stood stone-still as if struck by lightning. The\nbeauty of the horsewoman had charmed him; her face was of light,\nher hair of gold, her horse of lightning. Was she a maiden?\n\n\"Zoolvisia! Zoolvisia!\" the lad exclaimed suddenly, \"I will find you.\"\n\nAnd at once he mounted his horse and started in the direction whither\nZoolvisia and her followers had gone. It was late in the evening,\nthe sun having long before disappeared behind the horizon. After\ngroping his way in the darkness for a while, he saw a light gleaming\nat a distance and turned his horse in that direction. When he arrived\nhe saw a cave where a fairy woman was kneading dough.\n\n\"The goodness of the hour upon you, mother!\" said the lad.\n\n\"Heaven bless you, son!\" said the old dame. \"Neither the snake on\nits belly, nor the bird with its wing could come here; why did you\nventure to come?\"\n\n\"Your love brought me hither, mother,\" answered the lad.\n\nThe fairy woman was pleased with the lad, and said to him:\n\n\"The seven fairies, my sons, have just gone out a-hunting; they hunt\nall night long and come back in the morning. If they find you here\nthey will devour you. Let me hide you.\"\n\nSo speaking, she hid the lad in a hole near the cave. At daybreak\nthe seven fairies returned, and smelling a human being, exclaimed:\n\n\"O mother! last night you ate a human being; have you not kept at\nleast some bones for us to pick?\"\n\n\"I have eaten no human being,\" said their mother; \"but my nephew,\nthe son of a human sister, has come to visit us.\"\n\n\"Where is he, mother? we want to see our human cousin,\" said the\nfairies.\n\nThe old woman brought the lad out from the hole and presented him to\nthe fairies, who were much pleased with him and asked him the reason\nfor his journey. The lad said that he was going after Zoolvisia.\n\n\"Zoolvisia!\" exclaimed the seven brothers. \"Be advised, cousin, do not\ngo. This is a most dangerous journey. Zoolvisia is a cruel tyrant. No\nhuman being who has ever undertaken this journey, has returned. Come,\ncousin, stay with us; be our elder brother, we your subordinates,\nand let us live together in happiness.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the lad, \"let come what may; I will go.\" Thereupon he gave\nthe seven brothers a pair of scissors, saying:\n\n\"When you see blood dripping from the scissors, know that I am in\ndanger and come to my rescue.\"\n\nAnd he took leave of his adopted cousins. On his way he came to another\ncave where seven fairies lived with their mother, the sister of the\nformer fairy woman, who accepted him as their cousin and tried to\ndissuade him from going. He gave to them a looking-glass, saying:\n\n\"When you see the glass covered with sweat, know that I am in trouble,\nand hasten to my rescue.\"\n\nThen he came to a third abode, where seven fairies lived with their\nmother, who was a sister of the former two. They also accepted him\nas cousin, and sought to dissuade him from going. He gave them a\nrazor, saying:\n\n\"When you see drops of blood falling from the edge of this razor,\nknow that my life is in danger, and run to my rescue.\"\n\nDeparting on his way he met an old monk in a cottage, who also tried\nto dissuade him; but as the lad insisted, the monk said:\n\n\"Let me advise you; Zoolvisia is the most beautiful maiden in the\nworld. She is a princess endowed from above with a talisman. She\nhas forty maids under her command who play the part of Amazons. She\ngoes up to the top of the tower of her castle every morning at\ndaybreak, dressed in her robe of pearls. Thence she gazes all about\nher realm, to see whether human beings or genii have trespassed upon\nher boundaries. Three times she cries out with a loud voice, and all\nwho have been on her ground, on hearing her voice immediately drop\ndead as if struck by lightning. It is she who, taking the shape of\nan antelope, leads hunters astray and destroys them by poisonous\nfood and water. Now, do as I advise you. As soon as you reach the\nvicinity of her castle, set up a stick and put on it your cloak and\ncap, and dig a trench in the neighborhood and conceal yourself, at the\nsame time sealing both your ears with beeswax, so that no sound can\npenetrate them. At the beginning of daybreak watch her on the top of\nthe tower. Do not stir at her first nor second call, but as soon as her\nthird call is ended, jump up from your place of concealment and stand\nbefore her. By this means you will break her talisman, and subdue her.\"\n\nThe lad thanked the old monk, and continuing his journey soon saw,\nat a distance, Zoolvisia's magnificent castle decorated with gold and\njewels. He did just as the monk had advised him, and at Zoolvisia's\nthird call jumped up and stood before her gazing at her. Zoolvisia\nrecognized him, and said:\n\n\"You have overcome me; you are brave and a real hero worthy of me. No\none except you has ever heard my voice and lived. Now my talisman\nis broken, and I have become a mere woman. Come in, hero, I and my\nforty maids will serve you.\"\n\nThe lad's heart began to yearn. All the hatred he cherished toward her\nwho had perpetrated such terrible crimes had vanished. He had fallen\nin love with her, and Zoolvisia on her part loved the lad. She let\nthe rich locks of her golden hair hang down from the window. The lad\napproached, took hold of them and kissed them, and lo! he was drawn up\nto the castle by them. They accepted one another as husband and wife,\nand celebrated their wedding for forty days and nights. The forty maids\nserved them. At the end of forty days Zoolvisia presented to the lad\nher horse of lightning. The animal seemed to be greatly pleased with\nhis new master. The lad mounted the steed and prepared to go hunting\nwhen Zoolvisia gave him as a keepsake one of the locks of her hair\nin a pearl box. So the lad continued to hunt every day. One day,\nas he was chasing a deer on the precipitous borders of the river,\nthe pearl box fell into the water and disappeared. The lad was sorry,\nbut he could not help it, and came home without it. The pearl box\nwas carried by the current of the river to the country of the King of\nthe East, where the King's fishermen drew it from the water and took\nit to their master. The King, opening the box, was surprised to see\nthe lock of golden hair. He called his noblemen and peers in council,\nand placing the box before them, said:\n\n\"You must tell me whose hair this is. If you do not give me an answer\nin three days I will cut off your heads.\"\n\n\"Long live the King!\" answered the men. \"In three days we will bring\nyou word.\"\n\nForthwith they sat in council and asked the advice of all the learned\nmen and magicians of the country, but in vain; they could not solve\nthe riddle within the three days. On the third day, a witch hearing\nof the case, came to the King's noblemen, saying:\n\n\"I can tell you what it is, but what will you give me?\"\n\n\"If you save our heads,\" said the noblemen, \"every one of us will\ngive you a handful of gold coins.\"\n\nThe witch consented, took the gold and told them of Zoolvisia and her\ngolden hair. The men told the King what they had heard from the witch,\nat the same time boasting that it was they who solved the riddle.\n\n\"Well, then,\" said the King, \"I wish you to bring me Zoolvisia. I\ndesire to marry her. I give you forty days' grace; if you do not\nbring her by that time I will cut off your heads.\"\n\nThe men at once went to the witch, saying:\n\n\"Witch, it is only you who can accomplish this and save our heads. We\nwill give you whatever you demand if you will bring Zoolvisia.\"\n\nThe witch promised. Immediately she caught a score of snakes, and\nputting them in a large pitcher, corked its mouth. She then made a\nwhip of a great black snake, and mounting upon the pitcher, gave it\nthree blows. Thereupon the pitcher began to fly through the sky as if\nit had wings, with the witch on its back. Soon she came to Zoolvisia's\ngarden, and hiding the pitcher under the weeds, she went and sat on\nthe roadside where the lad would pass on his way from hunting. She had\nintentionally put on her torn dress, and her worn and dusty shoes. In\nthe evening, the lad seeing her, asked her who she was and how she\nhad come there.\n\n\"O son!\" the witch exclaimed with a pitiful voice, \"may Heaven bless\nyou! I am a pilgrim to Jerusalem. I missed the caravan and went\nastray; seeing your house at a distance, I came to take rest. For\nHeaven's sake, give me bread and water, and let me lodge with your\ndog at your gate.\"\n\nThe lad had compassion on her and took her on the back of his\nhorse. But the wise animal knew by instinct that she was a wicked\nwoman, and standing on his hind legs, caused her to fall down.\n\n\"I will follow slowly, son,\" said the witch. \"Do you go ahead with\nyour horse.\"\n\nZoolvisia, hearing that the lad had brought an old woman, said:\n\n\"Don't let her enter our house; she may be a witch and bring calamity\nupon us.\"\n\nThe lad gave orders to the maids to keep the old woman apart and not\nlet her appear before Zoolvisia. But the witch was clever, and soon\nwon the favor of the maids, who praised her before their mistress and\nasked her for the sake of merriment to summon her to her presence, at\nleast once. She consented, and the witch was brought before her. The\nwitch had a thousand and one ways of winning a young woman, and she\nsoon became a great favorite with Zoolvisia, who could not spend an\nhour without her. One day she said to Zoolvisia:\n\n\"Blessed are you that have for a husband such a hero, who encounters\nand overcomes all, and himself is never destroyed. He discovered\nyour secret, broke your talisman, and won your love. Of course you\nknow his secret of bravery. May Heaven preserve his life! But can\nyou tell me what his secret is?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered Zoolvisia, \"I don't know what his secret is.\"\n\n\"What sort of a husband and wife are you?\" said the witch,\nscornfully. \"He knows your secret, and you do not know his; and he\nsays he loves you. Strange, strange!\"\n\nThese words were enough to excite the curiosity of Zoolvisia, who in\nthe evening again and again importuned the lad, until he was induced\nto tell her that the secret of his bravery was his magic dagger,\nwhich he carried in his belt in daytime and put under his pillow at\nnight. As soon as that dagger was taken away, he would lose all his\npower. With that they exchanged vows that nobody should know the\nsecret, and also they exchanged rings as a sign to be true to one\nanother, even to death. But woman is frail. On the following day\nZoolvisia told the secret to the witch, adding:\n\n\"I have told you this to show you how my husband loves me from\nhis heart.\"\n\nBut she did not tell her anything in regard to the vows and exchange\nof rings. On that night the witch, using her craft, caused a heavy\nsleep to fall on all the inmates of the house. At midnight she entered\nthe lad's room, and taking the magic dagger from under his pillow,\nthrew it from the window into the neighboring pond. Then she went to\nbed and pretended to sleep. In the morning Zoolvisia and the maids saw\nthat their master did not rise. They entered the room, and lo! the lad\nhad fallen from his bed and lay benumbed, foaming at the mouth. They\ncalled him; but there was no answer.\n\n\"Look under the pillow and see whether the magic dagger is there,\"\nexclaimed Zoolvisia. They looked, and lo! it had been stolen. Then\nthey all began to wail and cry. Thereupon the witch came in to see if\nthe lad were really dead. She beat her breast, she beat her knees,\nshe pulled her hair, crying and yelling all the time. Then she went\nout, brought the pitcher to the door of the castle, and re-entered\nsurrounded by scores of snakes, which were hissing with their forked\ntongues. All were stricken with terror and began to scream and\nyell. She bade the snakes bite the maidens, who all fell down in a\nswoon. Then she said to Zoolvisia:\n\n\"Now you must obey me and come with me, else I will set on you all\nthese snakes, which will bite you and tear you into pieces.\"\n\nZoolvisia was terrified and mute. The witch pushed her down the stairs,\nand thrusting her into the pitcher, shut its mouth. She then mounted\nthe pitcher, and gave three strokes with the snake whip, which caused\nit to fly. She alighted in the country of the King of the East, and\ntaking Zoolvisia out, gave her to the King's ministers, who paid her\nwith a horse-load of gold. Zoolvisia was taken to the King's palace.\n\n\n\nLet us return to the lad. The twenty-one fairies, the lad's\nadopted cousins, seeing that blood was dripping from the scissors\nand the razor, and that the looking-glass was covered with sweat,\nunderstood that their human kinsman was in danger, and hastened to\nhis rescue. Reaching the castle they saw the lad still in a torpor,\nand the maids covered with snakes. On killing the snakes, all the\nmaids revived, and told the fairies what had happened. They looked\neverywhere for the dagger, but in vain. In the evening they were all\nhungry, but there was nothing at home to eat. The fairies, seeing that\nlarge fishes were swimming in the pond, dove in and threw the fishes\nashore. A great fish being thrown ashore, was divided into two halves,\nand lo! the magic dagger fell out. The fish had swallowed it. The\nmoment the dagger was put under the lad's pillow he jumped up, washed\nhimself, and was surprised to see that his fairy cousins had come. They\ntold him everything. Immediately he ran to the stable. The horse was\nthere, but in a pitiable condition; it had neither eaten nor drunk;\nit had fallen in the dust. As soon as the animal saw the lad and\nsmelled him it jumped up, neighing. The lad gave it food to eat and\nwater to drink, brushed it clean, and kissing it on the forehead, said:\n\n\"O my wise horse! you foresaw the calamity by your unerring instinct,\nfor you threw the hag from your back; and lo! what she has brought\nupon us. Now let us go after Zoolvisia.\"\n\nThe animal, as if understanding what the lad said, neighed and beat\nthe ground with its hoofs, and seemed to say, \"Yes, let us go; I am\nready to go.\"\n\nThe lad came back to the castle, gave to the maidens many precious\npresents, and sent them away free. He gave the castle and the treasures\nin it to the fairies, himself taking only his saddlebags full of gold\ncoins. He mounted the horse and went down the river until he came to\nthe city of the King of the East. He stopped before the cottage of\nan old woman on the outskirts of the city and knocked at the door.\n\n\"Have you a night's lodging for me, mother?\" asked the lad.\n\n\"No, master, I have no place for you,\" answered the dame. \"You had\nbetter go elsewhere.\"\n\n\"Here is something for you,\" said the lad, giving her a handful of\ngold. \"You are the crown of my head, son!\" exclaimed the old woman. \"I\nhave room both for you and your horse.\"\n\nThe lad entered in to lodge. After the meal he asked the old woman\nin regard to the news in the city, and was told that Zoolvisia was\nin the King's palace, where for thirty-five days there had been a\nwedding festival, and after five days she would be married to the\nKing. But she had said to the King that she did not wish to marry\nhim, as she was the wife of some one else, and that rather than to\nbe forced to it she would die by drinking poison, which she had ready\nin her hand. She therefore received nobody.\n\n\"Well, well, mother; that is enough,\" said the lad. \"You keep a secret,\ndon't you?\"\n\n\"Oh, better than you desire,\" answered the old woman.\n\n\"Here is another handful of gold coins,\" said the lad; \"go to the\nmarket place and buy a suit of costly garments. Put them on, and go\nand see Zoolvisia. Take this ring, put it on your finger, and show\nit to her; then bring me word what she says.\"\n\nThe old woman did just as he had told her. The palace servants thought\nshe was the wife of the prime minister, and told Zoolvisia that the\ngreatest lady in the realm had come to visit her.\n\n\"I don't want her, I don't!\" cried Zoolvisia; \"let her not come\nnear me.\"\n\nThe old woman did not pay any attention to the words of the servants,\nwho told her that Zoolvisia did not want to see her, but pushed on\nand opened the door of the room where Zoolvisia was confined, and\nheld the ring before her eyes. As soon as Zoolvisia caught a glance\nof the ring, she became as tame as a lamb.\n\n\"You are welcome, kind lady!\" she exclaimed, with her sweet voice;\n\"please be seated,\" and she shut the door. When they were alone\nshe said:\n\n\"Where is the owner of that ring, mother?\"\n\n\"He is a guest in my house,\" replied the woman, \"and is waiting to\nknow your will.\"\n\n\"Go tell him,\" said Zoolvisia, \"to rest for three days. Do you\nimmediately go to the King, and say that you have persuaded me to\nbecome his wife. Let him be of good cheer. On the third day I shall\ngo for recreation to the public garden. It is the business of your\nguest to do the rest. Farewell!\"\n\n\"Farewell!\" said the old woman, and went directly to the King's\napartment, saying proudly that she had persuaded Zoolvisia, who\nearly on the third day would go to the public garden for recreation,\nand when she returned would become his wife. The King was delighted,\nand gave the old woman costly presents. She came and told her guest\nall that had happened. Early on the third day, as Zoolvisia had gone\nto the public garden with great pomp, the lad came on the back of his\nhorse like a flash of lightning, put his arm about Zoolvisia's waist,\nand in the twinkling of an eye, disappeared. The crowd thought it was a\nhurricane, and all were stricken with terror. As soon as the King and\nhis men realized the fact that she had been taken away, they mounted\ntheir horses and started in pursuit of the unknown horseman. The lad,\nhaving put Zoolvisia in a safe place, came back with his horse of\nlightning, killed the King and his favorites with his magic dagger,\nand told the crowd in the public garden who he was. The people, who\nwere tired of their tyrannical King, prayed that he would become their\nKing and Zoolvisia their Queen. The lad went and brought Zoolvisia\nback. A crowd conducted them with great pomp to the throne, where\nthey are still reigning as King and Queen.\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDRAGON-CHILD AND SUN-CHILD.\n\n\nThere was once a King who had no children, and whose life was very\ndesolate. He asked the advice of all the doctors and learned men of his\nrealm to relieve him of his trouble, but it was of no avail. In order\nto forget his dejected condition, he gave his time to hunting. One\nday, as he was walking in the forest he saw a snake coiled in the sun,\nsurrounded by its little ones. For a long time he gazed wistfully at\nthis family circle, and recognizing that his condition was inferior\nto that of the reptile parent, he sighed deeply and complained against\nHeaven, saying:\n\n\"O Heaven! have I not so much value before you as this reptile,\nthat you torment me by denying to me offspring and happiness?\"\n\nHe never forgot the sight of this snake-family. One day a child came\nto the palace, but it was a monster, half man and half dragon. Now\nthe grief of the King was heavier than before. They could not kill\nthe monster because it was of royal birth. They therefore cast the\nDragon-child into a dry well, where they fed him by giving him a\nskinful of goat's milk every day. Soon the Dragon-child grew and\nrequired meat for his diet. Then they cast to him, every week, a tender\ngirl; and when he grew older, they gave him a maiden to devour. Every\nhouse of the land furnished a maiden for the Dragon-child. It came\nthe turn of a poor man who, being a widower, had a daughter from\nhis former wife, and had married a widow who had a daughter of her\nown. The husband said that they must cast the wife's daughter to the\nDragon-child, but his wife insisted that they must cast the husband's\ndaughter. The woman's will was followed and so the stepmother prepared\nher stepdaughter to be cast to the Dragon-child on the following\nday. The maiden was very beautiful and graceful. She wept all night\nand prayed God to pity her. At midnight she heard some one speak to\nher in her dreams, saying:\n\n\"Maiden, do not fear being cast to the Dragon-child. Tell your father\nto send with you three skinfuls of the milk of a black goat, and\ndo you provide a knife for yourself. Let your father wrap you in a\nbull's skin and lower you and the milk by a rope into the well. When\nthe Dragon-child bids you come out from the bull's skin in order that\nhe may devour you, tell him to come out from the dragon's skin, that\nyou may bathe him with milk. When he comes out, do you also cut the\nbull's skin with your knife and come out of the skin and bathe him.\"\n\nOn the following morning the maiden told her dream to her father, who\ngot the required things ready, at the same time praying Heaven that\nwhat the maiden had dreamed might come true. The maiden being lowered\ninto the well, the Dragon-child bade her come out of the bull's skin;\nto which the maiden answered as she was advised. Thereupon in its fury,\nthe dragon's skin burst, and lo! there issued from it a handsome\nlad. The maiden cut the bull's skin with her knife, in a hurry to\nemerge, but in her haste she fell down, and one of her front teeth\nwas broken. She bathed the lad with goat's milk and he became a sound,\ngallant youth, who at once expressed his gratitude to her for releasing\nhim from his horrible bondage. Just then the maiden's father came to\nthe mouth of the well, to see whether her dream was true or false,\nand perceiving them, ran to inform the King, who hastened to the spot\naccompanied by the Queen and his peers. They drew the Dragon-child\nand his deliverer from the well with great joy and ceremony. They\ncelebrated a wedding festival for forty days and nights, and the\nyouth and the maiden loved one another and were married.\n\nIt came to pass, after a time, that on account of a war the\nDragon-child had to go away from home. When he was about departing he\nasked his mother not to send his bride away, not even to her father's,\nlest some misfortune should befall her. The Queen promised. But a\nthousand devils had entered the heart of the bride's stepmother,\nwho was jealous of her good luck. She came and invited the bride to\ntheir house, saying that both she and her husband were longing to\nsee her. When this was refused she sent her husband, who urgently\nentreated the Queen to send his daughter to his house at least for\none day. The Queen thought there could be no harm in this, and so she\nlet the bride go. The stepmother took her daughter and the bride for\na walk on the seashore. When they came there she said to them:\n\n\"Daughters, let us bathe.\"\n\nThey entered the sea to bathe. The wicked woman, pretending to help the\nbride, took her toward the deep sea, where she gave her a violent push\nand she was caught by the waves and was drawn by the current out to\nthe open sea. When she was sure that the bride had been drowned, she\nhastened to the shore with her own daughter, and putting the bride's\ndress on the latter, sent her to the King's palace as the true bride.\n\n\n\nLet us turn to the fortunes of the maiden in the sea. For a long time\nshe struggled against the violent waves, and was saved from being\ndrowned by catching hold of an empty cask which happened to float near\nher. The wind blew from the shore, and the current carried the cask and\nthe maiden away to the open sea. For three days and nights she floated\nwith the cask, and then she was cast upon an uninhabited shore. She\nwalked for a time on the coast, but saw no sign of a human being. She\nwas hungry, naked and very tired. The first thing she did was to gather\nrushes and moss and weave for herself something like an apron to hide\nher nakedness. She then gathered wild berries and ate, and quenched\nher thirst from a brook nearby. While she was lingering on the banks\nof the brook she noticed a small hut hidden among the bullrushes and\nweeds. Proceeding thither, she looked in, and lo! a lad was sleeping\nin the hut. She sat down near the door of the hut. Soon after sunset\nthe lad awoke, and as he was coming out of the hut, he noticed the\nmaiden. Thinking that she was a fairy or a demon, he made upon his\nface the sign of the cross, at the same time stepping backward. But\nto his surprise, seeing that she did not vanish, he said to her:\n\n\"Are you a fairy, a demon or a human being? Disclose yourself.\"\n\nThe maiden told him her story.\n\n\"My own story is as strange as yours,\" then said the lad. \"I was the\nonly son of a rich man and had plenty to spend and enjoy. I led a\ndissipated life and went hunting every day. Once it happened that I\ndid not shoot any game for three days in succession. I was enraged\nto the verge of madness, and wandered all the night. At daybreak my\nmadness reached its climax, and I resolved to shoot the sun and drop\nhim dead from his orb that darkness might cover the world, since I\ncould take no game and have no pleasure. At once I grasped my bow\nand arrow, took aim at the sun, who had just lifted his shining face\nfrom behind the hills, and had hardly loosed the bowstring when I\nfelt a blazing palm slap me in the face; a hand of fire took hold\nof my hair and cast me into this wilderness, and I heard an angry\nvoice thundering at me from the overhanging clouds, declaring that\nI was cursed and should never see the light of the sun any more. I\nthus remain abandoned here, and sleep in the hut all the day while\nthe sun shines, and go out only at night to procure food. If I go\nout of this hut after daybreak I am doomed to die a horrible death.\"\n\nAs fate had so strangely cast these two youthful beings into the same\nlonely place, they decided to live together, accepting one another as\nhusband and wife. Thus she who had been the consort of the Dragon-child\nwas now the companion of the Sun-child. The woman worked in the\ndaytime, and the man at night, and so they earned their living. But\nsoon married life brought a change upon the woman, who needed the\nhelp of others, and they decided that she must go to the parents of\nthe Sun-child. The lad wrote the following letter to his parents:\n\n\"I herewith send you your daughter-in-law; keep her and take care of\nher as my wife. But do not seek me; I cannot see the sun, I cannot\ncome home, neither can I enter the city. If I do come I shall surely\ndie; I am cursed.\"\n\nWalking during the nights, and hiding himself in caves in daytime,\nthe lad brought his wife to the vicinity of his parents' house,\nand himself went back to his lonely hut. The woman gave the letter\nto her father-in-law, and was accepted. The lad's father and mother\nhearing that their son was alive, said they would go and bring him,\nbut the bride dissuaded them, saying that they would be the means\nof his death. In the fullness of time the family was cheered by the\nbirth of a son, which the young mother put in a cradle and rocked,\nsinging to it melodious lullabies from the incidents of her own\nlife. One night as the young mother was putting her baby to sleep,\nanother voice was heard out in the darkness singing a melodious\nlullaby. The bride recognized the voice to be that of the Sun-child,\nwho had come from such a great distance, being drawn by the love of\nthe baby; but he could not enter. This was repeated several times\nuntil the bride's father and mother-in-law heard that somebody was\nin the habit of coming at night, and singing lullabies by turns with\ntheir daughter-in-law. Suspicion entered into their minds that the\nbride might have a lover who was making nightly calls on her. The\nyoung woman, seeing that they were watching her with mistrust, said:\n\n\"It is your son who comes and sings lullabies; the love which he\nbears to the baby draws him, but he cannot enter; the moment you\ncompel him to come in he dies.\"\n\n\"Nay, you are lying!\" exclaimed her father and mother-in-law with rage;\n\"there must be some foul play here. We will keep watch and catch the\nnightly visitor; if he proves to be our son, well and good; if not,\nwoe be unto you.\"\n\nThat night they kept watch, and when the voice from outside was\nheard they ran and took hold of the man, and lo! it was their son,\nwho begged them, saying:\n\n\"For Heaven's sake, let me go! If by the time the sun rises I am not\nhid in my hut, I die. Spare my life; I am cursed!\"\n\nThis sounded to his father and mother like deceit, and they kept him\nat home until daybreak. As soon as the first rays of the sun beamed\nfrom the East, lo! the lad sank in the arms of his father and mother,\nand died. He died, but strange to say, his spirit did not depart\nfrom him entirely. They said he would revive at sunset. But not so;\nat night also he was in the same benumbed state. The house was changed\ninto a house of sorrow; but worse than that befell. He was not dead\nso that they could bury him and he was not alive so that they might\ntalk with him or administer a remedy. The parents took stones and\nbeat their own heads, they pulled their hair, and sat in ashes and\nsackcloth. They lamented and wailed, but it was all of no avail. One\nnight the afflicted mother dreamed a dream in which this revelation\nwas made to her:\n\n\"Get up, put on iron sandals, take in your hand an iron rod and\ntravel toward the West, until your sandals are worn and your rod is\nbroken. Wherever holes are opened in your sandals and your rod is\nbroken, there you will find a remedy for your son.\"\n\nThere is no limit to a mother's love and pity. As soon as she awoke\nin the morning she ordered the blacksmith to make her a pair of iron\nsandals and an iron rod, and she set out toward the West, walking day\nand night. She traveled through the countries of white men, red men,\nblack men; she passed through the lands of fairies, giants and genii:\nshe went farther than beasts and birds would dare to go; she had\ngone to the very limits of the earth. There she saw at a distance a\npalace built of blue marble, whither she proceeded. Before the palace\ndoor the iron rod fell from her hand and was broken; she got out her\nsandals to shake off the dust, and lo! they were worn and there was\na hole in each. She said to herself:\n\n\"It is here that I shall find a remedy for my son!\"\n\nShe entered and passed through twelve courtyards in succession. Each\ncourtyard was surrounded by four arches, where thousands of myriads of\nstars were sleeping. At the center of each courtyard there was a marble\npond with a stream of crystal water gushing from an orifice. There were\nno trees, no grass, no birds, no beasts, and no other creature. A deep\nsilence was reigning everywhere. Upon the pond in the middle courtyard\nthere were four golden arches, upon which there was a golden room of\ngreat splendor with a pearl bed in the center. Near the window there\nwas, sitting upon a golden throne, a Queen so fair and beautiful,\nthat no human being can describe her loveliness. From head to foot she\nwas covered with diamonds and her face beamed with rays of light. At\nsight of this grandeur the poor woman was greatly amazed; she turned\npale and began to shiver like an autumn leaf before a cold blast from\nthe North. She fell upon her knees, and lifting her hands, was about\nto speak, when suddenly the Queen interrupted her, saying:\n\n\"Human being, Heaven has never permitted a member of the human race\nto enter this palace before. As you are the first mortal who has\nbeen allowed to come so far, you must have some valid reason. From\nyour appearance I judge that you are a mother and have some maternal\ngrief. Tell it to me; be not afraid.\"\n\nThese words of the Queen encouraged the woman, who said:\n\n\"Long live the Queen! Yes, I am a mother, and have traveled so far\nto ask the life of my only son.\"\n\nAnd she told her story, to which the Queen made answer:\n\n\"Your son was an evil boy. I am a mother myself. The Sun is my son,\nby whose living rays heaven and earth are illumined. Your son was\nso wicked that he wanted to shoot my son, the giver of life to\nthe universe. All kinds of sins may be pardonable to a man, but a\nsin against the sole source of life is not pardonable. Your son was\ntherefore doomed to be deprived of life. He is cursed. He will live,\nbut not live; he will die, but not die.\"\n\n\"I am a mother,\" repeated the woman, \"come to beg the life of my\nson. I have come so far that my iron sandals are worn out, and my\niron rod is broken. I would willingly go still further if it were\nnecessary. For the love you bear your son, O Queen of this luminous\norb, devise a remedy for my grief!\"\n\nThese words served to arouse the compassion of the Queen, who replied:\n\n\"There are very many unworthy children who enjoy life simply because of\ntheir virtuous mothers. Let it be so with your son, O virtuous woman,\nwho bear such great maternal love in your heart! Now, go hide yourself\nbehind yonder stars. The day is growing towards evening and my son will\nsoon be here; if you do not hide yourself you will be burned. The first\nthing he does after reaching this place is to dive in this pond; then\nhe comes to be nursed from my breast. Just then take a bottle full of\nthe water of the pond where he has been washing, and carry it home. As\nsoon as you sprinkle that water upon your son he will be healed.\"\n\nSoon the Sun came embodied in flames. The Stars waked and stood\non their feet for a time to salute their mighty King; then they\nscattered over the surface of the blue dome to twinkle in their\nrespective orbits, because it was night. The Sun dove into the pond,\nand the Queen stretching out her hand took him out of the water. She\nplaced him in the bed of pearl and began to nurse him, for the Sun,\nwho never wears out, never grows old, is a baby from everlasting\nto everlasting. The woman came out from her concealment and taking\na bottle of water from the pond, quickly retraced her steps. She\narrived safely at her home, and sprinkled the water upon her son,\nwho was healed. The report of this most wonderful journey of the\nwoman was published all over the world, and princes and philosophers\ncame from distant countries and from the ends of the earth to see\nthe woman and the Sun-child, and to hear of all these wonderful things.\n\nAmong those who came from distant lands was the Dragon-child. He\nhad returned safe from the wars and was surprised to find his\nbride changed, although the two step-sisters very much resembled one\nanother. But as the Dragon-child had put a golden tooth in the place of\nthe front tooth of his bride, which was broken in the well, he was able\nto detect the substitution. Upon a strict examination of his mother,\nhe discovered that the bride had been sent to her stepmother's where,\nas he supposed, she had been gotten rid of, and was replaced by her\nstepsister. All his efforts to find his lost bride being in vain, the\nDragon-child had come to see the Sun-child and his mother, with the\nexpectation of finding some means for the discovery of his wife. He\nbecame a guest in the Sun-child's house, and told his story while\nthey were eating supper. The bride, who was serving at the table,\nsmiled and showed her golden tooth. This caused her to be discovered,\nand the Sun-child told how she had come and found him. Now as they\nhad partaken of bread together, they had become friends, and agreed\nto solve the difficulty in a friendly manner. They decided to roast\nsalt meat and make the bride eat it, without letting her drink. Each\nwas to take a pitcher of water, and they all were to go riding in the\nfields. He whom she should ask for a drink must be her husband. They\ndid so, and took a ride in the fields, the wife accompanying them with\nher child in her arms. She was thirsty, but not wishing to offend\nany one of them, she kept silent for a time. Finally she saw that\nshe would faint and must put an end to the perplexed state.\n\n\"Sun-child! Sun-child!\" she exclaimed.\n\nThe Sun-child dismounted and prepared to give her a drink. Thereupon\nshe exclaimed:\n\n\"Dragon-child! Dragon-child!\"\n\nHe also dismounted and prepared to give her a drink. Turning to the\nSun-child, she said:\n\n\"Here, take this child whose father you are; but I am the wedded wife\nof the Dragon-child.\"\n\nAnd she drank from the Dragon-child's pitcher, and went home with him.\n\nThus their trouble ended and they attained their wishes. May all\nwho are afflicted find consolation. Three apples fell from heaven;\none for me, one for the story-teller, and one for him who entertained\nthe company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMIRZA.\n\n\nA king, on suspicion of an attempt to usurp the throne, had put his\nbrother in chains and suspended him between heaven and earth. The King\nwas old, and the day of his death being near, he called his three\nsons, and advised them not to leave the throne empty, lest their\nuncle should usurp it and put them to death. After giving the young\nPrinces other important counsel, the old King died. The oldest son,\nwho succeeded his father on the throne, one day went fowling. The\nyoungest brother, whose name was Mirza, remembering their father's\nadvice, immediately leaped up and sat on the throne. In the evening\nthe oldest brother returned and began to scold Mirza, saying:\n\n\"How now, rogue! Have you a mind to usurp my throne?\"\n\n\"No, your majesty,\" replied Mirza; \"I sat on the throne lest our\nuncle, finding it empty, should usurp it. But if it displeases you\nI will not do it again.\"\n\nOn the following day the King again went fowling, and the throne\nwas left empty. Suddenly a loud jangling of chains was heard, and\nlo! the uncle, having broken the fetters, descended from the skies\nand seated himself on the empty throne. Forthwith he ordered his men\nto put the three brothers to death, but his officials interceded and\nbegged the King not to kill his nephews, but to banish them from the\ncountry. The King consented, and the three brothers were banished.\n\nThe lot of the three Princes was now to lead a sad, wandering life\nin the dreary desert. After a long journey, they came to a ruined\nmill just at the time when the sun was going down. The elder brothers\nat once dismounted to spend the night in the ruined mill, but Mirza\nimplored them not to do so, saying:\n\n\"Brothers, when our father died he advised us that in case our uncle\nusurped the throne and banished us, we must take heed not to lodge\nin a ruined mill, not to camp on a green meadow, and not to resort\nto the Black Mountain. Come, be advised, lest worse trouble befall.\"\n\n\"Hush, coward!\" said the elder brothers, and they prepared to lodge\nin the mill. The oldest brother said:\n\n\"Let us turn the horses out to pasture, and do you two go to bed;\nI will keep watch all night.\"\n\nAfter eating their meal the two younger brothers went to bed, while\nthe oldest began his watch. Mirza shut his eyes and pretended to sleep,\npeeping, however, through his eyelashes to see what his oldest brother\nwas doing. After watching a while the latter was tired, withdrew\nand went to bed. By the snoring of his brothers, Mirza understood\nthat they had fallen into sound sleep. He rose, girded on his magic\nsword, and taking his bow and arrow, began to walk about and to keep\nwatch. In the middle of the night he saw, at a distance, the gleaming\nof a light which drew nearer and nearer, and soon, to his terror,\nhe saw a horrible dragon with seven heads, on each of which was an\nenormous jewel burning like a torch. It approached his brothers and\nwas about to devour them, when Mirza took aim and shot all its seven\nheads with a single arrow. The monster stretched itself on the ground,\nhissing and wheezing. The lad drew his magic sword, and cutting the\ndragon to pieces put the seven jewels in his pocket. He spent the rest\nof the night watching, and toward morning went to bed and pretended\nto sleep. On the morrow the oldest brother awoke and nudged Mirza in\nthe side, saying:\n\n\"Get up, ho! have you not slept enough? I was guarding your repose\nall night long.\"\n\nAll three rose and started upon their journey. They traveled until\nthey came to a green meadow, at the sight of which the two elder\nbrothers dismounted and began to pitch their tents to spend the night,\nin spite of the entreaties of Mirza, who reminded them of the advice\nof their father to avoid the green meadow.\n\n\"What a coward you are!\" exclaimed the second brother. \"You need\nnot be so much afraid; I will keep guard to-night,\" and dismounting,\nall three pitched their tents on the green meadow. The second brother\nkept watch till midnight, and then went to bed. Mirza, who was only\npretending to sleep, hearing his second brother snore soundly, got up,\ngirded on his magic sword, and taking his bow and arrows, began to\nkeep watch. Soon he saw something approaching the tents. As it drew\nnearer, he could see that it was a terrible giantess, with one of her\nlips reaching the skies, and the other sweeping the ground. He at once\ntook ambush in a neighboring trench, and aimed an arrow toward her,\nsaying to himself:\n\n\"If she does no harm to my brothers I will not shoot her.\"\n\nThe giantess arrived and was apparently surprised to find three tents,\nand three horses, but only two men. However, she came to the conclusion\nthat the third human being had been devoured by the wild beasts. She\nthen approached the two sleeping lads and hung a sleep-ring on an\near of each, saying:\n\n\"Sleep now, until I send my seven sons to devour you.\"\n\nMirza followed her until she came to a large rock, which was the gate\nof an underground cave. She turned the rock over, and entering the\ncave, exclaimed to her sons:\n\n\"Get up, boys! I have found a good meal for you. Go make your repast\non the two human beings, and save a portion for me.\" Mirza stood at\nthe cave's entrance with his magic sword, and cut off the head of\neach giant as they came out one by one. Then he entered the cave,\nand taking hold of the giantess, said:\n\n\"Ugly hag! did you dare to send your sons to devour my\nbrothers! Here! share the fate of your younglings.\" So speaking, he\ncut her head off too. He came back and found his brothers snoring as\nbefore. He took the sleep-rings from their ears, and at daybreak went\nto bed and feigned sleep. In the morning the second brother jogged\nMirza, saying:\n\n\"Get up, ho! will you sleep till noon? Have a little mercy on me,\nwho have watched all the night.\"\n\nThey all rose and mounted their horses. That day they came to the\nBlack Mountain, where the two elder brothers desired to camp. Mirza\nbegan again to implore them, saying:\n\n\"This time, at least, let us follow the advice of our father and not\nhalt on this enchanted ground; let us avoid a third disaster which\nmay perhaps be fatal.\"\n\n\"What a coward you are!\" exclaimed his brothers. \"What danger was\nthere in lodging in the mill or in camping on the green meadows? As\nit is your turn to watch to-night, you grumble. Be silent! We will\ncamp here to-night, and you must keep watch.\"\n\nThey pitched their tents, and after a meal, the two elder brothers soon\nwent to bed. Mirza girded on his magic sword, took his bow and arrows,\nand began his watch. The first part of the night was quiet. After\nmidnight he sat down to take a little rest, and on account of his\nsleeplessness on the two previous nights, he soon fell asleep. When\nhe opened his eyes it was near daybreak. He rose, and to his great\ndismay he found the fire was out. It was a sign that he had slept and\nthis would disgrace him. He could not start the fire anew because the\nflint and steel were in the pockets of the other brothers. He ran\nto the top of the neighboring hill, whence he saw a light gleaming\nat a distance. He determined to fetch embers from that light, and\nmake his own fire. On the hilltop he met an old man winding a ball\nof black thread, while another ball of white thread lay near him.\n\n\"Good-day to you, father!\" said the lad.\n\n\"God's blessing rest upon you!\" answered the old man.\n\n\"Who are you, and what are these balls?\" asked Mirza.\n\n\"I am Time,\" answered the old man; \"this black ball signifies the\nnight, which as you see, is near its end. As soon as it finishes, the\nmorning breaks. Then I will roll this white ball, which represents\nthe day, down the hill, and it will go on unwrapping until it is\nnoon. I shall then wrap it again, and finish just when it is evening.\"\n\nMirza snatched the black ball from the old man's hand, and rolling\nit down the hill, unwrapped it, saying:\n\n\"Now, father, wrap it up again. I wish this night to be a little\nlonger, for I have much to do.\"\n\nSo saying, he proceeded toward the gleaming light. On arriving he\nsaw that it came from a cave, with a fireplace over which there was a\ngreat cauldron with forty handles. The meat of seven oxen was cooking\nin the cauldron, around which forty giants were lying asleep. The\nyouth approached the fireplace, seized the cauldron, put it down,\ntaking some embers from under, replaced it and started back on his\nway. It chanced that one of the giants was watching, and saw what the\nlad did. As soon as Mirza disappeared, he woke his brothers and told\nthem what the human being had done. All the forty were surprised,\nand bit their lips upon hearing this marvelous news in regard to a\nhuman being, who had displayed a strength surpassing the united force\nof the forty brothers. At once they decided to make that human hero\ntheir partner; so accordingly they ran after him, and overtaking him,\nproposed to him to be their brother. The lad consented, and they\nadopted each other as brothers, exchanging promises to go to one\nanother's assistance in case of need. Mirza returned to the camp,\nand after starting the fire, lay down to take a morning nap. By that\ntime his brothers awakened, and jogged him in the side, saying:\n\n\"Get up! we have been watching this night also, and do you still\nsleep?\"\n\nHe did not utter a word. They all mounted their horses and went their\nway until they came to the city of the King of the Black Mountain,\nand camped in a meadow outside the city. In the middle of the night\nas Mirza was keeping watch around the camp, he saw giants proceeding\ntoward the palace of the King. Coming nearer he perceived that they\nwere his adopted brothers each carrying a large iron nail as long as\na man is high.\n\n\"God speed!\" said Mirza.\n\n\"Well met!\" answered the giants; \"come and help us in our enterprise\nto-night, and here are three golden apples as a present for you. The\nKing has three daughters whom we have been hunting for seven years,\nbut cannot find. We have prepared these three golden apples for their\nlove, but we will give them to you if you help us. We have made these\niron nails to use in climbing the walls.\"\n\nMirza's anger began to boil, but he carefully concealed his feeling.\n\n\"Very well,\" he said, at last, \"this very night you will attain your\ndesires, but you must obey me.\"\n\nHe walked at their head and the giants followed until they came to\nthe foot of the palace wall. He took the iron nails, and thrusting\nthem into the wall with his thumb, formed a row of steps by which he\ncould ascend to the top of the wall. He then ordered the giants to\nmount, and as they went up one by one, he cut off their heads with\nhis magic sword, throwing their bodies into a trench on the other\nside. Then cutting off the ears of each, he put them in his pocket,\nand arranged their heads in a row on the top of the wall. After that\nhe jumped over and entered the palace. In the King's bedchamber he\nsaw a golden candlestick burning at the head of the King's bed, and\na silver candlestick burning at the foot. Mirza changed the places\nof the candlesticks, and drank the syrup which was in the golden cup\nnear the King. As he was going out, he saw a dragon coiled around\nthe pillar ready to devour the King. At once he drew his dagger,\nand stabbed the dragon, nailing it to the pillar. Next he took the\nKing's dagger from under his pillow and put it in his belt. Then\nhe entered the bedchamber of the three maidens, drank the syrup in\ntheir golden cups and placed a golden apple on the pillow of each,\nthus betrothing the oldest to his oldest brother, the middle one to\nhis middle brother, and the youngest to himself. He also placed on\nthe pillow of the youngest maiden a necklace made of the seven jewels\nwhich he had taken by killing the seven-headed dragon in the ruined\nmill. Then he came back to his tent, and at daybreak went to bed.\n\nWhen morning came there was a great tumult among the people of\nthe city, who had seen the heads of the forty giants who had been\nbutchered. Informants ran to the King bearing the glad tidings that his\nforty troublesome enemies had all been killed, that their bodies were\nlying in the trench and their heads were on the top of the wall. The\nKing, who by that time had discovered what had happened in his palace,\nwas filled with amazement. His peers and subjects came to congratulate\nhim. Upon this the King sent out heralds to proclaim that the one who\ndid all these things, whoever he might be, must present himself. Not\nonly should he become the son-in-law of the King by marrying the most\nbeautiful of the three maidens, but the King would gladly bestow on\nhim any gift which he might ask. Thousands appeared before the King\nclaiming to be the hero, but none could prove it. No man was left in\nthe city who did not make his appearance before the sovereign. Then\nthe King bade his men call the strangers who were camping without\nthe walls. Mirza feigned sickness, and at first did not go. His two\nbrothers feared that they were to be fined for trampling upon the\nKing's ground, but as soon as they were told wherefore they were\ncalled, they began to boast that they had done the heroic deed,\nyet upon trial they also were turned back in shame.\n\n\"Is there no one else left?\" inquired the King.\n\n\"Nobody,\" answered the attendant, \"except a sickly boy lying in the\ntent of these strangers.\"\n\n\"Bring him hither,\" ordered the King.\n\nMirza, seeing the King's attendant about to force him to go, rose,\nand leaping on the back of his horse, made his appearance before the\nKing. He put before him the ears of the forty giants and told the\nKing how he slew them, how he changed the places of the candlesticks,\nhow he stabbed the dragon, and betrothed the King's daughters to his\nbrothers and to himself. He gave to the King the dagger, and drew out\nfrom the pillar his own dagger which neither the King nor his peers\nhad been able to withdraw. The King sprang from his throne and kissed\nMirza on the forehead, exclaiming:\n\n\"May Heaven bless you, worthy hero! You are my beloved son-in-law,\nand after my death my throne is yours.\"\n\nHis brothers bowed down before Mirza, saying:\n\n\"Pardon our harshness; hereafter you are our elder brother and we\nare your subordinates.\"\n\nAfter that there was a great wedding festival for forty days and forty\nnights, and the three maidens were given in marriage to the three\nbrothers. At the nuptials, however, the brides said to the bridegrooms:\n\n\"We are not for you, such frail men as you are. Do you think killing\nforty dwarfish giants a heroic act? Not so. We have our lover, upon\nwhose breast roses and lilies grow. If you are men of valor, go fight\nthe Roaring Giant, our lover; if you can overcome him we are yours,\nbut not until you do so.\"\n\nOn the following morning, Mirza advised his brothers to keep silent\nand not reveal their secret, lest they should be the laughing-stock of\nthe people. He took leave of the King, saying that he had an important\nwork to do, and would be absent for two months. He started, and after\na long journey came to a white castle. A maiden as beautiful as the\nmoon was sitting in the window working with her needle. Seeing the lad,\nshe said to him:\n\n\"Human being, neither the snake on its belly, nor the bird with its\nwing could come here! How could you venture to come?\"\n\n\"Your love brought me hither, fair maiden,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"Here is food for you,\" said the maiden, letting down from the window\na basket; \"eat, and go your way. This castle belongs to the White\nGiant. Go away before he comes, lest he devour you.\"\n\n\"Who are you, fair maiden? Who has brought you hither?\" inquired\nthe lad.\n\n\"My father is the King of India. We were three sisters, but the White\nGiant, the Red Giant, and the Black Giant stole us and brought us\ninto this lonely country. It has been seven years since I have seen\na human being.\"\n\nMirza asked if she knew where the Roaring Giant lived.\n\n\"You must pass the lands of the Red Giant and the Black Giant before\nyou arrive,\" said the maiden.\n\n\"Farewell!\" said Mirza.\n\n\"Farewell!\" said the fair maiden, sighing.\n\nMirza continued on his way. Toward evening he saw the White Giant\nreturning from hunting. He detected his presence by the human smell,\nand seeing Mirza, exclaimed:\n\n\"What luck! I have not tasted human flesh for a long time;\" and he\nassailed Mirza, to devour him.\n\n\"Halt!\" exclaimed the lad, preparing his bow and arrow. \"I shall\nprove a hard nut for you to crack. My name is Mirza. I have so far\nbutchered forty-seven giants; you are the forty-eighth.\"\n\nHe shot his arrow, which passed through the giant's heart and nailed\nhim to the ground. Drawing his magic sword, he cut off his head,\nand thrusting it on his sword's point took it to the white castle\nand called to the maiden:\n\n\"Fair Princess, here is the head of the White Giant, whom I have\nsacrificed to your love.\"\n\nThe maiden seeing it from the window, ran wild with joy. At once she\nopened the door of the castle, saying:\n\n\"Enter, and may Heaven bless you, who came to deliver me from my\nbondage!\"\n\nThe lad entered, and that night lodged in the castle. On the morning,\nwhen departing, he put on the maiden's finger a ring, saying:\n\n\"Now you are the betrothed of my oldest brother. After fighting the\nother giants I will come back and carry you with me.\"\n\nAnd he took leave of her. After a long journey he came to a black\ncastle with a beautiful maiden sitting in the window, who gave him\nrefreshment as the former had done. Leaving her, he met the Black\nGiant, and killing him as he had the former one, brought his head to\nthe maiden. He spent the night there, and on the following morning,\nputting a ring on the finger of the maiden, betrothed her to his\nsecond brother. Another long journey brought him to a red castle. A\nmaiden as beautiful as the sun was sitting in the window and working\nwith her needle. The lad at first glance fell in love with her. She\nalso had fallen in love with him at first sight, and said to him:\n\n\"Human being, for Heaven's sake, beware of the Red Giant!\"\n\n\"I have come on purpose to fight with him, fair creature,\" answered\nthe lad. \"I have already killed the White Giant and the Black Giant\nand freed your sisters.\"\n\n\"But the Red Giant is a sorcerer,\" said the maiden, \"and when brought\nto bay, changes himself into a mound of earth, with a hole at the\ntop, whence he pours out smoke and flames, and devours everyone who\nventures to go near.\"\n\nHe had hardly departed from the maiden, when lo! the Red Giant\nappeared, brandishing his terrible mace.\n\n\"Aha!\" exclaimed the Giant, seeing the lad, \"a delicious morsel indeed\nis this which has come to me of its own free will.\"\n\n\"Nay, come, let us fight,\" said the lad, \"and see who shall be the\nmorsel, I or you!\" and he prepared his bow and arrow.\n\n\"Dwarfish human being!\" exclaimed the giant, \"how can you oppose me?\"\n\nSaying this, he threw his mace at the lad, who took hold of it,\nexclaiming:\n\n\"I have killed forty-nine giants, your White and Black brothers\nincluded. Mirza is my name; do you think you will escape from my hand?\"\n\nWhen the giant heard that this was Mirza, the terror of the giants, he\nwas so frightened that he at once changed himself into a red mound with\nsmoke and flames shooting out from the hole in its top. Immediately the\nlad jumped on the mound, drew his magic sword and thrusting it into the\nsmoking hole, began quickly to stir it until the heart and intestines\nof the Giant were cut to pieces and were thrown out of the orifice. The\nyouth then jumped down, and lo! the mound fell and was ruined. Mirza\nthen went back to the red castle and called to the maiden.\n\n\"Fair Princess,\" he said, showing her his sword dyed with blood and\nthe pieces of the giant's heart and intestines still clinging to it,\n\"I have sacrificed the Red Giant to your love.\"\n\nThe maiden was almost wild with joy. She opened the door, and embracing\nMirza's feet, exclaimed:\n\n\"Hero! you have saved me; I owe you my life and all my being. I am\nstill a virgin, and though unworthy to be your wife, for Heaven's\nsake accept me as your handmaid!\"\n\n\"Nay, fair maiden, you are my love, you are my betrothed if you do\nlove me,\" said the lad, putting a ring on her finger.\n\nThen the lad asked her concerning the place where lived the Roaring\nGiant.\n\n\"Be advised, do not go,\" said the maiden. \"The Roaring Giant is a cruel\ntyrant; you will not come back alive; do not go. He is vulnerable only\nby his own bow and arrows, and who shall give them to you that you may\nshoot him with them? It is impossible. For the sake of the love you\nbear to me, do not go, or take me with you that I may die with you,\"\nand the maiden began to sob.\n\n\"Nay, love, do not cry,\" said the lad, \"I must go at any risk.\"\n\nAnd he started. After a long journey he came to a magnificent castle\ndecorated with gold and jewels. It was the castle of the Roaring\nGiant. It was toward evening when the lad arrived. At once he took the\nshape of a servant, sprinkled water about the palace, swept all clean,\nand hid himself behind the trees and bushes. Soon a noise like that\nof thunder was heard, from the distant mountains. It was the Roaring\nGiant who was coming from fowling. Every bird, every beast of the\nforest hid itself on hearing the noise of the giant. Mirza's hair\nstood on end, and he felt what a terrible task it was which he had\nundertaken. The giant, seeing the courtyard round the palace swept\nand cleaned was pleased, and soliloquized to himself:\n\n\"This must be the work of a human being; I must find him out; it\nwould be pleasant to have a human servant.\" And he exclaimed:\n\n\"Where are you, human being? Who are you? Come out from your hiding\nplace. I will not hurt you, but give you what you desire.\"\n\nMirza leaped out from his place of concealment, and stood before the\nRoaring Giant, saying in a humble voice:\n\n\"My lord, I have lost my companions and gone astray. Heaven was kind\nenough to guide me until I came to your door. Will you accept me as\nyour servant?\"\n\nThe giant accepted him, and the lad served so diligently and devotedly\nthat the giant was greatly pleased, and held him in high esteem. One\nday the giant and the lad entered the flower garden. Roses,\nviolets and other flowers of every color and perfume grew there\nluxuriously. Nightingales, birds of paradise, and all kinds of birds\nand beasts of the forest were there. In the middle of the orchard\na fountain gushed out its crystal waters, and formed a pond amid\noverhanging verdure. It was, throughout, a paradise.\n\n\"Bring those flower pots and put them around this pond,\" said the\ngiant to the lad. \"Bring here all kinds of delicious foods, which you\nhave prepared. Every day this week we shall have company, and we must\nprepare for them.\"\n\nThe lad made the necessary preparations meditating to himself that\nthe expected guests were no doubt the three sisters, the wives of\nhimself and his brothers. Near the pond there was a tree on which\nthe giant had hung his bow and arrows. The lad took them down.\n\n\"Halloo! what are you doing?\" exclaimed the giant.\n\n\"Master, I wish to take the cloth and clean them,\" answered the lad.\n\nSoon the arrow fell down.\n\n\"Bring it to me,\" said the giant, and putting the arrow in the bow\nhanded it over to the lad. He took it and went backward as if to hang\nit up. He had scarcely come to the tree, when he turned to the giant\nand took aim at his heart.\n\n\"Alas!\" exclaimed the giant.\n\n\"Nay, I have come expressly to take your life,\" said Mirza. \"I am\nMirza. I have killed fifty giants; you are the fifty-first.\"\n\nWhiz! and the arrow was flung and pierced the Roaring Giant through\nthe heart and nailed him to the ground. He uttered his last roar,\nand then lay dead as a stone. The lad thereupon hid himself behind\na tree near the pond to see what might happen.\n\nSoon three turtledoves came from the sky flapping their wings and\nperched gently on the border of the pond. At once they dove into the\nwater and were changed into three maidens. The lad saw that they were\nhis own wife and the wives of his brothers. He kept silent and did not\nstir. The maidens, putting on the human dresses which they had brought\nwith them, went to embrace the Roaring Giant, who they supposed was\nasleep. But seeing him nailed to the ground with an arrow through his\nheart and dead, they were horror-stricken. They ran back to the pond,\nand undressing themselves, leaped into the water. Just at that time,\nMirza came up and stood on the brink of the pond.\n\n\"For shame!\" he exclaimed. \"How now! did you see your lover? Did you\nenjoy the roses and the lilies growing on his breast?\"\n\nThey were horror-stricken and mute, hiding their faces with their\nhands. Mirza cut pieces from the skirts of their dresses, and let\nthem go. They were turned to turtledoves, and flew away with drooping\nwings. Thereupon Mirza entering the palace of the Roaring Giant,\ngathered all the riches and loaded them on forty camels. He then went\nand took the three Princesses whom he had betrothed to himself and his\nbrothers, also the wealth of the Red, Black and White giants. Then\nhe drove back and came again to the city of the King of the Black\nMountain. The King hearing that Mirza had come, bringing inestimable\nwealth, hastened to meet him at the city gate, all his noblemen and\npeers accompanying him. As soon as they met, Mirza said to the King:\n\n\"I cannot talk with you until you convoke a meeting of all the noblemen\nand wise men of your realm to try your three daughters.\"\n\n\"What!\" said the King, \"is it not a shame to bring maidens to trial?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said the lad, \"your daughters are false, and shameless;\nthey must be tried and punished as an example to the womanhood of\nthe realm. If you do not call a meeting as I have requested, I will\nleave you and go elsewhere.\"\n\nNow the King loved Mirza as his very life, and could not part with\nhim. So he gave the order and all the peers and wise men of his realm\nwere summoned to a parliament. The three maidens were brought before\nthe court. Mirza recited his adventures, and placed before the court\nthe pieces which he had cut from the dresses of the maidens. On being\nput in their respective places they fitted. Thus everything being\nproved, the maidens could not deny it. The court gave its decision,\nwhich the King sanctioned. Thereupon the three daughters of the King\nwere bound by their hair to the tails of three wild horses, which were\nwhipped up and carried them away to the wilderness, dashing them from\nstone to stone until they were cut into pieces.\n\nThen the King adopted the three Princesses whom Mirza had brought\nwith him. A wedding festival for forty days and nights was celebrated,\nand the three maidens were given in marriage to the three brothers.\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC RING.\n\n\nLong ago there was an old woman who had a son. She always advised\nhim not to cause injury to any man, and not to torture or kill any\nanimal or beast, no matter how despised it might be. They were very\npoor. The lad went to the forest every day, and brought a bundle of\nwood on his back. He sold it for twopence and bought bread for his\naged mother and himself. One day he saw that the village boys were\ntorturing a kitten and taking pleasure in its cries.\n\n\"Why do you torture the poor animal?\" said the lad to the boys;\n\"let it go.\"\n\n\"Give us your pennies, and we will let it go,\" said the boys.\n\nHe at once gave them the twopence which he had earned that day by\nselling his wood, and took the kitten home with him. Both mother and\nson went to bed hungry that night. On the following day he took the\nkitten with him to the forest, and that evening the bundle of wood\nwas sold at fourpence. He paid twopence for bread, and putting the\nother twopence in his pocket was returning home, when he met the\nvillage boys who were this time torturing a mouse. The lad gave his\ntwopence to the boys, and took the mouse home with him. On the third\nday he saved a whelp of a dog and brought it home. On the fourth\nday he saved a little snake, and putting it in a jug, kept it at\nhome. On the following day he took all the animals and went to the\nforest to cut wood. At noon he sat at a fountain to eat his lunch,\nand gave a share of it to the animals. He took the snake out of the\njug and let it go, but the reptile would not leave him. He then gave\nit a piece of bread. As soon as it bit the bread, lo! it was changed\ninto a pretty boy, and said to the lad:\n\n\"I am the son of the King of India; magicians stole me and changed\nme into a snake. The enchantment was such that the moment a human\nbeing gave me bread to eat with his own hand, I should again change\ninto a boy. I escaped from the hands of the magicians, and came to\nthe village for the purpose of biting a piece of bread from a human\nhand, but the village urchins found me and were about to kill me when\nyou saved me. I owe you my life and my freedom from the magician's\nspell. Now let me advise you. When I go home to my father he will\nbe so happy to see me that he will wish to reward you with the\nmost precious things in his kingdom. But when he asks you to demand\nsomething from him, be careful and request only the ring which he\nhas on his finger. It is a magic ring, and the moment you turn its\njewel upside-down two genii will wait on you to do your will, and\nwill bring for you anything that you may desire.\"\n\nThe lad accompanied the boy to the court of the King of India, who\nwas so glad at the sight of his child that he was almost beside\nhimself with joy. The boy told his father all that had happened,\nand presented the lad as the deliverer of his life.\n\n\"Ask of me what you will,\" said the King to the lad, \"you have saved\nthe heir apparent, and I will give you whatever you demand, even to\nthe half of my kingdom.\"\n\n\"Long live the King!\" said the lad. \"I desire only the ring on your\nfinger.\"\n\n\"A plague upon him who advised you!\" said the King; \"you have demanded\nthe costliest thing I have. But as I have promised I must give it\nto you.\"\n\nSo saying he gave the ring to the lad, and ordered his saddlebags to\nbe filled with gold. The lad came back to his aged mother and told\nher what had happened.\n\n\"Well then, son,\" said the old woman, \"let me go and ask our King to\ngive you his daughter in marriage.\"\n\nThe lad consented, and the old woman, after buying for herself a new\ndress and adorning herself as best she could, went to the court.\n\n\"What do you want?\" said the King.\n\n\"Long live the King!\" said the old woman. \"I have come to ask you by\nGod's order, to give your daughter in marriage to my son.\"\n\n\"Good,\" said the King; \"but has your son the equivalent of the dower\nthat I can give to my daughter?\"\n\n\"Certainly he has,\" answered the woman, \"how much do you want him\nto have?\"\n\n\"He must have a treasure full of gold like mine, and a magnificent\npalace like mine. The road between my palace and his must be covered\nwith a single soft rug, and on both sides shady trees must grow,\nand under them horsemen ride from one end to the other on horses all\nmilky white. If he can procure these I will give him my daughter in\nmarriage; if not, I will not.\"\n\nThe old woman returned and told the lad what the King had said. The lad\nturned the jewel of the ring, and lo! two genii presented themselves\nwith their hands folded upon their breasts, saying:\n\n\"Tell us your will, and we will do it immediately.\"\n\nThe lad ordered them to prepare all that the King had\ndemanded. Everything was ready in one night. On the following day\nthe King was greatly pleased with the palace and everything in it,\nand gave his daughter in marriage. There they lived in happiness\nuntil the death of the old woman.\n\nBut there was a Jew who had heard of the magic ring, and he was anxious\nto get it. He took on the shape of a peddler, and came to the palace\nat a time when the lad had gone hunting, and there was no one there\nbesides the Princess. She opened the door to look at the goods of\nthe peddler.\n\n\"I peddle nice goods for ladies,\" said the clever Jew; \"and in order\nto give ladies facility, I do not care to sell them for money, but\nexchange for old jewelry, such as rings and the like. Any lady will\nhave some old rings which she can give in return for beautiful goods.\"\n\n\"Let me see if we have rings at home which I can give you for your\ngoods,\" said the Princess.\n\nShe went in, and came back with the magic ring, saying:\n\n\"Here, I have found this among my husband's things; I think it will\ndo for you.\"\n\nThe Jew gave some rubbish in exchange for the precious ring. As soon\nas he put it on his finger, he turned the jewel, and lo! the two\ngenii stood before him, ready to do his commands.\n\n\"I wish you to take this palace, with me in it, and carry it to the\nIsland of the Seven Seas, and I wish you to throw the former owner\ninto the unfathomable sea.\" He had hardly finished his words when the\npalace, with the Princess and the Jew, was transported to the Island of\nthe Seven Seas. Then the genii seized the lad, and were about to throw\nhim into the bottomless sea, when they took pity on him, he being their\nformer master, and left him in a wilderness on the shore. This was a\ndreadful change for the youth. He traveled a long way, and at length\ncame to the hut of a fisherman, who accepted him as an apprentice.\n\n\n\nBut let us return to the animals. The dog, the cat and the mouse,\nseeing what misfortune had come to their master, decided to go to\nthe Island of the Seven Seas, and getting the ring from the Jew,\ntake it to their master, whom they knew by instinct to have become\nthe apprentice of a fisherman. They immediately started and soon came\nto the sea. The dog entered the water, the cat took her seat on his\nneck, while the mouse rode on the cat's back. The dog began to swim,\nand proved to be an expert in the art.\n\n\"We hope our weight will not cause you to sink brother dog,\" said\nthe cat and the mouse.\n\n\"Pshaw!\" said the dog, proudly, \"you are as light as a feather,\nand speak of sinking me! Nay, be careful not to be blown away from\nmy back by the wind of my respiration.\"\n\nAnd out of his mouth he hung his long tongue. So swimming, at last they\ncame to the Island of the Seven Seas, where they saw their master's\npalace. It was night. The dog stood at the bottom of the wall while\nthe cat with the mouse on her back climbed up until they came to the\nwindow. But as it was closed it was now the turn of the mouse to do\nhis part. He gnawed the board with his fine teeth and opened a hole\nlarge enough for himself to go through. Entering, he looked everywhere\nfor the ring, but it could not be found. The Jew was asleep.\n\n\"Look at the Jew's fingers,\" whispered the cat from without.\n\nBut it was not there.\n\n\"Look in his mouth,\" whispered the cat.\n\nThe mouse made a careful examination, and lo! the ring was in the\nJew's mouth. But how to get it? The mouse saw that the Jew had put\nhis snuffbox near his bed. He first ran to the cellar, and soaked his\ntail in vinegar; then coming back he thrust it into the snuffbox. He\nrepeated this several times, until his tail was well stiffened with\na coating of vinegar and snuff. He went then to the sleeping Jew,\nand perching upon his beard thrust his tail into his nostril as far\nas it could go.\n\nThis caused the Jew to sneeze with all his might, and lo! the\nring was flung from his mouth. The mouse uttered a shriek of joy,\nand snatching the ring from the floor, in the twinkling of an eye\ndisappeared through the hole. The Jew immediately arose, and lighting\na candle began to search for the ring. Not finding it, he thought to\nlook for it in the morning, and again went to bed. The mouse and the\ncat descended the wall to their big-mouthed friend, who was looking\nat them wistfully. The dog again entered the water, the cat took\nher place on his back, and the mouse rested on the cat's back. They\ndecided that the ring should be in the cat's mouth. This time they\nbegan to swim toward the opposite shore of the sea, where the lad was\nserving the fisherman. They crossed the Seven Seas and approached the\nshore safely. As soon as they saw the land and their master's hut,\nthe dog said to his companions:\n\n\"I am swimming for you, but you have the ring. You will give it to\nmaster, who will praise you; while I, who have worked the hardest,\nwill not receive any credit. Not so; you must put the ring in my\nmouth before we reach the land.\"\n\n\"Brother dog,\" said the cat, \"now you are tired and see how you\nkeep your mouth open all the time and stretch your tongue out. If we\nput the ring in your mouth, we are afraid you will drop it into the\nsea. But as soon as we reach the land, we will give the ring to you,\nthat you may give it to master.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the dog, \"you must give it now, or else I will drop you\ninto the sea.\"\n\nHe began to shake them, threatening to drown them. The cat, therefore,\nwas obliged to place the ring in the dog's mouth. But he could not\nkeep his mouth shut a single minute. He opened his mouth, stretched\nhis tongue, began to pant, and lo! the ring fell into the sea. They\ncame ashore, but all in great excitement. The mouse and the cat\nbegan to beat the dog, who thrust his tail between his hind legs as\nif to acknowledge his fault, but had to defend himself against the\nsharp paws of the cat and the fine teeth of the mouse. Quarreling\nand howling and rolling upon the sand, they came to the fisherman's\nhut. The lad, with his natural kindness to animals, came out to\nseparate the fighters, and lo! they were his own friends. Seeing\nthe lad, all three paid him their respects, but again began to fight\none another, this time more severely. The youth, seeing that it was\nimpossible to leave them in this way, provided three ropes, and bound\nthem separately. He gave them food and drink, and tried to calm their\nanger. On the following day he drew out a net full of fishes, and sat\ndown to prepare them for market. Among them was a large fish. As soon\nas the lad seized it, there was excitement among the animals. The dog\nbarked, the cat mewed, and the mouse shrieked, and all three tried to\ncut their ropes. The lad had hardly cut the fish open when the mouse,\nhaving gnawed its rope, ran and plunged into the belly of the fish,\nand in the twinkling of an eye came out with the magic ring in its\nmouth, for the fish had swallowed the ring. The mouse jumped upon\nhis master's lap and presented the ring, at sight of which the lad\nunderstood why the animals were troubled. He untied them, and kissing\nthe three, expressed his gratitude for their brave enterprise. Then\nhe turned the jewel, and lo! the two genii presented themselves.\n\n\"I want my palace to be restored to its place, myself to be placed\nin it again, and the Jew to be thrown into the bottomless sea,\"\nsaid the lad.\n\nHe had barely finished his sentence when he found himself and\nhis animal friends in his palace once more, and near him was his\nwife. The Jew was cast into the bottomless sea, where he is sinking\neverlastingly but never reaches the bottom. Thus the wicked one was\npunished and the virtuous one attained his wishes. May Heaven grant\nthat you may all be virtuous and attain your wishes!\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for the man who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWINS.\n\n\nIn the Springtime a certain King pitched his tent in a flowery meadow\ntract, among shady trees and near a gurgling brook. There came from the\nvillage three sisters, maidens of marriageable age, to gather flowers\nand edible vegetables. At noon-time they sat down on the bank of the\ncrystal brook, not far from the royal tent, and began to prattle.\n\n\"If the King takes me in marriage for his eldest son,\" said the oldest\nmaiden, \"I will weave for him a tent so big that it will accommodate\nall his army, and yet one-half of it will be empty.\"\n\n\"If the King takes me in marriage for his second son,\" said the second\nmaiden, \"I will weave for him a rug so big that it will accommodate\nall his court and the people of his realm, and yet half of it will\nbe left empty.\"\n\n\"I will not brag,\" said the youngest sister; \"but if the King takes\nme in marriage for his youngest son, and if it pleases Heaven, I will\ngive birth to twins,--a silver-haired boy and a golden-haired girl.\"\n\nThe two older maidens laughed at their young sister and ridiculed\nher. The King, who was listening to the talk of the maidens from behind\nthe arras, was pleased with them and gave all three in marriage to\nhis three sons. One day he asked of the oldest sister:\n\n\"Where is the tent which you were going to weave?\"\n\n\"It was only vain prattle we sisters were indulging in,\" said she.\n\n\"Where is your rug?\" inquired the King of the second sister.\n\n\"It was merely idle talk,\" replied she.\n\n\"And where are your twins?\" asked he of the youngest sister.\n\n\"If it pleases Heaven I will bear them in the fulness of time,\"\nreplied she.\n\nThe older sisters became very envious of their younger sister and they\nvowed to be revenged, for now the love and caresses of the whole court\nseemed to be bestowed upon her. One night there came to the arms of\nthe youngest sister the promised silver-haired boy and golden-haired\ngirl. The envious sisters immediately took the babies away and put\nthem into a chest which they threw into the river. Bringing a pair of\npuppies, they placed them by the bedside of the young mother. Then they\nwent to the young Prince and informed him that his beloved wife was\nmother to the two puppies. The young Prince was horror-stricken. The\nKing was mad with rage. He ordered his servants to wrap the young\nwoman in a camel's hide and put her in the corner by the palace door,\nso that every one who entered the palace might spit in her face,\nfor her base conduct in thus bringing shame upon those who had loved\nand favored her. The King's order was at once put into execution.\n\nIt so happened that there was an old man and his wife living in a hut\non the banks of the river on the outskirts of the city. The old man\nused to cast his nets into the river every day and catch two fish,\none for himself and one for his wife. On that day he threw his net\nfor fish, and lo! a chest was drawn out. He took it to his hut where\nhe and his wife opening it saw that there was in it a pair of pretty\nbabies. The silver-haired boy had put his thumb into the mouth of the\ngolden-haired girl, and the girl had put her thumb into the mouth of\nthe boy. So they were sucking one another's thumbs and were not crying\nat all. The aged couple looked upon them with great joy and said:\n\n\"Thank Heaven! We were till now without offspring, and lo! Heaven\nhas now granted us twins.\"\n\nThe old dame washed the babies, and lo! gold and silver fell down\nfrom their hair. She said to her husband,--\n\n\"Now, husband, get up and take this gold and silver to the mart and\nbuy for us a cow that we may feed the babies with milk.\"\n\nThe old man went, and with that silver and gold bought not only\na cow, but a great many other things necessary for the twins, who\nwere brought up with great care and kindness, although in an obscure\nhut. The children grew rapidly and became a great comfort to the aged\ncouple. The boy grew to be a brave lad and became a hunter, and the\ngirl grew to be a beautiful, intelligent maiden. The aged couple,\nfollowing the course of the world, died when the children were\nquite young. The girl had only once heard from the old woman that\nthey were fished from the river in a chest, and that the despised\nwoman in the King's palace door was their mother, whom the King's\ntwo daughters-in-law had put in that position by falsehood. After\nthe death of their benefactors, the sister and brother continued to\nlive in the hut. The lad went hunting, and the maiden used to visit\nthe court, for the purpose of seeing their mother; but, following the\nadvice of her deceased godmother, she did not let herself be known,\nlest mischief should befall herself and her brother. She learned,\nhowever, all that was going on in the royal palace. One day the lad\nhunted for an antelope and found a fine one, which he secured.\n\n\"This is worthy of the King,\" said the lad, and took it to the\npalace. The King was very much pleased. On another day he shot a lion,\nwhose skin he took to the King, who said to him:\n\n\"Good for you, my little hunter! Come to-morrow to the palace again;\nI will praise you before my men.\"\n\nThe lad came home and told his sister that he was invited to the\npalace by the King.\n\n\"Good!\" said the maiden; \"take this bouquet with you. When you enter\nthe King's palace you will see there, in a corner, a woman wrapped in\nthe hide of a camel, and buried in the dust up to her waist. All who\nenter the door spit in her face; for my sake, do throw this bunch of\nroses to her as you pass by her.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the lad; and on the following day, as he was\nentering the palace, he threw the bunch of roses to the despised\nwoman. He then entered the King's apartment, where both the King and\nthe courtiers were very much pleased with him. His manly bearing and\nintelligent conversation were the subject of general admiration. But\nthe King's two daughters-in-law were very much displeased with the\nlittle hunter, who threw a bunch of roses to their disgraced sister\ninstead of spitting at her. They thought there was something at the\nbottom of the lad's conduct, and said to one another:\n\n\"Let us find out some means of getting rid of this urchin, lest our\nsecret should leak out.\"\n\nAs they had great influence with the King and the court, they went\nto the King and said:\n\n\"Long live the King! You see that this lad is an expert hunter; he\nhas brought you a lion's hide; but it shall be useless as long as\nthere is only one. Send him to bring a dozen more lions' skins with\nwhich to adorn the new palace.\"\n\nThe King liked this suggestion and sent the lad to bring him a dozen\nlions' skins. The lad came home and told his sister, who said to him:\n\n\"Brother, when our godmother died she told me that we had an aunt\nliving somewhere among the rocks of yonder Black Mountains. In case\nsome difficult task was imposed upon us by the court we might go to\nour aunt, who would always be glad to help us. So you had better go\nto her; she will show you how to hunt twelve lions.\"\n\nThe lad started towards the Black Mountains. There, in a deep cavern,\nhe saw an old fairy woman sitting. He ran to her and at once kissed\nher hand.\n\n\"Halloo!\" exclaimed the old dame, \"is it you, silver-haired twin?\"\n\n\"Aye, auntie, it is I,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"And how does your golden-haired sister thrive?\" the fairy woman asked.\n\n\"She humbly kisses both of your hands, auntie,\" said the lad.\n\n\"And what have you come for, my boy?\" inquired the fairy dame.\n\n\"The King wants from me a dozen lions' skins,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"Well then, come and hide you under my apron till your forty cousins\ncome,\" said the old woman, hiding the lad in the folds of her skirts.\n\nSoon the forty fairies, the sons of the old dame, came, and smelling\nthe lad, exclaimed:\n\n\"How now, mother! have you prepared for us a meal of human meat\nto-day?\"\n\n\"No, sons,\" answered the dame, \"unless you are so cruel as to eat\nyour own human cousin.\"\n\n\"Where is he, mother?\" inquired the forty, \"we will not hurt him,\nbut talk to him.\"\n\nThe lad came out from under the apron of his fairy aunt.\n\nThe forty brothers were very much pleased with him and kissed him by\nturns. Then they asked him about his errand, and when the lad told\nthem, they said:\n\n\"That is nothing, cousin, we will give you twelve lions' skins which\nwe are now using as quilts and replace them with new ones to-morrow.\"\n\nThey gave the lad the lions' skins to carry to the King, also a tent as\na present to his golden-haired sister. The lad came home, and giving\nthe tent to his sister, took the skins to the King, who was highly\npleased with them. But the two women were more uneasy now than ever,\nand asked the King to send the lad to bring seven pairs of elephants'\ntusks, in order to decorate the new palace with ivory. The King,\nnot knowing that the intention of the wicked women was to destroy the\nyouth, sent him to bring the ivory. The lad went again to his fairy\ncousins and told his errand.\n\n\"Cousin,\" said the forty brothers, \"we can bring you seven pairs of\nelephants' tusks, but you must bring us a saw, and seven horse-loads\nof seven-year-old wine.\"\n\nThe lad went back to the city, and getting the saw and seven\nskinfuls of old wine, loaded them on seven horses and brought them\nto the fairies, who took them to the pool which was the elephants'\nwatering-place. They emptied the water from the pool and filled it\nwith wine. At night the elephants came to drink, and not knowing that\nit was wine, they soon were drunken and fell down senseless. Thereupon\nthe fairies cut off their tusks and brought them to the lad. Besides\nthis they gave him also a rug as a present for the golden-haired\nmaiden. The lad came home, and giving the rug to his sister, he took\nthe ivory to the King, who was very much pleased with it. But the\nKing's two daughters-in-law were very angry at the lad's success,\nand went again to the King, saying:\n\n\"Long live the King! The new palace is very nicely decorated with\nlions' skins and ivory, but it has one deficiency, and that is\na beautiful mistress to dwell in it. The King of India's daughter\nmust live there. Her beauty is unequalled in the world. And as your\nyoungest son is without a wife, she will be his wife. Send the little\nhunter to bring her.\"\n\nThe King was persuaded and sent the lad on the errand. The youth again\nwent to his fairy cousins, who kidnaped and brought the daughter of\nthe King of India safely, and gave her to the lad. They gave to him\nalso a table, which was served by itself, as a present. He fell in\nlove with the maiden at first sight; she also fell in love with the\nlad. But as he had promised to take her to the King, he did so. The\nKing ordered him to take the maiden to the new palace, and invited the\nlad who was the hero of so many great deeds to a private banquet at\nthe palace. The two wicked women, seeing that they could not destroy\nthe lad by sending him on difficult errands, were mad with anger. The\nlad went home and told his sister that the King had invited him for\nthe following day.\n\n\"Brother,\" said the maiden, \"when you go to-morrow to the King's\npalace, take your hound with you. Let it go before you, and you step\nonly wherever it has stepped. And when you eat, first give your dog\nto eat of the meat. If you see it has not hurt him, you may eat of\nthe meat; but if he dies, be careful not to eat, lest you die also.\"\n\nOn the following day the lad did as the maiden had advised him and\nsent the dog before him. Just under the threshold of the door there\nwas a deep pit dug which was discovered by the dog's walking before\nhim, and he avoided it. Entering in, he cast the bouquet which his\nsister had given him to the woman in the dust. And when he was called\nto the table he gave a piece of the food to the dog, and lo! it died\nat once. Thereupon he withdrew, saying:\n\n\"I am not hungry to-day. I had my meal before I came.\"\n\nHe refused to touch any of the food, in spite of the polite entreaties\nof the King's two daughters-in-law. Then in his interview with the\nKing he asked his majesty to accept his invitation and come to his\nhumble home for dinner, with all the court. The King, who by this time\nhad become very much fascinated with the appearance of the youth,\naccepted his invitation. In the evening the lad came home and told\nhis sister what had happened.\n\n\"Do you know who digged the pit under the threshold?\" asked the maiden.\n\n\"Who?\" said the lad.\n\n\"The King's two daughters-in-law,\" said the maiden, \"in order that\nyou might fall into it and be killed.\"\n\n\"But they were so friendly and polite,\" said the lad.\n\n\"And do you know why your dog died?\" inquired the maiden.\n\n\"Why?\" said the lad.\n\n\"The King's two daughters-in-law had poisoned the food, in order to\nkill you,\" said the maiden.\n\n\"Strange!\" exclaimed the lad, \"what have I done to them?\"\n\n\"And do you know who the woman is who is buried in the dust and to whom\nyou have given bunches of roses while all others spat at her?\" asked\nthe maiden.\n\n\"Oh! her lot is most pitiful; for Heaven's sake tell me who she is,\"\nsaid the lad.\n\n\"She is our mother, the one who gave us our existence,\" said she.\n\n\"How! how!\" exclaimed the lad, impatiently.\n\nThe maiden told him everything. She also told him that it was their\ncruel aunts who, wanting to destroy him, had persuaded the King to\nsend him on dangerous errands. Then sister and brother planned how\nto entertain the King on the following day. They at first pitched\nthe tent sent by the fairies, and lo! it was so large that a whole\nkingdom could be entertained in it. Then they stretched the rug,\nand lo! it was as large as the tent. Then they put in the middle of\nit the wishing-table, which served as much and as many kinds of food\nas one desires. On the following day the King with all the court and\nthe army came, and seeing the tent the King said to himself:\n\n\"Aha! this is the tent that my oldest daughter-in-law would weave.\"\n\nEntering in, he saw the immense rug, and he said to himself:\n\n\"This is the rug which my second daughter-in-law was boasting about.\"\n\nAll his army was entertained and there was still room for as many\nmore people. The King fell into deep meditation and thought there\nmust be something at the bottom of it all. The foods served from the\nwishing-table were so various and delicious that the King was very\nmuch pleased, and at the end of the banquet, while all the crowd was\nlistening, he said to the twins:\n\n\"Ask of me whatever you want, and I will give it to you, even to the\nhalf of my kingdom.\"\n\n\"Is there anything more precious than father and mother?\" said the\ntwins; \"mighty King, give us our father and mother.\"\n\n\"Although I am a King,\" said the King, \"do not forget that I am\nhuman. Is it possible that a human being should give you your lost\nparents?\"\n\n\"How is it,\" said the twins, \"that you believe that a human being can\ngive birth to dogs, and you do not believe a human being to be able\nto restore lost parents? If one is true, the other also must be true.\"\n\nA thunderbolt suddenly falling from the sky would not have frightened\nthe King's two daughters-in-law as much as did these words.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" said the King, with a trembling voice.\n\nThe twins told him their story, at the end of which the lad took\noff his cap, displaying his silver hair; and the maiden took off her\nhead-dress, letting fall her rich golden locks. Thereupon the King\nembraced his grandchildren, weeping loudly because of great joy. Then\nthey embraced the Prince, their father, and their dear, wronged mother,\nwho was immediately released from her disgraceful punishment. The King\nat once ordered the furnace to be heated to seven times the usual heat,\nand the two wicked women were thrown into the fire. Then a wedding\nwas celebrated for forty days and nights and the lad was married to\nthe daughter of the King of India, whom he had brought to the palace.\n\nThus Heaven rewarded the good and punished the evil.\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE IDIOT.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man who inherited much wealth from his\nfather, but who led such an irregular and unwise life that in a short\ntime he had spent everything, even to the last penny. Then he sat\ndown, folded his arms upon his breast, and sighed as he thought of\nhis unfortunate condition. His father's friends gathered about him\nto console him. One of them, an old and learned man, said to him:\n\n\"Son, you have offended your Luck, who has run away from you. You\nwould better go after your Luck; perchance you can find it, and being\nreconciled with it become, as before, a fortunate man.\"\n\nThe man at once set out and traveled mountains and plains in search\nof his Luck. One night he saw in his dreams that his Luck was a\nhuman being like himself, who had fallen upon his face on the top\nof a high mountain, sighing and beating his breast all the time,\njust as he himself had done. On the morrow he got up and continued\nhis journey toward that mountain. On his way he met the Fairy Lion,\nsitting upon a mound of earth beside the road.\n\n\"Don't be afraid, human being, proceed,\" said the Lion. And when the\nman approached, he said: \"Where are you going?\"\n\n\"I am going to find my Luck,\" said the man.\n\n\"Good!\" said the Lion, \"your Luck is very wise; ask him what is the\nremedy for my disease. I have been an invalid for seven years. If\nyou find the right remedy I will reward you.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the man, and went on his way. Soon he came to a very\nbeautiful orchard full of all kinds of fruits. He picked some of the\nfruits and began to eat, but lo! they were all bitter. Thereupon the\ngardener came and asked where he was going.\n\n\"I am going to find my Luck,\" said the man.\n\n\"Please ask your Luck,\" said the gardener, \"what is the remedy for my\norchard. I grafted my plants, but it was of no use. I cut down the\nold trees and planted new ones, but neither did this avail. If your\nLuck can devise some remedy, I will reward you bountifully.\" The man\npromised to ask his Luck, and again went on his way. Soon he came to\na magnificent palace situated in a garden as beautiful as paradise,\nwhose sole inhabitant was a beautiful maiden.\n\n\"What man are you?\" asked the maiden, seeing the man, \"and why have\nyou come?\"\n\nThe man told her his story.\n\n\"You see,\" said the maiden, \"I have this splendid palace and\nmeasureless wealth and property; but I have a grief which grows in my\nheart day and night, and I spend my life sighing all the time. Please\nask your Luck about me, and if you bring me a device to make me happy,\nI promise to reward you bountifully.\"\n\nThe man promised, and went on his way until he came to the mountain\ntop where his Luck had fallen on his face. He described to him his\nown unfortunate condition, and poured out all his grievances. Luck\nlistened to him attentively, and said:\n\n\"Everything may yet be well, seeing that you have come so far in\nsearch of me.\"\n\nThen the man asked of Luck the things he had promised to ask, and\nreceived answers.\n\n\"Now will you not come with me?\" asked the man.\n\n\"Go first,\" said Luck, \"I will come after you.\"\n\nThe man returned. On his way back, he first met the maiden, and said:\n\n\"Your grief will disappear, and you shall be happy as soon as you\nmarry a young man of your choice.\"\n\nThen he met the gardener, and said:\n\n\"There is gold-ore in the spring from which flows the water with\nwhich you irrigate your orchard. The plants suck up particles of gold,\nwhich causes the fruits to be bitter. You must either irrigate your\norchard by the water of some other spring, or take away the ore from\nthe present fountain,--then your fruits will be sweet.\"\n\nThen he came to the Fairy Lion and told him how he had seen his Luck,\nand what messages he had brought to the maiden and to the gardener.\n\n\"And what present did the maiden give you?\" asked the Lion.\n\n\"She said,\" answered the man, \"that she had fallen in love with me\nand proposed to marry me, but I refused.\"\n\n\"And what reward did the gardener give you?\" asked the Lion.\n\n\"He took the gold ore out of the spring,\" answered the man, \"and\nrefining it, prepared a horse-load of pure gold. He gave all to me,\nbut I refused, saying that I did not care to trouble myself and carry\nsuch a heavy thing so far.\"\n\n\"And what remedy did your Luck devise for my ailment?\" asked the Lion.\n\n\"He said,\" answered the man, \"the moment you devour an Idiot's head\nyou shall be healed.\"\n\nThe Lion looked the man in the face, and said:\n\n\"By Heaven! I cannot find a greater idiot than you on the face of the\nearth.\" And striking at his head with his paw, he made one mouthful\nof it and the Idiot was dead.\n\nRemember the moral of this tale,--Time never befriends a fool.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBEDIK AND THE INVULNERABLE GIANT.\n\n\nMany years ago there was a King who had seven sons. As soon as each one\nof the princes was of age his father sent him on an expedition, that he\nmight display his bravery and marry the maiden whom he preferred. Thus\nsix of the princes acquired wives, but Heaven only knows whether they\ndisplayed real bravery or not. It was now the turn of the seventh son,\nwhose name was Bedik. [1] His father gave him a horse of lightning,\na magic sword and a bow-and-arrow, saying:\n\n\"Go, my son, and may Heaven grant you good luck.\"\n\nBedik started and traveled through the length and breadth of the world,\nvisiting the land of darkness, the land of light, the land of fairies,\nthe land of giants. He did battle with men, beasts, genii, and all\nkinds of creatures which he encountered on the way, and overcame them\nall, but in his wars he lost all his servants and his wealth. He was\nalone, one day, when he came to a magnificent castle built of marble,\ndecorated with gold and jewels and surrounded with orchards and flower\ngardens. He walked about the building and gazed everywhere, but could\nsee no human being, man or woman. He waited all the day, concealed\nbehind some bushes. Toward evening there came a Giant covered all\nover with armor, brandishing his bow and arrows, which were of heavy\nsteel. When he walked the earth trembled. When he came near the castle,\nbecoming aware of the presence of a human being, he exclaimed:\n\n\"Aha! I smell a human being. I go a-hunting to the mountains, and\nlo! the prey has come to my home. Ho! human being, disclose yourself;\nelse I will make a morsel of you.\"\n\nThe lad was looking at the Giant from his place of concealment. He\nwas the strangest creature that he had ever seen; neither a sword\nnor an arrow could pierce him. Nevertheless he decided to face him,\nand coming out from behind the bushes, he stood before him.\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked the Giant. \"The bird with its wing, and the\nsnake on its belly could not approach this castle of mine; and how\ncould you venture to come? Have you not heard of the fame of the\nInvulnerable Giant?\"\n\n\"I have,\" said the lad bravely, \"and my name is no less famous than\nyours; I am Bedik; I have traveled all over the world, and having\nheard of you, I came to measure swords with you.\"\n\nThe Giant gazed at the lad for a moment and suddenly sneezed. The\nburst of air through his nostrils caused the lad to leap ten rods away.\n\n\"Halloo!\" exclaimed the Giant, laughing, \"you do not seem to be\nvery well able to fight me, do you? Nay, come here again; do not\nbe afraid, I will not hurt you. I have heard about you; you are a\nbrave little fellow. But you see you can do no harm to me, because\nI am invulnerable. Come, be my servant, for I need a skillful human\nservant, and I do not think I can find a better one than you. Bring\nyour sword and bow and arrows. You see they are not available to\npierce me; we may need them for hunting and other purposes.\"\n\nThe lad consented, and they lived together for a time. One day the\nGiant said to the youth:\n\n\"You see I am immortal, but I have an anxiety which gnaws my heart\nday and night. The King of the East has a daughter, and there is\nno beauty like hers under the sun. I have made seven expeditions to\ncarry her away, but so far have not succeeded. If you can bring her\nhere I will bestow upon you a kingly reward.\"\n\n\"I will bring her for you,\" said the lad.\n\n\"But do you promise it upon your soul?\" said the Giant.\n\n\"I do,\" answered the lad, and at once started on the expedition.\n\nAfter a long journey he came to the city of the King of the East,\nchanged his clothes, took the shape of a farmer boy, and became the\napprentice of the King's gardener. He saw the King's daughter sitting\nin her window and working with her needle. She was so beautiful that\nshe seemed to say to the sun, \"Sun, you need not shine, since I am\nshining.\" The lad fell in love with her and began to curse the hour\nwhen he made the solemn promise to convey her to the Giant. One day,\ntaking advantage of the absence of his master, the lad stripped off\nhis humble clothes, and putting on his princely garments, mounted\nhis horse of lightning and rode in the King's garden. The maiden was\nlooking from her window and saw him. She had never seen a young man\nso perfect, and she fell in love with him. On the following day she\nsent two of her maids to the youth, informing him of her love. The\nlad sent her word who he was, how he had heard of her wondrous beauty,\nand now he was waiting to do anything that she might order. The city\nwas surrounded by high walls, through fear of the Invulnerable Giant,\nwho assaulted it every year with the intention of carrying off the\nmaiden; but the people of the city, being brave fighters, would not let\nthe maiden be borne away. So the lad had a hard task to perform. One\nday the girl sent to him, through her maids, the following message:\n\n\"To-morrow is the feast of the Navasard, [2] when all the maidens of\nthe city go out for recreation and merriment, but I am not allowed\nto go forth because it is the day when the Invulnerable Giant makes\nhis annual assault to seize me. I will, however, go to the garden by\nthe riverside, which is surrounded by high walls; there I will wait\nfor you to see you display your bravery.\"\n\nHaving received this message, on the next day the youth put on his\nprincely garments, girded his magic sword, and taking his bow and\narrows, mounted his horse of lightning. Once or twice he coursed the\nsteed near the garden wall, until it began to gallop as fast as if\nit had wings. One stroke of the whip, and lo! it jumped over the wall\nlike an eagle, and instantly the horse and its rider alighted in the\nmiddle of the garden. In the twinkling of an eye the lad put his arm\naround the maiden's waist, and placing her behind him on the saddle,\ngave another stroke of the whip, which made the horse leap over the\ngarden wall, and in a second they were on safe ground outside the\ncity galloping like a flash of lightning. The maids in attendance\nwere horror-stricken, thinking that it was a hurricane which had taken\ntheir lady from them. It was a long time before they understood what\nhad taken place; then they informed the King, who sent out his bravest\nhorsemen in pursuit of the fugitives. But it was too late. The couple\non the back of the horse of lightning passed over the mountains and\nvalleys until they came to the border of the deep river. A stroke of\nthe whip and the steed swam the deep waters and emerged on the other\nside. The King's horsemen came as far as the river, but seeing that\nthe couple had crossed the frontier, they returned. As soon as the\nmaiden and the youth had crossed the water, and the Invulnerable\nGiant's castle appeared in the distance, the maiden said to the lad:\n\n\"Bedik, dearest, we have come so far and you have not yet spoken a\nsingle word to me; you have shown no sign of love. For Heaven's sake,\ntell me; did you kidnap me for yourself or for another?\"\n\n\"You said, 'for Heaven's sake,'\" replied the lad, \"I will therefore\ntell you the truth; I have kidnaped you for the Invulnerable Giant;\nI have promised to deliver you to him.\"\n\n\"Alas!\" exclaimed the maiden. \"May Heaven's curse rest upon the\nInvulnerable! He could not get me for all the world. You do not reflect\nthat it was by your skill and valor that you secured me. Woe be to\nfrail womanhood! Maidens are the slaves of their hearts. For you, only\nfor you, I eloped. If you reject me, here is the deep water, and here\nthe high precipice; I would better be food for fishes and birds. May\nHeaven's fire burn and consume the hard hearts of men!\" So saying, she\nprepared to throw herself down the abyss into the deep water. The lad's\nheart began to burn like a furnace, and he took hold of her, crying:\n\n\"Nay, dearest, do not harm yourself. It was because of the vow I\nmade upon my soul that I am taking you to the Giant, and the day\nyou become his wife I will put an end to my life with this sword,\nfor without you life for me would be a curse.\"\n\nThen they exchanged vows that they would use every means to put a\nspeedy end to the Invulnerable Giant, and then be married; because\nthey could not marry without destroying the Giant. Thereupon, they\nmounted the horse and began to proceed toward the castle. The Giant,\nwho from the tower of the castle was looking their way, seeing them at\na distance, immediately came down and ran to meet them. He expressed\nhis gratitude to the lad, and his excess of love to the maiden. He\ntreated her with extreme kindness, fearing that he might hurt her\ntender feelings with his unpolished manners.\n\n\"Are you pleased with this place?\" he asked her. \"What do you want\nme to do in order to make you as happy as possible?\"\n\n\"I am very well, thank you; you are everything for me,\" said the\nmaiden, suppressing her bitter hatred towards him. \"But my parents\nconsented to send me to you only under the condition that I should keep\nmyself a virgin seven years longer. I have given an oath that I will\ndo so; otherwise the love with which they have cherished me would turn\ninto poison and defile my whole life. Do you accept this condition?\"\n\n\"I do,\" said the Giant. \"As you are now in my hand, I am willing to\nwait not only seven years, but, if necessary, seven times seven years.\"\n\nThey exchanged solemn vows, and decided that Bedik should live with\nthem, and be the best man at their wedding. The maiden occupied\none apartment of the castle, the youth and the Giant the other\napartments, and so they lived for a time. But the lad and the maiden\nwere uneasy. It was in vain to think of killing the Giant,--he was\ninvulnerable. If they eloped he would certainly overtake them, and\nthere was no escaping from his wrath. One day as the Giant was lying\non the couch, with his head on the maiden's lap, she said to him:\n\n\"In former times, how did you live alone, without any companions? And\nhow is it that you are invulnerable, when so many arrows and swords\nare thrown at you? What is the secret of your immortality?\"\n\nAt first the Giant refused to tell, but the maiden importuned him,\nsaying: \"If you will not inform me, then you do not love me. Tell me\nin plain words that you love me not, and I will cease to live.\"\n\nThe Giant was at last persuaded to give up his secret, and he said:\n\n\"Seven days' journey from this castle there is a white mountain,\nwhere lives an unsubduable white bull which neither man nor beast\ndares to approach. Once in seven days he becomes thirsty and goes to\nthe top of the white mountain, where there is a white fountain with\nseven white marble reservoirs full of water, which he drains at a\nsingle draught. The bull has in his belly a white fox, which in its\nturn has in its belly a white box made of mother-of-pearl. In that\nbox are seven white sparrows. Those are my spirits, and those are my\nseven secrets. The bull cannot be subdued, the fox cannot be caught,\nthe box cannot be opened, the sparrows cannot be seized. If either\nof them is taken, the others will escape. So I remain unconquerable\nand invulnerable and immortal.\"\n\nThe maiden told the secret to Bedik, adding:\n\n\"I have done what I could; now it remains for you to do the rest.\"\n\nAfter a few days the lad girded on his sword, and bearing his bow and\narrow, took leave of the Giant, saying that he would go on a month's\njourney. He started and went directly to the convent of the seven wise\nmonks, who were renowned all over the world for their great erudition\nand learning. After performing his religious duties before the holy\naltar, he asked the monks:\n\n\"How is the unconquerable man conquered, and the unsubduable beast\nsubdued?\"\n\nAnd he received the following answer:\n\n\"Man by woman; beast by wine.\"\n\nOn the following day he loaded seven horses with seven skinfuls of\nseven-year-old wine and took them to the white mountain. He emptied\nthe water out of the seven marble reservoirs and filled them with wine,\nturning the water of the fountain elsewhere. Near by he dug a trench,\nand hiding himself, waited for the result. At the end of seven days\nthe white bull came to drink, and smelling the wine, he was so much\nterrified that he leaped as high as the height of seven poplar trees,\nand ran back roaring and bellowing. On the following day he returned,\nand being thirsty, drank the wine and was overcome. He leaped once or\ntwice and fell down senseless. The lad drew his sword and approached\nand cut off the bull's head.\n\n\n\nLet us return a moment to the palace of the Giant. It was the last day\nof the seven years during which he had waited for the maiden. He had\ngone to the hunt, that they might have noble game for their wedding\ndinner. When the bull was overcome and fell, the giant began to grow\ndrowsy. As soon as the youth cut off the bull's head, the Giant turned\ndizzy, and a tremor ran through his frame.\n\n\"Alas!\" cried the Giant. \"Some one has killed the white bull. I know\nit is my fault. I gave my secret to the maiden, and she has told it to\nBedik or to some other lover. The bull is killed, and I must die. I\nwill go and kill the maiden. She is not to be for me; why shall she\nbe for another?\" So saying, he began to run toward the castle.\n\nBedik cut the bull's belly open; the fox also was drunk and stupid,\nand he cut off his head. The Giant lost his senses, and the blood began\nto gush out of his nostrils. The youth, opening the stomach of the fox,\nobtained the pearl box and put it in warm blood. The lid was opened,\nand the lad seized the seven sparrows. Thereupon streams of blood\nbegan to run from the Giant's mouth and ears, and his two eye-balls\nstarted from their sockets, like two great pomegranates. But still he\nwas running toward the castle, sword in hand, and roaring like a mad\nbeast. The maiden was horror-stricken, and quickly ran up to the top of\nthe tower, determined to throw herself thence and kill herself, rather\nthan fall into the hands of the Giant. The Giant had barely reached the\ncastle door, when Bedik killed two of the sparrows; with that the two\nknees of the Giant were broken. He killed two more sparrows, and the\nGiant's two arms withered. He killed two more, and the lungs and heart\nof the Giant ceased to breathe and beat. He killed the last sparrow;\nthe Giant knocked his head against the threshold of the castle, his\nskull was broken, and his brains oozed out. A black smoke rose from\nhis mouth and nostrils, and he lay dead as a stone. Thereupon Bedik\ncame on horseback like a flash of lightning. The maiden descended from\nthe tower, and they embraced one another. At once they decided to go\nto the maiden's parents and celebrate their wedding. They collected\nall the wealth of the Invulnerable Giant, and mounting the horse of\nlightning, began to proceed toward the East.\n\nThe maiden being the only child of the King of the East, he was\ngreatly grieved at her loss, seeing that he was getting old, and there\nwas no successor to his throne. On the day following the maiden's\ndisappearance, the King had sent his servants to the seven wise monks,\nasking their advice, and he had received the following message:\n\n\"The hero who carried off your daughter is a Prince. At the end of\nseven years your daughter will be restored to you by the same hero,\nas pure and chaste as before.\"\n\nThe anxious father waited for seven long years. It was the last\nday of the seventh year; the King and his subjects had made great\npreparations for the reception of the returning Princess and her\nhero. Towards evening the King and his peers were looking anxiously\nfrom the seven towers of the city wall. The sun was just going down,\nwhen a flash as of lightning was seen on the western horizon, and in\nthe twinkling of an eye Bedik and the maiden reached the city gate\non the back of their fiery steed. They were received amid the wild\nacclamations of the crowd, and were led to the King's palace. There\nthey knelt before the King and told their story. The King blessed them,\nand for forty days and forty nights the wedding feast was celebrated.\n\nThey attained their wish. May Heaven grant that you may attain\nyour wishes!\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSIMON, THE FRIEND OF SNAKES.\n\n\nThe King of the Snakes lives in the ruins of a big tower between Nineveh\nand Babylon, and rules all the snake tribe, both on land and sea. Once\nthe King's son, who was viceroy of the province of Diarbekir, wrote\na letter to his royal father, as follows:\n\n\"Long live the King! May Heaven bestow upon you life\neverlasting. Amen. Be it known to you that your daughter-in-law and\ngrandchildren were sick last summer, and the doctors advised that\nthey must have a change of climate and must go to Mount Ararat and\nbathe in its pure streams, and eat its fragrant flowers, and this\nwill immediately heal them. Consequently I sent her and the children,\nwith their attendants, to Mount Ararat. I also wrote letters to the\nprovincial viceroys and princes to assist the Princess and her train\nduring their sojourn in that district. But the Prince of Aderbadagan,\nafter receiving my letter, instead of giving help to the traveling\nPrincess, collected his troops and assaulted her and her train. The\nattendants of the Princess met them bravely, and there, at the foot\nof Mount Ararat, occurred a bloody battle, which would doubtless have\nresulted in the total defeat of the Princess' train, on account of the\nsuperior numbers of the enemy, if a human being, Simon the Shepherd,\nwho was tending his flock in a neighboring field, had not come to the\nassistance of our fatigued combatants. He took his great club, and\nentering the ranks of the warriors, beat and killed and pursued the\nassaulting brigands of the Prince of Aderbadagan, and saved the life\nof your daughter-in-law, who thus came safely through this perilous\njourney. You see, my liege, that there is good even among men. I\nwill punish the vile Prince of Aderbadagan for his wicked conduct;\nbut it remains for you to reward the goodness of this noble human\nbeing as you deem best, and oblige your affectionate son.\"\n\nThe King of the Snakes, receiving this letter, took with him a vast\nquantity of gold and jewels, and went to his palace, in a ruined castle\nbetween Aleppo and Diarbekir. He posted his attendants on the highways\nto keep watch and inform him when Shepherd Simon should pass. The\nShepherd was employed by dealers in live-stock, who did business with\nDamascus and Aleppo, and was now on his way to Aleppo. As soon as he\napproached the palace of the Snake King the watchers informed their\nsovereign, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole army of snakes\nstood near the highway and began to conjure. Simon the Shepherd felt\na strange dizziness,--the heavens above and the earth below seemed\nto change. He stood there bewitched, while his companions drove\naway. Presently he opened his eyes, and lo! he was surrounded by\ninnumerable snakes of all sizes and colors. Upon a golden throne was\nsitting a snake as thick as the body of an elephant, and upon his head\nthere was a crown of costly jewels and diamonds. One of the snakes read\na paper praising the goodness of the Shepherd, his natural fondness for\nthe snake tribe, and his gallant defense of the weak and the wronged.\n\n\"Now, noble human being,\" said the King, \"here is gold for you,\nprecious jewels and diamonds; take as much as you like; and in addition\nto these, if you have a desire in your heart tell it to me and I will\ncause it to be satisfied.\"\n\nSimon, after filling his shepherd's bag and his pockets with gold\nand jewels, said:\n\n\"I wish to understand the language of all animals, reptiles and birds.\"\n\n\"Let it be so,\" said the King; \"but the day on which you shall tell\nanything of what you have seen or heard, you shall die.\"\n\nThe spell was removed, the snakes vanished, and Simon the Shepherd\nreturned to his home near the foot of Mount Ararat. On the way he\nheard the animals talking, and lo! they knew all the secrets of men,\nand foretold events that would happen. Sometimes he laughed at what\nhe heard, and sometimes he was terrified so that his hair stood erect\nupon his head. He entered his native village, and lo! all the dogs,\ncats, chickens, and even the long-legged storks were hallooing to\none another and saying:\n\n\"Simon the Shepherd has come; his bag and pockets are full of gold\nand jewels.\"\n\nSimon came to his house and put his treasure before his wife who,\nbeing a very curious woman, instantly asked him where and how he\nobtained so much wealth.\n\n\"Enjoy it, but never ask,\" answered Simon.\n\nSimon heard his dog and chickens talking in regard to the secrets\nof his house. Some times he laughed and sometimes he was angry. His\nwife, noticing Simon's strange conduct towards the animals, asked the\nreason. He refused to tell, but she begged and importuned him, weeping\nall the time. Finally he could resist her entreaties no longer, and\nhe promised to tell her everything on the following day. That evening\nhe heard the dog talking to the cock, which was leading the chickens\nto roost, chuckling and gurgling:\n\n\"Tell me, master rooster,\" said the dog, \"what is the use of your\nchuckling and gurgling, since our master has promised his wife\nto-morrow to tell her everything? He will die; people will come and\nkill you, shoot me, and plunder and ruin everything which belongs to\nour master.\"\n\n\"Eh! the sooner it is ruined the better,\" answered the rooster,\ncontemptuously. \"I have a family of forty wives, who are all obedient\nto me; if our master was as wise as he is rich, he would not pay\nattention to the vain inquisitiveness of his wife; he himself would\nnot die, and no harm would befall us or his house. But now he deserves\ndeath.\"\n\nHearing this, Simon was advised; he seized his great club, and stood\nbefore his wife, saying:\n\n\"Wife, you must stop trying to compel me to tell you the secret; be\ncontent with what you have; else, by Heaven, I will beat you to death!\"\n\nThe woman, seeing the club brandished over her head, put an end to\nher inquiries, and thereafter they enjoyed a happy life.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE POOR WIDOW'S SON.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a King who had a daughter who was quite\nbeautiful. When she was of marriageable age the King sent heralds\ninviting all the young men of his realm to come to court in order\nthat the Princess might make her selection. On the appointed day\nall the young men of the country passed before the Princess, who was\nstanding with a golden apple in her hand that she might throw it at\nthe choice of her heart. She threw the apple, and lo! it hit a poor\nwidow's son. It was reported to the King, who was angry, and said:\n\n\"It cannot be; we must try it once more.\"\n\nOn the following day the Princess again threw the apple, and once\nmore hit the same poor widow's son. On the third trial the same lad\nproved to be the maiden's choice. Thereupon the King was very angry,\nand expelled both the maiden and the lad from the court and the royal\ncity. The lad took the maiden to the house of his mother, a poor old\nhut near the bridge without the city. The old widow, seeing the maiden,\nsaid to her son:\n\n\"We had not bread enough to keep us alive, and lo! you have brought\na tender maiden. How shall we live now?\"\n\n\"Be not angry, mamma,\" said the maiden, humbly, \"I know how to spin\nyarn, and we shall be able to earn our living.\"\n\nIn this manner they lived a few months. Then they decided that the\nyouth should travel and sojourn in other countries in order to earn\nmoney. On the following day they saw a merchant crossing the bridge\nwith eighty camel-loads of merchandise destined for Arabia. The\nlad offered the merchant his services in the caravan. The merchant\naccepted, and the lad came home to make ready.\n\n\"Before you set out,\" said the bride, \"go to yonder convent where\nthere is a wise monk and ask him to give you some good advice, which\nyou may need in your travels.\"\n\nThe lad went, and the old monk gave him the following maxims for\nhis guidance:\n\nFirst, \"She whom one loves the best is the most beautiful;\" secondly,\n\"Patience leads to safety;\" thirdly, \"There is a good in every\npatient waiting.\"\n\nHe came back to his bride, who said:\n\n\"Commit these wise words to memory; you will no doubt have need\nof them.\"\n\n\"Farewell!\" said the youth.\n\n\"Farewell!\" said the young bride.\n\nThe lad departed from her. After a long journey the caravan camped in a\ndesert near Arabia. There had camped before them also a large caravan\ncomposed of eighty other merchants. The lad was tired and soon fell\ninto a deep sleep. There were many men and animals in the caravan,\nand all were thirsty. In that desert there was only one well, and that\nwas dangerous; of all who had gone down to draw water, not one had\never come out. In the middle of the night, the lad was wakened by the\ncrying of a herald in the caravan, who announced that each merchant\nwas offering ten pieces of gold to the man who would descend into the\nwell and draw water for men and animals. The lad, coveting the sum,\npromised to go down. His master pitied him, and tried to prevent him,\nbut it was too late.\n\n\"You are going down into that dangerous well of your own free will,\"\nhe said; \"your blood shall be upon your own head. But if you come out\nsafely, one of my camels shall be yours with the merchandise upon it.\"\n\nThey let the lad down with a rope. Reaching the bottom, he saw a\nflowing river of fresh water; he drank and quenched his thirst. Lifting\nup his eyes, nearby he saw a Giant sitting with a maiden on each side,\none colored and the other white.\n\n\"Look, human being,\" exclaimed the Giant; \"I will ask you a\nquestion. If you answer it rightly I will let you go; if not, I will\nkill you with this club, as I have killed so many men before you. Which\nof these two maidens is the beautiful one, and which the ugly?\"\n\nThe lad remembered the first maxim of the old monk, and said: \"She\nwhom one loves the most is the most beautiful.\"\n\nThe Giant jumped up, and kissing the lad on the forehead, said:\n\"Well done, youth! you gave me the only right answer; all the rest\nwere wrong.\"\n\nHe then asked the lad the cause of his descent, and said:\n\n\"This well is enchanted; I must therefore give you a safe conduct. Take\nthese three apples, and after drawing water enough, when you go up,\ndrop one of these apples as soon as your feet are lifted from the\nground; drop the second one when you reach the middle, and the third\napple when you approach the well's mouth. Thus you will have a safe\nreturn.\"\n\nAnd the Giant gave to the lad three pomegranates as a present,\none white, one green and one red. The lad put them in his pockets,\nand after sending a sufficiency of water for the caravan, gave a sign\nto be drawn up. He threw the three apples just as he was directed by\nthe Giant, and reached the surface safely. The merchants gave him the\n800 pieces of gold and his master a camel's load of merchandise, as\npreviously promised. The lad said to his master that he wanted to send\nthe camel's load of merchandise and the money to his wife. His master\nconsented, and the lad, putting the three pomegranates in the load,\nsent it with a driver to his hut near the bridge under the sycamore\ntree. The merchant promoted the lad, and made him superintendent\nof the camel drivers. After a time the merchant died, and his wife\ncontinued to do the business. She liked the lad and adopted him as\nher son. Thus he worked with that merchant and his wife for twenty\nyears. One day he was granted permission by his adopted mother to go\nand visit his family, and he set out on his journey.\n\n\n\nLeaving him on his way for a moment, let us turn to his family. A few\nmonths after the departure of the youth Heaven blessed his humble\nhome by the birth of a son. When the camel's load of merchandise,\nmoney and pomegranates arrived, both the old widow and her young\ndaughter-in-law were greatly pleased. At first sight the Princess\nknew that the pomegranates were not common fruits, but jewels; but\nthe old widow, who thought they were common pomegranates, prepared\nto cut them, saying:\n\n\"Heaven's blessing rest upon you, my son, that you have remembered\nyour aged mother by sending her fruits to eat!\"\n\nThe bride snatched them from her hand and kept them in\nthe drawer. Thereupon the old woman was offended, cursed her\ndaughter-in-law and withdrew to the adjoining room. The bride ran to\nthe neighboring shop, and buying three common pomegranates, brought\nthem to her, saying:\n\n\"Mamma, be not offended; pardon my harsh conduct. Here are the\npomegranates; you may eat them.\"\n\nAnd mother and daughter were reconciled. The Princess then bought new\ndresses for her mother-in-law, herself, and the baby. She filled her\nmother-in-law's pocket with gold pieces, and cutting a slice from\none of the pomegranates, put it in a costly golden box and gave it\nto her, saying:\n\n\"Now, mamma, go to the King's palace, and giving the gold pieces as\na present to the attendants, say you want to see the King, and give\nhim this golden box with the slice of pomegranate in it. When he asks\nyou what you want, say that you have brought it to him as a present,\nand that you want nothing but a decree sealed with the royal seal,\npermitting you to do whatever you please without being molested.\"\n\nThe old woman, making herself as trim as she could, started on the\nerrand and did all that the Princess had bid her. The King, upon seeing\nthe jewels in the shape of a pomegranate slice, at once called the\nroyal jewelers to set a price on them. The jewelers, examining the\nslice of pomegranate, said:\n\n\"No one can set a price on this. Let a lad of fifteen stand and throw a\nstone with all his might toward the sky; a heap of gold as high as that\nwould hardly equal the value of this wonderful row of precious stones.\"\n\nThe King thought there was not so much gold in his treasury.\n\n\"Do you want the price of this jewel, or have you brought it as a\npresent to the King?\" asked the King of the woman.\n\n\"I have brought it as a present to your majesty,\" answered the woman.\n\n\"What favor do you want in recompense?\" asked the King.\n\nThe old woman answered as she had been advised by her\ndaughter-in-law. The royal decree was immediately signed, sealed,\nand given to the old woman, who brought it to her daughter-in-law. As\nsoon as the Princess took the royal edict, she sent slices of the\nthree pomegranates to all the seven Kings of the world and received in\nrecompense treasure inestimable. She then built a splendid palace in\nthe place of the poor old hut, and decorated it with silver, gold,\nand the rest of the jewels, which illumined the palace by night,\nmaking it as bright and lustrous as the twinkling morning star. The\nfame of this palace spread all over the world, and people came to see\nits splendor. The King also came to see it and admired it, because\nit contained so many beautiful things which were not to be found in\nhis own palace. He visited all parts of it and sighed deeply from\nhis heart, saying:\n\n\"I wish my only daughter was not lost, and that she lived in this\nmagnificent building!\"\n\nFrom behind the curtain his daughter heard him speak, and she also\nsighed. The Princess' son had by this time grown into a good-looking,\nintelligent lad, and it was he who made a grand princely reception\nto the King in the new palace. The King greatly liked the lad and\ntook him into his service. Seeing that he was an uncommon youth,\ndisplaying extraordinary ability in everything he handled, the King\nwas so much pleased with him that he advanced him to the position of\ncommander of his forces, without knowing that he was his own grandson.\n\n\n\nNow let us return to the father of the commander. He arrived in\nhis country and went directly in search of the bride, with the\nexpectation of finding his lowly hut under the sycamore tree. But to\nhis disappointment and surprise he found in its place a magnificent\npalace, the most magnificent indeed that he had seen in his travels\nof twenty years' duration. There was nothing left of the old hut,\nonly the sycamore tree which had grown taller and thicker during the\npast twenty years. As a stranger he walked into the yard, approached\nthe old sycamore tree, his only acquaintance in the neighborhood,\nand climbed it. Soon he saw a woman and the commander come to the\nporch and sit upon the sofa near one another. He knew the woman; she\nwas his wife, the Princess. Twenty years seemed to have made little\nchange in her. But why was she in this splendid palace and not in\nhis hut? And what was the business of the commander there? Suspicion\nfilled his mind, and he drew his bow and arrow with the intention\nof killing both of them. Just at that moment he remembered the old\nmonk's second maxim--\"Patience leads to safety,\" and he did not use\nhis arms. Presently he saw the commander and his wife embracing one\nanother. This time his blood ran to his brain and he drew his bow and\narrow to shoot; but remembered the old monk's third maxim--\"There is\ngood in all patient waiting,\" and again he did not shoot. He began,\nhowever, to listen attentively to their talk, and heard the commander\nsaying:\n\n\"Mother, is my father living? Where is he? Last night I dreamed in\nmy dream that he had come home.\"\n\nThereupon his mother told him all this story, which she had till then\nkept secret from him.\n\n\"What!\" exclaimed the young commander, \"you the daughter of the King;\nI the commander of his army; this palace our home, and my father a\nwanderer in foreign lands! It is impossible! I will to-morrow take\nmy army and go and find my father.\"\n\nHis father, who was listening to his words from the tree, felt the\ngreat tears rolling down his cheeks. After nightfall he came down\nfrom the tree, and spent the night in a neighboring inn. The following\nmorning he sent messages to his wife and son, bearing the good tidings\nof his arrival. Their meeting was a very happy one. The King, hearing\nof the return of his dear commander's father, hastened to express\nhis congratulations and best wishes. Entering the palace he met,\nto his great surprise, his daughter, who with her husband and son\nfell on their knees, begging the blessing of the King. The old King\nwas almost mad with joy, and embraced them all, shedding tears.\n\n\"Now I see,\" he exclaimed, \"that it is useless to strive to undo what\ndestiny has decreed. It was destined that you should marry one another,\nand lo! you prove to be the best match that I could desire.\"\n\nAs the King had no other child except that daughter, upon his death\nhis son-in-law succeeded him upon the throne. Thus they reached the\nhighest glory of this world. May Heaven grant that we may all reach\nthe highest glory of the world to come!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA NIGGARDLY COMPANION.\n\n\nTwo men were traveling in company on their way to a distant city. Each\nhad a bag of food to support him on the journey, which would last\nseveral days. They agreed to first eat the provision of one man,\nand when that was finished to consume that of the other, which they\nexpected would be sufficient to last during their journey. But when\nthe store of the first man was finished, the second man would not\nallow his companion to use his own bag, as they had previously agreed.\n\n\"For Heaven's sake, Jack!\" exclaimed the first man, \"give me something\nto eat. If you will not bestow it in return for my bread, give it as\ncharity. Otherwise, I shall starve and die in this wilderness, while\nmy family and children will be left paupers. Spare me, Jack, spare me!\"\n\nBut it was impossible to persuade the second man, who refused, saying:\n\n\"No, I will give you nothing, lest the bread should not be enough\nfor both. I will eat my own food and go. I don't care for you.\"\n\nCan a hungry man walk? The one who had the provision bag went on ahead,\nleaving his starving companion behind. For a while the poor man walked,\ncasting earth in his mouth and drinking water from every brook until\nsunset, when he came to a ruined mill.\n\n\"Let me lodge in this ruined mill,\" he thought. \"Heaven is merciful.\"\n\nThere was nothing in the ruined mill, except an old tambourine which\nhung from the wall. In order not to be torn by wild beasts, the man\nentered the grain holder of the mill and tried to sleep. At midnight\nhe saw a bear enter the mill and sit opposite the grain holder. Soon\narrived a wolf, and took his seat near the bear, and at last came a\nfox, and sat next to the wolf. The wolf asked the bear, saying:\n\n\"How is it with you, brother bear? How do you fill that great stomach\nof yours, when game is so scarce nowadays?\"\n\n\"I never am in trouble because of scarcity of food,\" answered the\nbear. \"I find plenty of vegetables in the neighborhood, which have\ndelicious roots. When I am hungry I dig some of these and appease\nmy hunger.\"\n\n\"This is good!\" thought the hungry man, in his concealment.\n\n\"And how is it with you, brother wolf,\" asked the fox. \"Do you ever\nsucceed in satisfying your gluttonous appetite, now that every shepherd\nkeeps a cursed dog?\"\n\n\"Oh, never mention that,\" answered the wolf, sighing deeply. \"I have\nbeen planning all the time, during the past two or three months, to\nsnatch some morsels from the flocks of the mayor of Greendale, but I\nnever succeed in approaching the flock for fear of the big black dog,\nwho never leaves the sheep. I do not know why the doctors do not kill\nthat cursed dog, and bathe with its blood the King's son, who would\nat once be healed from the disease which has been tormenting him so\nlong that the doctors have given up hope. By this means the poor lad\nwould be cured and the obstacle before me would be removed.\"\n\n\"Good!\" thought the man to himself.\n\n\"And how is it with you, brother fox?\" asked the bear. \"How are you\ngetting along?\"\n\n\"Gramercy!\" said Reynard, \"although I am not as strong as you are,\nyet Heaven has given me wisdom and dexterity, and I have never been\ntroubled by hunger. Eh! I have accumulated some wealth also. I have\na jug full of gold hidden under yonder sycamore tree, and another\nunder the threshold of this mill. I get the gold pieces out once a\nday and enjoy myself in playing with them. Then I put them into the\njugs and hide them once more.\"\n\n\"Very good!\" said the man to himself.\n\nThe man took courage; his mind began to work; he suddenly took hold\nof the tambourine and began to play on it. Hearing this, the beasts\nran away and disappeared in the twinkling of an eye. They thought\na wedding procession was coming; and beasts are very much afraid of\nwedding processions. By this time it was daybreak. The man came out\nfrom his concealment, took the two jugs full of gold, filled his\npockets, and hid the remainder in another place. He dug the roots\nwhich the bear had recommended and satisfied his hunger. He then\nasked the way to the village of Greendale and became a guest in the\nmayor's house. As he provided costly presents both for the mayor and\nthe members of his family, they were all highly pleased with him. In\nthe morning he heard the mayor whispering with the members of his\nfamily as to the present they could make their guest in recompense\nfor his costly offerings. Thereupon the man said:\n\n\"I have admired the black dog of your flock; I wish I could have one\nlike it.\"\n\n\"Since your desire is for that black dog,\" answered the mayor,\n\"you may have it; we can easily find another dog for the flock.\"\n\nThe man put a rope around the neck of the dog, and taking with him a\nskin bottle, withdrew to a lonely place, where he cut the throat of\nthe dog, and caught its blood in the skin. Taking the skinful of dog's\nblood, he went to the city and presenting himself to the King, said:\n\n\"I am a doctor; I can heal your son.\"\n\n\"If you can heal my son,\" said the King, \"I will assure you the second\nplace in the kingdom after my death; but if you do not heal him,\nI will cut off your head.\"\n\n\"May your son himself enjoy your throne,\" said the man; \"but if I do\nnot heal him my head is yours.\"\n\nThe King consented, and the man took the invalid Prince, who was\nvery weak and upon his deathbed, to a room alone, where he applied\nthe dog's blood over all his body, and laid him to sleep. Towards\nevening the lad had perspired and became wet all over. The assumed\ndoctor washed him, and once more applied the dog's blood. He continued\nthis treatment two days; on the third day the lad was cured, his body\nbeing as sound as that of a newly born babe. The man took the Prince\nto the King, who was so much pleased that he presented the physician\nwith a magnificent palace, and abundant wealth. Not only the court\nbut all the people of the country loved the man for his generous\nspirit. He sought and obtained the rest of the fox's treasure, which\nhe had hidden, and caused his family to be brought to his new palace,\nwhere they lived a happy life, and praised Heaven.\n\n\n\nBut what became of his niggardly companion, who had refused to give\naway a slice of bread? He reached his destination safely, but never\nattained success there, and was obliged to go from city to city\nseeking work to earn a living. At last he came to the city where\nhis fortunate companion lived, and seeing him enjoying a princely\nlife, asked him how he attained it. His former comrade told him\neverything. Thereupon the man hastened to the ruined mill, with the\nexpectation that he also would attain good luck, and hid himself in\nthe grain holder. The beasts again came to hold a meeting.\n\n\"Mr. Chairman,\" said Reynard to the bear, as soon as they came in,\n\"before we commence our deliberations, we would better look carefully\nand see if there is a human being near by to hear us. Because I have\nbeen robbed since our last meeting.\"\n\nThey all got up to look around, and lo! there was a man in the\ngrain holder.\n\n\"Vile intruder!\" exclaimed the fox, biting the man's legs madly. The\nbear gave him some violent blows on the head with his heavy paws\nwhich made him fall senseless, and the wolf tore him into pieces. Thus\nended the life of this niggardly man.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAIDEN OF THE SEA.\n\n\nThere was an old woman and her son who lived on the seacoast. She\nused to cast a loaf of bread into the sea every morning. One day she\nsaid to her son:\n\n\"My son, I am getting old, and I feel that I shall soon die. Listen\nto my advice, and every morning cast a loaf of bread to the sea.\"\n\nThe old woman died, and the lad continued casting a loaf of bread into\nthe sea every morning. One evening as he came back home from his work\nhe was surprised to see the house swept and cleaned. Another day he put\nsome meat in the cupboard, and in the evening, lo! the meat was cooked\nand the table ready for him. This was repeated several times. One day\nhe hid himself under the stairs. Soon a splash of water was heard in\nthe sea, and, lo! a big fish cast itself on the threshold. At once the\nskin of the fish fell down, and out of it came a maiden as beautiful as\nthe shining moon. She swept the house clean, and finishing the kitchen\nwork was just going out of the door, when the lad took hold of her.\n\n\"Mamma, mamma! help me!\" exclaimed the maiden. Immediately a voice came\nfrom the sea: \"Be not afraid, daughter, that is my son-in-law.\" By\nthe will of God and the permission of the mother, the maiden became\nthe bride of the lad. At once the priest was called, who performed\nthe marriage ceremony, and for seven days they celebrated the wedding\nfestival.\n\nOne day, as the bride was working with a needle before the window,\nthe Prince, who was taking a walk in his seashore orchard, saw her\nand was enchanted by her beauty. Finding out that she was a married\nwoman, he decided to destroy her husband and get her in marriage. He\nimmediately summoned the lad, and said:\n\n\"I want you to make me a tent so large that all my army may be\naccommodated in it, and yet half of it remain empty. I will give you\nthree days' time to prepare it; if you don't make it ready by that\ntime your head shall be cut off and all your property confiscated.\"\n\nThe lad came home with a sad face. What should he say to the Prince\nat the end of the third day? Surely his head should be cut off. The\nbride, seeing him, said:\n\n\"How now, husband! what is the matter? Why are you sad to-day?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" answered the lad, sighing.\n\n\"Nay, your face is changed,\" said the bride. \"I pray you what is\nthe matter?\"\n\nThe lad told her what the Prince had ordered him to do.\n\n\"Never mind, husband,\" said she, and putting her head out of the\nwindow toward the sea, she cried:\n\n\"Mamma, mamma! send us up our small tent, please. We want to go\na-camping.\"\n\nThe small tent was thrown up from the sea. The lad took it to the\nPrince. It took his servants seven days to pitch it. Not only the\nPrince's army, but all his people were accommodated in it, and yet\nhalf of it was empty.\n\n\"This is right well,\" said the Prince, \"but you see there is no\nfurniture to put on the ground. I want you to bring me a rug to suit\nthe tent exactly. If you don't bring it in three days your head shall\nbe cut off.\"\n\nThe lad told his wife, and she asked her mother to send up the small\nrug, which was taken to the Prince. The Prince next day bade the\nlad fetch him a cluster of grapes so large that all his army might\neat and not be able to finish it. On the following day that also was\nbrought. Then the Prince wanted him to bring him a three-day old baby\nwho could walk and talk like grown-up people. This time the lad was\ndismayed, because it was a sheer impossibility, and he thought he\nwould surely lose his head this time.\n\n\"Never mind that, husband,\" said his wife, in the evening; and turning\ntoward the sea, she cried:\n\n\"Mamma! send up here the baby for a while, we want to see him.\"\n\nThe baby was given up, and the lad took him to the Prince, still\ndoubting in his mind whether the baby could do what the Prince\nrequired. On the way the lad's foot slipped and the baby was shaken.\n\n\"Have you not your eyes about you, brother-in-law,\" the baby said,\n\"or have you a mind to fall down and crush me under you?\" The lad was\npleased at the baby's reproach, because it assured him that his head\nwould not be cut off. On being presented to the Prince the baby at\nonce walked toward him, jumped up to his lap and giving the Prince\na box on his ear, said:\n\n\"Are you not ashamed, Prince, to give so much trouble to my\nbrother-in-law? You want to kill him and be married to my sister,\ndo you? For shame, Prince, for shame!\"\n\nThereupon the Prince gave up his evil intention, apologized to the\nlad and asked forgiveness. So the lad and his bride of the sea were\nleft unmolested and they are still living on the border of the sea.\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN-HEADED FISH.\n\n\nI remember having heard my grandmother tell a story of a King who had\nlost his eyesight. I will repeat it to you. All of the doctors and\nall of the magicians of the realm held a consultation, but could not\ndo him any good. At last the King, hearing that there was in India a\ndoctor three hundred years old, wrote a letter to the King of that\ncountry requesting him to send the aged doctor in order that the\nlatter might devise some remedy to restore his eyesight. The doctor\ncame, and after an examination of the King's eyes, said:\n\n\"There is only one remedy, and that is a tincture made from the blood\nof the Golden-Headed Fish. Send men to the open sea to catch one. I\nwill wait one hundred days. If they cannot take one during that time\nI will depart.\"\n\nThe King's only son, taking with him one hundred men and as many\nnets, sailed to the open sea to catch the desired fish. They worked\nhard and caught many kinds of fish, but none of them had a golden\nhead. Ninety-nine days passed by and only one day remained before\nthe expiration of the term. They had given up hope and decided to\nsail back, when the Prince said to his men:\n\n\"Cast this one last net for my luck.\"\n\nThey did so, and lo! the Golden-Headed Fish was caught. They were\nglad, and put the precious fish in a jug of water in order to keep\nit alive. The jug was put in the Prince's cabin and they set sail\nhomeward. When the Prince was alone he looked at the fish, and lo! it\nbegan to talk to him.\n\n\"Prince,\" said the Golden-Headed Fish, \"I am a prince myself; spare\nmy life and cast me back into the sea. Some day you will receive\nyour remuneration.\"\n\nThe Prince took pity upon the poor fish, and cast him back into the\nsea, saying:\n\n\"Go, live; if you, a fish, do not appreciate this mercy, the Creator\nfrom above will appreciate it.\"\n\nThe party returned and told what the Prince had done. This enraged\nthe King to the very verge of madness.\n\n\"Alas!\" exclaimed he, \"my son desires my speedy death, that he may\nhimself be King. Executioners, take this unnatural son and immediately\ncut off his head.\"\n\nBut as the Prince was the only son of the King, by the intervention\nof his mother they put his clothes on a criminal and hanged him, and\nbanished the Prince to a distant island, where he lived a miserable\nlife, as nobody knew who he was. He was considered by the people as a\nvile criminal and was despised by all, and, forsaken and abandoned, he\nremained in this wretched condition without friends, without means of\nlivelihood. He felt himself so wretched that he fell into a condition\nof despair, and resolved to put an end to so unbearable a life. With\nthis intention, he went to a high precipice on the sea-shore and\nprecipitated himself into the foaming deep. But as soon as he reached\nthe sea, lo! he found himself in the arms of a strange-looking negro,\nwho after setting him on the beach, fell down and saluted him, saying:\n\n\"Mighty Prince, vouchsafe to me that I may put myself at your\nservice. You may depend upon it that I shall please you and serve\nyou with all my might.\"\n\nThe humane and brave conduct of the stranger, and his kind and\ncourteous words made such an impression upon the lad that his despair\nwas at once banished, and he repented of his attempt to commit\nsuicide. He accepted the service of the negro, and they went together\nto the lad's house, where a rich dinner was awaiting them. Thereafter\nthe Prince found everything necessary abundantly prepared, and master\nand man lived together for a time. During those days the people of the\nisland suffered greatly from the frequent attacks of a large dragon\nwhich devoured all the men it met. The people were in such terror that\nno one ventured to go out of his house. The Prince of the island sent\nhis army to kill the dragon, but it could not be done. Then he sent\nout heralds, proclaiming that he would give great wealth to the man\nwho killed the dragon. Thereupon the negro, the attendant of the lad,\nwent to the Prince of the island, saying:\n\n\"My master will kill the dragon, and desires to know what you intend\nto give him.\"\n\n\"The hero who kills the dragon,\" said the Prince, \"shall become my\nson-in-law by marrying my daughter, and I will also bestow upon him\nwhatever presents he may desire.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said the negro. \"Give to my master your daughter in marriage\nand half of your wealth.\"\n\nThen he went and, killing the dragon himself, brought its ears to\nthe lad, who took them to the Prince. He became the son-in-law of\nthe Prince by marrying his daughter, and lived in a splendid palace,\nwhich the Prince gave him with half of his wealth. As the Prince had\nno son, the lad succeeded him after his death and reigned over the\nisland. A son was born to him. One day the negro said to the youth:\n\n\"Abdicate your throne in favor of your son, appoint your wife as\nregent, and let us go to the city of the King of the West.\"\n\nThe young man consented, and they started, taking with them much\nriches. As soon as they reached the city of the King of the West the\nnegro said to the lad:\n\n\"Go ask for yourself the daughter of the King in marriage.\"\n\nThe lad went to the King, who was pleased with him, and said:\n\n\"Prince, I see you are a worthy man. Now let me tell you frankly\nthat I have given my daughter to ninety-nine Princes in marriage,\nand every one died on the nuptial night. I have pity on your youth.\"\n\nThe lad, hearing this, was afraid, but the negro insisted, saying:\n\n\"Nay, get her in marriage. Do not be frightened.\"\n\nAnd the youth took the maiden in marriage. As soon as the wedding\nceremony was performed, the King's servants began to prepare this\nbridegroom's coffin and his grave also. During the nuptial night,\nhowever, the negro hid himself in the wardrobe of the bedchamber. As\nsoon as the bride and the bridegroom were asleep he came out and\nstood at the head of the bed, holding a dagger and tongs. At midnight\nthere came from the bride's mouth a viper to bite the bridegroom. The\nnegro at once took hold of the serpent with the tongs, and cutting\nit in pieces with the dagger, hid it in the wardrobe. In the morning\nthe King's men came to bury the bridegroom, and lo! he was alive,\nand they ran back to carry the good tidings to the King, and to\nfelicitate him on the happy event. On the following night there came\nfrom the bride's mouth another viper, which the negro killed, and\nafter that they lived in peace. Now the King of the West also had\nno son and after his death the lad succeeded him on the throne. One\nday a messenger came to him from the city of the King of the East,\nthe youth's fatherland, sent from his mother, saying: \"Your father\nhas died; come and reign in his stead.\"\n\nThe youth, putting a regent in his place, took his second wife,\naccompanied by the negro, and started for his fatherland. He set sail\nand on the way stopped at the Island, where he took also his first wife\non board. Thence they proceeded and came to the Kingdom of the East,\nthe lad's fatherland, where he was crowned King. Thus the Kingdoms\nof the East and the West with the Island between them were united\nunder one crown, and were thereafter governed by the same sovereign.\n\nSoon after the coronation of the King, the Negro asked his master to\ngive him leave to go to his own country.\n\n\"My friend and benefactor,\" said the King to the negro, \"I owe you\nnot only everything I have, but my very life and existence. Come,\ntake whatever you please, and then go your way.\"\n\n\"Whatever we earned we earned together,\" replied the negro; \"so I\nhave a right to the half of what belongs to you. However, I will take\nnothing from your wealth and property, but let us divide your wives\nbetween us.\"\n\n\"Well said!\" answered the King, \"take whomsoever you like the best.\"\n\n\"Not so,\" said the negro, \"lest you should think I had the beautiful\none, and I should think that you had her. But we shall divide both\nladies into equal parts, half to you and half to me.\"\n\nThe King at first thought to offer opposition; but remembering the\nmany favors he had received from the negro, he thought it would be\ningratitude on his part not to comply with this one strange demand\nof his colored friend.\n\n\"Well, I agree to that,\" he said at last. And they took both women\nunder the large sycamore tree on the seashore, where the negro hung\nthe daughter of the King of the West, head down, and lifted his big\nsword as if to cut her in two by a single stroke. The woman shrieked\nat the sight of the lifted sword.\n\n\"Oh!\" exclaimed she with all her might. And lo! a serpent's nest, with\na great number of young vipers, fell from her stomach. The negro killed\nthe vipers, and releasing the woman gave her to her husband, saying:\n\n\"Now, go enjoy your wives and rule over your empire in peace; there\nis no more evil left to trouble you. In doing all these things, I\nhave done my duty, because you saved my life. I am the Golden-Headed\nFish. Farewell!\" This he said, and dived into the sea, where he\nstill lives.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHUSBAND OR WIFE!--WHICH?\n\n\nA goldsmith and his wife lived a happy life in perfect harmony and\nlove. In all the country they were considered the best patterns\nof conjugal love. It was their custom not to put out the light in\ntheir house but let it burn all the night. One night as the King\nand Queen were looking from their high window at the sleeping city,\nthey noticed the goldsmith's light gleaming at a distance, and his\nwell-known matrimonial love became the subject of debate between the\nroyal couple. The King insisted that it was on account of the husband's\nvirtue that he and his wife were in such perfect harmony. The Queen\ninsisted that it was on account of the wife's virtue. Thereupon they\ndecided to make a trial and find out the truth. On the following day\nthe Queen sent one of her handmaids to the goldsmith, saying that she\nhad fallen in love with him and would become his wife if he killed\nhis present wife.\n\n\"Not I,\" answered the goldsmith; \"I will not part from my wife for\nall the world. I am content with what Heaven has assigned me. I will\nnot exchange my wife for a thousand Queens.\"\n\nOn the following day the King sent a servant to the goldsmith's wife,\nsaying that he had been charmed with her beauty and wanted to make\nher queen, if she would kill her present husband.\n\n\"Is it really true? Is it really true?\" exclaimed the woman.\n\n\"It is true,\" answered the servant.\n\n\"Well, then,\" said the woman, \"I will kill my husband this very\nnight. When you see our light has gone out to-night, know that I have\nbegun to murder him.\"\n\nThe servant brought word to the King, who ordered his men to be\nready and go to the rescue of the goldsmith if the light was really\nput out. In the evening the goldsmith came home. After supper the\nhusband and wife had a nice talk as usual, and the husband, putting\nhis head in the lap of his wife, fell asleep. The woman put the loop\nof a rope around his neck, blew out the candle, and began to pull the\nrope. The poor goldsmith was strangled before the King's men came\nto the rescue. This murder of one of his best subjects grieved the\nKing so deeply that he thereafter hated all women from the depths of\nhis soul. He could not sleep that night, and early in the morning he\ncalled his prime minister, saying:\n\n\"To-day I will go hunting. You must put to death all the women of\nthe country, old and young, before I come home this evening.\"\n\nThe prime minister had an aged father, to whom he went and repeated\nthe King's terrible order.\n\n\"Do not obey it,\" said the old man; \"I shall be responsible. Go and\nhide yourself for a couple of days from the anger of the King.\"\n\nIn the evening the King came back from hunting, and seeing the women\nof the realm still alive, was enraged, and called his prime minister\ninto his presence. The old man appeared before the King, standing on\nhis crutches.\n\n\"Where is your son?\" said the King. \"I want to cut off his head first,\nthen those of the women.\"\n\n\"Long live the King!\" said the old man with his trembling\nvoice. \"Permit me to tell you an experience of mine, and then put\nyour command into execution if you choose.\"\n\n\"Speak!\" said the King, who at the same time gave orders to the\nsoldiers to be ready to butcher the women.\n\n\"I was prime minister during your father's reign,\" said the old\nman. \"One day we had gone to hunt. I was led astray by the game,\nand came near a village on the other side of the forest. Soon I was\novertaken by an unknown horseman, who took hold of me, and lifting\nme from the back of my horse, placed me before him upon the saddle\nof his own horse, bound me with a rope, and tied the reins of my\nhorse to the back of his own. To struggle on my part was useless,\nbecause he was very strong. Soon we arrived at a cemetery, where we\ndismounted. For a while he looked here and there, and stopping at a\ncertain place, began to dig, and ordered me to shovel the earth after\nhim. Thus working we dug two graves. We mounted again and dismounted at\nthe foot of a castle wall. He bound me carefully to the saddle of his\nhorse, and himself climbed up the wall. After a few minutes he threw\ndown from the top of the wall the headless corpse of a man who had\njust been murdered. He came down, and placing the corpse on my horse\ntook it and myself to the graves we had dug. I was horror stricken,\nand thought that one of the graves must be for the corpse and the\nother for me. But to my surprise, he untied me and bade me assist\nhim to bury the corpse, which I did. He then turned to me and said:\n\n\"'I know who you are; you are the prime minister of this state. Now\nlisten to me, and go and tell the King my story. I am a woman and\nhad a boundless love for my husband. This vile Prince, whose body we\nhave just now buried, having fallen in love with me, killed my own\nhusband that he might win my love. But I vowed by the sacred love I\nbore my husband to kill the murderer and bury him under my husband's\nfeet. Now that is accomplished. I vowed next to kill myself, that I\nmight be buried by the side of my husband. For the love of Heaven,\nbury me in this grave and tell my story to the King.' This she said,\nand stabbing herself with a dagger, fell dead at my feet. I buried\nher in that grave near her husband. Here you have the example of a\nfaithful and brave wife. If the unfaithful wife of the goldsmith gave\nyou occasion to order the death of all the women of the realm, let\nthis woman be the means of saving her sex from general slaughter. Why\nshall many good women die because of the wickedness of one woman?\"\n\nThereupon the King revoked the order and only the goldsmith's wife\nwas put to death.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WICKED STEPMOTHER\n\n\nOnce upon a time, in Armenia, there was a noted hunter, who was a\nwidower. He had a son by a former wife. He married another wife,\nbut soon was taken mortally sick. On his deathbed he said to his wife:\n\n\"Wife, I am dying, and I know that when my son grows up he will follow\nmy profession. Take care and do not let him go to the Black Mountains\nto hunt.\"\n\nAfter the death of the hunter, the son growing up, began to follow his\nfather's profession, and became a hunter. One day his stepmother said:\n\n\"Son, your father, when dying, said that after you grew up, if you\nfollowed his profession, you should not go to the Black Mountains\nto hunt.\"\n\nBut the lad, paying no attention to what his father had advised him,\none day took his bow and arrow, mounted his horse and hastened to the\nBlack Mountains to hunt. As soon as he reached them, lo, a giant made\nhis appearance on the back of his horse of lightning, and exclaimed:\n\n\"How now! Have you never heard my name, that you have dared to come\nand hunt on my ground?\" And he threw three terrible maces at the lad,\nwho very cleverly avoided them, hiding himself under the belly of\nhis horse.\n\nNow it was his turn; he drew his bow and arrow, took aim and shot\nthe giant, who was nailed to the ground. He at once mounted the\ngiant's horse of lightning, which galloping, soon brought him to\na magnificent palace, gilded all over with gold and decorated with\nprecious jewels. Lo, a maiden as beautiful as the sun appeared in\nthe window, saying:\n\n\"Human being, the snake upon its belly and the bird with its wing\ncould not come here; how could you venture to come?\"\n\n\"Your love brought me hither, fair creature,\" answered the lad,\nwho had already fallen in love with the charming maiden.\n\n\"But the giant will come and tear you into pieces,\" said the maiden,\nwho also had fallen in love with the lad.\n\n\"I have killed him, and there lies his carcass,\" answered the lad.\n\nThe door of the palace was opened, and the lad was received by the\nmaiden, who told him that she was the daughter of a Prince, and that\nthe giant had stolen her and kept her in that palace, where she had\nforty beautiful handmaids serving her.\n\n\"And as you have killed the giant,\" she added, \"I, who am a virgin,\nshall be your wife, and all these maidens will serve us.\" And they\naccepted one another as husband and wife.\n\nOpening the treasures of the giant, they found innumerable jewels,\ngold, silver, and all kinds of wealth. The lad thought such a beautiful\npalace, with so many treasures worthy of a prince, and the most\nbeautiful wife in the world, things that he could hardly have dreamed\nof, and he decided to live there, going to hunt every day as usual.\n\nOne day, however, he came home sighing, \"Ah! alas! alas!\"\n\n\"How now, what is the matter?\" said the beautiful bride. \"Am I and\nmy forty handmaids not enough to please you? Why did you sigh?\"\n\n\"You are sweet, my love,\" said the lad, \"but my mother also is\nsweet. You have your place in my heart, but my mother also has her\nplace. I remembered her, therefore I sighed.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the young bride, \"take a horseload of gold to your mother,\nlet her live in abundance and be happy.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the lad, \"let me go and bring her here.\"\n\n\"Very well, go, then,\" said the young bride.\n\nThe lad went to his stepmother and telling her all that he had done,\nbrought her to the palace of the Black Mountains. There she was the\nmother-in-law of the fair bride, and therefore the superior of the\nwhole palace. Both the bride and the maidens had to submit to her.\n\nThe lad used to go out hunting. The stepmother, being well versed in\nwitchcraft and medicine, went secretly, and administered some remedy\nto the corpse of the giant, so that he was soon healed. Falling in\nlove with the giant, she took him to the palace and hid him in the\ncellar, where she secretly paid him daily visits, as she was afraid\nof her stepson. Wishing, however, to have none to oppose her, the\nwitch one day said to the giant:\n\n\"Giant, you must advise me of a way by which I may send my son on an\nerrand, and from which he may never come back.\"\n\nUpon the advice of the giant, she entered her room and putting under\nher bed pieces of very thin and dry Oriental bread, lay down upon\nthe bed and feigned sickness. In the evening the lad returned from\nhunting, and hearing that his stepmother was ill, hastened to her side,\nand asked:\n\n\"What is the matter, mother?\"\n\n\"O, son,\" exclaimed the witch, with a sickly voice, \"I am very sick. I\nshall die,\" and as she turned from one side to the other the dry\nbread began to crackle.\n\n\"Hark!\" exclaimed the witch, \"how my bones are crackling!\"\n\n\"What is the remedy, mother, what can I do for you?\" asked the lad.\n\n\"O, my son,\" said the witch, \"there is only one remedy for my sickness,\nand that is the Melon of Life. I shall never be healed, if I do not\neat one of that fruit which you could bring to me.\"\n\n\"All right, mother,\" said the lad, \"I will bring to you the Melon\nof Life.\"\n\nHe at once started upon the expedition, and after a long journey\nwas guest in the house of an old woman who asked him where he was\ngoing. When she heard of the errand, she said to the lad:\n\n\"Son, you are deceived; the expedition is a fatal one,--do not go.\"\n\nBut as the lad insisted, the old woman said:\n\n\"Well, then, let me advise you. On your way you will soon come to a\nmansion, which is the abode of forty giants, who in the day-time go\nout hunting. But you will find their dame there kneading dough. If\nyou are agile enough to run and suck the nipples of the open breast\nof that giantess without being seen by her, you are safe; if not,\nshe will make one mouthful of you and devour you.\"\n\nThe lad went and found as foretold by the old woman. He was clever\nenough to suck the nipples of the giantess without being seen by her.\n\n\"A plague on her who advised you!\" exclaimed the angry giantess,\n\"else I would make a good morsel of you. But now having sucked of my\nbreast, you are like one of my own sons. Let me hide you in a box,\nlest the forty giants should come in the evening and finding you here,\ndevour you.\"\n\nAnd she shut the lad in a box. In the evening the forty giants came,\nand smelling a human being, said:\n\n\"O mother, all the year long we hunt beasts and fowls which we bring\nhome to eat together, and now we smell a human being, whom no doubt\nyou have devoured to-day. Have you not preserved for us at least a\nfew bones which we might chew?\"\n\n\"It is you,\" answered the dame, \"that are coming from mountains and\nplains where no doubt you have found human beings, and the smell\ncomes out of your own mouths. I have eaten no human being.\"\n\n\"Yes, mother, you have,\" exclaimed the giants.\n\n\"How if my nephew, the son of my human sister, has come to pay me a\nvisit!\" answered the giantess.\n\n\"O mother,\" exclaimed the giants, \"show us our human cousin; we will\nnot hurt him, but talk with him.\"\n\nThe giantess took the lad out of the box and brought him to the\ngiants, who were very much pleased to see a human being so small,\nbut so beautiful and manly. Holding him up like a toy, the giants\nhanded him to one another to gratify their curiosity by looking at him.\n\n\"Mother, what has our cousin come for?\" inquired the giants.\n\n\"He has come,\" answered the giantess, \"to pick a Melon of Life, and\ncarry it to his mother who is sick. You must go and get the Melon of\nLife for him.\"\n\n\"Not we,\" exclaimed the forty giants, \"it is above our ability.\"\n\nThe youngest of the forty brothers, however, who was lame, said to\nthe lad:\n\n\"Cousin, I will go with you and get the Melon of Life for you. You\nmust only take with you a jug, a comb, and a razor.\"\n\nOn the following day the lad took what was necessary and followed\nthe lame giant, who soon brought him to the garden of the Melon of\nLife, which was guarded by fifty giants. The guards being asleep,\nthe lad and his companion entered the garden without being perceived,\nand picking the Melon began to run. But they were just crossing the\nhedges, when the lame leg of the giant was caught by the fence, and\nin his haste to release it he shook the hedges which crackled like\nthunder and, lo, all the fifty giants awoke crying:\n\n\"Thieves! human beings! a good prey for us!\" and began to pursue the\nlad and his lame companion.\n\n\"Throw the jug behind you, cousin,\" exclaimed the lame giant.\n\nThe lad did so, and lo, plains and mountains behind them were covered\nby an immense sea which the fifty giants had to cross in order to\nreach them. By this means they gained quite a distance till the fifty\ncrossed the sea.\n\n\"Now, cousin, throw the comb behind you,\" exclaimed the lame giant.\n\nThe lad did so, and lo, an extensive jungle between them and the\nfifty giants. They gained another great distance before the giants\nfinished crossing the jungle.\n\n\"Throw the razor now, cousin,\" exclaimed the lame giant.\n\nThe lad did so, and lo, all the country between them and the fifty\ngiants was covered with pieces of glass, sharp as razors. Before the\nfifty could cross the distance the thirty-nine giants came to the\nrescue of the two and took them, safely to their borders.\n\nThe lad took leave of his adopted aunt and cousins, find taking the\nMelon of Life with him, returned home. On his way, however, he was\nagain the guest of the old woman, who seeing him come safely, asked\nif he had succeeded in bringing the precious fruit.\n\n\"Yes, I have brought it, auntie,\" answered the lad, and told her\nhis tale.\n\nIn the middle of the night, when the lad was sound asleep, the old\nwoman took the Melon of Life out of the lad's saddle bag and put a\ncommon melon in its place. In the morning the lad brought the melon\nto his stepmother, who eating it exclaimed:\n\n\"O, happy! I am healed.\"\n\nThe lad again went hunting, and the witch said to the giant:\n\n\"Look here, giant; this enterprise did not prove fatal to my\nstepson. Advise me of another more dangerous journey on which I may\nsend him, and from which he shall surely not return.\"\n\nUpon the advice of the giant she once more placed some thin and dry\nloaves of bread under her bed and lay down feigning sickness. In the\nevening when the lad came she said in a weak voice:\n\n\"O, son, I am dying, you will not see me any more.\"\n\n\"Why, mother,\" exclaimed the lad, \"what is the matter? What can I do\nfor you?\"\n\n\"The only remedy for my sickness,\" answered the witch, \"is the milk\nof the Fairy Lioness. If you bring it for me I shall live; if not,\nI must die.\"\n\nThe lad started, and again was the guest of the old woman, who asked\nwhere he was going.\n\n\"I am going this time to bring a skinful of the milk of the Fairy\nLioness for my mother,\" answered the lad.\n\nThe old dame again importuned him not to go, but as he insisted\nshe said:\n\n\"Well, as you are resolved to go, let me advise you. On the other\nside of yonder mountain is the den of the Fairy Lioness, which is at\nthis moment very much troubled by a pustule on her paw, and you will\nfind her at the entrance of her den, holding her pustulous paw above\nher head and roaring. Now, you must approach her cleverly without\nbeing noticed by her, and taking aim with your bow and arrow, shoot\ninto the pustule, which, being wounded, will at first cause her great\npain and make her roar. But soon the pain being past, she will feel\ncomfortable and give you whatever you demand of her.\"\n\nThe lad went, and found the Fairy Lioness, as foretold by the old dame,\nstanding at the entrance of her cave, and roaring on account of her\npain. The lad at once taking aim, shot and wounded the pustule. The\npain of the Lioness increasing she exclaimed:\n\n\"Oh! who was it that shot this arrow? I would I could find him and\ndevour him. Oh! Oh! Oh!\"\n\nBut soon, the matter of the wound coming out, she felt comfortable,\nand said:\n\n\"Who was it that shot this arrow? By Heaven, I would give him whatever\nhe demanded.\"\n\nThe lad at once jumping out from his concealment stood before the\nLioness, who seeing him exclaimed:\n\n\"Was it you, young hero, that healed me of my pain which was troubling\nme so long?\"\n\n\"Yes, it was I,\" answered the lad.\n\n\"Demand of me whatever you please,\" said the Lioness, \"I am ready to\ngive to such a hero as you anything that you may ask.\"\n\n\"Give me,\" said the lad, \"some milk of your own udders, which is the\nonly remedy to heal my sick mother.\"\n\n\"In yonder cave,\" said the Lioness, \"there are two orphan cubs;\ngo kill them, and flaying them, bring the skins to me.\"\n\nThe lad did so and brought her the two whole skins. The Lioness milked\nher udders into them until they were filled.\n\n\"Here,\" said the Lioness, \"take these and go, and be careful not to\nharm my little cubs on your way.\"\n\nThe lad took the two cubs' skins full of milk and thanking the Lioness,\ndeparted. On his way, however, he slily stole two beautiful cubs\nand began to run. But the mother Lioness smelling her young ones,\npursued the lad, and overtaking him, exclaimed:\n\n\"How now, human being! is this the way you reward kindness done to\nyou? Why did you steal my two cubs?\"\n\n\"I humbly beg your pardon,\" answered the lad. \"I was so much pleased\nwith your kindness that I wanted to have a permanent keepsake from you,\nand what better thing could I carry with me than a brace of your cubs,\nwhich I will nourish on princely diet and keep as faithful friends.\"\n\nThe Lioness, being much pleased with this answer, gave him leave to\ncarry the cubs. He soon came to his hostess, who asked if he brought\nthe Fairy Lioness's milk.\n\n\"Yes, auntie, I have brought it,\" answered the lad, presenting the\ntwo skins full of milk.\n\nDuring the night, however, when the lad was sound asleep, the old\nwoman poured out the Lioness's milk from the skins into a cask and\nfilled them with common goat's milk. On the following day, the lad,\nloading the skins on the back of his horse, took the cubs and went\nhome. The stepmother, drinking the milk, exclaimed:\n\n\"O good! I am healed.\"\n\nThe lad again went hunting as usual. The witch said to the giant:\n\n\"Giant, did I not tell you to advise me and name a task from which\nmy stepson would never return? Why are you devising only light tasks\nwhich he can so easily accomplish? Now you must either advise me as to\nthe most dangerous expedition in which he will surely lose his life,\nor I will betray you to him and he will cut you into pieces.\"\n\n\"What can I do?\" replied the giant, \"your son is the bravest hero\nthat ever lived; no mortal can vanquish him. He will return from any\nexpedition, no matter how dangerous it may be. Let him go this time\nand bring you a jug full of the Water of Life.\"\n\nThe witch again feigned sickness, and when the lad came to see her\nshe said:\n\n\"O my son, I am dying, my bones are breaking,\" and the crackling of\nthe dry bread under the bed was heard when she turned from one side\nto the other.\n\n\"What shall I do for you, mother?\" asked the lad sadly.\n\n\"The only remedy for me this time,\" answered the witch, \"is the Water\nof Life, and you must go and bring to me a jug full, else I shall die.\"\n\nThe lad at once mounted his horse and taking with him the two cubs,\nwhich by that time had grown up to be a pair of fine young lions,\nhe went to his hostess and explained the object of his expedition.\n\n\"O son,\" exclaimed the good woman, \"I see plainly that you are employed\nfor some wicked purpose; there must be a detestable plot against your\nlife. This is the most dangerous expedition that ever human being\nhas undertaken, and no one has ever returned from the task you have\nstarted upon. Be advised, go back; your mother is surely false.\"\n\n\"Not I,\" said the lad, \"I will certainly go.\"\n\nThe old woman said, \"As soon as you place your jug in the fountain to\nreceive the water, which oozes out only in the thickness of a hair,\na heavy sleep will fall upon you, and you will remain there benumbed\nfor seven days and nights. First, scorpions will assail you; then\nserpents; then beasts of prey, and at last all kinds of genii. You\nwill surely be devoured by them.\"\n\n\"Let come what may, I will go,\" said the lad, and taking the two\nlions with him, he started for the fountain of the Water of Life.\n\nHe came to the fountain and found the water oozing out in a\ntiny stream. As soon as he placed his jug under it, a sound sleep\noverpowered his senses and he remained there benumbed for seven days\nand seven nights. Soon innumerable large scorpions began to attack the\nsleeping hero. But the lions destroyed all of them. Then thousands\nof terrible serpents made their appearance and assailed the lad,\nhissing and striking with their forked tongues. The lions, after a\nbloody fight, destroyed them also. Soon a whole army of voracious\nbeasts surrounded the fountain in search of the lad. The lions,\nafter a sanguinary strife, succeeded in destroying them also.\n\nAt the end of the seven days and nights, the lad awoke, and to his\ngreat horror saw that he was surrounded by a high wall which the\nlions had built of the carcasses of the beasts and serpents they had\nkilled. The two faithful guardians were now sitting on either side of\ntheir master and were watching his every motion. The lad, seeing them\nstained with blood from head to foot, understood how much he owed to\nthem in the preservation of his life. He then washed them clean with\nthe Water of Life and taking the jug, which by that time was filled,\nhe returned to his hostess.\n\n\"Did you bring the Water of Life?\" asked the old dame.\n\n\"Yes, auntie, I did,\" answered the lad, presenting her the jug full\nof water.\n\n\"It was not you that succeeded,\" returned the old woman, \"but Heaven\nand your faithful lions that preserved your life.\"\n\nDuring the night, as the lad was sleeping, the old woman poured the\nWater of Life into another vase, and filled the jug with common water,\nwhich the lad in the morning took to his stepmother, who drinking\nit said:\n\n\"O, happy! I am healed.\"\n\nThe following day the lad again went hunting. The witch said to\nthe giant:\n\n\"Can you not devise some means to destroy my stepson? By Heaven,\nI will destroy you this time if you do not tell me how to destroy him.\"\n\n\"Your stepson is brave,\" answered the giant, \"he is a unique hero,\nand no one can kill him but yourself.\"\n\n\"How! how!\" exclaimed the witch with great joy, \"tell me and I will\ndo it.\"\n\n\"Do you not remember the three red hairs among his black hairs on\nhis head? As soon as they are picked, your son dies.\"\n\nOn the following day the witch said to the lad:\n\n\"Come, son, lay your head in my lap and take a nap.\"\n\nThe lad did so and soon slept. The witch immediately took hold of the\nthree red hairs and picked them out. A spasm or two, and the hero died.\n\n\"Now, giant,\" said the witch, \"take that sword and chop this corpse\ninto small pieces.\"\n\n\"Not I,\" answered the giant, \"my hand will not be lifted to chop such\na hero.\"\n\n\"You coward!\" exclaimed the witch, and taking the sword she chopped\nthe corpse into small pieces, put these into a sack, and threw them\nover the garden wall. One of the little fingers, however, fell into\nthe garden.\n\nThe lions learned that their master was killed, and that his chopped\nbody had been put into the bag. They immediately took hold of the\nbag and carried it to the old woman, the hostess of the hero. Opening\nthe bag, she took out the body, and putting every part in its proper\nplace made a whole; only the little finger was missing. She explained\nto the lions what was missing, and they at once went, and smelling\ntheir master's finger in the garden, found it and brought it to the old\nwoman, who put it in its proper place. Now she brought the milk of the\nFairy Lioness, which she had secretly preserved, and poured it over\nthe body. Immediately all the broken bones, muscles and sinews came\ntogether, and all the members being united, the body became as sound\nand delicate as that of a newborn babe. Then she brought the Melon of\nLife, and put it before his nostrils. As soon as the lad smelt it,\nhe sneezed seven times. Then she poured the Water of Life down his\nthroat. At once the lad opened his eyes, and jumped up, saying:\n\n\"O, what a sound sleep was this that overpowered my senses!\"\n\n\"Sleep!\" exclaimed the kind woman. \"Yes, a sleep out of which you\nwould never have awaked had not Providence preserved you.\" And she\ntold him what had happened.\n\n\"Now, my good hostess,\" said the lad, \"you have done me a very great\nkindness--a kindness that I can never reward. May Heaven reward you!\"\n\nHe brought her from his treasures a horseload of gold and a horseload\nof silver, saying:\n\n\"These are for you; spend as much as you like and pray for me as long\nas you live.\"\n\nThe lad came to his palace and found that his beautiful bride was\nimprisoned in a dark cellar, where she was left to starve, while the\nwitch, his stepmother, was in an excess of merriment with the giant\nand half a dozen younglings around her. They were all amazed to see\nthe hero enter, and the giant was about to make his exit through a\nsecret door in the wall when the lad seized hold of him, saying:\n\n\"How now, coward, are you running? Stop and solve this puzzle for me;\nwhose are these ugly younglings that are infecting the very air of\nmy palace?\"\n\n\"They are my children out of yonder woman, your mother,\" answered\nthe giant.\n\n\"Mother! I have no mother,\" exclaimed the lad. \"You increase so soon,\ndo you? Now we are going to have great merriment. Go and bring me\nfrom yonder mountain, wood enough to build a large pile.\"\n\nThe giant obeyed, and soon a large pile of wood was built in the\ncourtyard of the palace. The lad struck a flint and lighted the\nwood. Soon the whole pile was on fire, burning like a furnace.\n\n\"Now, giant,\" said the lad, \"take hold of these bastards, and throw\nthem into the fire, one by one.\"\n\nThe giant obeyed, and all the younglings were burned on the pile.\n\n\"Bring now yonder witch, and throw her into the fire,\" ordered the\nlad. She also shared the fate of the bastard children.\n\n\"Now, shall I throw you also?\" asked the lad of the giant.\n\n\"Hero,\" exclaimed the giant, \"I honor you, I will obey you.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" said the lad, \"I will not kill you. Come, pass under\nmy sword and swear obedience to me.\"\n\nThe giant kissed the sword, and passing under it became the bondman\nof the lad.\n\nThe lad then released his beautiful wife from the dark prison. They\ncelebrated anew their nuptials for forty days and forty nights,\nand enjoyed a happy life thereafter.\n\nThus they attained their wishes. May Heaven grant that you may attain\nyour wishes!\n\nThree apples fell from heaven; one for me, one for the story-teller,\nand one for him who entertained the company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRICKS OF A WOMAN.\n\n\nSerkis was a simple farmer who prayed every morning before he went\nto the fields, and every evening after he came from his work. One\nday his wife said to him:\n\n\"Husband, why do you not mention in your prayer that God may preserve\nyou from the tricks of a woman?\"\n\n\"Tricks of a woman?\" exclaimed the man. \"I am not such a coward as\nto be afraid of a woman or her tricks.\"\n\n\"Is that your opinion of a woman?\" asked his wife.\n\n\"Yes, that is my opinion of a woman,\" answered Serkis sternly, as he\nshouldered his farming utensils.\n\nThe woman decided to give her husband proof of a woman's power, so\nshe bought some fish, and putting them in her apron, took them to the\nfarm at noon, when she carried her husband's dinner. The farmer went\nto the bank of a neighboring brook to eat his dinner, when his wife,\ntaking advantage of his absence, buried the fish here and there in\nthe field, and went home. Soon Serkis returned to his ploughing,\nand as the earth was turned, lo! fish came out of the ground. He\npicked them up, and in the evening, bringing them home to his wife,\ntold her that he had taken them from the farm and that he believed the\nCreator had created them in that very place. He then ordered his wife\nto cook them, and on the following day bring them to the farm for his\ndinner. On the morrow, the woman cooked the fish, ate them herself,\nand took to her husband a bowl of pea soup for his dinner.\n\n\"Where are the fish?\" asked Serkis.\n\n\"Fish! what fish?\" exclaimed the woman, feigning surprise.\n\n\"Why, the fish which I picked from the farm yesterday,\" said the\nfarmer.\n\n\"Are you crazy, husband?\" said she, \"you have not brought home any\nfish that I know of.\"\n\n\"What!\" exclaimed Serkis, taking hold of the whip, \"you have eaten\nmy fish, and do you call me crazy?\" and he threatened to beat her.\n\n\"Help!\" exclaimed the woman, and ran to a neighbor's farm.\n\nThereupon the ploughmen of the neighborhood came to the rescue of\nthe woman and took hold of Serkis.\n\n\"Nay, let me beat her to death,\" said Serkis; \"she has eaten my fish,\nand now she calls me crazy.\"\n\nThe ploughmen asked the woman what fish he meant.\n\n\"Nay, I beseech you,\" exclaimed the woman, \"take hold of him, don't\nlet him go; he will kill me. Woe upon me! he is certainly crazy,\nhe is a lunatic. Ask him where he found the fish he talks of.\"\n\n\"Why, I caught them just here,\" said Serkis. \"I dug them from the\nground.\"\n\n\"Alas!\" exclaimed the ploughmen; \"the woman is right, he has really\nlost his mind.\"\n\nAnd as they bound him with ropes some of the farmers said:\n\n\"He of late has been giving signs of this.\"\n\n\"It is a hereditary disease,\" said some others, \"many members of his\nfamily have been crazy.\"\n\nSo, treating the poor man as a lunatic, they brought him to his home\nand bound him to a pillar after whipping him. At night, when everybody\nelse had gone, the woman approached her husband, saying:\n\n\"How now, husband? Are you afraid of a woman's tricks or not? This\nwas the least of all.\"\n\n\"For Heaven's sake, wife, untie me,\" said Serkis in a pitiful\nvoice. \"Be sure my first prayer hereafter shall be to be preserved\nfrom a woman's tricks.\"\n\nShe released him and thereafter he was wise as respects women.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA WISE WEAVER.\n\n\nA king was once sitting upon his throne when an embassador from\na distant country approached, drew a line around the throne, and\nsat down without speaking a word. The King did not understand this\nmystery. He called his ministers. They also did not understand it. It\nwas a disgrace to the King that he did not have a man wise enough to\nunderstand the symbolical message of a neighboring sovereign. The\nKing was very angry, and ordered his ministers to solve the riddle\nthemselves, or to find some one in the city to solve it immediately;\notherwise he would put them all to death. Thereupon the ministers\nbegan to search through the realm for a wise man. After a long quest\nthey came to a certain house, which they entered. There was no one in\nthe first room but a baby sleeping in a cradle. And strange to say,\nthe cradle was rocking without any visible cause. They entered the\nadjacent room, and lo! there also was a baby sleeping in a cradle,\nwhich was rocking, though no one was in the room. They walked out\ninto the back yard, where they saw wheat washed and spread to dry;\nthere was a cane moving to and fro, driving away the sparrows, in\norder that they might not eat the wheat. The ministers of the King\nwere surprised, and going down into the cellar they found a weaver\nweaving cloth. As his wife had died soon, after giving birth to twins,\nhe had both to weave for his living and do a housewife's work and\nnurse his children. He therefore had connected the two cradles and\nthe sparrow driver to his loom and shuttle with cords; and so, in\nthis manner, by virtue of his cleverness he was performing all his\nduties without much trouble. The ministers thought that this man might\nsolve the King's riddle, and so they told him what had happened. The\nweaver thought a while and then taking a couple of marbles and a\nchicken, went with the ministers. Entering the presence of the King,\nhe looked the foreign embassador in the face, and threw before him\nthe marbles. The embassador took from his pocket a handful of grain\nand spread it on the floor. The weaver put down the chicken, which\nin a few minutes ate all the grain. Thereupon the embassador put on\nhis sandals and ran away speedily.\n\n\"What was all this?\" asked the King.\n\n\"By drawing the line around the throne,\" answered the weaver, \"the\nembassador wished to say that their King was coming to besiege us,\nif we did not humiliate ourselves and pay tribute. To this I answered\nby dropping marbles, which meant that they were children compared to\nourselves and that they would better go and play marbles, rather than\nto undertake a war which would result in their utter ruin. By spreading\nthe handful of grain he meant that their forces were innumerable. By\nthe chicken which ate all the grain, I meant that a company of ours\nwas enough to destroy a legion of theirs.\"\n\nThe King was pleased with the weaver, and gave him costly presents,\nbut the weaver took only a little to enable him to bring up his\nbeloved twins. The King wanted to make him his prime minister, but\nthe weaver declined, saying:\n\n\"Let me continue to be a weaver; only I beg you to remember, that\nwisdom and understanding are not distributed according to rank and\nthat the common tradesmen are entitled to be treated as humanely as\nyour peers and noblemen.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMIND OR LUCK--WHICH?\n\n\nMind and Luck were one day debating.\n\n\"It is only by me that a man becomes a man,\" said Luck.\n\n\"No, it is by me,\" insisted Mind. At last they decided to make a\ntrial upon a villager who was working on a neighboring farm. Luck\nfirst approached the man, and lo! the ploughshare unearthed a jug. The\nfarmer stopped, and opening the mouth of the jug saw that it was full\nof gold coins.\n\n\"Ah!\" he exclaimed, \"I shall be a rich man.\" But soon he changed his\nmind and said,--\"Yes, but how will it be if thieves hear about my\nwealth, and come and rob me, and upon my resistance, kill me?\"\n\nWhile he was thus musing, he saw the judge passing by, on his way to\nthe village. He at once decided to give the gold to the judge, and\nhimself continue to live his tranquil farmer's life. Accordingly he\nran and called the judge to the farm. But before the judge had arrived,\nMind had entered the man's brain. He hid the jug and said to the judge:\n\n\"Sir, you are a judge, you are a learned man; do tell me, which of\nthese two oxen of mine is the better one?\"\n\nThe judge was angry and departed scolding the man. Mind also departed,\nand the farmer began to soliloquize:\n\n\"Oh, what a blockhead I am! why did I not give the gold to the\njudge? Surely he was the best man to have it. What shall I do with\nthese coins? Where shall I keep them?\"\n\nHe did not work during the rest of the day, but spent his time in\nuseless meditation. In the evening he saw the judge returning from the\nvillage. He ran to meet him and begged him to come to his farm for a\nmoment. The judge thought there must be meaning in the man's conduct,\nand entered the field. By that time Mind had returned to the man's\nbrain, and he said to the judge:\n\n\"Sir, you are a learned man; do tell me which is the larger, the lot\nwhich I ploughed yesterday or the one I ploughed to-day?\"\n\nThe judge thought that the man was crazy and departed smiling. Mind\nalso departed from the man, who began to beat his head, saying:\n\n\"What a pumpkin-pated fellow I am! Why did I not give the gold to\nhim? Where shall I keep it? What shall I do with it?\"\n\nSo saying he placed the jug in his lunch-bag, and came home leading\nthe oxen.\n\n\"Wife! O wife!\" he exclaimed; \"lead the oxen to the stable, give them\nhay, and take the plough in. I will go to the judge and come back.\"\n\nHis wife, a shrewd woman, saw that there was something in the lunch-bag\nwhich her husband did not put down. It must be something which she\nthought she ought to know, so she said to him:\n\n\"It is not my business to take care of your oxen. I have hardly time\nenough to drive and milk the cows, and care for the sheep. You put\nin your oxen and plough, and go wherever you please.\"\n\nThe man, putting the lunch-bag by the door, began to attend to\nhis oxen. While he was thus occupied, the woman opened the bag, and\nseeing the jug full of gold, took it out and put a round stone in its\nplace. The man then took the bag to the judge, and placing it before\nhim, said:\n\n\"I have brought you this as a present.\" On opening it they saw that\nit was a stone. The judge was angry with the man, but thinking that\nhe might after all have a secret, he cast him into prison. He put\ntwo spies in his cell to watch the man and report whatever he did or\nsaid. The man began to meditate in the jail, motioning with his hands:\n\n\"The jug was as big as this, its mouth as wide as this, its belly as\nlarge as this, and the gold in it as much as this.\"\n\nThe spies reported to the judge that the man was making certain\ngestures, but not speaking. The judge called the man and asked what\nit was he was showing with his hands. Mind entered the man's brain,\nand he answered:\n\n\"I was thinking to myself that you had a head as big as this, a neck\nas thick as this, a beard as long as this. And I was asking myself\nwhose pate and beard was the larger, yours or our goat's?\"\n\nThereupon the judge was very angry and ordered his men to beat the\nfarmer to death. The thrashing was hardly begun when the man exclaimed:\n\n\"Do not beat me, I will tell the truth.\"\n\nThey ceased beating him, and brought him to the judge, who asked him\nto tell the truth as to what he was measuring in the jail.\n\n\"The truth is this,\" said the man, \"that if you continued to beat me\nI would surely die.\"\n\nThis made the judge laugh, and he ordered the man to be released,\nbeing convinced that he was only a lunatic. The man came safely\nhome. Thereupon Mind and Luck shook hands and made friends, saying:\n\n\"Luck with Mind, Mind with Luck, can make a man a man.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORLD'S BEAUTY.\n\n\nA rich merchant of the city of Bagdad had accumulated great wealth and\nproperty. He had a wife and a son. One day the merchant fell sick,\nand felt that he was about to die. On his deathbed he called his\nson, saying:\n\n\"You see, my son, I have accumulated so great wealth that even princes\nhave not as much. I bequeath all to you. Continue my business and\nenjoy your property, but never go to the city of Tiflis.\"\n\nThen he called his wife, explained to her the mystery of his riches,\nand gave her the key of his secret chamber, saying:\n\n\"If my son spends all my wealth and becomes poor, then you may tell\nhim my secrets.\"\n\nThe merchant died, and his son, continuing his business, one day\ntook forty camel-loads of merchandise, and set out for the city of\nErzerum. In the caravansary, where he deposited his goods in Erzerum,\nhe met two poor men in rags, sighing and beating their breasts.\n\n\"What is the matter with you?\" asked the young merchant.\n\n\"Oh!\" exclaimed the two ragamuffins, \"It is something that cannot\nbe told.\"\n\nThe lad had great compassion on them, and said:\n\n\"Nay, masters, tell me your grief; I am ready to spend all my wealth\nfor your sake.\"\n\nAt last they said:\n\n\"Would to heaven you had not met us, sir! You will be like ourselves.\"\n\n\"How?\" asked the lad.\n\n\"Each of us was a wealthy merchant, such as you are,\" said the men;\n\"we went to Tiflis and there heard that the King had a daughter called\nthe World's Beauty. We wished to see her, and they charged each of us\nforty pieces of gold to behold her from behind a glass partition. We\nfell in love with her, and thereafter spent all our wealth to see her\nover and over again. So we wasted eighty camel-loads of merchandise\nand to-day we are so poor that no one cares to look at us.\"\n\nThe lad gave them a handful of gold coins, and on the next day loaded\nhis camels and started for Tiflis. He gave forty gold coins to see\nthe World's Beauty from behind the glass, and after that spent all\nhis wealth and merchandise for her sake. He came back to Bagdad to\nhis mother, as poor as Job, and told her his ill-luck. She scolded\nhim for his disobedience to his father's command. But the lad wept\nand promised that he would not go to Tiflis any more, if she gave him\nfrom his father's secret chamber something by which he could earn his\nliving and preserve his father's reputation. His mother gave him an\nempty purse, saying:\n\n\"If to-day you put in this purse forty pieces of copper, on the morrow\nyou will see that they have changed to forty pieces of gold. After\nthree years, the gold put into the purse changes into copper. That\nis to say, once in three years the talisman changes to its contrary.\"\n\n\"This is good,\" thought the lad; \"I have now an inexhaustible revenue,\nwhich never requires work.\"\n\nHe soon forgot his promise to his mother, and took the first caravan\nto go to Tiflis. He paid forty gold pieces every day to see the World's\nBeauty, and his money was not exhausted. The maiden was surprised, and\none day invited him to a banquet, with the intention of robbing him.\n\n\"Ah! I love you very much,\" she said to him, artfully, \"I will\ncertainly marry you if you tell me the secret of your wealth.\"\n\nHow easily may a simple youth be deceived by an artful woman! The\nlad fell into the trap and showed her the magic purse. The maiden\nintoxicated him with poisonous wine, and taking away the purse\nexpelled him from her house. He returned to his mother, lamenting\nhis loss. He wept and promised not to go again to Tiflis, if she gave\nhim something else from his father's secret chamber by which he might\nearn his living. A mother's heart is tender; she could not resist his\nimportunities, and at last brought to him from the secret chamber a\ncap, saying:\n\n\"This is a magic cap; when you put it on your head you will see others\nwithout being seen by anybody.\"\n\nThis was something that suited the lad best of all. As soon as he\nbecame the owner of the cap he forgot his solemn promises to his\nmother and directly set out for the city of Tiflis. He entered the\nmaiden's house and looked at her as much as he pleased, without being\nmolested. The maiden and the inmates of the house detected that there\nwas somebody in the house, but they could not see him, despite their\nrepeated efforts. One day, the maiden thought it might be the youth\nof Bagdad who was playing this trick, and she called him by his name,\nsaying:\n\n\"Disclose yourself, I will certainly marry you.\"\n\nThe lad took the cap from his head, and appeared to the maiden.\n\n\"O, my dear lord,\" said the wily maiden, \"I have been burning for your\nlove. Ever since you have gone away I have uttered no name but yours,\nand I am yours still if you tell me your secret.\"\n\nThe lad was deceived by her artful words and told her the secret of the\ncap. A banquet was given to the lad, poisonous wine was served to him,\nand the cap being taken from him he was expelled from the house, with\ndisgrace. He came back to Bagdad, begging his way. He had no heart to\ngo again to his mother. He entreated the intervention of friends and\nkinsfolk, who persuaded the mother and reconciled her with her prodigal\nson. He begged his mother for a third secret from his father's chamber.\n\n\"But one secret is left,\" she said. \"If you lose this one also,\nwe shall become hungry and naked, and become paupers.\"\n\nShe gave the lad a horn, and told him to blow it. The lad blew it,\nand lo! the mountains and plains were covered with soldiers.\n\n\"Now,\" she said, \"blow it from the other end.\"\n\nHe did so, and lo! the army disappeared.\n\n\"Mamma,\" said the lad, \"now let me go, fight with my enemies and\nbring back all that I have lost.\"\n\nThus speaking he set out without waiting for an answer. As soon as he\narrived at Tiflis, he stood upon the hilltop near the city and blew the\nhorn. In the twinkling of an eye the city was besieged by an army so\ngreat that there was no room left for the soldiers to stand on. There\nwas a sudden panic in the city; all the people were terrified. The\nKing sent messengers to the lad, asking him what he wanted.\n\n\"War! War!\" exclaimed the lad. \"Who do you think I am?\"\n\nThey recognized him and saw that he was the lad of Bagdad. Thereupon\nthe King called his daughter, saying:\n\n\"You are the cause of this trouble; go see the lad and quench this\nfire, before we both perish.\"\n\nThe maiden sent a messenger to the lad, saying:\n\n\"I will come to you, my love, and we will go directly to the church\nto be married, and then go to our house. But, love, disperse your\narmy that I may come to you.\"\n\nSoon after the message the maiden herself appeared. The lad blew\nthe horn from the other end, and the army disappeared. The maiden\ncoming to the lad, apologized for the past and poured out all her\nstore of sweet and fascinating words. She brought also a letter from\nher father approving of their marriage. The lad told the maiden the\nsecret of the horn, but this time did not give it to her.\n\n\"Well, then,\" said the maiden, \"put the horn in your trunk, lock\nand seal it, and let us send it home. One cannot go to church with a\nhorn in one's pocket; it is a sin. After the wedding we will return\nhome, examine the seal of the trunk, and open it. Nobody will steal\nyour horn.\"\n\nThe lad consented, and putting the horn in the box, sealed it and\nsent it to the maiden's house. When they reached the church door,\nthe maiden suddenly exclaimed:\n\n\"O me! I forgot to kiss the hand of my father and mother. Let me go and\nbid them farewell, then I will come and the wedding will take place.\"\n\nThe lad believed her and let her go. Coming to the house, she ordered\nher servants to break the trunk. She got out the horn, sent a man to\nthe lad and expelled him with disgrace from the city. The lad was\nnow at a complete loss. He had no more hope in his mother, and no\nfavor in the sight of his countrymen. For a time he wandered here\nand there and then decided to go to sea.\n\n\"Let me go,\" he thought, \"to the end of the world, to an unknown\ncountry, where nobody will know me.\"\n\nHe was accepted as a servant on board a ship. But soon after\nthey sailed there was a heavy storm on the sea, and the ship was\nwrecked. The lad was saved on a piece of board, and was cast upon an\nuninhabited island where he lived eating wild berries. One day he\nsaw two apple-trees growing near one another; the fruit of one was\nof common size, but the fruit of the other tree was as large as a\nman's head, and very tempting to eat.\n\n\"What a nice fruit!\" thought the lad, and ate one of the large\napples. As soon as he tasted it, lo! he became a donkey, with a tail\nand very long ears. As a four-legged beast, for a time he grazed in\nthe neighborhood; only he was conscious that he was a man and had\nbecome a donkey. One day, as he was grazing near the two apple-trees,\nhe ate one of the small apples which had fallen down from the tree,\nand lo! he became a man as before.\n\n\"This is well,\" thought the lad, \"I can make good use of these\nwonderful fruits.\"\n\nHe picked up a good many of the apples of both kinds. One day he\nsaw a ship sailing at a distance. He displayed a signal and the\nship sailed to the island. He went on board, taking both kinds of\napples with him. The sailors pitied him and brought him back to\nTiflis without charge. The lad disguised himself, and taking the\nshape of a peddler, went to the neighborhood of the house of the\nKing's daughter, to sell his large apples. The maiden was greatly\npleased with the appearance of the fruit, and paying twenty pieces\nof gold, bought two large apples. She and her forty maids ate slices\nof the apples, and all of them were suddenly changed into donkeys,\nand went out into the yard braying. It is said that as a donkey also\nthe World's Beauty was excellent. The King came with his peers who,\nseeing what had happened, were greatly surprised and grieved. By this\ntime the lad was again disguised, taking the shape of a doctor, and\ncalling himself Dr. Karabobo. The King's servants summoned all the\ndoctors of the city, but it was of no avail. At last they said to\nthe King that there was left only a certain Dr. Karabobo, a foreigner.\n\n\"Bring him hither,\" said the King.\n\nBy that time all the followers of secret arts crowded about the\nKing's palace. Priests, monks, astrologers, star-gazers, magicians,\nsorcerers, witches, wizards, necromancers, bird conjurers, mice\nconjurers, snake conjurers, predictors by measuring with the span,\npredictors by casting beans or blue pebbles, predictors by gazing at\ncups of water, and all kinds of enchanters, male and female, old and\nyoung, were there, practicing their arts, but none could understand\nthe secret, or devise a remedy. They all, however, were unanimous in\ndeclaring that it was a punishment sent from heaven to chastise the\nWorld's Beauty for her arbitrary cruelties. Thereupon Dr. Karabobo\ncame in and said to the King:\n\n\"I can transform these donkeys once more into human beings, but only on\ntwo conditions; first, that you give to me your daughter in marriage,\nand secondly, that you also give me whatever I desire.\"\n\n\"I agree to do so,\" answered the King.\n\nThe agreement was written, signed and sealed by the King and his twelve\npeers. The lad took the document, and putting it in his pocket, said:\n\n\"First of all, I want you to bring hither the eighty camel-loads of\nmerchandise, which your daughter stole from two merchants.\"\n\nThe King gave orders and they were brought.\n\n\"Now bring,\" he added, \"the forty loads which were taken from the\nyouth of Bagdad; bring his magic purse, cap, and horn, and also the\ngold coins which were, during the past years, taken from the magic\npurse at the rate of forty gold pieces a day.\"\n\nThe King and his lords were surprised that he knew all this, but\nwere obliged to bring what he asked, according to the agreement. The\nKing only begged him not to demand the gold which the purse had\nheld, as there was not enough in the royal treasury to make up so\nlarge a sum. But Dr. Karabobo was inflexible; he held the horn in\nreadiness to call the army, if needed. Then he drew the small apples\nout of his pocket and gave a piece to every donkey, whereupon they\nwere transformed into human beings. After that he told them who he\nwas. He took the maiden and all belonging to him and set out for\nBagdad. He blew the horn and an immense army accompanied him. Thus\nwith a princely procession he came to the city of Erzerum, where he\nfound the two ex-merchants and restored to them their property. Then\nhe entered Bagdad with great pomp, and said to his mother, who had\ngone to meet him:\n\n\"Mother, here are all my possessions, and here is the maiden who\ntortured your son so much. I was obliged to become an ass before I\nlearned how to treat her, and it was necessary for her to become an\nass before she ceased to be a deceitful shrew. She is now a human\nbeing and promises to become a submissive daughter-in-law.\"\n\nThe maiden then kissed both hands of the aged woman as a token of\nher obedience. They celebrated their wedding festival for forty days,\nafter which they went to the church and were married.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSALMAN AND ROSTOM.\n\n\nSalman was a strong and mighty man, He was as large as a hill, as\npowerful as a giant, and a terrible tyrant. He lived in one corner\nof the world, but his fame spread terror over all the earth. He had a\nhorse of lightning, and his arms were as strong as iron. He assaulted\nmen in their peaceful habitations, and took tribute from them; none\ncould refuse to pay him tribute, else he would slaughter and destroy\nthe people. In another portion of the earth there was another strong\nbrigand, called Chal, who had a son named Rostom. This Rostom was\na huge man, as large as a mountain, and greatly celebrated for his\nextraordinary strength and bravery. It was only the land of this Chal\nwhich did not pay tribute to Salman.\n\nOne day Chal mounted his horse and started, saying: \"Let me go and\nsee what kind of a man Salman is.\"\n\nAfter a long journey he met a huge man mounted on a horse swift as\nlightning; the staff of his spear was as thick as a man's waist. Chal\ndid not know that this was Salman himself; but nevertheless he\nprepared his spear for battle. To his surprise, the horseman gave\nspur to his horse and passed by Chal without even looking at his\nface. Upon this Chal was offended, and threw his spear after the\nhorseman. Salman turned back, seized Chal, whom he bound under the\nbelly of his horse, and galloped until he came to a tent pitched by a\ngurgling spring. He dismounted, nailed Chal's ear to the tent's beam,\nand lay down to sleep. Chal was almost mad with rage; he gnashed his\nteeth and muttered to himself:\n\n\"He did not speak a word to me, he did not tell me his name. I wish\nI might know who he is.\"\n\nSalman soon waked, and asked:\n\n\"Fellow, who are you?\"\n\n\"I am from Chal's country,\" answered Chal. He was so much afraid that\nhe did not say that he was Chal himself.\n\n\"Ah!\" exclaimed Salman, releasing Chal's ear, \"why did you not tell\nme before? Go and bid Rostom, Chal's son, come hither that we may\nmeasure swords. There cannot be two men of equal strength; the world\nmust know who is the stronger champion. I am Salman.\"\n\nChal returned to his house and sighed deeply. Rostom, hearing him\nsighing, said:\n\n\"How now, father? You are Chal and I am Rostom, your son, and yet\nyou sigh! Nay, you must tell me your grief.\"\n\nChal told him of his meeting with Salman, and the latter's challenge\nto Rostom. Rostom took with him his cousin Vyjhan, and both disguised\nthemselves, assuming the habit of pilgrims. Rostom kissed his\nwhite-hoofed horse on both eyes and said to his father:\n\n\"When I am in trouble my horse will know it and will beat the ground\nwith his feet. Then bind my arms upon his back and set him free;\nhe will come and find me.\"\n\nVyjhan, who accompanied Rostom on his journey, was far from being a\ncommon mortal. He had a wonderful voice; if he cried in the East his\nvoice would be heard in the West. After traveling for a long time,\nRostom and Vyjhan came to a city and encamped upon a meadow outside\nthe town. Rostom was sleeping, when Vyjhan heard a terrible uproar\nin the city and went there to inquire the cause of the trouble. Some\nof the people were running like chased deer, some were tearing their\nhair, some beating their breasts, and all were weeping and wailing.\n\n\"Why, what is the matter?\" asked Vyjhan.\n\n\"Salman has come, demanding seven years' tribute that is in arrears,\"\nthe people answered.\n\nSoon they collected the amount; but the question now arose, by whom\nthey should send the tribute, because Salman would take away the man\nby whom the tribute was sent, and kill him.\n\n\"Give it to me, I will take it,\" said Vyjhan.\n\nSoon Rostom heard in his sleep Vyjhan's shrill voice, saying:\n\n\"Help, Rostom! Salman is carrying me away.\"\n\nRostom got up and learned from the people what had happened,\nand lo! his white-hoofed horse came running and stood before\nhim. Immediately Rostom jumped on the back of his horse, which galloped\naway and soon reached Salman's tent. Salman, having nailed Vyjhan's\near to the tent beam, came out to meet Rostom. Then and there took\nplace a duel the most terrible that has ever been recorded in the\nhistory of the world. Bows and arrows, spears and swords were cut\ninto pieces. Finally they came near one another, seized each other,\nand both were entangled in each other's hair.\n\nUp to the present time they have not yet conquered one another, but\nare still struggling. Now and then they pull and shake each other\nso violently that the earth quakes, and that is what men call an\nearthquake; and Vyjhan's voice is still heard deeply from afar.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPARROW AND THE TWO CHILDREN.\n\n\nVart was the name of a boy who was six years old, and Vartoohi\nwas the name of his sister, who was five years of age. Varteni,\ntheir dear mother, had died, and Vartan, their father, had brought\nhome a stepmother who had with her a boy of her own four years\nold. Vartan was a well-to-do farmer, and as he loved his children\nhe brought them nice suits of clothes and dresses, delicious food,\npretty toys and many other presents. The stepmother, being a wicked\nwoman, envied the little half-orphans and wished to destroy them\nthat she might secure every good thing for her own child. In order\nto attain her vile purpose she secretly boiled the seed which her\nhusband was to sow in the field that year. The wheat, of course,\ndid not grow, and as there was no crop, the farmer had to borrow to\nmeet his expenses. The following year she played the same treacherous\ntrick and increased the farmer's indebtedness so much that the poor\nman, giving up every hope of the farm, went away to sojourn in other\ncountries to earn money. That was what the wicked woman desired with\nall her heart. She fed her son with meat and pies, while she gave\nthe half-orphans only a handful of boiled wheat to eat. One day she\ndecided to take Vart and Vartoohi to the river as if to bathe them,\nand there to drown them. That day the two innocent half-orphans had\ntaken their handful of boiled wheat and were eating it in a corner\nof the yard. They saw a small sparrow which was jumping and hopping\naround them, and chirping and chattering as it leaped. Vart wanted\nto kill it with a stone, but Vartoohi prevented him. As they were\neating their poor, scanty meal, they listened to the little birdie,\nand lo! they thought they could understand what it was chirping.\n\n\"Orphans, orphans! good little orphans!\" the little sparrow was saying,\n\"give me a few grains which I may take to my little ones in my tiny\nnest and I will give you good counsel.\"\n\nThe children cast a few grains to the bird, which after taking them\nto its nest came back, saying:\n\n\"Orphans, run! orphans, run! your stepmother will to-day take you to\nthe river to drown you. Run, orphans, run!\"\n\nAnd the little sparrow flew away. Soon the stepmother came, saying:\n\n\"Get up, you dirty things! we will go to the river, where I may\nbathe you.\"\n\n\"You go first, mamma; we will come by and by,\" answered the orphans.\n\nAnd following the advice of their little feathered friend they ran\naway to the mountains. The stepmother never searched for them, and the\ntwo children wandered in the forest until evening. At nightfall they\nentered the hollow trunk of an old sycamore tree, repeated the prayer\nwhich they had learned from their dead mother, and lay down to sleep\nembracing one another. Soon after daybreak the faithful sparrow came,\nand the two children waking heard it chirp to them:\n\n\"Orphans, good orphans, come and eat; there is boiled wheat for you.\"\n\nThey immediately got up and ran after the sparrow, which led them\nuntil they came where an old woman brought a kettleful of boiled wheat,\nand emptying it under a tree, went away. A great many little sparrows\nwere gathered; the two half-orphans sat with them at the table. The\ngood old woman used to bring the kettleful of wheat and empty it under\nthat tree day after day. She did this in memory of her children and\ngrandchildren, who had died when they were young boys and girls, and\nwhom she had loved very much. She believed that these little birdies\nwere the spirits of her dead little ones. So these two half-orphans\nlived with the little sparrows for a long time.\n\nOne day as the Prince was hunting in the forest he met Vart and\nVartoohi, took them with him to the palace, loved them and adopted them\nas his son and daughter. The children were so pretty and amiable that\nall the court loved them dearly. But Vart and Vartoohi were not happy.\n\n\"What is the matter with you, my children?\" asked the Prince; \"what\nis the cause of your grief?\"\n\n\"We long to see our dear papa who has gone away,\" answered Vart.\n\n\"And we long to see the little sparrow, our benefactor,\" added\nVartoohi.\n\nThe Prince sent out men in search of Vartan, the father of the\nchildren; and finding him, brought him home. He punished his wife for\nher wickedness, and embraced his children. The Prince kept him also,\nas a messenger in the court. But who could find the sparrow? It came\nby itself one day, and alighting on the window where the orphans\nwere, chirped:\n\n\"You blessed little orphans, you pitied my little ones and gave me\ngrain, and lo! Heaven has bestowed upon you so many bounties. May\nyou continue to be blessed and to be happy.\"\n\nThe Prince liked the little sparrow for its good services and permitted\nit to build its nest thereafter under the eaves of the palace. All\nsparrows which at the present time build their nests under the eaves\nof houses are the descendants of that good sparrow. Let us be good\neven to the sparrows and they may bring good to us.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE OLD WOMAN AND THE CAT.\n\nAN ARMENIAN NURSERY TALE. [3]\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old woman who had a goat. She milked the\ngoat every day and kept the milk in the cupboard; but a sly cat came\nand licked it up. One day, however, the old woman succeeded in getting\nhold of the cat, and cutting off her tail as a punishment, let her go.\n\n\"Meow! meow!\" cried the cat; \"give me my tail!\"\n\n\"Bring me my milk and I will give you your tail,\" said the old woman.\n\nThe cat went to the goat and said: \"Goat, kind goat, do give me some\nmilk! I will give it to the old woman and get back my tail.\"\n\n\"Bring me some boughs from yonder tree, and I will give you milk,\"\nanswered the goat.\n\nThe cat went to the tree and said, \"O good tree, do give me some\nboughs! I will take them to the goat, get a little milk and give it\nto the old woman, and get back my tail.\"\n\n\"Bring me some water and I will give you some boughs,\" answered\nthe tree.\n\nThe cat went to the water-carrier and said, \"Kind water-carrier,\ngive me some water! I will take it to the tree and get some boughs,\ngive them to the goat and get some milk, and give it to the old woman\nand get my tail.\"\n\n\"Bring me a pair of shoes and I will give you some water,\" said the\nwater-carrier.\n\nThe cat went to the shoemaker and said, \"Shoemaker, good shoemaker,\ndo give me a pair of shoes! I will give them to the water-carrier,\nwho will give me some water; I will take it to the tree and get some\nboughs for the goat; she will give me some milk, which I will take\nto the old woman and get my tail.\"\n\n\"Bring me an egg and I will give you a pair of shoes,\" said the\nshoemaker.\n\nThe cat went to the hen and said, \"Hen, good hen, do lay me an\negg! I will take it to the shoemaker and get a pair of shoes for the\nwater-carrier; he will give me some water, which I will take to the\ntree and get some boughs for the goat; she will give me some milk,\nwhich I will take to the old woman and get my tail.\"\n\n\"Bring me some barley and I will lay an egg for you,\" answered the hen.\n\nThe cat went to the threshing-floor and said, \"Threshing-floor,\nkind threshing-floor, do give me some barley!\"\n\nThe threshing-floor said: \"There, you may gather the scattered barley\nwhich my good master has left as food for the birdies and ants.\"\n\nThe cat gathered the barley and took it to the hen, which laid her an\negg. She took the egg to the shoemaker and got a pair of shoes. She\ntook the pair of shoes to the water-carrier and got a pailful of\nwater for the tree. The tree gave her some boughs which she took to\nthe goat. The goat gave her some milk which she took to the old woman.\n\n\"Here is your tail,\" said the old woman, \"and be careful hereafter\nnot to steal my milk.\"\n\nThe cat took her tail and tried to stick it in its place but she could\nnot. She tried over and over again to stick it with resin, with tar\nand with glue, but it was of no use. So that cat has remained tailless\nto this day, as a sign of her being a thief.\n\nMoral.--Wickedness is always punished. Nothing valuable can be gotten\nwithout labor. The mark of a great sin cannot be erased.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSIA-MANTO AND GUJE-ZARE.\n\nNOTE.\n\n\nMiss Alice Stone Blackwell was kind enough to put into English verse\nfor me the following ballad. In some districts of Armenia this tragic\nstory of Sia-Manto and Guje-Zare is told as a prose tale as are the\nother tales of this volume. In some other districts, especially\nnear the foot of Mount Ararat, it has the form of a versified\nballad and is sung with great relish by both the Armenians and the\nKurds. According to the tradition of the natives, Sia-Manto was an\nArmenian youth and Guje-Zare a Kurdish maiden. They were both of\nnoble birth. The Armenians and the Kurds, although close neighbors,\nnever intermarry owing to their religious differences. The Kurds,\nhowever, very often kidnap Armenian girls, and as they are professed\nMohammedans they find protection from the Turkish authorities, instead\nof being punished for their crimes. The Armenians, on the other hand,\nbeing despised as \"Christian infidels,\" never dare to kidnap or elope\nwith Kurdish girls. This is the only instance on record of a Kurdish\nmaiden's elopement with an Armenian youth, and this is a mere tale.\n\n\n    A. G. S.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n    SIA-MANTO AND GUJE-ZARE.\n\n\n    It chanced that Sia-Manto in a dream\n    Saw Guje-Zare; in his dream it seemed\n    They were troth-plighted, and exchanged their rings.\n    To Guje-Zare the same dream befell\n    On the same night. Then Sia-Manto rose\n    Long before dawn, and, mounting on his steed--\n    Red, spirited, a horse of lightning--rode\n    Swift as an eagle to his sweetheart's tribe.\n    An aged dame received him in her tent.\n\n    Lo! drums were beating, trumpets sounding loud.\n    \"Why is this mirth, and whose the festival?\"\n    He asked of his good hostess, the old dame.\n    \"'Tis Guje-Zare's wedding, O my son,\"\n    She answered, \"and the bridegroom from afar\n    Has come to bear her with him to his home.\n    This is the third day of the festival.\"\n    Then Sia-Manto prayed with tearful eyes,\n    Saying, \"A token bear to her from me;\"\n    And from his finger drew and gave the ring\n    Exchanged with Guje-Zare in his dream.\n    The old dame took a kerchief many-hued,\n    Put raisins in it, and with them the ring.\n    Then to the bride she went, and wished her joy.\n    The lovely girl received her and her gift;\n    With fingers dyed with henna, she turned o'er\n    And stirred the raisins; and among them, lo!\n    The ring of the betrothal of her dream!\n    She knew it at a glance; deeply she sighed;\n    She paled, her eyes were darkened, and she swooned.\n    The old dame held her, and with sorrow said:\n    \"O Guje-Zare! would I had been blind\n    And had not seen this sight! What is thy pain?\n    Dear soul, what ails thee? Ope thine eyes, thy lips!\n    Tell me, what hast thou seen? What moves thee thus?\"\n    The voice of sympathy, the dame's warm touch,\n    Roused Guje-Zare; faintly thus she spake:\n    \"O auntie, I implore thee, tell me true\n    Where dwells the owner of this golden ring?\"\n    \"A guest within my tent,\" replied the dame.\n    Then Guje-Zare, sighing, said, \"Behold,\n    Of the festivities three days are past;\n    To-morrow is the bridal's final day.\n    Let Sia-Manto know there is one chance,\n    But one; to-morrow morning I shall go\n    Unto my mother's tomb; alone I go\n    To weep there, and to bid her bones farewell.\n    There may he come and find me. Tell him this.\"\n    The dame to Sia-Manto told her tale.\n\n    That night long, Sia-Manto could not sleep.\n    Ere dawn he rose, and hastened to the place.\n    There, 'neath the silent dome, sleep fell on him.\n    He wrapped his cloak about him, slept, and snored.\n    Soon Guje-Zare came; and lo! he slept.\n    She stood there long, and long she gazed on him;\n    Pitying, she did not touch him. Sound he slept,\n    And loud he snored, while by his side she stood.\n    She blamed him, and condemned him in her heart;\n    Two golden marbles from her pocket drew,\n    And put them in his pocket, and went home.\n\n    'Twas noon when Sia-Manto woke from sleep.\n    He looked around and beat his head, and came\n    Again to his kind hostess. Mournfully,\n    With broken heart, thus spake he to the dame:\n    \"Auntie, I sought the tomb; she was not there.\n    I slept there; when I woke I was alone.\"\n    \"Ah!\" said the dame. \"Hast thou no token, look\n    Within thy pocket?\" And he looked, and lo!\n    The pair of golden marbles. \"This,\" she said,\n    \"Is Guje-Zare's token.\" \"But,\" he asked,\n    \"What does it mean?\" \"By this,\" the matron said,\n    \"She meant, 'I see thou yet art but a boy,\n    And not a man of love. Go play with boys;\n    This undertaking is too great for thee.'\"\n\n    Then Sia-Manto blushed with shame. In tears\n    He begged the dame, \"Go, auntie, go once more,\n    For Heaven's sake, and let her speak to thee\n    A last word. What she bids me, I will do.\"\n\n    The dame from Guje-Zare brought this word:\n    \"To-morrow is the bridal's closing day,\n    The day of the procession. At that time\n    The bridegroom and his men will bear me hence.\n    If Sia-Manto is a man, and knows\n    How to be loved, and love, let him come then,\n    Full armed from head to foot, upon his steed,\n    And take me. We will go to Ararat,\n    And rest and love there, hidden in the mist.\"\n\n    Next morning, when the bridal train set forth,\n    The bridegroom, with his forty horsemen, armed\n    From head to foot, rode, bearing home the bride.\n    And then like lightning Sia-Manto came,\n    And snatched the bride, and set her on his steed;\n    And swifter rode he than the eagle flies\n    Chasing a dove; a journey of three days\n    Was all passed over in that one wild ride.\n    With the same swiftness the pursuers rode.\n    The rider on the gray steed nearest pressed.\n    \"Who is it,\" Sia-Manto asked his love,\n    \"That risks his own life and his horse's thus?\"\n    \"'Tis he,\" she answered, \"from whom thou hast reft\n    His plighted bride, the maid whom he had loved\n    A year and longer. Do not blame him, dear;\n    His heart is broken; he is full of rage.\"\n\n    He lifted Guje-Zare from the horse,\n    And spread his cloak, and set her there to rest;\n    Then, mounting, took his arrows and his sword,\n    And furiously on the pursuers fell,\n    And slew the forty horsemen and their steeds.\n    Then he returned, and Guje-Zare bore\n    Unto Mount Ararat, where they reposed,\n    Hid in thick mist and fog. His weary head\n    He laid in her soft lap, and fell asleep.\n\n    Soon Sia-Manto started suddenly;\n    Warm tears had fallen from Guje-Zare's eyes\n    Upon his face, and wakened him from sleep.\n    \"What is it, dear?\" he said. \"What hast thou seen?\n    Tell me, why dost thou weep and tremble so?\"\n    \"In this wild place a wonder I have seen.\n    Forty wild bulls there were that came to drink\n    At yonder spring, and with them was one cow.\n    Then raged a fearful fight among the bulls;\n    And the gray bull, victorious o'er the rest,\n    Took him the cow. The thing reminded me\n    Of our own case--the forty horsemen slain--\n    And I was so excited that I wept.\"\n    He rose and took his arrow and his bow,\n    Chased the gray bull, and shot it, and it fell,\n    And rolled upon the ground. He rushed on it,\n    And with his dagger strove to cut its throat;\n    But the bull, bellowing madly, tossed its horns,\n    And threw him down the precipice profound.\n    And Sia-Manto fell upon his back\n    Upon a sharp oak trunk, that pierced his chest\n    Four spans and further. There he hung transfixed.\n\n    Then Guje-Zare, following him afar,\n    Came to the precipice, and gazed around;\n    Saw the wild bull in its last agony,\n    And heard her Sia-Manto's mournful groans.\n    She found his bow and arrow, picked them up,\n    And bent her o'er the precipice's edge\n    Until she saw where Sia-Manto hung.\n    She tore her hair, and wailed this loud lament:\n\n    \"O Sia-Manto, dost thou lie so low?\n    Thy bow and arrow of pure silver are.\n    Thou hadst no need to follow the wild bull.\n    Oh, groan not, Sia-Manto, groan not so!\"\n    \"My Guje-Zare,\" from below he called,\n    \"Weep not! Thy wailing causes me more pain\n    Than this curst oak trunk.\"\n\n    \"But thou groanest there,\n    My Sia-Manto, and shall I not weep?\n    Thy groans, that pierce my heart, call forth my tears.\n    There is a great storm on Mount Ararat.\n    Here are thy bow and arrow, O my love.\n    Thou didst not heed me when I prayed to thee.\n    'Nay, lay thy bow and arrow down,' I said;\n    'Chase not the wild bull, he too has his mate;\n    Nay, let them live, like us, and love, like us.'\n    O thou wild bull, thou fearful, cruel bull,\n    Thy horns are steel, thou huge and dreadful bull\n    That didst part lovers on Mount Ararat.\n    The top of Ararat is wrapt in mist;\n    And Sia-Manto's bow and arrow gleam\n    Like pearls. Alas! who ever heard before\n    Of game that killed its hunter? O my love,\n    I told thee, 'Sia-Manto, do not go;\n    Let the wild bull go after his own love.\n    Dost thou need game, I am enough for thee.\n    Oh, do not, do not go!' Yet who can tell?\n    Perchance 'twas Heaven that had ordained it thus.\n    The Will above cannot be changed below.\n    Rocky and bushy is Mount Ararat,\n    And cold and deadly are its winds and storms.\n    O Sia-Manto! show me now a way\n    To reach thee where thou art, that I once more\n    May hold thee in my arms, and die with thee.\n    Oh, hither come with shovels and with spades\n    To turn the earth and rocks, and bury here\n    Both Sia-Manto and his love with him!\"\n    She shut her eyes, and casting herself down,\n    Fell on her lover, uttering but one word--\n    \"My Sia-Manto!\" and he echoed it--\n    \"My Guje-Zare!\" with his latest breath.\n    Then silence! In each other's arms they died.\n    There in the Spring men still may see two flowers\n    Bud forth, twin blossoms, like as like can be:\n    Two butterflies come there to light on them.\n    They represent the hapless lovers twain\n    Who lost their lives upon Mount Ararat.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] \"Bedik\" means in Armenian,--\"little Prince.\"\n\n[2] Navasard is the Armenian New Year, which falls on the 23rd\nof August.\n\n[3] The Armenian mother tells this tale to her child when she puts\nit to bed. Its effect upon the little one is very quieting, so that\nthe child often goes to sleep before the tale is finished.","title":"The Golden Maiden, and other folk tales and fairy stories told in Armenia","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":63265}